#thecerberusboy

‘‘Hey bro, I’m feeling a little bit off --- Do you know where I can find weed? Or if I can find some.’‘ His true question was do you know if one of the demigods could sell me some? but the result was the same. Nipping at the side of his lower lip, he looked down to avoid eye contact. Jamael has been around longer than him and he assumed he was going to be able to lead him to the right person. 

Having to admit he wasn’t feeling well was already revealing a lot more than he was willing to share. It also explained why he hesitated before knocking on Jamael’s door in the middle of the night. 

he’s just finished raiding through the kitchens attached to the dining hall. satyrs and the like telling him that they’d cook for him if he were to just ask, but he’s got his own plans. with a basket full of a food, he makes his way toward the cabins, straight toward jamael’s. 

he hesitates for a moment, fist hovering over the door. there’s a nervous energy swirling inside of him, the north wind slamming through his blood stream relentlessly. he feels special—honored—that jamael would ask him to sit in while he does something he’s never tried. the least he can do is make sure he’s ready, give him strength and someone to lean on before trying to communicate with the dead.

leland shakes his mind from his thoughts as he knocks. “it’s leland.” he calls out, the smile he’s wearing evident in his voice. “i come with food to cook and a day filled with just the two of us.” 

It’s with his wet raven hair pushed back into a clean cut that he walked back to the cabins, after a long day of intense training. And intense healing. He didn’t expect the other demigods to be back, so it was a genuine surprise when he noticed that the population of the camp doubled.

‘‘Here he is! Just when I was getting used to my new title of the most handsome fella around,’‘ he clicked his tongue against his palate, a smile creeping onto his face as he walked towards his friend. It’s been days since he got the opportunity to hang out with Jamael, so when he noticed the other male was back from his quest he didn’t hesitate a second to head his way and bother him. 

‘‘How’s it going, bro?’‘

his muscles are ice cold, frozen. he’s nothing but tensed muscles as he crosses the bridge that illuminated itself when zeke has the blue flames in his hands. it only makes him angry, disappointed in himself for not thinking there could be another way across that wasn’t for their visible eyes. he’d almost died and it could have been prevented. 

it all could have been.

he shivers as he makes his way forward and, without really paying too much attention, brushes shoulders with another demigod. his focus snaps back to the present and he looks up in the familiar eyes of the son of hades. “oh, sorry. uh.” he averts his gaze, down to his feet. “good...job with the jokes.” a cold smile pressing itself against his lips. he’s trying to make the smile a reality, but right now it’s just a bit too difficult. 

after days under the warm sun and nights stretched out under the stars, the panic that a trial is coming up begins too seep into leland’s bones. it’s his first, it’s not even his but he knows he’ll play a part in insuring that zeke comes out successful, that he’s seen as worthy. tension is a taut bow string between his shoulders, a dangling icicle above his head. he doesn’t know where to start, where he could go to train, but staying inside the confines of the hotel seems like a start—less distraction. he’s making his way down toward the restaurant when he sees the newest demigod, newer than even he was, just arrived and sent off with the rest of them. he approaches him slowly, hands in the pockets of his shorts. “hey, how’re you feeling?” he asks, not bothering with an introduction just yet, first wanting to make sure that the other is okay, just as zeke had done for him.