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Feb. 20th, 2005 07:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
slashyFuck damn.... shit... have I forgotten how to make an lj cut???
Hephaestus sighed when he heard the soft knock at the door. One day, all he wanted just one day of uninterrupted work. Everyone always wanted something from him. A new sword, a set of gauntlets, to take the dent off an armor… a new set of earrings… he sighed again looking at the small piece of metal he was working on.
The was another knock at his door, and he glanced up from his work just in time to see Joxer stick his head into the room.
“Hey, Heph! I hope I’m not interrupting your work. I was just wondering if Aphrodite was here,” Joxer said as he stepped into the room.
Hephaestus grabbed a pair of tongs, and moved what would soon become Hera’s new earrings off the fire. Working in Joxer’s presence could and would often lead to disaster. Wiping his hands off on a rag he kept hanging from his work apron, he moved toward the front of the forge.
“No, she’s not here,” Hephaestus said, grabbing a wooden goblet he kept filled with cool water. He downed the contents in one large gulp and wiped his mouth with the rag he still carried in his hand.
“Oh… it’s just, it’s been a while since I last saw her, and I wanted to talk to her.”
“She’s trying to save one of her couples from breaking up. Apparently it’s really important they remain together and have children, because she’s working with Hera and Cupid on this one. She’s staying in a temple she has nearby, to be able to better monitor the situation.”
“Which temple? Maybe I can pop in and see if she has a little free time. I kinda need her help with something.”
“Is everything alright? With you and Ares?” The god of the forge was genuinely curious.
“Everything’s fine. More than! It’s just… well, in two weeks it’s Ares and my anniversary and I wanted ‘Dite’s input on a gift for Ares.” Joxer sent a vase flying as he waved his hands around to emphasize how well things were going. Hephaestus managed to freeze the vase in place before it crashed into the wall, and Joxer calmly went to retrieve it and carefully set it back in place.
“You’re gonna ask Aphrodite to help you pick a present for Ares?”
“Yeah. Why?”
Hephaestus shook his head and sighed, yet again. “No reason. She’s in her temple at Delphi. You should find her there or thereabouts.”
“Thanks Heph! Oh, and if you see Ares… don’t tell him anything, please.”
“No problem,” he promised as Joxer disappeared in a shower of blue and green sparks.
~*~*~*~
The next day…
Hephaestus was finally finishing Hera’s earrings when he heard his brother’s voice calling out to him from the hall that lead from the forge to the main living area of his home temple.
Setting the small hammer he used for fine detailing aside, he pushed away from his work table and slid off the comfortable stool he’d made specially for himself. He sent the almost finished jewelry to the box he’d finished crafting yesterday for their safekeeping.
“I’m in my forge, Ares, come in!” he called out to his brother, as he went to inspect the metal he had burning. It was nearing the right temperature… he guessed about half an hour more before he could pounding it. It was to be a new sword for Hades.
“Hey, little brother. How’s work?”
“Good. Busy. You?”
“Same.”
“Want something?”
“Seen our son around?”
Hephaestus smiled. He liked the fact that Ares called Cupid ‘their son’, as in Aphrodite, Ares and his son. Even though Cupid was biologically ‘Dite and Ares’, Hephaestus helped raised him as his own when he and the love goddess married.
“He’s still working some couple over with ‘Dite and Mother over at Delphi.”
Ares nodded absentmindedly, picking up a cooled but unfinished sword and giving it a few practice swings. He weighed it in his hands as he walked over to a relatively empty space in the forge. Hephaestus watched as his brother went through some sparring motions, admiring the grace of his brother’s movements. It had been centuries since he last felt jealous of Ares’ agility, after realizing his talents were as good as Ares’.
“So?” Hephaestus asked as the war god handed the sword over.
“The balance at the tip is a little off, but the length and weight is perfect, assuming it’s for Apollo, right?”
Hephaestus marked in charcoal the tip of the sword, to remind himself to work on it again. “Got it in one.”
“Anyway… did Cupid say when he’d be around?”
“Tomorrow or the next day, maybe. He needs to restock,” the fire god said, pointing to several bundles of arrows stacked on a shelf on the far side of the forge.
“Well, if you see Cupid tell him I’m looking for him. I need his advice on something.”
“Joxer?”
“Anniversary.”
