𝔐𝔢𝔩𝔞𝔰 𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔦𝔯𝔬𝔰

@sxmniphobia​ || continued from ✂

Less than a year of his life was normally something Nick would consider a trivial amount of time. It went by in the blink of an eye for him compared to the rest of his immortal existence. As one who could not die and did not physically age, time was of little importance to him—unless, of course, there was a certain god with whom he wished he were spending more of that time.

Dates in the Land of Dreams were perfectly fine with him, as it meant he got to see his erastês without the date cutting into either of their schedules—he was already asleep anyway, and Phobetor always seemed to have pre-constructed nightmares at the ready to leave some time available at night for a little fun whenever they had their dates. Being allowed to control his own form during these dates had its perks too, but even so, as real as they often felt, they weren’t real. No amount of dream manipulation could change that, and he was starting to miss their time together in the physical world. More than once, he’d woken up sulking, pouting, or both because Phobetor wasn’t actually beside him in his bed, curled up against him like a kitten seeking warmth. If he had an interrogation to do that day, the poor soul at his mercy had an especially rough time.

Damn his canine nature.

That was why he’d approached Phobetor the second he heard the recognizable whoosh of the god’s wings, and why he’d kissed without any hint of hesitation. It gave him a sense of satisfaction to know that he’d moved fast enough to temporarily stun the other male, and a small smirk turned up one corner of his mouth, a low chuckle slipping past his lips. “It might not happen every time.”

Feeling Phobetor’s hands on his face, he shuddered a little from the cool touch on his heated skin, but didn’t dare pull away, instead letting the hands draw him closer. His grip on the god’s hoodie loosened, and his hand lowered down, fingers trailing over the familiar shadowy form before both arms came together to loop around the other male’s waist instead. Red eyes locked with red, the happiness and excitement he couldn’t quite contain reflected in his own for the god to see. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of the black feathered wings moving to encase them both, and it was as if the rest of the world fell away in that moment, blocked out by the shadows and darkness that he was all too eager to embrace.

But before he could say anything else, he was silenced by Phobetor’s lips claiming his, effectively rendering him speechless for the time being unless he wanted to break the kiss right away—and like hell he was doing that this time. Sighing contently, he tugged the god closer against him and let his eyes slide shut. Perhaps he was foolish for dropping his guard so willingly around the feared god of nightmares, but although he knew how easy it would be for the tail around his waist to shift into a venomous snake—or for Phobetor’s entire being to shift into a massive, deadly monster, for that matter—he believed that nothing like that would happen. It had been over half a year since either of them had seen each other in their physical forms, and Nick had sorely missed moments like this. He didn’t even want to end the kiss to speak, relishing the way the soft, cool lips of his erastês felt against his own.

The two of them were quite literally like fire and ice, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

But eventually, he did break the kiss, albeit with some reluctance. He couldn’t let Phobetor have the last word just yet, after all. His tone was a quiet, low growl with a hint of annoyance at first—for he was a hellhound, not a cute little puppy—but became lighter and more teasing as he spoke, still close enough for his warm breath to ghost over the god’s lips. “I’m not cute or little, but…yeah, and I think it’s safe to say you missed me too, I-ke-los.~ Or am I wrong, hm?”

It was interesting to realize just how different the dream form and the physical form of a single being felt. There wasn’t a doubt in Phobetor’s mind that Nick probably felt the difference too, but there was also no doubt in his mind that Nick possibly felt that the physical form was more solid and real, as opposed to the falseness of the dream world. It was an amusing thought, especially as it was quite reversed to the god. In the dream world, Phobetor’s spirit was able to interact with the spirit of his hound, an interaction that felt so much more intimate and exhilarating. At the moment, the hound’s physical body felt like a barrier that separated them, but there were a few points that made it worth it.

While temperature itself wasn’t much of an issue to someone who doesn’t technically have a body, Phobetor would never really deny that he did enjoy the warmth that was radiating off Nick. Perhaps it would sound idiotic to most—to be craving the heat of a hellhound—but thankfully he wasn’t most. After all, it was hard to be scared when you were physically incapable of it, especially against someone who was far below him in terms of strength. Nick might be a dangerous being, but there was nothing he could truly do to the god, leaving Phobetor to feel quite safe as his coldness was replaced by the warmth that was now surrounding him as he stood in the hellhound’s arms.

That pleasant feeling continued even as Nick broke their kiss. A small chuckle slipped out of the god’s mouth as he heard the ting of annoyance in the hound’s voice, but paid it very little attentions. “Pretty sure being considered cute is subjective, and I’m quite open about my opinions of that. As for little... I’m literally ten feet tall when I’m not shrinking to match you, so it’s true relative to me.”

Another small laugh escaped him as he reached up to lightly tap Nick on the nose. “My puppy shouldn’t deny the truth, else my nieces and nephews, the Pseudologi, will come for you and your lies~!” He couldn’t help the light teasing, even as he moved his head slightly in order to nuzzle his face into Nick’s neck, acting much like a cat that was trying to leave its mark on its property. Perhaps not the most accurate description, as Phobetor didn’t have his own scent to leave behind, but the action still stood. If anything, he would just have to talk to the Pseudologi to inform them to not lay a single finger on their uncle’s claimed favourite. Despite the numbers advantage they might have on him, they wouldn’t dare go against his seniority in years and power.

“Mmm... perhaps. I suppose it’s nice to see you in a physical form. Feels quite different. Warmer, at least. You don’t produce your hellfire heat in the dream world, do you realize that? Guess it’s not really something you think about since you don’t consciously make it.” Snuggling slightly closer, the god gave a small sigh of content, his cold breath running over the heated skin of the other. 

In the Land of Dreams, where reality could be bent with a single thought and the impossible becomes achievable, it was quite easy to lose track of time. After all, what is time to an immortal god? Nothing but a word—a concept that held no sway over him. Thus, when Phobetor appeared in the real world to see that months have passed since his last visit to the mortal world—since he saw his erômenos in person—it came to no real surprise for him.

Sure, he might have occasionally pulled the hellhound into the Land of Dream while the other slept, but the Dream version wasn’t quite the true thing. While Phobetor was there in person, Nick could only show up as a figment—a projection that Nick could control based on how he saw himself—and Phobetor couldn’t help but slightly miss the small details that Nick always seemed to forget about. There have been quite a few times that Phobetor had looked over to see that the little mole by Nick’s eye was missing, or the red of his eyes wasn’t quite the right shade. It almost felt like Phobetor himself was slowly forgetting what the other looked like in reality, and it was probably time to change that. Not to mention, the last date had been a little while ago as well, so it was probably high time he spent time with his little puppy either way.

The trip from Greece to America took a mere few seconds on powerful Oneiroi wings, and soon Phobetor had to screech to a halt as he flew right through Nick’s window with a powerful whoosh of air to announce his presence. As he slowly landed, his ears picked up the sound of footsteps heading towards him, making him look up at the approaching male. A small smirk found its way to the god’s face. “Hi there, pu—”

Before he could even finish his word, he felt his hoodie being grabbed and pulled down, making him stumble slightly in surprise. His wings—not yet willed away—flared open to try and regain some balance, though he barely registered that as his mouth was claimed by Nick. The kiss didn’t last long enough for Phobetor to even think about kissing back, leaving him blinking in confusion for a moment, before finally speaking again.

“....If that’s the greeting I get for being away for so long, maybe I should stay away more often.” Chuckling lightly, the god brought his hands up to gently cup both sides of the hound’s face, pulling him slightly closer while making sure to be cautious with his claws. Black feathered wings matched the movement, slowly encircling the two of them as the black cat-like tail loosely wrapped around Nick’s waist. “Did my cute lil’ puppy miss me? Hmmm...?” 

Walking through the rain wasn’t anything that bothered Phobetor. The water droplets simply passed through him by his will, allowing him to enjoy his stroll through the woods while remaining completely dry. After all, he had come here to enjoy some time in the mortal world, so why should his plans change simply because Zeus decided that this area was due for some rain? Humming to himself as he wandered around, he could occasionally catch small whispers of the animals around him, tucked away in their homes where they were safe and dry.

Eventually, however, another sound reached his ears. It was an animal... crying?

Cat ears swiveled around to face the direction of the noise, the god’s head turning to follow. Curiosity peaked, he followed the sound, hopping over shrubbery and fallen logs. The sound began to grow louder, until finally he was able to reach the source: a small fawn. The little deer was shivering, yet seemed unhurt. Why was it crying then? Why doesn’t it just go home? As he walked closer, the answer became crystal clear. 

