mercurial

lips to his hair, and alvin shivers. the kind of affection's incredible, soft and warm and strong, just the right side of squeezing his soreness from the workout. there's only so much praise he can take before he has to look up, glancing from jeff's hefty bulge to his very handsome face, from underneath. they're the same height, but alvin's still folded over when those arms come around him.

he knows what straightening up means. as his hard, obvious bulge slides up jeff's compression shorts, lined up, base to base. alvin's face right at level with jeff's, alvin's cheeks dusted, his eyes bright. he gets his long arms around the man just as tight, trying to squeeze him.

"you're really good at this, you know?" faces near enough for his eyes to almost cross, just to look into jeff's. "I feel like I can do anything when you talk me through it."

even through the haze of a good work out, the heat of victory and lust, the proximity and the tension building in his shorts, jeff will find a way to be there for his brethren. for those he cares about. a moment of sincerity. he isn't ever someone to shy away from sentimentality. 

“hey, your video game stuff was real too,” jeff answers softly, his brows furrowing. “just ‘cause we’re up to some great big godly things now, doesn't mean our lives before, who we are outside of all this, are any less important.” he feels strongly about that. he carries both versions of himself proudly, knowing one wouldn't be able to exist without the other. “maybe we can take a trip outta here sometime and ya can teach me a thing or two. fair warning i am hopeless at that stuff.” he's a dad through and through. 

then they press even closer as alvin comes face to face with him, and heat travels down his back as he bites his lip to stifle a groan. their hard cocks are pressed right against each other, their clothes the only barrier in between them. jeff swallows roughly, gripping onto alvin's back a little tighter. 

“yea?” he asks, cocking his head a little, looking at alvin's lips, before landing right on his eyes. “i've been told i'm pretty dang good at talking people through things.” 

“hard things,” he says with a little laugh, not being able to stop the pun, even as his cock throbs where it's pressed right to him. jeff moves his hips minutely, thrusting ever so slightly. 

“what're ya in the mood for, bud? ya wanna take this somewhere else? work up a better sweat?” his mind is being overtaken by the proximity, and the way he wants to kiss alvin fully. jeff is just aware that they're still in view of a lot of the other people working out. “i could give ya a good reward for a job well done.”

His eyes devour Alejo, watching as the younger man disrobe for him like he were an actual stripper at a club. He certainly had the curvy body for one, anyway. Every last item of clothing reveals beautiful, tanned flesh, sometimes marked by meticulous tattoo work. Obviously a gorgeous canvas like Alejo's physique would host such intricate art.

Alejo's ass... fuck. So muscular, yet so round, framed perfectly by that jock strap. If Grant weren't bicurious by now, he would've been.

alejo feels like he's won the jackpot as grant agrees to go further, to touch his heated skin. he wants to close that final gap, feel him, be pressed right to the larger man. alejo wants to feel his muscles, taste every inch of him, devour him, but that will come later. 

he smirks, and moves to straddle grant's lap, gasping softly, his cock twitching at the first skin to skin contact, feeling his strong muscle underneath his thighs. “closer, like this?” he asks breathily, taking one of grant's large hands and placing it directly on his own chest, mirroring the action as he gropes his pecs. “you are so sexy, amorcito lindo.” 

“i want you so bad,” he confesses, leaning forward and brushing his nose against grant's, lips millimeters apart. he won't make the move to close the distance, he wants to keep this cat and mouse game going, pushing grant to meet him where he is before he actually pounces on him. his cock is still held in his fist, leaking and throbbing as he looks down at grant's again. if he lets go, they'll be touching in the most intimate way. 

open starter

"What can't a man enjoy some flowers without getting judged by other people?" Rhys of course had to go and see the cherry blossoms, it was his mother's season, in a place famous for flowers? How could he pass that up. He also happened to love conjuring up cherry blossoms himself, they made for a beautiful imagery, and a great distraction in the heat of battle, a flourish of beauty before he beheaded his enemies. Pink petals clung to to his long blond hair, as he had been quite caught in a fit of whimsy walking through the blossoms.

