Odysseus wasn't sure how long he'd slept but he felt guilty.
Penelope travelled so far from Sparta and yet he didn't greet her! Sure he was unconscious. But had she just wandered into his city? Just randomly asked his servants? Was she stopped by Guards? He didn't know.
To feel so unwelcome in his city… It twisted his gut. Not only that he's now actively keeping her away from his arms. He listened to her fists banging against the door with quiet resignation.
Just then, the relentless knocking halted, replaced by a soft thump, and Penelope's voice drifted through the door. "Odysseus? You know I just want to see you, right? Don't you miss me?" She said softly, her voice lowering into a whisper.
"More than you know!" Odysseus felt his heart break as he shouted back to her.
"Then open the door and kiss me!"
Odysseus almost forced the doors open right then and there. The seductive honey of her voice made his heart ache.
"...As good as that sounds, right here I'm just fine!"
There was a moment of silence before Penelope's voice broke through, teasing but almost a desperate edge to her tone. "Odysseus, you're being ridiculous! Just open the door!
The pulling on the door gotten stronger and Odysseus felt his strength leaving him once again.
"..." Should he just open up and explain that Athena had ruined his room? His friends and soldiers didn't believe him, so what if she thought he had cheated on her? His mind raced as he glanced down at his silken robes.
"What are you hiding Odysseus? Just- Open- The- Door!!" She screamed as she used all of her strength to pull the doors, to her success and Odysseus dismay as he was pulled towards her.
The doors opened revealing Odysseus in a loin cloth. She hyper focused on him as her face lit up in a furious blush as she slammed the door back into his face.
'So close yet so far!' Odysseus thought as his already beaten body took yet another beating.
He felt dizzy. Perhaps that wasn't such a great idea.
"Agh!! Penelope Why?!" Odysseus shouted as Penelope realised her mistake as she opened the doors again, slowly.
"Odysseus I'm so sorry!" Penelope rushed to hug him, checking the wound on his forehead. She held his cheek gently, with a pained look on her face.
"I'll take the suffering from you…" Penelope sang softly as she kissed him, gently giving him her warmth as she embraced him.
Moments pass as she finally glanced up to the state of their future room…
"The things I do for you…" Odysseus said as the room spun. Penelope finally had gotten a good look at her surprise. She glanced at the clothes next to the door.
"Odysseus… Correct me if I'm wrong but Isn't that my tree? And did you strip just to justify not opening the door?" Penelope's tone took a cold and formal edge to it. As she glared at him point blank, her hands which were wrapped around his waist found themselves behind his neck.
'I'm doomed." His mind, as scrambled as it was, recognised that much.
"The tree's rooted into the floor…" Her tone became… weird?
Penelope's sharp eyes scoured for more details, looking over every corner of the room.
"Did you take the tree back from Sparta? But the tree was there after you left… Had a god blessed you?" She asked as he nodded, even in his poor state. He couldn't hide it any longer even if it was too late. He swore never to tell a lie to her again in that moment.
Yet a man's promise to himself is easily forgotten. So fickle.
"Was it Dionysus? Why on earth did you even bring it here… No… What happened to your eyes?" Penelope's questions rang as Odysseus could barely keep the room together, let alone answer a single question.
"Help… Wise Girl…" Odysseus's vision blurred once more as he began to hear screaming and then everything went black.
…
Next time he awoke, he was laying in a bed in a Guest chamber as Penelope carefully cut an apple. She noticed he was stirring as she stopped her actions for a moment, placing the cut fruit on the plate.
"You're awake!" she said with a mixture of relief and concern. "I was just contemplating whether I should be happy or furious."
"Happy or furious? What's with the formality?" Odysseus croaked again, sitting up slowly. The room tilted alarming, but he steadied himself as Penelope quickly held him.
"May I ask why?" Odysseus braced himself.
"You decided to hide from me even after I travelled so long to see you, my love." A particularly large part of the apple was sliced off. He silently crossed his legs.
"And yet you have brought a piece of my home with you from Sparta." She smiled fondly as she once again focused on cutting apples, the knife gleaming as she softly glared.
"Care to explain yourself?" She casually pointed the knife towards him.
"Hiding?" He laughed as he opened his arms wide. "Surely, you gest! I would never hide! Where's the majesty in hiding? I was simply trying to surprise you!" Odysseus said with an almost theatrical posture.
"Surprise? You mean by stealing a tree from my Garden?" Penelope arched an eyebrow, her lips twitching upward into a half-smile. "I didn't think you were that desperate for an orchard."
"Who knows? I may have built this entire palace around that tree before you got here!" Odysseus grinned. However Penelope did not look amused.
'Well I did help build most of it when I was younger with my Father… Not exactly a lie.'
Odysseus gave an awkward chuckle as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, I wanted to do a grand romantic gesture but that kind of blew up when-"
"When that God decided it would be funny to make it sprout right in the middle of the room." She said dryly as Odysseus sunk his head into his hands.
"Well yeah…"
"Well, I can't exactly blame you. He is known as the God of Madness after all." She said, standing up to fetch a pitcher of water.
"No, no. It was Athena. She's sort of my Friend/Mentor/Mother Figure? Kind of?" Odysseus crossed his arms, shaking his head. He noted any brief disturbances in the room.
There were none.
Penelope briefly halted her steps but continued after a single moment.
