10 - A few dates later

Charon held Hermes' gaze, but he gasped and sighed when he felt him teasing him back. He smiled, of course - he should have expected such a payback, and he surely enjoyed it. Out of respect for his partner, he didn't try to force him still, although he was aching to finally start.

No, indeed he fought to remain still, with both his hands on Hermes' thighs, his sinful moves drawing raw wheezes from his lips.

Hermes grinned down at Charon, holding his gaze, biting his lower lip to keep himself from sighing with pleasure. So his partner could make some noises, then - and they so happened to be some of the most arousing sounds he had ever heard, and they were made because of him. Oh, he loved this. He loved this so much.
"Well, Boss", he murmured with a smirk. "You make a really pretty sight splayed out under me like that, you know? I could get used to that." He finally reached back behind him to take a hold of his lover's hard length, lifting his hips to position himself over it. "I'm not as good of a tease as you", he added, throwing him a coy glance. "I'm more on the impatient side of things." He let out a choked moan when he felt the tip press against his entrance, and he steadily lowered himself, slowly but still somewhat impatiently, only stopping once he had taken all of Charon's manhood inside him. He had to pause then, head tilted back and eyes closed to better take in the delicious feeling. Then he looked back down, catching the beautiful eyes of the man beneath him, shot him a sinful smile and started to move.
He'd make sure to give Charon a show he'd never forget.

Oh, Charon would never forget this night. How could he? The sight of Hermes rocking his hips on top of him, the tight, hot warmth against his own length, the look of hunger in his partner's eyes... This was all too much and not enough at the same time.
He followed the pace set up by Hermes, until his pleasure had peaked up too much. He made a wheezing noise, trying to warn his beloved that he was close, before he reached between them to wrap an hand around Hermes' length, to caress him rhythmically when he reached his own orgasm.

Hermes, as stated before, was an impatient man. He had soon enough picked up the pace as soon as he had made sure his lover wouldn't have minded it, making sure to angle himself so that whenever he'd grind his hips down, Charon's length would hit deep inside him exactly where he wanted. And, as also stated before, numerous times even, Hermes, being a man who literally never shut up, never missed to let his much more silent lover know just how much he was enjoying himself. Loud gasps, moans, strings of filthy words fell from his lips just as much as sighs of Charon's name and incoherent words as he neared his orgasm himself. He had actually made a gesture as to reach for his own length, only to be preceded by his boyfriend - and he had moaned an appreciative thanks, bucking his hips against his hand until he reached his climax. He leaned back a little, fighting the instinct to slump over his lover, breathing heavily.

Charon brought his hands in the small of Hermes' back to offer him some support, while he was left panting himself. He gently tried to cradle his boyfriend into his arms to help him down on the mattress by his side, and let out a soft smile when he leaned in to kiss his temple, soft and sweet.

He then spent the next minutes catching his breath again, while gazing fondly at his beloved. Only when they both recovered and looked at each other did he raise his hands between them.
"Are you alright?" He didn't wait for Hermes' answer before he reached for his hair, running his fingers through his locks to put them back in order.

Hermes bonelessly let Charon guide him down on the bed, without resisting gravity anymore. He would have tried to complain that he was dirty, but his lover was being so tender with him that he just couldn't bring himself to do anything else than smile when he was kissed on the temple like that. He leaned in to playfully kiss him on the nose, and rested a hand on Charon's hip, watching lovingly over him beforr he caught sight of that signed question.
He chuckled, letting the other man swipe his hair away from his forehead. "Alright? Only alright? Give yourself some credit, Boss", he joked lightly, leaning in to briefly nuzzle against his boyfriend's throat. "I feel very good. Don't you?"

Charon let out a soft chuckle. He didn't answer - with Hermes nuzzling his neck, he doubted he would see him. He kept on stroking his boyfriend's hair with fondness, and remained still for a while with him.

A few minutes later, he pulled away, and asked for his beloved to wait for him. He soon came back with a wet towel to clean him up a little bit, and he made sure he was comfortable enough, before he laid back down at his side, holding him close. He felt happy and sated, like he had never felt with a partner before.

