He groaned into the covers ,throwing the pillow over his head, dearly regretting going out drinking with Thor and Dionysus last night as the sounds of the running bath hit him. His head felt like a group of Cyclops were stomping on it. The hushed voices coming from just outside the bedroom door reaching him as he tried to block out the noise and failed. How had he made it back into his bed and how much trouble was he in? Hearing the door opening softly and recognizing the soft shuffling steps he gave up on trying to sleep and cautiously opened his eyes to see two pairs of excited bright blue eyes staring back at him. Preempting the chatter about to bombard him, he scooped them up onto the bed, wince at the high pitched squeals, and brought the two under his arm.
He made it to four before they started. "Daddy," the black haired girl's stage whisper barely hid the excitement, "IT'S SNOWING." Her sister nodded even though he couldn't see it with his eyes closed. "That's nice Princess," he said while tightening his arms around them.
"Can we go play? With the sleigh?" one of them asked. "We can build a snow man, you said we could if it snowed." Electra said, that was definitely Electra, "So we asked Grandpa."
Sighing he sat up as Acacia poke him. "Why don't you ask your brother?"
"But you promised," Acacia interjected, throwing herself across his lap to give him her best pout, "You SAID if it snowed for Solstice you'd take us on the sleigh."
"Casey," he started to speak.
"Girls, why don't you go wake up your brother and change?" All three were looking at the figure wrapping in the towel as she continued speaking, "Daddy and I need to have a little chat before we take you out to play."
Eying their mother suspiciously the two girls nodded then scrambled down from bed and ran towards the open bedroom door, slamming it behind them and causing Ares to wince , once again wondering what in Tartarus happened last night as he eyed the woman making her way towards him.
Leaning back against the pillows trying to act casual while she continued her appoach he asked, "Sooo, should I start looking for new weapons, jewelry, or boh-" He trailed off as she dropped the towel and kissed him hard. Breaking the kiss as he brought her under him, " Or maybe I should do it more often?"
Reversing their positions again she laughed and reached up, "Gods no." Following the path of her hand, still confused as to her good humor but not willing to rock the boat he stared. "Wait, is that? "
The humor in her voice beyond evident she nodded while passing the branch carefully by her lips, "Mistletoe. Yeah, it is." Looking at the branch then back at her lover she continued, "Seems that after imbibing only the Fates know what concoction of Dionysus' you and Thor decided to race but Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr are still in Valhalla," He pulled her down for another kiss, cutting her off.
"Don't tell me. I don't even want to know. It was a bad dream, but what were the girls talking about? I promised to take them sledding?"
Rolling her eyes, "As I was saying, " She looked pointedly at him before continuing, " Since Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr are still in Valhalla, Thor decided he needed to go hunt for mounts worthy of pulling his chariot." She finished with as gasp as he put his lips to good use.
With a moan she continued breathlessly, " So you went to Mount Etna to look for two Stags." Shifting restlessly as he continued his ministrations she kept her dialog going, " but somehow you came back with four Reindeer and a bushel of Mistletoe covered in snow." She finally lost her train of thought as he brought her to fulfillment.
A long while later as they both floated back to the here and now Ares spoke up, "I still don't understand how the girls think I'm taking them sledding. There isn't even an inch of powder on the hills." Xena chuckled, "I had them here when you came back this morning. You threw snow all over us and they thought it was snowing here." Smiling softly as he settled her over him, "So you managed to string up some semblance of coherence and tell us what you were up to and promised them a ride if it snowed so they would go back to their rooms and leave us alone."
He sighed, "And the little minxes went to my father and got him to do their bidding, didn't they?" Still smiling Xena kissed him and made her way out of the bed, tugging him with her, "That's your penance. You have to suffer your hangover while dealing with your daughters. Alone."
"Have pity on me woman." He said to her disappearing figure.
"Not a chance, War God. I've got to deal with your angry sister wanting to know why you have her Reindeer in our stables." As she disappeared in a flash of purple light.