#life series pjo au

[neoflames]

life series pjo au save me…

[stuckinthedesert]

Can someone that’s an actual artist make this but better? This idea won’t leave my head and I need to make people appreciate it

[phoenix-writez]

HEY! TUMBLR VERSION FOR GRIAN'S POV IS HERE!!!

I still don't know how to format as the spacing is weird. If I get rid of extra spacing, it looks too jumbled up so... Unfortunately we're gonna have to make do!

This is in first person, so if you're not a fan of such POVs, sorry! :3 I have another fic coming up that's in 3rd person! Maybe that'll be up your alley!

But anyhow, welcome to Grian's POV! Enjoy :)

—

Entry #2

[GRIAN]

We'd finally gotten him out, and I didn't know how to explain to this poor kid that he's on the borderline of humanity.

There we were, sitting at a random table outside of a restaurant. Scar swore he knew what place this was, but that it never used to look so bright before.

Gem and Scott distracted him while I figured out a way to explain his situation. I open my mouth to speak. That's when it hit me.

He probably knows.

“Scar?” I ask, and he turns towards me. “Yeah, Grian?”

“What's your opinion on, I dunno, mythology?” I smile awkwardly, not knowing what I'm doing. Scar fidgets with his hands, “Oh! Not much, honestly. What kinda mythology we talkin’? Greek? Roman? The Bible or something???”

“Let's start with Greek.”

Scott and Gem look at me with nervous expressions on their faces. I nod at them slowly while Scar giggles to himself.

“I know that Zeus is pretty bad, I mean, no one likes that guy.” He places his hand on the table, leaning forward with a smug grin on his face that would be almost attractive if he wasn't such an idiot. I look at the other two with concern, “Really? That's all?”

“Hmm… a lot of, I dunno, sibling relations? Really odd, I mean none of them care! It's just something they do! Oh, yeah! Why do you ask, by the way?” Scar continues.

“Would you think I'm insane if I said that they're real?”

“I would.” Scar blinks, “But I did just escape from a time traveling theater that's making me wonder how old I am now.”

“You'd still be sixteen.” Scott says, “You haven't grown at all since you entered or left.”

“Huh.” Scar looks down at his hands, “I haven't even cut my nails in a week and they're still short.”

“Exactly.” Scott looks at me, “Think of it as a time freeze, but the world around you continues anyway.”

“Funny… So if I can be stuck in some otherworldly place for years, who's to say deities can't exist at this point! That guy who escorted us out had one eye, for God’s sake!” Scar says with irritation. I smile, “Good! This makes this easier.”

—

We left the restaurant after a while of talking, then we took some public transit (big risk) to the nearest place to our camp.

Scar spends our entire time looking uncomfortable. Though, I guess I would be too if I was on a wheelchair and people stood in front of me on a bus crowding me.

“Are you okay?” I ask him, Scar clutches his hands near his legs. “Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.”

“Uh-huh…”

“It just reeks here.” He looks away and frowns. “I mean, yeah, public transit always does.” I giggle. “Not like that. It smells like something's rotting.” Scar glances around. Then his eyes widen.

We turn towards where Scar’s looking. “Oh!” I cover my mouth. The people in the bus were sitting and acting normally, except for this couple sitting by each other.

“Hey! Hey! Wake up, hey!” They shouted. That's when the bus took a strong and short stop. I grab onto Scar’s chair quickly as I'm still watching. “What's going on?!” The person continues.

Scar blinks, “She died as soon as I said that.”

“What?” I look at him. “She was still living.” Scar frowns, “But it smelled like–”

“Are you okay, Scar?” Scott leans over. “Can we get out?” Scar asks. “We have to anyway.” I get up, then smile at Scar. “Let's go.”

And we do, we all leave. An ambulance shows up, but Scar sighs like it's too late. I glance at him, then at Scott. Scott shrugs. Gem dusts herself off, “Eugh, thank the gods we left that bus. Dusty old man does not feel good on your shoulder.” She grimaces, then she glares at Scar.

“Something's up with you, bud. But for now, let's head off, shall we?”

“Are you mad at me?” Scar asks. “No, just concerned.” Gem says, “I have a suspicion, and I'm not liking the odds.”

“Of what?!”

I flick Scar’s head, “Let's just go, we're close to camp anyway.”

“This feels like a cult.” Scar jokes. I roll my eyes, “You've already decided to join, let's go.”

—

Camp looks eerie, especially that no one is here. I look around, “We're back! Uh, fellas?”

Not a single person answers, so I walk in further. Then I run towards the Big House, “Hello?! Hey! Martyn! Anyone?!” I yell.

Then I turn towards the others. “Where did they go?” I frown. Scar holds himself, “So, Grian, what's the story here, man?” He giggles anxiously.

I smile, though the corners of my lips seem to shake with the effort. “Greek gods, we're their children. That's all.”

“Where are you all?!” I open the doors to the house, and that's when I see it. Martyn on the ground with a broken mirror. A mist of water surrounding him falls as the rainbow fades.

“What are you doing here?” He looks at me slowly, “I thought you were on a quest…”

“We were searching for others just like us, ‘cause the satyrs are currently preoccupied with wildfires.” I say, “Martyn, what are you doing?”

“None of your business, how's the sun looking?” He stands up, then walks out the door. Pushing me aside in the process. “Good. Good.” He places his hand on his head. “Sorry, Ren just gave me one of the worst Iris messages possible.”

“Oh, what did he say this time?” I cross my arms. “He and those stupid Ares kids are close to death, Bdubs decided to go with them knowing he can't really get on their level. I… ugh.” Martyn walks away.

“Wait! Is anyone else here?” I ask. “Everyone's helping the satyrs. You should check on Taurtis.” Martyn continues onward. I watch him leave to his cabin, then I turn towards Scott, Gem, and Scar.

“Welcome home? I guess?” I frown. Scar looks at me and I feel a sharp sense of guilt. “It– it's usually better on the first day!” I say, then turn towards the forest. “We just gotta fix that.”

Scar rolls towards me. “You think it's just a wildfire?” He asks. “I hope it is.” I start walking.

—

The fire was larger than I thought it was.

I rush in, “Taurtis! What happened?!”

Taurtis bleats and splashes water on one of the trees. The tree forms into a dryad, “Thanks for the water, but I'm not the one on fire!” She says. “Sorry, Lizzie.” He groans, “I'm so tired.”

“You're fine, I think you should get some sleep. Besides, maybe this newcomer is a Poseidon kid!” She grins. “I doubt it.” I say, then gaze at everything else.

Scar rolls towards us, “Poseidon?”

“You can control water, right? Maybe breathe in it or–” Lizzie looks at him. “No.” Scar says.

“I can't even swim, if you couldn't tell.” He tilts his head. “I mean! Who said you had to swim?” She giggles.

Scott walks in and stares at the forest in horror. “Oh… oh my gods. Gem, any idea to fix this?”

“Well, first off. All dryads please turn back to your humanoid forms.” Gem says, “Scott, you're good with animals, take them and get them out of here temporarily. They can live in whoever's cabin caters to them the most.”

“Demeter’s, probably.” Scott nods, then delves deeper into the forest. I stand there next to Scar, and Gem looks at us both. “You should probably look for… survivors, maybe.”

“There's tons of those.” Scar tilts his head, “I don't think it's gotten that bad that people are suffocating.”

“Illness travels fast when you breathe in smoke.” I say, then I walk off. Scar cracks a grin, “Well excuse me, mister! I didn't take you for an expert!”

—

I found some of the others, mainly the Hephaestus kids. Surprisingly, they'd created some tools to help with the forest.

“Doc!” I yell, and immediately he turns to me. “What do you want, Grian?! We're busy!” He answers. He's so kind to me.

“Gem is devising a plan on how to fix this, but I've got something figured out.” I grin. “What do you guys got there?”

Doc gazes down at his own hands. “Oh, this. It's just an enlarged water gun. We had to go down to the river, explain to the naiads what was occuring, and get drenched in freshwater before we could finally get this made.”

“Naiads…” I groan, and Scar curiously raises his hand. “I'm real out of the loop here, guys. Also, how am I supposed to help?”

I look at Scar and smile, “Do you know what you can control?”

He shakes his head, “No-can-do. I don't have solar powers, stealing skills, master fighting skills or whatever!”

Doc hands him a piece of scrap metal, “Anything you can do with this?”

Scar stares at it, “It's just a piece of metal. It's really sharp, I could stab someone with it.” He smiles at Doc, who looks disappointed on sight. “Right, of course you can. My mistake for being too vague, can you create something?”

“Nope!” Scar gives the scrap back to Doc. “I've never actually created a thing in my life! Except for a few excuses here and there, maybe. Cat ate my homework, best line used this century!” He giggled.

I rolled my eyes, “Who believes that?”

“You'd be surprised!”

Doc crosses his arms, “You aren't very pretty, so not Aphrodite… nature. Can you assist with nature? Like farming, or whatever.”

Scar smacks his own legs lightly, as if he were playing with his hands. “I don't think so, I live in a city. We don't really have nature there. Or farms. Didn't really have a calling for it, either.”

Doc hums to himself, then he looks at me. “I'm concerned.”

“Why?”

“If he's not even just a little bit like the gods, there's only so few choices left. I'm not liking the odds.”

Scar fidgets around with his fingers, “Are you saying I might be a child of the big guys?”

“Might,” Doc stares right at Scar like he can see his soul, “is too weak a word for this occasion.”

Scar leans towards me, as much as he can in his confined space. “What is he saying?”

I shake my head, “Let's focus on the trees for now…”

And that we did. The satyrs spent most of the time asking the naiads for assistance, the rest of us hacked down broken branches that were too weak to truly thrive anymore. Then I stole someone's water gun thing and started spraying the trees.

The smoke bellowed upward and only got worse and worse till we finally asked the gods to assist.

That's when the rain came down, and Scar yelped and nearly cracked open the earth.

—

“What did he do?”

I sit down and stare at the clouds above us. “Nothing too special,” I look towards Gem. She furrows her brows, “Grian. Scar did something when Zeus gave us that storm. What was it?”

“There was an earthquake, Gem.” I shrug, “The ground broke beneath us, boohoo.”

“Why are you covering for him?! Poseidon’s quakes haven't been active in this area for years!” Gem squints. “Maybe he just decided we needed one. Maybe he was giving us a tsunami in an attempt to clear the fire. I don't know, Gem! I don't know what Scar did, I'm trying to create my own logic here!” I wave my arms frantically.

Gem sighs and sits next to me. “He broke the ground.”

“Yeah…”

“...Did anything happen afterwards?”

“It fixed itself, he panicked and tried to reverse what he did. Told everyone not to worry, casting more attention on himself. It was barely noticeable, looked like a hair fracture.” I pick up a pebble and stare at it.

“He's talking to the watcher right now.” I groan, “This is so irritating.”

“Not knowing, huh?”

“That I might be wrong?! That this was natural, and he just freaked out over something that happened right as he panicked?! Maybe! Or that I'm absolutely correct, and he's the son of Hades for the gods' sakes!” I toss the pebble and rake my hands through my hair and pull.

“He's done other things resembling that of a Hades kid, Grian.” Gem pats me on the shoulder, “Why are you stressing so much about this?”

“... Don't you get it? Any of the big three having kids is insanity. The fact that he's still alive amazes me yet terrifies me at the same time.” I look into the distance, “I'm so sure that a monster may have gotten to him before…”

“He probably survived off the same thing you did.” Gem says. “What's that?” I turn towards her.

“Stupidity.”

“Oh.”

—

Scar’s wheelchair is parked but he's not on the chair. Alarms ring in my head as I look around, “Scar?! SCAR?!” I shout, running around.

It didn't take long for me to find him. Mainly because he didn't really go far at all. There he was, trembling and holding onto a tree. “Scar?” I say.

He nearly jumps out of his skin as he turns to me. “Grian! Ah, I'm so glad you're here! I'm a little bit, uh, stuck…” He grins. “...What happened? Why aren't you in your wheelchair?” I blink.

He laughs awkwardly, “I thought I was in good enough condition to walk again. But it turns out, my brain and my legs still aren't as connected as I thought they were.”

“I'll get the chair for you, Scar.”

“Thank you so much–”

I lift my finger and stare at him, “You've gotta remember to be careful, Scar. No one cares if you walk or not. We're still figuring out who you are.” I say, then I turn away and start going for the wheelchair.

When I do reach the wheelchair, Martyn approaches me.

“Have you seen Impulse?” He asks. “Not since we left the theatre.” I place my hands on the handle of the chair, pulling it out of the mud it happened to get stuck in. “Jeez, this thing has to be cleaned now…”

Martyn rubs his face in annoyance. “He's been gone for several days. How can he just go on a quest and go missing like that?!”

