Shiri Eneas (pensivxpression) wrote in olympian_rewind, @ 2010-01-31 19:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | nick aiolos, pelops, polyhymnia, shiri eneas |
Who: Shiri & Nick/Pelops
What: Split Personalities are hard
Where: Miami beach, mostly.
When: Sunday afternoon
Warnings: none
Sunshine. Sunshine, wind, sea salt, so many things that he had forgotten, he felt as his own. At first it had been almost overwhelming. But now, he walked down the beach in stride with a wide proud grin on his borrowed face. The mortal had been asleep at the time, resting after a large stack of legal paperwork in Greek and English, and it had been too tempting not to resist. What further plans he had, he was still dwelling on. But for now, he was enjoying simple things as he walked up to a cart vendor and made his order.
Mmm. Strawberry ice cream.
Ah, sunshine, wind and sea salt. All things that made her not only forget how weary her body felt from the two yoga classes she had taught prior but also ignore how forbidden it was to attend her sweet Methodists' Sunday service like she just had. She couldn't help herself. Her yoga classes at the private gym had just been too annoying and she needed that all out of her system. But now she sought another vice. A more acceptable vice.
Shiri made her way to where she knew an ice cream cart was and paused at the man standing in front of it. More importantly blocking her way. “Move. Other people want to buy ice crea...” Was that Nick? No matter. “Step back while you are eating, Nicky.”
The mortal froze quicker than ice. Oh shit. An immortal. This one was... was... one of the Muses. Not the one 'he' was married to, but another. "[Sorry.] Sorry," he added quickly, stepping back away from the line. He had let himself get distracted. That was foolish.
Ancient Greek? Off the bat? Hmm, that seemed a little off. Shiri narrowed her eyes at him in thought, but said nothing for the moment. Her priorities were clearly in order. Ice cream first. Nick second. Only after she had her multi flavored ice cream cone with sprinkles did she wheel around in one fluid motion and grab the mortal by the sleeve. “Come with me.”
He yanked it back just as quickly, but made sure to give her a smile. "Why? Heading somewhere?" he asked as pleasantly as possible.
She wheeled again, easily walking backwards with her ice cream, “Yes. Together. Away from here and crowds.”
For a moment, he considered resisting. But, he had to remember, he was Nicodemus at the moment. And the little boy would have no reason to flee from her. So he offered her a smile and nodded, following after. Completely innocent...
Shiri continued to walk backwards and once again grabbed his sleeve as some sort of mix between impatient child and concerned adult. Then, as if she had eyes in the back of her head, she stopped right before walking into a tree trunk, only to then lean back against it to enjoy her ice cream. One lick, two licks... “What is up with you, Nicky? You are smiling too much.”
"Well, I've got ice cream, that makes me pretty happy..." he pointed out, holding up the cone in his hand.
“Nah. You are not the smiley kind of guy. Not like this.” Shiri released his sleeve only to look around a bit, “And I do not see Melly in a bush or anything like that so I doubt it is just the ice cream.”
"How often have you seen me eat ice cream?" replied the mortal with a shrug. Pushy stupid wench of a goddess. But he didn't say that part, of course.
“Hmm,” Shiri had to actually pause and think about that. How many times had she seen him eat ice cream? It was a good enough question. None? Was that right? Ugh. She had to take Nick out for ice cream more often. If only to make up for when she had been so high... “I guess never.”
"Well. I really like ice cream." Except that was a lie; Nick was more of a yogurt person. But, as he'd pointed out, what did she know? "What are you doing out here? Didn't expect to see you..."
Shiri literally had to look around to the picturesque surroundings, “It is a nice Sunday afternoon.” Sure, it was not exactly why she was outside but it was what she was currently doing. “Adam likes to sleep in so I am enjoying myself in the sunshine. How come you did not bring Melly and Helen with you? They like ice cream.”
"They're hanging out with Thalia, doing Muse-y type stuff. I felt like a walk around the pier." And as he said that, he felt a twinge in his face, a tug of a muscle. Ah. Shit. How long had he been in control now? Over an hour, an hour and a half, maybe... far longer than ever before. He would have to let go soon before he lost his hold on the mortal's mind.
