“Would having my brother’s children be so bad?” Hermes frowned at her.
Ariadne sighed heavily. Men. “First of all, you’re not the one squeezing a watermelon out of your genitals. Second of all, no children are better than unwanted children.” She paused to see if any of this had sunk in. He was grimacing but nodding. Ah, Ariadne was growing fond of him. So many positive signs of the ability to learn.
She stopped walking. He stopped as well, rocking back on his heels. “Thirdly, my twin was the Minotaur.”
Chapter 13
“I HAVE THE SAME BLOOD in my veins as him. I have no idea what that would do to any child I have. A child that had the long lifespan of a demigod and the pain of being outcast? A child that is a monster, hungry for human flesh and near unkillable? I don’t want to bring either of those things into the world, or any variation possible.”
“You’ve had this conversation before, huh.” Hermes concluded when they began walking again.
“Sort of. He never asked if I wanted kids.” Ariadne admitted, trying to gloss over it.
Hermes gave her a soft look, as if he could see her insecurities. “He’s probably thought about what might happen to his children as well. His childhood was...not the best.”
Demeter puts a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from walking into her. “That’s the understatement of the century. Hello, Ariadne.” She smiled at Ariadne with too many teeth. The goddess could never seem to remember how many mortals had. Forty? Fifty? Something like that.
“I’m surprised you use my name. I expected to be referred to what I am to you. Canning slave.” She returned dryly and was rewarded with Demeter smiling with, oh that hurt her brain, even more teeth.
“That can be arranged.” Demeter agreed.
“Please don’t. Dionysus has been in a weird mood lately.” Hermes said slightly desperately, “You know how he can get.” He added with a sideways look and hand gesture.
Demeter sobered up, seeming to catch the unmentioned reference. “I see. You can tell me more about it inside. We’re due for rain soon.” She added with a glare upwards.
ARIADNE’S threatened escape attempt was cut short by Persephone being at Olympus saying her yearly farewells. Demeter as it turned out was also on her way to Olympus, and she had not been expecting any visitors.
“It’s not as if I received any notice about it before hand.” Demeter said reprovingly, over the rim of her wine cup.
Ariadne winced. “I’m sorry. I can stay somewhere else.”
Demeter waved her off. “It’s not that I mind you being here, so much as I would have preferred to be here as a host. My business on Olympus is unfortunately, business and cannot be avoided. I need to talk to Zeus about his so called rainstorms.” She smirked at Ariadne, suddenly amused. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave you here alone with the spiders.”
Ariadne cringed and took o gulp of Demeter’s Olympian wine. “I understand. Thank you for letting me stay here.”
Demeter rolled her eyes. “Just invite me to the wedding when you two get your shit together.”
Hermes came back into the room from a suspiciously long bathroom break, smiling like a satisfied canary. “I wouldn’t bet on that being for a while. They both have commitment issues.” He confided in the older goddess, taking a seat next to Ariadne.
“How many kids versus wives do you have again?” Ariadne asked pointedly, pouring herself another cup of wine.
Demeter cackled, kicking her bare feet up on the table. “Nothing wrong with a few babies on the wrong side of the blanket.”
“Sure.” Ariadne agreed, feeling mellow as the wine started to hit. She poured Hermes a drink, handing it over without further comment. She felt bad for the messenger god, honestly. He was overworked and frequently drawn into the weird shit other gods generated. Being a parent on top of all that with way, way too many kids had to be anxiety inducing.
He took the offered cup, drinking deeply before asking, “How do you not have a higher tolerance for drink?”
“How would I get Olympian wine?” Ariadne questioned, blinking slowly. “I have a good tolerance for mortal wine. Good enough, at any rate.”
Hermes set his cup down. “You are practically attached at the hip to the god of wine.” He emphasized with both hands, eyebrows crunched together.
She grinned at him, putting her chin on her hand. “He is. That means he likes all wine, not just the stuff on Olympus.” Ariadne caught herself having the urge to giggle and fought it down.
