Hades

            “Of course, you are. We wouldn’t have the power to judge you in our court if you weren’t,” Hades practically blurted the words out, obviously shaken by his own misjudgement of Siromos’ mental state. He was supposed to know all, wasn’t he? With a single touch, he could read any soul and know them more than they knew themselves. How could he have missed Siromos not knowing of his own death. Was there something wrong with him? He had never known his powers to fail like that.

            “Okay, I don’t remember anything! I was a bit busy being manhandled and judged to think of what the implications of it all were!” Siromos stood in front of Hades, his voice rising in pitch. He appeared very fragile, looking as though if Hades exhaled too hard, he’d just blow right over.

            “Fair point,” Hades muttered, trying to quell his own panic at wondering what was happening to his powers and what that meant.

            “Yes! It is! Then you have to come up, all handsome and over-bearing! You just flick a hand and whoosh it’s all fine! And you… You…” His face was flush now from anger. “You made me…” He crossed his arms, looking at the ground. Ah, Hades noted, it was not just anger. The realization had dismissed his worry and focused his attention on the other man.

            “Okay. I apologize for assuming,” he raised his hands in the universal body language for surrender.

            “Ye—Wait, you apologize?! You’re not arguing?!” Siromos was still shouting, looking even angrier somehow.

            “Yes, I just wanted you to calm down,” Hades was hopelessly confused.

            “I don’t want to calm down! I want to not think of the fact that I’m dead! It’s all over! Everything is done! I won’t ever see flowers or sunlight again! I don’t even have the memories of seeing it! I just know they’re a thing!” His breathing was coming fast and rough, and Hades realized it was a panic attack.

            “Okay. Come here,” Hades grabbed Siromos’ hand, pulling him onto the bed to sit beside him. “Look at me,” he cupped Siromos’ cheeks, keeping their eyes locked, “now breathe with me.”

            Hades took a deep breath in, holding it for three beats before exhaling slowly. He continued the pattern as Siromos joined him. In and out. Slowly, Siromos relaxed, and after an indiscernible amount of time, he was no longer in full-adrenaline panic mode. Siromos’ eyes were now closed, and Hades realized that in the process of calming down, Siromos had basically crawled into his lap. Siromos’ hands were placed flat on his chest, and he noted a stinging sensation from where nails had dug in. How had he not noticed this earlier? This was a precarious situation indeed.

            “Sorry… I don’t know what that was…” Siromos finally spoke, his voice quiet and rough.

            “Don’t be sorry,” Hades removed his hands from Siromos’ face, placing them on the other man’s waist.

            “I am, though. I hurt you,” Siromos moved his hands, pulling the loose neck of Hades’ shirt to reveal deep golden scratch-marks on his chest.

            “You couldn’t help it. Don’t worry, and don’t be sorry,” his voice was stern.

            “But—”

            “I get them too.”

            “Oh.”

            The only person that knew of Hades’ affliction was his wife. He was fiercely private, and though some of his secrets escaped, this one did not. A king could not be weak and overcome with panic for no apparent reason. Seeing Siromos go through it had softened Hades even more so towards him, hence the admittance.

            “Yes, so don’t be sorry. I know intimately that you couldn’t help a single thing that happened,” Hades finally spoke after a moment of suffocating silence.

            “Oh. Okay.”

            “Don’t worry, the fog will go away soon. It’s the peskiest part of these attacks, besides the blinding fear,” Hades gave a small lop-sided smile.

            “The fog. That’s a good name for it,” Siromos spoke after a quiet chuckle, then drooped forward, wrapping his arms around Hades neck, hugging as tightly as his worn frame could handle. “Thank you.”

            Hades returned the embrace, mindful not to squeeze too tight. Even if his strength had been mortal, Hades well knew Siromos would be particularly fragile. Add in the strength of a god, and it was fortunate Hades was ancient and well in control.

            “No need to thank me,” Hades muttered gruffly, embarrassed by the outward and easy affection. Persy often displayed such gestures, and it had taken a very long time for Hades to become accustomed to it. Now it seemed he had another person to familiarize himself with.

            “Fine. Go fuck yourself,” Siromos pulled back, and Hades was thrown for a loop as Siromos grinned. He was still a bit worn looking, however he seemed to have recovered surprisingly quick. Hades was usually down and out for a day after his attacks. Well, if Siromos felt playful, then Hades would give him playful.

            “But it’s so much more fun to fuck and be fucked,” Hades let an easy, flirtatious grin slip onto his face. It was a rare sight, though Siromos most likely didn’t know the significance.

            Siromos choked, grasping at Hades shoulders to keep himself upright. He was shaking. Was something wrong? Hades’ grin slipped slightly before realizing Siromos was laughing so hard no sound came out.

