OTA

[pecked_by_birds]

When he'd first returned to London, Prometheus had found himself back at his old studio. It was nothing special, a narrow building wedged between a high street shop and a bakery. The second floor served as a modest apartment, but the ground floor had, at one point, been a small shop. ...A shop the titan had ignored until today.

Old paintings hung from the walls, trinkets and treasures lined the shelves... There were crates of books- Vintage by now, and the case by the counter held everything from women's compacts to queer amulets. Things the titan had gathered and created over the years. ...Things he was ready to let go of.

He'd spent the night dusting and sweeping, washing windows and tidying away the mess. This morning he'd opened the shutters for the first time in ages, allowing the sunlight to pour in as he flipped the sign to open, and sank into a comfortable leather chair near the ancient looking register.

An old boom box sat on the counter, filling the shop with sound as the titan flipped open his old sketchbook and picked up where he'd left off years and years ago.

Comments

[miss_ives]

"A very good purchase," Vanessa complimented him, putting the book down to pick up the next.

[pecked_by_birds]

"A lucky buy," he countered with a shrug. "And a waste, really. I meant to take them to my bookshop in New York, but they never made it. They just sat waiting in that box. ...You can have them, if you want. If you promise they'll go to a good home. No charge."

[miss_ives]

Vanessa frowned, and fully turned over to look at him, the book in her hands. "These are worth several hundred pounds, at least. And I haven't looked at them properly yet." They might be worth a lot more still.

[pecked_by_birds]

"They're worth nothing sat in a crate," the titan countered with an easy shrug.

[miss_ives]

"Then I will take them off your hands," Vanessa agreed, not one to look that sort of gift horse in the mouth. "And find them a proper home." Some of these might be of interest to one museum or another. She would, of course, start with hers - and donate them. She hardly needed the money.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Thank you," Prometheus replied, his smile faint, but somehow full of warmth. "I'm glad they'll see a better life out of my hands."

[miss_ives]

"I do hope you don't conduct all your business by giving things away," she answered, something warm and sharp laced through her amusement. "You might not stay open very long."

[pecked_by_birds]

"I'm sure I'll get by," the titan grinned, his smile coy and full of secrets. "I'm Prometheus, by the way," he said, offering his hand.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa's lips twitched into an amused little smile. "From gifting us with fire to gifting us with ancient books?"

[pecked_by_birds]

"Knowledge is knowledge, dove. It comes in many forms," the titan smiled.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa raised an eyebrow at him, then told him, "Vanessa." She doubted that she would get him to call her Miss Ives, given his informal state of address, but Vanessa would be a great deal better than any pet name. And, given what he was giving her, he deserved her first name.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Vanessa," Prometheus echoed. "A lovely name."

[miss_ives]

"If somewhat less mythologically charged," she confirmed with a smile, and turned back to the study of the books.

[pecked_by_birds]

The titan laughed, and as he did so a tangible warmth filled the shop. The air smelled like a crackling fire, comforting and easily chasing away the chill of fall.

"I suppose that's true- I forget, sometimes, that my name carries such a weight."

[miss_ives]

As wholly as Vanessa's attention had returned to the books, that laugh drew her focus back to him, sharp and true. She turned her head around to look at him, wary of trusting the warmth that had spread through her.

It seemed to her as if she was taking him in for the first time, and the question that poured from her lips was not one she had meant to ask. "How old are you?"

[pecked_by_birds]

"Ancient, yet newly born," The titan replied cheerfully, turning the page in his sketchbook and beginning to draw Vanessa. "Or perhaps newly born, but with an old soul. It's a matter of perception, I imagine. Age of blood and bone contrasting with a mind and soul that've lived many lives- Or one life that cycles endlessly."

His words were rhythmic, almost musical, and his gaze remained on the page as his pencil sketched out the woman before him.

[miss_ives]

His words were mesmerising, and Vanessa abandoned the books to step closer, studying his face rather than what he was drawing, for a few seconds. Then she looked at his hand as he worked on the page and, finally, at the sketch itself. "That sounds lonely."

[pecked_by_birds]

"Existence is a lonely thing," the titan replied. "You can cling to others as you pass through life, and you should, but in the end you are always alone. The hand of a friend or a lover might remain in yours as you drift off, but eventually you are alone with your thoughts. ...You learn to thrive in the lonely moments, or existing becomes suffering."

[miss_ives]

His words resonated so much with Vanessa that she leaned a hand on the back of the armchair across from him, as if needing the support just then. "I've found that that there's only so much thriving one can do, through the suffering."

[pecked_by_birds]

"If you're suffering, dove, you are not thriving at all," the titan said, glancing up from his sketch to meet her gaze.

"Your eyes are like steel bars- Are you locking something in, or locking something out?" he asked.

[miss_ives]

"Vanessa," she reminded him again, but her words lacked the sharpness that usually would have accompanied the correction. She sounded distracted, and she took a seat across from him, drawing her hands carefully together into her lap. "Both, it feels, a lot of the time."

They were as sharp as ever, and fixed on him, as if trying to see through him, and to his very soul.

[pecked_by_birds]

The titan's eyes were open and bright, inviting anyone who dared to look deep into eternity, knowledge, and the madness that sometimes came with both.

"Do you want to talk about it, Vanessa?" he asked. "I'm a terrible listener, but my words sometimes find a way of twisting themselves into what others need to hear."

[miss_ives]

Vanessa watched him thoughtfully for a few seconds, not in the least shying from looking deep into his eyes, as deep as she might. Her heart started to beat faster for it, for no reason that she could have put into words, and she pursed her lips slightly before saying, "You sound somewhat like my tarot."

[pecked_by_birds]

"Cards are wise, but not as wise as me," the titan said. "I don't ask the spirits for guidance, they instead come to me- That's not bragging though, I promise you that. I'm many things, but I'm not arrogant, not really- Not any more. You stop being cocky the first time you die- after that you just get jaded and wise. ...You know a lot about death though, don't you, my raven?"

[miss_ives]

Raven. Scorpion. There were parallels there, and opposites. Goosebump broke out over her skin and Vanessa suddenly found herself wondering not what she saw in him, but what he saw in her. "More so than about dying," she answered, which did not mean much. The more she knew, the more ignorant she felt.