The Return of Ruina Occasus.

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Nephthys was sitting on Seth's couch, buried under a mound of blankets that he had heaped upon her. He was still running around bringing her everything imaginable, trying to make sure she was all right. His vast amount of offerings were rapidly piling up on the coffee table in front of her. He'd even given her the remote. Nephthys thought it was

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She stared at him for a moment, another, another... She didn't know what would happen when she started talking. All she knew was that her heart jumped, even now, when she took in the sight of him, and her breath caught in a tangled knot somewhere at the base of her throat, when he kissed her... even only on the cheek! She groaned, shoving the blankets off the side of the couch completely. When they fell aside, Ares bruises stood out clearly under the armbands Hephaestus gave her once. Closing the small distance between them by edging over, she curled herself up against Hephaestus. Perhaps for the last time, she said to herself. The thought tore out her heart and left a pit of ore in her stomach. She groaned aloud from the pain of it alone.

Before he could show her any more tenderness, before he could silence her with his gentleness, she had to find the courage to ask those questions that were left in her head by the Greek King and his daughter. She was never artful in speech. The dead rarely required it. When she asked, she baldly blurted it out....

"Hephaestus, Ares says you're dangerous. He says it's only a matter of time before you grow insanely jealous and explode. He intimated that you would harm me..... And he intimated that you have already harmed him and his family. He seems to have a deep-rooted hatred for you. He calls you names; he says awful things about you. What is true? Please, tell me... I can't believe Ares. I don't want to believe him! Please, please, tell me."

It was all said in a rush, and some of it was muffled when she pressed her face against his shoulder. She was trembling again. She was so afraid he would hate her for questioning him. Especially like this.

[vulcan_dot_com]

Hephaestus reached for her chin, lifting it so he could look into her face.

"Did Ares bruise you? Did he hurt you?"

The arm around her shoulders brushed over the marks that angered him but her words made him remain calm.

"Did he say what it is I'm supposed to explode over? Ares. I don't think he hates me. But he does like trouble."

[nephthys_dotcom]

Her trembling faded considerably at his soft words, at his gentle touch. She met his eyes, uncertain how to answer him. Finally, she murmured, "You know how easy it is to bruise me, Hephaestus... It isn't the first time Ares has done so."

As always, his quiet way soothed her, put her at ease. Now that he sat before her, calm as ever, she felt foolish. Of course Ares wasn't right about him. Her fingertips trailed over a small square of the skin on his lower arm, back and forth carefully. Trouble? Was that all Ares was up to? All Neph knew was that if she never saw Ares again, it would be too soon.

"He...I ... I don't think he said what it was. He just said that you were like volcanos, yourself, ready to erupt..." Here, she pauses, screws up her face in a surprisingly Ares-like expression, and deepens her voice, mimicking War's timbre surprisingly well. "And he cannot bear to think of me being in the line of fire... when you eventually explode and shows your true identity." Those words, like Dite's so long ago, were also burned into her memory. And this Goddess had a very long memory, indeed.

[vulcan_dot_com]

"Volcanoes aren't always ready to erupt, Nephthys. Some take centuries to reach their boiling point. I won't say I don't share a similarity to my home. But I don't understand why you think you're in danger."

Hephaestus sighed, thinking over his last visit with his brother.

"I should have seen this coming. I wonder what he's up to."

[nephthys_dotcom]

She tilted her head back, looking at him steadily. Concern creased her smooth forehead.

"When things are really difficult, I often find myself resorting to telling those who stand in my temple that they have not yet grasped the meaning of the word 'forever,' and that their lovers will soon understand themselves... 'Forever' is a longer time than they think. But we. We, Hephaestus, we understand it. I wasn't concerned about my safety..."

She paused, then looked at him again, realizing that he hadn't answered her questions.

"What is the truth? I feel Ares has twisted, and fed, bits and pieces to me, from what you tell me now. What happened? What is happening? And why should you have seen .... whatever....it is.... coming? Hephaestus, please. Please."

Her eyes were expressive as she asked him the most simple and complex thing of all: the truth.

[vulcan_dot_com]

"I should have seen this coming after the last conversation I had with him. I thought he came to talk about the instance between Harmonia and Strife. Instead, he wanted to know about you, about us. How I felt, where I thought we were going. Love is Machanitin's department. Trouble is Ares."

Hephaestus frowned, feeling like he was missing something.

"I don't think I understand what you're asking."

[nephthys_dotcom]

She rubbed her temples.

"I don't know if I even know what I'm asking anymore. Hephaestus, I'm so confused."

She dropped her hands into her lap. Ares had asked where she and Hephaestus were "going"? What in the world did that mean? She hadn't even given that consideration. For all her care for the God of the Forge, she was having a difficult enough time believing that what they were doing wasn't completely barbaric. She had been with another person's husband before, and she knew that her sister still sometimes rankled about it. She never could release that guilt. Her son Anubis reminded her whenever she laid eyes on him.

Quickly, she reined in her wandering thoughts and looked back to Hephaestus. "What did you tell him?"

[vulcan_dot_com]

"The truth of course. I told him that I cared for you deeply, and I didn't find our relationship trivial. I also said I didn't know how our relationship would play out in the future but that I was content with my present."

Hephaestus smiled at her and brushed a finger along her cheek.

"I can't say I've never had a jealous rage before. I've done some things I'm not prod of, Nephthys. But It was a different time, and I'm a different person."

[nephthys_dotcom]

Those words were exactly what she needed to hear. Her smile bloomed swiftly, and this time remained.

"The present is good. The future.... is not here yet."

It was comforting to hear him say this; she smiled again and rested against his side.

"What do you think Ares is trying to do? Besides... start trouble?"

Her thoughts drifted to Ruina. She was glad that they were almost guaranteed to be enemies. As allies, they would be formiddable.

[vulcan_dot_com]

"I don't know. If he were anyone else, I'd say revenge. But Ares doesn't need a reason, nor do I think he feels any need for further retaliation. He has what he wants and he doesn't wait this long for anything."

He shifted on his seat, never comfortable in a stranger's home.

"Come to my home, and we'll talk more if you need. I left Machanitin there - I will go home, send her on her way while you tell your brother where you are going, then come to me."

[nephthys_dotcom]

She nodded quietly. Seth was going to be sad she didn't try his latest batch of whatever-he-was-cooking.... A minor explosion, followed by Rinna's squeels of surprise/excitement, relieved Nephthys of any further worry about that, though. She grinned sheepishly and quickly stood from the couch.

"I'd better just go check on them...... I'll see you soon!"

And with a quick hug to Hephaestus, she darted into the kitchen.