Dante Lot (unseen_miami) wrote in olympian_rewind, @ 2011-04-17 21:55:00 |
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Entry tags: | dante lot, hades, hestia, tessia sloac |
Who: Hades & Hestia
What: Important conversations
Where: Her house
When: April 15, Friday night
Warnings: None.
Friday night.
Friday nights for Hades had become an evening to spend with his sons in their home, the one evening a week where they could race between both their parents. When his younger sister wasn’t in the room, it gave him a window into a life he may have had but was denied. When she returned, he remembered the life he had been given.
The eternal judge made a point not to judge between the two.
But his sons always went to bed early, much earlier than he could ever pretend to sleep and so he found himself in the kitchen, looking down at the wood burning stove. He had bought this stove for Hestia when they first moved in. He had moved it to her smaller house when she had moved out and then moved back when she returned to this one. However, regardless of how many times he moved it, he still didn’t know how to work it.
Not knowing how to work the stove made the tea kettle useless.
Hades sighed. It was time to poke around this kitchen to either figure out how to make tea without the stove or to be rescued by his eldest sister in his plight.
Ah, but even in such a large house, nothing went unnoticed for long.
“It doesn’t bite you know,” Hestia pointed out as she entered the kitchen. Her hair was still damp from her shower, she was wrapped up snug in her housecoat despite the returning humid spring weather.
“It also doesn’t listen to verbal commands,” Hades was quick to reply as he turned at the sound of her voice and just put the tea kettle back on the stove. He was done with trying. The mistress of the kitchen was here now and he had learned well enough when he had shared the house with her, to stay out of her way unless invited in its operations. “You know I never mastered how to work the stove...”
She tried not to giggle, but it was hard not to, so she tried to hide it with a slightly more polite smile. “Would you like me to show you, or would you rather I surrender on trying to teach you?”
Hades simply sat down at the table where he always sat, “Am surrendering. May hate surprises, but I can enjoy a mystery. Your stove can be one of those.” Besides, he knew that his sister enjoyed making tea for anyone in her house.
That was very true. It showed as she prepared the oven and tea kettle, carefully handling each item as carefully as she would her own children. “Pick your poison,” she quipped cheerfully.
“Well, it is evening, I suppose English evening tea would be appropriate.” And he had no doubt she had it... somewhere. Somewhere that he hadn’t looked in his plight of simply trying to get water to boil. But watching her, he relaxed, propping his head with one hand. He’d get his elbows off the table later. “You look happy...”
Like magic, or perhaps because of it, Hestia tugged up a box of the stuff within moments. She set the kettle to boil and took a seat at the table with him to wait. “Well, I suppose I am.” The goddess smiled a little, wistfully. “The boys are doing so well... everything is calm, for the moment... I have a wife reading just up the stairs. I am... content.” She paused, blushed and added, “Is it, um, noticeable?”
“You’re talking to the eternal judge. Everything is noticeable but I’ve seen you at the peeks of giddy and that depths of despair. Every single move you make can give you away and they all are right now...” Which made him feel bad. Hades knew he was going to crash her good mood. The topic was weighing on his mind and the paperwork sat ready in his briefcase that he had ignored since he arrived with the boys from work. He could wait a little longer... “Like you better this way.”
Carefully, she reached over to take one of his long hands into her petite ones, cradling it between her fingers. “See? It’s all turning out okay.”
He smiled softly at her gesture, “It took a while but yeah. It is.” But he couldn’t help but sigh a little. Not with dialogue like this. She was setting herself up for the fall and he wasn’t helping.
Hestia wasn’t the only one who made obvious moves. At least to someone who had lingered as close to him as she had. Her face scrunched a bit and she tilted her head to the side curiously. “Is everything all right?”
“For now, sure...” Later? Possibly no. Gently, he reached out and ran one finger down from her the top of her forehead to the end of her nose. It was too early in the conversation for her to be scrunching her face like that. He didn’t even have his tea yet.
The goddess giggled at the ticklish touch. “Why just for now? Planning for some brooding later?” she teased.
