Adventurerers! Planning [Closed to lilgiastar and The Dark L

Art was walking home from work, it was late and getting cold in the middle of October. Normally he would just apparate to his apartment after locking up his office, but he had to go to the grocery store to get a few things. So he was walking the rest of the way home. He was walking briskly, since it was supposed to rain and as the sky was darkening from the night he could see the dark clouds looming and filling the sky. But there was suddenly a soft... noise. He paused, it sounded like... crying almost. A soft and pitiful noise. He glanced down an alley that he was passing. He took a tentative step in and it seemed as though the crying was coming from here. That was when a cloud moved and unblocked the moon and he could suddenly see it. A small bundle of a blanket with something crying inside, resting on some trash bags next to a dumpster that seemed full.

Was... was that a baby? Had someone thrown out their child?

He glanced around but the streets were empty, it was dark and about to rain and cold. There was no one, no one who could be the baby's mother. No one to take it. He couldn't leave a baby out in the cold, it would die and it was going to rain. He walked closer peering into the alley to make sure no one would jump out and attack him. But no it was also empty. He knelt down and gently unwrapped the blanket and quickly pulled his hand away when he saw that no it was not a baby but... a creature of some sort. Too young to even tell what the thing was. So small, possibily only hours old. Part of him wanted to leave right then and there, it was an animal it was going to eat him but.... the poor thing couldn't seem to even move, it's eyes weren't even open. The only sign of life were the small cries coming from it that seemed to be getting weaker with each one.

Surely the thing would die without milk and warmth. Especially with how small and weak it seemed... and it was going to rain. The poor thing would die for sure. He eyed its tiny teeth, and its tiny little claws... suspiciously. But no... it couldn't even move it couldn't attack him. He sighed. He wrapped the little thing back up, what cruel and heartless person just threw out a living thing? Dangerous man eating animal or not it deserved to live. He gently picked up the little bundle of blanket and thought about putting it on top of his grocery bag but... no no that wouldn't do. He sighed "Now... you better promise not to try to attack me, alright little one?" he said a bit nervously but the thing just gave another pitiful cry. He gently opened up his jacket and put the small bundle in his inside jacket pocket and then closed it up. He felt the freezing cold blanket against his chest but felt the thing... curl up. He had a man eating creature inside his coat next to his body. Right near his heart where its tiny claws could tear it right out of his chest! "This is just for tonight, I refuse to have you in my home for longer. Once the rain is gone in the morning your going right back outside" he informed the spot on his coat where it puffed out and the thing was. He didn't even know what the thing WAS!!

Art picked up his grocery bag and... well no he didn't want to apparate home the poor thing might not make the trip. So he rushed home as fast as he could, and thankfully was only a few blocks from his apartment building. He made his way up to his apartment and set the grocery bag down. He then found a box he was going to throw out but hadn't had a chance to yet and put a small pillow in it. He then gently took the bundle of animal out of his pocket and gently placed it into the box on the pillow with the blanket still around it. It felt... warmer. And with it having closed eyes and unable to move this box should prevent it from killing him in his sleep! "Warm up, I need to put the groceries away... and get you milk" he said and then quickly put things away and got out a small saucer for a tea cup to go on and put some milk in it. He then brought it over to the box, and gently touched the creature to make sure it was still alive since it had stopped crying. Still breathing. Alright, good. He gently set the saucer next to its head. "Milk, drink.... oh um eat?" he said unsure and watched to make sure the creature had some. But he watched as the pitiful thing seemed to sniff and lift its head oh so barely and then let out a terrible cry and set it back down. Why wasn't it drinking? Art's eyes widened as he realized it was too weak and small to drink it from the saucer. Without that milk it would surely die... what could he do he didn't have a bottle. Maybe he had a dropper? He didn't think he did....

Oh no. No. Oh no no no no.

"You eat or bite my finger and you are going right back outside! Rain or no rain! Understand?" he asked the creature. Oh merlin. Oh god. He couldn't believe he was about to do this. He gently put his finger in the saucer getting it covered in milk and paused, staring at the creature. He could see its little teeth, threatening to bite hid finger off. But... if it was too weak to even drink milk on its own surely it couldn't eat him? He took a deep breath, praying to god that it couldn't eat it him and gently put his finger on its upper lip and quickly pulled away. A tiny pink tongue came out and licked the upper lip clean of milk. And gave a soft cry again, probably wanting more. He again dipped his finger in, and smeared more milk on its lip before quickly pulling away, and then again and again until he accidentally didn't move away in time and the thing... LICKED his FINGER!! "AH!" he quickly pulled away, surely the thing now had a taste for Art meat! But... it didn't do anything still too weak to move. He sighed and continued his little finger dance of trying to feed the helpless thing. Finally the saucer was empty and the thing seemed... alright. It felt warm. It was breathing and it was no longer crying pitifully. He sighed and went to make his own dinner.

The thing got hungry again quite often and luckily it was friday, so being up all hours of the night was fine. But... he was quickly realizing he couldn't just... let it go in the morning. Without a mother or someone to take care of it it would die. It needed milk constantly and even once it got its strength up and could move a little it was far too weak to have milk on its own. By sunday he was realizing that this was a much bigger task then he thought. And he owled into work letting them know he was taking his vacation now. And realied he was now care taker to a man eating... thing.

Art eventually bought a bottle and got it a bigger box. And another blanket. And bought extra milk. And spent most of his time making sure it was fed and taken care of and warm. He quickly realized that... while he was caretaker to a man eating beast... it was... tiny. And helpless. And relied solely on him. And was... kind of... cute. And despite its tiny teeth and claws that could easily rip him to shreds... the thing hadn't even bit or scratched him. He kind of was starting to... like the little beast. And it still hadn't even opened its eyes! It was completely helpless and tiny. And it had snuggled up to his hand a few times and he even given in and given it pets. And he even held it a few times. And maybe just maybe it wouldn't eat him? Maybe... maybe possibly, he would keep the little beast.

He had had the thing, which he had taken to affectionately calling Little Beast, Little for short, about two weeks. It was morning and he got out of bed to go to the bathroom. And then headed into the kitchen to get a saucer of milk and went to the box where Little Beast was waiting......

And Froze in his tracks.

It's eyes were open. And those were CAT eyes!!

He had a CAT in his apartment. Drinking his milk. Licking his finger. Being called Little Beast. A man eating MONSTER in his HOME. ON his PILLOW!!

And it picked its head up seeing him. Wanting to EAT HIM!!

What was he going to do? He had a cat! In his apartment! It had tricked like all cats tricked humans into getting into their homes so it could eat them! And he had... fallen for it.

Mew.

Art's thoughts froze. Mew. Little Beast let out a meow, its tail wagging slightly. Oh god it was going to eat him. Mew! But it wasn't looking at him. He followed its eyes to the.. saucer of milk. It was hungry. Oh god it was hungry. How could he feed it? He would have to put his hand inside the box with that evil man eating monster. But.. now that the fear was wearing off a little... he liked Little Beast. Little Beast hadn't bitten or scratched him. Hadn't tried to eat him. Seemed to like him even. But it was still an evil man eating cat! Mew. Art looked at the milk saucer. How was he going to get it in without the cat eating his hand now that it could see? He took a deep breath and sat the saucer in the box and then quickly pulled his hand out. Little Beast... no the evil man eating cat, happily bounced over to the saucer and started to happily lap up the milk.

He watched it while it drank the milk. What was he going to do? He coulnd't have a cat! It would eat him!! But it was his Little Beast and all... orange and cute. He had.. come to like Little Beast. He couldn't just put Little Beast back outside, it was freezing out. And the little thing still needed round the clock care. If he put it outside it would die. Maybe he could give Little Beast to someone? But it wasn't like he had friends. And he didn't like his co workers. Sarah always wanted a cat but... he didn't want to give his Little Beast to Sarah. She was mean. And who knew how she would treat his LIttle Beast!

Mew.

His thoughts interupted again by its little meowing roar. And Little Beast's little chin was all soaked in milk and dripping and... no no no not cute not cute, that's how the cats get you! Oh god he had to get the saucer out of the box now, didn't he? He took a deep breath and reached his hand in...

Lick

"AH!" he dropped the saucer the few centimeters onto the pillow and quickly pulled his hand back out. Little Beast sat down and stared up at him, its evil tail wagging. This evil thing was going to eat him for sure!!! Maybe his mom wanted a cat? If not she would probably just give it to Sarah, or suggest he give it to Sarah. He was not doing that!! He didn't want Little Beast going to Sarah. He sighed and turned into the kitchen to make himself breakfast, he had to think about this. He sighed and ate and then sat on his couch to do some reading.

He didn't even notice but Little Beast decided to escape its little box confinement. It climbed up the box like a monkey and then plopped out of the other side. And then slowly padded towards the couch where Art was sitting reading. Using its tiny claws it climbed up the couch and made its way onto Art's leg.

