Stare

When Connor knocked me over, I considered slugging him (second time in a week, not bad.) But then I saw that he was freezing and hurried him into my little house. He looked pretty pathetic, his bubblegum pink floral pattern boxers actually had a little bit of frost on them, and his face and chest were blue. As soon as I noticed how cold he was, I wrapped my olive-green jacket around his shoulders and helped him walk.
As soon as we got in there I sat him down at my table and threw a blanket from my bed at him. When he stopped shivering I started yelling at him.
"What were you doing out there!? You may be a godling, but that doesn't mean that you're immune to hypothermia, or- or frost bite. I mean what were you thinking!?" I shook my head and put the teapot on the stove, sighing.
I looked over at him and he looked down at his blanket-covered lap. He started blushing. "I was mad at myself, so I punished myself."
"By almost killing yourself? Connor, what could you have possibly done that deserves to be punished so harshly? You couldn't have done something that bad. You are funny and cultured, and cute and..." this time, I was blushing. I couldn't believe I'd said that. Cute? Really? Then I thought, Yes really.
The teapot whistled and I pulled out two mugs and some tea. I was about to pour the water into the mugs when I noticed how when the steam caught the light, it made a little bit of a rainbow, and it reminded me of something I had to do. I massaged my temples and looked over at Connor. "Get ready, Connor. I'm gonna make a call,"
I fished a golden drachma out of the pocket of my penguin pajamas (at camp half-blood, it was a good idea to have a couple on you at all times) and threw it into the little rainbow the steam was making.
"Oh, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering and show me Aphrodite." Unlike the last time, the image shimmered and revealed a beautiful woman who looked like she'd just gotten out of the shower, for she was obviously naked (we could only see her from the shoulders up) and her hair was wet. Her image was like a liquid, shifting and moving to become more and more beautiful as you looked at her. Her wet hair was auburn at first, but it started to melt into blonde, and her eyes that were first brown changed to grey, and I realized that she was changing to look like Annabeth. Why did she have to look like Annabeth?
She perked up a little when she noticed we were there, and Connor, having realized that she was naked, was blushing so violently that he looked like he'd been sitting in the middle of a tropical ocean in a black boat all day rather than just recovered from almost-hypothermia.
I started talking before the goddess could get a chance to. "Alright, Aphrodite. I've had enough. Are you the one who's toying with us? Getting your kicks off of watching hormonal teens chase each other around and do plenty of tripping along the way? 'Cause I've had it up to hear with these little games," I motioned above my head. Aphrodite had an amused look on her face. She looked exactly like Annabeth at this point.
"You really think I'm the one doing this? How adorable," she seemed to genuinely think it was adorable, which just sort of pissed me off.
"You see, darlings, you have a say in your love too. I may be the goddess of love but I don't go around shooting people with little heart shaped arrows and make them fall head over heels for eachother. No, that's not quite how it works,"
Connor looked surprised that this conversation was even taking place, and he looked mortified.
"But," words were falling off of my tounge and back down my throat, trying to climb their way back to the top, but never quite making it. "It's just, this little romance sort of came up out of the blue. It's not like it's been creeping up on us for some time or anything, it's just..." the words fell down my throat in a cascade, deciding to never try to get back up.
"Listen, dear," Aphrodite started pulling her hair up into a waterfall braid. "Love moves in ways that no mortal, god, or even me can understand sometimes. It takes its own path, and," a sly look washed over her face. "I'm not going to say that I haven't been watching you, but," she paused, "all of what has happened has been the fruit of your own actions." We heard a beep from her end. "Mmm. Incoming call. One more thing before I go," she started buttoning up a red and black corset. "Sometimes, it's okay to give into love. If you let it take over, you will be freed of your burdens. Sometimes, it's best to let it win." We heard the beep again. "I have to go now, but I'll talk to you later." The image shimmered and disappeared.
I looked right into Connors eyes and walked up to him. I traced his jawline.
I whispered. "Maybe we should just let it win."

Notes

Again, sorry for the lack of updates, but here you go!