神々の悪戯
"The gardening club?" she somewhat distractedly asks, as she lets her fingers stroke along the spines of the books in the library. Surely there had to be at least one reference book in here for the sky currently above them, not just the human world?
"Yeah, there was a student meeting." She hopes her eye-roll isn't seen as she bends slightly to look at the lower shelf of books. "Apollo and Yui have set up seven clubs…well, eight if you include Loki and Thor's two-man club. Balder and Loki chose different types of tennis, and Loki made himself President of his newly-created club, the 'Going-Home' club." She turns to look at him for a second, lifting an eyebrow, to which he shrugs his shoulder.
Of course Loki would do something like that. Especially given how he still seems to have a grudge against this whole school/learning about humans thing, and even more so because it's Zeus, the leader of another pantheon, that's in charge.
She rolls her eyes as she turns back to the books, taking a step forward to look at the next lot on this shelf. Perhaps she should be looking in the mythology section, rather than celestial cartography, especially if Zeus has created this 'Garden' from scratch, rather than from something from reality. Then again, who's to say the view isn't simply something from another part of their arm of the Milky Way, or a different arm completely, or (holy fuck, wouldn't this be mind-blowing!) another galaxy completely?
Is there even a mythology section for the Garden, or…
Actually, wouldn't what she considers 'mythology' now be under 'history'?
And there goes her brain again, looking into things more deeply than is necessary. How… Why can't she just enjoy them for the aesthetic, given how much she loves art and everything? Why can't she just create something, and not turn it into a lesson on physics, or chemistry, or any one of a thousand other subjects? Maybe this is why she hates all those optical illusion pictures and shit.
"You said there were seven clubs?" That seemed like a really small amount, given how many she knows her university has. Hey, she knows they exist, even if she doesn't go to any of them, not anymore. Maybe it's because this is only a high-school…or because there's only ten 'real' people who are supposed to be students here, nine if you exclude her.
"Yeah, student council...tennis, gardening, reading, music…hang on, there are two more… Ah! Swords, and astronomy. Uncle likes astronomy, he just…"
"Doesn't like people?" Sounds like her type of person really. "And club activities kind of implies you have to 'club' together."
"Exactly. Yui seems really…interested in making everyone part of a club, and I understand why. It's just…Uncle has his reasons, and…" She sighs as she pulls herself back upwards, turning to face Dionysus, who is leaning against the balcony railing.
"I don't like pushy people," she sort-of randomly states, moving to stand in-front of him; seemingly without thought, he widens the stance of his legs, letting her stand in the gap, and his hands come to rest on her waist. Maybe it is an unconscious move, but maybe it isn't, given how she has to think about where's best to put her hands now; eventually, they end up on his shoulders. "And the way she's acting… It's almost like she's thinking her way is the best way, and her way is also the only way, that everyone should follow her lead. It's like she's thinking she can do no wrong."
"You sound a little…jealous," he comments, and her eyes go to his; she doesn't know what her face looks like, but it makes him jolt backwards slightly.
"I'm not jealous, I'm pissed off! If someone likes something, they shouldn't be made or coerced into joining a group for it! People can enjoy something without having to share, or discuss it with others, or do it with others. Like me and my art. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, being with others when I'm trying to sketch or paint or whatever just distracts me; noises and movement and all that bullshit. It's so rare for me to be able to work with someone else there. Some things are just…just better and more enjoyable if you do them alone." She doesn't mean to get louder as she basically turns a few words into a rant, but-
"I get what you're saying, I really do. But Uncle…" A look crosses his face, frustration mixed with something, especially when he bites his lip, a hand leaving her waist so that he can mess with his own hair. "It's not that he wants to be alone necessarily, it's just…urgh! Things…things just happen when others are around him, but they never happen to him, always the others. Bad things. And it's not-… He doesn't-… Why is this so hard?" He finishes with a near whisper, and this time, it's so easy to know what to do; she steps closer into the 'V' of his legs, a hand sliding up his neck to press against the back of his head, bringing it down to the crook of her neck.
Of all the places to give Dionysus a hug like this, she never imagined it would be in the library.
