hi thank you come again

hi all !! i’m on semi-hiatus atm, so during the event i’ll just focus on event threads, i hope that’s okay. i would love to do like ,, continuation threads with anyone? so if your muse interacted with melrose or ari, they could be at the event like “hey so hows your books!” or something. i’m good with anything !

"You know when they said to sign up for the auction, I thought maybe I'd be in it to get like a free spa day or something but apparently it's, uh, auctioning myself off?" Ari rambled, floating around the hors d'oeuvre table with a plate already in their hand. They picked up a few things mindlessly. The cat mask was sturdy on their face, and they hoped they weren't recognisable, though they did nothing to change their voice and mannerisms. Ari, for one, couldn't recognise anybody.

"Anyway, best thing about this anonymous thing is that it feels like a Vegas thing, y'know. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas; what happens in the masquerade, stays in the masquerade ... maybe people will be too off their face to even pay attention to the auction, right?" they asked hopefully, to the stranger whose ear they'd talked off for the past minute.

ICARIA’S VALENTINE’S DAY MASQUERADE: ari’s outfit

“Oh come on! The auction will be fun, we can get a few drinks. Have a laugh on who picks who… Maybe a little gossip. You can’t tell me that that doesn’t appeal to you.”

Ari sniffed. They had tried to do the ‘mysterious’ thing for about thirty minutes before giving up entirely. Valentine’s Day, and celebrating it, was just not something they wanted to put effort in. It wasn’t like they could hide their Austalian accent anyway. Too lazy.

dee sat at a round table, leaning back in her chair, a plate of hors d’oeuvres and a flute of champagne next to her. her brown eyes were focused on the dance floor. “i don’t understand how anyone dances in heels and a floor-length dress.”

“Flowers, all that good stuff that comes from the ground.” He said with a smile. The other’s rambles only made Forrest smile more. “Bristol.” He said in reply to the other. “ And I know, saw your little bit of rain magic there.” He remarked before taking a sip of his coffee. “I’ve known about all this for years now…I’m more than happy to talk about it all with you if you’d like.”

Forrest couldn’t hold back the small giggle at the other’s explanation. “See, never really understood the appeal of capitalism that much.” He said with a small hum, relaxing back in his chair. His eyes returned to the plain to look at the rain storm. 

Just as he began to space out, the other began to ramble abit again. He only smiled to himself, chuckling lightly. Remaining just as he was, he responded with “You would be correct about both of those things.” He turned to look at the other with a gentle smile. “I’m Forrest. My mum’s Demeter…I assume that was a preamble to the question of lineage.” 

So he was laughing. I’m still funny. Okay, that’s good. Ari felt themselves relax a bit, settling into the seat more. They took deep breaths, the smell of the rain filling their senses, and for a child of Poseidon, rain was like hot cocoa after spending a whole day in the snow. Warmth filled them, and they began to relax. 

So when they next spoke, their voice had lost a bit of its jitter. “Demeter. Farming, grains...” they listed. “Yeah, it’s weird, isn’t it? It’s kind of like the new ‘so where’d you come from? Oh, Melbourne, no I meant, like where are you from-from’...” Ari shook their head. “I’m Poseidon. I mean, mine’s Poseidon, I’m not actually Poseidon. We could just not talk about that stuff, if you want...?”

Forrest cocked his head in thought for a moment before his smile grew back on, twice as bright this time. Forrest’s smile always did tell his mood so easily. “Well, a double meaning then. How fun.” He hummed in response to the other. He liked them, he could tell. Only someone willing to say that out loud, yet still see forrest’s side was a good egg for sure. 

Forrest gave them a gentle nod to confirm to them that he did truly mean the offer, that there was no longer a need for their nervousness.  When the other asked them about this, Forrest only blinked before crinkling his nose at the thought. “Is that a real thing? I don’t think that would be very effective…” He mumbled. 

The crinkled nose told them all they needed to know. Ari really needed to work on their smalltalk skills which, at this point, seemed non-existent. “Oh, it’s just --” Ari stammered, gesturing around with both hands. “It’s this thing I saw on tv once. Like the boss comes down, wears a disguise, tries to suss out what the work is really like, if employees are being a dick or whatever, and then they try and change the company based on what they saw -- y’know, capitalism at its best.”

However, they wouldn’t let their last word be about the ridiculous Undercover Boss show. “-- but, okay, so like, you’re probably a demigod. I am. Too. Also. A demigod. Apparently,” they couldn’t help but add, with a snort. When was the rain going to stop? 

calisto blinked once, twice at the terrified man – her expression unreadable before her lips curled upwards in a wicked looking grin. “you should’ve seen his face. i take closing time VERY seriously. but–” she looked him up and down “–you might be in luck if you stop shaking and sit down. no daiquiris though. i’m not doing cocktails.”

