Who: Mel, Jules, Shiri, Adam What: Gallery Revelations Where: One of the gallery showings When: Sat, Oct 23rd (today!) Warnings: Emotions run high?
Mel wanted to show off. She wadn’t sure if she was ready to tell Jules exactly who and what she was, but that didn’t change her desire to reveal him to the rest of the world. Or, at least, her sister. So when she’d showed up at his apartment that evening, she told him to get dressed, as they were going out. She also then promptly stole his hat to complete her own outfit, and went down to her convertible to wait.
She used the short time to text Shiri, making sure they would end up at the same gallery at the same time, and have a piano free that Mel could kidnap for Jules to show off. A complex plan, but it fell into place by the time he was joining her. Revealing little about their plans, she took him to the first stop.
At the gallery itself, Mel didn’t bother trying to tell Jules about any of the pieces. It was something for him to experience and draw from on his own. It was the point of the collection, and she wouldn’t take away from that. once they were back in the car though, she revealed her mild connection. She knew the artist, but was more familiar with his girlfriend. The bit of his work she’d seen so far, she expected the collection to be good, and thought it would make a good night out.
Their third stop for the night was meant to be the one with Shiri and Adam present. Parking her car, Mel climbed out and lead the way in. She glanced around, looking to see if her sister was there yet. “Shiri and Adam should be around here somewhere. If you see a cluster of people around a guy in near distress from the attention, that’s probably Adam.”
He wasn’t in near distress yet, but that may have been because his muse and girlfriend was feeling merciful in her giddy joy and wasn’t just letting him be overcome. There would be time for it later in the night perhaps. Leaning against one of the gallery’s walls, in her long stylish royal blue dress and matching glittered hair clips glimmering between the lights of the gallery and the shine of her silky Asian hair resting on either side of her head like a laurel crown would rest, not that many would get that, she took a break and breather.
Her attention was divided between watching Adam and watching the crowd in the gallery. Both were equally important to her...
Jules was enjoying the evening out with Mel. It had been the first time in awhile where the two of them were out and about and not focused primarily on writing music. That’s not to say he didn’t enjoy that activity with his muse. It was such a release, and for the first time in a long while, he was at peace with himself and his lot in existence.
While they were at the gallery, he took his time in appreciating the artwork contained within. There were definitely some pieces that drew him more than others, but overall it was a fine showing. The conversation in the car afterwards about it, the artist, and her connection to him was made the more interesting for it. Silently he wondered if perhaps the artist was paired with one of Mel’s sisters. Certainly a strong possibility.
So when they reached their third stop, Jules followed alongside Mel, scanning the crowd for any sight of an immortal aura. He was briefly distracted, though, when he caught the sound of a piano being played in the background. With music on his mind almost constantly when he wasn’t working, it was hard not to instinctively focus on the sound of the ivory keys instead. In the end, he forgot all about looking for immortals and casually began searching for the piano hidden behind the throngs of people.
Mel recognized the look, and smirked a bit as she saw it. He was in music mode, which was rather perfect for what she was planning. Glancing about and following her ears, Mel took a hold of his hand and began to expertly weave between the people until she was staring straight at the piano. Perfect. She gave Jules hand a squeeze, pressing some inspiration into him before raising herself enough to kiss his cheek. “Go and play something of yours,” she speaks near his ear, knowing there were a few choices by now open to him. The player looked like he could use a break anyway.
The way she made a beeline straight for the piano with him, Jules would’ve sworn that somehow a piano being there was part of some string pulling by Mel... That is if he wasn’t so focused on the beautiful grand that was in front of him. “Are you sure?” he asked, though the question was almost rhetorical as he was already making his way to the bench. The player that was there was more than happy for the break and moved aside for Jules. He stroked the keys affectionately as he thought about which song he wanted to play. Soon as he knew which song he wanted to play, without hesitation his long fingers began to move upon the keys.
Those people closest to the piano were the first to pause in conversation as the music began to rise up from the elegant black grand piano. It was a reaction similar to what he’d experienced the first time he and Mel met, there on a random street corner in Miami. But like back then, Jules was oblivious to all else except the music he had lost himself in.
