AN: Of course, this is connected to The One Before and involves Perseus and Zoë and how a majority of them found out about their relationship.
Posting will continue albeit on an irregular schedule as I try to get back into writing.
Olympus
With their eyes closed, two people swayed softly to the music that emanated from the Hall of the Gods. Dressed in a black dress that seemed to sparkle under the stars and wrapped in the warm embrace of her lover, Zoë Nightshade felt like everything was perfect, happy with where she was now, and sighed contently as she let him tilt her head up, feeling herself smile as he did so.
Perseus let out a deep exhale as he held his love in his arms, his amethyst eyes cutting through the dark as he let a soft smile come across his face and leaned in.
The two lovers connected their lips as they slowly lost themselves in each other.
From across the grounds, a family watched from the distance in delighted surprise and shock.
Several days earlier
The Olympians sat on their thrones, a lull taking over and boredom reigning for once as each of them sat on their thrones with nothing of value to say or concerning matters that needed to be presented.
Perseus drummed his fingers against the armrests of his throne and exhaled in an exhausted manner. His eyes drifted over members of his family and he observed their actions.
He looked to his right and saw how Hades had his head rested against his fist, eyes closed and Perseus would have thought his brother was asleep had the God of the Underworld's eyes not snapped open at that very moment, raising an eyebrow at his brother.
"Thrilling time is it not, brother?" Hades asked and Perseus couldn't help but snort at how Hades sounded.
"The time is always thrilling." he replied with a chuckle.
"If only that were true today." Poseidon suddenly replied from his left in a bored tone.
Perseus stood up from his throne and stretched his right hand out for Leviathan to fly into and slammed the butt of his symbol of power into the ground rather lightly, gaining the attention of his other family members and awakening those that started to doze off.
He ran a hand down his face and blinked to clear his eyes, "Alright. If none of us have any matters to discuss then perhaps we should dismiss-"
"Sorry about the interruption but Hermes and I have an idea, uncle." Apollo suddenly interrupted with his hand up.
Perseus blinked in surprise at his nephew's sudden gesture and proceeded to sit back down on his throne, his attention now on Apollo.
"Of course, Apollo. Go ahead." he said to the Sun God.
Apollo cleared his throat and looked forward. "So, I'm sure we all know that things have been pretty boring lately. I mean, seriously, none of us have brought up ANY concerns or matters. No being has been dumb enough to challenge us since the Giants and the mortals still absolutely love us." he stated with pride and a wide grin on his face.
Artemis looked at him strangely, "Where exactly are you going with this? You are telling us things that we know." she said to him in confusion.
Apollo threw his arms up in excitement, "Let's throw a party!" he yelled.
"And why must we do that?" Athena asked with a look of disgruntlement at the prospect of having to attend a party. "There is no reason to throw a party when we have nothing to celebrate." she added.
Hermes looked at her, "Do we really need to accomplish something before throwing a party? Isn't everything that we've accomplished so far a reason to celebrate?" he debated.
Hestia smiled gently at her nephew, "Hermes brings up a valid point. I think it's a wonderful idea."
Hermes grinned at Hestia backing the idea.
Perseus looked at the others, trying to gauge their reactions. "Does anyone oppose their suggestion? Should it come to a vote?" he asked as he looked around.
"You won't get any opposition from me." Dionysus piped from his throne. "I will lend assistance to the planning." he said to Apollo and Hermes.
"Saves us the trouble of asking you." Hermes shrugged.
"It would be a pleasant distraction if only for a night." Demeter said with agreement.
"Anyone else have something to say about this?" Perseus asked once more just to make sure. When it seemed like no one would object, he nodded. "Very well." he said, looking at Apollo and Hermes, "I trust that you have both been planning in advance for this?" he asked the two in confirmation and received energetic nods, "Then I'll leave the rest of it to you both." he concluded and finally stood up.
"Council dismissed."
Corinth
With their hands intertwined, Perseus and Zoë smiled softly at each other as they walked the streets of Corinth while the markets bustled around them, eager merchants looking to entice the people to buy new wares.
