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Cupid's Little Helper	By : Scribe Category: S through Z > Xena Views: 3621 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Xena, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Cupid's Little Helper, Chapter Six

Cupid's Little Helper
Chapter Six
Babysittin

When we flashed inta Cupid's place he held onta me
till I was steady again, then said, "Look I need to
ask you a favor."

"Yeah?" *Here it comes. Time ta play 'Use tha
Loser'.*

"I really need to go have a talk with Pops, but Mom is
due to bring Bliss back any minute now. Could you
watch him for a couple of hours?"

My mouth dropped open like I was tryin ta catch flies.
"Ya mean you'd trust me ta watch yer kid?"

He frowned. "Of course I would. Strife, you may act
a little flaky sometimes, but you're a very
responsible person. You never neglect your duties.
Besides, Bliss really, really likes you."

I couldn't help grinnin. "He does, huh?"

"One more time, of course. And you like him, too."

"Yeah, well, don't talk it around. I got a rep ta
maintain, ya know? Sure, I'll watch tha brat."

"Thank you." He gave my arm a squeeze. "I won't be
too long, I hope." He disappeared in a shower of gold
sparks.

I hardly had time ta sit down when Aphrodite appeared
in her own shower of gold sparklies, plus rose petals,
Bliss in her arms. 'Dite's wunna tha good ones. I
nevah get tha feelin she's looking for an excuse ta
get away from me as soon as she sees me, like I do
with some of 'em.

She smiled at me. "Well, hello Mischief! Where's
that son of mine?"

"He's havin a confab with Unca Ares. I'm gonna watch
tha kiddo till he gets back."

Bless her, she nevah even batted an eyelash, just set
Bliss down on tha floor, sayin, "That's nice of you,
dear. It's hard to get good babysitters these days."

Bliss flew ta me as straight as wunna Cupe's arrows,
an hit me almost as hard, scramblin up on my lap.
"Oof! Hiya, kid. Da... uh, darn yer gettin big."

"Sowwy." He started climbin up me, manueverin ta sit
on my shoulders.

"Ow! Bliss, who made those sandals for ya--Hephastus?
Yow."

"Sowwy." He'd got situated, little legs danglin on
eithah side of my neck, an' kicked. "Giddap."

"Yer Granma took ya ta visit Apollo's stables again,
didn't she? 'D how how many honey cakes did ya feed
him?"

'Dite smiled at me sweetly. "I have to be going now.
Tell Cupid we need to have a chat very soon. In fact,
tonight or tomorrow would be best."

"Check."

She flashed out just as Bliss buried his hands in my
hair, tugged, an' said. "Hiyo, Stwifie! Away!"

*sigh*

Well, what was I s'posed ta do? He's my
second-cousin, aftah all. Or is that first cousin,
once removed? Nevah could get that family tree shit
straight, an' when yer a god it really doesn't make
all that much difference. Anyways, I got up an'
played horsie. I galloped around, neighin an'
snortin. He had a real giggle fit when I bucked. I
really shoulda thought about tha fact that he was just
barely potty trained before I did that, though. That
instant clean-up can come in real handy.

It was movin on toward evenin, then, so I waved us up
some food, makin sure he had plenty of warm milk.
Cupe still hadn't shown up, so I bathed him. If I
hadn't been wearin my leathers I'da got a shower
myself. Kid was like a hyper-active otter on a
massive sugar high.

When he was clean I plucked 'im outta tha tub, an' he
flapped his little wings so fast ya would've mistaken
him for a hummin bird. Anothah shower. I wrapped
'im up in a big towel, took 'im to his bedroom an'
dried 'im off. By that time he'd finally started ta
calm down.

I thought up a clean shift for him ta sleep in, an' I
noticed that he was turnin in a circle. For a second
I just watched him spin, wonderin if this was some new
sorta game, then I realized what was goin on. He was
tryin ta reach his wings. Durin tha bath tha feathahs
had gotten all disarranged. They were layin every
which way. Judgin from tha frown on his face an' tha
determined way he was spinnin around, reachin back, it
musta been pretty uncrtabrtable.

"Hey, Bliss. C'mere buddy." He stopped an' came ta
me. "Wassa matter? Yer feathahs ruffled?"

