Um, what? What do you mean it's about me? 

 ... 

Well, what did it say? 

 ... 

The son of Iris WHAT?! 

--- 

Casey had never considered going on a quest before, but it seemed now that he had no say in the matter. It should be fairly simple, Chiron had tried to assure him. All you're doing is figuring out why Persephone never met up with Hades at the turning of Fall. 

 If it were 'fairly simple,' then why in the FUCK does it say that I'm gonna die?!

Chiron had shown Casey and Jesse the prophecy that was delivered that Spring.

Drifting the edge of the swallowing sea, 

The drowned and the deathless shall answer the plea. 

In the land of the dead, two kings shall meet. 

A cyclops will rise in desert heat. 

The son of Iris by phantom is slain, 

For the weaver of dreams, an old fear must drain.

By the tone of Chiron's voice, it was almost like he was reading off a grocery list and not foretelling the death of someone standing right in front of him. Casey tried his best to stay focused as Chiron prattled on about the details—something about meeting Demeter in Bermuda, she's not picking up her phone, blah, blah, blah—but Casey couldn't stop thinking about that line of the prophecy. 

"By phantom is slain?" Casey repeated again, turning to Jesse as they walked out of the Big House. "What the fuck do you think that's supposed to mean? I don't fuck with ghosts, what the hell do they have against me?"

So much information had been handed over to the two of them– a quest, a new prophecy, a missing goddess– that Jesse had surpassed overwhelmed in the first few minutes and entered a very pleasant stage of complete calm. This was so far from how he had imagined his day going, it all felt too unreal to let fully sink in. 

If Jesse had to name his least favourite things, he would narrow it down to Patrick, large bodies of water, and ghosts. Two out of three in one prophecy was foreboding– but the explicit threat of Casey's murder by phantom was doing a passable job of overshadowing his own trepidation. 

Considering they had just been chosen for a quest together, Jesse should have been less surprised when Casey spoke to him. He rubbed the side of his neck and looked to the side away from him, grasping for some sort of silver lining to offer. "Uh, I mean, prophecies are vague, right? They never end up meaning what seems... obvious? It could be a, uh, a metaphor or something." Slain sounded pretty cut and dry as to what it meant, but saying that out loud seemed a little unnecessary. "I guess you don't have any undead enemies that come to mind?"

"Um, no. I don't know any undead. Is that a thing?" Casey's voice grew quiet. "Fuck, is that a thing?" Immediately, Casey thought of Gabriele, who could see ghosts wandering around New Athens and mention them casually in conversation. Maybe Gabriele could tell Casey if there were any ghosts out to get him. "Okay, but do I actually have to go on this quest? That's kinda fucked up, that they would know that I'm in danger and still choose to send me anyway. Why couldn't they just send literally anybody else?"

The number of questions Jesse clearly had no answer to was starting to give him a headache. With a shrug, he glanced back over at Casey. Jesse didn't know which direction Casey was headed or how long they were supposed to discuss this for, so he slowed to a stop, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I really don't know. Uh, I guess you're the only son of Iris at camp? I don't even know why that prophecy links to Persephone, or why they think it applies now."

"But I'm not!" Casey defended. "August is here sometimes! Right? Is he here right now?" Casey's mind was racing so quickly it felt like the world was blurring around him. The distant roar of the ocean slapping against the shore sounded more like the approaching drone of a swarm of locusts. Even the chirp of nearby crickets felt slowed, each one ringing out like a siren. 

Fuck. Casey looked over at Jesse, who looked like he was mid-stroke, his eyes stuck halfway down his eyeballs. 

Okay. Calm the fuck down, Casey thought. It'll be fine. Your mom will step in. You'll be cool. 

Jesse's eyelashes fell like feathers, slowly and finally landing on the creased circles below Jesse's eyes. Then slowly, like the grand curtain of an opera house, they started to rise again. 

I can't fucking believe Chiron would send me out on a quest knowing full well what the prophecy says is gonna happen to me. And in three days? Are you fucking kidding me? I don't even have a week to prepare for my motherfucking death mission? That's some BULLSHIT. Sushi-grade bullshit, I swear to fucking gods. 

Casey released the breath he was holding in, and suddenly the crickets around him were chirping again. Casey looked at Jesse and waited a few seconds until he blinked, this time at normal speed, before looking away. "What the fuck do we even do now?"

Jesse spread his hands in the air in front of him and shrugged, coming up blank as to whether Casey’s brother was around. His attention wandered over in the direction of the cabins as he considered how the topic related to him, now- weaver of dreams certainly described the way his abilities worked, but he wasn’t the only child of Morpheus with that power. A small anxious weight settled on his chest at the idea that he had been chosen by mistake, but he breathed through it, recalling his last conversation with his father. Morpheus had definitely hinted that something important was approaching for Jesse. It doesn’t get much more important than this. 

Casey’s voice pulled him back out of his head and Jesse ran one of his hands over his face, exhaling. He had been waiting for an opportunity like this for years, but it seemed wrong to embrace the thrill of it over the nerves when the person he was accompanying had just been given what sounded like a death sentence. “Uh, I guess we pack? We should figure out, uh, a vague plan, too. Two of my siblings just came back from quests, I can ask them what the... what the protocol is, I guess?”

"Sure. Yeah," Casey agreed emptily. But they came back from those quests alive, what they fuck would they know? Casey stopped and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Here. Call yourself so I have your number."

Jesse took Casey's phone and stared at the keypad, willing his brain to work. After a couple seconds stewing in how awkward his life was, Jesse had to hand back the phone without typing anything in, his cheeks red. "I, uh, don't remember my phone number. Sorry. Can you write yours down?"

"What? What do you mean you don't remember?" Casey stuffed his phone back into his pocket and held out his hand with an eye roll. "Just give me your phone, I'll type mine in."

Jesse bit the inside of his cheek and checked his pockets even though he knew his phone wasn’t there. “Uh, damn, I think I forgot it at home? Or work. Maybe.”

Casey clasped his hands over his face. "I'm gonna fucking die..." He took a deep breath. "I'm gonna fucking die because you won't answer your texts!" he screamed through his palms. He dropped his hands and stared straight at Jesse, his expression deadpan. "Do you have a pen and paper?"

Jesse winced at the reaction and ran a hand through his hair. “I... don’t,” he answered hesitantly, wishing that for some reason he did have a notebook in his back pocket that he had just forgotten about. “Sorry.” He swallowed back an embarrassing string of other apologies. “I can, uh, get it from...” It took a couple seconds to remember anyone the two of them had in common. “Uh, Alec? And text you from my place once I have my phone?”

"Fine," Casey agreed plainly. "Where do you live?"

"The Morpheus townhouse," Jesse responded quickly, relieved there was finally a question he knew the answer to. "In town."

Casey nodded. "If you don't text me, I will break through your windows with a shovel and find you." He turned toward the Iris cabin and stomped off.

Jaime had been acting off lately, and Alec was starting to get worried. They knew the cause was stress, and they knew how Jaime got when he was stressed, but this time around none of their efforts to cheer him up or relax him were successful. University was far from Alec's realm of expertise, but he hadn't been near this bad around midterms– surely finals weren't so much harder? 

The time they had spent together recently had been nice, but rare. Jaime was busy, that was obvious, and Alec tried to understand, but they had missed him being around. When he agreed to come over to study instead of staying in at his place, they were delighted– until he showed up with his books to actually study. Alec checked their phone and decided enough time had passed in silence. They settled down on the floor at his feet and rested their chin on his knee, watching his face. "How much do you have left?"

Open books surrounded Jaime as he sat cross-legged on the couch in the Tyche cabin, his notebook balanced on his knee. In one hand he held a pen, in the other, his music theory anthology. Finals started in three days and he had an exam in each of his classes, as well as two term papers, a presentation on a famous composer, and a recorded performance of an original song - all due in the span of a week. Stress radiated off Jaime in sickening waves. If you looked carefully, peering past the glare of his glasses, you could see a faint change in the color of his irises. He was lost in thought, barely registering Alec's words. "Hm? What?" He looked at his partner distractedly, pushing his glasses back up his nose with the end of his pen. "What did you say? I missed it, I'm sorry."

Alec smiled up at him and folded their arms on his knee to rest their chin on top of their forearms now. The colour change in his eyes caught their attention and their smile faded slightly. “It’s okay. I was just asking how much you had left?” Their voice raised hopefully at the end of their sentence. “We could do something, play a game maybe? Or just hang out?”

"Oh, um, I have...." Jaime trailed off, remembering a detail he wanted to include in a paper. He began writing furiously, the end of his sentence unfinished. He reached the end of his page and glanced up, looking surprised to see Alec resting on his knee. "Sorry, I-" Jaime shook his head, sorting out his thoughts. "A game?"

Alec watched as he scribbled down some more information and sighed quietly. They knew he didn't mean to ignore them, but it still wasn't a pleasant feeling. Be patient, they reminded themself and inhaled slowly through their nose, smiling at him again. "If you have time to take a break? It doesn't have to be game. Just something we can do together."

Jaime nodded, still not properly focused on Alec as his brain swirled with topics for term papers and snatches of song lyrics. "Together," he echoed, nodding as he flipped to a new page in his notebook. He patted the couch beside him, moving his books into a stack so his partner could join him on the couch, "We're spending time together right now," he looked at Alec, brows knit together. Jaime gave them a preoccupied smile and offered his hand to help them up. "C'mere."

Alec took his hand and climbed up onto the couch next to him, crossing their legs as they sat facing him. They put one hand on his shoulder, pressing their thumb into muscle to try and loosen up some of his tension. “Is the work going good?”

He closed his eyes the moment Alec's hand landed on his shoulder. Jaime hummed in acknowledgement, letting himself relax into the massage from his partner. At the mention of work, his shoulders tensed. "Unfortunately, no. The list of tasks I need to complete is endless. The due dates are all looming. The exams seem impossible. The composition I need to prepare falls deaf on my ears. I don't know when I'll complete it all."

Alec sighed again as Jaime listed everything he had to do, though this time it was in sympathy. They may not understand anything about schoolwork, tenth grade somewhere far back in their memory, but they knew how important it was to their boyfriend. Not that it would make them worry less. "Okay, but you've been at it for hours," they pointed out, clambering up to sit behind Jaime on the back of the couch so they could rub his shoulders properly. "You should take a break to clear your head! And eat something, definitely. Want me to make dinner?"

"Three hours is nothing," Jaime countered, a note of defeat in his voice. He tabbed backwards in his notes, remembering a detail that would be perfect for one of his papers. His posture remained stiff, even as Alec tried to rub his shoulders. "No, no," he shook his head. "That'll take too long, it's okay. I'll eat later."

