Dioskouroi
Title: Dioskouroi
Author: Lesley (Lesel)
Disclaimer: If you owned anything of value, do you really think you'd spend your free time reading and writing about the love lives and the sexual escapades of others? Yeah, me neither.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It's Greek, and the whole thing is explained in the story, just a simple twin-lovin' standalone. Give it a chance? And maybe even review? I'd appreciate it :D
“Dioskouroi.”
I stop reading mid-sentence and look up at Joel, raising my eyebrow when I see his flushed cheeks, bright eyes, and… the thick, open book held tight in his hand.
“What?”
“Dioskouroi.”
“In English?”
He rolled his eyes and came over to where I was sitting on my bed, back pressed up against the headboard. Nudging my legs aside, he sits down ‘Indian style’ in front of me with his book spread open in his lap.
“It’s English… sort of. It’s Greek and a lot of our words are off theirs like Hygenia, Harmonia, Phobos-”
“Joel,” I interrupt and his cheeks get a little pink as he ducks his head. No one else knows what a total nerd my brother is, or how cute he can be when he rambles on and on about shit most people our age can’t even understand. Normally I’ll listen to him go on for as long as he wants to, but right now I kind of wanna know what the hell he’s talking about.
“Sorry,” he says softly before turning a page in the book and avoiding my eyes. “I was doing it again, wasn’t I?”
I smile and put my homework down on the nightstand, sitting up a little and reaching out to touch his hand, closing mine around it. “You know it’s cute,” I tease him just to see his ears tint pink, “but what’s with the diowhateveritwas thing?”
“Oh! Yeah,” his eyes light up and he launches back into his little lesson, talking fast enough for his words to trip over each other. “The Dioskouroi, it’s mythology. You know, like Helen of Troy, Agamemnon, Clytaimnestra-”
“Wait, ew, isn’t that-”
“Not Chlamydia, Clytaimnestra, she was the sister of Helen and the Dioskouroi.”’
I love when he goes off on one of his self educating rants about one thing or another, but sometimes, I swear he got both of the intelligence genes. I think we need to dumb this down before he completely loses me.
“Yeah, okay, but what the hell is a Dioskouroi?”
“Who.”
“What?”
“It’s who, not what. They’re people.”
“Joel…”
“They’re twins,” he tells me, voice softer than before, and I think I see where this is going now. He slowly looks up and catches my eye to make sure I’m paying attention before going on.
“Well, they were twins. Zeus got this mortal woman named Leda pregnant, but so did her husband.” He stops talking at my confused expression, cracking a smile. “It’s mythology, it doesn’t have to make sense. Anyways, they both got her pregnant, so she had two sons, Castor and Pollux. Castor was a human because his dad was, but Pollux was immortal.”
I know there has to be more to this story than a whole bunch of make believe bullshit from antiquity, but I keep quiet and reach for his other hand, lacing our hands together.
“One day Castor was attacked but by the time Pollux got to him, he was already dying. They’d always been close and he couldn’t stand to ever live without his twin.”
He pauses and my eyes are burning a little just from the story he’s telling me, and the way he’s looking at me, the way his fingers have slid from mine and up to trace the newly raised scars scattered along my wrists.
“What happened?” I ask him quietly, my eyes moving down to our hands, to his fingers.
“Pollux wanted to die with his brother, but his dad, Zeus, told him that he could come live on Olympus with the other gods, in peace forever.”
“Did he go?” He slowly shakes his head and keeps his eyes on mine.
“He said he’d never leave his brother behind, and that he’d do anything for him, so Zeus made them a constellation and they got to be together, forever.”
His hands slide up my arms and shoulders to cup the sides of my face, leaning in close to me, book forgotten. I take a shaky breath and meet his eyes when I feel his forehead rest against mine. I curl my fingers around his wrists and lean in, connecting our lips softly.
“Together, forever.”
Author: Lesley (Lesel)
Disclaimer: If you owned anything of value, do you really think you'd spend your free time reading and writing about the love lives and the sexual escapades of others? Yeah, me neither.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It's Greek, and the whole thing is explained in the story, just a simple twin-lovin' standalone. Give it a chance? And maybe even review? I'd appreciate it :D
“Dioskouroi.”
I stop reading mid-sentence and look up at Joel, raising my eyebrow when I see his flushed cheeks, bright eyes, and… the thick, open book held tight in his hand.
“What?”
“Dioskouroi.”
“In English?”
He rolled his eyes and came over to where I was sitting on my bed, back pressed up against the headboard. Nudging my legs aside, he sits down ‘Indian style’ in front of me with his book spread open in his lap.
“It’s English… sort of. It’s Greek and a lot of our words are off theirs like Hygenia, Harmonia, Phobos-”
“Joel,” I interrupt and his cheeks get a little pink as he ducks his head. No one else knows what a total nerd my brother is, or how cute he can be when he rambles on and on about shit most people our age can’t even understand. Normally I’ll listen to him go on for as long as he wants to, but right now I kind of wanna know what the hell he’s talking about.
“Sorry,” he says softly before turning a page in the book and avoiding my eyes. “I was doing it again, wasn’t I?”
I smile and put my homework down on the nightstand, sitting up a little and reaching out to touch his hand, closing mine around it. “You know it’s cute,” I tease him just to see his ears tint pink, “but what’s with the diowhateveritwas thing?”
“Oh! Yeah,” his eyes light up and he launches back into his little lesson, talking fast enough for his words to trip over each other. “The Dioskouroi, it’s mythology. You know, like Helen of Troy, Agamemnon, Clytaimnestra-”
“Wait, ew, isn’t that-”
“Not Chlamydia, Clytaimnestra, she was the sister of Helen and the Dioskouroi.”’
I love when he goes off on one of his self educating rants about one thing or another, but sometimes, I swear he got both of the intelligence genes. I think we need to dumb this down before he completely loses me.
“Yeah, okay, but what the hell is a Dioskouroi?”
“Who.”
“What?”
“It’s who, not what. They’re people.”
“Joel…”
“They’re twins,” he tells me, voice softer than before, and I think I see where this is going now. He slowly looks up and catches my eye to make sure I’m paying attention before going on.
“Well, they were twins. Zeus got this mortal woman named Leda pregnant, but so did her husband.” He stops talking at my confused expression, cracking a smile. “It’s mythology, it doesn’t have to make sense. Anyways, they both got her pregnant, so she had two sons, Castor and Pollux. Castor was a human because his dad was, but Pollux was immortal.”
I know there has to be more to this story than a whole bunch of make believe bullshit from antiquity, but I keep quiet and reach for his other hand, lacing our hands together.
“One day Castor was attacked but by the time Pollux got to him, he was already dying. They’d always been close and he couldn’t stand to ever live without his twin.”
He pauses and my eyes are burning a little just from the story he’s telling me, and the way he’s looking at me, the way his fingers have slid from mine and up to trace the newly raised scars scattered along my wrists.
“What happened?” I ask him quietly, my eyes moving down to our hands, to his fingers.
“Pollux wanted to die with his brother, but his dad, Zeus, told him that he could come live on Olympus with the other gods, in peace forever.”
“Did he go?” He slowly shakes his head and keeps his eyes on mine.
“He said he’d never leave his brother behind, and that he’d do anything for him, so Zeus made them a constellation and they got to be together, forever.”
His hands slide up my arms and shoulders to cup the sides of my face, leaning in close to me, book forgotten. I take a shaky breath and meet his eyes when I feel his forehead rest against mine. I curl my fingers around his wrists and lean in, connecting our lips softly.
“Together, forever.”