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CALLIOPE: I am certain you know where this chapter is heading, especially after the space we ended on when last we spoke. But before we can get to the part that you’re certainly looking forward to, we first have to follow Aphrodite in the lead up to what is to come.

Welcome, dear listeners, to Forged Bonds.

We’re starting in a place that we have before– the house of Dionysus– but with a different set of players. Typically there would be others as a buffer, but today Aphrodite is knocking on the door alone.

DIONYSUS: Dite? What are you doing here? 

APHRODITE: Hey, Dionysus. Can I come in?

DIONYSUS: Sure, sure, come on in. Is everything alright? I’m not used to seeing you without Phae around. (pause) Oh gods, you’re not upset with me for spending so much time with Phae, are you? Because I offered to kick back on the–

APHRODITE: (gently) Relax, Di. I’m not mad at you, I promise. It’s like I told you before, you’re her best friend. I’m not going to stop the two of you from hanging out with each other, that would be ridiculous. (pause) I am here about Phae, though.

DIONYSUS: Okay… So if you’re not mad, then what about Phae brings you here?

APHRODITE: You two have been best friends for a really long time.

DIONYSUS: Yes.

APHRODITE: Which means you’re the person who is best to bring this question to. I need your help with something.

DIONYSUS: Aph you’re starting to stress me out a bit, what’s going on?

APHRODITE: I want to propose to Hephaestus.

DIONYSUS: (excited) Really? Oh my gods, Aph, that’s– That’s incredible! 

APHRODITE: You don’t think it’s too soon?

DIONYSUS: It might be, but who cares? If you love her and she loves you and we’re immortal beings, what’s the point in waiting. The time will pass anyway and if you feel certain enough to want to do this, who am I to try and stop you? (pause) Wait, you want my help with this?

APHRODITE: I want to make it as special for her as possible and, well. Who better to help me with that than her best friend in the entire world, right? I have some ideas, things I want to say, places I think would be good for the proposal, but… But you know her better than anyone else in the world. If I want this to be perfect, you’re the best person to help me.

DIONYSUS: You know it doesn’t have to be perfect, right?

APHRODITE: She deserves–

DIONYSUS: You’re right, she does deserve that, but it’ll be perfect any way you do it because it’s you. You love her, right?

APHRODITE: I do.

DIONYSUS: Then whatever you do will be exactly what it needs to be. You could make her a grass ring and propose with that and she’d still love it. She’d still love you. I’m happy to listen to any ideas you might have but Aph, seriously, whatever you do is going to blow her away because she never expected this. She never expected you.

APHRODITE: I never expected her either. I never expected any of this– gods, Di, for the longest time I thought I was just aro but I’m not. And I don’t know how to do all of this– But I guess you don’t either.

DIONYSUS: (laughing) No I do not. But no one knows more about love than you do– you’re the goddess of it after all. I know you’ve seen countless couples falling and staying in love; just try to emulate that.

APHRODITE: And if I fuck it up?

DIONYSUS: You won’t. We both know you won’t. Do I have to say the part about how it will be perfect because it’s you? (pause) You know, there was part of me that wanted to do the whole ‘if you hurt her they’ll never find your body’ routine but I know you would never hurt her. I’ve seen how the two of you have been with each other since your original engagement to Ares and there’s no one I’d trust more with my best friend’s heart than you. You’re not going to fuck it up. You’re going to make her happier than she’s ever been and you’ll keep doing that until the end of time. If I can trust you with that, you should trust yourself too. 

APHRODITE: …Hera told me she trusts me too. I feel like I’m the only one who’s concerned that maybe I’ll ruin this. She just… She means the world to me, and I never thought I’d have someone who means as much to me as she does. And if she says no–

DIONYSUS: She won’t.

APHRODITE: She could.

DIONYSUS: Dite, she won’t. She loves you just as much as you love her, I promise. You should’ve seen how she was talking about you before the two of you got together– I had never seen her like that before. She’s smiling and laughing and spending time with people and that’s because of you. You made her life brighter, full of love and joy and you deserve to give yourself credit for this. 

APHRODITE: …I really love her, Di.

DIONYSUS: I know you do. So let’s talk about that proposal, yeah?

