#otp: til death do us part
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I'm so excited to work on my Casper ita bag it's not even funny, I love making ita bags so much. Unfortunately half the characters I want to make one for don't have much merch.
I'm waiting for my decocard set to come in because I'm def basing some of the other stuff around how that fits in the bag and it should be in in a few days đ« once I have that I'm buying a few custom buttons that have screenshots of his face to fill in the space a bit more and then I have some filler pins lined up in an etsy collection lol.
Unfortunately there's not a lot of fan merch and I can't buy the official stuff atm so I just gotta make do. I found a lot of cute axolotl and sunflower pins and buttons and I'm thinking of adding in something related to the lovers tarot card. Super tempted to make a charm of him and sunny together too but we'll see-
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'Til Death Do Us Part *** [Helle featuring Toulouse]
In which Belle and Hades get a glimpse of their future...[December 20, 2023; December 1, 2024; December 13, 2024; December 6, 2025; December 24, 2025; December 25, 2026; December 25, 2032]
alternately titled: what the hell has been going on with helle?
a continuation of An Echo in the Bone...
@trip-downtheriverstyx, @lou-bonfightme
[tw -- none really, sad, a dissolution of a marriage]
DECEMBER 20, 2023
BELLE: âBonsoir,â Lou said when the door opened. He had an armful of shopping bags and an armful of Opal, who was asleep on his shoulder.Â
âCome in.â Belle opened the door more, stepping aside.Â
Lou entered and moved to lay Opal on the couch before arranging the bags beneath the Christmas tree in the corner of the living room. Belle went to lay a blanket over Opal but she opened her eyes.Â
âMaman?â She lifted her head and smiled. There was still chocolate in her teeth. âHi!â She scrambled up into a sitting position.Â
âHello, cherie, did you have a good day?âÂ
Opal nodded enthusiastically, waving her hands about as she spoke. âTonton bought us so many presents! And he bought me a new dress!â Opal put a sticky hand on Belleâs shoulder pushing her out of the way so she could scamper off the couch and over to Lou.Â
âTonton, show Maman my dress.âÂ
âAlright, let me find it.âÂ
Opal turned back to Belle, spinning in a dreamy circle. âItâs so pretty, Maman! And so soft! Tonton says itâs bell-bit.âÂ
âVelvet,â Belle corrected.Â
Opal nodded absentmindedly and then turned back to Lou. âTonton! Hurry up.â She poked him in the side.Â
âOpal!â Belle scolded, raising her eyebrows.Â
The little girl giggled.Â
Lou pulled out the dress and showed it off over his arm to Belle. It looked lovely and expensive, the deep red velvet glimmering in the light of the Christmas tree. Opal went to touch it, but he moved it out of the way.Â
âHey!â she said and lunged for it, but Lou stood up and out of reach.Â
âYour fingers are dirty,â Lou told her. âYou donât want to ruin your dress, do you?âÂ
Opal pouted for a moment, looking like she was going to argue. âFine. I wash my hands!â And she skipped off to the sink in the downstairs bathroom.Â
Lou turned to Belle with a smile. âSheâs very excited for Christmas.âÂ
âMm,â Belle hummed awkwardly, crossing her arms over her chest. âDid you all eat lunch?âÂ
âYes, around noon. And then she wanted some chocolates when we passed the shoppe in the mall, so she had that.â
âWhen?â
âJust before we left.â
âSheâll have ruined her appetite,â Belle assessed with some annoyance.Â
Lou didnât say anything to that, just went back to fiddling with the gifts heâd bought. They swallowed all the ones that were already under the tree.Â
âOkay!â Opal said, reappearing, her hands still dripping and chocolate in the corner of her mouth.Â
âOpal, say goodbye to Tonton.â
âOh.â Opalâs face fell. âBut we weâre going to play dress up! And he is staying for dinner!âÂ
âHe isnât staying for dinner. Maybe next time,â Belle said, running a hand over Opalâs soft hair. She pulled away from Belle and scampered over to Lou, jumping up into his arms and kissing his face.Â
âCanât you stay?â Opal pleaded, squeezing him around the neck.Â
He kissed her head. âNot tonight. Maybe another night, hm? I will see you next week Caillou, oui?âÂ
âOui,â Opal warbled, her lip pouting.Â
Opal slid down Louâs body and ran off again as soon as her feet touched the ground. Belle smiled again at him, though it was the same kind of smile she gave customers at Chapter Three. Or particularly difficult clients.Â
âTell Hades I said hello.âÂ
âI will. Bonne nuit,â Belle said, opening the door for him.Â
âĂ bientĂŽt.â
*** *** ***
âHello,â Belle said when Hades appeared in the kitchen, having arrived home from work. The children were already at the table eating. Except for Opal, who sat pouting without a plate, in her underwear because she had insisted on wearing her new velvet dress until dinnertime.Â
âYour daughter wonât eat. Someone gave her too many sweets right before supper,â Belle said with clipped irritation as she moved about the kitchen, preparing a plate for herself and Hades now that he was home. âAnd she wonât put on any other clothes besides the new dress she was bought.â
âHi, Daddy!â Aidan waved.Â
Bellamy glanced up and smiled too, but Opal continued to pout at the empty spot on the table where her plate should be, silent tears streaming down her face.Â
HADES: For Hades, the day had been busy. But it always was, âround Christmas time. He had thought perhaps heâd have more time since he wasnât running for office, but preparations for next year with the new Board began as soon as the Election ball was over. Had to get the newbies up to speed, eh? So there were meetings and tutorials, not to mention the financial reports he had to get together from last year so everything could be sorted before working on the new budget in January. It was all paperwork, numbers, and tedium. In many ways though, Hades excelled at all these things.
But he was happy to be home. In a few more days, heâd be off. Heâd never appreciated Christmas before, but now it meant no work and time for family. This was the true meaning of holiday cheer, wasnât it?Â
And Lou was going to come around. For the children, of course.
But it gave him hope.
He walked in and smiled an exhausted smile, a smile that transformed into one of surprise at the sight of little, pouting Opal. He chuckled as Belle informed him of exactly what had happened to cause this. He should be more irritated. But heâd just walked in the door. He didnât want to be irritated.Â
Hades kissed Opalâs forehead. âIs that so, my darling? Ah, you must have had a busy dayââ
âMaman wouldnât let Tonton stay!â Opal exclaimed. The tears kept coming. âWeâ we were playing. I wanted to keep playing!âÂ
âOh, donât cry. Tonton will be back.â Hades said as he wiped his daughterâs tears.Â
This helped, just a little. Opal sniffed. âR-really?â
Hades actually didnât know. He glanced at Belle as he took his seat, finally. âAhâ I think so? When is Lou coming back, I donât remember.âÂ
BELLE: Belle rolled her eyes at Hadesâ coddling. It wasnât like she enjoyed seeing Opal upset either, but she was doing it entirely to herself. She hadnât been playing with Toulouse, he was just dropping her off, after a whole day together. And Toulouse had told Opal herself he was going to be back! Belle knew that Opal was just a child still and she didnât understand the intricacies of the delicate nature of theâŠrelationship between Toulouse and her parents, but--
It hurt, just a little, to see how happy Opal was with her tonton. She was never that happy spending the day with her. (Belle, honestly, didnât remember the last time she and Opal had spent the day together and that hurt too.)Â
âI donât know,â Belle said with a huff, setting Hadesâ plate down in front of him. âSometime next week.â She sat down herself and gave Hades a pointed look before turning to help Aidan get the food in front of him from the highchair to his mouth.Â
âWe need to go through what he bought for the children.âÂ
HADES: Next week. This was another good sign. Earlier in the year, Lou had only stopped by to see the children once a month, the visits always short and somewhat stiff. But now the time was shrinking. Lou was getting comfortable here againâ comfortable being a presence and a parental figure in the childrensâ lives. And thatâs what they all wanted, wasnât it? Thatâs what Hades believed they all wanted. They just had to go slow and steady. He knew that Belle was the most cautious, considering how it had all gone last time. But they were learning from their mistakes. There wouldnât be any more this time around. âHmm?â Hades glanced up from his plate. âOh, Iâm sure itâs just dresses for Opal and books and things.âÂ
BELLE: âWell, I still think we need to go through it,â Belle replied coolly. âBecause I donât know what they are and I donât want any of them spoilt by too many gifts.âÂ
Maybe it was simply jealousy speaking. The jealousy of her childrenâespecially Opalâalways so happy to see Lou. To spend time with him. She didnât want to deny Lou that. Just because he didnât love Hades or Belle anymore (or more accuratelyâdidnât know how to love them), didnât mean he should be kept from the children whom he had his own, special bond with.Â
However, she did not want boundaries crossed. It wasnât jealousy. She felt territorial.Â
âHe isnât their parent,â she reminded Hades.Â
HADES: âAlright, fine,â said Hadesâ perhaps more dismissively than he meant, but he was distracted as he reached over to wipe at Bellâs face. Both twins were much messier than Opal had been but for opposite reasons, it seemed. Aidan ate with a mouth wide open and shoved everything into his mouth as quickly as he could. Bell, on the other hand, took apart his food like he was conducting a surgery. Hades was never sure how much actually got into his mouth as opposed to the front of his clothes.Â
Setting down the napkin, Hades grabbed his glass and took a sip of water, and then back to a still pouting Opal. âAt least you and Tonton had fun, eh?âÂ
This appeared to lift her mood. She nodded. âWe saw Sandy Claus!âÂ
âAh. Did you tell Santa what you wanted?âÂ
Opal nodded. âItâs a secret!â
âCâmon now, youâll tell me, wonât you? Me and your mum? We can keep a secret.âÂ
The first smile of the night appeared on her lips as she shook her head. Hades just chuckled.Â
BELLE: Belleâs eyes narrowed at Hadesâ back as he assisted Bellamy. She sighed and turned back to Aidan without saying anything else. At least he had agreed. It was best not to push it. Things with Toulouse were touchy. When he had first started coming around again a few months ago, Belle hadnât been happy about it. She didnât trust him. What was there to say that he wasnât going to break Opal and the twinsâ hearts again? Absolutely nothing. Toulouse acted on whim alone, without any care for anyone else. Even the children.
Hades, of course, only saw the good in his visits. Looking like a kid on Christmas himself any time Toulouse asked to stop by. As if all the hurt had just disappeared. It was infuriating.Â
She tried not to let her own jealousy get in the way, but that wasnât all it was. She was protective of all of their hearts. The children, as well as Hadesâ.Â
Belle didnât say anything to encourage Opalâs secrecy. Santa Claus wasnât even something they raised the children with, so any impression of the myth that she got was from Toulouse, Belle would imagine. Which was also annoying.Â
âDonât encourage that,â she said to Hades instead. âItâs ridiculous.âÂ
HADES: So Belle was cross.
Heâd known since he entered, but heâd assumed it had more to do with Opalâs bad behavior than anything else. Now that Opal wasnât dribbling all her tears though, he realized the mood was more than just a frustrated reaction to their silly, overdramatic daughter.Â
It was probably a reaction to Lou.Â
Hades didnât necessarily want to have that conversation at the dinner table. Actually, the idea was exhausting to think about. Theyâd already went back and forth on it. But Opal loved Tonton, as did the boys. Hades and Belle had both grown up without parental figuresâ the last thing he wanted to do was deprive his children of one. He understood her point of view, but it had been almost a full year now. Lou was proving himself. BelleâÂ
She needed to get over it, in Hadesâs opinion.Â
âShe knows itâs a story,â he said. âAnd Opal loves stories.â More than reality that was for sureâ she got that from Belle.Â
Then he hedged it, âIs something else the matter?âÂ
BELLE: Belle sent Hades a cross look from the other side of the table.
She couldnât help herself. Perhaps she should be--grateful and generous, because Hades had picked up on her mood and actually asked about it instead of ignoring it, which he often did, but--it should be obvious, shouldnât it? And he should feel the same way, in her opinion.Â
Of course he didnât, though, because whenever Toulouse was concerned, he was blinded.Â
âI just donât know how appropriate it is, him buying all these gifts. It is too much and he spoils them.â The children. She didnât want to say names, because Opal had finally started picking at her dinner, unconcerned now with what her parents were saying, even if she wasnât really eating, still full of chocolates from earlier.Â
âI was the bad person, because he had to leave. I had to deal with a poor attitude all afternoon for no reason other than I wasnât him.â Belleâs voice tightened and she looked away to help Aidan with another bite of his dinner.Â
HADES: âItâs a special occasion, love,â said Hades.Â
Yeah, maybe Lou did spoil themâ certainly he always took them out to restaurants or got them candies or ice cream. Hades could admit this. He glanced at Opal as she pushed her food around and thought that maybe Belle did have a good point.Â
But it wasnât that big of a problem. It was a small problem that they could fix easilyâ with one simple conversation.
âBut we can talk about it with him next time, how about that?âÂ
BELLE: Belle wasnât sure what Hades was going to say. She wasnât sure what she wanted him to say. It wasnât fair to keep Lou from the children just because it hurt her feelings when Opal lit up at the sight of him in a way she didnât do for Belle as much anymore. He was good with the children and he would drop anything to come watch them if Belle or Hades ever needed. Which was nice and convenient and there werenât many people they trusted with their children.Â
And despite everything, Belle did trust Lou to take care of them. Just notâŠbe there consistently. She didnât trust him not to break their little hearts one day.Â
It felt like she was the only one with that opinion too. Hades was just like Opal. He tried to hide it, but whatever spell Toulouse cast over the little girl, he cast on Hades as well. Hades was so eager to have him back in their lives that he resisted any criticisms. He made excuses for his friend.Â
So, his acquiescence surprised her somewhat and did wonders for mollifying her mood. She smiled a little at him and nodded. âAlright, we can do that. Thank you.â Â
*** *** ***
DECEMBER 1, 2024
HADES: It was a frigid cold night in Swynlake.Â
Hades had been working lateâ preparing for the Election Ball, which was only days away. This election season had rushed like water all the way through him, and he was grateful for the end of it. Though he knew what it meant. Next year, it would be his turn. He wondered if he was going to be out of practice by then, if heâd have the energy to really give it all he could give. Right now, he wasnât sure. It loomed in the distance. But perhaps that was just the late hour.Â
He was on his way home at least, and he was not walking alone.Â
Lou was with him.
It had been rather accidental. Heâd run into him on the wayâ Lou had left something at the cottage, a particular colour of paint, which heâd brought over when he was painting with Opal the other day. It was possible that this was just an excuse and Lou was simply feeling lonely, wanting the childrensâ company and the warmth of the Acheron cottage. If this was the case, Hades would not point it out. He would also not point out that Lou was over nearly every week now. He would also not point out that it was beginning to feel the way it did before.
