TW: The following has descriptions of alcohol consumption. This story will explore themes of generational trauma, abuse and toxicity in relationships, and mental health topics like anxiety. Please read at your own discretion.
A buzzing sound goes off again, with a sigh he answers, expecting to hear his brother's impatient whine.
"Are you still sulking?" A condescending tone coated her voice, like honey.
The remainder of his smile dips into a deep frown. "I don't know if it's considered sulking …"
She interrupts, "You said you were going to come over after the party. Where were you?" Her rich voice turns to a babyish pouting sound.
"Ahhhh… I was really depending on you, Minthe," he says, last night's disappointment ringing in each syllable.
She had left him alone again, embarrassed and rejected. He hated showing up to those parties alone. His brothers made it easier to hide away, sure, but Minthe was his best distraction, when she showed up. While her beauty attracted attention, her stern face discouraged media interactions or any unnecessary small talk. It was easier to slip into his role of daunting, dreaded King of the Underworld when she was around.
She snorts into the receiver, a fake laugh rings through the car, "Please…the way you let Hera talk to me… The way you look at her, over me? And you think I want to be subjected to watching you drool over your sister-in-law all night." She scoffs, "I had hoped a night alone would remind you of how much you needed me, but it seems you spent too much time focused on you. What's new…"
He hates when she brings up Hera, that's the nerve she loves to strike. He can practically feel her lips curl into a wicked smile, just by the sound of her voice. "I don't foresee this conversation ending well," he sighs, a dull ache beginning to form around his eyes. "Let's finish this tomorrow."
"Fine. Keep sulking. Stop talking when things get hard." She sounds bored, annoyed, but there's a touch of panic in her voice.
"I'll talk to you later," he says, curtly.
She can sense his frustration. She sighs, knowing they're approaching the tightrope - the tension they tread. She loves this game. "Baby…come on, I'm sorry." She'll apologize and he'll be lonely enough to accept it. But if she pushes him too far, good or bad, he'll forget why he needs her.
"I can't talk now…family brunch."
"Whatever," She rolls her eyes, ending their conversation with a click.
Hades sinks in his seat, already apprehensive over their next conversation. Dragging himself out of the car, he pushes his hair back, smooths the front of his shirt and joins his brothers at the front of the building.
The outside of the windowless building appears less welcoming today. The paint seems dingy and he notices the cracks in the pavement with weeds pushing through more today than usual. Zeus and Poseidon greet their brother with heavy slaps on the back, while walking through the doors of Olympus' "nicest" strip club.
The hostess greets them immediately, sending dancers to escort the kings to a private table. The women fawn over Zeus, letting their bodies strategically nestle against him, hoping to catch his attention. A cocktail waitress brings Poseidon his usual drink, blowing him a kiss as she walks away. He pretends to catch her affection and pockets it in his shirt. Hades sits across from his brothers, the chattering hushes once he takes his seat. Another waitress brings him a scotch with the day's paper, a pack of cigarettes and a lighter placed neatly on a tray. As she sets the tray down in front of the third king, her arms shake so violently, the ice in his drink clinks against the glass.
He glares at her through the noise, clicking his jaw in annoyance. He hands her a folded bill and waves her away. His brothers appear not to notice, enthralled by the gaggle of women surrounding them. Hades clears his throat; the women clear out leaving the one very nervous waitress behind to jot down their orders. She stands in front of them like a gazelle to a pack of lions. Zeus attempts to soothe her with his charm and she leaves, shaking a little less.
Rhea's youngest son, King of the Gods, and King of wooing women turns to his brothers. His focus settles on Hades, "So what did you get into after the party? Or who?" He asks, plucking an olive off a toothpick swimming in his martini and popping it in his mouth. "Poseidon and I were looking for you, did you leave early?" Zeus' lips puckering. He hates very few things but a swift escape from a party was one.
A blush scatters across the King of the Underworld's cheeks. "Uhhh, something came up," he mutters into his newspaper, trying to bury himself in the financial section.
"Was it Minthe? Where the hell was she?" Poseidon asked, riffling through the newspaper in his brother's hands for the comics.
Hades snatches the paper away from him, folding and tucking it under his arm, "She doesn't like you."