Shiri was not one to respect personal space. It was a foreign concept to her and without a thought, she reached out and touched where his face had twinged, lightly running a single finger over the spot.
He shivered. Or, rather, Nicodemus' body shivered. But he was the one feeling the sensation, and it had been so long since he himself had felt the touch of a woman. Not even the fact that the woman was an immortal could revile him after such a long time.
Now, Shiri grew a strange curious concerned. First he was twinging and then shivering. The shivering could have easily been the ice cream finally hitting his system, she supposed, but that meant nothing to her curiosity. She stepped forward a little more, resting her hand flat against his cheek, “You sure you are okay, Nicky?” Maybe Thalia got him before he left the house. That would explain some things.
"Your fingers are ticklish," he argued, and took a step back.
She frowned a little, but let him step back, looking down at her own hand. She hadn't meant to tickle him. It was just wasn't polite when she didn't like being tickled herself. “Sorry. Sorry. I did not mean to.”
Oh. She'd been upset. And if she was upset, she would talk to Melpomene, and Melpomene would ask him about it at the time when he was not in control, and it was just down hill from there. Quickly, he offered her a smile and said, "It's okay. Look, I gotta go pick up Mel, can I talk to you later?"
Flick. Sometimes it was just that simple to cheer Shiri up. Her frown instantly shifted back into a smile. She remembered that the sun was warm against her skin, she had ice cream in her hand and maybe she had just caught Nick at an odd moment. That certainly sounded like Nick. “Alright. Only if you promise to actually talk to me later.” She giggled lightly as her thoughts continued on, “If she is still occupied with Sissy, later could be very soon even.”
Under his left eye, a muscle twitched. And there was a frightful, worried moan in his head that was beginning to get louder every second. "Catch you [later], then," he said, and turned on his heel to walk swiftly down the board walk. Faster, faster, had to get to the car, faster, faster, faster...
Shiri leaned back against the tree, licking away the melted ice cream that had begun to drip down her hand as she watched Nick power walk away from her. Nope. She was back to pondering him and why that “later” had been in ancient Greek. It made the whole phrase sound so odd in her head like that.
Why had he parked at the end of the boardwalk? WHY? The twitches were becoming spasms, and he felt himself trip, but it was hard to feel. No! He had to at least get into the car. Only a few yards away...
But it was too far, and too much effort. With a small gasp, Pelops lost control, and Nick fell face first against the wood flooring of the pier.
Whoa, now there was no time for thought or ice cream. Shiri let the half eaten ice cream cone fall from her hand as she rushed over to him as fast as her graceful muses legs could. She seriously hoped he hadn't just had a stroke in front of her. A stroke and a heart attack. A stroke-attack! Bah! That would happen to a mortal belonging to Melly. She grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him over, shaking him lightly while demanding, “You stop this right now. You are not supposed to be doing this in front of me!”
A few people gasped and rushed over as the muse did, but didn't touch him, merely stood around looking nervously for someone who knew what to do. Nick himself groaned hoarsely and his head rolled back as the goddess lifted him up, eyes rolling around without sense of direction. "Nnnnnah, no, no, [no], gyah..."
Ooh, conscious was good. Even without being a muse of Apollo, she would have known that much. Ceasing her shaking of him, she carefully eased him to be rested in her arms as she knelt down more comfortably beside him. With a quick glare to the little crowd to back off and leave them be, she softened her gaze and whispered to him, “Come back now, Nicky. You are only supposed to do stuff like that in front of Melly, Helen and like hundred of your closest family and friends at some big event. Not here.”
Whether by reflex or actual intent, both of his hands grasped her thin wrists and held tight. His palms were cold as death and slick with sweat. The rest of him shivered while his eyes continued to struggle for focus. "P-p-p-poly?" he murmured in a confused, hoarse voice
A shiver of her own went down her spine, but it was out of instinctual disgust as her soul physically protested her name shortened on the lips of a mortal. However, she was able to let the feeling remain solely as that shiver. Instead, she focused on his grip and its cool, slickness. That was less than pleasant, but on the plus side, she didn't think that was a side effect of a stroke. With a smile, she gently kissed his forehead, “Come back, Nicky.”
