text, @TARANTO, day after the saloon fire

[heavyhitter]

hey guys guess what: blankets!!! me and TF to the fucking rescue, we rustled up like 40 of these bad boys
super cozy, some nice patterns. one of them has a robot wolf on it
it was also all entirely legal

they're ALMOST free, all you gotta do is tell me a story then come get one (i'm by those spiky ass fat plants that bleed if you knock them over)

also since i have 40 and there's more than 40 of us, i guess also pick someone to get cozy with

Comments

you got me my favorite thing, weepy beef! awww thanks

[heavyhitter]

[ Wait a second, Olivia has a daughter? Okay, that's awesome, filing that away for later. But more importantly, she just manages not to burst forth with a hearty round of her usual fate is bullshit line. The tears help. As someone who does a lot of crying herself, she can spot when an approach might just make things worse. She rubs his back, head tipped just enough to look up at him. ]

Fate's what you make it, you know. It doesn't happen unless you let it. And you did, when you stuck to your guy. [ There's no judgement in that, just the fact of it. ] Own that shit, Achilles — no one else did this to you.

yw

[heelies]

[With her hand at once firm and gentle upon his back, his tears fall into the silence until, after a moment to swallow her words, he speaks.]

Fate sets a course for every man, and he may adjust the tiller or turn the sails that they catch this or that wind, but in the end his destination is the same. I am a man gifted two fates, so my mother told me when as a boy I sat upon her knee: I was to either seize glory and extinguish quickly, or live a long life with my potential gone to seed.

I chose to sail to Troy and wield my spear on behalf of the sons of Atreus that my name might live evermore upon the lips of men. Yet to me it seemed as if there could be no other choice, so restless I grew when my mother bade me hide from the war in which I would win my fame. My heart howled for recognition, to be lifted from shame into honor, and so how could I have done anything but listen? For this I traded a peaceful life with the woman I once thought I would make my wife and our son.

So too at present, no other choice could I make, for my love for Patroclus I can never trade. When slipped Menoetius' son from my grasp and through the grim gates of Hades, I would have made any number of deals if it meant he would return to my side. I would have rather that the whole of the Achaean army succumb to the spears and arrows of the horse-taming Trojans, if only my dear companion could be spared, that we two might together storm the walls of sacred Ilios and reap its riches for ourselves.

I love Olivia as I have never before loved a woman...yet Patroclus I love as I never have nor ever shall love another. Thus if I must choose between the two, my choice is inevitable.

[heavyhitter]

[ There it is, the famous Achilles monologue. She should have sensed it was coming. But she listens patiently, because at least this time it's actually something important instead of trivial.

Fate is still bullshit, comes her eventual conclusion, but also he's back to talking choices again. That's good. She can work with that. She nods sympathetically. ]

Hey, you don't need to convince me. You made a choice, it was the right one for you. Just remember it was a choice, alright? Take responsibility for it. I don't want you acting like this was all out of your hands, or something. [ She leans a little, to catch his eye for this part. It's the important part. ] It's just gonna hurt Olivia more, if you start talking like that.

[heelies]

[Sorry, but trying to convince an Ancient Greek hero that Fate has no bearing upon his life is as effective as trying to convince a conspiracy theory enthusiast that Area 51 conceals no evidence of alien contact.

Still her words bear weight as much as her head upon his shoulder or her hand upon his back do, and with the edge of the blanket he wipes at his damp cheeks.]

I do not wish to be the cause of more grief for Olivia, as already I have burdened her too greatly with this heartache we must share. Desire as I might have done to make her happy, and regretful as I am that in the end our love brought only pain...I cannot choose any differently. Thus shall I stand firm by that which my heart has chosen.

[heavyhitter]

[ And finally Ramir nods, satisfied with his answer. She pulls her arm away again, holding out her hand in front of them, palm up, requesting his. And if he obliges, he gets a firm, reassuring squeeze. ]

It sucks, I know. But be as kind to her as you can, alright?

[ Because she's pretty sure Olivia has a lot more fans on this team than Achilles does, honestly. Being a shit to Olivia would be a great way to get himself thrown through a wall. Potentially by Ramir herself. ]