Well, the invitation to stay with us is open, but usually Lup drags everyone she knows into one place. And... I know you probably don't want to be around a lot of people. [Mood.] I can come stay with you, if you want.
I don't, no. [just outright.] But you don't have to. You should stay with the people you want to stay with. The important ones. Or...well. You get it. I have company whenever he feels like hanging out with me instead of staying in hiding.
[...anyway! he turns and backs up to let jason into the room.
immediately, he'll notice that the room is only lit with extremely low lighting, tinted blue. kind of like this. there's a red lava lamp casting off some mood lighting as well.
there's a large bed, the frame a black color and decorated with black covers, gray sheets, and a few black and gray pillows. the bed isn't really made. above the bed are two things. one, there's a picture. it's a black background, but it has some blue bird symbol in the center that jason might actually recognize. on the other side of it, there's a ripped piece of paper with a drawing of a stylized sun on it. that is probably the only sunlight in the whole room, seeing how the window is completely blocked off by curtains. there are two doors, presumably a closet and a bathroom. both doors are partially open. there's a couch against the wall, black in color and possibly made of leather. there are black bookcases, a black dresser with a bunch of items on it, two black nightstands flanking the bed (one on each side, also covered in items), a black desk with a black desktop computer on it, a good amount of various posters, sticky notes, and papers on the walls, and a stereo on a different table.
the room itself is a little messy? there are a few clothes on the floor and hanging off the back of the computer chair, there's garbage in the trash can by the desk, there's just random stuff kind of everywhere? there are shelves on the wall and some glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. the room, in a word, is dark and a little chaotic. but it's not really disorganized. everything seems to have a place. as he enters, a few items of note appear to be the knife mounted on the wall by the door and a bunch of different drawings and paintings are on the wall among the posters. unlike the posters, it's easier to see what these are. they're things like a panda, a motorcycle jason should recognize, a river, the aquarius constellation, etc.
meanwhile, on the dresser there are a few items including a solved rubik's cube and a crossword puzzle. both of those are set aside, but instead most of the space is taken up with. bones. one of them is a whole skull. one of them is a femur. amongst them there are also various pieces of jewelry. there's also the little origami tombstone jason made somewhere over there, kind of tucked away.
meanwhile there's also something rooting around and creaking in the closet, but nico ignores that in favor of sitting on his bed and taking a sip of the shake.]
You're one of the important ones. I can come back.
[Saying this as he comes inside. THERE IS A LOT FUCKING GOING ON HERE, HELP HIM. He is looking at the blue bird, then looks around at everything else slowly, then keeps looking back at the blue bird every once in a while like he's perplexed.
Now the the FCK is the Nightwing symbol here...?]
This place is a disaster. [He means in how mixed up it is between Nico and Junpei. My God. (WHY IS THERE A NIGHTWING SYMBOL HERE?????? he's losing his fucking MIND)] Karaoke, I think. Your favorite, I'm sure.
[This is said dryly. Nico likes karaoke about as much as Jason likes it. He's a nosy Bat unfortunately, so he piddles around the room to look at stuff. He sees the motorcycle and the tombstones, nerd. What in God's name is with all these bones?]
[me waiting to force the nightwing symbol on you and going "hehe" the whole time. he lets jason look around, poking at whatever he wants as he sits back to watch.
never mind the extremely "NO" face he makes at the idea of karaoke.]
That's definitely a pass for me then. But have fun. [jason is a free bird and can do whatever he wants. the gotham brochure is probably on the desk, too. also leave his bones alone.
on the other hand, he glances at jason before there's a soft whistle. the rustling grows louder, and the closet door pushes itself open before a large dog trots out. it's golden in color. probably because it is made of solid gold. it looks like a greyhound and its tail whips inquisitively as it stares jason down. there's a hand motion from nico like "down boy" before the dog sits and continues to stare.]
You might want to refrain from calling him a rat to his face.
[>:\ STOP!!! NOW HE WANTS TO KNOW WHY DICK IS HERE. WHO THE HELL IS THIS JUNPEI PERSON AND WHY IS DICK INVOLVED? Jason beating Junpei up in the back alley before getting the explanation. (bale batman voice) WHERE IS HE?!?!?!?!]
I said I could come--
[The dog surprised the SHIT out of him. He looks shocked and offended at the same time.] You have a dog?! Why the--! [THERE IS A SOLID GOLD DOG HERE? HELLO?]
You never said you had a dog! Holy shit. This dog is a gold nugget!
[Nooooooooooooooooo, the dog man finds gold dog end of week 7 of the whole game. He crouches down where he is and holds a hand out.]
