WHO: Melpomene and Erato WHEN: Thursday evening WHERE: Erato's place WHAT: Apollo-gising? WARNINGS: None?
Melpomene spent the days after her night (and morning) with Apollo thinking about the way blood bound people together, eating more meat than should reasonably fit in her stomach, and feeling faint and slightly sick regardless.
It wasn't what she'd call a fun time.
Blood bonds meant family. Or, if she was going more literal, it could mean Tragos. Or, it could mean something much further in the future, something her child would create himself. Melpomene had too much experience with the concept of prophecy to be annoyed about the lack of specifics (apart from the he, which sent a real thrill down her every time she thought about it), too much experience not to be aware that the words could be read in many different ways. Usually - narratively - it would be the one she least expected, but... usually these things weren't happening to the self-aware.
It made her own story much harder to predict.
Family, she supposed, also meant Ares now. But it would be a long and much more subtle game she'd have to play to make sure he had some part in the child's life. Marcie, too. Sure, Ares had many, many children but the timing of Marcie's arrival felt auspicious.
Or at least... significant. And if Aphrodite was forcing Ares to take her in, Melpomene wanted a part of that, too. She sent the girl a message, while she was thinking about it.
Thursday evening found her in the back of a car (alone, this time) with a white bakery box from one of the upmarket artisan bakeries she'd mentioned to Clio last time they spoke. She'd made a cake slightly more recently than she'd made bread, but it still hadn't been any time this millennium. Clio was so wrong; homemade did not taste better.
Right now, Melpomene was focusing on how annoyed Erato was with her, as well as Urania's words this is why no one likes you. She wasn't hurt by that, because Urania had a point, and Melpomene wasn't (she told herself) about denial. But she was aware that she'd been more ruthless, lately, but awareness and self restraint were two different things. She'd been aware of it the night before the party at Cillian's, too, but that hadn't stopped her watching Elliot die.
She didn't regret taking Apollo to bed, but she was sorry she had to hurt Erato to do it.
Her sisters were important. Even setting prophecies aside, they were important.
In the hallway outside Erato's apartment, Melpomene pressed her finger into the buzzer, then sent her a message to follow it up.