A sort of revelation hits me, and I stop in my tracks. “He’s in there…”

“Huh?”

I curse under my breath and turn around, “Shoot– Scar! I've got your chair!” I run towards him. I quickly help him into the wheelchair and promptly glance around.

“Something bothering you, Grian?” Scar asks.

“Ah, nothing too serious.” I smile, “You alright?”

“Yep! Better than ever, thanks G!” He places his hands on the wheels and pushes himself forward.

I watch him leave, then think momentarily. “Shoot, shoot, shoot.” I mutter, “Impulse, we left Impulse!”

I remember Gem shouting where everyone was, I already knew where Cub had gone. Kinda. Under the theatre, but I don't really know if he's gonna be gone for long. But Impulse, he went in with us and vanished.

Just what is that theatre?

[itsdemmibitch]

Au where after the war with Kronos Nico just goes to moral school and leaves Camp half-blood behind him. He lives with his father but isn’t involved at all with any quests or prophecies.

[adina123]

Bad boys pjo au

Jimmy is a child of poseidon and Lizzie is a child of Neptune because seablings. they have the same mortal mother like Jason and Thalia. they were separated at a young age similar to s1 empires canon but lizzie still remembers Jimmy while jimmy does not remember Lizzie because he was so young when they were split. There mom was good she loved them but they never new her because she got sick and died not long after jimmy was born. Lizzie felt responsible for her brother and when she got older she became aware of the monsters. She pieced together a theory she thought that the monsters were targeting her and while that was true she didn’t realize that they were after jimmy as well and she left to protect him 

Grian is a very mischievous child of Hermes. when his dad left his mom she broke down and became depressed these feelings led her to join a sketchy cult. grian was raised in this very restrictive environment but at a young age he knew he wanted get out and travel. as a child of Hermes he couldn’t stand to be stuck in one place for so long. like many Hermes kids he was a prankster and he got into a whole lot of trouble when ever he’d put his devious plans in place. He doesn’t hate his mom or dad but he tries not too think of them and tries to pretend they don’t exist. He ran away when he was super young and has never looked back 

Joel is a son of Demeter his father was a farmer until he happened across a whole lot of money and he moved them to the city. his father spoiled him with their new found wealth making it so joel grew to have a very expensive taste but Joel still missed the plants and nature so he started painting beautiful landscapes. like his father joel has a tendency to let power go to his head. Eventually the money ran out and they became homeless. Joel’s father kept spending money they didn’t have sending them into debt and joel grew to resent his dad. Like his mother joel has very extreme emotional reactions and when he or someone he likes is wronged he takes revenge. weather it’s pranks or competitions joel doesn’t do things in half’s 

like Thalia Luke and Annabeth they ran away young and found each other before making it to camp

[happypeachsludgeflower]

That quest toward the end of trials of Apollo was a close call, but I’m glad that Jason gets to continue to be alive and happy 🙂

[kamaluhkhan]

LONG HOT SUMMER NIGHT

pairing: luke castellan x fem!poseidon!reader word count: 8.4k chapter summary: it's the summer solstice and olympus is throwing a party! thalia notices the tension between you and luke, poseidon gives you some relationship advice and you punch the god of desire in the face. warnings: angst! jealous reader. lots of drinking. complicated relationships. reader dealing with ptsd + survivor's guilt (post-titan war). mention of injuries + blood. creepy guy pushing reader to hook up. ending is a bit steamy but no actual smut. spoilers for the entire pjo (book) series. no betrayal (au where chris was the one who sided w kronos and led the titan army) so slightly ooc luke <3 also reader is in a band called the midnight sirens and is born on the summer solstice! author's note: thank you so much for all the love for part 1!! summer is almost over and this is very much a summer series BUT summer's not over yet !!! hope y'all enjoy this one too and thanks 4 reading 💙

part 1 | series masterlist

♪: long hot summer night by jimi hendrix

mail to: 

Luke Castellan Camp Half-Blood, Half-Blood Hill 3.141 Farm Road Long Island, New York 11954

LUKE! 

I’m sitting in my kitchen right now, watching Percy make us blue blueberry pancakes and hoping he doesn’t burn down my kitchen while doing so. I caved and agreed to take him to Disneyland while he’s here and breakfast was part of the deal, but I think I might regret it later. 

We went surfing yesterday. It was Percy’s first time, but he was (unsurprisingly) amazing at it. I still can’t get over how beautiful the beaches are and the waves — gods, the waves are unreal. You’d seriously love it here. It’s like every day is summer. You have to come visit. PLEASE come visit!!!!

- [your initial]

P.S. The band and I are working on some new music, which means I won’t make it to camp again this summer. I’m sorry ;( Fingers crossed I’ll make it next year. 

P.P.S. hi luke! happy to report that i did not burn down my sister’s kitchen. anyways, can’t wait to kick your ass in sword-fighting this summer. xoxo, percy

THREE YEARS LATER 

the first time you visited olympus, you had been sent on a quest to retrieve zeus’ stolen lightning bolt, bringing luke and charles beckendorf along with you. you had missed the summer solstice deadline, but still tried to reason with the king of the gods when presenting the symbol of power, maybe calling him out once or twice along the way. before zeus could strike you down for your boldness, poseidon stepped in. the war between them was averted in fear of a much larger, looming threat; an ominous introduction for what was to come in the next chapter of your life.

another time, the gods debated whether or not they should kill you, some seeing you as a threat to their future. that was the day you accepted your destiny, not wanting your brother percy or your cousin nico to deal with the weight of the great prophecy. 

your last visit to olympus was on your 18th birthday, after helping to defeat kronos and his army. you made the gods swear to stop neglecting their kids and to allow all demigods, regardless of whether their parent was an olympian or not, to have a home at camp half-blood; to treat their children as children rather than heroes as pawns in their twisted games.

needless to say, it’s quite strange, being back here under very, very different circumstances, where the gods invited camp half-blood’s senior counsellors and staff to join in their summer solstice festivities.

it’s not every day you’ll be invited to a party on olympus; you’re determined to have a good time, to have fun. there’s already an abundance of music, dancing, food, or alcohol, and the night is just getting started.

you’re happy to be there with new and old friends, but you’re ecstatic when you see that thalia grace is there, too. 

“immortality looks good on you, t!” you compliment, raising your voice slightly over the music.

thalia preens, and you bask in her silver glow. 

“bet you wish you took the gods up on their offer, huh,” she teases. then, her eyes widen. “oh - shit! it’s your birthday! happy birthday!” 

thalia tackles you with another hug; even after all these years, she still smells like pine trees. she grabs two goblets of honeyed wine and hands one to you as you catch up. you eagerly gulp the sweet drink, until you’re reaching for another while listening to her stories about adventures she’d been on with the hunters of artemis. 

about halfway through her story about fighting off a manticore during a snow storm, a nymph appears with a platter of the ripest of fruit – sweet plums and fresh figs, tantalising pomegranates, succulent grapes and crisp apples. 

“oh my gods, this is the best apple i’ve had in my entire life!” thalia exclaims after indulging in a taste, herself giddy from a few goblets of wine. “where’s luke? he’s gotta try this — he’s always reminding us to eat more fruit. luke!” 

you hadn’t kept track of luke, at least not on purpose. you assumed he’d been off partying with van or his siblings, and, probably, avoiding you. wherever he was, thalia calls his name twice more and, like a ghost, luke appears. 

“i’m here, t.” luke’s voice is a deep, steady rumble floating above the music. his cheeks are slightly flushed, either from the heat or the drinks. likely both. “what’s up?”

“you need to try this.” thalia shoves the apple in his mouth before luke can respond. 

luke takes a bite, and some juice drips down his chin. you, in a honey-soaked haze, think about running your tongue over to catch it, but he beats you to it, wiping it away with the back of his hand. 

probably for the best.

“holy shit. yeah, it’s good.”

thalia, a sparkle in her eyes, urges you to try it as well. from across the makeshift triangle the three of you had formed, luke tosses the apple your way. you catch it effortlessly, and sink your teeth into it. 

you’ve almost overwhelmed by the burst of flavor. the fruit is just the right amount of tart to balance out the sweetness, and it’s damn near the best crunch you’ve ever experienced.

“good is an understatement,” you say after another bite. a distant memory crosses your mind. “i wonder if these are the same ones we almost got killed by a hellhound for.” 

thalia shakes her head, laughing in disbelief. “all because luke said we needed more vitamin c.”

“i was just looking out for us!” luke guffaws. “how was i supposed to know that persephone owned an apple orchard in connecticut?”

you pat his shoulder, the three of you smiling at the memory. “let’s call it an honest mistake.”

“well if annabeth had been with us by then, i’m sure that she wouldn’t have made that same honest mistake.” 

“okay, but she’s the daughter of athena —”

you let luke and thalia slip back into their playful bickering as if no time has passed. you listen and continue eating that glorious apple, enjoying how the golden glow of your shared past fills whatever distance might have grown between the three of you. 

somewhere down memory lane, luke’s amber eyes flick towards you.

“hey, you’ve got some….” without another word, luke suddenly reaches over to brush away a trail of juice with his thumb before sticking the finger in his mouth to savour the taste. he holds your gaze as he does so, and you feel a familiar kind of heat rush through your body — not from alcohol or summer sun, but from luke. 

it’s such an intimate gesture that you almost forget that you’re at some extravagant party on mount olympus, where gods and half-bloods and a whole bunch of other mythological creatures are celebrating the start of summer by essentially getting drunk together, until thalia clears her throat. 

“okay, well, seems like the two of you might want some alone time.”

luke’s cheeks grow more flushed than before, and his eyes widen as if realizing what he’d done.

“oh, we don’t need —”

“we’re not —”

you and luke both stumble over your words; thalia just smiles knowingly. 

“i’m gonna go flirt with that nymph,” she announces, pointing across the grand marble pavilion.

“i thought — doesn’t artemis sort of frown upon that sort of thing?” you ask.

“she makes exceptions on holidays. besides, i’m her favourite. you guys have fun.” thalia winks at you and walks away.

you glance at luke and, gods, there’s so much history between you. 

the time you jumped into an ocean full of sirens to save luke from drowning? you have a scar running down your forearm where one of them scratched you as you struggled to get luke towards the surface. 

or when you took turns holding up the sky while on a quest to save lady artemis and defeat the titan atlas? it’s evident in the matching streaks of grey that you each have running through your hair. whenever you see your reflection in the mirror, you remember how you couldn’t save your cousin bianca di angelo earlier that day, and how nico has had to grow up without a sister because of a promise you broke.

how about when you, luke, and one of your best friends were sent on a mission to destroy the princess andromeda, the headquarters of kronos’ army? only the two of you survived, and sometimes you can still feel luke squeezing your hand pike he did during charles beckendorf’s burial shroud ceremony while you both cried.

or when luke took a sword between the ribs for you because he, somehow, knew the one spot the curse of achilles left you vulnerable? he can only slouch for so long before the bones there start to ache.

so, yeah. there’s way too much history, and so many tangled threads, and now really isn’t an ideal time to unravel it all. 

“i’m gonna go find my dad,” you blurt out and disappear into the crowd with no real intention of finding your father. 

the once sweet apple now tastes rotten on your tongue; you rid yourself of it in exchange for some more wine. you’re determined to have fun — no pain or heartache or grief. 

you’ve all had enough of that for three lifetimes. 

summer — age 14

“sorry your birthday was ruined.” 

luke exhaled sharply when you pressed a disinfectant-soaked cloth to the wound on his leg.

“hold still,” was all you mumbled in response, brows knitted together as you wrapped the cut in gauze. 

once you were done with his leg, you moved on to luke’s hands, burned by poisonous acid. the four of you had run into a hydra earlier that night. you managed to wound it enough so you could all get away, but not before a few injuries were sustained. 

you were uncharacteristically quiet as you worked. you only met luke’s gaze to warn him before pouring some nectar on his wounds. you let luke hold your hand, tightly, as the liquid dripped through his fingers and down to yours, first right, then left. the pain was instant, seering almost as much as the hydra acid, but it was over quickly. the last thing you did was bandage each hand before getting up. 

“i’m…i’m gonna check on thalia and annabeth. i’ll take first watch.”

luke caught your hand before you got away.

“wait. you’re bleeding.” he pointed to the cut on your brow. you had been so preoccupied in making sure everyone else was safe that you let crimson liquid drip down your face. it probably stung, too, based on your grimace.

luke wiped away the blood with his sleeve, used nectar to disinfect the wound, and dressed it with a fresh bandage, working silently as you did.

