𝑃𝐻𝑂𝐸𝐵𝑈𝑆. (𝑂𝑓 𝐺𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠)

two - then

Then.

Adoria was used to attention, though this didn't mean that she liked it all that much. She wasn't too old when she first began to recognize the looks men around the village would give her. It was unsettling, and she grew to become very aware of those looks as she aged into adulthood. The first time a boy had tried to kiss her, she punched him in the face. It wasn't her fault, after all he gave her no warning, and kept trying to press on even after she pushed him away. The first time a man asked to court her, she decided maybe it was worth taking a leap of faith; she came to regret it when he got handsy, reaching up her dress before she had the chance to shove him to the ground and run. Adoria realized that day that sometimes leaping does not mean you'll fly, it does not mean you'll land effortlessly and escape without a scratch; for the most part, taking the leap meant inevitably hitting the ground, breaking a few bones along the way, and if you're not the luckiest of souls, maybe even your heart.

She grew to learn which eyes to look for in men, and luckily enough for her, this talent extended even to non-mortals. The gods.

She could see the insincerity in his eyes, hear the smooth lies that rolled off his tongue, feel the cold heart that lived inside of him. Zeus disguised himself well enough, not as though anyone would be able to recognize him, but gods were inhumanly beautiful, and so to walk among the humans they had to dim this beauty so that they would fit in. The King of the Olympians was not used to hearing the phrases "not interested" and "go away" come from the mouths of women in his presence, nor was he a fan of them.

"I'm sorry," Zeus, or as he introduced himself - Adam, let out a chuckle, as if he were doubtful of her disinterest, "let's start over, shall we? I am Adam, you are...Adoriam, it was, correct? Well love, I have to say I have come across many beauties in my day, but no one compares to you."

How unoriginal, Adoria thought, rolling her eyes. She had to stop herself from being rude to the man she had only just met. "My name is Adoria, and I told you I'm not interested in your compliments."

The god almost stuttered, but recovered quickly enough, continuing to follow the girl down a path she was taking, he assumed to the marketplace in the middle of town. "Then maybe you will be interested in a date, with me...say, oh I don't know, this evening?"

"No." There was not a second of thought, no silent contemplation, nothing. She had flat out rejected him, it wasn't like Zeus had not known rejection, he had limitedly experienced it from some of the other goddesses, but never a human woman. He was left in shock that day, confused as to how someone like her could not like someone like him.

He thought at first that it was a mistake, a minor hiccup in the universe, and so the next day he tried again, meeting her along the road she took too often to get to the main village. "Fancy seeing you here, darling."

"No, it's not actually. You obviously know this is the only way I can take to get to the town and you were waiting for me, I saw you. I don't understand what you don't understand about the word no and how it works. I say it, you accept it, we move on. It's actually fairly simple, unless you're dull and can't comprehend simple semantics."

Once again, Zeus was left stunned and confused in her wake, as she walked faster and moved further and further away from him. It wasn't his last attempt to woe her, he kept at it for weeks, until finally she stopped showing face. He thought at first that she had found another way to travel to the town, but after a lot of walking and some very heavy realization, Zeus came to figure out the girl was nowhere to be found. He took the road she'd always walked on and stopped at every cottage along the way, only to be told that Adoria's family had packed up and left. Times were hard and her father needed better work. And she'd never even told him. Zeus returned to Olympus, seething just slightly with annoyance at this mere girl's absurdity, because how dare a mortal woman refuse a godly man.