"It's almost time for the ceremony," Hercules whispered.
Megara wanted to sleep through his announcement, but she knew this had been her idea. She struggled to fight through the layers of consciousness to join him, but they were heavier than usual.
Hercules rubbed her back and nuzzled into her neck. "I know: you're sleepy, and I've over-partied you this week."
Though she tried to reply, it only formed a groan that crackled through her throat. Her limbs were too heavy to move, and it wasn't even enjoyable to sleep any longer.
"Meg, you're the star for tonight. We need you to shine."
Megara opened her eyes and glared at the far end of the room so she wouldn't have to turn her head. "Then set me on fire."
Hercules chuckled at her. "How about I do that in a less literal sense than you're imagining?" His hands wandered down her side and gathered up her skirt.
"Good luck, I feel like a garbage heap."
"Oh, but you're the complete opposite…" He tickled the bottom of her foot and made her squeak then curl it closer to her body. "Come on, everyone's waiting to see you, and after this one time, I'll keep you home, and we'll read and cuddle. I won't make you do anything else until Harmonia's here, and then we'll get to spend time with her."
"You can honey your pretty words, but don't forget that right now, every part of me is sore, and I don't want to stand up."
"Every part of you?" Her eyes were shut, but she could practically see the wide-eyed expression on his face. "Oh, no… should I check them all?"
"Malaka." She opened one eye just to sideye him. "You're about to get cute with me, aren't you?"
"I thought I was always cute." Hercules was grinning, but a quirk of mischief lingered in his expression. His hands wandered up and down her body, lightly stroking and then squeezing, depending on his whims. "Is all of this sore?" he asked as innocently as anyone could with a handful of intimate flesh in each palm. "Or this?"
"You know what? Yeah. Yeah, it is. And sensitive. But your comedy routine isn't the worst, so go on."
"Oh, I'm not kidding around. I'm completely serious. I'm going to make you happy, and then I'm taking you to that party, and you're going to have a great time."
"Wanna bet? Because I don't know how I'm going to handle a third party in a row."
"I'll tell ya how you'll enjoy a third party." He lifted her off the couch and walked her out of the room. "I'm going to spoil you so much you'll forget what pain even feels like."
She eyed him skeptically, but his certainty and giddiness combined were starting to pique her interest. "You're not thinking of pushing my sanity out the window with the pain, are you?"
"You can spare your sanity for one evening, can't you?" Hercules laid her out in the bed and started unwrapping her dress. "Besides, you know I'm good at this, and Aphrodite's left us lots of things that'll make this even better."
"The Aphrodite salves?" Megara's eyes widened as she watched him pick them out of the cabinet. "You're kidding. You wouldn't actually… those things still knock us out sometimes."
"Trust me, I've got it all figured out. This'll be great!" He'd already spread a pinkish salve across both his hands, and he grinned down at her with the face of a man who knew he was about to drive her wild.
"I give up," she said and arched her body as much as she could under the weight of Harmonia. "Do your worst."
"I'll do my best," he emphasized, and then his hands were on her.
At first, he took his time working the salve through the soles of her aching feet, then he massaged up through her ankles and calves, but he paid special attention to her thighs. He worked into the inner and outer curves of them, grinning wickedly down at her.
By now, she was groaning and writhing at all this attention, only fuelling him to greater heights of smugness.
"Playing favorites betrays your thoughts," Megara forced out between groans.
"I'd like you to know them. I can't always articulate how I feel about your body without feeling like a creep, but I'm hoping this gets my point across." He slid one of his hands closer to the juncture between her legs, watching her face the whole time. "Your legs are lovely, though… I always had to make myself stop looking when I'd see some leg peek out from your skirt, and you did not make that easy."
She would not mention that seducing him was in her job description. She would not.
"Making myself easier to resist has never been on my agenda."
