The grin that had spread across his face impossibly widened even further when his mother kissed his forehead. She wasn't exactly a cuddler, his mom. Which made those little expressions of affection all the more precious, especially the ones that came with tenderness because that wasn't usually her style. Fierce. That's what she was. It was what she'd been before drag queens and Beyonce made it a buzz word. They had no idea, they really didn't, what the word truly meant.
Kratos did. He knew that he never had to question where things stood with his mom, she let him know. And even when he did something that displeased her, he knew he never had to doubt that she loved him. He knew that she'd do anything for him and his siblings, anything to keep them safe and give them good lives. Even if it meant giving them up. For the goddess of Hate, his mother loved hard. There was a sort of comfort in that.
She asked to be set down, and he intended to do that. But it had been way too long since he'd seen her, so he stalled for a few minutes by carrying her inside his apartment and shutting the door first. If his brother or his sisters wanted to find their mom, it wouldn't be that hard. She'd knocked on all the doors, so if they were home, they'd know who it was and process of elimination would lead them here. But for the moment, this one rare moment, he got his mother to himself. Once the door clicked shut, he set her down.
He was eager to show his mother the improvements he'd made to his home, specifically the new set up for his taps which he'd only just finished setting up. Kratos moved toward the kitchen and asked, “What are you in the mood for? Pilsner? Brown ale? I just got a really great wheat beer, which is more of a summer beer, but it was a new flavor so I wanted to try it out. My favorite right now is the porter though. That's what I've got on tap. I have some microbrews in bottles in the fridge. Are you hungry? I can make you a panini to go with the beer.”
It was his newest thing. He'd found the panini press and thought it'd be a fast way to make a grilled cheese. Since he'd gotten it, though, he'd started grilling everything he could fit between two slices of bread, and while he'd always known that certain foods went well with certain beers, there was something kind of satisfying about making those foods himself. Even if they were just glorified sandwiches.