[completed/closed] Characters: Anubis (dogofthedead) & Bastet (sacredfeline) Date/Time: Early April, during event eighteen Location: Maze, left side and somewhere southeast Rating: PG-13 Warnings: none. Summary: Finding and poking Anubis' brain.
Considering all the threatening posts about people trying to "get" other people, not to mention the posts the people who got attacked put up, Shaun wasn't taking any chances. His knife was in his hand almost all the time, and when it wasn't, it was in easy reach. Of course trying to find a way out seemed like a good idea, but since they'd been walking in circles, it didn't exactly seem likely. "If we make it out of here alive, I'll owe you a drink or two." It was said without too much thought on his end. It felt more like something you'd say in a movie, which was really what all of this felt like: a movie.
Peering over at Bastet (at least that was the name he had for her. He didn't think she'd mentioned any other name), Shaun quietly studied her. It wasn't staring...he was sure of it. Only that assurance made him less sure, so he looked away. At least she seemed like she could hold her own if they had to fight. Once again, it would be like another scene in a movie. Why did everything about this feel like a movie? "And this is a normal occurrence? Put in strange places where we get attacked by strange people and plants? Who ever heard of handsy plants anyway?"
The feline goddess laughed at that. "Babe, you're gonna owe me dinner because I'm going to keep you alive." And Bastet knew he was looking her way. It was hard not to notice when she slyly shot him glances when she could. Just who was he? Honestly, they didn't say cats were curious for just any old reason. And Bastet was the most curious. It was a puzzle to tear into, the answer somewhere deep inside his brain. He just...had a particularly thick skull, it seemed.
"Some plants are just nasty and all. But yeah, this is totes normal. 'cause some Greek lady's got her panties in a bunch about needing us to...feed her. I don't remember the details super clear but the woman's seriously dangerous and strong." A gentle shrug of her shoulders was then offered. "But I'm hoping the other dude who tries to help does eff up things again." A less disguised look was given to him. "Sorry if you're head starts hurting over all this."
There was a soft snort as Shaun ran his fingers through his hair. "If I save you from any shrubbery or whatever is attacking people, you better remember this..." Her own glances escaped his notice. He was hoping that the god stuff would go mostly unmentioned, but it seemed like it was everywhere. Not even just her. It was just that it only really got to him when she and Horus or Diego or whatever it was he was going by said something to him. Maybe it was the fact that he was apparently an Egyptian and they were, too.
"I'll make a note not to mess with the Greeks, then." Not that he was aware that he knew anyone Greek, but maybe he did. "But why does she need us to feed her? Can't she feed her damn self? I mean...it really isn't that difficult." And there was someone else? True, he could feel a little bit of a headache, but it was nowhere near as bad as it was when he was supposed to be figuring out his own godliness or whatever. "It'll be fine. Don't worry about it."
"The Greeks aren't all bad. I mean...well..." Hesitation came, unsure if she should mention the obvious incest in both their pantheons. Probably not. Better for him to remember himself first before having a laugh about that. Eek.
"They're special, let's say that. And they were positioned close to us, you know." Her finger drew an imaginary map in the air before herself. "And I don't know why she does. Maybe for power, maybe to survive as long as she has. It's complicated and we didn't get much of a chance to figure it out before we were pitched into that fake world."
The pause was obvious, but Shaun did his best not to mention it. He was curious what the words that caused the pause might have been, but there wasn't much chance of finding that out now. At least, he didn't think so. Maybe. Did it really matter? Maybe.
"Special," he parroted, glancing over at her and watching as she moved her finger in front of her. He listened quietly as she spoke, trying to figure it out. It wasn't until she got to the last part that he found himself confused. "Fake world? What fake world?"
"Oh." She frowned. "You weren't around for it, I guess. It was this place called Zurvan and, of course, it wasn't real. But we all lived lives in it like it was. And there were five regions and there were most kings. Two queens if I recall. Things got rocky there with revolts and poisonings and stuff."
She went quiet a moment and then added, "But we lost two months because of that. We can't get those back ever."
"I guess not." But he'd been around for the rest of this. He frowned slightly, trying to think about it. Zurvan. What kind of a name was Zurvan anyway? Sounded like the name of a bad villain in a space movie. It wasn't until the mention of losing two months that his eyes narrowed and he stopped walking.
