@ezfontes location: nemesis cabin

cian hadn’t really left his cabin since coming back from saving moros. technically it had been less than twenty-four hours, but without sleep time dragged on like an eternity. when he did finally collapse, it hadn’t been restful — not in the slightest. he still saw her every time he closed his eyes, still felt her blades when he moved, the mark above his heart throbbing like a reminder he didn’t need. not that scars ever worried him, but failure carved into skin was another matter.

at least he’d managed to pull on a pair of sweats and drag himself to the showers. he was just drying off when a knock came at the cabin door. victor wouldn’t be knocking. ziggy had already brought cookies. so… who? sluggish, still heavy-limbed, it took him a moment to cross the room, but when he pulled the door open, face half-way covered by a shirt he hastily pulled on and saw the face on the other side, a smile tugged at him before he could stop it — faint, tired, but carrying a glint of the joy he thought he’d left behind.

“hey… didn’t think i’d see you here.” his voice came softer than usual, but warm. he stepped back, opening the door wider. “c’mon in, if you’ve time.”

@ezfontes location: amphitheatre notes: post path thingie!!

cian  found  him  at  the  edge  of  the  amphitheater,  where  the  last  of  the  late  light  spilled  gold  across  the  stone  steps.  the  air  still  smelled  faintly  of  ash  and  old  magic  —  traces  of  some  earlier  practice,  maybe  —  but  it  was  quieter  now,  softer.

he  paused,  thumb  brushing  the  edge  of  his  palm  in  a  small,  grounding  habit  he’d  kept  since  he'd  had  this  strange  dream.  still  learning  to  sit  with  silence,  to  let  it  settle  without  needing  to  fill  it.  but  something  in  him  tugged  toward  ezequiel  anyway  —  that  same  low,  steady  pull  that  had  only  grown  harder  to  ignore.  “hey,”  he  offered,  voice  gentle  as  sea-foam.  his  hair  was  still  a  little  messy  from  training;  a  few  stubborn  curls  clung  to  his  forehead.  “been  a  while,  hasn’t  it?” 

he  hesitated,  then  took  a  slow  breath,  stepping  closer,  his  weight  balanced  just  so.  “you  had  one  of  those  dreams  too,  right?”  he  asked  —  softer  now,  almost  careful,  though  curiosity  threaded  the  words.  his  eyes  searched  ezequiel’s  face,  catching  the  corners  of  light  and  shadow.  “the  kind  that  don’t  quite  let  go,  even  after  you  wake.”  a  small,  lopsided  smile  broke  through  —  a  touch  self-conscious,  but  honest.  “can’t  say  i’m  the  same  lad  i  was  before  it.  not  completely,  anyway.”

he  lifted  his  gaze  again,  braver  this  time.  “and  you?  how’re  you  holding  up?”

both brothers drunk from the dionysus wine, they were trying to keep the other from falling over as they made their way back to their cabin to sleep it off. arthur had to lean against the outer wall as ezequiel tried to find the key and putting it in.

"i don't know why we need to stop the party just yet, brother." arthur said, the himation he wore for the wedding was barely clinging to his body as he stumbled into the living room where the shield had been put earlier that day. beautiful up close, arthur couldn't wait to study it further. "you know how much i love you, ezequiel?" he leaned forward, wrapping an arm around the other athena heir. "i don't think i tell you that enough." he leaned forward, his grey eyes glued on those lips he'd been thinking about all day.

the only places arthur really wanted to be at the moment were either the library or locked away in the athena cabin. everything they had gone through in indiana had really stuck with the professor, the feeling that he was being erased from existence... and the fear that still crept from facing a goddess who was now fully aware of who arthur was? now that was terrifying to think about.

lounging in his bed, ezequiel was laying with him and arthur had his head in the others lap as he stared up at the ceiling. it was moments like this that arthur was glad to know he wasn't alone in this world, anymore. he had those like ez who cared about him.

"i've come face to face with a titan twice now." he aimlessly said, more thinking out loud. "all of this is starting to feel real now."

Most of his free time since arriving at camp had been spent either in the library, the Hecate cabin with Merrick, or his own cabin with his new half brother. They were both college professors, but perhaps that should have been expected when your mother was the goddess of wisdom herself. The cabin itself was beautiful and it was easy for Arthur to get lost within his side of it, enriched with an organized chaos of books everywhere.

It was the middle of the night when Arthur's mind seemed to be the most awake, that thirst for knowledge was stronger when the rest of the world seemed to be asleep. Curled by the fire in his bedroom, the Athena heir found a first edition in his own library and was reading it when he heard a knock at the door and his brother's face peaked in.

"I'm not disturbing you too much, am I?"