(The Siren, the Gorgon, the Trickster, & the Cambion)
She's done this so many times now, but she leans into her best friend Nimue's ear and whispers, "Well, it looks like he rolled out the red carpet for us, thus securing his place on the throne… as the King of Partying? …Or as the King of Chaos for that dramatic grand entrance?" She whispers this to Nagaveni with a mischievous raise of an eyebrow and a giggle, nothing more than a joke. Though she questions if he has something bigger planned for the night.
"WELCOME… TO… TARTARUS!"
The crowd cheers at this, and Calliope wonders how this man can even make his voice do that – sound so loud and commanding, being heard over the loud music and crowd… then, 'Just don't even question it,' she thinks.
Nagaveni rolls her eyes, though she's careful to keep them aimed toward the floor. "A+ for the theatrics, but did he have to draw so much attention over here? He couldn't have, like… waited until I wasn't right next to you?" She sighs and picks at the thin green strap of her skin-tight bodycon dress the way she always does when she's nervous. She's never been good in crowded places, and this place is packed in like a snake pit; at least, it feels that way. Her anxiety soars to new heights when she notices all the attention she and Calliope are getting. Strangers let their eyes linger on the fabric of the women's dresses, especially down the deep-v plunge in the front. She feels self-conscious, while Calliope seems to be thriving. But Nagaveni figures that's just part of Calli's siren abilities. She has to admit, the sparkly purple dress does look amazing on Calliope, and she's happy they decided to get matching dresses.
"Hey… just try to relax," Calliope reassures her. "No one even knows who you are tonight except your friends, and you don't have to worry about keeping your head hidden from anyone because the 'Serpent Tamer' amulet Salem made for you is gonna work all night. You can just be yourself."
Nagaveni does feel a little better after hearing that, and it makes her remember when Calliope first hooked the necklace onto her – two of the snakes on the back of her head had hissed at her. Calli had simply laughed, called them stubborn, and nicknamed them 'Julius Squeezer' and 'Fangis Khan.' That made Nagaveni laugh, and it was then that she knew her roommate would also be her friend.
Calliope finally looks at the man directly across the room, near the nightclub's high-top bar. He's tall and skinny, yet muscular. She's always found him extremely attractive, with his beautiful shoulder-length pale blonde hair, pale skin, and hazel eyes that have little golden specks in them.
Nagaveni looks at him as well. She feels as if she's known this man all her life – 'he just seems so familiar' – yet she's only met him a handful of times.
He had been behind the bar making drinks when they came in, but now, he's in front of the bar with his arms outstretched like he's Jesus. His face forms a disarmingly enigmatic smile as Calliope and her friend cross the only clear path through the dark, crowded dance floor while the club's purple, blue, and pink lights dance over their faces and bodies.
He takes a moment to appreciate Calliope – admiring her wild turquoise hair and the way it falls in loose waves down to her chest. He always gets this strange feeling when she's near… 'Like the siren's calling me out to sea,' he thinks.
He looks at her, seeing the way her eyes match her dress, glowing purple from all the energy she's gaining. Her dress sparkles and reflects the bouncing lights of the club, commanding everyone's attention. The fabric of her dress clings to every inch of her flawless peach-colored skin as if the dress was made specifically for her. His breath hitches in his throat when his eyes glide back up from where the dress clings to her plump thighs and wide hips. His eyes roa. up the deep-v that plunges into the middle of her chest. Her dress clings so tightly that it could make any man jealous of the fabric itself.
He becomes so wrapped up in his lustful thoughts, he doesn't even notice when Calliope appears in front of him. She's just suddenly there, leaving him scrambling to gain his composure.
"You look like a vision, Dysnomi. Or just… an early-2000's goth's vision of the handsome vampire in their dreams," Calliope says with sarcasm in her voice, and he eagerly watches her full dark-pink lips curling into the absolute sexiest smirk he's ever seen. He lifts an eyebrow at her and laughs.
Calliope makes a show of roaming her eyes over his body for once, and he – ever the good sport – holds his arms out and slowly circles in place. Despite Calli not being able to control his emotions with her siren abilities, he still finds himself completely enamored with her.
"I mean it, Dys," Calliope starts, throwing her hands up. "You look like a dream." She makes a small, wistful sigh, glancing up at his flushed face. Her heart skips a beat the way it does every time she's close to him.
For the first time, she thinks the ever-so-confident Dysnomi looks nervous... He gazes down at her, and for one second, she gets lost in his eyes, letting them comfort her, the golden spots hinting at something more, like little, '...sprinkles of mischief.' Startled, she realizes that she had just telepathically sent him all of her thoughts. She usually is better at keeping them to herself.
