A Million Worlds Apart

The Arrival

"So," Patton said, resting his head on Logan's shoulder, "how exactly did Roman get to you, again?"

"Janus took him to the Underworld so he could tell me," Logan responded. "Using the passage that's supposed to only be used by deceased mortals or gods who reside or work in the Underworld, I might add. Definitely docking his salary for that."

"And lemme guess, Roman said some stuff about me being a damsel in distress, right?"

Logan gave him a surprised look. "Yes, as a matter of fact. How'd you know?"

"Oh, just a hunch." Patton wrapped his arms around him. "He is my best friend, after all."

"Patton?"

He looked up. "Hmm?"

"You're distracting me."

"Oh, sorry," Patton said, pulling away.

"No, no, it's fine," Logan assured him, kissing him on the head. "It's a welcome distraction, I assure you."

"You still need to see where we're going, though, right?"

"Ah, yes, right." Logan looked back ahead. "We're almost there, anyways. I hope you don't mind darkness."

"If I minded, I wouldn't have agreed to come, would I?" Patton reminded him. "Plus, I don't get enough darkness. You get bored of all of the sunshine and flowers every once and a while."

"That's an odd position for a god of life to take," Logan said.

Patton lightly shoved him. "Hey, you told me on one of our dates that you got tired of all of the darkness and chill down in your domain."

"The darkness, the chill, and Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto flirting with every single female soul that comes in."

"Does it work out?"

"Sometimes," Logan admitted. "Megaera's been in a relationship with a spirit who used to be one of Artemis's hunters for nearly a century now---one of the asexual ones, but she and her sisters are very supportive about their lovers's boundaries. They actually take special delight in torturing mortals who aren't."

"Oooooh, I really wanna meet them now," Patton said, grinning. "And Cerbie, of course." He gasped. "And Virgil! Roman's told me so much about him, but I've never actually gotten a chance to formally meet him yet!"

"Well, he's always busy, being the personification of death, but I think you two will get along quite well."

"I'm really excited."

The two of them rode in silence for a few minutes before Patton looked back up at him. "Logan?"

"What?"

"Thank you."

Logan paused, then put an arm around Patton. "It's my pleasure," he said, giving him a smile. "Anything for the god I love."

He loves me.

Patton kissed him on the cheek. "I love you too, Lo-Lo."

"Oh---oh." Logan turned bright gold. "I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"You did, and don't worry about it," Patton assured him.

They touched down in front of a cave and went inside, going down a long, dark tunnel. As they made their way down, little crystals set into the wall began to glow, illuminating their way.

"Pretty," Patton murmured.

"They're activated by my presence," Logan explained. "I am the god of riches and precious stones, after all."