Chapter Eight: A Date With the Girls
"What's your plan today, sweetheart?"
Demeter stood in the doorway of the sitting room, already dressed for work. Her dark green suit blended into the colour of the walls and surrounding plants, and there was a tulip in her hair today. Persephone was still in her too small pyjamas, sprawled across the sofa, one leg dangling over the edge. A bowl of toasted pancakes sat on her stomach, and Persephone ate them with her bare hands, licking the syrup from her fingers. Demeter frowned ever so slightly, but she has long since learnt not to question her daughter's actions.
"Going to go meet up with my friends," Persephone said.
"I thought Hermes had work on Fridays."
Of course, Demeter thought Persephone was only friends with Hermes. And that was only the case because Demeter never let Persephone out to meet other friends. Persephone loved her mother dearly, but sometimes she just wanted to scream. Only, she never wanted to upset Demeter (she'd seen Demeter angry once, it was not fun) and so she never screamed. Eating a lot of sugar helped her keep calm.
"I was talking about my imaginary friends," Persephone replied. "Y'know, the ones I can never see because I'm locked up here all the time."
Now Demeter's frown wasn't so slight. "Kore… we've talked about this…"
Kore, Kore, Kore. We've talked about this. It's for your own protection.
Persephone, not Kore, glowered at her mother, then stuffed a pancake in her mouth.
Demeter was no longer smiling, nor was she looking at Persephone. "Well… have fun… I'll see you after work."
"Good luck," Persephone grumbled, though since her mouth was still full of pancake, it sounded as if she had said nothing at all, and Demeter retreated with a defeated sigh.
Persephone sighed herself, then stuffed another pancake into her mouth. She really needed a bunch of sugar in the morning to get her going.
With Demeter gone, Persephone sullenly gobbled up the rest of her pancakes, finished washing the breakfast dishes, then got dressed. ready to head out on a date with her not so imaginary friends.
It really wasn't that hard to leave Mount Olympus. Persephone simply had to, well, walk away. No one really knew her face, apart from a few gods, and if a local stopped her to say she looked like Demeter, Persephone would shrug and say she was a nymph who worked for her. Not that she was ever really stopped. Persephone had found out if you walked anywhere quick enough, and with enough attention, no one would question that you weren't even supposed to be there.
Down in the mortal realm, Persephone made her way to the usual meeting place, a small pub by the name of The Dusty Chimpanzee, just one part of a large chain of small pubs by the name of Wetherforks. They were never fantastic places, but the food was decent, and decently priced too, and you could always rely on there being a Wetherforks in town.
"Persi!" Psyche called out when Persephone had entered the pub. Psyche was already sat at the regular table in the corner, alongside Arachne, and was waving Persephone over. As Persephone trotted over to the table, Psyche clasped her hands to her chest and said, "Girl, you look super cute today."
"Thank you. I put in no effort whatsoever," Persephone said, twirling around so her green maxi skirt could flutter around her ankles.
"Really? Even with those flowers?" Arachne asked, nodding to the bright pink ones threaded through Persephone's hair, something she asked every time they went out.
"Even with these flowers," Persephone chortled, because it was true. As a goddess whose whole schtick was growing flowers, decorating her hair with different ones every day really wasn't that difficult. As she plonked down, she said, "And you girls look extra cute today too."
"Aw, shucks," Psyche said, waving a hand through the air. She was wearing her favourite dark pink hoodie, and the tiniest pair of short possible, showing off the tattoo on her thigh—a heart with a halo, wings, and struck through with an arrow, 'TRUE LOVE' written beneath it. Persephone thought it was cute, Arachne thought it was trashy, but said it was cute to Psyche's face.
"I'm never cute," Arachne huffed, which she huffed every time someone called her cute, as if she was so adamant that she could never let anyone be right. She was cute, though, in her handknitted, grey cardigan. It was such a big cardigan, she practically drowned in it, and the pockets were big enough she could fit anything in. A better made cardigan than Athena could ever make, she would always say.
"Aw, don't be such a Debbie downer," Psyche said, giving one of Arachne's ponytails a light tug. Arachne's frown remained unchanged. "You are cute."
"Never."
"You are so cute."
"Never."
