Minho spontaneously decided to take the cake into his baths and eat it while soaking through bubbly hot water.
Then, he fell asleep right there.
The next morning (his skeletons had apparently saved him from drowning and brought him to his bed) he woke up with his whole body aching.
Wether that was left from the torture that was Tartarus or from sleeping multiple hours in lukewarm water, Minho couldn't say for sure.
He also distinctly remembered that he had dreamt some cruel things again, further draining him out.
He would've liked to spend the whole day in his bed, but having breakfast together with Felix had become kinda mandatory.
On his way to the dining room, Changbin gave him a quick briefing of what had happened in his absence.
Minho only listened with half an ear. Moving his body was pain.
'... and the garden is going amazing-' At that, though, the god perked up. '...the south wing is fully converted now, we're just filling it up with soil. The underworld plants already grow like crazy, it seems like Felix's presence is doing wonders. Just one problem-'
'Oh no, I hate problems', Minho groaned.
'They need more light. Especially the ones Charon brought from the mortal world. Actual sunlight would be nice'
'And how the FUCK am I supposed to get sunlight here? Ask Charon to put it on his boat?'
'You could..' Changbin made a face as if they already knew Minho would make fun of their suggestion.
'What?'
'You could... dig a hole in the ceiling?'
The two stared at each other.
'The ceiling as in... the literal ground?'
Seeing how the underworld was somewhat beneath the mortal world, it would be possible to dig through netherland's ceiling and end up in the upper world. In theory.
(a/n: I fell thru the ground and guess what - I ended up in New Zealand!)
Changbin cleared their throat. 'Um. Maybe. I mean, you're a god, I'm pretty sure you can do something'
'Oh my. I highly doubt that'll work'
'Yeah. You could try it. Or have a better idea.'
Minho huffed exhausted. He'd worry about that later.
They had reached the dining room, where Felix already sat at the table and stuffed his face with scrambled eggs.
At Minho's entrance he looked up and grinned smugly, cheeks puffed.
'Why are you in such a disgustingly good mood?'
The god of netherworld fell down on his chair heavily.
'Because you're not' Felix answered as if it was the most obvoius thing to exist. 'How was the cake?'
Minho sighed.
'Very delicious' he admitted. 'The best I ever had'
'So good that you fell asleep right after? The baths are comfortable for a slumber, aren't they?'
'How do you know that again?'
'Mhm', he shrugged, 'overheard some skeletons complaining about you'
Felix took another mouthful of egg.
Minho meanwhile poured himself a cup of vanilla tea, slowly stirring it.
'When are you baking again?'
'I'm not your houfewife', Felix mumbled through a full mouth.
'You'd make a good one, though'
'Piff off'
Minho giggled.
'How are you feeling, anyways?'
'Is that your sorry attempt at making small talk?'
'It's my sorrry attempt at caring about you'
'Fuck yourself'
'That remark is getting boring by now.' Minho slowly slurped his tea, holding Felix's gaze.
'I'm fine, okay?!' the younger hissed annoyed after a few seconds of this.
Minho didn't answer, waiting for the other's temper to cool down a little.
Felix shoved his plate with the remaining egg away and sighed.
'Wether I like it or not, it's my life now. I'll learn to adjust. Jisung's helping me a lot, and Changbin, too.' He looked away. 'It's hard, though. I miss everything'
The urge to hug him almost killed Minho. Staying on his chair, six feet away from Felix was the most difficult thing he'd done in a while.
'Can I do something good for you?'
'Go back into Tartarus?'
'If that would help you to get back into your world, I'd spend the rest of my life in Tartarus, Felix'
There was a short silence.
'Fuck you'
Yet this time, his tone lacked the usual spitting hatred.
Minho counted it as a win.
'You could actually get me some seeds from special herbs that I want to grow'
'That shouldn't be a problem. You can go to Charon yourself and tell him what you want'
The god finished his tea. 'I wanna relieve the council a little bit. Wanna help me sort some souls?'
∆
'Asphodel'
'But they-'
'Asphodel.'
'But they have-'
'I've done that too, many times. Nothing special'
'Good Lord' Minho sighed. 'I'm starting to regret asking you'
Felix grinned proudly.
'Next one, next one!'
'Okay. I'll search one that is exciting. Wait, here: They were a monarch-'
'Bad!'
'-and they engaged with multiple other leaders, winning their trust and secretly playing them against each other'
'Better. What happened then?'
'All the surrounding kingdoms got into a war with each other, leaving all their property and resources to the monarch's own kingdom. Which meant all their people lived in prosperty.'
'War is always bad'
'But their people had a good life-'
'Thousands of others died!'
'So?'
'Asphodel with mild torture now and then'
Minho sighed. 'Torture? Really?'
'Yes. Have them cut in pieces by your attendants. Because that's the fate of all the soldiers that died in the war'
'Oh my. Okay. I do see your point'
'Next, next, next!'
'You're like a child.' Minho skipped through all the ordinary lives that would end up in Asphodel anyways until he found an interesting one.
'Uh, this person had six suicide attempts'
'How did they die?'
'Mhm' Minho looked closer. 'Natural circumstances. Heart attack or something'
'How old?'
'43'
'When was the last attempt?'
'Why do you care so much?'
'When?'
'Five years ago'
'Elysium'
'Wha- What? Why? They didn't do anything heroic'
'Surviving six suicide attempts sounds pretty heroic to me'
'Yeah but...'
'Minho, this person is stronger than you and I ever will be. Grant them some rest, please'
'I... okay'
Minho was surprised by Felix's consideration.
He would've looked past that person without a second thought, automatically sorting them into Asphodel.
'Elysium it is'
'Next one!'
'This one abused their partner and killed someone they were jealous of?'
'Elysium'
'What the fuck, Felix'
'Joke. Torture them! Rip their eyes out! Let their partner cut their dick off, let it grow back and then cut it off again!'
'I feel like you're having too much fun with this'
'Hey, stop complaining'
∆
Later, Minho went into the south wing.
It almost looked like an actual garden.
Minho felt weirdly hyped.
Felix and him had worked well together for the whole day. He felt like he got to know the younger god a little better. His evaluation was diligent and he somehow had a pronounced sense of justice.
Minho wanted to get to know every part of Felix, every single character trait, every single habit, everything.
He knew he shouldn't feel that way but couldn't help it.
The garden would be so pretty.
Minho had an idea what to do with the sunlight.
He wouldn't dig an actual hole in the ceiling but instead create some sort of portal that would let sunlight shine here.
His magic should be able to manage that.
Thinking of Felix, imagining the younger god's face when he would see the garden for the first time helped a lot with gaining the necessary strength.
Soon, warm sunlight flooded the fields.
Thanks to Felix being nearby, all the plants flourished in a matter of seconds as soon as the sunbeams brushed over them.
It was beautiful.
∆∆∆
a/n:
filler chapter at its finest
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