That initial response got another chuckle out of the hound, amusement dancing in his eyes. “It’s nice to know you wouldn’t want me broken and submissive all the time, considering dominance comes to me so naturally. I’m not normally submissive; you know that. Today is…just for you, and only because it’s for you. If it were anyone else, I would shoot them rather than agree to what I’ve promised you.” But it was for Phobetor, and so Nick was willing to submit to his erastês this time around. Perhaps he was whipped to that extent—that he was willing to submit at all—but there was no way he would ever admit it unless he had to.

Rather than say anything further for the moment, he fell silent and gave Phobetor a chance to continue talking and thinking over whatever idea the god had in mind. The problem with sending nightmares made sense, as he knew many humans who tended to brush them off as bad dreams and nothing more; frightening imagery meant to be forgotten. It irritated him since he knew now that nightmares were the work of the sadistic god he’d fallen for, but it was impossible to force people to heed the meanings and intentions behind nightmares the way they should. If it were possible, he had no doubt that Phobetor would have done it by now.

“Yeah, maybe interesting is a better word for it, but still…” The corner of his mouth quirked up to show a small smirk, and the very second they reached the long interstate highway that was part of the route to the restaurant, he put more pressure on the gas pedal and shifted gears, quickly bringing the car’s speed up to 160 kilometers per hour. “…This car is really fun to drive. And by the way, since you’re in your human form at the moment, you might want to put on your seatbelt like I did.”

With Phobetor apparently still in thought, Nick focused mainly on driving to keep control of the car, though he couldn’t help wondering what exactly the god might be considering. He didn’t really care if the rest of the Paganini famiglia knew he was in a relationship with someone—but that was only if he wasn’t seen or known as the submissive one in the relationship. And to prevent that…he’d have to be seen as the dominant one instead. While he certainly would prefer that, he knew all too well that the god next to him wouldn’t want to be seen as the submissive one either—except for their time in bed together, of course, but that was a different and more private matter.

Phobetor’s voice drew Nick back out of his own thoughts, and he turned his head slightly to glance over at the god while he listened. The little pauses teased his curiosity, but as much as he wanted to know what Phobetor’s idea was, absolutely nothing could have prepared him for the statement that followed.

His jaw dropped open, his eyes wide with pure shock, and he turned his head the rest of the way towards the god—which was a mistake. Unintentionally, his hand on the steering wheel turned with his head, and the car swerved into a different lane, thankfully into a spot that was just the right size for the car to squeeze into. His knee jerked, and he forced his foot over to the brake to narrowly avoid slamming it down onto the gas pedal instead, which—given their new placement on the road—likely would have gotten him killed and probably totaled the car as well. As it was, the car screeched to a halt in its new lane, followed other cars behind it doing the same and lots of angry, annoyed honks from other drivers, but at least he’d managed to avoid a wreck.

Heaving a long, shaky sigh of relief, he took his foot off the brake and swore under his breath, driving considerably slower than he had been. With the danger over, he gave himself a moment to calm down before he said anything, though if he were honest with himself, he was pretty sure that Phobetor gotten a meal out of that little incident.

“…Don’t just say stuff like that, okay?! You can’t… I-I mean…” One hand dropped from the wheel to move up and run down his face instead, and he cleared his throat, forcing himself to keep his head turned towards the windshield and the road. Despite this, his eyes still cut over towards the god, and Nick shook his head.

“I would… I…can’t deny, that certainly would work to convince everyone else that I’m not submissive all the time, and… The thought of that is just…wow. You would look amazing. Just imagining you wearing a collar and leash, with me holding the other end of it…” He trailed off, realizing his cheeks were hot from being flushed, and if he had to guess, they’d been that way for the past several minutes. Shaking his head again with the hopes of soon banishing the blush, he continued.

“…I would love it, but I can’t. I—I won’t. Even though I would have let you do it for today without complaining about it, you said that you wouldn’t put a collar on me. Besides that—and more importantly—you’re…you’re not just anyone. You’re the god of nightmares and my erastês, and I respect you too much to put a collar and leash on you and parade you around like that, because I’m pretty sure you would hate every second of it. If you would enjoy it, then I would do it for sure, but I’m having a hard time imagining that.”

A light chuckle escaped him, and his grin returned. “If you still think we should show them that I can be dominant, though, I could always pin you up against an outside wall for a public make-out session on the grounds whenever we get back. That sounds better to you than your idea, right?”

"I know~!” The sing-song tone was accompanied with a bright smile. Had he still had his tail, it would have likely been waving in a happy manner. “I said in our first meeting, didn’t I? I don’t want a domesticated hound, wild ones like you are the best! It’s nice to have a day where I can make you lick my boots without complaint if I really wanted to, but having you argue against me sometimes is fun.” He paused for a moment before deciding to add a small extra part. “Not gonna make you lick my boots, by the way. Was just pointing out that I can do that.”

He didn’t dwell too much in thinking about mortals outright ignoring his creations. In fact, he didn’t spare it a single thought. After over three centuries of dealing with that sort of thing, he had completely stopped caring. Whether or not someone learnt their lesson didn’t matter: they were still suffering from the punishment so it was enough for Phobetor. However, it wouldn’t be enough in this situation, which was why something more than a punishment was needed.

The sudden increased in speed definitely distracted Phobetor from his thoughts for a moment, gaze turning to the window to watch as the landscape rushed passed. It was far slower than what Phobetor himself was actually used to—given how fast he could fly—but it was still quite spectacular to watch. And if what Nick said was true, this was only about half the speed that his car could go at. Once again, still slow for the dream god, but impressive compared to horses.

His viewing was interrupted when Nick mentioned putting on his seatbelt, making Phobetor glance over in slight confusion. He could easily figure out that the ‘seatbelt’ was the strap that Nick had pulled across his body, locking it into place with some little box on the opposite side. The real confusion came from the simple question of why did it even matter if he put it on or not? Human form or not, Phobetor was still a god and couldn’t be truly hurt. “Don’t feel like it, so how about no. Unlike you, I can’t even die to begin with, even temporarily.”

While he did expect Nick to react to the offer in some way, the sudden jerking of the car did catch the god by surprise. Given that he hadn’t bothered heeding the hound’s comment about the seatbelt, there was nothing to stop his body from following the motion, upper body crashing into the dashboard as the brakes were slammed. Taking a small moment to recover, Phobetor pushed himself back upright, lifting a hand up to his nose. When he pulled his hand away, he stared for a moment as there was a splash of black on his fingers.

“....I guess I should have put on that seatbelt thing.” Granted, it was very easy for him to repair the damage, the ichor evaporating on will much like any part of the god’s form can. He even took a small moment to check to make sure that none was left on the dashboard. Even if it was basically the same as blood for the two of them, there was always the potential chance that Nick might let a mortal ride in his car. If they come in contact with it, Nick would have to figure out how to get rid of a dead body, as there would be no way to save the mortal from the toxic ‘blood’.

As annoying as that entire situation was, at least he got a little snack out of it; Nick’s fear flooding the small compartment and surrounding the two of them.

Confident that no ichor was left over, Phobetor leaned back into his seat once more, though this time he reached over to grab the seatbelt and pull it over to click it into place. That done, he listened to Nick’s answer, mood souring just slightly at realizing that Nick was apparently now picturing Phobetor with a collar around his neck. The god couldn’t help but growl slightly at that, making his own opinion on the topic quite obvious. Thankfully, Nick had already guessed that Phobetor wouldn’t enjoy it—even if he was the one offering it—and was seemingly picking the god’s comfort over his own kinky fantasy.

“Not all of them are hardened like they ought to be. The ones you just saw run away aren’t anywhere near the same rank as me. They’re what you might call grunts or ‘soldiers,’ though that term doesn’t really suit them either, does it?” He paused to chuckle and flash a mocking grin with the fleeing grunts in mind, then continued his explanation. 

“I wasn’t talking about idiots like them when I said I might ask you to send out some nightmares, but I’ll still appreciate it if you do. I was actually referring to a small group of humans who are closer to my rank in the family, and they’re not as scared of me as most mortals usually are. If anyone’s going to give me a real hassle after the rumors start up, it would be one of them.”

The little stipulation the god added soured Nick’s expression for a second, but Phobetor was right. He couldn’t very well disagree, especially for the rest of the day. The look of annoyance on the hound’s face was gone almost as soon as it had appeared, and instead of saying anything against the god’s one condition regarding the rumors, he sighed to himself and decided to pose a question. 

“I do belong to you; I know that, and it’s true regardless of whether or not I’m actually being the submissive one. I would never disagree or say that rumors suggesting something like that aren’t true. But if someone started a rumor that says you’ve got me completely whipped and I must always be the submissive one because of all of the marks on my neck…. You would send them a nightmare for me, right?” That was the kind of rumor he was worried about the most, honestly, because the last thing he wanted was to be seen as submissive by people who would—or even might—disrespect him for it. Rumors like that would have the potential to seriously damage his reputation, and his pride refused to let that happen.

