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 Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2016 8:57 pm
Sylvia wanted nothing more than a shower – and maybe some food, and eventually a lot of sleep. A week of fighting various beasts while trying to avoid consuming much of anything and hunting down a witch was just as exhausting as the Alps, though for different reasons. At least the situation with the birds had been fairly quick; Circe had dragged out the issues in the Bayou for much longer, probably hoping to wear the Chosen down. Sylvia was tired, but glad they’d succeeded and could, even if just in daydreams, rub it in her face.
Her plan was to head straight for the Aphrodite dorm and her shower as soon as she reached the Prytaneum, but when she came out on the other side of the Hearth the plan changed. The cool, crisp air was a small shock to her system, but it also felt incredibly good compared to the hot, humid, swampy environment they had just come from. Despite being dressed in only a borrowed t-shirt and her underwear, Sylvia stepped away from the stream of people still coming through and indulged in a deep breath and a long stretch.
She stayed beside the Hearth for a few minutes, hesitating to follow-through with her plans. Perhaps she would just stay until the cold finished creeping in at the edges, until she felt chilly and in need of more cover. It couldn’t take long, given her attire. A few minutes of deep breathing and autumn air couldn’t hurt. She closed her eyes and waited.[ 255 words ]
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 7:57 pm
Brian was disappointed. Again. First he had gone down an avenue apparently worth teasing, even if he had been half-right in the end. Then his opinion had once more been bashed against the rocks during a vital portion of the mission. Even if he hadn't been miffed at that, he was pretty sure that he was going to be flat-out stripped of his badge considering the time they had been in the bayou.
What it was, then, that made him smile at the sight of Sylvia remained a mystery. He was feeling otherwise rather shitty, but as he went to retrieve the hoodie he had tossed out beside the Hearth, he saw the pale-haired woman standing there in the cool, clean breeze in his own shirt. Last he had seen the thing, it had been on Beth, but apparently it had hopped bodies. His shirt was getting more action than he'd had in a while.
"Where'd you get that?" he asked as he approached Sylvia. A hand touched her arm again. When he realized that her eyes had been closed, he held up an apologetic hand. "Oh, sorry." He didn't want to interrupt traumatized reflection, if that was what it was. Maybe he could offer a hug? He was still grinning, at least. Interacting with people post-mission had helped him every time thus far.
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 10:46 pm
She hadn’t expected company, but Brian’s voice was not unwelcome, and the touch on her arm that followed made her simply turn her head rather than jump. She opened her eyes and smiled to see his grin, even as he apologized for having interrupted. “Oh, no, you’re fine.” She turned the rest of the way to face him properly, waving in the direction she’d been before, “Was just taking a moment to—“ she shrugged a bit, looking for the right words, “reground myself.” Good enough.
Going back to his question, Sylvia looked down at the only thing he could mean – the unfamiliar shirt she was wearing. She tugged lightly at a lower corner, “Uhm, this? Well, I got it from Beth.” An amused sort of smile as she looked back up at Brian, “She was clearly uncomfortable in just a shirt, hiding under the table, so I offered her my dress if she wanted it, since it was still intact. In exchange, I got the shirt that replaced her shredded clothes.” She shrugged, then realized he might have an idea whose it was. “Oh! Do you know who it might belong to? I was going to ask Beth after I washed it, but if you know…” Well, it would save her the trip.[ 214; 469 total ]
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 3:23 pm
His smile faded to something more reverent for just a moment and he offered a nod. Yes, he knew how that went. He had friends who partook for days. Hell, he'd "partaken" a bit himself a little back after the last mission. Whatever people needed to do to stay grounded and stay sane was alright by him, so long as nobody else ended up missing a limb.
The grin returned soon, though, as Sylvia continued. Yes, he thought she'd gotten it from Beth, or else she'd stolen it! He had been shooed away by the time the trade-off had happened and reappeared only after it was done.
"Yeah, sure," he said "It's mine." He nodded to the shirt and chuckled lightly, then began to count off on his fingers. "It's been Misha's, Beth's, and yours now. All since people started turning back."
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 10:07 pm
“Oh!” Well, that did make it easy. Thinking about it, she wasn’t really surprised – Beth and Brian seemed fairly close. Brian seemed like a sweetie, too, he would of course let Beth borrow his shirt. And Misha! Again, not a surprise.
“Goodness! Your shirt certainly has made the rounds.” She grinned at him. Now that she thought of it, she did remember Beth mentioning the perfume of herself and Misha, hoping it had covered any musk and spared Sylvia. And it did! The shirt didn’t smell nearly as much as it should have for a week in the swamp and four occupants in all that time. Nonetheless, it was a mess.
