Here The Whole Time

Walkin' the streets with you
And your worn-out jeans
I can't help thinking
This is how it ought to be
Laughing on a park bench
Thinking to myself
Hey isn't this easy?

It was a pretty nice day, even if the sun was playing hide-and-seek behind the clouds and was tormenting her with potential rain scares. The clouds were a nice gold-ish and pink colour, it was unfortunately too warm for her favourite boots but she had made do. She actually looked pretty normal today. Hadn't felt like jazzing it all up with her usual steampunk accessories... though she hadn't been able to forego the lenses. The style was as much a part of her life as her dark hair and her sultry features. Regardless, she had woken up with an excited craving to go to a play park, and after exhausting a quill with a shit-ton of owls to her mates, and text and text to her other mates, her one and only knight in shining err... betting coins, had gotten back to her and agreed to come along. Probably mostly because she'd bribed him with a promise of cake or some other kind of food after they'd had their fun. Or at least, after she'd had her fun. She was so giddy it was unbelievable.

Even though her crush on her mate was near crippling at times - the man should have been illegal, with his whole... smiling shindig... and the way he lifted his shirt to wipe at his face and just willynilly showed his midriff... just his guaranteed promise of shenanigans at times - they were still mates at the end of the day, so she hadn't been too nervous about getting ready and running out to see him. Her mum had been told not to wait up, simply because she had never been one for curfews and had everything with her to be out for quite some time. Not that she expected Erebos to choose to stick with her all day, but she also did, because that was what the fam did. They were around each other all day everyday whenever possible, and the pair of them were as much a part of that fam as the grass was part of the ground.

She was in no rush to get there originally, meeting up with him and leading the way with a bag of haribo that she kept tossing up in the air for them to catch in their mouths - bonus points if you didn't choke, or if you caught the other one's haribo. Then finally they'd gotten to the playpark and she'd squealed, jumping up and down and racing over towards the swings. When was the last time she had even been to a park, let alone been on a swing? Ages. Years. Not for any particular reason, either. It just was, what it was. Squinting over at him, she shot him a toothy grin and did a shimmy on the rubber seat as she waited for him to join her. "Ooh Er, push me! C'mon, it'll be funnn..." she called to him, kicking up her legs. It wasn't just because she had wanted to go to the park that she'd asked Erebos to join her. She knew what his home life was like to a point, enough to know it wasn't the best environment, and that he did all that he could to avoid staying home for too long. And that suited her just fine, because she loved going out all the time, and when she came home her mum was nice and gave her space. Plus, there were constant snacks and a wireless to listen to WWN on Wednesday and Sunday nights.

In the sun, he looked even better than usual. His laid back, can-do attitude set her at ease, and she was able to tip her head back and laugh as hard as she liked around him without being judged. HE had the energy to keep up with her. Maybe that was why she was crushing so hard. It didn't help that so many others in school looked at him too, and the burning jealousy had her hexing them into alcoves and bathrooms away from him. It also made her pay attention more. She noticed when he was down potentially faster than the others in the group, though the only reason she had an edge on Zeph was because she could see his expression. Zeph had to wait until Er spoke or did something to tell something was off-key. "Cake or ice cream, after this? Cake is closer, but it is pretty warm," she continued, waving him towards her, still as enthusiastic as before. And so what if she only wanted pushed so he'd have his arms partially round her? That sleepover thing they'd all done on their last night had given her a few things to think about. 'Specially when she'd woken up to find she'd shimmied her sleeping back closer to him and curled into him in her sleep. Or he'd ended up closer to her.

Either way, she'd woken up to find she was hugging into his arm, and that it was the first night's sleep that she hadn't woken up practically bouncing off the walls with the need to get up and moving. She was content, peaceful, and had done her best to extricate herself from him before he woke up and found her weird without disturbing her. But he'd been so warm... Merlin she was fucked.

---

886 Words | @erebos | Notes: Outfit & Contacts
TEMPLATE BY ELIZA @ SP & ADOXOGRAPHy

If we could sit together a moment

And talk forever just to pass the time
I would smile as the shivers and chills run down my spine
When your eyes are locked on mine

Summer break, the one true time that Erebos was ever really at home. Even then he was rarely at his actual home. He tried his best o avoid that place at all costs. If that meant spending days wandering London from dusk until dawn he would surely do it. And that was easy, typically. He had his fam-- as big as their unit was-- and that could occupy all his days and all his nights if he would let it. This being the start of summer break he was finding himself in short supply of frequent hang outs. The first few weeks outside of the castle were always the worst. Parents missed their kids, families were reunited, whatever. Erebos....didn't have that sort of welcoming back, but some of them did. It meant a lot of time without his fam the first few weeks, but he knew eventually it would pick back up. It did every year. For now he was just happy to have excuses to get out of the house. Especially when that excuse was to hang out with Calypso.

That sounded....wrong. Like he was picking favorites. Like, if there was a lineup of friends he would have rather hung out with today that he would have undoubtedly picked her first. Which was absurd. He loved all his fam, each one differently and somehow the same only... Oh Merlin, who was he kidding. He liked her differently than the rest of them. There. He said it. Internally. Where he ought to say such things. For a lion Erebos had always been a picture of his house. He was brave. He'd say anything to anyone. If he thought someone was looking rather smashing, by the Gods he would let them know. Be it Burke or Buddy-- he would tell them! Never once had he had qualms about telling a crush that he had a crush but This. Was. Calypso?! It was different. It was...well, it wasn't wrong. He didn't feel it was wrong in the slightest but he'd be a downright liar if he didn't admit that he wasn't the tiniest bit nervous about what having a crush on one of the fam meant.