Just before he pushed the passenger’s side car door shut, he chuckled at what he could only assume was a thinly-veiled warning to be more careful with his words. “Don’t worry; I meant that as a compliment. Your tail is much more comfortable than anything else I’ve ever laid or sat on. I was just trying to emphasize how comfortable these seats are compared to what you would find in most standard, non-luxury cars.”

With Phobetor seated, Nick walked around to the driver’s side to open his own door and quickly seated himself behind the wheel. The god’s comments put a broad, satisfied grin on his face, and he chuckled while buckling his seatbelt. “Let’s see… You’re probably more familiar with the concept of kilometers per hour for speed, right? This thing can go from 0 to 100 in less than three seconds, double that in less than seven seconds, and if I could push it to its top speed, it can go as fast as 350 kilometers per hour. Believe it or not, humans have managed to do some things right.”

Saying so, he started up the car and carefully pulled away from the Paganini mansion, putting the car en route to their destination for dinner. 

The thought of there being mortals within Nick’s family that actually weren’t scared of him was an amusing one to the god. Did those mortals know what Nick truly was, or just have been around him long enough to realize that he’s mostly bark? It certainly didn’t take Phobetor long to realize that, but he was quite easily in a higher position of power than Nick, so it was a bit different. Regardless, apparently there existed mortals that could actually stand up against the hound. 

While his sadistic side did find pleasure in the thought of Nick taking a blow to his pride; being flustered and annoyed at people bothering him about being owned by Phobetor, the thought of the hound being outright disrespected by others—especially those below him in terms of divinity—just rubbed the god the wrong way. If it was anyone else, he might not have cared, but this was Nick... 

“Hmmm... well, you being completely whipped would be a lie. I do kind of enjoy the fight in you, so I wouldn’t want you broken and completely submissive all the time. I could send them nightmares but, from experience, I know that won’t stop them. My nightmares can be used as punishments, but most beings won’t realize why they are given the nightmares. Mortals are the worst at it; they’ll just brush it off as their mind making stuff up. So to get them to stop... hmm....” He paused his words there for the moment, half because he was trying to think of a way to fix Nick’s apparent situation and half because he was distracted by the cars around him.

Once seated and comfy, Phobetor just waited until Nick got in the car and answered the question, making the god tilt his head a bit as he thought the answer over. Of course he understood what kilometers per hour meant—the word kilometer itself was based off Greek terms—but it was still a weird thing to think about. He was used to mortals only being able to be as fast as a horse can run, while gods got places within moments. To think that mortals can now go so much faster—almost 9 times faster apparently—was quite amazing, even to the animalistic god. “I know humans can invent amazing things; it’s just a matter that I don’t usually care and their inventions don’t matter five hundred years down the line when they are dead. I wouldn’t say they are doing anything right, just that they are doing something interesting.”

It was only once they were already driving that he could turn his complete attention back to the previous problem: how to stop people from disrespecting Nick about being a submissive puppy when he obviously wasn’t. Sending them nightmares would be fun—and would probably be something he would do regardless—but it won’t solve the problem. To solve the problem... the best thing to be would be stopping the rumours before they really took root. And to do that....

Well, obviously they just have to show Nick’s family people that he wasn’t always the submissive.

It was a simple solution, but the implication of that wasn’t quite something Phobetor enjoyed. After all, for Nick to be dominant, that would mean that Phobetor would have to be the submissive one. If any of the other gods got wind of that... Nick might be tormented by those humans for a maximum of one hundred years, but the other gods would not let Phobetor live it down for the next hundred centuries or longer.

But... it was for his erômenos.

“You know, instead of just giving those people nightmares—still gonna do it, mind you—we can just stop the rumour. All we have to do is let them see that you are still a dominant being. So, when we go back, we could... hmm.... I don’t know...” He paused for a moment to think further before sprouting the first thought that came to mind. “You can put a collar and leash on me and walk around the grounds for people to see.”

“I know you don’t need a bodyguard, but…” Cutting himself off, he sighed and decided to let the matter rest with a shrug and a light chuckle. Continuing the debate wouldn’t do either of them any good, and besides that, he wasn’t in a position to do any arguing for the day anyway. “I very much enjoy being your lover and partner-in-crime, and pissing off gods you don’t like sounds like the perfect bonus.”

As excited as he was for their future plans, his excitement and all thoughts of those plans were easily one of the furthest things from his mind while Phobetor’s mouth was busy marking his neck. The lecture proved to be a good distraction as well, holding his attention and sating his curiosity, but what affected him the most was the little scare the god decided to pull—and rightly so, with Phobetor being the god of nightmares. Were he able to shift freely in the mortal world and give himself a canine tail, it would be tucked down behind him and between his legs. Thankfully, the fear didn’t last and he was able to finish getting ready.

Once outside, he noticed another small group of famiglia members whispering and gesturing towards Phobetor, and he quickly sent them a glare much the same as he had the first group he’d come across. They began to disperse then, but just to add a little more variety this time and make his point crystal clear, he whipped his gun out of its holster and, after a glance back to aim, shot a bullet over his shoulder into the tree trunk nearest to one of the grunts’ heads. It struck at the perfect height for a head shot, naturally. The gardener could just deal with it; it was too much fun listening to them run away as if their lives depended on it. Chuckling, Nick returned his gun to its holster and kept walking.

“If none of them figure it out, they’re even more stupid than I thought. A rumor or two will probably be spread around before the day is over, and if those rumors reach certain people…I may take you up on that offer to send some nightmares to my coworkers.”

He was trying to play it cool, but really, he could’t help being a little embarrassed by the thought of rumors. Normally, he liked rumors, but then again, those rumors also usually reminded people of his high-ranking status, his skills, his little hobby, or a combination of any of the three. Instead, this time it would be rumors of someone finally putting a leash on the mad dog of the famiglia—complete with the marks making people wonder if he was the submissive one, no less.

Sighing under his breath, he continued to the garage and stopped walking once he reached his particular car. The lights flashed at his approach as they had the last time he’d driven it, lighting up the car’s sleek black exterior for a moment, and he went around to the passenger’s side to open the door for Phobetor. Glancing back at the god, he grinned. “Like what you see? It’s nice having access to luxury like this in the mortal world. The seats might not be as comfortable as that giant squirrel tail of yours, but I bet you’ll say they come pretty close. If you’re done looking at the other cars, hop in.”

Given the nature of fear to surround and enclose the being producing it, while Phobetor could still see the dark tendril appearing around the other members due to Nick’s glare, he couldn’t even catch a taste of it at the distance that they were at. All that gathered up fear was just taunting him—so close yet so far—his mouth watering at the sight and a pout forming on his lips. It was made even worse—yet also soooo much better—when Nick fired his gun at them. The unexpected loud bang of the gun going off caused the God to flinch slightly, ears still sensitive even in their human form, but seeing the grunts running even faster to get away made it worth it. The tendrils of fear thickened even further as the mortals ran off, the fear following them until they disappeared from his view.

“Such a thick fear you brought out of them with such a simply trick... You expect me to believe that these humans are gun-slinging, hardened criminals? How pathetic... Even without you asking, I should send them all nightmares to teach them the real meaning of fear, something so horrible that even stuck-up, prideful humans would have no choice but to admit that they were scared out of their minds. Dominant species, my ass.” 

Of course, he was well aware that Nick and himself weren’t much better in terms of being prideful—in fact, they were even worse about it—but the main difference laid in the fact that they both at least had the abilities to back their pride. Their divinity giving them the right to be proud of themselves. As far as Phobetor was concerned, there was nothing to be proud of in being a simple human, so these humans should be taught to show respect to their betters. 

“Just let me know if anyone bothers you with stupid rumours and I’ll take care of them. Oh, but rumours about you belonging to me don’t count as stupid, just so you know, as you very much do belong to me.” After all, he had to be somewhat fair, and punishing someone for stating the truth wasn’t something he found very interesting.

His little stroll through the garage came to a pause as Nick’s voice reach him, black eyes turning from the car he was studying over to the hound standing quite a few feet away in front of what the God could only assume what Nick’s own car. It definitely looked like something that the hound would like, with how fancy it seemed. The claim that the seats could nearly—but not quite—compare to his tail in terms of comfort certainly did pull his focus. “I’m not quite sure whether I should feel flattered that you realize that my tail is much more comfortable, or insulted that you would even think that something man-made could even come close to it. I’ll choose to believe that you meant to say that the seats are comfortable by human standards, yet could never come close to even beginning to compare to my tail.”

