can't see the end of this \\ private

my eyes are black and red

IM CRAWLING BACK TO YOU BABE

Ashton took care of people. She was drawn to coddling and caring for others, a confidence that came from almost always being able to take care of herself as well. With the demigods she'd discovered on the top of the hill, Ashton had felt an extreme need to watch over them, to ensure their safety. She felt she was somewhat responsible for them, having been the first to find them in their broken state and sticking with them all until every one of their lives had been saved. She had avoided visiting them for several days, feeling anxious about their recoveries and guilty about not being able to explain what had happened to them. She still wished she knew so she could ease more of their pain, but she hadn't a clue. Still, she had gotten over her fear of entering the injured lives and now, almost a week and a half after the incident, Ashton was an infirmary regular.
As she entered the building that morning, Ashton greeted several nurses with a shy smile and ducked into the back room, poking around until she found the cot she was looking for. Ashton pulled up a chair and flashed the boy next to her a small grin. "Jasper," she cooed, wiggling her fingers in a wave. "Handsome as usual." Jasper was one of the injured she had grown particularly close to without realizing over the course of her frequent visits. He was also one of the last to still be struggling with full recovery, and really the only demigod Ashton bothered to accompany at this point. "How're you feeling?" she whispered, dragging her chair closer to the bed and reaching for the boy's hand. They had an unspoken friendship, a closeness that neither had been able to acknowledge. Ashton knew something in her cared deeply for the boy, but she pushed those thoughts aside, labeling them as nothing different than her feelings towards the rest of the injured—her motherly instincts. Locking eyes with Jasper, Ashton dropped her smile sighed. "You can be honest with me."

coded by sapphire

my eyes are black and red

IM CRAWLING BACK TO YOU BABE

Ashton cringed as she watched Jasper sit up but said nothing. She knew if she acknowledged the struggle it would do nothing but hurt Jasper's ego, and she was not in the business of offending the son of Zeus. Though Zeus and Hades were both Big Three Gods, Ashton had never really equated the two to being a good match, but she wasn't particularly big on setting boundaries on herself based on her father. She wasn't sure it was possible for her absent biological parent to instill any sort of personality into her. The joke made her roll her eyes. "I think I'm offended you think hell would be this bad." Ashton's eyes glimmered under the natural light flooding the infirmary and she tried to suppress a smile fighting to take over her placid expression. "At least you won't have to find out for a long while," she whispered intimately, leaning closer to Jasper, trying to express how thankful she was for even his slow paced recovery. He was no longer dying up on the hill. That was something to be appreciative of.
Ashton had extremely severe ADHD and understood Jasper's unease. She wanted so badly to tell him he could leave, that he could come out with her when she left and they could have their first go at being normal, but she couldn't offer such great news. Squeezing Jasper's hand in apologetic reassurance, Ashton shook her head slowly. Her dark locks bounced as she sighed heavily. "If I had any real say you'd have been allowed to leave after the first week, J," she murmured. Her tight lips eased into a cunning smirk and her thumb stroked Jasper's hand. "Oh yeah? What kind of stuff?" Ashton had been so caught up in making conversation with Jasper in her last few visits that she had stopped realizing how attractive he was. In that moment, as her eyes wandered across the injured boy's face, she felt her heartbeat quicken and her hand hold Jasper's tighter. Being so close and so comfortable with him, Ashton realized she might be a little in over her head.

coded by sapphire

my eyes are black and red

IM CRAWLING BACK TO YOU BABE

Ashton rolled her eyes and smirked at Jasper. She enjoyed being flirted with. It made her feel normal, it made the life she was leading make some sort of sense. Jasper just made sense, it felt right being around him. Maybe their godly parents and personal struggles balanced each other out, their fates intertwined neatly and mythically. "While that sounds super tempting, I'm sure there's a whole line of healers I'd have to fight off to get assigned that job," Ashton joked with a nod in the direction of a younger girl, probably around 13, watching from behind a clipboard. The healer quickly ducked and went back to work, and Ashton held back a laugh.
Ashton tapped her chin as Jasper began his list, nodding thoughtfully at the scotch comment. "All by yourself? Well, that's kind of sad," Ashton teased, smiling softly at the son of Zeus. "That's okay, I'm more of a rum girl, myself." Ashton absentmindedly reached to toy with Jasper's hair, her hand finding the back of his neck when he continued his list.
Ashton froze, but her chest felt warm, a sensation that surely spread to her cheeks and forced an embarrassingly youthful blush. She locked eyes with Jasper, waiting to respond as her smile widened. Her fingers gently grazed the hair at the back of the boy's neck before both of her hands found Jasper's closest to her. "You do, don't you?" she mused, looking up the the ceiling as she drew out her satisfaction. "Now usually, I'd be offended that there's no grand gesture, but considering the circumstances..." Ashton chuckled, scrunching up her nose with a teasing smirk. "More to look forward to when you're fully healed."
Ashton's chest tightened as she thought of how different her life had become since discovering the bodies at the top of the hill. She'd formed tight knit friendships, grown in maturity and strength, and now had a person. A person. Ashton wasn't the dating type. She had an overwhelming fear of attachment and inability to trust, but the disaster on the hill had formed an unmistakable bond between her and the victims, especially Jasper. She didn't spend nearly as much time with any of the others as she did with Jasper. She could feel herself opening to him, to the idea of trusting him. It was terrifying, but sent an exhilarating chill down her spine. Ashton felt smug, almost missing it as Jasper added an item to his list. "Is that where you're from? New York?" Ashton struggled to imagine what kind of life Jasper had lead outside of camp, outside of his injuries even. She wasn't sure they would have become close under any other circumstance. That thought made her pause her rapid overthinking. With a deep breath, Ashton lent Jasper her full attention. Something no one could take away from her was right now.

coded by sapphire