' half-blood university ✧ - closed

[landogate]

ＮＩＫＯＬＡＳ ＹＯＵＮＧ

XNIK, NIKO. HISTORY MAJOR. SON OF DEMETER. QUEST LINE: TARTARUS. LOCATION: BOYS COMMON ROOM/DORM. TAGS: MENTIONS SCOUT.
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xxxHALFWAY through the semester nik was beginning to severely regret choosing history as his major. from late nights and early mornings cramming dates and important political figures to the debt he was quickly racking up from buying iced coffee fifteen times a day just to stay awake, nik's patience was wearing thin. not only did spending time and living in the male dormitory at halfblood university give him access to some of the funniest people he'd ever met, he also felt as though he couldn't get three seconds of silence, especially during the night. for now he was neck deep in revolutionary ideals from france and desperately trying to find a historian who fit his viewpoint, downing coffee like it was water, his throat so used to the scalding temperature it no longer bothered him.

xxxHE was sat at the dining table, reclined back and tapping a biro on his knees, a familiar feeling of tiredness ebbing at him. the sleeves of his sweater were rolled up, and his hands were covered in black and blue pen ink after he'd picked up a half-broken pen. his knees, exposed in the rip of his dark blue jeans were similarly covered in marks, mostly highlighter after he'd dropped one on accident. nikolas didn't know how long he'd been sitting at the table, surprisingly it was the quietest place in the dorms, finding that everyone stuck to their rooms or the hallway that connected all of the rooms to be the loudest. it wasn't like he didn't like his roommate scout, a child of dionysus, he was just a tad too loud sometimes. most of the boys were like wild dogs together, howling with laughter or fighting until the wee hours of the morning, each and every day.

xxxKNOWING there was a party on that night, nik knew he was going to have his work cut out for him if he didn't finish the study session. he could always call it quits early and lounge around for the remainder of the day, but he also knew in the back of his mind that if he didn't finish his work now he'd likely not get another chance to work in silence for a few weeks. and his roommate wouldn't make it any easier either. now that he was thinking so hard about the logistics of where was the best place to study, noise levels and the midterm party, he'd lost his studying funk and couldn't even focus on his textbooks anymore.

xxxPEELING his backside off the chair he padded over to the kitchen, sticking his nose through the fridge first. filled with barely any food but the necessities, milk, cheese, water, the fridge was overflowing with garbage, namely cheap beers from a month ago. the cupboard were much the same, though did offer a little more variety in fruit, chips and candy. one quick glance over his shoulder to the table sitting behind him with all of his study materials, he caved and picked out a small packet of candy, opening it on the way back to his set-up. as the party came closer nik knew he'd have to pack up, as more and more boys from the dorm came rushing out into the main areas to likely pregame.

xxxHIS computer sat open on quizlet, his timer long run out. his phone was locked away in his room so that he could study without distractions, so he reached over his pile of books and paper to grab the base of the electronic device. he typed slowly on his computer, his eyes were instead focusing on the twenty plus tabs open at the top of his screen and the numerous windows open at the bottom task bar. now was as good a time as ever to pack his things up, he closed each of the tabs and shut his laptop. he bundled his textbooks and workbooks up in his arms and set off for his dorm room, stepping over piles of god knows what in the hallway.

xxxNIKOLAS' door was busted, so all he had to do was nudge it a little and it'd open. it made getting too and from class easier when his hands were full of old posters and documents thicker than his torso. paying little attention to his roommates side of the room, he chucked down his study materials and felt his back pop, finally not under the pressure of hunching. if nik was honest he didn't even know where the party was getting held tonight, he just prayed it wasn't the boys dorm, because he knew everything would go awol really quick.
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[Seokjinnie]

XXX

X█║ 𝖗𝖆𝖒 𝖒𝖆𝖑𝖆𝖎-𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗𝖓𝖊 ║█X
male || twenty|| son of hades || tags; tommy || wc; 608

indentRam had barely shoved his phone into his pocket when the phone started to buzz, he took a deep breath before pulling it back out. His face turned a pale pink when he realized it was from Tommy. As he was reading the text, his phone buzzed again with another text from the older demi-god. His entire body felt like it was vibrating with excitement, Shiram had not expected him to get back to him as quickly as he had. As he was thinking of how to respond, his phone buzzed for the third time and his heart started beating even faster. He leaned against the wall so he could his racing his heart. It wasn’t fair how easily Tommy made him flustered especially when it felt like Ram couldn’t do the same to him. With a few more deep breaths, he glanced down at the phone and decided he would answer them separately so that he didn’t seem desperate. Though he definitely felt desperate, like a fish searching for water kinda desperate. Ram smiled softly as started to walk towards where Tommy said he was, “Of course he isn’t enough for me silly. There’s one man who currently is.” He attached a winky face emoji before quickly sending another text, “Wanna guess who?”

indentThe third text from Tommy had made him, honestly, a little lightheaded. The puppy eye emojis didn’t help either. Before he typed the next text, he bit his lip trying to think of what to say that wouldn’t cause him to want to hide out of embarrassment. Which admittedly, it took a lot to make him feel embarrassed because of how shameless he usually was. Ram glanced around as if anyone around would even care what he was texting to Tommy, “Don’t worry company will arrive shortly.” As he hit send, he felt a little bold and sent with a blushing smile emoji attached, “Kinda sounds like you miss me….” To avoid looking at his phone while he waited for a response, also so he could focus on not getting lost, he slipped it into his pocket.

