Ares was lying in his bed with his wife in their home, and there was nowhere he would rather be, not even on top of Mt. Olympus.
It was a very comfortable house, easily described as a castle or a fortress and they were lord and lady of it. He had insisted upon such opulence though truth be known, he would have been as content on her grandparents' old farm though he would never tell her that. She might want to exchange it for a smaller place and how would that look for his godly image, what little of it was left?
It had turned out people were quite capable of starting their own wars without his interference. Who would have thought? His mere existence was enough to keep the powers that be in check.
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" he said, kissing her forehead "You are my eros, my desire and obsession. My philia, my loyalest and dearest friend, who is at my side in battle when it matters most. You are my ludus, my lover who makes me laugh. I know what pragma is because of you, the lasting maturation of love. You awakened the agape in me as well, selflessness. I couldn't feel charity for mortals until you came along."
She playfully hit him with her pillow. "You forgot one, philautia, the love of yourself. You've always had that one down pretty pat."
"Well, I am a pretty lovable guy," he said with a cocky grin.
She sobered and slid her hand up his chest. "Yes, you are."
Four-year-old Camilla chose that inopportune moment to stick her head in, her dark hair messy from sleep. "Are you awake?" she asked them.
"If I said no, would you give us a few more minutes of quiet?" he asked with amusement in his voice.
She ignored the question completely. She was bouncing up and down and her hazel eyes were gleaming as if it was Christmas morning. "The soldiers have started coming! There's so many of them."
"My aren't we excited for the games," Xena said, sitting up.
They occasionally became involved in military events or circumstances that required heroics, allowing the emperor to pardon before, but in the stretches between them, they hosted games that allowed mortals to demonstrate their military prowl. No one died during them unless it was by sheer accident. Xena seemed to prefer it that way and so did their blonde neighbor, Valentina, who had married a reincarnated Perdicus.
"She's truly her father's child," he teased, getting out of bed "as I knew she would be."
"More like my child," she teased back when Camilla surprised him by sneaking up on him and hurtling herself around his legs.
"They've started setting up tents and practicing with their weapons and everything!" Camilla further exclaimed.
"Have they now?" He scooped his four-year-old daughter into his arms and whirled her around the room until she giggled with pure delight.
"Can I go outside and watch?" she pleaded with them.
"Sure," he said after a nod of confirmation from Xena. "We'll be down as soon as we get dressed. Just don't get in anyone's way."
"I won't," she promised already halfway out the door.
Ares watched her scamper away, full of paternal pride and love. "Maybe she does have more in common with you, the two most irresistible girls in the empire."
"Only the empire?" she said with an amused glance as she rummaged through the wardrobe for her leathers.
"Okay, you got me, the world." He put on his clothes the godly way, not hard when all he had to add was his vest and jewelry. It gave him time to watch the mortals training through the window.
There was one particularly inept mortal clumsily slinging his sword around and tripping over his own feet. He'd seen more skillful displays from toddlers with wooden swords. "Something tells me that's Joxer."
Xena had sidled up to him and wrapped an arm around him. "He is one of our soulmates. He had to show up sooner or later."
"Hmm," he said noncommittally, less than thrilled with that fact. "Are you taking part?"
"Of course."
He turned away from the window. She looked particularly arousing with her sword on her back and her chakram hanging at the side. "You know," he said, slipping both arms around her, "our presence won't be required for quite some time."
"Tempting," she said, laying a chaste kiss on his nose, "but I wouldn't want anyone to think I was trying to influence the judge by plying him with with sex. Besides, we promised Camilla we'd be right down."
He groaned, but he let her go. Then he smiled as he watched her saunter away, obviously baiting him and a promise that she'd make it up to him tonight.
There was no doubt about it; he'd found paradise. He was sure there were some gods that were laughing about how he had become such a family man. Behind his back, of course. But as far as he was concerned, he was content to let them laugh. He'd never been happier in his very long, unending life.
