I started tickin ovah tha facts of tha situation. Anieli had gotten ovah his hurt feelins an' wanted back with Damara in tha worst way. What about Damara? She'd been major pissed, with what I considahed ta be a bettah reason than Anieli. Aftah all, Anieli had just gotten his butt kicked by his sweetie in public. That wasn't that uncommon an occurance. If he was worried about tha neighbahs snickerin, well, Hera had temples all ovah tha place, and Damara could transfer out easily enough. Damara's complaint was anothah mattah, though.

She caught tha goof red handed, handlin anothah broad. What kinda excuse could there be for that? I looked at Anieli. "Ya evah considered becomin a devotee of Aesclepius?"

'Huh?"

"Medicine. Healin."

"I don't get you."

"Well, he's tha God of Healin, right? Maybe ya were thinkin about dedicatin yerself ta him, an' ya were tryin ta get a head start on learnin ta diagnose. Anatomy. Ya were givin tha othah broad an exam, dig?"

"Uh..."

I shrugged. "Yah, yer right. Ya woulda had ta have a priestess in attendance. It was a thought. All right. Anieli, what was tha first thing that Damara said ta ya when she walked in on yer fondle session?"

"It was something along the lines of 'You dirty, cheating piece of dog vomit.'"

"Oo. Nice. An' you replied?"

He thought. "Um... I think it was, 'Oh, shit!'"

"Very appropriate. Then?"

"Uh, well..." His ears turned red. "Then she, uh, said a few things about Thessa. I didn't know she knew those kind of words."

I grinned, rememberin. "Yah, salty tongue on that little broad. Then?"

"I told her she shouldn't treat Thessa like that, and..."

"Whoa!" He stopped. "Ya mean ta tell me that ya defended her?"

"Why, yes. After all, she's a lady, and a gentleman doesn't let a lady be insulted, even by another lady, without..."

I held up my hand. "Stop. Ya gotta basic misconception here, sport. Tha girl... Thessa ya say? She ain't a woman, an' she particularly ain't a lady. She's an ex. Got that? She don't even count as a human bein as far as Damara is concerned."

"But that's ridiculous."

"Does Damara have any old boyfriends?"

Anieli's face darkened. "Lorkos." It sounded like he was translatin tha word 'shit' inta anothah language.

"An' if you had evah seen him lockin lips with Damara aftah you two got tagethah?" He turned purple. "Well?"

"I see what you mean." His voice was strangled.

I tapped my knees. "This is not gonna be easy." I sighed. "I think that I'm gonna hafta visit Damara an scope out how she's reactin before I set up any plan. Besides, I think tha first step I'll hafta take will be sorta drastic." I shuddered.

Cupid eyed me anxiously. "Strife, what are you thinking about doing?"

I looked at him sorrowfully. "It's gonna hurt. It's gonna go against my grain as bad as rubbin a cat's fur tha wrong way."

Concerned, he said, "What is it?"

"I... I..." I swallowed, an' steeled myself. "I'm gonna tell her tha truth."

Cupe's eyes got big. "That won't, like, cause the end of the world or anything, will it?"

"Ya can check with tha Fates if yer worried, smart ass, but I don't think so. Might cause a few minah earthquakes in tha provinces, maybe shatter a few things in my temples, but nothin majah." I pointed at Anieli. "You. No more drinkin, ya hear? This is gonna be hard enough without havin ta clean ya up again."

He frowned. "I thought I was in pretty good shape when I woke up. I distinctly remember erping in my lap at least once." He snuck a worried look at me. "So, you, uh, like, zapped me clean?"

I grinned. "How'd ya get that lil scar on yer left butt cheek?"

He turned pale an' whispered, "Sharp rock underwater when I was skinny dipping."

"It's cute." I got up, an' Cupe stood up, too. "Relax, guy." I put my arms around Cupe, who gave him a grin that I could only describe as 'smug'. "Ya aren't up ta tha competition."

FLASH

"I'm gettin bettah at this," I remarked, steppin back. "Must be tha practice." I looked around. "Antechamber?"

He nodded. "Of Damara's temple. I figured it wouldn't be wise to just transport into the inner chambers. Grandma has been so touchy lately."

"I noticed." I went an' jerked the bell pull that hung by tha innah door.

