Overheard Conversations, Part 9

for ratings and warnings please see Part 1

---

2 weeks later

Strife gasped and his eyes flew open. He looked around in terror. HE was here, waiting for him. HE was going to hurt him. Strife whimpered.

Strife looked over and saw his husband lying beside him and relaxed. It had been a bad dream, nothing more. Strife was used to nightmares; he had been having them all his life.

Rolling onto his side, Strife snuggled up next to Cupid. Mmmm, a muscled chest with soft, velvety skin, who could ask for a better pillow. Strife nuzzled Cupid’s chest and raised his head slightly so he could kiss a tempting nipple.

Considerately, Strife stopped. He didn’t want to wake Cupid up…hello; part of Cupid was already waking up. Strife looked up and saw that Cupid’s eyes were open too. The lazy smile he gave Strife made Strife’s heart beat faster. Gods, how much he loved his beautiful husband.

Strife scooched up in the bed and the two gods began to kiss.

“Go back to sleep. You need all the sleep you can get.”

Strife drew back in surprise. Cupid closed his eyes and lay there smiling. Strife lay his head back down and listened until he was sure Cupid was asleep. Carefully, he didn’t want to risk waking Cupid up again, Strife rolled back onto his side.

He lay there frowning and thinking (That can’t be good.), with tears in his eyes, for most of the night.

^^^^^^

The next morning Strife woke up, smiled and turned over to kiss Cupid good morning. Cupid was gone. Strife listened and realized he couldn’t hear him in the bathroom. He sat up in the bed, no longer smiling.

Strife got out of bed and went to the bathroom. (All right, so he drug himself out of bed and staggered to the bathroom.) He was almost glad that Cupid wasn’t there to see him. (Uh huh.) Today was a bad day. He had to sit on the side of the bed for several minutes before his side and back stopped hurting enough so that he could get up. Normally Strife would have to wait for Cupid to go into the bathroom before he got up so that he didn’t see the trouble he had.

Strife went down the hall to the dining room. He was so glad to be back here. (In the temple, not the dining room.) He had been made to stay at Ares and Joxer’s temple for a week and a half before Ace would let him flash home.

Bliss sat at the table, eating and laughing. His nanny had apparently just told a joke. “Hi Daddy Strife.”

“Heya kiddo.” Strife was choked up. It still got to him when Bliss called him daddy.

Strife looked around for Cupid and saw his dirty plate. Strife frowned when he realized that he wouldn’t even get to eat breakfast with his husband…or his son. Bliss finished eating just as Cupid hurried into the room.

“Bye Daddy, bye Daddy Strife.” Bliss kissed Cupid and ran up and kissed Strife on the cheek. He then ran out of the room, eager to start his archery lessons. His nanny raced out after the hyper little boy.

“Good mornin.”

“Morning baby. Sorry I can’t stay, I’ve got this couple I have just got to get together today. See ya later. Love you.” Cupid kissed Strife and ran out before he could say anything. It was a very chaste, unpassionate kiss, also on the cheek. Like Bliss’ had been.

Strife tried to eat, alone, in the empty dining room.

Cupid had been glowing. He’d had that look, that ‘I just had a good time’ look. Strife realized that Cupid had woken up horny, as usual, and had taken care of it by himself in the bathroom. As opposed to taking care of it with him, Strife, his husband.

Strife couldn’t force himself to eat another bite.

^^^^^^

Strife stopped in the doorway of his office and stared. Athena was sitting in one of the arm chairs. Athena?

“I guess ya’re mah babysittah for tha day.” Ever since Tryst’s attack, Strife was not left alone. (Except for when he’s wandering the halls.) There was at least one other god was with him at all times. They thought this would stop Tryst.

Strife knew better.

Athena smiled at him and Strife’s lummox was flummed. (He was flummoxed.) Athena *never* smiled and she hated him. Well, maybe hate was too strong a word. Disinterested. She had never been interested in him in all Strife’s life.

“I am here to keep you safe. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

Again Strife was surprised. “Uh, well, I’m gonna give Joxah a baby showah and I’m fixin tha invitations. Ya can help with that if ya wanna.”

Strife handed her one of the completed invitations and waited. He waited for the criticism or the condescension or the offer to redo what he had messed up.

“You have the most beautiful penmanship I have ever seen.”

Well that was unexpected. “Uh, thank ya.”

“I’m serious. I wish I could write half this good.” Athena ran a fingertip over the writing reverently. “There is no way I am going to mess any of these up with my handwriting. What else can I do for you?”

Strife was taken aback. She was serious. He got her started planning decorations and the two of them passed an amazingly pleasant day together.

^^^^^^

3 days later

Strife woke up alone, again. He could hear Cupid in the bathroom moving around. Strife got up and went and stood in the doorway; and there he was. Cupid. His beloved, drop-dead gorgeous husband. Standing there with nothing on and aroused.

