"O h, crap! Look at the time. It's after seven." Pea disentangled herself from Vulcan's arms and dashed, naked, into the bathroom.
"Where are you going?" he called drowsily after her.
"To work. I have to be there by eight." She stuck her head out of the bathroom while she piled up her curls and covered them with a plastic shower cap. "I'd take the day off if I could, but I have interviews coming in - you know, for the job you pretended to want - and I really have to be there."
"I didn't pretend. I believe I would like to be a history teacher."
"You'd be a good one, too," she said.
He grinned at her. "Your hat is funny looking."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "It's a shower cap, not a hat. And I'm not funny looking."
"Yes, you are, endearingly so."
Pea decided that if it endeared her to him, then maybe the silly shower cap Venus had insisted she use to protect her now frizzless curls was worth it. Still she stuck her tongue out at him, which only made his smile grow.
"You could bring your clever tongue over here...."
Pea glanced down his naked body and saw that Vulcan's smile wasn't the only thing that was growing. She felt the answering heat inside her, and wished she had a little more time to...
"No! I can't. I really have to get to work." She ducked back into the bathroom and tried to wash her face, brush her teeth and talk to Vulcan - all at the same time. "And don't you have to go back to Olympus or wherever and do some God of Fire-ing or forging or whatnot?"
She could hear him laugh.
"So you will, once again, make me count the hours until I may see you?"
"Yep," she called. "Hey, while I'm taking a shower make yourself at home. I have lots of breakfast stuff in the kitchen, and the automatic coffeemaker should already be working its magic."
She squealed around her toothbrush when he stuck his head in the bathroom.
"Are you quite certain you don't need my assistance, my lady?"
"Yes!" Pea ignored his sexy leer and pushed him out, shutting the door. She giggled and hummed all the way through her shower.
Pea was ready for work in record time. She checked her watch as she hurried from her bedroom. It was seven-thirty. She could have a short breakfast with Vulcan and still make it to work practically on time. And anyway she was never late for work. A few minutes this one time wouldn't hurt.
Vulcan was sitting at her kitchen table. Surprisingly his bulk didn't look awkward or out of place there. Instead he seemed to complement the room, filling it up and making it even homier. He was sipping a mug of coffee with his eyes closed, which made her smile.
"So you hadn't had coffee before, either?"
"Never," he said, opening his eyes and grinning at her. "Its smell is as divine as its taste."
She poured herself a cup. "Do you mean that literally, God of Fire?"
He hesitated, and then smiled like a little boy. "I think I do."
Pea laughed, but her laughter turned into a choking fit. When Vulcan wasn't blocking her view she could see that her table was filled with hand-etched silver platters brimming with hunks of aged cheese, exotic fruits, bread that smelled freshly baked and thinly sliced pieces of cold meat.
"What is all of this?" she sputtered.
He looked from the feast to Pea. "Breakfast?"
"You zapped it here?"
Vulcan studied her for a moment. "Zapped - as in I could have zapped you into a tree?"
"Which you wouldn't do, remember?" Pea said through partially clenched teeth.
"Which I absolutely would not do."
"Then yes, that's what zapped means."
"Then yes, I zapped the food here."
"Vulcan," she began, hesitated, and then bent to kiss him on the cheek and patted his back, too, for good measure. He did look scrumptious at her kitchen table, and he probably didn't know any better. "I'm a little uncomfortable with zapping." She sat in the chair closest to him so that their thighs brushed together intimately. "Zapping isn't something that happens in Tulsa." At Vulcan's disbelieving frown she added, "Truthfully. Zapping would freak out most modern mortals."
After a pause she began to fill her plate.
"Freak out?" he said.
"Think of freak out as being uncomfortable multiplied times ten."
"And this really makes you uncomfortable?"
"Really."
"I had no idea."
"Oh, I believe you. Venus was shocked to find out it was a problem, too."
"Then I will refrain from zapping."
"I would appreciate it."
"Your request is this god's command, my lady." He gave her a little seated bow with a flourish, which made her giggle and blush.
And it was in the middle of her blushing giggle that Venus burst into the room.
"Pea, darling, I have so much to - " She pulled up short when she saw Vulcan.
"Hello, Venus," he said.
"Hello, Venus," Pea said.
