LETTING OFF STEAM

"In the future, I don't want you around any taverns," Poseidon announced the minute they were outside in the streets, "Not in, not outside, not anywhere nearany taverns. Not at all."

For some reason, Amphitrite found it a wise time to laugh derisively, "Oh, NOW you're talking."

"What?" Poseidon blurted out in bewilderment, following behind her.

Amphitrite spun around to sneer at him, "You know, I can't quite decide what's worse. To not hear anything from you, or to have you around and not actually talking to me."

"Oh, so you want to talk?" Poseidon waved his arms open as if in a dare.

Amphitrite suddenly clutched the top of her stomach, "No, I want to sit down..." she returned, involuntarily bending over, "I feel rather sick."

"Rather sick?" Poseidon repeated in a grumble while at the same time gripping her arm to give support, "Why am I not surprised?"

"Hey, I only had two glasses!" Amphitrite clarified, "TWO glasses!" she gestured with her fingers.

Poseidon sighed loudly, giving in, "I know."

Surprised by his easy admittance, Amphitrite halted their walk and reiterated, "You know?"

"I noticed," he corrected.

Amphitrite narrowed her eyes at him.

Without further explaining, Poseidon tugged at her arm to keep her moving forward, reflecting, "Is it just me, or is your alcohol tolerance really getting lower and lower by the second...?"

"I know!" Amphitrite exclaimed in immediate agreement, "It's the darnest thing...!" she remarked, before eventually tripping over a rock.

Poseidon caught her, "O...kay," he mumbled, hauling her to the side where a nice swing set miraculously came into view, "Sit," he instructed.

Helping her in, Amphitrite stretched out her legs in relief and took in one long, deep breath and leaned her head back.

"Feeling better?"

As soon as fresh air began to fill out her senses, so did her grip to rationality, and she instantly glared back at him.

"Oh, there she is!" Poseidon waved at her sudden change of disposition.

"Don't start with me," she cautioned, "I'm not happy with you."

Poseidon placed both fists on his hips, "Right, sorry for breaking your rule #1," he scoffed.

She threw him a baffled look.

"Your number one condition on marrying me," Poseidon reminded.

Amphitrite raised her head in recollection.

Poseidon returned, "I apologize if you're not happy with me right now."

Amphitrite raised both her brows, "But you clearly are not happy with me either, aren't you?" Amphitrite speculated, "Otherwise you won't be giving me that cold treatment you've been parading around since you woke up from your long slumber."

Poseidon turned his gaze away.

"I thought you wanted to talk?" she urged.

"I do."

Amphitrite gripped at the swing chain, "Well?"

He appeared hesitant, so Amphitrite took the lead, "Okay, I understand you are not at all pleased with me or with my family for being the reason that you had to banish your son, Cyclops, away from the mortal lands..."

"It's not th..."

"I know how much you love your children and I'm genuinely sorry that we should be the cause to keep one away from you," she continued.

He answered with an unreadable stare.

"What?" Amphitrite inquired.

Poseidon shifted his weight to one foot, appearing quite uneasy, before declaring, "I'm not comfortable with you and Theseus."

"What?" she repeated in confusion.

"I am not comfortable with how close you are with Theseus," he echoed.

"I am not close with Theseus," she mimicked.

Poseidon let out a short laugh that sounded more like a scoff.

"He is your son, I have to at least be accommodating to him," she reasoned.

"About that," he winced with the statement, "Maybe we can just turn the accommodating part down a notch."

"I treat him with the same attention that I give the young ones," she excused.

"Exactly," he pointed out, "And the younger ones worship you for it," he said, "With Theseus, that's going to be a problem."

"I can handle Theseus," Amphitrite brushed off, knowing exactly what Poseidon meant.

"Why do I doubt that?" he aired, starting to pace in front of her, "He'd been throwing himself at you since lunch at Rocky Edge and you never said a thing to put him off."

"Is that what your angry looks was all about?" she remarked, "I can't very well just jab Theseus in the face whenever I feel like it, he's your son!"

"On the contrary, you should jab him in the face whenever you feel like it because he IS my son!" he argued. Poseidon scowled at the look of puzzlement she replied to him, "Sometimes it scares me how little you actually know my grown children," he uttered.

"We have a very strange set-up here," Amphitrite acknowledged.

"I know," huffed Poseidon.

"And yes," she confirmed, "Theseus' attention does make me a little bit more than uncomfortable sometimes," she confessed, "But I figured, you're his father..."

"Need I remind you of Cyclops?" he interfered.

"But I'm your wife," she justified, "He can't very well be serious about..."

"Oh, he could be," he conjectured, "Darling, men in my family may tend to be powerful, but we can be incredibly stupid."