"Sounds complicated but it makes more sense. Your eyes are Gray now, similar to accounts of her appearance. So why did you bring my tree here?" Penelope sounded exhausted as she spoke.
Odysseus hearing his amazing brownish goldish eyes turned Gray panicked.
He sat up quickly to check the mirror only for him to plop back down on his pillow from the blood rushing to his head.
"Gray eyes really? Am I still handsome?" He mourned, as if he was shaved bald.
"No need to fear. You are still very very Handsome, I may have to start prying women off you now." Penelope smiled as she reassured him.
His thoughts drifted back to Athena. Not really knowing why she'd do such a thing.
'Athenas eyes are quite Beautiful.' He briefly thought, a painful pinch from his side disrupted his thoughts.
"You weren't thinking anything weird right?" Penelope asked, recognising his stupid dopey grin from anywhere.
'Really. Such an incorrigible man. Still thinking such perverted thoughts.'
"Nope, nothing at all. But I thought you'd be more shocked? Aren't you going to ask more?" Odysseus wondered as Penelope gave a soft chuckle as she shook her head.
"Silly. I was worried a God was taking advantage of you. If you haven't told me, then I won't pry. Athena isn't known for keeping Men on the side anyway." Penelope laughed as she cut the apples into a cute appearance.
Odysseus listened to her laugh as if it were a perfect melody from a renowned songstress.
"So… the Tree?" She asked, curiously.
"Right… Well, it isn't exactly meant for decoration, though I should have asked first. But we met under that tree right? I'd recognise your voice anywhere even if I didn't get a good look at you." He rested his chin on his palm as he leaned on his arm.
"And what if it was another woman? You'd bring a tree that you met another woman under? For shame Odysseus." Penelope pouted as she shook her head in mock-disappointment in him.
"Don't underestimate my dedication Penelope. I knew it was you the moment you spoke on the Balcony. Not many have the voice as captivating as a siren." Odysseus said confidently, bringing his hand to his chest as if his words were sworn on god.
Penelope flushed lightly as she took a moment to calm herself.
'Really… How many women had he spoken to like that to have such a way with words?' She briefly pondered. At times he was such a captivating man and others he was like a boy discovering the world for the first time.
'Technically he is still a boy...'
"So… Athena? How did you meet such a God? Was it an epic quest? An offering? Or did you hunt a legendary beast." She mimed swinging a sword proudly.
Odysseus caught her arm almost in a panic as he very gently pried the knife from her hands. He set it to the side as he spoke.
"Nope… I walked into the forest and started talking to myself!" Odysseus smiled fondly, remembering the first encounter with the Goddess.
…
"Show yourself!" A boy wandered into a clearing, the birds singing in the trees. He glanced at them as he subtly looked around his surroundings. He scanned each animal and wildlife.
He had been visited by a strange Owl quite often recently. Its especially strange since Owls are nocturnal creatures.
"I know you're watching me, show yourself!" Odysseus called out, trying to win their game of hide and seek. His instincts pointed him to a certain spot as he put on a bright smile.
"I can see you~" He grinned, taking a step towards a certain direction.
A tall figure appeared right in front of him, different to the one he would know in the future. This figure wore standard greek robes, dressed in white.
If a certain sea-green eyed boy could see her, he'd probably call her Flamme.
"How can you see through my spell?" She asked, her curiosity unending as she looked down on the small child. She believed her spell to be undetectable to mortals.
The boy's grin widened as he posed dramatically, pointing towards her in a victory-like pose.
"Haha! I was lying and you fell for my bluff!"
"Hehehehe…"
…
His thoughts were cut off by Penelope as she raised her eyebrow to his day dreaming.
"... Really?" She stated more than asked. Odysseus thought she was doubting his story but in reality, she was just in awe at his ability to daydream mid-conversation. His eyes always taking a sort of haze when he does.
"Yup~ That's how we first met. My parents were focused on the war efforts after what happened with Helen." Odysseus grabbed a slice of apple abruptly as Penelope looked at him as if he stole her fries.
"My Father commanded the soldiers as a general and my Mother focused on gathering allies. At that point we were a much smaller country. At that point she was more of a king than the king." He waved his arms in the air as it conjuring the story.
"So your Mother took up the duties of the King? I haven't heard of such a thing before." Penelope questioned as he nodded in response.
"Yeah, it was kind of a trial type of thing, really the city thrived even more than when it had with my Father.
"..."
"Once I head for Troy you may have to do the same, this time at least my Mother has experience and can help you out if you feel pressured with all that political nonsense.
I've been taught all of it since a young age but knowing and doing are two different things."
"I see…" Penelope looked down in thought. She resolved herself to seek out his Mother, Anticlea, herself.
"So Anyway~ basically, I did my own thing. Helped others, did labour, built my strength and hunted beasts. In a way I gathered allies of my own. I love my parents greatly but since the war with Troy they have been distant, uninvolved. They have bigger things to focus on.
And of course I understand that! but it's frustrating. Through all that I somehow caught her attention, a gaze watching me from a distance. So eventually, Athena filled that role for me, even if at that time I hadn't realised it myself. It's like an unspoken thing between us. Who knows how she views our relationship."
…
He was just glad Athena wasn't here. If she was she'd probably have broken the pitcher of water when he'd called her his Mom.