Drinking in the sight, (Who wouldn’t.) Strife moved up behind Cupid and put his arms around him. Strife rubbed his hands over every bit of Cupid he could reach and he had *long* arms. Cupid hummed and started squirming happily. Strife lay his head between his husband’s shoulder blades, among the soft feathers of his wings.

That felt so good. He could stay this way forever. He kissed the back of Cupid’s neck, just below the hairline and Cupid shivered. Strife walked around Cupid, keeping his hands on him the whole time, and plastered himself to the front of his body.

Cupid grabbed him and they began kissing. Strife kept running his hands through Cupid’s feathers. They were so soft and felt so good on his body. He reached down and took hold of Cupid’s manhood.

Cupid pulled back abruptly. He stood there licking his lips and staring at Strife. “Sorry baby, I’ve got to hurry or I’ll be late.” Cupid’s voice was rough with arousal, but he turned away and walked over to the tub.

Strife couldn’t believe it. Cupid just walked away from sex. He watched his husband get into the tub and begin bathing. His hands were clenched in fists, tight enough that there was blood dripping from the fingernail gouges in his palms. Strife left the room, shutting the door without a backwards glance.

If he had looked back he would have seen Cupid watching him longingly. He would have seen Cupid close his eyes, remember Strife’s hands on him, and finish what Strife had started to do. He would also have seen a no longer aroused, but disappointed husband.

Cupid never noticed the drops of bright red blood on the tile.

^^^^^^

Strife ran into one of the many rooms in the temple and shut the door behind him. He was crying and leaned against the door for support. He wanted to sit down, but wasn’t sure if he could get back up if he did.

Strife cried.

After a long while, he stood up straight. Strife noticed his bloody hands for the first time and shrugged. Who cared? Holding them as far away from his body as he could, Strife healed them. (Remember the no magic close to his body rule.) When he was done Strife flashed on clean clothes.

Strife looked up and saw himself. There was a full-length mirror across the room. He went and stood in front of it and stared. He looked himself up and down and frowned at what he saw.

What he saw was a tall, skinny, unnaturally pale god. His hair was funny looking and looked ugly stuck straight up like he wore it. Look at those eyes. They were a funny, glittery blue.

Strife knew without his clothes he looked even worse. He still had bruises from HIS last attack.

No wonder Cupid didn’t want to have sex with him anymore.

Strife turned away from the mirror in disgust. He wiped his tear streaked face dry and put his hands over his face. There was a brief glow. When Strife lowered his hands there was no evidence he had been crying. No red eyes, no blotchy skin, nothing.

Like it had never happened.

^^^^^^

Cupid was getting worried. He couldn’t find Strife anywhere. What if Tryst had gotten hold of him?

He sighed in relief when Strife walked into the dining room. Strife didn’t look over at him. “Bliss ya bettah hurry or ya’ll be late fah ya classes.” Strife’s voice was curiously flat.

“I have to go help Mom with a major orgy she’s got planned.”

“Okay, see ya latah then.” With a brief look over at him, Strife left the dining room, without a kiss.

Cupid didn’t notice a small mirror by the door vanishing. Strife had sent it to the room he had just left.

Cupid reached out to stop his husband and hesitated. He followed Strife to his office and could hear Athena talking to him inside.

They could talk later.

^^^^^^

Strife walked into his office and sat down at his desk. Athena was telling him something or other about Joxer’s party. Strife wasn’t listening.

Who knew there were that many mirrors hanging around. He had passed no less than three more coming down the hall. All had been banished to the spare room. There was another one! Strife scowled at the mirror facing his desk.

Gods look at him!

That mirror disappeared as well. The blank wall behind it was more soothing to Strife’s troubled mind.

^^^^^^

The next day

Cupid blinked and looked around. He was in a cave. How in Tartarus did he end up here? There was a flash and he looked over to see his father, looking just as surprised and pissed off as he was.

“What in Hades name are we doing here?” Cupid noticed that Ares was more upset than mad now. He spun around and realized where they were.

The home of The Fates.

Oh crap. Again.

The three women turned from The Tapestry of Life and began speaking in that weird one after another thingy they do. “There is more you need to see.”

“Oh shit.” Cupid couldn’t agree with his father more. Had Strife been hurt more? (Well, duh!)

“Look.” The cave wall shimmered and turned into a huge scrying mirror. The Crone walked over to Cupid and looked up at him. Cupid resisted the urge to step back. “There is pain that only you can help.” He gulped and nodded.

She walked back over to the other two women and waited. The Mother stepped forward, “Be warned, we cannot keep interfering.”

“You will be able to walk among them, like you were actually there. In reality you will be here with us, until we send you on.” The Maiden looked over at Cupid and Ares. They both nodded, unsure what they were agreeing to.

“Let it begin.” Each woman spoke one word and everything changed. One minute they were in the cavern, the next minute they were in an office. Ares’ office to be exact. (He calls it a war room.) The two men could see and talk to each other, but their hands went through the furniture.

For better or worse, they were going to be observers here.