𝐬𝐮𝐧-𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬

"beer?" he called out, watching lincoln move around from his seat on the bed. he felt like he should say more but he couldn't figure out what for the life of him. so he went with the old faithful of, "so, you wanna talk about it?"

  lincoln  focused  on  the  task  at  hand  as  he  rummaged  through  the  remnants  of  his  refrigerator  and  brought  over  to  the  man  a  bottle  of  steinlager  in  hand  with  one  for  each  of  them.  "  i'm  fine.  "  he  didn't  know  what  else  to  say,  his  thoughts  racing  as  he  adjusted  his  body  to  showcase  his  cover  up.  "  like  my  new  tattoo?  "  he  asked  as  a  harsh  sun  shimmered  on  his  right  rib.

but that's not why axel is here now. he's here because on damn near every mission so far someone has been on the brink of death and on two out of three? he was one of them. if link was feeling something because of that? axel could be here for him. that's why he's pushing through the door, finding his way to that bedroom and standing at the edge of the bed, watching the son of the sun carefully.

"hey."

  "  hey.  "  he  responded  back,  leaning  forward  and  sitting  at  the  edge  of  the  bed  while  patting  next  to  him  for  axel  to  relax.  he  didn't  necessarily  know  what  his  plan  was  in  getting  axel  over  but  the  other  was  familiar  and  perhaps  that  would  help  in  this  moment.

the squawk that comes out of axel was downright embarrassing as he was picked up but, honestly, that was so busy trying to wrap his head around what the hell the fates were playing at with all of this that he couldn't tell if he was dizzy from thinking of from link. he was just happy he was put down before he had to ask for it.

thankfully the darkness could hide the eye roll about the bouldering. "helios..." he repeated, his face scrunching. there's some strange irony here. the night after having a falling out with the demigod of the moon, someone from his past shows up claiming to be the demigod of the sun.

"lincoln... link." god, it was weird to be talking to this man again. it's been years and he's feeling all kinds of things and he wished he could say all of them were bad but. "I'm just gonna keep it real transparent with you right now, alright? when I got that same message you did? I was fucking ecstatic 'cause I thought I didn't have to think about anything from before coming here ever again. so I'm a little off tilt right now 'cause you being here complicates that."

it's  wild  how  everything  settles  in  and  that  threads  of  divinity  seemed  to  tie  together  without  any  of  these  people  ever  really  even  knowing  it.  "  crazy,  huh.  "  lincoln  repeated  himself,  how  own  mind  couldn't  get  over  seeing  his  freshmen  year  roommate  in  this  moment  after  a  decade  apart.  when  axel  graduated,  link  transferred  to  usc  and  hadn't  been  back  to  san  diego  since.

  "  yeah,  whatever.  shoot.  "  link  listened  to  the  other's  appeal  and  it  hit  him  right  in  the  heart.  did  the  other  want  to  forget  everything  of  a  world  that  nourished  them  all?  "  i  don't  think  i  complicate  anything,  axel.  "  he  chimed  in,  eyes  settling  in  on  a  man  who  he  had  only  known  for  a  blimp  in  his  life  so  long  ago.

he didn't at first, at least. until the man say his name. because no matter how much he was trying to leave his past behind him, he couldn't ever forget that voice saying his name.

"lin...coln?" he drew out the name not because he didn't remember it but because he was almost afraid to say it. like if he manifested one person, everyone else from san diego and beyond would suddenly come out of the bushes. "what the hell are you doing here?"

he  lifts  the  other  up  and  twirls  him  around  in  a  brutish  bear  hug,  spinning  him  as  he  rests  his  face  against  the  other's  in  an  vibrant  display  of  emotions  before  lincoln  feels  the  panging  reminder  of  what  axel  meant  to  him  and  what  followed  in  his  aftermath  and  wake.

  placing  him  down  back  on  the  ground,  lincoln  cleared  his  throat  and  laughed  a  little  to  reset  the  interaction.  "  you  know,  some  fucking  dude  came  to  me  while  i  was  bouldering  and  said  i  was  the  son  of  the  fucking  sun.  helios.  wild  shit.  "  he  let  out  a  sharp  exhale,  the  thought  still  was  so  baffling  to  him.

he'd already tuckered himself out and was simply cooling off before calling it and heading back to his cabin when he'd ran into the demigod equivalent of a mac truck. axel cursed silently as he shook it off and laughed at question. "yeah, no, it's totally normal to almost get a concussion by running into a guy's chest."

he did push aside his own annoyance to take the offered hand, though.

lincoln  helped  the  other  up  as  he  leaned  back  and  pulled  to  get  the  other  to  stand.  "  i  guess  with  all  this  new  power  shit,  hard  to  know  your  own  strength  sometimes.  " he  kept  himself  honest,  giving  a  pat  to  the  other's  shoulder  as  though  to  dust  him  off  from  the  collision.

  "  wait.  "  link  nearly  froze  in  his  tracks  as  he  finally  got  a  decent  look  at  the  other  and  it  was  like  he  was  catapaulted  to  a  decade  ago  when  he  first  was  at  san  diego  state  university.

First note, dude was hot.

Not like, normal hot, but the kind of hot that permeated, that went beyond the physical. The kind of hot that glowed, like a hot stove luring one to touch, despite fully knowing better.

So, Simon just slid past the figure in the doorway, to nod and lead him further inside.

"Oh, they didn't tell you?" One lie, cocked and loaded. "The ladies' village is across the lake. There's mixers and shit, but good luck if you get caught." He shifted his shoulders, sniffed, did his best to appear natural while giggling and kicking on the inside. "Virgin goddesses and all that shit."

Lincoln  often  knew  better  but  there  was  something  about  being  in  a  new  space  that  made  him  a  ferocity  to  scorch  and  burn  everything  in  his  wake.  His  eyes  caught  the  other,  nearly  eight  inches  taller  then  him  as  he  placed  a  hand  on  the  man's  shoulder  and  gave  it  a  squeeze.  "  That's  some  bullshit,  man.  this  place  is  getting  worse  and  worse  by  the  minute.  "

  Link  gestured  the  man  forward  but  kept  in  time  with  him  as  he  naturally  attempted  to  lead  the  other  toward  the  food  as  he  planted  a  hand  over  the  other's  shoulder  as  he  naturally  would  to  any  stranger  for  the  sake  of  asserting  himself  into  other  people's  life  without  any  hesitation.

  "  Well,  damn.  i  guess  the  no  women  thing  would  be  a  problem  if  i  hadn't  learned  some  very  key  things  during  college.  "