#chatzy: xander

[martiemcfliest]

Magic Lamps || Martina & Xander

Date: February 28th, 2018

Martina and Xander sit down and work on maintaining their weapons. For the first time in a long time, they are able to shed the seriousness that war caused. They work on a very serious business proposal. 

Xander had never exactly been the biggest fan of looking after his weapons - it wasn’t that he didn’t love his bow or sword, but he just found it incredibly boring having to sharpen it or keep it clean. But his grandfather had always told him you could judge a man by how they kept their weapon and Xander wasn’t about to let the family down even further with a few spots of rust. Entering the small set up being used to prepare weapons felt strangely quiet, but he supposed most people wouldn’t choose such a late hour to sort out their belongings. Nodding at someone he passed Xander made his way a little further into the area, trying to find a good spot to set up when a familiar face caught his attention. Walking a little closer he raised an eyebrow at Martina and the look of such concentration on her face, he wasn’t sure what sort of response he would get from her - though he was leaning more towards shouting - so decided to go with a casual, “I’m starting to think one of us is following the other if we keep meeting like that.”

Martina didn’t want to fight with the people who killed her best friend. She didn’t want to walk around the Legion and wonder who had the killing blow. She didn’t want to fight. Yet, she continued to. It was her duty, her job. She had too many connections here. Too many people she could have trace her back to Milo if she left to join her son and her brother. She had to fight, she had to survive. She had begun to help with weapon maintenance, the job leaving it so that she didn’t have to speak to anyone else. Not that many people were looking to talk to the girl who exploded at nearly everything. Though lately, with the sadness simmering in her chest, she hadn’t yelled in a while. It was surprising and apparently more scary, considering just how many people were avoiding her now. She looked up surprised to hear another voice, and somehow was no surprised at all that it was Xander. “My guess is it’s you following me.” Her voice lacked the emotion it usually had, sounding tired and worn now. “Since you came in after me.”

Xander frowned at her words, well more how she sounded then the words themselves. He wouldn’t have said he knew her extremely well, but from all previous encounters Xander had gotten the feeling the girl didn’t do a lot of things quietly or without emotion. In the brief moment of pause, he wracked his brain, trying to remember if anything more awful had happened in the last few days. But as far as he knew since the news of the two legionnaires dying there hadn’t been much news. Unless of course she had known one of them… Xander didn’t want to push it and accidently say the wrong thing, though he wasn’t sure he could do a whole conversation like this. Was is weird to miss someone shouting at you? “Hm, that sounds like something a stalker might say. For all I know you’ve had my schedule copied.”

There were only a few things that made Martina as quiet as she was at the moment. They were rare moments. For all the terribleness she felt at the moment, at least she wasn’t so angry she couldn’t function. That was a worse time if she had to be honest. She was fine with her regular anger. That was fun at times. Yelling and scaring people could be fun. “Don’t check my journal, I certainly don’t have it copied in there next to my most intimate thoughts and feelings.”

“I’ll be sure to skip those pages when I have root through,” he joked before shifting from foot to foot a little awkwardly. After a moment of thought Xander shrugged his quiver off his shoulder followed quickly by his bow and he moved to stand diagonally opposite her. Xander was picking up on her vibe to want to be left alone, but something about the whole situation made him want to stay put, even if they did just work in silence. “Mind if I take this spot? I think you picked the best one.” He didn’t really wait for a response before putting down his weapons and starting to put them in some sort of order.

“Please do, they reveal all my deepest darkest secrets. Like who I’m crushing on this week.” Martina couldn’t imagine what someone would find in a journal of her deepest darkest secrets. She was not a good person. It wouldn’t be an easy read, and she was sure Xander would never look at her the same way again. Good thing the journal didn’t really exist. She shrugged,“Better you than someone who hates me. I don’t have the energy to have to bitch someone out today.”

“Oh well now I have to go looking for it. I’ve been dying to know who you’re crushing on,” he said shooting her a quick grin before turning his attention back to his weapons. Emptying his quiver of arrows Xander began sorting through thing until he found the ones that needed the most attention. “What you mean no shouting today? Are you feeling okay?” It was meant to be a joke but as soon as he said the words Xander worried maybe now wasn’t the right time.

“I’m sure the answer will shock you.” Martina answered. She didn’t have the time to have a crush on people. Especially after the last person she had a crush on turned into a sea monster and was killed. She didn’t know if crushes were worth it after that. “I’m just tired. Being mad all the time is really tiring, not that I can really help it. I don’t know I’m just too tired to be shouting right now.”

“Now you sound like one of those click-bait articles,” Xander mused, putting on his best announcer voice he continued, “You’ll never guess who THIS girl has a crush on!” He gave her a quick grin with eyebrows wagging before pulling his features into a more neutral expression, nodding in understanding. “I get that. People always seem to forget that being mad takes up so much energy.” And from the short time Xander had known her, he got the idea she was mad a lot. “But hey, if you want, I can shout at people for you? Give you a break.”

Martina couldn’t help the little laugh that left her at his voice. She was surprised by the sound herself and her face showed it. “You should go into that. Announcing stuff. That was pretty good.” The smile lingered on her face as she continued to work on her weapons. “I can’t really help getting mad, it’s an unfortunate genetic thing from Great Grandma Ira.” Now that she knew she was a legacy, she let it be mentioned more often. It was a little thing that she seemed to love, even if it made her mad. She let another laugh out,”If you could that’d be great.”

Xander felt oddly proud of that compliment, and though he knew his father would never allow it to happen it was nice to imagine a life where he just got to annonce thing into microphone. “I’ll remember you when I’m a famous voice over,” he joked. Rage and fury, that made her make a little more sense. “Bet that’s not easy, being mad all the time. I wish these godly relations of ours would give out some fun gifts for a change.” Sometimes when he really gave it some thought Xander realised he was actually quite lucky, at least Apollo and Victoria had only ever given him a deep sense of competition. “Think of me as your own personal shouter. Let me know when I can start work.”

Martina couldn’t fight the grin that was taking over her face,“I expect you to tell everyone I’m the one who convinced you to go into it.” She nodded, a little more solemn now,“It’s kind of exhausting. I’m so mad all the time it makes it hard to be a functioning person… And if I’m around people who are mad, I feel that too. All I got from being a demigod was a war, bein’ mad all the damn time, and visions that are usually about someone dying.” She smiled at him again, feeling more at ease in his presence than she did with most people. “When someone starts to piss me off, I’ll let you know?”

“Oh you can count on it. You’ll get an honorable mention when I win my first award for my work as well,” Xander let his hand rest dramatically on his chest as he tried to give her a serious look, but his face broke out into another grin and he pulled back, looking back down at the sword in his hands. He let out a low whistle as she talked, suddenly understanding why she always seemed to want to be alone these days. Anger wasn’t in short supply around here these days, and Martina must have been swimming in it. “Shit, and with all these going on you must be like...like an anger time bomb or something.” Xander hadn’t didn’t think he was ever particularly angry, but he was always in the mood to shout. “Sounds like a plan to me! I’ll be at your beck and call.”

“Wow, a famous person name dropping me in an awards speech, I would have never thought I’d see the day.” Martina was finding it rather easy to be around him, perhaps because he wasn’t prodding her with questions or his mood seemed stable enough that she didn’t have to worry about suddenly getting mad. “I constantly want to punch people in the face. I’ve come to blows with both walls and the floor quite often lately,” She said motioning to her bandaged knuckles. “You better be ready to yell at all the dumb dumbs around then,” She said with a little smile.

Xander gave her a lazy shrug and a quick grin, “I’m all about making those far off wishes come true, my friend.” With a sigh Xander let his sword fall back to the table with a dull clang and picked up an arrowhead instead, suddenly remembering how much he hated weapon maintenance, though he supposed it was slightly more fun doing it with someone not annoying. Glancing at her hands he couldn’t help but wince a little in sympathy, you had to really give the concrete a good pummeling to warrant bandages. “I think we need to get you a new anger outlet. Have you ever considered taking up painting?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, partly joking.

Martina rolled her eyes at him good naturedly, though her little smile showed how amusing she thought he was being. “You sounds like you’re trying to be a genie, should I get you a lamp to live in?” She has to be thankful that Xander was someone she could joke with. She very rarely was able to joke with people. She flexed her fists a little, before shrugging. “I used to make music, but between the Legion and university I stopped. Maybe I should go back into it. Painting has always been so… messy. I always feel like I’ll ruin my clothes.”

Shrugging Xander resisted the urge to start wiggling his fingers in her face, “Y’know what, I think I would be quite happy living in a lamp. At least there’d be less weapon maintenance to do.” It also meant he wouldn’t have to deal with an ongoing war or family problems, which seemed like an added bonus really. Raising an eyebrow at her he asked, “What kind of music did you make?” He didn’t really have her pegged as the musical type, but clearly he was missing something. “That’s the whole point of painting! To get a little messy,” he said with a laugh.

“Living in a lamp would be way easier than living out here at least, less people to deal with too.” Martina grinned at him,“I would honestly still probably do weapon maintenance in there. I think it’s relaxing.” She was sure a lot of people disagreed with her, but there was something prideful to it for her. People would know that she knew what she was doing if her weapons were kept nicely, she thought. “I switch  between club music, like remixes and things like that, and acoustic stuff,” Before she realized she wanted to be a surgeon, she was rather sure that she would have ended up in the DJ scene. “I hate cleaning up messes though! I’m guessing you paint then?” She asked with a smile.

“Y’know, I think we’re on to something here. Living in lamps could be next big trend. I think we should make it happen,” it was a wild and whimsical idea and Xander rarely had them that he felt the need to grab on to it tightly. Shaking his head at her he almost pushed the reminder of his arrowheads over to her side of the table, “How on earth do you find this relaxing? It’s so boring!” He wasn’t sure why that answer shocked him so much but Xander found himself blinking at her in confusion for a moment, “Huh. So like, DJ kinda stuff then, yeah? Are you any good?” The question left his mouth before he could stop it and he cringed a little before shaking his head at her, “Not much anymore, and it was more like...throwing paint. Don’t exactly have the time do much of anything, even before all this kicked off.”

“If anyone could make it happen, it would be us. We’ll start working on the protype lamp apartment as soon as we can,” Martina would admit that this conversation was rather silly, but she couldn’t really remember the last time she let herself just be silly. She smiled a little,“Probably because it’s so boring. When else do we get to do normal boring stuff? It makes me feel prepared for anything too. Like if my weapons are ready, so am I.” It was a bit like a tradition to her now, cleaning and preparing her weapons to make sure she was ready to face the next day head on. “Yeah, like DJ stuff,” She hummed, before pulling out her phone,“I’d like to say I’m pretty good, I’ve played a few places. You can take a listen if you want.” She wasn’t huge into sharing her music anymore, but she supposed this was as good of a time as any to start again. “Like Pollock? Were you any good?”

“The sooner the better if you ask me,” he said with another grin, glad that she was at least playing along with his stupid idea in the same manner as him. Tilting his head a little to the side he considered her point, he supposed there was some merit to it, sometimes getting to do the mundane activities was needed especially in a war. “Hm, I guess that makes sense. Gives you one less thing to worry about when you’re in the thick of it too,” now Xander felt like he should have been putting more effort into his own belongings and prepping for a fight. Dropping the now assembled arrows back on the table top and wiping his hands on his jeans Xander accepted the phone with a smile, “I just hit play?” he asked finger hovering. Letting out a laugh he shook his head, feeling hair brush against his forehead from the movement, “Oh no, i’m fucking terrible at it! But it’s a great stress reliever so,” he gave a nonchalant shrug.

“We’d probably be able to sell loads if we advertised right. Think of it, lamps will be the new yacht.” Martina didn’t get to relax often, she certainly never got to relax for this long. Some new terrible thing would come up, or she have some bad vision, or her brother would need something. “I’ve been the kid who broke their weapon during training because I wasn’t taking good care of it. It’s really not fun and I can’t imagine that it would do me any good to have it break during a battle.” She had broken enough weapons that she was at one point well known at the forges. Comes with fighting almost purely based on anger. She leaned over and pressed play for him, music beginning to play. It had a good beat to it and was certainly something people would dance to. “That sounds like something someone who was good at it would say, I’m not going to lie.”

“They’ll be so popular we’ll become millionaires overnight,” and have the perfect excuse to get the hell out of the city, it seemed like the perfect dream. Xander raises an eyebrow at her, holding back from laughing at the image of her getting angry at her own broken weapon, “Everyone's been that kid at least once. I don’t think many people start out with the desire to take the best care of their weapons.” At least he hadn’t. Raising the phone a little closer to his ear he nodded his head to the beat, it wasn’t hard to imagine it playing in a club or just in the background of high school tv show, “This is really good. You’re really good.” The music was still playing when someone across the room called out Martina’s name so Xander lowered the phone, thumb hitting pause as he passed it back to her with a grin. “Trust me, they’re awful. Maybe i’ll show you them sometime when there’s not a war or people asking for our attention,” he said with a nod toward the stranger, though Xander was sure she must know them.

“If I had money, I think I would be the happiest girl in the world,” Martina said, not even lying. She’d been half prepared to marry Fergus for money, which to be fair, he knew she was going in for. Her life would be much easier if she had money. “Sometimes I still don’t want to, but it’s part of a routine now, so I feel obligated.” At his praise, she grinned a bit sheepishly. For a while, before she started pre-med, she thought she’d end up being a touring DJ. Sometimes she still thought about doing it, though she need to be amazing to get enough money for Milo and her brother. “I can send you more, if you wanted. I know it’s not everyone’s style, but I like energetic music.” She looked over at the person who called her and sighed. She probably needed to help set up something with the second. She stood, taking her phone and grinned at him,“Yeah, I’d like to see them one day. Maybe you can teach me how to fling paint around. I’ll see you around.”

[brycewins]

bryce&xander chatzy sparknotes

so Bryce went over Xander’s place cus Xander didn’t want to go all the way out to the Mathew’s cabin 

when he got there they honestly chilled some instead of getting to it and Xander opened his fridge and Bryce was like wtf is that cus son likes takeout Chinese more than anyone I know but like takeout was all that was in Xander’s fridge and they ended up talking about it and somehow it led to Bryce offering to teach Xander how to cook

fast forward to Xander’s bed and Bryce and him are making out and like son is Into It but anywhoo Xander goes to unbutton but Bryce stops him cus now before he ended up coming over Xander told him about his job and how he started at 14 and lowkey mentions it fucking him up and like he’s just kinda like yikes cus he realizes this is kind of not consentual if this is literally what the kid has to do to not be homeless so he basically tells Xander he really doesn’t have to if he doesn’t want to and that like he’s already paid so it’s fine like he can just keep it but then Xander was like nah I do want to and so they did the do and we time skipped all that

then after they were both like chilling again cus like Bryce asked if he could stay a bit longer and Xander was fine with it and the children cuddled a lil and then they were just lazily talking about stuff that wasn’t that important 

but then Bryce started sucking on Xander’s neck and Xander was like ‘no marks’ even though he was clearly enjoying it and Bryce was like ??? to which Xander explained that some of his customers had gotten “angry” seeing them on him in the past and left to go get another stronger drink

he came back soon though and it was awk cus Bryce didn’t know what to say so he took the opportunity to tell Xander since he’d been pushing it earlier in their texts that there was a chance he might be bi. Honestly, he told himself the whole time that he was just sort of fibbing to change the subject but like Xander asked him if he felt better or worse after saying it and he said better and he actually kind of did feel better 

then Xander changed the subject because he didn’t want Bryce to feel awkward and like they talked about some more stuff but Bryce was warm and cozy and sleepy cus it was late and fell asleep and Xander didn’t wake up and he zoomed out of there in the morning with a sorry for sleeping over cus he didn’t meant to and Xander while doing his homework (he was trying to get this hw done when Bryce first texted him okay) was like -shrugs- it’s whatever

[fireandgloryrpg]

Party of Five || Wally, Leo, Caspian, Xander, Cat

A raid on a Roman supply truck quickly heads south as a few Greek soldiers try to fight their way out of an attack.

Wally hadn't realized how hot the sun would be. As far as he knew, those magical weather charms were still intact, but being under the water for a couple months really does take away your resistance to the sun's heat. That, or Apollo was chilling too much and not paying attention to how close he was flying. The demigod looked on either side of him, seeing Caspian in his armor. "The supply truck will be here in a few minutes, just up the road. Obviously, the sooner we get out of here, the better are odds are of living. So just, knock out as many Romans as quickly as you can." Wally had been keeping a simple illusion charm over the two of them. With the aid of the mist, anyone who saw them right now would be tricked into seeing a boulder, or possibly a tree. Caspian and he got to the edge of the road. "Alright, keep an eye out, Caspian."

Caspian had been given a mission and that's all his mind was focused on right now. He wore a chest plate that glimmered in the sun and held his newly-forged trident in his right hand. If it wasn't for Wally's magic, he would have been spotted a long time ago. "Are we planning on stealing the truck?" That just seemed like the simplest way to carry all the supplies back to the lake. And if they were planning to steal the truck, that just meant that Caspian shouldn't do any damage to it. "Is that it?" He asked as he shifted the trident in his hand and pointed at a cloud of dust that rose towards them.

Wally laughed a little and looked at Caspian. "No, no we won't be stealing the truck. I don't have enough power for that. But," he dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a few brown sac bags. "I've enchanted them, so they hold more than their size, like in Harry Potter. Have . . . have you seen those movies?" He looked forward, toward where Caspian was pointing. "Yup. Yeah, that's them. Get ready."

Caspian looked over the bags that Wally pulled out. He nodded at the mention of the movies. "Yes, I have watched them. Percy gave them too me." He replied quickly remembering the hard drive that was given to him for Christmas. As the truck approached, Caspian drew his arm back, his arm muscles flexing as he did so. He launched his trident through the air. The weapon sailed swiftly like an arrow before piercing the front tire of the truck, causing the vehicle to swerve and grind to a halt. "Now or never."

Leo had a lot to prove. He had to take this mission; for one, he was helping the Greeks out finally, for two he was less likely to have fight to kill someone here. Or at least he hoped he was less likely to. His jaw set and he readied himself for this. He was stealing from people he once called family. That sucked. He took a deep breath as one of the Romans stepped out of the truck. As he went to go look at the tire, Leo watched him tense, the weapon in it clearly indicating that this was a trap. Before the man was able to inform the others with him, Leo struck out, slamming the man in the back of the head with the hilt of his sword, quickly knocking him out. "Let's go," He growled out, anticipation for the fight coming up building in his stomach

Wally dropped the illusion charm once Leo moved out of the spell's radius. Anyone now could see them for what they really were. Wally kept his hands raised, now levitating the bags over to the back of the truck. "Caspian, start filling the bags. Get all the food and water you can. They'll notice if the truck doesn't arrive on time so we have to hurry. Leo, go help Caspian. I'll keep a look out."

Caspian picked up the Trident, which was now broken but still usable, and headed towards the back of the truck. He didn't really know this Leo guy, but he had heard that he was very close with Bobbi. Bobbi, he knew. Caspian wasn't one to not follow orders or argue against them so he decided to rather keep his mouth closed rather than complain about Wally not helping much. He set to work lifting and packing the supplies into the hovering bags. He set a few bottles of water aside just in case he needed them at a later stage. "I am almost done here, how is the coast looking?"

Leo nodded at Wally. He was the one leading this group, Leo was just there to help out. He liked it that way. It worked that way. He went to the back of the truck, piling needed supplies into the bags. He listened closely to hear if anyone was around them as he worked, a paranoia hitting him hard in the moment. Though, he supposed he had a good reason to be paranoid, they couldn't get caught. "We still looking okay, Wally?"

Cat had been in the back of the truck with other members of the first. They'd known that the Greeks would try and attack, after all it made a lot of sense for them to go after Roman supplies. Especially when she could only imagine how difficult it had been for the Greeks to scavenge supplies. They were in more of a precarious position than the Romans. Which made these supplies all the more important. As the truck screeched to a halt she waited for the Greeks to start moving the supplies before she nodded to the other Romans and they sprung their trap. Leaping forwards she spotted Wally and focussed on him. Leaping forward, she kicked him squarely in the chest from the back of the truck, before reaching for her weapons. She rarely used her powers, but the ability to drive someone into a state of chaos was something she'd become very good at and as she willed for Wally to start acting she waited almost expectantly, he'd landed on his back, but it couldn't be long before he began his frenzy.

