the old religion humming in your veins

“you’re going to have to trust me a bit here.” paul stepped forward closer to henry, “i’ve been obsessed with these ancient olympics videos online.” he was holding a bottle of oil, he waved in front of his friend's face. he squirt some into his hand, rubbing his hands together. “the thing that stuck with me was they really showed off the male form with oil. to accentuate the muscles… and i immediately thought of you.” the male body was a tool for victory for nike; paul figured athena's wise kids would understand this. paul grinned, extending his hands to hopefully lather his friend.  

the son of athena cocked his brow when he saw paul pull out a bottle of oils and lather up his hands with it. “and what exactly are the benefits of these oils? aside from showing off the male form.” henry was always thinking from a pragmatic point of view, what was the most beneficial thing he could do to help his form or in battle. “i have to say, i am flattered that i was the first one you thought of.” the tactician nodded, undoing the buttons of his shirt and letting it slide off to reveal a slab of pure muscle underneath before unbuttoning his pants and pushing them off. “my curiosity has been peaked, paul. i suppose it wouldn't hurt to try it out.”

beau joined the yoga class on a whim. he’d done it a few times before getting to olympus, but knew barely any poses. he was mainly excited about the excuse to spend time with brooklyn; he could ogle the instructor and hopefully get to know him better. the opportunity to see broklyn in compromising positions was a bonus.

beau followed the instructions, bending down into a downward dog. beau held the pose as long as he could, hiding a wince. he continued following brooklyn, laying flat on his back. his chest heaved as he caught his breath. beau looked around as the class lay there, sneaking a few glances at the instructor. beau sat up as the class started filing out. he turned as brooklyn spoke, grinning immediately at the compliment. “thanks. of course it’s because of your great instructing.” he nodded at the second question, “yes i’ve just been watching some youtube videos. haven’t had anyone to practice with.” he got to his knees, reaching across to shake his hand. “beau by the way, not sure if you knew that or not…”

of course brooklyn immediately noticed beau when the man arrived on the island and joined his yoga class. those piercing eyes were hard to miss and he was certainly handsome as hell, so the son of zagreus would take any opportunity to try and talk to him. “you're too kind,” there was a smile curling along the edges of his lips as he spoke. “i can only do so much, you've put in the work too.”

looking the other over, he was shorter than brooklyn by a few inches and even more attractive up close. that jawline was so sharp and those eyes looked even more piercing up close. he shook beau's hand, giving it a firm squeeze and pulled himself closer. “yeah, i did. i've seen you around the zagreus cabin.” he didn't want to mention that they were brothers, that might kill the vibe. “i'm brooklyn.”

MATT BOMER as JERRY FRANK

"Then both it is" he spoke as they kept walking. It's not like he minded cooking and honestly loved when people enjoyed his food. Even if some of the cooks had sent people to check in on him for not showing up to the mess hall.  "Well feel free to do that whenever you want"

Dating and stuff was all so foreign for Lochy, he'd never had a boyfriend before and suddenly he came to the island and things were so different. He didn't really know what the rules were, frankly he didn't like how many rules there with dating… if you liked someone, you should just be honest and spend time with them. Right? That's what he did with Leonardo. The two spent most days together and usually fell asleep together back at his cabin together. 

“I was thinking… maybe we could call my mom tonight? Maybe after dinner?” Even if they didn't have cell phones on the island, which Lochy didn't love, they could use Iris messages to make video calls and he pretty much called his mom every night before bed. He'd told her all about Leo, and they were planning on meeting soon. Maybe a video call could be the first step. “If that's too soon for you, let me know. I don't really know when that stuff happens.” Honesty was important for him, otherwise he'd never figure it out. 

The two made their way back to his cabin, luckily he only had a few siblings so the place was usually empty for the Lochy and Leo to have it to themselves. “I think I need a shower first, I smell like horse.” While he loved horses, Lochy certainly didn't want to smell like a stable when he was done for the day. “Do you want to join me..? Or I can join you for yours later.” Lochy's hands were idly playing with the buttons on Leo's shirt. 