“Ah.”
“Well, you know. Love god and all that shit.”
“No problem.”
“Later, little brother,” Ares said, leaving in a shower of red sparks.
~*~*~*~
Two days later…
Hephaestus groaned, exasperated. Was it too much to ask, really? To be able to work in peace for one day? Yesterday it had been Hera, who’d hovered around the forge while he put the finishing touches on the earrings. The soft knocks continued and he was temped to start hammering away and ignore the god on the other side of his door, but Joxer’s meek voice asking if he could come in drew an automatic “yes” from his lips.
He closed his eyes in resignation and set the new piece of metal he was pounding back into the fire. He’d just undertaken a new project and needed some peace and quiet to be able to work on it.
“Yes, Joxer?”
“I’m really sorry to interrupt you again, Heph, but I’m looking everywhere for Aphrodite and I can’t find her.”
“She’s surfing with Apollo. Taking a break from this case she’s working on.”
“Oh… it’s just… that well… she gave me some advise as to what to give Ares… but… I don’t think Ares will like her ideas. I don’t think Ares will appreciate a rose petal bed and candles, much.”
Hephaestus chuckled slightly. Only his wife would think the war god would like the same things that she did.
“What are you going to do, then?”
“Don’t know. But I wanted to let ‘Dite know not to worry about those arrangements she was talking to me about. I’m gonna have to find something else to give him. But I have no idea what. I mean… we’ve been together eleven years now, but he’s still a pain to find gifts for.” The same vase as the one a few days ago went crashing to the floor this time. Joxer grimaced, and looked apologetically at Hephaestus, before waving a hand and restoring the vase to it’s original condition.
Hephaestus laid a friendly hand on Joxer’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, everything will turn out okay.”
“Thanks Heph. I’ll see you around,” Joxer said, setting the vase down and disappearing, again knocking the vase off the table as he waved goodbye.
~*~*~*~
Hephaestus managed to get three days of uninterrupted work done, and he was feeling very happy about this new project he’d undertaken. The metal he’d used for it was flawless, and the untreated leather he’d received from Hermes the day before as payment for the new shoes he’d made him was perfect.
Hephaestus sighed when he heard the soft knock at the door. One day, all he wanted just one day of uninterrupted work. Everyone always wanted something from him. A new sword, a set of gauntlets, to take the dent off an armor… a new set of earrings… he sighed again looking at the small piece of metal he was working on.
The was another knock at his door, and he glanced up from his work just in time to see Joxer stick his head into the room.
“Hey, Heph! I hope I’m not interrupting your work. I was just wondering if Aphrodite was here,” Joxer said as he stepped into the room.
Hephaestus grabbed a pair of tongs, and moved what would soon become Hera’s new earrings off the fire. Working in Joxer’s presence could and would often lead to disaster. Wiping his hands off on a rag he kept hanging from his work apron, he moved toward the front of the forge.
“No, she’s not here,” Hephaestus said, grabbing a wooden goblet he kept filled with cool water. He downed the contents in one large gulp and wiped his mouth with the rag he still carried in his hand.
“Oh… it’s just, it’s been a while since I last saw her, and I wanted to talk to her.”
“She’s trying to save one of her couples from breaking up. Apparently it’s really important they remain together and have children, because she’s working with Hera and Cupid on this one. She’s staying in a temple she has nearby, to be able to better monitor the situation.”
“Which temple? Maybe I can pop in and see if she has a little free time. I kinda need her help with something.”
“Is everything alright? With you and Ares?” The god of the forge was genuinely curious.
“Everything’s fine. More than! It’s just… well, in two weeks it’s Ares and my anniversary and I wanted ‘Dite’s input on a gift for Ares.” Joxer sent a vase flying as he waved his hands around to emphasize how well things were going. Hephaestus managed to freeze the vase in place before it crashed into the wall, and Joxer calmly went to retrieve it and carefully set it back in place.
“You’re gonna ask Aphrodite to help you pick a present for Ares?”
“Yeah. Why?”
Hephaestus shook his head and sighed, yet again. “No reason. She’s in her temple at Delphi. You should find her there or thereabouts.”
“Thanks Heph! Oh, and if you see Ares… don’t tell him anything, please.”
“No problem,” he promised as Joxer disappeared in a shower of blue and green sparks.
