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[lightstepping.insanejournal.com]

WHO: Klymene & Aidan McAllister
WHEN: Tuesday afternoon
WHERE: Corner Cafe & Bakery, Third Avenue.
WHAT: Lunch with Prometheus' little boy.

It had been a long time since Klymene had been able to properly play her role as mother, and one of the parts she took most seriously was making sure that her children weren't romancing the wrong types. They may have all been grown boys now, centuries old, but Klymene would never stop thinking of them as somewhat defenseless. It was hard not to think when only Epimetheus had escaped being murdered or tortured in ancient Greece. Having to watch three out of her four children screaming in agony had only encouraged her over-protectiveness.

And so today Klymene would meet one of the two mortals Prometheus had mentioned, and she would make sure of his talents and intentions. Prometheus - the child who shared her cunning - deserved the best.

At the cafe Klymene was early, dressed in a well-tailored white shirt and black trousers. When the boy approached Klymene stood to smile at him, holding out a hand after taking off her sunglasses. "Aidan," she said to him, her tone warm. (It would only turn cold if - or when - he didn't meet her standards.) "A pleasure."

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-30 09:52 am UTC (link) Track This
Aidan had told Prometheus that he was fine meeting his mother for lunch, and he was. But that didn't mean he wasn't nervous, too. He wanted this meeting to go well.

He'd turned up in a jacket and nice shirt, clean-shaven and smiling. He grasped her hand firmly and shook. "A pleasure to meet you too," he said with a smile. He met her eye and carried himself as best he could. First impressions counted for a lot.

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-30 10:11 am UTC (link) Track This
A good handshake, strong and outgoing. Already that boded well for him. "Sit, sit," Klymene said to him, gesturing with an upturned hand to the seat across from her.

"So," she said, inspecting him carefully as she sat back down into her own seat. "Let me have a look at the young man my son speaks so highly of."

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-30 10:52 am UTC (link) Track This
Aidan relaxed a fraction, taking the seat she'd indicated. He couldn't help but feel like he'd passed some sort of subtle test.

He sat up a little straighter, bearing her scrutiny with grace. 'Blush and you're dead, McAllister', he told himself. 'You're not a freaking sixteen-year-old girl.' At least he couldn't feel his cheeks heating up.

"At least he hasn't passed on embarrassing stories. I hope not, anyway," he joked.

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-30 11:18 am UTC (link) Track This
"No stories at all," said Klymene. "He's rather protective of you, then but he's always been over-protective of your race on the whole." Klymene's expression made it clear that she found this endearing, the way any adult might treat the adorable actions of their small and unknowing child.

"But you," Klymene said, gaze sharpening on the boy as she tapped a manicured nail against the tabletop. "Yours is the name he spoke to me without being asked, so my curiosity has been aroused."

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-30 11:44 am UTC (link) Track This
"I bet if I created the first humans, I'd be rather over-protective of them too," Aidan replied. The fact that Prometheus hadn't told his mother much didn't really surprise him, and if that was what he wanted to do, that was OK with him.

"Oh really?" he asked, his own curiosity piqued now. "Well ask whatever you'd like, I have very few secrets."

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-30 11:48 am UTC (link) Track This
The waiter appeared and Klymene ordered for herself a pot of tea and a Greek salad and then, once Aidan had ordered and the waiter had left them, she turned her attention back to Aidan. "Let's begin with how you met my son," Klymene suggested. "He tells me you're some sort of student?"

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-30 11:54 am UTC (link) Track This
Aidan ordered a club sandwich and a Coke, then settled in to answer Klymene's question. "We actually met back when I was in high school," he began. "He was doing an exhibition of his art, and we got to talking. I looked him up again when I came here to go to school, I'm going for my Masters of Art Therapy at NYU."

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-30 11:58 am UTC (link) Track This
"And what exactly does 'art therapy' entail?" Klymene asked him. "It's not a field I'm familiar with." Klymene was, in general, unfamiliar with most fields that didn't lead directly to fame, and seeking it away from the media itself took so much more work.

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-30 12:18 pm UTC (link) Track This
"Basically, I'd help people work through their problems by encouraging them to create things," he answered. "Through pretty much any medium they might want, so I'm learning the basics of a lot of them, though the ones I'm best at are drawing, sculpture, and metalworking."

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-30 12:23 pm UTC (link) Track This
"And where do you hope that this will take you, Aidan?" asked Klymene, hands crossed on the table as she watched him. She didn't much care that this was beginning to sound like a job interview. She would ask him whatever questions she pleased.

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-30 12:39 pm UTC (link) Track This
He sat up a little straighter, prickling a bit, but he'd be damned if he knew why. "I just...want to do something good for people," he said. "And I've always loved art. I figured if I could combine both, why not?" He'd made this choice long ago, and no one was going to talk him out of it-not his mother, not his adviser, not even an ancient Greek Titaness.

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-30 12:59 pm UTC (link) Track This
After a moment of watching him quite intently, Klymene just said, "hmm."

It was the hmm (and slight accompanying lip-pursing) of the unimpressed. Instead of saying anything else to him yet, Klymene simply continued to keep her eyes locked on Aidan. Let him say more if he would.

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-31 01:36 am UTC (link) Track This
Aidan sat up even straighter, looking her straight in the eye. Now he could see why Prometheus had warned her about his mother. He was half-tempted to go off on a tirade about how his chosen career path might not be glamorous, but he had manners, and shouting was really not going to help.

He raised one eyebrow instead. "And I'll get to make cool things every day, like drawing my friends as superheroes." He beamed, the picture of innocence. He was not going to let this woman get under his skin. "Maybe I'll see if I can get some of my pieces in a gallery, or I'll sell them. Who knows? I like things to be fluid."

