lesterzeppelin | mask or menace

[ She keeps rooting around in the cupboard, but she's watching him now, out of the corner of her eye — taking him in. All the little things that are different, since the last time she saw him. She notices the tan. He seems a little taller too. It's an odd thing to dwell on — that he might be the closest thing to what she is, but in this body, he's just a growing boy, like any other.

The thought makes a bittersweet fondness swell in her chest. ]

...Same old shit, really. [ A bit wryly then: ] Not sure Rex has noticed I've moved in yet. He hasn't said anything.

[ Now that makes Apollo laugh, not unkindly, ]

For a police officer, he is amazingly unobservant sometimes.

[ "Sometimes" being the key word because based off his last few conversations, Rex seemed pretty up-and-up. Not by Earth standards, sure, but maybe by whatever standards passed for normal on the guy's home planet. Apollo isn't in a position to judge so much as find amusement in it all. ]

Should I send over a housewarming gift? Maybe that'll kick-start something.

[ Truthfully, Rex is probably only unobservant in the way that Andy is — purposefully, and mostly to preserve the normalcy between them. They have this way of leaving things mostly unspoken. If neither of them brings anything up, then they never have to acknowledge that anything has changed. Maybe that's messed up, but it's worked so far, hasn't it? ]

We sleep in the same bed. [ Dryly: ] If he hasn't noticed by now, I don't know that a housewarming gift will make much difference. Not unless that gift is a banner that says "Andy lives here now."

[ A little shrug then. She stops pretending to look for a mug, leaning up against the counter instead. ]

Sometimes I think we don't know what to do with each other.

[ So either Rex is the most oblivious husband in the universe, or he doesn't want to acknowledge the change. Apollo's going to guess the latter.

It could be the former. Wouldn't be the first time he's seen or heard of it. Guy somehow misses a spot check or misses some subtle cue because it wasn't pointed straight at his face. Or 'obvious' means something very different on Rex's home planet.

– either way, the banner sounds like a fun gift. ]

Well... [ he finishes off his apple, setting the core aside, ] That makes sense. Your relationship kind of ticked all the boxes in reverse order. The real question is, what do you want to do?

[ To be fair, the man married a cagey and mercurial woman — for, of course, the explicit purpose of legally adopting the boy they both now call their son. So, if either one of them were to want something more... Well. They would've done it all backwards, wouldn't they? Just like Apollo says. Reverse order.

Besides, it isn't as if Andy has a strong track record of responding graciously when called out on her feelings. Apollo knows, maybe better that most — she won't even visit now, without some pretense. Like she can't just walk in the door and say hi, I missed you. ]

...I don't know. [ His question pins her down a little, and she finds herself absently craving a cigarette. A glimmer of honesty, maybe even vulnerability when she goes on a bit distantly: ] Be with him, I guess.

[ Now they're getting somewhere. Apollo can't say he was expecting a direct answer. Their relationship - like most of Andy's, he's belatedly realizing - dances around the straight path. He asks; she defers. That's their typical push and pull. He doesn't mind.

(Well, old-Apollo, the god of truth, might've minded. New-Apollo's just glad to have family.)

He blinks back surprise, for a second, before his face melts into his usual warm, sunshine-like expression. ]

Then you don't need to do anything else. [ Oblivious or no, Rex was still cognizant of his family's feelings. He seemed emotionally constipated, not a total idiot. ] If he isn't bringing it up, he may not want to - or he may not realize what the difference is. I mean, I'm not a relationship expert, but it kind of seems like neither of you want to rock the boat.

I figure, you could just keep things going the way they are, and it'll fall into place the way it was meant to.

Edited 2019-09-10 04:52 (UTC)

[ She wonders herself sometimes — if Rex knows the difference. If he understands how her feelings towards him might have changed between the first time she said she loved him and now. She also wonders if it really makes any difference. They're some kind of happy, aren't they? Close enough, at least? Good enough?

For a while, she thought she might be content to just sleep tucked at his back forever. She didn't want to "rock the boat," not with everything was chaos with everyone else and not with their son to raise. But then he kissed her and — ]

...Maybe. [ She seems to become a little more present, tilting her head to glance over at Apollo. ] It doesn't seem to matter what my intentions are anyway. Whatever will happen, will happen. If I'd had any control over this shit, we would have never even known each other's names.

