The ring weighed uncomfortably on his left hand. The bright gleam of the jewel kept blinking in the flickering flames of the torches that blazed in the dining area and the light bounced into his eyes, making him wince. A slight touch of another's hand on his wrist brought him out of his mind and into the deep green eyes of the warrior seated next to him. Heptarian was beginning to treat him as though he was already his. The thought alone unnerved him, but he didn't take his eyes away from the older male.

"Are you alright?"

Pythagoras nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He could feel his pulse quickening, in fear, despite the fact he knew the brunette was nothing for him to be scared of.

Heptarian was all but certain that the young man was lying, he could see the way Pythagoras' eyes looked down briefly, but decided to leave it until later. He rubbed his thumb over the soft skin on the young prince's hand, before releasing him. He then glanced at Kapaneus who nodded approval.

'Make him feel that you want for him,' the Lord had advised. 'And sooner or later he will grow to want for you and that boy will be forgotten by him.'

Was it working? He could not read the blonde's expression, he had turned his face away once he'd been released. With luck, it was working. He felt his heart sink, though he kept his expression neutral. If Pythagoras ever discovered the truth, it would destroy them both.

"Will you take a walk with me?" Heptarian asked of the blonde once dinner was over.

Once again Pythagoras nodded. He knew it was foolish, yet the burning shame of having those vile slashes covering his body was tormenting him, and the fact that Heptarian knew of them wasn't helping matters. He subconsciously rubbed at his ribs, where the most damage had been done. In times of stress, these flared pain, like a dragon breathing fire.
They both walked in silence, roaming the lush grounds of the huge palace garden, feeling the cool nighttime breeze caressing their faces, watching the distant glimmer of the billions of stars that studded the deep sky above them. Pythagoras had almost forgotten the warrior was beside him when he felt Heptarians' large hand close gently around his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

"Are you truly alright?" Heptarian slid his hands down the younger man's arms until his hands found the smaller, delicate ones. He might as well work on the tender-loving-lover act now, he decided.

Pythagoras glanced down, undoubtedly gazing at the lines that ran over his body, before looking up at Heptarian again. He wanted to lie, but he felt tired. Tired of keeping his secret. Tired of fearing what everyone thought of the damaged flesh. "You saw them." he quietly admitted.

There was no more act to be done. He was a servant of Poseidon, it was his job to protect the prince, even from the tangled twists of the heir's own mind. The cuts, faded though they were clearly still had left their mark in the blonde's memory. Pythagoras reminding him of what he saw, was his way of saying, 'No. I'm not alright. In fact I'm very unalright.' And of that moment Heptarian knew it. There was no more hiding.
Heptarian didn't know it, but he was tracing little circles into the area where thumb met index finger. It was soothing, yet Pythagoras felt tense, a small part of him worrying about what Heptarian would say about the ugliness that marked his skin. He became aware, suddenly, of Heptarian standing close to him, their foreheads almost touching.

"There is nothing wrong with you. All fighters have their wounds to carry."

"I am no fighter."

"Forgive me, but you are a fool to believe that."

His heart was hurting. Heptarian was fiercely loyal and was showing that he had affections for him, he was being caring and there Pythagoras was with love for another man.

His heart was hurting. Pythagoras was incredibly trusting, and Heptarian could see the flashes of guilt in those deep blue eyes, proof of his love for another and there he was causing that guilt, that pain just to get the crown.

He slid his hands back up the blonde's body and moved them to the man's shoulder blades. Resting his head on the bony shoulder, he felt a hot jolt of guilt sear through him as the young prince leaned into him.

"What's wrong with you?" Ariadne sighed, looking into the downcast eyes of the blonde sitting before her, gazing into his cup of water as though he would like to drown himself in it.

Glancing around to make sure Jason was nowhere in sight, Pythagoras looked towards Ariadne. "Heptarian."

"Did he hurt you?" Ariadne asked sharply.

Pythagoras shook his head. "No. It's just...he saw them last night," he waved his hand around his torso, "and he was really...nice."

"What do you mean, nice?"

"He was..tender."

"Heptarian?!"

"Yes. I feel guilty. He doesn't know about Jason."

