'Cause I think you're so good, And I'm nothing like you

It was shocking to consider that Poseidon was here. That he was causing whatever chaotic trouble he did, how he just managed to give Hades more grey hairs than he already had. He woke first, as it often was, and for a moment he just marveled at Persephone. She was stretched beside him and Hades leaned in, idly grooming a bit of stuck on leaves from her coat. He decided to tuck one paw against his own chest, the other leg stretched around the delicate curve of her. He let his head rest over the scruff of her neck and closed his eyes again. Even if he didn't manage to sleep anymore, this was nice. This was fairly peaceful. 

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The heat again, a vast expanse of space that lay so barren, it broke her heart. The colors here were dull, monotonous, and as she watched, Persephone swore she saw even the browns leech away to leave nothing but monochromatic greys. Still, somehow the sunshine she loved so much seemed to burn, refracted by the glass cage she was trapped in. The realization was sudden, the structure of her prison drawing her attention with its beauty, horrifying and haunting.

Trapped. The word whispered through her head, through the dry, cold air, followed by a set of words that shook her to her core. You will stay here. Where I can protect you.

“No!”

She shot up, scrambling to her feet, breath heavy and labored, pink eyes wide and wild. A long moment passed before the little honey wolf realized that she was not in a drab, colorless world, but in the forest she had been exploring alongside Hades. Slumping back down to the ground with a tired sigh, curling herself into his larger form. She didn't say anything, instead hiding her face into his thick fur, ears low against her skull.
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Hades didn't have too long to relax in his bliss, instead, Persephone shot up just moments after he'd actually drifted back off and then cried out a no that went straight to his heart. He scrambled a bit to catch himself from how he'd rocked a bit. Before he could even ask though, she scrambled back to him and pressed herself in against his chest. He curled one forelimb carefully around her and let out a low sigh. "It's okay," He whispered it against her fur, close to her ear. "It's just us, here, in our forest, and I won't let anything happen to you." He vowed. It was a dangerous to promise but it was something that he'd do to the absolute best of his ability. 

"You don't have to tell me anything, Persephone, but if you want to, I'll listen." He let his eyes close and he thought about teeth and being ripped apart and swallowed and the sound of his father cackling. "I have nightmares, too, I understand." There was so much more to it of course - but the feeling of wanting to make a haven for her he just wanted to be sure he did what he could. It kept growing. It kept just bubbling beneath him. She gave him something else to focus on though, than all of the chaos in him.

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His voice was low, welcome, as was the limb he used to draw her closer but Persephone did little more than whimper, curling even closer if such a thing was possible. She hadn't had that nightmare since she'd woken up here, she'd thought they were done, gone, but no. No, she was dragged back with claws and teeth and __tears__. All she could think about was being back in that glass cage, like a bird with no hope of flight, no hope of escape. A pretty thing to look at and make use of when it was convenient.

She trusted him, trusted him so much that it scared her, if only because she expected her mother to descend upon them at any moment and rip away any chance at happiness that was blossoming here between them. It was a flower she wanted to nourish, wanted to help grow, but at the same time, Persephone knew she had a black thumb. Everything she attempted to grow seemed to die, and Mother had since forbade her from gardening, even though she so enjoyed it.

A shiver shook her body, plush tail winding tighter around her hind legs, refusing to look up at him as he spoke, refusing to let him see that she was __crying__, perhaps because she herself did not want to admit that Mother had made her cry again, and this time she wasn't even __here__.
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It seemed so sudden. She tucked into him and then she was crying and his eyes went wide. How could he help this moment? He didn't know. He sighed quietly and held her, only occasionally murmuring a quiet 'its okay,'  to 'I'm here,'  and he just let her go as long as she needed to. He didn't rush her through those emotions - he didn't try and do the caustic thing of telling her to stop crying. "Little goddess," He said and started to groom any tangles along her scruff. He wanted to touch but not overwhelm her. Gently he nosed at her cheeks to brush the track of tears away. "I want to be a safe place for you, I...I shouldn't be happy that you let me see this." Hades said.

He was rambling a bit, struggling in a sense with the way it made him feel. Or why it made him feel that way at all. "You are trusting me with this, even your sadness." It shouldn't have been like a gift and he knew it, but it was so different than the way he was used to being treated. He closed his eyes and leaned down to rest his forehead against hers, and if he could, he'd give her his strength too.

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Slowly, she calmed down; the gentle caress of his tongue, the light touch he offered to her face, the warm words, all of it helped pull Persephone back into something more manageable and even-keeled. Here, he lay with her, calming her, caring for her even when he had no idea what was wrong and while she couldn't begin to explain how much that meant to her, the little female would show it in the little ways that she could. Snuggling closer, pressing her head against his when he settled it so close, Persephone mumbled a quiet “I'm sorry.” For waking him up, for freaking out, for making him deal with her when she was a mess.