Hermes held back a soft smile when Charon came back with a towel to clean him up. He couldn't say he'd always had such thoughtful partners. He hummed when they were laying close to each other again, and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, pressing his whole body against him. "Hope you've got nothing against cuddling, Charon", he murmured against his skin as he lazily petted his long hair, even if he didn't really expect an answer. "You'll need to use force to push me off." He was soon asleep, happy and cocooned against his beloved.

Charon smiled to himself, and kissed Hermes' temple again so he would understand that he was fine with cuddling, and wouldn't push him off during the night. He was a pretty quiet and still sleeper, after all!
He too fell asleep soon afterwards.

--

Hypnos grumbled into his pillow for the upteenth time, and then glared at his alarm clock. What if it was three in the afternoon? Granted, he had just closed his eyes one time too much in the morning after ten, and had skipped lunch. But he'd happily sleep some more, if it weren't for his grumbling stomach.

He sighed and eventually pushed his blanket off. He grabbed some hoodie, put it on, and gave his pajama pants a look. He shrugged. No one would bother him on his way to the kitchen, anyway.
He slipped his feet into his cosy slippers, stretched and yawned before he finally pushed himself up on his feet. This time, he took the time to catch his headband to slip it on, and get some of his too fluffy hair out of his face.

Gosh, this was exhausting. Hopefully he'll manage to get something quick to eat, and could go back in bed.

Usually, when you look like Michela - jet-black hair falling over a pale face, dark eyes, topped by even darker eyebrows constantly pulled into a frown that would have made Akainu's resting bitch face appear almost natural - people don't just open their house doors when you knock.
Especially not in the kind of rich, high-class neighborhood she was passing through right now, feet protesting loudly in her sneakers for the amount of walking they had been forced to do and shoulders bending over the weight of a backpack that was definitely not meant for a human being, but rather a horse.
However, there are a few exceptions to that 'don't-open-the-door' rule. In her case, the exception was represented by the peppy, blonde little girl skipping ahead in front of her on the sidewalk, a box in her hands and the girlscout insigna all over a cute-looking uniform. Michela sighed when they arrived at the door of the upteenth door that day, and half-heartedly glared down at Lucia as she eagerly knocked on it. "This is the last one, you hear me?", she sternly told her. "The last one. Then we're going straight back home, no matter how many cookies you didn't sell." Yeah, not a lot of people had bought cookies in the end. Rich people can be really stingy with their money. But it hadn't been enough to taper Lucia's good mood, at least. "Okaaay", she answered with a sing-song voice, tapping her foot together as she waited for someone to open up.
"Hello, good afternoon!", she'd chirp as soon as that happened. "My name is Lucia, and I'm here to support my group of Girlscouts by selling cookies! It's just one dollar each box! Would you like to buy some? They come in many different flavors and they are all very good!" Michela just stood behind her with a deadpan expression, watching over her sister as she went over her usual spiel.

The main butler of the Cthonia house - a middle-aged woman - looked both moved by Lucia's grace and polite words, and a little bit embarrassed. "Oh! Well, I suppose I could take you a box, in my masters' absence-"

"Did I hear cookies?"
A sleepy and disheveled head came into view, and Hypnos grinned at Lucia kindly.
"Sir, you're awake," the butler quietly noted.
"Eyup! I so happen to be starving, so cookies would make a wonderful breakfast!" Hypnos hunched down so he could be at eye level with Lucia. "Hello, my name is Hypnos! What's your name?"

Lucia shot a big smile at the butler first, and then at Hypnos, since he was being so friendly with her - and since he clearly wanted to buy at least one of her cookie boxes! "My name is Lucia!", she answered, offering her hand to be shook.

