Dante Lot (unseen_miami) wrote in olympian_rewind, @ 2009-07-13 22:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | children, dahlia little, dante lot, hades, persephone |
Who: Hades & Persephone (with Delaney and Cerberus)
What: Discussions
Where: Perse's House
When: Let's say, Backdated July 10th.
Warnings: none really.
It had taken Hades longer to make sense of the text messages on his phone than 'breaking' into Persephone's house to properly reply to them. Breaking and entering was just too easy when one has the keys and the code to the security system. It was barely worth walking quietly at all.
But now he sat in the living room in one of her grand end chairs with his daughter on his lap and Cerberus sitting beside him. “You are going to be the smartest child in the world. We won't tell anyone how though. It's a secret. You'll just be a genius, okay?”
Delaney nodded with a smile, “Okay.”
Security systems aside, Persephone still hadn't been prepared when he was sitting there with her daughter in his lap. She screeched loudly, before seeing who it was and calming with a loud sigh. "You could have called or texted....or rang the bell."
Hades nodded, touching the backs of Delaney's hand to encourage her to stop covering her ears. See, the screeching was all over. "Could have. Didn't think about it though." Delaney dropped her hands and looked to her mother with a pout, but at least Hades offered Persephone what passed for a smile. "Got to remember yer out of practice with me randomly being places."
Persephone relaxed a little at his smile, walking into the living room and settling down on the floor next to Cerberus. Since Hades had Delaney, her hands were free for dog petting. "I am...which makes me wonder why you're suddenly here surprising me."
"She asked why I'm here," Hades said to his daughter as caught her attention. "Why am I here, Delaney?"
"Me!" Was the little girl's a bit too loud reply.
Again, Hades nodded and brought his eyes back to Persephone, "She got hold of your phone and texted me. Told me to come over. Figured it was her with her demanding tone and poor spelling."
Dahlia had to laugh, reaching up and giving her daughter a big kiss. "Don't tell me we'll have to get you a cell phone now." She sat back on on her hands. "You missed Daddy?"
"Uh huh," Delaney muttered as she played with the bottom of her father's shirt, "Daddy getting me playhouse."
"Buying all three of them a playhouse, so they can play together," her father was quick to correct as he relaxed into the end chair as best he could. Of course, between the fact he was bad at relaxing and that end chairs were not incredibly comfortable to begin with it, it didn't quite succeed, "How have you been?"
"That's a lovely idea. It'd be nice for them to spend more time together..." Persephone smiled, thinking how adorable it would be with three young children. She blinked at Hades's question, not expecting anything like that at all. "I've been fine...Mallory is back."
Cerberus growled instantly at the name and Hades glanced down at him, taking a moment and then understand. "It's okay for her to be here." The beast growled again in an eerily united sound and Hades continued firmly, "She is a servant to Persephone. Think of her as a shade with living flesh. Not an escapee. It is lawful for her to serve and be here."
The three headed beast laid down in a huff, but quiet.
Hades shook his head, "That's good. Know you liked her being here."
"It's good to have a friend, but..." Well, there was still a lot left unsaid. Persephone shrugged her shoulders, running a hand smoothly down the length of Cerberus's spine. "Well, I'm so glad she's here. It's good to have adult company and have someone to help with the baby."
"Not baby!" Delaney scrunched up her nose in disgust, slamming her little fists into her father's knee.
Not that Hades seemed to mind. She could hit hard but not hard enough to really phase him, "She's a big girl. Babies can fly and big girls can text message. You missed that part of the conversation." One day simply lying to the child wouldn't be the answer, but now was not that time. Besides, he enjoyed the fact that by this new logic Zeus was a baby for Delaney because he could fly. It amused him to no end even though he doubted it would ever come up for either Thunder god or his little one. His tone then softened, "We didn't really talk at the party."
"No, I suppose we didn't." And by suppose, Persephone meant she had been painfully aware of this fact the whole time. She fidgeted in her spot, running a hand through her hair. "But it's not like there's anything urgent to talk about..."
Hades' coal black eyes locked on her, "There isn't?"
Of course there was, but Persephone wasn't sure she wanted to discuss it. She shrugged her shoulders, picking at the fringe of her area rug.
That's what he thought. He sighed lightly, running his fingers lightly through his daughter's dark curls as he watched her mother considering. He supposed he would start and he would do so in Greek to conceal his words from the child, "[I shouldn't have hit you.]"
