Persephone (_persephone) wrote in greek_swim, @ 2008-12-18 15:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | hermes, persephone |
Hermes/Angelos and Persephone/Anne: The "Something Suddenly Came Up"
Who: Hermes/Angelos and Persephone/Anne
What: A run-in
Where: The University
When: Thursday, December 11, while this is going on... so, something suddenly came up, leaving momma!Deme and hubby!Hades to their own devices
Rating: tbd
Status: complete!
Angelos walked quickly across the campus of the University of Athens. He had just made a few new acquisitions and needed to go examine them in more detail at his place. Maybe he'd take another look at that journal while he was at it. But that puzzle could be left for later, if it was even true. It was all still sketchy to him, and pretty unbelievable. But as much as he tried, he could not keep his thoughts from it as he hurried along the sidewalk going through the droves of people darting between them almost unseen.
Persephone had been leaving the campus, cheerily walking. Her dissertation defense had gone very well, survived the scrutiny of the panel, and commencement was the day following. She was practically humming to herself, lost in thoughts of the particular situation, both simultaneously worried about her mother, and thinking on the conversation she and Hades had had. Curious combination. She'd also, of course, her little set-up very much on her mind.
Angelos was not the type of person to run into people. He was stealthy and quick. He stole for a living. But he had not expected her to be there. He was thinking about the journal and the whole scenario and he slipped up. It was the only time he had. He could never remember having done such a stupid thing before when he had stolen things on him. He ran right into her and his things almost went flying.
Well, perhaps his things didn't go flying, but hers certainly did. Papers landed everywhere, scattered across the sidewalk, and she took a step back, temporarily disoriented, trying to regain her bearings. "Oh, pardon me, didn't see you coming," she said, an understatement.
"Are you ok? Sorry about that," he said. He hastily tried to help her get her things. Thankfully there was not a lot of wind and the papers weren't blowing everywhere. He looked at her. Why did she seem so familiar?
"It's alright. Are you alright?" she inquired, placing her satchel down and gathering her things, before looking up at him. Gliding through the still air, he made no sound; Wing-shod and deft, dropped almost at her feet. She blinked the vision away, almost needing to shield her eyes. The light that came from him cut through the darkness of the depths. She reached for the journal that had fallen with her other things, the last item left on the sidewalk.
He reached for the journal as she did. At first he thought it was his and that he had brought it with him. (That would have been stupid, taking something with his name on it when he planned on stealing. It could be used to identify him.) "You have one?" he looked at her then at the nameplate and back at her. He could see her in the darkness. He had been sent to get her. He reached out with his hand. Persephone.
Her dark eyes narrowed, and she looked at him, suspiciously, cautiously, taking the book and putting it in her satchel, reaching inside of it, toward the bottom, for her .357, fingers wrapping around it in case she needed to pull it out. She was, after all, bound to run into someone of the opposing side sooner or later. "—Yes. Why?" And as she'd uttered the two words, the answer danced before her, just out of reach. She stood awhile in doubt, then touched the Traveller God's brown arm and met his cool, bright glance and heard his words ring out. "Queen of the Dead and Mistress of the Year!" — His voice was the ripe ripple of the corn; The touch of dew, the rush of morning air.
"I have one too," he said. "Persephone." He recited the name from what he had seen of the plate on her journal and it sounded natural. He remembered the writing from the journal and matched the script to her face somehow. "But you seem to know more of it than I do right now. What's going on?" he asked. "Who are we? How are we here?" The contraband was forgotten, for now in his pockets.
She reached out and touched his arm, her dark eyes meeting his lighter ones—déjà vu. Her eyes seemed to search his, for a moment, questioningly. "Hermes?" she asked. "I brought you this!" she handed him the nectar, a gift from the fields of her mother on this rare occasion of their visit to Olympus. There was no answer to the question, not until he answered hers, though in truth she needed the answer not, already knew it, though she knew not how.
The name sounded right to him. He didn't know how, but it just did. Hermes. It was his name. He could just feel it. He smiled and took the nectar she had brought him and hugged her. "Thank you Kore!" he said, more happy to see her then anything else. He nodded at her. He wanted to tell her that was what the journal said, but those words wouldn't come. Instead he said "Yes."
"We're—them," there was half an upward inflection in her words, as though they were almost a question, though the question, truthfully, was more in her wording. It was difficult to explain this, she had found, much as she had tried to put it into words. "I don’t know if that makes any sense." She paused, pursing her lips. "There was a war. And we didn't win," she added, a difficult thing to voice. "Rhea sent us all here." That was the no-frills way to explain it, certainly.
Her explanation was vague and lacking details. But he still knew what she meant. Her words brought the events to life for him. It was like hearing it from someone else made it play out in front of him. They had fought against the rebels who wanted to depose Zeus. But they were outnumbered. There were just to many of them. "Ne', sosta'! Ma'lista…" (Yes, right! I see…) he said. And he did understand. It was like getting ice cold water thrown at him and being shocked. But he still understood.
Very Kore-like, she hugged him. Hugged him tightly, as tightly as she could. "Do you like it? Do you like it?" the words were jumbled together, the excited chatter of a giddy girl... Her phone rang, breaking her reverie. "I'm so terribly sorry," she said, breaking the contact. "Please excuse me."
"Hello?" she said, as she slid her finger across the screen of the phone to answer it. "Yes, this is she. Oh? I see. Thank you so much. Yes — I'll be there in a few minutes." She looked to the man in front of her — Hermes, she added, to herself — with much chagrin. "I'm sorry. I have to go. Reservation." And that was quite the understatement. Both her mother and Hades had arrived at the restaurant already, and she was running late, much later than anticipated.
Hermes hugged her back for that quick second. "Of –course– I like it!" he said. He did like it, but the truth was he would like anything she gave him. Even if it was just a minute of time with her… He watched her answer the phone, but even before then he knew the meeting was going to be cut short. Their meetings were always to short. He nodded once she told him. "I understand," he said. He took out his phone. "Mind if I get your number?" he asked.
"Oh! No, not at all! Here, look—" she said, as she offered him her phone, while she put her number in his. "I'm really terribly sorry I have to go," she added.
"I understand." He put his phone number into her phone and gave her her's back. "I'll call you," he said. "Or you call me when you can." He hugged her this time when he said the last words. "Sorry for running into you."
"Nonsense! I'm glad you did!" She gave him a squeeze, both truly reluctant to leave, and knowing that she needed to. "It was really good to see you... Hermes" she said, her parting words to him, before breaking the contact once more.
"It was good to see you as well," he said. It was always good to see her, however short their meetings were. "Keep in touch, Persephone."
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