bakerstreet | Denny's

[ How many times has he been dragged back from the Underworld? Across 3000 years? He's lost count. Each time, though, he tries to bend the rules a bit: yes, he's obliged by Athena to fight (and die) in perennial wars, but he makes it a point to enjoy peaceful, civilian luxuries as much as he can. A lot has changed since the Late Bronze Age.

The advent of Denny's, for one.

There's nothing to suggest Achilles, Best of the Greeks is anything but a dude enjoying his Lumberjack Slam®. In fact, his tan and long hair, combined with his clothes—jeans, sandals, a loose tank—scream "SoCal surfer", not "ancient demigod warrior."

As he sips his coffee and glances around, he can't help but feel like there's something comfortingly familiar ... almost Dionysian about the place. ]

[She sits down across from him, with little fanfare, glancing over her shoulder as she does so. She does so with the full confidence that she belongs there and that no one would question why she's sitting aross Achilles, which, well, it's a long ways from the Late Bronze Age but Artemis is still a goddess.]

You didn't see me.

[It's like saying something's a secret. Except she's glancing over her shoulder, implying that to a certain extent, it's somewhat serious...? But only to a certain extent.]

Anything good? [As if they were two friends and not Goddess and Hero Who Is Neato.]

[ He gives a nod—both by way of greeting and acknowledging her discretion. Lucky for Artemis, any grudge he may have had with her (or her twin) has long since cooled. Now he's mostly just tired and wants to enjoy his pancakes in relative peace.

But he also doesn't forget his manners when it comes to the gods, and slides a plate with his bacon over in silent offering. ]

The jalapeño cheddar "tots" aren't to be missed. [ Then his own question: ] What sort of quarry brings you here?

[Well, the degree to which he'll be enjoying his pancakes in peace is to be decided. The bacon is an acceptable offering, taken with a nod, and then...she'll enjoy the crunch.

Crunch. Delicious. Licking her fingers, and then...

Achilles' question is an interesting one, especially given who it was that was asking: it would be easy enough to tell someone like Jason to go take that question and shove it up his arse, but she wouldn't be sitting across a table at Denny's with Jason. But this was Achilles, and someone she had come to admire. Rad as heroes go, especially how he had fought when alive and grown when dead.]

If I tell you, you'd likely end up involved. It's up to you whether or not you'd want me to actually answer that. [Moving on.] Besides that, my quarry is jalapeño cheddar "tots", apparently.

[Yes, she actually said that in the same way he did.]

[ A low hum as he deliberates exactly how much he wants to know. He's increasingly of the mind that ignorance is bliss when it comes to gods and their machinations—be it the pantheon he's familiar with, or the equally needy neighbors jockeying for mortal favor. ]

Probably so. But your business can hardly be worse than mine. [ He flags one of the staff and orders said tots on the goddess' behalf. His English is perfect: one of the many languages gifted him by Apollo.

After the waiter tops off his coffee and moves on, Achilles wonders if the young man—or any of the other patrons—even see the figure seated across from him. He mops up some egg yolk with a piece of toast and continues: ]

War is not what it once was.

It certainly is not. I don't know whether or not it's for the best, but, then again, I'm not Ares. Mortals' perception of the moon changes, but the hunt remains the same; the tools are different, yes, but there's only so many ways to go about a hunt- a true hunt.

[She shrugged, loose, easy. Because she's not the point behind this: war was the point, and she's not Ares. She is just a huntress who people may or may not see, here to mooch some tots off of Achilles. (For now.)]

But war is different. Less chance for individual valor, less reason behind the wars, the stakes far less personal- I honestly don't know how you can stand it. I'd have gone mad if I were some hero doing what it is you do.

Yes, exactly that. Soldiers rarely see, much less respect their enemies. Leaders have no part in the fight, but happily send others to die in their stead. [ He takes a swig of coffee, then continues dryly: ] I can well imagine Lord Ares is thriving in this renaissance of callous violence.

[ He sighs, and his face regains some of its mettle. ] Futile as it may be, I continue fighting to uphold Lady Athena's promise of war as a virtuous act ... and, I suppose, to soothe my own guilty conscience.

[ How long can one man cling to his own regrets? The answer may just surprise you. ]

-that's one of the things that interests me about you, you know.

[This was said not kindly, as it's not meant to be flattery.]

Greatest of all Greeks aside, most other heroes in your- no, most mortals in your situation would have long since chosen to forget. Some gods, even.

But not you, you choose to remember even if it means fighting in wars which, well. Delight the likes of Ares and frustrate the likes of you. I can see why my sister is fond of you, and if you want to know if that's a good thing or not...I'm not sure either. But I can see why.

