Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You wake up the next morning trying to stretch but are pleasantly surprised to find you are still being held by a sort of snoring Antinous. You giggle and try to wiggle out of his arms but he pulls you closer, suffocating you in his chest. You sigh and decide to wait for him to wake up.

Which admittedly takes a bit. He yawns, opening his eyes. He stares at you for a moment and you smile. He scoffs, running a hand through his hair. You look over his body and hum. You left a lot more visible marks than expected. You would be lying if you said he didn’t look appetizing right now.

His hair is messier than usual, curls shifted out of place. His eyes are relaxed, still a bit droopy as he wakes up. All that paired with the bite marks and hickeys from last makes your stomach churn and you shift.

He takes note and side-eyes you with a snicker. He crawls towards you on the bed, grabbing your lips in a kiss. You swallow, sinking into it. When he parts looking you up and down, you hum. “No good morning?”

“I figured we were skipping that, giving your noticeable…” he trails off, fingers trailing to your exposed chest. It’s like you’d forgotten that you didn’t get dressed after last night’s activities. You cover yourself with a blanket and flush. 

“I would be all for some morning after sex, but I am mildly nervous my brother might come to get me if I’m in my room too long… and you need to leave.” You yawn.

Antinous shrugs, tearing the sheets from you. “A quick round then.” He smirks, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you close to feel him under the blankets. 

You give in and lazily lay flat. “Not doing any work, though.” You huff.

Antinous shrugs reaching between your thighs to prep you. His hand coaxes moans and when he deems you wet enough, he rams inside.

Apparently with the two of you quick isn’t exactly a ten minutes and done situation… more like twenty… which is certainly shorter than your activities so far but still… You both dress in silence after and fumble with clothes before the halls get too busy.

He leaves the second he’s presentable… you stare after him and sigh. So, how was it?

Nosy goddess… you turn to see the woman draping herself over your bed. Words can’t describe her beauty, how jaw-droopingly gorgeous she is. You bow your head to acknowledge her. “It was… amazing, really.”

The amount of times he prayed to Ares… you have him twisted around you. The tang of forbidden love. She hums, twirling her hair around her fingers.

“Oh, we’re not…” but you know better than to try to lie to your goddess.

Still avoiding your feelings? She rolls onto her stomach, kicking her legs. With all the years I’ve looked after you… there is finally something just for you and you hesitate. You have no need to share him… no reason not to finally have something that is owned by that woman or her son. The goddess pauses. Is it because of the boy prince?

She likes her gossip… “I… Yes… my feelings for Antinous are wrong… so so soooo wrong. He’s a shitty person, but I enjoy that. His personality is attractive to me… I… and when I get glimpses of a softer man underneath all his ambition… it’s not real but,” You groan, running a hand over your face. “He’s hurt my brother… made my mother’s life agonizing with father’s absence.”

The goddess sighs. Family over love, passion, great sex… you still take me by surprise. Take what you want. Otherwise, you’ll end up in some sad marriage, having passed up on the love of your life.

Little self projection there? But she’s not wrong… if one day this ends and the suitors leave, she’ll have passed any chance with Antinous. “They would hate me.”

So what? She’s never understood your attachment to these mortals who took you in.

“They are my family,” you mumble, brushing through your hair.

She shrugs… mortals and family… you know you’ll have to decide at some point.

She leaves you and you get the inkling she’s not in the happiest or best of moods. You want to take her advice, go to Antinous, have him, but… how could you do that to them? To the woman who took you in? This family didn’t have to raise you. They did not need to take you in the way they did, but they did. This is basically an act of betrayal.

You shake the thoughts away as you finish getting ready for the day. You spend your morning in the gardens glaring down suitors who look in your direction. None approach you and you have suspicion it might have something to do with Antinous. You should thank him later. You thought you would be playing nice and shooing them away like birds for the next who knows how long.

Your thoughts keep drifting back to Antinous and the words of your goddess. You recognized that you had started to catch feelings a few days ago… to have your fears confirmed rattles your thoughts. It’s not that you’re not ready to accept it, you’re terrified. The prospect of loving somebody and letting them see all of your most vulnerable secrets is tantalizing. Why would anybody ever let that happen?

You don’t have much reason to think how you do, but you can’t shake it. The thought of love has plagued you for some time. It’s only made worse when you think of the things Antinous must have done…

Shaking your head, you walk absent-mindedly through the gardens and then the halls. You’re bored and haven’t seen Telemachus even once, so you decide to seek him out.

Which proves harder than expected because he’s not in any of his usual places. You check in the childhood hiding spots and even go to his room to knock, but get no answer. It’s mildly distressing. You want to get closer to him, fix whatever gap started forming between you. You’d been attached at the hip growing up. 

You pause when you hear arguing coming from down the hall… You walk towards the room to see what’s going on. Inside the room you spot Antinous against a wall overlooking your brother and some suitors. “Waste of time.” Antinous grumbles, but he doesn’t move.

“You… take back what you said.” You hear Telemachus and place your hands on the doors. You pause, not wanting to embarrass him by helping him win a fight. “Don’t you ever get bored with calling my mother names?” 

You swallow… is this what he deals with on the daily? The suitors snicker and mock him… they’re just picking on him to mess with him now. “No, but I do get bored with you.” You watch Antinous push off the wall and start leaving in the room.

