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(no subject)

Characters: Erato and Achilles
Date/Time: Just following the gathering.
Location: L'Hôtel Jeu Ancien hallway
Rating: TBD
Warnings: TBD
Summary: After the meeting, Erato wants to catch up with her hero...

After the meeting, Erato looked around at her fellow Greeks. Oh, she wanted to talk to them all, but she noticed Achilles was quickly leaving the ballroom. She hurried to catch up to him.

"Hey. Um. I didn't really get a chance to say hello before the meeting started... It's good to know you came. Not that we had any choices in the matter, but, still. I'm glad you're here."

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"I don't like secrets. When information is kept hidden, people jump to the wrong conclusions, and it almost never ends well," she admitted, shaking her head.

"So... War is all you know? Have you even had a job? A girlfriend? Anything?" she asked.

"Secrets cause strife. Only foolish men use them to build themselves up."

He opened up his jacket entirely, letting some air in and undoing the cuffs before taking it off entirely, the tie now pulled from around his shirt collar. He folded the tie neatly and laid it atop the nearby table.

"War is all I know," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "No job outside the military and relationships I have little time for." His polite way of saying he didn't trust people easily enough to make them long lasting. Not when it came to matters of the heart.

"I see..." she said softly.

"That's really too bad. I suppose I can understand why, but... It sounds lonely. While war may have its time and place, there also needs to be time for peace, friendship... love," she said. "Everyone deserves a chance to be at peace. Everyone deserves to have the chance to love and be loved. Even warriors."

Achilles smiled slightly but it was bittersweet. "I am afraid little Muse your testimony comes too late. There is little peace left for me in the lives before, in this one, or even the next. Perhaps at some time, but not in this one," his voice was almost as lonely as she felt at hearing it. There was an emptiness inside at the thought that he'd closed himself off so much, but in this reincarnation there was little for him to cling to. No Briseis or Patroclus to hold close, no one that he had held close at all.

"Why not?" she asked. "Love isn't a zero-sum game. It doesn't have to come at the cost of something else. And, so long as you draw breath, so long as there is someone in the world to care about, it's never too late."

It was easy for her to believe that so whole-heartedly, and yet he was too hardened to fall into her promises completely. There was a pause and a softness to in his eyes, but he sighed again somewhat exasperated.

"It is not that simple," he said in a solid but soft voice. So sure of himself, a confidence that would never be shot down by fear. "There is no one to give my heart to."

"No. There is no one you have chosen to give your heart to," Erato corrected.

She stood and took his hand in hers again. "I know it can be a frightening thing to let someone get close to you. I've been too afraid to do it myself, I admit it. It isn't easy, but I know it can be done. It takes time. It takes trust. And I know you aren't the sort to do things the easy way."

"You've been fighting for so long... The song of battle is the only one you remember. But you did know another one, once. Let me help you remember. Let me help you write a new song."

Achilles tilted his head to look at her with a slight startle toward her forwardness. Thus far she had been a soft spoken, and her correction made him pause. That urge to argue was put at rest when she took his hand again within hers.

"It has been a long time since I've allowed anyone my heart," he said in a more direct tone. He wasn't sure what to make of this or what she was presenting.

And yet....

His hand gripped hers a little tighter. He didn't know any other song but the one he had written for himself.

"It's okay," she said softly, lightly stroking his fingers with her thumb, "We'll just take it one step at a time. Together."

"You know... I was the only Muse to marry--not counting the time Apollo tried to marry all of us together. Zeus gave me to a mortal man, one I barely knew at the time. I had to leave my sisters and everything I knew behind."

He'd traveled the world for years alone, he wasn't sure he knew what it felt like to let another be a part of it. Yet, this little Muse seemed so sure of herself and of what she was willing to offer. He was still a man, had his own urges, though he'd not been anything like the men she'd run into his first night meeting her. He would not be disrespectful to her in that way, but he could not deny that something signaled in the way she touched him, as feathery and innocent a touch it was.

He stared at her soft eyes for what felt like an eternity. Searching in their gaze. "Proves your strength."

"Exactly," she said. "I was taken from my comfort zone, put in strange circumstances with strangers. And, I came to love it. And him, too. If you're willing to take this leap of faith, I'm sure you can as well."

He let his hand stay within hers a moment longer, but Achilles was too proud right now. There was a softness she brought out in him and he wasn't sure if it was the place and the situation or her.

He pulled his hand away slowly. "In time," he shook his head, "but not now." She was digging into deep places and yet he still had much to learn of her.

"Okay," she said. "I know it won't be easy. Still, you have my trust, even if you aren't yet ready to give me yours. But, whenever you're ready, just know that I'll be waiting. Just let me know." She very lightly touched his cheek for one brif moment.

"I'll let you think on it now."

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