(Untitled)

[sprangforth]

CHARACTERS: Athena and Kokabiel
DATE/TIME: Friday evening
LOCATION: Her work, then out somewhere
RATING: TBD
WARNINGS: Cursing probably?
SUMMARY: Kokabiel crashes Athena's work and kidnaps her to do sordid things. Or at least go have a beer.

Comments

[sprangforth]

Being called cute was probably going to cause her to glare at him. And possibly blush, but mostly glare and tell him he was ridiculous. She didn't know how to hide her emotions, except for the ones really really deep down. If she was in denial about something, it was hard to tell what she was feeling. It was a good thing he didn't look confused, because she certainly did.

Somehow she didn't think that she had a choice in going out. With anyone else, she could probably put her foot down and say no. She kind of thought that if she tried that, he might pick her up and physically carry her to the car. She didn't know if he had the guts to do that, but she wouldn't put it past him.

"Yes, doctors but they don't know my patients." She sighed a little, because he was being slightly ridiculous. She thought about asking if it was okay if she did her rounds first. But he was pushing her in the other direction. "I don't know the last time I ate but I can't just.." she shut up once he started taking the lab coat off of her. Finally she just stared at him for a minute. Damn him.

"No.. no complaints. Let me just make sure it's okay with my co-worker. Stay here." She commanded, then wandered over to see if the other doctors would cover for her.

[kochab]

Everything Athena could have told him to see reason, Kokabiel knew and would have ignored. This was his future life. Walking down those hallways, help as he had once when taller and more feather-covered. He admired her for managing to be committed to her work while he was sidetracked so easily. Still, there were moments in which sidetracking was needed. He’d bet half of his rather poor wallet that she had been working for more than five or six hours already. More even. Responsible people, how could they even manage.

“Yes. Yes, I know, you’re a good doc and a good person. Still.” She couldn’t even remember when she had last eaten. That was bad. “I am right and you are wrong now. So.” He grinned again, folding the coat and pushing it against her hands before she managed to walk away. And in the middle of the hallway he waited like a good bo. For once.

It lasted for about thirty seconds, time enough to follow her back down the hall with his eyes and realize he wasn’t made to be by himself and still. Instead, he wandered to the side, watching the nurses go back and forth while peering through their shoulders to see what they were doing. Finally, he found himself sitting on his heels right by an older woman. A patient. Calling him her boy and reaching out to pet his hair lightly. Well, it could definitely be worse.

[sprangforth]

There were only some things that Athena was distracted by. Fighting was one of them, and the other was knitting, but that was a story for another day. She had an amazing work ethic and if she didn't really want to be distracted, she would have told him no and that would be that. But she was feeling easily tempted, so she wasn't exactly saying no or putting her foot down. The hours she'd been working was closer to 8 or 9, but that didn't mean that she was done. Athena was a bit like the personification of workaholic, well if she wasn't the personification of wisdom and strategy and all of that.

Being told that she was wrong only earned him a very large grumble under her breath. Some kind of choice not so nice words, though she'd mostly just been kidding. Mostly. She found a couple of her co-workers and asked if they could do her rounds before they left because she was being kidnapped. And yes, she used that word. Thankfully her co-workers had a sense of humor, and Athena didn't look distressed, so they agreed.

By the time she came back out, she spotted him being petted by an older woman. She blinked a little, and tried not to look annoyed. As soon as she wiped the look off her face, she wandered over. "Did you find someone else to go out with already? Jeeze, here I thought I was special," she teased him.

[kochab]

It didn’t take that much for his attention to wander from the older woman to his companion, a wide grin taking over his features. He balanced himself a little on the balls of his feet before jumping up, straightening to his full height. Not before kissing the woman’s cheek with the candidness of a young man kissing a grandmother. It’d be hard to explain, even to the goddess, just why he did certain things. Most of them were spontaneous, some had actual deep meaning. This was both.

“You’re the special one. Specialest. Amazing beyond words and yes, can we go? I can totally explain.” Feeling like a marriage, anyone? Kokabiel’s smile turned slightly confused at that thought. Hrm. Something to be attempted later in this lifetime. He couldn’t say he had done it already.

Shrugging to himself, the angel offered her his arm. “I didn’t have that many moms,” he confided, for once keeping it at a private tone of voice. “You know, dad didn’t believe in copulation, first mom sent me to the monks, this mom is up there already. I like moms. They make stuff seem better. You know, by existing. Food? Do you want food?”

When the subject touched something even remotely connected to past, swerve to the right and bypass it. And so he did, waiting impatiently for her to move.

