Deliverance [malexmale]

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

I woke up to the worst headache in the world.

It felt as if Iapetus had woken me up with one of his left hooks, and my ears were ringing. Even worse, the smell of frying breakfast foods nauseated me to the point of vomiting. I could feel the burn of it rushing up my throat. Knowing I wouldn't make it to the toilet in it, I rolled over to the side of the bed and heaved the contents of my stomach out on the floor. After what felt like an eternity, and enough food to feed all of Asia, I rolled back over on my back, squeezing my eyes shut against the painful throbbing in my temples.

This never would've happened as a god. At least, not this intensely.

The body Hades had given me wasn't very good at handling alcohol, and something told me the sick bastard had done it on purpose.

Sick and shaky, I managed to roll out of bed without slipping in my mess. I went to the bathroom to grab towels and cleaner to scrub the carpet until the mess and stench of it was gone. I returned to the bathroom, then paused when I caught my reflection in the mirror, making me grimace. I hadn't washed my hair in a few days, so greasy strands of dark hair fell curled in my face, a face that was in desperate need of a shave, and sunken in dark eyes. And suddenly, I could hear Atlas's voice in my head.

You look like a woman, Menoetius. And not even an attractive one. Your eyes are too big for your face and your lips remind me of the whore's that sucked me off last night. We should just dress you in a peplos and throw you to the enemy and see if they take a liking to you. Then again, not even Cronus would fuck you and he fucked a tree.

Tree nymph, jackass. But then again, Atlas had never been very smart, or creative with his insults. The only reason he kept at it was Epimetheus's encouraging laughter. It would seem stupidity, and ugliness, were hogged by my entire family. Meanwhile, the gifted one was Hannibal.

Sighing wearily, I started a bath and soaked for a few minutes, closing my eyes and tilting my head back as I let the scent of the water filled with some strange bath soap put me at ease. My headache was steadily fading, only to erupt once again when I heard a knock on the bathroom door, making me tense, even though I'd locked it.

Anexius's intrusion back on Olympus had tutored me well in locking the door behind me from now on. The last thing I needed was Akin, of all people, to see me without my clothes on. It would be so like him to bugger me about scars that shouldn't be there.

"What?" I asked, voice sharp.

"It's me," Akin's voice came and I covered my face with a wet hand to keep from growling out loud in frustration, "I was wondering if you wanted to go out to breakfast with me. I talked Hannibal into letting me take you out, and it'll be good to get some fresh air before the snow hits." I frowned at that. The idea of going out to breakfast with Akin did not please me in the least. Nothing like sitting there trying to eat on an upset stomach while Akin talked about how wonderful Hannibal was.

Still, my stomach was only upset because I'd skipped meals yesterday and hit the bottle, only to vomit up that mess this morning.

"I'll be out in a moment," I answered.

"Sure! I'll be waiting in the kitchen." I said nothing, only listened to the sound of him leaving the room. I finished bathing and shaving, having gotten rather good at it without having to look in the mirror. I changed back into my casual clothing from yesterday, including my black bomber jacket.

I left the bedroom, only to pull up short at something that churned my stomach.

I had assumed Akin's invitation meant Hannibal wasn't home... which he was.