lightningthief | Making Up [for Aphrodite]

Aphrodite being mad with me put a big damper on the fun I was having in Trixia's body. After the joke I pulled on her fell flat, I've been in a bad mood since. Now suddenly, I've woken up in my own body again. Mmm, at least Coraline's out of it now. Thank the gods for that. I am in all one piece too. I checked. No, I didn't trust she didn't do anything stupid or strange to me. Time to go back home.

Soooo..... even after being annoyed for a few days, I don't really know what to do about Aphrodite. If she's not speaking to me so soon after we started this dating thing... I don't even know if this was a good idea in the first place. This was probably a bit stupid to think I can make something like that work. Yes, I deeply desire to be loved. No, I have not ever been deeply loved. Therein lies the problem. I know my childhood fucked me up. It's just what I am now. When she doesn't want me around, then I guess that's that. Right? It wasn't like I'm going to replace her Hephaestus. I don't know how to function that way. What does she want with my bundle of issues, anyway? Maybe we were better off just banging each other without the complications.

Is my fatal flaw the opposite of Percy's? Disloyalty? My ability to suddenly walk away from all my ties?

I go in my hut, regardless of Percy being there or not, shower up, get dressed, then go out back. Maybe I'll oil my armor this morning. It's a good time killer.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

just_hormones

When Aphrodite wakes up alone, for a few moments she doesn't want to get out of bed. It's been a few days now, so there's a reasonably good chance things will be back to normal, but there's also a chance she's up for another day of this stupid tension, having to deal with Luke in that Trixa chick's body and Coraline in her Luke's body.

Once she finally gets up and gets ready, she heads outside, wondering where to go. Then she finds out from a couple people passing that the switched people are back to normal, and she wonders why she hasn't seen Luke yet. He's not the type to sleep in.

So she goes over to his and Percy's hut, figuring he must be there if he's not come to her. Something tells her to try out back first, and that's where she finds him, working on his armor.

"So I see you're back in your own body," she says, and considering what he's doing, she would have known it was really him even if she hadn't been told things were back to normal.

From:

lightningthief

Aphrodite certainly didn't waste any time. Guess I should've expected her to come right away. The question is how pissed off she still is. Is she here to yell at me? To demand that I fall to my knees and beg forgiveness? I wouldn't really know exactly what I'd be apologizing for. Best to start out neutrally. I set my oil rag on the shoulder of the armor I was rubbing down.

"Yeah, it's me. Coraline wouldn't be tending to armor."

From:

just_hormones

"I know," Aphrodite says. She moves to stand before him, and though her hurt and anger have long since burned away, she wants them to work through this, and she's not sure how to begin. "I was hoping to see you this morning." What she really had been hoping was for him to want to see her, as soon as he was back in his own body, but she doesn't want to start this conversation with an accusation.

From:

lightningthief

I would've guessed she didn't want to see me. She could just want to lay into me for whatever. Like Wanderer said, I don't understand certain things. Like I'm less of a human than she is.

"Well, I'm right here."

From:

just_hormones

This is starting to remind her of another talk they had, over a year ago, but today the circumstances are very different. Aphrodite sits down next to Luke, turned slightly towards him.

"I think we should talk," she says, her voice calm and even. If she gets hysterical she knows it won't do anyone any good. "I wanted to explain why I got upset the other day."

From:

lightningthief

Okay. She's being rational. That's good. I can work with that if it stays rational. I'll stop with the negative thoughts an attempt to have a discussion. It might end badly still, but we can try.

"Okay. I'd like you to tell me."

From:

just_hormones

She thinks a moment about how she wants to frame what she's going to say. Aphrodite's more used to throwing goddess-sized tantrums until she gets her way, but not only has she learned and changed a lot since having to live as a mortal on the island, she also happens to be in love with the guy. She doesn't think their relationship will be a completely easy and smooth thing by any means, but it's more than worth it to her to put in whatever work she needs to make it last. And right now that means she's determined to make this a calm conversation rather than a blowup.

"You know I totally don't have a problem with a good joke," she says. "But I think this one went too far. It went beyond funny to something that hurt me, even though I know that wasn't your intent."

She pauses and takes a breath. "Obviously you knew you were playing a joke the whole time but I didn't so...think about if the tables had been turned and you had been in my place, if I'd been the one in another body and decided to take a leaf out of your dad's scroll for fun. What would you do if some random guy you barely knew came up and started bragging to you that he could easily steal me away, and implying that you weren't good enough for me? How would you like it if someone insinuated that my love for you could be reduced to something as easily lost as money in a poker game?"

From:

lightningthief

The truth is, I might not be good enough for her. I don't want to think about her scenario too deeply.

"You know I didn't mean to hurt you..."

I should maybe say more, but I guess I'm feeling too defensive. Maybe if this can be done in steps...

