Lottie nodded when Hades agreed with her assessment of Zeus. She was a little afraid maybe she'd gone too far in her description of the Olympian. They were brothers, after all, sibling rivalry or not. But apparently she hadn't been off in her judgment at all.
Or maybe she had, she though a moment later, as Hades continued to speak. He didn't want to hid the dog. He wanted them to see it, to be afraid of it, to remember that the Underworld was now his. He wanted, Lottie thought, to show off. The three-headed dog would be the Hades equivalent of thumbing his nose and sing-songing “neener neener, you're a wiener” at those that thought to stuff him away in a dark corner.
While Lottie understood why he'd want to, she wasn't as comfortable with him using the dog to do so. Animals did not understand human, or divine, motivations and ti was unfair to stick them in the middle of a fight. She didn't think Hades was doing it on purpose, though; he seemed genuinely fond of the creature, in his own Hades-y kind of way. Slowly, Friendship was beginning to understand that he worked to hid his emotions. She have to progress cautiously with him so she wouldn't lose ground in her efforts to build a relationship. Which meant biting her tongue about displaying the dog. For now.
However she was far from the goddess of silence, so as they walked, she kept up a fairly steady stream of patter. Nothing he needed to respond to, because he didn't seem comfortable with small talk, but she worked in regular pauses should he want to jump in. Lottie talked of things she thought he'd find helpful: the best and worst places to find solitude; where would be ideal for his temple; the odd little pockets that shades somehow managed to wander into; not to talk to Moros unless he'd been awake for at least an hour. He'd learn as he went, but she could help him along.
Nearing her sister's river, Philotes slowed both her speech and her steps, aware of how very caustic Styx's waters actually were. And in the moments when her words were still, she could hear something, something unfamiliar. So she stopped talking to listen. And look.
Philotes had never seen anything like what she was looking at. When Hades said this was the one, she just nodded and kept staring. She'd bet her favorite golden hair comb that this was one of Typhon and Echidna's get, a grandchild of Tartaros. It belonged here. But it was something that she'd never imagined, so long minutes passed as she studded the creature.
Finally, she said, “Aw, he's just a puppy yet! See how big his paws are? He's going to grow into those, he's going to get much bigger. What have you been feeding him? His coat looks a little dull. We'll get him some eggs, those will make him shiny and soft. Look at those big brown eyes. Are all the heads this big? I can't see when they're resting like that.”
As she spoke, she moved forward, and before she knew it, she was touching soft, warm fur. “Aw, aren't you a pretty boy. You are a boy, aren't you? I can't see, but we can check later. I keep calling you a he, so we should find out, but you don't have to get up yet. No you don't. You're so cute. Whew, what did you eat last, sulfur? No licking, big guy, until you get that breath under control. Wow. You could knock over a titan with that breath. And that tail. No you don't need to wag so hard, you're going to wake the other heads up. Shh, you're okay. Good boy. Good boy.”
She flashed a pleased grin at Hades. “I like him. What are you going to name him?”