temporary bliss || Open

The shadowed world of twilight shone down upon camp, making everything seem like it came from a fairy tale. Fireflies were lighting the way down the path, illuminating the darkening planet. Cas, naturally, followed them. Back in Colorado he never saw fireflies, and it was either because the city lights were too bright to pick up the dainty and dim hue of their anatomy, or because of the coldness that seeped into the bones of every living creature in the Denver area. Before he’d come to camp, Casimir forgot the warmth of fires and heating systems. His family was poor, and what little money they had went towards groceries and school supplies. If there was any left over, it went towards Hael and her desire to go to a prestigious art school in San Francisco. So Casimir had lived his entire life in a shabby run down shack of a home in what could be considered the ghetto part of town. With little to no heating, the demigod had grown oblivious to warmth and impenetrable to the cold. Which was good for him tonight, because it was about twenty degrees and probably going to drop a couple more and Cas had decided to go on top of a roof. 

Which one, however, was the question. It was going to be past curfew soon, and Cas could easily get in trouble for venturing out of his cabin at a later hour. But that was why he skipped dinner and went out right now, only a sleeveless hoodie and dark jeans to protect him from the elements. Eating wasn’t really a priority for Casimir right now, and with the incident at breakfast a couple of days ago, the boy was even more discouraged to go in there. If he was hungry, he’d quickly grab something healthy like an apple or banana and eat it while training. He was great at that, eating and fighting. Casimir absentmindedly touched his ear, making sure it wasn’t a block of ice. The girl who had fought him hadn’t given him frost bite, thank the gods, but Cas was still wary of it. After all, that ear was now colder than the rest of his body, a permanent reminder of the revenge he would have to take later on. Finally after wandering aimlessly around camp for a while, Casimir climbed on the roof of the Big House, knowing full well the danger he was putting himself in. If one of the authority figures saw him up here, looking at the sky with a longing passion in his eyes and disobeying the simplest of rules, Cas would have to do dishes for an entire month and probably would have to muck out the stables for two extra weeks. Luckily, Casimir was quiet, and his feet barely made so much as a scuffle as he sat on the roof the the sky blue building.

It was dark out now, and the sadistic demigod could barely see his hand stretched out in front of him. Squinting helped, but not a lot. Casimir loved the dark for many reasons. It felt like home to him, it was there for him when no one else was. The night dared him to be better, to rise high above his oppressors and become feared. Cas had learned at a young age that it was far better to be feared than loved, and after about a decade of that being proven true, he still stuck by that motto. No one could ever love him, he was too much of a monster. Casimir hiked his knees up to his chest, laying his head on his kneecaps and gazing wistfully at the newborn stars. The boy loved stars. They were his only friends, and Cas was so involved in daydreaming about space and constellations that he never once noticed a figure beside him.

Usually Cas didn’t like company. He didn’t like the presence of another person, because then he had to conform to their pattern and he didn’t want to do that. To him, people were nothing but cattle, stupid and lazy and only good until they got old. He might have thought there was something wrong with him, but he decided that he shouldn’t want to change for anybody. So this girl sitting beside him was a surprise for Casimir, whose adrenaline had spiked up in the 5.2 seconds that he’d seen her sitting a little bit to the right of him. He was glad it was dark, because the boy was flushed, cold sweat suddenly sweeping over him. He knew the girl couldn’t see him, and he could barely make out the girl, she was only distinguishable by her hair and the way her voice sounded when she spoke. Cas quickly composed himself, turning back to the stars above. He kind f wished he could do his holographic galaxy, but decided that if he did he’d faint from over usage and fall off the roof. That would then quickly result in staying in the infirmary and worse, trouble. Casimir hated getting in trouble, and so he liked to see how far he could stretch his boundaries. 

The cool night air brushed over his face, chilling the skin but not making his bones ice cold. His blood was already icy, but not from the arctic wind this summers night. Casimir’s heart was already frozen by the sands of time, and over the years of abuse and shame it had shrivelled up into stone, its only purpose to keep him alive. Cas didn’t need to love, because he was certain no one could love him back. Even if they did, they’d leave him eventually. They always left him in the end, either through breakups or death, and it wasn’t until he had come to camp did Casimir realise that and finally allowed himself to show people his true colours. The boy continued to stare at the stars, Aegean eyes never wavering from the night sky above. He almost smiled fondly at them, and he would have if the girl had not been in his presence. Cas didn’t even know the girl and he knew she was already unwanted. The galaxy bloomed red and gold and green and blue and purple, like immortal fireworks. Casimir could see past just the main sequence stars and white dwarfs, being the son of the titan of constellations, and it helped that from a young age Cas had taken up stargazing as a hobby. He was almost more than certain that the girl couldn’t see the beautiful nebulas and deadly supernovas. 

Casimir liked quiet, but he also liked a bit of anarchy and chaos. Now, if he could be quiet but also incredibly destructive that would make him the happiest camper alive. His mind was full of sadistic thoughts just waiting to be explored, and people told him that sometimes he scared them with his ideas. Cas thought they were weak and had dismissed their presence. The girl behind him stayed quiet, and Casimir wondered if she was like him. Probably not, and Cas knew she probably had come here to get away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the camp. It couldn’t have been to make a move. Cas had never seen her before, although considering he spent most of his time isolated and far away from everyone else that wasn’t a big surprise. Casimir stayed silent for about ten minutes, gazing at the sky and for a moment forgetting he was here on earth, floating with the weightlessness of the stars filled with helium and hydrogen. However, his daydream was over and he was pulled back to earth, and finally he said something. 

“Interesting? Yes.” He answered her shortly and curtly. If she was going to stay up here with Cas, the girl would have to get used to a skinny, bruised, uncooperative boy who rarely ever said more than five words at a time.