Camp Half-Blood: Into the Storm - Closed!

[indigo']

[✩] Augusta Reynolds|17|she/her|Hades|Head counsellor|Zeus’ fist|tags:Orin

Her brow furrowed in a frown at the near-laugh, thinking that he was laughing at her. She didn’t see what was funny about the question. With your face on. The statement tripped her up for the briefest of seconds, the way he could see through her facade, saw the mask she’d put on to protect herself. It somehow made her feel more vulnerable than she already had, and he was the one in tears now.

Her mouth twitched in the faintest hint of a smile at his response, one that quickly faded as he continued. “It’s not selfish to not want me as an enemy. It’s just common sense.” It may have been a poor time to be making jokes, but her statement was more of a deflection to the other possible meaning of his words than anything else. She nearly laughed at the idea of him threatening Felix with his own stress, but she pressed her lips together to stop it, shaking her head. The humour in her eyes dissipated quickly, a look of concern that she couldn’t really help replacing it. It wasn’t so much concern for his condition—though that was quite worrying—more so the fact that he hadn’t told anyone besides Felix, who hadn’t been at camp for some time.

“So you just...you didn’t tell anyone and you’ve just been dealing with…this by yourself this whole time?” Her look of incredulity quickly melted when she realized how hypocritical she sounded, the realization evident on her face. Hiding things away and dealing with them alone was exactly what she did with everything. It’s what she would’ve done earlier that day with the news of her mother’s death and the ensuing panic attack if Orin hadn’t taken it upon himself to waltz into the Hades cabin at that particular moment.

She could understand not wanting people to see you. She did that both figuratively and literally. She let out a huff of a laugh when he said he wanted to run away and never talk to her again. A smile that dropped when the sentence continued, but he cut himself off. She wasn’t going to ask what he’d been going to say when he clearly didn’t want to say it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it. “I don’t nod politely,” she assured him, moving on from his abrupt silence. “If I’m not interested in what someone has to say I just leave.” It was blunt but true. At least she liked to think so.

“But I can pretend I don’t listen if you want. Hell, I can pretend I don’t even know your name and we’ve never spoken before if that’ll make you feel better.” She meant it as a joke, but it felt like there was a painful ring of truth hidden in there somewhere. It had happened before. Not usually on her part, but she’d had plenty of ‘friends’ who had suddenly decided they didn’t want to know her anymore—mostly when her powers had started getting out of hand—and they’d moved on and forgotten about her easily enough. It couldn’t be that hard. That’s what she told herself. She knew he wasn’t going to take her up on that offer, but the idea of it still unsettled her more than she’d care to admit. That wasn’t a feeling she needed to analyze right now.

She shook her head when he mentioned Leo. She’d probably recognize the guy if she saw him, but she wasn’t great at remembering the names of people she didn’t care about—which included most of the other campers. She frowned at the explanation, trying to ignore the surge of anger she suddenly felt towards the daughter of Apollo.

“She was out of line. I would’ve gone off on her too. Lucy needs someone to put her in her place sometimes.” She paused, staring down at the palm of her hand, running a finger from the other over the thin gash. It hadn’t been very deep and the blood was already dry. “What I saw was pretty scary too,” she muttered under her breath, eyes widening as though she hadn’t meant to say it out loud. She hadn’t. But it had scared her. The harsh aggression in his tone, the manic, unfamiliar look in his eyes. She’d been terrified, but that was the kind of thought she kept in her head.

“Guess I’m supposed to act like everything’s fine now, right?” she asked, swiftly changing the subject. “Since you don’t want anyone worrying about you, I’m supposed to let you keep doing stupid things?” She looked up at him, gaze searching. She knew he didn’t want to be worried over, didn’t want to cause other people stress. That was why he’d been so reluctant to tell anyone, why he’d said she’d hate him for telling her. But it wasn’t like it was possible for her to not think about it now. At the very least she certainly wouldn’t be punching him in the face again any time soon.

