timeshares | [Sandboxing/Voice testing/Thread continuations]

[ Fortunately for Luke, the person passing by his gray little corner of purgatory is none other than the son of the dude running this place. Unfortunately for Luke ... that person happens to be Nico. As little direct animosity as Nico might have towards the dude, he did sort of try to kill Percy on multiple occasions. And ... well. Nico has a couple different reasons to be mad about that.

So it isn't without some small measure of schadenfreude that Nico watches Luke struggle for a moment. Does not twitch at all, in fact, until the demigod turns to get his attention. And then he's just already standing there, impassive, looking every bit an Underworld demigod in his usual dark clothes and stygian blade. What may be surprising is how much older he looks since the last time Luke saw him. Fourteen, nearly fifteen, and while still on the small side, just now beginning to hit the start of what will become an intimidating amount of height.

Time sure flies when you're doing paperwork in the underworld, huh? ]

Ba is for ordinary souls, Baa is for half-bloods. You did the wrong version.

[Were he still alive, Luke might have actually had a bit of trouble recognizing Nico... As it is, the demi-god's voice commanded attention with a compulsion he hadn't felt from ANY god, not even Kronos.

It rankled.

But.. that also meant that there was only one person it could be. Someone who---is pointing out something really important.]

.. The wrong...

[He stares at it, a little disbelieving. Slowly, he picks it up and crumples the page. For lack of teeth to grit, or the solidity to drop his head to the table, Luke forces up some cheer, tone almost bright.]

So, that's how it is.

[ Nico is quiet, not demanding anything other than Luke's attention. But that sense of power is inescapable. A fundamental law of nature. If Nico requested something, Luke would have a better chance of asking gravity to reverse itself than resisting a command from a child of the Underworld.

No need for that here, though. He's only here to watch - maybe even help? - he hasn't decided yet. Since Bianca applied for reincarnation without saying goodbye to him, he's taken to meandering through here after major half-blood events. Especially with the massive clogs and snarls caused by that whole issue with the Doors of Death being open ...

A few of the more aimless spirits drift towards Nico; he gently (but firmly) nudges them away with a hand. ]

Which part? Messing up your paperwork or meeting me here?

I can't say I was expecting company. What's one dead demi-god right now, right? Worth even less than we are alive.

I should have guessed about paperwork.

[And leaves it at that. Even Luke is not going to talk TOO MUCH shit about Hades in his own realm. He throws the paper ball and it vanishes as it hits the ground, smoothing back out on the table, all the fields empty again.]

...

It hasn't been an hour, has it?

[ Nico pads a little closer, his footsteps soft but still more solid than most other sounds down here. He considers the massive stack in front of them thoughtfully. ]

Used to be worse before Daedalus helped clean things up. But we had some hiccups.

[ He shoves both hands into the pockets of his jacket. Not the aviator jacket Luke saw him in before, but a similar design. ]

No. Couple years.

[There was a thought- an important and a big one.

And then a record scratch.]

Wait? This used to be worse?

Labyrinthine.

[ He smiles grimly at that. ]

You got caught at a bad time though. Doors of Death were open for a while, snarled everything up.

[There's something really unsettling about suddenly being really REALLY grateful for having indirectly caused the ancient inventor's death...

But then the rest...]

...

That one was NOT me.

I know it wasn't. Though I hate to see what you'd have done if Gaea could have resurrected you.

[ He stops at that to watch Luke's reaction. ]

[The expression is mixed. Relief at this not being an interrogation visit was the first and plainest.

Gaea... mother of the titans, the earth herself...

Were the gods fighting amongst themselves again? (had ANYTHING changed?) Or did the near rebirth and defeat of her son cause her to stir?

Looking at the stacks of paperwork he could hardly read... could he say he wouldn't have taken the offer, even if it was just to betray her?

He's silent a long moment, staring at not much of anything. Finally, he takes another sheet from the nearest stack.]

I couldn't 'handle' a Titan. I'm not sure there would be any choice besides "what she told me to do."

[ The fact that Luke admits that, doesn't seem to be eager to claw his way back to life and cause mayhem ... Nico wasn't really expecting Luke to, he admits, but that quiet response undoes a knot in his shoulders all the same. Now they might actually be able to talk.

... Now, he feel slightly more inclined to help. He starts by leaning up to take a page or two off the top of one of those piles. ]

No, probably not. They're no fun at all.

[ Was that a joke? His tone is awfully dry. ]

[More than a little surprise and a bit of wariness crosses the spirit's face at Nico's actions. None of this was going like he would have guessed...]

Heh... Not going to argue there.

