This whole situation, while completely and utterly welcome, was strange. Super strange. She never... She didn't know what to do, because she didn't expect this. She never expected it. Out of everything, she would have assumed that he would have tossed her out. People didn't commit to Astrid. They just didn't want to, they didn't feel attached to her. She wasn't good enough or she wasn't fun enough or she had too much baggage. Roma just didn't care enough to keep her for more than a night or so, and Orion had just... She had wasted so much time and energy on him, and he just didn't seem to care. He blinked twice, maybe, before saying two words back. She felt like he hated her each time that he inclined his head. And he had, really, because he hadn't even blinked when she just decided to call it quits. They were barely anything, and she had to call it off. It hurt from the start. She didn't need things to be easy, not by any means, but she needed it not to hurt the entire time. Being with Orion had been like cutting out her heart piece by piece and watching it be discarded without another glance.

So what if she was impulsive and petty and forward? It had bothered him, but it didn't bother others. It didn't bother Zeus. She had been extremely forward when they had met for the first time. She had flirted and laughed, and he hadn't seem bothered at all. At least she could (now) go out on a limb and say that he enjoyed it. And after so many times of people just... throwing her away... Well, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. When he sat down, she moved her legs so that she was half laying on him, half laying on the couch. Was it good? Was it fine? She leaned back, her lips pulled into a light smile. "Of course it's good." She should have dealt with this sooner. She should have... She just wasn't good at emotions like this. What else was there to say? She should have told him, the first time, when she was actually feeling like that. She shouldn't have just thrown herself into relationship after relationship, person after person, just to feel better.

But that was what she had done. "I'm a little shocked, is all. You didn't say anything." She hadn't, either. She didn't, because she knew what he would have said-- if he had been thinking differently, that is. If he hadn't wanted her to himself, he would have mentioned that they were just sleeping together, that it wasn't anything. She didn't want to get attached. It had just... happened. And she was happy, now, because of it.

# 467, boom! , @oneandonlyzeus

painkillers

❤fai

[googlefont="Dancing Script"]

[attr="class","alice"]

[attr="class","hatter"]

[attr="class","redqueen"]painkillers

[attr="class","tweedles"]Zeus was not a man prone to commitment. Not a man who took the time or energy to make much of an effort for many things. Sure, he worked hard at staying in shape for both his jobs, but he also drank like a fish and slept around--or he used to, before Astrid. She'd been a flirt from the start, even before she'd turned 20 and entered the running for potential bed partners. He'd known she was a spit-fire the moment he met her, small as she was and brave as all hell. Zeus had wisely kept his distance until her birthday, after which they'd struck up this...thing, where they saw each other for sex when they didn't have anything else arranged. For Zeus, he'd more or less stopped picking up other people at bars and pubs. They'd lost their appeal sometime after the third visit from Astrid, though Zeus hadn't had the courage or knowledge to admit why that might have been. Besides, he wasn't getting younger and a decreased sex drive was only a factor in aging, even if he wasn't all that old for a wizard. That had been his first excuse, at least, but it never held up long once Astrid showed up, which left him back at the beginning trying to figure out what the hell was going on. And now they were something more than they'd been before, but not quite dating. Why weren't they dating, exactly? Too soon. He'd only just proposed a change and to change it further would look too desperate, like he was grasping at straws for attention she might not be willing to give.

"That's...good." Zeus heaved a relieved sigh. Some people were put off when they learned their long-time bedmate had been harboring feelings for months without saying anything. Her surprise was warranted, Zeus allowed, because he'd certainly kept his feelings well under wraps for so long that he almost convinced himself it was okay for them to keep doing what they were doing. Of course, then she found another boyfriend and he was left feeling lonely until she came back. He felt like such a fucking ditz for believing everything was okay, for pretending he was fine when he'd been slowly tearing himself apart. But now it was done. Because he'd come clean and confessed his sins.

"I wasn't sure how to say anything," he admitted. "How to tell you that I hated when you went off with those other...boys. It didn't feel like my place to say anything." It still didn't, not really, but he was glad he'd come clean anyway. Glad he hadn't completely ruined everything.

