- Hi everyone! I had done some research and found out Pythagoras really was a teacher as well as a musician and a philosopher. So I thought that would make the perfect job for him! I also wanted to find out something more about Daedalus, Icarus father, and found something very concerning. Now I know how the Minotaur was created, and it is gross if you ask me... Enjoy the extra long chapter!-
Chapter V: Teacher Pythagoras.
"Good morning, Pythagoras." Icarus said softly shaking his shoulder. Pythagoras yawned loudly before opening his eyes.
"Good morning." He said watching his boyfriend. "Why am I still in my clothing?" Pythagoras asked after he sat up, noticing his clothes.
"You had fallen asleep at the table yesterday, and I was too tired myself to undress you, as much as I would have liked." Icarus said with a grin while he pulled his brown tunic over his head.
"I quite liked my view, actually." Pythagoras said with a smirk and got up to re-dress himself.
"Then you should have come with me to bed when I asked." Icarus said before he kissed him. Pythagoras nodded and followed him in to the other room for breakfast.
"I still need to apologise from yesterday. I should not have snapped on you."
"You had a tough time concentrating, I understand. And me with my useless comments would absolutely not add to that."
"Don't blame yourself, Icarus." Pythagoras said while he shook his head. Icarus stood and walked over to the other side of the table where Pythagoras sat.
"Now just forget last night, yes? I will see you again in the evening." He said and kissed him.
"Be careful." Pythagoras said before Icarus closed the door and was off to his work.
"Hercules? I will also be gone in a few moments." Pythagoras called after he had spent a few moments solving the calculation of yesterday not understanding why he could not solve it yesterday.
"Bring more wine when you come back." Hercules replied from his bedroom.
"I will when you for once in your life do some chores." Pythagoras called before he was gone.
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Pythagoras stood still while he listened to the music that came from a nearby window. It was simple but melodic. This street was not as crowded as other streets since there were no market stands in here. He did not know how he had ended up, but he did not care that much. He awoke from his thoughts when he heard a door slam shut and saw an elderly man lying on the middle of the street.
"I could him not let my children be thought by such foolish things!" A man behind the door shouted.
"Good luck finding someone else who could teach them, I am not going to look for you." A female voice shouted back.
Pythagoras walked up to the man and helped him on his feet again. "Thank you." The man said who white started to appear in his dark hair.
"Your welcome. What happened?" Pythagoras asked, getting curious.
"I taught their children. I was telling them about that I believed that the gods did not make the world. Their father thought I offended the gods and let me clearly know that he did not want to have his children taught that way."
"Very interesting." Pythagoras mused.
"You are also someone with brains? Aren't you? Never seen any real labour." The man observed.
"Yes, no." Pythagoras answered and started to blush.
"Go and see if they would offer you my job, since the chance that they will give me my job back is almost zero." The man said with a little smile.
"You would let me?"
"I'm sure I can find something else."
"Thank you." Pythagoras smiled. "I wish you good luck."
"Thank you. I warn you about their father, he has ears everywhere." The man said and turned to go home, probably. "Good luck." He said before he disappeared between the people. Pythagoras waved at the man before he slowly made it up the steps. He knocked twice before a clearly agitated man opened the door.
"What." The man spat.
"I am sorry but I heard what just happened and I would like to offer my service as a teacher." Pythagoras said quickly.
"What do you think that makes you a good teacher?" The man asked glaring at him.
"I know how to write, and do mathematics. I have travelled quite a few times and know about herbs and related things."
"Come back tomorrow morning. Then I will see if you can teach." The man said before the door slammed shut.
"Now what did you say earlier?" The man asked.
"You were just lucky. This will not happen again." The female answered back. Pythagoras turned and listened to the voices till he was far enough that he could barely hear them and the other sounds of the market were a lot louder. Before he could return he still had to bring wine for Hercules.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Pythagoras walked over the market for an hour, before buying wine and returning home. When he opened the door, he could hardly believe what he saw. Hercules stood there, sweeping the floor.
"Ah, you have brought wine." Hercules said when he saw Pythagoras holding a jug. He dropped the broom and sat down at their table. Pythagoras handed him the jug of whine while he looked at the half clean floor. After some time spent in silence Pythagoras decided that he would finish Hercules' started chore. He was about to finish when the door opened again.
