#edehn

hephaestus does not know of an arishem,   the celestial   —    or maybe he does,   but it slipped his mind.   other matters tend to slip from him when it is not regarding tools that anyone had needed,   or the trinkets that his siblings would often bring to him from their various travels.   those,   hephaestus keeps dear.   but gossips and other-realms things   ...

that melts together,   after centuries.   and after lemnos was lost and modern civilisation has come to take its place,   hephaestus’ interest in all things that were happening to mortals were not    ...    it was not on his list.   and unless someone has threatened him where he is finding peace,   the god of smithing does not seek for contact.

arishem   ...    he thinks again,   considering.   how odd.   usually ageless creatures   —    those who are not eaten by time    —    do not tend to have a master they’re blindly faithful to.   hephaestus could only think of so very few colony who have a specific ruling as to keep their kind as secretive as possible,   and even then,   the conducts imposed are usually more governmental than it is   ...    restrictive.

how would the mortal say it    ...    ?     when one is robbed of free-will ?

hephaestus does not know.   he is always lacking words    -     it burns him.

❝   demeter    ...    the one i know is much   -    scarier.   ❞  

it is surprising   ...    how hephaestus sheds whatever doubt and anger that he had held towards his brother so quickly.

the envy is still there,   of course.   it will always be there   -    for,   after all,   ares was what hephaestus could not be.   he is brave,   he is bold,   handsome,  and courageous.   he is perfect too   :   the ideal picture of a god,    the son hera did not leave behind.   and yet   ...   hephaestus can barely feel resentment when ares comes by.

not anymore.   and even if there was   -   even if there had been a hint of it that’s threatened to spilled back from the earlier bad blood they might’ve had from when hephaestus was first brought into olympus,   and aphrodite was engaged to him instead of her lover   -   it is complicated further by the fondness of    ...    knowing he has a family.

him.   the one who was left behind.   a family.

❝    rest,   brother.   here.   i will not   -   desert you.   ❞  

she is  ...    radiant.

something untouched,   and gentle.   hephaestus feels   ...    not shame,   but it is near,   to think that she would step foot in the smithy,   that she should want to :   where things are full of soot,   and ashes,   and the heat can be overwhelming.   he turns away,   but never quite able to do so fully,   because as much as he would like to hide himself and this wretched unwanted body,   he still    (   so childishly   )    wants to see her.   the closest thing he has had to a -  a pleasant companion.

why is she here,   he wonders ?    to ask him what he is doing ?    but why the interest ?   perhaps it is only mild curiosity.   they are allowed that,   do they not ?    hephaestus should not get ahead of himself to think that perhaps her interest may go further.    that,   much like the time they’ve crossed paths,   he had built himself enough of a decent reputation to perhaps attract her to   ...   to him.   just him.  not the angry god,   and not the broken thing that was cast away.

❝   leaving.   ❞    he answers simply,   head bowed.    ❝   this union   ...   ❞    he refers to aphrodite,   and resolutely does not think about her wrapped in ares’ arms,   his supposedly half-brother.   it is good that he has not yet fallen for his    ...   wife.   if he does,   he wonders how much hurt will it add into the already searing pain of having been betrayed ?    ❝   ...   it will not last.   never expected it to.   ❞  

ITS NOT UNCHARACTERISTIC OF HIM TO GO RADIO SILENT,   it came as a part of the job.   vidya had lived far too many years to worry herself about a disappearance.   people had the tendency to crop their heads back up sooner or later,   it was only due time.   it wasn’t the weeks that passed that drew out her concern,  but rather   an alarming   sequence of images that came to her one fateful night.   she reminded herself for another three days and nights that they weren’t to meddle in any human affairs,  they would survive   with or without   their interference.  but worry broke down her resolve and before she could stop herself,  she was hovering on his doorstep.

“ what have you made this time , brother ? ” - ares   by @edehn​

he does not know ares is coming.

then again,   many of his siblings simply seem to show up unannounced.   which   ...    hephaestus does not mind,   though it always takes him by surprise that they would know him no matter where he is :   either on olympus,  or in the mortal realm.   each time hephaestus thinks he will go into hiding,   they there were    -   so full of life,   captivating,   and boisterous.

centuries ago,   he would’ve never thought he would be able to adore them as much as he does now.   centuries ago,   he had looked at ares,   who was in bed with his wife,   with such a pair of cold eyes he wonders if ares still see that steel-like gaze,   burning into him,   bearing nothing but disgust.    what he has now is not disgust.   it is fondness.

they still have not quite address that time,   but hepheastues cannot help it    -    he is fond,  regardless.

❝   mainly playthings    ...    for the mortal children.   ❞     it isn’t like the smith is so sympathetic to be gracious enough to do something so charitable -   most of the time,   he spends the hours dwelling in the comfort of his abandonment and the consequences thereafter.   but sometimes   ...    sometimes,   things do catch his gaze.   and hephaestus may be angry or wretched to look at,   but     —     he can be kind too,   he’d like to believe.

he would want to be kind too,   if he can.    ❝   they   -   hurt.   easily.    not safe.  i can   -   make it safe.   ❞     and then,   eyes up,   he addresses his brother.     ❝   i do not    ...   have any new things.   to try.   apologies,   brother.   ❞