What the HELL is Wrong With You?! || Josh

[Deleted]

ooc: hope this is okay ic: 504 tag: joshua rogers credit to oblivion i'm no good. and that's why no one wants me.

a shiver went down edmund's body as the seventeen year old looked over the water and into space. it was getting cold and lake effect snow was happening, but edmund simons didn't care about that. he needed a moment of peace. peace. edmund. in the same sentence. oh dear gods. first a spark of optimism and hope and now this. the world really was going to come to an end. then again, with a war on the horizon, it could be a possibility. could happen, but edmund had just come back from a quest. he wasn't really looking forward to watching the world around him crumble again. instead of watching his post-quest world crumble though, he was seeing himself starting to. subtle symptoms of ptsd, insomnia, not being able to go into the forge, having felicity and josh in the infirmary. small stressors, but when added up with the facts of what had happened on the quest, it took its toll daily.  he sat there silently on the bank, once again impersonating a statue. his knees were drawn to his chest, with his chin resting on his knee caps, and his breath coming slowly, deliberately. breathing. the only yoga, calm down technique that he remembered. the first goal of this was to try to calm his body down. even though it was near impossible, he was trying to ignore the fact that he had adhd and had been bouncing off the walls ever since he had come back. heck, he had almost attacked charlie. visiting felicity in the infirmary hadn't helped his anxiety, but at least he had been able to see her. josh though, he hadn't been allowed in there. to an extent, he didn't even want to go in there. he didn't want to go face the extensive damage he had done to their quest leader. he needed a break from watching the infirmary, desperate to see when they'd finally walk out. needed a break from camp. needed a break from forced training. needed a break from cutting his damn fingers whenever he tried to carve a plane. needed a break from people. just a break. he was tired. edmund's right arm dropped off from around his legs and gripped a stone in his hand. he always had to be distracting himself in some way... if he didn't, the memories came back. not only the fire memories, but now, the quest memories as well. distraction could come in any form, and as long as it was happening, edmund didn't care what he was doing. he swallowed, flipping the stone over in his hand over and over, debating, before finally trying to skip the rock on the water. he gave his wrist a light flick, almost as if he was using a frisbee or throwing star, and let the rock go. it sank down into the water's depths as soon as it touched the water; not even a skim, no grace at all. edmund didn't expect anything else. "me too," he muttered to himself.

[Deleted]

Joshua was tired to be in his room, needed time to think about Rhia, about her desisions, about the way she used her familiar, that sneaky white fur ball that she called Inek, to turn him in. thinking about why she chose that stupid old piece of time and dust instead of the future that he offered to her. Well maybe that was the problem, he offered her something so simple... just a simple life with him. The Titan had promised her so many things... why wouldn't she believe on his fake empty words? He only wanted to kill the old one! For what he turned Rhia into, for what he did to Felicity, for what his intentions made the Olympians do! that quest was only to try to keep him in his cage...

Then he thought on the other questers, little Lyn, so brave all the time, trying to keep everyone's spirits up and well. that stupid blacksmith... Edmund was a hermit, but he totally was at the high level of the situation all the time. In fact without his help and Ethan's they would have never gotten back the Relic. He was proud of have been their leader on that quest, they were simply amazing. He would even be willing to give his life for them again and again... even for Edmund, even when he was always refusing help, he would do it again. But then Josh frowned a bit, Stone and Kyoto were right, he shouldn't have left the infirmary so soon. He rubbed his hand over his chest, the wound seemed to have re opened again, maybe only a stitch or two.

He didn't know where he had been walking for hours, but suddenly he realized that he was by the lake. He looked at the surface, it was like a mirror, reflecting what was happening above it, high in the sky. He looked at it and then up to the sky. maybe his father would be listening there, or any of his messengers, the wind spirits. But what could he tell him? or aske them to tell him? That he was scared of his fate? or that he would carry a double sentence in the fields of punishment if with that Rhia would be free and safe? He felt kind of dizzy, so he should sit down, maybe his wounds were almost healed, but blood loss took some time to get fixed.

He looked around to find a bench and have a seat, he saw one a bit closer, so he walked to it, there was someone sitting on it, but he hoped he didn't mind some silent company. But then he noticed who it was. "Edmund?" he asked and half smiled, it was good to see that he was ok, well physically at least, after a quest everyone was at least a bit damaged in mind and heart.

TAG: hermit blacksmith (Edmund)
WORDS: 484
NOTES: hope it is ok.

[Deleted]

ooc: it was lovely <3 ic: around 600 tag: "fearless leader" joshua -josh- rogers credit to oblivion you are an idiot

edmund sighed, watching the water infront of him. how could it be so... calm? if he knew any better, and had just seen the river here, he would have thought that the area around it was peaceful. it had trees, a water source, plants, even a few benches along the way; but edmund had lived here for seven years. he knew peaceful was far from the case. the farthest from the case, especially when one was talking about the legion. add on top of that fact that a war was coming on, and you got the most unpeaceful place on earth. extra training, extra practice, extra war everything, really. preparations for battle; as if the battle of mount orthy's hadn't been enough for a lifetime. edmund and the rest of camp just had to, conveniently, walk into an era where they were able to experience two wars in their lifetime/service to this darned place. take into account the people who had been on the quest and it tallied to three battles. sure, edmund was fine with fighting, it was all he had ever known, but that didn't mean he wanted the repercussions of real life, real experience battle. traumas like that gave night mares, insomnia, ptsd, hypervigilance, and just a whole set of problems. plus, the constant adrenaline and fear of getting mauled every second took its toll. all in all, being back at the legion was hard. almost like becoming a civilian. of course, he had to train harder than he had on the quest, but at the same time, he wasn't always in immediate danger, and that was confusing and even scary at times. at least he wasn't in the infirmary. not like josh. not like felicity. he shut his eyes briefly, but opened them as soon as their beat up bodies surfaced in his mind's eye. the last thing he had heard out of josh's mouth? something along the lines of protecting the blacksmith and then laughing like a homicidal maniac. josh "gods why do you have to be so freaking noble" rogers. josh should have just stayed hating him, quest team or not, because then him landing in the hospital wouldn't have happened. edmund would have been the one bleeding out. but no, josh had to have edmund and ethan do the locks, even though josh could've easily have done them (with a considerable headache of course). stupid rogers. if he ever came out of that infirmary alive edmund was going to kill him himself. so lost in thought, edmund didn't even realize that someone had approached him. suddenly, someone in very close proximity was calling his name. the voice registered as one of the annoying ones that he had to hear prattle on and on for six months. thankfully, he didn't jump out of his skin like he had with nearly everyone else. quest member then. without fully registering the voice, edmund turned his head slightly, his quest leader coming into view. for a moment, all edmund could do was stare at him with his usual, stone like mask. his dark eyes narrowed then relaxed back into blank as he gave rogers the same, unprofessional once over that he had given felicity. josh. infront of him. seemingly, physically okay and not in pain (although, again, pain medication). alive. the same feeling that he had when first seeing felicity swept through his system: relief. although, this time, as angry as he was with himself, he expected it, and was just able to control a physical reaction. with that, his mind finally caught up to him. he swallowed slightly and partially opened his mouth before shutting it and opening it again. "No, r2d2," he muttered dryly.

[Deleted]

Josh looked at Edmund and for a single second he thought he had seen a relief kind of look coming from him, but then after less than a wink he had the same emotionless face that he always portrayed. josh didn't say a word about it, he knew the quest had had many different sequels to all of them, besides, Edmund had always been like that, so dry, so emotionless, that when he acted like that again, it wasn't unusual for Josh, he didn't see something different in the son of Vulcan. just the same Edmund, dry and kind of a hermit out of his usual place of comfort.

"R2D2" he repeated and smiled, then nodded and sat on the other edge of the bench. "too bad, because you look exactly like a guy called Edmund, and I wanted to know how he was after the quest where we were for over six months. he probably must be enjoying his solo time, away from the other questers." he said thinking that it would be funny, like a joke that only the questers could understand, well maybe Lyn would pout about it, and Felicity would set him on hell fire, but Ethan would laugh!

Then he looked at Edmund and then back to the Little tiber. It was calm to be out there, he could see some nymphs in there swimming and playing around. one of them looked at them and smiled widely, she called the others and they waved at Edmund and Josh. The son of Mercury waved back and then saw them sinking again and swimming away, almost for sure giggling as they always did. He then shook his head and leaned back. He had recognized one of them, he had dated her when he was fifteen years old.

Then he got distracted by his surroundings, he hadn't noticed that there was a new set of young trees by the river, maybe someone planted them while the quest was going on. "do you remember those trees over there?" he asked feeling a bit out of place, lost for a second, and for a son of Mercury it was almost impossible to feel to be lost! He waited for Edmunds reply. he wanted to ask him if he was fine, if he had healed from the burnts, if by any chance he didn't hate him much, if he had seen Felicity. but he remained silent.

TAG: Edmund
WORDS: 405
NOTES: sorry short!!

