Persephone (_persephone) wrote in greek_swim, @ 2008-12-11 23:51:00 |
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Entry tags: | hades, persephone |
Hades/Tanym and Persephone/Anne: Wishful Thinking?
Who: Hades and Persephone
What: Dinner, featuring talks of Demeter, of their present situation, and babies... wait, what?
Where: Anne's place, in Plaka
When: December 4th, evening (backdated)
Rating: PG
Status: complete
Persephone flipped through the black journal that had changed so many things in her life -- this mortal life she'd been born into from which she'd never dared expect anything more -- standing in her kitchen, leaning against the counter, the aroma of food in the air. She had a Country Salad ready, tomatoes, feta cheese, kalamata olives, and cucumber artfully assembled in a serving dish, and a variety of truffles prepared for dessert. She'd prepared lamb kleftiko for dinner, having let it marinade for sometime before slow-baking it, making use of parchment paper for the dish during the cooking process. Orpheus sat by the kitchen watching, waiting for the tiniest scrap to fall, eyes eager and tail wagging, though he did not bark.
Turning to his last page, and running her fingers over his written words, she sighed, a contented smile on her face at the very thought of seeing him. She had missed him dearly, had wanted nothing more than to see him again. She had counted the days, every last one of them, and now the time had come. Something inside of her fluttered, made her feel warmth at the thought of him, the thought of seeing him again... She would get to see him more often now, and that thought made everything in the world seem wonderful, whatever the circumstances behind their present situation might be -- those could be put aside, for now.
Tanym arrived, after leaving Kirby with his neighbor. He wore a simple blue button-up and black slacks with a black jacket. Taking a deep breath he raised his hand and knocked, and waited.
Hearing the door, she practically jumped up, half-skipping toward it, Orpheus at her heels. She opened the door and threw her arms around Tanym in less than a fraction of a second, squeezing tightly. "I've missed you so much! I'm so glad to see you!" she said.
He laughed a little, hugging her back- no holding her. "I've missed you too." Hades said (Tanym fading away as they entered each other's presence), breathing in the scent from her hair. Slowly he pulled out of the hug so he could look over her. "You're more beautiful than ever." He told her with a soft smile as he brushed some of her hair away from her face.
"Thank you! And you look incredibly handsome, as always," she said, giddily, looking at him, noting every little feature despite how she seemed to recall them exactly from memory. It did not take long for her to launch into a plethora of questions, her ever-curious, chatty nature surfacing. "So how have you been? What have you been up to? You're really taking a leave from the hospital? What do you plan to do in the meantime?" It wasn't that she meant for all the questions to come out at once, really, but she couldn't help it; she wanted to know so much about him -- and not in that intrusive, meddlesome way, rather, in a curious, I-care-about-you and want to know about all the important things sort of way.
Hades chuckled and nodded. "I've been well, working a lot- which is why I am taking a leave from the hospital, so that I can spend time with you and find answers to the questions I have about the journals and… who I am." He answered concisely. "And you, how have you been?"
Working a lot? "Too much," Persephone said, though she grinned at him despite her half-teasing voiced assertion, glad that he was there, and happy for his decision. "That's fantastic." Somehow, it was different hearing it from him, listening to his voice, than reading it. "I've been... well. Missing you." She paused, deliberating whether to mention her mother for a moment before speaking again. "Had dinner with my mother." And that was the much-abridged version.
That made Hades pause. "Your mother?" He asked with an arched brow. "I take it you don't mean your mortal one." He could hope after all.
She shook her head, arching her brow back at him. "If that were the case, I would have phrased it something like I saw my mother, and she sends her love." Her tone was almost half-bemused.
He frowned a little, it made sense that Demeter would be here as well, after all Persephone, Hecate and he was there, there wasn't a reason for there not to be more. However a part of him had hoped that perhaps Demeter wouldn't be among them. He loved his sister and knew Persephone loved her mother but the thought of being forced into a situation as he was before, being forced apart every six months… it was unthinkable. "I see." Hades said softly. "Is she well?" At least he could attempt civility.
He was trying -- she did have to give him credit. "She's fine," she said, nodding. "Realizes who she is... or was, and all." She decided to move the conversation along. "I saw Dionysus, as well," she added. "Haven't spoken to Hecate in a bit, though." Closing the door, she gestured toward the kitchen. "Can I get you something to drink? Wine, mayhaps?" she asked.
"That would be nice." He said with a nod. So his sister knew who she was, that was… upsetting? He took a brief moment, as he followed her into the apartment, to compose himself and realize that this wasn't about -him- it was about her… about -them-. Darkness, darker than dark as the light faded before him. Sorrow, anger, pain coursed through him as emotion exploded in a form of a flying bowl of pomegranates. "I'm glad there's more, or that you are finding them." Hades commented.
