The City of Gods

"If I return Home and tell them I failed, I'll get banished. Either way, I suppose this is my new home-- not your house specifically, but this. The human realm. I can either just stay here and avoid the embarrassment of banishment, or return and ultimately get banished. It's a lost cause," he replied beneath his breath, his voice now far quieter once actually stumbling upon that revelation. It did hurt, of course it did. Despite being a God that more or less stayed out of things, he did like it at Home. He liked his cave with his books and the few animals he had visit him. He liked that-- but he could learn to love this human world, he supposed. He didn't really need to leave the house to lead a decent life, thanks to the advancement in human technology.

Besides, he assumed that if he stayed, he could help the two out should any high-status God actually make the unprecedented decision to show up.

Although, by the time morning arrived, Daeron had admittedly been too engrossed in the morning news channel to immediately notice the arrival of one said God--or rather, Goddess. When he did notice the woman bewilderingly taking in the environment she'd arrived in, the first thing the Death God did was subtly shake around Proteus. It was pretty important he wake him up first - Daeron figured he might want to deal with his mother, Amphitrite, himself. Daeron especially didn't want to talk to the woman. Their last conversation, centuries ago, hadn't really ended brilliantly.

The woman, dressed in her typically grand gown and with her long hair tied up in some fashionable hairstyle, grimaced quietly at the sight of her son asleep soundly inbetween Cordelia (who she hardly liked) and Daeron. It didn't take her long to offer her son a sharper nudge to wake him up. "...Aren't you going to wake up and greet your mother, Proteus? A lovely glass of wine would go down a treat, perhaps a spot of breakfast. Some fruit platter, perhaps. Get to it, come on. You're the host; I'm the guest."
 
Proteus tried to stay up, he really did. To just leave Daeron alone on the couch hadn't been an option, but the few drinks he managed to throw back into his system eventually caused him to pass out. So, with his arms wrapped around Cordelia casually, he shooed away Daeron's attempts to wake up. It wasn't until he felt the sharp nudge in his hip that he inevitably stirred... only for him to grimace and rest his head back on his friend.

"Why are you here?" He asked calmly as he moved to carefully untangle from Cordelia without waking her. "How did you find me? Don't want you here, Mother, and I'm not going Home. I like it here, why do none of you understand that?!"
 
"...I've been temporarily banished for a month at the least. I decided that I'd come pay you a little visit. I could have easily spent my month confined here on some nice island, surrounded by the ocean, sweetheart, but I chose to come to see my little Proteus. Am I really being treated like a villain? I've missed you, since you decided to run off with... this friend of yours," she began slowly, unsubtly glaring towards Cordelia's sleeping figure before deciding to sit herself down on the armchair opposite them. "It's nice to see you're getting along with Daeron--"

"He knows that you all sent me, he's not an idiot."

"...Oh. I had nothing to do with that, it was your father's idea, mainly," the woman blurted, tapping her long, painted fingernails against the arm of the chair. "Look, are you going to hold petty grudges against me? I'm in a horrid position right now. Your father's angry at me, can you believe? I simply had a little fling with someone else and he gets all mad with me. He's always with other women, I don't understand the difference."
 
"You had a 'fling' and now you're banished?" He snorted in disbelief, though frowned nonetheless. He wanted to keep a firm emotional grudge against his mother, but she was at least going through some issues... which she deserved. He expressed that by his growing frown as he set his head on his hand,

"Do you think I'm just going to pull you into a hug and hush about how happy I am to see you? You're just like the rest of them. You're just going to rat Cordelia and me, aren't you? You'll bring us Home and force... I dunno, something. I'm not going anywhere without Cordelia. You understand that, right?"
 
"Can you honestly blame me for disliking that girl, Proteus? You were a perfectly well behaved little boy and you meet her and go downhill. I can't not hate her for corrupting my son," she replied flatly, running her fingers through her golden hair before sighing dramatically in annoyance with the conversation. It wasn't what she expected. Naively, she anticipated her son running into her arms and treating her like a mother ought to be treated.

"I apologise. I do. I don't intend on dragging you back Home. I did, but your father's behaviour has sickened me and I don't want to help him out at all. So, I'll stay with you for as long as I can, just to enrage him. I don't see the problem with what I've done. Now, can you treat me like a mother and not a horrid bully?"
 
