trip-downtheriverstyx

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

Just Around the Corner, Darling || [Loud Bell + Tibbs, Hera, and Raksha]

In which Hades, Belle, Toulouse, and Raksha meet with Dr. Tibbs and Mistress Alexander to discuss their options to conceive...[takes place: idk early January]

follow along with the arc here!

@trip-downtheriverstyx, @labellerose-acheron, @thesorceress-hera, @exsgttibbs

[cw – discussions of experimental pregnancy]

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BELLE: There were too many people squeezed into Mistress Alexander’s living room, if you asked Belle. 

She sat between Hades and Toulouse on the couch. Raksha was perched, somewhat stiffly, in an armchair next to the couch. The children--including Dhaumya--were with Juno in a backroom, being entertained. If you listened closely, you could hear their giggles and Opal’s shrill, demanding voice. 

Tibbs and Hera were also placed around the living room. They were sitting with their cups of tea. Hera’s living room was certainly cozy, but--it still felt cramped. Especially for discussing something as delicate as they were discussing. 

Hera had opened the floor to the Acheron-Bonfamilles to start the conversation and Belle was wrestling with a way to start.

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[link here]

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[trip-downtheriverstyx]

Hades wasn't nervous.

Or, Hades refused to get nervous. Nerves only undermined his credibility. He believed that the best way to make others confident in you was to be confident in yourself. Otherwise, why would anyone listen to what he had to say, let alone vote to keep him in a position of power?

However, as he walked into Mads Morey's studio set-up, Hades felt...

Let's call it caution. He'd simply never been on a podcast before, eh? In interviews in the past, Hades knew there was only so much space a writer could fit on the page of the Swynlake Squire. His words were edited, and the conversation always boiled down to its most important nuts and bolts. Hades liked the nuts and bolts. He liked soundbites. He wasn't sure about a free-wheeling, wide-ranging conversation about magick rights -- but this was 2025, and apparently, podcasts were the bloody campaign tool of the moment.

Whatever trepidation he entered with, Hades set aside to greet the Morey brother. He smiled and offered his hand. "Thanks for agreeing to this, eh? You'll be my first podcast-- hopefully not the last."

@mads-morey

On Air With Hades Acheron || Mades

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

Hades's thoughts still rung. Amsterdam. Bloody Amsterdam of all places. Although he had other things to worry about-- new year coming up, new board, new budget, his campaign, his family-- he knew he wouldn't be able to put that morsel down. He needed to see what he could find out about MAFIA and Amsterdam, especially if MAFIA intended to target Swynlake.

He'd have to bring it up to Belle.

But for now, this joke of an interrogation was basically over. Good. He didn't have time for pointless games.

"Right. Sounds good to me. I'll happily hand the passport over if you need." Though, hilarious. Many magicks didn't need passports to travel from place to place, but he wasn't going to waste his time pointing that out.

Hades stood up and smiled his politic's smile. "I hope you find what you're looking for, Sheriff."

@prince--thomas

Double Dutch ~~ [Tom + Persons of Interest]

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

Amsterdam?

Now that question caught him off guard. To Hades, it was such an odd place to name-- certainly a country he'd never even thought about before, eh? Hades wasn't one for travel, after all. He had been happy for the opportunities that had sprung up over the years, but beyond France, the rest of Europe held little interest to him.

Maybe Piperi, he supposed, one day. Though Urania's memory had soured the whole islands.

Anyway, point was-- he was so surprised, it showed on his face, the confusion twisting his eyebrows.

"Amsterdam? No. I've never gone at all."

What was in Amsterdam that had the police asking? It had to do with the MAFIA, then. Hades wanted to be on the other side of the table. He didn't like not knowing things.

@prince--thomas

Double Dutch ~~ [Tom + Persons of Interest]

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

Paint Dreamscapes on the Wall || [Loud Bell]

In which Toulouse, Hades, and Belle discuss expanding their family...[takes place: the week between Christmas and New Year's]

@trip-downtheriverstyx, @labellerose-acheron

[cw -- none]

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TOULOUSE: The day was quiet, as the day often was. 

Winter holidays were winding down and the children would be at school again soon. It was the limbo-nothing days between Christmas and the New Year. Everything peaceful. Calm. 

Well, Hades and Belle still had to work some of the days. Belle set her own hours, but she had clients whose lives would not stop for the holidays. Hades, also, was busy with things like the Christmas Tree Lighting, the Gingerbread House Competition, and other holiday events. Even with this, things were slower than usual. That was why it was Lou’s favourite time of year. He felt like he could breathe.

Or maybe, that was the teas that Ting-Ting gave him. Or his twice-weekly therapy sessions that his therapist promised would drop to once a week in the New Year. 

Either way, Lou was happy–a quiet, shy kind of happiness that you could not confront directly or it would immediately twist into a different, uglier shape. 

There was a flurry of snow falling outside the window. Belle and Hades were cooking in the kitchen, a blue fire silently flickering in the hearth. Lou on the floor, colouring with the children. He was banned from the kitchen, just like the children. He did not mind. He much preferred to colour. 

