#ionhiòte kenway the wonder

[roxaeri]

Good Uncle Baldur on a lunch break at the mall and looking through some pictures on his phone

"Can't imagine how abstract your brain looks like to you, but none of these images relate to each other."

"But you get what I'm talking about right?"

"Of fucking course. Who do you take me for?"

He'd be offended if anyone else said that to him

Say what you will about the man, who looks like he would die before stepping foot in a mall but always has lunch at the sandwich shop there because it's the last place he could possibly run into his mother during school hours on a weekday--he has a special allowance for his repeat clientele

Of which is the younger woman in front of him who took the healthiest sandwich in the entire goddamned food court and added enough bacon and peppers and toppings to make it look appetizing to him

Io:nhiòte came to him for her first tattoo on her sixteenth birthday (with her dad to sign his permission) and, having not gone to anyone else since, is one of Baldur's favorites to ask to join him whenever he wants to showcase his work

"Come by the shop tonight, I should have something by then."

"Text me, I think I'll be busy until then. I don't know."

"You don't know? Girl, you came home for a break."

"Calliope, you know I speak Greek as well, right?"

Cue the fucking awkward halt in both conversations as Mimir and Baldur realize just who they're next to.

"That I didn't know."

"Uh, you're looking well Baldur."

"Wouldn't you fucking know it."

"Io:nhiòte, lass?"

"Yoni, what the hell is going on?"

"Mimir called and asked if I still had keys to the dance studio because he knew someone who needed the space."

"And Baldur must be your tattoo artist. Thought it all looked familiar. Well, I'll be leaving. Can't leave Jörmungandr alone too long. Have fun girls."

Mimir fuckin leaving faster than anyone expected to see him move

"Hi, Io:nhiòte Kenway."

"Calliope."

Baldur knowing a Greek accent when he hears one and wondering just how many Greeks actually show up in the Black Hills because who really fuckin knows but it's definitely not tourist season

Calliope wrinkling her nose at Baldur because he looks like mostly every biker she's seen since arriving but somehow doesn't smell like one??

(His day has barely started for himself so he's still smelling like fucking Irish Spring or something. And cologne because Ionhiòte is fucking ruthless whenever she gets a chance to tease him.)

"I'll see you later, Bal."

"Yeah, yeah."

Calliope unsure of the tattooed native woman Mimir took her to because she only knows Io:nhiòte--not feeling rude enough to mess up her name--has degrees in dance and a space she's allowing her into

"Thank you for this Io:nhiòte."

"No problem. I was going in anyways."

Io:nhiòte is covered in tattoos that seem to be full of personal meaning as Calliope can't find any contemporary designs among what she sees--other than a little cartoon ghost peeking at her on her arm

"It's a lot, I know. That little guy I got from Baldur on Halloween some years ago during a special at the shop he worked at the time."

"Mimir said you had a long history of dancing."

"Practically since birth. I was born here and I'm enrolled in my mother's tribe, but I know dances from both her tribe and my dad's. I was lucky enough to also take ballet classes growing up here in the city. Then I went to college for it, et cetera, got a Masters. I'm actually back for a break from it all, but can't really stop you know?"

"Yes. I live in France and I'm on a break between shows, but I've missed being in the studio since I came."

"Mimir said you're in a ballet version of Dracula?"

"As Mina. I'll pick it back up sometime next month when I'm home."

"That's cool."

Calliope doesn't expect to catch on well with Ionhiòte, but she does and she forgets the pain of the past week as she can flex her muscles and remembers why she lost herself in dance in the first place as she learns from the older woman who draws her into her teasing with the instructors as they pass by

And then Calliope has plans for tomorrow night to go out with Ionhiòte and her friends

Calliope finding herself staring at a picture of her new friend and Aloy and Atreus in the same lobby she's standing in

"They're how I know Mimir. She brought that boy in here because he wanted to see what it was like for a ballet dancer because he learned his sister was one in London. He was so amazed and kept going on about how strong his sister must have been. They stop by to see me when they know I'm here. Took that when I earned my master's degree."

"You are friends."

"I would say so. Those two are closer than I am with my own siblings."

Then Calliope finds herself helping Ionhiòte pick up dinner and eating it in Baldur's office as the two are going over his initial design for the woman while she's free to look at his art books lying around

Again, she feels awkward and out of place even though it's all a lot nicer than what she imagined when she met the man

Calliope admiring an olive branch and rose and just absolutely blushing when Baldur calls her out on it--one, because *yeah* she's thought about getting a tattoo before because both of her parents have them; two, because Baldur has Io:nhiòte's shirt up, hip in hand as he draws on the lower left of her back

Baldur unphased because he has fuckin seen it all--Io:nhiòte is cOVERED and this has been his passion since he was a lITTLE sHIT rEBEL

By the time Calliope's in bed (after assuring her dad and uncle that yes she was fine and yes she ate--in a friendly manner after a look from Mimir) she's feeling leagues better than when she first started talking to Mimir about what was going on because now she has a place to dance, a person she would like to be friends with, and a tattoo appointment scheduled for the weekend

She's up for her morning jog at way too goddamn early for how late she went to sleep but she can't just remain in bed when she can't sleep and awkwardly sees her little brother still mostly asleep on the porch with his judging little dog (and she loves dogs and wishes she could have one but she's already talked to a friend about possibly taking in one of their kittens) and she has to admit it's a cute sight

Atreus can't find it in him to care that Calliope is stretching not too far from him as he waits for Mimir to get up and come grab Jörmungandr and his dad to--

"Atreus I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry for what I said to you before and how I've treated you since arriving. It's just--there is a lot you don't know about how things happened when I was younger. How my life is because of it. And you have nothing to do with any of it other than being born into this family."

"Thanks?"

"You don't have to understand."

Atreus is wondering if he's dreaming as he watches her run off, a whisper of jealousy at how easy it must be for her, when Mimir makes his presence known by half scaring him to death

"Deimos can drive you to school if you're not feeling well, lad."

Because they both know Atreus won't agree to staying home sick

"Nah, I got homework to finish."