steady your hand [private]

Subject: steady your hand [private] Sat Sep 21, 2013 5:08 am

Nighttime had always been the favourite time of day for Elijah Gray. If you asked him why, he would give you one of his casual grins and shrug almost absently, like it was a last minute type of thing which he had just thought of. He might even say in his light, carefree tone, "I don't know. Maybe I was a Son of Nyx in a past life or something." It wasn't a question which he had a ready made answer for. Which was, in a way, unfortunate. He had once or twice dated girls who did a "First Date Interview". It had involved countless questions being fired at him in quick sucession of the last, and many of them involved some fact of himself whcih he usually preferred to keep to himself because of... personal reasons. Such as his favourite color (Red, cause it was the color he thought of as his fathers favourite), his favourite place in Camp (Between two different places. Both were because of his music, but both because of different reasons.) and, the oddest of all, "Day time, or nighttime." He'd never given it that much thought until the first girl had asked. Why did he love night? It wasn't like he hated day time or anything. Maybe the reason was because he'd been a Son of Nyx in a past life. Or maybe, if he said it out loud, he could make himself believe it was because of the stars or something. But then he would be lying to himself, wouldn't he? In complete and brutal honesty, it was because nighttime was one of those few times he could spend completely and utterly alone, and yet, for once he didn't feel lonely. Weird contradiction, but that was the answer which popped into his head and that was the answer he wouldn't utter to any person other than himself.

It had been in his first few years at Camp that Eli had realized that there was an actual way to sneak around at night without being caught and eaten. Which was a real blessing in disguise because as much as he would laugh about it with others ("Oh, come on. Even the Harpies can't be hungry enough to eat Demigods without a sauce."), he was very much against the eating of stray Demigods for a late dinner... And he was especially against the eating of stray Elijah's for a late dinner.
It had taken him a while, and a lot of close calls. For the first while he had been scared crapless that he was about the be grabbed and sprinkled with salt, but eventually (Eventually meaning two years or so) he had it. His own spot where once he was there he knew there was no chance of the Harpies catching him out. Sure, the journey there was hazardous. The journey back was worse. And yeah, the duration of his stay was dangerous in the sense that any other forest monsters could catch him an- basically he wasn't safe but he put aside his own fears in order to relax and keep himself that way.

He had gone out early enough... around twelve at night, maybe near one. He couldn't go very early because people would still be awake and would catch him out and wonder where on earth he was sneaking out too. Usually he waited until he was absolutely certain no one was awake inside the Cabin and then he would slowly make his way out. When he had been positive (A little later than usual because some kids had been playing truth or dare in a corner quietly), he had swung his legs out of the bed and slipped his feet into his trainers, not bothering to untie them or anything, just slipping them on as quickly and quietly as possible, and doing the exact same with his jacket, throwing it on and zipping it as quickly as he could. His guitar had been set against the end of the bed, and, careful not to hit any of the strings enough to make it twang he had picked it up and slung it over his shoulders with the strap, before carefully, quietly, silently slipping out of the Cabin and into the brisk night air. As soon as he was out he abandoned the quiteness, and rushed along as fast as possible, dodging behind bushes and walls whenever he heard a noise, but, thankfully not meeting any Harpies. Once he was in the cover of the forest he had relaxed that little bit more, and he'd started to warm up as he walked to the clearing where he would spend hours sitting in playing his guitar or thinking.

But he couldn't think. He'd spent hours out in the cold night air, strumming his guitar absently and thinking about notes, but he just could not do it. There had been a tune in his head all day, while he'd gone around doing what he did, but now he was spending time on it, he just was not able to think properly. It wouldn't come to him. Instead he was getting thoughts like "I'm cold" and "Wonder what they'll have in the Mess Hall for breakfast. I feel like having a roll". And no matter what he did, no matter how many tunes he had already played to get himself into the swing of things, he couldn't get it right and it was doing his head in.
Also, the fact that the sun was starting to rise in the East, the sunlight brightening the edges of the nearest trees slowly but surely... that was really bugging him.

With a heavy sigh, he stood, brushing the dirt off of his jeans without really thinking about it. Then, he picked the guitar up and swung the strap over his shoulders again, only this time he didn't really give much thought or care to the fact that he was making noise. All he could think about was how he had failed at doing one simply thing. The tune in his head was exactly what he liked, not too sappy, not too rock musicy, not too anything. And he couldn't even get it right. Everytime he played it, there was something not quite right about the sound. At first he'd thought the guitar was out of tune, but now he was positive it wasn't. Everything else sounded all right... but he couldn't get his new tune right.
Slowly, he began to make his way through the clearing and head back to Camp.
I can hardly show up when the sun is fully up in clothes I wore yesterday. Then everyone will know theres something up, and they'll start asking me where exactly was I.