When he had started feeling this way exactly he couldn't say. Somewhere between losing Koala to The System and having his heart jump out of his chest when she texted him about going out today. Though, he was definitely certain his feelings had been lingering a lot longer than just today. He didn't have the slightest clue about what to do with them either. Should he say something? Should he ignore them and hope they went away? There was a chance, a large chance in his own mind, that she wouldn't reciprocate. After all, Astraea had told him before that he was in prime 'brother' territory as far as she knew. That didn't sound like a place he wanted to be when telling someone he had been crushing on them. So he had stamped it down and set out to have a good day as friends. Which was easy enough to do. Erebos loved hanging out with Calypso. She was fun and full of energy. Not many people could keep up with him for long periods of time. He was an acquired sort of vibe, and he knew that he could be too much for some people, but never her. They could spend the entire day together and he never could quite find himself getting bored of her. Erebos didn't think that was possible.

Catching hairbos, goofing off at the park, even the smallest stupidest quests were fun when she was around. If he were being honest the small stupid quests were his absolute favorite. While they hadn't exactly been in a rush to go attack the local park he was excited to get there. Calypso's shrieks of delight only heightened that and spread the grin on his face wider. He watched her hurry off to claim her throne among the row of rubber seats following slowly behind in amusement. Erebos narrowed his eyes playfully back at her as he scrunched his nose. "You want a push? You? Want a push?" He questioned like some Mob Boss movie come to life. "Alright, I'll give you a push or maybe an UNDERDOGGGGG!" 

Erebos ran toward her, pushing her swing up into the air just enough to try and get under it, only he had just managed to let it go quite ungracefully off the side of his right shoulder. The wizard spun around quick as lightning grabbing the swing and it's rider, only narrowly avoiding dumping Calypso off of it with his maneuver. "Holy shit!" He choked out in a laugh as the swing creaked. It twisted as he tried steadying it forcing him to nearly wrap her in a hug. Not that he would protest its happening, of course, though as the swing came to a steady he could feel the flush come across his cheeks. "That...was a bad idea," he said hiding the nerves in his laugh. Erebos straightened himself out, and the swing. "I am clearly out of practice for underdogs. And definitely in practice for near death experiences. Thank you, Zeph."

Erebos let out a laugh, flipping his hair from his face. His friend wasn't here to attest, but the sentiment stood between all of them. And, yes, it was true that he had managed to keep Zeph from a near death plenty of times. He had nearly caused a few over the years as well. Hell, he didn't discriminate to only the blind. Near deaths for everyone! This time, though, he was determined to give a proper push as he grabbed the chains of the swing. "It's so warm," he agreed knowing full well the fact that he had a flannel on might be the cause of that. Or that heat he finally felt disappearing from his face. "I'm down for ice cream if you don't mind going out of the way. I don't know what your plans are--" he trailed. Was he slyly trying to figure out if she had plans to ditch him for something else? Perhaps. He was hoping that wasn't the case but he couldn't quite blame her if her mum needed her for something. There was a twinkle of hope that he could selfishly steal her entire day away. Y'know for....friend stuff. 

@calypso | Outfit | Words: 1065 i cannot contain my word counts this is fine 

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

Here The Whole Time

And you've got a smile
That could light up this whole town
I haven't seen it in a while
Since she brought you down
You say your fine
I know you better then that
Hey what you doing with a girl like that?

It seemed to be another running theme with The Fam - excluding their ironic founding - that they each had their own kind of Parent Problems. Zeph's mum went by Sheri with everyone, including all of her sons. Er's parents... well she hadn't really heard much about them since he tended to change the subject when it landed on him, but they all knew it wasn't a picture perfect home that he was going back to each Summer. Dita.... again, Calypso hadn't heard much, but her Uncle's were pretty crazy. Calypso's much was like a detached roommate who she saw most morning's when she grabbed breakfast, and otherwise when she hopped up onto the counter next to the laundry she was doing. Her dad was pretty busy so she rarely saw him... well, ever. And Hades as they all knew had basically all but moved into Zeph's last year, so that was par for the course of how things at home were.

It suited her pret-ty damn well that she at least had one member of the Fam who was going to be available whenever she took a jaunt out of the house - which was basically always - and it didn't hurt even a smidgen that that person was none other than Er. He, like her, didn't really need a plan in order to make the day an adventure. Waking up in the morning and running out of the house at the ass crack of dawn was Calypso's style. Not knowing what the world had in store for her was probably the most exciting thing about being alive. Now that they were 17 they no longer had to worry about the Ministry trying to confiscate their wands... unless they did something damned crazy in front of a tourine of muggles and honestly... she was a bit off her rocker, but she wasn't stupid. No... no, today was just the perfect day. Perfect weather, perfect company, perfect timing. Because she was in no hurry to be getting home, especially this early in the day, which meant they had absolute hours until they had to start thinking about where they were going to crash. Zeph's was always an option. So was Calypso's. since she had a couch in her room. Wouldn't have been the first time a few of them had all napped on her bed in a heap.

