#mod jo is BACK babey!!!!!!!

[askthedustbowl]

friend of yours

persephone waits at a bar for hades to finish work. the owner is out, so she starts talking to the seventeen-year-old boy at the register while waiting for him to come back.

———

“goodnight, khaila.” persephone called to khaila as she watched her stride out of the six seeds, raising her hand in a wave. khaila waved back with a smile. outside, the sun was setting. the february sky glowed pink and blue, and persephone watched it for a second before closing up the store.

it was too cold for the light jacket she was wearing. hades had told her that he would send her a message at sunset, but when she looked at her phone, there wasn’t any word from him.

oh, well. she needed a drink, anyway.

crossing the street, she set off towards the bar she had seen while walking to work that morning. a sign hung in the window with “REOPENED” scrawled on it in big letters. come to think of it, persephone couldn’t remember the last time she had seen the lights on inside.

warmth greeted her as she opened the door, and she welcomed it by slipping off her jacket. the bar was full of people talking and laughing after work. in the corner, she saw some of her husband’s employees sitting together.

the atmosphere was comforting. it felt like home. persephone smiled to herself as she sat down at one of the barstools.

“he’ll be back in a minute.” a voice from behind the bar said softly. persephone looked up, then to her left. three stools away stood a boy behind the register.

“who will?” she asked.

the boy looked up from a notebook he had been writing in. “mister hermes.” he answered. at persephone’s confused expression, he added, “bartender. he’s just picking something up.”

“ah.” persephone drummed her fingernails on the bar. “that’s okay. i’ll wait.” she looked away, taking in her surroundings. something kept nagging at her, though.

the boy’s eyes looked so sad. sadder than any eyes persephone had ever seen. he seemed...hollow.

“so, what’s your name?” she turned back to him.

the boy didn’t look up from his notebook.

after a few moments, persephone tried again. “kid?” she asked. “what’s your name?”

the boy jumped when he realized she was talking to him, and persephone leaned back in her seat. “didn’t mean to scare you, sorry.”

he blinked. “orpheus.” he murmured.

“your name is orpheus?”

“yes.” he set down his notebook. “what about you?”

persephone smiled. “i’m persephone.” she almost saw orpheus smile back.

almost.

“nice to meet you,” he said softly. “miss persephone.”

her name sounded sweet in his fragile little voice. persephone felt something bloom in her chest, something kind and affectionate. she looked pointedly at the stool directly in front of him. “mind if i...?”

orpheus shook his head. persephone took her jacket and moved three seats down. “so you work here?”

orpheus nodded. he sat down on a stool beside the register.

persephone tilted her head. “how old are you?”

orpheus started fiddling with his pencil. “seventeen.” he mumbled.

“is that even legal?” persephone asked, raising her eyebrows. “are you even out of high school?”

at the wounded look in orpheus’s eyes, she wished she hadn’t said anything.

“mister hermes is my...” he paused. “my godfather.” orpheus put down his pencil and started playing with the hems of his sweater sleeves.

“you call your godfather mister hermes?” persephone didn’t know what was going on, but she desperately wanted to know this boy. he haunted her. “where are your parents?”

orpheus avoided her gaze. “do you want some water while you wait?”

persephone felt guilty. she shouldn’t have pried. whatever this kid had going on would take more than a casual conversation to explain. he looked kind of lost, so persephone agreed to the water, just to give him something to do. “sure.”

orpheus took a glass and pitcher of ice water from behind the bar. carefully, he began to pour her a glass. persephone watched him do so. his hands shook ever-so-slightly, and he seemed to notice. orpheus stopped halfway and switched hands. persephone couldn’t look away.

finally, he slid the glass across the bar towards her, almost as if he didn’t trust himself hand her the glass himself.

“thanks, kid.” persephone took a sip.

“you’re welcome.” orpheus replied. he clasped his hands together and set them on the bar.

they lapsed into silence while the rest of the bar teemed with life around them. it seemed strangely shameful to keep talking to orpheus after persephone had obviously upset him. luckily, it wasn’t her that broke the silence.

