“C’mon in, ya’ll,” replied to the knock on her door. She was getting dressed up in a nice pink, country-style dress that reminded her of the dances back home in Paris(Texas).
Ares shuffled in, attempting to fit in through the small doorframe despite the fact that he was both the tallest and heaviest of the gods. His face clean-shaven, and his round belly was both full by fat standards and muscled. It seemed the God of War hasn’t seen action in a while…
“Oh it’s you,” Victoria said to him through the mirror, applying her lipstick.
Hearing her response to him, he sighed and seemed most affected, but said quite proudly, “I knew you would already have your own dress, so I didn’t bother bringing you one.” She nodded her head sarcastically. “But I did bring something I hoped you like,” he said, reaching up back in his deep pockets and pulling out a bundle of velvet.
“It’s wrapped up,” he said, “I hoped you’d like to open it up here.”
“Ya’ll can just leave it on the bed,” she said coldly.
“Why do you have a problem with me?” Ares replied.
“Because you are a man,” she said calmy, but her voice starting to rise and her twang start to fade, “in face you are the epitome of a man, and ya’ll done left mama all on her lonesome with nothing but a ranch and a couple’a cows!” She turned to him, snapping and flailing her arms around. Ares liked this. “So excuse me if I am just a little skeptical of all of this!”
“Just open it up,” he said, “please.”
She calmed her temper just for a moment to open up the velvet bundle he left on her bag. It was a dark red, black velvet almost. She lifted the sheen and gliding fabric from itself to find… “Mama’s necklace?”
“I kept it all these years,” Ares replied.
“I’ve only ever seen it in pictures!” she exclaimed, handing it to her father and turning around, motioning him to apply the necklace to her neck. The necklace itself was silver, with a large, faded ruby at the heart of a silver heart. So beautiful, Victoria thought to herself.
Ares, putting the necklace around his daughter’s neck, had a tear in the corner of his eye.
“Awl, daddy, why you crying?” Victoria asked, “you’re being just a big wuss!”
He laughed at her. So much like her mama. The only women who could make him feel weak and empty.
“I’m proud,” he said. She looked at him in the eyes, and kissed him on the cheek.
As she descended down the staircase, she saw Siren in her beautiful dress and, Cali begin to go up on stage, and she saw that annoying behemoth and the little gnome stand next to each other, and oh god – Archer and Doug were getting wasted…
But Siren… she was so beautiful. All of this was too much to handle for Victoria, like… a wedding at a funeral! She began to cry like a little girl.
“Hey ya’ll,” she piped up to Siren, “you are lookin’ soooo fine!”
“I see you’re blushing, huh?” Sator said as he watched his little date’s face light up like a torch. He reached his hand out to caress the boy’s cheek. “I hope I didn’t have you waiting too long.”
“I’ve already spoken with my mother,” he said, trying to look into Seth’s eyes without exactly
looking down on him, “she said we go to her classroom.”
“I hope all of this isn’t too soon,” Sator continued, “I just want to talk. No sex…” he blushed a little himself, “but kissing is fine if you like me, enough.”
“Let’s go,” he said, taking the boy’s tiny hand in his huge, tan hand.
