dovelike | (no subject)

Clark remembers the area well enough - different from where Demeter brought him, though.

He's still smiling, although not as much as before, and so far, there's no panic or worry setting in. "Lead the way."

This area is far to the north of Athens, and quite a ways from the houses of Eirene's parents, which is a good thing. They travel down an ancient cart track; it's little more than a sad attempt at a trail now, but that will change the closer to civilization.

Or, in this case, a town that lies about a dozen or so kilometers from the mountain. "Doing alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Which is true. He feels fine, just a little less... happy than before. Which is kind of weird, but it's okay.

"Prime furniture moving condition."

That makes her giggle, fingers tightening around his as she quickens her pace. It's not exactly flying, or blurring, but it makes the journey a little less long, and soon they're standing in front of a house, on a hill in a little village five kilometers away from a larger village, and so on and so forth.

"This, Clark, is my very own home."

Ta-da! And she leads him inside.

Edited 2008-06-26 01:44 (UTC)

"It's nice." And he really means that. At least from what he can tell of the outside so far. What's nicer, though, is how happy it obviously makes her.

It really does. Make her happy, that is. The ground floor, as the first, attic and basement, are sparsley furnished, mostly with bits and pieces that Eirene found at shops in Athens with her mother. There isn't a television yet, or one of those digital dishes, or much food in the kitchen yet.

"So there's a master bedroom on the floor above this one, and an attic above that. I was thinking, if ... if you wanted, we could fix the attic up .. for you. You don't have to make a decision now, of course, and the main thing is to get the rest of the house ready for living in. Below this floor is a garage and a couple of rooms I'm going to use as an office and studio, unless you'd want a room down there, but I'm not sure how you feel about being underground and ... uh, anyway, the kitchen is right over there and I'll whip up something to eat in a little while. Through that door over there, past the living room, is the backyard, and it has a lovely little barbeque set up, and plenty of room for the village kids to play in and ... Clark, it's absolutely perfect."

She's talking a mile a minute and it's kind of hard to keep up along with looking around and taking in the layout of the place.

What he does get out of that probably isn't exactly what she wanted him to focus on all that much. "You want me to have a room here?"

Deer. In the headlights. A blushing deer. Doe. Whatever.

"Uh. Yeah? Don't worry, it'll be an open ended offer for as long as I have this house and know you."

Cough. "So would you like to see the backyard? I should go change for furniture shopping." Because nearly-transparent robes blend right in. Really.

Doe. A deer. A female deer. It seems appropriate.

"Sure." Because backyards are easier to think about than having a room.

Eirene will be sure to distract Clark with shopping and moving around stuff so he doesn't have to think about it. In fact, she'll probably keep him so busy that he'll forget all about that slip of the tongue.

"Come on. It's a beautiful day outside and you can see down into the village."

And exit stage right into said backyard, which is large enough for a couple of dogs and a lot of children. There even appears to be a small grove of fruit trees near the gate.

That's entirely possible. Not that Clark ever truly forgets anything, but it'll probably get shunted off and out of current thought.

"I knew it would have to have a nice garden." Or at least what could become one. Either way, he knows Eirene will make it her own.

"The last occupants were human, and this is but one of their vacation homes, so it is not surprising that there are so many possibilities never explored."

She turns to smile up at him.

"I will make this a refuge for anyone who needs it. Perhaps that is what I will do with the two rooms below - make them into guest rooms for those who wish to stay and heal from pain, emotional or otherwise, that life marks them with."

"Sounds like a good idea," Clark smiles back down at her, a smaller smile this time, but possibly fonder and more genuine than any of those he gave her earlier.

"Thank you. Now I have something to live up to." Eirene's eyes twinkle, and she may kidnap his fingers with her own before gazing across the yard with the eye of an experienced gardner.

Eventually: "Let's head down into the village. If I'm going to host you here for a couple of days, provided you still want to stay, then we'll need enough food to feed a hungry alien."

He glances around once more and then nods. "Kara probably won't even know I'm gone. But just a couple of days." Which means two, at most.

"You're going to need a lot of food."

"Clark, I will take you back the moment you wish to leave, have no fear of that." Cue grin. "Then let me show you what a village market looks like. Come."

She'll lead him back inside, through the house, and out to the lane, following the road down into the village proper, and into the center. To say it makes the farmer's market in Smallville look like a six year old's lemonade stand is only a slight exaggeration, for everything is sold here; flowers, fruit, vegetables, meats and fresh fish.

"Go on, pick what you want."

Edited 2008-06-26 06:24 (UTC)

Don't be knocking the Smallville farmer's market; it's quaint and it has charm, not to mention the finest pie in the state.

Clark is clearly comfortable with the open market atmosphere, and takes his time wandering around, inspecting the fruits and vegetables, selecting the ones deemed worthy, along with some meat and fish. It's enough, he thinks, for a couple of days.

Oh, Eirene isn't knocking it. Much. Simply a matter of local pride. If Clark didn't prefer Smallville over everything else, she'd start worrying.

It's a beautiful day for strolling past the stalls, and Eirene selects almost as many items as Clark does, knowing full well that once he leaves, she'll be mobbed by the local children, and patiently waits until he's done with each section before launching into a spirited haggling session with the farmer or fisherman, until she's worn them down to a slightly lower price.

When everything has been wrapped up, packed into bags and handed over to Eirene, or at least the stuff that Clark will let her carry, she spies a stand near the end of the town center with little figurines for sale.

And promptly falls in love with a little gray elephant statue.

The haggling is, well, to put a word to it, adorable. Not that he has a clue what they're saying, but Clark just stands to her side, a big smile on his face, and watches her with amusement, occasionally shrugging at the vendor. Clark will be no help for him.

Once they've gathered their purchases, he finds her over by the figurine stand.

"Elephants?"

Eirene shifts a bag of apples to her hip, treating it the exact same way she would a toddler, and points toward the pachyderm, engaging in another bartering session until the vendor throws up his hands and gestures to the statue.

"Go on, woman. Take it. I will have more next weekend when the shipment comes in from India." His English is heavily laced with a Greek accent.

She bows formally and collects her prize, hugging it to her chest. "Blessings of Zeus on you, sir."

"Come on, Clark. Lets go home before he changes his mind. And yes, I adore elephants."

Clark is just further amused as they start back toward her house.

"Why elephants?"

"Because they're large, gentle creatures, content to just go about their lives. You have to train an elephant to be mean. Of course, there are always exceptions."

She grins while skirting around a group of kids spilling out of an alley in pursuit of a small dog or large cat, she couldn't see past the mob.

"I've just always liked them. If you ask nicely, they'll let you ride them without benefit of those horrid drivers who keep yelling at and smacking them."

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen one, outside of the Metropolis Zoo, and that was a long time ago." Clark steps aside to let the kids - and the dog - go by. "Personally, I liked the rhinoceros better."

"Do you want to? While you're here, I mean." She's already mentally figuring out whether to take him to an actual zoo, or the wilds of Africa, or somewhere on the Indian subcontinent if he actually says yes.

If not, it's a moot point, and they're getting closer to her home anyway.

Clark probably should have expected the offer. But he didn't, so Eirene will get a look.

"I'm not sure we'l have time. We need to get your house set up." There's a brief pause before he adds, "Next time, though."