[attr="class","rabbit"]443 - @astrid - feeeeeeelings

♕fai

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Was it okay? Of course it was, especially with how frustrating things had been. If only she had known. She could have technically saved herself the Orion heartbreak, chasing after someone who really didn't care what was happening with her. But that just wasn't how life worked. She knew that. She wasn't stupid. Things just happened, and you accepted it. She knew that. Especially when it got to things like this. He had felt that way for a while, and she didn't know it. And, because she didn't know, she just kept going through the motions of her life, just like normal. It probably had hurt him a bit, watching her as she went on dates, showing up when she needed some sort of boost. 

She felt... addicted to him. Not in a bad way, of course. He wasn't a habit she was trying to quit. He was something better. Their whole relationship meant more than that. It was just the consistency that made her think that. The emotional high that she felt after seeing him. And it felt amazing. Even now, it felt amazing. She was practically walking on air-- sitting, of course, rather than walking. But she felt a bit lighter, a bit less stressed. Relieved, too, that he wasn't about to just turn her away. 

Astrid took another sip of her drink as Zeus sat down, shifting so that her legs were draped across him. "It's good," she insisted, shooting him a bright smile. "It's just unexpected." Unexpected, because she had thought... She had thought that feelings were going to ruin this thing they had, so she had thrown herself towards others. "In a good way, of course."

# 267, yikes what a bad post but it's done! , @ zeus

painkillers

❤fai

[googlefont="Dancing Script"]

[attr="class","alice"]

[attr="class","hatter"]

[attr="class","redqueen"]painkillers

[attr="class","tweedles"]Zeus knows for a fact that he is not a clingy person. He's not desperate for attention and he doesn't have a death wish, thank you very much, Erica; he does, however, have surprisingly few people he feels truly comfortable being himself around. He doesn't count his family in that number simply because they've known him for too long to be surprised by the things he does, and while he knows they expect him to be himself, he doesn't exactly feel comfortable doing it. They're a judgmental bunch--he is too, don't get him wrong--and sometimes he just wants to have a conversation where they don't think he's such a disgrace and a disappointment to the family name simply because he found someone younger than they like. It's why he hasn't told them about Astrid, though Erica knows and has been sworn to secrecy on pain of death, because he knows they'll wrinkle their noses and scoff, like they aren't surprised but they still expected better. Like it's not an improvement that he's been sleeping exclusively with the same woman for months, despite her apparent youth. In twenty years, their age difference won't be such a big deal--though why he's thinking that far into the future isn't something he's going to analyze with any scrutiny. A 65 year old man dating a 40 year old woman? Mildly scandalous, but society's seen worse in the past and likely will see worse in the future. Definitely not gonna analyze that thought either.

He lifted his arms so she could lay her legs across his lap, then let his free hand rest on her knee, thumb drawing idle swirls on the side. This wasn't something he'd experienced much of before Astrid either. Simply being together wasn't something he'd had any opportunities to enjoy, though he hadn't much felt the desire to, before Astrid. It was nice. There was no pressure to move things along, and the warm weight of her legs across his lap was more comforting than he'd originally thought it would be. Times like these, it was easy to imagine a future filled with evenings lounging on the sofa, no plans beyond enjoying each other's presence in silence while they enjoyed a drink and idly played with Hera. Not analyzing that either.

Zeus hummed contentedly. "It is good." He should give her a key. That seemed fitting, given the circumstances. If only he could remember where he'd put the spare. There was an emergency one under the mat out front, which he supposed he could give her until he located the actual spare he had laying about somewhere. It had been there in the event he accidentally locked himself out, but he'd never managed to do that in all his years and even if he did manage it now, he could always call Astrid to let him in. It was only sensible, really. "Do you want a key? To my place, I mean. It seems only sensible, if we're gonna be doing this more often." There, don't make it sound like he's doing it for emotional reasons, might drive her off if he brings those up too soon. Or at all, maybe.

