@theaterrush Evren & Icarus!

@theaterrush ━ evren & icarus!

For a bright, blinding moment, there's a pang in Evren's chest that responded to the jab with a simple 'i hate you.' ━━━ like a cold fact of a dead thing already buried, like an answer they already knew but the impulse of their mind felt the need to reinstate: I hate you. The gravity wasn't in the weight, it was in the speed, the snap at which it came to them at. I hate you like a lightning strike. I hate you like a beartrap. I hate you like a blade through a collarbone. ━ a half temptation, but a faulty one. ( Xey had either took the knife from them already, or if they didn't, Evren wasn't interested in proving how predictable they were, the way mankind was unavoidably / the same way mankind is prideful enough to try to avoid it, and how that makes them predictable, too. )

Makes 'them' predictable too. ━ Like Evren wasn't part of mankind enough anymore to say 'us'. Maybe they were. Maybe it was just ill conceit. They weren't interested enough to bother figuring out which.

Evren makes a small, clicking sound with their tongue as they poke at their food they'd gotten as though thoughtful ━ it was just fast-food. they could barely order without being recognized & therefore questioned just a couple days after the 31st. They'd almost asked Icarus to order for them, but decided against it just as quickly.

In the same way they decided to risk it & order for themselves, Evren comes to the same conclusion: they don't hate Icarus, they just don't trust them. But xey weren't doing xemselves any favors, either.

" You can just say I'm a problem, you know, instead of dancing around the words like you did with killing God yourself. Makes it a lot easier on the both of us when you're blunt for a change. " Evren swings the retort back, voice casual & nonchalant for the sharpness ━ almost bitterness ━ in the words themselves, before taking a bite of their food.

They weren't entirely sure of what they expected in the first place when they asked Icarus the question, maybe it was an attempt to know xem better when xey were wholly unknowable up until this point, maybe it was a strange compulsion prompted by the guilt underneath & this was simply how they'd chosen to cope with what had happened and the strain of it all, maybe it was something else entirely. The question had been asked, and now, they were settled to reap its consequences.

━ I don't hate you, I just don't know you. ( in a way, they liked that. Liked them. How strange it was. )

"Plus," they add after finishing chewing, the meat cheap & rubbery " You told me I could use the knife against Them, you didn't say I couldn't use it on anyone else. " anyone deserving. they deserved it. they deserved it. their eye-socket still aches from a pain's origin that no longer exists. " I'd think that'd be a pretty big fine-print. What, not used to people not just doing what you tell them? "

what horror trope are you? ━ the monster.

it was not your fault. ━ at first, at least. you cannot help being the way you are. and even if you could, would you choose to change? they met you with torches raised and screaming mouths, the only choice you had was to flee. but you will not stay away forever. they whisper your name in fear, and you will make sure you hurt them just as much as they hurt you.

sleep meme / hermes & patroclus.

tagged by: @nectaric thank u vvvvv much <33 !! tagging: @askganondorftobadragmire @jfouler @thetowermuse (for octavo or burgh?) @nerofcrte @mightiestbanana @lcngdays (for angel or beldane?) @vonerde @drachliebe @tenebriism (for zagreus or yusuke?)

type of bed. hermes has adapted to a great many of different beds, and perhaps unlike some of his more luxury inclined brethren, he's really not picky beyond the surface being relatively clean & solid enough to support his weight. His chosen place of rest at his home, however, when he has the time to sleep there, is a klinē, a type of bed / couch often used for banquets ( symposia ). it's often considered a more luxurious piece of furniture, especially for the heroised, but he's never cared about little things like that. it's comfortable and easy on the legs, and that's all that really matters for him.

number of blankets. none, usually! the ichor in his veins, half brother to Apollo & son of Zeus, results in him almost always kept warm enough despite his light clothing. It does effect him, certainly, but it's never enough to bother with weighing himself down over. he prefers the speed & ease of getting up quickly without the blanket ( as well as disliking the pressure on his wings ) more than he dislikes the weather effecting him.

number of pillows. usually only one or two at home, though his usual default is using his messenger bag as one, or stealing a bundle of hay to act as a quick & easy one. his preferred pillow, if it can be helped, tends to be people instead. be it lover, friend, family, he sleeps best with them as a cushion ( plus, it's an easy method to be annoying if he so chooses <3 )

type of clothing. hermes often just wears his usual chiton, not even bothering to remove his boots usually, though sometimes he does sleep nude! he considers it more comfortable but usually can't be assed

does it matter where they sleep? not in the slightest! Hermes will sleep anywhere, in barns or branches, floor or rafters, bed or not, he's never been the type to hold himself to a high-and-strict standard when it comes to where he rests, no holy ground to hold his body when anywhere works fine, especially when its so fleeting when he ever needs to at all. he'd rather rest among his brethren than act as though above.

what do they do if they cannot fall asleep?  oftentimes, just get back to work! there's always something to do across the world, Olympus and underworld, always something to carry, always something to say. though, it's very rare for Hermes to be unable to sleep unless something is really weighing him down, often regarding those close to him. if he doesn't feel like working, he'll often busy himself with company. it's very rare for anyone to turn down a God when they come to visit.

frequent dreams, nightmares. Hermes does not dream often. he jokes, maybe taunts, that the Oneiroi can't catch him. when he does dream, they're prophetic and intense, violent. they're not dreams at all, so much as they're an unconscious world pungent with the intention to tell him something, communication in the harshest senses, thick with burning and herbs and a thousand different prophecies, a million different secrets. how cruel it is, to be privy to such worlds as those, in the lines between the dead & the living. how often he is tasked with carrying ones of his own.

