Chapter 21

Herry didn't mind helping out his granny, he would do anything she asked without question. Today's visit included him rearranging her living room, cleaning the eaves troughs and lastly, walking Pepe. The dog pranced along beside him, a pink bow tied in his fur atop his head. He could only imagine what he looked like, a guy his size walking around his grandmother's sissy dog.

There was a path he liked to take through the nature trails near his granny's house, but today he strayed from his regular path. He stuck to the roads heading west to the ocean, rounding blocks that would take him to Opal's house. He slowed as he walked by. Admiring the flower bed and the wooden archway above the door, noting the lights in the upstairs windows were off, but it was still early in the afternoon. He knew he didn't put his bedroom light on until the sun was begging to go down, it was no way to judge the current occupancy of the house.

He stopped for Pepe to sniff around in the grass on the lawn, his heart beginning to pound. Swallowing hard he tugged on the dog's pink leash and led him over to the driveway. What would she think if he knocked on her door to invite her to walk with him and his granny's dog? He took one step off the sidewalk onto the stone walkway to the door. Nope, his throat constricted and he spun on his heel. He couldn't do it. He could picture her face when the door opened. That look that said, 'why are you here creep?' Tugging Pepe along behind him Herry hurried to the end of the road, dropping into his regular sloth like stride only after he rounded the corner.

He sighed and watched the Ocean as he walked the old road, pavement crumbling into gravel. The road was up on the top of a hill, rocks piled down to the beach. He followed the deteriorating path and it wove down from the hill to a marina. It wasn't the regular one in town where Jay had his sailboat, where he and his friends went to swim. This one had the nose crunching and throat gagging smell of fish. It was more raggedy than the harbor in town, some of the wooden boards rotted to the point of hazardous. The boats bobbing in the water were grimy, loaded down with mechanisms, nets wrapped up on the deck. It was clear to him this was the fishing marina, more than likely where Opal's father worked.

He tossed his shoes off in the sand grasses on the beach. The sand was warm on his feet, sticking between his toes. He led Pepe to the hard sand flattened down by the rolling of waves, more solid to walk on. Pepe barked and nipped at the small waves lapping up on shore beside them. It was rather relaxing to walk along the water, feel the cool moisture of the sand on the soles of his feet and the salty breeze wafting in from the ocean.

He was in his own little world when he heard the sharp scream. He looked for the sound, his body constricting as he readied himself for the worst. It was most likely unnecessary, but it was instinct. He looked to the fishing docks just in time to see a black ball of fur leap into the water. A splash erupted up from the ocean where the dog landed, water droplets glimmering in the sunlight. On the other end of the leather leash was a little girl with a head full of blonde curls. Herry's body was moving towards her before his mind even registered.

Opal could swim, he knew, he had gone swimming with her before, but his adrenalin was still translating her fall as something much more threatening. Like it had been a soup of venomous snakes she had landed in and not just calm ocean water. She surfaced just as he was nearing her on the docks, the water around her rippling with movement and splashes. She sucked in a deep breath and pushed her hair from her face, looking for the black dog paddling around in the water.

"Rye," she scolded and shoved at her thick chest like an irritated child might have done. She barked happily and swam in circles around the girl, slurping a lick up the side of her face. Opal growled in frustration and dropped under the water again, she went straight down and under the dock to the other side to get away from the Newfie. Herry followed her shadowed figure between the boards of the dock. It had been ludicrous to be concerned about her in the water, she had grown up living beside the ocean her entire life. She was a strong swimmer. When she surfaced again she reached her hands up for the dock, with the clear intention to pull herself up, but she stopped with a surprised gasp when she spotted him, her eyes wide under her bangs weighed down by the heavy moisture.

"Hey, I was just walking by," he said to her, rubbing the back of his neck as his cheeks warmed, "Umm, are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," she said. They stared at one another in awkward silence for a long moment. Closing her mouth to clear her throat Opal reached up her hand to him.

"Oh yeah, sorry," he took her arm and lifted her from the water in a quick and secure motion. A small squeak of surprise escaped her, her nails digging into the muscle of his bicep. It took her a moment to get her footing, finding herself back on solid ground a lot faster than she had expected.

"Thanks," she said, taking back her hand and stepping away from his gentle yet solid grip on her elbow.

"No problem," he sent her a dazed smile looking down to meet her eyes, but he was distracted by her clinging white shirt. He liked the light purple colour her bra was.

He snapped his focus away from her chest when she pulled at the fabric of her shirt exactly where he was looking. Face on fire, he began looking for Pepe. He was on the dock reaching out his little quivering paws as he readied himself for a leap into the ocean. Cursing he lunged for the leash, just missing as Pepe jumped, splashing up salt in his face. He groaned in irritation as he watched the little dog swim around with the big one, barking at one another in their soggy fun. Great, now he'd have to give the gods damned thing a bath when they got back to his gran's.

