Archive of Our Own

The afternoon sun fell over the camp cabins, bathing everything in a shade of gold and violet that made the atmosphere feel, ironically, very romantic.

Phuwin was sitting on one of the steps of the Dionysus cabin, immersed in an Indonesian language manual, learning it, with a dictionary on his knees. He was so concentrated that he barely noticed Pond, who was coming from training with the Aphrodite cabin, looking like he was straight out of a fashion magazine even after using a sword.
Pond stopped a few meters away from him, with that radiant smile that always made Phuwin's heart skip a beat —although he would never admit it—.

Phuwin, seeing Pond's slight fatigue from the effort, searched his backpack and found a red apple, big and perfect, that he had taken from the dining hall and, without thinking twice, threw it at him, giving him a small smile.

Pond reached out his hand and caught it with a dry thud. Pahn and Fond, who were having a date under a tree, froze upon seeing how the son of Dionysus threw an apple at the son of Aphrodite.

“Did you see the same thing I did?” Fond whispered. Pahn simply nodded, watching as her brother stood still staring at the apple, shocked.

Time seemed to stop for Pond, his eyes widened, looking at the fruit in his hand as if it were a sacred treasure. A spark of absolute excitement crossed his face, his ears turned red, and a radiant, almost dazzling smile spread across his lips.

“Phuwin...” Pond whispered, his voice heavy with a feeling that Phuwin couldn't identify. “I didn't know that you... I mean, me too. I accept.”

“Accept what? It's an apple, Pond. Eat it and shut up.” Phuwin replied, returning to his book, confused by the exaggerated reaction.

«Why did he look at me like he won the lottery?», Phuwin thought.

«I can't believe it.», Pond thought, his heart pumping rapidly as he sat down next to Phuwin. «He has proposed to me. Is the love of my life finally giving me the green light to court him?».

A few meters away, the son of Hermes, Fourth, who was passing by, put his hands to his mouth, letting out a gasp, aware that he had just witnessed the most romantic —and accidental— moment of the century at camp.

“I have to tell Gem!” Fourth whispered to himself, his eyes shining.

Pond, being a son of Aphrodite, knows all the romantic traditions, and with a triumphant smile, he took a bite of the fruit without taking his eyes off Phuwin, thinking that soon they would both have a wedding ring on their ring fingers.

. . ݁ ˖ 💌 ٬٬ ࣪ ، 💭 ، ࣪ ⊹ ֶָ

Starting the next morning, Phuwin's world became... peculiar. Pond's behavior didn't change entirely, but it seemed to intensify.

Phuwin was writing when he felt something cold against his cheek: a bottle of fresh water that Pond was offering him with a radiant smile.

“It's very hot here, Phu.” Pond commented, sitting by his side. “Did you put on sunscreen yet?”

“Thanks, and yes, I already did.”

“I also brought you fruit; you must eat well.” He leaned slightly toward him.

Phuwin nodded slowly, confused, because although Pond was always very attentive, he always seemed too shy to get so close to Phuwin.

. . ݁ ˖ 💌 ٬٬ ࣪ ، 💭 ، ࣪ ⊹ ֶָ

During archery practice, Phuwin's confusion increased. Normally, Pond would get distracted joking with his siblings or play with the children of Ares, but today, Pond was exactly two steps behind Phuwin, holding his quiver of arrows.

“Pond, I can pick up my own arrows.” Phuwin said, arching an eyebrow.

“I know, I know.” He replied. “But I like being helpful. It's my duty, especially now that... well, that we have a future to take care of.”

Phuwin released the bowstring, the arrow shot out and, out of pure bewilderment, hit the outer edge of the target.

“A future to take care of?” Phuwin repeated, somewhat confused. “Pond, you hit your head during training yesterday, didn't you? Is that it? Do you have a concussion?”

Pond laughed softly, that kind of laugh that made the children of Aphrodite dangerous to anyone's mental health.

Fond and Pahn, who were also training, let out a few complicit giggles seeing the scene from their perspective.

“The only thing left is for him to start fanning him with peacock feathers.” Pahn whispered to her girlfriend.

“I told you, look at him, it's as if Phuwin had an invisible leash; Phuwin takes a step and Pond is already behind him.” Fond commented as she watched how Pond followed Phuwin toward the target to remove the arrows.

Pahn nodded, laughing.

“I must tell Fourth about this...”

. . ݁ ˖ 💌 ٬٬ ࣪ ، 💭 ، ࣪ ⊹ ֶָ

Phuwin, with his basket, was concentrated on harvesting grapes, not knowing that, hidden away, Fourth —the self-proclaimed master of ceremonies of Phuwin and Pond's romance— held a rope with a mischievous smile.