Her stomach did a flip as he took a run towards her, instinctively tightening her hold on the chain links of the swing and excitedly looking forward. Then the sky came rushing towards her as Er made good on his announcement of an underdog. But then the swing caught him as he twisted away, the swing started to spin, and Calypso leant her head back, closed her eyes, and waited for the inevitable to swoop in and knock her flat on her arse.

What she got instead was a panicked Gryffindor grabbing the swing and her - Cor, he's got warm hands, don' he?'- her legs pulling up towards her chest as she squealed in both glee and fear and the reflex of self preservation. Though what a squeal was going to achieve in terms of saving her, she wasn't sure. It seemed to be what kept Zeph out of a grave alongside his many broken shades though. "Are you kidding?! That was totally bananas! Save the tiny bit at the end - I'll give you another go if you want it..." She winked at him playfully, praying her olive complexion was hiding the furious heat in her face as she realised where her legs were and slowly unhooked them to trail back on the tarmac. Hahaha... haha... haaa.. ha. Um. "We have got to get Zeph on one of these!! Think of the carnage- Oh Oh Oh!! Maybe like a baby swing though, instead, just so he doesn't get absolutely yeeted to fuck?" What a glorious plan. Sadistic, arguably, but glorious.

A small noise left her as he flicked his hair from his eyes, her hand reaching out to move a squiffy bit that had resisted his efforts and ending up just ruffling it up instead, grinning cheekily. Her head turned slightly to the side as he spoke, watching as he grabbed the chains just above her hands, biting her lip a little as she listened. Then she shrugged, kicking her legs around a bit as nonchalantly as she could. "I could murder one of Fortescue's sundae's if you're up for it... or oooh... we could try that fro-yo joint in Ottery? Though we could still get cake for later, because I would die for a red velvet cupcake at some point," she peeked at him over her shoulder, waggling her brows at him, then turned round again a little quickly as she realised how close he was. Oops. That had been a closey. Feck, how was she supposed to stay all calm, cool, collected if this kept up?! She picked a hair off her cardigan and sniffed, shrugging again as she looked out at the park at large, "My plans are pretty open, going wherever the wind takes me... what about you? I don't want to keep you if you've got something to get back for later..." She glanced back at him again, then let her gaze drop a little as she bit the inside of her cheek, "Which is totally fine if you do, ahaha, Summer can get craaaazy busy..."

If he had plans, then quite obviously and naturally, she was going to have to find a way to persuade him to cancel them. Or pull a flanker somehow so that he forgot or had to cancel because he was too far away to get back in time. Call her possessive, but she was enjoying having him to herself for now. Even if they were just friends. Calypso could do just friends. Heck she could nail just-

She hummed to herself. Well, no, that would be entirely counter productive, she was entirely sure. Shit, she was blushing again, she could feel it.

As she was saying, she could totally go an entire day ignoring her quite powerful crush that had her resolutely trying to avoid his eye right now. Which wasn't too hard since he was behind her. But then, he was holding onto her swing and he had sounded a little hopeful for ice cream so it was hard not to look at him just a little. Because damn if everyone else didn't do it practically all the damned time. Morgana's wrathful robes, was he doing this deliberately? Did he suspect something? No one had any right looking that good. How dare he.

---

1110 Words | @erebos | Notes: Outfit & Contacts
TEMPLATE BY ELIZA @ SP & ADOXOGRAPHy

IF WE COULD SIT TOGETHER A MOMENT

AND TALK FOREVER JUST TO PASS THE TIME
I WOULD SMILE AS THE SHIVERS AND CHILLS RUN DOWN MY SPINE
WHEN YOUR EYES ARE LOCKED ON MINE

As far as he knew no one knew about his secret crush. He hadn't told anyone anyhow. Though there had been plenty of times he had thought about it. Hades was his best mate out of all of them, another Gryffindor as well, and there had been a few sleepless nights he thought of confiding in his friend about it. He hadn't though. Erebos had kept it to himself. As much as he trusted Hades with the information he didn't trust the lad's face in the slightest. He could all but imagine the looks or blushes that'd come out of him whenever Calypso sat remotely close to him at any given time. And at the sleep over, there would have been definite looks shot. Aphrodite, clearly, was not an option. She shared a damn dorm with her nine months out of the year. Who was to say that they wouldn't have their own little late night bean spilling and she'd come right out with his secret. He had considered telling Koala, too, but...girls had a way of talking. Didn't they? That was what his mum always said whenever she and Adeline were having their little private conversations. It's girl talk, Er-- and then blab on about whether or not that boy in her potions class was picking on her or simply crushing. No, the girls in the fam could not be given such juicy information.

Why he hadn't told Zeph was still up for debate. Part of him felt that he could, the other part of him felt that he might give the wrong speech after a very close near-death experience and confess the sins of them all as some odd will and testament. At any rate he couldn't risk his mate shouting his secret as he falls to his death...down two steps. So, he was keeping it to himself. At least he thought he was. If anyone had noticed that his eyes lingered on her a little longer than the rest of them no one had said anything about it. And that was good...ish. Good in the sense that he didn't think he had to worry about her, or anyone, finding out. A part of him wished someone would notice. He could finally have someone to spill his guts to about this whole thing. Knowing him he'd likely drive them insane with it. Especially when it came to silly little things. Like her happy squeal. Why was it so adorable?! Who authorized this?!! Was it always that cute, or was it just him? Maybe this was a new development. Merlin, he could only imagine the eye fatigue someone would have after having a conversation like this with him. So many eye rolls...

