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"Stop the clocks, it's amazing
You should see the way the light dances off your hair
A million colors of hazel, golden, and brown"
-Afterglow, Ed Sheeran
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*chapter twelve*
"Hey, get away from him!" April yelled, pointing her shaking finger at the drunk man standing in front of Chenle.
Chenle averted his eyes from the man in front of him, looking at her with bewilderment instead. He then seemed to recognize her, and the look disappeared to be replaced with annoyance and an eye roll.
"I'm trying to help you!" she shouted, ticked off, "Now get the fuck up and run away!"
In response, Chenle simply leaned back against the fence, cushioning the back of his hands with his arms in a relaxed position.
"What is wrong with you?" April seethed, regretting her decision to try and help him strongly.
Chenle seemed to actually pause and think about it before answering, "A lot, I think, actually."
April began ignoring him, turning her attention to the man in front of him again. He had turned around to face her with a puzzled look on his face.
April squinted, thinking she was seeing things. Then she rubbed her eyes. And then did it all over again. But nope, the sight in front of her never changed.
The man's ears had looked funny because they weren't human ears. They were horse ears. And he had been walking funny because, just like Pan, he didn't have feet, he had hooves instead. April could see little tufts of brown fur peeking out from underneath his jeans.
"I'm guessing the two of you aren't fully mortal since you're giving me that reaction," he said, his voice deep as he sighed. "It's kind of rude, you know? All that ogling. Not to mention the girl is literally glowing. We all have our weird quirks, see?"
April looked down at herself, both her and Chenle giving the horse man a puzzled look since she clearly was not glowing.
"Oh, you can't see her glowing?" he asked, his ears flopping down. "That's...that's awkward."
April and Chenle both just nodded.
"Wait, if only I can see her glowing," he started, his ears peeking back up again. "That must mean you're a full, legitimate demigod! Wow, I've never seen one before! Forgive me, I'm having a 'fan girl moment' as you mortals call it-"
April ran over to him, clamping a hand over his mouth to shut him up as she looked around them frightfully.
He said something else, but it was muffled by her hand. He then furrowed his brows, April pulling away her hand away as pain burst across it.
"Did you just- you just bit me!" she shouted.
"What was I supposed to do?" he replied, "I was just fangirling and you put your measly demigod hand on my gorgeous face!"
"My hand is not measly- your hand is measly!"
Chenle, who had just been watching them from his position on the ground, sighed, and stood up. He'd come out trying to see more things from the world of Greek mythology, and one had just approached him. He wasn't about to let this girl steal it away from him.
"Shut up, April," he said, the girl shocked into silence by hearing him say her name so casually.
He turned to the horse man, smirking when he saw that his attention was back on himself.
"What's your name?" he asked, "And what are you?"
"Well, I'm glad someone finally had the decency to prepare for proper introductions," he said, sending a sly glance over to April, who looked like she was about to respond before he kept talking. "My name is Abner, and I am a Sileni."
He looked at them expectedly, but when he didn't receive any reaction, he let out a deep sigh, massaging his temples.
"I guess your schools wouldn't teach you about us anymore," he said, then explained, "Basically, we're the horse version of satyrs. I have horse ears, and horse legs, as you can see. I also have a tail, but I keep that tucked in my pants because sometimes mortals can see it, and that's always an awkward conversation-"
"Wait, wait, wait," April said, Chenle rolling his eyes. "I think I'm getting a vague recollection of memories, probably from my one and only father, Apollo. Aren't you guys supposed to be older than the satyrs and...uhm...wise?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Sorry, but you're not- I mean, I'm not getting any of those vibes from you-"
"What she's trying to say is that you don't seem very wise," Chenle finished, April flinching slightly.
Abner's ears flopped down once again, his expression taking on a far away kind of look.
"No, that's not what he meant-" April started.
"It is," Chenle said, shutting up when April sent him a harsh glare.
"No, he's right," Abner said, plopping down on the asphalt as April and Chenle looked down at him. "I don't really fit in among the other Sileni. I'm one of the younger ones, and also sort of a screw up. I'm not smart, or 'wise,' I guess."
"But that's okay," April said, him glancing up at her tentatively. "You may not be any of those things, but you are yourself. That's the best person you can be. And think about it this way, you're the only Sileni like you out there. You're one of a kind. You're special. Isn't that kind of cool?"
Abner's ears slowly perked back up as April talked, until he started over, hugging April's knees and looking up at her with stars in his eyes.
"Wow, you really are the daughter of Apollo!" he gushed, "The demigod of light and warmth! And she just bestowed her wisdom on me! A humble Sileni, the worst of the bunch too!"
"Hey, did any of the stuff I said actually sink in on you?" April grumbled, trying to push him off her.
Chenle leaned down, grabbing Abner by the back of his shirt and pulling him off April. She looked surprised, but gave him a grateful look anyway.
"It wasn't for you," he huffed, her expression quickly changing. "I just have my own questions."
"Which are?" Abner asked, crossing his arms.
"Why did you approach me?"
"Oh, that!" he exclaimed, like he'd forgotten. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help noticing the similarity in your appearances, but would you happen to be related to one of the three graces?"
"Yeah," Chenle said, not surprised to hear that he resembled his mother after hearing it from his father so many times. "Euphrosyne. She's the one known for laughter. And not known for being my mother."
"Oh, wow," he said, his eyes full of stars once again, Chenle gladly taking in the attention. "You really are the spitting image of her. Just a male version, you know."
"I really don't see how I look like a greek mythological figure, but everyone seems to think I do. So...what was she like?"
"Why are you using past tense?" Abner asked, "There was a time when she disappeared for a while, and the three graces became a duo, but she quickly came back to gracing us with her presence. See what I did there? Gracing us-"
"When she disappeared," Chenle butted in, "Would that happen to be around, I don't know, sixteen years ago?"
"Yeah, fifteen or sixteen, somewhere around there," Abner replied, "Why?"
"No reason," Chenle said, dropping his collar and turning around as the Sileni fell onto his butt with a pained grunt.
Neither him nor April missed the sad glint in the boy's eyes, but both of them shrugged their shoulders as they exchanged a glance, brushing it off.
"So," Abner said, swinging an arm around Chenle's shoulders. "Could you maybe do me a favor and introduce me to your dear, old mother?"
"First," Chenle said, "Calling a woman old probably isn't going to get you very far. Second, I don't know her? Why would I ask you what she was like if I was in contact with her?"
"You bring up good points, little grace," he sighed, "But it was worth a shot."
April nodded, Abner giving her a grateful look, while Chenle just rolled his eyes.
"Shit, I have to get home," April said, checking her phone.
"I, for one, don't want to go home," Abner said, "So Chenle, my main little grace, want to hang out with me?"
"Don't call me that and maybe I will."
"Of course, of course, little...man."
"Okay, then I will."
April shook her head at the two of them, saying bye to Abner before looking at Chenle. Even if he had ignored her pretty much the entire time, he wasn't that bad.
"Bye," she said to him.
He didn't say anything, just looked up and gave her a disgusted look, before looking back down at his feet.
Okay, never mind, he was that bad.
"Brat," she muttered, before running off towards her apartment.
He looked after her, tilting his head to the side as he thought about everything that had happened.
She was the daughter of Apollo, yet she was also so...unimpressive. He snorted to himself, following Abner as he walked away.
Maybe he didn't mind her being around Jisung so much anymore.
I can't remember how to spell Chenle's mom's name for the life of me