Demeter looked up, then frowned into her cup. “I need to get going.” She stood, patted Hermes on the head, patted Ariadne the same way and left.
Ariadne resisted the urge to have more of the wine. She suspected getting drunk around Hermes would lead to committing some kind of crime. Or she’d open her mouth again and horrify him some more. It was a fifty/fifty chance.
“Why do you look nervous?” She tilted the wine in her cup idly.
“You’re not going to hit on me are you?” He looked at her from the corner of his narrowed eyes.
Ariadne snickered. “You realize I was threatening you earlier, right? I was planning on biting off your ear if you gave me shit, not reach for your dick.”
“That is both comforting and deeply disturbing.” Hermes seemed to cheer up despite his nervous words. He paused, his drink almost to his mouth. “My ear though?”
She smiled at him, knowingly. “Ears are sensitive without being life threatening. A pretty, mostly naked woman climbs into a man’s lap and gets close to his face. He’s not thinking about her teeth going through his ear. Doesn’t even cross his mind.” She set the wine cup down, putting temptation further away.
Hermes still hadn’t taken a drink, staring at her. He sets his drink down. “Right. Time for me to go wash my socks. Gotta go. Nice talking to you. I think.”
Ariadne waved one hand and he was gone before her hand finished the first motion. “What was that about? He wears sandals.” She asked the empty room, not expecting an answer.
Dionysus sank into Hermes’s vacated chair, likely still warm. “Hermes doesn’t handle realizing he misjudged a situation so well.” He explained, dragging the abandoned cup of wine toward him and drinking it in one smooth gesture.
“What, he really thought I was hitting on him?” She let the giggle out now, relaxing at the presence of Dionysus. She could smell flowers drifting from his floral wreathed crown.
He gave her a conspiratorial grin. “He definitely thought you were hitting on him. He was probably nervous because I told him if he hit on you I’d pull off his wings. And then he learned he should have been nervous but for a very different reason.” He poured himself another cup of wine, still smiling.
“You surround yourself with women famous for ripping people apart and thought you would date a meek woman?” Ariadne let the judgement creep into her voice. She deliberately didn’t address the conversational elephant in the room.
Dionysus shrugged, turning to put his feet in her lap. “I’ve never actually had more than a week long sex marathon relationship, so he was probably just going off his preferences towards girls with a secret kinky side.” Ariadne peeled his sandals off and dropped them to the floor. His dark violet toenail polish gleamed with perfection in the dim kitchen light.
With a hand around his ankle, she asked at last, “Are you ready to talk now?”
“I am.” Dionysus confirmed, wiggling his pretty purple toes at her. “Originally, I was going to have Hermes bring you back to Olympus to talk, but he pointed out Demeter’s place was closer to neutral ground. It worked out that Demeter was planning on harassing Zeus about the rain for some crop related reason anyway, so it’s just us.”
Ariadne hummed, falling silent, suddenly not sure what to say. He wiggled his feet in her lap. She traced the inside curve of his foot with a fingernail, hand tightening on his ankle when he tried to pull it away.
“No, stop, it tickles.” He tugged gently at his foot, grinn
ing at her. Obligingly, she stopped and let his foot go.
“Why did you stop?” Dionysus pouted, feet not moving from her lap.
“You asked me to.” She told him cheerily, grinning at his huff and sprawling backwards on his chair.
“I thought about what you said to me.” He said quietly.
Chapter 14
ARIADNE KNEW IMMEDIATELY he was referring to her list of complaints. She was also a bit too tipsy to safely get into that particular conversation, but didn’t want to put it off any longer either.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that was how it felt for you but I should have thought about it.” He sighed, arms flopping over the side of the chair to dangle limply. “I was trying to think of ways to do better when Hermes pointed out leaving in the middle of the argument and not coming back was...” He searched for a word and winced at his choice as he said it, “Cruel.”
