Hera awoke that morning to a bed of crumpled sheets and a fading warmth where Zeus had been not too long ago. Her body yet throbbed with the delightful ache that had resulted from their lovemaking the night before. A rosy flush colored her cheeks at the memory of all the ways in which her husband had surprised her all that afternoon, all the new ways in which he had made her moan and cry out for more. Granted, she had given him her fair share of surprises as well. She could hardly have let him have all the fun of having new tricks up his sleeve, and she had never been one to allow herself to fall behind. Perhaps in that aspect they were competitive lovers, but the passion of trying to keep ahead of each other was worth it. She supposed there was still a degree of rivalry that remained from their younger days, something she was sure the other gods had found intolerable at times. A small satisfied smirk on her lips, Hera got out of bed and donned her satin blue robe, then washed her face with cold water. She should have washed the makeup off before bed, but she had simply been too exhausted to remove herself from her husband's arms. It was also there looking at her reflection in the mirror that she realized she would not be wearing anything low-cut or sleeveless for awhile, given the bruises scattered across her flesh.<br/><br/>Much like yesterday, Hera found her husband with his back to her and cursing technology. The only difference was that this time he was draped in one of her extra sheets. With a playful roll of her eyes, she leaned against the frame of the entryway. She doubted she would ever stop being amused by his struggles to adapt to human technology.<br/><br/>"You look like you could use a little help with that," she spoke up, a teasing lilt to her voice and her curls in utter disarray. She then placed a delicate kiss upon Zeus' cheek before setting about grinding the coffee beans (once she had chosen something from what was practically a vast collection of flavors, thanks to her children never being able to agree on a select few) and putting them in a filter, which she then placed in the coffeemaker. Then she filled the carafe with water and poured its contents into the machine, then set it to brew. It sprang to life with the sound of boiling water as she pulled out two mugs from her cabinets. Those which were specifically for her were surrounded by those of her children and showed their varied personalities. Even Heracles had one in there specifically for him, though he still did not dare to presume on his mother-in-law's generosity. He more than realized that there were yet delicate boundaries between them.<br/><br/>"Is something wrong?" Hera had to ask when she finally noticed the redness of his eyes. She had thought she would find him brimming with confidence and a newfound cockiness at how well she had reacted to his newly acquired knowledge of sex. Instead, his eyes bore a puffiness and there was a sniffling that he seemed to be trying to rid himself of. She dared place a hand upon his broad shoulder in concern, baffled as to what could have upset her husband. "Here I thought I would find you boasting and ready to start planning and instead I wonder what has upset you."<br/><br/>Her husband's typical response to disappointment or emotional distress had been anger. It had been rare to see him spill tears, especially in front of the others. There had been a few moments in which she had seen him at his most vulnerable, mostly during the war when the weight of an entire war had been thrown upon his shoulders. Their first few failures had been crushing, they had made loss and imprisonment seem inevitable. Not even Demeter had seemed to realize during her time as his consort how much that had weighed upon him, yet somehow he had lost the shame he had once felt of being vulnerable before Hera, his greatest rival amongst the young Olympians.