Said tail would probably be waving in curiosity had it not been hidden, a head tilt now being the only outward physical indication of the God’s wandering thoughts. Ignoring the other cars, Phobetor skipped on over to Nick’s car, ducking down to enter through the open door. Settling in his seat, he took a moment to glance around the interior of the car, eyes dancing over all the buttons and dials located around. The only time he had been in a car before was the last time he was with Nick, and he had been far too sleepy to care about what his surroundings had looked like.

“If we ever get so tired of living, yeah, that sounds like an amazing plan to me.” He grinned in approval, pleasantly surprised that there was a way to avoid experiencing any torture, but his grin faded a little due to one particular thought that he couldn’t shake. Dodging punishment would be nice, but then again, there were other feelings he couldn’t just ignore. “I wish there was still a way for me to protect you from the other gods that didn’t involve giving up before they can overpower us, but since there isn’t, I’ll consider myself lucky to be able to share a night like that with you.”

Still curious about the terms Phobetor had used, he waited for a further explanation—and when he got it, he’d very nearly yelled to insist that he wasn’t a boy; he was a mature man! The finger on his lips was the one thing that kept his mouth shut, and his eyes narrowed until he’d heard enough to understand that god hadn’t meant in an insulting way. In this case, it really was just the easiest way to explain the roles implied by the terms. Blowing a tiny puff of air onto the finger in a mock huff, he calmed back down and continued to listen.

The ancient Greek perspective of the relationship came as a surprise, as he doubted such a thing would be so widely acceptable in modern times, and yet it seemed so…positive. He blinked a couple times, processing the information while listening, and his eyes widened a little. Assuming the relationship went smoothly, there was absolutely nothing negative it. It even sounded as though the erômenos benefitted more than the erastês, which was perfectly fine with him, as he was the one in the erômenos role.

…And perhaps he liked the idea of being called ‘beloved.’ Maybe.

He didn’t think anything of Phobetor’s ears twitching at first, but when the god began explaining how the Romans viewed such a relationship, he raised one eyebrow first, then the other. He’d never seen or heard Phobetor talk like this before, and it was a little unsettling, to say the least. The explanation made sense though, as that was the way most humans he knew now seemed to think—except for the part about slaves, anyway, since no one in the States had them anymore like they once did.

He was happy to hear the god’s manner of speaking return to normal, but his sense of being at ease evaporated the second he noticed the little change to Phobetor’s smile. He knew a smile like that couldn’t mean anything good, but he stayed where he was and tried to brace himself for whatever the god was about to say or do.

…But it didn’t help. Chills shot down his spine, and he squeezed his eyes shut, just barely forcing himself to stay where he was in front of Phobetor. At the same time, his fingers curled up tightly against his palms, his whole body tensing and his facial expression contorting in fear until the other male pulled back again. It was times like this that he was reminded of exactly who he’d fallen for, and when he opened his eyes, he had no problem acting like a frightened, obedient puppy. “I-I would never—! I respect you too much to call you either of those words! I won’t ever call you something so derogatory, I swear!”

While it generally wasn’t wise to make any promises to a god, he knew right away that this was one promise he would easily be able to keep. The threat wasn’t necessary either, but since he’d promised not to talk back, he kept his mouth shut on the matter and focused on getting ready to leave instead. Before he could respond to his latest instructions, however, Phobetor was gone from the room, leaving him alone for the moment. He took advantage of it, allowing his nerves to calm back down since he’d been both flustered and frightened one after the other.

Going over to his desk, he grabbed his gun from the drawer and slipped into his belt’s holster. He highly doubted he would need it, but given his profession in the mortal world, it wouldn’t do to go anywhere without it on hand, just in case. With that, he really was ready to go, but since Phobetor had specifically told him not to hide his neck, his thoughts wandered back to the marks still there on his skin. He could probably focus his healing abilities there and get rid of the marks if he tried, but…Phobetor no doubt wanted them there. For a fleeting second, Nick considered that he might like having them there as well, but dismissed the thought just as quickly. Liking the idea of being marked so thoroughly was a little too submissive for his taste…wasn’t it?

Shaking his head at himself, he headed for the door and locked it behind him, stepping out into the hallway. No one was around at first, but on his way downstairs to get to the ground floor, he passed a small cluster of low-ranked members of the family. They’d been talking amongst themselves, but fell silent as soon as they saw him, and he swore he could feel the whole group’s eyes trained on the side of his neck. His eyes narrowed, and he turned and sent a harsh glare their way, complete with the silent message of a death threat if they didn’t move along. It worked, and they split up and scattered in their haste to put some distance between themselves and Nick.

“Fucking idiotic humans…,” he muttered under his breath, letting one of the front doors of the mansion slam shut behind him, the whole door frame rattling. Being stronger than the average human had its perks, even when it came to venting his anger.

In a huff, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself back down and followed the soft sound of humming over to where Phobetor was waiting, giving the god a bright smile. By the time he closed most of the distance between them, there wasn’t a trace of anger left on his face; only a glowing sense of happiness and pride. “I didn’t hide my neck, just like you said. Ready to go? I have a place in mind, but it’s a little bit of a drive from here—about 30 minutes with the way I drive.” Saying so, he headed towards the mansion’s garage area and motioned for Phobetor to follow, thinking he could take the lead for the time being since the god obviously didn’t drive.

Nick’s constant insistence that he wanted to protect Phobetor from the other Gods—despite all risk associated with that—would probably have been quite a touching thing to most other beings. To Phobetor, however, it mostly was just amusing. “As adorable as that is, I don’t need a bodyguard protecting me. I don’t chain my powers down because I fear being killed by them. They can all come kill me right now; I don’t care. I willingly allow my powers to be restricted by Hypnos because I know they will kill me if I go rogue, so I want to save it all for one final spectacle before I decide I want to die. Killing people isn’t even something I want to do on a regular basis since dead people are nothing to me, but a big extermination one time would be amazing! And I could probably fight back and hold my own against the other gods for a while if I wanted to, but it would be so much more entertaining imagining all their faces when they come looking for blood, only to deny them their wishes. So ya, bodyguard not needed, though lover and partner-in-crime very much appreciated.”

Though now that he mentioned the other God’s reaction, he couldn’t help but imagine a few hypothetical samples a the moment; the images in his head bringing a small giggle out of him. “Ares would probably be furious! And Apollon will probably be so annoyed at coming all that way for nothing. Ah, I just love being a thorn to Sunshine. It’s so easy, yet always so amusing when you knock that prick down a few pegs.” 

Regardless of how amusing the thought was, it quickly flew out of his head during the time he was marking the other; all thoughts of their deaths gone by the time his attention switched to explaining the terms. For all of his distracted thoughts, he was still apparently focused enough to be right about Nick finding offense to his words, though it seems that he was slowly learning how to placate an annoyed puppy since his continued explanation was met with only a small huff of air rather than an outburst.

Even better yet, it seems he was still the master of bringing out fear with only a few words—the air around Nick becoming thick with it after the small threat. perhaps it was caused by his words, perhaps it was simply due to the changes in his voice. Regardless of which it was, the end result was still beautiful in the god’s eyes: the dark tendrils of fear slowly swirling off of Nick’s form to surround him in a darkening tomb. It was unfortunate that his plans for today revolved more around embarrassing Nickto the point of his face matching his hair and eyes, or else he would revel in the dread that was currently in the air. As it was he had to force himself to move away from that delicious, heavenly fear so that they could move on with their date.

As impatient and as distracted as he was, waiting for Nick to join him once he was outside was an actual test of wills. He had almost walked away when he had noticed a few mortals nearby, pointing at him and whispering among themselves. Having a stranger just standing around on the grounds of a mafia family building was probably a cause for alarm, and he didn’t want to deal with the complications of having people ask him questions or try and deal with him in other ways. Namely because—even when in a good mood—he was still much less patient than most mortals, especially when being treated poorly. He was a God, after all! He deserved respect, even from those who didn’t worship him!

Thankfully, he was saved from having to possibly leave to avoid a confrontation by Nick, whose arrival got the other members to back off and go on their way. Apparently, even dimwitted mortals can figure out that a high-ranking member smiling at a stranger means that they are not someone to mess with. How very well trained these grunts were.

Once the hound had reached him, the god took a moment to run his eyes over Nick’s neck once more, pleased to see that the marks he left were still vivid and visible. “So now your famiglia members know that you belong to someone... and since some of them saw you with me, they’ll know that you belong to me. Or at least I assume they are smart enough to put two and two together.” He didn’t have any faith in human stupidity, but for the sake of his amusement, he was going to allow himself to believe that at least one of those who spotted them would figure out the truth.

