#imagine the embarrassment of being related to Zeus | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

pies-writes-and-more · 5 years ago

Text

A French Kiss

Word Count: 7, 947

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader

Warnings: No warnings! Just some super cute fluff :)

A/N: Dedicating this work to the lovely @wxstedhexrt!!!! Ps. Destiny if you thought i wasn’t going to dedicate this fic to you, you’re crazy lol. Thank you so much for being such a cute part of my writing process😉😘

(Not my gfif, creds to the original creator!!)

Y/N held her phone tightly to her chest, eyes scanning the crowd. Too old. Too young. Eh, maybe? Not that one. Maybe that one? Shit no, has a girlfriend. Has kids. Ugh.

“You’re not actually going to do this are you?” Wanda asked, taking a sip from the iced coffee she had bought earlier. She watched as her friend nervously shifted her weight, staring at different men who were around them.

“Of course I am. I need to do this.” Y/N’s hands were shaking a little. Here she was, at an amazing photo opportunity in front of the Eiffel Tower, and she wasn’t even looking at it. She could only imagine how stupid she looked to everyone else.

Nat sighed from her spot on the ground. She had known this was going to take a while so she had laid out her rain jacket on the ground and sat down, absentmindedly scrolling through her phone. “Just pick someone. Anyone.”

“I can’t just pick, Natasha,” Y/N huffed, hands on her hips as she turned to look at her friend. “I need someone who is far better looking than Jake could ever dream to be. Not to mention I need to make sure he’s not married or with his family or with his girlfriend because I can’t imagine how awkward that would be-”

“What about him?” Wanda spoke up, nodding forward.

Y/N followed her gaze to a group of guys gathered around a nearby bench, laughing and smiling together. Y/N couldn’t be sure which guy Wanda was referring to but her eyes immediately fell on the blond guy who was writing? maybe sketching? into a small notebook. They were loud enough for Y/N to catch glimpses of their conversation, making a small smile pull at her lips.

“God this is going to take forever. Why didn’t you just take a photo?” The long dark-haired one whined, popping a snack into his mouth.

“The more you whine, the longer I’m going to take,” Y/N heard the blond say. She bit her lip, finally turning to Wanda and shaking her head.

“No way, he’s busy.” Y/N tried to seem casual, as if this wasn’t the first guy that she felt like she was drooling over. He had such a great physique, and that quiet concentrated look on her face made her swoon. What kind of guy like that would be single anyways?

“Oh come on, what you’re asking for takes like two seconds. Just go ask!” Wanda insisted but Y/N just made whining noises in response.

“God, no. I can’t do this. This is too embarrassing. Forget this. Forget Jake. Let’s just take a group photo and get this over with.” Y/N fumbled with her phone quickly, getting ready to just take a selfie with her girls.

“Nuh uh. I did not just get comfortable here on this foreign floor for you to chicken out of what you’ve been planning on doing the whole trip here.” Nat insisted, sighing but getting up anyways. Instead of posing for the selfie, she grabbed her things off the ground and then tightly wound her fingers around Y/N’s wrist, dragging her over to the group of guys.

“Hi there! I’m Wanda, this is Nat and Y/N!” Wanda spoke up to them first, having skipped along Nat and Y/N (who was still protesting and pulling at Nat’s strong grip).

The guys stared at the girls for a moment, all three of them sharing a look before looking back at them. “Hey there. I’m Sam. That’s Bucky and Steve,” the one guy grinned, nodding towards his friends. His smile was lined with amusement, obviously trying to not laugh at how distressed Y/N looked. “You being kidnapped or something?”

“Please, if they wanted to kidnap me, no one would’ve noticed.” Y/N huffed but gave him a sheepish smile.

“What can we do for you, ladies?” The long dark-haired one, whom Sam introduced as Bucky, asked. His smile was sort of cocky looking, very cheeky, Y/N noticed. She tried to look anywhere but at the blond, who seemed to be eyeing her.

Nat nudged Y/N forward, raising an eyebrow at her like she was saying Go ahead. “Um.” Y/N bit down on her lip, glancing back at the Eiffel Tower. Maybe she could lie. Maybe she could just ask them to take a picture of her and the girls and it would be over lickety-split.

“Y/N needs to be kissed.” Nat stated simply, noting the hesitation in her friend. The bluntness in her tone shocked everyone but Wanda who just snickered beside her.

“Nat!” Y/N whined, eyes going wide as she glared at her friend. “That’s not- that’s not the whole story! You… It sounds weird if you say it like that!”

“Well then, you tell them the story.” Nat shrugged. She placed her jacket back down on the ground, sitting back down and looking up at her friend, as if becoming part of the audience for the story she knew all too well.

Y/N sigh and closed her eyes for a moment, wishing she could just disappear. “Uh.” Her eyes opened and they immediately locked onto Steve’s beautiful blue eyes. God he was gorgeous. A guy like that would make Jake insanely jealous. “I got… I got dumped by my boyfriend a few weeks ago.” She started, immediately realizing how pitiful that sounded.

“Actually, you dumped him. He cheated on you.” Wanda interjected as she squeezed onto the bench beside Steve. She gave him a smile as he shifted to make room for her. “But continue.”

All of the guys gave her empathetic smiles, but stayed quiet as if to urge her to keep going. Y/N wished her life wasn’t as tragic as this story sounded.

“Fine. Jake cheated on me. With a girl he’d been friends with for a while. But that’s besides the point. Kinda. I mean it’s the whole point of why we’re here and asking but it’s still besides the point,” she rambled nervously. Wanda rolled her eyes and stretched out her leg, kicking the girl in her shin and making her yelp. “Hey!”

“Come on girl, get to the point. I’m sure these guys have other things they need to do today.” Wanda teased, making Nat snicker.

“No no, please continue. If it leads up to a kiss, I’d much rather hear the full story,” Bucky grinned, making Y/N’s face feel hot. He gave her a playful wink and Steve reached over to hit him over the head.

“Let her finish her story, Buck,” Steve glared, looking back at her with a small smile.

Y/N smiled back nervously, chewing on the inside of her cheek, “W-Well. I just… Paris was supposed to be the place that me and my ex were going to go. We always talked about it. So now that I’m here…” her voice drifted for a bit and she glanced back at the Tower once more.

“Ooooh.” Sam chuckled, his dark brown eyes sparkling as he put two and two together. “You’re looking to make that son of a bitch jealous. Find a cute guy to take a picture with in front of the Eiffel Tower, make him regret what he did to you, amiright?”

Y/N blushed further but nodded. He had hit the nail right on its head.

“Honestly, you probably could’ve just asked us to kiss you and we would’ve said yes,” Bucky laughed, clapping a hand onto the shoulder of the blond guy, who Y/N noticed seemed to have tucked his notebook away. “Except for Steve here. He’s a proper old school gentleman.”

“Buck,” Steve groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose slightly. “Can you go like five seconds without embarrassing me?”

“Normally? Yes. But when there’s cute girls involved, it’s hard.” Bucky chuckled and turned to Y/N, “Well sorry your ex was an asshole. But on the plus side, you’ve got your pick of us three. Any of us you’d prefer?”

Y/N wanted nothing more but to faint. Here she was, actually doing the thing she wanted to do, with insanely handsome men who actually wanted to help, but it was all too much. She was overwhelmed with anxiety, her heart was pumping so fast she wasn’t sure she could actually form a complete sentence. It would be mortifying to say that she was already falling for Steve, even though she literally just met him.

“Cool it, Bucky, you’re making the poor girl sweat,” Sam smacked Bucky’s arm, who just turned to smack him back. “Just let her breathe, sheesh.”

Y/N’s eyes flickered over to Steve, who also seemed to be blushing a little. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe he was just embarrassed over his friends? Y/N could relate to that.

“Actually, Y/N’s got a think for blonds!” Nat piped up, only looking up from her phone to smirk at her friend.

“Oh that’s rightttt. Especially when they’re artists. You were sketching a little earlier, weren’t you? Steve, was it?” Wanda asked, nudging Steve slightly. She wiggled her eyebrows at him making both Y/N and Steve squirm shyly.

That’s it. Y/N was surely going to die. She looked up to the sky momentarily, wondering if Zeus would smite her just to help a girl out.

“Ooooh well lucky for you, our blond artist is a hopeless romantic still looking for love,” Sam chuckled. “He’s the complete package, so please take him so we don’t have to.”

Steve shot him a glare, moving his gaze back to Y/N and giving her that same sweet empathetic smile. She felt her stomach flip a little, quickly staring at the floor instead. God, if she couldn’t even look at him without feeling butterflies, would she really be able to kiss him?

“Okay enough eye fucking, you two.” Nat spoke up casually. “Wanda, go take their photo before they end up having babies.”

“Nat!” Y/N was going to kill her for that later but Nat, Wanda, and Steve’s friends laughed it away. Steve blushed a little more, standing up and brushing off the eraser dust from his pants. Y/N couldn’t help but feel small next to him. Not because of his height, but he just had this aura. A strong, protective aura.

He took her hand gently and Y/N bit her lip at the feeling of his callouses. Her mind went to all sorts of places, wondering how such a gentle man had such a hard outer shell. “We really don’t have to. I don’t want you to feel like you have to do this. It’s a really stupid idea anyways, I don’t even know if he’ll see it.” She rambled nervously as the two of them walked to a good picture spot, Wanda and the others behind them.

“He’ll see it.” Steve stated firmly with a smile to her. “If I lost a girl like you, I’d be checking all your social media to see if you missed me too.”

Y/N’s cheeks flushed again, staring at the ground nervously, “Yeah well, I can’t be all that great if he found someone else while he was with me.”

Wanda positioned them in a spot with good lighting, Steve turning to face Y/N as Wanda got her camera ready, “You ever been to an art museum? And some asshole just blows right by a piece of art, acting like there isn’t emotions poured into it, like there isn’t something deeper in it? Sometimes art isn’t appreciated the way it should be. Just gotta find that one guy who’s going to be speechless every time he sees you.”

Y/N looked up at him with wide eyes. How did this man go from blushing, awkward, and quiet to smooth and flirty? She couldn’t help but giggle as she raised an eyebrow, “You always talk like this? Or is it just the influence of the City of Love?” She teased, feeling a sudden ease in talking to him. He felt so comfortable now, when it was just the two of them a little ways away from their playful friends.

“I dunno, doll. I’m in a city filled with some of the greatest pieces of art, and right now I’d much rather be here. Looking at you.” He teased back with a smirk. He saw her face glow a little more and he reached out to brush her hair from her eyes.

Although Y/N’s face felt hot, a cool breeze pushed past. She pulled her arms to her chest, rubbing her arms gently, “Are you just saying all these because you pity me?” She asked with a small smile. “I’m okay you know. About the whole… getting cheated on ex boyfriend thing.”

Steve watched her for a moment and stepped back a little to pull his blue sweater over his head. Y/N tried not to let her eyes stare but it was hard not to notice the muscles hiding under his white undershirt as he stripped. “Here. You must be cold.”

Y/N flushed a little, stammering out some sounds as he helped her ease the large sweater over her head.

“And no. I’m not lying about all this. You really are beautiful, Y/N,” he leaned forward, whispering it into her ear. “I’m sorry that jackass hurt you… but I can’t say I’m all that sorry that I’m standing here with the opportunity to kiss you.” Steve’s fingers found their way under her chin, tilting it up gently.

Y/N almost forgot what they were doing here. Her brain suddenly went, Jake who?She already felt like she was hyperventilating with Steve’s poetry-like words and chick-flick worthy speech. The moment Steve’s lips touched hers, her whole mind melted. His lips were soft and Y/N couldn’t help but smile at the comparison to his rough hands. All the love songs, the poems, the movies… they all talked about that one kiss and suddenly, they all made sense. After a moment, Steve pulled away slightly but Y/N quickly filled the gap, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pulling him back.

When the fogginess of her mind disappeared and the two of them finally took a turn to breathe, their eyes locked momentarily. Y/N could’ve sworn she heard a “wow” escape from Steve’s lips.

Whoops and hollers from their friends were quickly becoming louder as the two of them returned to Earth from their makeout high.

“Damn Steve, you kiss all girls like that?” Wanda teased, having snapped numerous photos of the kiss, not to mention a ton of the cute interaction that happened before. She and Nat shared a laugh, knowing Y/N was going to love the cute picture of Steve stripping next to the picture of her standing in his sweater.

“What girls?” Sam snickered, him and Bucky high-fiving. “Steve’s a completely mess around most girls.”

Steve let out a groan as he shot a death glare to Sam. “Can you… I’m trying to be… ugh!” He huffed, flustered with both embarrassment and frustration, especially as he heard Y/N giggling next to him. Here he was, overwhelmed with endorphins from having kissed the prettiest girl he’s ever seen, and his friends can’t stop making him out to be an anxious nervous wreck. He was an anxious nervous wreck around girls but this girl didn’t have to know that!

The four friends laughed nearby as they all got to know each other a little more, teasing the slightly awkward ‘couple’ as they stood there, unsure of what to do now.

“Y-You don’t have a girlfriend or anything to get back to do you?” Y/N asked as she blinked at him, realizing she hadn’t even asked him before.

Steve shook his head quickly, cheeks turning pink as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Naw, I haven’t had much luck in the love department for a while.” He admitted, mentally slapping himself as the words left his lips. Why is he telling her this??? He had been so careful in choosing his words before, wanting to make the whole interaction feel as romantic as possible. After all, this girl deserved to be swooned.

Y/N couldn’t help but smile at how nervous he seemed. Before he kissed her, he was all smooth and suave, but he also seemed so soft and awkward.

Right now, Steve was looking like he was battling a war in his head. He shifted on his feet, watching her nervously, “Was… was it okay?” He blurted out, biting down on his lip as he watched her expression. “The kiss, I mean?”

Y/N wasn’t sure what to tell him. How could she put into words the way that his lips literally made her feel like she was floating? How could she tell this man, a man she would probably never see again, that he was like a drug and she was already addicted? Here he was, a stranger, and Y/N was falling in fucking love with him when she had only done this to get back at her stupid ex boyfriend?

“I-It was…” She hesitated, looking for a good word. “Perfect.” The word slipped from Y/N’s lips faster than she could comprehend it. The two of them shared another blush, an awkward silence falling on them.

“Hey Rogers, if you’re done fonduing, we gotta meet with Tony and Rhodey! Got that dinner reservation Tony’s been talking about!” Bucky yelled over. Steve’s heart fell a little and he looked over at Y/N, only to find the same slight downcast expression on her face.

“Thank you… for your help,” she smiled up at him. Steve tried to capture the image in his mine, the sight of her smile, gleaming in the sun behind them. This was the sight Steve wanted to die looking at.

“A-Anytime,” he quickly stammered, realizing that he was staring at her.

“Steve!” Bucky yelled again, glancing between his friend and the watch on his wrist. “If we’re late, Tony’s gonna kill us!”

Steve groaned a little, rolling his eyes at the sound of his best friend. “I should go.” He sighed, looking at her just once more. He leaned over and brushed her hair from her face, bending over to plant a gentle kiss on her cheek. “Have a great time in Paris, doll.” He murmured to her before rushing over to Bucky’s side.

The boys left, Sam and Bucky teasing him endlessly and loudly, drawing the attention of many people nearby. Y/N’s cheeks were still flushed as she slowly walked over to her friends, their grins as wide as their faces.

“Soooo. Steveeee.” Wanda sang with a giggle. “He’s much cuter than Jake.”

“He’s much cuter than any guy you’ve dated,” Nat corrected with a smirk. “You’re welcome. When you guys get married, I hope that you’ll thank me in your wedding vows.”

Y/N rolled her eyes with a smile, shaking her head. “I’m never going to see him again, you goose.”

Wanda and Nat’s wide eyes made Y/N feel like she had grown a second head. “W-What?” She frowned, feeling a little self-conscious with them looking at her.

“Um hello? You just shared the hottest kiss with a man in the most romantic spot in the world and you’re not planning on seeing him again?” Wanda asked, hands on her hips.

“How would I?” Y/N frowned slightly, giving a shrug.

Nat stared at her exasperatedly, “You didn’t give him your number?! What about your instagram? So he could be tagged in the photos?”

Y/N shrugged again, blushing now as she realized how much she now wanted to give him that info. “He didn’t ask for it,” she gave as an excuse, only worsening her slight pain. Her mind wondered for a moment about why... why hadn’t he asked for it?

“Wait, but you’re still wearing his sweater,” Wanda gaped, eyes wide.

Y/N’s eyes widened as she looked down to indeed find his blue sweater fitted on her body. “Shit!” She screeched, running towards the direction the boys had headed. Her eyes darted between groups, trying to find a sign of either one of the boys she had met. But she had no clue where they were headed, she didn’t even know what restaurant they were going to.

“Fuck...” she mumbled. A little piece of hope that had flickered in her heart died, realizing that she had lost her chance to connect with the one guy who made all the love songs make sense.

Y/N wore the sweater all night long, admittedly because she loved the smell of him on it. She could feel her heart grow a little, her chest tighten, her lips tingle, ever time she inhaled it again. God he smelled so good. But she also wore the sweater because she had hoped that whilst they were roaming around Paris’ nightlife, he would see her.

“Aw baby girl, chin up,” Wanda cooed gently, touching her arm as they got back to their hotel room. “Maybe you’ll see him again!”

“Where?” Y/N moped, sitting on her bed. “I had my chance and I totally messed it up.”

Nat and Wanda tried to stay positive for her but they all knew the chances of running into the boys again were slim. Y/N kicked herself mentally as she started getting dressed for bed for not at least asking him where he was from. Sure, he had an American accent but there was 50 states! What if he was Canadian? American and Canadian accents weren’t all that different were they? That means 50 states PLUS 13 provinces/territories in Canada… The thought pulled a sigh from Y/N’s lips. Even if she did manage to find him, there was no telling he’d actually want to see her again.

Y/N folded up the sweater gently, sighing as she pressed it flat into her suitcase. But as she did, her hand pushed against something harder than a bunch of fabric should be. Curious, Y/N reached into the large sweater pocket and pulled out a small notebook. Her eyes widened as she realized it was the booklet that Steve had been sketching in earlier.

Great, not only did I steal this man’s sweater, I stole his art too, Y/N thought to herself. She bit her lip as she sat down on the floor, carefully opening up the notebook, as if it might break if she were too harsh with it.

The first page made her laugh a little. It was Bucky and Sam, fast asleep on airport seats, both with their arms crossed and Sam’s mouth open a little. Y/N was surprised at just how much detail went into such a small drawing. No line was without purpose.

The next few pages looked like they were what Steve had seen out of the plane’s window, most of them having the wing in the centre and small clouds flickering around.

She thumbed through the drawings, loving each and every one of them more and more. Landscapes filled pages and Y/N felt herself get excited when she found something she recognized. It was like a little memory book of the places the boys had all gone together. She noticed two more figures in most of the drawings, figuring these were the other two that the boys were meeting up with when they left. Throughout all these drawings, at the bottom, there was Steve’s signature. In scribbled lines, she could make out S. G. Rogers. She let her thumb glide over for a moment, as if she was missing someone she knew well. She couldn’t help but laugh at herself, knowing she literally met him for not even an hour.

Y/N shook the thoughts from her head as she flipped to the next drawing. Her eyes blinked for a moment, taking in the beautiful sight of the Eiffel Tower that she had see earlier that day. He really was a talented artist, Y/N noted. Even in just sheer pencil, she could see details she probably missed in her momentary glimpses at the tourist site.

“What’s that?” Nat’s sudden voice made Y/N jump, realizing Nat had just come out of the bathroom.

“Uh Steve’s drawings… It was in the sweater.” Y/N explained shyly, handing over the book.

“Oooh more about Steve?” Wanda gasped, hopping over immediately. “Oh wow, he really is an artist huh?” She grinned, flipping through the pictures.

“So now you stole his artwork too huh?” Nat teased, making Y/N pout.

“Stop! Don’t say that! It wasn’t my fault!” Y/N huffed, hugging her knees to her chest. She couldn’t help but feel a little happy that she had his notebook and sweater. It would convince her that all of this actually had been real, and not a dream, like it was starting to feel like.

----------

Steve hadn’t even realized he was missing his sweater until after dinner. The group of guys had sat back in their chairs a little, sighing at what was a great meal when Steve noticed Bucky giving him a weird look. “What’s wrong? Got something on my face?” Steve asked, nudging his friend.

“No… something’s just different.” Bucky tilted his head slightly. His eyes squinted slightly, opening again slowly as he said, “Weren’t you wearing a sweater earlier?”

Steve’s eyes could’ve popped out of his head. He immediately stood up from the table, staring out the window in the direction that he had met Y/N and the other girls. He had only meant to give her the sweater for a moment, while they were taking pictures and talking. She seemed cold, how could he not? (His mother would’ve killed him if he hadn’t… not to mention he really liked seeing her in his clothes). How had he completely forgotten to get it back?

“I bet I know where it is,” Sam snickered as he watched the confusion on Steve’s face.

“Where?” Tony asked, looking between the three.

