Adrian Kim

Atticus had felt confident when he’d asked Adrian out, really believing the man had met him halfway with his feelings. After all, he’d learned Adrian had taken his favorite shirt and cell phone and was using them to try and contact him and bring him back. But after Adrian’s very obvious attempt at deflecting, Atticus had to wonder if this was something the man did with everyone he screwed. Keeping it light, but unable to keep the bitter undertones from rising to the surface, Atticus laughed. “I don’t know, I thought it was already leading that way.” He rarely did relationships; if Adrian didn’t want one, that was something he could deal with. “Actually, you know what, I’m kind of tired.” his was partially true; he’d barely slept the night before. “Maybe I can catch up with you later.”

Adrian didn’t know what he had been expecting when he decided to go out of way to find Atticus after their landlord had given away their apartment when he assumed he and Briar were dead, but it wasn’t this. The man couldn’t have believed that they on the way to becoming... exclusive. They’ve barely been on any dates, nevermind truly getting to know each other. He could sense that Atticus was backtracking from his initial surprise from earlier, and Adrian didn’t like where this was going. “Well, I didn’t want to assume anything,” he said without thinking. He’d led people on before, it wasn’t like this was anything different. He liked his companionship and wanted to keep it, but he’d make his terms clear. He didn’t understand why this was beginning to prove to be difficult. He decided to see how far he’d get. “I’m sorry,” he said, his features softening. “This all started as fun and games, but I realized that you’ve become quite special to me. Otherwise I wouldn’t have gone through all that just to find you or track you to here. Mind if we spend the day together? I was actually hoping I could spend some time with you today. We don’t have to actually do anything.”

“I’m not sure yet.” Beatrice replied honestly, her eyes glancing down to the dark liquid in her glass that she was swirling around ever so slightly. “It all depends on how these first few weeks go, I suppose.” She then brought the glass up to her lips, and took a long swig, downing half of the glass. “What’s the island like?”

“Hmm,” he mused as he took a sip of his glass. “Well, I’d be happy to show you around and make your stay here quite... memorable,” he said, his voice going down a few octaves as he smirked at her. “The island was made so that demigods could be themselves without worrying about other people noticing their powers or the things that followed them. I’d say it’s got decent people, a great night life, and if you know the right people, there're a lot of fun things to do.”

Daniel held on a little tighter as Adrian picked up speed, enjoying watching the scenery slip past as they sped ahead. Once the motorcycle’s ignition was off and the kickstand down he dismounted. “I mean - I could definitely eat,” he confirmed, deciding that was more polite than saying that he could eat a horse. He unfastened the helmet and pulled it off, broad grin still in place as he handed it back to Adrian - it had been a long time since he’d been on the back of a motorcycle, and he’d forgotten how exhilarating it could be. “Shall we?”

Adrian chuckled and took Daniel’s helmet from him, tucking it under his hood before slipping his own helmet in a pouch and locking it by the hook under the hood. “Well, I wouldn’t mind eating you out after, once we’re through,” he mused breezily as he walked passed him and led the way into the restaurant. He was definitely in a good mood after dance class, and the endorphins were starting to kick in. He motioned to the lady the podium and she smirked at him before leading the way to their table. He motioned for Daniel to take the seat opposite him at the booth before giving the waitress a wink as she handed them their menus. “Dinner’s on me, tonight,” he said with a smile.

Jasmine snapped her attention to Adrian. She – hadn’t really thought much of the idea of friends with benefits. She had had some of course, but they never called it that. Never really – thought of it as a thing she could do for long periods of time. She sucked in a long breath and chewed on her bottom lip, brow furrowed. “I – Not really no… but now I’m wondering if I should,” she said, letting out a long sigh. The idea of not being with Luna was weird, but so was the idea of being with her before she worked through – whatever this was. “Maybe if I tried to move on, or at least tried to find a friend with benefits I could figure out where the hell my brain and heart were when it comes to Luna.” she sighed and ran a hand through her hair tossing it to one side. “The only one?” She asked with a laugh, “And I don’t know – since now I guess?  I don’t— know if I should be sappy” 

“It’s not a bad idea,” he said with a shrug. If there was one thing Adrian was good at, it was avoiding any and all sorts of commitments so long as he never saw any long-term value in them. He saw all relationships as investments, and if he found that he lost more than he gained, he wasn’t about to stick around. He’d rather take what he can and count his losses. There was no point if neither him or his partners benefited from their relationship. To him, everything was a business deal. “After all, you seem like you need the companionship, or at least something to get that stick up your ass. Live a little--enjoy life! You’re too young to be worrying so much about things that may or may not be,” he said. “Exactly. Unless you can see your future down the line, where’s the harm in having a little fun while you figure things out?” He asked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. “The rest of them are terribly irritating,” he said dismissively. “Well, being a sap is rather on-brand, for you, so you needn’t worry.”

