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_{Interactions: @HereComesTheSnow, @Crimson Flame @Plank Sinatra @Krayzikk}

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It was difficult to acknowledge when a bit hadn’t worked. As a lover of all things dramatic, this was chiefly true for Marcy. Marcella Bonaparte’s acting career began at the tender age of 8. She played Stella in Streetcar, it was a big part for such a small child, but the reviews spoke for themselves. The show was lauded, she was offered roles in Hollywood blockbusters and Bollywood musicals. But she gave it up for the real prize. Ending on top. Marcy’s rule when it came to acting? Never abandon a scene.

But,

Marcy looked at Dallas for a moment, and nodded. “Fair enough,” she added to the gesture. She sat beside the son of Apollo, watching his gaze turn from angry to mournful as the croissant hit fine china.

She slid the confectionery back towards him, shooting him an unconfident grin.

“Ah, Beau! Oui! It’s wonderful to meet you.” Marcy reached out towards the son of Aphrodite, allowing him to kiss her hand. “Of course, I’ve heard far and wide of Mr. DeRose.” Marcy offered him a smile she usually reserved for the damned and a sly wink. She could’ve sworn for a moment the room heated up. Her gaze returned to her side, to Dallas, he looked… Okay?

“I apologize for the theatrics, but, well, I can’t help myself sometimes.” Marcy turned, prying her gaze from Dallas. But even when she looked at Beau, her mind wandered back to Dal.

He was on edge, to put it lightly. She assumed, because of the reaming out from the headmasters. She feigned laughter with Beau, taking the opportunity to scan the son of Apollo once more. She saw the croissant looked as though it had been choked, the residue chalking the sides of his fingers. She could see his clenched jaw and the bite marks on his lower lip. The tension in his shoulders as they barely moved between breaths.

She gently covered his free hand with her own.

“Crazy night last night,” she started, her eyes belying the casual tone she carried and concern speckled across her expression. “You holding up alright?”

---

---

Rhea rubbed the back of her head at Jonas’ comment. “I know, I’m not trying to fight your battles it just pisses me off,” she spat. “Either way, I’ve got your back coach. If they try to kick any of you out of here, they’ll be kicking me out too.”

She wasn’t quite as quick as Bekah, Marcy, or Dal – but Rhea knew when someone wasn’t saying everything on their mind. She was getting that feeling from Jonas. She couldn't quite pin down whether it was suppressed anger, some concern he was currently tracking or if he was altering her training regimen on the fly while cooking. But whatever it was there was something he was thinking that he didn't want to share.

“I get the idea of their lazy form of justice, though. I don’t agree with it but I’ve seen it a hundred times before. My brothers-“ Rhea winced at the memory and offered a weak smile in the place of the words she had started. She saw Jonas’ gaze scan over to her as he took a deep breath. She braced herself to suffer questioning when the door opened behind them.

"Morning," Rhea returned Bekah’s smile and nodded at Dana.

"Yo," the conversation was between perhaps to two most utilitarian of their small posse. But their few words carried the weight of a won battle, there was an air of victory.

"What's for breakfast, Highwind? And is there coffee?"

"No coffee, didn't bring a machine and if Dal did, he didn't unpack it. Sorry. But forget that, what I've got here," he paused for dramatic tension. Thus, he began the final steps.

Rhea warmly greeted the two demigoddesses with kind and tired eyes as they took their seats.

Jonas made it look both casual, and artful as he topped his creation in beautiful goldenrod sauce and ocher flakes. The smell of the bacon that lay guarded beneath the ivory towers found gentle interplay with the light spicing.

"Enjoy. You've earned it."

Rhea was quick to help herself, getting everything she needed onto a plate before locating her fork and digging in.

She delicately and with great precision forced her fork through the soft exterior of the egg, allowing the yolk to tumble down the muffin and begin to pool onto the plate. She scooped up a forkful of egg, bacon and muffin and lifted it to her mouth.

She was transported back to Early July, 2007. She was sitting in a crammed movie theatre with her family, watching that Disney, no, Pixar? Dreamworks?

The movie with the fuckin’ rat that came every time he ate.

The scene where he eats some cheese off the fuckin’ dirt and like-

Fireworks happen?

It didn’t matter the eggs kicked ass and Jonas was a fantastic chef.

