It was five days later, well after they’d returned to Lasse’s home in Greece and were settling down to mated life, that Lasse got a hint things weren’t sitting well with his mate. The first clue, was when he asked Jason if he wanted to go to the market with him and got a scowl before Jason headed off to the gym Lasse installed for him.

The second clue was lunch. Jason didn’t eat it at all, even though Lasse knew it was foods he’d eaten before. Their mid-afternoon sex was fun and Jason didn’t have a problem swimming with him afterwards, but he’d strode off up the beach well before Lasse was ready to leave the soothing water and when Lasse went up to the house to cook dinner, Jason wasn’t there. He didn’t come back for two hours and by the time he stumbled into the house, looking like he’d done ten rounds with a prize fighter, Lasse was a screaming mess.

“What the fucking hell have you been doing? I thought you weren’t going to fight anymore. Fuck, look at you.” Lasse tried to remember if he had such a thing as a first aid kit.

“What?” Jason gave a drunken grin. “No hello, poopsie? How was your day poopsie? Did you save me any dinner, or should I grab a sandwich?” He lurched off towards the kitchen.

“Oh no you don’t.” Lasse swung him around and pushed him onto the couch. “Where have you been?”

“Out and now I’m hungry.” Jason crossed his arms and glared.

“I’ve been worried sick about you.” Lasse tugged at his hair. “You didn’t leave a note, I didn’t have your number…where have you been?”

“Doing something.” Flinging his arms open, Jason curled his fists. “Gods, doing something more than sitting around playing happy families. Look, I get you’re happy to be a homebody and cook and do whatever else it is you do in a day, but I’ve spent a lifetime being busy. I’m bored out of my skull.”

“So, you went and found someone to beat you up?” Lasse’s heart splintered, fueling his rage. “I wasn’t good enough for you, but instead of talking to me like an adult you went out and acted like an idiot. Very mature.”

“You don’t like fighting,” Jason snapped back, the sneer on his lip accentuating the split and puffiness of it. “I don’t know how to do anything else and don’t go putting words into my mouth. I never said you weren’t good enough for me. If anything, I’m not good enough for you which is obvious by the way you’re yelling at me now.”

Ouch. Lasse sat gingerly on the edge of the couch. “I was really worried about you.”

“And I get that, but what would you have me do? What would you have said if I’d told you I felt as though a million scarab beetles were crawling over my skin, and I had the urge to punch someone so bad, but I didn’t know what to do about it? I’m bored shitless mate and that’s got nothing to do with how good you are or how much I care about you. I’m not used to being on holiday all the time and it’s driving me nuts.”

The words “you should have said” were on the tip of Lasse’s tongue, but he swallowed them. Because no matter how Jason might have put it, Lasse would have taken it personally. “People in my past have said I have a tendency to be clingy when I care about someone,” he said quietly looking down at his hands. “I guess they were right. I’m sorry.”

Jason’s huff of annoyance made him jump. “This isn’t about you, Lasse, or anything you’ve done wrong. I’m your mate. I should’ve given you the courtesy of letting you know I was going out at least. But you tell me, you’ve been alive for centuries. What did you do all day before you met me?”

“Went out with Thor,” Lasse shrugged. “Visited my father, or my brothers, went clubbing, looked for you….”

“And now you’ve found me.” The knuckles on the hand Jason laid on his arm were swollen and one of them was sitting at an awkward angle. Lasse wanted to touch it, but he was worried it was broken. “Lasse, I’m not trying to get away from you. I care about you more than anyone. But I need something to do. Before I met you, my life was on the road. I went from one underground fight to another; staying in motels, meeting people along the way. I’m not saying that’s what I want to do now, but babe, I have to do something. We’ve got millions of years ahead of us and as much as I love this comfy pad of yours, we can’t stay walled up here forever.”

“I know that,” Lasse hesitantly put his hand on Jason’s wrist needing the connection more than ever. “It’s just, I didn’t think it was right spending time with my family, when you don’t have yours around you and quite honestly, I haven’t done a lot else for a very long time. I mean Thor and I have been mountain climbing and white water rafting; you know things like that….”

“But that’s great. We can do that.” Jason swayed and shook his head. “Sorry. Totally guilted out at how I stormed away from you. Might have had a bit too much to drink. That’s why I needed the sandwich – soak some of it up.”

“Oh Jason,” Lasse folded the big man into his arms, uncaring about the blood, bruises and smell of dark rum. “You’d have hurt a lot less if you’d talked to me instead.”

“Yeah, but then I wouldn’t have had the chance to smack Cerberus around a time or two. Damn hand hurts though.” Jason leaned his head on Lasse’s shoulder. “I’m going to ache in the morning.”

