Illicit Affairs - Chapter 7
The vote goes through without a hitch. Hera is suspended from her duties as Queen of Olympus, pending a trial, set to happen about three weeks after Persephone’s scheduled return to the Underworld.
She is not, however, suspended from her duties as Goddess of Marriage.
Which makes it very difficult for Persephone when she goes to file for divorce.
She’d been hoping to deal with this quickly; Ares had managed to get married behind Hera’s back, after all, so Persephone figured she’d be able to talk Aglaea into doing a similar favor.
Instead, she is informed that Aglaea no longer works for the Marriage Bureau, and another Grace ushers her into Hera’s office.
The golden goddess is fully into her ‘jaded waif with an eating disorder’ routine that she always gets into when she mopes. She glares up at Persephone through a cloud of cigarette smoke, her mascara running freely down her face.
“I’m sorry…you are asking for a divorce from the love of your life, right when you’re expecting your fourth child? Am I supposed to believe this?”
Persephone covers her mouth and nose with a handkerchief and glares back. “You of all people should know why I’m doing this.”
“That relationship ended before he even met you. You are being unreasonable.”
“Did it end, Hera? Or was it just put on the back burner while he pursued something more socially acceptable?”
“I don’t have time to debate semantics with a spoiled little goddess that still hasn’t reached her first century. You’re pregnant, you’re hormonal, and you’re angry. Go home and go to family therapy; don’t come crying to me for a divorce you’ll regret.”
Persephone leaves the room without pushing the matter any further. Hera’s obviously trying to distance herself from the tape as much as possible; if she granted Persephone’s request for a divorce from Hades at this point in time, that would just call her character into even more question. Persephone gets it; she’s pissed off, but she gets it.
However, she still can’t stomach the idea of being in the same house as Hades right now, so, when she returns to the Underworld, she heads straight for her old apartment.
She doesn’t know what she was expecting when she got there - an empty apartment, possibly some junk mail to sort through. She had hoped against hope to see an elegant purple god leaning against her apartment door, gazing up at her through long lashes and telling her she looks like shit.
Instead, Hermes tightly hugs her. “I’m sorry, Pers,” he says. “I figured that this would be better if it came from a friend.” And then he serves her a manila envelope containing Hades’ divorce papers.
She thinks that maybe Hades went through a firm in the Underworld at first, but that is definitely Hera’s letterhead and signature on the paperwork. Leave it to Hera to let her favorite get the first lick in.
Persephone examines the paperwork at length, and then takes out her phone for a text.
Me: I have an urgent legal matter and I need your advice. Would you be able to meet me tonight, in the usual location?
Purple Pain In My Ass: I’m on my way.
Forty-five minutes later, a purple bearded dragon crawls through the window Persephone had left open to get some air. He skitters throughout the apartment, checking to make sure there are no bugs or magically transformed spies to hear them, while she closes the window behind him and draws the blinds. Once they’re sure nobody is watching or listening, he climbs into one of Persephone’s dining room chairs, and in an instant, he becomes the handsome Ex-King of the Gods, still dressed in his white suit from work.
“What’s your urgent legal matter, Seph?”
She hands him the paperwork as answer, and he goes into a concentrated work mode. A smile makes its way to her face despite the gravity of the situation; she’s never seen Zeus so focused. There have been hints, here and there, that he’s a great deal more savvy than he lets on, but this…chewing absently on a pen he produced from his shirt pocket, writing notes in the margins every now and then for alterations, the furrow in his brow…
“You like what you see?” he asks without looking up at her.
She feels her own eyes widen, then chuckles despite herself. “You aren’t often this serious; it’s interesting.”
His eyelashes flutter up toward her in that way that makes butterflies develop in her stomach. “An…attractive, sort of interesting?”
She glares playfully back. “Business before pleasure; I’m not answering that question until I get your opinion on those papers.”
“I’m gonna hold you to that,” Zeus pouts briefly, before handing the papers back. “Well, it seems pretty solid, so far. If I were your attorney, I’d fight for you to retain your shares in Underworld Incorporated on top of your half of the real estate and personal belongings. I also noticed it makes no mention of your title as Dread Queen of the Underworld?”
“That was a title I obtained through a deal with Erebus, not by marrying Hades.”
“Ah, so you are two sovereign rulers of two separate states, the boundaries between which have not been clearly delineated?” Zeus’ eyes glitter mischievously. “I could do a lot of damage with that set-up, if I was your lawyer. Sadly, given the potential conflict of interest, I think I’ll have to recommend you to a friend of mine…she’s got a cutthroat courtroom manner, though, so she’ll get you everything you want.”
“Of that I have no doubt,” Persephone replies. “But the item I most required your input on was the question of child custody.”
Zeus blinks. “Child…oh right, you’re…right.” He takes the papers back, and peruses them carefully, before handing them back without even taking any notes. “Unless you have a problem with joint custody, alternating holidays, and fully paid parental medical care, I think he’s offering you a fair deal.”
Persephone narrows her eyes. “So…that’s it? You’re just going to let another man raise your child, again?”
He shrugs. “It’s not like I haven’t raised his for him. And it’s not like I don’t have a hundred kids out there whose names I don’t even know; seems like a fair deal to me.”
She studies him for a moment, his suddenly guarded body language, his studiously casual eye contact, the stillness of his posture when he had been so active and buoyant a minute ago.
“Zeus…when was the last time you held one of your babies?”
He squints at her. “Where are you going with this?”
“Just.” Persephone folds her hands and presses them to her mouth, trying to think of how to put her feelings into words. “When I helped you deliver Dionysus, I was…gods, I was so young, not even thirty. Stupid. I hadn’t had my own kids yet, I didn’t know what…what it was like to carry them for so long, and to finally, finally, be able to hold them, meet them, name them.”
