' half-blood university ✧ - closed

[winterfell.]

─ ★ -- ( BRAY STANFORD ) ─────────────────────────────────
xxx" 𝔸𝕊ℍ𝔼𝕊 𝕋𝕆 𝔸𝕊ℍ𝔼𝕊 𝕎𝔼 𝔸𝕃𝕃 𝔽𝔸𝕃𝕃 𝔻𝕆𝕎ℕ !! 𝕎𝔼 𝔾𝕆𝕋 𝕀ℕℕ𝕆ℂ𝔼ℕℂ𝔼 𝔽𝕆ℝ 𝔻𝔸𝕐𝕊 !! "
⇉ [ location : hallway ] [ godly parent : hephaestus ] [ tagged : rob, leo, myles) ] [ 927 words ]


- - - - -Leo must have been completely caught off-guard by her entrance, which wasn't entirely hard to believe. Bray's brother was often lost in thought, or too heavily focused on whatever he might have been doing to pay attention to his surroundings in the slightest. Most of the time, his face was two inches away from his computer screen while he was knee-deep in code. Other times, he was just so focused on Rob that nothing else made an impression on him. Her brother had a one-track mind, was susceptible to his own tunnel-vision, is all. So when Rob snorted when she entered the room, none of it was shocking in the slightest. She rolled her eyes, more at Leo's expression than his petty tease. "Don't look so disappointed to see me, dear brother," she said. She glanced up at Rob, noting the change in his expression and doing her best to suppress a laugh herself. She enjoyed the casual, over-the-top flirting that existed within their relationship, even if it confused the crap out of a lot of their fellow demigods. Neither of them was interested in the other, nor had they ever been. In truth, she saw Rob as another brother more than anything else. But these weird pet names and flirtatious touches had become a habit for the two of them and never failed to make her smile or crack up. She couldn't fake anything for too long. She exhaled through her nose, biting back another laugh. "Just the usual, darling. Tryna find something to keep busy with," she answered. She nodded along with Leo's comment regarding the party, shrugging after a moment. "You know, that might not be such a bad thing," she quipped. In truth, it might not be too awful if the Dionysus kids were passed out at their own party. At least then she wouldn't run the risk of running into Ezra while he was drunk again. She thought back to her phone, to how he ghosted her so quickly after everything that happened.

- - - - -She didn't have time to think about it for long though before Myles entered the room. She certainly wasn't expecting the interruption, but didn't think too much of it. While Bray didn't know Miles nearly as well as Leo did, she definitely didn't dislike the son of Hermes. He was, overall, a pretty good guy, she thought. And he obviously meant a lot to her brother, so that meant he mattered a lot to her as well. He apparently... left his backpack? She glanced over to Leo, who most certainly did not seem like himself. She quirked an eyebrow, watching as her brother awkwardly shuffled, stiffly trying to lean against his desk. She didn't realize he was this bad at playing it cool. What happened between the two of them? Or did he just not want her to know that he was up all night goofing off without her. And without Rob? That didn't add up. Maybe she'd ask Ben if he saw anything suspicious, not that the son of Ares would know much. He didn't exactly enjoy spending time in his own room for obvious reasons. She waves to Myles, giving him the same warm smile she gave the everyone she knew, whether she liked them or not. She had never seen Leo act so Odd and, while she was more confused than anything, she found herself disappointed in her brother's failure to at least pretend to be normal for a second. He didn't think they were that stupid, did he? She made direct eye contact with Leo, expression falling flat, shoulders slumping in obvious disappointment. After a moment, she focused back on Myles, who was absentmindedly trying to make small talk. "Hey Myles. How are y-," but he was already chiming in awkwardly before exiting the room altogether. She raised an eyebrow once more.