From:

just_hormones

"I know you didn't," Aphrodite says gently. "Which is why I didn't stay angry for very long. But I wanted you to understand why, you know? I wanted to explain why my feelings were hurt. I know you didn't mean to, Luke, but you don't have control over my feelings any more than I do over yours, and sometimes we might hurt each other without meaning to."

From:

lightningthief

"I'm sorry..."

It's not so many words, but I mean it. She can see in the change in my expression that I do want to be forgiven. I'll drop the whole you-shouldn't-have-been-mad crap and just hope she'll let things be okay again.

From:

just_hormones

An apology is all she needed to hear from him, but at the look on Luke's face Aphrodite feels a surge of tenderness. "I forgive you," she says softly, lifting a hand to cup his cheek.

From:

lightningthief

I'm greatly relieved. I put a hand on hers and lightly press my head into her hand.

"Thanks."

I'm not really sure there's more to say beyond that. I'm surprised this went so easily. I doubt the next time, and I have no doubt there will be a next time, will go as smoothly.

From:

just_hormones

Aphrodite hadn't been sure what to expect, but this has gone more smoothly than she could have hoped. She almost comments on it, but decides instead after a moment's consideration to accept this easy reconciliation gladly and move on. It's not always this easy when two people in love have a disagreement.

So in the spirit of moving on, she changes the subject. "What are your plans today, now that you're back in your own body?" she asks.

From:

lightningthief

"I dunno. Want to see what movies I have on my computer? I'll even sit through a sappy love story."

Chick flicks are really not my thing normally. I know that's completely Aphrodite's thing, which is why I'm willing to give it a go. That computer I got has a huge hard drive, and it was full of stuff.

From:

just_hormones

"Sure," Aphrodite says. She's never going to object to spending time with him. She stands, slipping her hand into his and tugging. "I'll try not to get too weepy. And then I'll sit through something with blood and guts and guys killing each other."

From:

lightningthief

I brighten at the prospect.

"Blood, guts, and guys killing each other, huh? Excellent."

From:

just_hormones

Aphrodite laughs fondly. "Are you sure you're not actually a son of Ares?" she asks in a playful tone. "Between the movies and those video game thingies, you sure do love your violence."

From:

lightningthief

"Ares?" I wave off the name dismissively while a big smirk crosses my face. "I used to wipe the floor with those kids, and attempted to teach them how to use a sword properly."

"Let's go."

My computer is just a few steps away, and it has a pretty sweet big screen and sound system. I had better when the island turned into New York though. Oh, how I miss those days.

From:

just_hormones

"I know, I know, you're the baddest dude in town," Aphrodite says, though she's not complaining. Luke's skill with a sword has saved her life, after all.

Once they get inside, Aphrodite lets him do whatever he needs to get the stuff set up. "Okay, I know nothing about this modern computer business, so you've gotta explain to me how this whole thing works. You can watch movies on this? Like the ones you can see on that projector thing in the compound?"

From:

lightningthief

One thing about this island I do kind of miss is the status I used to have. All of Camp Half-Blood looked up to me in my day. When I served Kronos, my forces would beat their weapons and chant my name. Here? Not really anyone notable. I don't have such a huge ego that I let this bother me, it's just that it was really nice. I just grin at Aphrodite when she gives me that 'baddest dude' line.

"Yeah. I can show you, although I'm slow when I have to read the menus. It's all in English, which is a pain." I smile and let out a small laugh. "I'll bet you can read English better than I can." That's so wrong, considering she's a full goddess.

From:

just_hormones

"Yeah, I can read English just fine," Aphrodite replies, then gives Luke a somewhat apologetic cringe. "Sorry. If you just bring up the list of choices I can read them off, if that'll help."

From:

lightningthief

"I could read fine if those blasted letters would just stay still. Dyslexia bites."

I have the computer booted up already, so I move the mouse and show her the arrow. "The mouse moves the arrow. You point at stuff and click the button. It's not so hard." I know she's sharper than she lets on.

From:

just_hormones

She turns long enough to kiss Luke's cheek, then takes the mouse as he's instructed. He's right that it's not too hard, so after a few clicks, she's reading through a list of movie options.

"Let's see...Across the Universe...sounds boring. Fried Green Tomatoes...sounds kind of gross. Wait - ooh, how about this one?"

She points at the title on the screen. "Sense and Sensibility. I pick that movie."

From:

lightningthief

"Okay, let's watch Senseless, then," I say, already mocking the movie a bit. There's two chairs there, one of which Percy cracked over my head that day I lost my memories. It got repaired since then. I sit down on the empty one, and motion for her to slide hers back away from the computer and over closer.

From:

just_hormones

Aphrodite rolls her eyes, but she's clearly not all that bothered as she scoots her chair so it's right up next to Luke's. She wishes there was a couch instead, but she can improvise, and curls up in her chair, leaning to the side against him rather than back.