The damned hormones threaten to conquer her eyes and throat, and she takes a deep breath to avoid crying; when she opens her eyes again, she’s too afraid to look Zeus in the eye, so instead she gazes at her hands.
“I owe you an apology. I…I didn’t even let you hold little Dio. I was so…arrogant and stupid, and I thought I knew so much more about everything than everybody else, particularly you, and I just…took your baby, and didn’t let you hold…”
Before the dam breaks, she is encompassed in a warm embrace; he smells of passionfruit, and ozone, and the clean smell of wet grass that lingers after a rainstorm. He holds her until she can breathe freely again, whispering soothing noises against her hair. “It’s all right, Seph,” he says after her emotions have died down a bit. “You were right in that it would have been terribly insensitive of me to drop the poor kid on some unsuspecting nymphs. In the end, I’m glad you took him; you gave him a far better home than I could offer him at the time.”
“But I didn’t let you have any say in the matter,” she says, pulling away, cupping his face with one hand. “And I can’t go back and fix that mistake; but I can try not to make it again. This baby is half yours; ideally, how much time do you want to spend with them?”
Zeus blinks away tears of his own. “Ideally? I want to spend all my time with them; I want to watch them grow up like I did with Hebe. But it’s not realistic for me to ask for that, Seph…”
“Why not? I can admit that it’s not Hades’ baby and demand full custody.”
“That would mean admitting you had an affair, and it would make the proceedings so much more complicated…”
“I could just bring up his own infidelity; I’m sure I could find some proof.”
“You have no proof that they were involved past Hebe’s conception. It would only make the divorce more vindictive, and there’s every chance he’ll turn your other children against you.”
Zeus places his hands on her shoulders, and meets her eyes grimly. “You deserve a clean break, Seph. I don’t want to ruin that for you like…like I ruin everything else.”
They stare at each other miserably for a few seconds, before he reaches to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, retrieving one of her sprouts as he does. “Is this…a holm oak acorn?”
She nods, wiping at her dripping mascara with one hand. “I was only growing blossoms on…on that night, but…well, with Macaria, I was sprouting nightshade berries. It’s how I knew for certain that this one is yours.”
He turns the acorn over in his fingers, gazing at it almost reverently. “…The last time I ever held one of my babies was little Dio, when Semele died. I performed the C-section myself.” Static electricity crackles dully through his hair, his gray eyes leagues away. “He was…so very tiny. It was all I could do to keep his heart beating and his lungs breathing, at least until he was safe…” and then he pauses, sparks flying behind those same intelligent eyes. “Come to think of it…I might just have a third option out of this quandary.”
“…there’s a good chance it will be hard for you, for both of us, so you have to be sure…”
“Zeus.” She kisses him softly. “I trust you. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“All right,” Zeus says later as he enters her bedroom. “How do you want to go about this?”
It’s almost funny; his tone hasn’t changed from the professional manner he’s maintained over the past couple of hours, when they’ve been discussing alterations to the divorce decree over a hastily-ordered pizza and ginger beer. He’s in her room, he’s on her bed, he fully intends to sleep with her again, but there’s none of his typical flirtatious, spontaneous demeanor.
“Do you…want to do this?” she asks, as he begins to undress in a calm, almost clinical fashion; no fluttering eyelashes, no calculated seductive maneuvers, just straight to business.
“Of course! Why would you think I wouldn’t?”
“I dunno, it’s just…you’re normally more relaxed than this…” Her own words slap her upside the head, as she realizes exactly what’s up with him. “You’re nervous, aren’t you?”
He blinks. “Me? Nervous? Are you kidding?”
The lightbulb on the wall flickers treacherously, and she points at it in answer.
“That doesn’t mean anything, you just need to change the bulb.”
“It’s funny, I actually changed that bulb today.”
“Well then you need to fix your light fixtures.”
She sidles slowly into his space. “You’re nervous~”
“I am not,” Zeus insists, a bit of a whine stealing into his voice as he subconsciously backs against the bed, and reflexively sits down.
“Yes you are.” Persephone stands between his legs, and casually throws her arms over his shoulders. “What’s got you so nervous, beautiful?”
He blushes indigo at the compliment, and suddenly he is the most adorable thing she has ever seen. She captures his lips in hers, and steps forward, gently pushing him backwards until he’s lying on his back beneath her. He doesn’t resist…in fact, he pulls her closer, pulling at the zipper on the back of her dress while she tries to divest him of his shirt and kiss his neck at the same time.
“Seph,” he breathes in her ear. “I’ve never done this before. I don’t know if it will work.”
“Hmm?” She pulls away only enough to frown quizzically. “I thought you did this to have little Dio, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but…Semele was dead. It was a surgery, not…not this. I’ve never done a transplant with a living partner before…in theory it will work, but…”
She places one hand on each side of his head and pushes herself up to regard him. “Zeus…I meant it when I said I trust you.”
“…others have trusted me before.”
His eyes avoid hers, and Persephone sits up completely. “You don’t have to force yourself to do this, Zeus. If you’re uncomfortable, let’s stop.”
She moves to get off of him, but his hands rest on her hips before she can get far. “I don’t want to stop. Gods, Seph, I want this, I want this so fucking much, but…we just, need to go slow, okay? I need to focus.”
Persephone smiles down at him. “Okay; slow it is.” She looks at him, still in his work shirt, his face flushed, his hair spread out behind him in a wide semicircle, and sighs. “You are, so, beautiful.”
He grins dazedly. “Then I’m in good company.”
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