That is, until dinner was called and the children ran off, leaving Lou to clean up. As he did, he noticed Opal’s drawing. She had gotten very big on drawing her family these days. Just over and over and over. Hades, Belle, himself, herself, Aidan, Bellamy…and Salome. (She always wrote “Sal”, or spelled it “Salomy”, which Lou thought was very cute.) 

What wasn’t cute was this fixation on her nonexistent sister. 

Lou spent dinner debating what to do about it. And whilst he cleaned the dishes as well. (He generally cleaned when Belle and Hades cooked, sometimes Hades helped him, Belle rarely did.) In the living room, he found Hades and Belle reading, whilst simultaneously playing chess–the children entertaining themselves across the room. 

He reached for the stack of pictures that he had put on the corner of the coffee table and held Opal’s out to Hades. 

“You’ll never guess who made another appearance in Opal’s family portrait,” Lou said, sardonically, his expression pinched. 

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[link here]

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[trip-downtheriverstyx]

God, not the bloody hellhound again.

Hades nearly rolled his eyes but he managed to control himself. You'd think after over five years with no incidents at all, mundus would realize that a hellhound, like any magical creature, was only really dangerous if you provoked it. Plenty of people had come into Chapter Three and seen Shuck lounging, big and lazy, right there on the floor. He never snarled or growled unless someone was an actual threat. Otherwise, he was just a big dog.

Well. A small demon, really.

Tom was reaching. But he had no real suspects, Hades supposed. He probably felt desperate to turn something up.

"I would not say," said Hades. "I have no comment on what hellhounds are or are not capable of. I'm not a hellhound expert. You'd have to ask someone else."

@prince--thomas

Double Dutch ~~ [Tom + Persons of Interest]

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

Hades raised his eyebrows at that.

The questions about Gaston were the typical shit that he'd been expecting. He supposed he should have also expected the questions about his magic, considering the nature of the Deer's demise. Fire. 'Magical' fire, it was reported, though Hades didn't think the police force necessarily had the right people to properly confirm that. Fires burned at different heats and at different colours for many different reasons. Not just magic.

He didn't like his magic being dragged into the interrogation, as if it was something to be guilty about.

"I am a medium. Everyone knows that," said Hades. He flashed a smile. "I don't have any other comment."

@prince--thomas

Double Dutch ~~ [Tom + Persons of Interest]

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

Last conversation?

Hades couldn't even remember. He didn't think he had what could be considered conversations with Gaston. Gaston hated him so much that he generally tried to avoid him at all costs. He came into Chapter Three in search of Belle only but those times had become few and far between as the years went on.

Hades frowned, genuinely trying to recall. His head tilted.

Did Gaston complaining in a public forum count?

"Perhaps at a town hall meeting," said Hades. "Though he wasn't talking directly to me. He asked a question of the entire board about plans for responding to the latest disaster or something like that. He was very-- passionate."

He was very annoying.

"Otherwise, I can't remember a conversation." Not one that Hades actively participated in.

@prince--thomas

Double Dutch ~~ [Tom + Persons of Interest]

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

Hades didn't think it was insane.

He'd never thought that he'd have children. But when he was younger, he couldn't imagine a typical life for himself at all. Agape had filled his mind with delusions about power and ruling the Underworld instead. That was still a life he could have but-- was it really a life at all, to live among the dead and undead?

He'd ended up choosing a very typical life after all. To many people, he was still a mysterious demon lord who wasn't to be trusted. But the truth was quite simple: he had a job and a family and partners like most mortals.

And so Hades had learned that he liked those things. Wanted those things.

He chuckled softly. "Not insane. It's such a short period of time-- having a baby, that is. It's hard to fully appreciate it while it's happening," said Hades. "I understand missing it."

He missed it a little too.

@labellerose-acheron

Slipping Through My Fingers *** [Helle]

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

Did a horse have a contentious relationship with the flies that buzzed around its mane?

Hades didn't think so. Gaston had hated him because Hades had everything that he wanted. But the hatred wasn't really mutual. Hades didn't have time to waste on such a pathetic, one-way feud. It was beneath him when his real opponents and enemies might threaten him.

The worst Gaston had ever done was ban him-- and many others-- from the Deer.

Hades shrugged. "No comment."

@prince--thomas

Double Dutch ~~ [Tom + Persons of Interest]

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

"Well-- that's just how the future is, isn't it? We can't prevent every horrible thing. And we can't control our children either," said Hades.

The changing nature of the future gave Hades peace, rather than so much anxiety. They had prevented what seemed like the worst version of it but that did not necessarily mean the second version was guaranteed. They could mess up again; they could also ensure an even better future than the one they glimpsed, however briefly. Their lives were in their own hands-- not the hands of the Fates, no matter what those three blasted ladies would want Hades to believe.

The older their children got, the last control that Belle, Hades, and Lou would have. But that was part of being a parent. Learning to let go.

Since it felt so far off, Hades hasn't been worrying about it yet.

