the steel works

Kol O'Neal here, 20, son of Hephaestus. I swear I'm not just loitering on the streets of New Rome, I've got a plan okay?

[kolthebuilder-blog]

abrakaravadra:

Leo looked around, kind of startled by what he saw. It wasn’t exactly different from an art studio, there was an organized chaos to the entire thing. It was certainly different tools and different results, but it was kind of artistic in a sense as well. He liked it. Maybe he would have to look into doing more metal work. “Nope! The closest I’ve ever done is doing a metal work sculpture. I’m willing to help organize if you want though.”

Kol scratched at the back of his neck with a slight frown, why did they always send the ones with no experience to help him out? Though he supposed he did have some experience, metal work wasn’t far away from what he was doing. Glancing around his work area Kol frowned a little more having not fully realised how much of a mess the place probably looked from outside eyes. “Think you could sort through those swords? Find the ones that are worth saving and which are beyond repair. I can show you how to melt the metal down.”

[kolthebuilder-blog]

magikolina:

Lina wanted the curses to be figured out sooner rather than later and was almost willing to team up with someone from the Roman side if it came to it. The curses were getting out of hand and they needed to put a stop to it as soon as they could. She walked in further, taking a few moments to look around. Eventually she turned back to him,“Something to get rid of alarms and block cell phone signals. Anything that might help with a stealth mission as well.”

His eyebrows shot up at her request. That was not what he expected to come out of her mouth and for a split second he wondered if it was a trap but the thought quickly vanished. “Huh,” was all he could think to say at first before his mind starting thinking about possible options. “I can give you something to turn alarms off right now but blocking cell phone signals might take me a bit longer. Are we talking in a small area or the whole city?”

[kolthebuilder-blog]

abrakaravadra:

@kolthebuilder

Once Leo discovered he was aging backwards, there wasn’t much left to do. He was only a year or so younger than he was before, which he thought was good. He would hate to be fifteen again. That just didn’t sound fun at all. Though he couldn’t say aging backwards sounded fun either. With his lack of knowledge on anything related to this war, he was directed to the forges to see if they needed any help, just to keep him busy for a bit. Walking in he smiled brightly at the young man in front of him. “Hey, I’m Leo, I’m cursed, but not in immediate danger, so I’ve been sent over here to help you if you need it!” He told him brightly.

From what Kol could tell, no one had touch any of his stuff in his forge when he had left. Which, part of him appreciated but a larger part of him also wished someone had taken all the work he had abandoned so his desk would be clear. As it was he had spent the last twenty minutes sorting through all the gathered weapons and armour and scrap, organising everything into piles according to importance. Frowning at the guy stood in front of him Kol tried to wrack his brain to remember if he had even asked for any help, but shrugged it off, there was no way he’d be getting back on track alone. “I’m Kol. Have you uh ever worked in a forge before?”

[kolthebuilder-blog]

magikolina:

@kolthebuilder

Lina had a lot to plan to get this to happen right. She also needed quite a few back up plans for this mission. The last mission she had been on had ended… Rather poorly and she was not looking to make those same mistakes this time around. Kol was arguably one of the best builders and inventors around the Greek Camp, which lead Lina to his forge. Knocking on the doorjam, she smiled at him, though her eyes weren’t focused, making the pleasant expression look more eery than usual. “I’ve heard you’re the person to look for if I need help with some gadgets.”

Since returning to the Greeks Camp Kolby had tried his best to be extra helpful in some attempt to make up for abandoning them all. Which meant he hadn’t really left his forge in for more then four hours at a time. He couldn’t help with the fighting and he definitely didn’t know how to help with the outbreak of curses so that left him with one job to do; fix peoples weapons. He barely heard someone knocking on the door over the sound of metal hitting metal and was surprised to look up and see Lina standing in his doorway looking as creepy as ever. “Uh,” he started, blinking in mild confusion at the question before putting his hammer down and wiping his hands on his jeans with a shrug, “Yeah I guess I could be. What kind of gadgets are we talking about?”