At the sound of the piano, Shiri pushed off the wall and for the first time all evening no longer watched her mortal or the crowd’s reactions. She was on the hunt, a muse hunt for her sister and she found a very polite crowd that allowed the albino to easily weave through them. While she didn’t know how Mel would be dressed, she would still stand out as the one that looked like a teenager....
When she caught sight, she tapped Mel on her shoulder, “Yours?” and then motioned toward the piano.
Turning and looking to her sister, Mel grinned from under her stolen hat. She’d tried to dress to look like she was at least of age to drink -- the goal being to not get carded -- but she was still looking slightly younger. An arm slipped around Shiri to hug her close, the excitement and near giddiness clear. “Mine. I wanted to show him off to you. I thought it would be a good way to let him play without making anything formal.” Turning to her sister, she froze, and realized she perhaps should have sought more specific permission. Hopefully though, the mortal met with Shiri’s approval. “... What do you think?”
“Try not to show him off too much. This is mine own’s day to be shown off...” Shiri murmured as she gave her sister a hug finally to properly greet her. If she was jealous or upset by Mel’s display of her new toy it didn’t show in the least upon her smiling face as she finally turned her attention back to the man at the piano. Only then did her smile disappear, transformed instantly into a thoughtful expression as she stared at him. “... I think he is one of Dante or Dahlia’s friends...”
“I’ll try to keep it short, but I wanted you to see him...” She returned her sister’s hug and looked back to proudly watch Jules. They’d have to fully have a conversation about their mortals later, but for now Mel was simply pleased that she had one she could be so personally proud of. Shiri’s comment though, caused her to blink and look at her sister. “One of their friends? Why do you think that?”
“Because I saw him at their wedding. He played there as well...” Shiri was still very much as she spoke... her words encouraged her thoughts further and further in the same way a gear turned an adjoining gear... Was this person family if he had been at the wedding?
“I thought they had a small like family and knowing friends type wedding...” she pondered aloud, turning her attention to Jules once more. She thought back, and frowned slightly. He had mentioned that he had a friend getting married the same day Dante was, but she hadn’t worried about it any beyond that. “We can ask him about it when....” She stopped, realizing something else, but finished her sentence. “... when he’s done with this song.” It wasn’t like it was impossible for him to be fluent in a number of languages and be mortal.
“Maybe he is a knowing friend...” Shiri murmured, titling her head slightly as she continued to watch how he played. It wasn’t as possessed and demanding to escape his fingers and his soul as it had been at the wedding but she glanced at Mel from the corner of her eyes, “He spoke about you, I think. His music certainly spoke about you...”
“It did?” The surprise was in her voice, before she snickered a bit. “I might have given him a tap before I left town for the wedding. His apartment was a mess when I came back.” Breaking away from her sister as she sensed and knew the end of the piece was coming, she stepped forward to stand behind the musician.
Just as the piano was quieting on the final notes, Mel rested her hands on his shoulders and leaned down to speak in his ear. “I have someone for you to meet...” she mentioned, keeping her nervousness over who this just might be tightly within herself.
As Jules drew his piece to a close, he let his fingers rest on the keys for a moment or two longer, enjoying the feel of the vibrations from the piano as they faded away. If he’d had any residual melancholy or sadness from the inspiration and spirit of the song, they tended to dissipate with the end of the song. It left him feeling awash with feelings of relief and calm. So it took a minute for him to realize that Mel had spoken to him.
“Oh? Did you finally find your friends?” he asked warmly as he turned to look at the people around his muse. The general happy, content expression that had been on his face faded into guarded surprise when he saw an all too familiar albino woman peering back at him with her red eyes.
“You...” he said. “You were at the wedding.” Jules tried in vain to remember if he managed to catch her name back then, but he’d been so tired and tipsy from the alcohol he’d drank back then that he couldn’t recall. Mel wasn’t the only one starting to feel nervous now. The last thing he wanted was his muse to realize who he truly was. He didn’t want his relationship with Mel to change.
He didn’t want to lose her.
“So were you....” Shiri replied as she narrowed her eyes a little trying to figure out what was going on here. She had seen general happily content expressions fade into similar guarded surprises more often than she desired to count in her lifetime. When she would appear to the high priest of Helicon in ancient days, when she had gained the patronage of kings, emperors and popes, even in her last lifetime when she uncharacteristically say something to the Mujaheddin. The same expression... he was guarded because of her presence and due to something she represented. Hmm.... Well, might as well cut to the chase for everyone’s sake, “I never did get your name or which side you were attending for... bride or groom.”
