Lovers of Myth

"What is my beast meant to do?"

Mr. Kelson's eyes widened a bit, then narrowed. Ivory was too curious to notice. He looked over her face, unsure if he misinterpreted her meaning of 'my beast.' Thinking through his options he stayed on the path of honesty. Maybe knowing all the facts would help her get some kind of results. Plus he still needed something from her.

“If I tell you what he is meant for, will you help me with something?”

She nodded without thinking, her curious mind losing logic for a moment. Her eagerness to learn would be a damning factor in her life if she didn't get control over herself. He smiled a bit, remembering himself when he first arrived here. Curious and innocently eager to learn and please.

“Of course.”

He smiled, standing and ushering her to stand and walk toward the door with him. He was more than pleased with himself. Even if she wasn't like the other scientists, her personality was similar. A little bribing and curiosity took them a long way.

“Perfect! Come with me.”

He was leading her down a hall before she could think a single reasonable thought. When she caught her barrings she was quick to turn and face him though, hands up to block his fingers from touching her any longer. Why was he in such a rush? Did he have no basic human training? Apparently personal space just wasn't a thing with this guy.

“What are you doing? Where are you pushing me off to?”

He looked guilty as all hell, hands up in surrender. She looked up at him as if she were a mouse and he was the fox trying to convince her to be dinner. It was good to note she had some type of survival instincts.

“Okay, I just need you to talk with one of the test subjects.”

She frowned, not following his train of thought. She was only on one case, and they were already talking about her beast. Who else was there for her to talk to? Talk at, technically, since her blue deity never spoke.

“Why?”

He rested his hands at his sides. She was a stubborn one, which he liked in a woman. That thought had him clearing his throat as he gestured for her to continue walking. No use in thinking worthless thoughts.

“Can we talk and walk? I really am short on time.”

She nodded, following at his side as they stopped outside the elevators. The silence was almost eery as they waited for the doors to open. Both of them stood still as if to avoid making even a peep of a sound. Once inside he spoke quickly, knowing she couldn't run away now.

“Earlier I got a call to inform me that you were feeding a god that wasn’t a case of yours. When I asked who it was and why the damned thing was even interacting with you I was informed he was shot down by some gun-happy guards. They threw him in his room to heal. Apparently, you witnessed the whole incident and made bread for him?”

She looked caught off guard but nodded. The child-like deity. Images of his blood splattered over her still caught in her throat like a thorn. He nodded, sighing before continuing.

“Anyways, he refuses to speak with anyone now and is asking for you. Thanks to the guard's fuck up we're kicked back to square one.”

She leaned against the wall of the elevator and thought carefully through what he said. To harm someone so easily, how lost did these people need to be? Murder, rape, there are horrible things that happen every day all around the world. Still, it was far different to witness such apathy firsthand.

She wasn't new to such things, but normally she was the victim of such hate and abuse. To see someone else going through such things felt as if it broke a part of her that had housed the last bit of her innocence. She had been in shock, maybe she still partially was.

“I don’t think I’ve fully worked through what I saw, especially when I made the bread. My mind was just replaying the attack over and over again. The only thing that grounded me was the thought of my mother’s honeybread. I made it as a child, after a beating or a bad day. I think in my traumatized mind I reverted back to the simple solutions of my childhood.”

He leaned against the wall as well, arms crossing over his chest. She was too sweet for this place, her heart her biggest weakness. It was normal for him to note weak points, but it didn't feel good doing it with her.

“To hear you analyze yourself in such a way is actually quite intriguing.”

She laughed a bit, shaking her head. Was she analyzing herself? It felt natural to look at things from an unbiased standpoint. Figure out the facts, speak them, and walk through them again. Do it without fear and emotion, just as her father taught her. She was never good at it honestly, her heart hurting a bit every time she tried to follow his lessons. He had been a monster. To listen to him would only perpetuate his horrific ways, right?

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

It was easy enough for her to wipe those thoughts away, stepping back into reality. Mr. Kelson nodded, allowing her time to think. She looked gorgeous in that little pink dress. They didn't have a dress code, never needed one with old bags of dirt walking around in lab coats. Now with her here he might have to implement one just to save himself and the others from a heart attack.

