The Immortal Heart

Chapter 15

Hades spent a lot of time making himself look as desirable as possible, despite the changes to his physique that his condition had brought. Demeter assisted her brother with the shaving of his face, truly doing her utmost to make his cheeks as smooth as those of a goddess, as they both knew it was something that Zeus preferred.

Having noticed that his skin and hair were much more prone to become greasy in recent times, the god gave himself a bath and afterwards rubbed his skin with fragrant oils. The increased swell of his stomach was not yet noticeable through any clothing, and just barely so when regarding him unclothed, and yet Hades could not help but feel incredibly self-conscious about it.

“You look lovely,” Demeter assured her brother. “Zeus will think the same. He will not be able to resist you.”

“He likes my stomach more than me now that I’m expecting his child,” Hades remarked glumly.
“Also, I have never proposed him before. What if he takes offense?”

“It is quite obvious that our brother has been frustrated lately,” the goddess said. “The source of that is most likely the lack of intimacy between you two. Go to him, Hades. If he hesitates, tell him what I told you.”

Hades nodded, checking himself in the mirror one last time before leaving Demeter’s quarters and heading for Zeus’.

Hades timidly knocked on the door of his brother’s chambers, unknowing of what could be on the other side. When there came no response, the god knocked a little harder.

“Who’s there?” Zeus’ voice called out from beyond the door.

“Your brother,” Hades replied. A pause followed where seconds passed by in silence, but eventually Hades became aware of a rustling of clothes and bedcovers. The god’s hands went to his stomach as he waited. Already he sought wordless reassurance from the child inside him.

The door opened and Zeus, hair disheveled, peered through the opening. “Is something wrong, Hades?” he asked immediately.

“Oh, you needn’t worry,” the older god replied, wondering if every time he was to ask for Zeus’ attention he would receive the same response. He removed his hands from his front and let them fall by his sides. “It is only…” Hades trailed off, hearing something behind Zeus. “I apologize, do you have company?”

“It can wait,” Zeus muttered, as though trying to keep his guest from hearing him. “What’s the matter?”

“I… I just wanted to discuss something with you,” Hades said.

Zeus nodded. “Go on…?”

“Well…” Hades hardly knew where to begin, even after he had rehearsed the words countless times before reaching the younger god’s door. “Although I still need solitude from time to time… I wanted you to know that I have not given up carnal pleasures. I would still greatly welcome you into my bed, and I would willingly follow you into yours…”

Lifting an eyebrow, Zeus quickly looked into his room. “You’re no longer needed for the remainder of the day,” he barked into the darkness. “Please leave at once.”

Hades had a feeling he knew exactly who Zeus was speaking to. Sure enough, he shuddered as Hera passed him as she left, robes bundled around her as she left. She did give Hades one final hateful look as she stormed off down the hall.

“You… I… I did not mean you had to… send her out…” Hades stammered, frightened by the hatred he had seen in his oldest sister’s eyes. She had literally looked as if she was planning his demise.

Zeus grinned as he reached for his brother’s hand and tugged Hades inside his quarters. “I know I did not have to,” he said. “But I wanted to. Your company is very much preferable to hers.”

Blushing from the compliment, the older god once again felt shy around Zeus. He was led toward the leader’s bed, whose bedclothes were rumpled from Zeus and Hera’s earlier activities, and apprehensively took a seat on it. Knowing that his sister’s bodily fluids might still be on the sheets also made him wary, and Hades was very careful where to put his hands.

“You look delightful,” Zeus commented, sweeping his brother’s hair aside so that he could lean in and nuzzle his neck. “And your scent is delightful, as well!”

Happy that Zeus had noticed his efforts, Hades replied, “Demeter has made oils… I used them on myself to make my skin fragrant.”

“How very thoughtful of you.” The younger god’s eager, exploring hands soon found themselves delving in underneath his brother’s clothing, and Hades gasped when Zeus’ fingers, much more careful than normally, found a nipple and pinched it.

“I have missed taking you to bed…” Zeus whispered in Hades’ ear, and immediately following that, he stuck out his tongue and experimentally licked the other’s neck to find out if he tasted as good as he smelled.