"No… I'm sure most guys who aren't me have a rough time around you, but I'm grateful I get to be the only one with Meg privileges." He stepped closer and slid his hand under her, grabbing a handful and grinning. He knew exactly what he was doing.
"Now your access is all-inclusive," Megara hissed through her teeth, watching him from under her lashes.
"For eternity," he agreed.
The urge to roll her eyes flitted through Megara's mind, but she restrained herself. "For you, I'll let it be so."
And how about for you?" Hercules unpinned his chiton.
"Mm… I have quite the view, myself… and you've always made for a good mental image to dwell on in the dark. Now, you're always around, so I never have to summon you to mind." She had to admire his knotted and bulging muscles as they bulked his already impressive frame. "I imagine if I were deprived of you, I'd be inconsolable until you returned and insatiable when you did. That's why this league is so important. I'll never stop needing you, and neither will Harmonia."
Something flickered through Hercules's eyes. "What would you think of me taking you and Harmonia on trips with me when there's a low-risk quest? Maybe I could teach Harmonia the family business, and you'd always be there to have some input on strategy."
"It's difficult to predict what a low-risk quest will be… Something could always seem rather easily handled, but then the truth of it could be far worse."
Hercules nodded. "At some point, I'd like Harmonia to get similar training to mine. Maybe she can learn the rules of heroism. She might need to if that's how I'll get her to Olympus."
That thought made Megara wince. "If that's what it takes, I'm not going."
Hercules sighed. "Full disclosure? Talked to my dad while you were sleeping." He put more of Aphrodite's salve on his hands, then sank into bed behind her, seemingly to avoid her face.
"What do you mean, you talked to him? Did you summon him here? Did he see me like this?"
"No way." Hercules wrapped his hands back around her legs to reposition her with her back against him. "I went to Olympus when I knew you were sleeping. Don't worry, he's not mad. Or if he is, my mother and grandmother will straighten him out for us."
She could feel him against her back, and she wanted him, but he was still in control. Normally, she'd wiggle around and insist, but he had her at a disadvantage with Harmonia weighing her down. "Are you going to tell me what was so important that you had to sneak off and talk to him?"
"I invited him to the party tonight," Hercules replied right in her ear. He had started working the salve into her hips, and it was driving her mad. He continued to speak in a casual, conversational tone as if unaware of the effect he was having on her. "My mother and grandmother, too. So you can see why it's important to have you there. You're the most important part of the whole thing."
"Aside from giving birth to Harmonia, I struggle to see what event I'm absolutely necessary for."
"You won't struggle with it for much longer," he assured her. He settled her cheek against the crook of his arm and held her close against his chest while his other hand trailed up her body. "I would rather not give it all away, though. I just want you to be there and enjoy yourself."
"I'll try, but you're getting me all frustrated now, and what's worse is that I'm frustrated for two reasons at once!"
"Don't worry, you'll get what you want soon. For two reasons at once." But before that, he rubbed the salve into her chest and kissed her ear, effectively setting her whole body on fire.
"You… can be so… insufferable…" She clawed her nails into his arm and shivered. "Did you really leave me to invite your parents to this thing tonight? Couldn't you have invited them via Hermes earlier this week? Or sooner? Why now?"
"There was another thing I needed to mention to him that I thought was slightly more important, and I didn't want to wake you, but I also thought the timing was important." Hercules shifted their hips into alignment, but rather than enter her. He merely lingered as if he could take her whenever he wanted. Instead, he tilted his arm to turn her face into his kiss while continuing to stroke and stir her up.
Megara groaned as much from frustration as from pleasure. "You're trying to dodge me, and you expect me to lie here and let you say and do whatever you want just because I'm too unwieldy to roll over? Why not answer my question?"
"I want to tell you, but I'd rather you heard it at the dedication ceremony." It was then he finally gave her what she was after, but he never stopped lavishing attention on the rest of her body.
"So you wrote a whole hymn for it?" Megara closed her eyes, trying to make herself focus even though she was finally getting everything she'd asked for.
