stuff n' fluff [august]

[Deleted]

Adam had hardly tried to venture into the large temple of Jupiter. The King of the gods was an important person though he hardly thought there was time for someone who was just as insignificant as he was. Adam was someone who at the first time walking into the temple, had done so with trepidation, meekly, because with one glance skyward at the statue with the stern features and piercing gaze that felt as if it intended to strike him down where he stood. Adam had a sudden vision of the massive stone statue picking it's foot up and dropping it on him if he got too close or was within stomping distance. That said nothing for the large scepter that would most likely hurt if it came crashing down on his head. That was the most likely scenario, or the one that played out in his mind. He had hunted monsters for years before coming to camp, instead of doing what he was supposed to, Adam had been hell bent on revenge.

He stood there in the shadows, watching the statue as the light filtered in from the opulent ceiling above. Adam had felt like he was in a place of reverence, just like any other Church he had lived in. There were some places that exuded holy energy, this was one of them, though Adam wasn't sure if Holy was the right word to use in this situation. Power, that was a better word as he mentally corrected himself. So many men had come and gone in his life, now he had his father, his actual father, not his step-father that had married his mother. Though if he were to be honest, Adam didn't exactly understand the whole hands off thing that the gods swore by. That they can't interfere with the lives of mortals. If they couldn't interfere, why did they still have children? There were so many questions that he wanted to ask, though it was hardly the place for him to ask them. What did he know? He was some kid with at best a lower education. He could hardly read, though he knew most of the bible by heart, that was how the Father had taught him.

"Please don't step on me?" Adam drawled in his slow and deep voice, approaching the massive statue. What had really made him give hesitation were the tiny bits of fluff that had been left strewn about the place. A little here, a little there, mostly in places where when one was cleaning up, the fluff might have gotten stuck under. It was most likely easy to miss, so Adam stooped over and cleaned up the left over fluff, though it seemingly had been the only indication that someone had been there, though how long ago, Adam couldn't tell.

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August stood at the tall mirror near his bed and pinned his cloak on with an elaborate gold pin. While everyone got purple tee-shirts, only a few were allowed to wear the color on special occasions. The two praetors, the ten centurions, and the augur. Well, as far as the military side went. Of course the Senators wore purple. This was speaking of more ancient garb, of course. Which he was indeed wearing. His full length toga was brilliant white, speaking of the purity of the gods that he represented. His cloak was also white, but with the strip of purple that marked him as someone of import. Though the thing that told his status even more was what was around his belt. There hung the ceremonial dagger for auguries that had been passed down for thousands of years. It had been a gift from Apollo to the first augur and, yes, it had once drawn a significant amount of blood. Now it drew a significant amount of polyester fiber. Blame PETA.

Either way, August was prepared for another day on the job. He had specially made his belt to have a clasped hoop that was perfect for securing around the throat of his next sacrifice. He opened the large chest. There was a rhyme and reason to the selection. Apollo had gifted him, so he trusted his instincts. The first stuffed animal to draw his attention was a blue dog with floppy ears. He took it out and secured it to his belt and then closed the chest. All decked out and ready to go, he swept from the barracks and stalked his way through the Legion. Which was to say, he August-walked. Stiff-backed, chin up, everything rigid and oozing the superiority he was known to suffer from.

Temple Hill came into view and he took the via that branched off the main to go towards it. Past Pluto – lame – past Ceres – lame – past Apollo – work in progress – and past Neptune – lame. Just past the temple of Jupiter was the edge of the long hall that served as the Temple of the Minor Gods. Plus a few other Olympians around the bend so Jupiter was entirely surrounded and elevated. Even from here, he heard the thunder from within the king’s temple. A smirk came to his lips at the sound, as, in his own little mind, the gods favored him. So he bowed his head in a show of humility that was only arguably honest before entering the temple of Jupiter Maximus.

And there was someone messing around kneeling near the altar, but he obviously was more interested in the marble floor than he was in actually paying due respect to the statue. August stood taller and cleared his throat to get the hooligan’s attention.

TAG: @adam
WORDS: 466
NOTES: Heh heh heh

[Deleted]

Adam really didn't know what to think about the gods. He really didn't. Other than his own father, he really didn't have much of an opinion. He wasn't even sure how he really felt about his dad. Sure it was something that he was grateful to have, but he wasn't even sure what to think about having siblings other than his little brother who had since gone missing. What was he even doing in a place like this? He didn't think much of the one cousin or relation he had met, she was spoiled and thought he was stupid because he refused to be separated from his brother by the foster care system. He had to look out for his little brother. They said that doing this, that being here in the legion was the best chance that his brother had for being found. Whether or not it was the truth, Adam didn't know.

