AWD #096: Get Out Of The Rain
Get Out of the Rain
Summary: Two people who don't have enough sense to get out of the rain.
Date: 12/04/2013
Related Logs: All the Geni/Cole logs.
Cole Iphigenia 
Piraeus
First Piraeus Temple of the Lords of Kobol
AWD #96

Getting to the temple from Sheridan is a little bit of a drive, probably no more so than twenty minutes max at a decent speed. And people do seem to be making use of it. As the sun is setting, there is a small clutch of people inside, with Iphigenia wrapping up a ceremony. Iphigenia stands with a baby in her arms, and is in the process of marking its forehead with some dark substance using her thumb. "With this mark we dedicate Ivana to the service of Hestia and Demeter. May she prove worthy of their blessings, and the blessings of all mighty Zeus. So say we all."

The door in the back slams closed, caught by the wind or an impatient hand. So Say We All should be echoed by the mouths of the assembled, not the harsh sound of wood on wood. A figure buttoned up primly in his Dress Greys pauses at the back of the room, eyes on the service for a moment before he turns on a crisp heel and finds a place to sit in the back. In the stiff wool, Aristides is undoubtedly hot, but he seats himself with back ramrod straight and steeliness to his expression.

Heads turn, and the baby starts crying, but the so say we all is echoed with firm dedication once attention returns to the ceremony. Gen soothes the baby for a few moments, the volume decreasing a touch before she hands the child off to her mother. There are a few moments of words exchanged, and then the family and small clatch of friends start to make their way out of the temple. Gen remains up toward the main altar, putting the various instruments of her trade away and wiping her hands clean. She pays no mind to Cole. She knows perfectly well he'll make his presence felt when he's ready.

Cole watches the rest of the ceremony in complete silence, making no other interruption. Perhaps the door slam was just a fluke, or the man was miffed at knowing he'd have to wait. As people start to filter out, the man finally eases to his feet and gives a sharp tug to the hem of his jacket to snap it taut. Once upon a time, this was the image Aristides P. Cole used to cut most frequently. Polished and detached. He comes up the long aisle with an even stride, pausing before the altar at parade rest until Iphigenia notes him formally.

Iphigenia does in fact, look up at him, just as she's putting a silver bowl away. "We're equals in rank Captain Cole, so as you were." She approaches him then, tugging up the sleeves of her dress and studying with direct, dark brown eyes. "It's not as if I don't know why you're here, after all."

"Courtesy." He says simply as to why is standing the way he's standing, perhaps even dressed the way he's dressed. Ari is in her neck of the woods (literally) after all. This is her court to hold. "My wife and child, I would have them back, aye." While Iphigenia looks at him directly, Cole keeps his gaze in a neutral position, looking directly through the Priestess. He doesn't release his stance, either.

"Of course." she says. "I'll meet you outside." What? Iphigenia looks at him levelly, and gestures toward the door. "They'll be in hand before you depart."

There is a tiny crack in Ari's carefully manufactured facade, that being his eyebrow goes up in a quizzical expression. Did she just say outside? Fine, back out into the heat of the fading day. His stance snaps taller and he barely inclines his head in her direction in acquiescence. A hand extends, palm up, in a sweeping motion that indicates ladies first.

Iphigenia repeats firmly, "I'll join you in a moment, Captain." She doesn't want him to see where she put the box. Perhaps it's a sacred space. Maybe she doesn't want to risk his fury inside the walls again. "You can meet me at the river."

"As you wish." Janitor murmurs quietly, his voice softening as he's being taken out of a comfortable zone. His eyes flick down to Geni's face before he turns in his brightly polished shoes and makes his way outside. When she finally does emerge, he'll be where she bid, with arms crossed behind his back and held at the elbows.

It's spring. The river rushes by, and everything's green, but there are dark clouds overhead that suggest rain despite the warmth. The air has the heaviness of an oncoming storm. It takes a few minutes, but eventually Iphigenia emerges. She cradles the box in her fingers with the same tenderness and care that she used to hold that baby in her arms. She walks toward him, expression thoughtful. "You picked a remarkable spot."

