Iris drips, soaked, and looks as bedraggled as she feels. "I 
spoke with him, today. He... " Iris just stalls out on those 
words. She doesn't blank, but is utterly unable to speak in 
the forthright manner she'd begun. Iris looks down, then 
makes herself look up, into his eyes. "He will wed me because 
he can use me. No other reason. He has informed me that he 
cares not, if... If..." Iris stalls again.

Julius looks back at Iris with eyes of concern and sympathy 
and... hurt. Silver eyebrows crease his brow as they lower 
and his hand rises as if it had a mind of its own and after 
hesitation, he places his hand on the same shoulder with the 
same light touch as he had the first and only time before. No 
words come, but the action precedes his own thoughts of what 
to do...

Iris looks at the man's hand for a long moment, then she 
reaches to touch it with her own, light fingertips just 
barely brushing it. With that, and drawing her hand back to 
its spot under her cloak, she blinks back up at him. "I hope 
I don't sound so forward, but you'll forgive me if I feel 
like an animal, caged. He is interested in me for what I can 
do. Or what he thinks I can do. He cares not, what I do on 
the side, as long as...As long as... Appearances are 
maintained. He implied I should select my ... First lover. 
Before I have to go to him."

Julius is still concerned, is still troubled, becomes even 
more sympathetic... and confused. One of those eyebrows lifts 
a little as he waits to find out what ... all this means. Any 
implications of your words fall flat as any attempt of 
Julius' to fly...

Iris only waits, having no conception, of course, that he 
doesn't understand. Her jaw tenses, and of course she feels 
the fool for having ventured the suggestion. The silence 
stretches.

Julius blinks slowly, exhaling through his nose as awhirl of 
questions flood his mind as you stop rather abruptly. For a 
small moment, he thinks he can understand how his cousin must 
feel as he confides in her for help in troubled times. That 
moment's thought helps him gain some purchase in this rather 
confusing turn of events, and leads him to ask honestly, 
looking directly into your eyes with care and concern, 
"What... can I do... to help you?"

Iris cannot, simply cannot, bring herself to ask this. For a 
moment, she wishes for Atalanta's brash presence, then she 
steps back one, and then another step, dropping her gaze. 
"You understand... What... What..." Iris chokes. "Please, 
Julius Jove. I /cannot/ explain this to you."

Julius's features display more concern and more confusion as 
his hand slowly slips off your shoulder as you step back, 
leaving his hand still in the air as you look down. "Why?" he 
is all he can say, hoping you'll actually answer.

"Because none of this... None of this... Is anything I can 
talk about. I guess other people can, but... Oh, by the 
lares." That's Iris' equivalent of an oath. She looks away. 
"You know what... What married people do. Yes?"

That's a rather odd question and Julius nearly says as much 
before biting his tongue. After all, this seems rather 
difficult for you and levity he feels, wouldn't exactly be 
interpreted well. He nods before he speaks. "As much as one 
can without ...being married... yes." He lets you lead him in 
this odd line of questioning and hopes he'll understand as 
you go along...

Iris is looking desperate. This is going even worse than Iris 
expected it might. And that was pretty bad. "Do you know... 
What a lover is?" She still won't look over. She's started 
down this road, and stubbornness keeps her tracking along.

Julius nods again, and says softly, "Yes," and suddenly, he 
starts to feel the uncomfort as well. But perhaps, not for 
the same reason. His hand slowly returns to his side like a 
balloon with a slow leak, still watching you.

Iris remains silent for another long time. A servant returns, 
is warned away with a look. Iris then looks back up at you. 
"I am saying that the man who I will have to marry, has 
informed me that he cares not, if I have a lover. As long as 
it is not known. If it is known," Iris pauses, continues, "He 
will have to ... Have to make the appearances of defending 
his honor. He doesn't want me, particularly, in that way. 
He... He... Doesn't ... He ..." Iris stumbles again, and now 
looks away once more.

Julius offers, sounding a bit helpless, "Then... you will 
have to be with him less. If he only sees this as... a 
marriage of," he pauses to cough into his hand before 
continuing, "...of convience.. then it seems... to me... you 
will be free to do as you please..." he stops and looks down, 
feeling entirely inadequate in such a situation. "And... I 
will still be able to see you." he finishes, softly, even for 
him.

"Yes." That's part of it. "If you are willing to.. Risk 
that." Iris draws another breath and looks down at her own 
hands. "The Deus Augustin will, I suspect, sell me off to the 
highest bidder, if something happens to this man I must 
marry. And /he/ must have held some threat over the Deus, for 
him to agree to this marriage. I neither know nor understand. 
But the man I must marry knows I have no wish for it, and has 
granted me a bargain. That I may... Do as I wish, within 
limits. That no one ever know. For then he would have to... 
Act the offended husband, and I am not certain you would win 
in a duel with him, Julius Jove. I do not wish to risk you, 
thus. But I do not want this man to be the first..."
 
His head lifts up and his eyes fix on the exact spot on where 
Iris' eyes would be, should she have looked up and faced him. 
They stay there despite the lack of contact and he takes 
another breath before speaking. "Domina... Iris, I don't 
think I truly understand your circumstances... of what you 
are going through nor exactly what this... all means to you, 
why you think of risk, and duels... but." Julius stops, voice 
a bit clearer and stronger after a short cough behind his 
hand. "But I do not want kept away from you. You are 
unlike... anyone I have ever met. I... do not want to be ... 
apart from you. And I will do anything... anything you wish 
to be able to see you." He stops and waits.

