Who: Adam, Nick, Shiri What: How many mortals does it take to get a high muse home? Where: On the streets, at the bar Adam works at, Nick's house and Adam & Shiri's house. You'll figure it out When: Backdated Sept 19/20. Late evening. Warnings:Prayer Words
Adam got the voice message from Shiri as he stepped away from his station to go outside and have a quick break. Even out the back door the volume from inside was loud, and the crowds of people moving around on a Saturday night was fairly decent. Not as big as the breaks, but not bad either. He listened to the message, and frowned down at his phone. That was... mildly concerning.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and relaxed against the building wall, focusing in on his goddess to send out a prayer, properly calling her attention to him before he bluntly asked his question... Where are you?
Shiri had climbed up a tall tree. Her reasoning was sound, or so she thought. She didn't remember which way to go but if she got high enough, she would clearly be able to find her way. It had never failed her before. Standing on a branch and balanced against the trunk, her priest's words echoed against her soul. Naughty priest. He didn't forget the voice mail like she had asked, but then again, it was probably better he didn't.
Or maybe he was just curious.
What he was going to be was wishing that the noise of her mind didn't sound even louder than that of the bar. And all that noise of her mind transferred right to his when she spoke back, I climbed a tree. I cannot see you.
His face twitched at her answer, and all the static, in a manner, that came with it. He took a moment to sort it out, making sure he had her reply correct, before he asked her another question. What can you see? That's close to you.
Shiri frowned. What did she see? Nothing really made sense to her. There were so many lights and loud sounds. Little name tags on the road ways, but they couldn't be important. What importance could little name tags have? She would regret the loss of understanding all simple, mundane things when she came out of all of this. Um. Oh, she saw something she understood, Up the way, I can see a Korean Methodist Church.
Adam pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping that it would help him focus a bit on the answers that were coming, and sort them out without a massive headache coming on. It was like trying to understand one order when five were being yelled at him from different locations. He could pick out the order, but it took focus and care. Any street names? An address?
Street names? Addresses? What crazy talk are you using prayer to confuse me with? Shiri jumped down from the tree branch in a fluid motion and dusted off her dress, even as her displeasure at/with him followed her words. He shouldn't use prayer to confuse her.
He sighed. I'm sorry. I want to know which church. Is there anything else there? He doubted she'd be able to give him much more, but he would try. How many would there be in the area? Was she even in the area? Well, if she wasn't, it would just mean the search would be wider, until he could find out more about where she was.
Why? Are you trying to find me? Shiri was only growing more confused by all of this. Her mind desperately tried to make sense of his inquiries. Deep down she knew he wouldn't purposely try to displease her. He must be trying to do something, but she didn't know what. This wasn't the use of prayer.... Are you seeking me out for worship?
This seemed like it was going very much in the wrong direction. And he was starting to get a headache. I have concern for you, my goddess, and wish to know that you will be safe when I am not there to be your personal knight and priest. An annoyed goddess would be a poor thing to return home to.
Something in those words made her shiver. Shiri looked around the dark streets she wandered, not quite understanding the bright lights of the cars that moved on by her. Where was she? Did it matter? It seemed to matter to him. It must matter. Shhh, sweet priest. I will be okay. I am just a little lost. I have been lost before.
Maybe I will send you a compass, he mentioned with a small smile, imagining her wandering the area. Maybe one of her sisters would know where she was, or likely to have gone. Maybe they'd have their own muse way to find her. I will see you at home, honored one.
He waited a moment for her to answer, before opening his eyes and stretching. He checked his watch, then pulled his phone out again to pick out one of her sisters. He tried Mel first.
But when he got a hold of the muse, she told him that she wasn't in the area. And gave him Nick's number instead. Val had the triplets, while Nick could either leave Helen with a live in babysitter, another staff member, or take her with. She gave him her boyfriend's number, and clicked off on the line. Taking the muse's advice, he called the other mortal. Hopefully he'd remember who he was.
Ring ring, ring ring~ After a second of some music playing back for Adam's amusement, Nick's voice replied, "Hello, Aiolos speaking."
"Hey, it's Adam. I have a favor to ask." Closing his eyes, he rubbed his forehead again. It would get better without the background or feedback or static or whatever it was that was coming from Shiri. The fact there was so much of it though made him wonder.
A yawn could be heard over the phone. "Hold on..." Nick sat up, looking at his clock. ... The hell? "Who'sis?" he asked sleepily.
"Adam." He'd already said that. He turned up the volume on his phone a notch. "Shiri's boyfriend."
