𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖔𝖗 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖊𝖊𝖕.

was  he  not?

  then  why  else  did  he  wander  this  far  from  home,  silas  wondered  -  curiosity  taking  over  &  replacing  surprise  on  calm  features.  his  mind  may  be  running  with  wild,  but  he  had  self-control  to  keep  it  within  him.  it  may  have  faltered  recently,  but  silas  was  working  on  resuming  as  he  always  had.  with  structure  &  determination.

  he'd  find  his  zen  again  once  day,  but  until  then  he  just  had  to  not  snap  at  the  next  best  person  giving  him  the  stinkeye.  ronan  seemed  different,  though  silas  wasn't  nearly  observant  enough  -  when  it  came  to  people  anyway,  to  make  assumptions  as  to  why.

  he  held  the  younger  godling's  gaze  with  ease,  sat  on  the  ground  with  his  legs  crossed  &  feeling  ...  home  more  than  he  had  anywhere  in  a  while.  "tend  to.  why?  what's  it  to  ya?  lookin'  for  a  trainer to teach ya how to throw proper punches?"    head  tilted  to  the  side,  truthful  curiosity  on  his  face  still  -  the  other's  unhappiness  ..  lost  to  him.  not  in  any  way  malicious,  just  ..  he  just  didn't  see  reason  for  it.  unless  he  missed  something. 

the  other  felt  so  smug  ;  sitting  casually  with  a  broodish  nature  as  though  to  mock  and  demean  others  for  not  being  automatons  wishing  to  fight  or  train  every  goddamn  day  of  the  week.  "  you're  really  condecensing,  did  you  know  that?  "  ronan  pushes  back  at  him,  his  own  powers  emerging  as  sea  salt  and  liquid  grew  at  his  fingertips.

  "  you  know  what,  sure.  i've  never  sparred  with  anyone  yet.  but  don't  you  dare  go  easy  on  me,  because  i'm  going  to  show  you  that  not  all  preparation  needs  to  happen  here.  "

he's about to resign himself to failure when he spots someone approaching out of the corner of his eye. "if you're here to fish, don't bother." a gentle sigh leaves his lips, shaking his head. "never seen fish so disinterested in bait."

Wow,  Ronan  knew  that  he  could  be  incredibly  serious  but  as  he  got  closer  to  the  fisherman  attempting  to  use  a  pole  to  fish,  he  realized  that  perhaps  this  man  had  him  beat  exponentially. 

"  The  fish  here  aren't  stupid.  If  you  want  to  eat  some  you're  better  off  with  a  net  or  spear  fishing.  "  Ronan  offered  advice  to  the  man,  perhaps  to  his  own  detriment  expectig  the  other  to  bark  back  that  he  hadn't  asked  for  it.

it  wasn't  the  same  in  silas'  favorite  place  in  camp  without  the  warm,  gentle  light  of  hestia's  son  training  in  a  corner  not  far  from  his  own.  it  had  become  this  sort  of  routine  over  the  past  weeks.  they  din't  interact,  no  really,  but  silas  observed  &  he  learnt.  gabriel  always  pushed  himself  to  the  limit,  always  tried  to  become  stronger,  better,  more  resilient  ...all  to  protect  the  people  in  camp.

  silas  didn't  blame  the  godlings  who  tapped  into  the  heartsong  for  what  they  did,  no.  he  blamed  them  for  what  they  didn't  do:  acquire  necessary  intel.  no,  it  wasn't  just  necessary  -  it  was  vital.

  he'd  avoided  this  place  since  the  norse  gods  stormed  into  town  &  put  it  under  siege,  but  after  the  day  they  had...  he'd  missed  its  comfort.  sat  on  the  ground  with  his  axe  in  his  lap  &  his  mind  running  wild.  they  still  didn't  know  who  all  did  it,  or  who  had  died,  too.  for  all  he  knew  they  could've  just  lost  half  the  camp's  population.  though  he  agreed  they'd  likely  have  noticed  that. 

  he  did  find  a  rather  unexpected  face  roaming  the  area  &  the  frown  on  his  face  couldn't  be  described  as  anything  but  that.  "you  lost?  the  lake's  down  the  dirt  road  an'  to  the  right."

Wow,  Ronan  hated  that. 

