Defixio

Hera Vs Dreams

Previously on Hera Vs Pop Culture:

"Ha! I got it!" Sakiya said, entering her apartment again, "you should do stand up!"

Now:

"You think I should do what?," Hera looked at Sakiya as if she were insane. 

"Stand up!" Sakiya sounded really excited suddenly, "It's when you write jokes and perform them. Sometimes you make fun of yourself, sometimes your life, sometimes other people." They entered the living area of the apartment and sat down on the couch. 

"I don't think I'm funny enough," Hera sighed, "I think that you just think that I'm funny." Sakiya scooted closer to Hera.

"I think a lot of people will find you funny." Sakiya smiled at Hera. 

Hera scoffed, "Like whom?"

"Like anyone at the bar! I mean we are all like very liberal feminists, so anything you have to say about your awful ex-husband would make us laugh-- just leave out the fact that you always blamed the victim."

"Well, who else was I--" Sakiya put a hand up to Hera's lips in order to gain her attention and to make her stop talking. Hera blushed as Sakiya moved her hand away. 

"I know, but they don't, so don't make it really awkward. I don't want to clean tomatoes off your beautiful face." This made Hera laugh a little, looking at Sakiya.

"Why exactly are you helping me again?" she asked, letting her chin rest on her hand. "Because I am pretty sure you should be spending your time doing anything more important."

"Don't say that you are not important; you're a goddess!"

"That's not the whole me," Hera muttered looking out Sakiya's window for a minute.

"Well, that's not the only reason you matter; you made me laugh at the bar, remember? Plus I recognized the lost puppy dog eyes you had."

"I did not have dog eyes," Hera said, trying her best to make herself seem slightly more rigid. 

"You did. I know because I had them when I first came to America," Sakiya laughed. She leaned back on the couch and stretched her arms across the back of it. After locking eyes with Hera's odd gaze, Sakiya began to speak, "When I was nine, my parents moved from our home in Japan to America. It was a really hard transition for me. I knew English, but I did not know pop culture over here at all. I was a social pariah. It took forever, but eventually, I figured enough out to get by as an oddball--but not alien. It was still hard though, especially since we lived in a very small, conservative town. I always wanted someone to make sure I didn't make a fool of myself when I was nine, so I thought that I'd help you out."

Hera stared at the woman, "So you wanted to help me figure out how to survive in this world?"

Sakiya laughed again, "Yep! Now, back to stand up. You obviously can't do that to make a living, so you are going to need to get a job and start writing jokes on the side."

"What makes you think I am willing to do this 'stand up?'" Hera asked giving Sakiya a side glance. 

"Because you like being in the spotlight-- well, at least, you did in the myths."

Hera sniffed, "Well, I cannot argue with that, but who on earth would hire me? Don't forget, I am an alien."

"Well, what did your papers say, any college degrees?" Sakiya asked, making Hera think. She pictured the box in her mind; there were papers and something that looked ornamental but Hera could not remember what was on said paper. 

"Not that I know of."

Sakiya then looked at a clock on the wall, "Well, I would ask if you would want to work on writing some jokes, but it's nearly 11 o'clock and I have work tomorrow. I have a guest bedroom if you need it-- I mean, you do need it, but you may not want to stay," Sakiya was cut off by Hera's laugh.

"Thank you, I'll take you up on that. I would prefer not to sleep on the streets tonight."

Sakiya stood and offered a hand to Hera, who took it and was pulled to her feet. Hera then was directed to a room with a bed and a few odd looking pieces of furniture. She thanked Sakiya and entered the room, the door closing behind her. 

Hera sat on the front of the bed, and the exhaustion of the past day finally set in. She lay back and soon found herself asleep on the bed. She slept so deeply that she didn't hear Sakiya sneak back into the room and take off Hera's shoes and pull blankets over her sound body.

At least that's what Sakiya thought.

Once the other girl left the room, Hera unconsciously curled up in the blanket like she did when she was a child, smiling slightly as Sakiya's scent hit her nostrils. 

This woman was truly something, and this woman was having an instant effect on Hera, even if neither one of them realized it quite yet. In fact, Sakiya managed to get Hera to laugh multiple times, that's something that the goddess had not done in at least a couple of hundred years. 

Hera's dreams were full of her life back on Mt. Olympus, reliving her past. Reliving all the stuff that she was trying to forget.

But then she saw Sakiya in the background of one of her dreams, and the dreams began to take place in the world she was now in. She saw herself and Sakiya going through what Hera figured was everyday life. 

And then she saw something else.

She saw the two girls hold hands, kiss each other, and wear each other's clothes. 

She saw them confess feelings.  She saw them fall in love. She saw Sakiya reach into her pocket and pull out a box.

She saw a lot that night, and when Hera woke with a start, she did not remember any of it.