“Well, I should be able to get it to you by tomorrow or the next day, depending on how quickly I can do laundry.” She smiled, then realized that he may have approached her because he needed his shirt sooner. Maybe he didn’t know her well enough to feel like he could trust her with the shirt. Not that she could get into a lot of trouble with a shirt, but who was she to judge. Her eyes got a little wide, “Oh, or – do you need it sooner? I could prioritize.”[ 203; 672 total ]
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Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 12:12 pm
Brian smiled and shook his head. Made the rounds indeed! It had gotten more action in the past few days than he'd had in the past year. He was honored to own such a shirt. Unfortunately for Sylvia, that shirt was stained and dirty and probably stank to the high heavens. He'd been constantly fighting animals in the bayou, and then there had been the animals and others it had been wrapped around who had been doing the same thing-- He couldn't smell it just now, but everyone was a little worse for the wear after that little trip.
"Hm?" Something about laundry? "Oh! Oh, no, it's fine. I don't even need it back if you think it isn't worth it. it's just a shirt." He was sure he could go into Hillgrove and find something just as decent for missions. The fact that this shirt had made it to a call to arms said just how much he actually cared about it. "I was only teasing." Should he not have been?
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Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 1:37 pm
Sylvia chuckled a bit, shaking her head. She was probably just a little on-edge after everything, and now she seemed to have made Brian self-conscious. “Sorry. Teasing is good!” An amused sort of smile kept on her lips as she shook her head, “Well, I want to make sure you get it back. If nothing else, it can be used for more of our dirty work.” She rolled her eyes and gave a wink with another chuckle.
“But, if you want it back sooner, I guess I could hand it off now… I just like to make sure things are clean and proper when I return them.” She looked down at the grungy shirt again and scrunched her nose a bit. “Thiiiis shirt might retain a stain or two even with my efforts, though.” It wasn’t so much what was on the shirt, as just how long it had been there, and how much it had been through. Sylvia wasn’t used to washing out quite so much mud, and green, and whatever other… stains were on this shirt. She had a few tricks up her sleeve, but she might have to ask the internet for assistance.[ 196; 868 total ]
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Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 3:29 pm
"Oh, no, I could just--" Take it? He had almost offered his hand, even, but Sylvia really wasn't wearing much else. The hand that had opened closed into a fist and Brian's mouth scrunched up. He closed an eye and turned his head slightly. Right. Take the near-naked woman's only clothing. Sure, they had all seen a lot of skin on this mission, but it still didn't seem right to take what was, at the moment, Sylvia's only shirt.
His fist became a pointing index finger, but his facial expression barely shifted.
"If you'd... rather, I could wait." He chuckled lightly. "I mean, I think most of us were naked at some point, but that's enough of that. Besides, you gave Beth a better coverup than I could, and I can handle my own laundry. It's just a missions-shirt. I learned to not wear anything I can't bear to lose."
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Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 3:57 pm
Sylvia watched, with much amusement, the process as Brian extended a hand, then changed his mind, squinting at her and assessing the situation. She quite clearly was only in his shirt – and while she did, thank goodness, have her underwear on beneath, she would rather not strip right there. She wasn’t shy, exactly, but she wasn’t eager to flaunt in front of the stream of wary travelers returning behind them either. There had, indeed, been enough skin already back in the Bayou.
Sylvia laughed. Brian was a good guy, and she appreciated his humor. “Alright, well, how about this: you escort me back to my room, and I can give it to you when I’m within good distance of alternative cover, at least? You get your shirt back – even if I can’t return it in the condition I hoped – and we don’t have to worry about it further.” The Prytaneum wasn’t a big place, and she would surely see him around, but it was easy enough to execute the exchange now rather than risk months of forgetting. Sylvia lifted her brows, features quirked in a sort of curious look as she waited to see if that would be an acceptable resolution.[ 201; 1,069 total ]
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Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 4:26 pm
Brian smiled and offered a deep nod. Some might be offended by his mistake, but Sylvia at least seemed content to laugh about it. She had seemed pretty alright while they were out in the field, but one never knew. He had a sneaking suspicion himself that he was different on a mission than at home.
"Sure," he said, and began to walk in the direction of the Aphrodite dorms. Someone's sphere was the easiest thing to learn. The rest of it was just as difficult as before.
The Zeus dorms weren't very far off anyway, so he wouldn't have to trek far to get a shower and maybe do some laundry.
"Wait, are you trying to get rid of me?" he teased. She "didn't want to worry about it further," eh? Well then!
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Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 5:35 pm
Sylvia was glad he agreed to her suggestion, and fell into step beside him. At least the Aphrodite dorms weren’t too far. She was about to ask where he would have to head to after, unable to remember his patron, when he latched onto the last part of her suggestion and teased about it. She paused, one side of her mouth slowly pulled back, giving an awkward, worrisome ‘oh no, you caught me’ sort of look. She couldn’t hold it for long, though, and a laugh burst out of here after a moment. “Goodness, no,” she assured him, “I’ve enjoyed your company.” Not that she’d had much of it, but it counted. “I just want to make sure your shirt isn’t somehow forgotten between laundry and trips home and missions to save the world.” She leveled a smirk at him. “Though I’m not sure anyone would mind if you had to continue on shirtless.” Was it too soon for teasing like that? She hoped not. Too late, anyway. At least she wasn’t leering, it was more of an off-handed comment. To be honest, a lot of the Chosen were quite attractive, as they had all surely noticed by now.
