A/N: A happy birthday to the awesome @vqler~ 🥳🥰🥂🎂 I wish you a wonderful day and hope that all your dreams will be fulfilled~ I wanted to write for a pairing you're into, so I spied a bit on your blog and choose the duo above. 🧐🥴 I'm not that familiar with the game but I still hope they don't seem to OOC.
Summary: Surprise
Words: 1,294 words under the cut
Zagreus let out a long sigh, his breath visible in the cool night air as he stepped into the dense woods of Elysium. The moonlight filtered through the thick canopy, casting eerie yet familiar shadows around him.
This place was special - it had been their secret hideout since childhood, a secluded little clearing where he and Thanatos would escape when their burdens became too heavy to handle. Tonight though, Thanatos wasn’t there to escape responsibilities. He was there because of their argument, because of him.
Zagreus ran a hand through his unruly black hair, his fingers briefly clenching in frustration before relaxing again. Their fight had been stupid, like most of their fights - over strategy, over Zagreus being reckless, over Thanatos being too rigid.
It had escalated into sharp words, then silence, and finally, Thanatos had vanished like the wind, retreating to their sanctuary alone. But Zagreus wasn’t about to leave things unresolved, not wanting to increase the sudden gap that had emerged between the two of them - they were best friends after all and spend almost every free moment together.
He found Thanatos sitting on an old log, his arms crossed, staring off into the distance. His ethereal presence seemed almost out of place in the ruggedness of nature, his golden adornments glinting in the moonlight. Zagreus approached cautiously, his feet crunching against the fallen leaves. Thanatos didn’t move, didn’t acknowledge him.
"Than," Zagreus tried, keeping his tone light. "Come on, are you really going to give me the silent treatment? You know that never works on me." Silence. Not even a twitch. Zagreus huffed and stepped closer, hands on his hips. "I get it, I was being reckless again. And you were right - again." He rolled his eyes at himself before smiling.
"But can we at least talk about it?" Thanatos merely turned his face away. Zagreus let out a dramatic groan. "Fine. If you won’t talk to me, I guess I’ll just have to take more drastic measures." That made Thanatos glance at him warily, golden eyes narrowed slightly.
Zagreus smirked, shifting his weight onto one foot. "You forget Than," he said, stepping right up to his friend, "I know all your weaknesses." Before the other could react, Zagreus’ fingers shot out and squeezed his side. The reaction was instantaneous. Thanatos flinched hard, a breathy gasp escaping him as he tensed.
"Zagreus… don’t you dare," he warned, his voice already wobbling slightly. Zagreus grinned, eyes alight with mischief. "Oh, I dare." With that he wiggled his fingers firmly into Thanatos’ sides and the effect was delightful.
Thanatos jolted with an uncharacteristic giggle, his arms flying down to clamp over Zagreus’ hands in a desperate attempt to stop the attack. "NAhahahh…" Still… Zagreus wondered, he wasn't reacting as strong as he usually would and a smile hushed over his lips.
"Playing the though one now, are we? We both know that won't work~" he teased and pushed the other onto the soft grass beneath them, quickly straddling his stubborn friend before he brought his hands down to his sides again, pressing in eagerly and full of gusto.
"N-NoHOho! Zagreuhus, stohohop!" he giggled, but his friend didn’t listen, nor did he want to. Hearing Thanatos laugh - actually laugh - was a rare treasure and Zagreus found himself chuckling along. "See? There’s that lovely sound. I knew you had it in you."
"Y-You’re an idiohohot!" Thanatos managed between breathy giggles, twisting to try and evade Zagreus’ relentless fingers. However, Zagreus wasn’t letting up so easily, his fingers following each and every of his movements.
"Oh Than, you wound me. And here I am, just trying to get you to talk to me," Zagreus teased, watching the other’s expressions and listening to his bubbly laughter when he hit an especially sensitive spot near his lowest rib.
Liking this reaction, he shifted tactics, skittering his fingers up to his ribs, which caused the normally composed death god to let out a high-pitched squeak before dissolving into more frantic giggles. "Nahaha! N-N-NoHohot thEhEhehre!" "Oh, definitely here," the ravenhead replied, grinning wildly as he explored all the spots he knew made his friend squirm.