Which is when Art noticed. He lifted the book and instantly froze, his eyes widening. Oh god. It escaped. It escaped!!! And it was here to EAT him!!! He was done for. He was a goner, at the hands of a cat!!

Little Beast then padded up onto his stomach and then onto his chest, right in the same spot it had rested two weeks earlier up against him, in his pocket. It gave a soft mew and then curled up right on his chest right above his heart.

Art watched in horror as it climbed up him and then got to right where his heart was. At least death would be swift. But then it just... laid down and curled up. And it started to... vibrate and make a weird noise. It... was... not? Eating him? And... he kind of... liked it. Maybe Little Beast wouldn't eat him...? And he felt kind of warm and tingly inside. Maybe he.... liked Little Beast. And maybe he would keep Little Beast, at least until Little Beast was old enough to care for itself. He gave a soft smile at Little Beast and gently raised his hand from his book and gently pet Little Beast's head. Just until Little Beast was old enough to care for itself.


Epilogue.

Art slowly opened his eyes to see a pair of blue eyes staring back at him. He gave a chuckle as Little Beast gave a happy meow that he was up. He reached out and gave him happy scratched behind the ear and then hopped off. "I bet your hungry" he said and slowly got up and headed to the bathroom, LIttle Beast hopping off of the bed and happily padding after him into the bathroom. It had been two years since he had rescued Little Beast. The first year had been... hard. There had been times Art was almost certain he would be eaten. Like the first time Art woke up to find LIttle Beast sitting on his chest staring at him as he slept. Times Art was sure he would give Little Beast to someone, like when Little Beast used his paw to push an entire ink well onto a freshly made map. Art walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen and got out some cat food and put it into Little Beast's bowl, which was a lovely orange that matched Little Beast's coloring. He made himself breakfast and watched as Little Beast ate. But, as hard as the first year was, he loved Little Beast and now that he had him, couldn't imagine life without his little beast.

Art stared at the letter his pen pal and childhood hero, Bathilda Bagshot, sent him. On a whim after reading her newest book he decided to write her, not expecting anything to come of it but just telling her how much he enjoyed the new book and how he had been reading her books his entire life. From as early as being able to read he had read her books due to his love of history and how accurate her books were. He hadn't expected a letter back. But she had sent him a letter back. And a year later with constant letters back and forth sometimes multiple times a week, the newest letter had come. And she was asking him to her home for a dinner date.

Art didn't date. But...

This was Bathilda Bagshot. It didn't matter to him that she was over two hundred. And she loved history, and well they seemed to get along nicely. So... why not? He sent off a letter agreeing to a dinner date this Friday at her home and decided he needed to look nice. He made sure wore a nice black outfit and bought chocolates for her, since his mother always told him to not go empty handed to someone's house and this was also a date! Chocolate was nice. He liked chocolate and hoped she did too. He tried to do something with his hair, but brushing it and such didn't help how curly it was, so he left it. And, he also put on some cologne his father had bought him, and was suppoed to smell very fruity and reminded his father of Guatemala. He never wore colgne before, he didnt really have a need for it but this was a very important dinner date! So... he decided it was time to wear it.

Once ready, he went on the night bus, since he hadn't ever been to Godricks hallow before, and then looked at the numbers until he finally found hers. He took a deep breath to try to calm his nerves. H hadn't ever been on a date before. And this was Bathilda Bagshot! Wanting to go on a date with him! HIM! Of all people! He brought up his hand and gave a nice hard knock and then brought it back to his side and shook it a bit, it was a hard heavy wooden door! He waited patiently and then the door opened and an eldrly woman opened the door, she was short, with grey hair. But she smiled at him.

"Art! How nice to meet you in person, come on in" she said. He gave a soft smile and nodded and walked in.

"Thank you, it's lovely to finally meet you as well" he said and then awkwardly held the box of fine belgium chocolates out to her. She grinnned and happily took the box.

"Why thank you! I bet these are delicious" she said and then started to lead Art towards the dining room. Art followed and glanced around, it was a very cozy and warm and very lived in feeling with nick nacks and historical items throughout the room, and the dining area was no different. It felt warm and homey. Comfy almost. He rather liked it. "Sit, I made a roast and will bring it out now" she said. He nodded and sat just like she asked him to. He watched as she went off into the kitchen and he glanced around. She had a picture of herself with Dumbledore in her china closet. And... was that a real ammonite fossil?? And that looked like an actual tablet of ancient runes! Pagan in origin probably, due to her book The Decline of Pagan Magic! And that was just what he could see where he was! The entire cabinet looked filled with little things like that!

However she came back in with the roast and sat it down with a smile "Ah, looking at my memorbilia?" she asked with a chuckle. He blushed and looked away.

"Ah... sorry" he mumbled. She waved her hand.

"No need for that! It is out and displayed to be looked at! LIke a museum" she chuckled and got out a knife and started to cut the roast. Once the roast was cut. Art started to relaxx a bit. She was nice, and dinner was wonderful. Full of stories not in her books, and stories of his own! Though hers were much better, of first hand accounts of real people still alive while his were from what he had learned about Ancient Greece and such. But she listened any way, and he listened to everything she had to say as well. About Dumbledore and Grindelwald and Hogwarts and England as a whole. He could listen to her forever! And they sat there slowly eating and chatting for hours. And it felt like minutes had passed! Art really was enjoying her company.

Bathilda cleared away the plates finally and got ot a tea set "Shall we take our tea in the living room?" she asked. Art nodded and got up and followed her into the living room. She set the tea set down on the coffee table and the kettle lifted itself and filled both cups "Cream or sugar?" she asked. Art nodded.

"Two sugars please" he said and two sugar lifted and ploped themselves into the cup. The cup floated itself to him and he took a sip. She added cream to hers and also took a sip when it floated.

"Did you enjoy dinner?" she asked. Art nodded, he had indeed enjoyed dinner.

"It was delicious, thank you. Though for a first I should have taken you out to a nice restaurant" he said. Bathilda looked at him oddly.

"First... date?" she asked. Now Art was confused. He gave a slow nod.

"Isn't... that what this was?" he asked softly. Bathila gave him a warm smile.

"Ah my dear, I called it a dinner date in the letter. But no, just a friendly dinner between two friends who enjoy history! Besides I am far too old for you! You need someone your own age, you have your whole life ahead of you! My life is mostly behind me! Ancient history, just like the books i write." she said.

Art's shoulders slumped a bit "oh" he mmbled, his face getting hot."I uh... I should go" he mumbled after a few moments of silence and set his cup down.

"Oh don't go, finish your tea first. It is a perfectly understandable mistake. No need to be embarrased! We were having a lovely and I am honored to know you thought it was a date" she assured him.

Art nodded a bit and picked up his cp and took another sip "It was a very nice dinner" he said a bit awkwardly. She smiled at him and started to tell him tales of a very young dumbledore, still a child in his pre Hogwarts days. Probably to make things less awkward. Which he did not mind at all. He listened carefully and sipped his tea. And when both the tea and tale were done he got up. "I did have a lovely night" he said.

She got up with a smile "I look forward to your next letter!" she said and walked him to the door. She opened it and he nodded "I will be sure to write right away" he assured her. She smiled and he left, walking a bit before apparating back to his apartment. He was a bit upset it wasn't an actual date, she was nice and liked history. He really didn't think their age mattered that much, as long as they got along and enjoyed each others company. Oh well, he had had a nice time.

Art pushed a ccart full of books, they had had a lot of returns today and the regular librarians were swamped so he was taking a step out of his usual research role to help. After all he knew the dewy decimal system, and knew where practically every book in the library went regardless... and he loved being around books. He rounded a corner to put away some poetry when he found a small boy. He couldn't have been more then seven or eight. He was curled up on the floor in the corner. He was crying softly, and Art could easily see the signs of a beating. A split lip, bruises that were light now but were slowly forming and getting darker, and he could easily notice the way some of them though light looked like knuckle marks. Something he knew very well. Art did not interact with children much, but he couldn't just... walk away and not do anything while the child was clearly beaten. Especially not when he knew oh so well what that was like.

Art left the cart and walked over and knelt by him on the floor "Hi there, I'm Art. What's your name?" he asked softly. The kid looked up.

"Edgar" he mumbled between little gasps for breath. Art nodded.

"Edgar is a nice name. Tell me Edgar, did some of your classmates hurt you?" Edgar's eyes looked wary "It's alright, I was beat by my fellow classmates too when I was your age." and older too but he wasn't going to tell Edgar that. Art gave Edgar a soft smile "I also used the library as a way to escape, it was quiet and nice around the books. Books don't judge or want to hurt you, they just are" he explained softly.

Edgar gave a little sniffle "I can't read. Or do maths because of it. ANd they call me stupid. I'm the stupidest kid in the class and fail every spelling test" Edgar whispered. "I just wanted to be somewhere quiet where they wouldn't be" he mumbled after a few moments.

