Curse the Ancient Ways

@ katahdin

"You can call me Rosemary, Thomas." She responded, the smile on her face growing for a moment. As they handshake stopped, Rosemary collected her things into her hands, knowing that it was time to leave the office. And now it felt so easy to do so knowing that she would come back tomorrow. Something about all of this just felt meant to be. Almost like some sort of destiny, which also felt insane to her. Surely a job was not some kind of destined fate.

"I think I will go get breakfast, and I am sure that you want your coffee as well." Rosemary joked lightly. "So I think we can leave the desk for tomorrow." With that settled, Rosemary shifted around the chair she had been sitting in and pushed it to its original position. "You have a good rest of your day and I will see you tomorrow."

@ Sweet.Persephone

Thomas grinned at her as she requested that he use her first name, giving a little nod. "Alright, Rosemary." He felt absolutely thrilled that she'd agreed to work here, almost like it was destiny, but he was quick to dismiss that thought, as destiny wasn't something that he believed in. Especially not for hiring some girl for an office job.

"Alright," he chuckled, moving around his desk to that he could open the door to his office and show her out. "That sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Here, let me walk you out." He offered, gesturing for her to go first before following her back to the front desk. "I believe I've given you everything that you need, but if I realize that I've missed something I'll let you know tomorrow. Have a good rest of your day.

@ katahdin

"You as well," With that, Rosemary walked back towards the elevator and headed out of the building. By the time her feet had hit the pavement in the parking lot, any of the remaining strange feelings she had were completely gone. She was excited to start working there as it was the type of company that she had wanted but Rosemary couldn't help but wonder why it had all happened so fast...

The next day

Rosemary had made sure to get to the office a couple of minutes earlier than what Thomas had told her the day before. Mostly as she certainly did not want to be late on her first day of work. Though as she walked into the office, Rosemary realized she did not know where to go or who to speak to first. Especially as she had no idea where her desk was nor if she even needed a badge to walk around the office. So she walked up to the receptionist. "Good morning. Who should I speak to for my first day of work?"

@ Sweet.Persephone

Thomas had made sure to come in early and get the coffee pot going so he could have a cup in him before he showed Rosemary around the office and got her set up, not wanting to be grumpy when she arrived. After she'd left the day before the weird feeling he'd had when she was there has gone away, but some voice in the back of his head told him it would come back when she showed up today, so he wanted to be as prepared as possible.

When she arrived the receptionist paged him to let him know that she was here, but truth be told he'd been hovering a bit by his office watching the front desk anyway, so it didn't take long for him to walk over to greet Rosemary with a smile. "Good morning, Rosemary. I'm happy to see you made it in so early. I'll show you to your desk now and have you get set up, if you don't need to do anything else before that?"

@ katahdin

"Good morning, Thomas." Rosemary said warmly as he walked up to the front desk. She was glad that he had managed to catch her as it seemed that the front desk receptionist wasn't positive as to where to send her. It sounded like she was about to get to the director of HR's office, who apparently was not in yet. Which would have been a bit awkward waiting around for someone on her first day... "And that sounds great to me." She walked around the desk and followed Thomas into the office.

As she looked up at her boss, Rosemary could feel a little something sitting in her chest. It wasn't nearly as strong as the day before, thank goodness, but still there all the same. Though she couldn't put her finger on what it was as it was a bit strange in nature. The feeling just made her want to be close to him. To stay around the same area but it wasn't exactly like a crush or even a feeling of friendship or just feeling safe around someone. More than anything, Thomas just felt like a magnetic. Neither bad nor good at this point.

@ Sweet.Persephone

Thomas smiled brightly at her as she greeted him, leading her away from the reception desk and into the office. He was happy to have her here bright and early, and he felt that even if he hadn't had his coffee she would have brightened his day. "I'm glad to see you here bright and early. We're consider adjusting hours for most editors to start an hour later, which if you're interested in I'll pass it on to HR, since they're the ones in charge of that." He said with a little smile, glancing back at her.

When he noticed her looking at him too he felt that tug on his heart that he'd felt yesterday when they'd first met, offering her a little smile as he led her to her desk, trying his best to ignore the feeling. "Here's where you'll be living." He teased, gesturing to the desk that was sat by a window with a decent view. It was also nice because he could see the desk from his office.