"What, by all of the flapping phalluses of the gods, is he doing here?" Venus asked. Pea looked at Vulcan. "I thought you said she wouldn't be upset."
"Yes, but I didn't say she wouldn't be shocked."
"She is right here!"
"Venus, please don't be mad," Pea said, her face starting to crumble.
"I'm not mad!" Venus shouted. Then she closed her eyes, took a breath and started over. "I'm not mad," she said in a more sedate tone. "Why should I be mad? I'm just wondering why Vulcan is sitting at your kitchen table having breakfast." The goddess glanced at the laden table and her eyes widened. "And a zapped breakfast from Olympus at that."
"I told him to make himself at home while I was in the shower," Pea said.
"Which I did," Vulcan said.
"Yeah, and he didn't know how I felt about the zapping part so - "
Venus's upraised hand silenced Pea.
"The two of you are making no sense."
"Sorry," Pea muttered.
Vulcan shrugged.
Venus narrowed her eyes at him. He was certainly being uncharacteristically chatty. And he looked relaxed. And he was wearing jeans and a sweater. She studied him harder and felt a jolt of pure shock. Vulcan had had sex! Good sex, too, from the look of him. She opened her mouth to say that it was about time, and an insane thought crossed her mind. The Goddess of Love turned her sharp gaze on Pea, who wouldn't meet her eyes and who began to squirm in her chair. Literally.
"By Gaea's earthy vagina! You've had sex!" Venus gasped. "With each other!"
"Please don't be mad," Pea repeated.
"Stop saying that," Venus said.
"Don't bully her!" Vulcan shouted.
"Don't yell at me!" Venus yelled.
Chloe rushed into the room, paws sliding on the tile floor, barking manically.
"Now see what you've done," Pea said, with tears spilling down her cheeks while she bent to comfort the agitated Scottie.
Venus drew in a deep, calming breath. Then she cooed at the Scottie, "Chloe, darling, I'm sorry for raising my voice at the horrid God of Fire. I didn't mean to upset you." She walked over to Pea and the dog and ruffled Chloe's fur. Then she smiled at Pea and tugged on one of her curls.
"I didn't mean to upset you, either."
Pea sniffed and gave her a watery smile.
"You shouldn't have made her cry," Vulcan said. His tone was back to normal, but he was frowning sternly at the goddess.
Venus threw up her hands in irritation. "Would you please tell me what in all the levels of the sexless Underworld you're doing here?"
"You might be interested to know that rumor has it there's sex going on in the Underworld or at least in the Elysian Fields part of it," Vulcan said.
"Vulcan..." The goddess's voice dropped in warning.
"No zapping!" Pea shouted, causing Chloe to growl.
"Then he'd better - "
"He's Victor!" Pea blurted.
Venus blinked. "Victor? As in the cunnilingus Victor?"
"You told her that?" Vulcan said.
"As if she had to tell me," Venus said.
Vulcan snorted.
"Yes, that Victor," Pea finally said.
"Explain this, Vulcan. And know that if you hurt this mortal child you will suffer my wrath, that I promise you."
The God of Fire drew himself up and met the Goddess of Love's piercing gaze. "I commend you for being protective of her, Venus, but you need not worry. I love her. I would never harm her."
"How could you possibly love her?"
Pea turned to Venus. "Don't you think I'm worth loving?"
"Darling, that's not what I meant at all. It's just that Vulcan and I are..." She hesitated, choosing her words more carefully. "Vulcan and I have known each other for a long time, and love doesn't exactly come easily for him."
"She knows we're married," Vulcan said.
"Then she also knows it is a marriage in name alone."
"Love didn't come easily for him because he hadn't met me yet," Pea said. Venus looked at her mortal friend. Her eyes were still bright with tears and her face was flushed, but Pea met her eyes steadily.
"You know me," Pea said. "And you know him. Can't you see how alike we are?" Pea's gaze moved from Venus to Vulcan, and she held out her hand to him. Vulcan took it and lifted it to his lips. Until that moment Venus could have never imagined him doing such a thing. Still looking at Vulcan, Pea continued, "Can't you see that we belong together?"
"Yes, Goddess of Love," Vulcan said, while he gazed adoringly into Pea's eyes. "Really look at us and then tell us what you see."