"You only stopped going along with him once he treated you poorly. That's what's so fucked up about this whole thing, you realize that, right? Nobody does anything without a selfish reason. You're only going against my Father because he's being a dick to you, right? If he wasn't, you'd just keep letting him hunt us down so his ego could be properly stroked." He murmured simply as he reluctantly got to his feet to head to the kitchen, finding a good bottle of wine.

"I'm not mad, I'm disappointed," he admitted as he poured two glasses of wine, one being for himself. "I don't know what you expect from me, Mother."
 
"...Yes, true, but I see your point of view now I'm here. This place is very impressive. It's... not quite the standard of our house back Home, but it's very nice. I assume Daeron will be staying here? He won't be welcome Home. Your father detests him," the Goddess continued as she gratefully took the wine and hitched herself up on a stool at the kitchen island. The wine wasn't to her taste, as expensive as it was, but she knew better than to kick up a fuss right now.

"I have missed you, dear. Your brothers and sisters barely visit me because your Father is so rude about them. I don't know what you think of me, but I've always loved you. If you want Cordelia in your life, I... could accept that. I have a month to spend bonding with her."
 
"What about everyone else? Do you love them too?" He quiestioned critically, a brow raised as he tapped his fingers on the marble table, pressing the glass to his lips. With a heavy sigh, he glanced out the window that overlooked the ocean. It reminded him of home, after all, and he wasn't completely heartless.

"You're only here for a month, right? What do you even plan to do here?" He grumbled quietly as he stared down at the counter, his lips pursing.
 
"I'm not entirely sure. I don't want to be here, but here I am. Do you know how humiliating this is for me? Banished by my own husband?He publicly embarrassed me in front of Zeus and... and all the others. Announced that I was an adulteress and ought to be 'taught a lesson'. That man has been unfaithful to me since you were a baby, before that even. I share a kiss and a little cuddle with Aphrodite, and I'm the horrible one? Honestly, I... I just want a little fun here. I want to be pampered and spoilt and I want to enjoy myself. I'm assuming we could bond as mother and son again. I've never been able to properly have one-on-one time with you, I regret that," she admitted casually as she sipped away at the wine. Obviously, with the amount of children she had, fully investing time with each one seemed to be an impossibility-- but she was determined to at least try.

Starting with Proteus.

"We could go for a nice walk by the ocean, you can tell me about your life here. Are you dating? Married? Do you have children?"
 
"I'm not married, and I'm pretty sure I don't have children. Dating? That's a... wary topic," he explained as he ran a finger along the rim of the overpriced glass - that of which had been given to him as a gift from one of his lovers back in the 80's. "Define dating, you know? I guess I'm like dad in the sense that I don't really want to stay committed to anyone... other than Cordelia. See, her and I use one another as scapegoats when we need to. Say there's this girl who is way too clingy to Cordelia, right? She just calls me up, or over or whatever, and I just take her in my arms and we pretend that we're some committed relationship. In reality, there'll be some strong man waiting for me at home. In fact, before I knew my mother was just going to suddenly acquire my address and show up, I was going to go to this cute guy's home and 'eat breakfast'." He explained with a nod towards the door.
 
"That all sounds very... nice. What a nice arrangement. I... do wish you'd settle down soon, though. I'd love a grandchild, Proteus. None of your siblings have had children yet, it makes me terribly sad. Settle down with a nice girl and have a baby-- or if you're not into women, which I assume you're not from what I've heard, I know these humans have a marvellous thing called surrogacy. You can't not have a child, there's no excuse, honestly, no matter your sexuality," she began in her typically over-pushy manner, but at least it all came from a place of love. She wanted him to be happy, whereas her husband barely paid notice to the children he had.

Well, unless one of his children had escaped to the human realm and was refusing to return. He definitely took notice of that.

"I want you to be happy, that's all. Now tell me about this boy you're headed off to meet. Is he cute?" She drawled, her expression hilariously serious until she broke it with a smile. "...You know, Daeron's rather dishy, don't you think?"
 
"I'm not 'settling down', Mother. No one would want to settle down with me anyway, that's just not the type of person people know me as," he explained as his eyes wandered to Daeron... or, rather, the lump of blanket that he knew wasn't Cordelia.

"He's cute, yeah, but he hates me. He doesn't want to go outside, Mother! I would love to show him the city but he just flat out refuses. I'd give him a chance if he showed me some emotional response."
 
"Oh, he's always been a miserable shit," the woman replied casually as she wandered across to the fridge, returning to her stool with a few slices of cake she'd found hidden at the back. She didn't remotely care that it was Cordelia's - she felt like she was entitled, as the guest, to take what she wanted. And she wanted a few slices of cake.

