#quietepics

ariel hasn’t spoken to gigi properly since she found out about jae, has kept things strictly professional, over email if possible, making excuse after excuse to dodge spending time with her. she fully intends to do that here, will probably continue to do so as long as possible, but several things happen to prevent that and they’re all terrible. one: she’s caught off guard and doesn’t notice gigi walking past her. two: their arms brush in the close quarters of the hallway they’re both navigating, ariel on her way to the bathroom, gigi leaving it. three: she knows gigi will be dead within a few hours, doesn’t know how, it would take her so much effort to look for the details, but she sees it, blood and lifeless eyes and perfect face frozen forever and ariel gasps. “gigi!” she practically chokes out, so stunned from what she’s just seen, like the face of dead gigi is superimposed on alive gigi and she can’t process she’s still standing here in front of her. ariel clears her throat. “i- you startled me.” she pauses. this has never happened to her before, it’s always been strangers, and what on earth could happen here that would cause such a thing, she should find out, she should be responsible, but gigi will be dead in a few hours and ariel has been ignoring her for weeks. “you look lovely.”

“ooh! mina! i really wanna do some painting today, do you wanna come with me?” it’s only lunchtime, and she’s not sure about mina, but she has one more class until she’s done for the day. “this one girl, she’s wearing this beautiful gown, it’s like this...light green, slightly ombre thing, i just feel like i can’t fully capture it in black and white.” which is what she normally does, a whole sketchbook full of portraits of people she’s never met while they were living. / @quietepics​

“  𝐢’𝐦  𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠  𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝  𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠  𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞  ,  ”  vera  starts  ,  approaching  the  other  demigod  .  “  would  you  be  down  to  do  a  lip-sync  battle  type  thing  with  all  the  nl  residents  ?  ”  if  done  correctly  ,  it’d  be  a  pretty  cool  idea  .  and  not  to  mention  ,  good  exposure  for  the  demigods  .

“sorry,” he grumbles, rubbing at his eye with the palm of his hand. “i slept like shit last night.” not that that’s anything new. if possible, shiloh is even more silent when he’s tired, though it’s hardly noticeable. “you were talking about class...i think, um, which one again?” shiloh had already graduated from the standard track, and would honestly recommend mina pick anything else, but he doesn’t want to put too much pressure on it. / @quietepics​

“what’s your favorite dream you’ve ever had?” river asks as they finish a yawn, sitting down beside layla without being invited, absolutely unable to comprehend that they might not ever be invited. “can you control your dreams often?”

“so have you not checked your email period today, or am i just special?” ariel says in a sickly sweet sing-song as she sits across from gigi, sliding a coffee to the other without being asked for it. “i shared the latest version of your calendar with you and if there’s such a thing as a magnum opus of google calendars, i’ve created it. can you please take three minutes out of your busy day and accept the invite?”

safiye is scrolling through her email while gigi gets ready, because sometimes it’s simpler than trying to make sense of the mess that is her calendar. “are you going to that launch party tomorrow? the one in glendale?” given everything that’s gone on over the past few months, it still feels weird just going about their lives as usual. “one of the coordinators at this venue would not stop hitting on me last time i went to an event there. like, you weren’t even technically invited, you just own the space, leave me alone.”

“you’re not dead are you?” she asks her cousin, casually sipping more boba as if this isn’t an odd question. “because it feels like i’m the only one who can see you these days! you’d tell me if you were a ghost, wouldn’t you, min?”