“Cal” Thi Lê | “Male” | “Straight” | Mediumship

M: Aries

What?

Cal was a bit taken aback by Aries’s response, blinking in surprise to try to process Aries’s answer. Cal was just trying to ask about Aries’s interest and the guy suddenly brings up his abilities again. Chuckling awkwardly before slowly tilting his head with a confused expression, Cal waited for an explanation from Aries but was not expecting to not only receive no answer but to only hear an apology.

“We seriously gotta work on how much you apologize, man,” Cal replied with a playful chuckle as he nudged the man with his elbow. “And I didn’t really want to see your powers again— although they are super fuckin’ cool— I was just asking about your interests more since you seem pretty happy when you’re talking the things that interest you. Er- duh! Of course, you like the things that interest you; that was dumb statement.” Cal smacked his forehead as he chuckled a bit, shaking his head at himself before instantly shutting himself up as Aries began to speak.

Cal instantly stopped talking and held onto every word Aries said. Like, who in the world was this guy and why the hell was he cool? He knew a lot of swordsmanship and loved history and liked writing? Aries seemed to be the best qualities of Cal’s old friends all pooled together! Except almost no one Cal knew liked survival trivia because Cal tended to be the one with the most random and most live-saving knowledge. Man, this guy was cool. Plus, it was kind of heart-warming to hear him constantly bring up history and Cal could not help but smile like a dork.

Although Cal nodded and smiled as Aries brought up the stars, he could not help but clench his jaw a bit.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no—

Breathe, breathe—

It’s all too similar!

It’s just a little coincidence! There’s no need to panic. Breathe.

Cal was just glad Aries did not stay long enough on that topic for Cal to constantly be reminded of him.

Cal nodded and listened to what Aries said after that, quickly trying to distract himself with his new words. After all, how could one not get excited let alone distracted by the fact that this guy owned and was good at using swords? That is one “helluva” introduction. When Ariv talked about gaining muscle mass, Cal briefly looked Aries over once again and— Oh holy shit…— Cal was now questioning as to why he did not notice Aries’s muscles first thing. Like, goddessdamn. Way to make a man blush, Aries. Anyways. As Aries talked about being in a sport, Aries also neglected to mention which sport he was in which got Cal’s hyperactive brain a-buzz. Based on what Aries was saying about his sport, Cal could only make a few educated guesses but it was better than nothing.

“Sooo are you in fencing or wrestling?” Cal asked as soon as the anticipation got to be too much for him to bear, almost cutting Aries off mid sentence to ask. “‘Cause you’re ‘sport’s’ gotta be one of the two right?? If your sport’s fencing, then that’s super fuckin’ cool because I would love to watch you use literal swords and fightin’ and shit. Buuuut if your sport is wrestling—” Cal sang the word with a purr— “then maybe you and I can do a bit of sparring!~ I am not as good at wrestling as I am at boxing and I have not done any wrestling in a while…, but it will be good to practice!”

Gwyar ‘Aries/Khorne’ Ariethous Fraoch | Male | Demi(HML) | Blood Manipulation | M; Cal.

“Sooo are you in fencing or wrestling?”

--

The question came as soon as Gwyar had finished speaking. He blinked, not the line of conversation he’d been expecting. What was he even supposed to say? Definitely wasn’t fencing, he couldn’t use ‘team’ at all then should he ever have to explain anything to him. But wrestling was also off the table due to that… What had he been told to say? There was an acronym…

--

“‘Cause your sport’s’ gotta be one of the two right?? If your sport’s fencing, then that’s super fuckin’ cool because I would love to watch you use literal swords and fightin’ and shit. Buuuut if your sport is wrestling then maybe you and I can do a bit of sparring!~”

--

Gwyar got the distinct feeling that Cal had no idea what the game actually was, or his reputation in them… Which was good, still made him tense, but at least Cal didn’t actually know.

--

“I am not as good at wrestling as I am at boxing and I have not done any wrestling in a while… But it will be good to practice!”

--

MMA! That was the acronym. Mixed Martial Arts. That included wrestling, boxing, judo, kung fu, karate- Everything in the combat sports category. Weapons were explained, fighting was explained, teams existed, everything was explained. And few people actually knew about MMA, so obscure was checked off- Yeah. MMA. Perhaps fortunately though, he didn’t get to say anything on the topic yet since Cal continued speaking. Gwyar almost sighed in relief, he at least had enough self-control not to though.

--

“Oh. You seem to really like history. Like, really, really like history.”

--

Gwyar cringed, about to apologize as Cal continued to speak. That whole interest was rather boring to other people, most people didn’t really like history. At all. He probably shouldn’t have brought the topic up to begin with. But as Cal spoke next, Gwyar’s entire attention turned to him and his words, nodding along in interest and practically hanging onto every word.

--

“So uh, what’s your favorite historical story or maybe your favorite myth about your deities? Personally, I really like the history surrounding the Red Rush because- Goddess- the amount of stupidity that led up to the Red Rush was so fascinating and the aftermath of the plague was just so cool! Like, the amount of ripple effects one person had started left lasting impressions on countries and governments and the religions of the Goddess as a whole. I mean one guy- one guy!- caused so much of a change in history that the church of the Goddess was split into two factions! That is just so- so- ugh! Words!”

--

The Red Rush… Splitting of the Goddess religion followed mostly by the Arcane… One guy… Plague… Oh. Oh!- Akachi Uriel Altan! Developed and fought for ideas of tolerance and that the Goddess was above gender and as such the traditional ideals that male gay relations were unholy and crude while female gay relations were the opposite! The plague had been caused by a famine due to crops being destroyed and Altan’s leadership and strategies in the Ruby Crusade! That had been an interesting three books of about 300 pages each… There was a lot of history there, a lot of change that had been brought about due to him.