"You are so cute," Persephone repeated, mimicking Psyche's tone.
Arachne finally sighed. "You guys are ridiculous."
"It's why you love us," Psyche chirped as she pulled out her phone. "Ready to order? I don't have to ask what y'all want, right?"
"The usual," Persephone and Arachne chorused, and Psyche tapped away on the app she had downloaded, that let them order and pay directly from their table. It was nice not to have to get up and speak to an actual person to order. They had enough of that when they were the other side of the till at work.
"Good morning so far?" Psyche asked as she fiddled with the hearts on the end of her hoodie ties.
Kore, Kore, Kore. We've talked about this. It's for your own protection.
"Soooo," Arachne said, leaning back in her chair, still frowning. Was she ever not frowning? "What's up with you?"
"With me?" Persephone asked, pointing a finger to herself.
"Well, yeah, idiot. I'm looking at you."
"Oh, Arachne, why are you always so mean," Psyche said, pressing her hands to her chest and pulling her best, melodramatically hurt expression.
"Because someone has to balance out your perkiness," Arachne said to the both of them. "So, Persi, what's wrong? I mean, we know something's bothering you. You're frowning a little."
"Did you snap at your mum again?" Psyche asked. "Lemme guess; you snapped at her about how controlling she is and thought about arguing her but she looked kinda sad so you were like nah can't do that, can't make Mama sad. Yeah?"
Persephone scrunched up her nose. "That obvious?"
"You only whine about it every other day," Arachne said, leaning forward against her elbows. "Helicopter mums suck."
"I wouldn't call her a helicopter mum…" Persephone said, and Arachne looked like she had been about to refute this, only the waiter had just appeared with their drinks. They all had a soda, because even if it was late morning, it was still the morning, which was not the time for wine in Neo-Macedonia (no matter how things were down in the Underworld).
"Did she finally tell you that your missing dad is magic?" Psyche asked. "I mean, your eyes gotta change colour for a reason."
Suddenly, the ceiling was looking very interesting, and Persephone flopped back in her chair as she looked up to examine it. Wow, the interior designer (or was it the architect?) had put a lot of effort into all that detail. Nice.
"Lots of people's eyes change colour," Persephone said. "It's not a magic thing."
It was totally a magic thing.
"Normal people's eyes don't change colour based on mood though!"
It was totally a magic thing.
It had taken Persephone a while to realise her eyes changed colour. Well, not quite colour, but at least their hue. It explained how Demeter could easily tell what was thinking back when she was only a kid (which had been super infuriating). It had actually been Zeus that had pointed out the colour change to Persephone. Persephone hadn't looked him in the eye since.
"For the love of Olympus, Psyche. Keep your voice down," Arachne hissed.
Psyche shrugged and stared at Persephone, who remained staring at the ceiling. When she looked back down at the other two, she kept avoiding their gazes by focusing on her drink. Once that was finished, she said, "My dad isn't magic, nor is he a god or a spirit or whatever. I just have weird eyes. I don't even have a dad."
Which wasn't actually a lie. It was extremely rare, but gods didn't need a partner to have a kid. Persephone was one such kid. A mum, but no dad. Demeter had once mumbled something about flowers, and Persephone had decided she would really rather not know.
"That's why he's your missing dad," Psyche chirped. "Besides, everyone's gotta have a dad to be born."
"I didn't," Arachne said. "I have two mums."
"Oh yeah," Psyche said, drawing out her words. "Well, you gotta have another parental figure of an undetermined gender out there, you know. Maybe your mum is hiding a secret, whirlwind romance from you! That would be so romantic."
"A whirlwind romance with a god sounds totally romantic," Persephone said, rolling her eyes. She had, of course, intended to be sarcastic, but then Hades' face appeared in her mind and she felt her cheeks starting to warm. Oh, come on, Persephone, they had literally only been on one date. One.
"A whirlwind romance with a god sounds terrifying," Arachne said. "I think I would rather die than have a god for a parent."
"Yeah…" Persephone said, making sure to keep her eyes turned away as she hesitantly laughed. "Having a god as a parent really would suck…"
"I think it would be great!" Psyche said, flinging her hands up in the air, her bubble gum pink hair bouncing as she rocked back in her chair. "Do you think Aphrodite would adopt me? I think she'd love me."