"[You're right. You shouldn't have,]" Dahlia murmured, shifting her shoulders so that she had to face him even less. "[But I know why you did it.]"
Delaney again turned up her nose in disgust at her parents shift in language but contented herself with playing with her father's iPhone that she shamelessly took from his pocket. Hades didn't care. He had more important things to deal with. "[You do?]"
"[I don't know how you feel for me anymore,]" Persephone admitted. "[--though Hestia assures me that you'll forgive me one day. But even the strongest love isn't enough to fight the grip of something stronger than emotion. Not when someone like me adds fuel to the fire by prodding at your insecurities and dislikes.]" She turned steely blue eyes towards him, so that he would register what she said next. "[I had your best intentions in mind, so I do not believe I deserved what happened. But, I understand it.]"
There was a moment of turmoil deep inside Hades' soul when he found himself in her gaze. Part of him couldn't help but believe she had, but the rest of soul rejected that sentiment as monstrous. "[I know you didn't deserve it,]" he said firmly, both to her and himself, "[And I know you had my best intentions in mind.]"
"[So. I understand.]" Unsurprisingly, she didn't feel any better now that they'd cleared the air about it.
Hades reached out to touch Persephone's hair to offer some consolation, "[Well this just sucks.]'"
Her body stiffened almost imperceptibly. She had expected his touch as much as his presence. "[Yes, it does, but since neither of us is offering a solution perhaps it'd be better if we didn't discuss it.]"
He pulled his hand back at her noticeable stiffening by instinct alone, "[If we don't talk about it, it will never be solved.]"
"[Maybe it will never be solved,]" Dahlia shrugged, glancing up at him. "[If even the right words won't make us feel peace.]"
"[I still care about you, Persephone,]" Hades confessed quietly to her. How could he not with her glancing up at him like that?
"[And I still love you, Hades,]" Persephone murmured in reply. "[So I probably need to cool off and find my place in this family dynamic before anything can be solved. Otherwise I'll just make another mistake that leads to both of us getting hurt again.]"
"[I know you do. I can't doubt that. Not after when I heard your prayer.]" Again he reached out to her to place his hand against her cheek, hoping it wouldn't be so ill received this time. "[That's fine. Considering the family dynamic is the exact thing I really want solved anyway.]"
Dahlia could see his approach this time and kept herself from flinching. His cool hand on her cheek was calming. "[Like or not, we're one unit now. So we'd better learn to like it. I said as much to Hestia...]"
Hades let his thumb softly run over her cheek, doing so while sitting in a chair with her at his feet with Cerberus at his side brought back pleasant memories. The fact that Cerberus wasn't huge and their was a child trying to understand what the app she turned on did was the only things that broke the illusion for him. "[We just have to figure out how this unit actually works.]"
"[I feel at a distinct disadvantage here,]" Persephone admitted, shifting her hands into her lap. "[Hestia at least knows where she stands in relation to you....even if she doubts the strength of that bond. In some moments I feel as though nothing holds us truly together...if I were to disappear you and our child would go on. Maybe I only feel this way because I've borne witness to just that.]"
"[If she doubts, she doesn't know where she stands,]" Hades said matter of factly as he sighed and brought his eyes to the ceiling. Delaney sighed in imiation but when she looked up found nothing interesting so went back to the mysterious iPhone app. "[I had no choice but to continue on. You know that.]"
"[You made another choice,]" Dahlia pointed out. "[Eventually you made another choice, but I don't know why.]"
"[I was pretty much smacked in the face that I could help you and I should at least try. Even if I did fail.]" It had taken a god of alcohol and partying to smack him in the face with that to cut through his own despair and drug induced haze.
Persephone grew quiet then, unsure of what she should make of that answer. Who would convince him that keeping her in his life was beneficial this time? Who would be her advocate? Nobody jumped to mine. "[Did you want to take her for a day or so? I know you don't get to see her as often as you'd like.]"
Hades glanced down at his daughter, unable to hear her mother's thoughts and so focused on the questions, "[I would but I think you need her more right now.]"
"[She's out daughter, not an emotional life preserver, Hades.]" Dahlia replied, shaking her head. "Do you want coffee?" She pushed herself up to her feet, happy to slip back into ignoring the situation.
"[If you say so.]" Hades was willing to ignore the fact that Delaney was both their daughter AND an emotional life preserver at least for now, though he wasn't going to ignore it very believably. "Yes, I would," he took the iPhone from her only to see what she was actually looking at. The app that prays for good weather for you? Hades simply handed it back to her, "[I don't deserve her.]"
