"Good morning, Aphrodite. Has Adonis woken up yet?"

"For the love of the Celestials! Let it go, Sprite." I chuckled and sat down at the table. "Phastos, I didn't see you last night at the feast. I missed having someone with common sense next to me."

"More like us trying to knock some common sense into you, Aphrodite." Makkari smirked and I threw a berry at her. "Rude."

"I don't need common sense. If anything, Ikaris needs it more than I do." I smirked and he threw food at me. "Hey! I'm eating that, by the way."

"Why is it that every time we eat together, Ikaris and Vena start arguing?" Thena sighed and I shrugged.

"Because it's fun!" Kingo exclaimed and smirked. "Ah, Adonis finally woke up! Good morning, Adonis!"

"Kingo, that's enough." Ajak scolded and smiled when Druig sat next to me. "What is everyone doing today?"

"Vena and I are spending the day by the market." Makkari signed and I nodded throwing two small bags at Sersi.

"Please?" I asked and she nodded changing the contents into coins before throwing them back at me. "I owe you how much?"

"This time, I'll let it slide, Aphrodite." She smirked and I groaned. "Oh, please. It was cute!"

"If you all are done, I'd appreciate it." Druig mumbled and I rolled my eyes hugging his arm for a few seconds. "Good morning, beautiful Vena."

"Good morning, Druig." I smiled and watched as Sprite gagged. "If you know what's good for you, shut up."

"Did I miss something important last night? It feels like I did." Phastos called out and we all laughed.

"It was Druig's turn to tell them a story." Ajak said and Phastos whined.

"And I missed it!? Tell me he was talking about Vena or else I'm losing it."

"Yes, Phastos. We all think he was talking about Vena. He called her Aphrodite and told them a story about how a mortal called Adonis fell for her, but felt like he wasn't worthy of her love because she was a goddess and everyone on Olympus was in love with her." Ajak explained and I banged my head on the table repeatedly. "But he did add something special to her diety."

"Goddess of beauty and what else, Adonis?" Phastos joined in and Druig sighed placing a hand on my forehead so I could stop hitting the table with it.

"Love, beauty and victory." Thena butted and smirked at us. "And I think that's enough teasing for now. Or else I'll be forced to let Vena talk about how Ikaris hasn't grown a pair of balls yet."

"He hasn't!" I exclaimed.

"Vena, not now." Ajak said and stifled a laughter.

"Fine! But I didn't hear the story about Adonis because somebody was being overly annoying last night and talking about who knows what." I pointed my knife to Kingo who shrugged.

"That was the best story ever! I can't believe you missed it!" Sprite exclaimed.

"Blame Kingo, not me!" I scoffed and turned to Druig. "You'll tell me later, when I get back from the market? Please?"

"Maybe." He shrugged and we all protested.

"Forget about Vena, first you gotta tell me! It's only fair because I was in the lab all night!" Phastos yelled.

"The story is about Aphrodite and Adonis, I think it's fair that Vena gets to hear it first." Makkari shrugged and Phastos threw another berry at her. "How about I tell you later, Phastos? And we let Druig tell Vena?"

"See!? Someone plays for my team!" Phastos danced excitedly and I smiled turning my attention to Druig.

"Promise you'll tell me later?" I whispered to him and Druig nodded slightly. "I'll be by the waterfall before sunset."

"Only if you get me something from the market." He smirked and I scoffed. "I'm joking... maybe."

"Fine. What do you want?"

"Whatever your heart desires, beautiful Vena."

...

"Vena, look!"

"Makkari, if you show me another golden necklace, so help me Celestials." I chuckled walking towards the booth and she held up a necklace. "What about it?"

"For you to give Druig, duh." She scoffed.

"I doubt he'll like that, sweet Makkari. He doesn't like jewelry." I sighed and picked up a bracelet. "Maybe this one?"

"That's even better! You should buy it!" Makkari signed excitedly before rubbing off to another booth.

"Πόσο για αυτό?" I asked the vendor. (How much for this that?)

"Για τον Άδωνι σου είναι δωρεάν Αφροδίτη." (For your Adonis, it is free, Aphrodite.) He replied and i pursed my lips handing him a few coins before walking away.

"Vena, I've been searching all over for you!"

"Ikaris, I'm in too good of a mood for you to come and ruin it. My hair cooperated today, I finally managed to understand how these belts work and I got a few new keepsakes." I sighed turning around and saw him dressed in Greek attire. "Oh, my... that's a sight to see."