"Any spot would be remarkable." Ari comments candidly, his eyes locked onto the gurgling river. It's a wistful sort of sound in his voice now that they're outdoors. Perhaps it was the temple itself that he found stifling. "The fact that we can stand on green grass and watch the sky kiss the water…remarkable." He doesn't have to turn his head to know she's carrying the box. It's as if he can feel it.

"I saw the gods here." she says softly. "Ares showed me what will come, and Aphrodite whispered to me and touched my hand." And it still humbles her, makes her tremble. She holds out the box.

Now that garners Ari's full attention. It's not something Iphigenia would say lightly, it's not something that she'd say in hyperbole either. Those words coming from that particular woman actually mean something to Cole. "What did he show you, what did she say! Geni, what happened. Tell me." The words come out in a rush as Ari reaches out for the box, folding his hands over hers.

She shivers, and looks at a point to the right of Cole, likely the spot where the moment occurred. "He showed me a vision, in his shield reflecting flame." she says softly. "Soldiers. Blank faces. Hundreds. Thousands. They were marching. They carried guns. A war machine. Aphrodite put her hand on my face. She touched my cheek. I shrank from her." She sounds ashamed. "She said, Be strong for each other. You will need all in the time ahead. Do not lose hope in the darkness."

Ari leans over, settling the box in the sunshine. His fingertips drag off it reverently as he straightens back up, and with a touch of concern, reaches out to touch Geni's elbow. "I can't image the war getting any worse." With restraint, his hand drops away. "What were you doing when you saw them?"

"Ceres and Cooper had come to speak with me." Geni says. "I'd had chamalla." Of course she had. But for her to do so is expected. Normal, even. "It will get worse." she says. "We can find our way out of it, but it will get worse before it gets better." She refocuses on him. "What do you care?" she asks, abruptly distressed. "You think we all ought to burn."

The so called Skin Jobs. Iphigenia had a religious moment when in the company of the mortal embodiment of their supposed enemies. How Ari feels about the two of them is immaterial at the moment, because he's just left blinking at the Priestess. "Do I?"

"Isn't that what you said?" she asks listlessly. "That humanity is wretched, that we deserve to end. That this is all proof of that." All of this. The green grass, the rushing river. His wife's ashes. Thunder rolls, rather than cracks, from the dark clouds in the distance.

"I did say we are damned to repeat our same mistakes." Ari looks down to his shiny boots, dew from the grass making bits of earth stick to the otherwise impeccably polished footwear. He seems to regret his choice in attire now as inadequate as a finger hooks into his collar and runs beneath it to pull the starchy fabric away from his skin. "You're angry, and I apologize. I knew how you felt about me, and I abused that and took advantage of you."

"I'm not angry." she says. "I'm sad. I'm frightened. I will do what's necessary anyway." Then, "Are you apologizing to me for that night in my berth?" Funny, how it can still be warm, and the air so thick with the promise of rain.

"I'm apologizing for every day I've drawn breath since the night I came to you in the temple and asked you for comfort. I haven't acted the man you came to respect - to love - ever since then." Cole says quietly, his voice a soft rumble that matches the roll of thunder off in the distance.

"You've been in pain." she replies. "I know that." She seems to be trying to find words for him, and can't. The sky itself seems to sigh as the rain starts. It's gentle but determined, thick fat droplets. "Were you lying?"

Ari's face turns to the sky as it opens up, his eyes batting quickly against the heavy drops. "I never lied. I still think of you. I care for you, I do. I just can't love you the way I know I should. The way you deserve." It's said to the sky as his eyes close, letting the rain pelt him.

"Why?" she asks. She stands there, and does not turn her face up to the rain. She looks at him instead, and the rain mats her hair to her cheeks, makes her skin seem to gleam with refracted light.

