Dying Ichor

FIFTY-THREE

Elias vaguely remembers falling when they left Aphrodite behind in Delos. When he got so disoriented and slightly sick, he thought he'd drop on the ground. But then he was tugged back and was held carefully by someone.

When he came out of his dizziness, he realizes he's in Ares' arm, carefully being lowered on the ground to help Elias' nausea. There's a hand on his head, gently threading through his black locks in a comforting manner.

"Where are we?" He rasps. Elias is looking around, faintly recognizing this place.

Ares briefly glances at their surroundings. "Delphi. We're on temple grounds. This place isn't as destroyed as Delos, but there's no one else here but us."

"Where are the others? A-And we left Aphrodite behind."

"Apollo and the girls are probably around. We landed here pretty roughly, so we'll have to find them. As for Aphrodite, you shouldn't have to worry about her. She can handle those monsters herself."

Elias grasps his shoulders. "But she's never fought before! I mean, no one has ever heard of her fighting. We shouldn't have left her behind-"

"She'll be alright. You know, Aphrodite was actually the one who helped create Deimos and Phobos with me. Those two were hard to control in the beginning, yet out of the two of us, she was able to get them to listen to her first. Aphrodite isn't as helpless as you think, so have more faith in her, hm?"

It's a little hard to believe him, but Ares has never lied to him about anything before. Elias could only nod and stiffly got up with the god's help. He spares Ares a glance, noticing just how careful he was with him. And he was rather clumsy with being gentle, too. Ares isn't used to helping others all that much, Elias can tell.

Still, it brings a slight pink blush to his cheeks. He supposes it was nice having Ares like this, but it's strange knowing the god had some sort of crush on him.

And Elias knows it's not the time or place to be asking this, but he can't help himself when he says, "How much do you like me?"

He's not expecting an answer right away. He thinks Ares would need a moment to think because that's normal, right?

But Ares smiles so wide and replies without any hesitation, "If you look up to the sky at night and try to count the stars, I like you twice as much."

"... Really?"

"The stars are rather infinite, so you'll end up counting for your whole lifetime. Which means I'll be in love with you beyond death," Ares softly states. He's holding Elias' hand now, gripping it just a bit with nerves.

Elias doesn't know how to respond to that. He only thought Ares was just interested in him, not actually in love with him.

He doesn't know if he can believe that, but he's at a loss for words until he remembers that he's partially at fault for what's happening in Greece. Elias shrivels, wondering about the possibility of Ares hurting him if the god ever knew the reason of why there was this much destruction.

"Sorry."

Elias is brought back to him. He sees Ares' smile dropping and looking down at him apologetically.

"I-I'm sorry, I told you I'm not very good at expressing my feelings since I've never really liked anyone before. If you didn't like that... o-or just don't like me in general, you don't have to put up with me. Just tell me and I'll try my best not to disappoint you, or I can even leave you alone."

Ares doubts he can stay away from Elias so he might just hide around until Elias likes him back or something.

Yet, he didn't expect Elias to hold his hand back. In a flustered state, Elias murmurs, "I've never... really liked someone before like you. There were a few who told me they liked me, but I don't think... they were ever genuine."