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chameleonwritess · 4 years

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Forever Starts Today (Epilogue)

Myriad of Stars

Not-So-Secretly in Love

Feels Like Home (Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3)

Forever Starts Today (Epilogue)

Extras:

Infirmary Duties

Fandom: Percy Jackson

Pairing: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace

Nico has spent so much of his life fixating on his past. Now that Will's been in his life for so long, it's finally time for Nico to start focussing on his future.

He knows exactly how to start.

Word Count: 4383

Read the whole series on AO3

Nico smiled fondly as Percy clumsily dipped Annabeth in the middle of the floor. She attempted to scold him but couldn’t contain her laughter enough to do so properly. Nico had never seen her look as radiant as she did in her white dress trimmed with silver, her embroidered wedding train flowing out around the dancing couple from where it was attached into her curled up-do.

She wasn’t the only one looking radiant- Percy was dressed in a deep blue suit with a turquoise tie and grey flowers attached to his lapel. His hair was looking surprisingly tame, too, and Nico knew Sally Jackson was to thank for that. He looked ridiculously handsome and the bright smile added to his features just completed the look. Nico grinned at the sight. Two of his best friends had just gotten married and not a single monster had attacked the wedding. It was perfect.

“You’re looking uncharacteristically happy,” a familiar, snarky voice spoke besides Nico. He turned his head to the side and rolled his eyes at Reyna. She was dressed in deep plum robes and carried a champagne flute in her hand with an air of grace.

“They’ve both been through so much. I’m allowed to be happy that they’re happy- they deserve this,” Nico pointed out.

“Wise words, di Angelo. Who turned you into Socrates?” Reyna responded with a smirk. Nico elbowed her gently.

“Don’t bully me, I’m trying to be a better person,” he complained. Reyna let out a laugh at that.

“You were fine as the grumpy little emo we met you as,” she pointed out, ruffling his hair.

“Oi,” Nico batted her hand away, “don’t touch the hair- Will spent half an hour getting it into a ponytail.”

“Oh, he likes a man in a bun, does he?” Reyna raised an eyebrow. Nico flushed bright red and tried hard to keep in his laughter.

“Stop it, he’s only over there, he’ll hear you!” he complained, snorting a little through his nose.

Reyna let out a laugh too and finally settled into a stool next to Nico. Her eyes scanned the hall, taking in the appearance of all their remaining friends. The years hadn’t gone by without losses- one of the most significant being one of Nico and Reyna’s best friends, Jason Grace. His sister was here today with a few other Hunters that Percy and Annabeth knew well from their years of cooperation with them.

Nico tried not to think about their losses too much. He knew if he dwelled on the dead more than the living, he’d find himself right back in the mental state he was in when he lost Bianca. That was a place he never wanted to go back to.

“Piper’s doing well,” Reyna pointed out. It was true, Nico noted, as he glanced across the room and saw that other couples had started to spill onto the dance floor now Percy and Annabeth’s first dance was over. Piper had invited the daughter of Demeter she was currently seeing onto the dance floor and the two girls were twirling around and smiling. It was good to see the dark bags that had resided under her eyes over the past few years were finally dissipating.

“You are, too,” Nico reminded Reyna. Piper and Reyna both had a very long history with Jason and Reyna had seemed to everyone as if she’d recovered quite quickly from his loss. Nico knew her better, though. He knew she was still hurting a lot even if she didn’t want her legion to see it.

Reyna shrugged.

“All wars have losses. They’re never losses we’re prepared to make but we have no choice but to move forwards from the consequences,” she commented.

“Who’s Socrates, now?” Nico teased. Reyna rolled her eyes and smiled, taking a drink of champagne.

“Enough about that,” she batted the topic aside, “weren’t you going to put your big plan into action tonight?”

Nico sighed.

“I was but then I found out the wedding date and didn’t want to encroach. I’m not sure I’ll have the confidence, anyway,” he shrugged. Reyna raised a pointed eyebrow at him.

“These are all just excuses because you’re nervous. Percy and Annabeth won’t think it’s any such thing. You said yourself- tonight would be perfect, right? I say you still go for it,” she encouraged.

“I mean, I do have it on me but what if he-“ Nico started to voice his concerns when a flash of blond appeared in his field of vision. It appeared Nico’s boyfriend had finished his conversation with Hazel and Frank.

“Care to dance, dashing fellow,” Will Solace announced, bowing in front of Nico’s chair and offering his hand out. Nico took a moment to take his appearance in. Will had gone for an unusual choice of wedding attire, selecting a brown waistcoat with matching fitted pants over a baby blue shirt with a royal blue bowtie tightened snugly around his neck to match Nico’s tie that he’d been forced to wear for the event. His impish smile added to the outfit, making him look cuter than ever.

Nico snorted out a laugh and grabbed Will’s hand, hopping down from his stool.

“I suppose I could be tempted, on one condition,” Nico shrugged his shoulders.

“And what condition may that be?” Will asked, flashing Nico a grin.

Nico smirked back and gripped Will’s hand a bit tighter. In one swift movement, Nico slipped off his stool and put his arm around Will’s back, pressing his palm into the small of Will’s back and pulling him close against his chest.

“I get to lead,” Nico smirked, looking directly up into Will’s blue eyes.

“Sure,” Will responded breathlessly, his cheeks flushed red. Nico internally fist-pumped. His one mission in life was to make Will blush as much as possible and he was surprisingly very good at it as of late.

“Honestly,” Nico heard Reyna mutter behind him as he dragged Will onto the dance floor. As the two began dancing, Nico wondered if maybe Reyna had been right and he should go ahead with his previous plans for tonight. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, at all, it was just that he was… scared.

Nico pushed all thoughts of what he may or may not do that evening out of his head as Will leant down and whispered into Nico’s ear,

“Bets that Percy stands on Annabeth’s feet at least three times?”

Nico chuckled lowly underneath his breath as he spun Will around.

“Pretty sure I already saw him step on her toes four times. I reckon it will be eight times before she drags him off the dance floor,” he decided.

Will threw his head back a bit and laughed, capturing Nico’s full attention. Nico smiled at his boyfriend. He didn’t need to think about anything else with Will at his side.

Nico had sucked up all the courage he could muster and was going to do it. Reyna had given him the push he needed and he’d already texted Will to meet him at the top of Halfblood hill, just within the borders.

Whilst the new phones Leo had designed for them all were seemingly monster-proof, Nico still didn’t want to run any risks at all. Not tonight.

Now, here he was, pacing beside Thalia’s tree, half expecting the Lieutenant herself to appear and tell him to stop disturbing the soil above its roots.

No one did descend from the clouds, though, and Nico was left alone, waiting for Will. His boyfriend wasn’t late by any means- Nico didn’t think Will even could be late considering his promptness to every date the two had been on for the past six years- it was just that Nico was exceptionally early. His nerves had carried him to their meeting destination half an hour before the scheduled time.

Nico huffed out a laugh as he tried to dry the sweat on his hands using his jeans. He’d been dating Will for six whole years. It didn’t seem that long, really, although Nico also felt like someone could tell him he’d spent eternity with Will Solace and he wouldn’t argue. Still, six years was a long time for demigods when wars were seemingly around every corner.

The last few years had been relatively peaceful in comparison to the first few Nico spent outside the Lotus Casino. Nico was glad. He didn’t think he could cope with any more losses right now. He was still carrying the weight of all his other lost loved ones close to his chest, as were many of his other friends.

Will would be here soon, Nico noted, checking his watch for the twelfth time in the past ten minutes. He usually arrived at least ten minutes early so any second now, Nico would spot him walking up the hill.

Now that both of them had left Camp Halfblood, they lived in an apartment near Percy and Annabeth, near enough to both the mortal college Nico was attending and the hospital Will was interning at. Nico really didn’t understand how Will was still only an intern considering he’d had more medical experience than most doctors in the world and he was only twenty-one.

Nico still wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to do with his life. Right now, he was very happy taking his degree in psychology. Nico had never imagined that he’d find himself attending school, never mind going on to college, but he’d found himself to actually enjoy the learning environment. Will was very proud of him too, not that that impacted his enjoyment of it in the slightest.

“Neeks, what’s got you looking so worried?” A soft voice startled Nico out of his thoughts as a hand encircled his wrist, gently. Nico stopped his pacing to come face to face with Will who had also changed out of his wedding attire, now sporting a light blue hoodie with a basketball shirt underneath. Nico nearly laughed out loud. Will didn’t even like basketball- especially with the number of arms he’d had to sew back on after particularly aggressive games at Camp Halfblood.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it. Just- anxious to show you this, I suppose,” Nico wormed his way around the truth. Will considered him with analytical eyes as if he was a particularly complex branch of the nervous system in one of Will’s many anatomy books.

“Alright, I’ll believe you for now but you’d better not be lying, di Angelo,” he conceded, taking a hold of the sides of Nico’s corduroy jacket to tug him in a bit closer.

“Why would I lie to you?” Nico mumbled. Will smiled, clearly pleased with his response, and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

“Aren’t you boiling in that jacket?” Will asked when he pulled away. Nico went red in the cheeks. He honestly was way too warm in the thick jacket intended for Winter. Despite the Spring breeze, it was just too heavy, but Nico had once been gifted the jacket by Will and he wasn’t about to take it off for tonight.

“A little, but it’s night and I run cold so I wanted to be prepared,” Nico argued. Will laughed and stroked the sunshine embroidered on the pocket that he’d sewn on himself.

“You, sir, are the biggest dork I know,” Will accused, “but-“ he continued when Nico tried to interject, “it just makes me love you even more.”

Will placed on arm over Nico’s shoulder and kissed the top of his head as Nico began to lead them higher up the hill for the perfect viewpoint.

“Now who’s the dork,” Nico grumbled, glancing up at Will with way more adoration in his eyes than he’d intended.

The two walked in silence for a little bit, Nico analysing the sky until he finally decided on the perfect spot.

“Ok,” Nico announced, “here’s good.”

“Nico, I hate to break it to you, but we’re still in the middle of the hill,” Will pointed out, looking around him as if he expected to find some big surprise.

“You’re so impatient,” Nico complained, tugging Will’s hand to get him to sit down on the ground next to him, “do you trust me?”

Will’s eyes found his, softening under the gaze.

“Of course I do, death boy,” he promised. Nico smiled and nodded, checking his watch again. Once upon a time, he would have complained at the nickname, but he’d grown to love with over the years. Not that any of the others would find out- they still found a sword at their necks if they attempted to call him ‘Neeks’ or made a jab at his heritage. Will was just… Will. He got away with everything when it came to Nico.

“We have about ten minutes. Tell me about your day whilst we wait,” Nico insisted.

“Nico, you were with me for most of it,” Will snorted with laughter. Nico rolled his eyes.

“I know that, duh, but who did you catch up with at the wedding? How was your trip to the hospital before you came here?” Nico asked. Will sprawled himself out across Nico’s lap, gazing up at him cheekily.

“Aw, you care about me that much?” Will teased.

“No, I just want the gossip,” Nico shrugged. Will gasped in mock horror and Nico huffed a laugh, brushing stray hairs away from Will’s eyes as his boyfriend finally launched into the stories he’d been after.

“So I talked to Piper at the wedding first, when you went over to talk to Percy and Annabeth. I asked how she was doing with Carys and the two are doing well. Piper’s thinking of asking her to be her girlfriend soon which is cute. Apparently, Carys memorised her coffee order after only two dates and she brings her flowers every date,” Will started.

“That is cute,” Nico noted, “pretty sure you don’t even know my coffee order.”

“You don’t like coffee, you nerd. You get a small hot chocolate with almond milk in every café we go in,” Will proved, his face breaking into a grin.

“Wow,” Nico said satirically, “a man after my own heart.”

Will lightly hit his stomach in complaint before continuing his story.

“So after that, Carys came up and I said hi and made small talk but decided to leave the two alone so they could get to the good stuff,” Will said, causing Nico to snort at his phrasing, “so I went to talk to your sister and Frank, ask them how they were doing and stuff.”

“You were talking to them for way longer than that. What are you hiding?” Nico noticed. Will pouted.

“When did you get so good at reading me?” he complained.

“Somewhere between Apollo arriving at camp and that time you tried to convince me Lou Ellen and Cecil still weren’t dating despite the fact I’d seen them making out in front of the Hecate cabin,” Nico noted.

“Fine, Hazel did tell me something but she made me swear not to tell you, so I won’t,” Will conceded with a sigh.

“What? That’s so unfair, she usually tells me everything,” Nico huffed. Will shrugged.

“She wants it to be a surprise,” he pointed out. Nico wracked his brains to think of a way to prise the information out of Will when he had a perfect idea.

“Okay, you won’t tell me? I’ll tickle it out of you,” Nico decided and before Will could even jump up in protest, Nico had flipped himself onto all fours above Will and his hands were already tracing lightly up and down his abdomen.

“W-wait, Nico! N-no hahaha don’t p-please don’t,” Will stammered, wriggling around under Nico’s dancing fingertips. Nico grinned down at his boyfriend as he became a blushing, writhing mess. Watching Will come undone beneath his fingertips was something that always made Nico’s day, even if it was just tickling this time.

“Tell me, then, Solace,” Nico demanded.

“Nicoooo,” Will complained, breathing heavily as he attempted and failed to grab Nico’s hands and still them.

“Fine, fine! I’ll tell you, but you have to pretend you don’t know when she tells you herself,” Will spluttered, gasping for breath as Nico’s hands finally stilled.

Nico pulled Will back up to a sitting position but remained firmly in his lap, looking expectantly into Will’s eyes. He still couldn’t believe Hazel had told Will something before she’d told him. Will was practically already a part of the family.

“She’s pregnant,” Will whispered as if there were people around to overhear, “and Frank is going to ask her to marry him once the baby is born.”

“No way!” Nico yelled, jumping to his feet angrily, “I’m going to be an uncle and my own sister didn’t bother to tell me?”

Will laughed at Nico’s antics before the smaller boy dived back down and grabbed Will’s face, planting a hurried but intense kiss on his mouth.

“Thanks for telling me. I’m going to hold this against her forever when she tells me and you dramatically announce that you already knew. Then I’m going to look so betrayed and declare that she’s no sister of mine anymore.”

“You are so overdramatic. I can’t believe how grumpy and quiet you used to be,” Will laughed, pulling Nico back into his side. Nico finally sighed and settled in. He was still struggling to comprehend the information. He was going to be an Uncle and his sister had wanted to keep it secret from him.

“There’s more,” Will added. Nico looked at him a little frenzied.

“What could possibly top that news?” he asked.

“Hades has invited all four of us to the Underworld to celebrate the birth of his grandson,” Will sighed. Nico’s heart sped up a little in panic. Will and the Underworld was not a good combination, as Nico recently discovered.

The first time Will went to the Underworld was the Spring after Hades had invited him. Nico had figured it was safest to take him when Persephone wasn’t around. Nico wished he’d remained as cautious.

Will usually visited the Underworld every Spring. Hades was gradually attempting to infiltrate more and more of Nico’s life and, as he constantly reiterated, apparently Nico’s love life was integral. However, after Will officially finished his course and was allowed to intern at the hospital that Autumn=, Hades invited the pair down for a meal.

It turns out, Persephone does not like children of Apollo and children of Apollo are surprisingly adept at killing plants. Nico really hadn’t been expecting an invite back ever again.

“Are we going?” Nico asked, uncertainly. Will raised an eyebrow.

“I have no problem if she doesn’t mind,” he shrugged.

“Will, every time I go down there she asks me if I’ve broken up with you yet. She’s even actively sought me out whilst out of the Underworld to tell me to get rid of you,” Nico smirked.

“Really?” Will asked and his eyes looked surprisingly bright. It was almost as if he was proud of finally having found an immortal enemy.