"How goes the party planning?" she inquired.
Perseus shook his head playfully, "I would not know." he replied with a grin. "Apollo and Hermes seem adamant on making this the best party Olympus has seen. They're quite exclusive with their plans."
Zoë intentionally bumped into him playfully with her hip, "Too exclusive to even share with their beloved uncle?" She jested with a smirk.
"Too exclusive for even me I suppose." he sighed in fake disappointment, making his lover laugh.
Perseus could've sworn that his heart still skipped a beat hearing Zoë laugh as she did, a soft smile then taking over his face as he gently squeezed the hand he was holding. "Has Artemis said that she will be taking all of you to Olympus or has she made your presence optional once again?" he inquired as he knew that Artemis always made it optional for the hunters to attend and he himself had no opinion on the matter as he knew that some of them would much prefer the quietness of their camp instead of attending the parties thrown.
Zoë tapped a finger on her chin as she pondered his question, "Well, milady has not yet made any official declaration in regards to our attendance at the party but I am sure that one will be made soon." she responded with certainty.
"Well, I do hope my niece makes a declaration soon. I would hate to have to sit through the party without your presence at my side, my love." he said with a sly grin that made her blush lightly.
She tucked a loose strand of her behind her ear as she looked up at him, "Then perhaps thou should talk to milady about making the presence of the hunters mandatory if thou wish me to be there." she joked.
He grinned, "Maybe I should."
The two of them continued to venture throughout Corinth and acted like a mortal couple with Perseus trying to sneakily kiss Zoë when he thought she wasn't looking or paying attention, making her blush after several successful attempts.
With Perseus, Zoë didn't feel as embarrassed about the public displays of affection but despite the number of dates they went on, she still felt inadequate when it came to properly displaying her affection for Perseus despite his constant assurances that her choosing him was more than enough.
As they passed the gates that led to the docks, the pair turned a corner before Perseus suddenly pulled her flush against his front and leaned back against an unoccupied wall. Zoë's face took on a look of surprise at the sudden action and her hands instinctively went to rest against his chest, biting her bottom lip as she looked at how her lover looked at her and felt his hands go to the small of her back.
Perseus kissed her on the tip of her nose and leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. "What are you doing?" Zoë asked in a curious tone.
The faintest grin appeared on his face, "Would it be dumb of me to admit that I got really jealous at the way that vendor looked at you?" he admitted without hesitancy.
She let out a snort at his answer, "Quite dumb. Especially since I desire no one but thou." she commented to which he let out his own snort before she captured his lips in a long kiss. She closed her eyes as she let one of her hands slide upwards from his chest and cupped his cheek before she broke the kiss and stared into his eyes.
"Today was-"
"Today was the same as always. Spending time with thou is something I never want to miss." Zoë told him with a small reassuring smile on her face. "Despite what thou might think, I would never tire of these outings." she added to assure him like always.
"Just making sure like always." he replied and bumped his forehead against hers once again.
A few hours later
The moon loomed over them as Perseus and Zoë made their way back to the hunters' campsite with their hands intertwined as always.
"Who's on watch tonight?" Perseus suddenly asked as the camp came into view for them.
Zoë looked at him strangely and wondered why he was asking about this as she racked her mind for the answer and let out a groan when she realized, "Phoebe is." she said with a face-palm.
He let out a snort and his eyes started to search the branches hanging off of the trees trying to see if the aforementioned huntress happened to take residence on them while on watch.
"Maybe she won't?" Zoë asked in a hopeful tone.
"Oh, she definitely will." he replied with a knowing chuckle when a rustle from above had them both looking up and making eye contact with Phoebe.
Phoebe dropped down from the branch she was on without making a sound and immediately bowed her head in the presence of Perseus. "My king." she greeted while keeping her head low even as Perseus had let out an audible sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand, Zoë letting out a snicker next to him. "Sister." Phoebe added with a smirk.
"Phoebe, how many times have I told you that bowing to me isn't necessary?" he asked her while he tried to suppress the grin on his face, the huntress now walking next to him and Zoë back to the campsite.