indentIt didn’t take long for him to get to where Tommy was located or even to spot the man once he was inside. Before he walked over, he hid behind a wall to give himself a small pep talk. The one that his straight roommate could not provide. Ram took a deep breath, boy was he doing that a lot today. He curled his hands into tiny fists as he mumbled, “You got this! Don’t look like a fool in front of the guy you like Shiram!” He was about to head over when he folded back into the corner, “And don’t embarrass Hades...or your siblings...or yourself! You got this!” With one last deep breath and a small groan, he began to walk over to where Tommy was resting on a bench. His heart was pounding in his ears, once again feeling like he was vibrating from how deeply excited he was to see the other half-blood. Don’t embarrass yourself! Don’t embarrass yourself! Once he got close enough he slid onto the bench right next to where Tommy was sitting. Ram nudged the older man with his elbow and a bright smile across his face. He hoped the already present blush on his face wasn’t obvious. He hesitated in speaking, not quite knowing what to say. Did he go with a simple ‘hey Tommy,’ a brief ‘hello,’ or even an out of character ‘sup?’ He was being absolutely ridiculous and he knew it, hated how dramatic he was making this all seem.

indent“Your company has arrived!”

XXX

X█║ 𝔞𝔦𝔩𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔬'𝔟𝔯𝔶𝔞𝔫𝔱 ║█X
female || twenty-one|| daughter of apollo || tags; lia, reed || wc; 521

indentAileen smiled as Lia hugged her, resisting the urge to pull the other girl closer to her. She was about to ask if Lia wanted her help to finish the essay when she mentioned wanting to do something fun. Ailey would do anything Lia wanted and found herself just nodding in agreement. Her eyes went wide when Lia jumped up from her seat and told her she’d back. She stared at the place the other girl had once been seated at. It wasn’t long before the silence around her was disrupted. Her head whipped around at the sound of a familiar masculine voice calling her name. She smiled softly, “Yes, I remember you! You’re Reed!” Aileen was attuned to noticing when people were nervous and she could tell how nervous he was.

indentIt wasn’t the first time someone from her classes had come to her for assistance and much like her healer abilities, she couldn’t help but help when someone needed her. She was listening intently when the sound of Lia’s voice caused Reed to stop speaking. Aileen could relate to him being so startled by how enchanting Lia was that he sto- but the situation no longer felt the same. From the look on both of their faces, it seemed that they knew each other. The way they were speaking awkwardly made a burning feeling creep up her skin. A soft smile spread on her face when Lia addressed her and showed the flowers she had picked, “For me?” Her heart began to beat a little faster when Lia explained what she wanted to do with the flowers, “Thank you! You know how much I like it when my hair is braided especially when you’re the one doing it.” Aileen glanced between Lia and Reed, felt an immediate twinge of guilt. She hated when other people were uncomfortable, it didn’t matter who. It made her want to fix whatever was causing them to be so strange with each other yet just the thought of the pair getting closer made her heart hurt greatly.

indentLeena reached forward to gently grasp Lia’s wrists, “Why don’t you take a seat next to me. Your feet might start to hurt and I don’t have any healing supplies with me, just the violin.” She desperately wanted to ask the other demi-god what exactly happened between her and Reed. Yet at the same time, she wanted Lia to focus those beautiful eyes of hers back onto Aileen. It was slightly selfish to put her feelings before theirs and she knew it. She was going against what felt like second nature. It wasn’t just slightly selfish but extremely so, and it made her want to hide somewhere and play the violin until her fingers bled. This wasn’t fair, she both wanted to help them fix whatever was between them but also push them away from each other. She couldn’t even begin to explain why she would when pushing them together could make Lia happy. But she’d much prefer Lia to be happy with her than with someone else but she wouldn’t fight it if the latter happened.

XXX

X█║ 𝔰𝔢𝔦𝔶𝔞 '𝔞𝔡𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫' 𝔪𝔦𝔲𝔯𝔞 ║█X
male || twenty-two|| son of demeter || tags; the plant boy is undisturbed || wc; 514

indentAdrien had quietly snuck out of his room in the morning to avoid disturbing his roommate. It wasn’t like he was ever loud getting ready nor it did it take him much time to do either. As soon as he had left the room and immediately went to get his daily espresso from the cafe on campus. The barista’s face, when he asked for three cups of straight espresso, had annoyed him greatly. He was giving her money, who cared what he ordered and what it did to his body. So what if could possibly push him closer to non-existence? It wasn’t like it would affect her, despite her being annoying he still gave her tip as it was the right thing to do. Once he drank the first cup of espresso, he made his way over to the campus’ greenhouse that was solely used by agriculture students and children of Demeter. Seiya just happened to be under both categories.

indentWhen he entered, he could hear the happy hums and whispers of the plants he took care of. After drinking the second cup of espresso and disposing of it properly, he went to work on watering all of the plants that asked for him to do so. His eyebrows rose when he came close to his favorite flowers: the Orienpet Lilies. He softly ran two of his fingers against some of the lilies’ petals. In the back of his mind somewhere, buried deep down in his memories, there was an image of a blurry faced man putting some of them in a vase. If Adrien was a smiling kind of person, he would have long had a grin stretched across his handsome face. He would have a smile every time he saw these flowers, but he wasn’t so he didn’t. Though the flowers often asked him in their wispy voices to smile for them and it slightly upset them when he wouldn’t. Not even they could make him smile, it didn’t matter that they made him feel closer to his beloved mother.