“Yes. She still hates you,” Nico assured him. He pretended not to notice the small fist pump Will did out of respect for his boyfriend’s reputation.

“We could always just suggest we have the meal in the summer months, anyway, even if the baby’s born when Persephone’s there,” Will shrugged. Nico raised an eyebrow.

“That seems a bit illogical. It would just be a meal for the sake of a meal,” he pointed out. Will shrugged.

“Hades has a surprisingly good chef. I don’t mind.”

Nico shook his head in exasperation when suddenly, a bright light caught his attention.

“Will, it’s starting,” he gasped excitedly.

“What’s starting?” Will queried. Nico grinned at him.

“There’s a meteor shower tonight. I brought you here so we could watch it,” he explained. Will gasped up at the sky as another light shot across it and then turned to smile at Nico.

“You’re such a sap,” he pointed out, “but thank you. This is a nice surprise.”

Nico curled up against Will’s side with his head on his shoulder as Will rested his own head on Nico’s, gazing up at the sky as he curled his arm around Nico’s back. It strangely reminded Nico of the position they’d been in the very first time they sat together to watch the sky. It had been a campfire night and Will had invited Nico. Nico had been so tired he hadn’t even registered what he’d been doing when he curled up against Will. Knowing what he knew now, he supposed Will hadn’t minded.

The two watched the meteors flash across the sky in silence for a while before Will spoke up.

“I can sense that there’s a reason you brought me to the meteor shower. Like, I feel as though I’ve forgotten an inside joke or something,” he muttered. Nico shifted slightly to turn and face him.

“Well, it was a long time ago, now, but when we first went to the campfire together during the summer we got together, I was so sleepy I traced your freckles and tried to tell you that they looked like a myriad of stars,” Nico smiled, bringing his finger up to once again trace Will’s freckles, “now the stars remind me of you so I wanted to bring you to see this.”

Will’s eyes melted as he gazed back at Nico.

“Every time I think you can’t get any more romantic, you go and pull off something like this. How am I supposed to top this?” he sighed, moving to cup Nico’s face. Nico felt his heart rate increase tenfold. Will had given him a perfect opening. The meteor shower was still raining above them in the stars. Now was the time.

The small, black box in his jacket pocket felt as if it was burning a hole through the fabric.

“Well,” Nico started, noting how short his breath was, “you could say yes.”

“What?” Will asked in confusion, his eyes going wide as he watched Nico get to his feet. Nico pulled the box out of his pocket and knelt down onto one knee, opening the box to present the ring he’d spent hours pondering over with Piper, Reyna and Annabeth. There was no backing down, now.

“William Solace,” he started, glancing at Will tentatively and noticing that he already had tears forming in his eyes, “when I first met you, I thought you were an idiot. Not because you were stupid, but because, for some strange reason, you wanted to be friends with me. You were persistent, infuriating and I thought I’d manage to scare you away within a day. I’d clearly underestimated just how persistent and infuriating you were because you stuck around. You always have stuck around. I was in such a dark place when you first met me and you stuck around to help pull me out. Whenever I doubted myself, you stuck around and assured me that I was safe, that I was enough and that I was loved. When someone sticks around that much, it’s hard not to fall in love with them, and falling in love with you was one of the easiest things I’ve ever done in my life. I fall more in love with you every day and-“ Nico paused to sniff. He was crying. “-and I want that to continue for the rest of my life. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I want to wake up every morning with you by my side so I can tell you how incredible you are, how kind you are, how impressive you are and how amazing your mom’s pancakes are. I promise that’s not the only reason why I’m asking this, but Will, will you marry me?”

Nico wiped his eyes with his free hand the second he finished only to see Will in a similar state, tears pouring freely down his cheeks.

“Nico,” he sighed, “do you even have to ask? Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes I will marry you and I am so mad that you beat me to it but I suppose I can forgive you because of the speech you just gave.”

“I’ve had it memorised for a month,” Nico laughed through his tears. Will’s laughter soon joined his own and before he could even move to stand up or sit down, Will had leapt on top of him and was kissing him. It was salty and messy and their lips were hardly touching because of how much they were both laughing, but Nico didn’t think they’d ever shared a more perfect kiss.

“You are so incredible, Nico di Angelo. I love you so much,” Will announced when the two finally finished laughing. Nico pushed them up into a sitting position rather than being sprawled out on the grass.

“I love you too,” he added. Will glanced down at the ring still stored in the little box Nico had been clutching so tightly.

“This is beautiful. I hope you like the one I bought for you,” Will sighed as Nico took his hand and gently slid the ring onto his finger.

“You already bought me one?” Nico asked. Will rolled his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Obviously!” he said, “you’re not the only one that wanted to get married, y’know.”

“I’m glad,” Nico smiled, resting his head against Will’s. Will cupped his cheek and pressed their lips together once again, his lips curving up against Nico’s in a smile.

This time, Nico kissed him back properly rather than laughing, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend- no, fiancé-’s neck to pull him closer. Will wrapped his arms around Nico’s waist, his thumbs sliding underneath Nico’s shirt so that he could slide a hand up onto Nico’s bare back.

Nico could feel the cold metal of Will’s new ring on his finger against his skin. He pressed further into the kiss, holding Will as tightly as he could. Right there, Nico wasn’t afraid of the future at all. He was going to marry Will. For a son of Hades, Nico’s life was pretty incredible.

He wouldn’t change one bit of it for the world.

#solangelo #percy jackson #solangelo fanfic #my fanfic #my writing #myriad of stars #a myriad of stars #percy jackson fanfic #nico di angelo #will solace #my fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction

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charonaraccoon · 4 years

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Abu Dhabi GP 2019 off-track recap time

It’s the last chapter, boys and girls, so lets take a long last look back at what the final race weekend provided us with before we say goodbye:

Everyone remembering the ones we lost this year. May Charlie, Niki and Anthoine rest in peace and race in heaven.

The Charlie Whiting Memorial ride with over 200 participants (including Marcus Ericsson).

Lando’s helmet design honouring Andrew Jarvis, his race engineer.

Leila being back in the paddock with Lewis and the cute photos they took.

The whole Reanault team wearing Nico-wigs for a group photo and his genuine reaction.

Lando getting into the sports car on the passenger side. Muppet.

Nico taking his girlfriend Sunny to the race for the first and last time and them being utterly cute together.

Lando’s last salmon of the year.

The Renault hang-out with Aurelie, Daniel and Nico and everything that entails.

Daniel and Michael going completely nuts during their warm-up dance routine.

The Renault staff decorating Nico’s motorhome with hightlights of his time with them.

Kevin opening his first Christmas present and looking like a four-year-old.

Lando and Jarv crying over the radio after the race.

Bottas fighting back to an incredible fourth place despite starting last.

Charles skydiving.

Jean-Eric Vergne visiting the paddock and chatting with Max.

Fabio Quartararo visiting the paddock and chatting with Daniel.

The row of people applauding for Nico on his way to the garage.

Daniel’s sum up of the season plus “cuddled and spooned”.

The interview with Lando’s parents.

Cate and Pierre kissing in front of the car.

Nico being driver of the day.

Daniel drawing a penis onto the back of Lando’s shirt and him running around with it.

Max trying to persuade him to show it during the driver’s parade, Daniel laughing and Lando being done with both of them.

Rianna being an adorable ice cube and supporting her isä Kimi in the garage.

Carlos SENDING IT, ay aye aye aye!

Charles securing most poles of the season!

Daniel and Max babysitting bullying Lando on the waggon.

George gifting Alex a rear view mirror and “trusting him to produce some carnage”.

Daniel’s first thought about the winter break being food.

Dilara and Cate meeting up and looking stunning as always.

Checo being so delighted with his move on Lando and Lando stating it was one of the coolest races of the season, anyway.

Victoria Verstappen and Sophie Kumpen rocking their matching outfits.

Robert’s final radio message, his humility and gratitude.

Nico leaving in style and joking on the radio.

The Donuts.

Daniel and Nico swapping helmets later on.

شكرا جزيلا, shukraan jazilaan, Yas Island, Thanks for having us and hosting a great and worthy final race of the decade (plus lots of Nico, sorry for that^^). So, it’s my opportunity to express my gratitude to all of you for making this season so great to watch, to write about, to sum up its race weekends. It’s been an honour and I can’t tell you, how much fun I had over the course of this season. I really hope, you did the same and you’ll be back with me when it’s time for testing weekends or for the Australia GP at the latest. Now, let’s all have a merry Christmas, loads of food, time with our loved ones and a memorable party for NYE. I wish you all the best! Read you soon, folks, thanks! <3

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annabethisterrified · 5 years

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Book Review: THE TYRANT’S TOMB by Rick Riordan (The Trials of Apollo #4)

“Today, one way or another, the fate of New Rome would be decided.”

THERE ARE NO SPOILERS UNTIL YOU GO BELOW THE CUT!

Reeling from the loss of Jason Grace and the mounting danger of his mission to stop the evil emperors ascendance, Apollo (aka Lester) and Meg arrive disheveled and devastated in New Rome...with a coffin in tow. Getting into Camp Jupiter is tricky enough, and once Apollo and Meg get caught up to speed on the chaos that’s been wreaked in the Bay Area, they realize that the impending battle will be the culmination of everything they’ve been fighting for. Reyna, Frank, and Hazel’s leadership roles put them to the ultimate test as they scramble to prepare for their final stand against Caligula and Commodus. Together, Apollo, Meg, and the inhabitants of New Rome must mourn who they’ve already lost while simultaneously gearing up for the inevitable confrontation that will seal the fate of their home once and for all.

The penultimate installment of The Trials of Apollo picks up on the heels of The Burning Maze’s tragic conclusion. Through Apollo’s perspective, the reality of what went down in the third book continues to weigh heavily upon the whole cast, but most of their focus is forced forward to an incredibly dangerous confrontation slated for the Blood Moon. Loose ends from the Heroes of Olympus series are tied neatly yet surprisingly, and the continued evolution of Apollo and Meg’s bond shines as the book’s true, gleaming heart. Apollo’s own recognition of his past failings, his father’s abusiveness, and the reality of what his humanity has taught him all come to a head, setting up what’s sure to be an impactful fifth and final book-- not just for Apollo’s journey, but as a capstone for what the whole saga’s implications about what it means to be a hero, and to be a human.

The Tyrant’s Tomb is consistently entertaining and heartfelt, but the final third of the story proves to be the most deftly-crafted and meaningful. Though not as heavy as its previous installment, this fourth book gives plenty of focus on some lovely development from our main protagonist, priming the series for its finale next fall.

If you click below, there will be spoilers.

Hello? Okay. You promise you’re good for spoilers...?

All right, just because of who I am as a person I guess, I’ve broken this down into like ten sections. Ooof. Generally, I will say that I was super pleased with how this story went. My only disappointment was that I’d hoped for more of a prolonged or “on-screen” unpacking of the effects of Jason’s death on the Camp Jupiter kids, specifically Reyna. However, I get that that’s kind of hard to do through Apollo’s perspective. I wasn’t totally sold on the idea that he sang a song haha, but I’m glad that Jason’s loss wasn’t just addressed at the beginning and then “moved on” from. It was threaded throughout, showing that grief is not something that you can check off a list. This is something that will always stay with these characters, and alter how they live and feel about things. It ebbs and flows. In addition, I think there could’ve been just a bit more action in the first half of the story, but it was never boring or aimless. And the concluding battle was expertly written and soooooo amazing omfg. Still reeling.

Anyway, let’s go.

FRANKLY, I HAVE NOTHING BUT LOVE

I’m so happy we got the chance to see Frank leading Camp Jupiter as praetor! He did such a good job, but also acknowledged that this is still a new role he’s transitioning into. I was so pleasantly surprised at how he managed to be both authoritative and gentle, and it was gut-wrenching to know that he intended to take Caligula down with him. When I imagined the fallout of Jason’s death, I always pictured Reyna being the one to tear down the emperors in revenge, which was why I was so affected by Frank’s commitment to honoring his friend. Not only did he order Jason’s designs to be built in like thirty hours, but he was so ready to avenge Jason that he was fully prepared to die.

What. An. Arc. I LOVE HIM. I’m glad he’s finally free of his burden, and that he gets to keep doing an epic job as praetor (though hopefully during more future peaceful times). Camp Jupiter’s lucky to have him.

SHINE ON HAZEL

Words can’t express how infatuated I was with Hazel in this book. She’s always been one of my favorites, but she really shone in this story. She was already so strong and developed at the end of Heroes of Olympus, but this book still brought her out better and smarter than she was before. She cannot be stopped. Hazel’s determination and grit make her formidable, and she definitely proved to be Rome’s greatest asset throughout the entire story.

I think it’s great that she gets to step up and take on Jason and Reyna’s former role of praetor...alongside Frank, too! I didn’t expect her to react with anger towards Jason once she found out about his death, but it hit me hard. She initially took Jason’s death to be a reflection of the Seven’s failings as a team. Hazel loved how powerful the bond between them all was, and when Jason took on the burden of TBM’s prophecy alone without confiding in anyone, I can totally see why she felt like that was a betrayal. UGH hit me hard.

REYNA REYNA REYNA!

Reyna is just objectively an amazing character. I’m so so so glad we got to revisit her in this story, and loved where she ended up going. Starting this book, I had literally no idea how she would be handled. She’s always been the quintessential strong leader, which is awesome, but I’m glad we got to unpack the implications behind her very...layered...existence. Leaving Puerto Rico in a traumatic situation, going straight to Circe’s Island, escaping as a pirate, carving out her path in New Rome, getting roped into the Titan then Giant War? Damn. She’s been through a lot, and none of it of her own free will.

Like I mentioned earlier, I wish we’d learned more of how she dealt with Jason’s death. They were obviously really close growing up, and though it was clear she was devastated and things were referenced “off-screen”, I still kind of wish we’d gotten a bit more. Regardless, I liked that the focus of her presence in this book was about HERSELF and nobody else.

And hello!!!!! She has a red truck!!!! and goes out hiking with her greyhounds??? makes me so glad.

And yeah-- that ending, huh? I know it got mixed reactions. Personally, it felt pretty natural to me. I’m so glad she stayed in touch with Thalia after the events of HoO, and knowing that they’ll be on eternal adventures with a bunch of other wonderful girls....happy sigh. Reyna’s right-- this is kind of a much-needed vacation by joining Artemis’s team. No matter how long or short she stays with them, it’s important that she’s able to reclaim her destiny and figure out what and who she’d like to be.

APOLLO & MEG

These two!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy shit. Their bond was so well handled and I loved seeing how it developed in this installment. They can communicate on an instinctual level-- they can call each other out, and recognize the abusive patterns both of their fathers have over them. They have so much in common, but also have so much to teach one another. I loved that they were both able to tell each other “I love you” and ughhhh yes the sibling dynamic is so epic. (Also, the whole Reyna and Meg ganging up on Apollo about Koronis bit was hysterical.) (And the “I thought you loved me?” “I’m multitasking.”)

WHERE TO NEXT?

Just because I haven’t said this yet, but HOLY MOLY I adored Lavinia. Oh my god. She was amazing-- hilarious, presumptuous, go-getter, kind...what a star!!! What a joy to read!

Anyway, now it’s onto the fifth and final installment...THE TOWER OF NERO. I’m so happy that we’re going back to where this story started (in both Hidden Oracle and The Lightning Thief)....New York! And it sounds like also a potential field trip to Delphi, Greece? I’m down!

I’m assuming we’ll be able to tag up with Annabeth, since she’s the only main-player we haven’t yet revisited in ToA. And probably also Percy, Nico, Will, Austin, Kayla, etc. at Camp Half Blood.

There’s a lot of ways this could all go down, but I think this book set up a heart-wrenching conclusion. I’m looking forward to Apollo and especially Meg standing up to their fathers and claiming their own lives. I’m not even sure if Apollo will want to be returned to godhood by the time his trials are up. We delved into some really interesting threads in this book-- he mentioned several times that he’d only ever felt comfortable and “at home” when he was human. What will that mean for his final trial?

In either case, this book was fabulous and I’m so glad we got a chance to learn more about Camp Jupiter and New Rome...and I feel like a lot got resolved, so it felt like a satisfying way to say goodbye to the California crew. I doubt they’ll be in the last book, so it was bittersweet but fitting to leave them as we did!

Now, we wait. One last time! Thanks for reading this if you made it all the way down, haha!

#review #tyrant's tomb #the trials of apollo #rick riordan #toa spoilers

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lonelypond · 4 years

Text

Soldier Game: Operation LA Smile, Ch. 3

NicoMaki, Love Live, 4K, 3/?

Nico shouldn’t be nervous. It was her party. Her idea. Her reminder that whatever else was going on in the universe, whatever unappreciative individuals might think of Nico’s charm and abilities, Yazawa Nico could always draw a crowd. With almost no notice. Take that aloof, rich, redheaded sexcapade. Nico didn’t care. Casual came with the territory. Hearts broken all over the globe.

Kotori had done an amazing job with the panther theme, finding huge, stuffed velvet panthers and leopards to scatter across the rooftop terrace under strings and strings of multicolored fairy lights, small brightness against the stunning Tokyo nightscape. Charged by the atmosphere, Nico twirled under the lights to the amusement of the woman setting up the bar. Nico winked. It was always good to appreciate your audience. She adjusted the bow at the neck of her black and gray glitter clouded leopard pattern sleeveless maxi dress. Kotori had a shiny brown jaguar fabric in a shirt tucked into high gold disco glamour trousers. Nico’s see through black stockings with vine texture added to the wild vibe.

Pretty soon, pretty pretty women were going to be screaming to be let in. Nico wondered when the celebrity guests of honor would arrive and then Kotori stepped out onto the roof, Umi on her arm, in a very elegant and modest little black dress, with a fascinating and subtle open knit texture Nico would have killed to design. What would the boxing redhead show up in, Nico wondered? Some more expensive designer than Nico?

###

Think casual. Last night in Tokyo. Eli smiled and bobbed her head at a young woman who couldn’t decide between approaching Eli or joining the swarm around Nico. Eli was enjoying the breeze, the cool darkness. She’d spent all day in their cramped office, having to deal with various government functionaries who did not believe Eli was official enough for the level of clearance she held. She was looking forward to being in the field, making spur of the moment decisions based on reconnaissance and sitreps. She pushed the sleeves of her loose white blazer up, black cigarette pants, and light blue linen shirt completing the outfit. Feather Smile had dressed like the sizzling hot, shine the spotlight here team they were and Umi had chosen her dress with her usual exquisite attention to detail. Eli smiled and leaned on the bar, “Vodka tonic, please.”

“Yes, miss.”

And then there was Maki. Arriving late, as always. Because it wasn’t a truly fashionable party unil Nishikino Maki arrived. The room practically stopped. No conversation as Maki strode through, brazen, confident, shooting dagger sparks if anyone dared glance her way. Maki pulled entire rooms without even trying and tonight, when she was letting the banked down fire burning in her core light those priceless amethyst eyes, there were actual gasps when she walked into a space for the first time. Eli was expecting something designer, but Maki had opted for gym chic?!!!? And then, Nico gestured at the DJ and a song Eli had almost forgotten came over the speaker system.

“Three, two, one, zero! Here's my intro Please look at me; I'm completely serious My thrilling beauty will win, without fail”

Soldier Game. The silly pop single they’d recorded in high school. Umi seemed surprised but smiled when Kotori giggled. Maki whirled, completely red, glaring at Nico, who dismissed her with an offhand wave and went back to being surrounded by a crushing crowd as the song continued. Maki, arms wrapped around her torso, was slouched behind a panther, nearly obscured, her bold energy burst.

Eli took her drink over, “Want this?”

Maki shook her head, cheeks still reddened.

“That’s a real blast from the past. I keep trying to forget it. Those photoshoots.”

“That tiara dug into my skull. I hate photoshoots.” Maki groaned.

“So this assignment will be fun.”

Maki’s nostrils flared. Eli knew she was biting back an ‘only if l get to shoot someone’ comment and kept the conversation going before Maki totally lost her temper.

“Well, you’ve made an entrance anyway.”

Maki scowled, “Now we do small talk?”

“I’ve had a government bureaucracy runaround kind of a day and I just want to stay off my phone, enjoy a breeze, listen to music, and have a few drinks. In order to do that in peace, I have to first make sure you won’t throw anyone off the roof.”

“What did Umi tell you?” Immediate suspicion.

Eli shrugged.

Maki sounded ready to strangle someone, “Just leave me alone, Eli.”

“Fine.” Eli raised a glass in a toast, “But remember why we’re here.”

“Fine.” Maki shoved past Eli. “I’m going to go be a rich brat.”

And she wasn’t even going to have to try, Eli thought as she downed her drink.

###

Nico was sliding across the floor, new, top tier dance moves, to amuse a set of twins, one with pink streaks, one with purple, both with leopard ears topping their hair.

“Nico Ni always dances her way to ideas. And then once Kotori creates them, Nico dances in them, because if cute girls can’t move and breathe in a Feather Smile design, no one but Nico sees it.”

“Do you get your ideas from concerts...or movies...or celebrities?” Pink Streak asked with a giggle. “Or do you just dream them up?”

“Nico only hangs out with the most stylish....”

“Zookeepers?” Maki asked drily as she leaned over the panther, having fueled her courage with double tequila shots. “”S really not innovative, or…” a shrug and the whole panther moved, “interesting really. The feline as an expression of feline…fury...furry...” she blinked, “I mean female sensuality. Overdone. Copied from cooler…” a pause for frantic blinking, “errors...ermines…”Maki couldn’t find the word and had to settle “years...not even rocker chic,” Maki giggled as Nico felt annoyance start to prick and Maki continued, “scraping rocker bottom chick.”

Nico rolled her eyes, Maki was obviously inebriated. She and the streak twins watched as the redhead stood, swayed, and decided she wasn’t finished

“Unless…” Maki leaned forward again, supported by both arms on the stuffed panther, and only a quick shoulder shove by Nico prevented Pink and Purple Streak from having two panthers sprawled all over them, “you’re into that?”

Pink Streak was closer so Nico grabbed those ears, leaned forward, stuck them firmly in sweaty red hair, whispered, “Do you purr?” and watched in amusement as Maki jumped back, dragging the panther with her, and sprinted for a bar.

###

Eli had spent much of the past three days sharing an office with Tojo Nozomi and the only conclusion she had drawn was that Nozomi, as she’d forced Eli to call her, was an enigma, with little hints of tantalizing layers of....mischief occasionally surfacing in those sea green labyrinth of eyes. Having done her duty as a friend to Maki and provided her temperamental compatriot an opportunity to vent off some steam, Eli found herself wondering where Nozomi was at this event. Not at one of the bars on the terrace, or rubbing up against the nearly five foot tall stuffed panthers like so many of the younger dancers, nor, as far as Eli could see, tucked into a corner conversation somewhere. Maybe she was inside, in one of the cool, dark wood alcoves, staring out at the Tokyo nightscape. This was certainly a view worth the price of one of the hotel’s rooms.

Eli wandered back into the bar. Not as many people clumped here, some masked, because now masks were fashionable. Eli had by now thoroughly reviewed the FeatherSmile dossier. They were one of the first companies to develop a gossamer fabric, diaphanous, like a movie genie’s veil, that still cut the dispersion of droplets. Thanks to Yazawa’s connections and innovative demands, FeatherSmile was often on the leading edge of textile tech. No Nozomi here though, veiled or not.

Eli wandered back out, to the high ceilinged open terrace, casually grabbing a handful of chocolate eclairs and macarons, and there was Nozomi, legs pulled up underneath her, in a very formal navy business suit, a floral shirt her only concession to the non office setting, sitting in the very middle of things, on something that in the very middle of furniture and sculpture

Eli, hands full of chocolate, slid in next to her, “You still look like you’re at the office.”

Nozomi smiled, “I am still on the job.”

“What is your job?” Eli couldn’t help it. She was usually good at figuring people out, at knowing who to ask for a briefing, at knowing which paperwork would fill in the sketch of a briefing, but Nozomi, for all that she looked a proper, mid-level bureaucrat, had none of the mid-level bureaucrat paper trail attached to her name or office, which made Eli think there was more going on here than a simple tourist jaunt covering for a drop off.

Nozomi shrugged, “I manage people.”

Another veronica, swing the distracting cape of an answer. Eli bit into a meltingly amazing pastry to consider the next tack to take.

“Ever been to America?”

“Yes. You?”

Eli ate the final, exquisite bite, “I haven’t spent as much time there as Maki. Family business kept me mainly in Russia or Tokyo.”

“Yes, it’s a very unique nexus you three represent: Japan, America, and Russia. Must have been an interesting high school.”

Eli laughed, “It was. I was student council president.”

As if cued, another Soldier Game song played.

“And the high school idol’ing?”

Eli sighed. No more chocolate left. And this was the topic.

Nozomi leaned forward a little, almost touching Eli’s knee, “Sorry, was that too personal? Something you want to forget?”

“No. It’s pretty common knowledge, although most people don’t know the backstory.”

“Backstory?”

“Maki’s drive to compose, Umi’s need to express herself in lyrics, my….”

Nozomi gave off a calming aura, encouraging Eli to talk. This wasn’t top secret info. Nothing was really stopping Eli from sharing. It was just a part of her past she preferred to…

Nozomi had waved a waiter over to break the tension, “Shirley Temple, please. Eli?”

“Vodka tonic.”

“Of course.” The waiter bowed.

“Sorry to push you. We can talk about the lovely view if you’d rather?” There was that mischief as Nozomi’s eyes met hers, and Nozomi giggled. “Or you can tell me if Maki always gets this drunk.”

“Only on tequila.”

“And you?”

“Never on tequila.” Eli laughed and leaned back against a concrete pillar, “I could never crack the upper echelon of Russian ballet schools. So I had something to prove.”

“Ah.”

Eli heard a confirmation in the ‘ah.” So Nozomi had already looked up the story. No real connection here. Price of doing business. Everyone knows more than they say and still fillets you for information. Confirm, look for weaknesses, memorize flaws. Eli suddenly felt worn.

“I’d better check in with Umi.” Eli stood, “I’ll see you on the plane tomorrow.”

Nozomi half rose, startled, but then settled back down, hands composed in her lap, “Of course. I hope you get some rest, Eli.”

Eli’s name sounded flat as Nozomi said it, but Eli still smiled and returned the courtesy, “I hope you can manage some off the job time.”

Nozomi shrugged. Eli turned away. Chocolate first, then Umi, then sleep. It had been too long a day.

###

Maki glared, then threw back the tequila shot she’d been carrying. Florrie’s ‘Begging Me’ was echoing and she wondered exactly how much control Nico had exerted over the DJ’s playlist. Long Island Iced Tea next, this was a Long Island Iced Tea night.

She marched up to the bartender, demanded the drink, took the bare minimum amount of time to drink it down through a cold metal straw, lips nearly frozen. A little buzzy, a little daring, feeling the need to just…

Everyone not actively chatting up a potential partner in the low lighting, dark wood interior of the bar had spilled out onto the roof, where with no time at all, Feather Smile had set up a sort of prowling fur extravaganza, huge velvet panthers and leopards arrayed in clusters, doubling as seating, people leaning or riding on them, a bar at either end of the terrace. The lights of Tokyo were everywhere there weren’t stars or fairy lights and Maki took a deep breath, trying to just check out of the party scene and let the lights and movement scatter her looping thoughts. It was usually a very solid escape plan, but just as her shoulders relaxed, someone giggled, “Oh, Nico, that tickles” and Maki spun to see Nico leaning over a woman leaning back into a velvet black panther, the woman’s shirt off, her see through black lace bra shimmering darkly. Nico had a metallic pen and finished off her signature with a flourish. And a kiss on the fabric to seal it.

Another giggle. And something whispered. And Nico leaning over the woman to whisper a reply. Maki headed back to the bartender who’d done her marginally satisfying Long Island Ice Tea.

“Make it better this time or I’ll make sure you’re fired.” Maki snapped.

The bartender bowed, “Of course. I’m so sorry the last one was not satisfying.”

“More tequila.”

Umi’s voice cut in, “Whatever she’s having, make it with less tequila. Cute ears by the way.”

Maki reached up and ripped the Nico tainted accessory out of her hair.

Umi leaned on the bar, shaking her head at Maki. “You have to stop getting random staffers fired. People won’t like you.”

“People,” Maki couldn’t help that her glance went to Nico, “Don’t like me now.”

Nico had her arms around a woman’s waist and they were swaying to music that was too sexy to be swaying to in public. Maki pushed herself off the bar, but Umi caught her arm.

“Weapons.” Umi demanded.

Maki waved her hands down the length of her torso. Her side slashed, short, armless tunic covering a sports bra, offered a view of her torso that showed no hidden armament. Her form fitting shorts also proved that there was nothing unnatural about any of the curves the fabric was clinging to. “I just want to dance.”

Visual check cleared, Umi offered Maki the terrace, “Enjoy.”

Maki’s eyes burned with fierce intensity, ‘I plan to.”

And a mellow song, Surf Mesa’s "ILY", rolled but there was nothing mellow about the way Maki walked into the center of the terrace, threw out her arms, closed her eyes, and started mouthing “I love you, baby” as Emilie did, arms raising, wrists crossed over each other, muscle pulses so tight that it seemed like her whole torso was throbbing as she circled her abdomen, thrusting her hips incrementally forward, flexing her knees to crouch down to bounce up, tossing her hair back in near slow motion and red strands flamed in the pattern of flashes that suddenly surrounded her as everyone pulled out their phone, images of Maki lost in a blur, not captive, as the Tokyo nightscape provided a brilliant, blinding backdrop.

###

Nico did not like the speculative, predatory look in Kotori’s eye. She was very familiar with it and they had a strict first seen, first claimed agreement that Nico’s boxing ring encounter with Maki certainly would have invoked but Nico did not want to be so open about her...there was no right word..interest, annoyance, remembering her most recent encounter with Maki, Nico laughed at herself and decided animal attraction was probably the truest.

With so much attention on Maki and the terrace full of dark patches, Nico and Kotori had found a moment to meet. Kotori was leaning into her elbows, watching Maki, idly twisting the straw in her drink.

“Don’t you have a very stylish samurai stashed somewhere?” Nico decided on a diversionary tactic.

Nico knew her partner very well. Kotori turned away from watching Maki, with a squeal, “Did you see that dress, Nico? And the texture, exquisite, I couldn’t rip my hands away. I just want to take it off her so I can see how they did that open knit.”

Nico leaned into obvious, with a snort, “That’s not the only reason.”

Kotori arched an eyebrow, “I never discuss proprietary tactics, Nico.”

Nico chuckled, ‘Well, there seem to be a few other people interested in that…” Nico paused and pointed over her shoulder to where Umi was walled off by a crowd of women fascinated by the most inscrutable member of Soldier Game, now that Maki had decided to dry heave near a plant, “dress.”

Kotori’s lips twisted and anger flared briefly in now cold golden eyes, “I’ll see if Umi-chan wants to sit and sip some champagne.”

Nico was watching Maki run shaky fingers through her hair and slap herself on the cheeks. “And I’ll get the dancing started up again.”

###

Eli leaving had left Nozomi unsettled. So she took her Shirley Temple in hand and decided to roam. Her first target, Nico, who was once again somehow not being crushed by a crowd of young women demanding Nico sign their bras with her private contact info. Nico’s flirt style was an art, all wink and dash, never lingering, but always making a connection. Eager, thirsty eyes followed her everywhere. Nozomi was impressed by the range of her charisma and how professionally in stride Nico took the adoration.

“Care to sign something a little less personal for me?” Nozomi asked when Nico spun into her zone.

Nico demurred. “Nico always needs a treat.” A completely outrageous wink as Nico moved to the next young woman, who had unbuttoned her blouse, exposing ample curves that almost escaped their lacy lilac support, “Hi. Nico Ni wants to know. What’s your name and favorite color?”

“Oki and Green.” The blonde woman flushed as Nico let the pen linger a little.

“Nico will design a holiday set to showcase these memorable curves.” NIco finished her signature with a flourish, “Look for it. Nico thinks Santa will bring a good girl like you, Oki, a very special set.”

“Don’t talk about Santa like that.” An angry voice interrupted.

“Maki! We haven’t had a chance to talk all night.” Nozomi stepped in, trying to divert Maki and guide her away by the elbow, but the riled up heiress brushed off any restraint.

Maki had one target in her laser focused sights. Nico. “Don’t use Santa as a shill for your lingerie.”

Nico winked at the blonde, before answering Maki, “Nico got all her elf paperwork in on time last year. Completely certified to deliver North Pole approved presents. Ask half of Tokyo.”

“Ask Santa.” Maki’s fist were clenched. Nico had no idea why she was in the middle of a fight about two beloved holiday traditions, Santa Claus and FeatherSmile’s Christmas Cuddle lingerie line, but Maki had once again impulsively shoved them both into something unexpected.

“Okay, Nico will.” Nico took her pen and started to write a note on her arm, but Maki grabbed the pen and wrote a number on Nico’s arm as she spoke.

“Text me when he tells you you’re officially on the naughty list.” Maki snorted, “I want to laugh at you.”

This was an incredibly strange way to get the number of the hot, crazy girl she’d already had sex with. But Nico could roll with anything. That was her real superpower. And why she was so good at ALL of her jobs.

But before Nico could retort, Nozomi took the pen and wrote a number under Maki’s on Nico’s arm, “Text me too.”

The blonde giggled. Nozomi smirked at her, and leaned down to whisper, “I’d like to see green on you. Can I get you a drink? I have a Christmas at the South Pole story that you’ll never forget.”

And that left Nico with the glaring Maki. The crowd had been repelled by the waves of fury rolling off Maki. Nico sighed, “What are we really fighting about?”

“Santa.” Maki said stubbornly.

“It’s June, Nico loves Christmas, but Nico was planning to think about the beach and bikinis for at least a week.”

Maki crossed her arms over her torso as another Soldier Game song came over the speakers. “Did you have to play them?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“People expect it.” Nico listened for a verse, “Plus, they’re catchy. You sound good. You wrote the music, right?”

“Composed.”

“Wrote, composed…”

Maki leaned very much into Nico’s face, blinking, “Sewed, painted, same thing, right?”

“Fine. Nico will use the right words. Do you still compose?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Nico opened her arms to the room, “Nico has adoring fans eager for a few minutes of her time and your minutes,” Nico glanced at her watch, “are up.”

Maki pulled back. “I don’t want to talk.”

Nico stepped close, and could feel Maki tense at the proximity, “Well, Nico does have a suite reserved if you really need some…”

“Stop.” Maki’s hands shot out, Nico guessed to push Nico away, but they just lingered on her shoulders.

“Well, if you want to dance, Nico never disappoints a pretty lady.” And Nico dropped both hands to Maki’s waist, pulling her in, and starting to sway as the tempo of the music slowed. Maki shadowed the motion, her eyes closing, for a minute and then she froze, eyes wide open, looking down at Nico in horror.

“Um...why...no…I have to…”

“Run?” Nico suggested, her tone teasing.

Maki’s wry smile, full of unguarded charm, was a change of mood more surprising than anything that had happened to Nico so far, “How’d you guess?”

Nico was getting intrigued. This wasn’t the plan. But Nico always had a stock answer, “Nico knows.”

“Santa knows. Nico fakes it.” Almost a playful growl.

“Still on Santa? Did I mention June?” Nico decided to pull Maki close enough that their hips were bumping. “And nothing Nico does is faked.” Nico dropped her voice, closing in on Maki’s ear, “Don’t you remember?”

Full, complete flush. WIld blinking. Nico had a sudden inspiration and released Maki’s waist. “Thanks for your number. Nico might call you, if you’re lucky,”

With a frustrated growl, Maki suddenly had both hands in her own hair, rough tearing it, and Nico wanted to feel the texture so bad it took enormous physical effort to hold her hands back. Then Maki was standing straight again, so tall, slashed tunic showing muscle and tan and curves, a sexy dream fuel snarl mouthing words that took Nico a few seconds to actually register the foreignness of, “Da parte mia, ritengo che sia meglio essere avventurosi che cauti, perché la fortuna è una donna.”

Was that Italian? How many languages did Maki speak? Nico decided she needed less homework not more as Maki walked away from her, a tequila induced sway threatening to tilt her into a bystander.

####

Hanayo glanced away from the FeatherSmile party livestream. If she’d been there, she would have been a mouse in a quiet corner. She couldn’t hear anything but the music but the party was still almost as engaging as a good Korean drama. Hanayo enjoyed watching the women move in and out of conversation groups, dancing, leaning into close, cozy chats that Hanayo could imagine might result in even cozier conversations. Nico was a blur of motion and charisma, Kotori cool and calm and centered as she glided everywhere, from woman to woman, a quick kiss on so many cheeks, a sly smile when no one was looking but the camera. Hanayo wondered what it would be like to be in the same room with them.

She glanced at the small chat window on her business phone. Her agricultural contacts wanted an in person meeting coinciding with her FeatherSmile obligations. She opened a text window on her laptop. Nozomi had warned her about something like this happening.

A/N: The Italian is a quote from Machiavelli: "For my part I consider that it is better to be adventurous than cautious, because fortune is a woman."Hi.

#Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #bodyguard au #Tojo Nozomi #Ayase Eli #NicoMaki #NozoEli #KotoUmi #Sonoda Umi #Minami Kotori #Koizumi Hanayo #Soldier Game

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skvaderarts · 4 years

Text

Soliloquy Chapter Six: Machinations

Soliloquy Chapter Five: Adrift

You can check out the Masterlist Here for more links to places to read!

Otherwise, you can read the new chapter below. Enjoy!

This one was a wild ride to write! And even worse to edit and prof read.

Chapter Six: Machinations

Note: Hey everyone! Thank you all for your understanding about the last chapter being a little shorter and more than a few hours late. Life happened, unfortunately. But thanks for sticking with me anyway! A special thanks to Skylarmorgan1899, Mallovarwen, BeanswithBones, HunterJamie, and RubixaSeraph for your kind words of encouragement. I had a great time responding to your comments, and seeing what you guys thought about the story so far was fascinating and helpful! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and thanks for taking the time to reach out! Now, let’s get back to this long ass chapter!

The ferry made port, it’s foghorn shattering the peaceful serenity of the coastline like a stone through stained glass. The medium-sized vessel eased into it’s designated space between two of the end docks, carefully threading the space. After the ship came to a complete stop, it anchored, finally allowing it’s sizeable ramp to lower and make contact with the road. Before they had left the mainland, one of the deckhands had taken the liberty of informing them that they would only be in Fortuna for about a half-hour before they would be returning home, so leaving as soon as possible was paramount.

With everyone now on board the van, Nico pulled up to the top edge of the ramp. Nero, who was seated in the front seat next to her, took notice and sighed loudly. Nico and everyone else on board clearly noticed, but no one said anything about it.

“Ok, now look. Let’s not do this shit again,” Nero started as Nico reached down to switch the throttle from idle to drive,” Don’t go launching off the-”

Nero’s sensible warning fell on death ears. Just for the hell of it or perhaps form pure spite, Nico floored the gas and the van went flying off of the boat, making virtually no perceivable contact with the offramp. As soon as they landed, the mechanic made a far too tight hard left and sailed up the road, homebound. Nero groaned and rubbed the top of his head as he settled back into his seat. He had just bashed his head against the roof of the van during the landing.

“Seriously, where the fuck did you get a license from?! Are you trying to kill us?!” Nero said through gritted teeth. It was a wonder that the vehicle hadn’t been totally destroyed yet. He’s heard from V during the Redgrave City Disaster that Nico had somehow tunneled through the ground to meet the mysterious devil summoner. Twice. How did a basically square van that was towards the end of its lifecycle even do something like that in the first place? Before Nico had come along and helped him fix it, the old van had barely been able to drive correctly, but act like a boring drill? Just what the fuck? Did V put a spell on it or something?

Nico reached into her front pocket and pulled out a cigarette, placing it in her mouth. “Aw, stop your bellyachin’ and shut up,” Nico said, clearly expecting him to react that way. He always did, after all. This was nothing new. “I don’t know about you, but I wanna get home before dinner starts! Kyrie’s cookin’ is amazin’ and you know it. Now unclench your britches and gimme a light, would ya?”

Nero grumbled and fumbled for the lighter that had been sitting in the cupholder between them before reaching over and lighting her cigarette. Dante burst into laughter from the back seat, leaning over his knees as he sat on the couch across from Vergil. It was always great to see someone give his nephew the same kind of hell that he gave him every day. Nico was a living form of neverending karmic punishment for Nero. Vergil simply watched the situation unfold and shook his head, fully realizing that every single person that Dante and Nero knew was probably insane. Well, except for the gentleman in the suit. He had been relatively fine, although his decision making could be called into question for spending time at the Devil May Cry office with Dante and his cohorts.

The vehicle continued down the road, dodging and weaving its way through parked cars and sudden curves as it headed towards the interior of the dimly lit city. Dante and Nico continued to poke fun at Nero as they went, sufficiently riling him up. Vergil, on the other hand, took the time to think about what they were here for. On their way to the docks back on the mainland, Dante had asked both of them what was going on and Vergil had given him a very succinct answer. He knew that it was best to not go into things at the time. Although they could have still come here without him, the eldest Son of Sparda preferred it this way and wasn’t in the mood for further obstruction of his plans. To be fair, he never had been, but in times like this, keeping things as manageable as possible was key. He didn’t have to worry about his youngest son. Despite the fact that he was their father, he had gleaned from their various interactions that V and Nero had a much stronger relationship than he had with either of them, despite the relatively small amount of time that they had spent with one another. Nero had too much to lose in this investment to just give up and call it quits. Or to cause any issues, for that matter.

Either the ride had gone exceedingly quick due to Nico’s atrocious driving, or Nero’s home had been closer to the shoreline that Vergil would’ve guessed because It took less than ten minutes for them to arrive. The worn-out old vehicle pulled into the side driveway of what seemed to be an old stone and Plaster of Paris building, unremarkable in its appearance compared to the rest of the block. It blended into the busy street, having more than likely been built at the same time as most of the other buildings. The same trademark white and grey store surrounded the first floor, with the exception of the concrete trim that separated the first two feet or so of the home from the pavement below. The upper floors, which there were two of, not counting the possibility of an attic, were covered by a simple, worn coating of medium grey Plaster of Paris. Several white framed windows covered the length of each floor, shielded by curtains inside the home. The side driveway ended in a wooden gate that separated a small yard from an alley. A few children’s toys could be seen littering the short grass. A tiny driveway only a half a dozen feet long next to the side yard led into the metal garage door.

They stopped mid-turn, leaving Nero just enough space to get out and open the folding metal garage door. After he let it up, he stepped to the side and allowed them to pull all the way in. The doors to the van opened and everyone exited through them as the door was being let back down. On the far side of the room, the inside door cautiously opened and bright light flooded the otherwise dark concrete space. A young woman with medium length auburn hair in a long grey and white dress stood in the doorway, seemingly checking to see what had made the noise. Upon seeing them, she sighed in what could only be relief and waved quietly from across the room. “Oh, your home!”

Nero stood from letting the door down and turned to face her. The pair approached one another meeting halfway in the middle of the garage and Kyrie hugged Nero around the waist, clearly happy to see him. “Sorry if I scared you, Kyrie. I should’ve said something. Everything been okay since we’ve been gone?”

She nodded happily and turned to face the rest of their guests. Nico raced up to the young woman, happy to see her bright smile again. “Hey Kyrie,” she practically yelled in glee,” We woulda got back sooner, but we got held up. Hope we didn’t miss dinner!”

Kyrie giggled at the statement and pointed back in the direction of the open door. Three small heads rapidly recoiled back into hiding from the doorway at the sight of the attention being thrown their way. “Of course not! In fact, the children and I were just about to sit down and eat. Feel free to join them. Everything’s hot. I made a lasagna.”

Nico pumped her fist, exclaiming in excitement before taking off running into the house to join the boys. She was now home and had no intention of doing anything besides enjoying a nice hot mean and relaxing. The young couple watched her go, trying not to laugh at her neverending enthusiasm for Kyrie’s delectable cooking. Kyrie then turned back to look towards the van and gasped, holding her hand up to her mouth to try and stifle her breath. She couldn’t believe the sight before her. Dante, she recognized but…

“Dante! It is so good to have you back! We were all worried sick about you,” Kyrie exclaimed joyfully, clearly eager to see the devil slayer in red. As he waived, she spared a curious glance at their last guest, slightly thrown off by the new but familiar face in her home. Nonetheless, she stepped forward, her warm smile inviting and kind. “Hello there, stranger! I don’t think I’ve met you before. Either way, It’s wonderful to meet you.”

To say that Vergi was taken aback by Kyrie’s kindly demeanor and warm persona was an understatement. So this was the young woman who Nero shared a home with? She was lovely. Despite the awkward silence that settled over the two of them, Kyrie continued to smile, paying his silence no mind. After what felt like an eternity to Dante and Nero who were watching from a few feet away, Vergil performed a gesture somewhere between a nod and a bow before quickly returning to his regular upright position. “... Likewise. Nero has mentioned you in passing. I am his father, Vergil.”

To say that Dante and Nero were both very uncomfortable with how friendly Vergil was being would have been a gross understatement.

As if it were somehow possible, Kyrie’s smile brightened. She giggled shyly and gestured with open arms to both of the twins, herding them and Nero in the direction of the house. “I’ve been hoping to meet you! Nero hasn’t stopped talking about you and what happened since you left…” She trailed off as she noticed how pale and destressed Nero looked,” But we can talk about that another time. Dinner is ready and I made extra!”

Nero shook his head and smirked to himself as they crossed into the threshold of the house. Kyrie always made extra. That was just who she was. Like her parents before her, she had always been welcome to strangers from outside of her home, especially when it was someone new to town. It was so rare for an outsider to come and visit Fortuna.

The moment that they stepped into the entryway, Nero was accosted by the presence of three messy haired children who looked like they could all be siblings. The eldest child didn’t look older than six or so and the youngest was maybe two. The middle child seemed to be about four or five, and they all sprouted the same light to medium brown curls with light brown, vibrant eyes. The children were climbing all over Nero in what seemed to be an attempt to topple him and send him crashing to the ground. Dante laughed as Nero pretended to falter under their combined attack before the children pinned him to the floor and showered him with their seemingly endless adorations. It was clear to anyone present that they had missed their adopted father and that sturred something in Vergil that he had never felt before. He hadn’t really considered it too much until now, but this was one experience that he would never have with either of his children, and he couldn’t put to words why that cut him so deeply. He recalled doing the same with his brother whenever their father returned home from taking care of some important task, but he had never considered how little things like being greeted at the door by wide-eyed children could be to be so important until now. He didn’t so much envy Nero as he did feel uncomfortable, even guilty, with the realization that he had inadvertently deprived them all of such a moment.

As if she had read Vergil’s thoughts and wished to spare him from them, Kyrie called them all from the dining room. “I’d hurry if I were you! I think Nico is planning to eat everything herself!”

The children leaped to their feet, exclaiming in horror as they raced into the kitchen, heading towards the dining room. They had no plans of missing out on food again because of their insatiable house guest. Dante headed after them, although not running. One way or another, he was going to get some of that lasagna. As Nero climbed back to his feet, Vergil looked in the direction of the kitchen, lost in thought. The room they stood in connected the front and back doors with doorways on the left and right leading to either end of the home. The walls were adorned with drawings crafted by small children and a clothing hamper willed with unfinished laundry that had probably been put down in a hurry sat on a bench against the wall near an umbrella holder. Several pares of shoes in different sizes were stuffed under it. The house was clearly very well lived in and it carried a comfortable warmth with it. Although significantly smaller than his own childhood home, Vergil would have been lying to himself if he didn’t admit that it reminded him of that long since past chapter of his life.

Nero headed into the kitchen behind Dante, stopping for a second to look back at Vergil. The eldest Son of Sparda had been totally silent now for several minutes. That wasn’t exactly abnormal for him, but Nero still felt the need to make sure he still had a pulse. “You coming or what? Because I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.” He inquired playfully. Clearly being home had allowed him to let his guard down a bit.

Vergil stared at him blankly, unsure if he was being sarcastic or genuinely inviting him to dinner. “You can’t actually still be hungry. You just consumed an entire platter of croissants an hour ago.”

Nero scoffed. “I can too still be hungry and I am. Now get in here so we can all eat. Kyrie isn’t going to start without us, and the kids need to be put to bed. It’s getting pretty late and knowing her she probably has important volunteer work to do in the morning.”

Vergil continued to state at him, this time in vaguely concealed disbelief. Nero was actually serious. Vergil folded his arms and furrowed his brow, unable to comprehend what he was being told. “So let me get this straight. I cut off your arm meer months ago in that very garage,” Vergil tilted his head in the direction of the door behind him,” And now your lovely girlfriend is inviting me in and you’re standing here just feet from where you nearly perished and insisting that I eat dinner with you and your children? Am I correct?”

Nero flinched inwardly a the unpleasant reminder and Vergil’s blunt statement, but nodded in earnest anyway. “I invited you to dinner last time you were here. It’s not my fault that you decided to be a total bastard and tear my goddamn arm off instead of sitting down and having a meal with us.”

Vergil would never admit it if asked, but he was taken aback by his son’s sincerity. There was no way that he had been forgiven for his actions. After all, a severed limb was no easy thing to recover from. Fresh out of excuses and questions, Vergil gave up and opted to follow Nero into the dining room. He hadn’t eaten dinner with anyone in his family in well over two decades and yet, he didn’t dread this as his logical mind told him that he should. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as he figured it would be…

-~-

The dinner had gone over surprisingly well, despite the fact that Nico and Nero’s middle child Kyle hadn’t shut up the entire meal. It had been a good time filled with laughs, playful jokes, and adorable children making equally adorable funny faces. Vergil wasn’t one to laugh, be he had been amused at the very least. The children were… charming. And that was to say nothing about the lasagna that Kyrie had made. It had been unnaturally delicious. The eldest Son of Sparda found himself questioning if the young auburn-haired woman possessed some magical powers of her own. Assuming that her skills had simply been overstated had been a mistake on his part, and no one at the table that night was ever going to get over the fact that Vergil had actually requested an additional serving.

Once the meal had been finished, Nero had forced Dante to help him do the dishes while Kyrie herded the children off to their bedroom. Vergil had overheard Nico say something about them voluntarily sharing a room after the attack had happened because they felt safer that way. The oldest child, Julio had sworn to protect his younger sibling, despite not being older than seven and having no experience with weapons. Vergil’s attack on the house and the near loss of their beloved adopted father had apparently been quite traumatic for them. Wonderful, now Vergil could add “emotionally scaring helpless wide-eyed orphans” to his long list of sins. As a result of his actions, there was an extra room on the main floor that they planned to use as a guest room, but right now, it was full of boxes stacked on top of a spare bed. It was unfortunately useless at the moment, which was a shame considering the fact that they would be staying the night here. The ferry ran every two hours or so, starting at around 9 am when visibility was better. Fish was a popular export here, but fog could be an issue at times.

After Nico and Kyrie had headed off to bed, Nero joined Dante and Vergil in the living room. The two had retired here while the children were being put to bed so as to not disturb them. Nero flopped down across from them and opened a drawer on the coffee table between them, producing an elusive yet oh so familiar brown and gold leather book. Vergil sighed quietly. Now that was truly a sight for sore eyes.

“Kyrie said she put the book in here today when she was cleaning up. She wanted to make sure the kids didn’t get it. They can be pretty rough, and anything they see that’s made of paper, they draw on.” Nero said casually. He was clearly tired and in need of a good night’s rest.

Vergil reached out and took the book from Nero, taking a moment to look at it. Of all the things to survive this long, he would have never guessed that this memento from a kind neighbor would survive this long. For a moment, Vergil wondered if that man was still alive. He silently hoped that he hadn’t been living in the Redgrave city during the attack. Maybe one day he would find out. He turned the book over in his hands and opened the front cover. To his surprise, what he was looking for was still there. Funny, he’d expected it to have worn off by now.

“... I wrote my name in this book when I received it,” Vergil said simply, reminiscing about the day that the kind man living next door to them had given him such a wonderful gift,” Dante had a nasty habit of making things I owned disappear when we were children, especially if my name was not on them. The fireplace was never short on kindling.”

Dante shrugged uncomfortably as Nero gave him a disapproving look. He was worse than his kids! “Yea, um... Probably shouldn’t have done that. My bad, Vergil.”

Vergil didn’t answer verbally, but he gave a small nod. He would consider his younger twins half-ass apology at a later time.

Nero yawned as he stood up and stretched. He was at his limit for today. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to bed. The guest room is out of commission, for now, so your gonna have to stay in here. Nothing I can do about it tonight.”

With that, Nero headed out of the room and left them to their own devices. Unless the house caught fire, he didn’t want to hear anything but the sound of his own snoring.

-~-

It was early in the morning when they finally left the house and headed towards the docks. The sky was a beautiful mixture of several shades of orange, pink, and purple, the vibrant colors reflecting in mesmerizing swirls off of the placid waters of the large bay area that separated Fortuna from the mainland. Despite the thin layer of mist that covered the portside as they docked, the return trip almost seemed to go faster than it had the night before. Or maybe it was just anticipation. Who knew?

They arrived just after twelve. The boat pulled into the dock and anchored the same way it had the previous night, only allowing the ramp to be let down after everything had come to a complete stop. And just as she had the night before, Nico rocked off of the boat at a speed that could probably shatter the sound barrier. Nero didn’t know how it was possible, but she continued to shock him at just how dreadful she was at driving. How in the hell had she not killed them all in a wreck yet?!

As soon as they left the docks, they headed towards Magnolia’s house. She lived much closer to the docks than Dante did, which was fortunate considering that time was of the essence. The alchemist had predicted that they had seventy-two hours to get this done, but the eldest Son of Sparda knew better than most that nothing was concrete when you were dealing with the underworld, especially time. That was a very generous estimate, given the circumstances.

Dante was in his usual spot on the couch, reading one of the magazines that he had probably read a thousand times before. But it was better than talking about the matter at hand. After all, he didn’t really understand how this was supposed to work, and it would probably be easier to just ask the woman who would be casting the spells when they finally met. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this entire situation, to be honest. Up until now, he had always figured that death was pretty much final. But if Vergil could come back from the great beyond, then perhaps this could work after all. What had happened to V was awful, he wouldn’t argue that… but he would hold his opinion on this situation until after he saw the results. But a the same time, he couldn’t help but ask himself if there was a reason that more people didn’t do something like this? The death of a loved one was always agony. And it always would be. If there was a way to reverse that, then why wasn’t it more commonly used?

As he pondered this, the van came to a sudden and hard stop. They had arrived. Nero leaned out the window and looked over toward the front door, squinting to make out something. “Looks like there’s some kind of note on the door… I can’t make out what it says from here though.”

Nico shrugged, unsure of what type of response he was hoping to elicit from that statement. “Well, take your ass over there and go and get it, then! We don’t got all day!”

Nero gave her a “duh” look and popped open the door, hopping down onto the pavement. He then jogged up the steps to the front door, glancing back at the van as he went. He couldn’t quite place why, but he had a bad feeling about this. Upon reaching the front door, he found a note stuck under the knocker. It was scrawled in an elegant script, seemingly written with some sort of ink. He pulled it off the door and hurried back to the van, unsure of what to make of it. As he climbed back into the waiting vehicle, he was met with an uncomfortably tense atmosphere. In an instant, everyone seemed to be expecting the worse.

“What does it say?” Vergil inquired. He didn’t sound worried so much as he did morbidly curious.

Nero turned the piece of cardstock paper over in his hand, his forehead scrunching as he took in the information. “2460 Zephyr Court?” Is that a street around here or something?”

Dante nodded. “Yea, It’s an off-street to the one that Bobby’s Cellar is on. Haven’t been down that way in a long time. It’s the cross street at the other end of that block.”

Vergil could practically taste the disgust he felt at the mention of that godforsaken bar. If it was possible to develop indigestion from hearing a word, he would have just done it. Nico took the note in her hand and looked it over before shrugging and putting the car into reverse and heading off again. She’d had passed by that bar a while back with Nero when they were heading out of town to go take care of a mission. It was on the outer edge of town on a wooded block that headed up into the mountains. What could this Magnolia woman want them to come there for? Was this some sort of trick?

As they hurried down the road, Dante couldn’t help but note the bitter irony of their situation. Never in his entire life did he think that he’d be heading past Bobby’s Cellar with Vergil and Nell Goldstine’s granddaughter. If you’d told him that a decade or so ago, he would’ve probably written it off as an awful joke. And yet here they were, doing just that. And to try and save a member of his own family at that. Absolutely unbelievable.

After several agonizing minutes of silent trepidation, the van turned onto Zephyr Street. They scanned the outside of every building looking for the correct address, noting that the area was mostly deserted. What buildings there were seemed to be boarded up, no one having stepped foot inside of them for a very long time. As they navigated their way through the seemingly forsaken city block, Nico pointed down one of the side drives towards what seemed to be an old warehouse or factory building. “I think that might be it over there! Let’s go check it out!”

With that, she made a sharp left and turned onto a little dead-end street. As she veered right and pulled into the broken old wire fence, they all got a better look at the building. It was a two-story brick warehouse with led glass windows. In the space where a single huge sliding barn door used to be was an opening into the building. From inside they caught a glimpse of a passing light. Tall pine trees lined the entire lot, making it a very secluded and out of the way area. As such, it was very dark here. She pulled into the worn-out gravel parking lot and stopped the car, jarring everyone inside. Nico then cut the engine and handed Nero back the note they had found on Magnolia’s front door before turning her attention to her passengers. “Alright, this is the place on that note Nero found. Address matches up and stuff. I’m stayin’ out here in case we need to leave in a hurry or somethin’. Holler if you need me.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and stood up. There wasn’t any time to lose. Nero hopped out of the front of the car while Dante and Vergil took the side door. As they exited, Dante exhaled, the reality of what they were here to do sinking in deeper.

“... Vergil, do you really think this is really gonna work?” He asked quietly. Nero had gone ahead of them to investigate the building.

Vergil stopped just ahead of his brother but didn’t turn in to face him. He glanced up, noticing that the overcast seemed to be darkening, much like his fatalistic mood at the moment. The wind was picking up as well. A thunderstorm seemed to be rolling in. He then let out a long sigh and looked down slightly, seemingly taking his brother’s words to heart. “...It has to…” He said so quietly that Dante nearly didn’t pick it up from behind him. The Youngest Son of Sparda felt the words more than he heard them. There was a note of finality and desperation when his brother spoke that he was unfamiliar with. Dante wanted to say something, but decided against it and made the decision to just follow his twin brother into the building instead. Considering how high the stakes were right now, this just wasn’t the right time for that conversation.

They entered the building and nearly walked into Nero. The younger man was standing in the middle of the space, looking around in seemingly every direction at once. The woman they had come here to meet was nowhere in sight. Nero held up the note she had left on her door and, to his surprise, the piece of cardstock suddenly caught fire and turned into a smoldering pile of ash on the floor. Nero released the remnants and let them fall to the ground, surprised but unwilling to dwell on it. He looked down the corridor into the next doorway. It led into a black room that he couldn’t see into very well.

“Hey Magnolia! You there?!” He shouted, startling all of the nearby pigeons into taking flight,” We got what you asked for! Were back!”

An uncomfortable silence settled over them. The three descendants of Sparda looked at one another before silently deciding to approach the darker back section of the building. Perhaps she hadn’t heard them? Just as they reached the doorway, a figure in a dark teal knee high dress appeared from seemingly nowhere and met them in the doorway. She seemed slightly out of breath. She bent over and put her hands on her knees, panting for a moment before standing up and exhaling, regaining her lost composure.

“Oh, please forgive me,” Magnolia said as she took several deep breaths,” I was in the middle of reading an incantation, so I couldn’t respond. Sorry for the note. It didn’t cross my mind to request your phone number before you left. But you lot are all here now, and that’s lovely because we’re a bit short on time.”

Magnolia gestured for them to follow her and they all headed into the room, now realizing that the impenetrable darkness was due to a tinted plastic screen that covered the doorway and a litany of boarded-up windows. Strange glowing symbols were written on different surfaces around the room, making up a semi triangular shape. They seemed to be scrawled in chalk or something similar. Dante raised an eyebrow at the setup. “So, where’s the blood and bones and the candles and stuff?”

Magnolia put her hand on her hip and gave him a sassy but humorous look. “You lot really are twins, aren’t you? It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” She said smiling as she turned and headed towards the center of the room,” Sorry to disappoint love, but this isn’t that kind of spell, although there is a bit of bone ash in the chalk. It’s just old chicken bones though. That said, I do need that book Nero mentioned before. I came here and set up everything while you were gone. It took me all night, so I apologize if I’m a bit out of sorts. I haven’t had a wink of sleep.”

Vergil stepped forward and handed her the aged book, careful not to drag his feet over one of the nearby symbols. She took it and nodded graciously, positioning it towards the middle of the work area. She then stepped back and grabbed something off of a nearby cardboard box. It was the hourglass from before. And the top was nearly empty.

Nero blanched. “It took a lot less time than you said it would…”

Magnolia nodded, a grim look on her face. “Yes, it accelerated considerably after you left. That’s why I started preparing this the moment you were gone. I wanted to make sure we had enough time,” She gestured towards the ground,” Vergil, I’m going to need you to make a perimeter around the outside of the symbols with your blood. Hurry, we don’t have much time!”

Vergil looked at his longtime companion as if she had lost her mind for a moment before obliging her. He didn’t have time to ask why she needed him to do this, and he had a feeling he knew why anyway. During his youth, he had studied up on this sort of thing. Although the way this spell worked was far from ideal, a direct blood bond was integral to the functionality of the spell and they had no other option. As he had done last time, the eldest Son of Sparda used Yamato to slice open his palm and apply the line around the markings. He then sheathed the blade and stepped back out of the way.

The alchemist examined his handiwork and nodded, griping the hourglass tightly. “Well then… this is it,” She said solemnly,” If this does not work as intended, know that I did everything that I could. Spells like this are complicated, and they always come at a cost. Sorry to make you come all the way out here on such short notice. I just wanted to make sure that this didn’t happen at my house, especially with all the attention demonic activity has garnered as of late. Stand back. This could be dangerous.”