"I'm at work. Shiri's out somewhere, and a bit out of it. I was hoping you could help me by finding her and directing her back home." It was all said in typical Adam manner, calm and nonchalant, as if calling up for someone to go on a search for a missing muse at midnight was as common as asking permission to borrow a few folding chairs for a party.
Nick blinked. That sounded serious. Sitting up in bed, he reached for a pair of pants. "Why me?" he asked. "I mean, I don't have her number or something..."
"She said she was by a Korean Methodist Church or that she could see one. So she might have gone to something near one, or at one. I called Mel first, and she said to ask you." He shrugged slightly. They were sisters.
"Korean Methodist? That's close to my church," mused the older mortal, scratching at his itchy bedhead hair. "Yeah, sure. I'll call you if I see her, then?"
"I probably won't hear you. Just leave a text. If you can, lead her home." He rubbed his head again, and turned to prepare to head back into the bar.
"Sure, sure," said Nick, stifling a yawn. Oh jeez. It was late. He'd have to ask one of the staff to stay with Helen... But, hey, if he was needed.
Soon enough, he was up, dressed, and gone as soon as one of the maids from the main house arrived to watch after the baby and the dog. It took him a bit of looking -- the Korean Methodist Church was farther than he'd originally thought -- but he arrived at the church. Getting out of the car, he looked around. No albino women as far as the eye could see, at least that he saw...
He only didn't see her because she was in the alleyway beside it, staring at the wall that blocked her into the dead end. The church was to her right. That much she understood, but the wall and the building besides her? Those she did not. She ran her hands along the bricks of the other building and them pulled them away quickly in timid uncertainty. "Who put all these weird things in my way?"
Nick jumped and swung the flashlight from his glove compartment in her direction. What in the... "Hello?"
Shiri covered her eyes quickly at the light, backing up right against the dead-end wall and then jumped away from it like it had burnt her, "Stop it!"
"Shiri, is that you?" Nick shut it off since it seemed to bug her, walking up to her. "You all right?"
There were too many sudden crazy lights this evening. They were all disorienting, like she needed any help with that. At his words, she spun around and glared at the wall to the non-church building and the dead-end wall. "Something blocked my way!" she musically whined and lamented in a rapid, high melody, "My shrine is that way, but these things are here!"
"Ah, okay." Hm. Adam hadn't been kidding about her being out of it. Carefully, he offered the goddess his hand. "Here, I'll help you with that."
The goddess narrowed her pink eyes at him and looked at the hand extended to her like it was a serpent, "Why should I?"
"'Cause you want to get to your shrine, right?" he said with a smile. "I want to go, too."
She drew closer to him slowly and didn't stop until she was a hair's distance away from being nose to nose with him. In her right mind, Shiri was poor at keeping personal space. Now? Impossible, "You do?"
Nick stopped breathing, uncomfortable with the closeness, but he didn't budge. "Yeah."
Nodding with a smile, she turned again and stepped back into the dark of the alleyway. Now she had a pilgrim to bring to her shrine, but there was problem. And she glared at it hard. She couldn't understand what she was looking at it. If she could, she would have known to just go around because it was a dead-end, "How do we make it go away?"
"Well, not sure we can," he tried to explain, gently. "It's kind of a wall. We could go around?"
Shiri glanced over to the church and to then again to the dead end. A wall? Was that what that was? It didn't look like a wall. It looked like... she couldn't comprehend what it looked like. But with a small nod, she backed away from it and toward Nick, only stopping when they stood side by side. She continued in her rapid melodic tone, "Okay. I guess we have to. How?"
"May I have your hand?" he asked politely. In his head, he thanked his father for the rigorous training in proper manners. Made dealing with shit easy sometimes.
"Yes, but one moment." Shiri twisted and wheeled about until she faced him once more. She stared at him and knew he had come out of these dark places she couldn't comprehend. These mundane, profane places. And now he wished to take her hand and lead her to her shrine. That could not be. With a glance to her left and to her right, she saw no water and she let out a loud, loud sigh in a minor key at that but then perked up with a smile. Oh! Oh! She knew what she could do to purify and sanctify this lowly pilgrim!
With a finger, she touched his forehead, letting the very tip of her nail trace along his skin. Not hard, not to break the skin and carefully, she traced the symbol her priest had created for her upon this lowly mortal's brow. Not that anyone could see it. That's how tracing worked. But at that very final stroke of it, she let just a touch of her inspiration enter him. Her symbol, name and power would purify him. "Now you can."
