Log:Familial Discord

2021/11/29 Titan Eris 

The auctions ended around 7:45pm, and that's when Eris claimed her winnings. The pair left the event via Eris' limo. She makes him sit across from her in the back of the limo. She reaches for a button, and a side panel opens up between them. Within is a champagne bottle and two glasses within. "Want to pour us a drink?" she asks as the limo pulls away from the Yacht Club.

Titan nods. "Sure, that sounds good." He grabs the two glasses and goes to pour them both. He offers her one first before pouring his own.

Eris reaches for the glass and takes it by the stem and takes a sip, studying him curiously. She lowers the glass. "At last we meet in the flesh," she croons as she reaches up to remove a clip from her hair. Her dark brown locks tumble down from her bun. It's a beautiful mess. "Though I was expecting you to be more, hm. Larger than life."

Titan smiles slightly as he takes a sip as well. "At last? It sounds like you were expecting a meeting at some point. Why is that?"

"Why...we're family in a way. Distant family," Eris says. "You're one of the wayward ones. It's a shame it took a War of the Heavens to meet."

Titan thinks about it. "Eris. Goddess of Discord? You're that Eris?"

"Strife. Yes," Eris smiles. "And I am on the rise."

Titan smiles. "Well...what made you choose this method of meeting me? I'm happy to raise the money for charity, but...I suspect you could have chosen other methods."

"I was hoping to cause a little strife for that rival Goddess who is stealing our followers. My mother is displeased by her in particular. Why not kill two birds with one stone?" Eris smiles. "She's more strong-willed than I thought."

Titan blinks, "You were messing with Artemis? That could have been...very bad."

Eris chuckles in dark delight. "I know. It would've been so grand."

Titan shakes his head, "Well, if that had happened, you might have seen me 'larger than life'. She and I have fought before, and I was able to beat her previously."

Eris looks delighted. "So the blood of titans DOES run through your veins, even so far down the lineage. Further proof her pantheon is weaker than ours. Now, I know there has been--hah--discord in the past amongst our...'family'. But that's not why I am here, cousin. It's time to unite against that which threatens all."

Titan takes another sip of his drink. "This is about that Outsider business that I heard about on HeroNet?"

Eris nods. "Yes. I was sent to fetch you. Haven't you heard the summons? Felt it? Or are you so far removed that you're deaf to it?"

Titan shakes his head, "A summons? No. I haven't felt anything like that."

Eris gives a faint frown and a half shrug. "You're several steps down the line. I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise. But even so, you have a divine lineage. I think some of Atlas' strength has presented itself in you." She sips her drink. "Tell me. Do you still want to bring about the glorious days of our Pantheon?"

Titan nods slowly. "I do. But I have responsibilities here as well. I'm pretty sure I can't just...up and leave."

"Ohhh, but you can. You're a titan. You aren't bound to mortals. Though...the idea of starring in movies is clever. Don't think we haven't noticed you gathering worshippers," Eris smiles and sips her champagne.

Titan smirks, "I started that before I realized what my lineage was. But...I really do have responsibilities that I take seriously. How about...you give me your contact information, and when things hit the fan, you give me a call?"

Eris frowns at first. "Your family calls for aid for the fate of the world, and you want...a 'call back'?" Then she laughs. "How chaotic of you. I love it." She holds out her glass for a refill. "I think I'll be staying around for a while. Do -my- part in the war. I'll come to -you- when you're needed, if you haven't shown up when things get bad," she smiles, sounding playful. "Oh, and one more thing. You've been offered a part to play Zeus in an upcoming film. You really should take it."

Titan chuckles, 'I should take the part? Let me guess...is it going to piss off Zeus himself?"

"Mmmmm. No, no, of course not," Eris lies. "But it will keep the Gods fresh in the minds of mortals and help us gather strength to deal with the Outsiders, and then these Godflora. As long as our names live in the minds of mortals, we persist."

Titan is reasonably good at reading people. "Mmm...no, it would annoy him. I can tell by the way you said that."

Titan says, "That being said, I might do it anyway. It's not like he's asked me to not do so."

Eris chuckles in delight. "Alright, so it may annoy him a little," she sips her champagne and crosses her legs. "But I'm not lying about the other part. It -will- fortify us to be fresh in the minds of mortals."

Titan nods. "That I believe. I suspect this upcoming conflict is likely to do that in general."

"We won't be the only ones. By the end of this conflict, those of us who remain may just be stronger than ever." Eris pauses before adding, "After licking our wounds."

Titan nods. "Of course. Assuming the fight reaches this world directly."

Eris nods and reclines more comfortably as the limo pulls up to the Quinn Tower. "That remains to be divined. Some think we should fight even if Earth isn't the point of incursion. Others think it doesn't involve us unless they affect our followers."