- - - - -She glanced between Rob and Leo, not quite buying Rob's assumption, but not knowing enough to dispute it. And it was obvious that her brother was already on edge about the whole awkward interaction. She was definitely going to pester him about it and press for details, but when Rob wasn't around. If Rob was ever not around. She knew that there'd be a good chance that she'd be by Leo's side tonight in the common room, as she often was when he couldn't sleep. She'd bring it up then. He might not answer her, but she could try. She rolled her eyes at her brother once more, letting out an exaggerated sigh at the comment. "Don't be an idiot, Leo. I'm the hot sibling. We both know that. Tell him, sweetness," she teased, gesturing for Rob to confirm her statement. She shrugged her shoulders at Rob's comment, shaking her head when Leo made a comment about cigarettes. "That's such an awful habit," she said quietly. She'd said it thousands of times. They both knew how she felt about smoking, but it never once stopped Rob from indulging himself and Leo from enabling him. There was nothing she could do about it. They were both adults who knew the risks and simply made a decision on their own. But she wasn't going to pretend she was fine with it. She also wasn't about to launch into an obnoxious lecture about lung cancer and COPD and all of the other things that could come of it. "I need to run to the little girls room. I'll be back in a few," she said, sliding out the door and back into the boys hall.

[vaermina]

just casually deleting old writing

[Seokjinnie]

XXX

X█║ 𝖗𝖆𝖒 𝖒𝖆𝖑𝖆𝖎-𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗𝖓𝖊 ║█X
male || twenty || son of hades || tags; abe, nik || mentions; tommy, reed

indentThe small demigod was just putting the finishing touches on his eye shadow and retouching up his hair when his phone started buzzing and playing ‘Walking on Sunshine’. His eyes darted over to it, but he was distracted by the spirit standing over his phone, “Rude! That’s an invasion of my privacy!” The spirit quirked an eyebrow and he sighed, “I’m glad you’re aware that your presence in this room is itself an invasion of privacy.” Right! Abe texted me! Ram always got a tad excited whenever his older brother texted him, Abe was one of his favorite people, not that he would ever say that. After unlocking his phone, his eyes darted around the room, “H-how did he know…” For a second he thought there could be cameras in the room but, that was laughable. Even he knew that Abe was not so attentive or protective to do that and plus his brother was sane. His eyes glanced over the second text, his big brother was funny. Shiram stopped for a moment on the final text, how did Abe know that? It’s not like his older brother didn’t know that he liked Tommy or that he wouldn’t eventually tell him that the son of Ares had finally asked him out. He was just surprised that his brother had seen them and his thoughts disturbed by a cold hand on his shoulder that he quickly brushed off, “He must’ve been in the hallway and saw you.”

indentRam’s head whipped to the side to look at the spirit, “Well duh! Question is, how’d you know? We’ve discussed this before, spying is rude regardless of where you are doing it!” The male spirit said nothing as he moved back to his favorite corner. The son of Hades huffed and went back to staring at this phone, trying to think of a way to respond to his brother. A light bulb lit up in his mind, his brother could still be in the hallway which meant he could just tell him verbally, but at the same time, he didn’t want anyone to see it before Tommy did. Reed excluded as he had already seen it when he asked for his opinion on possible outfits for the party and was frustratingly told that they all looked fine. Fine! As if any of them being fine was okay! Another light bulb went off in his mind, he could just facetime and not worry about his brother seeing his outfit.

indentA smile bloomed on his face as he pulled up his brother’s contact, the smile brightened as his brother picked up, “Abe!!! Oh, and Nik too! Hi Nik!” The small demigod took a deep breath before he began to speak, “How did you know that I was talking to the spirit again? And! And how did you know that Tommy and I were a thing, well kind of a thing, mostly a thing… I don’t know, he asked me to be his date to the party, but how did you know?” He tilted his head to the side as he waited for his older brother to respond.

[serendipity !]

.
.

( ♫ 𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐗 ! ). ━━━━━━━ ;
... alex .•. son of apollo .•. music theory major .•. location; music room/courtyard .•. tags/mentions; sam, jj, markus

