Fooling around

[firesides]

I think it's flattering?? that you think about me right before cleaning your room, but if you had a bit more constancy you wouldn't need to feel like you're going into nobody's land every time you get to it!

And I don't really mind staying in here; there's plenty to tidy up here anyway. Your tendency to keep piling up stuff is nothing short of impressive.

Comments

[jeebies]

Aunt Hestia. Don't reprimand your mortal mundane about cleaning.

[firesides]

I was not! It was merely a constructive bit of criticism to keep her living quarters well in order...not that she ever listens.

I really don't do reprimands, you know?

[foni]

... nothing short of impressive.

[ Echo waves in greeting. Hi, Hestia. She's happy to see you here. ]

[firesides]

Hello, darling!

[ She waves back, a bit excitedly. ]

[foni]

... Hello, darling!

[ Hestia is always a welcome face. Then again, she tends to like everyone. Nearly everyone. But Hestia is especially good company. She gestures to her and shrugs her shoulders, wondering what she had been complaining about just now. ]

[firesides]

[ Hestia picks up the meaning right away. ]

Ah, it was nothing darling. Just miss mun being her usual messy self. Things are looking a lot better now though.

[ She shrugs a little, now passing the ball to Echo. ]

[jeebies]

But you sure do good guilt trips. [ It is impossible to be obstinate in Hestia's presence. ]

[foni]

A lot better now though ...

[ That's good. Unhappy goddesses are never good, speaking from experience. On the other hand, she has learned some kind of lesson from Hera, which is to tread carefully. As for herself, she shrugs again. It's a really great human gesture, she's found. Nothing to speak. Her mun's really lazy. She blows some hair away from her face. ]

[firesides]

I only point to what you know is true deep down.

[ Which is fancy way she's the goddess of guilt trips. ]

And someone should, considering how much of a group of darlings my siblings are.

[firesides]

[ Ah, big (or little) sis Hera sure has a way with words...

But they could very well keep shrugging to the end of the world. ]

Well, you certainly look good. I'm glad.

Maybe you would like some tea? [ And a sandwich while she's at it? ]

[jeebies]

Every time I did something unfavorable. [ She got away with less trouble thanks to those guilt trips. ]

You're being sarcastic, right? Because Mother and Father are in no way darling.

there was a "to say" that didn't make the final cut on that comment. odd

[firesides]

I'm only looking out for you.

[ Her usual smile broadens. ]

I suppose it would be difficult for you to see it from my perspective. [ The only reason Hestia isn't usually regarded as the oldest Olympian is because she's far too humble for her own good. ]

But trust me, they are darlings at heart.

it's chill. I read between the lines.

[jeebies]

I'm over fifty centuries old!

[ She huffs. ]

We're talking about my mother and father, right? Because growing up, I sure didn't see anything darling-worthy. They just fight and fight and fight and fight.

[firesides]

And to think I've been around for even longer.

[ So yeah. Seniority. ]

But you would be surprised, dear.

[jeebies]

Why does everyone treat me like I'm a little kid? [ Because she technically still is. ]

Not after what they've done.

[firesides]

It's kind of your thing, honey.

Aw, please don't get upset over things that have happened so long ago.

[jeebies]

[ Grumble grumble. She secretly likes being the baby of Olympus, but sometimes it's really bothersome since not many people take her seriously. ]

They may not seem much to us, Auntie, but to the mortals, it was almost a whole lifetime.

[foni]

Would like some tea ...

[ She nods eagerly with a gracious smile and and added bounce in her step, reaching forward to twist a little bit of Hestia's hair around her finger curiously. Poor thing is still easily distracted, but such is Echo's attention span. ]

[persist]

[ auntie? that you? ]

You should check out my girl's head—quite a mess in there.

[firesides]

Well, I'm sorry for the things that happened to them, of course. Mingling was always a dreadful business.

[firesides]

Oh, I know about messes. A new voice every two or three days; I hardly have time with all the tidying up I get to do.

[ And she loves it. ]

[firesides]

[ One moment, Hestia is clapping eagerly. The next she has a tray with two cups of hot tea and a pot full of the hot infusion, the strong smell of some mysterious blend filling everything.

She even materialized cupcakes~ ]

Have at it, dear.

[jeebies]

If it was wrong, then why did my father and my mother and my uncles and my sisters and my brothers do what they did?

[ The price of being one of the youngest of the Olympians is that you're born with an awareness of everything around you. You don't take things as lightly as your parents would, and something trivial to your mother, may really be explosive to you. ]

[firesides]

Because they weren't only darlings, but also kind of obnoxious little brats at times.

Very powerful little brats.

[foni]

Dear ...

[ That's such a funny word, isn't it? It sounds like another but it's spelled differently. She forgets what the term for that is - it doesn't matter anyway because tea and sweets! And it all smells so lovely. Echo reaches for a cupcake first, getting frosting on the top of her nose when she bites. ]