Freeing the Muse (Closed for Serenity30822)

[Lucian_Devine]

Anton's gaze subconsciously lifted when Calliope pulled back the curtain and spoke, but his honeyed gaze only looked at one thing, and it wasn't her naked body. "As you wish...Calliope" He said, simply and softly, while also offering up his signature but always genuine half smile.

When Anton realized that he might be seen as staring, even if it was into Calliope's unnaturally beautiful violet eyes, he felt the blush come to his face as he hastily lowered his gaze and bowed his head. He then rose from his knees on the floor, put the toilet lid down, and sat on it. It let him sit more comfortably while also being able to turn both towards her if/when she needed it, and away from her for modesty, like he was now.

 

[Serenity30822]

She sat quietly for a moment, just sitting in the still pretty hot water, before turning to look at him. "Anton?" She said quietly, "I... Haven't been entirely truthful with you." She paused, resting her chin on her knees and looking instead at the edge of the tub.

"I know how to truly free me. And I apologize for keeping that from you, I just worried this was some horrible trick your father was playing on me..." She trailed off, keeping her gaze on the tub.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Anton naturally hadn't brought his phone with him. So he didn't have anything to do while he waited. So when Calliope said his name, there was nothing to distract or delay him from instantly turning his head towards her. When she continued though, her gaze had lowered from his, and that, combined with her words had him concerned about what was coming next.

Calliope's admission when it came both was and wasn't a surprise. It left Anton agape in shock, because he had truly been trying to help her, but his father really was a sadistic bastard who might do something like this. So it was hard to blame her for being so guarded.

Anton took a couple of moments to process the information, closed his mouth, took several deep breaths, and lowered himself to his knees on the damp towel next to the tub. "I don't blame you Calliope..." Anton said at last. "I truly don't...My father is an abusive and sadistic prick, such that only those who've met him can truly understand how evil he truly is. I honestly don't want to imagine the things that he did to you..." Anton lowered his gaze out of shame and turned his head to the side, but continued talking. "...But I do still want to free you, Calliope."

Anton lifted his elbows onto the edge of the tub as though it were an altar, clasping his hands as though he were praying. "Please, Calliope tell me how to free you. Let me make right what my family has done so wrong."

 

[Serenity30822]

Calliope nodded as he spoke, avoiding his gaze the entire time. She felt bad for keeping it from him. She knew that was silly, she had no way of knowing he was being sincere. But she found that she trusted him. His father wouldn't have gone to such great lengths just to be cruel to her. He didn't like putting much effort into his torture of her, and this would certainly be an elaborate effort if it was.

But that didn't stop that sick feeling from creeping it's way through her. Anton had been nothing but kind to her. She decided then that even if she was freed, she would find a way to repay him for his kindness. She spoke softly, her fingers fidgeting a bit.

"It's more simple than you would think. You just have to say it. 'Calliope, I set you free.' on the night of a full moon, the same sort of night I was initially captured." Her lips curled into a small smile at the simplicity of it.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

"That's it?" Anton asked simply after Calliope told him how to set her free. "Six-hundred years and thirty-three generations, and not one of them was willing to put aside their greed and do what's right?" The sheer simplicity of the task and the magnitude of keeping a goddess imprisoned to use for personal gain was even more sickening than it had been before, and that was saying something.

"I truly can't apologize enough for my ancestors, Calliope..." Anton started, lowering his hands to let his arms cross and rest on the side of the tub, primarily so that his head could sag without touching the tub itself. "All I can do though, truly do, is promise that I'm not, nor will I ever be, like them. When you are done with your bath, we can check and see when the next full moon is, but no matter when it is, you have my word that you will be free before the sun rises that next morning." His gaze rose as he finished speaking and smiled at her. He knew deep down that she'd probably heard words like this before, but even if she had, he didn't intend to follow in his ancestor's footsteps.

 

[Serenity30822]

Calliope smiled and shrugged in a nonchalant way. "I guess it's easier to imprison and take what you want than to just ask nicely." While Anton raised his head, she raised her hand out of the water and gently grasped his fingers in her own, meeting his gaze. "I believe you, Anton. Would you get the towel for me please? The water's getting cold."

Calliope released his fingers and shifted in the tub, moving to stand at the same time he moved to get the towel. She reached down to start draining the tub, then looked at Anton while he got the towel.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Even as he watched Calliope's hand move towards his own, Anton couldn't quite believe it. The soft and tender touch of her fingers grasping his made his smile widen, even as he spoke. "Thank you, Calliope, truly." He said in response to her words. "Your belief in me, when you have every reason not to, truly does mean more to me than I could ever express."

When Calliope asked for a towel, Anton simply nodded and moved to quickly push off with his elbows and then hands as he rose from his knees. He turned his head politely as he heard her start to rise from the water, grabbing the towel that was just a step's distance away from him. Even as his body turned back though, and he offered her the towel, he kept his head turned away for her modesty. He even went one step further, closing his eyes. Even with his eyes closed though, he turned his now free hand upside down, offering it to her to take so that he could assist her in stepping out of the tub, should she desire to be helped.

 

[Serenity30822]

Calliope took the towel when he held it out to her and wrapped it around herself, placing her hand in his and stepping out of the tub carefully. She smiled a bit, noticing he's closed his eyes. "I'm covered Anton, it's okay." she said softly as she moved to stand beside him.

"Do you think the food will be here soon? I'm kind of excited to try it." She kept hold of his hand, feeling comforted by his close proximity and the simple touch of his hand in hers. She felt a streak of something close to hope flood through her, though she couldn't quite place the cause of it. She believed him when he said he would free her, so it couldn't be that...

 

[Lucian_Devine]

A surge of warmth spread through Anton when he felt Calliope perfectly smooth and soft hand take his to get out of the tub. He truly had no idea what caused it, but definitely didn't want to question it.

Calliope's question, and it's implication had Anton's stomach rumbling as well. "Heh, thankfully that is a question I can answer." He said with a smile, moving his free hand to lift one of the robes from it's hook and take it with them as he led her by the hand, which she'd thankfully not released, out of the bathroom.

Anton laid the robe on top of the bed for Calliope before leading her the rest of the short distance to his computer. A single tab over was all that was necessary to change from the tab about muses to the tab with the pizza order. "It looks like it's out for delivery. So given the short distance between there and here, It'll probably be here in about five minutes or so."

 

[Serenity30822]

Calliope walked with Anton, leaving her hand in his as long as he'd let her. She didn't let go when he put the robe down, instead walking with him to the computer, looking at the screen beside him. "That's good, that's not much longer." she said with a smile, turning her head to look at him.

"I want to repay you for your kindness to me, somehow. I don't know how yet, but I'll figure it out..." she said, sounding almost unsure. She wanted to repay him, but not knowing how she could was bothering her. He was doing so much for her.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

"Heh, nope not much longer at all." Anton said, turning towards Calliope and meeting her lovely violet gaze with a smile.

Anton heard Calliope's words and their uncertain tone, but it only made his smile widen. "Don't worry too much about repaying me." He said softly, his thumb gently brushing over the backs of her fingers. "You've been through so much that honestly, knowing that you are free, safe, and happy is thanks enough." As he finished speaking, he lifted their joined hands so that he could press the backs of her fingertips to his lips, kissing them softly.

"And speaking of you being free..." Anton started once more as his free hand started to type on the keyboard, first opening a new tab and then typing a couple more letters before he was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Heh, and speaking of you being happy..." He said, pressing one more kiss to Calliope's fingers before slowly standing up and guiding her out of sight of the door in her state of undress, grabbing his wallet, and moving towards the door.

Anton naturally checked through the peephole, but wasn't surprised to see the pizza delivery driver standing outside the room. He quickly undid the latch locking the door, glanced back to make sure that Calliope wasn't within sight, and opened it. "Thank you so much for taking the order this late, and on Christmas Eve no less." Anton said quickly and apologetically as he opened the door. "Heh, no worries man. It comes with the job." Came the response. "Well I appreciate it all the same." He took the cash out of his wallet and passed it over to the man. "Keep the change." The man looked down at the money in his hand and opened his mouth to protest, but Anton cut him off. "Please, I insist. I know Jesse did me a solid taking the order this close to closing, and you were nice enough to be quick since I can feel the heat coming off of this thing." "If you insist..." The man said with a shrug as he finished handing over the pizza and the 2-liter. "I do. Have a good night, and Merry Christmas!" "Merry Christmas to you too!"

Anton closed the door, locked it, latched it, and brought the steaming hot pizza and freezing cold 2-liter of Coke to the bed. He set the pizza on the bed and opened the lid for Calliope before turning to grab a couple of plastic water cups to pour each of them some Coke to set on their nightstands.

 

[Serenity30822]

Calliope stayed out of sight until she heard the door close once more, her mind firmly on ways to repay him despite his protest. She stepped back out, curling her arms around her waist to hold the towel around herself, and made her way over to the bed. Her racing mind was quickly distracted by the smell coming from the box on the bed.

