What's Relaxation? // Open

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and yet here you are adjusting to your new life as a civilian Edmund had decided not to go into the forge on this particular day. He'd been jumpy in there for the past couple of days, and a forge accident was one of the last thing this place needed. That being said, he decided to remove himself for a day, try to get himself under control. Of course, that probably exacerbated the problem. Whenever he removed himself, it just became worse when he went back. Oh well. He felt like he just couldn't today. Okay. That wasn't the entire problem. A couple of New Rome vigilantes had finally gotten tired of holding back. Or seeing his face around. Or both. He knew it would've only been a matter of time. No death sentences around here apparently made people uneasy. Either way, Edmund didn't win that fight. It had mainly been his chest and stomach, but they weren't below aiming a hit at his face either. There was a cut or two, but all he could do was hope for no visible bruising. If Rhia, Josh, or Ethan saw him, there had been a training or forge accident. He had luckily evaded them on his way into and out of their house. It had been late/early, anyway. So instead of going into the forge (since he wasn't sure how well his lungs could deal with smoke at the moment, it had only happened last night), he went to training in the Circus Maximus (what? He had gotten more hurt during first cohort training, and it wasn't like Jollyor Ashby would use "I'm hurt" as an excuse [but that still didn't mean it didn't hurt]) and then… what? As of now, he was just roaming the Forum. There seemed to be a couple of more demigods around that normal. Campers seemed to not be going to training, or getting out early. Edmund didn't blame them. He would want a grace adjustment period too, but he didn't give himself one. Sure, the infirmary and dungeon could've counted, but after that, he was right back to daily forge and training. What could he say? Two things that helped him keep his mind off… everything, really. He didn't remember coming into New Rome often during his time in service. Maybe once or twice. Once being for Charlie's present and to buy himself a suit for Valentine's day. The other time had been when he had first entered the Legion. He had just been curious more than anything. It had been a quick in and out, but not a stay long enough to remember anything. Now though, he had been out of the Legion for two months. New Rome started getting more and more familiar. The residential area, Circus Maximus, and roads part, anyway. The forum was still a new site  to him. Edmund continued to take in his surroundings. It was a rather nice space…. columns and open market space… grass, trees.. just a general meeting or socialization place, he supposed. OOC: Ed's such a hog >.> IC: 500

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Words: 568
Tag: Ed

War was over. A woman with long curly dark hair sat on a low stone wall rubbing her face. Golden flowers adorned her hair, their leaves and small vines hidden in her tresses. She put her hands into her lap revealing her beautiful face, Trivia had taken on a little bit of a new look recently. Something a bit more old time reminiscent. When she was so closely associated with Ceres, they were two sides of the same coin. Sure in the battle she was very flamboyant, as she normally was, her spells bright and vibrant. Her clothing made her seam overly confident, since she didn't even bother to wear armor in battle like the other gods. Her hair was cut short, in a bob during the war. Heck it was even a different color, more red than the dark brown it was now. People accused her of trying to hide herself, her identity, after the war. She didn't care what they thought, but she was just a bit done. Done with that face, that side of herself for now. She was the three faced goddess after all.

Two wars, and the death of so many of her children and grandchildren, was eating at her. Watching her friends children die. Watching her daughter slowly descend into insanity, with hands tied unable to help. Rhiannon accepted no help from anyone other than Joshua and Mercury. The smile on her face didn't reach her eyes, it hardly did these days. She'd laugh and sometimes go out to party with Venus. Act as if nothing was wrong. Mercury knew better. He always knew her better, and of course Edmund. Her sweet little sounding board. She loved that boy, such a good pet really. He hated the idea, and she'd never mention it, but he was so much like his father. She liked Vulcan, she worried about him and some what tried to take him as a child since his mother abandoned him. Wicked harpy.

Her feet touched the ground, she actually stood on solid ground unlike she had during most of the battle. Her thin shoes let her feel the cobblestones under her feet as she walked down the road. Romans thought they were so stable. Able to bounce back from anything. Most of the people in the war were just children. She smiled and with a turn of her hand produced a green apple for a child. Children where so sweet and innocent. Though she supposed everyone was sweet and innocent until something ill happened. A polecat bounced along in the crowd, some women screamed at the site of a weasel like creature. Trivia knelt down letting it climb up on her shoulder and it squeaked into her ear. “Groceries again? Well that certainly won't do, feeding half a dozen people, two Mercury boys at that!! Hmph, perhaps Mercury will have an idea how to help her with that. He is a genius with inventions.” she gave the creature a treat as it quickly ate it.

“Eddie-mund~” she said in that tell tale sing song voice of hers when she saw him. “Sweety what happened to you?” she said walking a bit closer, it was rather easy to see the cuts and bruises slowly making their way across his face. The polecat jumped leisurely off her shoulder, snorted at Edmund and ran off into a shadow disappearing from sight completely.

Code done by step

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because you're already d e a d in all the ways that matter Edmund had been living with the Roman mantra since he turned nine: I don't care. No emotions. No attachments. No reason to feel guilty or mourn. It and I'm, always fine. Nothing was wrong with him. He was fine.  He'd always be fine. He'd bounce back. Like he always did. He'd be resilient again. He was okay… he was okay… The city'd rebuild. Things'd go back to normal. She'd come back like she did the first two times around…. Maybe this whole thing was a bad dream. A horrible, sick, twisted dream…. He looked back out at the forum. People moving around. Walking. The sky was nice. The birds were out… It was all so… normal. Like nothing had changed in the world. It was just going about it's business, as usual. Nothing to mark the horrors of the past years… He glanced down at his arm. Along with the cuts, bruise marks were starting to blotch his forearms. Crap. That meant they were probably going to start spreading across his face too. He didn't even want to think what his stomach and chest would look like. Probably a disfigured mess. He had been pretty sure one of those people had steeled toed boots… and it had been getting kind of difficult to fill his lungs with air. Hence his hesitation to go into the forge. It still hadn't stopped him from training though, which had probably just hurt him more. Sure, it had only been fists and kicks, but those hurt. Even more so if pinned against a wall or on the ground (and both had happened). He remembered all too well from his elementary school years. From last night though, Edmund remembered seeing a bat, and he may or may not've heard chains. He couldn't be sure. Actual weapons or not though, they had taken out any frustrations they had against him, along with some of the infirmary's healing. And then he heard a voice. He knew that voice. Only one goddess on the planet would have the nerve to call him that. At first he had been angry. No one called him that except the Simons, and occasionally Ethan. But then, after he had been thrown in the dungeons, he had legitimately stopped caring. Not his usual, lie of "I don't care", but an actual "I've given up fighting against this, I can't do it anymore" I don't care. He was tired. So, so tired. Not the sleepy tired. Not the "I want sleep" tired. The type of tired no one could fix. What happened? His house fire. Losing his family. Getting put with Em. Going into the Legion. Being placed in the first cohort. Fighting in the Second War. Meeting other people. Getting turned into animals. Breaking into the principia. Losing Felicity. Getting her back. Going on the quest. Going to Orthys. Learning he was related to Discordia. Fighting in the Third War. Going into the dungeons. Getting dishonorably discharged. Getting jumped and beaten. Basically his entire life as a demigod. But he didn't say that. Instead, he did what he did best. He did what was expected of him as a Roman. He responded the only way he could if he didn't want to go into a full break down (which he really didn't want to do). He tried to empty his mind, detach himself from his emotions, steeled himself, and looked right at her. "Nothing." OOC: #I AM EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED IC: 571

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Words: 495
Tag: Ed
Notes: >_< sorry about the wait

Nothing. Of course, how silly of her to ask. The goddess shook her long curly locks, they were similar to how Rhiannon's looked when she still had long hair. Before she cut it all off. “You're certainly Mars' nephew. Stubborn and hard headed just like him.” She would bring up his family, the gods he was related to once and a while, just to see if he would continue to deny them. To reject the fact they were in fact family. No matter what, the blood of a demigod still flowed in his veins. The trouble it brought was proof he was Vulcan's son. I borther8ed her when he denied his father though. When he said that man was not his father. It reminded her of Rhiannon. How she claimed that mortal woman as her mother. If she were a more jealous woman, or perhaps she was jealous enough but simply did not want to be more hated, she would bring that ghost up from her rest and let her wander the earth alone for eternity. If not outright destroy the ghost. She had thought about it, but never did she do such a thing. The woman was loved by her daughter, by the man she had fallen in love with. So as she loved then, she would leave the one they loved alone.