“it’s still your birthday,” luke finally said once he was done. “you get some rest; i’ll take first watch.”

you gave him a small, strained smile before checking on the others. 

later that night, you stayed up with luke anyways. 

seemingly out of nowhere, you handed him your portable cassette player. luke stared at it for a moment, unwilling to comprehend just what you were offering and, more importantly, why. 

you and luke had grown accustomed to sharing things: flannels, socks, makeshift beds and scavenged food. but this —

it was your aunt’s. 

you never met your mother, who’d left you as a baby, and of course, poseidon was too busy tending to his underwater kingdom to step in as a parent. your aunt raised you as her own. and then you lost her, too. 

you kept her cassette player buried deep in your bag with some mixtapes she had made and ones you’d stolen throughout the years. when it wasn’t your turn to keep watch, luke would sometimes catch you with headphones on, looking up at the stars. 

luke liked to think he knew you well; all those subtle elements that made you — the crack of your knuckles, the cadence of your voice, the slope of your nose, the dreams of your childhood. engraved in his own personhood. bones and all. 

and, still: he didn’t know you, not entirely. 

you’d only allowed luke to listen with you once, maybe twice. he’d never forget what it was like: knees pressed together and heads just as close to keep the wires from stretching too far; you gushing about the magic of jimi hendrix, recounting memories that echoed through gentle guitar riffs; luke yearning for one more song to play, for another a wistful smile of yours to appear. luke, wishing to linger in your private oasis a beat longer before you pushed him out again and closed the door behind him. 

the one lock luke couldn’t crack: your grief, and how you carried on so buoyantly despite its weight.

well, there you were, presenting the key to luke as an offering. a sacrifice for something luke would never ask of you. 

“this….” luke swallowed the lump in his throat, refusing to look at you. he turned the device over in his bandaged hands, the metal smooth, though well-worn. “you can’t just —”

leave. you can’t just leave. you can’t just —

“hey.” 

your hand over his, forcing him to stop spiralling and look at you. 

right away, luke regretted it. a small sliver of him, however delusional, had hoped that you were joking. 

you weren’t. behind you, there was an empty space where you had previously wedged your sleeping bag. your backpack was already strapped around your shoulders, fully packed. 

“i need to leave, luke. we can’t stay together. it’s too dangerous.”

“you don’t need to —”

“there’s more of us, now,” you interrupted, pulling your hand away to rest on your thigh. “four demigods together isn’t ideal. we’ve been attracting more monsters. more deadly monsters.”

“that would happen, anyways. it always has whether it’s the four of us, the two of us, or….” 

luke stopped his sentence short, not even wanting to give you the idea to go out on your own, even though you’d probably been thinking about leaving for some time. 

you made reckless decisions sometimes, but this didn’t seem to be one of them.

“well, it’s happening more.” your voice was steady, too steady. luke imagined you rehearsing just what to say to counter the inevitable backlash. 

luke shook his head. “i’d be dead if it weren’t for you.”

“you almost died because of me,” you clipped. you lifted a hand to touch the bruise on luke’s jaw, but let it drop just as quickly. “you know that children of the big three cause more trouble. maybe we managed it when it was the two of us, but now, there’s more to consider. a child of poseidon and a child of zeus, travelling together. it’s like we’re asking to be killed. it’s too dangerous.”

“that’s our life,” luke snapped. “you can’t just run from it.” from us.

you faltered, looking back to where annabeth and thalia were sleeping peacefully. 

oh. he must have said that last part out loud, too. 

“you know i’m right,” is all you said.

luke could only shake his head again. because, fine, you weren’t entirely wrong. it was more dangerous — but it was danger luke hoped you’d all face, together. 

“i’ve made up my mind,” you added, an anchor in the sand.

“don’t leave.” luke’s words came out as a prayer. if he offered something, maybe you’d stay.

you paused to take a shaky breath. “this isn’t goodbye, luke. i swear to poseidon…fuck, i swear to all the gods that this isn’t goodbye.”

luke couldn’t speak. there were tears bubbling in his throat, threatening to spill. 

“so, keep this for me,” you whispered, once again placing your hand on top of luke’s. his fingers gripped your cassette player tightly, like it was the only piece of driftwood leftover from a shipwreck, keeping him from sinking into the cold, dark nothing. “you’ll give it back when we see each other again.”

a promise. 

“fine,” luke conceded, though he wanted to scream at you. he wanted to argue like little kids — petty, loud, meaningless, back and forth until tears streamed down cheeks and throats were raw. 

but, you were leaving, one way or another. luke didn’t want this shared memory to be tainted if it might be your last.

“you have to take this, then. give it back when we see each other again.”

luke removed the chain from around his neck, the one that held the key to his childhood home. he placed it around yours, instead.

he didn’t need the key now, but his mother had given it to him when he was six. before he knew what it meant to be the son of hermes, god of thieves. 

call him sentimental, but luke had kept it. just in case he ever got lost. 

“if you’re ever back in connecticut, you have a home.”

“yeah, okay.” you smiled softly. 

it fell just as quickly. 

“take care of them,” you told him. “of yourself, too. i’ll see you again when it’s safe.”

luke didn’t ask when it would be safe, because the truth is that it might never be.

“because you want your cassette player back?” luke joked, instead trying to lighten the mood, to capture one last moment of brightness.

you laughed softly to not wake the others. 

“yeah. that too.”

you pressed your forehead to his, something you hadn’t done since you were kids. 

“i’ll see you again,” you repeated.

without another word, you got up and jogged away. luke shut his eyes, refusing to see you become nothing but a shadow. 

(you looked back several times, but he couldn’t see through the darkness.)

now

call the gods out on their bullshit (you encourage it), but if they have one thing going for them, it’s that the olympians know how to throw a party. 

the night grows darker, yet somehow becomes more lively. demeter and persephone had supplied a generous amount of fresh, decadent fruit, and dionysus an even more generous amount of wine. apollo starts a karaoke corner and you’re just tipsy enough to agree to sing a duet with him in order to break the ice. apparently, he’s a big midnight sirens fan and had seen your band when you headlined at glastonbury festival. you smile to yourself, imagining your bandmates’ faces if you told them that the god of music had watched you perform.

as you hand the microphone to a giggling dryad, the sound of your name washes over like gentle waves on a shore.

“if it isn’t my sweet, summer child!” your father brings you in for a hug and an ocean breeze engulfs you — salt and sand and sun. 

“hi dad,” you exhale as you pull away. 

you hadn’t seen each other in a while, but poseidon looks the same. he’s dressed in a turquoise hawaiian shirt and birkenstocks with a crown of seashells on his head. there’s a cocktail umbrella in his glass, a slice of pineapple wedged onto the rim. you’re about to ask him how he managed to secure a pina colada and where you might find one, too.

“that was quite the performance!” poseidon takes an eager sip of his drink, green eyes sparkling like sea glass in the sun. “i must tell you: your newest album is all the rage in atlantis. the nereids and merpeople can’t seem to get enough of it and, truthfully, i find myself playing it on repeat as well. you’re quite talented.” 

you try not to let your shock slip through, instead smiling and asking how things are in his underwater kingdom, but you’re….touched at your father’s unexpected praise.

the gods aren’t perfect, and your father is no exception. they’re divine beings who have time to conceive children, but not to raise them. there’s a long history of them abandoning, mistreating, and manipulating their own offspring. of course, being the prophecy child, it became practically impossible for your father to ignore you; you’re sure that being dubbed the saviour of olympus gives him bragging rights with his immortal family. even with their sworn promise to change, it’s impossible not to resent the gods in some ways. 

still, you feel comforted by your father's presence at times — when you catch the perfect wave on your surfboard, for example, or when you sit on your fire escape during a storm after a bad day. it’s been like that pretty much all your life: poseidon there in spirit, not in practice. despite everything, he’s watched over you, and percy, throughout the years.

and here poseidon is now, grinning at you like you’re his pride and joy. 

“enough about aquatic politics.” he pats your shoulder enthusiastically after telling you about the struggles of keeping humans from overfishing. “i came over to wish you a happy birthday. and to give you this.” 

poseidon reaches into the pocket of his shirt and hands you something you’d long thought gone: a leather cord with several clay beads and a silver key.

“i found it off the california coast,” he explains. “i kept meaning to get it to you, but i suppose time has a way of getting away from us, immortal or not.”

a warmth grows in your chest as you run your thumb over your old camp necklace, bright and full. it had fallen off one day when you’d gone surfing, and you assumed it was lost to the ocean. you'd been given a fresh leather cord when you arrived at camp earlier this summer, but it felt empty. hollow.

“thanks, dad.” 

you smile at him as you put on the necklace; it feels like coming home. your father then asks you about your summer so far.

you tell him all about your life as of late, until you catch a glimpse of luke with van on a marble bench at the other end of the pavilion. van is sitting in luke’s lap, and they lean over to whisper something in his ear before kissing his cheek. 

you freeze mid-way through your sentence.

sensing the shift in mood, poseidon frowns. he turns his head to follow your gaze.

“ah.” poseidon turns back to you and clears his throat. “now, i don’t mean to pry, but i saw you earlier with the castellan boy.”

you flush at the fact that your moment with luke was witnessed by your own father. “dad —”

“did you know in ancient greece, throwing someone an apple and having them catch it is considered a marriage proposal?”

“i’m pretty sure that was disproven,” you scoff.

poseidon raises an eyebrow at you, clearly amused. “which one of us was actually there, hm?” and though you roll your eyes, you can’t argue with that. “i just wanted to know if there was a wedding happening in the near future.”

you almost choke on the last remnants of your wine. “dad.”

“i’m kidding. i’m kidding! mr. castellan seems otherwise occupied.” 

“yeah, it does seem that way,” you grumble.

poseidon puts a hand on your shoulder, firm but reassuring. “regardless: if you find someone who would go to tartarus and back with you, someone who would fight alongside you every step of the way, you hold on to them. there’s only so much time you mortals have on this earth.”

you sigh — easier said than done — but your father is trying, so you manage a nod.

“i’ll keep that in mind.”

“now, i better go — ” poseidon looks over your shoulder, where the air behind you starts to feel staticky. “it seems a disagreement is brewing between zeus and hades. they always get into it whenever dionysus makes the wine a bit too strong. brother, put away the lightning bolt —” and he rushes away to prevent another divine conflict from arising.

left to your own devices, you venture over to the food table, finding an array of fresh and dried fruit, breads, cured meat, fresh oysters and, of course, more wine. you grab a goblet and a few dried figs.

“careful, i heard dionysus made the wine extra strong tonight,” someone warns, creeping up beside you. the voice is soft and alluring, and you feel something tug at your heart. 

you do a double take when you turn to them; the person is devilishly handsome, a golden aura paired with a golden smile. 

(you will soon find out that the god flirting with you is the son of ares and aphrodite, the latter of which takes the appearance of whoever the onlooker loves. as it turns out, her son appears in the same way. 

all this to say: it doesn’t mean anything that this god looks like luke castellan to you. 

it doesn’t mean anything at all.)

“i’m eros.”

“hey. i’m —”

“i know who you are, savior of olympus.” eros winks at you. “i just never realized you were so beautiful.”

your cheeks heat up as you take a sip of your drink.

oh, shit. 

okay. the literal god of desire and pleasure is flirting with you. 

you’re flattered, really, and maybe the wine has gotten to your head, but you’re not eager to turn him away.

“well, i’ve definitely heard about you, and the rumors do not do you justice,” you quip, painting on a flirtatious smile.

eros puffs out his chest, clearly pleased. 

over the next few minutes, you decide that eros can hold a decent conversation, asking you the classic first date questions about your likes and dislikes, and he’s cute enough that you wouldn’t mind things going further. 

(he might be a god, but he’s no luke. you push that thought away, and force yourself to flirt with helios. eros. right, eros.)

eros leans in close, pretends to listen to you, lets his gaze drop every so often to the deep v-neck of your shirt.  

“no way! 13 going on 30 is a classic,” you argue. you nudge your shoulder into eros’s playfully, and let the contact between you linger. eros, the inspiration for cupid himself, has angel wings, and you feel them brush softly against your burning skin. 

“it’s totally overrated!” eros exclaims. “also, the childhood friends to lovers trope gives people false hope.”

“it’s not false hope. it’s about the buildup to their happily ever after,” you reason, swallowing some wine to dislodge the lump in your throat.

eros shakes his head. “trust me, baby, it’s all about the instant attraction. that’s where the excitement is.” 

he’s so close now, you can smell the sharp alcohol on his breath. not wine, but something stronger.

“oh? what do you mean by that?” you lean impossibly closer, trailing a finger down his chest.

eros smirks, placing a hand on your thigh. “want me to demonstrate?” 

not even a second after you whisper a yes, eros crashes his lips onto yours, and you will yourself to kiss back. he slides his tongue in your mouth, runs his hands over your body. 

you’re making out with the god of desire and passion, so, objectively, it’s a good first kiss: soft around the edges and firm where it needs to be.

sure — you feel nothing, no real spark, but it’s almost enough to fill the hole in your heart in the shape of a certain son of hermes. 

the son of hermes who has moved on and is in a loving relationship with a perfect emotionally available partner. 

so, it’s fine. 

this, this thing with eros, is fine. 

you’re fine.

eros pulls away first, but keeps a hand on your cheek.

