Chapter Fifteen
It wasn’t easy finding the time to take a breath, swept along as he was by the new mating and Marty’s excitement for everything, but Ares knew he needed to. He had a number of things to address, process, and fit into his new reality. For a god who’d lived a relatively boring life for the past century at least, that took time.
Driving them back to the house, Ares mused that there were a lot more positives than he’d initially thought, back when mating was an abstract concept, something someone else did. Marty was an excellent baker. He was a fun and interesting tutor with some very definite ideas that Ares found charming. In bed, he didn’t have an ounce of skill, but he was so enthusiastic and so responsive that Ares, who hadn’t thought a lot would come of it, had gone back for more, for hours. His experience with Marty was so different from anyone he’d been with before, and in his opinion, far better.
Then there was the list of wishes – if two items could be considered a list, and that was debatable. Ares had expected that once Marty had seen the inside of the main house, he would understand that his financial circumstances had now changed for the better, and Ares was happily preparing to give him all he wanted.
I want to spoil you, and Ares had meant that sincerely. He wasn’t the best company, most effective lover, or even a great person to be around, but he could give Marty anything he wanted within reason. Things like pulling the moon or the stars from the sky were frowned on by other gods, but most things material Ares could supply. Along with companionship for as long as Marty wanted him around.
“Your house is so grand, looking at it from this angle, isn’t it?” Marty hadn’t stopped grinning since they’d left the store. “Coming down the driveway, the impact really hits you.”
“You haven’t seen the house from this angle before?” Ares drove around the house and parked in the garage that opened as he came close.
“No.” Marty giggled. “I came through the trees. I didn’t want to be seen by your lovely wife, who might be looking out the window.”
“My wife? I swear I don’t have a wife.” Turning off the engine, Ares looked at his mate in shock. “I am one of the few gods in the Pantheon who wasn’t even given a wife in fiction because I was so horrible.”
“Unique, not horrible.” Marty’s hand was warm on Ares’ leg. “If I’m not weird, then you’re not horrible.”
“I’m not sure that’s how it works,” Ares said but he was quietly pleased with his mate’s support. If anyone else had said that to him, he wouldn’t have believed it and would’ve been wondering about that person’s agenda – what they ultimately wanted. But Marty wasn’t like that. “How did I end up with a wife?”
“The lack of spiders,” Marty said, as though that explained everything. Ares quirked an eyebrow, and Marty rushed to explain. “Me and my canny raccoon knew the house was warded when we arrived. There’re never any bird poop on the windows or the walls, and no spider webs on any of the door frames. I guessed the house was owned by a very handsome and powerful magic user, who had a beautiful wife and possibly children, too.”
He sighed. “I used to imagine you were so in love with your lovely lady that you made sure the house never got dirty, so her hands wouldn’t be sullied by cleaning. I was partially right. You are powerful, and I think you’re very handsome, so I wasn’t wrong, just about the wife bit.”
Ares wondered if he’d ever tire of the way Marty’s brain worked. “Definitely no wife. You and I are mates. I know how a shifter bite works. We’ll be with each other for the rest of eternity.”
Marty’s eyes narrowed. “How does that work? I’m not old, but I will die eventually. That’s what happens to living people.”
Ares reached out, stroking down the edge of the mating mark Marty had on his neck – his mark. Marty shivered, and his eyes widened. “You’ll never die, my precious mate. Our life threads are bound together by the Fates when we claimed each other. Welcome to immortality.”
“Not die?” It was like Ares could see imaginary cogs whirling in Marty’s brain, and then, to his surprise, Marty looked indignant. “If I can’t die, then why did you buy me a helmet and those pad thingies and insist I have to wear them when I try out the scooter? I told you I didn’t need them.”
“You can’t die, but you can get hurt.” Ares wasn’t backing down from the protective elements. He wasn’t sure a god could have a heart attack, but it was highly possible seeing Marty learning to use an electric scooter might cause one. “Did you want to see the big house and eat first?” he suggested hopefully.