She resumed her walk towards her dorm, glancing over at him again. “So, which God are you, again? I feel like I should know…” She vaguely remembered seeing his emblem earlier, but she couldn’t actually remember which it had been. She was still getting familiar with the symbols as it was.[ 250; 1,319 total ]
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Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 6:43 pm
The look made Brian laugh, and he shoved his hands into his pockets. He hoped he wasn't anyone worth shooing away!
"Well, I've enjoyed your company too," he said. Sylvia was of the sort that was easy to get along with. He was grateful for that. A lot of connections he made in the field never amounted to anything once they all got home. He still wasn't sure if Sylvia was just being friendly or if she actually enjoyed his company, but he had made her laugh and she seemed content at the very least. Then he had to pause and look down at himself. Right. Shirtless. His ears turned a bit pink and he offered a little chuckle.
"Thank you?" His face he wasn't so sure on, but he knew he had a fairly decent body from the neck down.
"Oh, I'm Zeus. You're Aphrodite, right?" He wasn't sure where her emblem would be now, and it would probably be rude to go looking.
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 1:33 am
She was glad to hear that Brian was alright with her as well. Slowly, but surely, she was finding a base of friends here, and she hoped he could be one of them. Company out in ‘the field’, as it were, was one thing, and she remembered them both being a little stiff. But there was an air of relief now that they were home, and something seemed lighter. Then again, they’d all practically seen each other naked by now – talk about breaking ice quickly.
A wicked smirk crossed Sylvia’s lips as she noticed Brian’s little blush. She giggled a bit and nodded, “Own it, hon’. You’re a good-looking guy.” She doubted he would stop blushing at such compliments any time soon, but she would still encourage him to accept them as true and maybe not be quite so embarrassed about it.
Zeus! That was it. That made a lot of sense, actually, now she was reminded. She nodded, “You got it!” She wasn’t sure where her emblem had gotten to, but she would sort that out later. Beth probably had it in her pack, gathered with Sylvia’s other belongings. She tilted her head a bit, “So, your dorm isn’t too far, at least – I’m not taking you too far out of your way.” Thank goodness. She would have felt worse realizing that she not only wouldn’t be returning a clean shirt, but would be taking someone halfway across the Prytaneum, in the opposite direction of their own dorm. Small mercies and all that.[ 254; 1,573 words ]
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 4:23 pm
Brian pouted his lips and put the back of his hand straight to his right cheek while he turned it toward Sylvia. The rest of him struck a pose, flexing his right bicep and arching his back. It was only a flash, barely a second, but it surprised even him. Good lord, either Sylvia was Someone Special or he had been thoroughly corrupted. Then again, what else was he supposed to do? He was shirtless and receiving compliments, and even if he wasn't the biggest fan of his head, everything under it was pretty well worked-on. Besides, he was going to be in some deep s**t at work. He'd better enjoy what he could before his world exploded (again).
"I hear I'm pretty easy to call. Can you imagine me on a sting? It never happens," he said with a laugh and a shake of his head. Just like that he was back in his usual skin. "Oh, no. It's right across the way. I don't mind, though. It's just a walk. Granted, a shower sounds pretty nice right now." He self-consciously itched the scruff along his jawline. He'd never liked having facial hair, but damned if he was thinking about shaving in the field!
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 12:51 am
A gleeful giggle left Sylvia’s lips as Brian struck a pose. It may have been quick, but it was enough time for her to admire what was being shown off. He clearly took care of himself and was, after all, proud of it. The more she learned about him, the more intrigued and pleased she was. He was strong, protective, humorous, humble, confident… What an interesting fellow. With teasing eyes, she nodded at him, “Perfect.”
Sylvia chuckled, squinting at him a bit from the side, “Yeeeah, you have a look about you.” It was a good look, but it was a bit of a ‘cop’ look. Or military, maybe. She tilted her head a bit, “Maybe if you changed your hair, but…” Well, hair was very personal. If he liked his hair buzzed, then he was doomed – but it still wasn’t a bad look for him.
“Walks are good,” she nodded. Upon observing the gesture along his jaw, Sylvia smiled, “Just a shower?” He looked good with a bit of scruff, too, but it seemed to be an unusual feeling for him. She hadn’t even worried about the particulars of her own grooming, but she suddenly realized that she might want to shave, even if her hair was light enough that no one would notice. It might be nice to feel smooth, on top of clean. She sighed, “Mm, a shower does sound delightful. I promise, I won’t hold you up long – you can be enjoying a delightful shower within the hour.” (If it even took that long.)
She skipped ahead a bit and opened the door to Aphrodite’s dorm as they approached, holding it open for Brian before heading in herself and leading the way to the stairs. “So, did you always want to be a cop?” It maybe wasn’t the most original question, but why not ask as long as they had been on the subject?[ 318; 1,891 total ]
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