"Many times, Lord Perseus." Phoebe replied with a smirk before she ran around back and reappeared next to her fellow huntress.
Zoë looked at her sister warily, "What does thou need?" she asked slowly even though she already knew the answer as to what her sister was already going to ask.
"You know, with the number of times I've done this, I would hope that you know what I'm about to ask." Phoebe said in a teasing tone.
Zoë confirmed with a nod, "I do but I did hope that thou would grow past this now and hopefully come to terms that I will not be revealing any details." she said solemnly though her eyes lit up in a teasing way.
Phoebe didn't relent and let out a groan that seemed out of character for her usual self, "Oh come on! You always come back to camp so happy and I'm pretty much dying to know." she argued half-heartedly.
Zoë unsheathed one of her hunting knives and waved it in front of her face, "I could fulfill the dying part if thou keep badgering me." she suggested calmly.
"If I am dying, will you tell me then?" Phoebe asked like she was seriously considering the option and Zoë eyed her like she was insane.
Perseus chuckled and squeezed Zoë's hand, "I got to admire her insistence somewhat." he said before he bent his down slightly and placed a kiss on her cheek, "I'm going to talk with Artemis." he informed and Zoë turned her head to look at him.
"I will see thou later?" she asked.
"You know it already." he confirmed with a grin before letting go of his lover's hand and began making his way to his niece's tent.
"So, you going to tell me?" Phoebe's teasing tone still reached his ear and he could hear Zoë let out a faint grumble at her sister's prodding.
Artemis snapped her head up when she felt a brief surge of power in front of her tent and tensed slightly.
"Artemis, do you have a moment?" she heard her uncle's voice asking from beyond the tent flaps and relaxed.
"Come in." she announced and saw her uncle pop his head in through the tent flaps momentarily before the rest of his body followed in.
Perseus stretched his neck around before he looked at his niece and held his arms out, "No hug?" he observed as the twelve-year-old form of his niece still sat on the ground. Artemis rolled her eyes and exaggeratedly sighed as she stood up.
"If I must." she said as if it burdened her immensely to hug her uncle and walked to him with her own arms outstretched.
He wrapped his arms around her once she was within reach and kissed the top of her head. Perseus chuckled as he squeezed her gently, "With your attitude towards me, you're making me think that I lost my place as your favorite uncle." he teased as he held her. "Of course, it might mean that Poseidon and Hades would stop their bemoaning about it." he added as an afterthought.
Artemis peered up at him and pouted, "Do you wish to stop being my favourite uncle?" she asked childishly and Perseus slowly grinned.
"Now how could I ever say yes to that? I'll let you know that being your uncle is one of the joys in my life and being your favorite one simply means that I have something to brag about." he replied with a smirk as he knew that Poseidon and Hades were only still the slightest bit annoyed at the blatant favoritism demonstrated by Artemis.
"One of? Where exactly do I place besides at the top, my beloved uncle?" Artemis teased with a wide grin and pretended that she was automatically the first even as she knew exactly who was at the top of that list.
"Now you know it isn't fair for me to compare." he pretended to scold her even though he couldn't help but keep a grin on his face as he finally released his niece from the embrace and sat down on the ground with her, resting his arms on his knees.
"I know." she said and gave a smile that held no ill intent at the thought of not being the first on the imaginary list. "Was there anything you needed from me or were you just to stop by?" she inquired with a tilt of her head.
"Ah yes. I was wondering if you decided if you would bring the entire hunt or only a select few with you to the party?" Perseus asked as a part of him was genuinely wondering if he should be expecting a random wall in the throne room to be partially filled with arrows again as during the last party thrown, a few hunters decided to do trick shots when boredom took over and remembered seeing arrows fly by a few people's heads.
"I will be letting my hunters decide on if they want to attend and letting those that don't reside in my palace on Olympus for the duration." she told him as she finalized the plans hours ago and meant to bring it up to him when she saw him.
Perseus nodded at her plan and without warning, he pulled her closer to him and Artemis suddenly found herself tucked against his side with his arm around her shoulders.