"Finding or running into," she said. Well, she'd always been social. She even spoke to the trees, hushed whispers to each as she moved through them, smiling and holding back laughter, flowers in her hair. "I'm just glad I haven't run into anyone more unpleasant. They do seem to be everywhere, though. Have you seen anyone else?"
She took a bottle in hand, with two glasses. "Cabernet alright?" she asked. "Or would you prefer a Bordeaux?"
"Whichever you're having." He replied. "And no, I've not encountered any others yet." Not that he really desired it, he'd found his love again- no one else mattered. Stopping he knelt down on a knee to pet the curious Orpheus who'd been cautiously taking in his scent again- probably smelling Kirby. "Or none I've realized yet."
Cabernet, then. "Alright," she said, removing the cork from the bottle carefully, and pouring out two glasses, giving Hades one, and taking one for herself. Orpheus, meanwhile, gave a soft bark, his tail wagging happily at the attention. "I see." She looked thoughtful, tucking her hair behind her ears, curious at the mystery of the situation in which they found themselves. But still, could she really complain? No. For once, in fact, she found the situation oddly satisfactory. She found herself grinning, ear to ear, just thinking of time with him spent outside their norm, having picnics in the outdoors, and other such things. "This may sound odd, but in a way, I'm kind of glad all this happened," she said.
He stood back up and took the glass from her, taking a small sip. "In what way?" He asked, though her thoughts were not so alien to him as he had been thinking similar ones.
She chuckled. "Oh, you're going to think me silly," she said, sipping the wine as she pulled the lamb dish from the oven, setting it out to cool for a few minutes. She frowned, thoughtfully, trying to think of how best to word what she was thinking. "I just feel like there are all these opportunities now, all these things we could do that we never got the chance to before. I don't know if that makes any sense." She took the serving dish with the salad, and some dressing from the refrigerator. "Salad?" she offered.
Hades nodded with a smile. "I think I know exactly what you're talking about." He told her. "Tell me, what things have you been thinking on." He asked as he walked over to help her with the bowls like a gentleman.
That smile of his still made her breath catch. "Oh?" she asked. "Little things, I guess. I've always wanted to have a picnic with you, for example," she said. "Or spend time outside, under the warm sun, maybe go swimming, and see the flowers in spring. It's part of me, something I want to share with you." She paused. "It's like I've been stuck half in one world, half in another for almost my whole existence. There's this whole other half to me that I want to be yours too," she said, frowning slightly, wondering if she'd conveyed her meaning right.
"Thank you so much!" she added cheerily, at his action of helping her. She gestured for him to follow her to the dining table with the prepared dishes.
He followed and placed the dish on the table and, once Persephone's hands were free as well, he pulled the chair out for her to sit. "I know what you mean. There are so many things that..." He stopped a moment, trying to find the phrasing. There was so much he regretted, so much he'd been limited (though he'd never have admitted it), so much he had wanted to do, but hadn't the ability. "... could have been better." He finally said, kissing her cheek once she was seated. "I want you to have the life you deserved." He promised as he took his own seat.
"Thank you," she said at his chivalric actions. She smiled at him. "And I want you to have what you deserve," she said, sipping her wine. "And you deserve so much," things that, if Persephone thought on them (and the thoughts affected her more than she would have liked), she'd always been regretted not having been able to offer him.
"As do you." Like not having to be torn between the man she loved and the mother who raised her. "Though..." He said thoughtfully. "We should probably do things while we can, and figure out what has... and is going to happen." Frowing slightly, he rubbed his thumb over the lip of his glass. "We may only have a limited time." Or so was one of the things he'd been fearing. To have to go back to the life he had. Though to be back amongst his subjects and rule over his kingdom once more was something he desired greatly, especially as more memories returned- having to loose his wife again, that thought he couldn't even think.
She grinned, and ate some of her salad as she listened to him. "You're... right." She nodded, her hand going across the table, reaching for his, a frown on her features. "It's very possible." And something that she, too, feared. She was caught between two things, between her life with him and her time with her mother, stuck between two worlds and here, for the first time, was the opportunity to make the best of both.
Slowly he pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently for a long moment. "For as hard as it was on me to loose you for all that time, I can only guess at how hard it must have been on you to be split in two so." It was something that he never would have thought of before, but his time as a mortal had opened his eyes and mind to so much- who would have thought that the mortal world could teach an 'all knowing' god so much?
She gave his hand a squeeze, his actions eliciting a warm smile from her. "You have no idea," she said, fully appreciating his words, how he'd thought of such a thing. "I don't want to go back to that." She paused. And at the same time, she could not help but think of something more. "I'm just—" she searched for the right word "concerned over what's originally brought us here."