“Anyway,” Rhea forced words through the food. “I had a few things I wanted to go over with you for training. I was kind of slow until I got in the water.”

She swallowed hard, even she couldn’t contain the smile the eggs brought. “But that can wait for later.”

She turned to Bekah. “I don’t mean to sound patronizing, but I hadn’t seen you in action in a while. You’re stronger that I recalled, we should try and fit some sparring in at some point.” Rhea scarfed down some more egg, trying but failing to go slow and savour it. “If you want.”

“You too Dana.” Rhea’s fork rested against the edge of the plate. “Everyone looked like they were in great form, even Marcy.” A hint of surprise peppered Rhea’s voice, though it was mostly meant in jest.

“I’ve still got a lot to learn and this school isn’t teaching me shit – so thank the gods I’ve got you guys.”

---

"You've outdone yourself, Highwind." Rebekah commented, giving a single, soft appreciative clap at the Son of War's theatrics. She didn't hasten to serve up her own plate, letting Rhea be the one to move first, but she promptly prepared her own second. Jonas did a masterful job on the rare occasions he chose to cook, a skill she had yet to attain. Perhaps she would have to learn, if not from him than from someone. "Well enough, even, to overlook Relo's gross negligence in failing to unpack a coffee machine. If he weren't having a bad enough morning already I would berate him for it."

"Speaking of, I'm glad you're all, at least, in alright spirits. I believe Dana intends to firebomb the staff." She flashed the Japanese girl a quick grin around a bite of bacon. "The van can move evidence. Maybe again, depending on what Marcella borrowed it for last year."

She nodded at Rhea with a faint smile, and nudged Dana's side lightly.

"I'm too lazy to show off very often. Dana says so, anyway. But I would be happy to spar, when you have time. No good to only get used to fighting Highwind."

That fucking twink tried to brainwash me.

It might even have had some measure of success - Dallas had been through enough failed seductions to recognize the odd, cough syrupy feeling of his body attempting to calm down and slacken against the instructions of his mind - and for the rage to quickly burn a hole through the artificial layer of calm. Being directly in the sunlight, with music playing over every speaker in the cafe, helped too. Skye, Beau, whatever the fuck his name was would have been caned to death in the street if he had done that shit in a gentleman's society, but alas, they had been damned to Olympus, ruled by a house of sheep. As it was, Dallas picked up the croissant and lobbed it at him on the way out, leaving a short, wide alabaster streak of powdered sugar and a couple of almonds clinging to the back and shoulder of the Aphrodite kid's shirt.

When that barrier falls, I hope it eats him first. Good luck feeding anything to one of those shadow creatures that isn't your fucking liver.

“Crazy night last night. You holding up alright?”

What--

Oh.

Some of the immediate fury ebbed as quickly as it had flowed, leaving Dallas in a slow, labored breath. The tension visibly left his shoulders, and the tsunami in his ocean blue eyes was calming.

"It's too late, Marcy. You've already pierced me," Dallas mock-griped, running his hand over her knuckles. "I won't forgive you. My poor belly button has been deflowered. Sullied. I'll never be able to take Mass again, if Jesus didn't hate me for that Dionysus kid I hooked up with last year he sure fucking hates me now. I look like some producer's sluttiest daughter when I'm shirtless now."

His teeth scraped his bottom lip, fighting back a smile that came easier the longer he heard the sweetest thing in the world - his own rambling.

"Let's just fucking eat, alright? I don't want to talk about last night. Just tell me what's up with you."

---

The Japanese girl's eyebrows drew together austerely at the elbow in her side, and the ribbing (no pun intended) from the girl beside her. Very smug.

"I loved your form as well, Rhea," Dana said sweetly. She looked down at her phone to hide her smirk from the rest of the assembled group and decided to put her disguise to good use.



"「Thank you for the food, brother!」" Dana said brightly, although the gaze she gave her brother when she cocked her head held neither expression nor even a sign of blinking. "「Thank you for not filling us with your imageboard swill either. Dal-kun gave me nothing but milk at our goodbye breakfast last year. Worst flight of my life.」"

She elbowed Rebekah back.

"Faaaiyaaaabonba," she said emphatically. "If you love me you will help. We will burn all but the big one. He is mine to fight with hands. Then I will show off the meaning of show off."

A hit.

Spirits lifted.

