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Post by Athena Violet Williams on Mar 31, 2014 16:37:30 GMT -5
Athena nodded, chuckling. To say she travelled a lot was probably an understatement. She practically lived on airplanes and there were few countries she still had on her places to visit list. Even taking this time off to teach had her travelling to museums around the continent and now that summer was around, she would be spending most of her time between the dig sites her parents watched over. They were in South American right now but there was a site under their watch in Greece and in Indonesia. “I practically live on planes. You’ve actually caught me on an off day. I had a meeting.” Athena admitted laughing. She loved what she did but she could live without spending so much time in the air. The view might have been incredible and she may have been thinking about getting her pilots licence but she wouldn’t have complained if they managed to make the flights a little bit shorter. That meeting was just the first of three before she left for her extended trip. Her parents had a deal with the Museum of Natural History that anything the students found on the dig, even though it was south of the border would be put on display at the museum. Her mother had been working the same request where she was and as long as the pieces, if any where found, were returned to be put on display in the home country, it would be fine.
It was a good agreement and Athena liked the thought of the things her students found being put on display for their friends and fellow diggers to see; maybe get more people interested in applying for the next adventure. It would be these field trips that her students got to see the real her. In classes she wore nice clothes, heels and makeup. She put some time and effort into her hair but not a whole lot. But while she was working, really working, it was tank tops, shorts and heavy boots. She spent more time lathering on sunscreen than she did foundation and she was almost never without her sunglasses and baseball cap. To say Athena was a tomboy was a massive understatement. She was so much of a tomboy the guys working the sites often joked she was one of them. She could play a mean game of poker, drive like nothing scared her and swore worse than a trucker in standstill traffic on the expressway. And she wouldn’t have changed who she was for anything.
“Sounds like it.” Athena said, chuckling. If Harrison’s rave reviews were anything to go by, this place was the best around town. Athena would reserve judgement until she’d had her little treat and coffee but already she liked the atmosphere of the space, even if it was outside and it was just the New York air mixing and mingling with the sweet aroma of bakery goods and strong, rich coffee. “Neither am I so I guess that makes us both a little more trusting than most.” She said with a grin as she uncrossed her legs to sit up a bit straighter and cross them again with the opposite leg. She didn’t have the accent of someone from New York, or from Greece for that matter. Hers was a lovely mash up of all the areas she’d ever lived. So it wasn’t quite Greek anymore but it was absolutely definitely not American either.
Tag || Harrison! <3 Words || 576 Clothes || Pretty as a picture Music || One Way Ticket -- Carrie Underwood Notes || <3
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Post by Harrison Marshall Bryant on Apr 8, 2014 14:22:10 GMT -5
Pulling a face and wrinkling his nose up, Harrison shook his head. “To be honest I loathe flying.” He didn't have a fear of it and more often than not his journeys were in first class seating. What Harrison didn't like was the complete waste of time trips could be. Not to mention the cramped spaces, lack of fresh air and a multitude of other minor complaints that could only come from a person who had been bored of airplanes by the time he was ten. At least back then those flights had led to skiing holidays and summers in the Caribbean. Now it was rare for the young heir to take much of a holiday anywhere. He always found himself too busy or simply not interested in the offers sent his way. Plus, he had no one to really enjoy them with. Harrison had grown used to his own company and he didn't mind it one bit, but there was a lot to be said for a twenty-eight year old who was happier spending an evening home with his family of dogs than he was spending an evening at a bar with acquaintances. There weren't many people in his life who he could consider friends now since many had graduated the first time and then left their days of learning far behind them. They were all invested in careers or families by now and Harrison had done little to fill the spaces in his life that they had left behind.
Harrison couldn't hide who he was. He could brush off the name and act as casual as possible, but he still came across to strangers as the typical English gentleman. He liked being that role, didn't like people changing once they found he was from money. Luckily he dressed down most days and while his wardrobe was possibly overcrowded with button up shirts and Oxford collars, he was able to pull them off without looking like he had spent his whole life dressing like this and much smarter. He was used to tight ties suffocating him and shirts that were as uncomfortable as they were plain, but Harrison just saw them as a part of his life and nothing really worth grumbling about. Luckily, in New York, he didn't need to worry about looking smart and rich all the time. He could blend in with a crowd without appearing like a Wall Street imitation.
He wouldn't say he was the most trustworthy man out there. Some people gave him cause for reservations and concerns, but he tried not to let that happen to frequently in his life. He knew when to pull the plug on some relationships and when to push on with others. Harrison liked to think of himself as a good reader of people, but he was still surprised by the things people were capable of from time to time. Wealth could give him everything he wanted, allow him to do whatever he pleased, but Harrison was a man of simple tastes with a love for dogs and an apartment that resembled a shelter for the creatures. “A dying breed in the city that never sleeps. I find more and more people convert to the standard of New Yorkers in less time than I've even lived here.” Harrison still screamed English in every way. He had no American tastes from moving to the country, hadn't lost even a smidgen of his accent, and he still acted as though he had stepped out of a Thomas Hardy novel, despite being a century out of date with the world. Maybe he was just a classic, like the literatures themselves.
