*CHARMED/LIFE.

[ichorborn]

“Would you quit pouting already, gods, you look like a fucking two year old,” To outside ears, it sounded harsh, an unneeded snap of his tongue towards his companion just because he was dragging his feet in the direction of the house party. But Tony knew that Cass knew better than to take it to heart, Tony was just like that… to brash, to quick to using his outdoor voice… when Ares and Aphrodite come together to create a child there isn’t much room for patience within their soul, and Antonio Mendez was the poster child for what that looked like. A beautiful, cruel, selfish boy with tousled curls and a crooked smile, always planning something mischievous.

Currently, that plan was to crash his ‘ex’s’ house party where she was celebrating with her friends and new jock boyfriend over being crowned homecoming king and queen, a crown rightfully stolen for him, or one of his other much better-looking friends if he though, her new boyfriend looked like if you crossbred a potato with a crustacean and then stomped on the poor thing until it was nothing but veiny muscles and wideset eyes.  

He glanced back at Cass when they reached the outside of the house, a two-story home that was considered a bit more ritzy for the area, her father was an accountant and her mother ran a small business where they sold ‘organic’ soaps and shampoos, “You know you can still blow me right?” Tony flicked his cigarette into the grass, “Like just because we’re here doesn’t me you and I can’t go fuck off after a bit of chaos to have fun of our own,” He reached up now, caressing the side of his best friends neck, flashing him a smile before smacking him on the cheek some, “Don’t be such a pussy.”

[ichorborn]

Moments like this were what kept her going. The quiet stillness of his company, the way nature sang, even in her small messy studio apartment where most of the plants were trapped in the confines of potted plans and reached for the sun each and every morning, roots begging to be set free in loose and unending soil, Persephone kept them going, his presence soothing them, making them relax in their clay pots created for them by her, singing a quiet one-note hum throughout his visit, and that calmness he brought upon nature had roots that wrapped around her ankles and up her calves, instilling her the same calmness, the same sense of peace. Persephone had dug his roots in deep, and every second he was away from her she could hardly breathe, but he was home now, back in her arms, in her bed, happily eating the souffle she’d carefully crafted for him with care, her eyes eagerly watching as he teased her by being unsure.

“Don’t,” The New York native whined softly, a sweet nervous smile spreading across her features, as she reached over to rub his legs, floral silk robe hanging off her shoulders, “It’s German chocolate with raspberries, it should be rich but subtle,” As a daughter of Hecate Abigail found herself enriched by the interesting things in life, potions and spells came simple to her, an understanding of nature and numbers that worked together to create beautiful things, an elxir that would cure the common cold, a draught that helped her younger brother sleep at night when their father’s drunken shouts were too loud, a vial of luck when her twin needed a little help at his interview, she sold these things for quick cash, helped her get by, take care of her beautiful brothers during hard times when her art wasn’t enough, and her love for creation branched into mortal hobbies, music, poetry, art, food, most importantly food.

Again, eager eyes watched her god as he carefully took a chunk from the souffle, smiling when the desert seemed to hold together, doing exactly as it was meant to do, “Don’t lie to me either if you don’t like it, our relationship will only thrive with honestly.” She teased him as she pulled herself closer, pressing her lips along his shoulder, drinking in his flowery scent, a smell she never got tired of, “Well?” She looked at him now as he held the desert in his mouth, brows raising, “Chew stupid.”

[ichorborn]

A heavy sigh left his lips when he heard the faint tapping at his window, allowing his gaze to flicker to the French doors that led to his balcony, already knowing what figure he was going to be greeted with outside the red stained glass. Artemis Ritter, the bane of his existence, his best friends’ cousin and step-sister, and the girl he’d found himself getting lost in the past three months. It was a tragedy in the making, he knew that already, knew that from the moment her lips had pressed to his, stained in flavor from the whiskey the pair had been sharing all night and the ghost of cotton candy lip balm, toxic and childish, just like her. 

