It was a strange thing, honesty. Often people concealed things, so many things, and for such varied reasons, too. To avoid conflict. To avoid pain. To appear strong or to appear broken, to elicit one reaction or to avoid another. Deception, manipulation, secretiveness, all were tools in a repertoire that no being, immortal or mortal, was innocent of utilizing. For none of them were purely good, regardless of any legend. None of them were without darkness. As Adonis raged and spat out his words, it was as though the last vestiges of a lie fell away, and contrary to what anyone might have expected, Jord found it all quite profoundly relieving.
She didn't interject, didn't want to interrupt him, didn't want to halt his train of thought. Whatever it was that he wanted to tell her at this point, she wanted to hear. And so when he was done, back to her, leaning against the wood, dear Theias inquiring in his own canine way about these goings on...Jord took a deep breath, thought back over his words, and attempted to form an answer.
"You have not always been honest with me," she began, but her voice was very soft. Those words held no judgment. "But in this moment, you have been honest. You have been finally honest." She pulled out her cigarettes, plucked one out, fingers shaking but finally calm enough to flick her Zippo to life. "I have cards that may be played with your kings, yes," she said with a nod. "But they are far from being in my pocket. I can pull the strings, but in the end...there are other things that I have done, things to ensure that your freedom was protected. All of works best when taken together, but I am certain that you will not be bound again."
A long drag and she sighed, and she wanted to stand and move toward him but she didn't want to overstep. "There is not a one of us who is good," the goddess continued, tone still even. "We are creatures of creation, and those who imagined us have within them darkness and light both. Flawed beings can not create perfect beings, they can only dream of them. I never expected you to be perfect, Adonis. Nor did I expect you to be wholly good. But for all of those aspects that you mentioned, you are not wholly bad either. You, like all of us, are a mixture of good and bad and yes, I did read between the lines and yes, I knew that there were aspects of you that were dark and that did not scare me away from you, Spring God, for I too possess darkness. I am also fickle. I am wrathful. I am selfish and violent and manipulative. Expecting anything else would be folly."
Which brought her to the rapes, the most recent rape and the ancient ones, all of which were at play here. She was quiet for a moment, trying to ascertain exactly how this needed to be worded. How she needed to convey her point. Because she was not disgusted with him, but in truth, her reaction was dependent on one detail, and it was the answer that she needed, and she needed him to understand the full ramifications of the question. Semantics did not seem to be playing in her favor today.
Exhaling a cloud of smoke, the goddess leaned forward slightly and ashed her cigarette before finally speaking again. "My only question, really, Adonis, is...is that what you want? You say that you loved it and craved it, and that...that's understandable because you were conditioned and that isn't something that can simply be undone. But I will never be able to possess you. I will never be able to rape you or coerce you. I will never be capable of taking anything from you by force. If you need these things, then I can not provide you with that which you require. And if that is the case, I must know. For I would not desire you to remain if you were unfulfilled."