[sprangforth]

Athena waited patiently, slightly amused that he was getting on so well with the older woman. She didn't really get the things he did, no but this one she could probably figure out. The lady was nice, she was sure. And he seemed to like most people in a general kind of way. "Good to know. Yes, we can go." She glanced at the older woman and gave a smile and a wave. At the sound of marriage, she laughed.

"You don't have to explain why you were chatting up grandma," she teased slightly. "Something else we have in common then, because I didn't really have a mother either." Not that she ever thought about. As far as she was concerned, she just had Zeus, and that was it. "My mortal mother is gone too. It just happens." She shrugged. "But I do like mothers. Sometimes I thought what it would be like to be one. I'm not sure I'd be any good though. Well this time anyway."

She didn't seem to mind talking about it, but she didn't want to make him uncomfortable so she shut up. "Food is good, I could eat. I haven't eaten in a while." Athena walked with him, catching up so that they could leave the hospital. "What kind of food do you want?"

[kochab]

Chatting up grandmas led to old women chatting up and that led to his previous experience. A loud ew filled his mental voice accompanied by the appropriate grimace. He liked older women in the sense that he was an old soul which hadn’t been mothered nearly enough as he should have. Or fathered, for that matter. At her comment, his grimace faded away to give origin to a soft, faintly sad expression, one almost too uncharacteristic of him. She understood and that was nice to know.

“You’d be a good mom,” he declared with an odd sort of faith. “I mean, you’re the smart kind. You’d listen to your kids, you’d teach them the right things. You’d keep an eye on them so they won’t stray. Besides, you’re pretty so they’d be cute. Really cute.” And Kokabiel finished the statement with the smallest snicker, stretching as soon as they passed through the hospital’s threshold. The day was cold but not too cold, sunshine and everything she shouldn’t miss. See? He was always right.

“Okay so!” Sun and fresh air equaled destruction of his previous nostalgic mood. Which suited him just fine, thank you. “You were the one that was starving. We can somewhere near? What is it around here, simple, cheap, something I can pay for us without destroying the family budget?” He stopped at the entrance, tapping lightly with one foot against the floor as if staying quiet was virtually impossible.

[sprangforth]

That's exactly what Athena was thinking of. That last little encounter he had that needed brain bleach afterward. The whole thing had made her laugh, just a little too much. At least he wasn't after cougars, not that the old woman on the bench was one. But if he had been, she'd continue to tease him about it. Much in the same way the teased her about being cute. She grinned slightly and nudged him lightly with her elbow as he sighed at her.

"Ah see, that's where you might be wrong. At least about teaching them right from wrong. I was such a bad kid," she shook her head. "I was thrown out of three different schools. And I only straightened up when my parents told me they were going to toss me out of the house before I graduated high school. But I dunno, maybe you're right. Maybe I'll just try and pop one out of the top of my head like my dad did. Cute or not." And for that part, she glared at him quite a bit. Damn him for making her blush.

"Um, well there's a chinese buffet? And there's a Chipotle, and a Noodles & Company if you like that. I love all three. They're all cheap. I guess I'd rather have chinese or pasta, if you really want to know." That way she could make up for her starving self.

[kochab]

It wasn’t hard to know what she was thinking. After the way Kokabiel had complained about it - with good reason, he might add - he doubted anyone who knew him in the community was unaware of his small issues. Forgetting was on his to-do list. Forget and ignore those blasted days had ever happened. Because, as perverted as he could be, that was one boundary he would never attempt to cross. Even though he was, if he wanted to get technical, older than her. Still. Ew.

He waved her comments away with a careless movement of his hand. “That’s all stuff a growing kid has to do. You know, we get thrown down and we can’t keep acting just like we were before. Bet you had whole issues obeying people which, let’s face it, it’s kind of understandable after being kickass goddess person for so long. It’s like having your former employee promoted to CEO.” While they were at it, “The whole idea about popping a kid from your brain? Huh. Too weird for words. Normal way’s the way to go. Much more fun too.”

As always, he underlined the comment with a small grin, making anyone who might listen that he wasn’t on the pure side of hemisphere when saying such things, And a wink, just for good measure.

“Hrm. Pasta. Pasta works. Which way? South, west, east? You guide, I haven’t been around here in a while. I had goggle map your place so I could find it. Wonder if people know how easy it is to stalk someone with that thing nowadays.” Kokabiel talked too much, he knew, but chattering sometimes helped and some people managed to put up with it.