[Deleted]

ooc: no worries at all sorry he's so untalkative :/ ic: 597 tag: joshua rogers credit to oblivion you are an idiot

Edmund looked back to the river, head up, shoulders back. He was fine, absolutely fine. Why would he be anything else other than fine? His face solidified into its usual, unreadable mask. He had to have something stabilizing in all of this, and his attitude towards everything became that point of equilibrium. Stay the same in some ways. Don't show. Don't feel. The latter was getting compromised every now and again, but he was getting better. He was still the same person who went into the quest... he was... Always like this, always: a hermit, an outsider, an antisocial, emotionless jerk. Something like guilt started to gnaw at him. Again with the stupid emotions. Stupid complications. Why?! He and the quest members had spent six months together. Talking, defending, fighting, getting on each other's nerves. If anything, they had the quest as a unifying force. They had gone through it together, they could at least connect on that level, right? Josh had been their leader. Had looked after all of them, even Edmund. Even though he probably hated the irritating, seventeen year old. Couldn't those six months changed him? His feelings towards those other four people? Edmund's eyes hardened into a glare. No. Nothing changed. Nothing. Even as Josh began talking, Edmund kept his gaze on the lake, his fingers twitching slightly. His fingertips stung from repeated, accidental cuts that he had given himself from plane making. Gods his plane making had gone down the tubes ever since he had come back. He could barely even do it anymore without making himself bleed. The demigod glared ahead as Rogers asked how he was doing. How did the stupid son of Mercury even have the gall to ask that? He had been the one on near death in the infirmary. Why'd he have to be so freaking noble. Despite his mental threat to strangle Rogers, the thought fell away, empty. Idiot. The freaking caring idiot. "He's fine," Edmund muttered. Odd, talking about himself in third person, but whatever. At Josh's second "joke", Edmund only stayed quiet. He wasn't about to tell Rogers about the odd sort of separation anxiety he had felt when they had come back. The odd feeling of not having them at his back at all times. The odd feeling of him not being able to get their backs at all times. Josh, Felicity, and Lyn had been in the infirmary. Ethan, he wasn't sure about. No matter where they were though, Edmund couldn't help but feel slightly... he wasn't sure what it felt like exactly. What if something happened to them while they were at camp? Something could happen to them, and Edmund could do nothing to help them. Too many people. Too many factors. No, never tell. He'd bring that to the grave and no where else. He watched as nymph appeared on the surface of the river. It was seemingly waving at the older male beside Ed. Even though the younger demigod didn't look directly at Josh, he could see the son of Mercury waving out of the corner of his eye. Rogers had always been the more charismatic one. Probably a son of Mercury thing. Hearing a question, Edmund looked over towards a seemingly new group of young saplings. "No," he said, slightly shaking his head. Just another marker. Another way to show them exactly how much time had passed since they left the borders of camp. Just how much had changed. New lives, new deaths. Legion life going on as normal.

[Deleted]

Tag: Edmund/Blacksmith

Word: 423

Notes:

After the nymph left, Josh looked at the surface of the river, and for a moment he just looked at it, with an absentminded look. He saw on it like a movie what happened the last minutes of the quest, he tried to remember if Edmund was really safe or not, his mind wasn't focused, not all of it at least. Maybe that was what tortured him the most, he couldn't remember how were the members of the quest at the end of it. And well... Ed wasn't an amazing source of information, not because he didn't know, but because he never shared it with others.

He looked at Edmund when he said he was fine, then smiled and looked away again. at least the hermit was fine, it was something good, but how much of that reply was truth and how much was a lie? Everyone in the legion knew well how to hide their feelings, how to cover up their fears and their worries, also their physical condition, even more if they were in the first two cohorts. they never accepted they were injured, they had to be knocked out to go in peace to the infirmary, well, Edmund was in first and that made him kind of suspicious. How much could Josh trust on his words that he was... okay?

"I'm glad he is fine, that blacksmith was a fantastic member of the team, it didn't matter that he was always silent or grumpy, without him we couldn't have gotten back to camp." He tried in a way to tell Edmund how happy he was to have met him a bit more, to have shared those six months with him and learn some stuff from him. also wanted him to know that he was glad for him to be fine, maybe they would never be friends, but Josh would never regret saving Edmund's life.

Then the son of Vulcan confirmed that he hadn't seen those lines of trees either. So Josh wasn't the only one with those kind of problems. "it is weird, right? coming back and noticing that everything continued and we were like in a time tunnel." He said that because he remembered everything like it was before they left. His brother Zidane and his girl, then the camp's environment was... thinner, less heavier, people still trusted each other, now... well everyone suspected about everyone, and the members of the quest were trying to get used to this new kind of place, which was... different and darker.