"Point taken," she shot back, "And what a very dangerous combination we have there!"

He glowered at her.

"Oh my god!" Amphitrite pushed herself a little on the swing, "Is this what I think this is? Are YOU jealous?"

He grimaced.

"Holy Styx!" she continued, "With your son?"

"Look who's talking," he snapped back, "I'm not the one who stormed out earlier in the middle of a crowded tavern, leaving mayhem in your wake because of something... I left unsaid," he deflected.

"I'm not..." she bit at her lower lip, then allowing herself to get carried by the motion of the swing, "Okay, I'm not comfortable with your silences," she admitted.

"My silences?" he muttered, "Strange, I'm often accused of being too loud."

"Do you..." Amphitrite began to ramble, ignoring him completely, "Do you even know how exasperating it is?"

"My loudness?" he pretended.

"No!" Amphitrite gestured, "Your silences, your absences..." she defined irritatedly, "They're driving me..." she grappled for the right word, "Insane!"

"I usually have that effect on women," he taunted.

"If I had a rock in my reach, I would throw one at you," she daunted.

He complained, "You have your hesitations on hitting Theseus regardless if he was already invading your private space, but you don't mind throwing a rock at me?"

"It's because you're so..." she balled her fists in front of her, "You're SO infuriating!" she exclaimed between gritted teeth.

"I am infuriating," imitated Poseidon in a deadpan voice, as if it was at all unbelievable.

"I waited for a month," she informed, "A MONTH!" she emphasized, "Just to have you talk to me. I waited for you while you were sleeping, I endured your sudden aloofness, and then you went missing on me for a week - whatever you did during that one week, only the Fates know what!" she enumerated, "If you have something to say to me, or something that's bothering you about me, say it! Don't keep me guessing! I can't read minds!"

"Are you done?" he asked menacingly.

Amphitrite took her liberties and continued, "I had to actually dress up like a man and track you down in a tavern while you're enjoying your time with your friends - I'm sorry about that by the way - to finally get a private audience with you," she waved a hand, "Funny, but I never really imagined it would be THIS difficult for a woman to actually get a chance to talk to you," she openly wondered, "I mean, knowing your reputation, I immediately assumed it would be easy to just waltz in and get your attention..."

The next thing she knew, Poseidon was in front of her, crushing her own hands that were clutching at the swing chain, his fuming blue-green eyes levelled with hers, "What did you say?" he hissed.

"Ow!" she protested, trying to tug her hands away.

His grip even grew more tightly, "What..." he recited, "...did you say?"

Undeterred, she scolded, "Poseidon!" she called, "You're hurting me!"

One hand suddenly clasped tightly around her neck, and with a gasp, pulled her into him, surprising Amphitrite with one long, deep, demanding kiss.

Taken aback, it took her a complete second to fully realize what was happening.

With a sudden rush of boldness, Amphitrite dropped any remaining sense of reservation. She had long admitted that Poseidon was by far the best kisser she'd ever encountered. And for all she knows, he might just be the best one in the land. And yes, maybe she had pined over him for the past months than she'd even want to acknowledge. If he was suddenly freely giving away his kisses after a long time of holding back, by god, she'd take it!

She hungrily dug her free hand into Poseidon's thick dark hair, equally matching his fervour with her own. Poseidon encouraged her response with a low growl, pushing her deeper into her seat, one hand now supporting the other side of the swing chain for balance.

Amphitrite gripped tensely at her side of the chain the moment she felt Poseidon's other hand stealing inside her cloak.

"Poseidon!" she gasped.

She shivered when she felt his bare hands touching her waist, slowly inching higher, and higher still.

Amphitrite bent her head backwards, allowing him free access to her neck, "Poseidon," she breathed, "We can't," the one last voice of reason between them.

Good Heavens, but they were ON a swing set, just a few blocks away from the tavern, in downtown Corinth!

Clearly breaking into his thoughts, Amphitrite felt Poseidon gradually retrieving his hand out from her cloak, pulling himself away from her, his forehead resting on her shoulders, still raggedly breathing.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Without lifting his head, he replied, "Go home, Amphitrite."

"Poseidon..."

"Go home," he snapped, standing up, towering over her.

Amphitrite remained seated, slack-jawed at him.

"And just so you know," he stated darkly, looking away, "There was no other woman."

She shook her head.

"I stayed with Hera," he confessed, "The entire week I was gone," he mentioned, "Call me a coward, but I stayed with Hera because I don't know what the hell I would do with you."

Amphitrite felt her brows furrowing at him in question.

"Go home, Amphitrite," he repeated, "Before I change my mind."