She sat on the bed beside the box, watching him pour drinks, patiently waiting for him to be done and sit with her. "It smells wonderful..." She said quietly, barely above a whisper, as though she thought speaking too loudly would break the spell and it wouldn't be such a great smell anymore.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Anton couldn't help but smile at Calliope's whispered words. "Then by all means dig in..." He offered up in return, reaching out to separate a piece from the rest and offer it to her. He waited patiently, pizza in hand and smile on lips, until she took it, not even entertaining the thought of pulling back and taking the first bite. No, he reserved that for her so that he could watch her take that first bite and enjoy every bit of her reaction to it.

Only after Calliope took her first bite did Anton finally move to sit on the bed, choosing to sit farther back on the bed so that he'd be within reach of the drink he placed on the nightstand. He hoped that she'd follow suit, and thus had no qualms about pulling the pizza box within reach and finally taking a piece of the steaming deliciousness for himself. He let out a low groan as he took and savored that first bite and it's toppings, even as he was already looking forward to the stuffed crust that was waiting for him at the end of the piece.

 

[Serenity30822]

Calliope took the slice he offered, bringing it to her mouth, and taking a small bite. Her eyes closed of their own volition as the flavors exploded on her tongue, and she let out a soft noise of obvious pleasure. She couldn't remember having tasted anything like this before. The flavors were all distinctly different but blended together to create something new, and each time she chewed it seemed to change as her teeth bit into something different.

She opened her eyes again when she felt the bed shift, seeing Anton had sat down. She moved to mirror the way he'd sat. She took another bite, watching as he took his first bite, and her cheeks flushed slightly when she heard him groan. Calliope didn't say anything more, focused entirely on the pizza in her hands. When she reached the crust and took her first bite of it, her eyes went wide, and the sound that escaped her this time was more of a squeak. The gooey cheese in the center of the bread had surprised her, but it was delicious.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Anton couldn't help but smile as he witnessed Calliope's reaction to the pizza. He'd naturally been concerned that she wouldn't like it or that it wouldn't meet her standards, but when he saw the way her eyes closed like that, he knew that that wasn't the case. He couldn't help but comment when she let out an adorable little squeak after taking her first bite of the stuffed crust and getting her first taste of the warm and gooey cheese at it's center.

"Heh, yeah, the crust is my favorite part. It doesn't matter that I know it's coming, that I've had it so many times, or what toppings are on the pizza. When that warm and gooey cheese hits my tongue, nothing else in the world matters for a few seconds."

Anton wasn't quite to the crust on his own piece yet, since he'd waited for Calliope to take her bite first, but he turned his own piece sideways to get a bite of it anyway, just because he could. His eyes closed as he let his head fall back against the headboard for a few seconds. After savoring the first bite for himself, he moved to set his piece down on the underside of the top of the box and freed up another piece of the six remaining ones.

"There's plenty left. So by all means, help yourself." Anton said with a smile before lifting his piece to his lips once more.

 

[Serenity30822]

Calliope nodded, her mouth full of crust. She finished the bite in her mouth and instead of taking another bite, she held the last of the crust between her teeth and reached for a second slice. When she finished the first slice, she paused, just holding the second slice. "Is all food now this good? It's been a while since I've tried new foods..." She trailed off, blushing a little.

She took a bite of the second slice, looking over at him as she leaned back against the headboard as well. This slice she took her time with, picking off single toppings to try them individually, finding she didn't much care for olives on their own, but on the slice with everything else, they were good.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Anton couldn't help but smile as his words caught Calliope with a mouthful of crust, making her nod instead of respond. Some things likely never changed, no matter what time period it was. He was actually reaching for his own second piece when she asked her question. His gaze flicked up as her words trailed off, and he caught the slight flush of her cheeks, but respectfully didn't address it.

"Hmm..." Anton started, taking a bite of his slice as he considered exactly how to answer Calliope's question. "I wouldn't say that all food is this good, no, but all the restaurants have menus. So it's easier for you to find something you like. They also let you customize your order. So if there is an ingredient that normally comes on the menu item that you don't like, you can ask for them to take it off, and the person making the order will make yours without it. Pizza is a food type that you can go one step further with, with restaurants being willing to put a selection of ingredients on one half of the pizza and an entirely different selection on the other half."

 

[Serenity30822]

"Oh that's really nice of them, to customize things like that." Calliope said softly between bites. She was about half way through her second slice and starting to feel full. Having seen Anton do the same, she turned the piece around and bit into the crust, which was definitely her favorite part, wanting to at least eat that even if she couldn't quite finish the whole slice. Sitting there with her back against the headboard, she let her mind wander for a minute, chewing the last bite she'd taken slowly.

A sudden involuntary shiver tore through her, interrupting her thoughts, and she shifted the way she was sitting, placing the unfinished slice back in the box on the empty side. She pulled her knees to her chest, curling her arms around them and laying her cheek against her knee so she was facing toward Anton.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

"Heh, it is indeed..." Anton started as he turned his dark brown gaze towards Calliope. "It's one of the many things people take for granted these days." He continued as he slowly finished the piece of pizza that he had been working on.