Still, he hated the idea of her looking like them. Seeing her like this felt right, her soft pastels and bright eyes the only upside in their association's cloudy days. At least between meetings, he could picture her smiling up at him. Sweet with a hidden fighter's spirit. A natural protector.

“So, he’s pissed off at being attacked and wants to speak to me because I made him bread?”

Had he been looking at her cleavage? She ignored the ogling, blushing a bit. He cleared his throat, internally lecturing himself on eye contact. The last thing he needed was to catch an HR case on the first female worker they had under forty. Manners. He needed to retrain himself.

His control should easily be better than this, but he was sure the guards were fighting themselves thinking about her too. She was just too good for this hellhole. A spot of sunlight in an endless night. He nodded.

“That’s what I get from it, yeah. If you do me this favor I’ll give you the blue beast's whole file. It’ll tell you everything you want to know about why he’s so important here. It's not a lot, to be honest, but it might help.”

She narrowed her gaze on the doors as they opened. So this was a favor for a favor. In a way that was a relief, because she didn't want to owe anyone. It seemed a simple enough trade.

“Mr. Kelson?”

He moved out of the elevator, her feet following close behind.

“Yes?”

If her test subject was so important why did they put her in charge of him? Did his file explain that too? Would pointing out her unbalance of their trust in her on such a big case be a good thing? She thought of asking him outright but stopped herself.

“I’ll talk with him.”

With that he smiled, leading her to the childlike god’s door. When the barrier opened he motioned for her to head in. The guards looked bored, clearly not worried about their prisoner. Were those the same guards that attacked him before? She couldn't remember their faces.

Why did they treat this one being like an innocent child but her beast was treated like a wild animal? Other than his size there was nothing to indicate he would become violent. She was warned of the possibilities when they gave her the case. Even then they swore there was no evidence to prove he might hurt her.

It was something she would have to look into. Around here it was easier to get answers from listening in on conversations and pretending to be ditzy. If they looked at her as a non-threat then she would get far more from them. For all the horrors he put her through, she could thank her dad for teaching her how to survive.

“Are you coming?”

Mr. Kelson immediately shook his head. The being said he would be good as long as she was the only visitor. It wasn't exactly a promise, but it was all they had to go on. It wasn't fair to risk her safety like this, but there wasn't much choice. They needed results to save his ass at this point.

“I don’t think he wants onlookers. He’s docile though, so you’ll be fine.”

She nodded, not trusting those words in even the slightest as the door shut behind her. Sure enough, her worries were backed up by the very grown man who walked towards her from the shadows of the room. That was definitely not the child she gave bread to.

She looked back to the door, unsure how she should deal with this situation. With only a few months of experience and no knowledge of this deity's case, she was blind here. What could she even talk to him about?

“I didn’t think you’d come to me so quickly. Eagerly.”

His tone was teasing and playful. It took her off guard, her heart speeding up a bit. Why did his voice elicit such a reaction from her? This being was nothing like the innocent child she had given the bread to. No, he was a god of old legends. He was something from a smutty dream and she had already forgotten her professional airs standing before him.

She should've worn a different outfit, suddenly feeling vulnerable and naked under his heated look. Like a rabbit to a wolf, she backed away a small step. His voice left her breathless.

“He is one of many forms I can take on. Your dreams, nightmares, beasts and mortals. I can take any shape.”

Before her eyes, he morphed into a mirror image of her father. Without thinking it through she stumbled back another step, causing him to narrow his gaze. His image shifted back to its original manly form, her stance straightening. It was a split second of horror, that was all, yet it knocked her off balance mentally.

Gods, he should've warned her. For a second there she could even hear her father talking. The name-calling, dehumanizing, bastard. She had to get it together. There were cameras in here. She couldn't let anyone see her weaknesses, yet she wasn't used to wearing a mask.

“Forgive me. I only meant to appear as someone close to you.”

She looked away from him, her mind in a mess as she fought off the past. It wasn’t this being’s fault her childhood was an abusive horror show. She had been thinking of her father with Mr. Kelson earlier, so it made sense that he could see such an image in her mind. Even through all these years free of her tormentor he was still etched into her fragile mind.

“We were close, but not in a good way.”