Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "famous last words"

Username: 
Password:    
Remember Me
  • Create Account
  • IJ Login
  • OpenID Login
Search by : 
  • View
    • Create Account
    • IJ Login
    • OpenID Login
  • Journal
    • Post
    • Edit Entries
    • Customize Journal
    • Comment Settings
    • Recent Comments
    • Manage Tags
  • Account
    • Manage Account
    • Viewing Options
    • Manage Profile
    • Manage Notifications
    • Manage Pictures
    • Manage Schools
    • Account Status
  • Friends
    • Edit Friends
    • Edit Custom Groups
    • Friends Filter
    • Nudge Friends
    • Invite
    • Create RSS Feed
  • Asylums
    • Post
    • Asylum Invitations
    • Manage Asylums
    • Create Asylum
  • Site
    • Support
    • Upgrade Account
    • FAQs
    • Search By Location
    • Search By Interest
    • Search Randomly

Lyra Aquilina Campbell ([info]lyra_yes) wrote in [info]nevermore_logs,
@ 2021-12-16 22:05:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:erato, lyra campbell

WHO: Lyra and Erato
WHEN: Thursday 16th, afternoon
WHERE: Dangling down the side of Erato's office block
WHAT: I know you! Wait what?



There was a storm blowing in, still a couple of hours away but from her position hanging a hundred and fifty feet in the air Lyra could already feel the wind starting to turn. Looking at the approaching weather, her supervisor Les had already decided to ground the team just as soon as they were done on this office block. It meant the last job of the day would have to be postponed, which meant less pay, and normally Lyra should have had tomorrow free to do the job then instead but she’d said she’d work at Taco Bell to cover some sickness. Had to keep the Taco bosses happy – had to make up for saying no when they asked her to work Saturday, cuz Saturday was when she was meeting her cousins.

Manager Ainsley looked less than happy about the no, despite how apologetic she made herself. It worried her a tiny bit, she needed him to keep calling her first when people called in sick; Taco Bell was a reliable chunk of hours and she could eat for free on the job and if she lost shifts as punishment for not being reliable – read, forever on call – it was gonna hurt.

February, and a hike in the rent, was only a month and a half away. But it was gonna be okay. Lyra’d get her scheduling on and make it all work out. Jocelyn might be looking grim and determined about it, but since her birthday Lyra found it hard to be disheartened by anything; the night had just been so good and she’d felt just… so goddamn wonderful. Rosario loved her, Patrick was so excited by getting to know her, and Avery thought she was hot. Home might be a fucking challenge right now, but god, what a liferaft she had.

Besides, Patrick's connections had hooked her up with another job prospect and she was hoping she could fit in several hours there if she started early in the mornings, before a Taco shift, on the days she wasn't washing windows. Her income in that area was already taking a dive; today was part of a bigger trend as the weather got colder and wetter and windier and more frozen. Less demand, less literal ability to work, less need for contractors by the business and less hours in a safety harness for Lyra.

And carpenter Will wasn't super far away, at least the job was still in Brooklyn. Speaking of close jobs, Nat's shop was close too, although as she’d learned yesterday afternoon, nothing was really close when you had to lug a bar fridge back to your apartment to fix it.

At least Jemma's dad Dante was around for the holiday season, so Lyra hadn’t had to worry about guarding the torn out guts of a bar fridge from a three year old's curiosity. Her mom had been home, though.

Her mom had been home a lot this week, which was… not great. Two days after meeting Patrick again and one day after her long conversation with the priest, she'd broken up with her boyfriend. Lyra did not want to examine what this meant, so instead of wondering (or asking) she was simply looking at it through the same annoyed lens as Jocelyn was. Jem being suddenly single (single and not looking) meant she was eating at home more, which meant they were spending more on food, which made a difference because Jem's philosophy when it came to food was 'treat yo'self' which didn't gel with a Jocelyn budget.