"Rye," Opal addressed the dog, she pointed to the shore and ordered, "Beach." The black mass in the water began to paddle over and Pepe followed along behind. Ringing out the wetness in her shirt Opal began to walk the length of the dock back to the sand, and Herry went with her, obedient as either one of the dogs.

The silence between them constricted around him, for some reason he felt the need to speak, "They look like their having fun together."

"Hmm?" she looked over her shoulder to him, water droplets on the ends of her curls jarring free to fall on the wood of the dock.

"The dogs," he clarified.

"Oh, yeah," she said and looked forward again, shifting her crossed arms higher up on her chest. Yep, she had definitely noticed him staring there. The silence extended once more and Herry accepted its uncomfortable presence. Reaching the beach they scooped up the leashes of their respective dogs. Opal began in the direction of her home, where he had come from a little while before. She gave him a good-bye and a wave as she walked.

"Wait," he said, "I have to go that way too, just let me get my shoes."

She gave him a slight nod, her arms doing their best to find the optimal position to cover her exposed cleavage while she waited. He joined back up with her and in unspoken agreement they began walking. It was a short hike to Opal's home and neither one of them said anything along their stroll.

Outside of her house Opal muttered the expected goodbye and shuffled up the path to the front door. Herry stayed put to watch her go, scolding himself for the obvious discomfort he had placed on her. His stomach flipped when she paused and looked back over her shoulder. Her eyes caught with his for a moment, but she was fast to dart them down to her feet. With slow steps she tiptoed her way back to the sidewalk where he stood. His heart was hammering, his lungs constricting more and more with each of her steps closing the distance between them. The only reason he could think of for her return was to enlighten him on the fact he had been a total pervert.

She stopped in front of him, Rye still panting beside her and with quiet hesitation she asked, "Are you going to the jam fest this weekend?"

"No," he said with a voice hardly a whisper. He looked down at her, but she wouldn't take her eyes off her fingers combing the fur on top of Rye's head, "What is it?"

"Awesome," she smiled down at the dog, still refusing to look him in the eye, "A bunch of local musicians gather up in Centennial Park and do their thing."

"And you're going," he said.

"Can't wait," she nodded, she swallowed hard and then asked on a shallow whisper, her blue eyes flashing up to his for a quick moment, "So, do you want to tag along with me?"

His heart felt like it would burst from his chest and his stomach decided it was better fit for residence in his throat. His senses suddenly became heightened, the hairs on his neck tingled where they meet skin, the breeze was a touch cooler than it had been a minute ago and the smell of wet dog registered in his nose. His expression went blank as his mind swirled. What was this? Was she asking him on a date or was this just as friends? He wasn't sure what he wanted it to be. He had already decided he wasn't going to ask her out, but he never considered the possibility that she would ask him. What was he going to say? He did not want her to find out anymore about his life, if they started dating could he keep his secrets just that, secrets. Or maybe he was just overanalyzing everything about her intent.

Quickly Opal retreated her invitation, waving her hands in front of him as she said, "It's cool if you don't want to go, I know it's not really your thing. I just didn't have anyone else to ask."

Friends, that's definitely what this sounded like, but still, the more time he spent with her the more he put her at risk. He cleared his throat and said, "Can I get back to you tomorrow on that?"

"Sure," she nodded and forced a smile.

"Right on," he said and turned, cursing under his breath as he strolled away with Pepe, he sounded like such a tool. Well that ruined any plans he had for the night. Now he would argue with himself for hours as he tried to decide what to do. He brooded as he walked, so caught up in his head he almost missed the call on his PMR. A quick glance at the caller ID signaled his evening was about to become a lot more eventful.

Odie was in the back corner of Ares' training arena where he had set up a small work station. He was fiddling with his portal shifter, soldering the last wires. He flicked it on and stood back, the blue dome of its range quickly expanded, as it always had, but the problem before was that it would rush right back, pendulum in and out from the source. Odie waited for a few minutes when the dome didn't waver he let out an elated holler, pumping his fist into the air.

"Jay!" he yelled and searched the room for his leader.

"What is it Odie?" he asked from across the room, where he and Atlanta were sparing, trying out new maneuvers Ares had just taught them.

"I got it, it's finished," he pointed to his creation with a beaming smile, "We'll finally get Cronus back where he belongs."

"What?" he said, dropping his sword behind him as he picked up a sprint.

"Yeah man," Odie said with exuberance.

"Ha," Jay let out a cheery laugh as he came up beside his teammate and slapped him on the back, "Great work Odie." He laughed again as he looked down to the silver box. There was nothing special about it, it didn't even look nice with its exposed circuits and blinking lights, but Jay had never laid his eyes on anything more beautiful, more promising. His sleepless nights and endless worrying could very soon be coming to a close.

The timing for Hermes to rush into the room in a panic could not have been more painfully placed. There was Odie's contraption waiting to be used, but no time to plan out its most optimal strategy. Jay could not risk the use the device in this episode with Cronus. He could not have the God of Time know its intention before he was sealed in a dark cell of Tartarus. That meant he only had one chance to plan it out perfectly and that time was not now.