"I don't remember two months." He still didn't understand it. "I thought-" But he didn't really know what he thought about it. At the time, he'd thought it was overworking, but she'd been somewhere for two months and he couldn't remember two months. "Umm..." Yeah. There was the headache again. He pinched the bridge of his nose lightly before starting to walk again. They couldn't stay still. They had to keep moving. "For no reason."
Wait. Wait. He didn't remember two months? Quickening her pace to keep up with him, she couldn't resist prodding. "So do you think you were there? In another place? Some place really super cold? Hot? Sort of medieval?"
Maybe she was going to be glared at or worse for this but he'd mentioned it and she latched on it. Bastet found that the more they resisted speaking of it, the more she felt it had to be solved. And she did, quite honestly, feel bad about this. And she was going to try to shut her mouth soon. Focus on survival, finding shelter and everything.
But wasn't she allowed a few answers?
"I don't know," he shot back without really watching his tone. His brow furrowed a little. Damn it. He knew he was resisting. It was a continuous state of being, but he didn't know that he wanted to know. That was why the resisting happened to begin with. "I don't know." This time, his voice was much quieter, more calm.
All he knew was that it was missing but Sam had gotten further in training and he'd seemingly been to work the whole time. "It's probably nothing." Which was a lie. It was a terrible lie at that. Even he didn't believe it. "Just coincidence." He'd need to get better at this lying thing.
Lips pursing over his tone at first, she forgave him when he spoke again in a more reasonable voice. "It's alright. I'm sorry for pushing again." The feline goddess did feel sorry for him more than she was sorry for prodding though. "You really should ask the community about how they figured out who they really were, though. I mean, when you want. It might help a lot.
"And you know it's not nothing. I'm sorry, Shaun, but you've got to acknowledge that much."
"It's your job or something," he said quietly, looking down at the ground for a moment. This was ridiculous and he knew she had at least a small point about everything, but that didn't make it easier to deal with. "We should probably find a way not to be in danger of being eaten by shrubbery before then. No one's worried about that now." At least he didn't think so.
Frowning slightly, Shaun ran his fingers through his hair again. "It's easier not to."
That had her laugh. She'd been in charge of plenty of things in her life (and those before) but being pushy was likely new. But Bastet would take. Why not add it to her long list of things she did? Gods knew that she just liked to pile things on.
"I know." Reaching out she squeezed his forearm. "But it's better if you do. It's more insane to deny reality, even if reality's totally cray cray.
"Ok, let's maybe talk about your current life? If you want? What do you do again? Remind me."
A laugh. He couldn't help but smile just a little as he looked over at her. He didn't really feel in the mood to smile, but- It didn't matter, really.
Touch. Shaun made a point not to look at his arm because he didn't really mind it. He was just surprised by it. "Maybe." She was probably right, but for now, he was going to keep living in his special little bubble world until he figured everything out. After the question, he looked over. "I train cadaver dogs. It's a branch of police dogs. We help find dead bodies." So they can have a proper burial...
"Dogs that specialize in finding the dead, huh?" A fond smile touched her lips. "There are many among us who deal with the dead. Osiris was the lord of the Underworld. Anubis and Nephthys protected the dead, provided other services for them. Aken was the ferryman. There were the four sons of Horus, personifying the canopic jars. We called our underworld the Duat. Souls were judged and Ammut would devour those who failed. Aaru was the paradise for those who passed.
"You could be someone from our underworld if you gravitated toward work helping the dead." She didn't dare hazard a guess, though. She wanted to help but not send him directly toward an identity that could not be his. At least with the underworld theory there were many to pick.
He was listening closely. His eyes narrowed for a moment and his brow furrowed. "Anubis," he said quietly. That name. Why? He stopped again, staring for a moment ahead of himself. "Ow." His nose wrinkled. He was either trying too hard or not enough. He wasn't sure. The thing about relaxing at this moment was that he could get eaten by shrubbery...or trees. When had he eaten last? That didn't matter.
