Ares and Slick covered their mouths with their hands in order to avoid barfing at the romantic displays coming from behind them as they walked back to the sect. Ares was a bit of a hypocrite for taking up this attitude considering how he acted with Enyo in public, but that was different! He was one of the involved parties so he didn''t have to put up with it then! Was this a double standard? Obviously. But in the here and now, he was right! If someone wanted to complain to him about his own displays of affection as they were happening they were more than welcome too!... Whether or not they would be immediately blown up afterword was a different matter, but they were very much entitled too regardless!


    Slick and Ares prayed for salvation and, in a stroke of luck, it was delivered. It seemed the happy couple were starting to get frisky and impatient, so they agreed to go back to one of their clans, whichever was nearer, and spend the night there instead. With that decision made, the group split up and went their separate ways. Both robo and ''human'' let out a sigh of relief and wiped their brows as they were freed from third and fourth wheel hell. Ares kicked a pebble and chuckled. "They really set quite the mood. Don''t think I''m gonna go along with the flow though, so don''t bother asking for my heart. I''m not such an easy man." Ares jokingly batted his eyebrows at Slick who choked on his own saliva.


    "No, seriously, don''t even joke about that. Just remembering those two getting touchy feely is making my urge to throw up return. Actually, now I''m curious though, can you even remove your heart? I know you won''t die if it''s pierced or anything but, like, if you removed it and put it back in, would you live?"


    "Maybe... Maybe? I know that won''t be a problem in the future, and even losing my heart in its entirety will be more of an inconvenience than anything but, currently? I don''t think I would live, I lean towards no. I can carve parts of it out though, that''s A.OK."


    "... Should I even ask why you know that in the first place? Have you really been taking chunks out of your heart? What for? Wouldn''t it hurt like a motherfucker?"


    "The easiest of those questions to answer is if it hurts. Yes. Yes it does. I would rather be kicked in the nuts every day for the next year. Still, there are some things I have to do, so taking some chunks here and there is worth doing... I hope. The real kicker is trying to carve the right Goddamn shape when you can''t see properly! I mean a mirror is useful, but it''s still inside your body, you know? Ah, how much easier it would be if I were at sensory enhancement, then I could just detach my vision from my eyes temporarily and look at myself in third person..."


    "Why didn''t you wait, then? Also, your answer was slippery, what do you need it for, again?"


    "''Cos I need it for something coming up. As for why, that''s a secret. What? Are you jealous you don''t have your own heart to play around with? Is it heart envy? Me and Dirk can play football with ours, is that what bothers you?"


    "No, look, that''s weird no matter how you slice it... Also, it just made me realise that none of the three men on this excursion give a shit about our hearts! How did this even happen?!"


    "Dunno, but I think that means our friendship is doomed. Like this, we can never have a heart to heart!"


    "Oh God, I think I want to throw up again... Maybe I was better off following the other two... Why would you torment me like this? I work hard every day keeping you brats safe and this is how you repay me? I''m demanding a raise from Rud..."


    In some bizarre way, Ares'' desire to infuriate Rud had been indirectly satiated. "Hey! Don''t judge my jokes! You aren''t a dad yet, you don''t understand what they mean to me!"


    "You are a thousand years to young to be making dad jokes! Screw you!"


    "And you are far too kin-less to be complaining! We had fun at Dirk''s expense for getting the wool pulled over his eyes by Accelyn, but isn''t he doing better than you? I don''t wanna hear diddlysquat from a robo who ain''t robobonin'' any bonafide robobeauties!"


    "Female robos? Where!? In Red Sun!? WHERE DO YOU SEE ANY?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET LAID IN THIS INFERNAL PIT OF FLESH?!"


    "I thought robos could do it with non-robos though? Also, wouldn''t you be satisfied with, like, I dunno, a toaster or something?"


    "Ok, first of all, fuck you, and second of all, yes we can. I ain''t interested in humans though otherwise, let me tell you, I would have my pick of the litter!"


    "Wow, braggadocios, much? Why don''t you put the playboy pretence aside, start easy, and go hook up with a washing machine? Or maybe a light pole if you swing that way."


    "I''m reminded of why I dislike you immensely."


    "Only now? I''ve been trying to annoy you this whole time! Are you a dunce, or am I inefficient?"


