Chapter 124: One, Two, Be a Good Beau. Three, Four, Settle Your Family Score

Rather than tackle the family members head on immediately, Ares first paid attention to Enyo and Bellona. He wasn't a psychic but he both knew, and could tell, compliments were expected and long overdue. The fact that he'd been sitting down for all of five seconds and not yet told them how beautiful they were was sacrilege!... Having two wives was hard work... Also... Who the hell should he turn to first?! Save the best for last? Prioritise Enyo? Don't make Bellona feel secondary? What a hellish nightmare... Ares stopped thinking about it and just turned to Bellona first because he'd, thankfully, already somewhat anticipated this. Enyo already knew she was his priority anyway and wouldn't be bothered by this. She would pretend to care but Ares had a response prepared anyway to soothe her. In the grand scheme of things, it would be worse to make Bellona second rather than Enyo here even if neither was preferable. Also, just saying 'you both look beautiful' would be the gravest mistake he could possibly make! No individual, specific compliments? Putting them on the same pedestal? Treating them the exact same? Being lazy about it all? Ares would be sleeping in the garden tonight if he'd gone down that route. In a way, even just complimenting these two was more mentally taxing than everything he'd just been through combined...

He faced Bellona and looked her up and down to appreciate every detail. "As usual, your fashion sense is impeccable. Part of what I love about you is that you make no effort to hide who you are. Your muscles are beautiful and I never get tired of seeing them. Paired with your dress I recognised you instantly from across the room. You have your own style and I appreciate all the time and care you put in today. You look wonderful. I love the way you usually look but everything you've done with your hair and makeup today is a side of you I'm glad I got to see."

Ares leant in and whispered, "Tonight's Enyo's night but know this; when you decide you want our relationship to progress further, if you dress up like this again you'll get your wish then and there. Seeing you go to such lengths for me is a massive turn on. You've been extremely cute tonight, Bellona, and right now I'm the most sexually attracted to you I've ever been. For today, a kiss is the best I can do but, in the future, I plan on taking more of your body until there's nothing left to take that I haven't already. The others will see this kiss as a loving gesture, and to an extent it is, but only you will know that it's a warning. A warning that I want your chastity and that I'll be returning for it later. Hold onto it for me and wait patiently." Ares turned his face and left a small peck on her cheek. Bellona blushed heavily and looked down at the floor with a shy smile as she quietly mumbled in acceptance of his demands.

"Mm..."

Bellona hid her face in her hands as Ares turned to Enyo next... Who was already facing the wall opposite and inspecting her nails, fully ignoring Ares for picking Bellona first and sweet talking her while leaving Enyo in the dust... No really, having two wives was a herculean task... Ares smiled wryly as he removed the scarf he brought for this specific occasion off his shoulders. He lovingly draped it around Enyo's neck before massaging her shoulders and complimenting her while she pretended to pay him no attention. "Enyo, there's nothing I can say about your beauty I haven't already said. I've praised you countless times and I guess that means I've also shot myself in the foot because today you really are special. I've run out of ways to celebrate how gorgeous you are, and anything I repeat to you now that I've said before will just sound hollow, but still I'll try because you are the love of my life. You are an incredible woman. Since we've met you've overcome your fears and turned them into a source of pride. You've learnt to become a caring mother in spite of your initial reluctance. You've grown as a person in a way many are incapable of. You aren't just beautiful to me because you're the most attractive woman in this hall bar none, you're beautiful because you're one of the few people in this world I unconditionally respect, now and forever. Your looks. Your dress. Your personality. Your beliefs, Your heart and soul. Every part of you I'm lucky enough to discover..." Ares stood up and hugged Enyo from behind as a few tears trickled down her face. "... All of it is beautiful."

Once more, Ares got a little more intimate by whispering sweet nothings into the ear of a Legion sister. "Enyo, tonight's the night. Are you ready to reap what you've sewn? All of these weeks you've spent teasing me and driving me to the edge... In return, when I take you, I will be passionate but I will not be gentle. You might think you're a tough woman but tonight I will pry open that façade, expose you for the sexually timid, nervous girl you are, and I will devour you. This isn't a hand job. This isn't a blowjob. You think you're prepared, but I am going to fuck you Enyo. You do not understand how much of an animal a man driven by lust can be. You are going to lie on your back, look up at me and into my eyes, spread your legs, invite me in like a good little girl, and watch me claim you while you whimper my name. So make sure to have fun at this party because these next few hours will be the last in which your hymen remains intact. The next time I call out to you specifically we will dance, I will take you outside and propose to you, and then we will go home with you in my arms. I will put up a sound barrier and you will never forget the things I do to you afterwards. As for this. This has been nothing more than a strategy meeting. Next comes the conquest, and I think I'll start with those pretty lips of yours. Ares did as he said he would and took Enyo's lips for himself, aggressively kissing her and stealing away her breath. His hand slithered down her bare back as he returned to his seat, tickling Enyo's spine and proving to her that her body was at his mercy.