"How did you look close enough to notice a scar on his butt?"

"Oh, for... It's fresh, so it's still kinda pink, okay?"

"Just curious."

"Well, it's not like I was usin an enlargin glass on him."

Cupid muttered, "Well, you might have needed to, if you were looking at his crotch."

My mouth dropped open. "Well, meow!"

A priestess came through tha door, but it wasn't Damara: it was some middle aged broad. She frowned at us. "Yes?"

Most of tha priests an' priestesses of tha othah gods an' goddesses show a little respect ta tha othah dieties, sorta professional courtesy I guess. Not Hera's gals. They take aftah their patroness.

"I need ta talk ta Damara." I could be blunt, too.

"She isn't seeing anyone." Her voice turned cold. "She particularly isn't seeing any males." Then one eyebrow lifted, "Though I suppose you hardly qualify."

Ooo... That earns you a mouse up yer toga, a beetle in yer hair, an' a spider down yer cleavage, all at once, at some date ta be determined latah. I smiled. Cupe looked worried. "Please?"

That surprised her, but she covahed it. "No, she was adamnant about this. Perhaps in a year or two." She turned and went back in.

"All right, I tried tha straight way. Time for subterfuge." I blinked. Cupid stared. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just that... uh... you make a pretty good looking woman."

"Ya think?" I twitched a fold of my flowin robe straight, then flicked a lock of hair back ovah my shouldah. "I'm not usin a glamour cause Hera might sense it. This is just tha usual theatrical stuff." I adjusted my bosum with both hands. "I just gotta hope nothin tears loose at tha wrong moment. I'll tell her I'm wunna my own worshippahs, an' I've sent me with a message. So?," I turned around.

"One thing."

"What?"

"Your lipstick." "Smeared?"

"Not yet." He pulled me inta his arms an' kissed me, hard. "There." He wiped at tha corner of my lips with his thumb. "Now it's fixed."

"Geez, yer all purpose: mess it up, then fix it."

He nuzzled my neck. "I'm good for lots of things."

Tha priestess came back inta tha room. I stepped back an' smacked his face. "You beast!" I ran behind tha priestess, who glared fit ta singe his feathahs. "Thinks just cause he's a Love God he can get away with anythin."

She started ta herd me back inta tha temple, keepin an eye on Cupe. "Come on, dear. He's bad enough, but you might run into that other one." Behind her back I stuck out my tongue at Cupe, an' he mouthed 'You'll pay!'. I was lookin forward to it.

Inside tha priestess said, "Now, who are you, and how can we help you?"

I gave her a soulful look. "I'm Impetua, an' I need ta talk ta someone who can understand what complete dogs all men are."

"Well, here we all know."

I batted my eyelashes. "Someone with personal experience."

"Oh. Uh, let's see... Well, there is one priestess who was cruelly betrayed on her very wedding day."

"She'll do."

"I don't know if she wants to be disturbed."

"Trust me, she'll enjoy commiseratin."

"It's the fourth room down the second hallway, left side."

"Gotcha."

I followed tha directions, an knocked on tha propah door. A voice from inside called out. "Go away."

"Damara, I wanna talk ta ya about a situation involvin scum suckin men."

"I don't feel like talking about it."

I looked both ways an' materialized a bowl of sugared nuts. "I brought candy." Tha door opened, a hand grabbed tha front of my toga (luckily just cloth an' not tha fake boobs) an' dragged me in.

She shut tha door aftah me with one hand an' grabbed a fistful of candy with tha othah. "You'd think a temple full of women would know enough to keep an emergency stash of sweets on hand." She munched. "Who are you?"

"I'm Impetua. I'm wunna Strife's worshippahs."

"Well, you certainly have more than your share of troubles, then." She went an' sat on her bed, an' I sat beside her. "What can I do to help you? Why are you here?" She looked apprehensive. "You're not planning to get married and produce other little mischief worshippers? No offense meant, but that thought scares me worse than the thought of Ares's worshipers multiplying. I mean, you can usually see War coming."

"Thanks. No, I'm thinkin about leavin Strife, an I'm checkin inta my options. I figured worshippin Aphrodite might be kinda fun, or Apollo is awful cute, an I hear he makes tha rounds..." I wiggled my eyebrows, "if ya know what I mean. But first I just had ta come make a clean breast of things ta ya, since ya were so wronged."

