Page 32 of Perfectly Matching Again

“Imagine my surprise at finding out that you actually fell without ever knowing there was an arrow in the midst of it all. You managed that all by yourself. And, well, then you managed to fuck this all up, also all by your lonesome.”

Sabine finally let go of her collar and Erato breathed deeper.

“But Demeter?”

“Well, you will have to ask her how she feels. About the arrow, about you.”

“Hence the hair, Sabine. I need all the help I can get for those questions and to fix it.”

Sabine’s laughter was loud and honest.

“That you do, Erato, that you do, though Fates know that nobody can resist perfection such as yourself.” Sabine pushed her in the direction of the group of revelers, who weresquabbling over something. As Erato approached, she saw that Zeus—and what in the ambrosia was he even doing here—and Poseidon were crowding Demeter, who was valiantly holding her own against the two brawny giants.

She looked cornered, troubled, and so beautiful, Erato felt the electric current of their connection run down her spine. Yeah, she was a fool. They never needed the golden bond. They didn’t even need the damn Perfect Match arrow.

They had each other, and they were perfect. Though, it was probably a good idea that both the bond and the arrow were employed, since she had been completely oblivious. She’d have to send flowers to both Hera and Sabine later.

“This spring business has gone on for far too long, Demeter! And you can’t tell me you can’t fix that small issue of the water crisis in the—” Zeus boomed even as Demeter balled her fists.

“It isn’t my responsibility! Poseidon is right here?—”

“D, you know as well as I that drinking water ain’t my thing and if only you did what you always do instead of going MIA for the past few months—” Poseidon almost fell over himself to escape Demeter’s steely gaze.

But Erato had had enough. She’d heard enough and seen enough and, honestly, these pricks had said and done enough as well.

She coughed, then coughed again, but the gods and goddesses around her were so captivated by the fight brewing that a random muse did not have the power to distract them.

Erato cursed, threw another look at Demeter, now looking harried and trapped, and did what any star-crossed lover would.

The grand gesture.

As those went, Erato knew that she had only one chance to nail it. She climbed the weirdly built stage where Melpomene was in the middle of a tragic monologue. Well, Erato would have to make up to her for the interruption, but desperate times andall that. More flowers. At this rate, she might as well buy the flower shop next to her apartment, instead of just paying for the bouquets.

Erato grabbed the mic. The static nearly deafened everyone. At least she now had their attention.

“Ah…”

“What is this?”

“Who is this?”

“What is she doing here?”

The chorus of questions grew louder. Was she making a mistake? Demeter’s eyes finally met hers and something behind them, something that had been taking Erato’s breath away since Vegas, and maybe millennia ago, told her to soldier on.

“Get off the stage, Muse!”

Poseidon clambered after her, only to grab some curtain and fall on his ass, dragging the entire set with him. Melpomene wailed. Abby threw her hand over her mouth. Whether in shock or mirth, Erato couldn’t tell. Zeus tried to free Poseidon from the knots of the curtain, only to swaddle him further. Somewhere to their left, Hera’s laughter rang clear. Hades was trying to get to her brothers and Cerberus, thinking it was a game, nipped at the tangled heels of the God of the Seas.

In the cacophony of sounds and pandemonium, Demeter stood tall and now alone, watching Erato expectantly.

Yeah, back to the grand gesture. Erato tapped the microphone again.

“Dear Olympians…”

The abovementioned pandemonium continued. She tried again, to no avail. Demeter started to turn away. Erato, heart in her throat, threw caution and the gods’ eardrums to the wind and whistled. Silence reigned as most everyone on Calton Hill was temporarily incapacitated.

“Well, that did the trick.” Erato’s smile was met by hundreds of boos. It didn’t matter, Demeter was still half turned and Erato had to make her stay. Stay with her. Love her. Marry her.

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