indentWith one last stroke of the petals, he moved on to tend to some of the vegetables and fruits he cared for in the greenhouse. The greenhouse was his favorite place to be for the sole reason that he could completely focus on his second favorite beings, second only to Demeter, and take care of them. It was quiet and peaceful, he was often the only one there, and could spend an entire day inside, only going back to his dorm room to sleep. He would often forget to even eat when he was inside because he was concentrated on the plants. If anyone who knew him well wanted to find or talk to him, they knew not to bother calling most days because whenever he was inside the greenhouse his phone would be off. Though he even those he called friends typically knew he felt his best when he was with the plants and would typically not disturb him. Except for the days when their sole intent was to bother him.

[landogate]

ＡＰＯＬＬＯＮＩＡ ＫＨＯＬＩ

XXXXXXXXXXPOL, POLLY. LAW MAJOR. DAUGHTER OF NEMESIS. QUEST LINE: PANDORAS BOX. LOCATION: COMMON ROOM. TAGS: ISABELLE.
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xxxOF all things polly could enjoy, it was the soft spray of the water beating down on her neck and upper back, and she intended to do after her post-class nap. isabelle had been kind enough to leave apollonia alone for a majority of her day. she'd slept in until past noon and sauntered off to a short law tutorial in boots that made her fall over at least once. given her midterm was over pol wanted nothing to do with her studies for at least a week, so when she returned to an empty dorm room she flung her bag dramatically and flopped down on her bed again, eager to catch up on much needed sleep until the party.

xxxLIKE all students, or at least a majority of them, pol's sleep schedule had been destroyed completely. she was used to staying awake for days at a time and crashing in the wee hours of the morning only to have the cycle rinse and repeat for months at a time. texting mercedes made it easier at least. isabelle though? gods polly was at her wits end with her. sometimes, if it was a particularly rough day she'd spend hours contemplating changing roommates or just sleeping in the common room. if pol was honest, she did have the paper work drafted up on more than one occasion.

xxxSHE sat up suddenly, feet dangling over the edge of her bed, barely touching the rug below. her feet were clothed by black and pink fluffy socks and the rest of her body was a jumbled mess of items picked out at random. her shirt was a blue and white horizontal striped shirt and her pants, lacking her traditional sleek press, crinkled at the knees and ankle. from lounging in her bed and napping she had subsequently ruined her day wear, and made a mental note to throw her clothes into her own wastebasket for laundry. in her wardrobe hung a skin-tight cocktail dress she intended to wear that night, no wrinkles were in sight. she'd cleared space for her more boujee and luxurious items at the beginning of the year, intending to wear them to as many parties as possible.

xxxACROSS the room, on isabelle's side might she add, was the door to the bathroom that remained open. "thank you izzy." she smirked, skipping across the line of tape on the floor and flouncing around in the bathroom. she intentionally knocked over her roommates items, though she did so in such a manor that if she questioned her later on apollonia could claim it'd been an accident. she turned the shower on and let it run for a while, water warming up and filling the room with steam.

xxxONCE her shower was over with, polly took her sweet time getting ready, only this time she donned simple clothes instead of her ideal cocktail dress, it was still far too early to wear it and let her hair air-dry. sitting back on her bed she found herself bored out of her mind, and knowing she didn't desire to begin a half a dozen law tutorials before a party, she stood up, phone in hand and wedged her feet into fluffy pink slides. down the hall in the common room was izzy, just the person she wanted to see. opening the cupboards and fridge and seeing nothing eye-catching enough she slammed the door of the fridge shut. hopping up onto the kitchen counter polly raised her voice slightly, so that it would ring out in the room. "thinking of partying tonight, isabelle? or are you going to be a bore and study all night?" her nails tapped at her phone screen, one of her feet swung back behind her, hitting an ajar cabinet door.
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[vaermina]

bye

[winterfell.]

─ ★ -- ( BRAY STANFORD ) ─────────────────────────────────
xxx" 𝔸𝕊ℍ𝔼𝕊 𝕋𝕆 𝔸𝕊ℍ𝔼𝕊 𝕎𝔼 𝔸𝕃𝕃 𝔽𝔸𝕃𝕃 𝔻𝕆𝕎ℕ !! 𝕎𝔼 𝔾𝕆𝕋 𝕀ℕℕ𝕆ℂ𝔼ℕℂ𝔼 𝔽𝕆ℝ 𝔻𝔸𝕐𝕊 !! "
⇉ [ location : leo's room ] [ godly parent : hephaestus ] [ tagged : rob, leo ] [ 1305 words ]