Alec frowned now that Jaime couldn’t see their expression and hunched over to rest their chin on his shoulder, carding their fingers through his hair. “C’mon, Jay, you gotta eat something. Did you have lunch? You don’t even gotta take a full break, just enough to get something in your system.” They turned their head and kissed his cheek. “Everything’ll still be here when you get back.”

Jaime resisted the urge to duck his head. He knew Alec was just trying to be supportive, he knew he should be appreciative of the care he was being shown, but all he could focus on was his inability to retain the information he was studying. "Lunch?" He scowled, though they couldn't see. "I think I had a granola bar...maybe." He exhaled through his nose when Alec kissed his cheek, trying to smile. His eyes were starting to ache and he pushed his glasses up into his hair so that he could rub his eyes with his knuckles. Jaime's irises were even lighter still, the air around them felt heavy. "Alec, I don't need to eat right now. Really." He tried to keep the edge out of his voice, a strained smile flickering across his face.

Alec sat back when Jaime responded, deterred by the tone in his voice. They ran their tongue over their teeth as they made up their mind whether to let it go or not, and slid back down to sit beside him. "You'll think better if you're not hungry," they pointed out, tilting their head towards the kitchen. It was always difficult for them to think on an empty stomach, so they imagined it was the same for everyone. "You don't even need to stop for long, I can bring it to you? At least have some water. Please?"

He opened his mouth, about to dismiss their offer again but decided against it. "Don't...you don't have to cook for me. If you really want me to eat, I'll help make something. And I'll drink some water." Jaime nudged his water bottle with his foot before picking it up. He ran his other hand through his hair, taking a few deep breaths to calm the buzzing in his skull. "Really though, I- it's fine, Alec. Just a mountain of work." He opened his bottle and took a sip, turning away from them.

Alec chewed their lip when Jaime turned away from them and moved down to kneel on the ground at his feet again, resting a hand on his knee and leaning to one side to try and catch his eye, brows creased. "Jay?" They pressed their cheek into their shoulder, watching his face, chest tight with worry. "Are you okay? I really don't mind making food. But I'm worried about you."

“Alec, I’m fine. Really.” Jamie squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the pressure building behind them. When he opened them again, he focused on Alec, his gaze softening as he held their eyes. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me, love.” His voice seemed to lose its energy as he reached the end of his sentence, fading mid-word. Still, he tried to smile, giving Alec’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

If anything, Jaime's attempt at reassurance only served to make Alec more worried. They turned their hand over to hold his, sitting back on their heels as they frowned up at him. "At least move to one of the card tables. Your back's gonna be killing you if you stay leaned over on the couch like that."

“Alright, alright.” He sighed before acquiescing to Alec’s request. Jaime scooped up his stack of books, placing his notebook on stop and stood up. He glanced at his partner before heading to the card table. “Is it okay that I’m here to study? Or do you want me to leave?”

Alec followed Jaime over to the card table and perched on the edge, still watching him. They furrowed their brows at the question, cocking their head to the side like a dog. "Why would I want you to leave? I never want you to leave."

Jaime inhaled through his nose, setting out his notebook and the book he had been reading. After a moment, he turned to Alec. "Because I'm wasting your day. You want to do things, have fun, play games. And I need to study for my exams, write my papers, create a composition. I know this-" he gestured to himself, dropping his hand in his lap. "This version of me is not the one you want to spend time with."

Alec reached over to touch his shoulder, shaking their head before Jaime even finished speaking. "Aw, Jay, no." They frowned at him. "Every version of you is one I want to spend time with. I love you all the time, not just when you're happy."

“That’s just not true.” Jaime’s eyes flashed. He returned Alec’s frown, disregarding the second half of their statement. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

Alec withdrew their hand, unsure. They blinked a few times, not used to this tone from their boyfriend. "Uh." They swallowed. "Like what?"

Jaime pressed his lips together, trying to reign in the negative feelings bubbling to the surface of his emotions. He closed his book and spoke without looking at Alec, “Like I’m a stubborn child.” He tried to blink the ache out of his eyes and waved a hand at his notebook. “Do you understand how important this is to me?”

"What? Jaime, no." Alec shook their head vehemently, chest tightening. "I'm not– of course I do! I know how much this means to you." They reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder again. "I understand. I just think you still need to take care of yourself, I've never seen you so stressed before."

"I'm perfectly capable of caring for myself, Alec." He exhaled a puff of air, frustration written all over his face. Jaime opened his mouth to say something else but cut himself off when Alec's hand landed on his shoulder. He seemed to deflate a little bit, sinking slightly into their touch, though his expression was still unreadable.

Alec rubbed their thumb over his shoulder as he leaned into their touch, relieved at even the small gesture of surrender. They scooted over an inch on the table so they were closer to him. "I know! But sometimes you need a little reminder. And this seems like one of those times?"

Jaime sighed, letting his head fall into his hands. He shoved his glasses up into his hair so that he could press the heels of his hands into his eyes. No matter how much pressure he applied, the headache kept building. It was behind his eyes, in his temples, in the air. "What I need," he murmured. "Is to finish my work for the semester..."

“It’ll still be here after a short break.” Alec felt like a broken record at this point, but they didn’t want to let it go, not when they could see the state Jaime was in. They chewed their lip and dropped their hand back to their lap. “Is your head hurting? I can get you some water. Or Advil?”

A break from the avalanche of work on his plate sounded so enticing, Jaime almost agreed. Something held him back, something more than the pounding in his skull. He lifted his face from his hands, looking at Alec; his glasses were still perched atop his head so they were nothing more than a large blur on the card table. "No," he sighed, knowing he was not experiencing a normal headache. "Look, Alec, I need really to study. If that's going to interfere with your engaging afternoon of-of hanging around your cabin and daydreaming, by all means, let me know." Jaime cut himself off, surprising himself with the bite in his tone. He looked at Alec with wide eyes. "I-"

Hurt flashed across Alec’s face at their boyfriend’s words and tone, and turned their head away from him to hide their expression before they remembered he wouldn’t be able to see it anyway without their glasses on. They swallowed, then nodded and hopped off the table. “Is there anything I can do to help, then?” they asked, voice carefully calm past the lump that had risen in their throat. “I can read, or take notes?”

Jaime blinked, seeing the blob that was his partner move. He slid his glasses back onto his face and rubbed his temples. "Sure," he sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Whatever works. Um," he shuffled some papers and pushed a packet Alec's way. He placed a stack of blank index cards and a pen on a table next to them. "If you could, um...write the notes from this study guide on the cards...?"

Alec nodded and pulled a chair over to sit in front of the cards. Picking up the pen felt weird– they could barely remember the last time they wrote something on paper instead of typing it. Still, they were determined to help in some way even if it wasn't getting their boyfriend to eat, so they ducked their head down and started copying the notes over onto the cards. "You got it!" they affirmed.

He hummed in acknowledgement, his nose already back in his music theory book. Without looking up, he took detailed notes; his cursive handwriting flowed across the page. "Thanks," he mumbled, realizing he hadn't said anything. Fifteen minutes later, Jaime finished annotating the chapter he was reading and looked over at his partner. He picked up one of their completed flashcards, studying it. His face quickly morphed into a look of confusion. "Uh...Alec?"

Alec finished the one they were writing and turned to look at him, tucking the pen behind their ear so they didn't misplace it. They smiled at him. "Mhm? Everything okay?"

"These are..." Jaime closed his eyes, inhaling sharply. Frustration started to rise up in his chest all over again and he tried to swallow the feeling, but the wave crested and his words crashed out. "Did you do this intentionally?" He waved the card in their direction. "These are all botched." He rifled through the stack of flashcards Alec had completed. "Everything is spelled incorrectly. The notes are unclear. I don't understand. You just had to copy...Is this- Is this just a joke to you?"

Alec's heart dropped in their chest and they swallowed, looking at the card they were working on and comparing it to the notes they were copying to try and see what he was talking about. The harder they focused and the higher their stress level rose, the more the letters blurred around, and they blinked as they looked back at their boyfriend. "I... what? No!" They shook their head, pulling one of the cards they had written back and trying to spot the mistakes on it, eyebrows scrunched together in concern. "No, no, it's not. I can do them over? Are they that bad?"

"No, no- Alec, just," Jaime pinched the bridge of his nose again, closing his textbook roughly. "Forget it." His headache was back with a vengeance, pounding in his ears. The waves of frustration were only growing; Jaime hadn't anticipated this feeling but he could not seem to quell his irritation. He stood, gathering up his stack of textbooks. His tone was sharp when he spoke, his eyes were gleaming. "Just forget it, Alec."

Alec slowly put the card back on the table, taking a moment before turning to face Jaime. They hugged their arms and stood up after a couple seconds. “Are you leaving?” they asked, their voice soft to try and cushion their boyfriend’s tone. “I can do the cards over, I really don’t mind- or, um, I can quiz you? Or make dinner? Or just go up to the loft and leave you alone? Or- you don’t have to go, Jay, come on, it’s still early. We could go up to the roof? That might be a good place to study, it’s still light enough out, and pretty quiet, I can help you carry your things up! But we’ve barely seen each other lately, I can find something else to do so I don’t mess up your notes?”

Alec's initial question was too much for Jaime to answer in the moment, so he skirted past it. He dropped his pen on his stack of books and rubbed his eyes, trying, trying to get the ache to go away. Alec's expression tugged at Jaime's heart, but he was too far gone into a spiral of frustration to do anything about it. "I'll do them over," he said dismissively, giving them a sharp look. Alec's barrage of questions came in time with the pounding in Jaime's skull. He just stared at them, eyes blazing a poisonous green. The air around them felt different but he was heated, unaware of the affect he was having on the space. "No, Alec. Don't cook. Not for me. It's still early, you have plenty of time to do whatever you want, and I have plenty of time to go home and study in peace." Though he wanted nothing more than to go up on the roof and sit with Alec, he had started this fight and it was too late to turn back now. His tone, like his gaze, was uncharacteristically acidic. "You've helped enough."

The air pressure around them seemed to shift and Alec winced, touching a hand to the back of their head as a spike of pain shot through. It was easy enough to ignore considering how much their heart hurt in comparison with the look their boyfriend gave them. They shrunk under his words, rubbing one of their arms. "I can leave you in peace," they said quietly, scuffing one foot along the ground. "Just stay, c'mon."