Art nodded "Classmates are cruel. I am sorry that they are so mean to you." him being sorry didn't.. do anything though. And he wanted to help this child. "I'm very good at reading, and perhaps I could help you read. Teach you how to read, and how to write and spell and do math. How does that sound?" he asked. He never taught before, but how hard could it be? And if it helped this kid and stopped him from being bullied then it was worth it.

It was about a week in and Art was... wondering if taking this up had been the right decision. It was a lot harder then he thought, the boy seemed to have sort of inability to learn how to read. It was frustrating, and Edgar would get up crying every day and leave without much progress happening at all. And every day he came back, and had more bruises, the old ones weren't healing well and he didn't want this kid to give up on learning just because of some bullies. He didn't want Edgar to think of himself as stupid. But it was so frustrating. He sighed as Edgar ran out of the library, because Art tried to explain the difference in though, through and tough because he could understand that being a very difficult set of words to learn how to read and spell. They all ended in ough, but yet all sounded so different.

About a month in, Art was ready to give up. He felt he wasn't making any progress with Edgar, despite trying so hard to teach him to read it felt like nothing had changed. ANd it broke his heart to see Edgar coming into the library every day with more bruises. ANd it angered him that the school seemed to do nothing, just like it did nothing when he would come in each day covered in bruises. Nothing had changed! In twenty years nothing had changed! It was sad. And still every day, something would make Edgar cry. He tried to be as caring and soft spoken as possible but if he couldn't do one thing he was off and crying. Each day they only did so little, nothing was happening. He didn't want to give up on this kid though, he knew what it was like to have no one supporting you. ANd he didn't want Edgar to feel that way.

Art looked at himself in the mirror, he was wearing a tux that he and Adriel had gotten during their trip to Aphrodite. It was Di's wedding to Carmin. He unfortunately had procrastinated on asking Adriel to be his 'plus one' as a friend so he didn't have to go alone, and Adriel had said he had plans for the day. He sighed, his parents said they had a surprise for him. A blind date no doubt. He frowned, and apparated a block or two away from the church, not wanting the muggles to see him appearing out of no where. After all Carmin's family was muggles. He walked the rest of the way and walked in and blessed himself with the holy water.

"Artemio!" his mothers voice rang out and he didn't even have time to brace himself before her arms were around him. He frowned and she pulled away with a smile "Your father and I have a surprise for you!" his mother said and he could see his father also smiling. A moment later a woman walked out from behind him. She seemed familar, she was pretty. But, Art wasn't really interested in a date and especially not with Maria Lopez, his fathers work companions daughter. "Maria Lopez, Art" his mother introduced them. Art gave a nod and she smiled at him. He went to the pew with her, he didn't really have much of a choice to be honest, and sat on the side with the rest of his family, and Di's friends. The ceremony itself was nice, and he didn't get to alk to her much. Not that he cared. After, everyone headed to the reception. The reception was Carmin's parents backyard, with a tent, tables set up and a friend of the family playing music. It was nice though. He went to his table with Maria and pulled out her chair for her. She smiled.

"Why thank you Artemio" she said and sat down. He nodded and sat down, everyone was standing or sitting and talking, some in English some in Spanish.

"Do you know any Spanish?" he asked, since her name was Maria Lopez perhaps her parents were immigrants, or she was mixed like he was.

"Ah, I know a little" she admitted with a smile, her eyes seeming to shine with amusement. He nodded.

"I'll um... get us some food, um stay here" he said and got up and grabbed two plates. He made sure that each was filled with all different things, though he stayed away from the pork since it had a plum sauce on it. He came back and set both plates "Uh, sorry if you like pork loin, it has a plum sauce on it and uh I'm allergic to plums" he apologized and sat down.

"Oh thats no problem I am not a big fan of pork" she said and started to eat. He nodded and sat down. "So, what do you do for work?" she asked and Sarah and Cecil sat down, since they were at the table meant for Di's family. Art frowned a bit.

"I work at the Oxford library" he said softly.

"Oh thats fascinating! What do you do at the library?" she asked excitedly.

"Uh, research mainly. But I just finished this expedition for it" he said and glanced at Sarah.

"An expedition, that sounds dangerous, what did you do? Did you find anything?" she asked and smiled at Sarah "And who is this?" she asked.

Sarah smiled at her in a sickly sweet "Sarah, Di and Art's sister. And this is my husband, Cecil" she introduced them.

"I uh... found some artifacts" he mumbled. With some more poking and prodding from Maria, he ended up excitedly telling her everything. Everything he could, he thought she was a muggle, since he figured his father and her father worked together as janitors at the hospital. He almost forgot Sarah was even there, she was being silent!

Maria smiled at him "It sounds like you had a lovely time, though I do need to use the ladies room, please excuse me" she said and got up. Once it seemed she was out of ear shot, Sarah turned to him.

"What do you think your doing going on about your dumb expedition? No one cares about long lost history, it doesn't matter today. Your boring your poor date! Honestly, it makes sense that your a friendless no body who has never had a girlfriend. I can't believe your talking her ear off you haven't even asked her anything about-"

Art was sitting there, shoulders slumped just.. taking it. However he glanced up when she suddenly... stopped midsentence. Sarah's eyes were wide and she was trying to speak. But nothing was coming out. Art stared bewildered, what?

Maria strode back with a sickly smile on her face "Perhaps, you should have waited until I was actually in the ladies room before berating your brother. A non verbal silencing charm should quiet you for the rest of the night" she said. Art felt... warm and tingly inside and... smiled at Maria. It sadly only lasted a few moments before there was a flash, and it quickly melted as he turned to see his parents cooing at them and taking a photo. He turned back to Maria who smiled and left, to go to the ladies room he could assume. He looked back to see Sarah frowning and looking grumpy.

Pretty, seemed to enjoy his tales of history and his expedition, and stood up for him. And not that being a muggle was a drawback, but she was also a witch. Maybe... maybe this wasn't that bad. He put their dishes away while she was in the bathroom, and the music was getting a bit louder. When she came back she smiled at him.

"Let's dance" she said. Art gave a nod but was a bit nervous, he only knew the basic box step. But they got to the dancing area and he wasn't entirely sure what to do. She grabbed his hands and put one on her shoulder and the other on her waist. And they did the box step, like she knew that was the only dance he knew. It was a relief. And.. he found himself enjoying the dance. He could see his parents taking pictures but he didn't mind. He felt... safe and comfortable around her. And even though he really didn't want to date, and didn't want this blind date, he was... enjoying himself. And he felt so comfortable around her. And tingly inside and warm. Was this..... no, he couldn't let himself think like that, he had done that twice before. But this felt... different. This felt... right. This felt nice and cozy.

He had always seen his parents being so in love. His father reading the news paper with his mother snuggles up to his chest, just sitting in silence enjoying each others company. Or how his father would hug his mother from behind while she was cooking, just holding her close, and then helped her cook. He had used to want that... and he couldn't help those thoughts from flittering back in as she rested her head against his chest. And he found himself, not minding it, not minding the touch. He gently rested his chin on the top of her head. Her hair smelled nice. And familiar, but he couldn't place it. Maybe when you found the right person for you in the world, they just felt... familiar.

"In Ancient Greece there was a myth about the creation of man, that we used to have two heads, four arms, four legs. And there were three genders, male, female, and then one that was both. And the gods thought we were too powerful like that. So they split us up so we had two arms, two legs, one head each. And would wander the earth looking for our second half and wouldn't be complete without it." he explained, though without his thought process it didn't really make sense. But to him it did. And maybe that was why she felt so familar. Perhaps.... stop thinking about it.

"Is there more to the story?" she asked. He smiled a little.

"No" he said and continued to dance. He didn't even seem to notice the song had changed.

They danced for a long while and talked, he told her stories of his expedition, and could tell her more now that he knew she was a witch, and told her stories of ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt. She seemed fascinated by them all. And eventually it was time for cake and they finally broke apart. He pulled out her chair for her and pushed her in once she sat and couldn't help a little evil smile at seeing a very disgruntled Sarah who still couldn't talk, and went to go get their cake. He brought over the two dishes and sat down. And he told her of his town, and all his plans for it.

The hours really felt like minutes as they spoke and she even knew some things about history as well and told him some stories as well. It was getting late, and everyone was starting to slowly filter out. It was getting empty but they were still talking and enjoying each others company. He glanced around and seemed to finally notice there weren't many people left. Even Sarah had regained her voice and she and Cecil left. He looked at her, the moonlight making her almost glow. He took her hand and walked her out of the area, going a couple blocks away where they could apparate safely. As he walked he couldn't help but stare at her. Did she feel the way he felt?

"I had a really nice time" he said.

"So did I, but I can't wait to get out of these heels!" she said. He gave a soft smile, that was endearing.

"Perhaps... we could... go out for dinner sometime" he offered, his voice shaking a little with nerves. Maria glanced at him, her eyes full of amusement again and he felt his heart racing in his chest. He was sure she would be able to hear it.

