Who: Atlas/Natal Maltose, Freyra/Janelle Delmar What: Phone call. Where: Freyra at Ridgekeep, Atlas just outside the Everglade swamp. When: Shortly after the Atlas/Kyo scene Warnings:
Atlas shook his head. Kyo seemed like a nice man, but Atlas wondered if he was suited for the type of work the North men dealt in.
"Ah, well," Atlas said, letting out a breath, "He's only human." With that, he put aside his thoughts of the strange little man who had brought him out of the swamp. He had bigger concerns facing him. Namely, Freyra, her magics, and the fact that the elf goddess was probably upset with him. Without hesitation, Atlas pressed the proper buttons with the proper pressure to get the phone to connect him to Freyra. Whatever waited for him, he would endure. Gingerly holding the phone up to his ear, Atlas listened as it rang.
Freyra was trying to do work, but distraction had set in for her, and so everything she could push off onto employees she had. Anything else sat as an image on her computer screen, staring back at her. They were being ignored and when her phone rang, she had an excuse to ignore them.
But she didn't recognize the number. If this wasn't Atlas, she was going to go on rampage. It being some else calling on her restricted number would just be too much. "Hello. Director Delmar. Who are you?"
"Hello, 'Director Delmar'," Atlas began politely. "This is Natal Maltose. Have you forgotten me already?" Atlas had considered, and then discarded, the idea of acting contrite. He still found this whole situation ludicrous, and he would continue to act accordingly. He did, however, take a moment to brace himself for her response.
Rampage averted.
"Cute. Very cute." Freyra closed the windows on her screen and then tapped a few keys. An audible popping noise could be heard over both lines but it was muted enough. Only then did she closed her eyes and her laptop simultaneously, gripping her phone at the question. Only with the line secured did she continue with, "I let you go down there to attend a funeral, not go on some weeks long vacation! What did you think you were doing not even saying in some snide tone that the Greeks didn't kill you."
Atlas frowned. "Let"? "Vacation"? He bristled at the implied lack of freedom.
"I was thinking that I was living my life," Atlas said, a hard edge in his voice. "I seem to remember someone telling me that I wasn't a prisoner, or have you forgotten that, too?" Atlas tried to get a hold of his emotions. He had tried to brace himself, but Freyra had deftly struck right at the heart of his greatest vexation. Atlas resisted the urge to crush the phone in his hand, but he heard a distinct snap come from the plastic thing.
"No. No. We're not going down that conversation road because you know that's not what I mea..." Unless he didn't. Freyra was suddenly reminded that it wasn't all that long ago she was considering Atlas dumb muscle. Maybe he didn't. Slowly, she opened her eyes, exhaled a breath and took back control of her tone. In the process her words softened and slowed, "I let you slide on all our protocols. All of them so you could go down there alone. You weren't the one answering the Council about that your presence at the memorial, or its effects on our covenant or even the question of where you were. And do you even call? You could have mailed a stupid postcard faster than this. Literally mailed one with some scenic Miami sight."
Atlas' frown deepened. "Protocols"? "Covenant"? What meaning were these words supposed to have to him? He ran his hand over his face. Did this woman delight in confusing him? He focused on her denial that he was a prisoner, letting it ease away some of his anger.
"I don't know what you want from me," Atlas asked, frustration clear in his tone. "I don't know all your 'protocols' and 'covenants'. I don't work for you." Atlas rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to keep from biting off a harsh remark he would regret. He only wanted to be snide when he wouldn't regret it.
"When you told me I wasn't a prisoner," Atlas continued, "I assumed that came with no strings attached. There were no directions to 'call', no friendly requests for a 'postcard'. You gave me my freedom, and I took it. I will not apologize for it. But..." Atlas let out a grunt that was almost a sigh. "...I'm sorry if I made you worry." He did not regret his actions, but he hadn't intended for anyone to cause anyone worry. He simply hadn't expected it. It had been a long time since he had had anyone to worry about him.
"You don't have to know what our --" Freyra paused in her words and her thoughts, even switching the phone to her other ear. Had he just apologized? Oh. To ask if common courtesy was invented after the Titans seemed rude and out of place now. She calmed further, "Well... um, Apology accepted. Don't do that again. When are you coming back?"
Atlas shook his head incredulously. Had she just told him not to do it again? He was beginning to wonder if Freyra simply handed out commands reflexively.
"Look, I promise to keep one of these phone on me if you can find one that won't crack when I hold it, won't break when I drop it, and won't drown when I go for a swim." He thought for a moment, then added, "You'll also have to pay for it." Atlas could get by just fine without human money, but he understood that these little devices could not.
"And I really haven't thought about coming back," Atlas said lightly. "I like it here." There were little dragons to play with, soon there would be golden apples to enjoy, and Polyhymnia was here. Atlas saw no reason to hurry away.
Find him one? Freyra could have laughed at the very concept. She was just going to go into the storeroom and pull one that met those requirements off a shelf. Paying for it was also not a concern. That would just be a business expense, but the last thing said made her frown, "Not coming back? Like it there? You're surrounded by people who dislike you and though I understand the thrill of that..." She shook her head. Atlas was very confusing, "What would you even do there?"
Atlas debated briefly whether or not to admit that he had impulsively planted the seed.