--

“Oh! And an old friend of mine told me these stories of his god, ‘Zues,’ which were also really cool. I really like the myths about Apitty- Apolly? Something like that- that he told most though. Ah! Sorry!! I was supposed to be asking you what you like about history, not the other way around! Sorry, again, and uh- Yeah! What’s your favorite exactly??”

--

Gwyar chuckled lightly, a smile forming, immediately biting his lip to stop himself, smile included. “And I apologize a lot? At least mine are more spread out, Cal.” He paused, half tempted to apologize for the implied disrespect there, but… Well, he was trying to make a point, right? Was he? He hoped he didn’t seem too apologetic as he continued, he hoped Cal still knew he hadn’t meant that to be disrespectful. “But, uh, anyway. My favorites are probably the ones about the Minotaur, or Frigga tricking Odin into allowing her favored warriors to win a battle, or perhaps of Odin hanging himself from Yggdrasil for nine days and nine nights in order to learn the runes and knowledge of the nine realms. Now that one is a doozy. As for history that almost everyone is in agreement on? Wars, almost every war that has ever taken place has so many effects caused by them or reasons for which they happened. I, personally, don’t interact with Zues all that much and perhaps you’re thinking of Apollo when you say Apolly? Regardless, I try to make time to speak to those such as my namesake, Aries, as well as Athena and Prometheus when speaking of my Greek conversations. I also speak to Tyr, Freyja, Odin, and Thor at times. When my Roman conversations come into play, I tend to speak more to Janus rather than anyone else, though he’s of both Greek and Roman origin… Bellona is probably the most consistent of my Roman conversations then.”
--

He paused, thinking for a moment on what else there was to mention. He’d answered Cal’s question on history… Perhaps the Red Rush and then give the MMA answer? He supposed that could work. “The Red Rush is very interesting though. Akachi Altan really did change the course of history rather immensely, especially for the Arcane and their systems of government. Previously ruled solely by matriarchs and high priestesses, Altan opened the door for everyone to have a chance at ruling or power of some kind. And that’s all to go without mentioning his support towards male gay relations which were previously frowned upon completely. And the Ruby Crusade’s involvement in starting the plague that came in their time, and the famine that helped to truly escalate the plague, now commonly known as Sun’s Deadline, due to the fog that had blocked out the sun during that time and further caused the famine, if I do recall. As for my sport, I do MMA, or mixed martial arts. Sparring might be fun, though I’d probably have to help you a bit with the more intense or exact arts… Either way though, any specific moments in the Red Rush that you enjoyed more than others?” The smile was back by now, seemingly unnoticed by him too, as he awaited Cal’s answer. Always was a good time when someone was actually as interested in history as he was.

“Cal” Thi Lê | “Male” | “Straight” | Mediumship

M: Aries

“Oh shush,” Cal chuckled as he shook his head and playfully shoved Aries as Aries teased him for apologizing, which was a bit hypocritical but Aries did admit that he apologized a lot too so it was good to know Aries was aware of his excessive apologizing. “I only said it— what?— twice at most unlike you—” Cal poked his cheek with a teasing smirk as he closed the distance between himself and Aries— “Mr. I-must-apologize-for-everything-even-though-it-is-totally-fine-and-I-don’t-hafta!!” Cal chuckled and smiled fondly, already enjoying seeing Aries loosening up a bit. “Well, thanks for calling me out, Mr. Apology. I will try to apologize less if you try to do the same.”

Cal paused as he listened intently to Aries with a dorkish smile, all this talking about a subject that interested him was making it impossible to contain his joy as he excitedly and subtly began to rock back and forth. Though he was unaware of who some of the characters that Aries mentioned were, he could not help but try to picture everything in his head and piece together the story in his mind. There was just something about these stories that was so alluring and enticing that Cal could not help but enjoy it for some unknown reason. Unlike math and science, Cal still did not understand his own fascination with history, but this did not stop him from loving and absorbing any piece of antiquity he could acquire.

“Ah, man! I haven’t heard of any of those really! Well,” Cal paused, looking deep in thought as he paused speaking to briefly bite his nail, “maybe I have heard of the Minotaur myth— it’s the one with the half-bull, half-man dude in the one helluva long maze right?— but you’ll have to remind me about it one of these days! I haven’t heard about it in a while so any refresher you can give me would be awesome.” Cal could not help but grow a rosy complexion as Aries pointed out how he mispronounced a god’s name as Cal chuckled awkwardly. “Uhhh y-yeah! Apollo! I totally said that. Totally. ‘Cause why—” the nervousness in Cal’s tone grew more apparent as his smile showed clear signs of his terrible lying— “would I mess up a god’s name? I would have to be super bad at remembering names! Which… I am… but that’s besides the point!!” Cal huffed a bit embarrassedly before remembering what else he was going to say. “Anywaaays… I know a bit about traditions in more Greek households, but what are Nordic prayer traditions and talking… thingies like? If you do practice Nordic culture! I am not really sure which culture the deities you named are from but I think they are Nordic, right?”

As Aries spoke about the Red Rush after a pause, Cal instantly went quiet as his smile twitched into even more of a smile. Cal quietly clapped his hands excitedly as he impatiently waited to speak on the topic which he loved a lot. It was not that he wanted to cut Aries off, he was just excited about the Red Rush and what’s-his-name. After all, what was there not to get excited about when it came to this period in history where everything cool in history happened in one man’s lifetime. Plague, crusades, and enlightenment! So incredible! Shaking with excitement like a silent alarm clock buzzing to the point where it looked like it would shutter itself off the desk, Cal smiled widely and nodded with almost every sentence Aries said, forcing himself not to interrupt because he valued what his new friend had to say and he had to work on his impulses.

