jesús castillo : twenty eight : hunter & springhill suites resident rogue "i spent my time here just holding on. afraid to let go, the weight's swinging in my soul. no time for shaking his heavy load.. before i take myself down, sinking like a stone. "
M OR T A L I T Y. not a concept she was familiar with, nor enjoyed. what had they done to insight such RAGE from zeus? surely it can’t have been all of them who had angered him so. the ground beneath her feet felt wrong - she’d not set foot on earth since the iron age of man - spent decades amongst the stars watching… and since then she’d NOT been impressed by what she’d seen in humankind. HUBRIS, GREED, VIOLENCE, PRIDE - and now she must walk amongst them.
“how long do you think we will be banished down here for?”
elpis pushed back darkened hair, his fingers still getting used to his mortal body - the texture of skin and hair still confusing him. though he was no stranger to the earth, the sound of wind and water.. he was not used to the physical. and though he was NOT pleased with the gods and goddesses joining him, he couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the sudden change. from walking among the heavens, to walking among the mortals. a change no one would ever wanted, or lust over.
"maybe for eternity,” he replied, tone low and head down. “would it be so bad? the mortals.. the HUMANS.. - they’re quite interesting.”
“ temper, temper “ she drawls, more to herself than to anyone but perhaps, in turn, to zeus. a flicker of her eyes rises and she has to look away almost instantly, the sun blinding her. it’s a foreign feeling, to be BATHED in light. it both sickens and delights her. slowly, nyx circles, the tips of her now mortal fingers gliding over every surface in reach. she is distracted, there is NO denying it. the human world, mortality, it is… fascinating. “ - disgusting, “ she corrects herself with the smallest of smiles, her head cocked to the side. nyx, overwhelmed by the LIGHT that she can now stand in unscathed, her daughter’s - lifts her head to find that she is no longer alone. a single brow rises in greeting.
elpis watched his mother touch and interact, eyebrow RAISED - copycat to her own expression. it was odd to see her on the earth, her feet touching soil and her fingertips dancing across surfaces. hell, it was odd to see her, full stop. from the moment of birth, elpis had stayed upon zeus’ green earth and had made a home. a little inch of security and comfort just for himself. there were no gods where he had been staying, there were no pompous acts of selfishness. earth was kind to him, even if he had never taken on a material form. “welcome to the earth,” he greeted, lips tweaking at the side into a small, sly smile. was he pleased that the ones he had escaped from in the heavens, were now down with him? no. he was.. put out, on edge.. this wasn’t right. “the sun? you’ll get used to it.. it’s not all that bad.”
“hope is not pretending that troubles don’t exist. it is the hope that they won’t last forever. that hurts will be healed and difficulties overcome. that we will be led out of darkness and into the sunshine. thus, it is not possible to escape the mind of zeus.”
the facts
diety: ἐλπίς [elpis] ~ the personification and spirit of hope (commonly depicted as a female rather than a male, due to his floral messages to the mortal (blossoming flowers and specifically, the cornucopia. the roman equivalent, spes)
mortal name: ελπίδα [elpída] ~ the greek translation for hope
faceclaim: diego luna
backstory
a child of nyx, a parent to pheme (the goddess of fame, renown and rumor).
roman equivalent: spes
though seen as something positive, elpis widens the scope of the misery inflicted on mankind
“only hope was left within his unbreakable house, he remained under the lip of the jar, and did not fly away. before [she could], pandora replaced the lid of the jar. this was the will of aegis-bearing zeus the cloudgatherer.” - mentioned in the story of pandora’s box
hesoid closes the story with “thus it is not possible to escape the mind of zeus”, which is rather fitting to the event lmao
elpis (hope) is the only good god remaining among mankind; the others have left and gone to olympus. pistis (trust), a mighty god has gone, sophrosyne (restraint) has gone from men, and the kharites, my friend, has abandoned the earth. men’s judicial oaths are no longer to be trusted, nor does anyone revere the immortal gods; the race of pious men has perished and men no longer recognize the rules of conduct or acts of piety. but as long as man lives and sees the light of sun, let him show piety to the gods and count on elpis (hope). let him pray to the gods and burn splendid thigh bones, sacrificing to elpis (hope) first and last.
headcanons
elpis was always on earth, never as an actual figure whom breathed or talked but wandered the earth casting hope upon the less fortunate. he was an element, more than anything else. that may be the cause of the popular understanding that elpis was a female. hope was always materialized by flowers - pieces of him scattered across the land. unlike the others whom he knew, he never actually went up to olympus and has never stood upon the ground. so, to now be chained to the earth, isn’t much of a curse for him.