    "You know what? Why am I even walking back with you?! Go die in an alley somewhere!" Slick sped off into the night as Ares cackled to himself. The mission to retrieve the heart was one thing, but the mission to quell his boredom had been a success to write home about! It really had been far too long since he last pestered anyone and Ares was not a man who could control his urges very well. Of course his ''urges'' were warped compared to most other people, but that came with the territory of being a revenant. Ares had gotten what he wanted, but he wasn''t quite satiated just yet considering he still had one more trick up his sleeve. When Slick finally arrived back at the sect, despite booking it back with all his might, he found Ares waiting for him with a smug smile so condescending it actually hurt Slick to look at. Some smiles were blinding and, in many ways, this one was too, just for all the wrong reasons. Ares reminded Slick that he could Shift back to the sect as he''d left a long range marker here pretty much every time he went out... That was even one of the escape routes for their mission. Slick was not amused, especially seeing as how it dawned on him that this meant Ares had purposefully hung around for no reason other than to toy with him. To make matters worse, his attempt at running away from the verbal bullying had been a failure as he was beaten here by the verbal bully himself! With no recourse left available to Slick who had been thoroughly cornered, he busted out the one thing he still had an advantage over Ares in... His cultivation!


    THWWWWWWWACK!


    With immeasurable stress having been released after burying Ares'' head into the ground, Slick chuckled to himself as he disappeared off into the sect, leaving Ares to struggle as he pushed against the ground with all his might to escape mole territory. When he finally managed to unearth himself, he strolled back to his house... His house... ''His'', huh? At first he thought he was going to have to live in Enyo''s house like a freeloader when she moved to the inner court, but his cultivation had risen rapidly and now he was going to take the inner court disciple exam too... He was still one stage off, but they would inevitably be lenient and let him take part too just to get him going up the ranks already. There were more opportunities for inner court disciples, and there was zero chance Yulo was going to hold his sect master replacement back for however many months until the next exam just because of one measly stage. More opportunities meant more treasures, and more treasures meant a higher cultivation. The sooner Ares could become the sect master, the sooner Yulo could flee to Vraizon. Then again, miraculously, Ares had somehow managed to not find any cultivation boosting treasures thus far. Any cultivator should logically have found one by the time they entered mental accumulation, so Ares was seriously a late bloomer in that regard. He could just absorb the stardust he owned, but that was incredibly slow and pointless unless you had boatloads at the ready. Plus it wasn''t really good for your system to do it excessively. It''s why there were plenty of rich cultivators in and around aspect assimilation that couldn''t fight their way out of a paper bag. Still, Ares wasn''t altogether too fussed. Dedication cultivation was doing right by him and he wasn''t cultivating slowly by any means so that was good enough for now. Actually, he even felt like he might be able to go up another stage soon. Blowing up those couple hundred Beads was particularly beneficial. Ares mulled on what he could do to push onto the next stage as he entered the house... Nothing other than ''blow up more stuff'' came into his head, so figured he ought to just go to sleep and think about it some other time... Not that he would get any different ideas at a later date anyway... He opened up the door to his room and shut it immediately when he saw Enyo rolling around on the bed with Bellona. They were fully clothed, and it probably wasn''t what he was thinking, but anything was possible when it came to Enyo... He shook his head, opened the door again and was greeted by two judgemental pairs of eyes.


    "Uh... I didn''t see anything?"


    "That''s because there was nothing to see, moron." Bellona kissed her teeth at Ares who had clearly misunderstood the situation... Not that Enyo hadn''t been getting more feisty as of late, but that was par the course with her anyway.


    Enyo nodded in agreement with Bellona. "We were actually just talking about..." Enyo was cut off when Bellona jumped at her and covered her mouth. Another impromptu ''rolling in the hay, but not in that way'' session started and Ares turned to leave again.


    "Birthday!" Enyo managed to sneak a single word out when Bellona''s hand slipped, but she only needed one word to win this fight!


    Eh? Birthday? Gotta be Bellona''s then, no reason for the hubbub if it was Enyo''s... "What''s the big deal with me knowing about your birthday?" Ares directed his question to Bellona directly as Enyo was still being pinned by the gorilla and would have difficulties responding.


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    "... It''s just a silly thing anyway. You don''t have to get me anything. I especially don''t want anything from you, actually!"


    Does she still feel bad about this whole thing?... No, that''s probably not it? Hmm... OH! Right.... it''s because no one in their right mind would want a ''gift'' from a revenant... That''s just asking for trouble, isn''t it? I can''t deny this doesn''t sound like a good opportunity to mess with her. Ah crap, she''s totally right, I really can''t help myself... I totally want to prank her. "Ah don''t worry, there''s no way I would mess with you on your birthday!" LIES! They flow so easily from the lips of the foul hearted...


    "I''m not buying that for a second!"


    "Meh, too late. Don''t worry, I''ll think of the perfect present, just for you." Ares received a mental communication from Enyo and he smiled evilly at Bellona. "Oh? What''s this? A little birdy told me your big day is tomorrow?! Or today I guess as it''s already past midnight... Hmm, it''ll be difficult to get you the present I''m thinking of in time... But don''t worry Bellona, I''ll work on the double to get it delivered to you on on your big day and not a day later!"


    "Ugh, spare me... Tsk, whatever, not like I can stop you anymore... That aside, where you been? it''s rare for you to be out this late."