“I don’t know if I would say beloved–” But Atticus knew he needed to stop that in its tracks. He thought in the beginning no one listened to his show, and therefore he could say whatever he wanted. He’d probably gain even more traction when he’d come back to his job, seemingly from the dead. “I mean yeah. I got the message they were trying to send me, anyway.” Don’t share. Don’t say anything. It was a motto he’d kept for himself, it shouldn’t be too hard to continue. When he was around Adrian, though, he almost didn’t want to keep things inside. There were things Adrian was hiding, definitely, but Atticus had things as well. He wasn’t sure if something would even work between the two of them, but something about him made Atticus willing to try. Adrian’s touch made him come alive in a way he had never really experienced. He stayed into the kiss, missing the other’s touch. When he pulled away, he lingered close to Adrian’s face, looking into his eyes. “Do you want to? Make it work, I mean.” Atticus wasn’t being incredibly clear, but he knew Adrian understood.

Atticus was definitely someone who could keep up with him, but Adrian wouldn’t go as far to say that he was the one who would finally get him to settle down. If anything, the Greek just so happened to be one of his favorites, and it helped that he didn’t really want much from him--aside from sex, that is. It was different when it came to his clients, and he had long since learned that trusting people often got him hurt, so he was hell bent on making sure that he kept a healthy distance from people to assure his safety. After all, the only person who truly knew him was himself, and he was the only person he could rely on to keep himself safe. Whenever he felt that he had developed an... unhealthy attachment to someone, it was easy for him to snap out of it and pull away. “I’d like to see where this leads, first,” he grinned with that Cheshire cat smile. Deflecting came easily for him. “Do you want to go get lunch? Or did you want me all for yourself for a while?”

“Who didn’t?” She mumbled under her breath. She was about to give him a small shrug, when she looked up and noticed the actual smile on his face. “Wow. Look at you being all… happy?” Aida let out a light laugh in disbelief. “And here I thought I’d never see the day,” She couldn’t help, but tease, more than happy for the distraction as she slide one of the shots the bartender had placed down before her over to him. “I, uh, I went back to LA, that’s uh, it’s where I’m from, thinking that a break might help me clear my head or wrap my mind everything that happened or something? But, nope… it sort of only made things worse, so cheers? To, um, to having Briar and Atticus back?” She offered up, lifting her glass up in the air as she did.

“Am I not allowed to be happy?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at her as he chuckled. He will admit that there had been a lapse in his façade; after all he came here to make connections, not make enemies. He hoped that seeing him in better spirits would change the way she saw him. “I assure you, I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about,” he teased as he took the offered shot, clinked it against hers and downed it with ease. “That was a good idea,” he mused, as he raised his glass and motioned to the bartender for another. “Have you talked to Briar, yet?”

Daniel followed Adrian over to the bike, completely oblivious to the man’s inner conflict. Well, maybe not totally oblivious - he noticed him shaking his head, but couldn’t work out why that might have been. “You alright?” he asked, relatively sure that the answer would be yes, but - it never hurt to check. “Thanks.” He took the helmet and put it on, spending a moment to adjust the straps to fit before following Adrian’s instructions and hopping onto the motorcycle behind him. “Alright, ready when you are” he said after taking a moment to get situated.

“Yeah, just a little tired I suppose. Had a tough class, today,” he said with a chuckle as Daniel got on. “Right,” he said shortly as he released the stand and pulled out from the driveway. He took the liberty of going over the speed limit a bit to compel Daniel to hold on to him better before the made it to the restaurant in under 30 minutes. He grinned as he found a parking spot by the door and turned off the ignition. “I hope you built up an appetite because I’m starving.”