Erebos chuckled at her evaluation of his Underdog skills, though he wasn't sure how the hell it even came out. His heart jumped into his throat as she gave him a playful wink and the damn thing seemed to be stuck in it. With a clear of his throat he smiled, waggling his brows. "So you want to tempt your fate, eh? One near death experience wasn't enough?" He could manage another one. A better one even! "This time it'll be smooth," he started to promise. "Or you'll end up on your back.... One of the two." Erebos chuckled, whispering a that's what she said under his breath as he studied the area around them. It wasn't sand, thank the Gods. He had done this hundreds of times when Adeline was little. Though Adeline was much tinier then....Calypso would be fine.... Yeah. "The Zeph to Yeeted-To-Fuck ratio is skewed way out of his favor," Erebos stated factually as he snickered. "Though it would be funny to get him in a baby swing. Even funnier if we couldn't get him out-- I've seen people call firemen before." The very thought of Zeph needing rescuing from a swing by muggle firemen was absolutely hysterical. Er could almost imagine the scornful stare from his seeing-eye-bird. 

He...he could have sworn he heard a sound come from her. Was it a bad one? Had he messed his hair all to hell? Calypso reached out toward him and felt like a science experiment gone wrong. He didn't know much about science really, but he was sure that things-- especially people-- weren't meant to freeze and melt a the same time. But he had. Not a muscle moved as she tousled his hair but he could feel the giddy warmth rush through him as she did, only making it worse with her smile. In that moment he was rather happy that she was on a swing now facing away from him, only looking through a turned point of view. It was easier somehow to keep himself together when in a group. There were others he could focus on instead of her but when it was just the two of them... Merlin, it was easy to forget how difficult it could be sometimes.

"I've never been to that place in Ottery," he admitted thoughtfully, though most of his thoughts were preoccupied with the fact that she had been biting her lip. Why was that so hot? Good lord, maybe he would need fro-yo just to keep him cool and keep him from internally  combusting over Every. Little Thing. She did! Truth be told he was a fool for fro-yo. Ever sine Koala had introduced the gang to the lactose-free options of the world he had been hooked. "Oooo cupcakes sound good. I don't know why I had a whole ass cake on my mind. Which, I mean, yum but-- Hey! We could go to the park up in Ottery too and see willow trees that aren't out to hand us our asses." It never failed. Every damn year one of them would get a wild hair up their ass to try and tame Ol' Whomper. Usually it was him, he could admit that. Though there were the horrifying times where Zeph stumbled too close to the bloody thing. They could go goof off some more and then-- Oooooh sweet baby mandrakes she was close. She had turned back to him and waggled her brows and she was....well, she was right there. He had hardly noticed in talking to her that he had drew her closer. For a moment he was mortified that he had done it subconsciously. That she was going to perk up at any second and ask him just what the hell he was doing, but then it clicked. He was doing an underdog, of course. He was bringing her back to push her, duh. That was obviously the reason.... Good God, man. Pull it together.

Erebos followed her lead. A lead he hadn't even been aware she was making. He instinctively trained his gaze away, overlooking the park as she had started to do. The wizard gave her swing a a guided push forward. Building momentum or something like that. As she answered him he felt his gaze drop as he smiled at the ground. "Good," he said with a nod. "We can ride the same wind. We can go wherever it takes us! 'Cause all we are is dust in the windddd--" The urge not to sing it was there but heavily ignored. He couldn't not sing it. It'd be a bloody disgrace. Kansas as a whole might cry had he not. Erebos pulled the swing back again only to push it forward. The swing of it getting broader. Prime underdog material. "Nah, I don't think I'll be going home tonight. I might see if Sherri won't let me crash over there tonight." That wasn't an entirely uncommon thing to hear from his mouth. Just as he did during school breaks he avoided his house like the plague. Especially now since Adeline was older and did the same. The only time he really spent there was to change or pay the bills his mum had let pile up on the kitchen counter. She always complained about paying them, especially the rent. No one was ever home so what was the point anyhow, she would argue. 

Erebos drew the swing back, this time bringing it up to his chest. Instead of letting it swing back forward he held it still, booming in his announcer voice: "Underdog take two! Are yooouuu readyyyyyyy?"

@calypso | Outfit | Words:1389

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

Here The Whole Time

But she wears short skirts
I wear T-shirts
She's cheer captain
And I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming about the day when you wake up
And find that what you're looking for
Has been here the whole time

In a manner of speaking, Calypso supposed that out of the entire Fam, she was glad that the only one who had worked it out/knew anything was Hades. Why? Because the bloke was a bit like an awkward ghost who barely managed to speak to the female species at the best of times and seemed to hold her in heavy regard of respect - also fear, because he knew what she was capable of with a wand or a hatpin - and he wasn't one for rumours. Her polar opposite was her confidant, although unwantedly so. It wasn't like anyone was supposed to know. No one, in fact. She had planned on taking it to the grave if the words never made it to Er's ears directly, but noooo. Oh no, no no no. Hades just had to be there that one night that she'd gotten just as drunk as Er and Zeph and had blurted it at him as his head had slumped in her lap. Unfortunately - or, really, entirely fortunately - the pair of boys had passed out pretty much at that exact moment meaning that the words had fallen on deaf ears. And she had been fine with that. Partly relieved that her inebriated self hadn't landed her in it, but also disappointed for the same reason. Then she'd turned around just in time to see a shocked Hades accidentally tipping his entire drink all over the common room carpet. And in a flash, he'd profusely promised that he'd never breathe a word of it, and Calypso had left in a panicked, embarrassed rush with tears burning behind her eyes before she could make sure he was sincere. 

