Hermes (ever_mercurial) wrote in nevermore_logs, @ 2011-01-15 18:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | aphrodite, hephaestus |
WHO: Aphrodite & Hephaestus
WHEN: Friday night
WHERE: Cafe Boulud
WHAT: It's like amends. If by 'like' we mean 'nothing at all like'
NOTE: Reposted as a favour
Aphrodite's first step was to make herself look absolutely ravishing. Naturally she was, of course, near irresistible. Her very name still conjured up images of the goddess she was of old, perfect of face and form. Her name was not one that had been forgotten, even as other Olympians around her lost their footing.
So when Aphrodite actually worked on her looks, it meant business.
And that was what this was. Business. She was meeting with that cripple ex-husband of hers and she wanted, more than anything, for him to want her. Not because she wanted him - not at all - but because it pained Aphrodite to have lost whatever hold she may have had over the blacksmith. She was the Goddess of Love. How could Hephaestus go on living his life happily knowing he didn't have her? Aphrodite's ego was a fragile thing and this thought could shatter it.
When she showed up at the restaurant they were meeting at it was slightly late just so she could make an entrance. Eyes turned to the raven-haired beauty who came through the doorway, her red dress holding just-so to her curves. She was desire in human form and although she would never be as beautiful as she had been on Olympus, she would still never go unnoticed.
Aphrodite, however, only had eyes for her ex-husband where he sat at the bar awaiting her. She crossed to him, ignoring everyone else, and smiled serenely, the very picture of desirable innocence.
Hephaestus hadn't been at all sure that this was a good idea. Sure, his ex-wife had seemed genuinely interested in meeting. And she'd even said she'd been unfair. That didn't mean he trusted her or her words, however.
But there was no harm in having dinner with her, he decided. At least he could try and determine what this was really about. So he'd put on a suit and headed out the restaurant she'd specified.
When he arrived, she wasn't there yet, so he'd headed to the bar and ordered a drink while he waited. He couldn't help but drum his fingers a little on the bar as he sat.
He could tell immediately when Aphrodite arrived. Even if he hadn't been able to feel the presence of other immortals, the slight hush that feel over the restaurant would have been enough to let him know.
He turned and saw her making her way over to him. As always, she looked beautiful, and he hadn't seen her for such a long time, and though he would deny it for eternity, she made his breath catch just a little.
"Hello, Aphrodite," he said, pulling out a chair for her. "Can I get you a drink?"
Aphrodite sat down carefully, the dress sliding a little up her thighs despite that. "A gin a tonic," she smiled at him. "Thank you."
It really had been quite a while since she'd seen him. He still wasn't exactly a movie star to look at, but she was sure he was more attractive and less hideously broken than he had been in Greece. Aphrodite would hold the film industry and it's classification of 'ugly' to blame for that. After all, they did love putting a beautiful girl in glasses and claiming it made her plain? People these days had no concept of the monstrosities the ancient world could provide, before the days of plastic surgery or health and dental care.
Not that Aphrodite ever had problems with those things. She was a God and they were perfect.
Well, she considered, casting a glance to her ex, most of us are.
He signaled the bartender, taking the drink when it was ready and passing it to her. "You're welcome. You look lovely tonight."
"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company this evening?" he asked, without a trace of sarcasm in his voice. He was rather proud of himself for that.
He didn't miss the glance she tossed his way, and he sighed to himself. But he wasn't going to start something, he wasn't. It was the first time in...he really didn't know how long that they'd been in the same room without fighting. And he was certainly grateful for that.
Aphrodite took her drink - and the compliment, well-earned - with a nod and a 'thank you'. After taking a sip she ran one manicured finger along the rim of the glass thoughtfully, considering the answer to his most simple (and yet complicated) of questions.
Where to begin? What lies to tell and which truths to share?
"A fair question," was what Aphrodite finally said, eyes still on her glass and not him. There were things that were easier to say without eye contact. "I've not given you much reason to think the best of me."
"I'd like to think so," he said, eyes fixed on her. "And no, you rather haven't, so after a while, it just...it just didn't matter anymore. As heartless as that sounds."
He sipped his drink, lapsing back into silence. She was leading the dance this evening, so to speak, and he was just waiting for her to direct where the conversation was going next.
"I," Aphrodite began uncomfortably but then paused to think of her exact next words. "Maybe it's that I came to..." The love goddess let out a frustrated breath and threw her hair over her shoulder, something with only went to catch more attention from the patrons of the bar.
She couldn't possibly be about to say this!
When she finally spoke the words were so quiet that Hephastueus may not have even heard them, especially as she wasn't even looking at him when she said them. "I'm sorry.</i>"
Hephaestus couldn't quite believe he'd heard what he thought he heard. To hear Aphrodite apologize-and to him, of all people-was not something he thought he would ever experience.