deep slumber or naps? Naps! Hermes does not sleep often whatsoever, so often he gets away with small naps, usually not even bothering to lie down. Though, when he DOES sleep properly ━ usually alongside someone else or in his own home ━ he sleeps deep, sometimes for 2 days or longer. only once every couple months, does it feel like the gaps of communication in the world go silent, like a network gone dead, an almost visible tension for the mortal world. a brief glimpse of the state without Hermes, no one to carry voices, no one to carry prayers. no one can do it like he can, and no one ever will.

when do they sleep? he sleeps whenever he pleases, mostly, when he does sleep that is.

what could wake them up? when napping, Hermes is VERY easy to wake up, but when he's sleeping more properly it depends heavily on who it is trying to. if a fellow God or divine entity attempts it, it's almost impossible bar stabbing him in the chest or otherwise doing major harm to him, but he answers, unhesitatingly, to prayers. he will not answer his godly kin, but he will answer, unfailingly, to his mortal brethren. you do not need to wake him; he will always come.

type of bed. Patroclus was accustomed to a great many makeshift beds in his lifetime, be it more lovingly constructed ones, ones he made himself ( often quickly, not bothering for a great deal of effort for a great deal of time he just couldn't spare ), or the ground itself. His most commonly used one would be a portable mattress made of cloth and stuffed with wool and Aegina bird's feathers, a gift from his grandmother: a nymph of that island, a labor of care of which he'd rely upon during the war. during his time within his own home & in Elysium, he'd likely have been offered to sleep upon Klinai, but very often would trade his bed to someone else, often the women of his home, for him to instead sleep on the floor. He still does, lying in the fields of Elysium, only restless greets him: for the dead cannot sleep, and he, always too weighted, to rest.

number of blankets. usually he used his himation as one, as was standard practice. when needed, he'd also use a sheep-skin blanket to fight off the cold, one he'd offer to his fellow soldiers often who didn't have their own.

number of pillows. none, usually. sometimes, especially if he was wounded, he'd accept or make makeshift ones for himself ( usually stuffed with grass or worn straw ) before giving them to others when he didn't need them anymore. This practice of going without continues in Elysium, despite the array of velvets offered always to him.

type of clothing. it varies. there'd been many times in Patroclus' life where he'd fall asleep in his armor, often midway through dismantling it from his person when exhaustion won over him, where Achilles would have to carefully, skillfully, strip it off of him before lying him to rest properly, good sleep eternally a valuable resource in limited supply. same going for him simply sleeping in his day-clothes, as long as they weren't dirty from the work. though the most often trend was only bothering to wrap himself in spare pinned cloth that'd last as a substitute for night-clothes until his usual clothes were clean and dry for the next morning. Patroclus never is dirtied in Elysium, and never sleeps, so he never changes. To do so would be taking energy from a pool that is always too shallow to drink from

does it matter where they sleep? yes and no. the quality of his sleep is effected, and he'll often struggle more to fall asleep when resting in places too quiet or too in anticipation of something ( his home & the tents often falling into either or both ), but he could still fall asleep there. he often felt most comfortable near rivers or the sea, the sound of moving water. he'd call it a gift from Achilles, to be so peaceful there, when he was borne from it. Thetis, never a guardian here, but never an enemy. it was all Patroclus could ask of her, in the way he did not ask at all, feeling unfit to.

what do they do if they cannot fall asleep?  busies himself with other restless souls or with things to improve, tasks to do under the quiet of night, or doing them as Achilles sleeps nearby providing them to be quiet enough. He'd often find circles of other restless soldiers and sit with them, talking softly through the night, as he worked at his armor or something other. he often felt guilty, when Achilles would awake without him there and go searching, unable to find it in himself to wake him for such small pains as his lack of rest. in Elysium, he is always awake, and prefers to be alone, which is to say, he has never enjoyed being alone, but he chooses it regardless, as it was chosen for him.

frequent dreams, nightmares. his dreams always were a mix of signs given to him in empty messages. the effort to say something to him each time he dreamed, but full of empty shapes to fill the air alongside it, as though to cloud what vision was intended for him to see. his nightmares, often and unrelenting, he believed to be the distilled versions of these signs attempted to be communicated to him turned angry and forceful with their lack of acknowledgement, turning to a curse to bare instead. he'd apologize to Achilles as a vessel to the gods after waking, often not realizing he had at all. the apology for something not his fault.

deep slumber or naps? Patroclus has always been a relatively light sleeper, so napping has often been difficult for him on top of the desire he has to stay conscious incase he's needed, leading to him often only sleeping instead out of simple exhaustion

when do they sleep? when night falls, usually if he can help it, though sometimes he winds up sleeping at dawn.

what could wake them up? a small shake or a loud enough recital of his name is usually enough to do it, though he often wakes with a jolt, anticipating the worst even in his unconsciousness

what horror trope are you? ━ the lover.

love has brought you to this place, and it will not let you leave. fear clutches you, constricts you, and it will have you killed━ and yet, it is still no match for the bounty of your heart. you will try as hard as you can to protect the object of your affections. evil is nothing in the face of your warmth. even if you are successful in protecting your lover, that does not guarantee your own survival. your heart has doomed you, but what greater death is there than dying for love?

This fucking bird is my new comfort character 😭