Despite everything that happened at the Conclave and the general sense of dread and stress and that subtle feeling that everyone might die at the hands of Hera and her demented angry son of war, Heracles was feeling pretty spiffy when he woke up.
He was one of the few people in this world who responded well to the sounds of a morning bird that served as his alarm. No, this wasn’t a literal bird, but on his phone, he found a cool app, Rise and Shine, which had the feature of a regular alarm app but with the added benefit of having certain animal sounds. There were wild cats, dogs, the sound a goat makes when frightened, but Heracles was, if nothing else, a traditional God. And so he woke up to the proud crowing of a digitally-created rooster.
From then on, Heracles did everything Heracles did when he woke up before the sun did: he made a healthy breakfast. Since today was Saturday, that meant a spread of wheatcakes with a light drizzle of honey, a greek yogurt parfait, and a tall glass of soy milk, all of which were devoured fifteen minutes after posting a shot of it on Instagram. Thanks to that and his proud sponsor King Arthur’s Wheat Flour, which was never bleached and never bromated, he was going to find close to nine-thousand dollars in his bank account by tomorrow.
“Today’s going to be a great day!” He repeated to himself as he found himself out the door of Acropolis.
With his gym bag in the back seat of his red Ford F150 and the roaring engine sounding off as he left the upscale neighborhood that he and Apollo lived in, Heracles had the intention of going to the gym that was less than seven miles from his loft but then he had the thought of not wanting to work out alone, which brought him to a conversation he and Benten had the night before the conclave. Among other things, the conversation progressed onto how fit Herc was and just how out of shape Ben was. Whether it was a stupid suggestion then or a brilliant one, he didn’t know, but Heracles promised to help her out by being her gym buddy, and she agreed.
And that’s how he found himself back at Seattle U, walking in thigh-high shorts that showed off much of his well-toned legs and a matching, black tank. Thankfully for it being still relatively close from summer, it wasn’t that chilly but it still being morning, Heracles had the adrenaline of helping out a friend in dire need of his help.
After briskly walking for about ten minutes and asking around where Bentley Stark could be found, everyone he asked had told him at the Sigma Chi House and low and behold, there he was in front of it. As far as fraternity houses went, it wasn’t bad. Decent size and he even thought some decent parties must’ve been held here. And the thought that followed was how it paled in comparison to the wild times the OG fraternity held. Acropolis for life!
After he knocked a few times and had a slick back and forth with the guys who lived there, immediately they recognized him. Jackson Drake, the widely popular Instagram Influencer who had over a million subscribers and holder of two American Influencer Awards for Lifestyle Influencer of the year even though he technically wasn’t a lifestyle influencer. Still, he was known and that meant people wanted his photos.
Ten rounds of selfies later and one of his less-starstruck fans led him upstairs and to the room Bentley was sleeping in. He stood in front of her bed, watching her sleep for a few moments. Part of him was going to feel guilty for what he was about to do.
“Rise and shine!” He shouted, giving her bed a firm Leonidas, King of Sparta kick.
There was the sound of a babbling brook, flowing freely and without care to the world around it. The feeling of grass surrounded her, a featherlight feeling of fingertips trailing along her thighs, the wanton kiss against her lips, the breeze that played with their contrasting hair. They parted for only a moment, taking a breath, eyes filled with amorous passion
“You’re the most beautiful girl I know.” The words fell true, the brook seemed far away as Benten gazed into her lover’s eyes, cupping her cheek tenderly.
The lips of her liver moved but Ben missed the sound as a jolt went through her, a feeling of dread pitting in her stomach. Even her question fell silent on her ears as she felt the words flow from her mouth, the pounding of her heart was deafening in her ears, the scenery around her growing blurry, hazy through her panic. She reached for the lover that seemed a mile away now, shouting her name silently, eyes wide with fear. The lover she once saw was no more, instead, a hulking beast stood smug before her and opened its gnarly mouth to bellow-
Ben scrambles awake at the sudden intrusion, her back pressed to the headboard, looking around wildly for the monster that ruined her dreams. When her eyes landed on Heracles her shoulders slumped in relief, before tensing again after realizing she was in her room.