Jaime flexed his fingers and balled his fists at his side. The hurt that flashed across Alec's face should have been enough to calm him down but the words tumbled out. "Leave me in peace? When have you ever? Your chatter never ceases. You want everything to be fun, to be a game. Does your head ever leave the clouds? Come on, Alec" His eyes flashed as he clenched his jaw.

Alec bit their lip as the pounding in their head increased and they let out a small pained sound that was more of a whine. Jaime had never snapped at them like this before- they hoped his words were just from stress, not something he thought about all the time. They stared at the ground by his feet. “I can be serious,” they mumbled, thoughts blurry past the building headache. “I could be quiet if you want. I could, I promise.”

Jaime hadn't realized that the pressure in his head had begun to fade until he heard Alec whimper. He was still to upset to process what that meant, blind to power rolling off him in waves; it was out of his control, even if he had noticed. "Alec, stop. Just-" He pushed his glasses up his nose. "You don't have to do anything for me. No promises. Just...stop."

Alec looked up at Jaime now but had a hard time focusing, unsure if their blurred vision was from the ache still building behind their eyes or from the tears starting to well. They rubbed their eyes, but the pressure just made the headache worse and they whimpered again. "What are you..." They pressed their palms into their temples to try and ease the pain enough to focus. "Why're you saying this?"

"I can't do this." Jaime was too busy aggressively shoving his books into his backpack to look at Alec. All of his senses were in overdrive and he just wanted to be rid of the poisonous feeling in his chest. "I can't do this," he repeated, still not looking at them. He turned to pick up his water bottle, still on the floor by the couch, and caught sight of his reflection in one of the pinball machines. Jaime flinched, shocked to see the radioactive glow of his eyes. His anger faded to a dull hum as his heart began to race, finally realizing that the extra element he had been feeling had been his powers betraying him. Alec's tears, the sound of their voice...it made even more sense when he realized that they were in pain. He spun around to face them, eyebrows knit together when he saw their face. "Alec...Alec, I'm so sorry. I-" Jaime lifted a hand but quickly dropped it, distraught at the effect his wayward powers were having on them. He could feel tears welling up in his own eyes and took a step back, chest heaving as he began to hyperventilate. "I'm sorry..."

Alec squeezed their eyes shut then pressed their hand over them to block out more of the light as the migraine reached its peak. They crouched down as though that would make it better and hunched over, burying their face in their arms as they listened to Jaime packing all his things away. They wanted to ask him to stop again but it was difficult to keep a thought still past the stabbing pain, the hum of the machines, and Jaime's voice. Only when he stopped speaking did the headache dull enough for them to lift their head from their arms, though they didn't risk opening their eyes in case it made it worse again. Blindly, they grasped at the air in front of them, trying to take his hand, or arm, or whatever they could reach. Gradually, they were able to start to think again, and they wiped the tears from their face, careful to move slowly so they didn't jolt their still aching head. "What can't you...?"

Watching Alec hold their head in pain as they dealt with a migraine that he had caused was too much for Jaime, as he spiralled into a panic attack. He was shaking his head, eyes wide in shock, his breathing rushed and uneven. He took a step backwards, closer to the door, trying to find something, anything, a switch in his subconscious to turn off his powers. Though his eyes returned to their normal color, his lack of control over what was happening to them only sent Jaime into further panic. When Alec reached out blindly, he felt hot tears threaten to spill over. "I can't do this, I-I can't." Jaime's voice broke, his hands trembling as he took another step backwards, reaching for the door. "This, us. I'm sorry. This is- Alec, this is over. We're over. I-I have to leave." He hesitated before opening the door, looking over his shoulder at Alec. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

"No, no no no." Alec scrambled up to their feet, using a chair for balance when they stood  too quickly and lights flashed over their vision. They opened their eyes to see him and shook their head, trying to ignore the pain. They desperately wiped tears off of their face, but they kept coming. "No, Jaime, no, no, please don't."

Seated on one of the steps of the amphitheatre, Jesse had been alternating between staring at his phone and up at the sky for the past ten minutes, caught between what he felt like he should do and what he knew Chase would want him to do. Eventually, tired of putting it off, he opened up Koda's contact and pressed call.

Keys jingled as Koda entered her apartment and dropped them into the tray beside the door. She sighed, kicking off her shoes and untying her work apron - realizing that she had worn it home from her shift again. "Where is my mind lately?" She directed her question to Soup, who was perched on the windowsill, head tilted to the side as if he was thinking where her train of thought had gone. Koda scratched him behind his ear, looking out the window at the fading light, stealing a moment to breathe before she started some household chores. Suddenly, ringing came from her pocket.  She pulled out her phone, eyebrows raised, but her expression quickly changed to excitement. Koda answered, launching into a breathless greeting, "Jesse!!! Hi!! How are you? I was thinking about you guys! How are my favorite siblings? How's camp?"

Despite everything else going on, Jesse couldn’t help but smile at the sound of Koda’s voice. He leaned back against the step behind him and pulled one of his legs up so his knee was bent and his foot was on the same step as him. “Hey!” Now he had to decide how to phrase this. “Camp is pretty normal. I called for a reason but I want to hear how you are first?”

Hearing her younger brother's voice immediately brightened Koda's mood. She felt more grounded than she had in days; it had been too long since she'd last talked to her siblings. She balanced her phone between her ear and her shoulder, listening to Jesse, as she scooped up Soup and deposited him on the couch. "A reason? Oh, I'm doing alright. Work has been exhausting the past week or so. I've had a lot of doubles and so has Renee - we've barely seen each other." She frowned, "And I haven't been sleeping well. Haven't really seen Chase in dreams either." Koda added that last part quietly; it was something that had been weighing on her.

"Oh, that's too bad." Jesse frowned slightly. It seemed all of his siblings were exhausted these days, even past their usual level of tired. He pressed his phone between his ear and his shoulder to retie one of his shoelaces, unaware that his sister was in the same pose on the other end of the line. "Uh, yeah, that's kind of what I'm calling about." He chewed his lip. "Chase has been having some really bad nightmares."

"It'll be okay, I'm back to brunch shifts next week and-" Hearing Jesse say nightmares made Koda's stomach flip. She put her phone on the counter, tapping it to send Jesse to speakerphone. She braced herself against the counter's edge and took a deep breath. "Jesse...how bad? We don't- we aren't supposed to have bad dreams. That's one of Dad's blessings or something, right?" The tips of her hair were slowly turning purple, though Koda was unaware of it. She was staring intently at her phone, thinking about what Chase and nightmares meant, when put in the same sentence. Koda had a bad feeling about it all.

Jesse rubbed his face and sighed. He knew it wasn't realistic, but a large part of him had been hoping that Koda was going to say something reassuring, that this kind of thing had happened before and it wasn't a big deal. "It's bad. Yeah, somehow they got past dad's blessing. Chase started sleepwalking and the other day he, um." Jesse said the next words in a rush. "He attacked me in his sleep."

"I'm sorry, he- what? You're joking." Koda tried to make her voice sound a little lighter, hearing the strain in Jesse's. "Chase would never attack any of us, that's- that's insane." She trailed off, shaking her head. "He attacked you in his sleep. In his sleep. He attacked you." She repeated what her brother had said, as if the words would seem less surreal.

Jesse leaned over his knees and sighed again, trying to formulate the best way to explain what had happened. "Yeah." He took his glasses off and started cleaning them on the hem of his shirt just for something to do with his hands. "It was like he was possessed. Um. He..." Jesse cut himself off, not wanting Koda to have to hear the details. "It was pretty bad. Yeah."

Koda could tell her brother was holding something back, and frowned. She picked up her phone and wandered back to the couch, flopping down unceremoniously. "Jess, what happened? How bad was it? Are you okay?" Worry continued to edge into her voice. Her hair turned just a bit more purple, the more concerned she became about Chase. "Are you hurt? Is- is Chase hurt? Wait," Koda pressed her fingers to her forehead. "Is this why I've barely heard from him for the past two weeks? How long has this been happening?"

Jesse put his glasses down beside him and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Uh." He inhaled shakily. "Um. It was pretty bad. But I'm okay, I'm fine, really, Cas came and woke him up." He bit the inside of his cheek. "He's been having trouble sleeping for a few weeks. But this is the worst it's gotten. And, uh–" Everything else came out in a rush again. "God, Koda, I got into an argument with him and left the cabin and now he's in the hospital and they're saying he's okay but he really seems like he isn't and I don't know what to do."

Koda listened to her brother, massaging her temples as he spoke.  "Cas had to wake him up? Like, he had to use his power to wake him up?" Panic began to rise and she felt her chest tighten. When Jesse's words came tumbling out of his mouth, all Koda wanted to do was hug him. She let him speak, pausing for a minute to breathe and take in everything Jesse had said. Her first instinct was to frantically ask for all the details about Chase. Chase is in the hospital. Breathe. Chase has been having really bad nightmares. Breathe. Chase attacked Jesse in the midst of a nightmare. Breathe. Koda steadied herself and sat up.

"Jesse -hey, take a breath. Chase is in the hospital, he's being cared for. You need to take care of yourself too, if you're going to be any help to anyone. Are you hurt? Are you sleeping enough? I know you never fight but okay that you had an argument. It's- it's going to be okay." She tried to put some confidence behind her words, but faltered. "Actually...I don't know if it's going to be okay. And I wish I'd called you sooner, when I hadn't been hearing from him as much as normal. What can I do? I feel like a sitting duck here."

Jesse's chest tightened as Koda spoke and he leaned back against the step, staring up at the sky and taking a few seconds to calm his breaths and think over what his sister had said. "I'm not hurt, no," he said carefully after his pause. "Just a couple bruises, I'm sleeping fine– the visiting hours at the hospital mean I can't stay overnight." He exhaled slowly and swapped his phone to his other ear. "I should've called you sooner. I'm not sure what there is to do– we can't even do anything here. I just wanted you to know."

"Bruises! Jesse..." Koda sighed. She could feel her brother's concern in his every word. "I'd say I'd come visit to check on him, but if there's nothing you guys can do, I don't want to be an extra body in the way. Thanks for calling me to let me know." She fiddled with her necklace for a moment. "Has he been awake at all?"

"He kind of, uh..." Jesse trailed off, not wanting to tell Koda he had been kneed in the face. "Yeah." He shook his head to himself, wishing that for once he knew the right thing to say. "Yeah, he's only been awake. He started refusing to sleep after that whole incident."

"My gods....so he's been awake for days?" Koda exhaled. She scrubbed her face with her hand. "You better have iced whatever he did to you, I know you're not telling me everything that happened." A tiny grin worked its way onto Koda's face. "Sister intuition."