"I almost forgot how soft your hair is," Calliope whispers. She lifts her hand above her face to reach Dysnomi's lips. She lightly traces her thumb across his bottom lip, causing him to inhale a sharp breath in a vain attempt to control the desire he feels. She traces a line up his cheekbone, leaving the ghost of her touch along his skin, ending when she reaches up to play with a fallen strand of his hair. "You have the most gorgeous blonde hair… every strand looks divine, as if the gold has been woven by Rumpelstiltskin himself… It has the beauty of a dozen rays of sunlight bouncing off a puddle to create a rainbow…" She whispers this in his ear with a serene sigh.
'Well, everyone here looks happy. Ire has to be something weird.'
When she hears the voice in her head, she stiffens. Then she realizes how sensually she had just been talking to him – in front of everyone.
'I guess it's a good thing we're at a bar – the perfect place for awkward situations…' she thinks.
She steps back and clears her throat, internally cringing from Dysnomi's disappointment. She grabs a shot of whiskey from the bar and tries to start over, although she's useless in uncomfortable situations. "Hey, I mean… you should know by now that the only reason I'm here is to make sure you don't get all the attention…" She stops joking for a moment to say, "But seriously, Dys, you do look good."
"WHAT?!" He yells out, jumping up from where he had been leaning against the bar, uncharacteristically offended. He stops, adjusting his tie and smoothing his black button-down shirt. "I look good? Calli, I am one of the most attractive men alive, and we both know it." He steps forward and lowers his head to look down at Calliope, giving her his chocolate eyes to melt into, with a glint of roguish sparks in them – like lightning.
"Your choice is yours alone, with serious consequences – and still, he's wearing that damn smirk on his face."
'Who said that?' Calliope thinks. The voice in her head this time was a deep, commanding male voice.
Without warning, lightning storms down!
It crashes through the roof of Tartarus, aimed at Calliope. She catches a glimpse of a ginormous black-colored bird before an excruciating pain washes over her as everything goes dark.
Opening her eyes, she comes back to reality on the balcony of the upper floor, one hand resting on Dysnomi's arm while she speaks, the words sounding foreign to her as she looks up at him with feigned sad eyes. She abruptly takes her hand away and steps back.
"Hey, don't even joke about that! You know Loki's my hero," Dysnomi replies, smiling. "And you want me to live up to him? I normally would never leave a lady unsatisfied, but…" his voice becomes husky and drops low before trailing off completely when he notices her looking confused.
He steps forward and wraps Calliope into a big hug, his arms enveloping her small frame. For a second, Calliope allows her head to rest against his firm chest, listening to his heart beat, hearing it skip when he first pulls her close, and relishing the warmth from his chest against her cheek and the feeling of his strong arms holding her.
When she finally pulls away, she takes one more moment to really look at him. She notices tattoos now covering both of his arms. She's shocked for a moment, wondering when he even had time to get tattooed; though, he could just change his appearance with his trickster abilities – 'Wait, so… he gave himself tattoos using his magic? He can do that, right? If he can literally bend reality to his will, then I don't see why he couldn't.'
"Uhh… Calli? Are you just gonna stare at my biceps all day, or do you wanna introduce me to your beautiful new friend?"
Calliope jumps at the sound of his voice – she didn't even realize she had zoned out. Looking over Dysnomi's shoulder, she spies Nagaveni. Dysnomi stands there with confidence, turning away from Nagaveni to smirk at Calliope. Nagaveni's staring at the floor, blushing. She peeks up at Dysnomi, only to catch him blowing her a flirty kiss with a wink. She blushes bright red in her cheeks and looks back down, too shy to say anything.
"What?! Dys, you know who Nagaveni is!" Calliope laughs, gliding over and draping an arm around Nagaveni's shoulders. "However, I've got her wearing this concealment amulet I bought her, which we've been calling the Serpent Tamer, so the humans don't freak out. You know how they are – they'd prefer to believe that beasts like us don't exist," Calliope finishes, with a hint of disgust in her voice.
"Nagaveni?!" Dysnomi stands there looking amazed for a moment before regaining his composure. "Damn… I knew you were beautiful, but I can't believe I didn't recognize you. The black hair disguises you well." He pauses to cock his eyebrow at her. "And having a gorgeous woman like yourself out here for Tartarus's opening night? I mean, your beauty alone will bring in half of LA. And if it doesn't… Calli's siren song definitely will."
Then, with a theatrical flourish, he conjures two purple drinks from thin air. The drinks shimmer and sparkle like a starry night in a country field. "To a successful opening night for Tartarus?" He hands the women each a drink before conjuring one for himself. "Straight from the fae realm," he says, holding his drink up toward the light, admiring it. "I just thought about what I wanted that would make tonight special and then they appeared. I don't know if it's true or not – that you shouldn't answer any questions the fae ask you – but I do know that I have a big mouth and… unfortunately," he pauses, patting down his pockets for dramatic effect. "I don't tend to keep packets of sugar on me to throw down as a distraction, so I figured willing them into existence would be better than traveling to the fae realm."
