*Okay,* Joxer thought. *This avoidance has gone on long enough. Accord is making himself and Bliss miserable. Something has to be said. Hopefully I'll figure out what that is before I find him.*

Joxer looked first in Accord's room, then in the library where he'd spent so much time studying lately. Next he tried the little kitchen Ares had set up for him, just in case he'd decided to start boning up for Hestia's tutoring. Finally, dreading it, he checked on the roof, climbing out to look around. That was when he spotted Accord, sitting safely under the willow by the pond. Feeling relieved, Joxer climbed back down and went out. As he came nearer, he noticed that Accord was picking rose petals out of his hair, murmuring to himself. *Rose petals? That means someone from the House of Love must've visited. I wonder if it was Dite, Cupid, or Bliss?* As he got closer, he saw Accord reach down and pluck a white feather off the ground. *Cupid or Bliss, then.* "Hi, son."

Accord looked up at him blankly for a moment. "Have I got any more rose petals in my hair?"

"Um... no."

"Good--I think."

*Okay, if he's that bemused, it was probably Bliss.* Joxer sat cross-legged next to his son, noticing that they were almost the same height now. *He's growing up so fast.* "Nice feather. From anyone we know?"

"Bliss." Accord twirled the feather in his fingers, watching it closely. "He was here a little while ago."

"How is he?"

"Wonderful," said Accord absently. Then he blushed, and said quickly, "And so's everyone over at the House of Love. Imp's driving everyone crazy, but that's part of what she does."

"M-hm. What did you two talk about?"

"Oh, just... stuff."

*Damn. I was hoping that Bliss would have said something by now.*

"Dad? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"It's kind of personal."

"That hasn't stopped you before. If it's too personal, I'll just choke and turn red, like usual."

"When did you first know that Dad was in love with you?"

Joxer didn't choke, but he did turn red. "Way to ask the easy questions, son. Why not ask me something simple, like the meaning of life? You've always just accepted the fact that your Dad and I love each other. What brought this on?"

Accord's eyes shifted. "I'm just curious. How did you know he loved you? How did you know you loved him? How..."

"Slow down, you're doing a Hermes impression. Let me think about this for a minute." He thought. Accord continued to play with the feather, before finally tucking it in his braid. "Cord, I can't really tell you when I realized that I loved your father. Sometimes it seems like I always loved him, for as far back as I can remember. Oh, it wasn't always the same sort of love. When I was a kid it was hero worship, when I got older it was awe, and when I was older yet it... Well, I guess I have to admit it moved into sort of puppy love, and... um..." Joxer was turning even redder. "I... kinda had the hots for him." He cut a glance at Accord. Accord nodded, as if this was the most natural thing in the world. Of course Joxer had lusted after Ares. Accord knew (objectively, of course) that in many circles Ares was considered sex on legs--even more than Cupid, with some people. "But when I came here to Olympus and started to really spend time with him, and get to know him, I realized that it was love, not worship. It was a gradual process."

Accord nodded. "Okay. Now, when did you realize that Dad loved you?"

Joxer smiled. "That's a little easier. The moment I was sure stands out very clearly." His hand smoothed over the grass. "Actually, it happened right here. I had only been a god for a day or two, and Ares was helping me start to understand and use my powers, and..." He stopped, looking at Accord. Accord lifted an eyebrow. "Right--you're old enough. We were getting ready to have sex, but I had to unbutton my own shirt by mind power. I was ready to give up, and he asked if I didn't want him to make love to me." Joxer's smile widened. "He said 'make love'. You know your Dad, Cord--his manner of speaking."

Accord nodded, smiling faintly himself. "I know that Dad will call a spade a fucking shovel, even if he IS more careful around me."

"I had to work with him on that. I didn't want your first words to be something that would singe ears, because the way things go you'd have chosen to say them while someone like Demeter or Hercules was visiting. Anyway, when he said that, I knew he meant it. It took him a little while longer to actually use the sentence 'I love you', but he got around to it." Joxer bumped Accord with his shoulder. "And here's the result. Now, seriously--what brought this on? I know lots of kids pull the 'how did you get together' bit with their parents..." he paused. "Okay, not so many godlings do, since there's always the stories passed around by the bards about how the lives of the major gods. And they should, because there's this thing called 'poetic license', and... But I digress."