[ Something rueful settles into her expression. ]

He won't live past forty, fifty. Not made for it. Every time I remember, it breaks my fucking heart.

[ By that logic, all of their lovers wouldn't be worth the risk. Yet forty? That's so, so young. Tragically young. Apollo stares, blinking back stunned silence, before swallowing his breath.

The sage, god-like advice would've been to go for it anyway. To make every moment to count, to let his intentions count and to let the mortal take the lead. Fate only foretold the outcome, not how someone ended up at said fate. Of all of them stuck in this godforsaken world, though... his sister knows the story best.

Love someone, watch them grow old, watch them die in your arms. No matter how many times, it keeps repeating like a broken record.

He's quiet for a beat longer than usual. He's seriously, honestly mulling this over– ]

Then it's all the more important that you're with him, right?

[ How nanites work in this equation, Apollo's not sure. They can resurrect people, but can they ever resurrect someone from old age? ]

[ It is fucking tragic. She tries not to think about it too much. Still strikes her right in the heart though, just to see the stunned look on Apollo's face — a poignant reminder of how little time that is, for their ilk.

Maybe it doesn't matter much. She's already in this. Playing for keeps in a place that lets you keep nothing. She can't take it back — and she wouldn't either, even if she could. Damn, but she's stupid like that. Stupid for love. Stupid for Rex. ]

...You're starting to sound like Poe. [ She sighs a little, absently lifting a hand to push stray hair back from her forehead in a tired motion. It's a bit of a wry deflection when she goes on quietly: ] I don't know how I ended up surrounded by romantics and optimists.

[ Whoever Poe is, dude's got a good heart. Few mortals get compared so lovingly to Apollo, after all - and for something that isn't even typically one of his domains! Apollo would puff with pride, under any other circumstance. ]

Same reason I keep finding realists, I imagine. [ He mirrors her expression, resting a hand under his chin - and not even bothering to hide the mischief in his eyes. ] They say we're drawn to those who are imbued with the qualities we sorely lack, for one reason or another. Yin and yang, fire and water, the sun and moon...

[ His little sister, his favorite person in the entire universe, isn't much like him. Should anyone see Artemis, they wouldn't dream in a million years that Apollo was her flesh-and-blood. Yet they complete each other, much like Andy completes Apollo. They were whole before; they're just given new perspective and eyes.

Teasingly: ] I don't know who Poe is, but if you're comparing me to him, he must be pretty wise.

[ They must seem an odd pair to outsiders — her and Apollo. The things they have in common aren't obvious to the eye. There's just him, young and radiant, and then her, ambiguously middle-aged and ornery in the way that tired adults are. People wouldn't know that he's one of the only people left in this universe that could possibly understand her — not just a person, because there's plenty of people that have bonded with her that way, but as an immortal.

She'll never be separate from her immortality. And it's lonely, when there's no one around who understands. Maybe that's why she makes sure to keep coming back here, checking in on their place. Checking in on him. ]

I don't know if "wise" is the word I'd use. [ With that same wryness, softened by affection, both for Apollo and for Poe alike. ] But he has a way of being right about these things. Probably because he's a fucking reckless romantic.

[ A pause, then she reaches out to briefly squeeze Apollo's shoulder. ]

Come around to the house for dinner sometime. Maybe I'll introduce you.

[ Like always, she knows how to bring him back down to Earth (to mortals' standards) without quite taking him down a notch. Apollo can't help the equally soft expression, mirroring her unconsciously – ]

Sure. I'd like that.

[ He means it too, rather than saying so for the sake of peace or easing conflict. Such a comparison means a lot, and he's realizing pretty fast that he doesn't know nearly as many imPorts as he used to. Maybe he's grown too comfortable with Aegis life, and his teaching, and all of the routines and trivial conveniences this life has afforded him.

When he goes back, he won't have any of that – might as well make the most of his life now. ]

And for the record, given our lives... recklessly romantic works out sometimes.

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