It took a while to reach Camp, seeing as though he was walking casually, like there wasn't a care in the world, when really his head was full of notes and tunes and he couldn't seem to think about anything other than that. The sun was low in the sky now, brightening everything in early morning sunlight, and he could see a few figures walking around by the other Cabins. But he made his way without anyone he knew seeing him, and slowly but surely he began walking up the steps to the Cabin, pushing open the door and walking into the dimly lit Cabin.
Now, it might have been the lights fault what happened.
Or it could have been because he wasn't looking at the ground.
Maybe it was because he wasn't paying attention to anything other than why the hell his tune wasn't working out.
Actually, forget the "might have beens" and the "could have beens" and the "maybe's". It was all of those things, and after if he sat down and thought about it he would realize it himself.
Nevertheless, he didn't spot the small pile of cluttered shoes until the very last second. The very last second in which he tripped right over them, and started to fall towards the ground. It was all he could do to throw his hands out and hope for the very best as he fell.
He landed hard, making a loud enough crash sound for someone who hadn't fallen fully. His guitar, which had been hanging around his shoulders and resting by his side was spared total destruction thankfully, but it still clattered loudly on the ground, the sound seeming to reverberate inside the main part of the guitar before settling.
'Oh crap...'
And if that wasn't bad enough... Eli was right beside the bed of another Camper.

Subject: Re: steady your hand [private] Sat Sep 21, 2013 7:53 am

robin hayes

If you stay forever, hey, We can stay forever young

Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love. I got a bottle of whatever, but it’s getting us drunk Singing here's to never growing up. This is who we are. I don't think we'll ever change. They say just grow up but they don't know us. When the sun's going down, we'll be raising our cups Singing here's to never growing up

A loud snore erupted from the sleeping redhead tangled up in the sheets. Thank the gods that anyone in earshot was dead to the world in their own dreamland. Or maybe they didn't raise complaints because they snored a lot as well. Not like Robin would know though, let alone hear, what with the side of her face pressed against the pillow as she laid face-front on the bed, and her limbs at angles so odd that it might not have been possible to hold that kind of position if she were awake.

Robin was still dressed in her to-go clothes - the same shirt she wore when she arrived the day before and the very same denim jeans that were hugged to her waist by a worn-out leather belt. The grungy black shirt was even hiked up in some places due to so much tossing and turning, but thanks to the blanket it wasn't that noticeable. Actually, Robin looked like a unevenly-formed cocoon with a head. The blanket managed to hide most of her body from view, leaving only a pair of sock-clad feet peeking out from under the sheets. Her shoes should be a good few feet away considering that Robin pretty much just kicked them off before launching herself onto the bed. She had been snoring within seconds. Typical enough.

While it wasn't much of a habit to go to sleep the instant she hit the sheets - oh wait, who are we kidding, it's Robin Hayes we're talking about. After so much running around in the day, Robin would just zone out completely at bedtime, and mostly her bedtime was way past her dad's 9 PM rule. It was just logical for her to charge her body's battery while she could, because the next day she'd be up and about and jumping once again. Not that she did a lot of jumping that day. Mostly it was helping Cole round up the dead nameless bodies that were sorta too gruesome for her taste and it took a considerable amount of will to grit her teeth and bear it. It had been bad for Robin, 100x more unbearable for those who actually knew the dead, but let's not forget to mention just how exhausting it was. And puke-inducing. The only good thing was the glowing symbol over her head that pretty much meant 'oh hey long-lost daughter of mine I'm your Mom Tyche.' Really, no wonder Robin wanted to sleep it off as soon as she could.

Robin didn't even realize it when the first rays of the dawn filtered through the stained glass windows, bathing the room in colors. It wasn't so bright considering that it was just around half past five, and it was still too dark to wake up. Especially for Robin, this was a too early wake-up time. Heck, her bedtime could get as late (or early, depending on the point of view) as 5 AM, not that anyone knew. There was just something nice about that dark early morning feel that made Robin want to pick up her guitar and strum a few tunes.

But as much as Robin liked to stay out late, she also loved to sleep. She cuddled with her pillows Mr. Fluffy and Mr. Snuggles like no one's business and she'd done her fair share of napping in school. She'd even slept with the guitar on her stomach and her arms around it. Mumbling a little in her sleep, Robin reached out and her arms closed around a pillow, hugging it close to her chest. Maybe she thought it was her beloved guitar - just about the only thing she loved that could come close to sleeping.