"First of all, I am deeply disappointed in you. You don't keep sugar packets in your pocket? You should be prepared for anything all the time. Second, couldn't you just… conjure some sugar packets? And third… Who are you trying to be? Van Gogh?" Calliope jokes, admiring her swirling galaxy drink. It actually does look fairly impressive. Nagaveni snorts, trying to hold back a laugh, and for the first time tonight, she lifts her head. She almost looks confident, despite having to keep her eyes averted so she doesn't turn anyone to stone.
"I'll try this drink you magicked up for us… if you let me name it," Nagaveni says, staring at the drink like it's the best thing she's ever seen.
"I don't know, Nini, trusting a trickster seems like a pretty bad idea…" Calliope trails off, with a sarcastic smile playing on her full lips. Dysnomi carefully contorts his face into an – admittedly, really cute – pout. He has definitely practiced it before.
"C'mon, Calli…" he reaches out and lifts her chin so she's looking up at him, already melting inside a little. In his peripheral, he can see Nagaveni go wide-eyed. Dysnomi and Nagaveni haven't known each other long, so she must not realize yet that he and Calli are natural flirts, but that doesn't mean there's something between them. Although… that doesn't necessarily mean that there isn't something there, either. Calliope is just… so damn good at keeping up with him, and he still can't figure out how she does it. "You honestly don't trust me?" he asks, his thumb brushing over her chin.
Calliope smiles and steps away from his touch, not wanting to let herself feel anything more than friendship toward him. She clears her throat and averts her purple eyes from his scrutinizing gaze and the mischievous gold inside his eyes. "Of course I trust you. Duh, I wouldn't be your friend if I didn't. It's not like I go around telling everyone who and… what I am."
"Alright…" he says, then nods at Nagaveni. "Hey new girl." Dysnomi crosses the floor and leans on the side of the luxurious black couch in the middle of the balcony. "What'cha got for us?"
'That damn smirk just never leaves his face, does it?'
She can see it from the corner of her eye. Nagaveni smiles brighter and goes to sit in the chair across from Dys.
"Nini?" Calliope questions, crossing over to sit on the couch seat at the end, near Dysnomi and across from Nagaveni.
Nagaveni can see that Calliope also has a smirk on her face now. It makes her already well-defined cheekbones pop out more. So when Calliope crosses her legs, holds her drink in one hand, and crosses an arm over her bare legs, Nagaveni thinks she looks like supermodel material. Nagaveni knows that she could do that, too, if she wanted, but she's never had that kind of confidence.
Nagaveni leans back in her chair, stretching her legs before leaning forward, her green eyes shining with excitement. "I propose a toast with our new liquid courage – and I pray to the gods that it's actually a good concoction so this won't be a satirical name – the Cosmic Paradise!" She lifts her glass, smiling. She's very proud of herself for coming up with the name.
"To the Cosmic Paradise! And to Tartarus's grand opening! You deserve this, Dys," Calliope says, lifting her drink into the middle with Nimue.
"To the Cosmic Paradise… And to Nagaveni for finally loosening up a little bit," he winks at her just to watch her blush. "Also to Calli, because I just know your voice is going to have everyone in the house begging for more when you get on that stage." He meets Calliope's eyes with a knowing smile that sets her on edge as he lifts his drink and clinks it against theirs.
All three of them throw back their galaxy inspired drinks in one go, then slam the empty glasses on the table in the middle of the seating area.
Tartarus is now entirely full. It's a sea of wealthy people – mostly humans – dancing and having fun in almost every space available.
"Hey Calliope, someone just dropped off this weird note for you…?" Dysnomi says, walking over and picking up the note at the door, looking over it.
When she crosses over and takes the paper, she says, "Well… let's read it, shall we?" She waves Nagaveni over to them, then reads,
"Word of advice: Viking parties get outrageous – don't go if you aren't ready for things to get heated. Remember to raise a little hell in our honor. Now, get ready for our present."
"Well that… certainly…?" She cuts off, confused, before saying, "Wait, it sounds like there's an argument or… some kind of commotion coming from the main room." She's about to ask someone to brave the fray with her when the sounds of shouts and grunts come from across the dance floor to the balcony door, followed by what sounds like a bird screeching.
"What the fuck?!" a random guy yells out, before turning and running. Calliope watches as other people in the crowd get carelessly tossed to the side, but it's impossible to make out what's shoving its way through; the only thing she can see is a humongous red and orange bird flying above the crowd and through the nightclub toward her, Nagaveni, and Dysnomi.
"Wait, do you two know actual Vikings?" Nagaveni asks, her mouth open in shock.
"Yeah, Dys has taken me to some insane parties in the two years I've known him. You've only been here for three months, but you just wait – I'm sure we'll get into something together."
When Calliope can finally check around again, she looks at the humans who got pushed aside, noticing that most of them look confused, almost like they hadn't seen anyone – or anything – move them. But it can't be what she thinks – can it?