harmony and concord

Truth be told, Adrian didn’t know how to differentiate between emergencies and the times he wanted her attention. To him, admitting that he wanted her around for the things that were less than critical was still impossible. While they’d grown closer over the past few months, he wasn’t at a point where he could be_ that _open with her. “For making you feel like I was putting you to work instead of being your friend.” The words felt like knives as they fell from his lips, stabbing him all the way down. He was hiding his feelings well (masking them as genuine remorse), but inside he felt as if he’d been betrayed. To him, it still felt like he’d burdened her with his friendship.

She thought maybe she should push it a little more but she didn’t actually like fighting - with anyone, but especially not with Adrian. And she didn’t know how much he really understood her frustrations, just based off the fight itself. Her expression softened into a smile and she stepped a little closer, reaching out to put her hand on his arm lightly. “I forgive you. Thank you. I want to know what’s going on in your life, but you can’t always expect me to drop everything and come running. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I have a life outside you and Rory.”

Adrian knew Hester was still mad at him, and while he didn’t think he really owed her an apology (his feelings were the ones that got hurt, after all!) he was tired of not talking to her. There weren’t very many people he actually missed when they weren’t around, but she was one of them. His heart seemed to seize in his chest whenever they were at odds, and to be quite honest, he was tired of the feeling. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, his eyes fluttering to the ground.  @nowhester

Hester was not expecting to see Adrian at all. It had been hard staying away from him but she was determined this time. He had been taking her for granted, and she deserved an apology for that. And he needed to fix it in the future, and learn to differentiate between true emergencies and just times he wanted attention. So as difficult as it was, she folded her arms when she really wanted to hug him. “What are you sorry for, Adrian?” Her parents had taught her to offer true apologies, and she expected them in return when someone had wronged her.

adrianreeves:

Ares knew how it troubled their daughter to see them argue, but he couldn’t help the way he felt. Rage and betrayal brewed inside of him, making his insides a mess of emotion. He looked into his daughter’s face and knew that he wouldn’t be able to walk away just yet. “It doesn’t feel like she loves me,” he muttered, casting a pointed glance back at Aphrodite. “Your mother seems to be of the opinion that I should be punished by going to war by with holding her affection from me and dangling the people she does give it to in front of me. Of course, if I do anything similar to what she does, I get told I’m not worth waiting for.” 

This wasn’t the first time Harmonia had been pulled into their disputes. Ares gave his daughter’s hands a gentle squeeze before letting them go. He continued to speak as if Aphrodite wasn’t right there in the room, though he wasn’t really helping the situation. “She’d rather I just feel unloved and unwanted. Her other lovers are far more important than me, and obviously she doesn’t trust me with your siblings.” @auroraminett

His words cut her like a knife, making her blood boil at the same time. “Withholding– THAT’S what you call last night? We spent all night making love, I told you I loved you how many times, and yet this morning I woke up and you were gone, not to war, but to see some other woman!” She couldn’t help the tears that welled up in her eyes, tears of anger and frustration and real, genuine pain. 

“Don’t you put words in my mouth! I don’t take lovers to punish you, I take them because I’m lonely! But I suppose your father would prefer that I just waste away here waiting for him, desperate to feel loved, just to make sure that in the event that he deigns to visit me I’ll be around to suck him off.” She sneered at him. “You want to talk about feeling unwanted, obviously whatever whore you went to see today is far more important than I am. Let’s see how special she is to you when she’s so ugly that every mirror she looks into breaks!” Her eyes glowed bright green, and with a snap of her fingers, the curse was set. @nowhester

Maybe she should have kept out of this one. Between her mother’s fury and her father’s distress, Harmonia didn’t think even she would be able to help them. Particularly as they weren’t very willing to stop screaming long enough to listen to her. “Father, don’t go. You know how difficult this is for mother and you know that she loves you. No matter how you feel, you know the truth. And you know that she trusts us with you, and she always has. Can you blame her for being upset that you took Pothos to meet one of your other lovers?” Her voice was as soothing as she could make it, and though she didn’t reach for his hand again, she did touch his arm lightly. “Think of how you feel, being separated from her, and then think of how she feels, being separated from you and forced into marriage with someone she doesn’t love.”

Hoping he wasn’t going to leave, Harmonia turned to face her mother, taking a few steps closer to Aphrodite. In any other time, she would have been embarrassed beyond words by the things her mother was saying, but they weren’t nearly as important as the pain in Aphrodite’s eyes at the moment. “You know that’s not how Father feels. You know why he can’t come see you more often, and that he would be here every night if he could.” Her lips pursed together in disapproval at the curse her mother set, but there was little to do about it now and she supposed she should be grateful that it wasn’t worse. “Instead of just accusing Father, you need to talk to him and give him a chance to speak as well.”

adrianreeves:

“You could leave the boys with me!” he argued, refusing to budge on his point. The way they fought made him feel unwanted, but it was their passion that always kept him there. Maybe the fighting was a good thing, it showed they still cared for one another, that they wanted the other one in their arms. Aphrodite had a point about the mortal dying, but he wasn’t going to admit that. He looked up at the ceiling of her grand palace, exasperated. “It’s not like he’s calling her ‘momma’! He doesn’t really know who she is, just that she’s a mortal and she knows me. He’s too young to understand any of that!” 