A soft sniffle and she couldn't help but tuck her nose into his throat, breathing in that smoky scent she'd come to know so well as if it were a lifeline, anchoring her. “I'm sorry,” She whispered again, voice strained as she tried to hold back whatever tears she had left.
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Again she surprised him. Apologizing to him. Like this wasn't something normal to do - like it wasn't common to reassure someone. "Persephone," He said her name gently and let his eyes close. He was fully focused on this moment and all that mattered was her. "You are not a burden. You have nothing to apologize for." He tried to speak as clearly and as tenderly as he could - he understood the concerns and the frustrations. He knew that when he got extremely agitated and rattled by those thoughts he couldn't reject he stuttered sometimes. He wanted to be sure that she was listening - that she heard him. That she was listening. 

"Persephone," He said gently. "Why do you apologize?" Why to him, why over something like this? She just needed to understand that he was safe and that these sorts of worries were miles away for them. She could never be a bother to him. "You don't have to apologize. Not to me. Okay?"

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But she did need to apologize. There was so much he didn't know, a storm that brewed on the horizon, threatening to open over them both if Demeter was to find them. The name sent a shiver down her spine, the line of her mouth tightening, turning down once more. She loved her mother, she did, but...

“Can we walk?” She asked, sniffling again as she looked up at him, purposefully avoiding acknowledging anything he'd said to her just now. “Please?” If he said no, Persephone would understand, of course, but it did not mean she wouldn't set off into the forest on her own; it wasn't his fault but if she stayed here, stayed in this spot, she would dwell and only upset herself more.
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Even if he'd had any mind to deny her request, that look on her face would have made him change his mind. Hades looked at her with a soft sort of concern, blue eyes drifting over her face until they'd met her pink eyes. "Of course." He finally relented. He wanted to talk more - concerned about her - but he wasn't going to push it and he remembered how many times he'd end up swimming just to ignore his own nightmares. There was an irony that their parents were the root of their troubles, even if they didn't know it. And for him, it came in the form of claws and teeth and being torn asunder. Persephone's was a beautifully gilded cage, but, a cage none the less. There was so much they didn't know about one another and it kept those darker things at bay - at least for the time being. 

"Let's see the forest again," Hades suggested gently. They had a couple of caches where he'd stored some food for them and he wasn't starving. They could check the area, maybe explore another portion of it. "Maybe go past that bend in the river - see what else we can discover?" He was assuming that some sort of action would be best for her. Something else to put her mind towards rather than whatever had disturbed her sleep so. 

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Persephone visibly relaxed a touch when he agreed, grateful that he didn't try and keep her here to talk about her nightmare. In thanks, the little honey wolf leaned forward to tuck her head under his chin for a moment before extracting herself from his embrace. His closeness, curiously, was a loss she physically felt, but Persephone tried to not pay too much mind to it. Not right now. “Okay,” She answered him gently, ears still low, dejected as she waited for him to get to his feet and lead the way.

Quietly she fell into step beside him, her own steps slow and far less peppy than they normally might have been. They weren't terribly far from the river, but the trek to the bend was a decent one, and the silence that pervaded the air was not one that she broke.
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When she tucked herself beneath his head Hades sighed softly, nosing the spot just past her ear in a gentle way. He wanted to protect her but he couldn't rescue her from what was already in her head. It simply didn't work that way, unfortunately. So he stood and shook the snow out of his fur and started toward the river. Around them it seemed that spring wasn't too far away - he could hear birds returning from their winter escapes, the idle sounds of snow sluffing off and falling from the trees as the sun melted it a bit. "Soon we won't have to just imagine what spring is like here." Hades mused as he looked over at her. The prospect of spring might delight her - but then again, she might be too far away to care really. 

A bird swooped low enough to startle him and he jumbled his steps a bit, ending up bumping into Persephone ."I'm sorry," He quickly apologized, glancing back at the cardinal and assuming there was a female nearby that was being protected. "I must have been a threat... Think I might have caught his lady love's eye?" He was joking, mostly, but his hope was that he'd at least distract her a bit from whatever had upset her so much. 

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No, they wouldn't have to imagine it, would they? Already, the morning was warmer than it had been the last few days, and yet that warmth couldn't seem to reach her at the moment. Spring reminded her of her mother, reminded her of all the times Demeter was so __disappointed__ in her, simply because things wouldn't __grow__ when she planted them. Spring was when Persephone felt most useless, and while she loved the season, it also pained her.

