Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2011 11:47:14 -0600 From: J Wolfstone Subject: Sons of Sparta, Book 3 - Chapter 23 Sons of Sparta - A Story of the Spartans, Book 3 (inspired by the story 'Spartan' parts 1 through 4) by argouru Note: All credit for the creation of the Spartans and Amazons, as well as the Spartan mythos belongs to the author 'CF', to whom I owe special thanks for his allowing me to write about these incredible people. WARNING: Portions of this installment of the series includes a section regarding mental illness. 23. Ash rolled his eyes and walked away from the door to the living room into the kitchen. "Unbelievable, John and Henry are at it AGAIN!" "Cut them some slack Ash," Steven said with a smile. "Once you find your partner you'll be doing goofy stuff like that too. It's just that they have a really strong bond." "If they have to do stuff like that all the time, then why not just move in together already?" the younger of the two siblings said. Ever since Henry had bought John the cell phone, they had gotten into the habit of each sitting down in front of the TV and watching the same show while talking over the phone, making comments about the program they were watching and saying gentle endearments to each other for at least one hour each evening. "Because John wants a bit more financial stability. You heard the dads talking about him wanting to get a car. Apparently that's what John wants to save up for. Once he has it, he'll move into Henry's place and they'll be together enough that hopefully it won't be painful for them to be apart most of the time like this." "Alright, but you and Giorgos aren't like that. Why is it different for you guys compared to them?" "Because our own bond is a calmer one. It's strong, but not as much so as other peoples'. Giorgos and I are able to handle being apart, even though I really miss him a lot right now. I know that I'll see him for lunch tomorrow at the bistro and that we're spending the weekend together. I just wish we could have someplace private like Henry and John do, It's hard when we both have families and no privacy." "Are you gonna move out soon?" Ash asked, looking slightly saddened by the prospect. "Not for another year or so. It's too crowded here and I'd like to spend time with my partner, but we need to finish school and get up enough money for a place of our own. Why? Don't want to see me leave?" "It's just that with you having a partner I never get to talk with you much anymore," Ash said quietly. Seeing how hurt Ash was, Steven walked over and hugged him tightly. "It's okay Ash. I promise I won't go disappearing off the face of the Earth and leave you all behind. I'll come visit all the time. I mean look at the twins and Henry both before and after he found John. They still come by a lot." "Yeah, I guess," Ash said as he hugged his brother back. "Hey, it'll be alright. One day you'll find your own partner and want to spend most of your time with him too. I promise that I won't leave you behind, Ash. We'll always be brothers, no matter what." Ash hugged his sibling, feeling slightly better even though he felt like his older brothers were drifting away from him because of their partners. He wasn't angry, jealous or resentful... It was that he wanted to stay close to his siblings, yet felt that things weren't like they had been before. *I guess I'll understand once I find my partner,* he thought, trying to picture what that man would be like. Like all Spartans his age, the lad had begun to think about his eventual partner bond and the guy he would share his life with. *Whoever he is, I just hope he's a really interesting guy... Someone different...* Over the course of the week, Daniel had begun to lose his meekness around John, overcoming his shame about terrifying his son-in-law so badly. He felt incredibly guilty and had prayed to Apollo for help in getting his stress under control so that he wouldn't lose his temper like that ever again. Meanwhile, things at the temple fell into a routine for John, who found that he truly enjoyed working there for the most part. He took to praying once a day after his shift, mostly just being thankful for what all he had and not asking for anything. The human didn't want to depend on the god, but also couldn't bring himself to ask what he really wanted to of the Lord of the Sun, feeling unworthy and wanting to deal with his problems on his own, rather than lean on the deity like a crutch. On Friday, he received his first paycheck and that night he treated Henry out to a privately-owned burger joint. They spent the night at Henry's apartment, making love for hours and just being together. The following morning, they went to the temple to take part in morning services, then returned to the apartment and cuddled together in front of the TV until it was time to head over to Sally and Rachel's place, which turned out to be a modest suburban track home. Rachel met them at the door while Sally got the pot roast she was making out of the oven. John entered nervously, wondering if the women would try to spike his food with antipsychotics or simply assume he was insane and have him locked away in a padded cell. Rachel saw his nervousness and frowned to herself, wondering what he was thinking to himself. She let them in as Sally swore from the kitchen. "Shit!" the Amazon exclaimed. "What's wrong, Baby?" Rachel asked with concern, leading the men into the kitchen. The blonde woman sighed. "I think the stove died." "It didn't cook?" Rachel asked with concern, walking over to look at the roast. "Not very much," Sally grumbled. "Maybe I can run it through the microwave." It took some fumbling to move the roast from the metal cook pan to a glass one, but they got it in and started the device up. "We'll have to watch it," Sally said. "I