“let's get out of here.” 

he grabs your wrist before you have a chance to answer. you stand up, let him weave you through the crowd towards the stairs of the pavilion. apparently, his room is just through the garden. 

as he tugs you along, he looks back at you, smiling. under the glow of the stars, eros looks just like luke, except it’s becoming harder to ignore that he isn’t luke and that makes you feel all sorts of nauseous. your camp necklace weighs on your chest and, in particular, the silver key that you’d kept for all those years burns through your skin. 

lightheaded, you pull away from eros’ grip just as you reach the top of the stairs and place a hand on the column next to you to steady yourself.

eros turns around sharply. “what is it?”

“i changed my mind, actually. let’s just…keep talking here.”

eros grabs your wrist again, his grip tighter than before. “don’t be a tease.” his tone is ever-so-gentle, but there’s an edge behind his words. 

this time, your voice comes out more assertive. “i just changed my mind. that doesn’t make me a tease.”

“come on, baby, don’t you wanna experience what real passion is? this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that a million girls would kill for. you’d be an idiot to pass it up.” he brags, and you’re this close to breaking this guy’s nose, god or not. 

“i don’t care,” you snap, struggling to break free from his grip. “and i’m not your baby.”

“okay, whatever,” eros rolls his eyes, but quickly plasters on an arrogant grin. “we’ll go somewhere private and i’ll call you whatever you want.”

he manages to drag you down two steps as you strain against his iron grip, now almost cutting off your circulation. your heartbeat quickens and you feel dizzy. finally, you grab onto the railing for leverage and use your strength to rip out of his grip, forcing eros to stop in his tracks.

“what is it now?” he snaps, whipping his head around once more. 

he looks nothing like luke, now.

“just stop, eros.”

“listen,” he starts, speaking to you almost mockingly, like you’re a naive little kid. so much for being the savior of olympus. “trust me, i know what people want, so you don’t have to be shy. i promise to be the best you’ve ever had —”

“eros, is it?” the rest of the party is in full motion, but here’s percy, giving eros one of the most intense death stares you’ve ever seen. percy, your little brother who talks to lonely fish at the aquarium; who, if you cut open, would bleed blue m&m’s; who would never let anyone, god or otherwise, hurt someone he loves. “i’m gonna have to ask you to let go of my sister.”

“mind your own business, kid,” eros hisses. “we’re kinda in the middle of something.” he tries to move you down another step, but you stand your ground.

annabeth, no longer the scared little seven year old you, luke, and thalia found behind a dumpster, is also glaring at liam from the top of the stairs. one of her hands rests firmly on her belt, where she keeps her dagger. 

“i’d back off, if i were you,” she warns. “wouldn’t want to cause a scene.”

“just mind your own business,” eros snarls.

“they said leave her alone,” thalia asserts, walking over once she sees what’s happening. “and you don’t wanna mess with us, trust me.” she clenches her hand into a fist.

“who the fuck are you? her bodyguards?” 

“just let her go,” percy orders. “my sister can do a lot better than a minor god with a major god complex.” 

eros growls, baring his teeth at percy. “you impertinent little shit.”

as soon as eros lunges for your brother, you tug one of his wings towards you, hard. he whips around and you take the opportunity to punch him in the face. he doubles over, golden ichor gushing from his nose.

“i’d be careful if i were you, baby,” you seethe. “you wouldn’t want to go up against the demigods who led an army against kronos and won. unless, of course, humiliation is a kink of yours.” you laugh humorlessly at the way eros scowls at your words. “to each their own,” you continue. “but i’m not in the mood to fuck an entitled creep with angel wings to compensate for his tiny dick. you better fucking respect that, and leave us alone while you’re at it.”

eros’ flirtatious smile is long gone, replaced with the kind of anger only entitled, self-important jerks have when they don’t get what they want and they’ve taken a few blows to their ego. 

call it stupidity or arrogance, but his only response is a punch delivered right back to your face. 

you hear a crack upon impact, and pain radiates from your nose. you stumble, but percy manages to reach out and catch you before you fall down the stairs. he holds you as thalia and annabeth create a barrier between you and eros. you hear them shouting at eros over the music, but their exact words don’t register.

you lick your lips, tasting blood. your ears are ringing, and everything is suddenly all fuzzy. percy tries his best, but you slump your body weight into his and he almost topples over.

“i’ve got her.” luke’s calm and measured voice cuts through the chaos. you feel a strong, familiar arm wrap around your waist to steady you. “from what i remember, you were too much of a coward to even step foot on the battlefield, so i’d listen to her if you know what’s good for you.” in a haze, you guess that luke is directing his sharp words towards eros, before turning to the others and instructing: “you guys take care of this — find clarisse if you need back up.”

somehow, you find yourself over in a small secluded temple, sitting on a window bench overlooking the clouds as luke sits next to you.

like most of olympus, the building is made of marble with gold accents; this one has roses engraved on the walls, and the space smells like flowery perfume. it’s much quieter than the pavilion, though you can hear laughter and music in the distance. it’s cooler, too, but not by much; even without all the body heat, you're left with sticky summer air, and luke’s breath on yours, sweet with wine and ripe fruit, as he carefully examines your injury.

you feel your head spinning all over again. maybe it’s the alcohol, or the adrenaline, or the fact that the two of you haven’t been this close in a while — probably a dangerous mix of all three. 

you know (from trying not to but ultimately not being able to pull your attention away from him after all) that he’s had a few drinks as well; it seems like the two of you ignore each other best when you’re sober.

“thought the curse of achilles would protect you from nosebleeds.”

“guess it doesn’t protect against —” what did percy call eros? “ — minor gods who have major god complexes,” you recite.

luke looks slightly amused. “that’s a shame,” he hums. “would have been nice to get one birthday without being injured.”

a smile creeps onto your face, despite the dull ache from your nose.

“you remembered.”

“of course i remember,” luke almost scoffs like the mere suggestion of forgetting what day you were born is an insult to his very character. he meets your gaze, and you could melt when he offers you that lopsided smile of his, painfully familiar. “happy birthday, aquagirl,” and it’s the softest he’s spoken to you in a while. just like old times.

he remembers. 

somewhere within him, luke holds on to fragments of you.

he wipes the blood off your face, the sleeve of his silk white button-down now stained crimson. “how’s your hand?” he asks. 

you flex your fingers. “it’s been better,” you answer, your knuckles slightly aching. “totally worth it.”

“i guess all those years away didn’t change anything. still willing to put a god in their place, huh?”

all those years away. 

the reminder feels like a stab to the heart, and you’re worried that it might burst the comfortable bubble you and luke had drunkenly stumbled into. 

thankfully, luke continues:

“the kids really take after you.”

he says as a joke, mostly, but there’s a sincerity in those deep brown eyes of his, too. something you also hadn’t seen from him in a while. 

the kids, who you’d in some ways raised together when monsters were trying to kill you and the gods didn’t care enough to stop it. 

the family you and luke had built together despite being born into the world of greek tragedies. 

“as if annabeth wasn’t threatening to pull the dagger you gave her, skywalker,” the nickname rolling off your tongue with ease. “besides, they’re not kids anymore.”

“yeah.” he pauses. “neither are we.” 

luke’s fingers trace your camp necklace, brush against your collarbone. the breath hitches in your throat.

here you are again, at the edge of something real and very scary, and you fear luke is going to push the two of you over. 

but he doesn’t. instead, luke suggests, jokingly: “maybe we should start a fight club at camp.” 

you take that as a good sign: like you, he’s hoping to preserve the playfulness between you before everything else seeps in and ruins it. before you’re brought back to the present, where you’re practically ignoring each other.

where you’re fine, but really. 

you snort. “chiron and mr. d would love that.”

“like they’d ever find out!” luke explains. “you know the first rule of fight club —”

“don’t talk about fight club,” you finish together. 

luke laughs, even though it’s not that funny. you laugh, too. 

and that’s the thing that really, truly gets you. 

try as you might to ignore it, some days it’s hard to forget the pain and heartache and grief. 

you still feel like your life is a battlefield; you still see the ghosts of everyone you couldn’t save even though people call you a savior; you still have those scars, inside and out, that seemed healed but ache every once and a while. 

but that isn’t all. 

sometimes it hurts more thinking back to the good times and knowing, deep down, you can never go back.

summer — age 13

“ugh — you think with all their power, the gods could help stop global warming,” you groaned, swatting away a mosquito that tried to land on you. “do you think they have air conditioning on olympus?”

“oh, for sure,” luke quipped. he gave you a lopsided smile, his curls sticking to his forehead, drenched in sweat. 

it was the summer solstice, the longest and the hottest day of the year so far. the two of you had found a perfectly good hideout, but luke insisted that this place would be worth the move. 

he’d been leading you down side streets for what felt like forever. the sun had already set, and you were very close to passing out from the heat, until luke finally stopped at a door behind an alley, with a sign reading CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS. 

luke knelt down to do whatever son-of-hermes lock magic he had to do to get the door open. he flipped a switch, and you winced at the sudden overwhelming brightness. 

the destination was different than the hideouts you usually sprung for: those small, hole-in-the-wall type places. instead, this space was big and bright, filled with arcade games and fun posters and neon colours. the type of place a kid might have a party or where a group of normal teenagers might spend their friday night. 

“what…what is this?”

“you thought i forgot, didn’t you?” luke smirked at you. he sat down on the colourful carpet, taking out some snacks, a small plastic bag with coins, a wrapped box, and a plastic blue crown, and gestured for you to join.

you did, in fact, think that luke had forgotten your birthday. 

birthdays were bittersweet for children of gods, who were constantly reminded that any year could be their last, their youth cut short by monsters or prophecies or a fatal flaw. all the two of you usually did on either birthday was split any sweet treat you could get your hands on. 

it wasn’t a big deal, really, to skip that tradition of yours. there were much more urgent things to worry about, like finding food and water and shelter, and not being devoured by monsters. 

you did think it was strange that luke hadn’t so much as said happy birthday to you all day, but you knew that he loved you.

(like a friend loves a friend. nothing else, no matter how much your stomach fluttered at the thought of him.) 

“i wanted to surprise you,” luke explained once you claimed your spot next to him. he reached over to place the crown on your head. “i found this place a few days ago during a food run. it reminds me of where we had your —”

“eighth birthday party, yeah.” you smiled at the memory of running around and feeding quarters to every machine and trying every game, of your classmates singing happy birthday to you off-key before you all stuffed your faces with sickly sweet confetti cake. 

truthfully, you never thought about having another celebration like that again.

but, it was five years from that faded childhood memory, and luke was presenting you with something you didn’t even realize you had needed: the chance to be a kid again.

“so,” luke got up, a wide smile on his face. he held the plastic bag in one hand, extending the other to you. “which do you wanna play first?”

you started with space invaders, then moved on to dragon’s lair and pac-man. you took a break before street fighter ii so that luke could ceremoniously light a candle and present a cupcake that had been tossed around in his bag (but you were still very, very grateful for), along with fresh batteries for your portable cassette player. he had made you a mixtape too, though you couldn’t figure out how. 

your last stop was a photobooth. you vowed to keep those pictures — a collection of you and luke together, smiling bright and colourful, goofing off and laughing — for the rest of your life.

now

those moments from past summers are like popsicles melting in the sun: tangible for a limited time before leaving you with a sickly sweet mess of what once was. 

you think about what happened earlier, how percy, annabeth, and thalia stepped in to protect you, still the brave kids you had once known so well. how luke is here with you now, taking care of you so tenderly even after you’ve silently agreed to give each other the cold shoulder. 

maybe luke is right. maybe all those years away didn’t change anything. 

except — once you leave this temple and the alcohol leaves your system, it won’t be the same. 

none of you are kids anymore, if you ever even were. 

“why’d you go for eros, anyway?” luke asks, breaking you away from your thoughts. he removes his sleeve from your nose since the bleeding seems to have finally stopped.

“you really wanna know?”

“yeah. most gods are assholes. and you’re…” luke places a hand close to your leg, pinky finger brushing your thigh. “you.”

“i went for eros because….well, honestly, i don’t think i cared who it was, as long as they made me forget you,” you admit, because what did you have to lose. you probably have a broken nose, you definitely have blood on your shirt, and your time with luke is running out. 

luke’s eyes darken. his fingers start to play with the hem of your shorts. 

“did it work?” his voice is a whisper, but he’s close enough that he’s crystal clear.