- - - - -University libraries were nice, she supposed. Bray didn't like to spend time here unless she absolutely had to, thinking the whole thing was much too quiet. However, these were dire circumstances. And by dire circumstances, she meant completely normal circumstances; she just felt like trying something new to see how well it would go. In the end, she learned a two things. Firstly, her spotify playlist never gets old, despite listening to the same songs and artists for the past twenty years of her life. Second, librarians aren't very fond of humming, apparently. In the end, she decided never to try and get her work done in such a place ever again. While it provided a distraction-free environment, it was simply too boring, to rigid. She'd much rather be in the comfort of her dorm room where she can at least let out a dramatic sigh every now and then without turning heads. Besides, after midterms, it wasn't like there was much of a need for strict studying. Not until later in the semester, anyway. She had a little bit more free time, which was a blessing and a curse. The idea of being able to sleep in and slack a little bit was nice, she supposed. But the fact that she didn't have a very specific goal in mind was almost anxiety-inducing. What was she supposed to do without an arbitrary assignment for a compulsory grade? How else was she supposed to assess her worth? What was she supposed to do to occupy her time and mind, to keep her thoughts on something material and solvable rather than the gnawing disappointment she'd been feeling for the past several weeks, since the last party she attended. She checked her phone once more at the thought, scrolling through her messages for a moment. After skipping through her texts to Leo and Rob, she went to the conversation she'd started with the Ezra the night after the last party, reading carefully over the message that he never responded to. Despite it being weeks ago, she couldn't help but feel an awful pit in her stomach looking at the singular message that occupied the screen. Had she done something wrong? Was she too awkward or weird? Maybe he thought that their last encounter was just a drunken mistake? It was probably the last one, if she were being honest with herself. The two of them didn't properly go together. They didn't run in the same social circles. In reality, she knew that it would be best for both of them if she could just forget the whole thing, pretend nothing ever happened. But she couldn't.

- - - - -In the meantime, however, she could ignore her problems, distract herself in any conceivable way. Initially, that distraction was midterms and what a distraction that was. But, with those out the way, she didn't have much. She supposed she could talk to Rob to see if he needed some upgrades to his armor or something, but that wouldn't be enough to keep her occupied for too long. She needed something big, a large project. She'd have to brainstorm more later, she guessed. For now, she was distracting herself with little, stupid things. There was a party tonight that she'd been hearing about for a while to celebrate midterms finally coming to an end. While the prospect of a party, particularly since the Dionysus kids would most certainly be involved, was a bit nerve-wracking, the idea of blowing off some steam with her friends in a high-energy, social environment seemed right up her alley. But, first, she needed to coordinate things with Leo and Rob. She wasn't going anywhere without her boys, she decided, since that didn't go to well last time they split up. Besides, someone semi-responsible needs to be there to keep those two chaotic morons from doing something horrible. She wondered how those two managed to do anything on their own, given just how ridiculous they were when they got together. She wondered a lot of things when it came to those two, but none of that was really important. They were all going to meet at the Administration building, but no one was there by the time Bray reached the steps. She rolled her eyes at the sight, not even bothering to stop and wait for the two of them. She'd just go straight to them. More than likely, they were in Leo's room. That seemed to be where they spent the bulk of their time, despite Rob having a perfectly good room of his own. Leo's roommate, Ben, absolutely hated their dynamic. He woke up early to go on runs and visit the gym before class and Leo's incessant tapping on his keyboard kept him awake into the wee hours of the night. She knew from the constant groans and mumbled curses she could hear from the son of Ares any time she knocked on Leo's door late at night during one of her frequent visits. It wasn't uncommon for her to lure him out into the common room with the promise of snacks and memes. Was it good for her own sleeping schedule? No, not particularly. But she didn't want her brother to be lonely when there was something she could do about it.

- - - - -She mindlessly wandered through the boys dorm, making it to Leo's door rather quickly. She could navigate the path with her eyes closed at this point. She slipped her phone back into the pocket of her jeans. She cleared her throat, knocking on the door briefly. "Leo," she chimed in a sing-songy voice. "I'm respecting your privacy by knocking but asserting my authority as your sister by coming in anyway," she said, turning the doorknob and letting herself in. Just as she suspected, Rob was already there, standing just to the side of Leo at his desk. She smiled brightly at the pair, not failing to note the slip of paper Rob had obviously slid by Leo's keyboard, not an unusual sight. "Afternoon, nerd," she said pointedly to her brother. Though she didn't have much room to talk when it came to nerds. She spent her days drafting up ideas for new robots that she'd build and program. She worked on computers just as her brother did. She was no stranger to the geek scene. She approached the two of them, a smirk on her lips as she let her hand gently slide across Rob's back before settling on his shoulder. "And how are you, my vision?" she asked, maintaining the usual way the two of them spoke to one another. Despite having absolutely no romantic interest in Rob -- nor he an interest in her -- they were constantly locked in this battle of who could be more flirty with the other. It was just a goofy thing they started when they were kids at Camp that never seemed to go away. In fact, she wasn't sure she could ever address her friend without tacking on a casual baby or hot stuff to the end of her every sentence. It was probably pretty confusing to anyone who wasn't privy to their little friend group. Despite Rob and Bray having obnoxious pet names for one another, it was Rob and Leo who acted more like a couple. They were close. Very close. Bray didn't think too much of it, of course. She'd known plenty of people just as close who didn't have feelings for one another, so who was she to make assumptions? Besides, Leo surely would have mentioned something to her by now if that were the case. Right? "So, how fashionably late should we show up to this party? I don't want to be the first ones there, but I also don't necessarily want to make a big entrance. Too many eyes," she explained.