Nick blinked, not feeling anything. Other than an urge to scratch at his forehead. But whatever. He reached out and took her hand, leading her around the building and to his car. "Which way is the shrine? This will get us there fast."
Her steps grew slower with each step toward the car. If she could dig her heels into the concrete she would have in her reluctance. "Do we have to?"
"We'll get there as soon as possible, I promise. And it's safer than walking to the shrine," he added, hoping that her desire to get to whatever this 'shrine' was would override her fear of cars. "I can take the roof down, too. Whatever you like."
Shiri eased closer to the car, suspicious of its nature and intentions. She circled it slowly, trying to swallow down the fear that bubbled up inside of her at the sight of it and the prospect of going inside of it. Her subconscious plagued her while her conscious mind simply couldn't wrap itself around it. "Not going inside. On top or on this sloped front part..." She knew the word for it. Um, "Hood. On the hood."
He shook his head and opened the door. "You can sit in it. Not on it."
It was a trap, she was sure of it and her fear was the only thing keeping the indignant outburst of "Who are you to tell me what I can do" inside. Shiri began to back away again slowly, and then quickly. "No. No..." It was then she turned and made to bolt down the street. It was safer to run into the night and keep the things she didn't understand to her sides than go inside one. It had to be. And Nick could not be trusted, clearly. He belonged to Melpomene, she understood that. He had to be a bringer of tragedy.... Obviously.
It explained everything.
Ack! Backpedaling, Nick held up his hands in surrender. "Okay! Okay okay, wait, hold up. We can... walk, I guess." And probably get mugged along the way. Oh. Joy.
She stopped half way down the block, spinning around in her final steps with very haphazard grace. Was this a trick, too? Shiri wasn't sure. Carefully, she approached the mortal, circling him now like she did the car. "What is your goal?"
"To help you, goddess," he said truthfully, standing still and making no sudden movements.
"Then why do you want to put me in that?" she demanded, pointing at the car.
"Because it can help us get there as quickly and safely as possible... but if you don't want to, we don't have to."
"... Not safely." Not that Shiri understood why she believed that. She just did. It was a certainty in her soul and she spoke it in the same rapid melody, but also like a cowered child.
Nick sighed a little in frustration. "Well, okay... we can walk. How far is it, do you know?"
"I know the way!" As long as the buildings she couldn't understand didn't keep getting in her way. All fear and sadness were forgotten. Pushed aside in excitement. She grabbed Nick by the hand and started to run. Hopefully, he could keep up.
Eek!
Nick was glad he was the athletic type; he kept up with her easily, praying to all sorts of gods, Christian and not, that her 'path' didn't cross any intersections.
His words echoed in her mind, mingled with her own thoughts, her own memories and other narrations that floated around in her consciousness at the moment. And so, when they hit an intersection, she stopped. Dead. No warning. She simply stopped.
"Oof." That was Nick, bumping into the back of her, not expecting the halt. He rubbed his chest a bit sorely and peeked around at her. "What?"
If she could rub her back sorely she would do likewise, but instead, she merely turned to him - incredulously at his question but smiling, "It was your voice. You said no intersections... This is one, right? Of course, that would make us eternally on an island of ground surrounded by roads if we do not cross."
"Right. We gotta wait for the walking person on the sign," he said, pointing across the street to the sign in question. "Wait. Wait..." The sign went from the red hand to the white person. "Okay, now we can. Lead the way."
Shiri nodded a little, tilting her head in confused curiosity and then crossed the road. When on the other side, she continued to stare at the sign and then half climbed it to tap the little white person. "Is he trapped?"
"No, it's just a sign. A picture that flashes," Nick said, blinking up at her, hoping nobody was watching. She was really out of it. Did she even know what the date was?
Jumping down, Shiri shrugged. "As long as it is just a sign. I would not want to leave the little man all trapped. He could come with us." She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could feel her shrine. She could feel the other houses of worship, too. Like the threads of a spiderweb connecting to her. Or so she believed. Pointing down a dark street, she began to walk, "This way."
"How far is it, you think?" he said with a bit of a groan, following after. He missed his car. He wanted his car.
"You are a terrible pilgrim or a very impatient one," she murmured and took him by the hand.
"I've never pilgrim...ed."
"It is about the journey as much as it is the destination." What do they teach these mortals in school? It was all so confusing, just like how she viewed the world right now. Confused and mysterious to her. A fence stopped her walking and she frowned, shaking it with a gentle whimper. "Why are all these things in my way?"