"I know we don't get along-"

"Understatement of the millennium, but continue." I smirked and gestured for him to walk with me to the next booth.

"But I need your help, I'm desperate." He pleaded.

"I know you are, I smelt it a mile away. Let me guess, Sersi?"

"How do you know?"

"I have the power of seduction, Ikaris. I sense things and read minds if it involves that. And right now, I'm sensing your infatuation and... disturbing thoughts that I wish I haven't read and seen. Truly disgusting." I shuddered placing Druig's gift in my bag. "What do you need help with?"

"How exactly did you get Druig wrapped around your finger?"

"Okay, let me stop you there. If you want her to be completely and blindly infatuated by you, that's not love, that's obsession and lust. Second, I don't have anyone wrapped around my finger, so get that illusion out of your dirty mind. Third, have you tried... I don't know, being friend's first? That way you'll get to know her first and see if you have any common interests and whatnot. Because guess what? Lust is only temporary, Ikaris. As soon as it's gone, you have a huge problem on your hands." I shrugged paying for a few fruits and handed it to him. "Try talking to her about her interests and see where it goes."

"And if that doesn't work?" He asked and I sighed.

"Then you're not compatible. But stalking her for another thousand years and mutual pining won't work. You have to make a move at some point, because she's as blind as a bat sometimes." I shrugged.

"Just like you are sometimes with Druig." He teased and I glared at him. "Right, not the time... sorry."

"I'm not blind because there's nothing there."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that."

...

"Someone's early."

"Got here a few minutes ago." Druig shrugged and continued to skip rocks. "How do they do this again?"

"Flick your wrist higher." I spoke holding his hand and showed him. "See? Now it skips."

"Had fun at the marketplace with Makkari?" He asked and I nodded. "Did she-"

"Sticky fingers? You have no idea. I almost had to tie myself to her." I chuckled rummaging through my bag and pulled out Druig's present. "I got you something."

"You know I was joking, right?"

"I know. But knowing you, you barely have any keepsakes and I just couldn't resist." I smiled handing him the bracelet. "It has black and red so it matches your suit! Do you like it?"

"It's amazing. Thank you, beautiful Vena." Druig smiled blushing slightly as I helped him put on the bracelet. "There's two versions to the story of Adonis, y'know? The one I told last night and the real one."

"Whichever you feel comfortable telling me, I'll be okay with." I said pulling out some food and made a table of rocks.

"How about I tell you and you have to guess?" He asked and I shrugged.

"Seems fair."

"Adonis was a hunter. One day, out in the forest, he met the goddess Aphrodite and immediately fell in love with her. One problem, she never knew. And if she did, she hesitated because everyone on Mount Olympus and Earth was madly in love with her looks. But not Adonis. You see, when he met her, Adonis was taken aback by her beauty, but it was Aphrodite's kind heart that won him over. Seeing her care for the mortals such as himself, made him realize that not all the gods are so stuck up. She always showed him the most beautiful places where they could just be themselves, not a god and a mortal, but simply Aphrodite and Adonis. That was the moment Adonis came to the conclusion that he was madly in love with her. So he made a plan to win her over."

"Because to him she is a prize?" I asked tilting my head and Druig shook his head. "Then what?"

"Adonis wanted to prove to Aphrodite that he was worth her time. But he was hesitant, because how can a goddess fall in love with a mortal?" He shrugged taking an apple and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Then that makes him unworthy of her love?"

"The mere fact that he's not on her level makes Adonis unworthy. So they stayed friends, up until Zeus noticed and granted him immortality, but he was never a god. Just an immortal who was deeply in love with Aphrodite."

"But she fell in love with him?"

"I'm afraid I haven't gotten that far into the story." Druig smirked and I whined. "Now you guess."

"That's the real one. You wouldn't dare say something like that in front of the others. Makkari maybe, but not the rest. And because I lied today when I said I didn't hear the story, I just wanted to hear it again." I smirked and he nodded somewhat impressed. "So that's how you see yourself? Someone who's unworthy of my time?"

"Ah, but who said the story was about you, beautiful Vena? After all, I said Aphrodite, not Vena or Venus." He smirked making me roll my eyes smiling.

"You wanna know what I think?"

"Please amuse me."

"I think that maybe Aphrodite feels the same way towards Adonis, but maybe she's scared of the same thing he is." I shrugged leaning my head on the palms of my hands to look at him properly.

"Immortality?"

"Rejection."

MEMES: