Entry for the Last Ship Sailing Competition

Prompts:

(AU) Gods/Goddesses!AU

(word) delicate

(word) fresh

(dialogue) "I didn't volunteer for this."

(colour) turquoise

Bonus Prompts:

(emotion) jealous

(word) useless

(dialogue) "That tickles!"

(object) bouquet

(colour) white

Entry for the Greek Mythology Competition

Agon: Write about someone who is competitive

Entry for the Bad Movie Tuesday Competition

Glen or Glenda: [dialogue] "It must take a lot of guts to pull a stunt like that."

Entry for the Gringotts Prompt Bank

Character Explanation:

Katie: Athena is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, mathematics, strength, war strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill.

Marcus: Ares is the god of war; he represents the violence and chaos in the war, being the counterpart of Athena.

Thanks a lot to Dina, who betaed this for me! :)

(4500 Words)

Olympian Love

Long ago, in the faraway land of ancient Greece, there was a golden age of powerful gods and extraordinary heroes. The gods and goddesses lived on Olympus, a high mountain, and watched over the world of the mortals. It was said that their parties were legendary, and that life on Olympus was comfortable. Enemies were defeated and heroes honoured; peace was never really broken in the home of the gods.

But that doesn't mean that the gods and goddesses didn't have trouble coming from their midst from time to time...

OoO

It was a clear, warm summer night on the Olympus, the stars were shining down on the home of the gods, providing just the right atmosphere for one of their legendary parties. Apollo was playing the lyre for his friends, and to the wonderful music, some of the gods and goddesses were dancing to it, turning to the melody in the middle of their little plaza.

Beautiful bouquets of peach blossoms in white vases surrounded the site; large bonfires provided light and warmth; and big, soft cushions invited to sit down next to tables creaking under the weight of the food they were carrying. Olives, pita bread so fresh that it was still warm, honey...

Dionysus had already blessed the gathering with his sheer presence, promising to make this evening unforgettable. Wine was flowing plentiful, and everybody was enjoying themselves, laughing often during their light conversations.

Everybody except Katie.

She was sitting in a corner with a bowl of grapes, plucking one into her mouth from time to time while staring off into space. Katie wasn't particularly fond of parties; she preferred to be on her own and read, or train with the sword. Dancing wasn't something she liked, and in conversations that weren't about things that she was interested in, she felt left out. Maybe it was due to the traits she represented that she felt awkward in social situations, but wherever it came from, she was unable to fight it.

And so she was sitting at a distance from the other gods, feeling at unease in the shiny sandals and the white tunic that was wrapped around her body; it was too confining, the hairstyle Aphrodite had forced onto her seemed to weigh her head down and she was afraid to move. The golden laurel wreath in her chocolate brown hair itched and pricked, only worsening her mood. She wished she could just leave to find herself a quiet corner where no laughter disturbed her thoughts...

"Fabulous party, you know, I haven't seen this much love in a room since Narcissus discovered himself."

Katie jumped as the voice of her friend Aphrodite suddenly was audible next to her left ear, and she whipped around, staring at the other goddess with wide eyes. Her mouth felt dry; she hated being taken by surprise, Aphrodite knew that perfectly, and that was the reason why she did it again and again. Smiling at Katie, Aphrodite slung an arm around her shoulder and asked: "Why are you sitting around here all on your own? This is a party, Athena, the perfect time to stop thinking about war all the time."

Katie hated how insecure her voice sounded as she answered; this only ever happened to her in situations like these. When she was in her element, she felt normal, confident even, and she was able to come up with witty responses to remarks, but on this party, she felt like a fish who had been taken out of the ocean.

"I... I don't think I will stay any longer, I just don't feel like..."

"Come on, Athena, don't be such a stiff, join the celebration!" Aphrodite exclaimed with a wide smile and before Katie could react, the other goddess had intensified her grip around her shoulder, practically dragging her along as she walked into the middle of the plaza. Hestia and Eros were lounging on a few of cushions there, waving at them as they approached, smirking and looking more than happy to see her.

"Oh, she finally persuaded you to join us, wonderful!" Eros welcomed her and patted the empty place next to him; the tight hug that followed as soon as Katie had sat down didn't surprise her.

