Dionysus and I Had Wine, It Was Divine

“And child, what do you have to offer me?” His voice was a chilling low that rattled her bones, almost blocking out the notice of his slurred words.

Setting her glass on the table, Katerina peered into the man’s pale, grey eyes, raising her brow in question. His eyes were glossy but there was an absence of tears, and the longer she took them in, the darker they grew. Small shadows danced in his eyes, flashing from men with regrets to women trying to get an edge.

“Words of advice,” She finally said, leaning back into the pure, white Windsor chair. “Something my father told me repeatedly.”

Irritation flashed in his eyes, the burgandy a threatening contrast against the pale grey. Quickly, he finished his blood-red wine, and set the golden goblet on the glass table, both rattling in protest.

“I asked you to make me laugh,” The man growled, leaning forward. “Not childish advice. Perhaps I should just kill you now.”

The words sent chills racing down her spine, but Katerina refused to acknowledge them. Instead, she locked her hands together and placed them on her knee, careful not to touch her emerald green dress.

“Sorry, what’s your name again?” She asked innocently, glancing at her nails for a second longer than necessary. “And what authority do you have over me?”

Silence sliced the room in two, allowing tension to bridge it back together. Immediately, Katerina ran the words through her mind again, quickly realizing she went too far.

But before she could say anything, the man choked out a laugh. It was bitter and low, sounding of an old man’s cursed laugh on his deathbed, that didn’t match the youthful facade he put on.

“No mortal with their life at risk has talked to me in such an ill manner,” He said, running a hand through his chestnut, curly hair.

“You never answered my questions.”

“Dionysus, but you know that,” He said the words slowly, drawing out each syllable. Then, he reached for his goblet, it instantly refilled before reaching his lips.

“Zeus is your father,” Katerina started, eyeing her own glass. She had only taken the smallest of sips. “But he is also the father of all chaos that’s ever roamed about Mother Gaea.”

Wine shot from his lips, but her words distracted Dionysus from caring. Instead, he laughed again, only this time it rumbled, the low pitch slowly becoming higher as it continued. Swiftly, he blinked the tears away, but not before Katerina noticed. Once he managed to compose himself, the Greek God of Wine took another sip from his goblet, and swallowed for dramatic effect.

“He is the creator of everything chaotic regarding the children and jealousy of his many lovers. You’re bold to make joke of my Father, but he is also where I find the most laughs.”

They shared a smirk, Dionysus’s with a mischievous glint in the grey of his eyes, Katerina’s with a calm wave coursing through her.

“It seems I’ve lived to laugh another day,” She remarked, reaching for her wine. “Perhaps it was the doing of wine to my youthful being.”

“I do not set age requirements to deluge in life’s gifts and my blessings.” And with that, Dionysus raised his hands to clap, but stopped and eyed Katerina one last time. “What was the advice you wished to give me earlier? Curiosity inclines me to ask.”

“Never pass up free advice.”