His stumble yanked her from her reverie, a small sound of surprise slipping from her as Persephone's head turned to see what had happened. Another tree root? No, a bird this time, a bright little red thing, that tweeted angrily at her towering companion. The smile at his tease was faint but present nonetheless, looking up at Hades with tired eyes. “Possibly. You are quite fetching.” Looking up to the little bird, she spoke louder, not to Hades but to the cardinal. “Don't worry; he's not interested in birds.”

...

“You're not, right?” Another half-mustered smile. She was trying, trying to go back to normal, even if she didn't feel very normal at the moment.
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How many times in this forest was he going to trip? Hades ducked his head as the cardinal dove at him again. Persephone tried to intervene and the bird seemed to almost wait and actually focus on her words. Hades huffed, looking over at Persephone when she'd said he was fetching. That was enough to perk him up a bit. "Hmm, birds can't hold a candle to goddesses, can they?" Hades asked. Hades was gentle as he nudged under her chin, shoulder to shoulder with her to guide her path a bit. He hoped if he gave enough of a egress the bird would leave him alone. He sighed and only spared a glance back before he looked at Persephone again. "You had said there weren't many other wolves around, before....so...no pack? Not much family?" Hades had a little itching sensation - he wasn't used to belonging to anyone. In his realm, he was in charge. He controlled the flow of things, everyone had their jobs. He made sure things were okay and safe and everyone was taken care of.

"Before here, I was...I was the one who took care of other people. My realm, I remember - I was the highest deity there." The more he tried to find the details, the harder it became. But trying to talk to her was different. She made things different. "We could have that here, if you wanted." If she needed somewhere to be safe he would make it that way. He would mold the world to be better for her if that's what it took. "I like this forest," He said gently. "It's given us so much already." 

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“Careful,” She cautioned him. “His lady love could be a goddess.” And she could, couldn't she? Mother could take multiple forms, couldn't she? Hadn't she? The sudden paranoia rose in her breast faster than wildfire, only to be quenched and quelled by his touch; her chin lifted with his touch, saccharine eyes finding his as the tiniest of sounds left her. Surprise, maybe. She still wasn't used to being touched so... wholly, but here he was, walking close enough alongside her that she could feel his heat, his warmth, and the safety that came with being in his presence.

“Not... Not really,” She answered him, pulling her muzzle away to look off to the side. “Mother didn't really trust anyone, so it was always just me and the dryads. She...” Her throat closed, the lump there hard for her to swallow around so that she could speak. “She never liked to let me out of her sight much, you see.” That was likely the most gentle way she could put it. Anyone who had even tried to speak to Persephone had always came up against Demeter's wrath and given in, much to the honey wolf's chagrin.

A deity? She blinked widely, looking up at Hades again. And he called her little goddess? She almost wanted to laugh, though the more she thought about it, the more she could see it. When he wasn't falling prey to her silly, and sometimes childish antics, he did seem... regal. Composed. And while she liked this forest too, little Persephone found herself latching onto the offer he'd made her just now. “What do you mean if I wanted? I can't tell you what to do. Especially if you're a deity.”
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He gave her a grin at her warning, and though it was true - enough of them took to other forms, he found it was a risk he didn't mind at all. "I'm not afraid," Hades hummed out. "You put Aphrodite herself to shame." It was perhaps the most bold he'd been with her - the most direct. His gaze drifted over her and he couldn't help smiling at her. How could he? But it fell as she spoke and explained how she'd grown up. It was just - he didn't understand that kind of trapped. Watched, free, but anything but. And it was made him tense to think of what he had lived through. "I want to go places with you - see things with you, but...but never control what you do."  He was very adamant about that. He would never control her that way. 

"I was Aidoneus, at first. But...that name....so many were afraid of it." He looked almost confused - unsure, like he was grasping at the memory off it. The harder he tried to remember the more he couldn't and it was easy for him to be frustrated by that. He met her gaze when it turned to him, seeking in her gaze the truth about her feelings. "You could though." He mused and smiled at her. She could ask him to do anything and he would follow her instructions to the letter. Hades would do as she asked about the mundane and the grand. "What do you want, Persephone?" He wouldn't keep her from where she wanted to be, after all. 

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She wanted to admonish him, blushing beneath all that fur once more at the compliment. Aphrodite was a familiar name and just hearing it, Persephone remembered being in awe of her beauty. She knew, with that memory flitting across her mind, that he was teasing her. Perhaps that was why she didn't say anything, instead listening as he went on. It was odd for her, this freedom. She didn't expect it to last, didn't expect to stay free of her entrapment forever, but until then... Until then she wanted to chase it. Live it. Use that freedom to her fullest advantage.

