Welcome to AresJoxerCupidStrife

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Title: Change Is Bad
Author: Christine
Contact: QsMistress23@hotmail.com
Series: Xena/Hercules
Rating: [NC17]
Codes: A/J and C/S
Archive: AJCS and RCOS
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own them. Sure wish I did though, cause they'd be spending all their time butt naked in bed with me. :-)
Feedback: Yeah! That'd be way cool!
Author's Note: 1. This story is mainly about Strife, but there will be other people mentioned too.
Acknowledgements: Once again, I would like to thank my three wonderful and very helpful betas; Kris, Sherri and Hergerbabe. Without the help and support of these lovely ladies, my stories would suck rocks and I'd be at home counting the pencils I have in my ceiling. So, without further ado...
Summary: Strife's bored, so decides to mess around in Aphrodite's potions. Of course, something goes wrong and some interesting things begin to happen.

Sitting on his bed, in his room, which just happened to be located in his uncle's temple; Strife sighed. The one time he actually got a day off and he had absolutely nothing to do.

He was bored.

Not just bored, but unbelievably so.

Sighing once again, he looked around his room. It wasn't a large room, but he liked it. No one ever bothered him here, unless it was Ares or Discord. Of course, they only did so if he slept in too late and they went there to get him.

As he looked around, he decided he should do some cleaning. Unc kept pestering him about it anyway, saying that Gods, especially Gods who represented the House of War, should set an example.

Sometimes he wondered if Ares was secretly a neat freak.

With a wave of his hand, Strife cleaned the entire room. //Well, *that* didn't help!//

He sighed some more. He decided that next time; he would do it by hand.

As he continued to sit there, absentmindedly picking lint balls from his leathers, a thought suddenly came to him.

He's the God of Mischief! So how come he wasn't out there causing...well, mischief?

Smacking himself on the forehead for missing such an obvious thing to relieve his boredom; Strife took a few moments to contemplate what, or rather who, he would grace his wondrous talents on.

Giggling insanely to himself as an idea struck, he disappeared in a shower of blue sparkles.

****************

Double-checking to be sure he was invisible to mortals, Strife tiptoed his way through the small camp. Deciding it would be best that his victims...er...the mortals, not suddenly wake up, Strife placed a temporary sleep spell on them.

With a wave of his hand, Strife let loose a giggle of joy as he caused mischief to fall on the unsuspecting mortals.

Strife took a step back to examine his work. //Not bad if I do say so myself.// Giggling like a madman, Strife nodded his approval at the results of his boredom and flashed out before the sleep spell could wear off. He was only a minor God after all.

***************

Sensing the unmistakable presence of a God near by, Xena woke with a start. Glancing around their surroundings cautiously, her gaze stopped upon seeing Gabrielle, who had woken at about the same time as Xena did.

Too involved with what she was seeing, she didn't hear Gabrielle asking, "Xena, why am I wearing your clothes?"

***************

Strife rematerialized inside of a temple.

He had to shield his eyes briefly at the brightness of it. As his eyes finally adjusted, he cringed back a bit.

He was in a white and pink room. There were pink and red roses scattered here and there in vases. Not to mention the presence of doilies draped over every single piece of furniture. //Ick! Gaudy much? These people ever hear of black?//

Twitching a bit at the coziness of his surroundings, Strife made his way towards his aunt's potion table. He sniffed disdainfully at all the clear pink bottles lined neatly in rows. //Well, now I know what to get aunt Dite for her birthday,// he thought as he looked over the large collection of bottles and vials.

Looking around the table for an empty one, he began to choose different potions randomly. As he finished picking out which ones he wanted to use, he began to snicker in glee as he mixed all the potions together into the empty one.

Finished, he held the open vial up in triumph, grinning wickedly.

While he was admiring his handy work, he jumped and spilt the contents of the vial onto himself when he heard muted voices coming towards him.

Muttering curses his mother would be proud of, he cleaned up his mess and quickly flashed out of Dite's temple and flashed back to his room at Ares'.

*****************

"I'm telling you, Cupie, it was bound to happen," Aphrodite said as she walked into her potion room with Cupid tagging along behind her.

"Yes, mom, I know that. But what about Bliss? Shouldn't he have *both* his parents there for him?" Cupid asked, agitated.

"Look, sweetie," she began as she scanned the room. She could have sworn she had felt someone in here not too long ago. "I told you this would happen. Your love arrows *do* affect us Gods, but they only last for a short amount of time. Remember, I like, tried telling you not to marry Psyche, but you insisted on doing so anyway."

Cupid folded his arms across his chest and huffed. "Mom, I told Psyche I would try and work it out with her for Bliss' sake, but she just smiled sweetly, patted me on the cheek and told me to get ready to see grandma in a few days."

Aphrodite turned her attention back onto Cupid. "So, what's the problem?"

"Mom! She wants us to see Hera so we can get divorced!" When all his mother did was shrug her shoulders in a 'so?' gesture, Cupid threw his hands up into the air.

"Shit, mom! You're worse than pops was. At least he said he felt sorry for me. You don't seem to care at all!"