Just as well, then that Gryffindors were so chivalrous, otherwise there'd be one less fam member and one more grave beside the fallen members of Zeph's eye shields.

It was crucial at this point that she made a decision, although she really didn't want to. It wasn't cowardice in the true sense of the word as she wasn't scared of Er and she wasn't scared of rejection. But she was terrified of jeopardising their friendship and The Ironic Fam by saying it and things turning awkward, or one of them feeling the need to leave because it ended badly and the Fam broke apart. She refused to be the catalyst to a preventable disaster, let alone the instigator. She needed facts. She needed to know. Hell yeah, she lived life flying by the seat of her pants in just about every other regard but she wasn't willing to be so willy nilly with something as serious as this. And maybe she was just being a dramatic teenager. But this was serious. What might seem like an adorable crush to an adult could very well spell the end for everything that had made Hogwarts so special and so treasured to her for the past six years. There was no way in hell that Calypso was going to find a functionally dysfunctional family like she had with them anywhere else, not the same at least. It was for that reason that even now when it was just about on the tip of her tongue, yelling and waving its hands at him as she smiled with her tongue tucked behind her teeth to staunch it, that she had to keep it for herself. Until she got the niggle that she might be wrong about everything and he might be willing to traverse perilous waters alongside her.

Poetic, indeed. Terrifying, of course.

The hardest part was that she wanted to tell someone, wanted to be able to talk about it so it wasn't bottling up internally and threatening to spill out all the time. She craved someone to sit up at night with, sitting on each other's beds with pillows in their laps, laughing it off so it wasn't preying on her. So she wasn't going absolutely stir crazy. But she couldn't, because while she gave zero fucks as to what anyone thought about her, the fam were the one large exception to that rule. The last thing she could withstand was her telling one of them and them judging her, or calling her out for trying to sabotage them, or for being a shit-starter. She didn't wanna be that girl. Ugh, it was so aggravating. And here he was just chilling behind her, with absolutely no clue to how she was berating herself like a crazy person, ordering her thoughts back into order like a sergeant major with a large whip. Except less kinky. Or at least... mostly. Hey, she was a teenager, she had curiosities and interests that she didn't and couldn't talk about. Nothing that she'd actively try. She wasn't going to play at being an adult when she was barely old enough to know how to cook spaghetti. Tying someone up in russian knots for funsies was probably one step away from attempted murder because really, no teenager anywhere should be practicing what they didn't understand. Especially when the guys had yo-yo's in their trousers and the girls refused to wear skirts on certain days in case something happened. Oo-er.

"What can I say, I like to live dangerously," she playfully replied in a similar tone, arching a brow and trying not to laugh. Then she did laugh at the double entendre and couldn't resist a terrible accented "Ooh la la, monsieur, tell us what eez really on zat mind," in an equally quiet tone. Hecky heck, she wasn't blushing. It was just banter. They did this all the time. It totally was not different since it was just the two of them and he was basically holding onto her. Totally not. That was crazy talk. That was Janus Thickey talk. "Oooh my goood, I would die... I don't think I've actually seen a fireman before. What do they wear? Water suits?"

"Okay, it's a date then!" She exclaimed happily, before freezing and then laughing hella nervously. Shit. Fuck. Shitting fuck noodles. "Err I mean, yeah totally, we should! We can do it all, we have all day, right? Get something snacky going on in there eventually or else we'll be tripping balls from the sugar highs." She nodded, mostly to herself, a hand leaving the swing to rub at her lip for a moment as she thought. Willow trees? Another park? It did feel... well, it seemed like it would have been like a perfect date setting, had they been anyone else, or at least, had the situation been any different. But this was just friends which as she said, she could do no problem, hands down, the easiest thing ever. So it was just going to be chill. All the chill. The chillest-

'FUCK, FUCK, WHAT IS HE DOIN- oh.'

Hahahaaaa, good ol' underdog, here to save them. That had been the entire point to all of this. A swing. All of this, over a hecking swing. At this proximity she could see the coloured band around his iris', or at least she would have had she turned. But he was that close, there would probably be one hell of an accidental... well, accident. Of her falling off the swing variety. As it was, she could feel how warm he was, even though the air was already enough of a bear hug alone. And his cologne or whatever it was he used was all she could smell. She could practically feel the rumble of his voice through her back, but as it was, it rose the hairs on the back of her neck and made her sit up straighter. Okay, this was rapidly all going south. She needed to do something. 'Think, Cal, think! If it's the last thing you do, which it might be, so put your hand back on the chain before we go any further thank you-" Calypso swallowed a little thickly, her mouth rapidly drying on her as she cast her eyes about frantically for something else to focus on. Hahaaa- close her eyes. That's all she needed to do. If she couldn't see, then she could just fold in on herself, and the problem would go away.