“Ah…” Hades moaned suddenly. His body had become more sensitive to touch, and it was almost overwhelming. He had a feeling this would increase as time went on, to the point of contact being painful in the places where Zeus squeezed, but for now he enjoyed the sensation.

“Did I hurt you?” Zeus whispered, pulling his face away from his brother’s neck. “It will matter even more now if I cause you harm.”

“No, no you didn’t…” Hades almost cooed, eyes glazed over in arousal. “It felt wonderful… please, don’t stop…”

“Gladly,” Zeus replied. He bent his head downward again, this time against the other’s chest. Hades in his pleasure lost control in his spine, and he fell backwards, his brother’s strong arms holding him and slowly guiding him onto the bed.

“Mmn…” Hades arched his back, pushing his body against Zeus and encouraging – begging – for more. “Don’t stop…”

Zeus chuckled. “It would appear you missed this as much as I have.”

Hades tried to laugh in return, but it was an airy, aroused little giggle that was altered by his brother’s progress.

“Brother…” Zeus pulled away, passing his hand over Hades’ still clothed front. The older Olympian looked up at him questioningly, as if to ask if he had something anything wrong.

“I wish nothing more than to take you here and now,” Zeus said, his expression grave. “But can I do so without harming the life inside you?”

“I asked our sister the very same thing,” Hades replied quietly. “She said there is no risk of harm provided that you are gentle with me.”

“I can be gentle…” The younger god’s hand proceeded downward and started pulling up the hem of Hades’ robes and exposing more of the pregnant Olympian’s body to him. Apart from his slowly expanding belly, the changes to Hades’ physique were not so great. His legs were still the same as always, and Zeus took great joy in caressing the creamy white skin of his inner thighs and also observing the response this elicited in his brother. Zeus’ hands lingered in Hades’ nether regions, still stroking and caressing, as he bent down to kiss the just barely visible bulge of the other’s abdomen. He continued this for several minutes until a hand softly entangling in his hair got his attention.

“I do not wish to interrupt you, but… Lately everyone only sees my stomach, and not me,” Hades said. “I understand your fascination, brother, but I would much prefer that you would kiss my face rather than my midsection.”

Zeus looked a trifle hurt in his eyes, but he did not outwardly show it otherwise. “But I like to kiss you there. It is where my child lays sleeping,” he said, correcting himself quickly afterwards. “Our child.”

Hades smiled, moved by his brother’s rarely revealed sentiment. “And I appreciate that, brother,” he replied. “But I would hope you also still recognize that our child’s bearer still needs the same attention as before.”

Hades gave what he hoped was his most innocent and harmless expression, and his efforts were successful. Zeus smiled and kissed him, first at the tip of his nose, then above each eye, then on the lips, long and adoring. Hades quickly parted his lips the moment he felt his brother’s own against them and he was rewarded with a sweet, wet exploration that left him pleading for more, more… please, more…

Moaning long and low, the elder god grasped at whatever part of his brother’s body which came within reach. He finally grasped the younger Olympian’s sides, fingers curling around to the small of Zeus’ back, and in a gesture of support to the touch, Zeus edged further, allowing Hades to grip the halves of his rump. Hades could feel muscle beneath the skin as his brother moved, and he smiled. Feeling the solidity of his lover’s flesh was like touching a powerful predator, and for once Hades did not mind feeling like its prey.

Clothes were soon discarded, and the two gods returned to their embrace, this time on their sides facing each other. Zeus was normally not hesitant to lie atop his brother, despite their difference in size, but with his child incubating inside Hades’ body, he did not want to take even the slightest risk.

“It is better if you get on top of me this time,” he told the other, and received an eager nod of agreement from Hades. Zeus did not let him take the upper position very often, and he cherished the occasions when he was allowed to. With a mischievous smirk, Hades could not help but consider the idea that being pregnant doubtlessly helped him get his way around Zeus and his other siblings.

Assuming a comfortable position propped up against his pillows, Zeus watched as his brother brought over the vial of oil, which had not been used for over a week, and poured some onto his palm. The younger god’s member had already swelled to its full size from the stimulation of being near Hades, and it stiffened further when two slender hands began to massage it and simultaneously coat it with a layer of oil.