As Lyra dragged the fridge into the kitchen it was impossible to miss how badly the Jocelyn budget had been abused. Jem was baking, and all sorts of fancy ingredients (cream cheese! Two kinds of chocolate and fresh fruit!) spread out over the benches.

"Is that cashew butter?" Lyra had asked, rubbing the strained muscles in her arms as she looked over the carnage. The packaging she recognised; one of the bougie places the next block over. "What are you doing?"

"Church bake sale!" Jem had said brightly, laying out some paper cupcake liners patterned with gold. "I volunteered. Thought it was time I gave something back… I'm doing a triple batch! We could take some to Patrick even."

"Um," Lyra had said uncertainly, not sure she was ready for her parental worlds to overlap again. Like ever again, at this rate. "Did you buy all this stuff?"

"Oh don't start, baby," Jem had sounded a little put-upon. "It's for a good cause."

Lyra had decided not to start, but only because she hadn't been sure she'd be able to stop quickly, and she'd needed to see how dead the bar fridge was. She’d dragged it into her room, cleared a space that wasn’t really big enough on the floor, and put her headphones in so she wouldn’t hear the inevitable eruption when Jocelyn got home and saw what Jem had made of her budget.


At least the really rather brutal cold was a whole world away from life at home. Cold, sure, but Lyra was layered up like a lasagna and feeling like a pioneering Arctic explorer, and the hat that Jocelyn had knitted for her was undeniably cute. Even with her helmet on over it, the city was a mass of chilly low cloud behind her, and it made for some great instagram shots.

Take the ‘pioneering Arctic explorer’ vibes away, though, and it was boring. One window was the same as the next, and buildings like this had hundreds. There was some skill involved in it, sure, but no creativity, no creation. She was just cleaning bird shit and city shit off glass, over and over and over, and some days felt so long she half expected to have lost another three months when she stepped back onto solid concrete and unclipped her harness.

But, at least once she’d got the knack she could let her mind wander. She could go over the memory of harmonizing with her dad at karaoke, or rehash the things she wished she’d yelled at Apollo (not fun, but not boring!) or think about what it was gonna be like to meet her cousins in person for the first time, or if she really wanted to warm up, like today she really wanted to warm up, she could think about making out with Avery on his couch, his tongue in her mouth, his fingers finding their way between her legs and not stopping in a way that was just… so damn hot.

Imagination and memory, the best weapons against the cold and the crap of the world.

With the glare from the sky reflection off the glass, Lyra didn’t even notice the woman on the other side of the window till her face was like, right there, and Lyra jumped in surprise and immediately felt caught out. She had to laugh at herself, because it wasn’t like the woman could tell what she’d been thinking. With a sheepish grin, Lyra waved her squeegee at her through the glass.



(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]lyra_yes
2021-12-17 06:43 am UTC (link)
Clever, damn right Rosario was clever. Full of potential, fuck yeah, obviously. Beautiful? Was that creepy AF coming from Rosario’s bio dad or was it only creepy AF because Lyra had slept with him? He’d called her beautiful too and remembering it made her feel weird. He was literally, like, a hundred times their age.

“Oh, uh, shook,” Lyra answered, keeping it vague. She wasn’t going to get into the true depths of Rosario’s feelings, no way, that was a confidence she wasn’t going to betray. Girl didn’t need people talking ‘bout her behind her back. Girl already had enough of that. But ‘shook’ covered a lot of bases.

“What do you mean by that, no Ares?” she asked, deeply curious by Erato’s grimace, and loving that she was talkative enough that an opportunity to bounce the conversation in a different direction immediately presented itself. She picked up her mocha, leaning her elbows against the table. Getting another inside opinion about Apollo might turn out to be really useful. “What is he like, with other kids? Have you met lots of them?”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]passionburning
2021-12-17 08:05 am UTC (link)
Erato's eyes widened slightly. Lyra was asking the sorts of questions that Erato loved to answer: gossip about other gods. "Well," she said with some enthusiasm. "Wait, I need to order another coffee."

