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“Do you want to stay?” Bull asked, cupping Dorian’s cheek in his large hand as he looked down at the other immortal.
Sometimes it struck Bull just how different they were. He ruled the dead, and his name, when rarely spoken, was whispered in fear. Dorian’s name was invoked freely as the god of spring and renewed life. Bull’s skin was as gray and cool as the shades he looked after in the underworld, while Dorian’s was a soft brown that radiated warmth. One was tall, the other short, one laughed easier, though not the one most expected, while one was more guarded. At first glance, these differences and many others, should have rendered them a terrible fit for each other. Instead just the opposite happened, and a peace was found between life and death.
“I didn’t once.” Dorian admitted turning into Bull’s touch, his own hand reaching up to rest on his lover’s. “I hate to think what it says of me now that I’ve grown so fond of you.”
“It’s the muscles.” Bull chuckled, flexing his other arm. “It’s why I don’t go in for all those statues. They’d need to much stone to get all of this right.”
“Yes, that’s why and not that you’d likely insist on having your tongue protruding in some vulgar manor.” Dorian huffed.
“Hey, I’ve never heard you complain about my tongue and it’s vulgar manner before.”
There was a rush of red to Dorian’s cheeks and his eye twitched as he turned his head away with all the haughtiness he could muster.
“That’s it, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll be taking my leave of you now.” though he made no attempt to move and let himself be drawn against Bull’s chest a second later.
A moment of silence stretched between the pair, and Bull swallowed hard. He knew why Dorian had come to find him. He always knew when someone arrived in his realm, especially Hermes. The messenger god was never good at being subtle.
“You can stay, Dorian. There’s nothing…”
“Stopping me?” Dorian pulled back just a bit to look up into Bull’s good eye. “If I could forget my parents as easily as you, I would happier for it.” he rested his head against Bull’s chest. “My mother would kill the whole world to have me back, and my father would likely join in.”
“I could make enough room. I’ve wanted to do some remodeling anyway.” the joke fell flat on even Bull’s ears. He ruled over death, but he didn’t revel in it. Loss gave him no pleasure and he knew laying so much on Dorian would only destroy him. “Doesn’t what you want matter at all?” he asked softly.
“If it did, I wouldn’t have needed rescuing in the first place.”
That was true enough. Almost a year ago now, Dorian’s parents had arranged for him to marry a sea nymph, ignoring any protests from their son. When Dorian had invoked Bull’s realm however, he hadn’t ignored him. The god of spring said he wished to be swallowed up by Hades itself rather than go through the marriage. Bull had answered, first while wearing his helmet of invisibility, to ask if Dorian truly wished that. When he shouted he did at the unseen voice, Bull went to Zeus to ask for Dorian as his husband. The thunder god had been a bit uncertain about annulling one betrothal for another, but a few well placed ‘You owe me, big guy’s and mentions of things he could let slip to Hera, Zeus eagerly relented. Then everything fell into place. The earth opened up, Bull pulled the other god into his chariot and all traces of Dorian vanished in an instant. Not even a scar on the earth’s surface was left to tell where he’d gone.
At first, a rescue was all it had been, though Dorian at one time thought he needed a rescuing from Bull until the plan came out. Dorian had needed help, it didn’t cost Bull much to aid him, and the younger god was under no pressure to consummate the marriage. It was smoke and mirrors if anything. A way for him to avoid an unwanted union by way of one that had no strings attached. Bull expected Dorian’s parents to throw a fit when Zeus told them, and then he’d simply invoke his rights as Dorian’s husband. Problem solved.
Except, Zeus hadn’t told Dorian’s parents. He’d simply let them believe their child had been taken, and their grief and rage had ravaged the world. They couldn’t see it was a hell of their own making, and no one dared tell them.
That meant there was time for things to get complicated. Not only was Dorian’s mother destroying the earth through famine, his father was doing nothing to calm her, and somewhere along the way, Bull had fallen in love with Dorian. He had started taking his council on matters of running the underworld, listening to him during judgments and even installed a throne of iron next to his own. Bull wanted to be Dorian’s husband in more than just name. For a few months after Dorian had first come to his chambers one night, that’s how things had been too. They were happy. Now it was all being undone.