Wally walked circles around the truck, purple fog pouring off his hands in excess. "Yeah, we're good," he told them. "Just keep going. Fill the bags till they can't hold anymore. We don't wanna be doing this every week." Wally had come near the two men, right as he heard the sound of doors opening. There was a compartment of the truck that armor-clad Romans had begun to pour out of. Four or five of them was Wally's count. He had enough time to blast one in the chest with an energy ball before being kicked back by a Roman woman. On the ground, Wally's eyes glazed over for a moment. He felt his heart race in his chest and everything around him became a bit blurred. Wally go to his feet quick enough, his view clouded by a red filter. Seeing Leo, Wally snarled and put his hand out, unleashing a barrage of energy blasts.

Leo saw Cat the moment she swung out. "Fuck," He groaned, his sister was the last fucking person he wanted to see here. He shoved the item he had in his hand into the bag, before getting ready for this fight. He threw up blinding lights, which left spots in his vision, but at least would distract those around them. He knew exactly what Cat did when Wally started to attack, annoyed that his sister got that power. She was too good at using it. It was irritating. He dodged the first few, but an energy blast hit his shoulder and he swore again. "Go for Catherine, Caspian!" He started to make his own distraction ramp up, noises so loud that it hurt his ears, lights bright and blinding, the supplies in the truck shifting and moving around chaotically.

As Cat and several other Romans descended from the trucks, her troops formed around her and raised their shields defensively, protecting her whilst she kept Wally going wild. The son of Hecate had been much more useful, she hadn't realised that he had this sort of power and his explosive use of it had given her even more of an advantage, especially over what was already a pretty successful trap that they'd sprung. "The supplies can wait, deal with the Greeks," she ordered, noticing Leo and a raw savage smile crossed her face. Reaching down she drew her weapon and focused on Wally, feeling the energy drain out of her as she did, watching his aggression grow with each passing moment.

Wally only saw Leo. He knew it was Leo, knew that Leo was his ally and that the people with Roman insignia on their armor were the enemies, but he didn't care. Wally only wanted to cause pain to somebody, and Leo seemed perfect. He was distracted for a moment by the loud noises. Wally slapped his hands to his head to cover his ears. Shutting his eyes though didn't help against the blasts of light that came from nowhere. Wally fumbled around. Acting like an animal who had been put into a corner, he just released a single volley of blasts, hoping that one of them hit Leo. Mists formed around his feet and started to rise up to his knees. "Leo! Where the hell are you?!"

Cat's power was fucking annoying and so was Wally's. Leo ducked around the side of the truck, knowing that more attacks were likely going to be coming for him in the next few moments. She made Wally target him. "You're such a coward, Catherine," He yelled. "Making someone else kill your twin! Can you do anything on your own or do you always rely on someone else? Jackson first, you know he basically ran the first for you, you were just there. Then it was Dad, letting him tell you what to do. Now you're using a Greek! How pathetic that you have to have a greek do your dirty work. Can't even take the shot for yourself. If you're going to kill me, fucking do it! Don't be a coward!" He let his voice get carried toward her using his powers. He slide under the truck, shimmying his way to the other side, knowing that now that his voice came from there Wally would likely try to attack that side of the truck.

Doing her very best not to respond to Leo's mocking taunts, Cat grit her teeth and reminded herself of exactly what he was attempting to do. She was so much smarter than that. After all of the speech that he had given her the other evening was obviously all a facade. She was confident that she would be able to fight smarter and faster than her brother could imagine. This was the time for her brilliance to shine and she was determined not to allow it to get to her. "I don't care if he kills you, maims you, breaks a few of your bones...." she shrugged nonchalantly as her troops fanned out, several of them engaging Caspian to her left, leaving her to handle Leo. "I'm not feeling particularly fussy." She squinted as she tried to see through the lights, it was a power she was all too familiar with, that didn't make it anymore challenging to deal with.

So far Xander had somehow managed to avoid any of the major conflicts between the Greeks and the Romans, a few scuffles on boarder patrol had been enough. But when a high ranking officer asked - told - you to join in on a trap for the Greeks, Xander didn't have much choice but to say yes. He had hung back from the fighting at the start, a bow had always been his weapon of choice but without a good vantage point a few feet away it wasn't the best option. Giving in, he unsheathed his sword, the weight feeling familiar in his grip but did little to put him at ease. Xander had thought not recognising any of the opposing side would be easier, but now he was face to face with them he wasn't so sure. Seeing Cat busy with her brother he decided he wasn't about to get in the middle of a family fight today, Xander set his sights on one of the other two Greeks.

Caspian was surprised by the attack. Although he wasn't expecting it, his reflexes kicked in just as fast as the Roman's had appeared. His trident swung through the air and met a Roman's gladius. He was about to make use of the water bottles he had set aside when blinding lights came from Leo. Caspian continued fighting his way through the Roman's trying to get to the woman who'm Leo had asked him to concentrate on. Another Roman came straight for him. "Please don't make me hurt you." He warned, his gut twisting as he grasped control over the water in the bottles. Maybe it would hurt more if bottles of water came flying at someone instead of just water. Maybe they should be bottles of iced water. "You'll regret it."

At hearing the strangers words Xander's initial reaction was to agree with them, he probably would regret being apart of this; whether he hurt someone or not. But he had a job to do and part of that job was for him to take care of any of the greeks and to keep them from taking their much needed supplies. Raising his gladius Xander gave the other boy a once over, his lips ticking upwards on their own accord, "Or maybe you will. Did no one ever tell you it was rude to steal other people's things?" He wasn't sure what form of attack to expect, but he kept on the balls of his feet, ready to dodge that trident if it swung his way.

Wally lost focus on Leo but continued to search for anyone to attack. Mist continued to gather around his body, pouring out so much that the entire width of the road, from one end to the other was covered in the thick fog. Wally saw someone from the corner of his eye come at him and let loose a spell. The Roman was trapped in a binding of ropes, restricting their entire body. Walking towards Caspian, ready to attack him, Wally raised his hand. Before he let out more magic, his eyes blinked hard and the red filter covering his vision started to fade. He then turned his attention to the Roman facing Caspian. Looking at both men, it became hard to decide who to attack.

Cat felt blood trickle down her nose and realised that she'd over extended herself slightly on her abilities with control over Wally. She didn't know the Greek well, but she knew enough to know that he was dangerous, especially after seeing the danger that he had put his own lines in a few moments ago. Changing her tactics, she couldn't keep losing her powers and now that Wally was beginning to question them she wasn't going to continue attempting to force the issue. Swallowing, she slipped her revolver away and pulled her Pilum from the truck. Raising her shield she joined Xander's side and began poking at the two greeks with her weapon, keeping them away as blood continued to trickle down her face. She didn't have time to wipe it away, so instead she simply spat a mouthful of it away.

Caspian was about to jab at the Roman and cause the bottles to slam into them the other way, but a Roman woman stepped next to the male and Caspian had to reassess the situation. A quick glance over the should showed Caspian that Wally was just behind him, but with Wally firing at Leo like that, he was unsure if Wally was okay in the head. This felt like a one man battle. With a pull at the bottles, he caused them to erupt into a spray on water which he then turned into ice. The thing about ice was that if it was sharp enough, it could cut like glass. He used the explosion as a distraction and quickly backed away to Wally's side. "Snap out of it." He said, hitting the other man's shoulder gently. "Should we grab the bags and run for it?". Caspian's hand then flew over the ice that was scattered over the floor of the truck, causing the ice to lift and form a shield in front of the son of Triton and his friend.