“Perhaps we could start using the fragrant oils our sister makes for our lovemaking,” Hades suggested. “The lamp oil is sufficient, but it has no scent and is thus a little plain.”

“Not a bad idea,” Zeus said with an appreciative smile. “Now allow me to prepare you.”

Hades leant backwards on his hands, balancing himself easily as he waited, legs spread, for preparation. Smiling slyly, Zeus dampened two of his fingers with the oil and reached behind his brother’s scrotum, finding and entering the snug opening with relative ease. Tilting his head back, Hades gave a barely audible sigh and rocked himself forward, taking Zeus’ fingers with him. A sharp moan followed, and Zeus laughed in surprise.

“You seem so impatient!” he said.

“Only eager,” the elder god insisted, and he lifted himself off of Zeus just long enough to allow his brother to remove the trapped fingers.

“Well then…” Zeus said, replacing his fingers around his almost rock-hard erection. I hope that means you are ready for something bigger.”

Hades did not get the chance to accept the supposition, as he was quickly guided onto his brother’s hard phallus and his words utterly escaped him. Head still tipped back, the elder god gave a long, hard sigh, his insides conforming to the welcome insertion.

“Do not surrender just yet, brother,” he heard Zeus tell him. “You are the one who needs to move.”

“Ah… al’rrr…” Hades mumbled, barely able to produce intelligible speech. He finally leaned forward, hands placed against Zeus’ breast, and he began to move.

Fairly soon one of Zeus’ hands moved upward from Hades’ hips to drift over his stomach, touching the area but not lingering too long. The pregnant Olympian grasped the limb by himself and guided it to his face, sucking one of his brother’s large fingers into his mouth, treating it almost as if it were another part of Zeus’ body; the part currently moving inside his nether regions.

The treatment was not lost on Zeus. The found both the sight and sensation of Hades orally worshipping his hand incredibly erotic, which intensified the throbbing in his sex. He sat up straight from his reclining position and wrapped his free arm around his brother’s back, gently pressing Hades’ chest against his own. Until now, Zeus had allowed his fellow Olympian do most of the moving, but the urge to thrust up into the willing body straddling his lap became too great to ignore. Hades found himself bounced by his lover, and in response he wound both arms tightly around Zeus’ neck, allowing his brother to both take and give pleasure as he pleased.

Zeus had not pulled Hades’ hair painfully hard since the one occasion when his actions caused damage to the smaller god’s neck, but rather than grabbing fistfuls of it, Zeus was content to simply caress the thick, silky tresses, mindful of his child and his mate’s delicate condition.

The warm squirts of seed against his stomach briefly distracted Zeus from his ecstasy, but only for a moment; he was aware by now that Hades lacked his stamina and tended to climax sooner, and he also knew that the other’s whole body was becoming more sensitive to touch due to his condition. Ignoring the mess, Zeus proceeded to lower Hades onto his back and lean over him, never breaking the intimate connection between them, and thrust into him again until he felt his own release approaching.

The change of angles was enough to bring the overwhelming pleasure out of Zeus like rain in a weakening storm cloud. He cried out loudly, face buried in his brother’s neck, and Hades felt the vibration of Zeus’ voice against the skin of his throat. The breathy sigh which followed almost rumbled like thunder, and Hades smiled at the behavior of his brother.

Zeus took several long, drawn out breaths before withdrawing from the elder Olympian’s channel, rolling onto his side and wrapping his arms around Hades, who only stroked at his brother’s hair as though admiring a pet. Hades remembered that he had spilled his seed not only on himself, but on Zeus’ midsection as well, and he attempted to rise from bed in order to retrieve the washbasin.

“Oh, no you don’t,” he heard behind him as a strong hand grabbed his arm and kept him from leaving the bed.

“But you’re…”

“I will do it,” Zeus replied, and he settled his brother comfortably back down on the bed, replacing him as he recovered the basin. Hades could only stare in mild surprise.

“It is really no trouble,” he insisted, but Zeus shook his head.

“Call this a treat,” the youngest Olympian said, dipping a washcloth into the basin and wringing it of excess water. “I will clean the both of us.”

Hades allowed himself a smile, and he settled back against the bed’s cushions, enjoying the treatment he received. He could learn to like this side of Zeus.