"You're not cheating on Heptarian, you know."

"I know. I just worry for the Pankration. If Jason does lose, I don't know how I could be without him. As ridiculous as it sounds, I love him."

"Pythagoras, do you think Heptarian might just be after the throne?" Ariadne asked slowly.

Pythagoras looked horrified. "No! He wouldn't do that. He's my friend."

Ariadne still felt suspicious. Every ounce of her being didn't trust Heptarian. He was cruel, violent and nowhere near good enough for the heir to the throne. She sincerely wished, not just for Jason and Pythagoras, but for the whole of Atlantis, that Heptarian would lose the dratted competition. Yet she knew the fate of Jason. She didn't know who would win. With luck it would be the son of the bread seller, a strong, silent man who wasn't hard on the eyes. Anyone, in fact, would be better than Heptarian.

Just as she was pondering about whether the bread-seller's son would make a good husband for Pythagoras, Jason came in, lugging a giant barrel of some liquid. Dropping it onto the floor and breathing heavily, he wheezed something about 'lazy bugger' and then spotted Pythagoras.
Pythagoras changed once he saw Jason. His body relaxed and the taut expression changed to a glimmering smile. Jason beamed too and limped over to the blonde and threw his arms around him, making cute little noises of joy as he reunited with his lover.

Looking at them, Ariadne realised that no one would make as excellent a husband as Jason. Though the bread-seller's son was a definite close second.

Ariadne decided to give the two men some privacy and left the house to visit the market stalls. As soon as she left, Jason was almost devouring the blonde, planting kisses wherever he could reach, his hands exploring the skinny frame, mumbling the most filthy fantasies into Pythagoras' ear, making said blonde blush, yet he couldn't lie about the effect it had on him, the longing, the strange longing to have Jason do those things to him. He moaned and brushed his lips against Jason's neck, making the brunette groan and suddenly, Jason was pulling at his tunic. Memories of what lay below caused Pythagoras to break away.

Jason was horrified. "I'm sorry, I should have slowed down..."

"No, I want it to happen, but..." Pythagoras was beginning to toy with his shirt, a nervous habit he'd never gotten rid of.

"Let me see." Jason gently murmured.

Pythagoras allowed Jason to hitch up his tunic and looked away as deep brown eyes roamed over the skin. "They are hideous. I am hideous. I don't want you to feel forced into doing anything out of the goodness in your heart."

"Pyth," Jason pressed a finger to his babbling lips. "Stop it. You're beautiful."

"I'm scarred."

"You're perfect."

"I'm flawed."

"Stop that." Jason lightly scolded. He knew these were reminders to Pythagoras of his past, of the pain and terror it had contained. He knew Pythagoras hated these lines that criss-crossed his pale body, and he understood. Really he did. But was the man flawed? No. Now that Jason knew what the blonde thought if himself, he was determined to fix it. He returned to the little kisses, delicately tracing along his collarbone. Soon, Pythagoras shyly removed his tunic. To be fair, Jason also removed his, gifting Pythagoras a view of his strong, firm chest. Timidly, Pythagoras pressed a shaking hand to one of Jason's abs, making impressed noises as he touched the skin, rippled by muscle. Jason touched the lily-white flesh, and leaning forward, took a hard, pink nipple into his mouth, lightly caressing it with his curious tongue. Pythagoras gasped in pleasure and without meaning to, grabbed a handful of Jason's curls. Jason growled in arousal and began trailing his kisses down, down, down...and then stopped. Without warning, he clamped onto Pythagoras' legs and lifted him.

"What are you doing?" Pythagoras asked breathlessly. His question was answered by Jason carefully laying him on the wolf-skin rug that lay on the floor. Jason turned his back and started looking through the cupboards.

"Where's the oil?"

Oil? What did the man need oil for? Was he going to give a massage or...? Oh. Hmm. He had never done that before. But somehow, he felt relaxed, not nervous or afraid. "It's in the high cupboard."

Returning with the dark bottle, Jason lay on his side, facing Pythagoras. Those lips, swollen and pink were begging to be kissed, so he leaned forward and caressed them with his own. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. Are you?"