learning of his connection to persephone truly breathed new life into renato. it's only been a few years, but everything's changed so drastically for the better, he can't ever imagine going back. and he owes all of that to his mother. his devotion runs deep. he's always been devoted to family but instead of it being to his detriment, it's now something that propels him forward and gives him hope. 

that and his great love of flowers is what brought him to gaze upon the cherry blossoms, and watch the people enjoying them. it fills him with life, seeing people so enchanted and happy. it's a stark contrast to what he used to do back in his prior life, everything is brimming with hope, color, a spark of life. 

the thought that he could've been stuck where he was brings a seriousness to his face, sitting with the complicated feelings. there is still a sense of betrayal that threatens to make him feel guilty, trying to drag him down, but he never lets it fully take hold. he loves his old family, but he has something new now. 

renato is lost in his thoughts when he registers one of his brothers speaking to him. he's seen him around on the island before, but they haven't interacted much. his face breaks first into shock and then into a soft smile, shaking his head as he regards rhys. 

“no, no, no,” he flushes, rushing to correct the impression he left, “i am not judging, i was just thinking about life. i am sorry if you felt i was judging you. i would never do that.” 

he breathes out, gesturing to the flowers and the people, his smile growing on his face. “i am here because i love the flowers and the people, and the joy. it is amazing. and very beautiful. is it not?” “i have to admit, flowers are my greatest love.”

Carlo felt at ease with Renato. Their shared European roots, at the very least, helped give them a more direct link than with some of the others. The Italian even spoke fluent Spanish which made communication even easier —he really was an Angeleno after all— and better yet, it meant he could indulge himself some dirty talk in the other man's Mother tongue.

"SI, papi... qué rico—"

His strokes are methodical, but not languid. A real personal trainer through and through. He's used to fucking people with an expectation of luck bestowed upon them as well, and it's not a passive experience. It needs to be intentional. And if he's gonna have sex with Renato, why not throw in a bonus for him? Friends help friends get lucky, literally and figuratively.

renato is getting lucky, in more ways than one. bent in half with his chest to the bed and his hands pinned to his back as he's thoroughly fucked by carlo, he's hoping to not just get his rocks off but get some of that good luck in his favor. he wants to be chosen as the florist for a wedding on the island between two demigods who are choosing between a few of their kind. this will hopefully get him the leg up. and if it doesn't well, at least he got to enjoy himself. 

"joderrr, carlo, si," he breathes out raggedly, his toes curling at the feeling of carlo taking him apart with his masterful thrusts, knowing exactly which buttons to push down to speaking to him in his native tongue. renato grins where his face is pressed to the bed, on cloud nine as he tries to push back against his thrusts, wanting him deeper inside. he gets so insatiable when he's like this. the pain, the pleasure, the feeling of being so exposed yet so free, makes him positively wild. 

he's sweating, hot everywhere with the feeling of being filled like this, entered over and over exactly where he wants it. every slide against his most sensitive parts makes his breath catch. 

“i love it, baby,” he grunts out, thrashing his head from side to side, trying to get a glimpse of carlo behind him. his eyes almost roll back on a particularly good thrust, his cock leaking beneath him. “dame más. more baby, please,” renato pleads brokenly as he shakes his ass, wanting to push carlo over the edge. “make me the luckiest man on the island.” 

There were plenty of people who didn't find Lochlan's hyper fixation to be as endearing as Jeff did, he didn't have much to contribute when it came to horses but he always listened to the prince of horses. That was one reason Lochy tended to approach him more often than he might have normally, maybe today he could be some help. The son of Artemis wasn't usually one to ask for help, learning from a young age to be self reliant but this wasn't for himself. It was for one of his friends, who could get hurt.

“Oh,” he frowned, the worry and anxiety was visible on Lochy's face and he we about to walk off when Jeff offered to give him some help. "Thank you, Jeff." he said with a faint smile, not even minding that his hair was messed with in the moment. Jeff reminded him of one his old trainers when he was younger, who taught him how to ride horses and was surprised at how naturally Lochy took to it. That made him feel safe around the older man.

"Umm, he's kind of a trouble maker but he's never done this before." The stress was still in his voice as he looked around, searching the skies to see if he was flying around. "Yeah, he might have been hungry... I was on time today, maybe he didn't finish his dinner last night. I should have made sure he ate it all." Lochy was now spiraling as he walked towards the trees nearby, looking for any apple trees.