“I highly doubt nothing was able to leave those cuts on your face, or cause that swelling.” She reached out a hand, steadily, gently, for the swollen areas. A small chant in Latin cooled her hand to the touch, if he would let her touch him at all. “It looks like they'll bruise soon enough. Perhaps you'll join me for an ice coffee, and you'll have something cool to put on it. Not to mention a bit of caffeine to keep you awake, you look dead tired.” An unwelcome guest in Orthys on the roof top. An unwelcome guest at the Roger's house, except perhaps by Joshua himself, at the night time picnics on the roof. She wondered just how much Rhiannon and this boy had in common. Both felt responsible for their parents death, okay it was cheating a bit but Trivia could do a bit of emotion and memory reading. Bubble, bubble toil and trouble.

Perhaps she should do that now. She hadn't pried into his life, or mind for a bit of time now. Nor Rhiannon's for that matter. Goodness with how stubborn and guarded they were it was a difficulty itself just to get through to find anything. She wasn't the goddess of probing minds after all, it was just a bit of a hobby. Everything was a bit of a hobby really. She mastered very few things. Queen of ghosts was obviously one of her names. Poisons where also a bit of her specialty, and there was also the Mist. That force that shielded the innocent, oblivious humans from the strange goings on about the world.

Code done by step

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because you're already d e a d in all the ways that matter Edmund watched her shake her head out of the corner of his eye. Of course she wouldn't fall for that. No one with eyes would. Which made Edmund the one in strict denial and stubbornness, as always. Circumstances would change, but the main staples of his personality would stay in tact. mainly stubborn and self hating. He inhaled to shout back that he wasn't Mars' nephew like he always did, but it hurt too much to take that deep of a breath for the rant. So, instead, he bit his lip to try and balance out the sudden pain in his side and exhaled slowly. "Not his nephew," he managed quietly. Nope. Definitely not able to manage his full on anger with this.... whatever he had. Probably just a bruised rib. His stupid being a demigod... giving him all the bloodlines he didn't wanted. No. He stuck by what he had always said: son of Alexis and James and no one else. Well... Alexis was technically.... Yeah, no. Still denying that. Just for a little bit longer. Hold on to the idea that your parents never lied to you and were just normal mortals, just dragged into the hellish "raising a demigod" life. She wasn't going to leave it alone, was she? "Training accident," he muttered. Much more believable, right? Yup. He was still in daily training and... yup. Credibility. That was his cover story for now. He shied away slightly when she reached for him, but was made to stop by the sudden pain in his stomach. Don't make sudden movements, you idiot. Had he gotten beaten before? Yes. During training. But probably never this bad. "I don't like coffee," he grumbled. He was about to deny his tiredness as well, but that'd probably go over just as well as his face. He had gotten beaten up and he hadn't gotten proper sleep in only gods knew how long. Those two things were pretty obvious.... Gods. If she started playing with his hair again, hurting or not, Edmund would lash out. It'd probably be even worse for him. Idiot that he was, he had actually gone to training. It did him no favors. Wait. Could she pry into minds too? Damn, all the worst gods ever could look do it. Even though Venus was more emotion, it was still just as bad. She had been able to alter into different people: people who he loved in one way or another. Discordia just twisted everything around in circles. Wiggled into dreams and insecurities to use it against the person. Trivia.... he didn't even know how to describe her yet. She coddled him at times, played with his hair, would rant to him, and would hum the "In My Arms" song. Out of everything... that was one of the things that Edmund remembered his mom humming to him. All of Trivia's actions in themselves were sickening. Forget that she was a goddess. They were just because it was... borderline.... physical affection. Two things that Edmund hated. His liking of it didn't get any better once they were combined. UT: @trivia COMMENTARIUM: All good :) VERBA: 517

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Words: 477
Tag: Ed
Notes: Trivia is so wierd

Edmund still furiously denied the relation, Trivia could see it in his eyes, in the attempt at yelling. Bruised ribs perhaps? Or broken? With a stubborn boy like this they were probably broken. The goddess gave a sigh, looking at his chest for a few moments. Then she turned those pretty blue eyes to his angry, and very tired looking ones. "Just like Rhiannon then. Stubborn and in denial about your bloodlines." It made her sad, she made no effort to hide it from him. Edmund was her little sounding board after all. He'd seen her sad, happy, mischievous. He probably thought she was bipolar, which she sometimes wondered herself until she saw Janus. Though it was more of a multiple personality than it was being bipolar she supposed. She did do extremes in emotion, but never quite back to back, and she had ho-hum days as well.