“What are you doing Jackson?” Irritation graced her tone as her eyes narrowed into a suspicious glare.
“What does it look like?” He backed away from her bed just enough so she could catch the glimpse of his outfit. “It’s Saturday, Ben! And you know what that means, right?” He left it open in hopes she would know.
Ben pursed her lips for a moment fighting the grogginess of her abrupt awakening. “Uhhhh… her eyes took in his appearance, he was wearing gym clothes and she was capable enough to at least put two and two together but wasn’t sure why he was here. “Okay, better question… why the fuck are you cock blocking dreamworld me to show off your bulging muscles? Did you get those shorts from GapKids®? they look like they’re going to burst around your quads dude.”
“Pfft, these are top of the line! Perfect for stretching, running, and they’re surprisingly comfy!” there was a sense of pride in his voice. “But more to the point, it’s leg day, Ben! So come on, get up!” He kicked her bed again but not with as much force as his first one did.
Ben’s thin patience was quickly running out, the second kick made her release a drawn-out sigh, willing herself to stay chill. Killing her bro was out of the picture, she wouldn’t survive prison, goddess or not. “Alright, alright, it’s obvious you’ve dropped one too many dumbbells on that ample head of yours, so I can forgive you for ruining my beauty sleep. Now, please, swiftly get the hell out so I can return to what I was doing.”
Heracles was starting to become annoyed but he wasn’t going to succumb to the inner-Zeus-like tantrum he’s been known to throw “But you promised! Remember? At the party a few nights ago. You said you would be my workout partner!”
“What? I did no such th-“ Ben was interrupted by her own flood of memories. During the party at Acropolis after the conclave she had drunkenly committed to working out with Heracles, and she had done so on camera and to her fans. A groan filled with her deepest regrets escaped her and she flung herself back against her bed, pulling her duvet over her face, “Dude, no one ever means anything they say when they’re drunk! Well… I always mean it when I tell Coco I want her to sit on my face… but everything else is just bullshit dude. I’m busy today, maybe in my next life I’ll pursue being a bodybuilder with you.”
“Busy doing what?” He asked point-blank.
“I got a couple appointments, one in 75 seconds with going back to sleep and one at 3:45 with a cheesy Gordita crunch. Now if you wouldn’t mind, make sure to close the door all the way behind you. Byeee~” Ben pokes a hand out from under the covers and waved for a moment before getting comfortable again.
“I guess we’re doing this the hard way.”
Whether Ben was paying attention or not, the silence that followed should have been the first red flag. Heracles was a lot of things, but having the tendency to be quiet for no reason wasn’t one of them. When his yap stopped moving, either one of two things was about to happen: either he would leave you alone or something very bad was going to happen to someone in a short amount of time. Ben probably thought it was the former, but as he gripped her blanket with a firm grasp, in the following three seconds, it had been swiftly removed, exposing Ben in the shirt and shorts she had been wearing.
Ben had just about drifted back to sleep again when Herc ya led away her soft, sweet comfort. Goosebumps ran along her arms as the chill of the room crept along her exposed skin. A grumble left her as she pressed a pillow to her face, blocking out the light in the room, she could fall asleep like this if she really tried. Ben was adaptable to most situations and places, but that did not extend to the gym, “This is harassment! A targeted hate crime! I’ll call Athena if you don’t go away Herc, it’s illegal to be this committed to the gym. Do you want to go to jail again, you annoyingly fit bastard?”
He expected a fight, but what Ben was doing was just childish. “Oh, don’t be like that, Ben. You know Athena wouldn’t answer your call. Besides you made me a promise and who else will help you put some meat on those painfully-skinny legs of yours?” He asked her, pointing to her chicken legs. He always heard that negative reinforcement often produced positive results.
Ben moves the pillow from her face and gave a dramatic gasp, “How dare you-“ she threw the pillow with all her might at the beefcake, watching it thump against his head and fall to the ground. It was anticlimactic and did little to give her any sort of satisfaction, “body shame me in my own home. Don’t think I’ve forgot about the times you tried to put the moves on me Heracles! You didn’t have any problems with my chicken legs then! For the last time, I’m booked and busy today! Call back tomorrow to see if I can reschedule you!”