[➳]Caleb Thomas|18|he/him|Athena|Cabins area|Tags:Leonidas, Hank

“We’re not…” The words came out weakly, he’d been close to breaking the ongoing charade out of sheer disbelief at Hank’s gullible tendencies and unwavering support despite the fact that he’d literally just been punched off his feet. He cringed at the blood spat on the ground, watching the boy lift himself off the ground with a mixture of confusion and concern, evidently still shocked by the suddenness of the assault.

Then both of the other’s were making excuses to be on their way. He shrugged, not about to protest to either. “Right...that was…” He glanced in the direction of the quickly retreating Leonidas. “You know I’m all for a man who can keep me safe on the wild streets of New York, but you might want to work on a little self control if we’re gonna be getting married.” It was a joke, but one he quickly regretted as he realized the son of Ares might not take it so well, taking an involuntary step back.

[✿]Jamie Wallace|16|he/him|Iris|Stables|tags:quest group

Seeing most of the other’s in the stables go off and find a Pegasus companion, Jamie took a moment to look around, his eyes wandering between the creatures in the stalls. He felt kind of bad choosing one to bring along on the quest, but hopefully they’d be sending them back on their way to camp before they met with any trouble. His gaze landed on a dappled grey Pegasus in a corner stall and he wandered over, hand outstretched to the creature slowly.

“Hey, buddy, how’s it going?” he asked, stroking the equines nose gently. He wasn’t embarrassed to be talking to a creature who obviously couldn’t answer him, he talked to every animal as if it could, and he was fairly certain his campmates were used to his peculiarities by now. “You wanna come on this quest with me?” The Pegasus snorted, probably not intended as a response to the question, but he took it as one anyways. “I don’t really wanna go either. But at least you wouldn’t have to fight anything, just a nice little walk.” The creature gave him a look that seemed to accept the duty he was being offered and Jamie smiled.

He watched carefully when Mira explained how to tack the Pegasi, following her movements carefully. He knew how to do it, he’d done it before in his time at camp, but he still didn’t trust himself not to mess it somehow and didn’t want to end up hurting the Pegasus—or himself for that matter. Once he was satisfied that he hadn’t done an absolutely terrible job, his gaze drifted around the stables, seeing that quite a few others had joined them, almost everyone was there.

He didn’t feel totally awful right now, which was strange considering how nauseated he’d been only a few moments earlier. It felt like they were in limbo right now, the calm before the storm—well maybe not before, considering they were already in the middle of an actual storm, but something like that. Standing next to the Pegasus, stroking it’s soft coat and speaking to it in quiet tones wasn’t so bad, he actually enjoyed being around the stables, the animals made pretty good company. It was what came next that he feared, the part where he’d actually have to get on the creature and ride it. Riding around camp was bad enough, riding into his certain doom was not something he looked forward to at all.

[sammy,]

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𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗 '𝚕𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚢' 𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗
zeus' fist
zeus - counselor
mentioned: auggie
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he wasn't sure whether she had intentionally missed some of the point that he was making about his fear of her hating him, but didn't mention it. maybe it was safer to just pretend that that was it. that he was still intimidated by her, that he still viewed her as the person that she pretended to be. "somehow, i don't think that anyone would look at me and say that i've got common sense. but good thing that it reared its head now," he said.

"not the whole time. i'm fine at home. my ma wanted me to get a service dog, and i told her there wasn't a chance in hell," he screwed his face up at the idea. it made him too visible, in his mind. made it all too clear. "but here, yeah. for the past few years." she sounded rather shocked at the idea. he hadn't thought of it like that. it made it sound rather worse than he had originally thought. maybe he should have ventured to tell someone earlier. "it's fine. honestly, i'm okay with it. this is my holiday."