    "You sound like a paranoid wife."


    Bellona flinched at the accusation while Enyo snickered into Bellona''s palm that was still pointlessly resting on her mouth. "... And you sound like an unfaithful husband!" Bellona didn''t remain phased for too long as she fired off a riposte.


    Ares shrugged and smirked. "It''s not being unfaithful if I''m allowed to have more than one, right?"


    Ack


    Bellona had been soundly defeated so she accepted her loss and let go of Enyo. "Perv."


    "Haha, me? I''m the perv? I must be the least pervy one in this room! Take a look at your horny freak of a sister before you throw around that label!"


    "I refuse to believe you aren''t a bigger perv than I am!" There was no way Bellona would accept that.


    "Oh? Then how about I prove it irrefutably tomorrow?"


    Bellona gulped as she had no idea where this was going and she didn''t like the dodgy tone in Ares'' voice. Knowing he was going to get her present and hearing what he''d just said... Bellona wanted to crawl into a hole for the entirety of her birthday... "Stay away from me you creep!"


    "Heh, your loss. Anyway, got side-tracked for a bit. If you''re curious as to where I went. I went on a mission with Dirk, Li Li, and Slick to get Dirk''s heart back. It wasn''t all that interesting. Blew up a couple people here, a bit of a building there, and then we called it a night."


    "IS THAT WHAT THAT MASSIVE LIGHT ON THE HORIZON WAS?!"


    Ares'' midnight golden parade had been visible from a great distance thanks to the sheer quantity of Beads he detonated. If his Perish Wheel could be seen from the city when he used it in the sect, it stood to reason that an even bigger explosion would work the same way in reverse. "Oh yeah, and let me tell you, it was a BIGGGGG one. I may have gotten a little excited and gone overboard..."


    "You don''t say... BUT WHY DIDN''T YOU BRING ME ALONG! AWWWWWWW. Damn, looked like it would have been fun... Let me tag along to these things next time! I haven''t had a chance to stretch my limbs in a while and watching your matches made me wanna beat someone up."


    Ares was taken aback by this response. He''d really only gone to get his end of the deal squared away and, even then, the only enjoyment he got out of it was blowing up the building. Bellona seemed like she derived pleasure from whacking people. It was a strange hobby to say the least. Not that Ares didn''t understand the want to fight every now and then, he''d just been complaining about the very same thing to Slick, but he wasn''t going to go out of his way to search for one like Bellona seemingly was... Then again, if he brought Bellona along, she could have doubled the size of the explosion... Though that would have ended up being suicidal, probably. Ares wanted to get used to having her around more if she was going to be his wife, so he might as well drag her along if she wants to go. In that regard, she seemed different to Enyo... Although Enyo would only prefer staying at home if someone else she could play with did too... Enyo would likely rather either just cultivate or spend time with Appa. "I''ll invite you next time then." Ares started closing the door as he stepped outside. "Goodnight, don''t let the Enyo bugs bite."


    "Goodnight... And thanks..."


    Ares stopped just before he closed the door. "Hm? What for?"


    Bellona sighed and shook her head as she snorted at Ares. "The present. I''m saying thank you now because I know I''ll be too busy punching you after I receive it to say it then. So thanks... Just... Don''t go overboard?"


    "Don''t worry..." Ares smile had a childish edge to it as he resumed closing the door. "... I''m sure I couldn''t get you a better present if I tried." His words didn''t reassure Bellona in the slightest, but that wasn''t the intention behind them to begin with! Ares closed the door fully and left.


    Bellona threw herself back onto her pillow, or Ares'' pillow anyway, and stared at the ceiling.


    "Hmph, I might as well have not even been here." Enyo playfully jabbed her sister''s cheek. "Spoke to you the whole time. Who knows, maybe he already loves you?"


    Bellona rolled to her side to escape Enyo. "Now who''s being the paranoid wife..."


    "I know you''re happy right now. Why you still feel a need to pretend otherwise even after everything''s out in the open I don''t know."


    "It still feels wrong."


    "Does it feel more wrong than you do happy?"


    "... No."


    "There you go then. Go and enjoy your time with him, I don''t mind. It''s not like I''m going to follow him around all the time to begin with, especially when he''s off killing people without a good enough reason. I still don''t like that part about him, you know?"


    "I thought you always went on and on about how perfect he is?"


    "Of course, and I still will. There''s no such thing as a ''perfect'' opinion though. Just because I disagree with him over something, doesn''t mean I like him any less. I can see why some opinions would be off putting, but I understand his motivations and actions. That''s all I need. Him being perfect for me had nothing to do with that. As long as I know he''s going to be safe when he wanders off the leash, and as long as his reasoning is decent enough, I''ll let him do all the killing he wants. Again, I won''t join in though. I''m well aware it won''t bother you in the slightest, all the murder I mean, so just go with him during those times. You aren''t taking anything away from me, I promise you."