Enyo turned around and blushed like Bellona. Unlike Bellona, however, she clung to Ares' arm and stayed close even if she couldn't look him in the eyes right now. It seemed Ares was right. She'd been aggressive up until now but this was a new frontier they were going to cross and she wasn't as ready as she thought she was. Enyo was actually a little anxious. Excited, of course, but timid; precisely as Ares had deduced. Her heart was pumping rapidly as she felt like a naive maiden, one that had been so confident in her stoicism but caved the moment it was time to go all the way and forfeit her purity. She would regain her pride in the bedroom but it was not going to be easy. Ares was likely going to have his way with her for a while until she familiarised herself with the act and her shyness faded, then she would turn the tables just as she'd planned. Ares could have his conquest, and he could enjoy her temporarily bashful state, but she would fight back in due time. For now, though, she held onto his arm and bit her lip as she looked down. If she lifted her head she'd come face to face with her family and that was impossible right now. Both she and Bellona looked like damsels, felled by the honeyed words of a devilish man. Both sisters had lost the game of enticement and even Bellona had opted to cling to Ares' other arm in defeat.

With two beautiful women lavishly draped over his arms, cowering in his embrace after a verbal teasing, Ares looked and felt like a king. This was the reward he chose to claim after walking the walk and earning a reward. Being selfish every now and then was fine too. He'd long since dedicated his entire being to these two, he just felt it was time for these two to show the world the reverse was also true. He treated them as a caring husband should daily but he never really, truly, forgot that he was the head of a harem. This was just the first time he'd ever acted like it and he knew beforehand the effects it would have. He knew Bellona and Enyo would cave before him if he was ever more domineering in his approach, he'd simply saved it for today so he could savour every moment of it and bask in the glow of every other man's jealousy. If he was going to have a harem he would damn well enjoy it every once in a while. He'd repeatedly said that 'tonight was Enyo's night', and he meant it, but he'd always added a little extra to that sentence in his own mind. Tonight is also my night. At the end of the day, Ares was a hot blooded male too. He played the passive man to lure his wives in before revealing that he was, in fact, a very literal wolf in sheep's clothing. Put simply, the Legion sisters never stood a chance. Ares' clothes. Complimenting Bellona first. The scarf for Enyo, and reminding her about one of their first encounters by talking to her about 'respect' to ease her mind about being second and distract her. The lusty whispers. All of it had been planned weeks in advance to manipulate the sisters into submission. Ares was not a man to be trifled with when he actually, rarely, wanted something. 

As for the rest of the table, although Tyr and Deimos were burning with anger at the affectionate display, the general sentiment was that Ares was a connoisseur of toying with ladies' hearts. They could never know what he'd whispered to the sisters but clearly this man was not to be taken lightly in the realm of romance. Just the compliments they'd actually heard beforehand were truly heartfelt and impressive, let alone whatever he'd delicately whispered into their ears after. There was one thing that none of the others on this table could deny and that was that Ares, at least, was definitely in love with these two. To pinpoint their weaknesses and capture their hearts, even making Enyo cry a bit, meant he was definitely intimately aware of what kind of people the sisters were to a degree that almost necessitated true love. A mere friend or even something as simple as a boyfriend would not be close enough to pull off this level of personalised compliments. Palioxis and Phobos let their guard down somewhat and Pele was clapping in amusement. Tyr was tapping his foot on the floor while Deimos scratched his palm aimlessly. By tackling Enyo and Bellona first, Ares had seemingly won over the rest of the table. Not entirely as there was still some hesitancy, but he was in the running now. The family wasn't going to outright reject him anymore and that was good enough. "Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you all. Sorry for the delayed introductions, things got out of hand back there. I've heard a lot about you all. Ah, Deimos, I'd also like to apologise to you specifically..."

Deimos' eye twitched as he recalled the incident yesterday. Given the circumstances, Deimos was effectively being silently peer pressured by all three eldest sisters to forgive and forget. Pele didn't even know what happened but she still wanted there to be unity between Ares and the family anyway. In this atmosphere Deimos had no choice but to budge. "... It's fine... I'm not letting you ride my bike though! Never!"

Ares chuckled and shrugged. "We can always discuss that at a later date."

Deimos almost choked on his saliva when Ares casually denied his refusal so bluntly. Pele laughed at her flummoxed brother before excitedly turning around to Ares. "You're definitely a revenant then! Ahhh, there's so much I wanna ask, but shouldn't you be saying hello to your family right now? We appreciate you coming over here to say hello and all, but family's important you know? Look, they're even listening in right now!"