Having had enough of this particular conversation, Aphrodite glared at her son. "You listen to me, Eros!"

//Shit!// Cupid winced back at his mother's tone. //I like, really pissed her off. She's using my given name.//

"I've had it up to here," She had her hand just above her head. "If Psyche doesn't want to stay married to you any longer cause you no longer love her, then let her go. Do you really want to like, stay married to someone you don't love anymore?" Cupid opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by his mother. "Besides, Cupie, it's for the best. Someday you'll look back on this and be thankful you didn't stay with her."

Cupid pouted. He really hated it when his mother was right about something.

He had already discussed with his wife about who would keep Bliss. He had been humoring her when she had continued on about the divorce. She had asked him if he would want to get custody of their son since she had family who needed her to help them out with their farm. Her family's farmland was decaying and she had volunteered to help them out in any way she could.

Cupid had agreed. He loved his son more then life itself and couldn't stand to be away from him for longer than was necessary.

Cupid slouched his shoulders, making the bottom of his wings barely touch the floor and sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll go through with it. But this totally sucks ass!"

Aphrodite brightened up at that and once again became her overly bouncy self. "I'm glad to hear it. Now, if you will excuse me. I'm late for a 'meeting' with Hephy." She gave her son a quick hug and flashed out in a shower of golden sparkles and rose petals.

"Have fun," Cupid said to the vacant spot his mother had been standing in.

Sighing, he too flashed out in a shower of golden sparkles.

****************

Strife materialized in his room. He let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding. That had been a close call!

Sniffing himself, he discovered that he smelled a bit fruity. He realized that he had spilt whatever it was he had concocted onto himself. //Gods, I hope it wasn't some weird love potion.// Stripping out of his leathers, he made his way towards the bathing chamber that was adjacent to his room.

He could have just thought himself clean, but he had a sudden urge to submerge himself in some nice warm water.

Once he was inside his bathing chamber, he waved his hand and the tub filled with warm soapy water. As he settled himself into the tub, he let out a contented sigh and began to wash himself.

*****************

Ares pounded into the moaning, writhing form beneath him. Bringing his handbetween their bodies, he gripped his lover's erection and began stroking itin time with his thrusts.

His lover groaned his completion, shooting his cum onto their chests andbellies.

Ares came a few moments after; his orgasm ripped from his body as the spasmsin his lover's ass milked his cock dry.

Sweating and panting, Ares collapsed onto his lover.

"Oomph! Ares, move! You're heavy!" Joxer cried as he half-heartedly pushedat Ares.

Summoning what little strength he had left, Ares lifted his head and lookedJoxer in the eyes. "Sorry," he grumbled as he slid off of Joxer and onto thebed.

Joxer turned onto his side, resting his head on his raised hand and smileddown at Ares.

"You know, for a God, you sure do get winded easily in bed," he teased.

Ares cracked open an eye to glare at Joxer. "I didn't hear you complaining."

Joxer grinned. "Me? Complain about getting fucked into the mattress by you?Never!"

Ares closed his eye and groaned. "Joxer, my love, you're a very strangelittle mortal." At Joxer's 'hrmph' of mock hurt, Ares reopened his eye andgave Joxer a half smile. "But I still love you."

"That's always good to know," Joxer replied as he leaned forward and lightlykissed Ares.

When Ares cleared his throat, Joxer smirked at him. "What?"

"You forgot something."

"Did I?" Joxer teased, smiling.

This time, Ares lifted his head and gave Joxer a full glare. "Yes, you did."

Joxer feigned thinking it over until Ares' glare became a pout. Gigglinglike a fool at Ares' expression, Joxer replied, "I love you too, Ares."

Ares smiled briefly at Joxer, then closed his eyes once more. For somereason Ares couldn't fathom, Joxer always wore him out. Finding himselfdrifting off to sleep, Ares mumbled sleepily, "'Night, Joxer."

"'Night, Ares."

******************

Aphrodite silently flashed into Ares' bedchamber. From the vibes she hadfelt, she had a feeling she knew what Ares had been doing and hadn't wantedto disturb him.

Normally, she wouldn't think much of disturbing someone's 'fun', but shehadn't felt like being blasted to Tartarus.

Silently, she made her way towards Ares' bed. She paused for a moment totake a good look at the two men.

Joxer lay sprawled out over most of the bed, mumbling something aboutkicking a gaggle of hydras collective asses.

She threw a hand over her mouth to quiet her giggle fit at that one.

Ares was curled into a tight ball, precariously perched on the edge of thebed.

This was the first time she had ever seen the two men asleep together in thesame bed. She knew Ares and Joxer were in love, but she definitely had togive Ares credit. How he managed to sleep like that, she'd never know.

Shaking her head at the weird sleeping arrangements, she continued to movequietly towards Ares. Bending down, she gently shook Ares' shoulder.

Ares twitched a bit, but didn't wake up.

Sighing a sigh of the long suffering, she shook him once more. Harder thistime.