She scowled, diggin up anothah handful of candy. "You've got that right. That bastard Anieli, should his memeber shrivel and fall off."

I winced. "Well, he showed bad judgement, but what I meant was tha filthy tricks Strife himself played on ya."

She paused, an almond halfway ta her mouth, then lowahed it. "Granted there was a lot that went wrong that day, but I hardly think I could blame it personally on Strife."

"No?"

"I mean, he's pretty much Ares's toady, right? And Ares wouldn't be concerned with me and Anieli. He isn't even a warrior."

I sorta resented tha 'toady' remark. I prefer 'lackey'. Sounds more dignified. But now was not tha time ta get offended. "Hey, he may not ovah see every little hangnail in tha world, but he does some of tha detail work himself, an your weddin had too many possibilities for him ta pass up. Tha cake, tha ants, tha cat poop..."

She looked thoughtful. "Come to think of it, there was an awful lot happening at once. But it could have just been part of the general stress, too." She sighed heavily. "I blew up like a balloon with it."

"Ya mean tha dress?" She nodded. "Nope, that wasn't you." I mimed makin stitches, then bitin off a thread.

Her mouth dropped open, "You mean he took it in?" I nodded. "I didn't gain weight overnight?" I shook my head. "I'm not fat as a pig?"

"Nope." I eyed tha almost empty candy dish. "Well, not yet."

She carefully put down tha rest of tha sugared nuts. "Okay, that explains a lot." She looked thoughtful.

"Yeh. Anieli was undah tha influence, so ya can't really lay tha blame on him, can ya?"

"I don't see why not."

"I just told ya that Strife was responsible."

Her expression hardened. "I didn't notice anyone holding a knife to his throat while he was palming her."

"I said influenced, not coerced."

"Say, I thought you came here to discuss a personal problem."

"Oh. Uh. Well, my guy isn't very romantic, an' I wondered what I should do about it."

"Has he done anything specific?"

"Yah. Ya know that new celebration--Valentine's Day?"

"Yes. A little frivolous, but a good idea. He didn't get you anything?"

"Oh, he got me somethin, all right. A big copper cookpot."

"What?" Uttah indignation.

"Yah. What should I do?"

"Use it."

"Use it?"

"Yes. Put it over his gourd head and then beat it with a stick."

"Uh, yeah."

"Will that do, dear? I still have a lot of serious sulking and brooding to do."

"That I can undahstand. How long have ya got it scheduled?"

She heaved a sigh. "Not as long as I'd like. They're very understanding here, but, well, I do have duties. I'll be back to my routine tomorrow."

"Okay, that'll make it easiah."

"Beg pardon?"

"Can men get any greasiah?" She really did look miserable. I gave her a peck an' a hug. "Cheer up, hon. Maybe things aren't as dark as ya think."

Her voice was glum. "I don't know. They seem pretty Stygian right now." She looked wistful. "I bet he hasn't eaten anything but junk since we broke up. He never eats vegetables, you know? He'll end up getting soft bones."

I made it out past tha guard dragons an' met up with Cupe outside. "How is she?" he asked.

"Not as fucked up as Anieli, but then I think she's got a bettah support network. Still, that's one sad, stubborn little broad. She won't say it, but she still loves him. Ya don't worry about someone gettin their vitamins if ya hate their guts."

"Have you got a plan yet?"

"I got an idea, but it'll hafta wait till tamorrah or tha next day, when she's out an' about. If it don't work..." I blew out a breath. "I dunno. I may end up chained to a rock with an eagle eatin my liver an' eyes."

"That's not going to happen." Cupid's voice was quiet, but hard.

I kicked a rock. "If it does... Ah, Tartarus. I was gonna ask ya ta bring Bliss ta visit me, but I don't want him seein shit like that."

"Strife." Cupid took my arm. "We can't talk here."

FLASH

I looked around. "What are we doin' back at Ares's temple?"

"We need to have a talk with Dad and Joxer."

"Didn't we already have a talk?"

"I've acquired information I didn't have then." He led me inta tha livin room area, raisin his voice. "Dad? Joxie?" I hearda snarl from tha bedroom, an' grinned at Cupe. He said, "I don't believe it. As big as he is, how could they... Wouldn't it be sort of dangerous?"

