Lia Sloane (shield_bearing) wrote in olympian_rewind, @ 2008-06-03 22:27:00 |
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Entry tags: | alana kellings, athena, lia sloane |
Who: Athena & Alana
What: Chatting & building
Where: The in-progress bookshop
When: Last week, before D gets nabbed
Warnings: Typical Alana talk :P
It'd been a relief for Alana when she'd gotten a surprise phone call from her idol Athena, asking if she was free to help with the creation of the store as promised. The mortal was bored, looking for something entertaining to do, and a chance to feel buff while working for the goddess seemed the perfect opportunity. Parking at the given location in her beat up but well running truck, she climbed out in her work clothes and tool belt over one shoulder. A quick glance around, and she headed for what she assumed was the stores entrance. "Hello? Ally ally oxen free...."
The frame of the store was finished. From the outside, it looked perfectly fine and new, but inside the propped-open door was a place with barely finished walls and a floor yet to be covered. Athena whistled in response to the call as she knelt on the floor beside the components of what would eventually end up as shelving, sorting through a toolbox. Just in time.
Alana paused for a moment, pushing her sunglasses up and out of the way to let her eyes adjust. It was always a good plan in a work site. Once she was sure she wasn't about to twist an ankle somewhere, she followed to where she'd heard the whistle, watching the woman and shaking off her fangirl moment before making an answer. "Hey. Looks like you've got a good start goin'."
"Had nothin' better to do." Except, you know, sitting around talking about the family's well being. "At this rate, the store will open in record time." Athena frowned. Saying it out loud only made her admit she had very little of what you would call a social life.
Social lives were over rated anyway. Who needed one, right? Well, except those who actually liked to be, you know, social. Then it was a minor detail. Moving closer, Alana took a look at what the goddess was working on, and noted the frown on her face. "What's wrong?"
Aha! There was that drill head! Athena plucked out her prize, shrugged, and looked to Alana. "Just realized that I need to get out more, apparently.”
She lifted an eyebrow at the goddess. "Get out and do what?" It sure wasn't to try and pick up guys...
"Do something. If I start becoming a hermit, there'll be at least one brother that will come and drag me out, I'm sure of it." The goddess responded and stood, drill finally ready to go.
Drills were such fun tools. Alana smirked at the sight of it. "Hey, you've always got me if ya need someone ta drag ya out. I'm sure my roommate wouldn't mind the break every now and then." She shifted her took belt from her shoulder to her waist, flipping the cover that made it look like a messenger bag out of the way.
Good, the girl came prepared. "I'll keep that in mind." She answered with a small smile and gestured to the piles of wood before them. "Welcome to the world of wall-mounted bookshelves."
She pulled out her own small drill, fresh battery attached, and looked at the wall. "Got it all marked of at the height ya want them?" She bent to some of the screws and fastenings on the ground, picking a few up and dropping them into one of the many pockets, preparing for the build.
"Lines are marked for the pieces. Just a matter of getting it together. It's fairly heavy stuff, so be careful." Of course, what she thought was 'fairly heavy’; it was still something she could still lift one-handed. Alana was an entirely different matter.
Alana looked at the lines, then at the shelving pieces. "How ya want these ta go in? We can attach one part of the hinge ta the boards, then line the boards on the wall ta attach them in..." she offered, glancing to the goddess. There were probably fifty ways to do the same task.
Athena nodded. "We'll get the main frame up and then attached to the wall, then get in the rest. It'll be along this wall," she pointed to the wall in front of them and the one opposite the main door, "and that. For starters, anyhow."
Ah, a project that was only difficult in it's sheer size. Alana could work with that. "Sounds good ta me." Grinning at the task ahead, she bent to the boards in front of her, and started on the possibly long task of setting the attachments in place.
The goddess grabbed the first piece to start with and set to it. Not a hard task, but an important one. "How's work?" She asked curiously, not staying silent as she worked for long. Athena had not had a casual conversation with her father in awhile, both being busy with well, stuff.
"Eh, much the same. Chasin' people off, listenin' ta gossip when no one's lookin', plotting ways ta screw with the boss's head." She grinned at the last one, knowing there were a few pranks that were basically just waiting for the right chance to be played. "Almost quiet ta honest."
"Hey," Athena shot Alana a glare, "Watch what you say about old, girlie. I'm the firstborn of the third generation." No threat was intended, of course, and the small snicker on her face showed it. "Not surprising. I take it my old man hasn't driven you crazy yet," she shot back a wicked smile before returning to the task at hand. As much as she loved the man, having to do a job like that for him would probably a very, very bad thing.