[STOP BEATING UP MY CHARACTERS also junpei deserves it.
anyway. he's about to answer stuff but then aurum shows up and seems to be eyeballing jason suspiciously.]
I couldn't tell you I had a dog because Junpei's not supposed to have a dog here, dummy. [the dog waits...but jason crouches and so aurum approaches like the guard dog he is.] He's an automaton. And he's not exactly mine, but he still takes his job really seriously, I guess.
Well, maybe Junpei should get a dog instead of Nightwing merchandise. I’m still mad you didn’t tell me you had a robo-dog.
[He is teasing. He keeps his hand out… Uh, he isn’t sure if the dog can sniff it but whatever. It’s the energy here. Respect and trust first, letting second.]
Hey, buddy.
What’s his name? [Hold on a second.] Actually, what’s your name?
He has one. And a cat. And a fiance. [nico is not acknowledging the nightwing merch but he assumes jason will maybe put two and two together. as it is, the robo-dog trots up to him and stares with his ruby red eyes. like real rubies. it's fine.
aurum sits at jason's feet though and continues to stare. you may acknowledge him now.]
This is Aurum. [very funny he thought to ask for the dog's name first, but nico doesn't mind.] And my name is Nico.
[Well. Jason tries to put two and two together. Like, he puts it together, but it doesn't make any sense despite the fact he has now been in two murder games. Maybe Junpei is just a fan of Nightwing. But that means whoever the hell Junpei is would need to know about Nightwing. Wait.
He thinks about the Dick card. His insides wither and shrivel up. No. No, no. No. He's frowning, very sorry to sweet Aurum who is getting accidentally mean mugged right now.] Aurum. Very funny. [Like gold. He hates it here for many reasons.
But Aurum gets stroked and petted even though he is a solid gold dog.]
[he watches the progression of jason's thoughts on his face, a little amused because he knows jason is smart and doesn't bother mentioning it again.]
I didn't name him, so stop looking at him like that. He does have a brother named Argentum though. [ there's a pause.] We're both pleased to meet you face to face.
[He can't help but to snort a little.] Oh. Alright. Aurum and Argentum. That sounds like me and Dick. Like the eyes. [Gold and silver. He can't really ruffle a solid gold dog, so the best Aurum gets is some petting and strokes.]
You're missing the blue eyes, or B would have been scrambling to take you in. [It's a joke. He would not let B take Nico in. His son now (no).] I think I like talking to you better without the cheesy uniform and the veil.
[aurum doesn't wag his tail, but he sits up a little taller into the pets, creaking a little.]
I still have to keep the cheesy uniform for a little bit, but I don't miss the veil at all. [but he shakes his head, glancing at the nightwing symbol when jason mentions dick.] And no offense to him, but I would rather not.
[no more dads!! (except for jason maybe apparently.)]
This isn't the first time I've done something like this, but even then I was mostly myself. This time was really different.
[This creaky old man. Jason loves him. GOD, why is he a dog man. He loves all of these canines, even the automaton ones.
Aurum gets some final petpets, then Jason stands up so he can move over to sit near Nico on the bed. He assumes the dog may just wander over here to watch them anyway.]
Oh yeah? What do you mean? You a big fan of undercover spy work?
[nico draws his legs closer so jason can sit on the bed. aurum follows silently, laying down and pointedly staring as if he still isn't quite sure but protectively watching.]
About a year ago, I infiltrated an enemy camp and pretended to be someone else to blend in and become a part of the Roman army's Senate.
[it's almost. very casually said. if only because that's on the low end of "weird" for him.]
[Aurum is so valid honestly. This is a good guard dog. Damn, he should have brought Porridge with him... They could have been friends.]
Pullin' the ol' Trojan trick on them? [This makes me realize that I don't think Jason knows Nico is related at all to Greek mythology. Funny.] Well, you're not the only one. I've done a little infiltrating myself.
Never had to go that far. [there's a thin smile at that though. jason's about to learn a whole bunch of shit whether he wants to or not.] It wasn't exactly like Troy though. My father sent me there to start to learn about the camp. It was hidden from our side for decades...mostly because every time our camps met, it was a bloodbath. Being there, it let me learn about how the Romans operated and start to make the connections we needed to bring both of our sides together.
[. . .]
Granted, he didn't tell me any of that when he sent me there to be his ambassador, but it worked out.
[Okay, it's the second Roman that tips him off. Well. He understood Roman the first time, but actually, the man who Jason had been infiltrating--Black Mask--his given name is Roman. So it isn't until the second mention of it that he's starting to put a little together.
