[completed/closed] Characters: Anubis (dogofthedead) & Bastet (sacredfeline) Date/Time: August 21st Location: Babylon, the palace Rating: PG-13 Warnings: none. Summary: Bastet and her daughter visit Anubis.
There were more than a few troubling things about waking up from a dream state to find you were Sultan. The first thing was that there was a stranger in his room. Well, she hadn't been a stranger before he realized who he was, but afterwards, it was really awkward. In general, he was at a loss to explain why he had quite so many female friends. Still, he'd been out in the palace seeing to things as he still had to. At least he had Isis and the others to help him. However, Bastet was here...or so one of the servants had mentioned, so there was no point in dwelling on that.
"I see you found your way," he said as he stepped into the room his servant had led him into. "How are you?"
Though fashion of the era and region wasn't quite like what she imagined England or American to have had in the early twentieth century, it still suited her well enough. And Babylon wasn't so backwards to not have the latest of fashions. They did thrive on the love of beauty and such (among other things). She'd ditched the hat but hadn't accepted the offer of a seat. The former feline goddess was anxious - in a good way.
Her daughter was busy off inspecting some picture on the wall, humming a bit too loudly as if to imply 'you can't forget I'm here' but there was no where Amina could run off to and get into trouble. So she was free to grin and take hurried little steps up to Anubis so to fling her arms around. The loud smack of a kiss followed, aimed right at his cheek. Sultan or not, this was her puppy. "I'm super sneaky like that!" she said with a happy laugh. "Oh my God, it's been AGES! Look at you! Look at all this!"
Anubis was still surprised by these shows of affection. His gaze lowered for a moment before he offered her a small smile. "So I can see." She was certainly some level of sneaky. But then he'd known she was around. It wasn't terribly sneaky. His eyes rested on the little girl in the room briefly, smiling just a little before he turned back to Bastet.
"It has been a while." He laughed, looking around. "Do I really seem all that different? The surroundings are fairly different, however." It was nice, but it wasn't really him either. He missed being able to wear jeans and a t-shirt and sit around his apartment with Sam. It was a minute before he realized that the last comment might have sounded strange. At least to anyone else. "You look nice." He glanced over at the young girl in the room again. "And this must be your daughter."
"Not weird different but you look regal," Bastet assured him, giving his chest a firm pat, fiercely proud of her pup. He hadn't been a leader before but he was doing marvelously. It was up to his family to support him without faltering. That was how things had to be. "It's a good look on you. Ask Hathor, she'd agree with me. And do I?" A step back was taken and she twirled, though not too neatly (new heels). "I got it for when I was releasing a new line of perfumes. It came in handy again!"
Looking in the direction of her daughter, she nodded to his statement. "That she is." Like with Mahes so long ago, Bastet burned with great affection with her children. They were hers and often simple enough to deal with (when they weren't climbing up on things they shouldn't or taking flying leaps off the table). "Minnie, come say hello to the Sultan."
The small dark-haired child twisted around to face them and scampered on over. And in the manner akin to that of a tiny, four-year old predator, she grinned up at him, revealing all the teeth she had and the lack of one. "Mama was fussing all the way here," she announced in over-informative way a child was used to. "She was telling me to sit still and to not get messy. And to not touch anything important 'cause I do and sometimes they fall. By accident, you know. Or to ask you for sweets or to ask other people for food. 'cause we should be offered it. And not to ask too many questions. And that-- erk." Bastet's hand had found the back of her daughter's neck, giving it a small pinch. When released the child resumed beaming. "Oh, and hello."
Anubis was still getting used to compliments. At least this time he didn't give her an awkward look in return. There was a small smile. "I can always trust you and Hathor to know what looks good." So he would try to stop worrying about it. "You do," he agreed, smiling just a little more as he watched her. "Hopefully you'll have plenty reason to wear it. It looks nice on you." But then most things did. He just wouldn't say so.
As the little girl started talking, Anubis couldn't help but laugh a little. "I believe there are a few things that would get fussed over if they were broken, but I don't think anyone will look at you too poorly if something happened." Children were such curious things. He remembered the orphans much more than any other children...and none of them had been his. "Hello, Minnie. It is a pleasure to meet you. Would you like some fruit? I believe I heard tell of some in the kitchens."
Bastet had to agree as she was sure she and Hathor were probably the most fashionable. And with Hathor, they probably could turn the whole pantheon into gorgeous creatures from GQ or Vogue. She preened from the attention a bit more, a subtle purr in the back of her throat. Whether Anubis said everything or not didn't really matter. That he said anything at all pleased her enough.
"Yes!" The child perked up and then, comically, clasped her hands before herself and went Bambi-eyes on her mother. "It's the palace, I'll be safe! Super safe! Pretty please?"
