Who: Hera and Hades (and children) What: Friday Lunch Where: Dante's office When: 4th of September Warnings: None that I see.
Dante enjoyed two things while at work, three if one counted putting off work for the first two things: entertaining his children and telling Julie to warn any visitors he was playing with fire. Literally.
He sat with his back to the children in the playpen, the small blowtorch and its bright blue flame held to the side of the cast iron cup. All three of her children watched, in their own ways, with rapt attention. Edward seemed fascinated as his father wielded a flame. Eric pressed his ear to the mesh of the playpen, a delighted smile on his face at the sounds of the popping coming from the cast iron cup. Delaney seemed hypnotized as the small cubes of metal melted into a shining, glimmering liquid.
Dante grinned, glancing over his shoulder to his trio of children, “Wait for it, Little Ones, this gets even better...”
One of these days, he would actually remember his appointments.
Clearly that day was not today however. June had been warned by Julie that he was working with fire, yet the goddess was more curious than worried. He would not do something that would endanger his children in any manner, and simply reached for the door into his office with her free hand. The other carried a bag with some lunch items in it, still warm from being picked up on her route over.
She nudged the door open slightly, and peered inside. When there was no large fire in clear evidence, June pushed it open further, and began to enter. And what was it her brother was in the process of today?
The blow torch was put away and he reached for a pair of tongs at his side. June was ignored for now. Dante was busy and concentrating. “Now this is the fun part,” he murmured as he turned the cast iron cup with the tongs and poured out the liquid metal into two small molds. Then, quickly closing the molds, he dropped them both into an odd, almost glowing liquid when the muted sunlight graced the bowl. The liquid burst partly, but harmlessly, from the bowl in a loud crackling sound. All three children laughed, for their own different reasons. “Told ya.”
Arching an eyebrow, June stepped fully into the space and closed the door behind her. Moving softly as she could, she set the food upon the coffee table, then moved to take a seat where she could watch her brother with his children. She smiled at their reactions, and continued to watch the four together.
Only when the bubbling and crackling stopped did Dante fish out the molds and crack them open, revealing two perfectly round and glistening rings. He turned to his children and showed them, guiding Eric's hands around them before letting the other two simply look. “Mountain Dew is a trade secret. Shhh.” Then, he touched Delaney's head, “Especially you. A secret.”
"And here most believed it was merely an easy way of staying up late from a caffeine buzz," June mentioned from her seat, eyes glancing to the bowl then back up to her brother. "Have you tried Pepsi as well?"
With all his might, he tried not to appear startled as he turned his attention to June and then settled at the sight. Right. It was Friday. Around lunch. He drew to his feet and put the rings into his pocket, “Don't know what it is about Mountain Dew. It just makes good jewelry. I think its the odd color.”
Had she managed to sneak up and surprise the one who normally did the sneaking? Now, if she found Hermes and could repeat the trick with him, she would consider it a rather astounding achievement. She smiled as she watched him stand. "Perhaps. I wonder if the store brands would work as well. Rings?"
It seemed pointless to keep such a secret from June so he simply pulled the two rings out of his pocket. They were both made of platinum, plain but pure. They would be twins if not for difference of size. “They're not done. Just started.”
She held her hand open to receive them, noticing the size difference quickly and meeting her brother's eyes. "And what do you plan to place upon them? Rubies like pomegranate seeds, and delicate flower work?"
“Not rubies, if only because I am going to make them matc--” A distinct whining from the playpen cut off his words and he sighed as he walked back over to his children. Nothing was wrong with any of them, that he knew. And he knew it was Delaney whining at him. She stared up at him with angry little eyes, but he knew the cure for that. And her whining stopped when she got her sippy cup. Now, back to adult matters. “And that is too old of a symbol. This is new.”
"Fitting enough. Have you already asked, or is it merely mutually accepted that it will occur?" Standing again, Hera went to the food and began to pull items from the bag. Boxes this time, but one contained lasagna, another alfredo, another had bread with garlic butter, and two had salads with dressing in small containers. Left within the bag for the time being were two slices of cheesecake.
Dante glanced back over at the playpen, “This is adult food. You three ate and none of you wanted to share.” But then, after taking back the rings, he began making himself a plate for lunch. The floor could remain a mess, he really didn't care. “No and yes. I just wanted to get a head's start on them. The last time I made wedding rings it took two years.”
"Do you make them often?" She started to prepare her own plate, letting him choose what he wished for the pasta before she gathered her own. "I did not know what you would wish to have to drink, so you may have to send someone once you have made a choice."