[attr="class","rabbit"]529 - @ the babe - wow okay somebody's got plans

♕fai

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Everything always got so hectic, so stressful. Ballet was like that, and it was always easier to see a dancer-- which was why she had dated Roma and then Orion. They understood how stressful everything was, how often that you needed to act and react. She had so many different things on her mind at any given moment, usually all related to class, casting, and what part of her body hurt at any moment. Astrid was normally a huge pile of stress wrapped up in a tiny little body. Usually, non-dancers made it more stressful. There were very few people that Astrid felt were different to that. After all, it was hard to get time away from the company. Ballet took up most of the day, and then they had to make up for it with working to actually get paid a decent amount. Of course, there was still post-ballet maintenance, extra practice, and pilates. There was barely time to breathe; it was a wonder how she managed to make it work half of the time.

She knew that it took effort. Sometimes, it wasn't worth it. She liked her place of work, so there was that; it was fun, it was easy, and she liked flirting with everyone who walked into the club. Astrid thought it was good fun, after all. The club wasn't stressful, but it was certainly hectic. After the other part of the day, she generally wasn't able to stomach something more stressful than that. The club, pilates... Affy... Really, apart from that, there was only Zeus. He was the only other person that at least didn't feel stressful to Astrid. He was a fixture in her life that she almost hadn't noticed for a while; she didn't think he was bothered by her comings and goings, and she had almost assumed that he had others wandering through as well. It seemed, to her, to be a motif that he had going on.

Astrid wouldn't have guessed that she would be here now, though. That she would be considering this to be normal. Had she ever really hung around here? Or was she just over, briefly, or dragging Zeus back to her place? She liked this. "I think it's fair I give you one as well," Astrid said, her lips curling up in a smile. She knew she had an extra key somewhere; she practically tossed them out at the studio or someone to make sure she got home if she was wasted. Hell, she thought she had given Affy like three.

# 426, yikes what a bad post but it's done! , @oneandonlyzeus

painkillers

❤fai

[googlefont="Dancing Script"]

[attr="class","alice"]

[attr="class","hatter"]

[attr="class","redqueen"]Painkillers

[attr="class","tweedles"]The thing is...the thing is this: if Zeus really analyzed what he was feeling, he'd realize that he didn't know what he was truly missing until he had it taken away. His family always joked that he must be compensating for some perceived shortcoming, alluding to a physical one more often than not, but Erica had always given him these knowing looks like she knew he wasn't compensating for anything physical. His body wasn't something he was insecure or doubtful about, and Erica knew him well enough to know that the only things Zeus avoids and would therefore be doubtful about were feelings. Real, deep feelings. Not that he'd ever admit to it, of course. The point being, that as soon as he mentioned to Erica that things were moving into more...serious territory with Astrid, she'd given him that look like she knew exactly what was going to happen. Like she knew things would end up here.

If he was giving Astrid a key, Zeus figured it was about time to come clean that he was seeing someone to his family, because they did occasionally like to pop in unannounced every few weeks to 'check up' and subsequently pass judgement on his life choices, like they were without sins themselves. He loved them, don't mistake him, but they weren't always his favorite people. Almost never were, if he's honest. They considered him the black sheep, the outcast, and he didn't blame them, but to treat him like he was the devil incarnate? Like his philosophy to live his life in the pursuit of happiness was somehow reprehensible because he didn't discriminate in the age of his bed-partners. The problem with telling his family about her, was that they were likely to act like he'd basically proposed marriage and demand to meet her, which...no. Zeus wasn't about to throw Astrid into the deep end of his very Greek family.

He hummed an affirmative noise. "Sounds fair," he agreed and sipped his coffee. "I'd offer to introduce you to my family, but I feel like it's a bit soon for that. I think I should tell you, however, that my twin sister knows because she's a nosy arse." Full disclosure and all that.

[attr="class","rabbit"]373 - @stargirl - what are you even doing zeus

♕fai

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A key, some words, and a smile. It was more than enough to get Astrid, in her opinion. Anything that was vaguely showing that she was important. Was that sad? She was sure that it was. It seemed like something that Melina would scoff at and ruffle Astrid's hair. So what if that was enough to practically win her over? And, to be fair, it took a lot more effort for someone to keep her around. Of course, there was also the proof that she had really, really low self esteem. And also--  okay, so now she was consistently overthinking herself. Why was she doing that today? That wasn't her thing. She was always so sure of herself, and she had a goal in mind. Usually, it was something-- or someone-- else. And it was difficult to watch herself get stuck in such a weird spiral. Why was this happening to her? She was far more focused than this.