"We should just...try to enjoy the moments we got, eh?" said Hades. "We can't dwell on what might happen. Then we'll miss what is happening. And time is already moving so bloody fast. I can't believe Opal is so tall now." He shook his head, smiling a bit wistfully. He did miss the toddler who used to cling to him so. But obviously, he liked the six-year-old version of his daughter now too.

@labellerose-acheron

Slipping Through My Fingers *** [Helle]

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

Ah. A typical question, considering this was being considered as a murder investigation.

However, Hades did not have an interesting or relevant answer. His relationship with Gaston D'Avenant did not exist. He had a relationship with that man the way he had a relationship with a fly that stole into the book shoppe. Sometimes, he pestered him (and his wife), and if so, Hades brushed him off and went on his way.

But he supposed Tom would keep digging. Ask more pointed questions about politics or professional life. So it was best to keep his answer very simple--

"No comment," said Hades, folding his hands on his knee.

@prince--thomas

Double Dutch ~~ [Tom + Persons of Interest]

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

Well, that was probably true.

Opal and Toulouse got along famously-- Lou doing and Opal loving to be doted. But Opal had sprawling interests. She was as bookish as her brothers and both of them for the love of books was impossible to escape from when you were in the Acheron household. She loved Philippe and often went down to the stables to pet him and boo and beg to ride. (Hades still thought she was too young...)

There would undoubtedly be a place for Belle in Opal's life as she grew up. Of course, there would be. She was Opal's only mother.

But he remembered the future versions of their children as well and could see where the anxiety came from. That future could always happen. Just because they solved one problem did not mean that others might follow. Life was full of problems, struggles, obstacles, and plot twists. Especially when you were an Acheron, living at the mouth of the Underworld.

"And you'll teach her how to ride a horse," Hades pointed out. "And I'm sure you'll have other things to discuss too. Maybe she'll get interested in politics and law." He smiled at the idea. "We just don't know, eh? That's the joy of kids-- they're mysteries you get to unpack."

@labellerose-acheron

Slipping Through My Fingers *** [Helle]

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

Did he?

His relationship with the children was his own-- quite different from Belle's relationships. And that's how it should be, just as he and Toulouse had their own rituals and conversations separate from Belle and Toulouse's own rituals and conversations. Hades had never thought about where he stood with his children. He knew where he stood-- he was their father.

What that meant to Aidan, Bellamy, and Opal was its own mystery. Perhaps that was what Belle meant? Though it wasn't something Hades tried to control either. Bellamy was his most distant child for example-- clearly favoring Belle over anyone else. But still, Hades and Bellamy had their own private moments, usually when Bellamy asked Hades to pick out his next book. That felt like his quieter son acknowledging Hades as a father-- and trusting him.

He reached for another dress, folded it, and set it aside to be donated. "I'm not sure I do," he said. "And I'd try to guess but I'd probably just embarrass myself." He smirked at her. "So what do you mean?"

@labellerose-acheron

Slipping Through My Fingers *** [Helle]

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

"Of course," said Hades, sitting with his hands on his lap like he was in any of his meetings.

But while he smiled pleasantly when coming down to the station, inside, he was furious.

What a bloody joke, eh? Rumors of magic fire and suddenly the police thought they had enough to call the mayor in. That was profiling by the definition. Any other year and Hades would find it boring, perhaps disappointing.

But the next year was his election. He didn't need this being used against him when he'd done nothing wrong.

"The 29th-- I worked until around 6, then went home to prepare dinner for my family. We ate, cleaned the kitchen, then played with the children," said Hades. "My wife and husband were with me."

As far as alibis went, it was flimsier than Hades would have liked. But it was also true. He hadn't gone near the Deer that night-- or for months and months before that point.

@prince--thomas

Double Dutch ~~ [Tom + Persons of Interest]

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

Hades had such thoughts himself before but they were always swept away with the life he did have. Yes, it might have been nice to have less of a frantic life-- to relish Opal's youngest years and then the twins. But he liked that the children were close in age. Right now, their few years felt like a mountain between them but that wouldn't always be the case.

He wanted his children to be each other's friends. Teammates. Allies. That felt like the most important thing.

"Oh they'll come back around," Hades quipped, smiling rather nostalgically for him. "It's good they have each other, even if they don't want to deal with us, eh?"

And again, Opal's words...

I want a sister!

If there was a sister, Opal would be five years older—six. Now, that was an age difference that made Hades frown—despite the fact that it wasn't even going to happen.

@labellerose-acheron

Slipping Through My Fingers *** [Helle]

[trip-downtheriverstyx]

A ward from the RAS? They'd never talked about that--

But that's because they didn't need to. Considering the idea for the time it took to blink told Hades that he would take in a ward just as quickly. Lou too-- well, depending he supposed on the age of the ward, but Lou liked children.

The hypothetical once again pointed back to Opal's wish.

I want a little sister for Christmas.

He frowned and picked up another one of Opal's dresses with a unicorn embroidered on the front. "It is," he agreed, running his thumb over the design. It was still in excellent quality. Most children clothes were since the child didn't wear anything longer than a few months. "She must have worn this before the twins were even born. Feels like an entirely different life."

@labellerose-acheron

Slipping Through My Fingers *** [Helle]