Brawny arms folded atop his chest, Jonas looked on as he was awash with spoken and unspoken praise for his effort, unable to completely hide a smirk of self-satisfaction. To bring all those he cared for together like this and enjoy something— there was nothing better he could have done. He had begun cooking at an early age; his mother often worked until it was nearly time for him to sleep, and his was a hungry mouth to feed. What he had simply picked up to survive, he now used to enrich the lives of others, even in the face of their little world turning against them.

It felt like the journey had lead him to something beautiful.

"Well, I've been practicing." he replied noncommittally to Rebekah, throwing in a casual shrug of the shoulders— a bit off-base from his previous bombast, but there wasn't any sense in outright preening. It wasn't as if he did this to fish for compliments. No truly good cook did. Honesty was what made or broke your dish. It was an expression of wanting to make people smile, and to see that wish fulfilled was an honor in a class of its own.

Well, mostly.

He turned to his sister next, and found himself laughing even in spite of the fact that her chipper tone hadn't fully reached the rest of her face. Sometimes, she played the stoic just as he did. Maybe it was something they'd gotten from their father, so earnestly working to master his infamously explosive emotions.

"「It's my pleasure, Dana-chan.」" His grasp on her mother tongue was... passable, at least for now. The cramming session on the drive was still fresh in his mind, so hopefully more usage would simply lead to more comprehensive crystallized vocabulary. He would be certain to make the effort to meet her on her terms. Luckily, she wasn't trying to give him a hard time understanding her. "「Though, honestly, I thought he was kidding about that. Don't worry. I'll make whatever you want.」"

Dangerous promise, Highwind.

It was amazing how their simple jests made it so much easier to brush aside all that was wrong with what happened that morning. Even when conveying that he shared much of their sentiment, it was done all the more casually.

"I'd be lying if I said I was happy with how it turned out, Bekah. To tell the truth, I'm wholly dissatisfied—"

A knock upon the door— Liam was here. Despite it being open for convenience's sake, the guy still felt the need to politely announce himself before waltzing in. He appreciated the thought, even though he'd also spent the past year trying to get the Son of Zeus to drop some of the formalities.

They were friends. He didn't need to address Jonas as anything more. Even if that was just how Liam was (and it seemed the case), he hoped that one of his most upbeat training partners was aware of that.

"Don't go hurting yourself on my account, man." Rushing through weights was an excellent way to forget your form and go on a one-way trip to Snap City. "And dig in. Good to see you."

He got the distinct feeling he'd need to have another batch in the works soon.

Another year, another day. Jessica Oliver was situated in Olympus Academy's rather famous cafe, as usual. There was some downtime for her, considering she'd gotten her work done and taken care of in due time. Whether she did it herself, however, was entirely up to speculation and was something that she would never reveal. But, currently, triple non-fat latte with almond milk, with one shot of caramel, and no whipped cream because Jessica didn't fuck with whipped cream. Well, it was mostly because she didn't know what to do with it until it was too late. Sitting at a table with the cup in front of her, Jessica was on her phone.

Could she spend her time doing something more productive? Absolutely. Was she going to? Absolutely not. Jessica was more interested in perusing the latest trends in fashion on Instagram and whatever social network people used these days to keep up. It was her favorite thing to do outside of getting naive kids to do her homework for her and do her bidding. But, we don't talk about that. Tapping twice on Marc Jacobs's latest creation, she had a small smile on her face as she continued to peruse the latest fashion trends. Oh, how much she loved fashion.

Barring an unexpected arrival, Jessica was more than happy sitting here and reading away at her Instagram feed. It seemed like a giant waste of time to most people, but Jessica was quickly putting together outfits in that brain of hers. That was probably why she spent no time on her work, at all, much to the dismay of her teachers. But, a few quick words from Jessica were sure to fix that. Fs would be turned into Bs, or even As! She just knew the fastest way to the hearts of her teachers.

It was nice being able to sit around and relax without a care in the world. This was how life should be lived.



"Selena! Come here, baby!" A sweet voice called out down the hallway. Within a few seconds, a fluffy German Shepherd came barreling down the hallway, happy as can be. Zoey kneeled to give Selena a pet, before standing back up. "C'mon, let's go!" Zoey said excitedly, before walking down the hall. Selena silently followed, walking behind her owner with a very big pep in her step. She knew what was going on, and she was more than down with it. Zoey had just finished doing her work for the day, so she figured she would take the time to bring her dog down to the cafe and spend some time with her bestie, Brynn. Or, her sister from another mister.

