TW: Mentions of gender stereotypes, slightly??? s3x!st language, 0$tr@c!z!ng, [sewerslidal] thoughts, and [sewerslide] ideation.
Part 1/??? of a miniseries of extras I'm making called; Ruv's worries.
The Maximov(a) family were sitting on the floor and in a circle, playing Truth or Dare.
"Midget #2, truth or dare?" Selever asked.
"Truth." Melody replied.
"How do you really feel about sorceress-[bish]'s (aka Circe) daughter?" Selever asked.
"She's a great friend." Melody answered. "Also please don't call her mom a b-word."
'Oh c'mon!' Selever said in his mind. 'When is she gonna realize she has a crush on that girl?!?!'
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
"My turn!" Melody turned to her great-grandfather. "Praded, truth or dare?"
Krus was about to open his mouth to say truth, but realized that he's been picking truth in all his turns and that...maybe he should give dare a chance. It never hurts to try a new thing, right?
"Dare." Krus answered. "But please don't make me do anything too bad."
Melody mentally squealed. Her plan was working!
"It's not that bad, don't worry. I dare you to sit in the bathtub of one of the bathrooms with dedushka using the bath bombs me and mamachka brought last week."
Everyone turned to Melody with '[Bish], wtf?' written all over their faces.
"I'd be willing to do it." Krus said. "But only if Ruv wants to."
Everyone turned to Ruv, who sighed and relented. "Fine, but only because you want me to."
"Great!" Melody said. "But before you go, please socialize with each other for at least a minute."
"Alright." Ruv and Krus said in unison before walking off with Melody and Essie to go to the bathroom.
"Isn't that hypocritical for her?" Penelope asked. "She told praded and dedushka to have a conversation with each other, while she isn't into making friends that much and prefers to not socialize with others outside of the people she's already close and familiar with."
"Definitely." Everyone else replied.
***
That's how Krus and Ruv wound up sitting insilence in the bath tub of the bathroom in the latter's bedroom. Thanks to thebath bombs that Melody brought, the water was pink, and while Krus wouldn't admit it, pink was his favorite color, so he spent a lot of the time staring at the water and tuning out the world while Ruv looked everywhere except at his father.
"Pink is your favorite color?" Ruv asked, snapping Krus out of his thoughts.
"N-No!" Krus sputtered out. Growing up, he was always told that pink was a 'girl color' and that blue was a 'boy color', so whenever someone asked what his favorite color was, he'd lie and say it was blue because he didn't want to receive backlash and be 0$tr@c!z3d.
"You don't have to lie, y'know?" Ruv asked. "What color you like the most doesn't align with whether you're a [bish], a *bleep*tard or enby, and if it makes you feel better; Selever's favorite color is purple."
Rather than feeling disgusted, like he should've been, Krus felt relieved that he wasn't alone and couldn't help but snicker.
"Really?"
"Yes. But don't tell him I told you that. He gets aggressive."
Krus burst out into a fit of giggles. "I'll keep that in mind. I won't tell a soul."
Once he calmed down, he took a deep breath. "Since I'm not alone, I might as well just come clean and admit that, yes, pink is my favorite color."
"Knew it."
Ruv's leg started to fall asleep from kneeling too long, so he decided to stretch out his legs.
"Uh...son?" Krus had an expression of discomfort on his face.
"What?"
"Your foot. It's...it's touching THAT part of my body."
Ruv's eyes widened when he realized what his father was implying. "Holy [crap]! I'm so sorry!"
Ruv went back to kneeling, his face a periwinkle purple from embarrassment.
"It's alright, son." Krus replied. "Me and your mother were...in a somewhat similar position once, so I'm wasn't surprised."
"Really?"
"Yes. However, we were wearing our clothes, we were in bed, she was laying down on my chest, and it was her calf that was touching my...you know."
"Ah, alright."
After that, Ruv and Krus continued to chatter until they had nothing left to talk about and went back to being silent.
Krus looked at the water, then at the cabinet, where the first aid kit was, then back to the water.
Ruv, noticed this and, with Athena helping him by speaking to him in his mind, put two and two together and realized that...
"You're thinking of 0v3rdo$!ng on the Advil in our First Aid kit and then drowning yourself in the bathtub." Ruv thought and said aloud.
"No, I'm not." Krus lied. "What makes you think I'd ever think of, let alone do such a thing?"
"You're looking at the water and the cabinet back and forth, so I put two and two together." Ruv said. "Athena also told me via telepathy, so there's no use in lying."
Krus sighed. "Alright, you caught me."
