sing, o muse

Two fates bear me on to the day of death.  If I hold out here and lay siege to Troy,  My journey home is gone, but my glory never dies. If I voyage back to the fatherland I love,  My pride, my glory dies...  True, but the life that's left me will be long,  The stroke of death will not come on me quickly

-The Iliad by Homer 

the mortal sun has risen and set a thousand thousand times, and ACHILLES is yet bound to the earthly realm, the reincarnation loop continues. this time their mortal coil has taken the shape of FLORENCE PUGH, a human born on APRIL 3rd 1995, an ARIES and named MAEVE HARLOW.

ABOUT ∙ CONNECTIONS ∙ INSPIRATION ∙  RPG

“Why does a part of me already regret that?” She wasn’t one to care a whole lot about looks, but she wondered just what Maeve would have in mind for a bag for her. “My only rule is no glitter on it. It’s bad for the environment.” It might have sounded like a bit much but anyone who knew Mysha would easily pick up on the fact she was being dead serious. “Other than that I’m giving you full creative control.” She takes another swig of her drink as if she was actually worried.

She stifled a laugh, only able to keep up the fake sincerity to their conversation for so long. “Maybe Diana was the first one to find out her plan and this has been years in the making.” That was most likely the only member of the royal family, besides Meghan, Mysha found worth of any sympathy. She sighs. “People just don’t do government coups like they used to.”

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“You’ll have nothing to regret, promise.” Maeve replies. “I’m not much of a glitter gal myself. Shit gets everywhere. Besides, it’s hard to be taken seriously as a bouncer if you’ve got gems and glitter painted on.” 

 Maeve orders another round and toasts Mysha once more. “At the risk of ending up on a blacklist, to future government coups and canvas bags.” 

Maeve had their headphones in, but the mid 90s rap playlist was still easily heard by anyone in close proximity. They were dripping sweat, attacking the old punching bag with the ferocity of a feral animal. Their form was sloppy and if they had been against an opponent, they would have been leaving themselves wide open to attack. But Maeve wanted more than anything for someone to give it a try, give them a reason to beat them down. 

They weren’t anticipating a gentle tap on the shoulder and nearly jumped out of their skin. 

“For fuck’s sake, Fortune!” Maeve swore, taking out a headphone as they turned around. “Can’t you see I was in the middle of putting that old ratty bag in its place?” 

“The ones where you can walk right on to water off your patio are insanely priced,” Bellamy agrees. When he moved to what now felt permanently to Magnetic Island, the property had been gifted to him. He didn’t spend a dime because secrets were worth more. The entire villa had been put into his name overnight, and while he could have afforded it with heavy budgeting now, he still acknowledged all that came with it. 

“If you ever want to crash, though, you just knock and let yourself in,” He assures her. He didn’t have much privacy. The only things to hide were what lied in his head, and those were easy to guard. Bellamy had plenty of friends and even acquaintances spend the night and put every corner of comfort he neglected to use. “Pool, couch, bed. Whatever you want. The place is too big to keep it all to myself, but I know better than to throw any ragers in that neighborhood.”

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“Don’t tempt me, Bells. You’ll end up with a roommate you didn’t ask for.” Maeve smiles. “Plus, Lionel and I are a package deal. He’s my main man.”  But then she softens a bit, the bravado giving way to something more sincere. “But if it ever gets too much, you know, I’m only a text away. I don’t mind keeping you company when shit gets dark.” 

And then, because Maeve can never be serious for too long, she smiles. “Especially when you’ve got a place like that. One day you’ll have to tell me how you managed to get that villa.” 

     well, he deserved that one. alex wasn’t heartless — even when he had made the dumb decision to cut ties with maeve for the slight chance that she would do it first, he still kept up with whatever news he could find on them. it felt like absolute shit every time something new came up, that he wasn’t there to celebrate with her, or to comfort her. 

    he wasn’t sure what he could say to alleviate all the pain that he’s caused, but he sure as shit wasn’t going to continue keeping his mouth shut trying to pretend like they weren’t even there. 