Ares curled tighter into a ball. "Damnit, Joxer! Even us Gods have limits!"He murmured in his sleep.

Losing patience, Aphrodite grabbed hold of the sensitive skin at the back ofAres' arm and pinched it...hard.

Ares let out a scream, albeit in a manly sort of way, jerked awake, and fellright over the side of the bed.

Joxer slept on, oblivious to Ares' predicament.

Springing to his feet, sword at the ready, Ares' eyes wildly darted to andfro. He'd mutilate whomever it had been that had woken him up.

When he caught sight of his sister standing a few feet in front of him,hands on her hips, he relaxed his stance a fraction.

"Dite? What in Tartarus are you doing here in my *private* bedchamber?"

Before she replied, she suddenly noticed that Ares was standing in front ofher, sword half-drawn, naked as the day he was born.

"Uh, Ar? You may want to, like, put some pants on or something," sheobserved, holding back an unladylike snort of laughter.

Ares rolled his eyes. "It's not like you've never seen it before."Aphrodite just stood in front of him, tapping her foot. Sighing, Aresthought on some pants. "Better?"

"Much."

"Good." Ares moved closer to Aphrodite. "Now, please tell me why exactlyyou're here?"

Aphrodite crossed her arms across her impressive chest. "It's about yournephew."

Ares blinked. "Which one?"

"Strife of course," Aphrodite growled, or what sounded like a growl. Comingfrom Aphrodite, Ares couldn't tell for sure.

Ares made his sword disappear before sighing. "What did he do now?"

"He was in my temple messing around with my potions."

Ares looked blankly at his sister. "So? It's his job."

"Like, duh! What I'm *trying* to tell you is that he was mixing differentones together." As Ares shrugged his shoulders in indifference, Aphroditethrew her hands up into the air. "Ares, he has *no* idea what he might haveconcocted! It could turn out to be something permanent."

Ares crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. "And what does thishave to do with me?"

"If he got *any* of it onto himself, it could mean real problems forhim...and others."

"Shit," Ares whispered.

"That's the understatement of the century."

****************

Strife woke up rubbing his chest. For some damn reason, the area around hisnipples was sore.Ignoring the discomfort, Strife rubbed the sleep from his eyes and flashedon his clothing. Dressed and ready for the day, he flashed out of his roomin a shower of blue sparkles.

***************

Ares was pacing the length of his throne room, worry clear on his face.

Sprawled out on Ares' throne, Joxer followed Ares' movements withundisguised amusement.

Now usually, Ares would decimate anyone who dared to sit on *his* throne,but when it came to Joxer, he always turned the other cheek. One, Joxer washis lover. And two, it kept Joxer's overactive libido at bay.

"If you keep pacing like that, you'll wear a hole into the floor."

Ares stopped his pacing long enough to raise an eyebrow at his lover. "Whatwould you have me do?" Before Joxer could reply, Ares held up a hand."Never mind. Don't answer that. I *know* what you would rather have medoing."

Joxer blinked his eyes in mock innocence. "Why, Ares, you wound me. I havenothing but good intentions."

Ares snorted. "Uh huh, sure." Ares continued his pacing. "I can't help it.Strife might have done something really stupid this time. Dite's right. Wehave no way of knowing what exactly Strife was doing in her potion room. Ifhe unknowingly mixed some strange potion together and got it on himself..."

"That'd be bad juju?" Joxer interrupted.

Ares stopped his pacing to stare at his lover. "Very bad."

Just then, Strife materialized inside Ares' throne room. Looking around, henoticed Joxer sitting on Ares' throne. "Hey, Jox." Strife then turnedtowards Ares. "Hey, unc. S'up?"

"Strife, tell me something. Were you out causing mischief yesterday?" Aresasked as he raised an eyebrow while folding his arms across his chest.

Unsure of what would happen if he told the truth, Strife answered, "Maybe."

Before Ares could reply, Joxer interrupted him. "Strife, Aphrodite came bylast night worried about you." Strife's eyebrows raised high up at thatstatement. "She told Ares that you were in her potion room mixing differentones together."

"I didn't mix anything *that* bad. Just a few love potions. She didn't useany of it, did she?"

"No, she didn't." Walking over to Strife, Ares placed a hand on hisshoulder. "You didn't happen to spill anything on yourself, did you?" Aresasked, searching Strife's face for any sign of apprehension.

Strife nervously backed away a bit. "I might have. Why?"

"Damn," Ares whispered. Turning around, he walked away from Strife andmoved towards Joxer. Ares gave his lover a brief look before calling forhis sister. "Aphrodite!"

Aphrodite appeared in a flash of golden sparkles and rose petals. "Ares, Ireally hate it when you yell like that. I *was* trying to sleep for Zeus'sa..." Aphrodite stopped her complaining when Ares let out a bark oflaughter. "What?"

"Ahem. That's definitely a new look for you, Dite," Ares snickered.