Nick had already heard from Phobetor what the consequences would probably be if he pissed off any of the other Greek gods—including Zeus—so the possibility of eternal torture didn’t come as a surprise to him, but that knowledge didn’t do much to lessen the brief spike of fear that he felt as a result. It took a great deal of willpower for him not to flinch, but he managed it. It was impossible for him to hide any sort of fear around Phobetor, he knew, but he still wanted to try to save face regardless. 

“…At least we’ll both go out with a bang when the time comes, though I can’t promise how long I’ll last once the torture starts after we get caught.” He was almost tempted to suggest that the god send him an appropriate nightmare or two in advance that might help him build up some resistance, but that would mean inviting a nightmare of himself being tortured…and that was something he’d really rather not do at the moment, especially since it could be centuries or even millennia before Phobetor would decide to break away from the powers restraining him.

Still, even knowing what would happen to him afterwards, he was looking forward to that wonderful night. If he was indeed going to give up his immortality one day, experiencing that one last amazing night with Phobetor was the only thing he knew of that would ever make it worth it.

Watching the god’s smirk soften so completely made his heart flutter, because as much as he appreciated Phobetor’s usual sadistic nature and smirks, the smile he saw now could only be one meant for him—because of him. That thought helped fuel the passion he poured into the kiss, and even though the god’s lips always felt cool against his own, he could have sworn he felt an extra little spark of heat come from somewhere—but then again, maybe that was just him. What he was certain of, at least, was that Phobetor had not only allowed the kiss, but given back just as much as Nick had put into it.

Listening to the answer to his question, he raised a single eyebrow in curiosity. “If amator and cupitus aren’t perfect translations, there must be something you’re not telling me. Or…since you said you’re my erastês because you’re the older one, are the terms just age specific?” That would explain why there wasn’t an exact translation in Latin, since there weren’t any intimate terms of endearment which indicated an age difference; only gender.

The god’s comment comparing the Romans and Greeks got a chuckle out of the hound, and a hint of his smirk returned. “I don’t care for being too uptight myself, so based on that, I would say the Romans were the weird ones. Then again, the humans around here call me ‘crazy’ and ‘mad,’ so I might not be the best judge of that. I’ll let you decide.”

While Phobetor appeared lost in thought, Nick stayed where he was in an attempt at being obedient—which felt necessary at the moment, since he’d already gone against his offer of obedience to steal a kiss. It was tempting for him to take advantage of the moment and try to kiss the distracted god again, or perhaps leave a few marks of his own, but he restrained himself and waited. When the other male finally spoke up again, he grinned. “I’ll stick to Ikelos, then. It’s what I like using best anyway.”

At the suggestion to fix himself back up, he was reminded of how flustered he probably looked—among other things—and quickly stood. Glancing down at himself, he uttered a brief “Yeah, thanks,” and began buttoning his shirt back up. His fingers brushed over some of the marks on his neck in the process, feeling their size through the added warmth and the slight swelling on his skin, and he snatched up his tie and jacket before turning away from the god. He could only hope that Phobetor hadn’t seen the blush rise to his cheeks before he turned, because he could feel it there in full force now. Inwardly cursing, he busied himself with putting his tie back on, only to then realize that he needed to look in the mirror to make sure it was on straight.

Taking a deep breath, he shrugged his suit jacket back on and walked over to the mirror positioned in one corner of the room. The sight that greeted him was fairly typical—except for some rather dark, prominent hickies on the side of his neck, visible even above the collars of his shirt and jacket. As he finished adjusting his tie, one hand drifted to the marks again, and when his fingers trailed over them this time, he had to suppress a shudder.

What was wrong with him?! He had offered his obedience thinking it was the most ideal, appropriate gift that he could give the god he’d somehow grown to love, but he hadn’t expected he would actually enjoy being submissive at all, and yet…maybe…

Shaking his head, he refused to finish that thought and instead turned back towards Phobetor, crossing the room to return to the god’s side. “Since we’re going out for our date, where would you like to go?”

As morbid as talking about their deaths were, Phobetor couldn’t help but chuckle at the simple idea of it, especially given what Nick said and the spike of fear coming off the hound despite his brave words. “If we ever grow so tired of still being alive, I’ll bring you into the dream world for a night and let my powers loose to do as they please. We’ll experience one amazing night together, more glorious than anything else we could possibly have done, and perhaps we’ll get away with seeing the aftermath the following morning as well~! Then, once the other gods come for me, we can deny them the pleasure of killing me by giving up our immortality together, so that you won’t have to suffer needlessly after I’m gone.”

It was definitely something to look forward to for the god, even if it was several millennia in the future.

The hound’s curiosity about the terms of endearment used was quite adorable, so Phobetor was hardly opposed to giving a small lecture to explain things better. Explaining his culture and way of thinking wasn’t anything the god shied away from, no matter the topic. “The terms are kind of both age specific, as well as type of relationship specific. The erastês-erômenos relationship is... hmm... the easiest way I can think to explain it is that it’s a relationship between a man and a boy.” 

Realizing that his choice of wordings might seem somewhat insulting to the other male, Phobetor quickly raised a finger to Nick’s lips to stop any potential outburst until he was finished speaking. “Before you say anything, me marking you as the erômenos is not me calling you a boy, especially not in any derogatory manner. A ‘boy’ to the people back then was just a male who hasn’t grown a beard yet to be seen as an adult—as a man. Neither of us would qualify to be seen as men in our current forms, but that doesn’t really apply to either of us since we are immortals. By right of divinity and age, we would both be considered men. I’m simply giving you the position of erômenos based off age and position of power.”

With that part of the explanation out of the way, the god removed his finger as he continued talking. “The Greeks considered this type of relationship as a sort of rite-of-passage for the beloved. He would be courted, he would pick a lover, and then it was up to the lover to take the beloved under his wing to teach him the social do’s and don’ts; kind of like how I’m taking you under my wing to help you improve your torturing skills by letting you hone them in my nightmares. It was a positive relationship that helped strengthen the community as a whole within Greek society. The beloved is able to gain powerful allies and friends through his lover, so the family benefited from it. But the Romans...”

He paused once more, ears giving a few rapid twitches as the god switched his way of thinking to match the Roman ways as opposed to the Greek ways in order to explain better. “It was a threat to the Roman way of living. Having an outsider male courting your son? Trying to take the position of the most important male in that boy’s life away from the father, the paterfamilias? Were the Greeks insane to allow such a thing?! The father should always be the one to educate his son and heir about social standards, not some stranger! No, it would not do to have such a relationship taking place so openly. Towards slaves or freedmen, that’s alright—they are barely people anyway—but towards a proper citizen is complete dishonour upon that family.”

With his little lecture complete, Phobetor shook his head rapidly to return his mind to its normal way of thinking, the more laid-back Greek form. “So ya, that’s why there is no Latin translation. There technically are words that are used, but none of them are very... endearing, shall we say... not to mention they would technically be directed at me more than you at the current moment, as they focus more on role than age, and so far I’ve been the one in the passive role.” 

His gentle smile shifted slightly at that, becoming a deceptively innocent smile that just had a threatening edge to it. Leaning back towards Nick, Phobetor’s voice dropped to a quiet whisper, though a small change in his vocal chords left there being a painful, spine-chilling edge to his voice. “So let me make it clear: you stick to calling me Ikelos or your erastês, because the day you call me cinaedus or concubinus is the day I use my claws to castrate and kill you as painfully as I possibly can, multiple times. Got it~?”

Confident that he got his point across, Phobetor returned his posture and vocal chords to normal and allowed Nick to take his time fixing up his appearance. Despite the hound trying to hide it, the god’s sharp eyes were easily able to pick up on the reddening of Nick’s cheeks before he turned away, but he chose to not make a comment about it... yet. There will probably be some time in the future where he brought it up again, but that was ammunition that he was going to hold onto for the moment. 

Once Nick was ready to go, Phobetor hopped out of his seat, a small skip in his step as he walked towards the window. “Well, you are going to walk the normal way downstairs, making no move to hide your neck even if you pass someone in the hallways. I’m gonna be waiting for you outside in my human form. You can take me out for dinner, since I am sure that you’re probably hungry. I won’t be eating, naturally, so pick somewhere that you enjoy and frequent a lot.”

“Ahhh, that sounds amazing.~ Even one night of that and most humans would be terrified of their own beds once word would spread of so many people dying from fear in their sleep. Maybe I could even use sleeping aids as mental torture devices for a little while. That would be fun.” Even as he chuckled at the obvious longing on Phobetor’s face, Nick’s own smile grew, his tone full of a childlike eagerness as if he were discussing some fun new game, not the torture and death of countless people. 