"Good afternoon." Icarus greeted and let him and his father in.
"Good evening." Pythagoras greeted Icarus and Daedalus. Daedalus immediately set out to cook dinner while Pythagoras finished the chore. "What gave you the idea to come along?" He asked when they all sat around the table with a bowl in front of them.
"I missed Icarus. But it is almost impossible to keep him from you. So, I came along to spent some time with him, without having him to miss you." Daedalus said with a little smile when Pythagoras turned pink. "Is that a problem?"
"No, it isn't." Pythagoras said with a little smile.
"Not if you cook every evening." Hercules agreed munching on a bite. Both Pythagoras and Icarus shook their heads and sighed. "What?" Hercules said offended.
"You think with your stomach." Pythagoras pointed out.
"Is that a problem?" Hercules asked while he stood to get some more dinner.
"No, but sometimes…" Icarus said with a frown getting over the obvious again. Daedalus laughed when he saw all three of the faces.
"I have news." Pythagoras announced when they had all cleaned up.
"We can go and live with Jason." Hercules said hopeful.
"No." Pythagoras said while he shot him a glare.
"Have you found a job?" Icarus guessed with a little smile playing on his lips.
"Yes, I have." Pythagoras said receiving a peck.
"Congratulations." Both Daedalus and Icarus said.
"What are you going to do?" Daedalus asked.
"I am going to teach."
"And further?" Icarus asked.
"I do not know yet. I will see tomorrow. I was walking by when a man was thrown on the streets, and there was an angry man who had done so. After I had spoken with the man that was thrown on the streets I knocked at the door and offered my service." Pythagoras told them in short. They talked the whole time over trivial things till Icarus got tired.
"I am going to sleep." He announced and got up.
"I will join you." Pythagoras said in amazement to Icarus. "But we would do good if we first prepare another bed for your father." Icarus nodded and fifteen minutes later a makeshift bed stood ready to be used.
"Goodnight." Daedalus said before the two disappeared in to the next room and he went to sleep. Hercules lay already snoring in his bed. Pythagoras and Icarus undressed themselves before slipping under the blanket to lay in each other's arms.
"Are you exited?" Icarus asked softly.
"I think I am. And I wish to be rested, that is why I joined you."
"Do you not want this every night?"
"I think I indeed missed something. Yet sometimes to lie awake all night, it makes me more useful to be up and doing mathematics."
"I know you have trouble falling asleep, but there you have me for." Icarus smiled while confusion washed over Pythagoras' features.
"And how would you do that?" He asked.
"Like this." Icarus said softly and started to run his fingers through Pythagoras curls, massaging his scalp. Pythagoras sighed softly and let out a little hum.
"I will see if this works." He said softly and curled up and closed his eyes, waiting till sleep would wash over him. It took at least two hours before Pythagoras was softly snoring and Icarus was almost fully asleep.
When dawn came again Icarus awoke tangled in his lovers' arms. "Good morning." Icarus whispered in Pythagoras ear and softly shook his shoulder to awaken him.
"Hmmm?" Pythagoras hummed, not wanting to wake.
"I suggest you would wake so we both do not run late for our jobs." Icarus said softly while untangling himself from Pythagoras and getting up to dress himself. Pythagoras followed him a few moment later joining him again at the table. They softly spoke while they ate so they would not wake Daedalus that early.
"We should go so we will not be late." Icarus said while he stood. Pythagoras nodded and handed Icarus his cloak and put his own around his neck. Together they walked through the still sleeping streets of Atlantis.
"We have to part here." Pythagoras said when he had to continue his way but Icarus had to go into the street to the left.
"I wish you good luck, and we will see each other tonight." Icarus said and kissed Pythagoras.
"Thank you, see you tonight." Pythagoras said before they both continued their way. When Pythagoras ended up in the street he walked up to the house and waited a few moments before knocking on the door. The man he had talked to yesterday opened to door and looked at him for a moment before he stepped aside and let Pythagoras in.
"You must be our new teacher." The female said when she saw Pythagoras. "This is Thasos, my husband." Kalista said with a nod.
"I am Pythagoras." Pythagoras introduced himself.