❝ i’m going to ruin you for anyone else. ❞

The scottishman drawled with that bold smirk painted along his face. Biard had no shame about his nudity as he let his pants drop towards the floor before he moved into that water, his impressive cock already twitching between his legs. His smirk got wider as he noticed the way the other demi-god's eyes lingered between his legs. It was nice to know that there was something in this world that could get the others mind to focus on something other than the horses of the island. The warm water rippled as he closed the distance between him and Lochlan.

His hands found the others bare, slender body under the water and his fingers traced along the others hips as that smirk dug into his cheek at that question.

"Oh?" He was well aware by this point that the other preferred an honest answer, something he solid he didn't have to turn over in his mind for hours after. Those bright eyes found Lochlan's as his hand raised to brush his knuckles against the others jawline.

Flirting had never been a skill of Lochlan's and at times he felt a little overwhelmed when he was in the presence of Biard. Maybe it was his own attraction for the son of Aphrodite, or not being around someone with such raw sexual presence…. maybe his mother had something to do with that, but any time the Scottish man was around him Lochy could feel his thighs shake like jello and it took everything in him to stay composed and not embarrass himself. 

Feeling those fingers brush against his bare skin under the water, it felt like electricity was jolting through his body and instinct seemed to take over as he leaned into the touch more. His sea foam green eyes met the others, the rest of the world seemed to melt around them and Biard was the only person he could focus on right then and there. 

“I'd like to try that very much, Biard." With how forward the son of Aphrodite was being, Lochy took that as enough initiative and let his hands wander over the others chest to finally feel those muscles he'd imagined for so long. The warmth that seemed to radiate under his skin, the smell of cologne that lingered on Biard, Lochy wanted to remember every possible second. 

“That's a really… beautiful way to put it.” His own cock seemed to stir awake as their lips brushed against one another for a kiss, Lochy deepened it while his hands moved further down until he was holding both of their cocks and slowly stroking them. 

“I don't usually do stuff like this so… publicly,” There was a second of contemplation before he felt his impulses caving in. “but I don't want to stop."

"I would love to meet you mom if you think she would want to meet me." Lucian reached up and gently wiped away the little bit of frosting Lochlan had missed, licking his finger clean when he was done. "Let's go do something Japanese. What can you only do here that you want to do? I wanna do whatever you wanna do."

“Your family house sound like those old Edgar Allan Poe stories we had to read a lot when we were younger,” Lochy was from Baltimore, so he read a lot of Poe as a child and was familiar with the mans work even if it was all a little too depressing and macabre for his personal taste. “I would be scared that there would be dead bodies in the cupboards or behind the walls.” But then again, maybe that was where Lucian got his interests from? “My mom was raised in a fancy house too, but we only visited for holidays. We lived in a normal, two story house that's kind of small in comparison.” Maybe the two of them would have been friends if they lived around one another as children, Lucian seemed to quickly make Lochy his friend without much thought. Maybe he wouldn't have been such a lonely child then.

“You remind me a lot of her, actually. She's artistic too, not a painter like you but she's good at sewing and knitting and stuff, she mostly loves to write.” Lochy always lit up when he talked about his mom. “You both are really energetic and are whimsical. She'd probably take you to all the Edgar Allan Poe stuff in Baltimore since that's right up your alley.”

He thought for a second, truthfully Lochy hadn't planned anything to do in town. “I'm not really sure, we could visit a zoo and see if there are any lions you could talk to? But we could do that anywhere. I'll do whatever you want, Lucy. As long as we're not it's not like… skydiving or something crazy.”

