Sing A Song Of Snippet
by Mythdefied
August 2003

A muffled giggle behind him decided the matter. Yeah, it was worth it.

Squaring his shoulders in determination, Cupid shoved the door open, almost sending it crashing back against the wall. He strode into the room, scowl firmly in place because he was Not Pleased and damn if everyone wasn't going to know about it.

But no one looked up. His boots rang out on the polished, golden marble floor and the rustle of his wings was loud even over the music but no one paid him the slightest notice. All save two of the Muses reclined on elevated platforms around the room, studying scrolls or writing on them; in the back of the room Apollo reclined, strumming his lyre in a soft, airy tune, accompanied by Euterpe who sat next to him playing harmony on her flute. Terpsichore danced about the room, her steps a delicate improvisation to unscripted music and her feet barely seemed to touch the floor, her skirts fluttering about her as she swept past Cupid without the slightest acknowledgment of his presence.

The room wasn't that large but somehow it seemed to Cupid that it took an inordinately long amount of time to traverse it, maybe because he wasn't at all used to being ignored. Normally when he stepped into a room everything came to a stop; he was handsome and he knew it, he used it and there were certain reactions he'd come to expect, this...indifference wasn't one of them. Finally coming to stand in front of Apollo, Cupid crossed his arms and glared down at his uncle.

Neither Euterpe nor Apollo so much as glanced at Cupid. Despite their serene expressions, it wasn't as though either of them were caught up in their music, they looked well aware of their surroundings, it just seemed that they had no intention of giving Cupid the slightest bit of attention. His prospects here were starting to look exceedingly grim.

"Apollo." Cupid waited for a response. And waited. "C'mon, 'Pol, talk to me." He snapped his fingers in front of Apollo's face.

"You need something, Cupid?" Apollo asked, his tone utterly calm and placid.

Cupid rolled his eyes. "Duh! You know why I'm here."

"Enlighten me."

Gritting his teeth, Cupid resisted the urge to snatch the lyre from Apollo's hands, that wouldn't do anything to help his situation. "Take it off, 'Pol."

"Hmm?" Apollo changed chords and Euterpe picked up the harmony effortlessly.

"The spell, Apollo. Take. It. Off."

"Now what could you possibly be talking 'bout, Cupid?"

"Don't think I'm stupid, 'Pol! There's no other god that coulda done it! We're talking music from the future here and you're the only one that can pull that off without Zeus coming down on you like a Titan with a grudge! Now I know I messed with one of your little music festivals but I had a job to do too and sometimes shit happens, you know? Now do something 'bout this. Please?" That stung his pride but whatever worked.

"'Little' music festival?" Apollo finally showed a reaction, a slight raise of one eyebrow.

Okay, so maybe that yearly contest in Athens wasn't exactly little, but Cupid wasn't interested in arguing semantics at the moment. "Can we not do the splitting hairs thing here? I got a problem, it's screwing with my job and I need you to fix it."

"Wish I could help you."

"What? You're not gonna do anything? Is this spell supposed to wear off on it's own or something? Oh, just fucking great!" Cupid threw his hands up in utter frustration. "When's it gonna go away, huh? When can my life go back to normal?"

Apollo just continued to play his lyre, his eyes following Terpsichore's flitting progress through the room.

Cupid made a wordless sound of anger, wanting nothing more in that moment than to shove Apollo's lyre somewhere that not even Asclepius could remove it from. That would probably just get him another curse though and this one was bad enough.

It was obvious that Apollo wasn't going to say anything more so Cupid didn't waste any more time, turning on his heel and stalking out of the room. He still had duties to attend to and if this was how he had to do it, then he'd manage. He wanted to make Apollo pay for this but even if he wouldn't admit it aloud, he was a bit afraid of what Apollo would do to him if he tried. He wasn't sure he was going to survive this as it was.

The instant the door shut behind Cupid, Euterpe lowered her flute and looked at Apollo. "I didn't know you could put love spells on people."

"Oh, I can't." Apollo shrugged slightly, never once striking a wrong chord. "Well, I suppose I could, but it's just so much trouble."

"Then...why not tell Cupid he isn't cursed?"

"I would've, if he'd gotten over himself enough to really apologize. Now, he can suffer." A slight smirk crossed Apollo's lips. "Besides, the kid owed me a favor and he's having so much fun."

"Cupid?"

"Nah, the other kid."

As he stepped out of the room, Cupid only had the briefest of warnings.

"Cupie, baby!" the too-familiar voice cried out, and then Cupid was tackled around the waist by leather-clad arms.

"Damn!" Cupid hissed, trying to pull away.

Apparently Strife had managed to ungag himself as well pick the locks of the chains that had trapped his arms at his sides. His legs were still chained together though which made it impossible for him to walk but his grip on Cupid's waist held him up.

"Get off me!" Cupid snarled, prying Strife's hands away from him.

Strife lost his grip momentarily but managed to snag Cupid's ankle before he could move away. "C'mon, Cupie, sweetie, you know you're the only man for me," he whined. "You're my winged muffin o' love, and I've got the perfect one for us this time!"

"No! Forget it! Just leggo of me!" Cupid tried to kick him away, but it was already too late.

Strife, voice pitched as high as he could manage, began singing:

 "Knee deep in flowers we'll stray,
we'll keep the showers away, and if
I kiss you in the garden, in the
moonlight, will you pardon me,
come tip toe thru the tulips with me...."