His fingers danced over Thanatos’ stomach next, drawing breathless, hiccupy laughter from him. In a fruitless attempt to escape his fingers, Thanatos tried to suck in his stomach and hold his breath, much to the delight of the other.
"…Come on Than, you can’t hold your breath for eternity, just let it out - it feels so much better if you do~" he sing-songed and poked right into his belly button, causing his friend to explode into another laughing fit. "Pffffttt! HahHAHAhah! You’re sooHoho mehEhean ehEHhHEhehheh!" "YeHehah there it is~" he laughed, tickling the spot some more.
The sensation was driving Thanatos crazy and the silver-haired always wondered how the other could be so damn good at this, moving his fingers in such a gentle and yet effective way, always seeming to know just the right amount of pressure to break through his defenses. No matter what, the ravenhead could always make him smile, always.
Zagreus grinned down at him, still tickling him like it was the most normal thing in the Underworld to do. "Do you want to talk now?" he asked and smiled when Thanatos was shaking his head, probably not even hearing his question as his laughter still was the main source his ears could hear. He had hoped that he would (not) say that.
The Son of Hades wiggled with his eyebrows~ "You're leaving me no choice then~" he announced, stopping his tickling for just a second to let the other catch his breath. When their eyes met, he gave his friend a smirk and Thanatos knew what was about to happen. "N-NoOHoho, plEhehase noHot t-thaHat, heEhe ZahAhH- aHAHAhAAhhAHAhAH!!"
Before he could even finish his pleas, Zagreus had bent down and blew a raspberry right onto his belly button while his hands hold the squirming god down, tickling him in the process and only adding to it. Thanatos exploded into shrill laughter, tears of mirth running down his face, his face heating up and a reddish blush covering his cheeks and ears.
His legs were kicking out and his arms were weakly grabbing the other's curly hair as he pushed at his head as Zagreus send another wave of ticklish vibrations through his body, reaching every fiber of his body. "Ohohokay! Ohohokay, I gehehet it!" Thanatos gasped. "StoOHhoohp already! PleHehehase! ZahHag!"
Zagreus paused, hands still hovering teasingly over his friend’s torso. "Are you gonna stop ignoring me, then?" The silver-haired huffed, catching his breath, before giving Zagreus the most unimpressed look he could muster while still pink-cheeked and breathless. "You’re insufferable." "That’s not a no," he said smiling, sitting up.
Thanatos rolled his eyes, then reached out and poked him right in his side. Zagreus twitched but kept his composure, though his smirk faltered ever so slightly. "Idiot," Thanatos mumbled, shaking his head before - without much warning - he leaned against Zagreus, pressing their shoulders together in a rare gesture of affection.
Zagreus blinked before smiling softly. He hesitated only a moment before sliding an arm around Thanatos’ waist in a loose, comfortable side hug. "I’m sorry…" he whispered softly and the other nodded… nothing more needed to be said. The two of them remained there for a few minutes in silent, enjoying each other company, before the ravenhead moved.
"Come on," Zagreus said, squeezing Thanatos’ hip lightly, earning one last small giggle, "let’s go home." Thanatos exhaled, his usual serious expression replaced with something softer. Without a word, he intertwined his fingers with Zagreus’ as they began walking back together, their shadows merging into one as the pair walked away in the distance.
Pact of punishment level: maxed. Time face the scariest enemy you didn’t know lived in hell: your own boyfriend.
Zagreus “helps” Thanatos get out from between a rock and a hard place. For @vqler, who GOD I’m so sorry I’m late but I hope you like me petrifying and obliterating Thanatos for you in the name of Christmas ❤ Much love to you, much love and thanks to @hypahticklish for hosting this year’s @squealing-santa. Kudos and love to everyone who posted for the event this year, happy holidays, and happy new year!
SFW. Potential warnings: just “returning to writing” writing lol. Hades: Zagreus/Thanatos tickle fic.