...a soft and melodic rhythm occupied the void of the large space and so did a boy who's calloused fingers faintly
strummed an acoustic guitar, which he played aimlessly. alex hummed along to the undirected notes that he was
improvising, harmonizing his voice with each chord but came to a halt whenever he established a tune to his likin
g to write down on a piece of paper in his journal, was therefor a notebook for his studies and he often assorted t
he two. this is how alexander would spend in his leisure time, mostly in his solitary creating music or something of
what you call nonsensical but whatever he produced, rest assured, alex would put his all into his oeuvres. at this m
oment, alex plucked at his guitar, intending of writing something quite frivolous, which was honestly most of his wo
rk consisted of and though idiotic, his professor actually enjoyed his little songs or so alex inferred. this song he det
ermined was about cereal or maybe even pancakes, or maybe the boy was just hungry and needed to get his butt in
the cafeteria to get himself something to eat. in fact, alexander's stomached growled at him, scolding him for missin
g breakfast, not even having a quick pop-tart before heading off to play music but that was only when alex realized h
e spent his morning consumed in this empty room strumming away and ignoring most of his responsibilities which was
n't like him but honestly, catching up on his homework didn't sound enticing to him and the only thing he wanted to d
o at this moment was get some food in his stomach, take a midday nap or play video games with his buddy, sam. all o
f those things and writing his assignments was all he would do at half-blood really, he wasn't the type to go out and fi
ght like most of his peers, alex was honestly too apprehensive and always thought of the worst of what could happen,
even if it was for good, he was terrified to pick up a weapon and use it for any sort of harm; he would rather stand b
back and let the others who were actually good at fighting and get the job done and this made alexander feel sorta u
seless here at this university for demi-gods because here is this softie in a school filled with skilled freakin' warrior chi
ldren and then there's alex who wouldn't hurt a fly yet alone some gruesome monster yet his grandparents insisted he
attented the mythical school because it offered a 'once in a lifetime opportunity', well, yeah not everyone's part demi
-god, grandma. he would always tell her but she continued to pester alexander with every given chance, though he wo
uld do anything she asks anyways but naturally, if applying to a mystical school made her sleep well at night, he would.


...now we're here a couple years later and a few months from when he first received his acceptance letter and still rela
tively skilless in combat, alex sat in one of the places he felt most at home, the music room; where enchanted instrume
nts and most students with musical abilities reside, particularly alexander. after thrumming some more, the boy eventu
ally concluded and unlocked the strap from his guitar, setting his instrument into its case carefully. he then strapped th
case onto his back and made way to the lunch room. alex's mouth began to salivate, thinking about all the food possibili
ties; figuring out what he was in the mood for was possibly his biggest priority at the moment and the age old question i
nquired his brain. breakfast? lunch? brunch? honestly, this man just needed some food in his stomach before he became
delirious and everything in his peripheral began to be edible. there had been plenty of times alex would wake up in the
middle of the night and his pillow would be saturated with his saliva because of him nearly eating the cushion, probably
dreaming about floating on pink clouds replicating cotton candy and eating giant marsh mellows. alexander finally appr
oched the dining hall and the first thing he did was examine the menu and lucky for him, it was french toast friday. the
boy smiled at the woman behind the counter as she passed him a tray with his breakfast, better late than never! she tol
d alexander in a frail tone, he replied with a slight chuckle and one of his signature good boy grin, which would often get
him extra maple syrup.


...alex brought his food out into the middle of courtyard and sat down under a towering oak tree, he sat his belongings do
wn and began eating, he grabbed his phone out of his sweatpants pocket and scrolled onto his social media. a party, huh?
alex read his friends posts enunciating an end of midterms celebration that would be going on tonight. alexander wasn't m
uch of a get-together kind of guy, not that he didn't enjoy the blasting music, dancing and crowds but it just wasn't his thi
ng, but he wasn't totally turned off about going but it all depended on if someone would attend with him. maybe he would
hit up the twins and see if they were going but in recollection, alexander knew that they'd be there. he exited out the app
and messaged jordan, “hey queen!! heard about this lil jamboree goin' on tonight. will u and markus be there?” alex knew
his friends answer but he asked anyway.