She looked up at him and glared at him, "Could you not have just asked me, uncle?" she asked him with humor in her tone despite the way she looked at him and he laughed.
"Now where would the fun in that be?" and kissed the top of her head in return. Artemis pretended to glare at him even longer before she let herself completely relax against his side and laughed.
"Uncle?" she said in a tone that she rarely used, making Perseus raise an eyebrow as he looked at her while running a hand through her hair soothingly.
"Thank you." she mumbled into his tunic.
"My star?"
Zoë looked up from where she was checking the quality of her arrows as Perseus poked his head into her tent with a hand over his eyes and faced the ground. She resisted laughing and cleared her throat as she gently set her arrows back in her quiver and padded across her tent to directly in front of him.
"Yes?" she voiced huskily near his ear and a grin appeared on her face as she saw him visibly shudder.
"Are my eyes allowed to open or should they stay closed?" he asked as his other hand started to fidget but stopped when he felt Zoë grab both his hands. She leaned forward and softly pressed her lips to his cheek as she removed the hand that was covering his eyes.
"Only if they will be focused on me for the rest of thy life." she continued to whisper and saw him grin widely.
"I can promise that." he assured without a trace of doubt as he opened his eyes and found himself staring at a pair of brown eyes.
"Good." Zoë grabbed a fistful of his tunic in her hand and pulled him fully into her tent and mashed her lips against his.
Perseus eagerly reciprocated and his hands immediately found purchase at her waist.
No matter what, kissing her always made his heart pound even faster than it did when she was around him and this kiss was no different. This one made the ichor within him burn and there was something indescribable when Zoë was the one to initiate the kiss and especially one as heated as this one currently was in the confines of her tent.
She felt him slip her arms away from his tunic and felt an arm go around his neck and a hand grab a fistful of his hair.
Zoë reluctantly broke the kiss as her chest heaved with every breath she took and ran her tongue over her very swollen lips while looking up at him and saw him blink in a state of almost disbelief at what had just happened.
"With that, I think we should always kiss in your tent." he suggested once he regained his bearings from the lip-locked induced haze his mind was still half in and licked his own lips.
She grinned with satisfaction running through her, "I think I did very well for a kiss goodbye, did I not?" giggling lightly at the way he still looked at her.
"I don't think words would even be able to describe it." he half-replied in his state before he reluctantly shook himself out of it. "I better leave before Artemis starts chasing me out of here for distracting you like last time." he said with the tiniest bit of embarrassment.
"I will see thou at the party?" Zoë asked once more and his answer only made the ever-growing feeling of love she had for him even more intense.
"Just like you, any time I can use to spend with you is something I never want to miss."
Olympus
It came time to party and Perseus could proudly admit that his two nephews had outdone themselves with this one and of course, it helped that Dionysus made sure that those that held wine glasses never ran out of the liquid with the god himself holding two bottles in his hand.
Sounds of music filled the hall from instruments that Apollo had set up.
He walked up to Hermes and Apollo with a smile and threw his arms around their shoulders. "I think you two have outdone yourselves. Words cannot describe how proud I am of both of you." he praised and saw how Apollo and Hermes smiled at his words.
"Thanks, uncle." Hermes replied with a larger smile.
Apollo gave him a one-armed hug, "Yeah, thanks for the words, oh favourite uncle of mine." he said cheekily.
Perseus chuckled, "Don't let Poseidon or Hades hear you." he joked with the two of them before his chuckles died down the slightest, "Or your father for that matter." he muttered with annoyance and felt Apollo hug him tighter.
"Don't worry about him. Hermes and I are with you all the way." Apollo assured with a serious look that Perseus hated to see on his face at the party and resolved himself to a composed smile.
"It does me good to know that I can always count on you two." he thanked with a lighter heart already even though he never had doubts about his two nephews currently with him.
"Brother!"
Perseus turned his head to the side to see Hades and Poseidon walk up to him with smiles on their faces. "And nephews!" Poseidon added when he saw who his older brother was with at the moment.
