open: all harmony of instrument or verse, all prophecy, all medicine, is mine. 1

[papadopoulos]

Poetry is great.
You don't have to take my word,
try it for yourself!
___________________________

Somewhat unexpectedly, Apollo is indoors. It’s been some time since he’s had the time or energy to dive into poetry and books: though Tyson and his harpy² girlfriend did run a bookshop at Camp Jupiter; Apollo had had no time to look in on things in the midst of battle and trying not to turn into a zombie. He is taking some time today to appreciate the quiet of the library; immersed in any and every kind of poetry he can get his hands on. There are books of sonnets piled about him, Dante’s Inferno, some of Byron’s works, and a collection of Oscar Wilde’s poems. He has even managed to find some examples of Chinese poetry, and is sprawled out across a couch dressed for the beach, but looking as content as a cat who’s gotten into cream and like he's quite happy to stay inside all day.

It feels like it’s been an age since he’s properly gotten to dive into the written word as much as he likes to; and he is more than willing to take advantage of this peace and quiet.


¹Actually, he hates terza rima, but this poem is about him so it will do.
²Complimentary.

Comments

[papadopoulos]

"I mean, it's a show about him. What's not to like?"

[vineleaves]

"...That's true." Dionysus has a feeling he probably still wouldn't like The Lightning Thief if the main character was that version of himself instead of Percy Jackson though.

[kadewest]

"Oh, I ran a school."

[papadopoulos]

"I don't know, you know I don't pay a lot of attention to theater."

[papadopoulos]

"Oh yeah?" He perks up a little. "What kind of school?"

[papadopoulos]

"No, he's dissolved into Chaos. Hopefully never coming back."

[futaille]

"In fairness, death isn't exactly a barrier to getting here, but I'm still not counting on that particular addition."

[papadopoulos]

"Dissolving into chaos is uh, permanent. As far as I can tell. Then again, I thought drowning Commodus the first time was pretty permanent, too."

[futaille]

"I don't trust permanent here as much as I might somewhere else. But that's beside the point."

[vineleaves]

"Your loss." He shrugs and opens the book to a completely random page and starts reading from there.

[papadopoulos]

"I could say the same about you and concerts." He sticks his tongue out, because he is very mature.

[kadewest]

"A school for children who found themselves on the wrong side of a Door to another World."

[papadopoulos]

"Yeah, I guess. I'd really rather not fight him again. anyway."

[futaille]

"I'm sure there are several other people who'd offer to do it for you. You should have seen zombie day."

[vineleaves]

"I like concerts. Who said I don't like concerts?"

[papadopoulos]

"I didn't say you didn't like them, I said you don't pay attention to them."

[vineleaves]

"I pay as much attention to them as most people do, I think."

[papadopoulos]

"Okay, but you pay attention to mine, right?"

[vineleaves]

"Hard not to."

[wickedwit]

“Guilted into it, no doubt. Powerful men like your father tend to throw tantrums, regret the consequences of their actions, and only come around after a year or so to start the whole cycle over again. They’ll say the punishment was to teach you a lesson, but really they’re waiting out the term of their anger.” Claudius has a great deal of bitter thoughts on the subject. But then he turns an appreciative gaze to Apollo, smirks, and says, “I do respect thy effort, at least. I admire a man who can undercut his enemies effectively. Take out the source of his lightning bolts, ans the rest of his divine powers, and he’d just be an old man throwing a tantrum — I hope you aren’t offended to hear that about your father,” he adds, though there’s a sardonic twist to his tone that suggests he wouldn’t be that sorry.

[papadopoulos]

"Definitely not. If you hadn't noticed, he's not exactly my, uh, favorite parent. I keep as far away from him as I can, these days. I don't want to give him that satisfaction of me being back." It's best for his sanity, in this case.

[wickedwit]

"It's the best one can do when one's parents are immortal," Claudius sighs, as though he knows all about it. He knows enough to imagine, and to offer something of his own experience. "My father," he says, "died when I was young. I mourned him the way you would any distant public figure, when you feel nothing but know some feeling is expected from you, because that's all he'd ever been to me. All I know is he trained my elder brother into his ideal successor, which doesn't speak to his credit. That's how mortals try to make an immortal legacy, by raising successors. The farther you are from Zeus, the better off you'll be, in my opinion. Congratulations."

[papadopoulos]

"Huh. So this kind of thing--" He gestures to the general mansion around them, here--"--Happens often, in your world? Not just mortals making up stories 'cause they can't see past the Mist?"

[papadopoulos]

"There were zombies?" He shudders theatrically. "I'll pass on those for a couple centuries, I think. Almost became a vrykolakas myself, I'd rather avoid them if at all possible."

[futaille]

"They were solved pretty quickly. Honestly, I didn't even leave my room. There were enough fighters that had it handled."