Ares turned his neck on the spot and looked over his shoulder. He couldn't turn his whole body around with the koalas still hugging his arms so this would have to do for now. Sure enough, his siblings were all staring at him... Awkward... 

Ahem

"Uh, hey? So, uh, I'll come say hello properly in a bit... Woof?"

Thwack Thwack

The sheer stupidity of Ares' moronic attempt at communication caused both Enyo and Bellona to overcome their embarrassment and slap Ares on the back of his head. To think they'd been so deeply enamoured with this idiot they'd forgotten just how big of an idiot he was! Enyo shook her head and turned to the Umbra Wolves. "I'm sorry to dump this troublemaker on you but he is technically yours after all. I'll give you a friendly warning in advance, he's dumb like Aster. Personality wise, don't let anything that happened earlier fool you, he's a cretin to his core." Enyo nudged Ares and encouraged him to go meet his siblings. No more delaying coward! With the jostling of Enyo and Bellona combined, as she'd joined in on the pushing because it looked fun, Ares stood up and walked to the next table while scratching his head. He took in the appearance of everyone and could tell who was who simply by the explanations Fate had given prior. From left to right, Ares' siblings were as follows...

Venus. Her face was structured like that of a diamond with rounded edges. Her chin jutted out and there was a slight chubbiness to her cheeks even though she was a slim woman. Part of that was because one of her cheeks was raised so that she could slant her mouth, angling it diagonally as she arrogantly cast judgement at Ares. Her narrow blue eyes and long blonde hair, when added on to her general demeanour, posture, and lofty air, made her come across as a bit of a brat. She was good looking, and she seemed to perpetually play it cool, but the brattiness was something that could never be hidden; it was just that overt. She wore a collar around her thin neck with a red jewel in the centre. Her attire was simple, a lilac coloured jumper and some dark blue shorts. Ares could tell he was being scrutinized down to the last inch by this woman and he was not being looked favourably upon. Then again, that was the same for all the other brothers too apparently. Venus would not be overly close with him but that was still better than how she would treat him if he wasn't a relative. If you were a man but you weren't a brother or a shota, you may as well have been an ugly toad for all she cared. Hell she was the one that swapped the vases earlier to get closer to Phobos and even picked the furthest left seat as it was the closest to the Legion table. Shotas were this woman's catnip. After a dismissive hmph she had already gone back to looking at Phobos, that was how little she cared about this new arrival to their family. Still a ten second look was more than anyone else who wasn't family would have ever gotten.

Next up, Skyzo. His facial features... Were reminiscent of a scarf?.... No, nono, actually, it was literally just all being covered up by a scarf... His dull and baggy grey eyes barely crept out over the top of the scarf even though they looked like they would much rather go into hiding beneath it. His shaggy black hair was a mess and Ares was wondering whether or not this guy even cleaned up his bed hair this morning or if it just always looked like this. His short-sleeved shirt was plain white with a large and baggy collar that was standing up and covering the back of his neck. The shirt was ripped in places, seemingly having been done with small blades such as a dagger or something equivalent in size. His bulky arms were bandaged from the wrist to the elbow and his upper body was quite rugged. He wasn't as bulky as a strength oriented cultivator but he was nowhere near as svelte as a typical assassin would be. He had some respectable muscle mass. He also had a brown leather belt and some plain, dark brown trousers. He looked like a village farmhand that just got out of a scrap with some bandits and had rushed over to the party before having a chance to fix himself up. Of all the people here, Skyzo gave Ares the most piercing look despite his lazy eyes seeming reluctant to do so. This man could be sharp when he wanted to be, that was for sure. Fate was right about this guy, lazy to the bones but a really powerful person underneath it all... Speaking of underneath it all, Ares was really curious to see under the scarf. Apparently he was particularly handsome and was considered the best looking of the siblings. Apparently, anyway. Then again, if Fate had been modest enough to let him have that title it was probably true. If it was even remotely close Fate, the little narcissist princess, would have staked a claim to that title herself.

