A/N: So, I managed to write during finals. Don't really know if that's extremely skillful or incredibly stupid of me. :D Meh, muses will be muses...
Many thanks to MilleniaMaster for beta reading! :)
Wise Desires ~ Chapter 2: Good Tactics; Bad Tastes
Nearly a mortal year had passed before the goddess of love could get a hold of her target again. Athena had been busier than ever for the past few months, locked into her room for the sake of one minor war or another, serving the mortals tons more than they worshiped her. Aphrodite could never understand that part of the goddess. She had all the wisdom in the world, so why not keep it to herself, and let bloody battles get bloodier instead? It was all the same as long as the Greeks were healthy and alive, after all. Aphrodite believed as much, and quite often she used love as a way to entertain herself. Tragedy was fun, and it sometimes helped them in wars like the one between the Trojans and the Greeks, although Athena might argue that the war would never have happened in the first place if not for her and that worthless apple…
Regardless of their way of doing things, though, both goddesses still clearly remembered their last encounter; Athena with amusement, Aphrodite with confusion and sullied pride. And when they finally met the second time, it was as Athena was perched along the border of Olympus, eyes intently focused on the land of Athens as she watched her people worship her existence. Aphrodite, on the other hand, had just been roaming about in search for Artemis when her eyes landed on the blonde seated close by. The Goddess of Love stopped in her tracks to look; to notice like she never had before. To admire, even. To lust. Mostly to lust…
She silently gazed at Athena; Artemis banished from her thoughts, and watched the goddess with flowing golden locks gaze down below with loving, protective eyes. Aphrodite saw emotions she couldn't have fathomed to witness in those grey orbs, and suddenly, unexplainably, felt the deepest most impure bout of dislike and hatred for the people receiving that gaze. Athena loved them; she remembered them; she took care of them. Suddenly, Athena's involvement with the mortal world no longer evoked amused wonder in the strawberry blond goddess, but instead brought anger and helplessness. Combined, they formed an emotion she'd never imagined was possible for her to feel: jealousy...
"I could kill them all if I wanted." Aphrodite announced her presence, no longer really aware of the words escaping her lips. She watched her target stiffen in response to the threat, and grey eyes steeled themselves to turn their gaze on Aphrodite. The Athenian's goddess stiffly asked the other to repeat what she had said with a little more thought, as it was the last chance she would get to change it. "It would not be much trouble at all," Aphrodite recklessly continued instead, wanting her power to be known, maybe even intimidate Athena for a change, "Just a few cases of star-crossed love are quite enough to bring down an entire city… You do remember the Trojans, do you not, Athena?" Within a second, the addressed goddess was inches away from Aphrodite, glaring down at her with more anger than ever seen. Aphrodite smiled in victory, having gotten a rise out of the blonde as she'd aimed to, and looked closely at the raging face in front of her. She noticed shapely eyebrows scrunched cutely into a little furrow, long eyelashes that seemed to grow longer the more she stared, rosy cheeks puffed in an adorable fit of anger, and plump, rose lips pulled into an angry line… Aphrodite noticed more than she ever had in anyone, and understood more and more why she had been rejected as she was.
"Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?" Aphrodite whispered before she could stop herself, eyes stuck on the figure as it slowly, cautiously relaxed itself the slightest, and then glued to a pair of full lips as they warned her not to dare joke about threatening her city again, promising war for those words next time. "Well you are. Gorgeous..." Ignoring the other's firm warnings, the goddess took Athena's 'tangent' as an implied "No", continuing with her mesmerized musings, "The prettiest goddess I have laid eyes on." Athena smiled in amusement at this – and this time Aphrodite could differentiate it from desire – as she took a step back from the strawberry blonde for 'distance's' sake. Aphrodite liked that she could smile like that, mask the apparent frustration in her eyes with just a tilt of her lips... but then again, the goddess had started liking quite a few things about her blonde half-sister.
"Could you perhaps be insulting my father's wife, Aphrodite?" Athena questioned with a raised brow. A sexy raised brow, Aphrodite thought, and was all but lost in the simple movement before she came to herself enough to register the question. Aphrodite smirked in return when she came to, inquiring just when it was that the blond goddess had started caring for Hera's reputation – which, the goddess added softly – was not one made famous for her attractiveness. Athena laughed at the other's bold words, and the melodious voice sent the first wave of desire Aphrodite had felt since their last encounter. She couldn't understand what it was, and had a feeling she never would, but an incomprehensible factor had strongly drawn her affections towards this wise goddess. And all who knew her were well-aware that Aphrodite's 'affection' was best expressed in only one way... Perhaps it was because of the rejection she had faced – the first one she had ever gotten till now – or maybe just the sexiness of Athena's perpetually firm and strong demeanor. Probably a bit of both, combined with how unattainable the virgin goddess was... Regardless of much reason, though; regardless of any logic or sense—
Aphrodite had the hots for Athena. And she needed her. In a bed. Now.
