Aphrodite tilted her chin upward, her golden hair catching the faint glow of the underworld's ever-burning torches, and said with a bright smile,
"Do you know how frustrating you are, Hades? Any other god would fall to their knees if I so much as looked at them the way I look at you, yet you sit there, scowling at your papers, pretending I'm nothing more than an annoyance."
Hades didn't even glance up, his pen scratching against parchment as though she hadn't spoken at all. "That's because you are an annoyance. And a distraction. One that refuses to go away even when told to."
Her lips curved wider, amused. "If I truly bothered you, you would have cast me out the very moment I stepped into your fortress. Yet here I am, walking these halls, visiting your office, and you never stop me. Tell me, is that neglect, or is it because you secretly don't mind my company?"
