Work Text:
Ariadne stared off into the distance, while fidgeting with an arrow. There was a storm coming, she could smell it in the air.
Footsteps. Someone sliding down into the grass beside her. ‘Therese.’
‘The one, the only, not on the hunt right now.’ She wasn’t smiling this time. ‘You look like you’re in distress. Anything on your mind?’
‘How do you know, every single time?’
‘I can read it in your face. At least, I think so. The others say I can’t tell, but up until now, I’ve never been wrong.’
Ariadne shut her eyes. ‘You know, Therese,’ she began, trying to sound as relaxed as she could. ‘It is clear to me that Dionysus understands how badly he screwed up. That no matter how much he loves me or how much he helped me, getting me stuck on an island is unforgivable to a mortal.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I can see it in the way he looks at me. Like he wants to hold me close and knows he never can at the same time.’
Therese narrowed her eyes. ‘Where are you going with this?’
‘...I sort of feel the same way, Therese. I… love him, I think. The way he was willing to change his whole worldview, simply because of all the things I told him, is… by the gods.’ A light drizzle came down on them. Therese raised her left eyebrow. She grabbed Ariadne’s wrist. The other woman hardly seemed to notice. ‘Yet… there is always that stint of repulsion, because I really still hate what he did, no matter how much remorse he feels for it.’
Therese jerked her upright. ‘I get it.’ She dragged her friend underneath a bunch of trees, out of the rain. ‘And I’ll tell you exactly what I think about it, once we are safe from this storm.’
Ariadne looked up at the sky. She nodded.
Once they were hidden under the trees, Ariadne took a deep breath. She let her head hang.
‘... you were right before. Talking helps. At least now I… said it.’
Therese decided against reminding her that Dionysus came up with it. She put an arm around her friends’ back. ‘What do you want now?’
‘You tell me. I have no idea left and I thought so much lately I’d love it if I never have to do that ever again.’
Therese let out a snicker, before composing herself again. ‘Let’s start with returning to base-camp.’
‘And there, you are gonna give me food and rest?’
‘How’d you know?’
Ariadne didn’t have the energy to laugh. She doubted if food and rest would help at all against the noise in her head right now. She doubted if anything would.
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A/N: And here is the same idea... told, instead of shown.
‘Artemis?’
The goddess looked up at her brother. ‘It’s okay, you can be here.’ Dionysus nodded, as he sat down next to his sister.
‘Shouldn’t you be going to her?’ Artemis nodded towards Ariadne. ‘I can’t imagine you’re here for your naggy old sister.’
He rolled his eyes.
‘Yeah, you’re definitely not here for me.’
‘No.’ Dionysus looked at Ariadne, who was talking to a couple of her friends. The god waited. And yes, there was the feeling again. How… swell.
Artemis raised her eyebrows. ‘What’s wrong with you?’
‘Huh?’
‘You look like the sky fell down. You’re just in a clearing, man, nothings’ wrong.’
‘I mean, no…’ oh god, she noticed them. Artemis clearly saw it too. With one last look at her brother, she beckoned the woman to come closer.
Ariadne stood in front of them, hands on her hips. ‘Haven’t seen you in some time.’
He mustered up a smile. ‘No, I guess not.’ He could basically feel Artemis’ eyes burning into his skin.
With a little smile, Ariadne sat down next to them. ‘What gives me the honour?’
If he had known, he would have had no way to say it. ‘...well…’
Artemis stood up, her back straight as a line. ‘Why don’t you two try to find out for some time?’
‘Wait…’
She shot her brother a nasty look, before striding off to help some of her girls with their bows. Great, okay, okay, okay.
Ariadne put her hand on his. ‘What’s going on?’ He laced his fingers through hers. He felt her resisting a little, before calming down.
His expression weirded her out. It looked like he was bouncing between feeling guilty and feeling happy.
Slowly, she pulled him up. He nodded and brought her deeper into the forest. Ariadne let him, knowing for a fact that Artemis was watching them leave.
She laid her hands on his shoulder, trying to shake of the sneaking thought she always had: He stranded you on an island - what does it matter that he loves you? It’s unacceptable. She was never able to go against it.
She put her hand on his cheek. ‘You realise it now, don’t you?’
‘...what?’
‘You are looking at me like I’m behind a screen, or something. Like you want to touch me, but you know you can’t.’ She stopped for a second. ‘It’s like you feel guilty. You look it, too. Guilty of… the island’ She was right. A single look and she could see that she was right. ‘Why?’
‘... because I shouldn’t have ever done it.’
‘What?’
He pulled her close, his hand in her hair. ‘It was a beautiful show of self-sabotage, don’t you think?’
She could have laughed if it hadn’t been so awful. She loved him, she could admit it, now. A part of her even understood his actions. But she couldn’t stay, not now. She needed time and distance to look at it all. If only she could leave, if only for a few days.