Titan nods. "I think...that perhaps we can keep the fight from showing up here if we go on the offense."

"You sound like Ares," Eris chuckles. "So will -you- go on the offensive, Cousin?" she asks as the driver steps out, comes around, and opens the door for them.

Titan takes a deep breath. "I'm not sure. I have to think about it a bit more. I'd like to not have it actually arrive here, I admit." He allows Eris to get out before he does.

Eris slides out of the limo's backseat. "That would be ideal. But with their forces raging across the cosmos, can we stand against them once they're here? We'll need to find all our Pantheon to help with the fight. Which is why I sought you out."

Titan climbs out after Eris. "Well, I'm flattered that you included me. But...I know we're cousins, several generations removed."

"Yes. You're familiar with your lineage, aren't you?" Eris asks. There's a screech of tires as one car rear-ends another in the street behind them. A fender bender, but enough that the airbag is deployed. Eris doesn't even acknowledge it. "We're related on my mother's side."

Titan looks over toward the car. "If you'll excuse me one moment, I want to make sure the people involved are okay." He heads over to where the cars are to check on them.

Eris watches impassively as Titan goes to check. The person in the front car is rubbing his neck with one hand and trying to unbuckle himself. He and his partner are dazed. The people in the rear ending car are more shocked.

Titan nods to himself, since it looks like no one is THAT injured. They can sort it out themselves. He makes his way back over to Eris, "All set."

"Are you going to be doing that all night?" Eris asks in amusement. She looks refreshed. "Now where were we? Right, your lineage?" she asks as she walks into the tower.

Titan chuckles. "Only if you keep causing catastrophes around me." He nods, "I know a bit of my lineage, based on the conversations I've had with Hermes and Heracles."

"I can't help it, dear. It's in my nature," Eris says as they walk to the elevators. She presses the up button. "This may be a long evening," she warns him. "So what did those two tell you?" She holds her clutch at her hip and taps her finger impatiently as the elevator makes its way down.

Titan smiles slightly as she's impatient with the elevator, since hitting the button multiple times does nothing extra. "I know that I'm descended from Iapetus and...Clymene? Then Atlas and...let's see...Pleione?" He thinks about it more. "Then Odysseus and Calypso. After that, I'm not sure."

The elevator bay next to them displays the current floor on the high rise as it descends. The numbers start to tick by faster. "Yes, that's true. I'm not sure how your lineages goes the further down the family tree, but Iapetus' mother was Gaia, who is sister to Nyx, who is -my- mother." Now the numbers are ticking very fast and there's a rumbling sound coming from up the elevator shaft.

Titan blinks, "Seriously? You know...if you're impatient, messing with the elevator just makes it harder to get where we're going.

"You act like I'm doing it on purpose. Modern technology just can't be trust," Eris smiles. "You may want to catch that for us, Cousin." Because at this point it's clear that the elevator is falling with those numbers flying by.

Titan pulls the elevator doors open...and he intends to fly into the shaft to catch the elevator. "The brakes should have kicked in, too."

"Don't trust technology!" Eris calls again at his comment on the breaks as he flies up to catch the elevator.

There's screaming in the elevator shaft as it falls rapidly.

Titan flies up to catch the elevator, but his flight itself isn't enough to stop the plummeting car. Instead, he ends up having to reach out with his feet to get a purchase on the shaft and apply his strength. And that manages to slow...and then stop the elevator.

The screaming persists a little longer after the elevator stops, until the people inside realize it's stopped and they're not dead. Once he has countered the momentum of the elevator and slowed it safely rather than abruptly, the weight of the elevator is a drop in the bucket for his titanic strength. "Doing alright up there?" Eris calls.

Titan nods. "So far, yeah." He tries to get the elevator close to a floor...and he then reaches around to try to engage the brakes.

KaKLUNCK. The brakes are engaged. A few moments later, he can hear the doors open and the rush of people getting off. "Oh thank god!" someone calls out as they pile out of the elevator in a hurry. Another says, "I thought we were dead!"

Titan flies back down to the ground floor, and lets the security folks know what the situation is.

Security scrambles, some heading up to the floor where the elevator is stopped, the other making urgent calls.

Eris waits, until their elevator arrives safely on the ground floor. "Oh Jonathon! Our lift is here."

Titan rejoins Eris. "So...you really can't control it, huh?"

Eris steps into the elevator car. "Oh, I can direct it and do things with intent. But my very nature bleeds into the world around me. I'm Strife, after all. If you use the local tongue."

Titan smiles. "And...while I understand that, perhaps you could...try to control it a bit more? If you wish to have my attention the entire night?"