“I liked all of it!!” Cal replied excitedly once the question had been asked. “Okay so— First of all, I mean, like, so cool how one guy— Altan— changed so much. I mean, I know I already said that, but still!! Like, he changed this whole shithole of a world into something so much better by advocating for new possibilities, eliminating serfdom by convincing even those who hated him into believing that it would be better for the economy, which it was, modeling and improving the government based on older Greek styles of government which are still reflected even if some Arcane governments still have a few authoritarian views, and— my Goddess!— he changed Arcane as a religion as a whole and— This is not even going into the plague itself, which is—” Cal looked to stop functioning for a moment as his hands flapped around excitedly. Gasping for breath due to him having forgotten to breathe during his whole rambling, Cal looked like a fish out of water as he was only able to say: “Excited!!” Cal took a few deep breaths to calm himself before sighing as he could finally calm himself. “I think my favorite part of this period in time was probably the response to the plague and famine, both by the matriarchy and Altan. That and the division of the religion of the Goddess between the Old Liege sector and the Novel Disciple sector.” Cal paused, his smile briefly fading. “As someone from a uh… a strict Old Liege household, it is… a bit harder to learn about the Novel Disciple but it still fascinates me!!”

“Oh, also, uhh,” Cal smiled again as he gave a small chuckle, “sorry for not commenting on your statement about MMA. I got really excited talking about history and I kinda got distracted. Either way though! I think the whole MMA thing sounds cool! Never heard of it, but you will definitely have to show me the ropes! Who knows, maybe I can play with you so long as track and MMA are on different schedules!!”

Gwyar ‘Aries/Khorne’ Ariethous Fraoch | Male | Demi(HML) | Blood Manipulation | M; Cal, Chile(Ind).

Again, Cal seemed eager enough for the conversation to interrupt here and there. Just to ask questions and add things that Gwyar hadn’t mentioned. And make jokes. But honestly? Cal was obviously interested in the conversation, invested in his words, something that he wasn’t really used to from people other than Chile and even he tended to get bored from history at times. Even stranger, though, was when Cal went quiet while he spoke about the Red Rush. Almost as if hanging onto every word, truly listening and enjoying the conversation.

--

As soon as the question had left his mouth, Cal was answering. Truly invested in the conversation. Quite frankly, Gwyar almost felt bad about how slow he tended to be in responding to people. But there wasn’t time to dwell because already, he was listening to what Cal had to say.

--

“I liked all of it! Okay so– First of all, I mean like, so cool how one guy- Altan- changed so much. I mean, I know I already said that, but still! Like, he changed this whole shithole of a world into something so much better by advocating for new possibilities, eliminating serfdom by convincing even those who hated him into believing that it would be better for the economy, which is was, modeling and improving the government which are still reflected even if some of Arcane governments still have a few authoritarian views, and- my Goddess!- he changed Arcane as a religion as a whole and- This is not even going into the plague itself, which is- Excited!! I think my favorite part of this period in time was probably the response to the plague and famine, both by the matriarchy and Altan. That and the division of the religion of the Goddess between the Old Liege sector and the Novel Disciple sector. As someone from a uh… a strict Old Liege household, it is… a bit harder to learn about the Novel Disciple but it still fascinates me!!”

--

And Gwyar held onto every word as Cal spoke. Someone that knew as much history as he did, and enjoyed said history too, was hard to come by in this day and age. He was tempted to immediately come in with his own words, add onto what had already been said- Answer everything that Cal had asked him- But, well… Cal looked like he was about to start talking again, and… Well, Gwyar was not the type to interrupt, regardless of how tempted he might be to do so. So, he refrained from speaking, and listened.

--

“Oh, also, uhh, sorry for not commenting on your statement about MMA. I got really excited talking about history and I kinda got distracted. Either way though! I think you will definitely have to show me the ropes! Who knows, maybe I can play with you so long as track and MMA are on different schedules!!”

--

And… His smile faded into a thin line, all excitement on talking about history crashed by the cruel idea of Cal finding the arena and getting hurt. Of fighting against Cal and winning. He bit his tongue, aware of how tense he’d gotten. He swallowed thickly, blinked a few times, and then forced a shrug and chuckle, hoping Cal wouldn’t notice his reaction due to excitement. “Maybe, but MMA is year round, so probably would conflict with track a bit. I mean, MMA is the only sport I do, and I have a game almost every day all year. And they can last pretty long into the night too, even if they start in the early morning. So… Not sure how that might conflict with track and all…”

--

He paused, biting his lip. He really didn’t want to keep talking about the arena as if the whole thing was… Normal. An average sport. He couldn’t let himself think that that was, he just- He couldn’t, knowing the arena wasn’t normal or average or casual was the only thing that made him different from… From them… This whole conversation about the ‘sport’ was too casual for what the arena really was. He should just move onto responding to the other things Cal had said. Keep this casual, keep him in the dark as much as possible. Better that way, less worrying people.