He holds up a hand.]
Wait. Wait, hold on a second. Back up. First of all, your dad is an ass. Second of all, Roman as in... capital city Roman, or... antiquity Roman?
Yeah. It's definitely my dad's fault for that. [ thanks to LOCKING HIM IN A HOTEL FOR SAFETY (?)]
It wasn't just me. There was a whole prophecy involving some Greek and some Roman demigods, and I was helping both sides because we needed to bring them together before Gaea destroyed the world. That was last summer.
...it was like six months after we fought and beat Gaea the first time I ended up in a game like this. And then I went home and it's been about six months since then before we got here. We had to worry about what Apollo was doing and trying to stop Nero and get Apollo's immortality back.
[he says "had" like he means he wasn't really given a huge amount of freedom in the choice.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[...but there's a very slight smile.]
...guess I did tell you we'd talk someday when I'm off the clock, right? [just didn't think it'd be like this!!!] Do you wanna come in or...?
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[BUT!!]
You did. And yeah, I'll come in.
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I don't, no. [just outright.] But you don't have to. You should stay with the people you want to stay with. The important ones. Or...well. You get it. I have company whenever he feels like hanging out with me instead of staying in hiding.
[...anyway! he turns and backs up to let jason into the room.
immediately, he'll notice that the room is only lit with extremely low lighting, tinted blue. kind of like this. there's a red lava lamp casting off some mood lighting as well.
there's a large bed, the frame a black color and decorated with black covers, gray sheets, and a few black and gray pillows. the bed isn't really made. above the bed are two things. one, there's a picture. it's a black background, but it has some blue bird symbol in the center that jason might actually recognize. on the other side of it, there's a ripped piece of paper with a drawing of a stylized sun on it. that is probably the only sunlight in the whole room, seeing how the window is completely blocked off by curtains. there are two doors, presumably a closet and a bathroom. both doors are partially open. there's a couch against the wall, black in color and possibly made of leather. there are black bookcases, a black dresser with a bunch of items on it, two black nightstands flanking the bed (one on each side, also covered in items), a black desk with a black desktop computer on it, a good amount of various posters, sticky notes, and papers on the walls, and a stereo on a different table.
the room itself is a little messy? there are a few clothes on the floor and hanging off the back of the computer chair, there's garbage in the trash can by the desk, there's just random stuff kind of everywhere? there are shelves on the wall and some glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. the room, in a word, is dark and a little chaotic. but it's not really disorganized. everything seems to have a place. as he enters, a few items of note appear to be the knife mounted on the wall by the door and a bunch of different drawings and paintings are on the wall among the posters. unlike the posters, it's easier to see what these are. they're things like a panda, a motorcycle jason should recognize, a river, the aquarius constellation, etc.
meanwhile, on the dresser there are a few items including a solved rubik's cube and a crossword puzzle. both of those are set aside, but instead most of the space is taken up with. bones. one of them is a whole skull. one of them is a femur. amongst them there are also various pieces of jewelry. there's also the little origami tombstone jason made somewhere over there, kind of tucked away.
meanwhile there's also something rooting around and creaking in the closet, but nico ignores that in favor of sitting on his bed and taking a sip of the shake.]
Where are you guys staying anyway?
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[Saying this as he comes inside. THERE IS A LOT FUCKING GOING ON HERE, HELP HIM. He is looking at the blue bird, then looks around at everything else slowly, then keeps looking back at the blue bird every once in a while like he's perplexed.
Now the the FCK is the Nightwing symbol here...?]
This place is a disaster. [He means in how mixed up it is between Nico and Junpei. My God. (WHY IS THERE A NIGHTWING SYMBOL HERE?????? he's losing his fucking MIND)] Karaoke, I think. Your favorite, I'm sure.
[This is said dryly. Nico likes karaoke about as much as Jason likes it. He's a nosy Bat unfortunately, so he piddles around the room to look at stuff. He sees the motorcycle and the tombstones, nerd. What in God's name is with all these bones?]
It sounds like you have a rat in here.
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never mind the extremely "NO" face he makes at the idea of karaoke.]
That's definitely a pass for me then. But have fun. [jason is a free bird and can do whatever he wants. the gotham brochure is probably on the desk, too. also leave his bones alone.
on the other hand, he glances at jason before there's a soft whistle. the rustling grows louder, and the closet door pushes itself open before a large dog trots out. it's golden in color. probably because it is made of solid gold. it looks like a greyhound and its tail whips inquisitively as it stares jason down. there's a hand motion from nico like "down boy" before the dog sits and continues to stare.]
