It had been a very interesting lecture.

Thoth would have liked to have interjected a few time with some questioned, however, he did not want to interrupt the flow of the speaker. Nor did he wish to intimidate the others that chose to pose their own queries at the end of the lecture by asking something that might have thrown the lecturer for enough of a loop to end the question and answer portion of the program. It was better to allow all that were present to experience this and learn as much as they possibly could from the material presented. Then, with any luck, they would take that information and think on it until they reached their own thought-out conclusions.

One could only hope. It was not always the case. He knew that. A sad truth, but it was all he could do was hope that in time ( things would turn toward a desire for higher knowledge again.  )

Lottie wasn't totally sure what she was doing in Chicago, because she wasn't exactly certain that she understood what Kratos had been asking of her. The general gist of it, though, if she got it all, was that he had a friend that needed a friend like her. And even though she was still dealing with some stuff of her own, how could she turn him down? Especially when he preemptively gave her the puppy dog eyes. He knew she was a sucker for that, had been since he was little. It's why the Styxlings always sent Kray to ask her for sweets before dinner when she babysat.

( So she'd said yes, and let him set up a meeting. )

NOTE: Backdated to before this, but after this



There had always been something immanently soothing to Philotes about going home. And by home, she meant the rambling castle/rabbit’s warren/termite mound of a structure in Erebus, the darkest corner of Tartarus. But just going into the Underworld alone was enough to make the tension in her shoulders relax, and her lungs breathe easier in the cooling air. This was where she’d grown up, where she’d had love and acceptance, as well as teasing and tears. This was where her family was, and Lottie loved it here.

( But today… )

It broke her heart when she saw the news of the destruction. Perhaps it was because even over a month later she was still a bit emotionally raw. Not having succeeded in disabling the necklace from doing damage to anyone else was hard on her heart, but harder on it was knowing that she had a constant battle with herself as far what she should keep between herself and Hera to ensure success and what she should tell Tyr to keep him from worrying too much. Not to mention she still had to find a chance to talk to Lottie about everything. It was a conversation that was not going to be pretty.

And she needed to get Bubbles back at some point. Except that was secondary to the current problem. ( The current problem was that there were people suffering. )

Vidar was kicking himself. He had spent too long in Asgard and hadn’t called on his girlfriend. He hadn’t meant to stay home for as long as he had. Things just kept coming up. There was the family and the issue that had sprung up in his Hall. He would bet that she was extremely pissed off at him. If she wasn’t, then he had been more invested in their relationship than she was.

( Read more... )

One of the problems Philotes had, a problem most wouldn't consider a problem at all, was that she had a vast number of friends. In all honesty, pretty much everybody she met she considered a friend. So keeping up with all of them could get a bit tricky from time to time. Oh, she made time for special people in her life. The slumber party with Harmonia and Idun, for example. But then there were times when she looked at her calendar and realized she hadn't seen somebody for a while.

( Like Anteros. )

For a brief moment earlier in the day, laying a bed just a bit longer than she should have, she considered running off to visit Tyr before the girls came by her house later. It was going to be a surprise. She thought if she did her morning run, got everything situated like she needed to for the day that she could easily slip out about 2 pm, which was around 1 am in Demark if her world clock was correct, and hang out for a few hours before returning to Lana'i. That thought was quickly changed when she pulled up the weather app on her phone and saw that it was cold and raining in Denmark. Screw that. It was temperate and mostly sunny in Lana'i. Low 70s and dry in Hawai'i or low 40s and raining in Denmark. Yeah, no.

( Besides, her friends were coming by and she had to prepare.  )

The place was packed, which was how it was supposed to be. There were costumes everywhere... also exactly how it was supposed to be. Because it was Halloween. It was also Chicago and Americans went all crazy for the holiday. On top of that, it was Thirsty Thursday, something everyone in the American Midwest was familiar with. Professional drinkers, this lot, and Ninkasi loved them for it. Most of the costumed were immortal in some way, not just gods but nymphs and the like as well, but she was clearly allowing an occasional mortal in as well. There were rules outside to her bouncers for screening them properly.

Shortly, the specialty taps would be opened and her private brews would begin to flow. Which is what, she was sure, Kratos was hoping and/or waiting for. ( Wherever he was. )

Philotes wandered through the store, agog at all the various things that were contained within what was essentially a giant pole shed. When it said it was a “farm supply” store, she really hadn't expected more than some feed, maybe some fence poles or something. But this? This was awesome! It had clothing and boots and hats, it had pet supplies for everything from cats to dogs to hamsters, it had tools, it had automotive stuff, it had toys, it had hunting and camping supplies, it had dishware and baking sets, it had cleaning goods. It had all of that plus the sort of things one would need on a farm. ( Truthfully, Fleet Farm was one of the best places Friendship had ever discovered. )

Upon returning to Philotes' mountain home after her date with Tyr, Harmonia melted. Quite literally it seemed. She had tip-toed through the house in the dark, not turning any lights on because she wanted to avoid waking Lottie if she was home and because she was still processing the evening in her mind and wasn't ready to answer questions.

