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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jul 6, 2010 3:11:19 GMT -5
The phrase let's just say that he's always been this devoted to you flashed through Alex's mind, and he squeezed Hitoshi close, threading his fingers through the boy's long hair.
"Mm, no." He sighed and looked down at Hitoshi. "I... we're going to have to figure out this prophecy before long. I have some crazy ideas, but it's starting to sound more and more like we're not going to be able to put this off."
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jul 6, 2010 3:36:57 GMT -5
Hitoshi placed a soft kiss on the shell of Alex's ear. His cheek. His jaw. He started to go for Alex's neck, then figured he should probably stop before he got the two of them carried away again. Damn irresistible Alex. He wasn't sure how the hell he was going to manage at the beach, what with Alex in swim trunks... This was much easier when he was too nervous to do more than hold Alex's hand.
He glanced back up at Alex. "Ideas?"
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jul 6, 2010 4:04:46 GMT -5
Alex sighed happily and leaned his forehead against Hitoshi's.
"Those passages you keep going back to... the situations we keep finding ourselves in... the museum. All of it. And the things your mother said, about us knowing each other from other lives, about my name."
He pulled back, grabbing Hitoshi's hands in his, and looked away. "I feel strange when I talk about this, like there's something my mind isn't willing to comprehend... strange and depressed. The words "meu Patroklos" keep popping up, though maybe I got that from somewhere? How could I tell?"
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jul 6, 2010 4:25:39 GMT -5
Hitoshi looked at Alex strangely, then took a seat on the edge of the bed and pulled Alex down next to him. "This..." He sighed. "This is a lot to think about. And I don't know whether I would rather know what's going on, or whether I would rather just ignore it, though I doubt it's going to be that simple."
He rubbed Alex's hand slightly, thinking. "So whatever this is, it looks like it has something to do with Achilles, or Alexander the Great. Likely both. Did my mother say anything else?"
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jul 6, 2010 4:35:01 GMT -5
Alex wrapped one arm around Hitoshi's waist and leaned against him.
"Starting from the beginning, just in case I've missed anything... 'I'd welcome you to just call me Cassandra, if you like. Like yourself, my current name is one I've held for more than one lifetime.' 'When it comes down to it, you're the one they're all watching.' I asked her who 'they' were, and she said 'Well, I don't believe I'm exactly supposed to tell you. I'm not entirely sure what to tell you at all, really, except that I have to say something. It's the dilemma of a prophet--not knowing what to tell and what to keep quiet.'"
His face took on a slight frown. "'Oh, it's not just people that you've upset. If that were all, your punishment would have ended over a millennium ago.' 'You crossed the wrong gods, and you paid the price.' 'Let's just say that you would be surprised how much you have in common with the Aetai boys."
"'From what I hear, you have a certain Lady to thank for coming off as light as you did. Unfortunately, she seems to have a soft spot for tragedies. She's likely on the edge of her seat right now, watching all of this unfold.'"
Finally, he looked at Hitoshi. "She said she was going to speak to Hitomi, too, and that she hoped she could talk to us again."
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jul 6, 2010 5:23:20 GMT -5
Hitoshi felt his stomach twist unpleasantly at the mention of "gods". Hitoshi hadn't been terribly convinced of there being any sort of god at all; the idea of a huge pantheon of nearly-omnipotent beings watching over him like hawks was incredibly unsettling.
He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "What I'm hearing is that Achilles -- and presumably Patroclus -- did something to piss of the gods. Given the extent of the punishment, that almost certainly means Olympians. I'd wager that whatever it was, it managed to offend a large portion of the gods. As far as the 'certain Lady'... I don't think anyone but an Olympian would have that power. That leaves us with Hera, Artemis, Athena, Demeter...and Aphrodite." He looked pointedly at Alex. "I'm sure you can guess which of those matches the description."
Hitoshi's first thought was that he didn't like the idea of Aphrodite poking around his love life. His second thought was that he sure was hell wasn't saying that aloud, on the off-chance that any of this was remotely real. He wasn't going to offend what was possibly the only person on his side.
He looked back up at Alex then. "You remembered all of that word for word?"
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jul 6, 2010 5:54:45 GMT -5
"Mm. From your tone, at least. I'm not much of an ancient mythology person." He squeezed Hitoshi a little, understanding how he felt.
He smiled down at Hitoshi. "I told you: you'd be surprised what I can remember."
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jul 6, 2010 6:30:26 GMT -5
Hitoshi raised an eyebrow at Alex. "Apparently." He sighed. He really wished they didn't have to worry about the damn prophecy or anything to do with it.
"We'll worry more about this later, but for today... We're going to go to the beach. And we're going to have fun, and try really hard not to let this prophecy-thing affect anything." Hitoshi brushed his lips lightly over Alex's and smirked. "I'm going to get changed. You should probably finish with your sunscreen while I'm not in here to distract you."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jul 6, 2010 6:32:29 GMT -5
Alex bit his bottom lip and blushed. Ah, right. That.
"I will. Ah, knock before you come back out, all right?"
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jul 6, 2010 7:48:13 GMT -5
Hitoshi nodded, then gathered up his clothes. Even if he did decide not to leave his t-shirt on while they were on the beach -- and Alex was making it remarkably tempting -- he wanted to be a little more covered for the walk there.
It didn't take him long to get dressed. He tied his hair back off of his neck and doused his face with cold water, then rapped loudly on the bathroom door.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jul 6, 2010 7:52:53 GMT -5
"Just a minute." Alex finished changing into his swim trunks and getting his legs covered in sunscreen and at least mostly rubbed in down to the tops of his feet. He was planning on wearing pants part of the time, but not when he was actually swimming.