Mel tapped on Jules shoulder again, giving him a little push to move away from the piano. She didn’t need this conversation to be monitored by the lingering folks of the crowd who seemed to be waiting for more. She murmured a simple ‘excuse us’ to the people who were still about, and subtly gestured for them all to move... away. Hopefully the nearby wall would be enough. But just moving him from the keys was enough for most to disperse, and leave Jules open to answering Shiri’s question. A question Mel was interested in hearing the answer to as well.
Jules was more than glad to move away from the eyes and ears of the crowd of people around them. “The groom,” he admitted reluctantly as he moved toward the wall, gravitating towards the corner with a secluded shadow. “Dante Lot is an old friend of mine.” As soon as he got there, Jules leaned his back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, taking a defensive, closed off posture. Clearly, he was not in a mood for this line of conversation.
If Shiri wasn’t the muse of eloquence, the phrase “old or old” would have come flying from her mouth, but she was playing nice and true to her domains for the moment and glanced once more to Mel, “Melly is a friend of Dante Lot’s, too. Right, Melly?”
Had she pockets, Mel would have had her hands shoved into them, taking her own version of a defensive posture. As it was, she leaned a shoulder against the wall, managing once more to look like a sullen teenager. Her attention was mostly on Jules. She knew who Shiri was, and her sister wasn’t a possible threat or question. Jules was the unknown. She nodded at Shiri’s question. “He’s the one who gave me the car, and my theater, actually.” Mel tilted her head slightly, making herself look more curious than threatening. “How do you know you Dante?”
“We’ve worked together in the past,” Jules said crisply, avoiding both Shiri and Mel’s gazes. Inside his brain, the wheels in his head were turning. How did Mel know Dante? Might as well ask. “What’s your connection to Dante, Mel? He’s not one to give gifts like that lightly to people who don’t have a close tie to him.”
Mel shrugged. “I guess that’s why you’d say he’s a close friend of mine. I’ve done some work for him...” She paused, considering what the best way to phrase her relationship to Dante, without giving a lot away. There really wasn’t one. “We’re text buddies.” She wondered briefly if Jules would remember why she was leaving town the first time they met, and mildly hoped that he wouldn’t. It was hard enough to explain to family members. “Then again, I also knew his wife before he did.”
Jules ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. Hearing Mel talk in this awkward mortal-safe code was making his head hurt. “I know the stories, Melpomene,” he said quietly. Might as well let her know that he knew who she was. This whole charade was coming down like a house of cards anyways.
Well, that was a whole lot of emphasis. Shiri sighed a little and gave up the hope that Jules was just a knowing mortal. Melly had just been so excited about her little found mortal but it seemed very much that she had found a family instead. The gears continued to turn in her mind. The crispness of his explanation of how he had known the groom was suspect now. “And you said you used to work together? You and Dante?”
“Yes,” Jules said simply. “We worked together.” That was all he wanted to say on the matter, but he had a feeling that neither of these two would just drop the issue like he might’ve wanted. He turned his gaze towards Shiri. The strange, albino immortal... muse as well he was assuming... seemed to be trying to figure him out. He could almost see the gears in her head turning. It was a little unnerving.
Mel straightened from her spot leaning against the wall, and studied him for a moment. The hope that he was some mortal friend of Dante’s was quickly slipping away, even as she wanted to continue to believe it. “|Are you mortal? Did you work with him before...|” Before everything came crashing down. She figured the swap to Latin would make it safe, in case, on some off chance, he wasn’t immortal and didn’t know the verbal form of the language. She hoped that he wasn’t, but she knew that that would clearly make it that he was, just because that is how the Fates worked. She shifted slightly, moving closer to her sister. Her project was being taken away from her.
At the sound of the Latin, Jules couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “|Using a dead language to speak to me... How ironic.|” The amusement didn’t reach his eyes though. He noted all too clearly how she moved away from him and towards Shiri. Then he sighed. “Why does my connection with Dante have to matter at all?” When he looked at Mel, there was a pleading expression in his eyes. “We’re not related by blood, if that’s what you’re seeking. Can’t we leave it at that?”
