Chapter Text
It was a lovely day. One of the Olympian goddesses sat on the comfort of a bench, big enough for her legs to be stretching and a small table attached high to hold things if she required. Her arms kept her sitting up, her body then soaking the sun.
In the one step that echoed across the air, she knew her peace was about to be interrupted.
The goddess rolled her eyes as she saw her fellow Olympian enter the garden with a shit eating grin, stopping in front of her. "Must we do this?"
"Every couple hundred years," he confirmed, ready to win. "Don't act like you don't find our bets entertaining. When was the last time we…"
She cut him off with a harsh look, her mesmerizing eyes sharp. They were forbidden from mentioning those names again. It was why the gap between this bet and the last was much longer.
"Have you thought about a prompt?" he asked instead. His hair shimmered where the rays naturally gravitated towards to.
The Olympian smiled, but it held no innocence. "Which two demigods are the least likely to fall in love?"
A groan slipped past his lips. "Boring! And that," he pointed at her, "is a home turf advantage."
She shrugged gracefully. "Did you expect something different from me? Especially now?"
He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. On one hand, he would be able to choose the couple that shouldn't fall in love. There'd be no intervention from either of them until the end. Now, a bet on love against its own goddess was the problem. But if demigods were able to survive Tartarus, surely there was a chance they wouldn't fall in love.
"I wouldn't do it," announced another Olympian wearing a white peplos, her features a contrast of sharp and soft. "That bet against her? You don't need me to tell you how that ends."
"Afraid you'd lose?" the goddess of love taunted, challenged even, staring right into his eyes.
He knew she was just trying to get under his skin. He was always one to try and go against the unlikely. He loved the thrill, and ironically enough, to bet against the odds. "I choose the demigods," he said, his tone holding no room for argument.
Of course, his opponent nodded, finding the fairness in that…request. "Here are the files with the assessment of each demigod." She tossed stacks of folders across the table. "Get back to me when you've chosen."
He laughed while grabbing the stack then stopped at her seriousness. "You don't really expect me to read all of these? I have things to do!"
She raised an eyebrow. "I'm quite literally spoon-feeding you information to win. If you don't want to choose based on data," she waved her hand mindlessly, "I'm not stopping you."
"Is he about to make a bad decision again?" asked the Olympian wearing a helm with wings, leaning against one of the pillars in the outskirts of the garden.
Offended, he looked and replied, "Again?"
The god tilted his head at his friend. "Considering to take this bet against her was bad enough."
He flipped through the files, uninterested in reading the personality analysis of these demigods. His eyes found two with opposing data and settled, without reading further information about their interactions.
"These two." He slid the papers across the table pointing at the two faces.
Her eyes skimmed the chosen demigods, lips pulled to a straight line. "Are you sure?"
He nodded. "Positive."
At the words of his confirmation, her mood switched. She changed her position, setting her elbows onto the table and propped up her face with the palm of her hand. Her lips were pulled into a deliciously evil smirk while her eyes radiated confidence. As if that wasn't enough, her skin glowed, basking in triumph.
Now this was Aphrodite, the goddess of desire. And she loved to win.
The god of travel peeked at the chosen demigods and glanced at the Olympian with gray eyes, who was also struggling to hold her composure. He snickered. "You're fucked."