"Anubis, you totally are going to be the kind of dad your wife'll have to give the stink eye to," the former goddess murmured thoughtful, staring down at her daughter. "Alright, go on with one of the nice people and stay with them. And don't you go use those eyes on anyone else. Or I'm not bringing you back. And mind your manners, hon, and thank the Sultan."
The glee-filled squeal Amina combined with little hops were followed by her reaching out to clutch Anubis' leg, face pressing to his pant leg. "Thank you, Sultan!"
Children were a curious thing. He couldn't help but laugh again before adopting something close enough to an innocent expression. "It's fruit. At least it's healthy." He neglected to mention anything about the cookies and would tell the staff (for the sake of not getting the evil eye) not to mention them either.
"I'll make up for it, I think." He wasn't sure if he'd be a dad here...or anywhere. If he was, well, he hoped it was with someone he got along with. He wouldn't get his hopes up for any particular person because it was unlikely and dashed hopes weren't something he was looking for. It was better to expect nothing and be surprised by what you got than to expect something and not get it. It was easier. "Not entirely sure how, but I can hope."
As the girl wrapped her arms around his leg, he couldn't keep from smiling. He reached down to ruffle her hair slightly. "You're welcome." He motioned for one of the servants, taking a moment to whisper the 'no cookie' rule before looking back down at Minnie. "This is Lara. She'll see to you. Not too much, okay?" He kneeled down, smoothing her hair quickly before reaching over to tweak her nose. "We certainly wouldn't want to discourage her from visiting."
Bastet fondly looked toward motherhood but often shied or grew antsy about the part where she'd possibly have a partner. There was a measure of uncertainty and even danger there. If Anubis shared his thought about not wanting his hopes dashed, she would have chimed in with enthusiastic agreement. Let the future just stay open.
Adoption, though, allowed her some wiggle room. Always an option. For now, she would enjoy the moment she had, watching her child react with joy over the most simple of pleasures. It didn't hurt that Anubis was unbelievably adorable around children. This should be on YouTube. Except it doesn't exist here. What a freaking crime!
Once her daughter gushed and squeaked out a couple of more words of appreciation plus assurances that she would be very good, she peeled herself off Anubis and grasped the servant woman's hand. Once Lara and Amina were out of ear shot, Bastet leaned toward Anubis. "I think you just replaced me as her favourite person ever. I'm totally going to punch you."
Anubis was more than glad to deal with children. He got along with them remarkably well. He couldn't explain what was different about them. They just didn't make him as immediately awkward and uncomfortable. Perhaps because they weren't terribly threatening on an emotional level...At least not in the way that adults were. Children seemed easier to please sometimes.
He watched as the two left, looking up at Bastet curiously for a moment. "Well, that's not very nice." He laughed, shaking his head as he stood again. "And I don't think I could ever be more of a favorite than you. You're her mother." He was okay with that. "She'll always love you better." There were some things he was certain of. Children always loved their parents better so long as they were trying to do well with their job as parents. Some parents were...not exactly the best. In those cases, he might have stood a chance to be liked more, but this wasn't one of those situations.
"But if it will make you feel better to punch me, then I suppose I won't argue."
That he was so apparently at peace with being punched for something so silly triggered an unapologetically open laugh on Bastet's part. When the giggles subsided some, she swatted him playfully. "I forgot how cute you could be. I'm not gonna do it but I'm glad you were so kosher with it!"
Amusement still in her bones, she reached out to take his arm possessively (like a cat claiming a lap for however long she pleased) and tugged him along to walk with her. "Come on, you should show me around and tell me everything that I don't know. Because, remember, I suddenly forgot stuff and you need to fill me in. It's the gentlemanly thing to do."
"You seemed set on it." He felt a smile tug at his lips. It was sometimes annoying that his reactions to situations could be swayed by those around him...but at least he was able to keep from being swayed (he thought) when it counted. He would have to see to it that the Nifleheimians were dealt with accordingly (for example). "I'm sure I could have taken it without too much issue."
Anubis allowed himself to be dragged for a moment before assuming some sort of control over their "tour" as it was apparently being called. "Ah, yes. Your memory loss. It must be terrible." He smiled for a moment, thinking things over. "Well, I was a prince for quite some time. Isis is my aunt and I think my brother knew I was restless with nothing to do...so he gave me the power to oversee the graveyards. I honestly preferred it. I have a tendency to end up in the graveyards, don't I?" He paused for a moment before adding, "Well, working in them or with them. In them might be...different. Though, Echo, Sita, Syrinx, and I did tend to get together in them..." Which made him wonder after Syrinx all over again. Was she okay?
"There isn't a lot to tell, though...Is there anything in particular you want to know about?"