"You'll hear him before you see him, he's the loudest Pegasus on the island."

jeff likes lochlan, and is always ready to indulge him. there are some people that jeff just likes to hear talk, and lochlan is one of those people. it's usually people who he thinks are smarter than him, who have something to teach him about the world that he will sit and listen to, not having to contribute much to the conversation. 

and he hates when people are shot down over things they're excited about. 

he especially hates seeing someone like lochy upset. jeff feels a protective urge come over him, and he moves to wrap lochlan in a big bear hug, wanting to stop his spiraling. 

“hey, hey, hey,” he says softly, “stop that. whatever this is, it ain't your fault, bud. okay? you take really good care of the horses and the pegasi.”

he rubs a hand down lochlan's back in a pattern. “and freaking out isn't gonna help any. those guys are insanely smart creatures, you know that. so, i'm sure he's doin just fine, and we're gonna find him soon and laugh about this.”  

jeff lets go after a moment and begins to move quickly toward the apple trees. “now let's find that pesky pegasus!" 

“ya gotta put him on time out for giving you this scare, buddy. trust me, it helps.” 

he's confident they'll be successful as he points toward a patch of apple trees just ahead and calls out, “SIRIUS YOU'RE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE, MISTER!” dad mode activated. 

that, and since the man was always in the gym, something around him was always wafting. aftershave, body wash, something-- a scent that meant proximity, and appreciation. comfort.

put all of that together, and alvin wasn't hiding much oh his half mast in his loose little pair of shorts. his lean legs didn't need much cover.

the hand to his back helps fold him up, and he's more like three quarters at the contact. "--thanks," muttered quickly, before he's muted by the bottle to his lips. the care, the attention, alvin lets his eyes close and just lets the coach do his thing. there's no getting around that bob between his spread thighs, almost in time with his swallows, but it's not a big deal, right? maybe more like an average deal, or slightly over.

"last time someone called me a beast, I froze the lane so hard I got two levels up without a gank." said breathlessly, but with his own pride in his chest. then jeff has to go so far into hyperbole that alvin's even blushing, leaning over to tackle the top of his head into his brother's chest, under his arm. "c'mon, jeff. there's guys, like, ten times my size here. I just wanna see myself improve."

lie. he wants the man to keep laying it on thick. but as the orange behind his head flickered, he wasn't gonna get anywhere good by admitting it.

this proximity, the camaraderie and the heat shared with someone after a good workout, or a win, is unlike anything else. it's like an extra supply of endorphins after the initial burst from the workout itself. it makes everything that much better. it's one of the things jeff found himself missing after he quit professional sports. thankfully he's found ways to get that same feeling of closeness here with some of the guys and gals on the island. 

jeff notices the bulge in alvin's loose shorts and how it responds to his movements, but he doesn't say anything for now, wanting to be in the moment and see where things go naturally. boners are a natural part of strength training, and the camaraderie between teammates, between workout partners. the heat, sweat, proximity, the blood rushing. jeff would be lying if he said he weren't a little worked up inside his compression shorts too. his is just hidden a little better. not by much, if alvin were to glance down he'd probably see the outline of his thick cock getting more engorged by the second. 

he laughs, confusion clear on his features as his brow furrows momentarily. “okay, bud, ya lost me again. is that video game talk?” jeff tries to keep up with the new lingo but it all goes over his head. and he's always been more of a super mario kind of guy. maybe some racing games. he really should ask alvin to game more often. 

jeff presses a soft kiss to the top of alvin's head when he leans into him, laughing softly as he rubs his back soothingly. “c'mon. that stuff doesn't matter, alvy! you're a champ! we both know it.” even if he doesn't understand the world alvin comes from he's always been impressed by the younger guy and his expertise in that field. 

“and you're strong as heck! we both just saw you crush it, lemme hype you up! ya deserve it!” he hugs alvin to him happily in a big bear hug, not caring if they're both hot and sweaty. maybe he wants to feel him close too. “ya get stronger and stronger every time we lift. you're gonna give me a run for my money pretty soon.”