Word count: 3,075
~*~
Zagreus had attempted enough escapes from the underworld to know, upon even entering a chamber, when something was immediately off. He daresay he was experienced by this point; there were things he’d come to expect. Hordes of enemies, unleashed with love from his father? Certainly. The unavoidable spiting of and smiting from god-cousins for the favor of other ones? Often. Blood, death, and darkness? Absolutely. What he found waiting for him upon crossing from his most recent ferry to the nearest Asphodelian dock was, in a total understatement, wildly unexpected.
Save for the familiar sound of bubbling, hissing lava and distant magma falls, the chamber was quiet. Zagreus entered as he always did, light on his burning feet and weapon unsheathed, ready to dodge or strike at a moment’s notice. He needn’t have, though, as he soon realized the chamber was befuddlingly empty. Sure, he’d encountered chambers with no enemies in them, either at first glance because they had just yet to spawn or at all because their presence was dissuaded by some form of boon or blessing. But the chamber he currently found himself in had no healing pool, no shop, and no allies, let alone enemies. It was just plain empty.
So busy with examining the room for some sort of clever trap, Zagreus didn’t even notice the obvious obstacle until he fully tripped over it, sprawling onto the rock with his weapon—Stygius, this time—clattering a couple of feet away. Zagreus looked back to see what had caused him to stumble, and his brow furrowed deeper in confusion. A scythe, large and dramatic and adorned with gold and a piercing purple eye lay abandoned on the rock, its usual wielder, the physically and emotively grey demigod that Zagreus had the biggest soft spot for, was nowhere to be seen. Or was he?
Zagreus turned his head, looking from Thanatos’ weapon to his own. A couple of feet away. His gaze lifted slowly upward. The grey and currently half-rocky skin had blended quite well into the environment like a natural stalagmite, and it wasn’t until he was actually looking for it that Zagreus could see that Thanatos was there, and likely not going anywhere any time soon.
The prince rose, grabbed and sheathed his sword as he rounded the Thanatos-shaped pillar until he faced the front. Zagreus had been grinning already upon realizing what he’d stumbled upon, but that grin grew all the bigger and brighter when he saw the normally brooding Thanatos looking flustered and positively grumpy.
“Don’t—” Thanatos said, sighing in defeat when Zagreus snorted and burst into bright laughter that he tried and failed to hide behind his hand. “Don’t laugh.”
"I'm sorry, but can you blame me?" Zagreus said, nearly falling into another fit of giggling when he rapped a knuckle lightly against Thanatos' chest and the action produced a satisfying thunk. "What happened?" He asked, but it was fairly obvious: petrification. Gorgons were aplenty in Asphodel, and none of them so friendly as Dusa. Most of Thanatos' body was still affected by the curse, frozen in place and turned a stony stormy grey. By the looks of it and the fact that he could talk, the petrification was naturally draining from Thanatos' form from the top first, leaving the rest of him to wait out the "thawing" process in the stiff and stiffness-inducing position of both arms partially raised as those blocking with his scythe, and both feet floating their usual few inches from the ground.
"I was waiting for your slow ass," Thanatos grumbled, drawing the prince to close his cursory examination with a snort. "Expected for us to have one of our contests, but a gorgon caught me from behind. You'd be standing in her remains, if I hadn't vaporized her."
"Remind me to stay off your bad side."
"“Stay off.”"
“Shut up.” Zagreus walked a slow circle around Thanatos. He cast his gaze outward, studying the chamber without the blinders of adrenaline and stress that tended to make things look fuzzy. He knew Thanatos was powerful, but—blood and darkness—he’d probably obliterated every shade within the next three chambers, let alone their current one. It was just a guess, but, with how thoroughly every trap had been tripped and every structural fault had been compromised simultaneously, as though from a massive blast, Zagreus was fairly certain that A. he and Thanatos were better than safe from shades for the time being, and B. even caught off guard, Thanatos did nothing at half-intensity. Drama queen. “So how long have you been like this?”
Thanatos grunted, straining to look over his shoulder at Zagreus when the prince moved fully behind him. “I don’t know. I didn’t count, as I was counting on you to be quick. Thanks for picking this one time to be the one where you drag your feet.”