"Days," Jesse confirmed grimly. "He's been trying to tell me he's sleeping, but it's obvious that's not true." At her words, he exhaled, not quite smiling but still relaxing somewhat. "It's kinda freaky how you can always tell things like that."

The small smile that had appeared on her face slowly melted away when Jesse confirmed her question. "Days," Koda repeated. "Chase, the constant napper, has been awake for days. Gods, I'm worried about him." She shook her head. "I'm worried about all of you. And yeah - between you guys and my mortal siblings? I have pretty good sibling radar." Koda exhaled, debating whether to bring up another thing that was on her mind. Her cat jumped up onto the couch next to her and she scratched behind his ear, absentmindedly. "Soup says hi, by the way."

After a moment of silent debate, her voice shaky, Koda added, "There's something I wanted to tell you- or talk to you about, actually."

Jesse wasn't sure if he should be relieved or worried about the impending subject change. "Oh, uh, really? What is it?"

"Oh, sorry that sounded kinda ominous. It's nothing bad." Koda chewed her lip. "It's, uh. I was thinking? Maybe?" She couldn't get her words out, suddenly wondering if this was a bad time to bring up her thoughts. Her next words came out in a rush. "I was kind of sort of thinking of maybe moving to New Athens and I've been thinking about it for a couple weeks but I didn't know if I should tell you because I wasn't hearing from Chase so I didn't know if there was something wrong but anyway basically," she took a breath. "Basically, I miss y'all every day. And the town wasn't a thing when I left so I didn't have the option of living there. But now I do, and Ren could come too and, I don't know - do you think it's an awful idea?"

Until now, Jesse had not thought there was anything Koda could say that could make him feel any better– but with her rush of words, he found himself smiling. "You're thinking of moving here? Really? That's great! Oh my god, Koda, you have no idea how much we would love that. All of us." He ran a hand through his hair again and pressed his cheek to his shoulder. "Wow."

Koda could hear the effect her words had on Jesse; instantly, she felt relieved. "Really! You think everyone would like that?" She smiled. "Like I said I've been thinking about it for a while and Ren and I have plenty saved up sooo...it's not too crazy, right?" She paused. "We'd probably need another roommate, but I don't know! I can't stand to see you guys so rarely! Especially now - with Chase?" Koda exhaled, thinking. "I want to be there for you when you need me. For all of you. And I'd love to actually bond with our younger siblings."

"The thought of seeing you and Chase, in person? Every day? Is just," Koda laughed. "It's too good to pass up."

"Everyone would love it." Jesse finally felt as though he could breathe again. If Koda was coming back then no matter what, something was going right. "I think finding a roommate would be pretty easy?" He quickly ran through the people he knew that lived at camp still and came up blank on any looking to move, but then again, his mind was elsewhere. "I could ask around? Unless you want it to be a surprise." He shook his head to himself again. "Ko, really, I would love that so much. I can't put it into words."

Now that she had spoken the idea of moving to New Athens to existence, Koda couldn't contain the bubbling sense of happiness she felt - even with the news that had begun her call with Jesse. It felt real. She knew she'd need to talk to Renee about it when she got home from work, but Koda was positive Ren would share her enthusiasm. "Jesse, I'm so excited. I just want to be able to see you and hug you and Chase. And hang out with Cas and Ellie, oh my gods. I'll be able to do that. That's wild." She tried to think about who she knew at camp. "I can worry about a roommate when I get there, I'll ask around. As far as a surprise...I don't like keeping secrets from Chase but I'd love to surprise him. See his face? It would be gold! I'd say tell Cas and Ellie if you think they can keep it a secret too? Or-" She shook her head, suddenly wondering if her idea was too crazy. "Is a surprise to big of a secret to keep from Chay?"

"They're going to love getting to know you more," Jesse assured her. The idea of Koda around the townhouse, hanging out in the blanket fort with the Killers and their siblings, filled him with a peaceful warmth. "Usually I think surprising him would be good, but I think telling him right now might be nice? It'd be good to have a pick-me-up or something."

"Then I'll tell him." Koda could picture it already: nights in with her siblings, Soup meeting the other cats, all of them helping her construct a fort in her new place. She needed it. "Oh gods, Jesse. I didn't realize how badly I wanted this to happen until I said it out loud. This is the best idea I've had in a long time."

Knocking on Graves' door would ruin the point of a surprise attack, so first Rosie slowly tested the handle to see if it was locked– nope! What an idiot. She slammed her body into the door as she opened it and tumbled into the room, finding her footing within seconds and launching herself onto where her brother was sleeping peacefully. "¡Despierta!"

It wasn't until 3 AM that Graves finally fell asleep, mid-reading, his tarot deck strewn across his comforter. He was sprawled in the middle of his bed, out cold, without a care in the world. A card was stuck to his cheek. He was drooling - that is, until Rosie landed on him and yelled right in his ear. Graves sat bolt upright, eyes wild, his mind taking a second to wake up. "Gods, Roz. A simple knock wouldn't have worked?" He looked at his sister, using his arm to wipe drool off his cheek.

Rosie rolled off of him and onto the floor. She sat up and grinned at him, reaching forward to prod one of his cheeks. "Gross. You're drooling." Scooting backwards away from him, she clambered back up to her feet and started to look around his room. "Nah, boring as fuck. Wanna go for a drive?"

"I know I'm droolin'. I was asleep before someone barged in. " Graves stuck his tongue out at his sister, before grinning. He ran a hand through his hair in a failed attempt to tame his bedhead. "Oh hell yeah, where to hermana?" He rolled out of bed and started rummaging through his dresser.

"Oh yeah? Who?" Rosie snickered and leaned against his dresser as he began to go through it. "So rude of them. I want somewhere to stretch our legs! Somewhere out of the way. And ice cream, I for sure want ice cream."

"My punk ass sister, that's who." Graves snapped a t-shirt in Rosie's direction, but made sure it didn't hit her. He resumed his search, digging through a second drawer to find a pair of pants. "A hiking adventure! I'm in. And you know I never turn down ice cream." He laughed, "I never turn down any food, let's be honest. Alright, give me two minutes." Cam shooed his sister from his room and quickly got dressed. When he opened the door again, he was in his usual ripped jeans and tee, a flannel tied around his waist. His boots were in his hand. "I gotta put these on, do you wanna grab some snacks from the kitchen?"

Rosie yelped and skipped out of the way of the t-shirt, continuing on out the door as he ushered her out to change. When he emerged, she feigned a yawn as though she had been waiting for hours. "Yeah, yeah, make me do all the hard work. Meet me in five." With a laugh, she spun around and dashed to the kitchen.

Graves let out a loud laugh as he sat down to pull on his boots. "I'm not makin' you do the hard work, I'm lettin' you pick your favorite snacks!" He called to her retreating form. He tied his shoes and pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking up nearby hiking trails. "Am I drivin'?"

"Whatever!" she called back as she gathered armfuls of snacks and started shoving them into her backpack before scampering back to her brother. "I can drive if you want a thrill!"

He waved his keys in the air. "I'll let you drive when I want a heart attack. You're navigating. C'mon, Loretta's parked over by the vans." He grabbed his water bottle and backpack before standing. With a smirk on his face, Graves looked over at Rosie. "I'll race you there."

“Coward,” Rosie teased, slinging the backpack over her shoulder. As soon as he mentioned the word ‘race’ she shoved him, then took off in a sprint.

"Woah, hey! False start ref!" Graves stumbled, laughing, then bolted after his sister. "I'll get you back for that, Roz!"

“Gotta catch me first!” she yelled back, ducking her head and maintaining speed. “You’re too slow!”

"C'mon, I haven't played lacrosse in two years. I used to be faster!" Graves could see his truck in the distance, his sister a few yard ahead of him. Laughing, he ran a little faster until he was just behind Rosie and reached out for her backpack to slow her down.

Rosie yelped as she was yanked backwards and dove to the side to try and slam into him as he passed her. "Fucker!"

Graves lost his footing when her shoulder crashed into him. "Shit!" He righted himself, watching as Rosie reached his car first. "For the record, Roz, I let you win." He was laughing and reached out to ruffle her hair before tossing his backpack into the truckbed and swinging himself into the driver's seat.

Rosie grinned and ducked her head when he touched her hair. "For the record, you're a fucking dick. I'm faster." She hopped into the passenger's seat and put her feet up on the dashboard as she got comfortable. "I got a question for you once you start driving and can't escape."

Graves exhaled, "Oh gods, I don't like the sound of that." He turned the key in the ignition and buckled his seatbelt, looking over to make sure his sister did the same. He tossed her his phone. "You're navigating and interrogating, don't forget to tell me where I'm going."

Rosie rolled her eyes but fastened her seatbelt anyway. She flicked her sunglasses down over her eyes and caught his phone, tapping in the passcode and pulling up google maps. "I can multitask. Head towards the highway first."

Graves flicked on the radio and followed her directions, driving out of camp and onto the road that would take them to the highway.

Rosie waited until they were on a stretch that didn't require directions for a while and twisted in her seat to face him. "Alright, tumbitas." She pointed at him. "What's your relationship with the wicked bitch of the west?"

Graves gripped the steering wheel a little tighter and flicked Rosie a cool look. He'd anticipated the question but hoped he'd been wrong. "Sorry, hermana, I've never been to Oz." He tried to flash her a grin but her expression was unreadable through her sunglasses.

Rosie raised her eyebrows, still casually sprawled across the seat despite the edge in her voice. "I'm talking about Cleo Bancroft." She pronounced the name with disdain.

"Ah." He said, tapping the steering wheel with his index finger. "I...don't know? Relationship feels like a strong word." Graves shrugged, acting indifferent.

"Are you friends?" Rosie crossed her arms.

"We..." He squinted, trying to think of the right word to describe what he and Cleo had. "We're friend-ly? Ish?"

With a scoff, Rosie sat up, pulling her feet off the dashboard. "That's it? I don't believe it."

Graves shrugged again, visibly uncomfortable. His expression said he was calculating any possible escape route from this situation: there were none. He glanced at his sister again. "I don't know? Gods, Roz."

Rosie scowled. "Oh my gods, I'm not going to flip shit on you. I just want to know."

"Is it that big of a deal if we are?" He asked, getting defensive.

"Uh, kinda? Since the rest of us hate her?"

"For something that happened, what? Five years ago?"

Rosie threw her hands up in the air. "Yeah! 'Cause it fucking sucked and was a shitty thing to do!"

"I-" Graves looked at Rosie. "I wasn't even here for it, Rosie!" He pressed his lips together. "I'm sure it sucked and it was shitty but...I'm just supposed to hate someone because y'all do? What is that?"