His mood soured, however, at the mention of what the consequences would be. He didn’t like acknowledging that the other gods besides Phobetor were more powerful than both of them, but it was true. A low growl reverberated in his throat, and he ended it with a reluctant sigh. “…From what you’ve told me before now, I don’t think I could stop Zeus from killing you if I had to, but I’d sure as hell try. You can tell me it would be a stupid idea all you want, but that wouldn’t stop me. I couldn’t just watch you die.” Though he didn’t like the thought of Phobetor’s powers being kept on a leash, it seemed to be the preferable option given the alternative.  

And at the moment, he couldn’t—and wouldn’t, even if he could—complain about the god having control over him either, at least for now. Seeing the familiar smirk soften surprised him, and though his eyebrows rose up a bit in curiosity, he didn’t verbally question it. If he had to guess, his assumption had been correct, but he was still confused other than that. 

Phobetor’s next statement only fueled his curiosity further, but before he could try to ask again, the god’s lips were on his neck, effectively silencing anything else he might have said. His eyelids fluttered closed, the teasing kisses coaxing his pulse to a slightly faster rate. They were pleasant, he had to admit to himself, and not how he’d expected Phobetor to start off. It felt strange to be consciously allowing this; to openly expose such a sensitive, vulnerable part of his body, no questions asked. He’d never thought himself to be the type to just sit obediently and let something happen to him, yet that was precisely what he was doing….and while it made him feel a little nervous, he didn’t hate it. On one hand, his fingers itched to reach out and make a grab for the god so that he could do the same thing to Phobetor instead, but on the other…it wasn’t so bad just being obedient for a change. 

The slow, sensual licks left a cool tingle on his skin, sending pleasant shivers down his spine, and the god’s voice so near to his ear did the same. The real impact he felt, however, came from the words themselves.

The translation for erômenos was cupitus.

…Beloved.

The comprehension was instantaneous, and he gasped, though even he couldn’t be sure if it was due more to the meaning of the word or the feeling of the god’s mouth sucking on his neck, fangs lightly brushing over his skin. The combination of the two sent him reeling, and he shuddered, subconsciously tilting his head further to expose more of his neck. He would have normally made a point of showing a little resistance to any marks after the first one since they would be going out soon, but at the moment, he couldn’t find it in him to so much as try sending a disapproving look Phobetor’s way. His promise wouldn’t have allowed him to really protest the marks anyway, but the thing was—this time, as he could feel the god’s mouth beginning to leave more and more marks, he didn’t care. All it had taken was one little word, and he was genuinely, ridiculously happy.

He tried not to show it too much, lest he inflate Phobetor’s ego more than he’d like to as a result, but the only thing that stopped him from having a huge, completely obvious smile on his face were the god’s lips still on his neck, moving from one spot to the next and coming very close to drawing out a little moan. As it was, the corners of his mouth turned upwards, the lines of his face shifting to suggest a soft, warm smile full of nothing but affection and devotion—a smile only Phobetor would ever see. 

When the god’s mouth returned to his pulse, now leaving a mark instead of a just a kiss, he finally let out a quiet, low moan of approval, one hand reaching out to lightly cup the back of Phobetor’s head. His fingers trailed through weightless dark strands of hair, and as he felt the other male begin to pull away, he let his hand drop back to his side. His neck returned to its natural position, and he gazed up at the god, the adoration he felt shining in his eyes. 

“I… I don’t think anyone will question who I belong to, no.” His voice had an unintentional husky edge to it, and he cleared his throat. “But even though I’m completely and obediently yours for the day, let me have a moment to do this…please.” 

Even though he’d asked, he barely gave the god a chance to answer before leaning closer and capturing Phobetor’s mouth with his for an intense, furiously passionate kiss. He didn’t trust himself too much with words at the moment, as he wasn’t always the best at directly saying how he felt, but surely the right kiss could do the talking for him. Whenever he finally pulled away, he was still smiling.

“Since I’m your erômenos, what should I call you, Ikelos?~”

Hearing Nick being so insistent on protecting him—despite the fact that the hound was even more powerless against the other gods than Phobetor—brought a chuckle out of the god. “Such a cute and devoted little puppy I have, even in the face of potential eternal torture for assisting me. None of them can really kill you, I hope you know. Zeus can take away my immortality as the king of gods, but his powers can’t cross-over to affect those outside of his pantheon, so you’ll probably just be tortured until you are in so much pain that you willingly give up your immortality to escape it. Don’t worry though, I don’t plan to go rogue anytime soon. I’m not scared of the consequences but I’m simply having too much fun to want to go out with such a finale just yet. One day we’ll have that wonderful night of deadly sleep, but for now, I’ll leave those poor mortals enjoy their rest.”

Regardless of whether it happened in this century or a few millennia in the future, it was a nice thought that he would have Nick by his side to enjoy it with. Granted, it was likely that he would end up sending Nick a nightmare during that time as well, but surely the hound could forgive him for killing him in his sleep if they could enjoy the rest of the experience together.

He could feel Nick’s pulse starting to speed up from the light teasing, could feel the shiver from the ministration he was giving to the hound’s neck. He didn’t need any verbal encouragement to realize that Nick was somewhat enjoying this despite always making a big deal out of wanting to be the dominant one. It seems that the god was slowly being able to bring the prideful being down to actually enjoy being more submissive, though with some effort on Nick’s side.

But the real icing on the cake was when he actually began marking the hound’s neck. That little gasp, that shudder, the further tilting of the head.... all of it was just so perfect. He didn’t care whether those were all brought on because Nick was enjoying the physical aspect of what the god was doing or whether it was because of the hound being a sentimental being that liked the endearment used, Phobetor was enjoying the results either way.

The final cherry on top was when he was actually able to bring out a moan from the other male, the sound causing feline ears to twitch upwards for a moment, rising from where they sat flat on Phobetor’s head to be out of the way. He was oh so tempted to pull away and see the other’s face, but the fingers brushing through his hair convinced him to remain long enough to finish his markings before he finally did move away, glancing up to Nick’s face.

That look... the adoration directed at him, coupled with such a gentle smile... It was quite an amazing thing to realize it was for him, only for him. To think that after centuries of obtaining only scowls and tears, that he would be able to so easily bring forth a smile filled with such happiness from someone else, especially from a hellhound. He really couldn’t help but returning that smile with one of his own, his smirk completely softening as he listened to Nick’s answer.

Even as the hound broke his complete obedience to obtain a kiss for himself, the god couldn’t help but smile against those eager lips. Pressing forward, Phobetor returned the kiss with just as much passion, eyes sliding shut as he lost himself in the kiss. If the rest of Nick’s actions and choices didn’t speak of his devotion and love, this kiss certainly sent the message across clearly to he god.

Once the other male pulled away, Phobetor sat back as well, eyes still closed and smile still on his face as he answered the next question. “As the elder one in this relationship, I’m your erastês. The lover to the beloved. I would offer a Latin version too, but the closest I can think of is amator, which doesn’t quite work. Cupitus is also a loose translation, just so you know. The Roman people were quite weird and uptight... or perhaps it was the Greeks that were weird and too open?” 

“Yeah, I will, I promise. I’ll put it to good use, too. Thank you.” The offer to learn how to use the dagger piqued his interest, and he flashed an eager smile and nodded. “I’d like that, yeah. I know some moves for how to use a basic dagger already, but even if it doesn’t have any magical properties, it’s no ordinary dagger. If you have any tips or know any special moves, I’d love to hear about them later.” But that could be set aside for another time when they weren’t about to go out on a date for Valentine’s Day. 

The cheek kiss normally would have been appreciated, and it still was, albeit a little bit less so at the moment. Nick couldn’t help thinking that the god did it on purpose as a way to point out that he was blushing, but he held his tongue and scowled, the warmth he felt on his cheeks increasing despite his efforts to avoid exactly that. His pride had just taken quite the hit, and he couldn’t help it even though he just knew that his blush would only encourage Phobetor to keep messing with him and teasing him. Luckily for him at the moment, he was perfectly fine with being claimed by the god, so that in itself didn’t serve as yet another source of embarrassment. Phobetor was his too, so it was only fair.

He was unfazed by the mention of vegetation dying off, as it hadn’t affected him personally, but the thought of an uninhibited Phobetor creating literal killer nightmares left and right put a twisted, darkly wistful grin on his face. That was something he wouldn’t mind bearing witness to in the least, and imagining it served as the perfect mood-lifting distraction from the brief humiliation he’d just suffered. He wasn’t foolish enough to think that it wouldn’t be disastrous, but that didn’t stop him from considering the possibility of it happening one day. “It would be bad for everyone else, but I wouldn’t mind sitting by and watching it happen. That would be fun, especially since I wouldn’t have anything to worry about even if you sent one to me.~”

And to Nick? That giggle was adorable.

“Ah—that explains it. I figured something was different.” Now he understood why Phobetor was displaying so much energy at the moment, and he could hardly complain. It was nice knowing that they could go out on a date and the god wouldn’t feel tired—or be particularly irritable—anytime soon. 