"I was never aware you had such a tongue on you, Aphrodite." Athena mused as she came down from the high of her rare laugh, unaware of the love goddess's building need, or of her thoughts of using the same tongue for other purposes. Unawareness was new to the goddess – though to be fair, Aphrodite had managed to hide the resurfacing desire this time around – and unawareness made her ignorantly blissful. Unawareness lowered her caution, and her presumption that she had seen and knew all there was to see and know – one that was in other times quite correct – influenced her to make what was arguably the first unwise decision she had made in eras...
She said yes.
"So, I may visit as you work?" Aphrodite asked again in surprise, not at all having expected to receive an affirmation to her impulsive question. Athena let out an entertained smile yet again, seeing no harm but that of amusement in the shorter goddess's antics, and nodded once again at the wide-eyed blonde. Truth be told, she'd been quite bored the past few months, and this was the first she had ventured out of her chambers in nearly half a mortal year. Wars were running rampant in Greece, and the survival of their people depended on nothing but the simple balance of power between Ares and herself. That was one of the reasons Athena had locked herself up, actually; it was wisest to steer clear of Ares lest they got into an argument, especially since she knew well that the two could never play nice...
"As long as my personal space is upheld, of course..." Athena added with her second nod, not really wanting a replay of their last encounter, although it seemed to her that the strawberry blonde was much calmer in demeanor since then, just admiring her more than anything else. Aphrodite nodded in frenzy, her wide smile on full display. Athena wasn't quite sure why the other goddess was so excited, and felt a building premonition that this hadn't exactly been her brightest idea. But as the goddess of wisdom never had and never would back down from her word, she shrugged in agreement when Aphrodite asked if she could drop by sometime today. The tactician made it known that what went on in her chambers was no big secret at the moment, what with the obvious wars to worry about and prayers to answer. Athena informed the future guest that all would be well as long as her mind was not distracted from her maps with unnecessary chatter.
"Though you must knock." she added after another second of thought, her visage gaining a deep grimace at memories of the bad entrance Aphrodite had made last time, and of whom she'd mistaken her for. "Yes, you most definitely must knock..."
But Aphrodite didn't. Knock, that is. She didn't make a sound, actually, standing as she was on the other side of a closing door, watching the blond goddess work in wonder. Aphrodite had learned to be quiet – in all senses of the term – especially since her hobbies involved frequent sneaking and stealth. Softly closing the door on a star-less night, she locked it with the key attached and watched in amusement as Athena broodingly glared down at her maps in thought, sometimes moving her little army figures and muttering unintelligible things to herself. Much too occupied, it seemed. Perfect.
Carefully making her way to the workaholic goddess, Aphrodite swiftly and silently moved around the piles of books carelessly littering the floor. Mess was not something she was especially fond of, but she could guess that Athena's room was usually like this during her troubled times, and decided she could deal with as much. Times like these, it was awfully characteristic of Athena to distract herself from her demanding work with the many volumes in her chambers, and then distract herself again from the book to go back to planning her back-ups. Aphrodite smiled at every book that met her gaze among the short stacks of random treatises, wondering what the story was behind each of them being where they were.
Tip toeing along the cool tiles, Aphrodite stealthily turned her outfit into a nightgown suiting only the most romantic of nights, a bottle of the best champagne (courtesy of Dionysus) clutched in her hand as she stopped to stand just a touch away from her half-sister. The strawberry blonde couldn't decipher much of what was laid on the table, but what she could appreciate very well was the build of the tan back hugged by shirt fabric, and the noticeable flexing of arm muscles as Athena reached out to move one army figure around or another. Aphrodite's gaze roamed along those regions for a while – yearning so badly to touch – and was just about ready to head down below the other's waist, when Athena's sudden whisper informed her that she might just have been lacking in covertness. "I could be wrong, but," the goddess started casually, whispering with just enough volume to reach the ears of the one hiding behind her back, "according to mortal customs, Aphrodite, I do believe staring for extended periods is considered... 'rude', if I recall."
A mischievous smile played along the lips of the discovered goddess, and Aphrodite was about to affirm her existence by wrapping fair arms around the blond target's waist. She decided against at the last second, though, recalling what had taken place last time and Athena's warnings about 'personal space'. Instead, the goddess perched herself on an empty part of the tactician's table, facing her with the most charming of smiles. Athena barely spared the visitor a glance, which Aphrodite decided would not do at all… She hadn't come here for just a second's worth of eye-contact, after all.