[sprangforth]

Athena would try her hardest to ensure that he didn't think about that time too much. As fun as it was to tease him about it, she didn't want to damper the mood of this unplanned outing. Plus, despite the fact that she was Greek, she did know where to draw the line with some people. Instinctively, she knew that it wasn't one of those things she wanted to keep teasing him about.

"I did have lots of issues obeying, that's generally always been my problem." And the fact that no one listened to her when she was clearly right and most people were clearly wrong. Sometimes she didn't like to be a know-it-all. "I suppose I'd be a decent mother. My own mother was a good woman. I just don't think I'd get that chance unless I adopt or get knocked up with a turkey baster. Way better than springing from the top of the head, let me tell you."

She knew better than to chastise him any more about the things he said. It was a waste of time. "East.." she grabbed his arm and walked with him down the block in the direction of the pasta place. They had noodles from all around the world too, which was the good thing. "Oh is that what you've been doing? Stalking me?" she asked, eyebrow raised. Honestly she didn't mind when he chattered on, not yet anyway.

[kochab]

Kokabiel was divided between nodding solemnly and grimacing over the idea of obeying anyone. As the last time he had done solemnity involved someone either crying or bleeding, he opted for the second option. He understood that, better than many might think. Not obeying humans, that wasn’t it, but the mere concept. Blind obedience made his blood run cold in his vein, reminded him of being kicked out of a family merely because he had tried a different route. And hell if he would be caught in the same situation. Ever. Again,

“Awesome mom. Awesome,” he declared faithfully, allowing her to take lead of both conversation and track. “You never know about the future. You expect it to run one way, it turns you upside down, it’s how it goes. I had kids. Isn’t that weirder than a goddess-turned-human raising a pretty little brat?” Eh, a mini-her. For some reason, he wouldn’t mind seeing that. Maybe it was that little corner of him which remembered his own brats, hidden in the past somewhere.

Change of subject needed. Kokabiel held himself a little straighter and tried to pay more attention to the streets around him, almost with single minded curiosity. It wasn’t anything new but it was certainly better than going down memory lane. When she commented on his statement, everything in his features was wide eyed innocence. “Of course not, dear woman. I was simply sitting in my classes, very bored, very hungry and then thought that someone else might have been very bored. Very hungry. Or just not eating at all, you’re the workaholic type. So you see, it was all worry and good feelings. Puppies all around.”

And the only reason why he wasn’t holding a hand to his chest was something called going overboard. How to play, he knew it.

[sprangforth]

He totally could have grimaced, she didn't want to obey anyone either. There wasn't anyone that she liked to listen to, unless their opinion matched hers. That didn't happen very often. Most people who wanted to control someone else was a jackass anyway, look at most of her family. That was the pure definition of it. She didn't even want to be associated with them most of the time, let alone do what they said. Not to mention she had a habit of just kicking someone in the face when they tried to tell her what to do.

"Yeah yeah. I guess so," she tried not to make a face about it. "It's not that I don't like kids. Or even don't want to have them. I dunno. I had kids once. Just once. I guess it's weirder. We're all a little strange. I wonder if I could have a kid by myself. If Dad did it, why can't I?" She didn't know how that would work exactly, but maybe one day she'd look into it. "I just don't think anyone's going to want to keep me around long enough to have kids." It wasn't like she was the nicest person in the world.

Athena gave him one of those 'yeah right' looks out of the corner of her eye as they walked down to the restaurant. "So you just got up and left all of those kids sitting in class?" she was kind of teasing him. "Though how you knew that I didn't eat seems to be a little stalkery." She kind of smirked at him. Right. Puppies and rainbows.

"Never had a stalker before. I won't call the cops though, don't worry." Ah yes, she was trying to be funny.

[kochab]

He’d guess popping out kids would be weirder for anyone with an uterus, Poor chicks, poor women, dad had gone totally down the odd end when it came to making them suffer. Which brought him right back to enjoying his male condition a whole lot. At least he didn’t bleed on a monthly basis or had to feed brats with unmentioned parts of his anatomy. Why was he thinking this kind of things again?

Shaking his head, Kokabiel proceeded to take her arm with all the security of someone who did comfort better in a physical manner. Even if she didn’t seem like she needed it. It was a random thing, like so many he did. “You’re being all self-depreciative and that’s so not acceptable. Don’t see why you wouldn’t find someone. Pink life and fate and all that stuff. Red lines of fate and everything. I’d say cupids but that one’s probably your cousin or something… hrm. Everyone’s got someone. That’s pretty much it.”

A pause and he was back into the original subject.