"Why to which?" It's easy to resort to glibness, but it doesn't linger. "Because I don't know how. I've already told you that. Breaking your heart was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. But it had to be done, Geni. I had to. Because it was only going to get harder." His hand lifts, Cole rubbing his palm down his face to knock some of the droplets off.

"Just be Aristides." she says, an echo of something he said to her long ago. No, not her. A dream of her. "Be careful. I tried not to love you, and I was punished." This isn't meant as a threat. She sincerely believes she was punished for trying to deny them. Her hands lift, palms upward, so rain can spatter on them. "There's no one here but us for miles, and you're saying these things, and all I want to do is push you down in the grass onto your back and have you in the rain." She shakes her head, her humor dark. "It would have been easier if it was just lust." She drops her hands, looks up at him again. "You have what you came for."

Ari looks at her for a long moment, his face a conflict of emotion but overall he just looks sad and lost. "You said we can't fall into each other. We can't just…take." He reaches out for her hand, and if permitted to do so before she yanks it away, he'll kiss the heel of it and taste the clean spring from the clouds on her skin. "You should get out of the rain." He finally says. "Don't want you to catch cold."

"And I would take that back, if I could." she murmurs. "What difference does it make? I'm already wet." She does not pull her hand away. "You're more prone to illness than I am. I hadn't thought about it before, but Scorpian bred would make you more susceptible. You should get out of the rain." She doesn't move.

Take it back? He looks sorely tempted to let her. Point of fact, his hand releases hers so he can start unbuttoning the stiff jacket of his Dress Greys, among the other adornments is the medal he received for blowing up the Reese. "I lived in the midsts of a frakking jungle. I know rain." He says simply, shouldering out of his heavy jacket, only to drape it over her shoulders.

"Then why are you always so cold after you've been wet?" she asks. The jacket on her shoulders is regarded with gentle amusement. She seems to have no qualms about standing with him here in the rain. She can't help it when she lifts her hand to push some of his hair back against his scalp.

"Because they insist on keeping the life support system at seventy-frakking-degrees." Ari says frankly, quirking a grin that sits lopsided on his lips before it falls away completely at her touch. "They crank it up to ninety and I'd be fine." Indeed, he seems to be fairing just fine despite the fact the rain is already creating dark splotches on his dual tanks. "We, umm…" He loses track of what he meant to say.

The hand in his hair curves along the side of his face. They've gone through this heavy glut of emotions during this exchange, and suddenly Iphigenia is at some kind of plateau, or perhaps an event horizon, because suddenly that hand drops to his neckline, twists into the fabric, and pulls him to her, into a violent kiss unless he puts a stop to it. She's taking. For once in her life.

How easy to fall into that. He grabs the lapels of his own jacket that encase Iphigenia and haul her bodily against himself as she claims his lips in a kiss. His muscles are taut beneath her hands, as if he's flexing some sort of self restraint in not throwing her down to the earth next to the river and his dead wife's ashes and claiming her in some carnal embrace. Instead, he throws himself into the heady kiss with lips and tongue and raw need. It's only after that indulgence that he finally breaks away with a gentle pressure of his forehead against hers. "I need to get back to the ship. We have this new CAG again and I…I can't stay. I can't do this to you. Again."

"You're not." she murmurs breathing hard, "I am. We are." She breathes in his skin without restraint, mimics him from the shower, chasing a raindrop from his throat. It's followed by her hand, though she doesn't grip so much as rest her hand there. "Sooner or later, we're going to tear other apart." She sounds like she can't decide if she's excited by that, or saddened, or angry. But as soon as it's said, she starts to slide away from him.

There is a vibration in his throat when her lips graze his throat, its a thin thread of self control she's threatening to cut with just a sharp snip of her teeth. "Get out of the rain, Iphigenia." He says again, as if somehow that will break the spell. As she steps away, he too takes a step backwards, turning only to collect that precious box. The Grey's jacket? That he'll have to get back from her later.

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