exodus.

“It’s probably vanilla flavored ice cream...”

“My boobs. It gets the most attention.”

“It’s hard to think, honestly. It’s probably something I’ve done complete demigod unrelated.”

“It’s probably moving to Rome...”

“I have not really thought about it. It’s not my thing to think about impossible things, honestly. Although, if someone made one up for me, then that’s okay too.”

“Is that the mascot for the cereals? I fucking love him! I love his cereals!”

“Especially when it’s attention like this,” Hawk shook his head and wrung his hands together. “I mean it would be different if the attention was positive but this is definitely the toxic kind. I just want it to be over, you know?”

The female nodded in agreement to his sentiment. Even Antonette herself wanted all this to be over and for things to return to normal. Everyone looked aggressive towards the problem at hand and she wished that things would go back to its peace. “I totally understand. I want everything to return to normal too. Everyone seems to be talking about the mole here and there.”

          alabaster nodded a second time. “so are you ready to go now? if you’re not too busy, that is.”

“You’re not pissed about it?” he asked, brows furrowed. She wasn’t the first person he met to feel that way, but it never failed to surprise him. “You didn’t live outside before, then? Or you would have stayed here anyway?” Had he had a choice, Ira may have found New Rome pleasant, gossips and elitists aside. The town was well designed and didn’t lack much of anything, but no wild animal likes its cage, no matter how golden. “Children as in, having them?” Ira half-joked, trying to understand just how much the young woman wanted to avoid going back to camp. “But I mean, moving on with your life and all… It’s better to find a cool place to live than be parked in one of those bunk beds in the overflowing cohorts. Which one were you in?”

His question made her chuckle for a bit. Of course she was pissed at the president’s decision and even Zeus’ - Jupiter, whatever, same person - decision to trap them but she was more or less unaffected by the whole ordeal - not yet anyways. “Not so much, I guess. I mean, there’s a lot of things to be pissed about this whole ordeal, I just choose to adapt because I think getting pissed would be more in their favor than ours.” She told the other, knowing that the gods didn’t really care if they were mad or not. “Having them or adopting them, I don’t mind whichever, honestly.” She replied, even if she wasn’t ready for children yet, she had thought of it and having them. “I used to be in the fifth. Not really the best credentials so I got stuck at the bottom of the ditch.”

And she wasn’t even an annoyingly proud Roman, what more could Eden ask? His position on the couch, while already open and relaxed, became even more so at her words. All things considered, talking about the only wound he had ever received may be therapeutic, especially seeing Toni’s open mind so far. Humming, the son of Angelos, brushed away invisible specks of dust from the back of the sofa, leaning in closer to his guest when he felt ready for a change of topic. “Well, my dear Roman for whom I don’t need to adjust, since you asked first I guess I should do the honours, right? Unless you feel extremely motivated. Do you want anything else, by the way? Food or drink or anything.”

It was finally great to meet someone easy to talk to other than Orlando. She would’ve tried him out if he didn’t have a girlfriend. Her homewrecking days were over for so long and seeing her college friends crumble at relationships taught her to be mindful of people’s feelings. But if the male had decided to pursue her, she would totally go along with it. Him scooting closer to her made her feel like it was too close for comfort, in fact it felt like it was asking for something else other than talking but she needed to stop assuming before she thought that the male liked her. “Hm, well, do the honours then. I’m feeling a bit... lazy. I think I’m fine nibbling some food here and there. What do you have to offer, Eden?”

    Internally, Orlando’s amazed on how he and Toni could converse so easily as if they were just breathing. As if they’re still together and not going under the process of moving on from each other. “Fuck, ain’t that speech a buzzkill. At least with monsters, we’d know how to deal with them. Mortals are trickier, if not more dangerous, than actual monsters that we really face.”

Toni could deal with men like this everyday, just a normal typical conversation as long as she doesn’t put her heart into it. And she was trying her hardest to keep her heart away from her sleeve. The more she talked to him like he wasn’t her boyfriend, the more she would settle into whatever they were right now. “Ain’t I always a buzzkill.” She told him, knowing that it was her who almost killed their relationship but her pride told her it was the other’s fault. “Well, that depends on how you treat them, I guess.”

          he nodded. “yeah, the labyrinth isn’t as bad as people make it out to be.” alabaster was one of the few proponents of the labyrinth, which people might have found slightly strange if they hadn’t known that he spent a year or two living there in his teen years. “do you need any help looking around? i have a free afternoon and i was headed down there anyway.”

It made sense, what she said. Both statements on their own were smart, even more so when put together. “You can’t really call it luck if you’ve worked for it, yeah? I think it’s like, the difference between Tyche and Nemesis. Ah wait, that’s Fortuna and erm, Invidia for you, right? Or is she always Nemesis?” He knew his basics as far as Roman counterparts went, but hadn’t had good encounters with the people as much. Actually, Toni had to be one of the first Romans he actually liked; which was why he resolved to keep his earlier promise. “Also, seems like we aren’t talking about Labyrinth stuff anymore. D’you have more questions about it or should we play lonely hearts club and diss our exes together?”

She took a long drink from her can of Cherry coke, enjoying the satisfying rush that entered her throat when she drank it. As she did, she listened to the other’s words then nodded to agree with it. “I really don’t mind if they’re Greek or Roman, really. I was more accustomed to Greek and having to translate into Roman sometimes confuses me so don’t adjust just because I’m a Roman.” She told the other, hoping that it would be easier to converse. “But yeah, I agree with you. Those two are two different aspects.” She confirmed - her beliefs anyways, some would say they coincide. Toni chuckled at his words then replied, “Well, I’m very satisfied with the answers I’m given. So, I think a moment talking about what ails us doesn’t seem so bad.”