Hangouts with Brynn were always a blast, considering the two clicked better than a clock. Hell, even their pets clicked with each other. it was the one thing Zoey would do over burying her nose in a good book. The bookworm loved Brynn that much and was more than happy to hang out with her when their schedules aligned. The cafe was a few steps away, and considering how pet-friendly this complex was, there was no problem with Selena's presence in general, let along in the cafe. Heck, maybe she'd be able to get Selena a little drink of her own. They did do puppacinos there.

It didn't take long for the duo to get to the cafe, especially with Selena's tendency to run ahead and be a little wild as she smelled the scent of coffee and tea nearby. In fact, Selena was the first one in, followed by the blonde. "Selena! Sit!" Zoey said, putting her hand down to signal as well. Selena, being the good girl that she was, sat and stuck her tongue out, panting as Zoey walked up to the cashier. "Hi! Can I please get a... white chocolate mocha, and a puppacino, please?" Zoey asked, before the cashier put the order in. An exchange of cash and change later, and that was all settled and done. Selena in the meantime, had moved herself to an open seat, somehow, and Zoey smiled. Selena definitely knew she was getting a treat tonight. Now, to just wait for Zoey's own treat.. and the white chocolate mocha, as well.

"When are you coming back, Grey?"

The young man chuckled, readjusting the phone between his shoulder and ear as he fumbled around on his desk trying to find his keys.

"Luv, I was jus' there las' week. Won't be back some time."

The silence on the other end of the phone was a bit heartbreaking. Greyson knew just how much the young princess loved when he came home.

"We can video chat soon, yeah? Promise. But right now, I've goh'a meet with some o' my mates and ge' my day star'ed."

_"Okay..."

Charlotte wasn't making this any easier on him. He could practically see her pouting in that very moment.

"Love you, Charlie," Greyson said quickly, hearing a faint voice in the background prodding the girl to hand over the phone. Sounded like William. The boy sighed heavily when the line went dead, rubbing the back of his neck as he clicked off his phone. Greyson turned to look around at his bed where Sheba lay, silently staring at him with her glowing golden eyes. "Happen to know where my keys are?"

The mechanical cat slowly rose into a crouch, pushing herself down and off the bed to wander off through the bedroom door. Greyson raised an eyebrow and smirked, standing there a moment before slowly following the beasts lead. Sheba walked into the kitchen and slowly sat down at the base of the counter, waiting for Greyson to walk around the corner. Once they had each other in their sights, Sheba stood up on her hind legs, stretching up onto the counter top where a small sticky note was placed. The young man walked over, nudging the big cat off the counter before she tore it up with her tungsten claws, reading the note his roommate had left him.

Finders keepers I'll be at the cafe.
-Vivian

Greyson shook his head and laughed, crumbling up the paper before tossing it into the trash. "Fancy a walk, Sheeb?"

After a short while, Greyson had gathered what he needed for the day and exited the apartment. Before he could make it very far, however, he could hear someone's music blasting through the hallway of the dorm. Sounded clear enough that whoever it was that was playing it had to have their apartment door open. Just down the hall, he could see a big white floof disappear out of sight. He knew exactly who was playing the music now. If Nala was wandering the dorm, her owner was either wandering with her, or she was the source of the racket that flooded the halls. Greyson stood there at his door listening to nearly half the song before his feet began to carry him forward down the hallway, finding his way to a familiar face's doorway.

The young man stayed just at the entrance to the apartment, peering in far enough to spot Haley in the corner of the room brewing her potions and jotting down notes. Greyson folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorway, smirking slightly. He contemplated how to get her attention. By no means did he want to startle the poor girl, but he definitely couldn't try talking over the music. Greyson looked down at Sheba and nodded in Haley's direction, the mechanical cat taking the hint and pushing forward into the apartment. The beast stepped slowly towards Haley, wandering up beside her and rubbed her head against the girl's calf to get her attention.

"You can tell that is a daughter of Dionysus"

"How?"

"Well, look at her, she's a complete mess."

A small gasp could be heard by young nurse in training who was shadowing a higher up. It was soon followed by a light chuckle, as she scribbled notes on her piece of lined paper that was placed carefully on a metal clipboard. Children of the God of Wine were always a little bit on the messy side. Their human parents were usually equally as messy, giving them a troubling childhood at best. They found solace in disappearing for moments at a time when things got overwhelming. Abandoning things they enjoyed, abandoning the people they loved, constantly moving while stuck in the same position. It hurt them, it chipped away at their insides like a painter taking down old lead filled paint on the crown molding.

"I can hear you, you know."

Another gasp was heard from the student as Dustyn opened her eyes slowly. She was sore and scratched up, but nothing she had never experienced once or twice before. She never had been hurt because of the staff like she was, but she knew better than to get expelled from the academy. She would have nowhere to go, besides home- and that would just result in her spending the rest of her life at the trailer park. Not exactly what dreams were made of. Dusty brought her hand up to her forehead, using her thumb and ring finger to push back her hair- their was sweat along her hairline, she wiped it off as she started to become more alert.

The nurse started to speak to explain herself as Dustyn pulled off the heated blanket that was wrapped around her body tightly. "It's cool. Shit happens." she replied, not really caring too much of what they had to say. The trainee kept her eyes in one place, staring at Dustyn in disbelief. She started writing more notes, as Dustyn swung her legs off the side of the bed and stood up. She reached back and pulled the string that held the two pieces of fabric together.

"Write this part down too sweetcheeks." Dusty smirked as the hospital gown fell to the ground revealing her completely nude body. The trainee covered her eyes quickly with the clipboard as the nurse spoke up, "Miss! You have to be released, you can't just walk out of here!" Dustyn in her most natural state, shrugged as she looked through the bedside table drawers and cabinets for her clothes. Moments later she found her things in a plastic bag, in the closet marked with bold letters: DUSTYN TAYLOR FLINT. She opened up the bag, dumping the contents on the bed as the nurse ran off to find another staff member- her duckling in tow.

She put on her clothes from the day before. They reeked of the lake, blood, and smoke. Her cellphone was close to dying, leaving only enough juice to send out a quick text to Kelsey who she hadn't had a chance to really speak to since the incident:

🤩 KELSEY 💛
IT'S ALIVEEE!! Like frankenstein's monster you get it? I smell like I died 2.

The girl chuckled a bit as she made her way out of the room and started down the hallway. She felt like she had been hit over the head with a brick a few times, but she knew a good meal and a smoke would have her back to herself in no time. While waiting for a reply from Kelsey her tongue found a gap. She had almost forgotten she had gotten her tooth knocked out even before the battle had happened. She would tell people it happened another way.

🤩 KELSEY 💛
I am now sad about my tooth as well. Make me feel better, let's get breakfast. Phone dying. Ttyl. Love you ho.

She sent the text as the phone finally died off, leaving her with a brick until it regained its juice. Dusty's car had been taken care of by staff, and by taken care of meant towed back to her dorm room and left there. Heading back to her dorm by foot, the young woman would eventually reach back to her room where she would plug her phone in, take a shower, and change into a fresh pair of clothes waiting to see where this morning would take her.

---

The golden retriever was new. Ish.

She hadn't realized he had been inducted into the crew. Hm.

"Just gives us an excuse to make you cook again, Jonas. Redeem yourself." The Daughter of Athena deadpanned at him, suppressing the hints of a smile while she took another bite. One could never go wrong with breakfast foods. Dana was texting next to her, but despite her efforts she couldn't read it. She could recognize names, though, which was enough for Dana to get another light elbow that transitioned into an arm wrapped around her shoulders. Rebekah was a little curious, now, if Jonas would say anything. Or Rhea, for that matter.

It bore testing.

"Fine, but that means my brother shall have to drive the getaway van. I cannot prove it, but I still think I drive better than him. Once you have had your fun we can all have a jailbreak." She squeezed the Japanese girl lightly, and nodded in Liam's direction. "Kruger."

Jonas blinked, momentarily baffled by her words, before spotting the connecting thread.

A wry smile followed, heralding a shake of the head and a turn back to the kitchen, headed towards the fridge.

"If you want a second helping, I'll gladly make one." He began, welcoming the outward flow of cool air on his skin as he reached for the package of bacon, encased within a ziploc bag. Gotta keep that environment sealed to maximize fridge life— Unless it was gonna all get used up before the days was out. "But that's not what I meant."