There was no response as he seemed distracted with the effort of breathing, short quiet gasps before they began to even out more deeply and calm. The small crowd, some of them already pulling out cell phones and calling 911, stopped to watch in silence. After a long moment, Nick's eyes came to a stop on Shiri's face, and blinked.
Calm was something she approved of. She could live with him blinking at her. With another kiss to his forehead, Shiri again turned her attention to the small crowd once again. Uh oh. Cellphones were out. Not good. Maybe. She wasn't sure. She took a deep breath. “He is okay. Just give him a bit. No need to bring the paramedics out...” But then she questioned her own words and whispered into his ear, “Right?”
"Wh... where am I?" He groaned and shivered again. His face was a pale white. "What're you doing...?"
If he had some sort of amnesia she was going to have to applaud Mel's ability to have tragedy orbit around her before she broke the news to her. Shiri made a point to promise herself that as she ran her fingers along his cheek. He really was pale, almost as pale as her hand. That really had to change or her own panicked heart was never to going calm, “In a parking lot. And I will be kissing you if you do not get some color back to your face.” She was certain that would do it. And if it didn't paramedics would be coming out.
If it was a joke, Nick didn't seem to catch it. Rather, he looked increasingly frightened and confused. "But I was at... at home... I don't remember coming here," he murmured, looking down to his hands. They were shaking some, still.
It hadn't been a joke. It had been a threat, abet an odd one. Shiri just knew that no matter how pale a person was that being kissed long and hard by an attractive person would put some color in their face. She knew it for a fact. However, at his frightened, confused look she held back on carrying through and also held back on her urge to go “aww”. He looked like some lost puppy all of a sudden to her. But she had seen that look elsewhere besides on puppy dogs and that made her shake head a little, “That looked like quite a bender, Nicky. And now a classic blackout of all of it. Did Melly take anything with you, too?”
"I don't know. I was taking a nap at the house," he tried to explain.
Acid was a hell of a drug. Who knew what the mortals had come up with since the 1960s? Maybe she would ask Dionysus later. He would know. “Do not remember anything after the nap? Or taking anything before the nap?” she murmured to him in the most pleasant tone she could muster.
"After..." He still looked very much afraid. Rubbing his hands to try and warm them up, he added quietly. "I went to sleep and... I just don't know... Can we leave, like now?"
“Yeah, in the end, it is not important.” She nudged him lightly with her shoulder as she shifted slightly. She wouldn't press him anymore. It was time to get him home, “Can you get up?”
Well, he hadn't tried yet, so he gingerly got onto his knees, and then to his feet. While wobbly, he seemed to be keeping his balance. The worried crowd seemed placated and, when assured by Nick that the ambulances weren't needed, parted from the pair.
“Good, good.” Shiri kept close to him just the same. She wasn't going to just let him fall on his face if he did lose his balance. Carefully, she put an arm around his waist just to be sure. “Now, you do not think I am letting you drive home, right?”
"No. I don't want to."
Hmm, that was an interesting response. “Do not want to go home or do not want me to let you drive? Because I assure you, I am not letting you drive. I can be very persistent.”
"Drive. Don't wanna drive," he said firmly, which in itself was telling; Nick hated being a passenger in just about any form of travel.
Shiri frowned a little at that, glancing over at his car with a moment of suspicion. When was the last time she had driven a car? In the 80s? No, that was a terrible experience. She had only driven that stolen Soviet truck in a perfectly straight line until it stopped working. The 60s? Ironic. That's when she had been high hippie... Oh dear. “You sure you trust me with your car?” Your shiny, shiny car.
"Yeah, sure." Clearly not thinking straight, but he was thinking of more. What was going on? Sleepwalking? Maybe... he felt like he had been dreaming. No, it felt more like waking from a nightmare. Something with his body moving but battering against walls that weren't there and screaming with a voice no one seemed to hear.