Michela carefully watched the interaction, suppressing a smile when her sister seemingly found someone friendly that was intentioned to help her out. She off-handedly thought that it was quite weird for someone to have woken up at three in the afternoon. But then again, this Hypnos looked like he was about her age - maybe even a couple of years younger. Maybe he had stayed up to party until late in the night, who knows. Well, good thing that at least nobody seemed to pay her any mind, that way they might be going away soon-
"And that is my big sister Michela, my chaperone! She isn't a girlscout, but she does her best!"
Michela shot a little glare at Lucia, who just grinned back at her.

Hypnos looked up, and his smile momentarily disappeared. Only to be quickly back on his lips. "Well, hello Michela!"

He might still be sleepy, but thankfully his brain always worked fast.
"Say, it's quite cold outside! Would you like to come in for some warm tea, coffee or milk? That way you can tell me all of the cookie flavours you have, and I'll buy you an extra box that we could share!" he told Lucia with excitment.

"Uh... hi", Michela answered cautiously, still keeping a little to herself. She frowned a little when he spoke to Lucia again, though. Going inside for a cup of warm something? In a house they didn't know, with people they didn't know? Hm.
She stared suspiciously at Hypnos, at his hair in disarray, his sleepy, droopy puppy eyes and large, comfortable clothes and slippers.
Well. Alright, he didn't look very threatening, that was for sure. She could always deck him in the face if he tried anything funny, right? Right. On the other hand, it was late, she was tired, and she didn't really feel like stopping by for a sudden tea was that much of a great idea, even if her sore feet would have thanked her. She brushed some hair aside, uselessly as it fell right back over her face. "I don't know... thanks for inviting us, but we really should-", she started, only to notice that her sister had already quickly and gleefully waltzed her way in, passing right through Hypnos and the butler.
"... I suppose we're going to accept. I'm very sorry, I'll get her back immediately", she quickly apologized, before bellowing her sister's name to tell her not to just run into some stranger's house like that!

Hypnos chuckled. "Oh, don't worry, come on in! I was going to get myself some hot chocolate too anyway. Besides, you look like you could use some rest too." He grinned at Michela. "I've been there myself- sort of. My mother enrolled me and my brother in the boy scout squad, and we went around with my brother to try to sell tombola tickets. It was a nightmare. I was so exhausted by the end of the day that my big bro ended up carrying me around, and I napped in his arms!" He gestured for Michela to follow him, and walked forward, calling to Lucia.

"Miss Lucia, the kitchen's that way! Would you rather have hot chocolate or hot milk?"

"Hot chocolate please thank you!!", Lucia loudly answered from the end of the corridor, quickly making her way back towards the direction Hypnos had pointed to.

Michela sighed, and shoved her hands in her jeans' pockets, grumpily walking inside behind Hypnos. "I could definitely use some rest, yeah", she muttered, biting back the comment about how it was just how she looked all the time. Like someone who could use to sleep for a couple hundred years. "You mean you were a normal kid, then. I wish she was the one getting tired, but instead she's been jumping around for the whole day and she still hasn't stopped for a single second. I can deal with that amount of energy for just so long."

Hypnos laughed kindly when he saw Lucia running around excitedly, and turned to look at Michela again. "Well- if I may, that's really nice of you to still come with her! Now, between you and I-" He lowered his voice, and asked her in a conspirative whisper, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rank her cookies? Be honest with me." He winked at Michela, clearly meaning it in a playful way.

"It's not like I had a choice in the matter", Michela answered distractedly, keeping her eyes trained on her sister like a falcon, ready to reproach her if she went too far ("Stop running around like a little savage, go sit down at the kitchen table!") She squinted at Hypnos, raising a brow at his question when she understood that he was trying to joke with her, and pursed her black-painted lips in fake thought. Well, no harm in humoring him. He was being nice. "As per Girlscouts policy, I am not allowed to answer to that question with less than ten", she answered flatly. "But I'm not a Girlscout, so-"
"Don't be mean with my cookies!"
Michela rolled her eyes, holding back a smirk. "I guess I'd go for a solid eight. Depending on the type of cookies you like."