Accord nodded agreeably. "Often." Like his father Ares, he found Joxer's occasional bouts of babble to be sometimes faintly irritating, but usually endearing.

"What I meant was you asked those questions in a serious manner--not like it was just idle curiosity."

Accord stood up, brushing flower petals off his shirt and pants. "I guess I'm just ready to start thinking about the more serious things in life. I'll see you later, Dad. I'm gonna go... uh..."

"If you want to be alone for a little while, just say so. I know that teenagers need some privacy."

"It's not that. I'm going to--wash my hair. I think I may have gotten pollen in it. You know that Mjau likes to make a bed in my hair when he sleeps with me, and I don't want him to start sneezing--not when he has his claws that close to my head." He left.

*And that was one of the most creatively lame excuses I've ever heard of.* Joxer settled back against the tree, folding his hands over his belly. *I think I may end up in the fairly unique position of having my grandson also be my son-in-law.* He smiled. *Somehow I think that I won't have quite as hard a time dealing with it as Ares will.*

Accord did go to the bathing chamber to wash his hair. He knew he wouldn't be any good at studying, so it was as good an activity as any. He stripped and waded into the bathing pool. He'd given up trying to wash his hair in a basin--it was just too long to manage alone unless he wanted to get thoroughly drenched. If he was going to get soaked, he might as well have a bath, too.

When he was chest deep, he took his braid apart and gave himself a quick ducking. Then he went back to the side of the pool, locating the dishes of various soaps, oils, and bath salts that were kept on a low table within easy reach. He started to reach for his usual soap, then hesitated. He'd always used the plain, unscented variety. *I wonder what sort of scent Bliss likes?* His hand hovered. There was cinnamon, and vanilla scented. *No, not those. I remember Strife talking about how sometimes Cupid smells like sugar cookies. I don't think I want to remind Bliss of his father. Those flower scented ones Dite sent Joxer are kind of girly, at least unless you give the world NO doubt about your manhood. Like, Ares could pull them off, but me? Not till I fill out a little.* He finally settled on sandalwood.

He liked washing his hair: he could do it automatically while he thought of other things--and he had things to think about. *I always heard that teenagers were supposed to be broody, but I don't remember Bliss going through that, and I don't know if Imp is capable of it.* He finished, and ducked himself again, swishing his head vigorously underwater to remove the lather. He came up spluttering, then did it again, just to be sure. He'd found out the hard way that you didn't want soap residue in your hair. *Who'd ever think that something so clean could make you feel so grungy?*

When his hair whipped around easily, floating like seaweed in a brisk current, he decided it was enough. He was a little short of breath when he stood up. As he'd heard many times, he couldn't die from drowning, but that didn't mean that he could hold his breath forever, and a lungful of water was damn uncomfortable. He'd have to snort it back up, and the methods that Ace and Apollo used to accomplish that didn't bear thinking about. That one time in the garden pond when he was four had left a lasting impression on him. *Though probably,* he thought, reaching for a handful of soap to begin bathing, *it was mostly seeing how much it hurt the Dads to watch me suffer. Not that I didn't get my behind tanned once they were sure I'd recovered.* He might have escaped the physical punishment if he hadn't been caught wading again a week after the incident. Even the gentle tempered Joxer agreed with Ares that maybe an object lesson was needed to 'drive home' a little caution in their risk-taking son.

He started to bathe, rubbing the soap into a slick lather over his arms and torso. *They both think I'm so reckless. I suppose I am a little impetuous when it comes to the stuff like walking in high places, or trying to steal a ride on Apollo's lead chariot horse. Ow. But if that's the case, why am I feeling sorta paralyzed since Bliss told me he liked me?*

Accord rinsed, then sat on the steps in the shallow end to wash his legs. *What kind of like is it? We've always liked each other. I know why I like HIM--he's one of the coolest people in creation, and he's always had time for me. A lot of people wouldn't have bothered with me till I got grown up enough to... I dunno--hold a coherant conversation. But Dad Joxer says that Bliss used to talk to me even when I was still inside him. I can't remember a time when Bliss wasn't there...* He'd had his left foot propped on his right knee, working soap between his toes, and he froze suddenly at the thought of the possibility of Bliss not being around. It was possible. Sometimes a god was sent away to another pantheon for a sort of apprenticeship--especially if there wasn't an established elder god with a divinity close to the younger one to guide them. Accord knew that Dad Ares had gone to Egypt as a youth because there just wasn't anyone around to teach him the art of war in Greece. Bliss was Joy. Would Cupid and Aphrodite's godhoods be considered close enough to qualify to train him?