--

He took a breath, thinking back to what Cal had said about Red Rush. “I’m sorry about your family, if you ever need a place to stay, let me know. I can probably figure something out that would work.” He didn’t mention how Cal wouldn’t be able to stay at his place, he’d go through that if Cal did ever need somewhere to stay. “But uh, yeah. The whole Red Rush period was rather crazy. I’d have to say my favorite part was the crusades made by Altan, his lovers, and their followers. They were comparatively peaceful compared to the Old Liege’s crusades, they barely ever destroyed towns and basically never enslaved people as a way to convert them. Which is honestly amazing, especially since so many people used those tactics in the past with great success and yet Altan either barely or just didn’t use those tactics and was just as successful as those that did! Not to even mention the why of that decision in the first place- Did you ever realize that Altan himself had been a slave back in his home country? That he’d been absurdly mistreated and had written whole books on how to survive while keeping your spirit and mind and soul and everything else, not to mention the sections that cover the abuse he had gone through- I just- You know?” As he spoke, his hands ended up gesturing around at their surroundings as a replacement for words. And maybe Gwyar was an obsessive nerd for this, but he’d managed to find some of the original copies of said books in their original language, and they held a special place in his room, hidden under floorboards. Not the original book, that was in a museum in a whole different country and city. But the first ten original copies? He’d managed to get one for each of his four books. An accomplishment he was absurdly proud of, in all honesty. He hadn’t even read any of them except for the first, he couldn’t really convince himself to do so. The first one had been hard enough to read through.

--

Either way, he was getting insanely excited over this. Way too excited, quite frankly. Knowing that didn’t get rid of the smile that threatened to split his face wide open. Thinking back to what else Cal had said so that he didn’t end up ranting over the Red Rush too much more, he decided to go over the other history stuff Cal had said first. The whole, ‘Ah, man! I haven’t heard of any of those really! Well, maybe I have heard of the Minotaur myth- it’s the one with the half-bull, half-man dude in the one helluva long maze right?- but you’ll have to remind me about it one of these days! I haven’t heard about it in a while so any refresher you can give me would be awesome. Uhhh y-yeah! Apollo! I totally said that. Totally. ‘Cause why would I mess up a god’s name? I would have to be super bad at remembering names! Which… I am… but that’s besides the point!! Anywaaays… I know a bit about traditions in Greek households, but what are Nordic prayer traditions and talking… thingies likes? If you do practice Nordic culture! I am not really sure which culture the deities you named are from but I think they are Nordic, right?’

--
Which… Was a lot to try and respond to but… Hm… He could work with all of that, better than outright disinterest. “As for all the questions about Nordic tradition… Tyr, Odin, Thor, and Freyja are Nordic. Battle, learning, nature, and wandering are big parts of Nordic culture. Meanwhile, things like prayers are a lot looser. You can leave offerings basically anywhere as long as you remember how to do so. You can talk to them through your mind or just screaming or whispering out loud. They aren’t omniscient, however, so you do have to invoke their name or titles in order to speak to them. Frankly though, you can honor them just by setting aside time to sit in nature and take in the world around you. Or by taking a walk, or reading a book you’ve been meaning to read, or by working out, lifting weights, staying healthy. Since hospitality is a big thing too, you can also just volunteer for community service or to feed those less fortunate or help those in need in order to honor them. There’s actually this whole thing where they say not to pray too much though, and there isn’t really set days or times… Uhm, there’s a lot. Going over everything would honestly take quite a while. But for the most part, everything boils down to honor them how you see fit and make sure not to pray everyday because the Gods have their own stuff going on too. As for the Minotaur myth, I can totally tell you the myth whenever. I have my favorites practically memorized, so… Yeah. As for mispronouncing Apollo’s name? Don’t worry too much about that. Honestly, maybe your friend knew him as Apolly because they were close to him and was allowed to call him that and to not, even to those outside of the religion, would be similar to disrespecting him. I don’t really talk to Apollo all that much, I’ve only had one or two conversations with him, but from what I have heard and seen of him, he’s usually chill.”

--

What else had Cal said? The apologizing thing? Was that all? The ‘Oh shush, I only said it- what?- twice at most unlike you, Mr. I-must-apologize-for-everything-even-though-it-is-totally-fine-and-I-don’t-hafta!! Well, thanks for calling me out, Mr. Apology. I will try to apologize less if you try to do the same.’

--

Gwyar refrained from rolling his eyes as he thought of a response. “As for all the apologizing conversation? I’m aware I apologized more than twice, but not in the same sentence. You apologized twice in the same sentence. At least mine are spread out, Cal. But fine, I’ll try to do the same if that’ll make you feel better.” Frankly, he had been working on not apologizing as much. He used to apologize even more than he did now, a lot more. He wasn’t sure on how to feel about that, if he were being honest. He really hoped that he wasn’t messing up incredulously by not apologizing as much. He hoped he wasn’t actually apologizing too much now either. Did most people just not apologize ever? Was he supposed to never apologize? He really couldn’t do that. Not apologizing just existing, let alone not apologizing for starting a conversation, was hard enough…

“Cal” Thi Lê | “Male” | “Straight” | Mediumship

M: Aries

Once Cal had brought up the possibility of joining MMA, Aries went tense. Cal could hear him swallowing hard as he looked like he was the one who could see ghosts and not Cal. Is he alright? Was it something Cal said? Cal already felt as though he was walking on eggshells that hid mines while doing his best not to upset the poor guy and it was as if Cal had already stepped on several mines. What even had Cal said in order to make Aries react like this? Was it just the mere thought of having competition that Aries did not like or…? As Aries slowly came to a response, the reply made sense on paper, but there was something about the underlying message that Cal could not make sense of. Cal could not help but look around as if looking for whomever might have been holding Aries at gunpoint.

“Oh… well, if that’s the case, I doubt I would be able to do that,” Cal forced with a smile. “Long nights, constant fights; sounds miserable! I mean, I guess I did have friends who woke up super early for swimming practice in the mornings and stayed up late for swim meets, but doing that year round? How can you stand that? You must really love the sport if you are willing to do that for your sport. I love running a lot but I am not sure if I could even continue the sport under conditions like that….”

