The Scared God [ManXManXMan]

Chapter Twenty-eight: Бытие - Bytiye

~Chapter Twenty-eight: Бытие – Bytiye~

Today is the day.

Or, it will be the day. It is still dark outside, so it is not quite day yet. However, day or night, it is still the day that Hors' death was predicted to be on. And because of that, I have not slept all night. Having expected this, I had taken multiple naps yesterday, but that does little when there is no constant source of adrenaline to keep me awake and aware while all the lights are off and I am laying between two stupidly-comfortable gods.

It is a familiar feeling, as I could not sleep the night before I nearly died either, though it is more due to the will not to sleep this time than the inability to. Last time I was too anxious to even attempt to sleep – though I did end up passing out at some point – but now I am determined to stay awake, lest whatever is going to kill Hors happen in his sleep. If he smothers himself with a pillow, if he wakes up to use the toilet, if he rolls out of bed and bumps his head, I want to know and be there to make sure he does not die.

Because while it is safe for me to die – even if Perun and Hors do not seem to like the idea any more than I do, though they are less resigned to it than I am – Hors may very well disappear from existence if he dies. The only gods to have ever died in our pantheon were gone long before I became king of Iriy, and with how quickly unattached souls are reborn, it is not foolish to consider that they may just have passed on to live as humans, or maybe they were reborn again as gods.

But even if that's the case, I can't let that happen to Hors.

"Go to sleep, Veles," Perun mutters in my ear, and I realize that I had started drumming my fingers anxiously against the king god's leg as my thoughts had travelled, accidentally waking him up. I immediately cease the movement, but rather than fall right back asleep, Perun curls around me further, attaching himself to me like a monkey. If I could take a picture of him right now, it would make for great blackmail, but I. Cannot. Move.

I pretend to go to sleep, but it ends up backfiring on me when I start to feel fuzzy, like I am floating on air. My eyes snap back open, and I must have jerked into wakefulness since Perun sighs and says, "Nothing is getting into this room, Veles, and Hors is not a weak god; he has been alive for centuries, and he is not going to suddenly die in his sleep."

"You don't know that," I all but hiss, trying and failing to keep my anxiety at bay, as talking about it only makes it more real.

Before Perun can offer a counterargument, which is exactly what I need to keep my brain functioning and awake, Hors suddenly pulls me closer and hums softly when I inhale sharply in surprise. He does not say anything, though, and I almost start to wonder if he is even awake or just having a weird dream when I notice the faint buzzing of magic against my side as the air around us starts to heat up ever so slightly. Before I know it, my eyelids are starting to droop.

I put up a cursory struggle, but Hors just holds fast, and when his face presses against my neck, I immediately stop, tense but unwilling to accidentally hurt him. His magic, which, at this level, reminds me of a rainy day next to a warm fire in a fireplace back when I was living with my adopted human parents, only increases my exhaustion. "Hate you," I murmur, and receive an amused snort in return. Shortly after, I am asleep.

- - - - - - -

Hors is still alive and well when I wake up to find him already starting on breakfast, looking freshly-showered and ready for the day. Though he is clearly okay, I can only hope Perun is taking this threat as seriously as I am and watched over his lover in the shower like he did with me not too long ago. Perun's reason for watching me was likely due to the concern of...suicide, which Hors is not at risk of, but, as Perun told me, hundreds of people die in bathroom-related incidents yearly, and there is no telling what might be a factor in or cause of Hors' death.