Feminine Advice (tag: Ninkasi)
Ereshkigal was done for the day. It was rare that she cut her hours short, because she took her duties seriously. Even more rare on days when she knew her husband would be preoccupied elsewhere, so not available for her to crawl all over his hot, naked body. But it was precisely that reason, Nergal's absence, that had her delegating things that could be handled without her direct supervision. Because instead of watching the dead kneel before her, naked as the day they were born, Ereshkigal was planning to get bare herself.
There was a hot bath in her future, full of bubbles and scented candles and baroque music playing softly in the background. All she had to do was finish with this last little bit of paperwork, and then she could shed her robe and indulge in a little bit of girliness. It wasn't as though she was going for a spa day any time soon. Not after that last incident where she was forced to stab the woman doing her nails through the hand with a metal nail file. There hadn't even been that much blood, but the screaming... it had sort of soured Ereshkigal on the whole idea. But she still wanted a bubble bath.
So when she heard someone being shuffled through the seventh gate, she sent a glare at the guardian there. He knew that she had plans, she had expressly told him there were to be no more--
Oh.
This was not work, Ereshkigal saw as she looked down from her throne. This was family. With that, the scowl on her face instantly transformed into a wide, welcoming smile. A second later she was descending the dais, her fingers snapping for a servant to bring another robe for her niece.
“Ninkasi,” she cooed, embracing the girl regardless of her nudity. At least Ninkasi never seemed to have an issue with shedding her clothing at the gates, unlike some others in their family. “It's good to see you. I've missed you.”
And she had. But even as she was handing over the guest robe that had been provided, her eyes were scanning Ninkasi's face. Because though she appreciated when loved ones came to visit, it was a rare occurrence. Usually, she had to go to them, or to where they were on the mortal plane, when her schedule would allow it. So why was Ninkasi here? What was wrong?