He frowned an' nodded, flapping them again, hard. "It
don't feel good. Daddy us'lly fixes 'em for me, but
Daddy's not here now." His bottom lip stuck out, an'
his eyes got wet. "Where's my daddy, Stwife? I not
seen 'im all day."

"He had business, kiddo. He'll be back soon, an' I
bet tha first thing he does is come in here ta make
sure yer all right an' give ya a good-night kiss."

He looked only a little comforted. "You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, ya big silly! Yer Dad loves ya
like nobody's business. Now, why dontcha let me try
an' help ya with those feathahs, huh? We'll get ya
comfortable so ya can go ta sleep."

"Kay."

I picked him up an' set him on my knees, an' began ta
smooth wingwings out. I worked carefully,
straightenin an' preenin each feathah till it lay flat
an' smooth. They were so pretty. Tha feathahs were
so white they were almost silver, an they were tha
smallest, softest, smoothest things I evah touched,
even more so than Cupid's feathahs. I guess it's
kinda like baby hair: it's always softah an' finah
than adult hair.

I finished an' said, "Ready ta go ta bed now?"

He turned sideways on my lap, leanin against me, an'
yawned. "Not yet. Tell me a stowie."

Oh, man! Mosta tha stories I knew were definitely not
meant for little ears. "Uh... What kinda story?"

"A twue stowie."

*Oh, heck.* I just started talkin. "Once upon a time
there was a little godling named Bliss..."

He giggled. "Stowie's 'bout me?"

"Some of it. Now be quiet an' close yer eyes." He
did, settlin his cheek against my chest. "Okay, this
was wunna tha baddest godlings around..."

He opened one eye, frownin at m"Ise"Ise not bad."

"Bad means good."

"Oh." I love that. Just accepted it, didn't need a
long explanation.

"So, Bliss was also wunna tha happiest godlings on
Olympus, cause he had a big, beautiful daddy ta look
aftah him, an' a crazy somethingorothah cousin ta keep
him amused, so he wasn't bored very much. Tha only
problem was that tha crazy guy wasn't around all that
much. Then one day somethin too complicated ta
explain happened, an' poof! Crazy Guy was livin in
tha very same house with Bliss an' his ultra cool
daddy." His eyes were closed, an' he had managed that
cat trick of disolvin his bones. I picked him up
carefully an' stood, then slipped him inta tha bed,
whisperin, "An' they all lived happily evah aftah,
which is a long time when yer a god." I bent down an'
dropped a kiss on his soft little cheek.

"That was a nice story."

I bit back a noise, so I
wouldn't wake up tha kid, when Cupid came up behind
me. He bent down an' kissed his son. Bliss didn't
quite wake up, but he smiled an murmured somethin
that sounded like, "Daddy."

Cupid tucked tha covers a little tighter, an' we both
tip-toed out. Out in tha main room I said, "Didya
eat? I can wave somethin up real fast."

Cupid shrugged. "Nah, I grabbed a bite over there,
after we had our talk. He wasn't in the mood to eat
when I got through with him, but Joxer and I had a
nice dinner together."

"How is tha Mighty One?"

Cupid grinned, and made a motion in front of his
belly. "Out to here. He's taking it pretty well,
considering. I mean, pregnancies for us aren't all
that big a deal, but it's a pretty hard concept for a
mortal man to wrap his mind around."

"He's a nice guy. I like 'im." I smiled. "That
clumsiness has helped me out in my work on more than
one occasion. Before he fell in with Unc tha boy was
a natural mischief magnet." I cleared my throat. I
was about ta do somethin that I wasn't sure I had any
right ta do, or any sense for it, eithah. "Cupe, I
think ya need ta spend a little time with Bliss. He
was missin ya pretty bad tanight."

He sighed, sitting down. "I know. It's just been
kind of hectic lately. You know--spring. My business
really picks up when the weather gets warmer." He
held out his hand to me. I just looked at him, and he
crooked his fingers at me. "Come on."

I walked ovah to him slowly. "What ya want?"

"Not much." He took hold of my hand an' pulled me
down on his lap, puttin his arms around me. "Bliss
isn't the only one who likes to cuddle." He laid his
cheek on my chest, almost like Bliss had.

