Lucius let out a small quiet chuckle at the thought that maybe their struggle was from air plane food. He hadn't really eaten anything on the plane. But it was better than admitting that he was just losing it.

He settled on the couch, letting out a slower breath and a softer sigh. He hadn't gotten close to talking about it but the last thing he really needed was Feo getting over protective and forbidding him from doing anything else.

But that was why he was going to head down to the River Styx, to get that unbreakable curse. They called it a curse but he'd call it a blessing. He couldn't break fragile bones if he was unbreakable. That was the best part. He could do anything after that. He--he could even... well... no. They wouldn't trust a curse and besides, that was how he got swished away into an institution real quick. His medical records said one thing and he couldn't change that.

That was fine. It was why he was doing what he was doing. So that demigods didn't have to go without a loving parent. That was the main goal.

So that demigods like Feo didn't have to be pressured by a manipulative parent.

Lucius's nose crinkled with the thought, a rush of fury burning through his chest. That wasn't fair, it wasn't even close. Feo deserved better and Lucius was determined to do that.

He'd prove that he could. Nobody would stop him. They couldn't.

He was stubborn and stupid. And when they were expecting someone smart and thinking about smart plans, Lucius could evade them because he came up with the stupid plans. That was why his worked because they were expecting something else.

Lucius stifled a small yawn and sighed quietly. A part of him was still a bit raw from the night before. The words he had said rang in his head like a distant bell now but it was still there. Lucius didn't really want to talk about it at all.

He didn't like... talking about things like that. Especially when it came to himself. Nobody really cared that much, that wasn't something that ever happened. Not for Lucius.

He was friends with Feo simply for the demigod to see that he could be something more. Then, when Feo understood, he'd probably take off and Lucius wouldn't mind. He'd have done his part and the other would grow to not need him. That was alright.

He really didn't mind.

But it was hard, sometimes, to shake off the inner thoughts and doubts. They'd been cemented in with years upon years of comments, off-hand mentions, notes, even teachers.

His eyes drifted closed, slowly dozing off. Well, as long as he could. Partway in the morning, Lucius had rolled onto his stomach and when he had attempted to roll over again, fell off the couch with a loose thump and a rough grunt.

Lucius had somewhat stirred, not enough to be entirely lucid. Something in him noted that he was... not on the couch. But the rest of his mind was too caught up in the cobweb and fog of sleep and exhaustion to really figure out what had really happened.

He gave up, laying back onto his back with a small sigh. Whatever. He could sleep on the floor, he'd done it before. He was too tired to even try and fight back onto the couch.

The young man hardly stirred at all when Feo pulled him from the floor and onto the bed. Not that he was remotely conscious enough to tell or make a small joking comment about how it didn't matter how much he ever ate, he'd never really have that much weight to him. In fact, most of his weight came from those white feathers.

He let out a small noise, a faint breath but hardly seemed to stir at all. The tangle of dreams was still working around his mind and dragging him further into the recesses of his own mind.

Her face--that face that he wanted nothing more than to hit. She gave him one of those looks again, the pouting and dramatic scowl. "I can't believe you think of me like that!" She cried out, the familiar shrill voice echoing in his head.

For whatever reason, Lucius gave no thought as to sending a swinging hit toward the woman. But she dissipated into mere mist before he could land a solid hit.

"You wouldn't hit a friend, would you?" The disappointment in the voice sent a shiver down his spine. He had no friends--not yet.

"You're not fit for a fight," the man's face came to light, laughing back at him. "Remember last time? You were in a cast for three months!" The cackling laughter echoed in his head. "All because you threw a punch. Just give it up, you're not a fighter."

Lucius let out a faint groan. "Just you wait. Just you wait and see, I'll show you!"

"You don't have to. Just be yourself."

Lucius dragged himself from the depths of dreams, glaring at the wall across from him. He was more than that. He was a fighter, he was... he was so much more. Besides, he really wasn't sure what he was. He knew how to act to get into places, how to be the person that everybody seemed to like. But was that really him?

Why not?

Lucius sighed wearily, his head sinking further into the--wait. The pillow?

He sat up slightly, looking down at the bed. Hadn't... hadn't he originally ended up sleeping on the couch? Why on earth was he on the bed now?

Or was that all some weird dream too?

No. It wasn't.

Lucius let out a weary noise and rubbed his face.

