𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐕𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄 ➤ 𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆

xv. lost in the moment

"That's a load of work again, your Majesty." Electra nodded towards the mountains of paper piled on Hades' table.

"And that I am perfectly used to," he mumbled absent-mindedly, scribbling and signing like there was no tomorrow.

Electra felt sympathetic toward him. She always did. Hades was like a son to her, and even though he never admitted it loudly, he saw her as a mother.

It bothered her to see him overworking. He had no time to rest or take care of himself, work and keeping the Underworld balanced and safe were always his priorities.

"Your Majesty, what about you give yourself a day off?" she suggested all of a sudden.

He gave a snort. "I don't need a day off, I've got to work and keep this realm balanced until the day
I die, even though that's highly improbable since gods never die —"

"Hades." she gave a deflating sigh.

He snapped his head up in surprise. She rarely called him by his name, it was always 'your majesty' or 'my lord' and 'sire', but never Hades.

But he was sort of relieved to finally hear her refer to him by his name proving that Electra was one of the few but closest and trusted people in his life.

"Oh, I'm sorry,"

"No, it's alright." Hades reassured her.

"You're tired and need a rest. It's time to have a day off."

Hades looked at her incredulously. "If that were the case, who'll sign these papers? Who'll do all my workload?"

"Well, Charon and Thanatos can. And besides, you could ... spend the day with Lady Persephone," she replied. The mere mention of her name caused Hades to quickly rise from his seat.

"What would I do without you, Electra?" Hades gave a sigh and smiled at her. She couldn't reply instantly, so instead, he hugged her tightly. So tight that he practically lifted her feet off the ground before setting her down and leaving the room.

He was expecting to knock on her bedroom door and ask her to join him for a morning stroll. But before he could reach there, he passed by the main balcony in the long hall leading to her room and there, he saw her, sitting on one of the chairs and reading something.

Hades felt his cheeks warm and quickly tidied his messy hair before slowly approaching her and greeting, "Hello."

Her head snapped up in surprise, and an audible sigh of relief was heard from her. "You scared me."

"Sorry," he winced and laughed softly at the scroll she was holding. "I see you're reading another one."

"And I see you're not busy?"

"Electra convinced me to take a day off, to be frank, that's something I haven't done for quite a long time."

"Could you stay with me, please?" Persephone said quietly, like she was afraid of him leaving.

Hades lowered himself on a chair beside her. "Of course,"

"You should've heard Thanatos' joke earlier. I didn't find it funny, though."

"Really now? Let me be the judge of it."

"He said you sleep like the dead," Persephone said, giving him a serious and slightly concerned look.

"Do I?" he humored her.

"You do, after all, you are the king of the dead," she muttered, but after a few seconds, she started grinning at how stupidly funny the joke was, eventually letting out a laugh.