Among the Crossroads || Open

[Deleted]

Via Principalis. A vital road that connected the Mess Hall and Principia with the Baths and Barracks. More than anything, it looked like a main street. Vendors and shops all along the way: trinkets, jewelry, weapons, and even coffee. He vaguely wondered if anyone (especially the Vulcan kids) ever set up flee market and sold their wares along this road on the weekends. Ryan's armor was completely stripped. He had just come away from training. Daily training. Five years later, and at times he was still uncomfortable with it. Even after using his skills practically in a war. A normal Legionary would become more confident after coming out of a battle alive. Ryan? Ryan would be happy never to pick up a dagger ever again. Instead of being a good little solider, Ryan decided to ditch the training grounds as soon as his daily routines were finished. This was normal. He had been doing it every day since he ever came into the Legion. Something else he had done every day after training? Come to this road to practice his duduk. The roadways were expansive, had flowers, and a couple of passersby. Providing entertainment for others, helping plants grow, and continuing to practice his instrument that he loved so much. Ryan saw no downside to this daily routine. Sure, some older people in the Legion would stare at him, oddly every now and again, but Ryan would just smile and continue playing. He learned a long time ago how to be comfortable with himself and his weirdness.

Tumnus was slung across his back in a little carry case that he had bought at one of the kiosks. He hiked down with his staff in hand until he came to his self proclaimed, little spot. He pulled the strap of the small case, bringing the holder from being diagonally position across his back, to being diagonally across his chest. From there, he unzipped it and took out Tumnus. Nine years later and still the same old duduk. He stood there, off of the main road and on the grass, surveying the day's happenings for a moment. Slightly withering plant... although that wasn't exactly surprising. Winter was coming; it was usually a sadder time for the Ceres children: seeing all their plants slowly wither and die. But then again, that's why they had the Ceres children around camp: to keep the plants alive by touch, song, and (when concerning Ryan) musical instrument. The same vendors were there as always. Stability. Routine. It was nice at times, stale at others. Then again, that's why he usually did his own little recreational time after duduk playing. He'd probably do some shopping followed by bubble blowing or something of the like afterwards. Perhaps he'd pick up some more baking supplies and another tassel to attach to Tumnus later. With a small shopping list forming in his mind, Ryan smiled into his mouth piece as he began to play.

OOC: Hai. Meet remade Ryan o.o
Here's the song he's playing. No brainer This is the original reason I wanted him to have a duduk, but the RL timing didn't work out...
IC: 500

[Deleted]

Okay, he was bored. Maybe bored wasn't quite the right word to describe his feeling at this present point. He was in need of some entertainment. After that rather sad discussion he had a few days ago, he felt the need to mix and mingle amongst the common folk. But it wasn't his need for human interactions that brought him to the camp. Demi-gods had some of the most amusing dreams, and as the lord of Dreams, he felt the need to look in on said dreaming demi-gods. Somnia purchased a coffee, he had a particular taste for the chocolate and peppermint flavored coffees that came around only this particular time of the year. But he sipped on the coffee as the cold air seemed to settle around the camp. Oh this camp was lucky that Jupiter and Mars favored it so. Sometimes the best dreams could be had sitting by the fireside and watching the snow fall gently to the ground. Or amongst a Blizzard. Maybe Somnia would go visit Khione later on and see if she would allow a white christmas that some of the demi-gods dreamed fondly for, though others would be terrified that such a blizzard would strike the camp.

There were plenty of people here to torment. Somnia took a sip of the warm liquid that slid down his throat. He had to hand it to the mortals, this particular drink was the nectar that quenched this particular gods' throat. But in particular one little legionnaire had caught his eye. The name came instantly to his brain, the boy's name was Ryan. He was a rather peaceful boy and to be honest, Somnia took a tiny bit of solace in knowing that not all of the Roman's were warmongering brutes like their patron, Mars. Though it was apparent the boy was unarmed, save for a walking stick, but Somnia knew better than to count any member of the legion out of combat till they were six feet under. It was easy to see that the walking stick could be used as a weapon, though while this semi-adorable child of Ceres was a peacemaker by nature, he was after all a member of the legion. But as he approached the boy, he stood there, sipping upon his coffee, watching this little boy with a knack for baking and bubble blowing with some interest. Felicity was always fun to torment with dreams, as was Edmund and even Remus. But this boy had been left alone far too long. Maybe a conversation with this child would be prevalent in deciding on whether or not he would be a nice little play thing.

“My my....” Somnia spoke, taking a sip as he eyed the boy. “Quite the interesting little man now aren't we?” he spoke in a rather neutral tone, raising an eyebrow as he watched the boy play. Steam rose from the coffee as he sipped once more. “One would think that with present circumstances looming over the camp, they would be increasing the amount of training instead of allowing free time.” Well his uncle did say that recreational time was important, and to an extent Somnia had to agreee. Where else would he see such wonderful day dream and watch some of the Venus spawn drooling over the latest new camper that managed to grace the presence of this rubbish heap that seemed to spawn nothing but Mars kids. “So to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?” His voice rather oily and slick. Of course he knew who this boy was, but why blurt out and blatently proclaim being a god. He was supposed to be incognito.