[kolthebuilder-blog]

fireandneurosurgery:

“I don’t know exactly what is right, I just do what I think is right. It’s a feeling and I’m not always right but…” she shrugged, “it is what it is.” Leading him through the camp and to a small kitchen and grabbing him a bowl of stew and rice. “Can you get spoons?” she asked, her hands full of food now, “I’ll find somewhere for us to eat this.” 

Frowning, Kolby tried to get his head around that idea. Every time he tried to do the right thing it always seemed to blow up in his face – sometimes literally. The first thing he had done that he was sure was right was returning to this war zone. “Huh? Oh! Spoons, yeah, sure,” he said with a quick nod. Grabbing two spoons from a container he scanned the room, quickly spotting Bobby and making his way over to her, still avoiding eye contact with anyone else. “Spoons,” he said stupidly, sitting down and passing her one, the silence wasn’t exactly awkward, but he still felt the need to fill it with something, “So uh...how’s everything been?”

[kolthebuilder-blog]

sonoftriton:

Caspian had to stop himself from seeming too worried, although the sound of Kol running into old associates made him cringe. “Here I was, thinking you came back for me.” He said, although he didn’t really mean the words. He knew that Kol must have regretted leaving him, well, if all the words he had just said where true. 

“I’m kidding.” He said gently, knowing the words wouldn’t be taken lightly by the other. “Uh, let’s go get you cleaned up?” He suggested with a weak smile, moving to put one arm behind Kol’s neck and over their shoulder. 

“I did,” Kol replied, nodding his head at him once, and he got that it was a joke, but he also needed Caspian to know that he had come back for him. That the only reason it had taken him so long was because of forces he couldn’t control. “I came back for you. I would have been back sooner if things hadn’t gotten in the way. And I’m sorry. Again.”

Cringing a little at his own words Kol agreed with a small smile, slowly putting one arm around Caspian’s waist, relishing in the closeness of their bodies. Though Kolby was fully aware of how bad he probably smelt right now and couldn’t help but let out a slightly wistful sight at the prospect of clean clothes. “I forgot how much I missed the luxury of clean running water.”

[jesperfahxey-deactivated2022022]

(｡♥‿♥｡)

[kolthebuilder-blog]

peacefully-blossom:

“Hey!” Blossom called, running up to the person she saw and reached out to touch their shoulders, but then stopped. “I uh-sorry.” She apologized as she retracted her hand. “I just- I have this curse. It’s really annoying and sad. But, I was wondering if you were okay? I hope you don’t have a curse, because it’s awful. They make you feel really lonely, since no one has the same curse.” She explained with a sigh. “But, hopefully it’ll be all over soon. It can’t last forever…right?”

Stopping at the sound of someone talking to him Kolby turned to find Blossom, and the smile that had started to work its way across his face at the sight of her turned into a frown at her words. Right. The curses. Glancing at her hand he fought the urge to take a step back from her, as far as he could tell the curses weren’t contagious but from the sounds of it maybe hers was? “No curse. As far as I’m aware, so I’m fine. Are you? Can I get you anything?”He winced internally at his own words. What could he possibly get her that might help in this situation. 

[kolthebuilder-blog]

fireandneurosurgery:

“I want to help, I don’t need to do it. But I think it is the right thing to do.” Putting down her needle, she pulled of the vinyl gloves before looking at him with a critical eye. She reserved judgement and kept mostly silent. It wasn’t her place. After all, it wasn’t unexpected that people were struggling. Giving him a bright smile, she dipped her head. “Good, let’s get something to eat.”

Squinting one eye closed he frowned at her a little, “How does you moral compass just...know what’s right?” Kolby was starting to think his moral compass had been damaged during childhood and was constantly sending him in the opposite direction to true north. Taken aback by her quick acceptance of his answer Kol was quick to stand up, picking his back pack and slinging it over his shoulder, “Uh, yeah okay.”