[Deleted]

ic: 554 tag: joshua "josh" rogers "fearless leader" credit to oblivion nobody said it was easy no one ever said it would be this hard

Edmund kept his gaze transfixed on the lake. Nothing to see out there now that the nymph had gone, but at least he didn't have to look at Josh. Not yet, anyway. He kept the silence; he had seen all he had to see to keep his sanity just a little bit longer: Josh wasn't dead. Their quest leader hadn't died because of his own stupidity. Stupidity as in throwing himself in between Edmund and the monster. It almost seemed in vain now; the relic was gone. Six months of hell down the drain for what? Nothing now. Absolutely freaking nothing. In a way, it made Ed even angrier at Josh than if he had died and they had gotten to keep the stupid thing. Edmund's right hand twitched slightly, lightly drumming the seat of the bench before reaching down and grabbing another rock. What the hell was he doing? Here a war was about to go on and he and Josh were sitting on the bench in near silence with Edmund trying to skip rocks (and failing, as always). Just... why couldn't they have held on to that stupid relic? At least his confirmation of well being went unchallenged. It was his standard answer and right now, he just needed that point of reference in his life. Everything else seemed up in the air to him. Shut his eyes and he saw things from the quest. It was a never ending film reel of monsters, seeing the others dead, and seeing the others beaten within an inch of their lives. It was too dangerous to let his mind wander too much. He kept thinking about that alternate universe; all the things that could have been if they had just been born normal teenagers, not a demigods. For him, that would mean no fire. No loss. He'd have his family back. If they all were normal mortals, there would have been no quest. No war. Maybe it would still happen; maybe it would turn out differently, but it wouldn't have been any of his concern. In a way, being a demigod ruined everything. But as much as he hated to come to terms with it, everyone from the Legion had been in his optimal world dream too. It wasn't just him and his adopted family. Everyone from the Legion had been there, and they were all safe and happy. He stayed silent as Josh talked. That was untrue. He would've argued, but as of late, Edmund found that he didn't have the energy to do so. No one needed him. They would've gotten out fine. Besides, if it hadn't been for Josh, Edmund probably would've been dead. He mulled the tree and camp situation over. So much had changed. In a way, it was even more disconcerting for Ed. Almost nothing was as how they'd left it. It was just like at schools, where they decided to change everything up after the class leaves. The graduates would come back to the school, but it was like nothing they remembered. New walls. New administration. People who decided to return. People who decided to leave. "A little," the seventeen year old agreed. "Change doesn't stop just because we left." Edmund hated change, but nothing he could do about it except suck it up and push through it.

[Deleted]

Tag: Edmund/Blacksmith

Word: 499

Notes: XD Josh still believes on him!!

Good Edmund as always with his sarcasm and his noisy silence was right. Change wasn't going to stop just because a group of demigods had gone on a quest. A quest that in the end had destroyed them all. It had kept him away from camp when he should have been there, checking on Rhia, reminding her why they should stay there, maybe little by little convincing her that being with Saturn wasn't the right thing, telling her that what the titan wanted wasn't to help all of them but to kill them and destroy them along with their parents. But instead of that he went on that quest and lost precious time that could have spent with her.

They went on that quest and maybe they didn't notice it at first, but the quest itself had changed them too. They change parallel to how the people in Camp were changing. Maybe that was why Rhia could learn to lie so well while he learnt to be responsible. "would have the gods known that she was going to go insane in that time? that she was going to be capable to kill in such way?" He closed his eyes and tried to get rid of those ideas, it would be so easy for Saturn to book him into his rows if he knew that he thought like that those days... He smirked and then opened again his eyes. his smile was sour, but also full of fun and mock.

If Saturn could get there or better said, would like to get there, he wouldn't ask Josh to join his flock, no!!! he wouldn't, he did it once before and Josh fooled him, he hadn't just been a perfect poker face at camp or at New Rome, not even with the gods... He had fooled the lord of Time! not for long... only a couple of months, but he had done it! so if the Titan got there, he would defientely killed him! or worse! but he for sure was preparing something much better, something... that would torture Josh for the rest of eternity... and maybe he was doing it already! He took Rhia with him and that was worse than being in hell for Josh.

"no, I know that this had to change within time, everything has to evolve and move on..." he said taking a pack of cigarrettes from his pocket and taking one from the pack, then put the pack back into his pocket and started looking for his lighter. "just that I never thought that we had changed too, and we did, away from camp, parallel from the people in here... it makes me feel thousands of miles from this place. it doesn't make you feel like that?" He asked absentmindedly as he put the cigarrette between his lips and turned it on with the lighter. He used to smoke a lot when he was younger... Rhia helped him to get rid of it, but now...