[Deleted]

Ryan was rarely bored. He had learned how to occupy himself rather well when he was a child. A lot of normal, young boys usually didn't share in his sense of fun. Okay, maybe they shared in his sense of fun, but it was rare that they could keep up with his seemingly endless energy level. Ryan could blame his ADHD for all the energy, but he was probably just energetic by nature. Sugar wasn't exactly readily available when he was a child (he was sure that his father was happy about that), so it was safe to say he wasn't a sugar junkie. Even though Ryan did like running around like a maniac most of the time, he also just liked to sit infront of plants to (quite literally) watch them grow. Most bipolar activities in the world. Then, when he wasn't doing that, he always had to be doing... something. Reading, taking a walk, unicycling or even juggling for gods sakes. Yes, Ryan had taught himself how to juggle and yoyo after going to a circus with his parents. Odd, but he did become sort of obsessive when it came to learning new activities. Sure, he still fell off the single wheel at times, and did drop the balls or apples at different times, but for the most part, he could do fairly well. The next step was doing them at the same time. Who knew, maybe he could run away to join the circus after his Legion time was over. He could even bake his own pies to smash into the other peoples' faces!

After a minute into the song, Ryan's sixth sense picked up a pair of eyes that were staring at him. Undaunted, he continued playing. Getting stared at was no stranger to him, especially after moving into different schools, or after accidentally killing a student. Even though his mind was nudging at the "predatory/studying" sort of stare from the person, Ryan didn't feel particularly threatened. He was unarmed, apart from his walking stick that was laying infront of him, unarmored, and not asking for any sort of trouble. He trusted the integrity of every Legionary to not attack an unequipped, fellow solider. Trusted the other Legionaries. A lot of people had told him that was probably unwise, but Ryan was a believer in the good person. He truly believed that no one would attack him, unprovoked. If he pitched a dagger at them (which he'd never dream of doing) then yes, they had full rights to attack him. However, if he was just standing there, playing his duduk, he saw no reason whatsoever for anyone to cause him harm. That rational thinking packed away, the male continued to play as the older male watched him. Maybe he was just interested in his music playing. There were plenty of people Ryan hadn't met around here (unfortunately so!), especially civilians and people from New Rome.

As the man started to talk to him, Ryan decided to end the song by improvisation. The ending was slightly awkward since he had never ended the song there, but oh well, it sounded finished and it was better than just cutting the song off mid note. He lowered the wind instrument and gave his full attention to the older person infront of him. "Well, thanks," he said with his usual, polite smile. Interesting. An adjective that many had used to describe his odd ways: bubble blowing usually. At the mention of more training, Ryan couldn't help but grimace in the slightest. "They did do something like an extension today," he sighed. There was only so much fight training he could take, even after five years. Purposefully trying to harm someone was not up his alley. Tripping them, semi softening the landing, and then tying them down, sure. He did it whenever he could, and usually got shouted at for doing it, but it was better than sending them into the infirmary. "Ryan... Ruckshack," the blonde introduced himself, holding his hand out. "To whom do I owe the pleasure?"

OOC: Excuse my awkward week of getting to know him
IC: 688

[Deleted]

Somnia closed his eyes as he listened to the boy play his instrument. HE let out a soft sigh, thinking about his own children. He loved them all, something that some of the other gods couldn't understand. It was ridiculous how much people believed deeply that you had to do something to deserve love. No, it was never that way when it came to the parent and child sort of relationship. His love for his children was unconditional and he didn't play favorites or have to worry about being a cheating spouse. Juno was so unbearable when it came to that sort of thing, it's not like Somnia listened to that ancient bag of hot air. Boy would he have something for her the next time he saw her. Was it tragic that something seemed to always happened to the women he loved that he had children with? Yeah, but it was probably just a coincidence. He hated having some horrible luck with women, but at least he knew that they were in good hands when it came to their souls, his uncle was good for taking care of the people he cared about. Somnia cared for his family more than anything else in the world. He disagreed deeply with some of the olympians, seeing them as nothing more than petty teenagers hell bent on getting their own way. They were so spoiled. The thought made him sneer and his lip curl over his teeth. There were some that were able to hold his respect, Pluto was among them. Jupiter was not. Neither was Ceres as he looked down at this child. That woman always hounded on Pluto and Persophina about being loyal to each other when they themselves had children that ran around the camp. Even it was obvious that Ceres couldn't keep her word, the stupid hypocrital woman.

