Lost City, Lost Kingdom, Lost Soul - Orm (Aquaman)

XI. Different Worlds?

Tatiana's cell phone rang right as she stepped up to the counter to pay for her groceries. Once she had paid and left the shop with her bags, she unlocked her phone finding she had a voicemail message in her inbox. It was from Max.

Hi Tatiana, this is Max. Just wanted to check in as it's been a couple of days since I've heard from you. Just wondering when you'd like to meet up again for work. Call me back and let me know. Thanks, bye.

Oh yes, she wasn't working alone on this project... What should she tell Max about Orm, if at all? She would have to discuss that with Orm himself. He had said he was wanting to keep a low-profile, understandably. 

She called Max back, also getting his voice mail; both of them were busy with work it would seem. "Hi Max, thanks for your call. I think I have a lead and so I don't think I will need to consult the salvaging company at least for a few days, but I will keep you posted. Thanks again for checking in, bye!"

Now time to head home and do some cooking! 

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"I thought, since you're my special guest, that I would make a special dessert for tonight," Tatiana chimed. Orm couldn't remember the names of the food she had prepared for dinner - names in her native tongue - but it had been to his liking. Her passion for cooking shone through.

She had music playing in the background, from where he couldn't tell exactly, but she said it was traditional music from her homeland. 

"I'm still pretty homesick, so I'm also very nostalgic," she had told him. 

He knew exactly what it felt like to be homesick - although, unlike her (it sounded like her homeland of Greece was quite far from where they were in America. He didn't know exactly but had just nodded as to not appear clueless on Surface World geography, even though he was) his home was just within reach. 

"Chocolate baklava!" She produced a plate baring little triangles - her special dessert for her special guest. "It's pastry with chopped nuts and chocolate inside, then with honey poured on top," she explained to his look of confusion. "I hope you like it!"

"Um, thank you..."

The dessert was very sweet and he had to wash it down with giant gulps of water. But it was good.

"Well, what do you think?" Her eyes searched his for an answer.  

His opinion clearly mattered to her.  "It's - good... Very sweet.  But I like sweet, I have a bit of a sweet-tooth."

Her whole face lit up.  "Me too!"

"My father always scolded me for it, because he thought it was unhealthy and I always needed to be in excellent physical  condition to be battle-ready, but I'd still sneak into the kitchens sometimes and steal sweets. And sometimes the servants would sneak some out to me." He paused in his reminiscing, suddenly realizing he was doing just that: reminiscing.  

What was he doing? Those were personal memories he was blabbing on about - why was he just so carelessly sharing them with her, someone he had only just met, and a surface dweller at that? What was wrong with him? 

But she was staring at him with nothing but pure interest, her eyes shining excitedly. "Wow, thank you for sharing that! It's so interesting-"

It really wasn't all that exciting or  interesting, but she clearly thought so, and, just like with how his opinion clearly mattered so much to her,  somewhere, deep down, he was a little touched by this. 

"It's funny sharing something in common with an Atlantean," she continued. An actual Atlantean! And royalty at that!

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's just our worlds sound so different, but they do share some similarities, clearly. Maybe they seem different on the surface but, if you look deeper, they're not so different after all." 

Scratching the surface of the Surface World and looking deeper towards Atlantis. 

He did not approve or like the fact the she was comparing this garbage surface world with his beautiful Atlantis.  He pushed himself away from the table and out of his seat - perhaps a little more forcefully than necessary.  "Thank you for the dinner. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go train." Some exercise always helped clear his head. And it was also familiar, and he could do with some familiarity right now. 

Without another word he grabbed his trident and left the house, heading around to the back of it, leaving his hostess still sitting at the table, blinking after him. 

"Oh, okay..." She watched him leave, confused by his sudden change. Had she said or done something to offend him? She hoped not. 

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Tatiana sat at the table for a good few minutes after Orm left, pondering what she may have said to upset him. Still uncertain after those few minutes had passed,  she began cleaning up the dinner dishes - if Orm planned on staying for a while, which it seemed like he may, she would have to have a talk with him about him pitching in and helping around the house. But he was still her guest for now. 

As she was drying the dishes she saw a flash of silver out the window and looked to see Orm swinging his trident around in the fading daylight. The heavy weapon appeared so light and sleek as he skillfully swung it around. 

His muscles rippled beneath his clothes - she caught herself staring. He was  very handsome, she couldn't deny that...

Settle down, she told herself. He was her guest, and nothing more. Besides, they came from totally different situations, totally different worlds, literally. They were lucky to have even met! She settled on that it was just her loneliness and homesickness getting the best of her, making her want to cling to whoever showed up. 

"I'm sorry if I said something to offend you earlier," she said when he came back inside a while later. "You seemed upset after dinner so I wondered if I had said or done something."

He brushed aside her apology.  "It doesn't matter. Good night."

But clearly it did matter. She decided, however, not to continue to push the issue.  "Goodnight. Or, as we say back home, Kalinychta."

(Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :))