DISCLAIMER:
Nope, they don't belong to me. I know, it was quite a shock to me too when I found out.

WARNING:
Anything resembling a plot must have jumped in when I wasn't looking. This is a simple PWP story, my first, and is therefore rated NC-17. Oh and this is slash, people.

Beta'd by Journey (What would I do without you?).

Send feedback to lady_sascha@hotmail.com

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Stranger Things Have Happened
by Sascha Morgan

Why things are the way they are between us, I don't know. I don't know if I want to find out either. I'm content with what I've got, and quite frankly I don't feeling like pushing my luck here. I have a feeling that one day I'm gonna say the wrong thing, or do the wrong thing, and he'll be gone forever. And I don't want that. I really don't want that. **Sigh**

Yeah, I know. Kinda surprised me too. But since all this started I've been doing a lot of soul-searching (which wasn't all that pleasant by the way) and one of the answers I've come up with is that I love him. Not that I'm ever going to tell him that. Do I look like I have a death wish?

He might know anyway, but I hope not. I don't think he does.

It's hard to tell. He's so closed up. He doesn't talk much about himself and what he feels, you know? Who am I kidding? He never talks about stuff like that. It's just 'hey, I'm here, you're here, wanna fuck?' As if I'd say no. I mean, really. He's, well, who he is, who wouldn't want him? Perhaps Xena, but she's, well, Xena, so she doesn't count. He's not handsome in a ordinary way, like Ares or Hercules (I suppose there's a reason why females are always throwing themselves at him....), but there's something about him... He grows on you.

"Like some sort of fungus, I suppose?" His voice mocking.

Why do I get the feelings he's been listening to me the whole time I've been musing about him? About us?

"You really are pretty perceptive when you want to be, aren't cha?" He looks at me with amusement written on his face. Does he realise how absolutely edible he looks when he looks like that? His mouth quirks up in a smile. I guess he does. Or rather, he knows I think it does. This is confusing.

"Then stop thinking." He sounds faintly exasperated.

"I can't." Surely, he knows that. When I've first started musing like this, I can't stop until my brain starts running in circles. I don't know why, but it that's the way it is.

He sighs. "Oh, all right. I suppose it's up to me to distract you then..." He walks over to me and pulls my head down to a kiss. "Y'know," he says as he releases me again. Guess this time he remembered that mortals have to breathe once in a while. "This is kinda annoying. Here I am." He opens my shirt and starts licking and kissing his way down to my waist while he's still talking. How does he do that? "A God. Not one of the most respected, I'll give ya that, but a God never the less, and mortals are supposed to fall on their knees and worship me. But do you do that? Nope." He works his way back up to play with my nipples. Kissing, licking and biting. And talking. I'd really like to know how he does that. "It's a God thing as my uncle would say," he says before he continues with his monologue. "You stand here and *think* for Zeus's sake, when I grace you with my presence. You know there's somethin' seriously wrong with this picture, don'tcha?"

"I... I do?" I'm out of breath, which is hardly surprising considering that he's nibbling lightly on my neck at the moment while his hands are caressing my back. What can I say? He moves fast.

"Yup," he nods. I think he does anyway. It's hard to tell since he-- He sighs. "Joxer, I'm obviously not doing this right since you're still thinkin' straight, but I intend to fix that in a second. In the mean time, would you consider not analyzing my every move? It's pretty annoying."

And with that he goes down on his knees and kisses my stomach as he pulls my pants off. I'm already hard and I swear that's a smile on his face when he looks up at me. "Maybe I'm doin' this right anyway..."

"...You...Always." Is all I can get out. Yup, that's definitely a grin on his face.

He bends his head down again and caresses me lightly, teasingly. All I can do is moan. I can barely stand on my feet any longer. Two more seconds of this and I'm gonna fall. My legs simply won't carry me anymore

He tugs at my shirt. "Then get down here, you idiot." He shakes his head as I gratefully do as I'm told. "Sometime I wonder..." he trails off and looks at me with eyes gone dark of desire. He's enjoying this as much as I do, I can tell. Not that he'd ever say that, of course. He's a God and I don't think Gods are supposed to like this. The other way around is probably okay, but I can just imagine, you know, Zeus gathering together all the other Gods and Goddesses and handing out scrolls with rules about Godly Behavior In front Of Mortals - or maybe Godly Behaviour Among Mortals? Something like that anyway. One of the rules is probably 'Thou Shall Not Seduce A Mortal'. Or maybe not. Perhaps this is what Gods do all the time? Maybe not *this* God exactly, but you know, all the others... I suddenly realise that I'm not feeling his hands or tongue or anything in that area on me. I open my eyes, which I must have closed at some point earlier, and look around for him. He couldn't have left me, could he? No, not even he is that cruel. I think. I hope. Then I spot him on the floor in front of me.