"you can't be telling me that you've been interested in everything i have to say," orin's eyes widened a little. he knew that he ran his mouth at olympic levels. surely there had been a moment where auggie had shut him out a little bit, let him become white noise. he had half been banking on that. "god, that's scarier."

he shook his head solidly when she offered to pretend he didn't exist. he didn't feel like there was enough time to do that. that if they did, they would be wasting it, and it would come back to bite them in the end. her. not them, not really. "don't you dare," he said simply.

the thought of what had happened with lucy sent another wave of dread through him, but it wasn't as large as it had been. he knew that she was plotting something. she had to have been. "she said she was gonna end me," he said, smirking bitterly at the thought. his head turned when auggie mentioned that it was scary, and the smirk fell. "sorry. it's -" there wasn't a way that he could explain it without feeling like an idiot. sometimes he had to act the villain. it was just the way that things worked. he needed to let out the pressure, act as though he was on top of everything, that any hand that rose against him would be shot down. the feeling of stability was necessary - rare, especially when contending with the normally happy-go-lucky mask, but necessary nevertheless. "i'm sorry. that you saw that." idly, he dragged his thumb over the skin of his hand, looking out into the woods. "she was under stress. looking for something that she could control. i should've just let it go."

orin looked down when she asked the questions on her mind, wincing briefly. "like i said. i'm sorry," he took a breath in. "but i just - i think - you know, anyone here, especially now, we could all die at any time. another building could collapse. another slew of venti could come crashing down and get half of us, and no-one's really worried about that. everyone here's definitely gonna die one day, it's just... i know the method by which my death happens. probably. unless something really weird happens." he shut his eyes. "what i would give to just get stabbed, augs. that'd be... it'd be a kick in the face, but it'd be really funny to see the look on everyone's face after they've spent so much time trying to stop me from dying in this specific way." a moment of reflection. "it's not worth worrying over. not for you. it's gonna happen. it's chekhov's gun at this point. so we put it away for later. enjoy the time before there's none left."

it was rare that he said something that actually made sense. he had nearly surprised himself. "do you think we'd be allowed to just... stay here? pretend that everything happening off of zeus' fist doesn't effect us?" for time purposes. "forget the rest of the camp. they can - they can do without. for a bit."

-

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𝚕𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚣
the cabins
ares
mentioned: caleb,
hank
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when hank continued his little tirade and also made to leave, leo shut his eyes, stopping for a moment. he hadn't really meant to. not as hard as he did. it was just a reflex action. hank should've simply known not to creep up on him. it had been different with caleb. he had heard the crunch of snow under feet, seen the shadow in his peripherals, and was too bothered about the damned cold - which he shivered against involuntarily at the mere thought of - to go for the punch. involuntarily, he had lived up to a reputation, set a stereotype in stone, and a bit of him just wanted out.

"he snuck up on me. i'm very controlled," he argued half-heartedly. "i'm controlled enough that i stopped. that should be enough for you. i don't... i don't like surprises." it hadn't been the story for his entire life, and held some truth. if he hadn't cut through the haze, he imagined that hank would have been spitting up a lung rather than a bit of blood. caleb's step back only drove his discomfort further, despite it not being the intention. "i'm gonna go and find a pair of gloves." it was a poor excuse, but he just needed to be out. perhaps the false gorgons in the arena would be enough to shut up the shouts. "sorry."

[indigo']

[✩] Augusta Reynolds|17|she/her|Hades|Head counsellor|Zeus’ fist|tags:Orin

She raised her eyebrows at the image of Orin with a service dog. Not wanting to draw attention to himself made sense, she got that, but he seemed to have a worryingly low amount of concern for his own self preservation.

“Pretty crap holiday,” she huffed, gaze drifting to the snow covered ground. Part of her wondered what it must be like to only see camp as an escape, somewhere you went for a small portion of the year, to have a home to go back to when all of this was done. This had been her home—or something like that—for a long time, but she wasn’t sure it ever really felt like that.

The corner of her mouth pulled in a smirk at his sudden worry that she’d actually been listening to him. “Well it’s hard with you, so much comes out of your mouth it’s hard to gauge what I can block out or not. It’s just non-stop I can barely keep up half the time.” She glanced over, eyes glittering with amusement.

She hated the surge of relief she felt at his reaction to her offering to ignore him. She knew it wasn’t really something he’d ask her to do, but the thought of it still bothered her.