He didn't really know when him and Evan got so close, but it was nice to branch off and not just hang out with his brothers from the Hecate cabin. Plus, the son of Nike was sexy as hell and his little magic seemed to help Fabian with his own stuff. “Oh, you got a little sauce…” he said, using his finger to brush off the bit of sauce that was smeared just above his chin. Taking a slice for himself, he tasted. Fresh, warm, and not filled with worms. That was a plus. “and I don't know how common pizza is here.” This was his first time in Japan. 

Reaching into his bag of holding, he grabbed a journal to scribble some notes for himself to show his teacher once they got back. “Gotta journal my progress.” he said before tossing it back in the bag and returning to Evan. “Still, thanks. I appreciate having you around. Not just because you're like… the sexiest guy in the world.” 

After a few more slices were eaten, Fabian crawled into the others lap. “I finished my practice for the day, so we can do whatever you want.”

The other being a little awkward ball of nerves around him was honestly part of the appeal that Fabian held for Cassidy. The other couldn't hid a single thing on his face, even now that cute dusting of a blush crept over that adorable face and had Cassidy's smirk digging deeper into his cheek. Well, that and the other was short and cute enough that he looked like Cassidy could use him as a pocket pussy for a week and he'd never get tired of him.

"Certainly seems like it in my experience. And here I was think'n that you lot just got magic by thought alone or something." Because honestly, what did Cassidy know about magic with a capital M. There's a little flick of his eyebrow and he flashed that charming smile of his again as he chuckled. "Oh? You nolticed, little one? How nice to know my abscence was worth noting by someone so cute." He drawled as he followed the others eyes back down that gun before tilting his head back up to Fabian. "You wanna hear the darin story? Hear about I dramatically took down a Hydra with my twin pistols. It's a good story." He joked as he shifted his elbows onto the table and leaned forward a touch. "It went well, little witch. I mean- as well as I can when you're putting up with Biard's nonsense and Avery's getting high every five seconds" he drawled.

Of course Fabian had fantasized about what those plump lips might taste like, or what he looked like under that denim and plaid, and hearing that deep voice whisper sweet nothings into his ear in the middle of the night. 

“Oh, I suppose for some it might be like that…” he had studied a few of the other demigods on the island and what kind of magic they could produce, it seemed to differ from person to person and godly parent to godly parent. “I have access to a lot more magic and my brothers say it's important to try and get a good understanding of each school, don't want to accidentally set someone on fire or something.” Fabian held out his hand, blue webs of magic began wrapping around his arm before they came together and formed a small bird that flapped its wings and flew between the two of them, before disappearing back into blue dust. 

“Of course I noticed your absence. Missed having you around me to tell me about your cowboy adventures." Having an alluring cowboy flirting with you was one of Fabian's highlights around the island. His eyes lit up at the mention of a Hydra, he knew they were pretty dangerous and could kill most. Would he have to face one some day? “I'd love to hear more about it, Cassidy. ”

Standing up, the redhead put the spell book back into his bag of holding that he carried around everywhere. “Where should we go? Your cabin? Mine?” Maybe a little forward but Fabian was hopeful, Cassidy certainly seemed to like him. 

He laughed as the other spoke about the cat. "She is around a lot; some of them like to stick around me," he spoke as he held the other's hand just a little tighter as they moved through the space. "Yeah, I think she's following us out of curiosity; she won't try anything," he reassured the other as they got closer to where they were heading. It was just a few more turns, and there it was "Wow thats so pretty"

With his mother being the Queen of the Underworld, Robin understood that death was part of her domain. You couldn't have new life without it growing from the death of others, but that was something he let others deal with. Like his brother Rhys, or in this case Peter. “It's a lot more complicated than I would have ever thought. I just figured you die and you either go to the Underworld or you stay a ghost.” He'd let Petey worry about the ghosts, they seemed to like him whenever they were around him.