With a bit of a sigh, he picked her up and put her on the other side. It wasn't even that high of a fence. "Because people put them there. They're... uh... challenges."
"They should be destroyed." Shiri looked to the heavens, as if expecting divine fire to fall from it and do just that, but nothing happened. The profane world remained in complete incomprehension to her. It remained and was everywhere. Clenching her eyes shut, she whimpered vocally and spiritually in her frustration. If she couldn't be at the festival, she wanted to be at her shrine... but everything was in her way.
Back at the bar, her priest and boyfriend felt that whimper. He probably heard it as well, but it had become difficult to tell what was only in his head from his goddess, what was caused by the shots of alcohol he'd taken, and what was merely the noise of the bar. Stepping back, he signaled to his neighbor to cover his spot for a moment, and slipped into the back area. Something was up with his goddess, and as she'd scolded him almost for praying contact earlier, he decided to switch to a more modern form of communication. He called her cell.
The phone rang and she looked down at it. It rang and rang. It rang and she knew it was Adam. Turning the phone over again and again in her pale hands, she remembered calling him before but how did she do it? What button made the little thing talk? "Make it work," she said to Nick as she presented it to him.
Ah, that he could do. Flipping it open, he replied, "Yo."
Adam blinked, taking a moment to think who might have Shiri's phone. "Nick?" he guessed. "Are you with Shiri?"
"At the moment, yeah. We're heading to a, uh, shrine. She's leading the way."
He gave a small sigh of relief, and pinched his nose. "Okay. What is wrong then? Why is she..." He paused to find the right word, considering what he could feel coming from her. "Frustrated?" Was that what he was feeling?
"A fence is in our way," Nick said, dropping a little further behind Shiri so he could whisper more privately but still keep her in eyesight. "She's really bugged out. Keeps talking about getting to this shrine but won't tell me what or where it is. Refused to go by car, and won't go around stuff like buildings to get there."
"She hates cars." Adam stated bluntly, without thought or pause. "And the shrine is probably at our house. She might not know that though. Do you know where our house is from where you are?"
"No. But she seems to know exactly where she's going. If I tell you where we are, do you think you could swing by?" the older mortal considered.
Shiri watched Nick speaking into the phone. It was her phone and her priest, but Nick was talking into it. Was that how this worked? Hmm, maybe. But it seemed like secrets. Secrets are not nice. Unless you are using him to give me a surprise gift. Are you?
There was silence to Nick's question as Adam focused on giving his goddess an answer. I am trying to help him guide you to your shine, [my goddess]. He is the compass I sent to you. Now, what had Nick asked? He tried to remember. "I can't drive tonight." He was barely holding his own at work as it was.
"Okay. We're at..." He looked up to the nearest sign and read it off. "Think it's that far? I've never been around this part of the city much."
Adam rattled off his house address, then thought about where they must be. "You can walk the distance. You might cross a coffee shop on a corner. If it's open, offer to buy her something." It was what Adam often did. And it seemed the right thing to do. Offer the goddess something, gain a bit of trust. And if she didn't want it, it wouldn't hurt to have offered. It was Adam's logic, even without thinking about the reasoning behind his statement or the logic of it.
Nick blinked a bit, confused. Hadn't that been Hestia's address for a while? "Will do, gotcha. See ya later."
Why yes, it had been, but now Hestia wasn't getting it back. Shiri waited, a touch impatiently, for Nick to be finished with whatever instructions he was clearly getting from her high priest. She would understand the exchange in no other way and it focused her attention completely and entirely onto Nick. Her mind raced to conclusions and images, thoughts and concepts and all of them now centered on Nick. "What are you to do?"
"To help you, [goddess]," he said quietly, turning his smile to her, "with whatever it is that you want."
Shiri smiled, taking the few steps between them and placed a hand along his cheek. Her priest was so wonderful to give her a mortal to guide her home and serve her in his absence. "I want to go to my shrine. I will understand there. All of this," she motioned around them, "It is... strange."
Nick flushed a bit at her touch. Poly was weird, he wouldn't lie. But, she was also pretty nice, motorcycle bit aside. "Tell me about it. I'll protect you while we get there. 'kay?"
That sounded about right. What else would a gift from her priest say but that? Perhaps he would become an acolyte... Oh my. She grew giddy at the very thought, almost bouncing from foot to foot. "And did he tell you the best way to do so?"
"Yes. Do you want to follow me, now, then? I can go around the buildings and such."