Instead, he simply walked side-by-side with his oldest friend in Swynlake and they spoke of simple things, such as the children, and then work, and then Louâs siblings. They walked at an idle pace, but still, the cottage appeared like a candle in the distance, much sooner than he thought.Â
He paused on the cobblestone steps that led down to the door. Hades wasnât sure whyâ it was just a feeling that told him to look up.Â
And when he did, his lips parted. Ohâ he hadnât even realized that the first snow had come so late.Â
A soft laugh left his lips. âOh, look at that, Lou. Itâs snowing.âÂ
TOULOUSE: Generally, Toulouse did not like the cold, but he hardly felt it now as he walked side-by-side with Hades down away from town. In the darkness, he could hardly make out his friendâs face, but it didnât matter, he could hear the emotion in his voice. Content. Warm as their shoulders brushed every now and then.
He shouldnât be here. He shouldnât have come to the cottage tonight. But, he did anyway. Kept getting pulled there as if by some invisible force. And he had stopped trying to resist it. Hades always seemed happy to see him. Belle wasâŠcordial, at least. Neutral. He knew that he just had to work on getting back into her good graces.Â
They ambled along, Lou with his hands shoved in his pockets, shoulders hunched against the cold. Ahead of them, the warm light of the Nook beckoned them forwards.Â
Until Hades stopped. Lou kept going for a step before realizing Hades was no longer next to him. He turned on his heel and looked up.Â
A flicker of a smile graced the corner of his lips as a snowflake fell on his cheek.Â
âSame day as when the twins were born,â he said before he could help himself. He looked back down at Hades, lit not by the warmth of the cottage, but the blue snow and blue night. Without meaning to, really, without much thought, he reached out and brushed some of the snow from Hadesâ jacket.
HADES: By now, Hades knew all the stories about Swynlake and snow. There were plenty of rumours about who got to see the snow first, and what it might mean. Hades was not a man who liked rumours. He didnât hold any superstitions close, nor did he indulge in lucky charms. Instead, he made his own luck. So he knew that this was all just coincidence. He probably hadnât even been the first person to see the snow start to fall. But as Lou reached out to brush his jacket, Hadesâs heart stopped. His eyes flicked back down, meeting Louâs gaze. Maybe there was such a thing as luck. If not luck, then this was magic. Only magic could pause time like this and give Hades one moment, a special moment, all to himself, with Toulouse. He thought of the moon, then. That was the last time theyâd had moments to themselves. It had been many, many moons though, since Lou had shed his human skin, and all his shields, and let Hades touch him. The urge to touch Lou back surged through him, like a powerful winter wind. He reached out too, and brushed Louâs cheek.Â
TOULOUSE: Toulouse was still staring very intently at the shoulder of Hadesâ jacket, where his hand lingered, even after he had brushed the snow off. He didnât notice Hadesâ hand rise to his cheek until he felt his warm fingers. His heart lurched so hard in his chest, that Lou felt off balance, like he was going to stumble forwards. His eyes raised to meet Hadesâ, lips parting slightly.
It would be so easy to let himself fall forward and kiss him. He wanted to. He could see that same want in Hadesâ eyes too. At least, he thought he did. Maybe it was just a trick of the blue around them, the darkness and the bright falling snow. The orange light from the cottage was close enough that it touched Louâs heels, but his entire vision was blue.
They stood like that for a very long time. Hadesâ warm hand on his cheek, Louâs on his shoulder, like two statues in a garden. At least, it felt that way. Snow had a way of suspending everything, like stars in the sky. He hardly dared breathe, not wanting to break the spell. It was what he had wanted this whole time. Acknowledgement. Affection. He shouldnât have sought it here, though, he knew that. Hades and Lou didnât work out. Theyâd already tried.Â
And Hades had a wife.Â
Lou looked down and away, his hand falling from Hadesâ shoulder. Again, his heart lurched. This time, he felt like he was going to fall sideways into the snow. His hand clenched into a fist. His breath puffed in a large white cloud into the cold.Â
He lifted his head and it felt as if he was breaking from plaster that had dried around him. He stood tall again, shoulders back, chin up. âWe should get inside so I can get home before the roads become impassable.âÂ
HADES: In reality, they probably stood like that for five, maybe six seconds. It wasnât very long at all, but it was long enough to be strange and tense and unusual and full of two years of longing. This was what Hades had wanted from Louâ acknowledgement. Affection.Â
For two years, heâd assumed that Lou had tossed all of that away, like theyâd never been best friends, let alone lovers. That was the most painful part of losing him. It wasnât even the physical closeness that Hades missed, nor the surety that came from coming downstairs to find Lou already up, sitting there at the breakfast table, flipping through the paper. He did miss those things, and thought of them every time the moon was full.Â
But it was the friendship most of all. Theyâd been friends first. That friendship had been under everything, built on the parts of themselves that they shared, that they could only understand about each other. Hades loved Belle, of course. Belle understood things about him that only she ever could. But the same was true for Lou, and those things had beenâ different.
Hades just wanted that back. And for these five or six seconds, he believed he could have it. With just a single touch of their lipsâ
But Lou didnât lean forward and neither did Hades. The seconds drained through the hourglass and was gone. Louâs hand slipped away, and Hadesâ hand mimicked his.Â
âErâ right, yes. Dinner should be on the tableâ you can stay if you like,â Hades offered, as he stepped past Lou and went toward the front door.Â
*** *** ***
DECEMBER 13, 2024
BELLE: It was late when Belle finally got home. She was tired and ready to crawl into bed, her body aching from sitting in a desk chair all day. Opening the door, she entered the house, quiet as a mouse, not wishing to disturb anyone. She stopped in the alcove to lean over and take off her shoes, rubbing for a moment at the soles of her feet.Â
It wasnât until she looked up that she noticed Hades sitting on the couch. She startled slightly, not expecting him there. Not because she felt guilty. It was simply a surprise.Â
âOh, hello,â she said to him, offering a sort of wary-weary smile.Â
Are the ghosts keeping you up? Are the children? This was the sort of thing she mightâve asked him once upon a time. Last year butâŠnow, she didnât want to talk. Not really. She just wanted to go to sleep.Â
âI was just heading to bed.âÂ
HADES: Tonight had been the Christmas Tree Lighting.
Heâd been out for hoursâ it was always a busy day for the office, since everything had to be put into place. Hades didnât mind, though. How could he mind? This was a lovely day, one of the few Swynlake traditions that heâd grown fond of rather against his will. But how could he not feel that way when, through Opal and the twinsâ eyes, the lightning was miraculous? That was what heâd worked for today. Heâd worked for the look in his childrensâ eyes when the tree came to life, like a smile.Â
And everything had gone exactly how it should. The centre of town bustled with tourists and townsfolk alike. There was plenty of food and good drink. The sky was clear, the moon was out, and it was the perfect temperatureâ cold, but not freezing. When his children arrived, heâd knelt down and spread his arms wide and Opal ran straight into his embrace. The twins came toddling after with happy squeals.Â
Then Opal said, âWhereâs Maman?âÂ
And that was where the illusion shattered.Â
Belle was, of course, supposed to come with the children. But it was Pepa who brought them. She smiled sympathetically at Hades, while he dug his hand into his pocket and tried to call her, but she didnât pick up. Jesus, why not? Because she was busy, said Pepa. She hoped to make it. She was planning to.Â
But Belle never appeared beneath the twinkling lights. The tree lit up, his children clappedâ but Hades saw Bellamy searching the crowd still for his mother. It made him furious, he hadnât stayed for long after that.
Now, the children were bed and Belle still wasnât home. He thought of a thousand dramatic things he could do. He was the most powerful man in Swynlake, after all. If he really wanted to, he could appear in her office from the shadows. He could drag her home. He knew better than to abuse that power, but the thoughts made nice company for his anger.Â
By the time Belle arrived, the anger had broken down into ember and ash. Still burning, but not as brightâ and still hot to the touch.Â
âWhere were you tonight?â Hades said to her.Â
BELLE: âI was working. I texted you,â Belle said, immediately defensive, immediately dismissive. It was not so much in her voice as it was in her body language as she pulled her shoulders forward, as she avoided looking Hades in the eye.Â
She knew missing the Christmas Tree Lighting was a big deal. In the last ten years of knowing Hades, they had never missed it once. They always went together. No matter what. No matter if Belle was sick as death when sheâd been pregnant with Opal. No matter that she had just had surgery with the twins. No matter that Persephone had just died and they had needed something, some little spark of hope.Â
Maybe Belle was sick of sparks of hope. Flickers of moments that were how they had been before. It had been a long time since she had felt like Hades looked at her and really saw her. They worked like clockwork--the big hand and the little hand, only meeting at intervals when the hands aligned. Belle appreciated it, because it was dependable. Predictable. Comfortable. But--she didnât want to talk to him. They didnât talk anymore. Not really.Â
Would you like me to sit with you? Would you like to talk? The offer lingered in the back of her mind. The ghost of times past.Â
âI am sorry,â she apologized stiffly. The words were cloying on her tongue. âIt was unavoidable.âÂ
HADES: I was working. I texted you.Â
Neither of these things were an apology.
Perhaps that was all Hades really wanted. Heâd like for Belle to have entered their home frustrated and upset, with her work, with herself. If sheâd regretted it, or at least expressed anger at the fact her responsibilities kept her away, Hades believed he would have forgiven her. He knew Belleâs job was important. He loved that she loved her work. But she was also supposed to love her family.
Right now, she spoke to him like she was still at work, reporting an unpleasant update to a supervisor. It was unavoidable. Â
It meant that Hades did not believe her.Â
He hadnât yet moved from the couch, which also created the dynamic that here Hades was in his office, and Belle had just walked into his space. But Hades didnât want to stand nor invite her to join him. And so he sat like this as he grimaced.Â
âYou couldnât even spare an hour? The children were confused. This was important to them, Belle. And you know how important it is to meâ to my campaign, next year.âÂ
BELLE: At first, Belle felt a tiny stab in her heart like it had been pierced by an icicle. Though, it quickly melted as Hades followed up. His campaign. He wasnât upset at her for missing it because he cared if she was there or not. He just cared about how it looked.Â
âNo one is not going to vote for you because I missed one event. I have missed events before,â she dismissed flippantly.Â
âI am sorry the children were upset but I donât know what youâd like me to do. My work is important.âÂ
HADES: âI never said it wasnât important. But so are other things, Belle,â Hades shot back, the irritation plain in his voice.Â
These days, it was always about her work. She kept working longer and longer hours. She missed more dinners. Did she realize that? She might not, because Belle was often so focused on her own projects that she couldnât look up and see the bigger picture. Granted, perhaps Hades had not complained until now but should he have to?Â
âThings like my campaign, and things like our children and our family. Youâve never missed the lighting before. I donât understand how you couldnât come out for a half an hour, or an hour. Thereâs no excuse,â he said swiftly.Â
BELLE: âThere is an excuse, actually,â Belle replied at once, her voice filling with venom.Â
She immediately felt defensive. Of course her family was important to her. It was the most important thing to her, but by working she was providing for them. She made more money than the bookstore had ever made. And while she wasnât someone who valued money, she did where her children were concerned. It felt good to be able to do that. At least, when she wasnât made to feel guilty about it.Â
Not to mention that it wasnât like she was just sitting behind a desk all day. Her work was creating a better, more fair world for Magicks. For her children, who were marginalized Magicks and who could face discrimination and outright violence in the world, just because of who they were.Â
âI have been working on a project to make sure that homeless Magicks have a legally safe place to beâat the very least for Christmas, if not permanently. And the owners of the building weâd secured were trying to back out of their contract. So that was what I was dealing with and no I could not spare half an hour. I will be at the next one. The children wonât even remember my absence by next year.â
HADES: âI didnât ask for a lecture,â Hades snapped. âI know your work is important. I never said it wasnât. Youâre not listening to me.âÂ
And that wasnât like her. Belle was a good listenerâ better than Hades had ever been. If she wasnât listening, it was because she did not want to listen. Because she did not want to see his perspective, because she knew that he was in part, right. That she owed him at the very least an apology.
What was done was done. But she could at least admit that.
BELLE: âI heard you!â Belleâs voice climbed now to a proper shout. She rarely actually raised her voice and certainly not first. As soon as she did it, she looked startled. Even at herself. But she didnât let it stop her. She forged ahead.Â
âYou said other things were important. Like your campaign. Like your work. Like our family. Missing one event doesnât mean Iâm not prioritizing them! Besides, Iâm not the only one not prioritizing our family.âÂ
Prioritizing us. That was what she wanted to say, but she only just stopped herself. Mostly because it was simply too embarrassing.Â
HADES: Now what the hell was she on about now?Â
Everything Hades did prioritized their family. Belleâs work was important; it made the world a brighter, fairer place. But Hadesâs work made this town a better place for their children. Heâd never argue who made a bigger impact because that was all apples and oranges, but his job was more directly connected to the benefit of the Acherons. And Belle knew that.Â
âI have no idea what youâre talking about!â he argued swiftly, and scoffed at her, like she was being ridiculous (she was.) âStop trying to twist this conversation. Weâre not talking about me, weâre talking about you.âÂ
BELLE: âThatâs a lie and you know it!â Belle said, unable to contain herself.Â
She couldnât decide if Hades was trying to hide it from her, or if he really was that dense. And she couldnât decide which option hurt worse. The lying or that he was ruining them on complete and utter foolish accident.Â
âIt is about you too. I saw you with Toulouse the other night. In the snow,â she told him, eyes blazing with hurt. âI see you with him all the time. If heâs in the room, it is like I donât exist.âÂ
For a whole year, Belle had been holding that hurt. Trying to make room for it. They rarely talked about Toulouse, except to navigate his relationship with the children. They were both in agreement that he should be in the childrenâs lives if that was what he wanted. But Belle had made it clear a year ago, when Toulouse had started coming around more, that she didnât trust him. That she didnât like it. He had never apologized. Never explained himself. And she did not want any sort of relationship with him outside of cordiality. Hades had agreed and that had been that.
But over the past year, she had watched as Hadesâ self-control had eroded. He wanted Toulouse around for more and more things. Birthdays. Picnics. Town events. Always with an excuse (they needed more hands, it was a party and lots of people would be there, it would be nice to have the helpâŠ). And every time, she had watched the two of them--getting closer and closer, like birds circling each other in the sky. Belle had watched it all and stayed silent, because it made Hades happy, because it made the children happy, in ways that she couldnât--but now, she felt as if she had lost him without even realizing it.Â
HADES: What?Â
Hades froze. The mention of Toulouse was like a stone thrown through the window. It made a terrible crash, stunning Hades for a few seconds that, inevitably, proved he was guilty of something.
But he wasnât, was he? Noâ no, he wasnât.
No, he hadnât told Belle about Toulouse and the snow, because there had been nothing to tell. Theyâd walked to the cottage together; theyâd done that before. Lou brushed some snow off of Hades, and Hades did the same. There had been no kiss, even if Hades had thought about it, or missed it, or wanted it. He hadnât betrayed his promise to Belle to keep things with Lou platonic.
