She received the gift of God [Greek mythology]

The next day after the welcome party, Pandora lingered until almost eight o'clock before going downstairs. Before entering the kitchen, she stopped and listened, trying to distinguish the speaker's voice.

"What are you looking for?"

A smiling voice came from behind, and she jumped aside in fright: "...Wow!"

The sudden appearance of people who want to hide behind is what Murphy's Law proves.

Hermes didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Am I that scary?"

"It's scary when someone suddenly talks to you from behind," Pandora complained as naturally as possible, "Do you walk without sound? Just like a cat..."

"People often say that about me." The subject's cat-like emerald green eyes sparkled with a smile.

"Didn't you go for a morning run today?"

Pandora actually woke up before seven o'clock, in order to avoid Hermes who got up early, she dragged her breakfast until this o'clock.

"The run is over. I have eaten breakfast."

"Then what are you doing here..."

Hermes asked back: "I live here, is it normal to appear anywhere in this house?"

Was he on the debate team or the Model United Nations club in high school?Can spit out such nonsense without changing his face.Pandora stopped talking and went straight into the kitchen.

Artemis sits on the left side of the kitchen island, casually chewing cheese.She was radiant and showed no sign of a hangover at all. When she saw Pandora, she immediately moved her coarse grain rusk and black tea to make room for the table beside her.And sitting across from Artemis was a young man he had never seen before.

He turned back and smiled at Pandora, with a friendly and shy attitude: "We haven't met yet, have we? I'm Hephaestus, the younger brother of Ares. Uh... I just touched bread, so I won't shake your hand gone."

Hephaestus!That's Aphrodite's...

Pandora suppressed the urge to look at Hermes: "Nice to meet you. I'm Pandora."

"Well, I know who you are. Sit down first."

The kitchen island holds the morning's freshly baked bread, today's cinnamon braided bread (babka).Pandora cut a piece and put it on the plate, and sat beside Artemis.Hermes took out the kettle from the refrigerator and poured a glass of water, and sat down at the other end of the island, two seats away from Pandora.

"I heard that other people held a welcome party for you yesterday, but my flight arrived in Hong Kong early this morning. It's a pity that I missed it." On a benchmark basis, the personality is almost average -- if he didn't have that face on him.

Hephaestus and his elder brother Ares look completely different: Ares has black hair, while Hephaestus has a somewhat messy ginger-colored hair, brown-green eyes, and fair skin, probably from staying up late The reason is that the face is a little swollen.But the most eye-catching thing is the brown birthmark on the right half of his face, which goes down from above the brow bone, covers the cheekbones and cheeks, and sinks into the sideburns, which makes him a little scary at first glance.

Pandora's attitude towards him did not change because of this.

"It's okay, I arrived unexpectedly. A red-eye flight? That's hard work."

"The only thing left is this flight." Hephaestus has big hands, and he is a little clumsy when eating with braided bread. With a shy smile, he picked up the dried fruit that fell on the table and threw it into his mouth.

"Have you already worked?"

Artemis interface: "No, he's still studying for a Ph. D., researching metals and alloys. This time... is there any meeting?"

"Yes, a Metallographic Society."

Pandora didn't know what metallography was, so she nodded with admiration.

After eating the bread, Hephaestus wiped the table with a kitchen towel, and left with a smile: "I'm going upstairs first, and I want to lie down for a while. See you later."

"See you later."

The gait of Hephaestus leaving was also a little clumsy, with his center of gravity concentrated on one side.It turned out that his legs and feet were not very convenient.She is not handsome, but also has an inconvenient body. From a worldly point of view, a super beautiful woman like Aphrodite would never get together with him.But he is still a special existence to Aphrodite.

Regarding this, Pandora just thought about it casually.After all, it's someone else's private life, so she doesn't need to ask for gossip.

Artemis turned up the volume on the smart speaker on the stovetop and listened to the morning news while munching intently on a rusk.She seemed to be the type of person who tried not to talk as much as possible while eating, and she didn't greet Pandora much.

Pandora turned her attention back to breakfast.Today's Hestia's creations are also perfect, with moderate sweetness. Even with the high-energy combination of dried cinnamon and chocolate, it won't feel greasy in the mouth, and you may even overeat if you accidentally eat it.

For a while in the kitchen, only the sound of the news broadcast could be heard.

Exhale softly.

Pandora caught a glimpse of Hermes lying down from the corner of her eye. She glanced over and saw him resting his chin on his arm and turning around with his other hand idly holding the glass, as if facing an aquarium tank. , watching intently the ups and downs of the ice cubes in the glass.He met her sideways eyes, bent the corners of his eyes, and put on a "what's the matter" expression harmlessly.

Created a situation where he seemed to be waiting for her to appear in the kitchen, but it turned out that it was just her carelessness.I really don't know what he was thinking.In front of Hermes, she seemed to be only being teased.

The silence became unbearable, and Pandora found a topic: "Are there any children in the Olimpoi family that I haven't met?"