[The tone was dry and... Nico wasn't someone he KNEW. Had the General's first mission not failed, it might have been different...]

With the past tense, I'd assume the Doors are closed. Still dealing with her?

[ Nico has too many feelings about prophecies dicking half-bloods over to hold too much of a grudge, even for someone who tried to kill Percy like five times. And not a small amount of sympathy for anyone involved with titans, however willingly. He'd made mistakes too.

So, he puts down a couple simpler forms in front of Luke, these mercifully written in actual Greek. ]

No. We put her back to sleep again - for another millennium at least. Took a lot to do it, though.

[He... didn't even know they were there. But the welcoming, familiar and most of all, immobile lettering was amazing. Oasis like this EXIST... there might even be fully ancient greek copies...]

Hey... uh.... thanks.

[Then...]

So I probably don't have any right to even ask this... but... Are, ah... they. [Okay? Of course not. There's no lack of bitterness to answer that.] How are they doing?

[ He snorts a little. Partly because Luke, of all people, asking him about them is a bit ludicrous ... and partly because, well. Percy is Percy, even now. ]

Percy and Annabeth are off to live in the Roman camp for a while, and just about everyone's going back and forth a lot. Also, there's a huge betting pool on when they're gonna get engaged.

[ His expression crooks faintly, almost a smile. Some private internal joke. ]

So, things are going unusually well.

[So when you betray one of your oldest friends in horrifying, terrible ways more than once, and try to kill the other guy some number of times... ... and they stupidly trust you anyway when you absolutely need them to... eh. You think about them now and then.]

Wait ... Live where?

Edited 2015-07-26 03:28 (UTC)

Roman camp.

[ He pauses, frowning a little. He'd known nothing about it until it had suddenly popped up on everyone's radar, but he'd thought that perhaps some of the older campers might have heard of it. Clearly not the case. ]

... I guess you didn't know about them either, huh.

I have a half-sister there. Daughter of Pluto.

[He shakes his head after a moment's thought. A half smile twists his lips.]

I wouldn't have turned down the extra help, if I did. Unless the Roman Olympians are better parents...

[His tone was plainly doubtful.]

[ Another snort. They both know too well how that goes. ]

No, not especially. But the community's ... different. More room for families. College. Non-half-blood descendants living with them as well.

[Luke... doesn't say anything to that. He would seem absorbed in the paperwork. The second page was almost done, his own Greek lettering tight, small and slanted. ... But the expression on his face was a complicated one... Some mix of grief and anger, edged by an old childhood fear.

Even WITH a situation like that... it's not like he could have gotten his mother there. (If he wanted to. DID he want to?) It's not like he'd have been let out of camp to try. ... Or that his father would help. If he wasn't important enough for a satyr, then what were the odds of a broken, discarded mortal woman?

.. It didn't matter anyway, now.]

Edited 2015-07-26 10:48 (UTC)

Yeah?

[There's no air for a spirit to sigh. But there's something of a blurring around the edges as the other half-blood seems to calm himself down.]

So who's even left? You're not there now. [The statement has the edge of a question.]

[ Mothers getting dicked over by immortals: another thing Nico can absolutely sympathize with. How different would his own life had been if he, his sister, and his mother had been allowed to live in the Roman camp? ... Probably not much, given that prophecy. But it's a nice image all the same. Nico mostly remembers the modern world, though, so he isn't sure he would have enjoyed growing up in the 40s.

And that question... He's not sure how much to say. There were casualties, of course. But perhaps none that Luke would recognize. And certainly... ]

Most lived through it. A lot more than yours.

[ Still artfully avoiding the question of why he's here and not above. ]

[It seems to work... Luke glides over it as well.]

Touche.

[There was no remorse or regret. Not there.

He would regret the decisions he made, how he'd lost control with failure after failure and how it spun it that far out.

But not the war. Not the cause. Not the heroes that died beside him.]

I was talking about choosing to move there... But that answers a lot too.

[ He shifts a bit at that. Could he live in the Roman camp if he wanted to? Certainly - he'd been a go between long enough that he's used to it. Still a go between when he visits his sister. But... There's at least one reason to stay close to the Greek side when he can. ]

Sure. But Will is in the Greek camp. He gets grumpy if I'm gone too long.

[ Maybe the name rings a bell, maybe it doesn't. Will Solace, son of Apollo, one of the healers, and actively on Percy's side during Luke's conflict. Gay as hell. Literally, given the wistful way Nico's mouth twists. He's still not 100% casual about this with the living, even with Jason's badgering... But moving on from Percy to a boyfriend of his own site has helped.

Besides, Nico always was better at talking to dead people. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject