A Thousand Silhouettes [[Underworld-Olympia]]
Mar 27, 2014 15:20:49 GMT -5
Belle French and Tinkerbell like this
Post by Helen(a) of Troy on Mar 27, 2014 15:20:49 GMT -5
"It's always so very drab here," complained Helena, groaning as the ship docked at the gate. "Would it kill the man to add a little color? A few paintings?"
"It's the Underworld, Helena," tutted Thanatos but he was almost-smiling like he tended to do, a corner of his lip raising warmly towards her. "I don't think Hades intends for it to be pleasant."
"We're sending him an interior decorator for his birthday."
Thanatos snorted and gave her a half-scolding look. "Behave yourself, my Queen."
She rolled her eyes but smiled and preened a little; he knew how to play her by now, the things to say and distances to keep or broach in order to keep her content. When the gates opened before them, Thanatos descended first. As soon as his feet touched the ground, leaving the deck of her ship, she could feel the stirrings of wind, though they were far out of reach for such a natural occurrence. You know we're still here. Stop pretending. She bunched her fingers in the gauzy skirts of her dress with one hand. As Thanatos reached up to her, she extended the other out to him, bracing herself on his shoulders. His hands found her hips and she could feel the warmth of his calloused palms through the fabric. It was the closest thing to safety Helena thought she had ever known. He set her down and she winced as the usual pain started in the arches of her feet and branched outwards, cloying up her legs.
"Alright, then?" he inquired. He knew better than to show her pity or sympathy, for she would read it as condescension. Instead he waited until she mustered another smile, less believable than the first.
"Can't we just leave them here?" she whispered.
"You ask that every time," he murmured, his hand hovering just over the base of her spine and then deciding better and falling away. "And every time I tell you the same thing..."
"Yes, yes," she sighed, "you can't undo a curse that isn't yours. She found a loophole. We're working on it. I know, I know." She glanced back at the deck of the ship once before they left it behind entirely. She could see him, the first of them, the origin story, a faint whisper hovering over the wood and watching her. She had to squint, otherwise she would look right through him. She sidled closer to Thanatos and kept walking.
--
"Wait here," he bid once one of the hooded men had rowed them across the river Styx and they were again standing on the dank, dark land of the Underworld.
"You have all the fun," she pouted. He caught the way she glanced around her skittishly.
"They're all locked away," he promised. "No soul can pass out into the open without permission."
"They've done it before," she countered.
"Loophole," he repeated. He hesitated for a moment, swaying closer to her and then away entirely, vanishing. He often handled his business with Hades privately. It wasn't the first time she had been left alone in the winding tunnels of the Underworld but she liked it no more than back then. He could promise her safety all he wanted, there was still that seedling of fear that more of them would come looking for her and she would drown in a sea of ghosts before he could return to her. Many people had turned to loathing Helena over the years; most of them were dead which meant that most of them were here.
Meg/Mimi Koyle
"It's the Underworld, Helena," tutted Thanatos but he was almost-smiling like he tended to do, a corner of his lip raising warmly towards her. "I don't think Hades intends for it to be pleasant."
"We're sending him an interior decorator for his birthday."
Thanatos snorted and gave her a half-scolding look. "Behave yourself, my Queen."
She rolled her eyes but smiled and preened a little; he knew how to play her by now, the things to say and distances to keep or broach in order to keep her content. When the gates opened before them, Thanatos descended first. As soon as his feet touched the ground, leaving the deck of her ship, she could feel the stirrings of wind, though they were far out of reach for such a natural occurrence. You know we're still here. Stop pretending. She bunched her fingers in the gauzy skirts of her dress with one hand. As Thanatos reached up to her, she extended the other out to him, bracing herself on his shoulders. His hands found her hips and she could feel the warmth of his calloused palms through the fabric. It was the closest thing to safety Helena thought she had ever known. He set her down and she winced as the usual pain started in the arches of her feet and branched outwards, cloying up her legs.
"Alright, then?" he inquired. He knew better than to show her pity or sympathy, for she would read it as condescension. Instead he waited until she mustered another smile, less believable than the first.
"Can't we just leave them here?" she whispered.
"You ask that every time," he murmured, his hand hovering just over the base of her spine and then deciding better and falling away. "And every time I tell you the same thing..."
"Yes, yes," she sighed, "you can't undo a curse that isn't yours. She found a loophole. We're working on it. I know, I know." She glanced back at the deck of the ship once before they left it behind entirely. She could see him, the first of them, the origin story, a faint whisper hovering over the wood and watching her. She had to squint, otherwise she would look right through him. She sidled closer to Thanatos and kept walking.
--
"Wait here," he bid once one of the hooded men had rowed them across the river Styx and they were again standing on the dank, dark land of the Underworld.
"You have all the fun," she pouted. He caught the way she glanced around her skittishly.
"They're all locked away," he promised. "No soul can pass out into the open without permission."
"They've done it before," she countered.
"Loophole," he repeated. He hesitated for a moment, swaying closer to her and then away entirely, vanishing. He often handled his business with Hades privately. It wasn't the first time she had been left alone in the winding tunnels of the Underworld but she liked it no more than back then. He could promise her safety all he wanted, there was still that seedling of fear that more of them would come looking for her and she would drown in a sea of ghosts before he could return to her. Many people had turned to loathing Helena over the years; most of them were dead which meant that most of them were here.
Meg/Mimi Koyle