"I expect they consulted with Asclepius, an' Unc can get pretty fuckin inventive."

We had a seat, an' a little while latah Unc and Joxer came outta tha bedroom. They were both a little out of breath an' flushed. Cupe kept eyein them as Ares helped Joxer get comfortable, an' finally said, "How...?"

"Spoon fashion," Ares said shortly. "What brings you here, son?"

"Dad, when you were looking after Bliss yesterday, did he tell you about his dream?"

Joxer and Ares exchanged glances. "Yes, he did."

Tha understandin smile Joxer was givin me was makin me nervous. "Kids have crazy dreams. Don't mean a thing."

Ares shrugged. "I have to agree with Strife. Just because I dreamed that Gabrielle grew a long, bushy tail, it doesn't mean it's going to happen."

"Dad, he dreamed it twice, he told me this morning."

They were all quiet, lookin at me. "Stop it." I took a breath. "So he dreamed it twice? So what twice."

"Strife, there's something that we haven't voiced around Olympus," Ares said slowly. He laid his hand on Joxer's swollen tummy, an' Joxer put a hand ovah his. "Bliss dreamed about Joxer getting pregnant. At first we thought it was just the Chaos Stone. That's how Joxie got pregnant, you know. It was granting his wishes, and he wanted to give me a child, bless him." He squeezed Joxer's hand, and received a smile. "Well, Bliss dreamed about Joxer having a baby when no one knew but your grandmother. We figured it was the Chaos Stone's way of granting Joxer's wish for someone to share the knowledge. We figured that the Stone had chosen Bliss because he'd be a comfort to Joxie, but no one was likely to take him seriously. With this, it looks like Bliss may actually be precognisant."

I got up an' paced. "I don't see it. Anyway, I know what causes it, an' there's not a chance. Unless you're Zeus an' can spontaneously generate, it takes two ta tango, an' there's been none of that." Joxer smiled, an' Unc smirked. "Well, yeah, there's been some of that, but not what it would take."

"It isn't necessarily that you're pregnant already," Cupid offered. "It could be a prophetic dream."

"Ain't gonna happen." I stopped movin, feelin really bad about tha sudden, sad look on Cupid's face, but this wasn't somethin I could give on.

Joxer said, "Well, there's no reason why you should worry about it. He dreamed about me three times before I was really certain about it, and three seems to be the significant number in these things. But Strife, if you're really worried about the possibility of being pregnant or getting pregnant, should you be dressed as a woman?"

"Oh." I flashed inta my leathahs. Gotta love tha gods. Tha mortals probably woulda made a stink about my attire before now. "Ya know, it's actually pretty comfortable. I see a lot of possibilites for inventin torture devices for them. Tell me whatcha think of this name: pantyhose."

They thought. Cupid said, "I don't know why, but the very word makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Cool."

I thought about hangin around longah, thinkin that it might be kinda awkward ta be alone with Cupe, but Joxer was cuddlin against Ares in a way that said that whatevah had been interrupted hadn't been resolved ta tha satisfaction of eithah of them, so we flashed back ta Cupid's place.

I managed ta avoid tha subject through suppah, but finally Cupe did away with tha leftovahs an' tha dishes, an' we were left starin at each othah across a bare table. Aftah a little while he started, "Strife..."

I didn't want ta discuss anythin. I know a lot of ways ta distract people, so I used one of tha best. I got up an' walked ovah to him. He didn't speak again as I came closah. I thought tha table out of tha way an' sank down ta my knees in front of him. When I started strokin his thighs he tried again. "Strife..."

"Shh." I moved my hand ta covah his crotch, an gave him a little squeeze.

"But Strife..."

"You just be quiet now, or I'll stop." He closed his mouth, so I opened mine.

He was wearing brown leathah pants, an unlike mine, his had lacins. I undid them part way an' spread them open, exposin an inch of blonde curls. I ruffled them, then eased my fingahs down inta his breeches, feelin until I found his cock an' eased it out slowly, bent, an' took him inta my mouth. Ovah me, I heard him groan quietly, and I started ta tell him physically all tha things I couldn't say with words.

I used every trick an' technique I'd learned from my mortal lovahs, an' they worked just as well with a god. I licked an' sucked, gently ta start with. It wasn't long before he was hard, his cockhead oozin a slightly salty fluid. It was a taste I'd encountered many times before, but somehow it was uniquely Cupid, ya know?