He had no qualms with laughing as Poseidon slung an arm around his shoulders. "Apollo, Hermes, excellent job on this party!" he greeted the two younger Olympians.
Perseus raised an eyebrow when he noticed Hades looking around himself with a wary look. "Don't tell me you're expecting trouble already?" he joked.
Hades shrugged, "Persephone is with her mother so if I stick with you, hopefully, she'll be less inclined to hit me." he suggested and was met with the judging look of his older brother.
"Oh, I don't need that look from you too!" Hades yelled before he swiped a glass from a floating tray nearby.
"What look?" their heads snapped to where they heard the voice of one of their sisters and saw that Hestia was currently making her way towards the small group.
She walked up and hugged Perseus before giving the rest of her brothers and nephews a hug as well.
"Would you like to tell Hades how much of an idiot he is?" Poseidon offered to his sister and instantly ducked under Hades' slap.
"He is?" Hestia questioned with a small grin in a teasing manner and Poseidon pointed at it as if Hestia would ever verbally agree to such a thing.
"See! She agrees." Poseidon called out and Hades let out an exaggerated sigh.
"I should've stayed in the Underworld today." he mumbled and Perseus snorted and flicked him on the temple.
"You might dislike events like this but you love us too much to skip out on it." Perseus said with a grin knowing that he was right.
Hades rolled his eyes, "And the list of those I love grows smaller every second."
Perseus looked to his sister, "Do you know where the others are?" he asked and was met with Hestia's shrugging.
"I believe I saw Demeter speaking with her daughter, Ares was starting a fight with someone, Aphrodite was near him, Athena was outside last time I checked, Hephaestus was by himself and of course, Apollo and Hermes are right here but I have not seen Artemis yet." she gestured to the two who waved at her rather enthusiastically.
The three brothers all stared at Hestia and the goddess' eyebrows shot up questioningly and felt a bit embarrassed at having the eyes of her brothers on her.
"What?"
"I wasn't actually expecting you to know where most of them was." Perseus replied in slight surprise and laughed at the expression on Hestia's face.
Hestia placed both of her hands on her hips and pretended to glare at her brother, "Did you expect me to not keep tabs on my family?" and Perseus laughed even louder at the look of offense on her face and had to quickly raise his hands in defense of himself as Hestia started to half-heartedly slap him.
"I noticed you left out our youngest brother and Hera on that list." Hades said with a wary tone and Hestia stopped herself from slapping Perseus to sigh heavily and gestured weakly around the room with her right hand.
"They're somewhere in here arguing." she revealed and the three brothers instantly started looking around the room, thinking they would catch a glimpse of their brother and sister arguing.
Perseus huffed in irritation and pinched his brow, "You know what? Bring the rest of them here right now. I will not have any fighting happen on this night." he ordered and Apolo and Hermes instantly straightened in their places and nodded before setting out to retrieve the others without another word.
"Probably should have reminded them beforehand." Hades told his brother and Perseus glared at him.
"I am keenly aware of that." Perseus replied, suddenly angry, and felt Hestia pat his hand sympathetically.
"Keep your mind calm, brother." she gently reminded.
Demeter walked up to the group with Hermes leading her before he dashed off to help with the others, "What is the matter?"
It took no time before Apollo and Hermes appeared with Aphrodite, Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Zeus, and Hera with the latter still bickering at Zeus, who looked more annoyed as the argument continued.
Perseus made a circling gesture with a hand and a black dome appeared around them, keeping the sound in before he snapped.
"ENOUGH!"
Hera quieted down at his outburst and they all stood a little bit straighter at the tone their oldest brother took.
"What. Is. The. Problem?" Perseus enunciated each word with an aggressive gesture.
Hera remained quiet and Zeus stood there with his arms crossed, angering Hades as he took a step forward.
"Don't stand there like idiots and answer our brother." Hades said to them in reverence to his oldest brother.
"Hades." Perseus reprimanded sharply, not needing a spat between Hades and Zeus to start now.
Hera pointed at Zeus with an accusatory finger, "Will nothing be done about his habits? He is sleeping around again!" she yelled heatedly.