"Does that mean you'd agree to anything if I was really set on it?" If she had a tail, it would be swishing with devious interest. But Bastet did not comment on pleased she was when he did take control, narrowing her eyes as she smiled. Her pup had grown here and she was very proud of him. If and when they got back, she'd have to find a way to treat him without telling him she was treating him for this. Just because.
"You do have a tendency to drift into places filled with the dead. I think it's a good sign. That you will always be you. And your dead will always have you." Any dead deserved a guy like him nearby. He respected them, understood. Even with her business in fertility and other more life-based areas, accepting the other side of things was important.
Mulling over what to ask about, she hummed aloud for a bit before replying. "I want to know if you were happy. If you found any happiness in all that you did and had." Her hand moved to cover his, squeezing it. "I worry a hella lot about you 'cause sometimes I think you don't smile as much as you should. And sometimes I think I should shut up so that when you do smile, it's like a treat, you know? And I want to be weirdly selfish about it but who didn't see that coming?" Cat, cat, cat. "But, in the end, I think I prefer putting aside some of that selfishness for your sake, pup."
"So long as it wouldn't bring harm to anyone else." Perhaps he would regret making that the only barrier, but he had enough trouble saying no when it came to the people he cared for. He knew how to, should he need to. That would never be an issue. If it really made him uncomfortable, even saying it was probably unnecessary. He had a habit of being quite obvious about these things. "If there's any other objection, I'll be sure to tell you." There. That would work.
Anubis smiled just a little. He preferred his work with the dead. It didn't mean he felt any less happy to be around the living. Life was a cycle and most of the Egyptians seemed aware of it. "It would be a little difficult to be anyone else...even if I don't remember me." He'd been fairly similar to himself before he remembered the first time and he'd made it twenty some years before that happened. Which reminded him that he'd missed his birthday, but there was no need to worry about that. He didn't really want a celebration and that's all that would come of mentioning it.
"Happy? Yes. I was happy. I had an older brother who used to play games with me when we were younger. We did a lot of things together. It's strange to remember something that you know wasn't real." And it still hurt to remember that that brother, real or not, was dead. "I had friends. I think maybe I was never really overjoyed ever, but I was comfortably happy with things as they were." That was a lot of his life. Neither too sad nor happy. It just was...and he was okay with that. "Even if I don't smile a lot, it doesn't mean I'm not okay...so you don't have to worry." He ran his fingers through his hair before adding, "But I guess that won't stop you. Easier said than done."
That was workable for her for the time being. She could think of a couple of people she could elbow into being muscle for those times she wanted some skulls kicked in anyway. Or just roll all over Anubis, yowling plaintively until he gave in, though that depended strictly on how she might predict he would take it.
If Bastet had known, she would have also informed him she had turned thirty without any proper celebration. A completely devastating matter.
"Nothing can stop the great Bastet!" she replied jokingly, even putting up her free up in a manner like that of a strongman pose. It was lowered and she leaned toward Anubis, cheek to his upper arm. "He was a good man, your brother. He was lucky to have you as much as you were to have him. And I'm glad he made you happy. It doesn't matter if this world is false, he was a real brother to you and that makes him very real. Just like my daughter is very real to me. She didn't just pop out of nowhere. We all have spent years here even if it doesn't feel like that now." That cheek rubbed against him in fondness. "And now we all have each other. And those damn people trampling about on our land are going to get a taste of Egyptian fury, am I right?"
Had Anubis been aware of this plan, he likely would have given her a look. The attention she gave him was surprising enough to him, but that was something different. Somehow.
Anubis shook his head at her, smiling more. "The great Bastet, is it?" That sounded more correct than if she'd said 'The great Anubis'. He wasn't very great. "Last time," he said quietly. "I didn't have people close to me. I just saw Dad...and I didn't even know then that he was Dad." So having more people around him this time was nice. He wouldn't say it often, but he did like people around. It was just that he also liked time to himself. He was his parent's child. He always would be. "I miss him," he admitted, frowning a little. "My brother here." But there was really nothing for it now. When she rubbed her cheek on his arm, he blinked. It really shouldn't have been surprising.
"Of course we're going to show them Egyptian fury." What else would they get? "We certainly aren't going to be nice to them." Not when they were so clearly disregarding all the rules.
Somehow was always a good reasoning. It left so much wiggle room (and she liked to think it was all for her). Maybe it was odd for a feline goddess to be so doting on a jackal-headed god or maybe it was even expected because dogs and cats were such opposites that maybe it had to happen. Either way, Bastet was chucking all that aside and going to enjoy what she had and what she gave to Anubis/
A squeezed was offered to his arm. "You'll never forget him. And that's important. That you treasure the memory and hope that, somehow and someway, you see him again. Who knows? You just might. But he gave you something special. I'm very grateful to him for that." Another squeeze followed and then she went to touch on other serious business.