Zagreus didn’t respond to the jab with more than a thoughtful hum. He was too busy watching the petrification dissipate, the cold stone color receding like a lava wave at low tide at a slavug’s pace. Ugh.
“I don’t know how long I’ve been like this, and I have no idea how long I’ll be like this, since I usually have you to cover me.”
“It’s pretty quick, from the hits I’ve taken.” Of course, Zagreus realized upon thinking it over, he was often petrified while surrounded by enemies, and the threat of being sent back down the Styx made him struggle against the enchantment with all his might. Maybe it was supposed to last a long time; he’d just be thin on patience and break himself out. “Helps if you wiggle.”
Thanatos scoffed, tipping his head back and closing his eyes. “You are an amazing help.”
“Well, what do you suggest I—?”
“Just—” Thanatos huffed, neck and shoulders visibly straining where he tried to move them, move anything, “just keep watch to make sure nothing respawns. I didn’t even want you seeing me like this, let alone your father’s subjects.”
“Any shade would think they’ve gone mad with the heat before they accepted seeing you like this as real. Or they’d be laughed out of the House for such a ridiculous and unbelievable tale, you know that. But fine,” Zagreus replied with a yawn and set himself on a little guarding route around Thanatos, keeping an eye trained outward for ominous growling, keeping an ear pointed toward Thanatos to listen to his comical grunts and breathy swears of efforts, and letting his mind drift elsewhere.
When Zagreus found himself petrified on his escape attempts, a quick shake and healthy dose of stubbornness was all it took for him to bash his way to freedom and back to slashing shades to dust. There had been one time, though, when he’d found himself without monsters to slay beside the shade who’d landed a hit and then lazily floated away and straight into a fountain of lava. (Zagreus could understand enjoying a hot bath, but yikes…) With no adversaries, Zagreus had lacked his usual incentive to escape as quickly as possible. It was odd, to stop moving so thoroughly, without being able to so much as jiggle his leg or tap his fingers or click his tongue. His companion on-call at that time had been Dusa, and he couldn't think of anyone better to offer advice as to getting un-petrified than her. Luckily, the little gifted doll he kept like a keychain on his weapon didn't need to be physically or verbally invoked—that would make summoning under the onslaught of a dozen rakers or one very maltempered ROUS even more difficult—so he pictured the soft snakey toy, reached out with his mind, and called for his companion. In a flash, Dusa appeared, all smiles and polite shyness and readiness to stone and slaughter any foe that challenged the prince. Of course, there were none, but Zagreus' head had gotten enough feeling back to explain the situation to Dusa. Her advice was the same Zagreus had given to Thanatos in the present: wiggle around a bit. And she had, so helpfully, provided a new incentive via her trusty feather duster.
Recalling the event made Zagreus—well, first he flushed to the roots of his charcoal hair, and he was glad he'd come to stand behind Thanatos at that moment, and then—grin, delighted and devilish. "Actually…"
"What?" Thanatos tried to look over his shoulder at Zagreus once more, and found only the slightest more yield in his stone-struck muscles. He could almost touch his chin to his shoulder.
Zagreus side-stepped accommodatingly to face his captive companion. "Funny thing is, Than, you're not rock. You can feel just fine." He gave another demonstrative flick to Thanatos' shoulder. "It's a bitch when you're being bombarded with enemy attacks. But it might help you break free. If I just—"
It had been a tactical move for Zagreus to move around to Thanatos’ front. For one, it allowed him easy access to scribble his fingers under death incarnate’s arms unimpeded. For another, it meant he got to see Thanatos’ face morph from dismay to betrayal to amusement (however helped along and hysteric).
“Zagreus!” cried Thanatos, the sound colored with a splash of helpless laughter. Truly, it was funny how his technically perfect defensive position, when without his intimidating weapon, left him totally vulnerable to a little tickling. (Well. A lot of tickling. Zagreus was usually on the other end of these fights, and he had already decided he was not letting such a golden fleece of opportunity go by.)