[8_Stars_8]

A S H L Y N x H A N S E N
| DAUGHTER OF ZEUS | LOCATION: LIBRARY | TAGS: SAM | WORD COUNT: 437 |
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indentAshlyn, being the annoyingly responsible girl she was, had finished all of her assignments, essays, and extra credit for the term, yet she was still in the library. She couldn't help herself. If it was possible, she would read all the books she possibly could. She was browsing the shelves for nothing in particular, eventually settling on a bird book. She planned to go back to her dorm to read, but she spotted a familiar brown-haired boy out of the corner of her eye. Her face flushed a light pink, as she walked over to Sam.

indent"Hey stranger." Ash says, offering Sam a smile. She lets her voice hang in the air for a second before asking him a question. "I don't suppose you'll be going to the party tonight? I'm sure it will be...questionable, but fun!" She looked a bit unsure herself about attending. "I mean I don't expect a party coming from Dionysus kids to be lowkey." She chuckles, her stance a bit awkward. "Mind if I sit?" She asks, pulling out a chair from the table he was sitting at and sitting across from him after a confirming nod.

indentAshlyn could feel the butterflies in her stomach as she took in Sam's tousled brown hair and chocolate eyes. Why does he have to be so damn attractive? Much unlike her father, Ashlyn wasn't a very good flirt. She actually wasn't like her father in most aspects. She was shy, quiet, and selfless. Ashlyn avoided drama and preferred to focus on her studies instead of being social. Even so, Ash had an inviting ere that made others feel very comfortable with her. She has never been one to judge others; that would be an ironic thing for her to do, seeing as she had many of her own quirks. The one thing that will cause her to lose her temper, which is rather long stringed, is if someone hurts those she is close to. Ashlyn has done rather brash things in her past when something like that happens.

indentAshlyn soon realizes she had been staring for the past twenty seconds, and quickly snaps out of her daze. She can't stop a flush of pink coming to her cheeks as she looks down and opens her book, trying to hide her embarrassment. She can't keep focused on the first few words on the page, having to reread the sentence about a gazillion times. She lets out a huff of annoyance and ultimately gives up on trying to read. "How did midterms go for you?" Ashlyn looks back up at Sam, a small grin on her face.

[whispersome]

✧ NOVA MOCHIZUKI
[ 21 ] — [ She/they/it ] — [ Child of Nyx ]
location. Dorm ✦ tags. Open

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ When she stumbled back into her dorm, calling out a snarky “Honey, I’m home!” as she did, Nova was more relieved than she could put into words that her sarcastic greeting went unanswered. Huffing, she chucked her bag onto her bed and glanced toward the bathroom just to check that she really was alone. When the silence persisted, Nova sank back into her bed with a blissful sigh. She and Aurelia—Lia, she went by, but Nova didn’t directly address her by name anyway—were far from the closest of friends. They’d… gotten used to each other by now, Nova supposed, but she tried her best to stay out when Lia was in their shared room and hang around when she wasn’t.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ There was a dull ache in Nova’s back, the usual side effect of a morning and early afternoon spent sitting up and walking around. They grimaced and wedged an absent hand between their spine and the bedspread. Fatigue weighed them down too, tugging at their eyelids, but a nap wouldn’t help—and wouldn’t be satisfying anyway. Nova rolled onto her stomach, frustration stewing at the back of her mind, and rummaged through her bag for something to do (that didn’t require them to get up to do). If you can’t beat ‘em, distract yourself. It wasn’t a good coping mechanism, perhaps, but it was theirs.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ It was a book that Nova ended up pulling out, and she shifted back to open it. Some nonfiction novel on a mysterious murder case of a few decades back. Nova couldn’t remember where she’d gotten it, but it seemed interesting enough, and she didn’t feel like reading the textbooks or reviewing the notes in her bag now, so it would have to do. She didn’t feel like getting out her headphones, so in the place of actual music, she whistled under her breath, tapping the pages of the book to the beat of the Babymetal song stuck at the back of her head. That was another reason they were glad to have Lia gone, although it would have been more satisfying to blast heavy metal into the room through pitchy laptop speakers. This worked well enough, though.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Not to mention Nova finally got a break from the drama. She didn’t care enough about anyone’s life to know the play-by-play, but as Lia’s love life had trickled into her general life due to their shared space, she’d come to know more than she cared to. Nova absently rolled her eyes. She couldn’t understand how others on campus were so invested in the drama of their fellow students—it was all so tear-inducingly boring to her. She liked to argue as much as the next person, but other people’s relationships were something far beyond her interests.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Mind rapidly drifting from the page before her, Nova snapped her attention back just as her phone buzzed. Nova fumbled for it, checking the caller ID (it would be a cold day in Hades when she set custom ringtones). Instantly she recoiled. “Gross,” she mumbled, pressing the ignore button; just because she and her mother (the mortal one, duh—it wasn’t like Nyx was hitting her up) were on better terms now that they weren’t required by law to spend at least nine months of the year together didn’t mean they were on good terms. And it didn’t mean Nova was going to have a real voice-to-voice chat with her out of the blue. They texted, sometimes, and sometimes Nova thought about blocking her mother’s number. That was enough for eternity.‏‏‎

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎The phone didn’t ring again, and Nova sighed in relief—and a bit of irritation still—as they set it back down. Good thing the old woman could still take a hint. Putting Lia and the unexpected call out of their mind, Nova returned their stare to their book, resigned to sitting here in dull pain for the rest of the evening.