“We need to give her a name, unless you can figure that out too?” Robin watched as the ghost cat led them down the road that led to the garden that he could sense and once they were inside he tugged Peter and ran towards it. The cherry blossom petals danced around him as he twirled in place, twirling them to make crowns for the two demigods. “This might be the most beautiful place in the entire world. I'm so glad that I got to see it with you and your ghost cat.”

the blond son of persephone could always feel it , the turning wheel. the way new things withered and died and were renewed, the energy they had resused over and over. in a sense everything was so ancient. everlasting. the sun that fed the flowers would also see them wilt and turn back to dirt and feed the worms, leaving new seeds for the next season. a deer would eat the grass when when it was hunted by the wolf would turn back into nutrients for the earth that would grow the grass. it made everything so meaningful though, int he end they were all helping one another.

"how should I be playing? i'll do better to try and be a little more interesting."

death wasn't foreign to robin, he understood that it came with his mothers domain and life came from those who came before. the circle of life and death, it was all just two sides of the same coin. but still, he thought the best way to honor the life that his mother gave him was to live in the moment. feel the wind blowing through his hair, running through the rain, and talking to the flowers that grew on the side of the road. there was beauty in every aspect of life, and robin wanted to appreciate as much of it as he could while he was on this planet. 

“oh rhys, you're the sweetest brother a boy could ask for.” the air was filled with his laughter as he danced with his brother, more cherry blossoms floating in the sky and landing around him to make the crown his brother made on his head even more grand. “you're the thorns that protect me.”

“enjoy these moments with the living.” he continued the dancing, even if the flowers weren't dancing with them anymore. “and maybe this…” he took charge and pressed his lips against his brothers for a tender, soft kiss. 

Even though the kiss had ended, Malcolm kept his hand placed firmly on the other's shoulder, not wanting to let him go in case he did, he fell over or something. He knew that was how he felt after coming down from his own panic attack. It felt good to have that support afterwards. "I'm sure others would have done the same thing...maybe." Maybe not kiss him. That was a little out of left field but be there for Robin, certainly.

"Well, if you ever want to talk about it, then you know were to find me." A cool breeze went past them both and he finally let his hand go from the other's shoulder and instead slipped both of them into his pocket. "Why don't you join me for something to eat and drink. I'm sure those Dionysus kids have some strong wine on them."

Most times Robin tried to remain chipper and see the positive in life, not only was he alive but there were so many great people around him now. Still, he couldn't escape those moments when the dark thoughts caught up to him and felt all consuming. Maybe it'd be easier to talk about it, but he didn't know Malcolm well enough. What would he think?

“Thanks, again.” he reassured the son of Athena, luckily he felt steady once more and back in the moment. It had passed and he was in the present once more. Nodding, he reached forward to hook his arm around the other and started to walk in the direction back towards the heart of the island. “That sounds like a great idea, actually. I'm starving.”

Louis certainly wasn't strong enough to turn down an invite from the much younger, prettier demi-god. And frankly the idea of having somet time with the other away from a crowd was very, very appealing. Perhaps he should have planned something less sinfully based and yet, the frenchman couldn't find himself forcusing beyond taking the other apart with pleasure piece by piece with pleasure. There's a smirk with the edge of maddess as the other tugged on his collar and he followed the other easily, his hands dropping to find the others waist as he peered down at the shorter boy. The kiss found his lips and he returned it hungrily, skillfully. His feet following the others steps as they walked towards the others room. Louis didn't even glance back as those vines shut door and the world awayf rom them both.

Perhaps there was something innate about the children of Dionysus that made them addictive like the red wine that ran through their vines, that would explain why Robin had dreamt of those luscious lips for weeks now and he could hear that deep, mesmerizing voice calling to him like a siren. While he didn't understand a lick of French, anything that Louis said in his native language was so damn attractive to Robin. The man could read the phone book in French to Robin if he wanted to. “Whatever you said sounds pretty sexy,” he said with a playful smile between those intoxicating kisses. 

“Good, because I don't intend on letting you get away.”

