Who: Hades & Persephone What: Surprises Where: Their house When: Recent Warnings: Fades out at the end
It was late in the evening. Not late enough for the adults in the house to be asleep, but the youngins were and even though Hades loved his children, their affection and the company, like all parents, he also enjoyed the quiet of their sleep.
Or at least he would enjoying the quiet if his iPad wasn't messing with him. Stretched out on one of the chaise couches with his bear fur blanket given to him by Hestia so many months ago, he shook the stupid thing. Shaking didn't make it work though. “Whatever,” he muttered and pulled out his iPhone, texting Persephone, “-- Are you done with your bath? Can you bring me the instructions to this thing? Like an iPhone my arse it is. --”
Persephone would probably have stayed in the bath for a few more minutes, but when she received that text from Hades, she decided it was time to get out before she got too wrinkly. She dried off and tossed on her house robe before texting back that she would check. Maybe their house was too big if they needed to text to communicate with each other...
Now where did he keep his instruction manuals. She checked his end table, but there was no iPad manual within. She vaguely remembered seeing its box in the closet at one point. Maybe it was still there. She poked her head into the closet, and when she didn't see the box immediately, she started to rummage, opening up what was there. That was how she stumbled upon a vast swath of white that looked like a dress, but it wasn't any dress that she owned, and it looked very much like a wedding--
Oh.
“Are you locked up? Why are you locked up?” Hades shook his head with a sigh and reached for his iPhone again. Trusty iPhone, it didn't have problems, “-- Did you find it?--”
Persephone stared at the screen for a moment before texting back. "--Do you mean the manual or the other thing I just found?--"
Hades blinked. “-- What do you think I mean by 'it'?--”
Persephone frowned, then replied. "--So the manual and not this dress?--"
He suddenly understood and smirked a little. Well, he hadn't hid the dress that she wouldn't find it eventually. He had purposely done so to spite her but his spite was gone now... Melpomene inspired it out of him and so he thought for a moment, “--Come to me.--”
Persephone stood, readjusting her robe as she made her way downstairs. She set her phone down, kneeling next to the chaise. "You wanted to see me?"
There was a solid beat of silence. It wasn't because he was thinking, it wasn't because he was reviewing the lie that he had committed to in his wait... It was merely his mind trying to reboot from the sight of his attractive fiancee only in a robe. Hades reached out and stroked her hair, letting his cool fingers graze her cheek as he did, “So you found the dress, love?”
"I found the dress," Persephone replied with a nod, leaning against the edge of the chaise and enjoying his cooling touch. "I just am confused on where it came from."
“From the future.” And his lie began. He was the master of his own despair, at least for now. Until some external event intruded again on his emotions, he could control the situations that caused him misery. Telling her the truth about that dress and his plan for it would hurt her and trudge up the past for him. Her wait had been her punishment and he would not punish himself by increasing hers and inviting sadness into the moment. So he continued to lie, “Now how am I supposed to sweep you off your feet for autumn if you found it now?” He smiled slightly and leaned forward to whisper in her ear, “Guess all I have left to sweep you away is to marry you...”
Persephone blushed, her fingers finding his shirt. "You're not joking about that right?" Well, he had started with a joke. It was a valid question. "If you are it isn't nice."
“Would I have leaned in to whisper it to you if it was a joke?” Something he had decided like a minute ago, sure, but it wasn't a joke. He leaned back again but only after he put the accursed iPad aside and swept her up onto the chaise to join him. That was enough of her on the floor, “I was going to suggest a spring wedding initially, but with Hera being married now... Autumn is more our time.”
Persephone had a wide smile on her face as he spoke. Who cared if they were getting married in the fall so long as they were going to get married? A few months wasn't much time at all to wait. Or to plan. "Autumn sounds wonderful."
“You have until then to run from me. Wedding comes, I'm keeping you forever,” Hades whispered in her ear again as he kept her close to him to emphasis his words, and to simply keep her close. “You'd be surprised how designers will fall over themselves to design a dress for a super model...”