"Huh?" Aphrodite looked questioningly at Ares. Producing a mirror, Arespointed it in Aphrodite's direction. What she saw made her gasp inembarrassment. Having been woken up so abruptly, Aphrodite had forgotten tochange her appearance. She had flashed into Ares' temple wearing whatappeared to be a T-shirt, raggedy sleep shorts, curlers in her hair and nomake-up. "Ack!" With a quick wave of her hand, she was once again adornedin her usual barely-covering-anything outfit, and her hair and make-up wereperfect.

Even after Aphrodite changed outfits, Ares continued to snicker and actuallygiggled.

"You know, I've always wondered what you wore to bed, Aunt Dite," Strifesaid as he walked over to his uncle and produced a glass of water for him.

Ares accepted the glass and took a drink from it. Aphrodite had her handson her hips, tapping her foot in anger. "It's not funny, Ar!"

"Oh yes, yes it is," Ares replied between snorts of laughter.

Aphrodite crossed her arms as a wicked grin began to form on her face.Turning, she caught sight of Joxer. "Say, Joxie. Did Ares ever mention toyou that he used to suck his thumb to get to sleep when he was with me?"

Joxer raised an eyebrow and threw an amused look towards Ares.

Strife burst out in a mad fit of giggles.

"No, he never told me about that. I bet you looked *so* cute too," Joxerreplied while Ares glared at him. Seeing the look Ares was giving him,Joxer giggled and blew a kiss to his lover.

Strife clutched his stomach, bending over with hysterical whoops oflaughter. "Di...did you sleep with a stu...stuffed bear too, Unc?" Strifeasked as he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes.

Ares growled at his nephew. "Oh, ha ha." Ares crossed his arms and snarledat his sister. "Can we get back to the matter at hand?"

Before Aphrodite could reply, Cupid flashed in.

"Well, it's been done," Cupid announced.

"What's been done?" Ares asked, giving his son and sister a curious look.

Aphrodite jumped in, sparing their son from having to explain.

"His divorce from Psyche."

"Oh," Ares nodded.

"You two got divorced? Why?" Strife was surprised about this news, he hadthought their marriage was a happy one.

Cupid was about to explain when his mother jumped in once again. "Well, longstory short. Psyche found out that the arrow wore off and didn't want Cupiehere to 'suffer' with her anymore, so she bugged out and left Bliss withCupie since she knew Cupie wouldn't be able to cope without him. Course,now she's mortal once again and helping her family out on their farm."

"Wow, Aunt Dite. How'd you get all that out in one breath?" Strife asked,giggling like a maniac.

"Well, you see, she sucks so much cock that she has to be able to do a lotof stuff on one intake of breath," Ares answered for Aphrodite, who threwhim a dirty look full of venom.

"Um, ooo-kay, total eew here. I *so* didn't need to know that shit aboutMom," Cupid grimaced.

"Don't feel too bad, Cupe. At least you've never actually seen Dite doanything squick worthy. I remember this one time I had walked in on my momdoing something really strange to a horse and..."

"*Eew*!" Came three voices at once, cutting Strife off.

"Strife, sweetie. That was a hell of a lot more info than I really needed toknow about Eris," Aphrodite said, shivering in horror at the mental picturethat statement had brought on.

"Indeed," Ares agreed. "I don't think I'll ever be able to look at Eris or ahorse in the same way ever again." Aphrodite nodded along, still quiveringwith ickiness.

"Hey, guys?" Joxer began, getting everyone's attention. "As fascinating asthis all is, shouldn't we be worrying about what might happen to Strife?"

Cupid blinked at Joxer. "Why? What happened to Strife?" He and Strifenever really had any dealings together, but still, Strife was his cousin andhe didn't like seeing anything bad happen to any member of his family. Noteven to his darker family members.

Ares walked over to his sister. "Yes. What *will* happen to him?" he asked,crossing his arms over his broad chest.

Aphrodite backed up a step. "I don't know for sure what'll happen to him.If anything even will happen. I'll still have to go to the Halls of Time toreplay that day, so I'll have an idea of exactly what he mixed together."Looking Strife over, she continued. "One thing I do know though, is that itwasn't a like, lust, or love potion since he isn't fawning all over thefirst person he set his eyes on."

Strife glanced nervously at Joxer. "Well, I'm definitely sure that you'reright, Aunt Dite, or it would've been Joxer." At Ares' heated look, Strifequickly went on. "He's the first person I saw when I showed up and besides anormal friendship feeling of like, I don't feel a thing for him."

"I'm glad to hear that," Ares growled low in his throat.

Aphrodite rolled her eyes at Ares. "Anyway, while I'm reliving the past,we'll need to have someone watch Strife. Just to make sure he stays okay."

"I'll do it," Cupid chimed in. When four sets of eyes turned his way, Cupidcleared his throat. "Hey, I have nothing else to do. I'm like, totallycaught up on my work for the next week or two, so this'll give me somethingconstructive to do."

Strife shrugged his shoulders. "Sounds fine to me. I'd like to hang outwith Bliss anyway. He's such a good mischief maker." He sniffed suddenly."Damn, but he makes me proud."

"Uh huh," Ares raised an eyebrow. "Okay, since that's settled, I'll haveEris take over your duties until we get this taken care of."