She shook her head when he apologized, gaze still down, hand tracing over the cut on her palm. “You did what you had to,” she muttered. She could only guess that whatever she’d witnessed was the lesser of two evils, that it would’ve been a whole lot worse to walk into that clearing to find Orin on the ground and Lucy not knowing what had happened.

She looked to him only briefly before returning her gaze to the ground, blinking hard. She should’ve been desensitized to the concept of death by now, having experienced as much as she had and being the daughter of the literal god of the underworld. But she wasn’t. It was still terrifying. The reality of it. She found her mind wandering to her mother, back to the Iris message from earlier. She hadn’t even asked what happened. She hadn’t done anything before spiralling out of control.

She wasn’t worried about being attacked by a slew of raging storm spirits or having a house fall on her head, she was terrified for everyone else. That was probably more selfish, being worried about losing people, but it was the exact reason why it was easier to avoid getting close to people. It was the reason why she shouldn’t even be sitting here right now, but it was too late to walk away, and part of her really didn’t want to. That was the scariest part. She swiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket, trying to play it off casually, as though she wasn’t wiping away tears.

“Yeah, I’m sure you getting stabbed would be really funny,” she muttered sarcastically, surprised by how weak her voice sounded. “I’m sure you’d really enjoy the looks on everyone’s faces while you bled out.”

Enjoy the time before there’s none left. She wished she’d stop thinking about her mom. She hadn’t really had a chance to process the reality of it yet, with everything going on, but it was starting to hit her now. That she’d run away, and her own anger and selfishness had stopped her from ever having any chance to reconcile with the woman who had made her life hell. She’d spent her whole life hating her mom, so why did it still hurt now? She didn’t know which was worse, losing someone you’d spent most of your life fighting or losing someone you actually wanted to be around. She looked over at Orin again, doing a terrible job at hiding the fear in her eyes, unable to articulate the terror causing havoc in her brain, the way that simply choosing not to worry wasn’t an option.

She turned away again, hand finding the guitar pick strung around her neck, pulling it back and forth along the chain in her usual anxious gesture. She almost smiled at the next suggestion. “When have either of us ever done something we’re allowed to do?” She was only partially joking, but she nodded anyways, not about to object to pretending everything going on around them simply didn’t exist. “I don’t know what camp you’re talking about. There’s nothing there.”

[sammy,]

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𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗 '𝚕𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚢' 𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗
zeus' fist
zeus - counselor
mentioned: auggie
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"i dunno. it's sort of like going skiing in the alps. but, you know. less dangerous," he smiled a little at the thought, looking around the snow-covered ground. it had been a shock the morning before, and now he was growing used to it. it was funny how things just sort of worked like that. he had spent his birthday a week prior in an irish attempt of summer sun, and now he was freezing again. anyone would have thought he was still in the emerald isle, with weather so extremely wrong for the time of year.

he managed a little laugh at the confirmation that he talked too much. it didn't come as much of a surprise, but her comfort in admitting it did. "that's the plan," orin said. "if people think they know everything about me from my incessant yabbing, then they just assume that everything that's gonna be told is already out there." he tapped his nose as though he had cracked something grand, though there was clearly some flaw in his logic.

orin's eyes followed hers down to the cut on her palm. "i probably should've just -" he frowned. "she'll think it's bigger now. i let myself get too cocky. i don't think i did that bit right." his hand slipped into his inside pocket, retrieving the tin of ambrosia he had grabbed from his cabin. it would need refilling soon, but for now, there was still a safe amount of cubes rattling around in there. "want?" he asked. "hand cuts are nasty."

he could feel it coming off of her, the energy that fear gave way to, restless and searching. less terror, more dread. he knew it well - hardly from his own experience, but from seeing it in the faces of other people. the invigilator, for one, when he'd returned to school after his stint in hospital and she'd pulled him aside to apologise. he hadn't really understood at the time - assumed it would have been a one-time thing. when it proved not to be, it happened more. he started seeing it in the eyes of his friends when they were preparing to leap off of the cliffs that overlooked their favourite lake. and his mother, and his sister, once she had had 'the conversation' with her counsellor - with felix, though it was tainted with a bit of righteous anger - and now with auggie. and he never knew how he was supposed to make it right. he couldn't just say it would be fine if he didn't know it would be. it wouldn't have been right to do that. instead, he nodded when she met his gaze, a silent 'i know' and a deeper 'i'm sorry'.

