She waited until she was certain her mother was asleep before sneaking out of their home and up to Olympus, using the dark of night to hide her from any straggling gods roaming the grounds, and snuck her way towards one of its many gardens to wait.
If Hades would only show himself at night, then she would just have to wait for him!
After following him for so long, Persephone was certain she knew his routes through the many gardens better than he himself did. He varied it up every so often, for variety of course, and so she waited in one of the gardens he liked to visit the most often – on the very edge of Olympus where a variety of daisies and lilies grew in wild crops – hoping that he would happen upon her in the night. After that… she wasn't so sure yet.
And if he skipped over her tonight, she would wait until the next night for him too, until he walked into this very garden and found her waiting among the multitude of flowers that reflected the moon upon their petals.
She waited, nervous, playing with her long, golden hair: plaiting it, running her fingers through it, whatever she could to calm her fidgeting fingers. The longer she waited for the elusive Hades, the more foolish she began to felt. She must have looked silly to be sitting around Olympus at night, specifically waiting for someone just for the slim chance to talk to him.
Her cheeks flushed in silent embarrassment, and quickly changing her mind, she stood and turned to return to her own home. Except, she walked into something very tall and very solid and dressed in very dark robes.
She slowly looked up to see Hades intently staring down at her, confusion and – was that amusement? - coloring his vision.
"Oh, um, hello Hades!" Now Persephone's cheeks were an even deeper shade of pink, and she looked down at her feet, unsure of what to do, or what Hades would do about finding her, for that matter. She fidgeted her feet, waiting for him to say something in return.
"Hello, dear Persephone," his voice was gentle and quiet, causing her to look back up at his face. Most of his features were obscured in shadow, so she couldn't tell his reaction to finding silly little her, "What are you doing out so late at night? Won't your mother be… worried about you?"
She heard the hint of disappointment in his voice when he mentioned Demeter, and Persephone stared into his eyes as intently as she could, hoping to convey to him her sincerity,
"Well, probably, I didn't really tell her I left. But she can't control my life," She was a bumbling mess of nerves, trying to convince him that she wasn't a doppelganger to her paranoid mother, "and I can make my own decisions, you know! I actually quite prefer… the night… so, you know…" She mumbled the last part, again looking away from Hades' face. Part of her hoped he understood her emphasis on night, and another part wished she had forgone this idea in the first place.
Instead she felt his hand cup her cheek, tilting her head to look back at his own face. She thought she would melt just from his touch alone – he was so warm, and it surprised her in a very very pleasant way. Moving his own head slightly to the side, she could now see his features more clearly – his soft smile and, was that a blush on his cheeks too?
She hoped so.
"Well, if that is the case, perhaps we could walk… together? The night is still young of course, but if you would prefer not to…" Hades' own rambling relaxed Persephone a bit, knowing he was at least a little bit as nervous as she was.
"Yes, that sounds lovely."
He let out a breath she didn't know he was holding, and retracted his hand from her cheek. She contained the noise of protest that was threatening to be let out, and instead began walking by Hades' side, praying to Zeus that she wouldn't embarrass herself more than she already did.
A/N: Thank you for all the favs, follows, and all the reviews as well! I'm happy so many people are liking this so far, and it's definitely very motivating to see all the feedback :)