The dimension created by Elohim remained quiet. Damon had stayed off to one side as the different delegations slowly began to disperse, until he noticed Amaterasu making her way toward the Aztec queen.
Quetzalcoatl saw her coming and kept her attention on the sun goddess. She wasn't nervous, but there was definitely a certain sense of expectation. She knew perfectly well who she was dealing with. "It's a pleasure to be in your presence again, Lady Amaterasu," Quetzalcoatl said, inclining her head slightly.
"Likewise, Lady Quetzalcoatl."
It wasn't as though the two goddesses had never met before, but their relationship had never gone beyond that: they knew of each other. The Aztecs and the Shinto had practically no ties between them, and Damon could feel a natural tension between the two women.
"I've heard quite a bit about you," Amaterasu continued in a neutral tone. "What I didn't expect was to find out that you had reached an agreement with Damon."
Quetzalcoatl nodded, taking no offense at the goddess's seriousness. In fact, she preferred it. It meant Amaterasu was taking her seriously, something the Aztec goddess appreciated far more than being treated like the representative of some minor pantheon.
"Lord Damon believed it was for the best," she replied. "Especially since the Norse aren't the only ones with demigods currently living under Greek protection."
"I see," the sun goddess murmured, some of the stiffness leaving her voice this time. After a brief pause, Amaterasu extended her hand, and Quetzalcoatl accepted it without hesitation.
"Welcome to the group," Amaterasu said with a soft smile. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask. A friend of Damon's can consider herself a friend of mine as well."
The gesture meant far more than it might have seemed at first glance.
Quetzalcoatl tightened her grip with genuine gratitude. Only a few days ago, she had been practically alone in the supernatural world, leading a pantheon that was dangerously close to fading into obscurity. Now she had not only Greece's support behind her, but direct recognition from the Shinto as well.
She couldn't help thinking about how much her situation had changed since meeting the King of Olympus. Her gratitude toward him had grown to a point that bordered on unhealthy, though fortunately Quetzalcoatl was good enough at hiding it that no one around her seemed to notice.
"Thank you very much, Lady Amaterasu."
Damon let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. Beside him, Hestia watched the exchange with her hands clasped in front of her chest and a warm smile on her lips. She liked seeing people reach an understanding; after all, it was a fundamental part of what she represented. No home could last for very long if the people within it were incapable of speaking honestly when something began to break between them.
His sister's satisfaction was so obvious that Damon eventually shook his head, unable to resist. "Well, look at you. The girl who didn't even want to come, and now it turns out you're having more fun than anyone else."
Hestia turned toward him with flushed cheeks. She straightened her back and planted both hands on her hips, showing a kind of pride rarely seen from the normally humble goddess of the hearth. "You said you wanted me to make an impression. I'm pretty sure they're going to remember me after today," she replied. Her voice wavered slightly near the end, but the satisfaction she felt was impossible to hide.
Damon let out a genuine laugh. He was about to respond when a high-pitched, enthusiastic voice cut through the group. "You were amazing!"
Everyone turned toward the newcomer. Gabriel stood behind them with her hands clasped against her chest and her eyes practically sparkling as she looked at Hestia as though she had just witnessed something truly incredible.
Hestia immediately turned red all the way to her ears and raised both hands in front of her face. "Ehhh, please don't!"
Damon smiled at the sight before turning his attention toward the Archangel and greeting her with a slight bow of his head. "Lady Gabriel. You have no idea how happy I am to see you." As he spoke, he couldn't help discreetly looking her over from head to toe.
It had been quite some time since he had last seen her, and Damon had to admit that Gabriel's beauty was still difficult to ignore when she was standing right in front of him.
Gabriel shifted her radiant eyes toward him and offered a gentle smile. Damon had barely paid any attention to her during the meeting, so seeing her approach the group had caught him a little off guard. He glanced over his shoulder toward Michael and Metatron, who remained a short distance away, quietly exchanging a few words as though they were still debating whether to come over or simply let Gabriel do her own thing.
