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“Hyacinthus, darling, what kind of sick joke is this?” Apollo’s alarmed voice rang out.
His lover, draped in the silk bed sheets, could only give a mere shrug of confusion. Apollo had awoken on said particular morning in a more foul mood than usual and up to now, Hyacinthus was utterly clueless as to what ungodly -which is quite ironic- matter had angered his sunshine this time.
“Apollo, do come back to bed,” Hyacinthus yawned. “ What is bothering you so much that you rise at such a miserable hour?”
“What is bothering me is that…”Apollo patted himself down, feeling his face and body. “ I am seemingly mortal.”
The sudden phrase had Hyacinthus shooting upwards so fast that had he moved any faster, the sheets would have completely flown off him- not that Apollo in any way would have minded.
“Sunshine, whatever do you mean? You are a god.”
“Well I’m clearly not anymore!” Apollo yelled, his hands weaving and grabbing at his hair. What was his father up to and more importantly- What did Zeus want this time?
It wasn't uncommon, which Apollo had to admit was a sad thing to have to accept, for his father- the whores of all whores (and don't let Zeus know that Apollo called him that)- to sometimes turn him into a mortal.
In Apollo’s honest opinion, it was often for trivial and unnecessary things that he cared not for- however, thanks to his father, he wouldn't really be given a choice on whether he cared about the subject or not. It was already terrible enough when he was turned into a mortal as a punishment for mocking Aphrodite’s son -Eros, but to add insult to injury, his father had him running around a random mortal whom he had somehow fallen truly, madly and deeply in love with until she had someone turn her into a tree.
Apollo refused to trust Eros ever again. He refused to ever let Eros or Aphrodite near any of his lovers- but it seemed no matter how hard Apollo tried to avoid the winged bastard, Eros always appeared exactly when he didn't need him- so was he really surprised to hear the manic laughing of a winged man? No, no he wasn’t.
It was only a miracle that Eros had just flown over and not appeared in front of him- that would have been catastrophic.
“Apollo?”
His head snapped towards his concerned lover. “Are you okay?”
He paused- what kind of question was that? He was no longer glowy- what was he to do? And slowly his thoughts began descending into chaos- at first it was the same things he thought every time this happened ( which would be a lot more than one would expect- Zeus was petty like that). However, as his thoughts began to spiral, he began to worry whether Hyacinthus would leave him once he realised that Apollo was truly no longer his godly self.
Afterall, why would Hyacinthus - a healthy, fit and handsome man- want to be stuck with a boring mortal who must go on a quest due to his petty father?
He slumped onto the bed, groaning as he realised he could feel the pain from his face slamming directly onto a pillow.
“Sunshine?”
“What?” Apollo groaned miserably. He felt Hyacinthus place his warm hand on his back, rubbing it in smooth circles, a gesture Apollo knew was what Hyacinthus would do when he tried to comfort him; apparently, according to his lover, Apollo was allegedly very ‘high maintenance’.
“You said that you were no longer a god before suddenly collapsing onto the bed,” he explained. “ Are you okay?”
“Why do you care?”
“Am I not allowed to care for my boyfriend?”
“Not for long. Now that I’m mortal, again, I’ll probably die super soon of something pathetic- just like me.”
Hyacinthus felt relatively guilty. He didn’t mean to deceive Apollo- not that he actually was. It was simply the fact that he realised that he for some reason or another felt extremely different than how he normally would. His body felt stronger, his skin fresher, his eyesight perfect and so on.
At first he thought it was simply the effect of being truly, madly and deeply in love but when Apollo had awoken and confided in him that he too was now mortal, Hyacinthus put it together.
Apollo was mortal and now he was a god.
“I need to figure out the key to this thing. Zeus does this all the time, it really isn't fair,” Apollo grumbled sadly into the pillow and when he lifted his head Hyacinthus could see tears forming and rolling down his lover’s face. “ Mortals cry, Hyacinthus! They cry! Why do your faces produce these wet salty forms of water when you’re experiencing anything other than happiness or pleasure, I truly do not know and in all honesty, I think it to be completely stupid on an entirely new level!”
“So you’re asking me why do humans cry when we’re sad?” Hyacinthus slowly reiterated.
“Yes!” Apollo let out a sob.
“I don’t know but there must be a reason as to why you’re sad.”
“Because!”
Hyacinthus paused. “ Because…? Because of what, Sunshine?”
“ Because- I’m terribly pathetic now! Don't you see, I’m just like everyone else. There's no reason for you to even stay not a second longer jammed up in this luxurious bed with an absolute maggot such as myself! And you have no reason to call me sunshine anymore because I’m a pathetic weak mortal and not the glorious Sun god. I’ll probably starve to death or get food poisoning. Or maybe, i’ll be kidnapped and murdered.” Apollo paused his teary rant to take a deep inhale. “ At this point, that option would be ideal.”
And as he refused to meet the eye of his concerned lover, Apollo felt the stupid, stupid tears continue their route down his cheeks, pooling at the bototm of his chin before momentiarily staying still and then falling direclty onto the silk pillow with a soft ‘plop!’
He felt firm hands confidently but gently cradle his face, squishing his cheeks slightly and forcing his face upwards as if to look him in the eye.
“I’m going to take care of you,” Hyacinthus smiled.
“It’s all rotten work anyway,” Apollo sniffled.
“Not to me.” Hyacinthus grabbed a tissue and began dabbing away at Apollo’s tears before they dried up his skin. “Not if it’s you.”
And with the way Hyacinthus took care of him, Apollo considered the potential option that maybe being a mortal wouldn't be as bad as he thought it would be.