"I am Kalista. My children are Angelo, Karissa and Damien. They are already outside." Kalista led Pythagoras through the kitchen outside in their garden. In the middle of the garden a linen cloth hung on four wooden posts, casting a shadow above the table and chairs that stood beneath it. At the far end of the garden was exposed bedding with all kinds of different plants growing in it. The girl called Karissa sat on one of the six chairs at the table while both boys played game with a little leather ball.
"Good morning." Pythagoras announced himself.
"Angelo, Damien, Karissa, this is your new teacher." Kalista said before she left him alone with the children. It took a moment before Angelo and Damien finished their game and joined their sister who was already sitting at the table.
"Good morning." Pythagoras said again when he joined them at the table. "I am Pythagoras and I am going to teach you."
"what will you teach us?" Damien asked not knowing what to think of their new teacher.
"I can teach you many things. I can learn you mathematics as well as healing aspects of herbs." Pythagoras watched their faces to see what they would find of those subjects, seeing that he sparked the interest with the talk of plants with the girl. "But first I need to know a few things. You know how to read and write?" All three nodded. "And to count?"
"Our last teacher taught us that." Angelo said. "I wish to learn about the mathematics." Pythagoras nodded.
"Then we will start with something simple. Do you have some parchment with a quill and ink?" Quickly Damien and Angelo left to fetch the requested items.
"I would like to learn about the plants." Karissa informed quietly.
"Then I will teach you that too. The knowledge of herbs and plants can always be useful." Pythagoras praised and Damien and Angelo returned with the items. Pythagoras wrote a small and simple calculation down on the parchment. "You know the answer to the calculation?"
"Seven." Angelo said after some time.
"Excellent job." Pythagoras praised and quickly wrote another three calculations on the paper. "Let me know when you have them solved." Pythagoras said and sat down opposite of them. It took them the whole morning to solve the other three calculations. Kalista brought a bowl of fruit to them and a pitcher of water for lunch. When they were done with their piece of fruit, Pythagoras explained what they had done wrong and told them how they could solve the calculation correctly.
"What kind of calculation can you do?" Damien asked.
"What do you mean?" Pythagoras asked.
"What is that hardest calculation you can do?" Damien asked again. "Show us, please." Pythagoras gave him a little nod and started scribbling on the parchment and both Damien and Angelo looked with the greatest interest to his scribbling.
"What is it?" Angelo asked when Pythagoras was done.
"This is a calculation you can use for tracking stars and skylights. I do not know if you have ever noticed that when you look good enough every week the stars are on a little different place in the sky. I have watched the sky for four seasons before I noticed they got on the same place they were before." Pythagoras explained in all his excitement. "And everything with that is connected. That the stars have their same position in the sky at almost the same time in nature."
"Can we see it?" Angelo asked and Pythagoras lay the parchment in front of the noses of the boys.
"How about we are going to see what kind of plants you are having in your garden?" he asked Karissa seeing her face light up.
"Yes, please." She answered and got up. Pythagoras walked over with her to the flowerbed and sat down at the little wall surrounding the flowerbed.
"You see the purple flowers?" Pythagoras asked.
"Yes, they smell lovely." Karissa answered.
"They are called lavender." Pythagoras told her. "And those in the back with the red knops? Those are poppies. They are used to relieve pain, but it is also very dangerous, because from only a little bit you can die." There crossed a horrified look over Karissa's features. "So, do not try that yourself, will you?"
"I won't." Karissa said quickly before she watched the flowers again.
"The colourful flowers are anemones, and the little white ones with the yellow intern are called Daisies." Pythagoras continued. "The long green stems are Mignonette, these are also used in healing like many other plants. But you also must be aware about that not all plants have the properties to heal, because others can be toxic that means you can kill someone with them."
"Damien, Angelo, Karissa." Kalista said still standing in the door. "It is almost dinnertime." Pythagoras walked over to her together with her daughter. "Thasos wishes to speak with you." She said and stepped aside to let him in. Thasos stood in the hallway waiting for him.
"Kalista said you had done a decent job in entertaining my children." Thasos started. "Do not go too far with the certain subjects, or you will go like the man you are replacing. I will expect to see you an hour after dawn again tomorrow." He warned. Pythagoras nodded, not wanting to loose his job. "You have been warned." Thasos said and held up a single silver coin for Pythagoras.
"Thank you." Said Pythagoras and took the silver coin from Thasos. "I will be back tomorrow an hour after dawn." He said before he set foot on the streets again and made his way home again.