Dante Lot (unseen_miami) wrote in olympian_rewind, @ 2009-07-27 23:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | children, dante lot, hades, hera, june marris |
Who: Hera & Hades (with the Lot Twins)
What: Sibling Lunch
Where: Hades' office
When: Backdated. 7/24
Warnings: none
Ah, Friday. Hera smirked to herself slightly as she went up the elevator, planning to meet her brother for their regular meetings. Often they were simple things that revealed little except the opportunity for Hera to see her nephews and brother, enjoy her lunch, and, if either wished, perhaps reveal something far more personal. But this week, Hera had something specific she wished to discuss with Hades.
Stepping free of the elevator, she began to walk straight to his office, looking calm and composed as she always did, a bag with some lunch in it for them in one hand. If Julie did not stop her, then she would assume she was expected as always, give a single knock to the door, and enter.
Hades would have stood up and opened the door, or at least used his fancy door opener button, but he was too busy wrestling 18 months olds. Luckily for their father neither their motor skills or their tactics were overly developed. Still, he needed both hands to hold them down, spreading his fingers along their chests and ignoring how they kicked their feet and flailed their arms. It would not help them. He heard the knock, and glancing over was thankful he let the door just slightly ajar. That meant he could shout, “If it's personal come in. Business, make an appointment and then sod off until said appointment. It's Friday.”
Hera pushed the door open, arching an eyebrow as she peered inside and down at father and sons. "Does this mean that you do no work on Friday's and treat it as only another weekend?"
“Maybe. It's good to be your own boss.” Hades bowed his head in greeting to his sister and then returned his attention to his squirming, laughing sons, “You two may have lucked out. Have to let you go to eat afterall.”
Entering the room fully, Hera closed the door behind her and came forward to set the bag of food on the coffee table. "Releasing them would be the wiser idea. It is rather messy to try to feed them while they are attempting to free themselves."
“They ate already. They had tiny sandwiches. It was pretty adorable.” Still, Hades released both of them incredibly quickly and both boys seemed confused for a second and then laughed again. It was all a fun game for them. Their father simply sat on the floor and turned around to face his sister, “But I doubt you're gonna feed me so I have to use my hands.”
"I could, but it would hardly be as adorable." Hera moved so that she could greet each of the boys, brushing the tops of their heads with her hand as she spoke their name. It was simply rude not to say hello. "I did bring two apples that could be cut up, and some dipping sauce, as a treat for them later."
“They love dipping things in things. Taught them about cookies and milk yesterday.” Hades brushed his hand over their hair as well and then watched as they reached out for their toys. They couldn't outwrestle Daddy so they sought out enemies they could subdue, like their stuffed animals. Subtly, Hades put Eric's closer to him and then looked to Hera, “So, they'll like that.”
"It seems something many young children enjoy. I'm amazed you waited so long to teach them about the cookies and milk." She arched an eyebrow slightly at that, having assumed it was something they would have sought to do instinctively. Though, until recently, they may not have had the opportunity to make such an experiment. Sippy cups were not built for dipping. She moved back toward the couch so she could begin to pull out their food.
“They needed to be trust worthy with cups for it first,” He shrugged, answering it honestly. They were trustworthy with cups with him at least. They found little delight tossing their food or drinks with him like they did with their mother. There was no dog to feed here and they wouldn't get replacements. “It took them a while to figure out not dropping the cookie into it. They're still not great at that.”
"There is a small art to it," she agreed, opening the bag and pulling out the packages with sushi. She'd learned what he tended to enjoy most, and handed to him the one she had picked up with that in mind, before pulling out her own. As the boys were interested in their toys, she would leave the apple until later. "Did you use Oreos, or something else?"
“Sugar cookies. Oreos are too advanced for them. Also, I didn't want my hands to smell like Oreos or Delaney would want them,” Hades reached out and took the sushi Hera had bought him. She had learned what he liked indeed; he liked spiting his Fish of a Brother as much as he could.