[kolthebuilder-blog]

sonoftriton:

Caspian looked down at his feet and sniffed. “Yeah, there were people to help me, but they weren’t the people I needed.” The anger had mostly subsided. He had called out Kol and there wasn’t anything else to say. He let out a sigh and stepped towards Kol, reaching out to briefly squeeze his hand before allowing it to return to his side. “As much as I’d like to say no to second chances, you’re probably one of the only ones that have unlimited chances.” He shook his head with a faint smile before stepping back again. “Just, lets just go slowly. I don’t want to get so reattached only for you to run away again.” The words seemed harsh yet they were true. 

Caspian wanted to apologize and feel bad for Kol, that the last few weeks had been tough, but he reminded himself that Kol had decided to leave, he had decided to return to that. “If you run away from this kind of thing, what brought you back?” 

The guilt that had been floating loosely in his gut seemed to make a sudden crash landing at those words, and even though Kolby could see that most of the anger was gone, he still felt like he deserved more of it. “I’m sorry,” the words felt repetitive and useless but he said them anyway, not knowing what else too say. “I don’t even deserve one, so I wont let it go to waste. I promise.” And he meant it. Kol felt his heart beat a little quicker at the feeling of their hands touching and though he felt a twinge of sadness at the lack of contact he understood. He even understood Caspian’s words, though he couldn’t help but wince a little at them. “I – I understand. I can do slow. I know you don’t trust me, but I’m not going anywhere ever again. Unless you kick me away.”

Giving his head a quick shake Kol was quick to say, “Nothing as bad as y’know all this I mean but yeah, tough. ” He waved a hand in the vague direction of Caspian’s missing arm, biting his lip as he wondered if that was a rude thing to do. “Oh uh. Well... I kinda changed my mind pretty much the first day after I left. And I was making plans to come back when some old... associates tracked me down and wanted to settle some old work I ran out on.” 

[kolthebuilder-blog]

fireandneurosurgery:

“Glad to see that nothing has changed,” Bobbi replied with a shrug. “After I have finished patching you up then we’ll get you some food. Half a sandwich a few days ago is not good enough to keep you alive and kicking.” She quickly finished her stitches and began cleaning and bandaging the rest of the minor injuries he’d experienced. “Are you back for good for now then?” she asked, “or is the mortal world going to need you again?” 

“Honestly, there’s no need. I’m not even that hungry and I’m sure there’s people that need your help more then me,” Kol said, shrugging into a wince as he felt the last of the stitches in his skin. He was happily surprised by the fact the cut hadn’t gotten infected and killed him a slow and painful death, even if he might have deserved that. He should have known that question was coming, but he still fidgeted on his stool and avoiding eye contact as he answered. “I’m here for good. Not – Not planning on leaving again.”

[kolthebuilder-blog]

sonoftriton:

Caspian didn’t want to sit down and talk, he already felt somewhat useless, he wanted to stand and move around, not sit down. “You could not handle it?” He almost laughed at the words, but he managed not too. Caspian shook his head in disbelief. “Yeah, well I did not have the luxury of running away when I could not handle it.” 

Part of himself swooned as Kol said that he was the best thing to happen to him, but the other 90% of himself was too hurt in many ways to fall for it. Caspian knew that Kol wanted to leave, it was just hard convincing himself that it wasn’t because of his arm that Kol left. “It was fucking bad timing.” He commented. It was when Kol started calling himself a coward that Caspian’s kind-hearted self took the wheel, “You are not a coward.” He said, his tone was still angry, but seemed a little more gentler this time. “Well Kolby, did you stop to think how I would be able to handle it? You know it would have been so much easier if you had been here to help me?” He paused, “Do you know how hard it is to make soup with one hand?” He slipped out a joke, or an attempt of one anyway and let out a sigh. “I - I am just really hurt right now and I honestly was not expecting to see you again.” He paused before adding, “I guess I am happy to see you again and that you are not dead.” He gave a weak smile. “Although you smell it.” 

