[Thread] I made my way on trains

[poppingseeds]

Characters: OU!Jing, AU!Persephone
Where: Ast-Tessera
When: Now-ish
Summary: Jing gains +1 roommate.
Warnings: None?

Comments

[thieveryofstars]

To say Jing had been surprised by the offer was an understatement, especially given that they'd been sniping at each other not a few days prior. But that had been a stupid, childish thing on his part and he'd been trying to work up the nerve to apologize for it when she'd apologized herself.

He'd been briefly seized by the urge to tidy things up, but there was nothing to clean. Aligoté had always kept the apartment clean and now -- so shortly after his departure from it -- there had not been time for clutter to accumulate.

He felt a pang; but pushed it back down. As he'd told Persephone, there were far more important things of consequence than the drama unfolding in his personal life.

At her knock, he was quick to open the door for her, noting with some bemusement that a wagon trailed behind her and was filled with plants. Only to be expected from a nature goddess, he surmised, and held the door wide so she could pull it inside without encumbrance.

"I'm not going to wake up with a cactus in my bed, am I?" he quipped, smiling.

[poppingseeds]

There'd be plenty of time for clutter to occur with the goddess about. With the days getting colder, more of her time was spent indoors and she just didn't do cleaning -- living out in the wilds of Greece, there wasn't much to clean anyway.

"Well there's something I hadn't thought of before~!" Persephone smirked, stepping inside and maneuvering the wagon out of the door's way. The layout of the apartment was different from the one she had just vacated, the living room in the forefront rather than the kitchen. It also lacked the extra room Ci-Epta had, she noted vaguely.

"Was it just you here before your roommate left?"

[thieveryofstars]

"Aligoté was living in Ast-Deka for a while," Jing responded. "And I had another roommmate, a doctor named Yinsen Sahar. But he disappeared many times, and finally disappeared for good a while ago, about the same time Aligoté started staying here. But I've had so many other people share... some days I feel like I'll forget one of them, even though they lived with me."

He noted her glancing around and added, "Did your roommates disappear too?"

[poppingseeds]

Persephone nodded sadly. "Johanna disappeared. I thought she would come back because her things were still there, but then they vanished too. Mikami went shortly after and I hardly see the other one."

Despite the morose topic, the goddess was fidgeting, trying to keep herself from poking around and getting acquainted with her new living space.

[thieveryofstars]

Jing smiled a little. "If you're going to be staying here, you don't have to stay in the doorway like a guest. There's not much here but," he gestured, "what's mine is yours, like they say."

He walked to the doorway of the second bedroom. "They're both pretty much the same, but I made this one ready for you," he offered. Indeed, there were clean sheet and such on the bed.

[poppingseeds]

Persephone followed, poking her head into the second bedroom before stepping inside with a grin. While she had a room to herself in the previous place, at least there was another person around here to speak with and poke at whenever she so chose. This was going to be great~

"That was really kind of you, thank you!" she said cheerfully, reaching to pull him into a friendly hug if he would allow before bouncing to take a seat on the bed, inspecting the sheets.

[thieveryofstars]

"It was no problem," Jing answered, flushing a bit at the unexpected praise and the comradely hug, which he returned. He didn't mind at all, although sometimes he thought she didn't act very goddess-like -- though he had always assumed goddesses were sort of reserved and stately. He liked Persephone's attitude the way it was.

He leaned against the doorframe, smiling as he watched her test out the new digs.

[poppingseeds]

Persephone beamed, enjoying the new digs very much, thank you. Running rampant through the hills and meadows of Greece didn't do much for her manners, nor did hanging out with a band of teenage heroes. They sort of got lost along the way.

"You shouldn't have~" Despite her words, the goddess was clearly pleased. Slipping off the bed, she retrieved a couple of her plants and began to arrange them around the room to make them more comfortable and at home (they had started to get noisy at being squished all together in the wagon).

[thieveryofstars]

It was going to be interesting living with a girl, that was for sure. But he expected to think of it as a challenge. Perhaps there would be all sorts of new habits to get used to. He leaned down to pick up a strange looking plant -- he was never one much for botany -- but suddenly got the feeling that it was glaring at him.

"Um, here," he said, holding out the pot to her. "I think it wants to eat me."

[poppingseeds]

The plant -- a rather spiky and sharp looking aloe -- was indeed glaring at Jing with its little, beady plant eyes (never mind the fact it didn't have eyes). Persephone had to cover her mouth with a hand in order to stifle the laughter, taking the plant from him.

"They're a bit protective," she offered in way of apology.

[thieveryofstars]

"I can see we're going to have to set some ground rules," Jing said, and then winced. "No pun intended."

He turned and addressed the plants in the room at large. "Let's get one thing straight, misters and misses floras. I am not, nor do I ever intend to be, in competition with you. You're really not my type. So in exchange for leaving the pruning to the expert here," he nodded at Persephone, "and not mistaking any of you for a salad plate, can I ask that I not get chlorophyll-ed out of my own apartment?"

[poppingseeds]

The plants around the room shook in reflection of Persephone's mirth, the goddess unable to contain her laughter as it bubbled its way out of her throat -- all except for the aloe, who still sat grumpily in its pot.

"Leading the councils of mortal men and ordering around the charges of the divine," Persephone smirked. "Quite bold of you, really."

[thieveryofstars]

Jing spluttered a bit, quite comically, something protested about not being in charge of anything and not giving orders at all. Then realizing that he was only digging himself into a deeper hole, hung his head and stopped talking until his brain caught up with the rest of him.

"Well," he said solicitously after a moment. "Did everything come with you in the wagon? I don't mind helping carry some things if you have more to bring."

[poppingseeds]

"That's all it, actually," Persephone replied with an embarrassed blush, shrugging before tacking on lamely, "I don't really need much."

It was true -- not functioning like a mortal cut out the need for a lot things. As long as the goddess had the sun and her plants, she was a happy camper.

[thieveryofstars]

"Ah, okay," Jing said, now feeling somewhat awkward by lurking in her doorway. "I guess I'll... let you get acquainted with the room, then."

He was about to leave when his stomach growled loudly. "Uh."

[poppingseeds]

Having many mortal friends, Persephone knew what that meant. With narrowed eyes, she turned to Jing. "When was the last time you ate?"