Once that was done and a cinnamon roll in hand to pull apart with her fingertips and nibble on as she spoke, Erato settled down. "Ares is just about the worst parent," she said, tucking her feet in under her chair. "Ares is the worst everything, and everyone hates him, except Aphrodite for some reason that we all know and that is that he fucks like a beast. Not that I would ever but I know who has and let's say she wasn't disappointed until he turned out to be the giant prick we all know he is. He's a nasty, sexist thug and a sore loser. He treats his children terribly, especially the girls." She tutted and shook her head. "Musagetes is much better to have as a patron. He has been my teacher and mentor all my days, and I would have no other." She said this with all the heartfelt conviction of a woman who was utterly convinced of her love and would not hear a bad word about him.

Looking across at Lyra she made a dramatic face. "Yes, I've met a few of Apollo's children. Blessed and favored all."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]lyra_yes
2021-12-17 08:12 am UTC (link)
As Erato got up to back to the counter, Lyra pulled out her phone and tapped on Rosario’s name. What to say? I’m having coffee with your aunt!! But what if it was one of the rare moments when Rosario could actually reply straight away, and it started a string of texts that Lyra would have to navigate while talking to Erato. Maybe she should wait and get more information to share first? Also... Rosario was so behind on her revision, Lyra could see it threatening to pry her apart... yeah, yeah Lyra shouldn't interrupt her, right now.

She couldn’t stop herself saying something to someone, though, so Avery got a quick text. Am becoming a god magnet, LOL. News at 11.. Make him all extra-curious for when she went over later.

Lyra screwed up her face as Erato talked about Ares, wanting to point out that just because Apollo sounded better than a nasty sexist thug didn’t mean he wasn’t slimy. Erato had that look though, like a fresh girlfriend who couldn’t see anything wrong with a guy that actually? They were way too good for. Her mom did that, quite a bit. Let guys get away with being really kinda sub par just because she was crushing on them.

“He ever cross any boundaries, with his other kids?” Lyra asked. “Like, he told his whole fam about Rosario, d’you know he didn’t even tell her he was telling them? We found out, like through a gossip chain.”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]passionburning
2021-12-17 08:13 am UTC (link)
Erato sucked some frosting off her thumb and shrugged. “Boundaries? I don’t know. He’s a proud new dad, of course he wants to tell everyone.” She smiled and looked back at Lyra’s face, which did not seem to agree with her, and her smile faltered a bit. “Well- well maybe he could’ve asked first? It would’ve been polite…” Lyra did not appear to be so very enthused about this as Erato would assume a mortal girl would be. Perhaps she was more excited by her saint father, although Erato didn’t see how that was even possible.

“All the children of his that I knew of did very well,” she said, trying to warm Lyra up on the notion. “He is supportive, and he has us Muses, like moi,” she struck a tiny pose, “to help tutor too. He had a son who was an artist, his name escapes me but he was very famous. I was his personal muse for a time.” And oh, what a time. Like father, like son, in some respects. But that was by-the-by.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]lyra_yes
2021-12-17 08:16 am UTC (link)
Rosario doesn’t need a tutor Lyra almost said, but swallowed it down with a sip of sweet coffee because she still wasn’t gonna talk about Rosario when Rosario wasn’t here. Rosario didn’t, though. Rosario was so damn smart and hardworking. What Rosario needed was to be left alone, honestly.

“Yeah, it woulda been polite,” she said instead, and smiled at Erato because she didn’t want to discourage her from noticing things about Apollo that, uh, needed work.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]passionburning
2021-12-17 08:28 am UTC (link)
Erato looked back at Lyra, holding her gaze. She wasn’t angry, or aggressive, she just did not want to discuss Apollo in a negative light, and she felt a little like this girl was trying to make a point that didn’t need to be made. “As I was saying,” she said, her tone light but firm, “he is generous and supportive, as I’m sure you and Rosario will come to learn in time. We have so much fun together. I’ve been to his frat parties, they’re wild, but I haven’t had the chance in a while, not really this term. Have you been?”