Fourth was the official catalyst for the brewing romantic tragicomedy; he had promised Pond he would raise the level of romanticism. Beside him, Gemini, the son of Apollo, couldn't help but smile at the seriousness with which Fourth executed his courting plan for Pond while removing his sunglasses.

Pond approached Phuwin just as he was reaching for a particularly high cluster.

“Need some help with that?”

Fourth pulled the string.

A camouflaged bucket, loaded to the brim with pink and red petals —which Piploy, the girlfriend of Pond's sister, Tu, had collected— cascaded over them.

Phuwin startled while a rain of soft petals enveloped them. His eyes, still processing the confusion, immediately met Pond's.

Pond didn't blink. He didn't seem surprised and with a delicate gesture, Pond reached out to remove a petal that had stuck in Phuwin's hair. He lowered his hand and let his knuckles caress Phuwin's cheek.
Phuwin froze, his knees suddenly felt weak.

«What the hell?», Phuwin thought while his cheeks heated up and his heart raced.

Pond, oblivious to his «fiancé's» bewilderment, kept his hand on his cheek for a moment longer.

“Flowers complement your beauty.”

Without looking away, Pond took the basket that Phuwin still held with trembling hands, their fingers brushing gently.

“Let me help you. It's not fair for you to strain yourself when you have someone to share the load.”

While Phuwin, blushing harder, kept trying to restart his brain, Pond began to select the grapes.

From a distance, Fourth stifled a scream of excitement, hugging Gemini with so much enthusiasm that it caused his sunglasses to fall to the ground.

. . ݁ ˖ 💌 ٬٬ ࣪ ، 💭 ، ࣪ ⊹ ֶָ

Pond walked from side to side in front of Gemini. His nerves were on edge. Being a son of Aphrodite usually meant that romance flowed through his veins like nectar, but with Phuwin, he felt his words getting tangled like the vines of Dionysus.

“I need the poem to say 'thank you for accepting me as your future husband,' but make it sound sweet.” Pond looked at the son of the God of poetry.

“It won't be too hard, trust yourself, you're the son of the Goddess of love.” Gemini smiled at him kindly.

“It's just that it's Phuwin...” Pond murmured while his ears turned red. “When I see him, my brain just repeats 'he's beautiful' on a loop. You always write cute things for Fourth, help me channel that.”

Gemini smiled knowingly while taking out a paper.
“Alright, let's begin.”

The next morning, the dining hall was noisy as usual. Phuwin was having breakfast with Tu, Piploy, and Fourth, who was suspiciously excited, not stopping his smiling while looking toward the sky every five seconds.

“Is something wrong, Fourth? You look like a rabbit on a caffeine overdose.” Phuwin commented, raising a cup of coffee.

“Nothing, nothing... just enjoying the morning breeze.” Fourth lied.

“Phu, are you okay? You're stirring that coffee like you're looking for oil.” joked Tu, who was giving her girlfriend a dessert she prepared herself.

“I feel weird.” Phuwin whispered. “Yesterday it rained flowers when I was with Pond, Phi Tu... flowers! And then he took the basket from me as if I were made of glass.”

Before Tu could respond, a sharp sound cut through the air.

Gemini's golden arrow, shiny as gold, impacted with precision in the wood of the table, a few centimeters from Phuwin's cup. The dining hall went silent.

“Oh!” Fourth shouted, faking surprise even though he already had his phone camera ready.

Phuwin, heart beating fast, untied the parchment that came attached to the arrow.

Phuwin read the words once, twice, three times. Red painted his cheeks; he looked up, and at the table across from him, Pond waved at him, smiling sweetly.

Pahn and Fond shared a complicit look, while Tu gave her brother a thumbs up, proud that the Aphrodite lineage was setting the bar so high.

“That Pond... he's an old—fashioned romantic.” Piploy sighed, resting her head on Tu's shoulder. “Reminds me of you.”

Phuwin covered his face with the parchment, hiding an involuntary smile.
«He feels the same way I do.», he thought feeling a warmth in his chest, «He is in love with me».

What Phuwin still hadn't processed is that, in Pond's mind, that poem wasn't a letter confessing his love, it was the equivalent of the words of a future husband. And while Phuwin smiled thinking about how romantic he was, Pond was already visualizing what kind of curtains they would put in their future house.

. . ݁ ˖ 💌 ٬٬ ࣪ ، 💭 ، ࣪ ⊹ ֶָ

That night, under a weeping willow near the lake, Pond was, with great nervousness, waiting for Phuwin.

His sisters, Tu and Pahn, had helped him by arranging the food so it would be aesthetically perfect and setting out soft cushions, while Piploy, using her Demeter heritage, had made flowers bloom around the trunk, creating an intoxicating perfume that floated in the breeze. There were floating candles, courtesy of some daughters of Hecate that Fourth and Fond had convinced to help them, and a blanket spread over the grass that Gemini had brought.