Kol winced, ducking his head down and squeezing his eyes shut, cursing his choice of words and his own stupidity. “I’m sorry. I – I know you didn’t. Couldn’t. I just...I panicked.” He said, giving a helpless shrug as he raised his head slightly to look at Caspian again. Kol knew what he had done wasn’t fair on him, but he couldn’t change what he had done, all he could do was deal with the consequences of his impulse actions. He huffed out a bitter laugh, “I’m good at that. Bad timing.” If there was a book about his life, he was pretty that could be its title. Kolby O’Neal: A Tale of Badly Timed Decisions.

Shaking his head Kol let out a sigh, “I am though Cas. The only reason I’ve survived as long as I have is because I run when things get bad. I don’t stick around to see how things turn out.” Tilting his head to the side Kolby looked at him again, this time not avoiding his gaze or eye contact. “I guess I didn’t. I guess I just...I thought you’d be okay because you’re – you’re one of the strongest people I know. And I knew that there’d be people here who could help you better then I could.” He let out a shakey laugh at the attempted joke and shook his head, “No, no I don’t.” Kol took a half step forward, cautious and slow, and nodded his head at him in understanding. “I know. And you have every right to be mad at me. All I ask is for a chance to make it up to you.” It seemed like a big ask now he thought about it. If the roles were reversed Kol wasn’t sure if he would even still be talking to himself. “Huh? Oh! Oh right. Yeah. I was gonna try and change before I went to find you. I’m – it’s been a tough few weeks.” 

[shirtlesshotcelebs]

[kolthebuilder-blog]

fireandneurosurgery:

Bringing him into a small tent that had been erected in the heart of the Greek camp, she sat him down on a stool and began to clean the cut on his temple. Carefully, smoothly cleaning it with anti-bacterial solution and preparing to bandage the cut. “The good news is that I don’t think you’ll need stitches, but I’m not sure how you managed to get yourself into this state again.” Pausing for a second, she looked at the wound on his arm and frowned. “When was the last time you ate?”

Kolby winced as she cleaned the cut, balling his hands up into fists to stop himself from pushing her hands away. He knew she was just trying to help, but gods did it have to hurt so much? He picked up on her unasked but implied question, but Kol really didn’t feel like reliving his last two weeks or all his mistakes in life, so instead he gave her a half smile and a shrug. “Life in the mortal world is just as peaceful as here.” He shifted uncomfortably on the stool at her looks and eyed the way out of the tent before the flicked back up to her with a frown. “Well it’s...what? Tuesday? No, Sunday? I definately had half a sandwiched on Saturday.” She didn’t need to know the half a sandwiched was technically a quarter of a full one. 

[kolthebuilder-blog]

fireandneurosurgery:

As Kolby bumped into her and then continued with some half-arsed apology. Pausing for a moment, she placed a hand on his shoulder and cleared her throat loudly. “You’ve got a cut on your temple that needs stitches, you need to shower and eat a good meal and you need to let me check you over to make sure that everything is healing as it should.” She paused and pushed her hair up and out of her face, tying it tightly into a bun before turning and walking in the opposite direction. “Follow me Kolby, please.” 

Her hand on his shoulder made him come to a stand still, keeping his head ducked, as if that would keep her from seeing everything that was wrong with him. “I’m fine honestly, there’s n –” Kol should have known better to expect he could avoid her keen doctors gaze, and let out a resigned sigh at her assessment of him. Though he didn’t think she needed to point out his need to shower, but judging her her tone, Kol was going to assume she wasn’t exactly his biggest fan right now. Swallowing, he nodded once, before making to follow after her, “Yes ma’am.” He supposed he did need checking over.

[kolthebuilder-blog]

sonoftriton:

Caspian dipped his head as he noticed Kol looking at where his arm used to be. He knew Kol wasn’t so heartless to allow the loss of a limb to become between them, but the thought of it still lingered around in his mind, Caspian was broken now and why would anyone want something that is broken? He licked his lip and looked back up, trying to show strength. Kol had left. He had left when Caspian probably needed him they most. They had even spoken about leaving together and he was sure somewhere along the line he had asked Kol not to go, but there he was, waking up to a Greek camp without Kol in it. 