            “What? No cheeky come-back?” Hades teased him, pinching at the skin of his waist. Siromos let out a squeak, and almost fell off Hades’ lap.

            “No! Don’t! It tickles!” Siromos cried out, and Hades couldn’t resist a few more pinches after that admission. Siromos was simultaneously pushing and pulling at Hades, physically torn between closeness and separation.

            “I’m the evil king of the dead. You can’t just admit a weakness like that and not expect me to play with it.” There was something warm growing in Hades gut, and the room seemed a bit brighter. He stopped the pinching, placing his palms flat once again on his waist. Siromos was breathing heavy, his face flush and his eyes a bit damp.

            “I trusted you, you beast!” Siromos slapped Hades shoulder admonishingly. At his last words, Hades felt an immediate shift in dynamic. His Persy lovingly called him a beast, and now his Siromos did the same. Perhaps, not yet with love, but there was definitely affection in his eyes. Hades acknowledged that if he was not careful, he could fall for this man just as easily as he had with his wife.

            A scream sounded from the clearing ahead. The two had been meeting for a year now. They had kept their secret just that. At the pain-filled sound, Hades broke into a sprint, taking up the last bit of distance left. Bursting into their meadow, he desperately looked about for the source of the anguished cry. He spotted her then.

            She lay on her back, splayed out as if she had been thrown to the ground. Her chest heaved as she panted, one arm over her eyes. Hades didn’t realize he had moved until he was kneeled beside her, checking her for harm. She wasn’t hurt, and Hades let out the deep breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Sitting back, he shook his head.

            “You scared me,” his voice sounded foreign to his own ears.

            “I’m having feelings,” she responded, “I’m sorry that it scared you.” Persephone removed the hand covering her eyes, and Hades felt his heart squeeze as he saw how red and swollen they were. There were fresh tears still streaming. Hades wanted to kill. He had never been much of one to cause pain. He craved the death of whoever had caused this hurt.

            “Who did this,” his voice was deep steel, sharpened blade.

            “Nobody.”

            “What,” her response drew his rage to a baffled stand-still.

            “I just feel things too strongly to keep inside sometimes. It helps to scream,” her voice was indifferent, explaining as if she were talking of the weather.

            Hades pondered over several responses, though none formulated to the point of voicing them. So, he leaned back and sat with his legs crossed at her side, silent.

            “It feels like a wave, but it never ends. It crashes down on me, but that first moment of panic and fear doesn’t end. I just get caught up in the current, spinning and drowning,” she continued, taking his silence as a signal, “it helps for me to just let it all out like this. Maybe it isn’t the best way, but it works.”

            Hades still couldn’t figure out how to respond, but he did realize he had felt similar at points in his own life.

            Persephone didn’t speak for a long time after that. Their hands drew together as if they were magnets, their fingers intertwining more naturally than breathing.

            Their eyes were locked, Siromos straddling Hades’ lap, their faces breaths apart. Siromos’ startlingly bright eyes were even more entrancing up close. There was a soft tinge of gold outlining the pupil, the texture of the iris revealing different shades of blue.

            As easy as existing, their lips met, tentative at first. A simple brush of touch, a few more. Then their lips came together more firmly, Hades’ arms tightening around Siromos’ waist. Siromos’ hands drew up along Hades’ chest, finding their way into his hair.

            A gentle unheard song played between them, soft, exploratory. Hades felt his body warming, his chest filling with a quaking heat. His heart felt lighter than the rest of him, flitting about like a sparrow on the break of spring.

            Siromos pressed closer, rocking his hips against Hades’. The kisses deepened, breathing and heartbeats quickening in parallel. Siromos’ tongue flicked out at Hades’ lower lip almost bashfully. Hades was more than happy to acquiesce, parting his lips. The pace slowed once more, their tongues hesitantly touching. As their comfort grew, the kiss deepened once more.

            “Oop!” Persephone’s voice rang out, breaking their private bubble, “I didn’t mean to interrupt, just checking in since you’ve both been in here for a while.”

            Siromos attempted to leap away from Hades, however Hades refused to relinquish his hold. That left Siromos arching his back uncomfortably away from Hades.

            “Sorry for worrying you, Agápi, we were a bit distracted,” Hades chuckled.

            “I can see that,” Persephone returned the easy laughter.

            “This is weird. You guys know this is weird right?” Siromos piped up, looking between the two of them with a pleading expression.

            “It is pretty fucking weird, but I like it,” Persephone walked forward to sit on the foot of the bed.

            “You won’t get any argument from me, my queen,” Hades grinned wide like a dope.

            Siromos buried his face in his hands and groaned.