Since when do I have a brother? {Asclepius Boys}

Torin had finally returned from his shift at the infirmary and he was exhausted. Some Ares kid had been rushed in, bleeding profusely from the head as well as having a fractured arm and some minor lacerations scattered across him. It had been towards the end of Torin's shift, so the injured fighter could've been passed to an Apollo child, but Torin didn't have the heart to do that. Instead he had rushed to work with a few others from his shift who hadn't left yet and a few that had recently arrived to wrap up the Ares boy and treat the wounds. And the Ares boy wasn't the only one of the day. There had been countless others who had needed a treatment of some sort, so Torin hadn't gotten a spare minute until now. What a long day.

He shut the door behind him, flinching at the slam which echoed through the massive cabin. It looked small, cozy, and feminine on the outside, but on the inside, it always seemed eerie and desolate. A statue of Hera stood centered and pictures of peacocks plagued the walls and windows. He dragged himself around the marble Hera to a red bean bag chair he had brought with him from home, falling face first into it with a groan. He laid like that for a moment, being enveloped into the beaded cushion, his eyelids feeling heavy with sleep. He probably could've stayed like that for the entire night.

Ben marched slowly back from the infirmary. It had been an unusual thing for him, actually working at the infirmary. He usually ran first aid at the climbing wall, but today had had to rush to the small building with the dumb Ares kid who'd managed to screw himself up impossibly bad. He'd managed to keep the boy stable by providing a transfusion on site, but it left him drained as always. And so he had been sent back to his Cabin 2 bye the Apollo kid who was supervising.

Arrived at the door, opened it, and walked lazily tiredly into the cabin. He made his way towards the bean bag he usually crashed on, and was so tired he almost fell on the boy who was already laying there. He groaned. The boy had been at the infirmary as well. "Shouldn't you be at the Apollo Cabin?" He muttered grouchily.

"The Apollo Cabin is for Apollo kids..." He didn't mean for his words to sound as sarcastic as the did, he just didn't have the strength to put emotion in his voice. He turned his head up and out of the bean bag chair to look at the boy who had addressed him. He had seen the boy helping at the infirmary with the Ares kid. He looked exhausted as well. "Torin." He muttered, giving a slight nod of his head rather than raising his hand to greet the other boy. "Sorry if I come off as a jerk... really tired... That Ares kid almost did himself in.. Almost did me in with him." He exhaled, closing his eyes and wishing that his bed was closer.

"Ben. I'm Ben." His mind flashed to seeing Torin in the infirmary. Ben perked up a little, curious."Wait... If you aren't an Apollo kid, and you were helping out at the infirmary... Is your dad Asclepius?" He said, and yawned immediately afterwards.

"Mhmm..." He replied, his voice monotone. He sounded like he was replying in his sleep, just mhmm, or mm mm. He was awake, just barely, but able to reply accurately. "Torin C. Holt... 17...Son of...Asleepius...." Woops, that wasn't his dad's name. Showed how tired he was, though. Generally he'd be delighted at having a conversation with him, considering how anti-social and bad at speaking he generally was. Now he was having trouble speaking because of the sleep kicking in. He couldn't speak normally ever, could he? The gods had not blessed him with the gift of being a social butterfly. "You...?"

((Timeskip to next morning? lol))

Ben smiled happily. "Ben Olden, 15. And apparently, your half brother!" He grinned for a moment, then knit his brows. "Wait- how is it that I've never-" He gave a big yawn, and teetered back and forth a little, his eyelids drooping. "never seen you before. Oh gods so tired. If I ever find that Ares kid immaa killim." He yawned again.

"If you kill him... That would make everything we did a waste..." He reasoned, rather unaware of what he was babbling about now. After that, if Ben had replied, well, none of it registered to Torin. Torin had fallen asleep soon after his own statement, lying right where he was.

{{TO THE FUTUREEEE}}

Torin generally wasn't a morning person, but somehow he managed to wake up. It was probably the multi-colored light rays that shined in his eyes from the stupid stained-glass windows of the cabin. Whose idea was that, anyway? He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, then stretched his arms with a groan. Everything was sore which probably had something to do with how he had slept. His back had been arched and his body was curled on a big bag, something that was not meant for a tall, muscular boy like him to be sleeping on. He winced as he stretched his legs, looking around the cabin to regain his bearings.

Ben sat on his bunk, having woken up a little while earlier. He felt refreshed from his long sleep, having passed out at around five the day prior. He had hardly managed to drag himself over to his bunk before blacking out, and could barely remember anything. One thing was clear though. Torin. He wandered over to the bean bag chiar, where the older boy still sat, and plunked down on the floor next to him. "Hi."

Torin was surprised to see the other boy again, believing he had only dreamed of a half-brother. He blinked. "Um, hi." His voice was hoarse from having just awoken. His stomach growled and he scratched it, looking around the room and avoiding eye contact. Now that he wasn't half-asleep, he could think straight. And now that he could think straight, he was incredibly awkward. "Ben, right?"

Ben smiled. "Yep. And your name is Torin." He scratched his head. "How do I have a half brother? Well either way, it's good to meet you."