As the shock wore off, in fact, Hades no longer felt like the guilty party at all, but the injured one. Belle had been spying on him? Belle had seen such a thing and not said anything, until now when she could use it against him?Â
Hadesâs shock faded, and then he scoffed. Finally, he stood from the couch.
âSo thatâs what this is about? Toulouse? My god, Belleââ he scoffed a second time. âThat was nothing. I know youâve got a jealous streak but if you saw us then, then you know that nothing happened. We were talking, thatâs all. Weâre old friends. Of course we look comfortable with each other.âÂ
BELLE: Really, Belle hadnât meant to say anything, because part of her had tried to tell herself the same thing that Hades was lying about now. That he hadnât done anything. Technically. There had been no kiss. Just a touch, which could be something that was passed between friends. There were plenty of times Merida had laid her head in Belleâs lap the way Hades sometimes did. Or moments when Belle felt the urge to kiss Berâs forehead, very tender and gentle, as if he was a lamb.Â
It still felt different. She couldnât shake it. And she couldnât stand to look at Hades and think about how, even though she had been right here, the whole time, she wasnât enough. Hades wanted someone else too. Someone who had hurt him far deeper than Belle ever had. Who had broken their hearts. Their childrenâs hearts. And never apologized for it or took responsibility. No matter all of those things, Hades still wanted him. She knew he did, because she knew Hades. No matter what he was saying now.
âItâs not nothing and you know it!â she snapped with more ire than she thought capable.Â
There was a possibility that Hades didnât know it. That he didnât think he was lying. But Belle thought if that were the case, Hades was more stupid than she had ever thought him. Maybe he was just denying it. The way Belle had tried until she had seen them in the snow.Â
Her eyes filled with furious, hurt tears. She threw her hands up in the air and shook her head.
âNo. You know what? If you donât want to admit it. If you refuse to admit it. Fine. I am so sick of feeling this way. I donât have the energy to do this with you. But I am not the only one hurting this family, Hades. You cannot always blame everything that goes wrong on me.âÂ
HADES:Â There was nothing to admit.Â
Hades did believe this. There was nothing to admitâ yet. Was his biggest crime that he hoped Louâs affection meant that things could change in the future? Perhaps, considering Belle had been very clear about her distrust of him and setting boundaries. But that conversation had been a year ago, and things were changing. It was a conversation they should revisit, now, with new information. People made mistakes, after all. He made mistakes. Belle had made mistakes. Lou should be allowed to make mistakes, and then make up for them. In Hadesâs mind, thatâs what Lou had been doing all yearâ and last year too.Â
Right now it was clear Belle was not in a place to talk about it. It was late; she was hurt, and that hurt was, in part, probably not even because of Hades. He imagined that the long hours she worked were clouding her feelings, just a little. When she rested, when she was in a better mood, when she had more timeâ they could have a more productive conversation about all of it.
(But would there be such a time? Why were those slices of time, for just himself and Belle, happening so infrequently now?)
Anyway.
Anywayâ Hades didnât want to fight. It was close to Christmas. And so he took a breath and sighed and held up his hands, in surrender, before he took a step toward her.Â
âIâm not blaming you for everything. Lookâ Iâm sorry. I was too dismissive just now,â he said. âIâm sorry. But I swear, it really was nothing. You are still my wife, and tonight, I missed you. Thatâs why Iâm upset.âÂ
BELLE: Belle didnât want to fight, but she also wasnât sure what to do with Hadesâ apology. It seemed genuine. Of course it seemed genuine, because Hades was a genuine sort of person. Except for the fact that he often didnât understand himself. It was always Belleâs responsibility to point it out to him. He had matured emotionally in the last decade, but that hadnât quite changed.Â
She didnât want to fight but nothing had been resolved either. All she had wanted was to hear she was missedâŠbut now that she got what she wanted, she realized it didnât mean anything. It didnât matter.Â
Maybe, in the morning it would be better. She would not be as tired. He would not be as angry. They could talk properly, maybe after breakfast, during the childrenâs nap. It was the weekend. They would have time. Tomorrow.Â
âI am sorry too,â she said, taking a step towards him and closing the gap. She popped up on her toes, her hand resting on his bicep. Her lips pressed against his cheek. âIâm exhausted, Iâm going to bed. Good night.â
*** *** ***
DECEMBER 6, 2025
HADES: Hades had lost.Â
The election had come and gone and just like thatâ he had lost. When the results were announced, he waited for his fire to burnâ for the anger to come, the indignation, the disappointment. He had run a good campaign. He had been a good mayor. It was something that Hades deserved.Â
But that wasnât how Hades felt.Â
Instead, the results came, and in the back of Hadesâs mind, he thought of course. He was an intelligent personâ a chess player. He had seen this coming, even if he might never say it out loud. He had been a good mayor. He had decent support. But his campaign hadnât been good. His message had been too splitâ as Hades tried to play every angle and thus ended up playing none.Â
But there was no sitting and wallowing. On the day of the election ball, Hades got dressed in a fine, midnight blue suit and he showed up to shake his competitorâs hand and lose graciously, like a good once-upon-a-time mayor should.Â
He didnât feel sad, really, until he was here. It was the kind of sadness heâd felt after he finished a good book and there was no way to read it again. Here he was, at the end of his own book. No longer mayor or board member. Just Hades, for the first time, in years.Â
At least Belle had come with himâ for once, putting her work aside. He got her champagne now. âHere you are,â he said. âYou look lovely tonight.âÂ
BELLE: Hades had lost.Â
Belle wasnât prepared for it. She had simply not thought of the possibility. It had seemed too far-fetched. Too villainous. Too horrible. And yet: here it was.Â
Now that it was here, she couldnât help but wonder how much of it was her fault. If she hadnât tried hard enough. Been more present. All of Hadesâ criticisms over the course of his campaign (because there had been plenty) ringing in her ears. It was silly to think that someone would not vote for Hades just because Belle had missed an event here or there over the years. Or they didnât like that she was a lawyer. That it seemed she didnât spend enough time with her children. That she was a bad mother.Â
It didnât matter now, because Hades had lost. Although Belle was shell-shocked, she knew that it was now her responsibility to comfort Hades. To help him lose gratefully. And to help him start planning for this new future of theirs.
So, she had donned her gay apparel--a lovely, shimmering blue gown in the same deep midnight shade and took the champagne glass with a practiced, lovely smile.
âThank you,â Belle told him, taking the glass with one hand and reaching out for his arm with the other, placing her hand on his elbow. âThe new mayor certainly isnât as handsome. Or well-dressed.â Not normally a comment she would make, but she knew, at the very least, it would fluff her husbandâs ego.Â
HADES: Hades didnât need ego-fluffing, he didnât. He didnât care about how young or old the new mayor was. He certainly didnât want to win any elections because he was good-looking (though heâd take those votesâ he always had). And so Belleâs comments didnât reach him, not really. They simply melted like the smallest of snowflakes.Â
But he could appreciate why she said them, at least. She was trying to be supportive.Â
So he smiled, snorting just a little. âAh, I suppose Iâll always have my good looks.â He smiled. It didnât reach his eyes.
âBut itâs fine. She was a good opponent,â allowed Hades, which was true. âI donât think Swynlake is in worse hands, necessarily, even if I think I could do better.âÂ
Did he, though? Did he really?Â
BELLE: âYou could,â Belle said at once.Â
She didnât say it loudly. Didnât want to be overheard. Didnât want to accused of being a sore loser, even if that was very much how she felt. It was ridiculous in her opinion that Hades hadnât won, heâd done plenty of good and important work since becoming mayor. And the new one was a Mundus, again! As if Swynlake hadnât learned anything. It was insulting.
âPeople simply donât know what is good for them. Theyâre like the children.â That was harsh, but if Hadesâ couldnât be angry about it, Belle would be for him. Even if that probably wasnât what he wanted or needed right now.
Not that she ever knew what that was. Never had. And in the last few years, it had only gotten worse. Not better. Even now, she felt as if they were on different pages. Still, she sighed a little.
âSorry. I just think itâs bullshit.âÂ
HADES: Hades glanced at her and he smiled again. It still didnât reach his eyes, but that was because it was the sad kind of smile. But it was also grateful and fond. It felt too intimate for this large room with all the people he knew were looking at him, wondering if he was going to make a scene or something. He had a reputation after all. Wasnât the nicest. His antics from his first few years in Swynlake still followed him around, usually for worse. Why wouldnât a large group of people expect Hades to act out? They might even expect that of Belle.Â
But Belle had more freedom to do it. Even if Hades still wasnât sure how he feltâ perhaps he was just in denial about the whole thing, a part of his brain clicking off to protect his pride â he was glad that she was here, saying the things he couldnât.Â
âWellâ yeah. It is.â The smile grew, just a smidge. âBut I suppose important things never come easy. My winning streak was too long. Maybe it meant I got complacent. Losing can be an opportunity too.âÂ
BELLE: âOh? Is that so?â Belle asked, raising her eyebrows, slightly playfully.Â
She had noticed the slight uptick in his attitude and she wanted to follow the thread of it. Hoping they could at least coast on facetiousness until this dumb ball was over and then they could go home, where they'd say good night to their children and maybe, hopefully, he would remember that at the end of the day, there was still someone who looked to him for answers.Â
"I wouldn't know, considering I always win." She leaned into him slightly, nudging him with her arm.
HADES: This was how generals approached war.Â
It was both a nice thought and a tiring thought. Hades didnât really want to go to war, after all. His early life had been a war, and now he wanted his adulthood to be something better. But sometimes war was necessary. If he thought about a new campaign that way, one that was far off, he might be able to generate some excitement for it, after feeling so burned out over the fall.Â
Mostly, he knew that Belle would like the reference. And as she nudged him, he felt that old desire to answer her quiet challenge. Heâd not felt that for a while.Â
âThe supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting,â quoted Hades. âSun Tzu. Thatâs what the next four years will be. Or maybe the next few months. Thereâs always the Board elections in the fall.âÂ
BELLE: Board elections in the fall. Now, that was more like it. Belle thought getting back on the Board was the perfect strategy. Sure, it was a hit to pride and definitely a step down, but Hades would be able to prove that he was necessary to this town. That he was a good leader. And that he cared about the town and wanted to see it thrive.
It also made her worry less, to see some of that spark come back. She didnât expect him to immediately be bouncing back--but the promise of it there meant that they could get through the loss and come out of it on the other side. Which was a good thing, considering that things had already been difficult. They were both busy. The children took up most of their time and they simply didnât have any left over. It wasnât anyoneâs fault. It simply was. Belle had gotten used to it. She didnât want this rocking their status quo.
Maybe that was selfish, but it was true.
âThatâs true.â Belle smiled at Hades, more real and more affectionate. âWe can restrategize and come back stronger,â she plotted, her brain already starting to whir with the possibilities. You could almost hear it ticking along like a clock.Â
HADES: Yes, thatâs what they would do.
And since it was far awayâ it felt doable. This whole year, Hades had beenâŠuninspired. He hesitated to use the word burned out because that felt dramatic, like something that happened to more unstable and emotional people. That wasnât him. There had just been quite a lot on his plate, and he hadnât had enough time to focus on the campaign. But in the new year, heâd tackle the next challenge. Yes, the new year.Â
For now, heâd let himself relax and enjoy himself. How satisfying would that be, eh, to see the looks on his enemiesâ faces when they realized they hadnât hurt him at all?
âExactly, my love,â said Hades. He smiled smoothly and then he leaned down to gently kiss Belleâs temple. It was the closest heâd been to his wife in days and a flicker of that warm, familiar flame reignited in his chest, something he hadnât felt for a very long time.
Thereâd be more time to nurture that too â in the new year.Â
*** *** ***
DECEMBER 24, 2025
BELLE: Hades was sulking like a ghost haunting the attic. Heâd barely been present the last few weeks since the Election Ball was over. It was starting to get infuriating to Belle. She didnât like a Hades who wallowed. Who refused to pick himself up and get on with the thing. What she really didnât like was having a partner who seemed to have simply given up because of one setback. She didnât like having a partner who didnât have any sort of ambition. Who went to the bookshoppe and came home. Who shrugged when she asked him how work was.
Honestly, she couldnât remember the last time theyâd had a conversation. Theyâd talked. No one was giving anyone the cold shoulder, but when was the last time theyâd sat down and talked--just to talk? The conversation meandering from one topic to another without any plan or sign of ending.
They hadnât even started a new chess game when the old one had finished a fortnight ago. Belle wanted to point out this broke their nearly ten year streak butâŠshe simply didnât because what would be the point?Â
But--tonight, the children were asking for their father. They wanted to see him. So, Belle climbed the stairs. She went up and up and up, to the fourth floor. The little library. A singular, circular room. She knew she would find him here. That he would not be in their office because their office was tooâŠhomey. Too together. It was the place that they once had both escaped to avoid the whole world together.Â
Now, Hades was just avoiding her.Â
She found him with a book in one of the plush armchairs. He had heard her coming. Or the ghosts had warned him. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she stood in the doorway.
âThe children are asking for you.âÂ
HADES: If asked, Hades would not say he was wallowing. He was recuperating. He was taking time. He was figuring things out. He wasâ taking a break.
Hades hadnât had a break his entire life, you know. Heâd never really wanted one, granted. But now for the first time in his life, he had no clue what heâd be doing the next year. 2026 was yawning, large and strange in front of him. It was intimidating but also rather nice and he sank into the unknowable, embracing it, letting himself be, for once, directionless.Â
Hades was never good at emotions, so naturally he wouldnât realize this was a symptom of depression.Â
No. He was fine. Or he would be fine. For now, he enjoyed himself by escaping into books or playing his games. He had one open when Belle came in. He hadnât even heard her knock (actually, he was certain she hadnât) and so when she appeared, he couldnât help but feel slightly irritated, as if sheâd stepped in a puddle and got mud on his shoes.Â
He glanced up at her and down again at the book. âAh, just a moment. Iâve nearly finished with this chapter.âÂ
BELLE: âDid you not hear me?â Belle asked, voice sharp. âI said your children are asking for you. What am I supposed to tell them? That youâd rather read a book than spend time with them? Itâs Christmas Eve, Hades.âÂ
She moved further into the room, her brow furrowed. Belle wasnât even sure if she was even angry or just confused. It had been a long time since Hades had acted like this and never for such aâŠsilly reason. Not that losing was a bad reason to be a bit upset, but Hades was not a loser. Where was his drive? His passion? His anger.Â
The children deserved better. She deserved better. And he deserved better.Â
HADES: His irritation gathered steam. He hated being interrupted. He hated it when he had been the mayor, and never hesitated to snap if someone poked into his office when they were not welcome.Â
He hated it even more when it was his wife, encroaching on his privacy.Â
He still didnât put the book down, nor look up at Belle. In fact he did this on purpose. He wanted her to feel ignored, because she was irritating him, like a pesky fly that wouldnât stop buzzing in his ear. âI said, after I finish this chapter. It wonât be but a few minutes more.âÂ
BELLE: Belle wanted to argue.