She broke off a bigger piece of her roll and bit delicately into it, still watching Lyra, hoping that the subject would be changed. She wanted them to get along, and then she could meet Rosario too and Lyra would have said nice things about her. Conflict was so exhausting.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]lyra_yes
2021-12-17 08:30 am UTC (link)
Back in the day, in the far, distant past of like, June, Lyra had wanted nothing more than to go along to one of those frat parties. Now they’d taken on a sour taste, tainted by curses and the nagging feeling that somehow, she should’ve known better. “Yeah, I’ve been,” she said, fairly reluctant to share further details, and deciding to try and steer the conversation somewhere else. “So working in publishing must be pretty cool? You get to go to a lot of launch parties? Writers’ve gotta be as scandalous as anyone at a frat party, right?”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]passionburning
2021-12-17 08:36 am UTC (link)
“For a bunch of women (mostly) who make their living writing romantic fiction, they’re surprisingly not that scandalous,” Erato said with a little laugh, glad to move the conversation on from what was clearly a sticky point. “There is a lot of wine drinking and telling raunchy stories, though. I went on a book tour with one of my authors about a year ago, and there was a bit of fun on that. Networking is the thing. Tiring though. I was glad to be home again and retrieve my cats and my plants from the sitter and settle down again. Hashtag home sweet home.” She shrugged her shoulders up and adjusted her position so her legs were tucked up. “I love watching people blossom, you know? One good poem can open someone’s eyes to a beauty they never previously knew. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” She sighed wistfully. “Poetry doesn’t mean the same now as it used to.”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]lyra_yes
2021-12-17 08:39 am UTC (link)
Erato looked like a picture as she re-arranged herself, every movement was just a little bit captivating, and Lyra tried to fix her posture so she wasn’t leaning and slumping so much against the table. Erato wasn’t exactly making Lyra feel self-conscious… or, well actually, she supposed she was feeling a little more conscious of her own body, and how her head was growing too warm now that she was inside in this hat and that it’d be more comfortable if she took it off but also her hair was a post-work mess.

So, maybe a little self-conscious.

Mostly though, it was a background feeling. Curiosity trumped. And she leaned forward on one elbow again so her corrected posture barely even lasted a minute. “How does it work, being a Muse? Is that rude to ask? The authors, are you their inspiration?”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]passionburning
2021-12-17 08:54 am UTC (link)
“I try to be,” Erato said modestly, tucking her hair behind her ear. The hows she couldn’t really answer. “It’s just a feeling, a way of being. Do you know I worked with Dali when he visited America? And I was part of the Factory with Warhol… and I met Judy Chicago and watched her collaborative projects in the 70s- oh the 70s- I’ve toured with musicians in hotels and lived in starving artist hovels and performed on private stages across the country.” Again a wistful sigh. “Creating art. That is what I help people do. If it’s romantic- if it’s erotic-” She winked at Lyra. “That is what I live for. That is me.” She pressed her hands to her chest, filled with the passion of it. She so rarely got to talk about all the things she was proud of in her life, and she was quite enjoying having a captive audience. Apollo always wanted to talk about himself, and her sisters had heard it all before.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]lyra_yes
2021-12-17 08:58 am UTC (link)
To be honest, Lyra felt a little starstruck at the names (even though her knowledge of their work kinda started and ended at ‘Dali is the dripping clock, right?’) and a lot intrigued (although the romance of an artist’s hovel had never really appealed to her; not that they’d ever starved, but the possibility had never been distant enough to romanticize) and how could you fail to admire someone who could state with such assuredness this is me?