"Mmm hmm. But I think I'll finish where I left off." Jason gave a devilish smile and gently dug his fingers into the blonde's waistband...

AN: Basically, Pythagoras and Jason go all the way. I'm going to do an M rated version one day, which will show exactly what they got up to. Enough of my blabbering, on with the story!

Pythagoras lay, curled up in Jason's arms, smiling at the tired man who gave a smile back. Never in all his years, had he thought he'd end up on a wolf-skin rug, naked and next to a man of such beauty it should be illegalized. There was nowhere he'd rather be, nothing he'd rather be doing. In fact, he thought as he bit back a grin, there was no one he'd rather be doing.

"I really love you, Pyth." Jason mumbled.

"I love you too."

Jason yawned. "God, between dragging the barrel around and you, I've had more exercise today than I have in the whole year."

"Did you like it?"

"The barrel? No. Having sex with you," he gently stroked the golden mop of hair, "I could do that all day."

"That would be a good day."

They went to kiss, but suddenly the door opened. They jumped and froze as Ariadne came in, shadowed by Korinna.

"Oh, by the Gods..." Pythagoras was mortified.

Jason snatched a blanket that had been poking out of a wicker basket and covered himself and Pythagoras with it. "We...err..."

Korinna's eyes picked out the now empty bottle of oil and looked shocked, though slightly disappointed. Turning to her brunette friend, she announced. "We now owe Hercules eight drachma."

Ariadne sighed. "Shame."

Korinna sat at a stool. "I suppose, really, you never could have gotten to it in the palace..."

"What?" Jason's head was spinning.

"We had a bet as to where you two would have sex first. Ariadne and I thought it would be in the palace, because it's romantic."

"Why are you here?" Pythagoras asked Korinna.

"I do have a life outside the palace, you know." Korinna retorted.

"Yes, having bets on where two people would have intercourse first. You should be ashamed of yourselves." Jason scolded.

"We should, but it's a way to pass the time." Ariadne told them. She picked up the bottle and peered at it. "This was full this morning. How many times did you..?"

"We are not telling you that!" Pythagoras snapped. He reached for his tunic and pulled it on, ignoring the two women.

"We're sorry." Korinna apologised. "We won't do it again, but the curiosity won out."

"Curiosity killed the cat." Jason told them.

"Whose cat?" Ariadne asked.

"It's a saying where I'm from. It warns against the dangers of being too curious."

Pythagoras was now fully dressed. Jason saw that he was aching to leave and started pulling his own clothes on too. Once dressed, he moved towards the door, Pythagoras following him. Upon closer inspection, he saw a sparkle of mischief in the prince's eye. He wondered what he was up to.

Pythagoras made Jason go out the door first and faced the two women again, Jason peeking over his shoulder. "I'm curious too." the blonde announced.

"What about?" Ariadne asked.

"When you two will lay with each other."

Korinna, who had been drinking some wine, choked and started coughing. Ariadne started thumping her on the back, shooting glares his way. Before either could say anything, Pythagoras let the door close.

"You are awful!" Jason giggled.

"I shouldn't have said it."

"It's fine."

"I'll have to apologise to Korinna."

"Hey, it's alright." Jason kissed his nose.

"I shall have to return to the palace soon. The Gods only know how I'm going to explain why I'm walking strangely."

"You're not that bad."

"I wish I could take you back with me."

"I wish that too." Jason murmured. In London, at least no one could force two people to marry. The Pankration was two months away and he was getting better, yet he knew he would not get to take Pythagoras as his own and that knowledge hurt him terribly.

Pythagoras sighed. "I have to go." he kissed Jason on his lips. "I love you."

Jason gave him a hug, holding tight for what seemed an age. When he left, Pythagoras saw that someone had been standing behind where Jason had been.

"Lord Kapaneus." Oh, no. How much had he seen?

The dark-haired man took hold of his arm, tucking it against his side, in a gesture that could be mistaken for being friendly, if Pythagoras wasn't so sure that the Lord knew of his relationship with Jason.

Over 2 and a half thousand bloody words. Wow, I can't believe it. Hope it was enjoyed! R&R!

Love from Shania. xx