"Yeah..." Torin shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry, just tired. And honestly.. I thought I imagined you last night. Guess not. I've never seen another Asclepius kid before. Thought dad was just really picky about who he gets with." He let out a chuckle and laid back in the bean bag.

Ben chuckled as well. "Same here. And hey, only two kids is pretty picky for a god." He let out a real laugh at this, then immediately felt stupid for laughing at his own joke. "So what can you do? I mean, demigod power-wise."

Torin couldn't help but let out a soft laugh at Ben's joke. It's true, even if there were two of them, well... There father was a god, who would pass that up? "He must be busy healing Ares." Torin mused, stretching his legs out and flexing his toes. "I can...Well, I don't know for sure. But I've heard from a lot of people that my touch dulls pain. It's a pity I can't use it on myself though..." He sighed, rubbing the back of his aching neck.

Ben laughed, then smiled grimly. "I'm Hemokinetic. I can move my blood, regenerate it faster, all that stuff. It's completely hypoalergenic, too, so I can give a transfusion to anyone." He shifted, still stiff from his long sleep. "So you work at the infirmary?"

"Nice, so Asceplius kids consist of a walking pain-killer and the ultimate transfusion." He ehaled a sigh, glad that he was actually able to talk in full sentences with this kid. Maybe it wad because they were brothers? At any rate, it made Torin feel good. He replied to Ben's question with a nod. "Yeah, it's kind of my hang out. I'm surprised I haven't seen you there before, actually."

"I'm not usually at the infirmary." Ben said. "Chiron has me at the Climbing Wall, running first aid. That's where the Ares kid got hurt. Normally I when someone gets hurt, I either heal them on the spot, or stabilize them and then send them to the infirmary. But this kid screwed himself up badly enough that I figured it'd be best to stick with him."

"Good call," Torin commended him. "He probably wouldn't have lasted without your help." He pulled himself up from the chair and moved into his room, gesturing for Ben to follow. "That climbing wall is evil..." He sighed, kneeling down next to his bunk and pulling a duffle bag out from under it. "I swear half the cases I see come from that wall." Once unzipped the treasures were revealed. Torin had sodas, bags of chips, candy, and an assortment of Tasty Cake products tucked away in it. He grinned. "I'm a bit of a sweet tooth, if you couldn't tell. Feel free to take some whenever you want, so long as you replenish in the future."

Ben grinned wickedly. "You don't know the half of it. I think the dang thing is cursed. You can barely set foot near it without hurting yourself!" He chuckled, then followed Torin into his room. "Wow. I'm impressed." He grabbed a diet Coke, nodded his thanks, and took a long drink. He let out a loud burp. "'Scuse me. I can sneak out of camp once in a while, so I can pick stuff up for you then. You ever tried Pineapple soda?"

"They make that?" He found himself a bag of barbecue chips before sliding the duffle bag back under the bed. The bag opened with a rip and he rose to his feet before letting himself fall back on his bunk. Torin tossed a chip into his mouth and crunched down on it, savoring the tang. "Sometimes even food of the gods can't beat a plain ol' bag of chips."

"Oh yeah! It's delicious!" Ben grinned. "Mmhm. Salted Potato chips are the best!" He sat down next to Torin. "So how long ya been here, big bro?" He looked at Torin expectantly.

Torin shrugged. He hadn't really counted but he estimated about 6 months, give or take. "Eh, like half a year. And you?" It was surprising that the two had never met before, unless Ben was new. Living together for 6 months without realizing it? Now that was a feat.

"Two years, little over probably. My uncle made my mom abandon me after found out about my dad. He was the crazy radical christian type, so having greek god for a dad didn't sit too well with him. My being bi probably didn't help, either." Ben shrugged. "Well, screw them! I'm better off here that I was out there anyways. How 'bout you? How'd you end up here?" He queried.

Torin glanced up when Ben mentioned abandonment. He searched Ben's eyes for any sign of pain. To be abandoned was...Well, horrible. Torin had felt abandoned a few times when he'd been going out with Lexi, and it hadn't been pleasant. His heart had ached for the longest time. Finally, Torin forced his gaze to be diverted. He bit the bottom of his lip and thought about the question. "My mom... She's afraid of things... Everything, actually. When monsters started showing up at our door step she just about lost it." He let out a sigh. "Then she told me about my father, a subject she had avoided for the longest time. I was shipped over here, and... I don't know if I'll ever go back." The subject was a bit touchy, but he tried to cover the details to the best of his ability. After a quiet pause, he reverted the focus back to Ben. "That must've been rough on you, though."

Ben's face fell, and he averted his eyes. "Yeah... I was alone for days before my satyr found me... He realized there were tears welling up in his eyes, and wiped them away. "I-I'm sorry. I d-don't talk about it a lot." He sniffled. "Sounds like we both had it hard..."

Torin tried to smile for Ben's sake. "Well, you had a satyr friend, didn't you?" Lucky boy. Torin's life had literally just flipped without warning. "He got you here...Do you still hang out with--" When Ben's eyes began to well up Torin shut his mouth, nearly biting off his tongue in the process. Subjects like this one... They were hard to talk about. He didn't mind, he only wished he could make Ben feel better. "'Nother coke...?"