Sons of Sparta - A Story of the Spartans, Book 3
(inspired by the story 'Spartan' parts 1 through 4)
by argouru
Note: All credit for the creation of the Spartans and Amazons, as well as the Spartan mythos belongs to the author 'CF', to whom I owe special thanks for his allowing me to write about these incredible people.
WARNING: Portions of this installment of the series includes a section regarding mental illness.
Two months passed and John worked hard to save towards getting a car of his own. With only sixty dollars per paycheck in expenses to the family, he saved his money frugally, racking up a vast amount of savings very rapidly. He sighed as he went to bed in his room, Henry holding him close. He would need his rest for the next day when they, Daniel and Sam would all go out to take the human car shopping.
They reached a reasonable car lot and the older Spartans walked along, giving their human son-in-law advice. "The main things to look out for in a car," Sam told him, "are reliability, cheapness for repairs, and gas mileage. You want the vehicle you pick to have a good engine, transmission and brakes. Those are the main things that make people get rid of cars, so when you test drive one, make sure to pay attention to how all three of those things are, as well as try everything a few times to make sure nothing's broken or operates erratically."
"Also," Daniel added, "Make sure it's a vehicle that you're comfortable with and will want to have for a long time. Plan for the future when you pick a car, van or whatever."
To the Spartans' surprise, John passed by the fancier cars and focused on the selection of four-door sedans instead. "Are you sure you want a car like this?" Henry asked, figuring that John was thinking too practical.
We're going to be having kids before too long, so we'll need a car to transport them safely, right?" John asked.
"Yes..." Henry said slowly. "But John, it's going to be almost two years from now before I give birth, assuming the gestation goes alright. This is your car. Get something fun!"
"What do I need a 'fun' car for? It's not like I have tons of people to impress, Henry," John replied levelly.
Sam sighed quietly to himself as Daniel and Henry frowned at John's self-deprecating behavior. "John," Henry said. I'll be trading in my car for a more sensible one in a few months, get a car that you'll enjoy."
"That's exactly what I'm doing," John countered calmly. "I don't need a drag racer or a sports car. I just need some practical wheels to get to and from work, the grocery store, game stores and whenever we go out on dates and aren't using your car," he told his partner. "In case you haven't realized by now, I'm not a flashy person. I just need something practical and that's what I'm going to get. Stop trying to shove Porsches down my throat already."
"But your first car should be a fun one!" Henry persisted.
"And nothing is more fun than something affordable, reliable and isn't as likely to get stolen by teenagers who want a joyride in a flashy vehicle. This kind of car will do me just fine."
"Just let him get what he wants, Son," Daniel interrupted. "It's his car so he should get the kind he'll be happiest with."
"Besides, Henry," Sam added. "One thing you need to learn about being in a relationship is that you don't always win every fight."
Just then, a sales associate came over, smiling at the group in his business suit and manicured appearance. "Can I help you?" he asked eagerly.
"Yes," John said, taking the initiative. "I'm looking for something like this," he said. "Something that's good for family transportation and is child-safe."
"Oh," the salesman said with a smile, looking around. "And where is the rest of your family?"
"Right here," John replied with a frown at the man's automatic assumption that he was straight.
"Umm... But you mentioned children..." the associate said uncertainly.
"He hasn't become Emergent yet," John said, jabbing a thumb at Henry, who wore a strained smile, "but we need to plan for our future."
"Ahh..." the salesman said, looking very uncomfortable.
"There isn't a problem, is there?" John asked.
"No, no!" the man said quickly. "I'm deeply sorry. I had thought... That is... Well anyways. Was there a particular model you were interested in?"
John led the man around, asking questions on which models were the easiest to find parts for whenever repairs were needed. John watched for subtle cues in the man's behavior to see if he was lying, comparing notes silently with Daniel and Sam, who seemed to think that the car dealer was being mostly honest with them. John soon was examining a silver car of a popular make and model inside and out, then with Henry in the back and the salesman riding as the front passenger, John took the car on a quick test drive, noting everything he could about the car's handling and performance. In the end, he was satisfied, but stopped Henry after they got out. "Your turn," he said.
"What?" the Spartan asked in shock.
"There will be times when you'll need to drive this, so I want to make sure that you're comfortable with it too."
"But-"
"No arguments! Get your ass in that driver's seat," John countered firmly.
Sighing, Henry drove the car around the block and found that he liked it as well, so after they pulled into the lot and went into the office to finalize the sale, John got a new shock.
