Right Down the Line

 Despite her better, (and bitter), judgment, Minthe remained in the temperate woodlands. Keeping to Elkshire's range most days by the grace of the queen, there were still times she found herself drifting closer to that forbidden forest. She blamed curiosity. Nostalgia.

 Laid out in the grassland situated between pack territories, the crimson woman watched as clouds gathered, thick and ready to weep. Her nose wrinkled when the first cold droplets began to fall, and she was thoroughly drenched by the time she managed to find meager cover among a set of bracken. 

 Even through the rain she could smell the Pantheon's border markers, a faint warning she knew she should heed. Instead, almost defiantly, she tucked further into the brambles, curling up to protect herself from the weather.

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^^

The rain purged any remaining traces of Minthe from his coat, even though they'd barely touched. He hadn't felt like was wrong At all. She'd been weak and needed help and he, as her King, had helped to provide for her. Minthe had assisted, so it wasn't like he'd just caught her a meal, and it had been pure charity.

Despite them both knowing better.

It was the rare occasion that he found himself closer to the borders overlooking the expanse Between Elkshire and Winterheart. The rain had begun to pick up from the light sprinkling be could feel in Winterheart from all of the trees and now in the open it was increased. Still, over the rain., he caught the scent of Minthe again and let out a soft sigh.

Tracking her didn't take to long, not when he knew her scent and she still vaguely smelled of his cigars and the perfume she always wore. “You're tempting fate, you know.” He said as he came to stand near where she had hunkered down. It wasn't on his land fully, but, it was close enough that the Queen would surely protest.^^

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 He came, of course. Some part of her knew he would. 

 Lifting her head, she regarded him, as much a king now as he was then, all tempered strength and easy regality. A stray drop of rain fell from a low-hanging branch onto her nose. Minthe sneezed, shaking her head, wet fur clinging to her emaciated form providing a look at the state of her in gruesome detail. She did her best to remain tucked, hiding how weak she was. 

 “Then tell me to leave. It wouldn't be the first time.”

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Whatever response he expected, it wasn't quite what she gave. She looked even worse off now than she had before and it made Hades' stomach twist, looking over her form before his gaze lifted to the skies above. The clouds opened and rain fell and he could only think back to times before - how many times had she goaded him under the fall of the rain, urging him on to outdo his brother's thunder?

Her twisting words brought him back and his eyes sought hers, narrowing for a moment. “Hm, still like when I'm bossy then?” He challenged, smirking at her. There was a gleam in his eyes and he wondered how she would respond then - how much fire was left in her after all?
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 Her eyes flashed, a vermillion gleam among the dormant foliage. “Don't flirt with me - I'll mistake you for one of your brothers.” As much as he was loathe to admit it, they were all related for a reason, and she'd known him long enough to recognize those impish, charismatic tendencies. 

 “What's got you strolling in this glorious weather?” Gods, she missed the indoors. What she wouldn't give for a roof and walls - she'd even take that impossibly dull excuse of an office at Underworld HQ.

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^^There she was - not to be mistaken for passive, Minthe was quick to put him on his ass. The King cocked a brow at her at her words. “I'd have to be much worse to match them. Zeus had already found a friend by the time I'd seen him.” No shock there - his youngest brother moved fast. It was a very fundamental difference between the two men and their particular styles.

Still, he knew what she was saying, and he wasn't flirting. Not like that.

“I go when I want to. It was just time to check the borders, nothing so exciting. And you ended up on my doorstep again.” The King intoned. She wasn't a fool. She could have been anywhere - gone and done whatever she had wanted to. She had wanted to stay close, even if it was just so he'd find her carcass and carry that pain. “If I didn't know you'd better I'd think you wanted to stay this close.” As if she had a purpose other than to make sure he didn't forget her.^^

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 Minthe huffed, glaring up at him then. “And by the time I'd found you, you already had a Queen.” If they were going to play that game then the least Hades could do was be honest with himself. How long had he been in this godsforsaken world before he was bending to the whims of that wheaten floozy?

