Chapter Text
Bumps Along The Way
by Kerensa
Chapter 1
Strife glanced around the room, his pale blue eyes sparkling in the light from the flickering candles, and sighed happily. He, Cupid and Bliss were eating dinner in Cupid's temple, a semi-regular event as of late. Strife was amazed at how nice the meals were, especially compared to what the mischief god was used to.
Not the actual food itself, of course. Cupid's servants were always excellent at what they did and Strife, when he did eat, just magicked up something or the other, so he wasn't particularly picky. No the time that they spent consuming the meal was what was so wonderful. Nobody was yelling or throwing lightening bolts...it was a peaceful meal on Mount Olympus, a rarity.
The mischief god was relaxed. He really liked being around the two blond gods, one a miniature of his gorgeous daddy, and was starting to feel that he could trust Cupid and the way he was feeling inside. The mischief god hesitated to call it love, even to himself, because he wasn't entirely certain what that emotion should feel like. But he knew he was feeling something and it felt good. Strife was even a *little* hopeful that Cupid was beginning to like him back.
A little.
"Awww, do's I hafta?" Bliss whined.
"It is 'do I have to', Cupid corrected automatically. "And yes, you do. Vegetables are good for you. Do you want to have to wait *several* more years before you are strong enough to fly?"
Bliss shook his head quickly. Long, blond curls were whipped around at the motion. His big blue eyes widened at the *horror* of having to wait *that* long to fly like his daddy. Why, that was forever!
Strife watched the exchange and tried not to laugh. What Bliss didn't realize was that it would probably take him years to master flying. The God of Mischief decided to help Cupid out and scooped up a deliberately large serving of *his* vegetables and ate them. Cupid did the same and both men made a show of how good the food tasted. Bliss watched all this carefully, and not wanting to be left out (or face that *horribly* long wait), used his spoon to take his own bite. The look on the godling's face showed that he wasn't impressed by the taste, but he kept eating anyway.
"Soooo, what did you do today?" Cupid asked Strife with a smile.
The God of Mischief and second-in-command to Ares raised an inquiring eyebrow at the question. He could see it when Cupid realized his mistake almost as soon as he'd said it. Strife's work didn't generally include anything that a small child could or should hear. Strife's eyes twinkled with mischief at the panicked look on the love god's face.
"Oh, not taa much. Just tha usual. I had a few followahs that played some pretty spectaculah pranks. I went ta watch tha fallout from them."
"Fallout?" Cupid asked.
Strife paused and then gave a little laugh. "Sorry about that. It's a term from tha future. Uh, I went ta see what tha outcome would be."
"Ah," Cupid nodded in understanding. Bliss held up his plate with his *mostly* eaten vegetables and Cupid dutifully inspected it. "Very good, son."
Bliss smiled at the approval and looked over at Strife who winked at him. Cupid waved his hand, clearing the large table and a bowl of desert appeared in front of each of them. The little boy giggled happily and dug in. *This* he ate without complaint. Of course, Cupid's clever chefs had made a desert that included several kinds of fruit, so the little boy was unknowingly eating more healthy food.
"I had to spend most of the day at my main temple. The one on Earth, I mean. I listened to followers and answered petitions all day. Luckily for me, each temple has one acolyte that gathers up their petitions and brings it to the one spot, otherwise, I'd be running all over Greece the whole day and never get anything done." He turned to look at Strife. "Don't you just hate that?"
Strife hesitated. "Uh, yeah."
It really wasn't a problem for Strife. He had one, badly made, and very unsteady temple, on Olympus. There were no shrines or places to worship the God of Mischief on Earth and just the one spot on Olympus. Getting petitions wasn't really a problem either. Most of Strife's followers were children and when they did want to say anything to Strife they prayed directly. The few petitions he did get were from older worshippers and they were generally odd in some ways. The things they wrote would frighten Deimos, the God of Fear, let alone anybody else.
^^^^^
"Stwifey, will you tell me a story?" The little boy blinked slowly. His great big, blue eyes looking up at Strife adoringly.
Strife was nonplussed. He didn't know any stories that were suitable for a two year old child. Looking at the godling, lying in his tiny bed, his white wings peeking out from under a sleeping shift, and Strife didn't have the heart to beg off. He racked his brain and finally thought of something.
"Okay, but ya hafta lean back." After Bliss was settled, Strife began.
"Once upon a time, theah was a young man who wanted ta be a mighty warrior. He wasn't a very good fightah, but his heart was in tha right place. He was very brave and did his best though and that's what's most important ah all."