And Hera has simply thought that a meal with rice sounded decent for the day. She also pulled out a drink for each of them, and place his where he would be able to reach it easily, but they could keep the small ones from it. "That would most likely be the wiser choice then. Personally I would suspect that chocolate chip might be the more classic method."
“Probably but I found some non super sweet sugar cookies that don't disgust me so I can have them, too.” Hades grabbed his drink and put it on the one side of him for further safety and then opened his food's plastic case. Both boys turned their attention to the sound but the weird food and smell made them go back to their toys.
They would come to appreciate it in time. She glance at their reactions to the sound, then followed suit with opening her own package. "You must have bought a container of them then, opposed to buying a few individual ones."
“They're cheap and come in a big plastic thing. That's why they ain't sweet. Works for me,” Hades shrugged and popped one of the sushi pieces into his mouth.
"I am sure if you asked that, Tessie would be able to make some for you," she suggested lightly, taking a bite of her own sushi.
Hades paused completely at the name and then took a deep breath before toying with another piece between his fingers, “Rather not be asking for favors from her so soon.”
Hera paused herself, arching an eyebrow with interest. "I am sure that for her sons it would be a rather trivial request..."
“They'll eat whatever cookies they're given. They don't need special request cookies,” Hades shook his head and then ate the sushi he was playing with. Sushi wasn't that great to play with. It fell apart with too much handling.
It did. Not that it would completely stop one from doing so. Shifting, the goddess of marriage leaned back against the couch casually. "Would you care to tell me your version of what occurred?"
Hades sighed and looked down to the floor, “Do I have to?”
"I have never forced you to tell me anything, [brother]," she mentioned gently. They both knew that he tended to tell her anyway, and, at least to Hera, it turned out for the better when he did.
Suddenly, he didn't feel very hungry and left his sushi alone. Instead he felt like looking up at the ceiling of his office, “What do you know?”
"I know there is more to the story than what Tessie told me. She said that she gave you the chance to leave, though I suspect she more likely gave you a rather firm shove into your former wife's arms." Blunt? Perhaps. But there were more than a few times when being blunt with her brother had its rewards that kind and soft subtly did not. Hopefully this would be one of them.
Hades was suddenly glad he had put down his food and wasn't drinking anything. His confusion would have made both impossible. He blinked and looked away from her, only to look to her again, “Come again?”
Well, that clearly had not been the right choice. She would manage. "I spoke with her, earlier this week, when she called me in regards to your moving out. She told me in her words what happened, and now I am curious to hear yours."
That wasn't the part that got him. Hades rubbed the ridge of his nose in frustrated thought before trying again, “No. What did she say? That she gave me the chance to leave?”
"Those were her words. Other words lead me to believe she would have given you more of a push to do so." Hera shrugged, picking up one of her pieces. "That is merely my impression however." She placed it within her mouth, glancing up to watch him.
“Guess she's technically correct, though the phrasing heavily implies that I made some choice against her,” Hades frowned, his mental scale tilting to the matyr side of why Hestia chose the way she had. That's what it certainly sounded like if she reported the event to her sister in such a way, “I remember the phrasing of 'I've made my decision. If he should be with anyone, it's you. I'm ready to step away.'” The words were etched in his memory, just like how he could recount what Persephone had told him May fifth of last year. Important decrees like that always etched themselves in his mind.
"That does sound like something she would be likely to say. It also sounded as though you may have left the choice to her and your other as to what the future might hold." She tilted her head slightly, peering at him, wondering what else would be revealed.
“That's only because that's exactly what I did. Told Dahlia and Tessie that they would have to decide this because I would not choose either way. That I couldn't. They would have to decide together what their destinies would be and I would abide it.” Hades sighed lightly and popped another piece of sushi into his mouth to try to distract his mind a little, “Tessie decided that she would give me to Dahlia and Dahlia accepted. Though to her credit, she did try to convince Tessie to rethink her choice.”
"I see." She became quiet for a bit, considering this, and eating her food slowly. She was also giving him a chance to add anything on that he felt relevant. It was rather easily to understand how they would come to such a conclusion, considering those who were involved.
