Part XII � Keeping It In the Family
"Go away."
"Oh, come on! Let me in!"
"Are you deaf as well as blond? I said get lost."
Aphrodite frowned and pushed open the door anyway. "I can help."
"I don�t want help. Go Away." Eris slammed it closed again, even more firmly this time.
"You should�ve come to me in the first place, Rissy. I can�t believe you took this to ol� Dark and Deluded, like he�s gonna be any help at all. He can�t even do for himself and you�re gonna let him tell you what�s what?" The Love Goddess sniffed her disdain at the mere thought of Ares offering love advice.
Eris mulled that one over. Ares was her twin and wasn�t out to steer her wrong, but this wasn�t his area of expertise, such as it was. They�d spent a long night discussing� things. He didn�t trust the House of Intellect and had told her as much, warning her about getting hurt and not letting them get the upper hand. And he was right, sort of. She didn�t want to let anyone stomp all over her heart and she didn�t want anyone using her feelings to get an advantage.
She also didn�t want that ache inside her anymore. Being lonely sucked. And Hermes was so nice� Nice was hard to come by as the Goddess of Discord. No one treated her nicely or looked at her like that, with big lovely eyes� Maybe letting her sister help a little wouldn�t hurt. She cast a look back at Ares, still asleep on his pallet of furs. "Well, bro, you did your part. Let�s hope Blondie can do some good, too."
Quietly, she slipped out of the door, leaving her brother to sleep on through. This little skirmish was taking a lot out of him and she�d seen some cracks in the armor last night. He�d almost admitted something to her and she cursed his tough hide for not letting it out. Maybe Dite could help him a little, too.
The Goddess of Love stood there waiting just outside the door, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently. "So�?"
"So� what�s this big idea you have?"
Instead of squealing and bouncing, as Eris would have expected, Aphrodite only smirked. "Wanna make Arry�s ass unclench?"
A wide grin spread out, both wicked and welcome. The last time they�d gotten together, he�d woken up with pigtails and toenail polish. "Go on."
Aphrodite motioned for her sister to follow her away from the encampment Ares had set up for them outside the battle area. The second step Eris took found her dressed in her usual armored gear. No sense in letting the guard down that far.
"You know and I know that the guys in this family are� well� a touch single-minded." Aphrodite grumped a little. That was an understatement if there ever was one. But it suited the situation, so� "They get to thinking one way and nothing short of a lightning bolt to the back of the head will make them even consider any other options."
"Yeah, no kidding. I thought Arry�d never shut up about the Hall of Intellect tonight." Eris sighed and rolled her eyes. "I know he�s my brother and he looks out for me and junk, but after the first half-hour, I wanted to cram something in his mouth just to shut him up!"
"What if I have something guaranteed to do the job?" The smug look only made her sister shift her weight on her feet as she started to get a little antsy.
"Like what?"
"Like this�" Aphrodite squinched her face up and sent a few hard and tasty images to her sister. It was just easier that way. Some of them were just of Joxer, some of Joxer thinking about Ares, some of Ares thinking about Joxer, and some from her vivid imagination, a little wishful thinking in the key of sex. When she opened her eyes again, she could see that Discord looked a little flushed and a little sly as well.