"Yes, Than dear?" Zagreus teased, smile growing wide enough as his victim's when he saw the way Thanatos' cheeks began to burn violet. It took the strength of Sisyphus, but Zagreus looked away from Thanatos’ face, looking instead at his chest and trailing the progress of the curse. Still slow, but with a bit more stuttering speed. The stony color had dissipated all the way down to about his collarbone, leaving the topmost part of his collar golden and shining once more. “No need to thank me. I can already see the curse is lifting faster. You keep wriggling, I’ll keep helping, and you’ll be out in no time!”
A whine that slipped seamlessly into a squeal punctuated Thanatos’ chortling. “But—!”
The dual-eyed demigod slowed his attack, keeping his fingers and just a featherlight flutter in Thanatos’ armpits. It was far from rare for the pair to engage in all-out tickle wars that could border on brutal, but this may have been a bit much. Zagreus didn’t want to overwhelm Thanatos. He waited for even the slightest inkling of dissent.
Thanatos ducked his head, panting and giggling and bumping his forehead gently against Zagreus’. “If someone sees…” It was a thin excuse, between euphoric lips and yellow eyes burning with excitement, and Thanatos knew it.
Zagreus definitely knew it, holding Thanatos’ jaw in his hands to pull him in for a kiss that ended when the prince chuckled, low and wicked and delighted. “Darling, with how you smote those shades, we won’t be interrupted for awhile, I’m sure.” Thanatos’ eyes scrunched shut, and he bit his lip valiantly against a renewed fit of giggling when Zagreus’ hands migrated gently down his neck and back to his underarms. “No one but me to relish your screams.”
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Thanatos teased, teeth gritted in a grin.
Able to bear stillness not a second longer, Zagreus set his fingers dancing once again, spidering viciously beneath Thanatos’ arms. Poor death threw his head back as the villainous onslaught sent laughter bursting from his lungs to echo through the lava chamber. His shoulder muscles strained against stone, but, try as he might, he couldn’t lower his arms at all. Not the tiniest inch, not the slightest bit of reprieve. Zagreus grinned. It was spectacular.
In self-preservation, Zagreus had tipped his head back from his and Than’s intimate moment seconds before going back to full tickle monster mode, which had been smart with how determined Thanatos was to thrash even with just his head. A minute or two of torture later, Zagreus saw another inevitable point of danger. The curse was ebbing; soon Thanatos was free to his shoulders, and that gave him only the ability to laugh enough for them to shake. As soon as his pectorals were free, Thanatos was going to have means, however clumsy, to fight back. With a sigh lamenting the end of a helpless Thanatos, Zagreus took one last adoring gaze at that tickled-mad, wide-grinning, ecstasy-dizzy face, and he ducked.
A deadweight hand swung over his head, and Zagreus sent one of few thanks to his father for increased difficulty in his pact of punishment. It might have been small, but his instincts were good enough now to avoid what would have been an impressive black eye. Blacker eye. Still, stone-from-the-chest-down was not the way Zagreus preferred his partners, so he couldn’t rest yet. Thanatos was flailing his arms with all his might, but he still couldn’t bend over, so Zagreus was relatively safe lounging against Thanatos’ knee. Reaching as high as he dared, Zagreus gave a few quick and indiscriminate tickles—resulting in beautiful answering shrieks—and latched onto Thanatos’ hips. Instead of pinching, Zagreus held on for dear life and dug into the fabric beneath Thanatos’ belt, burrowing into and scratching the soft sensitive spots that had the potential to make Thanatos purr but were currently making him wail like the damned.
The longer Thanatos suffered under Zagreus’ malicious mischief, the quicker the curse faded. Zagreus’ wiggling fingers seemed to be fleeing from it as they squeezed down Thanatos’ thighs, skittered behind his knees, and eventually dashed to his soles. Thanatos was fully able to buck now, body all but back to his control. Had Zagreus not laid down on the rocky ground, he likely would have been throttled. As it was, he was still out of reach, grinning up at Thanatos and receiving an exhausted but elated smile in return. There was even almost a flash of fear in death’s eyes when Thanatos realized what Zagreus had planned for the finale of their first—and hopefully not last—curse-breaking session.