Anton had been about to reach for a third piece when he felt Calliope's shiver shake the bed, and even caught a little bit of it out of the corner of his eye. He watched as she shifted how she was sitting, put the unfinished slice of pizza in her hand back in the box, pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and laid her cheek against one of them, facing him with those lovely violet eyes of hers.

"Is everything okay, Calliope?"" Anton asked her softly. "Do you want me to turn the temperature up, or turn the lights off if you are tired and want to sleep?"

 

[Serenity30822]

Calliope felt her cheeks heat with a blush when Anton asked if she was okay. She shrugged her shoulders and smiled a little. Still only being wrapped in the towel, she was a bit chilled. "It's a little cold I suppose. And it's been a bit of a long day, don't you think? Would probably be good for both of us to get some rest."

 

[Lucian_Devine]

At Calliope's words, Anton simply smiled and nodded. His slid slowly sideways off of the bed before turning back to it and scooping up the box of pizza. He closed the box and carried it around the bed. He opened the door of the mini-fridge that was disguised as a tall cabinet within one side of the desk, and slid the box inside. He knew there was room for it, having done this several times. So he knew that he wouldn't have to tilt it or worry that the fridge wasn't deep enough. Next up came the bottle of Coke, which fit easily into the door of the fridge, despite it's size.

Once the remnants of their meal was safely in the fridge, Anton turned his attention to Calliope's needs, moving first to the thermostat and turning it up a few degrees. He then moved towards the closet, pulling the spare blanket down from the top shelf and bringing it to the couch against the window, but only after he turned off the lights. Once the blanket was setup on the couch, he turned back towards the bed to grab his pillows.

 

[Serenity30822]

Calliope stayed right where she was, lifting her head to watch as Anton moved around the room. She wondered where they would go when they left this place, if she would like it, and found herself wondering what she would do with her freedom. She had spent so long as a captive, she was almost certainly going to be lost for a bit in regards to any sort of purpose.

"Anton?" She said quietly when he came to take the pillows from the bed. "Are you going to be comfortable over there? I'd hate for you to be uncomfortable, there really is plenty of room in the bed if you'd be more comfortable sleeping here." She once again had her cheek against her knees, looking toward him in the dark.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Though Anton stopped when he heard his voice, what Calliope said next caught him off guard. He'd been staring at the pillows he'd been reaching for, and he continued to do so for a few more seconds before he flicked his gaze upwards. While the room was dim, it was light enough for him to see her violet gaze, and it gave him pause, even as his tongue flicked nervously across his lips.

"I'd be lying if I said the couch was likely to be comfortable..." Anton started at last. "...but it was your comfort that I was concerned about." He took a long and slow breath as he stared into Calliope's beautiful violet eyes. "I didn't want you to think my motives were...impure I guess, especially while we're still...well...you know...and after what I said on the phone..." He let out an exasperated exhale, feeling like he was babbling. "We could set up a pillow wall between us, or maybe I could sleep on the top sheet, keeping that layer between us. Is there anything I can do to help make you more comfortable, Calliope?"

 

[Serenity30822]

Calliope smiled to herself as he stumbled over his words, lifting her head from her knees to fully look at him as he looked at her. "I trust you, Anton. You aren't your father, or his father, or any before..." she said, trailing off a bit but keeping her gaze on his.

She reached one hand over and lightly patted the bed beside her, her lips curled in a small smile in an attempt to let him know she wasn't uncomfortable in any way. It surprised her, that with each passing moment with him she felt less and less skeptical of his motives. She felt she truly could trust him, and trust him to keep his word to free her.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

Seeing Calliope raise her head off of her knees made Anton's breath catch almost as much as her first three words did. Her trust truly did mean everything to him. She'd been through so much, even if he didn't know the specifics, and had every reason to be suspicious of him. He could only guess at how many of his ancestors had promised to free her, only to go back on their word at the first opportunity.

Anton swallowed hard after Calliope's words trailed off, his dark brown gaze almost lost in her violet one. Yes, he saw her pat the bed beside her as an invitation, but it was that small smile that he could barely see that finally did the trick. He let go of the pillows he'd reached to take hold off, and switched to bracing a hand on the bed, pulled back the blanket and top sheet, and eased himself into the bed.

"Thank you for that..." Anton started, softly before flicking his tongue over his lips as he pulled the covers up over himself as he laid on his back. "...for your trust I mean. I know that it...and this...can't be easy for you." He bowed his head, even as he flicked his gaze towards her. "If there's anything more I can do, if you get hot or cold or...anything...just let me know, even if you have to wake me up in the middle of the night."