Genesis [malexmale]

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Six

"Someone pissed in your cornflakes this morning."

Zeus's comment had me snapping my head to look at him as he stood outside one of the meeting rooms, waiting for a family of four, the parents fighting for custody of their dog and flat screen television. He leaned against the wall, looking aloof and cool in his black on black suit, a pair of sunglasses sitting on that damned perfect blonde hair, cold blue eyes sweeping the hallway with an air of cool boredom.

I let my eyes drift back toward the entrance to the building, arching a single brow as I folded my arms over my chest.

"There's a war going on at the same time as your therapy session, and unfortunately, I am involved in both," I answered. Zeus rolled his eyes and pushed off the wall, putting a hand on his hip and giving me a droll look.

"Boo hoo for you. I'll take over your war planning job if you take over my other twenty thousand jobs," he said, to which I snorted.

"No way. I'll take Atlan over marital disputes any day," I assured. Zeus nodded, appearing to completely understand the sentiment. He looked up as the family approached the front doors, using their day pass to get inside, and the entire time, the parents were yelling at each other and the children were fighting over something that looked like a robot doll with a missing eye. Cringing inwardly, I turned to Zeus, who took a deep breath and glanced up at the ceiling, silently praying to a greater power to give him strength.

A smile tickled my lips. Well, I was a greater power in comparison to him.

We disappeared into the meeting room as the family came in. It was several rounds of wife accusing husband of cheating, husband having proof of wife cheating, kids crying about ripping their toy in half in the background, and Zeus rubbing at his temples before he finally confiscated both the dog and the television set and splitting the price of the items to go to husband and wife, neither of whom was happy with the results, but too terrified of Zeus's snarl to actually protest it.

After junking the television and sending the dog to Ares's place, we headed back to Zeus's palace for lunch. I watched him go into the kitchen on the second floor to the side of the living space, preparing a meal on his own.

It was interesting to watch him move around the kitchen, appearing to be oddly comfortable, even in his suit. Although, he draped that black jacket on the back of a chair at the breakfast bar while he worked. His sleeves rolled up and those eyes locked on the ingredients, he moved quickly and threw a bunch of vegetables in a pan. As he worked, I meandered closer to watch his hands crack open a couple eggs single-handedly while his opposite hand moved the skillet.

"And here I thought you had a servant for that," I commented, to which he scoffed.

"I'm not completely helpless," he drawled. Even as he spoke, however, I read the truth loud and clear in his thoughts. He didn't learn to cook because it was a hobby or because he wanted to; he learned to cook after Hera tried to poison him six times in the past.

Six times, I thought, impressed at Hera's persistence. Speaking of the goddess, she had yet to return to Olympus. The only word from her in the past few days was a simple "fuck you and go to hell" letter, plus a "return my items to me" list. To which Zeus responded by not only burning her stuff and pouring the ashes into a box, but adding an exaggerated dildo and a note wishing her well in her life. It appeared these two gods had hated each other for a while, though, if Hera had been poisoning him in the past, while they were still married.

I kept the interesting tidbit about Hera to myself, watching as Zeus broke open a couple of peppers, scraping the insides out onto a paper plate before he chopped with expert skill until they were neatly julienne sliced. He snapped his fingers and started a fire in another burner, getting out another pot and a bag of rice.