     “ i know i fucked up big time, maeve, alright ? i really fucking know that. i just… ” he trails off, looking at the wall right above her for a moment, trying to force the words from his brain out of his mouth for once. god, i could really use that silver fucking tongue right about now. the thing with alex’s ability to persuade and charm just about anyone ? that it wasn’t always so easy to conjure up as it is most of the time. not when there was genuine care for the person sitting in front of him. “ i was terrified when i left brighton. i have this… this stupid fucking idea that everyone is going to end up leaving me behind in the end. i thought that if i did it to you, i’d be doing it first. you have no fucking clue how many nights have kept me up about it.. but i just couldn’t bring myself to reach out. i couldn’t do it because… ” because i’m a coward. but the words weren’t coming out. 

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“You are an idiot.” Maeve spits back, though they know they could say much worse and it would all be true. But idiot seems the most appropriate, the most fitting. Because Alex was an idiot. Once, they would have followed them to the ends of the earth. But now, they were struggling not to simply shatter the bottle in their hand. It took a concerted effort to loosen their grip and hold it lightly. 

“So your answer was ghosting me? You cared about me so much, you just dropped off the face on the earth? Fuckin’ coward.” 

But then Maeve is looking Alex dead on and realizing these are all things Rue would have every right to say to them. So they take another drink and visibly deflate, sitting back down. Besides, it’s not like Maeve ever tried to reach back out to Alex. They didn’t believe in closure and they had been content enough to let their resentment and anger simmer for seven years before they were forced to confront it. 

“Fucking hell,” they curse, their free hand rubbing at their temple. 

“I’ll take one too. Seriously, I’ll use it. Scout’s honor.” She smiles at the idea of Maeve sitting down and crafting with someone. For how wild she was there was still a softer side to the blonde. Maybe because she also didn’t have a creative bone in her body so creating things in general presented itself as a challenge. “For all of my sexy romance novels.” She holds her drink out before taking a sip. Truth be told she hadn’t picked up a fiction book since her time at school. “Please. You wouldn’t have been able to do it without me. We’d be co-leaders because if we do a dictatorship then I would feel obligated to have a coup.” Mysha chuckles at this friends to enemies storyline they are creating. “We could take the royal family down if we put our minds to it. The queen will probably be part robot by then but nothing we couldn’t handle.”

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“Perfect,” Maeve claps, considering the matter a done deal. All it will take is a quick text to Lux to make it come to life. By the end of week, there will be three matching tote bags and Mysha will be receving endless shit if she doesn’t keep up her head of the deal. 

“She’s probably part robot already. No wonder people haven’t seen her out and about. Maybe that’s why they all give Megan so much shit- maybe she’s figured it out and they’re trying to blackmail her.” 

it was, in some regards, a bit weird to be friends with your bestfriends ex —- but mahalia knew that the two were on a better level, and also that rue wasn’t THAT kind of petty… or that kind of childish. “consider it a man-made rain-shower, you’re welcome!   and they love it anyway,” rolling away the hose as maeve doted on the canines. she had already scooped up the dog waste and minimal mess from some destroyed toys, and so there wasn’t too much left to do —-  “it’s alright, i had five friends to play with,” she gestured to the dogs, bending down to pick up a tennis ball and  h a u l i n g  it across the yard.  “the only real thing we need to do — because we have the good weather for it — is hang out the washing,” she headed off to the side building which was their laundry; four industrial washing machines and two huge industrial dryers, “i cleaned out their bedding when i got here so there’s about two loads to hang out,” thankfully they had clothes lines fenced AWAY from where the dogs could potentially turn them into chew toys.    “grab some baskets?” mahalia prompted, opening up the washing machines and grabbing the mini-basket of pegs.

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Maeve is only too happy to get to work. Volunteering at the shelter had started as a way to impress Rue, but she kept it up even after they broke up. Was she still trying to impress Rue? Maybe. But she actually likes Mahalia and she likes working with the animals. It’s nice to feel good, to feel like she might actually have a purpose.  

“You got it boss.” Maeve responds, maybe overly peppy. She wonders if Mahalia already knows about what she and Rue got up to during glitterball. She wonders if she’s got a snowball’s chance in hell of managing not to fuck this up completely. 