Persephone giggled, pressing close to her fiance. She tapped kisses on his neck and then onto his lips. "Can I try it on? Do you want to see it?"
“Yes and yes.” Hades released her and gave her a nudge. His eyes were locked on her now with almost a predatory glint. Did he want to see her in her excitement try on her wedding dress? It had been a dream for him to have her be truly excited about being married to him, to look forward to it and being master of his own despair, he forewent brooding about the past and looked forward to the future and the dream fulfilled. “It'll be good for you show it off for me. You might be rusty in your modeling skills.”
Persephone was beaming as she sat up, patting Hades's leg. "Come on then." She stood, making her way up to the bedroom and hauling out the box.
“Making me get up?” Hades commented even as he stood and followed her into their bedroom.
"No messing up a lovely dress by walking back and forth," was Persephone's answer to that. Uncovering the dress, she carefully started to lay it out. She let her robe slip off before stepping into the dress and pulling it up. As with most bridal gowns, this one needed assistance to be properly done up. "Can you help me?"
“Would say you were teasing me if you weren't so distracted and giddy with the dress,” he murmured and stepped forward, carefully fastening and pulling the dress into place. Once in place, he walked around her and gave her a good look over, “Well, I certainly like it.”
"Yeah?" Persephone asked, doing a little twirl. She practically bounced over to the mirror to take in her reflection. She gasped. "Oh love...this is...it's so...perfect."
Hades tried not to stalk forward, he really did try as he moved closer to her and put his arms around him, standing behind her in the mirror. “Did you expect something less from a gift from me?”
Persephone smiled warmly, leaning back against Hades. "No, but it still surprises me every time..."
“You should probably take it off now. Like you said, 'no messing up a lovely dress'. It was to look this nice on our wedding day or the tabloids are going to let us hear it.” Just as carefully as before he unfastened the dress and then kissed the side of her throat. “That just wouldn't be fair to the designer.”
"Oh yes. They worked really hard on this...we should get it off of me and tuck it safely away." Which she assumed would be agony for Hades. She knew how much he loved ripping off clothes.
He also loved undressing her so he would find a middle ground in his mind somewhere as he slowly slid the dress back down her body, letting his hands just brush along her skin as he exposed it. That was the comforting middle ground in his mind, shameless teasing. “Step out so I can put it back into its box for safe keeping.”
Persephone did as she was told, daintily stepping out of the dress. She crossed her arms in front of herself as she sat down on the bed.
Quietly, Hades took the dress, folded it and placed it back in the box and then put it back into the closet for safe keeping. Putting the dress up on a high self, he caught sight of a small booklet in the back of the closet. The iPad instructions. There they were but even before he even thought about reaching for them, his mind was in full revolt. There would be no thought of that stupid iPad, not when he was certain Persephone would be sitting naked on the bed...
And as he wheeled around, he confirmed his suspicion and drew to her once more, putting his hands on either side of her on the bed as he kissed her.
Persephone smiled into the kiss, unfolding her arms so that she could place her hands on each side of his face. "I love you," she murmured against his face.
“Say that again,” he murmured against her lips in reply.
"I love you, I love you, and I'm going to marry you," Persephone cooed, catching his lips again.
Her words sent a chill right down Hades' spine. She loved him and was going to marry him. No compulsion, no tricks but her own desire. He put aside his thoughts of the past and how he had longed to hear it. Instead, he refused to brood and allowed himself to simply enjoy the moment while he could. “[Thank you,]” he whispered to her and then scooped her up from the edge of the bed. She was helping neither of them there.
"[And when we're married,]" she cooed, nibbling on his ear. "[No more impromptu vacations. Every day is going to be just like this...]" She was really looking forward to it.
Summary: Persephone finds her wedding dress while rummaging for an iPad manual. Hades goes along with it.