No, that wasnât quite true.
Belle knew that she was supposed to argue. That her role here was to snap back. To put Hades in his place. To remind him of his duty to his family. This was what they did. Held each other accountable.Â
They were also supposed to lean on each other, but Hades hadnât done that at all. Not now. Not after he lost. Not during his campaign. He didnât discuss his worries about losing and he didnât discuss how it had felt to lose. There was a wall there between them now and Belle hadnât noticed it being built.Â
She was too tired to climb it, though. For what reward? Hades would simply resent her for making him confront his feelings about the matter. It was exhausting. She didnât have the patience.
âFine,â Belle told him. The word was sour in her mouth. She spat it out like it was spoilt milk. âYou can explain to them what you were doing up here.âÂ
She turned on her heel and left. When she creaked down to the bottom of the stairs, the children looked up with smiles that were replaced with creased brows when Hades did not appear behind her. Belleâs anger flared all over again, but she smiled anyway.
âWhereâs Daddy?â Opal asked, skipping up to her. She was so tall now, nearly at Belleâs waist at six years old.Â
âHeâs coming.âÂ
âWhatâs he doing?âÂ
âReading.âÂ
Opalâs face crumpled slightly. âOh.âÂ
âMaman,â Aidan shouted to get her attention. Heâd had a bad habit of doing that. It was probably her fault. Though, considering Hadesâ recent behavior, maybe they could share the blame.
âOui, chere?âÂ
âPlay.âÂ
âAlright, we can play for a bit until Daddy comes down and then we can all unwrap a gift before bed, hm?âÂ
âOkay!â Opal, Aidan, and Bellamy all chorused.Â
HADES: Hades finished his chapter. And as he promised, he went to play with the children. They each opened a gift, but quickly tired after, and Hades carried one twin, while Belle carried the other up into their bedroom. The twins were much better at going straight to sleep than Opal was, who demanded, of course, several stories before bed.
Through it all, Hades and Belle did not talk about their fight. Hades had already forgotten it. It didnât seem important to him. In fact, it felt as ordinary as one of Opalâs favourite stories, the ones he had to read over and over. Routine. Part of life. He figured there would be another argument tomorrow, and the day after that.Â
With the children asleep, Belle and Hades got ready for bed in silence. Perhaps Belle was still mad; she held onto her anger like a petulant child who refused to give up her toys. But sheâd wake up tomorrow and the anger would vanish.Â
They exchanged a few words about their plans for tomorrow. These conversations were perfunctory. The timing of things, what Hades would make for breakfast.Â
They pulled up the covers, and Hades turned off the light.Â
Then, Hades died.Â
His eyes snapped open at the shock that ran through his body, a heart clutched by fate and yanked out of his chest. It felt like a single second had passed from the moment of Hades sleeping, but it was in reality longer. He gasped, spasming in bed, shouting Belleâs name. But she didnât stir, because she couldnât hear him. The comfortable darkness of nighttime had already been changed for the eerie otherworldliness ofâÂ
âWhat the fuck?â Hades gasped again into green, foggy Limbo. Arthur sighed by the door. Hades sat and saw the Fates standing at his bed. âWhat the fuck?â he repeated again.
It was Clotho, the Spinner, who spoke. âYou have broken your vows, and thus, the spell.â she said and tutted at him.Â
âWhat?â
Atropos snipped her scissors. âBelle no longer loves you, and you no longer love Belle.âÂ
âThatâs not true,â said Hades. âThatâs a fucking bloody lieââÂ
âLove often lies, but fate does not. Youâve clipped the thread and untangled the knot,â went on Lachesis. âYouâve made your bed. And so the curtain fell. Death beckons you back intoââÂ
âHell,â said Hades.Â
He sat there, motionless, as Limboâs currents moved around him, murky and strange. Everything looked different here, even as he stared at his own chair, his own dresser, his own watch on the bedside table. His home was already far, far away. And although he wanted to argueâ and arguing was supposed to be Hadesâ great strengthâ he found there was nothing to say.Â
He glanced toward Belle. She slept perfectly still. She looked younger in her sleep, more beautiful, more like the girl he had first met. Something stirred in him and he reached to touch her. His hand passed through.Â
That something, he knew, wasnât love exactly. It was the echo of it. What year had it died? How long had the ghost of it lived inside him? Why hadnât he noticed before now?Â
âItâs time to go, my lord,â said Atropos and she snipped her scissors two more times. Snip snip.Â
âLet meâ Iâll go,â Hades said in defeat. âBut I canât go without saying anything.â
âHurry up, Iâm getting bored.âÂ
And in a blink, Hades was downstairs, at their Christmas tree. Even in Limbo, it shined with its hundreds of lights, piercing the green-gray of this otherworld. There were the presents his children would find in the morning, lined up tidily under the tree. He would not get to see them open it this year. But next year. Heâd come back next year. And heâd come back the year after thatâ heâd come back as many times as he could until he found a way to come back, and stay, and never leave again.Â
In the meantime, Hades wrote a note. It only contained a few words, but Belle would understand it. Perhaps they were not in love anymoreâ but she still knew him. He still had faith in her.Â
He signed it Hades and left it there on the tree like a brand new ornament, where it was until the next morning, when Opal came down the stairs, pointed at it, and exclaimed, âMaman! Whatâs that?âÂ
*** *** ***
DECEMBER 25, 2026
BELLE: Over the last year, Belle was not sure if she missed Hades or if she missed that he used to help her with the children.Â
Belle was not made to be a single mother. She felt crushed under the weight of it. She could not stay late at work, because she needed to pick up the children. She was often late to work, because of the children. She had no life outside of them. Hardly saw her friends, unless she was asking them to babysit for her.Â
Even with Toulouseâs help, which she had selfishly, necessarily, accepted, it was not the same. Lou did not live with them. He could not wake up with the children when they had bad dreams. He had a life of his own. She was grateful for his help, yet sometimes, she still felt herself missing Hades.
At first, she had felt like she was missing a limb. Both literally and figuratively. She didnât have as many hands to handle the children, all of the chores seemed to double. She didnât have enough hands to hold all of the childrenâs when crossing the street. And there were also moments when something happened, when Belle opened her mouth to say something to Hades and she remembered he was not there. It was habit. A habit that fadedâŠ
It had taken nearly ten years to build that habit, but it had taken less than a year for it dissolve into nothingness. Just like their marriage had. Without her even noticing.
The stages of grief had come and gone. She had not fought as hard as she probably should have, but she was tired. Besides, sheâd done this song and dance with the Fates before. No one could help her. Not Howl. Not Snow, the innkeeper turned necromancer that sheâd been led to eventually. There was nothing to do.
Belle was guilty, of course. And she was sad, of course. And she was bitter and furious. She hated that she was in this position now, alone. These children sheâd had for Hades--because he loved them so much, now they would never know him and there were times when it all felt completely stupid and pointless. All those years. All the horrors theyâd faced had only ever made sense in the context of the promise theyâd made each other to never leave.Â
It had been a year of horrific grief and painful growth. None of it had been pretty. Belle felt disfigured. She felt ugly in a way sheâd never felt before. And it had nothing to do with the fact she hadnât washed her hair in three days or the bags beneath her eyes, or--even though she hadnât seen her husband (technically) in an entire year--she hadnât even managed to get dressed this Christmas morning, still in her pajamas as she gathered the children around the tree.
It was because of her anger. Because of her overwhelming anxiety as she stared at the door while the children wiggled on their hands, whining about not being able to open their presents.Â
âNot yet,â Belle told them, more sharply than she should, that ugliness rising like a viper.Â
There was a knock on the door.Â
âWhoâs that?â Aidan asked, his head turning towards the door.
âTonton!â Opal beamed.
âTonton has a key,â Bellamy pointed out.Â
Opal stuck her tongue out.Â
Belle got up stiffly from the couch and forced cheeriness into her voice. âI donât know--letâs open it and see, hm?âÂ
On the other side of the door was Hades--looking exactly the same as the last time she had seen him. Because he was. Frozen in time, while she had gotten on with her life.Â
And Belle--
She did want to hug him. The feeling rose up like someone waking from a long sleep and stretching inside of her.
âDADDY!â Opal pushed Belle out of the way and slammed into Hades, wrapping her skinny arms around his waist. The boys just behind her, piling on top of their sister.Â
HADES: Time in the underworld moved differently, which was to say, it barely moved at all. It was easy to forget time completely. If Hades let himself, he could spend a year like it was a day, or spend a day like it was a year. If Hades let himself, he might have never realized it was Christmas.
But this year, Hades was diligent. He did not intend to stay down here forever. He would find a new path, make a new deal, link together a new chain to drag himself out of this place. And to be honestâ Hades thrilled at the challenge, which was a far cry from the doldrums of his days as a mayor or a board member. The fire in his belly lit and grew.Â
A year passed in a blink of an eye, Hades consumed with his task. He hadnât found the answerâ yet. But for one day, heâd have a reprieve from reading the histories of histories and from the riddles of the Fates. It was Christmas. And on Christmas, Hades was alive again.Â
At dawn, he appeared in the darkwood. His footsteps were the only ones that crunched their way to town, as the critters of the forest remained curled up in their dens. He emerged into the farmlands with the sun cresting over the horizon, the pink beginning to fade for clear, stark blue. It was cold, but Hades was not cold. He picked up the pace when he saw the smoke rising from the chimneys of the farm houses.Â
And then he was at the door, relishing the heavy beat of his own heart and the weight of his body. God, he missed this. There was nothing like being alive. He understood demons more nowâ in many ways, heâd become one.
But the door opened, and Hades was a demon no more. He was simply a father.
âMy darling!â Hadesâs laugh echoed as he scooped Opal into his arms and twirled her around. Opal squealed and squeezed him tight. âLook at you! Bloody hell, youâre tall now, arenât you? Where are your brothers?âÂ
âDaddy!â Aidan came howling next, scampering toward the door. Bellamy trailed after, his big eyes wide as he looked up at Hades.
Hades knelt down, opened his arms wide. He hugged all three of his children and kissed their little sweet-smelling heads, then their cheeks. He felt as triumphant as a soldier returning from warâ even if he knew that wasnât the case. Heâd have to go back.Â
Finally, he managed to wrestle himself from Opal, Aidan, and Bellamyâs enthusiastic arms. He stood up straight again and got a good look at Belle. She lookedâ wonderful. To him, at least, who didnât get to change, who was never tired now, who could wear the same clothes for years and never soil them. Yes, she looked tired and frumpy in the pajamas, but she was still Belle, still the person he loved most on Earth, even if he was not in love with her (a stupid and annoying delineation).Â
âHello,â he said, his eyes gone soft. âMerry Christmas, Belle. Itâs bloody good to see you.âÂ
BELLE: The moment where Belle wanted to hug Hades came and went, so by the time he stood up and looked at her properly, it felt as if she had missed her opportunity.Â
Looking at him hurt. The missing was so sharp, it felt like that old knife wound in her chest had rent itself open and was bleeding out all over the floor. She felt exposed. Hades looked at her and saw her. Knew her better than anyone else. She had missed being seen like that. She had missed him. It was a relief to realize, but it also brought horrible guilt.Â
She didnât know what to say. Looking at him made her want to cry. Tears shimmered in her eyes. She blinked, sucked in a breath. There was no time for this.Â
âMerry Christmas,â she managed, her voice watery. âItâs nice to see you too.â She couldnât help herself then. She reached out and brushed her hand against his shoulder. Just to confirm he really was there.Â
âDaddy! Daddy! Daddy!â Opal was tugging on his arm. âCâmon, I gotta show you all my presents.â
HADES: âNiceâ and âgoodâ were the incorrect words, Hades knew that. But he could not grasp another one. Was there a word that could capture how painful this moment was? It seared in his soul, looking at Belle, not only missing her in the most straightforward meaning of the wordâ because he had not seen her for so longâ but also missing what she once meant to him. He felt the hole where his love for hers had been nestled, like a cat curled up by the fire. It had been a comfortable feeling. A feeling of peace.
That was gone now. Coming back had not summoned it from the dead. It was not enough to miss Belleâ that was what that feeling told him.Â
But he could not linger on it or try to pick out a different word or even apologize properly, because he had three children. They were constantly in the way, which didnât have to be the case. He and Belle simply had let it become the case, and even now, it was hard not to fall back onto the habit. Opal needed him and he missed Opal too, missed her in all the different ways. He would not deny his daughter.
So his eyes left Belleâs face. He chuckled, and a smile brought Hadesâs face new dimension. His whole body felt much lighter than it had in months. âAlright, alright. Letâs see âem!âÂ
He went after Opal who took him to the tidy piles.Â
âAh, look at that! You must have been a very good girl this year. So many presents!âÂ
âWant one?â Opal said brightly. She went to her pile and picked one from the top. âIâll share with you, Daddy!âÂ
Hadesâs smile went soft as butter. He put a hand on top of her head. âThatâs kind of you, darling. We can open it together, how about that?âÂ
BELLE: Belle drifted behind Hades and the children as they scampered behind him to the living room and Christmas tree, set up there next to the hearth, crackling natural red and orange flames for once. There was no more eerie, ghostly blue. It warmed Hadesâ skin, brought out the color of his cheeks and he seemed soâŠalive. It was like watching a movie, or being in a dream. The children crowded around Hades as he knelt with them, like puppies, scampering over each other.Â
The scene made Belle feel absolutely wretched. In the last year, she had felt absolutely sick with grief, but even more: she had been sick with guilt. Holding her children when they cried, wanting their father. Nothing comforted them when it happened. All Belle could do was try to hold them tight and apologize to them. Knowing that it was her fault. That Hades had every right to change their deal: to take her life, the way it should have ended years ago and return in her place. But he didnât. And Belle was grateful for it.Â
Until a moment like this. The smiles on her childrenâs faces, so big. So excited. Rapturous, miraculous joy and eagerness. Knowing that tomorrow, they would scream and cry and make themselves sick and they wouldnât understand why their father, who said he loved them, was never there. You couldnât explain to a seven year old that their father was the King of the Underworld and that his mother had died many years ago and that there was a promise broken, strong and ancient magic unraveling their familyâs tapestry.Â
Belleâs heart shuddered and tears burned in her eye, turning the lights on the Christmas tree into multicolored starbursts. She turned her head away as tears forcefully lept from her eyes and onto the back of her hand as she raised it to stop them.Â
âI-Iâll make tea,â she said, disappearing into the kitchen.Â
âDaddy! Mine!â Aidan said forcefully, not noticing that his mother had left the room. He was trying to take the present out of Opalâs hands.Â
âAidan!â Opal screeched back.