"Art, it's me" she said and got out her wand and... Art watched in a mix of shock and horror as his date... turned into Adriel! And he felt so many emotions at once. Stupid, for not realizing. And for letting himself actually think... and sad that it was all a lie. And confused too, he had had... real feelings for Maria. Did that mean... he had feelings for Adriel? No Adriel was a man he couldn't.

Art looked away "I knew that" he scoffed.

"Did you?" Adriel asked playfully.

"Yes, of course I knew" he said defensively. Adriel laughed.

"It's alright if you didn't, but I really need to get out of these heels now. I will see you tomorrow?" Adriel said.

Art frowned and nodded "I will see you tomorrow" he agreed and apparated away back to his apartment. He sighed and sat down on his couch... unsure what to feel. He hadn't known it was Adriel...

Art was walking home from work, it was late and getting cold in the middle of October. Normally he would just apparate to his apartment after locking up his office, but he had to go to the grocery store to get a few things. So he was walking the rest of the way home. He was walking briskly, since it was supposed to rain and as the sky was darkening from the night he could see the dark clouds looming and filling the sky. But there was suddenly a soft... noise. He paused, it sounded like... crying almost. A soft and pitiful noise. He glanced down an alley that he was passing. He took a tentative step in and it seemed as though the crying was coming from here. That was when a cloud moved and unblocked the moon and he could suddenly see it. A small bundle of a blanket with something crying inside, resting on some trash bags next to a dumpster that seemed full.

Was... was that a baby? Had someone thrown out their child?

He glanced around but the streets were empty, it was dark and about to rain and cold. There was no one, no one who could be the baby's mother. No one to take it. He couldn't leave a baby out in the cold, it would die and it was going to rain. He walked closer peering into the alley to make sure no one would jump out and attack him. But no it was also empty. He knelt down and gently unwrapped the blanket and found a new born baby, in a diaper. It couldn't have been more then a couple of hours old. Art was horrified, how could someone do this! How dare they! He immediately picked the child up, he didn't even know if it was a boy or girl. He glanced at the sky. He needed formula and diapers ASAP. He picked up his bag and held the baby that was softly crying. The poor thing must be so cold! He went back to the grocery as fast as he could and picked up diapers and formula and bottles and went back to the check out. He made sure to go to a different one and then paid and practically ran home, struggling with holding the baby, and now two bags of groceries he had. But he couldn't apparate, he could harm the poor thing!

Once home he set the bags down and held the baby and tried to wash the bottle while holding the baby. It was... difficult to say the least. But he knew this baby was far too young to be able to sit up and so it would fall off the chair. So difficult was better then just... putting the baby on the floor! Once the bottle was clean, he put in formula and water and mixed it up. He then situated the baby into a much better position and gently brought the bottle to its mouth. The baby finally seemed to calm down and gently started to suckle on the bottle, finally stopping its crying. Art relaxed.

"It's alright, your alright. You are not trash. You are... " Art realized he didn't even know if the baby was a boy or girl. "You are a baby" he settled on. The little thing kept drinking the bottle happily and Art was very grateful to be an older brother and to have at least some general basic knowledge about babies. "Why did your mother throw you out?" he asked and the baby finished the bottle. Art set the bottle down and put the baby on his chest and gently pat its back until it gave a happy burp. Art smiled and brought the baby back so it was laying in his arms. "Now, I'm just going to do a little peak, I need to know if your a boy or a girl" he assured the baby and held the baby in one arm and gently moved the diaper with the other. He gave a little peak. And then set the diaper back. "There, that wasn't that bad, your a baby boy. I don't know what I'm going to do with you... but you did not deserve to be treated like trash" he let the baby boy know.

Over the weekend, Art spent around the clock caring for the baby boy. He even sent a letter to his mother and got the old crib to set up in his apartment. And on Monday he let the library know he was taking off a few weeks, which should be fine given that he rarely ever took off work. He wasn't really sure what to do though, it wasn't like the mother would be looking for her baby boy. She had thrown him out! Probably a muggle girl who had gotten 'in trouble' by her boyfriend.

By the time the few weeks were almost over, Art was affectionately calling the boy Zotikos, which meant full of life in Ancient Greek, was going to the MInistry with his mother, since she worked as a secretary there. And his grandfather who his mom insisted on having come, since he was the department head of Magical Games and Sports as crooked as Art knew he was, was rather respected in his field. So the three, four counting little Zotty, went into the Ministry and went to the department of Magical Law Enforcement to do some official paper work about legally adopting the boy. Art filled in all the paper work, and was sure this was something he wanted to do. He had always wanted a wife and kids, so what if he had the kid without the wife?

ONe of the agents sat down and looked over the paper work with them. He frowned a bit. "Uh Mr. Reyes... do you happen to have a wife?" he asked.

"I uh... no. But I have a steady job with steady income, and also due to my recent expedition have... other forms of income, I own a resort town and get a nice amount of money from that as well. Also due to my fame from having found Atlantis, my schedule is very flexible." he assured him. "And I have a big support system, my parents have also fallen in love with Zotikos"

The agent looked at him "Zotikos?" he asked.

Art nodded "That is what I plan on naming him, it means Full of life. I think it is fitting given how I found him. He was crying in a pile of trash, thrown away by his birth mother" he explained, even though it was all in the paperwork.

The agent nodded "Well it is muggle law that a husband and wife must adopt. A single man can not legally adopt. While the wizarding world doesn't have laws about this... I am inclined to follow the muggle law on this, especially considering that child is most likely a muggle."

Wait... "I have to get married to adopt him?" he asked, absolutely shocked.

"Yes" the agent said flatly. "We will agree for him to stay in your custody for now, but your file for adoption has been denied." the agent said. Art frowned and got up, still holding little Zotikos, and left.

Art paced his apartment, unsure what to do. He didn't want to get married, he wasn't in love with anyone! And it wasn't like he had any friends he could ask, as a sham marriage. He supposed there was Athena he could ask, but... she liked him. She wouldn't want it to be just a sham and only legal on paper. She would want to be married married and do... married people activities. But it did give him an idea. He got out a piece of parchment and quill.

Dear Lady Mackenzie,

It is Art Reyes, Adriel's friend. A few weeks ago I found a baby that had been tossed into the trash, new born. I have been taking care of him and love him like my own son. He is my son. And I am looking to adopt him, legally be able to call him mine. However, unfortunately there is a law that I must be married to be able to adopt him. While I have no intention of ever marrying or dating, I can not let them take him away from me to put him in an orphanage. I have no one else to turn to, and I am not proposing marriage. My grandfather works in the MInistry and could create some 'legal' paperwork to make it look as though we are married. All I ask is permission for your name and for you to put some of your stuff in my closet so it appears as though you live here, there would be no actual marriage legal or otherwise. And once the adoption has gone through, any 'paperwork' can be destroyed. If it would make you feel better I would even sign a prenuptial agreement, so that even if our fake marriage can hold up in court, I would have no legal right to you or any of your property"

and he sent it off. He had no idea how she would reply, all he could hope for was that she would agree to his idea so that he could adopt his son. He went over to the crib and watched his son sleep, smiling softly. "Don't worry Zotty, I will be your father. I will find a way" he assured him and just watched him sleep.

Art saw Adriel and then Adriel... disappeared. So Art ran after him and suddenly stopped. He was in a fantastical world, with a path in front of him, and the sky was colorful and moving. Had he... fallen asleep? This coulnd't be real. He had to be in a dream. He didn't know he had such an imagination to make up such a fantastical world. He followed the path, everything was beautiful. It almost reminded him of the book ALice in WOnderland, and he felt like ALice having stepped into wonderland. Giant mushrooms, and beautiful flowers that Art couldn't place. The entire thing was... magical. He kept walking, sometime the path broke off into other ways and Art had to make a decision on which path to follow.

Art walked and wondered, not sure where he was going or where this dream was taking him. It felt... like he had been in this dream for ever but yet also for only minutes which was the oddest thing. After walking for... he wasn't sure to be honest. He came across a lake that seemed to be... inside a tree trunk! Art circled it to the other side, but no the other side was just... tree. He gave a knock. It was solid! He walked back to the front and catiously stuck a hand in. He could feel the breeze on his hand, feel the heat of the sun. ANd if he lowered it, he could feel the water, his hand was in water! He pulled his hand out and was... shocked to see it was wet! He looked around a bit, bewildered. And then he very bravely stuck his head into the hole, portal, whatever it was! And he could see the water, stretching out for all he could see. He could feel the sun on his face. He could smell the salt, and feel the breeze. ANd he could hear seagulls and other sea birds. He wondered what was under the water, and wondered if he could breath under water in this odd dream state he seemed to be in. If he was dreaming, there was no reason to not just... jump on in and take a quick dive.

