chiseler | Day One;

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Day One;

[He's already been here longer than he would like and it hasn't been that long. Still, demigods never do well being trapped and while he ponders on an escape plan he finds himself filled with a bunch of pent-up energy.

As it turns out, the best way to use that energy is to run laps around a track. On occasion he'll sprint, leap over invisible targets and change his direction entirely. Overall it probably looks a little strange and more like he's running from something. But that doesn't matter. It keeps him busy for about an hour and a half before he finds that he's a little worn out. Constantly being on the move like that isn't something he's used to anymore.

The other thing he finds is that he's kind of gross and sweaty now which really doesn't help the situation. He sighs to himself, running a hand through his hair before disappearing from the gym all together. He's not aware of anyone who might be watching and maybe he doesn't even care. Instead, he heads back to his apartment for a change of clothes before ducking into the bathroom.

The bathroom at this hour seems blissfully empty, so he doesn't bother hurrying through anything. Why? They have all the time in the world here, it seems, and he's out of his sweat-drenched clothes shortly after before wrapping a towel around his waist to grab soap/shampoo/etc.

The broken shower door gets his attention though and he's eyeing it curiously, fingering at the hinges before laughing to himself. This is what he finds himself doing when he suddenly hears footsteps behind him and he turns his head a fraction. Upon seeing who it is though, he only gives a tiny smirk in response.]

You know…we should probably stop meeting like this.

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[ Adam has no idea he's said anything wrong until Luke starts talking and he looks at the stall wall like it's going to help figure out what the problem is. But Luke explains it fast enough. He pauses in his movements for a moment.

Part of him feels like this isn't bad at all. For once, Luke isn't being smarmy or maybe telling Adam what he wants to hear. This is some genuine emotion. ] I didn't mean to... It doesn't matter. I just thought you would know. [ He frowns to himself and then grabs the soap. ] Why did you do it then if you didn't want to?

[Silence. He doesn't say anything and seems to just be showering and giving Adam the silence treatment. He's already said too much and he doesn't know if he wants to try and elaborate at all. Adam's right. It's genuine emotion he didn't want to give and so he's going back on lockdown.

Try again, Parrish.]

[ There's a sigh. He honestly thinks Luke is overreacting. ] Luke. I'm sorry, okay? I won't ask about it again.

Tell me about other things you've done. Just you. [ It's an ego thing, right? ]

[You try getting a giant facial scar and then we'll talk about overreacting, Adam. There's still silence like Luke's going to ignore the request before he slowly scratches at his scalp.]

No. [It's calm, almost challenging.] I think we're done talking about me. This isn't a one-way ride, Parrish. You've gotta own up to some stuff, too. What connection do you really have with your magic earth lines?

[ Well, at least Luke is talking. But he's not telling Adam what he wants to hear. There's silence on his part. He's not sure how secret what Luke's been telling him is. He doesn't want a raw deal. ]

They're called leylines, first of all. And I don't know. I told you, they were weak. [ There's a pause and a sigh. ] I might have short-circuited them. I started—working for them, in a way. I gave myself to them.

... But I don't think they're related to what's going on here anymore. Even when they were weak, they kept trying to communicate with me. Now I'm getting nothing.

[Yeah okay none of that entirely makes sense but he can draw some parallels and conclusions from that.]

You sacrificed yourself to the leylines why, exactly? Even if it's not related that means there's something bigger here taking away our powers don't you think?

I had to. [ That comes out a little sharper than he intends. It's not something he's happy about right now. ] There was no other choice. If it wasn't me, someone else would have taken control of them.

[ Adam is used to taking short showers but this is nice because he doesn't have to worry about the water bill, so he's just going to stand under the spray of the water idly. ] Stronger than gods and the magical energy of the world? I don't know... is there anything inherent in your genetics that you still have? You can't still summon scorpions, can you?

And so now you're under someone else's control. Or something else's, I guess. I'm gonna guess there's no way to reverse the effects either is there...?

[He sounds genuinely curious now and maybe a little concerned? But it's a control issue, it's not so much concern for Adam specifically. He doesn't seem to mind that they're wasting time and wasting water because he's hooked onto the conversation.]

...the scorpion thing isn't exactly something from my dad, but no. I don't have anything I don't think except for knowing that I'm half-god. I haven't tried everything yet but I'm working on it. [A pause.] With you being tied up in leylines...what can you really do?