Feo’s eyes had just started to drift closed when the faint rustle of movement caught his attention. His instincts, honed from years of always needing to be alert, pulled him back from the edge of sleep in an instant. His head turned toward the bed, and he saw Lucius sitting up slightly, his fingers pressed to his face as though trying to rub away the weight of a restless night. The dim light from the narrow window slipped across the room like a ghost, catching on the soft white of Lucius's feathers. For a moment, they seemed to shimmer faintly, almost glowing in the pale light, fragile but otherworldly.

Feo froze, unsure of what to do. It wasn’t clear if Lucius had realized the shift in their sleeping arrangements yet—or if he was still groggy, lost somewhere between sleep and wakefulness. Either way, Feo figured it wouldn’t take long for him to notice, and it was better to address it now than to have questions thrown at him later, sharper than any blade.

He shifted forward on the worn, lumpy couch, the springs creaking softly beneath him. "You, uh... you fell off the couch," he said, his voice low and steady, careful to avoid startling the other man. The words hung in the air, casual enough to soften the edges but deliberate, like stepping stones across a stream. "Figured the floor wasn’t exactly the best place for you, so I put you on the bed."

For a second, he thought about leaving it there, but the silence that followed felt too heavy, too expectant. Feo scratched at the back of his neck—a nervous habit he couldn’t quite shake—his gaze flickering toward the window as though the dark world beyond it might offer some kind of escape. His tone quickened, almost rushed, as if to cut off any protests before they had the chance to form. "Don’t worry about it. Couch is fine for me. Not like I was sleeping much anyway."

The room fell quiet again, the kind of quiet that had weight, stretching out between them like an invisible thread pulling taut. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, not exactly, but it carried a sense of something unspoken, something fragile. Feo shifted slightly, resting his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped loosely together. He glanced toward Lucius, his eyes shadowed in the dim light but sharp enough to catch even the smallest reaction.

"You, uh... seemed like you were having a rough dream or something," Feo ventured, his voice softer now, almost tentative. "Kept muttering." He paused, watching Lucius carefully as he added, "Everything alright?"

It wasn’t much of a question, not really. More like an opening, a carefully crafted space that Lucius could fill—or not. Feo wasn’t sure what he’d do if he got an actual answer, but something about asking felt important. Like it mattered, even if he didn’t know why. He told himself it was just courtesy, maybe guilt for shifting Lucius without asking, but deep down, he knew it wasn’t that simple.

The seconds dragged on, and Feo cleared his throat, breaking the silence before it became unbearable. "And don’t lie," he added, his voice taking on a firmer edge, though it was still quiet enough to avoid sounding confrontational. "I’ve lied enough to pick up when someone else is doing it. So, if something’s bothering you, you might as well just say it."

His words hung in the air, daring but not demanding. He leaned back slightly, his eyes steady on Lucius, the faint lines of tension in his posture betraying the fact that he wasn’t nearly as relaxed as he was pretending to be. In truth, he felt like he was treading water, waiting to see if Lucius would speak—or if the silence would swallow them both.

Lucius rubbed his face for a few more moments before he heard a small noise as Feo moved. His sapphire eyes shifted, looking toward Feo on the couch. He was on the couch--Lucius could've sworn he started there.

The Nordic demigod explained what had happened and Lucius felt a touch of color rise up to his face, rubbing at his cheek for a moment or two. So he had been on the couch to begin with but had fallen off the couch somewhere through the night or early morning.

The winged young man opened his mouth and closed it again, taking in a slightly deeper breath. "I--I'm sorry, I--"

He paused for a moment, rubbing his forehead. "I wish you could've gotten a bit more sleep," Lucius admitted quietly and ran one hand through his hair. He scooted forward, standing up from the bed and stretched outward. Well, at least that was the only thing that had happened.

That statement was quickly proven wrong when Feo stated that he had been dreaming. Oh lovely. Muttering.

Lucius tried to think about what he had dreamt about the night before, fuzzy images--mostly just vague old memories swirling together. That was probably just it.

Everything was fine. Why wouldn't it be? Lucius was fine, he was absolutely fine. There was nothing wrong and he had opened his mouth to rattle it off before pausing. Feo stated that he couldn't lie--that he'd pick up on it.

Clearly, that wasn't true considering how much Lucius could lie and how effortless it could become. It was just another loose moment, a mumbled phrase, a half-hearted joke wrapped in a chuckling laugh.

Lucius paused for a moment or two, thinking.

What was he supposed to say in return to that? He couldn't just say the same thing he said yesterday since that wouldn't work out just right. Feo would be suspicious if he said that same thing.

But... since he had moved him to the bed and with that comment about the war yesterday... perhaps he could lean into that a little bit.