With that said, everyone stepped back and watched as Magnolia began to read an incantation out loud. She spoke clearly, though no one there aside from maybe Vergil could make out any of the language used. The ground trembled as dust suddenly began to rise off of the ground and into the air. Dust swirled around the symbols on the ground, forming a circular column that rose several dozen feet into the air towards the small hole in the triple-height ceiling. The ground cracked deeply along the outline of the line that Vergil had drawn in his own blood and the air became statically charged and cold. The walls developed hairline cracks and the boarded-up windows trembled in their frames. A low, rhythmic thump could be heard throughout the room, although that could simply be their collective heartbeats hammering in their chests as the chant intensified.

On the very last word of the spell, Magnolia took the hourglass and threw it forward towards the center of the swirling black miasma as the once small opening in the roof sheered open to make way for a white-hot bolt of lightning. It crashed down with a deafening boom and made impact with the hourglass, shattering it into a red mist and blasting everyone back against the walls, knocking the wind out of them. The black smoke streaked red and then glowed bright purple, humming vibrantly before releasing one last devastatingly powerful shockwave that succeeded in shattering the remaining glass out of every single window in the building. The swirling mass then emitted a loud, otherworldly howl before the cracks along the ground swallowed it up and snatched it into the underworld, closing with a loud boom. And then everything went completely silent.

So much for being inconspicuous…

Everyone gagged and moaned as they collected themselves and tried to force themselves to stand up. Nero was the first to succeed, perhaps due to being the youngest and therefore the most flexible. He leaped to his feet and cautiously inched his way towards the center of the room, waiving residual dust away from his burning eyes as he approached. A wall of fine dust particles floated around the area where the column of blood, chalk, ash, and dust had once been, blocking all sight. As Nero stepped through into the open space he stopped dead in his tracks. To his utter amazement and disbelief, laying prone face to the side on the concrete ground was V.

And he was missing all of his clothing. Wonderful.

Nero couldn’t believe that this batshit crazy plan had actually worked! As he heard the others stir around him from different ends of the room, he made the split-second decision to shrug out of his coat and use it to cover him with it in the absence of another alternative. He couldn’t place why, but he felt it was necessary aside from the obvious reason that he didn’t really want to see him this way. As he wrapped him in the worn, warm garment, he noticed something that troubled him. He didn’t seem to be breathing. At all.

Nero reached up and brushed V’s hair out of his face, truly noticing for perhaps the first time ever that V had white hair. How in the absolute fuck had he missed that?! Had he been so carried away fighting that he simply didn’t pay it any mind? And for that matter, where were his tattoos? As thought-provoking as all of those questions were, he had bigger things to worry about right now. Nero carefully rested his hand against V’s throat to check his pulse in a gesture that he just knew would have made him crawl out of his skin if he were awake. After a short moment that felt like an eternity, Nero exhaled in relief. V had a pulse. Good. That was something, at least.

From his position leaned over him, he could just barely feel V’s breath ghost across the nearly imperceivable hairs that adorned his now bare arm. As he recoiled his hand, the prone man let out a ragged, almost pained cough as if the air had been pulled from his body and he had been plunged underwater, only now being reacquainted with oxygen for the first time in a long while. He gasped and then coughed feebly, trembling. Nero wasn’t entirely sure what to do about this, so he reached over and gave him a few firm but careful pats on the upper back, trying to help him clear his throat. V jerked slightly at the contact but stopped coughing, his breathing still shaky but much better than it had been moments ago. He curled up into the coat, pulling his legs closer to his chest. He seemed cold from what his brother could tell. Nero wasn’t sure if he had actually helped or not, but he was going to keep telling himself that he had. It made him less anxious.

Just then, Dante, Vergil, and Magnolia stepped forward to observe the scene. They all seemed to be in a similar state of disbelief and relief to the one that he had felt upon seeing the young summoner again. Nero sighed in relief and looked up at them from his position on the floor, totally overcome by the shock of what they had just succeeded in doing. V had migrated closer to him, the top of his head propped up against his lower leg. “... He’s actually alive,” Nero said as though he couldn’t believe the words that he was speaking,” It actually worked...”

Dante and Vergil exchanged unreadable glances and looked down at V, still somewhat unable to process what had just happened. Magnolia broke the silence with a short, crazed laugh. She was in total shock. “Oh my- I am most certainly going to hell for this one!” She looked down at V and sighed, nodding to herself in self-satisfaction. So this was who all the fuss was about. “But I have the feeling that this might be worth it. He’s a cute kid, after all.”

Vergil nodded quietly, not entirely sure what to say. Thank you would never be enough. He would need to find a better way of thanking her. “You are absolutely right, Magnolia. This is worth it.”

-~-

PHEW!! After two days of sleepless nights and 6.8k words, this chapter is DONE. Thank goodness this is the Friday release because my brain and my hands need a good break. I hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I loved writing it. Everything is going to really kick off from here, and I am so glad that I finally made it to this part of the story! Once again, thank you all for taking the time to comment and read the story. It’s very helpful and it always makes me smile! Now, I’m going to go eat dinner… and work on the first chapter of the story that V will actually be in! Gah, it is so nice to finally be able to say that!

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ultraericthered · 4 years

Text

Anime Update 36

CLANNAD After Story - Didn’t get to watch it this week, as the server for the site I watch it on went down when I tried to. But that might be for the best since I still need to recover from watching Nagisa die, so taking a break from it for a week works out for me.

Dragon Ball - The episode this week was actually largely focused more on the bad guys than on the good guys, as a cowardly attempt to kill Goku and Officer Black by Commander Red backfired when not only did they both survive, but Black catches him ranting about how he’ll use the Dragon Balls to wish for a height increase. Black is a character I always appreciated for being easily more level headed and formidable than his boss, so it’s regrettable that this tends to be lost behind his racial caricature of a design and his servile position to Red. In fact, Red’s whole tirade at him about how he basically exists to be his slave carried some very uncomfortable racist undertones, which made it extra satisfying to see Black put a bullet in his boss’ head in response. It’s kind of funny how after all the build-up to Goku facing Red that was done episodes ago, Goku never even met the guy ‘cause Black did away with him and took his place for the final showdown. But Red was never very interesting, so it’s no big loss to see him offed in an undignified manner by a significantly cooler baddie. But one thing FUNimation’s dub delivered on would be the voice acting for Red and Black, which I think elevated the characters beyond what they were in the original. While the Irish accent that Josh Martin used for Red was kind of odd, his delivery and the quality of his voice really worked for the character. And Chris Sabat as Black could’ve easily just been another Chris Sabat role since it’s still so recognizably him, but just by doing a slight James Earl Jones impression, he really makes the performance stand out. Last thing worth mentioning? Colonel Violet being a boss ass bitch who just robs the shit out of Red and takes off. Gotta love her for that. I hope she and Colonel Silver meet up and get to live together in peace!

Love Live Sunshine! - I can now fully see how much this show was deriving from it’s predecessor early in, and understand the criticism it got for it. Episode 3 once again features the leading second year trio performing before a small crowd, Episode 4 once again focuses on first years going the group, and Episode 5 is going to be our proper intro to the “evil” character, Yohane, just like the first series’ Episode 5 was for Nico. This is definitely familiar ground being tread here. But in spite of this, the series does it’s own spin on these setups in order to make them feel fresh and engaging. The girls find their group name, Aqours, written on a beach at this point rather than getting it from a paper slip in a box in Episode 2. When the second years perform in a gymnasium filled with only a few spectators, they don’t let it discourage them any until a much bigger problem - the power going out - occurs, but they try to keep singing anyway even through their sadness until the lights come back on and Chika’s big sister packs the room with a ton more people who came later ‘cause Chika got the start time wrong. And while Ruby is sort of like a mash-up of both Hanayo and Maki, and Hanamaru is like Rin (as the episode itself drew attention to), they are both far more interesting characters from the offset. I was way more engaged in their characters, their desires, and their relationship than I was with the first years of u;s, and I loved how they both ended up with the resolve to be school idols in Aqours together. And then there’s Mari Ohara, who in only mere minutes of screen time made her character so funny, so charming and likable, and so intriguing. She’s simultaneously someone you’d enjoy hanging out with, someone who’d drive you up the wall, and someone who you’d trust as far as you could throw. And while I question FUNimation going with a literal-minded translation of the Engrish “It’s joke!” phrase, Jamie Marchi’s voice acting is so on point that I easily overlook it. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how they pay off the foreshadowing of her and Kanan’s relationship.

My-HIME - I just straight up forgot most of this episode soon after I’d seen it. Most of it was set-up based on what the last episode sprung on us, and the whole first act of the episode was intercut with flashbacks to stuff Nagi told the HIMEs after the end of last episode. Why we didn’t just see this playing out in the present time I don’t know. Akira totally didn’t kill or even seriously harm Takumi for discovering her true gender either, so that cliffhanger was a cop-out. I’m pretty sure the most interesting bit was that there are still at least two HIMEs we’re unaware of, and while we can easily guess who most of the girls’ most precious people are, it’s anyone’s guess who that could possibly be for Nao. Oh, and the most disturbing part was that Wataru fucking drugged Yukariko’s tea and is prepared to do who knows what to her now...God, must I be made squeamish every time those two characters are on screen? And finally...the Obsidian Prince? Who the fuck is THAT now? Does he have something to do with the HIME star that’s threatening the planet unless the last HIME standing can fight back and vanquish it? Curiouser and curiouser...

Assassination Classroom - This is the new two season series I’ve started on to replace Ace Attorney. It’s a Seiji Kishi show, meaning it’s got a high school setting, loads of weird and wacky characters, and a totally out there premise. In fact, the premise and just how committed to keeping true to it the series ends up being is the one thing I was aware of about this going into it. I’m kind of on the fence about whether or not I agreed with the presentation of this premiere episode, with us getting thrown into the class already being taught by Korosensei and how the whole mess started getting shown to us via flashbacks in bits and pieces throughout the first act, but the idea behind a strange, unstoppable, nigh-unkillable, octopus looking alien being who destroyed half the moon and threatens to destroy Earth wanting to teach a high school class to become assassins so that these kids can learn to kill and thus have a fair shot at killing him to save the world, and the government just agreeing to let him do that, and the students just coming around to accepting that as their new normal, was just so absurd and done in such a silly fashion that I just had to love it. There’s a lot of characters here that will need to be distinguished and developed, but aside from the bullies and the Sayaka Maizono soundalike, the ones who stood out here were the series’ leads: Nagisa Shiota (whom I will be referring to as “Nagisa S.” rather than “Male Nagisa”) and of course, Korosensei, the great teacher himself who is already the best character. When I see this character with his goofy design and dopey face with the enormous grin, but also know how dangerous he is and how he’s essentially holding this class hostage in order to force his assassination teachings on these kids, I keep on thinking “You’re gonna be like Monokuma, you’re gonna be like Monokuma”. But he isn’t, he’s not ever going to be, and I love how Sonny Strait does his Maes Hughes voice for him to really emphasize his genuine kindness even now when his morality is dubious at best. The last thing to stand out to me was the ED credits song. I’m reminded of Star Driver’s first ED credits (both songs even have “shooting star” as a major phrase!) in that it’s feel-good vibe and catchy melody captivate me, as if to let me know that I’m gonna be in good hands with this series. Or perhaps the good hands I’ve been left in...was tentacles all along.

Nadja of Tomorrow - So within minutes of this episode’s run time, Bandit Keith broke out of his cell, donned his disguise again, went back to the exact same room he was in when Herman caught him, got cornered by Herman again...but he escapes with the brooch this time. If I didn’t know for certain that Herman knowing the Black Rose’s face behind the mask wasn’t crucial for a later point in the story, I’d be left questioning what the point of this unpleasant detour was. Speaking of Keith, the writing, or perhaps just the animation, with him was just confounding here - after knocking out Bianco he immediate regains his Black Rose costume. Was that there with him in the cell? I didn’t see it, and why would it be? Then we see him riding on his horse trying to locate Nadja so he can return the brooch, but then when he actually reaches Nadja, he’s the Black Rose again! And then in the immediate next scene with him and Nadja outside, he’s his normal self again! I don’t know what happened here but it was super distracting. But Keith wasn’t this episode’s MVP anyway - that honor goes to both Harvey and Rosemary. This is the episode I remembered Harvey for, ‘cause seeing his funny interactions with the Troupe and how on top of printing the story of Nadja’s stolen brooch he was made his ultimate failure to have that story reach the public all the more crushing. And this is where Rosemary really starts to show what an unprecedented master manipulator she is. When Herman's frozen up by the reporters asking about the missing brooch, Rosemary took the initiative to prove her point to Herman - that if a single lie is firmly in place, then you can freely speak the truth and use it as an asset to advance your scheme. Blabbing the truth that the Black Rose “stole” the brooch from her, all while still posing as Nadja, derailed Harvey’s progress, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory for the good guys. And she’s just getting started.

Mobile Fighter G Gundam - To summarize, Allenby’s still on the show, Michelo banded together previous opponents (the giant, the clown, and even the green skinned snake man) to fuck with the Shuffle Alliance, Neo Spain’s fighter Carlos got horribly injured because he dared to defy these villains (I really liked him in the short time he was on screen, so this actually really hurt!), Domon had a meeting with Minister Wong, there was another “it’s Schwarz Bruder!” moment, Domon had his rematch with Michelo, Michelo is a zombie and commands one of the mysterious Gundams that attacked Domon on his way to Neo Hong Kong, and the Dark Gundam was rebuilt and transferred to Wong, who plots to use it as means to secure his dominance of all outer space. That’s...certainly a thing now. Wong is just such a great antagonist who exudes this sleazy but deliciously diabolical presence. He reminds me a lot of Maximilian Pegasus from “Yu-Gi-Oh!” in how he seems like a fun, charming dude but happens to be absurdly corrupt and utterly wicked. Aside from him, the thing that stuck with me most about this one is how Michelo’s new attack was “Spectral Beam Kick”, but I remember watching this years ago and mishearing it as “Special Beam Cannon!” I mean, Michelo? Piccolo? The names are similar!

Future Diary - Definitely an improvement over the last two episodes, but once again, at around the mid-point of Part 2, the story went off the rails and became an exercise in bogus, illogical writing. Yuno accidentally KO’ing Yuki’s mom just made me laugh, as it reminded me of a stupid plot turn from a bad horror film. But it’s what happened after that really derailed the narrative - Yuno does some completely unforshadowed, unexplained meditation thing to get into Reisuke’s head and figure out where he hid his diary, she finds that the store Reisuke was at earlier has it’s own delivery system(?) so Reisuke put in a package addressed to himself for the store to deliver back to the Amano home address, and it turns out that not only was the diary inside, but poison gas...that doesn’t effect the suddenly absent mailman, doesn’t effect Yuno even when she breathes it in, and only seems to effect Yuki enough to render him unconscious immediately yet Yuno still has strength enough to take him upstairs while the gas is still in the house...THIS MADE NO SENSE! The little hide and seek game that followed was fun, but far too late to save this affair from it’s own stupidity. Maybe Esuno should’ve just not set this at the Amano house? However, there was more to enjoy than to not enjoy here. All the stuff with Yuki and Yuno and their interactions, I just adored. Josh Grelle’s voice acting for Yuki in the dub REALLY saved his material here, as he made Yuki’s terrible day with Yuno and his mom hilarious even when it should’ve just been uncomfortable and obnoxious. There was no Kurusu this time, and Minene stayed out of the action ‘til the very end, beforehand just completing her new look and having a laugh to herself about the idea of Yuki having to put down a literal child. Speaking of, Reisuke was a delight in how he actually got that balance of silly and creepy that both Sixth and Twelth before him couldn’t attain - this is both the second time I’ve heard Lindsey Siedel voice a boy and the second time I’ve heard her voice a psycho, and as expected, she nailed it. And it almost goes without saying that Mur Mur continues to amuse with her omakes.