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TAGGED! Athena <3 WORDS! 652! OUTFIT! Grouchy Gent! QUOTE! Oscar Wilde NOTES! <3 <3 <3
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Post by Athena Violet Williams on Apr 21, 2014 23:05:54 GMT -5
Athena loved New York but she would always miss her home in Greece and everywhere else her family had open sites. She had lived on those sites so long it was actually a little nerve-wracking for her to be in the big city. Athena wasn’t city enough to pass most days. She could fake it but Athena would always be more comfortable in shorts and work boots, covered in dirt and dust. She cleaned up nice, she always had but it was all a façade to get people to do what she wanted. She put on a pretty dress, some heels and makeup, she put a pretty smile on her lips and asked the nice people with the deep pockets to fund their dig sites. A couple lashes batted here, and well placed hand on a bicep and she was laughing all the way back to the current dig site. “I do, too. But it’s the only way to get where I need to go most trips so it’s what I do.” She said with a shrug.
These days she spent more time flying between New York and wherever it is her parents need her than she does on solid ground anymore. But she was hoping that would change when things started to settle down. She was only a part time professor after all. She only had two actual classes and four lectures through the year. It was hardly on the same level as the professors that taught full time, had a dozen classes and even more students than some full schools in the world. She honestly didn’t know how all those professors did it. Athena got hives just thinking about keeping all those names straight! She was good with that she had on her plate. Her classes were small, hand-picked and only the top students got a spot in her class. If they were exceptional, they were invited to share a few hours a week with her and learn what their other teachers didn’t know. She grew up in the field, archaeology was her entire life; literally!
And through all that she’d learned about the busy city folk, Athena still gave them the benefit of the doubt. Probably because she wasn’t from the city itself that she did so. Athena was too much of a trucker, in the sense she had a foul mouth on her to last for days and would rather be rolling around in the dirt than dressing up in pretty clothes and heels. The first time she’d met the head curator of the Museum of Natural History in New York, she’d been covered in dirt, her red plaid over shirt looked more like it was brown than red, her skin matched the colour of her short and with all the caked on mud, it didn’t look like she’d been wearing any shorts at all! But that was who she was and she quite honestly preferred it that way. She cleaned up when she had to but when it was just her and classes or work in her office, she was usually in shorts, a tank and over shirt of some kind and a pair of chunky work boots with her hair up and out of her face. Even now, she was pretty sure if she was wearing what she usually did, Harrison wouldn’t have stopped her. She always looked like a rebellious teenager and not the twenty six year old doctor that she was. “I don’t get the appeal, myself. I’m thinking that’s probably more because of my upbringing than anything else. I guess that’s what happens when you’re raised more in the dirt than covered in designer.” Athena joked.
Tag || Harrison! <3 Words || 615 Clothes || Pretty as a picture Music || One Way Ticket -- Carrie Underwood Notes || <3
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Post by Harrison Marshall Bryant on May 8, 2014 20:28:44 GMT -5
England was where he had grown up, but Harrison didn't know if it was the place that held his heart. He didn't know if New York was that place either. Harrison might have been closer to thirty than twenty, but he felt even more unsettled now than he had done back then. He wanted the freedom to be his own man, but at the same time he wasn't one to neglect his responsibilities to the family business. He enjoyed the work there and wanted to take the company forward, but it was also all he knew. He felt like the closer he was getting to having no choice the more he found himself scrambling for some kind of freedom. It made very little sense to him when he thought he was already happy with his life, but it was a sensation that seemed to be bubbling up more and more these days. It was unnerving to say the least. “I understand completely. It's not as though England is just a weekend drive away.” He said, nodding his head in complete sympathy. If there was any other way to get back to his homeland then he would take it, but flying was the quickest and only practical way.
He had been raised a gentleman. Harrison suspected that if he ever strayed from that his mother might instantly appear in New York to lecture him. She had taught him that nothing was more important than good manners and that polite behaviour and chivalry left a memorable mark on the world. His mother was gentle and loving and almost the polar opposite to his business driven father. For her Harrison might just do anything, but his father had to work with a lot more persuasion to get his eldest child on his side. It was interesting and something Harrison thought a therapist might have a field day with if the Bryant family ever resorted to such measures. They had standards to uphold though. All family issues were kept behind tightly locked doors and dirty laundry was only aired in the privacy of their home, away from prying eyes and loose lips. “I believe boarding school and high teas will do the same.” Harrison joked, raising his eyebrows and reaching for the cup in front of him, taking a slow sip of his drink before carefully placing it back on the saucer.
Harrison had been feeling so angry earlier. Leaving the office he thought he might have to take the dogs on a very long walk or even a run to burn off some of his hostile feelings. He wore his heart on his sleeve and didn't wear a mask so well. Honesty was probably one of his best qualities but it didn't always make life easy; especially if there was something he badly wanted to keep to himself. Now that anger had faded and Harrison was finding himself rather enjoying this unplanned afternoon. Usually he was so busy that he didn't get much time to socialise, or the people in his class found him too old and serious to invite out on their study groups or for a drink at the end of a long day. Harrison didn't really mind since keeping to himself was something he quite liked, but it also made meeting new people and grabbing a coffee with them all that more enjoyable.
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TAGGED! Athena <3 WORDS! 567! OUTFIT! Grouchy Gent! QUOTE! Oscar Wilde NOTES! <3 <3 <3
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