#snáithe

@mp-callum continued from here:

“This is a bad idea. Scratch that. It’s a terrible idea! I’m not built for contact sports!” Admittedly Callum could be in better shape. He was fit but he was not strong in the least. So when he had let himself be talked into joining a basketball game at the local gym he was hoping he could try something new to exerciser other parts of his muscles that needed it in a fun way. But one look at the massive guys on the court had him turning around immediately to escape only to be pulled back by his trainer. “Honestly I can just as well go back to swimming and yoga. Who needs basketball to be healthy anyway right?” 

"You don’t need it to be healthy, but it can be fun,” Aislinn tells the young man whose hand she’s currently holding to prevent him from walking away. If there is one delight in having gotten to know him, it’s figuring out he’s Celtic, and that he speaks her mother tongue, so she does not hesitate to use it with him now - or any other time.

There’s a small smile on her face, softening the shortness of her words as she adds: “Also you signed up for this match, the teams will be uneven if you leave.” She doesn’t particularly drag him back onto the court, but she does keep her fingers gently wrapped around his hand, the grip quite solid despite how it might not feel like it, as she refuses to let go of him just yet.

@mp-hermes continued from here:

“Oh I don’t know about that. How many places have you been to in this world that house god and demigod side by side without killing each other or throwing the world into complete chaos?” He had been surprised himself to find that this island was mostly under control and it’s residents well behaved. “Of course that can’t last forever but still, it’s quite an accomplishment to get this many powerful beings together while still keeping civil.” 

Her gaze lifts from where she had been looking down at the world below them to go over to the deity at her side. Admittedly she hadn’t expected to get any company while seated on the highest branch of the tallest tree in the forest, but then apparently this Greek god with the winged shoes had changed that expectation swiftly. Perhaps he’d been interested in the girl sitting so high up in a tree, perhaps he had merely been bored and decided to come talk to her. She doesn’t know what drove him here, only knows that she has not met him before, that he must not have been at Mount Phoenix long.

“I was referring to this island being full of idiots,” she replies easily, no flicker of hesitation or fear in her gaze nor voice as she delivers the sentence quite levelly. “But sure, when you explain it like that it does become a bit of a special place. I’ve lived here my entire life, though, it has long lost its novelty to me.” She gives a little shrug of her shoulders, then motions down at the forest below them.

@mpxapollox

This is not how days are supposed to go.

She is not supposed to find herself in a chair in her boss’ office, leg raised and resting upon a little stool while she waits for the colleague who brought her there to return with said boss.

She is most definitely not supposed to feel like her ankle is sprained, because she is a daughter of the Morrigan, should have lightning-fast reflexes and battle instincts that rival those of any trained soldier.

Apparently even her godly lineage can’t battle the bone-deep exhaustion of many nights unslept. And apparently her body, her brain and the treadmill behind her collaborated to make her trip, twist her ankle in an attempt to keep her balance and then barely manage avoiding faceplanting into the floor by putting her hands out first and somehow scraping them on the smooth floor.

Without fear of being heard, she heaves a deep sigh and lowers her head into her hands for a moment, absolutely giving up on any kind of hope for the day. She only lifts it again when she hears the footsteps indicating the arrival of her boss, and she locks eyes with him the moment he’s inside.

“I’ll be fine,” she says instantly, almost defensively, not wanting to hear one more comment on how ‘surprisingly clumsy you are today, ash, haha’. “I’ll put some ice on it and it’ll be better in the morning.” Probably the same way the bags under her eyes are better in the morning; still there and growing worse but she ignores them a bit more every day.

@dionysusxmp continued from here:

Dio had to admit that Ash looked silly with the fake beard on, so much so that he burst out laughing mid-direction.

“I thought you said you were gonna fill in for the role of Ophelia while we find a new actor for it!” Even as he tried to use his best Theater Director voice, Dio had to take breaks to wipe the tears of laughter from his eyes. The college production of Hamlet by the theater department at Phoenix U was hitting a road block every step it tried to take forward. First there had been issues with casting, then Ophelia had gone and broken her leg during a rehearsal, actors with smaller parts weren’t following the director’s orders - the whole thing was a practically unsalvageable mess.

It was a stretch even for the god of theater.

When they had called him in to help - also requesting that he find someone to either take or fill in for the role of Ophelia - they had practically begged him. It was almost pitiful, really. But of course he had agreed. Where is there more chaos and insanity to be found than in a college theater department?

“Come on, Ash, put down the beard so we can go on with the scene! Please!”

"How can I put down my beard?” Aislinn counters in the most convincing of despaired tones, trying her best to stick to the manner of speech. “It is finally growing in, I cannot just shave it back off! The time I have spent saving up on these beautiful golden locks of true manhood!”

Her hands motion at the fake beard with a passion she usually reserves for much more serious things. That or the silly moods she sometimes gets, just like she does right now. Look, she would listen to the Greek god and take her role seriously if there was a point to it, but with half this theatre group looking like they want to be anywhere but there rehearsing their play, it’s not like it’s going to go anywhere anyway.

