Aphrodite felt restless.
It wasn't often she felt this way. Or anxious, for that matter. But now, as she laid down on her plus-sized bed, there wasn't any other way to describe this. Recently, of course, there were the wars, but she was barely worried about her safety during the Titan War. She didn't think the Titans would immediately dispose of her, should they succeed. Even if she did mourn her fallen children. The Giant war was different, especially because she barely knew what was going on after Fort Sumter, only returning to a lucid state at the last minute, only for her and the others to sit back while the demigods dealt with Gaia. That was anticlimactic.
The war against the emperors barely affected her, even if she was saddened by the passing of Jason Grace, who was already Piper's ex-boyfriend at that point, but regardless. Love remained, even if shaken.
But back to the point. Gods, she really couldn't organize her thoughts when anxious. Percy. Yes, Percy. The veteran Percy Jackson. Of course, he had already been a veteran of two wars, but his telling seemed too truthful for it to be a lie. He did serve in the army which puzzled her. Yesterday, Aphrodite had imagined why Ares hadn't told her. There was no way he wasn't aware, after all, it was his domain, but he probably didn't know how to even tell her. Which was preposterous! She told him all sorts of gossip, even if he barely paid attention. Sometimes she wondered what his problem was. He was a good sport, and she still enjoyed him, but apart from that... what was there again?
The intimacy, probably.
Aphrodite looked at the piece of napkin Percy had given to her yesterday. The letters to his address weren't written in conventional black or blue ink, but instead, a beautiful dark shade of gold, bordering bronze. If she was correct, he lived right next to Central Park, which made her raise an eyebrow. Even while serving, would he be able to finance an apartment located in such a sophisticated area? Another thing she would need to discover when visiting him today. Because Aphrodite is going to visit him, she had just decided. While giving herself the satisfaction of almost 'ghosting' him, as a younger soul would say, her curiosity won over her ego.
With some light enchantments, her Jessica disguise returned to her face. Her skin was pale, her eyes a chocolate brown, her hair light brown with streaks... Aphrodite looked beautiful. She was well aware of that. Looking into the closet she insisted on maintaining – because even she was a goddess, it was easier to choose if she hadn't to imagine everything, despite what Ares would say and how fertile her mind was – Aphrodite chose a red blouse that revealed her stomach while wearing dark blue jeans. It was appropriate for a less fancy visit, and she didn't even know if he was going to be home.
There was only one way to find out.
Fair enough, he lived in a nice place.
The view to Central Park wasn't an understatement, Percy pretty much lived in the park. The building was massive, as one in Manhattan tended to be, but had a pleasant look at the structure, unlike many other buildings here, especially with the late afternoon sun shining from above. She approached the intercom and rang apartment 509. Moments later, a static male voice answered:
"Yes?"
"Hey. It's Jessica." Aphrodite said, and not even a second later, the main door was opened, and she was on her way in. Taking the elevator, took her a little longer than she had wanted to reach the fifth floor, all thanks to said elevator turning out to be terrible. Nevertheless, Aphrodite finally arrived and walked down the hall where she found apartment 509. She rang the doorbell, and moments after the door was opened, and a smiling Percy greeted her.
"Hey, come in!" He said, gesturing to the inside of the apartment, finding that, after cleaning her shoes, Percy was not the only occupant. A teenage girl was on the couch, sporting a silver jacket and dark hair tied in a ponytail. Aphrodite bit her tongue, recognizing Reyna immediately.
"Reyna, this is a friend of mine I met yesterday. Jessica, this is Reyna, she is an old friend of mine." Percy introduced the daughter of Bellona like an introduction was needed. Of course, to both demigods, it was, but regardless.
"Hello." Aphrodite tried to be cordial, receiving a nod in return. Eh, she hadn't expected much from a Roman.
"I'll call you back, alright?" The former praetor said to Percy, nodding affirmatively to Reyna. Without another word, the huntress left, shutting the door on her exit. Now, they were truly alone.
"Sorry about that." Percy apologized, running to the table right in front of the couch and grabbing a bottle of some drink, filling a small glass for her. "She's from the same summer camp I went to when I was a teenager. We keep in touch sometimes."