Rhodey rolled his eyes, “Tony, catch up. There was a girl. He kissed the girl-”

“-And being the ever so lovely gentleman we know and love Steve Rogers to be, he gave her his sweater,” Sam finished with a laugh, shaking his head. “Didn’t have your wallet in there did it? Any other important things?”

Steve shook his head, glad to feel the wallet-sized lump in his jeans pocket. “No… but my sketch book…”

“Not like you can’t just draw some more,” Rhodey shrugged and grinned up at him.

“Yeah but I was hoping to bring it all back and use it for my paintings,” Steve frowned tightly, looking at the boys who had met Y/N with him. “You don’t think she’s still around there do you?”

“Come on, Steve, it’s been hours! You can’t honestly think the girl waited around for you. Just give her a text or something.” Bucky’s amused smile on his face froze as he saw the blush appearing on Steve’s face. “…You did get her number or something didn’t you? I mean, that’s the most tongue-tied I’ve seen you with a girl in a long time!”

“Oh so there was tongue. Talk about a true French Kiss,” Tony snickered, making the other boys laugh and Steve feel like he could die.

“No, Tony, there was no tongue,” Steve rolled his eyes, sitting back down slowly crossing his arms over his chest. “I… I might’ve forgotten to ask for her number…” Steve muttered, knowing exactly what was coming.

“Steve!” Sam and Bucky both yelled, both swatting at his arms from either side of him.

“How could you forget?” Sam groaned, shaking his head. “Just like you to get all flustered over a girl, and have her get all flustered over you, just for you to completely forget to make sure she could get in contact with you!”

Steve looked up, his eyes suddenly beaming with hope instead of shame, “She was getting flustered over me?” He asked curiously, letting out a groan when both Sam and Bucky swatted at his arms again.

“Idiot,” Bucky shook his head devastatingly but he smiled anyways. He wanted to let Steve mope a little more, as a consequence for being an idiot, and then later, maybe he’d show him the pictures that he and Sam had taken of Steve and Y/N.

_______

Why Natasha and Wanda were dragging Y/N out on a Friday night, she had no clue. Normally, if they were going to go out on a Friday, it would be to a club. Not to some place that had a black tie dress code.

Y/N tugged on her dress slightly, feeling a bit uncomfortable all dressed up and not understanding where they were going. “Can someone please-” she started, but the two stern looks she got back from Nat and Wanda shut her up quick.

“If you ask one more time where we’re going, I’m going to knock you out. I really don’t want you to be unconscious when we get there, but don’t tempt me, Y/N,” Nat threatened with a playful smirk on her face. “Just be patient. You look fucking hot, you’ll love it.”

Y/N sighed and slunk back into the Uber seat, tapping her fingers on her knee. Here she was, hair perfectly set around her face, body fitted into a black evening gown, a touch of makeup done… she was picture perfect. But Y/N couldn’t figure out why. Wasn’t her birthday, wasn’t any sort of important date…

Y/N stared out the window as she tried to consider all the possibilities. This seemed to be the biggest event since their trip to Paris about a month ago. The small memory of Paris made her smile, thinking about all the fun the girls had had together, and of course… Steve. She hadn’t really thought about him for a while. She spent the days back home looking for a Steve Rogers online, but it was such a common name, she knew she was bound to never find him.

His sweater sat in her dresser, waiting for the day that maybe she would meet him again and he could take it back. But one month later and no such luck.

Nat and Wanda shared a look as they watched their best friend fade into her daydreaming state. They giggled together quietly, Wanda nudging her slightly. “You’re sure you’ve got the tickets?” She murmured softly and Nat nodded in response.

“Just have your camera ready. I want to capture the moment.” Nat reminded her and Wanda agreed, slipping her phone out of her small purse.

Y/N stared at the building the Uber driver pulled up to. The bright lights at the entrance made it look so regal, like it was some event that major celebrities were going to be attending. As the girls stepped out of the car, Y/N silently thanked both of them for not letting her come in the casual dress she had originally picked out for herself. Her eyes caught sight of the gorgeous evening and cocktail gowns that other women were wearing, the sleek and smooth looks of bowties and suits on the men.

Y/N almost forgot that they were here to attend whatever this was, standing completely frozen from where the car had once been.

“Come on!” Wanda laughed, grabbing her hand. “It’s an art show!”

Y/N blinked in surprise, looking at her friends with a confused look on her face. Neither one of them had really shown any interest in art before… so why were they here?

“Tickets ma’am?” The man at the front asked with a smile. Nat started to open her purse but the man held up his hand. “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t realize you had a muse with you. Go right in, ladies.”

The girls looked at him and then at each other. Not wanting to hold up the line that was growing behind them, they started to walk in and Y/N raised an eyebrow, “Muse?”

Nat shrugged, pushing the tickets back in her purse. “Well damn, if I had known, I wouldn’t have bought these super expensive tickets,” she muttered to herself, making Wanda laugh. “What do you think he meant?”

“Um hello, you guys were the ones that dragged me down here, how should I know?” Y/N looked around as the three of them stood in the front halls of the museum. She wasn’t quite sure where they were supposed to go so she started to walk, so she started to follow a few people in front of her.

The decorations were stunning. Everything was black and white, so the colours on the mediums shot off the walls. People were walking around with trays of small horderves and other trays of champagne glasses. The girls each grabbed a glass, smiling at each other as they clicked the glasses together and took a sip. As the three of them continued to walk around, Y/N could’ve sworn that people were whispering as they passed, gawking at them.

“Is it… a private show?” Y/N whispered harshly to her friends as she noticed someone sneak a photo of them.

Nat’s eyebrows furrowed, noting the commotion she and the girls seemed to be making, and she shook her head, “No, it was a public event.”

“Ma’am, do you think I could take your photo?” A man asked with a smile, holding up his camera and press pass. “I’m doing a story on the artwork.”

Y/N had to look around for a moment, making sure that he was actually talking to her. “Sorry, I’m not… I don’t have a connection to this artwork?” She stated confusedly, stepping away and further into the exhibits with the girls.

“What the hell was that about?” Wanda mumbled, glancing back to see the man looking equally as confused.

Most of the people seemed to be in the on main section of the museum, whispers and murmurs filling the room. As Y/N and the girls walked in to see what everyone else was looking at, they were greeted with flashes of light. People with cameras yelling questions at them about how they felt about the exhibition and if she liked the pieces.

“Sorry I- I have no clue what you’re talking about-” Y/N tried to tell them, holding her hands up to protect her eyes from the multitude of flashes.

“I think I know.” Y/N turned to look at what Wanda was talking about, her jaw dropping for a moment.

There. In the middle of the room. On a large canvas, was her face.

Y/N had to take a moment, staring at the painting as if she were going to wake up from a dream any moment now. “N-Nat, what is this?” She looked over to her friend who seemed just as confused as she was.

“I didn’t think… I only saw his name,” Nat explained, her eyes wandering around.

“Whose name?” Y/N asked exasperatedly, her chest feeling tight. This room was suddenly feeling very small as she looked around. Everything else was of a landscape, gorgeous paintings of green landscapes, orange sunsets, beautiful cafe atmospheres… but this one painting was of her.

“What’s your relationship with the artist, miss?” A woman asked, holding up a voice recorder to Y/N’s face.

“S-Sorry?”

“The artist, miss. S. G. Rogers, what’s it like knowing that after being mostly known for landscapes, and other art that never has a specific muse, his new most talked about piece is the one featuring you?” The woman asked again and Y/N felt her whole body freeze.

S. G. Rogers.

Y/N stammered out an apology, rushing over to the nearest corner where the press weren’t, needing to breathe. Nat and Wanda moved with her, shooting glares at the reporters, as if daring them to follow.

She tried to focus her breathing, feeling all too overwhelmed with everything that was happening. Reporters’ voices started raising again, yelling loud questions again and Y/N winced, thinking they were coming back for more. Her eyes moved to the direction of the flashes, the sounds of the reporters, only to find a blond man standing with his back to her. He seemed awkward in front of all of them, attempting to answer questions and pose for pictures, though he didn’t really seem to want any.

“Can we get a picture of you and your muse?” A reporter asked out and all the others quieted, eagerly nodding.

The man held up an apologetic hand, moving it to rub the back of his neck, “S-She and I… well she’s not here.” He explained and more murmurs arose from the crowd.

“Isn’t that her? Standing right there?” Another reported yelped, pointing in Y/N’s direction.

She felt like a deer in headlights, the way that everyone seemed to turn on her. The man turned and sure enough… there was S. G. Rogers.

“Steve.” Y/N felt her lips breathe out, her eyes locking to those baby blue eyes.

“Surprise,” came weakly from Nat’s lips, who suddenly appeared next to Y/N. “This definitely wasn’t how I planned on it going though,” Y/N heard her mumble.

Y/N felt her brain tear into pieces over the next few seconds as she tried to make a decision. Part of her wanted to run. Run out of the museum and into fresh air, maybe that would make it easier to breathe. But she couldn’t help but think about how embarrassing that would be, for her to run and probably trip over her long dress and heels. The other part of her wanted to jump him, feel that ripple of sensations down her spine again like the last time he kissed her. Another part of her was confused and wanted to demand answers from him. Answers about why he hadn’t asked for her number if he was going to just paint her anyways!

“My lovely reporters, if you could all just take a step back for a moment. I think the lady needs a moment to breathe. You all can be very overwhelming as I’m sure you know. But I’m certain that once she has a chance to catch her surprise, perhaps Mr. Rogers and his muse will be able to stand for a few pictures later. Please, help yourself to the champagne and the food, they’re delicious-” a man spoke up, holding up a few pieces of food in his hand and plopping them into his mouth. Y/N recognized him vaguely and her mind connected his face to the simple sketches that had been in Steve’s Paris notebook.

The crowd dispersed, some hanging around close enough, as if waiting for more action between the two.

“Y/N?” Steve and the girl had barely stopped staring at each other, but the distance between them was still far. Y/N noticed Bucky walking over, as if casually walking across the room. But as he got to just behind Steve, he pushed him forward, sending Steve into a fumbling mess towards Y/N.

“S-Sorry!” Steve yelped out as he tripped over his feet, bumping into her slightly. He shot a glare at Bucky over his shoulder as he tried to compose himself but his gaze softened as it resumed on her. “Y-You’re here! How… How did you...” His cheeks were burning red. “How’re you here? How’d you find me?” He finally managed out, his hand reaching forward for hers but stopped, as if he thought better of his actions and pulled it back.

“I think Nat can answer that!” Wanda grinned from behind Y/N. “Sorry, we definitely weren’t expecting for you to have painted her and set her right in the middle of your exhibit, we probably would’ve prepped her for it if we had known-”

“We definitely would’ve prepped her,” Nat interjected with a guilty smile. “Sorry, Y/N.”

Y/N couldn’t find her voice as she studied his face. He looked the same as he did a month ago, that gorgeous nervous smile, his blond hair perfectly shaping those stunning blue eyes. She could feel her heart pounding out of her chest and was almost certain she was going to sweat all her makeup off.

“My notebook,” Steve guessed after a moment, giving the girls a small smile. He turned to Y/N with an apologetic look, “I’m sorry, I should’ve… I should’ve asked for your number or something. My mom was so upset with me that I just kissed you and left,” he admitted with a chuckle.

“You… told your mom?” Y/N squeaked out, making his cheeks turn a redder shade.

“I-I mean, I didn’t… I wasn’t going to but Bucky just blurted it out and then my mom just wanted to know more and you know, Bucky, he just keeps talking and-” Steve swallowed hard, pressing his lips together tightly as if trying to shut himself up. He looked over at Nat desperately, begging for her to start talking so he didn’t have to.

“Yes the notebook,” Nat clarified for him, smirking. “You left Y/N so lovesick she carried it around with her for a few weeks-”

“Nat!” Y/N whined, looking at her impossibly. “Really? Now? You want to embarrass me now?”

Nat laughed and patted her friend’s head, “Sorry sorry. Anyways, we saw your signature and Wanda pointed out that if you were this good at sketching, you must’ve gotten your training from somewhere. So we went looking for an S. G. Rogers and sure enough, we found that you were a part of a New Upcoming Artists Exhibit and we thought it would be a cute way for you to meet back up again.”

Cute was definitely not the words that Y/N would describe it. She was panicking inside, overthinking every single detail of what had led up to this night. She had spent the last few weeks thinking that Steve probably hadn’t wanted to get to know her anyways, or else he would’ve asked for her number or something. But here he was, telling her he should’ve and… his main piece of his exhibit was a painting of her. How was she supposed to take this? She hadn’t seen any other paintings of girls… was she the only one? What was that supposed to mean?

Wanda reached out and nudged Y/N’s shoulder, “Well you two should talk. Nat, why don’t we go and look at the rest of the exhibits?”

“Sounds brilliant,” Nat grinned and the two linked arms, giving little waves to Y/N as they disappeared.

Steve and Y/N looked at each other, both obviously unsure of what they should say. Y/N let her eyes drift to the painting in question, unable to help the blush growing on her cheeks as she admired it. Steve had painted her standing there with a bright smile on her face, as if she was smiling at the person looking at the painting. You could see the bottom of the Eiffel Tower behind her and Y/N blushed, realizing that she had taken the main spot of the artwork, rather than the Eiffel Tower like in his sketch.

“I know it must seem so creepy-” Steve stammered out nervously, clearly kicking himself for having it up as the centre of his exhibit. “I just… it was one of the few artworks that really evoked something in me and I just couldn’t let it sit in my room gathering dust-”

“It’s gorgeous, Steve,” Y/N told him with a smile. She looked up at him and almost regretted it, seeing those blue eyes again. He was so handsome and it certainly wasn’t helping that he seemed to fill out his tux so well. “You made me look really pretty.”

“I was only painting what I see, doll,” Steve chuckled. “While Wanda and Nat were taking pictures of us on their phones, Bucky and Sam had snapped a couple from theirs. I’ve been staring at them nonstop,” he admitted sheepishly. “You were all I could think about when I got back.”

Y/N was almost positive she was dreaming. She had dreamed about Steve before, sure, and he was usually doing this whole confessing attraction thing, so this had to be a dream right? She moved her hand to her arm, pinching it gently and wincing. Her eyes looked back up at him and she bit down hard on her lip. Not a dream.

“By the way,” Steve started, taking one of her hands and holding her at an arm’s length, “You look… like a work of art.”

Y/N wondered if he knew her whole body was heating up as his eyes examined the way the dress hugged her body. “S-Stop staring,” she swatted at him quickly, blushing. “We’re here to look at your art, not me.”

“I’d much rather look at you,” Steve laughed but led her for a closer view of his centrepiece of art. Y/N got so entrapped looking at it, she almost forgot the lurking press. “I’m sorry about them, by the way,” Steve leaned in and murmured to her. “Tony’s a part of a really wealthy family and his family are really into art… they’ve been really supportive of me and my works so they thought some reporters would help get my name out there.”

Y/N smiled and nodded, guessing that it was Tony then who had made the announcement to save her and Steve from the insane reporters.

“Sir, if you don’t mind-” one of the reporters spoke up, holding up his camera. They all flocked in eagerly, waiting for Steve to give the ‘ok’.

Steve looked down at Y/N with a shy smile, “You got all dressed up, doll. I’d hate to have no photos of it.”

Y/N smiled and nodded slowly, deciding that tackling these people with Steve by her side was a lot easier than doing it on her own. Steve gave a nod to the reporters, stepping in closer to Y/N for the photos. He let his hand touch the back of her waist, as if worried he would cop a feel and she would be uncomfortable.

After a while of smiling and posing, Steve made a couple of jokes with her about wishing his art got phtoographed this often, his eyes still fixated on each camera. She laughed and couldn’t help but look up at him, her gaze trying to memorize every piece of his face. Her lips tingled slightly, as if reminding her of the reason they had met in the first place.

“Steve?” She whispered with a smile.

“Mm?” Steve’s blue eyes moved to meet hers, flashes still going around them.

“I think it might make my ex-boyfriend very jealous to know that I was a muse in an art exhibition.” Y/N stated with a smile, trying to press down the giggles bubbling in her throat.

Steve let out a laugh, making Y/N’s heart skip a beat or two, “Oh yeah? You’ll have to get some of those photos then.”

“We could make him more jealous though,” Y/N hinted at, her mind racing at her sudden surge of confidence.

Steve blinked at her, a little surprised at the suggestion, “You mean-”

“Will you kiss me, Steve?” she whispered, biting down on her lip slightly. “I promise I won’t run away with your sweater and art this time.”

Steve didn’t need to be asked again. He turned to face her, his one arm wrapping around her while his other hand reached up for her chin. Y/N felt the memory of their first meet flood back to her, “You better give me your number after this. Or my mom will have a field day,” he whispered into her lips before kissing her deeply.

Steve felt all of his worries and nerves sink into that kiss, only to be filled with a sense of belonging. He barely knew the girl but Steve hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since Paris. He was so in love with this girl, he couldn’t help but feel like Fate had put them in Paris at the same time for a reason. Kissing her again in the museum, at this moment, Steve was sure of that reason.

** ** ** ** ** ** **

I hope you guys enjoy this!! It’s probably one of my absolute favourites fics that I’ve ever written!

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greekbros · 4 years ago

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"greek-Bros: The Return of an Old Enemy"

Chapter 12: Matters to Attend To

After a rough night of sleeping in the tough dirt with roughly 15 or so big cats, Dionysus prepares to leave for Olypmus. He was waiting for Apollo to pick him up, feeling as if he'd been gently shoved into a small box to sleep in while dogpiled by his own pet big cats. He drinks in the scenery of the morning, wondering what the day shall bring. Feeling the top of his head feeling a little bit warmer, he looks up to find Apollo riding above. "Ah there you are!", he shouts to his brother in the sky. Along with the ball of fire trailing behind Apollo's chariot, it's golden embellishments shined bright enough to create a blinding glare, leaving Dionysus to shield his eyes for a short second.

Riding down to Dionysus's position, Apollo waved back, "Good morning. How was your night?", he asked softly. Apollo also looked a little sleep depraved as well, after Dionysus's afternoon celebration, he had his own issues to deal with. Apparently, there had been issues around the coastal areas around mainland Greece that weren't related to wolves....but a bizzare influx of dolphins harassing the locals.

Dionysus yawned loudly, streched his arms and gave his back a good crack, "let's just say it's easier to imagine sleeping with big soft animals than it is to actually put into practice.". He groggiingly climbed onto Apollo's chariot. ".....so is there any seatbelts on this thing?", he joked.

Apollo shook his head and snaps the reins, off they went to Olypmus. "Well, hang on then, time is of the essence.", he chuckled. He snapped the reins and off to the clouds above the two went, the clouds at first felt like cool mist but slowly thickens into a softer fluff that opens to a sea of soft white and blue. Off in the distance, Olypmus stood proudly like an island.

Meanwhile, Zeus had returned to Olympus with the growing concerns that had become prevalent throughout the Mediterranean; the wolf attacks. Pacing back and forth, Zeus was pondering what to do about such an issue. "Wolves of all things", he though. Did he need to talk to the other gods about this? Was Hades responsible for this, inspite of his lack of evidence that Hades has yet to be responsible for any surface issues. He hadn't the foggiest idea what is causing it. "oooooh....where is that girl....I know she's the greatest huntress in all of Olypmus but she shouldn't be taking this long.....and Athena....my goodness with all her wisdom and intelligence....a little empathy wouldn't hurt once and a while.", grumbling on while rubbing his forehead, oddly enough even mentioned Athena's name gives him a mild headache. Inspite of this, Zeus still worries for all his daughters.

Hermes could only watch as he was growing more entertained by the hole in the floor Zeus had created. Hera was more disgruntled at Zeus because now the nice marble floor now have sizable divot. "..... Zeus can you PLEASE just sit down. You're not the only one here with a headache, how am I going to find a stonemason at this time in the morning?", she groaned. Spectating the whole issue, she really had become curious as to how Zeus could be blaimed for this, maybe its so bad that he would be banished and she would be made Ruler of the Sky, but she doubts that.

"I understand my dear, but there are more important matters on our plate.", as Zeus says this the sound of Apollo's chariot. "Oh thank goodness.". Zeus hoped with Apollo and Dionysus now present, there would be a few more heads working together. "Ah good morning boys.", Zeus urgently greeted them.

Dionysus slid down the marble floor for a dramatic entrance, while Apollo calmly walked in. "Good morning father, good morning Hera you look absolutely radiant today", Apollo greeted back. The two placed themselves on their designated thrones.

Hera wasn't too flattered but she appreciates the greeting with a head nod. "Morning... Apollo. So what has your father done this time?....". She has been watching over both Olympus and the earth while Zeus had been flying around. Tapping her perfectly sharpened nails on the arm of her gold and marble throne. "Well?", she inquired again.

With the rough sound of clearing his throat, Zeus interjects to answer for Apollo. "Well Hera, it seems we have a pest control problem, 'wolves'...........'wolves' have been seen doing such strange things .....but others say it's really not wolves. If memory serves me, we did not create wolves to act like this......boys, have any of you found any new information?", Zeus inquired.