"you're right. we're just in the woods. i don't even do camping. give me a hotel any day," the idea of a 'hotel half-blood' did make him smile a little, if for nothing other than the excellent use of alliteration. it rolled off the mental tongue better. "if everything was normal, and i mean - like, everything - what d'you think you'd be doing?" it was a question he'd asked himself in different contexts many times before, but he thought it'd be interesting to get someone else's parallel-plans.

[Kveykva]

──── Ｎｉｃｈｏｌａｓ Ｓｔｏｒｍ
【✦】| Horseman of the Apocalypse | 56 | Male | ➡ New York hotel | Tags: Malcolm
❝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑❞

Entitlement. Sure, we'll call it that. Is that how he sounded? He tended to get that sense from other gods, but perhaps now was the time to decide what kind of god he wanted to be. He preferred to present himself as well-spoken, polite, and charming. Vivienne was a bit different, though Nicholas doubted he'd want to lose his sense of humor in favor of flaunting authority. Plus he always loved a good pop culture reference. Still, he did have some level of authority as a diety. It was the kind that came with power and eventual position. They fear me. Was that him, or was it the horseman? Sometimes Nicholas found it hard to tell; there wasn't a concrete form of the horseman within him like there had been in the past. "You pose a fair point," Death answered eventually, drawing himself from his thoughts. "And first impressions are always the most important. You have good taste."

A shout for Malcolm's companion came and went, the horseman waiting patiently for both the two men to make their preparations for departure. The thought quickly crossed his mind to give them a warning about shadowtravel and its detriment to those with motion sickness, but it vanished at the sound of Malcolm speaking again. "Er, sure." Death blundered his words briefly, visibly biting his tongue. "I'm flattered, but I honestly have no clue where it came from. I don't recall saying it of my own accord." The god shook his head, laughing lightly. "You'd think someone in my position would be better spoken. Guess it isn't so." When all parties were present, the horseman distanced himself from the wall and laced his fingers, cracking his knuckles. "Alright kids, let's get this party started."

[indigo']

[✩] Augusta Reynolds|17|she/her|Hades|Head counsellor|Zeus’ fist|tags:Orin

A disbelieving laugh almost escaped her at his response. “This is less dangerous than skiing? Did you actually just say that?” She made a face at him before looking pointedly at the burnt up tree, the one remaining relic of their fight and the ensuing battle against the venti from the day previous. She'd never actually been skiing, but she found it hard to believe that anything could be more dangerous than the things they experienced at camp.

She rolled her eyes at him then, surprised that she hadn’t done so already. “Right.” It wasn’t a serious agreement, her usual sarcastic tone pulling through. She’d never assume that everything that could be said had been, and she wasn’t sure that anyone else would either. Especially not with Orin. There was always more to say with him, she honestly wasn’t sure how he managed it.

She shrugged. “Hopefully she’ll just forget about it and move onto her next victim.” She knew that probably wasn’t likely. She knew that this was going to come up again and would probably only be amplified, but for now it wouldn’t help anyone to think about it like that. It was easier to just hope for one possible catastrophe not to come to pass. It was a dismal attempt at optimism, but an attempt all the same.

She glanced over and shook her head, flexing her hand before shoving both into the pockets of her jacket. She’d given in to the ambrosia once, and though it had actually helped her, it hadn’t changed her stubbornness. “It’s fine. It’s small.” The cut itself wasn’t bothering her that much, it stung a little, and bending her hand at all felt a bit strained, but her real concern was how she’d done it, the fact that she’d been distracted enough to slip doing something she’d done flawlessly a million times before.