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-31 02:41 am UTC (link) Track This
"It's not very ambitious," Klymene said, and there was no question within her words. She had already decided it. "Fluidity can be a virtue, but is more often the sign of a weak and undesirous spirit."

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-31 03:01 am UTC (link) Track This
Aidan had to bite down on his tongue, hard, to keep from saying, 'Well I didn't ask for your opinion and I'm not changing my mind, no matter what you think or say.'

"That's what my father said, too," he said lightly. "But I worked hard enough to get myself a scholarship and I'm in the top 5% of my class. I made him eat his words. It was a nice feeling. As for undesirous, I want this like I have never wanted anything else in my life. I work extremely hard, and yeah, maybe only a handful of people will remember me after I'm gone. But I've helped them, that will mean I've done something right."

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-31 03:06 am UTC (link) Track This
He certainly spoke with passion, even if the reason for such passion was all wrong. Klymene watched for a few long moments him like the quiet predator she was and then, quickly, leaned forward so that she could speak in more of an undertone. "Do you have children, Aidan?"

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-31 03:11 am UTC (link) Track This
Well that was certainly unexpected. It threw him for a loop, so he took a few more seconds to answer. "I-no, no I don't," he replied. He wondered why she was asking, but no doubt she'd tell him, sooner or later. Or she'd ask another question.

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-31 03:21 am UTC (link) Track This
"Because I suspect that you're sitting across from me and wondering what right I have to question your life," Klymene said, moving back just a little but still watching him with fierce intensity. "Were you any other mortal in the world I wouldn't care. I look out only for those who fall within my influence and the rest of you I don't even notice. I feel no shame in this. But," she added pointedly, "you have the attention of my son and, Aidan, dear boy, for my children I would tear the world apart. I'm not sure how much you know of my family, but all of them have faced horrors. And once you've seen your eldest child chained to a rock for decades of daily torture for his act of kindness, it becomes near impossible not question to motives of anyone around them."

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-31 03:59 am UTC (link) Track This
"The thought did cross my mind, yes," Aidan said dryly.

He listened as she told him her reasons for questioning him, and he could sympathize. She reminded him very strongly of a mother bear defending her cubs, someone he wouldn't want to cross.

"I know a little," he said. "Prometheus and the eagle, Atlas holding up the world, Menoitios cast into Erebos, Epimetheus married to Pandora, who opened the box. I googled." He shrugged unashamedly. "Apart from your name I didn't know anything about you, so I decided to educate myself."

"And what motives do you think I might have?" he asked. "Your son has been nothing but kind to me. Not only would taking advantage of that kindness be stupid, but I'm pretty sure Jade would kill me, too. And she's almost on par with you, in terms of intimidating."

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-31 04:07 am UTC (link) Track This
"My son is kind to all of his creations," Klymene said a little coolly, pausing as their meals arrived. Once the waiter was again gone she looked at Aidan. "His kindness is his weakness, always has been."

Then she looked more interested, an eyebrow raised. "Jade? The other name Prometheus spoke of. This means the two of you are close as well?" Intriguing, but not entirely the point now. She'd meet up with that girl as well.

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-31 04:29 am UTC (link) Track This
"I'm sure he is," he said, accepting his sandwich. "And I guess we'll have to disagree on that point, I think kindness is a great strength for anyone to have."

"I've known her for a while," he said. "She's a good friend, a very talented artist. She's off in India right now. Very good at cheering people up and kicking their butts to motivate them. Useful qualities to have."

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-31 04:35 am UTC (link) Track This
"Kindness without reason was what got him tortured," Klymene said, her tone sharp. "You would do well to understand that. There are still Gods that would see him punished on a whim."

Klymene would be the one to judge whether this Jade had useful qualities or not, but that was not for today.

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-31 05:46 am UTC (link) Track This
"If you call giving humanity fire so they wouldn't die 'kindness without reason', then sure," he said. "Speaking as a member of humanity, I know I'm definitely grateful." He was getting angry and letting his mouth run away with him. But he really hated being talked to like he was a child who knew nothing, even if he wasn't an ancient being.

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-31 05:54 am UTC (link) Track This
Klymene wasn't one to take kindly to mortals talking back to her, especially one like this who had gained no reputation of any kind.

"How wonderful to hear that you place your own existence about that of a Titan," Klymene said, pouring tea into her cup and looking at that instead of him for a moment. "I must admit that I don't feel the same. I would burn through every one of you to protect his interests."

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-31 06:10 am UTC (link) Track This
"That is not what I meant," Aidan said hotly. "Nor is it what I said. But the way I was raised, it's considered a nice thing to be grateful for someone's sacrifice on your behalf, however indirectly.

"I'm sure you would," he replied, fighting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose to fight off his pounding headache. "But let's perhaps hold off on the burning until someone does something to warrant it?"

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-31 06:19 am UTC (link) Track This
Klymene took a sip of her tea slowly as she watched him, her own eyes so much like Prometheus', bright and piercing. When she lowered it - leaving an uncomfortable amount of time - Klymene said, "every day that mankind doesn't live up to its full potential is a another day wasted for what Prometheus gave."

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[info]becomesthisart
2011-08-31 07:20 am UTC (link) Track This
Aidan waited, not willing to break the silence first. After she spoke, he asked, "And are you going to hold me responsible for all the wasted potential of mankind?"

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[info]lightstepping
2011-08-31 09:26 pm UTC (link) Track This
When Klymene looked at him again her expression was questioning. "You think of yourself quite highly," Klymene said, and there was a little amusement there directed at him. "I do think though that as someone who considers himself close to Prometheus, you owe him more than any man on the street. You know his sacrifice. You can never understand it truly or experience that torment, but you at least know of what he did."