you could leave it all behind

“ no one here annoys me, really. everyone’s just at different stages in their individual journeys and we can’t let that get in the way of how we treat ‘em. “

       rare  instance  since  wars,  since  visions  had  strengthened,  but,  this  time  around  child  of  hecate  had  been  allowed  in  game.  partly  responsible  was  fact  that  visions  had  taken  turn  elsewhere-  were  focusing  attention  wholly  on  those  she   missed.   worked  with  her  present  moment,  for  their  team  had  won  and  it  was  great  feeling  to  just  be  in  the  moment.  no  prophecies,  no  blackouts  when  going  into  trance  .  .  just  doing  and  moving  and  enjoying.  after,  however,  reality  sunk  in  and  she  found  path  elsewhere;  not  entirely  sure  of  where  she  was  following  feeling,  but  deciding  to  trust.  soon,  met  with  deacon  and  head  tilted  as  she  calculated  move.  ❛  no,  not  that  —-  just  had  a  feeling  and  was  wondering  if  you  are  alright  ?  ❜

         deacon  nodded  at  bex’s  explanation,  still  not  having  looked up.  a  part  of  him  ached  at  that  fact  ---  it  seemed  the  rudest  thing,  to  have  spoken  to  someone  without  looking  at  them,  to  have  reacted  to  their  response and  still  withheld  a  greeting  smile,  or  even  simple  eye  contact.  but  the  truth  was  that  he  was  easily  drained;  not  physically,  because  despite  his  current  injury  he  felt  as  if  he’d  made  it  through  the  game  feeling  fine.  no,  he  was  easily  drained  from  contact  with  other  people,  as  much  as  he  enjoyed  it,  thrived  in  it,  felt  he  needed  it  to  prove  himself.  deacon  wanted  to  give  himself  a few  more  seconds  of  idly  wrapping  the  tape  around  his  wrist  without  needing  to  turn  himself  on.  but  he  did;  he  had  nothing  against  bex,  and  knew  couldn’t  last  in  his  selfish  rudeness.  with  his  uninjured  hand  still going  through  its  motions,  he  looked  up  at  her  and  cocked  an  eyebrow  in  tandem  with  a  warm  quirk of  his  lips.   “  I’m  alright   ---   I fell.  it’s  nothing  that  needs  serious  attention,  but  I  like  taking  care  of  things  as  soon  as  possible,  you  know?  I’m  awfully  sorry  if  I  worried you,  though.  “

deacon glanced up, wondering if there was ever any point at being surprised by some sudden company  ---  especially before, during, or after a training session. there was no point in the day when you could get the training area to yourself. he hadn’t heard amara’s arrival and hadn’t been expecting her, but when he glanced up and saw who had, apparently, been trying to catch his attention he fixed a tired smile her way all the same.  “ hey, amara. I’m just taking a breather, if you needed me for something. or if you wanted the floor to yourself, I guess. “

continuing this post

“Oh, it’s something I got in a fortune cookie during a family dinner last year. But I liked how it sounded, so I randomly bring it up from time to time.” Angela smiled brightly. “I think everyone should have a piece of wisdom with them, just in case. That, and a joke, at least one good joke in case of an emergy.” What kind of emergency would require to know a joke, that was still beyond Angie, but it was something she still considered to be true. 

“Do you happen to have one?” Angela asked, before quickly adding. “A sort of quote you carry, not a joke.” Thinking more about it, she tilted her head slightly. “Although a joke wouldn’t be that bad anyways. You should have at least one or two puns related to your godly parent, that’s like a demigod law.” She laughed.

“ that  ...  makes a lot of sense too, “  deacon said, forcing his posture to relax. he was glad that angela didn’t seem to realize how much he needed that reassurance, but all the same, finding out it was a fortune cookie phrase did wonders to calm him down.  “ did you try keeping the actual fortune or did you just commit what it said to memory? I doubt a tiny scrap of paper like that would last too long, but, you never know. “   

he cocked his head and tried to think  ---  to at least give the appearance of mulling over angela’s question, when in reality he was pretty sure he didn’t have either quite as on hand as she did. these things were always harder when on the spot.  “ well, I certainly don’t have a tangible fortune from the inside of the cookie sitting in my pocket, but now that you bring it up I don’t know if I have much else in there, either. “  deacon shrugged and tried for a laugh.  “ I know I don’t have any puns about my dad. you’re really showing me how much of a slacker I am. “ 