"Why do you want to go through with it?"
"Why do you care?" Years and years of feigned composure and bottled-up feelings piled up and Krus found himself tearing up.
Ruv internally cringed at that. How is he going to make up for the months he's treated his own PARENTS like [crap]?
"I know it's hard for you to believe, considering how I've been treating you so far, but I don't hate you. Not anymore, at least. I don't remember when I started giving a living [crap] about you, but I did at some point. I've been denying it for days, weeks, months, because I didn't want to care, and it was just yesterday when I accepted that I DO care and I don't regret it.
The only things I regret involving our relationship was being a [dish]head to you two and assuming that you two were threats to us without getting to know you first and I'm so sorry for how I've acted towards you."
He took his father's hands in his and looked him deep in the eyes as he bit his quivering lip and tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Athena also told me how you're doing mentally, and what you think about yourself isn't true. NONE of what has happened recently and during the years you were gone is your fault. You are NOT worthless, or pathetic. You are NOT a failure, disgrace, or burden to us, to everyone around you. You are NOT a monster.
Yes, you make mistakes. Yes, there are times where you [funk] up, but that happens to everyone. No one, not even the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology themselves, is perfect, and that's fine. You shouldn't try to be perfect, because 'perfect' is impossible, and we are all born to be real, not 'perfect.'
I know I played a part in making things so bad for you to the point where you just wanna melt in d3@th's cold embrace and escape it all, and I'm sorry I did, but please. DON'T go through with it and talk to us about how you're feeling rather than bottling it up. We'll listen."
Krus shook his head, wanting to believe his son but at the same time not being able to. "You don't mean that. You're just saying what I want to hear."
"I'm not just saying it, papa." Ruv said. "I MEAN it. We're going to help you through this, I'LL help you through this. But only if you let us. I promise you that we WON'T leave you or back$t@b you. You'll NEVER be alone again. You'll NEVER be lonely again. You have-"
"Just cut the act!" Krus sobbed.
"I'm not-" Before Ruv could finish, Krus got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around himself before going to the room to change.
Ruv stayed there in silence for a couple seconds, wondering what he could've done better, before getting out of the tub and draining out the water.
***
"Ah, I see." Hestia said. She wore a beige, long-sleeved dress with a knee-length skirt and matching heels. On her head was a yellow headband.
"Have you spoken to him since then?"
"Unless it's really important, no." Ruv answered. "I haven't spoken to him in a month. What do I do?"
"Do something nice for him everyday to prove to him that you care." Hestia said. "You could start by baking his favorite cupcake for him."
"I guess I could try." Ruv said. "But I'm [crappy] at baking..."
Flashback...
"Happy birthday, Sarv." Ruv said, giving Sarv a strawberry cake.
"Aw! Thanks, Ruv!" Sarv proceeded to cut the cake, only for it to explode and get over to them.
"Ruv...I have a question for you."
"What?"
"Did you read it as 'baking powder' or 'gunpowder?'"
"..."
Flashback ends...
"I have to get ready for work now, and it's a 2-hour drive from here." Hestia noted. "I'll also be busy the rest of the month, so I'm not an option, but Demeter is. I'm sure she'd be glad to help you."
***
"No." A 12ft woman with long, blonde hair and brown eyes who wore a green, off-shoulder top, yellow jeans and black boots bluntly answered when Ruv had stepped into her abode and asked her to help him bake the cupcake.
"Why the [funk] not?" Ruv asked.
"You stole my sickle and your wife broke it." The woman said, her eyes glowing yellow as she glared at him. "No way in Tartarus am I helping you and your family after that."
"Demeter, please!" Ruv pleaded, which was rare for him to do. "Just this once, PUT YOUR [GOSHDARN] VENDETTA AGAINST US ASIDE AND HELP ME."
"No." The woman, Demeter bluntly answered. "Now [funk] off or else you'll suffer the same fate as Minthe."
Ruv didn't stand down. Due to being mentored by Athena longer than his mother and children have, he knew what to do in situations like this.
"What if it was you and not me?" Ruv questioned. "What if it was you who was in my position? What if it was one of your children or your husband who was in my father's position? Would you not do anything about it? Would you just stand there and watch them $vff3r mentally and struggle with [sewerslide] ideation?"
Demeter looked down and pondered on his questions for a moment before sighing and looking back at Ruv.
"Fine. Follow me to the kitchen."
"Tha-"
"Shut that mouth of yours before I change my mind, puny mortal."
Ruv sighed and rolled his eyes before following the goddess.