But Marty was already shaking his head. “We had a huge brunch, and you said the scooter needs assembly. Did the salesman tell you how to put it together?”
“There are full instructions in the box.” Leaning over, Ares brushed a kiss on Marty’s nose. “Let’s get the thing put together.” Hopefully, it would take hours, and Ares could put off the inevitable ride until tomorrow.
/~/~/~/~/
The assembly process took ten minutes. Ares spent eight of those minutes reading every single word on the pamphlet of instructions that had been included in the box. By the time he knew he’d stretched that out as long as possible, he’d dropped the pamphlet and said, “I guess I need to find some tools,” Marty was already beaming with excitement.
“It came with a tool in the box. Look.” He spread his arms wide, indicating a scooter that looked exactly like the one displayed in the shop. “Isn’t it beautiful? I even found the start button.”
Start. Start. “Er…the pamphlet says that the battery has to be charged for four hours before it can be used. That’s what powers the scooter motor.” Ares looked hopefully at his mate. “We could find the charging cord, plug it in, and have something to eat in the meantime?”
“Can’t you just zap the battery?” Marty wiggled his two forefingers at the battery case. “Just a teeny hint of your amazing powers to give it a boost?”
I can’t lie to my mate. There were times when rules sucked. But then, Ares knew he was only prolonging the inevitable. “Fine. Get your helmet and padding on,” he warned as he went over, testing the bolts Marty had already tightened, checking that the brakes appeared to be working, and then, blowing out a long sigh, he allowed a trickle of power to feed into the battery. Reaching up, he pressed the start button and heard it click over, and then there was a low humming sound as the motor started.
“Yes! Yes! Now I can try it.” Marty clapped his hands in excitement. He had the helmet perched on his head, and the pads were around the wrong way.
“Hang on a minute.” Standing up, Ares went over, tugging on the two straps flapping around Marty’s neck. “These need to be joined together for them to work.”
“Just like us.” Marty beamed at him, and it was impossible for Ares not to be moved. He clicked the two ends of the strap together and adjusted them so they fit snugly.
“And these, my precious poppet, are meant to cover your elbows and your kneecaps.” Ares quickly moved them to where they were meant to be and tightened the straps there as well. Marty was still malnourished, and Ares vowed to change that as quickly as he could.
“All right,” he said when he couldn’t avoid the inevitable anymore. “This is the brake. If you pull that, the scooter will stop. If you want it to move along, then you turn this handle here – slowly,” he added. “You’re not racing anyone. These are the wheels, and this is where you stand with both feet.”
“I know, I know. Thank you for caring.” Marty stretched up on his toes, kissed Ares’ chin and smacked him on the nose with the cap on the helmet. “Oops. Sorry. This is so exciting. Move out of the way. I’m doing this.”
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Ares stepped back. He’d heard the expression “heart in the mouth” but he’d never understood what that meant until he watched Marty grab hold of the scooter and start to move with it.
Marty pushed off with one foot on the platform and one pushing against the ground first. That looked safe enough. But Ares shoved his fist against his mouth as he watched Marty wrench the accelerator, and the scooter lurched forward.
“I almost ran over my foot.” Marty laughed as he turned the scooter and zoomed up the driveway.
Is this what it’s like having kids in the modern age? Marty was all man, closer to thirty than twenty-five in Ares’ estimation, and the scooter he was on was designed for adults. But watching Marty’s happy face as he zoomed back down the driveway again, Ares felt…
“Can’t stop. Can’t stop.” Marty yelled as he got closer. “Move out the way.”
“Let go of the accelerator,” Ares yelled back as he jumped out of the way. “Use the damn brakes!”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Marty squealed as he yanked the scooter around, barely missing the grass verge of the front lawn as he zoomed off again. “This is the best fun ever.”
It does look like fun. Ares wondered when the last time was that he had fun with another person, outside of sex. What does it say about me that I can’t remember? Maybe he was being impulsive, or maybe Marty was rubbing off on him, but before he second-guessed himself, Ares clicked himself up a larger but identical scooter, and seconds later, he was chasing after his mate as Marty zoomed out onto the road.