"How much are you putting down?" the salesman asked.
"Twenty four hundred," John replied.
"Thirty six hundred, actually," Sam countered.
"What?!?" John exclaimed. "Oh come on, guys. that's going too far!"
"John, don't argue with us," Daniel said with exasperation.
"Twelve hundred dollars is a lot of money! I can't let you guys spend yourselves broke just so that I can have a car! Twenty four hundred is a pretty sizable down payment as it is. Save your money for yourselves, or better yet for the four kids you guys still have at home! Don't you want to send them to college?"
"To be honest, the thousand we put up is from Fred's college fund, which will be a lot smaller than we thought. He's decided he wants to go to a local art school instead of to a university. What else is left over will go towards Ash and Will's college funds and Steven's on a scholarship, so there's no worries for his education. A thousand isn't that much to lose, to be honest."
"What about the other two hundred?" John asked, then turned to Henry with a frown.
"Surprise?" the Spartan said nervously. He took a firm stance at the glare John gave him. "I won't take it back John. I still had some extra left over from my tax return that I couldn't figure out what to do with. Honest!" he added, seeing the look of disbelief on the human's face.
"You guys are determined to shove your money down my throat aren't you?" John asked dryly. The salesman smiled in amusement at the situation as all three Spartans made sounds of confirmation, and John made a sound of disgust...
John drove his new car home, following Sam and Daniel in Sam's car and feeling slightly put out. "Does it really bother you that much?" Henry asked with concern at his partner's behavior.
"Yes, it does," John replied slowly in a tired manner. "Henry? ...Do you think I'm weak?" he asked with difficulty.
Henry hung his head in shame. "Sometimes I do... I know it's wrong, but all I want to do is protect you, John. I love you and want you to stay safe. If there's something I see that you need help with, then I want to be there for you. You're my partner. I'm a warrior by design, John. Lord Apollo made us to be instruments of vengeance against our ancient enemies. My body and mind are designed for combat and my instincts are to protect the people I love automatically. Yes, physically, you are weaker than I, but that doesn't mean... I don't know what I mean," he finished with a sigh of frustration, slumping back in the passenger seat. "I feel the need to protect you, is all."
"Henry, I can't do this if all you're going to do is hover over me all the time like I'm some helpless maiden! I need to stand up for myself! I won't have anyone be my crutch, nor will I use them like one! I want to be an equal, Henry. All my life it's felt as though the only rights I ever had were the ones others allowed me to have. I'm tired of being treated like some dumb weakling who doesn't know what's best for him! I've been treated that way all my life and I'm sick to death of it! That's what made me suicidal in the first place, Henry. Always feeling inferior to everyone else and that nothing about me would ever be right! I don't want to be like that anymore. I thought that being in a relationship would make us equals, but if you refuse to see me as anything other than inferior to you, then I don't see how this bond is going to work... I want it too, really, but I can't ever be happy being treated as a lesser person."
"Yeah, I know... I'm sorry, John. I really don't mean to make you feel that way. It's just that I'm a warrior by nature and that's something that I'll always be. I don't protect you and offer you help because I think you're inferior or such. It's just that I'm physically stronger than you and am a better fighter, so naturally my instincts tell me to keep you safe and help you anytime I see that you need it. I don't do it to hurt you... It's just...When I act that way, it's instinct. It's something I have a hard time -not- doing. I'm sorry if that upsets you or makes you feel that I think you're incapable of doing anything for yourself, because I don't like to feel that way at all. It's just my instincts telling me to protect you. I'm sorry if it hurts you. I'll try to stop acting like that as much as I can, but please know that I don't mean anything by it... I only do it because I love you."
"I love you too," John said, putting his hand on Henry's knee.
"Would you be willing to move in with me now?" the Spartan asked timidly. "I mean you said you wanted a car before you moved in and now you have one."
"You promise to try to stop treating me like someone who needs constant rescuing?" John asked, glancing at him.
"I promise that I'll try, but only so long as you try to not get mad at me whenever I slip up and do so anyways."
"Deal," John said, kissing him gently for a moment at a red light...
John moved in to Henry's apartment the next day. They had to buy a dresser to hold John's clothes, but thanks to the large bedroom, there was enough space for one large enough to hold all of his things. After that, life settled down into the new routine for them, Henry trying his best not to run to John's aid every time it looked as though he was having difficulty. After three months of living together, John began to lose his fears that the bond would fall apart under the stresses of living together while Henry learned to accept that there were things that John was unwilling to share about his past and his feelings. The couple came to terms with each other's quirks well enough that it didn't become an obstacle for their love for each other to live together happily.