Zeus chuckles, rolling a toothpick around in his mouth. "Well, can't blame her on that front."
Hades frowns, picking up his pack of cigarettes. "Minthe doesn't like parties, you know that," He says, letting the cigarette balance between his lips as he lights the end.
Zeus gestures over to another waitress, signaling for a cigarette. "If she's going to keep climbing the Underworld ladder or you, brother, she needs to start going to parties," he shrugs, letting the waitress light his cigarette. He winks at her and she blushes furiously.
Poseidon and Hades roll their eyes at their brother's flagrant flirting. Hades takes a drag, savoring the inhale and lets the smoke trail from his mouth slowly. "Could we please stop talking about Minthe?" He asks, ash-ing into Poseidon's already empty beer. They watch him, like the couple's last argument had been taped to his forehead. Hades sighs, pulling the newspaper back out, laying it carefully in front of him.
Zeus and Poseidon look at one another. Poseidon shrugs as if to suggest dropping the subject, Zeus frowns at the idea. "Fine, fine. So, who did you take home?" He asks impatiently, crumpling the paper's edges to gain his brother's attention. Hades frowns, extending his hand towards the paper and silently reprimanding his youngest brother. Zeus shrugs and nonchalantly says, "Eros said he saw you with a girl outside the party."
Poseidon perks up at the information. Hades waves his hand, "It's not like that."
Zeus' eyes widened, "Oh! So, you did take her home?" He asks, his Cheshire smile growing.
"Really, I have nothing to share," Hades says, taking another drag of his cigarette.
The younger kings groan, "Could you please just tell us who this girl is?! All this secrecy is giving me scurvy!" Poseidon snaps, with a petulant gesture of his hand.
Hades feels another blush spreading across his cheeks, "It was just some woman, she was upset, I tried to take her somewhere safe."
The younger brothers clap their hands together loudly, as if to cheer on Hades. "Oh brother, now we're getting somewhere…Details please." Zeus says, rubbing his palms together.
Poseidon smiles cheekily. "Minthe is going to kill you," he says in a childlike squeal. He straightens up at the idea, "If she does, I can comfort her, if you'd like." He extends his hand at the proposal.
Hades swats his brother's hand away. "Sure, sure. Whatever you'd like."
Zeus groans again, loud enough to elicit stares across the club. "Tell us about the girl! Sweet Gaia…" He says, slapping his hands against the table, his cigarette almost to its end, sticking to his dry lips.
Hades ashes his cigarette again, "I think she's new to Olympus." He looks down to the paper again, hoping to shroud her in enough mystery would wear on his brothers' attention spans until they move on to something else, shinier, prettier. Unfortunately, he was wrong.
Zeus' lips curve into a mischievous smile, "Oh. We like new..." His smirk grows into a deep frown as he considers the possible candidates. "Wait…Was it Persephone?"
Hades shakes his head, brow furrowing. He hates sharing details with his brothers, who use anything like ammunition. "No, she said her name was Kore. The Goddess of Spring? You know I don't keep up with all these new Olympians," He mutters into his drink.
Zeus huffs, "No. There's only one Goddess of Spring and it's Persephone." He picks up his phone, scrolling through photos until he finds the mystery girl. "This her?"
Hades inspects the photo. It's a match. Shit. Of course, this mystery girl encounter is too good to be true.
"Persephone? The Bringer of Death is also the Goddess of Spring? Wow, the mortals must have discovered irony." Poseidon chuckles. His laughter is abrupt, as he notices his brothers becoming more distressed. He looks wildly between the two brothers, begging for more information. "Why is everyone upset now?"
"Shit," Hades sneers. "I gave her Hera's coat."
Zeus tosses his cigarette butt into the empty beer bottle. "That is very unfortunate, brother, but luckily my wife hated that coat." He offers a small sympathetic smile, a brief gesture. "Either way, you need to reconcile your emotions towards this girl. She starts working for you tomorrow."
"What is going on?!" Poseidon asks, his booming voice shaking the table.
Zeus waves his hand, dismissing his other brother's frustration. "Poseidon - our dear brother has just saved the daughter of Demeter, the girl who almost demolished our sweet Hades' dark reputation."
