the heat in athens doesn’t faze jasper much. it can be domineering, sure, with skies of few clouds that hardly ease the blazing sun. but baton rouge boasts a textbook southern mugginess -- the sort of thickness in the air you can’t escape or breathe past -- and greece always feels more like paradise in comparison.
the sentiment’s true a little extra today. rain the day before hadn’t broken the heat, but it had dampened it --- enough that jasper can enjoy time out without relying on his bike to get him around quickly. but, any gratitude he feels for the storms doesn’t stop him from preparing for more. the threat of rain isn’t completely out of the forecast and he’s tucked an umbrella into his backpack, just in case.
he’d spent most of the day paying it little mind; nearly forgetting it at one point when he hoists his bag onto his back and nearly smacks himself with the handle. but on his way back to the spread of godly houses, he hears a faint hint of thunder and reaches back for the umbrella without a second thought.
for a moment, he goes through the motions: undoes the tie wrap, shakes out the umbrella, spreads a hand along the rod for the latch. but he stops midway down the metal when he realizes that there isn’t a single drop of rain around him. there isn’t any rain around anyone, but he knows what he heard. if he strains enough, he can even hear the telltale sound of drops on concrete. but, still: not a single one to be seen.
the confusion lasts for a moment until he passes through an arch that brings him out to the street. there, a girl sits, hunched on the curb, with a rain cloud right above her. around them, people stare, whispering to each other behind their hands as they walk by. he catches a few words here and there and pieces together that this must be the daughter of zeus that’s been the talk of campus for the last couple weeks. he isn’t one for gossip usually, but her connection to his newest sibling has had him curious about her. and seeing her like this only deepens the feeling.
by then, it’s so potent that his feet move before he can stop them, hands going back to their busy work with the umbrella so that it’s open by the time he’s closed the distance. she hasn’t noticed him yet and for a moment, he wonders if he should announce himself before doing anything. but his gentlemanly nature gets the best of him, and he steps beneath her cloud without thinking twice about the consequences. clothes damp and sticking to him fast, he holds as much of the umbrella over her as he can, leaning in only enough to protect his head so she can hear him. “’scuse me, miss...hope i’m not botherin’ you, but i wanted to see if you needed some help?”