'whoom... whoom... whoom'

With each testing swing, her stomach jumped, and her eyes pinged back open in genuine excitement for the large swing that was coming. The fact that he started singing only made her giddier, and she wriggled a little bit in the seat impatiently for him to all but eject her towards the stratosphere. Her eyes turned her head again and she looked at his hands for a moment, feigning adjusting her grip, and then cast her gaze away again firmly. He had nice hands. The kind that would be nice to hold, she guessed, if like, someone was into that. Which, if they were, and involving Er, then she was quite frankly going to have to cut them off. Not his hands. Theirs. To prevent any potential hand holding that didn't include her. Exclusively.

"A bloke after my own heart- we shall go there together as well then. Mum's not expecting me home tonight anyways. Never does." She shrugged, not really thinking much of the statement as she tried her best to focus on Zeph and Hades, and Sher- SHERI! SHE COULD TELL SHERI! HUZZAH, A SILVER LINING AT LASTTT. Then suddenly her thoughts abandoned her as her back hit his chest, his breathing in her ear, the commentator voice lining her up to the starting line and really pumping her adrenaline through her veins. Fight or flight, this was it. Crunch time. But then, he held her there, instead of letting her go in a fell rush, and she squealed again and giggled helplessly, holding onto the chains. "Oh shiiiiit, this is it," She bit her lip and squealed around her teeth again, "C'mon Er, let me go!"

---

1645 Words | @erebos | Notes: Outfit & Contacts
TEMPLATE BY ELIZA @ SP & ADOXOGRAPHy

IF WE COULD SIT TOGETHER A MOMENT

AND TALK FOREVER JUST TO PASS THE TIME
I WOULD SMILE AS THE SHIVERS AND CHILLS RUN DOWN MY SPINE
WHEN YOUR EYES ARE LOCKED ON MINE

Never in his life had he cursed the friends he had. The Ironic Fam was the greatest bunch of weirdos he had ever met, and life without them was just...dull and dreary. He didn’t want to ever imagine going through life without each and every one of them. Though, not that long ago it had been a near possibility. When Demeter was taken from the group Erebos felt as though it had hit him the hardest. She was Koala; she was one of his housemates. One of the first he’d met of the ironic fam back when they were all so young. If it had been any one of them he’d have likely felt the same, but because it was her it just… It hit him.

Their fifth year he felt her absence heavily. She wasn’t in the common room at any old time anymore. The house elves didn’t bring out special dishes for their highly allergic friend. And at the start of term feast their table felt so cold and empty. He had hated that feeling. It had made him realize just how important the fam really was to him. They weren’t just some group of friends, they were true blue honest family to him. From them on out he had held onto them a little tighter. Metaphorically, of course. It wasn’t as though he were holding them all hostage, but he wanted to keep them close to him and safe. He couldn’t do the same for Koala at the end of fourth year and he wasn’t going to let that happen again.

Subsequently he found himself growing more attached than ever to them all. Dionysus jokingly called them the mum of the group, which was kind of hilarious given his general poor decision making skills...and the fact that he was a male. He didn’t mind that, though. They were his fam and he loved them. What he hadn’t been expecting was to feel a different kind of love for one of them. At first he had thought that maybe he had imagined it, this teeny little flutter in his chest one day. Too many sweets, probably. Or caffeine. Definitely not anything else. And when it started happening more often, he brushed that off too. He would just brush, brush, brush until one day he finally admitted it to himself. Quite the shock that had been to the senses. His inner monologue just sighing giddily and professing that he liked her. That seemed so long ago now, and it had only gotten worse.

If she had been any other girl on the planet he’d have acted on it straight away. With Calypso...things weren’t that simple. Well, they were. He could come right out with it and either sink or swim. He knew that. But if he were to sink, would the fam sink too? Erebos didn’t like to think of that. It was a possibility that it could cause a rift. People might feel awkward around the two of them. Hell, they might feel awkward being together. It could drive one wedge, after another, after another. He didn’t think he could bare to see that happen. He liked to imagine that if she did share his same feelings that things would be glorious and amazing. Of course he did. All those imagined moments of her sitting between his legs in the grass as the fam all sat around talking, or little kisses they could steal when no one else was paying much attention. His mind went to those far too often whenever they were near each other. They could be cute. Hella cute. Orrrr everyone could get weirded out by them suddenly becoming a ‘thing’. Merlin, if only there were nothing but win-win scenarios he’d have bucked up and told her ages ago.

“Oh-ho-ho,” Erebos retorted with his horrible impression of a French laugh. It only got worse as he continued, steadily realizing he was not suited for a career as any sort of voice actor. “Wouldn’t ‘ou like to know, mademoiselle.” It came out playful banter but he could feel the heat threatening to rise in his cheeks again and he was happy as hell that his tan skin didn’t often show blush as easily as others. Merlin, if it did he’d have big problems every time he was around her. “Y’know, I’m not sure if they’ve got water in their suits,” Erebos quirked his head thoughtfully for a moment. “I’ve only seen them on two occasions: once in black puffy suits, and the other in tan ones with shiny stripes on them. They might’ve been puffy from water though.”