Cal’s mind was instantly pulled away from concern for Aries and about MMA when Aries apologized for Cal’s family. The thought was so absurd! Aries was apologizing for them, his parents! Sure, they were assholes, but they were just… misguided. Misguided, right. But at what point is the line between “misguided” and “narcissistic” so blurred that Cal could still defend them? Maybe having them as family was not great, but they used to be good people. His parents still were good people. His mother donated to charity and his father worked late shifts so other employees could go home sooner on holidays and weekends. How could good people be so bad? Goddess, why was he still asking himself questions like these as if their actions never happened? Yet it was continuously hilarious to him that Aries apologized for them.

“Don’t worry about my parents,” Cal replied, waving his hand dismissively as he made sure to address this first before ranting about Altan. “I’m straight so as long as I do my nightly prayers, they are not that bad. And don’t worry about housing me! I’m perfectly safe, you lovable dork!!” Cal chuckled briefly before instantly springing into history without so much as a transition or a pause. “Uhhhh yeah! Knowing that he went from having nothing to literally founding a whole-ass new religion is like— the coolest thing about him! I heard that some other slaves from the same place before being sold to new locations heard the Goddess actually speaking through him at night! But the book? I never knew it was even real! I thought—” Cal chuckled as his hands made some grand jester as he leaned back in the bench— “that it was just a big ol’ fancy rumor but— it’s real?” Cal sat up and leaned closer to Aries with sparkling eyes, maybe a bit closer than strangers should get with each other. “It’s actually real?? Do you know where I can read it?!” Cal did even realize how close he was to Aries before he suddenly backed away and muttered a small insult or two to himself as he sank into the seat. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get close, I just—” Cal gave little jazz hands as if that was his explanation. “Yeah.”

As soon as Aries began to speak about his religion, Cal instantly shut up, wanting to absorb as much details as possible. Cal had little to no knowledge of Nordic stories or culture and would rather know as much as possible about it now before he could mess up later and accidentally offend Aries. The only thing about Aries’s religion that threw Cal off was that it was possible to pray too much. This was a joke, right? No? How? How was it possible to pray too much? It seemed like however much Cal prayed it was never enough for the Goddess, or rather his parents. As for what he said about Apollo, Cal blushed a bit and simply hoped that

“Huh.” Cal nodded to all of what Aries said. “That’s super cool actually. I know that’s just kinda your everyday since it’s just your religion, but it’s just— It’s awesome that you have such a—” Independent. Unconfined. Free— “helluva cool religion. I… already used cool to describe it, didn’t I?” Cal chuckled before remembering he should probably respond to what Aries said about Apollo, smiling fondly to himself as he broke gaze from Aries and looked at his feet. “My friend definitely would have called him Apolly if that God was friendly, knowing him. It’d be great to actually, you know, believe that he still talks to Apolly about his whole day as if they were close friends catching up.” Cal chuckled, briefly getting lost in the memories before smiling to Aries. “Oh! And next time I see you, remind me… to ask you… to tell me about the Minotaur story!!

“Thanks for trying for me,” Cal chuckled softly with a smile, “even if you totally say way more apologies than me which absolutely equates to the same thing as saying sorry in the same sentence!” Cal huffed dramatically, trying to act frustrated and what not before chuckling. “You know, you’re a real awesome dude once you’re happy! I mean, I totally get being— what’s the word?— apprehensive with me at first, but the moment you actually open up, I am starting to like you more and more, Aries!"

Gwyar ‘Aries/Khorne’ Ariethous Fraoch | Male | Demi(HML) | Blood Manipulation | M; Cal, Chile(Ind).

Cal was always moving and talking it seemed, not that Gwyar really minded… Just, well… Lots to go back and respond to, and having to let Cal interrupt without immediately going over what new thing the guy said. Chile would probably be proud of him if he knew…

--

“Huh. That’s super cool actually. I know that’s just kinda your everyday since it’s just your religion, but it’s just- It’s awesome that you have such a helluva cool religion. I… already used cool to describe it, didn’t I? My friend definitely would have called him Apolly if that God was friendly, knowing him. It’d be great to actually, you know, believe that he still talks to Apolly about his whole day as if they were close friends catching up. Oh! And next time I see you, remind me… to ask you… to tell me about the Minotaur story!! Thanks for trying for me, even if you totally say way more apologies than me which absolutely equates to the same thing as saying sorry in the same sentence!” Gwyar winced at the apparent frustration, about to apologize when Cal seemed to switch gears completely.

--

“You know, you’re a real awesome dude once you’re happy! I mean, I totally get being- what’s the word?- apprehensive, with me at first, but the moment you actually open up, I am starting to like you more and more, Aries!”

--

What? Happy? Open up? Gwyar glanced at him, raising an eyebrow in question, trying to keep the tense undertone to a minimum as thoughts bubbled up. Was he being too forward now? Was he oversharing? Regardless, he chuckled. “Yeah, the Nordic ones are really chill for the most part. Apparently Loki’s a bit less chill as the trickster and all, but I don’t talk to him enough to really know. I’ll try to remind you about the story next time I see you, might depend on when that is though, of course.”

--

Deciding not to mention the apologizing thing anymore as to not anger Cal again, he thought back to what else Cal had said. If he wanted Gwyar to mention the apologies then he’d mentioned them again on his own first… Probably. Hopefully.

