Long, long, long ago... Post-Creation, Pre-Olympian Era

[nyx__dot__com]

Nyx did not approve.

When Styx had begun seeing more and more of the Titan, appearing on the surface world, of all places, Nyx had not approved.

When Styx had brought her beau, Pallas, to meet her and Erebos in an official capacity, Nyx had not approved.

And when Pallas had asked permission to marry her daughter Nyx had not approved

Comments

[erebos_dotcom]

Erebos snorted. "Of course he isn't worthy of her. No one would be. But he is who she wants. If you decided not to allow this union, she would find her own way of taking it.

"Pallas is right to ask us, and I suspect that Styx even wants our blessing. But it is not required, in her mind. Styx wants; Styx will have. It has always been this way."

He was right. Their child was indomitably stubborn. Reaching out and thumbing the hollows of his wife's shoulders, he looked down at her.

"As for the wings of happiness... I would expect you to say something like that about Clotho, but not about Styx. She is not one to take and love, and cast away moments later. She is ferocious about those things she cares for, and she has never shown the vacillation of love that some of our other children have.

"Couple this with the fact that she would never break her own oaths, even if her love for the titan did wane after time, I cannot see how this marriage could be anything other than solid and firm.

"As for understanding... Can you say that I truly understood you, when we first began? Or that you understood me? Understanding takes a very long time. They will have that.

"Nyx. If you stand in the way of this joining, Styx will find her own way around you. And she will despise you for doing it. Is that what you want?"

[nyx__dot__com]

Nyx settled a glare on her husband as she stood in silence for several moments. Delicately, one by one, she lifted each hand from each of her shoulders and set it down by his side.

"I assure you, Erebos, that despite your confidence in Styx's steadfastness, Fate has a funny habit of making anyone capable of surprising you given enough time.

"And is that what you want? For this marriage to be solid and firm even if her love for this Titan to 'wane after time?'"

Though Erebos' assertion about oaths did give Nyx a thought... they did give Nyx a thought indeed. Perhaps there was a way to assure that Styx would only be stuck in this mess for as long as she was confused enough to think it was best for her to be so... perhaps... perhaps her little river would like assistance in writing her vows.

Nyx put that away for now.

"And," she added, "do not compare them to us. We were literally made for each other, ordained by Creation and the Universe to be together."

Her silence did not take away from the obviousness of the rest of her thought - if Erebos and Nyx were meant to be together, Styx and Pallas certainly were Not.

What was not obvious was the tiny little voice that protested that she and Erebos didn't understand each other so well as they both liked to think, anyway.

But she would say none of that. She was agitated enough that she'd said as much as she had.

Nyx waved the entire discussion away, and turned back to her rosebush, her eyes closing, pain etched on her face. It was true that if she stood in the way, Styx would inevitably find some other means of getting what she wanted. Her little river was a grown goddess, empowered to make decisions of this kind on her own. And Styx would, indeed, hate her for standing in the way. Accidentally, Nyx squeezed the stem of a rose too hard, and her eyes flew open as she hissed her protest almost inaudibly as the thorns made little punctures in her palm.

[erebos_dotcom]

Damn it.

Pulling her again from the blasted plant, he took her injured hand into both of his and turned it into the moonlight. The tiny drops were black in the light, but he knew their true color. Gently, his fingertips brushed the liquid aside, and he brought her hand up to his lips to kiss the breaks in her skin.

"Not everyone is as lucky as we are, Nyxie," he murmured against her palm. She was resistant, but he pulled her to his chest anyway and tucked his chin over her head. His little wife.

Sighing once, he scooped her up into his arms (and though she half-heartedly flailed, he ignored it), then walked to the nearest bench, where he sat down with her. His arms were steel, keeping her from sliding out of his lap when she wanted to.

"Do not run away, Nyx," he murmured, his voice turning softer. "This marriage will happen. Whether you want it or no. Do not make it hard on her. Do not make it hard on our family. There is little reason to do so. If Styxie were here, she would tell you to stop trying to swim upstream."

He did not try to soothe her with his words. His hands stroked their paths down her sides, against her hips, and up to her stomach. As he felt her will to leave his lap drain away slowly, he let his hands explore all-too-familiar territory, territory that never, never would be uninteresting to him.

"Give your blessing," he said in her ear. "Give it. There are other ways. They are not as easy, and all end in roughly the same place. For this, the easier path is better."

[nyx__dot__com]

Treacherous beast.

Her eyes rose to his, and she knew that she had lost. It was unbearable, was this. The entire situation. His lack of support, her inability to make anyone understand what should be, her lack of will when he touched her.

"What if he will not make her happy, Ere?" she said, trying to regulate her breath even as she shifted under his hands to allow him better access to her. "Not for long... not forever."

But she knew it didn't matter. She knew that ultimately, he was right - at least in saying that her resistance would only cause pain... that this would happen regardless of her wishes.

His words in her ear, his breath on her neck, sent a shiver through her skin and throughout her.

"I only want her to have the best," she breathed, her hand sliding inadvertently to the side of his neck.