"Training accident" she said skeptically. "Then you'd have said that in the first place. Or perhaps that it was none of my business, which I'm a little surprised you didn't say anyway. Or are you finally getting used to me?" a smile found her lips again, not one of joy. Simply something that told Edmund she wasn't swayed by his attitude. Still, despite their many hours together. His few words here and there were growing to be part of his personality, something she'd expect. Goodness if there were ever a day he openly spoke a paragraph to her she might have a heart attack. That was okay though. She rather liked the strong silent type. They made the best listeners. Perhaps if he was a bit more caring and gentle toward her she might honestly fall for him. If he ever opened up his own heart telling her what worried him or how he felt. She didn't worry about that though, not with Edmund. With him she was safe, she wouldn't love him, and wouldn't be hurt.

If he didn't like coffee how on earth did he stay up for hours on end? Days. Most humans needed to sleep didn't they? She shouldn't put the same logic to most people as she put to these stubborn Romans. "Fine, fine. A smoothy then, or cold tea. Milkshake, or even just a bag of ice. Or will you go home with a swollen, bruised face?" She dropped her hands to her side instead of pursuing the matter of cooling the swelling. She forced a lot of things on him, but mostly for her own selfishness instead of forcing help onto him. She had little qualms about hugging him despite his obvious hate for it, or playing with his hair. Helping him when he didn't want it on the other hand, she wouldn't do that. For her children she would, just a little bit, as long as they didn't know about it.

Code done by step

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you can't keep all this crap in watch me She sounded a bit put out. She sounded sad; like when she talked to him when he was in the cell and had no choice but listen to her and let her pet his head. Now that he wasn't cooped up and a bit more on his feet, Trivia should've expected it: his attempt at yelling, his furious words of denial. What'd she think? That he'd just let a mention of that slide without protest and denial? Even beat, he was Edmund Simons son of No God. And yes, he'd snap back even with a bruised rib. Bruised or broken. He had no idea. Probably bruised. Hopefully bruised. His eyes narrowed slightly at Trivia's comparison to Rhiannon. He wondered if she put up with being Trivia's hair stroking and being her sound board. Although, Ed had been in a cell and pretty beat down by then. He hadn't cared what was being said, by god or demigod. Someone could've told him their life story, and Edmund probably would've only absorbed around half of it and then kept quiet about it. "No chance of you shutting up, is there?" he scowled. But she did bring a up a good point. He did usually do the "it's none of your business" line with the gods, but he had neglected to do so this time around. No, gods no. He certainly wasn't getting used to her, or wanting her around. Blame it on being drunk tired then? It didn't take him long to notice that people had less of a filter when they were either tired or in pain. He guessed that was the whole point of torture too, then. Put the person in pain and deprive them of sleep. No, no, it wasn't that... he was usually much better at keeping himself in control. Gods knew he had enough practice. Although, that didn't mean he nailed every time.... "They happen all the time. So, nothing by now," he muttered. Had he ever gotten beat in first cohort training? Yes. Ever this bad? No. Besides, during training he'd actually fight back. He saw another smile cross her face and exhaled slightly. This woman. Why the hell did she attach herself to him? It was like she was a little stalking leech or something. He could've said the same thing about Lyndis, but it was wholly different. Trivia was more... creepy. And a goddess. He shrugged. Bruising already? He resisted the temptation to reach up and feel one of the spots he had gotten punched. Wouldn't make it any better. "Maybe," he muttered. He certainly didn't want to raise any red flags with anyone. Sure, he had the "training" thing, but even in the Circus Maximus training didn't get this rough. Well, sure, he had the "I'm a traitor" thing going for him to explain getting a bit more roughed up, but not by much. He gave his head a slight shake at her final question. Or, at least, he'd try not to. UT: @trivia COMMENTARIUM: All good :) #awkwardmoment Trivia/Ed becomes a thing xD VERBA: 499

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Words: 417
Tag: Ed
Notes: Late >.< Sorry