"I tend to the seed you gave me," he stated. The worst she could do was tell him to dig it up. "I found a secluded grotto to plant it in. It even has these little dragons to guard it." Atlas assumed the humans had different names for them, but to Atlas, they were dragons.
"And I'm not 'surrounded' by enemies," Atlas countered. Again, Polyhymnia came to mind, but Atlas wasn't sure he could explain that in a way Freyra would understand. "Some of the local human women can be quite... accommodating," he said instead.
"I never said I wasn't coming back, either," he asserted. "I simply hadn't planned on it." A sly grin spread across Atlas' face. "I didn't realize that I had become so important, nor that you would come to miss me so much."
"I encouraged Valentine and Bro to have a child pretty much because Loki's door got kicked down and he was accused of trickery. I'll go to extremes to protect those under the banner. It's better to stick together anyway." Freyra decided that the minute she hung up the phone she was going to write her report about how of course everything with Atlas was going as she said it was for the Council and then do something relaxing that took a very long time. She didn't know what quite yet, but it was going to take up the rest of her day. "Regardless of that, stay in touch with my brother. He's good with those seeds and he lives in Miami for the majority of his time, just stay away from his wife. Luckily, you'll have a fancy of cellphone when you tell me where to send it."
Atlas' eyebrows rose in surprise. He had expected a much harsher denial from Freyra. It gave him pause. As did the thought of running into Freyr's wife again. Their last run in had been very traumatic for Atlas.
"Perhaps I will give your brother a call," Atlas said hesitantly. "Just to make sure I'm not killing the little seed by accident." Atlas' appreciation for the phone increased slightly. With it, there was no risk of a chance run in with one of the few women Atlas didn't want to see again.
"But I don't know where you could send the phone where it would reach me," Atlas admitted. He had only a loose grasp on addresses and mail and the United States Postal Service. He didn't even know how to tell Freyra to send it to Polyhymnia's house, nor did he want to explain why he was sending it there. "Maybe I should return to Ridgekeep. I can pick up my phone, and you can tell me all about these 'protocols'." Atlas felt that was a conversation best had in person. Arguments were always better face to face.
"Of course you should return to Ridgekeep. That's been my unspoken suggestion this whole time so of course it's right." Freya leaned back in her chair as if the physical movement somehow heightened her confidence about that statement over the phone. "We can go over things when you get here and if you insist on returning to Miami, then we can settle you so you're not just some homeless vagrant."
Atlas rolled his eyes. Let Freyra believe what she would about Atlas' decision. If her vanity was appeased, Atlas' life became that much easier.
"'Settle'?" He asked. "I am already well settled down here for when I return. What more could I need?" Compared to spending eons sitting exposed on a mountaintop, his current life held abundant luxuries.
Freyra shook her head, "No funds, no housing, no anything except where you planted that seed. That is almost the opposite of settled in every way, but we'll discuss it when you return here. I'll have one of the jets bring you." She flipped her computer back open and sent him the map and directions from google maps of the nearest air field Ridgekeep had access to. "Call me when you're ready unless you are ready to return right now."
Atlas examined the phone for a moment. He understood how to read a map. He had seen many of them in books that bore his name. He enjoyed that the humans remembered what a skillful navigator he was. He could follow the stars with unerring accuracy.
"I am not ready to return," Atlas stated plainly. "I have affairs that I must see to." He paused as an idea struck him. "How can people contact my phone. What is the 'number'?" If Atlas was going to be saddled with such a device, he would make use of it for his own ends.
That was actually a very good question. What was the number on the phone that her hired help bought? Freyra hit a few keys on her computer again and traced the number back through the secured connection and rattled off the number, "But that will not be your permanent number. That is some pay-as-you-go phone. Unless you keep that thing, too. And I figured you weren't ready to return. You just finished telling me you hadn't even thought about coming back. Call me when you're ready. I can get a jet to you in an hour."
Atlas quickly memorized the number. His memory had become quite good in the endless years he spent on his mountain perch. When all you have is memories to keep you company, you learn to store even the tiniest detail.
"Then I will call you when I am ready," Atlas replied, putting aside thoughts of his former bondage. "Until then, I'll have this phone on me." As long as the little plastic thing survived, that was. Atlas resolved to at least try and keep it in one piece. He considered hanging up, but he didn't want Freyra calling him again simply to have the last word.
"Fine." If he kept the phone with him, that meant she could contact him whenever, too. Once more she shut her laptop, but this time turned the thing off and got up from her desk. She was done with work and with typing. She would just go tell Odin how right she was that everything was fine. "I'll be in contact then." She then rattled off another number, "That's my brother's if you need him for the seed before you return here."
And with that she hung up.
And the secure connection disconnected with a loud audible pop.
Atlas took the phone and put it in his now-dry pocket. With a small pang of regret, Atlas turned his back on the swamp and his grotto. Tempted as he was to return to his previous lounging, responsibility pulled him in other directions. He had people to see and things to do before he left Miami. Slowly, Atlas was remembering what it was like to have meaningful relationships with others. His time, and his life, was not wholly his own, but Atlas found he did not mind it much.
Summary: Atlas calls Freyra, now that he has a phone with which to do so. They argue, but not as much as either expects. Atlas reluctantly capitulates to Freyra's demands in the end.