[PLOT] Some of that Valentine's Day magic [Abeta & Artemis]

[Menelie]

Abeta had been...more-or-less enjoying the party. She'd spent most of it so far holding up the wall on the far side of the table with the food. There had been plenty to watch; a band of brightly-colored winged beings had arrived, and promptly began to cause absolute havoc. It was all quite entertaining. Luckily for Abeta, it appears that none of them had seen her yet. If they were trying to fix Pae up together, she supposes she'd be the perfect candidate. It was always the shy ones that people insisted needed to just 'loosen up and have some fun.'

Then she'd felt a bit of a p***k in her shoulder, but that was nothing compared to the..the radiance of what she sees next.

A majestic forest Pae, standing strong and tall, with ornate white antlers and skin the color of moonlight. Abeta is immediately smitten, and floats over to him to confess her love.

"I...I know we haven't met, and I'm not entirely sure what motivates me to such bold actions, but I feel compelled to express my love for you," she gushes.  

[Teigra]

The event had started well enough. The forest deity had been set on searching out others of her kind, as she had heard rumors that led her here in her investigations. Imagine her surprise to learn that this grand place belonged to an old acquaintance of hers.

She had not yet seen or talked to Venus, but she knew the goddess of beauty had to be making her way through the crowd. To call such a gathering and not take part, mingling with her guests and soaking up the attention? No, there was no way the deity would allow that; it went against her very nature.

Of course, if the celebration was being hosted by Venus, it should have been a given that her children would be here as well. When the chaos started, the huntress had been the first to sight the flying arrows, and the initial targets of their magic. At first, she had merely smirked, drawing back to disappear into the crowd and make for the edges of the party to watch.

Then she'd felt a sharp, brief p***k in her hindquarters...and had frozen in shock.

How could the Goddess of the Hunt...fall victim to the wildly-fired Erote arrows...?

She'd whirled around in time to catch a glimpse of a purple Erote with a lovely feminine figure vanishing out of sight. Now which one....Hermaphroditus? Oh, that's right...he...she...whatever...had decided to take another name after changing form. She couldn't remember right now, but she had other concerns at the moment. If memory served, she shouldn't have any of the mind-altering effects of the Erote arrows to worry about...but physical effects...

Artemis looked down at her form, cringing to herself as the changes finished taking effect. Large, clunky hooves, no longer small and delicate, shuffled and clopped loudly against the marble floor as she moved. Her curved form had taken on extra bulk, muscle for the most part rather than fat, but still...more mass than she was used to seeing. Her now-flat chest had broadened as well, supporting hefty shoulders...

"Oh, by the light of the moon," she cursed under her breath, the voice deep and unfamiliar.

At that point, she was presented with a new problem in the form of a smitten winged Pae's approach. Turning to the green demon, the forest deity sighed and gave her an exasperated expression. "I..err..." she coughed, trying to clear her throat, though there was nothing wrong....it just sounded that way to her. "That's....very nice and all, but I'm sort of looking for someone. Maybe you saw...a purple winged Pae, with a bow and arrows? Shooting people and causing problems? About to be victim to violent circumstances," 'he' added pointedly, green eyes scanning over the crowd for any sign of the troublesome Erote.
 

[Menelie]

"Mm-mm," says Abeta, shaking her head and looking around for a Pae fitting this description. It's hard, as her eyes are continually drawn back to the magnificent creature before her.

"I'd be happy to help you look, though," she offers, her eyes golden pools of affection. "Anything to spend a few more minutes with you!" She tries again to take Artemis' hand.

Somewhere, in a more rational part of her brain, Abeta wonders what on EARTH she is doing with herself. The normally-reserved Pae would never act this way! But that part is quickly quieted by her currently hyperactive lovey-brain.

"I'm Abeta, by the way," she says, batting her eyelashes prettily. She tries to make herself smell even more like the cedar she'd bonded with, but she's not sure she can control the smell. But certainly that would make her more attractive to this forest Pae. Right?  

[Teigra]

Artemis sighed wearily, resisting the urge to roll 'his' eyes. Of course, he shouldn't have expected much help. There was too much going on for some poor love-smitten mortal to keep track of everyone else's actions. Not that she seemed to care about anyone else right now, as her attentions seemed focused on a certain temporarily gender-switched deity.

"Look, Miss," he started, patting the poor demon's hand on his arm. "I am sorry, but, I need to catch up with..." His anger at the Erote was slowly dissipating, and he frowned at the demon in slight confusion. Where had his irritation gone? And why did it smell so much like the forest here all of a sudden? Inside?

It couldn't be...her, could it? That didn't make much sense. Or did it? Heck, he'd been female only minutes ago, so how much weirder was a demon who smelled like trees?

Artemis' eyes scanned the crowd once more, but sharp as they were, there was no sign of the purple gender-switching Erote. Damn. Resigned, at least for the moment, he sighed again and turned back to the clinging demon. "Abeta, was it? Lovely name. I'm Artemis, but err..." he paused, frowning. "I must admit, I'm not exactly myself at the moment. Normally, I'd introduce myself as the Goddess of the Hunt, but er..." another look down at her masculine form and he finished, "I suppose it's 'God of the Hunt' for a while, it seems."
 