If there was anything Robin hated, it was being deprived of her precious sleeping hours. In short, being woken up.

Which was about to happen in three... two...

CRASH!

The noise pierced right through what was once the harmonious musical echoing in the dreamland Robin's ears. It was enough to send the images fading into the dark blue of the back of her eyelids. Back to reality for her. Robin stirred a little, unmoving yet irritated.

What the hell was that? Sounds like Analyn falling down the stairs... ha, maybe she did, thank God. She better not be trying to wake me up again. I don't even understand why people think she's so smart, the idiot.

Burying her head deeper into her pillows, Robin started to doze off once more but a voice in the back of her mind piped up. That kinda sounded too short for someone rolling down the steps.

Her eyes opened a fraction, finding hazy figures in the semi-darkness. And that crash really really sounded like a guitar...

Her guitar. Analyn. Two things that should never ever be in the same sentence, and Robin was wide awake in an instant, her hoarse voice wrenched out of her throat. "OH MY GOD ANNIE WHAT ARE YOU DOING STEALING MY GUITAR?"

See, Robin was a lot of things, but she sure as hell wasn't a morning person. This kid is at her most dangerous when waking up. And it showed. Her messy red hair was getting into her line of sight and she raked it back with more force than necessary, exposing the pair of now narrowed green eyes on a face that was twisted into a rare scowl. She had the look of a starved tiger. A red-haired, possibly murderous, starved tiger.

And this was not the first time Analyn went to 'borrow' her guitar. The last time her older sister got her hands on the instrument, Robin had to beg her dad to buy her E and A strings. How Annie managed to snap two strings at once, Robin couldn't for the life of her figure out. And after that experience, she started hugging her guitar to sleep more often.

"Why are you here ugh buy your own guitar if you want to learn -" Her hand shot out, grabbing Mr. Snuggles and hurling it hard at the only moving figure she could make out.

But, as Robin was just starting to find out, this wasn't what it originally seemed. As her tired and groggy eyes adjusted to her surroundings, she realized quite a few things that were replacing her slowly diminishing annoyance with growing apprehension.

Thing #1: This wasn't her room. No way would she have gotten stained glass windows of peacocks of all things.

Thing #2: Mr. Snuggles didn't feel right as she threw it. Wasn't Mr. Snuggles shaped like a donut? The pillow that now flew across the room looked pretty square.

Thing #3: Analyn was female. With pretty narrow shoulders. That moving figure seemed a little too... broad?

Thing #4: She left her guitar back home.

And her thoughts hit her like a raging tsunami, and Robin's eyes grew big as both of her hands flew to her mouth. Uh-oh. And 'uh-oh' didn't even begin to cover it. Long story short, she had only been in camp for less than a day and already she had mouthed off to a complete stranger, accused him of stealing her absent guitar, and threw stuff at him. Way to go, Robin.

She sank lower down the bed, as though making herself look smaller, and pulled the blanket up to her chin. She hoped it would be dark enough to conceal the crimson flowing to her cheeks.

"Um, I'm so sorry... It's just that I was... uh, having a nightmare. Yeah. And I thought you were, um, stealing my guitar. Which is back home. Oh my God I'm so sorry please don't kill me..."

raise your glass and say here's to never growing up

coded by sapphire

Subject: Re: steady your hand [private] Sat Sep 21, 2013 7:08 pm

steady your hand [private] Hayley-williams-paramore-taylor-york-Favim.com-488446

Elijah was mortified. Actually, mortified was probably not a strong enough description of the emotion which he was feeling. He wasn't all that amazing with words of the english language, but he was pretty positive that somewhere there was a word stronger than mortified and that was the word which described what had just happened and how he felt perfectly.
He liked to think of himself as manly, but Eli nearly shouted out loud at the sudden sound of someone shouting at him. As it was, he jumped backwards a couple feet, his eyes instantly finding the source of the noise.

Dressed in rumpled clothes, her messy hair newly pushed back and her eyes narrowed in his direction, the girl in front of him did not look very happy. And she was shouting at him.
'OH GODS I'M SORRY OKAY HERE HAVE YOUR GUITAR BAC- wait one secon-'
Eli was slow on the uptake. Very slow. And just as he was realizing that it was his guitar, and he didn't need to give anything back, the next thing happened. He hadn't been expecting it at all, which was probably what made it that little bit more shocking.
The ravaged tiger threw a pillow at him.
Straight at him with quite a bit of force.
And he didn't even have a chance to duck as it hurtled towards him, instead having it hit against his head before he could do anything about it.
Honestly, it was the first time he knew that a pillow could actually hurt.
'Ouch,' looking down at the pillow, Elijah had to take a couple more seconds to process exactly what had happened.