“Aidoneus,” She whispered, testing the name across her tongue, unsure of why anyone would find him scary. Sure, he was imposing but he was so kind, so --

You could though. What do you want, Persephone?

What did she want?

She stopped, paws becoming stationary on the melting snow as she thought. Bright eyes moved from him to the forest, to the trees that towered above them and the river that sliced through it all. The snowdrops that bloomed alongside the river, alongside the pink-tinged hellebore and purple crocus that had begun to sprout and blossom. The red cardinal that hovered near them, hopping in a tree branch above them as he watched them intently. The mountain that rose in the distance and the everything that stretched between here and there.

Even from here, she could see the bend of the river, their destination. What was beyond it? Not another cage, but life. She could feel it deep in her bones, a spark of something that made her answer painfully clear.

“I want to stay with you,” Persephone answered him, finally, her head turning to look at him as she stood there. “I want this, Aidoneus.” The forest, their friendship, this freedom. She needed it, as much as she needed air to breathe.

+1 Discovery Point

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He couldn't help the shock on his face. Hearing her say his name left him speechless. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment as he just surrendered into the soft way she spoke it. There was no anger there, no fear and no worry. She said his name like a whispered prayer, just something special to be heard only by the gods. "Persephone," He touched her temple and was careful not to halt their progress but he hoped that all of the reverence and all of the gratitude was in his voice as he said her name. "I haven't heard anyone call me that in so long." He swallowed thickly as he straightened back up, continuing on and tried to keep it look like he wasn't floating. Before they'd gone much further she came to a stop and he watched her, following her gaze as it trailed along the river and it's edge. He wondered what she was thinking. 

She wanted this and all he could do was smile at her. This might have meant the forest, or the freedom, or the way they'd just been tucked away. "I want this too." Hades said and smiled at her. He could see spring beginning to blossom around them. It was beautiful, but, he would have been lying if he tried to suggest he did anything but focus on Persephone. "Why is it that you say the most simple things and it sounds like magic to me? My name, it only sounded that good when my mother said it." Hades said it softly and leaned in again to just be closer to her. He could see everything too, all the possibilities of what a life together might be. 

"You're going to ruin me, Persephone." Hades gave a little smile as he started to walk again, idly admiring the signs of spring now that she wasn't the only thing he could see. "But I think it will be a lot of fun." He winked at her then, wondering if she had any sort of ideas about the kind of power she had over him. She didn't need him that way, but, he'd be a willing subject. 

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If she was being honest with herself, she loved the way he said her name, loved the way he brushed his nose along her face, the way he smiled at her when she'd finally answered him. Butterflies fluttering in her stomach, she listened intently as he spoke, as he told her he wanted this — what was this? did they need to define it? — too.

Why was she surprised when he said he wanted the same thing? Why did a little thill run down the length of her spine, her tail wagging lazily behind her, when he closed the distance between them again? The little honey wolf didn't have an answer for the questions he asked, didn't even know what to say, but she wanted to. She wanted to answer, wanted to say his name again so that he'd like it as much as she did, but all she found herself able to do was press into him, breathe in that smoky scent that she could so easily get lost in.

And then he was moving away, a little pout pulling at her lips as she watched him. “What??” Ruin him?! She hadn't moved yet, watching the man as he walked ahead of her. “Why would I do that?? How would I do that?” And was it a bad thing? He said it would be fun, but... But Persephone was tired of ruining everything she touched. It was all she was good for, she felt at times, and so, the last thing she wanted to do was ruin the man that had so quickly become important to her.
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It was so perfect. The press of her against his body and that contact lit up all the nerves along his body where they'd even brushed against one other. As she leaned into him he reciprocated, teasing his teeth through the fur along her cheek. His touch brushed up to the base of one ear and he let out a little humming sound, just considering saying something. It was a bad idea. Surely opening his mouth would be awful. For a moment he was glad to have the distance between them both but at the same time he ached to be closer too. How was this a reality? How was it his reality? His brothers - they bragged about their conquests. They enjoyed the thrill of chasing women. Hades found them beautiful and yet he was never sure that he was right for them. The problem typically was in his own doubts. 

"Because," His voice was a low rumble as he looked over his shoulder at her, offering her a smile. "It's dangerous how easy this is....how easy we feel to me." Hades was confused about that given how isolated he normally felt. And from how she talked about her life it was obvious that she was so shut in and it worried him. Not that he felt she wasn't aware enough, but he worried that he found her safe because she didn't know better. And if she figured it out....well. How much would it hurt him when she did? 