He felt a tug on his leg and pulled his head out and looked down to see... Coyote? Art grinned and Coyote looked up at him and tugged on his pants. Art frowned "Hey don't do that, even dream pants they are still my pants" he said. Coyote gave another tug and Art sighed and tried to shoo him from his pants. Well, at least he wasn't alone any more. He pulled his leg away and went back to the path, and continued on. Coyote tagged along, trotting next to him. After a few minutes... or hours who knew, they came across another fork in the path and Coyote tugged on his pants again, going towards the left side. Art sighed "Stop that! And even dream me knows thats a trap, Adriel has told me many times you are a prankster. And I will be very upset if you rip my dream pants" he said and went onto the right side path.

Art kept walking and found a beautiful garden where the sky was purple and pink and swirled and twisted around as if he was watching the cosmos themselves moving and expanding, and the grass was filled with these beautiful white flowers that seemed to glow as they gently swayed in the breeze. Art walked towards them and Coyote desperately tried to pull him back to the path and Art shooed him away, he wanted to pick a flower! No, he needed to pick a flower. Art knelt down and picked one of the flowers, the biggest most beautiful and whitest and most glowing flower he could find. Once he picked it, the flower morphed and grew until it was too big to hold! Even Coyote seemed to growl at it and Art backed up as it got bigger and bigger and thenn was human sized! Still beautiful, white, and glowing! It let out a huge roar and Art shrieked and turned and started to run as fast as he could, paying no attention to where he was going and screaming the entire time.

Art paid no attention at all where he had gone. But he ended up at the base of some mushroom steps that he couldn't see where they led to. But the path seemed to stop here. Coyote whined and pulled on his pants again. Art sighed and knelt down to pet Coyote, closing his eyes as the nice warmth feeling filled him. It felt nice after the fear of the giant flower monster. "We can't go the other way, theres a crazy flower monster that is going to be looking for us. This is the only way to go." he explained and pulled away, sighing as the nice warmth seeped away. And Art started to go up the steps. And up. ANd up and up. And up some more. The stairs felt never ending! And they were curvy and topsy turvy. Was... the mushroom upside down suddenly? No that couldn't be right. Maybe there was a mushroom growing under the original mushroom. So he kept walking. It felt like forever that hejust walked and walked endlessly going up these steps. Coyote gave his pants a tug and Art frowned "I don't think we can go on the mushroom, Coyote." he said but Coyote gave another tug. Art sighed, well, it was better then the endless stairs. And it was a dream right? Art walked onto the giant toadstool mushroom and found it was bouncy! Like a trampoline! Oh this as fun!

Art laughed and bounced up and down with Coyote, and then started to jump to other mushrooms, jumping up high in the air and laughing, oh this was so much fun! Slowly the giant toadstool mushrooms started to get shorter, until finally he was able to jump to the ground. He grinned at Coyote "That was fun! Lets do that again!" he said but Coyote whined and tugged on his pants again. Art sighed "why are you being so... irritating in this dream? Your not irritating in real life" he said which earned him more tugging of his pants. Art sighed and kept walking, going the other way since if he was running into never ending stairs and giant evil flowers on his own, what would Coyote send him to? Man eating mushrooms? Though that thought made him pause. He glanced around.

"There aren't any animals or creatures here. Except you, but you don't entirely count your a patronus. Or a god. I'm not quite sure since its a dream. But theres no other creatures. We are the only living beings. I guess the dream catcher is working to keep creatures away, since they can eat me" he said and then kept walking. He paused as he found an area with... food? Art walked over to it, it was just a little clearing and there was... food. There were some apples, and oranges, and some nuts. Oh and the baklava from the cafe he liked in the container! He couldn't remember seeing food any where else. Just flowers, no fruits or vegetables or anything. He sat down in the grass and started to happily eat, realizing he was absolutely starving. He dug into the apples and oranges and opened and ate the baklava. Too bad his dream didn't give him tea or hot chocolate to go with it. He was thirsty. Oh well. He finished everything, though felt a bit bad about leaving the apple cores and the orange peels and the cardboard box behind. Even in his dream that was still littering! And wrong! There were no apples or oranges in this dreamscape, those cores and peels coule mess up the eco system! At least it was just a dream.

So he got up and kept walking. Coyote kept trying to tug him in certain directions, but he did't really listen. He kept walking. He came across a beautiful bridge and started to walk across it. He didn't love how high off the ground it was, but it was a dream. If he fell he would just wake up! So he was just walking, ignoring the height. However as he made it to the other side he heard something.

"Hey! Are you Art?" Art paused and turned to see a very.... ragged and obviously homeless man. In his dream of beautiful wonderland. Mm that didn't belong.

"I am" he said.

"Adriel said you need to follow Coyote, he is trying to lead you out" the man said. Out? Out of what? Art looked down at Coyote who looked up at him in a very 'i told you so' type manor.

"Alright" he said a bit unsure, why had his dream brought him a messenger of... a homeless man? The man looked around in awe "I think i need to stop taking that morphine, because I am tripping" he said. Art frowned. A homeless man with a drug problem. Coyote gave Art's pants a tug and Art sighed. "ALright, I will follow you" he said and Coyote snickered and then started to head out. Art, and the homeless man, followed Coyote, and Art looked around at all the beautiful spots of the area. As odd as this dream was, it was beautiful. Finally Coyote disappeared and Art followed...

Right into what was the side of the mountain. ANd prompty threw up. He felt... dizzy and disoriented. And tired. He sat down and threw up again.

"Art!" Art looked up to see a very worried Adriel. Art frowned.

"Ugg I had the worst dream ever and now I feel so sick.. everything stopped moving" he complained. Adriel got out an anti nasuaea potion and held it out to him.

"You weren't dreaming, that was the maze" Adriel explained. Art took the potion from Adriel and opened it but paused.

"Wait... all of that was REAL?? I could have died!!! I could have been crushed by a giant flower! Or fell of a giant mushroom!" he said starting to freak out. Adriel smiled at him.

"Drink up, and then you probably need to get some sleep. And eat proper food! You were gone for thirty six hours!" Adriel informed him. Art drank the potion and made a face. But then his eyes widened.

"Thirty Six hours!!" he exclaimed and yawned, suddenly very tired. The world blurred and he was out.

Art walked into the library, it was bright and early, first thing in the morning. And the board had said they wanted to see him. It had to be about his grant request to find Atlantis, which he had proposed again only a few weeks ago. He gave a knock on the door and he heard them say to enter. He walked in to see all the board members at their desks and stood there.

"Ah, Mr. Reyes. We have discussed your proposal" the head of the board said. Art gave a nod, they were going to agree to it weren't they? He was finally going to go to Greece and search for Atlantis. "But we have come to the conclusion you are... inexperienced" he finished. Art slumped and tried not to frown, they were denying him AGAIN. "We have also noticed you do not take time off, you have a lot of vacation time saved up due to this, and we have decided to give you a one hundred galleon bonus, and a five percent raise. You will take your saved up vacation time, paid time off, and go to another country. It can not be a first world country, nor can it be a place you are familiar with. You will need to journal your experiences and do at least one outside activity. The journal will be archived with your proposal. We will also provide you with a guide for translation and protecting you" he explained.

Wait... he was getting a raise, a bonus and... was being forced to take a vacation which was going to be paid? But he couldn't go to a first world country or somewhere he knew. Well that eliminated Italy, Greece and Egypt. And places like America. And Guatemala. Mm where could he go? He would need to look at a map to decide.

"Uh thank you I will pick a place to go and take off within a few days" he promised. They nodded.

"You are dismissed" Art nodded and headed out, going to his office.

When he got home he looked at a map. So most Europe was pretty much out of the question. So was America and Canada. He couldn't really go to Africa, not with all the unrest there. Most places in South AMerica were also out of the question because of the revolutions going on. He would be in a lot of danger going there. Even just going to Mexico was probably not the best idea. England owned a lot of colonies, and still owned quite a few that were not first world countries. He could go to one of those, it would be safer and easier. As long as he stayed away from South and Central America, and Africa. Mmm English territories. There were some islands he could go to. Like Fiji. He didn't know much about Fiji. ANd getting a portkey for it would be very easy, considering it was ENglish owned. Fiji had... beaches and mountains. So he could do... outdoor things. And it was an island so he could probably go swimming.

And with that, he decided to be off to Fiji. He applied for the time off, applied for the portkey, and got to packing.

And within a couple of days he was in Labasa with an itinerary and a guide. He was staying at a lovely beach side resort in his own private hut, that he had the option of going to the resorts pool, or he could just step out of his balcony to the beach. And two weeks of nothing but being able to lay around and do as he pleased! Today was simple. Using one of the resrots beach chairs and laying out at the beach, drinking lemonades and iced tea. For dinner the resort had a whole big feast, which he happily ate.

Day two, he and his guide took him to the Yassawa islands and he went to visit a love cave system that was beautiful, and was perfect for climbing as well as swimming. He and his guide bought some food from the local market to eat on the boat back to Labasa.