Bellamy put his hands over his ears.Â
âI want present for Daddy,â Aidan demanded.Â
HADES: âChildren,â said Hades, not loudly, but firmly. Instantly, Opal fell silent, a pout on her lips, but she let the present go. Aidan clutched to it fiercely.Â
And this was familiar and strange all at once. Aidan and Opal had always fought the most, a little rivalry emerging right before Hades had been pulled into the Underworld. Heâd broken up fights before and so in many ways he felt like he had finally woken up and returned to the Christmas that had been stolen from him. But that wasnât true. Opal was taller. She also gave in much more easily. It made him wonder about the squabbles he missed, about how Belle might handle them, of if Opal only gave in now because she had missed him. This wasnât the Christmas he missed. This was a year later, and Opal had been waiting for it.
He kissed her little head. âThank you,â he murmured to his daughter. She brightened again, looking up at him with wide, watery eyes.Â
âThereâs plenty of presents for everyone, eh? Letâs all do it as a family.âÂ
âYes, Daddy!â Opal said.Â
âYes, Daddy,â Aidan repeated, and he put the present he was holding on the ground, pushing it toward Hades.Â
Hades glanced toward the kitchen, hearing the rumbling of the kettle and wishing Belle had not disappeared so soon. They should wait for her too. He wondered if she didnât want them to.Â
Still, Hades did wait until she came back with tea. He met her eyes and smiled. âAlright, children. Now we can open presents, eh? As a family.âÂ
And they did.
It took most of the morning because of course they were still corralling three young children with varying control over their flighty attention spans. Eventually though, the presents were unwrapped and each child made happy. Opal immediately put on another princess dress and then arranged her toys for one of her epic plays, enlisting Aidan as her loyal steed. Bellamy refused to play along, but was very happy with his picture books, which heâd flip through all on his own.
For a brief moment, the children all played happily together, any squabbles from earlier forgotten. And Hades and Belle got to have a moment alone.Â
âPerhaps we should play a game of chess,â said Hades to her. He smiled again, the same sad smile that had become habit when looking at Belle. âFor old timeâs sake?âÂ
BELLE: The tea was made quickly. She wished for more time to compose herself, but she didnât have it. Not that it mattered. All year, she had practice of composing herself. From suspicious police interviews to concerned friends to gossiping neighbors. Belle was grateful for all the years of keeping secrets, it prepared her for this. But it was different when you were keeping a secret with someone else. Sharing the burden instead of shouldering it alone.Â
She took a few breaths, so that by the time the kettle whistled and Belle poured two cups--knowing exactly how Hades took his tea, not even thinking much about it (it had taken her a month or so to get out of the habit of getting two mugs down from the cabinet).Â
The tea grew cold, sitting side by side on the end table, out of the way of excited children, overjoyed and clumsy with Christmas magic. By the time things had settled down and Belle had reached for her mug, more out of habit than anything, it was no longer drinkable. The ring it had left on the table was pronounced. She was staring at that ring, brows knit together when Hades spoke to her, his voice soft, just for her.Â
Her gaze met his and lingered on that small, sad smile. She smiled back but she didnât feel it inside of her. She was as cool as the tea.Â
âSure,â she said. âThe chess board is where itâs always been. I am going to make more tea.âÂ
So, she made her tea and Hades set up the chessboard on the little table in the corner that Belle hadnât sat at in a year. They sat in the same chairs they always sat in, Hades with his back to the window, Belle looking out it. Though, she turned her chair, just a little.
âMaman, regardez!â she demanded, waving her imaginary wand in Belleâs direction.
âJe suis, mon chere.â
Satisfied with the new angle, Opal went back to playing.Â
Belle contemplated her first move, her fingers dancing over the heads of the chess pieces: rooks, bishops, knights. Queen. King.Â
âI am sorry,â she said softly, her eyes filling with tears again but she breathed them away. âI never realizedâŠâ It was impossible to articulate falling out of love. Just as it was impossible to feel.Â
She moved her left knight into the center of the board and looked up at Hades.
HADES: Hades did not rush anything.
He was enjoying the slowness of life. He knew that mortals could not feel it the way he did now. For him, the morning had lasted eons. Heâd loved the tedium of it, and how his children had turned a task that might have taken a half an hour for diligent, well-behaved adults, into a two hour obstacle course. He arranged the chess pieces with care, missing this tooâ and only then did he bother to check the clock and see that it was a little after noon. It was a sunny day outside. Right now, Hades felt as though he would have a year or more here, plenty of time to catch up with his children and toâ to talk with Belle.
This was not true though. The practical part of Hades felt that. Soon it would be dark and the pieces of sand in his hourglass would run themselves out. Heâd be dragged back to hell. Stuck there. For an entire year. So he shouldnât be idle here. He needed to make the most of every second.
But he also wanted to relax.
Hades found himself indulging that sentimental side of himself as he moved his own chess pieces and glanced up at Belle. Heâd been angry at her at first, but mostly angry at himself. Now though - he was looking forward.Â
âThereâs no need for that,â said Hades. âWeâve overcome worse. There will be a way to fix things, even if things between usâŠâ he trailed off here, spontaneously sensitive to it. It was strange. Hades was not used to having an ex. Heâd never been good at it with Lou.
âI mean, we can find a stronger solution than romantic love,â mentioned Hades. âI still believe that.âÂ
BELLE: If things between us do not change.
That was what Hades was going to say. At least, that was the blank that Belle filled in for him, since he did not finish the sentence himself. The sentiment burned through her anyway. Either he thought it was incapable of being fixed or he did not want to--uninterested in her now as anything besides the mother of his children. For an entire year, she had mourned their relationship, the wound of it the worst thing sheâd ever felt. Worse than her father leaving her, because her and Hades had been equals. Their love was equal, their time and their care, the effort they put into one another. Worse, even, than dying because death was a final thing. You took your last breath and that was all.Â
Living when the person you loved, the person you had once loved, no longer loved you--and was dead, functionally if not literally, because of you--that was hard. Some days, it felt impossible. She didnât know what she would have done if there were not children to take care of. If she had not had Louâs constant, steady help.Â
His words made her realize that she had spent no time at all on that riddle.Â
âHave you tried?â she asked, no malice in her voice. It was devoid of any feeling really. Just a simple question, but the answer would reveal so much.
Why hadnât she tried? Because she had been busy with the children. With picking up the pieces. The land of the living was not like the land of the dead, it kept moving. Always moving. The children grew. Work demanded. And Belleâs life moved on.Â
HADES: Hades had not meant it personally. He had meant it practically. He was always practical first, and everything else second.
Because oh yes, it would be, perhaps, âeasiestâ to fall in love again. Easy in that they knew it would work, easy in that Hades had loved Belle before and knew what it felt like and was certain that he could turn the love he still had for her into this other kind of love, the love that the vows had been built on. He could fall in love with her. It would not be immediate. It would be very hard work, because love always was. But they could.
But Hades wanted to find a different way, because if anything, heâd learned that love was not eternal, or immortal, or everything the poets wrote about it. Love was fragile. Love could break. They could find another solution, something better, something they could rely on no matter what.
And if he was honest⊠perhaps there was a part of him that doubted theyâd ever love each other again in the way the spell required. Now that Hades had died, wouldnât there always be the spectre of his death hanging over them? There would be guilt. Stipulations. Selfishness. These things would surely interfere and stain their love.Â
And so that was why Hades turned away from it.
âOf course. Every dayâ or the equivalent of it in the Underworld. Belle, itâs all Iâve been doing,â he told her, leaning forward a littleâ and then daring to reach out and take her hand. He held it gently in his own. She felt warmer than he remembered, but maybe all living things felt like this.Â
âI want to come home. Youâre all still my family. I wonât stop until Iâve succeeded.âÂ
BELLE: Belle turned her face away.Â
She couldnât look at Hades while he said these things. Too much shame burned in her heart. His hand in hers was cold, startlingly soâbut it was a stark reminder of the facts. That Hades was dead. That it was Belleâs fault.Â
It would take both of them to fix it. Love could not flow one way. Belle knew that. Sheâd loved Hades for years and years. She knew how much work it was. She knew how much it would cost. Belle just wasnât sure if either of them were in a position to pay the price.Â
That didnât stop what Hades said from being true. This was his home. They were family.Â
She watched the children playing, even as her vision blurred. They were content and happy, as happy as sheâd seen them in the last year. And tomorrowâthey would be destroyed all over again and all she could think about was how tired she was, but how much that wouldnât matter because she had to be there for her children. Because Hades wasnât. Because he couldnât be.Â
Her hand stayed limply in Hades. She had the urge to pull it away. The feeling made her want to squirm. Eventually, she looked back at him.Â
âI know,â she told him. She didnât make these promises back. Belle didnât think she could keep them. They had already broken so many promises to one another. âYouâre my family too.âÂ
HADES: And shouldnât this be enough?Â
Hades could look back and curse his own wretched romantic self for the deal he made with the Fates in the first place. He hadnât been thinking clearly. Who could blame him? Belle had been dying in his arms. There wasnât much time left. He had struck the deal they offered, let Fate once again thread its needle and weave the story and so the promise became one life for the other, only joined properly by marriage. When theyâd figured it out, Hades and Belle had both laughed, in delight but also at the stupid mundanity of it all. Marriageâ an answer to a riddle. Not a true promise.
This should count instead. Hades had tied himself to Belle beyond mortal contracts and dealings. He was her family and she was his. They had children together â pieces of Hades that lived on now that he was in the Underworld. He couldnât fathom why this wasnât enough. He couldnât fathom why he could sit here and hold Belleâs hand and appreciate her, and for nothing to change.Â
The hourglass was still turned over. The sand still slipped away. He could feel it, under his skin.Â
Fine. Hades was still beat the Fates. If he had done it once, then he could do it again. Though he heard the lack of Belleâs promise in the air - something heâd depended on, perhaps taken for granted, and was confused to find missing now.Â
But emotions were high. It had been a year and maybe he needed to ask her. And so he asked her.
âYouâll help me, wonât you?â said Hades. âIf we work together again, Iâm sure weâll find the solution.âÂ
BELLE: âYes, of course.âÂ
It wasnât a lie. Or a promise already broken. There was no word, she supposed, for something you wanted to be true--something you wished you could make true--but something you also knew had very little chance of being true. Was that breaking a promise? Or was it simply pessimism? Belleâs whole adult life had felt like a series of bargains. Her entire married life had felt that way too. Hadesâ magic was too powerful--it permeated through everything, it disrupted everything, and it was unavoidable.Â
Part of Belle wondered if this was what the Fates had wanted. That was why theyâd given Hades his choice all those years ago. It hadnât been a choice. They had known one day Hades would neglect his duties, more man than ambassador. And they had known that one day, they would have their king again.Â
It had all been a trick and a lie. Hades and Belle caught in the tide of Fate. Belle was tired. It felt pointless to fight against it. She had tried so hard, for so long and lost far too much. But how was she supposed to say that to Hades--when he was, right now, the Hades she had once loved most: defiant and sure and ready to confront a challenge without surrendering.Â
She gave him the softest, saddest of smiles and squeezed his hand once before pulling away with the excuse of fixing her hair.Â
âItâs your turn,â she mentioned, her gaze on the chessboard.Â
*** *** ***
DECEMBER 25, 2032
HADES: Time in the underworld moved differently. And so seven years passed, and it was Christmas again.
Hades nearly forgot.
He had been busy. There was a war in the City of Dis (there was always a war in the City of Dis) and although the ambassador usually stayed out of these things, this year, Hades plunged into it. There had been a purpose to getting involved, one that he had since forgotten. Now he was wrapped up in the politics of demons, in negotiations and contracts and territory disputes. He might have missed Christmas altogether if it were not for Clotho, who told him but mere hours before. Heâd had his head bent over a stack of papers and felt an odd sense of deja vu, as Clotho pestered him. When he glanced up at her, she looked at him with pity. He contemplated killing her (again. He had bonfired the Fates at this point many times, but they never stayed dead for long).Â
âI fear you have forgotten,â said Clotho. âAnd now youâre more king than man.âÂ
âWhat?â said Hades. He snorted at her. âI donât have time for your riddles. Like you said. Itâs nearly Christmas.âÂ
He regrettably closed the stack of documents and then rose from his desk to prepare for ascension. Once heâd looked forward to it, craving breath the way an alcoholic craved a drink. But it had become more painful rather than pleasurable lately. It hurt to love life. That was why the demons fought so much. Because he was above them, their betters in every way, he had decided sometime during this long immortality to fall out of love with life the same way he had fallen out of love with his wife.Â
But he would always love his children. When he got up now, he got up for them, his heart clenching in that uncomfortable, alive way.
When Hades appeared in the wood, that uncomfortable clench became as painful as a heart attack. He gasped, clutching his chest, trembling on the floor. Every year, it got so much worse. At least no one was here to see him whimper like a pup.Â
The pain passed eventually. And when it did, Hades rose and made his way to the cottage.Â
He knocked on the door.Â
BELLE: Over the last few years, Belle and Hades had finally fallen into a comfortable routine. They texted. Belle sent photos of the children from all their various accomplishments. She discussed the big things with him: Opal doing a summer theater camp in London; Aidan wanting to play rugby. She tried to include him in as many decisions as she could. They were still partners. Even if every time she saw him, Hades grew more distant. More unfamiliar to her.
At first, it had hurt. Now, Belle was different too. They were no longer the people who had once loved each other enough to die for one another, to create children together. But, they still loved their children and they still wanted the best for them.Â
It simply was what it was. It worked.
The last year, however, so much had happened.
Yet, this remained the same. It always would. As long as Belle was alive. Once she died, maybe it would be different. Maybe Hades would come back. Belle had a feeling he wouldnât. That he would choose to stay in the Underworld. At least he would be more free to visit the children any other time besides Christmas.
Belle opened the door.Â
Unlike most years, the children did not rush to beat her to the door. Aidan was in the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of tea. Bellamy was reading a book in the window. Heâd been too absorbed to see his father come up the path, or hear the knock on the door.Â
âHello,â Belle said, and despite herself, she did hug him. Wrapping her arms around her waist and squeezing him tight. âIâm so sorry.âÂ
âHey, Dad!â Aidan called coming in from the kitchen. He gave him a little salute but just plopped down on the couch. âIf youâre wondering where Opal is, sheâs throwing a fit. Wonât come down from her room.â He took a sip of his piping hot tea.Â
HADES: The longer Hades spent in the Underworld, the more it felt like the Underworld had always been his life, while his memories of time spent here, the world of the living, shrank down. Now, it had been so longâ years that felt like lifetimesâ that his trips here were mere moments to him. He looked back at his near thirty years as a mortal and felt it was barely a blink. Heâd been so young, so childish, thinking he was smarter and more mature than he was. That was why heâd had children so young and why heâd fallen out of love with Belle. Perhaps, if he met Belle nowâ she an accomplished lawyer and himself practically a godâ things would be different.
