How This Happened?!

Chapter 28 - Blinds Off

Aphrodite was waiting for Hephaestus to return from his walk. He wanted to come with her, but she told him that she was going to look around the town's project, supervising a little. That wasn't going to be a walk 'per se', and she didn't want him to get bored. Aphrodite tried to tag along, but saw that Hephaestus needed to be shown confidence.

So, he left her alone.

It wasn't a bad thing. Aphrodite trusted Hephaestus, because he knew how was she with a project, passionated and dedicated, as well as not able to get her mind off it until its finish. He liked that in her.

He had been taking Hephaestus for granted before, and now, he wasn't very sure if he wanted to continue with that thinking. Or, at least, that Hephaestus thought that he thought that. He knew that she was gonna come back tired and grumpy, so he decided to surprise her with a dinner in the workshop, as it would be obvious that she'd work late. Again.

Luckily, being a god sometimes had its perks, like in this case, as he is and will ever be a terrible cook. Not that they needed much food, but from time to time, it was nice to savor some exotic dishes. Snapping his fingers, the table was set, the food cooked and the workshop had made place for the table and two chairs for them.

"It wasn't necessary that you followed me..." Aphrodite heard Hephaestus' voice from outside, as she was obviously talking to someone else. He was immediately on alert, peeking through the window. Hephaestus was with a hand on the doorknob and with a guy behind her. Aphrodite frowned, but tried to calm his own temper. She said so, he followed her.

"I wasn't following you, I was walking you home" the guy lied. It was obvious that he was lying, but Hephaestus didn't seem to notice that on his voice "These aren't hours to be on the street..."

"I can assure you that I can take care of myself" Hephaestus retorted, definitely wanting to walk inside.

"Oh, I can assure you-" Whatever the guy wanted to say, whatever lie he wanted to pass, was cut by Aphrodite himself, opening the door that Hephaestus was so desperately in open. He was showing a very calm and cool façade, but he was raging inside.

"There you are! Right on time as always!" Aphrodite greeted them, with a fake bubbly personality. The guy eyed him up and down, raising an eyebrow. Hephaestus, on the other hand, didn't mind much them and walk inside, stopping dead on her tracks when she saw the table set.

"You made dinner?" she wondered, curious. Even Aphrodite couldn't planned it better herself.

"Yes, I just thought of surprising you..." he admitted, which was even great with the guy still standing on the door, wanting to come in and own the situation "So... Surprise?"

"This is very impressive, Aph..." Aphrodite beamed at the mention of the nickname, as she had never gave him one. He was on a good track "Do you mind that I go take a shower and we can have dinner?"

"Food won't get any colder than it is..." Aphrodite waved at her, in his own unique way of saying, 'it's OK, I take care of it'. Hephaestus smirked and walked into the house, leaving Aphrodite with the unwanted and unexpected visitor "Now, I'm going to be gentle and polite and ask you to get the hell out of here. Thank you!" he ended, smiling and slamming the door.

Or, at least, trying to.

Someone had sticked his foot to prevent from closing.

"You maybe could fooled her, but you can't fool me" he threaten him, surprising him.

"How I can't fool you?" Aphrodite repeated, a little confused "I'm not even trying..."

"You just want to be with her, because you know that no one else would be with someone as ugly as her-" Aphrodite missed the rest of his little speech, because he started to see red upon those words. He jabbed a finger on his chest and glared at him.

"Listen to me and listen carefully" he emphasized, serious "The only person here who wants that is you. Now, if I ever see you around her again, you're gonna regret it so much, that you's wish you were dead" he promised, adding a little glow in his eyes to emphasize his words. The guy seemed to have seen the devil and ran for the hills, in a matter of speaking. Satisfied, Aphrodite closed the door and leaned on it, thinking.

He wouldn't had cared if this had happened before. In fact, he would be encouraging it. A part of him acknowledged that it was for that stupid promise he did to her,about giving another try. Sure, he was trying to be a better husband, but that wasn't the whole matter. Suddenly, he wondered how it would be to lose him to someone else.

Panicking, he realized he didn't like it.

With any other mortal, he wouldn't give a fight, but with Hephaestus... that was a different story. He admitted that losing it would be the worst and that, maybe, she wasn't the worst wife to have. And that he was the worst husband ever.

What he ignored was the glow that was starting to climb up from his legs.

The swap was beginning.

~oOo~

Question of the Day: I heard some people are starting school again... Are you one of those? Share your return with us!

Question of the Chapter: The swap back is beginning! How would you like to see the gods doing while it happens?