Hades knew what the pause was for. There was very little add, except, “Tessie said she decided it because I needed Dahlia as much as Dahlia needed me. That it would be better for me.”
Hera nodded, lowering her voice slightly. "She believes that." Rather firmly, if Hera were much of a judge on such a topic.
“Suppose that's good, even if I'm unsure if its true. It will be good for her to believe she made the right choice.” Hades sipped at his drink as he stared off into the distance, trying to piece together proper thoughts about the whole event with this new information, “She said she couldn't share me when Dahlia offered it and I guess it ain't in her nature to fight and make demands, so it was the only choice she had.” That realization made him frown. He hadn't meant to bind her hands, “So, if she believes its what's best for me, that's good for her... right?”
"We will try to make it so. I am curious if you think it is best for you as well. Do you think that Dahlia is better for you than Tessie is?" She was, in a manner, truly curious. It would give her a bit of insight. Hopefully. It was not as though she had any claim in the outcome.
Hades shrugged, “How do you define 'better for me'?”
"Will you be happier?" she asked, guessing the answer already.
“No way of determining that really, Lil' Sis. Can't see into the alternate futures to compare,” Hades glanced down at his food and decided to cease to ignore it. He was hungry and it was too good to ignore anymore.
Ah, good. The food would not go wasted. She tilted her head ever so slightly as she watched him. "Are you satisfied with the arrangements then?"
“Me and Dahlia have issues, but we have a long time to deal with them. And, from what you just told me, it really is my only outcome.” He quieted only to finish his tray of raw fish atop rice and then shoved the plastic aside, ignoring and discarding it for now. His eyes moved to his sons, “I miss them at night. To be honest, I miss her, too, but she made her own choice. They didn't.”
Hera's eyes followed his, looking to his sons as well. She lowered her voice, "If you were with her you would miss your daughter, and perhaps the one who gave her to you."
“Not if we had done it Dahlia's way I wouldn't have,” Hades muttered and then taking a little bit of the left over rice, flicked the grains at his sons. Both turned around at the feel of the sticky grain against their skin and then began to laugh anew, “But Tessie outright said she couldn't do that so... Here we are. It kinda feels surreal.”
"New arrangements often can." She smiled slightly at the boys laughter, and put some more attention to her own meal. "Hopefully this is not a choice those involved come to regret."
“Its the fact the arrangements ain't new what makes it surreal,” Hades flung another grain of rice at his sons and smirked a little as they rocked to their bare little feet and toddled over to him, grabbing his hands to stop his immature behavior of food throwing.
"You'll teach them poor habits," she mentioned as the boys came to stop him. "The difference may be between how the two women respond to one another. The way the arrangements were arrived at are also different than before, and can influence part of the situation, if only in minor ways."
“When the house is quiet, I can pretend that the whole last year hadn't happened at all,” Hades replied as he tried to free his hands. His left from Ed was easier than his right from Eric, but only because Eric had decided to wrap his whole body around his forearm. His youngest son was a blind, shaved koala, he was certain, “But then Delaney will call out for me or something else will happen and I snap out of it and remember.”
The scene was rather adorable, and she smiled as she finished her food, setting the plastic aside and reaching for her drink. Taking a sip, she then moved to sit on the floor as well, next to Hades. "I believe we all have memories we would see pushed away."
The scene was less adorable to Hades but only because Eric seemed to have razor sharp nails and they were digging right into his wrist. “A good chunk of my life is a memory I want to push away so whatever. I'll repress them except when I have the time to brood and grab onto any joy I can when it arrives. I just hope I'm there when they need me.”
Hera arched an eyebrow. "Would you ever let yourself be so far away that you would not be there when they need you?"
“You never know. Might already be too far away...” Hades shrugged and then freed himself from his sons, picking one up to sit him on the floor and then doing the same for the other. That was enough grabbing his hands. Both stared up at him with their nonidentical eyes on their identical faces. It was an almost magical ability of theirs, to lock him in place for a moment with their gaze and remind him he was indeed their father. “Don't mind me. Just have issues from when Tessie was kidnapped that one time.”