--

But back onto what else Cal had said. The stuff on MMA, the Red Rush, and his parents. ‘Oh… well, if that’s the case, I doubt I would be able to do that. Long nights, constant fights; sounds miserable! I mean, I guess I did have friends who woke up super early for swimming practice in the mornings and stayed up late for swim meets, but doing that year round? How can you stand that? You must really love the sport if you are willing to do that for your sport. I love running a lot but I am not sure if I could even continue the sport under conditions like that…. Don’t worry about my parents, I’m straight so as long as I do my nightly prayers, they are not that bad. And don’t worry about housing me! I’m perfectly safe, you lovable dork!! Uhhhh yeah! Knowing that he went from having nothing to literally founding a whole-ass new religion is like- the coolest thing about him! I heard that some other slaves from the same place before being sold to new locations heard the Goddess actually speaking through him at night! But the book? I never knew it was even real! I thought that it was just a big ol’ fancy rumor but- it’s real? It’s actually real?? Do you know where I can read it?! Sorry, I didn’t mean to get close, I just- Yeah.’

--

Gwyar almost flinched at the mere idea of loving the arena. Almost, keyword. He didn’t, because that would definitely be odd. Instead, he shrugged and spoke, “MMA’s alright… My parents like the sport more than I do, but the exercise is nice enough… As for your parents, if you’re sure that you’re fine then alright. That ever changes just let me know though. Hospitality is technically part of my religion, haha…”

--

Without pause, he began talking about the Red Rush again. Because, frankly, that was a way better topic than MMA and everything else. He did wish Cal had already read the first book, so that he knew the others’ names. Referring to them as ‘other slaves’ sounded bad to him, not like he’d tell Cal that, of course… “And no worries about space, Cal. I know you’re just excited. But yeah! The books are real! I’ve only read the first one of the four that he wrote. That book had about, I think, uhm- I think the first book had some thirty chapters with like, at least fifteen pages each? A third of the chapters covered different abuse he went through while rest was about how to survive in those conditions without your spirit breaking and all. Apparently the later books had more chapters, with more sections and details on the abuse than the first one. I think the historical library nearby actually has the first one, translated and edited to be a bit easier to read though, I’m pretty sure. The other three are harder to find though, I think.”

--

He did not mention his copy. He didn’t mention how he had the other three books either. Or how he hadn't been able to read them because simply reading the first book back in February last school year had ended with him missing weeks of school. Or how he hadn’t even looked at the books since reading the first one. Or how he hadn’t even been able to write notes or bullet points or anecdote every paragraph or write out how he could implement strategies from the book into his life or present world scenarios like he normally would for the first book because while trying to do that his hand hadn’t cooperated but had shook and shook so pathetically that he’d ended up throwing the pencil at the wall just so he wouldn’t have to face that. No, he didn’t mention any of that. None of that would do any good to mention.

--

Even now though, just thinking about the first book, he was starting to zone out and shake a bit. He clenched both his hands, hoping Cal just thought he was excited about the books. His upper back felt warm, tensing up and causing his eyes to begin glazing over and pupils to constrict as he breathed through his nose. He forced himself to blink, forced himself to calm down before anything happened, forced himself to grin and look at Cal. “The book is really interesting though! Like, super informative and inspiring, in a way? Like, the fact he wrote them and had hope despite his situation? Just- You know? That’s really just- Awesome.”

“Cal” Thi Lê | “Male” | “Straight” | Mediumship

M: Aries

Cal was surprised by Aries’s proposition, chuckling silently to himself as he shook his head from his inability to compute why Aries, someone who had just met Cal only a little while ago, was so concerned about Cal’s well-being. Sure, it was not the first time someone had offered him a “safer” place to stay, but these were often friends who had known Cal for almost his whole life, not some really sweet and giant teddy bear who saw a sweaty-ass dickwad that woke him from his peaceful sleeping only to pester him had a not-so-great family. Cal did not even need to bring up once what his parents have done or do for Aries to step in and offer help. It was very touching. Almost brought a tear to his eye. Literally.

“Again, you don’t gotta worry about me, ya goof,” Cal chuckled with a warm smile. Cal leaned back in the bench and placed his hands behind his head as he crossed his leg over the other. “Plus, once I am eighteen, I’m outta this shithole!” The sun flowed through the leaves and lit up his face as he stared upward before sitting up again as his hands began to move in an effort to describe his words. “I’ll get a job, do some shit, and maybe if I am lucky, I can try to get a scholarship to the college not far from here! Maybe if I can save up enough money, I can travel the world. My old man grew up in BLANK actually and, other than Vietnamese being my first language, I don’t actually know much about my own culture. I don’t know, it’d just be nice to know more, you know?”

On the topic of the Red Rush and Altan’s books, Cal could only smile more. “Man, that’s so cool! I’ll have to try to buy one online or check the library to see if they have it!” Cal replied with a large grin. “Hey, if I find all the books, you can totally read them whenever you’d like. Maybe we could start a cool book club or something! It would be hard to find them though so maybe…” Cal started thinking hard about how he could get these books for Aries and himself as he started biting his nails. “Maybe…? Hmm… Nah, that will cost too much… Well…” Cal huffed before waving his hand around. “Ah! I will figure out what to do later!!”

As Cal stopped laughing, his smile fell when he looked at Aries. Aries looked frozen, breathing through his nose and his eyes having an uncanny distance to them that felt unnerving. Aries then smiled and continued on as if nothing had happened. Cal tilted his head a bit, hesitant to respond before opening his mouth and quickly shutting it. Cal just nodded as a knot formed in his stomach. Should he have said anything? Aries did seem to get tense frequently, but was it okay for Cal to ignore him? Cal thought long and hard about what to do before suddenly speaking up. “Are you alright, Aries? I mean, like, really? You looked— I don’t know. Is something bothering you or…? It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, but don’t be afraid to tell me.”

Gwyar ‘Aries/Khorne’ Ariethous Fraoch | Male | Demi(HML) | Blood Manipulation | M; Cal, Chile(Ind).

