His Name Gives Him Super Strength!
Heracles woke up, head in a fog.
He made his way through his morning routine, ending up in the kitchen and opening the refrigerator. Right off that bat he noted the dürüm and dolmades Sadiq had made. Heracles sneered. Sadiq would never admit it, but the man was homesick. Homesick to the point he used to call Heracles oğlu. Heracles had no idea what the hell oğlu meant, but it had to have been an insult.
He grabbed the some of the dürüm and dolmades and ate at the table. If Sadiq was going to stay here, he was going to suffer as much as Hercules was. He ate at his usual pace (you know the saying, 'slow and steady wins the race' does not apply to this man), waiting for the moment in which he would hear footsteps, followed shortly by Turkish cursing.
It never came.
Shortly after he had finished off the last dolmades, Heracles realized how empty the house was. He poked his head into the living room, where Gupta had been sleeping on the couch since both Sadiq and he had shown up. It looked as though no one had even sat on it for a week. Though Gupta was a clean man, that was a bit beyond his powers of cleaning.
"Gupta?"
Though he was not expecting a fast, nor vocal response, Heracles waited to hear or see something which told him he was not the only person in the house.
"Gupta?" he called into the hallway. Grimacing and with regret, he tried something else. "Sadiq?"
Silence. It was official, Heracles was the only one in the house, despite the time of day. For no matter how lazy Heracles was, he was not Maddox. He could wake up whenever he wanted to.
There was a shout from outside, a frightened one which made it sound like a fight was about to ensue, and Heracles rushed out of the house. Suddenly it seemed like it was summer. Because it was sunny and dry, as opposed to cool and damp. Funny that. And the forest which was behind Gupta's house seemed a little closer now.
"Sadiq, please..."
"No. You aren't listenin'!"
Sadiq was fighting with Gupta. And Gupta was actually shouting. Heracles growled, fists tightening. No one should upset Gupta. No one should get into a fight with Gupta. No one. Especially Sadiq.
"That bastard!" He ran into the forest after the voices, wherein the forest cut away to show a large, dry meadow. Heracles raised a hand to block the sun, searching for the figures he knew should be close.
"You wouldn' listen, so now yer payin' the price!" Heracles turned around, the sun now behind him, to see Sadiq tying Gupta down on... railroad tracks? Gupta was struggling, but as Sadiq finished tying the rope the worn out Egyptian went limp. "Ha! Stupid wench–"
Heracles threw a fist into Sadiq's face. He fell over, a leg kicking out to knock down Heracles as well, but Heracles dodged it and dove down after him. The scuffle was brief and Heracles found himself the victor, the unconscious Turk below him. Even the whistle in the back seemed to be cheering him...
Whistle? Heracles turned to see the railroad tracks further away and a train in the distance, coming closer. He had never run so fast in his life, down to Gupta's side and struggling with the rope. "Leave me!"
"Never," Heracles responded, ripping the rope off with his enormous strength and picking Gupta up, managing to pull him away just as the train sped through. Gupta's arms wrapped around him, even as he put his friend back down.
"Oh, thank you~" It was then Hercules realized Gupta was actually a woman.
That was a pleasant surprise.
"Please... let me show you the touch of a real man." Hercules whispered into her ear as he stroked her hair and her back.
"Oh yes, oh yes please..."
And then Hercules woke up.
"Dammit."
"What? Had a dream where I kicked yer ass?" Sadiq leered from the doorway. Heracles opened his mouth to tell Sadiq how wrong he was, but Gupta's hand appeared and pulled Sadiq out of the guest room.
Heracles got up and ready for the day. He took Sadiq's dürüm and dolmades out of the refrigerator and ate it, the Turkish cursing following right as he thought it should.
Just the start to a normal day.
Notes:
Dancing Feather made up the idea and then wrote a rough draft of the dream sequence for me, which has been fitted into what you now read here. So thanks, DF, you saved me.
Oğlu means 'son' in Turkish. Sadiq used to call him son, back when they got along. Heracles really does not know that is what he was saying and now really does think he was insulting him. How good relationships sour...
