WHO: Aphrodite & Hephaestus WHEN: Sunday night WHERE: Aphrodite's apartment WHAT: Dinner between exes. No bloodshed, promise. WARNINGS: likely nothing other than Aphrodite being a sneaky bitch. NOTE: Reposted as a favour
Aphrodite was disappointed in the lack of initiative she'd been showing with Hephastus. They'd had dinner together in which she'd acted as the proud but slipping goddess seeking comfort without having to say as much. In seemed that Hepheastues had bought it but since then she'd made attempt to even contact him further. Perhaps, though, that could work in her favor as well. No one could have any doubt that Aphrodite was an endlessly prideful woman; Of course any show of weakness was something that had to be ignored.
She'd cooked tonight - something that Hephaestus in no way deserved and something that she'd never done for anyone else before. Aphrodite was not domestic. But cooking didn't seem all that difficult, just hot and messy. The chicken and roast vegetables were still in the oven when a knock on the door drew her attention. Aphrodite took off the apron and inspected herself in the mirror, her hair drawn up with tendrils framing her face and her dress leaning more towards the elegant end of the seduction spectrum. Yes, it would suit.
She went to answer the door and nodded to her ex-husband in greeting. "I'm glad you came." She sounded uncomfortable. She was, but for different reasons than he should think.
Quiet and unassuming Hephaestus might have been, but he wasn't really buying into Aphrodite's sudden desire to reconcile. He wasn't at all sure it was a good idea to meet with her again, but he wasn't going to back out now. Especially since she'd said she was going to try cooking-something he could never remember her doing ever.
So it was with a bottle of some rather expensive red wine that he arrived on her doorstep, with no idea of what to expect, and fairly certain he was just going to have to wing it.
He knocked on the door, and waited while she answered. "So am I. You look lovely," he replied. He indicated the wine. "Where would you prefer I put this?"
Aphrodite was impressed at the wine as she took his taste for not being all that impressive. (A mistaken memory on her part, as there had been plenty of things he made that she saw beauty in. His skills there had been the only thing about him that she had liked.)
"Come in," she said, moving away from the door so that he could enter. She took the wine from his hand and said, "let me put this on the table."
She let him through her apartment, as opulent as one would expect from Aphrodite, all velvets and silks and warm colours. She put the wine on the table and gestured to the chair across from her. "Do sit. Dinner needs a little more time."
"Thank you," he said, stepping inside and shutting the door.
He glanced around the apartment, taking in the sumptuous surroundings and thinking it was a very fitting home for Aphrodite, very lush and comfortable.
He sat in the chair she indicated, very conscious of the fact that he was out of his element. "Dinner smells wonderful," he said. "What are we having?"
Aphrodite looked towards the kitchen, a little concerned that it may be spontaneously bursting into flames. Cooking seemed a delicate balance. "Roast chicken," she told Hephaestus as she looked back towards him. "And assorted vegetables that I'm assured going into making a roast dinner. I hope it's alright." The concern there was genuine as Aphrodite hated doing things she wasn't good at. The concept of failing upset her deeply.
"Let me open the wine," she added, reaching for the corkscrew on the table and the bottle.
"I'm sure it will be lovely," Hephaestus said, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. "It certainly smells delicious."
Right now, a glass of wine sounded like the best course, if only to dispel the feeling that he was walking on eggshells. "That sounds wonderful," he replied. "Would you like me to get some glasses?"
"Let us hope the smell will match the taste," Aphrodite told him with a nod and then finished opening the bottle.
"If you would?" the love goddess said to his offer. "They're in the sideboard." She pointed to the mahogany antique across the room from them.
Pulling out the cork and setting it down, Aphrodite turned her attention back to him. "Have you been busy?"