@ katahdin

"I actually prefer to start early in the morning," Rosemary told him with a warm smile. "I am a morning person so I like to get going." At hearing that others were going to start later, she was hoping that for the first hour of the day the office was going to be quite. Rosemary liked to get some work done right away before beginning to mingle with everyone in the office. If she was lucky, most people would go for the chance to start an hour later.

Once they arrived at the desk, Rosemary laughed warmly at Thomas' jest. "Well, what a lovely home then. Thank you." Rosemary set her bag down on the desk. She glanced out of the window for a moment, a little smile coming over her face before she opened up her bag and pulled out the paperwork that Thomas had given her yesterday. "I have this for you. Everything is completed." She said as she handled it to him.

@ Sweet.Persephone

Thomas nodded a bit, returning her smile. "I agree. Getting in earlier is rough sometimes without coffee, but I usually prefer it to having to work later in the evening. Although it ends up happening anyway often enough." He added with a chuckle, although he let out a little sigh and ran his fingers through his hair simultaneously. He felt a bit overwhelmed by work a lot lately, and hoped that with this new hire some of the load on his shoulders could be given to her. Plus there was just something about her that intrigued him.

He chuckled as she returned his teasing once at her desk, thankkng her as she passed him the paperwork he'd given her the day before. "Thank you. I'll make sure this gets to HR, and if they need anything else I'll have them either send you an email or call your desk."

@ katahdin

"Thank you," Rosemary responded. She shifted back so she was focused on Thomas as she leaned into the desk. Her arms loosely folded together in front of herself as she started to relax a bit. Though when she looked over at Thomas, a little tingling moved along the back of her neck. Maybe he truly was magnetic. Was it possible for human to have a magnetic field around them?

"So, Thomas, what would you like for me to be focusing on for my first day?" She asked him. As she waited for a response, Rosemary took a glance over the office. It wasn't so big that she thought she would get lost. Though she was growing curious as to where the break room was with, hopefully, a pot of hot coffee already brewing.

@ Sweet.Persephone

Thomas nodded, taking a quick moment to flip through the paperwork she'd filled out to make sure everything was in order, although when he looked up again to see her looking at him he offered her a warm smile. God, there was just something about her that he couldn't explain. Maybe they had met before? But he knew he would have remembered someone like her, especially with the feeling she gave him.

"Hm. For your first day I'd suggest just getting used to the office and introducing yourself to our small team." He said, glancing around the office. "I think HR might have some training stuff that they'll do with you this afternoon, but if you want to take the morning to get settled that would be alright with me. I'll also take the morning to compile some projects that you can work on, and this afternoon I can send them to you and you can pick and choose which ones you'd like to work on. Sound fair?"

@ katahdin

"Yes, that sounds great," Rosemary responded. He had told her what she had been hoping to hear. The opportunity to go around and introduce herself. Also, to get a chance to look at some of the projects that this company focuses on would be great. As for HR, well, that just always happened and there was no way working around that. Besides, that department tended to give out some more information on the company and benefits so it was certainly worth her time.

Her fingers lightly tapped her desk once as she looked up at Thomas. There was nothing else for her to really say. But she didn't really want him to go either. But it wasn't like he could hang around her desk the whole day. And why did she even want that?

@ Sweet.Persephone

Thomas nodded as she said that his plan for her day sounded great, hoping that she truly meant it. After a few moments though he realized he'd been staring at her again, and was quick to clear his throat and offer her a small smile. "Alright, I'll be in my office if you need anything. We'll touch base later, yeah?" He said, waiting just a moment longer to see if she said anything else before he turned and headed to his office.

Normally he'd shut the door and close the blinds to have some privacy, but he wanted to be able to keep an eye on Rosemary and be open and welcoming if she need anything. He couldn't help but hope she'd come see him before they were supposed to meet this afternoon, even though he knew whatever crazy obsession he had with her was exactly that- crazy.

@ katahdin

The morning had gone rather smoothly for Rosemary. She had walked around the office a bit, getting used to the area as well as finding the bathroom and the break room. The woman was more than happy once she finally had a cup of coffee. In the morning, she talked to her new coworkers as they came in for the day and before she knew it, she was being whisked away to HR to talk, go over papers and discuss training that she needed to complete by the end of the week.

