He was thinking. That was rarely a good sign when one asked a yes or no question. It usually meant that it was far more complicated than it should be. He could have lied if it was truly a mess, or told her the truth if things were well, but instead, he was thinking. Considering. And when he finally answered, both brows rose.
Wasn't that telling. She was worth waiting for. That said to Hera that yes, indeed, he did love his wife. But she did not return the sentiment. And yet he had hope that someday she would. Whether or not that hope was in vain was something she could not determine without speaking to the girl. Which she would after she left here. There was no way Hera was going to let her brother suffer a loveless union if he wanted affection.
Of course he wanted affection. He was a wonderfully sweet god, underneath it all. Not that he'd want anyone to know that, they were all so set on being seen as hard and strong. Men. But Hades had a sentimentality to him that Poseidon definitely lacked, and Zeus seemed to only let out in fits of passion. There was romance and poetry in her little brother, whether he liked it or not. So he would not be satisfied with anything less than love.
Which meant he was not currently satisfied. Or happy. Hera was not pleased with that state of events and she was not going to leave it as it was. She just had to think about how she wished to proceed. Because if he knew that she was meddling, he'd complain, and she really didn't want to have to deal with that either.
“How long?” she asked him. “How long are you willing to wait?” Hera paused for a moment, then said, “How long before you decide it's easier to follow your brother's example?”