Grey’s head whipped around. But instead of finding the statue he expected to find there, he found a woman looming over his chest, looking at what he was looking at. Or, rather, she had been until he passed right through her and she dissipated, only to turn up over his other shoulder.
The woman stood taller than even he did, which was quite the feat. Well... maybe not considering the statue had been three meters tall.
This version wasn’t nearly so tall, but she was still more than half a head taller than Grey who stood well above six feet himself. And that, by the grace of all the gods there were, put her chest at nearly eye level with him.
"Well I’ll be damned." Grey mumbled.
He had slung the rod onto his back because he didn’t have a strong enough inventory slot to take it on. He also didn’t have a string or holster for it either, so he had been using the white-gold strands from the Bringer of Light gloves.
But it seemed that unlike his cute little flame, Atlas had a real physical form. Well... not physical considering he had just passed right through her. Still physical enough to feel like he could reach out and touch her, though.
"The world is such a cruel place." Grey mumbled again, almost forgetting there was a head and neck above the chest he was looking at.
"Are you finished?"
"Are you done?"
"You’re going to have to grow up at some point, Grey."
Grey made a weird face and looked up from the angel lady, to Amunet, and then finally to Thi Lan who had spoken last.
"Can you lot get off my back? Do you know how hard it is to survive when you can’t jerk off? My head is going to explode at some point."
Thi Lan made a weird face, and Amunet rolled her eyes and said something about "men". It was, surprisingly, the angel lady who laughed.
She looked different now that she wasn’t made of stone. Her wings were still black as night, but her skin actually looked like skin now, and she wasn’t talking in that "eternal night" emo tone she had been before.
"Leave it to Prometheus to pick such a pervert. Unbelievable."
Grey blinked. Was this woman supposed to speak about such things out loud?
"Oh. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that." She said, reading a look in Grey’s eyes. "I thought they were your women?"
"Absolutely fucking not." Amunet said.
"No." Thi Lan said as well.
"He makes jokes like this with women he hasn’t brought to bed yet?" the woman asked.
"Well, has he taken you ’to bed’?" Amunet gave her a pointed look.
"Touché. Maybe it would be easier to focus on your goals if we snipped it off." The woman said seriously.
"There’s some real food for thought." Amunet said with a nod.
Thi Lan didn’t say anything, but it looked like she was truly contemplating it.
"Alright, I’m glad you three are all having your fun, but in case you haven’t noticed. I kicked your ass," he pointed to Thi Lan, "your ass," he pointed to Amunet, "and your ass," he pointed to the angel lady. "How about some fucking respect, huh?"
"I’m pretty sure you had a lot of help on that last one." Thi Lan said.
"Yeah, well now she’s a ghost, so good luck getting her help."
Thi Lan smiled and looked away as though she was trying to stop herself from laughing.
"See? I think I’m growing on her. What do you think?" Grey nudged at the angel lady.
"I think you’re going to wake up one day with them gone if you keep at it. My husband would hang you by your ankles and dangle you over a death star."
"A death star? Like star wars?"
The angel lady gave him a blank look.
"What about the pyramids?" Grey asked out of nowhere.
"Pyramids? Ah, yes." The angel lady nodded. "That does sound like a good choice. They can house some very sinister punishments."
"See that?" Grey said, giving Amunet a look. "Star wars, not alien. Pyramids, definitely alien."
Amunet’s lip twitched. Only Grey would pick a time like this to make that joke.
"Anyway, angel lady, or Atlas, whoever you are, what’s this water?"
"I am not Atlas. Atlas is my husband."
Grey’s eyes lit up. "Does Prometheus have a wife with big tits too? After all the trouble he’s put me through, it’s the least he owes me."
The angel lady sputtered with laughter. "Prometheus is a recluse."
"What you’re actually trying to say is that he’s a virgin."
Prometheus pulsed in dissatisfaction, the flickering image of a flame appearing in Grey’s eyes and on his forehead.
The angel lady only laughed and didn’t reply directly.
"Either way, my husband would not be very happy about you taking this weapon."
"Well, your husband left you here to carry this burden on your own. So doesn’t sound like a very good husband to me anyway."
The angel lady frowned, clearly not happy. But Grey didn’t seem to have any intention of taking it back.
The angel lady spoke about her husband like he was still alive, or else she wouldn’t have phrased her words like that. Why would she mention how angry he’d be if he was dead?
Imagine being a man, having a wife that looked like this, and letting her stand around here carrying burdens for you.
Grey would rather die than have his wife go through something like that.
In fact, he’d die however many times it took to make sure it didn’t happen.
Seeing that Grey wasn’t backing down to her glare, the angel lady’s gaze flashed with a bit of an approving smile. She didn’t have much power now, but she was someone who was laced with the presence of a god. Someone with sharp enough senses to be chosen by Prometheus would definitely be able to feel it.
Yet... Grey acted like he legitimately didn’t. Maybe to him, it made no difference whatsoever.
"I see why Prometheus the ill-tempered brat chose you. Are you sure you want to know what the water is?"
Grey raised an eyebrow. Why did it sound like knowing was dangerous?