神々の悪戯
She doesn't know their entire conversation has been overheard.
If she did, she probably wouldn't care. In fact, she probably would have asked that her opinion on 'being alone' and 'social grouping' be spread to even more people.
神々の悪戯
"I kind of like autumn," she tells him as they sit on a picnic blanket for lunch. "It's kind of like the Goldilocks effect," she continues as she pulls the covered plates and bowls out, then the cutlery.
"The what effect?"
"Goldilocks. You know, not too hot, not too co-… And you'd have no idea what that is. Of course you wouldn't. Why would you?" And this is when it hits her, just how different these gods actually are from her and… (does she have to say it?) Kusanagi. Apart from new-borns, and maybe a few toddlers, who hasn't heard the story of Goldilocks, hasn't had it read to them for the hundredth time by a parent trying to get their child to sleep?
At least in her culture. She's fairly certain other cultures in the human realm have similar stories, but at the moment, she's generalising.
"Is it that important?" She spreads everything out as she thinks, removing covers to display sandwiches and salad and (somehow), piping hot chips. She is not questioning the magic of the food-gods here, if she can have still-hot food in a picnic.
"It's a children's story from where I'm from. Kind of a…how to put it? Parents tend to use it as a story to put children to bed to, when they're young, but as the children grow up and learn to understand things like right and wrong, it becomes a teaching story." She holds up the bottle, which has him giving her a grin as he grabs it to uncork it.
"A white?" She passes over the two tumblers, letting him fill them both.
"It's lunch time. We don't have time for red wine to breathe if you plan on going back to class."
"Well…maybe." His grin is more than sly, and it makes her swallow the sudden lump in her throat. Holy fuck, the heat in his fucking eyes…
"There's a red in the bottom, if you want to open it and let it breathe then." He's in the basket before she's finished her sentence, almost disturbing the food.
"I love the way you plan ahead. Maybe next time we should get more than just two bottles."
"…Maybe." The food is shared out, the white wine is drunk and the bottle drained, then they move onto the red, which goes down especially well with the chocolate cake slices she pulls out from the very bottom of the basket. Throughout, interspersed between mouthfuls, she tells him the story of Goldilocks, the little girl who entered a house, tasted three bowls of porridge, tried three different chairs and beds only to run from three bears when they returned home.
"So…breaking and entering," Dionysus starts, only for her to interrupt with 'But did she break-in so she could enter?', to which he tilts his head consideringly, before humming. "Definitely trespassing then. Theft. Property damage. Squatting. Fleeing the scene of the crime." She runs a hand through his hair as his head rests on her lap, both bottles of wine long-since consumed.
"Exactly. Walks straight into someone else's home, eats their food, breaks their things, sleeps in the beds, and then runs away without a word. And she's selfish, not content with the first thing she has or takes that's not hers, but she has to try all of them, to find the one that's perfect for her."
"She wants something that's perfect, not just something that suffices."
"Right."
"So you consider autumn to be perfect then?" The question makes her think; does she? Hmm, just like Goldilocks, although perhaps equally not like her, she's 'tried' all the seasons. Summer is too hot, winter is too cold, and-
"Spring and autumn. They're my 'just rights'. The good parts of summer and winter…you can do or have them in autumn and spring. Like…ice-cream, or beach parties, or afternoon picnics. And painting in the sunlight, and sleeping in late, and hot chocolate that's the perfect temperature."
"I suppose I like spring, as you consider it, a bit more than others, because it's when fertility seems to get a kick, not just for plants and the like, but people. The increase in sunlight seems to make them hornier for some reason." He turns slightly, nuzzling his nose against her belly, and she lets out a sharp chuckle, almost a snort, at the feeling. "But the grape-harvest season, as the heat begins to fade, and the longer nights draw in…"
"Fruits of labour," she states before thinking, but her brain automatically connects several dots, and she blurts out- "You're going to grow grapes for the gardening club, aren't you?"
"I suppose that depends. Want to help me make it?"
"Help the actual god of wine actually make wine? I'm not insane enough to turn you down." She leans down to kiss him in thanks, only…well…
Let's just say they make certain to keep it to kissing, considering that they're in public view of whoever decides they want to try and join them.
