Three months of separation were more than either Megara or Hercules were prepared for, even though they'd known they would have to wait and trust Phil's process of taking Hercules from a moderately competent hero-in-training to what he called "the genuine article." During those three months, Hercules had faced the most grueling, odds-defying obstacles. He'd suffered the pains of a body growing to three times the size it had started at months before. He'd eaten so much beef.
Yet, he'd known it would all be worth it.
The results would finally make him worthy of the princess who'd come to beg for help one night and interrupt the trajectory he'd been placed on when he first left home.
Ever since he'd become a trainee hero, he'd dreamed of his future as a god, surrounded by his immortal family. It would be the pinnacle of his existence, where he no longer had to worry about whether he was loved or accepted for his abilities.
That love and acceptance had arrived out of the shadows much sooner than expected.
Now, he rarely even considered the possibility of deification. Yes, ultimately, he would have a place among the gods, but the gates of Olympus could not outshine Megara's smile. She bestowed it on him so rarely. Her life had faced many of the struggles imposed on him by village life as a farm boy and by the ostracization that followed him to Prometheus Academy.
She knew what it was like to be singled out and excluded. She looked past the muscle to the boy– well, he could possibly call himself a man now– and she cared for him. Only she asked if he was afraid when the challenges of hero training presented themselves.
Megara's heart had been hidden when they met, but now that he knew her for the selfless beauty of her soul, he was a goner. That had made the separation all the more painful.
For months, his bone and sinew had strained under the demands not only of training but semi-divine puberty. He suspected even without spending most of his day running around a track or defeating mechanized monsters, he would've been annoyed at how quickly he grew. But he could see the web of white marks between bulging muscles when he looked down at his sun-burnished skin. He could see the way he'd struggled to keep up with the power of his own body straining toward its telos.
At last, the pain was behind him. He considered it a blessing of the gods that he could finally enjoy his new and improved physique.
He had thought it was odd that Pegasus was nowhere to be found on the morning of his final hero exam. While all visitors to the island were prohibited, Pegasus had remained as his constant companion. Why hadn't he wanted to witness Hercules's final push to his goal?
The answer was waiting for him at the end of the course. He couldn't believe the way a few slight changes to his fiancee could catch him off guard. There she was, gorgeous hair and all, sporting heart-stopping curves that almost made him let his guard down.
It was all he could do to end the course by successfully defeating the archer targets, and in a way he hoped would impress Megara. Once he finally had a minute to look at her and remember she was his, he gave himself fully to his joy.
Her touch was soft; she smelled of flowers, and he just couldn't hold back. It was only Phil reminding him that she needed to breathe that put a stop to their kiss.
She was still gazing at him as if he were the center of the cosmos. His mind could only follow one path: he needed to be with her. And yet, he didn't know how to say it.
"How are we celebrating that you're free now?" Megara asked him, stroking his jaw. Her touch made him tremble, and his mind went blank save for images of her that he could never admit to.
"H-how?" He had to remember the words she'd spoken and how to speak them himself. "I mean… are we going back to Thebes?"
A flight with her on Pegasus would be torture. He'd hold her close, remembering the illustrations in Aphrodite's pink scroll and wishing he could push each illustration past the limits. It wasn't appropriate yet. They hadn't had their marital procession yet, and he needed to be patient. But how could he be patient? If he looked at her for too long, he was sure he would collapse, and his brain would fall from his ears in a mush.
"Do you have things to pack?" Megara's voice had always been this warm, seductive purr, but now it raked across his mind, leaving him speechless. "I can help." There was a smirk he recognized. She was planning something, but he was too dumb to guess right now. Still, she was much better at making plans than he ever had been, so why not do what she thought was best?"
"Uh… yep!" Hercules cleared his throat. "Eh… Phil? Phil, yeah, um, I'm gonna need to take her through the amphitheater to sort out some stuff so I know what I've gotta take with me."
Phil folded his arms and eyed Hercules with the skepticism of a satyr who knew what an excuse sounded like.
"What about your personal belongings?" Megara asked. "Extra clothes, maybe? Come to think of it…" Her eyes wandered slowly up and down his body, making him shiver. "No, none of your old clothes would fit you. Too bad. I'll have to dress you when we get home. There are some royal tailors we'll have you speak with. I'll develop a whole new wardrobe for you."
"Whatever you want…" Hercules sighed. He meant it. It was getting difficult to keep his eyes open, aside from the incentive of continuing to look in her direction. It was true what he said. He'd do anything for her. All she had to do was ask.
"All right, kid. I've got some stuff I'd like to pack, too," Phil said. You tell me when yer ready to go."
Hercules turned to Pegasus, but Phil made a disapproving noise. "No way I'm climbin' on after you two. I'm gettin' outta here with my sanity before it's too late!"
What about Hercules's sanity?
It vanished the moment Phil and Pegasus departed.
"Well, I guess there's no need to ask if the training regimen was worth it. The results are magnificent." Megara traced his arms with delicate fingertips.
Any whisper of past pain evaporated under her touch. He'd go through it all over again for the promise of her affection.
"What about you?" Hercules remembered her invitation to explore her with his touch, but he knew from the tightening of his armor that doing so might be dangerous. He'd look ridiculous to her. "What have you been up to?" Despite knowing the dangers, his hands framed her waist, then trailed down the curves of her hips. His eyes closed, and a trembling breath escaped him. Her flesh was so soft and warm…
"I'm not sure if I did anything in particular, but I've been happy this whole time." She looped her arms about his neck and pressed herself close.