Releasing a slightly frustrated sigh, she grabbed one of the goblets on the table and drank a few sips of wine, deciding that she would have to get drunk to survive this evening. Hestia threw her an understanding smile that Aphrodite and Eros didn't see – at least Zeus' sister understood how much Katie despised to be forced into a situation like this.

She just wanted to tell Eros that she wasn't here voluntarily as a loud shriek interrupted the festive atmosphere. Everybody looked around in confusion, but was only met with similar faces, which turned into shocked ones as the source of the noise suddenly whizzed past.

Katie had no idea what kind of creature it was that had broken through the clouds separating the peak of Olympus from the world of the mortals, but it was not possible to mistake the god sitting on its back for anybody else than Marcus himself. Folding her arms in front of her chest, she watched with open disapproval as the creature tried to throw him off its back with wild bucks.

One could have thought that Marcus and she would get along well, as they were both gods of war, but, in her opinion, they couldn't have been more different. Where she valued tactics, he preferred chaos and destruction, and where she liked to point out that a plan wasn't wise, he stormed forwards in impulsiveness. She was reserved and often logical; Marcus loved to jump into situations without thinking and made a habit out of getting into trouble. All of this made them collide at least every hundred years; even though they'd tried to stay out of each other's way, they were destined to have conflicts. It was in their nature.

And Marcus' impulsive and adventurous, nearly reckless nature had brought him onto the back of this creature that was doing its best to throw him off. Nonetheless, he was wearing a bright, cocky smile and waved at the other gods as he raced past; the tail of the creature, full with sharp, long horns, lashed out and knocked some of the tables over. Wine stained the white marble floor and olives rolled around, while some of the party guests had to throw themselves onto the ground to avoid being hit.

Katie shook her head and glared at the muscular god as he came past her once again, laughing triumphantly as if he'd already tamed the beast. Pressing her lips together and taking deep breaths, she just wanted to scream something at him when something wiped every single one of her thoughts out of her head.

A pang of jealousy hit her into the stomach as Marcus winked flirtily at Aphrodite and blew her a kiss in an exaggerated gesture.

It was something that she'd seen him do a thousand times before, but she couldn't explain where this feeling of jealousy was suddenly coming from. She didn't have any feelings for him! He could flirt with whomever he wanted, after all.

And why would he not like Aphrodite? The goddess of love had unbelievably long, blonde hair that looked so golden it might have been made out of sunrays, her blue eyes were gorgeous, her cherry lips begged to be kissed and she was much more delicate than Katie. She herself was far from delicate – she was relatively short and from all the training, she was muscular and lacked any of the fat that formed Aphrodite's curves.

It was beyond her control that her glare transformed into an expression of slight envy, and she somehow wished she could wear a dress like Aphrodite's without feeling like she was being forced into the hull of someone else. Turqouise and as silky as her hair, it complimented her body and with the small diamonds that made it sparkle like the stars, she definitely had the attention of every male on Olympus...

But it wasn't as if Katie wished that anybody, or even Marcus, looked at her the way he looked at Aphrodite. No, she just... wished that he would look at her like that. She cursed herself for being unable to control her mind and expression; it was rather revealing, and she just hoped that nobody had seen it.

Suddenly, the creature Marcus was riding went for a dive, causing the muscular god to release a surprised scream and then, they disappeared through the clouds, leaving silence behind. Katie could hear how everybody was picking up the tables that had been thrown over and she turned around, only to look into the amused faces of Aphrodite and Eros.

She opened and closed her mouth, like a fish, but not a single sound escaped her lips, causing Aphrodite's smirk to widen while Eros chuckled: "My, my, look at this! Our little Athena has feelings for Ares."

"Look how cute she looks when she's blushing," Aphrodite mocked Katie lovingly, nudging Eros playfully.

"I... I don't have feelings for him!" Katie exclaimed with a tone that wasn't as steady as she would have liked it to be, trying to silence the voice in the back of her mind that laughed and told her to stop lying. The truth probably was that she found him attractive – he was tall, muscular, looked handsome with his black hair and cocoa brown eyes that always seemed to have a mischievous twinkle in them. It was... appealing, of course, and she couldn't deny that his smile made her heart beat that tiny bit faster. But feelings – no, definitely not, not for Marcus. They were like fire and ice, opposites that were not able to blend.