The  man  sucked  on  his  bottom  lip  in  distaste,  teeth  biting  down  to  ease  the  swell  of  his  mind  that  wanted  to  simply  drown  the  stoic  man  in  a  torrent  of  his  words.  Taking  a  moment,  Ronan  let  his  gaze  meet  with  Silas'  for  a  moment  as  he  allowed  the  turbulence  to  be  seen  within  him  as  he  walked  a  few  steps  closer  almost  in  defiance  of  the  other  and  his  alleged  claim  of  the  training  pit. 

"  I'm  not  lost.  " Asshole.  Ronan  wasn't  sure  why  his  feelings  felt  so  big  in  this  moment  but  he  couldn't  help  but  want  to  fight  the  other  with  all  of  his  might. 

He  took  a  breath  knowing  he  wasn't  feeling  like  his  normal  self  while  Ronan  exhaled  to  ease  the  roaring  seas  of  his  emotions. 

"  Are  you  helping  others  train  or  something?  I  didn't  think  there  was  a  sign-up  sheet.  " 

he remembered the day with a haunting clarity: the glittering lake under the ripple of summer heat, the swaying trees through a fresh breeze, the water droplets on the back of gabriel’s hands as he helped undo the clasps of lars’ armor leather.

he didn’t know what called him to wade into the water, but lars was already knees deep by the time he realized it. and he was cold, cold, cold down to his bones. the chill suffused everywhere, like winter rot, growing only stronger by the minute. again, that feeling of never being able to find warmth returned. intensified.

the ice spread in a crawl, faintly misting over the grey waters of the lake at first before a second wave crystallized it. then a third swept over in a blue miasma, chilling everything within a radius around him. he let out a gasp. but he didn’t hold back. if the world froze over, then so be it. lars’ skin steamed as his magic rippled out, causing all underwater plants and creatures to freeze.

'  Ronan,  the  lake  is  freezing.  ' 

  One  of  the  nearby  fishes  that  the  son  of  Poseidon  had  finally  befriended  swam  down  to  him  in  a  hurry,  the  lake  had  been  her  home  for  years  and  she  knew  better  that  this  time  of  year  was  not  accustomed  to  a  cold  snap.

  "  What?  "  Ronan  was  taken  aback,  this  couldn't  have  been  another  invasion,  could  it?  His  only  saving  grace  was  that  he  had  slept  in  his  bed  that  night,  if  not,  he  might've  missed  it  in  its  entirity.  With  immense  speed,  the  man  raced  to  the  surface  only  to  see  a  thick  layer  of  ice  sealing  them  shut  while  the  ice  continued  to  trickle  itself  down  centimeter  by  centimeter.

  Ronan  made  haste,  swimming  the  perimeter  to  find  its  source  until  he  spotted  a  figure  near  the  shore  where  the  cabins  were  location.  The  man  slammed  at  the  ice,  attempting  to  get  the  attention  of  the  other  quickly  so  that  he  would  stop,  but  also  ready  to  simply  attack  him  if  he  needed  to  with  the  full  force  of  the  seas  to  get  him  to  stop.

just two guys, having a totally normal conversation. "right." third time. "yeah."

simon sighed. "I mean, not as close as some, I guess. but he put effort in. he was there, when we got raided. he made me fucking waffles, for no fucking reason." simon knew the reason. he just didn't feel worthy enough to say it out loud. "he was...nice. seemed like a good guy. and that's why I got so pissed off." to say simon made the sandwich disappear would draw more attention to it than the act actually garnered. it was in his hand, and then it wasn't. "guy seemed...not gullible. maybe taken advantage of, a little bit." he sniffed. "that's what set me off. a good one, got got."

ronan  nodded  ;  there  wasn't  much  else  to  do  as  the  silence  grew  for  a  moment  between  the  two  budding  seedlings  growing  upwards  in  their  power  as  the  reality  of  camp  settling  in.  they  might  not  make  it  to  the  end,  in  fact,  they  probably  wouldn't  but  those  who  did  survive  would  have  to  endure  and  continue  on  for  the  sake  of  the  world.

"I, ah." Not a good start. So he huffed and let his shoulders slump and gave a tired chuckle. "No, not usually. But everyone around here's all angry and suspicious and shit of a new guy showing up after whatever happened the other night. So I've been trying to be extra cheery just to make myself extra palpable. Or something."