"All right. Come in." And then he just had to do his chest, and put on pants and shirt and hat and sunglasses and sandals for the walk... bah.
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jul 6, 2010 8:22:20 GMT -5
Hitoshi waited for Alex's signal, though he was somewhat tempted to peek out early, then pushed the door open.
It was nice being back together with Alex, even if it wasn't exactly official just yet. And as much as Hitoshi hated to admit it, maybe it was a good thing that they spent some time apart, particularly if Alex was as apprehensive as it seemed. He really did want to believe that this was something that was going to last, even if most high school relationships didn't. He and Alex had apparently had several lifetimes of practice, so maybe the odds were in their favor.
Hitoshi took his seat on the edge of the bed and slipped on his sandals, watching Alex out of the corner of his eye. "Let me know when you're ready to go. I, um. I did pack sandwiches for lunch."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jul 6, 2010 8:30:14 GMT -5
"Mm, Hitoshi-cooking." Alex smiled. He couldn't say that he was glad all this had happened, but it certainly seemed to have cleared the air a lot. "You need to open up a restaurant someday. The world would be a better place for it."
It took him a few minutes to finish the sunscreen, and not much longer to get dressed. "Done."
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Jul 6, 2010 10:15:08 GMT -5
It had been a long morning, beginning with Hitomi waking at sunrise. That dream had been...unsettling, and had seemed far more real than anything else she had dreamed. She could still taste gingersnaps. A part of her wanted to believe that it really was a vision from her mother, but the idea of it just made it hurt worse, like reopening an old wound. What had her mother meant to tell her? And what did Thrall have to do with anything? Surely it was just her mind playing tricks on her...
At last, though, a sense of normalcy seemed to settle back in. They were going to the beach, and Hitomi was working on rounding everyone up without alerting her uncle. Conveniently, Tristan had ran off at the crack of dawn to do god-knows-what, which meant that she didn't have to sneak people out.
Hitomi wore a yellow sun-dress over her swimsuit, her long hair pulled up in a bun, and a pair of surprisingly comfortable flipflops she had found at the mall the day before. A large, brightly colored bag was slung over one shoulder, filled with fruit, water, and tuna sandwiches for herself and Jaymie, as well as sunglasses and towels and other things she might need for the beach. Hitomi planned on being prepared.
She thumped on the door to Hitoshi and Alex's room. She was taking them swimming whether they liked it or not.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jul 6, 2010 10:25:18 GMT -5
"Just in time... unless that's Professor Yogo again." Alex got up and peered out the peephole, then opened the door with a broad smile.
"Hi. Uhm- wow, you- didn't get any sleep last night? Are you all right?" He looked back at Hitoshi. "We're ready, I think, just have to grab sandwiches and towels and such. 'Toshi, could you unzip the front pocket of my backpack and grab the folded-up tote bag?"
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Jul 6, 2010 10:37:37 GMT -5
"Um. No, no, I'm fine." Hitomi forced a smile. "Just a little sleepy, is all." She glanced over at Hitoshi, then back at Alex. That was...strange. She grabbed Alex by the arm and pulled him off to the side of the room.
"So what happened?" she whispered. "Are you, like...what did he say?"
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Post by Hitoshi Gilespi on Jul 6, 2010 10:46:21 GMT -5
Hitoshi found the tote bag relatively quickly, then grabbed the sandwiches from the kitchenette and threw in a few bottles of water and fruit from the minibar. If they were still hungry after that, he supposed they would be able to buy something at the beach. He didn't exactly trust most food sold out of stands, but ice cream wouldn't be too bad. There were only so many ways to mess that up.
He glanced over at his sister and Alex. He'd gotten the impression that Alex had talked to her last night, just from the way he was acting. They were fairly close, and he was certain that Alex had talked to someone about it. Well, Alex could tell her whatever he wanted her to know, he supposed.
Hitoshi grabbed a few towels from the bathroom and stuck them in Alex's bag.
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jul 6, 2010 10:57:41 GMT -5
Alex allowed himself to be tugged with an amused expression on his face. "I apologized, we went to bed, I got some... advice, we made breakfast together, he forgave me, and..." Should he say? Oh, why not, it's not like there's anyone else he can tell. "And he's far less embarassed about running around on the beach now. Though, you might want to keep Jaymie away from him, if he's wearing that tiny scrap of cloth he was modeling yesterday."
"Seriously, though, I would've thought you'd be happy, but you look like something's really wrong." Alex patted the arm that had been tugging his. "What- er, well, you know what I mean- what did she say?"
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Jul 6, 2010 11:04:38 GMT -5
"She--?" Hitomi's eyes widened slightly. "So...you too? It was real?"
Hitomi leaned against the wall and hugged her arms around her chest. "She didn't say a lot, really. She said I was going to be meeting my father soon, and she started to say something about her death...and then I woke up. She said something about asking Thrall, but I don't know what she could even mean by that. It's not like he's any more accessible than she is."
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Post by Alex Meriweather on Jul 6, 2010 11:13:26 GMT -5
Alex frowned sympathetically at Hitomi. That was all very strange, but... "And Hitoshi. I'm sorry, should I not have said anything?"
"Do you want to just go on ahead and worry about all this later? There is a warm, sunny beach out there waiting for you."
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Post by Hitomi Gilespi on Jul 6, 2010 11:17:07 GMT -5
"I don't really mind talking about it, it's just...I don't know what to make of it." She sighed. "The beach sounds nice. We can talk more about it later, maybe." Hitomi forced a smile. "Come on, there are people waiting downstairs for us."
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