If he brought up the fact he thought it was sleepwalking, Shiri would understand. Perhaps, she would even remember how she had woken up pretty much in Adam's arms confused about why she was at his dorm. She could make the connection, but her mind wasn't focused on even thinking about that. Instead, she was looking at his car and bracing herself. Okay, no freaking out and no crashing it. “Okay, Nicky. Give me your keys and I will bring you home.” Very slowly. “It is only fair. You brought me home that one time.”
He looked up at her, surprised out of his thoughts at her request. "Huh? Oh. Yeah..." He fished around in his pockets and handed them over, complacently getting into the passenger side.
She took the keys, now lost in her own thoughts as she settled into the driver's seat. There was a constant stream of thoughts in her mind now, going over everything she ever knew about cars. She thought back to the few times she had driven... to every movie with cars in she had ever seen... to every time Adam drove when she didn't just have her eyes clenched shut. Okay, she could do this. Carefully, she put the car into reverse and pulled it out of the spot. “So, um, are you okay?”
"I dunno. This is... the second time? I don't know,"he said, and held his head in his hands. "I think."
“The second time? What do you mean, 'the second time?' “ Shiri asked as she neared a corner and hit the lever she knew would make the blinkers go on. And then hit it the other way when she simultaneously heard the voice of a teenage boy in her head instructing her in Urdu that was the wrong one and saw the wrong arrow go on. Why did cars have to have all these levers? Sigh.
"A music shop. I just... blanked out. And found myself on the beach, almost an hour later." Nick looked over to her and, carefully, pulled the lever to put her in the correct gear. "Wait. Why're you driving? You hate cars."
That explanation did nothing to dissuade her from her drug theory. Instead, it just reminded her of stories of people having effects from drugs even years after they took them. And here she thought that had just been an old wives' tale. “Stop touching things,” she scolded lightly, catching sight of him pulling levers on her behalf. It came out in the same tone a mother would use with her teenager son, if only because that was the only other time in her life a person just pulled levers like that and it was on her mind. However, she took a deep breath and smiled, “I do. But my freaking out in them seems to be slow coming. That could be from driving like a stereotype, but you were not going to drive nor would I let you. Remember?”
"I guess." Even to his fear-addled brain, it seemed weird for her to drive with her fear, even if he was potentially going mad. Why was he even worrying about that, though?! "Do you know the way?"
It only seemed weird that for her to drive because it was weird for her to be driving. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but not in its normal automotive fear. This was all from nerves. Driving wasn't as easy as it looked and if they got pulled over, she wasn't licensed to do it. “Yeah. I have rode near your house before from the beach. I like looking at your horses sometimes.”
"Oh." A bit of his fear went away. He felt vaguely aware he should be more worried. But he felt the adrenaline draining, and something was tugging at the back of his mind. Sleep... Forget... Just rest... you'll feel better, soon... It was tempting; he half-closed his eyes just considering it, leaning heavily into his seat.
“Nicky...,” she said softly, but then paused, unsure what she actually wanted to tell him. That he had scared her? That just because he was probably doomed to a horribly dramatic death because of loving Mel, he should stop running head long into it? That he owed her an ice cream cone since she had to get rid of hers to help him? All maybes. But instead, she went with, “I am glad you seem better. I do not know what else I can do to help...”
Blinking, the mortal looked up at her, a bit stunned. He hadn't been expecting that. "Oh... it's fine. You're a muse. Not a doctor. Right?"
Muse of the Doctor-god. Did that count? Shiri didn't think so. “I guess...” Why did his house seem so far away? Oh right, because she was illegally, nervously driving making everything feel like it was going very fast and yet incredibly slow. But she wasn't panicking. Good. Good. “You only did this twice, right?”
"I... I think so? I don't even know what I did!"
The person behind her was honking. Honking only made Shiri want to drive slower and now that she was in a car and not on a motorcycle, she felt all the more safer to to do it. Instead of speeding up, she kept on the same speed, but now leaned a little so her elbow was out the window to make a point to the guy behind her. She was in no rush. “Well, when I found you, all you did was act confident, happy and enjoy ice cream, so do not worry about today...”
"What?! I was doing what?!" No. He had to calm down. Nick groaned and held his head down against his knees as best as the seatbelt would let him. Deep breath. "The fuck, the fuck, the fuck."