he loves it, actually. he loves seeing emotions, how people grow and change. the only thing hes truly unhappy with is that he now has to take on a physical form due to zues’ commandments.
does he get on with the other gods? of course, he’s generally quite good to be around but the hope he brings with him also spurs on the negative emotions.. so don’t be surprised if bad luck follows you if elpis is with you.
but despite the negativity, elpis is fun. he loves to laugh, he loves to see people smile. and now being a physical person on this earth, he can talk and understand the mortals more. and though he doesn’t naturally go out of his way to ignore the gods and goddesses, but hasn’t been seen around them all that much.
it was easy to lean into his warmth and forget the worries of the world for awhile; her own arm sliding around his middle and gripping gently. there was so much of her that wanted to STAY. block out the world for a little while longer. they had been doing so well. but she KNEW the people at the suites would need as much help as they could get. even if they were all extremely capable of caring for themselves and one another. if she vanished, it wouldn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. they would go on just as they always had. but she missed feeling USEFUL.
“friends? no. i…when you weren’t around, i pushed people away. kept them at a distance. so…no, i don’t think i have any friends.”
jesús lowered his face and stuck out his bottom lip like a pouting child. part of him knew that his disappearance would’ve put evelyn’s social life on hold. but perhaps that was too big headed of him to think that way, maybe it was because she didn’t have a social crutch to lean on or maybe - and most possibly - the apocalypse simply drained her. it had drained him. it had almost chewed him up and spat him out as a completely different person. short tempered, scowling, a turned up nose. that wasn’t who jesús was.
he tightened his grip around her - protective, and willing to do whatever he had to do to ensure her safety. “well,” he sighed, dark eyes moving to look at her, eyes watching the formation of her lips and the flutter of eyelashes. “perhaps we can try to make friendships now,” offering her a small, gentle smile. “do you think my hunter position will still be open?”
The invitation seemed like a kind one and while Aiden wasn’t the first to go blindly trusting and entering, his gut wasn’t telling him to run. Aiden often trusted his instincts, often thought they were accurate, and this wasn’t one of those times he’d make an excuse to leave. Besides, they were all in Cheyenne now. Aside from the raiders ( who were luckily few and far between ), Cheyenne survivors tended to lend a helping hand. What hurt would it do to get to know him? Maybe they could trade or maybe even services would need to be offered one day. Aiden knew he needed to try harder at making connections in town other than knowing his own camp members. “I think they can survive for a while without me.” He weighed his head from side to side, a small chuckle shaking his shoulders. “Hopefully. A bunch of kids cooped up – hopefully they don’t burn the place down.”
jesús grinned, the glimmer of happiness and feeling safer coming back to him - the moments were rare, almost non-existent.. aiden - the leader of the capitol camp - seemed like a good one. the camp was lucky to have him, perhaps jesús should look into joining them with evie.. but she was pretty loyal to her own alliance to the springhill suites. “oh, of course they can -” his voice picking up, an edge of chirpiness coming back as he took the lead. “how many are there? you must have many, to run such an area.”
“You realize I’m a forty-two year old man, right?” Aiden sighs exasperatedly, his brow cocked in annoyance. “Fine. First off, Ophelia is a child. So the first option is off the table. Even Luz is off the table for that one even though she’s mature and much older than Ophelia.” He shudders at the mere thought of all of this and the annoying fact that he even has to ANSWER. “I wouldn’t kill any of ‘em, you all know that. I guess I’d marry Luz. She’s already my right-hand girl anyway. She’s already practically barging down my door to make sure I eat. So I guess I’d…fuck Jesus? No pun intended but JESUS. This is sick.” He shakes his head. “Ophelia, I wouldn’t kill you but for the sake of the game, you’re outta here.”
“I don’t even know any of them and I’m sure they’re all great but…shit.” He sighed, rubbing at the back of his head nervously. “For the sake of it, I’ll play along.” He cringed playfully before weighing his head from side to side. “I’d never think about touching anyone other than Gwen. And I’m not just saying that because that’s the right thing to say or because I could get in trouble otherwise. I genuinely really wouldn’t. If I was forced, I guess Luz..?” His statement ends in a questionable tone rather than definitive. “She seems cool, pretty laid back. As for marrying, I guess Jesus? He seems like a nice enough guy. I’d say Ophelia but I don’t know. She seems kinda scary. Like I’m already a nervous guy and if I said the wrong thing, she might eat me alive..” He’s playing, of course, but maybe it’s a tad bit true. “Besides, isn’t she dating someone? I don’t really need a knock on my door..”
they were closing in on the suites now; evelyn’s eyes locking on the large building through the trees. so much of her had wanted to stay hidden away in their little cabin in the woods but she KNEW they needed to face reality eventually. she needed to get back to her regular duties amongst the group rather then appearing once every few days with a bag half full of supplies. she tilted her head to the side to glance at jesús, offering him a soft, reassuring smile.