"Your father doesn't allow me to eat this sort of stuff," she began slowly, trailing her finger on the cake to collect up some of the buttercream before happily tasting it, smiling wide to herself. "Says I need to keep my figure. I fully intend to spend my month here eating whatever I desire. He's such a possessive man. Telling me what I can or can't eat, honestly. If I want a goddamn slice of cake, I should be able to have that, shouldn't I? I envy you, really, doing what you like here with Cordelia."
 
"That's why I want to stay here. It's so freeing to be able to be somewhere where you aren't subjected to being put down all the time by someone who pretends to be important. Here, Cordelia and I are celebrities. We step outside and there have been paparazzi waiting. Cordelia and I are loved here, Mother. Why would I want to go back to a place where I'm only known as a son of a man who puts his wife down for eating cake?" He grunted as he set his head in his hand.

"You could stay here with me and Cordelia, if you wanted to. You're the Queen of the Sea, that isn't a light title."
 
"...I'm not entirely sure I could do that. I'm banished, I didn't come voluntarily. I'm mature enough to enjoy my time and make the most of it here, but it's not Home. Besides, your father wouldn't cope well with me staying permanently. He's mad enough you being here, let alone... me abandoning him," the mother replied as she quietly licked the frosting from her lips, before tapping the fork against the plate in genuine contemplation.

"Maybe I'll grow to love it here. I don't know. I want to enjoy my time with my son and try and bond with his best friend a little. That's the main thing I want to take from this month. That, and being able to do what I want without your father telling me I'm a horrid wife."
 
"Let's be honest, Mother, Father has plenty of other mistresses he could go after while you're gone. That may sound horrible, but it's realistic. Sure, he'll act all upset, but that's only because you're his 'wife'." Proteus grumbled bitterly as he tapped his painted nails on the stone table. With a heavy sigh, he glanced out the large window of his and Cordelia's shared home, he eventually wandered to the sink to set his drink in.

"Do you want a proper breakfast? There's a cute cafe in town. We can let Cordelia sleep, if you want to come, Daeron..." he offered.
 
The thought of sharing a meal with Poseidon's wife didn't fill Daeron with anything but dread. He had known the woman for centuries upon centuries, and while she was one of the more decent deities to him, she was still someone he'd rather avoid if possible.

But, he did want to go to breakfast, and he had promised the other that, in return for staying in the house, he would head out and socialise when he could. This was a good chance to show Proteus that he was willing to honour that promise and actually try to step outside his comfort zone.

"I... yes, that sounds great, yes," the God began as he pushed himself from the couch and rearranged his messy hair, albeit into its marginallyneater style. It was still messy, but he'd worn his hair like that for centuries at this point.
 
Smirking at the sight, he then turned his gaze to his mother as he wandered to the door to tug on a jacket that he most likely would throw out or donate within a week when the trend changed. That's just how he was - everything was replaceable, and he knew that. With literally unlimited money and the men and women who supported that, it was easy just to pack up their bags and travel somewhere new - they did it about every ten years once the media realized they didn't seem to age.

"Come on, then. I want Daeron to get some fresh air - too bad it's raining, I would love for you to get some sun."
 
"Oh goodness, he's so pale, isn't he? When I saw him a few week ago, when your father was putting this plan together, I honestly thought he was sick. He's like a ghost," huffed Amphitrite as she smoothed down her flowing, Grecian dress and headed towards the door, casting an unsubtly unimpressed glance towards said God, almost tutting to herself at how Daeron held himself. "Oh, I'd love to take you shopping. Humans have lovely stores, I'm told. You need a splash of colour on you."

"...You and your mother are far too similar, I don't like it," grumbled Daeron, rolling his eyes at the 'colour' comment. He was more than happy with his black clothing, so the fact both Proteus and his mother thought differently was grating.
 
"She has a point," he replied simply as he headed up the stairs. Like hell was he going to head out with some briefs in a robe, that was saved for special occasions. Eventually, the God wandered down the stairs in a proper, stylish outfit he was often known for. Puffing our his coat a bit, he offered the two a smile... even if it was a bit feigned.

"When it's better, I think you and I should just lounge on the beach," he offered Daeron as he quickly scribbled a note for Cordelia. "Get that warm sun - you could wear all the sunscreen you'd like, okay?"
 
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