InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "CASTLE OBLIVION"

Erato (passionburning) wrote in nevermore_logs,
@ 2021-05-25 23:21:00

Current mood:	good
Entry tags:	erato, melpomene

WHO Erato and Melpomene
WHEN the day of Clio’s rescue
WHERE Melpomene’s apartment
WHAT sisters catching up
WARNINGS talk of past badness

Erato was up atrociously early this morning, which was none of her doing. Calliope had called her (and called her and called her) and somehow she’d been talked into getting up, dressed, and leaving her apartment to buy bearclaws and coffee and ride her bike over to Melpomene’s.

It was quite nice out, actually. The news of Clio had lightened her heart tremendously, and she was able to focus on the city in the morning, and enjoy the way the warm air flowed past her and played with her hair. Poor Melpomene, she was still so troubled, and Erato felt a little bad that she hadn’t pulled her weight, letting Urania and Thalia carry the load. Well, today she was doing the duty that Calliope had bullied her into, and she was going to pass on the message about Clio, and check that Melpomene was still in one piece.

“Hello?” she called, knocking on the door. There was a growl from the other side, and she took half a step back in concern. “Melpomene? It’s Erato, can I come in?”

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passionburning
2021-05-29 08:27 am UTC (link)

Erato's lips pursed a little in annoyance at being called an idiot. It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last, that she was assumed to be foolish because she was optimistic and romantic. She knew she was intelligent. Melpomene was being obtuse.

"Clio's love takes nothing from yours. You had a powerful love, but you made a choice, and it ended. That doesn't mean it is worth less than anyone else's. It is worth everything." She sat up, pulling away from the cosy embrace to look down at Melpomene with a small frown. "You are being bitter and jealous. I might be an idiot but at least I appreciate the beauty of what it was. Does a red rose bloom forever? No, but we do not crush other roses out of sorrow for the one that is blown. And it is all the more perfect for the fact that it does not last. The sweet ache of memory makes you appreciate it all the more."

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somethingtragic
2021-05-29 08:55 am UTC (link)

Shut up! Melpomene had to hold her jaws together to stop herself snapping at Erato. The truth of it hurt like a lash; yes, she'd made a choice. Yes, she was bitter and jealous.

But - the sweet ache? Erato could only see the world from her point of view. Nothing about Melpomene's aches were sweet. If she wasn't currently holding a sleeping baby, she may well have lashed out at Erato instead of just scowling. "Forgive me if I can't see the beauty of what was," she muttered (bitterly). "I'm a little too distracted by surviving the brutal present to look fondly back on the past, just now."

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	passionburning 2021-05-29 10:30 am UTC (link)
	"Then what do you need to survive?" Erato cocked her head at Melpomene, watching her, a little birdlike. "Does holding on to Alan help you survive? What do you need, right now?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

somethingtragic
2021-05-29 11:02 am UTC (link)

The question caught her so off guard, all she could do for a few long, confused moments was stare up at her sister. "I - I don't know," she stammered under Erato's surprisingly sudden intensity, and dropped her eyes back to Telos again, one of his eyes half open in his sleep. "I just - need Telos to be safe, need Telos and I to be together - I can't think out any further than that." She managed to lift her eyes to Erato again, as her hands closed a little tighter around her son. "I don't know if holding onto Alan helps - but - I just know that holding onto him while I was in labour was the last place I felt anything close to safe."

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passionburning
2021-05-29 11:14 am UTC (link)

Erato softened in sympathy, her shoulders lowering as she relaxed. Their disagreements could often be like this: a flash of passion, and just as quickly passed by. "He is safe. You are safe. The boy who wronged you is gone," she said gently. She wished she could find the right words to help Melpomene let go of her broken heart and move towards healing. "You have Ares' protection, and Apollo's, and Kratos, and Bia- and mine, for what's it's worth." She reached out to smooth Melpomene's hair back off her face fondly. "I know I'm not much of a mother, but I can be a pretty good sister."

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somethingtragic
2021-05-29 12:20 pm UTC (link)

One of the boys isn't gone Melpomene thought to herself with a sudden twist of fear, but turned her eyes toward Nikkos, his muscular body lying halfway across the door. Yes, her list of protectors was long, but none of them had calmed the fear in her heart the way Alan had.

If she'd still been with Alan, would Tragos had seen fit to take Telos away?

It was an utterly pointless thought. Melpomene closed her eyes and leaned her head against Erato's hand, managing a weak smile at the gesture of comfort and trying to ignore how greasy her hair felt. "You can be," she agreed. "And it's alright, no one's going to be asking you to be a mother."

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passionburning
2021-05-29 12:46 pm UTC (link)

Erato gave Melpomene a look. "Well. Maybe I can ask if you will let me be an aunt, and carry your darling child while you have a shower? I'm sure you will feel much better after. I will be right here, drinking my cold coffee and eating my bearclaw, and not getting a single crumb on his little head." She didn't try to lift Telos yet, waiting for Melpomene's permission before touching him. She didn't want to spook her sister or trigger any distrust.

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	somethingtragic 2021-06-02 08:28 am UTC (link)
	Melpomene didn't reply right away, though Erato wasn't wrong, she would feel better after a shower. Or, cleaner, at least. Maybe less feral. But that didn't make the decision any easier. "Did you lock the front door when you came in?" she asked cautiously. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	passionburning 2021-06-02 11:10 am UTC (link)
	"Uh, I think so. I didn't turn any keys, I just shut it." Erato was sure she saw a deadlock on the door, didn't she? Now she was doubting herself. "Hang on, I'll check." A quick dash to the door and back, and she was nodding to her sister. "Yes. It is locked. I promise I won't even leave the room." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

somethingtragic
2021-06-02 12:12 pm UTC (link)

That circumvented Melpomene's next request - to ask that Erato stay in the room. She didn't want to come out of the shower and find Erato walking Telos all over her apartment. There was nothing out in her living room to distinguish the place where Tragos had died, but it was a place Melpomene rarely approached. She avoided the living room and the kitchen at all, if she could, and her own bedroom; she'd only gone in there a few times, because she wasn't going to fuck Kratos in Telos' room.

She didn't want to see Erato walking over the spot where he'd died, was all. And she didn't want to explain any of it. So Erato volunteering to stay in Telos' room, that helped immensely. "Okay," she said, and nodded for Erato to come closer and take her son. "I'll be quick, I promise."

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	passionburning 2021-06-02 12:29 pm UTC (link)
	"Take as long as you want. I want a proper cuddle." Erato gently took the baby in her arms, and carefully settled herself on the bed with her coffee and her pastry and her phone. "There. Perfectly comfortable. No rush." She gave Melpomene a sweet smile and kissed the top of Telos' head, content to sit here for a while with the sleeping baby. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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