[Deleted]

ooc: wow. i'm sorry >.< ic: 743 tag: joshua "josh" rogers "fearless leader" credit to oblivion you are an idiot

Edmund had always been the "let's be blatant and give it to them like the blunt edge of a sword" type of person. No sugar coating. No beating around the bush. Straight, nail on the head answers. Unless it was about his past. Actually, it never got to that point since Edmund never did backstory. Sure, there had probably been times: him just looking at the stars and thinking while on guard duty. Them just lounging around a camp fire; Ed eyeing it warily; Josh, Ethan, and Lyn usually doing the happier side of socializing. It seemed like a lifetime ago. The six months were sort of a blur now that he thought of it. He could only remember that one day in the ruins as clear as day. Months of build up for one day. One day of complete disappointment, loss, ruin, and (eventually) waste. Their time away from camp meant nothing now. All they had done. All they had failed to do. For that relic. For their quest. Down the drain within a few weeks of returning. Down the drain and in vain. Ed may have been able to vaguely tolerate what they had gone through if the relic was still at camp, but it wasn't. He could've been here training with his cohort, fighting with Jolly over everything, destroying his files in the Principia, making things in the forge, annoying the hell out of everyone. He could've done a lot. Instead, he went on the quest which was, in hindsight, a complete waste of time. Had the gods known this? It was for freaking them they had gone into that suicidal ruin place. They had nearly lost their minds there. Actually, now that Edmund thought about it, he'd rather have not woken up from that dream situation. At least his last thoughts would have been happy. But no, they had to survive to find out that the relic would go missing, major changes had taken place inside of camp, people had died, and war was short of inevitable. No matter how much Edmund loved bashing heads. No matter how much he loved cohort training and fighting (pretty much the only thing that kept him sane, even though it caused some flashbacks), he didn't want to fight in another war. Another war meant more nightmare material. It meant more guilt, more ruin, and more deaths. He didn't think he could take it that soon after their meaningless six month vacation. But he was under legion contract. Not like he wanted to be. He was nothing but a solider to them. Nothing but a commodity and entertainment to the gods. Just some kid who had to defend the place and the culture at all costs, including his life. Just a kid who got produced, who was trained to be a killing machine, or just a machine, period. He sat in silence as Josh talked. This was how it usually was, talking to him. The other person would talk, and Ed would be the sound board that eked out a short response every once and a while. But Edmund had to agree with Josh. The camp hadn't been the only thing to change. All of the questers had changed in some way, Edmund included, even if he would never say so or acknowledge how. Did he feel a bit separated from this place? Heck yes. It felt even more foreign to him than it had when he first came in. Of course it had been a big change and he had never viewed the place as anything like a home, but he had grown up in it for seven years. Coming back to almost an entirely new structure had almost been worse than coming in the first time. For a response, he just gave a slight nod. To the side of him, he heard Josh flick something and a small light of fire appeared. A lighter. Edmund tensed very slightly, semi shying away from the sudden flame. He had done his best to control his reaction, but the reflex was there; all in all, it could have been much worse. At least he hadn't jumped out of his skin like he had when people blind sideingly came up to him. A slight wave of confusion flickered over his face. Had Josh seriously kept a smoking habit hidden from them throughout the entire quest time? "Hasn't your body gone through enough insult?" Edmund asked dryly.

[Deleted]

Tag: Edmund / Blacksmith

Word: 605

Notes: don't worry, he'll blame himself too XD he knew everything and still couldn't help the little blacksmith! XD </3

The moment Josh got some fire from the lighter, he noticed a slight move coming from Edmund, a slight reflex as if the young blacksmith would have wanted to get away from him. If he was the past Josh, that Joshua Rogers that found a joke in everything, that could laugh and mock as much as he could breathe in a day, if he was that same guy, for sure he would have already made a joke about Edmund's reaction, but he didn't. and there were two good reasons for his passive reaction at Edmund's reflex...

As Edmund loved to get in Principia and burn it up, Josh used to love to get into Principia and read all the files that were in there, not only the normal ones, but also the ones in the praetors' offices, those were the ones that used to give Josh the biggest thrill. The bare idea to get into principia, into those offices and read the files without being noticed?! That had really made Josh's blood run in high speed up and down his body! So even before war started, Josh had already read more than half of the files in there, among those was Edmund's, Thank the gods he read them before Edmund got into Principia and tried to burn it. so he knew about the tragedy, about the pain that the kid had suffered. Maybe Edmund hadn't noticed it, but Josh had stopped mocking of him couple of months before the quest started, well it was because he knew how deep the wounds in a soul could get, so... he had just started being civil with the kid.