"Your face, my love, tells me something else, and the glances you throw him say more than a thousand words. Each. You want him to kiss you," Eros grinned, winking at her with an expression that told her that he was thinking about more than kissing. "Athena wants to smooch with Ares! You want him to be your strong warrior!"

Aphrodite giggled gleefully and Katie could feel how a more than obvious blush crept onto her face – she wished she could raise her hands in front of her face to hide it. In this moment, she felt anger and embarrassment boil inside of her, and she really wished she could do more than glare at them in silence. Knowing that they wouldn't stop mocking her despite her discomfort, she rushed away, fleeing the scene, trying to ignore that Aphrodite and Eros were yelling after her that they were just joking.

OoO

The clouds were still rose-coloured from the sunrise and the first birds were flying as Katie got out of bed and dressed herself for her morning training. Olympus was wonderfully quiet as she made her way towards the training grounds. Upon arriving, she held her face into the morning sun for a moment, taking a few deep breaths with a smile on her lips. She loved these mornings that she had for herself, with nobody around to disturb her. When she picked up the wooden sword and started to practice her skills, she was in a little bubble, and all her insecurities were wiped away.

In this place, she could be herself, and nobody could mock her about anything here.

"I really should have known that you're already here," a voice came from behind her and she turned around, the memories of the previous evening shooting through her mind as she spotted Marcus standing a few steps away, a grin on his face. She was unbelievably glad that she didn't blush this time; no, this was the place she felt confident in, this was her area of expertise, and here she was strong.

"No one's keeping you from joining," she grinned back, and Marcus came closer, grabbing a wooden sword on his way towards her. He had this expression that told Katie that he wanted to spar, and that he wanted to win. Sometimes, she couldn't believe how competitive he could be; he always wanted to win, even if there was no one to compete with – the previous evening was a good example for that – or when it was only a fight during a training session.

Luckily, she knew exactly how to deal with that – she'd learnt it in many hours with sweat, bruises and scratches, and now she was the one inflicting them on him. It only worsened his desire to beat her, but she could handle him. And she liked it a lot to see the frustration of defeat in his eyes when he realised that she'd won over him again.

"Okay, if I remember correctly, this is round 12, 342," Marcus told her as they started to circle each other, their wooden swords at the ready. "And this time, I have the feeling that I will beat you."

Katie chuckled and and shook her head, her brown locks dancing around her face as she reminded him: "I have legitimate doubts! May I remind you of the standings? 12,001 to 341 for me!"

"Oh come on, Katie, at least act as if you're giving me a slight chance!"

There it was, the pet name he'd given her about a thousand years ago. And if she was honest with herself, she liked the way he said this name, it sounded so soft when it came over his lips. For the second time this morning, she was reminded of what Aphrodite and Eros had said to make fun of her. Gulping down an annoyed sigh, she concentrated on blocking his offensive moves, and within minutes, she had him under control; moments later, she landed a blow that meant victory for her.

Marcus rolled his eyes about her grin as he threw his sword into the sand, growling: "Don't say it!"

"I don't think I need to remind you of the score," Katie laughed, wiping a little bit of sweat off her forehead. "Do you know why you're losing against me all the time?"

Marcus looked really bugged out about this loss and grumbled something incoherently that Katie understood as the plea to tell him why she was able to kick his ass repeatedly.

"You're a lucky man, I'm going to tell you: You're holding back," she taunted him and she could literally see how her words hit a nerve. His muscles tensed and he held his head high as he folded his arms in front of his broad chest.

"Me? Holding back?"

He laughed, slightly forced, threw his head back and then he glared down at her, making her grin widely.

"Exactly," she whispered, knowing exactly that she was challenging him. If she thought about it, it was odd how she could speak so easily with him when they were training or sparring together and had problems in bringing out a decent answer when they met in a separate place. These contraries were confusing, even for her, and she really wished she could do something against it – it was more than embarrassing for her to stutter around only to show confidence a mere few hours later. And that as the goddess that impersonated courage – she really was ashamed sometimes.

Ashamed she was now too, as her confidence about her skills took over and she made a rare cocky suggestion, internally slapping herself already as she dared Marcus: "I bet you don't have the guts to fight with real swords."