 “I have an agreement with the Elk Queen. She has allowed me refuge on her land. It's not my fault it nearly borders yours.”

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^^He rolled his eyes at her then, shaking his head. “We aren't - we rule together, but we aren't married.” He wanted to be sure that she understood that. It had been a year already and still, he stifled his feelings overall. It was clear to the world however how he felt about Persephone. He wanted to say so much more but what could he? There was nothing to offer Minthe that wouldn't betray his emotions or the complexities of them.

“There is so much space between our claims and yet....here we are, and you are in my twigs, Minthe.” He was amused by that more than he was irritated by her actions. “But if Persephone finds you...well, I won't be able to save you then.” He warned.

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 That made her laugh. “Please, as if that little sprite could do anything to me.” Still, she dragged herself from the warmth of her make-shift den, stepping out into the rain. She was nearly nose to nose with him then, crimson eyes searching blue. 

 “Tell me to leave, Hades.”

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^^“You'd be surprised, Tadpole.” He could only warn her for so long - could only save her for so long before Persephone found her. And when she did.....well, there would be little that the King could do to save Minthe from the reality she had made. Minthe was determined often to make trouble for herself, and she always had been. It was part of the chaos she enjoyed, he assumed, but how could Hades know it was just the core of a complex tendency to self-destruct that was vastly different from his own?

She stood and squared up to him and even though she was offered some sort of grace by Elkshire it was clear they hadn't fed her or cared for her. Hades' displeasure was evident, looking down at his once lover. “You wouldn't even if I did.” They knew that. He knew her enough for that. “You always have to push me.” She wanted that power over him.

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 She held his gaze, steady and challenging - a starved nymph daring to provoke a king. 

 “Why aren't you hitched yet, hm? You two seemed sickening the last time I saw you.” Finding the yellow and lavender evidence of a bruise, she pressed. 

 She did push him, but most of all she pushed him away, for having him close scalded like a burn.

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^^She always knew how to hit hard.

He tried to steel his face but as well as she knew him there was a greater than zero chance that he was exposed. “Do you honestly think that someone like her should be stuck with someoene like me?” He asked after a lengthy silence. It pained him to admit it, especially to her, but what else could he say? 'I don't even know if she loves me like I love her? I can't must up the courage to tell her I love her?' All of his excuses sounded weak in his head but there was little else he could do.

He grit his teeth. He didn't need to open the well of his insecurities to her - not when she knew anyways. She had always known. ^^

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 “No.” She answered, unflinchingly, honestly. 

 Then, her voice softened and she stepped closer to him. “We've never been good enough for them, Hades.” As different as they were, their insecurities gleamed like a garish mirror. They reflected their doubts back at one another.

 It was a dysfunctional kind of camaraderie. 

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^^He flinched under her words, despite knowing the truth of them. She'd asked him once if they were supposed to be broken together - and his answer was honest. It was genuine. He wanted more than just to be broken. He wanted more than just to be miserable. The King sighed and his shoulders drooped a bit.

“Olympus doesn't deserve what the Underworld has to offer.” He said after a moment. He'd always felt that his people were stronger, rougher, more real than the pompous way that most of the Olympians acted. They were always so fake. Persephone, having been raised away from all of that, was different. She hadn't been corrupted by the inflated life and way the Olympians acted. “What are you going to do, Minthe?” Hades asked. He wasn't worried about right then but instead, thinking about the future. “You think those others are your type?”


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 “I don't know.” She said, the bony crests of her shoulders rising in a helpless shrug. The elk queen promised her a home - stable, if not happy. At least she wouldn't stave. Minthe knew that regardless of her own reservations, she could not continue to live a solitary existence and hope to survive. 

 “It's hard not to feel drawn to what's familiar.” To you. Allowing herself to admit that much as she turned to face the king again.