A dead language being ironic? Connection with Dante... meaning Hades... meaning.... The gears had reached a conclusion in her mind and Shiri’s pink eyes widened in surprise mingled with fear. Mel may have moved closer to her but now she moved closer to Mel, clutching her hand. Internally, she was in full panic. She now fully convinced she was standing before death and wanted to be anywhere but...
Mel glanced to Shiri at the sudden hand grab, looking and realizing that her sister had just made out who this was, but Mel wasn’t entirely sure. Ironic with a dead language, not related by blood... But that still left a lot of choices. Like entire other pantheons. The frown on her face said she was still trying to catch up. “You seem to know more about me than I do of you. You know my secret...” Which, in a manner, put him in a place of power over her.
As Mel was talking and looking very serious -- a state that tended to be normal -- Adam came up behind the two muses and gently kissed the back of Shiri’s head. “Hey,” he greeted the group at large, nodding to the man leaning against the wall before moving to Shiri’s side and wrapping an arm around her waist. He looked between all the faces and raised an eyebrow. “Is something wrong?”
Yes! Beyond yes! Something is wrong! Shiri didn’t even realize her response hadn’t been spoken but slipped into her priest’s soul instead She just had spent the entirety of her life after the fall avoiding the spectre of death. Beneath her glamour were scars that showed just how close death had come to her and now its incarnation was before her. She pressed back against Adam, suddenly torn -- she wanted him to protect her and yet, as a mortal, he was subject to death... Taking a deep breath, she tried to steady her racing heart but found it impossible. She could only nod in reply.
Jules barely heard Mel’s statement. Instead, he was focused on her sister’s reaction as she realized who he was. It was as he had dreaded. The worst case scenario was playing out right in front of him. Fear seemed to radiate off of the muse’s aura in spades. He could practically taste it. The reaction made his chest feel tight, and his heart feel heavy. Then he looked to Mel, and was relieved to see that she didn’t share her sister’s expression. Clearly she hadn’t figured him out yet.
Still, he really didn’t want to be present when she did.
“Mel... Shiri knows who I am. She can clear it all up for you,” he said as he pushed himself off the wall. He started to walk away from them, but paused to look back at his muse. “I... I really did enjoy everything we did together.” His expression was pained, and it was clear from the way he was behaving that he was certain that this was going to be the end of things between them. How could it be otherwise?
Melpomene followed him with her eyes, turning to face him as he set out to leave. A simple text to Dante would probably clear everything up in a heart beat... And he was a friend of Dante’s. He’d known who she was for over two weeks, and he hadn’t said or done anything to raise her concern. So she stepped away from her panicked sister, and the confused mortal, and trotted to catch up with Jules and stand in front of him. “{Why are you walking away? Did you lie about something?}” Her eyes searched his for a moment, and she stepped back, reaching up to take his hat from her head. “{No. You just realized who you were getting mixed up with...}” She reached to put the hat onto his head. “{Can’t blame you. Who ever wants to be around Tragedy, right?}” Mel offered him a smile, then stepped to the side to let him pass.
As she was stepping aside, Jules moved just a little bit quicker, pulling her into his arms and giving her a kiss that was full of longing. He figured he’d never have the chance to do this again, so take it while he could. “{I didn’t lie,}” he said to her after parting their lips. “{And I would love nothing more than to continue being around you. But...}” He glanced back at Shiri with a sad expression. “{...I don’t want to have a memory of you with that kind of fear in your eyes.}” Jules sighed and dipped his lips close to her ear. “[Be well, Melpomene.]” Then he took his hat, placed it back on her head, and moved into the crowd of the gallery.
She clung to him through the unexpected kiss, meeting and returning it in kind. She’d been so happy to finally have a project mortal she could take over so completely, and now he was slipping right back out of her fingers once more. Why couldn’t he have just been a mortal? Because the Fates hated her. Of course. So she listened and watched him, holding him close until he finally pulled away and placed the hat once more on her head. She watched him walk through the crowd, wanting to stop him, but unable to promise that she wouldn’t ever be afraid.
