He was so relieved that she would work with him that he reached out to take her hand and brought it again to his lips, his eyes closing as he kissed her soft skin and smiled against it. He found himself unwilling to let go, even as their server approached. Zeus barely glanced at the young woman, his eyes only for his wife. His wife! Outside the few clouds that had been lingering dispersed, leaving the skies blue and clear and bright. "I'll take whatever she's having. And wine to drink."<br/><br/>He waited for her to order for them, then kissed her hand again, eyes positively glowing as he gazed at her. When the woman left he shook his head a little. "That pleases me. Very greatly. You can't imagine how long I've dreamed of standing beside you again--of being given a chance to make right the wrongs I committed." He paused and looked down at her hand, lowering it to the table. He flattened it out between his own, each finger smooth on the tabletop as he felt along them. Her hands had always been lovely to him. A mother's hands, a lover's, a warrior's. He had spent countless hours memorizing every line to them, every fold and wrinkle and bend. They had barely changed, though he supposed that only made sense. What was eternal never should have to change. Strange, then, that he had--but his very essence had always been rooted in his perception. When he was a young god, he had been fierce, with dark hair and darker eyes. After Typhon, when the world had seen him as its king, he had turned white and blue and regal. And even now, the way he was seen wrought its changes on him.<br/><br/>"We were too quick, before," he said softly, his contemplation turning over and over. "I was too eager to wed you, too desperate to make you mine. I gave no thought to the consequences. No heed to the warning signs that were already there. I wronged you by forcing your hand as I did." He looked up at her and took a deep breath, smiling once more. "I am glad this time to have convinced you, rather than trick you. I will make your trust worthwhile, Hera. I will show you--I will show all of them. I am changed."