Calypso’s words struck him as hard as the clock strikes midnight and just as she erupted in nervous laughter he did the same. Was that a flirt? No. It was just an expression. A flirty expression. NOPE, a regular people expression Er, don’t do this to yourself mate. As if he weren’t already feeling the heat in his cheeks it came full force now and he was glad that she was turned away from him while he tried to somehow coax the blood back down, preferably to his feet. He hated that he always read too far into things. It was likely some subconscious thing to place meaning where it wasn’t meant to be. To place reciprocated feelings where they probably weren’t. His mum had always disliked divination and said that was what the whole bloody class was about. It was seeing what you wanted to see when you wanted to see it. Erebos didn’t quite believe that. More often than not the bloody thing was full of bad news anyway and he’d lost a fair amount of bets trusting a shitty tea reading.

“Right! We’ve got all day, we can do what we want. We’re livin’ young and wild and free.” Was it possible to make it through life and not quote songs endlessly? Probably. Could he do it? Probably not. “That’s a prime idea. Otherwise Sherri’ll see us strolling up with wide eyes and jittery hands and think we’re off our asses. Then we’ll have to admit pure nerdom and admit that, aye, we’re riding a high. A sugar high, to candy mountain. Show up will fistfuls of sweets from Bette and Olive’s.” They could certainly go there too. They were going to go all over. Together. Just the two of them. Which was totally normal. And not at all date-like. Even if that meant they could go sit under willow trees and talk about life and go find somewhere to eat. Together. Just the two of them. Like a date, except totally, and absolutely not. “Ottery’s got a couple places with normal people food, I think. There’s the Eatery and another one.”

That was casual. So smooth. Not at all giving away that he felt like he was going to pass out and die. Because he wasn’t feeling like that. He was feeling cool as a cucumber. Cool as ten cucumbers because they were friends. And friends ate food in the same establishment sometimes. Like, at Hogwarts, where they ate pretty much all their damn meals all the damn time. Erebos reassured himself as he worked her swing higher and higher. Each push forward engulfing him in the smell of her against it’s wind. It was a nice smell, a pretty smell. Something he might actually smell like if they were hugging right now or...something. She hugged him often. Quite a friendly thing to do. It wasn’t as though he had noticed how his t-shirt sometimes smelled like her even after she’d left. Even if he had no harm in admiring it. Or smiling about it.


FLIRT. No, sir, it was not a flirt. It was most certainly one. No, a phrase. Another phrase. People said one after their own heart all the time. He was pretty sure he had jokingly said it to Hades before. But...that had been a joke. This was not a joke. But it was a phrase. Or was it? “Well good, then you’re stuck with me all night as well.” Erebos smiled as he drew Calypso closer on her swing. She went from against his chest to over it as he drew her back for the final countdown. Her adorable squeals and squirming only widened the smile on his face. “Here. We. Goooo!” With one giant push and a run he when sailing forward, casting both her and the swing over his head. It had felt better that time. Not like he had dumped her off but he wasn’t entirely sure. Erebos finally stopped his run with a few klutzy footfalls and swung back around, grinning ear to ear, to make sure he hadn’t completely launched his friend off the swing.

@calypso | Outfit | Words: 1461

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY .0

Here The Whole Time

If you can see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why can't you see
You belong with me
Standing by and waiting at your back door
All this time how could you not know
Baby, you belong with me
You belong with me

Throughout the entirety of the Muggleborn registration (what an utter fuckup that was, she would never forgive the) and Koala being removed from school, Calypso had lost more house points, weekends, and hatpins than she'd ever admit due to the entitled bigots stalking around like they suddenly owned the place. It had felt wrong. She had felt so out of sorts because they were down one of their main soldiers in their battle of Irony and there had been nothing to fill the void. Zeph had tried, he'd adopted more people in her absence than in the previous two years combined. His way with dealing with it, he supposed. Yet they all knew it had hit Hades and Erebos the most since they were her housemates, and not having her there for house specific things would have felt like being stabbed relentlessly no doubt. The moment she had come back, Calypso had silently sworn an oath to protect the witch's ass with everything she had. Even if it came to murder. Demeter deserved to be here, to be with them, more than half the other kids in the school. And now she had so much wrong with her because of what they had done to her and sometimes it was hard for her to meet her eye without suffocating her in a hug or going out to find someone related to someone partially responsible and hit them where it would hurt the most. Permanently.

It had reminded her more than ever of their mortality, and though she should have become more careful, it had turned her more reckless. Unwilling to submit to whatever some jumped up adult had in store for her due to her parents. Or her friends. She was here for a good time, not a long time, and she would say that to anyone who had a go at her for not staying safe. She went out whenever she felt like, wherever, and did whatever took her fancy. She took her phone always but had company only sometimes. Typically if she knew that Er or Zeph were going to be free, or Dita, she'd peg onto them and drag them somewhere for the day. Yet other times she deliberately didn't because she wanted to feel unsafe. Wanted the danger. Because in some twisted way that would pay her back for having such a safe life for a year while Demeter had been suffering Irreparably. She'd had a warm house, her own bed and clothes, decent food, her friends... what had her best friend had? Nothing. Less than nothing. Death had been knocking on her door just about every night and she was forever grateful that she'd had the will to keep going.