“Your knuckle’s broken,” Lasse picked up the hand in question. “It’s swelling more by the minute. Hang on a minute. Did you say Cerberus? Did you go down to the Underworld?”

“No.” Jason shook his head. “I wouldn’t do that without telling you and I’ve got no reason to go there. Cerberus was skulking around the dive bar I was in. I think he’s still looking for Hades. Bastard wasn’t impressed with the beat down Thor gave him and decided to take it out on me. Considering I was fighting three louts at the time, I’d say the dog’s holding a grudge.”

“We’ll deal with him after,” And yes, Lasse wasn’t going to forget Cerberus’s behavior anytime soon. The damn dog should be doing his job the way he was trained to. “Can you shift? I mean, I know you can’t in here, because the place is too small, but can I take you somewhere so you can shift in private? Will that help you heal?”

“I do have another form,” Jason rolled his head around so he could look at Lasse’s face. “But I rarely shift into it. It’s a bit odd looking.”

“Will it fit in the living room?” Lasse asked. “I don’t care if you turn out to be a purple hippo with yellow spots and three horns. That knuckle is looking really painful.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Jason struggled to get up and finally accepted the hand Lasse gave him, although he wobbled a bit when he was on his feet. “Can you move the coffee table?”

Lasse flicked his fingers and sent the coffee table to one of the spare bedrooms. It left quite a big space between the couches. “Is this enough room?”

“Should be. I’ve never shifted inside before.” Jason looked around. “You might want to move that vase,” he pointed to a small table that held a bright blue vase Lasse bought at a market decades before. “It looks expensive.”

Waving his hand impatiently, Lasse sent the vase the way of the coffee table, watching his mate closely. Scruffy, his hair askew, his lip swollen and puffy and with streaks of blood and dirt on his face and hands, Lasse still felt Jason was the best looking man he’d ever seen. Jason closed his eyes and a golden light seemed to emanate from Jason’s gut. Fur appeared and a tail and then all of a sudden Lasse was faced with a creature known only in myths.

“A furry sphinx,” he breathed quietly. Jason was twice the size of an ordinary lion, possibly more. His dark brown fur was thick and his body flowed into a long tail, complete with tuft on the end of it. Huge feet, a mane and rounded ears were all those associated with a lion’s form. But it was Jason’s human face staring out from the visage that made him so unique. Well, that and the wings.

Stretching out from Jason’s back were a huge pair of wings an eagle would be proud of. Long brown feathers coated the frame giving Jason a regal look. “You astound me,” Lasse said, unsure if Jason was aware of him in this form.

“Not too weird for you?” Jason’s voice was deeper and carried the hint of a growl.

“You’re magnificent. Can I?” Lasse held out his hand. He felt like a kid in a candy store. Sure, he’d seen many wonderful things in his long life, but Jason was unique; one of a kind and a type of being most, even in the god line, thought extinct if they believed they existed at all.

“It’s strange being on four feet,” Jason took a few steps closer. “But none of my toes hurt so my knuckle must have healed.”

“Have you actually flown?” Lasse ran his hands lightly across Jason’s wings. Jason’s whole body shivered.

“I can, or at least I used to be able to. But finding places where there are no humans gets harder by the day and I have no wish to be hunted. Hmm. That feels nice though. Sexy.”

“You’d need to shift back if you’re starting to think about sex,” Lasse warned with a grin. “I know it’s you; you still wear the same handsome face I adore, but the rest of you is pushing the bestiality angle just a touch too far. I prefer arms holding me down, rather than paws.”

Jason laughed. “I would never have sex in this form. I fear I’d be too inclined to bite. But have you got a problem with me being like this while you feed me a sandwich, or a juicy steak? I’d forgotten how much I missed this form and being like this soothes my sphinx and allows me to reconnect with him more fully. Do you mind?”

Which is how Lasse found himself sitting on his kitchen floor, feeding Jason steak sandwiches while the beast sat on his haunches in front of him. As an ending for their first fight, Lasse thought they’d come through it pretty well. But later that night, as he held a sleeping Jason against his chest, Lasse pondered the issue of Cerberus. The three headed dog rarely visited the human world. He hated walking on two legs just as much as he hated the living. Fighting Jason when the man was already vulnerable was angering Lasse on so many levels. Not only was it a cowardly move, and before this no one could ever accuse the dog of that, but Cerberus had problems holding his shift. Hades used to speak of it often. What if he’d….

“Sleep, poopsie,” Jason rumbled, turning over and immediately scooting back so Lasse was spooning him. “We’ll get him in the morning.”