By the time she had gotten back to her desk, it was after lunch and she was now setting up some items on her computer. She would also need to go over the training courses that HR had sent. It was a typical first day... for the most part. Throughout the day, Rosemary could not help but keep glancing over at Thomas and his office. She didn't understand why she felt such a strong need to do so but it was undoubtedly there. And there were times that she swore she saw him looking as well, but she was not entirely sure. Was he looking at her as much as she was looking at him?

@ Sweet.Persephone
(skipping - I'll let you handle playing the mythical monster that attacks them?)

It had been about a month since Thomas had hired Rosemary and she'd started working at the company, and it had honestly been one of the better months of his career. She got along well with everyone in the office, and they'd developed a pretty close friendship, especially considering she ended up being the only person he had been allowed to hire. That meant that her work load had increased a bit more than he'd promised, but she didn't seem to mind, and he always offered to help her with her work when she was overwhelmed. He was still feeling that odd pull whenever he was around her, and it had only seemed to grow worse as they'd become closer, and it seemed like she felt that pull too. He'd considered inviting her out on a date a few times, but had always chickened out last minute.

Today was going to be different, though. They'd just finished a day of long meetings that had left them the last two in the office in the evening, and Thomas and Rosemary were walking together to their cars in the parking garage down the block, joking around about their day and laughing. As they neared their cars Thomas slowed, offering her a sheepish smile. "Good job today, Rosemary. You've really established yourself as a solid part of the company. I'm thrilled you're doing so well here." He said, rubbing the back of his neck a bit awkwardly as he hesitated before asking the next bit. "I um.. I was actually wondering if you wanted to-" He was cut off by a strange sound that echoed through the parking garage, frowning as he looked around the mostly empty and dimly lit level. "...Did you here that?"

@ katahdin

As she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, Rosemary looked up intently at Thomas. It seemed that they had slowed down quite a bit and the next words that were coming out of his lips were beginning to make her heart flutter. But Thomas stopped as a strange sound ran through the garage. Even Rosemary was thrown off as she looked towards the area where the noise had come from. "Yes..." Her head tilted to the side a bit as she walked a few steps towards the noise, glancing around. But she didn't see anything. But another echo rang through, this time sounding a bit like an squawk? Rosemary stepped back towards Thomas and looked up at him. "We should go."

Just as she started to make her way towards her car, a creature bursted between two pillars of the garage and landed in front of them. The size of the beast caused Rosemary to stumble back but once she really got a good look at it, her heart froze up. His head was an eagle and it had wings but it had legs and a tail like a... like a lion? The woman's eyes went wide and she grabbed onto Thomas. "We need to go." She said as she started to pull at the man, wanting to run back. But before she could, it's front talons swiped at them. Rosemary lifted her arms up to protect her face and chest from the blow. Though instead of getting hit, a sudden wall of vines shot up in front of the two of them, causing the creature to get it's front talons cut in them. She could feel a strange tingling in her body and as she glanced down at herself, Rosemary saw the vines seemingly coming from around her ankles.

@ Sweet.Persephone

Thomas frowned as he looked off in the direction of where the sound had come from, but once Rosemary took a few steps toward the noise he tensed, quickly following after her, ready to grab her or move in front of her to shield her from any danger. He nodded quickly in agreement when she insisted that they needed to leave, gently placing his hand on her back to guide her toward their cars, glancing nervously over his shoulder to make sure that they weren't being followed.

He turned around suddenly when the creature landed in front of them, quickly moving to help Rosemary up as she stumbled, eyes wide. "What the hell is that?" He breathed, nodding in agreement once again as he grabbed onto her arm to keep her steady while they fled. He shouted as the monster swiped at her though, and he had started to move in front of her to defend her, but before he could move a wall of vines shot up between them and the monster. He turned to look at Rosemary in disbelief, noticing that she looked just as shocked as he did, but before he could say anything the creature began to tear through the vines.

"Get out of here. I'll distract it while you run." Thomas insisted, and although he didn't realize it am onyx colored bident appeared in his hands as he turned back to face the creature, holding onto the weapon as if he'd used it every day of his life, although it was clear that he had no idea where it had come from, entirely planning on winging it. When the creature lunged he somehow managed to dodge before stabbing at the thing with the bident, managing to nick the creature's leg and draw it's attention away from Rosemary. "Go!"

@ katahdin

Rosemary's heart was beating fast, in total disbelief of what was happening. The griffin in front of her was enough to make her question if she was totally sane. Though the veins that seemed to be spawning from around her ankles made the woman start to wonder if she was dreaming... Or perhaps passed on in the parking lot.

Before she could really question though if this was reality or not, the creature in front of them both was ripping into the veins and beginning to get through. Her eyes turned to Thomas as he started to insist that she run away and she started to shake her head at him. "What? No I can't just leave you!" She said, fear clear as day in her voice.

She was about to reach out again, to grab the man and pull him with her when she noticed the bident spawn from his hands. He held it like an expert. Though the look in his eyes made it seem that the man was as confused as she was. There was no way this could be real. But the beast lunged at them again and Thomas swiped at it, causing Rosemary to think that he might be a little more prepared for this than she was. So she was quick to step behind him, but certainly was not ready to just abandon the man.

Though she started to feel her hands shake hard and she could feel something begin to rise in her. "Duck!" She yelled out, and once Thomas did, thorns started to fly from her hands and aim straight for the Griffin, shooting deep into it's skin and causing the creature to screech out in pain.

@ Sweet.Persephone

"Go, Rosemary!" Thomas shouted before the beast lunged at them, swiping at the beast again to draw it's attention away from Rosemary. All that mattered was that he keep Rosemary safe, no matter what happened. This was obviously some horrible dream, some weird hallucination, but on the off chance it was real he couldn't let anything happen to Rosemary.

The creature was starting to cut him off from her, and he was hoping that she'd be able to get away, but when he heard her shout for him to duck he only took a second to look over her before dropping to the ground as she flew thorns at the griffin from her hands. He was amazed, but only took a few moments to be impressed, standing and stabbing the monster with his weapon. He stabbed it a good few times to be sure that it was dead, staring at the thing after it collapsed before dropping his weapon and hurrying toward Rosemary, wrapping her in a tight hug once he was sure that they were safe.

"You're alright? You're not hurt, are you?" He asked worriedly, holding her at arms length to check her over and make sure she was uninjured before hugging her once again.

@ katahdin

As Thomas started to stab the beast a few times, she started to stumble back. Her eyes were huge as she watched the monster cry out in pain. The creature took a few ragged steps back before falling down to the ground. Her eyes were stuck on the huge, strange creature and she was shaking hard. Before she even had a moment to think about what occurred, Thomas' arms were wrapped around her. The shock was still had taken over her, freezing her to her spot. But once Thomas started to talk, she snapped out of it. Her eyes, wide, were looking over his face. "I...I guess?" She responded, pure confusion in her voice.

When he pulled her into another hug, Rosemary wrapped her arms around him, pulling Thomas in tight. "Are you okay?" She whispered into his ear. Her head laid down on his shoulder, her eyes looking down at her hands. "I don't understand what happened. What even is that? How did I even do that? How did you do that?" Rosemary pulled back away from him, looking Thomas over for a moment. He seemed just like a normal man. But neither of them did things that we normal.

Her eyes shifted over to look at the creature that was on the ground. "What is that?!"

@ Sweet.Persephone
(Would you mind being Hermes?)

Thomas let out a shaky sigh as she confirmed that she was alright, even if she were obviously in shock. They both were, so it wasn't surprised given the strange situation they'd found themselves in. He held onto her tightly as she wrapped her arms around him in return, cradling her head against his chest. "I'm ok, Rosemary. Don't worry, I'm ok." He soothed, shaking his head a little when she asked what the monster had been, resting his head against hers. "I have no idea... I have no idea what that thing was.. is.. And I don't know how any of this happened." He frowned, squeezing her in his arms as he shook his head again.

"I have no idea what that was, or what happened, but we should leave. We should get the hell out of here, in case something else shows up." He decided, tugging her back toward their cars, glancing around the garage to make sure there wasn't anyone else.