13 - Glitter and cold

Nyx smiled fondly when she realized just how outspoken Lucia was - she reminded her a little bit of how Hypnos or Zagreus had been as children. "Just Nyx, please. Let's not burden ourselves with such formalities."

"Really? Does that me I can call Lord Hades by his first name?" Hypnos chirped in, with a grin.
"I would advise you not to test your luck tonight, child." Nyx kindly chastised him. She turned to Michela afterwards. "My apologies - I realize this is a lot of people for you to meet at once. I did try to make myself available earlier, but Hypnos constantly forgot to warn me beforehand anytime you came to visit us."

"Alright, then. Nyx", Michela started, with a hesitant smile. "Oh, it's- it's alright", she half-lied then. "I have already pulled on his ears quite enough. He always forgets to tell me about anything in advance", she added, not wanting to mention how this evening was exactly an example of that. "I just hope no one is going to get too offended if I'll keep a little to myself." She threw a glance to Lucia. "And that no one will get too offended if she won't."
"I won't!", Lucia echoed her with a grin, hands and arms folded behind her back.

Nyx smiled fondly at Lucia. "I'm sure no one will. How old are you, my child?"

Hypnos chuckled, and looked at Michela. "Yeah, I'm sure everyone will love her. And you, too." His expression softened a bit, and he bit back another grin.

Meanwhile, Charon was parking in front of the family mansion, and looked at Hermes with a slight smile. "How do you feel about meeting my family again, without having to lie to their faces?" No lie, he found the idea quite fun - for at least Nyx and his brothers believed that he and Hermes had been truly dating all along. The only one he hadn't been able to fool being Chaos, after all.

"I'm almost ten!", Lucia answered proudly, straightening up. Her birthday was going to be in early October, and she was already very hyped about it. "I am not asking you because it is not polite. But I will ask if Hypnos made you taste my girlscout cookies-"

Michela snorted lightly, shaking her head. "We'll see about that", she answered. "Is your local café-managing bully going to be around too or- Lucia, no", she sighed quietly, throwing a pointed glare at her sister when she heard, "-and you're very tall so I think you need a lot of cookies-"

Hermes hummed, laying against the car seat. "Well, I for one am way more relaxed now that I don't have to make up new lies to cover our butts", he answered with a grin. "What about you?" Of course he was wearing the same obnoxious orange suit he'd been wearing at the engagement party. Don't even question that.

Nyx actually seemed to be having a lot of fun. "You're a very diligent seller. I did taste a few of them, and they were delicious. But I'm afraid my sons- My very tall sons are eating a lot more than I."

Hypnos was laughing merrily as soon as he heard that Lucia was trying to sell his mother some cookies, and then turned towards Michela. "Alecto? Oh, no. If Lord Hades greets us of his presence, she probably won't come. Same for Tisiphone- which is great, really. That means I won't be bullied in my own home!"

Charon assumed a thoughtful expression for a bit. "I'm glad to bring you as my actual partner, this time. My family might sense a change, but I wouldn't mind telling them the truth at this point." He looked fondly at Hermes. He didn't mind his obnoxiously orange suit. He actually loved it - in a sense, it symbolized the beginning of their relationship.

"I am my division's best seller! I got two medals for my achievements!" Lucia beamed. "Ooh, more tall people! How many tall sons do you have, madam? It's for research", she added very seriously. "Will there be many tall people to this party tonight?"

Michela sighed, but since Nyx didn't look annoyed, she let Lucia just be herself. "Oh, well - that's good then. I was ready to defend you with any silverware they'd give to me at dinner, but I am glad it won't be needed", she added with a smirk.
Was she joking, was she serious? Who knows.

Hermes smirked. "Ooh, are you sure you want to tell them that the first time around you came to your brother's engagement party with an escort?", he teased Charon, leaning forward towards him. His grin grew in size, eyes glinting with mischief. "That would be fun."

A small smile bloomed on Nyx' lips. Lucia rezlly was endearing. "There will be many tall people tonight. And I have 3 sons, Hypnos being one of them," she replied patiently.

Hypnos laughed. "Aw, I almost wish she'd have come, then! That's a shame." He definitely wasn't serious, and was 80% convinced that Michela wasn't either. There was still 20% of doubtd left, however.

Charon held back a smile. "I didn't pay you, in the end. It was more like- new friends making an arrangement together." He wouldn't be too embarrassed however, if Hermes went and told his family the truth. In fact, that might even end up fun.