[dami]

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( marcie )xxxxxx ( daughter of aphrodite )xxxxxx ( in the common room ) xxxxxx( tagged: thea, izzy, polly, demetrios)



xxxxxxMarcie’s semester hasn’t been going well, to say the least. Lately, it just seemed like everything in her life was falling apart and she had no control over it, which, as a huge control freak, stressed her out to the point of death. After the last successful year at Half-Blood University, things seemed to be going swimmingly until summer vacation came and screwed it all up. Her life felt like a stack of dominos that had toppled over and she was left picking up the pieces when the new semester finally arrived. Maybe that’s what she gets for trusting people. Everyone always lets you down eventually. That seemed to be the takeaway from her life in general. Trust nobody and only rely on yourself. What people didn’t tell you about adopting such an attitude was how lonely it actually could get. So, there she was, sitting in an armchair in the common room with a book in her lap, trying to distract herself from the thoughts racing through her mind. She could see Isabelle sitting on the other side of the room, probably working on that god-forsaken essay that was due soon. Perfect little Isabelle with her perfect little grades and Zeus for a father. Oh, it drove her insane. What made it all worse was that the professor had just happened to pair the two of them up for the presentations next week. Marcie was convinced this was all some twisted plan of the gods to make her miserable. She was going to have to man up and go talk to her about it sooner rather than later because she wasn’t about to flunk Comparative Government I just because she felt a little jealous. She was better than that. Or at least she sincerely hoped she was.
xxxxxxMarcie turned the page of her book, an old copy of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James that she found in the library last week, just as she heard a familiar voice in the distance. Polly. She wondered if that meant Bev was around as well. Bev who she hasn’t spoken to properly in weeks. The whole thing stressed her out and Marcie couldn’t even complain about it because she knew well enough that the whole summer debacle was her own fault. She was the bad friend. She blew Bev off constantly for a summer fling. And now she didn’t know what to do about it. Marcie didn’t blame Bev for being mad at her either. The girls had always been two sides of the same coin, so it wasn’t hard for Marcie to put herself into her former best friend’s shoes. Broken trust wasn’t easily mended and neither of them gave it out for free. It felt weird being so distant from her friend because Marcie wasn’t known for having a lot of those in the first place. Nowadays she mostly hung around with her brother who at this moment was nowhere to be found. Not that this surprised her considering Demetrios was probably the most chaotic person she knew, and she loved that about him. Despite how different they were he was probably the only person she truly relied on no matter what. Marcie pulled out her phone and started typing. “I’m miserable,” she wrote, properly capitalized with correct punctuation like a psychopath, “I think the summer put me off women for life. Not worth the hassle xoxo.” Demetrios was saved in her contacts as “Dearest brother”, which made her smile every time she read it. She had, of course, told him all about her dramatic love life that summer without naming names. Gossip was their favorite topic of conversation after all. He probably got a right kick out of his baby sister agonizing over some girl.
xxxxxxMarcie sunk back into the armchair, her knit turtleneck sweater covering nearly half of her mouse-y face, when out of the corner of her eye she saw a familiar face walk into the common room. That settled it. It was a conspiracy. The gods were most certainly punishing her for something. The girl who walked in was none other than Thea, the beautiful daughter of Athena who somehow managed to mess Marcie up in the span of what was probably a month. That seemed like an impossible task at first sight, but Marcie wasn’t as tough as she liked to pretend. The thing about her summer fling with Thea was that nobody knew. The whole thing was pretty strange to begin with if Marcie was being honest, but at the same time, it was addicting. Marcie took a deep breath as the memories flooded her mind. Damn. Marcie caught herself staring and quickly turned her gaze towards her book again, but any sort of interest she initially had in reading had been thrown out of the window, so she put it back in her bag. She had to snap out of this.
xxxxxxMarcie pulled herself up from the warm embrace of the armchair she had been occupying for some time and scanned the common room briefly. Her eyes stopped on Thea once more before being interrupted by Polly’s voice ringing through the room. The daughter of Nemesis seemed to be picking fights with her roommate again. A classic. Marcie walked over, unsure of the decision as soon as she made it but put on her award-winning façade and smiled. “Isabelle. We should talk about that assignment later… if you’re not too busy.” She was being overly polite as usual, but also sounded exasperated as if even the thought of cooperating with Izzy drained her of all her energy. She always tried so hard to get under the girl’s skin, but it never seemed to work and that just made Marcie want to do it more out of spite. A vicious little cycle. She looked up at Polly and gave her a knowing look. Half-Blood University didn’t necessarily have cliques and most people had friends in all sorts of different groups, but you know what they say – birds of a feather flock together. The “mean kids” of the school were a perfect example of that.