He was far more satisfied with his handiwork than he was the meeting. He had believed that much to be obvious, but evidently he had shown a little too much humility about his own cooking. Either that, or Cross had made a rare misstep in reading his implication. Dana did mention she wasn't much of a morning person.

Maybe you really do need coffee?

He turned the knob of the burner beneath the pan, welcoming flame back into the kitchen without fanfare. Waving the back of his hand to get a read of the temperature, he promptly laid two more strips onto the still-reasonably warm metal. Hadn't been too long since he'd taken it off heat, all things considered.

While he watched them fry in their own fat, he spoke once again, now choosing his words a bit more carefully. None of them needed any more wrong ideas today, even minor and benign ones such as this. He doubted she'd been quite so earnest as she appeared in her deduction that he was in high spirits. Fine by him. It wasn't wrong of her to look a little closer.

"Do you know of any legends brought about by fleeing, Rebekah? I don't mean like Marathon— I mean like what they demanded of us back there."

He halfway expected an actual answer in return from the de facto leader of the unofficial Olympus Book Club, but she was doubtlessly sharp enough to get the point he was driving towards. His composure was long-practiced under emotional and situational duress, even without the backing of his inherent divine ability. Each word was delivered with a level frostiness that had no business matching the smirk they had just seen him turn away with, and if they paid attention to the subtle rise and fall of his shoulders they would note that even the breaths preceding them were decidedly measured.

He continued to neutrally regard his bacon as his hand slid over to ignite the burner beneath salted, vinegary water.

"In all of your years and all of your texts, who is a hero for running fearfully for the trees? I can recall none."

All this time later, Jessica was STILL on her phone for whatever reason. It was like she was glued to it, but that wasn’t odd considering who she was and what little hobbies she actually had. She was still sipping her drink, as always. It wasn’t like she was expecting anyone to go up to her and actually say hi, or any company right now. She was much more in the camp of being alone and minding her own business. At least, for the time being.

Meanwhile, to say that Mia Riley was slow to get out of bed was an understatement. The late flight out of Philadelphia had taken a lot out of her. The long amount of time spent in the airport bar with her fake I.D. didn’t help either. Lifting the license of Texas resident Katelyn Rogers may have been the most expensive acquisition Ms. Riley ever made in terms of alcohol consumed. But it did get her into the bar and into the suitcase of a British businessman. Not enough to snake his laptop, but enough to slip his phone out and get some info off it.

Either way, she was exhausted. Enough to miss out on all the festivities at the Lakeshore that she was blissfully unaware had devolved into chaos. Enough to completely miss her roommate who had already moved through the shadows and out of the room. It gave Mia a modicum of quiet that she treasured for the moment. Then her stomach growled.

She wasn’t going to cook anything herself. Not on the road to recovery. So Mia dressed herself as quickly and as fashionably as she could, which was still streets ahead of most of her peers at the Academy, and headed towards the Apollo Cafe. It appeared to be packed. Not a good sign. At least there wasn’t much of a lineup at the counter. The daughter of Hermes put in an order for an everything bagel and a tall pumpkin spice latte. It was September. It was appropriate to go PSL.

Not expecting to get it any time soon, she scanned the area for a spot that wasn’t already taken by someone else. Luckily, one of her good friends was saving her a seat. Jessica just didn’t know it yet.

“Jessica!” Mia exclaimed as she made her way over to the woman still on her phone. “How you doin’, girl? How was your summer? Mind if I sit here? Great! Thanks!” The Jersey native effortlessly slid into the chair opposite the child of Aphrodite. “Anyway, it’s been months! What’s up?”

Jessica, being completely oblivious to the world around her and being immersed in an entirely different world, had been rudely surprised when she heard a rather loud voice, yanking her from her trance. Blinking twice and looking up from her phone, the Daughter of Aphrodite immediately recognized who it was. It was impossible to miss eyes as iconic as those. She wasn’t entirely expecting Mia to come along, but it wasn’t like she was going to oppose the presence of such an amazing person.

It’d been a while, anyway. Jessica was more than happy to accommodate Mia, even if she would’ve much rather been alone. “Mia! Hey!” She smiled, putting her phone down, “I’ve been good! What about you? It’s been suuuuuch a long time!”

“I know, right?” Mia agreed. “Feels like forever since I’ve actually done anything! At least, anything worth Gramming!” She smiled, taking those sparkling orbs away for one second before opening them again. “But yeah, just another summer prowling the boardwalk, showing those tourists what’s the real situation out there. Living that Jersey dream, right? So c’mon! Did you get any super new shit over the summer? Gotta be at least a couple outfits you’re dying to show off!”

As soon as Jessica heard Mia’s question about her fashion, she could not have had a wider smile on her face. There was so much shit she wanted to talk about it was hard to figure out where to begin. She put her phone down and put her hands on her cheeks, a rather happy look on her face as she started to think about where to begin. “Girl. You don’t even know. Girl.” She smiled, before grabbing her phone and pulling up the photo app. Guess she had to start at the beginning of the Summer to really show Mia what she had gotten into. “Just the usual… top secret shit.” The Daughter of Aphrodite smiled, before showing a picture of herself wearing a rather lavish dress.

Mia just stared at the gorgeous gown that Jessica was showing her. It was exactly the kind of garment that was fitting one of the premier fashionistas on campus, and she could barely contain herself at the sight of it. “Damn, girl! Where did you find that? The gods themselves gotta be jealous of that stunner!” She leaned back in her chair, just needing a moment after seeing that. “Like I know you’re good, but seriously, that is fucking amazing.”

Jessica was blushing with how much Mia was gassing her up. The Daughter of Aphrodite was a big fan of anything that pumped her ego up, especially talk like this. Man, she was getting such a big head from this. She sort of felt bad as she continued to talk about her fashion procurements over the Summer. Not to mention, Mia was an actual friend of hers. Of course, she genuinely wanted to know what she was up to during their time apart. “What about you though? What’s up with you? You’ve got to have done more than prowl the boardwalk. No way it was just that.”

The Daughter of Hermes tilted her head back and forth. It wasn’t as if Jessica was unaware of just what “prowling the boardwalk” entailed. How else was Mia able to keep a reasonable pace with Jessica’s wardrobe without some generous unknowing contributions from the tourists on the shore? However, Mia was still playing coy. “Well, you know, I’m just out there doing my thing. I got a new ID to play with, and that’s getting me into the casinos in Atlantic City, and you know, I gotta be able to show I belong there, so I got this.” She pulled out her phone, quickly scrolled through her gallery, and showed Jessica a selfie of her wearing a brand-new sparkling green dress. “I mean, it really helps put the Irish in my eyes, you know?”

Gawking at the green dress that Mia had shown Jessica, she was honestly stunned. Not in the bad, shocked sort of way, but the drop dead, really good way. Seemed like Jessica was rubbing off on Mia, which was really, really good. Maybe at last, she could have someone who could she could talk more in-depth about fashion with. “Girl! Damn!” She gasped, pulling the phone closer to her own eyes, “That’s really, really pretty!” She smiled, before gently pushing the phone back toward her phone. “Where’d you find it?!”

Mia shrugged as she tossed the phone back on the table. “Little place in New York. Honestly, never heard of it, pretty straightforward name, it’s like New York Dress? Anyway, it’s a cute little spot and I saw that, and of course, it had to be mine, so I made it so.” After what seemed like forever, Mia’s order finally arrived at the table, with the butter still melting into the nooks of the bagel. “Thank you!” she said to the server. She took a quarter of the baked good and took a bite that felt like heaven considering she hadn’t eaten since the airplane. “Ugh, I needed that. Airplane food was terrible. But yeah, obviously I can accessorize it a little better than I did there, but it’s a fucking knockout gown, right?”

Jessica nodded intently. She couldn’t get over how fucking beautiful that dress truly was. If Jessica liked your dress, it was probably one of the highest compliments you could have ever received as a student of Olympus Academy. It really, really went well with Mia. It was fitting, considering Mia had some of the prettiest eyes she’d ever see on campus. It was only fitting that she find a just as beautiful dress. “Yes! You need to take me to this ‘New York Dress’. That is fucking gorgeous.” The Daughter of Aphrodite smiled.

