(no subject)

[tritonia.insanejournal.com]

Characters: Athena and Baldr
Date/Time: December, 26th. Early afternoonish
Location: The Mansion library
Rating: Pg probably
Warnings: Baldr may still be angsty
Summary: Athena brings Baldr his present and they get to meet for the first time.


She had Sean's present in her arms as she hunted the halls. She walked by the library and noticed the door a little ajar. She pushed it open a little further and poked her head it to see if anyone was in there.

Comments

[shiningone.insanejournal.com]

Libraries are good. They're quiet, unassuming, and generally a great place to hide when there are too many people and too much noise.

Books have a habit of taking one's mind off of things. And Sean was pleased to have found something that might actually help him during this bizarre and truly fucked-up situation: A book on old and ancient folklore and mythology.

Athena would find Sean in a chair with his nose was buried in the very large book. The mansion could have fallen on top of him and he wouldn't have noticed.

[tritonia.insanejournal.com]

She slipped inside the room and knocked on the wall. "Hey, mind some company?"

[shiningone.insanejournal.com]

Jerking his head up at the knock, he blinks a few times behind his ever-present spectacles at the pretty girl near the door. "Uh...not, ah.. not at all." He manages a smile.

[tritonia.insanejournal.com]

She steps inside, smiling. She knew who he was by process of elimination, but he probably hadn't met everyone else yet. "Can you guess who I am?"

[shiningone.insanejournal.com]

He hooks a thumb in the book to keep his place, then stands as the smile turns slightly awkward. She seems nice enough, wasn't asking him if he remembered anything or everything. Her voice kind of sounded familiar. "Don't hate me if I'm wrong... I've been wrong on a lot of things lately. But... Pete?" He looks hopeful.

[tritonia.insanejournal.com]

"Give the guy a prize. Guessed it in one." She crossed over to him and held out her hand. "Nice to finally meet you, Sean."

[shiningone.insanejournal.com]

Page is forgotten about, but at least he'd remember that he was reading about Odin. He takes her hand firmly, but genially. "Likewise. Nice to put names and voices with faces."

There's a beat after he lets go of her hand. "So, who are you, really?" Sean shrugs and indicates the book now under his arm. "Trying to make heads and tails of everything."

[tritonia.insanejournal.com]

She's actually pleased by his question. That meant he was at least trying to adjust. "Athena actually. So I have to clarify, I am not really this tall or glowy on normal occasions."

[shiningone.insanejournal.com]

He takes a brief moment to size her up, but holds an arm out to show his shiny self. "Yeah...I generally don't look like a nightlight most days. Far from it, especially if I forget to shave." So, it was a slight attempt at funny.

[tritonia.insanejournal.com]

"So how are you adjusting, now that it's been pretty much shoved into your lap?"

[shiningone.insanejournal.com]

He looks around and back to her. "Well as I can, I guess. Kinda hard to interact or pretend I know what the hell I'm talking about, honestly. How did you manage it?"

[tritonia.insanejournal.com]

"I made some friends and got to know them, before branching out too far. People in your own pantheon are the best place to start, if you want to learn about yourself. It can get weird, but I just remembered that I wasn't the only one."

[shiningone.insanejournal.com]

"I'll get there. Hence the book. Just feel like I should know more, I guess." He sits the book down and offers her a seat. "Bombardment and all that."

[tritonia.insanejournal.com]

She sits. "Yeah, learning the basic lore helps. I don't know what's in here," she says, holding out his present. "But usually the magical gifts are useful for us."

[shiningone.insanejournal.com]

He furrows his brow as he takes the gift, then settles into his seat. "'Magical gifts'?" He eyes the thing suspiciously before shaking it gingerly. "Did you get one?"

[tritonia.insanejournal.com]

She smiles, and when she does, she glows a little more brightly. "Yeah. I got my Aegis. My shield."

[shiningone.insanejournal.com]

"Gods need shields, right?" He chuckles and turns the package over once before finally unwrapping it. A quirked eyebrow is his immediate response at the book in his hands. "Or scrapbooking..."

[tritonia.insanejournal.com]

She noticed his lackluster response. And she couldn't really blame him. It was a scrapbook after all. She'd been expecting something a little grander too. "You should open it. The gifts aren't ever pointless."

[shiningone.insanejournal.com]

He glances at her before taking a deep breath why am I holding my breath and opening the first page. There on the first page is a sketch? etching? of a man who appears to be glowing or shining. Much like he is, now. "What is this?"

[tritonia.insanejournal.com]

She leaned over to look, and felt a pang of envy. This was a far more gentle introduction than she had. How very unfair. But it wasn't his fault Gaia had chosen to be a forceful bitch to her. So her tone was kept gentle. "That's you. How you used to be."

[shiningone.insanejournal.com]

As the pages continue to turn, he feels more and more unsettled. It's not going to attack you

How do you know?

There's some flash of familiarity from what he assumes are the crazy dreams he'd been having. There are more than just pictures in this book. His fingers run over a small piece of leather, the inscription in the book claiming it is a piece from Tyr's armor. He says nothing for a long moment before turning the page. There, another drawing. This time, one of what's supposedly his godly self, and an equally godly woman. Without reading the description of the picture, a word comes forth that Sean has no inkling of where it comes, and there's an obvious hurt that sweeps over his features:

"Nanna."

[tritonia.insanejournal.com]

She can practically feel his pain, and reaches out, taking his hand in hers. She doesn't say anything inane or useless. She just gives her wordless support through the touch of her hand in his.

[shiningone.insanejournal.com]

He shakes his head, wondering where the smack of hurt and the name came from. There is no move to pull his hand away from Athena. "I don't... I don't even know who she is. But... fuck, it hurts." He taps his chest with his free hand before finally taking his other one back from his current companion. The book is slammed shut.

[tritonia.insanejournal.com]

"I understand. I really do. Feeling things you can't explain. Your heart remembering things before your head does. It's hard. It gets easier. Take your time."

[shiningone.insanejournal.com]

"How..?" he whispers, pinching the bridge of his nose as his eyes shut tight. "How does any of this get easier?" It's the same question he's asked his therapists, the grief counselors, any shrink that would look at him. "It really fuckin' doesn't, Pete. And this?" He thumps the book with his knuckles. "Doesn't really help my sanity."