Part of him wanted to just stare, watching her continue to drum her nails along the glass, expecting to be let in just to be met with no movement on his part, but he was weak-willed, and easily distracted by the thoughts of what was to come when he opened the doors for her. With a roll of his eyes, he pushed himself up walking over to the doors and turning he lock, letting her push the door open and humming when she flashed him a pearly smile, “You are not welcome here,” He muttered grumpily as he stepped away before she could touch, knowing it was all it would take to make him cave.

Apollo had just spent the last few hours drunkenly bitching about his sister, how cruel she was, how unfair she was, and he agreed, Artemis was selfish, she was bitchy, but still, he couldn’t turn her away, as much as he knew he should, and instead allowed her to follow him over to his bed as he flopped back down lazily, stretching out on his back and running his fingers through his hair with a defeated sigh, “Really, you’re going to be the death of me Art,” Tony muttered with exhaustion laced through his words, shifting up onto his elbows when the weight of her pressed down on his lap, thick thighs hugging his hips, delicate fingers and soft hands sliding up his bare chest, “Apollo is going to find out and never speak to me again, or go full-on Evil Dead on me with some rose vines.”

[ichorborn]

It never felt right for her to be there, to be around such a loving and happy family. The Ritters were something entirely different than what she’d seen in her few short years of life, they were all so… connected, so in tune with one another, Artemis would move one way and Apollo’s body shifted entirely to follow suit, even when they were in a screaming match, there was something in their eyes, a knowing love, a bond and it was so pure it was nearly palpable. She never knew that, not with the woman who gave her life, who hated her so much that the hate drove a darkness deeper in Iliana until one day the woman didn’t wake up from one of the reoccurring night terrors that her young daughter unknowingly gave to her. She didn’t know it from the Sisters of our Lady of Sorrows at the all-girls orphanage in Moscow, they all saw that darkness in her and kept her in it, kept her from love, from peace and happiness, because she was a monster, and she did awful things to the people who upset her… the closest she ever felt to love was when the child of Hebe found her, a pretty soft woman with ginger hair and emerald green eyes, who took her away from that home, took her to America, made her feel a semblance of peace for a little while… until Iliana ruined that as well, damning her to the empty abyss of darkness that she herself couldn’t even figure out how to get to all because she was upset about her adoptive mother wanting to move them to Olympus.

The Ritters would be her next victims, it was inevitable, she knew that…and yet selfishly she stayed, she let them take care of her, let them think she was the product of a neglectful mortal mother, and each day she came over, like she was one of them. Artemis was usually there during the day, keeping her company, gossiping about Antonio Mendez or another boy who she was amusing herself with, but today she had dance practice after school and Iliana instead of making her way to her empty home, perched herself on the couch in their den, glancing out the window and watching the hummingbirds flick around to each feeder, buzzing and zipping happily around. The next sight made her heart skip a beat, mouth nuzzling closer to her hand as she watched as Apollo Ritter rolled down the driveway on his skateboard, apparently home early for the day as well. Apollo was…special, perfect even, the type of boy who made every girl’s head turn and heart race, painted their cheeks in shades of pink and red hues, when he smiled or, laughed, and she wasn’t the exception to that cause at all, in fact, some days she felt like she was the main target. His hands would linger on skin, eyes trailing over her features, lips pressing to her ear, she knew Apollo wanted to be with her, he’d wanted to for what seemed like months now but she was afraid of what she would do to him if she allowed it… though she was weak and lonely and tended to let him do as he pleased with her, playing into his wants and accepting the consequences of his hurt feelings when she didn’t allow them to progress.

She heard the lock click on the door and her heart fluttered again, shifting back on the couch and pulling herself against the arm back of the sectional, smiling some when Apollo rushed in, skateboard tucked under his arm and smile wide and bright on his face when he spotted her, seemingly knowing she’d been there, “Artemis is at practice I uh,” Iliana trailed off some, sliding her hands down her legs and shrugging, “I was going to take a nap, you know the usual.”