"The last thing I remember..." Cold, dark- home, but not. Caged in his own cell as his father laughed. Hades shook his head. "Rhea said she brought us back- saved us." He said. "But what good is saving us if she traps us in mortal shells?"
Persephone took a sip of her wine. She hadn't counted the days, hadn't wanted to fathom how long it had been, though she knew, somehow, had grown accustomed to the length of the days when she was in the realm below. She'd wanted to see him in the summer months, perhaps a visit, but not like this! "Mhm," she said, nodding. She gave it some thought. "Maybe it was the best she could do, at the time?" she asked. "Perhaps it was the timing. I mean, look what happened with," she gestured with her hands, "you know. You, and my mother, and... the rest. She also seems to have brought back the ones on the other side, so they are bound by the same, no?"
"But to what purpose? So we can live only to grow old and die? Or are their plans for us to regain what we once had? And if that's the case then wouldn't we be back where we were?" He asked, not expecting her to answer, more just thinking aloud. Turning to face her once again he cupped her hand in both of his. "And if that is our fate then there is much I want to... make up for before we're thrust back to our former selves." Like mending ground with his sister, getting to know her surrogate son, perhaps even... things he'd never dared wish before now. "I want to live before I have to die again."
Her look spoke of a certain je ne sais pas, spoke that indeed the questions had been plaguing her, as well. Could they die? What would happen if they did? She knew that one thing was certain: it could not be worse than what they had endured in Tartarus. "You needn't make up for anything, Hades," she said, softly. "I love you. I've loved you longer than you know. And nothing will ever change that."
"And I you." He leaned in and kissed her deeply. Parting their kiss, he raised a hand to rest on her cheek had he had done thousands of times before. "You are more than I've ever deserved." He told her. "And you think too highly of me." There went the mortal humility again. "This time, I promise you, my darling Persephone, I will not make the same mistakes as before. This time we will be a true family, for as long as we can be."
Her hand moved over his, fingers going between his, even as she turned scarlet. "You go too far, my love," she said. "I could not ask for more than you, and I cherish each moment we spend together." She paused, leaning forward, her dark eyes searching his. "What do you mean? Past mistakes are really inconsequential—what matters is that we're here, now, together."
"Yes, and hope to keep it that way. No more lengthy separations that only cause pain for the parties involved. This time you'll be mine -and- your mothers." Or so he could hope. "Or if fate would force us into our old roles, we shall take advantage of the time we have." He leaned in and kissed her again.
It was only after a moment that she broke the kiss, however, reluctantly. "You mean that?" she asked, only half-daring to hope. It was what she wanted, had wanted, for so long. She squeezed his hand again. "Any other particulars you would like, to take advantage of with the opportunity we now have?" she asked.
His fingers twined into her hair as he gazed lovingly upon her. If she only knew. "Yes, some quite foolish, others selfish... some..." He shook his head. "Wishful thinking." After all, for all they knew their time as it was could end at any moment- like waking from a dream.
She found herself lost in his dark eyes -- an effect he had on her even after the few millennia they'd been together. She was silent for a moment, trying to discern what he might mean, in an albeit reserved manner, not wanting to go too far out on any limb. "Oh?" she asked, raising a dark brow. "How do you mean?"
"Things I couldn't do as a god." He said, something he, as a god, rarely brought up because of the shame he felt about it. "Have children for one." Hades said, quickly adding. "If you wish it of course, and if we have the time."
Persephone had just started to nod as he'd spoken the first words, then promptly stopped, blinking several times as she looked at him. Children? It was one thing for her to have considered it, in her head, but for him to voice the idea? That was completely different. Her eyes searched his, as she tried to find her voice. "Really?" she asked.
"Or… a child." He said, blushing slightly now that he had said it aloud. "And yes. It's something I could never have that I'd always wanted. Something that being not quite alive prevented me from ever doing." His head lowered slightly. "I never really envied the other gods over their numerous offspring, but I did always wish I could have -one-… with you." Hades told his Persephone, looking back into her eyes.
Was that... colour? A hint of a blush? "I--" didn't think you'd feel that way. "I--" always wanted, too. "I--" She stammered, tripping over the words in a most un-Persephonesque manner, eyes on his for a moment before she got up quickly, going around the table and throwing her arms around him, nearly knocking over her wine glass in the process. "I-- Hades, I would love nothing more!" she said, finally managing to get out the words.
He laughed at her- enthusiasm and put his arms around her in turn. "You have just made my lifetime." He told her, holding her close. His face buried into her hair, taking in her scent. "I love you my wife." He whispered.
She gave him a tight squeeze, loving the sound of his laughter, the way it felt to be close to him, the way he told her he loved her. "And I love you, my husband," she said.