"Oh, you got to be fucking with me." Perseus muttered under his breath though they heard it very clearly and turned around to face the wall with one hand pinching his brow and the other on his hip.
"I thought we all agreed that you would be putting a stop to your-"
"Here's the deal for now." Perseus interrupted Poseidon with his line of questioning and spun around. At this moment, they were no longer dealing with their brother but with their king, who had a very short temper dealing with the two of them. "Zeus, you're temporarily restricted to Olympus until further notice and you will contain yourself." they all saw the look of outrage on Zeus' face but Perseus wasn't done. "Neither of you will interact with the other unless in a council meeting starting tomorrow and you will comply with my order." he added with no room for argument.
"You're punishing me?" Zeus yelled as they started to faintly smell the scent of ozone.
Perseus glared at him, "Yes and you will control yourself now!" his eyes glowing in warning before he turned to Hera, his sister smiling smugly. "You aren't free from this either." and Hera looked at him in shock, her smug look dropping from her face.
"What?"
"You and I are going to have a talk about this entire problem and your part in this." he said seriously. He cut off any protests that she would've put up by raising his hand.
"I want both of you to keep quiet unless it's to voice your agreement on the solution for now."
Feeling the eyes of his other two brothers on him, Zeus silently nodded with his jaw clenched tightly, clearly opposed to the solution but had to agree and Hera nodded after Hestia prodded her too.
Perseus looked to the ceiling of the dome around them and shook his head in annoyance at how the night was already turning out. "Everyone will behave tonight. I refuse to waste any more time on the matter on tonight of all nights." he grumbled before he dropped the dome with a gesture and walked deeper into the room and away from his family.
"Do the rest of you need a reminder to not cause a fight?" Poseidon asked gravely with his question being received with shakes of their head before most of them dispersed.
Hestia looked at Hades, "Did tonight have any special meaning to him that I forgot about?"
Hades shook his head at her question, "Not that I'm aware of." his curiosity now peaked at her question, wondering just what had his brother so agitated.
Perseus was leaning up against a marble pillar in the room when he spotted Artemis appearing from the other side of the room and he instantly racked his brain to see if he was too lost in his own thoughts to notice the arrival of his niece and her hunters.
The look of confusion stayed even as Artemis quickly made her way to him and gave him a hug. "Uncle." she greeted.
"Did I miss your arrival?" he questioned as his eyes started to scan for one person in particular.
Artemis shook her head, "You didn't. We only just arrived." she informed before she looked at him with slight amusement, "I did, however, miss the argument between you and my father and Hera, judging by what Apollo rushed to tell me when I arrived."
Perseus rolled his eyes at the reminder, "I have half a mind to get up and leave after that."
Artemis' eyes looked to the door, "Perhaps you should." she replied with a grin that had Perseus look to the door himself. "She's outside waiting in the garden." she quietly informed, ever cautious of someone listening when they weren't supposed to.
He nodded knowingly and gratefully before he pulled her into another hug, "Thank you, niece." before he released her and slipped his way out.
Perseus appeared in the gardens eager to rid his mind of the events with his little brother and sister and briefly looked back to the Hall where the music was clearly audible even outside.
He was just about to start looking for Zoë when he heard the grass behind him being stepped on and flicked his head to the cause of the sound only to feel his eyes suddenly widen and his jaw left hanging like an idiot due to the sight before his eyes.
Zoë stood in front of him in a black dress that clung to her frame with her hair done in a messy ponytail and with the way she looked at him, Perseus felt his mind go blank and could only stare at how breathtaking she looked. He felt he could find no words that would do his lover's appearance justice at this very moment.
Zoë initially looked at him with a smile when she first saw him but that smile slowly turned into a look of apprehension when he remained quiet and frozen, mistaking his silence for something else, "Do thou not like?" she asked quietly, already mentally cursing herself for not sticking to her regular garb and feeling embarrassed for trying this.
Upon hearing the way she voiced her question, Perseus quickly snapped himself out of it and quickly crossed the short distance between them, gently taking her hands in his when he could.