Straightening only briefly, Alana made the deepest bow that she could without falling flat on her face. "My deepest apologies, Lady Wisdom, I meant no insult... to you." She straightened once more with a grin on her own face. "Besides, he's older then you. You’re as old as dirt. He's older then it."
For a moment, Athena simply stood there staring blankly at her building companion. The girl had guts. Several hundred years ago, pre-sense of humour, Alana would have just voiced her death sentence. "Let's just be thankful none of us look our age, then."
Oh... Okay, note to self. Even goddesses could be sensitive about their age. Got it. Isn't this where she made some comment about wrinkles being a sign of maturity and a life well lived? Er... probably not. "None of you. If I was as old as you and looked that good, I'd be flauntin' it any chance I had." Face back to the task at hand, she tried not to cringe as she realized that probably wasn't the best comment to make.
To a virgin goddess? Certainly was a wasted comment, if nothing else. "Don't worry, there are those in the family that do." Namely the Black Hole Athena liked to sometimes call Aphrodite. But somehow she managed to not cringe at the brief thought. But, time to change topic. "Always live in Miami?"
Alana almost snickered at the change n topic, while she was also relieved from it. Pissing off Athena was not a good idea. "Naw. Born in Oregon. Moved around a lot since I graduated." She almost asked 'what about you?' in the traditional follow up, and stopped herself just in time. "You spend a lot of time travelin' at all?"
"Every couple lifetimes." She answered as if it was as normal as driving to the grocery store. "I pick a place to live and do so until I get tired of it or something calls me elsewhere, and then I play out a different life." Different times, different mortal guises. Yup. Nothing unusual.
"So what've ya been so far?" It actually sounded rather interesting of an idea to her, and she glanced at the immortal in curiosity before returning to the task at hand.
Oooh, tough question. "My favorites were various countries in Asia, the UK, Ireland, and Norway. But I've been plenty other countries, all the major ones at least." Egypt used to be one, but right now, it had lost its charm.
"Sounds like you got all the fun jobs." Except teacher maybe. Ugh. Working with kids? That idea alone made her almost shudder. She set the pieces she'd finished her first step of work on to the side, sorting through to the next bits and grabbing more fasteners.
"Some of them," and no, she would not work well with teaching children. Which was why she always opted for teaching of another kinds. "Particularly Grace and Emmeline. Those were my more wild days." Rioting, fighting the system, and enjoying the freedom if piracy, you know, the wild stuff.
"Yeah? How so?" The names, sadly, didn't ring any immediate bells for the mortal. She wasn't great with history, and names and dates were probably even worse. But knowing someone from them... well, that made everything more interesting.
"One of history's greatest female pirates, and one of the leading women fighting for women's rights," she said with a proud smile.
"Sounds like I owe you some thanks then," she grinned. "The seas treat ya well then?"
"They were fun for awhile. Was a nice change," she said and went to grab another piece from the pile.
"Any big plans for the upcoming future?" She didn't want to sound mean, but owning a shop hardly compared to being a woman's right's activist or a pirate.
Athena shook her head. "No, not really. When you live lifetime after lifetime, you learn not to plan too far in advance."
Alana nodded and continued making the attachments she was working on, hoping to keep up with the goddess. Hey, at least she wasn't slowing her down. "The constant change of the world and all that shit?"
Which was a very good thing when it came to Athena's patience. Granted, she had a lot of it in most cases, but when it came to mortal aid in her domain she sometimes got a little impatient. "That and...well, if you always plan every little thing it gets boring."
"Amen to that," Alana muttered, fully in agreement. She'd spent more time living in Miami then she had almost anywhere else in one stretch since graduating high school.
The goddess threw a small snicker in Alana's direction, but turned her attention back to the task at hand. Coming along rather nicely, she thought
The mortal was settling well into the task at hand, and once more she was glad to have the chance to do it. Quiet breaks in conversation bothered her none, as it let her mind go over what she'd already been told. It didn't help that part of her was screaming 'don't fuck up! That's Athena!' rather loudly. No, this would be a very, very bad time to botch something.
Though, Athena was clearly capable of tolerating mistakes. As long as they weren't completely idiotic and didn't happen all the time. Hence the problem with her and most of her family. While she was also comfortable with brief silences, the need to know the answer to a particular question got the better of her, "So. What brought you to my side of the Olympian field?"
"Huh?" The question distracted Alana and she looked up to glance at the goddess, causing her hand to slip on the screw she was putting in, and end up jabbing herself with the tip. "Fuck." She started to suck on the spot, then shook her hand as she peered at the goddess. "Whadda ya mean?"