“No. Am very selfish like that.” He put a little bit of each pasta on his plate, got up to grab a Guinness bottle from his mini fridge and then sat back down to snag a piece of garlic bread without missing a beat, “Got to think about what design I'm gonna engrave on them.”
Ah, he would have his drink at the ready. But knowing his office well enough by now, Hera went and found a glass and some ice for a simple glass of water for herself. "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue... What have you decided against thus far?"
It was a casual lunch. If it was anything more, he would have at least offered to get her the glass and the ice, but it wasn't. Dante leaned back on the couch, carefully balancing his bottle on the arm as he ate, “What do you mean?”
"You have already said no rubies, and if you are considering an engraving that is new, you must have considered other parts to it already and discarded them," she reasoned as she settled back into her own seat.
“Just don't want to jinx it with symbols of the past.” He shrugged a little before pausing to eat. Actively thinking about the food on his lap would keep him from vividly think about his reasoning. His first marriage had been long but with a painful compromise, his second was short and disastrous “To ask with them is one thing, to seal with them is quite another.”
"You could ask with them plain, then allow her to aid you with the ideas for the engraving. It is a vow and promise between both of you." Tending to her own food, Hera carefully poured dressing over her salad, choosing to eat at least some of it first. See children? Even the immortals ate the green stuff. That and the dressing was fairly decent.
The 'pfff' sound came right passed Dante's lips so quickly he had no chance or hope to prevent it. But once it was out, he carried on in its tone, “I'm not asking with these rings. I'm doing them now so maybe there can be a wedding in a timely fashion. Like I said, it took me two years to make the last set.”
"And what exactly would be a timely fashion?" Hera asked, soundly slightly amused as she did so. How had it taken him two years to make the first set? Being a perfectionist, no doubt. She could hardly blame him.
“Within two years sounds about right,” Dante said between fork-fulls of pasta. Had he eaten breakfast? Now he didn't remember and doubted it with how ravenous he felt suddenly. “You picked a good lunch today.”
"I am glad that you approve," she mentioned, giving a small nod of her head to accept his thanks. So many of the other choices for food for the day had seemed boring almost. She sipped some more of her water before returning to her own food. "Do you intend to wait that long to have the wedding as well then?"
Shrugging, Dante took a healthy swig of his beer. What was the polite way of saying 'We should probably wait until there is less painful memories and domestic violence between us.'? He almost smiled as he came up with a translation, “Well, we can't have a wedding without rings. That's how modern weddings work.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. He had little need to tell her of anything of weddings. Nor point out how quickly they married last time. But, that had not ended well, and so, after a moment, she let the point drop. "I will be curious to see what you finally decide for the final engraving of the rings."
Part of him firmly believed the main difference between the two times was the fact he did have wedding rings made already. “Me, too. Half tempted to ask Erato to inspire me. She's the wedding muse, right?” Dante could never keep the muses straight after a certain point.
"Mhmm. [She is also the one who was recently married.]" She was beginning to pick at her lunch, having eaten as much as she truly needed for the moment. The plate was set aside on the coffee table as she settled back into her seat. "Do you think you are prepared for the possible inspiration of a muse?"
“Wouldn't be the first time I was inspired by a muse, but...” Then again, intellectually, Dante knew for certain how horrible his instincts were when love, romance and marriage were involved. He sighed a little, “That's why I said I was half tempted. That and I don't like being out of my own control.”
"When else have you been under the influence of a muse?" And which one? He was hardly of the artistic type, and from what she had ever seen of them, those were the ones the muses tended toward most. Either to help or hinder.
If it was someone else, he probably would have refused to reply to keep his own pointless secrets, but there was some relative comfort in speaking to his baby sister. “Mel inspired me a few months ago. Needed a moment of peace from myself.”
Hera had to consider that for a moment. The muse of tragedy granting someone peace? Well, odder things could happen she suspected. The idea could form more sense once she thought about it. "I had never thought to make a request of a muse for that nature. Was she able to aid you?"
“For a moment. It was the best to be expected,” It was almost surreal to think back to that time. Dante wasn't sure if it was the drugs or the over whelming despair that made the whole period feel like looking through a fog to make sense of a murky river. “Should put my stuff away so they kids can walk about.”
Hera looked to the children to see how closely they were tending to the adult's conversation before looking back to the bag, and shrugging. "There was also the desert, but you can save that for yourself for later I suspect. Your children may think I'm taking too much of your time."
