WHO: Cassandra & Apollo WHEN: Wednesday afternoon WHERE: Central Park WHAT: Chance meeting between priestess and god.
Ever since she was a little girl, Cassandra had loved to lie in the sun. Rainy days affected her moods heavily and without sunlight she sometimes felt she was shrinking away.
Here in the park the grass beneath her was soft and - in the spots where her body cast a shadow - cool to the touch. She was just one of the many people enjoying the warm day and voices moved around her from the couples and the groups, the other solitary souls like herself mostly engrossed in their books.
A familiar presence came to her and Cassandra sat up, shielding her eyes with her hand to look for who she felt. When she saw Apollo she smiled at him and waited for his approach. "Wolf-slayer," she said, although if he was close enough to yet hear her, Cassandra wasn't sure.
It had been a few weeks since Spring had officially started, and while Apollo didn't like to think the weather affected him much, he had to begrudgingly admit that he was slower in the winter months, more withdrawn while the days were shorter. Though, it seemed near impossible to withdraw during the last stretch of winter. With Thalia now living with him and his daughter spending the beginning of the month in his apartment, Apollo had found himself having to interact more, and for that he was thankful. As much as he enjoyed them both, he couldn't help but feel stifled at some points and had taken to walking to clear his head.
Cherie was back with her mother now and things had settled into a comfortable routine with his sister, but he still found himself taking advantage of the warmer weather and spending more time outdoors. It was probably only a matter of time before he managed to run into another immortal. He just hadn't expected it to be Cassandra.
He felt her before he was able to visually confirm it was actually her. She was much closer than he thought, which just told him he hadn't been paying as much attention to his surroundings as he should have been. He stopped in front of her, the sun to his back, shielding it from her view. "Cassandra. Out alone?"
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[info]speakingtruth 2012-04-12 09:36 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select Cassandra dropped her hand now that she was in shadow. "I've been resting here in the park and waiting, maybe it was for you." She gave him a slow smile, admiring the way the sunlight surrounded him, just as it should. "You've a halo," she told him.
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[info]borninlight 2012-04-12 11:52 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "Maybe it was." His words were noncommittal, a distracted echo because really, he was checking to see if her overprotective brother was going to jump out from behind a bush and lob his head off.
"And you a shadow." Apollo's words were stilted around Cassandra, and they came only after a pause. It was easy to recall memories with her in font of him. Not as easy to push down the forgotten, muddled feelings that flashed forward with them.
He decided it was easier just to speak freely and directly, dropped to a squat and balanced himself on the balls of his feet in front of her. "You're brother isn't nearby?" His arms rested on his knees. "He was protective, last we saw each other."
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[info]speakingtruth 2012-04-13 12:10 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "Always a shadow," Cassandra agreed, her own words without pause. Within her she could feel the undercurrent of fear, but it could not compete with curiosity. After all, she felt no danger here today. No voices whispered of doom that was coming and so she believed it.
"He waits at home with his wife and child. My brother thinks you mean me harm," she said to Apollo, tilting her head to the side as she watched him. "But... no, not today. You carry no plague upon your shoulders for me today."
[info]borninlight 2012-04-13 12:33 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "Children do tend to keep parents busy. No doubt you've been busy, as well." He had all this free time now without his own. He hesitated to say he felt empty, but changes in routine were never easy for him.
"He has every right to be wary, but the sun is out. I'm in a pleasant mood. I have no reason to do you harm today."
[info]speakingtruth 2012-04-13 12:49 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "I only drift," Cassandra told him with a small shake of her head. "My hours are mine alone and I am lost to them." Days and months and weeks, they all passed her by and Cassandra had little routine to tie them together. Though sometimes it was difficult to remember when she was. On some days Troy was only a step away.
Cassandra watched him, unflinching, for a long time. Then she finally said, "Perhaps tomorrow then, Lord Lyceius. Will you set those snakes loose beneath my skin should it suit you?"
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[info]borninlight 2012-04-14 02:55 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "Most likely not." His mouth turned up slightly, the ghost of a grin on his face despite the seriousness of the topic. "I've already settled my score with you, haven't I? You've done nothing to earn my ire as of late."
Of course, Apollo had paid Cassandra back for her offense and then some. He'd never exactly been known for being reasonable. "And I'm not exactly who I once was, either," he added. "For all of our posturing and clinging to old ways, we're all faded."
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[info]speakingtruth 2012-04-14 07:08 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select Cassandra nodded thoughtfully. "A table laid flat and empty now. A city long to ruin, yet still none mark the words she speaks." Cassandra gave a shrug, stretching a little in the sun. If only Helenus was here, her twin who shared the visions but not the doubt. The twin she loved beyond all her siblings, but despised just as much for escaping any curse.
"Yes," Cassandra agreed with a furrowed brow. "Such faded lights of Olympus. You all flicker and soon those wicks will burn away. But mine before yours, Lord Apollo. You shall outlast almost all."
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[info]borninlight 2012-04-17 12:39 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "Hm." An eyebrow arched upward. "I doubt that'll be any time this century. The mortals still haven't invented those flying cars they always talk about, and I refuse to miss that." He'd thought that with his father's absence, things might be more of a mess, but everything seemed to be in working order. For now.
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[info]speakingtruth 2012-04-18 06:36 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "There won't be any flying cars," Cassandra said with certainty, although whether she was speaking a prophesy or just finding the idea ludicrous was hard to tell.
"What brings you out, wolf-slayer?" Cassandra asked him. "Such a beautiful day but I didn't know you were coming."
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[info]borninlight 2012-04-19 06:40 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "My home has been busy," he explained. "Eventually I begin to feel cramped. I've learned that I'm much more tolerable in small doses." Despite his craving for companionship, Apollo had come to terms with the fact that he would always be a solitary creature.
"And you, Cassandra?" His hands met between his knees, fingers threading together to keep them in place. "Any plans past enjoying the weather?"
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[info]speakingtruth 2012-04-19 11:57 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select "Small spaces," Cassandra frowned, disliking such things as well. "Four walls too close and pressing in." She could also empathize with being intolerable to others and her smile was a little distant. "Such is with me- too much I speak and tire those that choose to love me. Perhaps I should be the sun and you the sibyl."
"I am not a creature that suits plans," Cassandra told him with a small shake of her head. "I lose the days too easily. I forget myself."