Leukothoe & Iseult Evans (leukothoe) wrote in revelatus, @ 2014-10-21 03:38:00 |
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Entry tags: | helios, leukothoe |
Who: Helios & Leukothoe
What: A titan and a mortal have a walk.
Where: Persian kingdom
When: Ancient Greece
Rating: PG-ish
Sunlight chased her footsteps as she turned on tiptoes across the white stone floors. Helios was too bright to look at directly when he ran across the sky, chariot and horses and blinding. Even as the he sunk down low as if he plunged into the sea and darkness swept in, Leukothoe felt the lingering traces of his warmth. You do not deny Gods. There had been enough warning stories to last her a lifetime and while shocked at the visit from one, how could a simple mortal not fall in love with the otherly worldly beauty of one? The night was an odd time for the Titan. It felt bereft, empty of everything which made him himself and, normally, Helios would avoid the feeling by simply resting away. Not that night. Not in the last countless (in his own mind) nights after which he had seen the mortal princess for the first time. Again, his heart was taken; again with the brutal strength that was part of his very nature. Helios did not do subtle and he definitely did not do rejection. His crown had been placed to the side as to not harm her and his tunic was as simple as he could manage (which wasn’t really a lot). In his unassuming form, the Titan passed through the hallways like a lingering shadow, the few humans who saw him immediately turning aside or ignoring the creature for some fear they couldn’t really explain. Helios paid them no mind. He had other things to worry about. The room twisted and shadows ran when Helios approached alerting the princess to his arrival, always when the sun faded from the sky - every night like clockwork - the meaningless stream of sand that counted their time apart was forgotten on the side. Light on her footsteps she was quick to turn in his direction, darkness parting for the Titan. She still averted her eyes and lowered her head, because she was but mortal and he a God(she recalled the tales, twined around her thin wrists like chains - you do not reject gods, you do not defy them, they command and you obey or pay a prize that mortals could not afford). Yet she struggled with keeping to herself, eager to greet him with the same familiarity he had demonstrated on their first night. She was lovely. Helios would never be able to say what drew him to her when he had met so many so much lovelier. The Titan wasn’t blind. Olympus thrived on beauty and he had seen his fair share between his walls; he had even taken advantage of it, as his many sons and daughters’ existence proved. But this girl, with her refreshing innocent and polite demeanor had made him take a step back and wonder. As he saw her properly, Helios smiled and with it, it seemed as if light had taken over the whole room, as if the element was as happy as the Titan was feeling. “Leukothoe.” He called her name in a whisper as he came closer, towering over her little familiar form as he watched every trace of her features for differences the few hours he had left her alone had brought. Finding nothing, his smile widened as he touched her chin, raising her face so he would be able to touch his lips to hers. "Lord Helios." It mattered not to the princess, who eagerly met him halfway, taking his touch as permission to greet him. Aphrodite was the greatest of the gods, in the end none of them could ever resist her sway or her son's fatal arrows. And Leukothoe was not quite versed on what sort of conversation to have with a god, not that they were very inclined to talk. Time was a precious commodity, he would have to go back to her duties and as she was flesh and bone, so her fate was precariously held by the Morai. No, better to make the most of his nightly visits and welcome the results of a punishment soon to fall on the Titan. “You look beautiful,” he whispered as he pulled back, his smile back in place as if permanently etched onto his features. “No. You are beautiful,” the Titan corrected himself. “I hope I have not disturbed your wandering.” Just because he was who he was it didn’t mean Helios didn’t know there was a way to play this game. Wooing someone, spent time together, flatter, wish for her to be happy. There was the way Zeus would do it and there was his. And he, older and wiser, had more class than just dropping by for a quick rut. "No, I was waiting for you." She looked up at him, hesitant for a moment on how to proceed but always allowing him to lead. "I am very happy that you join me tonight." And every single night before this one and ones yet to come, but mortals had to be ready to be discarded - it was only natural. "Admittedly, I felt your company from the warmth of the sun." She was almost sure he watched her despite how conceited it was to think so. "So my day was not entirely lonely without your presence." And the princess had stopped caring about a lot of things since Helios had entered her life, preferring dancing and solitude beneath the sun than lingering at court. “I did not see a reason to stay away. You are more invigorating than a thousand hours of sleep.” Carefully, like she was made out of the finest china, Helios placed her arm in his, guiding her vaguely through the halls like they were of his own Palace and not of a mortal King. “It would be lovely if I could take for a walk underneath the sunlight but the last time I allowed anyone to guide my chariot did not end well.” It was quite the understatement. Helios’ memory, sadly old and long, did not wish to revisit the awful choice which had taken him to agree to his child’s request. “But walking underneath my sister’s mantle will be just as lovely, I’m sure.” As if sensing the melancholy in his words, Leukothoe lifted her hand to touch his cheek (warm, smooth and solid) her fingertips lingering there with affection before kissing the corner of his mouth and following his lead. What better way was there to spend the night than with him? And then sleep beneath his warm rays once morning came (if she rose late, few would comment on it). “Of course, my lord, as you wish. May I ask about your day? Did you see anything interesting as you crossed the sky?” He stumbled upon the new topic with gracefulness and appreciation. “A thousand different things, my lovely one. Perhaps one day you will be able to see them with me.” Helios smiled and his tragedies were hidden once more to a moment where they made sense to be remembered. Not here with this woman. “Do you know there is a place in the world where the sea is so green it almost looks like grass? It is inhabited by odd creatures, a little bigger than yourself, with large shells and a kind disposition. It is quite soothing.” An experiment of his cousins, he was sure. Leukothoe took his words with a grain of salt, Gods were known to promise everything to their lovers and forget them just as quick. The reminder of her mortality and the difference between them was cause for melancholy for she did so dearly loved the Titan and wished she could see the world as he did. "I do look forward to the chance to see that, my lord, it sounds beautiful but hard to imagine for one such as myself, who knows the vast deserts and little more." “You are young, dearest. We have time.” Not that much, he knew. Her life was a breath in the wind, a thousand of turns over his grandmother’s flesh, one among the countless lives crossing the plains on that exact moment. Helios wished he could curse Aphrodite for intervening in his existence, even if it had been in retaliation. In that moment though, with her flesh against his, the Titan couldn’t bother to think about revenge. He was happy. Happy and comfortable in her presence, almost equals. "As you say." Leukothoe couldn't begin to fathom the different perceptions of time between them, hers but a flicker among many others, unimportant in the grand scheme of the universe. She took his face her hands, delicate fingertips tracing his features. "But until then, tell me more about what you see, so that when we see them together they will be familiar to me and do not entirely strange." She took his arm again, leading him along the path outside, the moonlight high above them(what would his sister say if she could see her brother besotted with a mortal now?) Leukothoe didn't think those things though, her world was right here, by the side of the sun. A little foolish girl in love. |