DIVA: A Fateful Discovery #3

[deucexm]

The last chapter of the tale, and really more of an epilogue; short and sweet.

A Fateful Discovery: A DiVerse Alpha Chronicle
by Felix

-3-

Rosewood stepped out of a tall, white oval-framed portal into her quarters in
the Temple of Fortune. With a curt gesture from her, the portal snapped shut,
closing the way to the Cutting Room behind her.

"What a ridiculous day," the Goddess murmured to no one in particular, and sank
onto a nearby recliner with a quiet sigh, her futuristic white/chrome bodysuit
reshaping into a loose and comfortable pink t-shirt and navy/green plaid pajama
pants.

Idly rolling a small golden marble between her fingers and thumb, Rosewood
looked around her room. As always, it was cluttered with all sorts of things
that she had been working on and neglected to put away, leaving her with visual
reminders of everything she needed to finish. A little overwhelming at times,
perhaps - she did have an awfully large backlog of projects - but the obvious
references helped her focus, grounding her in reality. Such as it was.

And now I have something even grander, she thought, the hint of a smile curling
her lips, to push all of this aside for even /longer/. Well, perhaps I can
combine some things...

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. The Goddess's brow furrowed a
little more than usual; personal quarters were, well, /personal/, and generally
left undisturbed. This was most irregular.

"Rosewood? Are you in there?" came a vaguely worried voice from the other side -
a voice she knew well. A gesture from her and the door snap-hissed open in the
coolest science-fiction way (it was her Aesthetic), and Eris's head peeked
around the corner.

A quiet sigh escaped her, the little smile widening and the frown vanishing.
"C'mere, hon."

She didn't want to admit it, but the Goddess of Chaos's concerned face as she
approached the chair was unexpectedly adorable. It was such a rare expression
for the ordinarily wild and carefree lady; in fact, it reminded her of her life
before Ascension, when it was just her and the Master Key...

Smiling a little less broadly as bittersweet memories came trickling back, the
Goddess of Design pulled Eris onto her chest, wrapping her arms across the
darker lady's back and leaning back as she moved the chair into full-recline
mode. Her partner was all warmth and softness in her embrace; it was something
of a reversal to be the one holding her, but not unpleasantly so. Her gaze
lifted to the shifting rainbow of hair that graced the other Deity's head, and
she moved one hand to softly rest atop it.

"... is everything okay?" she murmured gently.

There was a muffled 'heh', and Eris lifted her head with a little smile of her
own, a hint of concern still in her eyes. "I feel like I should be asking /you/
that. You were gone for quite a while this time."

Was I really? Rosewood wondered. Time did have a funny way of twisting around
itself sometimes when other dimensions and planes were involved, but she didn't
think it had been any appreciable length. "I'm doing well," she returned after a
moment, "just a little tired. Settling matters in one of my more... complicated
projects, I suppose."

"Do you... need any help with it?"

There was a pause as Rosewood considered how to answer. Technically no, since
the immediate problem was wrapped up; and yet... the question itself was
strangely tentative, uncharacteristic of her partner. Something was off, and she
couldn't tell what; but she did know what she wanted - and probably needed - to
do.

"You know, I just might," she returned softly, a little twinkle in her eyes.
"But that can wait for a while; there are more important matters to attend to."
With a gesture, the door to her quarters softly hissed shut.

"Oh? ... oh~!"

And all was peaceful - as peaceful as things ever were.