"Oh no, don't go there," he hissed and she giggled cockily, her eyes gleaming as he bit his lip. She knew exactly that he wouldn't be able to say 'No' to this dare, and she was surprised about the amount of joy she felt as he growled and nodded at her, now having a challenging expression as well.

It took a few minutes for Katie and Marcus to get ready; even though they were gods and immortal, they wore their armour when they worked with real swords. Wearing the heavy leather armour increased the challenge, and it also prevented minor injuries that even gods and goddesses could receive. Also, Katie found that it had a certain style – it had a reason that she and Marcus were shown in armour by the humans down on earth.

Putting on her golden helmet and grabbing her shield, decorated with spotted owl feathers that were an equivalent to her symbol, the owl, she lifted her sword and looked expectantly at Marcus. He was grinning smugly at her, and she heard her leather gloves creak as she flexed her fingers around the handle of her sword, ready for the fight.

While Marcus started off with normal maneuvers, kind of reassuring her accusation that he was holding back when he was sparring with her, Katie made her usual powerful and well-placed attacks. It was her strength that she preferred tactics and only used moves that made sense, and again and again, he could barely ward her flourishes off. Even with the helmet, she could see that his teeth were gritted and his face was glistening in sweat – she couldn't help but feel pleasure about this.

"I didn't volunteer for this," Marcus panted after a particularly heavy blow from Katie that he had to block with both his sword and shield ; the sound of metal hitting metal was still ringing in their ears.

She relished in seeing how he got more desperate as the minutes passed and she continued to control the fight, conducting him over the sand until she decided that it was time to end the fight. It was as if he wasn't even trying to challenge her in this moment; his defense was obviously down, and she used the opportunity, thrusting her sword forwards. The sharp tip was drilling itself into the thick leather of his armour and she stopped it, giving him a sweet smile.

At first, he looked rather collected about his defeat, putting his sword and shield away. But she knew that he hated to lose, and so she had time to duck when he suddenly screamed in frustration and threw his helmet through the little arena. She could literally see the steam coming out from under his hairline, and she relished in seeing him throw a tantrum like a little child.

It took some time until he stopped loudly complaining, and then he stood in front of her, trying hard to look like a fair sportsman as he nodded at her: "It must take a lot of guts to pull a stunt like that."

"Oh please. I came out of Zeus' forehead, it's my nature to pull stunts like that. I guess you'll need to get up earlier to beat me," she grinned up at him, deciding to glory in this moment. They both knew exactly that this was part of their conflict that was as old as time itself – chaos against logic, tactics against sheer violence. And she had won.

"Maybe next time," she winked and patted him onto the shoulder playfully, feeling a slight tingle shoot up her hand from her fingertips and turning into a rush that ran down her spine. Turning around, she walked away, grinning to herself.

OoO

She should have known that her behaviour was pissing him off enough to plan a little revenge, as useless as it would be. He'd done it a few times already, and she knew that he wasn't feeling better afterwards, but as he was impulsive, he never really thought longer about it than for five seconds.

It was only a few days later; she was lying in the bathtub, surrounded by a lot of foam, and was reading one of her favourite books – for her, it was the perfect afternoon.

To her, the person, be it goddess or god, who had no pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid, even though the other inhabitants of the Olympus sometimes made fun of her belief.

She was just turning the page as suddenly the silk cloths spanning between the marble pillows for privacy were ripped down, and Marcus jumped into the circular space. A wide, mischievous grin was on his face, and she jumped in shock, angrily and sharply calling his name as she grabbed for a towel from the pile next to the tub. She was hurrying to get onto her feet and climbed out of the tub, her rapid movements making water and foam swash onto the floor.

He was standing there, obviously appreciating the sight of her barely covered body, but his grin fell as she suddenly grabbed something from between the towels and dashed forwards. Before he could react, she had pressed a little, golden dagger against his throat. Glaring up at him, she narrowed her eyes and hissed: "I wouldn't dare repeat it."

Marcus chuckled, winking with a slightly kinky expression: "Whoo! I like 'em fiery!"

"Oh, go to the underworld, you idiot! You're a real jerk!" she shot back and pulled the dagger backwards, storming away while cursing him. She really hoped that Hades would come and get Marcus; sure, this wasn't the first time he'd done something like that to her, but this was the first time he'd crossed a border. To her, this situation was extremely embarrassing, and she hated embarrassment.

