Who: Erato and Atlas (and NPC Frigga, briefly) What: Val goes to DC and runs into Atlas again. Where: Ridgekeep Compound When: Feb 23rd, evening Warnings: Atlas envisions some disturbing things
Valentine was in an extreme huff by the time she got to D.C., and her mood had deteriorated to epically low levels by the time she'd gotten to Ridgekeep. All she wanted was to hug her children and ride out the tide of this horrible family conflict with the half of her family that managed to keep her somewhat calm. She made her way up to the apartment that Freyra and Frigga shared, a dark look etched onto her face as she knocked at the door.
Frigga, on the other hand, was in the opposite of a huff. Even with the compound quiet and mostly empty, she was more than occupied. Three little children vyed for her attention and she had to watch their giant...Titan companion. The babies were terrible at the puzzle, but Atlas proved to be useful help. She lifted her head at the knock on the door. "Atlas, can you get that? If it's friendly, let them in. If it's one of those Subrosa people, grind them into paste."
Atlas grunted an affirmative. He didn't understand the point of these "puzzles". That said, he didn't take his eyes off of the work in progress until he nearly tripped over an end table. There was something satisfying about seeing the puzzle take shape before his eyes. Atlas sighed. He had been around these godlings too long. He suddenly hoped he would be met at the door by a platoon of "Subrosa". Then he could see what would happen if he really crushed someone to a paste. He pulled open the door quickly, hoping to surprise whatever was on the other side.
The muse was surprised, letting out a shrill yelp. Valentine had not expected Atlas to be in the same place as her children. In fact, after all the freaking out she'd done that was the last place she expected Atlas to be. A huge bubble of anger rose up in her, but she was reminded of her conversation with Hephaestus where he cautioned her to give the Titan rehabilitation program a chance. She wanted to hit the man in front of her, but instead she hit the wall beside the door frame. Then she remembered that she was built for writing poetry and not prize fighting. She doubled over, clutching her hand and hissing out all manner of colorful curses.
Hmm, that sounded like Valentine. And only a Greek muse, in the absense of Baulder would be able to put together that kind of colorful string of curses. Frigga stood up and glanced around Atlas and then smiled. "Hello, Valentine. You're children are fine, if a bit sleepy." She then turned to Atlas, "She's fine. She wouldn't make good paste for bread anyway."
Atlas shrugged. It was all the same to him. This odd little woman must be here to see Frigga. All manner of odd little women came to her room. After listening to more advice on how to rein in straying husbands and the best ways to get pregnant, Atlas began to tune them out. The fact that he recognized this one didn't make all that much difference. Though it did make her pain funnier. With a grin, Atlas sat back down at the puzzle. He picked up a puzzle piece with a cat's face on it. Which cat did this go to?
"I think I need ice," Val muttered, flexing her hand open and closed. At least Frigga was also there with her children, and she was keeping Atlas preoccupied with...a puzzle? She was ever surprised by those zany Norse. Real relief came, however, when she saw her little bundles of joy, and she rushed over to plant kisses on them. It didn't matter that they were tired or fussy. She needed to love them for a little while and heal over the hurt that Teddy had brought on.
Frigga liked puzzles. They were relaxing, but she merely nodded and went into the kitchen area to retrieve some ice and an icepack. "You should have struck with your palm. It wouldn't have hurt as much."
"Palm punches are not nearly as satisfying," Val muttered, letting Adabella latch onto her finger. "They've been behaving themselves? I'm sorry my husband dropped the three of them off so suddenly. It's just been...it's been chaos."
"Some combat sports, such as Pancrase, have forbidden strikes using the clenched fist but permit strikes using the palm," Atlas muttered absently. There's that faceless cat. Satisfied, Atlas looked up at Val. "[It must be serious to get your husband and the rest of his kith and kin rushing off like excited children.]" Atlas didn't know the truth of what was going on, only that he wasn't invited and now he was doing puzzles with this woman instead of something more interesting.
Frigga didn't speak Greek and the conversation had gone from Pancrase, something she could talk about to, something she couldn't. With a smile, she handed Val the ice pack and then made her way back to the kitchen, "I think it's time for me to make us all lunch. Keep having your secret talks."
"[Fairly serious,]" Val murmured suspiciously, unsure of Atlas still. She wasn't going to be telling him the whole story about Subrosa and the attacks on the Greeks because she was fairly sure that he would get too much enjoyment out of it. Still, her babies seemed in no mood to play, and she was too tired to sustain any kind of raging anger. She sat down across the table from him, glancing at the remaining puzzle pieces.