The look he gave her, and the accompanying nod, communicated the unspoken thought clearly. It comforted her, in a way, but she also felt a flood of guilt. She didn’t want to make him think it was his fault that she was afraid, like he had done something wrong by telling her. She didn’t want to contribute to the unnecessary but inevitable guilt he was already feeling. She didn’t have the words to say it, to tell him that it wasn’t his fault and that she only felt worse for showing her fear. It was pointless, taking the blame for things neither of them could control, but it happened anyways.

She looked over, noting the little smile on his face, inevitably from some stupid joke he was laughing at in his own head. “Normal?” She made a face like the concept was entirely unfamiliar to her. “You mean normal normal? Like no monsters or godly parents or anything?” She looked up at the trees, pondering the thought for a minute. She had no idea what she’d be doing. She didn’t even know where she’d be. Everything she’d done and everything she was had been so drastically shaped by her godly heritage--for better or for worse--that she wasn’t even sure who she’d be if she’d been born ‘normal’.

“I used to spend a lot of time at my uncle’s,” she said finally. “I mean before he was...if he hadn’t…” She shook her head, as though she could shake away the words she’d been about to say, the words that she couldn’t bring herself to say still. She didn’t want to talk about death, but it seemed she wasn’t as good at steering the conversation away from dark topics as he was. Her hand found the necklace at her throat again, clinging to it like a lifeline as she spoke. “He used to make me pancakes.” A smile spread across her face, a small laugh that wouldn’t really have made sense without the context. “I mean, every time I went over. He told me that was the only thing he ate and I...I actually believed him.”

She paused again for a moment, tilting her head in thought. “That, or I’d be causing havoc in the streets. Doing something I’m not supposed to be doing.” She flashed him a grin. “Did that a lot.” It was a strange thing to think about, what she’d be doing now if she wasn’t here. Looking back on her past made her realize just how strange her childhood had been, even without the typical demi-god troubles. “I haven’t left camp in...a really long time,” she admitted. “I think I’ve got a twisted definition of what normal is.” She drew her legs up in front of her, hugging her knees. “What about you? Hunting leprechauns? Farming potatoes?” She asked, looking over with a devious, almost taunting smile.

[sammy,]

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𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗 '𝚕𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚢' 𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗
zeus' fist
zeus - counselor
mentioned: auggie
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"yes. i did. i don't have to explain myself to you," he said, laughing a little at the thought. he had his reasons to believe such a thing, but most of them would have quivered in response to the threats that they appeared to face on a day-to-day basis. it had become so normalised, so regular, that he didn't have the perspective to recognise their situation as one that was necessarily 'dangerous' anymore. well - in some cases, at least. most of them.

he did hope that auggie was right about lucy moving on from it, but something about the tone she had taken with him, the words that she had spoken, made him think that she had set in stone a vendetta that was bound to last, to end awfully for one of them. and if he knew himself, then it wasn't going to end badly for her. he hoped not, anyway. it didn't seem fair. there was selflessness in there somewhere, but also the facts of what he believed. orin had finished with hitting her back. he had tried to fall to a level that she would understand, and it hadn't worked. whatever happened after the fact was down to her. he had washed his hands of it. there was no time for faffing about with arbitrary gossip and allyships. "gods help 'em," he said, wishing he had a glass to raise.

he narrowed his eyes a little bit when he found that her stubborn streak had continued, but did not have a leg to stand on when it came to neglecting one's own health for the sake of pretences. "if you're sure," he said with a shrug. they were a bit too similar in that regard.

"no monsters, no godly parents, just - just out there, going to school, getting a job, and a house, with doors and windows and curtains and... and those little mats that people wipe their boots on," he confirmed, leaning back a little to listen to what she had to offer. it was nice to pretend, just for a little while, that their lives could have had some semblance of normality. in a different world, on a different plane, they were just people. "you're telling me he was lying? i don't think so. i think that was the truth he wasn't willing to tell anyone else."