"Ah, Unc," Strife whined. "There's nothing wrong with me. Can't I still domy job? Mom will just screw it up."

Ares walked towards his nephew, grabbing his arm as he pulled them away fromlistening ears. "Look, Strife. I know you can still do your job just fine,but I don't want to take any chances here, okay? Just do me a favor and staywith Cupid."

"Aw, Unc. I didn't know you cared," Strife sniffed.

Ares turned his head to glance quickly at the others. "Yes, well, just don'tgo spreading it around, alright?"

"Gotcha."

Nodding, Ares walked back over towards the others with Strife happilyfollowing after.

Seeing Ares and Strife making their way back over, Aphrodite spoke up."Well, I'm off. I'm not sure how long I'll have to scan through the mirrors,but I'll let you all know if I find anything. Later!" With that, shedisappeared in a shower of golden sparkles and rose petals.

Once Aphrodite left, Joxer got up from Ares' throne and walked over to hislover. When he got close enough, Joxer leaned forward and whisperedsomething into Ares' ear. Ares stood-stock still and cleared his throat.Turning his attention onto his son and nephew, "Joxer and I have some thingsto take care...of," Ares squeaked the last part out as Joxer moved his handdown Ares' pants and stuck his finger up Ares' ass.

Strife giggled and Cupid just rolled his eyes.

Trying desperately to get himself somewhat under control, Ares growled lowin his throat before flashing off with Joxer.

When Ares and Joxer disappeared, Strife fell on to the floor, laughing hisass off. Cupid dropped his head into his hands and shook it inexasperation. "Are you finished yet?" Cupid asked, placing his hands ontohis hips.

Strife let a few more giggles escape before picking himself up off thefloor. "Yeah, I'm done."

"Good. Aunt Hestia will be coming by my temple to drop Bliss off, so we'llneed to head on over there. Is there anything you need to get before weleave?"

Strife thought for a moment. "Nah. If I do need anything, I can always justzap it to your place."

Cupid smiled. "Okay, cool. Let's go then." With that, the two of themflashed out in a burst of light.

****************

Reappearing inside of Cupid's temple, Strife cringed at all the bright colors. "Damn, Cupe. You're just like your mom. Is there anything wrong with having a few dark colors instead of so much white?"

Cupid rolled his eyes and walked over to a sofa before sitting down. "Strife, bright colors are great for setting the right mood. If I suddenly turned everything darker, I might as well call myself Ares and be done with it."

"Whatever. So, what have you been up to recently? I don't see you around Unc's place too much unless you're dropping Bliss off," Strife said as he took a seat next to his cousin.

Cupid splayed himself out, trying to get more comfortable. "Not much really. Most of my days are filled with going over my mother's list of mortals to shoot. It gets boring after awhile. Find the couple to shoot; aim and fire. My job usually stops at that point. Mom actually does most of the work. I get to play target practice."

"Wow, cool. You think I could try it some day? I'd love to be able to shoot mortals in the ass and watch them fall all over each other," Strife said, giggling madly until tears ran down his face.

Cupid raised an eyebrow at his demented cousin. "Uh, yeah. Strife, did anyone ever tell you that you have a few screws loose?"

"Yup. Mom and Unc, everyday."

"Wonderful," Cupid sighed and shook his head. "That makes me feel so much better."

Before Strife could reply, there was a flash of blue light. The two godlings looked up and saw Hestia standing before them with Bliss cradled in her arms.

"Hey, Aunt Hest. S'up?"

Hestia smiled brightly at her two great-nephews. "Hi, sweeties! Nothing much really, just dropping Bliss off."

Hearing his name, Bliss woke up, took a quick look around and spotted his daddy. It was a good thing Hestia let go when she did or she would have had an arm full of feathers.

"Daddy!" Bliss squealed as he launched himself from out of Hestia's grasp and into his father's waiting arms.

"Hey, squirt. Have you been a good boy for your Aunt Hestia?" Cupid asked as he gave his son a big kiss on the cheek.

Bliss bounced up and down in Cupid's lap. "Yeah! We's had lots of fun pwaying wid da horsies!"

"I'm glad you had fun, sweetie." Looking up at Hestia, Cupid smiled. "Thanks, Aunt Hestia."

Hestia beamed happily. "No problem at all. He was such a sweetie. I'm more then happy to look after him for you." Frowning, Hestia suddenly changed the subject. "How are you? Did everything go okay with you and Psyche?"

Cupid sighed sadly. "Yeah. We went to see grandma earlier and got everything straightened out. Psyche's now living with her family. But I told her I'd bring Bliss by to see her every so often so he wouldn't miss her too badly."

Hestia smiled lightly at her great-nephew. She knew it was going to be a bit hard on Cupid, but she had no doubt he'd be fine with time. "Well, my sweets, I've got to go. Cupid, if you need me to watch Bliss again, just call me." With that, she waved good-bye and flashed out in a burst of blue sparkles.

When the light died down, Cupid got up from the sofa with Bliss clinging to him. "Come on, sweet pea. We have to give you a bath and get you ready for bed."