John drove to the temple each morning of the weekdays for work while Henry would go to the hospital for his own job, the pair talking some each day during lunch whenever Henry's work would allow, which was much of the time. Fortunately, Henry was called in to work unexpectedly very rarely, much to their satisfaction, allowing them large portions of time together in the evenings and on weekends.
Henry laid back in bed one evening about two weeks into their time living together and the Spartan had reached orgasm. He laid there, stroking John's thigh as the human kissed him while pleasuring himself, when he broke the kiss. "Say John? Can I make a slightly odd request?"
"Hmm?" John asked, lazily stimulating himself.
"Could you... Could you cum on my stomach? Please?"
"What, like I was impregnating you?" John asked.
"Well yeah... I want to see what it would look like. You don't have to if you don't want to," he added nervously.
"How exactly do we do this?" John inquired.
"You'd really do it?" Henry asked softly.
"We'll be doing it for real someday, so we might as well get in some practice, right? Tell me what to do."
"Well... I lay on my back and you straddle my legs, then stroke yourself until you orgasm, aiming for my navel as best you can. During Emergence, you want to avoid scraping my filaments because doing so will hurt me horribly, but for now, just enjoy it without worry."
"Okay," John said, moving into position. He made sure his legs were secure then began to stimulate himself. It was an odd position for the human, but as he looked down at Henry, the Spartan looking up at him with a mixture of love and anticipation, John found himself getting into it more and more, his eyes locked onto those of his partner until he moaned in satisfaction, glancing down to see his sperm shooting out across the Spartan's abdominals and covering them in his essence.
Once he was finished, he laid beside the man he loved, who made sounds of contentment as he rubbed the human semen over himself. As John laid beside him, Henry leaned over and kissed him passionately. "Thank you," he breathed.
"You're welcome. You really want to become a dad, huh?" John asked.
"Yeah, I do," Henry said.
They cuddled close together until they fell asleep side by side...
Jason sighed with disgust as he stood in place in the back yard of the family home, fiddling with the hockey mask he wore. Why am I doing this again? he thought.
Because Dad Sam is insane! Marcus thought back, working on stacking a shelf at his job, making Jason chuckle to himself.
"This sweater's roasting!" Fred griped. "Can't I take it off already?"
"Not yet," Sam told him. "Come on, guys! This is the last shot of the film!"
"If we do this," Ash said, "That's it, right? We never have to do this again? Besides, the duct tape is starting to slip," he added, holding up his hand that had a toy chainsaw taped over it.
"Oh come on! Who doesn't want to be in the movies?" Sam sulked.
"Let's just get this over with!" Jason grumbled.
"You mean none of you are enjoying this?" Sam asked in a hurt tone.
"I'd enjoy it more if this sweater wasn't so thick," Fred grumbled lightly.
"Dad!" Ash retorted. "All of the movies you're trying to mash together were made when YOU were a boy! What does any of this matter?"
Sam sighed. "It'll hurt you guys to hear this, but I can't believe I gave birth to you all. ...Look, Friday the Thirteenth, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Evil Dead were three of the biggest horror movie series of all time. They butchered Freddy vs. Jason by making it into a comedy and everyone from my era have been begging the studios to make a Freddy-Jason-Ash crossover, but the movies were made by three different studios who could never come to an agreement and the three-way crossover was never made, so I'M making it." He looked up to the sky and raised his fists dramatically. "The fans demand it! Besides," he added, looking back at his children and lowering his arms, "I didn't name you two Freddy and Ash just so we could NOT make this movie. Come on guys, this really means a lot to me! Please?" he begged, acting even younger than Ash.
"Oh alright, fine!" Jason said, rolling his eyes. "Can we just wrap this up already?"
"Okay," Sam said enthusiastically. "Everyone in position! ...And... Action!"
The three fiends flailed away as the proud father recorded the epic battle of evil vs. evil vs. smug hero on his camcorder. Fred was really getting into his role and after several moments, Ash did too. Fred grabbed Ash's chainsaw arm by the wrist and shoved the plastic blade of it into Jason's guts, who jerked and spasmed dramatically.
"Thanks for lending a hand, Ash!" Fred replied sinisterly, then plunged his blade-fingered glove into Jason's chest, finishing the silent killer, who collapsed.