Day three of his vacation, he wanted to take a hike on the beautiful mountains of the main island. He made sure to take plenty of water, and a small picnic for the summit. It took hours for them to climb up. Art... did not like this as much as he thought he would. Climbing was a bit scary, with how steep some spots were. But it was mostly nice gentle slopes. And walking in not cobblestone roads and sidewalks was... extremely difficult and he fell more then a few times. Going down was also rather difficult, and he was rather worried about seeing any wild life that could be... dangerous. But nothing seemed to bother them.

Day four was spent doing a boat tour of the island. It was an all day event, and the price included a small breakfast of pastries, a nice lunch and a full dinner service as they sailed around the islands and the ships captain pointed out things. He and the guide had a fun time that day, and he had enough money to buy out the boat so there were no strangers on board other then the ships crew.

Day five was when things got much more interesting. Art found a village where native Fijians lived, and had tours and things set up for tourists. He was able to spend the entire day, and the anthropologist in him absolutely loved being able to observe their way of life. Everything from just gathering food, to a Meke dance, to firewalking to enjoying Kava in a hut. He even made sure to ask those who spoke English about their culture, their history, and made sure to record it all in his journal. He even found a man who did traditional tattoos, and asked permission to watch him work. Art spent a good hour or more watching him apply the tattoo, which was for a fisherman in the shape a stingray in order to make swimming easier. Art watched in fascination, and could have sworn he noticed some wandless magic, but the tattoo artist was being a bit secretive about his work so Art did not push.

Day six Art and his guide did a bilibili tour, a raft made of bamboo poles lashed together with traditional rope and steered by a long bamboo pole to carry produce or go fishing, but were being used to tour the Navua River. After a few hours of touring, Art and his guide were able to go to the Namosi Eco Retreat in the interior of Viti Levu to be able to learn how to make one. It was a fun day!

Day seven, Art did The Drua Experience - a replica of the last existing drua – runs sailing itineraries where he learned stories of ancient seafaring over a bowl of kava, had a turn steering the boat and swam at stops along the way. And he learned how to sail a small version of it as well!

Day eight, Art was getting a bit run down and decided to just have a nice relaxing day at the resort, relaxing on the beach drinking lemonade and reading a book on the history of Fiji. Of course he brought books on his vacation! What kind of vacation would it be without books?

Day nine, he went to the barrier reef, and was taught how to use a wooden pole to breathe while he looked at the beautiful barrier reef. He was a little scared of the fish, worried about a shark or an eel or a turtle! Oh god not a turtle! But... all he saw was fish. Pretty fish that ignored him and were too small to eat him. It was rather relaxing.

Day ten, he was able to learn how to pearl dive and was able to pearl dive! And he was able to keep the pearls that he dove for! He didn't really have need or want for pearls, but perhaps he could bring the few he had to a jewler and have a small bracelet for his mother made.

Day eleven, Art went on a lovely nature walk in Kula Eco Park, which had a bridge so he could walk with ease through the jungle, and be able to have a nice walk without tripping or anything. And while terrifying birds were all around him and his guide, they were far enough away that while he could hear them he couldn't see them. He was on high alert the entire time, but over all it was rather nice.

Day twelve, Art found a nice waterfall with a lovely little lake a grotto around it. Others were using the waterfall as sort of a water slide, which seemed terrifying. He had no interest in sliding down some rocks and potentially getting hurt, so he just relaxed in the lovely grotto they had at the bottom.

Day thirteen, and Art's last day, he relaxed at the resort, at the beach, reading and enjoying himself.

Day fourteen it was check out time and time to leave. He was rather sad to go, he had enjoyed his vacation. And had enjoyed Fiji and enjoyed what he had been able to do here, and see and learn. And enjoyed being able to actually... relax. It was... nice. Perhaps he just might take a vacation again, in another ten or so years when he could afford one. With a five percent raise, he should be able to raise one hundred galleons in another ten years! Perhaps he would come back to Fiji! And after check out he and his guide got the portkey back home and left. Art gave his journal detailing his entire trip to the board, and hoped that all the outside activity he had done, plus also the bit of research and anthropological study he had done would be enough to sway the decision about Atlantis in his favor.

Prompt 1:

Art has found that he adopted a highly intelligent pet... Or did it adopt him? It was fully housebroken and very self sufficient to the point that it would sometimes bring him food if he forgot dinner. Sometimes it would whine to be brushed or played with, but usually it didn't bother him. It also wasn't around very often, either. Sometimes it would stop at his home or workplace for only a few hours and then he wouldn't see it for weeks, and other times it would park itself in his apartment for a week or two. Usually it respected his space, but once on a very very cold night, it snuck into his room and he found himself cuddled up against it since it had been so very very warm unlike his own blankets were.

Then promptly screamed like a little girl cause he realized it was in his bed.

Art has many surprise visits from Adriel at random times.

Prompt 2:

The winter after Atlantis, Art finds himself stuck indoors from a sudden blizzard that lasts a week. He can't go out - nobody can - and the only reason he isn't freezing is because he has magic and can set up bluebell flames all over the apartment. Food is a bit scarce, but there is food, and he can easily cook it with magic as well so he has hot food, tea, cocoa, and such. But the silence gets oppressive as does the loneliness and the books only helped for the first few days before cabin fever sets in.

Art has to find things to do to keep his mind occupied so he doesn't fall into depression or hallucinations. Books cannot be used.

Prompt 3:

Art is terrified of cats, and one day, Sarah gets annoyed and turns him into one. She tells him he has to find his way back to her house before she will undo the spell, then puts a collar on him that will keep any other witch or wizard from noticing him before she drops him off in Diagon Alley and apparates away.

On foot, her house is a month away. Art can speak with other cats and kneazles in very basic ways. Birds, mice, lizards, and the like smell like the best of all types of food. Any type of grain, vegetable, and other plants on the other hand smell like the worst things ever and will completely make him sick (cause cats are 100% carnivores). This is the cat Art will look like - wholly grumpy and looks feral with fleas and the like.

There were once over a thousand Ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses, and Chee was one of those. Was, because people had long forgotten him, but he was the Red God. He was forgotten by almost all by the time the Sun God Ra became famous, to be honest. That was technically one of his duties when he was worshipped, however. He was the red of life giving fire, passion and magic in the blood, and the red light of the sunrise and sunset that helped predict upcoming weather. And his people worked the red clay and the red bricks in his name, and they carved the red rocks into homes, and they were known as Builders. He only held one animal sacred - his humans - but all were loved.



That was the letter that symbolized him - the God wearing the red crown with Ankh. His temple had been magnificent to reflect that - the roof over it had been of white micah plated in gold to symbolize his divinity with his head facing south towards the mouth of the Nile. There had been windows east and west so the red light of dawn and dusk would make his headdress glow red, and only the most beautiful men and women were allowed to serve as his priests and priestesses. Unlike the other Gods of the region however, others were allowed to enter to worship, but he only ever granted prayers to the people who had been interesting so he was known as a fickle as well. His priests explained that he had to keep order for the day, so at night while he looked over the prayers he could be chaotic since it was his 'rest period.' They also said he loved life in all of its aspects, so prayers should focus on what they found joy in. He often heard prayers wishing for more skill in crafts that were done by hand, and they usually brought offers of things they had crafted, so there were a lot of pretty things kept in his temple.

Then the Egyptians began to unify, and his Builders started to trickle out. Prayers were given, of course, and he gave the first of his people his blessings since they said they were going to work for the royalty that wished to have large pyramids and statues built. They were to be fed beef, paid very well, accomodations for their family was provided, and they would be working with the finest stone quarry of Aswan which had red stones. It had sounded like his people were going to be treated like the very elite that they were, that he had encouraged them to be, but more and more of them left until one day, he realized that not even his temple keepers were in residence and he had seen no new prayers for a while. 

Still, he waited patiently, sure that his loyal people would return to sweep the sands out of his halls and light sandalwood incense in worship. Seasons passed and he remained patient. One day, people finally came, but they came to strip his temple of its gold and the micah roof, and he learned that his people had converted to Ra and were removing things meant for him to use on this Pharaoh's tomb. Angry, he cursed that any who would commission a grand tomb made of the materials from his temple would die before they ever saw it complete.

The pharaohs that followed would all die before the completion of their pyramids and the like, and so a new valley was made for kings to be entombed in, but his people still didn't return. They stayed in those distant cities, and their original homes collapsed while his own temple swiftly got buried in the sands. He never again heard his name invoked - it ended up forgotten with even his glyph rarely ever printed on walls, and only then by those Builders who just remembered him as an ancient form of the Sun God or the Fire God. The other gods laughed at his misfortune, so he just watched as many of his other peers fell to the same fate over and over until there were only the most popular gods that remained. Finally, even his own sacred color of red just became synonymous with chaos, destruction, and fury, and he accepted his new fate.

The world changed. The Greeks came, then there were the Romans. Religions fell and rose and fell again until the main ones were the Christians and the Muslims, and even the great god Ra had his temples looted and destroyed, but he was too weak to curse anyone unlike Chee who had gotten his own revenge. There were new enlighten periods that he watched with interest, new discoveries, the looting from the Europeans for more of the 'main gods' temples and the ancient tombs, and the Ancient Gods that usurped the ones even older than they helplessly wept. 