So she let him go, confused. And realizing how much it felt like she was standing in some movie. Frowning, she pulled out her cell phone, there in the middle of the gallery, ignoring the glances of people who had seen even part of the exchange, and sent a text to Hades.
During the departure, Shiri was torn between emotions once more -- sorrow for her sister for losing her project mortal that truly had never been and complete and total fear. But that was fine because she could react to both of them in the exact same way. She turned herself to hide her face against Adam’s chest, hiding herself against him and in his arms.
Adam had no idea what was going on, but instinct meant that it didn’t matter. Shiri was curling up against him, so he wrapped his arms around her, and started to rub her back, feeling protective of his muse girlfriend goddess. Someone started to come toward them, probably to speak with the artist, but he simply met their eyes and shook his head slightly. This was not the time.
Mel stood where she was only long enough to get a simple reply from Hades before she was walking back to her sister, pointedly ignoring the people who were watching her. “I think it’s time I head out. Good showing, Adam. Sorry if I messed anything up.” She touched her sister on her back, leaned up and kissed her shoulder, before turning away to leave. There was no reason to stay and grant more drama into the night.
Shiri peeked out from her hiding at the kiss to her shoulder and lipped the words, “[No, I am sorry. I messed you up...]” With another deep breath and being able to see that Thanatos was gone, she nuzzled against Adam briefly before stepping away. Now she was making a scene. She was becoming center of attention and she wouldn’t allow that. Today was his day... through him she would enjoy it. She forced a smile back to her face and smiled to Adam. “I am okay now. Really...”
Adam looked down at the muse in his arms, carefully arching an eyebrow as if to ask if she really was or not. He then looked up again to see Mel leaving, cell phone in hand, and then took in the appearance of the crowd around them. Drama in the art gallery. He kissed Shiri’s temple. “Should we leave?”
Shiri glanced around as he did and the sight oddly calmed her further. They were the center of attention but that was fine... that could be worked with. While she was sorry for her sister, Shiri still had a project to consider and she knew critics loved a good story almost as much as they liked good art. She could work with this and leaned back against his chest, Shhh, no. Comfort me and then sit me down. We can leave in a little bit....
Wrapping his arms around her once more, he continued to rub her skin lightly through the fabric of her dress, his attention clearly on her more than those around them. But if she wanted comfort, he would grant it to her as best he could. “Do you want a drink?” he asked softly by her ear, knowing there would be wine close by. It would be an easy excuse to move, then sit, without just standing silently.
Shiri nodded. Let the little crowd know that not only was her mortal skilled with the brush but also a good, caring person. That would go over so well on blogs; as panicked as she had been she was glad she could turn it to work for her.
Kissing the top of her head, Adam shifted to keep an arm about her waist as he guided her to the bar, and got them each a glass of wine. Once she had hers, he looked for some place to sit and guided her there, letting her choose to sit on the seat or his lap as she wanted. Either way, his hand would end up at her back, rubbing it slowly as he mostly watched her to see how she was doing. The care and concern was clear, though he didn’t appear vastly upset himself.
For once, she choose the seat, but that was only because she had an agenda. Shiri didn’t want to trap her mortal beneath her. She sat down and relaxed, leaning back against the wall with a small, much truer smile. “I really am fine,” she murmured as she sipped at her wine, “... People want to talk to you...”
He shrugged. “They’ll get their chance. Or they can come over here.” He turned to look out at the crowds, half ready for them to surge in on him, and tensing as he braced for it. But with Shiri right there, he could partly hide that tense. And the crowd wasn’t surging on him, even if they were watching. He glanced back to Shiri. “Unless you’d rather they didn’t...”
“I think I would enjoy watching you talk to them...” More like she knew she would, but Shiri also knew not to say that, “It would help all of that to the back of my mind...”
“Alright.” Shifting his body slightly, he turned his attention more fully to the room at large. one hand still held the wine glass, the other wrapped securely around Shiri, but his posture seemed to allow for people to approach, and if this current crowd was like others, they would. They would probably be fearless about doing so. At least now he had Shiri at his side, ready to help him steer through them. And, finally, he was sitting as well.
Summary: Mel takes her shiny new muse toy Jules to Adam's gallery showing to show him off to her sister, Shiri. Only Shiri tells her that she's seen him before. Confrontation and identity reveals follow.