Phuwin arrived at the place with his heart pumping anxiously. He looked beautiful under the moonlight as he tried to maintain his expression of tranquility and settled onto the cushions.

“Pond, this is... a lot.” Phuwin whispered, looking at the chocolate—covered strawberries and the wine served in crystal glasses, thinking it was a lot for a dating proposal.

Pond looked at him with a devotion that would have made Apollo's sun go out with envy. He took Phuwin's hand in his.

“Phuwin, I know the apple was your way of taking the first step.” Pond began. “And you can't imagine how much it means to me that you are so direct with your marriage intentions.”

Phuwin blinked, processing the words.

“I've been thinking a lot and I want you to know that I take my vows very seriously. I've spoken with my sisters and I think it will be best to get married between late January and early February, when the air is charged with Hera's blessing.”

Phuwin felt the world tilt, his eyes widened.

“What...?” He managed to articulate. “Vows? Pond, what are you talking about?”

“When you threw the apple at me.” Pond tilted his head, confused. “You asked me to marry you, or is it too soon?”

“Me?” His ears began to turn red. “With an apple?”

“Yes!”

Phuwin let go of Pond's hands, not to reject him, but to cover his face with both palms. He let out a nervous laugh that ended in a long sigh.

“Pond...” Phuwin began, his voice coming out muffled. “I threw that apple at you simply so you would eat; it was... it was a snack, Pond... just a snack.”

Pond's face went through a roller coaster of emotions in three seconds: confusion, realization, a pinch of disappointment, and finally, a red so intense it would have made his mother proud of his color palette.

“So... we are not engaged?” Pond asked, looking at the chocolate—covered strawberries as if they had just lost their existential purpose. “Hera hasn't blessed us for a February wedding?”

“No...” Phuwin murmured, finally lowering his hands, although his cheeks were still hot.

Pond looked down, fiddling with the edge of the blanket. The silence became heavy and Phuwin felt a sting of guilt seeing the desolation on his face. The entire camp had been waiting for a wedding that only existed in Pond's head —and in Fourth's gossip schemes—.

Phuwin sighed, softening his expression and moved a little closer to Pond.

“But just because I didn't ask you to marry me doesn't mean I didn't feel anything for you.”

Pond blinked, his eyes shining again.
“Oh, no?”

“I didn't know about the apple, but if I had known...” He paused, blushing more. “I probably would have thrown it at you anyway. Because yes, I am in love with you; I'd just like to start by being boyfriends before you take me to the altar, okay?”

The smile that spread across Pond's face was a mixture of relief and joy. Without warning, Pond lunged forward and wrapped Phuwin in a warm embrace.

“So...” Pond whispered, breaking the embrace just a few centimeters, enough to seek Phuwin's gaze. “We are boyfriends, but without marriage plans for now?”

Phuwin let out a little laugh and nodded.
“Yes, without marriage plans for now.”

Pond nodded enthusiastically; the heat in Phuwin's chest intensified seeing how Pond radiated happiness.

Phuwin closed the remaining distance, wrapped his arms around Pond's neck, and drew him in, joining their lips in a kiss.

Pond stayed stiff for a fraction of a second but was not slow to correspond. He placed his hands on the other's waist, deepening the kiss with tenderness.

. . ݁ ˖ 💌 ٬٬ ࣪ ، 💭 ، ࣪ ⊹ ֶָ

Fourth was jumping for joy next to Gemini; he didn't realize that Gemini had an apple spinning between his fingers.

“You know? Pond rushed it a bit, but the apple idea is... efficient.”

Fourth turned toward him, arching an eyebrow.
“Efficient? Please, Gem, it's very romantic and...”

He couldn't finish the sentence because Gemini threw the apple at him.

Fourth reached out his hand and caught the apple.

“Hey! You almost took my eye out, Gem.” Fourth complained, looking at the bright red apple in his hand.

Gemini stood there, looking at him while putting his hands in his pockets and smiling at him with that lopsided smile that made the forest nymphs forget how to breathe.

“You caught it, Fourth.” Gemini said. “And according to your own sources, that means you just accepted.”

Fourth blinked, looking at the apple and then at Gemini. The gears in his head took a second to connect the dots.
“Accepted...? Oh. Oh.”

“You just accepted my proposal. I'm going to be your husband and I'll take very good care of you, so get ready, because I don't accept returns.”

Before the son of Hermes could release one of his witty responses Gemini leaned in and gave him a soft kiss.

Fourth almost melted against Gemini's lips while his cheeks began to burn fiercely.

. . ݁ ˖ 💌 ٬٬ ࣪ ، 💭 ، ࣪ ⊹ ֶָ

Apples have been banned from the dining hall for the next week to prevent the entire camp from ending up married before the end of the month.