[landogate]

ＴＨＯＭＡＳ ＦＬＯＲＥＮＣＥ

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXTOMMY. ECONOMICS MAJOR. SON OF ARES. QUEST LINE: THE MIST. LOCATION: GYM TAGS: RAM.
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xxxxxhunched over the bench, breaths ragged, tommy wiped his hands with his little towel and felt the numbness of his workout ebb at his limbs, filling his fingers slowly. contemplating a quick shower, tommy decided that he'd either a) ask ram if he wanted to join him in his workout, or b) shower when he returned to the dorms. flicking his phone on before the message notifications even came through to see the time, past one pm, tommy read over his own messages.
xxxxxwhen the grey text bubble appeared he felt his stomach lurch, though he couldn't pin point whether it was because of his intense training session or the fact that ram had messaged back so quickly. the white text stark against the dark-mode screen tommy squinted to read the texts, 'kinda sounds like you miss me' tommy's brain stalled a moment, unable to think of some quick-witted response that ram could read before he arrived, considering he didn't get lost. did he miss him? he saw him almost everyday after tommy would get into an altercation of sorts with demetrios or even abe. even in his downtime he'd spent hours just sitting by him, hand on his leg or playing with the back of his shirt as he sat. ram had more academic drive than tommy, which spoke volumes considering the amount of work either boy put in was well below average. but still tommy would find himself going out of his way to talk to ram or sit next to him (semi-politely might he add.)
xxxxxhis stomach churned again, and he reached for his gym bag, a medium sized duffle bag that held a change of clothes, water bottle and a few snacks he'd snagged from the cafeteria a few weeks ago. he took a large swig of the bottle, lukewarm water filling his mouth. he rummaged around in the bag to find not one, but two lighters sitting in the bottom and a ruined cigarette from where he'd likely thrown something halfhazardly on top of it. he lowered his face and sniffed the bag, cursing when tobacco filled his nostrils. he really needed to quit, tommy sat back, looking over his shoulder when he heard movement. down at his phone again he watched as the minutes trickled past immeasurably slow, eyes tracing over each of the white letters in his phone.
xxxxxthen came the question again, did tommy miss ram?
xxxxxthe short answer, without all the complicated feelings attached would be, well yeah, thomas missed ram's company and his personality and his not so subtle flirting (only when it was focused on him though.) so why didn't he accept the fact straight up? chocking it up to repressed emotions, tommy tried to drop the subject within his mind, preemptively knowing he'd likely get too emotional or heck, even too angry to really understand the way he felt.
xxxxxthe same noise from before happened and it had tommy turning around and still seeing nothing, not even the shadow of a person walking past. must just be a ghost, he mused to himself, turning his attention back to his phone. the pads of his thumbs typed out a reply a few times, each time deleting it with such force that he was sure he was likely to accidentally send a half completed message.
xxxxxfinally he settled on, 'is that right?' and 'i'll be expectin you ram.' he chucked his phone in his gym bag, zipping it up to conceal the smell of cigarette as much as he could and sipped from his water bottle again. his body may have been able to cool down by this point but his heart stirred awake, like someone had poured coffee directly into it's valves and arteries. the gay panic was real with this one.
xxxxxwhile tom waited he found himself looking over his shoulder more and more, eager to see when hades son would arrive, granted if he knew where the gym was and didn't get lost. when ram did enter the room, and tommy could most definitely tell when he did, he felt awkwardness run deep into his veins. did he just say 'whats up' or just a simple hey? he felt like a teenager again, fumbling over his words in his head before they'd all come out jumbled and mismatched. he looked up when ram spoke to him though, feigning surprise and naturally letting a small smile curl upwards on his mouth. the corners of his lips touched a growing thicket of facial hair above his top lip, which reminded him he needed to shave.
xxxxx"what's up dude," he stammered, tongue barely cooperating with him as he spoke. "looks like you got here alright." the towel that had been in his hands was stretched around the back of his neck, coating up excess sweat that hadn't evaporated at the base of his skull.
xxxxxhe felt his cheeks growing hot as he looked over ram, maybe he should've waited until he'd showered to text ram back. playing with his fingers he straightened his back a tad, almost reclining as he place one hand next to him on the bench. "what's good with you, going to that midterm party tonight?" he felt like he needed to break the ice, as if tommy didn't practically hold his hand every other day walking to and from classes.
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[skydust]

✧ 𝗟𝗘𝗢 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗦
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✧ location: dorm room ✧ tags: rob, bray (ben, myles) ✧ godly parent: hephaestus ✧ words: 1498