Not every Angel had a heart as pure as hers; Damon was certain of that. Nor did all of them act with good intentions. Perhaps that was why he had always felt an almost immediate fondness for Gabriel whenever they crossed paths. With her, he never had the sense that there was some hidden meaning behind every word.
"It's also a pleasure to see you, Lord Damon," the Archangel replied before turning back toward Hestia with genuine interest. "I assume she's your sister."
Hestia returned a slightly nervous smile, and Damon couldn't help widening his own as he watched them. "That's right. This is my dear sister," he said, glancing between the two of them. "And now that I think about it... I bet the two of you would get along pretty well."
It had only been a casual suggestion, though Damon quickly realized there might be some benefit to it later on. Hestia and Gabriel, however, were both far too pure-hearted to even consider that there might be some ulterior motive behind his words.
"Of course."
Both women answered at exactly the same time, then looked at each other in surprise before blushing faintly. Damon felt like a rainbow had just formed in his stomach. He hadn't seen anything this adorable since... well, literally yesterday.
The conversation quickly became more relaxed, and before Damon knew it, he had ended up standing off to the side while Hestia and Gabriel spoke quietly with one another. Only a few minutes had passed and they were already getting along with almost ridiculous ease.
That was when Michael finally approached, with Metatron following several steps behind and looking considerably less enthusiastic about it. "Lord Damon," Michael began, his voice carrying a kind of exhaustion that had nothing to do with his body. "I wanted to apologize. For the inconveniences today, and for any headaches this meeting may have caused you."
Damon studied him for a moment. Michael genuinely looked exhausted, as though he were still processing everything that had happened since the meeting began.
"You have nothing to apologize for," Damon replied, and this time he meant it completely. "We all came here to talk, and we talked. That's already more than you get out of plenty of meetings like this."
Michael nodded, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. "Even so, I appreciate you seeing it that way." The two exchanged a brief farewell, and the Angels began preparing to leave. Gabriel, however, turned back toward Hestia one last time before following them. "I promise I'll visit you on Olympus," the Archangel said with a warmth that had nothing to do with protocol.
Hestia nodded immediately, clearly happy with the idea. "I'd love that."
The Archangels began walking away, and Damon noticed some of Gabriel's brothers glancing at her from the side, visibly surprised. It was rare for her to make genuine friends. Despite her naturally friendly personality, the Archangel rarely had anyone truly close to her besides Griselda, and even that relationship had always been closer to that of a servant and her superior than two equals.
Hestia continued watching Gabriel until she disappeared with the other Angels, her cheeks still faintly pink. "She's lovely," she murmured.
"She really is," Damon replied, unable to keep himself from smiling.
Damon started on his way as well, but he didn't get far. Amaterasu caught up to him, grabbed his arm, and turned him toward her before kissing him deeply, stealing the redhead's breath. When they separated, she brushed her fingers across his cheek. "I'll visit you soon," she said, and it wasn't a promise. It was a certainty.
Damon answered with another kiss, shorter this time but carrying the same intensity. She smiled in satisfaction and finally let him go.
With nothing else keeping him there, Damon said goodbye to the others with a simple gesture and left. He quickly allowed himself the small luxury he reserved for particularly exhausting days, and today certainly qualified: a long, hot bath in the waters of his temple, alone, with enough time to put his thoughts in order.
The warm water rose to his chest. Damon closed his eyes and let the heat slowly loosen the tension in his shoulders, knot by knot. His thoughts eventually drifted toward Gaia. It had been a while since he had last seen the green-haired Primordial. Maybe he should pay her a visit.
His thoughts were interrupted by several knocks at the door. Damon raised an eyebrow. He had made it perfectly clear that he didn't want to be disturbed today. He sensed two presences on the other side: Grayfia and Medusa.
Damon sighed without bothering to open his eyes. "Come in."
The two women entered without hesitation. Grayfia moved first, descending the stone steps until the water reached her waist without even removing her linen robe. The fabric quickly clung to her body beneath the heat and steam. Medusa remained farther back before kneeling at the edge of the pool directly behind Damon, her head slightly lowered and her hands resting on her thighs.