You might want to refrain from calling him a rat to his face.
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I said I could come--
[The dog surprised the SHIT out of him. He looks shocked and offended at the same time.] You have a dog?! Why the--! [THERE IS A SOLID GOLD DOG HERE? HELLO?]
You never said you had a dog! Holy shit. This dog is a gold nugget!
[Nooooooooooooooooo, the dog man finds gold dog end of week 7 of the whole game. He crouches down where he is and holds a hand out.]
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anyway. he's about to answer stuff but then aurum shows up and seems to be eyeballing jason suspiciously.]
I couldn't tell you I had a dog because Junpei's not supposed to have a dog here, dummy. [the dog waits...but jason crouches and so aurum approaches like the guard dog he is.] He's an automaton. And he's not exactly mine, but he still takes his job really seriously, I guess.
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[He is teasing. He keeps his hand out… Uh, he isn’t sure if the dog can sniff it but whatever. It’s the energy here. Respect and trust first, letting second.]
Hey, buddy.
What’s his name? [Hold on a second.] Actually, what’s your name?
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aurum sits at jason's feet though and continues to stare. you may acknowledge him now.]
This is Aurum. [very funny he thought to ask for the dog's name first, but nico doesn't mind.] And my name is Nico.
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He thinks about the Dick card. His insides wither and shrivel up. No. No, no. No. He's frowning, very sorry to sweet Aurum who is getting accidentally mean mugged right now.] Aurum. Very funny. [Like gold. He hates it here for many reasons.
But Aurum gets stroked and petted even though he is a solid gold dog.]
Nico.
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I didn't name him, so stop looking at him like that. He does have a brother named Argentum though. [ there's a pause.] We're both pleased to meet you face to face.
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You're missing the blue eyes, or B would have been scrambling to take you in. [It's a joke. He would not let B take Nico in. His son now (no).] I think I like talking to you better without the cheesy uniform and the veil.
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I still have to keep the cheesy uniform for a little bit, but I don't miss the veil at all. [but he shakes his head, glancing at the nightwing symbol when jason mentions dick.] And no offense to him, but I would rather not.
[no more dads!! (except for jason maybe apparently.)]
This isn't the first time I've done something like this, but even then I was mostly myself. This time was really different.
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Aurum gets some final petpets, then Jason stands up so he can move over to sit near Nico on the bed. He assumes the dog may just wander over here to watch them anyway.]
Oh yeah? What do you mean? You a big fan of undercover spy work?
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About a year ago, I infiltrated an enemy camp and pretended to be someone else to blend in and become a part of the Roman army's Senate.
[it's almost. very casually said. if only because that's on the low end of "weird" for him.]
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Pullin' the ol' Trojan trick on them? [This makes me realize that I don't think Jason knows Nico is related at all to Greek mythology. Funny.] Well, you're not the only one. I've done a little infiltrating myself.
Even wore a fake mustache once.
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[. . .]
Granted, he didn't tell me any of that when he sent me there to be his ambassador, but it worked out.
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He holds up a hand.]
Wait. Wait, hold on a second. Back up. First of all, your dad is an ass. Second of all, Roman as in... capital city Roman, or... antiquity Roman?
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Kind of the latter. Camp Jupiter's in California. It's where all of the Roman demigods train. Camp Half-Blood's in New York. It's for the Greeks.
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You're... like Diana. She's an Amazon, but her mom is Hippolyta. [But this leaves a sour taste in his mouth because he LOOKS at all of Nico.] Oh no.
Your ass of a dad is Hades.
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Very reassuring. [DONT JUST SAY OH NO?] What gave it away? [now is not the time to be sarcastic but he figures it is very obvious by now.]
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Definitely the aesthetic and the vibe. Especially when you sound like a tired old man.
[Nico is an old man, but it's fine.]
So that was it? You brought the sides together? For a reason, though, right? What's your dad looking to do with Greeks and Romans banding together?
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It wasn't just me. There was a whole prophecy involving some Greek and some Roman demigods, and I was helping both sides because we needed to bring them together before Gaea destroyed the world. That was last summer.
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Ah. Good old prophecies and world destroying. Sounds like home. [He peers at Nico.] You been back home since last summer...?
[From the MGs.]
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...it was like six months after we fought and beat Gaea the first time I ended up in a game like this. And then I went home and it's been about six months since then before we got here. We had to worry about what Apollo was doing and trying to stop Nero and get Apollo's immortality back.
[he says "had" like he means he wasn't really given a huge amount of freedom in the choice.]
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