Open RP: Aphrodite settles in

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

((Backdated to the evening of 'Dite's arrival in the park.))

Fantasyland.

She would have liked to turn the mouse into a tree for his trouble and his impertinence, but it was clear even to her that seeing as how the mouse was serving some entity with the power to imprison a goddess, doing so probably wasn't a good idea. So she pasted on a smile and accepted her fate.

Moments later, a dazzlingly white swan could be seen rising from the entrance plaza, its feathers shining in the sun as it took to the air.

(She did try to fly out, and had no better luck than her daughter-in-law had done, long ago. That didn't improve her temper any.)

The helpful girl named Rukia had told her that one didn't have to stay in the part of the park where the mouse assigned one, and Aphrodite was determined to make the most of that particular fact. After circling the park several times in her swan-form, she finally came to rest in a pretty, grassy area near Splash Mountain.

By day's end, this plot of land was occupied by an elegant little marble pavilion hung with draperies of gold and purple silk. It had taken her a rather long time to manifest it correctly, architecture not being her strong point, but in the end, she was satisfied with the results. But the effort left her a bit drained, so as evening fell, one might find the goddess of love and beauty within her new abode, lounging among silken cushions on a divan of Lebanon cedar, lit by the soft glow of oil lamps and looking rather dazzlingly weary.

((Feel free to gawk, say hi, bother the goddess, etc. Note that she is in a bit of a mood, but I don't think she'll be turning anyone into trees. Yet.))

Comments

[yousir-mesir.livejournal.com]

Percy could hardly use the word 'bored' to describe how he felt, rather he believed he was beyond that state and was, at the moment, entirely restless. Restless legs were apt to wander and so he took the air to just stroll aimlessly around the park. Past experiences had led him to understand that interesting things could happen when one wandered about the place with no real goal in mind.

He paused when he saw the pavilion, as he was sure that hadn't been there when he took the air a few days prior, and stared at the structure with his mouth agape. The man was never one to pass up a chance for some kind of interaction or new discovery and so he walked closer, carefully approaching the ...temple with a kind of childlike wonder and awe. He assumed there was someone dwelling inside, and cautiously he approached the front entrance and stood straight to address the occupant. "Good day."

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

((Gawk away! ^_^))

Ooh, a visitor. And a handsome one, at that.

With a lazy wave of her hand, the draperies veiling the entrance parted, revealing the goddess in repose. She smiled brightly. "Hello there, sir."

[yousir-mesir.livejournal.com]

Percy tried his best to hide his surprise when the beautiful woman revealed herself so suddenly and so...well, he supposed before the royal family was imprisoned their entrances at Versailles were about as grand and dramatic. He almost forgot himself in her presence, but he hoped he would be forgiven as it was an overpowering one at that.

He took off his hat and bowed low, keeping his eyes to the floor for the duration of the gesture as he was quite sure he would fall over otherwise. "We've not met. Would you permit me to introduce myself?"

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

"By all means, lovely gentleman," she said. And this one had manners. Wonderful.

[yousir-mesir.livejournal.com]

When she agreed Percy straightened himself and approached her very carefully, his hat still in his hand. He wasn't sure why, but he had the odd feeling that his hat should not go back on his head in her midst. "My name is Sir Percival Blakeney, Baronet. Might I inquire as to who you are, or would that be too presumptuous, m'lady?"

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

"Not at all, Sir Percival." She beamed, and for a moment she seemed to shine subtly in a way that had nothing to do with the lamplight. "I am Aphrodite, called Kytherea, Morpho, Kallipygos ... although of course, you're an educated man, aren't you, darling? You can probably name more of my titles than I can."

[yousir-mesir.livejournal.com]

Ah ha. Well, Percy thought, now it all made sense. Why wouldn't the Goddess of love and beauty stop him in his tracks? He swallowed the intimidation he felt and smiled happily at her warm reception to him. "Venus, by the Romans, and more commonly in my era, but I always found Aphrodite to be the most appropriate of names as it is the most beautiful."