Don't laugh, seriously, don't laugh. "There are a number of other deities to choose from. My question is - what brought you to be so interested in me?" Yes. Even the goddess of wisdom needed and ego boost now and then.
Alana snickered. "What? Besides bein' the most seriously kick ass goddess there is?" That was honestly what she thought, and not just some boot licking. She shrugged and focused back in on her task, slowing down and taking her time a bit more. "Mixture of things, I guess. I mean, basically always good ta the mortals, smart, beautiful, strong, and don't take any shit from guys. You're one of the major twelve, everyone respects ya in one way or another...." She probably could have tossed one or two more things in there, but that was as good a starting point as any.
Oh yea, that's some good ego boosting right there, folks. "Except probably Ares." She said with another shrug and returned to work.
"He's an idiot," she stated bluntly, without hesitation. "He considers you a rival because he knows you can keep up with him. Ya seriously think he'd respect someone he can just blow over?"
The laughter that bubbled from her lips was completely unavoidable, to the point where she had to set down the tools and shove her hand over her mouth to attempt to tame it. "Oh man... That's classic."
An eyebrow arched as the mortal twisted to look at the goddess. Seriously? But hey, she got Athena laughing, that was a good sign right. She grinned herself at the goddess's reaction. "What? Ya gonna tell me I'm wrong?"
"Course not," she said with a grin, "But you just gave me the brilliant gift of seeing his face when I tell him that even a mortal thinks he's an idiot."
Alana chucked as she turned back to her work. "Just promise you'll guard me if he ever finds out where I sleep. I'd kinda like ta stay with the livin' a bit longer."
'Come on. He wasn't smart enough to dodge a boulder flying at his head - what makes you think he'd find out who you are and where you live so easily?" Athena said with a snicker. "Besides, all you need to do when you're in trouble is call me."
"Fuck, now I'm goin' ta have that song stuck in my head the rest of the day.." Oi. Blasting the truck radio on the way home. Yep. But she smirked again. "You really think I'm gonna be stupid enough ta underestimate any of the gods?"
Athena frowned. "I don't. You don't seem to be stupid. But I'm serious about the calling thing. And I don't mean on the phone, either."
Now Alana blinked, catching the serious tone of the goddess. ".... What exactly do you mean then?"
The goddess poked her temple lightly. "By using your mind and your faith. Gods need mortals as much as mortals need gods. If you call for me for whatever reason, or if you pray, I will hear you." And boy, did she honestly hope that she wasn't going to be hearing any cries for help any time soon.
"Seriously?" Well, that made sense. Didn't mortals always cry out to the gods when they needed help. "Huh." She seemed to ponder this as she went back to work. "Good ta know. Hopefully I won't ever need ta use that trick though. ... Kinda like havin' one of those emergency necklaces..."
"I'd say connecting godly abilities and Life Alert is not a comparison you should be making to anyone else," she advised, though still, she was smiling. "But yes. It works in emergency or non emergency cases, either way, you should state whether it is or not. Effects means of travel."
"You can't want me harrassin' ya when it's not an emergency..." Alana stated, a bit skeptical. There was no way she was going to let herself become a pain in the ass to her favorite goddess.
She nodded slightly. "Well, you can use normal means for that. But if you call directly to me for anything other than a life-threatening emergency, I'm taking a car."
Now this was bringing on a whole new set of of questions, and Athena's seeming acceptance of them thus far encouraged Alana to ask. "If it were life threatenin', how would you get there?"
Athena laughed lightly, and glanced over at Alana. "By alternative means." Like, one that would deplete a good amount of her power source in one shot.
Because that answer wasn't vague or anything. The look that she gave the immortal probably conveyed that very thought, though she turned back to her task. "So save panic mind calls for rushin' towards death's door, and cell phone for anythin' else. I think I can manage that."
So what if it was vague? Follower or not, she wasn't spoiling what little surprises she had up her sleeve. "Pretty much."
You really couldn't blame her for the curiosity though. Satisfied for the moment and pondering what other ways the goddess might travel, she finished up with the last of the boards. All were now ready to be mounted on the wall. Well, those Athena hadn't yet taken care of. "... No offense, but I'm glad there's only one of you. I'd have been outta a fuckin' job otherwise."
"Things like this aren't things I'd do for money, I'd never get paid what I was worth." Which was the truth, really, and so she stood back to look at Alana's work with an approving nod.
"No one would be able ta afford your lifetimes of experience," Alana answered. "If your father ever fires me, this is the shit I'm goin' back ta doin'. Not bad money when ya do good work."
Summary: Athena keeps good on her word to let Alana help out with the prepping of the bookshop, and so Alana comes over and helps. In the midst of bookshelf building, they chat. A lot.