She smirked and tilted her head shrugging her shoulders ever so slightly. Something of an 'ehh' gesture. Of course he'd never get her to keep her mouth shut, it wasn't part of her personality. "You don't happen to know the ways to get me to be quiet, and even if you did you wouldn't use them" she smiled at him, though honestly he might know a way or two. If he was able to think of it, black mail didn't seem to be his strong point though. It was cute. She had told him so much about herself, and about who she cared about. It most likely went in one ear and out the other though. He wasn't the type to hold onto that kind of information anyway. Mors and his family on the other hand loved that stuff for some reason. Not that they always blackmailed people, but something about information. Mors had his paperwork, Somnia had his subconscious dealings, Discordia loved to play with emotions and weaknesses. Then there was Somnus. He simply slept through it all.

With an extended expression of skepticism, she made a type of humming sound. Almost sounding as if she agreed with him, if not for the underlying sarcasm in the tone. "Of course." Certainly she had seen people getting hurt in Cohort training, banged up and sometimes sent to the infirmary for rather idiotic things. How on earth you stab your shoulder with a spear... perhaps it has something to do with the phrase 'Here watch this' That always brought on terrible consequences. Though Edmund was not a show boat, or the type to show off at all, so that kind of situation was out of the question. Perhaps he had gotten into a normal spar, and people purposefully targeted him to injure him. Seemed more likely, especially considering where he had been only a month or two ago. "I don't care how you got hurt Edmund, well a little, but still. You're hurt, and you should get yourself treated a little bit. Doesn't have to be by me, or even the infirmary. You can do it yourself, I'm sure you know a little bit don't you?" she said with a little bit of a smile. Shaking her head at the stubborn boy. "Alright, lets get something to put on your face. Maybe even a steak and you can tell Rhiannon you got dinner instead of going home with a bag of ice? Which would certainly raise red flags."

Code done by step

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you can't keep all this crap in watch me He gave a slight shrug. "Who knows." Of course the chances of her shutting up were slim to none. Still, it didn't hurt to make some noise about it. Even though he knew the gods were never going to change after centuries of being them, he couldn't help it. That was him being him: snapping and trying to get the egotistical children to shut up. Then again: Roman demigod. Roman god. If the Romans could be known for one personality trait, Edmund would have to say stubbornness. Most of them, be it god, demigod, titan, or monster, had the common stubborn trait. No matter who got in their way or told them no, they pushed on. Most people could say to an unhealthy limit, but then again, what aspect of this lifestyle was healthy? The camp (with ten year olds) had just gone though a war. A thirteen year old could've just gone through their second war. That's what it meant to be a demigod: to keep bounding back after the hits kept coming. Sometimes he didn't think they realized... that one day, they wouldn't be able to do it. One day, it'd just become too much to ask of everyone. One day, someone wouldn't be able to rebound. At that point, Ed wouldn't care. It wouldn't be un-Roman or anything. It'd just be reaching human capacity. They could say they were demigods all they want. Half immortal or not, there was just so much a human could take. As much as she (and other people) thought he didn't, Edmund did listen to people's rants. He acted like it all went over his head, but he knew how to split mindless chatter from serious talking. Maybe that's why a couple of people did it around him. Because they always thought he wasn't listening. That he didn't care enough to listen. Sure, he didn't give any input, advice, or sign that he was going to help... but he just sat there, working and logging the information in for later. Like a sounding board. He wasn't the type for blackmail though (everything was to the grave after all, immortal or demigod). That system kind failed while he was in the Legion's dungeon. Everything went over his head there. He had just been so out of it. So done. Trivia could've told him the secret to life and he wouldn't've remembered.  So, he didn't have her fully convinced, but he didn't have her prodding for answers either. Whatever. She was smart. If she didn't buy his entire story, she could probably, actually figure it out on her own. Anyone who didn't buy the whole story could. He'd deny it up and down, but the logic jump wasn't that far off. Besides, he was telling a half truth. He had gotten in a spar... more of a one sided spar than anything, but still, a spar. Or at least that's what he'd call it. "Yeah, I do." He looked over at her. "Wouldn't work... she knows I'm a horrible cook. Besides... that'd be kind of gross. Even for me." COMMENTARIUM: All good ^^ VERBA: 515

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Words: 413
Tag: Ed

The goddess smiled at the mortal boy, a soft smile that showed she had given up on trying to help him. At least a little bit. A deep breath, and a heavy sigh tangled into a shake of her head. "Alright Edmund." she used his name, instead of a pet name she would normally use. When she really cared that's what she did though, use peoples full name. Rhiannon she never shortened and even Joshua she called by his name instead of a shortened version. It was the name you were given, a name full of love and caring, even if nicknames could be the same. For her they weren't. They were games, sly remarks, and jokes at the persons expense. So with every hint of care she had for him, she said his name.