If he weren't careful, she would press too close and notice how much he wanted her. This was not the appropriate way to respond to his beloved. He ought to be romantic with her and let her know how much he'd missed her. He was so dreadfully uncouth…
"Are you afraid of me?" she asked.
"What? No! No, I'm not afraid! I'm…" Hercules was saved from having to explain himself when Pegasus returned for them. "I'll uh… I'll bring you to the amphitheater and show you around."
"Is that all you're going to show me after all this time?" Megara asked him in that low, soft voice that threatened to melt him to his knees.
"No…" he glanced around and saw Pegasus returning for them. "But I would rather keep whatever else we explore between the two of us. There are plenty of prying ears around us who might have too much interest in our plans."
He lifted Megara onto the horse's back, which gave him another angle from which to appreciate her figure. He hopped up behind her so that he could keep a hand at her waist and hold her close. It was a swift, leisurely flight to the amphitheater, but Megara's fear of heights kept her pressed back against him the whole time.
"How was your trip getting here?" he asked her. "It can't be easy to be alone on Pegasus that whole time."
"I knew you were on the other side of the trip, so I wasn't really bothered. Besides, Pegasus helped me when I fell before so that put the whole thing into perspective."
Hercules's heart thrummed faster at her words. He wished he could be braver or more forward with his affection, but Megara did it for him.
Her hand traced his thigh, first seemingly seeking a grip so she wouldn't fall off but then tracing the individual muscles that stood out on his leg. Each of them jumped at her attention as he longed for still more contact. It would never be enough until they were able to touch down at the center of the amphitheater.
He hopped down and helped Megara down, relishing each second as she slid through his hands. His eyes slipped closed for a moment to force control. This was the wrong place to indulge.
"Wow, it looks like you've been busy here." Megara took a step away from him and bent to examine the sand.
Hercules drew in a breath and bit his lip as he stared at the curvature of her body. Focus on what she's saying, he reminded himself. Be a gentleman.
"It looks like you've run so much in here you dug a trail with your feet!" Megara touched the ground and traced it, leisurely remaining bent over as if it wouldn't have any effect on him. Did she know what she was doing to him?
Of course, she did. Megara knew everything.
Hercules looked over at Pegasus. "Take some time for yourself, buddy," he said. "I uh… I gotta…" He had no excuse.
Pegasus trotted in place, then neighed at him in a way Hercules took as derogatory.
"I can't help it," he said, shrugging.
With a horsey laugh, Pegasus flapped his wings in one blast, startling Megara and causing her hair to fly into her face.
Hercules caught her before Megara could topple over, and suddenly, he was alone with the girl– the woman– he loved in his arms. The need to be with her scrambled every signal that ordered him to control himself.
"Is it possible to get out of the sun?" she purred up at him. "It's so hot out here…" Her hands trailed up his chest to his shoulders and looped her fingers under the fastenings of his armor. "Aren't you so uncomfortable in all this leather?"
"Well… to be honest…" Don't be honest. She does not want to hear what you are honestly thinking right now.
Megara nodded at something he hadn't said. "You've been working so hard," she whispered. "I'll bet you'd love the chance to relax for a minute… Before I share you with the world, I'd like to have you to myself."
"Yes!" Hercules coughed as if that could erase the fact he'd shown how excited he was. "I mean…"
"Shh," Megara lifted a finger to stop his mouth, and a fresh wave of need rolled through him.
He'd burst out of his armor if he didn't do something fast.
"Come with me," she whispered. She took him by the hand and led him under an awning into the shadows of the amphitheater. "You've got to have somewhere you unwind, right?"
"Uh… Ph-Phil thinks I shouldn't… uh… get too comfortable?"
"Phil's not in charge right now. I am." Megara peeked through a door and nodded in satisfaction. "This'll do."
"F-for what?"
Megara dragged him into the equipment room and shut the door behind him. "What do you do when you get a bit of new equipment?" she asked.
"Um…" Her question caught him off guard. He had to search in his mind for something coherent to reply with. "That actually happens a lot, 'cause… y'know, I break lots of things. It's important to stress test things and see if they'll hold up to use. So I… Meg?"
She'd been nodding along as he spoke, but now she was unclasping the sash around her waist. "Go on, I'm listening."
How was he supposed to talk?
"S-so… I… eh… heh. I mean, well…" There was no third attempt at that sentence. He could only stare in awe as Megara unwrapped herself from her dress and stood before him in her sandals.
It hadn't been too long since the last time she'd done this, but certain… changes… had made him overlay his vivid mental basrelief of that night over what he saw now. He'd thought he would never see anything more beautiful, but that only proved his limited imagination.
Rather than speak, Hercules allowed his knees to buckle, and he leaned back against the wall. A sound escaped him, and he didn't have the mental fortitude to chastise himself for how pathetic it sounded.
"Something wrong?" Megara asked, carefully hanging her dress from a barbell rack. "I was hoping you'd show me how to handle your equipment. Maybe I could figure it out for myself."
Hercules slid down the wall, staring at her from this new angle while his body strained with his need for her.
This was not the way a hero responded to a beautiful woman, was it? He should be up and flexing for her, putting on some show of his greatness.
Who was he kidding? He'd never been great at the swagger of heroism.
"You can do whatever you want," he told her. They were the only words he could force through his mouth that he knew wouldn't get garbled on the way.
"I know," Megara whispered back to him. She bent over him, and the breath left his lungs. "So," she plucked one armor strap free of his shoulder. "Why don't we start the celebration?"