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Where…"
“Where… something,” I muttered aloud.
“Where what?”
My eyes sprang up from the parchment at the sound of that voice, for it could belong to no other. “Aikos!”
My friend stood before me in the mortal courtyard, no longer a mortal himself, for Aikos was a god, and he very much looked it.
It was expected that Apollo would glow—he was god of the sun, after all—but a glow emanated from all the gods, truly making them ethereal. For Aikos, his beauty was amplified by that radiance, his pale hair, blue eyes, flawless skin, and symmetrical features, almost more pretty than handsome. All while wearing the unabashedly sheer tunic from our ascension day.
Already having been trimmed in gold, the tunic seemed grander than before, for it now included rainbow sashes and precious adornments, like gold cuffs at his wrists, undying flowers weaved into his laurels, and even gold and silk-woven sandals.
Showoff. Only thing missing were his rainbow wings that I imagined he could summon with a thought.
“Here I worried you were too delighted in your godhood to check on your friend,” I joked as he sat beside me. I set aside my reed pen and parchment, flipping the parchment over as I did so to hide its contents.
Aikos noticed but didn’t press about it. “Never! Well, definitely delighted, but not too much to not miss you, dear friend. I thought it best to give you space these first few days as you adjusted. I hope you are not angry with me for absconding with you?”
“Hardly.” I chuckled. “And it has been… I can’t even describe most of it, but it has been truly wonderful.”
Aikos knocked his shoulder against mine with a lascivious grin. “So… how many times has the former courtesan been plucked by the divine?”
“Courted by,” I corrected. “And courting means no plucking yet.”
“After days?” Aikos looked shocked, and possibly disgusted by our chastity. “I’m impressed by you both! And more than a little confused.”
“We’re going slow. I was disappointed at first, but I understand the wait. Apollo has been, well, for lack of better phrasing, burned too many times by the fires of love. And burned others.”
“You met Zephyrus, I take it?”
“More like witnessed an encounter. Apollo healed him. Mostly.”
“So that’s what happened!” Aikos exclaimed. “I caught sight of Zephyrus earlier and wondered. Not that he needed the return of smooth skin to be sought after, but I believe his metamorphosis might mean a future love for him awaits as well.”
“Are you the new god of prophecy?” I teased. “Or just a divine matchmaker?”
Aikos looked truly thoughtful at the prospect. “Divine matchmaker, you say? I may have to add that to my ever-growing list of domains.”
“Starting with god of multiple orgasms?”
“Naturally.” He winked.
He always could make me laugh, and there was a special comfort in laughing with him now. He might have ascended to reaches I dared not dream, but he was still the insufferable friend I loved as rival and kin.
“Speaking of…” Aikos’s eyes drifted over my head to the far left of the courtyard. “I believe my skills are needed.”
I turned, and somewhat hidden behind one of the pillars leading to an exit into the Olympian halls was a tall, broad, bronze-skinned man with short brown hair and a trim beard. His amber eyes burned almost as fiery as Apollo’s, but it was his scars, the dent in his nose, and the brace on one leg that gave away his identity.
“Is that…?”
“It is.”
“He’s handsome.”
“Isn’t he? Took him too long to see it. Many with supposed flaws fail to see their beauty.” Aikos drew my attention back to him by brushing some of the hair from my shoulder, revealing more of my uneven jawline that my longer locks helped hide.
I did not think he meant my perceived flaws though. He was unfairly insightful, like so much of him was unfair. He could perhaps add minister to mental and emotional health to his godly domains. Apollo still needed to see past his flaws and learn to forgive himself as much as others.