“Now, now, she wouldn’t do that to her daughter though, would she?” Even if Lina wasn’t Artemis’ child by blood, she was still one of her huntresses. That adoption from the virgin goddess was enough for her to claim it. “Though, I bet she’d do it to others.”

Ari raised their hands in surrender, letting out a short laugh. “All right, okay, you got me there. What parent in their right mind would wanna kill their child? It’s not like that’s sixty per cent of Greek Mythology,” they joked. “If Artemis decides to do that to me, can you give me a heads up at least?”

Forrest couldn’t help but crack a soft smile with a hum at the other’s disappointment. He found it endearing that the other was both so displeased, yet accepting of the situation. Forrest was just about to return to his book when he could hear a little swirling of water coming from the other’s hand. Posideon, note that down, noggin. He thought to himself. He always tried to remember as much information about the new people on the island as possible, easier to make them feel more welcome if he did. 

Forrest only chuckled at the question thrown his way. “Falling around more like.” He said, motioning his hand to the covering he was under. “I find it soothing to be drowned out from humanity. Little bit of Nature’s call to remind us not to get to distracted and enjoy what’s happening.”He hummed in response before looking up to them. “…it also smells nice.” He said with a smile. “Would you like to join me while you wait?”

“I thought Nature’s Call was more about peeing. Pissing,” they added, like that would clear it up more. “But sure, whatever works...” Ari mumbled, wiping their hand on their knee before stuffing their hands in their pockets. Once the stranger made the comment about the rain smelling nice though, Ari took a sniff. Yeah, maybe they were right. With the rain falling just outside the cafe, there was a distinct smell of cinnamon and warm-roasted-somethings mingling in the air. 

Ari looked back at them, surprised. “Uh, I was thinking of just waiting inside but...um, yeah, sure, why not, okay...” they shrugged, the rambling fading away as they sat down opposite. Ari scooched their chair in so they’d be as far away from the rain as possible. They narrowed their eyes slightly as a thought came to their head. “You’re not...are you like...like Undercover Boss, you just find people and ask them to sit down and see if they’re a good employee or not.”

@icariastarters​

Forrest loved all types of weather, and today was no exception. The rain came in hard and fast, and the male loved the smell of it. He watched it pour from under the covered patio at his favorite little coffee shop. He smiled to himself, enjoying the warmth from the coffee in his hand as he watched. He was completely in his own little world till he heard the chime of the door opening. He looked up to who had just come outside, giving them a little glance. “I don’t think it’s going to let up soon. You might have to wait it out, m’thinking…”

“Oh.” The sound could not have sounded more disappointed, coming from Ari’s mouth. “Well. Fuck me, I guess,” they grumbled. They looked to the speaker, arching an eyebrow, then back out to the rain. Ari had seen the speaker sitting out here even before their shift in the cafe ended. They’d thought the rain would have ended by now...could they control the water enough so that they wouldn’t get drenched walking out in it? 

calisto dabbed an alcohol-soaked rag against her knuckles, biting her lower lip to hold back a hiss at the stinging pain. had punching that dude who’d refused to leave even after closing been a good idea? no. would she do it again? fuck yeah. as she inspect her hand, gleefully knowing that her opponent’s face looked a lot worse, she heard the door to the bar open. “we’re closed!” she shouted, eyes snapping to look at who entered.  //  @icariastarters​

“I see you were stuck outside. It wasn’t me, however, I can help that” he said cracking his neck. He moved closer to his half brother and waved his hand across the young one. The water droplets moved off of their body and onto the ground “better?” he asked. 

Ari’s eyes widened as the magic happened, watching in complete awe as the water was taken away and they were left as dry as they were before the deluge. 

Raven looked up at Ari and couldn’t help but smile a little with the usual rolling of her eyes. “Gee, thanks Ari, totally not scary or anything.” she replied back sarcastically. She did know he was right though, if it got that bad. She didn’t think it would though, and that was coming from someone who was generally negative about everything. “Band-aid would be fine, I start my shift soon anyway.” she mumbled.

“I’m nothing if not a realist,” they shrugged, but a smile cracked through the sarcastic facade. “Okay, well, I’ll walk with you. I start in like half an hour so....I’ll drop you off and make sure you’re not dead before I go and...” Ari gestured randomly. “...I dunno, I’ll do something. Maybe I’ll check out that new games store.” They looked at Raven and swayed awkwardly on their feet. “Do you need...help walking?”