Aphrodite always sleeps as far away from him as possible, and she is always so cold.

Normally he is at his forge and she is in another's bed (his brother's more often than not), so it rarely matters anyway but she still finds the distance comforting. Even so long after they have been married it still unsettles her to be so close to him.

A person of her beauty should not have to be married to someone so grotesque. It is why she immediately took Ares as her lover the day after she said her vows. He was her only equal in beauty.

He was also her only equal in cruelty.

They call her the Ice Queen, for she has always possessed a frosty demeanor. This is especially true when it comes to her husband.

She sees what she's doing to him, every time she goes off with his brother or one of her other lovers. She reveals in it, gets off on the pain that she sees in his eyes. At least it is different from the sadness that is always a present feature in his expression.

When they had first wed he never looked at her the way other men had. He would merely look at her with sad eyes full of remorse and pain. And it angered her. How dare he pity her when he was the reason for her unhappiness? So she would lash out, constantly reminding him inadequacy. Telling him how utterly discussed she was to be married to a "crippled" god.

And maybe if she says it enough, she'll actually start to believe it as well.

I will never love you

She had told him that after they had finished consummating the marriage. It was with the purpose of saving him the pain of disappointment. If he believed from the very beginning that she would never love him, he would not hope that he could change her mind.

That did not stop him from trying anyway. For all his ugliness, she did have to concede that he made beautiful creations. Most of the items that he produced in his forge were for her, in an attempt to gain her favor. Like that would make a difference. She will except the gifts and wear them around because she has always loved pretty things, but her distain for him never changed.

Hephaestus has always been a kind soul. He has always treated her with respect and kindness and she has sneered at him in return. She stands by while his brothers mock and jeer at him, occasionally joining in on their taunting.

But everyone has their limits.

She doesn't know why she thought he would tolerate her forever. There is only so far you can push someone before they retaliate. She just never thought it would be with one of her own.

Aglaia was a quiet girl, but she was beautiful. Aphrodite had liked her instantly, and had even taken it upon herself to teach the girl the value of appearance. What the goddess of love did not account for was the girl using her advice to bear her husband a child. When their affair had been discovered she had immediately cast Aglaia out. It was revolting, to see him stare at her with such adoration in his eyes. She would not be humiliated in such a way. She refused.

Hephaestus had been furious. It was the first time he fought against her, and she retaliated by flaunting her affair with Ares in his face. Out of all her lovers, the relationship she shared with his brother was the one that cut deepest.

And then he had done the unthinkable.

During one of her trysts with Ares he had dropped a net, trapping them and exposing the affair for all to see. The other gods swarmed and laughed at her, calling her "the whore of Olympus". Her reputation was ruined.

After that nothing was the same. Every god ignored her and Ares refused to even look at her. She had never felt more alone.

Truthfully she had no one to blame but herself, but that did not stop her from hating him. She hated him for doing this for her, for causing her so much suffering. It was not fair, he-

"I am going to ask Zeus to dissolve our marriage"

"What?"

…Frozen, her entire body feels frozen. Like she was submerged in ice water with a thousand tiny knives piercing her skin.

She turned to face him sitting up to lean over his large form. She is suddenly struck by how small she is compared to him. How insignificant she is next to him. In all honesty, Hephaestus was not all that unattractive. Yes he may have scares on one side of his face, but the other side is rather handsome. He is more muscular then Ares as well, and the scares that litter his tan skin make him all the more delicious to look at. His leg as well gives him the classification of cripple, but the prosthetic piece he created to replace the missing limb almost looks real. However, they have not come together since their wedding night, and she had sworn off doing so since. It was too dangerous to have continued.

"I think it's time we stop pretending"

He is looking at her with those sad eyes again and damn-it; she wants him to look at with something other than sadness.

"No matter how you may feel towards me, l still wish for your happiness. You cannot achieve that while still tied to me"

She doesn't know why but she feels her heart breaking, even though she does know and that hurts all the more.

He lifts a hand to bush against her cheek and it's the first time he's touched her in centuries. It is so small but the simple act is enough to bring such emotion she can't even bring herself to speak.

"Everything will be alright now. You can be with Ares without having to face the disapproval of the court. I will even take the full brunt of my father's wrath, and you will be free"

Suddenly she feels something wet against her face and she realizes she's crying, and she never cry's. It destroys her façade and she truly looks as ugly as she feels. But at this moment she can't bring herself to care.

Gods, it hurts. Her heart feels like its crushing itself inside of her chest and she's tempted to rip it out, just to lessen the pain. He has always been able to see through her, so why can't see? How can he not know how desperately she needs him? How can he not know that she only even does what she does to get his attention? All she wants is for him to look at her.

"You and Ares-"

"Stop talking"

He has always been good at fixing things, why doesn't he want to fix her?

"You'll be happy together and-"

"I said shut up"

Why can't he understand?

"I'll be able to be with someone-"

"SHUT UP"

His lips burn as she presses against them. His heat seeps into her body and she feels the ice melting in her veins. Gods, she can't even remember the last time she kissed him. It had to be at least more than half a century ago and the feeling is something she has missed desperately. It takes a moment for him to recover from the initial shock but after he moves to push her away.

And she will not have it.

Aphrodite straddles his hips and weaves her fingers into his soft black locks to anchor him to her. Pressing her body to his, she loves that way they fit in that 'just perfect' way and is suddenly very grateful that her husband never has the care to wear a night shirt. It makes grinding her body against his so much easier. She feels a small sense of relief when he finally stops protesting. Biting his bottom lip makes him gasp and she uses the opportunity to invade his mouth. But now she's starting to get dizzy from heat.

He has his hands on her hips and when he pulls off the fabric of her night shift she moans against his lips, elation filling her up because it's been so long since they've been like this and she can finally feel something other than the ice cold absence that took up the space where his presence use to be.

Somehow she ends up beneath him, not that she minds, and he's kissing a trail of fire down her throat and oh, there go the rest of their clothes and now she's not really sure.

The world is meshing together. Skin against skin and she's blazing all over and his hands are drawing gasps and moans until she's panting and writhing with every sway of his hips. It feels like their wedding night but with none of the pain and all the connection had once scared her so greatly.

She hasn't felt this good in a long time and when they finally go to sleep that night- ahem- morning, she's wrapped up in his arms and he's holding her close in a way that Ares or any of her lovers never did. Where before she had been aghast now feels content in his embrace.

Now she feels complete.

Ya I know this is really bad whatever... Thoughts, questions, pancakes...tell me what you think. Man now I really want me some pancakes.