Iris should not be doing this. Any of this. She reaches to 
press her hands against her face, gently rubbing her eyes. 
Perhaps she should go to Avalon, see if Cassius will make 
true his promises of sending troops after her, to retrieve 
her. "I'm sorry, Julius Jove. I'm sorry. I cannot ask of 
you... Of you, this. Or, in fact, anything. I will not ask of 
you. And that you are not understanding what I am trying to 
say, is telling me only that I am ... That I am wrong in what 
I am saying. I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?" Now she looks 
up, earnest. "I believe that this man I will have to marry, 
will allow me friends."

Julius meets that gaze only for so long, before hanging his 
head and closing his eyes briefly. "No," he says, "forgive 
me, for I am the one who doesn't understand what should be 
understood. By anyone. Forgive me for my deficiency... and my 
inability to help. For being selfish. For ...," he cuts 
himself off again, looking up with eyes that don't seem to 
express half the emotion they did before. "I am sorry and 
with your forgiveness or not... please... Iris. Tell me what 
you wish of me."

This is doing /nothing/, nothing at all for Iris 
self-confidence or image. This, after both Cassius and her 
Intended had pointed out to her that she is, utterly, 
physically unattractive. Iris looks down again, pulls her 
hands down to curl them around her waist. She's simply never 
felt quite so inadequate, that she's had to spell this out 
so... So blatantly. "I am asking you if you would take me to 
bed, before I have to go to his."

The truth spreads across Julius' face slowly, eyes widening, 
features going slack and mouth opening slightly as he now 
understand everything you've been saying to him, from the 
moment you called him from the halls of House Jove to this 
very instant, looking at you, holding yourself and turned 
away. The entire events run through his mind and make so much 
sense he could bludgeon himself with the the oblivious. Breath 
held, he asks you, surprised and... hopeful. "You... you 
would ask of ... me...? I am...? Worthy? But I... am... You 
feel...? With all that I- I... You would ask me... me... 
this?" He ends with disbelief, breathless and stunned.

Iris didn't know what she expected, but she's simply too 
emotionally exhausted to deal with this reaction. She drops 
her face in her hands, draws those huge wings around her, 
then turns almost fully away. "I'm sorry, Julius Jove. 
Forgive me. You... Need not -- I didn't mean to insult --"

Julius finds himself stepping forward and coming to kneel 
down on one knee beside you, looking up. He pleads, "Please.. 
no.. you.. you did not ... did not insult.. at all, 
please...," his hands are frozen, halfway between himself and 
your wings. He freezes for a moment understanding how close 
he is to you, your reaction to him and how much he feels he 
has to speak before something terrible happens that might 
limit his access to you forever. "Please... believe me, if 
you have ever believed anything I ... I have said that I .. 
am.. honoured," he whispers softly, "that you would... think 
of me."

Iris's wings shudder, separate enough that Iris can see you, 
"Please, Julius - Please, stand up. Before--" She glances 
toward the door, then the back door to the servants' areas. 
"Please, don't. I'm so afraid for you. I don't want to risk 
you. I shouldn't have asked. Honored?" Iris looks away, jaw 
setting for a moment. --At least someone is. "Who else would 
I think of? You are one of the finest men I know, even if you 
do not know it yet."

For a moment, Julius wonders if he can stand, sliding his 
feet under himself and rising only after moment's preparation 
to make sure he doesn't topple over. "I am... broken." he 
says before standing. "I have only one wing, many scars and a 
naive mind." His eyes averted from you, he stands and 
doesn't hold himself as high. "Few would... want me... and 
fewer would be... you."

"You heal, Julius Jove. With time. And I will watch. If 
you... If you want... If you want me... I -- There is nowhere 
where I am now. And this damn rain will never let up. I do 
not know when I must marry; I suspect it is soon. And they do 
not tell me because they know I ... Have... Friends here."

Julius lifts his eyes but not his head, and takes a step 
back. He starts to speak when soft footsteps turn his gaze 
like a hunted rabbit on alert. The slave stops, looking 
between the two of you, and says like a girl knowing she's 
arrived at the wrong time. "D-Dominius Jove, I-I... I was 
sent to bring you to a man from the mines... in Olympia?" she 
says softly. Julius nods slowly, then turns to you speaking 
softly. "Can I see you again?" he asks.

Iris does not look at the girl, as if that might somehow keep 
her from also seeing Iris. "Soon, Dominus Jove. Time runs 
short." With that, and her head dropping, Iris turns to head 
out. Her wet wings send chills through her body that she only 
now notices, and she almost welcomes the warmer rain without.
That, too, will hide the tears that stain her face. Iris 
needs to sleep. This has been too much, too quickly.

Iris disappears beyond the row of columns and enters the 
Palladium's garden.
Iris has left.

From afar, Iris thanks. Night. :)
Long distance to Iris: Julius has to thank for the scene, 
"One of the most interesting I have ever had MU*ing. :) And 
will you hunt me down if I call this log "Indecent Proposal?"
From afar, Iris LAUGHS.


Julius looks to the slave who looks back, then down and leads 
Julius to the man who has come.

*fin*

b a c k

l o g s