“If my looming over the boys’ beds will allow me to brood, yeah...” Hades was certain he would have plenty to think/brood about. It was ironic, he realized. He would enjoy this conversation more if she was less happy but he liked her happy the most. Then again, it would be his luck. “I’ll explain in a bit.”
His last words made her suspicious, and it showed, but she didn’t speak a word of it. The kettle began to shriek and she released him to get them each a ready cup. “How’s work?” she asked, allowing him to change the course of the conversation if he liked.
“Boring. The year is a quarter in and no one has sued me yet. Was always being sued in Britain.” She was right to be suspicious but he would confirm her suspicions shortly. Once he had his tea and failed at small talk. “Was lied to about the yanks and how they love to sue.”
“You’re possibly the only person I’ve ever known, god or not, who complains about not getting sued,” she chuckled. The tea was quickly sorted into cups -- a black one reserved for his use when he visited and a smaller rose-covered mug for her -- and she sat back down, placing his in front of him.
“Enjoy watching my team of high priced lawyers do their work. Was sued so many times in London that I became friends with the judges. Got a little unofficial football team going... Of course, then that meant I had to be sued in other cities...” Hades missed playing soccer with those judges now that he said it. While he didn’t want to rush his children into teenagers, he wouldn’t mind them being older so he could get a good match with them. He took his tea and sipped from it and then waited. Would his sister pick the pleasant conversation or the worse one hanging over their heads? It was like watching “Lady or the Tiger” but actually knowing he was getting an ending.
His story only made her giggle more, enough so that she had to put down the cup before her laughter made it spill. “I’m a little afraid to ask what you were being sued for, to be honest.”
“When you’re a business man involved mostly in intellectual properties, you get sued for everything...” Hades shrugged a little and sipped at his tea again before adding, “Unless you move to Miami. Then you only get sued for things that are almost rational.” Were they talking about court matters now? Well, that was a decent enough transition and he didn’t want her to become even more happy than she already was. He placed his tea down. “Wait here. Have to get something to show you.”
Hestia nodded, sitting up a bit straighter. Oh? What was this? Either the evening was about to get more interesting... or more complicated.
Or both.
Hades departed from the kitchen at her nod and quickly sought out where his briefcase was placed. It didn’t take him long before he returned to the table with a folder in hand, a relatively thick folder all things considered. He slid the folder to her, “This is your copy. Keep it in a safe place and hopefully you will never need it.”
Her face fell a bit into a confused though not yet disapproving scowl as she considered the vanilla folder. “What is it?” Good heavens, it was thick enough to use for a weapon.
“Legal permissions if I disappear for an extended amount of time.” Hades took the folder back from her briefly, opening it up to two documents in particular, “This one for example would let you get passports for the children without my needed to be there if I go missing. This other one would allow June to adopt them. It’s all detailed. You would need to report me missing to the police for the time limit of my return to begin.”
Hestia glanced up from the papers and met his eyes, her smile entirely gone now, replaced by a firm expression of seriousness. “Are you planning on being missing?” she asked carefully.
“Planning? No. Is it a possibility? Yes.” Hades lowered his eyes to the table, not meeting hers any longer.
The goddess paused to flit briefly through the papers, as if to confirm they were real and he hadn’t played some sort of joke on her. They looked real enough. The fact put a feeling of dread in her, cold and thick in her chest. “And how soon?” she murmured. There was no asking of whether or not something, whatever it was, was happening. He wouldn’t have bothered with this otherwise and she knew it.
“Hopefully never, but...” Hades continued to not meet her gaze. He could feel her pleasant mood bleeding away from her and being replaced by something much grimmer. He could hear it in her murmur even without needing to look up. “But I am preparing to do very dangerous things. I just want things set up for them...” He turned to another set of documents, “This one details the money I set aside for them in escrow. Looked up how much it takes to raise a child but I thought it was so I put aside what I thought they would need... As if I was contributing actively...”