“hey, orpheus!” a man’s voice called from behind her. orpheus looked up, grateful for a distraction.

“mister dionysus.” he said, relieved.

persephone turned. a tall young man walked up to the register and held up his hand for orpheus to give him a high-five. to her surprise, orpheus granted him one, weak as it might be.

“how are you, kiddo? feeling alright?” dionysus spoke to orpheus easily, but there was a note of paternal affection in his voice.

orpheus nodded, smiling sheepishly. “yes, sir.”

“that’s what i like to hear.” dionysus grinned and put some money on the bar. “keep the change, orpheus. tell your godfather i’ll see him tomorrow.” he winked.

orpheus waved halfheartedly. persephone watched him leave.

“friend of yours?”

“i think so.“

persephone smiled. “he’s nice.”

orpheus nodded. “he left early today. usually he’s the last one in here.”

his words prompted persephone to look around. she was one of the only people left in the bar. “what time is it?” she asked.

orpheus glanced at the clock and persephone saw his mouth moving as he assessed the time. “it’s nine-thirty.” he said.

“is your godfather okay?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “it’s been a while.”

orpheus looked around. “you’re right.” he murmured. persephone saw his eyes widen. “he...he should be...” the color drained out of his face. “he...”

“hey, i’m sure he’s okay.” persephone tried to calm him. “traffic is crazy this time of night. people are getting back to their families from bars like this.” she looked at the clock. “he’ll probably be back soon.”

“he’s never late, miss persephone.” orpheus said, fear creeping into his quiet voice. at this point, she was the last person left in the bar. he scanned the place desperately as if he could find his godfather hiding behind a table or underneath a chair. persephone watched as his chest began to rise and fall faster and faster.

“orpheus, hey.” she put a hand on his. “he’ll be back soon. look at me.” orpheus’s wide eyes met hers. persephone had only known him for a few hours, but it felt like he filled a hole in her heart that she didn’t know existed. he was just a kid, and she felt for him. “breathe, sweetheart.”

orpheus heeded her suggestion and took a breath.

“he’ll be back soon.” as soon as the words left persephone’s lips, the door opened and a man that she assumed as hermes rushed inside.

“orpheus.” he exhaled in relief. orpheus looked like he could cry at any minute. hermes quickly let himself behind the bar and hugged orpheus tight. “i’m so sorry, orpheus. traffic was hell. i’m so, so sorry.” he pulled away and cupped orpheus’s cheek. orpheus closed his eyes. after a moment, hermes relaxed and dropped his hand, breathing a sigh. “are you okay?”

persephone looked at the floor, her glass of water, the register, anything to avoid looking at orpheus and his godfather. she was witnessing something she wouldn’t have been privy to under normal circumstances, and she was painfully aware of it.

hermes pressed his lips to orpheus’s forehead. “go upstairs and get into bed, okay? you haven’t stayed up this late in a while.” he hugged orpheus one last time and then let the boy go. once orpheus was out of sight, hermes put his head in his hands.

persephone tried to put on her jacket to leave without making any noise, but the legs of her stool scraped the wood floors as she stood. hermes looked up in alarm.

“oh, gods. i’m so sorry, i didn’t see you—“

persephone shook her head. “no, no, i was just leaving, it’s fine.”

hermes shrugged off his coat and held out his hand. “i’m hermes.”

persephone took it. “persephone.” she said. “you own the place?”

he nodded. “yes, i do.”

“nice place.”

“why, thank you.”

they were dancing around what had just happened, and they both knew it.

finally, persephone spoke up. “is he okay?”

hermes shook his head, a gesture that seemed to be directed more at himself than at persephone. “he’ll be alright.” he turned and adjusted a picture frame on the top shelf behind the bar. persephone couldn’t see all of the photo, but it looked like a woman smiling and waving.