Apparently he's abandoned the idea of sucking me off for now because he's rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach with his hands and shaking with laughter. I think I should be offended, but I'm not. I mean, if I'm not offended by him mocking me every chance he get, then why should I be offended because he's laughing at me? Okay, so maybe I'm a little offended.

He sits up and wipes away a tear before he starts talking. "Joxer, Joxer, Joxer... What in Tartarus have I done to deserve you?"

I'm not sure I like the sound of that.

"But you should!" he chuckles. "You're the only one who can make me laugh at a time like this. But I mean, really, how did you *know*?" He breaks down in that silent laughter again, leaving me pretty confused.

"How did I know what?" Well, what do you know? I can still talk. I shift and try to sit back up. I finally manage after slipping on my pants and falling down on my back twice. I don't think he even noticed.

"About the manual!" he gasps in between fits of laughter.

"The manual? What manual?" Then it hits me. "You're kidding? You really have one of those?" I ask incredulously.

"Oh yeah," he grins and crawls over to me. He sits down beside me, still shaking with amusement. "None of us have actually read the damn thing, but we all got one. Who knows? There might be a rule like that in it. I've gotta check it later."

I'm about to ask why he doesn't check it now, but then I realise that that would mean that he would leave, and I really don't want him to leave.

He looks down at my lap pointedly, making me uncomfortably aware of the fact that I'm still hard as a rock.

"I can see that."

Sometimes it bothers me when he replies to my thoughts like that. He looks back up at me. "You want me to stop?" But most of the time it doesn't. I shake my head. He smiles gently and draws his finger through his dark hair. Have I ever mentioned that he has a somewhat original sense of fashion? Umm... And that he kisses like the... umm... God he is?

He pulls away to grin at me again, then leans back in for another kiss. His tongue asks for entrance and I open my mouth willingly, meeting it and welcoming it with my own. He really is a great kisser you know. If it went after that, I think he should be the God of Love instead of Cupid because I'm pretty sure he can't kiss like this.

"As a matter of fact, he's really not much of a kisser, you're right 'bout that," he mutters as he nibbles his way down my throat.

And how, I wonder, does he know that?

He grins. I can feel it. There's something about his breath that changes when he smiles. "Wouldn't you like to know..." he says teasingly and pushes me back down on my back. Which reminds me; why am I always the bottom?

"Because it's more fun this way," he replies, then he flicks his wrist and the leathery-spike outfit he's so fond of wearing, disappears. One of the perks of being a God, he said once, you never hafta buy new clothes - or wash them for that matter.

He's very pale, you know. As long as I've known him I've seen him have three different colors; pale, chalk white and green. The green version I saw when he had the Godly version of the 'flu and Asclepius refused to heal him because he had redecorated his temple... Or something. I never did get an explanation from him about that. He spent three days in a row hurling, by the way.

"I was in a shitty mood too," he adds to my thoughts and decides it's time to get back to business. He lays down on top of me and start off by kissing my brow, then my ears, my eyelids, my nose and finally his mouth is back on mine. I open my mouth and our tongues meet and mate for a while.

His erection brushes over mine and I moan into his mouth. I slide an arm around his neck and move the other one to stroke his buttocks. He thrusts down, making our cocks meet once again. He ends the kiss and moves his head down to nibble at my throat. My fingers tangle up in his hair when I try to keep him at one place at a time. I thrust upwards, rubbing myself against him. He groans and mutters something I can't interpret right now because he's here, we're doing this, and I can feel him all over me...

Both of us become more frantic in our movements. I'm writhing underneath him and I know I'm going to come any minute now. He's saying my name over and over again and rubbing against me. He lets go of my throat and moves his hand down to stroke our cocks. He looks down into my eyes. It's strange, but even now he manages to look mischievous. He's touching, stroking, caressing, managing somehow to raise the tension even higher. I can't take it anymore. I arch up at his hand and come, shouting his name. Before the world explodes in pleasure, stars and bright colors, I feel him tremble against me and even though I'm so far gone I can hardly remember my own name, I know he's coming too.

When the world settles down again, I discover that he hasn't moved an inch. He's still laying draped over me. There's one small change though. He's propped up on his elbows (which is situated on my chest), staring at my face. He notices that I'm back from cloud nine, and grins at me. Have I mentioned that he grins a lot?

"Welcome back."

"...Thanks..."

I move my hand up to brush away his hair from his eyes and end up caressing his cheek. He closes his eyes and leans into the caress for a while. Then his eyes blaze open and he rolls off me, his clothes appearing an instant later. He leans down for another kiss, then steps away. Right before he disappears in a flash of light (I know he doesn't need them, but I think he likes them), I call his name.

"Strife?"

He hesitates and looks questioningly at me.

"I love you."

He arches his eyebrows in surprise, then smiles at me, nods and disappears. In a flash of light, of course.

The End