"Yeah, kinda!" Rosie frowned at him. "I'd hate anyone you wanted me to."

“I wouldn’t ask you to hate anyone!” He fired back. “I-sorry. That totally wasn’t the point.” Graves sighed. “It’s just- I don’t know. I’m being a dick, aren’t I?”

Rosie blew a piece of hair out of her face. “Ugh. Shut up, you’re so fucking-“ she motioned towards him. “Nice. I just wanna be annoyed.”

Graves chewed his lip. “Nah, I’m not that nice. I know she hurt you cari. You have every right to be mad.” He glanced down at the maps just to make sure he was going the right way. “If I said we were friends, what happens?”

Rosie kept half an eye on Graves’ phone. “Still five mins until the turn.” She slid down further in her seat. “I dunno. I guess I just wanna know. Are you?”

He nodded, appreciative of her directions. “I honestly don’t know? She’s not awful and we talk sometimes?” Graves offered vaguely.

“Erre es korakas,” she cursed at him, her momentary calm already gone. “Just answer the fucking question.”

Graves winced when Rosie cursed. When he answered, his voice was quiet. “If I said yes, are you going to tell all our siblings to hate me too?” He stared at the road, expression tense.

Rosie rolled her eyes again and leaned against the window, pressing her temple against the glass. “You really think I’d do that?”

“If I called Cleo my friend, yeah. You hate her so much. Miranda too. I don’t know.” Graves ran a hand through his hair.

Rosie hunched her shoulders defensively and looked back at him. “I wouldn’t. And even if I told them to, they wouldn’t.”

He glanced over at her, not believing her fully. “I don’t want you to be mad at me. I know how long you can hold a grudge, Roz...”

Rosie frowned at him. “I can be fucking pissed at you and still love you to death, idiot.”

Graves’ expression was filled with doubt. “Do you want me to stop talking to her?” He realized he still hadn’t answered Rosie’s question.

“Yeah, no shit.” Rosie looked back out the window. “But I’m not gonna ask you to. I’m sick of pulling you guys into this shit, it clearly just fucking spirals.”

“I let you down at Cyrus’ party, fuckin’ losing my walkie talkie. And inviting Cleo. I don’t want to let you down with this too.”

Rosie was silent for a few long seconds. “You invited her?”

“I-“ Graves racked his brain, trying to backtrack. “I didn’t invite her, exactly? Invite us a strong word. Nah, I-uh, I ran into hear that day and uh, we were talking and I said I had to go get ready and she asked what for and...” He trailed off. “A party for Cy is public knowledge, right? He’s the party king. Everyone knew......right?”

Rosie slapped a hand to her forehead since she couldn’t smack him without causing a car crash. “Are you fucking serious, Cam? She wasn’t invited for a reason! Because it was Cyrus’s fucking birthday and obviously a fight was gonna start with her there! It wasn’t just a party, it was a party for his birthday and because she was there I almost fucking ruined it! None of us wanted her there!”

"It wasn't on purpose, I swear!" Graves looked at Rosie and shook his head, eyes wide. "I didn't think about it! Also didn't think she'd show up, that's insane! And," he paused and sighed. "You didn't ruin it. If anything, I did. I was too busy flirtin' with Casey, I didn't even see Lisette hit you."

Rosie felt like tearing her hair out or bursting into tears, she couldn’t tell which. “You’re not helping your case here.”

"It was a game!" He said, exasperated. "You came up with the game, you hit Lisette, she hit you back.  Isn't that how the game worked? I'm pretty sure yes because I hit Tai and he fuckin' wailed on my jaw. Hit for hit!" Graves could feel the hole he was in getting even deeper." I don't even know how to help my case."

“Oh my fucking gods you don’t get it!” Definitely leaning towards tears now. Rosie could feel herself getting choked up, which only made her more angry. “I don’t care Lisette hit me! Good for her, it was part of the game, which I said at the time if anyone would just fucking listen to me!” She pressed her fingers under her eyes. “I know everyone thinks I’m some fucking psychopath who’s gonna snap at anything but I said it was fine, I told the others to back off, I didn’t hit her again or yell at her or anything! I just wanted to keep going with the game and everyone else was making it worse but of course it was Rosie who lost her temper and interrupted the game, and had to be told to calm down and have the water gun confiscated, of course.” She slid her hands down her face, exhaling hard. “I’m not fucking mad I got hit. Okay?”

"Ah...shit," Graves wilted as Rosie got choked up. He was not good with crying so he hoped Rosie didn't cry, especially because it would have been his fault and he would officially win 'Worst Brother of the Month.' He looked over at her, eyes full of concern. "No, Roz. Rosie, I-I know you're not mad you got hit. I know you told everyone to stop and I know no one listened to you. I also know it's my fault. Cleo and Lisette wouldn't have been there if I hadn't opened my big fucking mouth and I-I'm sorry..."

Rosie turned her head to face the window when he looked over at her and rolled it down a crack. The breeze was bracing, and gave her a chance to catch her breath enough to clear the lump from her throat. She looked back at him. “Whatever. You didn’t know.” Deciding to risk it, she punched his shoulder. “Fucking look at us. Ridiculous.”

Graves had been prepared for Rosie to hit him since the conversation had started, so her punch only made him swerve a little. He made a face, "I forgot how hard you can hit, damn." He exhaled, watching Rosie look out the window. "Ridiculous," Graves agreed. His next words came out in a rush. "Do I make it better or worse if I say that we're kinda friends and I feel bad hiding it from you and Miranda but I don't want to hurt you by being friends with her and I don't want to her by lying and saying she's not...my friend." He bit his lip, afraid he'd escalated the situation again with his confession.

Rosie would have laughed if she wasn't still upset. "You could've started with that." She looked back at the window. "I'm pissed you're friends with her but I'm not gonna make you stop. Just... it's not all me, okay? She's really fucking good at playing the victim card and making me look like the villain in this whole shit, but it's not just me."

"I didn't want to start with it because I honestly...didn't plan on telling you yet. But I just feel like a fucking dick." Graves shrugged, he looked like a kicked puppy. He could tell Rosie was still upset with him and he didn't know how to fix it since all he was saying were hurtful things. "I never thought it was all you, Roz. I promise. She doesn't talk about you either, if that helps. I mean," he chose his words carefully. "It's not like we hang out and she shit talks you. I think I'm the only one that's ever really brought you or Miranda up and it's to tell her that I don't want to upset either of you. Which is true. I don't and I've never wanted that. But leave it to me to befriend the one person you hate the most. Great fucking brother, huh."

Rosie half smiled. It was hard to keep being mad at him when he seemed to be doing her job for her. "Leave it to you," she agreed. "Fucking terrible taste in people. You're not crushing on her, right? Honestly."

“She’s not terrible,” Graves laughed and shook his head. “We’re just friends. Gods, don’t worry about that. Don’t joke about that. I’m sorry, again.”

Rosie pointed at him. “Hey. You’re still on thin fucking ice.” Despite her words, she was smiling. “Take the next exit.”

Graves smiled back at his sister, taking the exit as directed. "Thin ice, got it. How do I get to solid land? How do we...navigate this?"

Rosie pushed her sunglasses back on top of her head. She had wanted to clear the air not have a discussion, but it did seem like the mature thing to do. "Ugh. Just... don't invite her to the cabin, okay? I don't want to have to go full hippie cleanse mode and burn some sage."

"Do we even have sage in the cabin?" He laughed. "I don't picture you as the hippie type."

Rosie made a gagging sound. "I'm not. I burned that out of my system when we broke up."

Graves rolled his eyes. "Well, thanks to Gran, I don't have sage, but I do have crystals, so if you really need to cleanse the cabin, I'll let you borrow them."

"Turn left up here." Rosie rolled the window down the rest of the way. "Good to know." She glanced over at him. "You got anything you wanna say to me?"

He took the turn Rosie instructed, pulling smoothly into the parking lot of the hiking area. Graves looked at his sister. "I'm sorry again. And I'm treating you to ice cream after this."

Rosie laughed and sat up to unbuckle her seatbelt. “I was asking if you’re pissed at me about some shit but I’ll accept free ice cream.”

Graves unbuckled his seatbelt and slid out of the truck in one fluid motion. He shut the door and leaned over the truck bed to look at Rosie. He rested his chin on his arms. "I don't know. I just figured you were pissed at me and that I'd be kicked out of the cabin or something."

Rosie snorted and hopped out of the car. “I’m thrilled you’re that scared of me. C’mon tumbitas, I’m always pissed at you and you still got a bed!”

Graves fished his backpack out of the truck bed and slung a strap over his shoulder. “Only an idiot wouldn’t be scared of the Hermes girls.” He grinned. “Is there anything I should be pissed at you about, since you asked?” He waited for Rosie to grab her bag before walking to the trail.

Rosie followed after him, skipping to catch up and walk beside him. “Nope! I’ve been an angel, as always!”

Graves snorted. “Right, I believe that. What’s the most recent wild thing you’ve done?”

She pulled a baseball cap out of her bag and put it on. She winked at him. “Forgiving your terrible judgment.”

Graves bumped her shoulder with his own. "My judgement's better than yours. I didn't date her." He stuck his tongue out and grinned, making sure she knew he was only teasing. "Honestly, I fully expected you to punch me once we go out of the truck. Loretta could only protect me for so long."

Rosie laughed and tugged his sleeve so he would stop for long enough for her to clamber up onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re such an idiot,” she said fondly.

"I know I am. You still love me, hermana?" Graves adjusted his arms so he could carry her properly and set off on the trail.

Jesse is sitting on his bed staring at his hands when the door opens. Curling his hands into fists to try and stop them from shaking, he lifts his head, looking completely and utterly lost. "Chase?"

Chase goes straight to their room when he finally gets home and grins at Jesse in greeting, before seeing his brother's expression and dropping his smile. "Everything alright?"

Jesse looks back to his hands numbly, not sure what to focus on. "It's Mal," he says, his voice almost completely without inflection. "She's not alright. And I don't know what I'm meant to do."

Chase frowns and knits his brow, moving further into the room. "What happened?"

Jesse can't seem to focus on his hands for more than a few seconds at a time, so he looks to Chase again, eyes wide. "She overdosed. I think. Almost died."

Chase is so shocked by this news that most of the colour drains from his hair along with his face. "Is she okay? What did she overdose on? When?" He shakes his head with each new question.

Jesse rubs his face, then leaves his head in his hands. "She's alive. On cocaine, before the cabin counsellor meeting."