Ariadne liked this apology. She clearly owed Hermes something nice. “Hermes apparently gives good advice. He’s right. Every time we ran into trouble, you run away and leave me alone. I don’t know what you want with me, Dionysus.” She sat his feet gently on the ground.
“I was your lover and then you don’t want me anymore physically. You brought your mother back and-” She hesitated, voice catching.
“And I spent less time with you, leaving you questioning why you’re hiding your identity for a man who doesn’t want you.” Dionysus filled in, staring at his bare feet on the floor.
“We’ll always be friends, I would never abandon our friendship.” She reassured him quietly, stomach churning.
His head snapped up. “I don’t want to be your friend.” He spat out.
Ariadne recoiled, mouth dropping open in shock.
“What I want,” He gritted out, poisonous green eyes glittering unnaturally bright, “Is for you to hold me tightly at night, to look at at me and see through my shit and love me anyway. The way you always do.”
Ariadne opened her mouth but Dionysus continued, seeming to build momentum. “I want you by my side, not disguised. As my wife. As my partner. Not just my friend.” He finished softly, searching her face.
“I love you Ariadne.” He breathed and Ariadne met him halfway for a brief kiss. She pulled back, feeling like she could float away.
Reality hit and the euphoria turned to dread. He loved her. Her mortality couldn’t make it anything besides a tragedy in the making.
“I love you too.” She tried to show how sincere she was, that it wasn’t an automatic, trite thing. His expression closed off.
“But what?” He asked, folding his arms and holding his elbows defensively.
“But I can’t- I’m not-” She sighed and just said it. “I’m going to die one day. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but one day I will. You won’t. I can’t break your heart.”
Dionysus looked away. “I know that.” His fingers tightened on his arms until the skin bulged around his fingers. “I know that.” He repeated quietly.
Ariadne stared at her lap, lost and not sure where to go from there. He already loved her. She loved him. Maybe...maybe he could visit her yearly in the Underworld, like Persephone did her husband Hades.
“But you don’t have to.”
She looked up. He was staring at a spot over her head, shoulders tight.
“What?” She blurted.
He dropped his gaze to meet hers. “I could have my father make you immortal. If you want.”
“Why would he agree to that?” Ariadne stood, suddenly unable to stay sitting and almost knocked over her wineglass when she swayed. Dionysus reached out, steading her with gentle vines of ivy and grape. The heavy lassitude of wine vanished.
He didn’t say anything, looking up at her through his thick eyelashes. She swallowed, tightness in her throat making it uncomfortable. “Your mother died because of him. He owed you both. I’m-” She stopped, not sure what to say. “I’m not someone he would care about enough to go back on his own rules.” She finished lamely.
Dionysus got up from his seat and pulled her into his arms, vines twining around them both affectionately. “He would if we were married.” He murmured into her ear. He pulled back with a familiar wicked gleam in his eye, adding thoughtfully, “Especially if the alternative is eternal sobriety.”
Ariadne blinked rapidly. He was serious. “Marry?” Weakly, “Me?” She dragged in a lungful of air. Then, not having enough air, she took another breath, this one shallower. The tight bands around her chest seemed to tighten instead of loosening. Another breath. Another. Her available air seemed to be getting less and less with every breath, leaving her gasping like a fish on dry land.
Dionysus tucked her into his arms and hooked his chin over her shoulder. “Breathe with me. Don’t worry, okay? Just breathe with me.”
He wasn’t the one being offered- no, don’t think about it, Ariadne told herself fiercely. She focused on breathing with him and moving past her panic attack. Breathing. In. Out. In. Out.
She felt his chest rise and fall and focused on the way she remembered it felt naked under her hands, or the memory of using it as a pillow and falling asleep to the thudding of his strangely slow heartbeat.
Eventually, Ariadne pulled back and buried her face in her hands. “Why would you offer me that?” She asked neutrally as she could, emotional exhaustion dragging her voice into roughness. It wasn’t like he didn’t have other options after all.