She sighed a little, putting the folder to the side. It was depressing her just to look at it. “I don’t suppose if I asked what exactly you’re doing and why, I’d get a straight answer, would I?” Her own tone surprised her. Maybe living with Hera had taught her to speak a little more firmly.
He heard her tone. Another time, he would have possibly amused himself with a similar thought but not right now. Instead, he returned to his tea, “[I want to reclaim a portion of the Underworld.]”
Her surprise showed as plain as day on her face. “[You’re not joking, are you.]”
Tapping the file, he finally looked up to meet her eyes, “[Does this look like a joke?]”
“[You have an odd sense of humor, sometimes, that’s all I’m pointing out,]” she replied, though her tone was even. “[Do you... do you really think you can?]”
“[Others seem to be confident...]” Mel had commented on reclaiming a portion a long time ago, Persephone directly asked him if they were when they scouted their former home together, Hephaestus had apparently been making plans for it. All people who had not been told for decades that it was impossible by the Father of all Lies, the Devil, nor saw the realm taken from him by the fallen angel first hand. It allowed him to understand his trauma and guilt may have biased his own judgement, he had been too close... Not that it matters now. His trauma and guilt encouraged him back below, lest it manifest in insanity. He shrugged a little, “[But I don’t seek all of it. It doesn’t belong to me but the Most High and considering He scattered us centuries ago and now He is even more powerful with the majority of the world under His sway, I’d rather not dance with him directly. But if I can secure just a part, our dead could be protected and relieved. And those who die later on of our persuasion could be protected from the pains of Hell. Otherwise...]”
Hades closed his eyes. Just be truthful, he decided. After all, he had literally just handed her a stack of legal documents stating he was planning to take actions that could rob him of all his joys and destroy him from existence. What was a little truth at this point? His voice softened, “[If I don’t try, I’m just going to bring suffering to myself and others around me. I may have hated and resented needing to be there during our reign, but it is so intimately tied to me... I can’t just ignore it anymore. Neither it or my soul will allow it.]”
Hestia’s eyes lowered to the folder again. He really had been planning this... not just for an attack, but his death. She shivered a bit before she could stop it. “[I have a feeling you won’t let me, if you’re giving me this, but is there any way I can help? Is anyone else helping you go?]”
Hades couldn’t help but laugh softly at her question. Not because what she said was funny to a normal person but it was funny to him. It was a touch of dark humor at hearing her emphasis on the second question. He resisted the urge to instantly pull out his phone and tell Mel all about it. “[I haven’t made definite plans. I’m still gathering resources but yes, Sister. I am not storming the Underworld alone. Hephaestus assured me of his help. Hera would be willing to help much like yourself. The Norse will help...]” Whether they like it or not, but he kept that part to himself. Reaching out, he placed hi hand over hers and then laughed softly again. Like his touch would help her shivers. Oh well. “[I just want to be ready lest it all goes poorly. You know how I am.]”
“[I will go, if you’ll have me,]” she said instantly. She turned his hand over, linking their fingers together. “[All you have to do is ask.]”
“[If I don’t ask you to go initially, Sister, I will ask you to come afterwards...]” he said just as instantly, giving her his hand without any restraint, “[I’ll have my my home back... how could I not ask for your help there?]”
“[What? Going to hire me as a decorator after you lot do all the fighting?]” She considered, then smirked cheekily. “[That doesn’t sound too bad, actually.]”
It was with her words that Hades actually remembered what state his palace was actually in. How much the Devil had destroyed everything he had created... He closed his eyes, “[That isn’t what I meant but I might need your help for that, too.]”
His expression made her realize the joke was... perhaps a bit off-color. “[What else would you need me for?]” she asked apologetically.
“[It’s my home... despite how much I had grown to resent it. How much I hated walking its halls when it was empty...]” Hades replied in the same softness, never raising his voice above it, “[Maybe you could make it better.... Or bless it or something...]”
She smiled a little and gave his hands a squeeze. “[Of course, little brother.]”