But they werenât. And so every year he came here, stepping into a role that he had, in many ways, outgrown. The further he got from his children, the more it hurt to come back to them. The ache was a shadow that clung to his heels as he walked into the room and found there were no children to greet him.
He didnât expect them either, though.Â
Hades came into the kitchen and his hand briefly touched the back of Aidanâs neck in greeting. Aidan looked up at him with a smile, his eyes sparking the way Hadesâs eyes once had. âAh, well, she will in a moment, Iâm sure,â he commented. âShe likes her fits to be public.âÂ
He wondered what his precocious daughter was upset about now. When he peered through the veil to watch his children, he found that it was always something these days. School, boys, girls, friends, her future, her brothersâ most of all, Belle.
She could be angry at Belle again. Or angry at Hades. Or angry at Lou.
Hades withdrew his hand from Aidanâs neck.Â
âBell, what are you reading?âÂ
Bell did not look up; this was typical behavior and not at all offensive to Hades, who admired Bellamyâs mind, and his penchant for multitasking. âPrometheus Bound.âÂ
âAh, more classics.â Bellamy loved classics, but he was also getting more and more into art books these days. âIâve brought you something.âÂ
This got Bellâs attention. He snapped his book shut. âA book?âÂ
âFrom the library of Dis.â Hades smirked. In this way, he could do his children no wrong. No one else had the access he did to the scholarship of all worlds.Â
Bellamy scrambled up immediately as Hades held out his hand. Shadows swarmed like hungry insects for a moment, looking like they were consuming his flesh. But when they cleared, the book laid in his palm.
âThank you! Oh my god!â Bellamy exclaimed as he held the book.Â
âIâve got gifts for you too, donât worry,â said Hades to Aidan, whose eyes hungered after the book. âAnd Opal too, if sheâd come down.âÂ
From around the cornerâ âYOU CANâT BRIBE ME.âÂ
âIt looks like sheâs already down,â said Hades.Â
Opal came stomping in, tossing her hair. âI want tea,â she said through her teeth.Â
BELLE: Hades said nothing to her but hello. She watched him from the doorway as he moved through the house--her eyes searching his face like she could find the man she once knew in it somewhere. He wasnât to be found. Belle wasnât exactly sure when he had faded, replaced by someone who one could tell, just with a look, was not of this world.Â
In this warm little cottage, he didnât fit.Â
And he didnât know or didnât remember and Belleâs heart broke all over again to think that was true. The last few years had hardened her heart against many things. Opalâs insults and promises of I hate you. Aidanâs acting out in school. Bellamyâs distance. Hadesâ nonexistence. She could handle all of these things, but watching Hadesâ smile curl like the tail of a cat somehow crashed through all of her defenses.Â
She simply watched, feeling as if she had suddenly disappeared. Opal didnât even look at her as she stomped down the stairs and into the kitchen.Â
Belle drifted after her daughter into the kitchen, not saying anything until Opal had flicked the burner on the kettle.Â
âYour father is only here today,â she said, even though Opal knew that. âPlease--âÂ
âI donât care. Heâs barely even a dad. Like sure he provided some DNA or whatever but thatâs it.â She said this loudly. Loud enough Belle was sure that Hades had heard.
âOpal Grace.â Opal scoffed and rolled her eyes, leaning back against the countertop and fixing her mum with a glare. âI know youâre upset with me but--âÂ
âIâm upset with him too. This is his fault too.â Her eyes shimmered with tears but her jaw set stubbornly in an expression Belle recognized as one of her own.Â
HADES: Hades was very used to being hated. Heâd been hated his whole life, and heâd been hated in death too. Demons despised him, especially now that he wasâ in many of their opinionsâ overstepping. After all, an ambassador was not supposed to play at ruling. He was a diplomat, meant to pass between factions of the living and the dead and the undead, too. He kept order, and order was neutral. But in the boredom of his exile, Hades had started to embrace his namesake. He would be Hadesâ king resurrected. And so he was hated. And so he had enemies.
These days, Hades found hatred interesting though. It was not particularly offensive to him, because it meant someone cared very very very much about what Hades was doing, all the time.
And so he just raised his eyebrows at his daughter, seeing Belleâs best traits in her. And his own too. She was more like them than sheâd ever admit. If she hated them, then it meant she had a mind of her own.Â
âYou know I donât control Fate. Iâm as much of a pawn in their hands than anyone else.âÂ
Opalâs eyes grew even harder. âOnly because you let yourself.â
âI have a present for you too, you know.â
âI told you, I donât want it. You know what I want.âÂ
Hades did. But he meant what he had said - he could not turn back the clock, could not persuade the Fates. He had done that once and the deal ended up unraveling, Hades back in hell again. He had no more pieces to barter with.Â
Hadesâs silence to that sent Opal off again. âUgh, I HATE this family!â She shrieked again, grabbing her tea, sploshing some water onto the floor. And then she stamped off.Â
Hades met Belleâs eyes. âSheâll learn. Itâs just because sheâs young. I was exactly like her at her age.âÂ
BELLE: Belle winced as Opal shouted and stormed out again. No matter how many times Opal did it, Belle never got used to it. It jarred so extremely against the sweet little girl she had once known. Who used to crawl into her lap just to snuggle, who was always excited when Belle came home from work, who sometimes had even preferred Belle to Hades or Lou, just because she was her mother. It didnât even make sense when thinking about the sweet baby who had fed at her breast, who Belle had known before Opal even knew the world.Â
Each hate thrown her way was a stab in the heart and with each one, she could feel Opal trying to sever that bond between them like it was a physical thing being cut through. Belle held on, try to keep the pieces together, maybe out of nothing else but instinct.
It irritated her, then, Hadesâ words. She looked at him sharply.Â
âYour guardian when you were her age was a racist, horrible, abusive man,â Belle snapped at him. âDo not try to tell me it is going to get better. You havenât lived with your daughter telling you she hates you every day for the last seven months.âÂ
HADES: Belleâs perspective was limited too. This wasnât her fault; she was mortal, he was not.
It was why the distance grew between them, even when Hades had fought to stop it. At some point, heâd let go, figuring the distance could be helpful. If he committed himself to understanding the Underworld, then heâd inevitably discover escape. However, what he found instead, in the rivers and the shades, was knowledge that no mortal could ever touch, not without it poisoning them. It was knowledge that came with living outside life and death. Belle felt the burn of Opalâs hatred because she also knew her days with her daughter were steadily running out. Soon, Opal would be old enough to leave - to choose another family, if she wanted. Opalâs hatred came from a similar place, seeing only what she lost, not what she could still gain.Â
But Opal would learn and so would Belle. They were quite smart, even if theyâd never had the perspective of Death. If anyone could overcome their mortal failings, it was them.Â
âHate is not as bad as it sounds. Flip it on its head, my dear, itâs just love in a different coat.âÂ
âDoes noooot feel that way,â murmured Aidan.Â
Hadesâs mouth twitched in amusement. âI once hated your mother very much and I think it turned out well. Just give her time.âÂ
BELLE: âTurned out well,â Belle scoffed, feeling her irritation growing by the second, like little beetles multiplying under her skin the way it itched uncomfortably. âYou didnât hate me and you didnât have a reason to, even if you did.âÂ
Hate was a strong word. It was a word that Belle didnât even fully comprehend herself. She had never hated anyone, she didnât think. Hate was as sharp as it sounded. It was all consuming. It was brutal. Even the Order, even Urania, all her enemiesâshe found compassion in her heart for. She could look in their faces and see a being with feelings, with life experiences that had led them down their path. Despite living with Death, loving Death for so many years, Belle had never learned absolutes.Â
Hate was absolute.Â
And despite rationality, she could feel that hate from her daughter. Opal didnât love her, that was certain. And the bitterness growing between them was turning sharp and ugly. The distance between them so unlike her distance form Hadesâit was hot and poisonous, Belle felt it at all hours of the day.Â
The distance that Belle and Hades had was usually cool. Unattached. They shared memories. A family. A name. Facts that meant they could not be separated, but they had long learned to live this way.Â
Right now, Belle felt that distance from Hades as something with claws. She wanted to reach across it and shake him. Make him wake up. Remind him what it was like to feel. To burn properly. Not with the cold flame of Death, but the warm one of grief. Of love. Of life.Â
âShe has a reason to hate me anyways,â Belle said bitterly, her voice suddenly wet.Â
âNo she doesnât, Maman.â Bellamy had appeared suddenly at her side, looking at her steadily and too wise for having just turned thirteen. She probably leaned on him too much. On both her sons. She did so now, unable to help herself, wanting comfort. She reached out to take his hand, squeezing it and pressing her arm against his. He was already as tall as she was and she knew that both her sons would be much taller than her. Perhaps as tall as their father.Â
âYeah, sheâs just a jerk,â Aidan agreed. âBesides, we all know the stories. People come back wrong. Death is inevitable and unchanging, blah blah blah. Right, Dad?â Aidan looked over at Hades, eyes wide and hopeful, hungry for praise.Â
HADES: Hadesâs smile grew at Aidanâs comment. âPrecisely, my son,â he said, and his voice was warm now, warm with pride.Â
He was always at his most human when he was their fatherâ though he knew heâd pay the price later, when he descended again and the shock of dying would have him crying, moaning, curled up alone in his chambers like a child exiled to its bedroom. No one, not even Belle, knew about the pain that came from dying, over and overâ how it got worse. How coming back to the world of the living was just as painful.Â
Well, that was a lie. The Fates knew. They probably thought it was very funny, to put Hades through something so human once a year, watching him squirm and grimace. Theyâd tell him it was the price to pay. Hades knew that without even asking, which was why he didnât complain. He simply paid it, so he might get moments like this â to see his sons growing and his legacy expanding.
Opal was part of it too, even if this year, she might decide to waste on her petty anger.Â
Aidan glowed, smiling even brighter at Hadesâs reaction. âNow, are we going to have Christmas?â asked Hades and his eyebrows raised. âIf Opal doesnât want to be a part of it, she doesnât have to. But I see no need for us to bend to her whims.âÂ
BELLE: Belle wanted to keep arguing. She knew it was pointless, and the urge had long ago gone away. Hades was only here for a day and then he would be gone again. A spectre, a memory, but nothing more. (At least, thatâs what Belle told herself. That was what made it easier.) This time, though, things had changed too much and she wanted to see something from Hades. Some--regret or grief or concern for Opal or his sons in the wake of things. To show interest in talking to Opal, find some common ground around a person they both loved. Coax her down from her fit, the way he used to do when he was a little girl. Had he forgotten?Â
Instead, there was nothing. Hades was exactly the same as he always was. And Belle realized that he had truly departed from the land of the living. He had forgotten what grief felt like. He had forgotten what it was like to be human. To cling to life because it was the only one you really had.Â
Something about that was horribly sad. Something about it made Belle want to fight. But, she didnât say anything. She just nodded her head a little.Â
âWhat did you get me?â Aidan asked, hanging on Hadesâ every word as they moved back into the living room.
âCome along,â Belle said, putting her arm around Bellamyâs shoulders and guiding him into the living room too.Â
Outside the window, in that little unchanged cottage, the red sun rose slowly, indifferent to the passage of time.
#swynhades#swyntoulouse#helle#bellou#loud bell#til death do us part#otp: a person. in my life.#otp: you matter more to me than me#otp: i will always save you#otp: what's mine is yours#otp: we deserve each other#otp: what do you need?#alskdjglaksjdglkasj#that's all i have to say#this literally kILLED me guh#helleeeeee
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Me irl: solo poly slut, has been in love multiple times including with more than one person simultaneously, has successfully âconsciously uncoupled,â loves living alone
Me consuming any fictional media: omg theyâre soulmates, otp, til death do us part is for quitters, hardcore ship this lifetime monogamous relationship â„ïžđ„čđ
#you are not immune to the fairytale ending#otr i want more poly rep in my media content#and more representation of my life choices#but if whatâs being served is a one true love epic romance for the ages then baby iâm eating it up#esp if you make it queer
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Wait, who's the 'til death do us part, darling' otp?
ah, that tag is for my no1 beloveds: lucifer morningstar and marcus pierce/cain from lucifer!
that's actually my second tag for them. i have one for fandom content that is, in fact, about them, and then i have this second tag, which is just non-fandom/unrelated posts that remind me about them!
#mine: q&a#the quote used in the tag is an actual line one of them said to the other#i also have these kinds of secondary relationship/character tags for a couple of characters too#sometimes some posts are just so otp/blorbo coded that you must compile them under one tag for ease of revisiting later
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Coming Attractions!
First Monday of the month, so here we go!
As per usual, this is also an Open Question Night--anything I've posted about here or on AO3 is fair game; my askbox is always open but tonight I'll be keeping an eye on it and responding. I do take prompts, but no guarantees on how quickly I fill them.
Not a whole lot to report this month--mostly because moving took up A Lot of time/energy/etc., so I didn't get as much writing done as I would have hoped, so just a quick blitz through:
OTP Meme fills-- I'm still super behind, haha. I caught up on June, but I need to do July, August, and September for all five ships this month, so that'll be fun.
PodTogether-- It got posted! It ended up being not quite all I'd hoped it would be (our plans were a lot more ambitious than our execution, haha), but the three bits that did get finished/posted I think turned out pretty well. I do enjoy doing this event a lot; next summer should be less busy for me, too, so hopefully it'll go a little smoother/I'll get a little closer to whatever my partner(s) and I end up planning (although I think I might take Leverage off my fandoms list next time; we'll see.)
Other SW-- No real updates here, other than we at SWBB got an ask about next year's event already (signups don't open til like December!!!), so I'm going to dig up what I started last year and hopefully actually finish it so I can participate. I've been involved with that event for so long that it felt weird to only do modding/betaing/podfic and not Write for it this time. (Precipice!verse has the same update it has for the past several months. It will not die until I leave this fandom, but it hasn't been getting much/any active focus lately.)