…
Dionysus doesn't make it to his afternoon classes.
神々の悪戯
"Dee-Dee? You're not having dinner with Cee-Cee?" There's only one person that could be, and he turns to see Apollo standing just behind him but to the side, the tray with his dinner on still in his hands.
"We're not always together, you know," he replies, nodding towards the empty seat next to him, which is soon filled. "Besides, we had lunch together."
"I know," his brother swiftly retorts, and he looks back at him, his fork impaled into his food, noticing the wide grin on the blond's face. "It was very…noticeable when you didn't come back to class."
"Doesn't mean I wasn't still learning. Did you know that humans teach their small children about the consequences of infiltrating residences not their own? About stealing and destroying someone else's property?"
"Whaaaaaat?!"
神々の悪戯
She swirls the brush in the water before pulling it back out, resting the brush across the top of the glass before walking backwards three paces. The picture on the canvas…it's…
"Close. Incomplete. Something's missing." The picture is beautiful enough, she supposes. It's the image she'd thought of in that clearing, the one with the fire-sparklers, and it's enough to cover the canvas. The sky, gorgeous as it is, takes up a good half of the canvas, and it's mostly trees for the lower section, except for the beach-house/mansion tucked away in the woods, and the clearing with the streams of fire, the barest outlines of people directing them. There's even a few of the glowy green/blue stones, although she hopes they're not too obvious, not detracting from the fire-sparklers or the sky too much.
But what is missing?
Has she made the starry sky too big, or perhaps it is the trees? The size of the clearing? Or…no, she sees it now, can't understand why she didn't see it before.
You can't tell who is who. There's no…no defining traits. Hmm, how to…how to… Ah! Long bright red hair here…a dash of blue…a darker red there… Long gold, short gold, purple, greeny-blue on the tall body here, but greeny-grey on this tall body there.
Now…now it's perfect.
But now it's also time to find something to eat, because her stomach is rumbling and gurgling like no-one's business and she feels fucking starved.
What time is it even?
…
That…that cannot be right.
神々の悪戯
Her eyes actually hurt when she leaves her room, heading down to the cafeteria. Her attire, a mix of Valentino and Versace that she'd never normally be able to even think about buying, let alone actually wear, had been things she'd randomly pulled out the wardrobe.
Why is it so fucking bright? She's starting to really hate these corridors with either the open side or the really big windows, because there's no bloody curtains. Urgh, maybe Loki had been right, and Apollo was working with his father, and all this sunlight was simply a method to torture them in their time of captivity here.
Horrible sunlight, how do I hate you; let me count the ways… The way you shine across my eyes and wake me in the mornings, the way you hurt my eyes after a several-hours long painting session, the way-
"Umph!" She blinks rapidly at the unexpected sight of the floor, before she realises she's leaning over…an arm? Yes, that's definitely an arm, and her right foot hurts, and-
"Darcy? Are you alright?" Balder? She feels herself being almost lifted off the ground and placed back on her feet, and she blinks as she looks up at Balder, who is looking at her with a bit of worry on his fa- Oh; she hasn't responded yet, has she?
"I'm fine, I think. Just-" Her stomach decides to finish the sentence for her, impatient thing that it is. "What time is it anyway? I think the clock in my room is wrong."
"It's breakfast time. Are you joining us?" Breakfast. The clock in her room hadn't been wrong then. She'd been hoping she'd speeded through painting, that it was only late afternoon, but-
"After last time?!" Urgh, she remembers last time, and no, she is definitely not going anywhere near the group. Granted, she'd eaten a group meal with them at the beach-house/mansion, but there had been no Kusanagi or Apollo present, people she feels take a situation and amp it up to eleven.
They continue heading to the cafeteria, walking very slowly, like snail-pace slow. Her foot hurts slightly, but not enough for it to have been sprained or injured in any major way. She's got a feeling there'll be a bruise though. Food first, then maybe if she tries to get an ice-bag for it?
"Do you want me to get you something?" Balder asks, hair swaying as he leans down slightly to look at her…only to trip forward. It's only because she rapidly catches the rear edge of his blazer, tugging it sharply, that he doesn't fall flat on his face.