When Cal gave him an odd look, Gwyar was quick to decide he must’ve missed something Cal had said during his little… Freeze. Or whatever pathetic thing that had been. He began to start thinking back to what he might’ve missed Cal say, said guy spoke before he truly could though.

--

“Are you alright, Aries? I mean, like, really? You looked- I don’t know. Is something bothering you or…? It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, but don’t be afraid to tell me.”

--

And… Gwyar blinked in confusion, a tug on his heart that he was going to be vehemently ignoring. He blinked a few more times, eyes narrowing and eyebrows furrowing. Or, well, just his left eye, really, given how his right was bruised and hidden and all. He grinned lightly as he spoke, “Uh, yeah… I’m fine, Cal. No need to worry about me, I’m all good. I think I just zoned out for a second there, those books are pretty captivating…”

--

Wrong word. Really wrong word. Why did he say captivating, of all words? He could’ve said interesting, or engaging, or- Or- Literally anything else! But no, now he was starting to tense up all over again because he couldn’t think ahead and use the right words!

--

What else did Cal say though? He really wanted out of the topic before he ended up panicking over literally nothing. ‘Man, that’s so cool! I’ll have to try to buy one online or check the library to see if they have it! Hey, if I find all the books, you can totally read them whenever you’d like. Maybe we could start a cool book club or something! It would be hard to find them though so maybe… Maybe…? Hmm… Nah, that will cost too much… Well… Ah! I will figure out what to do later!!”

--

He shifted uncomfortably, clearing his throat, deciding to just respond to what he could before Cal decided to further harp on his tensing. “If you need money to buy the books, let me know. I can probably help out a bit, no big deal. I know I’ve got at least $500 or so that you could use. A book club might be fun, in all honesty. Cost isn’t what I’d worry about for that though, I’d be more worried about which translation everyone ended up getting. Translators end up leaving a lot out and so much can change between translations from the original Hebrew writings.”

--

What else had Cal said that he needed to respond to? Ah, right… ‘Again, you don’t gotta worry about me, ya goof. Plus, once I am eighteen, I’m outta this shithole! I’ll get a job, do some shit, and maybe if I am lucky, I can try to get a scholarship to the college not far from here! Maybe if I can save up enough money, I can travel the world. My old man grew up in BLANK actually and, other than Vietnamese being my first language, I don’t actually know much about my own culture. I don’t know, it’d just be nice to know more, you know?’

--

He thought for a moment. “Learning about culture is nice, I’d like to travel and learn about the world, and the people. Mostly the history, if I’m being honest. I probably won’t though. There’s a lot for me here, leaving just seems… I don’t know. I have to help out my parents here, not to mention my friends that are staying. And with my grades and attendance records? I doubt I’ll be getting accepted into any big colleges anytime soon. No, I’ll probably just stay in this city, get a job and settle down into an apartment. Save money for once every two year vacations to travel and see the world for a week maybe… That’d be nice, I think. I’d have to make sure the week is timed right not to mess with anyone though. Don’t want to be gone when someone needs me, that’d be terrible… Maybe I’ll take a vacation once every five years, just to get rid of some of the risk while still being able to go and learn stuff… Hm…”

--

He shrugged, biting his lip in thought. He really didn’t want to leave Chile and his sister behind by leaving every two years for a vacation, not to mention his guardians… And the arena, what about that? And what if something happens to someone while he’s gone? What if Chile’s sister takes a turn for the worse and the money that Gwyar had used for a vacation could’ve instead kept her from- From- He couldn’t just leave. He couldn’t waste money on a trip that didn’t actually matter! “On second thought… I might just stay here. Vacations aren’t really necessary, and I can always use that extra money for any emergencies that come up. That would probably be the smarter plan, haha…”

“Cal” Thi Lê | “Male” | “Straight” | Mediumship

M: Aries

Aries seemed to avoid answering Cal’s question. Of course, being as polite as Aries was, he still somewhat answered Cal’s question but it was as if he left most of the answer out. Like, Aries had begun to reply to the question but only was able to say the first half of his response before someone slammed duck tape over his mouth. Frowning his brows, Cal opened his mouth to comment before Aries began to speak further, most likely trying to respond to Cal, of course, but to also distract from the question Cal had asked. Chewing his lip, Cal refrained from words as he simply stared at Aries. He did not try to come across as disapproving especially when that was not at all what he was feeling. In fact, Cal did not disapprove of Aries’s answer, afterall he is fine with someone not wanting to talk about how they feel if they do not feel comfortable with telling Cal, he was just worried and confused for his new friend especially seeing as he was seemingly lying about how he felt, something that put Cal on edge and more worried than ever. Before, Cal was dumb enough to believe his friend when he told Cal that he was fine.

Never again.

Aries was a very strange guy as Cal was slowly beginning to learn, offering $500 to someone who he hardly knew. Sure, Cal was the one who already considered Aries to be a “friend” rather than an “acquaintance,” but even Cal would not be so willing to give up that much money just like that and Cal was pretty much willing to do whatever for a stranger. Although, even in his slight frustration, Cal was excited by the prospect of having a book club. Maybe Cal could even look up the Hebrew translation of it to see if the book was in the public domain? Ooo! And Cal could do research on what kind of treats were most popular during the time so he could bake— Wait, no. Now Cal was smiling too much at the thought of doing book club. Cal was supposed to be worried about Aries, not smiling about baking— something Cal was supposed to have no role in as men were thought to taint food in the Old Disciple sector.

The saddest thing was that when Aries was talking about the future and what he wanted, he put everyone before himself. Hypothetical people stopped him from theoretical vacations. While it was nice to hear Aries mention his love of history— anyone who could not help but smile at Aries’s own happiness was truly soulless— Aries beat himself down before rambling how those around him needed him. Yeah, Cal would need to be addressing this first.