“ they’ll let you stay. i KNOW it. and you’ll be able to sleep in a bed finally. ” the cabin hadn’t been UNCOMFORTABLE, no, they had made it WORK. but the suites were something else. they were practically LUXURY in todays world.
jesús wasn’t entirely sure that this was a good idea. yes, the suites were PARTLY secure, there were people to help and talk to... but was it the safest option? so far, the safest option was to be ALONE - with no one else to care about, with no other responsibilities than to care for ones’ self. he clocked her gentle smile, his lips mirroring it to feign confidence for her, the suites and the residents who inhabited it. “i know,” he sighed, reaching out to wrap a protective arm round her slender frame. evelyn wanted to go back, jesús had thought she wanted to since the beginning. this day had been coming for a while.
“do you have friends in there now? will i have to be nicer than usual?”
evelyn GIGGLED; the sound foreign to her own EARS. she hadn’t had any REASON to laugh in so long. her world had been so full of DARKNESS since he had vanished. but the second she had stumbled across him again, her world had LIGHTENED. every second of every day MEANT something. she no longer ACHED for death to take her. she had ever reason to live and it was SO FAR from who she had been before she met jesús all those years ago. evelyn had been so EAGER to make it on her own in the world. but jesús had somehow managed to break past every single WALL she had built around her. he had made her realized that being alone was entirely overrated.
“ALWAYS cute, hmm?” she wrinkled her nose a bit and eyed him; head tilting ever so slightly to the side. “i don’t KNOW about that.” so much of this reminded her of back home. of their flat in london where they had spent so much TIME together. so much time kissing and LAUGHING and being happy. she missed HOME. despite the fact that jesús was her TRUE home. one day, evelyn HOPED, they would finally be able to return there and everything would go back to how it WAS.
evelyn melted into his kiss; each one feeling as though all of this was BRAND NEW. it felt like their first kiss over and over. “hmm…i THINK i need just a BIT more. if you don’t mind…” she pulled back enough to find his eyes, her smirk growing slightly.
jesús savored the moment, lips against hers with a playful, mischievous grin. he’d give everything to her, all she had to do was ask and he’d lay it all out on the table. or, well, he’d try his best. being a high school graduate with the talent of eavesdropping and knife wielding, he didn’t have much to give but his heart and a ton of emotions - even then, he only learnt to do that when he met HER. “a bit more?” he asked. “codicioso,” smirking as he whispered - face close to her’s, ready for another kiss.
lips gingerly pressed against her own, eyes shut tight as he felt her full lips against his. when he met evelyn, an emerging art student with such talent, jesús was INFATUATED. he wanted nothing but her touch, her company and her time. somehow, that was what he got and he was blessed - he had been counting his LUCKY STARS ever since day one.
stepping out of that train of thought, jesús moved his hands down the sides of her body gently - tenderly feeling every curve beneath the layers of clothing.. the curves he had lost contact with, but NOTHING was foreign to him. he pressed his forehead against her own, the warmth of her breath hitting his skin. it felt like home, this was all he needed. “is it too cold to be rid of this?” he asked quietly, fingers dipping underneath her shirt to touch the skin on her hips.
Lilah cocked her head to the side, studying the stranger. She did have a knife strapped to her waistband, but most of the time the blonde figured she’d be far too slow to get it out in time anyway. If there was the possibility of something bad happening. She didn’t like to think about it. “Yup. I’m Delilah.” She offered him her hand to shake. “Are you with a camp?”
jesús noted her gentle tone, yet he found it hard to believe that a girl could be so accepting and so.. positive. he reached out to take her hand, shaking it gently with a small smile on his lips. he found it hard to trust and believe anymore, but something about the girl put a question mark over his instant judgement in strangers. “jesús.. and no, not exactly. my wife is,” he explained, letting go of her hand. “evelyn, have you met?”
despite the darkness that surrounded them on a daily basis, jesús ALWAYS seemed to have a way of keeping it all away from them. it was like he had built a giant bubble around them to keep them SAFE until they were absolutely ready to face the world again. she was quite convinced at this point that she would NEVER be ready to face it. she wanted to stay put in their little bubble and never let it BURST. “i wanted to draw you. didn’t want you awake while i did. like i said, you’re cuter when you’re sleeping.” she teased again; attempting to hide her sketchbook behind her.