Leo was still under the truck and he wasn't sure how long he could get away with being there. He dropped the lights and the noise, giving everyone a clear view of what was happening again. If they had to run he was going to have to use it again and he didn't want to have his powers crap out on him randomly. He had a feeling that Wally would break out of Cat's spell soon, if he hadn't already. He couldn't let Cat see him or she'd try something else. He slide out from underneath the truck and peaked out looking for Caspian. Waving, he attempted to get Caspian's attention. He nodded backwards, trying to see if they were ready to run.

Wally started to think more clearly as the red completely faded from his vision. With the hue of Cat's power no longer hanging over him, Wally dropped his hands, feeling spent from the attacks he'd just done on Leo. He didn't have time to feel bad or wonder how that had happened. Wally wasn't sure even if it would happen again, so he nodded to Caspian. "Grab everything you can!" he shouted, and with a wave of his hand sent a wave of energy towards a few Romans, knocking the one next to Cat back onto the ground. "You and Leo get out of here, I'll hold the rest of them off." Wally started to use up the rest of his stored energy, gathering up the mist and forming it into a group of knives. He let them loose and punctured a couple of the Romans in their arms and legs, putting them out of commission.

As the volley of knives crashed towards her, Cat managed to hunker behind her tall shield at the last moment and the blades slammed into the wood. She knew that Leo was here somewhere, and after his minor display earlier at the lakehouse she wasn't sure that she was ready to forgive him just yet. But she wouldn't allow her emotions to cloud her judgement and as the Greeks attempted their retreat she pulled her gun from its holster on the inside of the shield and grasped it tightly. Waiting for the right moment, Cat peaked out and fired off two rounds, sending them flying towards the Greeks. Her aim wasn't great, and blind firing wasn't ideal. But she wasn't ready to give up the safety of the shield, especially not in favour of that blonde Greeks magic. He'd probably be another person who'd be pissed with her, at this point she might as well add everyone else to the list.

Hearing the firing of a gun, Wally would later blame himself for not putting up a shield to protect himself. He didn't feel the pain right away, but he did feel a numbness and recognized that his legs had become like jelly. He fell onto his backside and and crossed his arms, a veil of light coming over him to protect from any further attacks. Wally curled into the fetal position and looked around, trying to spot Caspian. It hadn't fully registered in his mind that he'd been shot, but Wally knew something was wrong. Wally looked down his body and that's when the hyperventilating started. Blood was marking up his jeans, pouring out from an area in his thigh. Another bullet had penetrated right above off to the side of his chest. "Fuck, no no no. Cas - Caspian!"

Caspian had obeyed Wally, although he was not comfortable with leaving him behind to cover them. He nodded towards Leo who had caught his attention and waved him to join him behind the ice. Caspian had grabbed two of the bags and let the ice wall drop into the ground, it's sharp edges digging into the dirt and holding itself up. He was about to make a run for it when he heard the terrible bangs that rang from the truck. Caspian had heard what a gun was, and he'd seen them in movies, but this attack was the first time he had ever heard one. The next thing he knew, Wally was on the floor and glowing. "Shit!" He dropped the bags and using all his force, pushed the wall of ice through the air, slamming it onto the back of the truck, essentially closing the opening up. Then, with a flick up a rest, he caused more bottles to explode inside the truck, trying to causing a distraction. "Help me Leo!" He shouted out, trying to haul Wally up around his shoulder. They had to get to safety as soon as possible. If they got to the lake, he could heal Wally or ask the naiads to help, but right now there wasn't enough water and he was to weak after the ice wall and water explosions. "We need a body of water, anything, otherwise I can't help."

Leo groaned at the sight of Wally. He was honestly tempted to just leave seeing him like that. His sister would kill him if he stayed longer, but the Greeks had trusted him and he couldn't just leave them behind for self preservation. He pushed Caspian off of Wally, throwing Wally into a fireman's carry. "It's slower if both of us hold him up and I can get far with him on me." This wasn't the first time Leo had had to carry a bleeding out ally. He threw up the blinding lights he had once again, trying to keep them from following them. "We need to lose them before we even think about going anywhere."

Cat knew that they weren't going to get far unless she allowed them to. There was two squads of talented soldiers waiting to deploy, but currently she wasn't interested in taking prisoners, she simply wanted to make it clear that she meaned business. Clicking her fingers, she ordered the rest of her soldiers to secure the supplies and move them to a secure location. "Let the Greeks go," she argued as the blindingly bright lights flashed before her eyes and she had to cover them slightly. Shaking her head, she stepped away and headed backwards, her shield still raised as she watched them pick up the blonde son of Trivia. "Let them go back and tell their superiors of their loss."

[brycewins]

That’s new

What: Bryce decides to teach Xander how to cook something he’s never heard of. Xander really learns very little. When: Last Saturday, Febuary 11th Who: Xander and Bryce

-okay so I fucked up and we lost plenty of the beginning of this chatzy but like mostly the only thing you missed is them discussing what the hell a chicken fricassee is, Bryce discovering Xander legit has nothing a person would need to actually cook in his house, and him teaching Xander how to correctly hold a knife ft. Xander purposely messing up a couple times so Bryce can touch his hand repeatedly.-

Xander finished cutting the celery when Bryce walked away, taking advantage of his ability to focus. "Why?" He asked t hougu he put the knife down and walked back over to Bryce.

Bryce honestly didn't need Xander here for this but still. "This temperature is not at it's highest because butter burns," he explained pointing to the stove's dial. For some reason lots of people thought butter didn't burn. "We're taking these," he said now pointing to the chicken, "and searing then skin first until they brown and then taking them out, should take like 5 minuets. Think you can do it?" he asked walking past Xander, letting his hand casually graze Xander's side before walking toward the plate they were using to cut vegetables.

Xander smiled a bit as Bryce spoke, liking how confident he was in what they were doing. It was different than his usual confidence and actually enjoyable. "This us the easiest way for us to get food poisioning," he laughed, the laugh fading when he bit his lip on response to Bryce's touch.

Bryce frowed "Actually that's the point, we're trying not to cook it," he laughed as he picked up the knife and started dicing the onions.

Xander "Ill try to fuck it up then?" He asked with a raised eyebrow before starting to brown the outside of the chicken like Bryce told him. "Are those making you cry?"

Bryce "No, it's just done very quickly so only the outside looks cooked," he clarified though the question itself was rather amusing. "And they aren't, would they make you cry?" he taunted.

Xander nodded slowly. "Got you, Chef Bryce," he hummed teasingly, though he was pretty focused on what he was doing. "Yeah, I actually get super sad over the death of onions... doesn't it have something to do with the chemicals the onion releases?"

Bryce "Chef Mathews," he corrected with a smirk looking up to see how Xander was doing, "You can flip those," he commented for the first time sounding like he wasn't giving an explicit order. "I think so," he answered now looking back down at what he was chopping, "That I'm not actually an expert on," he told.

