dance like waves along the wind {l.s.}

part 1

"Cerberus, come back please!" Louis called towards the three-headed dog that bounded off into the sprawling field of lillies and poppies.

While Cerberus stood at just over fifteen feet tall, and his teeth were three times that of a sabre-tooth tiger, his heads possessed a bit of otherworldly beauty and intrigue. The dog had the shiniest, onyx coat that was surprisingly soft to the touch and all six eyes held a playful, childlike, curiosity as he tilted his heads at Louis's command, although he did not move from his spot several yards away.

Louis sighed, fighting the urge to stomp his foot. He had promised Zayn that he was working on toning down his theatrics.

"Please, Cerb for me?" he batted his eyes at the gargantuan creature. "I promise I will make you three flower crowns later, but we're going to be late for dinner."

Cerberus let out a pitiful whine, before dropping his heads and meandering back to where Louis stood at the edge of the clearing.
Nudging Louis with his middle head, Louis couldn't help but give the dog scratches under all three chins.

"Who's the best pup in all of the land?" he cooed at the dog, cupping each face, one at a time. "You are, my pretty pet. Come now, I've heard that Zayn has made your favourite for dinner tonight."

Cerberus visibly perked at the mention of dinner and Louis bopped him on the head.

"Not that kind of dinner you sneaky minx. There will be plenty of Lost Souls for you to feast on tomorrow. Charon has closed the gate for today. He claimed he had a terrible migraine but I think he just wanted to sneak off to spy on his lover down on Earth."

Louis giggled at the thought of the decrepit, old man pulling such childish hijinks as Cerberus dutifully followed him back to the entrance to the Underworld.

"Hold on," Louis commanded gently before closing his eyes and taking a hold of Cerberus's collar.

"Lovely for you to make it on time," a deep voice boomed out and Louis opened his eyes to the expansive dining room, body still feeling like it was slowly spinning.

"Give it a rest Z. Cerberus deserved a walk after all his hard work today," Louis said, taking a seat at the opulent, onyx and ivory marble table.

"Cerberus is the most ferocious beast in all of the Underworld and can do what he pleases, whenever he pleases," Zayn said languidly from the head of the table, several feet away from him. "You just coddle him too much."

"Says the one who ordered his favourite mortal beef chilli for supper tonight even though Cerb is the only one who enjoys it," Louis countered, watching affectionately as Cerberus slurped the concoction ferociously from a bowl roughly the size of a small hot spring.

"Enough, I do not wish to speak of this anymore," Zayn waved his hand delicately to silence the matter, a mannerism Louis found that he only utilised when he was losing an argument.

"Fine," Louis acquiesced as he dug into his own meal. While gods didn't necessarily need regular food, they found that the taste was delicious and would often eat mortal food, just for the pleasure of it.

"How was your day then? Terrorize lots of guilty souls? Did the big, bad Hades cast judgement on those who deserve it and those who don't?"

Zayn snorted wryly as he speared a fingerling potato and plopped it in his mouth. "Something like that, yeah. I had our annual pre-Spring Solstice meeting today."

"Is that so?" Louis attempted to feign disinterest as he shovelled food into his mouth, hoping this would signal a subtle end to the conversation. Zayn wasn't the only one with tricks up his sleeve.