“You need to be more than sorry Kolby, you need to explain yourself.” Caspian would have crossed his arms, closed himself off physically to the other, but he couldn’t anymore, instead, he crossed his arm across his chest and clutched onto his opposite shoulder for support. “Aren’t we talking now? Couldn’t we have spoken before you left?” The anger had faded but was still evident in his voice. He felt betrayed. After everything Caspian had done for him, sure, the store could no longer be used, but Caspian had still got that for him. After a pause, a tear swelled up before rolling down his cheek, “Was it something I did?” He asked, his voice quivering. He had blamed himself naturally, why else would Kol have left? 

Right. Explain himself. Kolby nodded his head a few times, he knew that was what he needed to do. He knew that he had to explain his actions. His Emotions. His thoughts. But that was easier said then done, because Kol had never been very good at expressing his thoughts into words that made sense which was why he had always run away from situations before emotions and feelings got involved. He had broken his number one rule by falling for Caspian and now he needed to find someway to explain everything in his head. Without the fall back of running away. “Okay, okay, I –”

He paused again too take a deep breath, to try and calm his heart rate. “We are. You’re right. I just meant somewhere...where we could sit.” Kol let out a breath, his eyes following the path of Caspian’s arm and everything inside him wanted to reach out and just hug him. Hold him. But he had lost that right, and now he had to find a way to regain it. “I didn’t know how to...how too tell you. I just...just...when i saw you lying there. I just couldn’t handle it,” he gave a helpless shrug. Kol felt tears welling in his eyes at Caspian’s next words and shook his head quickly, resolutely. “No. God. Cas, no. It wasn’t anything you did. You were – you are the...best thing to happen in my life in a really long time. And I know I’ve fucked up big time, and I know you probably don’t trust a word I say, but you gotta know there is nothing you could possibly do that would make me leave.” Kol took a breath, reached out a hand and thought better of it, and let it fall to his side. “I got scared. That’s who I am Cas, I’m a coward and I ran, because I couldn’t handle it. It wasn’t anything you did.”

[kolthebuilder-blog]

sonoftriton:

Caspian apologized back to the person who had bumped into him. It took him a second and a double take to realize who exactly had bumped into him. “Kol?” He asked, his voice breaking. Of course it was Kol, he’d notice his boyfriend – his ex-boyfriend? anywhere. 

Caspian had been on a walk, trying to clear his mind. Not only had he lost a limb, but he had also lost his powers, which was equivalent to losing a limb anyway. He felt broken and useless. He had tried helping around camp, but it was hard and he had to relearn how to do everyday activities. On his walk, he thought he’d see Brooks, Percy or a few other demigods he knew; he had expected a few stares or glances of pity. But what he wasn’t prepared for, was bumping into Kol. His voice seemed to be caught in his throat and his heart thundered in his chest. He was frozen, like a deer in headlights, unable to run from or confront the other. 

“Fuck you.” is what finally escaped from the clutches of his throat and what had slipped through his crack between his lips. 

The sound of his name brought Kol’s head snapping up, and right into eye line with Caspian. He felt himself take in a sharp breath and he froze. This wasn’t in his plan. He was going to... to shower first. Change his clothes first. And then he had planed on – on what? Kolby hadn’t gotten that far in his plan. And now he guessed he didn’t have chance to come up with the rest. Unless he ran again. But no, that was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place. He was done running. Kol swallowed, let his eyes roam over Caspian, lingering on the place his arm used to be for longer then they needed too. 

And then Caspian spoke again. And Kolby felt like he had been struck in the chest. Which he probably deserved more. He opened his mouth, closed it again. Swallowed. Opened his mouth again, “Cas, I –” he didn’t know what to say. His eyes had traveled back up to Caspian’s face, noticing how tired he looked, how sad, and Kol knew that there was no way he could express how sorry he was. But he knew he had to at least try, he owed him that much. Taking a deep breath Kol tried again. “I’m sorry. I – I was stupid. How are you? I – I...Can we talk? Gods I’m so sorry.” He couldn’t order his thoughts and everything came out in jumble, he had to bit his lip to stop from stuttering out another I’m sorry.