Eris takes Titan's words into consideration. "I really will try." She presses the top floor button and the door closes shortly after. "It's not strife without purpose. My chaos stirs the mortals and excites them."

Titan nods, "I understand you have a role to play, and need to do so. But...it is definitely complicating this evening. That's all."

Eris shrugs one shoulder with a rolling motion that's smooth and graceful. "Is it? I think it's all working out. You've helped two sets of mortals so far. How often do you do that these days? Help humans?" she asks as the elevator makes its way up.

Titan chuckles. "Not that often, I suppose. But it's not for a lack of being willing to do so."

Eris taps her clutch and smiles. "The will to do so does very little if you will not put yourself in a place to act. For one with the blood of great titans in him, your heroics remain shadowed. Unless it's on the silver screen." The elevator dings and the doors open, and she steps out after her cutting words.

Titan doesn't really feel slighted, though. "I have also been spending a fair amount of time helping to protect the fae."

"A group of creatures that don't even follow or believe in our Pantheon. The humans are our flock. Not the fae," Eris says as they approach the Maitre d'. "Two under Eris."

He looks into his tablet to check the reservation, then grabs menus. "Welcome to Robur's. Right this way." He leads them to a table, where they're seated, ice cold water is poured, and they're left to review the menu and chat.

Titan shakes his head as he takes a seat, "They recognize that the pantheon exists, I think. That's been my impression, at least."

"And do they worship it? You? Tell tales of us?" Eris asks with doubt. She plucks the wine menu as their waiter comes, and points to one item without even looking. He looks impressed as she picks the most expensive wine on the menu. "Domaine Leroy Musigny Grand Cru. Very good choice." Considering they're in one of the best seats with a view of the city, it may not be too much of a surprise for him.

Titan chuckles. "I'm pretty sure they tell tales of me, at least." He smiles. "Not all of which are flattering, I suppose."

Eris sighs in disappointment and sets the wine menu aside as the waiter leaves. "That's so disheartening. I hear your role is even subservient in their pecking order when you should be at the top."

Titan shakes his head, "I don't want to be 'at the top' there. I'm the field commander when necessary, but I don't wnat to put up with the political maneuvering there."

Eris rests her elbow on the table and then her chin on her fist in a Thinker pose, a pitying expression on her face. "What made you abandoned our flock? Do they even respect you there?" She seems to have some knowledge of his woes when courting Lorelei. Her information is a bit out of date, though.

Titan chuckles. "Yes, I'm respected there. And I haven't abandoned humanity, either."

"As an equal, then?" Eris asks as though she knows the answer.

Titan thinks about it. "Probably not. But I know I am the equal of any of them. More than an equal, actually."

Titan shrugs, "The fact that they are prejudiced...doesn't change that. Nor does the opinion of the dwarves, who distrust me."

Titan taps the table. "I'm the equal of Heracles. And I daresay, probably of Atlas himself. I am afraid of no one." Sure, there was that fire giant who bested him over a year ago, but who knows what would happen the next time.

"Don't get me started on the dwarves," Eris chuckles. Wine is brought open, and enough poured for testing. Eris swirls the glass and sips it. "Very nice," she says and holds out her glass to be filled. "Atlas? Now that's a boast I doubt. But I'd like to see it. A contest, perhaps." She sips her wine once it's poured. "Are you -sure- there isn't a glimmer of fear and doubt in there? Your body is strong and firm. Have you trained your mind along with it?"

Titan laughs, "I assure you...I have no shortage of confidence in my own abilities." Perhaps more than he should, to be honest.

Ironically though...if Eris asked that question a couple of years ago, there would have been more doubt.

Eris smiles. "Good. You'll find that confidence and your abilities put to the test. Enjoy the wine." She sips again casually.

Titan takes a sip of the wine, and raises one brow. "You're testing me, aren't you?"

"No. Your test won't come from me," Eris says. "I'm sating some curiosity, though."

It's a 2017 vintage red wine. A Pinot Noir from Musigny. Perfectly aged.

Titan smiles. "Okay...so what else are you curious about?" He sips his wine again.

Eris leans back from her Thinker pose. "Your loyalties."

Titan furrows his brow. "I see. I think I've been pretty open about that."

Eris sighs in a show of impatience. "To your family, Jonathon. It's good that you still care about humans and haven't forgotten them. But you haven't always seen eye to eye with Heracles. Do you harbor any other grudges?"

Titan nods. "Palanir. But...I think that's the only other person that I have a real grudge against."

Eris nods slowly. "And how do you feel about the other Gods and titans?"

Titan thinks about it. "I've only met a couple, aside from yourself. Hermes and Dionysus. Hermes was...very straightforward with me, and very helpful. Dionysus, not so much. Easily distracted by either booze or a pretty face.