"I think she'd be jealous that everyone loves you," Arachne grumbled, leaning to the side to avoid being hit in the head by one of Psyche's hands.
"I think Athena would love you," Psyche said.
"Athena better not love me," Arachne blurted, then she cleared her throat and said in a calmer manner, "anyway, how about we stop talking about potential heritage and stupid gods and just check out the cute boys as we always do?"
"Don't worry, I've already scoped out all the cute boys," Psyche said, clapping her hands together excitedly, for cute boys was her favourite topic, and one she was exceedingly well-versed in. With a wink in Persephone's direction, she added, "I even spotted a few cute girls for my bisexual babe."
"You flatter me," Persephone said, holding her hand to her forehead in a faux swoon, which garnered the expected giggle from Psyche, and the obvious eye roll from Arachne.
Their food arrived, and any talk of parents was thankfully abandoned as Psyche rattled on about all the cute boys she had seen, making up wild tales about what she thought their lives must be like based on appearance alone ("That guy dropped out of uni to travel, then got into wild trouble with some highwaymen, but he was saved by a swoon-worthy female bounty hunter and now he's waiting for her to turn up for their first date back at home," she had said, to which Arachne had asked, "Do highwaymen even exist anymore?")
After they'd finished their meals and fussed over what tip to leave on the table, they left The Dusty Chimpanzee, with Psyche blowing a kiss to the waiter that had served them. It was time for some brief window shopping before they parted ways for the weekend, and so they strutted down the street, Psyche in the middle with her arms linked through both of theirs, as they continued to natter away about boys.
"Oh, oh, oh, real hottie alert," Psyche said, pulling them to a stop so suddenly the other two nearly fell over. She nodded to the guy she had seen, giggled, then said, "Okay, that was totally a lie, but it's a god with a dog so we have to appreciate."
A god with a dog…?
Persephone gasped as she followed Psyche's gaze to see, of course, none other than Hades standing not too far away from them. Cerberus' lead was wrapped around one palm as the dog sat dutifully at his feet, and Hades himself was focused on tapping something on his phone, constantly having to brush his long white hair back behind his ear due to the breeze.
Absolutely everyone was stopping to stare. It wasn't every day you saw a man who looked like he'd just climbed out of a coffin taking a three-headed dog for a walk.
"What is Hades doing here?" Arachne hissed.
"Taking his dog for a walk, it looks like," Persephone said.
"Yes, I can see. I do have eyes!"
"Then why ask?" Psyche asked, earning herself an elbow in her side.
When she squeaked, Cerberus' head shot up in the girls' direction, and Psyche squeaked again, along with Arachne. Cerberus started barking, causing Hades to look up as well, which only got Psyche and Arachne to squeak yet again. Persephone drew in a breath, praying to Olympus that the other two didn't notice Hades' gaze immediately fell upon Persephone, and lingered on her for a moment before he registered the others two with her.
"Do you think he recognises us from work?" Arachne whispered, now clutching Psyche's arm tightly.
"Dunno. Maybe? I mean he's staring," Psyche whispered back. "Do you think he's annoyed? Maybe we should say hi?"
"Why would we say hi to Hades!?"
"Don't raise your voice! He's still staring!?"
Persephone had to press her lips together to stop herself from laughing when Hades frowned at them (and other spectators also frowned at them for being too loud). When she was calm enough, she suggested, "How about I go say hi?"
"Persi," the others whispered.
"Well, we've been staring far too long, and we don't want to get on a god's bad side," Persephone said. "I'll go say hi, hope he forgives us, and you never know, maybe the next time he comes in he'll give us a really big tip. He is the god of riches, after all."
Before the others could argue, Persephone had pulled her arm free. She would have skipped over to Hades, but she couldn't exactly look overly familiar, being the supposed mortal she said she was, so she did her best, awkward, semi-confident shuffle. Hades' eyebrows raised as he watched her approach.
"What does a… mortal require of me?" Hades asked, his voice stern, but the corners of his mouth twitching up into a small smile. He lamented about how terrible he looked, but he genuinely had a cute smile, and he probably didn't realise how gorgeous his deep purple eyes were. Persephone could have stared at them all day, but she couldn't look too confident in talking to the god of the Underworld, so she turned her gaze away.