She spoke a small spell, ancient and old words flowing like a river from her lips. Letting her see, what was injured, where and how. She could see how the bruises would spread, how easily he would be found out and worry people who cared about him. "It looks almost like you need a full ice bath, almost every inch of you. Battered. Arms, ribs." the ting of green around her eyes disappeared as her vision went back to normal. Though she could have kept it up for longer, she did not. There was no need, other than the rather interesting hue it cause her eyes to glow. A bit difficult to see during the day, but at night it was always a fun little parlor trick.

"You silly boy, you don't put the raw steak on your face. You leave it in a bag." Though the thought of him cooking brought a smile to her face. It brought pleasant memories of watching Rhiannon cook with her father. Of cooking with him herself, though she was a terrible cook as well. Potions and poisons where east, something edible was not. "Then bag of ice it is. Want to get something to eat? Drink? Or do you just want to go home?" Sure the boy wasn't fond of being around her, especially since she did play around with him a lot. Though she liked to think then he was really hurt she hadn't done anything to him. She kept a distance, didn't force a hug or anything of the sort on him. No forced healing. In her own strange way, backing off was a way of caring for someone.

Code done by step

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you can't just keep this crap in watch me Names and nicknames were odd things. It was an odd sort of feeling to describe: he expected different people to call him different things, and that kind've carried meaning to him. Not many people called him Edmund all the time. So, if he heard his full name, he usually interpreted it as "pay attention/no messing around/I'm serious/I'm worried". People (and all the immortals) he didn't like usually called him by last name. People who hated him usually called him Traitor and various other derogatory names. He was Ed to a couple of people. Neutrals and the like. Mostly family. Except Ethan... he let Ethan call him any name he wanted. But he was the only one. Call it Ed's werid way of letting Ethan know he didn't completely hate him. If anyone else called him anything endearing or cutesy sounding, they were sure to get told off. Most of the time. Any deviation would alert him to something more serious. Calling him Ed was more of the casual route of things: an almost "everything's alright, we're just talking". So, to an extent, knowing what people called him and when was important. If Ethan started calling him Edmund, he'd think it was dead beat serious. So, he had to take a pause when Trivia called him full name instead of one her cutesy ones. She always called him cutesy ones. Probably because it enraged him so much. Now... how to interpret this? Non threatening, or really threatening? He should've picked threatening faster since... well, she was the goddess of magic, cross roads, and stuff. Just what he needed, her spelling him. He may've been immune to charm speak and discord, but he was pretty sure he would be as immune to magic as he was immune to fire (meaning not immune at all). Then her eyes changed. Somehow. He didn't know exactly how, but they looked a bit different. Last time a goddess's eyes changed on him like that, he was tossed into a word of things he didn't want to remember. "Wha-" and then she began... medically assessing him? Well, he really didn't need that. He pretty much knew that he had been hit all over the place. Nothing pretty either. "I'll keep that in mind," he acknowledged flatly. Ughhh cold water. It'd certainly be a change from the heat of the forge. But if it'd help keep the swelling (or any sign that he had been in a fight) down, why not? All he'd have to do was revert to long sleeves and hope that his face wouldn't look too bad. He had the long pants every day, so no change there. "Oh." Well then, his bad. Although he was trying to get better... He didn't mean to burn everything. But that's what usually happened. His mouth twitched slightly. He could almost hear all the teasing from... Well, he was mostly trying to get better at cooking so he could alleviate some stress on Rhia. Not much, but something. Hopefully get her to eat more. Thinking of which, he probably should've been eating more too... only he was rarely that hungry. He actually used to be a pretty decent help to his mom and dad... until... well. He gave a slight shrug. "Think I'll just go back to the house." VERBA: 554