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 Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 2:23 pm
Summer had always been the slowest time for a flower shop, whether it be the heat preventing people from going through the trouble or that they preferred to spend their hard-earned money elsewhere. Nevertheless, the lazy whirls of fireflies among the free-floating flowers around Seasons put Persy at some odd level of peace, the rolling of the leaves reminiscent of happier times and innocent thoughts.
Though, to be honest, Persy found herself happy where she was, for the first time in ages. The Players hadn't been acting up much lately, the Blacksuits were too busy recovering to do much of anything, and even the brats that usually crushed the grass of her lawn playing soccer had retreated to some other part of the City. She also had Des, though to what extent she had gone down that road, she was uncertain. She wasn't going to ruin her moment of being content with thoughts of that, though. It was something she wasn't quite ready for.
Something rumbled angrily in the darkening sky, and Persy turned her eyes upwards, at first expecting a visit from her father. However, when the night exploded into fire, Persy snapped her arms to cover her face, and the treetrunks around her wavered, ready to catch whatever had been sent to kill her. However, nothing came, and confused, Persy looked to the sky for answers, only to be met with a second circle of fire somewhere above the City. Not wanting to take any chances, she turned and ran back into Seasons, nearly slamming the door on the outer lace of her sun-dress.
"Des! We're under attack!" Persy snapped to nowhere in particular, grabbing an empty flower pot in one hand and holding her other at the ready to summon some giant singing alien-looking plant, if need be. "Go get the shovel!"
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 2:39 pm
Des was dreaming a wonderful dream about Persy, the exact contents of which would make the real Persy turn peculiar shades of red. He was enjoying himself immensely and drinking tea in bed in his dream, when suddenly his dream exploded.
Des sat up with a start, knocking his head on the shelf over the couch in the process. A moment later, he heard Persy screaming for him.
"Not good!" he cried, stumbling off the couch and grabbing the shovel - she'd said to get it - off the back wall. Rubbing his head with his free hand, he made his way to the front of the shop.
"Persy! What's---"
Des trailed off and looked up at the sky. He laughed.
"Persy..." he said, "We're not under attack."
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 2:50 pm
Persy whirled to face Des when he entered the room, her expression that of surprise and concern, but once his laughing began, it darkened to one of annoyance and anger. "What do you mean, we're not under attack? The sky is on fire!" Another explosion caused her to flinch and curse in response, and in defiance, she shucked the flowerpot out of the open window. Ceramics shattered, a cat shrieked, but the explosions continued.
"It has to be some fire god--but Vulcan can't be in the skies! What is this? Are a group of them banding together?" She glowered, and the plants in the store shivered in their joint anger. "We have to contact Anubis before this gets out of hand. We have to do something."
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:05 pm
"Persy," repeated Des, regaining his composure. "It's fireworks. They're at least two hundred feet up. They're not going to hurt us."
He set the shovel down and began wrestling the flower pot away from her. "Humans set them off for celebrations sometimes," he explained, taking the pot and putting it back on the counter.
"Not everything weird and noisy around here has to do with the Game."
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:24 pm
Persy had been halfway through her upwards swing of a second flowerpot when Des put his hand on her, and she slowed, reluctantly loosing her grip as she listened to his explanation. She turned and looked up at him, confused, then turned around and leaned into him as she watched the sky light up in fire.
"So you've finally started addressing humans as a 'they' and not an 'us'?" Persy asked, her eyes going to her knitted hands, her brow furrowing. It was awkward, getting Des back on his feet as a figure of the divine, and after the original admission, nothing had really happened to try and make him remember. Granted, she didn't want him remembering, but a Des with the use of his powers was far more helpful than one who was still attached to a mortal identity. "I don't get humans and their fire displays."
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:47 pm
Des sighed and nodded before looking back up at the sky. He believed Persy - he had to, really, after she went through such a dramatic transformation when the spring had returned. There was no explanation for the rapid hair growth, and the color change, and the... hips. And the... breasts.
Des turned red and turned away from Persy. Another firework went off, painting the sky with red sparks and providing some cover for his blushing. He glanced down at his watch. It was about 9 PM, July fourth.
"I think it was a holiday once," he shrugged, "The country that used to exist here? Before the City went independent?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:07 pm
"Ah. Holidays never make sense," Persy responded, nodding her head. "I remember we had one where the men would run around in the streets and touch their wives with whips made out of vine for fertility. Much more fun then setting the sky on fire, if you ask me."
