video / seelie & unseelie

[oursavinggrace]

[hello, magic locket network. have a blond teen with a curious little scar at the corner of his mouth, currently seated in front of his locket with as much ease as if it were a computer. probably more than if it were a computer, to be quite honest -- he's never used a computer in his life, but he's pretty damn used to more supernatural methods of communication. at least this is way simpler than talking through rainbows.]

Hey, I'm Jason. I've told a few people about this whole exploration trip my own group was working on, so I figured I might as well give an update on how that's going.

[and behind him, over his shoulder, is luke, with his back to jason as he holds his own locket up to take in the height of the trees they linger beneath. in the background one can hear:] This is what you'd call a tree, La Rue —

[for the observant viewer, the area they're currently taking a breather in certainly isn't caer glaem or the immediately surrounding areas. it's a forest, sure, but even through the locket it's clearly unusual, the trees all awe-inspiringly enormous. their camp is little more than a few bags dropped off at the base of a gigantic trunk. three bags, to be specific, but gods know where the third member of their little party's gone off to.]

We've bounced around a lot but I think we've covered a pretty decent spread of this place so far. Compared everything to the maps we found and all that. I think so far it's safe to say that those are all pretty accurate. Those worms have been all over too, so I don't think that's a concentrated incident...

[luke's disappeared from the background, but his voice is loud as he stands in front of jason. (not that anyone can see him, but they can hear him loud and clear).] And Grace is choosing to talk to his locket than take in the scenery. C'mon, Grace. Wave for La Rue. You Ares kids always miss out on the whackiest stuff.

[jason, for his part, makes a valiant effort to keep a straight face and be the serious, responsible one here. he can't hep but crack a hint of a smile though, and he raises a hand slightly to indulge luke. and not that anyone can see, but luke wanders off to crane his neck so high to look at the canopy that it almost snaps.]

All that aside, it'd be good to hear how things are going back at the castle too, and maybe in the Unseelie place if any of you guys are feeling particularly talkative.

((ooc: blue is jason, orange is luke, replies are likely to be hijacked by luke (and nico) if they feel like it.))

Comments

[fell_to_hell]

[Nico is pretty sure that if Demeter and her allies weren't so sore over the whole Persephone thing, the plants would avoid him, too. He snorts.]

She's not even my dog. You should ask her owner about that.

[Gonna casually change the topic to a different dog.]

Cerberus is harder to play with because of his size. Rubber balls you find in a Petco just don't cut it for the Guardian of the Underworld.

[oursavinggrace]

[he will follow that subject change like a loyal dog because let's face it, percy is pretty much the most dangerous topic where nico is concerned.]

You could just use a dodgeball or something?

[fell_to_hell]

[He gives Jason an eloquently exasperated look.]

Even that's not big enough for Cerberus. It'd still get shredded and stuck in his teeth.

[oursavinggrace]

[well excuse you mr. dog trainer extraordinaire.]

I've never gotten to take the Underworld tour, so I wouldn't know. An exercise ball?

[fell_to_hell]

[Nico regrets nothing.]

He's twice the size of a woolly mammoth and a purebred rottweiler. Does that help you?

[oursavinggrace]

...Well, I've never seen a woolly mammoth either.

[he's just giving you shit now.]

[fell_to_hell]

[omg]

Bigger than a breadbox, but smaller than Luke's ego.

[Totally deadpan.]

I didn't go down to the Underworld with a tape measure to give you exactly how tall Cerberus is. He's enormous and no ball has yet been made for a dog his size.

[oursavinggrace]

[that actually drew a chuckle. you're on a roll today bro.]

You could reread some Clifford to get ideas for giant dog toys.

[fell_to_hell]

[Sometimes, he feels like making a joke. Okay, more like rarely nowadays, but still.

Jason gets a blank look.]

Do I want to know who--or what--'Clifford' is?

[oursavinggrace]

[he'd be offended by your ignorance of such important things if he didn't already know you have a good excuse for it.]

Clifford the Big Red Dog? I guess that's a bit after your time. Or...before?

[it's certainly something that he knows this shit, given he grew up with wolves and then in a roman legion. he's probably the most out of the loop after nico and hazel.]

[fell_to_hell]

[Jason's loopy alright. It also says something that a bit of Nico's natural curiosity is piquing at this.]

After, most likely. I've never even heard of that. What is it?

[oursavinggrace]

It's a kids' book series about...well, a big red dog. It's pretty self-explanatory, really.

[once they get home (and they will, he's sure of it), he's gonna make it his job to introduce nico to all the pop culture he's missed.]

[fell_to_hell]

How did that get popular?

[A beat before rolling his eyes at his own stupid question.]

In all fairness, I guess it got popular the same way Winnie the Pooh did.

[His tone doesn't suggest anything bad about Winnie, at least.]

[oursavinggrace]

How do you know Winnie the Pooh but not Clifford?

[in his defense, dyslexic roman soldier children don't generally get these things the moment they come out. his sense of timelines of childhood icons is pretty jumbled.]

[fell_to_hell]

[Nico looks resigned.]

Because Winnie the Pooh came out in 1926. I only know that because my mother owned a copy and I used it for a book report.

[oursavinggrace]

[if he's just blinking blankly for a moment, at least he can pretend it's over the unexpectedly old age of winnie the pooh and not the fact that nico is actually talking about something that seems pretty personal.]

[fell_to_hell]

[Jason would be surprised over how many feelings Nico has on Winnie the Pooh because of this. At any rate, he chooses to interpret it as shock over the age of the series.]

Yeah, it's old. I was surprised that it was still popular.

[oursavinggrace]

Uh, yeah. [that's totally it.] Was your book in Italian or English?

[fell_to_hell]

English. Milne was an English author, and she'd gotten the original copy of the books. I think she was a fan of his works even before Winnie the Pooh came out.

[oursavinggrace]

Wow, how old were you then? I can barely handle reading English, let alone a second language.

[other than latin, of course, but that's sort of a given.]

[fell_to_hell]

[Nico considers the question, and figures it might be safe enough to answer. Though, not elaborately.]

Young enough to be in primary school. She spoke both languages around us, but Italian schools teach English as well as Italian starting at the primary level. I don't remember if she taught us Greek. She might have, since she knew who our dad was.

[oursavinggrace]

...How much do you remember her?

[it's a risky move, knowing nico's as likely to shut down completely as actually answer, but he's a risk-taker. at least his expression is all genuine curiosity, with only a hint of unhappiness that actually isn't for nico, for once.

he doesn't remember his own mother at all.]

[fell_to_hell]

[Nico almost glares at Jason, but he detects the unhappiness and it gives him pause. He decides to be truthful and not evade the question. It won't stop the bitterness creep into his tone of voice, though.]

Nothing. I saw what she looked like once. My father told me what she what her job had been when she was alive. Other than that? I only have guesses from what little I do remember. And before you ask, no, I never once spoke to her ghost. I couldn't.

[oursavinggrace]

I wasn't going to.

[he could ask why nico couldn't, but he's tactful enough to know when to stop. there's a moment of considerate quiet, and then just just smiles slightly and bumps the younger boy's shoulder with his own -- not really "touching", he's still being careful of that rule, but just the briefest moment of contact to knock him out of that bitter resentment.]

It's alright. I don't remember mine either.

[fell_to_hell]

[There's a glare, but he's not going to say anything about it. Which means it's okay. For now.

However, Jason's statement does surprise Nico.]

You don't?

[He assumed you were normal, Jason, and now you're telling him that you're not? This is world shattering.]