Hera rarely avoided issues when they cropped up. She’d found delaying the moment when she had to face the problem never made said problem better, but rather usually led to further trouble. It was best to take care of something, unless there was a strategic reason to give pause that would benefit her in the end. But that had happened only a few times in her very long life, and those instances were such that she had simply had to wait for a more opportune moment to tackle the issue head-on, rather than outright avoidance.

( But this was different. )

The place was packed, which was how it was supposed to be. There were costumes everywhere... also exactly how it was supposed to be. Because it was Halloween. It was also Chicago and Americans went all crazy for the holiday. On top of that, it was Thirsty Thursday, something everyone in the American Midwest was familiar with. Professional drinkers, this lot, and Ninkasi loved them for it. Most of the costumed were immortal in some way, not just gods but nymphs and the like as well, but she was clearly allowing an occasional mortal in as well. There were rules outside to her bouncers for screening them properly.

Shortly, the specialty taps would be opened and her private brews would begin to flow. Which is what, she was sure, Kratos was hoping and/or waiting for. ( Wherever he was. )

To say Hedylogos was in a good mood would have been an understatement. He was in a fantastic mood. There wasn't any real specific reason for it other than the weather was nice, the skies over Olympus were beautiful and there wasn't a drop of rain in sight. He didn't mind rain, it had its place in the universe, but when the sun was out there always seemed to be a little extra pep in his step. So, the weather made him happy.

But so did learning that morning that the young daughter of one of his French attendants was in the early stages of love. She was young, but not so young that she would be embarrassed to gush with her mother over a cup of coffee in the large kitchen over the date she had the evening prior. The girl was seventeen, love -especially new love, was exciting and fierce. ( The young loved without restraint for they did not yet know heartbreak. )

It was rare this time of year that he was able to sit down and put his feet up on the tasseled hassock in his study. Which was why, as he settled into the cushy plumpness of his red velvet chair, Santa began mentally reviewing his to-do list for today. Did he really have time to enjoy his peppermint hot cocoa, or had he forgotten something that would require his attention?

( The List )

Eris put off talking to Blonde Thing for as long as she possibly could, but when she got back from the party it was almost 2 am, and the radio wasn't playing anything new, no matter how hard Eris hit it. She managed to wait another few minutes by looking for kangeroos in the shapes on her ceiling, but then she found one, and it reminded her of Hermod. After that, the bundle of nerves in her stomach started looping around her vital organs and Eris couldn't wait any longer. It was too late for a regular social call, so Eris grabbed her bucket of nail polish and made her way to the temple of Love.

She crept in and stealthily made it past all of the attendants, and up to Blonde Thing's door. Normally, Eris would just walk in without knocking, because that way she was more likely to see something no one wanted her to. This time though, Eris needed a favor, and advice. This meant that she had to try and get on Love's good side. She knocked.

Eris waited a couple seconds and then knocked harder. “Hey,” Eris called through the door, “Are you awake?” If the love goddess didn't answer, Eris would have to call even louder, or go home and get her megaphone. “Please,” she said, “I need your help.” If Blonde Thing never answered, Eris didn't know what she was going to do, but she knew it would involve glitter, and google, both of which were entirely unreliable. Eris didn't want unreliable in this case. If Eris did, she wouldn't be there asking Blonde Thing for help.

Ares liked to treat his love for Aphrodite like it was a game. There were rules. There were boundaries. He broke them and crossed them as he saw fit, he showed defiance and acted like he was demonstrating some great skill in doing so. But it was all rather defensive. If Ares acted as though he didn't take the emotion seriously, it was no longer serious. He was War. Villages needed burning, people needed to be slaughtered like the sheep that they were. Ares didn't have time to peer out a window and sigh loudly as he thought about his beloved. That made their relationship easier for Ares to handle. Love didn't make him weak. It didn't complete him. It didn't change him. Aphrodite was just one factor of many in his very violent, very bloody life.

( That was all a load of shit, of course. )

Ares was not in. Lately, he was never in. But that came as no surprise to Enyo. At least not usually. Her brother came and went as it suited him -such was the nature of war. She knew, she understood. She worked in much the same way. They were like two peas in a pod -she and her older brother. So, simply, his absence didn't worry her. What started to worry Violence was the expanse of time at which he was gone.

No bother, he would return when it suited him and it was best she make sure that when he did return his animals were all in order and cared for. Sure, Ares had attendants, but she was just as likely to find one gored in his temple as she was to find that they'd gone untended to out of fear of the animals.

( Personally, Enyo hated animals. )

She had been putting this off for long enough.

Even after the necklace had been procured, and what an adventure that had been, Harmonia had put off going to see her mother. Even with Philotes' poking and prodding, encouraging her that yes Aphrodite had in fact given the information about the necklace to her to tell Harmonia about, she still put off going to see her mother. Even now, as Harmonia stood at the threshold to her mother's Olympic temple, a place that had been her own home for her childhood and even up until she was married off, ( she stalled. )

After starting two schoolyard brawls last week, and a near-riot at a bar the week before, Deimos was feeling quite satisfied with himself. Sure, it was about time to start some new trouble, but he knew a surefire way of doing that.

( meanwhile, back at the motel )

She was standing next to her fireplace, looking at the pictures on her mantle. They were modern photographs, each in its own gilded frame. Her children, the loves and the wars. But the balance between them was missing. One of her children had never gotten their picture taken. One had been gone for far too long.

Aphrodite sighed and started walking to the main room of her temple. She supposed this was all her fault in some way. If Hephaestus hadn’t caught her and Ares having sex, none of this would have happened. Her husband seemed to have cursed the child from that union, though he never admitted it. Dite never regretted it. She had her daughter and Harmonia was beautiful.

( But Harmonia... )