i can drink to that all night | hades sibs

After arriving on the island, Gage had been trying to ask around about housing arrangements. He had never had to find a place for himself before, and when someone mentioned that he had a group of siblings all living together in a huge house, he decided he needed to check it out. He had decided to make an effort to have a life here, so why not start with supposed family?

He stood on the porch of the huge house...mansion...thing and shook his head, trying to understand how a bunch of young people were even able to afford such a place. He punched a button that looked like a door bell and heard a buzzing noise. Now all there was to do was wait.

@accaila
@thorn
and all other hades babies

"On my way." Melanie said through the intercom as she looked over at Braxton who was currently sitting on her couch. "Be right back." Throwing her black cardigan on over the tank top she had been wearing, Melanie made her way down the stairs to meet however it was at the door. Prying the monstrosity open, Melanie was greeted by an unfamiliar face. Why would a stranger be here at this time of day? "Good morning. Can I help you?" She greeted, pushing the door slightly closed behind her as she stepped out on to the porch.

I he were anybody else, Gage might be nervous. But, to be honest, he did't feel anything. The girl opened the door and stepped out on to the porch, closing the door behind her like he was untrustworthy or something. He just nodded and spoke slowly, as in disinterested, "I'm new. Was told I'd find family here." He shrugged and held a hand out for her to shake, "Gage."

"Melanie." She replied slowly, shaking the offered hand. Well, at least he had come to them early on instead of them having to go out and find him. "Son of Hades or Pluto?" She asked as she opened the door wide and beckoned for him to come in. "Either way, welcome home Gage. I hope you like it here. It's a bit of a beast, but we enjoy it and it keeps Aimery happy." Frankly, Melanie still wanted to know what happened to the two story victorian she had planned out. That's what she got for leaving Aimery in charge while she was out in the field.

He didn't even flinch as she shook his hand and the vision of her death took his sight from his for a few moments. He watched her die and then saw a number. He would be lying if he said the number was small. In fact, it was quite a large number considering where they lived and who they were. She would be fine as long as she didn't drastically change who she was any time soon. Of course, he couldn't really tell what would change that for her anyway. He nodded and followed her through the door, "How...dark." He said in a voice that hid his awe well, "Do you have any room that is less...gothic?" He asked, not really knowing how this whole deal was supposed to work. Suddenly he realized he never answered her question, "Son of Hades, by the way."

Chuckling a little, Melanie nodded. "Our personal rooms are much less...dramatic, other than Aimery's. He's your half brother, by the way, and co-owner of the house. We can even have a suite put in if the other parts of the house are too much for you. That's what most of us have done." Motioning towards the much lighter sitting room, Melanie entered the door before sitting down on the edge of a chair, her legs crossed as she did so.
"We'll discuss logistics whenever you get a chance to look around and acquaint yourself with the place. My full brother, Alex, recently moved in as well and we're working on getting construction started on a place for him too, so that works out nicely. Until then, would you like a tour or water?" By now she had given up on assuming that people weren't her siblings. Not only was she normally wrong, it tended to start things off on a rockier start.

Gage shrugged, "Water I guess?" He dropped his backpack full of his only belongings on to a couch and sat down next to it, looking around and feeling completely out of place despite being invited in so easily, "I really don't need any special room made for me. I can just live in something you already have." He said flatly, looking at a myriad of pictures that were placed around the room. One of them made him stop speaking and stand, "Zane Greyson?" He said in a short voice, picture a frame up off the mantle and showing it to the girl, his jaw tightened into a strong line.

Melanie's heart stopped as Gage picked up Zane's picture and said his name. "Yes. Our Roman half-brother." She whispered, the sorrow seeping through to her features almost instantly as she crossed over to where he stood and ran her fingers across the frame. The memories were still to fresh and the regret too strong for her to be able to stomach looking at it straight on. "Wait...how did you..." She started, stepping back and looking Gage in the eye, trying to think of how he would know. "Did you know Zane?" She asked finally, not able to think of another way to ask the question.