Bliss squealed with joy and wiggled in his father's arms until Cupid let him down onto the floor. "Kay, me get water ready?"

"Sure. Don't run," Cupid called out as Bliss ran then slowed down when his father told him not to run. Smiling, Cupid turned to Strife. "Want to help me give Bliss his bath?"

"Sure. Lemme change out of my leathers though. If he's like any normal two year old, I'll be the one to end up wet instead of him."

Walking towards the bathing chamber, Cupid called over his shoulder, "Alright. I'll see you in a bit then."

Once Cupid was out of sight, Strife flashed his leathers off and replaced them with a simple cotton shirt and pants. Once he finished changing clothes, Strife walked down the hall and into the bathing chamber. He held back a chuckle at seeing Bliss happily splashing his father. Shaking his head, Strife went over to join Cupid and Bliss.

****************

Aphrodite was bored out of her skull looking through all the mirrors in the Halls of Time. Some of the stuff she had to go through made her wish she hadn't seen it. Others, she planned to use in the future as blackmail if they ever gave her grief. She paused on one mirror when it began playing the night before when Ares and Joxer were knocking boots. She'd have to remember to record that one for her own personal viewing.

As she went through the third mirror, almost ready to give up and say the heck with it, she finally found what she had been looking for. "Finally!"

She brought the scene of Strife messing around with her potions up closer so she could see exactly what he had been mixing. She went through her memories to recall what each vial contained. She gasped in shock when she finally realized what it was he had mixed together.

"Uh oh. This isn't good at all."

Biting her lower lip, she briefly considered going on an extended vacation. She definitely wasn't looking forward to telling Ares what she had found. Glancing once more as the mirror replayed itself, she shook her head. She *really* didn't want to tell Ares.

****************

{Splash!}

Strife materialized a towel and wiped the water from his face. Lowering the towel, he raised an eyebrow at Bliss, who broke out in giggles and splashed Strife again. They'd been playing for a long time and Cupid was almost as pruney as Bliss. Now Bliss was targeting him. Bliss stopped giggling and Strife blinked at the little scrunched up face peering at him.

"S'up, short man?" Strife asked.

"You look like my mommy," Bliss started giggling again.

"Huh?" Strife frowned in confusion. Cupid looked at him and gaped. Strife backed away nervously.

"You's got bigger boobies than mommy though," Bliss commented as though it was perfectly natural.

"What?!" Strife squeaked. He looked down and nearly fainted. His wet T-shirt was plastered revealingly against what, under any other circumstances, he would have considered beautiful and perky, large breasts. Breasts! On *his* chest! "Breasts," he whispered and flashed out of the room before Cupid could reach him.

"Damn," Cupid sighed. "Bliss, time for bed now, I'm afraid."

"Aw, daddy," Bliss pouted.

"No, bed, I've got to go and see if Strife is all right, okay?" Cupid said firmly.

"'Kay, daddy," Bliss continued to pout but let himself be dried off, dressed in his jammies and plopped into bed.

"Night, sweetie." Cupid kissed Bliss. Bliss yawned,

"Night, daddy. Is Stwifey gonna be a mommy now?"

Cupid blinked, "Uh, I, uh don't know." Cupid left his son and concentrated on Strife's signature, flashing to his room. He stood stock still at the picture presented to him.

A naked and entirely female and wow, very attractive, Strife standing in front of his, uh, her mirror. But Strife was crying. Cupid hurried over.

"Strife?" Cupid said quietly, not wanting to spook his cousin.

"Am I?"

"Huh?" Cupid frowned.

"Strife, am I Strife?" Strife turned round, eyes wild. "I had a dick, not an amazing dick, but it was nice, ya know, and it was there." Strife gestured between his legs. "And now it's gone and I have these things." He touched his breasts, "Do you know how annoying these are? And heavy?! And my face, look at my face! I, I, oh Gods!" he wailed.

Cupid took a deep breath. He was completely out of his depth, but Strife was terrified and upset. He had to do something. "Strife, calm down now, it's going to be okay," he whispered soothingly. "Come and sit down." He led his cousin to the bed and sat him, no her, down, materializing a glass of water and flashing a T-shirt and loose pants onto his cousin.

"Now drink this, and I'll get mom and dad," Cupid continued.

Strife choked on the water he'd, uh, she'd started drinking, "No, no, no, no! Not Unc, please, not Unc!" Strife flopped back on the bed and burst into tears again. Cupid sighed and pulled his cousin into his arms, rocking soothingly. "Let me get mom at least?"

Strife sniffed and snuggled deeper, nodding quietly. When Cupid tried to move, he, she panicked. "No, don't leave me!" he, uh, she whimpered, holding tighter.

"Shh, it's okay." Cupid pulled them onto the bed and up against the wall. "I'll call her, okay?"

Strife nodded. "Okay," he, no, she whispered.

****************

Aphrodite was still in the Halls of Time, *not* looking forward to springing the news on her brother, when she heard Cupid call for her. Glad for the excuse not to go see Ares right away and wondering why her son deemed to call on her, she flashed out.

