nobody.

∞

For a moment or two, Ved hesitated. He was a little apprehensive of what was offered, scared even. Sitting beside someone, a complete stranger or a friend, wouldn’t have mattered much to him, but this was Maiken, his ex-girlfriend, who was once, and to a smaller extent still is, the love of his life, the flames of his forge. As if time moved slowly, he breathed out, his worries and concerns escaping from within through that sigh, turning to the offered seat beside her, blinked, and took the opportunity, gently, and carefully. He feared the risk this would do to his own sanity, to hers, but he couldn’t stop himself. In the end, demigod or not, his heart was still human, even if it was forged by Hephaestus himself. “Not really.”

“You’d think I would, like I thought you would, but I guess with everything that’s going on, it’s been a little hard to enjoy myself…” He offered her a smile in turn as he sat but it was a weak one, with his lips collapsing at the sight of her tears, at the scent of her, at the sound of her voice, at the warmth he thought he felt from her. It’s been a while since they broke up, and Ved, poor, stupid Ved, had spent all that time running away from the truth of the end, their end. Even through the darkness, he could still see her beauty, her kindness, the things that drew him to her, hook, line, and sinker. “I’m just here if you need to talk. With someone. About things.” Finally. “I mean, if you don’t want me to go, that is, I can keep you company. We don’t even have to talk if you don’t want to. I can’t be anywhere else anyway." 

`

          as her question hang between them, maiken keeps her eyes on ved. if she’d been fully sobered up, she wouldn’t have made the offer; her sobriety is often laced in her biggest strides of cowardice and avoidance. that’s what she’s been doing to ved since they broke up. total avoidance. when ved finally takes the seat beside her, she lets out a breath of her own.

then, finally, there’s an answer to her question. not really. she nods, albeit a bit awkwardly. “ i’ve been trying to, it’s just... hard to, i guess. ” maiken’s gaze then drops to the concrete under her feet. “ i usually hate being in one place for long, you know... i thought getting away from eonia would be good but-- ” she trails off with a half-hearted shrug. as ved speaks again and offers to talk, more emotions rush to the surface. whatever progress she made in diminishing her tears, it’s undone in an instant. it’s clear she’s frustrated with herself when she starts to wipe at her eyes again. “ i don’t want you to leave, i... gods, i’m sorry ved. ”

✨

Vincent just rolled his eyes, Maiken was trying to show an indifference but he knew better. He knew that everyone on campus knew enough about him to know that subtle wasn’t a word to describe him. “I’ve seen the way you look at me, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out you have a shrine dedicated to me in your room.” A complete fabrication, nothing about their interactions would suggest any feelings between the pair except contempt. “Well at least you know that your presence is a bother to everyone.” The slightly furrowed expression that had been painted on Vincent’s face brightened, a smirk crossing his lips.. “Oh you need me? Well before you ask there’s nothing anyone can do to help your face and while I have some tips that might help your lifeless hair I don’t know if I should actually share them. No I’m sorry, what is it you need?”

`

         maiken can’t help the noise that escapes her at vincent’s words. it was halfway between a laugh and a gasp. “ a shrine? dedicated to... actually, that gives me every indication that you have a shrine dedicated to yourself. i know you dite kids are vain, but man... ” she shakes her head slightly, as if to wash the very thought of a vincent-centric shrine from her vision. soon, her eyes narrow at his comment. “ oh, haha; funny. when does your comedian gig start? ” she hates just how easy it is to push her buttons, but she hates it even more that vincent knows how to do it perfectly. instead of actually having focus on his fleeting insults, though, there’s more focus on the task at hand; swallowing enough pride to ask him for help. after she asks, his answer only flares her annoyance even more and she turns on her heel in an instant. “ god, never mind. i’ll just ask iker. ”

       “IMPENDING DOOM? i dinnae ken her,” she replies, taking a swig from the water bottle she keeps on her at almost all times. there’s a wry smile on her face as she looks at her sister, then approaches the window, then shrugs. “a little bit,” she agrees. “like what’s all this? just a bunch of old shite and pasta.” a pause. “everybody looks so small. should we yell at them?” 

`

smiling, she stops and takes a second to gauge her work. “ makeup is worthless without an already-gorgeous canvas. you are beautiful, cel ! now close your eyes. ” with that being said, she takes the moment to apply setting spray. elena then holds up a handheld mirror to celeste, silently asking what she thinks. “ oh, i’ll sign that letter. i’m going to need one of you to check my final grades for me when they’re released, because i’m probably going to be too scared to look. ” when she hears ana’s confession, she reaches over to squeeze their hand in reassurance. that’s something they had in common: always trying to make others happy, but ana had it ten-fold with their abilities. “ tell them no more, ” elena playfully instructs them, knowing that she wouldn’t heed her own advice if she were in their position. she nods in agreement with maiken and ana, clapping her hands together excitedly. “ exactly ! we’re your backup baddies tonight. this is a celeste eve party. imagine having the whole school in italy to celebrate your birthday. ” / @eumaiken​

`

“ they might never be able to forgive us, but i think a card would help, ” she laughs, clearly kidding as well. her smile softens at the question as she considers everything that’s happened. “ i’m good, i think, ” she says. “ like, yeah, i miss my dad, and monsters are horrifying, but at least we’re all together, you know? in italy. ” some days are better than others, but she’s tried to remain optimistic overall. “ how about you? ”

`

      “i mean, there’s no one to say it’s NOT sneaking out, if it helps.” they look back at maiken through the mirror as they continue to apply makeup, a small grin growing on their lips. “should one of us pretend that a parent calls us at the worst possible time telling us that we need to come home?”