Raising his hands, Robin helped slip the shirt off his petite frame before his hands moved to practically rip the fabric off Louis' muscular frame, exploring every crevice and valley across his torso. “I want to taste every inch of you…” he said as a mouth moved over to suck on one of his nipples while he toyed with the neglected one between his fingers. 

While his attention was on the others chest, Robin idly undid the others pants to pull them off and free that cock that had plagued his dreams since that fateful night back on the beach. 

they didn't matter, he had him. hand on his chin making him look into his eyes. “i'm all yours.”

like ecstasy in his bloodstream, his body sung for harvey. eyes locked onto him as the world disappeared. someone else might have been afraid, but harvey had seen it before, had felt it before.

the shadow that he was, wrapping around his brother as he pulled him into a kiss. if there had been any fabric between them, it would've been ripped, nails scratching skin as he felt his hardness rub against his brother's, water spreading the copious lubrification he made for his brother.

"all... mine..." he repeated, smirk all teeth as he leaned down to lick and nip at harvey's neck while his hand found its way down the familiar planes of his back and ass, a possessive grip with one hand before his fingers dipped beneath to circle the tight ring of muscles he could never resist.

not that he resisted any part of harvey. all of him was perfect, and all of him was hunter's.

just like hunter was completely and absolutely his.

"should i taste you brother," he asked, skin reddened by his lips. marked only in the gentlest of ways, for now. "or should i take you like this..." fingers sunk into him, that tight impossible heat that was nothing if not home.

ravenous, obsessed. self-control reliant only on the melody of his brother's voice, of his sighs and whimpers. on the way their cocks throbbed in synchrony--could anyone ever understand what it felt, to be so close to his moon, to feel himself about to sink and lose himself to him and crawl back smiling knowing there was nowhere else his brother would rather be.

"i can smell it on you," he hissed, tongue running across his brother's jugular, fingers rubbing against his prostate--making harvey sing, "how much you want me, how empty you are without me... i'll take care of it little brother."

Anyone who was at least vaguely familiar with the twins could distinguish the two of them from one another. Harvey was so soft spoken, timid at times even, while Hunter was more assertive and had the eyes of a hunter. Harvey softened his brothers rougher edges, while Hunter kept him steady and grounded in his life. Two ends that complimented one another perfectly. 

He shook his head, the violinist was the one who calmed his brother and kept him from slaughtering half of the island who so much as laid eyes on Harvey. “They don't matter.” he reassured Hunter, a hand reaching up to cup that chiseled jawline that could cut through diamonds if he wanted. 

Bodies grinding against one another, the two fit together like two halves of a moon. Nobody could make him feel the way his brother did, his other half. When he wasn't with the other, he always felt incomplete and broken. They were two bodies and one soul, forever tethered to one another like this. 

While others may have feared Hunter, Harvey embraced the darkness that shrouded him in that moment. He had seen the other in his worst moments, fully aware of what his twin was capable of but he also knew Hunter would never hurt him. If there was one truth in this world, Hunter would always be his protector. 

Feeling those familiar fingers push inside him, a needy and soft moan escaped Harvey's lips. He buckled back against those digits as his head buckled upward towards the moon that cascaded over the two of them, it wasn't lost on him that he was being intimate under his mother's watchful eye. But she was always watching them. Always there, always looking after her two boys. 

“You can taste me, brother.” he said, a hand reached down to stroke their cocks in unison together as he teased his brothers arousal further and further. He knew what his brother craved, that taste for flesh and blood. Perhaps a curse of their mother's domain, but he was the one who Hunter wanted the most. “I know my blood sings to you.” His blood was perhaps the sweetest tasting thing for Hunter. 

“You could…” he let out another needy moan, pushing his forehead against the others and letting his body press against the others. “… taste me while you make love to me.” 

“I need you, big moon… I need you like I need air to breath, I feel so incomplete and broken without you. You're the only one who makes me feel whole.”

Hunter was his big moon, the thing that his entire life gravitated around, his everything.