it wasn’t that she feared his reaction. no, he was always so IN LOVE with her work. which confused her if she was honest. she could always see so many MESS UPS within each piece. none of it was ever as perfect as she wanted it to be. she had often worried that he was simply SAYING it was good. that he didn’t really mean it. but jesús had spent so much of their time together in the past CONVINCING her that his words were true. that he would NEVER lie to her. and he never had. she trusted him with EVERYTHING. even the horrible sketches she was terrified to show anyone.
a soft giggle escaped her lips; a sense of CALM and safety washing over her as he spoke in spanish. she understood most of what he said these days. evelyn had gone to great lengths to learn whatever she could from him and it had started paying off just before they left on their honeymoon. his soft voice and the words, whether she understood them or not, had always made her feel safe in every possible way. “well…PERHAPS you can see it…” evelyn leaned in a bit and smirked; eyes sparkling.
“if you kiss me PROPERLY. you missed my lips.” she LOVED the little eskimo kisses more than anything somedays but so much of her ACHED for his lips against her own. it had been so LONG.
“i’m always cute,” jesús muttered to himself, lips forming into a ridiculous pout. his accent was thicker, he found it harder to wrap the tip of his tongue around certain pronunciations.. but god did it feel good. it felt good to loose himself in their small world, the safety of a cabin. he knew that evie would want to go back to the suites - though. jesús was always on edge whenever someone came by, weary of the residents who were on the look out for their missing hunter. the thing is, jesús was selfish. he had lost her for too long - and now he surely deserved to be with her: all alone? for it to be j & e again.
KISS HER. as if it would be a chore. jesús leaned in, hands finding their normal place to cradle her face into a kiss, lips pushing against her’s. each kiss was now savored, each touch would always be remembered. he breathed her in like some rare insence, fingers reaching out to thread through her dark hair. how was it not as matted as his? a smile played on his lips, mirroring the way he used to act when he had only just met her - jesús was the luckiest man in the world.
he only came away for air, he only broke away to look at her properly. jesús sighed - hands still holding her face. “was that good enough?” he asked, eyebrow quirked with a grin on his lip. “or do you need a little more?”
evelyn’s head snapped up; cheeks growing a bit pink at the realization that he was finally awake. normally, he was up BEFORE her. usually in some sort of panic that she wasn’t there. she understood. normally SHE was waking up and searching for him. normally he wasn’t THERE. now he was. she hadn’t felt this SAFE and this sure of anything in so, so long. she tilted her book away from him with a small, teasing smirk and shook her head.
“not yet. it’s not DONE.” it was nearly finished but she so disliked showing him anything unfinished. he was always so supportive. but she was often a perfectionist and the thought of showing him something that wasn’t perfect made her somewhat ANXIOUS. her pencil had very rarely met paper since he had vanished into the night and every line she drew felt shaky. she gently let her foot nudge against his thigh; smirk growing a bit wider. “you’re cuter when you’re sleeping.”
her tone carried a similar teasing within it that she hadn’t let out in AGES. there had always been a slightly mischievous side of evelyn that only came out with jesús but one that had vanished even DEEPER within her after the world had ceased to exist as they had known it. it felt ODD yet refreshing to let it slip out again.
“did you have a good SLEEP? you looked so peaceful.”
jesús knew he wouldn’t be seeing the sketch, when alone in london he had only seen a handful - they were perfect, it made him incredibly proud to know her, to call her his wife. he was just, well, simply in AWE of her and that wasn’t going to chance any time soon. instead, he simply smirked and reached down to grab her foot playfully. hand pushing it away with a hint of a laugh, a low chuckle vibrating from his throat as he watched her tilt the paper away from him. yet another sketch he’d have to sweet talk his way into.
now awake, he sighed and picked himself up from the floor, moving to sit up properly. he rubbed at his eyes, wiping away the sleep as he listened to her voice. her accent carrying on the space between them, that accent that caught his attention in the first place. “did i?” he asked, moving his hand to the back of his neck, dark brown eyes now stuck on her, pouting a little due to evie’s abandonment on the sketch. “it was okay, better than before but not perfect. why are you awake before i am - huh?”
he moved closer, craving that simple, chaste touch again. hands went to her cheeks (he wasn’t good with keeping personal space, he never had been) kneeling in front of her in the same fashion he used to take in church. “estás preciosa,” he sighed, speaking his first language warmed his heart and took him back to his family - he had stopped speaking it for so long so he could learn to survive in cheyenne. it wasn’t that evie could even speak spanish fluently, it was that he felt at home with her. he could unwind and allow himself to be himself.. no longer a stranger in his own mind.
“sorry,” jesús grinned, eyes now awake and alert as he pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose, like those eskimo kisses he used to make fun off in their care free hours. “but now can i see that sketch?”
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