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Hades understood intimately that these admissions were hard for them. That even the slightest sort of concession was an immense struggle. Minthe had always had her pride, but, she hadn't always been hurtful. The addition of Thetis in her life had been the biggest marker - he could mark almost every fight with longer lengths of time with Thetis. But alone - well, Minthe softened enough with him to be honest. To speak clearly with him, to tell the truth.

“The forest is sprawling, and under it the tunnels are expansive. There is space for you to be safe but not......put upon.” He knew she wouldn't want to see him with Persephone, or honestly to interact much with the Queen at all. “Familiar is safer than the unknown sometimes.” He said gently, because he understood how that felt. The known evil was better than the unknown.

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 He danced around his own offer with the agility of a practiced politician. Minthe's tail flicked, bemused. 

 “Are you offering me a place within your pack, Hades?” Forcing him to say it straight, to be brave enough to speak the words or swallow them whole.

 She wondered, briefly, what the sprite would say, but could not find it in her to care.

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Her direct words made him smirk, a low laugh leaving his lips. “You just want me to say I want you.” He challenged. He knew at her core Persephone wouldn't like having Minthe around but Hades felt responsible for her. She was a nymph of the Underworld, one of his citizens, and as King he was only measured by the way that his lowest denizen lived.

“You would have a place to recuperate, but, you would need to make amends with the Queen.”

Although the King was being benevolent, he wasn't offering safety without a price either.

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 “No.” She said, biting and immediate, huffing out a brittle laugh. “I won't.” Moving past him then, she did not alter her path, pushing the King to the side with a solid brush of her body. “Go on and rule. I bet it feels even lonelier being surrounded by those that refuse to commit.” 

 She should know, she'd done the same thing to him time and time again. But he asked too much of her. She would never bow to Persephone.

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The feel of her body against his was immediate and charged - it was familiar but new like this and Hades for a moment was almost deaf to her words. He moved quickly, and it took no effort to knock her to her side and stand over her. Up this close he couldn't escape her at all. Blue eyes fixed on the garnet of her gaze, large paws on either sides of her head. “You will obey, Minthe.”

The tone he used then was one she'd heard before - but the context far, far different.
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 A yelp caught in her throat as she was knocked swiftly to the ground. The other wolf loomed over her, every bit the infamous god.

 Minthe did now cow. She arched, rolling onto her back, exposing her stomach in the process, but her tail remained untucked, limbs coming up on either side of him, eyes flashing like a jewel. 

 “Make me.”

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^^This had been a game many times. She had pushed and provoked him until he had chased her, primal arms seeking, teeth vicious sharp fangs, claws reaching and reaching for her - the memory was hard to forget. He let out a low breath as she turned, the urge to close his teeth over her neck so enticing. He snapped his jaws at her feet - anything that was close to him enough he could reach from his point standing over her.

“You never learn, do you Tadpole?” He asked, as lightening flashed off his gleaming fangs.


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 You're incorrigible, Minthe. Absolutely useless. You'll never learn.

 She stilled, stiff beneath the snarling beast, knowing in her bones he would never truly hurt her. “You always liked that about me.” The challenge, the constant hunt, a quarry that eluded him, only giving in when she wanted to be caught. 

 He came back, returning time and again for another chase, just as she was doing now. “Admit it.”

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She loved their chase just as much. Playing the cat and mouse game, where she would push and then play coy and just excite him further. She loved to play with the primal side of him, where there was no way to settle and soothe him. She wanted him pushed past his limits, only to break the expectations and find something new.

“As much as you like being controlled.”

Because that was just as much part of it, wasn't it? That she let him do what others couldn't. Letting him lead her and put her in the situations he wanted to, trusting that at the core of it all, he'd keep her safe. That he would protect her. That he wouldn't let her be truly in danger. “From me, you even long for it.”

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 “Liar.” She spat, not knowing which of them she was accusing. 

 Her body arched beneath him, wanting to feel that steady weight against her, but she bunched her muscles instead, finding purchase against his stomach as her paws shot out to push him up and off of her. 

 As weak as she was, she hauled herself up and lurched into the forest, wanting to see if he would chase her still.

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