Edited (forgot an italics fml) 2022-08-17 20:52 (UTC)

[ An equivocal bob of his head seems to say true. He could have drunk deeply from the Lethe. He could have forgotten most of his mortal deeds, but that reeked of cowardice, and there were far too many treasured memories tucked in the margins of battle. ]

Fortunately, your sister keeps plenty more favorites from that golden age. Heracles, Perseus, Odysseus, Theseus, to name a few. We all shoulder the burden together.

[ The waiter returns with a small mountain of tater tots, heaped with melted cheese and peppers. All of it reeks of greasy hedonism. Achilles waves a hand invitingly. ]

And what about your domain? Mortals have tamed so much of the wilderness. How often do they honor you with a "true" hunt?

Well, we all learn to adapt or die, hero.

[She is going to help herself to the small mountain of tater tots, thank you very much, this is why Achilles is the greatest of the Greeks. She's grabbing a fork, getting a forkful, spearing some tots, eating it, chewing it, considering the taste of it...and then nodding, yes, it's a worthwhile choice. 8/10.]

Mortals have well and forgotten what it is to hunt, at least for the most part, but I still have my share of worship from teenaged girls trying to honor me as best as they can. There are worse fates. Uncle Poseidon's only honored on the side of seafood cans these days.

[Shrug.] My quarry these days tends to be found in the cities more often than not.

[ She's right. Gone are the days of festivals and hecatombs given in their honor, but the gods still excite the collective imagination. Achilles still sees them everywhere: be it Hermes delivering flowers, spacecraft named in honor of Apollo, or the countless artworks (new and old) preserved in museums throughout the world.

If they spied the goddess in this Denny's, he wonders if young women would begin offering tater tots and bacon at their moonlight altars. ]

Cities ... [ He can't resist—he spears a tot for himself and savors it before continuing. ] Fat raccoons? A wayward deer? Or have you taken to tracking less innocent creatures? Criminals, perhaps?

Well...

[Her voice trailed off a bit, because on one hand this was nothing new for either of them, and Achilles had seen a great deal of atrocities during his life (and death) so it wasn't as if he could handle it. But on the other hand, they had a mountain of tots before them and it felt a bit awkward. And even if no one would exactly see her (they might have an impression of someone sitting there, but afterwards wouldn't be able to exactly remember who or what it was they saw and would assume it was unimportant) it still felt...

Weird.

It felt weird just putting it out there, but he did ask, and Achilles was sturdy. But she is going to stare out a window as she speaks, spearing a tot and eating it.]

When you don't have as many followers as you once did you tend to pay attention to them more, and sometimes one of them encounters a bit of trouble, and sometimes you feel the need to avenge them when they do. But that's not all the time, just sometimes.

[ He nods knowingly, watching a group of college co-eds stream in for some after-party comfort food. Women have begun to remind him of their goddess counterparts—granted more freedom, more power over their own destinies.

On the one hand, the world has gotten much safer—especially for those mortals that Artemis is obliged to keep an eye on. On the other hand, any civility acquired over the centuries is summarily thrown out the window when war breaks out. When given a weapon and an enemy, most men (and some women) will treat the helpless with the same cruelty he observed in his first life. ]

If it was more than sometimes, you'd have no judgement from me. Too often those deeds go unpunished. [ He exhales. ] A shame mortals have forgotten your keen eye and your deadly bow, or they might reconsider their brutal urges.

[ Not that it helped way back when, but some people could still use a fear of god(s) as a replacement for their missing conscience. ]

You say that, but it never stopped them before, now did it?

[She shrugged.

There was more she could say to that, but at times, old habits died hard. A godly pretentiousness clung to her no matter how hard she tried to wash it off, like a film covering her body. She could let herself be known to mortals, but she didn't want to. They didn't need to know what she was thinking.

...and then Artemis realized what she was doing and then frowned, like she had ate a bad tot. She was starting to act like her father, no, bad. This mortal could know a bit more of what she was thinking.]

Mortals can be petty, selfish, and downright cruel. I've lost track of the number of times I was asked to turn someone into a rabbit or plant or whatever else for some slight or another, and sometimes? Sometimes I obligated them. And sometimes I just shot one, or the both of them.

[It is what it is.]

The main thing that would change, should I take up my bow and go on a rampage, is that they'd simply blame their brutal urges on myself or one of my siblings, or one of the many other gods out there - not themselves.

Denny's

Achilles | Hades/TSOA | Modern AU! OTA

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Sorry, I was honoring Artemis irl by eating canned chili in the woods for a few days

I was dying in an airplane in a very Airport Horror™ experience so