Chase chews on his thumb nail and takes a seat on Jesse's bed. "Fuck. How much did she take?"

Jesse doesn't move. His voice is still oddly calm. "I don't know. I wasn't there, but her brothers were, thank the gods." He exhales slowly. "I know this isn't about me but– I promised Parker I would help her. Or get help for her. She promised she would do it less often, and I thought that was good enough, and she almost died."

Chase drops his hands into his lap and stares at his brother. He chews his bottom lip. "I didn't know she had a problem with it."

Jesse "It was her secret, I didn't want to– to betray her trust." His voice catches in the middle of the sentence, and he draws a shaky breath in.

Chase chews his lip more. "I.. Me and Mav and her— I didn't know she had a problem with it," he repeats.

Jesse lifts his head and looks at Chase, taking a second to focus on his face. He draws his eyebrows together. "What?"

Chase looks away from Jesse now. "The other day, at the ball, she asked me not to mention it to you, and I thought that was weird because, like, I mean, why would I mention it to you?" The skin around his nails starts turning grey. "I didn't know it was something you were worried about," he swallows.

Jesse doesn't understand at first, and then it clicks. He looks down. "You were in the bathroom with her," he says quietly.

Chase runs a hand through his hair and looks down. "I didn't know it was you outside until Mav told me later."

Jesse "She told me nothing happened," he says, more to himself than anything. He doesn't even have an expression on his face. "I felt bad for not trusting her."

Chase looks back at Jesse now and shakes his head. "Jesse, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

Jesse doesn't have the energy to be mad at him. He doesn't look up from the floor. "You didn't know," he echoes. "Parker and Kieran got to her in time. That's all that matters."

Chase shakes his head more and chews on his nail again. "I won't do it with her anymore. I'll tell Mav not to either."

Jesse "With her," he repeats, catching that Chase didn't specify he wouldn't do it at all, but he doesn't feel like starting that discussion now. He pulls his legs up to his chest. "Okay."

Chase sighs and rubs his palm into one of his eyes. "Jesse," he sighs again and looks down. "I never do coke. That was the first time in like, years."

Jesse still hasn't looked at Chase. He closes his eyes. "Okay," he says again. His voice isn't necessarily calm, but it's as though all the emotion has been taken out of it. "I believe you."

Chase wishes Jesse would just yell at him. "You don't have to, but I really am sorry."

Jesse wraps his arms around his legs. "I know. I believe you. It's not your fault. You didn't know." His eyes are still closed. "This isn't about me. She's okay."

Chase "Are you?"

Jesse opens his eyes and looks over at Chase. He still looks vaguely lost. "I don't know. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I promise. I'm not mad at you."

Chase "You're not making me feel bad, you're making me worried," only the first part is a lie.

Jesse "You know this..." he trails off, looking to his hands as he searches for the words. "This just happens sometimes. It'll pass. Just need to sleep."

Chase feels like what he said backfired and is only going to make Jesse more reluctant to talk to him, but doesn't know what to say to fix that. He's quiet for a long moment. "Are you sure? It's okay if you're not," he adds quickly.

Jesse "Yeah. Just feel kinda..." again, he blanks on the word, and has to think for a few seconds. "Numb? I guess. Which is better than sad?"

Chase folds his hands in his lap and nods, watching Jesse as he speaks. "This happened when we.. were in L.A., right?"

Jesse shrugs one shoulder. "Yeah. I guess that was the last time it went on for more than a day." He tilts his head back against the wall, looking to the ceiling. "How do we always end up talking about me? There's more important things than me being moody. Mal almost died."

Chase chews on the inside of his cheek. "I don't think you're just being 'moody', Jess. Just because something happened to her doesn't mean things happening to you aren't important."

Jesse rubs his face. "Nothing is happening ​to​ me. And some things are a bigger priority."

Chase frowns. "Well, I mean, maybe not technically? But I remember how you got in L.A., and back then I was too busy not eating or sleeping myself to do anything about it but," he shrugs, "I consider this a pretty big priority."

Jesse is starting to sound almost frustrated, basically the first emotion he's shown since Chase got back. "Yeah, you were the same as me in L.A.. Happens to a lot of people. Not a big deal."

Chase turns so he's facing Jesse completely. "You said it happens to you, which means that," he sighs, "It means it's not caused by an incident, y'know? Like, like it's not.." he huffs, unable to find the right words. "It just sounds like depression, or something."

Jesse hugs his legs again when Chase turns towards him, like some kind of barrier between them. He doesn't like where this is going, or how much of a big deal Chase is making about it. "It's nothing."

Chase tries not to look directly at Jesse so he doesn't feel like Chase is bearing down on him. "Have you talked to someone about it? Besides me right now? Like, actually ​someone​?"

Jesse turns his head so he's facing away from Chase. He shakes his head once. "I just don't understand why bad things have to keep happening to me," he says, barely audible. "My godparents, my parents, my shoulder, being ​targeted​ by ​gods​, losing Amber, there's some things I can't even ​talk​ about, Laurel shows up at camp, and now I almost lost Malia. Am I–" He rubs his face again. "Am I doing something wrong?"

Chase reaches out to touch Jesse but pulls away, deciding against it. He moves closer and shakes his head even though Jesse isn't looking at him to see. "It's not you. I promise it isn't anything that you're doing."

Jesse rests his forehead on his knees and squeezes his eyes shut again. "It has to be something. I don't know what's wrong with me." His voice catches again.

Chase runs a hand through his hair and presses his lips together. He's never seen his brother like this, or at least, he's never spoken to his brother about anything like this, and doesn't know what he can do to make anything better for him. "I think... you've just had really shitty things happen to you for no good reason, because sometimes really bad shit happens to really good people for no reason, and it's really unfair, and I wish I could stop it."

Jesse doesn't move or speak for a few long moments, and then lifts his head and looks over at Chase. "Yeah." He pauses again. "Sorry. That was a lot."

Chase shakes his head again. "I want you to feel like you're able to talk to me. About anything."

Jesse watches Chase for a few seconds and then looks forward. "There's something..." he starts, and then realizes what he's saying and stops himself. "I'm sure I'll be fine in a few days."

Chase "Something..?" He starts, then shakes his head as well, not wanting to push him. He sighs and then nods, sucking his cheeks in. "Okay. And it's not.. not okay if you're not. Like, you can tell me about it."

Jesse "Yeah." Just talking for this long has tired him out, and he closes his eyes again. "I think I need to go back to sleep."

Chase nods and pushes himself off of Jesse's bed. "Okay," he repeats. "I'm gonna go out. See you later?"

Jesse keeps his eyes closed even when he feels Chase get off the bed, just leaning against the wall. "Yeah."

Chase "Alright," he grabs something from the floor as he walks out of their room. "Love you, bye."

"Graves?" Tai called out as he stuck his head into the Hermes cabin. A couple unclaimed campers gave him odd looks, but no one said anything as he wandered in and started looking around. Despite his years at camp his times inside Cabin 11 had been few and far between, but one of the unclaimed kids gave him simple enough directions to follow to find the man he was looking for. "Graves?" he repeated as he knocked on the door to what was, apparently his bedroom. "You home?"

"In here, c'mon in!" Graves called, hearing a familiar voice accompanied by a knock on the door. He was sitting at his desk, finishing up a drawing of what...might have been a cat in a sweater if you squinted really, really hard. Hearing his door swing open, he pushed his drawing away and turned to greet his visitor. "Oh shit, Tai. Hey dude, what's up?"

Tai grinned at him and held up the bottle of fireball in his hand, the one he had won for third place. “Hey, mate. Got a gift for ya.” He took a few steps into the room and held it out for him.

Graves' jaw dropped. "You got that for me? No way man, I can't accept that." He smiled at Tai, his eyes bright.

Tai laughed and shook his head, walking all the way over to put it down on his desk. “Dude, this coulda been yours if I didn’t fuck with your shoulder. How’s it holdin’ up?”

"Oh shit, nah nah nah. You didn't fuck with my shoulder, I fell!" He laughed, shaking his head. "Please don't blame yourself or anythin', it's not a big deal. It's doin' alright, I've been goin' to L everyday so they can check it out. How are you- that cut on your leg okay?"

Tai patted the side of his leg. “Healing up. Sucks she got my bad one, I could’ve evened out.” He laughed again. “Full, though, take the bottle. Ease my mind.”

"Evened out, gods." Graves covered his laugh with a hand, before raising an eyebrow at Tai. "I can't accept this very generous offer but I can suggest an alternative. Y'interested?"

Tai took some time to glance around Graves's room as he tried to figure out what was being asked. He came up blank. "In what?"

He gestured to the bottle of fireball, "Sharin' the spoils of war, man." Graves tapped two fingers on his desk, trying to remember where he'd last stored his shot glasses before pulling open a drawer. He set one glass on his desk and held the other out to Tai. "What d'ya say?"

“Ahh.” Tai nodded in understanding and took the glass. “Yeah, mate, I’m game to get smashed. You a hundo percent sure? It is a prezzie.”

"A hundo, for sure." Graves grinned. "You wanna get sloshed here or take our chaos somewhere else? We could go up to the loft?”

“I’m A-OK with here, ladders sometimes do me in.” Tai shrugged one shoulder with a smile. “If you’re cool with that.”

"Makes sense! Totally cool, my guy!" he called over his shoulder, already digging through his closet in earnest. Moments later, Graves emerged with a camp chair. "You take my desk chair, I'll take this one. Don't argue, you brought the booze, you get the good chair."

Tai laughed and sat down in the desk chair, picking up the bottle and unscrewing the lid. “Okay, okay, if I gotta.” He turned to fill each of the shot glasses then held one out to Graves. “To L?” he suggested as a toast.

Graves scooped up his shot glass and tapped it to Tai's without spilling a drop. "To L! Absolute angel, they are."

Tai downed the shot and put the glass back on Graves's desk. "Full angel," he agreed, hiding his shudder at the taste by running a hand through his hair. "S'wild we never hung before, bro. You're a wicked fighter."

Graves blinked as the liquor burned his throat, then flashed a smile at Tai. "Thanks man, you too. Total fuckin' badass. We should hang out more, for sure. Maybe," he tilted his head towards Tai, admiring the other's long hair. "Maybe we could spar and you could teach me some sick moves. You're ambidextrous too, I noticed."

Tai preened at the praise, straightening up like a bird ruffling its feathers. “Thanks. Yeah, that’d be ace.” The final part of Graves’s sentence gave him pause, and he shook his head after a second. “Nah man, I’m full gay.”

