& LEGENDS !

leaning against the closest surface he could find, lev crossed his arms over his chest & sighed softly. "i'm sure there's been a lotta conquerin' happenin'. 's just a ... lotta fear goin' 'round." with death hanging above their heads ... or invading their home... yeah. "it ever gets too much, the lake's quiet. camp don't really go there much." unless ... for orgies, or so he heard. whenever camp was too much for him & not even a good sparring session could calm him down, he went to the lake. boring to the ordinary eye, a life saver... to him. "so, that your thing? emotions?" sure, he'd recruited ove, but fuck if he knew what the other's powers were.

the amount of people that were afraid of dolls alone was enough to confuse him. it wasn't ove's job to be their therapist or get involved. hell, he didn't even tell some of them he picked up on some of their greatest fears. that wasn't his business and therefore that wasn't theirs either. "thank you for that. i'll make sure to check out the late when everything is getting a little bit too loud for me." which again, might happened sooner rather than later. "not emotions. fear. they're different. the aphrodite children are much better at sifting through someone else's emotions."

it wasn't like lev had wanted for benedict per se to be hit. he had no qualms with him, no ill will towards him & definitely no unfinished business & yet he wouldn't have minded a little show. whomever had thrown it was a hero to him even if they failed. which was another secret lev would take to the grave. "c'mon, relax. kids bein' kids an' havin' fun an' all that, ya know?" lev knew he'd be similarly unhappy if he'd been the target. who was he kidding? he'd be fuming. but it wasn't him, which still amused him so he was grinning around his coffee cup to go as he sipped the hot liquid. "coffee your thing? tea?"

there were many responses that came through benedict's mind. was fun at the expense of another okay? was fun all they were focused on? in order not to sound like a bitter seventy year old, he decided to go against his better judgment. "you're right. next time i'll just let them hit me for the hell of it." hopefully he sounded believable, but he wasn't trying that much either. "anything that helps keep me up is my things. that includes coffee." he nodded a bit, appreciating a good cup of coffee whether it had many things in it or was just black with sugar.

Franz Wright, from “East Boston, 1996; Night Walk,” in God’s Silence

"they're kids, they're gonna learn, sooner or later. there ain't no way 'round it. b'lieve it or not, bunch of 'em are tougher than they look, preference for knives at the breakfast table or not." not all of them were ... soft. "tsk, i got the feelin' you're gonna fit in here jus' fine."

"there's no room for that excuse here. if they're kids then stick them in the infirmary to keep them safe. the second part of that i'll have to see it for myself, but i'm not going to sin their praises just yet." not that they needed her approval. "we'll see about that. might blow some egos up in the process."

"Definitely not just a blade, as fun as they are my power is just as enjoyable." Quentin replied, the rich crimson glow of his eyes betraying the dark chaos magic that resided inside the son of Witchcraft. He nodded when Tessa said Persephone, something about it just seemed so fitting. "Hecate." He answered, petting Salem as the huge black dog came to lay at his feet loyally.

"Good to know that you're versatile in that way. Up against a wall, if you had to pick, what choice would you make?" Seemed like they were both connected. Persephone and Hecate resided in the same realm, so perhaps that's why the two were seemingly getting along. "Fellow spirit seer. I think I'm going to like you even more now." Her eyes traveled down to the dog, the first time she probably smiled all day.

"hah. that sweat i see? didn't look like it was all breeze for ya, but hey - no offense taken. we're jus' gettin' started." because there were others places to take him for a challenge. "the lil' one there says you ain't gonna make it up the wall in one go." the little one being the animal bolivar was feeding. lev was getting more & more confident in his beast speak, although this time he was bluffing - for fun. looking at the animal, he shot it a little smile. "right? i think he's gonna fall on his ass too."

"i don't know if it's polite to call out a man's sweat like that. i guess i should be happy that you're the observant type. lord knows i'm not." what else did the wave rider have in mind now that the group of misfits brought so many new allies? "that's very rude of them." bolivar pretended to be hurt, placing his hands over his heart as he looked at the animal. then he turned to lev, a prideful smirk forming on his face. "your translation could use some help though. coming from a son of pan. before the animals know what you're up to."

"Sure, but Katia is just shy in general, she doesn't like strangers or people over all and especially since she had her cub in the fall." Grey replied. Considering how long he'd lived at camp, there was hardly an animal in the forest he didn't know well. "Speaking their language and understanding them aren't the same thing. And you can go ahead and say that to the mooses faces, I'd love to see their reactions." He smirked a little at the thought of the other demi having to deal with a very angry and offended moose.

