dominance | ( eudio inbox )

[He should be well aware of the fact that Raven would most assuredly shove him over a cliff if he tried to sugarcoat stuff for her benefit. She knows how cruel the world can be, yes; she knew how cruel the Ark's governance could be, how vile the Guard, how dysfunctional the black market dealers. (A woman's body never stops being currency, apparently, not even in myths.)

She laughs a bitter little laugh,] You guessed right - I guess that does it for me. [She shrugs, like the sentence has been dictated.] I don't like this Athena bitch anymore. [And that's that. Raven Reyes, taking the side of the disgruntled women of all his stories.]

[ if he's going to tell her a story about athena, it's going to take place on another day if she ever wants to know why she'd been bitter. he isn't sure if he has those stories, but bellamy has always liked knowing how someone got to such a place to want to turn a woman who had followed love instead of obedience into a monster destined to die. it's the easiest way to work out the motivations of those around him, if he's to learn how it all began. ]

[ he relaxes against the couch for a moment, content to not try and oull anymore stories from his memory. she had wanted him to come over to talk about the hellhound and had gotten way more than she bargained for story-wise, he guesses. he sighs before he toes his shoe and looks at her. ] You like Cerberus still, right?

[There's not a lot of space on the tiny couch for both of them to sprawl, and she doesn't mind that he is getting comfortable; truth be told, she's comfy enough taking up the mini spot she's sitting in, at the corner of the couch against the armrest.

And - she can't help but think - he looks funny like this. Relaxed. Like it's a good thing that he can relax, but it's also out of character for him.]

Yeah, please don't ruin that.

[ bellamy can't help but laugh, ] I'm not. Promise. [ he'd pinky swear it, but he doesn't trust the myths himself. he doubts cerberus is a bad dog. he eventually returned to hades of his own accord, and most mutts wouldn't think to do that. ]

[ murphy had, but sometimes bellamy doesn't think of him as a mutt. ]

[ he doesn't think twice about how he is now, all relaxed and almost carefree. he'd once been lazy on the ark, willing to toe off his shoes, flop on his bed, do absolutely nothing for an hour or two. the ground hadn't given him that luxury, even if he had tried to indulge himself before everything went to shit and someone decided to fall from the sky and ruin his relaxing stay on earth. ]

I just wanted to know for Cerberus' sake. The dog with the one head. He's great.

[Idleness is a state she still has trouble getting used to. Though she's not pissed off at anyone (Finn) right now, she still has projects in working process, sitting on the very cluttered table. The only table in the apartment, other than the small one in the kitchen meant for eating. Laziness isn't in their veins, it can't afford to be, and de-stressing takes time. Weeks, months of times.

She does it by picking up new skills - dancing, drums, archery - and he apparently like to take his shoes off. Bless, his feet don't stink; she can only imagine they do, back home. She can only imagine him relaxed back home, because it won't happen.

There's a tiny little smile at the corners of her lips that's starting to be a permanent fixture.]

Do you cuddle him to sleep?

[ he's looking over at her little table, as messy as he thinks her tent to have been at their first camp. he isn't so sure if he remembers. even though it's only been months since they'd essentially destroyed their makeshift home, it feels much longer than that. he doesn't miss the tiny smile, and maybe that's what encourages him to not huff and puff over her question, instead taking it in stride. ]

[ he remembers her calling him a dork at the festival. and he supposes it's only fair he continues to be, especially if it sees her relaxed and looking a little different. ]

[ feigning seriousness, he says without even a smile, ] Yes.

[ cerberus has a place by his windowsill, right beside his bed. he likes to think he watches what happens outside when he doesn't think to close his curtains. he's a guard dog, just as his greek equivalent is, just without the three heads and without anyone other than raven knowing about his existence. ]

[She shifts a little in her seat, like she wants to lean forward, like he's just given her gold.]

Bury your face in his glorious mane and imagine him calling you Hades? [Waggling her eyebrows now.]

[ he nods his head, but not as a response to her; he's mulling over whether or not he wants to answer her. bellamy may be oblivious to a lot at times, but he isn't to this. o's goaded him a lot in his life, even his mother joining in to tease him and ruffle his hair. he knows what raven's doing, and he weighs it up, whether he should shift back into the criminal who doesn't care about anything or just be ... whoever this is. someone new. ]

[ he looks at her, poker face on, and voice a deadpan, ] He's not the only one that calls me Hades, you know. Gotten a little territorial over it.

[That's the thing about Eudio; it lets you be someone new. Beyond living, beyond getting to grieve and to own things, being here has allowed her to relax. On some things. Nineteen years of suck are a lot.]

No? Who else calls you that?

Someone here. [ he shrugs. ] Roxy, I think. Has a dog, Diana, who's basically named after Artemis. [ he pauses for a moment, remembering raven doesn't know a lot of the stories he does. sometimes he worries about speaking too much, overwhelming her with whatever he can think of telling her, and boring her. ] She's another goddess.

I kind of made a joke about going to the museum and she took me here. It's kind of cool.

[She tilts her head very slightly, as the information comes; she's met a Roxy once, but she's met a lot of people once.]

Bellamy Blake, successfully making friends with all the ladies. [It's a joke, she's joking, she's definitely not acknowledging the odd bitter taste in her mouth.]

[ bellamy blake, successfully making friends. he hadn't intended to come into this city to make any. in hindsight, though, he doubts that plan would really work. if it's a city based on holding hands, he'd need to make a few friends in order to ensure the representatives made good on their deal. ]

[ bellamy blake's not really good at thinking things through when it's not a life or death situation. ]

[ he doesn't think much on it. jem, caroline, elsa, roxy — they're just people who'd probably wanted to make fun of the guy offering hugs on the network for information. he knows the guy who owes him $1000 was. ]

You've met a dragon. [ he shakes his head, still in denial about that. he's still impressed, even though he's still in the process of comprehending it. ] That's pretty cool. Your very own Ladon.

