I walk into Hades' study carrying two glasses of ambrosia. "You've been working awfully hard today, my lord. I brought you a glass of ambrosia to enjoy before dinner." I say as I come up behind him.
"Hello, darling," Hades says absentmindedly as he continues to read the document on his desk. He can often be found thus in deep contemplation, but frustrated.
"You look tense. What have you been up to today, Hades?" I ask as I begin to massage his back. I can feel that he bottles up his tension along his shoulder blades. His tension is noticeable and palpable.
"Sometimes I hate the amount of reading I have to do in this job. The memos I get are utterly depressing." Hades says as he runs his hands over his face.
"Take a break. Come and sit down with me and have your ambrosia. Forget about the stresses of the day and relax with me." I say as I extend my hand to my husband.
"You look beautiful today, my darling Persephone." Hades says as he sinks onto the black micro suede sofa and takes a long sip of his ambrosia. "Oh I needed this." He says as I come and sit next to him.
"You're still taking tomorrow off to have a family picnic on Olympus, aren't you?" I ask as I lean against Hades' chest.
"Of course, my darling Persephone. I promised you that I would go with you and I will despite my better judgement." Hades says as he slips his arm around my shoulders. "What colour are you wearing tomorrow?"
"I don't know, Hades. Why do you ask? You've never been concerned about such things before." I chuckle at Hades' question.
"I should at least try to look like a regular, attentive, devoted husband (which I am, but in a different way than my brother wants me to be) while I'm on Olympus. Zeus and Demeter will have my head if I don't appear to be making an effort to impress them." Hades says as he sips his ambrosia.
"Oh, Hades, you don't have to seek father and mother's approval by changing yourself. I know that you're attentive and devoted to me and I've expressed that to mother, in particular, to try and change her opinion of you." I say as I place my hand on his cheek and I feel him shiver. He's still shocked that I love him so much.
Hades pulls me into his lap and holds me tightly in his strong arms and says, "You give me such strength, Persephone. If I'd known you were singing my praises to your mother I wouldn't have been so concerned about tomorrow. Your mother has my brother wrapped around her little finger. My brother loves both of us enough to fight for our relationship, but we'll see what happens with Hera."
"Why are you still so concerned about Hera? You have influence over her." I say as I slip my hand inside Hades' toga.
"Because Hera has influence over Zeus and if Zeus turns on us we're toast. We need to keep them on our side." Hades says as he puts his wine glass down.
"You've forgotten one very important thing." I say as I scratch my nails down Hades' bare chest.
"What's that? What insight do you have?" Hades asks as he links his fingers together behind my back.
"That Hera worships the ground you walk on and she's loved you, in a non-sibling way, for a long time. She'll always be on your side." I say winking at Hades cheekily.
"How did you know about that?" Hades asks snappily, teasing me, as he gets up, pulls me with him, and walks me to the small dining room.
"You only have to look at Hera looking at you to see that she thinks that you could have had something special. Hera's wrapped around your little finger." I say as Hades pulls out my chair for me.
"Cheeky," Hades says as he kisses the top of my head. "It's a good thing that you know that I couldn't imagine being with anyone but you, hey."
"It's a good thing that I know that we love each other very much and we can endure through anything, even my mother's vindictiveness." I say as I tap Hades' nose.
"You're so sweet. I don't deserve you." Hades says sweetly.
"Oh, Hades, now you know that that simply isn't true. You deserve me because you love me and you gave me freedom to live my life." I finish speaking just as our servants enter the room with our meal.
"It's a very good thing I love you so much and that you're so discreet or you could ruin my reputation." Hades says to me cheekily.
"Your reputation was ruined when you told Zeus for the first time that you truly loved me." I say smirking at him over the rim of my wine glass.
"Ha, ha," Hades says as he mixes his pasta dish and stirs his parmesan cheese in. The rest of dinner is quiet and calm. "Come with me." Hades requests as he walks the length of the table and extends his hand to me.
Wordlessly, feeling as if I am floating on a cloud, I follow Hades down the hall to one of the smaller ballrooms which is currently decorated with thousands of tiny fairy lights. Hades snaps his fingers and somewhere overhead soft music begins to play. "Dance with me." Hades whispers in my ear.
"You never dance, Hades." I say as I squeeze his hand and smile sweetly at him.
"Tonight I'm making an exception." Hades says as he slips his arm around my waist and pulls me close. "Just because I don't dance doesn't mean I can't."
"I never said you couldn't dance, Hades. You're being so sweet tonight. You are being overly concerned. You haven't been like this since we first got married." I say as we waltz across the floor. I feel so comfortable and safe in Hades' arms. "I love being like this with you." I whisper in his ear.
"I love being like this with you, too. It's so rare to have this amount of time during the week to spend with you. You dance so beautifully, Persephone." Hades whispers into my curly, auburn hair.
"I don't dance half as well with anyone else but you. With you leading the way I never feel that I'll make a misstep. You're so steady for me." I say as Hades twirls me out and pulls me in tightly to him.