"We all have issues, brother," she remarked calmly, reaching out to gently poke the side of the boy nearest. "Yours are merely more recent and have not yet found a coping method."
Eric spooked dramatically at being poked, but Edward, like a protective big brother, scooted over as well as his motor skills would allow and tried to grab Hera's hand. Hades smiled slightly at the display, “Probably. I do cope through revenge and I never got fitting revenge for them.” Torturing just one person to death, having their headquarters burnt down and having Ares' get the local gangs to harass their operatives just wasn't enough.
Hmm. If revenge was how he coped, had he chosen to do anything to Persephone's previous husband? She was not entirely sure she dared the question just now. "Normally I would recommend finding better coping techniques, but revenge has become far too much of an idle threat of late." She poked Edward briefly on his stomach, before moving her arm away once more.
“I can't help it. Revenge is just justice outside of an institution.” Hades grabbed both his sons quickly, first by the back of their shirts and then around their waists to bring them to sit on his knees. Hera's poking seemed forgotten for now. “And I'm just so bad at origami.”
"I am sure that you succeed at other things." There would need to be another way for him to release that desire for revenge. Butcher? Dead meat never worked nearly so well. Hera tucked her legs to her side, leaning on an arm so she could watch Hades and his sons.
“Things will be okay,” Hades then murmured softly. Whether it was to Hera, himself or to his sons was impossible to tell, but he then looked up to his sister, “Things just have to calm down and settle, yes?”
She nodded, looking him in the eye. "They will. Things simply need to adjust."
“I think so, too. The fact that my happiness is dampened with grief gives me hope that it might last. Unmitigated joy is just more trouble than its worth,” Hades offered Hera a smile before he brought his attention back to his sons. They squirmed out of his grasp and crawled away. Something shiny had fascinated Eddy and Eric was just following out of peer pressure. “My drama must bore you after a while. You get enough of this at your job.”
"It is more the other way around. Yours fascinates me, my job tends to bore me." She frowned slightly and turned to watch the boys, remembering the ways the meaning of marriage had changed in the years. "While I wish no unhappiness upon you [brother], you do seem to find yourself in the most awkward of circumstances."
Plopping down unceremoniously to his back, he almost smirked in a bout of dark humor, “Yeah, I'm good at that. Each event in my life is bigger and more awkward than the next.”
"If I were so inclined, I would simply sit back and trace it all into a book. I am sure it would quickly become a best seller." If he was willing to twist humor about his life into the conversation, that Hera would not attempt to correct him. "And to end the book at the current chapter would leave it with a bitter sweet closure many would enjoy." She considered it for a moment more. "Perhaps it would turn others to enjoying their marriages and current lives even more..."
“My story does have a certain, back to the beginning feel to it. Everything changed and I know so much more now but in the end, what's changed?” Shifting slightly, he gave a glance to what his sons were doing and when he determined they were in no danger looked back to Hera, “Nothing. To an outside observer, its all the same. But internally? It feels different. I'm not making sense, am I?”
"You are making far more sense than you may perceive," she remarked, giving him a small smile. She could watch the boys enough to see that they put themselves in no danger. There were no scissors about to poke out eyes.
“Good because it sounds like rambling to my ears.” Hades glanced around to remember where he put his drink just to move it so he didn't knock it right over.
"I have much skill in turning ramblings into sense," she pointed out, a hint of amusement to her tone. At least they would be likely to end their lunch on a positive note.
“You should write up what I said meant tso it will make sense to the rational part of my brain then. Pretty sure only the emotional and the primitive parts of my brain understand and they ain't sharing.” Hades could hear her amusement in her tone and it relaxed him just a little. After all, he could be tense and brood at home.
He could. His time with his sister was not meant to be stressful or demanding, after all. "I will see what can be done.” The book may not be nearly as far fetched an idea as she first thought. It could have some true weight to it... She would consider it later. For now, she would simply enjoy the rest of her lunch break with her brother.
Summary: Hades and Hera resume their weekly lunches together after a bit of a hiatus and discuss the current shake up in his romantic affairs. Hera needs both sides of the story.