Hell Flowers in Bloom

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That voice. He'd know it anywhere and he knows that the other is well aware that he is not currently asleep, even as his eyes are closed and his face is under his hat. A lazy hand pokes at the black, wide brim of the hat to lift it up so that the other can see that Hades is in fact awake and aware of him being in his office during the time his away sign on the door says he is busy. The silver charms that dangle off the edge of the hat don't hide the slightly amused and tired expression of a half-smile that he offers up.

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"Looks like it," Hades says as he leans back to the nearest tree. The god seems far from phased by the approaching darkness or the fact that they seem far away from the city center in some bit of the outer area of Mount Phoenix that is near the edge. He's been lost at the outskirts before and let it swallow him whole in the night because the scariest things here are beings like them.

There's a warmth in his voice as he asks, "When's the last time you camped out under the stars?"

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He's not at work but Hades is always in the mode of listening to others. Putting down the newspaper he was reading the god gives her a smile as he folds it up. "Long day?" It's largely a rhetorical question because he can see it in the way that her shoulders are tense as she talks. "Unload to me."

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The god stays where he is, a polite but present few steps away from her should she need his help, but spaced enough that she understands he will not press her to assist by coming any closer. Artemis was sturdy and self-sufficient and if there were anyone who could attest to this, it was Hades. Still, he does care and so he gives her a nod. "Are you certain?" he ventures. "If you would like to rest I will stand guard until you're ready again to move." The trees around them sway just a bit with breeze and Hades stands calmly there allowing her the space. He really would guard her- his justice swift on those that might disturb her should she decide to rest.

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Hades thinks about what she's saying for a moment and weighs it. Had he been through a lot? Well, he had come TopSide to the mortal realm and slipped through the veils of Mount Phoenix to a sort of limbo-like space where their kind were common, then endured his wife being away from him for a much-deserved vacation for herself, then had to acclimate himself to the ways of this city and to ordering things from others into the city- which mind you was not an easy feat to do without having to meet just outside it for certain things then making sure the interaction was for the most part forgotten by those silly and lovable humans. But really, was it that bad an adjustment?

"I mean, I do wish it were a little warmer here but I don't mind. I'm sure the tiredness is just an effect of having a vessel so near to human that it requires periodic resting spells. Does yours?"

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"I will when I favor my sleeping conditions." It is shortly said but the heat behind it stems from the way that Hades is fiddling with some funny little mortal device that he's found amusing at first and then annoying now. A tiny puzzle ring set that he is working on unlooping from itself and despite his best efforts, it will not. "Why do you care if I sleep or not Zeus?" he asks still not looking at the other in concentration on the toy. Finally those eyes do turn to his brother, "Do you need me to sleep?"

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"Is it that rare that I nap?" Hades asks smiling at the other as he looks up from the phone in his hands. The screen had gone black due to the short nap he had taken but before it had Hades had been openly adoring a photo of his wife sipping some bubbly libation from her vacation. It was his favorite of the bunch she had sent him from that time and he had been debating on if he would make it the phone's wallpaper or choose another. Pocketing the device Hades gives his attention to Apollo. "Did my nap disarm you to my apparently wicked nature?" He is kidding, making a jab at how some mortals viewed gods such as he as ruthless, cold and insatiably irritated deities. He shapes his fingers into a gun and aims at the other. "Were you plotting something nefarious, nephew?"

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"Only because we don't take what is deserved of us," Hades replies as he pats the cushion on the couch next to him. "The notion that we have to work ourselves into the ground in order to be successful has always been that of those seeking to /find/ purpose. We have purpose regardless. So--" Hades motions with his hand for the other to sit again, this time more surely. "Rest for a moment, I assure you, it is worth more than gold to give yourself time. All we have is time, you might as well take some now and then."

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"I currently haven't a reason to not be," he says as his fingers work the thin string into place on a harp he's crafting. He was kind to her and though history may have been mixed with emotions at several points, the god that sits carefully creating something new, has made time to create something new within himself too. "I'm old," he adds and laughs lightly. "I think I finally hit that marvelous point where I cannot no longer expend the energy on that which does not amuse, enrich or encourage me. In short--" That string is plucked and it sings out beautifully cutting the air with sound. "Mmm that's pretty. In short, I don't want to be cruel."

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"You toughen up, newb," he replies as he gives her shoulder an affectionate bump with his own. They're walking the city calming on one of the more forgiving winter days, Hades sporting a jacket mostly for the state of fashion than to keep out the cold. He can't really feel it but he likes this coat! "I'm merely saying that calling me a 'turd' for not feeling like doing all that work on a lazy day is not quite nice." It's evident though that he's far from actually bothered by it since that calm energy still radiates from him. "What is new with you, oh Queen of Activity? Since your life is a whirlwind next to my nerd glacial pace."

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His eyes shift slowly from the smart tablet to the goddess. Her husband had given it to him and swore that it streamlined his own workflow but Hades was slower to the shift in technology than his friend was so he looks befuddled after Eros has left at Amaterasu. "He's generous." The god offers a smile to her because he truly does mean that he is kind for giving him the tablet in the first place. This doesn't stop the question that he asks to her though, "Could you show me what on earth he was talking about? Something about spreading a sheet." Eros had given him a run-down but it had gone so fast before he was whisking away to work in the human realm on something they have commercialized called Valentine's Day.

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"Consider it job training exchange," Hades says as he watches the souls float their way toward the pair of them. According to their faith, they drift toward the deity of their choice while cautiously assessing the other one. Hades holds out a hand and draws the wisp of a life to him. "You've traveled a long way," he says softly to it. "You must be tired friend." The little thing seems to vibrate gently as if responding with its entirety before resting itself in the palm of the god's hand. Safety, security, peace-- that's what he offers to this departed one. Many have the notion that he's some weapon-wielding cloaked entity that cares for little when it comes to things but they couldn't be further from the truth. Hades could be those things when he needed to be, but he prefers a fair and simplified gathering of souls over the reaping that some do. Death gods get a rather bad rep among the living that don't see the sometimes pain-staking guidance his crowd supply to the dearly departed. "I know each of us does our dealing differently from the next," Hades answers, "I thought we might see how the other works." There are several souls that float near the pair of death gods now, a household lost to tragedy too soon.

{{ TW: mild hint at something NSFW but he's clothed and nothing is happening, it's more comedy of errors. }}

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"Darling," Hades laughs at her confession from where he lays strapped down to the bed.