"I doubt these mortals can truly pose any serious threat," Atlas said with a shrug. His use of a dead language had been for mockery, not for secrets. His jibe completed, he dropped the pretense. "I've fought enough of them." He looked at Val for a moment. "If you want to help, put together some of these accursed cats. This 'puzzle' overflows with them." Kitties were Frigga's favorite part, maybe putting them all together in her absence would get a rise out of the damnably calm woman.
"This group is...devout in its desire to ruin all the old gods. What they lack in strength and brains, they make up for in blind acts of defiance," Valentine murmured, glancing from Atlas back to the puzzle pieces. She took a few in her hand, examining their edges and coloring. She placed one down, clicking it in. "[Thank you for not hurting my children.]" Her brother had believed they could extend peace to Atlas. With this new threat, she was starting to see the need for it--she just wasn't sure that this would not blow up in their faces.
Atlas frowned as he pushed in another piece of the puzzle. He was both unsure of the meaning behind Val's words and of whether or not that piece went where he placed it.
"[Why would I waste my time murdering the children of the people who not only have me outnumbered, but watch me like a hawk all hours of the day?]" He shook his head dismissively. "[There are better things to do in this mortal world. And now that I am free, I plan on doing them]." Atlas didn't feel like telling the truth that he was not as free as he might wish. He hoped briefly the fanatically stupid mortals might succeed a tiny bit. Just against Zeus and his spawn and the witch. Then they could meet their inevitable fate.
"[Better things?]" Val tried to sound genuinely interested as she shuffled through the pieces for a striped tail. Where was it!? "[Do they keep you well preoccupied here?]" Ridgekeep kept a rigorous pace. "I'm Erato, by the way..."
"Who?" Atlas thought a moment. "Oh, right. My daughters told me of you." Atlas looked her up an down as she sat across from him. "I would have figured you'd be more fun. The daughter of filandering Zeus and the steward of naughty poetry? Times have changed." Atlas placed a piece with the number 8 on it. He had been waiting for that one, as it was not a cat. "The godlings here use me as they will. They are obsessed with combat and feasting." Atlas wondered if he could shock the steward of naughty poetry. "A little more fucking and it would be ideal. If I could find a woman here less frigid than the land they hail from."
"Yes, they're quite different. But I like my in laws," Val shrugged, placing down another two pieces. She didn't worry so much about the cursing and young ears as her lips were hardly chaste. "I can be very fun. When I want to be....I have three kids don't I?" Proof enough that she knew how to have a good time. "Those just don't pop magically out of no where." Maybe back in the day. Definitely not anymore.
"But now they are three little locks connected to the chains that seal your loins." Atlas considered another piece. All these cats were beginning to look the same. "It's a shame, as mortal women are so fragile and tire so easily." The witch was scrupulous about keeping the mortals far away from Atlas and keeping Atlas himself very busy. She could not always keep them apart, but she tried. Atlas suspected she enjoyed it.
"Not entirely--it's just that three babies will keep any mother insanely busy. Besides that I am happily married. I am done sowing my wild oats for now..." Val frowned, thinking about Apollo. She added a hushed "mostly." She glanced at the children, who were conked out for the moment. The triplets were very good about all staying on the same schedule, for which she was ever grateful. "Meaningless sex is all well and good, but being in a relationship is better." She was surprised that this wasn't an entirely unpleasant conversation. It was keeping her mind off of things at least.
"I agree," Atlas began with a small smile. "Meaningless sex is all well and good. Besides--" the smile slid from Atlas' face "--I spent more than a millennium as part of a mountain. Any relationships I had have been severed. Now, I make up for lost time." Atlas spread his arms as if to encompass the world.
"I suppose if I had been side tracked for that long I would feel the same way you do," Val murmured thoughtfully, leaning back in her seat. She waved a hand dismissively in the air. "But I've spent too much time alone. I am one of nine. I wasn't built for that detached life. I needed to connect to someone. Freyr was an excellent choice for that. Plus I got a big party out of it!"
Atlas dropped the puzzle piece he was holding. He glared at Val, eyes blazing.
"'Too much time alone'? Do not speak to me about 'too much time alone'! Trapped between the earth and sky, having the life slowly crushed from you! Always watching others live their lives as you die each day!" Atlas had had visitors, of course. Gods and goddesses and mortals who wanted something from him. It had not always been unpleasant, especially when the goddesses visited. But those brief visits had never allowed him to forget his onus, and they did nothing to cool his anger now. "And at the end, there was no 'party', just more pain and degradation! Were Zeus here, my party would be throttling the life out of him as I repaid him the tiniest portion of my pain!" Atlas slammed his fist into the table, sending puzzle pieces flying in all directions. The table bore a deep dent, but was commendably still in one piece.