Hermes sat up straight and called names: "Athena, Ares, Apollo, Artemis, me, Dionysus, um... the only one you haven't seen is Hebe. She also In high school."

I see.etc?

"You seem to have missed Hephaestus?"

"I thought you were specifically referring to the Olympian children, Hephaestus, Ares, and Hebe's half-brother," Hermes raised his chin towards Artemis to point out Mr. Deolympos' children, "so in theory, he has no blood relationship with us."

Athena, brother and sister of Ares, twins, Hermes, Dionysus, Senator of Olympians known to have had children with at least five women, Hephaestus being one of them with other males It seems that both Aphrodite and Ares are lovers of Aphrodite... Pandora took a few seconds to sort out the intricate network of relationships, and silently took a sip of milk.

Is this high society?

In comparison, the complicated family relationship of the Titanes family suddenly seemed nothing.

Hermes gave that knowing smile again, as if her thoughts were an open book, easy to read and understand in oversized print.Pandora silently turned her face away.

Artemis drank the last sip of black tea, and suddenly said: "What happened to you two after I fell asleep yesterday?"

"Uh, no, nothing..."

"I invited Pandora to make a bet with me, but I was rejected."

At the same time, a completely different answer sounded.

She couldn't help but stare at Hermes.The other party raised his hands innocently: "I'm not wrong."

It's true to say that literally, but...

The conversation in the dimly lit living room replayed in my mind:

"If I win, no matter whether you agree to Faol or not, you have to find another time to go out with me. If I lose... well, I can't lose."

Facing Hermes' invitation, which was hard to distinguish between true and false, Pandora replied without thinking carefully, "I refuse."

The other party raised his eyebrows with great interest: "So simply?"

Maybe it was the small glass of champagne that he drank earlier, and the words blurted out: "If you want to ask me out, don't beat around the bush."

Hermes choked for a moment in surprise, and then smiled more slyly: "Can I understand this as if I invite you, you will agree?"

His gaze seemed to press some strange switch, and the heat suddenly rushed to Pandora's cheeks, her gaze and voice lowered in unison: "That... that may not be true, I have to think about it."

For a moment, she thought he was going to approach.But Hermes just changed his stance in the end.

"Then I'll think about it too. If I want to ask you out, I'll tell you directly."

After that, he said good night to her and went upstairs first, with an ordinary attitude as if nothing happened just now.

What does it mean for him to think about it... He doesn't mean that now, but agrees out of politeness?Or do you really want to think about it?The more I think about Pandora, the more I think it’s the former. The bet Hermes said must be a joke. She was probably infected by the atmosphere of the party. In addition, he asserted that Faol has a crush on her. up.The embarrassment of being affectionate kept her from sleeping well all night, so she was particularly embarrassed when she saw Hermes today.

But Hermes didn't seem to intend to let her go.

"Although the bet was not established, I still want to know, am I right?" He moved a stool closer and asked with a smile.

He could only ask one thing.

The weight of the mobile phone in Pandora's jacket pocket suddenly became very obvious.She had a little confidence: "No."

Faol texted last night when he got home, but it was just a casual post-party greeting: "Great night, had a great chat with you" and so on.Pandora replied "me too", and Faol sent a series of happy and friendly emoji, and there was no more after that.

Hermes dragged his voice: "Really—? But there is still a whole day."

Oh yes, he was talking about the Fao meeting invitation before the next night.

Pandora's mobile phone just made a notification sound at this time.Hermes winked at her.She took it out and took a look.It is the pop-up window of the message app attached to Facebook:

Sender Fao Phoebes.

Fingers moved automatically, facial recognition unlocked the screen and clicked to open the message.

"Hi, I forgot to ask you if you liked watching movies last night"

"Recently, there are a lot of new movies. If there is something you are interested in, do you want to watch it together in a few days?"

She stared at the window for two seconds, then decisively turned off the screen.

There's nothing to hide either.Pandora met Hermes' gaze: "Okay, you're right."

He sighed very deliberately: "It's a pity, otherwise I would have won the bet."

Artemis rolled his eyes: "So what are you betting on?"

Hermes replied straightforwardly: "Bet on whether Phao Phoebus will ask Pandora to go out to watch a movie."

Artemis recalled who Fao was for a moment, nodded clearly, and looked at the smartphone in Pandora's hand: "Then how did you reply to him?"

"Not yet."

"You guys seemed to have a good chat yesterday. What do you think of that kid?"

After thinking about it, Pandora lowered her gaze and replied, "He's quite cute."

"Isn't that just right? Since you don't hate him, there's nothing to lose by going to a movie. If he's actually an asshole, the first date will show his feet." Artemis suddenly put his arm on Pandora's shoulder Putting on a protective posture, he raised his chin to Hermes, bared his teeth and asked him for advice, "What do you think?"

Hermes narrowed his eyes, and his smile did not change: "I also think so."