(no subject)

[wheatencrown]

The Plaka is quiet, the twisting, wandering cobblestones have few souls on them this odd Spring night as Demeter leads Clark into Athens.

Demeter turns, her veil slipping for a moment as she is home and old memories keep rising in her heart and she is complicated and true,

"North to Olympus."

Comments

[eirenikos]

There is the sound of scrambling behind the door, several snapped remarks in what can only be Attic Greek, and then the heavy door swings open to reveal a young woman who looks to be somewhere in her mid-twenties, with features similar to Eirene.

Her expression isn't nearly as warm. "She's resting. What do you want, mortal?"

Clark, meet Dike.

[hero_farmboy]

He doesn't flinch, not at the tone, the demeanor or the expression. A sister protecting a sister is almost as dangerous, he wagers, as a mother protecting her child.

"I just want to talk to her," he replies, voice even but respectful. "I want to make sure she's okay."

[eirenikos]

Dike's expression tightens. "She will never be okay, mortal, not after--" Something behind the goddess halts the snapping, and she bows her head to move aside. A second female appears, tall and stately, and very much a mature woman, almost blindingly beautiful.

"Dike, we do not abuse the laws of hospitality here. Please, come inside, Mister Kent. I am Eirene's mother, Themis." Which does explain the carefully banked power that Clark might sense from her.

The Titan gestures him into the house, and points toward an archway that looks like it might lead into a garden. "Do not overtax my daughter. I will come for you when it is time to eat."

[hero_farmboy]

"Thank you," he offers quietly, and bowing his head to the older woman. They might not be his gods, but they're powerful and they're Eirene's family and they deserve his respect.

It feels strange, walking through the house and into the garden, even with the familiar heartbeat softly noising in the background. When he's a few steps through the arch, he calls again, softer this time. "Eirene?"

[eirenikos]

Themis seems amused by his manners, to the point where she briefly reaches out to touch his shoulder before herding her fourth daughter further into the recesses of the house; which is appointed in a simple, elegant style, with lots of low couches and groupings of pillows in muted colors.

Her youngest daughter is seated on one such couch in the middle of the courtyard-garden, watching another blonde prune a purple rosebush. "Oh, come on, Nomi. I can at least do that. 's not like I'm going to fall over and impale myself on--"

Eirene turns in mid-sentence, her eyes widening at the use of her name, and the man who just spoke it. "Clark?"

[hero_farmboy]

Perhaps he'll pay more attention to the decor on his way out. Right now, he's just concentrating on the rhythmic beating in his ears and then, finally, the woman it's emanating from.

Casually, as though he visits Greece all the time, "Hey."

[eirenikos]

Eirene shifts forward to rise from her seat, but Eumonia is faster, and is there in under a second to press her shoulder back down. "No. He can come to you this time, little sister." She turns her gaze towards Clark, "If you break her heart again, I will be very displeased." The goddess of Order sweeps out of the garden, taking the pruners with her.

Leaving Eirene alone with-- "How did you find me?" If Clark moves closer he will notice her scent has faded to the point where it is all but indiscernable to normal senses.

[hero_farmboy]

As if Clark wasn't enough on guard as it was, he sighs as Eumonia passes him and nods slightly. Then he turns his attention to Eirene, walking the last few steps to where she sits and crouches down beside her, his brow creased with worry.

She smells so ... no, that's the garden. He can't smell her at all.

"It's your mom's house," he half shrugs, trying to get a smile out as well. "First place I thought to look. Demeter brought me in."

[eirenikos]

She watches him with an almost wary expression. "Father won't dare enter this house without mother's permission, so I'm safe enough for now." After a few minutes, her gaze shifts away towards the flowers in the garden. "Nomi, Dike and I planted all these years ago, and now I'm not allowed to touch them."

Beat.

Quietly: "Why did you come, Clark?"

[hero_farmboy]

He nods slowly at her words, wanting to ask what happened but not knowing how to bring it up without blurting out just that.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Pause.

"I needed to."

[eirenikos]

Eirene looks very much like she wants to cry, and the faint red hue beneath her eyelids will probably let him know she's been doing more of that then she'd like.

After a minute, she scoots over enough so that Clark can sit comfortably on the couch. "You can sit down if you'd like. I promise not to throw anything at you."

[hero_farmboy]

That garners a small, brief smile as he does just that, leaving some space between them. "She's really worried about you. Demeter," he explains. "At least i'll be able to tell her you're with your family."