Erato frowned. Yes, that was exactly what she had been afraid of--the monster of their nightmares with a vendetta that would never die. Her response was cold. "I apologize for my choice of words." She wanted to smack him or flip him the bird. They had suffered as well. Their Fall had been far. Still, anger would do her no good. If he knew that all of the commotion at Ridgekeep was to save Zeus--to keep him alive--he would probably have been furious. That thought was comforting enough to keep her from losing her cool again. She stood, moving towards her children. She called to the kitchen. "Frigga, I'll be taking the children to my apartment now. No need to prepare anything for me."
Frigga stepped out of the kitchen at those words and only quickly glanced at Atlas before focusing all her attention on Valentine. She wouldn't blame Atlas for Val's sudden need to depart, though she would blame him for the loud slam on her table. She had been told by Freyr the Greeks had fickle emotions, not that she should ever say that. Valentine may have simply had a moment of fickleness, "I already started. Besides, no one is in the apartment downstairs..."
"Yes and that would be why it is ideal," Val muttered, sitting down beside her babies. Still, Frigga had started cooking. She was not going to put her out. She was having a terrible day. Atlas was just the icing on the horrible cake. "Fine. I'll stay a little while longer, but I am eager to get some rest...I have been busy in Miami."
Frigga shook her a little and went back into the kitchen, but as soon as she was there she called out, "Valentine, honey, come in here for a second please?"
Valentine frowned, getting to her feet and going into the kitchen at Frigga's request. "Yes?"
The Aesir handed the little muse a plate of meatballs with dipping sauce, "Just to tide the two of you over until the actual lunch is finished and..." She then leaned in to whisper, subtly confessing she had been eavesdropping, "And stop talking to him about the past. No one is happy talking about defeats." And with that she gave Valentine a small nudge back into the living room area.
Atlas fumed noisily at the table. He gnashed his teeth and cracked his knuckles. First he was mocked, now he was ignored! The apology meant less than nothing to him. He was still trapped. He knew it before, but now he felt it. He was crushed on both sides by these idiotic godlings and the sniveling spawn of Zeus. Was his life truly worth living this miserable existence? Was that what he was protecting?
Valentine scowled, but she swallowed down the snippy remark on the tip of her tongue. Leaving the kitchen, she crossed over to the table, setting the meatballs down in front of Atlas. She sat back down in the chair across from him, trying hard to be civil. "[Do you also find her obsession with cat puzzles strange?]" It was better than talking about the past.
Atlas glared at her again. He considered cutting her throat with a broken plate and drowning her babies in their mother's blood before raping Frigga to death in the kitchen. But a part, a small part, screamed at him that that path lead only to death and oblivion. Patience! Patience is the sacrifice he made for freedom and revenge.
"[No,]" Atlas sighed. The weight on his back felt heavier. "[It suits her.]"
"[The doilies most certainly suit her,]" Val murmured, glancing anywhere but at Atlas. "[I simply had no idea that such a variety of cat puzzle existed.]" This was painful. She wanted to put the babies in their crib and curl up and sleep until her husband came home. Yet she was forced into this awkward chit chat. She'd have to have a chat with her brother about this later.
Atlas narrowed his eyes. He saw an opportunity to share his discomfort. That would salve his wounds.
"Oh, do you not enjoy cats? That is no reason to insult my host's room so." It was petty and childish, and Atlas enjoyed it immensely.
Val would not give him the satisfaction of getting emotional--not when she could easily complain to her husband in the near future about the lying anyway. "I'm more of a dog person really--Frigga have you ever met my dog?" She called out to the woman in the kitchen, a song in her voice. The musical tone of her speech managed to rouse Ingrid, who cooed and started to attempt her baby singing. This in turn woke up her siblings who joined in. All of a sudden Valentine was feeling very comfortable and calm--certainly much more at ease than she had been since coming to DC.
Atlas looked in confusion at the singing babies. The urge to drown them rose again, then faded. Whatever. At least they aren't crying. Atlas stood. He wasn't going to finish this puzzle with the pieces buried in every doily and potted plant in the room.
"Do you want to help me look for these things, or would you rather eat meatballs?"
"I can help," Val nodded, slipping to the floor the search for pieces that had fallen in various nooks and crannies. Really, this was not how she'd anticipated spending her evening, but it wasn't so bad...
Summary: Val seeks some closure with Atlas after talking with Hephaestus. Unfortunately, with a few exactly the wrong words, Val almost manages to undo all the progress Atlas has made in not hating everyone. Fortunately, Val's siren daughters smooth things over. For now.