The Titan Returns (ota)

[pecked_by_birds]

He had been back in London for seventy-three hours, twenty-six minutes, and fifteen, sixteen, seventeen... Seconds. He knew that for certain, and there was no need for clocks. No, Prometheus could feel the seconds ticking inside of him.  

Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine...

Upon his return home, he'd locked himself away in his flat, pulling out his paints and canvases and filling them with dark shadows and heavy lines. This form was not like the last he'd worn. It felt wrong and right all at once-  It was all angles and odd lines, sharp bones and pale flesh, highlighted with ginger hair and pale green eyes- Eyes that weren't so different from other forms he'd worn. 

However, when he closed these eyes he could hear waves crashing, and feel the weight of the chains that had once forced him to remain still and suffer.  With his eyes shut, every moment that ticked by sent him spiralling deeper into the darkness he'd spent so long running from. 

The titan's madness had known all kinds of forms. Sometimes quiet, sometimes loud- Often angry, but sometimes... Sometimes it was like a fog. That's how it was now, it seemed. In this form it didn't bring rage, only pain, moments of confusion, and a lingering sadness that weighed him down and made him wish for the one thing he would never have.
 
Eternal rest.

He couldn't stay in the flat forever though, and today he'd finally ventured out, daring to go shopping for supplies before finally returning to the small second hand shop he called his own. With no fanfare at all, he set about opening the shutters and flipping the sign from closed to open for the first time in months.

Inside the stock was mostly unchanged, the same paintings and books, the same oddities and trinkets. Some very old, some only from a few decades back. The difference this time being the man himself, his looks, and the way he loitered in his own shop. He didn't sit behind the counter reading now, that required a stillness he was struggling with today. Instead he stood with a paintbrush in hand, and a fresh canvas before him that he slowly began to mark in time to the drab, and slightly melancholy, sound of Radiohead.

He didn't look up when he heard someone come in, but he did point his brush at them. 

"I know what you want, but do you?" he asked.

Comments

[pecked_by_birds]

Prometheus nodded a bit, then lazily made his way over to the books, picking through them for quite some time, then eventually returning with a small, leather bound text.

[miss_ives]

"Thank you," Vanessa told him as he set it down on the counter. Her fingers caressed the leather bindings, and she looked up at Prometheus. "How much for them?"

[pecked_by_birds]

"Hmm? Oh, um..."

Prometheus didn't really have a need for money, the shop really more to keep him busy than a real business.

"How about a trade?" he asked, looking thoughtful. "You work at a museum, don't you? With books and such. ...I don't suppose you know anything about restoring or preserving them, do you?"

[miss_ives]

"You're terrible at supposing, then," Vanessa told him with a small smile. "I'm a curator of books at the Museum."

[pecked_by_birds]

"Fair point. I have a small stack of books in need of some care. Journals, actually. If you could restore them, preserve them, I'd be very grateful," the titan explained. "In exchange the book and charm are yours- And I'll allow you full access to my personal library. ...Scattered and messy though it may be."

[miss_ives]

The offer seemed too good to be true; who knew what sort of books she might find in Prometheus' library, and the thought of reading and handling his journals... "That is far too good a deal for me to turn down," Vanessa stated honestly. She did not try to be clever, around him, but went for simple honesty.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Don't be fooled, my journals are in a terrible state. Have been for a while. The earlier ones have been through shipwrecks, and later ones through fires. Some were lost forever, but I've saved all I could," the titan said.

[miss_ives]

"So you're presenting me with a challenge," Vanessa remarked, with raised eyebrows, before her expression softened. "I will do my utmost with them, Prometheus." Using his name was an expression of her promise.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Thank you, I will appreciate anything you manage to salvage," the titan assured her.

[miss_ives]

"Are they here?" Vanessa asked.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Upstairs in my flat," the titan said, shaking his head. "Just take the book and charm for now. I'll have everything else dropped off at your office, if that's alright. Don't fancy digging it all out now. ...It's all a bit chaotic up there."

[miss_ives]

"Of course." Vanessa went through her purse, then produced a business card with the name of her department at the British Museum under hers, and her work phone number. "Here."

[pecked_by_birds]

"Thank you. I appreciate this more than I can put into words," the titan assured her.

[miss_ives]

"It will be my pleasure," Vanessa assured him with a small smile. She meant it. "And what you might have given me in exchange..." Her thumbs caressed the edge of the talisman as she held it. Peace. This might represent peace, and that was priceless.

[pecked_by_birds]

"I only hope it works," Prometheus replied. "Or, rather, works well enough to be any sort of help."

[miss_ives]

"Time shall tell," Vanessa remarked, looking down at the talisman in her hand. "Time, and research." She picked up the book he had offered her and slid it, with the talisman, into her purse. "Thank you for your help, Prometheus. I will be in touch, about your journals."

[pecked_by_birds]

"Thank you. Though there's no rush. I'm hoping to stay in London until the fall," the titan replied.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa gave him a smile. "I never rush books."

[pecked_by_birds]

"You don't strike me as the sort to rush anything, Raven," the titan smiled.

[miss_ives]

She still felt like more of a scorpion, but the raven worked on too many levels for her to object. "I do my best not to," Vanessa answered, her smile tinting with remorse and sadness. She did her best not to anymore. "Thank you, Prometheus," she told him again, pushing those feelings aside to take her leave.

[pecked_by_birds]

The titan nodded, returning to his painting before she'd even left- As if someone had flipped a switch, automatic shifting him from one mode to the next.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa watched him for a few more seconds as he got back to his work, then forced herself to look away before she was drawn in too much, and slipped out of the shop without disturbing him further.