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It was a peaceful day in Ithaca and a 11 year old Odysseus was doing what he did best, mischief.
Sure he gets scolded every time, but when did that ever stop him? The answer is never and his unfortunate friends sadly get pulled into it.
He was running through the forest from a random boar he pissed off, easily dodging the trees and moving with purpose. He knows exactly where to go for a quick escape and also knows the fastest routes to it. Knows where the river is and knows where the weird steep hill thingy is which he despises.
As he ran through the trees and found one that he could easily climb before he came into the sightline of the boar, he quickly jumped and pulled himself upward, finding himself hidden in the safety of the tree where he was safe and sound, heh, he's so smart.
Not as if escaping a boar was anything too extravagant or something. Really all you need to be able to do is run like your life depends on it which it kinda does and also be able to climb trees at the speed of a storm in its full glory! A storm that someone like Poseidon would send.
Though while he was praising himself internally he didn't realize that he was, in fact, not alone in the tree.
“Do you often challenge wild boars to a race?”
The feminine voice caught him off guard and he even almost fell into a bush right below the branch they were both perched upon.
“What? Were you here this whole time?” He asked the pretty woman though some of his confusion bled through into his tone as he questioned her.
“I was. Now answer the question, do you normally race boars or is this a one time thing?” She questioned him, this time closing the scroll that was perched up on her lap and setting it down, being careful that it doesn't fall off the tree.
Odysseus was dumbfounded, but found the guts in him to answer. “Sometimes, yeah. When stuff gets boring around the palace and all.” He answered, trying (and miserably failing) to be nonchalant about the whole situation.
The girl just nodded and went back to reading whatever was so important on her scroll, not really minding Odysseus any attention at all.
As the prince of Ithaca you normally didn't get ignored that often, not to mention just acting as if he weren't there.
In his very, very humble opinion, she should be glad he even is here right now. She was here, in the presence of the prince of Ithaca, acting as if it was normal. As if she knew anything about his glorious reputation and being the, like, best prince ever.
He should've been angry, by the gods he should've been! He would be angry, if the girl in front of him wasn't the epitome of beauty itself, Odysseus swore she was blessed by Aphrodite in some way. He was completely taken back by her looks. She had long, flowy black hair with a section tied behind her back creating some dimension. Her eyes were green and so fucking hypnotizing. He could get lost in them for hours, days, hell, even decades! He'd do anything for those eyes. Even not being able to see them for twenty years.
Through Odysseus’ wonderful observations he made a point to notice her attire, it wasn't even close to peasant like and looked like it leaned more towards upper nobility. The dress didn't look like anything you'd see in in Ithaca, she was definitely not from Ithaca. God, was he falling for her?
He blushes and looks away from her at that simple realization that she is the single most beautiful, gorgeous, amazing, most wonderful woman he has ever laid his eyes upon.
He was doomed to say the least.
They sat there awkwardly(well it was just awkward for him) before he decided to make small talk. Get to know the woman of his dreams better and such very normal totally not romantic, falling head-over-heels for her stuff.
“Sooooo, where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?” He asked hesitantly, too hesitantly for the prince of Ithaca who was known for his confidence and yet that resolve crumbled around her so fucking fast it's unbelievable.
She looked up at him for a brief moment before focusing back on her scroll. “Sparta. Princess Penelope at your service.” She replied as she became engrossed in what she was reading again.
Sparta? Didn't his father say that someone important from Sparta was visiting? So she must be with him then, so this means her stay will be roughly two weeks if everything goes according to plan and whatever political deal gets finalized. Two weeks to get to know her. Two weeks to spend time with her. Two weeks with her wonderful presence around.
“You're here with someone and your stay will be roughly two weeks if all goes well.” He murmurs, mostly to himself though she seems to have caught onto it and raised her head from the book and gave him a confused look.
She looked at him for a few moments of just pure silence(though it felt more like hours to Odysseus) before she responded to his comment. “Yes, indeed I am. My father is here to discuss a trade deal between King Laertes. Your father if I'm not mistaken.” She replied calmly, having an air of maturity already around her despite both of their young ages.
“Yeah, exactly! That's the one and only king of Ithaca!” He exclaims with some hand movements he would consider cool and with which his friends would totally agree because they're also so very cool and awesome.
She gave him a little nod before seeming to contemplate something for a few seconds.
“Would you perhaps want to meet tomorrow?” Penelope asks, tilting her head slightly to the side and watching him closely.
Meanwhile Odysseus was on cloud nine, hell! He's up on Olympus! Those were in every scenario the best words that could come out of her gorgeous mouth. It was as if he was just blessed by every single god.
“Yes! Yes of course! I mean… yeah I'd love to!” He said way too quickly to be considered casual, but she luckily didn't pay it any mind and just softly laughed, not in a mocking way, before returning back to reading her scroll with a pleased expression across her features.
Meanwhile Odysseus was silently dying on the inside and that continued for the rest of the day since he shortly headed back home.
He was way too anxious, maybe it was because she was a princess, royalty, maybe it was because he had fallen head-over-heels with her the moment he saw her.
So when the next day came he was giddy, he was also giddy for the next two weeks where they talked every time and he wouldn't at al
He wouldn't mind marrying her one day in the future. He'd happily do it.