He didn't care, though. Their plight was none of his concern, but he at least didn't laugh at them unlike what they did to those they toppled. No, he was interested in all these new things being built - the humans were progressing so quickly! There was so much glass when before, that would have been a highly treasured item. Every household had glass fitted to their windows or as jars and baubles, and even the poor owned things and could get their hands on glass items fairly easily. The divine blues and greens were everywhere, but so was his red which before was only for the rich. And though these humans didn't worship him, he couldn't help but feel that their creative chaos was part of his own domain for they were so very interesting. So sometimes he would access a dream and try to give them the location of his temple, but none paid attention to dreams anymore.

Until one came along, anyway. A wizard, one of the ones that would have easily been a priest at any temple that would have accepted a male scholar. Chee watched him bring up Atlantis, find Cleopatra's tomb and discover the true story of her ending, and then disappear again to the north where he couldn't track him. When he appeared again, it seemed to be some type of vacation since he was just wandering known areas. So Chee sent him a dream... And this time it wasn't ignored.

It appeared his little wizard had funds since he immediately hired some people that could take him to a desert, and had them appropriate the needed supplies while he went to a great library and down into their ancient archives. Oh! And his little wizard could speak the dead tongue! He read the ancient scrolls out loud and noted every time he saw Chee's symbol on a seperate book. Slowly, his little scholar pieced together that it was a symbol only used by the Builders, and then he went to some of the sites of the ancient temporary towns that the pyramid builders lived in to see if he could find more clues. He found that the Builders ended up becoming the overseers of the labourers who worked during flood seasons when farming seasons were not possible, then went back to the archives again to try to find out where they came from. Another trip - this time to a museum - and he noted down ancient statues and pottery that had originally been made around Chee's temples, then contacted a local earth worker that knew rocks and the like, and paid him to help him figure out where all the rocks and clay that had been used for those artifacts came from.

Then the wizard started moving. Chee was rather astounded by how smart and driven this man was in uncovering his general location from the single dream he had sent. He blessed the journey so no sandstorms overtook them, and the bandits and the like went in different directions from their normal patrol routes. There were other wizards on this team as well, but Adriel ignored them for the interesting one of the bunch, and watched how he kept applying magical unguents to his skin every night that had turned red from the sun during the day until his skin darkened until it resembled what his own people once had - a beautiful copper tone that was as close to a healthy red as the human skin could get. Ah, and someone in his party managed to talk him into wearing linen robes since he was getting sand rashes from the odd clothes he wore before. 

Chee waited until the little wizard set camp up on the wrong side of the river and found the quarry before he sent another dream. The quarry for his builders had been there, yes, but the village on the opposite side had been on the more fertile lands, and it was the sight of the village on the west bank from the east bank that his wizard was on that he showed him. The next morning, the wizard packed everything up and moved the camp to the correct side of the river, and he watched while the man started searching the area.

The wizard's excitement when he uncovered the first house was adorable. Soon, the work force in the area doubled as more Egyptians piled in with him in the lead of the group, and he was happily sifting through pottery and tablets that hinted more about Chee. The older hieroglyphs also meant a different dialect of Ancient Egyptian, but between the new artifacts and the ancient scrolls he had read before, the intelligent mortal was learning to pronounce it accurately until finally his own name passed through the wizard's lips. The wizard gave him thanks for the two dreams, then prayed and promised he would find the great temple he had first dreamt of.

Chee was absolutely delighted, and he showed it by sending his little scholar a third dream. Nothing concrete - just the wizard holding the scepter of a priest in his temple and how it looked at the height of its beauty, and then it just faded to sensual sensations so he could express how pleased he was. His little wizard woke up that morning beet red and having to quietly wash up in his tent and change his clothing, and the curious god wondered if the man had ever had a wet dream at all with how he was reacting more like a young teenager and was amused. It didn't seem to deter him though - instead he started praying at every sunrise and every sunset as he searched for his temple with even more fervor, and Chee was glad to receive the magic behind the prayers. 

There were still ancient wizarding families that prayed to certain ancient gods, but those were done out of obligation or tradition and not out of true belief. His little wizard's prayers fed him more power then a decade of those family's prayers did to certain other gods, and those gods grew jealous as Chee's interest in the area drew their own attention and they saw how he had gained a true priest who was praying and seeking to revive his power. One caused a flash flood that killed a few camels, but the wizards were more powerful so the camp itself had not been swept away and most of the camels survived. Then another hit them with a sand storm that came from the west, but there were many experienced wizards among them that knew the proper spells, and they used wand rather than prayer to protect themselves and that one failed as well. They wasted the powers they had been eeking out for years, and finally Chee laughed at them as they slinked off in defeat.

The rest of his peers just continued to watch, and many of the forgotten ones started to feel hope that maybe they would also be rediscovered one day by someone so dedicated. Chee's own little wizard thought he was the god of luck, the sunset and sunrise, crafts, and chaos, and thought he probably had something to do with sex and beauty like a male version of Aphrodite. But when the wizard found the first little statue of Chee in one of the homes that had shown him to be a well formed man without an animal head, he had thought it represented a warrior or a leader. He was originally a little insulted since he had shown him the temple with his statue, but then it gave him an idea. He sent another small dream from the temple's main doors so Art could see the verdant green lands the area used to be, how it faced south, and what the river looked like from that area. It ended in another wet dream of sensual sensations for his devoted follower.

It took another month of prayers to get the power he needed, and he spent it planning while his little wizard made two separate teams to start digging in the areas he suspected the temple had been according to that dream. Team two ended up finding it, and then the mortal left a skeleton crew to continue work on the village while everyone focused on digging up the temple. The man wept when he realized the ancient gold ceiling with hieroglyphs and paintings was missing, but he was glad for the columns and the walls. And when the main statue was found, he shooed everyone away from it to work on himself while the rest of the temple was dug out.

Magic was a wonderful thing - without it, it would have taken the crew a couple years to dig the whole thing out. With it, it took an extra month. Chee sat and watched as his priest excitedly told the others how ancient rites were done here based off of the temple walls and a couple more dreams he had sent, and the man finally understood he was the god of the color red which had also included passion rather than sex. Passion for crafts, learning, archeology, whatever, but passion for activities done in life. His Builders had been very passionate about building monuments and structures meant to withstand the end of time, and they had. They had outlasted many empires and were still standing in this very strange age. And his little wizard had been so passionate about finding an ancient temple that was a predecessor of even Ra, so Chee sent him one more dream that night. A gentle nudge to wake up and to go to the temple.

He gave his fellow gods a mischievous grin and stepped out of the Divine Realm and into his temple. It made him mortal, or something near enough to it that it might as well be called mortal, but immortality was honestly boring without his humans to love him. This one loved him much, and he had fallen in love with him in return, and love was the ultimate sign of passion and life in his own eyes. Giving up his immortality to be with his human was not a hardship at all.

"Uhm, I had a dream...?" he heard his little wizard uncertainly call into the temple, then the man shuffled in wearing his pajamas and warily glanced around as he walked to the statue that Chee was standing behind. "Am I supposed to be here? I thought it was sunset and sunrise?"

"You arrived," Chee said in ancient Egyptian as he guessed what the wizard might be saying, then had the unlit candles and torches he had set up with the last of his divine powers flare to life as he stepped out. "I summoned you here, so do not be afraid."

His little wizard's expression went from wariness and fear to ecstatic when he saw him, and he ran over to leap right into his arms. "Oh, this is the most detailed dream yet!" his follower exclaimed while he caught him with a delighted laugh. "Oh god, you are so beautiful and strong! I didn't know your hair was so long! I mean, the headdress goes down very far, but I didn't realize that was your hair!"

Chee smiled and leaned in to breathe in how his human smelled. A lot of the desert and some sweat, but also sandalwood from the soap he used for his baths that night. "What is the name of my priest, then?" he asked. He could learn many things from watching, but he did not know the man's tongue. He also didn't correct the man's belief that this was a dream since the wizard would figure out himself soon enough that everything was real.

"Artemio Jose Miller Reyes, but most call me Art," Art babbled while he ran his hands all over his uncovered chest and arms. "Apollo would have loved to carve your statues! But your original followers were builders, carvers, and sculptors too! You are like Apollo and Aphrodite and Ra all in one and I would not be surprised if Apollo was actually based off of you. What is the symbol on your necklace? Wait, what is it made of?"

Rather than answer, Chee just tilted Art's face up and lowered his head to kiss him. His little wizard would just babble all night if given a chance, and he didn't want to spend his first night just talking. He would rather love his priest, and Art seemed to be just fine with the direction this was going since he gripped Chee's waist where his hands hand wandered to and moaned into the kiss. It wasn't long before he had Art out his his night clothes and laid out on the floor, and rather than penetrate him this first time, he prepped himself using magic while he licked and sucked Art off since the wizard's first time would be fast with how excited he was.