"[Don't deserve who?]" Dahlia asked, making her way into the kitchen. She carefully measured out coffee grinds and turned on the machine. Keeping her hands busy kept her from falling into the sadness and isolation that threatened to consume her. Coffee was much easier to focus on than her existence.
"[Our daughter,]" Hades called out to her so she would hear him. He had learned he was bad at avoiding his own sadness so he figured he might as well face it head on.
"[Of course you deserve her...you were the one who believed we could have her,]" Dahlia replied simply, watching the brew percolate as she got out all the notions for coffee.
"[Easy to believe it when I have two babies worth of previous proof,]" Hades was quick to dismiss his ex-wife's statement as he traced the ridge of his daughter's nose. The little girl smiled at the attention seemed to be focused on her again, "[I have been a poor father to her.]"
"[No parent is perfect,]" Dahlia chided him, pouring the fresh coffee into two mugs. She set Hades's aside, knowing he took his coffee black. She lightened and sweetened her own, bringing these out to the coffee table. "[Any mistakes you've made were brought about by my mistakes.]"
Most parents didn't lock their daughters into basements and treated them like monsters. Hades picked Delaney up and dangled her until she laughed before putting her on the floor beside Cerberus. She couldn't be on his lap and drink coffee. "[That doesn't make things better. But she seems to have forgiven us both. That's a start.]"
Dahlia sat down in a chair this time, sipping her coffee. "[That's probably what matters the most, Hades.]" She took a sip, sitting quietly in her seat for a few moments. "[I don't know what to say...I heard from Hestia about the problem you're having. We can't tell you who to love. And I won't ever make you choose because I think it's entirely the wrong choice.]"
"[It's not about who to love. That is entirely up to me and not part of the discussion in the first place.]" Hades took a sip from his coffee and fought the urge to just kick up his feet on the coffee table not too far away. This wasn't his house anymore, even though he bought that coffee table. "[Love is not the problem. At least not from my end, not at this time.]"
"[Then explain what the problem is because that's Hestia's interpretation of it, I think,]" Dahlia sighed, shaking her head and taking a deep drink from the mug.
Somehow Hades wasn't surprised by that. He might as well be clear about this so at least one of them definitely understood. Even though he thought he had been clear before. "[The problem is I want to be with you both and that will never happen. So I'm putting the decision away from myself. I can't make it. Not after last time.]"
"[Why can't you be with us both? It just doesn't seem right.]" Dahlia felt a lump rise in her throat. She knew too much of justice to imagine that Hestia somehow didn't deserve Hades. "[If we do reach a conclusion...what happens to the other woman? The other family?]"
"[If I could be with you both I would be surprised beyond belief. Do you think you two could manage it though is the real question.]" Hades took a heavy drink from his coffee and then balanced it on the arm of the chair. "[The other family will still be my family. It's not like I would abandon my children.]"
"[That is our burden to bear...one that Hestia and I seemed to be ready to start the last time we spoke,]" Persephone informed him. "[We're aunt and niece again. And I'm not about to attack her...that was just...shock, you know?]"
"[I know. In retrospect, I'm surprised by your restraint in that level shock.]" Hades sighed a little, letting his hand hang over the side of the chair to stroke his daughter's hair or Cerberus' back -- whichever -- idly. "[I need to know what I am to the two of you now. And I'm not going to make the decision this time.]"
"[You need.....would it help if I told you?]" Dahlia swallowed the sick she felt inside, her head lowering almost to the mug in her hands.
"[Yes but let me ask you something first.]" Hades ceased his idle distractions and downed his coffee before leaning in to rest his hand lightly against her wrist, "[Is what you're about to say something that was agreed on with your discussion with Hestia?]"
"[We agree that we love you,]" Dahlia said softly. "[But this is aside from family...in addition to being the father of our children.]" She set her coffee cup aside, feeling suddenly shy. "[You're my other half. I love you, and...that kind of love is irreplaceable. And because you are so upset with me, because you can't...kiss me or tell me you love me, I feel incomplete all the time. Every second of every day.]"
"[I do love you.]"
"[But there's a barrier between us. A big one. And not a mysterious one. It has a definite reason for being,]" Dahlia replied, face turning bright pink. "[Empirically, she is the one you should be with since you can have a relationship that is complete and unbroken...but I can't let you go. So I need to share. It's childish, isn't it?]"