Astrid assumed she was just not expecting something like this. She wasn't the type of girl who found a guy who actually wanted to be with her. She found a guy, she slept with them, she let them treat her like shit until she got tired and moved on. Zeus had never done that to her. He had never shown her something different in his personality, the way that he acted... To be fair, the key was different. But Astrid couldn't tell if it was Zeus different or just different for her. After all, he had always been this sweet to her. Astrid decided that she was just panicking because it was just something out of the ordinary for her. At least he somewhat managed to keep up her calm exterior, her hands still cupping her coffee and her lips pulled into a smile.

At least it was happy panicking. She could have been nervously going over every single detail. Astrid was just excited that something had happened. "Is she upset?" Astrid tried to remember if he had mentioned a twin sister, and she remembered a few moments later the name Erica. "You know, you have it easier on the family front, what with mine not speaking to me."

# 374 , @oneandonlyzeus , yeet

painkillers

❤fai

[googlefont="Dancing Script"]

[attr="class","alice"]

[attr="class","hatter"]

[attr="class","redqueen"]Painkillers

[attr="class","tweedles"]The thing about Zeus and Erica's relationship, was that it was...complicated. As twins, they shared a certain bond neither could replicate with anyone else, they confided in each other things they wouldn't tell anyone else--including their other siblings. At the same time, Erica usually judged him harder than the others, held him to a standard he was pretty sure she couldn't even achieve. She knew him. Better than he knew himself, sometimes. Erica was both his greatest competition and strongest supporter. The others supported him in their own ways, to be sure, but Erica knew that Zeus worked harder when there was something to prove, which Erica provided. Peter, Dmitria, and Hester more or less just ignored his antics regardless of which side of the moral compass things fell. Regardless, Erica gave him reason to be better, drove him to seek someone's approval when he thought he needed it. It wasn't often, as most of the time he deliberately disregarded her approval or lack of it, but she was the only one who offered something other than complete neutrality. So, telling her about Astrid was kind of a big deal, not the least because he was sure she'd be both impressed and disappointed in turns. On the one hand, he was in a semi-serious relationship which was a first, but on the other...she was under 25. Which Zeus was not at all self-conscious about, because he aged like fine wine and as a wizard, would live to well over 100. If they were still together at that point--daunting but also sort of...pleasant?--a 25 year difference wouldn't seem like an issue at all. But he was getting ahead of himself. Again.

"She won't be upset, per-se," he assured her. "She's too used to my antics to be upset by something like this, but well...she might have questions. About you and me and how we met. Which, I admit, won't surprise her, but she's unlikely to trust you on principle. Our family isn't flush with money, but we're still fairly well off. It's why I'm able to live the way I do, in part, because regardless of how much I earn as a trainer and model, I also own a portion of the family business. So." Erica was likely to think Astrid might be after the family coffers, regardless of how little Zeus played in the running of the business, and as the eldest he was technically still the heir apparent for everything. Their parents had more or less left everything in Erica's hands when Zeus left, but as far as Zeus knew, he was still on the paperwork to inherit everything in the event of their death. He kept meaning to ask them to change it, because he had no desire to run the family vineyard, but their father still held out hope that Zeus would return home one day.

He laughed lightly, "Not all of them speak to me. Erica is the one who does it most, and my other siblings tend to just...pretend I don't exist, I suppose. My parents send me letters occasionally, asking when I'll return and acting as though I'll take everything over when I do. Which I won't, because I'm not going back any time soon. But still. I suppose they haven't completely abandoned me. They'd come if I really needed them, I'm sure." Which was comforting, but well, he wasn't too broken up about their separation.

[attr="class","rabbit"]577 - @stargirl - fuuuuuture plans

♕fai

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