Dionysus and Apollo looked at each other, remembering the day before and what had transpired during the Dionysian Games. Dionysus glances away, trying to deter any responsibility in being the first to tell anyone, Apollo is given the unceremonious task of explaining what had happened on Delphi. "Well.....let's just say, while Dionysus was having a...day time event, it seems that there was some semblance of a sighting. No one was harmed thankfully....", as he finished he looked at Dionysus, hoping he was going to going to fill in any details.

Dionysus, pretended that he wasn't paying attention. Apollo continued to stare at him until he took a coin from his pocket and aggressively flicked at Dionysus. The coin hit Dionysus's head with an audible tunk as it bounced off, "Ow! Fuck man what the hell?!", Dionysus rubbed the currently forming lump. He looked around as he saw Hera, Zeus and Hermes were looking at him, clearly knowing he knew more than he was willing to share. "Ugh....yeah....someone saw a dog thing? Yeah but as Apollo said, no harm no foul...", he hoped his flimsy confirmation would suffice.

Zeus obviously took this as a sign something was wrong and that these creatures were indeed becoming more and more brazen but he wasn't going to pry Dionysus anymore for obvious reasons. He was still wondering where Artemis and Athena were, probably assisting mortals or actively finding more information.

Zeus than turned to Hermes, usually his energetic messenger was more talkative, yet right now he was rather quite. "Hermes....is there anything you would like to share? Any news that would ....at the very least help us... Artemis told me you witnessed one of these creatures yourself?", Zeus asked. He could see Hermes looked a little anxious, in fact Hermes hadn't taken his encounter very well since he first saw it. "My boy, do you have something to say?", Zeus again asked.

The wings on his hat emoted his sudden alertness much like how a dog would, he was mentally elsewhere but quickly came back to planet Earth to put it 'mortally'. "Oh well.....it wasn't too bad.... Artemis shot it in the mouth...hehehe, but....I'm more use to things staying dead.", he rubbed the back of neck, "The creature came back to life shortly after she killed it. I've never seen something like that in my life.", Hermes responded somberly. He felt silly being scared of something that wouldn't be out of place in the Underworld, but he knew that it wasn't something he had experienced in its controlled chaotic environment. "Outside of that, it seems they're very sturdy and very fast.", he continued.

Off in the hall, Artemis and Athena had finally arrived, although both were empty handed, Athena had come with her pride humbly swallowed. The two sisters entered the throne room unannounced as to not disturb Hermes's story.

Dionysus went from playing with his curly locks to glancing past Zeus and seeing Artemis and Athena. "Oh cool, you're here!", he exclaimed with a smile. Artimes waved back, but Athena stayed stone faced.

"Ah there you two are! Where have you two been?", Zeus bellowed.

Artimes walked towards her barely used throne next to Apollo, slumped onto her seat, surprisingly exhausting. It was obvious Artemis had been doing most of the leg work of investigating what has been happening, meanwhile her brothers decided to have fun with their fake Olympics. ".......ugggh....", she groaned and turned to Apollo, "so....did you look over Delos like I asked?"

He had been so occupied with Dionysus that he had COMPLETELY forgotten to check if the island of Delos was untouched. Apollo struggle for a few seconds, as he was about to say something.

"You didn't fucking check didn't you?", Artemis interrupted. Lucky for her, she had checked Delos and the island was currently at the bottom of her list worries.

Apollo couldn't help but give an embarrassed half smile and immediately points to Dionysus and whispers, "this is your fault". Dionysus of course couldn't help but give an identical smile.

Athena stood in front of Zeus, "Father....I believe I owe you an apology for doubting your judgement....it seems.... Athens has come under a terrible affliction....the city has been relying on outside trade these past few days because the farmlands have been savagely ravaged by unknown forces. On top of all that......Theseus hasn't helped much politically, considering he is off on some pointless quest with the rest of his demi-brethren, the state executives have been scrambling for answers to the myriad of metropolitan issues. Disappearing blacksmiths, sightings of creatures in the night and hordes of food, metal, and wood supplies have disappeared over night. I seek your your guidance, for this is genuinely a force I have never experienced.", she was at a loss for words with her situation. Athens has had many terrible lows in its long history, but nothing of this supernatural sort.

He looked at his children, he shook his head. "Your apologies are always accepted my dear Athena. Laps of judgment always happen.", Zeus said with a smile.

She held her head up high, "If I may ask. Is there explanation to.our plights?".

Dionysus stretched his legs a little, "it's wolves I think....but they're kinda funky. Hermes says that THESE wolves can get hit with arrows and like...not die....it's kind of weird. Oh and apparently they like destroying food tents.", he interjected.

Hermes turned to Dionysus, "This thing wasn't a wolf! I know a wolf when I see it, this thing had hands! And it stood on two legs and was fast on them!", he corrected Dionysus was short burst of annoyance.

Obviously, Hera was about to toss herself from the top of Mt. Olypmus from all the sweetness of Zeus's love for his children, the destruction of anyone's food tent or anything, she couldn't care less about it. ".....Can we go on?", she strained. "Frankly Zeus, I just want to know what does all of this has to do with you.", She paused as she was just speaking at suddenly thought had dawned on her. ".... Zeus.......this "wolf" business doesn't have anything to do with Lycaon does it?....You DID say the problem was taken care of....right?", Hera spoke with a tone of ripe displeasure.

Zeus couldn't deny it any longer. An unnatural wolf, Athens in social chaos and the constant bickering between his children had to stop. "Children........it's time I told you the whole story....do you remember when I've told some of you the story of how I defeated the most evil man in the world?", he asked.

The other gods became curious, what did an old bedtime story that their own father had to do with all of this? Hera let out a long and disappointed sigh, it really did have something to do with him, but she had secretly hoped he wasn't responsible for it.

He continued, "Many decades ago, it should be a century or so....if memories serves me correctly....I was invited to a feast in Arcadia by King Lycaon himself. In the story, I told that I defeated him by turning him into a wolf and destroyed his desperately sons for serving me a feast made from the flesh of man..... however.....I may have left out a few.... important details....I did turn him into a wolf....but I left a small semblance of humanity in him so that he may suffer ridicule and hatred for the remainder of his life......that...may have been the greatest regret....I should have ended him when I had the chance.... however, I cannot contest for how he has managed to live for so long....but I do fear it maybe my power is what helped with his longevity.....I doubt he's alone too....", he solemnly ended his story.

The five Olympic offspring sat there in disbelief, the rumors were true and their own father had direct responsibility over the situation. Hera in the meantime, felt a little sorry for Zeus, if she was responsible for such a blunder she would no doubt feel an eating guilt in her heart. "Zeus, listen, what's in the past is done....you fucked up and honestly that's no surprise.....", she put it bluntly.

He turned around unamused but not surprised that his wife would take a swing at his ego, yet all he could do is agree. "Now..... children, we must spread ourselves around and look high and low for Lycaon...no matter the cost.", he declared.

A low crashing noise could be heard from halls, alarming everyone in the throne room. The boys screamed, Artemis was too tired to care and Athena raised her shield and spear ready to defend everyone in the room. Zeus and Hera were worried but there was a likely suspect on their minds. "Ares!", the two said in unison. If anyone would regularly break urns and vases in Olypmus, it was Ares. Whom oddly enough did not come to the meeting. Apollo, Dionysus, Hermes and Athena were the first to charge towards the noise while Artemis had no intentions of moving for the moment.

In another room, Ares was trying to help Ajax use armor and play with a wooden sword for the first time. Turns out, after a few hours of roughhousing with his own war hounds, Ares realized Ajax could use his paws to hold things. So one silly thing led to another, and Alex accidentally broke a vase. "Nice swing Ajax, you'll lead your own army in no time!", Ares chuckled with enthusiasm. Ajax wagged his tail and adjusted his ill-fitting helmet. "You know what, I'm hungry. Come on Ajax, let's go get something to eat", he gestured to Ajax to follow him to the kitchen. The pup's tailed wagged even more enthusiastically, he gently removed his helmet, placed his shield and sword down and followed his new devine friend.

As the two miscreants went to the kitchen, the rest of the Olympians just missed them by a few seconds. Apollo and Athena were armed and ready while Hermes and Dionysus were reluctant to have followed them.

Apollo and Athena both look at the obvious mess of broken urns and damaged marble along with the instruments of the crime. "Hm...It definitely looks like Ares may have been here....but what would he want with set of juvenile training armor?", Athena questioned.

"Hmmm....maybe he's taken up another Amazonian student?.... after all it's not like he's done it before.", Apollo speculated.

"Well I'm not cleaning up after his kids again.", Dionysus groaned brushing away a piece of broken pottery with his foot.

Hermes looked around and started to hear more clattering coming from the kitchen. "I think we'll get our answer shortly.", he pointed to the direction of what at this point sounded like a dog playing with its food.

The four than slowly cornered the entrance way to the kitchen, Apollo and Athena on opposite sides of the door. Dionysus, summons his thyrsos, to protect himself and Hermes who's just behind him. Athena motioned to Apollo to get ready to bust into the kitchen, he agreed with a stern nod.

Zeus and Hera have just arrived, spectating the mess of a hallway and had just about enough this. "OH FOR GOODNESS SAKE.", Zeus bellowed and opened the kitchen door to fine Ares mid bite into some meat and Ajex sitting on the counter, peacefully chewing on lamb chop.

It was a standstill for the ages.

"Son.....what is that?", Zeus asked calmly and sternly.

"Lamb chops.", Ares replied.

"....no.......I mean....what...is....that?.", Zeus pointed at Ajex.

Ares hadn't thought so quickly in his life and drew out his sword and pulled Ajex closer to him. In a deadpan tone and a blank stare, "Take one more step Dad I will wreck everything.". Ajex obviously was completely clueless and just innocently looked at everyone.

Everyone from Zeus and his children all armed themselves. "ARES I NEED TO YOU STEP AWAY FRO. THAT ABOMINATION.", Zeus commanded him.

Athena raised her spear, "Ares you dimwitted buffoon! That creature's kind has cost us all dearly!", she hissed at him

Ares still expressionless knew he wasn't going to let his family hard a single fur on Ajex's head.

The Olympians were all shouting and tried coaxing Ares to give the wolf pup but the god of war wouldn't budge.

Hera, finally pushing Apollo and Dionysus aside, "ARES! What is going on?! And why is that thing on the counter! You have no idea where it's been and I thought I told you no snacking before meals!", Hera shouted with a wag of her finger.

"Oh I gave him a bath before we started training.", Ares replayed.

"TRAINING?!?", everyone shouted in unison.

Zeus's voiced boomed, "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT CREATURE IS CAPABLE OF!".

"FUCKYOUDADYOUCANTTELLMEWHATTODO!", Ares defiantly shouted back.

As the quarreling between the gods continued, Hermes at was fearful at seeing this kind of creature again until he started to get a closer look. "Wait a minute..... isn't this the dog with tattered clothes your thespian friend told you?", he turned to Dionysus.

As if a candle was suddenly lit, Dionysus than remembered the joust. "Hey it's that dog thing that cost you the joust you know the one you lost and got very very VERY humiliated in?!", he hoped reminding Ares about his loss would make him relinquish Ajex due to anger.

"Oh really? Well ok than accidents happen I guess. I guess little Ajex here had places to go. Ain't that right buddy", Ares said with a smile basically forgiving Ajex for costing him the joust. Ajex let out a little yip with glee.

"Damnit. I thought that would do it. Sorry guys I tried.", Dionysus shrugged.

Hera was distraught and disappointed, "Oh my gods you've named it too. Now we'll never get rid of it.", she said breathlessly.

"Come on mom, it's just a dog. I mean sure he's really misshapen for a dog but he's managing pretty well with me.", Ares still had no idea that what he was holding close to him....was more closely related to a cursed human.

"Son....that is no hound....that....is what I had turned Lycaon many years ago....I turned him into a part wolf monstrosity for the purpose of punishment! That right there!.....could be his very offspring! Or worse!....an innocent child who was transformed into wolf.", Zeus gravely explained.

Ares looked at Ajex, "....oh...so that's why he has thumbs.".

The rest of his siblings couldn't believe that Ares had just realized this and collectively groaned. Zeus could only nod in minor disappointment while Hera shook her head.

Hermes on the other hand stepped a little closer to Ares and Ajex. "....Well....thus one DEFINITELY isn't the same kind of beast me and Artimes saw.", he than started to feel extremely silly for being so afraid of this small and somewhat cute looking creature.

"That's because it's a wolf cub!", Artimes had finally caught up with everyone. "I mean seriously, you guys got worked up over a pup? I mean seriously it still teething.", She pointed at Ajex who was still chewing on a lamb bone.

Ares looked at Ajex, "you mean like how babies do?....cool. That explains why he bit me when we first met.", he fondly remembered.

Zeus went pale. "Son....did....did ugh...Ajex you called him? ....well....did he draw blood when he bit you?", he deathly asked.

Ares looked at his arm and saw no marks, then he looked everywhere else that Ajex had teethed on and still no marks. "Nope. Little guys' gonna have to grown into his big teeth later.", he knew that dogs had their own set of baby teeth much like humans did, so considering Ajex's lineage, there was a good chance he still had many of his baby teeth.

A deep sigh of relief was let out by Zeus.

Apollo than asked, "Father, why is it such an issue that it bit Ares, it's not like as if gods could die of an infection....even so I can fix it.".

Zeus shook his head, "Because I've seen what happens with mortals who survive an attack from these monsters....they become them.", the others became visibly worried, expect for Ares and Hermes. Hermes of course could always outrun them and Ares simply assumed he was impervious to injury.

Ares than realized if he hadn't been so physically hard to chew on he would be a half-wolf half-war god. "WAIT A MINUTE I COULD HAVE BEEN A WOLF WAR GOD THAT SOUNDS EPIC AS FUCK!", He shouted.

Apollo, Athena, Artimes and Dionysus looked at each other in clear worry, the idea of a beastly war god even more so vicious than what he currently is now is a far more unfathomably terrifying idea.

Hermes was still looking at Ajex with mild curiosity. Suddenly Ajex looked at him a tilted his head with equal curiosity. A sudden urge to do something Hermes wanted to do when discovered he could perform a neat little trick. He than raised the wings on his hat upwards in an alert position. Ajex's ears did the same thing. Than Hermes switched to a 3 o'clock position, Ajex than followed through and mimicked with his ears.

The rest of the gods looked at this strange display and went silent, surely something important was happening.

Ares however was starting to get jealous, "dude da fuk can you stop that's super fucking weird.", he asked but Hermes continued with different wing positions as if he was giving signals. Ajex was oddly enough having fun with this activity and let out a yip.

"I can't believe it.... we're completely in sync! You know what this means?", Hermes exclaimed at his wings alternated with Ajex's ears. "This could be like a secret handshake or something."

His brothers were obviously was confused, "Ugh...is this going to help us? I mean it's a cool trick but how is this going to solve anything?", Dionysus asked.

Hermes chuckled a little and replied, "oh no there absolutly nothing useful about this it's just fun to see if another animal would do it.". Another collective groan from everyone could be heard.

Athena rested her spear, "This has been a waste of time! All that's happened was the discovery of this creature infiltrating our ranks through Ares's pure ignorance and we still have no clue where to find these b-", she suddenly stopped mid sentence and looked at Ajex and started to formulate an idea "....... surely....this...Ajax has a family...I mean for such a young pup, he has to be missing his parents...", She glanced at Ares whom was still keeping Ajex close. He didn't want to part with him.

Zeus knew what Athena had been implying, he agreed with this plan but he didn't want to lose anymore of Ares's trust. "Athena, as much as that sounds like a wonderous strategy, I believe we can achieve our goal in finding Lycaon.... without harming the young creature.", Zeus walked up to Ajex, no matter if this creature had fangs, claws and fur, it was still in a sense a child.

Scoffing at Athena's attempt to gain her favors by being "tactful", she couldn't help but sense Athena was simply trying to be a little bit insensitive to Ares considering the two have had it against each other for years. "Or....I can just track down trail where me and Hermes found the first wolf. I mean, if I remember correctly there IS a complex cave system in Mount Parnassus.", she concluded.

Ares was relieved.

Zeus had than remembered what Athena had mentioned about Theseus and the rest of his half-born children. "By jove I've got it. BOYS! You're off to find Lycaon.", he announced.

Apollo, Dionysus, Hermes and Ares all looked at Zeus in mild disbelief. "Wait what?", they all murmured in unison.

#greek-Bros #greek bros #greek gods #dionysus #Zeus #hera #artemis #athena #ares #Apollo #greek bros: the return of an old enemy #chapter 12 #short story #fiction #greek mythology

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bywordofaphrodite · 4 years ago

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Book Reviews 5&6: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan & Alpha Force: Survival by Chris Ryan

This review’s theme is action and adventure ! audience age range: roughly 12 and up !

For this review I’m using the first book from two action/adventure series, featuring the only male authors I've selected of the ten books chosen for these posts. Both are action-packed books with ensemble casts featuring boys and girls, though the similarities mostly stop there.

As a lover of Greek mythology and fantasy in general, Rick Riordan’s sarcastic and upbeat hero of Percy provided a hilarious new way to look at the more serious myths concerning the gods and enemies of Mount Olympus (his slightly inaccurate retellings made acceptable because the series was made for a younger audience, not to mention it’s funny so who cares).

Alpha Force is firmly set in the real world, no magic to be seen, just hardened survival skills that seem more sitting to the SAS than a bunch of young teens- but with the author Chris Ryan being a member of the SAS himself, it’s exactly what you’d expect.

Nostalgic review

Rating: ★★★★★

Percy Jackson is one of those famous book series in a long list of teen/YA fiction that has gripped teens by the throat on its basic lore alone. During class my friends and I would go on Tumblr and Pinterest to pass time, and as readers we always ended up on That Side of Tumblr- yes, the side filled with cheesy edits of all the popular main characters of the time: Katniss Everdeen of the Hunger Games, Clary Fray of The Mortal Instruments, all the usual squad, and of course Percy Jackson himself. In a sea of lead female characters, Percy was a fun male lead to throw in the mix. It felt special too, that Riordan continued to write Percy’s story ageing him up as the books went on. We grew up with Percy too. I still keep collect the series even now; my brother’s gift to me for my 21st birthday was the Heroes of Olympus collection, though I haven’t read the older books in several years. I’ve always thought Riordan’s writing style not only improved over the years, but also adjusted well to writing for an older audience in the newer books, which was impressive. Additionally, Riordan listening to his fans and adding in more and more representation through great diverse characters definitely sweetens the memories attached to this series.

Alpha Force is just so good. And so underrated. It was between Alpha Force and Alex Rider for the second book in this review, but ultimately I decided enough people know Alex Rider (there’s a movie and a new series about him, go check the series out, it’s great!) and Chris Ryan’s hidden gem was something I wanted to discuss more. I went through an Extreme Survival Adventures book phase during early high school, devouring all kinds of action from deep-sea diving to climbing Mount Everest and every shipwrecked story on the shelves. I’ve always been a huge fan of the ensemble character groups where everyone has a distinct role that no one else can fill; I find it prevents boring main character syndrome where one singular person never needs any help and therefore has neither character development nor conflict. The Alpha Force series managed to deliver fantastic action sequences, smart yet surprisingly realistic characters and somewhat rarely in my experience- incredible female characters who actually had real personality and arcs that belonged to themselves and not the male characters. Honestly, this assignment has been a great excuse to make myself read these books again!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief Review

Post-read: ★★★★

Synopsis: when struggling student Percy Jackson’s pre-algebra teacher transforms into a monster on school grounds and tries to kill him, Percy runs home to be told the truth by his mother about who he is: a demigod, and upon his arrival at the safe haven for demigods- Camp Half-Blood- Percy discovers he is the son of Poseidon, with water powers to boot. With the help of a satyr named Grover and daughter of Athena, Annabeth, Percy sets course for the Underworld to prevent a war breaking out on Mount Olympus.

(I wanted to make this four and a half stars, but I am incompetent at adding in the half, so if you’d kindly just imagine it is there that would be great.)

Okay! Let’s get into it!

With the first chapter titled ‘I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORISE MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER’, I think the tone for the story is established rather immediately. The first-person narrative allows the character of Percy to talk to readers directly, and it creates a very easy feeling of Percy recounting his feelings and adventures as if in a one-on-one conversation. I felt just as drawn in rereading as an adult as I did when I was in school. Percy doesn’t fit it in at any schools and has been kicked out of six when the first chapter begins. His ADHD and dyslexia make concentrating and studying hard, and he’s always restless. The only people he feels are on his side are his friend Grover and his Latin teacher, Mr Brunner, who seems to be the only teacher who doesn’t have it out for him.

As it turns out, neither Grover nor Mr Brunner are people! Grover is a satyr sent to watch over Percy until he reaches Camp Half-Blood, and Mr Brunner is the immortal centaur Chiron and the activities director at the camp, also watching over Percy. When the Fury Alecto- disguised as Percy’s pre-algebra teacher Mrs Dodds- tries to kill Percy on a school field trip, the satyr and centaur jump in to save him. Later at the camp, Percy continues to stay fast friends with the two and confides in them while they teach him everything about his new world. Percy meets many more kids at camp, all of whom struggled in the human world before finding their true capabilities upon discovering their status as demigods. Annabeth is one such kid, the daughter of Athena who is cold to Percy at first, out of loyalty to the history between Athena and Poseidon, but who ends up becoming fast friends with him, and later his girlfriend throughout the series.