"I definitely need to word on my sword techniques, I could've done a lot better if I'd practiced more." Graves' brow furrowed as Tai spoke and he tried to remember what he had said. "Ay, ain't nothin' wrong with that. I'm queer but hey, cheers to the gays!" He grinned, pouring another round of shots for them both and raising his own.

Tai laughed and lifted clinked his glass against Graves's, not reacting this time as it went down. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "D'you always fight with two swords? It's hella sweet."

Graves licked a drop of fireball off his lip, enjoying the spice. He nodded, "Yeah that's how I learned. I figured I was already decent at fightin' left or right handed, why not combine?"

"Whoa, yeah, I saw– can you use both hands the same way?" Tai poured the next round of shots.

"I'm just a little bit better with my right. But it's pretty even, I think. You?"

“Left, defo. But I can fight with my right ‘cause I had to change my style up after, y’know.” Tai shrugged and tapped his foot against the ground. “Now I can do both.”

Graves nodded, picking up the shot Tai had poured and nodding at the other glass. "Makes sense. You're real fuckin' decent with that spear. I saw you talkin' to Blue after our fight, is she gonna fix it?"

Tai gave him a pleased smile and took the next shot. “Yeah, she said she would. Was a prezzie from Morpheus so like, I fuckin’ hope.”

He set the glass down on his desk a little too hard, surprised. "It was from Morpheus? That's fresh as fuck, dude! Oh gods, I hope she tricks it out. Other than your spear, what's your fave weapon to fight with?"

“Yeah!” Tai leaned towards him, excited. “It’s bloody grouse, it turns into a hair pin. Imperial gold.” He sat back and thought. “I dunno. Athena powers kinda make it easy to use any weapon.”

"Imperial gold? Sick." Graves filed Tai's slang into the back of his mind to look up later. "I never thought of that. Can you pick up anything and know how to use it?"

Tai nodded and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. “P much. Handling and all that, comes easy. My sis is gonna help me on getting better, seeing what all else I can do.”

Graves absentmindedly drummed his fingers on the desk. "Dude, that's awesome. I need to practice more with other weapons. I really only use swords or...my fists." He laughed.

“I can help with that,” Tai offered, spinning slowly side to side in the desk chair. “If y’want. Another shot?”

"That would be sick, dude." Graves grinned, sliding his shot glass closer to Tai. "Sure yeah, hit me. Uh, not literally."

Tai laughed and brushed a piece of his hair behind his ear. He refilled their shot glasses. “This is four?” he guessed, then downed it. “Gets better every time.” He spun in a circle.

"Burns so good," Graves sing-songed after doing his shot. "This was a fantastic idea, man."

Tai laughed again. “It was your idea, dude. Genius.” He put the shot glass down and crossed his ankles. “I know nada about you, where are you from?”

Graves ran his hand through his hair, leaning back in the camp chair. "Next time you call me a genius, say it in front of my sisters. Maybe they'll believe it, hearin' it from someone else," he laughed. "Shit, I'm from Myrtle Beach, man. Y'ever been?"

Tai shook his head. "Dunno most places in the states, especially outta New York. Where's that?"

"South Carolina, about thirteen hours from here if y'drive. How long have you been in the states? You're from Australia right?"

Tai grinned and thumped a fist against his chest. "Oi oi oi. Brisbane. I hopped the pond when I was sixteen, so, uh..." His brows creased and he was silent for a few seconds as he tried to count backwards. "A lotta years ago now."

Graves nodded, "I've always wanted to visit Australia. Did you come here just for camp?"

"Yeah, yeah. My dads and mom knew and told me on my sixteenth birthday, so I headed straight on up here." A bit of an exaggeration, but there was no point getting caught in the details. Tai smiled. "I already had a friend here, too."

"Dads and mom? Y've got a big family, that's lucky. It's just my mom and my gran back home for me." Graves raised an eyebrow. "Really? Who'd you know!"

"Got a lil bro, too. That's sweet, though, they know about camp and all that?" Tai asked, leaning forward again in interest. At Graves's question, he smiled more. "Uh, Caspar? I dunno if you know each other. We grew up together."

"Oh, nice! I didn't have any siblings until I got here. Two-ish years ago now." He nodded again. "Yeah they know all about camp. I think I know who you're talkin' about. Photographer? Bright white hair? Y'all grew up together? What are the odds of endin' up here too! Wild."

"Yeah, yeah," Tai repeated, running a hand through his hair. He was still smiling, although he kept his tone light and casual. "Stellar artist, crazy talented. We dated back in Brissy. Wild odds. You came two years ago? How'd you find it?"

Graves' eyes caught on Tai's hair, it was so shiny. He stopped himself from staring and nodded. How long had he been nodding? He squinted, feeling tipsy. "And y'all are friends now? That's great man! Yeah, I did. My gran told me where to go."

Tai ran his tongue over his teeth. "Great friends, yeah."  It was too soon to take another shot, considering the first few were just starting to hit him now, but something about having the bottle and shot glass in both sight and reach almost made him refill it automatically. He took a few seconds to process what Graves had said. "Huh. How did she know?"

"Oh, uh..." Graves fumbled for a suitable explanation, before settling for his favorite excuse. "She's a fortune teller. She knows everything, man." The words immediately tasted sour in his mouth; he'd already started telling people the truth, why stop now? His grandmother's words echoed in his head: Secrets are dangerous, Cam. Some people will try to use you for your abilities. I won't have you experiencing that as well. Graves chewed his lip, studying Tai's face. "Actually, she's a demigod," he blurted out.

"Old people can be demigods?" Tai asked without thinking. He shook his head immediately afterwards and leaned towards Graves. "Sorry, dude, that came out wrong. But, for real? So you got two gods in you?"

Graves exhaled a laugh, his momentary worry erased. “Apparently, yeah.” He nodded, “For real, man. I’m  surprised your sister didn’t tell you at fight night. She figured it out.”

Tai thought of Hazel and Kerrigan first before he remembered Ramona and understood. "Oh! Yeah, I dunno." He tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. "Shit's crazy. How'd she figure out about your gran?"

“She’s got some funky powers, guess she just knew because of ‘em.”

"She can tell about your family? That's bloody wild." Tai spun around in the chair again. "Wanna go for another round?"

"Oh, no-" Graves shook his head. "She can tell about my powers. Sure, man. I love fireball."

Tai poured them each another shot and handed Graves' to him. "Bloody sweet prize. What're your powers?"

Graves held up his shot in a silent cheers before tipping it back. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Lucky. I'm lucky."

“This is great,” Tai agreed, figuring that’s what Graves meant. “It’s sweet as fuck we can all just hang when we want. What a life.” He took his shot belatedly.

"Honestly, you're right man." Graves tapped the desk twice for emphasis. "We get to train and just fuckin wil' out."

Tai grinned at the validation. “Yeah! What do you think...” he trailed off as the shot kicked in and his thoughts grew fuzzier. “What’s the best and worst parts? Of camp.”

"Best part? We live here, man. This place is so cool. There's so many people with sick powers." He tipped back in his chair, wrinkling his nose. "Worst part? Archery lessons."

Tai laughed and combed both his hands through his hair. “Archery’s aight. I don’t get the climbing wall still. Lava? Really? Burnt my hair once and I was bloody devo.”

Graves looked shocked. "Not your hair! That's terrible man." He shook his head, "Although I love the climbin' wall. I wouldn't get very far up it today but on a normal day? I'm real decent at it. Haven't gotten singed in a bit."

“The missing arm’d count against you for sure,” Tai laughed in agreement, pulling his left leg up on the chair and resting his chin on his knee. He was still swaying the chair side to side. “This chair’s great, mate. Full carnival ride over here.”

Graves grinned as he watched Tai spin on his desk chair. "Carnival rides! Shit, man, what's your favorite? I miss carnivals."

"I dunno, it's been an age since I went." Tai sighed, smiling as he thought about it. Everything was warm and pleasant. "You're so cool, man. How many tattoos d'you got?"

"I used to work at a boardwalk carnival every summer. That's some nostalgic shit, my guy." Graves hummed at the praise. "Shit, thanks Tai. You're cool as hell too. Fightin' ya? Damn." He shook his head, feeling more tipsy the more he spoke. "Oh gods, uh. I've got..." He began to mentally list his tattoos. "I've got...five I think, not countin' all the eyes on my sleeves. D'you have any ink?"

Tai sighed and refilled their shot glasses but didn't pick either up. "That's hot. I just got one." He rolled up his sleeve and showed Graves a faded tattoo of a sun and clouds on the inside of his arm. "Oldie, stick and poke."

The edge of Graves' mouth quirked up in a smirk. "Hot," he mused, watching Tai pour another round. He leaned forward to check out the other's tattoo. "Stick and poke, sick. I love that. I might get a stick and poke soon. Not sure what yet."

"From when I was a kid," Tai commented, rolling his sleeve back down after a few seconds. "Beauty, mate. What of? Nah, you just said you don't know. When?"

"Did you do it yourself or did a friend?" Graves moved to grab one of the shot glasses, nodding to Tai to do the same. His head swam a little bit and he tried to remember what he'd been asked. "Uh...soon. Whenever I can convince my friend to tattoo me."

"Cas," Tai answered, smiling again as he picked up the glass. There was no way he needed another shot, but he downed it anyway. "We gave each other them before he left, y'know, for a thing that lasted." He frowned in concentration as he recalled their topic. "Which friend?"

"Oh, sick! It's really well done." Graves tapped his fingers on his knee. "That's really cute, wow. And uh, Cleo? I don't know if you know her."

"It is cute," Tai agreed, half to himself as he thought about Caspar. He ran his tongue over his teeth and shrugged at Graves. "We tan together sometimes."

“Tannin’ buddies,” he nodded, then circled back to their previous topic. “Would you get another tattoo?“

"I dunno. I don't think so? I don't have a lotta places open that it wouldn't look fucked," Tai explained, lifting the bottom of his shirt to show Graves the scars that wrapped up his torso, thinning out the higher they went. He dropped his shirt back down after a second. "Would you?"

Graves kept his face neutral as Tai flashed his scars. He didn't want to make the other uncomfortable by staring. "You could always tatt over them," he offered. "I've debated coverin' this one." He pulled the collar of his shirt down to show Tai the shiny scar on his collarbone. "I don't want to mess with my chest piece though so I'd have to find somethin' that fit with it. Sure man, I love gettin' inked. I got a serpent around my knee not too long ago."

Tai shrugged and nodded but didn't give any other indication of what he thought of the suggestion. "What's that from?" he asked when Graves showed the scar, then blinked. "You don't gotta say. I saw there's a tattoo shop opening in town?"

