Work Text:
The afternoon sun of Lesbos filters through the open colonnade, casting long, honey-colored rectangular shadows across the mosaic floor of the courtyard. It is that heavy, salt-dusted hour when the cicadas in the olive groves reach their highest pitch, yet inside the stone walls, the air remains cool, smelling of dried violets and the sharp, clean sting of citrus. Atthis leans against a fluted marble pillar, her linen chiton draped with a calculated, artful negligence that leaves one shoulder bare to the golden light.
She watches Sappho, who is currently bent over a scroll, her dark brow furrowed in concentration as she marks the rhythm of a new stanza with a rhythmic tapping of her stylus. Atthis reaches out, plucking a ripe fig from a nearby ceramic bowl and tossing it lightly in the air before catching it. She catches the poet's eye, flashing a grin that is both wicked and devastatingly bright.
"So," Atthis purrs, her voice dropping into a low, theatrical silkiness as she pushes off the pillar and saunters closer, trailing her fingers along the edge of Sappho's low-slung desk. She tilts her head, allowing a stray dark curl to dance against her cheek. "Do you come around here often, stranger? Or are you just passing through to break a few more hearts?"
Sappho pauses, the stylus hovering just millimeters above the papyrus. She blinks, the intense focus of the creator slowly dissolving into the soft, indulgent warmth of the lover. She looks up at Atthis—taking in the shimmering heat of her gaze and the playful challenge in her stance—and a small, tired smile tugs at the corner of her mouth.
"Desirable One," Sappho says, her voice rich with a fond, quiet exhaustion as she sets the stylus down to reach for Atthis’s hand. "This is my residence. I pay the taxes, I mend the roof, and I am fairly certain I am the one who invited you to stay until the moon turns full again."
She pulls Atthis closer, the joke lingering in the air like the scent of the sea. "But if you are looking for a place to linger, I suppose I could find some space for you."