"He will answer to either from what I can tell, though Ariadne only calls him by his original name," Hera answered, resting her chin in her hand in thought. "As for your sons and daughters, that might prove difficult regardless. Neither you nor I are close with them, sending me would be particularly problematic given, well, history. Yet everyone has something that will at least draw their curiosity to the idea."<br/><br/>Despite what Zeus might have thought, centuries of marriage had made Hera know his body language all too well. She had always known when desire struck him, whether it was for her or another, the way his body tensed and his eyes grew just a little too observant yet distant. There was some satisfaction in knowing she could still make him ache with yearning just by sitting across from him. Awkward delay or no, she knew. She would not voice her observation, not yet anyway. For now, she was content to let him squirm and ache with want. Perhaps she enjoyed playing coy a little too much, but the goddess had to confess that a devious part of her had always enjoyed seeing the great and powerful Zeus fidget for want of her. Though her amusement quickly dissolved upon seeing the wetness and wistful look in his eyes when he looked at the photo. Her heart almost sank with a feeling akin to shame when he handed the phone back to her. He hadn't even dared to scroll through the rest, to see images of Ares with the faithful dog ever at his side or Hebe with her husband and children. To think that one image had been too much. Again, she was reminded that she had taken a man's children away from him out of her own bitterness. They had told her it was better this way, that he was deserving of their absence from his immortal life, that he wouldn't care if his least favored children left without so much as good-bye. But still...the act had ever been needlessly spiteful.<br/><br/>"No, it wouldn't," Hera finally answered after taking a deep breath. "Truth be told, I think I likely made my decision before I even got here. Even if-even if<i>we </i>do not manage to repair the damage done between us, I am so tired of fearing that this will be the year or day one of my children or those of my loved ones will fade from existence. We all have children and relatives who are vulnerable and far weaker than we anticipated. Even Aphrodite clings to her Erotes for fear of losing them. I agree to your proposal and while I do not know whether or not we will be successful, there are at least a few angles we could work. At the very least, I can say I put up a fight for my children's lives...and perhaps, things can be better this time, for them and us."<br/><br/>She more than anyone else knew the risk she was taking. For all she knew, this could blow up in her face. But for the chance to save her children, even for a period of time, that was enough for her to risk everything. To rebuild the marriage she had thought destroyed and rotted to its core, that seemed like more than she could ever hope for, but maybe it was possible. She surely could no longer deny that her feelings for him lingered, in all their complex and myriad forms. Tartarus, she was half certain that if he pushed her a hair's breadth closer to the edge, she would be under him (or possibly on top of him) begging for release from years of celibacy. And dammit, she knew she would enjoy it. She had to practically force herself not to allow her eyes to wander his form and the suit that was better tailored to his powerful physique.