Xander shook his head. "Not calling you that," he laughed. "Bryce separates you from your brothers, Mathews doesnt." He looked over when the other told him what to do before following his directions. "So you couldn't really judge me if it did make me cry, could you?"

Bryce didn't love the joke. He did like to be separated from his brother's when people thought of him but that comment only made him consider if Xander wished one of them was here instead of him. "I judge plenty of people for things they can't control," he told pushing the diced onions away from himself and grabbing another plate from where Xander had grabbed the previous one and took it to Xander knowing soon they'd need a place to deposite the braised chicken.

Xander "touche," he chuckled,glancing back at Bryce when he heard him grabbing a plate. "When do I take this off?" He asked, smiling a bit to himself as the other teen walked over, preferring him closer.

Bryce looked into the pan his hand casually finding it's way to Xander's hip again when he did so, "Let me see?" he requested expecting the boy to lift the chicken slightly so he could better judge the color it'd obtained so far.

Xander smirked, leaning into Bryce's touch. "How would you like me to..." he cut off, mentally answering his own question. Grabbing the fork he was using in place of a spatula, he lifted the chicken, glancing over at Bryce.

Bryce was glad he didn't have to answer that question. He was nonchalantly moving his hand slightly so it continued to shift appreciating the reminder that he was holding on to Xander. "That looks good," he nodded.

Xander nodded before moving the chicken to the plate, hoping that's what he was supposed to do. Reaching over to turn the stove off, he nearly burnt himself, more focused on Bryce's hand than his safety.

Bryce watched despite the fact he knew the carrots still needed chopping liking where he was. "Be careful," he let out in an airy chuckle his hand finally leaving Xander's waist and found his hand readjusting it to low instead of completely off with Xander's hand bellow his. "We're gonna use that," he explained.

Xander frowned slightly when Bryce moved his hand, the frown fading at its new position. "For what?" He asked. He turned his hand under Bryce's, lacing their fingers together for a split second before pulling away from the boy entirely.

Bryce was about to answer when Xander unexpectedly took his hand but then pulled it away as soon as it was in it. His eyes gazed over from there hands to Xander's eyes with slight confusion before lightly wetting his lips, "It's where we're starting the stew," he finally said.

Xander nodded slowly, running his fingers through his hair. "There's a stew? I'm so confused with what were making, Bryce."

Bryce chuckled shaking his head at Xander, "It's the sauce part I talked about," he told. "We still need one part of the holy trinity though," he told cocking his head towards the carrots.

Xander laughed but nodded. Looking over at the carrots, he sighed. This cooking thing was a lot of work. "Is that you telling me to cut them?"

Bryce "Well you supposed to be learning and it's also the part that's the least fun," he said with a smirk.

Xander rolled his eyes, gently pushing Bryce out of the way so he could move over to where the carrots were. Sighing dramatically he picked up the knife before he started to chop them. He got a little too comfortable with his new cutting skills that he slipped, though he didn't notice until he saw blood on the plate, the pain coming moments after. "Shit ow," he hissed dropping the knife.

Bryce let his smirk grow in size when Xander physically moved him out of his way. When he focused on carrots though he was a lot less entertaining and he finally took a moment to check the notifications on his phone and apparently a moment was just how long Xander needed alone to royally screw up. His head popped up as soon as he heard a sound coming from him. A frown instantly popped up at the scene and he slid his phone into his pocket replacing it with a nearby dishrag. Bryce took Xander's hand and applied some pressure to the boy's finger cloth in hand. "Pay attention," he reprimanded.

Xander let Bryce take his hand, wining slightly as he pressed the dishrag onto his finger. "Okay mom," he mumbled, though there was still a hint of playfulness in his voice.

Bryce rolled his eyes still holding on, "Do you want your mom?" he taunted.

Xander tightened his jaw at Bryce's words, pulling his hand away. "I'm going to go find a bandaid. ."

Bryce was left in his spot confused for a bit before his words dawned on him. He cleaned up the station though and finished cutting the carrots while Xander was away though.

Xander took a few minutes to clean and bandage the cut, trying not to dwell to much on Bryce's words, tough they kept repeating in his head. When he did come out, he went straight to his fridge to grab a beer, popping it open and taking a sip

Bryce felt awkward. He'd crossed a line, unintentionally, but he had and he knew he had. "Do you wanna just watch?" he asked unsure how to start conversation again.

Xander "yeah sure," he nodded, sitting down at the kitchen table. He took a long sip before turning his focus to Bryce.

Bryce took the vegtables and stuck them into the pot allowing them to reduce. "This is still gonna take a while," he mentioned not really having much to do as it started to cook.

Xander nodded, keeping his eyes on the other boy, somehow finding his presence calming... even if he was currently the reason he felt on edge. "So do you just have to stand there and watch it?" He asked.

Bryce shook his head glancing back in and moved the spatula around some to make sure everything was evenly distributed, "No, I don't have too. It'll take like 8 minutes though," that was an annoyingly long time to spend waiting on it but it was also not long enough to spend doing something else. "After we just add flour, wine, chicken broth, some spices, and the liaison," he explained as if it wasn't much at all.

Xander was glad his kitchen was small for the mere fact that as soon as Bryce put the spatula down, he was able to reach out and grab the boy around the waist, pulling him closer to where he was sitting. "What a waste of wine... but what the hell was that word? I swear you're making things up."

Bryce allowed himself to be dragged back slightly not too worried about what was currently going on in the pot much, "Liaison? It's a sauce thickener made from eggs and cream but you add it in super slowly so that you don't end up with scrambled eggs," he explained glad to see Xander didn't seem to still be upset with him.

Xander put down his beer so he could wind both arms around Bryce's waist, resting his forehead against the teens stomach. "Why can't they just call it a sauce thickener?" He laughed.

Bryce made a face (Xander's question was ridiculous) bringing his hands up from his sides and running them through the back of Xander's head when it came to rest on his abdomen. "There's lots of kinds of sauce thickeners," he answered.

Xander nodded, careful not to move his head too much as his current position was pretty comfortable. "Got it, Chef Bryce," he teased, his eyes closing. "...I could fall asleep here," he thought aloud after a moment.

Bryce "Food would burn," he reminded but his voice didn't make it sound like he'd care all that much about it. There was something he liked about Xander feeling that comfortable here.

Xander "we wouldn't want that to happen," he whispered back, his hand slipping up and under Bryce's shirt so he could trace his fingers over the others back.

Bryce "No," Bryce answered though now that Xander had his hand inside shirt it did feel like he was trying to convince himself of that more than anything else.

Xander chuckled followed by a small yawn. "You should quit your job as a chef and become a full time bed," he teased.

Bryce gave an inaudible chuckle thinking of his words before actually saying them, "I do get laid a lot."

Xander rolled his eyes behind closed lids. " But what about laid on?" He shot back.

Bryce moved his hands a little more liking the feeling of running his hands through Xander's hair, "Less," he answered.

Xander smiled at the feeling of Bryce's hands, absently pressing a small kiss to his stomach. "That's what I want to do."