The other reason he had to not mock of Ed was... he had some apreciation for the kid, also respect after those 6 months in the quest and also, even more after that horrible day in those ruins. Edmund had prooved that he was a real man, a man of word and a man that deserve all the respect that he could offer. So he wasn't going to embarrass him by expossing his fears, not even if they were all alone watching at a river away from camp and City. No he wouldn't do that!
So the moment Edmund flinched in such way, Joshua did as if he hadn't noticed the fear in those moves. He acted as if he had only seen disgust in Edmunds flinch, as if he wasn't fear of fire, but he disliked his horrible vice. Which his comment help tons to Josh to create the right illusion that he had only seen that.

He looked at Edmund as if the blacksmith had said something obvious, then he looked at the cigarrette and nodded breathing deeply. "yeah..." he answered and then took another smoke of it and set free the smoke into the air away from Edmund's face. "I just found this in my trunk the other day... and well I haven't smoke in a while... maybe... 4 or 5 years, but... I just wanted to test them..." why would he tell Edmund that he wanted to fill his miserable body with as much venom he could? maybe if he died faster he would go to Tartarus faster and he wouldn't be hurting others or letting down others as he did with Rhia. "do you want me to stop while I'm here with you? I know some people don't like the smoke, so I can stop while being here." he said with slight smile. He really didn't think that Edmund would care a lot about his health but maybe the own would worry him.

[Deleted]

ooc: awww josh and sorry for the wait!! ic: 622 tag: joshua "josh" rogers credit to oblivion it may be u n s p o k e n but it doesn't mean it's not there

stupid fire. damn it why couldn't edmund just be a normal, antisocial forge monkey? why couldn't he just be fine with fire like everyone else? just another way he failed in this legion. at his job. edmund glared at the ground infront of him, ready to give a snappy comeback should josh comment on his flinch. To his surprise though, the older legionary said nothing. ed gave an internal exhale as josh seemed to not even notice the seventeen year old's odd reflex. ed's eyes went from glaring to narrowed. his eyebrows furrowed slightly, mimicking felicity's expression of confusion. kind of unlike a mercury kid not to make a crack at him for doing something werid. not that edmund would've cared. he would've brushed it off anyway, but still, sometimes it was just better for them to keep their traps shut. actually, now that he thought about it, josh hadn't quipped him in a while. despite the hard time edmund had been giving the son of mercury, josh had seemed to back off of the teasing. sure, they had butted heads, but josh hadn't been tossing around taunts ever since a few months before the quest. odd. maybe he had decided to grow up a bit... despite the hard time he gave josh all the time, edmund had come to respect him as a leader. besides, he only gave people an extremely hard time if he knew they could handle it. josh, unfortunately, was one of those people. the son of mercury had really stepped it up, heading the quest team where any of them could've died at any given moment. edmund couldn't help but give kudos to him. then again, try getting those words out of his mouth. josh repeatedly showed that he would've given his life for the other quest members. Heck, he nearly died after coming back. after defending edmund. once he was back to full health, edmund had to punch him for that. what had the idiot been thinking? as much as edmund hated to think about it, probably the same thing that would've gone through his mind if their situations were reversed. their situations should've been reversed. that aside, edmund would continue to be edmund. insults and eye rolling and flat voicing all the way. the idiot agreed that his body had been through enough, yet he continued. as always, edmund let josh finish before opening his mouth: "just wanted to test them after four, five years?" edmund repeated, scoffing slightly. there was probably a politer, more civil way of going about this, but that wasn't how ed rolled. insults, glares, and eye rolls were the only way edmund knew how to do it. besides, he had a hard time believing what josh said. unless the quest and his current health had put the son of mercury under so much stress that he felt the compulsion to turn to smoking again. "right," he muttered, narrowing his eyes again. did people honestly just want to test cigarettes again after for or five years of being clean? he couldn't help but roll his eyes at roger's last question. worried about the smoke? edmund had been trapped in a burning building and accustomed to forge smoke for nearly four years. during one of his check ups, kyoto had asked if he had been a smoker or if his parents smoked, so it must've been significant enough. being around josh's cigarette wouldn't do any more damage than what was already done. besides, ed wasn't the best when looking after his own health: fire smoke, forge smoke, camp fire smoke, cigarette smoke. no difference to him. "no. you stop when you decide to."