When the other suitors think he’s gone, they all clump together. Some of them take seats in other stands because they can. “You know… I saw your sister in the garden by herself.” You roll your eyes.

“Oh yeah, I saw her too. She’s got a nasty glare. She’d probably soften up after being shown her place, though.” another jeers sidestepping the fist Telemachus tosses at him. 

“You won’t lay a finger on her!” Telemachus hisses, landing his second punch. 

The five suitors look between one another. They glance through the shadows, looking for the largest of them, and when they do not see Antinous, they take steps towards the boy. “What’s stopping us from doing her like we did the maids?” 

One of their heads gets clocked to the side and you wince…

Since when was the little scared wolf able to fight? Since when did he stand his ground like this? You’re proud of him, a bit surprised but proud. “I’ll… I’ll… you… I won’t let you get close!” He glares before his head gets clocked to the side. “Ow…” you wince at his groan of pain.

“You’d be dead before you managed to stop us, Little Wolf.” The suitor mocks him. And just to prove the point, they gang up on him… 

Your blood boils and you take a step into the room.

“Hey look, the gods must be shining on us.” they kick your brother in the ribs, dismissing him. He looks far more injured than from just this beating. He must have been in another fight yesterday. 

You take a deep breath and step towards them. “Repeat what you said you’d do, my brother. I dare you.” 

The suitors group together. “What? That he’d be dead before he stopped us? What are you gonna-” You sock him in the chin, teeth clenched together.

You raise your head and shake your hand, stepping back. The group narrows their eyes, taking their attention from the prince to you. You place your hands behind your back and your feet move rhythmically along the floor. 

You’ve never felt this pissed off before… this… kick out with your leg, aim for the gut. You recognize quick thought, or at least Ares’ version. Why is this God helping you? Possibly because of his connection to your goddess? Maybe it’s the connection you have to his champion?

You don’t question it, just take his advice. The suitor recoils flat on his ass. You grab one of your knives without thinking and stab one guy in the leg. When another grabs you by the arm, you hear a very long sigh.

Dislocate your shoulder and stab him.

You pause… that’s… does not sound very fun, but you do it anyhow. “Vile fucking beasts.” You curse and stab him in the groin. The suitor steps back before collapsing, holding himself and cursing. Each one stares at you like you're the animal and not them… not the men who threatened to kill your baby brother and then rape you…

You have somebody with the right to fuck you already… they won’t get so much as a breath near you before you hurt them for trying. You take a step towards their cowering form. You feel the familiar breeze pass through you… notice it swirl around the suitors… 

The melodic voice of your goddess and the rough hiss of her lover kill them. They deserve it.

You raise your blade before having to step back, confused as to why Telemachus stands between your blade and the suitors… “They’re down… you’ve done enough. Sis… you…” 

“Enough? They… they threatened your life! Look at you? You’re… can you even move your other arm? They’ve been nothing but nuisances making our lives hell. If they can resort to doing whatever they want, why is there an issue if I decide I’ve had enough of their bullshit?” You narrow your eyes, holding your head high.

Telemachus stares… just stares… this is not his sister… “because it is as bad as they are… we don’t get to decide that we’re done… as awful as it is. I’m used to it… I’m fine.” But he’s not. However, he’s not messed up enough to warrant this… sure eye for an eye, but this… this is a lot more than that. It was hypothetical anyway. They would never act on that. It’s not the first time he’s heard one or two say something along the lines of hurting him that badly.

You scoff, putting away the blades. “You… yeah well, maybe we should start deciding that. Something needs to be done about this mess.” You scoff, turning your back on him.

“Y/n, wait… Sis… I didn’t…” Telemachus watches you storm off before looking at the terrified suitors. He glares at them because this is their fault. He tries to chase after you, but you’re already lost to the different halls of the palace.

Let her sulk. Telemachus sighs, bawling his hands into fists.

“I… should I though? Something is wrong, Athena… This isn’t her. She’s… my sister’s gentle. I remember her being caring and kind… I remember her seeing a hurt rabbit and getting mad when somebody suggested putting it out of its misery… even if that would have been the kind thing to do… she didn’t give up on the animal, nursed it back to health and sent it back out. My sister tended to my wounds without ever looking mad, just empathetic and sad…” His hands clamp tighter as he walks through the halls to get to his room.

The goddess sighs watching his defeated posture. Maybe she’s in a bad week.

“I…” he shakes his head. “No, something is definitely wrong. It’s not the first time… she’s been fidgety and jumpy for at least a month… the things I saw on her neck. How she’s been reacting… I just… I’m worried. She’s my sister… she raised her voice at me… the way she looked right there… she… she reminded me of…” He doesn’t dare finish that sentence…

The suitor who’s usually leading the game? The man named Antinous? The goddess finishes it for him.

“She never used to hold herself like that. Like she was looking down on people. Even when she knew somebody was below, or when somebody did something, she always looked graceful and approachable.” He bites his nails, then tends to his own wounds. 

The goddess pauses, thinking long and hard… eventually she makes up her mind. Antinous is Ares’ champion. Aphrodite is your sister's goddess. I wouldn’t put it past Aphrodite to ask Ares for a hand. He can take that whatever way he’d like. 

Telemachus shrugs, staring at the floor. It’s fine… probably.