Hades looked away from her. He didn't know why he was ashamed in front of Persephone as his thoughts organized in his mind but he suddenly was, "[It doesn't feel so complete and unbroken. It feels like grasping at straws.]"
"[Straws?]" Persephone glanced up at him, a hint of hurt in her eyes. "[I still feel like I know you. Don't you know me?]"
"[The straws comment wasn't about you.]" But he couldn't help but sigh as he caught her eyes. "[But... after everything... I think I know you. But I won't deny I second guess myself about you now. You took me very much by surprise over and over this last year.]"
"[I know and I'm sorry,]" Dahlia frowned, burying her face in her hands. "[I don't know what to say or do anymore. I really don't...]"
Hades stood and bridged the one pace gap between the two of them, placing his hands on her shoulders as he stood behind her seat. "[At least trust is something we can rebuild. We both need to work on that,]"
Dahlia sighed, letting her head slip back so she could look up at him. She gave a rather large pout. "[That's true.]"
"[Neither of us were acting very good to the other.]" He kept his hands along her shoulders as he stared down at her.
This elicited another pout. "[But I made you coffee....]"
"[Were.]" Hades lifted one of his hands to lightly touch her the edge of her frown with a single finger in some attempt to smooth the expression away. "[The coffee was nice. A real deep brew.]"
Persephone smiled at that touch, soaking it in like a ray of sunlight. "[I'm glad you enjoyed it.]"
"[You cheated. You knew what kind of coffee I liked.]" He went quiet for a moment then, returning his hand to her shoulder as he continued to stare down at her, considering her. "[But more serious, do you understand what I was asking for now?]"
"[Somewhat,]" Persephone replied. "[You want to know where we expect your loyalties to lie. You think that a shared arrangement will be too hard because it has been in the past...personally, I think you're wrong. I don't know what Hestia thinks, but I also doubt she has the...intimacy experience that I have to be able to see the situation clearly. She's just learning what family is, really. My choice is we all stick together.]"
"[Close. I want you to tell me where I stand.]" Unconsciously, some ignored instinct made him rub her shoulders once before he left behind her seat and returned to his own. He had grown tired of standing when all these seating arrangements surrounded him, "[If you two could share, I would know this world was square.]"
"[We can share,]" Dahlia murmured, relaxing into her chair. "[That much was clear from our last conversation. So what happens now that the world is...square?]"
Hades shook his head, "[Sorry. Forgot not everyone would get that reference.] Bizarro [is from a square world.]"
"[...so you really have that little faith in us?]" Dahlia shot back, rolling her eyes. "[Here's where you stand. You are stuck with us. We both want you around for our families and ourselves. You should have happy family with Hestia because that is easy to accomplish. Whether or not we ever have a real relationship again is up to you because right now I'm not the one pulling away and relying on impotence to shove my hard decisions onto somebody else.]" She stood, taking her mug into the kitchen. "[What you asked of her is...so much and you never, never asked me. I had to get it secondhand from her, which puts she and I on much better terms than you or I, I assure you.]" She tossed the mug into the sink where it cracked in half. She gripped the counter hard. It wasn't fair! How was any of this a joke to him?
Hades flinched at the sound of the mug cracking, it instantly telling him that she hadn't taken his phrasing correctly. He then stood and followed her. He didn't quite get her second bit of accusation and it saddened him that neither woman could make sense of why he was where he was, but first things first. "[I don't have so little faith in you. I have such little faith in my luck. I don't have good luck with anything and I'm going to be the god that gets to see peace like this between two Greek goddesses? I hope beyond all hope that your words are true but when have I ever been optimistic, Persephone? Tell me.]" He then sighed hard and turned away, "[Or are am I not allowed to have doubt and worry?]"
"[You're not the only one with doubts or worries!]" Dahlia murmured, tears falling down her face. "[I just want you to be in a relationship with me and stop pressing ultimatums upon us. Is that wrong? You're always going to have doubts, worries, jealousies...you had them when it was just the two of us!]"
"[Don't cry,]" Hades murmured right back, it came out in a tone of a man who had said it a thousand times before but meant it with the same conviction each time. He reached out and brushed her tears away with his fingertips, "[I just want the two of you to choose your own destiny and if they overlap, to work it out.]"
"[But we did that. I already told you that,]" she continued to cry, pulling away from his hands. He couldn't comfort her one moment and hurt her the next. It wasn't fair. "[So why does it feel like you're still punishing me?]"