It didn't take Art long to get hard again after his first orgasm, and Chee guided him into his body and taught him the art of lovemaking for hours. When morning came, it was to his little wizard asleep on his chest while he himself watched his statue's crown turn red with the rising sun. He didn't dally long after that - the camp was waking up by this hour, and he knew his little wizard would not want to be found in this state. So he woke him up with kisses and more touching, then let himself be taken once more while his little wizard was still half asleep but aroused to enough to participate.

That last orgasm was when Art realized it wasn't a dream. His little wizard recoiled in horror and fell away from him. "Who are you and how did you trick me?!" Art shouted as his eyes darted around for his clothes, and when he spotted them to the side, he scrambled over for them. "What is going on?!"

"I don't understand your tongue," Chee replied as he unhappily frowned at how panicked and upset his little priest was. Still, he stretched where he was laid out and then sat up so he could explain. "Your uncovering of my name and prayers to me fed me enough magic for me to take mortal form. Please do not be afraid, my priest."

"Wait, what?!" Art said as he stared at him like he had just grown two heads. Well, the disbelief and switching back to the ancient tongue was an improvement to the fear he had been showing. "That's impossible! There are no such things as gods!"

"If you truly believed that, then your prayers would not have been sincere enough to feed me magic," he said with a haughty sniff. This mortal was being very silly for someone who had been so dedicated to finding him. He created a shendyt with a wave of his hand, then stood to dress himself with the ancient kilt. "You also accepted your position as my priest with your dedication, and earned my love when you found me. Gods very much exist - even those that are forgotten unless their deaths are explicitly written in the stars." He paused for a second. "Ah, and I am flattered that you believe Apollo to be based off of me - he came to being long after my time."

Art turned flushed very red and turned his face away out of embarrassment while he continued to clutch his clothes to cover himself up. Well, since it seemed like his wizard was suddenly speechless, he figured he would finish his explanation. "I sent five dreams, and five is the soul to life path," he explained. "I grew to love you enough to leave my sacred realm and enter yours to be with you. We can announce our marriage to your followers at your camp."

"Marriage?!" Art squawked as he hastily stood up to try to stop him when he turned towards the temple exit. "What marriage?!"

"You freely gave yourself to me in my temple at night, and again during the day," he patiently explained to his priest. The man who was a genius in finding him was very slow in the understanding of their relationship, apparently. "By mortal and divine law, we are married. Usually I would be the wife since you entered me, however my ranking is above yours so we are equal in the gifts we exchanged. Your virginity to me, and my body to you."

His wizard appeared completely speechless, so Chee snapped his fingers to get his pajamas back on him, then he pulled him out of the temple so they could give Art's followers the wonderful news.

----Epilogue----

It took about a year for Art to fully accept that they really were married - the documents and everything had magically appeared at the Egyptian ministry that marked their wedding for the morning they exited the temple, and the newly christened 'Adriel Chee' just followed Art around and wore him down with kisses and affection. And then Art had to say something very insensitive nearly two years after the night at the temple.

"You are starting to get a bit fat, Adriel." Art was rather shocked when Adriel burst into tears. His behavior had been unusual, yes, but bluntness had never been a problem for either of them before. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that!"

"I'm carrying your baby and now you think I'm ugly!" Adriel sobbed as he grabbed the throw blanket from the couch in Art's apartment and pulled it over him to hide his fatness. "I wasn't going to tell you until I figured out if it was a boy or a girl!" 

"Baby?!" Art exclaimed. "You are a man, you can't have BABIES!"

"I am a GOD and I CAN HAVE BABIES!" Adriel exclaimed right back, shouting at the end while he continued to cry. "You wanted a family! I AM NOT FAT OR UGLY!!!"

Art looked completely out of his depth when Adriel fell right back into sobbing, but he moved anyway to hold Adriel and pet his hair just how he liked it until the sobbing softened. "Let's go to Saint Mungo for a checkup, Adriel," Art begged. "Just to confirm, and we can have them check the sex and everything for us."

"Now you think I am a terrible bearer that can't care for the life developing in meeee!" Adriel wailed out. "Or that I don't know my own body and you think I am making excuses for GETTING FAT!"

--------

It took a bit, but Art finally did get Adriel to the hospital for a checkup when he explained things like nutrition potions and stuff that made pregnancies easier for both the 'mother' and the baby. Plus, it was good to know the sex as soon as possible since they would no doubt need a bigger home and would have to properly decorate a nursery and come up with names together. To Art's surprise, Adriel really was pregnant, and to both of their surprise, it was with twins - a boy and a girl. 

Art was in shock for a good three days, but he told his parents about it and his father was a bit weirded out by it, but his mother was ecstatic. She immediately rushed to his house while he spoke with his dad further. Or rather, didn't speak with his dad - they were both too shocked to say much beyond Art confirming again that yes, Adriel was pregnant, and yes, it was because he was a god. By the time he got home, Adriel looked very happy with a bowl of ice cream and his mother brushing and braiding his hair, so Art left them to it to go read books about pregnant women and how to raise children.

By the end of the week, Art was capable of conversation, and he was actually feeling excited about having kids since the news sank in. They talked about names, and though Art had initially wanted to continue his own family's tradition of Greek God names for the male children, he realized that wouldn't work with Adriel being an Egyptian god. So they decided on Omari Kohns Reyes Chee for the boy (a name meaning Highborn God of the Moon) and Khepri Nefertiti Chee Reyes for the girl (a name to mean 'The beautiful morning sun has arrived).

Money for a new house was not an issue since Adriel's knowledge of Ancient Egypt meant several more sites were now known, and the Egyptian Ministry itself had set Adriel up with a nice bank account for simply being a resurrected god if he would just bless them and stuff once in a while please and thank you. There was even a small temple for him in the Egyptian magical community and yes, he did go over prayers as his job to pick and choose what ones he would be willing to grant. Art was also rich from his own findings in the past, but he had opted to stay in his tiny and bare apartment until Adriel got pregnant simply because there had been no reason to move before. Adriel's only complaint about the apartment had been the decor, and he had taken care of it himself which explained why there had been a throw blanket on the couch along with heavy velvet curtains and many other very nice things that turned his bare and crappy apartment into a tiny but comfortable and luxurious home. Things Art had never really cared about, but now that it was there, he found himself enjoying the homey touches he had never thought about before.

Of course, dealing with a god's pregnancy who had already been known to be fickle and a bit chaotic was hard for Art. He wished Adriel had simple cravings like ice cream and pickles. But no, it was Ancient Egyptian delicacies he wanted - some that came from plants and animals that were extinct now - and being told a certain plant or animal no longer existed would make his husband cry for hours or days. He finally rented an apartment in Egypt for the last three months of the pregnancy like the Egyptian ministry had been begging just to make it easier to get the Egyptian foods his husband was craving... Which included a Nundu tail soup. Thankfully, the ministry had helped provide that one. They were very accomodating, but the British ministry would be just as accommodating if Merlin or the one of the Four Founders popped up, so it wasn't strange to Art. Art was pretty famous for being Adriel's high priest and husband though, and it made him a bit upset sometimes that his achievement of finding Cleopatra's tomb had been overshadowed by that. Still, he was happy having a husband and now babies on the way to get resentful about it, so he ignored it until it stopped bothering him.

There was no keeping the pregnancy a secret either since Adriel was technically a citizen of Egypt while Art was a citizen of Britain and marriage meant they were citizens of both countries and Adriel had not known the world enough to realize just what a problem it would be for him to be an ancient god turned mortal. Unlike Britain who had no problem with letting the newspapers harass Adriel and Art, Egypt locked that down and forced the media to make appointments at Adriel's temple for screened questioning so as to not disturb the God, his husband, or stress the pregnancy. Adriel 'gave birth' simply by opening his stomach up and pulling out the babies using the equivalent of human transfiguration to do it, and it was on September 11th which was the ancient Egyptian new year. Art immediately fell in love with the tiny bundles, and they had a nursemaid on hand to begin the feeding since Adriel was still a male and had not considered breast feeding when he thought that having babies was a good idea. Adriel immediately fell asleep once he closed himself back up again, and Art was in charge of the dark haired babies all day and night with the help of the nursemaid.

All in all, it was a rather terrible experience for the both of them with the media circus, the cravings, the hormonal mood swings that continued for a few more months after giving birth, and the stress, so they decided that the two they had was good enough for the both of them once Adriel had woken up a day after the birth. They loved their two little bundles dearly though, and the Egyptian Ministry registered them as 'demigods' under race while the British labeled them as 'human(?).' The magical communities around the world wondered what was going to happen when the children grew up, and when questioned by the media, Adriel would only say that it would be up to his children, and the first person to harass them would be cursed to see their whole family end so they had best not bother their children or try to print them in papers without permission.

Adriel was a very passionate mother. And then, five years later, he had news for Art once more.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE PREGNANT AGAIN?!"