Accord forced himself to relax. *He's past the needing to be instructed phase,* he told himself. *He's been operating independently for a couple of years now.* He froze again as another thought struck him. *What if I'M sent away?* The thought of being far from home, surrounded by strangers (no matter how kind and well meaning) was frightening. Then he relaxed again. *No, I don't think I have to worry about that. After all, I need diplomacy and judgement in my godhood, and I have plenty of people available to teach me that, including my own parents. If I need the finer points of weighing different sides of an issue, I can always talk with Hades. He has to be good at that to judge the souls of the departed. Why am I worrying about this? I've always known how things operate, and it never bothered me before.*

Accord started rinsing his leg off. *Because before I didn't know that Bliss felt more for me than just uncular feelings.* He frowned. *That doesn't sound right. Nephewish? I think the Muses might smack me for that one. I guess I'll say 'familial' and leave it there. But what does he feel? What did he really say? He said that the thought of anyone else touching me made him see red.* Accord looked down at himself curiously. *Me?* He looked closer, trying to see himself objectively. He was a lot like Joxer physically--built long, but slender where his father was lean. Same smooth, pale skin. Same lack of body hair. Accord knew that these things could be seen as attractive. *After all, you can say the same thing about Strife, and Passion himself is nutty about Strife. But Strife is cool, too. I mean--hello? Leather and peircings. I'm kinda bland when you think of it that way. But Bliss must like something about me to have said that.*

Accord noticed that he was half hard. That wasn't anything unusual--not when he was alone in the bathing pool, anyway. Joxer had painted over the orgy mosaics when Accord was old enough to start using the bathing pool, but last year he'd decided that his son was old enough to not be corrupted. That was right after he'd found out that he'd discovered Accord having a 'private moment' when he walked into his room to tell him that supper was ready. It was a toss-up as to who had blushed the hardest.

He looked down, considering. It had been awhile. Lately all he'd done when he went to bed was fall asleep, nearly exhausted by his round of studying and lessons. He reached over and dipped up a little more of the soap, then scooted up another step, so that the water only came a little way up his legs. His buttocks were wet, but his crotch was mostly above the water. He reached down and smeared the soap over his cock, biting his lip at the sudden pleasure. He hadn't even gotten himself coated with lather before he was hardening even further, swelling into a true erection. When he'd masturbated before, Accord hadn't really fantasized about anything in particular. He'd just concentrated on the physical sensations he could cause himself. He'd heard others talking about fantasies, and had assumed that he'd come up with some of his own, sooner or later--but it hadn't happened yet. *I wonder. What if... Suppose...*

He closed his eyes and imagined Bliss sitting on the step beside him. He imagined his friend slipping an arm around his shoulder, pulling him a little closer. Bliss' skin would be warm--not just from the heated water, but from his own living warmth. Accord could remember feeling that at other times in the past, when they'd hugged, or Bliss had lifted him in his arms for short flights. He'd felt it, but never really thought about it. Now he did. His hand moved more firmly. Sitting like that, naked, would he feel the brush of Bliss' feathers on his bare skin? He wasn't aware of it, but his nipples tightened into hard buds at the thought.

*Sitting. Just sitting and talking. And suppose he put his hand on my knee, maybe to make a point about something, or get my attention.* His hand moved more quickly. *And then it started to slide up--slide up the inside of my thigh. Slide up till it touched me--* he squeezed *here.*

Accord cried out in surprise as he climaxed. He hadn't been expecting it so soon. Usually he'd have a nice, leisurely session of playing with himself before he reached release. He looked down in bewilderment, seeing a slight milkiness in the water over his groin as his seed was dispearsed by the water. He leaned back against the last couple of steps, feeling a little stunned, and thought, *He said he doesn't want anyone else to touch me. Does that mean he wants to touch me... like this?*

Accord closed his eyes, drawing in a deep, shuddering breath as he considered this possibility. "Wow," he whispered. *But what if that's all he wants? He also said he wasn't asking me to, like, get joined, or anything permanent. Does that mean he doesn't want that?* Accord tried to think for another moment, but finally got out of the pool, dried off, and began to dress. He figured there wasn't any point in pondering it any longer, because all he could think right now was...

*Do I want that?*