Work Text:
‘Hello…’
‘You were right. Congratulations.’
Dionysus blinked. ‘Ariadne…’
‘I would have died, had I stayed with Theseus. So you were right when you said it was for the better that I got stranded.’
‘You’re hurting.’
Ariadne wiped as many tears from her face as she could manage. ‘No kidding!’
‘Oh, Ariadne…’ He put a hand on her arm. ‘I am so sorry...’
Ariadne felt all her carefully built up walls fall down. She threw her arms around Dionysus’ neck and sobbed.
He caressed her back. ‘Cry, princess. Let it out,’ she heard him whisper, while he lowered them to the ground. Ariadne put her head on his shoulder and cried. Cried because Theseus had turned out awful, cried because of her sister and all the other people he hurt, and cried because Dionysus had been, fuck all, right after all.
Dionysus stroked her hair. Technically, this is what you want, it shot through him. He wanted Ariadne to see what a douchebag Theseus was and he wanted her to see that he had been right the whole time. But not like this. He didn’t want her to cry like this, as if her entire world had come tumbling down.
‘...I hate that you were right,’ She sobbed.
The words stuck in his throat. ‘...Me too,’ was all he managed to get out.
It confused Ariadne. What, would he really rather see her with Theseus right now if it meant she got to be happy? That wasn’t like the Dionysus she knew, the one she was sure of told Theseus to leave her so he could have her for himself.
‘... If you mean that, then you’re the only one who ever cared at all.’ And that might be even more awful. She felt his embrace getting tighter.
If only you knew how much I love you.
-
Ariadne took a deep, shaky breath.
‘Be careful…’
‘No. We need to talk.’ She swallowed, feeling raw from the tears. Her head felt like it was going to burst. ‘As I said before… you were right. It really was for the best in the end that I was away from Theseus.’
Dionysus shrugged, uncertain of what to say.
‘And I’d say that…‘I’d say that that would mean you…’ She swallowed. ‘That that would mean you… cared about me from the very start.’
The god nodded, still at a loss for words.
‘Yet, I still feel like you weren’t allowed to just pull me out of my life like you did, or something. Even if that feels incredibily stupid now, since I would have died.’
‘... we don’t know that.’
‘Hm?’
‘We don’t know if Theseus would have turned out the same. I mean, I think he would have, but...’
Ariadne took a deep breath. ‘Had I stayed with Theseus… perhaps he would have stayed at home more, or he wouldn’t have forgotten his promise to Aphrodite or his father had I been there. But we’ll never know. And the way it looks now, I dodged an arrow.’
‘Well… yeah.’
‘Why are you so hesitant to defend yourself?’
Dionysus thought for a moment, while he let Ariadne pull herself loose from their embrace. ‘I… don’t know.’ It’s a bit of a mess inside right now.
Ariadne stared at the ground. ‘I… need more time to think.’
‘... about what?’
‘I… I guess it is... quite clear, now, that you were always looking out for me. And if that’s the case…’ She sighed. ‘I... am not sure.’
‘Take your time.’ She realises this, now. So why am I not happy?
‘Can you help me up?’
‘Eh… yes.’ He took her hands to get them both back on their feet.
When they did, Ariadne swiped the dirt off her dress. She put her arms around her waist. ‘Thanks for letting me cry.’
‘Of course.’
Ariadne took a deep breath before whistling Artemis’ tune. A second later, she was gone.