Between them, they had brought a small tray filled with oils and clean cloths. The scent of olive oil and herbs quickly mixed with the steam filling the chamber, and Damon immediately understood what they were doing. In Greece, a handmaiden's duties went far beyond serving food or keeping a room in order. She could also bathe her lord, anoint his body with oils, help him dress, and even tend to his hair. It was a custom so ancient that it could be traced all the way back to the age of Uranus, and to the Greeks there had never been anything particularly strange about it.
And deep down, Damon also understood perfectly well everything that could come with being a handmaiden in the direct service of a god.
"Lord Damon," Grayfia said calmly. "With your permission."
The silver-haired woman didn't even wait for an answer. She uncorked one of the small bottles and poured some oil into her palm before rubbing it between her fingers. The fragrance grew stronger, and a moment later she placed both hands against Damon's face.
Her thumbs slowly traced over his brows and temples before moving down along his jawline, leaving a thin layer of warm oil across his skin. Damon closed his eyes while, behind him, Medusa threaded her fingers through his long red hair and carefully began working from the roots with both hands.
Grayfia moved down to his chest, spreading the oil across his pectorals and then along his sides with firm, controlled motions. Medusa did the same from behind, working over his shoulders, shoulder blades, and lower back while the water barely stirred around the three of them.
Damon simply let them tend to him. The heat of the pool, combined with the scent of the oils and the steady movement of their hands, was relaxing him far more than he had expected.
Medusa worked in near-total silence. Her discomfort was still obvious, though it had nothing to do with not knowing what she was doing. She had helped Athena bathe on more than one occasion, and that much was clear from how confidently she handled the oils and cloths. The problem was much simpler: she had never done anything like this with a man before.
Even so, doing it for Damon wasn't exactly unpleasant. After all, he had given her a second chance when he could easily have left her to her fate. If this was one small way of repaying part of what he had done for her, then she could endure a little embarrassment.
Grayfia, on the other hand, showed none of the same hesitation. She knew exactly what her role was, and she had been brought from the Underworld specifically to serve as Damon's personal maid. As far as she was concerned, there was no point getting nervous over fulfilling a duty she had already accepted.
At least, that was what she kept telling herself.
Because although Grayfia would never admit it openly, she enjoyed the closeness far more than was strictly necessary. She was still a Devil, and pretending she had never thought about Damon in a less-than-professional way would simply be lying to herself.
With that in mind, her hands moved down Damon's torso to his waist, then continued beneath the surface without the water offering any resistance. Without hesitation, Grayfia's fingers found Damon's cock and closed around it.
It was the first time she had touched him, and his size caught her off guard. It filled her entire palm, and it still wasn't enough. A heavy warmth coiled low in her stomach, and for a moment, the rhythm she had intended to maintain slipped completely from her mind. Her pulse jumped beneath her skin, the sexual tension she had been suppressing threatening to rise to the surface.
Damon opened his eyes and looked at her. Grayfia met his gaze. Her expression remained composed, but the tightness in her jaw and the way her breathing caught told a very different story.
Silence settled over the water. Behind him, Medusa flushed as she realized what Grayfia was doing. Ever since Damon had taken the silver-haired woman under his wing, Medusa had come to see her as serious, efficient, and almost impossible to rattle. And now...
"I've read and learned some of the things expected of me as your personal maid," Grayfia said, a faint trace of embarrassment coloring her voice despite her best efforts to hide it. She paused, and when she spoke again, her voice barely cooperated. "If Lord Damon needs anything from me, he only has to say so."
Damon studied her for a long moment before a slow smile crossed his face. "I'm glad you take your duties seriously, Grayfia. And you're right. Among us Greeks, handmaidens are considered their master's property, sometimes even his concubines," he said, meeting her eyes. "So if I order you to please me as my servant, that is what you'll do."
Damon brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. Despite all her self-control, Grayfia felt the heat spread across her face. She lowered her gaze for a moment, then nodded. "As you command, Lord Damon."
Medusa stood still at the pool's edge, clutching the cloth tightly in her hands, uncertain how to handle the scene playing out before her—or the one that seemed about to unfold.
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