"How do you accumulate glory, Meg?" Hercules asked, still self-assured as he started moving.
"Uh…" her mind had gone fuzzy. "With… deeds."
"And what if you are the original cause for the actions of someone else?" It wasn't fair for him to ask a question like that and then speed up!
Megara bit down on his forearm, which was still supporting her, and tried to think. Except it didn't work. Aphrodite's salve had sunk too deeply into her skin, and so had Hercules.
All thoughts were driven away in a golden light and the inexorable rhythm he set for them. It seemed before long that there was no reason to pause and consider why it was so important for the gods to attend this ceremony or why there needed to be a hymn for the League of Heroes.
She didn't even remember preparing for the ceremony, but she knew she had. Her hair was newly perfumed and hung down her shoulders, as much an ornament to her as the gleaming gold of her crown and the embroidery of her veil. She'd worn this dress before, but she wasn't used to feeling so light and bubbly at a party.
Come to think of it, how long had she even been there? Moments seemed to sweep past her without notice, inconsequential but overall pleasant. She'd arrived at the palace ahead of most guests, but Cassandra was there to greet her.
"Wow. My vision didn't even properly prepare me for this."
"For what?" An undercurrent of giggles ran through Megara's voice. "Did Hercules tell me what's so special about the ceremony?"
"Oh, it's going to be well-attended," Cassandra said, "but maybe you should sit down?"
"She definitely should," Hercules said. He settled with Megara on one of the dining couches and piled up extra pillows. "Sorry if she's a little over-corrected. She didn't want to get up for this, and she was grumpy, so I thought I'd fix it."
"He did!" Megara giggled and didn't even cover her mouth.
"Wow. Is she drunk?"
"In a manner of speaking. Don't worry; it'll wear off soon, but at least she'll be in a good mood and not sore all over. Hey, look, Meg," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder and then pointing. "That's my grandmother Rhea. Do you remember her?"
"I read the story, but I don't remember meeting her…" Megara narrowed her eyes. "You're making me ridiculous."
"A comment like that tells me it's wearing off. But hey, you're here, and this thing's about to start. What would you like to eat? They've got pomegranate pastries."
"Ooh, that sounds great!" It probably wasn't that great, but for some reason, it sounded like the best thing in the whole world. She might as well indulge while things were fun because there was no telling when that crushing sense of guilt would return.
"Right back," Hercules promised and kissed her cheek before he darted off.
Cassandra sat on the arm of the couch Megara was sitting on and checked her forehead with the back of her hand. "No fever…"
"Listen…" Megara pulled Cassandra down by the sleeve. It took her a moment to contain her giggles, but she forced herself to focus long enough to whisper, "Sometimes, I get really… really spoiled. I usually go to sleep after, but right now? I'm out in the wild!" she giggled again.
"Oh… so you're crazy… This'll be… interesting."
"I'm not crazy. I'm just not burdened by the usual crushing weight of anxiety and my chorus of inner critics! Let's get this party thing started soon, okay? I don't know how long it'll be before all the dark thoughts come back."
"Uh… I'll find Megarion. As long as you're definitely all right."
"Thanks!" Megara grinned, which sent Cassandra running off as if she'd thrown a scorpion at her.
"Oh. My. Gods!" Galatea ran up to take her place. "Are you in the best mood or what?"
"I don't know, what?" Megara laughed, even if it wasn't funny, and then Galatea was laughing, too.
"Listen, Thesesus is part of this League thing, so he's been practicing a new song all day. Have you heard it yet?"
"Shh, Galatea, don't spoil it!" Hercules had brought her two pomegranate pastries and a honey wine. "Just let it happen."
"Ooh…" Galatea nodded vigorously. "Okay, but I'm going to watch from right here."
Megara had given up letting not knowing bother her. Everything was good and happy, and that was all that mattered.