Author's Note: Sorry about not posting here in so long! D: But I hope you enjoy this story. After several hundred years apart, Hephaestus has a surprise reunion with his ex wife Aphrodite and his rival for her affections, Ares. The night goes much better than he expects.
*****
Hephaestus didn't know what to do for a long time after the divorce. Olympus was vacant, everyone shot off to the four corners of the globe, and for once Hephaestus didn't have to think about running the forge or the next time he'd catch Ares in bed with Aphrodite.
Hephaestus had nothing.
But like all the gods, he found something to keep him busy. He always did like to tinker with things, and for the first time they didn't have to be weapons. And although he might've been ugly compared to most of the beings on Olympus, most mortals said he had that 'rugged' vibe.
No, he didn't quite get it, but it was nice on the ego.
Still, he did think about his friends and family. Was Hermes keeping out of trouble? Were Persephone and Hades still going strong? How was Apollo? Was Aphrodite okay? ... Was she with
him
?
~*~
New York, New York. 1987.
Hephaestus was having a ball and not even close to thinking about his fellow gods. No, instead he was focused on entertaining this gaggle of young women with a new gadget he'd managed to whip together out of some spare gears and cogs in his pockets.
"And just like that... watch closely..." Hephaestus set the little guy on the bar after winding him up, and after some clicks it unfolded, standing on two legs. "Behold, a man!"
The girls all gasped and squealed, one of them jumping up and down as the little man took a bow before folding back up. "Oh my
god
, he's so cute! Can I take him? Pretty please?" She batted her eyes and stroked her fingers along one of his biceps. "Wow, you're totally ripped..."
Hephaestus' cheeks turned red enough to nearly match his fiery orange hair and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Thank you, and sure, you can have it. I can put another one together in a minute."
The girl in question squealed again as she picked it up. "Oh my god, it's so cute- oh crap!" The little thing tumbled from her fingers, rolling across the club floor, right at a pair of barbie pink stilettos.
Hephaestus' eyes followed those shapely legs up past the just as bright pink spandex miniskirt and neon red top with a plunging neckline to a face shaped like an angel's.
No, not shaped like an angel's. Like a goddess'.
"Aphro?" Hephaestus croaked.
It couldn't really be her, right?
The woman cocked her head to the side, twirling a finger in her permed blonde hair when those crystal blue eyes popped wide in recognition. "Heph!? I that you?!" She stepped over the little toy on the ground before marching up to Hephaestus. Her hand reached up to brush his cheek before she grinned ear to ear. "Oh my gods! It is! Hephaestus!"
Aphrodite practically dove into his arms, Hephaestus nearly knocked over by the force. That smile on her face spread to his and he laughed, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around. "Aphrodite! It's been so long! What are you doing here?!"
He placed his ex wife on the ground, the goddess laughing and redfaced. "Party, I came with this one guy, but I ditched him. He was
soooo
boring. Who are these ladies?" She asked, glancing at the gaggle of girls looking simultaneously green with envy and in love with her at the same time- a common reaction around the goddess.
"Oh, them?" Hephaestus looked back before smiling and shrugging. "They were just leaving."
They didn't push the matter, thank gods, and took off before Hephaestus took his seat back at the bar. Aphrodite took the stool next to him. "Aphro, you look so different. I like the hair," He said, reaching up to to tuck some hair behind her ear.
"Thank you! I like yours too, but I guess no one could ever make you shave the beard," She said, reaching up and giving the beard a tug.
"Not happening. Ever. I look good with a beard," Hephaestus said with a gesture to his face.
Aphrodite winked and leaned forward. "The confidence suits you too. I don't think I've ever seen you look so nice."
"It's probably the lack of light," Hephaestus glanced up at the bartender, "Get the lady whatever she wants."
"Ooooh, trying to get me drunk? Naughty boy," Aphrodite tutted her tongue and wagged a finger at him.
Hephaestus rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face felt like it would never leave. "I don't think they have anything at this bar that would actually accomplish that."
"Well, well, well, do we have here?"
Oh, there was a good way to get rid of that smile. Hephaestus felt that red aura of wrath, anger...
war
. He slowly turned, already knowing who was there before he even saw the bastard's face.
The god of war also modernized his appearance, dark hair shorter on the sides and longer in back while rocking a leather jacket and high waisted jeans. That bastard had the nerve to smirk as he tilted down his sunglasses, burning red eyes flicking between Aphrodite and Hephaestus. "Did I just stumble upon a little reunion?" He said.
Hephaestus ground his teeth before getting to his feet. "Bite me, Ares. What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Here for the party, and what's with this attitude?" Ares chuckled. "Acting all big and scary, dude, you know all I gotta do is kick you in the knee and you'll be on the floor. Oh, wait, are you trying to impress Aphro?" He looked passed Hephaestus and gave a quick wave. "Hey babe, nice top, makes your tits look great."
Yup. Bastard hadn't changed. Hephaestus' hands tightened into fists. "I don't need to impress her by telling you to fuck off. Unlike you, I've never needed to compensate for anything."
Ares' jaw dropped. "You did
not
just go there, you cripple."
"You want to take this outside?"
"Maybe I fuckin' do, maybe I want to curb stomp your skull-"
"Okay,
that's enough
!
"
Aphrodite got up and got into the most dangerous part of the club, in between Ares and Hephaestus. "Bartender just brought me my Cosmopolitan, you two, take a chill pill! Ares, you get Hephaestus kicked out, you're buying my drinks and there's not a chance in the Underworld that you'll get to see under this top."
Hephaestus had a moment of celebration before the goddess turned on him. "And
you
! We. Are. Not. Married. Anymore. So this whole fronting on Ares thing is gonna stop, like, right now. So sit your asses down and get something to drink." With that, she plopped back down on the barstool and crossed her arms.
The two gods looked at each other before Hephaestus caved first and sat down. "All right, Aphro."
"Wow. You are still Aphrodite's bitch." Ares flinched as both Hephaestus and Aphrodite glared at him, although Hephaestus would bet his last dollar it was moreso her glare that made him cower. Slowly, like it pained him, Ares took his seat and held up his finger. "Bartender, whiskey on the rocks."
Aphrodite stopped scowling and immediately put her smile back on. "Thank you! See, not so hard? No," She looked at them both and giggled, "I got to catch up with both of you. We haven't seen each other since we took off from Olympus, I've missed you both so much!"
Any of the remaining anger pooling in Hephaestus quickly left as Aphrodite leaned up to peck him on the cheek. "You're both the first Olympians I've seen since then too. I mean, I think I saw Hera on the cover of a magazine in the 1950's, but that doesn't really count. How about you?"
Ares took the glass and downed half of it in a single gulp. "Athena, during World War One and Two. Hades, around the same time. Other than that, nada. Aphro?"
Aphrodite chewed her bottom lip as she thought. "I had drinks with Artemis about... five years ago? Maybe fifteen, I dunno, time's never been my strong suit. And I always bump into Dionysus at parties, but we don't really, like, talk."
"I'd never thought I'd be jealous of the drunk," Ares murmured.
Aphrodite playfully elbowed Ares. "Not like
that
, silly! What have you been up to, Hephaestus? Anything weird and crazy?"
Hephaestus cleared his throat. "Well, let me order another drink, and I'll catch you up to speed. Unless Ares has something to say?" He glanced at the war god, surprised to see that the fight seemed to have been taken out of him.
"Eh, what the fuck, just don't be boring."