From her perch on the arm of the couch, Melpomene leaned forward. Marcie was going to throw herself on Ares and break like a ship on the rocks. She’d come in too needy, and Melpomene couldn’t blame her for being driven by that very mortal desire for a family, a place to belong, someone to belong to. She didn’t know that if you wanted a place with Ares you needed to claim it, take it, and not... demand it was his responsibility to give it to you. And telling him off for how he treated her mother - Melpomene had winced at that attempt to make Ares feel, what, remorse? Oh Marcie.
But the defense of her mother’s honour was sweet, and her anger was pure and righteous. She had an awful number of qualities Melpomene approved of. Would she listen to a warning? That was always a good test of a mortal. They usually didn’t. “Marcie,” she said, uncrossing her legs. “Step carefully, you’re putting yourself in danger.”