[fun]

indent...................𝗠𝗬𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗡𝗘𝗣𝗛𝗨𝗦‼ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

indent..........................LOCATION: the dormitories ● TAGS: scout, ezra, kinnick ● SON OF: hermes ● QUEST: pandoras box ● WC: 2k
indent.........................─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

indent...Myles laughed to himself as Scout tried to find the right thing to say.
indent...He knew the man was trying to cover-up the fact that he was more hungover than Myles had ever been in his entire life, and it was entertaining, to say the least. Myles always found the man cute, but when Scout was awkward he just wanted to say hey it's alright and kiss him. Although he could very much not do that, he wished he could. He doubted the man had feelings for him back and would ever consider doing something like that with Myles. He knew Scout as someone with relationships that, well, didn't last that long. If Scout had found himself having a crush on Myles, it probably wasn't a very long one. If Scout wasn't bored of him by the time he formed a crush, he was definitely bored of him now. It's not like Myles hated himself or anything to think that, he just thought that Scout wanted someone more exciting than some demigod focused on an economics paper. The sound of silence and then a strange... noise left Scout before he finally collected himself and spoke like a normal human. Myles felt kind of bad interrupting... whatever he was doing... because it seemed like Myles' presence was quite the shock. I mean, if Myles was still practically half-drunk with a hangover, he wouldn't want some random dude greeting him while he got Advil. Nevertheless, he watched as the man finally got a hold of himself and tried to play the chaos of the last few seconds off like it was normal by leaning against his brother's door frame. Myles ran his fingers through his hair as he could hear Ezra stumble around his bedroom for some medicine, glancing at the door when a noise came from the dorm room. He glanced back at Scout before the man finally greeted him after what seemed like an hour of just awkward silence. Albeit Myles wouldn't admit it, he knew he had a hangover, a very obvious one at that. It was fun to tease the man, he probably didn't think Myles had seen him drunk or hungover in his entire time at the university. But Scout when drunk or hungover wasn't exactly the... less obvious type. Myles could count at least a few times where he had been walking to class and saw Scout groaning over his hangover, especially in the last few weeks when they hadn't seen each other often. He decided to tease Scout over the fact by stating the obvious,
indent..."Yeah, I mean, hangovers will do that to you," he spouted as the door to the dorm Scout had been leaning on opened, and they both were greeted by Ezra himself who also looked very hungover. Did everyone in the university have a hard night or something? Because damn, did it feel like Myles was greeting and greeted by a lot of hungover people. I mean, he couldn't complain or anything, he was one of the people who had a bad night. Or at the very least, a very interesting night full of mistakes.

indent..."Hey Ez, nice to see you again," Myles greeted the unhappy and hungover looking man as he handed his, also hungover, brother some medicine that Ezra would undoubtedly need soon for his hangover.
indent...He laughed as the two bantered with each other, as siblings do. Myles couldn't judge, he did the same things with his siblings. Except right now, it was quite awkward between him and Rob, at least for Myles. He wished he could vent to his brother about what had happened, but he was never close with the man for some reason. He could vent more to Lia about everything that happened compared to Rob, he was much closer with her than he was with him. Not to mention one of the biggest reasons it had happened was because Leo had a crush on Rob. Even now, Myles wanted to become closer with him, they did have the same father after all. Whatever the case, hopefully after the leo situation is resolved he would be able to grow closer to his younger brother. Gazing his attention to Ezra, Myles thought of the relationship between them. Though Myles wasn't as close with Ezra as he was with Scout, he had grown closer to him through his crush over time. His dorm was a familiar place now, considering they'd always end up here one way or another while hanging out with each other. At first meeting, Myles felt distant from the man, considering his closed-off nature, but over time he had grown to enjoy the man's company. He kind of felt like an older brother to Myles and Scout, even though Myles and him were the same age. He had this maturity to him that you would feel in an older brother or a mentor. Myles felt like he could go to Ezra for advice whenever he needed it, though it would vary on how good the advice would be from time to time. On the outside, Ezra seemed like the serious stone-cold type, but after getting to know him over his friendship with Scout, he realized that he's more relatable than Myles would've admitted when he first met him.