Riordan’s writing is fresh, engaging and fun at every turn. His modern takes on the gods and their ancient stories and riddles makes for a terrific adventure, and the ‘quests’ undertaken by the demigods mimic the old mythology in a palatable way for young readers to digest easily and understand what exactly is going on. The best part about Percy Jackson for me isn’t the monsters and battles, but rather Riordan’s intentions when creating the series: he wanted to give his dyslexic son a hero he could relate to, and since the first set of books Rick Riordan has gone above and beyond expectations to create demigod heroes for kids spanning many different ethnicities, genders and disabilities. Of the many series popular among young people, I’m especially glad that this one full of so much representation is maintaining the hype it deserves.

Characters who aged well: Percy! At twelve years old in this first book of the series, and just the right combination of witty, kind, hot tempered, brave and cheeky to make a believable and lovable young protagonist; his diagnosis with ADHD and dyslexia not being portrayed as a weakness but rather a part of him makes Percy a special hero to neurodivergent readers. Annabeth, too, remains a great character, she’s intelligent, logical and ambitious in a positive manner, and never falls into the trap of being ‘not like other girls’.

Characters who aged badly: nobody! All the side characters are great, and even the villains are entertaining, especially alongside Percy’s ridiculous commentary. The gods are portrayed rather mockingly, which is a kindness really, compared to the awful acts they commit in the original myths.

Favourite scene/quote: ‘Deadlines just aren’t real to me unless I’m staring one in the face’ – I first read this book years ago and it’s still relevant. I can’t even be embarrassed to relate to it at this point.

My favourite scenes both centre on Medusa- or rather, her severed head. Furious with the gods- namely, Zeus, Athena and his father Poseidon- for sending himself, Annabeth and Grover on such a dangerous quest so quickly after his first day at camp, Percy stuffed Medusa’s head into a package and wrote the address of Mount Olympus on a delivery slip, ending with ‘best wishes, PERCY JACKSON’. To Grover’s distress at Percy’s being ‘impertinent’ to the gods yet again, Percy simply responded ‘I am impertinent’. 10/10 big mood.

The second refers to Sally explaining to Percy that she can take care of herself, and, leaving Medusa’s head in her fridge, Percy exits their apartment just as Sally’s abusive boyfriend walks in. The last thing Percy sees is his mother, ‘staring at Gabe, as if she were contemplating how he would look as a garden statue’. It’s a nice moment between mother and son, followed by Percy understanding the strength his mother has and how much she does for him.

Alpha Force: Survival Review

Post-read: ★★★★

Synopsis: Five teenagers end up stranded on a desert island after their sailing ship goes down at sea. Enthusiastic Alex, reluctant Amber and Hex and practical jokers Paulo and Li are all part of a ‘working eco-voyage’ that quickly falls apart, leaving them to survive on their skills alone against komodo dragons, sharks and modern day pirates somewhere on the Indonesian archipelago.

The story begins with Northumbrian boy Alex- the closest to a main character out of the five- scrubbing the deck of a ship called the Phoenix and lamenting the fact that he’s been lumped in with four people he would never have chosen to be in a watch with. Assigned to A-Watch by their mean supervisor Heather, Alex finds himself the unofficial watch leader… and the only person who really wants to be there. Also in A-Watch is Amber, the daughter of African-American software billionaires who recently died in an accident and left her the sole heiress to the fortune. Amber, still hurting from her parent’s death, is furious to be on board the eco-voyage organised by her Uncle John, who believes she needs to move on in a place outside her comfort zone. Amber spends a great chunk of time antagonising English hacker Hex, who was sent on the trip as a punishment by his school for ruthlessly hacking into the accounts of a teacher who bullied his younger brother. Rounding out the group are Paulo and Li, both of whom are very athletic and thrive in the outdoors, but also uninterested in doing any real work aboard the Phoenix. Paulo is a charming ranch hand from Argentina who loves food and flirting; Li is the Anglo-Chinese daughter of zoologists who enjoys testing out her martial arts on Paulo.

After an argument with their supervisor Heather, Amber decides A-Watch should steal food and relax in a small boat beside the ship to thwart her- a fine plan at first, which goes haywire after the rope frays and they awaken to find themselves in the middle of the Java Sea with no one knowing they’re missing. Tensions rise between the teenagers as they panic over food and safety as they work to survive. Hex just barely survives a Komodo dragon attack, and their hope for help in spotting a family aboard a yacht goes down the drain when it becomes clear they are hostages of modern-day pirates. Luckily, for the family- the Larousse family who were friends with Amber’s parents, no less- the members of A-Watch manage to put aside their differences and put together their skills to save the day.

By the end of the book, the group have outwitted the pirates, saved the Larousse family and successfully sent an SOS signal leading to their rescue. During their recovery in hospital, Amber learns the truth about her parents: behind their billionaire software company her parents worked as undercover agents around the world, fighting against corrupt governments, powerful cartels and other dangerous ventures. Amber’s Uncle John agrees to let the five carry on her parents work as a team, noting that five teenagers could easily slip into situations that adults can’t. Hex then announces he has a name for the five: Alpha Force, taking the first letter of all their names and representing the new beginning for Amber to move on from the Omega (ending) necklace she wears round her neck to remember her parents.

Characters who aged well: all of them!

Alex’s love of the outdoors is endearing, and he never underestimates anyone else’s skills despite being the most prepared for struggles in the outdoors; he is fairly introverted and thoughtful without being boring, I think he’s very sweet.

Amber’s presence as a billionaire black girl with great navigational skills was a fun subversion of the unfortunate stereotyped roles black characters are given; she has great character development without losing her sharp-witted personality and she’s very funny.

Hex plays off Amber’s banter with ease after their initial clashing, and I like that, though he loves his electronics, he never lets the team down by adapting to the outdoors.

Paulo is just adorable, a charming boy from a ranch who likes to flirt with the girls he likes but always respects their boundaries. His positivity is also very uplifting.

Li: ahh my cool favourite Li. Not just providing Asian representation, but also mixed representation, which I was very pleased about as a kid, and still am. Similarly to Amber, Li subverts a stereotype of her own- she’s knowledgeable about things without being a nerd, and gets to be the most playful character alongside Paulo. In my experiences with male authors, the girls rarely get to be the ‘funny’ character so I always enjoyed this!

Characters who aged badly: no one!

Favourite scene/quote: “‘Or was Heather right? Are you too good for us, Alex?’ said Li, slyly.”

This quote signifies when Alex properly commits to being a part of A-Watch, going along with Amber’s plan to ignore Heather’s disciplinary instructions in favour of ‘stealing’ food. It’s the first time the group work as a team, and his hesitation gives way to helping his new friends even though he never does anything against the rules. I also just enjoy Li’s sneakiness at any time, really. The following scene where the five relax under the stars eating food and getting to know each other before all hell breaks loose is nice to read, and all the action sequences are really great, especially Amber’s dive with the sharks while escaping pirates.

Overall verdict:

I wanted to give both of these books four and a half stars, so let’s pretend I figured out how to do that. The only reason they both don’t get five stars is because the following books in their respective series improve after the first ones- both in writing style and character development- and I’m allowing room for that.

Starting off with The Lightning Thief, the headlong dive into action from chapter one was so fun, and learning about the monsters and mythology in time with the main character is always a welcome addition. As someone who read the original myths before any Percy Jackson novels, hearing them retold from Percy’s humorous perspective is very amusing. Anyone familiar with Percy Jackson knows that the movies released a few years ago were kind of a major letdown compared to the books, so the fact that Disney+ has now taken the series on board and begun casting (worldwide!) is super exciting! In line with Rick Riordan’s mantra of inclusivity, anyone of any ethnicity or gender can apply for the roles, which I think really fits the concept of what Percy Jackson represents.

There were very few reviews for Alpha Force due to how underrated it is, and all I could find was a few comments on Goodreads. One person mentioned that they felt the beginning of Survival was slow. I personally don’t know what ‘slow’ refers to in this case, as I felt the introductions and set up all very natural and in a way, necessary before the serious action kicks in. However, I tend to enjoy a few quiet scenes focused on character development that might not be for everyone. I’m still pretty sad there’s literally nothing else about this series on any fandom pages or anything, but I suppose I’ll just have to resign myself to just me and my brother talking about it!

In the case of both books in this review, my memories of these series were not simply clouded by the rose-tinted lenses of nostalgia. I remain just as impressed and in love with the worlds and characters within the stories, and I hope other people enjoy them as much I continue to.

#Percy Jackson #book review #Rick riordan #diversity #inclusivity #mixed representation #representation #alpha force #survival #Chris ryan #underrated books #book recommendation #book rating #university project #female characters #strong female characters #action books #adventure books

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seduceme-lovestruck-thearcana · 4 years ago

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@megatraven

Here’s some Alex related thoughts/ideas that are STUCK IN MY BRAIN;;;;

I still,,,can’t get over how Alex ran through a storm with MC in their arms,,the fate of their mom and Olympus sorta on their shoulders...but all they were thinking about was MC,,and how they HAVE to keep her safe,,,no matter what...

AND how Alex has only slowed down for MC,,ALL their life...and I’m still wondering what Aphrodite meant by “slowed down”. Does she mean MC is the only one Alex has ever stared at when they’re sober and drunk?? MC is the one that could literally pull on their ear (like a mom would) and yell at them (jokingly) about something they did,,,and they’d laugh at it?? MC is the only one Alex would truly listen to? MC is the only one Alex would die to protect? MC is the only one Alex has ever been in love with?

Does she know that MC is the main reason as to why Alex lives? Without her, it’s implied that they don’t know what they’d be doing,,they don’t know where they’d be...and that they don’t know how they’d live. And I wonder if Aphrodite looks at their love in awe. Like she’s lived for so long, and she’s seen so many types of love,,,and she’s just in love with THIS love. And it’s why when MC is under attack for becoming Hera...she was Scared. I doubt a goddess has anything to be afraid of, but her human friend (that’s almost a DAUGHTER to her) that she truly cares for and is the lover of her beloved child? She fears for her life and...imagine if MC died.

Imagine if Aphrodite was in the throne room and watched as Zeus shot his aura at her and watched as her body hit the ground...dead. She would have nightmares forever. She already had enough nightmares about MCs mom,,but now MC herself? It’d take her so long to truly move on or maybe she never will. Because she looks at her beloved child, Alex, and it’s always a reminder of what they both lost that day.

Okay now off the angst train...:).

Imagine that Alex tried to find love before MC. I seriously think they did. Well, mainly bc I think it’s canon that they’re not a virgin and idk👀. And ya know what,,,every partner they find looked like MC. When they started dating MC, they realized that and felt very embarrassed at that realization. MC would realize it too and MC would feel very special and love Alex even more 🥺.

Imagine MC spanking Alex’s ass at random times and they are still in Shock everytime it happens and if you think it stops when they have Jason,,,YOU ARE WRONG. She does it more then just to prove to Alex that no,,,she’s not THAT old yet >:))).

Alex at the end of the day,,,is the most softest person. Are they kinky sometimes?? YES. But do they want to give MC the most attention and make sure that she KNOWS she’s loved?? YES.

The fact that Alex really knew what love was when they met MC,,HITS ME DEEP AND MAKES ME JUST,,LOVE THEM MORE BC THEYRE A KID!! BUT THEY JUST FELL IN LOVE WITH HER🥺🥺AND WANTED TO KEEP HER SAFE NO!! MATTER!! WHAT!!

I imagine that Whenever MC is sad or has given up, Alex will sit up with her or do whatever she wants just to help her. If she’s not ready to talk then that’s fine. If she is, then they’re all ears. If she wants a cuddle, they’ll hold her as tight as she wants. If she wants something to eat, they’ll order something or ACTUAL TRY TO MAKE HER FOOD.

Imagine,,Alex when they were a kid,,accidentally letting their aura out and MC is so fascinated. She’s never seen a stag and doe this close so she wants to hug them and play with them. Alex lets her do it (and they join in too) and when she gets tired...Alex and her lean up against the stag and the doe snuggles up to them and they’re just,,,both so warm and are together and iTS JUST SO SWEET. Aphrodite finds them like that and she’s ljke “oh my GODS. My sweet babies🥺”. And the trio (Aphrodite Hades and MCs mom) love it and talk about it whenever they can bc it’s PRECIOUS.

Imagine someone asking why Alex loves MC. Not in a rude way, but just curious. And they look at that person and they are speechless. But they say everything they love about her.

How she’s stubborn.

How she never gives up on someone.

How she loves THEM.

How she messes up the coffee EVERYTIME DNWNW.

How she works so hard to prove herself.

How she runs her hands through their hair when they’re stressed.

How she sings them songs that she learns.

How she wants to learn Greek to be a little closer to them and because she’s just curious.

How she makes fun of them in a loving way.

How she cares about them so much.

How she makes mistakes and wants to fix them.

How she sings SO PERFECT,,how it’s like a Siren.

And the list goes ON AND ON AND ON. The person eventually says “ALRIGHT YOU LOVE HER >:(“.

Alex still gets valentines things at H.E.R.A,,,and imagine some of them being very suggestive and still saying how they love Alex even tho they know that they’re in love with MC. And they just laugh at them,,because they know MC gives them the BEST prize at home,,,Lemon Cookies >:))). And so much love that they could never replace or even just,,find anywhere else.

When Alex and MC have Jason,,Jason starts to laugh and he starts to grow. He starts to be kind to everyone and wants everyone to be happy and people believe it’s bc of the family is happy and great,,,but Alex just sees MC in a smaller form bc they just truly believe MC is one of the sweetest people in THE WORLD. They just believe Jason’s sneaky side is bc of MC. Jason’s so wholesome laugh is bc of MC. You think Alex’s genetics (and Aphrodites) is mainly in Jason?? HAH. Alex has other opinions on that subject👀.

Alex wants a little girl to have an actual little MC🥺🥺.

Alex likes taking showers with MC because they find it relaxing. Not to do anything sneaky, but bc they like to run their hands through her hair, hold her from behind, and just feel at peace with her. It makes them both happy and Alex just LIVES FOR THAT DJNWNS.

Alright yeah that’s all I have for right now bc it’s almost 1 am and I just NEEDED to get it off my chest and probably will have more tomorrow. So yeah hope you enjoyed this and hope you’re still awake to see it :))).

Not a lot of proof reading so forgive me if there’s mistake :’(.

#alex cyprin #astoria fates kiss alex #astoria fates kiss #afk #lovestruck #friends talk #my friends are my power #friends are my power #lovee youuu #and hope you enjoy these thoughts

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oveliagirlhaditright · 5 years ago

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For RokuShi Day: An odd crossover with I am Number Four. After KHIII.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Xion snapped a picture of a pretty blonde girl with her camera... ironically right when that child had been trying to do the same thing, so Xion got a photo of the gal just when she’d been trying to take one herself. But Xion went along with the oddity all the same, thinking that the yearbook staff might like the originality of it. ...Sarah Hart looked a lot like Roxas. And since Xion's boyfriend, Roxas, was the most popular boy in school, Xion thought that everyone would have to love this picturesque moment of Sarah for that, if nothing else. ...There was even a part of Xion that thought about firing up Photoshop on her phone and editing one of her images of Roxas with one of Sarah, so that way she'd win the best taken yearbook capture that way, but she didn't. Why? Because as Xion walked towards where Roxas was in the hall now, and linked her arm with his, she couldn't help but to get her attention on something else Sarah related—as that girl got up from where she’d been sitting on the floor, and went to talk with John Smith in angry, hushed tones: "You ever think that John and Sarah are in the mafia together, or something?" Xion ventured, just when said person yanked open a closet door and peered into it, as if she was begging for it to be a secret passage. Roxas just shrugged, and turned to Xion with a smile at her query. "They seem no worse than us, when we were talking about Subject X and all. And clearly we're the good guys."

And not being able to argue that, Xion decided to just put it all behind them… and to go find a closet to go makeout in themselves. Extra curriculars were overrated, anyway.

…

Honestly? Xion and Roxas didn’t give much thought to John and Sarah after seeing them in the hall, though when they were both watching the news that night—and seeing how everything was going to hell in a handbasket at their school—they’d realize they should have.

On the screen, Xion saw these… monsters—she didn’t know how else to put it: they looked like how she would imagine Davy Jones might, if he had demon dogs at his side—had broken into their school, and had leveled most of it… and had killed a few of the students who’d been in their after-hours.

And the two Nobodies had actually been there after hours themselves, but they’d apparently left before all of this had started…

If only- if only they hadn’t done that—Xion now thought sadly, as her hands shook before her at this revelation… They could have saved some of their friends, if only they’d cared about photography club.

But: it didn’t seem like it was too late to save John and Sarah, who Xion was fairly certain were still safe at the school.

Call her crazy… but she thought those two had known what was going to happen before it did.

And that earlier, they’d caught Sarah and John looking for cover in case these—whatever they were—found them: which they had.

The media, as Xion listened in—putting some of her thoughts behind her—was saying that John was wanted, for suspicion with all of this.

But even with the little Xion knew of him, she knew that he wasn’t responsible.

He was connected to it—probably the target—but not the master manipulator:

After all, the press always lied: Xion, Roxas, Lea, and Isa had been the first to learn that on some of their missions in Twilight Town lately.

“I know you guys see what’s goin’ on there… But I dunno if you should get involved. Looks like a massacre… like what Sora saw of Insomnia, that time,” Lea said, being the rational voice of legal guardian right now… Even if he was being a bit of a hypocrite, since he clearly did want to get down there himself: Lea had become altruistic. And perhaps this was most seen, in how he’d been the only one of them to still be willing to call on his Keyblade after the War.

But Roxas—clearly still having some Boy Scout in himself, Xion concluded—argued: “Then that’s even more reason like me should be one of the first responders!” And he slammed his hands down on their blue and white kitchen table as he did so, nearly splitting it in two.

Xion, being Roxas’ other, knew what he was getting at. How could she not? Roxas, more than anyone, could almost become invincible when he was fighting… which was exactly what Twilight High needed right now.

But since Lea had nearly lost them both forever, Xion got why he was so reluctant for them to be reckless.

And if she was a better person, she may have been in shock for the kind heart that Lea had… but she wasn’t. But her heart did end up freezing another way.

Snow, of all things—a rare commodity in Twilight Town—began blowing through a window in the kitchen that the family had left cracked, and it bathed the room in a sort of peace that no one in it would know for a while: Least of all Isa.

But Xion—and everyone—was oblivious to that fact now. So instead of dwelling on it, she dug out a lucky charm that Kairi had made her and examined it thoughtfully.

“Lea,” Xion whispered now, in much the tone she had, when trying to convince Roxas he should forgive him for manhandling her. “You know it’s the right thing to do. And that’s what we do, isn’t it? So why don’t we all go? You and Isa can watch over us, that way. And perhaps be a mentor to these other young kids, like you were us… And if anything should happen, our wayfinders will always push us back together again. You know they will.”

And Lea and Isa—seeming not being able to argue with this logic—both took one of Xion’s hands at these words, as they made a sort of group circle and closed their eyes: taking in this moment, that wasn’t truly a goodbye (and hopefully it never would be)… but also sort of was.

And Roxas? What did he do? He just slipped behind Xion, and took the lucky charm out of her hand and held onto it himself.

As he did, he held Xion’s gaze in a long glance that she couldn’t look away from: this between them said everything, after all.

But while Xion thought it was that right he did this—because they really were the Sora and Kairi to each other, weren’t they? And this had always served those two well—she also found herself hoping against hope, that they wouldn’t have the same sort of fate as those wielders had had before the Master of Masters had intervened in their lives.

…

The trip to Twilight High, was—in some ways—more eventful than what they encountered when they actually got there.

Lea, Isa, and Roxas had all finally admitted that using Corridors of Darkness were too risky, so they’d had to use a different means of transportation:

So, Isa had long ago bought them a green jeep to get around in… And they used it now: going over awkward cobble stone here, glass there, and nearly bits of gate that were falling their way as they continued forward.

…And it was about at that time that Xion decided to get out of the vehicle, while it was still moving, and to jump out in front of it—knowing that Isa would stop in time—so he didn’t destroy his tires by continuing.

It was very much… the direct approach, Xion knew—somewhat embarrassed—but it was either that, or have Isa risk going over that steel and through a fence that would pierce all of their torsos if they continued.

“Xion!” Lea roared, getting out himself now—but after Isa had stopped, unlike what Xion had done—and grabbing her by her collar as he shook her in his blind panic. “What was that?! Do you know you could have gotten yourself killed?! Do you know that-”

But Xion never got to figure out what she needed to know in Lea’s mind, because the family fell silent when they saw Roxas climbing up the fence and going over to the football field a few yards away from them… Where two kids were fighting a demonic entity, that reminded Xion very much of Cerberus?!

“We’ve got to go help Roxas now!” Isa bellowed: somehow saying even that gracefully, but then losing all grace as he tried to speed over to his son.

And Xion understood the urgency, since outside of Twilight Town… Roxas hadn’t fought as many big enemies like this as Sora had.

