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[b][center][color=ed1c24]ARES[/color][/center][/b]
[/h1][/sup][/color][indent][sub][COLOR=ed1c24][I]ARES' APPARTEMENT, SEATTLE[/I][/COLOR][/sub][/indent][indent][sup][right][COLOR=ed1c24][b]GOD OF WAR[/b][/color][/right][/sup][/indent][hr]
[color=lightgray][b]“Honey! You need to wake up!”[/b]

Ares barely comprehended the voice as he groaned. His mind was muddled, but his body registered the softness underneath. It was good. Safe. Nice. Nothing hurt. He hadn’t fought yesterday. That was good. It meant he was at his peak. Everything was good. Everything was sweet. His mind drifted away again. Content to embrace the comfort for a little longer. Just a little longer.

Then he felt something different. Suddenly the comfort, the sweetness, it paled completely compared with the soft lips pressed on his. He didn’t open his eyes as he reached out. Stroking who he knew was Julie’s cheeks as they kissed. He drew it out as long as he could, though eventually, she pulled back. Causing him to open his eyes. In front of him was a big cup of coffee, with wisps of steam flowing out of it. Held up by Julie wearing nothing but his white chemise, which looked far too big on her, and a big smile. [b]“You have to wake up.”[/b] She said softly.

Ares groaned again, took the cup, put it on his nightstand and then grabbed Julie and pulled her on top of him. She yelped and laughed as he embraced her and started kissing her. She playfully tried to fight him off but stopped as Ares began to kiss down her neck. For a second she let him, before pulling away again. [b]“You have to get up.”[/b] She repeated. Letting his head fall back, he released her. [b]“You’ve got that big meeting in an hour, remember?”[/b]

How could he forget? He downed the coffee as if it was cold and went to the bathroom. Every morning in the mirror he could see the countless scars on his body. The long gashes on his back were the biggest ones. Though never the most painful ones. The most painful ones were on his wrists. Small cuts. Smaller than an inch. Julie had touched them all, though never asked about them. Someday he would talk about them to her. In honesty, there was a laundry list of things he would have to talk about. Today was not that day though. He shoved the thoughts away again as he started to get ready for the Conclave.

Half an hour later he was downstairs. Julie was in the kitchen, preparing fresh juice while dancing to some song on the radio. The second he stepped inside the kitchen she turned to offer him a glass of orange juice and a kiss. [b]“Be good.”[/b] She said with a vixen’s smile before going upstairs. [color=ed1c24][b]“I love you!”[/b][/color] He shouted up the stairs. [b]“And I love you! Now go, you’re going to be late for whatever it is you’ll be late for!”[/b] She shouted and as always she was right. Ares downed the orange juice and jumped into his car.

There were many ways to experience rage in this world. But only in the last hundred years did humanity seem to have it down to an art. Road rage was something Ares experienced from time to time but not today. Today his BMW ripped through the streets of Seattle with ease and some recklessness. Something didn’t fit right though. Why was a conclave called now? Ares hated not knowing. It had to be something big. He parked quite violently at the University’s parking lot. Not knowing and frankly not caring whether it was a spot for teachers or students or other people. Why did he have to go here of all places? Why didn’t The Morrigan just ask? Ares could’ve set up a grand conference room in some hotel with catering and whatnot. Instead, they’d have to sit in some stuffy room otherwise used by self-important tenured professors that pretended they mattered in society. Universities were places for his sister. For the so-called thinking people. He carried that disdain on his face as he marched through the halls. Through the windows, he saw the sun suddenly breaking through the clouds. What idiot chose to make today sunny?

Ares entered the room in perhaps a slightly theatrical manner. Opening the doors perhaps a little too forceful. The room was less than half empty. How could so many gods be so late still? Some of the gods present he knew, like Kore and Hypnos. But none were here yet that he talked to. So he just took his seat, happy with the fact that he’d be seated next to Apollo and pulled out a cigarette. Before anyone could possibly say anything, he lit it up, blowing out the first bored puff of smoke.[/color]