“Uh huh!” Delaney called out, her little eyes narrowed in a glare as if to emphasize it.
“Angry faces are impolite,” Dante replied, without missing a beat, “Do you want the naughty chair?”
“No...” The little girl whined and pouted.
But it made her father smile as he stood, “We can eat while they wander though, Little Sis. They won't steal.”
Hera ignored the glare as it was issued, and followed her brother with her eyes as he began to move about the room. She smiled in mild amusement at the exchange and turned to retrieve the deserts. Cheesecake. The slices were pulled from their little box, one set before the space Hades had taken, the other being kept in Hera's own hands. "That should be proof that our nephew is not about."
“Which nephew?” Quickly, he put the blowtorch and other equipment away and wiped up the spill over of Mountain Dew before lifting each of the three children, one at a time, out of their pen and onto the floor. “Freedom, little precious ones,” he whispered to them and then returned to his sister's side for his cake. Cheesecake wasn't overly sweet. A dessert he didn't mind was a novelty.
It had seemed the safest choice, given the lunch they had had. There were few who would turn away a decent cheesecake. "The one who likes to thieve," she answered, before taking a bite of her own.
“Would assume you mean Hermes, even though cake-snatching seems more Pan,” Dante shrugged and took a bite of his cake before glancing at the children, two of them staring at him and the other sniffing in his general direction. “It's not sweet, little ones. You wouldn't like it.” Delaney and Edward seemed to look at each other and then decided to wander off to find a game to play. Their father returned to the adult conversation, “Don't you think?”
Hera watched the exchange with amusement before turning to glance at her food and take another tasting bite. "I have had little interaction with the wild god, and see even less reason to increase the limited amount that I have had."
“He's not a bad bloke.” After all, he had helped create all three of the children wandering the room. Dante smiled softly as he watched his eldest son and daughter figure out how to play with a large ball in the corner of the room together. But, where was the third one? Eric had sniffed his way to the couch and was in the process of climbing up.
Watching the little adventurer, Hera continued the conversation as though she had not noticed him. And what did he think to gain from coming so near? "Perhaps, but I still have little need for him to be about in my life. My husband is enough to handle when it comes to men wishing to run wild."
“No talking about your husband.” The half command came out perfectly monotone as Dante pretended to be incredibly focused on how his fork cut through his cake. The little boy managed to climb directly onto the cushion between the two adults and looked around with a curious glint about him.
"My apologies," she returned calmly, before slicing off a small amount of her cake and considering it. She was tempted to share with the one who had been brave enough to join her on the couch with her brother. Though that would hardly be considered overly brave. Her eyes shifted to see what the others were tending to. "We may not have a thief about, though we may risk a beggar," she mentioned offhand.
“Hey there.” Dante placed his cake to the side and touched his son's soft curls in tactile greeting. Eric grinned and then reached out to both of them. “Hmm, maybe you're right. We might have a beggar here.”
"Hmm, and how are we tending to beggars?" Balancing her fork on her plate, she reached her free hand toward the boy, running a finger of the back of his hand.
“Please?” the little beggar asked, shifting his hand to quickly nab his aunt's finger.
“Well, he did say the magic word...” Carefully, Dante took a small bit from his cake and brought it to his son's lips. “Here.”
Eric took the bite with a bright smile and frowned.
Hera chuckled at the boys reaction, rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb before bending to kiss the top of his head. "Perhaps he would have liked it better with strawberry syrup." Glancing over the meal, she wondered if there was something else he would enjoy.
“Perhaps he should have listened to me.” With a kiss to the top of the little boy's head, he lifted him off the couch and put him back on the ground. “Knew he wouldn't like it.”
"Most do learn best from their own history, rather than the mere words of others." Hera followed the small boy with her eyes, clearly watching him with pleasure. It was only one of the reasons she enjoyed spending the Friday's with her brother.
“Yeah, the fire's hot theory. Let them touch it. Normally I subscribe to it, but... “ Greedily, he took back his cake for a few more bites. “Don't feel like being an example of the sharing principle when I know it ain't gonna work.”
Smirking, the goddess turned to her own cake to enjoy it. "Then the next one who asks can have a bite of mine." She was willing to share to keep the peace.
“Nah. He's tell them in Toddlerese not to bother.” Dante took another few bites and then set the cake aside. He stared across the room in sudden and very deep thought before nursing a swig of his drink, “It's weird. Don't feel in a pit of despair.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. "That would be a rather good thing, would it not?" Carefully she finished her last bites, then set her own plate aside as well.