"You're welcome!" Ash exclaimed, clubbing Fred on the back of the head with his shotgun, then kicked him over onto his back. Fred tried to squirm away, but Ash pressed the chainsaw against Fred's chest, who spasmed until Ash yanked it away.
"So," Fred panted dramatically. "You think you've won? ...Saved the day like a hero? Take a good long look at yourself, Ashley! You're just as twisted and self-serving as me! Some good guy you are!"
Ash calmly leveled his 'boom stick' shotgun and pressed it to Fred's nose. "Good... Bad... I'm the one with the gun!" he growled slowly, then pulled the trigger. Fred fell back dead. Ash dropped the gun and picked up the large book they were using as the Necronomicon and opened it. "And now," he said out loud. "To destroy the power of this accursed book once and for all! Once I'm finished with it, no one will ever be able to use its power to return from the dead... Especially the two of you!" He raised the book up high. "Klato! Berada! Ne-..." he paused, fumbling for the word. "Okay, I got it." he muttered. "Klato! Berada! Nec-" he erupted into a fake coughing fit.
Jason, who was now off-screen, wiggled a piece of sheet metal to simulate thunder. Ash spun around and around, looking nervous and uncertain as he did so. Sam moved around to change the scenery until he was standing on the opposite side of Ash, who stood before a crude painting of prehistoric times and began to play a music card on the player. The opening music to "Two Thousand and One, a Space Odyssey" began to play.
Fred, meanwhile, erected a large black rectangle to stand vertically before Ash, laying down on the ground as he did so to stay out of the shot. Ash dropped to his knees. "Nooooooooooooo!" he cried dramatically, raising his hands to the sky... Then he frowned and turned to the camera. "I don't get it," he said.
"Cut! Cut!" Sam said. "It's a play on the movie the music is from, Ash. At the end of Evil Dead II, Ash was transported back to medieval times because of the Necronomicon. We just made a play on that, is all... Okay, we'll have to redo that last part."
"No! No! No!" Jason retorted, ripping off the hockey mask. "That's it! I'm out!"
"What?" Sam asked in shock. "After all I went through to have all of you guys, letting Daniel rip you all out of my body, then endure two, count 'em, two(!) cord cuttings for each of you! That's six in all! ...Well technically seven, counting you guys," he said to Jason, knowing Marcus, who was at work today, was listening in on the conversation. "Ungrateful little monsters!" he pouted.
"Dad!" Fred exclaimed. "Just get it in editing, alright? We did our part, now you keep your promise!"
"Oh alright," Sam huffed. "A deal is a deal! Steak dinners for each of you."
"What about Marcus?" Jason asked.
"He didn't take part, so no steak for him," Sam sulked. "Listening in on your parts doesn't count! And no arguing, Marcus!" the parent added to Jason.
"Fine!" Jason countered, "but he's coming along, I'm ordering the biggest steak they have and splitting it with him! You know he's suffered as much as I have through all of this!"
"Alright, fine!" Sam said, rolling his eyes. "I thought you guys would honestly enjoy doing this..." he said sadly.
"Well," Jason hedged, seeing just how much their rejection hurt their birth dad. "It was kind of fun in a way..."
"Yeah!" Fred said cheerfully with honesty. "I had a blast!"
"It was alright," Ash said with a shrug.
"How's come I didn't have any lines?" Jason sulked.
Sam, seeing Jason's sadness, put his arm around the young man's shoulders and explained Jason Vorhees to his son as they made their way to the house. "Well, Jason was always a quiet person, you see and only spoke once in the entire series..." He led his sons back into the house, giving them a proper horror education as they went and feeling much happier, much to the sorrow of his sons...
John continued to work at the temple, continuing his martial arts training for two hours a day and being a general helper around the temple, either mostly in the kitchens or serving as handyman as he discovered a love for repair work. Ralph continued to treat him like a weakling, much to the human's resentment, but John tried to avoid being around the man as much as possible. Unfortunately, John's feelings of inadequacy continued, usually in the back of his mind. While his fighting training was going well according to Keith, John had no illusions that he would ever be a match for a Spartan in a fight, which only caused him to maintain a strong discomfort in being around them for very long. Some Spartans were nice to John and treated him normally, others acted as though he needed watching over for his protection, making the human feel resentful and others, the more hotheaded ones, made him very nervous. He didn't like to be near them and they seemed to look down on him in the same way Ralph did. It seemed that there were Spartans who resented humans because of the way their species was treated and while they never threatened him, John could tell that they harbored some resentment for his kind.