*

Demeter was just about to start preparing the daily dose of tea for Hades, when a knock on her door interrupted her, and she sighed, wondering who could possibly want something this late in the evening.

“Enter!” she goddess called out without looking up from her hands, which were busy crushing roots of a very special plant in a medicine bowl. She expected her guest to be either Hades or Hestia, the two siblings she was most frequently in contact with, and her surprise was evident on her features when the person who entered was neither, but Hera.

“What are you doing, sister?” the tall goddess chirped in what sounded like a mock-friendly voice.

“I am making tea for Hades that will help him keep his child,” Demeter replied, fighting back her annoyance. “What can I do for you?”

“Oh, that’s very interesting,” Hera said, her interest genuinely peaked, and she looked over Demeter’s shoulder at her work. “What are you using, sister?”

“Various plants with a medicinal use,” the younger goddess explained, wondering about the sudden curiosity in Hera. “Though they might smell rank, they are very helpful and promote a healthy offspring. I have used them before on our mares that have had difficult pregnancies.”

She poured the crushed roots into a regular food bowl and then quickly filled it with boiling water. A very pungent aroma immediately evaporated from the brew, and behind Demeter, Hera wrinkled her nose.

“Are you going to give it to him now?” she asked her sister.

“Yes, he always drinks it before he goes to bed.”

“I can take it to Hades,” Hera offered, her hand already stretched out to take the bowl.

“No, no, there’s no need,” Demeter interjected, taking the bowl before her sister could. For all she knew, Hera would throw the brew away with the promise that she had given Hades the dosage. Or pretend to spill it by accident…

“I would also like to check on his present state, so it will be no trouble to take it,” she said.

“Fine,” Hera muttered, looking annoyed, though she was more disappointed than hurt. “Go ahead then. I’m sure he will be quite happy to see his attentive little sister waiting on him hand and foot.”

“One day we will have our own children,” Demeter said, her patience strained. “And then you can be attended to just as he is. Likely even more so. Now if you will excuse me…”

The goddess all but pushed past her older sister, taking the concoction with her, and Hera sneered at the other goddess’ back. Turning back around, Hera looked over the table where the tea had just been prepared, memorizing the ingredients still present. She contemplated the various phials of herbs, flowers and products of animal parts found along her sister’s shelves and within no time at all, she was conducting a plan.

*

Hades was about to doze off when Demeter politely knocked and entered his room.

“Oh my, here it comes,” he said, his annoyance only half-faked. “I can smell it already.”

She smiled patiently. “You know how important this is. It will keep you and your little one healthy.”

Hades raised an eyebrow. “If you say so, sister…” he muttered but did not object when she handed him the bowl and waited for him to consume the tea. His stomach had grown noticeably since Demeter discovered his pregnancy, and though it was still far from big enough to be a bother when he performed activities of daily living, Hades had a feeling that it was going to be in a not too distant future.

Demeter remained sitting on her brother’s bedside even after he had finished the foul-smelling drink. “You look troubled, my dear,” she said and placed a gentle hand on his knee through the sheets. “What is wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong, sister,” the god replied. “I just cannot help wondering how big my stomach is going to get before the new life is ready for independent living…”

“Ahh… So it is the idea of your body changing that worries you?”

“Not only that. What if I will be unable to move unaided? What if I cannot even sit up and go relieve myself on my own?”

“Should it come to that, I am certain that Zeus himself will carry you to the latrine every time your needs call,” Demeter said. “The way he fawns over you almost makes it seem like he wishes to carry this burden in your stead.”

Hades had to smile at his sister’s words, which were not too far from the truth. “His behavior toward me has changed since he learned of my condition,” he admitted. “He will make a great father.”

“That alone shows how much the relationship between you has changed,” Demeter replied, smiling. “Perhaps this child is a good influence on our brother… and if you do not mind me saying…”

Hades glanced at her. “Go ahead.”

“I do not mean to say Zeus made a proper decision in making your body female,” the goddess said. “But perhaps it was meant to happen…? If not, then you would not have been able to give him a child… and Zeus would still be as pigheaded as ever.”