`

          “ oh, totally does. ” maiken chuckles. she feels completely overeager to live out some teenage-esque night out. sure, eonia had a curfew that was easy enough to accidentally miss, but maiken and astrid were well within their limits in rome; it felt different. her eyes widen at their question. “ yes! my dad hated me being out past ten when i was a teen. granted, we can stretch the hour a bit but --- a pretend call would add to the effect. or be used as an excuse. either way. you good to go? ”

    after far too many years of running away with no place to call home, mae found it difficult to share maiken’s sentiment; their only solace this time was perhaps the change of scenery. they still smile and nod though — the atmosphere need not get any more morbid.

    “ugh, tell me about it. i don’t think monsters would usually go for cats, but i still worry. anddon’t get me started on the greenhouse! who’s looking after it?” they throw themself back into the bed with an exasperated sigh, though the corners of their lips perk up at the mention of rome’s cats, amusement shining through the worry clouding their eyes. “that’s odd; have you tried bringing them snacks?”

`

          “ if anything, i think eonia’s cats would be the ones to go after any monster, instead of the other way around. not that they should, but they think of themselves as guard dogs sometimes. ” maiken couldn’t help but smile at the thought; she had a few fond memories of the stray cats getting a little bit too protective at demeter house. “ i wouldn’t worry about the greenhouse, though; i’m sure they’ll let us back in no time and we can help any plants that suffered while we were away. ” maiken didn’t know that for sure, but reassurances was the best she could do for herself and her sibling. “ i did try snacks! i think they have different tastes, though. any other suggestions? ”

whatever he had been doing the past few months with maiken wasn’t fair to anyone. it wasn’t fair to elena, sleeping with one of her best friends shortly after they broke up. it wasn’t fair to maiken because, when all was said and done, he was using her and her closeness to elena to feel like he was actually still with her. and it wasn’t fair to himself, which would usually be his main concern: himself — it’s only not his main concern in this scenario because he cares about both of them, more than he cares about his ego or himself. “we’re alone right now, being alone is the most we’ve ever needed to start something.” but he’s beating around the bush, he gets what she’s saying. dropping his head and scratching the back, there’s a little bit of a blush to his cheeks. “it’s kind of shitty doing this to elena, isn’t it?”

`

          although things never felt completely right with rion, the past couple weeks things had started feeling worse and worse; the evacuation from eonia’s campus only exacerbated feelings within maiken, and something told her that rion was on the same page. that’s why she asked to speak with him, and that’s why things felt more tense and uncomfortable than usual. for one, they weren’t arguing after five minutes alone. “ that’s why we need to stop being around each other, ” there’s an argumentative edge to her tone, but she quickly closes her eyes and steals a breath to reel herself back in. this wasn’t about them; not really. it was about elena; she couldn’t name a worse thing she had done behind a friend’s back. “ not kinda, it just is. she deserves better than that. better than me, better than you... i know you agree, so let’s just drop it. ”

It was bad enough that Ved’s head was almost always cluttered, littered, with many different thoughts, plans, that he often felt that if he wasn’t doing anything, making something, he’ll just somehow stop being alive, just spontaneously drop dead. Now he had to contend with his worries and concerns regarding Robodog’s safety, a complicated albeit clunky combination of metal and programming that was, truth be told, going to outlive them all. Unable to sit still, close his eyes and take a much-needed trip inside the palace of dreams, he decided to take a walk instead, noticing a familiar face just a few minutes in. “Maiken? Are you okay?”

He couldn’t exactly remember the last time he saw her cry, though he was pretty sure it wasn’t during their break-up. Neither of them shed a tear that day. What started as a passionate and charming relationship ended not with a bang but a whimper. Poof! Or at least that was how he remembered the end of his semester last spring. 

“What’s wrong?” Slowly, carefully, he moved closer to where she sat, standing right beside her, looking down at her with his hands in his pockets. He wanted to put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her at least but something was preventing him from doing just that. It’ll just feel weird, wouldn’t it? “You’re going to catch a cold out here…”

`

          at the sound of ved’s voice cutting through the air, maiken’s stomach drops. just her luck. its just her luck to have spent the night out in an attempt to have fun turn sour in the first place, but its all the more fitting that her ex-boyfriend ran into her while she was crying like an idiot. “ yeah, i’m fine, i’m good. ” she nods repeatedly, and pointedly avoids looking at him. truthfully, maiken didn’t have much of a reason for her poorly timed emotional outburst. she’d been out with her friends partying, enjoying the nightlife that rome had to offer. it started as a need for fresh air alone.

Why Vincent still held such a grudge against Maiken he wasn’t sure but one thing was for sure, he wasn’t letting up on it anytime soon. If it was the last thing he did she’d remember that she was nothing but a downgraded rebound for the rest of her life. “I don’t believe I’ve ever claimed anything about me was subtle, that’s for people who want to blend in. When you look like me you can’t help but stand out, not like you’d understand that. But what do I owe the displeasure of your presence to today Maiken?”

`

          maiken held little regrets in life, but one of them was definitely incurring the aggressive verbal wrath of an aphroditian frenchman; mostly because she had very little idea as to why and how it had first happened. “ i haven’t exactly read your autobiography, have i? forgive me if i know, well, nothing. ” that was partially a lie; she knew enough. he was arrogant, vain, and loved to make digs at her as much as she did at him. “ you looked like you needed to be bothered, ” she said, tone edging on sarcastic. then, her face turned neutral. “ i need your help with something. ”