"I don't think I could properly explain how gorgeous and beautiful you are to me right now." he explained as best as he could as he saw the way she reacted to his mistaken silence, mentally cursing himself for even making her feel like that.
He caressed the back of her hands with his thumbs and looked her in the eyes, "Forgive me, my star. My mind was elsewhere." his eyes were apologetic as he spoke.
Zoë squeezed his hands gently and nodded slowly, "Did something happen?" she asked quietly in worry and watched him shake his head at her.
"Please do not concern yourself with it for tonight. I should not have brought it up." he apologized once again in a quiet tone.
Her eyes expressed her clear desire to push for more information from him before she relented with a sigh and leaned her forehead on his chest.
"Thou promise to tell me afterward?" she spoke while she pulled her hands from his and wrapped them around his torso instead.
He nuzzled the top of her head with his nose and wrapped his arms around her waist, "If that is what you wish for." he mumbled with his eyes closed. "For now, all I want to do is enjoy my time with you." he said softly.
"I want that as well." Zoë replied.
"Ask me again." he said without further prompting.
She looked up at him and bit her lip. "How do I look?" she asked quietly, her hand moved to brush the loose strands of hair out of her face as she repeated her question from earlier.
He smiled softly at her and grazed her waist with his thumbs, "Seeing you right now makes me feel like the luckiest man right now. You are, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." he whispered.
Zoë's cheeks flushed red from his compliment and hooked a finger into his black tunic, "Thou looks quite dashing as well." she grinned as she spoke.
He chuckled at her, "You're going to make my ego grow if you keep telling me that." he joked as he tilted his head lower to the point where his lips were practically meeting hers.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, fully intending to keep him like this and smiled, "Thou does very well to earn them." she said before she leaned in for a kiss, closing her eyes.
"I believe I also promised to have all my dances with you." Perseus murmured before he too closed his eyes and smiled into the kiss, his fingers making small circles along Zoë's back as his tongue slipped into her mouth.
Whether through his actions or her own, Zoë pushed herself flush against his front, eliminating any space that remained between them still.
She ended their kiss as she swiped her tongue across her lover's lips and tucked her head underneath his, keeping her eyes closed.
As the music from the Throne Room leaked into the garden, the couple slowly started to sway to the harmonic sounds.
Perseus and Zoë both felt content as they swayed in each other's arms, remaining silent with each other as they let the music lead.
Hours later
"Brother, have you seen Perseus?"
Hades turned to see Poseidon look at him with a curious expression.
He scanned around the throne room, the party was still going on albeit the occupants in the room were dropping from the alcohol ingested throughout the night but even with the thinning crowd, Hades could not see the figure that was his older brother anywhere in the room.
"Well neither have I." Hades replied.
Hestia approached them with a wondering look, "Have you been looking for Perseus too? I cannot seem to find him here." she said aloud.
"What do you need him for?" Hades asked and his sister shrugged.
"I merely wanted to see how he thought the party was." she answered, her head still looking side to side.
"Very well, I shall lead this search party for our missing brother." Poseidon said with his chest puffed out in importance.
"No one told you or wants you too." Hades said with a dead-pan. "In case you forgot, Perseus and I share the same domain so I can-"
"Get blocked because Perseus maintains absolute control because he's the god of darkness?" Poseidon interrupted with a smirk, effectively killing Hades' feeling of superiority after Hades just did the same to him.
"That is absolutely not true." Hades muttered as he glared at his brother.
"Poseidon." Hestia said in exasperation even as a small grin appeared on her face with two of her brothers provoking each other.
"I'm just going to look for him." Hades grumbled in irritation at his brother's antics and walked away from the group in search of his older brother.
"No luck?" Hestia asked as she saw Hades and Poseidon both walk towards her almost dejectedly.
"None." Poseidon mumbled.
"Am I allowed to ask what the fuck that was about?" the three of them turned to see Apollo standing there with a bewildered expression on his face. He was confused when he bore witness to two of his uncles roaming through the throne room and bumping into the others, clearly searching for something unknown to him.