"Hm," Aphrodite said, pretending to be jealous. Which wasn't hard, considering she did feel jealous, even if just a bit. It wasn't rational, she knew, the goddess was aware of the celibacy imposed by Artemis... but in truth, she wasn't a goddess here. She was simply Jessica.
And what Jessica had seen was Percy in the company of two different girls in a day.
"That at least explains why she seems so younger." She pointed. "She's like what, sixteen?"
"Seventeen." He corrected, offering her the drink, to which she accepted. "It's not just a summer camp, some people stay the whole year. But anyway, how are you?"
Aphrodite drank from the glass. It tasted like tequila. Good. "I'm fine, for the most part... Although certainly better, even if this feels like too early."
"Ah, don't worry," Percy said, drinking as well. "We don't have a timer today, or do we?"
She crossed her legs. "Not at all. I'm not exactly as well dressed as yesterday... But that certainly won't stop me from having fun."
"Oh no, it won't. Neither will it stop me. I was thinking about staying together here, if you wanted to. Not very traditional, is it?"
Aphrodite shook her head, drinking again. "Does it matter, Percy? I won't complain if I'm entertained."
"Huh." Percy stared into her eyes. "What does entertain you, Jess?"
She smiled. "I'm a simple enough person." Half the world would laugh at that statement. "Just going out clears my mind. But other experiences... you know, watching a movie... I am still human." The grin got wider.
Percy frowned his lower lip, nodding. "Fair. I haven't been exactly up with the latest releases of, well, anything."
"Because of you serving?" Aphrodite inquired.
"Yeah. Because of that." To innocent ears, that lie would sound truthful. But she wasn't innocent, at all. "But anyway... I thought of laying low today, you know? I cannot lie, I'm not at one hundred percent."
She raised an eyebrow. "Did you do a lot with that friend of yours yesterday?"
"Kind of." A weird look flashed through his eyes. "Nothing crazy, by the way. She's also from the same summer camp. It's just that... I was already tired from the week. I just came back, after all."
Okay, that was a lie. Or at least a half-truth. But what Thalia Grace and Artemis's hunt were doing was none of Aphrodite's concern. She didn't need to know. But...
"It's okay. We can do something less tiring if you are up to do something." She gently said.
"Oh, no, I'm not crippled, don't worry. But what about a movie?" Percy suggested.
Aphrodite hummed. "Theater or...?"
In response, he grinned with mischief. "Well, why don't we find out?"
Turns out, the madman had a home theater. Guess she shouldn't be surprised, but how could he afford one? Ares hadn't been kind when they had been discussing mortal wages, how 'soldiers who were expected to fight and die received not even 1% of an actress or supermodel'.
Whatever he said, though. Most of the time, she barely paid attention.
They had gone out together, to a local grocery store, where they had grabbed multiple snacks. For all the fun Aphrodite had during her time in America... did she ever sit down to watch a movie while eating chips and drinking soda? No, certainly not.
It was certainly... something else.
"So, what do you want to watch?" Percy asked, placing the multiple snacks right on the table across the giant couch.
"Hm. I thought you would have already chosen." Aphrodite mused.
"I wouldn't have chosen without you present, come on." He smiled. For that, she was appreciative. "What do you like? Something funny? Blockbuster? Super-hero? Whatever you want."
That left Aphrodite to ponder. What did she want to watch? She put her godly mind to work furiously on an answer. Yes. Yes! Hebe had talked about that one movie that wouldn't get out of her head.
"How about La La Land?"
...
Aphrodite woke up.
It wasn't often she slept, at all. Least of all on her bed.
But the night before had made her do that.
The movie was enjoyable enough. She liked Ryan Gosling. And Emma Stone. And the snacks were acceptable too, thank you very much.
But those things barely mattered. Not when she had one thing, or in this case, a person to focus on. The night had been, to her surprise, pleasant, but the source of said surprise wasn't because she hadn't expected it to be pleasant, but because of how it felt pleasant. Safe to say, things hadn't gotten as... intense as they could have been otherwise. In retrospect, maybe it was because of the small things. The numerous snacks. The movie.
