#keepershearth

@keepershearth notes: hi hello not me doing this ridiculously late lmao

cian  had  been  hanging  near  the  edge  of  the  training  grounds,  pretending  to  stretch  but  mostly  just  watching,  when  he  saw  him.  the  new  guy.  hitting  the  training  dummy  like  it  was  nothing.  the  dummy  didn’t  stand  a  chance,  honestly,  and  the  way  he  moved—it  wasn’t  like  cian  could  put  it  into  words,  but  it  just…  looked  cool.  really  cool.  solid,  confident,  strong.  and  there  was  that  little  flicker  of  fire  dancing  along  the  blade,  like  it  belonged  to  him,  which  made  cian’s  stomach  do  that  stupid  little  flip  it  always  did  when  he  was  impressed.

he  didn’t  even  think,  really.  he  just  walked  over,  boots  crunching  on  the  dirt,  heart  thumping,  and  tried  to  sound  casual,  which  was  an  absolute  fail.

“hey,”  he  started.  “uh—hi.  i…  i  just…  wow.  i  saw  you  with  the  dummy.  with  the  sword.  you’re—well,  you’re…  impressive.  like,  really.  the  way  you  hit  it,  and  the…  uh,  fire  thing…  it  just  looks…  i  dunno…  amazing.  most  people  just,  uh,  swing  and  hope  it  works,  right?  but  you—you…  oh,  crap,  i’m  rambling.”

he  ran  a  hand  through  his  hair,  grinning  sheepishly.  of  course  he  was  rambling.  always.  “i  just…  yeah.  it’s  cool.  really  cool.  and  uh—if  you  ever  want  someone  to  spar  with,  i  mean,  i’d  be  happy  to.  or,  y’know,  not  get  in  your  way.  i  just…  yeah.  wow.”  cian  realized  he  was  probably  blushing,  of  course  he  was,  but  he  didn’t  care.  he  just  wanted  him  to  know  someone  noticed.  someone  thought  he  was,  well…  wow.  “oh,  uh,  i'm  cian.  hope  you're  enjoyin'  your  stay.” why could he never leave a good first impression on anybody?

With eyes closed, the son of Nemesis listened to the water rushing as it fell over the cliff and into the river below, letting the sounds of nature calm him. Only a couple of weeks ago, Victor had been here with the son of Hecate and he had opened up to him about his past - letting him know just what it was his father had made him be, how he eventually broke free from that cycle of violence, and then how he spent the next few years working to atone for his past. And now the one he considered his confidant, the one that he found himself the closest to, was gone.

Emotions were not something he was that familiar with, his father having trained and punished him to not show an inch of feeling as he worked to make him an emotionless killing machine, but the pain in his chest was tight and apparent and it took everything within him to keep it from consuming him. All he could do was listen to the water, let it calm him and try to focus on the sound like he was meditating.

But underneath the sound he could hear the sound of someone approaching, a crack of a twig underneath a boot, and he could feel the warmth radiating from them before he even turned to look over his shoulder at them.

"This is my... This is my calm," Victor stated simply, looking at the broad figure of Brad before he shifted his attention back to the waters edge, watching as the water ran over the rocks and pebbles in the river. "I come here to... relax. To think."

Between trying to figure out the weapon plan that Toby had given him, and visiting his sister for her birthday, Gabe hadn't really expected to come back to see an influx of new faces at the camp. Of course, it was no surprise that many of them were young - it seemed that most of the demigods were in their twenties or early thirties - and it was even less of a surprise that they were all extremely handsome. Perhaps it was the divinity in their blood, or perhaps it was just a requirement of the song that they heard, but it was clear that no one there was certainly ugly.

Still, Gabe couldn't help but feel a little out of the loop, a little bit lost, but he figured that there wasn't anything his cannoli's couldn't fix. With a new batch in a tupperware container, Gabe headed towards one of the cabins that the new guys were staying in - or so he assumed, from hearing what the satyrs and nymphs had to say - and he approached the Hestia cabin. He figured if there was anyone there that would be used to getting gifted food already, it would have to be Hasan's brother - given the fact that Hasan was a chef prior to coming here.

"Hey, you're Brad, right? One of the new guys here? I'm Gabe. Thought I'd come and introduce myself to you."