Where art thou, Rebeca

CHAPTER 13

Chapter 13
The Collector

             Thanking God Almighty wasn't really a thing Beca does every day, but walking inside the usually crowded Museum with only a few tourists around made Beca sigh out just that.

Hand in hand, Beca and Chloe found their way inside the Greek Museum first, where they both headed in the middle to look around. Finding a conversation starter, Beca led Chloe towards the statue of the King of the Gods.

"Zues..." Beca begun as Chloe looked up at the massive guy with a thunderbolt in hand,"In Greek... He's Jupiter in Roman and both are the same guy with quiet a different characteristic."

"Is he pretentious?" Chloe inquired, frowning up at him,"I mean... I only learned a bit about him."

"Well..." Beca trailed, lips twitching,"He did disguised a lot to attracr mortals and have sex with them." They looked at the statue of the middle aged man.

"Seriously?"

"Mhmm," Beca answered, chuckling a bit,"He disguised as a very beautiful bull once, some other time a white stallion, the next an eagle. He's the father of Hercules, Perseus... some other heroes. His Roman self is more disciplined and pricipaled." Beca pointed at a painting behind the redhead,"That ones Hercules, he's fighting some lion that has iron like skin, he killed it with his bare hands."

"Damn..." Chloe wasn't a history or mythology buff, but just listening to Beca somewhat passionately talk about something that interest her made Chloe listen well.

Beca's slightly insecure though, this isn't an ideal date really, but she wanted to show Chloe a place she feels a bit at home in. Museums are pretty boring if you aren't a history or mythology buff and the key is to make sure you talk to your companion with interest about a subject.

"I hope you aren't getting bored..." Beca half-teased as they walked away from the statues of the big three; Zues, Poseidon and Hades and towards the Goddesses dome.

Beca's hands were in her pockets, feeling sheepish and thought of ways to make this a little less boring.

"Not the slightest, you're really good at explaining the philosophy behind their actions and the myths, I doze of off on my high school history class but you manage to really somehow capture your listeners attention... I learned quiet a lot." Chloe chuckled when she realized she's rambling, looking up at the female statues.

They stopped at a statue of one of the goddesses,"That's Aphrodite." Beca said, pointing at the statue,"She's the meaning of perfection in Ancient Greece, the Goddess of Love and Beauty." Aphrodite is sat, bent over as if she's fetching a jar of water, her stomach rolls and flabby thigh and arms designed by the sculptor.

"Isn't she the reason why Helen went away with Paris to Troy... This ultimately leading to the destruction of the great city..." The redhead was still looking up at the statue, appreciating its finely sculpted designs, Beca though, turned to look at her, a bit impressed.

"Yeah... She granted Paris the most beautiful girl in the world after he gave her the golden apple that's intended for the fairest of the three goddesses; Hera, Aphrodite and Athena, the two swore to fight against the Trojans after. It was a cheeky doing of Eres, the Goddess of Chaos." Beca drawled mindlessly.

"Interesting turn of events." Chloe thoughtfully said, rubbing her chin while a curious frown settled on her face,"Didn't someone die there..."

"Chlo... A lot died there." Beca laughed, pulling Chloe to Athena's statue."

"No, I mean, that guy Paris killed with an arrow... The name that rhymes with ankles." Chloe thoughtfully said.

"Achilles? Yeah... Another story too." Beca said,"There's also one about Odysseus, that's where Odyssy started... A lot of myths is connected to that voyage, Red, its like a spider web." Beca said, still looking up Athena,"Speaking of spiders..."

"What?" Chloe asked, following Beca's pointed hand to Athena's statue.

"A girl named Arachne challenged Athena, saying she was the greatest weaver in Greece... Athena warned her of her impending doom, but like any other human being, she's too prideful to even say she's below a Goddess... So Athena struck a curse on her and made her a spider, their scientific name is Arachnid, derived from her name perhaps." Explained the brunette.

"Pretty scary... Every despise her now."

"Spiders are pretty scary, Chlo... With their poisonous bites, eight legs and hairy body... Who'd want that for a housemate?" Beca chuckled at Chloe's shuddered response.

They walked around the museum for the rest of the afternoon, making fun of odd statues and shudders at creepy back stories of some art pieces... When Beca noticed that the sun was almost disappearing from the horizon, the sky from her view in the museum's massive window is painted with fiery colors of orange, reds and purples, making the sky look like an art piece made by the dead Da Vinci and Michelangelo, and all the other artist there that turned the wide sky into a chaotic fiery mess. A beautiful, chaotic fiery mess.

Pulling Chloe from the crowd, she intertwined their fingers and grinned at the redhead her usual sheepish grin, Chloe's original questioning look turned into one of mirth as she followed Beca out of the Museum and into the open again.

Making their way back to the hotel, they did not speak, letting the silence cover them in a comfortable atmosphere, sitting side by side in the cab, wishing the day wasn't almost over.

Turning to her right, Beca didn't force her smile down, she stared as Chloe watched the city begin to illuminate, each building, each post lights, each shops. She watched Chloe smile softly as she leaned her head against the window, listening to the engine's soft buzz, enjoying the usually annoying sound of evening traffic and caressing Beca's hand distractedly as if she was somewhere else and there with Beca at the same time.

Beca doesn't just love her, she's in love with Chloe Beale, but she's waiting for a perfect moment to tell the redhead.

When Chloe's eyes started to get droopy, Beca slithered her hand around the redhead's nape to pull her against the brunette, letting Chloe lean against her instead.

"Sleep, Chlo-bear... I'll take care of you." Beca whispered softly, her hand on Chloe's nape, Beca buried her nose on Chloe's hair, loving the mixed scent of summer flowers and French vanilla  in the redhead's hair.

Beca combed Chloe's auburn locks, lulling her gently to sleep. Chloe hummed in Beca's arms as the days exhaustion enveloped her, it was probably a good idea to nap, she needs some energy for the nights activities.

Just as Chloe's breathing evened out, Beca kissed Chloe at the crown of her head again and whispered the words she long to say outloud,"I love you, Chlo... Sleep tight."