He had convinced Hel to come back to Greece again, to venture into the outside world once more - it’d been a few months since she last ventured out after all! But, now; he’s taken her on the ocean. Of course, they’re both standing on top of the water in the middle of nowhere, the breeze of the sea wafting by them with the soothing sounds of waves filling the ambience.

except mine. mine is bad.

your art good, mi amor. 

fantastic, even.

in fact, i’d love for you to make more art for me.

please make more art for me so i can praise how amazing you are

i do not need art to do that actually

“..Well, bluntly speaking - you don’t. It’s completely up to you whether or not you want to believe me, or even forgive me. Even with actions, I have no right to ask you for your trust. I know that.” Sighing, the God of Mischief awkwardly rubs the side of his arm. “This whole empathy thing is, a bit new to me. I’ve been so used to just acting like I don’t care...” He then sits on the ground, patting the empty spot next to him. 

When was the last time he actively had a proper conversation with her? Every time she sees him, she voices her displeasure...but he understood, which is why typically, he never showed that it did wound him.  “I have no reason to lie to you. I know I have before, and I know my reputation outweighs my words by well over a mile - but you are my daughter, whether you hate me or not, that will never change.” He didn’t have a right to call her that, but he did so anyways. 

“I’ve always wondered, what would it have been like if I did save you? Would I be able to hear my little girl’s laughter? I’m always painted as if I never cared about my children, and maybe it seems like that to you lot. But, it’s not true. I’ve always cared about every single one of you, but I cared about you the most. You were, and still are, my favorite. I just didn’t know how to be a good father to you, I guess. Unfortunately, I failed you as my parents failed me. I never wanted to, I wanted to be someone you looked up to - someone you respected and loved dearly.” He shrugs at the thought, and laughs a little. 

“But, you know...look at you, Hel! You’ve got your own son now, and you’re doing so good with him; I’m so proud of you. I won’t ask you to forgive me, but I’d like it if we could talk more often.” Although he spoke much softer than normal in an almost gloomy tone, he turns his head to look at her and smiles.

“What’re you talking about? There’s a lot I’ve done, you gotta be more specific babe.” He can’t help but laugh at himself for pointing out the obvious - but, he’s met with a glare that many men know as ‘you’ll sleep on the couch’ glare, so he immediately shuts up. 

“...I don’t know what situation you mean, but yes, there’s a lot of things I’ve been cruel with. The stuff with you from before, the stuff with Baldr (although I don’t really regret that one). Being absent from most of my kids’ lives until recently? Yeah, I guess that’s pretty cruel.” Man, he was a lot worse than he thought. Oh well. 

“S’at right? Tell me more, I wanna hear every bit of your apology. Maybe in the form of a scroll? Yeah, scrolled form.” Truth be told, he quite liked Bragi (naturally so, as she’s now part of a threeway relationship that she publicly denies), so part of him felt...a bit disappointed at this being a possibility. 

@abysscast​​ “I hurt people. It’s all I’m good at.” // Hel to Poos

“..We’ve had this discussion before, agapi mou.” Which, after stating that, prompts a laugh out of the Sea God. What she says is obviously not true, but he understands what she means; for the longest time, he felt the exact same way. In fact, to this day, people may say that’s still all he does - hurt others without a care.

Regardless, he grabs hold of her arm; not rough, but tight enough that she couldn’t wiggle free even if she wanted to. Gesturing her arm toward his chest, he places her hand right above his heart. “I know you can feel my heartbeat, Hel. Tell me, what does it feel like? You’ve not hurt me, you’ve made me feel more alive than ever before.” 

With a grin, he places his other hand on the back of her head and pulls her closer; then gives a smooch to her forehead. 

Those few words were enough to strike deep into the God of Thunder’s heart, so much so to cause genuine aching to his chest. This hurt him so much more than she would ever know, because he had to stay strong - he needed to stay strong. He couldn’t show weakness, he was the son of Odin - renowned for his strength and courage. So, rather than show his true pain, his body is kept stiff.

“I did, too.” His voice is not the same boisterous tone it typically was, instead, he kept a rather monotone way of speaking.  “..Not about you, but about me. I wanted to believe I was different as well.” Being in front of Hel again was, difficult. Even suppressing himself as much as he was right now was seemingly impossible, he couldn’t stay strong, not like this. 

“I...” Finally, he shows a change in his tone - and his voice began to shake, lip quivering as he continues. “I didn’t want to hurt you, Hel...not when I laid my eyes on how small you were, how harmless you were...” His stiff body began to fail him as well, arms trembling more and more with every word he spoke. “The day I came to get you, to bring you back for your sentence...I thought that, you would be a monster. That’s how my father described you - something truly terrifying. But when I met you, I did not meet a monster. I met...a small girl..”

..Even now, even after the situation with Baldr, what stood before him was no monster. What stood before him was a woman who grew sheltered, who was cast out and nearly lost her life...because of him. 

His fists clench tightly. “The days we spent on our journey back to Asgard were enough to convince me, you were innocent...you were a little girl who wanted her family. And, you....were my niece, I was your family...perhaps not by blood, but even now -- you are family.” But, did he have the right to say that? To declare her as family still..? “By the time we arrived, I knew I had to convince the Allfather to reconsider. To take you in under my care, but....father was appalled. So much so, he even struck me where I stood for even thinking of it...” In fact, he had a temporary scar across his back from that day..

Again, his fists tighten together - now drawing blood from himself. “..And for my punishment for even considering this, I was...tasked with being the one who sent you to your death. It was going to be Odin, but I was chosen in order to cast aside my thoughts about you..” But, why didn’t he deny it..? ..Well, that was actually quite simple. “...I could have refuted, that’s true. But...I thought you were going to die, and so...I wanted the last face you saw to be someone who cared about you. It hurt...so much, Hel.”

Though it wasn’t seen due to the glasses he wore, his eyes had began brimming with tears - until the tears began to overflow and stain his cheeks, which promptly caused the mighty Thor to fall to his knees. 

“To this day, I have nightmares of that event - over, and over, I am reminded of that little girl’s tears - her agonizing scream as Mjolnir struck her down. The way she asked why I was hurting her...Loki’s words to me after it was over. I will never forgive myself! Even should the day come where you forgive me yourself, it is something I can never take back and must forever live with.” Looking up to her, he wore a frown across his face, and slowly removed his shades.

“..Man, seriously? You’re going on about that again?” They’ve been reunited for a little while now, and all Tyr’s done is repeat the same stuff over and over along with apology after apology. Seriously, it was sickening at this point. Slamming his fist down on her head to shut her up, he gives a gentle pat to make it feel better.

“I still don’t agree. I think if you really wanted to, you could have defied Odin or just sided with me. But, at the same time, I somewhat get it. Odin’s scary to you Asgardians, even if you wouldn’t suffer like me, you’d probably still get put below your rightful place.” Sighing, Fenrir shakes his head and looks up to the sky for a moment. 

It was...oddly calming, the air around them, that is. But, the atmosphere itself was petty somber. He had a lot he needed to say too, right? It’s awkward just saying stuff like this, but if it gets her to knock it the hel off - 

“...I said some stuff way back that I didn’t mean. I said a lot, that I didn’t mean. I was angry, and I felt betrayed. I won’t apologize for feeling the way I did, but..” His gaze now falls down to meet with hers. “The one thing I’d never change is meeting you. No matter how it turns out, meeting you is one of the greatest things to happen to me. And...you’re still the best of them all, no matter what.” 

He turns his back and begins to walk away, though he fully expects her to follow at his side, so he keeps talking.