sheep_game | Counting Stars

[ Slowly, Kevin lets his head rest against Ananke's shoulder. More than anything, he needs that little bit of physical contact right now.

He nods helplessly. ]

That's what it feels like. Everything in that environment is trying to dissolve you. It's ... it makes you feel like that's reality and this is the dream.

[ He shudders at that explanation, swallowing thickly and wrapping his arms around himself ]

It felt—so real. ...I... I'm really glad you found me when you did. I dunno how you dealt with it alone for so long.

[ Kevin hesitates, then puts an arm gently around Ananke as well. He's VERY chilly, as always, but maybe that's a relief after the acidic heat of Tartarus. ]

Being a son of Hades gave me some protection. Not enough, but still way more than what you had.

[ Human contact > caring about how cold he is ]

But still not enough. ...How long did it take for you to finally get out?

I - didn’t. Not on my own.

[ He leans his head against Ananke’s shoulder. ]

I was captured instead.

[ oh he hates that. Frees up an arm to loop carefully around Kevin ]

By Nyx? Or did someone else show up?

[ he hesitates, but at this point Ananke gets nothing but the truth from him. ]

Nyx handed me over a pair of giants. They took me back in a jar to be bait for all of my friends.

[ Takes a slow breath ]

I'm a little glad it got you out of Tartarus, but in a jar?

It was a big jar?

[ He gestures, indicating a jar roughly person sized. ]

It was still - I had to use pomegranate seeds to get through it.

It could have two bedrooms and a swimming pool and it'd still be a prison. Why couldn't your dad just get you out? Or any parents of the other kids being led into a trap?

Edited 2024-05-11 19:43 (UTC)

… that’s not how it works. The gods don’t interfere like that.

Isn't Nyx a god too?

She’s a protogenos. More in league with Gaea than the Olympians, plus I was directly in her domain.

So the Olympians have rules on themselves that no one else has to follow?

More like - they’re the status quo, so they don’t have to care. Gaea’s forces are trying to change that, so they’re more involved.

[ Tightens his arm around Kevin a bit, clenching and unclenching his jaw a couple of times while he buries the urge to insult all of the Olympian gods again ]

... Yeah, well it sucks that you're caught in the middle of their bullshit.

Edited 2024-05-11 20:20 (UTC)

[ look, Kevin appreciates that, but also,

He just shrugs. ]

Do you feel like you’re caught in bullshit when you’re doing super hero stuff?

Sometimes, yeah. Usually when I have to team up with other heroes.

Then you get it, right? It’s the worst, sure, but you don’t actually have much of a choice.

Kind of... I've got the freedom to not join any of their teams. They can be a pain to deal with, but none of them can boss me around and I'm not letting them drag me in deep enough to leave me stranded with no back-up plan again.

[ Kevin’s eyes widen a little. ]

Did… that happen?

Yeah, uh... The Justice League took me up into space to help them fight an evil super-intelligent space station full of robots that knew all their weaknesses. They needed me because me and Scarab weren't in the satellite's database, so it couldn't counter us or anything, and 'cause Scarab could read all the computer code and stuff.

So we helped them out even though I didn't even know Scarab was a person yet. And after we took out the main power supply, they just—left. They knew I wasn't on board, and they left anyway.

…

[ time to murder the Justice League, ]

So what, they left you there to die? To tie up loose ends?

[ awkwardly shrugs the shoulder Kevin isn't leaning on ]

I think they were just saving their own skins. Like they didn't think there was time to get me.

[ Ugh. ]

… so that’s how you feel when I talk about my stuff, huh. Angry and protective?

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