indent...Watching Scout dump the pills out from the bottle into his mouth, Myles eyed his throat as they went down.
indent...A flush of color appeared onto Myles's face as Scout stumbled back onto him after swinging himself backward to take the medicine that was given to him. Though he had only touched his wrist, for some reason Myles couldn't help but be flustered. He observed as the man took his hand off of his right away and genteelly apologized to him. He nodded while looking the other way to try and mask his face that he could feel burning up. Myles ran his hands down his neck until they reached his shoulder muscles, which helped him cool down and recollect himself. Myles always did that when he was anxious or flustered or whatever the case, and it usually worked. Thank god Ezra interrupted his train of thought by asking Scout a question about the party tonight. Honestly, he forgot about the party Ezra, Scout, and Rocky had planned for tonight. Myles didn't like the thought of getting drunk again and having a second hangover two nights in a row but knew that was probably going to happen tonight considering it's a Dionysus-kid party. Although he hadn't been to too many parties, he had been to one or two parties thrown by them, and they were untamed to say the least. But, the parties were always a fun time, and Myles needed some sort of distraction from last night's events. And getting blackout drunk after singing karaoke with demigods was his idea of a good distraction. Honestly, Myles should start preparing a hangover kit for tomorrow because he knew he would be getting wasted, if not at the party, in his dorm room alone while staring at his ceiling. He already felt bad for his roommate Sam knowing how he would either come into the dorm drunk or get drunk in the dorm. Either way, in both situations Sam would have to deal with a drunk Myles.
indent...And drunk Myles, well, makes a lot, and I mean a lot, of bad decisions apparently.

indent...Myles watched as Ezra's roommate appeared out of practically nowhere to scold the two men on their decisions. Kinnick and him had only met a few times, but Myles had only ever had good interactions with the man. He knew he was very smart and somewhat of a quiet soul, so it was always funny to see him admonish Scout about his bad decisions. I mean, Myles did agree with the man on a lot of things. He knew smoking and drinking weren't exactly healthy and didn't want Scout doing either. But he'd be a major hypocrite if he decided to yell at Scout for doing the same things he does. Hearing his name, he quickly rebutted by taking a cigarette pack out of his back pocket to show Kinnick that he also was giving himself cancer, heart disease, etc. Turning towards Scout as he interrupted the Kinnick and his concerns about the party, he grinned as the man assumingly joke-flirted with him.
indent..."Yeah, I think I am. And you'll just have to find out huh?" He remarked while adjusting the backpack on his shoulder. "Speaking of the party," he glanced over to Ezra and then back to Scout. "Isn't it starting in like an hour or so? Think I'm gonna need to get ready if you wanna come to my dorm quick." He looked him up and down before grinning wider and saying, "We can also stop at your dorm." Myles wasn't exactly a fashion critic or anything, but he knew Scout would probably want to change as well for the party. He couldn't stop smiling as he made eye contact with the man, almost as if all his worries from what happened last night faded away. Scout had that special touch when it came to making you happy in the worst of situations. Myles could recount a few times where he had been stressed, worried, or sad, and Scout would always somehow manage to bring a smile to his face. That's probably one of the reasons why he liked him so much, he was someone you knew you could go to when you were down and he'd always make you feel better. He felt comfortable around the man, safe even, Scout was a nice break from the chaos that was always happening around the campus. He liked how he was always in the middle of crowds, people were drawn to him naturally, admittedly so was Myles. He overall enjoyed spending time with him always, especially when he would surprise Myles by visiting him in his dorm. Although it was probably the biggest distraction you could give him while he did his homework, he liked having Scout around. Even though he felt a sense of betrayal for some reason when it came to his feelings for the man after what happened last night, he knew it would take way way way more than that for him to try and stop liking him. Honestly, before everything happened, he wanted to tell Scout how he felt. But now, he knew he should just wait before anything hasty happened, even though he didn't want to do so.

indent...Being asked about his evident hangover and if he was okay, he felt a pit in his stomach even after Scout's remark of taking care of him. God, was it that obvious? Myles wanted to stray away from the topic about last night, especially around Scout. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he responded quickly,
indent..."Ah, yeah I'm okay, just a night with friends is all." I mean, he wasn't lying. Drawing further from the subject of what happened to him last night, he forced a smile that soon turned into a real one. "I don't think you should be talking considering you decided to bang on Ezra's door for some medicine in the middle of the afternoon, honestly I'm unsure on who will be taking care of who," he joked while turning towards Ezra to say his goodbyes. He knew the party would be starting relatively soon, and sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and messy hair weren't exactly a look.
"Think I better start heading to my dorm to get ready, the offer is still up if you wanna join," turning his gaze to Scout, he waited patiently for what hopefully would be a yes.