BSG-- Signups are still open for GBB! We could use a few more artists and betas. Story detail submissions are coming in, and I'm excited for what I'm seeing. I also want to get a little more into actively working on TOB over the next few weeks/by the end of the year. It's been floating around in the back of my head for so long and I thiiiiiink I've named all of the people and patched enough of the plotholes to get started...of course, now I need to figure out exactly when/where I need to start (especially since...you know, need to introduce a bunch of OCs plus explain why Baltar ends up in a different position...so yeah XD) I do still have various crossover snippets that might get worked on (like the one I reblogged the other day; there's also the Zeb and Helo one that I thought turned out pretty well); plus The Blood of Angry Men which I do genuinely plan to write at some point, but structuring it is a complicated question XD (Zarek character study/backstory piece; mostly focused on everything that initially sent him to prison, told through the lens of him looking back on it as he faces down his execution in S4; some stuff about charisma and followers he's lost/led to their deaths; the balance between him believing in his rhetoric and wanting power/using that rhetoric to gain it...a lot of really interesting things to think about here, lol)
Les Mis-- P&J will update soon; I'm also working on Acheron which I'm super excited for. I've written snippets of dialogue for Provenance (companion to P&J) but that won't get posted until the main fic is complete (because it's probably more fun to watch Ari solve as much of the puzzle as is possible given modern-day available records/evidence before filling in some of the gaps with a somewhat more traditional-style fic, lol)
Castlevania-- Not really much to say here other than at some point I will pick up Incinctus; also when Nocturne starts airing I will probably be Very Tempted to do a more active/actual crossover with Vampire Chronicles (bookverse) because. Like. The Theatre is right there lol (I know the vampire rules are very different in the two canons; which is part of why Marius existing in Incinctus is only a quick Easter Egg cameo; also Alucard and Armand would hate each other so much lol and I love them both so I'm not...suuuuuper interested in writing about that XD) Anyway, we'll see how much Nocturne actually draws me in, but at the moment I'm looking forward to it.
...I think that about covers it! Moving is exhausting and expensive but while unpacking/setup is still going on we are Fully Moved at this point, so...yay! Hopefully next month will pick up some.
#coming attractions#miscellania#open question night#shadowsong writes star wars#shadowsong writes bsg#shadowsong writes other fandoms
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TOP 20 HARRY POTTER COUPLES (as voted by my followers)
âł no. 01: draco malfoy & hermione granger
â we haven't spoke since you went away, comfortable silence is so overrated. why won't you ever be the first one to break? even my phone misses your call, by the way. â
#they really own me huh#hp#hpedit#harrypotter#harrypotteredit#dramione#dramioneedit#dhr#dhredit#draco x hermione#draco malfoy x hermione granger#lit: hp#ch: draco malfoy#ch: hermione granger#otp: til death do us part#era: lightning#edit: posters#edit: mine#edit: hp mine#top20hpships#i can't believe i actually finished a series#ty all for participating!!!!
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Chlaze + Piercifer AU where Chloe is already involved with Maze and knows the whole Divinity thing is real but the time Pierce strolls in the precinct but... No one tells her who he is once they find out.
Maze doesn't trust him and her priority is keeping Chloe and Trixie safe now and it's better if he doesn't think she may know any of his secrets. And Lucifer is just still worried the more sheâs involved in these things the more she's in danger, especially if he himself is the one involving her (cause he's still convinced he ruins everything he touches) and when he just made a pact to defy his Dad (who could retailate hurting people close to him, in his Genius brain the only option is keeping everyone completely in the dark about as many things as possible). So he keeps his mouth shut initially and just tells Maze after she starts sniffing around, cause for her now Chloe and Trixieâs safety has a higher priority than even Luciferâs and he can trust her to protect them both if Pierce ends up being more dangerous than he lets on.
Also Maze discovers how Marcus tried to get himself killed by almost getting Chloe shot too. And she turns him into a pincushion. She just stabs him and goes "This is for Chloe" then stabs him again and goes "This is for Chloe too" then stabs him another time and goes again "Still for Chloe" and she just goes on and on and heâs not even trying to defend himself anymore cause she gotta get tired at some point, right? Right?? Or she pulls a Charlotte and corners him in the precinct after sheâs dropped off a bounty, puts a hand on his chest and pushes him all the way into his office and there's not much he can do because Demon Stenght, and then she pushes him down on his chair and keeps a hand on his shoulder with enough strength he can't get up. And just starts treathening him. She goes on for like, 10 minutes at least. Until Chloe walks in like "Hey Lt. I have the- Maze! :D" and Maze goes "Chloe! :D" and gets sidetracked so when Chloe walks out she does too like, skipping steps. Pierce is left in his office sort of thinking "What the fuck just happened".
But fast forward some time and the people closest to Lucifer can tell something is going on with him and the Lieutenant but they canât figure it out, knowing Lucifer itâs something weird. And then then Pierce has weird mood swings too and thereâs just something off. But he doesnât really get buddy buddy with anyone so they canât figure him out either. This time not even Maze know whatâs going on, but she doesnât care as long as it doesnât involve her or Chloe, Trixie and Linda. Amenadiel went after Cain of his own volition and can deal with the consequences and Lucifer went after him to the extent heâs the reason the guy didnât leave LA in the first place. Sheâs not gonna monitor those two featherbrains 24/7. Linda is actually the one that knows Lucifer and Marcusâ relationship started getting some romantic undertones they deal with in egregiously bad ways.
And then there's some big case and shit goes ass up and Lucifer has to pop out his wings in front of Chloe and Marcus to shield them or something. And Chloe sees Marcus isnât phased, and thinks Lucifer already revealed himself so she's like "Lucifer why does our boss know about you?? But at least it's another good ol' regolar human in the know." and Marcus is like "Uh. Right, she doesn't know." and she fucking freezes. Cause oh no, who the fuck is this now? And Lucifer just spits out "He'sCainfromtheBiblewhomImayhavefallenalittleinlovewithinbetweentryingtokillhimtoendhisinfinitemisery." and thereâs a moment of silence where Chloeâs brain is just processing and Lucifer and Marcus both silently panic because Lucifer rused the L word and gave them both a little jolt of... happyness? Dan gets to the scene and just sees Chloe pummeling Lucifer. No more secrets they said! Keeping people at least marginally updated is the best course to make them aware of potential dangers and able to defend themselves better they said! And he didn't even tell her he had a boyfriend, she just had to guess like everyone else and then discover it like this. And then Marcus pipes up like "... I'm hardly a boy." and then regrets it because she just turns around glares at him and doesn't say anything just because she finally noticed Dan who's like "wtf??" (but she has so many words for him too, she's tired of this Miracle thing and people targeting her for it). Later that night at home she starts throwing pillows at Maze too cause "You knew too!! And didn't tell me anything!!"
They all end up having a heart to heart together. A general update of whatâs going on. Marcus looks like he'd prefer to be anywhere else (he kinda looks like he swallowed a lemon, and the more everyone gets emotional the more he looks slightly horrified) , Lucifer holds his hand the whole time (Marcus still looks mildly horrified at everyone Emotioning around him but when Lucifer squeezes his hand he immediately squeezes back), Maze is still glaring at him and basically keeps Chloe almost in her lap the whole time. Chloe tries not to pull her hair out while Lucifer is recounting their shenanigans because they both made so many messes (and she suddenly understands that when they both started being unbearable and their moods were all over the place it was just them realizing they caught the Feels and reacting as well as two emotionally stunted immortals could). She pummels Lucifer some more because they're supposed to be friends and she deserves to know about things that concern her safety and he, no matter how much he believes, doesn't poison everything he touches and deserves to have a friendly shoulder to rely on, and she wants to be that, they're friends and she might be just a mortal but he has to trust her judgment and that she is able to not put herself in unnecessary danger while also supporting him. It's ok if he doesn't tell her everything all the time, some things are just for yourself. But she wants to be there for him and if the only thing that's holding him back is being afraid he'll ruin her well, he won't- and if she could she'd deck not only God and Goddess but also all the angels who made him believe that. And he's like "I'm not crying" while totally crying. Marcus starts with an awkward back pat because he hasn't comforted anyone in ages but then he gets into it and they're full on hugging and Lucifer is still clinging to him by the time they part ways with Chloe and Maze. He tries to act though and detatched through it all but he's also seconds away from just pulling Lucifer in his lap and cradling him in his arms but it's one of those things it's still hard to be spontaneous about, he has the impulse but always stops midway and does something smaller unless Lucifer coaxes it out of him. He still hovers tho. And Lucifer's like "I'm fine!" while almost bawling his eyes out. And he tries to, awkwardly hug Chloe while also not letting go of Marcus and while Maze is still holding onto Chloe.
Later Chloe and Lucifer can finally both talk about Maze and Marcus and, it's nice having Chloe to talk with cause Maze's advice seems to be always "Dump him. Stab him. Stab him and then dump him." and while Linda is helpful a therapy session is way different than just a night out with a friend. And also finally Chloe doesn't alway feel out of the loop and like something bad is going to happen any moment because Maze, Lucifer or Amenadiel are acting strange but everyone is being very vague but also nervous and tense. And also now Lucifer can show up at Chloe and Mazeâs place in the middle of the night looking sad as a saggy bowl of cereals and Chloe listens to him mope about Marcus over a tub of ice cream and a romcom and then gives him advice. Maze sometimes walks by, steals some ice cream and mocks him. Or depending wahtâs going on with Marcus offers to stab him some more.
#Talking Tag#Luciblogging#otp: and they were roommates#otp: til death do us part#I just want Chloe to be hopeful for like 2 seconds because she thinks there's another human in the know#But nope. He's got his fingers in /both/ pies: human and fucked up immortal.#Also now Lucifer has both Marcus and Chloe collaborating on trying not to get his ass killed on the job.#Also scenario where Lucifer tries taking a bullet for Chloe but Marcus jumps in front of him and takes it instead#and Lucifer is mad upset about how he hates seeing him get hurt and die even if he cand come back both because it's generally upsetting#and because they don't know what fuckery could happen with the Mark#and Marcus. in the midst of chocking on his own blood is like. 'You absolute idiot this is why we try to make you not rush into danger!'#'Do you think we /I/ like see you get hurt and die? And what if you get somehow stuck into Hell and we can't get to you??'#And Lucifer's like 'Oh'. Because his self sacrifying ass didn't think about that.#Or scenario where Marcus is about to be shot or something. And Chloe's not around so Lucifer steps in front of him.#And just gets the hail of bullets. They keep pinging off him and he keeps stalking forward and goes all red eyes and booming voice#Threatens to shove the guns so far up their asses. And just starts grabbing people one handed and throwing them around.#Or they're dealing with demons and Lucifer goes full Devil bod and roars in the middle of smaking demons around.#And literally flicks off two demons off Marcus with a hand and picks him to his feet with his other and then he's off again#And Marcus' just like 'This better not awaken anything in me'#it definitely does#It was kind of hot#so manyu typos rip+
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Inktober for Writers Day 12: Wedding
IâM STILL ALIVE. And very behind but I HAD to write this one because I had an idea for WEDDINGS AND ANGST. :D
Prompt list created by @heartofbucky found here!
Fandom: Seven Kingdoms: The Princess Problem
The worst part was how right everything felt.
In the far corner of the assembly hall, mostly hidden by shadow, Lyon looked around. The place was simply decorated with flowers and traditional symbols of good luck, far less ostentatious than most ceremonies he had been forced to attend. In a similar fashion, the outfits, though still properly vibrant, were less adorned than were typical, though it took nothing away from the pair stood at the front of the hall. Her touch was apparent in that choice, achieving an elegant, understated event that suited her far more than anything elaborate would have.
That, if he were to be honest with himself, would have been what he had, as little as he wanted to intended, looked forward to, back duringâ
He shook his head. The time for that had long since passed and it was illogical to dwell on what was so far in the past, on what was impossible.
Instead, he turned his attention back to the couple and their guests. It was small for nobility, though considering the particular nobility in question, perhaps that was not entirely unexpected. What mattered more was that all of the people who were most dear to them were in attendance.
Or, perhaps more precisely, all of the people most dear to them, and him.
Still ensconced in his corner, Lyon drew a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He had no reason to remain. For that matter, he had no obligation to be there in the first place, considering how things had ended with her at the Summit, how every encounter he had with her since then had gone. ButâŠ
A burst of audience applause cut off his thoughts, though his attention was once again caught by the woman standing at the front of the room in her formal robes, her familiar pale hair twisted into an elaborate updo. Lady Camellia, as always, was resplendent, capable of catching his eye in any crowd, let alone when all attention was focused on her as she read from the paper she held before her. He couldnât make out what she said, but he didnât need to; there was only one thing it could be, and it was something that he would be better off not listening to.
âMy lord?â
He froze.
Before him, an older woman peered up at him, warmth infused with surprise on her face. Rather than being dressed in the same level of finery as the rest of the guests, she wore a plainer, if still formal, gown and seemed more preoccupied with preparing the feast than watching the ceremony proceed. Except that had apparently been eclipsed by⊠given the lack of other possible suspects, his presence, even if she clearly had no idea who exactly he was. Which, honestly, was probably the better scenario.
âMadam?â
âI apologize if I interrupted your thoughts, my lord. I just thought you might be more comfortable seated with everyone else.â
In spite of himself, he glanced towards the front of the hall, to where Lia was still reading her vows, and swallowed once, hard. âNo.â When she blinked at him, something akin to offense flitting across her features, he cleared his throat, forcing lightness into his tone, if just for her sake. âMy apologies, Madam. I mean to say that unfortunately, I cannot stay, but I would like to pass on my best wishes to the happy couple.â
âOh! Well, I will be certain to pass on the sentiment to my lady and her Lord Randall, my lord, if you would do me the honor of leaving me a name?â
But, with a parting glance at the impeccable ceremony and the now newly married Lady Camellia, he had already turned and disappeared back into the night.
#inktober for writers 2019#Seven Kingdoms The Princess Problem#7KPP#Duke Lyon#Duke Lyon/MC#Tina writes stuff.#Tina plays 7KPP.#awkward duke of my heart#otp: not intolerable#otp: til death do us part#Lady Camellia of Jiyel
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â
âTouch me, taste me, tell me Iâm not fading Tell me that I look just like a manâ â âChucky Vs. The Giant Tortoiseâ by Dance Gavin Dance
Leena could see the loneliness in his eyes even as he smiled at her from across the small table in her kitchen. Orion could never hide his emotions. It had always made him a wonderful partner and a terrible poker player. But knowing the look made her heart sink. She was doing this to him. For him, no time had passed.She hadnât been out of his life for four years, he hadnât had to grieve her and attempt to pick up the pieces of his shattered life. She had gone through all of that and so much more in the four years heâd been dead. And they still had no idea how he suddenly⊠wasnât, anymore.Â
But seeing that look in his eyes made her realize something. Even through that distrust in his being here, the fear that he would be gone, and the way she shied away from his touch at times because she was scared his hand would go through her and sheâd have to admit he was a delusion of her broken mind, Leena had that bigger pull to wash the loneliness from his eyes and heart. She set down her fork and stood up suddenly, Orionâs head jerking up to follow her movements, confusion evident on his face. He might have been a ghost or a delusion, but fuck, he was here and she could feel him when he did touch her so she was just going to let her heart do the leading tonight, her head be damned. She stepped around the table and Orion pushed his seat back ready to stand too, sure something was wrong as he clearly mistook her determined expression for something else. She put her hand on his shoulder to stop him from rising and sat down in his lap, her legs straddling him, her feet not even reaching the ground.Â
He started to speak but she put her finger on his lips and studied his face. That beautiful face that had lit up her world, and haunted her dreams when heâd gone from it. That face that wasnât aged in just four years like herâs was. He the boy whoâd helped teach her to swim, her first kiss, her prom date, her first⊠everything. He was still him and that knowledge was what had her dropping her finger only to place her lips on his, soft at first, testing. Instantly her body reacted to the touch, muscle memory waking and causing her arms to hook around his neck as his hands slid up her thighs, his lips responding tentatively at first, before becoming more rushed, far more hungry than sheâd thought heâd be. But she didnât mind one bit because her heart pounded in her ears and a soft moan escaped her as her body pressed into his, yearning for him after being starved of his touch for so long.Â
He didnât say anything as he pulled back to look at her, his eyes dancing with that dangerous heat that had always caused her entire lower half to hum with anticipation. His hands slid back to cup her rear as he stood, holding her in place against him as if she weighed nothing, causing another wave of delight to crash through her. Orion kissed her hungrily and Leena gave that same hunger back to him. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he moved from the kitchen. He didnât know this house as well as their old place, so their trip to the bedroom was halted as he stopped every couple of steps to break the kiss and check he wasnât about to crash into a wall. Eventually he made it up the stairs and into her room as he sat on the edge of her bed, still holding her in his lap. Leena broke from the kiss and pushed him down, his back hitting the bed as she sat over him, looking down into those lust filled eyes. She didnât know why he was back, but she knew she would do anything to keep that loneliness out of his expression.