He had the partial thought of giving up, but now he wouldn’t be Heracles, Conqueror of the 12 Labors of Olympus if he had thrown in the towel the minute things became difficult. If she wasn’t happy with him now, Gods only knew just how furious she was going to become as soon as he did what he was going to. “Just remember, you forced me to.”
With guilt hanging high within him, Heracles took both of Ben’s legs with relative ease. It was fortunate for him that she wasn’t so athletically gifted. Pulling her from one end of the bed took no effort whatsoever. And then as he placed his hands carefully around her waist, he picked her weightless body and threw her over one of his shoulders, making sure he wasn’t touching her in places that could land him his own canceled party hashtag.
While Ben had doubled down on the “try me bitch” approach she hadn’t thought Herc would actually do it. The man was mighty, but mostly docile, intimidating from afar like a pitbull with its lip curled, but up close, just a cute little bully that wants to cuddle you and lick your face. The banshee-like cry that reverberated off the walls of the room was completely called for when Ben ended up tossed over Herc’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
”PUT ME DOWN WONDER BOY!” Bentley Stark shrieked trying to grab onto anything she could as Herc made for the door.
And anything she did had little to no effect in stopping Heracles from walking out of Ben’s messy room and into the hallway, halfway to the stairs. “Just calm down! You’re making this into a bigger thing than it needs to be!” It was clear Herc was growing fatigued of her fight, but he couldn’t deny that he was getting some satisfaction from it all.
Bentley put all her energy to thrashing in his hold, beating her hands against his back, and clawing at all the walls and door frames she could. To no avail did she free herself from Herc’s iron grip, and so she channeled the potato energy and grew slack against him. Bentley’s fingers folded into the only sign language she knew and flashed the big ‘fuck you’ to all her laughing frat brothers, ”I can’t believe I once called you traitors my brothers! No more, you’re all dead to me! Dead! You hear me?”
The front door was quickly approaching, and with that, her window for escape was becoming narrower. Just as she was getting her second wind the final knife wedged deep into her back, the sharp tip piercing her heart, “Et tu Brad?”
Bentley’s Big stood beside the front door with his arms casually crossed over his chest an amused shake of his head was a response to her childish antics, “Count this as a necessary evil. With how heavy you breath running up the stairs every time, and I’d rather not gamble whether you’ll survive your next climb.”
“How dare you defy fate! If it’s my time it’s my time. Now I’ll meet my end to the sound of gym rats releasing their mating cries as they hit a max rep. This betrayal hits the deepest, sleep with one eye open Bradley otherwise I’ll be coming for those brows!” Brad only offered a hearty chuckle as he opened the door for Jackson and gave an enthusiastic wave to Bently as he closed the door following their exit.
“Thanks man! I’ll have her back in a few hours!” Jackson gave Brad a gesture that resembled a friendly wave as he ran out the frat house, feet firmly planting against the steps. They were about seven yards from the frat house when Herc made the conscious decision to allow Ben to walk with him as he set her down. That and her constant wiggling had rendered it impossible for him to continue carrying her without growing frustrated with his friend. “There. Now it’s not so bad. We only have about fifty feet to the parking lot. You can do that, I’m sure!” He said to her in an encouraging voice.
Ben didn’t try to hide her pouting as she practically stomped beside Heracles, producing the only sound she gave in response to his “encouragement”. Meanwhile her mind was racing, calculating the possibilities of her making a break from him and successfully getting away. By the time they reached his truck she had concluded there was no escape from this and resigned herself to the death that awaited her.
“Let's make this as swift and painless as possible, alright?” Ben grumbled once she was situated comfortably in the passenger seat.
For a rather long moment of silence, Herc thought about saying something, maybe give Ben one last comment to mull over. But then he thought about how that would defeat the purpose of what he knew at its core was him wanting to spend time with one of his friends and helping them achieve an ideal body that would make basic acts such as walking up a flight of stairs not seem like a marathon. So he decided against it and just hopped into the driver’s side seat, letting the engine roar for a minute before they were Fitness City-bound.
“Trust me, this will be fun! I’m an excellent spotter!”
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