Okay so he'd tripped. And made noise. And woke someone up. Then they had accused him of taking their guitar, and then he had a pillow thrown at him.
If only that was an optional wake up call. It would certainly wake up even the deepest of sleepers.

When he was able to form coherant thoughts again, Elijah looked up at the figure in bed again, noting that she was no longer shouting or throwing things at him. Which was a very good thing. Instead she had both hands over her mouth, and was sunk deeper down into the covers, looking very small and delicate from his vantage point.
How on earth someone that small can throw a pillow with that much force, I would love to know.

But no matter how shocked Eli was, or how confused he was, and no matter what had hit him in the head, he just was not able to stop himself from grinning widely at the small figure. Obviously he was suffering some sort of brain damage.
'Don't apologize! I was the one that tripped and woke you up, which I am most definitely sorry for now.'
Then, in typical Elijah fashion.
'So if you have a guitar, then you must play, right? How good are you?'

:/:/OOC: Squeek sorry its bad.

Subject: Re: steady your hand [private] Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:41 am

robin hayes

If you stay forever, hey, We can stay forever young

Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love. I got a bottle of whatever, but it’s getting us drunk Singing here's to never growing up. This is who we are. I don't think we'll ever change. They say just grow up but they don't know us. When the sun's going down, we'll be raising our cups Singing here's to never growing up

Waves and waves of guilt crashed down at Robin in force and it was all she could do not to hide under her sheets, even if they were already doing a good job covering most of her body. She still felt groggy but hearing her outburst echo in her ears drove the sleep away. She had accused the boy of stealing her guitar, which was not even here! I hope this bed has a secret portal and swallows me up whole. Like, anytime now. And now he's probably angry at me.

But then, as it turned out, he wasn't angry. On the contrary, he was grinning like mad and had the air of someone not having been screamed at or hit by a pillow. Not that pillows would hurt much, Robin thought, but throwing them at strangers was not the ideal greeting. Still, the sight confused her, and she had to blink a couple of times to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating. The boy really was smiling.

Not knowing whether to feel relieved or what, Robin sat up and let the sheets fall back to pool at her waist. "You tripped? Are you okay? That crash, I thought it sounded like a guitar... wait whaa -?"

Did he just ask her if she played the guitar? After the whole embarrassing scene, just like that? Robin yawned before she could answer and she muffled it with her fist. "U-Um, yeah but I don't know, I guess I'm alright. I used to play for my friends and stuff. Nothing big." She wished she brought the guitar with her. Maybe she'd at least have an excuse. But her guitar was not here and that fact alone just made her look even more of an idiot.

Robin suddenly grew aware of the way she looked. It may be dark enough but still, meeting someone in the ungodly hours of the morning dressed in the clothes she had worn yesterday and her hair looking like a bird's nest... Yeah. Might as well get sucked into a black hole right now and disappear for all eternity. In a last ditch-effort, her fingers combed through her hair but it was futile - her hand just got caught up halfway through due to how tangled it was. Clearing her throat, Robin tried as inconspicuously as she could to untangle her fingers from her red hair and settled on gripping the sheets instead.

"I'm really sorry... I-If you want to get even, you can throw the pillow back! I won't dodge!" Robin sat up straighter to show that she was keeping her word, and if the boy wanted to hit her with the pillow she would gladly take the blow face-first. Hell, she knew she deserved it.

raise your glass and say here's to never growing up

coded by sapphire

Subject: Re: steady your hand [private] Sat Oct 05, 2013 10:16 am

Elijah Gray

Eli just could not shake the smile which was lighting his features. It was stuck there now, and he was willing to bet it looked a little crazy (considering what had just happened before the smile), but he didn't care. Even if he'd wanted too, he wouldn't have been able to get rid of it.
So yeah. It was pretty obvious he was now suffering brain damage from the blow if the pillow to his head.

(Still grinning), Elijah shrugged and answered in a light, carefree tone which didn't hold a hint of anger for having been shouted at or having a pillow chucked at him.
'Yeah, I was just... coming in, and I just sort of tripped. No damage though. I'll live to fight another day,' he glanced down at his guitar, suddenly worried, but there didn't seem to be major damage. He would obviously check it properly after, but for now he'd try not to worry too much.
'The guitar sort of clattered against the ground. Hopefully no damage...'