He pulled me up. When I stood, he pulled me against him, his face nuzzlin my belly, his arms around me. As I started ta stroke his hair my clothes disappeared, and he gripped my ass, massagin. He pulled gently, and whispered, "I want you." I felt his fingahs slidin inta tha crease, startin ta spread them, an' I froze, my fist clenchin in his hair.

His voice was questioning. "Baby?"

"Isn't it enough, Cupe? Haven't I given ya enough?"

He looked up at me. "Strife, I just want to..."

"Okay." I pushed away from him, went, an' laid down on tha bed. That's all. I just laid there an' pushed my face inta tha pillow, an waited. I can do this. I love him, an' if this is what he really needs, I can do it. I felt him sit beside me, an' I closed my eyes, an' went behind wunna tha walls in my mind. I waited. There was only one this time, an' it wouldn't last long, an' I knew he wouldn't hurt me any more than he had ta.

Then there was a little scratchin at tha wall. I tried ta ignore it, but it kept up, an' I finally had ta listen. It was faint, but insistant. "Strife, come back. Come on, honey. Come on."

Finally I eased tha wall down, makin just a tiny crack. Tha first thing I realized was that I wasn't hurtin, an' that made me curious, so I came out farthah. Tha next thing I realized was that I was bein held. I could feel Cupid beside me, his arms around me. He was strokin my face. Not openin my eyes I said, "Ya didn't. Why didn't ya, Cupe? I told ya you could. I... I wouldn't mind."

"Oh, Tartarus. Strife, I don't want anything you don't want to give me, can't you understand that?" He kissed me. "It's just... Zeus, they hurt you so bad, I know that. Haven't you ever had...? It doesn't have to hurt, love. You didn't hurt me when we did it. It was wonderful. Magic."

"Sure." My voice was lifeless.

"Strife!" He shook me gently. "Am I going to lie to you about something like that?"

I felt puzzled. "No, I guess not."

He sighed. "Look, I want to do it more for you than for me. It can be so beautiful, that I want you to have that experience. But if you can't... it's all right." He hugged me tighter. "I love you too much to let anything stand between us. We can be happy without it."

His hands smoothed down my body, comin ta rest on my groin. "You're so stressed. Just relax. I'll take care of you this time" he stroked me gently, kissin me, "if you want me to. If you'll let me."

I put my arms around him. "Yah," I whisper. "I'd like that."

So I lay back an closed my eyes, an let him do what he wanted. What I wanted, but couldn't ask for. He moved ovah me, an touched me all ovah, an it wasn't just tha tingly places, like nipples an cock that got ta me. When he ran his fingah along tha crease of my elbow, I started pushin up at him.

He finally put his hands on eithah side of my my face, holdin me, lookin inta my eyes, an started ta move against me. Almost at once I was movin with him, reachin around ta hold him, too. I felt almost desperate, an he musta known it, cause he used his body ta slow me down, making me take time, an' feel.

An' what I feel scared tha hell out of me. I felt good, yeah, but I felt more than that--I felt empty. I'd felt empty a long time, but I'd always managed ta ignore it pretty good. With Cupe on top of me, warm an' alive an' concentratin' on nothin but me, I couldn't push it back as far as I needed to ta ignore it.

An' tha scariest part was that I knew that I could get rid of it, but ta do that... "I can't. I can't."

"Sh. You don't have to. Oh, sweetheart, it's okay. Just let go. You can let go with me." An' I knew that I could, so I did. I just looked at him an' let my orgasm roll ovah me, felt him spill himself against my belly.

He held me as I shivahed, whisperin ta me about how it was enough for him, of course it was enough, anythin I wanted ta give him would be enough. I was ta just not think about it, an go ta sleep. He would be here with me.

I did go ta sleep, eventually. But I did a lot of thinkin before I did. Wonderful, he'd said. Magic. Beautiful.

Beautiful?

He'd said he wouldn't lie ta me, an' I knew that was tha truth, too.

Maybe...

But I had important stuff ta do tamorrah, an' if I didn't work it out, I wasn't likely ta have a chance for anything with Cupe. An' I realized that I wanted ta have somethin with Cupe.

I wanted it real bad.