With a nod, he opened his eyes and took back his hand, resting it on the file, “[But if everything goes poorly, I wanted you to be ready and the boys to be provided for in every circumstance.]”
“[I understand. I’ll put these somewhere safe.]” She briefly considered the thought of having to tell the boys that their father was gone... or worse. Hestia wasn’t sure how it could be worse, but then again, it was Hell now. There could always be a worse there. “[Who else is going? I can’t imagine you going with only a few people... We should be doing this together, as a family.]”
“[I’m not sure the whole family would want to go...]” Hades was surprised any of them wanted to help at all. They had avoided the Underworld as much as they could when he was supreme master of it but yet now? Now some had stepped forward wanting to help him regain some of it. But he had come to realize had grown to be more appreciated amongst his family in Miami... At least with some of them. That was enough.
Hestia tilted her head curiously. “[How many have you asked? Or how many of them even know of your plan?]”
Hades shrugged, “[Technically, I’ve asked no one. Our family have approached me.]”
“[Ask around, maybe. Surely they can help you somehow, even if it’s not directly in the line of fire,]” she suggested.
“[When I get closer to doing this, I will see what troops I can further rally. It’s not happening tomorrow.]” Hades smirked a little at his own choice of words and then shrugged again, “[Especially not tomorrow. That’s my day to bring the boys to my house.]”
“[Of course not,]” she said with a giggle. “[Want ice cream? I think we both deserve ice cream after this conversation!]”
“[Depends. What kind do you have?]” Hades had pretty much finished his tea. He supposed he could have some ice cream to humor his sister after all of this.
“Vanilla, rocky road, something with raspberries, that’s new I haven’t tried it yet...” she offered, standing up to inspect the contents of her freezer.
Those last two just sounded so sweet... But Hades didn’t want to turn down her gesture after what he had put before her. “Have the vanilla. You going to have some with me?”
“Like I would give up the chance for ice cream.” The hearth goddess busied herself with bowls, scoops and spoons until two neat little bowls of the stuff sat before them. “Any condiments?”
Hmm, well if anyone was going to have them on hand, it would be his eldest sister, “If you have those bitter coffee beans, I would like those. But if not, then this is fine.” Toying with the spoon, turning it between his fingers, he then lowered his eyes to the table, “And thank you for taking my news so well...”
She handed over the coffee beans before taking her own seat again. At his response, Hestia shrugged with a smile.“Living in Miami has, somehow, dulled my sense of panic, I think. Or maybe motherhood has. It doesn’t mean I’m not worried, of course. But... I’m glad you told me, rather than try and keep it hidden. I do appreciate that.”
Hades sprinkled some of the coffee beans over his ice cream before putting the bag aside. “Have spent so much time being the ‘Hidden One’ and keeping secrets about my life from everyone but...” He looked away to where he knew his sons would be asleep if he could see through walls, “But I can’t be hidden like that anymore or keep such secrets... but I also can’t be selfish.” In the end, everything was drawing him to this point. To this choice.
“At least not about the stuff that may end up with stuff like this file,” she pointed out. “Other stuff, I don’t mind as much. But... it’s progress.” She held up a spoon full of ice cream towards him. “Cheers. [And to future fights. May they go well for all of us.]”
He managed a small true smile at her words, “[I don’t quite know how to toast with ice cream but agreed. Now no more talk of this for the night. Now is the time for us to discuss the terrible habits our sons are picking up but they manage to be too endearing for us to correct...]” After her humoring him and his dreary pessimism, he was more than willing to humor her on speaking about their little sons. Quite frankly, he didn’t want to speak about it anymore tonight either.
Imagining Hestia having to tell them their father was never coming home to see them was worse than imagining his own destruction and never being able to see them himself.
No, no more speaking about dreary things tonight was good. Sometimes, even Hades knew when it was best to seek out more pleasant topics.
Summary: Hades has some important things to tell Hestia about his future plans for the Underworld and reveals it by means of a hefty legal file. Hestia is rightly concerned but manages not to freak out. They then try to relax and settle for a quiet evening.