[erebos_dotcom]

Nodding as he looked down to her, turning his head a little to shove out the air from the curve of her palm and the curve of his neck, he answered:

"I know you do. Right now, Pallas is that. Anything - anyone - else would hurt her, and possibly others. Pallas is who Styx needs right now, who she wants, and who she should have. Do you want to take that from her?"

With a sigh, he tightened his arms about his wife's waist, kissed her hair, and shook his head.

"If Fate, as you mentioned, has other plans, they will come to fruition when the time is right. Now it is time for Pallas and Styx. Do not try to change that. It will not go well. He will make Styxie happy. He already does. Faith, my love."

When she opened her mouth again, he met it with his own, kissing her long and deeply. He loved his Nyx, but sometimes she could be downright difficult.

Kissing always made it easier.

[nyx__dot__com]

Infuriating, the way he made her turn to a puddle with his mouth. And she did return the kiss - her mouth against his, nipping at his lip. As tempting as it was to melt into his arms, she squirmed in his grip, maneuvering until her legs were on either side of his hips, and she was pushing against him. She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled rather ungently, ultimately breaking the kiss so that her lips could descend to his neck. Tasting, kissing, biting, she ascended to his ear where she murmured, her breath tickling his skin,

"I do not like it, my Ere."

She nipped his earlobe.

[erebos_dotcom]

Settling his hands on her waist, he urged her gently on, loving the sensation of her mouth against his skin. For a few moments, he forgot all about the guests in their home. Who cared. This was his wife. When she whispered what she did in his ear, he shook his head.

Obligations of hosts.

Dragging himself away from her, or rather, dragging her away from him, he stood carefully, and shifted uncomfortably. This would be . . . fun.

"I am sorry for that," he said sincerely. "Some things are not for us to like."

But when he put his hand out for her to take, his eyes promised that later, when the guests were gone, they would finish what they had begun.

And Erebos always. Kept his promises.

[nyx__dot__com]

Flushed and frustrated, very little had occurred to improve Nyx's mood. She felt as ineffectual as before, and now physical frustration was added into the equation. With impatient hands, she straightened her chiton and rearranged her hair.

She did not want to go back into that room, to smile, to feign interest and approval where there was none. The Titan and his parents, Styx and a smattering of her siblings (though Lachesis and Atropos were notably absent - Clotho could never be kept from a family gathering under any circumstances).

"Make my excuses for me, Husband. Tell them I am overwrought with joy, or maternal pride, or some such." Once again she waved her hand.

[erebos_dotcom]

"Mm," he said.

He waited a beat. Another. Then frowned once and turned away, heading back toward their temple. He was disappointed in her.

[nyx__dot__com]

Nyx's eyes widened as Erebos frowned at her. Turned away from her. Oh, she could read the insufferable beast's body language, all right.

It had to be Erebos'. Way. Every. Time.

There was No. Other. Perspective. Nothing else. To Consider.

There were Two. Ways.

Erebos' Way. And. The Wrong Way.

Already, she would have to accept this farce of a marriage. Already, she had been unable to make him understand without having to reveal the work of Fate what was afoot. Already he had teased her into thinking she would have a viable means of getting out her aggression, and now he wanted to go tend guests - and on top of that, he wanted to frown at her?!

An acorn pegged him - hard - in the back of the head. The trajectory made it impossible for it to have fallen out of a tree, and well they both knew it.

When he slowly turned around to look at her, her arms were folded and she shrugged her shoulders at him.

[erebos_dotcom]

Erebos stopped. And. Stood.

Slowly. He turned.

An eyebrow shot upwards, but he did not say. anything. Or show anything in his face.

Just as slowly, he crossed his arms over his chest. And stared Nyx down.

[nyx__dot__com]

Nyx returned his stare, but her expression was not the impassive stone wall that her husband's was. Her look might almost have been inquisitive, if not for the bit of a smirk that played about her lips belied by the challenge in her eyes.

"These gardens are tricky, Ere. Sometimes it seems as though the flora has a mind of its own."

She shrugged again, almost innocently.

"I understand that plantlife can become very agitated around stubborn, oafish gods who infuriate their wives. Try not to take it personally."

[erebos_dotcom]

Erebos checked his nails. Glanced at his wife. Then turned on his heel again and marched toward the temple.

If she would not do her duty, then someone needed to pick up her slack.

[nyx__dot__com]

Aghast, and now infuriated beyond measure, Nyx watched Erebos' departure, clenching her fists so tightly her nails cut into her palms.

She would never win with him. Never. And she knew it. It had always been this way - and it always would be, wouldn't it? Such was her lot.

Frustration upon frustration layered on top of each other, until finally, the very sight of the temple, of the gardens, of the Underworld itself was too much to bear. Nyx's wings sprouted out of her back, and silently, she took off, ascending out of the Underworld and into the mortal realm for a while.

[erebos_dotcom]

As he approached the temple he and his wife shared, he felt her departure from the Underworld.

Now she was really beginning to irk him.

He took long strides into the temple, greeted their guests again, and did what his wife would not.

But he was displeased. Very. Displeased. that he had to do this alone. His wife should be here.

Hopefully, Styx would not take offense.