“Just don't trust it.” He shrugged a little and finished off the bottle, “It's just an odd feeling.”
"Perhaps. You are not inclined to go chasing after the more familiar feelings are you?" Slipping her shoes off, she tucked her feet under her on the couch.
“Never have to. They come to me without me looking.” His life was filled with events proving it. In both solitude and in companionship, there always managed to be some dark cloud looming overhead. Suddenly, there was a silver lining and it was jarring. “It's not bad. Just weird.”
"Then I will trust you to properly embrace it." Turning, she watched the children, deciding their play would make a good background for the current conversation.
Dante nodded a little and turned his gaze to the same sight. The three children were trying to play together. Delaney tried to keep the ball too herself, but it was too large to be contained in her arms. It bounced out and the boys would give chase. And then the game repeated. “Had to measure her arms in her sleep to find the right ball, you know.”
"You will need to find a larger one soon, I suspect. Children often grow quickly." Or find another ball. She could not be sure that method would work, though it sounded reasonable.
His eyes focused on Delaney. She wasn't even one and there she was walking, playing and pushing her blind step brother as hard as she could to the ground... Dante instantly stood and scooped her up, ignoring all her protests. “Bad. You know better, Delaney.” Then, he put her into the playpen, “You know the drill, precious girl.”
Interesting. Hera followed the actions without comment, and considered the twins reaction. Now they had the ball to themselves, though it was clear they did not have the strength of their younger half sister. "Common occurrence?"
Eric was about to cry but as soon as he heard the sound of the ball bouncing near him without feet following it, the tears were forgotten and he was up to his feet. Edward forgot his concern when his brother rose and the chase was on again. Dante was fine with that. Let them play without interruption, “Yeah. She's in a might makes right stage. She hasn't gotten the part where it only works when you can get away with it.”
Delaney sat in the playpen, pouting but quiet. In her older mind, she knew crying wouldn't get her out of the pen any sooner.
"A critical lesson to learn. The sooner she learns it however, the more she may apply it to other parts of life as well." Glancing to the younger girl, Hera watched her for a moment before cocking an eyebrow as if to say, 'you will get there', before looking away again. Manipulation. A powerful tool when used correctly. "The boy seem to do well together on their own."
“Yeah...” A hint of somberness snuck into his tone at her choice of words and he brought all his attention to his sons as he sat back down beside his sister. He knew they would turn to him any moment now and call him down off the couch to join them in their game, but it didn't stop him from sighing, “Hope they always do.”
His sister gave him a sideways glance at that sigh and somber mood. She hadn't intended to bring that out in him. "Are you concerned that they will not?"
“The faster they master it, the sooner they won't miss me as much when I'm not there,” Dante said softly, even in the downing of his mood he couldn't help a small smile as his sons played their little game together. It really wasn't much of a game beyond bouncing and chasing the big ball, but it warmed his heart.
"It is the way of children," she murmured, giving a small shrug. Hades would know this, and he would know any words she would offer in comfort. That did not stop her from saying them though. "While your sons may not depend on you and be needy of you once they are older, I think they will always respect you and what you have to offer them in knowledge. The question will only be how long it takes them to come to that realization."
“Hope they don't need me much sooner than when they're 'older' but will still respect m---” Dante would have finished his sentence but his sons had both managed to look over at him in near unison and called for him. He eased off the couch and sat on the floor, tapping it twice loudly as he did so. They approached laughing. “What about your aunt? Can Aunt Hera play, too?”
“Yesss!” One of the boys called out.
Dante smirked over his shoulder at his sister and then continued, “And what about Sissy? Can she play again, too?”
And the other boy responded much the same, “Yesss!”
“They like that word. Believe its the 's' sound,” Dante explained to June matter of factly as he got up and released Delaney from her timeout. It was over anyway. This just worked out better.
Smiling at the boys, June stood and found a spot on the floor that she could settle into, carefully tucking her skirt about her with her legs to the side as she waited for Dante to join them once more. When the ball seemed to roll to her, she picked it up and tapped it a few times, before giving it a small push toward one of the twins.
Dante was quick to the floor, releasing his daughter to his side, to join the game. And the game was on. Woe to the myth-writers' sanity if they ever learned of the dread judge Hades and stern, vengeful Hera playing with a big bouncy ball covered in glittery stars with three giggly children on the floor.
Summary: Another Friday lunch with June and Dante. And three children. This time, June brings pasta and cheesecake, and walks in on Dante making some plans.