The small kisses after too. But they never escalated to something bigger. Why? It puzzled her. Wouldn't it be easy to go to the next level already? But thinking better... maybe they were comfortable enough that way. They didn't need to take things further than they needed.
And that was a new feeling for the goddess of love. At least in recent times. It truly puzzled her. Her fun with other people had always been intense, full of spice, and action. This was not it. It was tempered. Soothing. Calming.
She liked it a lot.
Getting up from her bed, Aphrodite was faced with her mirror, which showed the youthful face of Jessica. She had gotten here almost at 1 in the morning, just because Aphrodite insisted she needed to go home to go to work the next morning. That had been a very big lie, considering it was almost noon and she had just gotten up. But a lie didn't hurt. It wasn't like she wasn't comfortable in Percy's arms; it was just that... maybe they needed to take things slow.
It felt weird having to go through that. Usually, she would be the one either spectating or orchestrating it.
Her doorbell rang right after, and since not a lot of her fellow Olympians visited her often, she imagined it could only be one goddess. And her suspicions were proven correct when she opened the door and was faced with chocolate eyes, and a wide bright smile.
"Hello, sleeping beauty," Hebe said, kissing Aphrodite on her cheek. "Could you ever be punctual?"
Aphrodite frowned. "What do you mean? And how did you know I was sleeping?"
The goddess of youth's grin grew wider. "First, you look like shit." Aphrodite glared. "Second, you were supposed to meet me three hours ago."
"Oh." The glare was replaced with an awkward smile. "I got a bit carried away."
Hebe raised an eyebrow, leaning onto the doorframe. "In your sleep or something else?" She teased.
"In my sleep," Aphrodite said firmly. "I didn't do anything too crazy yesterday. Maybe that's why I slept at all."
"Don't tell me you're going soft." Hebe once more teased, grinning like an idiot.
"For your sake, Hebe, I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that," Aphrodite answered, and the goddess of youth rolled her eyes. "I just had a different experience from... usual."
"What did you get into this time? It was bad enough when you went through that voyeurism phase-"
"Shut up!" Aphrodite said indignantly. "It has nothing to do with kinks. I'm just seeing a person. That's it!"
"Oh, are you?" Hebe raised an eyebrow. "No catches?"
"No." Aphrodite sighed. "I'm just going out with him. Nothing more."
"And who is it? Someone I know?" Hebe inquired, leaning closer. Of course, she couldn't tell Hebe, who wasn't someone that could keep secrets to herself.
"No." As far as Aphrodite knew, Percy had not met the goddess of youth. "It's just a mortal. He is a vet, met him in a bar." Not entirely false. Most of it was the truth. "He's... well, it's different from any recent stuff I did. I watched a movie with him yesterday and went home."
"A movie," Hebe repeated. "By Zeus, I can't believe what my ears are listening."
"Is it that unbelievable?" But even she knew it was. At least for her. But maybe Hebe didn't share such an opinion...
"Kind of." Eh. "I can't imagine you just genuinely watching a film if you were not just trying to make out in a theater. What did you two watch?"
"La La Land," Aphrodite told Hebe. "It was nice enough, but I can't say I was fully committed to watching."
"Did you have other priorities?" Hebe teased.
"None apart from cuddling. And some kisses, of course." Hebe laughed at that. "But it was still very nice. It feels... rejuvenating, so to say."
"Whatever you're doing then has my seal of approval." The other goddess winked. "When are you seeing him again?"
Aphrodite jumped as the last words exchanged between her and Percy came back to her mind. "Oh, gods. I'm supposed to meet him at 3."
"Did you seriously forget?" Hebe said with a chuckle.
"I've been dreamy, give me a break." Aphrodite stretched her arms. "Guess I gotta go get ready."
Hebe hummed. "Can't ever just swirl and get ready in an instant, right?"
Aphrodite's eyes glinted. "Never. I will always have to be good-looking. Genuinely so."
The goddess of youth nodded. "I will leave you to it. But I expect you to fill me in later."
"I'll think about it." And with that, Hebe flashed away, leaving Aphrodite alone, facing the vacant doorframe. Closing the door, Aphrodite's mind was already drifting to Percy Jackson, since, after all, she had a date in just over two hours with the man.
And she wouldn't be late for that.