4 - ATHENA
“Do you think you could track down an address for me?”
“Why can’t you get it yourself?” Zet pressed, their hologram taking a seat on my sofa. “Can’t you snap your fingers and have things delivered nowadays?”
I scoffed. “No more than you can, dragon! …And I can’t because the femme doesn’t want anything to do with me.” I mumbled the last bit quietly, but they still heard.
My transition to civilian Athena was continuing to grate. Arachne’s addition only worsened the itch I couldn’t properly scratch. She’d been avoiding me. Refusing to answer my repeated calls.
I couldn’t discern if her avoidance was spiking my crazy obsession, or the fact that she was… well , her . Gorgeous. Powerful. And hates your guts.
That might’ve been the most enticing piece of it, actually.
After having a good laugh to themself, Zet said, “Alright, shoot. Who? I’ve gotta know now.”
“Arachne, the fashion designer from Spun.”
“Shit,” they replied. “The one the tabloids despise?”
“Maybe,” I conceded, having just learned as much after lightly nirvanet stalking her. But that surface layer searching didn’t share enough, which was why I called my techie friend, who also happened to be my best friend and sibling.
My Titan parents were slaughtered after my second birthday, so I lived with the Dragos, Zet’s parents, for as long as I could remember. And no, it wasn’t awkward working for the femme who took me in; the Suprema kept the Council business separated from our personal relationship.
The majority of the public wasn’t aware of our connection.
Not that we hid it, just never publicized it.
Hell, most weren’t even aware I was a god, or Titan spawn, thanks to my unassuming subspecies.
Aves were incredibly common, especially in Nirvana where the weather never changed, it had the ideal daily flying conditions.
Zet made a chiding noise before agreeing, their sienna face glitching as they grimaced. “How can you like her? She’s soulless.”
“It’s a widespread misconception she’s allowed to spread. Spun is more charitable and inclusive than any other brand has ever been from what I found. She breaks from the norm and they villainize her for it,” I corrected.
“You’ve always had an obsession with attaining the unattainable, dunno why I’m surprised,” my friend said. “Okay, so, I find her address and then what? I need to know this isn’t nefarious.”
“Do you?” I frowned at their hologram. “You don’t trust me to behave?”
Zet’s stilled pause was so long I thought the connection might’ve dropped.
“Once you’re fixated, you become unhinged.
I remember exactly what your path to general was like; you were repeatedly rendered unconscious,” they eventually said before rising and grabbing something in their own apartment.
Laptop . They were typing midair while now standing in a random corner of my living room.
“Arachne’s dating history leans straight, too. This spells disaster.”
“I’ll grow on her.”
They snorted. “I dunno about this, Ath.”
“Fine,” I conceded in answering Zet’s earlier prompt. “I wanted to send flowers as an apology, I was an ass.”
“Okay,” Zet said, drawing out the A. “And?”
“And alright , maybe I would attempt to get her face-to-face again. Nothing she would consider intentional like knocking on her door, but happenstance. Maybe hanging around the café closest to her building or similar.”
Fuck . That sounded insane.
Zet shared a disapproving look. “I’m going to pretend that wasn’t stalkery because you haven’t dated seriously in ages,” they replied, their keyboard clacking audibly in the background.
“You know mortal spiders devour their mates, right? There aren’t any images of Arachne’s shifted form, but I bet it’s similar to a tarantula based on her hair coloring. ”
“You don’t think the general of the Galactic Council’s militia can handle her own? She can’t be that prestigious.”
“That’s not what I’m seeing,” Zet revealed. Piquing my interest for this femme even further, something I thought impossible. “She has a few dings on her background with the Council, too. From protesting a few centuries ago. Her friend spent a decade imprisoned.”
“Really?” An abolitionist. Huh.
“She almost landed behind bars herself based on the Council notes. It was during their corrupt phase. Her friend was given a grossly overextended sentence. Distasteful of my parents to allow. Every time I see this shit I question not speaking to them for weeks. What the fuck was going on, you know?”
Although I mirrored Zet’s sentiment, it was just the way things were before we were born. Unfortunately, the Titans didn’t introduce rules for their kind until after the last intergalactic war three millennia ago, when the less gifted and vampires revolted. “What else?”
“Not much beyond the fact that she’s ancient,” they said. “Nice digs too. Penthouse in Thirteen Points, overlooking the river.”
My wings were bouncing from the need to know the exact address.
“If I give this to you, do you swear to not make me regret it?” Zet pressed.
So, I lied.