However, the smile on Nick’s face wavered as soon as he looked over to see the Phobetor’s smirk, and he went towards the hand beckoning him over, stopping once he stood right in front of the god. His eyes widened a little at the request that followed, and he had a pretty good idea of what would happen as soon as he obeyed. A slight flush returned to his cheeks, the color diminished due to his confusion over one particular word, and his brows furrowed to show it. “Thanks for not making me wear a collar, but would you mind telling me what erômenos means? I’m assuming it’s a Greek term of endearment, but other than that, I don’t know it.” He shrugged, reaching up to loosen and remove his tie before draping it over one side of the chair. His jacket followed, and then his fingers unbuttoned the first few top buttons of his shirt, the fabric parting to expose down to his collarbone. Since Phobetor was still sitting, he knelt down again—this time on both knees—to put himself almost at eye-level with the god. After a moment’s hesitation, he tilted his head to the side, stretching his neck to fully expose it for Phobetor to mark. 

“I’m yours, Ikelos.”

The grin that appeared on Nick’s face at the mention of what Phobetor’s powers could do if untamed.... had Phobetor had a heart, it would have probably fluttered. “It would be fun...mortals not waking up after they fall asleep, their hearts stopped in pure fear. Those that remain alive would struggle to fight against Hypnos’ powers for as long as possible in order to not fall asleep as they would have no way of knowing whether they would be next to have a nightmare or not. The dreaded feeling of wondering whether you would actually wake up after you fall asleep or if this would be your last moment.” Just imagining it brought a glazed look of longing to Phobetor’s eyes, mouth slightly watering at the thought.

However, he couldn’t forget the consequences of that, the main reason why he doesn’t simply doom the world with his powers. “It will be fun.... until the other gods hunt me down. They will stop the fun, especially Zeus. He can actually kill me if he wanted to, and then the fun will end. So I suppose it’s best if Hypnos keeps me in control.”

Just like how Phobetor had Nick under his control. He watched as the hound walked forward, smirk growing as he saw realization enter the hound’s eyes. Even if he didn’t straight out say what he was planning to do, it was easy to tell that Nick had probably guessed his intentions. However, the smirk lost some of its edge as Nick questioned the single Greek word, the corners of his mouth softening just the slightest to make it seem just a tab bit more gentle than before.

“Perhaps saying it in Latin would make more sense to you, little hellhound.” Despite saying that, the god figured that Nick’s curiosity can grow a bit. Once his neck was fully exposed, Phobetor leaned forward to press his lips against Nick’s neck, taking a moment to just tease the other by pressing soft kisses on his pulse point. Moving up to an area that Phobetor was sure would end up above Nick’s collar—and thus impossible to hide—the god first took the oppurtunity to place a few licks to the area, doing his best to drag his tongue slowly against the skin. Eventually he decided that it was enough preparation and moved on, but before that....

“The Latin translation... is cupitus.”

That would be his final words before he actually placed his mouth against Nick’s neck, very careful of his fangs as he sucked against the skin. Once he was sure that the area was nicely marked, he pulled slightly away... only to shift a little in order to move to another spot and repeat the marking process. He was very careful to ensure that most of the marks would be visible even when Nick put his clothes back on properly, but the god couldn’t help but be drawn to placing one right over the spot where the hound’s major vein was as well, feeling his pulse against his lips.

“It was yours?” The disbelief was crystal clear in Nick’s voice, and he glanced back at the dagger on his desk, mouth open in shock once more. It wasn’t that he was offended—far from it, actually. If the dagger had been given to him by anyone else, especially if that someone was a typical mortal, he would have considered it a rude, obviously last-minute gift. The circumstances made all the difference, and re-gifted or not, a dagger suitable to be used by the one god he respected was now his. It was better than his scissors, no question about it.

After the kiss ended and his offer was made, he was left staring up at a smirk that he couldn’t resist returning with a grin of his own. Even before Phobetor spoke, he had a feeling the god wouldn’t turn down this opportunity. Promising his obedience for a day was far from the smartest decision he’d ever made, particularly given that he was well aware of Phobetor’s sadistic tendencies, but he wasn’t too worried.

Despite both of them being immortal, the god’s unlimited shapeshifting abilities created a considerable difference in power between the two of them, and besides that, Phobetor knew his fears and his weaknesses. If the god truly wanted to hurt him or screw him over somehow, he didn’t need obedience to do it. That was why Nick hadn’t been afraid to make the offer. His obedience would likely make things more entertaining for the god and worse for him, should Phobetor decide to seriously wrong him in some way, but that was beside the point. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that Phobetor would take advantage of his offer, but he was also willing to believe that there was a line the god wouldn’t cross. Perhaps he would be proven wrong, but his instincts—and a certain amount of naiveté due to his loyal canine nature—told him otherwise.

The hand guiding Nick’s chin was met with no resistance, and his lips seemed to tingle where Phobetor’s thumb touched, a subtle shiver traveling down his spine. He was quick and eager to return the kiss, but had to resist the urge to pout whenever it ended too soon for his liking. Since the other male stood up, he did the same, his grin curving into a small smirk. “I thought I was already yours before I promised you obedience for a day.” It was a cheeky response he couldn’t resist, and as far as he was concerned, it was true and therefore not considered talking back.

The god’s first request, however, immediately made his smirk disappear. It was far from the worst thing Phobetor could possibly ask of him, yet he resented the mere thought of having to say words that he considered demeaning and a blow to his pride. Biting back the words he wanted to say, he settled for a quick glare directed at the god and huffed, his shoulders drooping as the sense of defeat settled in.

“…….Fine. I’m… I’m an adorable, fluffy puppy, but only for you. A-And you’re the only one I’ll allow to call me that!” There was no stipulation that said he couldn’t embellish the statement somehow, which helped a little bit, but his cheeks were still red with embarrassment by the time he was done. Huffing again, he cleared his throat and tried to change the subject.

“Why do you have so much energy today, anyway? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you quite this energetic before.”

“And now it’s yours. Take good care of it~! It’s small enough that you can wear it under your clothes without much difficulty, right? I can teach you how to properly fight with it later too, if you want.” He might not be the best fighter with a dagger—a far cry from Ares in terms of skills—but he knew how to fight well enough with it to hold his own if need be. Though if he was allowed his claws, those would be fights he could much more easily win.

There were millions of worse things that he could have told Nick to do as a first request, but while he was gonna milk this gift for all the sadistic pleasure is was worth, he wasn’t planning to actively make Nick resent him by the end of it. He quite liked the idea of continuing to have the hound as his lover, so he wasn’t going to ruin that simply for a moment of extra amusement. If anything, he could probably obtain even better amusement working alongside the sadistic hellhound rather than against him.

But for this moment, he will still revel in making a prideful creature like Nick humiliate himself with those simple words, even with the added portions. Leaning forward, he placed a quick little peck onto one of those blushing cheeks, pulling away with a small chuckle. “Mmm, I’m fine with those extra parts. After all, you do belong to me, even without this gift, so it’s only fair that I alone get the right to call you that.”

Ears twitching at the question presented to him, the god took a moment to hop over to a nearby chair and lounge across it, legs kicking back and forth in the air as he answered. “Oh, I always have this much energy. It’s just usually repressed as a side-effect of being under Hypnos’ power. It’s not a bad thing though; especially for the mortals, since me having too much energy when creating nightmares isn’t really a good thing for them. In a way, I kind of need Hypnos’ powers to keep my own in check, else I will probably cause a bit of a disaster, like when Demeter caused all the vegetation to die because she was grieving her daughter’s disappearance. That was very not fun times back then for everyone, including us gods. Me giving everyone killer nightmares would probably be just as bad.”

Despite speaking of a world-changing disaster, the sadistic god couldn’t help the childish little giggle that escaped him, finding such joy in the thought of such suffering. But that was not for right now. “Ah, but I took my rest after work in the mortal world today instead of heading home, so I haven’t been around Hypnos in a while to be directly affected by him, and since I did get my rest, I’m not tired. So that means I have plenty of energy for hanging out with you.”

Speaking of...

With the information he had learnt from his little faceless shadow, Phobetor had wasted no time obtaining what he believed to be the perfect gift for his little puppy. Sure, he might be able to think of something better if he thought for longer, but given that the holiday was apparently today, time wasn’t really on his side for that. Regardless, he had a feeling that Nick would enjoy the gift.

With a flurry of black feathers, the god flew into Nick’s room, swift wings carrying him so quickly that he seemed to just suddenly appear in the room. Allowing his wings to dissolve, Phobetor softly landed on the ground and took a few hops forward to get closer to Nick. “Puuuuppyyyyy~! Guess what a little shadow told me. Apparently it’s a holiday today in the mortal world. Something that starts with V, I didn’t care to remember the actual name. Though you probably know about it though, since you live here and all that. But the shadow also suggested something reaaaaally interesting.”

