Persephone & Hades
Persephone gn!reader x Hades Hobie
Spring is here, and with it, persephone must leave the underworld.
I tried to keep it gender neutral. There is the use of the terms goddess and queen when referring to the reader. However, it's more in title than actual feminine meaning.
CW: Mentions of ichor and selfharm very briefly.
"I'll be leaving you soon, my heart," you whisper the words into the shadows. Knowing he'll hear you. Knowing he's always with you as long as shadow and shade can reach you.
You're leaning against the wooden frame of your gazebo over looking your kingdom, your chosen home, the underworld. You smile, looking out at the vast dark lands lightened by the homes of your people.
Shadows nip at your fingers and trail up your arms before the feeling of your lover's warmth wraps around you.
"I know... I know, my world." his rapsy voice was laced with sadness, but his silky touch was a welcome comfort to the cold, although you'd grown accustomed to it.
"Persephone..." Hearing your name pulls your focus to him, Hades, king of the underworld or as you called him.
"Hobie, my love," you turn in his embrace, looking into his saddened eyes. Raising a hand to rest on his cheek, you smile as the fearsome king leans into your touch, eyes closing in content.
"When do you leave?" He places a kiss to your palm, sighing as he forces the words from his mouth.
"Not long from now." You give a sad smile as you watch your love's face drop. "Hermes will be here to escort me back to the mortal realm soon."
Sighing, his hand comes to rest on yours against his cheek, cupping it gently before pulling it away enough to place another kiss to your palm, then soft pecks to each of your fingertips. A shiver racks your body, and he peaks at you from the corner of his eye, mischief lighting up his face.
"We could always stage a kidnapping. I'll lock the doors and tell them I've decided to keep the goddess of spring all to myself. Any who dare attempt to get you will have to face the wrath of the underworld." He smirks, and the shadows of the land seem to flicker and roar with agreement.
You shake your head with a playful smile as he steps back, not letting go of your hand, bowing as if asking for a dance.
Laughing softly, you bowed back, allowing him to pull you to him with a twirl.
"We'll change your clothes and sneak you out the back before Pavitr arrives. Take you further into the realm where there's a small house waiting for just us." You laugh in glee as he dips you, the shadows around you whiping up as if to catch you.... or maybe swallow you up and hide you just as their king wishes. You lean your head back with a bright smile and unconsealed laughter, allowing the shadow's cool, wispy embrace to surround you. Letting them know they are seen and your joy is as much for them as it is their king, before Hobie pulls you up, holding you tight, as the shadows disperse, a hum of happiness in the once sullen air.
"Or we can sneak up to the human realm. where you can grow vast gardens and capture the heart of every living creature that comes by with your kindness and grace." There's a playful smirk on his face as he looks down at you.
"Which will it be your higness. At your command, I'll make it so." His tone is playful, but there is an underlying threat.
You know if you say you never wish to go anywhere without him, that your body aches at the thought of leaving him for these six months, he'd make it to where you never had to leave again even if it meant defying Zeus and all the other gods.
Your eyes lock as he waits for your answer. His gaze giving away his need for you, the same need and longing you're sure shows in yours. But instead of sealing your fates, you smile up at your king sweetly.
"It may have worked once, my king, but I do quite enjoy the mortals alive as much fun as they are when they get down here. And just as we need one another, my mother needs me." Your hands bunch the front of his tunic to pull him into a passionate kiss.
He obliges, leaning down slightly, letting you kiss away his sorrows for at least the moment.
Pulling back from the kiss, you step away from him, holding his hands now instead as you smile up at him.
"Hobie, my heart. Just a ichor flows through my veins. Your name is engraved in my heart. For my love for you is endless and always. For you allowed only once for tears to claw down my cheeks, for the golden blood in my veins to boil so hot with trepidation that even the sharpest thorns burned as they tangled around me, frenzied in my attempts to free myself from the anguish. You watched as Ichor bubbled from my skin and pooled in my hands like molten lava burning and poisoning everything in its wake, and you made me a queen, your queen. Took me against my will only to show me a freedom I'd never even dreamed of. You saw me for not what I was but who I could be, and for that, I will return to you in just six months. For that, I will always return to the place I now call home and the man who made it so."
You make this vow to him the same as you have done before. Tears pooling in your eyes that you refuse to let drop. You are not saddened to return above, missing the sun and those you called family, but to leave behind your heart to the cruel loneliness that comes with being king of the dead, a title not taken but forced.
You hold back a sigh, feeling him squeeze your hands. You open your eyes, not even realizing you had closed them.
One of his hands comes up swiping away your tears before they had the chance to drop.
"Persephone, my world. You have the ability to turn the darkest shades a blaze. The coldest places warm. And you are my own personal sun. You shined your light across our realm and showed me a world I'd never seen before. Just as one plucks a pretty flower, I saw you that day as tears streaked your face and anguish soured your soul but still your head was held high even as ichor drizzled your arms like honey, for the first time I'm sure. And I knew you had to be mine. If not, then at least my kingdom's for you deserved a status befitting the power you displayed in your darkest moment. I will forever be grateful you took the Pomegranate seeds from the fruit I bore, even if it was just due to hunger. Without you and the love you bring, I'd have been lost in the darkest corners of my kingdom, never to see what could have become of it. You will always have a home here...for everything, including myself, belongs to you here."
A passionate tension fills the air around you. It is as if only the two of you exist in this moment. Fingers entwined the same way your souls are. You hold each others gaze, neither willing to break the tranquil moment.
"Awwwwwwww, aren't you two just the cutest! Almost makes me sad to separate you buuuuut i am the messenger god, and my message just so happens to come in the form of the goddes of spring to one waiting and sorrowful mother!" Pavitr playful voice cuts the tension in the air with ease. He sits on the ledge you'd been looking out on, smiling brightly as you both turn to him with amused looks.
Hobie huffs, slipping from your grips to greet his friend with a playful shove before pulling him into a hug. "Pav, always good to see you."
Hobie playfully looks back at you before stage, whispering to Pavitr. "How much to get you to leave Persephone here and swear you never saw them. I mean also being known as the god of tricksters...." He's got his arm over Pavitr's shoulder, both facing you with matching grins as Pav pretends to think on it.
You shake your head, smiling at their antics. "Come now, Pav. Before the King gets us in trouble." You reach out your hand, and Pav is quick to fall into step with you looping your arms as you lead the way.
"Sorry sir, but an orders an order, and I could never reject a request from the goddes of spring, almighty ruler of the underworld. As you know, what Persephone wants..." Pavitr teases snickering along with you as you look at Hobie expectantly.
"...Persephone gets. yes, I know. I'm the one who started that." Hobie rolls his eyes with a fond smile, as you beam standing tall with mock arrogance before walking away with elegance, leaving behind the echos of your laugher and the smell of fresh floral earth.
Just as you leave his view and the shadows seem to darken, he feels the gentle caress of something winding up his arms, and the smell of flowers and fresh spring air surrounds him the same way the shadows had comforted you.
He looks down to see thin, leafy vines curled around his forearms similar to the arm cuffs he typically wears. Smiling as the scent of home surrounds him, he disappears into the shadows of the gazebo already anticipating your return.