[ Suddenly, the water in Adam's stall stops. He turns it off and there's a long pause. ] Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about. I'm still in control.

[ ... but he sounds vaguely nervous about it. At least it's something he doesn't have to worry about here. Somehow that's even more concerning though. ] Then where are you getting the scorpion thing from? [ He grabs his towel from the door to start drying off. ]

I don't know. I haven't done anything yet. It's just... in my head. Showing me things.

[He'll just stay in the shower, mostly taking his time and also just to see what Adam does next.] Are you? [He sounds a little disbelieving, like he's not sure if it's appropriate to laugh or point out the truth.

He's caught onto that nervousness, too.] I really have to wonder about that. And you're asking me like I actually wrote the dumb thing. [Yeah, he's assuming Adam's just harping about his profile.] What's it matter? I can't summon anything here yet.

[...though he pauses heavily. Showing things in his head, huh? That...sounds vaguely familiar.] ...what kind of things have you seen in your head then?

Of course I am. [ Now he just sounds angry, rage filling him up the way that's been happening so much lately. He's shaking in an attempt to control it because he won't be out of control. ] I'm here, aren't I? I'm not possessed or talking to you in Latin, I'm still me.

[ He rubs at his face, miserable. He kind of just wants to stay in the shower forever because at least it's isolation. ] Ghosts. Apparitions. Whispers and... Whatever, it doesn't matter. I haven't seen anything here. [ A pause. ] Alright. How about the breaking hearts part?

[Ooh, a hot button. That's interesting and he makes note of it quietly.] Even if you were speaking in Latin I wouldn't understand it so how should I know? All I'm saying is that you should be careful with things like that.

[Said the pot to the kettle. But…he's silent again.] …never dreamed about ghosts, but I've been contacted by other things. But nothing here.

[He's surprised Adam asks about that particular one, and he laughs suddenly.] That one I have no idea. I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean? Maybe it's a joke.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. [ He huffs as he starts dressing. ] Don't worry about me too much or I'll think you care. [ But the admission makes him pause. Maybe it's less weird for a demigod to be contacted by things? Also, he never said dreams. ]

What sort of things? You dream about them? [ It is interesting. He glances over at the wall and hums. ]

Telling people what they want to hear?

And wouldn't that be a pity. Like I said, could it worse. [The teasing lilt is in his voice again, though he doesn't let it linger long if only because Adam's asking him things. He doesn't have the foresight at the moment to realize what he's said isn't comparable to what Adam said.]

Demigods have weird dreams sometimes. And it's not that important...all you need to know is that I'm working on something big back home that's going to change Olympus entirely.

[That doesn't sound good. But he hums a little bit before he finally stops screwing around and kills the water.] Depends. Is that such a bad thing?

How do you think it could be worse? [ He's going to push this teasing just because he's tired of Luke avoiding everything with that smug tone. He soon leaves the shower and then waits for Luke. ]

You can't say something like that without explaining. [ Well, he probably can and will. But Luke seems to have a lot of things going on and Adam wants to know some of them. It's a fascinating difference from his own tedious existence. ] By letting others dictate your response, don't you sort of lose yourself anyway?

You could be someone I have absolutely no interest in, you could spit acid in my face, you could sprout a horns out of your head…there's a lot of ways this could be bad. [Give him a moment to dry off.]

And give me a reason why I should explain everything. [It's not exactly a no. He just wants to see what Adam will offer.] And I don't think so. I didn't say that applies all the time. Try again.

Aw, you're interested in me. [ He doesn't actually take it to heart but he sure sounds smug about it. ] And you never know. The profiles don't have everything apparently. Nothing about you being half-god on there.

[ If only he could spit acid in Luke's face. ] You get to brag? Impress me? Or tell me what I want to hear, which you're skilled in.

What can I say? [He's going to leave it at that.] You know that putting "demigod" on my profile would be like putting "mortal" on yours, right? It's kind of stupid. [He finally steps out of the shower, still wrapped in a towel. Give him a moment to collect his clothes, etc.]

You're trying really hard to focus on those things aren't ya? You do this with everybody you meet? [He flashes another smile at him.] I'd almost think you're horribly suspicious of me.