have no idea how long it'll take to cook." "Here," Rachel said, stopping the microwave and setting a new cook time and power setting. "There, it should be ready in about twenty minutes." "You go girl!" Sally said, impressed. "My moms never did use the microwave much, so all my cooking knowledge is stove-based." "Well, in college I had to pretty much live out of microwaves, so it's a talent years in the making... But not too many years!" she finished quickly with a no-nonsense look on her face. With that, the four of them retired to the living room. "Say..." Henry said with relish. "I know what we can do to pass the time," he said, pulling a five-dollar bill out of his pants pocket and waving it at Sally suggestively, who shook her head sadly. "Oh here we go," Rachel said, rolling her eyes in suffering. "You're a real glutton for punishment," the Amazon said, sighing with grief. "Aren't you tired of putting yourself through this again and again?" "Not a chance, Lady," he replied with a grin. "Come on then... Let's get this over with," Sally retorted with an air of suffering. She made her way to the coffee table. "Ah! Ah! Ah!" Rachel countered. "You are not doing that there!" "It only happened once!" Henry protested. "And once was enough, thank you very much," Rachel said with a firm jaw. "You remember the rule! Workbench only for that kind of thing!" "I'll get it," Sally said with a good-natured sigh of suffering. "What's this all about?" John asked with a half-smile, half-frown of confusion. "Sally and I started up a contest," Henry said. "You'll see..." "But why do you have to use a workout bench?" John asked in confusion. "Because they broke the coffee table three months ago doing this," Rachel replied dryly. The Amazon returned in a few moments carrying a weight bench and set it down in the middle of the living room while Henry brought over two folding chairs and set one on each side of the bench. "Did you kiss your money goodbye?" Sally taunted. "Because you're never going to see it again!" "Big talker! Put your money were your mouth is!" Henry retorted with a grin, taking one of the chairs while Sally slapped down a five of her own to add to Henry's. Then they rested their right elbows on the bench and clasped hands. "You ready, Little Man?" Sally taunted, her voice full of cockiness. "Bring it on!" Henry replied with equal enthusiasm, then turned to his partner. "John, give us a countdown, will ya?" Smiling, the human man walked over, placed his right palm over the Spartan and Amazon's clasped hands. "Okay... One... Two... Three!" he said, pulling his hand away with a flourish. The pair of warriors went at it, grunting with effort as they each tried to overpower the other. The battle seemed tied at first, the two combatants beginning to sweat with effort. Then Henry's arm began to bend backwards. "Come on, Henry!" John said encouragingly. "Kick her ass!" "I'm trying!" he groaned out with extreme effort. Sally looked like it was taking everything she had, but the results were clear as her arm leaned farther and farther forward. Finally, Henry's arm slammed down on the padding of the bench and he groaned half in relief and half in disappointment. "Woohoo!" Sally crowed. "Five in a row!" "I would've won if you hadn't cheated," Henry grumbled. "And how exactly did I cheat?" Sally asked, sounding annoyed at the accusation. "You used your muscles, that's how!" Henry retorted, then smiled good-naturedly and shook hands with his best friend to show there were no hard feelings. "I'll get you someday! Mark my words!" "Talk is cheap, Henry," Sally sing-songed. "She really beat you?" John asked his partner with shock, as Sally didn't look quite strong enough to take Henry despite her athletic build. "Yeah..." Henry replied with slight disappointment. "Sally here seems to have gotten more than her share of warrior's strength. I haven't beaten her yet, but I'm hoping someday I can." "If it helps you sleep at night, then sure," Sally said sweetly with a grin. She went to tuck away the money, but John stopped her. "Not so fast, there," the human man said with a smile, pulling out his wallet. "I want a go at one of you. Now that you've softened each other up, I should-" "No John," Henry said with a sad smile tinged with worry. "We can't arm wrestle you. It's not safe." "Oh come on!" John countered with a forced smile. "I'm not some delicate flower here! I think I can take whatever you guys dish out." "We can't," Sally said, looking deeply sorry. "If we tried, we'd just end up breaking your arm." John's face fell. "I'm not a weakling," he countered timidly. "No," Henry said kindly, "but we Spartans and Amazons are way stronger than humans. We'd hurt you without meaning to. I don't want you to risk getting hurt like that. The last thing you need is to have your other arm in a cast." John put away his wallet slowly, feeling deeply hurt, but trying very hard not to show it. "Okay," he said. Rachel saw how much being excluded bothered her new friend and changed the subject quickly. "I know, why don't we talk instead. How about something fun, like who we hated most in high school," she finished with a mischievous grin. Henry saw John's jaw twitch at that. He hadn't told the gals about how John had never completed his education. "Aw! Let's not go into that! How about we talk about something happy instead, like what movies we've seen lately?" They chatted of simple things, John's mood recovering, and soon the food was ready. As they ate, conversation came around to work. "So what kinds of jobs do you have?" John asked the women. "Well," Rachel said. "I'm a stenographer for the city courthouse. It's an interesting job, what with all of the strange people you get to see. You wouldn't believe the kinds of things people try to get away with, not to mention the things