Lysander wasn’t sure what he had done to have his newly found brother hate him but he was not going to let it deter him from following him around. It wasn’t like he had much else to do. Right now he was still trying to figure out what he was going to do now that he was on the island. It wasn’t as if he had a career he could bring with him. Just working at his shop in New Orleans and even that had been five years ago. Lysander was worried he might not have any skills left. At least he was decent with his witchcraft, which proved useful as his brother attempted to disappear. Following behind him, Lysander made sure to keep up with his steps. “Have you just discovered your powers? This isn’t the strongest Mist I’ve ever seen. It’s rather cute, if I’m honest.”

Adrian had enough spirits who shadowed him day in and day out, to have to deal with another sibling who didn’t seem to take the hint that his presence was unwanted. He never asked for the power of necromancy or any more siblings to begin with, but he suppose it couldn’t be helped when you were an all powerful goddess. What were they really to do with there time? That was at least one thing he took after from his mother. He huffed, pretending that the jab on his inexperience with his powers didn’t affect him as much as he did. He was probably the only child of Hecate who never really got any formal training from their mother, but even then he had been working hard with Luna lately. “Don’t you have someone else to piss off today?”

@icariastarters​

- 

“A round of shots please. And keep them coming,” Aida mumbled over to the bartender, before tilting her head to the side towards the person next to her. “You want one too?” She offered up, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet as her hands were practically itching to wrap themselves around the familiar cool glass. She had barely even spent five seconds in her apartment after landing back in Icaria before heading to the nearest club, wanting to put the past few weeks she had back in the states behind her as soon as possible.

“Who hurt you?” He mused with a chuckle as he slid into the seat beside her. The last time he had seen her, she’d been following him around like a lost puppy as he searched for her sister and Atticus. Obviously, she didn’t seem like she was in better spirits, but he couldn’t blame her. “Sure, I’ll have one, thanks,” he said as he smiled at the bartender and leaned on the counter. He wasn’t exactly one for conversation for the most part, but he found that he quite enjoyed other people’s misery. It made his problems seem inconsequential.

This was true, all of this that Adrian was saying. It felt weird for Atticus that he was taken for a political purpose, his life used for almost nothing. But this was something he’d have to learn to get over. He smirked. “I’m guessing so, too.” He’d been putting as much proximity between him and his feelings about the situation with jokes; perhaps that was what Adrian was doing as well. “Probably more than one date, actually,” Atticus said, unable to stop himself from lazily running his fingers on the side of the man’s face. He pulled his face closer to Adrian’s, gently touching his lips with his. He’d greatly missed Adrian’s touch, and yet he felt conflicted knowing almost next to nothing about the guy. Atticus knew his name, he knew he was a nursing student. Son of Hecate. Beyond that…what about him had Adrian let him into? And would he ever let him in to know the real Adrian? Atticus had to wonder if he wasn’t being fair, though. After all, he didn’t tell the man anything either. What was the point, if it was just a quick arrangement? But he knew they’d developed past that, and now Adrian knew how Atticus felt. Maybe it was time to get to know the guy.

“But taking a beloved radio station host right out of his apartment with his roommate definitely caused quite the maelstrom in the town, so I think the intention was well received,” he said, his nerves getting the better of him as he rattled on nonsensical, political tactics. The important thing was that Atticus was back, and he could just toss his inner turmoil out the window and see where this goes. Only, having him standing before him made his stomach flutter in the most uncomfortable way. It was absolutely absurd. “Probably,” he said with a smirk as he leaned into the kiss and snuck his thumb under the Greek’s shirt, lazily trailing it along his hipbone, under the waistband of his pants. He made a mental note to find out all that he could about this man. Maybe he’ll eventually find something to rid him of this petty, childhood crush. With his extensive clientele and connection with the dead, he was sure it’d be easy enough.  

Lysander was annoyed that his brother thought that their mother brought him here. He came here on his own accord to find two of his best friends now that they weren’t being forced to stay in the same space for all of eternity. “You don’t seem pleased to have another sibling. Is now a bad time to mention that I have a twin brother who is currently living in New Orleans?” Gods, did he miss spending all of his time with Evander. Though, he did think his presence was needed on the isle considering they all had just been released from eternal damnation or whatever it was the Nyx kids were doing. If Ly were honest, he didn’t pay much attention to what exactly their whole plot was. Didn’t seem relevant at the time. He was going to reply once more when a burst of magic sent him flying, which Lysander quickly corrected himself with his own magic and popped up in front of Adrian in a rather comical fashion. “Surprise! “ He grinned as he moved to stand in Adrian’s way from moving into the building. What even was this building? It looked boring. “You can’t get rid of me that easily. I had nothing to do for nearly five years but practice my magic. I’m Lysander Yi, by the way, your brother here to annoy you until the end of time.”