[eirenikos]

She turns very pale, a minute trembling running through her frame. "Oh, Zeus. I don't want Aunt Demeter to worry, but she can't see me like this. No one can."

Eirene studiously studies the ground, trying to fend off another panic attack. Because if she has one of those, then they won't let her out of bed again for another two days.

[hero_farmboy]

"I won't tell her where you are," he assures her calmly, trying very hard to keep from putting an arm around her. "Just that you're safe and being taken care of. Is that okay?"

[eirenikos]

"No, it's ok. You can tell her where I am, just ..." She trails off, lifting her head to look up at him. "I, uh, got into a shouting match ... sort of ... with my father."

[hero_farmboy]

"She mentioned you might have gone to see him." Not in those exact words, but he'd gotten the gist.

Softly, "I take it that didn't go so well."

[eirenikos]

Eirene shakes her head, glancing back at the flowers all around them. "These were all planted, as I said, by my sisters and myself when Mother acquired this house. Sacred, meant only to be tended by those divine residents and occasionally given to relatives as gifts. No mortal hand has ever touched one petal."

The blonde curls in on herself a little bit more, chin resting on her knees.

"I can't touch them now."

[hero_farmboy]

Clark listens carefully, though his eyes wander around the garden as she speaks. Until her last comment and his gaze snaps back to her face.

"He made you mortal?"

[eirenikos]

Her expression crumples within seconds, forcing the former goddess to bury her face in her hands. She nods after a moment, and then falls silent.

Eventually, muffled: "I can't even care for my people now."

[hero_farmboy]

"That's what he wants you to think." Clark's voice is quiet, but his tone indicates a barely suppressed anger.

"It won't last. It's not how they work. I don't know how long, but eventually, he'll remember who you are and what you're supposed to be doing and that things can't run the way he thinks they should without you and he'll change it back." They're not comforting words, he knows, but it's very likely the truth.

[eirenikos]

"And in the meantime, if ... I don't even know if Dad meant to do this, Clark. He--" Eirene stops talking for a few moments, trying to control the tremor in her voice. "Have you ever been hit by a lightning bolt at close range? We weren't even three feet apart."

She looks away. "Regardless of what happens to me, the rest of humanity suffers because I'm not there to act as a buffer for my relatives.

"I'm sorry. Just not coping so well, but I shouldn't yell at you."

[hero_farmboy]

"Doesn't matter if I have or not. I doubt he doesn't know what happened or that it wasn't intentional. If it wasn't, he'd have fixed it by now." Clark frowns down at the grass. "Trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

[eirenikos]

Her own misery is temporarily forgotten, or at least shelved, for the moment at the expression on Clark's face. Eirene scoots closer, reaching out automatically to place a hand against his shoulder. Long standing habit; this is what she is. Was.

"I'm not completely useless now, I can listen."

[hero_farmboy]

"You're not useless," he replies immediately. "You'll never be useless, no matter what he does to you. And for however long this lasts, you'll find a way to help. He's only taken away what you are, not who you are."

[eirenikos]

They're arguing. Eirene manages a strangle hiccup-cum-laugh and drops her hand away from him. So much like the debates before she screwed everything up that it hurts, and no matter how badly she wants to crawl into his lap, she can't.

So she moves, standing up, and hobbles over to a small table to get herself some water.

(Mortals, she's found, are thirsty creatures.)

"Are you doing alright?" Oh, so casually.

[hero_farmboy]

They're not arguing. He's just trying to get her to see the bigger picture outside of the garden she's sequestered herself in. He's trying to get her to see that this isn't an ending, it's just ... different.

He stands as well, but doesn't follow, simply hovering beside the cushions. "Aside from this? I'm fine."

[eirenikos]

Soon enough she's back, gingerly picking her feet up off the ground and swinging them back onto the cushions. "Aside from what? Did something happen to you too?" Not deliberately obtuse, thank you, just still -- surprised.

"I'm hiding here for a reason, Clark," after a few sips of water. "and don't ask me if I can read minds. Can't do that. Faces, on the other hand, especially yours ...." Pause. "I wish I could still kiss you, and take away that pained expression."

Er.... damnit.

[hero_farmboy]

His expression softens a little. "Yes, something happened to me. Someone I care about got hurt, kind of badly, and I don't know how to help them."

After a moment's pause, "I know what you're going through, though. Everything's... dull, right? Like all the sounds are muted and the colours you see aren't quite as vibrant as they were before, and things taste differently and your feet start to feel real heavy if you walk too long because you never noticed how much effort that took and..." he trails off, realization setting in that he's babbling and his lips quirk into a brief half smile. "Anyway, if you ever want to talk."