Lyra tried to project that self-assuredness with as much strength as any just-turned-twenty-four year old with underlying abandonment issues possibly could, but dayam it was enthralling to see someone else do it. “That is so cool,” she said (aside from the hovels) and gave Erato a cheeky little smirk encouraged by her wink, and her mention of erotica. “Uh, are any of the books you’ve been publishing really hot? I could use a rec or two…”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]passionburning
2021-12-17 09:31 am UTC (link)
Erato smirked. “I’ll send you my book list,” she promised. Now that she had a contact, that would be pretty easy. “How about you? What’s the thing that makes your heart pound and your hair stand on end? What brings you joy?” What was it that made this saint’s child tick? Enquiring minds wanted to know. She sipped her coffee and gave Lyra an encouraging nod.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]lyra_yes
2021-12-17 09:34 am UTC (link)
“The thing? Like the one thing?” Lyra laughed, shaking her head as she tried to figure that out. She could say, and not be lying ‘A lotta things bring me joy’ but it felt like a copout. Erato wanted more than that and there was something about her that made Lyra want to dig down and give more.

“I guess, like, doing something other people are too scared to do,” she said, figuring she had a long list of daring escapades under her belt that certainly made her heart pound and her hair stand on end. “Getting that adrenaline hit, the thrill of it, it’s pretty sweet. But then also... finding someone else who wantsta do it with me? That’s even better.” Convincing Rosario to sing on stage with her? Glorious. Running about the frat house hand in hand with Avery trying to untangle the mystery of Archer? Such a high, even if it did end in curses.

But then… even going home with Avery the night the curse broke, and being all tangled up with him knowing he’d, like, been cursed by this ancient powerful god guy and then broken that curse by bring stubborn (and, she maintained, brave) and mix that with the fact that she was kinda the only other person in the world who knew what had really happened, and it made every time she kissed him more intense and exciting and meaningful and hotter.

So yeah she was still way pissed about the curse. But Curse Club? Hot. Hot like the touch of colour she could feel on her cheeks right now, as Lyra smirked privately into her mocha.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]passionburning
2021-12-17 09:35 am UTC (link)
Oh, the finding. That was definitely the fun part. Erato grinned. “Ohh~hh I know that look! Have you been finding someone cute to do exciting things with?”

It was always so adorable, finding someone with a crush. Although she was still in the doldrums herself, her infatuation with Alan long since subsided, if she could encourage a new love then it was a successful day. And mortal love was so sweet. So blessed. They always felt things so strongly, it gave her tingles.

Maybe later she might message Asterion and see if he was free. Or her upstairs neighbour, if she wasn’t working. But in the meantime, she bit her lip and brightened up. “Tell me more!”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]lyra_yes
2021-12-17 09:36 am UTC (link)
Weeelll… Lyra bit her lip, not sure how much she should say. There was a part of her that was itching to talk about crushes, and it wasn’t like Rosario was super receptive to hearing about Avery. And she could gossip a bit with her Taco Bell workmates but it wasn’t like she could tell them any of the backstory cuz they wouldn’t get it… and what was it without the backstory even? And her mom would probably be interested but… hell no.

“Maaaybe,” Lyra said, unable to resist saying something and glad she’d already raised her mug to her mouth so she could take a nicely timed coy sip. “Maybe there’s some exciting kissing going on, yeah.”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]passionburning
2021-12-17 09:38 am UTC (link)
Erato chortled behind her hand. “Heehee I knew it,” she said, a little smug. “Is it scandalous? Is it something that would shock your saintly father to the core?” That was the best kind, the forbidden love. The sneaking around was so much fun, to the point where sometime, once it became public, a lot of the shine went away. What fun was breaking the rules if you were allowed to?

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]lyra_yes
2021-12-17 09:39 am UTC (link)
“Hah!” Lyra laughed at the idea. “I doubt it! He has so surprised me with how not-exactly-sainty he is? D’y’know I only exist cuz he and my mom met while they were both drunk at a parade? I don’t think he’d be shocked by a little making out on the couch while the roommate is out...”