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

Oh, she definitely liked this one.

"I'm rather fond of it myself," she said, twinkling. Which was true; not least because it was a handy reminder of where she had come from, and the fact that she'd been around for rather longer than most of the other Olympians.

[yousir-mesir.livejournal.com]

"It is a sorry thing indeed that you should find yourself trapped here with us, lady Aphrodite, for such accommodation does not please a Goddess, I do believe." If it didn't please a fop such as himself then it definitely would not please the Goddess of Beauty. "Although, and I hope you'll indulge me enough to allow me to say so, I am terribly glad to make your acquaintance."

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine, darling." Really, it was. She pouted just a tiny bit (adorably so), and added, "And thank you for your sympathy. I'm trying to make the best of it, you know. At least until I find out who's responsible. Or how to get out. Whichever comes first, really."

[yousir-mesir.livejournal.com]

Percy raise his hand and motioned to their surroundings. "I take it you're the one responsible for this, then? I must say, lovely effort." He was being quite sincere about this, seeing as the Goddess had powers beyond his comprehension. "If you do find a way out of this place, won't you keep me in mind, m'lady?" He smirked politely. "It goes double for the figure responsible."

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

"Thank you. Nothing else really suited, you know, so I decided to do what I could to make myself comfortable. And of course I shall keep you in mind, Sir Percival, in the matter of escape and that of the perpetrator of this business." When speaking of the latter, her smile grew just a little darker and more dangerous, just for a moment.

[yousir-mesir.livejournal.com]

He refrained from stepping back, though he was sorely tempted. He was speaking with a Goddess, he had to watch himself. "Please, lady Aphrodite, I'd be much obliged if you just called me Percy." He bowed his head slightly. "Naturally nothing in this place would suit such a charming and graceful deity."

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

She beamed. "And I wonder that anything here suits such a charming man, Percy," she replied.

[yousir-mesir.livejournal.com]

Ah, to win the smile of a Goddess. Percy smiled at the sight and felt his stomach sink to his feet and then rise back up again. "M'lady, one does learn to make due, even if it means dwelling in a man-made jungle next to something that calls itself the Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost."

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

She laughed, a pretty, bell-like sound. "Oh, my dear. You must tell me, of course, if there is any way I can make your stay more pleasant."

Of course, as with fairies and other supernatural beings of great power, a god's gifts and favors don't come for free...

[yousir-mesir.livejournal.com]

Percy cocked his head to one side as she laughed, then lifted the quizzing glass that hung around his neck to his lips. He tapped gently against his mouth and smiled softly, and more importantly, knowingly. "M'lady Goddess, all I ask is to see more of your beautiful countenance. That would make my stay pleasant indeed."

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

Good answer. If a little disappointing on some level, but clearly this one was canny as well as charming. "So little?" she teased. "I think that can be arranged. You're welcome to visit anytime, and I have no doubt our paths will cross elsewhere as well."

[yousir-mesir.livejournal.com]

"Rather, just right," he corrected her gently. "If I ask her ladyship for anything more so soon she would deem me a cad, and if I ask for anything less she would be insulted." He had little experience when dealing with Gods and Goddesses, but he knew enough not to displease them. He also knew that he could not help but flirt terribly and unabashedly with Aphrodite.

"I do hope to see more of you though, let us just hope that you will continued to be...entertained by my presence." It took a lot for him to keep a straight face and not smile deviously.

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

Oh, he was good.

"I think I shall find you terribly entertaining indeed," she said, very pleased. She extended her hand langourously -- another subtle test. Not one that he could fail, really (unless he did nothing at all), but she wanted to see what, exactly, he would do.