indentSmoke had long died out on his tongue as Leo’s brown eyes bore into his computer screen.
indentHe had thought the mixture of cigarettes and coding would have calmed his nerves, but they still spiraled through his veins like poison. He was sure Ben had left because he was sick of the constant clacking his nimble fingers made on the keyboard, but he couldn't help it. He'd just have to apologize later. Or not. Whatever. It's not like Ben didn't already want to smother him with a pillow while he slept. When he did sleep at least. Leo was also positive that the amount of caffeine he had consumed wasn't helping his nerves either, as he was practically buzzing with the counterfeit energy it gave him. He could only wonder what his mother would think of him right now. She'd probably scold him for staying up too late. Or for stabbing his best friend in the back. One or both. As his fingers clacked away, he couldn't help but try and focus on what he was doing. Usually when he was coding, his brain seemed to take in the world around him like an edited snapshot of reality. Everything was clear and detailed, no room for mistakes. While most people would probably have found that mega annoying, Leo would usually grin like a maniac at the stream of chemicals it gave his brain. Today was different though, it was frantic. Almost as if he was grasping onto something that he couldn't quite reach. He didn't even notice his phone buzzing right besides him.
indentAlso his head was just killing him.
indentThe night before had been a wild one. Or a regrettable one to say the least. He had stayed up late with Rob working on a project they both designed. Leo had been frequently distracted by him. Whether it was just because he was goofing off, or if it was just the way his brown eyes glimmered so perfectly, he couldn't tell you. Having a crush on your best friend probably wasn't the most ideal situation, especially since the possibility of them getting together wasn't the greatest. Considering Rob was straight. It was the most frustrating thing in the world, to have someone so close to you but not touch them in the way you want too. So when Myles had come to his room last night, he was more than happy to take his mind off of his love for his best friend. Except they both did a pretty bad job at keeping things relaxed and chill. Considering they thought of the brilliant idea to hook up. Leo wanted to go back in time, punch his past self in the face, and then strangle him right then and there. Maybe then he wouldn't have to deal with the backlash of his horrible life decisions. Maybe it was all a dream. Maybe Aphrodite decided to play a prank on him, and make him hallucinate hooking up with something he definitely shouldn't have hooked up with. Maybe if he went to bed right now he'd wake up and he could be his usually goofy self. Bad puns and all.
indent"Crap," Leo swore as he messed up a line of code. His ring finger pressed the backspace button frantically, hoping he hadn't broken his concentration by screwing up. Alas, it broke with relative ease as his fingers hovered over the keys. He groaned, leaning back in his chair and swinging his head back to stare at the ceiling. He couldn't help but reflect on how awful he felt about everything. Mentally, he felt like an idiot. But that was nothing new. He made regrettable decisions all the time. This one was different though. He used his best friend because he couldn't push down his feelings for his other best friend. It was such a crap move. Physically, he didn't feel any better. The light from the window was peaking through his curtains and burning his eyes, and his stomach hurt from all the coffee, and his muscles ached from sitting in the same position for so long.
indentHe was officially a mess.
indentLeo practically jumped out of his own skin as the door swung open to his dorm room. He sat up straight as a familiar face entered. Leo could practically feel his heart rate speed up at the sight of Rob. Out of both nervousness and adoration. It wasn't any surprise that he barged in unannounced. It was a routine for the two of them (much to Ben's dismay). Rob could always be found hanging out in Leo's room goofing off or huddling around the computer as Leo rambled on about code or something equally as fascinating to him. This surprise visit left mixed emotions in his stomach though. One of dying embers that rose to his chest, and one of ice water that sunk into his skin. As Rob put his hand on Leo's shoulder, leaning forward to inspect what he had done, Leo prayed that he couldn't hear his heart beating out of his chest. The touch alone felt like fire on his shoulder. At the mention of sleep, Leo laughed as he leaned back in his chair. His muscles finally relaxing a tad. He turned his eyes up towards his friend, mischief hidden in his irises.
indent"Sleep? I thought you knew me better than that," he said, dramatically putting his hand on his chest in mock distress.
indentA grin spread across his features as the thoughts of last night hid away in a dark crevice to come out at a later date. Turning back towards the computer, he gestured to the code that was displayed on the screen.
indent"And look, I've achieved so much because of it. So it was totally worth my lack of shut-eye and having to buy more coffee. I think," he grimaced. Leo turned back to his computer, his fingers finally typing away on the keyboard again. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rob grab a piece of paper and a pencil before plopping down on his unmade bed. Whenever Rob drew little drawings on scrap pieces of paper, Leo couldn't help but feel his head start swarming with affection. He found it adorable, but of course he'd never voice that out loud. He continued to work on his code, his eyes sometimes wandering to the burn mark on his hand. He was always insecure about it, especially since it was rather noticeable and large. That's what he gets for being and idiot when he first discovered his fire powers. He chewed his lip, turning back to the screen until he was interrupted by a presence behind him and a drawing slide over his keyboard. Leo groaned at the comment, picking up the piece of paper. Despite him looking like a wreck, he still grinned at the little cartoon. The smoke drawn on his head making him chuckle.
indent"Do I really look like that?" he said, running a hand through messy brown locks. He clucked his tongue, "Whatever. We both know I'm the good looking one in this friendship." He turned his face towards Rob, smirking innocently like an idiot. Of course he was just joking. He'd probably bet on anything that Rob was probably the most attractive person ever. At the mention of a party, Leo internally groaned. He was already hungover from yesterday, and a night of partying with the Dionysus kid's was bound to be one hell of a night. Still, he swiveled around in his chair, abandoning his code.
indent"You know I'm always down to do something stupid," he chuckled. Oh, how truthful those words were. A sing-song voice sounded outside his door drawing his attention away from just straight staring at Rob. He knew immediately who it was without even needing to see them. His half sister Bray visited almost as frequently as Rob. Coming from time to time to check up on him or bother him. He was just glad it wasn't Myles. Bray bounced into the room, her eyes scanning for a quick second before immediately shooting a quip at Leo. He rolled his eyes.
indent"Afternoon, Loser," he shot right back. His face scrunching up in fake disgust at his sisters appearance. She approached the two of them, a smirk on her lips as her hand slid across Rob's back before stopping at his shoulder. Leo bristled, his shoulders stiffening. He knew that Bray was just joking as usual, but he still couldn't help how his stomach clenched up. He cleared his throat at the mention of a party, forcing a grin back onto his lips as he stood up finally. Stretching his sore legs and his back muscles.
indent"Well we don't want to be too late, otherwise the Dionysus kids might already be passed out by the time we get there," he said, only half joking. They were the life of the party after all.
indentxxx