[Deleted]

Tag: Edmund "forge kid"

Word: 454

Notes: sorry the delay!! <3

Having a conversation with Edmund was of the most difficult and weird things that Josh had ever done in his life. Edmund was always a short replier, usually with monosylabic words or if you annoyed him a lot, then he would reply with snappy sentences. Before the quest Josh used to bother Edmund all the time, and it wasn't because he hated the poor teenager, it was because he liked him... in a friendly way. Edmund had that shade in the back of his eyes, the same shade that Rhia had, the same one that also Joshua himself had. something really bad had happened in the life of Edmund, something that put a nasty scar on his soul. Josh kind of recognized those marks because he got one too, one on his soul and several in his body to testify about the horrible moment that marked him since a tender age. So Josh wanted Edmund to open to the world, to know that he wasn't alone and that even if Josh was a foolish bufon sometimes, he was there to support him at any moment that Edmund needed him.

A bit before the quest, Joshua stopped bothering Edmund, but not because he thought the son of Vulcan didn't need to open up a bit. He stopped because he had other stuff in his mind, his girlfriend just told him she was with Saturn, she was going to help him! to tell him that secret she made him swear over Styx that he would never say a word about it to others that weren't with Saturn, well... after Saturn visited him in a dream, Joshua simply saw the oportunity to help Camp, New rome and the gods, specially his father and grandfather. He agreed on working for Saturn, but then he told everything to Stone and Zidane. He was a spy, his soul would go directly to the fields of punishment, so well... he knew how damned he was, still the rpice was fair as long as he could keep people safe, including the teen that was next to him.

Edmund suddenly made a comment about him smoking again, well in fact he only repeated his words about the topic, but in his voice he heard a slight almost non existent trace of emotion, or maybe it was only the way Edmund pronounced ad almost imitated his statement. "right... Forge kid... smoke is a day to day, right?" he smiled and then finished the smoke. then he looked at him. "don't tell me you're worried about me? that would be so touchy!" smirks and jokes, he was thankful if Edmund really was worried, but didn't want to put the teen in such kind of predicament.

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ooc: no worries! <3 ic: 584 tag: joshua rogers credit to oblivion just starting to c r a w l

ed gave anyone who would hold a conversation with him for more than a minute credit. he had to be one of the most awkward, frustrating, difficult people to talk to. his speech patterns usually consisted of less than five words, monosyllabic, bluntness, that usually turned out to be derogatory. if anyone didn't already know that about him pre-quest, they certainly knew about it now. yet here sat rogers, trying to talk to him normally. edmund exhaled slightly, his eyes loosing focus while staring over the lake. this wasn't his legion anymore. then again, it never had been. this had never been home, even if he had spent the majority of his life here. even if he couldn't remember what home looked like. certainly not em's. edmund glared ahead, trying to conjure up the image of his old house. nothing. so what was home and where? could his old house still be it even though he didn't remember anything about it? maybe home was... could've been... what he had seen when the gas had been triggered. everyone he knew. legion or not... just... happy with each other, living in the mortal world with no roman life style. no gods. no training. no lives in danger. just living normally. having actual friends. that could've happened. if it had been any different, he and josh could've made good friends. that time was long gone now, though. unreachable if not impossible. his dark eyes slid over to his quest leader, watching the smoke drift out into the wind, free. at least that didn't have any problems escaping. even though people could see it, it could still escape, give warning, or give messages. odd thing, smoke. the young demigod's fingers started to lightly drum against the bench. as of late, his adhd had gone out of control. at least, that's what he thought. the last time his fingers wouldn't stop twitching, he had found plane making. now, he couldn't carve anything without accidentally slicing his finger open. what was wrong with him? oh, i could go on for a while about that, hissed a voice in the back of his head. edmund exhaled slightly, watching as his breath thinly showed up. gods, it was getting kinda cold... and this was freaking san francisco. much better than europe, that was for sure. talk about a climate swing. the questers had been totally unprepared. then again, ed wasn't sure why... they should've expected the quest to last long. they usually did, right? they usually lasted long and someone usually died. in a way, all of them had... just in different degrees. josh literally almost died. felicity's old self died when she got amnesia. ethan and lyn... he wasn't sure about. the happy go lucky pair. he wondered if the quest had any effect on ruining some of their optimism. well, at least they weren't seriously injured or anything... "but after years?" he asked skeptically. he hadn't ever thought of josh as a smoker, but then again, there could be a lot about people that he wouldn't expect. "stop with the forge thing," he muttered, his eyes losing focus on the lake. before he opened his mouth again, he hesitated. this probably wasn't the best decision, but it was his. exhausted, he let the quest win. for the second time in his legion career, he gave up on the forge. "i'm not going back." at joshua's last statement, edmund turned his head to look at him. "i won't then," he said tonelessly.