"oh, that sounds about right," he said to her talking about causing havoc. "i can get behind that one." they all had a twisted definition of 'normal' - it was what kept them alive, he supposed. if they were to see through the looking glass and truly understand their existences for what they were, it would have crushed them. maybe that was what the camp was for, for pretending that it was all alright, because there were others around them going through the exact same experiences.
his hand went immediately to his chest when she pulled the stereotypes, though laughter came. "you got me," he said, but shook his head. "no. i'd be... i don't know. in uni. preparing to go to uni. getting ready to get absolutely off my face for the next four years on substances that i would invent myself. i had an idea for a drink once called a rasputini. it's a shot of every spirit available, and then redbull to mix it. red wine as a finisher, 'cause otherwise it would be disgusting." a little smile. "or being a delinquent. i always wanted to be the kinda guy that organised a rave. i don't know."

-

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𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚖 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗
new york
proxy of eris
mentioned: nicholas
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"the best lines are genuine," malcolm said, still somewhat amused by the outburst. it had put the horseman in a bit of a new light, one that was more palpable, palatable than the formal mask that he donned for appearance's sake. "they come from the heart and reach out to others'."

it hadn't been long since malcolm called - a good thing, given that he was rather impatient - before the guard entered through the door, clutching his coat in his hand and, after brief pause, staring between nicholas and his delegated protectee. namely, the thing that his eyes seemed to linger on was the presence of the death deity's wings, staring a little wildly between them and the rest of the room, unsure of where to place his gaze. "you... called?" he said abruptly.
"we're going on a little trip. i thought i'd bring you along," malcolm smiled as though nothing was askew. "is that alright?"
"yeah," hicks' voice crackled a bit. "no, that's - that's fine. sorry, has he always had -"
"don't be rude, now. he's our ferryman."
"right. sorry," he walked further into the room, approaching with caution.
"brilliant," malcolm said, ushering him within arm's length. "i knew you'd be good at this. it's just diplomacy, if you think about it. you're getting behind-the-scenes shots. you should be brimming with joy."
"yeah. something like that," hicks said, eyes still a little wide.

the promise of finally meeting with khione was one that rumbled malcolm to his core. things were getting done. beautiful things - things that had been promised to him for years, that he had waited for with bated breath. the world was finally coming into focus, and it was magnificent.

[indigo']

[✩] Augusta Reynolds|17|she/her|Hades|Head counsellor|Zeus’ fist|tags:Orin

As he listed off various parts of a basic, normal house, she found a certain unfamiliar strangeness in the mundanity of it all. What would it be like to have a life outside of camp? A life without camp? To not be constantly looking over your shoulder, always watching out for the next threat? Oddly enough, she wasn’t sure she wanted that. Maybe she didn’t have a right to form such an opinion considering she’d never really experienced otherwise, but it sounded kind of boring.

“Gods, I’d never have one of those mats.” She scowled. “Too inviting. Makes people think they’re allowed to come on in and take their shoes off.”

She laughed at the comment about her uncle, shaking her head. “You’re ridiculous.” She paused. “I think you and him would’ve gotten along actually.” Her smile faltered briefly at the thought, at speaking about her uncle in past tense and the reminder that she wouldn’t get to see him again. Maybe she would’ve been better off trying to summon him again than even considering talking to her mom, but the same reasons that she shouldn’t still seemed to apply, and it wasn’t like she’d succeeded before.

She had her arms resting on top of her knees now, head resting on her arms as she listened to him speak. “The true educational experience.” She muttered at the talk of getting absolutely wasted. She hadn’t even thought about university. She probably would’ve been preparing for that too, that was if she hadn’t flunked senior year, a hypothetical that seemed entirely possible. When he started to describe his brainwave of a drink, she turned her head down into her arms to hide her face, body shaking with laughter. She lifted her head finally, still barely containing the sudden fit of giggles. “That sounds absolutely terrible. Like, horrendously bad. Really, I think that’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard.” She shook her head. “I think you’d—that’d just be...why redbull?” She gave him an incredulous look. “Oh, yeah, otherwise it’d be disgusting,” she replied, tone full of sarcasm and mockery. “The red wine really fixes that up.”