OoO

It took Katie a lot of time to calm down after this incident, and she spent the afternoon hiding, knowing exactly that he would be trying to beg her for forgiveness. Afterwards, he always was sorry, and she was really sick of it. In her anger, she asked herself what by Zeus she found so attractive about him. He wasn't particularly intelligent or intellectual, he wasn't friendly and mostly just childish, annoying or even plain rude.

She really wanted to wipe her feelings for him away, as she knew that they would never become more than friends and she felt like those feelings were simply in her way; more trouble than they were worth. They made her vulnerable, and as she'd experienced, pathetic, and she hated nothing more than being reduced to an obvious blush while she was so much more. Weakness was nothing she liked to experience.

To divert her mind from these worries, she sat down under an olive tree on the brim of Olympus, staring into the night sky. The stars were a beautiful sight this night, twinkling dots in the darkness and the eternity of the cosmos that not even the gods could understand completely.

A light breeze caressed her skin and she bit her lips as she heard footsteps behind her. She knew exactly who it was; only he would dare to intrude a moment in which she needed to be on her own.

"What do you want?" Katie asked as he sat down next to her and shuffled uncomfortably, as if this situation was extraordinarily difficult for him. She knew that she sounded harsh, but she didn't care; he deserved to feel how low she thought about what he'd done.

"I'm here to apologise," Marcus replied, sounding nearly sheepish as he tried to induce eye contact, but she turned away from him. "Okay, okay, I guess I deserve this cold shoulder. I'm genuinely sorry, as you've said so many times, I'm an immature brat."

"So you finally realised that," she mumbled, cursing her heart for jumping over his soft and, for him, humble tone. At least she didn't stutter this time; she was too angry with him for that. "But words won't be enough to repair it."

Marcus released a deep sigh and she expected him to beg for forgiveness without actually apologising in a proper manner, but then he answered: "I know. I'm not completely oblivious of interpersonal standards."

"To be honest, I highly doubt that."

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she turned her head away, but he gently cupped her cheek and turned her head around.

"I got something for you," he told her, and produced a single white rose from behind his back, handing it to her and leaning forward to press a very soft kiss onto her cheek with a soft whisper. "I'm very sorry."

"That tickles!" she giggled, even though she didn't really dislike the way his light stubble scratched her.

As his lips left her cheek, his breath warm on her skin, she turned her head and their gazes locked. Her heart skipped a beat and she could feel how his hand grasped hers tentatively. For a short moment, his eyes focussed on her lips, then, he looked at her again, their faces coming closer to each other. Katie felt as if her mind had been wiped blank and she had already closed her eyes, their lips were only inches apart...

"I knew it!"

Katie and Marcus jumped apart in shock and turned around, staring at Aphrodite who was looking more than triumphant.

"What did you know?" Marcus glared and Aphrodite grinned only, winking at Katie before she left them alone, laughing lightly to herself.

"Ignore her," Katie whispered, feeling slightly dizzy from the realisation that she'd just nearly kissed him. What was going on with her? Just minutes ago, she'd decided that she didn't want anything to do with him and now...

"She's awkward."

"No," Katie sighed, running a hand over her face as they sat down next to each other again. "She's beautiful, and I'm awkward."

"But you're beautiful, too."

Shaking her head, she nudged him into the side, chuckling: "Don't joke around."

"But it's the truth," Marcus insisted with an honest expression, taking her by surprise. "I think you're beautiful, and strong and... and I'm always glad that you never stop sparring with me, even though I'm really immature and a bad sportsman."

Katie didn't dare to believe what he was saying; she was looking at him with wide eyes, blinking through her confusion. She had no idea how to react to this sudden confession; what if he was trying to trick her, or was only saying this because he wanted to flatter her into forgiveness?

It was as if he could read her thoughts; he smiled at her and added: "I'm serious."

Immediately, her cheeks started to burn and she wanted to bury her face in her hands, but for the sake of her dignity, she didn't.

"Cute."

"Shut up," she laughed, trying to hide behind her hair, but he somehow managed to follow her and their lips met for the kiss they could have had earlier.