Gage sucked in a deep breathe and pushed the frame away from his body, setting it down on a table nearby without bothering to put it back in it's place, "Was it an explosion?" He said in a cryptic voice, remembering the burning flames and the screaming. Zane's screaming. He had watched it happen years ago. Had it really already been over 5,000 days since that happened? No way, "I knew him a long time ago." He said sternly, "So he was my brother." Even Gage's steely expression was tortured by this news. He couldn't keep up his mask and it fell for a split second. That split second was just long enough for his jaw to tremble.

"Yes. He died a hero and saved many lives in the recent attack. Innocent people would have been trapped in that building if he hadn't went in there." Melanie eventually choked out, her voice thick with grief and guilt. She should have been there, not at the hospital. Her brother had died alone, and this reoccurring theme was not one that had settled well with her. It was all she could do to avoid crying in front of the stranger who knew her brother's name. "Zane was the oldest son of Pluto that I know of, and he has been greatly missed by all of us."

Melanie wasn't quite sure how to comfort Hades' newest son, so she settled for simply reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss. He was a great man, the best I knew." The more she talked, the more it hit her. None of the Hades kids, and especially not Ethan, had even said the words yet. Not until now.

When she touched him on the shoulder, her death flashed before his eyes again. It was the same, signalling that she hadn't changed her track. She was falling from some tall building, maybe the Empire State building? She hit the ground and the vision ended. She was dead. Then the number flashed in his vision and he had to shake his head to make it disappear, "Thank you." He said in a flat voice, pulling away from her, "His room. Can I see it?"

"Of course. We just need to run up to my room and grab the keys. The door is locked, but I have one for every lock in the house. It'll only take a second." Walking up the steps much slower than she had come down, Melanie only paused outside the door to the library as a whimpering sound resonated through the hall. "Achilles, the hellhound. We've been letting him roam the halls more often because he's okay with Hades kids and obeys our orders, but we have to lock him up whenever significant others are in the house. He's getting better with it." She explained. At least he wouldn't accidentally run in to him one day without any sort of warning.

Finally reaching her room, Melanie opened the door and shook her head at Brax's questioning look as they entered the suite. "This is my place. You can find me here most of the time, but that's another long story for later. Also, this is my boyfriend? Braxton, just for future reference. Braxton, meet Gage, the newest son of Hades and apparently an old friend of Zane's." There had been a hint of question in her voice when she tried to label Brax, but she couldn't think of a better word. Oh well, he said it first and if he didn't like it he'd let her know. Besides, she was too emotionally drained to care by the time she crossed the room and removed the keys from the table beside him to actually care.

Gage raised his eye brows and looked around the suite for a moment before giving a half nod thing to Braxton, acknowledging his presence but not inviting him into their conversation. Her boyfriend replied in kind and Gage nodded slowly before looking at Melanie, who was apparently his sister? This was all so weird, "So Zane's room?" He asked in a flat voice, not wanting to sound too interested but kind of failing himself in that accord but asking.

"Right this way." Melanie replied with a nod before exiting the suite and heading down the hall. The residential wing was big enough to allow them to live in close proximity while still keeping their privacy, something she enjoyed quite a bit. Zane's was towards the end of the hall, by the back stairs. She vaguely remembered him saying something about an easy escape once, but Melanie couldn't force herself to linger on the memory at the moment.

Placing one hand on the door knob and the other towards the lock, Melanie opened the door. It still felt odd to not knock, like Zane was going to walk out and berate her for invading his personal space at any second. "Here it is." She said quietly, moving to stand on the other side of the door.

The room was brighter than the rest of the house and didn't seem so...well...dark. He definitely preferred it. Looking at Melanie for a moment, he dropped his bag on the floor and sighed, "If it is okay, I will live here." He said in a flat voice, venturing away from the door to explore the room he had chosen. It was far enough away from the weirdness of the house that he didn't feel too strange about living with strangers and it reminded him of his good friend from childhood, who's sudden disappearance was starting to finally make sense to Gage.