“no.”

it’s hard to determine who leans in first, but soon enough your lips are on luke’s — messy and urgent. noses bumping together, teeth clacking against each other. he cradles your face in his hands, and you move to straddle his waist. you taste wine on his tongue, and maybe a hint of sweet pears, but it’s overwhelmed by the salty, metallic taste of blood stained on your lips. when you run out of air, you pull away. it’s clearer now: you’re not dizzy from the alcohol or adrenaline, but dizzy from him. luke’s gaze is heavy on yours as he traces your top lip with his thumb.

“luke,” you whimper, itching to kiss him again. 

“you’re still bleeding.”

luke wipes away the blood with his thumb. before either of you can do or say anything more, there’s an echo of footsteps on the marble floor. a flower nymph, there to leave an offering and let you know that, while aphrodite encourages acts of love, she prefers it doesn’t happen in her place of worship. 

you realize that aphrodite also might not look so fondly at you kissing someone else in her place of worship after publicly rebuking her own son.

luke untangles himself from you, and you know that he’s been jolted back to reality, too. 

and, just like that, another moment has melted away.

your father was right. time has a way of slipping away for us, immortal or not.

summer — age 18

“hey, you awake?”  

“yeah,” you replied softly. sleep hadn’t been easy, in the days and weeks and months leading up to that final battle with kronos and his army. 

and once it was all over? 

you rested your head on luke’s shoulder, sword discarded at your feet and armour half-removed, as argus, the hundred-eyed security guard of olympus, drove a school bus with a dozen or so demigods back to camp.

“why’d you turn down their offer?” luke whispered.

oh.

"why...why do you ask?"

"i don't know." luke paused. "just curious, i guess."

you closed your eyes and replayed that moment on olympus when you refused the gift of immortality. the look of shock written on the gods’ faces. and on luke’s.

“i don’t care about living forever,” you told him bluntly.

forever seemed too long, especially for someone who was prophesied to die at 18.

you tilted your head up to meet luke’s gaze, and his messy curls brushed against your forehead. evidence of the battle was clear on his face: caked-on dirt and blossoming bruises and dried blood. 

behind him, outside the bus window, the world was flying by. a child who had fallen off their bike being comforted by a friend. two people sharing an mp3 player and a pair of earbuds. an elderly couple walking their dog.

“you once told me that this was our life,” you continued, gesturing towards the weapons and battle-worn kids, some quiet, others crying, many injured. “what if it didn’t have to be?” 

luke furrowed his brow. “do you mean….are you talking about leaving?”

you shrugged. running from monsters for your entire childhood then being the child of the great prophecy was a lot.

a break might be nice.

there was so much about the world, the one you’d fought and bled to protect, that you wanted to experience. 

maybe something closer to a normal life.

“would you ever leave camp?” you wondered, not really answering luke's question. 

“no,” luke replied instantly. his fingers started fiddling with the beads on his necklace. “i can’t just walk away, not after everything.”

“yeah, i get that.” and you did; you really, truly, did. the guilt of wanting to leave camp curled in your stomach like a venomous snake. you took a shaky breath. “let’s talk about this later, yeah? i’m tired, and we have the rest of — ”

the rest of the summer slipped away in the blink of an eye. gone, before you even had a real chance to say goodbye.

you closed your eyes and held on to luke, as if gripping his arm would anchor you to something you weren't ready to let go of, but in some ways needed to move on from.

it was no use, though. 

by the end of august, you’d be gone too. 

now 

you learned early on that the curse of achilles doesn’t protect you from hangovers.

you wake up the morning after the celebration on olympus with a deep, throbbing pain lodged in your temple and an uncomfortable swirling in your gut. parties and late nights at bars are common on tour, which means migraines are, too, so you have a routine to make sure you’re not out of commission for too long.

except this time, the aspirin and blue gatorade and dry toast don’t work. the sting in your brain and uneasiness in your stomach doesn’t go away, even after a few days. you haven’t been able to sleep, either.

desperate for a cure, you consult lou ellen, head counsellor of the hecate cabin, who you’d unexpectedly grown close to in the past few weeks. she mixes something for you, while asking if there’s something that’s been weighing on you.

you couldn't keep it in anymore; you tell her about the summer solstice and luke.  

later, with nothing but your thoughts and percy’s snoring occupying your time post-curfew, you grab your phone and flip it open, deciding to finally reach out to luke, when you get a text from him.

luke is already on the beach when you arrive, looking out onto the water. 

“hey,” you greet as you sit next to him on the sand, but not too close. “i was actually about to text you —”

“did you tell anyone that we kissed?” he interrupts. you can’t quite read his expression as he waits for you to answer.

“no, i didn’t,” you lie. “would it matter if i did?”

“well, i mean, word travels fast around camp, and i don’t want van finding out. it’s not like it meant anything.”

the throbbing in your brain becomes a sharper sting, the uneasiness in your stomach a tidal wave of nausea.

“it didn’t?” you hate how fragile your voice sounds, compared to luke’s stoic demeanor.

luke shrugs. “i mean, we were both drunk and the thing with eros happened…we just got caught up in the heat of the moment.” 

“you’re saying there’s nothing between us, then? nothing?” the word tastes bitter in your mouth.

luke turns away before he answers. “no. nothing.”

“then what about last summer?” you demand. you force yourself to keep it together, your tone firmer than before. “i guess that didn’t mean anything, either.”

“y/n…” he sighs. “i don’t know what you want me to say. we’re barely even friends anymore. you come back here, after all this time, after so much shit happened, and expect us all to drop everything to fit you back into our lives. but, you don't. whatever you came here for, it's not here for you. there's nothing to go back to. we moved on. i moved on, and i can’t deal with you —" 

“got it,” you snap, already turning to walk away. “loud and fucking clear, luke.” 

it’s not like it meant anything. we’re barely even friends anymore.

you replay luke’s words as you crawl into bed, holding back tears so as to not disturb percy. finally, you swallow a generous amount of whatever concoction lou ellen had brewed up for you.

drifting off into your own sleep, you decide that you don’t love luke anymore. not as a friend, not as a.....

nope. 

according to luke, there's not even anything to go back to.

nothing.

nothing.

[gracieeegleegal]

hii can you do like an instagram au or something for walker or charlie? they’re like all in the percy jackson cast and she’s hayden christensen kid or something? ly 🩷

Ofc! Thank you ILYT 🩷 Here it is

Notes: hey there it’s Gracie! I’m so sorry for the inactivity, I’ve been very busy and so much has been going on in my life it overwhelms me at times. Thank you for all the messages! 🫶🏻 appreciate the concern. I’ll try and update as much as I can. Luv u

JACKPOT, Walker Scobell

summary: Famous Star Wars actor, Hayden, has a daughter who so happens to be presenting herself in the pjo universe.

Pairings: walker scobell x fem!Oc!Christensen

Fc: Florence hunt

Liked by walker.scobell, iamcharliebushnell, disneyplus and 548.278 others percyseries Warm hugs and welcomes to the one and only yn.christensen our Aurora Winslow, Aphrodite’s promised daughter 💒. View comments

ynchristensen an honor 🩷

leahsavajeffries AHHHHHHHHHH so excited

→ ynchristensen even more excited to be part of this family 🫶🏻

iamcharliebushnell switching universes I see 👀

→ ynchristensen carrying a lightsaber is tiring sometimes

diorngoodjohn sosososososos happyyyyy

aryansimhadri YNNNNNNNN

→ ynchristensen ARYANNNNNNNN

liked by walkerscobell, leahsavajeffries, and 347.789 others

ynchristensen last picture is my dads face when I told him I got the role in #pjoseason2 (don’t worry he’s actually so happy for me) Hi, I’m Aurora! View comments

ynfan SOOO EXCITED TO SEE YOU ON SCREEN AGAIN

user267 the genes are good

walkerscobell he’s so fr bc that was my exact reaction to the news

→ ynchristensen HAHHAHA

iamcharliebushnell I think walker is excited to have a certain someone on set 😏

diorngoodjohn PRETTYYYYY

→ ynchristensen all you babes 🥰

aryansimhadri can you tell your dad I love him

→ ynchristensen no

liked by user2, hearts4yn, username, leahsavajeffries and others

pjoupdates walker, leah, aryan, charlie and dior spotted at disney world with another girl. Walker and the mysterious girl seemed to be very close. View comments

Hearts4yn that’s definitely yn

→ username you don’t know that

→ ynfan it does look like her and she was recently confirmed to join the cast

user22 he’s taken????

→ username could be just rumors

→ username actually I was there they seemed pretty close

→ username who was he with???

walkersupdatw I took a picture of them they look cute

→ username omgomgomg post it

→ username where??????

TRENDING NEWS

Percy Jackson hit series star Walker Scobell was spotted at Disney with his cast members and holding hands while hugging with a mysterious girl. Sources say it might be Y/N Christensen, Hayden Christensen daughter. This new speculation came out shortly after Y/N posted on her Instagram story a picture of two shadows, her and supposedly Walker, holding hands. The story was deleted a few seconds after being posted.

ynchristensen posted a story!

liked by walkerscobell, aryansimhadri, iamcharliebushnell and 681.208 others

ynchristensen following my fathers footsteps next to these demigods

View comments

diorngoodjohn girl knows how to use a lightsaber

→ ynchristensen when you grow up like I do you sort have to :) all jokes aside I love it and I loved seeing youuuuuu

starwars welcome back mini skywalker

→ ynchristensen 🫡🫡 glad to be back

iamcharliebushnell 🤟🏼🤟🏼

→ ynchristensen 🤟🏼🤟🏼

aryansimhadri yn has joined the dark side??

→ ynchristensen it be jst like that sometimes 🤷‍♀️ besides Luke does have a point….

→ walkerscobell Traitor

→ iamcharliebushnell she speaking facts

walkerscobell who may that person be in the last pic 🤔

→ ynchristensen it’s a secret 🤫

leahsavajeffries I lob u 🩷

→ ynchristensen I lob u 2 🩷

→ walkerscobell 🥲

username they’re definitely dating

→ user00 who???

→ username yn and walker

→ hearts4yn frrr she posted a story wearing his hat and in the last picture it’s a guy wearing a hat

→ username6 Charlie was wearing a hat too

→ hearts4yn he wasn’t wearing a NY Yankees hat, only walker

diorngoodjohn posted a story!

liked by walkerscobell, percyseries, leahsavajeffries and 389.678 others

ynchristensen life lately 😌 (yes he was approved by dad)

View comments

walkerscobell WOOOOO I get to live another day

→ ynchristensen unfortunately 😔

leahsavajeffries no fair that walker met your dad first

→ walkerscobell perks of being her bf 😏

→ ynchristensen Dw leah dad let me invite all the girls over next week :)

→ diorngoodjohn YEAHHHHHHHH

→ walkerscobell oh.

Iamcharliebushnell I called it, now I can finally tell you about walkers fat crush on you and how he simped over you😝

→ ynchristensen MUAHAHAHA SPILLLL

→ walkerscobell Charlie no

username I KNEWWW IT

walkerscobell who is that handsome man in the second slide 🥵

→ ynchristensen oh you noticed the cockroach in my rooms floor :)

aryansimhadri you took my pookie from me 😢

→ynchristensen you can keep him he snores too much

→ walkerscobell I DO NOT

[phoenix-artz]

GUESS WHO HAS A PERCY JACKSON HERMITCRAFT AU

EXCEPT BY HERMITCRAFT I REALLY JUST MEAN HERMITVERSE CENTRIC (HERMITCRAFT, LIFE SERIES, EMPIRES, PIRATES, ETC)

YEAAHHHHH (this is gonna have a lot of spoilers for pjo and onward so like.... 🤪)

I'm actually writing this au i just erm

Only have it on a google docs and i mayyy??? Write it here one day??? 🤔🤨👀

BUT ANYWAY HAHAHA

[marylily-my-beloved]

INTRO POST!! ♡

»»-----------► I HAVE A MICROFIC BLOG: @marylilymicrofic IF YOU LIKE MARYLILY AND LIKE MARAUDERS YOU SHOULD GO FOLLOW AND WRITE FOR IT!! I MADE IT WITH @icarus-last-fall

»»-----------► I made an aesthetic blog where I’ll be making mood boards and stuff !! It’s called @aesthetic-crows ♡

»»-----------► MY #1 WIFE RIYANA I LOVE HER GUYS @im-on-crack-send-help

»»-----------► Hiii! I hope you guys are prepared for like 4 fandom related posts a day and random rambles + shitposts ♡

»»-----------► My name is Fatimah, I am a minor (so plz don't be creepy) make any nicknames for me that you want ♡ She/they, arab, muslim, pansexual, infp, im just a girl ♡

»»-----------► MY AO3 <33 Go check it out I write marauders fics

➥ Lily and the Princesses of Power (ongoing). She-ra au, marylily fic, background ships as well. Lily escapes from the Death Eaters leaving Mary behind. 5/? Chapters ♡

➥ Back at that Party (finished). Canon AU, marylily fic, background dorlene. Mary & Lily have a disagreement at a party and forced to sort it out together. 1/1 Chapter ♡

➥ Good Luck Babe! (finished). Canon AU, Lily x Narcissa wedding fic, end game narcissa x lucuis. Lily gets invited to Narcissa's wedding, and warns her about what could happen to her, and then dies a couple of years later. Main Character Death, 1/1 Chapter (based on Good Luck Babe! by Chappell Roan) ♡ (tumblr link)

➥ Burning Stars (finished). Canon AU, Bellatrix x Alice fic talking about their relationship in Hogwarts and how it ended. very angsty, hurt no comfort. 1/1 chapter ♡ (tumblr link)

➥ Strawberry Mentos (finished). Modern AU, marylily fic based on 'strawberry mentos'. Short and pretty cute and sweet. Getting Together fic. 1/1 chapter ♡ (tumblr link)

➥ Letters to A Happier Life (finished). after war AU, marylily. Lily is already dead, and Mary discovers their old letters after she obvliated herself. 1/1 chapter ♡ (tumblr link)

»»-----------► SOME LINKS TO MY FAVE POSTS I MADE

Black Sisters Dialouge

Mary Macdonald Deep Dive

Dorcas Meadowes Deep Dive

Black Sisters Deep Dive (sorta)

Peter Pettigrew Deep Dive

Blue by Billie Eilish = Andromeda & Bellatrix

Skinny by Billie Eilish = Lily Evans

Chihiro by Billie Eilish = Dorcas Meadowes

Lacy by Olivia Rodrigo = Dorlily (Dorcas x Lily)

Apple by Charli XCX = Evans Sisters (Lily & Petunia)

24/7 by The Neighbourhood = Jily modern AU

Bellatrix & Sirius Comparison

Microfics

»»-----------► I am obessed with Chappell Roan and women so much its not even funny anymore

»»-----------► I love writing fanfics, reading anything (plz give me book & fanfic recs), baking, listening to music & playing basketball ♡

»»-----------► I love hearts, pearls, rings, aesthetic stuff, pink and purple, uquizzes, cats, my moots & lipgloss ♡

»»-----------► DNI IF

Rasict Transphobic and/or homphobic Islamaphobic Zionist / supports israel Sexist Discriminate against people for any stupid reason

»»-----------► Fandoms: ♡

・❥・ Harry Potter/Marauders fandom. Gryffindor. Lily, Mary & Remus kinnie. In love with James Potter & Pandora Lovegood ♡ (fuck jk rowling I do not support her) (jkr should go die)

・❥・She-ra (2018 reboot). Harcdore catradora and scorfuma shipper. Entrapta kinnie and I am in love with her ♡

・❥・ PJO (Percy Jackson). Percabeth and Valgrace <333 Cabin #8. Pretty sure I kin Annabeth. My favourite charcater is Bianca ♡

・❥・Hunger Games. Have not finished the series yet but working on it <3. In love with Johanna ♡. Need to read half of Mockingjay & TBOSAS ♡

・❥・Heartstopper. So excited for season 3, read all of the books on webtoon. Tori & Tara lover ♡. Darcy, Elle & Charlie kinnie. Harcore Tara x Darcy shippers ♡

・❥・ Young Royals. Harcore Sara x Felice shipper & Stedrika (stella x fredrika) & of coure Wilmon and Henry x Walter. Wilhelm and Felice kinnie. In love with Maddie ♡

・❥・ ATLA & LOK. I love them so much, I love Korra and Katara & Asami. Toph + Zuko kinnie ♡ Harcore kataang and toph x suki. getting into zutara but kataang will always be the otp. I have almost all the comics for ATLA ♡

・❥・TDP / The Dragon Prince. love love love love, I got sooo back into it after season 6. protect my boy terry!!! ♡ rayllum my loves. sorvus my heart. fuck viren. probably a soren kinnie... ♡

・❥・Probably more but I can't remember rn ♡

»»-----------► My tags and other random stuff <333:

➥ Pride Month headcanons: #fatimahs pride headcanons 🤍 ➥ Daily Headcanons: #dailyyapfromfatimah🎀 ➥ Random stuff: fatimah yaps 🎀 ➥ Headcanons (doesn't matter which fandom): #Fatimahs headcanons 🩷 ➥ Deep Dives & Random long rambles: #Fatimahs deep dives ➥ My Writing (either here or a link to ao3): #Fatimah's writing 🌸 ➥ Asks: #Fatimah gets an ask woah ➥ My irl life: Fatimah’s life!! »»-----------► Quotes ➥ marauders: Fatimahs marauders quotes 🩵 ➥She ra: Fatimahs she ra quotes 🩷 forgot the rest lol ♡

»»-----------► Music: Conan Gray, Sabrina Carpenter, The Weeknd, Olivia Rodrigo, Chase Atlantic, Suicidal Tendencies, Hozier, Ariana Grande, Beadadoobee, Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish, Ethel Cain, EMELINE, Lana Del Ray, The Neighbourhood, Arctic Monkeys, CAS, David Bowie, Queen, Mitski, Cavetown & girl in red ♡

»»-----------► I LOVE ALL MY MOOTS IM TOO TIRED TO MAKE A LIST BUT I LOVE YOU GUYS <33333333

»»-----------► I usually yap only about the marauders and/or she-ra but will occasionally yap about anything and everything else <3 please send me asks for anything you want I love asks and your like personal comments on my stuff ♡

the dividers are by @cafekitsune & the images are from Pinterest ♡

random ass stuff bc i love that !!

[neoflames]

Amendment poll based on an anon. Should Cleo be (in the AU):

[amoreva]

FEIGNING FOR YA’

—– ٠ ✤ ٠ —–· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • · —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —–

CHAPTER 1

pairing: luke castellan x fem!reader

summary: as a little childish act of rebellion, you try dating your friend, Luke Castellan, to really piss off your parents (for a actual real reason, not the small things they hate). what was supposed to be no strings attached turned into a little more than just childish revenge.

warnings: slow burn, college au, smau, fake dating to dating, cursing, clarisse x chris, aged up! pjo charcters, yn is older sister figure to percy, luke and thalia are older sibling figures to annabeth

a/n: i have re-written this one too many times and am still in the process of revising and proofreading to give you guys the best condition of the start of this fic series! So sorry for the delay!

series list | next

—– ٠ ✤ ٠ —–· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • · —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —–

“Are we still friends?”

“What?”

“Can we be friends?”

“After all of this?”

“After all of this.”

It would be a disastrously great story to tell your grandkids (if you had grandkids). Quite embarrassing really, telling someone about how naive and oblivious you were (still are.)

It was spring. The flowers in full bloom. Allergies spreading like wildfire due to pollen. Thankfully, it was raining cats and dogs, so no stuffy noses tonight. You decided to come back from your hometown two days before spring break ended. As much as you were homesick after spending so long at college, your family made you feel homesick for college.

It was torturous. Questions and questions about your college life were thrown at you left and right. From potentially having a significant other to your major that you were taking to who you were friends with to being disappointed in your college major to asking about your grades to being disappointed you party to just being disappointed.

All in all, truly you loved your family. Really, you do. Your aunt made great pastries. Your dad a great cook. Your uncle made really funny (bad.) jokes. Yet, they found some way to critic your every decision and move you make. You hated it.

Your shoes squeaked on tiled stairs. Lugging up your suitcase, you just prayed you didn’t fall. The tiles were wet because people’s shoes were wet. You did not want to pay a hospital bill after barely paying for college.

By the time you got to your dorm, you were already half asleep, running on an overpriced yogurt parfait from the airport. The soft comforter of your bed calling out to you like a siren’s song.

You were lulling off to dreamscape when a loud ominous creak filled the silence. “C’mon. You gotta be better than that. Lock your doors.” Luke’s “charming” voice replaced your peace. “Some creep could waltz in and kidnap you in your sleep.”

“Supposed you’re that creep?”

Luke has been attached to your hip since highschool, freshman year. Both of you have suffered through each other’s numerous cringy phases (only to bring them up for the annual birthday post on instagram).

He was one of the friends your parents despise. They always ranted about how they’ve been a bad influence to you since highschool.

“Depends.” The bed dipped under his weight. “Do you think you look okay enough to go out?”

“I guess, but I feel disgusting.” You answered. Confusion swimming through your mind. Where was Luke going with this?

“Are you upset because of a recent event?”

“Kinda.”

“Upset enough to stay holed up the whole evening?” Luke rephrased.

“No.”

“Okay.” Decision.

You heard his windbreaker swish as his arms wrapped around your waist. “Luke!” Like a bag of potatoes you were tossed over his shoulder. “You fucking—!”

He grabbed what he was originally came in your dorm for and exited. Silena, Chris and Clarisse were waiting for Luke and now, you. “Welcome back!” Silena said, masking her shock.

No one knew you were coming back home early and Luke wasn’t surprised. As much as you wanted to stay in your dorm and sleep, you were glad to be with your friends.

The restaurant was loud and lively. The rain ceasing. College students were celebrating their final few days before classes started up again. The occasional drunks here to watch the multiple football games going on. Your friend group chose to celebrate.

The dim lighting was a stark contrast to the bright TVs that played various football and soccer games. Drinks slid down the bar into the awaiting consumer’s hand. Alcohol got everyone in a better mood during the night (though the same cannot be said the morning after).

A waiter placed down the five shots Luke had ordered, in toast of your unexpected return and the final days of spring break. The shot glasses made a tiny clink before the liquid burned your throat. It left a warm feeling in your chest.

Silena and Clarisse went to take photos via Chris the cameraman. The three went out to the porch of the restaurant bar. You opted out and Luke stayed with you. You weren’t exactly in the nicest clothes.

Another round of shots were placed on the table. Luke ran his fingers through his curls and checked his phone. “What’s bothering you?” He asked.

“What?” You tore your gaze from the two girls and looked at Luke.

“You said you were upset about something, but not too upset to not go out.” Luke explained. “Better to get it off your shoulders than to bottle it up.”

You roll your eyes at his last sentence and sat up in the cushioned restaurant chair. “Family.” Luke laughed a little at that. He’s known how perfect your family wants you to be.

You shove your face into your hands as if you were reliving the reunion all over again. “I didn’t even do anything bad or get in serious trouble this time!”

Luke nodded along slowly, taking in your every word. You can’t tell what he’s thinking as you continue on your little rant. Yet his face shifts as you rant.

“Why are your grades like that?”

“I saw your Instagram post. Drinking? Really?”

You parrot some of the questions your family said to you, with their fake smiles and judgmental eyes. You were old enough to drink! “And then they started talking my ear off about you all. Clarisse! Thalia, you—Silena and Chris” The list goes on. Luke knows it. You know it.

“Why are you friends with that temperamental girl? Lord knows the trouble you’ll be roped into with her.” You mocked your parents, aunts and uncles’ words. “I don’t like how that Thalia girl. Too rebellious, disrespectful too!”

“That one girl is an airhead. Head in the clouds.”

“Don’t get me started on that Luke boy again.”

“Get better friends.”

“Maybe you hang out with a different group.”

“They piss me off! And well maybe they’re concerned about my wellbeing, but—they keep harping me about everything little thing I do.” You groaned and rubbed your eyes exhausted. “Which is why I came back early.”

“So piss them off.” Like that was the hardest thing you do. You unintentionally trigger their judgmental side without even trying.

“What?”

“It’s what I do to my dad. I piss him off most of the time when he tries to come back.” Luke shrugged. “If they hate all of us so much. Date one of us, shit—date me, you’ve known me the longest. I think they’d be pretty pissed about you dating a bad influence.”

“That’s so childish.” You commented, but it was good, but it could work. Rebellion never hurt anyone that bad. Well, maybe your aunt will have a “heart attack”, but it should be fine.

And you were out of options to try and get your family off your back.

So the next afternoon, when Clarisse was out, Luke and you sat on your bed and conjured up a contract for this temporary relationship; a day before break was over.

“I don’t see why we need a contract.” Luke sipped on a juicebox. The sunlight providing a nice atmosphere in your dorm room.

“I saw it work on a show I watched kinda.” You whispered the word “kinda” under your breath. It was a long time since you’ve seen the show.

Luke raised an eyebrow and set the empty juice box on your desk. “So…uh—terms and conditions.” You typed out on a Google doc in big bolded letters. How do you start this?

“We could “date” from now until the start of summer? I think that is a long enough rebellion.” You suggested and looked at Luke. “I have to go back home for Easter and my little sister’s birthday, but then I have that family trip in summer…”

“Sure.” Luke agreed.

You looked at him silently asking him to elaborate. “From now until that family trip is over. I’ll go to Easter, the birthday and the trip.”

“You aren’t trying to mooch off me for the trip are you?”

Luke slid the computer to him and typed out the first terms and conditions. He ignored your question with a smile and a shake of his head. “You have to come with me when it’s Mother’s Day though.”

You agreed to that relatively quickly. Your mom and dad were always out of town that day. “I’m fine with kissing on the cheek and forehead and holding hands, if you are?”

“What? No lips?” Luke teased with a grin.

“I haven’t had my first kiss yet.” You muttered in embarrassment.

“Fine, no lips.” You were slightly surprised Luke didn’t tease you for not having your first kiss yet. He typed it on the computer. “And no sex.”

“No sex.” You agreed. “And we cannot let the others know. They’ll start talking and then it’ll get to my family somehow—”

“Okay…no sex and no talking about the fake relationship.” Luke chucked and typed it on the computer. “This seems good enough for a contract right?” He still thinks the contract is stupid.

You smack his shoulder. “This is serious, Luke! If I wanna piss of my parents I have to do it right.”

“Okay, sweetie.” He spoke sarcastically and typed his name at the end of the document. You did the same. “But there is no right way to piss off someone. You just do.”

After signing the temporary dating contract, Luke and you talked about the story of how you got together.

Luke and you supposedly have had some unrequited feelings during highschool. Both of you began talking over spring break after a drunk conversation and decided to give dating a shot.

Then, there was the fact that Luke and you had to announce the relationship. So, social media it was. Which prompted you to grab his hand. “Where are we going?” Luke asked as he was dragged off your bed.

“A cafe.” You held his hand, fingers lacing together. “I’m hungry after all that and it would be great publicity if we went out holding hands.”

“Whatever you say.” Luke rolled his eyes, though he didn’t mean it. “Then I guess I’ll be the good boyfriend and pay.”

“Really?” You asked and looked back at him.

He shrugged. “Why not.”

Luke and you held hands and talked about whatever came to mind. Like you usually did as bestfriends. He opened the cafe door for you and paid for your food and drink.

Maybe “dating” Luke won’t be the worst thing ever. Rebelling doesn’t seem to be all that bad now. Maybe everything will turn out fine. You rebel against your perfect family and Luke will get a free trip as a reward. Yeah, you’re sure things will turn out okay. Maybe.

—– ٠ ✤ ٠ —–· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • · —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —–

taglist:

@happy-mushrooms @m00ng4z3r

[phoenix-writez]

Decided to post entry #1 here as some people may not enjoy reading things on ao3 :D

I'm not sure how to format the fic on tumblr, so feel free to give me criticism! (Constructive. Criticism. I will ignore insulting)

So, have fun with Scar's POV! It's in first person, so if you're not a fan of that... Sorry! I try to analyze the characters beforehand and write them as themselves! Scar's a silly little guy, so I hope I got that down!

—

Entry #1

[SCAR]

August 18, 1997

This place is fun, honestly! I got here just four days ago!

A theater filled with red and pink strobe lights, it feels rather disco-ey, if I'm being honest. There's a rather large stage where people step up and say whatever they want. There's actors, circus acts, and even singers. Or karaoke.

Why is karaoke spelled that way? It should be kareoke, but to each their own!

Either way, I've gone up there a few times just to sing songs from my favorite cartoons. Had a few cheers from the crowd, but not many.

I loved it here though!

When I first got to the theater, I had been with a few friends. I don't know where they went, lost track of them. I remember this guy welcoming us, holding out his hand and grinning fancily.

“Welcome, all! This is the Eye’s Spy Theatre!”

Trust me, it's not spelled theater. I learned the hard way.

“Want me to take you to your rooms?” The fella acknowledged each of us. He had a towel folded over his arm, just like a butler would in a fictional story. I tilted my head to the side like a dog, “Sir? No offense, but I don't recall this being a hotel.”

“Perhaps you missed the sign, but all is well, Scar Goodtimes, your room is already booked. First floor, as always! Can't be giving you anything further than that with your given situation, can we?” He says, then steps behind me.

I raise my hands, “WAIT– Hands off, fancy guy! Firstly, what do you mean?”

“How do you know his name?” My friend asked. Fancy Guy looked over, “When you book a room, we get your names on the screen. Besides, I know everyone in this town.”

Right.

—

August ??????

I woke up with a start, hearing a bang nearby. I pull myself onto my chair and roll onward, out of the room.

“What?! What happened–”

I look towards the stage, my breath slows. “Oh! Obviously.” I giggle, then I do a double take. What the– “What am I doing up there?!”

On the stage, was me in a weird outfit. I've never seen this kind of outfit before, honestly. Maybe some new fashion shaped itself in the six days I've been here.

Wait… how long has it been?

I blink, but I can't really think. My memory is kinda foggy.

I see more characters on the stage, some blue haired guy and this ginger lady clearly tired out and breathing heavy. I'm not sure if it was Hollywood level acting, or they were actually just overworked out of their minds.

I roll towards the bar, and no, this bar isn't necessarily an alcoholic bar you see at night time when everything else closes. I'm sixteen! I can't even drink anyway! I doubt rules changed that much when I've been here.

I grin at the tender, “Do you have anything other than really warm milk? It was you, after all, who said you'd make this the best experience possible y'know.”

“I… we do, in fact. Anything you want, dear hero.”

“Hero? My name is Scar, did you forget that fancy pants?” I smirk. “No. I did not.” He said flatly.

“Oh.”

“I'd like just a simple water, honestly.” I said. “Ah, only the crispiest we'll hand out for you.” The man kneels towards the shelves.

Huh? I blink. He's reaching up at them actually, I swear I've been seeing things.

I spend my time drinking the water and distracting myself from the fact I may have just met my walking doppelganger. Though he's using a cane, still those legs can work and I'm jealous.

Just kidding, I don't care.

—

After a few minutes, I nearly jump, but I keep my composure. Another guy, looks around my age but surprisingly short. I'd give him a… 4’11? Jeez, really needs a growth spurt by now.

He ordered an orange juice and stared into the distance. That's when he spoke to me, “Fun act, right?”

“I wasn't really interested, too confusing. What was that back there, some kinda jester or whatever?”

“I'd give it a 5 out of tried their best.” The short guy said, then he turned to look at me and giggled. “You look like one of the actors.”

“Must be a long lost brother.” I put my cup down and look at him, and woah. My eyes widened and I smiled awkwardly. “Well! That's a… so what's your name, orange juice?”

“Oh! My name's Grian.” He smiled so brightly. I chuckled, “Cool! My name is Scar.”

“Oh I know–”

“Huh?”

“Sorry, long story.”

“Everyone knows my name in this place!” I look back at the table in front of us. “That would be a given. This place isn't really, well, real.” Someone walked towards us both.

Actually, a group.

The actors.

“Aw, I'm getting a standing ovation from the fellas themselves–” I look around. “Where's the guy who looked like me?”

“Hi.” This strange lab coat wearing guy– oh! I know him. Cub?!

I blinked. How long ago did he show up here? Two days ago I saw him on the news and he looked much shorter, and he'd been running away from a police department, some sort of forensics office he'd blown up.

Cub raked his hands through his hair, it looked really messy. “I sorta used this weird amulet to change my appearance.”

“Are we still acting?” I asked, “Amulet, you say? Well, I simply cannot!” Immediately, my hand impacts my forehead dramatically. “... We're acting, right?”

“No.” Grian said, “Though he is lying, listen, Scar. I'm gonna ask you a really weird question and you have to answer me.”

“Uh-huh…”

“What year is it?”

“Oh! That's easy, 1997, duh! Did you guys hit your heads or something?” I smiled, chuckling. The bartender finally came by and gave Grian his orange juice. Then he vanished.

Grian grabbed his cup and he took a sip. “1997, hm? What if I told you it's not?”

“I wouldn't believe you.” I giggled. “I've been here for a week, duh! Got here just Monday with some of my friends. Where did they go, though?” I looked around. I still couldn't see them.

“They probably got out.” The sassy blue guy said, “Yeah, or stuck.” The ginger crossed her arms. I looked at them. “They’re just in their rooms.”

“Why don't we take a look then, huh? Where are their rooms?” Grian asks, I shift awkwardly. “...Third floor.”

“This thing doesn't have an elevator for you?” Cub asks.

“If a building ain't as tall as five stories, there's no need.” I lean back in my chair. “Which is, uh, needless to say, no.”

The ginger thought for a moment, then she grinned. “Tell them the numbers, and we'll go on from there. I'll stay back with you, just so you have someone near you!”

“I'm fine on my own.” I looked at her. “Absolutely not,” she glanced at me up and down, “genuinely, if I had to guess. You're dehydrated, probably haven't eaten much, and the moment you see the sun your eyes will wish you'd gone blind.”

“With these strobe lights? Might as well have gone blind already.” I shrugged, she stared at them. “They're LED now.”

“Meh! I think they always have been, luminescent and whatnot.” I said, “What's your name, by the way?”

“Gem. That there is Scott, he's uh… something, alright.” She sighed. Scott, the fancy blue guy, waves. “I'll go up third floor, what's the room?”

“Rooms, uh… 307, 315? I think?”

“Why are they so separated?” Grian’s eyes widened. “The rooms might've been taken between ‘em.” Cub immediately began his journey towards the stairs.

“Eight rooms between them?! Cub, there's seven people in this room!”

“Most people got drained after the second day and went to sleep. Haven't seen them since.” I added.

Grian paused. He looked at Gem, and they both seemed to come to an agreement. I heard Gem mutter, “Hypnos,” and she sat by me. Grian stood up.

“I thought that guy was fine by now! What's going on?” He grumbled. My head laid on the table like my neck had gotten exhausted from holding it. “Maybe he changed his mind.”

“Or maybe, this establishment is really old and he forgot to tear it down.” Grian sighed, then he took a step forward and looked at the ground.

“What's… this symbol doing here?”

“Aren't you supposed to be heading up to the third floor?” I said, for some reason my body felt like all the energy was getting sucked out of it. I don't know how, but everything in my field of vision was getting blurry. And Grian had sharp-ish ears, and an elven face. I swore he didn't look real.

Because he didn't.

I glanced at Gem, and she looked completely normal. Besides the fact that she was actively plotting something and had a sword in her belt. I don't know what I saw before, but I guess I just assumed she was in some sort of costume.

Everyone wears costumes around here. I've seen a giant guy with a hundred arms walk around here demanding for some cyclops guy, then he exited the building fine as that.

I felt nauseous, and everything went black.

—

I don't know. I don't know what today is. Everything is the same.

I wasn't out for long, fainting spells don't usually last longer than a minute. I woke up and everyone was staring at me with concern. “We found your friends.” Scott grimaced, “And we found you, doing the same thing as them.”

“I passed out, I don't know what happened.” I groaned, “Grian, since when were you an elf guy?”

Grian giggled, “I'm not an elf, idiot.”

“Why are your ears all sharp then?”

“Oh! That's just normal, I was born like that.” Grian shrugged, “But back to you. You passed out on our watch, which means this doesn't happen when you're on your own.”

“Possible.” Cub gazed at the floor, then he leaned and played around with the tiles like it was a puzzle. “What do you mean possible? We proved your hypothesis, thank you.” Grian tilted his head.

“What if we're not registered here?” Cub lifted himself, holding a brick that revealed a gaping hole underneath the building. “What if we're just simply wanderers with no true meaning to this place?”

“We'd still be people, hun.” Scott said flatly.

“Not in this place. I think this is an entirely different world compared to, well, Earth.” Cub grabbed a coin out of his pocket, and he dropped it into the abyss.

“Scar, do you perceive things differently than normal people?” He looked up at me. I couldn't help but think that this situation is way too serious for a random questionnaire I've had billions of times when I was younger.

The answer is yes.

It's always yes.

“When I was, like, six, my mom found me digging at the ground. It's ‘cause I heard some rattling, and I wanted to free the thing that was suffering. When I finally did, it was a skeleton monster! She grabbed me and pulled me away, told me never to do that again.” I started, “That those things are dangerous, that my father would be back and he would never want to see me playing with creatures I can't define.”

“I mean, a skeleton monster is pretty much accurate.” Grian laughed, “Wait, you don't know your dad?”

“Nope!” I smiled, “Always asked, was told he died.”

“...So how would he be back?” Scott squinted. “We had a ouija board in our house, although it's only for eight year olds and older, and I was barely able to simply sleep on my own.” I sighed.

But, the presence of the board didn't scare me knowing what it did. I quite like the idea of ghosts, and I know we had some in our house. They slept in the corners, watched me do my chores, and stared at me when my health declined.

Not much they could've done anyhow.

I felt my hands clenching on my legs, and I released them. “Uh… I never believed that. There was no grave we visited. Ever. She just said it like it was a fact from years ago.”

Cub nodded, then we heard the coin ding and slam itself into what sounded like concrete. I glanced at the floor. “What was that?!” I press my hands to the wheels of my chair. “Cub?!”

“I heard what I needed to hear.” He smiled, then simply disappeared.

We all stared where he left. “UGH! CUB!” Grian grabbed a knot of his own hair and tugged, but not pulling anything out. I gazed at the underground, and I swear I felt a calling.

Like I needed to be somewhere.

That's when the stupid butler grabbed all of us and dragged us out. “I do believe your time here is over, thank you for being so kind.” He shoved us out the door. I locked my chair and looked around, frozen.

“Where's Cub?! WHERE'S IMPULSE YOU–” Grian grabbed Gem and pulled her aside. She'd been yelling at the guy the whole time we were getting kicked out. I had no idea there was another person with them that had gone missing.

I had a theory, but it wasn't so friendly.

And I swear I could see that guy in a different form now that I had been placed outdoors.

He was tall, almost goopy, and I swear he had one giant eye in the middle of his face that stared deeply into your soul.

Normally I saw him as just this generic black-haired guy. He had this way about him that felt, well, casual yet business.

Like he was familiar with you but he didn't want to get fired.

I covered my face with my hands. Just thinking about my mother made me realize something.

“Guys, what year is it?” My tired eyes felt like they were dragging on the ground. I could just feel the hot pavement scraping my eyelids.

“...Scar, it's 2025.” Grian said.

“...Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

I stared at the outdoors, and felt like I'd been through multiple disasters at once.

“It was just a week…”

But now I realize how much time I truly spent there. And it doesn't make me too glad to know it.

[the-dumpster-fire-of-life]

Percy Jackson Masterlist

For all my Percy Jackson lovers this is a list of all tics for the pjo series!

Percy Jackson

In Every Life Time - In Every Life Time, You Lost Him.

In His Arms - Falling Into Tartarus In His Arms.

Waiting Room - In Which Your Father Was Never An Option

Annabeth Chase

Ask the Oracle

Grover Underwood

Too Bad - In Which Grover Can’t Understand Why You Love To Bicker

Nymp!Reader - Grover Underwoood Dating A Nymph!

Thalia Grace

Ask the Oracle

Clarisse La Rue

Capture The Flag and A Soulmate Mark - Meeting Your Soul Mate In Capture The Flag.

Fated to Be Yours - Part 2 to Soulmate Au

Capture The Flag - Doesn’t Go Right, As Always.

Luke Castellan

The One That Got Away - Preparing Luke's Shroud

[adina123]

Pjo au scott

For my pjo au I can’t decide who Scott’s parent is 

He could be the son of iris the personification of the rainbow. my reasons for this is that in empires season 2 Scott’s empire is literally called chromia. also Scott is gay and the flag is a rainbow. On websites I checked Iris either has mom or dad that is an ocean god or nymph which ties into the mean gills 

Or he could be a son of Athena if any of the life smp members were to be a child of Athena it would be Scott. He prefers to play smart and keep a level head. If he is a Athena kid then he’s going to have the grey eyes and blonde hair all of Athena’s children have but he dyes his hair teal

People might say he’s an Aphrodite kid because he’s flirty and super thirsty and in witchcraft smp he was a romantic but I like the other ideas better 

[sovksluv]

soft sounds from another planet - chapter 1

🪐 . pairing - twelve y/o!Luke Castellan x twelve y/o!fem!reader au

🪐 . summary - who knew a walk in the park would leave you longing for someone who you had no idea you’d ever see again?

🪐 . includes - sadness, baby Luke, May Castellan my baby

🪐 . word count - 2,021 😭

🪐 . series taglist - @sarhrts @mayaahhs @mischiefmoons

🪐 . pjo taglist - @perseus-jackass @niktwazny303

🪐 . now playing - Soft Sounds From Another Planet by Japanese Breakfast

🪐 . a/n - chapter one of the series !! comments and reblogs are appreciated, i love talking to you guys ! &lt;3

🪐 . series masterlist

fallen leaves crunched under your feet, your shaky legs wobbling with exhaustion. the cool autumn air breathlessly flowed through your bones, chilling you to the core. warm hues of august’s blazing sunset casted an ethereal glow on you as you walked, illuminating the breathtaking features that littered your face.

you took uneven steps, which matched your quaking breaths. your fingers flowed delicately through the leaves of the bushes surrounding you. you silently admired the beauty of it all; of all the perfectly woven thorns and petals that equally occupied the bushes. of the few brightly tinted leaves that still stuck strong to their beloved trees. of the precious butterfly families that always find their ways back to each other.

it’s cruel. how everything around you continues on, without a care in the world. without the knowledge that you weren't privileged enough to enjoy things like they did. you tried to focus on the beauty of the scene around you. happy families walking and laughing with each other, leaves falling from their semi-bare trees, birds singing beautifully to their dearest loved ones. maybe taking a picture would successfully etch it into your mind.

it’s unfair. you desperately yearn for the love you sense in the air. for the security that those around you can feel in their own homes. it’s not fair that their habitat has become a refuge for you; to escape from the house called ‘home.’ you felt safe in the masked delicacy of the park. the cherished home of the unique insects and plants. 

the sun had traveled further down since the start of your walk, but still gave you the same warm feeling from before. you kept your head pointing to the ground, your eyes traced the path you created. up ahead of you was an empty bench. It sat quietly and unbothered under a tree, which strategically blocked the sun from where you’d sit, while also allowing a slight glow to beam down on it.

in your mind, you had already claimed the bench before you even got to it. and when you were close enough to sit on it, you chose the spot right in the middle, hoping your choice would show those around that you’d prefer to stay alone. you leaned against the backrest of the bench. there was a distant look in your eyes, not truly focused on one thing.

a dim, empty hue flooded your eyes and a solemn look heavily rested upon your intricate features. you basked in the sweet sound of the rustling trees. there was a slight pounding in your head, the result of the sobs that frantically wracked through your body prior to your walk. your strong emotions pathetically left your nose runny and eyes puffy. 

the scene that played itself before you in the last hour weighed down all that was left in your heart. the great being that controlled your life roughly pulled on the few strings connecting your heart to your mind. it made your insides feel heavy and achy, leaving your mind an irreversible, trashed mess.

you focused your eyes back to the scene before you. fewer people stood around than before, most having left at the newer darkness that had formed. there was no one that really stood out to you. your eyes glazed over all your surroundings, quickly pausing at things that you found most intriguing. the final stop was at the bench across the park from you, though you were unable to tear your eyes away.

sat at said bench, mirroring you, was a boy. from afar he seemed he could be your age, yet it was still hard to tell. he, too, sat in the middle of his bench. you couldn’t see his face well, but you could see most of him. though he was sitting, he looked to be somewhat tall. he had dark curls and a blurry face you wish you could see up close.

you wouldn't dare go up to him, though. afraid you’d scare him off with your rough voice and red eyes. with your decision held firm in your mind, you still allowed yourself to shamelessly stare at him. how could someone so physically far from you feel so emotionally close? you had an inexplicably deep desire to know him. To understand why he was here. or how he seemed to be the one thing you needed that was there right when you needed him.

you got so lost in your desires to know this mystery boy that you failed to notice how you caught his attention. you were brought back to the present, eyes meeting his far ones. you should've been embarrassed, being caught staring at a boy you’ve never met, yet you weren’t. it just made you want to talk to him even more. 

your shared eye contact stayed strong. neither of you chose to be the one to break it. that’s what you thought, until he stood up. he was tall. he made careful, hesitant steps towards you, assuming you shared the same interest in him as he did you. you were intrigued, and him nearing you made your odd desires to know him grow rapidly. so you stood up as well, elegantly flowing towards him. 

you and the boy met each other in the middle, what was barely left of the sunset lit up his features beautifully. he looked like a god. the light illuminated the glowing gold specks in his brown eyes. he had a scar of a hero that ran down his right cheek. his raven hair curled perfectly in all possible directions. there was a mystifying, ethereal beauty to him, one that you could spend forever observing. 

nothing was awkward between you. it felt as if you’d known him all your life. it felt like you had lived a whole lifetime with him, yet in this one, you don't even know his name. a new feeling washes over you, one so unfamiliar that you struggle to put it into words. you feel like just by being in his presence, you’re more protected than you’ve ever been.

around this boy, whom you ‘just met,’ you felt an indescribable tug. like the being controlling your heartstrings had intricately tied them to his, entrusting him to protect your heart in ways you’d never imagine you deserved. and you did deserve it. one day he’d show you just how much you did.

“i’m Luke,” he muttered, it was barely above a whisper. however, your close proximity allowed for his quiet words to be clearly understood. his voice was soft and soothing. the delicate strum of his vocal cords physically calmed you. they sent a strong wave of reassurance through you, ridding you of all your previous worries. 

you finally told him your name, and you swear you saw his eyes gleam even more. in admiration? curiosity? there was an unspoken connection that sat comfortably between you two, buzzing with delight. you didn’t even need to speak and still there was so much being said.

neither of you seemed to have an actual conversation to start, both just wanting to be in the presence of the other. he softly smiled at you, his pearly white teeth flashing by in a blink. he had small dimples on both cheeks. his smile, his dimples and his bright eyes ignite something in you, making your head feel fuzzy.

he awkwardly glanced around you guys, taking a calm breath and beginning to talk, “why are you sitting here all alone? you look upset.” you felt his burning gaze as he watched you, awaiting your answer, but you hadn’t returned it. he whispered your name, catching your full attention. your eyes met his. they were full of patience and interest, allowing you to say only what you needed to. 

“just- needed to get away, i guess.” he nodded understandingly at your words, knowing that you may not want to share anything else. from an outside view, you two must’ve looked strange, standing in the middle of the park sharing a few words with each other. but between the two of you, it was so much more. 

Luke didn’t push you, didn’t make you say more than you could. he waited for you to talk to him, to trust him. a comfortable wave of silence washed over, so much was being expressed just from the eye contact you guys made, and the smiles you shared. 

you hadn’t noticed that Luke wasn’t the only one presenting a smile, but he did. a breathtaking smile was plastered on your lips, creases formed in the corner of your eyes, which shone with a feeling that could only be described as feeling alive. you felt like all your problems were small and stupid. when Luke was around, he acted like a true guard of your heart. protecting you from all that burdened and weighed you down.

your body moved on autopilot as you found the words you had been searching for, you were just on the brink of uttering them. “Luke!” his attention was torn away from you at the call, his head darted behind him. a slim woman with long, dark hair, who you assumed was his mother, stood at one of the entrances, waving her arm, beckoning him towards her.

he waved back, possibly a signal for ‘one minute.’ a dreadful feeling flooded your insides, sprouting from your stomach and spreading rapidly. it hit your heart first, and you felt the warm sensation of his silent protection fading away. all you could do was stand and watch the comfort you felt slowly seep from within you.

he looked back at you again, but his smile had shrunk. now, he looked at you with remorse, not missing the emptiness that formed in the dark parts of your eyes. he took pity, understanding the reasons behind your poorly hidden feelings. he still didn't push, however, not wanting to pile on the growing pressure that was filling your heart.

“you have to go?” he sighed. and he waited for the silence to answer your question. it did. he still looked at you, though, as you did him. you tried to not let any emotion on your face, it’s not his fault that he has to leave, and it's not fair to blame him. neither wanted to be the one to walk away first, but he knew it would have to be him. his mother was waiting. he couldn’t keep his mother waiting.

he flashed a dim smile, “it was nice meeting you.” he tried to ease the quiet, hoping it would give back that comfort, even for a small time. you lowly grinned, offering the young boy your hand, “will I ever see you again, Luke?” gears turned in his head as he pondered the question. Luke smiled, answering your question with a nod as he shook your hand. his was warm, and comforting, and it gave you a pinch of comfort that quickly disappeared as he pulled away.

then, he said his goodbyes, walking back over to the woman at the entrance. the woman who smiled brightly at his arrival, wrapping her arm around him and playfully ruffling his hair. you couldn’t tear your eyes from the acts of affection playing in front of you, sending hurtful pangs straight to your heart. the strings felt like they were being forcefully tugged on with no remorse.

Luke had glanced back at you, hoping to make eye contact with you one last time. but your back was already facing him as you walked away, footsteps heavy. Luke didn’t know what you had to go home to. he didn’t know that you yearned for what he had with his mother. but he didn’t have to know.

you had barely been gone for a few minutes, escaping into the darkness of the woods, yet Luke already missed you, wishing he could be back in your comforting presence once again. you cherished the new, euphoric feeling he gave you, the soft sounds that played from him. 

the soft sounds from his planet that lit the dim lights on yours.

© sovksluv 2024 , please do not repost or translate my work !