It  would  be  a  lie  if  Ronan  didn't  always  emit  an  aura  of  truth-seeking  and  radical  honesty  wherever  he  went.  His  eyes  pierced  through  the  gaze  of  pleasantries  and  his  words  followed,  casually  waiting  the  other's  response  without  malice  in  his  tone  ,  simply  curiosity.

  "  Ah,  I  see.  "  Ronan  gave  the  other  a  little  space  as  he  deciphered  and  understood  what  the  other  was  saying.  "  Well,  please  don't  be  that  way  with  me.  "  He  only  ever  acted  exactly  a  single  way,  no  games  or  manipulation  when  it  came  to  the  son  of  Poseidon.  "  I'd  much  rather  you  just  be  yourself  with  whatever  that  means  or  looks  like.  "

He found as he looked at him "I know you aren't stupid Ro," He looked at him for a second, "I am inviting you to stay the night in my cabin Ronan." He told him while he held out his hand, "Come on I'm not taking no for an answer"

Despite  knowing  Rio  since  his  youth,  Ronan  simply  did  not  trust  him  and  for  good  reason  to.  He  lacked  care  ;  Rio  was  sloppy,  unmotivated,  and  used  his  conventional  attraction  to  meander  through  life.  It  was  true  back  then,  seems  to  still  be  true  now.

Although he preferred his domain of the forest, the lake was also a great place to unwind as well. It was the closest thing he get to having a beach day; which he technically could but recent events otherwise told him to stay close to camp until the trauma was mostly decompressed.

He made his way to the water's edge, dressed in a open mesh silver shirt and a pair of silver swim briefs. Before discarding his shirt, upon the shore, he decided to dip his foot into the water first just to test the temperature. Then he...could have sworn he heard a splash...his eyes darted out to the lake and...nothing but ripples. Maybe it was a fish that jumped out or something.

"Down to the sea we go, down to the world belo-..." he started to sing to himself, taking a few more steps into the lake. He stopped and definitely heard another splash. His brows raised staring outward...though his sense told him to look over to his left a couple more yards out and he actually jumped to see the head of Poseidon's son peeking out from beneath the surface.

"You really should announce yourself," he says, furrowing his brow. "...Good to see you though and that you're alright? Was starting to think you were just an Urban Legend in the camp."

finishing  up  his  propagation  of  the  seaweed,  the  son  of  poseidon  headed  back  to  the  surface  in  his  board  shorts  until  he  emerged  while  hearing  what  sounded  like  singing.

"  what  did  i  do?  "  ronan  asked  confused,  eyes  narrowing  in  on  the  other  as  he  jettisoned  himself  out  of  the  lake  and  quickly  to  the  shore  so  he  could  place  his  tools  back  in  its  pouch.  thanks  to  his  own  godly  domain,  ronan's  speed  while  in  or  above  the  water  was  insane.

the offering was held up in salute, in thanks, before simon ripped into it. not quite voraciously, but damn near. food had to disappear fast, before someone else saw you had it, and figured a fight was worth the shot to take it. he looks only marginally better afterwards, just one of the many gnawing sensations coiling in him abating.

"right." so ronan was busy. "that's cool." or something like that. head bobbing, until he had to pause, "no, I mean. you look fine. great, or whatever." immaculate, probably. untouched. "I just meant..."

he's gonna have to say it.

"  oh,  uhhh.  right.  "  ronan  feels  like  an  absolute  idiot  in  this  moment,  the  disconnect  starkly  showcasing  itself  as  he  had  been  thinking  about  gabe  since  finding  out  but  still  unable  to  put  the  two  together.

When it seemed he wasn't the only one apparently looking for information on Fenrir, Greyson's patience seemed to grow thinner than it already was. Research wasn't his strongest suit, not unless he'd been cramming for a test in college and even then he was surprised he'd made it sometimes. Either he was looking in the wrong places or at the wrong things because nothing seemed to be turning up the answers he was looking for.

How to kill Arlan.

"What's your interest in this stuff?" He questioned Ronan with an almost suspicious look in his eyes. How many people knew? Was Ender just telling everyone now? Was it some point of pride and everyone needed to know who was the apparent alpha demigod?

"  none.  "  ronan  answered  honestly  to  the  son  of  pan.  they  had  been  friendly  and  familiar  that  he  didn't  read  the  question  as  anything  as  innocent,  the  suspicion  in  the  other's  eyes  something  ro  ignored  entirely.