There likely would be questions. That's what best friends did, they talked about each other's lives and helped make sense of them. And she had left Philotes a note about where she was going knowing full well she was going to have to talk about it eventually. Except Harmonia was severely lacking in the ability to talk about men without stuttering like a moron. This whole thing, the nerves and excitement and that really warm feeling in the pit of her stomach that made her feel happy all over... it was all new. ( She had no experience. )

After his meeting with his brother, Vidar realized that he needed to get a date of his own. He just would wait until after Valentine’s Day for his. He had sent Hermod to Philotes with a note asking her if she would like to go out with him. Without Bragi and Idun setting them up. Hermod had muttered something about Vidar getting a cell phone. Vidar thought that was a bit silly. ( If he had a phone, he would be expected to talk on it. )

It was rare this time of year that he was able to sit down and put his feet up on the tasseled hassock in his study. Which was why, as he settled into the cushy plumpness of his red velvet chair, Santa began mentally reviewing his to-do list for today. Did he really have time to enjoy his peppermint hot cocoa, or had he forgotten something that would require his attention?

( The List )

She need to stop this. And she knew that she needed to stop this. It wasn't good for Harmonia if she kept mother-henning her; Harm needed to get out and learn and grow and do things on her own. It would be better, she'd get her legs under her faster, and then she'd be able to move on. Philotes knew all that, and she wanted it, deep down, really, she wanted that for her friend. But she just couldn't seem to keep herself from hovering and fretting and generally being a pain in the butt probably.

( Especially when her friend came home talking about somebody from another pantheon. )

Lottie had been to Asgard to visit Idun a billion times. Well, maybe not a full billion. But at least a million, certainly. Trips to her friend's home, to bake, to watch My Little Pony, to show off a new outfit, to ask for advice, to see Idun for a myriad of reasons, had been regular and frequent. But this time was different. This time was special. ( This time she was going to be introduced to Idun's husband. )

The wind rustled the leaves of the trees and lifted the dust of the trails as it skittered over the island of Lemnos.  It would brush the surf of its beaches before passing on, on a journey that never stopped, though it had a beginning few could remember.( A car sputtered, the wind taking a puff of dark exhaust with it, as it climbed up one of the winding roads of the mountains. )

It had been a good day, a really good day. A great day, actually. There was little that Lottie enjoyed more than brightening somebody else's day. And she'd just managed to make a whole playground full of kids and a rather tired looking teacher extremely happy. Not to mention that she found a new home for Spike. She was pretty sure that had to be his name, because the guinea pig had one hair that stood up from the top of his head in a cowlick. Like Alfalfa, but that was too cheesy a name for a creature that ate that particular plant. So she'd been calling him Spike. Now, the kids would get to name him and learn from him, and he'd have a good home with regular meals and water.

Not that her first plan would have been a bad one either. Spike had originally been destined to go live in Asgard. ( With Idun. )

Even though he had not actually seen many of them in ages, Bragi's family trailed the end of his thoughts like the last scarf in a magician's sleeve. He missed them terribly. That alone hadn't quite pushed him to seek them out more. It wasn't his family's fault but after everything had exploded in on itself, Asgard had started reminding Bragi more and more of cheap grape juice. The kind that tasted good when you started drinking it, but left the bad aftertaste of overly ripe grapes on your tongue forever afterwards. Overly ripe grapes that were almost raisins, but not quite. Bragi thought it best to stay away from that unless he was summoned. He figured if they wanted him, they'd call.

( That morning though, Bragi had decided it was time to seek his brothers out. )

Philotes was the best friend in the history of best friends, of that there could and would be no argument. At least not in Harmonia's eyes. Her dearest of friends had been at her side through all the trials and tribulations of Balance's life and never once left her to scramble on her own for her bearings. Except for that time when Cadmus died, but that was probably an issue of timing rather than any negligence on her part.

And now, now she had opened her secluded home among mortals in Greece to Harmonia. It gave Balance a place of safety and seclusion as she adjusted to the things that had changed around her. She needed to see her mother, she needed to see her father... she needed to see her family in general but she wasn't ready for that. Not yet. First she had to take care of the business with the necklace. ( She wasn't going to be in a proper frame of mind for reunions until that was taken care of. )