Cal sighed and gently placed a hand on Aries’s shoulder.

“Look, buddy, dude, my guy,” Cal took a deep breath, “fuck everyone else. Like— okay— maybe not fuck fuck them, but— If everyone around you cannot handle you leaving for a single week once a year at most, that is a toxic group of people that you need to cut out. I am sure that you can leave your friends some emergency money if they ever need it while you are gone, but not taking time for yourself can cause you to overwork and emotionally drain yourself which only makes it harder for you to help them later on.” Cal huffed, taking his hand off of Aries as he realized he might not be okay with the contact. Silence. Cal sighed yet again and looked away from Aries briefly as his eyes followed a young couple and their child as they walked down a path together, the child’s laughter echoing through the park as they seemed only to grow farther from the two on the bench. “Life’s like a— like a kid. It’s a— Okay this is a dumb analogy but just listen for a sec!” Cal gave a broad motion to the child as her parents held her hands and swung her forward. “Life is a kid and a kid’s parents are their supporters, their breaks, and their happiness. If either of that kid’s parents weren’t there for her, it would make it a lot harder for her to grow up and grow up good, right? Am I making any sense by sayin’ that?”

Cal went quiet before shaking his head. “As much as I want to talk about starting a book club where we could do lots of cool and fun things and all that shit, I feel like you are pulling away from the main question here.” Cal circled his hand around as he tried to figure out what to say and how best to put it before just leaning back in the chair. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t think you can give an honest answer, hell, you don’t have to answer at all, but are you okay and what’s bothering you? I… I don’t mind helping you in any way you need. If you don’t want to talk about it, we can just pretend I made a suggestion about book club and I didn’t even bring it up, deal?” Cal smiled at Aries before his smile slumped and his smile looked much less genuine and a bit more concerned as he gave a tiny chuckle. “Just… please don’t just lie straight to my face like that. Especially when it comes to questions like those. Your well-being is important and isn’t something you should pass information about, right?”

Gwyar ‘Aries/Khorne’ Ariethous Fraoch | Male | Demi(HML) | Blood Manipulation | M; Cal, Chile(Ind).

Cal had gone quiet, not interrupting at all as Gwyar spoke, making him wonder if he’d said something wrong. He opened his mouth to apologize, to take back all he said to try and palliate Cal. Just as he did though, Cal began speaking with a hand on his shoulder. He tensed, only slightly.

--

“Look, buddy, dude, my guy, fuck everyone else. Like- okay- maybe not fuck fuck them, but- If everyone around you cannot handle you leaving for a single week once a year at most, that is a toxic group of people that you need to cut out. I am sure that you can leave your friends some emergency money if they ever need it while you are gone, but not taking time for yourself can cause you to overwork and emotionally drain yourself which only makes it harder for you to help them later on.”

--

The words didn’t really make sense to him, if he were being honest. Gwyar didn’t understand how Chile could be toxic. After all, Chile basically never asked for him to stay around or do anything. Really, he was the only one deciding he had to stay for Chile and his little sister. The idea of leaving with only some money saved for them in case of emergencies sat wrong with him too. If anything, he’d rather take them with him but… That didn’t seem too likely. And, sure, his guardians weren’t the best. But… Well… Not like they were the worst either, they just needed help with money, and he needed to pay rent since they had been nice enough to take him in in the first place.

--

A child’s laughter echoed through the trees and he looked up, over to where the sound came from. He bit his lip, hoping the small child didn’t look over. Gwyar definitely wasn’t a pretty sight for a small child, then again- Children could be resilient. He hoped they were happy.

--

“Life’s like a- like a kid. It’s a- Okay this is a dumb analogy but just listen for a sec! Life is a kid and a kid’s parents are their supporters, their breaks, and their happiness. If either of that kid’s parents weren’t there for her, it would make it a lot harder for her to grow up and grow up good, right? Am I making any sense by sayin’ that?”

--

And again, if Gwyar were a more open person, better at saying no maybe… He probably said no, because he didn’t get that. Because parents could be there for a child and they still end up terribly off. The opposite could be true too, Chile turned out great, at least in personality, and both of his parents had died years ago.

--

“As much as I want to talk about starting a book club where we could do lots of cool and fun things and all that shit, I feel like you are pulling away from the main question here. You don’t have to answer if you don’t think you can give an honest answer, hell, you don’t have to answer at all, but are you okay and what’s bothering you? I… I don’t mind helping you in any way you need. If you don’t want to talk about it, we can just pretend I made a suggestion about book club and I didn’t even bring it up, deal? Just… please don’t just lie straight to my face like that. Especially when it comes to questions like those. Your well-being is important and isn’t something you should pass information about, right?”

--

But he hadn’t lied… Had he? Was not saying everything lying? More importantly- Cal felt like he pulled off? And he was okay if he didn’t want to talk? He paused, slightly uncomfortable, biting his lip. “I… Sorry…” He paused, Cal didn’t like all the apologizing, right? “Or… Uhm… I didn’t mean to pull away from the question. Or lie to you. Or make you think you have to help me. Sorry. Or- Uh… Apologies…? Does that count as different from sorry? Either way- I am fine, Cal. I just zone out and tense up sometimes, nothing that you have to worry about though. I didn’t mean to worry you, I swear.”

--

He paused, furrowing his eyebrows and shrugged. “As for what you said about my friends being toxic… They aren’t. They never said I have to stay or anything like that, or just anything that could really be seen as toxic- I, personally, just don’t want to leave them when they could have an emergency and need the support getting through the event. Like, if a parent gets sick and they’d been close to that parent. Then they may need both financial support and emotional support. Hard to give emotional support if you aren’t there and all… You know?”