closed.

[aegist]

WHO: thalia grace & luke castellan!
WHERE: cabin 11. where else do they hang out, god.
WHEN: 4/5 afternoonish?
WHAT: thalia has new bling. also probably regains comparison and snark.
WARNINGS: maybe luke will get hit in the head with a shield we just don't know yet.

[ so it's wednesday afternoon and thalia doesn't have class until later and she doesn't have any shifts today. well, no more shifts today. she did the open shift at the candy shop and as a result brought in a pack of gummy worms she promptly tossed at luke's head. while technically ? this is a bar and it doesn't have a lunch menu she has chosen to come here for lunch, either by getting luke to feed her somehow or by dragging him out to go get some.

after assaulting luke with candy thalia slides onto her stool, crossing her arms on top of the bar. today she is notably wearing a new bracelet, a row of polished silver links latched around her wrist. considering thalia doesn't really go out of her way to get herself jewelry, this is kind of weird, but whatever. ]

I'm starving, what are you doing for lunch?

[ clearly lunch > this mysterious bracelet or whatever, right? ]

Comments

[chiseler]

We were not arsonists, probably. There was a reason we had to burn the house even if I don't know why. I know you and I know myself. We wouldn't have burned it to the ground without a really good reason. [He stares at her bracelet again, knowing that the memory's there but trying to decide how to phrase it without sounding too insane.]

Anyway, you say that like wearing a bracelet would stop you from punching people in the face. But that's not it. [He snorts though, looking up for a moment.] It's not supposed to help you hit things. It's...a shield. [Tada. And, in fact, the journal fills in again.

Something finally clicked in my mind: the story of Amaltheia the goat, who’d led us here. Thalia had been destined to find that treasure. ______________________

“Thalia!” I gasped. “The shield! What was it called?”

“What shield?” she cried.

"___________ "________ "______ Thalia, the bracelet—it’s got a code word!"]

[aegist]

[ her fingers trace the links on the bracelet, and it comes back to her. she remembers that. she remembers - ]

Aegis.

[ she says it without thinking, and a few things happen at once. or mostly one thing happens at once: the bracelet becomes a shield, and it isn't lightweight, exactly. and it, like, comes out of nowhere. luke's leaning over the journal and thalia's hand was near it and - SORRY LUKE DID YOUR FACE JUST GET HIT BY A SHIELD OF TERROR BEING A THING? even if he avoids it (don't avoid it wow) the shield slams down into the table and the table does not fare too well and thalia simply freezes before frantically trying to un-shield, and.

THEY SHOULD RUN MAYBE? ]

[chiseler]

[He absolutely gets clocked in the jaw with the shield (thanks, Thalia!!) and there's a startled yelp from heavy metal slamming into him. Their glasses of soda spill and he has enough reflex to knock the journal out of the way so its pages aren't soaked. The table, flimsy as it is, collapses under the wait of the shield.]

What the fuck. [It's all he says and yeah, maybe they should run?] Put it away!

[aegist]

I don't know how! [ wait she can just. okay. she taps it again and that (?) sees to work (??????????) but. ] Luke, we should get out of here.

[ NO TIME TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE DAMAGE TO HIS FACE! ]

[chiseler]

[So he's going to have a nice bruise, that's fine. The damage is massive and people are starting to glance their way but he settles for rubbing his face and snatching the diary off the table.]

Best plan I've heard all day. Back to the bar? [Can they sneak out of here without much notice? Let's find out.]

[aegist]

Back to the bar.

[ she grabs for his free hand before towing him towards the door. which isn't, like, stealth? but SHE CAN'T PAY FOR THIS TABLE................

farewell lunch she knew you not at all. ]

[chiseler]

[AND OFF THEY GO, BYE EVERYONE oh god why this.]

Okay so obviously whatever your bracelet really is doesn't belong in this world, so that's good to know! [Out the door and down the street...] Are you as freaked out about the diary as I am, or is that just me?

[aegist]

No, that was definitely weird and shouldn't be happening?

[ AND NOW PROBABLY MORE FILLED IN, SINCE AEGIS WAS NAMED - she turns to say something once they're farther away, and instead: ]

Okay, you look like you lost a fight. Badly.

[ thalia this is your fault? ]

[chiseler]

[They'll look when they stop, but right now his focus is to get them as far from the area as possible. When she responds though he tries to snort irritatedly but it sort of hurts so that's a bad idea.]

Gosh, I wonder why. [A hand comes up to tentatively touch the rapidly bruising area.] I'd like to see you get smacked with a solid metal shield and see how you turn out. I don't think I got hit the first time we got it, but...that shield saved us somehow. I know that much.