“I could invoke my rights like we’d planned.” Bull said after a moment. “This doesn’t have to…”
“My mother has Zeus by the throat. I go back, or the world dies. There is no choice. I was a fool to think this would ever work.” he took a shuddering breath. “The only reason I’m saying goodbye properly is because I do love you. If I didn’t, I’d have left by now and avoided all this mess. We both know how selfish I am after all.”
“Yeah, giving up being happy for all eternity to play pretend. Sounds real selfish, Dorian.” Bull snorted, holding him just a bit tighter. His mind was racing. There had to be something he could do. There had to be a way to fix this. He’d gotten out of worse scrapes than this before, hadn’t he? He’d fought titans, dealt with humanities worst, and wrestled even gods into submission on more than one occasion. There had to be something he could do.
Just when he felt Dorian begin to pull away, something caught his attention from the corner of his eye and he held him tighter.
“Wait.”
“Bull, I…” Dorian sighed only to be cut off at the sound of a stem snapping as Bull pulled a pomegranate from one of the nearby trees, breaking it in two with one quick movement.
“Eat.”
“What?” Dorian looked from the fruit to Bull and back again with a raised eyebrow.
“You haven’t eaten anything since you got here. If you do, you’ll be bound…they can’t take you away.”
A sad smile crossed Dorian’s face as he laid his hand over the offered piece and shook his head.
“Then we’re back to where we started. My mother…”
“Has Zeus by the throat. You eat this, we have him by the balls.”
“How eloquent.”
“I’m serious, Dorian. Marriage rights are nothing compared to the rights of this world. If you eat this and they force you to stay away, they’re breaking the barrier that holds everyone in place here. That thing breaks, the world gets overrun by shades and our pal Thanos goes on a permanent holiday.” Bull insisted, turning Dorian’s hand over so that he was holding the half pomegranate in his palm. “We force their hand into a compromise.”
Dorian hesitated, and Bull could see the fear in his eyes as well as the want and uncertainty. He could almost feel him shaking as his other hand touched his shoulder.
“If you want to stay, if that’s the choice you make, then there’s a way.” Bull added, wanting this be Dorian’s choice and not simply someone else trying to control him.
With a shaking gesture, Dorian suddenly held the half in front of Bull’s face.
“You first.”
“What?”
“You take the first bite.” Dorian stated.
Bull watched Dorian carefully for a moment, waiting for him to say anything else. When he didn’t, Bull nodded, and took the first bite.
He’d just taken some seeds in his mouth when he felt Dorian pull his head down by his horns, pressing his lips fiercely to Bull’s as his tongue dove into the others mouth. The food was soon forgotten as Bull pulled him closer, picking him up off the ground to give Dorian better access as juice and blood from bites to respective lips, smeared across their faces. More than once Bull nearly fell backwards from the sheer force of the kisses being received, and ended up having to brace himself against a nearby tree from the kisses being given. Moments passed before the contact broke and both were breathing hard.
“I counted six in all that.”
“I lasted for longer than that.” Bull chuckled.
“No you lummox, six seeds.” he pressed his forehead to Bull’s, smiling. “Six seeds in all. If this plan doesn’t bite us both in the ass spectacularly, then we should be able to claim a month of the year for each seed.”
“Sounds fair.” Bull murmured, pressing a kiss to Dorian’s throat. “For six months I get you down here with me. The rest of the time…”
“I take every chance to make them remember that.” the words were brave, and Dorian’s shaking lent an even greater air of courage to them. He stilled a bit more when Bull shifted to kneel on the ground and cradle him in his large arms.
There was no doubt in Bull’s mind this was a gamble, but then again so much was. If they were going to have to take a risk, why not do it with something that mattered?
“I have to go now.” Dorian spoke, breaking into Bull’s thoughts, leaning up to give him one more kiss. “I have to, but I’ll be back. I promise.”
Bull nodded, helping him get to his feet. There was more to say, but words had left them both. All he could do was watch as Dorian slipped away from his sight, and hope he returned soon.
End