“Dude in high school cracked me a good one with his lacrosse stick after a game. I ran my mouth, he broke my collarbone and my nose.” Graves grinned like a madman as he recounted the story. “Oh shit, there is? Sick. I have to get more ink then. Maybe I'll get somethin' on my back.”

"Ripper tale, that." Tai grinned back at him. "Musta been talking some hardcore shit. What would you want on your back? That the main space left?"

Crazy smile still plastered to his face, Graves nodded. "You know how it goes, man. Talk shit, get hit." He laughed then tapped each of his knees. "My legs are the most of my leftover real estate for ink. I guess my stomach too? But I haven't thought about gettin' any tatts there. And my back, yeah," he finished. He pulled up the corner of his tee, showing the tail end of a set of hooked scars that ran from the base of his neck to his left hip. He tapped the edge of one scar with his knuckles. "These take up most of my back, though. I'd have to figure out somethin' cool for it if I got inked there."

Tai's attention lingered on Graves's skin as he pulled his shirt up and it took him until after Graves stopped speaking for the words to sink in and remind him of what he was supposed to be looking at. "Fuck, mate, where'd those come from?"

Graves' arched an eyebrow, watching Tai. He grinned, appreciating the attention before giving a one-shouldered shrug. "Monster attack a few years ago. Usually I make up wild stories, tell people different shit. It's a downer so I won't tell you what really happened. Today's cover story is that I took on the Lernean hydra myself, with nothing but my bare hands. I ripped its heads off, it ripped my back apart." He smirked and returned to drumming his fingers on his desk. After a moment, he figured it was okay to ask the same of Tai. "What are all your scars from?"

Tai nodded along with the story, although it only increased his curiosity as to what could have given those scars and why it was too dark a tale to tell. As Graves spoke, Tai turned to top up their shot glasses. After the excuse his new friend had given it felt wrong to bring the mood down in return, but a good cover didn't come to mind. "Want me to make something up too?"

"Oh, you don't have to talk about it, not if you don't want to. I shouldn't have asked, sorry. You can make something up if you want. Or I can change the subject?" Graves offered, watching Tai fill the glasses again.

Tai shrugged and held one of the glasses out to Graves. "S'not that I mind, but you made something up so, should I? It's not a long story, just almost got mauled to death by some hellhounds." He paused. "Aw, shit, I just said it."

"Damn." Graves' eyes widened as Tai let slip what had happened. His pressed his lips together and accepted the shot glass. "To...escapin' death and lookin' hot as hell?" He raised his glass to Tai, trying to make light of the topic.

Tai grinned at him and lifted his glass. “Bloody oath,” he agreed cheerfully, tapping their glasses together and downing his shot. He wiped his mouth. “We do look hot as hell.”

Graves hummed in acknowledgement before tipping his shot back. "We need to do this more often, my guy," he set the shot glass down again and winked at Tai. "You, me, some fireball? Sounds good to me."

Tai’s smile sharpened into more of a smirk. “We can make a habit of it. You like any other drink better?”

"I'll drink anythin' man. I'm not picky." He smiled wryly. "You have a preference?"

“Fireball?” Tai laughed. “I like whiskey to fruity, mate. Not picky either.”

"The way to be. I'll have to make you a drink sometime."

“Yeah?” Tai leaned forward and raised his eyebrows. “You good at it?”

Graves ran his thumb across his lower lip and nodded. "I'm decent at it. You live in the Hermes cabin, you pick up some skills. Makin' cocktails just happens to be on that list."

Tai watched his movement then laughed. “I bet. What’s your main hobby? I know bloody nothing about you, I see now.”

"I really like to skateboard and I used to play lacrosse all the time. Not so much lately, gotta find someone to practice with. What about you?" Graves raised an eyebrow at Tai, thumb still resting on his lip.

“Ace, you skateboard? Used to be huge into that.” Tai combed his fingers through his hair. “I work at the gym, and I’m a fashion design student. Work freelance as a tailor sometimes. Just started on some bonzer armour with my bro, now exams are doneso.”

"Yeah, I do.  I'll skate for you sometime." Graves winked. He gave Tai an appraising look, admiring the sheen of his hair. His eyes drifted to the other's muscular build and lingered on his arms for a moment. He smirked. "You work at the gym? You mean to tell me you weren't just born with such a godly physique?"

At the compliment, Tai crossed his arms across his chest casually with a subtle flex. He grinned. "Bit of both, mainly hard work. Bloody flirt."

Tai's flex did not escape Graves' notice and a look of approval flashed across his face. "A flirt? Me?" He put his hand to his chest, feigning a look of shock, but unable to keep the mirth out of his eyes. "Never."

With a laugh, Tai began swaying the chair side to side again. "Damn, here I was hoping you were."

He raised an eyebrow. “And if I was?”

"A flirt?" Tai copied his expression back to him, raising both eyebrows. "I'd say keep it up."

"Huh, good thing I'm not a flirt." Graves flashed Tai a sharp grin, running his tongue along his teeth. "I am lookin' for someone to....work out with though."

Tai leaned back in the chair again, catching the double meaning to Graves's words after a second. He grinned. "Hey, I'm a pro."

Graves leaned forward as Tai leaned back, putting his elbow on his knee. He bit his lip and rested his chin in the palm of his hand, subtly letting his eyes graze over Tai again. “Oh yeah?” He flashed him a crooked grin. “I could be the judge of that.”

As much as he was enjoying the way Graves was looking at him, Tai was already getting confused by speaking in innuendo. Still, there were only so many ways this conversation could go, so he decided to give it a shot. "You could or you will? 'Cause I'm not putting up any complaints." Tai arched an eyebrow.

Graves hummed and looked appraisingly at Tai. "I think...I will." He grinned.

Tai stretched his left leg out and hooked his ankle around Graves’s. “Oh?” He used the new grip to pull the desk chair he was seated on closer to Graves, thankful for the wheels. “Soon?”

"Soon as you're free." Graves used their entwined ankles to pull Tai a little closer, crooked grin on his face. "I don't have any plans."

Tai grinned and made a show of looking over himself. “I don’t think I’m doing anything now.”

"I can think of a few things you should be doin' now." Graves ran his thumb over his lip, eyes sparkling with mischief. He made no move, taking the moment to enjoy looking at Tai.

Tai watched Graves's movement and leaned forward in the chair after a second, bringing them closer. "Are you all of them?" He was still grinning, tone joking.

"Huh," he exhaled a laugh, bringing his eyes upward to meet Tai's. Graves smirked. "Yeah. Yeah, I am."

Tai considered him for a second, then hooked two fingers under the hem of Graves's cropped shirt to pull him forward. "Where do you want me to start?"

Graves tilted his head towards Tai as he was pulled in by his shirt. He ran his tongue over his teeth, exhaling softly, unable to keep the smirk off his face. "I'm not picky, anywhere y'like." He couldn't keep his eyes of Tai either. Gods, he's hot.

Tai laughed under his breath and pulled Graves in all the way to kiss him, bunching one hand up in his shirt to keep him close and holding his jaw with the other.

Graves made a sound of approval, his eyes fluttering closed as he returned Tai's kiss. He reached out to place his hand on the back of his neck, pulling Tai closer and deepening the kiss.

Tai let of Graves's shirt to slide that hand around to his back, moving forward to the edge of the chair. "Does your room have a lock?" he asked, only pulling away for long enough to speak before he leant back in.

"Already on it," Graves murmured into Tai's lips. His powers definitely had their perks outside of criminal activity; he silently prayed Rosie wouldn't pick now as another time to pick his lock and barge into his room. Moving to the edge of his chair, he broke away from Tai's lips. He slid his hand up into Tai's hair, tilting his head to the side so that he could kiss his neck.

Tai had less than zero idea what that meant, but it sounded encouraging. He went along with the motion easily and tilted his head to the side, moving his hand from Graves’s jaw to card his fingers through his hair as he  pressed his other hand into his back. “Ace,” he breathed as he remembered he should give a response. “Cool.”

Tai's hand pressed against his back sent chills up Graves spine and he inhaled sharply, lips pressed against the other boy's neck. He returned to Tai's lips, pulling him closer for another kiss, before leaning back. His hand still in Tai's hair, Grave's studied his face. "Do you want to- uh?" He tilted his head towards his bed, faltering as he felt heat rise in his cheeks.

Tai grinned, opening his eyes to watch Graves's motion. He pressed a hand to Graves's chest and leaned back enough to see between him and the bed, focusing on Graves's sling after a moment. "How's your shoulder?"

"Uh," Graves said intelligently as Tai pressed his hand to his chest. He glanced and his shoulder and shrugged, the movement feeling tender. He ignored it, looking back at Tai instead, his eyes lingering on the other's lips. "It's fine. Not that bad. I guess I could...take the sling off? If you want to help me?" Graves bit his lip, raising an eyebrow at Tai.

Tai's attention drifted from Graves's sling up to where his tattoos were visible, distracted until he remembered he needed to answer the question. "Oh, you sure about that, mate?" With effort, Tai pulled his attention away from the skull on Graves's hand to look back at his face. "It's there for a reason."

Graves pressed his lips together, knowing that Tai had a pretty good point. He moved his hand, fingers tracing the collar of his shirt as he chewed his lip. "We can work around it?" He exhaled a laugh and realized that he had absolutely no idea where to go from here.

Tai's eyebrows drew together as he tried to come up with a solution, but his mind was blank. "I dunno, man. I don't want to mess your shoulder up."

"I hate to say it but...you're probably right." He let his hand drop back to his lap, fixing Tai with a rueful grin. Graves' eyes flitted back down to Tai's lips and he was tempted to lean back in and resume kissing him, but was unsure if the moment had passed.

Tai laughed and shook his head, resting a hand on Graves's shoulder and leaning back in to kiss him for a few seconds before letting him go and leaning back in the chair. "You got my number?"

Graves smiled into the kiss before following suit as Tai pulled away. "Not yet, I don't." He picked his phone up off the desk, unlocking it and passing it to Tai. "Add yourself, I'll shoot you a text as soon as I'm cleared for physical activity." He flashed him a mischievous grin with a laugh. "If you're down for that."

Tai typed in his contact information, adding an owl emoji beside his name before he handed the phone back. He grinned at Graves. "Text me when your arm’s spruced up?" He realized he had asked a question Graves had just answered and belatedly added on, "Ace."

Graves glanced at his phone, exhaling a laugh when he saw the emoji Tai had added beside his name. He flicked his eyes back up to Tai, a cocky smile on his face. "Definitely. Do you want to grab food or somethin'?"