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[marred]

( AUDIO | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION | GEORGE AND MARTHA | ETC )

( identifiers: luke castellan | ophiotaurus | αλεπού (the fox) | george and martha through luke castellan || LOCKET + COMPASS )

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voice »

[rues]

[ okay, so maybe she's really not great at asking people anything, considering how this is going, but she's also not backing down from this one, because they have a truce, right? she's trying, in all her backwards ways, to uphold that — percy might be great moral support, but he doesn't know enough about the war to understand the stakes here. he's a better people-person, sure, but he's just as good as pissing off important people as she is. they probably wouldn't make the greatest diplomatic team. and, honestly, she hadn't even thought of asking percy. ]

[ maybe what she really needs more than the quick there and gone is luke's ... guidance? she has no idea what she's doing, and it's not like she's ever looked up to percy for anything. percy's never been that example she's striven to be like — that's always been luke, even if she lost her faith in him when she thought he turned his back on them for himself, which she knows now isn't true. she hated him for everything he did during the war, but isn't that only because she did respect him and look up to him? the betrayal of someone you don't care about might sting, but the betrayal of someone she cared too much about may as well have been a sword through her chest. the wound is still there, but instead of letting it constantly get infected by ignoring it exists at all, she's finally starting to accept it and trying to let it heal. ]

Look, I'm not saying your shit's not important. You don't think they wouldn't want two of their greatest champions working together? [ okay, sure, she's pulling the knight card. but she's a little desperate and, not that she'd ever admit it, a little bit scared. she doesn't want to fuck this up, not when ridire is counting on her. but this isn't like the sea of monsters. this isn't her territory. it's not a huge quest fighting monsters and running into danger. it's not something she knows like the back of her hand. so if it's a please he wants, a please he'll get. ] Please. A couple days. That's it. [ she almost says, i won't like it anymore than you will, but she thinks it better to keep her mouth shut, considering sincerity is what she's trying to go for here. ]

voice »

[marred]

[ given he hardly considers himself one of their greatest champions, the ego stroke isn't going to work. self-deprecation always wins with luke castellan. it's what had driven him to strive for greatness in the garden of hesperides — to be better than what many thought him to be, to surprise them all by showing he was capable of more greatness than the hero heracles. though he thought himself a hero in the making, giving the demigods a voice with the gods who always pressed their lips together in a bid to silence them, it's kronos' tones he hears humming around him. greatest hero, he'd often call him, especially in his dreams before — before he lost everything, but right before he had properly lost himself. he shrugs it off. the dogs had brought kronos into the drabwurld but luke has had difficulty banishing him. ]

[ his sigh is audible, but he doesn't relent. if anything, sure does sound like the work of a champion underlies his tone, it slightly biting, ] So, I'm just dropping you off and ensuring you're back by curfew? [ if that's the work required of one of their greatest champions, he thinks the gray sisters' may be a little too happy about their promotion in the ranks of usefulness. but it sounds like he has to stay — and luke's not quite sure he's prepared to sit around and twiddle his thumbs for a few days when he's got a communication network to set up. ]

voice »

[rues]

[ you know, this is why she doesn't talk to him much outside of whenever she happens to need a favor. he's infuriating, but she clenches her jaw and tries not to sound exasperated, even though she's entirely at that point where she'd rather punch him than talk to him. has she been working very hard at sifting through the ruins of their past relationship, looking for building blocks to work with for the future? not really. she's not annabeth; she's not an architect. she doesn't know how to build jack shit from anything — or, in this case, build something from nothing. of course, he's not making it any easier, but he whole point of the truce was to keep (mostly her) from acting out again. she won't, but he still knows how to push her buttons. ]

[ her sigh is just as audible; it's more of a huff, really, like a bull getting ready to charge. he's seriously testing her patience, but maybe that's actually a good thing. ] Yeah, sure, if that's how you want to look at it. It'll be like Cinder-fucking-ella. [ maybe she's calling luke a pumpkin carriage, maybe she's not. she honestly doesn't really care how he sees this little outing as long as he's willing to do it. she tried asking nicely, didn't she? it's not her fault he's being stubborn when she's willing to relent to get this done before they march toward caer scima. if travel weren't an issue, she may not be asking him at all — but, then, he's still the best ... orator she knows. she could do this on her own, technically, it just ... made sense to ask luke to come with her. now she's not so sure. ]

voice »

[marred]

[ if he's difficult, it means people go away. it's how he wants to be — alone. the seelie may flock to him like birds and chirp we're family, but it can't really be true if they're easily deterred and cease their tweeting the moment they get have the moon returned to their possession. it toes the line too closely to what hermes had tried with him, letting slip the confession of knowing his destiny to only press his lips tightly together and not even attempt to be a father when he most needed it. it's always about destinies and fulfilling prophecies, but never is it truly about doing the right thing by another. allegiance to a court or a god will always triumph over loyalty to a friend or even kin. ]

[ he almost gasps, tempted into mocking a daughter of aphrodite as he acts as though cinderella is who he wishes to aspire to be. but it falls flat; he doesn't really wish to perform for clarisse. it's easier to shut the door on someone he believes is merely using him for the power she believes his shoes hold. ] I better go find a glass converse, then. I wouldn't want Prince Charming to not be able to find me.

voice »

[rues]

[ too bad for him, clarisse isn't going away — as annoyed as she might be, she's just as stubborn, and she knows that's why they clash so badly sometimes. neither one of them wants to give up, so they keep pushing and pushing until eventually someone has to give. but where they used to butt heads about the gods or the war or anything else back home, now it's usually over petty shit — and while that might be a step up from arguing about who was right about nearly bringing olympus to its knees, it still doesn't seem like much has changed, they've just changed focus. ]

[ flatly, ] Right, you do that. I'll take that as a yes, then? [ because, really, she doesn't care to carry on with all this sarcasm, even if that is basically luke's native tongue; she just wants a straight answer, yes or no. all this beating around the bush is pointless when simply beating the bush is much more effective. ]

voice »

[marred]

[ he doesn't really want to say yes — being reduced to a taxi service for a few days isn't how he wishes to spend his new year. but being in the company of cows, especially one that often tries to fill out the equivalent of an okcupid profile for him isn't how he wishes to spend his time, either. stuck between two rocks with no escape out, he figures at least he'll be able to spend some time with the dogs. ]

You try anything and I'm dumping you in a volcano.

voice »

[rues]

[ she almost asks what volcano? but then she vaguely remembers seeing one on the map in lancelot's study. it's a stupid question, anyway, because luke knows this terrain better than she does, right? she'd think he would know if there was a volcano. but ... that's really not the point. she's not going to try anything. this is a quest for ridire, she's not going to do anything as stupid as pissing luke off and fucking the whole thing up. ]

I'll keep that in mind. Meet me in the bailey tomorrow morning, 9 AM. [ she hesitates, unsure if she's capable of saying what he probably isn't expecting to hear, from her of all people. ] And ... thanks. [ mostly in case she forgets to say it later. she looks slightly uncomfortable having said it at all, because it's still something she's not entirely used to, but with a curt nod afterwards, she disconnects the feed and leaves it at that. ]