So it’s a much better idea, she decided right before sticking the fake beard onto her face, to make Dionysus laugh until he cries and pretend to be the most excited youngster, entirely in love with the beard he has finally managed to grow for himself.

@mpxfelix continued from here:

[ SMS ] I could tickle you [ SMS ] I mean, it’s really hard to talk when someone is tickling you ^^ [ SMS ] Or maybe I could bribe you with cake? [ SMS ] Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaase don’t tell Hyuna I hurt myself at the gym??? I don’t wanna get lectured! D: [ SMS ] I’m bringing you cake right now, so you’re legally not allowed to tell. 

Aislinn can’t help it, but when she checks the messages she gets in reply to her rather threatening one, a laugh makes it passed her lips even though she is still in the middle of the Zero to Hero. She raises a hand in apology at the nearest people surprised by the outburst, but is not embarrassed in the slightest by it, simply bringing her phone up a bit better so she can type a reply back.

[ ✉ → Felix ] It better be chocolate cake!

She shakes her head lightly as she tucks her phone away again into the back pocket of her pants, but after but a moment’s consideration she pulls it back out and sends another text the young boy’s way.

@mpxvalentina continued from here:

“You are absolutely right,” Valentina said as she was finally granted a break from their nonstop laughter. “laugh lines are the best lines.” She wasn’t sure what brought them to this moment. One moment they’re sat on Tohil’s couch joking with the god about who knows what then when he left the two ended up in some other conversation that left the two almost tumbling to the floor. Laughing so hard the two were at risk of falling right off his couch.

She wiped a tear from her eye as she caught her breath, her laughter finally dying down. Since they’d both caught the giggles she was trying to remember what they’d talked about to get here, and was coming up empty. Once they’d both finally gotten back to normal Valentina gave Ash a warm smile. “You’ve got a great laugh.”

Her stomach hurts with the strain of too much laughter, her eyes are moist with tears spilled simply out of too much joy and she’s still rubbing the pain out of her side when Valentina turns to her, smiling with such warmth that for a moment she needs to pause and take it in properly. Then she beams one of her own fond smiles right back at the other girl, and lets the mood settle back into that level of absolute comfort they’ve somehow managed to reach.

“Thank you,” she says with sincerity. “I think that’s a nice compliment. Laughter makes people feel happier and if I’ve got great laughter that means I’ll never have to feel embarrassed about trying to cheer people up with it.” She grins widely at Valentina, then casually shifts herself around so she can throw her legs over the back rest of the couch and look at Valentina from that somewhat strange position.

@mppan

He’s never been as limitlessly fond of her as some of the other deities she tends to spend time with, she knows this, but at the same time she has always been more than fond of him. There is a thing to him that she loves, a quality she can’t seem to get enough of. Over the years she’s done plenty speculation to figure out what it is exactly, but she’s never quite managed to pinpoint it. Lately she’s simply come to name it as the adventure to him.

There is never a dull moment when you’re spending time with the god of the Wild, after all.

So it’s no surprise that she seeks him out more times than he cares to have her visit, most probably, ending up within the boundaries of his forest. She’s always barefoot, never once attempting to step onto the wild with things created outside of nature’s will. Never once trying to soil his kingdom with her presence.

Still, she’s skipping as she arrives, coming to a halt at the edge of the trees and reaching out to gently rest her hand against one. “Tráthnóna maith, uncail,*” she calls into the forest, letting the sound of her voice fade into the wilderness as she smiles brightly at the green around her. What a wonderful sight the forest always makes in the spring.

“Can I have a flower in my hair today? It’s been a long time.” She knows he can reach her from any direction possible before she’ll even know he’s there, so she doesn’t attempt to look for him. Instead she looks up into the canopy to see if she can spot any of the birds that are twittering away happily.

@dionysusxmp continued from here:

“Okay, Tarzan.”

Though he hadn’t known her for long, the quirky mortal girl who grew up on this island of divinity had grown on Dionysus quickly. As such, he was more than willing to entertain her sudden questions and bursts of quizzical interest. It wasn’t like he didn’t do the same to everyone around him.

“I guess I can see your point. Mount Pheenie’s kinda like one big family made of gods and demigods. But also, like, you don’t usually see the demis and the gods…mixing, ya know? Can you really call it a family if they don’t like…get together? Okay that sounded super bad and very Greek of me, but you get my point. Hopefully?”

"Then what are we doing?” Aislinn instantly retorts, motioning her hand between the both of them and then including the rest of the world in the wave of her arm. “It’s just that every new kid who arrives here is too intimidated or unfamiliar to even attempt to mingle with the gods, and most of them don’t really care about the children unless they’re their own. There’s plenty exceptions, but it’s also just...”

A sudden smile appears on her face at the irony of it all. “It’s just human nature. These kids don’t grow up here, they think they should fear the gods, fear their powers, fear everything that is strange and new. And the gods... Well, some of them still think they’re superior. I call bullshit on that.”