Shiri nodded. "I want to go to my shrine and you have instructions from my high priest. Lead me and I will follow." And maybe even try really hard not to be distracted by things they passed by. After all, Nick was currently Adam's vicar. It seemed fitting for her to try.
Oh thank God. Nick silently thanked his Christian patron and whatever Greek god besides Hermes was responsible for good fortune. He had a feeling Hermes would still be kind of butthurt at him anyway. Ah well. Reaching for her hand, he started to lead the way, down the sidewalks, around the buildings and fences, straight on until the yellow house was clear in view.
The muse took a deep breath when he silently thanked his gods. It may have been silently for him, but it was not for her. It was an echo that resonated in her mind and snaked around her soul like a gentle warm. But she said nothing about it. Instead, she merely lifted her own eyes to the heavens as she skipped beside him until she could see her home.
And then she broke Nick's grip and ran toward it, pulling on the doorknob when she got there. She knew this was the way in. She could feel her shrine so close!
Nick sighed happily and plopped down onto the front step. Phew. Safe at last.
Safe? Yes. In? No. No matter how hard Shiri pulled, the door would not open. A vague thought occurred in her mind and she rummaged in her bag and pulled out the keys but that was as far the thought went. She knew the keys opened the door but how? It was like she was missing the last page of the directions. "Come. I need your help some more..."
Huh what? Nick rubbed at his eyes but nodded, and took the keys to unlock the door, letting her step in first.
"Thank you," Shiri snatched the keys back and then his hand as she led/dragged him through the house, right to the bedroom. There was no consideration in her mind that this could be even remotely suggestive as she opened the door to the bedroom and turned on the lights. All this she understood. The lights came on and so there were the Grecian murals on the walls and the small enclave shrine dedicated to her. "Finally."
Nick blinked, stunned by the lights a bit. Whoa. this was interesting. Wait, did Mel need a shrine like this...? He'd ask when she was back home... For now, he looked around curiously.
There was a very predatory glint in the albino muse's eyes as she watched Nick look around, as he brought his eyes to her altar. "You said you came to pray..."
"Huh? Oh! Uh, yeah." Not wanting to offend, he knelt before the shrine, hands on his knees. Okay, nice thoughts. ... Praise be to Polyhymnia for guiding me with her, ah, wisdom and clarity. Please bless me with your grace and... divinity. Yes, bless me. Amen? He didn't often pray to Mel, and even then he was usually ... inspired.
Shiri titled her head a little at his prayer. It was in praise of her, yes. And thanking her and asking for a blessing... All the proper elements to a prayer, but there was more to it. Fear of offending... a sense of being forced. It was then she giggled. Oh my. She had forgotten how true Greek pagans prayed. This was right. Adam was just exceptional. Quieting, she stood behind him, placing her hands along either side of his face, "With my grace and divinity? That is quite difficult, but I appreciate you pray for things far beyond yourself." It was then she inspired him. INSPIRED him. What other blessing could a muse truly give when asked in such a manner? Her grace and divinity was summarized in it.
Whoa. This was getting weird fast. But Nick didn't move, blinking up at her. The illumination almost put a halo of soft light around her already pale body. She looked... quite surreal actually. But that thought was gone the instant the inspiration hit him like a brick in the mouth. "Oh gods," he gasped, reeling mentally and physically. "W-wha...?"
She felt his reeling in her nerves and along her skin. Her connection was so very great now, so close to her shrine and her sensitivity to the spiritual heightened from her particular highness. Poor little mortal. The blessing was a bit much for him. The muse knelt then and put her arms around him, "Shhh, it is okay. Do not fight it. Let your soul settle in its embrace and follow where it takes you. I am here."
Oh... okay... Feeling almost cathartic in her embrace, he returned the touch, putting his hands on her arms in a stark contrast of tanned and pale. His worries were melting away by the second. No need to freak out now. He could feel the calmness that came with utter faith, and smiled peacefully.
"Good. Good," she murmured gently and rhythmically into his ears, the quickness of her intoxication giving way to purposefully tempo. She smiled at his calmness, the warmth of his hands along her arms. But calmness was only the first step... Pray. Pray as your heart wishes you to pray. If you know not what to say, I will guide you. Listen to your heart and your soul.
"Ooooookay..." he replied. Wait, did he say that? Or think it? This was far different than being with Mel under her influence; she made him aware, almost painfully, of each emotion good and bad and how they affected his body. But instead, he could almost feel his body slowing to a calmer state until his eyes closed, listening to her musical words. And he prayed, to her and God, in a way he couldn't really put in words. But he could feel the force of his own faith like a warm towel all around him. Oh God. Gods. Polyhymnia. Everything.