Lucia seemed very enthusiastic about the foretold presence of so many tall people, for some reason - probably because in her head, being tall meant being an adult, and she would also feel older by being among so many adults!

Michela let out a short laugh. She did tilt her head when she heard Nyx commenting on her sons being very tall. "Well- I saw some of your family pictures, and Hypnos is kind of tall, but. Not super tall", she commented naively.
As if Hypnos was not permanently hunching at her side, or by anyone's side, hiding his own monstrous height.

Hermes laughed. "More like, new friends who were desperately crushing over each other and had probably been the only ones who hadn't noticed yet", he remarked with a toothy smile. Then his grin weakened a bit, and he looked suddenly a little more sheepish. Almost uneasy. "Since we're on the topic of, hm. Us getting together and all..." He fiddled with his own fingers, as he often did when he was trying to find the right words. "Hera called me, the other day. She... told me that my father is organizing a family dinner. For Dio's engagement, you know. He'll probably call me soon." he raised his gaze to look at his boyfriend again. "I was thinking of telling him I'll go, this time around. If you'll come with me?"

Nyx was surprised by Michela's observation, and lifted her gaze towards her. She understood why she might have been mistaken though, when she took in the sight of her son hunched like this. "Well, if Hypnos deigned to straighten his back sometimes, you'd be able to see just how tall he is." Given that he wore wide clothes, it was always hard to tell just how tall he really was. "Child, would you straighten up for a bit?"
Hypnos chuckled, and shrugged. "Alright, lemme see-" He made his backbones crack a bit as he stretched, straightening up to look suddenly a good head taller than before.

Charon had felt a little concerned when Hermes' attitude suddenly changed, but he nodded with understanding in the end. So that was the reason why he had been sort of tip-toeing around him, lately. "Of course. And I won't leave your side, if that makes you feel more comfortable about it." Especially knowing that Zeus was a little uneasy himself around Charon.

Michela could only watch as Hypnos progressively grew in height, following his ascent with incredulity and maybe a trace of outrage. "... who are you", she exclaimed, staring up at him, eyes wide. "What- I have high heels and I have to strain my neck to look up at you! Just how compressed can a spine be?" Her inner pathologist was ready to take notes. "That is very fascinating, but also I feel like a shrimp now."

"I'd prefer that, yes!", Hermes exclaimed, growing immediately less nervous. He sighed, and smiled at Charon. "Thanks. The upside of this is- if I do enough of a good job, maybe I won't be invited to any more embarrassing dinners, so I'll be able to only see the people I actually like", he only half-joked. He did lean in to leave a grateful kiss on his boyfriend's lips, though.

Hypnos chuckled and winked at Michela, before he assumed his initial stance once again. "Ha, don't worry, I'm still not used to it. I grew up quite fast and on the late."
Nyx gave her son a sorry look - she knew the 'tall' genes came from both his parents, and sometimes she feared Hypnos would get spine issues from it, given how much he hunched all the time.

Charon kissed Hermes back, and smiled at him. "We can always invite the few family members you like at our place, or out for dinner one of these days, should you wish to see them. But speaking of family, we should go." He pecked Hermes' lips once again and got out of the car, grabbing his hat to put it on his head right away.

Michela snorted. "I think I'll start to send you daily reminders to stretch, along with the funny videos I find on Youtube during my breaks", she commented. She was also thinking about the terrible back problems Hypnos would get in later years if he kept hunching like that.

Hermes grin. "Gotcha, Boss!", he answered, jumping down from Charon's long boat of a car. He waited for him to be close before he sneakily grabbed his hand, to hold it as they entered the large family house of the Cthonias. "Just like our first public outing", he commented with a wink.

Hypnos chuckled. "Aw, you shouldn't bother yourself with that, Michi." He made his backbones crack again and winced. "...Alright, maaaybe I should take that offer and actually stretch once in a while."

Charon smiled at Hermes, and he walked into the mansion while holding his hand. Nyx smiled as soon as she spotted them, noticing quietly just how close they were.

When he heard them coming in, Hypnos beamed. "Hey! I was starting to wonder whether Charon was keeping you in his high tower, we never see you guys around! So, still not bored of him yet?" He asked Hermes with a wide grin.

"You really should", Michela agreed with a sigh, shaking her head. She turned around when Hypnos suddenly greeted two new guests, and she recognized Charon from the pictures she had seen of him.
He was even taller in person.