Flown with him a couple of times, too. [Just throws that out there, because how often do her stories impress him? Being called pretty cool is accurate, but doesn't happen often enough.]

But we weren't talking about me.

[ for the kid who had wished for a dragon, telling mom every time she asked him what he could possibly want that he wanted an eight-headed beast like ladon, meeting a dragon would probably see his childhood wish come true. he knows, of course, it's an impossible wish, but bellamy had liked hoping for that friend who would let him inside of the garden hesperides. a dragon would be the best guard anyone could ask for, even better than those on the ark.
]

[ he smiles as he lets his head rest against the couch, looking up at the ceiling. it's hard to picture, raven on a dragon, but, then again, it's hard to believe a dragon is real. ] No, you're just talking about things to make me jealous.

[She wonders if she could get Hiccup and Bellamy in the same room or place, if Hiccup would let Bellamy take a ride on Toothless too. Probably, the guy's a sucker for people who love his dragon, even if he protests a lot about it.

She'll try. It's worth the try.

She reaches out, meanwhile, and pats his knee.]

There there. You'll get over it.

[ just like the hug she'd greeted him with on his first night here, he doesn't expect her to reach out and touch him. it's innocent and a part of a joke, but it's new for them. there's really been no space for them to joke around when there's a war on two fronts occurring around them, and she's getting hurt in the interim while he decides to go on suicidal missions. ]

[ he's not used to her touching him, not unless it's to throw her arm over his shoulder as he tries to support her and walk her far away from the grounders who'd wanted to cut her a thousand times. he doesn't reply to her, staying quiet, just as he remains still. he's no longer smiling as he looks at her patting his knee. ]

[Is it that new that he's going to freeze whenever she does it, or is there more? She might not have touched people as often on the ground, but she was tactile, she worked with her hands for a reason.

His silence makes her hand linger on his knee, and then they're both staring at it like it's a sore thumb, sticking out.]

Uh - sorry. [She pulls it away. She did include 'and hold hands or whatever' in her offer when she invited him over, but it hasn't occured to her that maybe he doesn't want to be touched.

Except, he's in Eudio, so maybe it's just her he doesn't want to be touched by.]

[ he's begun to associate touching raven with whenever she's hurt, whether it be by grief at a sudden loss or her literally being cut at. he remembers how they'd been in his tent that night, of how he actually fell into her almost too naturally and easily. it feels like it's been an age since then, perhaps it belonging in another life, as bellamy blake and raven reyes mean nothing to one another when someone looks at them and tries to piece it together. ]

[ he doesn't know why he reacts the way he does. but he figures it comes from the fact he hasn't been touched outside of a war context, not unless it involves octavia. and half the time, those hugs are because war has separated them. ]

[ "and hold hands or whatever" doesn't include knees. ]

It's okay. [ it's all he can think to say. it is okay, even though he knows he's acting like a total idiot. he glances at her from the corner of his eye before he properly looks at her. ]

[ and then he thinks to fix it. ] Is that all you wanted to know? Whether Hades was a loner with a three-headed dog?

[Okay or not, she still made things awkward, way to go. She brings that hand in her lap like it deserves the punishment, and then glances at him again before shrugging.]

I figured it'd be an easy way to get free coffee delivered. [This is how she tries to fix it.]

[ bellamy smiles, like he should've expected that as an answer. being funny, or cute, seems to come natural to her — and he likes this side of raven, the one that jokes, even if it's often at his expense. ]

[ he shakes his head. ] I see. [ he looks at her, mouth curved into a smile. it's like he's forgotten all about the awkwardness from a second ago. he hasn't, but it's easier to brush it aside and let it creep up on him later. despite his words, though, bellamy's clearly amused, ] You say you worked in a coffee shop when you were last here and then you become Raven's coffee boy. Nice.

[Sure, let's see if it holds. She shrugs, casual.] It's a privilege, obviously.

[ evidently, even though he doesn't think to give her the chance to preen beneath a yeah, it is. it's nice to be needed, even if it's just for coffee — for a joke. he doubts she'll call him for another, or even try and find out where it is he works. he wouldn't want to drink anything he makes, either. for now, though, he'd felt needed and useful in a city where he doubts o will really need him anymore to be her big brother. ]

[ if she's going to joke, he's going to joke. but he's not going to press his cheek into the cushion to look at her to do so. instead, he looks up at the ceiling, arching his back slightly. he still remains slouched, proper posture going to hell. ] And how many people have you honoured with delivering you free coffee?

[How is his back doing the thing, a mystery on your tv screen tonight. She looks at him, considers the question and the way it's worded and doesn't make a deal out of the answer.]

To my place? One. [Because hey, she hasn't said yes to a question that started with 'do you want to try this food/drink' yet, but where she lives is something only a select few know. And so far, only a select one has been her delivery boy here.]

[ he looks at her then. it's like any attempt he makes on trying to encourage her to tease the hell out of him or posture herself as someone who has about ten boys lined up to bring her better coffee isn't something she wants to latch onto. he doesn't know what he thinks about it. he doesn't really know what to think about her response, feeling as though she's responding to something else. ]

Lucky me. [ it may be a monotonous response, but if he reads into it like he doesn't want to — he guesses he is lucky. he stares at her for a quick moment before he looks away, voice shifting as he jokes, ] Unlucky for you. Any coffee I make would kill you.

[She lets out another huff, amused, and stands up from the couch.]

I'm sure it's not that hard. [She's going to toss her empty cup in the bin now that she's done with the coffee.] You'll learn.

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