“Because I love you. Because you deserve more than handing your identity as Ampelos. I don’t want you to pretend to be a servant. I want you as yourself, as my equal.” Dionysus paused. “Because I realized these past days what it would feel like to live without you. I hate it.” He finished venomously, the shape of his pupils slitted like a snake’s.
Ariadne put her hands over her mouth and tried to think. “What if I screw it up?” Her eyes burned with tears, throat closing up rapidly, “What if I-”
Dionysus pulled her hands away and held them in his, kissing her knuckles. “I,” He reminded her pointedly, “Have screwed up quite a bit in my life. Even if you do, it won’t kill you.” He emphasized with a careful squeeze. “Take your time to decide what you want and I’ll give it to you.” He promised softly, pulling her back into a tight hug. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder, fingers trailing through the silver streak in her hair.
Soft enough it was almost inaudible, he added, “But not too much time.”
Suddenly, Ariadne knew what the next step was. “They say that drinking wine is to bring the god of wine into your body.” She reached out and brought her wineglass between them and took a deliberate sip, maintaining eye contact.
The smile that bloomed across Dionysus’s face was part smoldering heat and part delight. “Well, how am I to refuse such an offering?”
ARIADNE woke up to the sound of broken sobs. She peeled her eyes open and located Dionysus curled up half on her naked stomach.
“What’s wrong?” She rasped.
The crying stopped. Dionysus lifted his head to peer through his tangled mess of hair. “Ariadne?” His voice was even hoarser than hers was.
Ariadne blinked, and lifted her head further to peer around the room. The rest of the room came into focus. The dried sheen of fluids coated the sheets, most of it half clotted pools of blood. The bedding was rumpled up and tossed on the floor and vines crawled throughout the room, heavy with fat green grapes. Dionysus himself was naked, covered in bite marks, bruises and from what she had briefly seen of his back, deep scratches.
“Are you okay?” She sat up abruptly, dragging him closer to inspect his wounds. “What happened?”
He just shook his head, pulled her close and breathed unsteadily into her naked shoulder, tears hot on her skin. Obligingly, Ariadne held him back, terrified by the scene in front of her.
Or she tried to. His back was a mass of ichor filled cuts and what could only be called gouges. There was nowhere safe to touch without hurting him. “I can’t remember what happened. Did I... did I hurt
you?” She asked, voice cracking and hands starting to shake as she gingerly rested them on the back of his arms.
“Did you hurt me?” Dionysus laughed, short and bitterly. Ariadne’s heart dropped to the floor. He pulled out of the hug to look at her, expression softening. “Of course not. I, on the other hand am a fucking idiot.” He traced her shoulder like it was the softest of silks instead of sticky with blood.
Ariadne belatedly realized she was also covered in bruises and scratches. It just wasn’t immediately obvious because of the fact none of it hurt and the distraction of the clinging god.
“I’ll be the judge of that.” She told him firmly. “Tell me what happened.”
Dionysus wiped his eyes, smearing blood and eyeliner across his face and reached a hand out, touching her forehead. The alcohol clouded memories of the night before dissolved into crystal clear recall.
They had went back to her room and had sex, more wine, competitive ranked sex that had lead to more wine and then... “We brought your god powers into the bedroom.” Ariadne groaned. “We’re both idiots.” She thunked her head against his, foreheads touching. “But why would you think I died?”
“Because after you passed out, I did too. When I woke up it was to you bleeding everywhere. I mean, I was too but I’m immortal, it didn’t matter, but you almost died. All because I wanted to show off and give you on unforgettable night to apologize for being a thoughtless ass.” Dionysus took a deep breath, “But all I did was hurt you again. It feel like all I ever do.” He buried his face into her shoulder once more and began to cry again. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too. I agreed to it, despite knowing better...” Ariadne stroked his hair and stared up at the ceiling crowded with rustling leafy vines. “It was impressive though.” She tried to console him, the memory warming her sore body.
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