CALLIOPE: You didn’t think I’d let you hear what is coming from the proposal before it got here, did you? No, dear listeners, we will be moving right along to a different pair of gods who will offer a moment of levity before the proposal. As we speak, Ares and Hermes are once again preparing to box, though I suspect that things may take a different turn this time.

HERMES: You know, I originally asked you to teach me to box as an excuse to spend time with you. 

ARES: Did you really?

HERMES: Yeah. It was silly, but it was fun to hang out with you one on one. And boxing was a lot more fun than I thought it’d be, so it also had that going for it. 

ARES: (laughing) Yeah, it’s a lot more fun than people realize. It’s not just about hitting things for the sake of hitting things, it’s a good way to clear your head in a safe environment. (pause) That is, if you wrap your hands right. We’ve been doing this for how long now and you still don’t know how to wrap your hands? Gods, give me that.

CALLIOPE: Ares removed the wraps from his partner’s hands, starting the process of winding the fabric protectively around Hermes’ knuckles.

HERMES: Can I be honest with you again? 

ARES: (fondly) You can always be honest with me, Hermes. I promise.

HERMES: I know how to wrap my hands, I just like it better when you do it. 

ARES: …Really?

HERMES: Here, I’ll prove it. Give me your hand– You secure the thumb first and then wrap around the wrist before wrapping around the palm and then between the fingers. 

ARES: So you do know how to wrap a hand. (pause) It does feel nice to have someone else do it, I’ll admit.

HERMES: You get this… Concentrated but also fond look on your face when you’re wrapping my hands. Like you’re trying to force care into me with each movement of the fabric. People don’t know how kind and considerate you are, but I do. I know how you love with every inch of yourself and how you will make sure the people you love are protected. I know that you’ll wrap fabric around my hands with the same gentleness that you’ll kiss me, with the same love and fondness that you hold me with. The first time you wrapped my hands, all I could think about was how much I wanted to hold your hand forever. Now that I’m wrapping your hands, I hope you feel that same love and care and protection.

ARES: I do. Gods, I really do Hermes. And to know that I’m the one who gets to hold onto you forever… Well, at least as long as you want me to hold on to you, that is.

HERMES: Forever sounds perfect to me.

ARES: Forever it is then. (pause) I know we just wrapped our hands, but I think maybe we should pivot to a different activity.

HERMES: (teasing) Oh? Is that so? And what do you have in mind?

CALLIOPE: I will now pull your attention away from Ares and Hermes as they kiss and do… Whatever it is you think that they are doing following that. We all know what we are here for and it’s not the friendly conversations or whatever Ares and Hermes are up to. No, dear listeners, we are here for a proposal. One that begins in Hephaestus’s forge.

HEPHAESTUS: I think Poseidon may be planning to propose to my mom.

APHRODITE: Oh? And why’s that?

HEPHAESTUS: Well, he called me about making a ring. A very beautiful ring, mind you, but one that is more feminine than masculine and feels… Very engagement-y. Here, come take a look at this. 

APHRODITE: That’s your gold damascus design, right? You know, I’m always surprised Ares didn’t pick that for me, he knows how much I love damascus steel.

HEPHAESTUS: About that… I may have hidden that ring from him at the time.

APHRODITE: Really? Why? You seemed so proud of it!

HEPHAESTUS: I was! And I could tell you really liked it and I don’t know… It felt like it should be for something more real than a wedding you were forced into by Zeus. If you were going to have that ring, I wanted it to be for a wedding you wanted. From someone you wanted to marry for real. 

APHRODITE: (awed) We weren’t even friends then.

HEPHAESTUS: Yeah, well… I still knew that I didn’t want you to have to go through with a wedding you didn’t really want. I knew that from the moment we first talked that day. You deserved to have a happily ever after. You still do.

APHRODITE: You do too, you know.

HEPHAESTUS: I think I’m starting to know that.

CALLIOPE: And if Aphrodite leaned in for a kiss just to distract her girlfriend long enough to pocket the ring, well. You’ll have to wait and see.

HEPHAESTUS: So, you said you wanted to go on a picnic today? 