So, Isa did one of his “Moon, Shine Down!” attacks—while Roxas was running the monster’s way, with Kingdom Key in hand—before Rox could get to it.

And just like that, the moon beam Isa had used—mixed with some fire John, and some brunette girl had been able to create—destroyed the… thing, and made it disappear. All that was left afterwards, was smoldering grass and bleachers.

And naturally, John—for Xion, now that she was closer, could tell that it was him—and the girl thought that Roxas and the rest of them were their enemies, too:

John’s hands up, and the woman looked like she was about to try and get in a fist fight with them, too.

And as much as this sucked—because Xion didn’t want to fight—she found she couldn’t blame them? Who purposely ran into danger like they just had, after all?

And deeming that a fist fight wasn’t good enough in her books, the girl suddenly looked up to the sky—as if asking Zeus himself to strike down anyone who might try and harm her.

And it was at that point that Xion decided that she finally had to act.

“Uhh… let’s not,” she asserted—summoning her Keyblade to hand, but making sure to hold it just to her side, so these new friends wouldn’t think she was a threat. “Lightning won’t go hand-in-hand with this metal I have here.

“Anyway, John… What’s going on? I’m asking for Roxas, not myself.”

…Which was a complete lie coming from Xion, of course, but since Roxas was so popular, she thought that if any of them was capable of getting these people to trust them… that, well, it’d be Roxas.

And sure enough, Xion’s idea seemed to do the trick. And she tried her best not to be jealous of this… but the friendship between boys never ceased to amaze her.

“Roxas,” John said, getting up from his knees and shaking the hand of Xion’s love. “I don’t- I don’t want to impose. But seeing what you can do in gym class- We could really use your help! I just lost my- my dad, and-”

And this was another place where she had to try and not be envious… because what if John liked Roxas in the love sense? …Or what if Roxas liked him?

If that was the case, she knew she’d just have to trust them both—since she herself was in love with Roxas… but thought there was something about Sarah.

But more than this inane relationship drama—that Xion tried to tell herself she shouldn’t even be feeling, since she’d been in the Organization—was the intense sympathy Xion felt for John, as he tried his best not to lose it after this death: Xion remembered all too well, what it had been like to see Axel die through Sora’s eyes… And she wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

“John,” the mysterious brunette girl said, as she came forward and put a gentle hand on his shoulder—surprising Xion, because she hadn’t thought this type of woman could be capable of it. “The battle- believe it or not, it’s over. We don’t need spiky’s help to fight anymore. We don’t need anyone’s. And if you want to bury Henri…” “Which we will,” Isa piped up nearly simultaneously with Brunette’s words: in a show of kindness from him—Xion knew it—but she couldn’t help fearing he was only doing so, because he regretted how he hadn’t offered to help bury her, if need be, when she had fainted before her on a mission in Twilight Town, and then during it.

But Roxas seemed to snort at both ideas, as he reprimanded the brunette, “You don’t seem the type who would slow down for anything. And take it from someone who forgot what it was like to stop and smell the roses: that’s not a way to live your life. Whoever this guy is, you should- should bury him… But I do get the concept of not having enough time… So, I’ll help you guys move on without doing that, but only after saying that piece.”

Xion didn’t often hear Roxas make speeches like Sora did, but when he did do it, they always mattered.

And to Xion—and Lea and Isa, too—this was one of the most important ones he’d done, that showed just how far he’d come.

And when he was done speaking, the wind picked up to put some of the fires out… and dawn began to break.

And perhaps for that fact more than anything else, Xion, Lea, Isa, John, the girl, and some new people now joining them—including Sarah----paid rapt attention to him.

That girl—who Xion would soon come to learn was named “Six”—looked like she wanted to say something to Roxas’ schooling: probably that they again didn’t need any aid—but in realizing how she’d just prove Roxas’ point about not smelling the roses if she did, she kept her mouth shut.

And wordlessly, John—being the unspoken leader for the moment, as he perhaps got the most out of the two points—began leading everyone away, to escape.

…

The group eventually stopped on a grassy hill, that turned into a cemetery: the outskirts of Twilight Town.

Xion had actually seen these pastures from afar many a time, while going all over Twilight Town—one perhaps could see them best from Sunset Hill or the Station—but she’d yet to actually step foot on one… until now.

“So, let me get this straight,” Lea was the one to try and summarize now, as he put his hands on his hips and shook his head in a very exasperated tone.

And despite everything—despite the life and death situation they had just been in, and still might be in the future—Xion couldn’t help giggling at it, thinking that if anyone was a character enough to repeat these important points without being boring about it… it was Lea.

“You all… two of you, at least, are aliens in a war against other ones? Bad ones. And you came to Twilight Town as infants to escape them… but now they’ve followed you here and want to destroy all of Twilight Town and other planets? Oy! And here I thought we were done with the worlds saving stuff!”

“’World saving’?” Sarah asked in a questioning manner, with her head tilted to the side and her hands fidgeting with her camera.

Xion guessed that she was just dying to try and capture a shot, to settle her nerves and nothing more but wouldn’t dare do it.

“Yes… ‘world saving’ you could call us aliens, too—for in a sense, we are—but more than anything… we’re sort of created, or recreated, beings… Since you’re telling us yours, I think it’s only fair we tell you ours,” Xion sputtered as fast as she could, before anyone could get on her about the World Order!

But in her mind, if these guys were from another planet, they already knew about different worlds. So why even bother with it?!

After her spiel, Xion thought for sure John would be the first to ask for their help in so many words—since he’d been the most responsive to them before—but instead, it was Sarah: Walking over to Xion with a certain poise, that made her instantly have to try and stamp down her crush on her.

…But there was a part of Xion that had had feelings for Kairi because of Sora, and she felt that part of herself awakening now.

“Will you help us, then?” Sarah begged, an urgency in her eyes that the self-confessed aliens didn’t have… probably because they were used to all this trauma and had learned how to deal with it, but Sarah hadn’t.

…And since Sarah was reminding Xion so much of Kairi now, she knew what was probably going to happen now given Kairi’s track record.

And sure enough, John, and Six were now insisting that Sarah couldn’t come with them: that none of the humans could, for that matter.

Sarah was refusing this, because naturally she was, but yet… she was also soon relenting, via a tender moment she was now having with John, where they stood close together… his hand on her cheek and then running through her hair, as they whispered and nearly kissed.

Xion felt tears dotting her eyes at this, because it somehow spoke too much of false words and gestures: Xion tricking Roxas into assisting with her suicide, and her then having to say goodbye to him… and then assure him him they’d see each other again, when she didn’t know if that was the case and her heart broke.

Roxas—seeming to sense the near panic Xion was having, as she was transported back into the past—ran over to her side, much like he had during the Keyblade War and pulled her into his arms as she tried to not fall apart.

But when everyone stopped what they were doing to turn their attention to her and Roxas (Lea and Isa even itching to come to her, she could tell), Xion tried to get it together and return to the matter at hand: because she didn’t deserve to be the center of attention right now. Not when she’d been the only one getting things to move forward here. And how desperately they needed to move forward.

“No,” Xion said—pulling away from Roxas’ embrace, but maintaining her hand in his: she wanted to keep this moment suitable for audiences. But at the same time, she needed him. “Ignore me. My breakdown isn’t… important. I just- I lost Roxas before. And what you’re doing now, John and Sarah, reminds me of that. But more of note… I don’t think Sarah should be left alone.”

And though Xion explained it well, no one came to see her point of view about the Sarah thing. But the aliens did change their mind about all humans being banned from them.

Sam was chosen to go along with John and Six—since he needed to find his father through them—and Mark and Sarah realized that they did have to go home, at least for the moment. But Mark promised he would look after Sarah.

And knowing how entangled Mark and Sarah were before this—and how messed up their relationship was—Xion saw this as a testament to just how much he had changed for the better: like another person she knew, Riku.

After the Mark thing, Xion should have been rejoicing for some of the positive exchanges she and her family had just made happen… but she couldn’t find it in her.

She told Lea and Isa to go with the aliens—to help them defeat the Mogs, who would try and destroy everything—but she was going to stay with Sarah… and Roxas had opted for the same thing.

…

“Xion? Can I talk to you?” Roxas wondered aloud, as he came out onto the rooftop that Xion was sitting on.

She was at the top of Sarah’s home, as they waited for the world to realize Sarah was more important than it knew so far.

It was a nice, easy quest with the woman Xion had a slight girl -rush on…

And yet she was miserable: something she hadn’t been since living in Twilight Town with this new life, and she couldn’t figure out why.

Anyway, Xion was about to tell Roxas that she loved him, so of course he could talk to her—the words were even already on her lips—but Roxas was interrupting her before she could get them out… guessing things so correctly, that it was almost uncanny.

“…Xion, it’s all well and good ta wanna help this Pure Light… or whatever she is. She reminds you of Kairi. I get it. But it isn’t because of that that you’re doing this. It’s because she reminds you of yourself.”

Roxas was spot-on, of course. And perhaps he got this, because she, arguably, had once been made up of parts of him, too.

…But she was also Sora and Kairi, which was why she was relating to Sarah.

…Xion’s existence was such a mess—or at least had been—that she couldn’t help rolling her eyes at just the thought of it. And she almost wanted to jump from the roof, just to try and end the confusion that way. And maybe she would have, if she didn’t have to now worry about aiding the greater good again.

…There was a lot that Xion still needed to work out about herself. And if she hadn’t come back in a new body, she might have actually had that chance.

“Roxas, don’t psycho-analyze me,” Xion stated, getting to her feet and pecking him on the cheek once—to try and let him know that she really didn’t mean the jibe. She’d been in Organization XIII, after all: there were much worse things that could be done to her—“I mean… that is a thing. And part of the reason I’m helping her. You’re right. But it’s also because the Mogadorians know about her relationship with John…. You know they’ll eventually try and use her as bait for that reason. And if we want to protect the multiverse for something greater than Xehanort, why risk that?”

Roxas didn’t say anything to Xion’s counter point and he really could have.

Trying to stop anything was usually a self-fulfilling prophecy, and you’d instead cause to happen what you were trying to avoid: both of these teens knew it well, and perhaps Roxas should have called Xion out on it. She even allowed that.

…And yet Roxas just sat with Xion to offer her moral support, and held her hand and let her lean her head on his shoulder.

And it was more than enough for Xion, and she snuggled right into him… even while thinking about the uncertain future.

#rokushi #RokuShi day #fanfiction #rokushi day 2019

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practisingyi · 7 years ago

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A nickname of mine Tabi, which is just a short version of my name, or, alternatively, Pasta Fucker

An embarrassing story. That time I found out what canoodle meant when I was about 13...that went down well, I'll allow you to imagine my mother's face

A turn-on Actually being literate, generally just a big reader too

A turn-off Just generally being horrible and thinking you can tell me what to do or believe, hahahha bitch no

Something I look for in a partner Someone who's chill with my ranting about random bollocks but keeps me in check with what I sometimes come out with.

About my best friend She's like a bazillion miles away (She knows who she is)

About my worst enemy They run through wheat fields

About someone I think is cute He speaks French

About someone I think is smart She's an actual Queen and I wish I didn't act how I used to towards her

About someone I think is funny He's a dork and I want to be friends forever

About my crush He's kinda tall but not really

About my parents They've been married 7 years February coming

About my siblings My brother loves to draw

Something I like about my body The fact my tum doesn't stick out too much

Something I dislike about my body The amount of hair I have

Something I like about my personality I'm really bubbly and giggly

Something I dislike about my personality I can be quick to assume and hold grudges

A quote I live by "Fall Down 7 Times, Stand Up 8" (Japanese Proverb)

My favorite book More Than This by Patrick Ness

My favorite movie 2012 Les Mis film

My favorite food This girl could live off Peppers

My favorite drink The multiple forms of tea

A talent I have I have a photographic memory, so I can look at something, I pretend I snap it in my head and remember it (although, as I've gotten older, this has started to go)

An unusual talent I have I can turn my feet in various directions, further than they should

One of my favorite followers @zeus-is-a-man-whore for the supply of dumb memes, Les Mis and general screaming

A fictional character I relate to I get too analytical about Characters so no one really, just those who over achieve and get obsessed with things

My favorite book I read for school Either To Kill a Mocking Bird or Noughts and Crosses

My favorite play Hamlet

A childhood memory That time it snowed on Christmas day when I was about 4 and me and my cousin played in the Snow for the first time ever

My best birthday When I turned 16 I had like three, I went to my friend's and stayed with her, went to a buffet with my mum and went down to Manchester

An embarrassing secret I mean there's things like, I sweat more than everyone else and stuff like that but I don't find those embarrassing, I just deal with them day to day.

A little known fact I used to be a dancer but had to quit because we didn't have enough money

A time I made a mistake Picking the Physics Higher course that was dumb of me

I time I succeeded Passing my French speaking at Higher Level was like going through the gates of heaven

My favorite sport Gymnastics

My favorite video game Samurai Warriors 4-II

My favorite non-video game It's not even a game I just really love playing ball with my dog

My favorite band. Er...I don't really have one anymore? I used to be really into Escape the Fate

My favorite song. Currently George Blagden's version of Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie but that's interchangeable with like 10 others

My favorite animal. Foxes

I pet I have. My dumbass collie dog Gus whom I love

My favorite Halloween costume. When I was Jack Skellington about 10 years ago

My favorite piece of clothing I have a dress that makes me look like a Queen

My favorite TV Show Versailles!

Who I want to hug My Mum like honestly I love her so much, wouldn't be me without her

Who I want to kiss Look, there's this boy, I'm supposed to hate him and keep my distance from him because he's become a bit fucked up but I hella would not mind.

Who I want to punch Nazis

Something I want to do before I die Walk the ground, halls and hills the people in history that I've researched did

Something great I’ve already accomplished Becoming more comfortable in social situations, getting better every day!

Anything! Make up your own Idk man, I had a dream once that I was an actress and honestly that's fucking funny man I'm an emotional disaster I couldn't stand in front of a camera although I'm a total attention whore and probably could

@gentle-honey-badger here you go

#in which Practisingyi reveals that she is an absolute fucking disaster!

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dotshiiki · 7 years ago

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CoL, chpt 7

VII: PERCY

The heat of Annabeth's lips seared against his.

Percy's senses narrowed to that one point where they connected: salt and softness, fire and friction. Her mouth moved against his and he responded, inviting in every bit of her feverish want and unbridled lust.

An entire ocean roared in his ears, drowning out the rest of the world. Hands, fervent and desperate, reached up to cup his face. A million volts electrified his skin where her fingers met his cheeks. His blood pulsed hot, burning through his veins like an insatiable flame.

Every square inch of his body was on fire, but he would gladly throw himself on this pyre.

Annabeth's hands found their way down his arms, drifted across his sides. Her fingers brushed the small of his back, exposed by his rumpled t-shirt.

A different jolt struck him, this one more like the stab of a lightning bolt than the electrifying thrill that had been spreading from within. Tiny fingers crept up the inside of his spine, as if each vertebra was a handhold for an invisible climber making their way up the curve of his backbone.

A faint hiss echoed in the back of his head: Mine!

The voice was Annabeth's, and not Annabeth's at the same time.

He grabbed Annabeth's shoulders and forced himself up, away from the enticement of her flushed face and bewitching lips.

His words came out in a harsh pant: 'What the hell are you doing?'

Annabeth's hands flew to her parted, kiss-swollen lips. 'I—I'm sorry! I didn't—' Her eyes made perfect round O's, their greys dark with desire, her pupils the mesmerising eye of a storm.

Percy wanted to pull her back to him and lose himself in them.

He heard the echo of Bella's last laugh and the ghost of a firm stab in the back.

How could he have been so stupid?

He got to his feet and backed away from Annabeth.

'That drink.' He was breathing hard. 'It wasn't supposed to help me, was it? You planned this.'

Annabeth scrambled to her feet. 'No, I swear—Percy—Perseus—I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—'

'What have you done to me?' he demanded.

Guilt was stamped plainly across her face. Her mouth moved soundlessly, just as it had that first day, when he'd challenged her version of events.

And just as he had then, Percy turned and walked away from her.

OoOoO

Percy leaned against the outside of the sword-fighting arena and closed his eyes. The cool, brick wall was a relief for his back, which was still throbbing with an insistent, clawing pain.

'You okay?'

He opened his eyes. Standing in front of him were Nico di Angelo and Will Solace. Under the torches that lit the streets, casting long shadows across their faces, there was no longer such an obvious contrast between them.

Percy shrugged. He had a vague impression that the pair had been in the sword-fighting arena just now and had witnessed the whole embarrassing scene between him and Annabeth. He wasn't sure he wanted to get into it with them.

'We tried,' Nico said. His voice sounded inexplicably defensive. What had Percy done to him?

'What are you talking about?'

'The drink you were accusing Annabeth about. It was supposed to help.'

Anger flared back up inside him. 'So what, you're here to defend her?'

Will elbowed Nico and gave him a look like, why don't I do the talking here? Nico shut his mouth and glowered at Percy.

'All I know,' Percy said, turning pointedly to address Will, 'is that I was fine, and then I drank that—that—potion or whatever, and then she—and now—'

'Well,' said Will cautiously, like he was trying not to startle a scared animal, 'we don't know if the potion had side effects. I mean, it was an experiment, right?'

Percy frowned. 'What kind of side effects are you talking about?'

Will shrugged. 'I won't know until I have a look.' He held his hand out to Percy. 'Do you mind?'

Confused, Percy took Will's hand. The blond boy concentrated for a second, then said, 'Your back's giving you trouble, isn't it?'

'Yeah—how did you know?'

'Healing magic. Just one of my gifts from my dad.' Will pressed his thumb against Percy's pulse point and murmured something that was almost musical. The throbbing in Percy's back reduced to a dull ache. 'Is that better?'

Percy nodded. 'That's amazing. Thanks.'

'No problem,' Will said. He dropped Percy's hand. 'It's just a temporary fix, though. Something's definitely going on in your system. And it's not the potion.'

Nico's head shot up. His dark eyes narrowed and fixed on Percy like he was trying to x-ray him.

Percy looked away. The kid was a bit creepy. 'Great. Like I didn't have enough problems.'

'I know it sucks,' Will said. 'But we haven't given up on trying to help you, okay?'

He didn't really have any reason to trust Will any more than the other demigods he'd met, but something about the kid's calm confidence reassured him. Percy rubbed at his back, then wished he hadn't, because it made the dull, achy spot spread.

'Yeah, okay,' he said at last.

'Good man.' Will rummaged in his pockets and came up with what looked like a chocolate bar made of many little squares—if chocolate was the colour of warm honey, that was. 'Take some of this with you. But don't take it unless the pain gets really bad.'

'What is it?'

'Ambrosia—the food of the gods. It's got healing properties for demigods, but if you eat too much, it'll burn your insides to ashes. You should have some on hand for emergencies, though.'

Percy hesitated. The cure sounded way worse than the problem. He preferred his insides un-immolated, thank you very much.

Will pressed the ambrosia bar into his hand. 'You'll thank me later,' he said. He gave Percy a wink that made Nico raise his eyebrows. Then the boys turned and headed back into the arena.

OoOoO

Maybe it was cowardly of him, but after the disastrous sword-fighting lesson, Percy avoided Annabeth as much as he could. It wasn't easy since they were still living in the same apartment, but he'd gotten a good sense of the schedule she kept by now.

It wasn't that he still believed she'd drugged him. His mind had immediately connected the shocking intensity of their kiss and the way it had drawn him in with Bella's soul-sucking one, but after he had some time to think about it, he realised one big difference.

That kiss had been all give—Bella drawing from him everything she wanted. This kiss…well, it made him imagine Bella's perspective: drinking from a deep font of intoxicating passion.

He had definitely taken from Annabeth as much as he'd given.

And he probably owed her an apology for jumping to conclusions.

But if he talked to her, they would have to discuss the kiss. Why she'd kissed him.

Why, if it wasn't thanks to some spell or potion, he'd kissed her back.

And why it had felt so damn good.

He couldn't even remember her. How was he supposed to work out what feelings he might or might not have had for her? What did you even say about something like that?

Compounding the problem was the tingle in his spine that had arrived during their kiss. It was hard to shake the feeling that he'd been cursed, and it was related to both kisses—Bella's and Annabeth's. It couldn't be a coincidence that he'd been virtually stabbed in the back each time. Nor that the empousa and the girl looked so much alike.

Will's healing magic had helped, but the pain was starting to flare up again. He wished Will had been a little more specific about how bad it ought to get before he tried the ambrosia. The warning about his insides burning up had been frankly terrifying. He definitely wasn't keen on taking medication with that sort of side effect unless it was really necessary. All the same, the constant, increasing back pains were making him feel like an old man.

He decided to chance the tiniest corner of one ambrosia square. The taste surprised him: rich and buttery, like salted popcorn. It filled him with a pleasant warmth that didn't exactly get rid of his pain, but numbed it to a bearable twinge of discomfort.

It would have to do.

He was almost late for Greek Mythology 101 again that morning because he waited until he heard the sound of Annabeth's bathroom door shutting to dash down the hallway and out of the apartment. Thank the gods for the bit of ambrosia he'd taken. There was no way he'd have been able to sprint to campus and up three flights of steps to the classroom without it. As it was, when he collapsed into his seat behind Jessica, he had a pinch in his back again.