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Tag: Edmund "forge kid"

Word: 495

Notes: lol, hope this is ok! XD

At his question... YES! after years of leaving it... when he started smoking it had only being to feel older, to feel that he wasn't a child anymore and that he could defeat anyone who could ever try to hurt his family again... or himself. He needed to be sure that he was a man, and even when he grew up fast, even faster than other mercury kids, he still was a child, he still feel like a child! some instructors treated like one and talked to him in that way, the way adults use when they want to talk to the kids and Joshua hated that! So he started smoking, that made him feel older and even smarter because no one ever suspected that he smoked. the only one that noticed it was Rhia... his Rhia.

After some slight, weird discussion with her... all of their discusions were like that brief and weird, he stopped smoking, at first only because she didn't like the smell and the cloud of smoke around her. She was his friend, at that time maybe the only one he had, so he decided to sacrifice his vice and pole of shimmering strength to keep his friend with him. Then he also had other pole of strength, the feeling of being a shield for her, that had kept him away from the vice, because if he was strong enough to keep her safe, then he was a man, a strong shield as he should have been as a child. that was the real fact why he had stopped smoking back then.

Now... well his reason for smoking again wasn't that innocent one... He wanted to die, it was weird, but he wanted to die, without Rhiannon he felt he had nothing else to live for. He wasn't going to use a dagger to end his missery, he needed to stay around a bit more to keep campers safe, after war ended... well he would have nothing else and he would be allowed to die. Smokes... well those things were only helping to prepare his body for the final moments. Weird and stupid, YES! he had always been like that. "yeah... I missed the taste... these ones have menthol so the smoke feels fresh in my throat." he replied one of the most stupid and senseless replies in his life, but... maybe smoke was burning his brain too.

Then he looked at Edmund and studied his face, why he didn't want to go back to the forge? it should feel natural to him, right? "no more forge?... why is that? your little sister annoys you too much? or you decided to be only a statue out here by the tiber?" he asked and smiles but not as in a joke, but being or trying to be understanding. "no... in fact I'm thankful that you care about me. not many would do it." he said and looked at the river once more.

[Deleted]

ooc: sorry for the wait! ic: 561 tag: joshua rogers credit to oblivion do you feel c o l d & l o s t in desperation

it seemed so long ago... the day jason asked if edmund lived with smoking parents. he had been getting turned into so many animals that he had been forced to go to the infirmary, just to make sure it hadn't done any internal, human damage. after that appointment, edmund had actually taken orders for healing himself for once in his life: eating ambrosia squares to make sure his rib didn't shrink too much, grow it back, or whatever. with something that felt like a punch to the gut he remembered: it was a long time ago. it had happened last february... since then, gods... so much. it almost felt as bad as looking at the newly sprouting trees. edmund felt his head automatically shake, a scoff leaving his lips. "right," he repeated skeptically. "so, am I blaming the mercury or the smoke in you for not making any sense?" he asked. of all responses. what josh had just given was (a) stupid and (b) nonsensical. "and here i thought you were supposed to be a good liar," he said, feeling his eyes roll to the back of his head. as a son of mercury, being a good liar was something of a given: they had an unusually high impulse to steal, and stealing usually entailed a way of getting away with it... which lead to being a good liar. honestly though. methanol tasting good? edmund had literally eaten ash at one point in his life. anything that didn't have the legitimate properties of actual food tasted horrible. last he remembered methanol could be equated to liquid alcohol and highly flammable. good substance to use if someone wanted to spread a fire quickly. not that he would do that, just one of the odd facts he had picked up during his actual time in the forge. the forge. why the hell had he just told josh he wasn't going back there? he'd bring it back up again, him being him. this was exactly why edmund never shared anything personal. well, that wasn't going to happen again. a scowl flashed across the seventeen year old's face as he glared at the lake, waiting for the inevitable follow up questions. despite him doing everything he could to disassociate himself from his assumed godly parent, everyone still seemed to link him with him. forging. should be natural for you because of your parent! the fire should feel homey! the forge should feel homey! truth was, no where felt homey. not out there, not the forge, not the legion... just, no where. besides, he was being stupid and panicking again. right now, fire was far from comforting and the forge felt more like a death trap than a warm, cozy, safe spot. if anything, being away on the quest had made edmund used to being in the outdoors. now, anywhere else seemed close together, cramped, and entrapping. add that together with his dislike of fire at the moment, edmund's likeness to return to the forge was dwindling into single digits. "so you have become dumber," he muttered as josh repeated what edmund had just told him (josh). besides a curt "i don't have a sister", he ignored joshua's next two questions, just gazing quietly at the water. at josh's last comment, edmund turned his head towards his ex-quest leader. "didn't say i did. and i doubt that."