Hypnos laughed heartily. "Oh, I love cookies. Listen, I'll buy you first a box to try them, and if you told me the truth and they're at least a solid 8, I'm buying the rest of the boxes!" He grabbed three mugs, and started to prepare hot chocolate. He made sure to know beforehand how these lovely ladies that were visiting him liked their milk/chocolate ratio, and filled their mugs accordingly, before he put them one by one in the microwave.

He made an impressed noise when he bit into the first cookie, and winked at Lucia. "Oh, I think your sister was hard on you. They're a good nine and a half, and I know exactly how to transform them into a 10!"

Michela scoffed, rolling her eyes when Hypnos mentioned her being too hard with her judgement. I mean, yeah, maybe, but she wasn't too much of a cookie fan to begin with. She busied herself into making sure Lucia was sitting correctly down at the table where they'd drink their hot chocolate, even though by now her sister was good enough at that on her own.

"It's alright, it's difficult to impress Michi", Lucia admitted candidly, before grinning happily at the high rating her cookies were getting. "Oh! How?"

Hypnos threw a discreet glance at Michela - she seemed like a kind, caring sister, and kind of reminded him of his own elder brother in the way she treated Lucia - before he focused on his cookie for a bit, munching happily on it.

When Lucia asked to know about his idea, he grinned, and winked at her. "First, you take your cookie... And you dip in in your hot chocolate. Not too long! One full second." He counted it with Lucia as he dipped down his own cookie, and then proceeded to bite on it. "Mmh! Delicious! How many more boxes of these do you have?"

Lucia promptly imitated Hypnos, following his exact gestures as he dunked his cookie in the full mug. She took a bite and looked marveled. "Ooh, it is better this way!!" She happily kept on dipping the rest of her cookie in her cup, looking up at Michela, her mouth full, when she was asked about the number of box left after their selling day.

Michela blinked. "Oh, we have twelve boxes left", she answered, nodding towards the large backpack she had momentarily dropped next to her chair as she sipped her own hot chocolate. "Thankfully enough they don't go bad very quickly", she added, already thinking with resignation about all space they'd take in her pantry back in their apartment.

"Twelve, uh? And it was a dollar per box?" Hypnos rummaged through his pockets. "Well. I don't have any smaller bills, unfortunately..." He slipped two 10-dollar bills towards Lucia, and winked at her. "You'll just have to tell your troop captain that you had one very happy customer, and the rest is extra. Alright? I'll be taking all of your boxes! I have a lot of staff and colleagues who'll be happy to taste some of your cookies."

Lucia squealed, delighted with Hypnos' selfless gesture. "Thank you so much, sir! You're very nice!", she chirped, immediately reaching for the bills with her grabby hands. Oh, her troop captain would have been so happy with her when she'd present her results at their next Girlscout reunion! "I'm sure all your friends will love my cookies!"

Michela felt sincerely stricken by that generous gesture. Sure, one could argue that twenty dollars wasn't much for someone who lived in a luxurious home like the one they were sitting in right now, but. On the other hand, she couldn't say she had witnessed much generosity from Hypnos' neighbors either. "Well... thank you", she echoed Lucia, even though a little more reigned in than her sister. "This will save me some space back home, at least."

Lucia eagerly kicked up and down under the table, still keeping a bit of composure while sitting though. "Maybe we can come back with more boxes another time, if you will enjoy them a lot!"
Michela threw a half-hearted glare at her sister, distractly holding her cup still with both her hands trying in vane to heat them up a little. "Now let's not get over ourselves-"

Hypnos chuckled. Lucia really was endearing, but her sister was even more adorable.

"Well, Lucia, I'd love it, but-" He assumed a fake serious expression, "I'm afraid I can only agree to it on two conditions!"

Now, the phrasing itself might trigger some alarms in any parent's mind, but hopefully his slight pout, and his relaxed attitude, that strongly contrasted with his serious face would be enough to let Michela know that he didn't mean any harm.

"One," he stated, counting on his fingers, "Your big sister has to be okay with it. And two-" he raised a second finger, "-I'll only agree if you both hot chocolate lovers consider joining my super secret club of hot and sweet beverages."