"Never", Hermes replied, grinning at Hypnos. "Hey, we're both busy men, you know! Things to do, people to see, you know how it is. Happy birthday, by the way!", he added with a wink, before politely greeting Nyx with a wave. "Good evening, Lady Nyx! Resplendent, like the last time I saw you!", he complimented her, shameless in his interactions with people as per his usual.
He was immediately in his element. "Speaking of people who have never been around. I think you need to introduce us", he added, clearly talking about Michela - and Lucia, who was busy trying to gauge just how tall Charon was by staring at him very insistently while scratching her chin.

Hypnos laughed. "Yeah, alright. So! Girls, these are Charon - my elder brother - and Hermes - his boyfriend. Guys, let me introduce you to Michela, my girlfriend, and Lucia, an actual princess, who happens to be Michi's sister."

Charon nodded in their direction, and held back a smile when he saw Michela. He signed his wish of a happy birthday to Hypnos, greeted his mother, and then took his phone out to write to Michela, assuming that she wouldn't be able to read his signing anyway.
"Nice to meet you in person. Also, I need to thank you- I haven't smoked any cigarettes so far today."
He sent her a picture of a baby Hypnos, completely bare and sitting on his belly, with his really big and squishy cheeks. Michela probably had a full folder of these by now.

Lucia clearly preened when she was introduced as a princess because yes, she definitely was one, and she happily greeted the newcomers - even though she did keep throwing glances at Charon.

Michela, alas, couldn't read signing indeed - not yet, even though she guessed she had an excuse to take that voluntary class they were offering at her University now. She liked Charon fine, he was a fun guy. She took her phone out to read the message and smirked up at Charon. "Is that so? That's good to know. I told you budgeting would have worked", she observed. She shook Hermes' hand as well (who whispered a sincere thank you for helping Charon gradually go from smoking to vaping. And for making him extremely more kissable because of this), exchanging a few words with him. That distracted her enough to have Lucia escape control. "You and your big brother are like me and Michi - you are cute, and he looks scary", she observed candidly, talking to Hypnos - then at Charon, with a curious tilt of her head. And a suspicious glance. "Have you ever killed someone?"
Yes, she asked that question to any person who looked moderately scary.
Yes, she had asked Michela.
Yes, Michela had definitely answered 'Maybe I will' because she's Extra like that.

Hypnos listened to Hypnos and Michela's conversation with a smile and a few chuckles - especially when he learned that Charon's breath had significantly improved ever since he'd stopped smoking.

Which left Charon alone with Lucia, since Nyx had to answer a sudden call. He slowly crouched down in front of her and tilted the front of his hat up, to look carefully at her. She kind of reminded him of Hypnos when he was a child... which meant he could kindly and innocently tease her a bit, couldn't he?
He brought his index to his lips, and made a quiet shushing noise, before he winked at her. He then took his phone out, typed on it, and showed her the screen - he had a special app that made his texts a little big for others to read.
"Only scary people who scare little princesses. You have nothing to fear from me : )"

Lucia eagerly looked at the message - and if she still looked suspicious by the beginning, she beamed when she was done reading. "That's good to know!", she chirped, putting her hands on her hips in a confident pause. "But I'll let you know that I was not scared of you anyway, because I really like your hat!" Yeah, that made sense to her.

Charon let out a small smile. Lucia really was an endearing child, wasn't she? He started to write on his phone again, and showed her his answer.
"I could lend you my hat for a bit, if you'd like." He suspected that it was what she was looking for, after all, for telling him that she liked his hat.

Lucia instinctively raised her hands to accept the offer - thus demonstrating Charon how right he was about her wanting to try it on - but she hesitated, and withdrew them in the end. "I'd like that, but my hair is very pretty tonight and I'm scared the hat will mess it up. Another time!", she added with a grin.

Charon nodded. "Another time. You're right, your hair is very pretty, it'd be a shame to ruin it."

Lucia and Michela were quite appreciated by Hypnos' family.

Nyx even mentioned to Michela at some point that she quite liked her dress, and asked her in what shop in town she got it. When she learned it was handmade, she of course was interested in knowing the name of the designer who made it- only to let out a knowing smile when she heard Carleen's name.

Hypnos ended up calling it a night quite early - he was brave until 10pm, but then he started to dose off - so he offered Michela and Lucia to get upstairs with him by then. They had kept Lucia's bed into his room so that she wouldn't feel alone during the night - but let's be honest, she probably wanted to try out Hypnos' super cosy bed. As the gentleman he was, he'd offer to crash down on the guest bed instead, and leave his bed to the two sisters - he'd sleep anywhere he was anyway.