Beauty Beyond Skin Deep (Aphrodite!Todomatsu and Reader)

Chapter 2

The next morning, I had to work around a persistent visitor.

Aphrodite watched my every movement as I wandered the garden for the greenery that I had written down previously, carefully trimming the stems a little long just in case I needed to shorten them. They clung to my presence like a shadow on a sunny day, never questioning anything that I was doing yet always enraptured by the workspace that I had cleared out to use.

Thankfully, their garden was more calming to my senses than whatever perfume Aphrodite had chosen to wear, my nose catching a whiff of the strong herbs and floral scent whenever I passed them.

"I thought I had said that I only wanted the anemone to be the central focus."

The curt comment instantly soured my relaxed expression, my fingers pausing in their meticulous movement of preening the outer petals. I had hoped for a quiet watcher, "The carnations that you demanded will not stand out next to the red anemone you want. Consider this a tester bouquet."

"Why would you waste my flowers like that?"

"I don't consider it a waste," Standing up from the working position, I motioned towards the small bench nearby. The small thing was absolutely covered in shredded pieces of parchment, each shred covered in writing that detailed the dozens of bouquets that I had thought of during my initial garden walkthrough, "I take the top three ideas that I create and begin to turn them into finished projects. What I'm currently cultivating is the third idea. I'll continue to build it until it turns into an arrangement that I'm satisfied with. Barring satisfaction, I turn it into a smaller project that could always be used around the home."

Aphrodite walked towards the bench, slowly reaching down and scooping up several dozen papers in their hands, "You...did all of this since I left you yesterday?"

"That and more," Their softened tone caught my attention, watching them carefully as they gently looked at every single paper in their hands, "There wasn't much else that I could do until Dimitra brought me back to your home."

My comment lifted their head, our eyes meeting briefly before I glanced away, "I mean...I don't mind it. Your garden is entertaining enough for me."

"Do you...wish to see the realm beyond my home?"

"You said that I needed to be cautious of many things and many gods. I don't think it's a good idea for me to be beyond your protection, Aphrodite," I shook my head as I leaned back over the budding bouquet, barely closing my eyes and continuing my touch-ups to the carnations that were meant to be a barrier around the few anemone blooms.

"Mortal," The term didn't hold that much malice anymore, "I stated that you would be under my protection while you work on what I want. You've clearly displayed your fervor in this endeavor--" They waved the handfuls of papers in the air before setting them all back on the bench, "-- which tells me that you're more than ready for a respite, even if it's a brief one."

"I don't want to take a break, Aphrodite."

The denial seemed to throw the Greed goddess off, their expression shifting from expectancy to surprise before hardening into confusion, "...but...you've done plenty of work."

A chill ran down my spine as my name was spoken by them, urging me to finally look at the goddess, "I may have done 'plenty' of work, but you gave me a deadline. I could finish a competition arrangement in two-to-three hours if I had finalized everything else, but you're asking me to design, arrange, gather, cultivate, and assemble this project...you're a Greek god; I can't afford to mess this up."

I focused back on the greenery spread out around the chosen vase, the blue-dyed clay mixed and unevenly dispersed among the white-dyed clay to create an mesmerizing display.