Carole & Tuesday - Still enjoying this show in it’s solid first half. We got scammer robots, catchy songs, Carole and Tuesday continuing to be adorable together, Roddy being the buttmonkey, Tuesday’s big brother seeing her perform and choosing to walk out and hold his silence on her whereabouts, and a tragically ill-fated first concert for the lead duo that turned into a triumph when they met a celebrity. Angela, her mother, and Tao were only in the middle episode of the three, still no closer to engaging with the main story than before.

AND

No Matter How I Look At It, It’s You Guys Fault I’m Not Popular -

I’ve been semi-familiar with this anime for a long time now and know all about the main character, Tomoko Kuroki, but now I watch the first episode and I think Excel Saga’s first episode had more of a plot! Seriously, the episode was just several excruciating minutes of watching a horrible human being struggle with her lack of popularity in high school via delusions, talks, makeovers, seeking new hangout spots, or whatever else her twisted little mind could come up with, and it ends abruptly with the main character as miserable as ever. ....But it was excruciating in all the best ways, Tomoko’s horrible in all the best ways (ways that make her disturbingly relatable), and I quite enjoyed what I watched in spite of it’s dreary, unforgiving atmosphere and disconnected incidents. It reminded me very much of something that Jhonen Vasquez would make in manga/anime format, right down to insane opening and ending sequences and even a scene that was shot for shot a reference to the Death Note anime. The dub voice acting was also great, namely Monica Rial as Tomoko and David Matranga (this is like the third or fourth time I’ve heard this guy in an anime role!) as her brother Tomoki, who make their characters and material so hilarious. So I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing more of this.

#Anime Update

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mikkock · 4 years

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Uhm??????? Unacceptable?? Please tell me more about your OCs in that last art? I demand it? I want a full report on my desk before morning? Cite your sources please?

Oh no,, you’re asking,,, about my own faves,,, sorry to everyone, but I guess im never going to shut up ever now. (i already don’t shut up ever, what have u done, im now going to speak so much that society will collapse AT LEAST)

But for real. I enjoy pretending I don’t have faves, I love all my kids the same, buT WE ALL KNO THAT’S A LIE, those two my fave bitches (they snatched that title from the last two faves, rip to them, and they also snatched, n I must really make that clear, the title of “the bitches with the most AUs from the previous previous faves. Their power.)

SO. Get ready for a ride, table of content: them, their respective character, their story, and the pLETHORA OF ALTERNATE STORIES I GAVE THEM because i must yell about all the versions of my kids i have (non-exhaustive cause its that serious bro, but ill take extra time for the universe depicted in that art just for u bby). (tbh if clamp is allowed to sprinkle their fave gays in all their universes so am i, except they aint secondary characters there, every story is just theirs. love that concept.)(itll be so long you’re getting a whole novel even if i have to post it in two posts)

So~ Em twos. Dari n Wei-wei as I call em, or Dumbass n Egg if you wanna get friendly.

They’re my proudest instance of “oops i made a squad of characters, and two of them just accidentally were so perfectly compatible and complementary oh no I guess they’re in love now.” And then they became my favourite. Cause I guess their potential was too much (jk its bc they hot)

cuties.

I spent ten minutes wondering which to introduce first cause dang son, I want to talk bout them both so much shefjgfdg

First, as I technically designed him first (like ten minutes before the other), my man weiwei. if u ever saw my art its impossible that you havent seen him at least once. cause i’m legit always drawing him. cause im in love bro.

Demonstration : here are my computer scribbled weiweis of 2020 so far (with a few daris there n there they’re a package deal), that i could find, and they do not include all the paper sketches that i’m too lazy to take pics of. (i just been drawing him with so much hair these days that’s illegal, his brand is baldness)

But anyway, he’s CHEN Chia-Wei, he’s 21, he’s Taiwanese n I love him. Two very important facets of his character when you meet him: he doesn’t talk, and is absolutely, in every single dimension, built to make you fall head over heels for him.

He’s (in the “canon” storyline if i may call it that since it’s def not my most developed one but oh well) an art student, mostly paints but is also great at photography and videography (his vibe is busy hectic pieces with strong bold colours, lots of harsh edges, and very people focused).

Aside from that, he’s also super into fashion, and because he’s part of the rich boy squad (the “im broke so im giving half my characters wealth in compensation) he Can and Does exhibit some quite funky fits when he feels like it. (maybe a reason I draw him a lot, since my fave thing is pretty boys in weird ass clothes)(and then i also draw him in just casual shit cuz tittiful men in plain white tees you know. there’s just something about it.)

Small compilation of outfits. ft me and my band handwriting roasting outfits that id also kill to own but ok u know.

He digs music. (i make playlists for my OCs and i gotta say, his is the best one, i spent so many hours researching it, “arranging” it etc n its still a work in progress but dude. she got many moods my fave part is when it suddenly turns into so many cheesy ballads also she’s enormous cause im as wordy in playlists as I am in writing.) listens to a lot, n also he can play piano n guitar. cause you know. heartthrobs got to win your heart with a song (and if he’s alone he can even mumble some songs, who knows maybe even sing em softly, definitly a sight to stumble on accidentally). Big main artists that have his vibes are Hello Nico, No Party for Cao Dong, n Circa Waves’s “what’s it like over there” album.

He does a lot of sports. He ain’t fit through magic, rip to him. He’s got a serious routine, and it’s a time he likes to use alone, cause nothing like running at the break of dawn, alone with your thoughts, which you can just easily forget through the exhaustion of a workout session afterwards.

he also eats. A lot. Food is just good, bro. (the canon story is def happening some place europe aka his biggest struggle is how expensive food is here. outrageous.)

He secretly loves super cheesy movies. the dramatic romcoms??? the cute shows that are just so cute and worriless?? anything involving soulmates??? yeh dude. he watches it, he reads it, he listens to it, and he may cry about it, but no one will know. That’s the one true guilty pleasure. (and he definitly has a collection of romance dvds, books n manhuas in his old room back at the family home. where no one can see it. perks of studying abroad. no one can see ur hoarding of material that clashes your image. “yes i watch edgy experimental things haha yes i love those smart people movies of course wow the philosophy…” and then immediatly goes to watch the trashiest predictable but oh so sweet dramas all night)

While he doesn’t speak (as in with the mouth) he can communicate in a bunch of language, due to having moved around quite a bit. On top of his native mandarin and hokkien, he’s fluent in English, so he can use those to write, and is also fluent in TSL, and pretty good in HKSL (and from that, other close-in-syntax sign languages). So he doesn’t have trouble getting around, but then he is also overall quiet in public (with close friends and over text though, that’s another story, that’s where he gets chattier, and also where you may get more of his true personality). Also, he can speak with his sister. That’s pretty cool bro.

I was going to say he’s a very “hides his true colours under a shell” type of character but you know, for an egg character, that’s pretty ironic. We love poetic cinema.

He presents himself as a very laid back, chill detached dude, going with the flow and all that great stuff, and masterfully mixes just the right doses of mysterious, flirty and calm to just go around vibing. But ain’t that jUST THE MILLENIAL’S ILLNESS, those dANG KIDS, going around, gettin relationships but never intimacy 👏😢 (there’s more to it dont leave)

First of all, before you see the Drama, the Turmoil, the first thing you notice when you really do befriend him is that he’s c h i l d i s h, he gets sulky when things dont go following the plan, he gets whiny n jealous for not getting attention , he gets competitive over stupid challenges, and way too playful if you start teasing, and when he gets flustered too…you think you get cool stoic dude but actually you get a dude who’s reacting to things with way too much intensity, and boi i thought u were gon be mature what’s that why have you been pouting for three days over losing a bet come on- That’s mostly coming up when he interacts with his sister, but the closest you are to him to more of it you get to see.

He’s also an affectionate dude actually. Like physically. As in you’ll get spontaneous hugs. He’s come nap on your shoulder. That’s a perk of befriending him if you ask me.

Also he tries to look so cool, so tough haha. He’s actually a lil sensitiv boi. he gets fluffy, he gets flustered, he heart eyes. you turn around and he’s gazing at ya as if you were the whole universe. he gets a mini crisis for holding hands with his crush. ya know. he’s secretly a softie.

nerd.

Then in the “what he doesn’t show” (my fave part), where you stock all the anxieties, all the trauma… Obviously there’s a lot of anxiety here (selective muteness being a symptom of it, he hides the other ones very well) mostly fear of inadequacy, of abandonement and of loneliness. mmmmmmmaybe that’s why he was v reticent to continue pursuing that one guy he was into when he realised he was just a tad too into him oh no is that some,, like?? some lovey-love?? cant have that im afraid of gettin heartbroken bro. Aint that sad for a someone who’s one true goal is just findin someone to love and to be with forever, the struggles of yearnin for a soulmate when there’s nothing you fear more than getting attached to a person and letting them see you and your flaws.., delicious.

Now tho (because its so alone speaking about a character on their own and i just wanna get to the part where i can speak bout em together and how they bring out bits of each others ya kno, the good kush….), Dari…

He’s pretty, i must say, and got the funniest hair to draw, and comes from the most opposite background to weiwei’s.

Darian Andriev PARVANOV, also 21, comes from the remote Bulgarian countryside, but i still love him (this makes it sound as if i wouldnt normally love someone from the bulgarian countryside. its not what i meant. by default ud remind me of my son so you’d start being liked if u came from the bulgarian countryside) Now for the first instance of “wow, the complementarity”. The first thing i thought making Dari was that he looked too cool, and that he obviously was a dumbass, and mostly that he was physically unable to shut up. (o fuck he’s me)

best picture i could find of him. He’s got the dilemma of “wow he looked so pretty n cool until he opened his mouth”

He’s ALSO an art student (cause they were initially created for the purpose of filling the gap of “i have ocs in every field except the one i sorta know that’s so stupid”), painting major (def vibes differently than weiwei though, he’s doing those soft pretty landscapes n flowers, everything real pretty and peaceful, we got some impressionism nerd in here folks).

He was/is a real country boy, farm family, he helped tend the fields, he worked in plantations for pocket money, he knows how to take care of cattle and chicken and goats and all the cool babies you can take care of, he can tell whether the soil is good or not, he can drive a tractor, and doesnt fear dirt.

but then also he’s kind of a neat freak, he hates getting paint on himself, so the duality of man, dirt ok but paint? disgostin. his spaces are real neat and spotless, he likes cleaning (its relaxing) and does it nearly too often.

his dumbassery comes from lack of common sense and impulsiveness, aside from that he’s actually what you’d call “mad smart”, dude had em good grades, he can memorise pages upon pages of the most trivial information, he has an accumulation of knowledge beyond limits, and is good at problem solving. so he can recite all the words of the F letter of the dictionnary, but would also put a curling iron in his mouth to see if it would curl his tongue. (side note, he does have a problem with heat n fire, most his “oopsie how i wound up hurting myself on acccident” story involve burning -that stove was just too tempting…)

while he doesnt feel very attached to his home country, he does feel strongly for his family. he’d do anything for his mum (and actually does everything to make her proud already, that’s his one main goal), and he’s ready to sacrifice a lot for her (as in, spend years working non-stop a really uncomfortable job so his mother wouldnt have to pay a cent of his expenses even though she said she could by doing some sacrifices herself,and then being ready to come back as soon as needed if anything happened, and potentially drop his career and dream n go back to the farm life to provide for mama)(also he still does hold onto some parts of his home country’s traditions, and does sometimes feel homesick but more in a ‘i left the most beautiful landscapes n the city feels cramped and claustrophobic and i dont know people and i dont feel in the right place cuz im a forreigner with a thicc accent who doesnt master the language of this place and straight up have different body language communicators due to cultural difference oh lord i wanna be home where a nod means no and a head shake is yes i keep misunderstanding everything”)

if you want background noise he’s the perfect pal to call over, he’s just so chatty, he got hours and hours of non stop speech ready for you. you can shut him up once you’re done listening with the offering of food. works everytime.

he’s definitly not shy. neither in terms of talking to people, nor when it comes to making decisions. he’s quite bold, and rarely hesitates to go towards something he wants. he’s direct in his approach to most everything.

he likes partying. mostly the socialising part, talkin to people is just fun ya feel. and being in the crowd, doing whatever, pressure free? ya can dance n enjoy yourself, and people wont notice? yeah that’s nice. but doesnt do it super often cause broke bitches aint got the party time n budget.

he likes arm. (just an excuse for me to drop this thing here cuz i like it)

While he’s an overall bubbly looking character, with a cheery loud personnality, he does carry some youth trauma that has him more reticent to engage in happiness, he comes from what you could call “not the wokest background” and he may have fallen victim of it : he’s kind of a flashy noticeable character, both physically and in his personnality, and doesnt exactly matches the expectations of dudes in the area he comes from (delicate, emotional and sweet guy? that doesnt exist bro). He went through it, and it has definitly had some impact on his confidence in many aspects. But he’s 100% the type of guy to put on the fake happy front because if feeling bad is sad, making the people you care about sad for you too is Unacceptable Right??? relying on friends?? what???

But then what are we supposed to be doing with such charming characters huh,,,

Make them fall in love obviously.

Their story obviously has to do with falling in love and workin a relationship cause if I dont write romance i literally die, but I make the center pivot of all of it communication, and barriers in communications. Most obvious being them coming from wildly different cultures, having different native languages, and also the ways you adapt to muteness (what i love most bout that part is even then they fucked up given the easiest quickest small body language things to communicate are head nods n then i managed to make one come from the one country that reverses those like iconic how do they even understand each other -through a lot of work and love bro) but also on more “introspective” points, how to say things that you are even afraid to think about, how to open up and share your burdens and trauma with someone, how to say words you’ve been convinced you weren’t allowed to, the inner turmoil of communication in short. And then also communication through art, and through alternative unusual ways. If i were snobbish i could call it something like “a thinkpieces on how humans overcome obstacles in communication, and adapt, all for the sake of pursuing love” but fact is its mostly boys being in love n learning how to speak, figuratively and also quite literally. And also its me having fun with making characters evolve from each other, be able to influence each other for the better, helping each other be more comfortable with themselves and express the true things of their personnality, and discover new aspects. I just wanna write intense and soulful love bro.

So in less concept and more facts, weiwei meets dari, dari being his puppy self just immediatly strikes a conversation and weiwei gets interested cause “oho nice pretty boy? very good. i want some of that”. they get closer because you cant fight off the Power of friendship (and also the power of “what your friend is bestie with my friend?? guess we hanging out”) and then friendship and interest turns into pining, held back by respective dread of what romance with the other would mean (as in “romance?? cant have that we cant feel” and “with him?? cant do that, convince yourself he’s just a friend immediatly what would the family think”) but eventually they do have to just crash into one another cause that’s just the gravitational pull bro, its physics bro. and from then on its all unlearning destructive behaviours, bettering oneself with the help of the other, and getting over trauma to finally live ur best life. and gettin fckin married bro they’re both cheeseballs theyll wanna wed

BUT MAKING EM FALL IN LOVE ONCE ISNT ENOUGH time to make 3894853 alternate universes about em.

Lets speak bout my fave of those for a hot second.

First of all, the one of the art that brought this ask, guess i could call it “Pretty Tribes” AU, bunch of tribes live and do their things, having nature and energy powers. Dari n Weiwei’s tribes are bros, the latter’s powers needing them to move around to get energy from different places, enabling them different abilities. So basically they get to hang at the other’s place while the regenerate energy from there, and in exchange they help them out with various tasks (dari’s tribe is a rly farmer oriented one, with plant magic, while weiwei’s got more poyvalent powers, and have very good healers notably, so it comes in handy). The two boys were born a few months apart in their respective tribes, so naturally, anything the two clans meet, they’re put together to play and all, and from that they became besties, and each time they meet, after the gaps of time separating the two groups, they feel more and more of a little something else~ story is themed round growing up, friendship between clans, their traditions and cultures, and pretty boys in pretty clothes in pretty landscapes interacting with nature.