    "Mm. Thanks."


    "Don''t thank me just yet, I haven''t even given you your present yet!" Enyo hugged her sister from behind.


    "... I''m not sure I want it..."


    "Well you''re getting it regardless. You''re going to have to wait a while for it though. I''ll give it to you when we go to the Grecian lands. Until then, let the suspense eat away at you. Make sure to imagine all the things you think it might be, and then assume it will be far, far worse. Maybe then you might even be a quarter as prepared for me as you need to be."


    "I''m going to sleep! Stop being a sex pest and leave me alone! Ares was right, you''re the biggest perv in this room!"


    "Maybe... But unfortunately for you, you''re stuck in this room with me. Don''t be so timid, Bellona. It''s just a hug. Two sisters hugging as they sleep isn''t strange, right?"


    "The concept isn''t, the person is!" Bellona knew she wouldn''t be able to worm her way out of Enyo''s bear hug, so she just accepted it and turned the light off via switch that was near the bed side. "Goodnight, creep."


    "Goodnight..." Enyo kissed Bellona''s neck and held her in place as she tried to wriggle away. "... Sister."


    While Bellona endured her sister''s unabashed torment, Ares had snuck out of the house again instead of going straight to sleep. If he was going to get Bellona''s present in order, he would need to be proactive and get the ball rolling already. His first order of business was to pay a visit to Dabble, provided he was still awake, and discuss with him... Various matters. Thankfully most of the sect elders rarely slept. They had high cultivations and didn''t really need to. Even Ares himself could do without sleep for a day or two, but it was still nice to get some rest in. As for the elders, they only really took breaks after a week or two straight of honing their craft. As long as Ares didn''t catch Dabble on his one night off, he would be fine. When he arrived at the sect''s forge, at first, he genuinely thought he had come at the worst possible timing, but as it turned out, Dabble was just hidden behind a bench again... Also, as it turns out, Dabble was working right now, but had Ares needed Julio, he would have been flat out of luck as he actually was asleep. The ''wee laddie'' discussed what he was looking to create with Dabble who admitted he''d never made anything of the sort. Dabble had a multitude of questions as to why on earth Ares would want to make such a thing but, at the end of the day, this was Ares he was talking about. Nothing involving the wee laddie ever made any sense anyhow. The two worked long and hard on the finer details of the present, all the while Ares couldn''t help but snicker at his creation. This present was so fantastic, he realised he might actually make Enyo jealous of Bellona... He continued working on it pretty much all throughout the next day. It only took him until around noon to actually finish the product, but the trickier part actually came after because he wanted to add some runes to, err, spice up the present. As it started to near dinner time, Ares and Dabble were finally done.


    "Ah, thanks elder Dabble. You''re a real lifesaver. I don''t think I would have been able to do this one on my own ''cos I''m not familiar with this kind of shape and material."


    "Aye, neither am I. This was a good chance for me to take a swing at something outta me ballpark. Count on ye to bring me a weird task like this... I ain''t exactly sure wot ye''r gonna use it fer, but, err, have fun wit it, I guess? The actual design and function itself aside, this thing is high quality... Maybe even too high quality considering wot it is ''n all. You should show Julio this when you get a chance, ''e might be interested in the rune work ye did. Ah but, I kept ya ''ere long enough, take care now laddie and, once again, thank yeh for all teh work ya been putting in with teh artifacts. The forge ain''t ever been this productive before. Tis nice not ''avin'' the rune department breathin'' down our neck fer once."


    "No worries, glad I can help out if even just a little. Take care!" And with that, Ares was mostly set for the day! He''d gotten the present done and dusted, he''d made a birthday cake in the Primordial Blade while he was fiddling with the present, and he also made some popping candy too. He''d considered making a popping candy cake, but his inner reason screamed and begged him not to. It was clearly going a step too far, and although Bellona herself might have actually been fine with it, the universe at large would probably smite him for such a creation. There were some boundaries that weren''t supposed to be crossed. Just because something was fun, that didn''t mean it was a good idea... The only other thing left was dinner itself. He had no idea what Bellona would want, so he decided to query the birthday girl herself when he got back. He still had enough time to make basically whatever she wanted so, when he got back, the first thing he did was hunt her down... Or he would have if he didn''t find a note from Enyo that told him the girls had all gone out shopping... Thankfully, Enyo was a woman with incredible foresight, so she left an addendum that stated ''Bellona wants a bacon and cheese hamburger with some wedges on the side and a milkshake. Any other toppings and sauce will do, she says.'' Ares snorted. Real quick to make demands, eh? Well that''s fine, I wouldn''t have it any other way. With a heartfelt smile on his face, Ares got around to making a scrumptious dinner for everyone... Although he did have to shoo Aejaz away on multiple occasions to prevent him from stealing any of the wedges...