“he’s quite a kid.” persephone said.

hermes turned back to her. “you stayed with him.” it wasn’t a question, but a realization. he offered her a grateful smile. “thank you so much for doing that. you didn’t have to.”

“i didn’t mind at all. he’s...good.” simple as it was, there didn’t seem to be a better descriptor for orpheus. the boy was genuinely good. she saw it in his sad eyes.

“he is.” hermes nodded. “persephone, if you want anything, it’s on the house. i can’t thank you enough for staying with him.”

persephone shook her head. “i couldn’t, really. it’s fine. thank you, though.” her phone buzzed in the pocket of her jacket, and she fished it out. the screen was alight with a text from hades.

running late, my love. is there somewhere you can get a drink while i deal with a mistake my secretary made? send me the address and i’ll pick you up as soon as i can. i don’t want you walking home this late.

her face must have showed her disappointment, because hermes brought out a tall bottle of vermouth. “just picked this up for business purposes, but i think we both need some right now.”

persephone gave in. “agreed.” she accepted the glass that hermes handed her. “thank you.”

hermes took a sip and closed his eyes as he swallowed. persephone nearly downed her glass in a matter of seconds, but held back.

“you’re his godfather?” she asked

hermes nodded. “we live upstairs.”

persephone took a sip of her drink. “convenient.”

he dipped his head in acknowledgement, but persephone could tell there was something else on his mind.

“he lost his mother two months ago.” hermes said gravely. “it’s been difficult.”

persephone felt like she had just been hit in the chest. that explained so much.

“i’m so sorry for your loss.” she reached over the bar to touch hermes’s shoulder. “that must have been terrible.”

“he didn’t take it well.” hermes added, shaking his head slightly.

“i don’t blame him,” persephone replied, her voice dripping with sympathy. “he’s so young.”

“there was a while there where i didn’t think he’d make it, either.” hermes poured himself another drink. “he didn’t leave the house for a month. i had to close the bar.”

persephone nodded.

“that’s why he was so upset when i was late. i can’t believe i did that to him.”

“that wasn’t your fault.” persephone frowned. “you couldn’t control it.”

“i suppose. but he gets this look in his eyes, like he’s lost or something, and it just kills me.” hermes looked at persephone, and she saw his eyes were glassy with unshed tears. he blinked. “i’m sorry. i don’t know why i’m telling you this. we just met.” he chuckled, a sad sound given the circumstances.

“no, it’s okay! really, it’s okay. i can’t remember the last time i had a genuine, human conversation.” she echoed his halfhearted chuckle.

hermes sighed. “i haven’t really talked to anyone about this since the funeral.” he admitted.

“i can only imagine.”

“thank you, persephone. for listening.” he straightened up and closed the vermouth bottle, walking out from behind the bar “please, take what’s left of this. i have a dozen others in the trunk of my car.”

“are you sure?” she eyed the bottle. “it looks expensive. i would hate to hurt business.” hermes smiled at that, and persephone felt an odd sort of pride.

“it’s the least i can do.”

“thank you, hermes.” she took it carefully. “i promise i’ll use it to its fullest potential.”.

“you’d better.” hermes replied easily. before he could say anything else, persephone’s phone buzzed.

“that’s my husband,” she told him. “he’s outside.”

“don’t let me stop you.” hermes held out his hand again, but persephone hugged him instead. he wrapped his arms around her, too.

persephone pulled away and touched his shoulder as she stepped back. “i’ll see you tomorrow night.” she said. hermes smiled and lifted his hand in a wave.

outside, hades greeted her with a kiss. “sorry it’s so late.” he apologized.

persephone looked at him with a newfound appreciation. hearing about poor orpheus’s mother made her realize that each day with her loved ones could be the last. “don’t worry about it, my love.” she said, to hades’s visible relief.

he looked pointedly at the dust bowl, where hermes could be seen in the window, locking up. “a friend of yours?” he asked.

persephone watched hermes disappear into the back room as the lights in the bar shut off.

“i think so.”