GODLY AUDIENCES - ZOE MURPHY

[divus]

Comments

[requiemed]

Even if she were soft... That wouldn't be why she suits me.

[divus]

No? Then tell me what you think it is.

[requiemed]

Because we want the same thing.

[divus]

A world where people are loved for who they are or whatever, right?

[requiemed]

Or whatever. Right.

[It's hard to keep a note of frustration out of her voice, but she moves forward.]

Yeah, exactly.

[divus]

...it's a nice world to dream about, isn't it?

[requiemed]

I know what you're going to say. That it's impossible and she hasn't thought it through enough, right?

[divus]

No, no....I get what she's going for. The truth. People being there and loving you for who you are...it's idealistic and a little naive, but it's not the worst idea.

[...why the change of heart?]

[requiemed]

[She pauses, tilting her head.]

It sounds different from the last time you talked about her.

[divus]

Yeah, well...being back here's made me reconsider some stuff. So that was my own fault.

[requiemed]

[...]

You want to talk about it?

[divus]

[...there's a light snort.]

Does it matter? [But he looks at his feet instead, and Zoe can probably see the scuffed-up toes of a beat-up pair of chuck taylors peeking out from under his god robes.] I lived here year-round for five years. Just a lot of memories I wanted to forget, but I knew this place would be the best shot at teaching you guys to fight and how to train for the future.

[requiemed]

...I'm sorry.

[But, all the same:]

Thanks. You didn't have to make yourself uncomfortable just so you could help us out.

[divus]

[A hand comes up, idly tapping on his mask.]

Nah, that was on me. I thought I was over this place already. It's been years since I've been here. It should've been simple.

But I think it did its job anyway.

[requiemed]

...Sometimes painful stuff can stick with you even once you think you're completely over it, I guess.

[divus]

Yeah, I was hoping the ascension would take care of that. Stupid plan. [...]

...people never really get over stuff. They just get better at dealing with it.

[requiemed]

[It takes her a moment to respond to that.]

...You think?

[divus]

[A bitter laugh.] No. Some of us are just shit at coping with everything no matter what we try. But it's a nice thought anyway.

[requiemed]

[She hesitates, but—]

Hey. What did you do for fun or in your free time before... all of this?

[divus]

[...what free time?]

...I was on my own for a while after I ran away from home, but eventually I met this girl. We found each other inside a dragon cave and we teamed up after that. Few years younger than me, still one of the most intense people I've ever met. She was like me. Half mortal, half god. We made a good team.

Eventually we found another girl. She was seven at the time. I was fourteen. And for a while after that it was just the three of us. Life sucked and it was hard to know how long we were gonna survive or where we were gonna get our next meals or how I was supposed to take care of two other people including myself, but the company was nice. We tried to give her the most normal experiences as possible, so we'd check out stores and sneak into places and celebrate birthdays and holidays where we could. Trained a lot. Traveled a lot. Anything to keep the morale up.

Camp itself wasn't always about training either. The campfire's not just for show. Fireworks would be lit on the beach every Fourth of July for a show. Sometimes field trips happened. After a while it just felt normal, whatever that word even means anymore.

Nothing too exciting.

[requiemed]

...It sounds like it was rough.

[So 95% of that is horrifying and she wants to cheer him up instead of remind him of something painful, which is why—]

Were they nice? The fireworks.

[divus]

[The fact that she's genuinely asking is. A lot.]

Yeah. The Hephaestus cabin used to set them up so that they'd actually show battle sequences and myths in the sky. It was this huge...thing for people.

[And also a huge dating thing, but he leaves that out for now.]

[requiemed]

Well... If this place is how you remember it, maybe we could find some.

[divus]

[...is he considering this? Yeah, duh.]

...Cabin 9, but if anything the supplies would be in the forge. It's where they built everything.

[requiemed]

[She offers a smile.]

You wanna go?