"What were they told anyway? That could trample through as long as they avoided the big cities or something?" Bastet wrinkled her nose. "And I heard they got into Camelot."
Anubis was quiet for a moment. "Yeah. Maybe I will." But he figured chances were that he wouldn't. Did the people in these worlds even exist outside of them? Were they just people that none of them had met? It could have been, but then that just made things all the more complicated and confusing. It was probably better not to think too much about it and just accept it. "But it's okay if I don't." It would have to be.
Now onto the other questions. "They were given a place to fight and told to stay in the given area." He still didn't agree with letting them fight on their lands, but there wasn't much he could do about it and he didn't think they'd have allowed Babylon to stay out of it one way or another. "If they went out of this area, it was on penalty of death as far as I understand." He frowned slightly. "Yes...They seem to have done so." And killing innocents. "So they've broken their agreement, which means their lives are forfeit. I said so before." Even if he still felt that twinge of guilt. "We have men out there."
She hadn't just said that for Anubis' sake but her own. Amina had become part of her life even if this world was false. "I hope you do. I mean, even if this place is considered unreal, the modern world considers us to be myths, right? And that's not true at all since we exist. So there should always be hope for this sort of stuff. You never know what might happen. For better or worse, we have hope." A bit lame in some ways but it was nice.
"Good. But are we capable of taking on Niflheim? Iriy, maybe we can if we can count on our weather to throw them off. They come from such a cold place and we're definitely not that. They can't be used to this. But Niflheim's more moderate. And they are advanced, right?" Her lower lip was carefully nibbled on as to not smudge the lipstick she had applied before coming. "I don't understand how such savage people can be so powerful. It's vulgar."
"I don't know how well it will go against them both," he admitted, a frown forming. "Unless we find more methods to protect our soldiers while destroying theirs. I am not much of a tactical man and so I've been counting on Set to guide these things." Because Set was the one that was playing Marshal. "They have more men than we have and their soldiers train hard. They are fighters by nature and we are not as much, but we have some tricks up our sleeves." They had the underground tunnels for fighting. "And they are advanced." Anubis knew the likelihood that they would win in a fight. He knew they didn't have too much going for them unless they came up with something unexpected.
"I would like to be able to say that we would succeed against them with no trouble, but..." He sighed. "We need something and I'm not entirely certain what it is."
"Tricks we'll use. Traps, tricks and I think we should appeal to one of them. Or Camelot. Or Ryugu-jo. Just someone to help us because I don't think we can survive against Niflheim's dishonourable ways or Iriy's endurance alone."
Especially against Niflheim. All those stories of what had been done in Camelot haunted her. It could have been her sister, her daughter, her friends and others loved ones who could have been butchered just for seeing what they shouldn't have. Why the Kaiserin had not stopped such ugly tactics was appalling. That Marshal was a problem that had to be eliminated before things became uglier.
Bastet stopped in place, pulling her arm away. "Whatever you decide, I'll support you, Anubis. Your family will support you and help you in protecting us all." Lifting a hand to his cheek, she pressed it there firmly. "All your people will stand behind you if you reach out to them. Give them everything and they'll give you everything back."
Anubis didn't know...what he would do. The talks with Camelot hadn't exactly gone that well...which was probably something he could have fixed if he'd tried, but he hadn't. Things had been a little...hectic. "Sand traps. I know a few people who could be useful int the formation of traps." They were hired to work in the graveyards, but they were loyal to him, so he could use them for something and make them feel like they were a part of some grand scheme. Then again, that would technically be true.
"I don't know how much good the appealing will do." And he didn't trust either of them. Not really. Definitely not Niflheim. "But we can try."
When Bastet stopped walking, Anubis glanced over at her curiously. The fact that he knew he had his family there was enough to make him happy. It was enough to help comfort him. If he was lucky, his reign as Sultan would be interrupted by their return to New York before things got too much worse, but he couldn't plan for that. Not when there were innocent lives at stake. "I will do everything in my power to protect them and us. I'll speak to Isis about appealing to someone." Isis had once tricked Ra into giving her his secret name. If she could take on the sun god, she could take on these people. Somehow things would work out.
So far, Bastet liked what she was hearing, nodding along while envisioning soldiers from the foreign regions trapped in deep pits with smooth, perfectly vertical walls. How they could pour sand over them in the end, just enough to bury them, never enough to pile up so they could get out. It appealed to her savage side.
As abruptly as she had stopped, she then had her arms around him a fierce, assuring embrace. "We must try everything we can. For the people who exist in both worlds and even for those who seem to only exist here. This is our gift to those who have given something unforgettable to us." She pulled back after that, just enough to look him in the face to add, "Now, you totally owe me something delicious. All this talking has starved me."