Cursed [malexmale]

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

The next morning, I woke to Apollo preparing for the meeting at the great hall. I wasn't sure how he already knew without my telling him, but he knew somehow because he was wearing a slightly more formal wear and he only wore such when he was attending a meeting at the hall.

Unfortunately, I was also required to attend along with my bodyguards and I was not looking forward to dealing with a room full of whiny gods. I had never been fond of pantheon meetings, either within the pantheon or the UP (United Pantheon) organization that was comprised of a representative of each major pantheon in existence. Of course, I had never attended a UP session, but something told me it was probably even more obnoxious than a typical pantheon meeting.

I got up and Apollo didn't say a word to me as I showered and dressed in a sedate pair of jeans and a plain cream shirt under a black cardigan. Out the corner of my eye, I watched Apollo slip on a pair of black slacks and a white t-shirt decorated with the red sun of Japan, and a black vest over top of it when he caught me staring at him. I averted my eyes, tying my hair up into a loose bun to keep it off the backs of my legs.

"Callias?" Apollo asked. I was caught off guard by both the fact that his voice was suddenly near my ear, and the fact that it was soft, almost shy. I stepped away from him, turning around to look at him as he kept his eyes downcast for a moment before looking up at me. There was an odd emotion swirling in those deep blue eyes as he swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing and I suddenly remember putting my lips there last night, stirring a pleasant heat in my stomach.

"What did you look like before?" He asked. I cocked my head, confused for a moment, then realizing what he meant.

"Would you like me to show you, master?" I asked. He nodded. I took my hair down again, running my fingers through it, feeling a slight tug in my scalp as the color shifted from deep red to my natural dark brown, nearly black, hair color and the length of it retreating to loose waves that fell just past my shoulders. I blinked my eyes once, feeling a slight throb as they went from indigo to white.

Apollo sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes widening for a split second before returning to normal and he scanned me from head to foot before averting his eyes as a warm shade of pink spread over his cheeks.

"You can stay like that." He said, turning away from me to head to the door. I cocked my head curiously, brushing the hair back from my face, pausing to savor the way my normal hair felt sliding between my fingers. No longer having to struggle with the ridiculously long red locks that were always tangled or ending up in my meals.

I followed Apollo out of the room, watching him yawn and stretch, glancing out the window at the sky that was still dark a bit dark, save for a very faint golden glow in the distance. Apparently Apollo had already triggered the sunrise.

"Wake your bodyguards," Apollo informed me, "I'll have Denarius make us breakfast before we head over." I nodded and let him continue down the hallway as I stopped at Arikos's door first, knocking and waiting for a response. When I didn't get one, I carefully cracked the door open and resisted the urge to smile at the sight of Arikos wrapped comfortably in a cocoon of blankets, his black hair sticking up like wet chicken feathers, and a bit of drool sliding out onto the pillow. I cleared my throat.

"Arikos?" I called out. Arikos groaned, a husky sound deep in his throat and a chill stole through me.

Do not go there. Brotherly love only goes so far. I assured myself sternly, then cleared my throat again, this time making Arikos peek an eye open drowsily.

"Wha?" He asked. I smiled.

"It's time to wake up. There's a meeting in the grand hall." I informed. Arikos made a noise of protest deep in his throat and seemed to drift back to sleep, but right when I opened my mouth to try and wake him up again, he waved his hand at me.