“Hey. Heyheyhey, I’m totally slaking but not jumping on the stalking bandwagon. Sure, you’re pretty enough to deserve your very own private stalker but I was just you know. Wanting to get out and have a good time? I thought you’d like that.” Insert the very slight, very low emotional blackmail.

[sprangforth]

The bane of being a woman, no matter how they got the way they did was something that she definitely could have smacked his dad for. All of that bleeding and kids and pain and everything. His dad was kind of a dick. Though as much as she hated it all, she'd rather be a woman than a man. Otherwise she'd just end up a lot more like Ares, and there was no way she could have that. Were kids worth it in the end? She really just didn't know. If it happened, it happened. Whatever.

As he grabbed her arm, she looked down at it but didn't actually protest. It wasn't that she hated all of the physical stuff. Far from it. It was just odd, she didn't know that many people who wanted to do it with her. Most thought she'd hit them in the face. But she didn't. Her eyebrows furrowed together slightly. "Pink life? What the fuck is that?" she looked genuinely confused about whatever he was going on about. "Let's not talk about cupid, you're right. He's like a cousin." Really. If you counted Aphrodite as her sister. "No one's going to want grumpy gus. That's a fact."

Where she would be grumpy gus, obviously. "Uh huh. I see how it is." She just gave him another unreadable look and then shrugged. "Food is a good time, if you're hungry. Which I am, so you're in luck."

[kochab]

Her reaction made him laugh, that kind of laughter which never meant joking with him but mere amusement, happiness. With his free hand, he poked her cheek lightly, all the while smiling like she was an endless source of entertainment. It sort of was. “Pink life. Romantic stuff. Happy stuff. Dunno who made that kind of stuff in your world.” Mythology, pantheon, whatever. In his world, he knew who had done the laws. “But dad gave this option to everyone. Well, bar us. We didn’t get that, we got the wings. By the way, people were calling us cupids the other day. Saying we were fat and had small wings and carried arrows and and. I had a big flaming sword, damnit.” Would he ever keep a normal path of conversation? No. What was normal? Yes, he didn’t know either.

“And talking about food!” Because there were only two pattern of thought his mind could keep with at the moment and they both involved hunger. “Are we there yet?” He took his sweet time to look around, rather dramatically, as if trying to coach her out of whatever serious conversation they had begun. He knew how she was - a little - and he knew what she meant about being an odd one out. She was sane, most around her weren’t. She believed in commitment and all that serious stuff, all around them hopped partners like bunnies. And he knew exactly what meant not to belong in the place we had been born in.

But he knew she’d find someone for her, sock to a foot, ring to a finger, everything had something out there to fit. Hell, Kokabiel knew he’d eventually get into something. Just not long term. Yes. Probably. And now who was knee deep into serious thoughts? He shook his head, like throwing them into some corner where they wouldn’t bother him, and went right back into the previous subject.

“That the place?”

[sprangforth]

At least one of them was amused. Though she could have done without getting poked, she refrained from snapping his finger, or poking him in return. No one else would call her an endless source of entertainment, that was for damn sure. "Oh. Aphrodite's bullshit. Gotcha." She looked far less confused then, even if she'd never heard that term in her many lives. And it wasn't that she didn't like Aphrodite, but it really was just bullshit to her. "I think your dad might have skipped over me," she said whole heartedly. She glanced over at him then and kind of looked him up and down, as if trying to picture him as a cherub. "I"m going to get you a diaper and one of those sashes, so you can be cupid." Though she didn't laugh, she patted his shoulder, which was near about the same thing for her. Now who was the source of amusement. "Big flaming swords just sound like a euphemism, by the way. But then I have a helmet that turns me invisible."

Normal was overrated. Athena found that mostly she could keep up with his topic changes, as long as they weren't completely random. "Just one more block, it's right up there," she pointed with her finger. That was the thing about not talking about her feelings. Athena had this gooey center. Some people were hardened on the outside and in the inside. Some people had a kind of soft center surrounded by a thick outer shell. But secretly, Athena's inner place was so squishy and gooey, it was kind of sickening. There were parts of her that wanted to pinch his cheeks and hug him really tightly and laugh and skip the rest of the way to the restaurant. The shell around her though was so impenetrable, that no one saw that part. Not her father, not her sisters and not even herself.

Athena wasn't a closet sap in the privacy of her own home. The closest she got was watching black and white movies. She often viewed herself as a robot, now that they were in the 21st century. Robots didn't know how to love. So she was probably screwed. She gave a nod of her head and opened the door once they got there to get inside. She got in line to order her food, trying to decide.

"Pad thai or pesto? I always get the pesto."