Bryce liked the bit of affection he recieved but he didn't do anything to show it in particular, "You want to lay on me?" he asked.

Xander nodded. "I'm very comfortable right now and I imagine it would be a lot more comfortable for the both of us if were actually laying down," he explained.

Bryce "That's true," he decided. "Once I do some stuff it has to sit for half an hour," he informed letting Xander in on the they could certainly do that if he wanted.

Xander nodded once more. "Then you turn from chef to bed," he warned, kissing the boys stomach once more before sitting back up and grabbing his drink once more.

Bryce let his hands slip out from Xander's hair and slide down to his shoulders when he moved his head away, "If you say so," he said. Soon though Bryce completely pulled away to go back to the stove mixing again from a second before eyeing and adding in 2 tablespoons of flour, letting it soak up the liquid the vegetables had let out and then adding in white wine.

-- here is where I fucked up again and Bryce finished making food and they cuddled and Xander fell asleep and then Bryce had to finish finish making food and let Xander sleep a little bit more and then went to wake him up and the food was plated cus Bryce is extra and Xander ate it and was like WOW this food is great and here we have Bryce saying you're welcome even though Xander didn't say thanks--

Bryce was more than happy with himself to hear that. "You're welcome," he answered.

Xander chuckled, shaking his head fondly. " Thank you," he said with a genuine smile

Bryce -time skip-

Bryce was a good distance away scowling at the scene before him. He truly wasn't a fan of cleaning things. He was organized. His room certainly wasn't messy but cleaning, actual cleaning that wasn't something Bryce did.

Xander watched Bryce with a raised eyebrow. "Someone does the dishes for you don't they?" He asked with a small smirk.

Bryce raised an eyebrow right back wondering how that seemed ever so obvious, "Yes," he said though not feeling even a tad bit embarrassed by that privilege.

Xander shook his head fondly, walking past Bryce and patting his hip. " You cooked, I'll do it."

Bryce looked down at where Xander touched him but he was already gone and near the sink now, "You like touching me," Bryce mentioned, looking over the dirty dishes once more with a frown, "Do you have to do them now?" he asked.

Xander "you're nice to touch," he shrugged as he started to do the dishes. "Yes or they'll be significantly harder to do."

Bryce let out a minimal sigh, "But I'm here now and like you said... nice to touch," he added with a smirk.

Xander smirked, rolling his eyes fondly. "You'll be there when I'm done," he pointed out.

Bryce rolled his eyes, “Yeah, but for how long?”

Xander glanced back at Bryce over his shoulder. "How long will you be here?"

Bryce shrugged having not actually thought about it before now. “I don’t know, do you have shit to do?” He asked attempting to make it sound like he didn’t care at all when he left.

Xander shook his head. "You can stay as long as you want," he offered, turning back to the dishes.

Bryce nodded, “What do you wanna do?” He asked.

Xander "I wanna finish cleaning these dishes," he answered teasingly. "But we can build off that whole... nice to touch," thing he hummed.

Bryce: “Looks like you like touching them,” he said slight childish irritation in his life, “But tell me more about that,” he said.“

Xander couldn't help but laugh at Bryce's response. "Tell you more about what?"

Bryce tilted his head down a bit looking at Xander as if to ask if he was really asking that, “About wanting to touch me,” he told.

Xander nodded but then shook his head. "Id much rather show you," he hummed.

Bryce let his eyes sweep over Xander the corner of his lips turning up some. “I’d rather you’ve doing that too?” He said .

Xander smirked as he worked on cleaning the last dish. "So essentially you're jealous of all these dishes?" He teased.

Xander joined the chat 5 hours ago

Bryce rolled his eyes at the question but answered with, “Sure. Are you gonna pay attention to me now?”

Xander chuckled, putting the plate in the drainer and drying his hands on a towel. "Why should I do that?" He smirked as he closed the distance between them, his hands settling on the younger teens waist.

Bryce watched Xander finally finish up and move his way. It was about time and when Xander put his hands on him he took the innitiative to take yet another step closer to him. “That list would take all day,” he told his hands coming up to Xander’s waist as well.

Xander smirked at Bryce. "I have time," he hummed before ducking down to kiss the side of Bryce's neck.

Bryce leaned his head to the side so Xander could keep doing what he was, “You... really want me to just stand here listing great stuff about myself,” he asked.

Xander nodded, nipping lightly at the spot before continuing down towards his collar bone, one hand slipping into the teens back pocket to hold him closer.

Bryce sucked in a bit of air at the feeling of Xander’s teeth on his skin. “I, uh,” he started out of his hands traveling up to Xander’s side, “think you already know...enough,” he told his mind already a bit too clouded by the current events.

Xander smirked against the side of Bryce's neck, pretty proud of flustering the boy enough that he couldn't even brag about himself. "Mm, do I?" He whispered between kisses.

Bryce hummed back, before actually speaking again, "Yeah."

Xander glanced up at the boy through his lashes as he kissed his neck. Smirking, he nipped at another spot before pulling Bryce closer as he sucked a mark onto the skin.

Bryce tightened his grip on Xander slightly and a sound come from the back of his throat when Xander began sucking on his skin.

Xander smirked at Bryce's reaction, kissing the spot once he was satisfied before standing back up. "Looks good on you," he whispered, brushing the pad of his thumb over the mark.

Bryce chuckled though he was minimally upset Xander's lips had left him. "Everything does," he said.

Xander chuckled, shaking his head fondly. "I'm half tempted to keep going and make an X and see how you feel about that."

Bryce "You wanna brand me?" Bryce asked though he wasn't opposed to the sound of that at all.

Xander raised his eyebrow at Bryce. "Doesn't sound like you would stop me if I did..."

Bryce shrugged, leaning in to peck Xander's neck for a moment. "Just pointing something out," he said.

Xander smiled at the kiss to his neck, wishing Bryce could reciprocate his actions. "Well I'm taking you pointing it out as permission," he smirked, the hand that was on Bryce's waist, moving to slowly lift his shirt.

Bryce was happy going along with that, "Wait," he said though not finding he was really in a comfortable position to fully enjoy what was about to happen. "We're standing in the middle of your kitchen," he pointed out.

Xander didn't like that he would have to wait, but nodded, kissing Bryce's neck once more before taking his hand to lead him back into the bedroom. "Shirt off," he said simply once they were there.

Bryce did as instructed stripping off the shirt, "Did you really need that or just want it," he asked with a smirk. Now he was wondering just how large Xander was planning to make this X though.

Xander "need," he answered, pulling Bryce onto the bed with him. He gently pushed him into his back before kneeling next to him. Starting at the other teen's neck, he kissed his way down his body, stopping near his hipbone before starting on the X.

Bryce laid down a smirk showing up liking the way Xander had pushed him down. He didn't quite get the need of it all until Xander started getting lower and lower. He sucked in a breath again when he finally started to do enough to actually be able to leave a mark an, "Oh," falling out of his lips when he realized just where Xander was planning to leave his initial.