Feo didn't *have* to know that he couldn't be drafted just yet. It could be a potential thing that Lucius was just a little worried about.

"... it's... y'know," Lucius rubbed the back of his neck, "the war and the draft. I see the people that get to go and serve. I see them become heroes and I... I watch them go become something better than they were before."

The young man sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"... you probably felt .... that I don't exactly have a good amount of weight to me... and I'm worried they'll turn me away," Lucius admitted.

Lucius shook his head lightly and sighed softly. There was something that had eventually given up the idea but now that it was lingering around the corner, it was partially true. But it wasn't the bigger issue. That was part of last night and the more part of him refused to even talk about it. He didn't want to. It would mean addressing his... mother and then also addressing Feo's behavior and his own a couple nights ago and that was... not what he wanted to do.

The demigod issued a challenge in his tone alone and Lucius paused hesitated before looking back at him. His eyebrows furrowed. That wasn't him? Oh he had no idea!

That was the idea he had crafted and settled into because he couldn't be anything else! That was what he had decided to do because he wanted to be the person he never had. He wanted to show them that there was someone looking out for them because he didn't have someone doing that for him.

Lucius opened his mouth to protest, almost stating that he was prepared to put plans on pause to be like everyone else for once but the sharp words from Feo cut him off before he could even draw the words to his tongue.

Feo stared back at him and Lucius stared back, his eyes glittering with a short irritation. He wasn't going to talk about it! He refused!

Lucius didn't talk about himself, he didn't do that whole thing. He helped others talk through their feelings, their minds and whatnot. He didn't do it himself. He didn't need to.

Lucius pushed one hand through his hair and turned away from Feo for a moment or two.

"This is my way into the war," Lucius finally grumbled quietly. His wings lowered slightly as he looked toward Feo. "I know they won't accept me and I still want to make an effort to do something. I put my plans on pause to do this because it's helping. It's going to make the world a better place," he insisted quietly, sitting down on the bed again. "I mean, look at the soldiers. They get all the girls, they get the attention, the praise--everything. The rest of us?"

He shrugged lightly. "Forgotten."

The young man took in a breath and let it out again. "But that's not important right now," he waved his hands around his head, brushing the thoughts away. "What we need to do is getting up and catching a train."

Lucius turned his sapphire eyes toward Feo again as he stood up. "I don't know when it's coming through and I don't want to miss it. This is the last day we have for the hotel--so we gotta get moving or we'll have to buy another few nights."

The young man made his way toward the bathroom, unwilling to delve further into himself.

Lucius moved to the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. His hair was a mess, ruffled and tousled, as were the white feathers that covered his wings. Feo tried to insist that he wasn't forgotten, that he wasn't a side-character but Lucius just couldn't believe him. He was a side-character and for a while--for ages--he was alright with that. He didn't have to be some main character, he was alright hanging in the wings. But now?

Now was the time to be something more and he was prepared to do it alone. He wasn't prepared to let someone in that deeply.

And instead of letting the subject drop or fall back, Feo dragged it back up again. In determination and not bitterness, there wasn't an edge to his tone. "It's'--" Lucius cut himself off. It wasn't trauma. Lucius wasn't traumatized--not like that.

He opened his mouth again and locked his gaze with Feo's in the mirror before finally turning to look at him fully. His mouth opened to retort that he wasn't lying but the other demigod didn't even give him a chance to talk.

The crackle of his voice and the snap of tension had Lucius pausing for once. It wasn't that he was the first to notice that Lucius usually shied away from attention... but he was the first to point it out as bluntly as he had. That thought struck a quiet crack in his walls, a small piece of doubt creeping in. Was he as good as he thought he was?

Even still, he--Lucius shook his head as the frustration boiled up in his stomach.

"Fine--fine," he threw his hands up in the air and stepped back. "You want to know the truth? I don't want to hurt you--that's why I've been avoiding it. It's the alcohol," he said shortly, his chest lifting and falling. "That smell, that ... that whole thing. I don't do well around drunk folk because they're so volatile. But I didn't think you would remember the night before and--and--that you'd get so ... angry! I've been trying to avoid it because I didn't want to upset you again--"

Lucius closed his eyes, one hand lifted up to run along his forehead, over his cheek, down his neck and fell down to his side again. "I don't do well with them because I never know what they're going to do and then to have all of... that," he gestured toward the rest of the hotel room, "happen, I got short and curt with you. I know and I know it was out of character for me too. But I didn't know what to do and I didn't want to rile you up any further."

He hadn't met Feo's eyes at all, looking anywhere but his face through the entire thing.