Hades

angel

Stella

My head rested on his chest. He was stroking my skin with his fingertips, leaving a weird sensation in its wake. It wasn't goosebumps, but it somehow felt like it, yet didn't.

Hades pressed his palm to my skin. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. I felt sated and comfortable. And loved. Most of all, I felt loved.

Hades raised an eyebrow, and I smiled up at him. "You sure know how to make a girl exhausted from physical activity."

He laughed his throaty laugh. "At least it's just exhausted, not dead."

"Hades!" I admonished.

"Sorry," he said. "I've just hear it so many times 'I did my best at the running thing, but it ended up killing me'."

"You're so morbid, and it's been so long since you've been that."

"Occupational hazard, sweetheart."

I smiled. "Why do you call me that?"

He shrugged. "Don't you like it?"

"As long as you don't call me angel." I said and snuggled closer to him.

"What's wrong with angel?"

I caught his hand in mine and looked at his long, slim fingers. "I just find it weird. I'm no angel. I've done bad shit, we all have. And I don't have wings. Do angels even exist?"

"Nope," Hades said. "But I like the idea of them. It's sweet, in a way, and oddly disturbing. The nickname I do like."

"So, I've known a few Mexicans to be named Angel, that doesn't seem weird, when you use it as a nickname?" I asked.

"Maybe," he said and pulled the comforter up to cover our nakedness. "Remember, I've heard and seen a shitload of names. If I kept referring back to people with the same name, I'd have most of humanity covered in each name."

"Isn't there names which are few and far between?" I asked.

He shook his head, a wide smile on his lovely mouth. "Remember, names which may seem foreign in the US can be very regular in Europe. Names in China which may seem a bit odd may be perfectly natural in Vietnam. Names are a funny size. I have yet to meet someone named Hades."

"Have you ever, when being on earth, seen the cartoon of Hercules?" I asked.

"I haven't been on Earth the past, I don't know, two hundred years. There have been so many wars, and I'm tired of wars."

I smiled. "So, this cartoon was about the myth of Hercules. And Hades is present as he hates Hercules, damn it's been ages since I've watched that. The Hades figure is gray, his hair is blue flames which turns into regular colored flames when he's mad. And he lives in a cave like thing, with these two helpers, who are dumb as a doornail."

Hades smiled. "I've seen many representations of me. Once I had longer hair, long beard and wore a toga. It changes. We change with time, all the Gods."

I nodded. "Have you curly hair, like, naturally?"

He smiled. "It's wavy, though my beard is curly."

"Why are you clean shaven now?"

"Because I like it." He said. "Do you like it?"

I nodded and caressed his handsome face.

"I'll take tomorrow off," he said. "See what you're up to all day."

I rolled my eyes.

Hades rolled unto his back, and I snuggled into him.

"Sleep tight, sweetheart," he said. "Sweet dreams."

"You too," I muttered.