Bonus Content - Pyri Double Feature

Hey all!

As I mentioned a while back, this month's bonus content actually has two pieces, because way back when I forgot to post a Pyri bonus content I had written, and it's been sitting in a folder on my desktop all this time haha. So that one's attached, and then below is the one you voted on for this month: Pyri's POV on the fruit scene. The below is pretty chill, the attached, pretty angsty.

I hope you enjoy them both!

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"Do you ever think so much your thoughts just start to run around each other in circles?" Pyri asks, fixing their gaze on Persephone. They’re not even sure if they need an answer or if they asked it just to say something. A bad habit, Hekate says, and maybe that’s true. "It's just… I keep thinking about Orpheus and Eurydice, you know? About what happened with them. It's just hard to accept that how it ended was how it had to be."

"What do you mean?" She tilts her head, folding her hands in her lap.

Pyri huffs, struggling to express their thought. They run both hands back through their tangle of gingery curls, fingers catching near the ends in a way that makes them grimace and yank the rest of the way through. It’s uncomfortable, but no more than an annoyance. "It's just… Fate, you know? The idea that we can all try our hardest to do something, that someone can deserve something good, and everyone can agree on that and want to help, and Fate can still keep it away, and all the power of all the gods you want can't do anything about that."

They sigh, harsh and heavy. "It's like being human all over again."

Persephone is quiet for a moment. Thoughtful. "I admit, I don't think I've ever seen a situation where Fate's power was so clear. I'm a little afraid of it, to be honest. The idea that my future might be decided for me, and I can't do anything... that's terrifying."

"Right?" Pyri clenches their hands over their knees. "It's just… what is anyone supposed to do about something like that? How come things get to be decided before we've even tried? It just feels so… unfair. Not right. I dunno. Some word for that that's meaner, because I'm mad about it!" They are, though they only realize as much as they’re speaking, a flare of something livid and painful sparking to life in their chest.

But then, by the end, they’re basically laughing, and they shake their head emphatically. What else can they do? "But you get me. We're sort of in the same boat, even. We kind of get to fight, but also kind of don't, you know?"

"…Because I'm not constrained the same way?" Persephone’s words are cautious, tentative, almost like she doesn’t quite believe them.

"Yeah, exactly. And me too, actually.” At least, that’s what the others had said, once. “We're supposed to have a little more power against Fate, because we're like… there's things about us that are human, I guess is the way to put it. Maka's like that, too. But it feels like it doesn't even matter when the difference it makes is so small. I just feel like this has ticked me off before, only I can't remember when." That, too, is an immensely frustrating feeling, and it only piles onto the rest.

Persephone doesn’t seem to have anything to say to that. Not that they could expect her to, really.

"Oh!" Pyri, abruptly recalling something, unceremoniously ends the topic, reaching into the small bag at their hip and rifling through it a moment before they withdraw a slightly-squashed, but sealed, scroll from it and extend it towards her. Probably best to get to this bit before they forget again, even if the other thing they don’t want to forget feels so much bigger.

"Your mother sent this, apparently. When Flyguy said so I told him I'd deliver it, since I was coming to see you anyway. You want it?" They tilt their head, the query innocent in its lack of expectation or assumption. As though it would be perfectly reasonable for you to say either yes or no.

"I suppose I probably should take it. Thank you." To say she sounds unenthused by the prospect might be a bit of understatement, honestly, but she accepts the letter and tucks it away nonetheless.

"Don't worry about it," Pyri replies, relinquishing the letter readily and tilting their head at her once she’s taken it. They’re not sure if more information would be helpful, or the opposite, but they figure they should err on the side of keeping her informed. "Hermes says she's really freaking out. Which, obviously is understandable. I can't imagine being a parent, but I think it'd be really stressful, especially if my kid was somewhere I couldn't get to them if they needed me." Their brows furrow at this, but they shake themself free of the thought. Not that they’d want to be a parent in the first place. They’d probably be terrible at it.

The thought vanishes when a tray of beverages and snacks appears on the table in front of them, though Pyri certainly didn't request them. From the look on Persephone’s face, she didn’t either, so it must have been one of the others. Huh. Well, that was nice of them. Probably Flyguy. Maybe Hekate?