****************

"You called, sweetie?" Aphrodite asked once she rematerialized inside of Cupid's temple. Before Cupid could respond, Aphrodite quirked an eyebrow at the other occupant on the bed. "Who's your, uh, friend, Cupie?"

Cupid got up from the bed, but was yanked back down by a terrified Strife. Sighing in defeat, Cupid looked up at his mother. "This is Strife, Mom."

Aphrodite blinked a couple of times, swayed a bit and then suddenly collapsed onto the edge of Cupid's bed. "Wanna run that by me again?"

Cupid rolled his eyes. His mother could be *so* melodramatic. "I said this is Strife."

"That's what I thought you said," Aphrodite sighed. Glancing briefly at Strife in her new form, Aphrodite sighed once more. "So, when did this happen?"

Wincing at the tight hold Strife had on his hand, Cupid replied, "About five minutes ago while we were in the middle of giving Bliss his bath."

Aphrodite hummed for a moment before getting up from the bed. "Okay, this isn't good. I looked through the mirrors in the Halls of Time and found what Strife had mixed together. Judging by his, uh, her appearance, I'd say I was correct in my assessment."

Having been silent after Cupid had called for Aphrodite, Strife finally spoke up. "Lemme guess. I accidentally concocted a sex change potion." This was more statement then question.

"Yes, but I have bad news," Aphrodite replied.

Strife laughed till tears were pouring down her cheeks. "You mean *this* isn't the bad part?"

Aphrodite grimaced at Strife's hysterics. "Unfortunately, no. I..."

"Oh, please. Do go on. I'm all ears," Strife growled. She was definitely curious as to what could be much worse than changing sexes against her will.

Aphrodite cleared her throat nervously. "Well, it seems not only did you succeed in rendering yourself female, you also inadvertently came up with a permanent potion."

There was a hysterical scream and then silence as the two Love Gods turned to the now passed out Mischief Goddess.

****************

Cupid sighed and shook his head, poor Strife. Very gently he patted his cousin's face, noting the slight changes in bone structure and features.

"Strife," he whispered. He glanced over at his mother, who was watching him with a curious expression. "A little help here, Mom?!" Cupid snapped.

Aphrodite shook her head and crawled onto the bed, she lifted Strife up a little and slapped her.

"Mom!" Cupid exclaimed as Strife woke with a yelp.

Strife looked up at them and smiled. "Aunt Dite? I was having the weirdest�" Her face fell. "It, it wasn't a dream, was it?" Strife winced at Aphrodite's apologetic expression. She panicked, wrenched herself out of Aphrodite's grasp and threw herself at Cupid, who just managed to catch her and not fly back off the bed.

Strife burst into tears, and promptly panicked again, she wasn't used to crying. She tried to burrow into Cupid's chest, somehow feeling more normal in her cousin's arms.

Cupid sighed again and grimaced at his mother, whose lips were twitching with slight amusement. He tentatively patted Strife's back and stared pleadingly at his mother again.

"Now, Strife, it's going to be okay, you know," Aphrodite started hesitantly.

Strife snorted. "Really," she mumbled against Cupid's chest, making him squirm. "How's that? You gonna fix this?" Strife sat up slightly and wiped her face, glaring at Aphrodite. She stayed as close to Cupid as possible.

"Strife, I can't." Aphrodite sighed, "I wish I could, but this isn't exactly my fault you know."

Strife's lip trembled and she leaned into Cupid a little, who rolled his eyes but squeezed his cousin gently. "Yeah, yeah I know," Strife sniffed. "This is all my fault. Isn't everything?!"

"Well, I don't know about 'everything' being your fault, but this definitely is. You were the one who decided to..." Aphrodite was suddenly interrupted by Strife crying louder.

Cupid threw his mother a dirty look. "Mom! You're not exactly helping here!"

Before Aphrodite could respond, Strife jerked up out of Cupid's embrace and frantically looked around the room. Cupid eyed his cousin with concern. "Strife, what's wrong?"

"Unc!" Strife whimpered pitifully. "He's calling me to his temple! What am I gonna do? I can't go there like this by myself!" Strife once again broke down in tears.

****************

Ares and Joxer rematerialized inside of their bed chamber, Joxer's finger still firmly planted inside of Ares' ass. Leaning against Ares' back, Joxer got close enough to whisper into Ares' ear, "*My* turn."

Ares whimpered at the thought of his boyfriend taking him and nodded sharply. Joxer smiled at Ares' affirmation. Pushing his finger deeper into Ares' quivering hole, Joxer barked, "Clothes. Gone. Now!"

Most of the time, Joxer wasn't so aggressive, but he was when it was his turn to do the boinking. Groaning at the feel of Joxer's finger turning and slowly loosening his opening, Ares flashed their clothes away. Joxer moaned quietly once their clothes had vanished.

Since they had materialized in the middle of the room, Joxer, using his captured finger, maneuvered Ares towards the closest wall. He'd always wanted to take Ares up against a wall. More often then not, they'd always wind up in bed to do their boot knocking. So, Joxer decided he'd be adventurous this time.

