Beginning of the End

Seven

After managing to run his wife off, Apollo spent roughly the same amount of Time conversing with his older sons. Now that they were grown and could take care of themselves–at least, in a physical sense–they were more like Lifelong friends in a lotta ways. They gave it to him straight when he fucked up or when they otherwise thought he was being an idgit, and he knew it was 'cuz they cared. But at the End of the Day, they were still the spawn of his loins, and he'd do anything to protect them–even from himself.

        That included when he eventually imbibed enough alcohol to start getting a bit obnoxious, which he knew to be his sign that it was Time for bed. Kunzite and Nephrite both also knew that if he stayed up for too much longer, the amount of trouble he'd cause and otherwise get into wouldn't be worth it come Morn.

        For that reason, they both Wished him a decent Night's sleep and an easy Time getting through the hangover they knew would come. Once they'd all bid their good-Nightsta one another, the Communication Portal shut itself down for the first Time all Day. Seeing his sons' images disappear made the Sun King heave a depressed sigh as he killed off what'd remained in his glass, then pushed himself up to stumble off for a shower.

        But as his ruling Luminary rose over the Lunar landscape the next Morn, Apollo woke to feeling as warm as he did when he was on Earth, give or take a few degrees. That was certainly a Change from practically shivering all Night–even long after he'd fallen asleep–since he was used to and honestly preferred warmer temperatures for obvious reasons. However, seeing that the extra warmth almost making him sweat was coming from a certain Moon Princess was quite the surprise. After all, he didn't remember her being in his chambers when he'd Returned from showering, so she shouldn't have been here now. She shoulda been in her own chambers on the other side of their shared bathing chamber, which was what added confusion to his surprise this Morn.

        His eyes were quick to widen in further surprise, though when he pushed himself upright to toss the covers off himself, and he realized they were both nude. The only Time in his Life that he'd ever woken up nude next to an equally nude woman usually involved the sating of more Primal urges. But as far as he knew, the last thing he and Serenity'd done since they'd wed was crawl into bed together at all, let alone for that. If he'd taken her maidenhead while too drunk to even recall his own name, he'd never forgive himself–he wanted such an encounter to be memorable for all the right reasons, not the wrong ones.

        The Sun King managed to extricate himself from the arms of his wife without waking her, although he couldn't prevent her from whimpering and squirming irritably. As he all but tip-toed into the aforementioned bathing chamber so he could grab another shower, this Time to help him wake up and clear his head, he knew it was only a matter of Time till she did wake. Once her subconscious registered the lack of extra warmth, she'd undoubtedly wake up and start looking for him. When she realized he was no longer next to her, it likely wouldn't take her long to find him in the shower. How fast she found him'd depend on whether he'd turned the Water off before she woke for the Morn or not.

        "Your name better be Serenity, or you'll get blasted outta this Solar System," Apollo growled when he felt someone press up against him from behind a short Time later.

        "Good thing it is Serenity, huh?" the Moon Princess chuckled, loosening her grip slightly as he started to turn.

        "What're you doing in here?" he queried on a sigh. "You know I don't like showering with others, and it's already bad enough you managed to crawl into bed with me without waking me."

        "That's precisely why I came in here," Serenity answered, her tone chilling as her expression hardened. "You were so drunk, you fell and hit your head in the shower last Night–it was all I could do to get you to bed by myself in the first place."