The day Demeter had come back, had first walked up to the fam, the first person she'd looked at after throwing herself at her malnourished body for a soul crushing hug was Erebos. With all the hysterical relief, jubilation, tangible knowledge that she was alive, she had wanted to share that moment especially with him. Because she knew that he would understand, and she knew that he'd be feeling everything even stronger than she since he had had even more to do with her. Seeing his face light up, seeing the tension rolling off him and out of Dem... Well, let's just say it was a good thing that her Not-Gryffindor bravery had abandoned her since she'd been close to jump hugging him or planting one on him out of sheer magnitude of feeling. Like a dam breaking loose in all its chaotic glory. But she hadn't. She'd just held on tightly to Aphrodite's hand and taken a step back because that moment definitely hadn't been about them, and all about Dem. And Dem had deserved that. So not for the first time she'd tucked her feelings away as far down as she could because it was the wrong time. It was always the wrong time. And maybe she had to make her peace with that.


...Except that this definitely felt like flirting, on both party's cases, and she couldn't shake that feeling. And she was so confused and lost as to what she was supposed to do except keep running with this because she was a mess of a human being who was desperate with hope. Like... she was definitely flirting, and she was mentally slapping herself around the head with a heavy book for it. Yet here he was, carrying on their terrible french accents, keeping this going as much as her. Which meant that she was completely overreacting and was likely about to ruin absolutely everything in the next five minutes by being an utter state. 'I sure would like to know, Sir.' "So... you get different firemen? There are different fires? I thought fire was fire. It's hot, it burns, it's a bad idea..." she trailed off, now sounding really unsure of herself and also like she was making herself out to be an idiot. Erebos would make a good fireman. He had the strength, the tenacity, the bravery. Not to mention he looked good in a uniform-

AHem. Less of that.

And so what if she was now giddier than ever because it was confirmed that she had Erebos to herself for the entire day. They could do all sorts of stuff... they could share their ice creams, their cakes, sit on the grass and laugh themselves sick or sit like they had that night in the storm with her head against his chest and talk about what they wanted to be when they left school finally. Maybe go back to the park before Zeph's. So many maybes. And maybe, just maybe, she might get a chance to move his hair out of his eyes today like she always itched to do, or to brush crumbs from his face like Hades jokingly did at breakfast while rolling his eyes at him. Maybe steal his shirt later on if she got ice cream or sorbet down her like she always tended to, and conveniently forget to give it back... 

And then, maybe, when they went back to school she could still have it and things could go the way she wanted them to. And she could steal more of his shirts and hoodies, more hugs, have an excuse to play with his hair while listening to Zeph with his sax, or sit in his lap when they all piled into Zeph's room to do things so they weren't all squashed in as much. Sneak off together to do things together, silly things, knowing that the fam knew and they were fine with it. With them. That they were together and fine. And she wouldn't have to worry about being alone anymore. And when he crashed at her's he wouldn't have to try and take the couch or try and be such a gentleman because they'd be allowed to be close to one another for once.

It was a nice thought. Shame that was all it was ever going to be.

"Sheri would ground us to her house for the next few days so she could keep an eye on us, y'know that. Not that I'd complain, I've had worse company..." she joked, both wistful at the thought of having a true parental figure as much as thinking about that much time with someone who was rapidly becoming her favourite person in this life.  Doing her best not to blush any harder at his insinuations of more places to go to, alone, she nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yeah for sure! Raid Olive's, get some actual food to keep us going so we don't puke, and heck... Fuck it, why don't we go Diagon too, and see what they've got in for us to look forward to smuggling into school? We can just floo from the Leaky to Zeph's right? Maybe take a spooky walk through Knockturn for shits and giggles..." This sounded like the perfect day to her. In every way. Except the large glaring hole that was trying to burn out of her tongue. Diner's were pretty cosy, and now she was thinking about splitting a milkshake with him too and giggling about the week's top 40 hits on WWN.

'Stuck with me all night as well...' And didn't that feel slightly more loaded than it really was. Did he remember what had happened at the sleepover? Had he been awake? Fuck. Was he okay with it? Was this an open ended offer of snuggles? She didn't fucking no. AHHHHHH. What was she meant to say? "More like stuck with me. Depending on when we get there, everyone else might be there already and we'll have to cram in somewhere together. With our scavanged goodies," she giggled, tempted to waggle her brows like Zeph did, but then remembered he couldn't see her. Also like Zeph. Hahahahaha feck she was losing it. 

She left her worries behind as he finally released her in one fell swoop, the velocity in which she was swung anchoring her firmly to her seat and whipping her hair back. She crowed with delight as she fell back away from him, eyes wide and mouth agape in silent glee, then soaring back at him with the giddy feeling of adrenaline so much more intense than before. And there he was, grinning at her, the sun lighting him up like a wee punk pixie or something. And she felt so light... so free... 

Judging the distance, she threw the last of her caution to the wind. Because what was self preservation at this height, when she was about to do a 360 over the main support beam? "Hey Er! Catch me! The cake shop owner is taking stuff outta the window, we need to hurry!!" 

And then she let go of the swing.

---

1644 Words | @erebos | Notes: Outfit & Contacts
TEMPLATE BY ELIZA @ SP & ADOXOGRAPHy