Sighing blissfully, he wrapped his arms about her waist, seeking a placeholder back in the real world. Really didn't wanna fall over at this moment.
Shiri wouldn't let him fall, her grip was strong but gentle and her body stiff but soft, perfect to lean against and be supported by. His words and his prayers that couldn't be contained within such concepts flooded her mind and she nodded. I have you. Be not afraid. Forget this world and seek your god. I will be here to keep you safe. And if you fall asleep in exhaustion I will watch over you.
I trust you. And, he did. Utterly, without thought, clinging to her now more out of desire to be closer than fear of falling, resting his cheek to her forehead.
The muse made no move. After all, she was all ready knelt perfectly straight and tall. And she saw no reason why she should move. His desire didn't worry or concern her. All she understood was his fervor and she understood his desire and clinging as part of it. Somehow, it was all fitting... Adam had given him to be her compass and yet she was the one leading him now. But Adam probably knew this would happen. What else could she and would she do with a seeking mortal as a gift. Her belief was absolute in that theory and her attention totally focused on Nick now. Just let yourself go and I will make sure you find your way back. In reward for bringing me to my shrine, I will make sure of it.
He smiled absently and nodded. Thank you. And leaned in to give her a kiss. Hee~
Her whole body tensed as she understood what his leaning in meant. Before her altar, in the room dedicated to her, her eyes burnt a bright blue in holy indignation at the mortal's audacity, but her hand was steadied, her eyes returned to pink and she didn't strike with her power or inspiration to correct the matter. She remembered. He was a gift, but not all gifts came perfectly assembled or taught. He didn't understand what he was doing.
And so, she moved her hands and held them against his shoulders to hold him in place and prevent him from that kiss. You are unworthy of such a thing. It is not your right to kiss me but I accept your thanks.
Oh, sorry, goddess. That snapped him back to reality a bit, blushing with a bit of embarrassment. What was he thinking, anyway? Adam's girlfriend, not his girlfriend... Just gotta ignore the way she looked right now. All... beautiful and... spiritual and... ooh.
You are forgiven. Within the resonance of sounds in her mind and in the spiritual world she viewed in her intoxication, she understood little, but she did understand that something prevented this mortal before her from performing the task of his soul. Gently, she stroked his hair and then brought her fingers along the lids of his eyes to close them, letting just a little more of her inspiration soak into his already flooded system. He was a challenge... the muse liked that. Be still. Focus your mind to mediate on the divine and allow your soul to cry out as it wishes. Between the two is the peace most will never know and none ever understands. I will not leave you, but you will probably think you have left me.
I'm sorry, then, he replied quietly. He sighed again, and settled in, completely at peace.
You need not be sorry. She let her hands smooth down to his shoulders and let out her own quiet sigh. She could feel his peace like silk against her skin. Her focus would remain on him until that peace led to exhaustion and exhaustion led to sleep. He was in her care as he prayed at her shrine, which was her bedroom, even if it wasn't to her. In a way, it made the shrine feel more ancient to her. She had always been a gateway to praying to other, more powerful gods...
With a smile, she closed her eyes and brought her focus momentarily to her priest and let her words echo in his soul instead of Nick's. Unfortunately for Adam, his deeper, closer connection to her still provided him with the sense the chaos in her mind... but it was calming now. In her purpose, her mind was calming, too. Adam. Adam.... When you return to me, try not to trip over Nick. He is too heavy to pick up from the floor.,
Off at the bar, Adam closed his eyes for a moment to hear the call from his goddess. He could feel the difference in her voice, even as he realized it without having it as a conscious thought. Okay, that seemed better. He focused on her, and sent back a thought. I will try... Nick was asleep on his floor? Well, at least he knew. I'll be home in a few hours. He would just need to find a ride home.
Thank you, my sweet priest. And with that the muse opened her eyes and settled in her own sense of a peace. Safely in her home before her altar in what was her shrine with a mortal to guide in prayer and her high priest coming to her soon, she understood. No amount of intoxication confused her from this.
This all made perfect sense.
This was right.
She was home.
And in the morning they were all going to have to find a way to get to their abandoned vehicles.
Summary: Adam grew concerned after reading the text message of Shiri's intoxicated confession of being high and so tried to find out where she was. However, Shiri is in no state to respond and an unreliable narrator, so he calls Mel, and then Nick. Nick is the one who finds her and leads her home.