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That usual elation Heracles felt returning to his home country was doubled- no, tripled today. Dragging Nicoleta around was probably going to be difficult. Her sleeping pattern was insane, he’d have to pump her full of coffee just to get her through the day. If they were going to be hanging around Greece for the next couple of weeks (“Why two?!” she continued to ask), she’d have plenty of time to maim her schedule again, enjoy the scenery, and then go back to her nocturnal pattern.

And so, they did.

They went to the Acropolis and he rambled on about history, just as he always did. He told her about Athena Nike, the history of the Parnethon and the Persian Wars, how the Delian League funded the ambitions of Pericles to expand the glory of Athens. Then he went on an almost entirely unrelated tangent.

“It was a little funny the way the other city-states reacted, you know?” Heracles continued, as they abandoned the Parthenon to examine one of the many other temples in the city’s sacred center. “Athens paraded its power over everyone smaller than they were, but it was them attacking and enslaving the islands that...”

Nicoleta only smiled and listened with interest to his lessons, admiring the passion with which he spoke. He knew so much off the top of his head, he spoke with such excitement… she loved that about him. There was never a dull moment with Heracles as long as he had something to say. His eyes sparkled as he spoke, he grinned with pure delight at her interest.

Having someone to listen to him when he rambled was one of the best feelings he knew.

The continued onward. They traveled and saw temples and villages and towns. They visited Delphi, he rambled about that as well. The city-states went to Delphi for all of their decisions, and had to interpret prophecies and instructions to guide them. A message from Delphi saved Athens from destruction during the Persian war. Encouragement from the oracle influenced the Spartans to take on Persia herself. Magic or not, the oracle guided history in one direction instead of the other, as if Apollo himself were truly a real entity.

Mountains, he loved the mountains. Coming home to Greece’s rocky, breathtaking terrain was a welcome change from London. He missed it every time he went back, and this two weeks would go by so quickly, and even quicker with Nicoleta there to make him happier.

But then, it was Nicoleta’s turn to guide them around. With a map, she pointed him to buildings in the cities, to restaurants, to art on corners she found interesting. She grabbed his hand, pulled him along, hazel eyes lit with cheerful mischief. She smirked at him, threw him as many places as she could. Probably as revenge for dragging her here, but that was okay. He didn’t mind.

He grasped Nicoleta’s hand tightly, heart pounding. It almost wasn’t enough to simply be in her presence, to just be here with her. They were friends, that was all. This was a friendly vacation with a friend. But free from everything, free to his thoughts and away from mindless work, he couldn’t keep his mind off a fact that had been bothering him constantly since the day after they arrived.

He loved her.

That thick feeling in his chest when he thought about her, that sense of happiness when he saw her smile – smile, not smirk – and that feeling of genuine affection. He got to see a side of her here, away from London, from what she did, from his job. Everything seemed so pure and unmasked now. He hoped that wasn’t far from the truth… he wanted something pure.

From two entirely different ends of the spectrum—okay, almost. He wasn’t a police officer or anything, but he was about as normal as they could get. Ordinary, normal.

Here, she could be normal.

Her expression was so utterly normal, as if nothing back home could touch her. Like him.

Heracles watched her, beaming. Watching her enjoying herself (enjoying herself in such a way that didn’t scare the shit out of him) was almost like a high. He couldn’t get enough of listening to her laugh or seeing happiness on her face.

Nicoleta was a hard person for him to read sometimes. He made no secret of his initial attraction to her, expressing interest that she rejected. But she rejected, and continued to hang around. Most people he asked wouldn’t object sleeping with him once or twice, but Nicoleta was different and odd in that respect.

But seeing her now, he finally knew why.