folks say! I could tell some stories!" she finished, shaking her head with a sad smile. "What about you?" John asked Sally with a smile. "I," she stated proudly, "am one of the tried and true blue. A police officer of district four." "Oh," John said, brightening. "You're one of the pigs!" he teased with a broad grin. "WHAT?!?" Sally snapped, looking instantly infuriated, and seeming moments away from smacking the man. John's humor vanished instantly. "I... Uh... I was... I-I-I-I was just teasing," he responded timidly, looking afraid of the Amazon's wrath. "I didn't mean it for real! It was just a joke..." he apologized weakly, shocked and afraid of the warrior's sudden fury. "Sally," Rachel said kindly, placing a soothing hand on her partner's shoulder. "He didn't mean it that way. John doesn't understand what you go through every day." "John," Henry said, shocked that his partner would say such a thing. "Sally has a very hard time being accepted on the force. They treat her rather poorly because she's an Amazon. Your joke is was too much like what she goes through every day in terms of verbal abuse from bigoted people who treat her like she's inferior to them for being different. Please don't make jokes like that about her job." John hung his head with shame. "I'm sorry, Sally... Really. I didn't know," he said, feeling horribly guilty. "I'm really sorry," he finished, his voice trembling. Sally calmed down rapidly as she saw just how upset John was at her anger. The sincerity of his apology touched her and the borderline fear in his voice, as though he expected her to leap across the table and begin strangling him, shocked the Amazon. "I forgive you," she said quietly. "Just please don't make jokes like that, okay? It's very difficult to get any respect on my job as it is and even harder when I get insulted like that all the time from people on the street. It's even harder to hear it from friends, but you didn't know, so don't think any more of it, okay?" she said kindly. "Alright," John said, then said barely two words the rest of the evening, much to everyone's concern. As the men went to leave, Sally took pity on Henry's partner at the door. "Hey, don't beat yourself up over it, John. You didn't know, but now you do. I already forgave you, okay? Don't be so hard on yourself. We'll see you in two weeks for the family get together and then two weeks after that for our next monthly get together of our own, alright?" "You mean you're okay with me coming back?" John asked in shock. "What?" Sally exclaimed in mild horror at his reaction. "Of course we are! We'll see you then, okay. Take care," she finished, hugging the human man gently. Rachel kissed him on the cheek, then did the same to Henry. "Thanks for dinner," John said, feeling slightly better. "It was really delicious." "Anytime," Sally said with a smile as they left. Henry stopped at the car and looked at his partner with concern. "Are you alright?" he asked, worried for the man he loved. "Just fine for someone who almost died of foot-in-mouth disease," John answered sullenly. Henry was stunned by the accusation. "John! Sally would never hurt you no matter how angry she got. You were sorry and apologized and that's good enough for her. Don't beat yourself up over it!" "You're right," John said, noting that he really was better nowadays. In the old days of his depression, he would be considering beating himself as punishment for his failure in regards to his hostess. As it was, he felt bad, but not suicidal or self-destructive, only horribly guilty. They drove back to Henry's place, the human remaining silent as they went while cuddled up close beside Henry... "Come on, Dad Walter! Please?" Dennis Junior begged that same evening. The British Spartan sighed. "You do realize that I am supposed to be fundamentally opposed to this day, don't you?" he asked with a frown, glaring around at all of the bright and cheerfully (not to mention obnoxiously) colored packages of novelty explosives Americans used to celebrate their day of independence. "Oh come on!" Junior pleaded. "It's just fireworks. It's not like I'm asking you to overthrow the King or anything!" Walter groaned at his son's disrespectful attitude, but let the matter pass as his child was wholly American by birth and raising. Walter had tried to instill some sound British values in his youngest child, but the lessons seemed to have had minimal effect. *Too much of a Yank for his own good at times,* Walter teased within his mind, but said nothing of his true feelings to the boy. "Can we get it?" the boy pleaded, holding up a large packaged assortment of brightly colored fire hazards. Walter glanced at the pricing sticker and blanched. "We are not spending eighty pounds on colored lights that will be gone and forgotten in an hour!" the parent protested. A human woman nearby looked at him with a frown of confusion at his use of British currency denominations. He still tended to say such things during odd moments, usually in times of stress, despite being a legal resident of the States for nearly three decades now. He sighed and reached for a smaller one that was a quarter of the cost. "What about this one?" he asked. "But there's hardly anything in there!" Junior protested. "But it's much more affordable." The boy sighed, put back the big package and pulled one half its size from the shelf. "Can we at least get this one?" "Well," Walter hedged. "It is more reasonable... Oh alright, but this means no pocket money for the pay period." Junior sulked at that, glancing reluctantly at the package of fireworks and debating with himself. "Okay," he said at last with great effort. Walter pushed the shopping cart away from the supermarket display, shaking his head sadly at the notion of forty -dollars- literally going up in smoke and colored fire...