Lucky for Hades he isn't seated near his younger brother or the fuming Aphrodite who has a notorious temper. He ends up seated between his wife and his sister, Hera. "How did you pull off this little coup?" he asks as he leans towards his sister. She always seems to pull things off with Zeus that no one else would get away with.
"Let's just say that blackmail works extremely well with Zeus when you want your own way." Hera says conspiratorially. "I know all his secrets."
"You're wicked." Hades says as the first course arrives.
"And you've known that since the day I was born." Hera says cheekily.
"You better believe it. I knew Zeus had met his match in you. I liked the thought of it from the start." Hades says tenderly. He was Hera's protector when they were young. He and Hera were always close.
"You were vindictive at a young age." Hera says cheekily as she smiles at her brother.
"Zeus and I hated each other at an early age so I learned revenge tactics early on." Hades says shrugging his shoulders. It doesn't seem like such a big deal now.
Zeus narrows his eyes as he watches his wife and his brother. They've always had a close relationship and it worries Zeus just a little bit. Zeus knows that Hades won't cheat on Persephone, but Hera has no qualms about any such thing. They've been cheating on each other for a long time.
"I don't think your husband is very happy with us right now." Hades says when he looks up from his conversation with his sister.
"Well, it's nice to know that nothing is out of the ordinary then." Hera says casually. She goes back to her meal. It seems Zeus is mad at her constantly now.
"Will you pass the salt please, Hades?" Persephone asks as she gently places her hand on her husband's arm trying to regain his attention. Her husband is paying a little too much attention to his little sister for her liking considering his wife is sitting right next to him.
"You're going to dare to put salt on a meal at your father's? He'll have you for treason in a minute." Hades teases his wife as he passes her the salt. She's being very daring tonight.
"Father needs to learn that he is not the end all and be all and that Olympus is not the best place on earth. He's gotten far too high and mighty in recent years. Besides he wouldn't put salt on the table unless we were supposed to use it." Persephone says as she glances down the length of the grand banqueting table in the direction of her father. He's watching his wife carefully and practically ignoring everyone else. The rest of dinner continues without any more trouble.