Hades had slowly, silently nodded in agreement until the remark about Zeus, at which he chuckled. “Oh, he is still pigheaded,” the god remarked. “But now whenever he says something foolish, he explains how he feels about it.”

Laughing, Demeter wrapped an arm about her brother’s shoulders and hugged him sweetly, receiving a hug in return.

*

Hades had no difficulty falling asleep shortly after his sister departed, but waking up several hours later, he realized he could not return to sleep as effortlessly. Less than half an hour passed where the god merely lay there, wondering what on Earth had possibly inspired him to remain wakeful, before his stomach finally growled.

“Not this…” he grumbled, hand over his eyes in frustration. Hades was barely in any sort of mood to go stumbling around in the dark just to find something to eat, and he tried for the remainder of the hour to ignore his hunger and go back to sleep. But his stomach growled again, an uncomfortable sensation that would not allow him to resume his slumber.

After a while of agonizing wait, the god sat up to drink some water, hoping that filling his stomach with something would help take away the craving for food. He lay back down, but after only a few minutes, the hunger returned full force and Hades put his hand over his stomach as if to make it go quiet. Sighing, he reached for his robes and shuffled awkwardly toward the door, knowing by now that the only way to end a craving was to satiate it.

Hades did not have much luck when perusing the food cellar. Between the various sacks of grain, he was only able to find meat and fruits that had either been dried or preserved in some way, and when frantically attempting to access the contents of one jar, it slipped from his sweaty, trembling hands and shattered into a thousand pieces upon impact.

The god cursed loudly to himself, regarding the splattered remains of the dates stored in vinegar. He was not quite desperate enough to pick them up from the floor, and he was not really hungry for dates, anyway; especially not pickled ones.

The more he thought about it, the more he came to realize that his craving was specific rather than generalized, and nothing in here would satiate it. Hades found himself craving octopus meat.

We don’t even have any left, he reasoned with himself irritably. His stomach only growled back at him as though arguing that it did not care. Giving a frustrated sigh, Hades shuffled off to find Demeter.

Hestia answered the door when it was knocked upon. Hades hardly reacted to the discovery.

“I apologize, sister,” he said, “but… I require Demeter’s assistance.”

“Hades,” Demeter greeted him, hurrying forward. Clearly the sound of his voice at this hour of the night had caused her much worry. “Is there anything wrong, brother?”

“Not remarkably,” Hades replied, a little embarrassed to cause such concern in his sisters like this. “I seem to have made a mess of the food cupboards looking for something to eat. Now there is broken pottery and pickled dates all about the floor.”

“Oh dear,” Hestia said quietly.

Demeter only managed a joyless chuckle. “Did you at least find something to eat?” she asked.

Hades shook his head, a bit of color coming to his cheeks in the dim lamplight. “You’re going to laugh at this, but we do not have what I crave in storage… I crave octopus.”

Both of his sisters tried to hold back genuinely amused laughter.

“We should wake Poseidon and demand he bring you some,” Hestia said, and the mental image of their brother, curly hair in a tangled mess and eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep as he came back dripping wet with the creature in his hands, made all three of the Olympians laugh.

However, Hades did not realize that his sisters were serious about making such a demand before Demeter grasped him by the elbow and started leading him toward the direction of their brother’s quarters.

“I did not mean we had to… It is in the middle of the night…!” he objected, horrified at the idea of waking Poseidon from his sleep to make such atrocious demands.

“It will be dawn in just two hours’ time,” Hestia said, following a few steps behind her two younger siblings. “And Poseidon has always been an early riser.”

“I still do not think that this is proper…” Hades mumbled, although his stomach seemed to defy his words by growling even louder.

Demeter placed a quick series of knocks on Poseidon’s door before Hades could stop her, and while he waited for a few agonizing moments for the other to either bid them welcome or tell them to go away, Hades seriously considered hiding behind his sister.

When the door was finally opened by a predictably sleep-worn Poseidon, who immediately perked up at the sight of his three siblings gathered outside, Demeter was not slow to present the reasons for their visit.

“Hades craves something that only you can get him,” she told the curly-haired god.

Poseidon cocked an eyebrow. “…in the middle of the night?” he asked. “What could it be?”