Okay, it hadn’t just been a little making out, and Lyra felt warm again just thinking about it, but, y’know, she’d only just met this woman, she probably shouldn't share the real intimate couch based events. “I did have to sneak him – the boy, not my dad – into my bedroom past my grandmother one time though,” she added, wanting to give Erato at least a little taste of a scandal. “He was real bad at being quiet.”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]passionburning
2021-12-17 09:46 am UTC (link)
Erato laughed again. “That sounds hilarious. I have done my share of sneaking, it is always fun. The risk of being caught? Sexy.” She wagged her eyebrows and leaned back in her chair, looking Lyra over. If her father was the parade type, maybe she was a bit of fun too. Maybe they could do some fun things together. Maybe she needed some Musing? What sort of creative arts could she be into?

“Does this noisy cute boy have a name?”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]lyra_yes
2021-12-17 09:48 am UTC (link)
It had been hilarious, and sneaking about was sexy, and Lyra grinned back at Erato's wiggly eyebrows, the tip of her tongue between her teeth. "He's Avery," Lyra said, even though she was pretty sure Erato was one hundred percent the gossipy sort, but well… it wasn't like Apollo didn't already know they were a… whatever they were. "It's kinda new."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]passionburning
2021-12-17 09:49 am UTC (link)
“Awww!” Erato cooed with a wrinkle of her nose.. “That is so cute. I love that for you, girl.” She reached across to pat Lyra’s arm supportively. “He better be sweet to you. I’m expecting romance, flowers and BJs a-plenty.” That last was a tease (kinda) and she grinned cheekily, hoping Lyra wouldn’t get all awkward and wound up.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]lyra_yes
2021-12-17 09:51 am UTC (link)
Lyra laughed in surprise at Erato’s words; she was a little bit weird, this woman, but Lyra dug it. “Not so sure I’m a romance and flowers kinda gal,” she admitted, and returned her own smile right on the edge of smug as she kept mum on the last one. They hadn’t gone there yet, but, she wasn’t opposed, and now she was thinking about sex again… “But I’m seeing him tonight,” she added. “So maybe the third…”

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]passionburning
2021-12-17 10:23 am UTC (link)
"That's the spirit." Erato lifted her coffee in a toast to that. "You know, it is just wild that we have been brought together like this. Do you make art of some kind? Wait, let me guess it- mmmmm- music? Do you play an instrument? Aside from- heh, you know." Her guesses were generally pretty accurate. After all, her job was to inspire more of it, of course she'd guess what to inspire.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]lyra_yes
2021-12-17 10:45 am UTC (link)
"Woodwind?" Lyra snorted at Erato's cheeky little look, and knocked her coffee cup against hers. "Yeah, I play guitar, and sing along with it. Make my own clothes a bit too, though not these ones, obviously," she dropped her eyes to what she'd been wearing under her work gear. She was far too aware that she worked mostly with men to wear anything too cute, outrageous, fashionable or... anything that would invite comment, really.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]passionburning
2021-12-17 10:52 am UTC (link)
"We all make sacrifices," Erato said with a shrug at the work clothes. She understood dressing for the situation. "Do you write your own songs? You know lyrics are pretty much just poetry set to music." If Lyra was really all that romantic, she might find that she had a bit of a hankering for love songs over the next little while. Erato did it almost unconsciously, simply through her love of inspiring creativity.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]lyra_yes
2021-12-17 10:58 am UTC (link)
"Umm, not a lot," Lyra admitted, feeling a little like she should. "Sometimes I improve things, but I don't really write it down. Mostly if I'm making stuff up its stuff for my little sister, I don't really get a lot of free time for music. I'd like to, though," she added, thinking of Patrick passing her the guitar, and how good it had felt in her hands.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]passionburning, 2021-12-17 11:17 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]lyra_yes, 2021-12-17 11:24 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]passionburning, 2021-12-17 11:31 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]lyra_yes, 2021-12-17 11:41 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]passionburning, 2021-12-17 11:46 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]lyra_yes, 2021-12-17 12:05 pm UTC

(Read comments) -


Home | Site Map | Manage Account | TOS | Privacy | Support | FAQs