"So that whole...odd obsession with protecting the dead could be for a reason?" He frowned slightly. If there were two people that protected the dead, did that make him one? "This is a terrible place for revelations, you know."
Her head turned to look him over. "Did you stub your toe?" Oh yeah, she was having a completely clear moment here. She suspected he'd even said a name but, one more, she dared not to push him toward one deity or another by accident.
Deciding he was probably fine, she replied, "...well, it is but I had to say something, ok? I mean, I'd forget it was later?"
"Uh...what?" He glanced over. He'd said ow. "Oh. No. Head. Not...No." Yep. Doing really well in the talking department. Doing awesome. Shaun was going to ignore this moment for a little longer. He was going to ignore his inability to form proper sentences...and focus on something else.
Denial. It was his friend, right? No, it wasn't. Still. Shrubbery. "You forget? Since when do you forget things? I don't think you've forgotten about poking at me about this since we started talking."
If she were a little taller, she'd ruffle his head. Well, she could still do it now but it wouldn't be as impressive. "Poor head. It'll feel better one day. Just probably not now, though."
Denial was not his friend not while Bastet was around, being curious and nosy. She made a face at him, something that was followed by an elbow to his side. "I'm being helpful with my poking! You seemed to pick up on something there, so it's good. I'm being awesome with my poking. But even great minds forget things."
"It's cause you keep poking it with invisible fingers." And the bir- Horus. Him, too. He wasn't as bad, though. Bastet was the one that poked more often.
And ow. He shot a look at her, swatting at her lightly. "No need to physical poking to go with the other sort of poking." Not that it had hurt. He'd had a lot worse. The side effect of growing up with two younger brothers. "You're being...you." He wanted to say 'a pest' but he didn't mind it enough for her to really be pestering him. "I think. Maybe. I don't know." He forced himself to stop before he started rambling out loud.
"I'm completely me!" Her hands flailed when she was swatted at, swatting right back. Then she promptly wiggled her fingers at him. "These aren't invisible, hon. And they will poke for real." Dropping her hands and swinging them to clasp behind her back, she peered on ahead. "We should consider stopping somewhere for the night, though.
"And I promise really hard not to poke more. Not until we're rested."
This was perhaps the most childish Anubis had felt in a very long time. "Clearly you're a monster." Or whatever. Anyway. He smiled a little. "All right. I can sit up and watch for a bit while you sleep. So you don't die." Which was good. He could get a little sleep if he worked it in right. They couldn't be stuck forever, right?
"Yeah yeah. We'll see." There was another smile. "Now let's do like you said and find somewhere to rest, hrm?"
"I'm a great big beast, totally!" She threw her hands up in the air. "Look at me, as big as a frigging T-Rex! This girl isn't dying from anything! Maybe a meteor." Her nose wrinkled, hands back at her side. "Anyway, ok. But you gotta wake me when it's my turn to watch. Or I'll be uber annoyed. And I'll poke deeper. And I can."
Spotting some ruins that didn't look like they would topple over any time soon, she snagged his arm and tugged. "Come on, hon. My nap awaits me."
Shaun laughed. "Oh, you are. I'd watch out for those meteors, though. I hear they're exceptionally good at killing. Apparently wiped out an entire species....well, almost." There was a slight shrug after that. "Yep. I'll make sure to wake you up and get some sleep and be a good little...whatever."
The sudden tugging drew a surprised noise from him. "You're really excited about this nap." But he really couldn't blame her.
She nearly said that they, the Egyptian gods, were pretty much wiped out. Their ways had been replaced by the ways of the later religions that came and settled. Arabic was spoken now primarily. Hell, she was half-Egyptian and that didn't mean what it used to, really. But such things she kept to herself now.
"Would you be if you were walking for, like, a long while?" Dropping down where she would be shaded nicely, she wriggled about to find a good spot. "I'm going to miss my bed so much after this nap, too." Yawning, she laid her head down on her arm and closed her eyes. "Gimme a poke if you gotta."
"Oh yes. Terribly so." Only he was used to walking for a long time. Right now, what he wanted more than sleep was water. He hoped it wasn't too far from where they were now. "You'd think you'd miss it already," he said, trying to keep from smiling. "I promise I'll poke you if I need to. Now sleep."