#c: leena gaspari#opp: orion casella#otp: til death do us part#I didn't have a gif of Brit for this sorryyyyy#adriasarjona#a shark answers
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roblicity, loric, caisy, jam, cattie, cava
Roblicity
who said i love you first? Rob
who laughs when the other trips? Rob
who pays the bills? Rob physically pays them cos Felicityâs so busy
which one makes a bigger deal around the holidays? Felicity
whoâs more clumsy? Itâs Rob but he refuses to believe that
who checks their daily horoscope? I feel like Felicity might do it as a joke but then get invested
who sings louder in the car? Rob
who leaves the cap off the toothpaste? Rob, heâs awful
who is more up to date in pop culture? Rob
who insists on going to see the newest movies? Felicity
who cries when the abused animal commercials come on? Felicity
whoâs the lighter sleeper? Both of them have to be pretty light sleepers when theyre on call, but when theyre at home, its Rob
who believes in ghosts? Felicity
who does the grocery shopping? Rob
who updates their facebook status more often? Neither, theyre not 40
Loric
who said i love you first? Eric
who laughs when the other trips? Lori does
who pays the bills? Eric, Lori is a housewife she dont do SHIT
which one makes a bigger deal around the holidays? Lori
whoâs more clumsy? I dont see either of them as particularly clumsy, but I guess Lori
who checks their daily horoscope? Lori
who sings louder in the car? Lori has to start it but then Eric is really loud
who leaves the cap off the toothpaste? Eric
who is more up to date in pop culture? Lori
who insists on going to see the newest movies? Lori
who cries when the abused animal commercials come on? Loi
whoâs the lighter sleeper? Lori
who believes in ghosts? Loi
who does the grocery shopping? Lori
who updates their facebook status more often? Lori and she shares like twenty times a day its honestly awful
caisy
who said i love you first? Daisy, and then she was really annoyed that it slipped out first, despite the fact that Cara said it in return immediately
who laughs when the other trips? Daisy, never moved on from that dance studio bullying
who pays the bills? Daisy, Cara doesnt understand the american way
which one makes a bigger deal around the holidays? Daisy
whoâs more clumsy? Cara
who checks their daily horoscope? Cara
who sings louder in the car? Daisy
who leaves the cap off the toothpaste? Neither, theyre not animals
who is more up to date in pop culture? Daisy probably
who insists on going to see the newest movies? Cara
who cries when the abused animal commercials come on? They both sit there sobbing
whoâs the lighter sleeper? Daisy
who believes in ghosts? Cara
who does the grocery shopping? the order online cos theyre lazy
who updates their facebook status more often? Cara tweets more
jam
who said i love you first? Sam
who laughs when the other trips? Sam
who pays the bills? They both pay their own bills they dont live together
which one makes a bigger deal around the holidays? Sam, for Peter
whoâs more clumsy? Sam
who checks their daily horoscope? Neither of them
who sings louder in the car? Sam
who leaves the cap off the toothpaste? Jason, just another reason why hes the worst tm
who is more up to date in pop culture? Sam
who insists on going to see the newest movies? Sam
who cries when the abused animal commercials come on? Jason
whoâs the lighter sleeper? Jason
who believes in ghosts? I feel like they both do ngl
who does the grocery shopping? Sam
who updates their facebook status more often? Sam, but only with like cute stuff Pete does for her family
cattie
who said i love you first? Cat
who laughs when the other trips? Mattie
who pays the bills? Both they hella rich
which one makes a bigger deal around the holidays? Cat makes them special for mattie cos holidays with her fam usually sucked and were full of fake drama
whoâs more clumsy? Mattie
who checks their daily horoscope? Both tbh
who sings louder in the car? Mattie
who leaves the cap off the toothpaste? Mattie
who is more up to date in pop culture? They are pop culture
who insists on going to see the newest movies? Cat
who cries when the abused animal commercials come on? Mattie
whoâs the lighter sleeper? Mattie
who believes in ghosts? Cat
who does the grocery shopping? Neither of them lol
who updates their facebook status more often? Theyre both pretty present in social media
cava
who said i love you first? cara said it in a âlove you byeâ kind of way and they both felt awkward for days
who laughs when the other trips? Ava, cos surely cara should be more co-ordinated
who pays the bills? They dont really have joint bills
which one makes a bigger deal around the holidays? Â Cara
whoâs more clumsy? Cara
who checks their daily horoscope? Cara
who sings louder in the car? Cara
who leaves the cap off the toothpaste? Ava
who is more up to date in pop culture? Ava
who insists on going to see the newest movies? Cara
who cries when the abused animal commercials come on? Cara
whoâs the lighter sleeper? Ava
who believes in ghosts? Ava
who does the grocery shopping? Ava
who updates their facebook status more often? Neither lmao
#otp: she's reinventing loving me#otp: regrets collect like old friends#otp: your best kept secret and biggest mistake#otp: i'm just dreaming of tearing you apart#otp: til death do us part#brotp: cara x ava#vikanderrps
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LET US LOVE AND NEVER FEAR || [listen]
But when I stand before God, Iâll have one thing to say to weigh against all the rest. Lord you gave me a rare woman. And God! I loved her well.
#claire x jamie#jamie x claire#outlander#frasers#otp: you are my home now#otp: til death do us part#fanmix#playlist#outlander mix#my stuff#mine#why do i put running up that hill on every playlist
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"I'm in love with you." Dorian/max
âThat is an absolutely, terrible idea.â The male mumbled as he sifts through his papers and looks the Inquisitor over, walking around the office with his hands behind his back. âYou have much too much else to worry about and care for than this devilishly handsome and arrogant altus. Besides, Iâm only going to break your heart in the end.â He smirked, looking the other over as he moves to the balcony of his chambers and out over the rest of the forces. âYou should really rethink your decision and maybe keep me as just your pretty peacock pet with no strings attached. Itâll be easier on both of us in the end, I think.âÂ
#v; dai | sv; Maxwell Trevelyan#Necromancy and Pride | Dorian Pavus#dorian speaks#otp | through thick and thin; hell or high water; til death do us part#madefromfade
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Send âslurred wordsâ to hear my muse describe yours whilst ridiculously drunk @prodigalbitchâ
    Nothing about this woman screams nurse to you. She looks like someone you wouldnât fuck with, someone whoâd knock a man out or kill him with her bare hands. Just looking at her angry brows makes you believe that sheâs also someone who wouldnât have an empathetic bone in their body. You make the assumption that sheâs a bodyguard of some kind. Or maybe even a personal trainer? So, when you hear that sheâs an emergency services nurse, youâre shocked. Yet, somehow, youâre even more shocked when she asks you about how you feel about her. What she means to you.
   Youâre so drunk that you keep randomly mumbling in French and keep falling off the clubâs barstool. Bridget's words sound silly to you because youâre not much for words. Youâre more action. You show her you care by not wearing your gloves when you touch her, or when you give her good morning kisses when breakfast is being made and Trent is off at work planning weddings. But when she gives you that âfor real - tell me or iâm leavingâ look, you give in and sigh, suddenly feeling a tsunami of emotions. âI like you a lot, Bridget,â you admit to her, words slurring just a bit as you reach out, gently to caress her glowing face with your thumb. âYouâre the perfect addition to our family. I think, without you, things would feel weird.â You pause and look perplexed. âNot saying they felt weird before we met you. But now that youâre here, without you, things wouldnât be the same.â Thereâs a calm silence between you as vintage rock and roll plays silently on a jukebox not too far from where the two of you are sitting. âWhat Iâm trying to say is...Stay. I like you a lot. Youâre ours now.âÂ
#elliesfinishedworks#writing: claudia darling#otp: til death do us part | claudia x bridget2#lolol i'm trying something new
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the archer by taylor swift/ peace by taylor swift
#mine: parallels#otp: til death do us partâ darling#(luci's povâ ofc)#anyways........... thinking about how the archer (and mirrorball) are luci's songs#and just realised the way these lines have the same tragic energy so!
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âAnnie, I got takeâ what the fuck happened to you?â Despite his words, there is nothing but concern in her husbandâs voice. Ianthe lifts her gaze, to meet his, and sees emotions flickering behind those beautiful blue eyes. The corners of her mouth twitch into a smile. The cut on her lip causes her to wince. âItâs a long story.â âUh, yeah, I would think so!â He moves to sit in front of her, placing the bag of food beside him. Ianthe makes a mental note to remind him about the food they already have in the house. âNo offense, babe, but you look⊠absolutely horrid.â âAnd kinda hot?â âAnd kinda hot.â He lifts a hand, resting it against her cheek. She presses into his touch. âIs something up? Like, youâve been⊠I know itâs none of my business, but Iâm worried, darlinâ. Youâve been coming home late, sneaking in⊠getting into fights? Are youââ âIâm not cheating on you,â Ianthe says, at the same time Caden asks, âPart of a secret fight club?â As soon as the words pass their lips, husband and wife just stare at each other. A moment of silence passes, then another. Until, finally, they both laugh. âYou think Iâve joined a secret fight club?â Ianthe covers her mouth, though it does little to stifle the giggles. Cadenâs smile is as bright as ever, âDid you really think I thought you were cheating on me?â
we stan husbands who love their wives.
#amwriting#writeblr#fantasy#writing community#romance#wip: til death do us part#ch: ianthe#ch: caden#otp: ianthe & caden
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[mack/adam] "Is it rude if I say that there's nothing I'd rather see than your tree of a boyfriend go all 'timber' onto his smug face?"
Glaringat her best friend, Mack chanced a quick glance back at her boyfriendwho, currently, was trying â and failing â to attach his harness.Roy, who it had become all too clear was nothappy about her friendship with Adam, had taken it upon himself toinvite himself on their latest expedition. Mack had always taken aliking to going out on hikes and trails with Adam, and helping himout with his scouts where she could, but the same couldn't be saidfor Roy, who hatedoutdoor activities, and much preferred spending his spare timethrowing away his money in poker games, or talking the talk at fancyschmancy work events.
Andyet, there he stood, or rather, there he stumbled,as he tried to figure out which clip went into which hole, and wherehe was supposed to put his legs, and just why he 'needed towear the dumb thing anyway'.Mack had insisted that it was for his own safety, and he'd justgrunted as he refused hers, or Adam's, help. The fact that he was sointent on figuring out for himself, combined with the fact that he'dnever been rock climbing in his entire life, didn't bode so well forhim, and Mack could feel herself getting more and more frustratedwith him. He neverlistened to her, and if he wasn't careful he was about to feel theconsequences when his ass hit the ground like a ton of bricks.
âAdam,stop that,â she toldher best friend, giving him a soft punch on the arm.
Sighingand turning her back to Roy, she rolled her eyes and groaned. Adam,however, looked all too amused by the situation, and had long sincegiven up any faux attempts at making nice with the other man, all toodelighted to hear Roy's refusal of his helping hand.
Ofcourse, Mack knew Adamhated him, and she was all too aware that her sisters â and, asmuch as she'd never admit it, her own motherâ disliked him with equal measure too. She supposed that shouldhave been sign enough for her to call it a day with the man, theirrelationship wearing thin with each passing day, but she was stubbornâ or perhaps just an idiot. Mack wantedto give things a go, and see if they could make them work. She'dfallen in love with Roy once upon a time, so surely there had to havebeen a reason behind it, other than her own blind idiocy?
Withhers and Adam's harnesses in place, she scanned her best friendbriefly and stared up at the scene before them. It was a pretty bigclimb, and it was a far cry from indoorrock climbing. At least if they were in a safe, chaperonedenvironment, he might have the basic relief of cushioning beneath himwhen he inevitably lost his grip and fell. Now, however, he'd only becolliding with rocks and dirt, and no matter how madshe was at Roy, she didn't wanna see that happen.
âBabe,I think you should just stay on the ground today,â she called back,watching as his features switched from vague annoyance to pure,unadulterated rage.
Twistingand turning his body as he tried to release himself from his poorlyattached harness, Roy glared at the pair of them as he startedmuttering under his breath. Mack didn't dare look back at Adam,though his own sniggers told her everything she needed to know abouthow he felt about thesituation.
Grindingher teeth together as she watched her absolute manchild of aboyfriend throw a hissy fit, not even Mack could control the laughterthat escaped her upon what happened next. As Roy pulled and tore atthe straps that were wrapped around his waist, his fingers fumblingover the buckles that secured him to the rope that would hold hisweight, he stomped a foot down in anger, only to lose his grip on thedirt beneath him entirely. As his feet slipped on the surface below,his entire body gave out, the rope attached to him acting as a safetynet and yanking him up into the air, where he now stared back at Mackand Adam, his foot somehow trapped and tangled in the rope as heswung above their heads, upside down, with his glasses slipping downthe bridge of his nose.
Lettingout a roar of laughter, Mack brought a hand up to cover her mouth,before burying her face on Adam's shoulder to muffle the sound. Asshe felt her best friend's body trembling beneath her, she knewwithout a shadow of a doubt that she'd be in hugetrouble with Roy once they got him back down to safety, but shecouldn't find it within herself to even care.
âOhmy God,â shesnorted, lifting her head and meeting Adam's eye. As she looked atthe amused look on his face and tried to bite her tongue, she gave inand instantly burst into a fit of giggles, the two of them grippingonto each other for support as they laughed at her boyfriend'sexpense.
âHeso deserved that.â
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