I thought for a minute, then put my arms around his
neck. It was nice, just sittin there. Cupe is so...
so... there, ya know? Real an' solid.

I noticed that some of his feathahs were stickin out
at odd angles. Hm. He musta been kinda agitated at
Unc's. I reached back an' started ta smooth them out.
Cupe sighed again. "That's nice. I watched you
doing it for Bliss, and I kind of hoped... But I
didn't think I should ask."

"Why not? An' exactly how long were ya watchin?"

"Well, grooming is a kind of a personal thing. And I
watched long enough. You're very good with him,
Strife."

"He's a cool little kid. Lotta potential there."

"Ah, yes, but potential for what?"

I knew he meant that if I thought he had
potential... I snorted. "For all tha good stuff.
All kids got some mischief in 'em, Cupe. Not all of
'em are destined ta serve me." I giggled. "Though
tha world might be a more interestin place..."

"I didn't mean you, Strife. Just look at his
background. There's plenty to worry about there with
his ancestors without bringing you into the mix."

Somehow he'd worked a hand up undah my shirt in back
(don't ask me how, I wear those suckers tight), an'
was rubbin a circle at tha small of my back. He
lifted his head ta look at me, an' said, "Strife, I'm
sorry if I pushed you into anything you weren't ready
for this morning."

I tried ta sound casual. "Oh, hey, cuz, nothin ta
apologize for. No harm, no foul, huh? Ain't like I
was raped or anythin."

"It doesn't have to be physically violent for it to be
wrong. It's just..." He bit his lip. "How can I
make you understand this?"

I shrugged. "Wanna draw pictures?"

"Okay, part of it is what I am. What am I, Strife?"

"Well, duh. Yer tha God of Love."

"Wrong. Common misconception. I'm the God of Falling
in Love. I usually use the shortened version, saves
breath and ink, but there is a difference. I plant
the attraction, or bring it to people's attention.
What happens after that is up to Mom. So..." He
sighed. "I don't want to use this as an excuse, but
the process of nurturing love and building it is out
of my line. That may have something to do with why
things didn't work out between me and Psyche."

"Nah. Tha woman is almost incapable gen genuine
emotion beyond selfishness. How she popped out a
sweetie like Bliss I'll nevah know. Cupe, what's all
this about? It's isn't like you ta get all
self-analytical an' philosophical."

"That's part of the problem. I've been taking things
too much at surface value. I've started looking
deeper lately, though. Take you for instance."

I blinked. "Me?"

"Yes. There's a lot more to you than most people
recognize."

I laughed. "Cupe, there are saucers deeper than I
am."

I was a little startled when he took my chin in his
hands, made me look at him, an' said firmly, "I want
you to stop talking about yourself like that. You
don't deserve it, Strife. Promise me that you'll stop
cutting yourself down."

I studied him. "Why, Cupe? I'm just beatin everyone
else ta tha punch line."

"That needs to change, too."

I leaned my forehead against his. "That's a nice
sentiment, cuz. Not too damn likely ta happen, but
nice."

He was lookin inta my eyes from just an inch or two
away. "You might be surprised." His arms tightened
around me. "Strife, you can go ahead and make
yourself a separate bed if you want to," I felt a
sinkin feelin inside till he said, "but I hope you
won't."

"I don't, like, kick, or snore, or grind my teeth, or
anythin, do I?"

"No." He seemed amused. "Haven't your other bed
partners told you?"

"Well, ya see, I nevah really sleep with anyone." He
raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, smart ass, I do that, but
I don't sleep with 'em. One or tha othah of us gets
up an' goes." I looked away. "Nobody really seems
interested in spendin that much time with me, so I
don't force it on 'em." I cut my eyes back at him.
"But it was kinda nice, even if I ain't used ta bein
used as a blanket."

"I should have asked." Tha hand moved down, cuppin
my ass. "It's just that you're so good at keeping me
warm."

"So, what?" I looked him straight in the eye. "You
askin now?"

His voice was very quiet. "Yes, I'm asking."

"Why, thank you, kind sir. I accept yer lovely
invitation." I kissed him, then whispahed, "Ask a
civil question, get a civil answer."
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Cupid's Little Helper