"I. Well. In honesty, I expected you to be furious... but resignation makes more sense." After all, she had left assuming he had no interest in change. Why would she be enraged now that he had been with others while they were apart? Up until yesterday she had been operating under the assumption that he would never return, or if he did then it would be the old Zeus. Still, it did nettle him just a bit that she was so dismissive of it. Shouldn't his shame matter? He cleared his throat before he could let himself begin to pout too hard and tilted his head, adjusting where he sat and folding his hands together.<br/><br/>"As I recall, we never<i>teased</i>you for anything. We may have expressed surprise... found it unfair at times." In truth, he and Poseidon had delighted at the proclamation, if only because of how ludicrous it seemed. Poseidon in particular had joked often and loudly that the only thing she would ever marry might be her staff, or its weighted end to the skulls of her enemies. Zeus had laughed along with him, more following his lead than genuinely enjoying the mockery, but he supposed complicity was as damning as action in that sense. He wondered, suddenly, how Hades had felt about all of it. Where he and Don had always been somewhat closer, Zeus had felt awkward around his eldest brother. The oldest, the strongest, given the most responsibility--and the least recognition.<br/><br/>Indeed, that had led to a great deal of discomfort over the eons. Mostly with his infatuation and so-called 'kidnapping' of Persephone, but there had been a multitude of other difficulties. The business with Sisyphus, the trial of Orpheus, the poor fool Pirithous--there was no doubt that Hades was a powerful god, and remained so, but his age and coldness had never allowed Zeus to know him well. Of the Olympians, Hera had been the first to depart, but Zeus had lost track of his oldest brother even earlier. Even now, he had no inkling where the God of the Dead rested, not him or his wife.<br/><br/>He fixed his eyes on her. "Have you seen Hades at all recently? Or even in the last few centuries? I haven't spoken to him since the days of Rome's collapse... and... forgive me, but did you say you've been celibate? This entire time? Nobody has been able to catch your eye or warm your bed since you left?"