“Is there a reason the colors are all funky?” I asked.
“Yes, it’s—” He began, but I interrupted him.
“No, wait, don’t tell me.” I scrunched my nose, thinking on it for a moment before throwing out, "They’re the emotions of the moment, right?”
“That’s correct,” he said, looking astonished.
“Sorry,” I said. “I wanted to try and guess. Knowing your abilities and all, it wasn’t super hard, but I’m glad I’m right.”
“You and Atalanta have that in common. Knowing things about others.” He said, his eyes sad.
“You’re pretty good at it too, you know.”
He shook his head. “I cheat. Before I was turned, I was very blind to others and how they felt. You and her, and even Percival sometimes, you’re all able to do it without powers.”
I shrugged. “It’s no great ability to read a person. You just need to pay attention.”
“Many of us see, and we hear, but don’t actually pay attention to others.”
Well, shit, wasn’t he the philosopher? I don’t think I had ever spoken this much to him.
“I guess you’re right about that. So do all of your paintings capture the emotions? What was she feeling here?”
“Not all,” Ajax hovered his fingers just over the wet paint. “The book she was reading had some pretty funny scenes in it. The yellow was the small moments of laugher she felt.”
“And the blue is literally that. She was feeling blue?”
“It’s almost always how she feels now.”
“She’s depressed.” I stated.
He nodded. “And scared.”
“Do you have any idea how we should fix that?”
Atalanta had been depressed since the day I had met her. Like a dark cloud hung over her head. It was why I loved when she let herself go and showed us that fire inside.
He circled the yellow color that was around the figure of Atalanta in the painting. “Us. Our light and positivity helps, even if just a little. She’ll get better as long as we stick by her, as her support system.”
“In due time and all that shit.” I looked around, spying another painting of Atalanta, this one only a rough sketch of her chiseling on a piece of wood, of all things. “We haven’t talked about it, how do you feel about all this?”
He looked away from his painting and at me skeptically.
“What? I actually want to know your motivations behind doing all this. You, Percy, and Theseus are this large question mark. You particularly are the hardest to read.”
“I’m for it.”
“But why? I sort of get Percy and Theseus. You guys were saying that its normal in Mer culture but…you were human, weren’t you?”
“I was.”
“So like, polyamory was normal where you came from, or…?”
He was slow to answer, his gaze so far away as he stared into what I suspected to be a rather long past. “I lost my humanity a long time ago. You eventually stop caring about social expectations.”
“How long?”
His answer was simply a glare.
“Okay, fine. As long as you don’t decide to just drop and leave.”
“You’re a nosy one, Trickster.” He pulled a small box out of his back pocket. “I finished your gift.”
I took the box from him gently and fiddled with it between my fingers. “Thank you. Ajax…I hope my prying didn’t upset you.”
“And I apologize that me kissing Atalanta upset you.”
“It didn’t—” I began to deny but paused and sighed. "You felt it. I’ll get used to it.”
“Everything in due time.” He echoed my words.
“Thank you again for this.” I said, holding up the box.
I turned around and began to walk out before pausing. “Ajax.”
“Yes?”
Should I tell him what I learned?
I grit my teeth and then relaxed. “It’s time for dinner. Let’s go.”
Dinner was a fun affair, similar to how it was at home. Plenty of banter to fill the empty space between shoveling food into our mouths. It was good to see Atalanta eating with such gusto. I was especially pleased with how much she liked the bread I’d baked; she ate half a loaf on her own! I told myself that I would certainly bake more bread for her in the future.
“How is it that you can eat so much and be so tiny?” Jason asked with a chuckle as Atalanta scarfed down her third helping of pasta.
Atalanta shrugged. “Fast metabolism?”
I knew it was more than that. At school, she would never bring food from home nor would she spend any money to buy lunch. I had assumed she struggled financially and was all too eager to share some of my food with her. After seeing the inside of her home, it wasn't so much a struggle as that the poor family was destitute. Her slim form was from a lack of proper nourishment. Being in a coma for two weeks certainly wouldn't have helped things. Weren't those who were in witness protection provided with government funds to help get them by? Or was that something they provided on their own?
I knew asking her would probably get me nowhere at the moment. She might have begun to finally trust us, but asking her intricate questions wouldn't work. She was certainly doing better about opening up to us, at least.
I held out the bread basket to her. She took another slice with a shy smile.
After finishing dinner, Percy and I played rock paper scissors to decide who would get to take Atalanta out first. At which point Atalanta had scolded both of us about treating her like a toy and not a woman.
“You’re right. We should let her decide, shouldn’t we, Percy?” I grinned.
“You are right. I believe in letting Ms. North decide who she should be with next.”
“Well…um, I—uhhh…” she stuttered.
“It seems you’re having difficulty deciding.” I slid over to Atalanta’s side and placed my hand on her hip. “Maybe you would like to share Percy and I?”
Percy joined me on her other side. “Yes, would sharing be more to your liking?”
My eyes skimmed over the others in the room. All three of them were watching with varying degrees of heat in their gaze. I was surprised when seeing their own arousal sparked something in me. A hunger to touch Atalanta, while they watched.
I wanted it.
She wanted it, too. I could see it in her slightly parted lips, and the tinge of red that was just visible on her dark cheeks. Though, when I looked into her eyes, I wondered if perhaps it was only curiosity and unwanted reaction from her body. Because that shadow of hesitation and fear were hidden behind the lust. She wasn’t ready for this.
I leaned in and kissed her cheek. “We’re joking, my little kitten.”
Stepping back, I did a mock bow. “I concede. Percy, please do show our girl a good time.”
“Wait, where are you going?” Jason asked.
“Preparing for my turn, of course.”
“Hip…” Atalanta said.
“Have fun,” I said as I strolled out of the cabin.
There was much to prepare.
It was late into the night when I returned. Having always been a night owl, I wasn’t disappointed to find everyone already asleep, save one. Percy sat in a chair reading from a book.
When I entered, he looked up. “You were gone for quite a while.”
“It took more time rearranging things than I would have thought...did she have a good time?” I asked.
“She was pretty bummed after you left. Of course she wouldn’t have admitted it.”