I already have a self insert goddess for Hades but I'm kinda really loving this human AU...thing I've been thinking about lately. It's very loosely inspired by a fic I read once, and the premise is, what if Cici frickin' died and became a shade. and then just rolled up into the House of Hades like _{(Dan Avidan in the "mark zuckerberg" bit voice)} "I'm very tired" kdjfhg.

so I have a whole story for her that I kinda just BS'd as I went, but I ended up liking it a lot. It's a little long _{(copy-pasting straight from my own tumblr post)} so...

TL;DR: tired mortal girl is visited regularly by Hypnos in her dreams to help her sleep, and becomes his favorite. Dies young in her sleep, reunites with him in the House of Hades as a shade, strings get pulled by Zagreus and now _{(bill wurtz voice)} that's just where she lives.

In life, she was an all around normal but very nice human. She spent a lot of time doing things for others around her so they were happy and content, even in the dead of night - so much that she eventually started to neglect her own wellbeing without realizing it.

During one such sleepless night, where she's so exhausted but fighting to stay awake that she slips in and out of consciousness, she's visited by the god of sleep himself. He sees that she's deserving of a good rest for once, and chats away with her in her semi-conscious state for a brief time, before lulling her into a deep and peaceful sleep.

It becomes kind of a Thing™ between them, where Hypnos visits and spends the night with her when she struggles to sleep. _{(and it gives reason as to why he's sometimes absent from the main hall in-game 👀)} He never learns her name, but for some reason he can't figure out, this mortal is just so interesting to him that he keeps coming back. She fights to stay awake, but loves his visits and revels in the rest that he gives her, she's so kind and she looks so cute when she sleeps... altogether it's a series of pleasant visits for the both of them.

One night in her dreams, she feels...strange, and weaker. When Hypnos visits, he solemnly explains that she has died in her sleep. He's here to give her one more night of peaceful rest and pleasant company in the mortal realm before his brother comes to guide her away. Hypnos tells her that of the few living mortals he's ever gotten to visit, she was his favorite.

When she emerges from the Pool of Styx, she's quite confused. But she's ushered into line, where she recognizes her companion in the night keeping track of the shades like her. She asks him what happened, and he reads her name off his list. Says there that she neglected her health in life, and died in her sleep from the complications it caused - and quite early in her short human life, to boot, what a shame...

He doesn't seem to recognize her as he explains this...which is weird, because he's usually aware of people who die in their sleep - it's the closest thing he gets to spending time with his brother, after all. But she says they do know each other - he used to visit her and help her sleep, lending her the comfort of his plush robe and their gentle chats.

And then, after a moment, he recognizes the color of her sleep clothes, and those soft blue eyes...his favorite human was here again, and it's all he can do to keep from sweeping her up in his arms again - Lord Hades is right there watching, after all - and neither of them want to leave each other's side again just yet.

This is where I kinda start reaching, but I figure at this point Zagreus has gotten pretty close to everyone in the house, maybe it's even post-Persephone so things are less tense overall? And I imagine he pulls some strings to let Cici stay in the house, as a favor to Hypnos. I dunno what kind of deal gets struck... I thought about her being hired to work with the contractor, but she's the one who does the more simple decorative stuff like the rugs and floral arrangements? Someone else suggested that she could do upkeep for the fountain, like they were ruined and she could fix them up and make them look pretty. It was a neat suggestion~

But either way, she kinda stays under Hypnos' watch, stays in his room most of the time _{(...I like to think he has a room there fksjg)} but sometimes gets to hang out in the lounge or interact with Zagreus. c: