A self portrait as St Sebastian, by Elisar von Kupffer - this remarkable Baltic German man had many artistic and literary talents, photography a mere minor string to his bow.
The Martyrdom of St Sebastian, by Oscar Rejlander circa 1867 - the earliest photographic representation of this saint in my collection, all three gathered here.
The best thing about that article is that there gets to be a point where you’re like surely. Surely we can’t get sexier and less-martyr-y than this. And that point is about a 3rd of the way through the piece.
Days and days working on her foundation, those same long weeks of heat, locked in that room where she works day after day. Although the wars have finally ended, but still everything was not good in the life of the girl who now works normally without being the goddess of war and justice, Saori hardly had a day of rest, always with her face in the papers and practically not having time for next to nothing, but at least she could live her life like a normal girl and not worry about the world in her hands. All of her saints were now living their normal lives, given an opportunity to have a well-deserved rest. And one of them in particular was her beloved Seiya, who like her, was also working and a lot, and this was even traveling for more than 8 years away practically.
— It’s been over 9 years now that he hasn’t come back. All couples living together happily and I wanting Seiya here with me again, why is life so unfair sometimes? Right now that we can have a normal life as a couple… Why is that?
Despite being always focused on her duties as boss of the Graad foundation, she always wanted the opportunity to finally have a life together with Seiya, who is also the boy’s greatest desire, was what most left the girl in the mood. and determination. When she went to get another paper from a corner of the table, she noticed the small calendar in front of her.
— Damn it! There will already be the most important date of my life, which is our date… I remember as if it were yesterday… I’ll never forget that day…
…
Minutes later and without much fuss, the woman manages to finish half of the day’s paperwork. Seeing that it was already over, Saori decides to stop to rest, she decides to go out to the center of Tokyo, Japan. She was living in an apartment together with Seiya after they both started dating, but she still kept in touch with her former employees of his old mansion, mainly Tatsumi, this one who kept calling to see how the girl was doing, because he knew that Saori was alone and Seiya was not present with her, common that Saori was already used to her Butler. The loneliness in her home was undeniable, she even cried because of this damn insulation and the fact that her beloved brunette was far away from her for those long years of service in which he rendered.
When she entered the master bedroom, she was hopeless, Saori couldn’t face this same room without remembering Seiya. She still remembered a specific day when, after moving into the apartment, in the same afternoon, they were making out for a while in her room, exchanging passionate kisses and caresses before he worked, and as always, he was so passionate and devoted to her…
…
While getting ready, Seiya comes out of the bathroom after taking a relaxing shower, he sits on the bed and puts on his pants to go to work. When suddenly, the purple-haired woman enters their room and ends up walking towards him, giving him a pet and kissing him on the cheek in surprise, making him smile in the process. Seiya reciprocates and takes her by the lap and pulls her to the bed, but without interrupting the passionate kiss. The couple continued making out on the bed, Saori puts her arms around her, deepening the kiss even more while the brunette caressed her body.
— I’m the luckiest man in the world to finally have her with me! — thought the happy boy.
But to Seiya’s unhappiness, he realized that he was almost late for work and couldn’t stay with his wife for that long, as much as he wanted to.
— Saori, I need to go or I’ll be late for my service.
— It’s okay, I’m sorry if I disturbed you, I just wanted…
— Not! Of course you’re not disturbing anything, I also wanted to spend some more time with you. Lately I hardly give you decent attention because of my work, and it’s been putting me down to be honest…
— I know, I don’t want to be a problem for you. I love you.
— I love you too, you are my reason to be. Never forget.
…
— Ah Seiya… You’re missed here… my life isn’t the same without you here with me…
Even with those memories in her head, the woman started to see some clothes to go out, grabbed a dress and some high-heeled shoes and then did some makeup touches on her face, grabbed her purse and left the room of her apartment. After a few seconds in the elevator, there was the woman heading towards the exit gate of the building. It was still in the afternoon, in a rather pleasant summer climate, with the last rays of the sun in that late afternoon, the wind blew lightly her silk hair and the skirt of her dress along with the trees, a perfect weather for the girl relax, it was a very good feeling to feel, and it left anyone with a light spirit like a butterfly.
— The feeling of being freed from the tightness of work is totally different… I wonder if Seiya feels the same thing, surely he must feel…
When Saori least expected it, she was already passing by the square of sakura trees, the so beautiful flowers that represented love… Since she was right there, the girl sat on one of the wooden benches and was admiring the beauty of those flowers, when some of her sweetest thoughts flashed through her mind again:
…
Seiya and Saori were sitting together and leaning against a tree in the sakura square. Saori was snuggled on the boy’s chest, while he stroked her hair and squeezed lightly in her embrace. And that’s when Seiya said:
— In this square there are the most beautiful flowers, but not quite like the one I have here beside me.
And as always, Saori was flushed and embarrassed with her boyfriend’s admiration, she knew that nothing else would be so beautiful but her own for him, which made her happier and more loved.
— Ah Seiya, you always talk just to make me embarrassed! - She said red, as always. The brunette chuckled and continued.
— Well, it’s absolutely true! You’re important to me, you’re my reason for living, you know that, and that’s why I’m the happiest and most loved man in the world to finally have you by my side!
And then the girl couldn’t take it, threw herself on top of the boy and began to stamp his face, who in turn held her on his waist while making intimate caresses on the girl and wanting to keep her to himself, never to let go.
— Hey, Saori… I’d like to ask you something…
— Yes?
— After so long with our battles and with no rest or a moment for us, I wanted to know if you want to… date me.
Before Seiya finishes his question, Saori kisses him with ardor and affection, Seiya responds to his beloved soon afterwards with passion.
— Yes! YES! I want! It was everything I wanted in my entire life!
…
— How I wish you were right now, beside me, on this bench and looking at these trees with me, but you’re so far away…
It was almost night, almost late in the afternoon, Saori got up from the bench and left the square and soon went to the market to pick up some things that were missing at home, even though she lived alone. Every time he entered the market, he remembered her moments with Seiya, they both got used to having fun shopping, they were so happy with that dating life, until the day that Seiya’s job managers forced him to work out, and that it made Saori’s heart cry for his lack.
…
Seiya’s life in that office was quite cramped and suffocating, it felt like he had a thousand tasks to do in one day, his duty as a sales manager was demanding and demanding. The man needed to track and oversee just about everything, from monitoring sales teams, calling customer orders and other businesses, and identifying their needs to defining the best possible service.
— I think that now I’m finally going to be able to finish everything I should have done today, the only thing I want is to fall to the ground and never wake up! - Said the dark-haired man, dead tired - but at least it’s no worse than facing saint and ultra-powerful gods like it used to be.
The boy was living a normal life, was freed from his life as a saint of Athena and now all he needed to do was go on with his life normally, and especially for a woman he had fought so hard to finally live together, this was Saori.
— I need to continue, I need to do my best and everything for her! Even though it’s a very tough and difficult job… How I wish she were with me now… - said the boy sadly.
After a while, the brunette manages to finish practically everything he should have done by nightfall, as the boy saw that he stayed working until the afternoon and hardly anyone was heard in that building, as everyone had already left by then. Seiya sits in a chair near the window and the image of a beautiful woman with purple hair appears in his mind, the day he carried her in his arms for the first time…
— I see you’ve managed to finish everything, sir. Ogawara. — a old man’s voice comes out of nowhere in the room, Seiya looks back and it was mr. Kenishi, the boss of the building where the brunette works.
— Sorry boss! I didn’t even notice you came in here. But I managed to finish everything, I just stopped to rest and…
— And thinking about your girlfriend again, right?
— What?! How do you know?
— Seiya, it’s not news to me and for your co-workers that you don’t stop thinking about Saori during or after work. We totally realized from your general way, it seemed that your mind was far away, not only in your service, but in something else, which in this case is this woman - said the older gentleman sincerely and looking at the embarrassed brunette in front of you.
— But now being serious and being more open and sincere, I really understand her longing for her. When I was practically your age, I’ve been through that too and I know how it is, a good part of your colleagues feel the same way too. After all, you’ve practically been here for over 9 years, and so I can imagine you couldn’t stand being this far away from her anymore.
— And I can’t stand it any longer. You’ll never understand how important Saori is to me, I fighting so hard for her so that we could both have a life together, I couldn’t live so far away from her, it was like I had returned to that time where we didn’t have a moment alone, only disgrace after disgrace. She is my life…
— You’ve said the same thing to me many times, and I already know it. Maybe me and the others will never understand how big is your love for her. But at least we all want you to be happy with her anyway. But anyway, I have some very good news, and I think you’ll like it - the older man said smiling, but Seiya was still sad and didn’t want to hear any more business only from his work. But even so, his boss started to explain about the news.
— So, since you’ve been working all afternoon, you ended up missing a meeting I had this afternoon with your colleagues. But I’ll sum it up for you before I leave, and it’s important that you listen. Lately, the company has had a relatively good growth, thanks to our service, fulfilled orders and other things that were great too, but that’s not just what I said at the meeting.
— Yeah, that’s really great, but what’s the other news you said?
— Well, given this great progress the company is making, I’m thinking of giving you 5 months of vacation. Because as you, especially you, and the others were for a long time working and not having any rest, I want to give you this worthy break, as if it were some kind of reward for your great work. I’m really looking forward to giving you this opportunity to relax, and especially to enjoy with your families.
— Wait… You mean I…
— That’s exactly what you’re thinking. You will be free from the service for a while and will be able to see Saori again without any problem.
It seemed that a wave of happiness took over the brunette at that moment, he could finally be free from work and everything to be able to return to Saori after so long away from her, it was everything he wanted in life.
— My God, I don’t believe it! For such an opportunity I will see Saori again!
— I see you really loved the novelty — replies the gentleman happily — but for now, you need to stay here for about three days, to finish some things that were missing and you won’t be able to finish everything now. After all, you are the sales manager here.
— I know, but at least I’ll be able to see her. I’m really happy!
— I know, I can imagine you’re really happy. Anyway, you are already released, you can go home now. Good night Sir. Ogawara.
— Perfect! Thank you very much for the conversation, I’m really happy. Well, I’ll go, see you tomorrow. - finished the boy going to get his things to leave and with a smile plastered on his face.
— These young people in love… — said the old man, laughing.
…
After shopping at the market, Saori returned to her apartment apparently calm, even remembering Seiya sadly, because despite that, she couldn’t do so much, because it was his job, and it was a good thing that paid off for them, but which was pretty demanding too. Saori speaks to herself as she enters the living room:
— I can’t do anything about it, after all, it’s their rules, however unfair it may be, because Seiya is one of the most important parts of the company… — said the girl in her mind.
Then, the girl enters the kitchen to put away the things she had bought. However, when she least expected it, the living room phone rang, that wasn’t even new to Saori, it could possibly be those annoying calls from operators offering cell phone deals, internet or even Tatsumi calling her once more to find out about her status , things she had already gotten used to. However, when she answered the phone and answered “hello” to the person on the other end, surprisingly it was none other than her boyfriend Seiya.
— Goodnight My Love! It’s a beautiful night tonight, don’t you think? — said the brunette on the other side in an amused tone, he looked like a playful boy.
The best thing about that article is that there gets to be a point where you’re like surely. Surely we can’t get sexier and less-martyr-y than this. And that point is about a 3rd of the way through the piece.