Jessica gave him a curious look, but they didn't have time to talk as Dr Langley got started.

Following his own incomprehensible lesson plan, Dr Langley elected to drop the Greek histories and focus on a comparison of Greek and Roman gods. He spent a lot more time on the latter, which seemed a little pointless in a class titled Greek Mythology, but since Percy's knowledge of both was equally sparse, he tried his best to follow even though the sheer number of gods was giving him a headache.

'The Greeks also had a greater focus on primordial deities, that is to say, beings who came before the gods. We celebrate some of these whose lineage we can directly prove, for example Saturn and Caelus, whom they called—um…'

'Kronos and Ouranos.' The dark-haired know-it-all, who had been listening with a long-suffering look on her face throughout the lecture, finally broke her silence.

'Yes, I was going to say that,' Dr Langley said quickly. 'The father and grandfather of Jupiter. I mean, Zeus. But they had many fanciful ideas beyond that as well. Take, for example, the myth of Tartarus: a seething mass beyond the land of Pluto. While we Romans know this Tartarus to be the section of the Underworld reserved for the spirits of evildoers, the Greeks found the need to spin out more unnecessary layers beneath the Underworld, guarded by a made-up deity.'

'That's not a myth. Tartarus exists.'

Dr Langley raised his eyebrows. 'Is that so, Miss—er—Ramirez? And I expect you have proof of this? You've seen this Tartarus, then?'

'Just call me Reyna. And no, but…' Her dark eyes darted towards Percy. She fell silent and shook her head. The expression on her face sent a shiver up Percy's spine.

'Exactly,' Dr Langley said, his voice rich with smugness. 'The Greeks had plenty of myths about the gods, but we cut through to the truth about them. The real gods have honoured us with their presence and we have documented them dutifully in proper writing. The lineage of our gods trace back to Caelus and our Terra Mater; the Greeks may speak of other deities—Chaos, for instance—but it simply reflects their need to personify every element they can imagine, even the unformed nothingness that preceded the beginning of the world. I think we can safely assume this is actual myth.'

Everything begins and ends…in chaos.

Goosebumps prickled under Percy's sleeves. Although he avoided looking at Reyna, he could feel her eyes boring into him from across the room for the remainder of the lesson.

'Is it true?' he asked Jessica at the end of the class. 'Do you think it's just a myth, this Tartarus and Chaos stuff?'

Jessica shrugged. 'It doesn't really matter, does it? I mean, it's not like we'd ever need to pray to the god of nothingness, right?'

'But the gods appear to you—I mean, us?'

She gave him an odd look. 'Didn't Terminus just show up in here last week?'

Percy blinked. 'I didn't realise he was a god.'

Jessica grinned. 'Where on earth have you been living, Percy?'

Her brown eyes twinkled like it was all some big joke, like this god stuff wasn't as deadly serious as the other demigods made it out to be. The light-hearted way she was treating it reassured him.

The question slipped from his mouth without much thought. 'Do you want to have dinner with me tonight?'

Jessica's grin widened into a bright smile. 'Are you asking me out on a date?'

A small part of his brain, the same part that nagged at him to apologise to Annabeth and figure out what was going on between them, shouted in his head: What are you doing?

The rest of his brain argued back: Why shouldn't I? And why shouldn't he ask Jessica out? It wasn't like he knew what to do about Annabeth and that damned kiss. Maybe it would be good to see what it was like to date a girl who didn't have this whole mysterious history with him that he had no way of remembering. The way Jessica looked at him now was refreshing: no expectations, no fathomless eyes staring at him with sorrow and guilt. Just casual, untainted enjoyment.

If he wasn't going to get his memories back, maybe the best thing for him was to get on with life. And since all his experiences with the demigod stuff seemed, so far, to be disastrous at best and life-threatening at worst, moving outside that circle seemed a pretty good idea to him.

'Yeah, I guess so.' The words came out slightly defensive, but Jessica didn't seem to notice. She was busy scribbling something in her notebook. When she finished, she tore it out and handed it to him.

'My address,' she said. 'And my number, assuming you manage to get yourself a cell. If not—you could just come by around seven?'

'Sounds great,' he said.

Are you sure you know what you're doing? asked the annoying voice in his head.

Shut up, he told it.

OoOoO

Jessica chose the restaurant, one of the never-ending supply of pasta places that dotted the forum. Percy wasn't sure how she could tell one apart from the other.

'Actually, you may as well throw a dart to pick one. We don't really have much choice around here,' she said. 'What I really want is to try food from down south. Tacos or something. Would it kill them to add a bit of variety? But noooo, pizza and pasta and coffee—just the way Romans have done it for two thousand years.'

Personally, Percy didn't see anything wrong with a good pizza. He thought about Phoenix. He remembered some of the food Bella made being spicy. Maybe Jessica would have liked living there. 'Why didn't you apply somewhere else for college? I mean, it would have been something new.'

'That's the curse of being a legacy, isn't it? Just enough scent to draw monsters, not enough powers to deal with them.'

'Powers?'

'Well, duh, like fighting and all that stuff. The first-generation kids get all the advantages. Super strength and mind control and what-not, I guess.'

Mind control? The ache in his back, which had been settling in steadily again since the morning, flared with sudden heat.

'My brother used to complain about it a lot. He said the legion respects your credentials as a legacy only up to the point where it comes to choosing a Praetor. That's when they get picky about whether you have enhanced fighting ability. Mind you, he actually inherited some skill with auguries.'

'Is he still with the legion?'

There was a long pause. 'He died,' Jessica said finally. 'A few years ago.'

Percy winced. 'Sorry.'

Jessica shrugged. 'He shouldn't have left the camp. Got himself mixed up in that war—you know about it?'

'No clue,' Percy said, although the words felt like a lie.

'We never even got his body back. Reyna—you know, the girl who keeps correcting Dr Langley—she was the Praetor then, and she just told us he died in battle.'

'She was a Praetor? So she's a demigod, then.'

Jessica nodded. 'Daughter of Bellona or something like that.'

As if on cue, the chimes above the restaurant door jangled and Reyna herself entered, accompanied by a younger girl. Percy looked away quickly, not wanting them to see him, but something about the second girl drew his gaze back to her after a while.

She was sixteen, maybe, though he couldn't be sure. With her heavy leather jacket and confident bearing, she had an air of maturity way beyond her teens. That wasn't what caught his attention, though. It was the bright circlet she wore in her spiky hair. It was the sort of thing you might imagine a princess or a prom queen weaving into their braids. Not this girl with her dark-toned make-up, punk jacket, and ripped jeans.

'Percy?'

He tore his eyes away from Tiara-Girl. 'Sorry, what?'

'I said, what are you going to order?'

'Oh.' He scanned the menu. 'Pizza, probably.' He'd developed a liking for a good plain cheese pizza…maybe with pepperoni if he was feeling adventurous.

'Oh, don't be so boring,' Jessica said, thumbing through the menu. 'Look, they have a squid ink tortellini. Let's get that to share.'

'Don't you want one for yourself?'

'I couldn't possibly finish it. You get it, and I can steal from you. Oh, and then we can get the amaretto affogato to go with it.'

Percy was suddenly reminded of Annabeth eating an entire olive-topped pizza by herself in their living room. It had been about a week ago, just after they'd started their sword-fighting lessons. The pizza had smelt so good, he'd asked for a slice and she'd joked, 'Nuh-uh, you're not stealing my olives.' And then she'd ordered him another one—a plain old margherita that had been surprisingly delicious, even more than the olive-peppered slice he'd managed to snag from her.

He pushed the image away and ordered the squid ink pasta.

It arrived looking like sticky black clumps of tar. Jessica seemed to enjoy it, but each piece stuck going down his throat. It reminded him of the suffocating darkness he'd been in before finding himself on a truck in Phoenix. He put his fork down, wishing he'd just gotten the pizza.

Jessica didn't seem to notice. As she speared each piece of tortellini, she complained blithely about the various limitations of New Rome—no malls, slow Internet, the obsession with history.

Percy couldn't really relate. His attention kept drifting away from their conversation—which was becoming more of a monologue on Jessica's part anyway.

Across the room, Reyna and Tiara-Girl were settling into their meal. As though she sensed him watching them, Tiara-Girl looked up from her spaghetti. Their eyes met and even from a distance, Percy could see that they were a startling electric blue. They flickered from him to Jessica and back again and narrowed like an accusation.

Percy looked away. He was starting to regret this date idea.

His back was really starting to bother him again, too.

The pain was still manageable enough when he walked Jessica home after their meal. They stopped outside her building and she smiled at him.

'Well, thanks.' She kissed his cheek. Her lips tickled pleasantly against his skin. After she drew back, she waited for a second, an invitation.

His eyes drifted to her mouth. What would it be like to kiss her—a girl he wasn't sure he liked, exactly, but who at least had no complicated history, no baggage?

He leaned in.

Pain exploded up his spine.

Before their lips could touch, Percy's legs crumpled under him. He reached out instinctively to balance himself and fell forward into her. Jessica yelped and staggered under his weight. They both crashed to the ground.

'Percy, what the hell?'

'My back,' he gasped. 'I need—' He thought of the ambrosia squares Will had given him. Surely this counted as an emergency!

'Take his arm.'

The girl appeared out of nowhere, her footsteps like a ghost's. She grabbed one arm and ordered Jessica to take the other. Through the blinding haze of pain, he could see her tiara sparkling under the street lights.

She'd followed them. Was she spying on him?

He didn't have room to ponder this. Sharp claws were digging into his spine from inside his skin. Gleeful laughter echoed inside his head, which neither Jessica nor Tiara-Girl seemed to hear. They staggered down the sidewalk, dragging him along practically draped over Tiara-Girl, who was a lot stronger than her thin frame suggested. Jessica sounded like she was hyperventilating. Her repeated, 'Oh my gods, oh my gods!' drilled into his already-pounding head.

Finally, they arrived at the bottom of his apartment block.

'Annabeth!' shouted Tiara-Girl, loud enough to wake every building for miles.

Annabeth's head popped out of an upstairs window. 'Thalia? What—oh my gods, Percy!'

She didn't even bother to run down the stairs. In a flash, she had swung herself out the window, grabbed hold of a drainpipe, and shimmied down the two storeys as if she'd done it all her life.

Jessica swore. Annabeth ran to them and grabbed Percy's arm from her, supporting him much more firmly. She and Tiara-Girl—Thalia?—carried him into the building, all the way up to the apartment and into his room. The ambrosia was where he'd left it that morning. He broke off a full square and gulped it down.

'Can someone explain to me what's going on?' Jessica demanded.

Annabeth and Thalia turned to her. Both their expressions were as hard as ice. Jessica shrank back from them.

'What did you do to him?' Thalia said.

'Me? Are you nuts?'

'Leave her alone,' Percy said. The ambrosia was starting to take effect. Relief spread slowly from the back of his neck down to the base of his spine. The claws digging into him felt more like fingernails than knives. He glared at Thalia. 'Who are you and why were you following us?'

'I was looking out for you, Seaweed Brain,' Thalia snapped. The name sent another jolt down his spine. 'If it wasn't for me, you'd still be stuck out on the sidewalk with your useless…friend here.'

'Excuse me?' Jessica said.

'Thalia, she's just a legacy,' Annabeth said, though Percy had no idea how she knew this. 'She wouldn't be able to—'

Jessica shook her head. 'I'm outta here. Look, Percy, I like you and all, but first the sword thing, and now this…it's too much for me. I thought you weren't into all the demigod stuff.'

'I…' Percy wasn't sure if it was worth protesting. It looked as though even if he wanted to, he couldn't escape being a demigod and the insanity that surrounded it after all.

'See you around, Percy,' Jessica said, and left.

'Good riddance,' Thalia muttered.

Annabeth closed her eyes and pinched her forehead. 'Thalia, would you give me and Per—seus a moment?' She stumbled over his name like it confused her. He realised he'd never mentioned accepting 'Percy' after his initial outburst to her about it.

Thalia went out without further comment, leaving Annabeth alone with Percy—a situation he'd been trying to avoid all week. Her eyes were still closed, like she was thinking of what to say. When she opened them, they looked tired and bruised. Percy caught sight of his own reflection in the mirror. There was a faint lipstick mark where Jessica had kissed him.

Guilt and embarrassment twisted in his stomach. He rubbed at the mark, feeling angry as he did so.

What did he have to be guilty about? It wasn't like he'd promised Annabeth anything.

The nagging voice in his brain dripped with sarcasm. No, you just kissed her. That wouldn't have given her the wrong idea or anything.

Wait, she kissed me, he protested. It's not like we were something…were we?

'It's the same thing that happened on Monday, isn't it?' Annabeth said finally. 'Did it—has it been continuous, or did it come on suddenly when you—um,' she cleared her throat, looking uncomfortable, 'kissed her?'

'I didn't kiss her.' He wasn't sure why he felt the need to clarify. 'And the pain—it just…intensified.' That was putting it mildly.

Annabeth's head shot up quickly, but she didn't address his denial of a kiss with Jessica. 'So it didn't disappear after Monday.' She pursed her lips. Her tone was brisk now, like she was interviewing an eyewitness to a crime scene.

Percy shook his head. 'Will gave me this stuff. He said to take it in an emergency.'

Annabeth nodded. 'Ambrosia. Usually it works, but it's not a failsafe. I'm not sure what we're dealing with here, but…' She reached into her pocket and pulled out a bronze pendant: a glowing, round, three-inch disc that looked vaguely familiar. It was spinning of its own accord in her palm.

'It's been glowing and spinning since Monday,' Annabeth said.

Percy reached out and took it. When it touched his hand, gold lines appeared, forming a triangle on the surface of the bronze. The disc spun a few more times and came to rest. The pain in his back diminished to a dull throb.

'Where did you get this?'

'It was a spoil of war. When I stabbed the empousa. Monsters leave part of themselves behind sometimes when you kill them.'

Percy remembered it now—his fingers closing around a small, hard object when Bella had disappeared. He examined it closely. There was a catch on one end, as though a connected piece had broken off. It was still vibrating, thrumming with its own faint pulse.

Or maybe a ticking time bomb.

'That's definitely new,' Annabeth said, gesturing at the golden triangle now etched in the bronze. 'I don't know what symbol that is, though. The closest thing would be the Greek letter delta, but two of the sides are much too long.'

'My back hurts less when I'm holding it. Is that good?'

'I don't like it. Spoils of war can still work after the monster's dead—like Medusa's head; it still petrified people after it got cut off. But I have no idea what part of the empousa this pendant came from, or what magic it holds. And I definitely don't like that it's affecting you specifically.'

Percy scowled at the pendant. He certainly didn't remember seeing Bella carrying anything like it, but that didn't mean much. He was quite convinced by now that a lot of what he'd experienced with her had been an illusion. But he found himself wishing that Annabeth hadn’t killed her, that she was here now, just so that he could interrogate her thoroughly about her motives and methods.

'I don't know what it means,' Annabeth admitted. 'But we will figure this out, okay? We're going to help you, Pers—Perseus.'

He couldn't help but contrast her determined expression with the discomposure on Jessica's face when she left. Even with her eyes sad and bruised, Annabeth looked like a girl who would fight to the death for anyone that she cared about.

His stomach clenched uncomfortably. Clearly she did care about him, even after all the accusations he'd thrown at her.

He wished she didn't. She deserved better than to care for an unappreciative jerk with a broken memory.

'You can call me Percy,' he said. 'I guess Perseus is a bit of a mouthful.'

Annabeth's mouth twitched. 'Yeah, kind of. But if it makes you more comfortable…'

'It doesn't, actually,' he admitted. 'Neither of them feels like me. Maybe I should just change my name to, I dunno, Mike, or something.'

She laughed. 'Do you think it would help? I mean, like, not knowing anything, no expectations, just a clean slate?'

The question caught him off guard. All this while, he'd been telling himself that he didn't want people telling him stories about his past because he couldn't be sure who he should trust. But there had been enough clues for him to work out that the demigods' version was the real one.

Maybe it wasn't that he didn't trust them, but that he was afraid it would just really suck if he knew exactly which memories he would never get back.

He didn't know which was worse: if the person everyone expected Percy Jackson to be was some hero he'd never be able to live up to, or a loser he'd be ashamed of being.

Annabeth didn't push him for an answer. 'Sorry,' she said. 'Look, let's just worry about making sure you don't die, okay? And then,' she took a deep breath, 'whoever you want to be—that's up to you.'

She got up to go. When she reached the door, she turned back. Swallowing hard, she said, 'And I'm sorry about—about the kiss. I know I just made things more complicated for you, and…well, I'm sorry.'

Her apology stunned him. She had to have felt him returning her kiss, had to have thought he was giving her mixed signals. Yet here she was, taking the blame for it.

When he'd anticipated an awkward conversation about the kiss, this wasn't what he'd imagined. Not for the first time, he wondered how exactly Annabeth had figured into his past life.

She was almost out of the room when he mustered up the courage to ask.

'Annabeth?'

She turned and waited.

'Were you my girlfriend?'

Annabeth's expression grew unfocused. She seemed to look right through him, like he'd become a ghost. There was a long silence, heavy with the weight of a million words unspoken and a thin thread of guilt that wove through all the things she hadn't told him. Percy was suddenly afraid that she would say yes. He was equally afraid that she would say no.

He shouldn't have asked.

At last, Annabeth said, very softly, 'Get some rest, Percy.'

OoOoO

He dreamt that he was suffocating.

He clawed at the layers of cracked earth pinning him down until they finally gave way to reveal a thin membrane that separated him from light and freedom. He pushed against it and it expanded upwards like a golden balloon filling slowly with air.

He inhaled deeply. A thick, viscous fluid entered his lungs. It had a sharp, spicy sting that awoke every nerve ending in his body. It crackled through flesh and sinew, strengthening his muscles and joints.

He straightened up as his legs—one shaggy with fur like a donkey's, the other a clunky bronze prosthetic that gave off a faint glow—filled with energy. Through the translucent golden bubble that encased him, he could see a sparse landscape of bristly black shrub and a cracked, parched terrain that stretched out for miles under a reddish sky.

He stretched out his arms. His fingernails were long and curved: sharp talons that pierced the membrane surrounding him. The muggy air escaped in a low hiss, evaporating immediately in the tepid heat. The casing of his bubble disintegrated and piled around his feet like flaky dead skin.

'Tartarus,' he spat. His voice was low and sinister. 'Curse those demigods.'

A round pendant glowed against his chest, beating in time with his own angry heartbeat. When he plucked it up, it swivelled to point into the distance, where the horizon disappeared into a seething black mass.

His lips curled into a thin smile. 'Perseus Jackson,' the hiss escaped from his lips. 'I will find you—the rest of you.'

The pendant shook in his hands and tugged him towards the rolling cloud of darkness.

And then he was out of the empousa's body, freefalling through black nothingness while gravelly laughter rumbled around him in cruel amusement.

I await you, little hero. The words were not in any language he could define, but he understood them nonetheless. There was something familiar, too, about the speaker. Here where everything begins. Here where it all ends.

Percy woke with a start. His sheets were sticky with sweat.

There was a knock on his door.

'Yeah?' he said.

Annabeth's head poked in. 'Are you feeling better?' she said. 'Sorry to wake you, but I might have an answer—well, actually Nico might have the answer to your predicament.'

'That's good, right?' She looked strangely sombre for someone who was relaying good news.

She didn't answer his question. 'A bunch of us came over. Come out when you're ready.'

The living room was packed. Frank Zhang, the Roman Praetor who had showed Percy around Camp Jupiter, towered over the rest of the group, talking softly to his girlfriend Hazel. Reyna from his Greek Mythology class was there, too, which was weird since they hadn't formally met yet. Next to her was Thalia the tiara girl, still incongruently dressed in her leather jacket and combat boots. Will Solace and Nico di Angelo rounded off the group, sitting quietly together on the sofa.

''Sup,' Percy muttered. It was disconcerting to have all their eyes on him at once.

'Percy, you know Frank and Hazel, and Will and Nico,' Annabeth said. 'And Thalia you met last night—'

'Kind of an abrupt introduction,' Thalia said. 'Sorry about that. You feeling better?'

'Er, yeah, thanks. And thanks for, um, you know.' He didn't feel like rehashing last night's situation in front of everyone, though he suspected they had been discussing it.

'And this is Reyna.'

Reyna stepped forward. 'We haven't been properly introduced,' she said. 'I'm in your—'

'Greek Mythology class,' he said, nodding.

'Right, so. Um, Nico, do you want to explain your theory?'

'It's not a theory,' Nico said. 'It's just an idea.'

'I'ts a good one,' Will said.

'The empousa said she was binding Percy's soul,' Nico explained. 'We thought we killed her before she could get to him, but what if she did manage to capture part of it? What if she took it with her, to—' He gulped.

'To Tartarus,' Reyna finished. 'That's what you're saying, isn't it? Part of Percy's soul is in the pit.'

Thalia swore. Hazel glared at her.

'It—that makes sense,' Annabeth said shakily. 'And if she's reforming, if she started reforming in Tartarus, like, on Monday, that might explain why Percy felt it then.'