"And can we join?" Hermes added from behind Apollo.
"I apologize if we interrupted your night, nephews. We were trying to look for my brother." Poseidon told the duo.
"Is Uncle P not here?" the sun god asked and used his hands to make it clear that he wasn't referring to the sea god who occasionally is given the same moniker.
"He's here but clearly not in here if we can't find-What on Olympus is Aphrodite doing?" Poseidon interrupted himself as he spotted the love goddess pushing people out of her way as she made a mad dash to somewhere, rambling and squealing as she did so.
"Ohmygodohmygod!" Aphrodite yelled as she almost dashed past the rest of her family until Hades gripped her upper-arm in warning, his abrupt action almost causing her to tumble.
"Was my brother's warning not clear enough, Aphrodite?" Hades grit out as Aphrodite orientated herself and fixed her hair, making sure that not even a hair was out of place.
"Look, you can yell at me later but I really need to see this!" Aphrodite brushed off Hades' warning tone and wrenched her arm free before dashing off again.
"What is up with her?" Hermes wondered aloud.
"Let's find out."
With their eyes closed and the music filling the air, Perseus and Zoë swayed softly. Wearing a black dress that seemed to sparkle under the stars while also being wrapped in the warm embrace of her lover, Zoë felt like everything was perfect, happy with where she was now, and sighed contently as she let him tilt her head up, feeling herself smile as he did so.
Perseus exhaled deeply as he held his love in his arms, his amethyst eyes cut through the dark as he smiled softly and leaned in.
The two lovers connected their lips in a kiss as they slowly lost themselves in each other.
From across the grounds and attempting to conceal themselves, the rest of the family watched from a distance in delighted surprise and shock at their oldest brother.
Apollo's jaw dropped, "Holy shit." he whispered.
"Well, that certainly explains a lot." Poseidon said to Hades, the god of the Underworld nodding to what his brother said.
"Indeed." he responded.
"Ohmyg-mpffh!" Aphrodite attempted to exclaim her excitement at seeing the couple but was quickly shushed by Hades who slapped his hand over her mouth, muffling her voice.
"Be quiet." Hades muttered.
"Hades, let's not resort to that for now." Hestia started and gently removed his hand from Aphrodite's mouth. Hades burned whatever saliva was gathered in his palm while Aphrodite checked to see if her makeup was ruined from the small action.
"Fine, take away my fun." Hades grumbled, making Hestia chuckle before she turned her attention to Aphrodite.
"While Hades had the wrong approach, he did have the right principle behind it. I'm sure our brother would greatly appreciate it if we did not intrude on this moment or bother him for the rest." Hestia explained.
"And this goes for all of us." Poseidon confirmed with a stern look on his face.
Aphrodite looked conflicted, "I can't even ask either of them one ques-"
"No." Hades said bluntly.
"I am sure at some point, if you had a question within reason, Perseus would be open to answering but of course, I am unsure if Zoë would be as open." Hestia offered in an attempt to mediate.
Apollo looked at his sister who did not seem at all surprised that her lieutenant was making out with their uncle. "You knew?" he questioned and Artemis smirked.
"Of course I did. " she simply replied, not offering any more detail, and walked away from the scene.
"Uh hey now, don't you think as your totally better brother, I should've been told about that?" Apollo said after her.
"Nope." she popped as she crossed the threshold back."
"I believe we've intruded on their privacy enough as it is." Poseidon said, motioning for everyone to head back inside.
Hades leaned into Hestia's ear, "We are going to pester him about this, right?" he whispered and Hestia grinned.
"Oh absolutely."
Zoë brought a hand to her lover's face and cupped his cheek, rubbing her thumb over his stubble
"We are being watched." she mentioned.
Perseus turned his head towards the inside of her hand and kissed her palm. "I know. Does it bother you?" he asked, doubt getting the better of him.
She shook her head, "No."
"Then it doesn't bother me. If anything, I'm glad I don't have to keep trying to hide how much I absolutely love you or our relationship." Perseus admitted with a soft smile and she slapped his chest playfully, laughing as he began kissing around her hand.