“You all could rot in the River Styx, for all I care,” he muttered under his breath as he continued to tread on. He could feel his mothers presence leaving the mortal realm, and he figured it was good riddance. He didn’t have time to deal with her odd riddles, and he was just recovering from his month of grueling over the kidnappings and spending every waking hour searching for his loved ones. He decided that he’d never get himself that invested in them. It didn’t do well for his psyche, and it sure as hell merely wasted his time. He glanced at Lysander as the dumbass only seemed unfazed by their exchange. He had probably been dropped quite a number of times as a baby for a blasting to ever truly have an effect on him. He sighed as the man only seemed to keep following him like a lost puppy, obviously having nothing better to do. He waved a hand and disappeared in the Mist, partially hoping he’d lose him, but he wouldn’t be surprised if he had similar abilities. He had half a mind to propel him off this island.

“If you’re sure - thanks,” Daniel replied, offering a smile before turning to gather his things together. It had been quite some time since he’d been treated to a meal or outing of any kind, and he found himself wondering if the fact that Adrian had very clearly been flirting and had offered to pay meant this was a date. Maybe? Or maybe not - Adrian flirted a rather lot after all, but Daniel didn’t necessarily get the sense that there was any deeper meaning behind it. Ultimately, he decided it probably didn’t much matter, since dates and evenings out with mates were both things he’d sorely missed over the last couple years and he certainly wouldn’t object to either. “Sure - a lift would be great, thanks.” He’d walked here, so leaving behind his own means of transportation wasn’t an issue. His possessions gathered and the both of them looking ready to go, he pulled open the door. “After you?”

Adrian nodded and packed his things into his bag as he pulled out his helmet from the top of the lockers. His mind couldn’t help but wander off to Atticus and what he might have been doing at this hour, seeing as he hadn’t gotten a new phone yet--or at least, not that Adrian had been made aware off. He figured that if Atticus wanted to meet up, he could always sent him a chat online or something. He shook his head as he tried to push his thoughts away. He couldn’t be overthinking this, it was a waste of time and set him up to be quite vulnerable. He led Daniel to his bike and pulled out a spare helmet from the trunk and handed it to him before getting on the bike and putting on his own helmet, jacket and gloves. “Hop on,” he said with a smirk.

Some part of Jasmine just wanted to lay on the floor and just glare into the void, or scream into the void. Screaming actually sounded best right now. Could she do that? Would people look at her like she was crazy if she just screamed? Probably. “Most likely haven’t.” she shrugged. “I mean she shut me out so I guess I just forced myself not to think about it and just – do whatever I wanted too.” She shrugged. Jasmine ran a hand through her hair and sunk deeper into the seat. “I mean — she’s…” she sighed deeply, her eyes wandering and a small sweet smile crossing her lips, “Honestly, it’s hard to explain, we’ve been best friends for so long… she’s so smart, really compassionate, and respectful. She challenges me and pushes me to do better. She cares about others and wants to help them do their best, she’s sensitive, and while that can be a lot to deal with she really cares and she wants to make people happy.  And while sure, she really hurt me and that can be a real negative with it all, I know deep down she’s still the same Luna. Like yeah, she’s got flaws… but I accept them and I want to help her with them.” She shrugged, “It’s sappy.” she said, jasmine was not the most well spoken demi-god but… she tried.

Adrian couldn’t help but chuckle as Jasmine stared daggers off into space. He’d never seen her get all worked up, like this, and he was having quite the time of his life. “Well, have you ever thought of finding someone else in the mean time? If not someone you’d want to actually date, then maybe a placeholder of sorts. Or a friend with benefits--whatever tickles your fancy,” he offered with a shrug. He often found that sleeping around not only helped him pay his bills but also just helped him feel something other than an empty void. For a few moments, he could have that connection with his clients, and it was usually quite therapeutic for all parties involved. Ava had taught him how sex could be liberating and a learning experience at the same time. It was  when he could be that intimate with someone that he seemed to discover more about himself, but he understood that it wasn’t for everyone. “See, I don’t know her the way that you do, but she’s definitely the only one of my siblings that I can tolerate,” he said with a chuckle. “Since when have you ever cared about being sappy?”