Fighting about other lovers was bad enough, but Aphrodite’s next words sliced through his heart. Ares felt his face fall, giving way to the hurt there. He took mortal lovers for a reason - they were easy to leave and even easier to do away with. If Aphrodite needed him, or decided once and for all that she’d have him and him alone, then there was nothing holding him back from being hers again. 

His jaw twitched at her accusations, as if war was just a pastime he used to avoid her and that she meant nothing more to him than any other fling. Perhaps that’s what she thought of him now, after all these years. He could feel his heart aching in his chest. “Maybe it’s best if I -” but before he could finish, Harmonia’s voice seemed to ring into the room. Ares looked toward the door, but couldn’t even muster a smile for his lovely daughter. “I was just leaving. It seems your mother doesn’t care if I’m here or not, so I’ll see my way out.” @auroraminett​

“While you’re running into battle? That’s likely!” She roared in return, she’d never send the boys to him while he was at war just so she could go off with someone else. She didn’t even like that Phobos & Deimos wanted to tag along with him, although she knew it was their natures. “Yes, but you took him there just to introduce her!” She shot back, that was the problem. Why did their children need to meet his conquests at all? 

She glared at him stubbornly, daring him to fight her. But they were interrupted by Harmonia, getting in between them like a referee. She rolled her eyes at Ares’ explanation. “I didn’t ask you to leave,” she replied, folding her arms over her chest again. “He’s the one who left this morning without saying goodbye,” she sniffed, sticking her nose in the air indignantly. @nowhester​

Any trace of amusement faded as something in her gut twisted a little. Harmonia hated fighting - she had always hated it, and it was no different when it was her parents. Her gaze flickered between them uneasily before she moved to take her father’s hands. If he left, then it would take much longer for the fight to be resolved, and she didn’t want to see it drag on any longer than necessary. “Father, wait and listen to what Mother has to say. Please? You know how much she loves your company. How much she loves you.” Her gaze lifted to meet her father’s for a moment before she half-turned to face her mother.

“I know how upsetting that must have been for you, Mother, but you know it doesn’t do any good when you start screaming at Father. He shouldn’t have left without saying goodbye, it’s true, but you shouldn’t let your frustration take vent this way.” Mediating with mortals was far easier than trying to aid her parents; with mortals, she was almost always able to persuade them to resolve their dispute peacefully. This was much harder.

adrianreeves:

As soon as Aphrodite sent Pothos away, Ares knew he was in for it. He braced himself, figuring that it might better to let her just have this one, but the moment she started yelling at him, that all went out the window. His jaw tightened and he stared at her with shocked eyes. “Don’t be a hypocrite! How many times have you brought our boys along to meet your blundering fools of lovers?” 

Furious at the fact that she seemed to be able to do whatever she pleased while he had to suffer the consequences of doing the same, Ares took a step toward her as well. His voice raised when he spoke again, “Pothos is just fine in my care, as are all our children. No more harm comes to him from meeting a mortal companion of mine than would come to him from meeting one of yours.” His eyes flared at her incredulousness. “Don’t pretend this is about Pothos. Admit you’re jealous that I left your bed this morning. You’re perfectly content to scold me for leaving you, but what about me? I tried to come to you for days and you were off with some - some - it doesn’t even matter! It’s as if you expect me to wait on your doorstep and shower you with gifts for taking other lovers.” @auroraminett​​ @nowhester​

“That’s completely different!” She folded her arms over her chest defiantly. “The boys come with me everywhere, what would you have me do, leave them on their own? Whereas you purposely took him there when you could have gone alone.” Aphrodite pointed out. She didn’t mention that she was careful not to let them see anything she did with her lovers, since she wouldn’t accuse Ares of that indecency, either.

“What if he gets attached to her, and then she dies? They’re too young to understand how impermanent mortals are. I never let them meet the mortal ones!” She argued. Aphrodite didn’t take mortal lovers as frequently as Ares did, and she had never had a mortal child. She couldn’t imagine the pain of watching one of her children grow old, wither and die.

Her lip jutted out when he called her on her jealousy, clenching her fists. She huffed, then turned it on him. “Is that what this is about? Payback because I dared to have a life of my own while you were off playing war? I’ve told you before, I’m not going to sit around, waiting for you to return when you go off on your own! I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you wanted me but I don’t exist to service your whims.” She didn’t sound apologetic at all, glaring at him while she spoke.

@nowhester​

Where her parents could be found, Harmonia was not often far behind. Though she spent most of her time with her mother, she adored her father and could be seen with him nearly as much as with Aphrodite. And so she found herself at the palace, wandering the halls with little purpose - until she met Pothos in the kitchens, eagerly eating a sweet of some kind and quite content to explain to his sister what had driven him there. And even without his explanation, Harmonia would have felt the shifting mood of the palace. Pressing a kiss to her brother’s head, Harmonia swept off to find her parents, moving quickly but without the appearance of haste.

If it weren’t so serious, she could have laughed at the image of her parents facing off against each other, Aphrodite’s hands clenched in anger. Harmonia had witnessed enough of their fights that she knew they usually stemmed from jealousy rather than true rage, but she never took a quarrel lightly. Stepping between them, she held a hand out toward both of her parents. “Mother, Father, what’s going on? Pothos is worried. As am I.”