APHRODITE: Yup! Everything’s all packed up, we can head out whenever you’re ready. 

HEPHAESTUS: Are you okay? You seem a little… On edge.

APHRODITE: I’m fine, I promise. Just excited! It’s a beautiful day, I’m with the love of my life, who can blame me for being excited.

HEPHAESTUS: (laughing) Alright, as long as you’re sure. Shall we head out then?

CALLIOPE: The two goddesses made their way into a clearing not far from the forge. Because no one besides Hephaestus lived out this way, Aphrodite was able to set up the blanket and some magic candles in the clearing ahead of time. Her girlfriend looked on in awe when they approached.

HEPHAESTUS: When did you do this?

APHRODITE: Just before coming to get you. I thought it would be nice to do something a little cliche like the mortals do. It may be overdone, but it’s overdone for a reason, you know? 

HEPHAESTUS: I’ve never done anything like this before. Or seen anything like it, really; I don’t peek in on the mortal realm very often. But it does seem really nice. (teasing) Very romantic.

APHRODITE: (teasing) What’s the point of being the goddess of love if I’m not going to be a romantic sap to my partner?

HEPHAESTUS: (overly dramatic) I suppose I’ll have to allow it. This is really nice though, Aph. Thank you for organizing this. 

APHRODITE: Of course, Phae. (pause) Actually, there’s another reason I brought you out here. 

HEPHAESTUS: Oh yeah? And what– (gasp)

CALLIOPE: Aphrodite held out the ring– a gold and silver faux damascus with a square cut piece of alexandrite resting in the middle. Hephaestus had thought it was odd that Poseidon would go with alexandrite for her mother’s ring; her mother was much more partial to pearls and sapphire, after all. But she wasn’t going to question it, not when it had the possibility of making her mother happy. Instead, she had created her ideal wedding ring.

The ring that Aphrodite was holding out to her now.

HEPHAESTUS: Aph–

APHRODITE: Just. Let me talk for a minute? Please?

HEPHAESTUS: (choked up) Okay. Yeah, okay.

APHRODITE: I didn’t expect you. When you were living in Olympus, you were so… Distant. Sad. But that was probably on account of you not being able to be who you truly are. When I met you again out here, I thought you’d be upset with me. It’s not like I ever did anything to decrease your suffering and I knew Hera was putting you up to this and– (pause) But you were kind. You were so considerate and tried to get me to take control of my life, the same way you had taken control of yours. I had never been more compelled to run away than when you said I didn’t have to get married; deep down, I knew you were right but I just couldn’t let myself believe it. Even now, I still can’t regret getting married because it brought me to you. 

APHRODITE (CONT.): You light up my life, Phae. Everything about you makes my entire heart sing with joy and love and I never expected you. I never expected you to meld so easily into my life, as if you’d always been there, and for my heart to ache to hold you the way it does. So many people have missed their opportunity to love you and I don’t want that to be me. I want to be able to love you and hold you and marry you, if you’ll let me. So now we’re here. Hephaestus, goddess of the forge, kindest soul on Olympus, light of my life: will you marry me?

HEPHAESTUS: Yes. Yes! Of course, yes, Dite, I– (they hug) Gods, I love you more than anything else in this universe and I will spend every day of my immortal life showing you that if you let me.

APHRODITE: You already do. 

CALLIOPE: Aphrodite slid the ring onto Hephaestus’s finger– magic allowing it to take on the proper size. The forge goddess stared at it for a moment, tears in her eyes, before looking at her fiancee.

HEPHAESTUS: Did… Did you have Poseidon commission a ring just to trick me?

APHRODITE: Technically I asked Hera to do it but she was much smarter than me at that moment and asked Poseidon to do it. Raises less suspicion that way. (pause) I would’ve found another way to get you a ring, but I wanted you to have a ring from the best craftsperson in the world and that’s you.

HEPHAESTUS: (teasing) You don’t have to keep flattering me, I already said I’d marry you. Gods, we’re going to get married. 

APHRODITE: We’re going to get married.

CALLIOPE: And that, my dear listeners, is where we shall leave things for today. The future is bright and hopeful once more and we shall revel in that for as long as we can. Until next time, and as always, thank you for listening.