Third was Verv... He was currently being restrained by the man next to him as he was trying to scramble over the table and rush down Ares with his tongue hanging out and his eyes glowing white... Yeah, this dude was unhinged and manic. Ares could tell he was going to be pestered by this one a lot. Clearly Ares' magic earlier had lit a fuse in this single minded dog and now he was close to blowing up on someone. Still, after a smack, Verv settled down into his seat with a belligerent growl. It seemed that, like Mako, this man had an aesthetic mutation. His sclera and pupil were pitch black while his iris was bright white. The iris had a sort of glow to it that would ebb and flow, throb and deflate. It was stable up until Verv lost the plot at which point the glow became substantial. The crazier he got the whiter his eyes became. His mouth was constantly grinning and his sharp teeth were always visible. His white hair was spiky and slicked back but a strand or two were dangling around randomly with no idea where they really belonged. He wore a black, fur collared coat that he'd trimmed down completely. Near enough everything below his shoulders was gone completely and only his bare chest remained. The coat covered his shoulders, a few pecs, and nothing more. The fur collar was large, though, and dangled alongside his hair behind him like a sort of mock cape. Like Venus, he wore a collar but this one was spiked and had a thumb sized lantern dangling off it. Around the lantern, emitting a white light, was a small translucent firefly that was hovering in front of Verv. Now that he'd settled down he was happily watching the firefly flutter back and forth and it looked as though he was being soothed by it. His energy left his body and he deflated somewhat as he closed his eyes and started snoring. As he leaned backwards in his seat, Ares caught sight of a metal belt, plain black trousers with some metal straps on them, and work boots with a metal toe plating. Ares also saw a gigantic sword on the floor. He'd heard from Fate that he used a great sword but this one seemed to be a broad sword. The guy clearly just liked big ass swords apparently... Actually, now that Ares thought about it, this deranged psychopath was quite clever. The great sword wouldn't be as effective in this room because the reach advantage was pointless in an enclosed space. The broad sword would have wider swings that could cause more chaos and allow Verv to rampage more efficiently... Fate did also mention Verv was sane enough usually and this was decent proof that Verv was capable of rational thought when not acting like a rabid mongrel. The fact someone remotely intelligent was buried beneath the snarling bite hazard was quite perplexing to Ares but, whatever, family was family after all. Quirks like these were just the kind of things you had to get used to.

Next was Scar, the man who'd held down Verv earlier. He was also the one that arranged the seating so that Verv would be between himself and Skyzo so they could keep in check. He was overly considerate of his family and their peculiarities. As for his build, he was the bulkiest of the siblings which was self-explanatory. He was a brawler that relied on magic to get around and nothing else. If he wanted to hurt something he would do it with his fists, not that he ever really did. the sides of his head were shaved and the tufts of hair jutting forward in the middle were half black and half red. His eyelids were usually more closed than they were open and his head was tilted slightly downwards, giving him a serene and unbothered look rather than an exhausted one. his face was square in places and looked sturdy. It was a masculine look that went above even Ares' appearance but the trade-off was that fixing himself up to be fancy like Ares was currently was nigh impossible. He looked good in his natural, rugged state and nothing else. Like Verv, his chest was bare. Unlike Verv, he didn't wear a jacket on his upper body, though, but there was a single metal link chain that formed a diagonal circle by going over his left shoulder and coming back around near the right side of his waist. The chain was tight against his beefy frame and rattled as he moved. His arms were covered in chains in a similar fashion to Skyzo's bandages. Further down, there were dull red, fingerless gloves covering his fists and, attached to the knuckle areas of the gloves, there were more chains that were joined to the wrist area. Whenever Scar clenched his fists these chains would become taught and act like a weapon. You would think Scar himself would also feel pain striking with these things but his body was a mountain and he'd trained with them for years. It didn't bother him in the slightest, especially not compared to the people he would be hitting. Tied around his waist was the upper half of a monk's robe that he really should have been wearing properly but chose not to because he found it uncomfortable. He'd also pruned the bottom half of the robes to only go down to his knees and end there to prevent it from affecting his movement. Finally, he wore some woven sandals to complete a look that was somehow both simple and complicated at the same time. Simple because there wasn't actually much going on and most of it was rather basic. Complicated because the clashing look of a street brawler with shaking chains and a peaceful monk were eternally at war with each other. It worked decently enough though thanks to Scar's calm personality and his raging muscles which formed a similar duality.

Finally, Fate. Ares had seen her a few times by now and was familiar enough with her to recognise her based on her outfit alone. Red skirt, white shirt, a black corset with suspenders over it that covered her waist, pigtailed brown hair, brown eyes, a crop jacket that only covered her shoulders, and various treasures adorning her outfit. Gloves, small discs on her wrists, weapons on her waist etc... She was fully loaded with however many treasures was needed to protect herself come hell or high water. One for every occasion, as it were.

These five constituted his siblings. Ares took a seat next to Fate and forced a wry smile. Honestly, Ares had no idea what to talk to these people about... Still, he was going to make an effort and he could tell everyone other than Venus was too... Well maybe not Verv but he was currently asleep and that wasn't really his fault. He would wake up from his nap in a bit and Ares could greet him properly then... If he wasn't too busy slobbering everywhere, anyway.