𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 ;

Diego  had  also  been  at  the  beach  at  dawn,  as  he  usually  was,  doing  his  yoga,  greeting  his  father  as  the  sun  rose,  and  centering  himself.  That  sense  of  routine,  of  normality  helped  him  cope  with  all  of  the  changes  in  camp,  in  his  life.  It  was  his  time  to  revel  in  the  peace  of  the  waves,  while  rising  with  the  sun.  He'd  also  spent  some  time  surfing  as  well,  alongside  Reid,  though  from  a  distance.  The  morning  beach  crew  seemed  to  like  to  keep  their  space  at  first,  which  he  didn't  mind.  "It's  kind  of  a  ritual  at  this  point.  Waking  up  with  dad,"  he  nodded  over  to  the  sun,  still  resting  on  the  horizon.  "You  looked  good  out  there.  Surprised  you're  calling  it  so  early."

"  If  I  could  surf  for  hours  i'd  just  do  that,  it  helps  me  feel  like  i'm  back  at  home.  "  His  mind  corrected  the  we  of  his  thoughts,  constantly  combining  himself  with  Aleki  in  the  us  of  it  all  when  he  had  to  remind  himself  that  he  was  a  single  entity  despite  how  deep  their  connection  did  go.  "  How's  the  island  been  going  for  you?  It  was  quite  the  transition  when  I  first  got  here,  still  is  kind  of  tough  being  with  so  many  different  demigods  from  different  parts  of  the  world.  "

reid  had  a  quip  about  aleki  not  taking  time  off  and  being  a  robot  but  he  rather  not  ruin  this  moment  of  reunion,  he  had  missed  aleki  after  being  gone  for  weeks.  "  don't  squeeze  too  hard.  "  okay,  maybe  he  couldn't  help  himself  as  he  attempted  to  ease  aleki's  colossal  strength  feeling  like  a  vice-like  grip  constricting  him  in  place.

"  do  you  want  to  hang  out  with  just  me?  "  reid  asks  directly,  turning  his  head  to  meet  his  exes'  gaze.  "  i'm  happy  to  if  you  want,  you  can  catch  me  up  with  all  your  shenanigans.  "  a  smile;  look  of  desire  and  a  knowingness  of  hurt,  reid  attempted  to  slip  out  of  aleki's  arms  and  sit  himself  up  curious  on  what  he  might've  missed.

"you got it, boss." he smiles gently, slipping onto his stomach and tugging down his shorts just a little bit, giving reid full access the the span of his back. "have you done this before or should i be worried?"

" i've done this before. my mom was pretty attuned to moving energy and helping and she taught me a little bit. " bringing his hands together, reid rubbed them quickly to generate some heat before he pressed it against the small of forest's back.

things would always be complicated when it came to aleki lafaele and they had left with reid bringing the other from the pits of rarohenga back to the mortal realm only to decidingly leave him for his own well-being. his first thought was to pull aleki from this dream world that he seemed stuck in, but he wanted to ease himself back the best he could. " aleki... " reid sighed, an eye roll at the reference to teeth and the onrunning jokes that the son of pele often had in jest.

"i appreciate you doing this for me." the son of amateratsu grins as he glances over his shoulder at reid, carding a hand through his styled locks. "just tell me how you want me."

"  yeah,  not  a  problem.  they  have  little  tables  here.  just  hop  on  and  we  can  work  on  the  knots,  belly  down.  "

Reid  was  quick  to  clothe  himself  from  the  other's  voyueristic  gaze.  After  a  huffed  breath  in  defiance,  Aleki  pushed  himself  into  his  room  and  the  other  Polynesian  half-god  let  out  a  hitched  breath  while  his  arousal  quickly  diminished  back  into  the  somber  mood  that  he  was  in  before.  "  i'm  not  mad,  i  just  thought  you  would  take  longer.  my  fault,  really,  thinking  i  could  finish  quickly.  "  reid  had  always  been  cerebral  and  his  own  mind  got  in  the  way  too  much  from  being  present  and  in  the  moment  of  pleasure  and  intimacy.

"  armando  is  mad  at  me,  levin  and  i  killed  her  and  there's  a  gecko  god  half  godnapping.  "  the  man  let  out  a  drawn  out  sigh,  as  he  maneuvered  himself  to  the  couch  and  laid  himself  into  aleki's  embrace  as  he  took  in  a  deep  breath  to  calm  himself  down.

He didn't bother to dry off (since he didn't have a towel to begin with) and just pulled on his pants while tossing his shirt over his shoulder and carrying his shoes. "Kind of wish someone told me that when I was recruited. Left my board home."

Once semi clothed he joined the other inviting himself along for the trip to the beach. Would give him a chance to see these waves and if the guy could surf or was just some kid on a board. "Lead the way."

"  Yeah,  i've  been  surfing  since  I  was  a  kid.  It's  kind  of  a  huge  thing  in  New  Zealand.  I'm  going  to  teach  everyone  to  surf  here,  it's  a  great  workout  and  good  stress  reliever  too.  "

Reid  hadn't  much  else  he  wanted  to  ask  about  in  the  five  minute  walk  towards  the  beach  and  he  kept  quiet  while  carrying  his  board  to  the  half-mile  stretch  of  crescent  beach  that  had  the  waves  swelling  in  and  he  noticed  the  other.  "  You  wanna  take  the  first  round?  "  He  offered,  board  extended  out  slightly  for  the  other  to  go  first.  Reid  could  see  his  eagerness  and  wanted  him  to  experience  the  joy  he  did  while  in  the  water.

He loved the ocean. Eryx always had a connection to the sea and all its creatures. He had major respect for crocs, gators, and caimans too, but his favorite had to be the sharks. There was this shark, the bull shark, that swam upriver as if the lack of saltiness didn't affect it! They were gorgeous and impressive, powerful! Later in life, he learned why he loved the ocean so much: his real father was the god Varuna.

He had loving parents and he never stopped calling his dad, dad, he just had a new dad! Not confusing. At all. Still, he did his best to make do. He survived the normal world and now lives in The Ark. He still had to make deep connections with others, so he found himself training and writing on his blog, or just feeling nostalgic. Sometimes he wondered what would it be like if he just was normal and not a half-god. It was still weird to think about.

As he swam, he noticed someone approaching and watching the waves. There weren't that many. "Reid, right? I can make some waves for you if you'd like?" He offered. Maybe he could make a friend today!

"  Oh,  hey  Eryx.  Yeah,  do  you  surf?  Honestly,  surfing's  way  more  fun  with  more  than  one  person.  Happy  to  teach  you  if  you  haven't  done  it  before.  "

He  hadn't  known  the  other  that  well  but  every  quest  they've  been  on  he'd  been  a  pretty  strong  ally  with  an  incredible  weapon.  This  was  the  perfect  opportunity  for  him  to  get  to  his  know  his  comrades  better,  what  better  way  than  in  a  place  they  both  felt  comfortable. 

"we could've lost you too." he murmurs, face buried into reid's shoulder. "i dunno what i would've done, honestly. probably banishment or something." he grumbles half-heartedly, a weak attempt at lightening an otherwise dark moment.

he  rubs  forest's  back,  the  man  was  so  much  like  sunlight  that  he  was  impossible  to  catch  or  to  know  what  it  needed.  the  only  truth  was  that  he  spun  himself  endlessly  and  if  not  careful,  one  day  he  would  combust.  "  c'mon,  just  relax.  we  have  no  reason  to  mourn  what  hasn't  happened,  friend.  we  are  alive,  let's  celebrate  that.  "