Bliss nodded his head and smiled. He turned onto his side and clutched a stuffed dragon, his eyes slid closed. The little boy determinedly reopened them. Strife pretended not to notice that he was already losing his audience.
"One day he was travelin along and some very bad men decided they wanted his...food," Strife amended the thought quickly, glad he hadn't inadvertently said the wrong thing. "The mighty fightah tried his best, but there were taa many of them. He was about ta lose his food, when anothah man heard tha yellin and came runnin."
Strife saw that Bliss was asleep. He sat a few more minutes beside the little boy, just watching him, and making sure he didn't wake back up. When he was sure that Bliss was out for the night, Strife stood up, brushed back the soft blond curls from Bliss' face and kissed the little one on the forehead.
"Goodnight, kiddo," he whispered.
^^^^^
"Did you have fun?" Cupid asked. He had already told his son goodnight, before leaving him alone with Strife.
"Yeah, I did. He wanted me ta tell a bed time story."
"How'd that go?" Cupid arched an eyebrow.
"Pretty good. I didn't get very far before he fell asleep."
Cupid laughed. "That's what usually happens. I don't think I've ever been able to finish a story for him." Cupid was lounging on a large chair, his legs hanging over one arm of it. "Why don't you stay for a while?" he asked lazily.
Strife was tempted. More than tempted, but he could see how tired Cupid was and figured the invitation was automatic. "Nah, I bettah get goin. Unc has a full day fah me tomorrow."
The God of Love stood up and sauntered towards Strife. The young god's mouth went dry at the sight and it was all he could do not to whimper.
"That's too bad."
'Is he purring?' Strife wondered dazedly. 'Dear Zeus, I think he is.'
"But, before you go."
Cupid wrapped one tanned hand around the back of Strife's neck and gently pulled him forward. Strife didn't know what to do, so he let himself be led. When Cupid's lips met his, Strife forgot how to breathe. It was the first time his 120some years that the god had been kissed and he was overwhelmed by it. Strife didn't know if all kisses were like this or if it was because it was a love god doing the kissing or what. Whatever the cause, Strife immediately decided he liked kissing and wanted to keep doing it indefinitely.
Then it was over and Cupid pulled away. Strife gasped as he remembered to breathe and gazed up at Cupid with wondering eyes. The God of Love smiled happily and ran a thumb over Strife's kiss slick lips, wiping them dry.
"I-I think I need ta go now," Strife stuttered. His mind was whirling in confusion; he'd never felt like this before in his life.
"Okay." Cupid seemed to regret his leaving. "Bye," he whispered.
"Uh, b-bye." Strife waved as he disappeared in a flash of multi colored sparkles.
^^^^^
It took Strife three times to make it back to his own temple. The first time, he ended up in Thrace. The second time was outside of Hermes' home temple. He finally made it home and stood in the middle of the room for several minutes before coming back to himself.
When he did, Strife realized he had another problem. He had an erection. At least, that's what he assumed it was. Strife had heard all about erections and being aroused and masturbation, but before now, none of that had ever been a problem. But after that kiss...
Strife glanced down at his groin guiltily and saw that the front of his black leather outfit was tighter than usual. It didn't seem right that Cupid's innocent kiss had caused this. Was there something wrong with him?
But no, according to Aphrodite and her *Coming of Age* speech, there wasn't anything wrong with what he his body was doing; it was a natural part of sex. But, for Strife, sex meant Tr...Him.......Tryst.
Strife spun around, looking for the hulking horror. No one was there. His thinking of the god hadn't made him appear. Strife was relieved, because that had happened so often in the past. The God of Mischief would think of the God of Secret Meetings and he would show up.
Glancing back down at his crotch, Strife realized he didn't have to worry about his reaction to Cupid anymore or what to do with it. The thought of Tryst had killed any arousal he had, just like always.
With a shrug, Strife got ready for bed. That consisted of walking over to his pallet, laying down, pulling the ratty, misshapen blanket over his shoulders and closing his eyes. Strife didn't wear bed clothes, because you never knew when you might have to flash out, so he worn his leathers all the time. He didn't remove his boots, because when he had lived with Ares, Tryst liked to flash into Strife's bedroom, grab him by the feet and yank him off the bed. Bare feet meant he was going to be raped and then the bottom of his feet burned and beaten. Ares didn't know why he hated to have his feet sticking out and would have been horrified to realize the cause.
Closing his eyes, Strife began his own bed time story. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful god and his adorable son..."
TBC