"Is there only one snow leopard in all the area nearby? How did she get knocked up?" Clearly the man was connected to animals, so Bolivar didn't want to encroach on his friends. The last thing he needed was a pig biting his hand because he liked Greyson better. "It's the same as talking to people. A lot of miscommunication can be had." He scoffed at the moose comment again. He would say it to their face, no problem. "I'll keep you posted on how that goes. Unless you hear it through the gossip mill."

"you get used to it. downside of bein' stuck in camp with kids. snowflakes all 'round." & he didn't mean actual snow. back when he grew up, things were a lot different. "i'd like to say it's gettin' easier with time, but lies ain't my thing."

"i'm not going to get used to it. enabling that weak behavior is just going to make them not want to correct it." if there was one thing she was, it was a hardass apparently. "bringing me here might've been a mistake if they're used to all of you going soft on them."

on his way to the mess hall, lev would pass the temple just in time to witness the little display of .. power. he'd seen the snowball fly & inwardly chuckled at the demise of whomever it'd hit, but... there'd been a damper on that little afternoon fun quickly. "ain't no expert, but i think it's called cheatin' if you do your .. time thingy. mighta hit otherwise, ya know?"

the chuckle wasn't lost on him. benedict's lips curled into a small pout as his crossed his arms over his chest. had lev wanted him to get hit right on the face? that wasn't the point anymore. "should've thrown two in rapid succession so i only had time to freeze one. not my fault." the muses surely weren't caring about what classified as cheating or not.

Quentin's smirk only grew as she explained her silent and deadly method of dispatching her enemies. He could appreciate the subtle kill, even if his own methods were far more bloody, but that was all behind closed doors where he had his real fun. "Maybe I'm a little biased towards a good blade, but I can appreciate a silent killer." He replied with a slight nod of respect. "So who's mommy or daddy for you?"

"So are you just a blade? Something about you tells me that there's a little more to that." Tessa studied him carefully. She studied everyone the second that she met them. "Persephone is probably the answer that you're looking for." She serves two slices of the cake, just in case. "What about you?" This new social game was going to eat her alive, but at least she was trying and going along with it.

RENEÉ RAPP & AULI'I CRAVALHO Vanity Fair (x)

"we been through a bit of a rough patch lately. but ain't fear part o' life? fear jus' means you care." not that lev went around promoting to be afraid, but ... he got it. he had insecurities, too. it just ..came with the job description & death threats, he wanted to say. "glad you came 'round, though. more hands on deck's gonna turn the tides in our favor more than we've already been doin'."

"yes, but i would've assumed that some fears were conquered in a sense, you know? someone afraid of drowning doesn't have to fear that after killing a large octopus in the middle of the sea." something like that. he didn't really know what these people were like, but he could sense all of their fears and his head was hurting. maybe the sex club was better. "if it means getting more peace of mind in the long run, then i'll help out however i can."

"Definitely for me." Q agreed, almost disappointed when she put the knife down and stopped waving it around. "Better a crazy chick who swings knives than one who's just a damsel in distress. I mean I'm sure there are people around here who are all for playing the hero and protecting everyone at camp, but really we need people who can pull their weight." He shrugged. "And you seem like the type who can take care of herself."

Maybe there were some fun people here after all. "Sweetheart, I'll have you know I don't have to wield blades to protect myself. Most of my enemies in that club had a heart attack before they even tried to lay their hands on me." Big on poison, but also big on just being a silent killer from afar. "I can take care of myself and then some. These demons don't have anything on me."

"I mean you could try but they're pretty shy." Greyson replied casually, head tilted to one side as he studied the other demigod. He didn't recognise him and yet something about him seemed...familiar. "They'd probably hear you crunching through the snow loudly way before you ever saw them and go the other way." He suggested, making sure to keep some of the fish he'd brought back aside for Juliet, knowing the little panther would be sassy if he didn't. "You could always try looking for moose, they're pretty talkative."

"There are certain ways to go about getting them out of their shell though. Maybe regular leopards are different." There was a lot that he was going to have to get used to when it came to camp. For a place where freedom was promised, he was starting to feel a little caged in. "It's different when you can speak their language. They can know you won't harm them in advance." He did eye the fish, but didn't question it either. "Aren't the moose around here slow?"

"Probably would have been more entertaining if you had stabbed someone." Quentin replied with a small yet devilish smile as he observed her waving around the blade. He had his own simple yet elegant switch blade in hand, slicing up pieces of apple as he watched the other demigod. "You're one of the ones they brought back to camp right?" He asked casually.

"Entertaining for you maybe." Tessa lowered the blade back down, but she still wasn't cutting the lemon cake with it. "Yeah, I was a part of that group. How great I'm sure that turned out for everyone. Warning, we brought the crazy chick that swings knives around back." She couldn't help contain her laughter. Normally, she was much more composed, but gosh there were so many annoying people around.