Mortal? Are you saying you can't die? [ He could probably say more but then Luke is stepping out and his mind goes blank, staring before getting enough sense to look away. He crosses his arms over his chest. ]

I'd think your profile would be the cause of anyone being suspicious of you. Maybe that was the point of it. [ He glances over at him. ] But honestly? I've never met anyone like you. I'm interested in learning.

[...hm.] Something like that. [He can still very much die, but why give Adam that advantage of knowing exactly what it'll take? Instead, this time it's much harder to ignore that Adam's staring at him and he laughs under his breath. Flattering, at least.]

There are people here way more suspicious than I am, I'll have you know. If people are suspicious of me they can ask me whatever they wanna know. Some of those things I don't even understand. [Though he thinks back to a few conversations he's had with other people and he tilts his head in Adam's direction. Normally people push him for more answers. Adam's solely asking questions to try and understand. And anyway...they're here for a while. That much is certain.]

I guess I can deal with that as long as you tell me more about your leylines and stuff. I haven't dealt with a lot of mortals over the last couple of years.

[ Something like that. From what he knows about demigods, they're much harder to kill. He nods, accepting that. It's not like he's planning to kill Luke or anything. ]

Are there? [ No, he agrees with that. ] Anyone you're suspecting in particular? Of what? [ He smiles a little, finding himself enjoying this conversation. Luke is a strange one. ]

I find that hard to believe. I'll tell you about them if you tell me about your big plan.

[Thanks for that, Adam. Demigods are much more resilient, but the thing about them is that they are still half-mortal. He's nodding just a bit at Adam's suggestion and steps past him, taking his clothes to duck back into a stall to change. While he's doing that he responds from behind the door.]

I have a few people I'm keeping an eye on and a few people I find interesting. One of my roommates has a crossbow. Another one's got a sword. Met this girl who tried to tell me she's one of the strongest people in her world and I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want my card to say "skilled at causing other people pain." ...saw another profile whose skill listing included torture so that was weird. Little things like that. [He steps out again, dressed in jeans and tugging a long-sleeved shirt over his head.] One of the things on my own card includes breaking promises and I have no idea what that's supposed to mean.

[He's intrigued by that offer though.] Are you gonna go first? We have a deal then.

[ He can finally breathe once Luke goes back in the stall so that's nice. ] A lot of the people here seem to be skilled in fighting, don't they? Plus coming with weapons... [ He can't really talk but. ] What, you don't think you've ever broken a promise? Wonder how many you have to break to make it a skill.

[ He doesn't trust Luke, really. The profiles may be to set them against each other but it's all fairly suspicious and Luke hasn't denied a lot of them. That doesn't mean he can't get to know him, though. After all, Adam isn't skilled at all in fighting but Luke apparently is. ]

You didn't ask anything specific. I'm not an expert but I know they're old. Older than the gods, I'd imagine. They're powerful, but... I don't know what's made them weaker. They're still able to make themselves known, though, not just to me but they'll start taking out electricity and talking to everyone. I got amnesia with them once too... Anyway, is that enough?

And then you have some of us who're skilled and didn't come with weapons and those of us with weapons and maybe no idea how to use them. [A meaningful look. He's not sure if Adam knows how to use the gun in his inventory, but he's curious all the same.] I would remember if I ever broke a promise, so I think whoever wrote those things did it just to make me look bad.

[Trust no one, really. He doesn't have too much to hide since he knows at some point Adam will stop believing him. It's just...Adam hasn't hit that point yet somehow. He listens carefully about the leylines, finding that it's an answer without answer but the way Adam talks about them makes them sound sentient. It's bizarre to him. He wants to ask about the amnesia, about the leylines talking to everybody, but he'll save that for another time.] It's enough for now. Now we're even.

[And with another smile he turns on his heel and begins leaving the bathroom.]

[ Adam raises his eyebrows. Does Luke really think he wouldn't know how to use a gun? He wonders what he must think of him. Probably sees him as weak. ] Sounds like those types of people to team up. Maybe the crazier people with axes won't get them.

[ He waits for Luke to explain and he probably shouldn't be surprised when Luke just... starts walking off. He let himself fall into that trap, honestly. But Luke has been sharing with him enough, he didn't have a reason to doubt now. So he scowls because he's making him look stupid and rushes to catch up to him, reaching to grab onto his wrist. ] Hey. Didn't anyone ever teach you manners? Maybe they really meant deal-breaker on your profile.

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