  "  kieran  asked  me  to  look  up  werewolf  stuff,  so  i'm  doing  it  begrudgingly.  "  the  man  grabbed  at  another  book,  eyes  towards  the  index  as  he  looked  for  synonyms  to  lycanthropy  to  see  if  this  book  was  worth  pursuing.  after  a  second  of  deciding  it  wouldn't  be,  the  man  put  it  back  on  the  shelf  and  grabbed  at  another  book  that  might  hold  the  answers.

a sandwich.

simon looked down at it. reached out. wrapped fingers around it, if it was offered.

"yeah." food. important, required, was hard to get, before. "should probably eat." since he'd been up before dawn, and haunting the grounds like a living specter, or some stone-faced urban legend.

simon sniffed.

"sorry I didn't make it to the lake, this morning." his mouth pushed to the side, and he looked away. unable to maintain the look of one unaffected, or at least not as easily as he did at the start. "some shit was going on."

understatement. intentional, but he had a sandwich.

if ronan gave it to him.

ronan  took  a  big  bite  out  of  his  sandwich  chewing  mercilessly  and  unapologetically  using  it  as  fuel  for  the  day.  there  were  no  pleasantries  necessary  when  dealing  with  ronan,  he  only  ever  acted  the  way  he  was  programmed  to.  as  the  man  grabbed  the  sandwich,  the  son  of  poseidon  hated  that  he  often  thought  how  horrible  all  of  the  other  demigods  looked.  growing  up,  being  pristine  at  all  costs  was  ingrainted  within  him  and  so  he  always  did  his  best  to  look  presentable  no  matter  what  it  took.  at  a  glance,  it  made  ronan  feel  physically  ill  to  see  someone  so  worse  for  wear.

@seaspraycd

getting permission from atticus and oliver - he was told to make sure to keep his phone on him the whole time. he promised he would, told them where he was going to go as he just wanted to get out of the cabin, having people coming in and out at all times, he needed some time to just breathe in the air around him. making his way out of the cabin, hoodie over him to cover up the new scars that he's gotten, a slice to the throat and a few new stab wounds, along with the dark mark that was over his heart that he can't stop ghosting his fingers over - wondering what was truly taken from him.

walking out to the lake, he sat right on the edge, shoes off as he looked out at the calming waters that rippled near him. taking in a deep breath, he brought his knees up onto his chest and just took the peaceful sounds around him. he wishes he was able to help repair, take care of those hurt, but he was in now state of doing so. the images of those slicing into him, killing him, the blood spilling out down from his throat - his life fading - he was happy to be alive even if he was upset that if he had not done such a stupid choice he would not have lost his life, but he had to live with that now.

  ronan  had  been  talking  with  a  lake  nymph  about  some  of  the  nuances  of  lake  magic  and  if  there  was  a  way  we  could  expand  the  lake  even  further  with  their  combined  strength.  he  hadn'  tnoticed  the  other  at  first,  thinking  it  was  some  random  denizen  at  camp  until  he  could  feel  something  pulling  him  towards  the  other.  ro  dismissed  the  other,  a  warm  smile  as  he  headed  over  until  he  realized  it  was  alejandro.

"  what's  your  angle,  rio?  "  ronan  asks,  knowing  that  rio  was  shifty  at  best  and  diabolical  at  usual  and  he  didn't  trust  the  man  with  his  kind  gesture  one  freaking  bit.

ronan  nearly  choked  on  his  acai  bowl.  "  worse?  i  doubt  it,  but  i  will  let  you  be  judge  of  that  when  you  see  a  little  bit  more.  "  the  other  kept  a  strong  pokerface,  the  son  of  poseidon  wasn't  expecting  to  feel  a  coldness  from  the  other  that  felt  strangely  comforting.  he  hated  people  where  he  had  to  feel  their  energy  riling  him  up  into  a  hurricane  of  emotions  and  something  felt  subdued  or  settled  with  the  man  in  front  of  him.  only  time  would  tell  if  that  was  actually  the  case.

  "  almost  death  isn't  something  that  showcases  itself  the  same  in  everyone,  but  it's  certain  that  it's  a  possibility  for  everyone  in  this  camp.  even  you  .  " he  wasn't  trying  to  scare,  just  be  transparent  to  someone  who  deserved  it  before  buying  in  fully.