“So did you have fun at glitterball?” Maeve asks. 

     arsyn grins at their offer, “ maeve, you’ve seduced me. i’ll take any top shelf bottle — in fact, why don’t we just steal one from the storage in here and just… replace it in the morning ? ” obviously, arsyn had no real intention in replacing anything… but that would be maeve’s problem to deal with, not theirs. “ that way, we can just head out and start looking for house parties on the go without making any stops. also, you’re asking the wrong person here — i’ll probably push you to call her by the end of the night. but it’s fun toying with exes, no ? ”

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 Maeve snorts. “We don’t need to steal from work, lovebug. I’ve got plenty. Besides, we both know you care very little about replacing anything.” She didn’t fault Arsyn for it. In fact, she kind of adored them for it.  

“Not with her.” Maeve grows serious. “She doesn’t deserve that. Not from me, especially. At least I can admit when I’ve been a bit of a fuckboy.” Not to Rue, the only person it would matter to admit to, but nevertheless. 

“That I’m sorry I’m so scared. That it’s nothing personal, but I don’t see how I’m ever going to get close to someone again and I wish more than anything I knew how to. That I love you and I wish I knew how to be a better woman for you.” 

“If taking pity on my wallet’s your excuse, you’re gonna have to do better than that,” He scoffed, though it was no more than a taunt once she broke the surface again. Maeve, like so many others, could easily take advantage of Bellamy’s budgets that circled around everyone but himself. He rarely spent anything on his own luxuries if they went outside of what was needed to sell the image wanted by investors and donors. The money that was given to him to keep a lid over the secrets that he collected, the donations to his foundation aside, was put towards anything else for the right price of trouble. 

He followed her, stripping off his silk button down that was already covered in spilled drinks and a little bit of blood from a split lip that had gone numb. The water was cold at first but then it wrapped around him in its heated waves. There was a small shudder, and for a moment, Bellamy believed he may have made himself more delicate upon his new lifestyle. Then again, he was drunk and going for a swim in the middle of June in Australia just off the coast.

“So we’re not getting out of here until we’re both wrinkled? It sounds just like growing old if you ask me.”

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“Why are you so familiar with people making excuses for why they won't marry you, Bells?" Maeve winks. "And I highly doubt either of us are exactly the growin' old type. I'm more of a live fast, die young and I'm guessing so are you."

“Alex. There’s no universe in which I understand how you go from loving someone like they’re blood and then just not acknowledging their existence.”

“Why fuck with perfection?”

“No, but for real, I’d like to be a bit more confident when it comes to being vulnerable. I don’t know how to be so exposed with someone like that and it’s cost me so much already.”

      alex is stunned for a moment, unsure how to respond. if he were in their position, he would tell the other person to go fuck themselves and hold onto that grudge for as long as he could — to the fucking grave. he scoffs, taking another swig at the tequila. two, actually… one for building up the courage, the other for shutting down the voices of his anxieties that already came creeping up from behind him. 

    “ look, i know i’m… i’m a piece of shit, alright ? i know that. i should have… well, i shouldn’t have done a lot of things. but i just didn’t know what to fuckin’ say to you without it sounding like some pathetic excuse. ” it was the truth. a truth that still sounded horrible, but the truth nevertheless. he was never good about confronting his feelings. and potentially losing a piece of his childhood that he valued so much… he couldn’t bear it. so, he thought the best thing to do was to cut them off first before they could do that to him. 

     “ if it makes you feel any better, my ex girlfriend did the same fuckin’ thing to me six months ago. ” he mumbles, looking down as he plays with the hem of his shirt slightly. “ it… really fucking sucked. but i guess i had it coming. ”

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“I mean personally, I’d love to hear some of those excuses actually. Love to see what your last two brain cells came up with before calling it quits for good.” Maeve takes another drink, eyeing Alex with an expression that clearly states ‘what the fuck is wrong with you’. 

Maybe they should have skipped the drinking and talking. Maybe all they needed was to punch it out, Maybe she should have swung on him the first time she saw him on magnetic and they’d be friends right about now. 

“Oh is that meant to make me feel better? Because karma finally got you back? It’s not much of a fucking comfort. What would have been nice was to have my best friend at my side when my whole life exploded and I lost my chance at another gold fucking medal, when I had to walk away from my whole career because the love of my life decided being out and proud was just a bit too much to ask after two years.”