The superpower AU, i fuckin love it bro. Its an old one, made for other characters, but i just love it so much that i had to inject my faves in it. Its got a grimy ugly setting, bad government, propaganda, and fights between super-people (heavily mediatised for entertainment and reinforcing the idea that “look at these evil villains thank god us the good government protects you from them”), with a side of bad ethics in science. In all that, those two have the role of “those two young enemy warrior and villain, they were so powerful and fought so hard”, public figures, legendary and admired by both sides, everyone followed their fights, til one day they presumably died in one of their showdowns. (haha sike they actually found themselves talking for 5 seconds and realised they lived in a society, n built a plan to run away). The main characters get to find they’re alive because one of em had history with super-warrior-golden-boy and go to seek their help to overthrow the Big Bads. (stealing them from their nice gay cottage hermit life smh so rude)

Mermaids. I like those. Sailor weiwei sees merman dari, they both save each other in different occasions, they grow fascinated with each other, they’re at sea, water romance. Amazing. AU made half cuz i just like water n fish. and shirtless sailors.

(i couldnt find art of it in five minutes so have a link to that lil animatic piece i made of it once)

Indie band AU, where i was listening to songs that vibe so well with those two in general n then my brain was like “what if they’re the ones playing”. They’re (along with the rest of the art squad) a nice little alternative rock band, doing their thing, then one of their songs blows up, and they get quite the attention, to the dismay of dari who wrote that song in a moment of “oh no im so in love with my bandmate but i cant tell him what if i ruin everything we have going on ill just have to love from afar and deal with that” and now has way too many people interested in who he wrote it about and theorising from his every move when performing it (a mix of music, secret crushes and social media) (ft a picture of neither of them but its the least ugly art i found of this AU cuz its old and instruments are the bane of my existence)(also kelana is so pretty i gotta flaunt her around)

in kind of the same vibe, as in we’re in a music world overexposed to social media, i also integrated em to an AU i did for fun, “boyband AU” as its called aka idol based band system cuz you kno, i got a hobby, lets apply it. Band boy Dari and bodyguard Weiwei got a thing going on, but can’t really act on it in any way, because they’d just destroy the whole band if it ever came public. Featuring annoying bandmates, catchy pop songs and people making fanaccounts of that one hot Mr.Bodyguard cause dang he hot.

(all the art of this one so ugly im sorry)

SPY AU, one of my fave brand. They spies, they get assigned on the same mission, they work real nice with each other. spies hot. fights. strategy. i just like the concept. Gays taking down the worst traffics imaginable??? I love that song.(i actually have so much on this cause s p i e s are fuckin great)

Fashion. U kNOW i have an AU for fashion. Supermodel and his private stylist, trying to maintain the line of professionalism. And failing to do so. Lets make out in unpractical designer clothes.

Have an highschool AU for a bunch of characters, injected them as “spinoff”, start chatting online being art buddies, fall in love without meeting (ft. all the iconics of internet friendship like knowing tiny details of their personnalities but not the fact that they have a sister or “waIT ur a GUY i thought u were a girl wow wild good news for my gay ass”)

n those are my faves as far as i remember, i got a fuckton of small other ones that arent fleshed out enough, or some that are more of a guilty pleasure universe, and some that are more like “projects that i can expend on as soon as i run out of daydream material” (like u kno those hospital drama shows with super innacurate medicine n shit like idk scrubs or whatever, yeh i want some of that but im keeping it for later)

#thats way less talk than i thought id do #prolly bc i wrote half of it when it was between midnight and one AM #wait no it was 2 am #but ye #sry if shit messy af #those two are my faves tho n talkin bout em on the spot is hard cuz my brain is screaming about everything bout em at once #if u wanna get more info on em do ask i love them so much n i feel i didnt do em justice here cuz speaking is a fraud words dont exist #im glad they caught ur interest tho #nothin more gratifyin than not being the only bitch who likes his own children

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partlycharlie-archive · 6 years

Text

EP: things leo does; by jason grace

chapter 1. realization link to chapter 2

summary: 1. no, mom, i'm not in love with leo. yes, i know, his hair is very curly and very cute and his smile is adorable and his suspenders basically make my day and the way his eyes crinkle at the corners makes me want to Die but - fuck. word count: 2,246 warnings: i don’t think there’s anything but let me know a/n: a birthday fic for @caiprisa i love you!!! i'm sorry i couldn't get this out yesterday >:( but here it is i hope yall like it ahh!!! read on ao3

1. chews on the end of pencils when he's concentrating

“Hey.”

“Hey, Leo.”

“Hey, Jason.”

“Hey, Leo. Guess what.”

“Hey, Jason. What.”

“Hey, Leo? Stop chewing on your fucking pencil.”

Leo finally looks up from the blueprints he's working on, bright red mechanical pencil still shoved in between his teeth.

“Okay…” he says, eyes tracking the movement of the lead as it bobs up and down in time with his words. “Am I distracting you?”

Jason’s eyes track the movements too, until he realizes that he’s literally watching Leo’s mouth and hurriedly glances away. “Okay - first, I’m literally doing nothing? I’m just sitting here, I dunno what you could be distracting me from. Second, no , but you tend to complain way too fuckin’ much when you go to erase some mistake or whatever and realize that you’ve bitten all the erasers off of your ridiculously expensive pencils.”

The brunet grins reluctantly in response, slowly letting the rubber end of his pencil tip until it falls out of his mouth, and they both watch as it lands on the wooden floor with a decisive crack . “Well, then.” He turns back to his sketch - an outline for Jason’s newest cabin, since Hera knows he’d never be able to do it himself (and boy, does she love to complain about how he can’t do any of his fucking work) - and silence overtakes the bunker.

Jason glances over at the flashing dialog clock stationed on the wall, squinting when the neon red numbers swim in front of his eyes before settling into straight lines.

3:06 AM.

Holy shit - when the hell did it get this late? He looks at Leo again and finds bloodshot eyes, ruffled hair that’s had a hand pushed through it one too many times, bags under his eyes and an almost manic smile on his face that stays present even as he grumbles at himself for a mistake in his measurements. Jason’s eyebrows scrunch up and he leans back into the swivel chair he uses whenever he and Leo are in the bunker together. He decides not to focus on the fact that he’s there so often that he has a designated place to chill - that, and the sudden realization that Leo made it that way.

Anyway.

“Leo.”

The boy in question throws his hands up and spins around wildly in his chair, going in circles for a while before finally settling to meet Jason's eyes. “¿Que quieres de mi?” [t - What do you want from me?]

Jason smiles a tiny bit- just a lift of the corners of his mouth, really. “You realize it's 3am, right?”

Leo's mouth drops open and he scrambles out of his chair, almost falling onto the floor in his search for his watch. Jason doesn’t tell him about the giant neon clock that he built, perfectly content to watch him look around like a maniac. “Shit, Jake's gonna kill me…” he finally mumbles, burying his face in his hands.

Jason smiled, “It'll be fine. C'mon, let's start heading back.”

2. forms one hand into a peace sign when he takes photos

Jason's eyes widen as a blur of Piper-shaped color speeds past he and Leo, holding something vaguely similar to a Polaroid camera.

"You do realize that's not an actual Polaroid camera, right? The Polaroid company stopped making the original cameras like a decade ago or somethin’." Leo looks up at him with a mildly amused expression, as if he thinks the statement is common knowledge. Leo thinks this, of course, because he is a weirdo with obscure immediate processing camera knowledge.

Is he thinking out loud?

“Nah, not really,” Leo says, shrugging his shoulders and adjusting the straps of his suspenders almost immediately after. Apparently Jason had immediately continued thinking out loud while wondering whether he was thinking out loud, because that’s just his life. “You just mumbled something about Polaroids and I figured it was in reference to the running Piper blob.”

“Huh. That’s interesting. Everyone just calls them Polaroids, so I guess I never really thought about it. What are they called, then?”

Leo pauses for a second. “Well. I don’t think the film or pictures or whatever has an actual name - which is why everyone just calls the pictures Polaroids - but I’m vaguely sure the brand of camera is Fujifilm or something. I haven’t used one of those since I got my DSLR one, but I’m pretty sure they sell for, like, 60 bucks in the city.” Jason nods, a thoughtful look settling on his face in the form of a tilted eyebrow.

“THERE YOU ARE!” Leo and he jump about a foot in the air (Jason having to fight his instinct yelling at him to fly the fuck away, and Leo almost slamming himself into Jason’s back) when Piper runs back to stand in front of them. She’s got a hopeful look on her face and a wild look in her eyes, and neither of the conflicting emotions make Jason feel any better about the camera in her hands.

“I’ve been looking for you guys everywhere! Where the hell have you been?” she asks, breath still shaky from all the running she’s probably been doing. Leo and Jason share a amused glance.

Leo speaks up. “We’ve been here for like an hour, Pipes. I dunno how you haven’t seen us yes - we’ve been sitting here for like half an hour and you ran right past us only a minute ago."

Piper narrows her eyes at Leo, seemingly reluctant to accept his explanation, but shrugs and settles on the soles of her feet with a goofy grin. “Well, it doesn't really matter now that I've found you, right? Anyway, I need your help with something. It's not serious, don't worry about that, but I'd really really really appreciate it.”

Leo smiles widely at her, his eyes crinkling at the edges. “Sure, as long as it doesn’t lead to the possibility of my graceful, yet horrific and destructive death. What's up?”

She rolls her eyes and ignores him, turning just the slightest bit to face Jason instead. “Do you think you could help me get pictures of everyone? I’m, uh, planning on heading to New Rome in a bit- with Nico? If he’ll take me, y'know." She shrugs. "It’s summer, though, and since everyone’s here I’d, uh," she coughs suddenly, "like to get as many pictures as I can.” Jason can hear the tone of wistfulness in Piper’s voice, and he winces internally in sympathy.

The war hadn't ended all that long ago - neither had their relationship - and the wounds were still fresh, in both cases. He, at least, could understand the desire to make memories that would last.

Heads turns towards Leo as he starts bouncing on the tips of his toes, his face lit up in excitement. “Yeah, sure! Sounds awesome to me! How many people do you want to take photos of? Do you have enough film? Do you want to be in the photos? Do you want us to be in the photos? Are they going to be candids? Where are you going to put them? When do you-”

“Leo, chill, okay? I’m taking things one step at a time.” Leo grins sheepishly and stops bouncing ignoring the confused stares from bystanders (fucking New York - Jason can never get a break from staring people, he swears ). “Can I take a photo of you two first?” she asks.

Jason and Leo both nod at Piper simultaneously, then look at each other with happy grins on their faces. "Yeah, let's do it!"

Piper steps forward, pulling her camera out of the case hanging from her neck. Jason and Leo both scramble to get into some kind of position for the picture. The shorter of the two slings an arm around the taller boy’s shoulder- Jason, in turn, wraps his arm around Leo's waist, his thumb brushing against Leo's slender hipbone.

Piper beams, aiming it towards the two.

"Alright, ready? One, two, th - Connor I swear to god if you don’t get out of the shot I’m going to literally murder you - okay, ready? - alright, here we go -" Jason feels a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye but ignores it until the flash of the camera goes off. He turns to face Leo, who, at the last moment, had thrown up a peace sign in front of his face. With wide eyes, Jason slowly looks back at Piper, who has lowered the camera and is waiting for the picture to come out. She doesn’t seem very surprised- all she does is raise an eyebrow in response. What?

Jason’s face twists. Does he always do that?

She shrugs, and Leo shifts under Jason’s weight. Jason draws back a bit, surprised by Leo’s casual acceptance of his arm in such an intimate position, and Leo looks up at him with furrowed eyebrows.

You okay?

Jason smiles widely, running a thumb over the smooth skin on Leo’s hip and pretending to ignore the small shudder that goes through the smaller boy. Yeah, I’m fine.

3. covers his mouth with his hand while laughing

"Hey, Leo." Jason's voice is colored with hidden amusement.

The brunette in question lifts his head briefly from where he's hunched over, playing with some sort of toy helicopter.

"Yeah?" he asks, already starting to smile.

"What did the Vikings name their plant?"

Leo snorts. "Fuck if I know."

Jason starts laughing before he even starts the sentence. "L-LEAF Erikson!"

Leo, despite himself, feels his mouth start to stretch wide into a grin. Before he knows it, Jason and he are both sitting on the ground, heads buried in their hands and shoulders shaking with giggles.

"H-hey, hey, Leo," Jason manages.

Leo doesn't bother trying to respond, instead just flopping a hand in Jason general's vicinity.

"Wh-why did the s-skeleton wan-want a friend?"

Leo sighs in mock exasperation, his raucous laughter finally dying down in favor of a response. "Why?"

Jason's eyes crinkle. "Because he was BONELY!" Leo immediately bursts out in laughter, slapping a hand across his mouth in what appears to be a reflex.

How has he never noticed that before?

God, he loves Leo’s laugh. It’s more like a giggle than anything - all high-pitched and bubbly; his mouth stretches into the widest smile Jason’s ever seen, and his tongue sticks out between his teeth just a little bit, and holy fuck Jason’s in love with Leo.

Shit.

4. talks in spanish when he gets frustrated

“ … ¿y por qué? Porque Nyssa es una puta, y no puede hacer una tarea tan simple como esta - y ahora tengo que hacer esta mierda yo solo, porque todos los demás son demasiado jodidamente estúpido para hacerlo. Dios mio… ” [t - …and why? Because Nyssa’s a whore, and can’t complete a task as simple as this - and now I need to do this shit by myself, because everyone else is too fucking stupid to do it. My god…]

Jason’s eyes widen minutely - he isn’t fluent by any means, but he knows enough to get by, and to tell that Leo is seriously pissed.

He raps on the door of the Hephaestus cabin softly, poking his head in and watching as sunlight starts to filter in through the doorway. Leo sets his hammer down with a bang , and Jason twitches.

“ Jesuchristo… yes, Chris, I know I haven’t eaten in fourteen hours, yes, Chris, I’m aware that I haven’t eaten in longer, but if none of you are willing to help me finish this I don’t really have any other option.” Leo trails off into a series of angry mumbles as he lets out a soft sigh, and Jason frowns worriedly.

“Not Chris, but I can’t say I blame him for being worried about you.” Leo’s face transforms as he turns around in his chair; his eyebrows smooth out and he gets a tiny smile on his face and his eyes crinkle at the corners and he’s fucking gorgeous .

Ahem.

Jason clears his throat (and his mind, though less successfully) and shifts the tray balanced in his hands, holding it up for Leo’s inspection.

Leo finally looks down at the food on the tray and almost immediately stands up, grin getting wider despite his stumbling over the tool left on the floor next to his chair. Jason bites his lower lip in an attempt to hide the fond smile he knows he gets whenever Leo does something dumb.

“Damn,” Leo mutters, walking over to grab the tray from him. “I knew there was a reason I loved you.”

Jason swallows harshly. “Y’know, ‘loved’ kind of implies you don’t love me now - I’ve gotta admit, that’s a little disheartening.” Leo rolls his eyes exaggeratedly from where he’s setting down the overflowing tray of food (okay, yes, maybe Jason went a little overboard when wishing up food for Leo to eat, but what do you expect?) on his bed. He straightens up and lifts an outstretched hand in Jason’s direction, twisting his face into something vaguely representing heartbreak.

“Alas,” Leo says with conviction, “mine boiling love for thee hath faded into somethink simmering, not nearly as warming underneath thy soul!”

Jason starts to form a properly Shakespearean response in his head, then stops. “What the hell is that even supposed to mean?”

Leo shrugs. “I think I stopped being in love with you. Not that that would ever happen in real life, obviously.” He winks.

“Right. Obviously.”

#partlycharlie #my fic #pjo #valgrace #jason grace #leo valdez #caiprisa #@caitlyn #<3 hey guess what i love you #this was cool to do #it only has another chapter #so i'll probs post on the 24th #:)

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