If it wasn't for the way people treated him, John would love his new life, but it seemed as though lots of people continued to look down on him in one way or another, which made being truly happy very difficult for him. There wasn't anything that could be done about it though, so he ignored his concerns as best he could, shoving his feelings deep down inside where they, hopefully, wouldn't affect anyone else. He didn't have the right to force his problems off onto others, feeling that to do so was incredibly rude and after the way he grew up with everyone taking out their troubles on everyone else around them, he refused to burden others with his personal problems. They were his problems to overcome and the human didn't want to burden others with his insecurities.
Henry seemed to sense that something was wrong anyways, but John was adamant in keeping this to himself. He knew his partner was angry with him for not sharing, but the Spartan never shouted or anything, which was a relief to the human. John hated hurting the man he loved, but there wasn't anything Henry could do to help him, so John ignored his situation as best he could. Fortunately, while Henry was angry, he ever yelled at John or treated him poorly. He seemed more disappointed than anything else, but John refused to drag the Spartan into his personal problems.
But still, life was good for the most part and they were fairly happy together as a couple. John awoke in the early morning seven months later to find Henry groaning painfully. "Oh shit... You gotta be kidding me!" the Spartan grumbled.
"Hmm?" John moaned in inquiry, still mostly asleep.
"Sorry to wake you," Henry said quietly.
"Wha-'s wrong?" John slurred with fatigue, rolling onto his side.
"Well... You're not going to believe this, but something's happened."
"What?" John asked groggily, rolling onto his back and rubbing his eyes.
"See for yourself," Henry replied, so John rubbed his eyes as he sat up and looked first at Henry's face, then following the Spartan's gaze down to the man's stomach, where there was a pale distortion around his navel.
John rubbed his eyes more to get them to work properly and saw that the distortion was actually what looked like the tips of white feathers protruding from his navel. "Are those...?" he asked uncertainly.
"Yes, they're my filaments... I'm Emergent."
"Already?" John asked in shock. "I thought it would be a year or so. We've only lived together for about seven months now. Why so soon?"
"I don't know," Henry said, shaking his head and feeling baffled, then he thought about it some. "Unless... Maybe cumming on my stomach so often is what triggered it sooner?"
They had engaged in that position at least once a week since their first time, both finding that they enjoyed that position as well as others. John and Henry had been a very sexually active couple in their time living together, making love on average once a day. John had worried after a while that sex would become boring for them, but they remained enthusiastic as time went on, much to the human's relief. It seemed that either the constant sex, cumming on Henry's stomach so many times, or maybe a combination of the two had triggered a sooner than expected Emergence.
"So what do we do?" John asked nervously.
Henry saw his partner's nervousness and comforted him. "John, it's alright. We don't have to have a kid yet if you don't feel like you're ready. We've got loads of time still. I'll become Emergent again and next time we'll both be more prepared for it."
John shook his head. "But we have no idea when that could be, Henry. It could be months or years or maybe even decades until the next time. There's no way to predict when it will happen."
"It won't be decades," Henry said with slight amusement, "but it could be several years, yes."
John frowned. He was twenty six years old now and had no illusions as to a very long life. If he was lucky, he was only about a third of the way through his life, whereas Henry was only about a fifth of the way through his own. If it was years until the next Emergence, then how old would John be then? He wanted to be able to be a part of the lives of his children for as long as possible, assuming he decided to actually have kids. John was still nervous despite his plans for children and wasn't entirely sure he would make a fit parent. He sighed. Should he wait and thereby shorten the time he would have with his potential children, or have the first now and hope that he was wrong about himself? Did he have any right to gamble with the life and happiness of his kids on his own insecurities?
"John," Henry said. "If it's that hard for you, then let's hold off. We'll wait until next time, okay?"
"No... I'm not saying no," the human replied slowly. "I just need some time to think this over... I want to make sure I want this. Having a kid is a big deal and I want to make sure I'm ready for it. The worst thing for us would to be to have a child just because we feel obligated to, but at the same time I don't want to wait if we can help it. It'll take about a week before you're ready right?" Henry nodded. "Then I'll use that week to think it over thoroughly before I make up my mind, okay? Let's not say one way or the other until then."
"Alright. We'll give it a week and see what we decide together," Henry agreed...