#athenstart

[aesiradams]

Aesir: I just heard someone scream 'For Canada' followed by a loud crash

Aesir: Whilst I want to believe that that wasn't one of my sisters, my hope is not very high

[elle-matthews]

Elle: Hey

Elle: What are you doing right now

Elle: Do you want to hang out?

[jack--connolly-blog]

It was a widely accepted fact that the beach was the saving grace of this entire situation. Anyone that might have been upset, spent their days lounging on the beach, in the sun, and they were appeased. Jack, who had grown up near a beach, had a different kind of appreciation for it. Heat didn’t suit him, but the early mornings with a slight mist over the sea and the sands, just before the sun rose were his favorite moments, in the time he had been there. There was rarely anyone else occupying the beach in those moments, and a dim enough light that most were able to pass by without saying anything and still avoid appearing rude. 

The steady crash of the waves was a comforting, homey sound, that Jack could have gone on listening to for hours as he walked along the edge of the water. Unfortunately, the sun wasn’t long in coming up, burning off the mist and inviting everyone else out for the day. By the time Jack turned to make his retreat, someone else was approaching the beach, and the dim morning hours no longer shielded him from being polite. “Good morning,” he offered  as they came into earshot. “A touch early for sunbathing, isn’t it?”

[grahamafiav]

The word restless was an understatement for Graham. He had only been in Athens for a short time, and already his feet were itching. He wasn’t made to stay in one place so long, much less one place like this. There were too many people, too small a space and not enough freedom. It wasn’t just that he was in one place for so long, it was that he was being told to be there and told that he couldn’t leave. He wasn’t a rebellious person, but that still didn’t sit well with him. He kept himself busy by photographing every part of the castle from every angle he could manage, until he found himself half leaning off one of the angled parts of the roof, a hand loosely grasping the outcropping next to him as his free hand snapped a picture. He was really only about fifteen feet off the ground, on one of the lower rooms roofs, but it was enough that he went unnoticed when someone walked by below, the low sun catching them in perfect late. “Do you mind?” Graham called, camera up in question. 

[hollyxstarling]

“I don’t know why everyone is so excited about the beach. Like, sand is so disgusting? It gets everywhere, and it’s literally all the nasty stuff out of the bottom of the ocean.” Holly far preferred sitting by the edge of a pool, preferably far away from all royal responsibilities, but here she was, talking to someone who she wasn’t even sure was listening to her.

[princesaelvira]

Elvira sat on some lower part of the castle wall with her feet dangling off the rock it was composed of. Athens wasn’t Spain, and it never would be, but somehow she still found beauty in the scenery around her.

Homesick.

That’s all she’d felt since she was all but cattle prodded onto a plane and shipped off to Greece. She wanted nothing more than to go home--dreading any calls from her family because the little trip was seeming like less of a vacation and more of a way to force her out of home and into a highly royal populated area--anything to make her more useful to the family. Footsteps on the stone below brought her head back to reality.

“I’m not coming down so if you want me you’ll have to come up.”

[rochelleafia]

“Darling, I am made for the beach.” Rochelle drawled to the person in the chair next to where she was sprawled, cocktail in hand. Who cared if she wasn’t at home? Here was just fine, there were drinks and attractive men serving them.

[princessadaline]

Horse riding was something that felt obligated by every royal, or at least Adaline presumed so, but it was also a sport that she greatly enjoyed. A horse didn’t care about her disability or how she behaved in front of the media, only that she loved him. Her horse had travelled to Athens with her, a grey gelding named Mercury, a gentle animal that Adaline had worked with since he was a foal, allowing him to become used to her riding style with a prosthetic leg. 

In the early hours of the morning, before the sun had even risen, Adaline slipped into the stables and began preparing Mercury for a ride, her attention on the process broken by the sound of something behind her. 

She turned on her heel, squinting at the figure in the early morning light. 

“You’re up early.”