Persephone leans forward, reaching for a small honey-cake, and Pyri figures they might as well have a snack, too. They were training all morning, and honestly the chance to sit down with her and relax is… really welcome.

There's a bit of a lull in the conversation, mostly because they’re really bad at talking about the big things. They swear they’d practiced what to say a bunch of times before they came here. They’d even run it by the Boss, just to make sure they weren’t saying anything dumb or insensitive, and he’d approved, but… now they can’t remember any of it at all.

In the end, they can’t do much more than shrug and reach back into their satchel. If they can’t remember the right way to say it, they’re just going to have to make up another way, and hope it lands somewhere in the same area. Plucking the orange out of the bag, they balance it in their palm for a moment. "So, like…"

Come on, Pyri. Words.

"I get that you haven't been able to choose a lot about how your life has gone." Their brow knits. "And maybe some of that's normal for kids, or gods, or whatever else. But honestly, forcing you to come here was like… terrible, on Big Thunder Jerk's part. Even if it actually worked out really well for the rest of us, because you're amazing—anyway." That’s true, but it feels like the beginning of a tangent. They need to do this without tangents, so it’s clear.

They hem softly, grinning at her instead. Because it’s… kind of exciting, right? Hopefully it’s okay that they’re excited about it. "This is… consider this me giving you a choice, I guess. I got one when I came here, and it only seems fair to me that you should, too." They hold the orange out towards her. "This grew in the orchard, because you're here. Ascalaphus said so. And everyone's been keeping you away from Underworld food, because it might get you stuck in the Underworld and we've all kind of just been… assuming you don't want that. But maybe you do. And either way, you get to make the decision."

Their head tilts. "So… eat this, and you'll become at least a little bit like us. Boss says it will give you the right to live in the Underworld, no matter what anyone else says, but it's harder to know what it'll do to your status with Olympus. Don't eat it, and, well, everything stays the same. But that's a choice too, and this is the only one we can give you, so…" Pyri shrugs, watching her face keenly for a reaction.

Persephone considers the fruit for a moment, then smiles. "Would you like to share it with me?"

Pyri tilts their head; honestly of all the things they’d been expecting, such a straightforward, simple acceptance wasn’t it. Not that they’re unhappy!

Maybe… well, it’s not like she’d ever been really anxious to go back, now that they think about it. Most people would probably have raised a big stink, and that would have been justified, but Persephone had always… yeah. Maybe it does make sense.

They feel themselves relax, and it naturally curls their mouth up into a smile. "Sounds great! I love oranges, honestly. All kinds of fruit, I guess."

Persephone turns her eyes down to the citrus in her hand, peeling it methodically. They can’t tell if there’s a slight tremble in her fingers, or if they’re just imagining that.

She separates the thing out into wedges, balancing them on her palm and extending that towards them. Pyri takes a couple with a happy hum. "You know… I think I'm probably supposed to try and sound unbiased or whatever, but… I'm really glad you're doing this. When I think about you going back to Olympus forever it's just really depressing, you know?"

It’s an impulse to say it, but it doesn’t seem to have been a mistake. Not from the way she relaxes, just a tiny bit when they do.

"I do," she replies, a touch wryly, biting into one of the orange wedges at the same time they eat theirs. It tastes kind of funny, but Pyri doesn’t mind that one single bit.

In the wake of the discussion, a comfortable quiet fills the space, and for a little while, neither of them feels particularly compelled to say anything, each occupied by their own thoughts. Pyri’s are going a million miles an hour around each other again, but it’s not quite as… aggravating, this time.

"I think… it might be soon," Persephone says, slowly, breaking the silence. Her tone is almost cautious, though Pyri isn’t sure why she’d need to be cautious what she says around them.

Their brows knit. Did she have another weird dream or something? "I… have no idea if that's right, but if you say so, I believe you," they reply, a quick grin flashing over their features. "And anyway, whenever it happens… we're all with you. Whatever you decide, we'll support it. Me especially, but don't tell them I said that, or I'll have to fight them all to prove it." They raise their fists in a pantomime of a fighting stance.

Her lips twitch into a small smile.

That feels like enough for them.