ᴘᴇʀꜱᴇᴘʜᴏɴᴇ

@-aintnosin 
            
            “What?” She looked up at Persephone, seeming to almost freeze when she realized what she said.” No-… Nothing happened. I’m fine. I brought my painting supplies so I can teach you.” She tried to change the subject. 

@sunnyruler 
            Persephone smiled when she came in... but felt her crown wilt when she took notice of her state, "What happened?"

@MoonlitPoppies- 
            "Mama knows plenty about survival." she replied, leaning back to the back counter of the bar, "Guess she knew what her little Kore was going to get herself into.." she pulled the silver flask from the chest of her dress, opened the cork and taking a drink, "The music is nice... I quite enjoy it, especially more than the machinery which gives me such a splitting headache.  But... in the end... I am still queen... I am still his." her hand lifted slightly, touching the edge of the golden choker that hung around her neck... beautiful, glimmering, made of beautiful refined gold and shimmering jewels... but a reminder, much like the ring on her finger, that she belonged to her husband... bound to him.

. ݁ ˖【 @-aintnosin 】. ݁ ˖
            
            
            Thalassa’s smile softened, the faintest shimmer of moonlight catching on her lashes as she tipped her head toward the glass Persephone had set down.
            
            “Sounds like your mother knew a thing or two about survival,” she said, a quiet note of admiration threading through her words. “Take what you can get, shape it into something worth keeping—gods or mortals, that lesson never gets old.”
            
            She let the jazz hum fill the space between them for a beat, then traced a slow circle on the bar’s polished wood.
            “But don’t sell yourself short,” she added, eyes meeting Persephone’s with a steady warmth. “A wheel might keep turning, but it doesn’t sing like this place does. The line may roll for Hades, but this music? This light?”
            
            Thalassa lifted the glass in a small salute. “That’s you. No factory line in the world could pour a drink with this kind of life.”

@MoonlitPoppies- 
            Persephone sets the drink down, laughing a little, "That's because my mama always said... take what you can get... and make the most of it." by the flush of her cheeks, it was clear the goddess was willingly tipsy, likely by the drink in her flask that was infamous to gods for tasting like rubbing alcohol and could drop any mortal to their knees, "And the underworld does not bend for me... it bends for my husband... I am simply a part of the wheel that keeps the factory line rolling."

@sunnyruler 
            "I was not calm... came out feet first, and according to my mama, grumpy it took so long.  She said from then I was like a little storm, said I got it from my father... and I was hands first in the dirt from the time that I could crawl around and spent the other part of that clinging to her like a vine." she smiled, "I... only slowed when I married... when my husband pulled me down below..."

@-aintnosin 
            
            “That’s amazing. I’ve never even thought about that sort of thing, honestly. Gods and humans seem to be different in a lot of ways, but also so alike. My mother said I was a very calm baby until I could crawl. Once I could move, I never stopped.” She chuckled softly.” They put me in dance lessons when I was young just to try to keep me entertained. I’d go swimming in the streams nearby or ride my horse to what felt like the ends of the earth. I never slowed down until my brother got sick.”

@sunnyruler 
            "Thats.... a sweet thought." she said, a slight sigh in her voice, "I always wondered what it could be like... my mama said that when the child carries the blood of gods... you can feel the tiny form react to your power and that their own reacts with yours... said i used to roll like mad when she was aiding the earth in it's growth... said I made the fruit ripen sweeter the harvest I was born in..." she chuckles to herself, "I was restless as a baby... restless now too... my mama was just mad because I made her kneel over in the middle of the day rather than waiting until the harvest was done."

@-aintnosin 
            
            “Thank you. I think I’ll be back soon.” She smiled. The woman took the receipt, her brows furrowing just slightly as she tried to remember if she had already paid the tab. Regardless, she tucked the receipt into her pocket as she turned to leave. 
            
            She was at the door when she paused and turned to look back at Persephone. Her eyes followed the woman’s gaze to the man who was seemingly there on the stairs. She squinted a bit, trying to make out the figure in the shadows. But when Persephone turned away, so did Aurinko.” Goodnight…” The goddess’s name died once more on her lips as she tried to bid her goodnight. Would she learn? Eventually, surely. For now, she just ducked out the door. 

@sunnyruler 
            She nods, “That’s smart… there might be a settlement a few miles from here.  There are usually some people who are more then willing to give a room for cheap, some who’ll trade some laundry or dishes for a room.” She hands her a receipt… as if Aurinko had already paid the tab, even though she likely never paid it…
            “Have a good night, miss.” She said, leaning on the bar… her dark eyes looking up and meeting the man who now leaned on the railing around the upper part of the stairs.  His eyes flicked for a moment… more shadow than visibly man, hidden almost like it was a trick of shade and dimly lit bar.  Persephone’s eyes lifted, meeting his… before turning to the bar to pour another drink

@-aintnosin 
            
            Aurinko chuckled at the… joke? She didn’t quite understand it, but she just assumed it was something lost in translation. She didn’t understand a lot of things from other cultures, given her sheltered upbringing. 
            
            “I’ll come back to listen. You and I have a lot in common, I think. Even if our lives are wildly different. I’ll always be someone to talk to, about your husband, about the bar, about anything. It’s the one thing I’m good at.” She smiled softly. 
            
            “I should get going before it gets too much later…” She seemed reluctant to leave, but she knew she couldn’t stay.” I’ve got to find somewhere to spend the night still.” She swirled what little was left of her drink.

After one particularly rough cycle, the king and queen came up with an idea... a pocket of life and death... a space between worlds... 
            
            Peresphone could drown herself in alcohol and meddle in the affairs... 
            And Hades could continue his work, there were deals to be made, riots to quell, walls to build, and papers to sign after all... unbothered by the antics of his queen and still binding her to him by the contract they signed the moment he offered the bar to his queen...
            
            And thus... they became the unsettling owners of the bar... an overzealous bartender no mortal can speak the name of... calling her every name but her own..
            and the one who sits in the upstairs office... who has one single table held for himself,  tucked in the only space in the room that allows you to survey the whole room at once.  Dominoes remain set, but not to be touched by any patron
            
            The only one allowed to sit across him is her.  And she brings two drinks and sits for a game or two... 
            Before his work continues... and she drowns him out by pouring more wine

The young queen learned to trust... learned to love her king who built the world under her feet... the king of the mines showering her in more gold, jewels, and iron beauty than she'd ever laid eyes on... 
            Even when he tricked her over a game of dominoes... offering her a seed of pomegranate between games and never questioned why they stained her mouth red.   
            
            So thus began the cycle, of the seed and the sickle, the lives of the people, and the birds in their flight.  And when the song fell silent on the lips of the king, who wrapped a chain around her throat, made of gold and precious jewels... shackled her wrists with silver... and bound their union with a golden band... 
            
            And so the queen found her escape, though if any asked she didn't remember when it had begun.  She found ways to drown and stir memory in her gin... in her wine... and made the shades remember and forget, as if it was a game for her to play, she'd fill the cups of the mortals in the world above until they overflowed.
             
            and she always returned to her king at the end of the summer... and left him each spring

//im late but I absolutely adore this so much, please?