[eirenikos]

"Yes," she nods after a long silence. "But the emotions are sharper somehow. I hurt more deeply. It's almost paralyzing, and before things were easier to just tuck away for a more convienent time to be upset. And sometimes there's this irrational anger that just builds up until I want to scream and hit something."

Eirene glances down towards her legs.

"Or you forget that you're mortal and try to stamp out a burning coal with your bare feet.

How do you know all that?"

[hero_farmboy]

Another half smile and a shrug. "I guess you could say I sort of have my own Zeus-like figure in my life. He did the same thing to me, once, made me mortal. Human."

And then he'll even try for humour, "I didn't try to put out coal, though. Just hit my thumb a whole lot with hammers and other tools trying to get my chores done." Beat. "For the record, I don't recommend it. It really hurts."

[eirenikos]

Eirene rests her cheek against his shoulder for lack of anything more comforting to do that doesn't involve sitting on him. Which he probably wouldn't appreciate right now. Or at all. "I'm sorry, Clark."

Right. Humor. Change of subject. "They won't let me near any of the gardening tools," she gestures around the courtyard where, in fact, there isn't even a trowel in sight. "Dike is convinced I'll trip and stake myself on a rake or something."

[hero_farmboy]

"You'll get used to it. It'll take a while, and there'll be some cuts and bruises along the way, but you'll get used to it. But they're right," he allows. "It's probably better to be safe than sorry for the first little while."

[eirenikos]

Eirene frowns, lightly. "I've never done well in captivity." But it's not like she has much choice right now - there is no way she can leave this house and just start living as a human. Not without severely maiming herself.

"Clark, are we still friends?"

[hero_farmboy]

"You're not a captive, Eirene. You're just adjusting to a new situation. It's like learning how to do anything for the first time. Like swimming. You don't just toss someone in the deep end and expect them to tread water like a pro; you have to let them get used to the feel of the water while they can still touch the ground."

He frowns now as well, looking down, but not at her. "I don't know. I'd like us to be, but I understand if you don't."

[eirenikos]

"You weren't here yesterday when I tried to get out of bed and get something to drink. All three of them," she's referring to Themis, Dike and Nomi, "physically carried me back to bed and then stood guard all day so I wouldn't try anything."

Huff.

"Well, I'm still in love with you, but I'd ... if it's friendship you want, then I can handle that. I'd rather have you in my life than not."

[hero_farmboy]

"It's as new a situation for them as it is for you. They don't want you to get hurt." More than you already are goes without saying. "My mom flipped out a lot whenever I'd try to lift something, or use power tools, but eventually, she realized I could be careful. And so did I."

There's a soft sigh and he doesn't reply to her latter comments for a moment. "I do care about you. I just don't want this to," he shrugs, "make things worse for you somehow."

[eirenikos]

Eirene rises to her feet again, hobbling around carefully to settle in front of him in a crouch. "You can't. You've already broken up with me, sort of, and I doubt you'd make father any angry than he is, or my mother and sisters angrier at dad then they already are. Welcome to the incredibly complicated lives of gods."

She leans forward and up, then, to brush her lips against his. When she finally pulls away, "Thank you, for caring and for coming. But I need you to go back now and find my aunt and tell her I'm ... I'm safe. And when I'm ready, I'll come find you. Okay?"

[hero_farmboy]

It's against his better judgment, but he kisses her back, a soft sweet kiss like the ones they used to share when they were first starting out this way.

"Okay," he agrees once she's drawn back, and finally reaches a hand up to rest against her cheek lightly, for barely a second. "I'll let her know and anyone else who asks." Really against his better judgment, and possibly in a fit of blatant stupidity, he leans forward and brushes his mouth with hers once more. "I'll be there when you need me. I promise."

[eirenikos]

Her lips tremble just once, and she has to fight the urge to hold him with her forever in this garden. Instead, Eirene curls her fingers around his lightly, briefly, and then stands up to move away.

"Thank you." It's not quite clear which of his statements she's thanking him for, but then, it doesn't really matter. All of them are important to her. And to him.

When Clark has stood as well, she walks with him to the front door, studiously ignoring the curious eyes of her sisters.

[hero_farmboy]

Each of them is given a slight smile in turn regardless, as well as Themis. Clark was raised to be a polite houseguest, so matter how short the stay.

"Take care," he says to Eirene, and then gives her hand a very gentle squeeze, before stepping back out onto the road and starting back toward where he hopes Demeter is still waiting.