'Wait—back up a sec,' Percy said. 'Reforming? I thought Bella was dead. And Tartarus, like the myth Dr Langley was talking about in class?'

'Monsters don't really die,' Annabeth explained. 'I mean, they do, but they keep coming back. Usually it takes a long time, but there are times when the process gets sped up. And if the empousa has a link to you—maybe that's helping her to come back quicker.'

'You mean she'll just pop up in the world and we can go find her? And get whatever it was she took from me? And that will fix my back?'

'Not exactly,' Will said. 'See, monsters go to Tartarus when they die. They have to regenerate there first. We think the empousa may have reformed in Tartarus, but we don't know how long it'll take for her to find her way back to our world. It might be ten years, or a hundred, even a thousand.'

'And you won't last a month unless you find her,' Nico said.

How do you know that? Percy wanted to ask, but he decided he might be better off not knowing. Nico didn't look like he was joking around.

'So I have to find her—in Tartarus, is that what you're saying?' He turned to Reyna. 'I thought Dr Langley said it doesn't exist?'

'Oh, it exists,' Reyna said grimly. 'And it's not just part of the Underworld. Dr Langley's an imbecile.'

'So people really have been to it.'

Everyone's heads turned to Annabeth and Nico, who had both turned very pale.

'You two?' Percy guessed.

'Percy,' Annabeth said slowly, 'you've been there.'

'Oh.' He didn't know what to make of this. 'Well, that should make it simpler, right? We can go find Bella in Tartarus, kick her ass and get back my, um, soul. Easy peasy. We already have seasoned travellers. Even if I don't remember any of it.'

'You don't understand.' Nico's voice was thin and hoarse. 'Nothing about Tartarus is "easy peasy." It's not like the Underworld. We were all lucky to get out alive.'

The image of the augur Ophelia slicing open the plush seal came to mind, its black stuffing spilling across the altar. It is a hard journey.

'I'll go with Percy,' Annabeth said. She looked him dead in the eyes. 'You said it yourself. You need someone who's been there.'

'Wait,' Frank said. 'Are we sure we need to do this? If the empousa stole bits of Percy's soul…if she's reformed in Tartarus…if finding her will help Percy—that's a lot of if's. And how will we track her down in Tartarus? I mean, from what you've said about it, the place is huge.'

Something clicked from his dream last night. Percy pulled out the bronze pendant, which was spinning again. It came to a stop in his palm, then swung like a pendulum so that the apex of the triangle pointed at the hall. Whichever way he turned it, the pendant swivelled towards the exit.

Annabeth's eyes widened. 'Of course!' she said. 'It's a compass!'

'Bella's got one, too,' he said. He told them about his dream, although he avoided the part where he'd experienced it from her perspective. And the bit about falling through darkness. He still wasn't sure what that was about.

The black stuffing of his plush-toy augury came to mind again. Percy's stomach squirmed.

'Tartarus is our best bet, then. And once we're there, that pendant will probably lead us straight to her.' Annabeth squared her shoulders. 'I'll go with Percy,' she repeated.

There was a short pause, then Thalia said, 'Count me in. You could use a Hunter.'

Frank and Hazel both looked terrified, but they nodded. 'We're in.'

Reyna's eyes looked far away, as though she was remembering something from the past. 'I'll do it.'

Nico's face was sheet-white. He opened his mouth, then closed it wordlessly. Will squeezed his hand. The two of them exchanged one long, poignant look, and then Will said, 'Nico and I will come, too.'

Percy didn't know what to say. He looked around the room, at the seven demigods who had just offered to follow him into hell. To a place worse than hell, by all accounts. And he didn't even remember any of them.

Thank you seemed way too small to cover it.

'You can't—you can't all do this for me,' he faltered.

'He's right,' Annabeth said. 'Eight demigods travelling together is just asking for trouble, even in the mortal world. We'd attract every monster in Tartarus the second we arrived.'

'Take me, then,' Thalia said. 'I don't count as a demigod any more.'

'What about the Hunters?'

'They're chilling with the Amazons at the moment. They'll get along without me for a while.' Thalia's face was obstinate. 'I've lost too many friends. I'm not losing the ones I've got left. I'm going.'

No one argued with her.

'Hazel, you can't go,' Nico said. 'You have a bigger task—don't forget we need someone on this side to get us out.'

Hazel slapped her forehead. 'Pluto's pauldrons, I forgot! The Doors of Death!'

'The what?'

'The only way out of Tartarus once we're there,' Nico said. 'It's how we escaped before. Someone's going to have to take a quest to find Thanatos and convince him to project the Doors to Tartarus.' He looked straight at Frank.

'He's right.' Frank's eyebrows furrowed in an expression that resembled a serious bulldog. 'I—I think I have a bargaining chip for that.'

Hazel raised her eyes to the heavens. 'We're going to have to convince the senate to authorise the quest. Both quests.'

'Not Percy's,' Reyna said. 'Not if the two of you aren't going. The rest of them aren't technically part of the legion. You two are on the senate and I'm a veteran advisor. Between the three of us, we should be able to get the senate’s support. Although it'll still take a while to pass the motions and—'

'If we're going, we shouldn't put it off,' Nico said.

'That leaves five of us, then,' Will had gone so white, every blemish on his skin, from his golden freckles to the faded old battle scar on his arm, stood out in stark contrast. But he said bravely, 'That should work.'

'Are you sure?' Annabeth asked. 'Will, you don't know what it's like—'

'I do,' Nico said. He swallowed hard. 'We're sure.'

Percy looked at Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, and Will. 'So, when do we leave?'

'Tonight,' Nico said.

Check out @preciouschildrenofolympus’s illustration of The Kiss!

So, I took a bunch of liberties dissecting the Greek and Roman mythologies in the uni lecture. There’s all sorts of versions of old beliefs that you can find on the Internet, but I think the lack of a Roman counterpart for Chaos is telling in itself; also I chose to give the different interpretation of Tartarus as a prison for sinners (as opposed to the Fields of Punishment in Riordan-verse) to the Romans although there are grounds that the Greeks alluded to it as such as well. Whew, trying to keep this stuff consistent is a challenge indeed!

Continue to chapter 8 | Back to content page

#pjohoobigbang2017 #pjohoobigbang #curse of lethe #percy jackson #annabeth chase #will solace #nico di angelo #thalia grace #reyna ramírez-arellano #frank zhang #hazel levesque #oc #percabeth #solangelo #theyna #percy jackson fanfic #pjo fanfiction #hoo fanfiction

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lordzuuko · 8 years ago

Note

Keith takes Shiro to the underworld for a family dinner. ='D Please?

(Im sorry im not sorry) Hades gives Keith and Shiro a very important and nice gift, entrusting his son with a very important Hellhound, Mrs O'leary.

[Voltron PJO AU] Shiro opened the door of the Hades Cabin when suddenly he was being attacked by a huge dog, who started licking him on the face.

“Mrs. O’Leary!” Keith shouted as he approached Shiro. “Oh gods, Shiro. Are you alright?” He pulled the dog away from his boyfriend to save him from drowning in drool.

“I’m… I’m okay,” Shiro answered breathlessly as he stood up. He looked at Keith who was now hugging the really huge dog. Keith was smiling at him like a kid. “Okay, I should probably ask the obvious. What is that?”

“She’s called Mrs. O’Leary and she’s a hellhound,” Keith answered brightly as he rubbed the hellhound’s tummy. “Aren’t you a good girl?”

Seeing Keith coo at the dog made Shiro’s heart burst in affection. “Alright, a hellhound. Of course. From your Dad I assume?”

“Yeah,” Keith’s eyes widened all of a sudden. “Oh crap. I forgot. I was just about to go to your cabin and tell you that Persephone’s inviting us for dinner tonight! Hence, this baby girl is here for a visit.”

Shiro just stared at Keith, unable to process the information. “Dinner? At The Underworld?”

Keith just nodded as he continued, “Persephone would like to finally meet you. Wouldn’t stop teasing me about it, especially with Dad who just started planning out our wed—” Keith abruptly stopped and cleared his throat, turning his cheeks into crimson. “So, you up for it? You technically cannot deny a god though but—”

“Do I need to wear a suit?” Shiro blurted out, his cheeks mimicking the colour of Keith’s.

“Best we should, honestly. Persephone loves formal dinners.” Keith fished out a card from his pocket. “Dad would be so pleased I’m finally using this thing he gave me.”

“A credit card. Of course you’d have one,” Shiro let out a chuckle as he shook his head in utter disbelief.

After they got their suits, they went back to Cabin 13 and Shiro felt like dying. He met Hades a hundred times but he’d be meeting Persephone for the first time and they were having a formal dinner. Shiro hadn’t been in one—ever. Keith explained that they’d be riding Mrs. O’Leary to The Underworld since she could shadow travel all of them with such ease. Plus, Dad’s instructions.

“Holy Hera,” Shiro gasped as soon as they materialized and now he could see the entrance to The Underworld. True to popular belief, the place was… dark.

“I know,” Keith breathed in, smiling. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Shiro chose not to comment on that since this was Keith’s home, after all. He guessed you really get used to it if you spent so much time in it. They approached the famous Cerberus, the three-headed-honestly-bigger-and-definitely-not-friendlier-looking-than-Mrs-O’Leary dog. They were growling angrily at the intruders, read: THEM. “Holy Sh—”

Keith climbed down the hellhound and approached the gigantic dog—dogs? “Hello, baby boy.” Keith cooed as soon as he was under it. Cerberus immediately dropped the act and just bent down to Keith and started nuzzling him. With three heads? It was entertaining and scary at the same time because it seemed like they were ready to tear each other apart just for Keith to touch them. Shiro never imagined he could relate to a gigantic hellhound.

“Now, if you’ll just sit aside and let me and my boyfriend pass that’ll be great. We’re kinda running late already for our formal dinner. I promise to play with you soon. I know, I know. I’ve just been so busy. But I will visit next week. I’ll try to get you one of those balls—yes, the black one with the stars.”

As soon as the giant hellhound moved to the side, Keith ran back looking happier. “Cerberus is a giant softie who just needs a playmate.” Keith pointed to himself. “I’m that playmate.”

Shiro laughed as he pulled Keith up to kiss him on the cheek. “You’re so wonderful, have I told you that?”

Keith was flushed as he punched Shiro on the stomach playfully. “Shut up.”

They made it to Hades’ Palace and this was Shiro’s 100th time dropping his jaw at awe. He saw the different parts of The Underworld (albeit some were disturbing) but this was Shiro’s favourite. It just looked so elegant, totally fitting for a god.

“I’ll show you my room when we have time,” Keith smiled as he looked at Shiro scanning the place, interlacing their fingers and giving it a squeeze. “Let’s go.”

The doors were opened and a beautiful woman greeted them. Persephone.

“Five seconds late, Keith,” she glared.

“I’m sorry, we g-got—” Keith stammered.

“I’m just kidding, sweetheart,” Persephone smiled as she pulled in Keith for a kiss and a hug. “I’ve missed you so much, little bat. You need to visit more often. If I didn’t send that dinner invitation you wouldn’t even think of stepping back in here. What got you so busy?” She looked up and glanced at Shiro. “Ah, you must be the son of Zeus.” She smirked then looked at Keith. “What a fine young man. I’m definitely helping out your Dad plan the weddi—”

“We should definitely go to the dining room now!!” Keith interrupted with a voice an octave higher.

A few moments after they were finally eating their dinner in peace when Persephone started to chat and Shiro was sweating nervously despite the cold temperature. “So, son of Zeus, what are your intentions with my son?”

Hades just observed the exchange in amusement, while Keith buried his face on the table, looking so embarrassed.

“Well, uh…” Shiro was lost for words. The goddess just looked so scary.

“I think Black and Red would be fitting for the colour motif, don’t you think so, my darling?” Persephone turned towards Hades who nodded with a smile.

“Colour motif for what?” Shiro asked dumbly and Keith groaned.

“The wedding of course,” Hades smirked. “Are you telling me you’ve entered a relationship with my son without the intention of marrying him?”

“Dad!!” Keith cried out. “Please can we not??? It’s—”

Shiro’s eyes widened, not quite sure if it was in shock or in fear. “Well, um, uh…” He didn’t know what to say except he just nodded. He glanced at Keith who just stared at him in horror.

Persephone chuckled. “Well, isn’t that adorable, Keith? Your dream since you were 14 years old is coming true.” Then she turned back to Hades who smiled back at her. “It’s going to be grand. We shall spare no expense.”

Shiro had thought of possible outcomes upon agreeing to have dinner with Keith’s godly parents in The Underworld, but never did he imagine he’d come out engaged to his long time best friend.

#the-winter-siblings #ask #sheith #pjo au #i did it because i can HAHAHAH #persephone and hades has no chill XD #they don't get married until so many years later doe #because a demigod's life is so hectic #they are both 20+ here :D

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the-fallen-blue · 8 years ago

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Hi, i don't read comics i just know wonder woman from the cartoons and lynda carter and well ww is really iconic even if youre not into superheroes you know who she is, do you mind if i ask what is the "daughter of Ares" thing and why is it a bad thing

Sorry, that’s me being so angry about two different but loosely related terrible things (“heir of Ares” and “daughter of Zeus”) that I’ve conflated them in a moment of hasty, clumsy rage. Rather embarrassing honestly.

The first thing is that Diana has always been closely associated with the Greek gods, but in particular, with the major female gods. In the original comics she was the servant of primarily Aphrodite, god of love, and her whole mission on Earth was consequently to spread love and compassion. Eventually she got rebooted for a modern era and became the servant of primarily Athena, god of wisdom, and her mission was consequently to spread understanding and good sense (and still love, but like, in a slightly less kinky way. Her creator had some Ideas that it’s maybe best we’ve moved beyond).

So that’s the idea behind the Lasso of Truth - she’s always been capable of violence, but she’s always considered it an undesirable solution to problems. If you watched the Lynda Carter show you know exactly what she’s supposed to be like - she wants peace, she tries to talk things out, she only fights when she has to and she always tries to minimize harm, even to her enemies.In the recent comics, though, they literally made her the heir of Ares, god of War, having her take over his portfolio after killing him. For like a decade they were writing her as all about violence and aggression, emphasizing her martial skill rather than her diplomatic ability, constantly pushing the image of Diana with a sword in hand ready to cut a bitch and downplaying the lasso and its nonlethal implications. It’s ugly and it’s wildly off-message and it appears to be a major component of the movie; we’ve seen nothing about the lasso, but there have been multiple images of her with a sword, hints that the sword is somehow some special weapon with story significance… the very first thing I read about the actual content of the movie is some reviewer crowing about this “badass” scene where she deflects a bullet and kills three soldiers with it. Try to imagine Lynda Carter’s Diana casually murdering a bunch of dudes who she could nonlethally overpower without even trying. Without even the excuse that they’re Nazis, because this is WWI (for some reason).The other thing is that for seven goddamn decades, Diana has been the daughter of Hippolyta, and Hippolyta alone. The creator of Wonder Woman imagined the Amazons as completely independent from men, not needing them even to reproduce, and it’s been a powerful feminist theme throughout her existence that all of her power, everything good and special and important about her, came from other women. Her gifts were from female gods, her morality and skills were taught her by her amazon sisters, she was a living testament to the idea that women can be wise and powerful and important all by ourselves. That we have meaningful things to offer the world without having to first learn them (or take them) from men.And then they retconned her to be the fucking bastard daughter of Zeus, illicitly conceived by a simpering swooning Hippolyta behind the backs of the Amazon nation, whose power and ~special~ destiny are simply the inevitable result of his shiny fucking patriarchal god-sperm like some sad distaff echo of Hercules without even the dignity of actually knowing her own parentage. AND THIS IS HER ORIGIN IN THE MOVIE. They took the most deliberately, powerfully feminist hero origin in the history of superheroes and turned its subject into the afterthought byproduct of the most misogynist icon of the patriarchy in all of Greek myth, and THIS is what tens if not hundreds of millions of moviegoers will think is her actual story.I would almost rather have Joss Whedon’s Steve Trevor: The Film.

#only almost tho #i still have a minimal shred of hope that this film will have enough good to redeem itself #but jesus christ that zeus bullshit makes me want to punch things #ask box #anonymous #rabid wondy fan post

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beanjuice-duh · 8 years ago

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My Sun & Stars

previously a/n: more myth splicing, more jamilton, really I have no life. w/c: 2898 Warning: mentions of death/loss

Alex wasn’t just the God of the sun. He was an athlete, a fighter though was constantly told to stay put. Most knowingly though he was a poet and a lover of all the arts. After his creation, Hera created his muses to be...well his muses. They entertained him, kept him happy, playmates and perhaps a future wife among them. Out of the many he had, three were his closest companions. They accompanied him whenever he arrived on the mortal ground. They helped fill the public theater he frequented. A large, stone walled dome that had benches that circled a flat stage in the center where Apollo and his muses would either perform or watch in the performances.

With the day bright and glorious Alexander a few other Gods gathered around the theater to bask in the leisure that came with mortal lives. Alexander draped himself over a stone bench, his toga swimming around him as he kicked his legs out from the fabric, exposing his skin to the sun for warming. He wore a gold laurel that sat proudly against his sweat budding brow, his silky brunette locks waving over the crown fit for the son of the King of Gods. He sprawled himself over the lap of another God who was taking part of their human excursion. One just as terribly handsome as Apollo. The God, Dionysus, the god of wine, theater and ecstasy. To Alexander, he knew him as Lafayette one of his closest companions. The man wore his frothy curls in a bun that sat on the top of his head, the gold vine of laurel leaves wrapped around the bun like a ball of twine. The dark skinned god who wore his toga around his waist exposing a finely sculpted chest casted his half lidded, constantly drunkard like stare at the sun god with a smile. “Even in a mortal skin you beg for attention, is the sun not enough?” Lafayette chuckled, the entire time they had been at the theater, Alexander was mindlessly singing. Though he was a lover of music he wasn’t terribly gifted in holding a note. A terrible irony.

“Perhaps if you fed me grapes faster, I would sing less~” His sunny smile pulled into a sly smirk, with a small sigh Lafayette plucked a plump, sun sweetened grape from a bowl beside him and dropped the fruit into Alex’s mouth. Between chews he continued to hum, insistent in being heard no matter what.

“And perhaps you shouldn’t hum and chew at the same time while on your back. You will surely--” Suddenly Alex sat up right and began to cough. “Choke.” The wine God shook his head, wondering how long Alexander could last as a human. His deductions indicated not long at all. Lafayette gently began to pat his back when three very beautiful women made their appearance on stage.

The Schuyler Sisters were three of Alex’s favored muses. Beginning from the eldest of the line, she who stood just an inch taller physically but in presence alone was standing like a Queen. The chief of the muses, who often carried a writing tablet with her and wore a crown as gold as Alexander’s, a woman after his own heart in many lines was Angelica. Her curls were weaved back and into the crown around her head, her fingers constantly in mid-writing. When there was an epic to be told, there was no other who could recite it as beautifully and eloquently as she. Beside her, bathed in all the goodness of light carrying a flower crown and flute in hand was Elizabeth. Second sister and Muse of delightful, lyrical songs she was one that Apollo held close to his heart. She was far too good for a God who could hardly carry a note, so she carried his notes for him. To the other side of Angelica was the youngest, the third sister with wild hair, crowned in ivy and a joyous smile. She whimsically laughed, holding a mask of comedy, pointing at the coughing God. “That is almost as funny as the show you put on earlier today.” Peggy snickered.

Alex regained some of his composure, “What are you referring to? I don’t remember making an epic comedy for you to retell for your performance to the mortals.” Alex frowned.

“I’m referring to the punch to the gut you received from Thomas~ Or did the following kick to the head ruin your memory.”

“That was hardly a hit I—“ he was cut off by a peal of laughter that warmed Lafayette’s heart like fine wine.

“It was hilarious! I’ve already told have the city about the whooping the sun received from his lunar counterpart. A brotherly quarrel I’m naming it.” Peggy snickered even more. Alexander’s face reddened by the blatant embarrassment he was going through.

“Thomas and I are far from brothers. We are not related in any way.” Alex hissed, finding that to be the most insulting of all.

“Truth my dearest, Peggy.” Lafayette rose and took her hand into his, placing a kiss on the back of her hand. “Thomas and Alex have no blood ties, simply shoulder the same duties to the sky. I would consider naming it a lover’s quarrel~”

“Thomas and I ARE far from lovers. Even farther than brothers, I would never lower myself to the cold and heartless God. Hardly would call him a God. He holds himself so much differently than we all do.” He rolled his eyes. “He has all the power and prowess as the rest of us and what does he do? Lingers, slinks away with the accompaniment of Madison at times if he’s feeling special. As if we’re not good enough for him.” He growled. Angelica chuckled, “In truth you really know nothing of your skyward neighbor, Thomas hasn’t always been so glum. It is as of late.” “Really? I didn’t notice.” Alexander shrugged a bit. “Hades seems to have more life than Thomas does these days and Burr is in the presence of death daily. So what is Thomas’s excuse” Angelica pulled her tablet in front of her and ran her finger down the scripts she had written. “Aha.” She tapped a passage “Martha of Orion.” Alex had a finger in his ear, rudely poking and prodding for a long moment before acknowledging Angelica had said something. “Who of what?” He turned his face to towards her and was met with the stone tablet smashed against his cheek. “Thomas has an epic” she beamed. As a muse of great epics, only the greatest stories of love, loss, adventure made their way to her writings. From either God or Mortal tale that was deemed incredible, they were Angelica’s stories to keep and retell.