"My friends were staring and are worried they might have offended you, so I came to apologise on their behalf," Persephone said, clasping her hands together as she rocked back on her heels. "Oh god of the Underworld and riches and whatever. However, will I make it up to you?"
"I think the apology is more than fine," Hades said. "Oh, normal mortal, how will I award you for being the only one courageous enough to speak to me?"
"Give us a real big tip the next time you order a hot chocolate?" Hades' eyebrows rose again, and Persephone had to stifle a giggle as she said, "Can I stroke Cerberus?"
"If that is the reward you wish for," Hades said, and then he lowered his voice as he added, "do not take too long. I have a reputation to uphold amongst the mortals and I cannot be seen to be friendly for more than necessary."
"Oh, reputations, such fickle things," she said, and she crouched down in front of Cerberus. All three heads grinned at her, and they attempted to lick her cheeks all at once. This time, Persephone couldn't suppress her giggle, but she was currently being licked by a dog, so it was totally allowed.
"Are you having a good day off?" Hades quietly asked.
"Yeah," Persephone said, though the conversation about how having a god for a parent interrupted her thoughts, and she had to push it away. "I was just out with the girls. We like to go to The Dusty Chimpanzee from time to time. It's a good place. You should check it out sometime, unless you have a Wetherforks in the Underground."
Hades frowned. "What is Wetherforks?"
"Probably too cheap for you," Persephone said, and Hades' cheeks reddened ever so slightly. Could have just been the breeze. "We'll have to check if there is one. I want to see a chthonic Wetherforks. Anyway, I thought you usually worked Fridays?"
"I do, but Cerberus was causing a hassle at the gates, so I had to take a break," Hades said. "Which I am thankful for, because Fridays are my psychopomp shifts and it seems that nobody quite likes to spend their day collecting dead souls."
"Even you?" she asked.
"Even me," he replied.
"Good thing I'm only available on Fridays," she teased, standing back up and smoothing down her skirts. "Well, I should go before Arachne faints at the sight of me talking to you. You should probably disappear in a weird godly fashion now. Keep up that reputation of yours."
"It was about time we returned anyway. Hecate was asking for me," Hades said slipping his phone into his jacket's inside pocket. "I shall see you next Friday, yes?"
"Yes, obviously," she said as she curtsied. She had to keep up pretences that she was simply a mortal asking for forgiveness. "Thank you for letting me pet Cerberus, oh god of the Underworld. I will be sure to leave an offering at your temple."
"And thank you for talking to me, oh mortal of Neo-Macedonia," Hades said. "I will be sure to leave a tip in your jar."
Persephone looked up and grinned, catching one last glimpse of his purple eyes before he… disappeared? He just up and vanished into the thin air, along with Cerberus, leaving Persephone blinking at where he had just been standing. Well, that was certainly disappearing in a weird, godly fashion.
"Oh my gods, Persi, I can't believe you actually spoke to Hades," Psyche squealed when Persephone came back over. "That was so cool!"
"It was so terrifying," Arachne refuted. "Are you mad? What if he had been angry?"
"Well, he wasn't," Persephone chirped. "In fact, he was rather sweet."
"You can't just call Hades, god of the Underworld, sweet."
"He is, though," Persephone insisted. "You haven't had a chance to talk to him properly. He let me pet his dog."
Psyche grinned. "I would like to pet his dog."
Persephone frowned. "I don't think we mean the same thing here."
Arachne groaned. "Psyche, you're gross. Can we just go shopping now? I've had enough of gods for one day."
"Shopping sounds great…" Persephone said, linking her arm through Psyche's again, though she had to keep her gaze averted, just in case her eyes gave her away. Unlike Arachne, Persephone could never have enough of gods for one day.
And perhaps, if Arachne had enough of gods for one day, she would eventually have enough of Persephone for one day too.
A/N
Hope you're all handling current events well, and hope you enjoyed this update! Just wanted to write some cute fluff, and get to see the girls a bit more. Wetherforks is actually a play on the UK chain Wetherspoons! The Dusty Chimpanzee is a personal joke. Also official statement that Persephone is, in fact, bisexual!
Blake