Now that was the Nick she knew! Shiri knew she had been right that Nick had been acting too happy and hence weird. But still, she glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, “I know you are not normally the happiest guy, but that seems a little extreme.”
"Something's going on with my head, isn't it?"
“Probably.” Shiri shrugged, “Like you said, I am not a doctor. I was married to a few of various disciplines and I belong to the Doctor-god, but I am not a doctor.”
Nick didn't answer; he was too busy staring at the floor, trying to think of evil things his brain would do to him. Amnesia? Brain tumor? Insanity? Given his favored company, all seemed likely. Maybe all at once.
Shiri frowned a little as his house began to come into view. His silence filled her with sympathy. Maybe there was a less terrible explanation than holes in his brain from extended drug use in his slightly younger years, “Do you have a family history of things like this?”
"My great grandfather once claimed that he heard the voice of Athena whenever he went to the Parthenon... Um, nobody's had cancer. Or gone crazy. I dunno, never really asked..." he sighed.
“Your guess is as good as mine then. Maybe you are just under a lot of stress...” Shiri could believe that much. Nick's life could be stressful enough maybe.
"I've been way stressed out, trust me. And I've never gone out and gotten ice cream in my sleep. Park in the garage," he added, reaching over to hit the button that would tell the door to lift up.
The words 'stress' and 'sleep' made a thought flash in her mind and if anyone asked her, that was why she pulled into the garage on a slant and then hit the brakes too hard. It would make for a good excuse. She looked over to Nick with a frown, reaching over to touch his cheek lightly, “I am sorry, Nicky. I have been carrying on assuming you were doing drugs. Maybe you are sleepwalking. I feel horrible...” By horrible, she actually meant, stupid, but a combination of pride and eloquence choose a different word.
The mortal looked up at her with an upraised eyebrow. And before he could stop it, a thought crashed through his head. She's not REALLY sorry, she's just pretending to, don't trust her, she'll use you, DON'T TRUST HER--
"It's okay," was what he said and shook his head, unlocking the door before getting out. "Thanks for driving me here... I'm gonna see if I can get a hold of Mel."
Shiri got out, too, with a smile. He was safely home. “You are welcome, Nicky.” Letting her body shudder as she slammed the driver's side door shut, she looked to him again, “Have Melly handcuff you to the bed and keep the key. That is what I had Adam do when I was sleepwalking for a bit... if that is what is going on with you.”
Nick had a feeling that wasn't really the reason she had Adam handcuff her, but whatever. "Okay. I'd talk to a psychiatrist, but I don't think they'd believe half the shit I'd have to talk about."
Those particular times it was, but that wasn't the reason they owned the handcuffs. Shiri nodded a little bit, “Maybe one of those new age counselers would. Of course, I only have seen them on television.”
Nick snorted. "Yeah, no, sorry." Ah, getting back to normal quickly. "Do you need me to call a taxi for you?"
The word 'taxi' made her shudder. Shudder hard. “No. I think I would rather walk back to my bike. It is only a few miles, right?”
"... Want me to call Adam?"
Shiri sighed. She was being illogical and irrational wanting to walk miles to her bike, just to avoid going into a car. Glancing to Nick's car again, she shook her head. It was all his car's fault she was in this mess.... Her driving it left her stranded. “I guess so. I guess I could call him myself, too...”
"If you want to. I'm just gonna go... lay down. After I call Mel. You can use our phone, if you want," he said with a sigh, turning to head into the house, leaving it open for her to follow him. He was just so tired. His head, no his whole body, ached. There was a bed here, he wanted it, so bad...
“Okay, Nicky,” she called after him, watching him disappear deeper into the house as she followed, abet a distance behind. Shiri watched him, not especially wanting to leave until he at least made it to the soft, secure embrace of his bed or at least a couch. Luckily, she had a wait on her hands anyway. “Try to relax...”
Summary: Pelops managed to wrestle control over Nick's body from Nick and took it out for a nice little trip in the sun of the Miami beach. However, he ran into Shiri there and could not evade her before having give control back to Nick. Nick – very confused.