Once Joxer got them situated where he wanted them, he began running his free hand up and down Ares' softly furred chest. Ares began to squirm a bit at the teasingly light touches Joxer was bestowing on him. As Joxer continued to run his hand over his boyfriend's chest, he'd stop occasionally on a nipple, tweaking it into hardness before moving onto the other. He was a lot more flexible than people gave him credit for.

Finished with his perusal of Ares' nipples, Joxer then slowly began to move his hand down to Ares' cock. Joxer smirked, feeling Ares' cock already beginning to harden. Ares was moaning in ecstasy as Joxer softly, yet firmly, ran his hand up and down his shaft. Ares let out a very un-War God like squeal when Joxer collected some of the fluid beginning to leak out of his shaft, smearing it all over the flushed head.

Ares began rocking his hips back and forth, thrusting into Joxer's hand while rubbing his ass along Joxer's own hardening cock. Joxer groaned out loud, enjoying the sensation. Taking his hand away, Joxer once again leaned close to Ares' ear. "Oil, please."

"Uh huh." Was all Ares was able to say as he complied with the soft command.

Joxer shuddered deeply as he felt his finger slide easily in and out of Ares' tight hole. As quick as he dared, Joxer removed his finger and added two. He then continued to stretch Ares' hole, scissoring his two fingers around while thrusting them in and out. He kept this up for a bit, picking up the pace some. He knew Ares liked the foreplay to be just a tad rougher than he himself liked.

Removing his fingers, he quickly added a third to the mix. Pumping and scissoring all three while he listened to Ares moan and whimper beneath him. He finally removed his fingers and grabbed hold of his own cock, placing the tip at the entrance to Ares' body. "Ready?" Joxer asked, rubbing his cock up and down the cleft of his boyfriend's ass.

As Ares nodded, Joxer licked the back of Ares' neck. "Then place your hands against the wall and brace yourself." Once Ares complied, Joxer pushed his cock passed the now loosened ring of muscle.

Ares drew in a deep breath at the sudden feeling of being filled. Catching his breath, Joxer began to slowly thrust his thick cock in and out of Ares' tight sheath. Ares moaned and began to rock along with Joxer's thrusts.

Bending Ares forward a bit, Joxer placed both his hands on Ares' hips and began to pick up the pace. As Joxer sped up, Ares' moans turned into whimpers and pleas of 'faster' and 'harder'. Tightening his grip on Ares' hips, Joxer started pounding harder and harder, thighs slapping almost painfully against Ares' ass.

Joxer maneuvered his hard thrusts a little so he'd hit Ares' prostate, causing Ares to throw back his head and let out an animalistic growl at the sensation. Joxer continued with his fast and hard thrusting, sweat rolling down his back with the effort.

Ares dropped his head onto his outstretched arms, panting with the effort of keeping his head from knocking against the wall. Feeling his balls begin to retract, Ares grunted out a warning to Joxer before spraying his cum all over the wall in front of him.

Hearing Ares' warning, Joxer slowed down to an almost abrupt stop. He turned his thoughts to seeing Zeus in one of Aphrodite's dresses while waiting for the contractions in Ares' ass to cease. When the last of them faded, Joxer picked up from where he had left off, much to Ares' whimper of surprise.

Having got his second wind, Joxer slammed even harder and faster into Ares' abused hole. Tears began to roll down Ares' cheeks as he continued to get the fucking of his immortal life. It wasn't like Joxer had never taken Ares before, but this was the first time Joxer kept up his pounding after Ares had already come.

As Joxer continued to pound away at Ares, he looked down. He felt his climax approach as he watched his cock disappear and reappear inside of Ares' twitching hole. Having had enough of watching himself fuck Ares into oblivion, Joxer thrust in one last time before his orgasm was ripped from him.

Ares stood there against the wall as he felt Joxer come and then collapse onto his back, panting harshly. Knees beginning to wobble under the weight, Ares slowly slid down onto the floor with Joxer's semi-erect cock still embedded inside of him.

Coming back to the land of the living, both men sighed as Joxer's cock finally slipped out of Ares' body. Joxer smirked as he watched Ares' abused and pink hole ooze cum as it twitched. Ares flashed the two of them to their bed. Having been on his stomach when they landed on the bed, Ares flipped over onto his back with a grunt. More cum dribbled out with each breath Ares took.

Turning his head, Ares eyed Joxer. Joxer grinned widely. "What?" Joxer asked, yawning.

"What was *that* all about?"

Joxer raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Ares rolled his eyes. "I thought you'd never finish. Not that I minded in the least, but you usually don't last that long."

"Oh, that. Well, I got the idea from Cupid one day. He told me of a way to be able to continue fucking even when your partner had already come. So, I decided to try it."

"Remind me to thank Cupid when I see him again," Ares said as he tried in vain to get comfortable. He definitely wouldn't be able to sit right for a few days after *that*.

Joxer yawned again. "Kay," he mumbled before falling asleep.