Do you know what Death smells like?

He watched with dismay as his loyal follower was once again stopped a moment before she came to finally meet him. He didn't understand why she waited this long before jumping down to him every single time. His call on her was getting stronger and more intense the more she tried to deny his power over her. It was like she was torturing herself on purpose, for what reason he couldn't surmise.

As usual, he felt their presence a while before they actually appeared. It was a gradual process. He would start noticing things that were usually so natural for him, they wouldn't even register. It would start with a creeping feeling of the coldness that surrounded him, as a response to the warmth that was slowly approaching. Then, the veil of darkness envelopping his body would get thicker in a last attempt to protect itself before being pulverized by the intensity of the light he could see filling his vision. Lastly, the gut-wrenching, bone-deep loneliness that only came when you knew of someone's constant presence beside you, only to have it yanked right out of your hands. He almost squinted his eyes at the purely white figure that finally materialized before him.

Eros

Thanatos had kept on his masculine apperance, having taken the appearance that most appealed to the girl so as to seduce her and make her his follower, but Eros had their true form so Thanatos decided to shed the fleshy mask and take their true form as well. The latter kept watching the former and waiting for their usual routine of back and forth about how what Thanatos was doing was wrong and they should stop. The silence, surprisingly, was even more frustrating as Eros kept watching the girl trying to jump off the roof and her lover stopping her. This particular person had been very irritating to the God of Death because they weren't a follower to any of the Gods, unlike their lover, and they kept flickering from the one to the other as their days progressed. As if they couldn't exactly be tied to life but their determination wouldn't let them kneel in front of death either. 

When Eros's golden eyes eventually dragged themselves off the scene and met with the pitch black darkness found in Thanatos's, the latter could swear they could hear the echo of a shout.

"You don't need to call on more followers! You know what they have for you isn't love! I love you!"

For quite a while during their endless existence, Eros would heave their heart into their mouth and try to reach Thanatos. But the God of Death was unreachable because no matter the distance one runs towards another, if some effort isn't done from both parts, they can never meet in the middle. And they liked the company, they really did. The moments the two Gods had spent in this in-between space that was built only for them, were ones they cherished very much. But it hadn't been enough to keep the darkness and the cold fully at bay. Whenever the God of Life would go away, the God of Death would be left reeling from the feelings that came crushing down once they weren't successfully suppressed or pounded into dust. 

So Thanatos started calling on followers hoping that would fill the cracks. Eros had to try and seduce their own so as to save them and convince them to save themselves. They drifted apart and the God of Death felt almost relieved that what they had expected to happen since the beginning was now their reality. Who could truly love someone so broken? And if they did, who could handle the burden? It was better this way. It was always supposed to be this way.

In the background Thanatos could faintly hear the couple decide to come and meet them together. Even as they kept their eyes on the sad ones of the God of Life that lost not one but two people at the same time, Thanatos felt bitterness swirl inside them. She should have only been loyal to them! She should have looked only at them! She should have only wanted to meet with them! The thoughts registered and the emotions overflowing inside them gave Thanatos a startling clarity. Even their followers had more luck at finding love and dispersing this loneliness that poisoned the God of Death. Eros didn't speak at all this time but their disappointment and words were heard loud and clear in their shared piece of the world.

"Are you happy now? Are you satisfied?"

The sweet scent of death became sickening and Thanatos felt asphyxiated. They knew, this aroma was only an illusion. A broken reflection of what life could actually give. A promise of peace doomed from the beginning. How could the God of Death offer peace, when they didn't have any?