“Oh I can imagine the comical epic he might have conjured up. Let me guess, he was hunting and accidentally shot himself?” Alex smirked, he couldn’t fathom what epic a God as drab as Thomas would have conjured if not a tacky comedy. There was a silence between the muses as Eliza and Peggy leaned into the Angelica and read over the tale. Alexander arched his eyebrow and realized there was a paleness that came over their faces. “What? Was I right?” He mused trying to lighten the mood. “Alexander…” Eliza looked up at him, “It's a tragedy…”

Gods didn’t often suffer from tragic events. They were immortal, granted immortality for their great feats. When Alexander was created he, Aries (Mulligan), Hermes (Laurens) and Dionysus (Lafayette) fought in a great war. A war in the name of Zeus (Washington) and with their victory they were granted immortality and passage to Olympus. Personally he earned the right to the sun, from what he heard Thomas was simply gifted the night. So of all the Gods, why would someone as spoiled as Thomas have a tragedy? Let a lot an epic one.

Angelica turned to Eliza and smiled, “Play me a tune, dear.” She then turned to Peggy. “A hum?” Her sisters nodded and began to set the mood. Eliza played on her flute a soft and mellow sound that floated on the air while Peggy began to hum. The somber, lilted sounds mixed and placed a heavy, slow and somber aura around them. “I need to a drink for this.” Lafayette lifted an empty glass to his lips and within the second it reached his lips the glass was suddenly filled with fresh wine.

“The Myth of Martha of Orion” Angelica began to recite. “Thomas holds many talents as we know…” There was a scoff coming from Alex’s direction, he quickly covered his mouth and casted his eyes away trying to forge innocence. “So our story begins on a night, often Thomas would hunt among his mortal followers. He would led them to a hunt and enjoy the sport of watching his loyal friends sport with him. Though at times Thomas would continue onward to parts of the forest where humans would find it hard to keep out of danger.” She painted a picture with her words, a full moon night, Thomas in mid hunt. Alexander closed his eyes and he saw it all played in his mind. Like a great show being performed, narrated by Angelica. He could see Thomas, under the glow of the full moon, strong biceps tense as he pulled on a bow. His eyes targeting a bird miles away hiding in a tree. Thomas posed, beautiful, a marksmen that rivaled Alexander. However, Alexander had used his archery and hunting skill back when he was mortal during war. Thomas did this for fun. He released his arrow and before it struck the bird, it had been struck down already. Struck by a mortal. She was equally as beautiful. A human woman, deep in the forest were only Thomas dared to wonder. Where a god dared to roam. Martha picked her game up and tucked it into her cloth slingbag. “He was instantly intrigued by her. She exuded heroism.” Angelica’s voice painted another image of Thomas on the hunt, hiding, lurking, watching the human as she hunted that night. She looked so at home among the forest. Thomas followed until the hours of night were nearing an end, he was surely silent when Martha turned and smiled at his general direction.

‘It's rude even for a God to spy on a woman. Perverse I might add…’ she didn’t sound upset, she looked...flattered. ‘Run along Artemis, mustn’t keep the sun waiting’ she began to retreat leaving Thomas rosy cheeked, his back against a tree. He was found, the hunter was hunted.

“She’s beautiful but I do not believe her eyes were that impressive.” Alexander was a hunter, he was a marksmen, one of the best! Why was Thomas so enthralled by a human while Alexander was… no he was not jealous. Not of some human. He scowled, opening his eyes finding Angelica had paused in her story. “What? Don’t stop now, keep going.” “Yes please, it's getting so good.” Lafayette beamed, “I love a good love story.”

“Very well” she smiled and continued to tell his epic. “He watched her from afar for weeks, making no motion to speak with her. Every night he’d find her in these parts of the forest. And cautiously he watched her, unable to find the courage to speak to her…”

Alex’s smirk grew, of course. Thomas was always shy...well to everyone but Alexander. To anyone else he was reserved but to Alexander? Thomas was just as loud, just as rude, Alexander never got to experience the elegant Thomas that his followers and other Gods saw. He never got to see this Thomas who nervously watched, his face was painted with innocent curiosity and interest. He looked so…

“Then one night, she approached Thomas.” A human approaching a God? Alex had to admit...this Martha was ballsy even if Thomas was a poor excuse of a God...it took a sort of edge to have that kind of nerve. Alex knew that well, he had that nerve and now it was immortalized. “The rest was history, Thomas hunted with her every night. And after every hunt, he would gaze at the stars with her, sing to her, Martha was his prize. He even gifted her hunting hounds to keep her company. She loved them as much as she loved Thomas. “To love a God is a troubling thing...jealous began to spread around Thomas’s followers. Thomas found himself forced to divide his time from his Martha but always made his way to her before the night was done. One night, Martha alone in the dangerous parts of the forest was in mid-hunt with the canines Thomas had gifted her. She was attacked by a monster, summoned by a jealous nymph who loved Thomas. Martha killed the beast, however, was met with a fatal sting of poison. She laid there, near death, by the time Thomas came to join her like he usually did...Hades had already guided her soul to paradise…”

Alex’s eyes glossed over. He could almost feel the pain in his chest tighten around him. Thomas, who struggled so hard to love and express himself, now suffering a loss, such a careless, human loss. “And Thomas? What of Thomas?” “He took her body into his chariot, sprinkled her matter into the sky and created the constellation Orion. The hunter. The stars that sat close by the two constellation of their beloved hounds. And to this day, Martha will always remain in his sight and always out of his touch…” Alex was overcome with a sense of understanding. Thomas’s stars...he didn’t watch them for their dazzling beauty. His stars told his stories, love and loss… “Alexander?” Angelica watched, Alex had gotten to his feet. “Are you done with the theater already?” “I have...to speak with Thomas...I understand where I may have been careless and I am a man of my word. I am not above my mistakes and will face them.” Alexander smiled at his muses, his smile devoid of cockiness seemed to shine brightest when he meant to be kind. Alex placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled. A chariot descended for him and ascended him into the sky. The further he got from Earth, the brighter the glow returned to his skin until he was fully back into his Godly form. He stood on a cloud and looked around the sky, then turned to find a large looming figure staring down at him. The God that stood before him was a giant, two gold lightening bolt pieces sat behind his ears. He wore a toga that only hung off one shoulder exposing miles of muscle. Even with his arms crossed Alexander felt threatened. His knees weak as Washington spoke. “Alexander...I hear you and Thomas had a fight?” “Fight? Sir no, a disagreement, a small quarrel.” Alex smiled, a weak charm struggling to ease the frown lines that seemed to permanently melt into George’s face. Washington didn’t speak again, he simply loved aside and John was standing there, his curled hair that was usually pulled back was static and fried at the end. Smoke still rising among the back of his ponytail. “John?”

“Forgive me….I tried to keep Zeus out of it…” He muttered a bit. “You caused him to run the mortal world.” “Yes but sir--”

“You will apologize.” “Yes, I will but sir--” “You will bring him back to Olympus before night.” “Wait, but I don’t know where he is sir--” “You will do so or else you will remain mortal as long as he is, you will learn to work in harmony or not at all.” George narrowed his eyes, “Go son, that’s an order from your commander.”

Alexander sighed turning back and stared down at the Earth. “...where on Earth could Thomas ever be?” A small hand patted Alex’s back, John’s head poking out from over his shoulder. “Have you tried the seas? James is one of Thomas’s closest friends. The ocean and the moon go hand in hand...surely he’d know.” Alexander sighed he went to whistle but was stopped short by the fact he started to sink. “Wait...no! Washington can’t make me mortal!”

“He did say as long as he is mortal you would be too.” John furrowed his brow a little. “Good luck Alexander!” Laurens smiled. “It will be like old times sake!” Soon Alex was plummeting to the ground. All his godly glow lost as he laid face planted into the dirt. He groaned, feeling pain for the second time in his immortal life.

Hamilton rolled to his back and stared up the sky and sighed. “How does he expect me to find Thomas a mortal on Earth...this feels more like a punishment than a rescue mission.” Alex rose to his feet, kicking the dirt off his sandals. It had been a long time since Alexander had to do a quest as a human. It felt like lifetimes ago… He touched a medallion around his neck, the symbol of the sun embedded into the metal. He turned it around and found the moon on the otherside...his thumb ran over the symbol a few times, he nodded to himself and began walking towards the coast. “I will find you Thomas, and you will come back to the sky...even if I have to kill you and piece together a moon myself.”

#hamilton #alexander hamilton #thomas jefferson #hamilton x greek gods #greek mythology au #jamilton #jamilton fanfic #jamilton fanfiction #sun&stars #Apollo!Alexander #Artemis!Thomas #i did the thing again

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weareimprobable · 7 years ago

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PERMISSION IMPROBABLE : THE PRINCIPLES

From our Associate Director, Matilda Leyser

“What would an improvisation culture grown by women look like?” Answering this question, or at least asking it, has been the purported aim of the project Permission Improbable for the last seven years. The project has the modest ambition of changing the world through the improbable means of holding space for women to improvise. We have done R&Ds, shows, and almost three years worth of monthly women-only impro workshops.

This year, for many reasons, some of them personal (I had another baby); some of them impro-related (there are now far more women out there improvising than when the project began– hooray!); some of them global (oh my, where do we begin?!) I have been taking time to think about how best to take the project forwards.

In the process I have realised that the question we have been asking about a women-grown impro culture is in some ways a disingenuous one: I already know what I want it to look like. To this end I have written down a set of Permission Improbable principles that outline the kind of impro culture I want to foster. A more honest question then might be: what kind of impro might happen if we were to commit to following these principles? I imagine there are an infinite number of answers to this. I was trying to explain infinity to my son yesterday:

“What’s the biggest number there is?” he asked me.

“There isn’t one. They just keep going up. You can always think of one bigger than the last one you named,” I said.

“Okay, but let’s decide on one biggest number. Let’s say it is a trillion,” he said.

“But what about the star that is a trillion and one miles away? What do we do about that?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, let’s just start counting and see how far we get.”

Here are the PI principles. I hope they are helpful. Let’s just start using them and see how far we get……..

Permission Improbable Principles

Do it as a Practice

Do it – improvise- for the sake of doing it, not to produce a particular result. Do it over again. You will never do it, or any particular impro exercise, so much that you need never repeat it. Do not master it. ‘It’ is not piano scales. It is the rigour of not knowing. It is being present and seeing what’s there, now.

Notice Everything

Seeing what’s there. What is there? Notice it. Another word for this: listen. Listen harder. Listen softer. You have not heard everything yet. Listen to the other players. Listen to the audience. Listen to the dust in the air between you. Listen to the cars on the street outside the theatre. Listen to the gods. Listen to yourself. Listen to your breath, heart, half thoughts. Listen to the white noise crackle of fear inside you that means that you cannot hear anything else. Listen to the judge in the head that thinks this is rubbish. Good. You heard it. It is always good – whatever you have noticed or heard or seen. Read Rumi – he’ll tell you – there are no unwanted guests.* Welcome everything you notice. It is gold. You are rich. And there is always more.

Be Changed

Be prepared to be changed by what you notice. Notice that you are already being changed by it. It is already happening. Let it happen. Everything will change faster than you would ever believe is possible because in the world we call ordinary things appear to be fixed. This is how impro can change the world, by you being the change that is happening. This is vulnerable work.

Give Yourself Permission

So you have noticed what you noticed. You have been/ are being changed. Own it. Say a big fat “YES” to the change – that is the choice you have. Give yourself permission to be who you are and do what you are doing. It has to be you that gives yourself permission. No one else can do it. Be a man, a woman, boy, girl, be queer, be other things: cat, tree, stone, river, the North Wind, Zeus, a ghost, your mother, Superman. Give yourself permission to be funny, suddenly serious, sad, slow, loving, anxious, outraged, confused. Different roles, different qualities, all permissible. You are not in control but you are in charge. Step up and own it so that you can give it away, so that you can be generous.

Care, Don’t Care

One final thing – the show does not need to go on. Life must go on, which means caring for, looking after each other. Which means children and grannies are welcome in the room. Which means you can leave the room whenever you need, or arrive late to it. Which means you can go home and look after whoever needs you there. Which means you can rest when you want. None of this is irrelevant or embarrassing or less important than the playing. It is the place the playing begins and ends. Care passionately and then don’t care, then let it go. It was just an improvisation and that is a practice so you’ll do it again, soon.

* The Guest House by Rumi

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.

meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

— Jellaludin Rumi,

translation by Coleman Barks

#improbable #women #improvisation #permission #change

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dotshiiki · 8 years ago

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A Blue Secret (Percy/Annabeth)

Summary: Annabeth is hiding something. The secret is driving Percy to distraction.

Notes: So it’s my birthday today, and I felt like doing blue-related things. I honestly didn’t know if I was going to finish writing this in time to post as I’ve been working on it a while since the bunny hopped into my head last month when I was baking cookies for my friend’s birthday. (Yes, blue M&M cookies. And yes, I was sorting M&M’s, which was the inspiration for the fic.) But then the last bit that was evading me came together and voilà! Fic to share! Be warned, though, it’s high on fluff but low on plot.

Plink, plink, plink. The unusual noise coming from behind Annabeth’s room door makes Percy halt on the landing, his brow furrowing with curiosity. It sounds like quarters being deposited into a coin bank. Or maybe a wonky percussion instrument. ‘Annabeth?’ The sound stops abruptly and is followed by a quick rustling noise and a loud thump. Then footsteps, and Annabeth’s door opens.

'Percy! What are you doing back so early? I thought you and Frank were organising the Pyrrhic War re-enactment at the Coliseum today?’ 'Oh, well, it had to be cancelled. Some junior legionnaire fed Hannibal peanuts. No war elephant equals no elephantry display.’ She looks at him a little blankly. 'Hannibal the elephant? He’s peanut-intolerant. Huge mess—Frank’s sorting it out now.’ 'Oh, right. I forgot.’ 'So what are you up to?’ 'Nothing, just studying.’ She looks away from him when she says it, to the thick tome of a textbook sitting open on her desk. He has the strange suspicion that she actually pulled it out right before she opened the door. But he can’t think of a reason why she would lie about it, and he has a feeling she won’t take it well if he says the first thought that pops into his head, which is, ’Didn’t sound like studying.’ He doesn’t want to be the suspicious boyfriend, after all. And then he’s distracted by Annabeth asking if he wants to join her. He says yes, of course. She picks up the book and moves so they can sit together on her bed. As he plays with her hair and listens to her talk about structural supports and Doric columns, he forgets about her mystery activity. OoOoO He is reminded a few days later, though, this time when a freak thunderstorm puts an end to his plans to go canoe-surfing in the lake with Piper (thanks a lot, Zeus, or Jupiter, or whichever form he’s meant to be for a Greek demigod living in New Rome) and he gets home to hear the same steady plink, plink, plink coming from behind Annabeth’s closed door once again. He knocks this time and there’s the same abrupt pause, the rustling—maybe a drawer opening and closing? Annabeth opens the door and this time he notices the little details he overlooked before: her eyes just a bit wider than normal, her breathing a little too fast. 'You’re back!’ She glances at the window and the weeping skies outside. 'Oh. I guess they closed the boating docks.’ He decides to be direct. 'What was that noise?’ The furtive expression that passes over her face is so quick, if Percy wasn’t on the alert, he would have missed it. 'What noise?’ says Annabeth, a little too casually. 'You know, that, er, clinking sort of sound.’ There’s a moment’s hesitation, and then she says, 'You mean the rain?’ 'No, I thought I heard …’ She cocks her head to one side. 'Sounds like the rain to me,’ she says with a shrug. She gives him an affectionate peck on the cheek as she passes him, heading for the bathroom. He catches sight of her fingers by chance. They are stained with multiple colours, like rainbow ink stains from different pens. When she emerges from the bathroom a minute later, her hands washed clean and smelling of lemon soap, Annabeth launches immediately into a complicated narration about the interior design she’s sketching for a temple Jason asked her to help with. This isn’t exactly atypical for her, except that she usually waits for him to ask first before going all Alex Dunphy on him. It’s almost as though she’s trying to steer the conversation away before he gets a chance to ask questions she doesn’t want to answer. Yeah, he thinks, she’s definitely hiding something. OoOoO He begins to notice a pattern. It’s always when he gets back at an unplanned time—earlier than expected, cancelled plans—that he finds Annabeth holed up in her room doing whatever it is that she’s not sharing. She’s doing it only when she knows he’ll be out of the house. This conclusion makes him uneasy. It’s not that he doesn’t trust her, or that he thinks she’s up to something shady. If there’s one thing he’s certain of, even more than the fact that pizza makes the best dinner and blue makes food taste better, it’s that his girlfriend always has his back. Besides, this is Annabeth after all, the girl with a million projects on her plate, most of which he doesn’t even understand when she does tell him about them. It’s probably just a new hobby she’s picked up—maybe sewing; it did sound like she might be rustling through buttons in a bag. Except Annabeth is probably the least domesticated person he knows, so he can’t really picture her hunched over a needlepoint. Or it could be—there’s some brainiac game that involves chucking marbles in a wooden board with holes, right? No, the fact that Annabeth might have a new hobby doesn’t faze him. What he doesn’t get is why it has to be a secret. She’s trusted him with everything since they were kids: her problems with her family, her deepest fears, even her embarrassing crush on Gregory Peck that she swears she’ll kill him if he ever tells anyone. There’s nothing she’s ever needed to hide from him. Except … well, except for that stuff with Luke, ages ago. But that was before they got together. Back when there was a war with the Titans and they all thought he was marked for death by prophecy. Gods, he hopes it’s not some new war-related shit. Haven’t they done enough with the Titans and then Gaea, and that whole debacle with the Norse gods that he still doesn’t understand. Oh, and not to mention Apollo and his Roman emperors? He goes so far as to ask her how she’s been occupying herself when he’s out, but she only raises her eyebrows and says, 'Are you suggesting I don’t have important stuff to do that don’t involve you?’ He wisely backs off from that line of conversation. Still, he wishes he knew. The curiosity is starting to drive him a little crazy. One morning he comes out to the kitchen to find Annabeth sitting with her elbows propped on the table, looking like she’s waiting for him. He frowns, confused. Has he forgotten something? It’s too early in the day to figure it out—at least he can’t really think clearly before he’s had some coffee, which thankfully Annabeth has brewed. He makes a bee-line for the pot on the counter and takes a huge gulp before facing her. 'Um,’ he says, running his fingers through his hair. He notices she’s wearing an oversized Camp Half-Blood t-shirt (probably his, which always turns him on way more than it should) and her pyjamas shorts underneath, so obviously she’s not all ready to leave the flat or anything. That’s good—it means he hasn’t forgotten a morning date. Then he sees the jar sitting on the table in front of her. It’s one of those giant jam jars, about the size of a football, with clear glass all around, and it’s filled to the brim with M&M’s. With blue M&M’s, to be exact. It all falls neatly into place then: the slow clink of tiny chocolate pieces into a glass jar, the rustling of candy packaging and fingers rifling through a colourful packet. The secret that was driving him crazy the last two weeks is sitting as a big blue present in front of him and he feels like a real idiot not to have put it together earlier. Between being distracted by Annabeth’s mystery activity and how different spending summer summer in California has been, he’s managed to forget that today is his birthday, which probably means that he’s going to be in a world of hurt since his birthday is also conveniently their anniversary. Well, there’s a reason his nickname is Seaweed Brain and not hers. 'Well?’ says Annabeth, her impatient tone at odds with the way she’s chewing her lip. Annabeth is always brusque when she’s nervous. Although why she would be nervous, he has no clue. She’s the amazing girlfriend who made him a thoughtful gift. He’s the dork who’s failing as a boyfriend. 'I—wow. You did this … for my birthday?’ he manages to say, feeling every bit like the kelp-head she likes to call him. Annabeth shrugs. 'It’s your first one away from home, so I thought you’d like … well, I would have done blue cake or cookies, but you know me and baking. I didn’t want to burn the house down. This seemed safer.’ 'Geez, Annabeth, you must have gone through tons of packets!’ He can’t really guess how many M&M’s are in the huge jar—he never was any good at those guess-the-number-of-jellybean games—but she would have had to go through ten times the number to sift out that many. He pictures her sitting at her desk, patiently rifling through packs of multi-coloured M&M’s. He can’t imagine doing it himself without getting distracted and giving up. Percy puts her arms around her and squeezes her tight. 'You’re the best, Wise Girl,’ he murmurs against her hair. Annabeth relaxes into his embrace. 'I know. You’re not so bad yourself, Seaweed Brain.’ They don’t say I love you; but then, they’ve never had to.

(For anyone who didn’t get the Alex Dunphy reference, she’s a nerdy character on Modern Family. Let’s just assume Percy watches, yes?)

Here, have some blue M&M’s!

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