"Oh, shit," Poseidon mutters, raising his eyebrows. "I didn't know Demeter had a daughter," Poseidon's face twists in confusion at the idea, as he waves down a waitress for another drink.
Zeus smirks, "I'm sure. You act like you don't know she had a son, either." Poseidon's expression goes blank and then sour. Zeus pretends not to notice the chord he struck. "So…Persephone, really, nothing happened there?" He lifts an eyebrow, resting his chin on his palms like an eager child.
Hades lights another cigarette, tapping his empty glass. He forces his eyes to stay on the newspaper, attempting to hide his disappointment. "Nothing. I was just trying to help her out." The nervous waitress appears with another scotch.
Poseidon slaps Hades on the shoulder. "I think I've seen a movie like this. Yes, young girl, older guy … he 'helps' her out…." He chortles at his own innuendo.
Hades frowns, his eyes cutting up to his brothers, "You're disgraceful and I'm sure our mother would be disappointed in the god you became."
"Mean. That was too mean," Poseidon mutters into his beer.
Zeus interrupts his brothers' squabble, "Listen, brother, just because she's an enemy of your realm doesn't mean you can't have your fun with that baby-faced broad. At least for a night." He smirks, wiggling his eyebrows at the dirty idea.
Hades shakes his head, "Stop. Firstly, don't make that face. Second, even if she wasn't an 'enemy of my realm' as you put it, don't call her a baby-faced broad. It sounds gross, and she can't be that young. I mean, if you think about it, we're all 'baby-faced', right?" He chuckles quietly to hide his discomfort. "Not that any of this matters…"
Zeus senses his brother's discomfort and his smile grows. He takes a sip of his drink, watching his brother sweat. "Oh, she's young. Hasn't even hit a century yet." The waitresses return, placing plates of food in front of each of the brothers. "She's also a heinous criminal… however she's under your jurisdiction now, so do what you want with her."
Hades inadvertently gulps, pulling at his now tight collar, almost knocking a plate out of his waitress' hands. "I don't want anything to do with her."
Poseidon cackles, tucking a paper napkin into his t-shirt. "Why are you so nervous, brother?" He asks, poking Hades in the chest with his fork. "How old are you pushing now, big guy?"
"I'm not nervous." Hades stares into the sad plate of brunch food, "And I'm relatively young, I mean… Do the first nineteen years count?" He asks while shoveling eggs onto his fork, moving them to another area of plate. "…That one millennium was a bit of a blur…?" He mutters trying to recount the events of the Titanomachy where they all met for the first time. His brow furrows, "I look young," He states with pseudo-confidence, looking up at his brothers.
His brothers stare, forks and knives still as if they were frozen.
"I don't look a day over thirty," Hades swears, dropping his utensils and taking a swig of scotch.
Zeus puckers his lips again, eyeing his brother, "I'll give you thirty-three."
Hades sighs defeated, "I feel young?"
Poseidon gives his brother a sideways glance, "Uh… Your favorite pastime is balancing a checkbook."
Hades picks up his utensils again, waving his fork in a circular motion towards his brothers, "None of this even matters." He takes a bite of eggs, a grimace forming on his lips. "This girl is a criminal and I'm not interested. I have Minthe." Zeus and Poseidon both raise their eyebrows, freezing again. "I love Minthe, and I'm happy with our relationship. There's nothing more to say."
Zeus shrugs, "Right, but everyone's allowed a mistress or two. No?" He breaks his toast into two pieces as if to demonstrate his ideas to his brother. "And the unhinged ones are a little more fun."
"I mean, yeah…" Poseidon agrees, cocking his head to the side, waiting for their brother's response.
Hades shakes his head, "No. I just want Minthe."
"That's a shame," Zeus sighs into his martini. "I was hoping we'd have a few more eventful brunches."
Hades begins to defend his position, "Minthe is beautiful, intelligent, a little…"
"Scary," Poseidon adds, with a mouth full of pancakes.
Hades shrugs, displacing his food with his fork. "Well… She'd make a fine queen of the Underworld," He mumbles.
"Gods, Hera will be furious." The three kings all frown at the idea, and continue their brunch in silence.