For the first time in quite a long while, Aphrodite thought she ought to try to be sexy… She was always sexy, of course, while never particularly trying to be. But then again, not once had she been straight up ignored before, so perhaps it was time to try something new, after all. "I forgot to knock…" The strawberry blonde started, crossing her legs and leaning forward in just the right way to draw grey eyes to her body. It was for but a split-second, and seemed to be nothing more than an objective glance. But Athena had looked, and that was quite enough for starters…
"That you did." The standing goddess muttered disapprovingly, eyes still fixed on her map, one Aphrodite could now discern as that of Athens. That was all she could see on the table, Athens. Even in all-out war, even in Aphrodite's presence, Athena cared about noting but her city first and foremost…
"What are you doing?" Athena suddenly growled, enough anger in her voice to set her beloved city ablaze. Aphrodite locked eyes with the furious blonde, and after one desperately confused second of staring, realized where her hand was now resting on the table – where it had punched the table – without her even knowing. "I asked a question, Aphrodite." The goddess still demanded, angrily grabbing at the wrist of her guest's fisted hand and lifting it off the map lying on her table, "Why did you knock away my formations?" The grip on her delicate wrist tightened painfully as Aphrodite helplessly attempted to pull it away, and Athena repeated her question a second time – a last time, she warned threateningly. "You would do best to answer me. It is unwise to keep a goddess waiting."
The goddess of love gave up on her pulling; jaw set and eyes blazing as she regarded the blonde before her. With a start, she realized she was getting quite angry herself. Who gave this blonde the right to lay a hand on her? To seize her? Hurt her? If Aphrodite had wished to be touched at all, she would have certainly given an invitation; made it obvious. This – this painful burn on her wrist that surely would leave a mark – this was not invited at all… "It is also unwise to harm a goddess, Athena. Especially when you know not of her capabilities." She chose to hiss as she got off the table, catching her host by surprise with the irritation and offense soaked in her voice, although the grip did not falter, "And it is high time a goddess of wisdom started following what she preached." Angry rulers glared at each other for as long as they could, tasting sparks of battle in the tense air. Aphrodite held her ground, and after a good minute witnessed the start of sanity returning to her host's eyes.
Grey eyes smothered some of the fire burning within, and Athena's death grip loosened, eventually retreating as if the fair wrist was poisonous. The pair still held their glares, although Athena's was now barely more than a confused stare. As Aphrodite stiffly congratulated her violent friend on regaining her wisdom, the patron of Athens turned her gaze to the map of her city, the fallen figures of army posts, and then the slightly bruised wrist that Aphrodite held cradled to her chest. Confusion slowly making way for realization, Athena softly apologized to the other goddess, her observant eyes still fixed on the bruise forming on fair skin as she admitted to have lost herself in the midst of things…
"Lost yourself? You hardly were yourself!" The strawberry blonde continued to hiss, feeling entitled to the last word. She could tell when Athena bit back a witty remark – possibly one about how little sense the words had made – and relaxed a little when the blond goddess picked up fallen figures from the floor, carelessly tossing them at the table. Aphrodite liked that sight – Athena throwing things at a map of Athens. She quite liked it, enough to possibly let go of what had just transpired between them. She regarded the goddess before her, standing silent with a hand – her attacking hand – shielding her face from view, the tips of her fingers digging into golden locks. "You need a break." Aphrodite announced much more sweetly, pulling at the map – which had caused all the trouble – and doubling it over as carefully as her pride allowed.
Wine bottle set on the table, Aphrodite was about to ask her host for a glass, when she turned and saw the goddess in the exact same position as before. No, not exact, Aphrodite realized after a second. The blonde's other hand was a tight fist with white knuckles by her side, and the attacking hand was now more than covering her face; she was clasping at it, almost clawing it off without any motion. She was shaking, and Aphrodite wondered if she had been mistaken to assume certain things about the goddess. Perhaps she had gone a little too far…
"Do not touch me."
Aphrodite had been just a step away from hugging the goddess, but the uttered whisper held her back from that last step. She bit back a remark on how ironic Athena's words were, figuring the state she seemed to be in, and told her that there was wine she had brought, and that it was Dionysus's finest. When Athena simply nodded without another muscle of movement, the guest sighed and just took the bottle back into her hands, sensing its rejection. She waited for a few minutes, watching immobility and hearing silence, before eventually resigning to ask the stationary goddess if she should leave.
"Forgive me." Athena answered in a barely audible whisper, which Aphrodite took as a yes. Wasting no time on ogling at the still goddess who had turned out to be much more than expected, Aphrodite nodded at unseeing eyes, and walked right out, nearly tripping on multiple stacks of books. She closed the door harder than usual in hopes of making it clear that she was out; that the goddess could let out whatever it was she had been holding in so adamantly. The Goddess of Love felt her heart break just a little, feeling bad for her behavior, bad for the woman beyond the door whom she could not even begin to understand…
She looked up to the stars lined above Olympus, praying to herself that Athena's next visitor would be able to court her without breaking her, as Aphrodite had surely failed on that account…
Unwise Desires
II. "Aphrodite visited my chambers after I made the mistake of inviting her. The Goddess of Love was pleasant as could be. She was pleasant, but I drove her away. Perhaps it was for the best, I DO drive everyone away...
I hope she does not return. It is hard as it is without her. Without anyone."
A/N: Feedback is much appreciated. :)