[aegist]

Well, that's more than it did just now.

[ this shield RUINED LUNCH? also she will keep running until luke calls a stop. ]

[chiseler]

Did you get a good look at the thing? It's pretty ugly. [He only slows once they're outside of the bar. He digs his keys out of his pocket to unlock the bar, gesturing for Thalia to follow even as he locks the door again.]

So let me get this straight. We followed a glowing goat to someone's house, you retrieved this magical bracelet, we lit the house on fire and escaped somehow, my golf club was broken protecting us, I had a knife that I held onto for a while but then we met Annabeth in a back alley, I gave her the knife, and we...went from there. [He slowly shakes his head, hopping over the bar to get some ice for his face.] Something's really, really wrong with this picture.

[aegist]

Not really? The angle was all wrong.

[ she follows inside, and more sensibly just walks around the bar since apparently she's not going to sit at her seat and have this conversation across the bar. that would be stupid. ]

Also, is the thing that's wrong with the picture the fact we were apparently into lighting things on fire? Or is that what's right with it. Or another thing that could be wrong: you using a golf club in our defense. Luke, come on.

[chiseler]

[As with most things with Thalia Grace, he doesn't even care.]

Yeah, try opening it again and tell me how you'd feel if you came face to face with it. [Ice is going on his face and he's leaning his hip against the bar to face her.]

The golf club wasn't my original weapon. [He makes a face.] I don't really know what was, but I remember it didn't feel right in my hands. It was a last-minute attempt after losing whatever I had. Don't think it's unreasonable to think maybe it was a sword if you had a shield. What I don't get is why we burned the house down. Any ideas?

[aegist]

[ she eyes her bracelet, holds her arm WAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ANYTHING, and taps it, so she can get an actual look at the damn shield, though she keeps talking. ]

Maybe we really hated the decor.

[chiseler]

We were kids. I'm pretty sure "hating the decor" makes about as much sense as following a goat? [...he frowns suddenly, thinking about the decor of the house.] ...actually? [Yeah, he's just. Puzzling something out here.]

i have 1 more regain gimme curtains slams hands on table looks at luke

[aegist]

Actually what?

[ or like maybe i should do something clarifying about the house but whatever ]

no :|

[chiseler]

[He's just going to frown harder because this is seriously the stupidest memory ever. On the other hand, the prospect's unsettling.]

The curtains attacked you. [Well. Okay.] So maybe you're more on-point than I thought.

[aegist]

I told you so!

[ thalia, you were joking? also, give her a second to freeze after gloating to like. ah. yeah. she remembers that! ]

[chiseler]

[...oh no.]

Oh no. [He sounds tired? This is exhausting, and even though there's a little smirk he isn't that amused.] I'm going to start hating that look the longer this shit keeps happening. How much detail did you remember?

[aegist]

It - the curtains hurt. [ screaming for luke, holding up her steaming, blistered hands. ] The important thing here is I was right about the decor.

[ SHE WAS JOKING AND THIS IS NOT IMPORTANT THOUGH ]

[chiseler]

I know. [They're on the same page, and he hates it, he hates remembering that because it still makes zero sense.] Guess the curtains deserved it. At least everything here isn't sentient. [Yet.]

I'm going to keep track of the diary. See if anything else shows up, see if I can figure out what it is. Maybe it's just a trap.

[aegist]

I guess at least we know if we get drapes in the mail we should immediately burn them.

[ god ]

We should make a date of it. Pick like, the last Sunday of the month or something and meet up to glance through the diary.

[chiseler]

Sure looking forward to that being a real possibility. [And by looking forward to, he means /INTERNAL SHRIEKING.

Still...he almost looks settled at the word "date" and he nods in agreement.] That's not a bad idea though. I can track everything, we can talk about anything else we might've remembered and see how it syncs up with the diary and everything. If you and me have been together for years then...there's bound to be a lot of overlap. We'll see how far this thing goes. I can't imagine me keeping a real journal but this is definitely me. Or a different me. Or something.

[aegist]

Are you saying you haven't always wanted to keep a diary lovingly updated every night and shoved beneath your pillow? I'm shocked.

[ not really. ]

Annabeth should probably come too, but not that other guy.

[chiseler]

You caught me. That has always been my deepest desire to have a book I pour my heart and soul into and keep close to me so I can reflect fondly on my youth. [An eyeroll. But he can agree with that as well.]

Yeah, I think until we know more about what's happening that's for the best. [He hesitates then.] ...what about Jason?