Was it fair to put his judgments of his parents upon this child? No probably not. Somnia's disdain for that over bearing nag-a-potamus that Ceres was for her, not this child. He had seen this child’s quirky senses. He had seen this boys dreams, delved in the subconscious once or twice, and not entirely had passed judgment. Some children were down right adorable, others were brats, then there were those that he just didn't quite have an opinion on. That little Lyndis girl was cute. The Edmund boy was.... full of contempt but a wonderful little play thing. But when the child spoke, his pacifist temperament spoke volumes. He could sense a lack of love for the ways of the Romans. It was a dislike of fighting. Some demi-gods were just not cut out for battle, he didn't pass judgment on them like a few others did. It took all sorts of people to make a society run, one of these days those brutish sons and daughters of Mars would learn that. Even the mightiest of empires were known to topple if they stretched themselves too thin or relied too heavily on the military forces. The idea of being in power through intimidation was ludicrous. It is never good to be feared when it came to politics. One of these days Jupiter would get it through his ozone filled brain.

“Mr. Ruckshack. Always a pleasure.” Somnia spoke with an oily sort of voice. If he remembered correctly someone once compared him to being so oily that Exxon and BP should try to buy stock in him. Minerva had said that if he remembered correctly. Then he was asked of his name. Somnia spread his arms wide. “why child, do you not recognize that you are in such company as one as amazing as I am?” His lower legs shimmered as he took a step forward. It was always fun to be ethereal from the waist down. It was a dead give away to his mastery of being a divine showman. “I am the Master of the subconscious, the tender of sleep and the Lord of Dreams. I am Somnia!” The insides of his leather jacket shimmered, producing flickers of thoughts from the boy's subconscious mind, bits of dreams he would have remembered from a child. While he was rather happy at the thought the boy hadn't nodded off into a dream filled sleep, Somnia rather disliked that his sleep abilities were not as strong as his fathers. If only he could put the masses to sleep.... oh how much fun that would be.

[Deleted]

ooc: wow. i am so sorry >.> ic: 681 tag: somnia credit to oblivion

for the moment, ryan was at peace. no training, no violence, no countless wounded legionaries. just relaxation and recreation. time to think and ponder over all the changes that had taken place. one of his close friends, jason, had become praetor and had left his niece, tessa, as head of the infirmary. of course, ryan respected her and liked her, but at the same time, he missed his friend. he barely even saw him nowadays, him being head of the camp and all; his plate didn't get any less full when the quest team decided to resurface with the whole mess of the relic and impending war. what were they fighting over again? was it the same spat as last time? gods... why couldn't they just leave well enough alone? why couldn't everyone? ah well, that was out of his control... all he could do was roll with the punches and hope he came out alive. besides, he'd be helping in the infirmary mostly. that's what he hoped, at least. he wouldn't mind fighting, but he'd much rather not. as much as he kinda hated to say it, ever since entering the legion, fighting had started to become engrained into him. the fifteen year old couldn't avoid it, even though he'd much rather be blowing bubbles, growing flowers, or healing people. he liked the pro-life side of things much more; all this death and preparation for battle didn't sit well with him. with all the talk of what was going on: what, with one of the campers murdered by a younger one named Warlow, everyone was on edge. from what he had heard, Smith had been a centurion, of the second cohort no less. Tessa's cohort. becoming head of the infirmary and head of a cohort at around the same time must've been stressful... perhaps he could treat her out to lunch sometime. ah how unroman he must seem to others. seriously, who else around here would blow bubbles, or juggle just to try to get someone to laugh? usually the jokes were at the expense of himself, but ryan had learned to laugh at himself. he was a ridiculous roman, and he knew it. would he change anything about it? nope, not in the least. he liked his plants and his duduk and his walking stick very much. others stared at him, but he didn't mind; there had to be some in every crowd, right? gods knew where this place would be if everyone was over the top militaristic and couldn't see the light, happy side of things. they'd all probably be depressed or something horrible. either that or they'd all be out to kill each other. perhaps the legion would do well in diplomatic speaking classes as well as fight training. either that or they could offer practicality training for those who wished to leave after their service. as of now, ryan wasn't sure. to live in new rome, or to brave the outside world? he had five more years to think about it... a smile slipped across the blond's face. "really?" he asked, courious. "sorry, I don't believe we've met before," he said, thinking back. of couse, he had prboably seen each and every legion member, as was inevitable when you inhabited the same space for five years, but he didn't think he had met met everyone yet. certainly, he would remember a voice such as the one the male infront of him used. after his introduction though, it kind of made sense. somnia. god. even after all these years, ryan had a hard time making out who was immortal and who wasn't. of course, the sparkle like the vampires in twilight should have given it away, but the man had been half in shadow, and ryan wasn't exactly the most zeroed in on appearance. expression, sure, but not physical appearance. "hm, an honor to be in your presence, lord somnia," ryan said, giving his head a respectful nod. weird... he hadn't been drowsy a moment ago... ah well, that's what he got from being around the god of dreams...