The Daughter of Hermes picked up her latte and leaned back in her chair, looking very proud of herself. Her attire had been rather… street-rattish when she first came to Olympus, but if she could make Jessica this envious, then clearly Mia was learning well. “I think we can arrange that,” she confirmed. “When we get to the holidays, we can take a little trip up to the city and take care of a few things.” Mia winked to seal the deal. “Ooooooh, I think there was this little pastel pink number that would be perfect for you, Jess! Would go great with your eyeshadow!”

Jessica put a finger up to her eye and pointed toward her current eyeshadow, which was, of course, pink. “Really? Did you take any pictures of that?” Jessica inquired, “I so wanna see this.”

“Um, give me a sec,” Mia went back to her phone and started flipping through the photos. There were a lot to scroll through, given all the data she had downloaded off of traveler’s phones. Eventually she reached “NEW YORK AUGUST 2019” and went through the photos. “Ummm….there! There it is! Got it!” She turned the phone around to show Jessica this little number. “I mean, I’m not as good at this as you, but I think you could pull it off like it was nothing!”

Was Mia actually a daughter of Aphrodite? This dress was absolutely fabulous! Needless to say, Jessica was thoroughly shocked. “Girl!” Jessica grabbed the phone and pulled it closer, “I love it! Ugh! I wish I could just… get on over to that store! I’d go broke just going crazy in that store.”

Mia laughed before taking a long sip of her latte. “I know, right? If I didn’t have such a productive summer on the boardwalk, I probably would have just been standing outside with my puppy-dog eyes trying to convince someone to buy me it. But girl, sometimes you just need to have it, you know? Seriously, we’ll go to New York over a holiday weekend or something and we will get you that dress. I guarantee it.”

“You sure?” Jessica put her head on her hands curiously, before sticking out her pinky. “Promise me we will.”

The Jersey girl set her cup down and hooked her pinky with Jessica's. “Promise you,” Mia confirmed.

---

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So here Ito was, taking slow and steady sips from his large coffee cup, taking that moment to enjoy the sensation of the hot liquid going down his throat. He had missed the way the coffee from this place tasted. There was something about it that made it quite spectacular compared to the coffee back home. Nothing even came close to the combination of flavours and aromas that he got here. If he could, he would just live in the cafe forever. Ito had always found it quite hilarious and somewhat uncanny at how he was able to just blend into the background of the world and have no one notice him. For his job as a messenger it was an extremely handy talent to have. Plus it allowed him to spy on people at the same time. At the same time it was also rather isolating at times. The lack of interaction made it quite difficult to make friends at times. Sometimes it was blessing, but other times it felt like a true curse. Here he was after all, sitting in a cafe full of people and no one acknowledges your existence. Still. Ito was used to it.

And it wasn't like his time was wasted. He had observed the goings on in the cafe, and all the emotions that were running high. He watched as Dallas threw his pastry at Beau; for reasons unknown. Ito couldn’t help but notice Beau, who was looking mighty fine as per usual. There were very few people who Ito would consider changing his sexual orientation for, but Beau was definitely one of them. Oh the things he would do with him… Ito placed his coffee on the table as he began to stare at Beau, losing his mind as his eyes continued to observe the males movements.

Shaking his head he moved his focus away from Beau. He knew how dangerous it was to stare at and then consequently begin to crush on Beau. He had gone through a similar phase last year and while he was fairly sure Beau hadn’t noticed his crushing last year, A few others had noticed though, and Ito knew the value of the information. He was half expecting someone to blackmail him into getting something done. But last year he was fairly safe

Ito began to wonder what had wound Dallas up so much. There had to be something big to get him worked up this much. He knew Dallas had a bit of a short temper at times, and could always be on the flair of the dramatic. But this was extreme even for him. Ito couldn’t tell if he was playing, or if there really was some kind of unbridled rage there. Still, it was enough to cause him to throw a pastry at the stunning Beau. After a few moments Ito began to realise that he was starting to stare at Dallas. Ito shifted his eyes and picked up his coffee cup, taking a sip before placing it back down and pulling out his phone.
He flicked through his contacts, noticing that while had practically the entire campus on his contact list, the number of conversations that he had was significantly lower. Flicking through his convos he finally picked someone to message. He decided to message Dana.



He placed his phone down with a smirk. He loved calling out Dana and winding her up. Even if he rarely was able to get the upper hand on the daughter of war, and most matches ended up with at least one bruise in the morning. Taking another sip of his coffee he casually ran his finger around the rim of his cup, waiting to see what would happen next.