“Don’t worry, Than. This spot ALWAYS makes you dance. If it doesn’t free you, nothing will.” Zagreus was positively beaming up at Thanatos, facing no defense in the form of scrunching toes or kicking feet his usually did even threatening to tickle this spot, and certainly not deterred by the pitiful attempt at a glare the smiley and slumped over Thanatos shot at him.
Any shade that had even thought about reforming within a mile of them had probably changed their mind and stayed dead a few more minutes upon hearing the howl death let out when two fingers were traced delicately under his toes. Never mind the subsequent guffawing screams he uttered when Zagreus raked five fingers back and forth beneath them while his other hand devastated Thanatos’ soles with some evil scribbling that he could only imagine tickled like hell. Those sounds, even if it did make Zagreus wince and almost want to cover his ears, and the blazing, amazing, unabashed smile that accompanied it was better than any boon the gods could give him. Maybe it was a little devil in him talking, but it was simply divine to see his lover so undone and hysterical, so free even when immobilized, so happy and for only Zagreus to see. He wouldn’t mind staying there, basking in Thanatos’ warm and hysterical glow, for a few dozen winters.
His wish was not granted. He barely got a dozen seconds before Thanatos finally shook free from the petrification, yanking his feet away from Zagreus’ hands and subsequently upending himself, laughter having sapped his strength to the point where he couldn’t even float, collapsing on top of Zagreus’ chest and leaving them both wheezing.
Once he’d gotten back the wind that had been knocked out of him, Zagreus chuckled, wrapping his arms around Thanatos and holding him close, rubbing smooth and soothing circles into the soft warm skin of his shoulder. So gentle and loving was the attention and little kisses he showered Thanatos with that his next words were a jarring dissonance.
“You know, it usually only takes me a few seconds to break free from a gorgon hit when I really want to,” said Zagreus, and he hummed smugly when he felt Thanatos’ face grow warm where it was suddenly buried in the prince’s neck. “Can’t help but wonder if, maybe, you just didn’t want to escape that badly.” He pressed a grinning kiss to Thanatos’ burning forehead. “Eh, Thana-toes?”
Just as suddenly as he’d been pinned to the floor under Thanatos, Zagreus found himself pinned to the floor, arms raised and locked in the grip of a vengeful death, whose amber eyes were absolutely alight with promise and payback, and smoldering more softly with fondness that could not be more obvious when he rolled them. “I will give you three conditions to escape a slow and very merciless end, after which I will personally drag you back down the Styx and deliver just as merciless a wake-up call.”
Zagreus gulped, his grin growing wobbly and his stomach already tickled by a swarm of prickling nerves and butterflies. “And those would be?”
“One,” said Thanatos, summoning a ghostly indigo shackle to bind Zagreus’ left wrist. “Please don’t tell anyone about this that I work with. I’d like to keep some professional dignity. Two.” Another shackled encircled Zagreus’ right wrist. “Don’t you dare call me that ever again.”
Zagreus couldn’t help but smile proudly at the purple flush that touched Thanatos’ cheeks at that, albeit his smile swiftly turned giggly and giddy as those two shackles pulled his arms taut.
“Three.” Thanatos leaned in just to nuzzle Zagreus’ ear and scoff lowly when he tried to scrunch up his shoulders. The wickedly sharp tips of Thanatos’ iron gauntlets grazed gently along Zagreus’ highest ribs, making him jolt and bite down on a yelp, grin already hopelessly wide and nerves tingling in anticipation. Zagreus was sure he lost what color he had, most of it roaring to flush and flicker in his hair and ears, and surer that he’d be cursing Thanatos next time, when the latter bowed close to whisper the final condition.
Happy new year/ very belated Christmas…? I am so sorry for the delay of your gift! But @vqler I was your secret Santa this year! Which is a bit ironic because you were the one who reminded me to join lmao XD! I hope it’s to your liking, I made a short zagthan comic for you as your gift this year (does it even count as this year anymore cause it’s already 2023…) but I digress! I hope you had an amazing Christmas and New Years! Thank you @hypahticklish for hosting @squealing-santa this time! It was an amazing experience to take part of! Which I will definitely be joining again in 2023!