[Menelie]

"You are a god," gushes Abeta, completely missing the point. She giggles flirtatiously. Artemis. What a wholly beautiful name. Artemis and Abeta. They sound nice together.

She hauls herself out of her fantasy long enough to tug at Artemis' arm. "Come on, let's find somewhere quieter where we can get to know each other better." She wrinkles her nose and giggles at the obvious euphemism even as her thinky-brain groans helplessly. It's like watching a bad movie.

Her eyes scan the room for an alcove, or a small room, or even a curtain to hide behind. Again, however, her eyes are continually drawn to Artemis the God. Skin the color of moonlight, eyes like deep forests, hair the color of tree trunks. And me, bonded to a tree! We were made for each other, she thinks.  

[Teigra]

"Well, yes, I suppose, for the moment," he murmured with a resigned sigh. By the Pantheon, what 'he' wouldn't give to have his normal feminine form back. Stupid, awkward, bulky male body.

As the demon attempted to pull him away, he allowed the mortal her way, though he wondered why. Maybe he was just biding time until the arrow's effects wore off and he could track down Hermaphroditus. Yes, that was it. That bo-...uh, gi--....Erote was in for such a lesson for this atrocity.

"Listen, Miss?" he said again to the smitten demon with a pitying look. He didn't really want to hurt the poor thing; she hadn't done anything to deserve that from the deity. And she couldn't help her actions; she wasn't exactly in control of herself from the look of things. "Did you miss the part where I said this isn't normal? I mean...I'm normally female, and if I recall correctly, this 'situation' isn't permanent. It will wear off eventually and I'll go back to being female again...hopefully," he finished with a muttered tone.

Artemis was used to fending off over-amorous males. It happened often enough and she had no reserves about shutting them down and dashing their ill-placed hopes. But this poor girl hadn't asked for this. She wasn't even acting under her own volition. She certainly didn't deserve being treated like those males did. Artemis was completely at a loss of how to handle this situation without hurting the dear.

How long did it take for Erote arrows to wear off again?
 

[Menelie]

Abeta pauses momentarily. She had missed that the first time around, evidently. No memories of it ever penetrating her brain. She eyes her beautiful moon-Pae up and down, trying to imagine what he'd look like as a woman. Surely just as wonderful to behold. "That doesn't matter to me," says Abeta reassuringly, squeezing Artemis' hand gently and smiling.

"C'mon," she says, renewing her effort to tug Artemis toward a more secluded part of the ballroom. "We can just sit over here and talk," she insists. And, you know, maybe kiss, and cuddle, and....other things. If the moment was right. Her face flushes pink just thinking about it. She's in love, after all, and nothing can stop her from pursuing that love.

Now if Abeta had been in her right mind (and if she were she wouldn't have even approached Artemis, much less thought about propositioning him), the idea of a potential lover suddenly being a different gender would bother her. Not because of any sort of revulsion toward women, but for more...cognitive dissonance reasons. Abeta doesn't really like change, and that's a rather....substantial change. But she's not in her right mind, so of course it doesn't bother her!

((Can I just take a minute to point out the line "Abeta doesn't really like change" since she's based on a freaking EVERGREEN? I thought of that after I wrote it and I was like HOMG WOMAN YOU ARE A GENIUS.))  

[Teigra]

Artemis hesitated, frowning at the winged female. "Really now?" It didn't matter? Okay, maybe it didn't at the moment because she was under the effects of a love arrow, but would it when the drunken stupor wore off? There was no way to tell, having never met this Pae before in her life.

The deity sighed, allowing himself to be led along. There was no fighting the arrows of the Erotes, and besides, the worst they could do was make one act foolish (or feel foolish in 'his' case) for a short time, then they wore off. Even if the poor young woman had a problem spending time with a female-then-male-then-female Deity for a while, well...Artemis could likely console her well enough afterwards.

There seemed to be no escaping from her anyway. Might as well try to make the most of it...and try to keep the poor thing from embarrassing herself further.

"Alright, alright, now...what is it you'd like to talk about?" he asked, taking a seat in an alcove, forgetting that it was no longer polite to be seated first.  

[Menelie]

Abeta can't help herself. She sits in his lap sideways, curling up against the magnificent Faun's broad, flat chest. He's awfully warm, she realizes delightedly. Then his question had reached her. What did she want to talk about? This was her idea, after all. She looks around a bit, and realizes that wanting to "talk" may have been a pretense to get him alone in the corner, where other girls couldn't distract him.

"I'd rather tell your lips a secret," she says, leaning up to give him a kiss, giggling as she does. It's like she has no impulse control, whatever she thinks comes out of her mouth, and whatever she thinks about doing, she does. "But you should tell me a little about yourself," she adds, resting against him again. His deep voice resonated through his chest and so tickled her senses as she leaned against him. She wants to feel that again.