Xander pulled back slightly after a moment, to see if it actually looked like an x. Satisfied with his work, he worked kisses back up Bryce's chest, ending with a quick one to his lips before rolling onto his back.

Bryce had put ended up with his hands in Xander's hands as he worked on him but pulled them back when Xander pulled back slightly himself. He bent slightly looking at the X on his hip before leaning back again, "Nice work," he said.

Xander smirked his hand going behind his head. "Thanks I tried," he laughed, looking over at Bryce and smiling.

Bryce had liked the idea of being branded by Xander but the more he thought about it the more he realized he couldn't think of anyone else's name who started with an X. He moved a bit closer to Xander leaning on him now, "What kind of name's Xander," he asked.

Xander wound an arm around Bryce when he curled into him, kissing the top of his head. He couldn't help but chuckle at the question, shaking his head. "Alexander," he said.

Bryce moved his head onto Xander's shoulder frowning, "And you went with Xander instead of Alex?" he asked. When he thought about it he thought he liked it more but still it was a bizarre choice.

Xander "I went by Alex when I was a kid," he said, absently starting to run his fingers over Bryce's side. "Switching to Xander was my first move of independence," he chuckled.

Bryce more scowled now that Xander shared that, he didn't look like an Alex at all to him. "I couldn't change my name," he mentioned.

Xander "I mean I was eight... I've been Xander longer than I was Alex," he shrugged, letting his eyes close. "Well now I want to come up with a nickname for you," he chuckled.

Bryce "Don't," Bryce told before going back to Xander's name. "You decided to change your name when you were 8?" he asked again despite the fact he knew Xander had just told him so.

Xander "Why not?" He asked, his fingers slowing to a stop so his hand was just resting on Bryce's waist. "Yep." He nodded.

Bryce "Because I said not to," he was already being called cute. He did not need some other nickname. "I like Xander better," he finally complimented.

Xander rolled his eyes. "Not even like... B?" He asked, feeling like that was pretty tame. He smiled a bit at the others comment, nodding. "Thanks so do i."

Bryce: gave Xander a long pointed look before he answered, "People have called me that, but I don't know what's wrong with Bryce."

Xander "nothing is wrong with Bryce," he said, glancing over at the boy and smirking. "You're perfect, remember?" He teased. "But I'm gonna call you B."

Bryce rolled his eyes, "And I'm going to hate it," he announced.

Xander "you'll learn to love it, B," he teased, leaning over to kiss Bryce's cheek. "Fun fact my work name is Z."

Bryce groaned seeing how apparently it was going into effect right away. "That doesn't make me like this any more," he let Xander know.

Xander chuckled, rolling over so he was straddling Bryce. "What about this?" He asked, resting his hands on his chest.

Bryce 's face did instantly brighten at this. "I don't know what this has anything to do with a nickname," he told looking up at Xander. "You should take your shirt off too," he added.

Xander smirked. "It has everything to do with a nickname, B," he explained, complying and lifting his shirt over his head, tossing it onto the ground.

Bryce watched his eyes lingering on Xander's abs before he answered, "How 'bout Bryce Nash," he added attempting to give the other another option even though truly it was an anti nickname.

Xander "is that your middle name?" He asked, his thumbs rubbing over Bryce's chest. He shook his head. "I Still like B," he hummed. Following the teens eyes, he smirked, lifting the others hands to his abs.

Bryce nodded, "Yeah." He sighed at Xander's persistance, "I don't know how." He smiled when Xander moved up his hand to touch his muscles and started running his hand over their outline.

Xander "then it's not a nickname, it's just your name," he argued. Watching Bryce's hands, he bit his lip, focusing on the feeling of the others touch.

Bryce "You're hot," Bryce said softly as he continued feeling Xander's muscles before reverting to his regular voice, "If you just called me Nash it kind of would be," he told.

Xander smirked, his hands moving back to Bryce's chest. "You are too," he murmured back. Chuckling he shook his head. "I'm gonna stick with B," he hummed before bending down and kissing him softly

Bryce rolled his eyes still not approving much of the nickname but any irritation had melted away once Xander placed his lips on him. He kissed back for a while before pulling away, "You should kiss me again a couple times, but do like pushups while you do," he suggested a sort of smile appearing on his face just with the thought.

Xander raised his eyebrow at the comment, chuckling and pressing another kiss to the teens lips. "Is that a challengebor something you genuinely want?" He asked.

Bryce bit his lip knowing the request was something he'd roll his eyes at but he swallowed and went with it anyways, "I want that," he told hoping Xander'd follow through.

Xander rolled his eyes fondly, but repositioned himself so he was hovering over Bryce in a pushup position, his legs separated instead of together so he could still straddle the other teen. ""Whatever you want, B," he hummed before he started to do push ups, kissing the younger teen on every down.

Bryce's hand stayed where it was and by the time Xander came down for his second pushup Bryce's other hand was resting on his shoulder enthused by the way Xander's muscles strained and relaxed as the older teen moved. "Okay, now stay," he told wanting to kiss Xander longer than the pushups he was doing were letting him.

Xander chuckled but nodded, holding himself in the down position so he could kiss Bryce longer. Despite the fact his muscles were starting to ache, he didn't break the position.

Bryce deepened the kiss now that he could his hand sliding from Xander's shoulders to the back of his neck.

Xander eventually let his knees fall down to the bed, one hand continuing to prop himself up as the other moved to tangle in Bryce's hair.

Bryce let a whimper out when Xander's hand ended up in his hair thankful for any bit of more contact.

Xander couldn't help but smirk at the sound the other made. "God every sound that comes out of you is so hot," he whispered against his lips

Bryce smirked proudly, "You decide if I make more," he taunted hoping Xander would choose to extend this make out session. He really hadn't known this would happen when he showed up but now the last thing he wanted was to back track.

Xander definitely liked his answer. In one swift motion, he rolled onto his back, hooking his leg over Bryce's waist to bring the boy with him. "Mm, new veiw," he hummed, tangling his fingers back in Bryce's hair to bring their lips back together.

Bryce hadn't expected that but put his hand out to hold himself up in time and nodded, "I like it," he said bringing his head down to kiss Xander as per his unspoken instructions.

Xander smirked, somehow pulling the younger teen closer. "I like you," He said in response, obviously not thinking before he spoke. As soon as the words left his mouth, his lips were back on Bryce's.

Bryce's body tensed slightly when he heard the words that left Xander's mouth but relaxed as soon as the kiss started up again another uncontrollable sound escaping from his mouth and into Xander's.

Xander smirked into the kiss, his grip on Bryce's hair tightening. Biting down slightly on the other's lip, he let his hand slide between them trying to undo Bryce's pants.

Bryce whimpered again when Xander bit his lip, taking a moment to suck in a breath, he thought allowed, "I didn't pay for anything."

Xander froze slightly at Bryce's comment, looking up at him before he successfully unbuttoned his pants. "This one's on the house," He hummed.

Bryce's eye brows moved up slightly but the questioning expression didn't last long. He kissed Xander quickly in response but then moved his attention to unbuttoning the other's pants as well.

-fade to black-