Softly, she sighed, looking up at him and studying the way the odd lighting caressed the features of his face. "It is rather beautiful, though, I suppose."
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:14 pm
"I don't remember that," said Des, deciding it sounded strange.
"Beautiful..." he echoed, sighing contently. He looked over at Persy and motioned for her to step out into the yard with him. "You can see better when there's not an awning," he said as a fountain of gold sparks filled the sky above their heads. He glanced over at Persy. She looked good in this light.
He wanted to kiss her, like he did in his dreams, and debated the pros and cons of this plan of action.
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:25 pm
"You wouldn't remember," Persy murmured, looking back to the light show above them. Lightly, she followed Des into the front yard, and almost like a child, watched with a sense of wonder as the lights danced across their dark canvas, painting the City in colors too strange and wonderful to be true.
"Father would be rather angry if he found out that humans could best his displays of thunder," said the woman as she took a step forward, almost wishing that she could see from above. "I wonder if he's watching now."
It was then that she felt the subtle shift in their situation, and she paused as she looked back at Des from over her shoulder, the rest of her body turning to face him a moment later. "What is it?" She asked, feigning innocence as she closed the distance to a mere few feet apart. She had an inkling of his thoughts, but wanted to hear them if she were to accept them.
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:39 pm
Des finished evaluating the pros and cons and decided that getting pummeled was worth kissing Persy for.
"Oh," he muttered, stalling for a moment and trying to get his lips to work again. "It's just..."
He decided to stop talking and start doing. Talking didn't appear to be his forte tonight, anyway.
Des Thanos kissed Persy Floros.
In the distance, he could faintly hear someone cheering.
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:58 pm
Persy had admittedly begged the question, so to speak, so she shouldn't have been surprised when Des leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, but something in her was in shock. That tiny bit of her became even more surprised when she closed the remaining distance and returned the kiss, but most of her simply went with what felt right.
"And here I thought you'd never get the courage to pull something like that," she whispered into his pointed ear after she pulled away, her hands on his shoulders to pull his torso down to a more reasonable height. Having said her piece, she let him go, and leaned into his torso, her delicate arms twining around his waist and her face pressed into the warm linens of his shirt.
"I'm sorry, Des...So sorry that I never gave you this opportunity until now. I haven't always been that nice to you." Curling her fingers into the back of his shirt, she looked up at him with a gentle smile, bathing in the warmth of the closeness.
"Forgive me?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:14 pm
That had gone... way better than expected. Des blinked a few times, decided he wasn't dead, and nodded to her question. He had a feeling he didn't remember half of what she was talking about, but it was all okay now. He kissed her, she kissed him back, and as far as he was concerned, all was right in the world.
"Sure!" he said, smiling down at her and feeling a bit goofy and a bit intoxicated.
The fireworks seemed to have moved off to boom over another part of the city. Des looked around a bit and decided to go get the broom. Holding Persy was nice, but he wasn't sure how long it would last until she decided to yell at him again.
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:33 pm
Seeing a grin like that, Persy couldn't help but laugh, and let her fingers untwine from behind, watching him leave with some sense of self-assuredness. Still smiling, she put her hands on her hips, and looked up at the last little bits of display. "The cheering made it a bit too obvious. You can come out now."
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:38 pm
The rest of Fish's squad was several rooftops away by now, but he stayed to watch Persy a little longer. He hadn't seen her in ages - not since he'd grown - and she was different, too.
And she'd caught him.
Fish lowered himself from his perch on the gutter to stand in front of him.
"How'd you like it?" he asked, and, realizing his vagueness, added, "The fireworks, I mean. We put a green one in just for you."
He smiled sheepishly.
"You got... uh... rounder."
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:53 pm
Persy felt an odd sense of pride when she watched Fish descend to the ground of the flower shop, and between that and the remaining girlish giggles that she attempted to suppress after being kissed by Des, she couldn't help but smile. "You got taller," she added in response, looking the boy up and down. "I knew that Uncle had taken you to the next level, but it's different to see you for myself."
She did something between a smirk and a scowl. "You kids always end up taller than me. They must put something in the food." She gave him a critical stare, then did a bit of a walking circle around him, as if she decided to put him under inspection. "And how many fishy babies do I need to look out for, now that your testosterone levels have kicked in?" She peered at him further. "They have kicked in, right? I can't tell if you've hit puberty or not because you don't have any facial hair."
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