He wanted to point out that it had been clear just moments ago that his end of everything had not been chosen at all, but... Persephone was still crying. It made his soul cringe inside of him and so he grabbed her, albeit gently by the shoulders. "[Shhh. I'm not trying to punish you, I'm just terrible about talking about things.]"
"[I want to be with you! We're ready to share you and be part of a three parent family! What is your problem?!]" Her balled fist thunked ineffectively on his shoulder.
Hades blinked and his confusion made him ignored her balled fist, "[Does Hestia know that?]"
"[Yes! She invited me over to your shop and told me about your 'issues'!]" She grumbled.
"[I mean about the sharing me part.]" Did he forget this in a dream somehow? Impossible. He hadn't slept in three days... Maybe that was the problem.
"[We discussed that!]" Persephone wanted to shake him. He really wasn't putting anything together, and she didn't have the patience left in her spell it out. "[So yes she knows.]"
Hades sat back down, "[And I thought I was bad at conveying things.]" Then he looked up to her, shaking his head and fighting the urge to throw up his hands, "[Do you think I would have gone all into this if I had known that? I would have talked about fun things like what lies we're gonna say about Delaney when she goes to school and is way ahead of her class.]"
Persephone leaned against a kitchen counter, trembling slightly with her arms wrapped around her. "[Whatever...]"
It was easy enough to see that tremble, even when he returned to sitting, and with a soft sigh, he stood again. His instincts, honed from centuries upon centuries of being married to her, screamed at him to make her trembling stop and he approached slowly and put his arms around her, "[Shhh. I'm sorry for upsetting you.]"
Persephone wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face against his chest. Despite the fact that she felt so conflicted when around Hades, she needed this comfort. She needed to hold onto him in order to steady herself.
Hades kept her close, running a hand along her dark hair as she pressed her face against his chest. It didn't take much to realize his poorly chosen words drove her here, so he kept quiet. There had always been silent moments between them. Silence wasn't always bad, so he held
her there.
Dahlia sighed, sniffling as she stayed pressed against him. She closed her eyes tightly, drinking in the moment. "[Thank you....I needed a second.]" Still, she didn't let go.
And he didn't pull away. Hades just kept gently stroking her hair as he held her there. He hadn't come here to bring her to tears; if he had he would have gone about it much differently. "[Better?]"
Dahlia nodded, pulling back only far enough to wipe her eyes. "[Better. Thank you.]"
"[Would you be even better if I left or would it help for me to stay a little bit?]" Hades gently pulled his hand into his sleeve and wiped where her makeup had smudged. He didn't quite get why she wore makeup with her own beauty but it just looked bad when it smudged. This was much better.
Persephone blinked up at him, a blush creeping over her face as he cleaned her up. She rose up on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck. Her fingers grazed the nape of his neck. "[Stay?]"
Hades nodded, trying not to enjoy her fingers grazing his neck and her arms around him too much. Just enough to smile lightly. "[Alright. We can practice being civil to each other and not causing each other breakdowns. Want to eat something?]"
Persephone thought about it for a moment. "[I think I need a moment for my stomach to settle. Maybe we could take her out to get some food? Later?]"
"[I think she may be too much of a paparazzo's dream if we take her out. We can call any place we want to bring us food. We've done that before.]" Hades looped his arms loosely around her if only to put his arms anywhere. At his sides was too awkward even for him. "[Hmm, you're stomach needs to settle from our discussion or something else?]"
"[Sort of from the discussion...really, from the crying,]" Persephone replied simply, running a slender finger over the bridge of his nose. "[That's all.]"
Hades couldn't help but unintentionally flinch as her finger moved along his skin and he shook his head to move her hand away. But his mind was still working, running through their conversation again and again and it clicked on one particular phrase and desire she had said. "[I don't like you crying...]" He murmured lightly and leaned in, kissing her softly.
Dahlia blinked, surprised by his actions. Still, she pressed her lips to his, cuddling close. She smiled against his mouth, murmuring, "[I love you so much...]"
"[I love you, too...]" Hades had seen something from the corner of his eyes and turned to look, only to then bodily turn Persephone's back to the doorway. "[... I think Delaney is tired of us not paying attention to her. I just saw her riding Cerberus like a war horse.]"
Dahlia laughed, pulling away from Hades. "[Okay you order food, and I'll get to wrangling her...]" She laughed again, kissing him on the cheek before disappearing to look for her baby.
Summary: Hades shows up unexpectedly at Persephone's house. And their conversation about their relationship takes a few unexpected turns.