[yousir-mesir.livejournal.com]

Percy knew exactly what must be done, and was really rather glad for it. Carefully, and with all the grace that he could muster, he approached the Goddess while stripping himself of his white gloves. He pocketed them, and once in front of her, bent again at the waist and reached out to take her hand delicately in his own. "Begging your pardon for the informality, but I'd simply loathe to leave my on gloves," he murmured, smiling as he lifted the her hand to his lips. As he kissed her knuckles gently he kept his eyes on hers, never once breaking the contact even when he let her hand go.

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

She positively glittered at him. He'd passed the test with flying colors.

"Such a pleasure to meet such a true gentleman," she purred.

[yousir-mesir.livejournal.com]

"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you," he murmured, keeping himself collected save for the way his voice lowered. He was entirely pleased that she was pleased.

"I'll call on you again, lady Aphrodite. Now, I would not want to overstay my welcome, and you must be awfully exhausted from building this remarkable pavilion, so I shall regretfully take my leave."

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

And considerate too. "Until next time, darling Percy," she replied, smiling beautifully. "I look forward to it."

[yousir-mesir.livejournal.com]

Percy felt his heart beat wildly in his chest. Of course the smile of a Goddess would do that to a man, and considering she had coupled it with an affectionate term it was very difficult for him to remain unaffected. "Until we meet again, m'lady," he said, finally restoring his hat to the top of his head after another low and respectful bow.

He continued his stroll, left practically giddy from the encounter.

[caveatempter.livejournal.com]

Splash Mountain, as all the other rides, had a fakeness to it that was something of an affront; it was one of the few constructions made to look like something out of nature, poorly and without any real effort to be more convincing.

Such things grated, but no more than living in the heart of a large, noisy city did, and Count D passed it and everything else during his walks with no real annoyance, bourn of practice and experience and, perhaps, a lack of the overwhelming dislike for humanity as a whole that the rest of his family possessed. (Not that he loved humanity, far from it, he was just uneasily beginning to acknowledge that he liked some humans very much...)

On his way past this day, at sunset, he paused, eyes widening slightly at the appearance of such a new, intricately beautiful structure. And upon seeing the figure inside--woman, goddess--he approached carefully, stopping a suitable distance away, head bowed respectably, hand raised over his heart in silent communication. "Such a beautiful structure, my Lady," he said, voice smooth and appropriately reverent. "As is fitting. Would I be correct in assuming you made it personally?"

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

She regarded her newest visitor curiously; it was clear that he was one of those Asian spirits whose exact nature and role she had never fully understood -- she always felt it was somewhere along the lines of the lares and penates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lares) and yet somehow ... oh, Athena could have bored one to death with a discourse on it, probably.

Still, one had to be polite, one god to another, so she nodded her head and extended a hand in a gesture of greeting. "Thank you, good sir," she said. "It's just a humble little thing, really, something to make me feel at home here. Forgive me if I don't rise. The effort's rather tired me out."

[caveatempter.livejournal.com]

"Of course, Lady," D agreed. If a goddess didn't rise, for one reason or another, true or fickle, it still was not an insult.

He approached a bit further and bowed over her hand, then said politely, "I'm afraid I missed your arrival. You've not been here long, I hope?" And will not be trapped longer than you would like, remained unspoken. Gods and goddesses being trapped in a place could be a touchy subject, and was best not approached straight out.

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

"Only since this morning. Constructing this little place has taken up most of my time in the interim." She pouted very slightly at the thought of being here long enough to actually require a dwelling-place, but said nothing about it either. "And you, sir?"

[caveatempter.livejournal.com]

"I've had to make due with the available buildings, myself," he sympathised, clasping his hands together. "As for myself... almost a year, I believe, though time is difficult to track in this place. I was... absent, for some time, though I do not remember the events of the month where I was missing."

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

"...missing?" She frowned. "May I ask how that happened? Well, obviously, you don't remember, but what did others tell you about it?"

[philosopher-rex.livejournal.com]

T-Rex came stomping into view.

"Today is a good day I think for narrating everything I do!