He swallowed thickly and nodded almost to himself. Confirming his thoughts maybe. "If you asked me, I'd do anything." Hades admitted. Already he wanted to give her a kingdom, a realm all her own, somewhere that she could do what she wanted to and when she wanted to. He was weak for her, admittedly. Hades just didn't think he truly minded it either.

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“Why is it dangerous, though?” The question was, perhaps, naive. Persephone was fully aware that she was young, that she wasn't experienced, but still, she had been under the impression that it had all been a __good__ thing. That the ease of their friendship was something good and wonderful and not... dangerous. His next statement only served to confuse her more, that pout deepening as she moved to stand in his way, not wanting to walk further until she understood this, until she understood what he was trying to convey. “I wouldn't ask you to do anything bad. You know that, right?”
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That pout. He let out a little hum of a laugh, smiling as she even blocked his way. "Little Goddess," He rasped the name out, tail swaying calmly behind him. "You could - you know that, right?" There was a dark promise there when it came to the things he would do for her if she merely asked. He echoed his words right back to her and met her eyes with as much calmness as he could. He didn't feel like it was something he could manage. The urge to crush her against his chest, to kiss her and hold her, it was overwhelming. "I want you Persephone. I just...I don't know if I'm good enough for you." Hades would doubt himself given how good she seemed and what he remembered of his life. They were nowhere near the same. "You deserve everything, Persephone." And he wanted to be the one to give that to her.

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She hadn’t known it. She did now, blinking up at him, wondering if that should have changed the way she felt. It didn’t. Or rather, it didn’t change it for the worse, another little flutter churning her stomach. And to hear he wanted her? Persephone could swear she felt the very tips of her ears burn, pout falling away to give reign to a shy, bashful expression.

“Hades... Aidoneus...” She closed that distance once more. This time, __she__ initiated that contact, reaching her muzzle up to run her nose along the strong line of his jaw. “Don’t be silly. You’ve been perfect.” And he had, but at the same time. “You don’t have to worry about __good enough__ with me. I’m happy just spending time with you. Being with you.” It might have been fast but... it felt so __right__.
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The way that pout shifted only made him want her more. The shift of her emotions and the ways that she was so expressive - from those bright eyes of hers all the way to how he ears twitched and shifted, Hades found it so endearing. His ears turned to catch the words she spoke the moment he saw her mouth opening. He didn't expect it to be his name, both names. His eyes fluttered again and he smiled as she pressed her snout along his jaw and he felt like he relaxed finally. Like this was what he'd hoped for. This was what he'd waited for. "I want you, just...just as you are. I want you to feel safe with me. For the good and the bad things." Hades admitted. He leaned his weight into her, heads still touching. "I'm happy with you, too, Persephone." It was honest and even if he knew nothing else this was true. What he hoped so earnestly was that she felt like she could be herself - that there was nothing she had to hide around him either. 

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“I do feel safe with you,” Came her gentle protestation, immediately finding herself wanting to dash whatever worries he might have had. Things were still new but Persephone knew, had known, that she was in no danger when she was with him. A soft sound left her as they stayed in their embrace, eyes closing as she let herself find a calm and comforting repose against his chest.

It was a long moment before she moved, and even then it was only to shift her head, her ear pressing against his chest before she giggled softly and looked up at him. “I can hear your heart.” A whisper, barely louder than the babble of the river next to them. Never had she been so close to someone that she could hear such a thing. Delighted, Persephone snuggled closer, listening even more intently.

Her nightmare was long forgotten, left behind in the wake of their heartfelt admissions and tender embrace.
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He was in no rush to move. He wanted to stay there in this perfect moment. "It makes me happy that you do," Hades said quietly and let he stay right there. He'd never had pushed her from him, and when she said that she could hear his heartbeat he chuckled. No doubt she heard that, too, as close as she was to him. "We didn't make it very far, did we?" Hades mused after a moment. He licked her forehead, working it up to her ear. "I want to see what else we can find. Lets go, Little Goddess." He only moved enough that they were both standing, keeping close enough that were they human her arm would be wound in his. The light shifted through the trees and shined brightly on the water as he rushed and especially given his company, everything was beautiful. 

They tracked along the river, following the bend up towards the mountain range in the distance. It was comfortable silence, occasionally remarking on the landscape, but Hades came to a stop when he spotted another pile of rocks. It was different than the one they'd found in the clearing, instead, an almost cold wind was blowing around it and he realized that it wasn't just rocks. The entrance to the cavern was dark and he let out a sharp bark to make sure nothing was inside it. "Should we?" Hades asked, looking to Persephone. He'd follow her guidance if she felt adventurous.

+2 Discovery Points

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