Even if he was that little bit worried, his smile just kept on growing as the girl confirmed she had a guitar (Not in as many words). Maybe he could get help with the tune! Maybe he could get advice for it! Maybe he should just leave the girl alone to sleep!
'Well nothing great every starts out as big, does it? How long have you been playing?'

Just like the smile, he wasn't able to help laughing softly under his breath as her hands got caught in her hair, and she tried to take them out without it being noticed. He hoped he'd laughed softly anyway. He was just finding this whole situation hilarious at this point, and then having her fingers get caught as she tried to run them through her hair... it was too much.

Eli shook his head as she sat up straighter, reaching for the pillow and throwing it- but not at her. It landed beside her on the bed, nearly going off, but thankfully he hadn't miscalculated and actually thrown it at her.
'If I did throw a pillow at you, I'd be more than a little worried that you'd shatter on impact.'

It's just a spark but it's enough to keep me going and when it's dark out no one's around it keeps glowing and the salt in my wounds isn't burning anymore than it used to it's not that I don't feel the pain it's just I'm not afraid of hurting anymore and the blood in these veins isn't pumping any less than it ever has and that's the hope I have the only thing I know that's keeping me alive

Subject: Re: steady your hand [private] Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:38 am

robin hayes

If you stay forever, hey, We can stay forever young

Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs With the boom box blaring as we're falling in love. I got a bottle of whatever, but it’s getting us drunk Singing here's to never growing up. This is who we are. I don't think we'll ever change. They say just grow up but they don't know us. When the sun's going down, we'll be raising our cups Singing here's to never growing up

Now that the initial shock had worn off, Robin could feel her eyelids get heavier by the second. It was still too early. The sun wasn't even up yet! How can people expect her to be up earlier than the sun? Only barely taking in the boy's words, Robin stretched her arms upwards, giving a slight start when her pillow reclaimed its place by her side. She didn't know if it was just her eyes or what that she could hardly make out the boy's shape from a few feet away, only vaguely aware of his light laugh. But his next words once again struck a chord. Something that a Robin who had just woken up won't take kindly to.

"If I did throw a pillow at you, I'd be more than a little worried that you'd shatter on impact."

"I am not a delicate little doll!"

One swift motion sent the pillow flying towards the boy again. Robin looked murderous for a moment before her face softened, the not-a-morning-person side to her personality slightly fading when she realized what she'd said and done. She clapped a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. Why didn't she have that censor in her brain that filtered her words before they came out of her mouth? Why did she have to be so impulsive? Why?

It was hard to get Robin to stop when her mouth ran off on its own. She would jump from one topic to another, rambling about different things every second. It was a trait that grew stronger when she was nervous, and Robin was sure as hell nervous about a lot of things at the moment. Biting the inside of her cheek, she swung her legs off the bed and untangled herself from the sheets.

"I am so stupid! I deserve to be whacked by a hundred pillows. Or something harder than pillows. I don't even know your name and here I am shouting and throwing things at you oh my God forgive me please..." she said, her voice still a little cracked from waking up. She gripped the sheets and almost threw it over herself in embarrassment. "I'm sorry I'm just not a morning person a-and um I've been playing since I was ten but your guitar just took a fall! I hope it didn't get dented or damaged because the sound will really suck and you will have more reason to hate me and - and I am just so sorry..." Her sock-clad feet touched the floor as she blindly stumbled to where the boy was, and there on the floor she saw a lump of something that was probably his guitar. His hopefully-still-okay guitar.

It was then that she looked down and noticed the jeans still hugged to her waist and the same rumpled black shirt she had worn the day before. Self-consciously smoothing out the creases, Robin bent down to grope for the instrument, successfully pulling it up by the neck. She ran her fingers down the back of it, feeling for any dents, her still blinking-like-mad eyes not to be trusted at this time in the morning.

"I hope it's not broken... um... if it is, you should hit me with it. For karma. Because breaking someone's guitar is unforgivable." She lifted right her leg up so that the guitar could perch on her thigh. Awkwardly balancing on one foot, Robin felt for the first fret and plucked the first notes that came to mind - the intro to Misguided Ghosts. "It's not broken! I think...?"

raise your glass and say here's to never growing up

coded by sapphire

» In need of a helping hand(private to Cherry and Lexi)
» The Madness of Midas' Hand {Private w/ Dawn and Diggy}
» Understand We'll Go Hand In Hand, But We'll Walk Alone In Fear [Characters XD]
» passing out and studying: they go hand in hand [open]
» Understand We'll Go Hand In Hand, But We'll Walk Alone In Fear, Tell Me, Where Do We Go From Here...