"No offense, Blondie, but I might be better off getting my own food."
神々の悪戯
"It rained last night?" she basically blurts out, interrupting a conversation between Balder, Loki, and Thor, who have all decided to sit with her, for some strange reason. Granted, that could be because none of the other gods are present, but the latter two could have joined them simply because it was her, basically a stranger, sitting with Balder, a long-time friend/relative of theirs.
'Stranger danger' and 'safety in numbers' and all that jazz.
"You didn't hear it? Or see it?" Thor asks, even as all three of them turn to look at her, one more incredulous than the others.
"I got caught up in painting. I don't think I've even slept, or if I did, I don't remember. Why is it raining so important?"
"Because it happened so suddenly!" Loki quickly states. "Half an hour, or an hour, after full sunset, and a perfectly clear sky. And then, without warning, clouds suddenly formed, spreading like a wave across the entire sky. I even saw," she watches his gaze go to Balder, and shit, she suddenly has that sinking feeling in her stomach again, "Hades and Yui return, completely drenched. Not just damp, or a bit wet, like they'd gotten caught in the rain, but drenched as if they'd jumped into a pool or a pond together."
"Loki!" Balder's words come out sharply, and Thor's own gaze settle more firmly on the blond. Shit. "You don't have to…to-" His fist comes now on the table with a thump, but then he's pushing his tray back at the same time as his chair, a loud screech attracting the attention of the other souls as he runs from the room, tripping once only to catch himself before continuing. Loki's disbelieving stare lasts for all of five seconds before he's running after his not-brother, Thor eyeing the exit before sighing and slowly standing.
"Thor," she begins, only to freeze once those golden eyes connect with her own, her heart beginning to point in…anxiety? She knows what she wants to ask, but how to politely word it…? It doesn't take the second or two she has to realise that she can't. "It's nothing. Try and stop them from-…waking the dead with their arguing, will you?"
Fuck. Shit. Crap. Bollocks.
That was close.
His answer is a nod, and she nods in return before turning back to her plate, fork messing with the…whatever this is that she's mushed up beyond recognition.
'Try and stop them from killing each other.'
She hates her brain sometimes.
神々の悪戯
Author's Note 23/06/18: You're all going to hate me.
No, I didn't start writing notes for a story for 'Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi' (and I wrote that without looking up the spelling, so go me! (It's probably wrong)). No, it's even worse, more deplorable, more heinous than that!
…
I started watching another anime! (Please don't hate me!) It's called 'Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori', and at the time of writing this, I'm only three minutes into episode one. I've never heard of it before, and I have no idea what it's even about, but from what I can gather; there's a group of pretty boys/men in charge of a 'retro' café, there a working woman, possibly the 'office lady', who's in her…I want to say early to mid-twenties. She seems like someone whose…hmm…not exactly comfortable around men, but it could be the fact that the first guy she interacts with is nice and pretty. I'll keep you guys updated if I decide to keep watching after this first episode.
…
Back to this story though!
All fans of KnA can probably tell when this story falls, and let me shock you by saying that, despite it seeming mostly like filler, it actually covers about the first third of episode four. We might be able to cover the entire episode within a chapter or two!
…
(I've just jinxed myself, haven't I?)
Whatever. Hopefully you all liked this chapter; if you did, drop me a review with what you liked the most, or the least. See you next chapter!
(Episode one: complete! Okay, it's mostly a sweets shop (okay, it's not, it just has a guy there who works solely on desserts), and the woman is practically staking out the place now, ear-buds constantly in her ears. I think she's turning it into her second home at this point. Oh! Found out what she works as, an event planner! Could be good; moving on to episode two now!)
(Episode two. Same pretty boys, different mini-story.)
(Episode three. It's getting interesting people! We have a twin, and a secret!)
(Episode five. This is food porn. You need no other description. The second half is just…whatthefuck)
(Episode eight. Prepare to cry.)
(Episode ten. It's as far as is uploaded right now. Binge watch over.)
Now I'm on Isekai Izakaya "Nobu". It's more food porn. Don't judge me.