Beatrice hadn’t come to Icaria to be told what she could and couldn’t do, and a soon as the bottle had been placed in front of them, she took it into her hand and poured herself a glass, then topping up her companions. “Beatrice, but please call me Bea. It’s nice to meet you too.” She replied with a smile, raising the glass to him before knocking it back. “I’m escaping my family. You?”

“Adrian,” he replied, pursing his lips for a second before he smiled and took a sip from his drink. The last thing he wanted was to deter her from handing him free drinks. “Same as you,” he said casually, not one to elaborate. He wasn’t much of a talker, but he quite liked meeting strangers in the bar. There was something about them getting tipsy and sharing personal information that amused him. “Are you here for long?”

“Well as much as I know how that feels, there does come a time when we have to learn to let people in. I mean… you let me in, as much of a mistake as that was,” she lightly grinned. She could see the pain on his features as something in his thoughts had it’s grasp on him. Clearly they were painful memories, a look Ivy was all too familiar with. “Fucked up friends for the winnn,” she sing-songed loudly, before chuckling back. “Well you’re an idiot and I would have totally done it for you had you gone missing. Buuuut- I’m not as good as my necro powers yet so I probably would have resurected a lot of dead chickens instead of finding you. But in all seriousness, honey bunny. You are a great person- despite all the bullshit you were put through as a youngin. And if he doesn’t understand why you did what you did then he is unworthy of that sweet, sweet ass of yours.”

“Have I really? I didn’t notice,” he teased half-heartedly, knowing full well that Ivy only really scratched the surface. As much as he abhorred his father, his beliefs have been deeply ingrained to his very core. To build relationships with people you share a few parts of yourself that may seem like deep, dark secrets, so that they’d be comfortable enough to share their secrets as well. For the most part, it had been effective in achieving what he wanted, which was to build trust and get people to do what he wanted. With Ivy, he really just wanted companionship from her seeing as she was one of the few people who seemed to really understand his motives, but one could never be too careful, so he was still wary of her for the most part. After all, he didn’t really know too much about her past, and neither did he want to ask. He smirked. “Misery loves company,” he mused. “I’m sure this is just an innocent crush. I’ll get over it. I don’t need that kind of relationship. It leaves me vulnerable.”

“Why not? You seem like good company, and I’ve no where to be.” The brunette replied with a smile, seeing the bartender appearing as he was waved down “Can we have another bottle of whatever this gentleman is drinking please?” She requested, gently placing her bag down beside her as she settled into the seat. “I’m Beatrice, but call me Bea.”

Adrian raised an eyebrow and wondered if this foreigner could actually hold down her liquor as the bartender nodded and brought them a bottle of spiced rum. “I’m Adrian. Nice to meet you,” he said with a charming smile, already thinking about what he could get from her. “What brings you to Icaria?”

She shook her head slowly and let out a long sigh, “I mean, maybe. But venting about it is nice too.” Jasmine muttered chewing on her bottom lip as she thought about it all. “You’re not wrong – If I don’t figure this out now I – dont think I will.” She let her head flop into her hands as he groaned, putting pressure onto her eyes trying to wipe out the headache that was slowly forming. “I can only imagine how taxing something like that would be on a body and a mind.” she muttered, slowly lifting her head to look at Adrian once again. Jasmine leaned back slowly keeping her eyes on Adrian as he spoke. “I— i want to I think. I want to understand before I make some choice that will affect my life forever if that makes sense? I mean I love her still. Stupidly. But I – Also just really – want to know what went wrong. Why she did this. I want to know if I can fix it. Because theres no reason to be that person if it can’t be fixed and this will just happen again.”

Adrian nodded and smirked. He had managed to steer the conversation away from his unresolved feelings and actually stop getting Jasmine to be all sunshines and rainbows for once in her life. He’d say that was hitting two birds with one stone, at least. “It’s not like you have a set time limit. You can take your time. I just think it’s definitely been a while, yet I don’t think you’ve ever moved passed it,” he commented as he leaned back and lounged lazily on the couch, propping his chin on his hand. He chuckled at her despair, always finding the misery of others quite amusing. “Good on you for being rational,” he mused. “What do you like about dear ol’ sister that you can truly say you love her?” He asked, wondering what truly led people to fall in love and stay in love. The idea was just too delusional to actually make sense to him.