He opened his mouth to reply, and then closed it again. It was difficult to form an adequate reply, so he sipped his drink while he thought.
"Thank you," he said quietly. This evening was certainly turning out differently than he'd expected. "Although I feel I must ask...what brought this on? And what do you hope to accomplish?" Perhaps that wasn't worded the best way, but given his past experiences, he was erring on the side of caution. And really, could be blamed for being a bit jaded?
At his 'thank you' Aphrodite scowled a little, as though displeased that he'd actually heard what she'd said and acknowledged it. She didn't want the cripple to hear things like that from her.
She drained her glass and called for another (a straight gin), a request that was quickly granted. Then she looked over at him once it was in her hand. "Does there have to be a reason?" Aphrodite asked him, attempting for casual but failing completely. Of course there were reasons.
Oh nonono. That response was not going to satisfy him tonight.
"Of course there does," he replied. "There are always reasons, for everything that happens to us, for everything that we do."
He motioned for a second drink of his own, whiskey this time. It was shaping up to be a whiskey kind of night.
"And I have to say, I am most curious to discover what yours are."
Aphrodite drained her gin. For a long time she was silent, looking at the glass in front of her.
"The world has changed," she said after a while. "So much is not as it was and..." her voice was low. "Perhaps... perhaps I've grown lonely and I've no one to blame for it but myself." She looked at him, her expression fierceness over vulnerability. "Which is a secret never to be spoken to another living soul."
Hephaestus was content to wait until she was ready to speak. Trying to pry anything out of her would get him nowhere, he knew that much.
"It has," he agreed. "Things move on, and progress, and so many of us are the same as we were so long ago."
The fierceness pleased him, in a strange kind of way. It meant the Aphrodite he'd first met so long ago was still in there. "Rest assured, I will tell no one," he replied. "Even if I did, I doubt they would believe me. There are many who would gladly help soothe your loneliness, why seek me out?"
Aphrodite hated the changing times. Others may have adjusted to it, even grown to like it more, but for Aphrodite all it meant was a weakening in powers that had once been near-infinite. People could resist her now, and that had never happened in Greece. She hadn't even had to try then.
"Maybe I felt that you of all people-" She stopped and shook her head lightly, her expression regretful as she looked at the bottles of alcohol at the back of the bar and not him. "I should never have come tonight."
Ah-hah.
"You felt that I, of all people, understood what it was like to be lonely," he said. "And up until very recently, you would have been right."
He debated how much to tell her, then decided discretion was the better part of valor. "Two of my daughters have recently returned to me. They're so happy and cheerful, and now that they're part of my life again, I have a reason to smile. But I knew the ache of loneliness for a long, long time."
"We could still have dinner, if you like," he said. "The evening doesn't have to be all bad."
"I was beautiful once," Aphrodite lamented very quietly. "Loneliness was not my province." There was truth in those words, even if she was playing a game. The fading of her looks destroyed Aphrodite, because they were what she was made of. If her beauty left her entirely then she would be nothing at all. (Day by day Aphrodite looked in the mirror and felt it all slipping, despite the fact that no one else could see such a thing.)
"I am... glad that you have your daughters." The word 'glad' was so difficult for her to get out in regards to Hephaestus, something he couldn't have missed. It was perhaps kinder than anything she'd said to him before. With a sigh she added, "I did have to use considerable influence to get our table, so perhaps we should eat."
"And you are beautiful still," Hephaestus replied,and he meant it. "Time has not changed that." She may not have been the overwhelming beauty she had been in ancient times, but there were still few, if any women who could compare to her.
"Thank you very much," he said, inclining his head graciously. He knew that couldn't have been easy for her to say, and he very much appreciated it.
He stood up and offered her his arm. "Shall we head there, then?"
Of course he'd still find her beautiful. To Aphrodite he was still a hideous monster as much as she would (for tonight) pretend otherwise. The phrase 'out of his league' couldn't even begin to cover it. But instead of saying anything along those lines she gave a small smile and whispered, "thank you."
Aphrodite looked at the offered arm and the idea of taking it disgusted her. But this was a game and a game she could play well enough. So instead of disgust it was merely expected reservation that she allowed to show on her features. But after a moment she stood and then placed her hand lightly on his arm, swallowing uncomfortably. She could have easily pulled Hephaestus to her and kissed him while ignoring her hatred, but this seduction of her ex-husband needed to be more subtle than that to be believable. Aphrodite would play the prideful goddess brought low by her own solitude and weakness. (It was so much closer to the truth than she dared to admit.)
She gave the maître d’ her name and the two of them were seated, Aphrodite ordering a bottle of wine to begin with. When the waiter left them Aphrodite raised her eyes a little to look at him. "This feels very strange," she admitted.