What Fools These Mortals Be

Chapter 15 - Lifting the Curtain

Lena stands on her balcony with a tumbler of whisky in her hand, looking out at the city lights. She's come to enjoy this view. She's lived in a lot of places, seen a lot of spectacular sites in her life, but each one holds a special place in her heart. This one has beautiful sunsets, ocean breezes, and an adorable little motto: In the Center of It All. It may not be Paris in the spring or the walls of Machu Picchu, but it has a certain charm.

A gust of wind blows Lena's hair across her face and chases the skirt of her dress around. It's the only breeze disturbing an otherwise still evening. She calmly fixes her hair, moving it back to perfection with her free hand as if she's done this a million times. Restored to her simple elegance, she presses her elbows against the railing of the balcony and smiles, but when there's another gust of wind, she lets out a heavy sigh and rolls her eyes.

"Are you planning to stay up there all night?" she asks as she again fixes her hair. It goes from wind-blown to wavy perfection in moments with just a few brushes of her fingertips.

"You could come up and join me."

Lena tips her head back and takes in the glorious sight presented to her. Wrapped in a robe of red and blue and encircled by a golden belt, Kara's hair flows over her shoulders in matching golden curls. Her silver wings reflect the lights of the city, glittering with each small flap. She smiles down, almost angelically, and extends a hand to the woman below.

Lena lifts her glass, holding the amber liquid up for examination. "I haven't finished my whisky."

"Mean." Kara drifts down until she's hovering eye to eye with Lena and just a foot or two back from the balcony. "Are you telling me that whisky is better than me?"

Lena considers that, head tilted to the side, before she takes a sip of the amber liquid and smiles. "Well, it is very good whisky."

"Oooh, so mean." Kara drifts closer, pressing her lips to Lena's. When she leans away, her tongue darts out, swiping transferred whisky that coats her own lips and smiling. "Why do I like it when you're so mean?"

"Because you know I don't mean anything by it." Lena gently runs her free hand along Kara's jaw taking in the strength and beauty of the creature before her. It's a lover's gesture, one she's repeated countless times. "I adore you."

"Well, I am adorable."

"And modest. How are the children?"

"In love and flown off somewhere to Europe for now. Who knows where they'll end up."

"Good." Lena knocks back the last of her drink and places the empty glass on the table. "Nia and Querl have done a lot for others over the decades. They deserve some time for themselves, some happiness."

"Which is why we planned this. It didn't look like they would ever figure out how much they cared for each other on their own. Assigning our mortal guises as their next targets to force them together was sheer genius."

"Well," Lena smirks, her eyebrows rising and dropping, "it is what I do best."

"Oh, I would disagree. I know very well what you're best at." Kara drifts out and away again, holding out a hand to Lena. "Don't make me beg. Come to me."

Lena rolls her shoulders, and a sly smile appears on her face. "But I like it when you beg."

"Then though I am unworthy, with a heart full of love I beseech you, my beauteous beloved, come to me."

With her head thrown back and her shoulders thrust forward, Lena sheds her mortal form. Her robe is an emerald green with a silver sash, and her wings are a shiny black with just a tinge of green in places that could be a trick of the light. Her wings spread, and she launches herself into the air, forcing Kara to pursue. They twist and spin in a dizzying pattern high about the city until Kara finally catches up, wrapping Lena in strong arms.

"Gotcha. Did you think you were going to get away from me?"

"Get away from you? Please, I always flee just until I catch you."

"Oh, you caught me?" Kara pulls Lena even closer and grins. "I'm pretty sure I've been catching you from the very beginning."

"Kara, the day we met, you turned one of your feathers into a sword and stabbed me in the back, literally back stabbed me." Lena squints, eyes narrowed and attitude stiff over this age-old discussion. "Treachery is not a form of pursuit."

"Okay, I admit I got off to the wrong foot with you there, but I was trying to impress a girl. It was just a little stabby-stab. It's not like I killed you."

"The perks of being an eternal immortal."

"Which I knew. You're the one who was mean. You took one of your feathers and wrote such awful, horrible things about me all over Greece. That quill had so much magical influence on the mortals who read those things."

Lena shrugs. "They were true."

"They were not!"

"Well," Lena grins, "they were loosely based in truth. Anyway, they got rid of the competition, didn't they?"

"You... I have been to Heaven dozens of times, and Sappho still won't talk to me."

"What can I say? My love is a jealous thing, a green-eyed monster."

Kara hums in agreement and kisses Lena again. "You're my green-eyed monster. So, now that we have the children squared away, what do you want to do tonight? We don't have to play mortal for the evening."

"There's another meteor shower tonight. We could enjoy that."

"You want to watch a meteor shower?"

"Darling," Lena wraps her arms more tightly around Kara's neck, her feet kicking up behind her in the night air, "I don't want to watch anything. Last night the Cupids got to play. Let's show everyone what happens when the Eroses take to the night's sky."

This evening the mortals are in for an even more amazing display. Shooting stars fill the night's sky, and hearts across the country open to love. When the love of the ages of two immortal Eroses literally paint the night, anything is possible.