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“Thank you, Melinoe,” Steve says, taking the folded bit of paper from her absently and tucking it into a pocket - the spirit currently trying to explain its actions in life is particularly good at dodging Antiope’s questions, and Steve is pretty sure this is a Tartarus-bound spirit but needs to pay close attention just in case he’s wrong.
It is a Tartarus-bound spirit, so Steve sighs and nods when Antiope looks over at him. He hates that, he really does - hates knowing that mortals can be so vicious to each other, even without Ares or Eris or any of the gods giving them excuses. Hates knowing that he might actually have been one of the best the mortal world had to offer, just because he’d tried.
Diana would, of course, say that he did more than try, but still.
Antiope sends the spirit off with Thanatos and sighs, tapping the little gong beside her throne to indicate a break. Technically, since they’re gods now, they don’t need to get up and stretch and move about a bit so they don’t stiffen up, but both of them prefer staying in the habit. Steve goes out and throws logs for Cerberus for a while, and only remembers the bit of paper when Cerberus has had enough of playing fetch and is flopped down at his feet, three tongues lolling cheerfully.
He unfolds it carefully, and blinks down in shock at Diana’s familiar tidy handwriting.
My darling,
I have been wandering about in the archives on Olympus, and encountered a spell which purports to do what Iris did, bearing messages swiftly from one place to another. I am not sure it will work - I am not Iris’s heir, after all - but if it does, being able to send mail to and from Hades will be marvelous indeed! I have appended a copy of the spell, and if this reaches you, as I hope it will, then you and my beloved Aunt will hopefully be able to respond in kind.
I have gotten an invitation to visit Brazil, to look at a cache of ancient pottery and see if my ‘knack for languages’ extends to the new world as well as the old; I confess I am rather curious, as I do not know if Hera’s Gift extends to those tongues she herself may never have encountered…
Antiope comes wandering out and leans against Steve’s side. “You’re late for court, o merciful one,” she teases. “Cerberus lie down on your feet again?”
“Well, yes,” Steve admits, grinning at the dog, who is unrepentantly asleep. “But actually I got distracted - look. Diana’s figured out how to send us letters!”
“Oho,” Antiope says, eyes lighting up. Steve, after all, is able to leave the underworld for six months out of the year; Antiope can leave, but it’s very difficult, and they’ve learned that if she goes anywhere but Olympus, the feeling of sheer wrongness is so distressing as to make the trip worthless. So being able to correspond with Diana - and maybe even with Hippolyta, if they can get this spell right - would be the sort of blessing that even gods appreciate. “Well, that’s definitely worth putting off court another little while. Let me see!”
Steve hands over the paper, laughing, and leans down to scritch Cerberus behind the ears as he plans his first letter back to Diana.
It probably shouldn’t be a list of all the things he wants to do with her as soon as they’re in the same physical space again, but then again…why not?