A rose glow worked its way to Hera's cheeks as she watched her husband adorn her hand with kisses, the subtle bristling of his beard tickling her skin. Wide-eyed and somewhat speechless, Hera gave the waitress her order in a flustered state. It had been so long since her husband had so openly and so unabashedly affectionate with her. On Olympus, such loving gazes had been restricted to mere moments before their fellows, only meant to be fully enjoyed in the privacy of their own home, away from their children. That had been particularly difficult the more children they had. Hebe had always been the sort to toddle along after whichever parent would allow her to follow them around that day. Many of the gods had been charmed with her as a little girl. But to see the love in his gaze once more, it made her heart swell and sent a rush of all too familiar desire throughout her body. Feeling suddenly self-conscious, Hera looked down to their entwined hands, but the smile on her face was plain as day.<br/><br/>"It is...beyond sweet to hear you say that," she murmured, allowing her thumb to smooth over his hand. "It's really the sort of thing I only dreamed of hearing, and I hope you can make good on that promise. It would certainly be more pleasant than sleeping alone every night. Celibacy has hardly been as easy as I once thought it would be."<br/><br/>Whether his hair was dark or white, Hera still found him attractive. So long as they did not appear to have a significant age disparity, she would not complain. She had found him handsome when he was young, dark haired and fierce and just as much when mortal perception had turned him regal and refined, even if he had complained when his hair first began to turn white while hers stayed its rich brown. He was still her king, her Zeus. She had even told him it was not a bad look on him, even as his brothers' hair remained black as night, and that it made him stand apart from them. It did always amuse her, however, that his initial traits had been the ones their children inherited, save for Hebe whose birth had been at the height of his power. Her eyes were just as bright and blue, yet her hair had remained a rich black. Strange how that had worked out. The physical similarities between her and her father had ended there, though, for the rest of her features were clearly from Hera.<br/><br/>"Well, I can hardly deny that," she agreed, recalling how she had initially refused to marry him way back then. It had been an uncanny and complicated situation. They had made love many times at that point, though she had been careful and vigilant to avoid his seed quickening in her womb. She had told him she loved him, even with their initial rivalry and tension. Yet when he had asked her to marry him, she had rejected him. There was no doubt in her mind that she loved him more than she would anyone else, nearly went made at his touch. But it had been too soon. The war had only just ended and they were still trying to establish their pantheon. Not to mention Hera had had her own concerns regarding the success of a union between them. Demeter had recently given birth to Persephone and Hera had doubts regarding his fidelity. She had seen his eyes wander on occasion and told him she had not thought him ready for marriage, not with her. Zeus had been in disbelief. How could she say she loved him, share his bed, and then reject his offer of marriage? Then he had played his trick, breaking all the discretion they had maintained throughout their relationship up to that point. Their wedding had been shortly after that, and she considered herself lucky her belly had not yet grown to be noticeable.<br/><br/>"To your credit, it was certainly an unorthodox trick at the time," the goddess remarked with a wry grin. "At least this time you were patient enough to do so, though I'm fairly certain turning into a bird would not have worked on me a second time. I would have shooed you out. I do want you to know, though, that I was not trying to avoid marrying you, that I only wanted to wait before making something so delicate permanent. But I suppose Ares was a good thing to come out of your little ploy."