[vaermina]

bye

[vaell]

-

[vaermina]

bye

[landogate]

ＮＩＫＯＬＡＳ ＹＯＵＮＧ

XXXXXXXXXXXXXNIK, NIKO. HISTORY MAJOR. SON OF DEMETER. QUEST LINE: TARTARUS. LOCATION: BOYS DORM. TAGS: ABE, RAM.
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

xxxxxnik chuckled along with abe. the hades demi-god was like a grumpy old grandfather to the boys dorm most days but he still had a decent sense of humor, for an old timer. "they're not that bad," he drawled, still laughing about the lincoln joke. he wasn't doubled over in laughter, but there were certainly tears pricking at his eyes and a smile so wide on his face it'd begin to hurt any second. taking a few shallow breaths he stabilized himself, puffing air out of his mouth away from abe. "they could be worse, y'know."
xxxxxdown the hall nik could hear the fumbling band of borderline children babbling and possibly fighting. he sometimes felt like a father, not as ancient as abe, but certainly as a parental figure. he could recount too many times where he or abe (rather belligerently) would have to step in and mediate whatever their fellow demi-gods were fighting about, most often it was a drunken argument.
xxxxxit certainly gave nik the experience in dealing with children, he'd done it all his life, and until he graduated their was a slim chance he wouldn't be forced to keep an ear out on when shouting became volatile rather than playful. watching over the likes of scout and ezra and markus and myles and gods the list just went on and on and on, somehow gave nikolas more desire to have children of his own one day, if only to raise them to be the opposites of the growing list of goblins that lived in the halls of half blood university. abe would like that, he thought suddenly.
xxxxx"wasn't there a party on just last night though? that lot are gonna wake up in a ditch somewhere i can feel it. probably not even on the island too! i don't know how they can bounce back so quickly." they certainly had hidden talents in bouncing back from sleeping drunk. with their luck though, they'd be found face down in the library or something come dawn tomorrow.
xxxxxwhen abe mentioned something odd nik turned around to see abe's brother ram and thomas florence of all people. "that's certainly something new. were they holding hands?" he asked, face a mixture of confusion and genuine surprise. he didn't directly get his answer but when ram pressed two kissed to thomas' cheek it clicked in his mind.
xxxxxan ares kid and a hades kid was like a zues kid and a dionysus kid getting together, a recipe for disaster. sure tommy and ram could work around their parents differences but from an outsiders point of view it seemed crazy.
xxxxxwhen abe pulled out his phone, nik did the same, checking over his messages and seeing no new ones. he opened up snapchat and saw regular stories some from last night and when abe asked him directly if his siblings would be in attendance he plainly shook his head. "demeter's not much of a partier, her kids are kinda the same. aidren certainly won't be going. marigold though? i'm not too sure." there was a very slim chance nik would see his brother at all, considering he spent most of his time in the campus greenhouse, but then again, nik was also very isolated when he wanted to be.
xxxxxa small smile spread onto his face, "about tonight's party, it could be a perfect chance to get out to that farm we keep talking about, take one of the pegasi and leave the chaos goblins in the dust." he joked. nik would never leave halfblood uni halfway through his degree, but come summer break? he was more than down to get away from the island for a bit, tend to the land and get back to his roots.
xxxxxmaybe he could make olive oil. that'd be a good sacrifice to his mother.
xxxxxwhen the harsh ringtone of an incoming face time filled the hallway, nik made his move to distance himself from abe. it nik's eyes it was rude to listen in on phone calls when he wasn't invited but ram's cheery voice picked out nik just as quickly as it did for abe. "hey dude," he gave a gentle wave into the phone, staying put until the conversation would turn personal.
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[whispersome]

✧ OPHELIA CHOI
[ 20 ] — [ She/her ] — [ Daughter of Hades ]
location. Studio → Dorm ✦ tags. Abe, Mercedes