While Phobetor had seemed to be nothing but a flurry of activity in the few seconds that he had already been there, it was quite easy to notice that his hands were not joining in that rush of movement. In fact, both of his hands were hidden behind his back, though they were soon brought forward to reveal an object wrapped up in white linen. “They told me that couples give each other stuff like chocolate, flowers and jewelry on this day. I figured that getting a cute puppy like yourself chocolate wasn’t the best idea, and I already got you flowers…. technically. And just giving jewelry is boring, so I decided to do something better.”

Tail waving in excitement, the god held out the present for Nick to take, waiting for the hound to unwrap the linen. His gift wasn’t one that would even normally be considered as a present for any occasion—let alone as a show of his apparent love—but something told him that Nick would still be quite surprised to see a beautifully decorated metal scabbard and dagger when he opened the last fold. 

“It’s kind of ancient, back from waaaaay before you were created, but it’s still in good condition. I figured it might be more useful as a stabbing weapon than your scissors.”

Nick was trying to focus on reading through the file for his latest assignment, but on this particular day, he was finding himself too distracted by other thoughts to focus properly on his work.

Immortality typically didn’t allow for lasting relationships, but in spite of this, it was the first Valentine’s Day in a very long time that Nick felt a little…lonely. He’d never really been bothered by the day, as it was often easy to find someone he could spend his evening with. Humans had commercialized the holiday to such a degree that he rarely gave it a thought other than that, but this year was different. This year, he couldn’t just pick someone to have dinner with or to tempt into bed. Loyal as he was, he didn’t want to find anyone else to be his partner for the day, and he was beginning to think he would need to call out to a certain god to get a visit.

…Granted, Valentine’s Day wasn’t a typical holiday he would expect the god to know about, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to spend time with Phobetor on what most mortals considered to be a special day. He was being selfish, perhaps, but he hardly cared.

Just as he was about to give up on concentrating on his work, the fastest rustle of feathers he’d ever heard—followed by an all-too familiar voice—had him whirling around in his chair to face the sounds. Eyes wide with shock, he stared at the other male in his room, slowly processing the fact that Phobetor was here and he hadn’t even needed to ask. He’d heard of prayers being answered before, but this was on a whole other level.

He was equally shocked that the god knew about Valentine’s Day, and not only that, had made the extra effort to bring him a gift! Open-mouthed, he stared down at the bundle of white linen for a moment before accepting it, and the unexpected weight of it in his hands quickly transformed his surprise into excited curiosity. One hand worked to unfold the cloth while the other held onto it, and as he lifted up the final fold to reveal the dagger in its scabbard, his eyes lit up with wonder and glee.

It was gorgeous.

The detailed metalwork was unlike any he could ever hope to find on a typical dagger in modern times, and he reverently ran a few fingers down the side of the scabbard before carefully drawing out the dagger. The blade itself took his breath away for a moment, the gasp easily audible from anywhere in his room. Even the blade was beautiful—and it looked exceedingly deadly, which made it even more perfect. Moving as quickly has he trusted himself to do while still being careful, he sat the scabbard and linen cloth down on his desk. One hand now free, he gingerly ran a finger down the side of the sharp metal and shivered with excitement and anticipation, already imagining it in use by his hand.

“I have no idea how you got your hands on this, but I won’t ask. It’s perfect, not to mention beautiful. My scissors are custom-made, so they’re still better than most…but I guess I can admit that dagger will be far better for stabbing than they are. Thank you.” His smile wide, he carefully returned the dagger to its sheath, if only to give himself two free hands for showing his gratitude. His arms looped around the god’s waist, and he leaned in closer, bringing their lips together. He may not have asked for permission this time, but it should be allowed without complaint, he thought, since it was one way of saying ‘thank you’ for his present.

“Ah—I didn’t get you anything since this isn’t a day you would normally celebrate. I didn’t even think you knew about the holiday. But…if you’re not too tired, we can go on a date if you want.”

After accepting such an exquisite gift, his pride wouldn’t rest if he didn’t try to offer something he considered valuable in return. An idea of what he could do that might count as a gift—besides a date, that is—occurred to him, but he was reluctant to say it. He was a creature made from pride. It would go directly against the larger part of his nature to even offer it, yet he was also an immortal naturally loyal and—to an extent—subservient to those he deemed worthy, and Phobetor certainly fell into that category.

It was a matter of which he was willing to cope with more—accepting the gift and giving nothing in return, or his little idea. Since this was for Phobetor and the day was supposed to be about spending time with and giving to someone he loved… Perhaps he’d been living with humans for too long, but he knew what his heart wanted him to do.

Sighing softly, he pulled away, but only so that he could move down onto one knee. He reached for one of Phobetor’s hands with his own, placing a gentle, affectionate kiss on the back of it, then looked up to lock eyes with the god. “I wouldn’t offer this to just anyone, but for you and for today only, I’ll be nothing but obedient. I’ll do whatever you want without complaining about it, and you can say or do whatever you want and I won’t complain or talk back. Don’t get used to it, but just for today… If you want to take advantage of it, enjoy it. I won’t go back on this offer, I swear.”

It was definitely nice to see Nick again, especially with that shocked look on his face, but seeing it finally morphed into joy once the hound opened his gift was even more worth the trip here. He still didn’t really care about the holiday and what it might be about—not even bothering to question why mortals even bothered coming up with such a holiday in the first place—but he could admit that he did like spoiling his little puppy to the point of getting such happiness.

He liked getting fear out of his too, but he could forgo that for the moment.

While Nick said that he wasn’t going to ask where Phobetor had obtained the gift, the god himself saw no problem with revealing that information. “It’s one of my own. That one was made by one of the cyclops that now works alongside Hephaistos at his forge. I never really had any need for it, since my claws and fangs do more damage, but I still learnt how to use it and other basic weapons in case another big war between the gods happened. My family usually avoided taking part of those, but stuff can happen. I have a few others, some even made by Hephaistos himself, but those ones... I think Morpheus and Mother and Hypnos would scream at me if I brought something that powerful into the mortal world, and if Hypnos is screaming at you, you fucked up big time. That one might not have any real magical properties, but it’s still more durable than any mortal-made weapon.”

It might seem a bit rude to basically re-gift an old object of his to the hound, but it wasn’t like he could just go to some mall and buy Nick a gift. The hellhound was part of a rich organization; he could buy whatever he wanted with the money he had. On the opposite side, Phobetor didn’t actually posses any mortal currency. He simply had no need for it. Overall, that just meant that all his gifts had to come from the immortal world. Had he had more time, he might have gotten something custom-made for Nick. But since he was only told today that he should get the other a gift, the hound would have to make do with a hand-me-down. A powerful hand-me-down, but a hand-me-down all the same.

Any further explanation of the origin of the gift would be put on halt as Nick’s arms wrapped around his waist and the hound’s lips found his own. Leaning into the kiss, the god placed his own arms over Nick’s shoulders, lacing his fingers behind the hound’s head. The whirlwind of energy and activity that the god had been slowed as he enjoyed the kiss, though his ears still occasionally twitched and his tail was constantly waving. 

When Nick finally broke the kiss to speak, the god couldn’t help but tilt his head a bit. “I didn’t know about it. Someone literally told me about it just today and while I still don’t care about the holiday since it’s one of a different pantheon, I figured that you probably would celebrate it since you live in the mortal world. I just decided to use it as an excuse to visit and spoil you. Don’t really care if I get a present in return, though I won’t say no to a date. As I’m sure you can tell, my energy levels are quite high at the moment.”

Having the hound finally move away made the god drop his arms down to allow the other his freedom, but he hadn’t expected Nick to go down on one knee. Blinking down at the hound as he kissed the back of his hand, cat ears twitched in interest as Nick revealed what he was willing to give as a gift. It wasn’t really even necessary since Phobetor didn’t really care to celebrate the holiday past using it as an excuse to spoil his little puppy. 

However, he wasn’t going to deny this treat.The curious look soon disappeared off Phobetor’s face, replaced by a devious smirk. Leaning forward, the god raised his other hand to Nick’s chin, tilting the hound’s head a bit further up as the god’s thumb traced over his lips, a light and teasing touch. “Oh? If you’re offering yourself so freely to me because of this holiday, I think I might actually come to enjoy this V-whatever day. I don’t think it’s very wise offering anything to someone who is willing to take everything, but you can’t take back your words now. Looks like you’re mine~!” Leaning further down, he pressed a kiss to Nick’s lips, pulling away soon after to straighten up completely.