As far as Michael was concerned, they could stay here 'til it was, and he'd happily point them out. If he had his way, they'd never have to leave here--the place he felt more like himself than anywhere, with the person he wanted to be with more than anything else.
He shivered at the brush of Alex's fingers over his chest, and chuckled a little.
"All four of them were among the constellations that Ptolemy categorized, though Aquila's in roughly the same area as a Babylonian one also called the 'eagle.' Aquila's brightest star is only 17 light-years from Earth, and is called Altair, which comes from the Arabic for 'the flying eagle.' So--it ends up being really self-referential. It's the bird that they said carried Zeus's thunderbolts across the sky for him." And that always made him think of Max. "Ptolemy also catalogued Cygnus, and it has the Northern Cross inside it. But there are a lot of swans in Greek mythology, and possible origins for the name. But my favorite is the story of Phaeton. He was Helios's son and wanted to drive his father's sun chariot for a day across the sky. But he couldn't control it, and Zeus had to destroy it, and him. They plunged down into the river, and Phaeton's brother, Cygnus, was brokenhearted. So, he spent day after day, diving into the river to bring out his brothers' bones, so he could bury him properly. The gods were blown away by how devoted he was, and so, they rewarded him by turning him into a swan and putting him up in the stars forever."
That...also kinda made him think of Max. Or himself. 'Cause that's what either of them would do for each other, or for Isobel.
"Andromeda and Perseus are named after their myth. Andromeda's mom bragged that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids, and Poseidon got pissed and sent a sea monster to ravage the coast and the oracle said the only way to stop it was to chain Andromeda to a rock and give her to the monster. But Perseus was coming home from killing Medusa, and he saw her there, and he saved her by using Medusa's head to turn the monster to stone. He rescued her from the rock and married her, which pissed off her uncle, who, I guess was gonna marry her before they chained her to a rock. So he got all feisty at the wedding, and Perseus turned him to stone with Medusa's head, too, 'cause no way was he letting Andromeda stay with a family whose two ideas for what to do with their kid was feed her to a sea monster or make her marry her uncle. And, they sailed off, pretty literally, into the sunset. They rescued Perseus' mom, and had a bunch of kids, and lived happily ever after. Then, when they died, Euripides placed them in the stars, so they could be together for all eternity."
He gave Alex a sheepish smile, and a little shrug, realizing he hadn't answered the why of it, but also, not sure how to explain. "I dunno why those. I mean...I guess I like the Perseus and Andromeda story, 'cause...I used to come out here, and stare up at the stars, y'know, and I'd think that...maybe something, or someone, up there would save me. And when I saw their constallations, I'd remember the story, and it gave me hope. I mean, Greek myths are usually tragic, but it's a happy one. I mostly just like Aquila 'cause it's this cool shape and I like how many different civilizations looked up and saw the same thing. And Cygnus makes me think of me and Max..."
He bit his lip at that, uncertain if that was something that made sense.
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momijizukamori
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Date: 2019-04-02 03:45 am (UTC)He shivered at the brush of Alex's fingers over his chest, and chuckled a little.
"All four of them were among the constellations that Ptolemy categorized, though Aquila's in roughly the same area as a Babylonian one also called the 'eagle.' Aquila's brightest star is only 17 light-years from Earth, and is called Altair, which comes from the Arabic for 'the flying eagle.' So--it ends up being really self-referential. It's the bird that they said carried Zeus's thunderbolts across the sky for him." And that always made him think of Max. "Ptolemy also catalogued Cygnus, and it has the Northern Cross inside it. But there are a lot of swans in Greek mythology, and possible origins for the name. But my favorite is the story of Phaeton. He was Helios's son and wanted to drive his father's sun chariot for a day across the sky. But he couldn't control it, and Zeus had to destroy it, and him. They plunged down into the river, and Phaeton's brother, Cygnus, was brokenhearted. So, he spent day after day, diving into the river to bring out his brothers' bones, so he could bury him properly. The gods were blown away by how devoted he was, and so, they rewarded him by turning him into a swan and putting him up in the stars forever."
That...also kinda made him think of Max. Or himself. 'Cause that's what either of them would do for each other, or for Isobel.
"Andromeda and Perseus are named after their myth. Andromeda's mom bragged that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids, and Poseidon got pissed and sent a sea monster to ravage the coast and the oracle said the only way to stop it was to chain Andromeda to a rock and give her to the monster. But Perseus was coming home from killing Medusa, and he saw her there, and he saved her by using Medusa's head to turn the monster to stone. He rescued her from the rock and married her, which pissed off her uncle, who, I guess was gonna marry her before they chained her to a rock. So he got all feisty at the wedding, and Perseus turned him to stone with Medusa's head, too, 'cause no way was he letting Andromeda stay with a family whose two ideas for what to do with their kid was feed her to a sea monster or make her marry her uncle. And, they sailed off, pretty literally, into the sunset. They rescued Perseus' mom, and had a bunch of kids, and lived happily ever after. Then, when they died, Euripides placed them in the stars, so they could be together for all eternity."
He gave Alex a sheepish smile, and a little shrug, realizing he hadn't answered the why of it, but also, not sure how to explain. "I dunno why those. I mean...I guess I like the Perseus and Andromeda story, 'cause...I used to come out here, and stare up at the stars, y'know, and I'd think that...maybe something, or someone, up there would save me. And when I saw their constallations, I'd remember the story, and it gave me hope. I mean, Greek myths are usually tragic, but it's a happy one. I mostly just like Aquila 'cause it's this cool shape and I like how many different civilizations looked up and saw the same thing. And Cygnus makes me think of me and Max..."
He bit his lip at that, uncertain if that was something that made sense.