She smiled at the suggestion of delinquency. “I bet we could organize a rave here. Tell Chiron it’s to help bring up everyone’s spirits after the venti attack. Get the Apollo kids to learn to play some EDM.” The thought was ridiculous of course, but it was a nice feeling to be able to say something ridiculous—to have a conversation that didn’t have dire consequences or any real meaning at all. It was nice to breathe, for just a moment, and act like everything was okay, to actually feel like things might be.

[sammy,]

╔xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx╗
𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗 '𝚕𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚢' 𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗
zeus' fist
zeus - counselor
mentioned: auggie
╚xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx╝

being in the camp, being the way they were, it didn't allow for conceptual houses in their future. they didn't get to dream about living normal lives - most of the adolescents in the camp just hoped that their destiny lied in an honorable death, the kind that would land them in elysium. it made thinking about it all rather bittersweet.

he gathered, from the little context clues, that auggie's uncle wasn't around anymore. it almost made the idea of them getting along even more of a compliment. he just smiled, nodded, as though proud of the idea. he hoped she was right.

"yeah," he nodded, and when she started laughing at his conceptual rasputini, he feigned a little bit offence. "it doesn't! it doesn't sound bad, you've just got an immature palate. you can't fathom it. it's like a... an acquired taste." the grin split further when she asked about the redbull, as though he had been waiting for it. "well, cause.... you know, he was russia's greatest love machine, if we're gonna go with what boney m said, so he's gonna need some energy for all of that. so to emulate his energetics, you shod a few redbulls in there. make 'em different flavours. have fun with it." he nodded. "yeah, the wine goes nice with the baileys." he pointed thoughtfully. "my mate made one a couple months ago, where he got a drink or ingredient for every letter of the alphabet and mixed it all up. it was fine until he got to 'x' and just cracked two eggs into it." the memory made him laugh. it felt further away than it truly was.

"you know, i think you're onto something there. the ares cabin could have a mosh pit. iris kids doing the lights. that would be..." he shut his eyes, imagined it for a moment. "god, imagine mr. d. he'd be on board, i bet. he'd be so down for it. he's like - he's the god of raves. he's the one and only."

[indigo']

[✩] Augusta Reynolds|17|she/her|Hades|Head counsellor|Zeus’ fist|tags:Orin

“Immature palette,” she scoffed. “Olives are an acquired taste. That’s just...that’s just a monstrosity.” She rubbed a hand over her face, still laughing at the absurdity of the idea. “Russia’s greatest love machine is rolling in his grave at such a nasty drink being named after him. It’s disrespectful to him, and to Boney M and to anyone with taste buds.” She raised her eyebrows. “A few? A few as in multiple redbulls? Multiple flavours? Please tell me you’re joking, you can’t actually think that’s a good idea.” It might’ve been a combination of his false indignance and the insistence that the rasputini was in fact a good idea, or the buildup of all the emotions she’d been trying to contain escaping at once, but she couldn’t seem to stop laughing. She shook her head in disbelief. “That’s too much, even for you.” She pulled a face of disgust at the mention of putting raw eggs in a drink. “Sounds like quite a guy.”

“Have we just conceptualized the greatest event in camp history? Because I think we have.” Most of the kids at camp probably wouldn’t even know how to react to a rave, which would probably just make it more amusing. “I thought he was the god of grumpy old drunks,” she muttered at the mention of Mr. D. “Maybe we could invite the other gods, see if they want to come down for a party. If I challenged Hades to a fight—hand to hand combat—do you think he’d take me up on that? ‘Cause I could totally beat him.” She wasn’t sure why the idea had suddenly popped into her head, or why she’d actually said it out loud, but if she was toying with the concept of meeting her godly father, it’s not like she actually wanted to meet up and have a happy reunion or anything like that. Sure, he had intense, otherworldly powers, but what was he gonna do if she marched up and threw a punch when he wasn’t expecting it? Nothing.