~*~*~*~
The next day…
Hephaestus was finally finishing Hera’s earrings when he heard his brother’s voice calling out to him from the hall that lead from the forge to the main living area of his home temple.
Setting the small hammer he used for fine detailing aside, he pushed away from his work table and slid off the comfortable stool he’d made specially for himself. He sent the almost finished jewelry to the box he’d finished crafting yesterday for their safekeeping.
“I’m in my forge, Ares, come in!” he called out to his brother, as he went to inspect the metal he had burning. It was nearing the right temperature… he guessed about half an hour more before he could pounding it. It was to be a new sword for Hades.
“Hey, little brother. How’s work?”
“Good. Busy. You?”
“Same.”
“Want something?”
“Seen our son around?”
Hephaestus smiled. He liked the fact that Ares called Cupid ‘their son’, as in Aphrodite, Ares and his son. Even though Cupid was biologically ‘Dite and Ares’, Hephaestus helped raised him as his own when he and the love goddess married.
“He’s still working some couple over with ‘Dite and Mother over at Delphi.”
Ares nodded absentmindedly, picking up a cooled but unfinished sword and giving it a few practice swings. He weighed it in his hands as he walked over to a relatively empty space in the forge. Hephaestus watched as his brother went through some sparring motions, admiring the grace of his brother’s movements. It had been centuries since he last felt jealous of Ares’ agility, after realizing his talents were as good as Ares’.
“So?” Hephaestus asked as the war god handed the sword over.
“The balance at the tip is a little off, but the length and weight is perfect, assuming it’s for Apollo, right?”
Hephaestus marked in charcoal the tip of the sword, to remind himself to work on it again. “Got it in one.”
“Anyway… did Cupid say when he’d be around?”
“Tomorrow or the next day, maybe. He needs to restock,” the fire god said, pointing to several bundles of arrows stacked on a shelf on the far side of the forge.
“Well, if you see Cupid tell him I’m looking for him. I need his advice on something.”
“Joxer?”
“Anniversary.”
“Ah.”
“Well, you know. Love god and all that shit.”
“No problem.”
“Later, little brother,” Ares said, leaving in a shower of red sparks.
~*~*~*~
Two days later…
Hephaestus groaned, exasperated. Was it too much to ask, really? To be able to work in peace for one day? Yesterday it had been Hera, who’d hovered around the forge while he put the finishing touches on the earrings. The soft knocks continued and he was temped to start hammering away and ignore the god on the other side of his door, but Joxer’s meek voice asking if he could come in drew an automatic “yes” from his lips.
He closed his eyes in resignation and set the new piece of metal he was pounding back into the fire. He’d just undertaken a new project and needed some peace and quiet to be able to work on it.
“Yes, Joxer?”
“I’m really sorry to interrupt you again, Heph, but I’m looking everywhere for Aphrodite and I can’t find her.”
“She’s surfing with Apollo. Taking a break from this case she’s working on.”
“Oh… it’s just… that well… she gave me some advise as to what to give Ares… but… I don’t think Ares will like her ideas. I don’t think Ares will appreciate a rose petal bed and candles, much.”
Hephaestus chuckled slightly. Only his wife would think the war god would like the same things that she did.
“What are you going to do, then?”
“Don’t know. But I wanted to let ‘Dite know not to worry about those arrangements she was talking to me about. I’m gonna have to find something else to give him. But I have no idea what. I mean… we’ve been together eleven years now, but he’s still a pain to find gifts for.” The same vase as the one a few days ago went crashing to the floor this time. Joxer grimaced, and looked apologetically at Hephaestus, before waving a hand and restoring the vase to it’s original condition.
Hephaestus laid a friendly hand on Joxer’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, everything will turn out okay.”
“Thanks Heph. I’ll see you around,” Joxer said, setting the vase down and disappearing, again knocking the vase off the table as he waved goodbye.
~*~*~*~
Hephaestus managed to get three days of uninterrupted work done, and he was feeling very happy about this new project he’d undertaken. The metal he’d used for it was flawless, and the untreated leather he’d received from Hermes the day before as payment for the new shoes he’d made him was perfect.
Nice
Date: 2005-02-21 02:15 pm (UTC)Re: Nice
Date: 2005-02-21 03:44 pm (UTC)