Here comes the T-Rex, back in Critter Country after a hard day of stomping on things! Yes sir, T-Rex works very hard all day long! He is the hardest-working dude in the park! Nobody else stomps on as much stuff as him ALL DAY!

But what is this?! There is a new addition to the place I call home! Well, actually, I don't call it 'home' so much as I call it a 'poor substitute for home that will have to do for the time being because really what other options do I have yeah none exactly'. BUT ANYWAY THAT IS NOT THE POINT. THE POINT IS THAT THERE IS A NEW THING.

Here I go -- I mean, here goes the T-Rex to investigate!"

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

What was that?

The noise and the shaking ground were enough to propel Aphrodite off the divan and to the entrance of her little pavilion, where she stopped dead in her tracks.

"You --" she began. And couldn't think of anything else to say.

[philosopher-rex.livejournal.com]

The narration continued. "An extremely beautiful but also extremely tiny woman has stepped out to talk to the T-Rex as he approaches what is presumably her place of residence. She must have some kind of magical or spiritual ability to create something like this, and she is most likely the person who created it. The T-Rex decides to attempt a conversation with her, and reassure that he is not dangerous, as she seems slightly taken aback by his presence."

Then T-Rex waved a spindly little arm at Aphrodite and said, "Me! Hi! I'm T-Rex! What's your name?"

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

All right, all right, Aphrodite had seen stranger things in her millennia of existence -- nine-headed regenerating serpents, snake-headed women, sphinxes, pegasi, dragons ... She could handle a thirty-foot-tall green dinosaur. Surely.

She drew herself up and smiled. "I am Aphrodite."

[philosopher-rex.livejournal.com]

"The beautiful woman has identified herself as Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. T-Rex is surprised by the fact that she is not speaking in bolded capslock -- bolded pink capslock! -- but maybe that's only a Juedo-Christian entity thing? Actually, Juedo-Christian entities are the only ones that our hero, T-Rex, has any experience with, but hopefully Aphrodite will be as fun to talk to as God and the Devil! If nothing else, she probably has really interesting things to say about kissing. And good stories."

T-Rex smiled back, or would have, if he had a face that was made for human smiles. "It's nice to meet you, Aphrodite! So I guess you're new here, huh?"

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

The narration was, frankly, confusing the hell out of her, but she tried to make the best of it. "Oh, I've got many stories, T-Rex," she said. "A pleasure to meet you as well. And yes, I just arrived today."

Most people would then ask something along the lines of incidentally, I'm not intruding on your turf with my little house am I? If so, I'm dreadfully sorry. Aphrodite, of course, wasn't "most people".

[philosopher-rex.livejournal.com]

T-Rex tends to confuse the hell out of most people. It's one of his talents. "Aphordite has chosen to respond to the narration of this story. She is THROWING OFF THE NARRATION when she does this. In a real story, the characters can't respond to the narration! But I guess that's because a real story is in printed word and not in shouted word. Also, she's offered to tell stories, so the T-Rex realizes that he can't complain, and also, it would probably not be wise to totally piss her off, because unlike the Devil, she probably understands more than just video games."

Even the mighty T-Rex had to pause for breath once in a while, and he did so then. He continued, "I'd like to hear some stories, then! Even if you DID throw off my narration. And I'm sure you'll like Critter Country. Everyone here is pretty nice. It's not a bad place to be."

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

"Oh, thank you, I --" Because it was driving her mad, she had to ask: "Why are you talking like that?"

[philosopher-rex.livejournal.com]

"Because I'm narrating everything I do," T-Rex explained. A little hesitantly, he added, "Should... should I not do that?"

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

She was inclined to tell him to stop it, but she was curious too. "Do you always ... narrate?"

[philosopher-rex.livejournal.com]

"No, not always!" T-Rex said cheerfully. "I thought today would be a good day for it, is all."

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

"Oh." She was at a loss for words. Wonderful. It wasn't enough that the dinosaur had to be thirty feet tall and capable of talking; it was clearly crazy as well.