tinyredlawyer:
Apollo hadn’t meant to one-up her, but Lamiroir seemed to be able to laugh at herself when she got embarrassed, so he let out a nervous little chuckle, too. This had sort of dissolved into a disaster, hadn’t it? But… not entirely in a bad way. Maybe they’d be able to properly look each other in the eye some day down the road, and they’d laugh at the awkward start (re-start?) they had. He felt more hopeful now that it might be a possibility.
“No worries! I’m a good student, I learn quick.”
It felt good, agreeing to it. To have a plan to do something together with his mother, something they both enjoyed, that could help them be reacquainted. It took some pressure away from their current meeting, so he didn’t so much feel the need to figure out how to be a good son and learn everything about his family right now. They could take it slower when there was the promise of a low-stakes follow-up later.
“And– maybe I can show you something, too?” He regarded their interlocked hands. “I dunno if I’ve got any unique family recipes, but… I could always dust off my telescope and teach you what I remember about ‘rocket science’ – wh-which isn’t really a lot, but I know where all the constellations are!”
Thalassa’s smile widened at Apollo’s reply. It felt like, bit by bit, her nervousness was melting away fully – it seemed that whatever disaster she had been initially terrified of was somehow averted. Sure, this reunion had its ups and downs (mostly downs – but then, that was no wonder, with the amount of tragedy their shared history was littered with), but right at this moment, she was left with the sole feeling of contentment and happiness. It spread in her chest as a literal warmth, heating up her cheeks and warming up her smile even more, if such a thing was even possible. She could hear a myriad of things in Apollo’s voice as he responded to her, and for once, all of them felt positive. She could not remember the last time she had felt so hopeful.
She glanced down at their hands when Apollo did, then back up at him as he spoke again. His offer made her breath catch for a moment, and she took a second to find her voice again. Did Apollo know somehow? That was not possible – it was definitely just some kind of lucky guess he was making. Perhaps he subconsciously remembered Lamiroir’s constellation-themed robes, and thought she might like stars. While he was not wrong about that, it was a little more – looking at the night sky was one of her most cherished memories with Jove, and with Apollo, too, when they were on the road, although he had been far too young to retain any kind of memory of it.
“That would be wonderful,” she finally said, her voice soft and full to the brim with joy. Even putting any and all memories to the side, the prospect of having Apollo teach her something was exciting, as was the sheer notion of planning things to do together in the future.