              “ that’s pretty good advice, angela, “  deacon said, considering her words. he wondered if he looked like he was panicking, a little  ---  not that he was panicking so much as wondering what she knew that he might not, that her advice including a caveat about people potentially hating him. maybe it was just a normal sort of mantra that he wasn’t familiar with  ...  one that he wasn’t quite sure would serve him well. he didn’t want to think of doing anything that made people hate him; wanted even less to think of any gut instinct of his that would lead to those actions. he shook off those thoughts, even if he didn’t do anything to physically shake them off, and tried to give her a genuine smile. it would be cruel to give her anything less for her well meant words.   “ thanks. must’ve looked like I needed that, huh? “

     “  …  well, seldom’s not never. “  deacon shrugged off charlotte’s words with a small smile, like if he reacted to the admission of guilt like it was a joke then he could absolve himself of any obligation to act on it. he didn’t think it was the truth, really  —  he couldn’t think of a bad thing to say about the daughter of ares, and he’d stand by his statement that seldom really wasn’t never should this whole situation land the both of them in some sort of trouble with the camp. his grin amped up, bigger than it was when he first spoke, and he shook his head.  “ and behavior on the whole here’s not really the norm anywhere else, right? so who can say what constitutes for truly good behavior. “

at his nudge, maia’s gaze followed deacon’s indication and, catching sight of the behaviour in question, rolled her eyes. “ cruel would be to set it on fire yourself, ” maia stated wryly. “ betting on that is just taking stock of the consequences —- and for the record, i’m not taking that action. i don’t see any tyche kids playing, and there are way too many hermes kids around for there not to be mischief involved soon. ” in fact, she thought it was more likely to be a when, not an if. “ how long do you give them? ”

deacon shrugged, the action settling his shoulders up close by his ears as he did.  maia had a point  ...   well,  maia had several points. whether or not he ended up admitting as much to her remained to be seen, as he kept his gaze, a small smile, directed on the game unfolding away from them.  “ as long as it’s not cruel, “  he said; humor embedded in the words even if he was far from laughing just yet.  “ I wouldn’t set it on fire even if I could  ---  that would take the fun out of it, even if you refuse to play along. in five minutes it’ll be all aflame anyway. “

  “ good game,  yeah ? ”   smile is radiant and she’s practically glowing   (  with both sweat and joy  ) ;  charlotte has been patiently waiting all summer for the first game of capture the flag and it didn’t disappoint.  her team might not’ve won,  but she’s never been a sore loser,  not if she personally persevered.  sword remains gleaming at her side,  its tip pushed gently into the dirt.   “ the next one’ll be even better. ”

  “ honestly? smells like burning plastic. like way too many solo cups just got tossed into that fire in an attempt to hide it from chiron, but they know everything.” benny wrinkles his nose, hating the smell of all of it. it was nice to be back at camp but he could do without this stuff already. “ yeah, it’s only going to get worse. i think i brought some candles with me though, if you want to head back to my cabin? vanilla and peppermint. “

deacon glanced around, noting all the discarded cups still underfoot, and raised an eyebrow back at benny.  “ half of them are littered, half of them are burning. it really does seem like they’re doing the bare minimum to evade getting caught, I guess. “  he knew you’d only need to walk a few more yards out of the immediate firelight to find some freedom from the solo cups and the havoc they wrought, but he shook his head all the same, tone roping benny into his commiseration.  “ you’re  ---  honestly,  probably right. I’d like to think better of our peers, but vanilla and peppermint are always preferable to burning plastic. “

deacon bumped his shoulder to maia’s, gesturing with his chin across the fire where some kids appeared to be hackeying a sack  ---  wayward cheering and bystanders getting too involved turning the action into a dangerous game. he leveled an even smile at his sister, cocking an eyebrow.  “ it feels kind of cruel to bet on their fun ...  especially on the first night. “  deacon shrugged before he leaned back and let the energy of the evening infect him with a good mood.  “ but I bet you their hackey sack gets tossed into the fire. “