In Which Hades Proposes
Persephone was beautiful, there was no denying that. Her skin was bronzed from the sun, glowing, golden. Her skin was brown from the Earth that had given Demeter the seeds.
And her hair...her hair was ablaze. Bright, fiery red. Red like blood, red like flame. Red like roses, red like pomegranates. Hades studied her hair from afar. It was long, falling past her waist, and it was curly. It was stark against the darkness of the underworld. His palace was all dark, obsidian stone, black pillars and walls and floors.
A flower crown with blooming roses sat atop her hair, and a pale chiton covered her body.
Whenever she passed along the gardens, the flowers inclined their heads towards her. They nodded at her, and whispered at her. Persephone couldn't pick out which flower was the one who had whispered to her for so long on the Earth, acting as messenger between her and Hades for what must have been years.
Persephone turned to see Hades watching her.
Hades quickly ducked his head around and stalked away, wanting to give her her space. Persephone could see he was shy. It amused her somewhat. For so long, mortals had cowered in fear over him, cursed his name, whispered his name, fled in fear, painted him as bloodthirsty even. And yet, here he was; probably the kindest god she'd ever met.
A small smile graced her lips.
"Hades," she said, her words gentle.
Hades turned and looked at her. Upon seeing her smile, Hades returned her smile, the corners of his lips lifting until it passed as happiness.
Persephone was no empath. She didn't know if he was truly happy or not. But, to her, it looked that way. She could sense it, somehow. She felt no fear, but happiness when she was around him.
"Hades," she said again, striding forward until she was only a breath away from him.
"Your mother will hate me," he told her.
"My mother will forgive...in time..." Persephone replied, though she didn't know how honest her statement was.
"Hermes, Ares, Apollo...they will despise me," Hades told her.
"So what?" Persephone said with a small laugh. "What do you care? They are of no importance."
Hades's smile grew wider. Persephone could see how genuine it was. She put a thumb on his lower lip, wanting to feel his mirth on her fingertips. "Persephone," Hades said, swallowing his anxiety, "I wish for our hands to be joined."
"I accept," Persephone replied.