Venus looked at them - not with the eyes of a shocked friend or an in-name-only wife - she looked at them through Love's eyes, and what she saw had her drawing in a sharp breath. They were the same. They had the same sweet, displaced souls that had apparently finally found their way home.
"You belong together," she said.
"Oh, Venus, I knew you'd understand!" Pea threw her arms around Venus and hugged her tightly while Chloe barked joyously until Max sauntered into the room, sniffed in disdain at all of them, then exited quickly with the Scottie hard on his heels.
"I'm going to need a cup of coffee," Venus said, when Pea finally let loose of her.
"An excellent drink, almost as delicious as ambrosia," Vulcan said.
"I'll get it for you." Pea wiped her eyes and began puttering happily about her cupboards. Over her shoulder she said, "And how was your date with Griffin?"
Venus wasn't sure where to look, especially when she realized her cheeks felt warm.
"Griffin? Isn't he the fireman who was so attentive in your class?"
"By the tits of - " she began sputtering, but Pea's steady hand squeezing her shoulder had her biting back the nasty reprimand and accepting the cup of excellent coffee.
"Yes, Vulcan has been observing the modern mortal world," Pea said, in a calm, reasonable tone of voice.
"I watched a good part of your class. It was really quite interesting and informative," Vulcan said.
"I'm pleased I could be of help," Venus said, with only a hint of sarcasm.
"The date?" Pea prodded.
"It went well."
"Well?" Pea said. "'Well' as in I was kinda bored but it was fine, or 'well' as in he rocked my world?"
"Well as in..." Venus looked at Pea, and instead of saying something flip and clever, she had the sudden desire to tell her friend what was really in her heart. "...as in I think I'm in love."
She ignored Vulcan's shocked look and returned Pea's hug as the little mortal threw her arms around her.
"Oh, Venus! I told you so! I told you that you were here for yourself as much as you were here for me."
"You were right, darling." Venus smoothed her hair back. "I honestly believe you were right. But loving a modern mortal can be complicated." She looked at Vulcan. "For instance, how are you going to make this work with Pea?"
"I haven't decided yet."
"We," Pea corrected him. "We haven't decided yet." She gave Vulcan a stern look. "Just because you're a god it doesn't mean you get to make all the decisions." She pointed at her own chest. "I have my own goddess inside me, too. You shouldn't forget that."
"Well put, Pea," Venus said, loving that Pea had quite obviously come into her own, complete with a healthy dose of self-confidence.
"I had a good teacher," Pea said. "Oh, speaking of that, we have to get to work!"
"We?" Venus and Vulcan said together.
Pea laughed. "We meaning Venus and me." She leaned over and kissed Vulcan soundly on the lips. "And didn't you say you had some God of Fire stuff to do, too?"
"We?" Venus persisted.
"In all our rushing around yesterday I forgot to tell you. The Director of Training for the fire department called my office to say what a total success your stress-relief class was and that he was sending over the next shift this morning. So you have another class to teach today."
"Satyr's balls! I forgot to zap myself out of the firemen's memories," Venus muttered.
"You're going to have to fill out some paperwork, too. You know, taxes and such," Pea said.
"Taxes?"
"Why don't you let me explain all of it to you on the way to work? We have to hurry or we'll be late."
Venus frowned. "I didn't get to finish my coffee."
"I'll pour it into a travel cup," Pea said.
"It's not the same," Venus mumbled.
Vulcan stood and pulled Pea into his arms. Venus watched with interest. In all the eons she'd known him, the God of Fire had never shown even the slightest inkling toward being interested in romance, yet here he was, taking Pea gently in his arms and kissing her quite thoroughly. Odd. Truly odd. And this new depth to him did make him look strong and handsome and sexy. Well, good for Pea! And good for Vulcan, too. Venus was honestly happy for them.
"Tonight, little one," he said.
"Tonight." Pea stepped out of his arms and closed her eyes. Vulcan gave Venus a quick, friendly smile and then disappeared. With her eyes still closed, Pea said, "Can I look now?"
"Yes."
"Okay, let's go. You can tell me all about last night and Griffin, and I'll explain the loose ends with Vulcan," Pea said as she hunted through the cupboard for her travel mug.
"You know, darling, I could save us quite a bit of time by zapping us to school."
"No!" Pea's face blanched totally white.
Venus sighed. There were just some things about modern mortals she would never understand.