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In the embrace of the night, amidst the undulating hills of Boeotia, Endymion, the shepherd, strode with careful gait, mindful of his flock of sheep trailing behind him as if they were his shadow. The moon hung luminous and resplendent in the vast, obscure expanse above, casting a silvery glow upon the land below.
In whispered reverence, he uttered prayers to her divine majesty, goddess Selene, entreating her favor and blessing upon the earth. With each step, his heart swelling with ineffable longing, his eyes alight with a fervent yearning as he entered his modest, humble abode.
As the young, beautiful Endymion disposed of his robes, the celestial presence of another essence stirred within his mortal soul. A craving deeper than the depths of the infinite, starlit sky.
Endymion rested his raven curls against his forearm, the embrace of sleepiness beckoning like a siren's call. A sigh escaped his full lips as he felt a warmth surrounding his behind, his eyes closing from one moment to another — until they didn't. In the interior, he was deep into what seemed like a peaceful slumber, yet in the exterior, his eyes could be seen half lidded, not closed at all like they were supposed to.
“Mou agapitó…”
The lad remained asleep, Morpheus’ deathly grip not letting him become conscious of the wintry breath caressing his fair skin. As he fell more deeply into his dreams, hand in hand with whom he thought were Phobetor and Phantasus, Endymion felt himself get gently kissed. Each lovely contact made his unconscious body shiver.
“I love you, oh, how I love you…” Hypnos, the god of sleep, whispered in his ear, kissing the shell of it too before moving up to sniff ungracefully at his beloved’s pitch black locks. The wings coming out of his temples ruffled up with excitement.
It had become a routine at this point for the immortal upper-being, the act of visiting the strikingly beautiful shepherd each night, making him relentless in asking his mother to make the night perhaps just a little bit longer. A little longer for him to embrace his love, to indulge him into the most precious of dreams each night if that meant that Endymion would nestle back at him, back to chest, Hypno's chin always nuzzled lovingly over the man's hair.
Hypnos knew it was cruel to him to have such impure desires towards a mortal, a man that couldn't even look at him because the only way Hypnos approached Endymion was when he was in the deepest of sleeps.
But he had a right to be selfish, had he not? Why should he be judged by something countless other gods indulged as many times as the Underworld has souls?
It wasn't even out of lust for the mortal, Hypnos deeming the feeling as something utterly degrading; thinking he shouldn't have been worthy of such a beautiful human if it wasn't to lavish him with the most purest and honourables of sentiments.
He was then taken out of his thoughts by the man under him stirring in his sleep, their warmths mixing in a glorious manner that made the god shake with excitement.
If he could have offspring with Endymion, he would. A thousand of them, certainly! All of them resembling his beloved by having his same dark hair and fair skin — the only difference, hypothetically speaking, being that they would be awake, not victims of their other father's effect on mortal beings.
With one hand, he moved Endymion's face for him to look at, appreciating the man's beautiful features as if they were carved out of Aphrodite's own (he made sure not to say it out loud also, he wasn't keen on betting his luck that the goddess could hear him and curse his beloved for whatever childish reason — he grumbled, holding his love a little bit tighter).
The man was really the fairest of all mortals he had made to sleep, not a trace of imperfection or asymmetry in sight.
“Endymion,” his name rolled so perfectly on his tongue, confirming Hypnos’ theory that they were made for each other since the dawn of time. If that wasn't the case, for what other reason would Endymion’s name be so familiar for him? So natural for him to say? “don't you worry, my love, for you won't have to wait a day more for us. I'll find a way to be together finally, and we will be very far from any envious serpents that could poison your beauty with their venom, far—far and happy. You'll see…”
“And then, I could gaze at your gorgeous eyes… it's not that I don't do it already, but I'll be doing it with you gazing back at me, really looking at me.”
“Endymion… I love you, Endymion.” Without expecting a reply, he lowered the man's head to rest against his forearm again, treating him with a delicacy that he didn't show to anybody else. “I'll be leaving now, my sons will be taking care of you tonight… You'll love them once you meet them, yet I hope not more than you'll— you love me… Goodbye, Endymion.”
“I love you.”