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Laelaps

It started as the said feast, but turned into a date.

The feast hall was an open pavilion full of long tables. Near the front, there was one table with fifteen seats, one for each member of the ruling Olympic council, Zeus, Lord of the Sky, Poseidon, King Underwater, Hera, the Faithful, Ares, Lord of Battle, Athena, the Grey-eyed One, Hermes, the Messenger, Dionysus of the Wine, Hephaestus of the Forges, Artemis the Huntress, Apollo the Sun God, Demeter, Goddess of Agriculture, and Aphrodite the Lovely, plus one for Hestia of the Hearth, Hades, King Underground, and an extra seat for guests, which Ostara, as Jessica, occupied gladly. The hare looked strange among the all-human council. In fact, most of the assembled minor Divines were human as well, and Skia and I stuck out like a bruise. While the rest of the minor Divines sat somewhere in between the council's table and the rest of Olympia some ways down the mountain that dropped off when the pavilion ended, with Skia joining them, Sebun and I sat all the way at the front, in a rather romantic shadow. It was like an elementary school cafeteria and we were the kids that the teachers segregated from the rest because of a peanut butter allergy. What? You've never seen that happen? Someone's bound to have. Well, you get the general idea, right? Good, 'cause we're moving on.

In our little corner, there seemed to be a table specifically for us: a two-seater in the shadow of Zeus's mansion with mood lighting. Sebum looked skeptical. “I dunno, Lae. Looks kind of… Romantic. Like we're on a date or something." This sent my little hound heart plummeting into little hound hell. “Well, it's for the gods' entertainment. They love match-making more than any pre-teen kit. At least the kit matches for herself. Just look like you're in love before Eros gets over here and we're really in love." He can't know why that's so easy for me, I thought. Trying to make conversation, I started. “So, Jessica. How do you feel about her?"

He sighed. “I don't know what to feel anymore, with this goddess business." He sounded so bitter, I didn't press. “But if you mean about mateship or something…" He actually used the word mateship! Granted, there is no word for marriage in the common tongue, but he didn't try to approximate. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Eros, Bringer of Love, raising his bow. “Don't even think about it, Eros!" I yelled over. “This isn't a date!" But at the same time, I saw Apollo look smug as Aphrodite handed him a bag of coinage. “Looks like Sunshine and Lovely were betting on a kiss or something," I say. He laughs. A rare occurrence, to be sure.

“Anyways, I-I'm not… in to females."

I choked on my wine. “You're gay?" I must have been pretty convincing (even though the High One told me WAY beforehand) because he gave me a slight smile. “Y-yeah. In fact, I've always found… Nevermind." Why and more importantly, what is he hiding? Apparently, a god telling you what's up spoils you senseless on information.

“So, uh, how are things with Skia?" he asked. Was that hope in his voice? Why was there hope in his voice?

“I don't want to talk about it." The truth was, we had broken up as soon as Sebun showed up. She wanted him and I was hurt, but we're both great actors.

“Well, if she cheats on you, we can make her jealous if you want," he joked, a little self consciously.

We continued eating in silence until he broke the ice again. “So how does this work? You're an animal eating an animal." It was true, I was tearing into a venison steak. I twitched my ears at his question. “First off, we aren't animals," I said in between bites. “we're Zoomen." Exposition time. “Come on, you know the stories. Thousands of years ago, a homon mage that specialized in biomagic- you kow, healing and stuff?- by the name of Jahway Heseus accidentally used a homon healing spell on a cursed forest. From it came the Great Breeds of Lepusian, Arione, Sune, Simius, and Fenrus. He was delighted to see new Sentients, so he casted the spell all over, creating the Minor Breeds. The other homons didn't like it so much, so they told the mage Noah Saharkah to move us all here." He definitely isn't a good actor, since he looked surprised. “Yeah, right. I remember." He looked into the distance, at Olympus. “You know, it looks better than I thought it would. When I was younger, I thought Olympus would be a mega Athens. Now I see that it's… indescribable. Incomparable, like a…"

We giggled. He was the only one that could make me do that. Then I noticed an arrow sailing towards us.

I knew it wouldn't hurt

I wondered what being in love felt like.

And then I knew.

Yes, it started as a Feast, but right then, when Eros's Arrows hit us, I knew what it really was.

It was a date.

Sunshine and Lovely exchanged money once again.