“This is not something I absolutely need right at this very moment,” Hades insisted, but he was overruled by his sister.

“Our dear brother is hungry for octopus,” the goddess stated. “As such, we have none in our storage, and considering that Hades is no longer eating just for himself…”

Poseidon made a tired noise of confirmation, to prove that he understood what he was about to be asked of. “I see, I see. And I am the only one who can procure the little beast, is that correct?”

His sisters nodded. Hades looked the other way so that Poseidon could only see the back of his head. Scratching through his thick mess of dark curls, the sleepy god stretched his arms and surrendered to his siblings’ request.

“Alright, alright,” he said, yawning. “The fish likely won’t expect me to be out this early, so I may have the upper hand.” And on that note he disappeared into the darkness of his room.

“You did not have to include the fact about me eating for two,” Hades grumbled.

“But you are,” Demeter said. “And besides, it worked, did it not?”

Hades shrugged and put a hand to his growling stomach. “I hope you appreciate the effort your aunts and uncles are going through to keep you happy,” he muttered to his child, who likely could not hear or understand him, but was there within him nonetheless.

Poseidon was tempted to lie back down in his bed and ignore the promise he had just made, but he knew that if he did that, Demeter would soon knock on his door again and demand to know what he was doing.

By rights, Zeus should be the one diving for mollusks in the middle of the night to please his mate, he thought while getting dressed. He is to blame for Hades’ condition, so it is only right that he faces the repercussions of it.

By the time Poseidon exited his room, his siblings were gone, probably off to find Hades something else to eat in the meantime. Still internally muttering about everyone catering to Hades’ every whim, he went to look for his fishing nets before heading down to the shore.

Oh well, their family was always in the need of seafood, and being out on open waters at this hour was very refreshing. Poseidon also did not mind the fact that his two brothers would not be around to assist him this time.

*

Back in his quarters, Hades tried to still his hunger with some salty pork and fresh peaches which Demeter so thoughtfully went to retrieve for him from their garden. While they were enough to make his stomach stop gurgling, the craving for octopus meat remained. Deeply grateful to his brother, Hades could only hope that Poseidon would have luck in procuring one.

Meanwhile, Hestia cleaned up the mess made from the dropped jar of dates. She would likely be scrubbing the floor while she was at it, much to Hades’ disheartenment. He hated to see one of his sisters clean up the mistake he had made, but she had insisted that nothing would make her happier than to maintain the immaculately clean state of the Olympians’ home.

“If you say so,” Hades muttered, finding it hard to believe her.

Hades was back in his bed by the time Poseidon knocked on his chamber door. Looking thoroughly exhausted, the younger god’s hair was still a mess, and he released a big yawn as he entered, holding out a bulging sack to whomever would take it.

“I will apologize now and say I did not manage to find an octopus,” he stated with a certain amount of regret, although the regret could have simply been his exhaustion in disguise. “But I did find a shoal of something which might do for now.”

Though admittedly disappointed he would not be receiving octopus meat, Hades was pleasantly surprised and grateful that his brother had found anything of the like.

“Oh Poseidon,” he exclaimed with a smile. “The fact that you tried is more than enough. May I see what you caught?”

Opening the mouth of the bag, Poseidon allowed Demeter to carefully reach within and remove a creature no bigger than his own hand. Though much of it was hidden in the armor of a spiraled shell, a set of eyes stared brainlessly as the animal’s face sprouted with countless short tentacles.

“Oh my goodness, a nautilus,” Demeter said, grinning at the small beast in her hands. Hades, look. Perhaps its tendrils will taste somewhat like those of an octopus.”

Hades gave his brother an even bigger smile, overjoyed at Poseidon’s effort. He would have sprang up from his bed and wrapped his arms around his younger brother in a hug had he known for certain that Demeter would not demand him to return to bed.

“Thank you, Poseidon,” he said. “So much. Thank you.”

Though thoroughly exhausted and wanting nothing more than to collapse into his own bed, Poseidon managed to smile. Knowing that he had helped to make Hades’ pregnancy a little less uncomfortable made him feel accomplished. Hopefully he could use this errand as an excuse to avoid Zeus’ anger if he slept in.


TBC...