➵ 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓: 𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐒 [𝐊.𝐓𝐇]

"Call me Tae, pretty one"

"I swear, Taehyung, if this doesn't work-"

"It's only been a day!" Taehyung chuckled, looking up at you from his seat on the couch, "give it time. It'll work, baby."

"After all we've gone through for this, it had better," you shot the Ancient Greek jar that rested next to Taehyung a look. The demigod had admitted, after you had shoved Adra's text in his face, that he'd been wrong about the sphinx- you had TOLD him that all you needed to do was ask, and yet he'd still been stubborn.

"It will!" Taehyung protested, a smile breaking out over his face as he thought about it.

"I can't help but notice you seem overly pleased about that," you said dryly as you unpacked the Panda Express you'd ordered on Taehyung's request (as 'celebration', he called it). But it was true- the demigod had been in a ridiculously good mood after he'd broken the seal of his magical pithos you'd gone through so much trouble for and whispered his message into the flurry of gray dust that erupted from it.

Taehyung shook his head, leaning back into the couch and tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling with a distant smile spreading across his face.

"Guess I am," he laughed quietly, the sound conveying more than it seemed, "guess I am."

Your lips twisted in thought as you paused in your trek to get plates, fingers wrapped around the cupboard handle.

All those years of effectively reading people incredibly well were paying off, you supposed.

Sighing, you let go of the handle and made your way over to Taehyung silently, nudging the pithos beside him to the side as you sidled into the space next to him. The red-haired son of Ares looked at you as you did so, raising an eyebrow at your action.

"What?" he asked.

"What?" you shot back.

Taehyung pressed his lips together, laughter bubbling in his chest. "Why are you sitting next to me?"

"I can't just sit next to you?" you crossed your arms over your chest almost defensively, except you were smiling a little bit too.

"I feel like you are planning to kill me now," Taehyung joked lightly, playfully leaning away from you.

"Ha ha," you rolled your eyes, sticking your tongue out at him before letting out a long breath and sobering up. "But on a serious note-"

"Ah, there it is," Taehyung nodded at you, about to flick your cheek gently before he realized he wasn't wearing gloves, and awkwardly stopped his hand midway.

You coughed. "Anyway, Taehyung, I'm just- look, I'm here if you want to talk," you met his gaze evenly with a little smile, shrugging his inquisitive gaze off. "You seem like you need it."

Taehyung opened his mouth and then closed it, smile turning rueful. "I- I suppose I do," he relented, flexing his bare fingers around the bronze chain around his neck.