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Ophelia had just snapped a picture of her sketch and sent it off to her mother when her text notification went off again. She jumped, feeling the buzz against her hand, and nearly flung her phone halfway across the room before realization kicked in. With a wince spared for her jumpiness, she leaned back and tapped her messages with Abraham again.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Her eyes flicked up and down the series of message, a half-smile crossing her face at her half-brother’s usual clipped tone. There were three years between them, but sometimes it felt like more—or none at all, just as there was little to no difference in their heights despite the gap. Abraham wasn’t the easiest to get along with, which had put Ophelia off when she’d first met him, but he seemed to tone things down around her. Whether it was the result of their relationship or her personality (or some middle ground there), she didn’t know, and she didn’t plan to ask. He was lower-energy than their other half-brother, at any rate—hence why she’d texted him first.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Tongue between her teeth, Ophelia tapped at her screen, exhibiting the other extreme she defaulted to with texting: Writing a whole paragraph, fully punctuated, skimmed over three times—and then another three after she’d removed extraneous and irritating words—to make sure it was some degree of coherent. Speaking aloud was difficult for her sometimes; typing was easier, if only because she got the opportunity to backspace and reconsider. To process and prune her thoughts before she had to express them. Given the dull pain in her wrists, now that process was a little more timely, but she didn’t mind taking more time to formulate a response.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Her final message ended up reading: Maybe. I was thinking about it too. It’s really not my sort of thing, especially on short notice, but midterms were stressful, so maybe it would be okay. Mercedes keeps trying to get me to get out more, so she’ll probably go, with or without me. And I was thinking that Shiram will probably be there too, especially if Thomas (that’s that dude’s name, right…?) comes too, and maybe if you both and some other people I know are there it won’t be too bad? I mean, it’ll still be chaotic and loud and stuff, but I can bring a sketchbook and sit in a corner or something. I agree with you about spending the whole night, though; I think I can take an hour at most. Who would “some others” be? She gave it another glance over before pressing send.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Though she didn’t say so in her text, there was also the notion at the back of Ophelia’s mind that, should all else fail, she could always return to her immediate coping mechanism of living out the rest of her days in solitude as a hermit in the mountains somewhere. Which mountains? That, she wasn’t sure of yet. Perhaps the Cascades, if she wanted somewhere close to what she most strongly considered her home (which she more likely than not would), or somewhere in Colorado (there were mountains in Colorado, weren’t there? She’d never been or been too interested, but she thought she’d heard about that), or even a mountain range out here in Greece (although being here at the university was already pushing her comfort zone a hair too far).

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Oh well—none of that was particularly relevant yet. She’d figure it out if she ever made the decision to follow up on that plan. Maybe tonight would be the time to make it, depending on how embarrassing or taxing (or both) this party—that she still hadn’t made up her mind about attending—turned out to be. For now, though, Ophelia’s focus was on wrapping up her canvas and leaving the studio to rest her hands for a couple hours, which she did in an almost mechanical manner.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Not listening to see if her phone had buzzed again, Ophelia slipped out and locked the studio door behind her. She kept her head down as she navigated the campus, like usual, though thankfully it seemed to be at a time in the afternoon when not many others were out and about. Lingering embarrassment catalyzed the effect of the autumn air on her cheeks, pale face turning a bit pink. Her body temperature was already a bit colder than average, closer to those of the figures in the morgue than some of her more vibrant classmates, and the cooler weather as of late already made that more apparent. If only her blood flow was more like a lifeless body’s to keep her from blushing like this.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ She made it back to the dorm building without major incident, pushing past the common room and down the hall without making eye contact or even fully paying attention to who all was around. She ducked her head into her dorm, and tried not to look too startled (or disappointed) when she saw Mercedes. It was her dorm too, after all, and she had every right to be here, even if her presence would push Ophelia into a social encounter that she was pretty sure would drain her of her already low energy for a party, of all things. She was tempted to text Abraham back now saying she’d come down with a cold and wouldn’t be able to make it after all, but that seemed cheap.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ “…Hello,” said Ophelia, voice a bit rough from lack of use today and wooden in tone besides. She barely kept the word from tapering off into a question, swaying a bit awkwardly on her feet before remembering that she still had to step into the dorm. Casting a glance over her shoulder, she pushed her way in and let the door shut behind her. Her eyes stayed on the floor as she shrugged off her bag. “How… was your day? I—I assume you heard about the party going on tonight.”