Looking up at the statue gave Adam a real question. Was this what Jupiter really looked like? He knew maybe one or two stories but past those, and those particular stories were not exactly flattering in nature. Adam may not have been educated, but he knew a bit. He knew that there were always three sides to a story, your version, their version and the truth. What the truth was exactly was still up in the air. What was the truth about the king of the gods? Adam didn't know what exactly he was looking for here, or what sort of answers would he be given. There were thousands of questions that revolved like the planets around the sun. But he had remembered one of the reasons that he had come here for. What he had wasn't much, and he didn't know what exactly to offer up to the king of the gods, but he pulled something small from his pocket. At the moment it was all that he had to offer. For a split moment as he placed a small pocket knife down on the ground in front of the alter, he recalled the parable that he had read in the bible of the woman who gave three silver coins as offerings, she was mocked by the others, but Jesus had said she gave more, that her offering was more than the bags of silver that the officials had given, simply because it was all she had. Adam shook his head to clear it.

He turned at the sound of a voice, someone clearing his throat as Adam then figured that this was probably the Augur. He had been told of him, his position as speaker for the gods. At least that was what ceremonial knife and the large floppy eared dog stated. Wait, Adam thought they were supposed to sacrifice animals, not little toys? Maybe that was what the left over fluff was for. "sorry" Adam stated in his deep and gravely voice as he moved back off to the side where he looked up at the statue once more.

Tags: August Mitchell
Words: 509
Notes: sorry been super busy! hope it's okay

[Deleted]

August wasn’t fond of interruptions. Which, of course, made no sense here as he was the one interrupting. But he still wasn’t happy about it. The other camper looked weak and foolish. Childish despite the fact he looked right about August’s age. He still had that look in his eyes that screamed rookie. He brushed off his apology with a wave of his hand. “You act like you’ve never seen this temple before. Then again, you also look incredibly new to town, so I wouldn’t be surprised.” For once in his life, his tone wasn’t biting and mean. Blame Julia for that. Though she was on a mission at this moment, so he wasn’t getting his fill of her warm nature. Gods, he missed her.

He walked up to the altar, not really looking at the other young man. “I’m August.” He unsheathed his ceremonial dagger and regarded it. The gems glistened and the freshly polished blade caught the light as another roll of thunder came from the ceiling. He polished this thing every day. Not that it ever got dirty, but it was his way of showing respect. He cast a sideways look at the other as if waiting for him to heap praises on how amazing the augur was. It didn’t appear to be coming.

“You ever witness an augury?” He ran his finger along the blade to make sure it was plenty sharp. “No, you wouldn’t have. Not many do.” He unclipped the stuffed dog. “PETA made sure we don’t sacrifice real animals for this anymore. Idiots. Oh well. These are just as well.” He finally turned to the other. “Perhaps you would care to stay? Consider yourself lucky for the invitation.”

TAG: @adam
WORDS: 285
NOTES: Muse, muse, where did you go, Muse?

[Deleted]

Adam had heard that he was related to the Augur. That's what his father said. Brother? Half-brother. That was the term. Even though his own brother he had lost had been his half brother, he was still blood. He really wasn't sure what to make of the Augur, August. He studied him intently for a moment as he spoke to him. "No, I've never been in a temple, not like this. That's Jupiter right?" He had been told by the various people in his cohort that the Augur was a jerk, that he was some sort of stuck up priss. August didn't seem that way to him. A little uppity but not a git like most people had described him as. Sure he looked a bit skinny and he wouldn't figure him as a fighter, not like the other up front fighters like he had seen around here. He might be more of an archer or like himself, he was more of a scout.

Then he introduced himself as August. Yup, he had the name right. That was something. He had never really been good at that whole remembering names, mostly it was because there were few people that he really had gotten to know. The Father was one thing, but Ben was pretty nice and had taken the time to talk to him in the woods what seemed like forever ago. He was a nice guy and August didn't seem to be as horrible as everyone made him out to be. "I'm Adam." He introduced himself as he watched the dagger curiously. A bit of admirtation was obvious on his face. A brother who did something as important as speaking for the gods? That was pretty cool, though it seemed like there were many gods that walked freely around the people here in New Rome.

When asked if he had ever seen an augury, Adam didn't have the chance to reply before August said he figured that he had never seen one before. Well his brother was spot on in this instance. "I'd like to see one." Adam said as he accepted August's invitation to stay here and see the augury. He wanted to see what the fuss was about, what August did. "How does it work?" Adam asked curiously.

Words: 382
Tags: August Mitchell
Notes: sorry it's late

[Deleted]

That’s Jupiter, right? Seriously? This kid was pathetic. August chuckled. “Yes, that is Jupiter. King of the gods. Commander of lightning.” He looked closely for the other male’s reaction, waiting for shock and awe. Wow. This kid was about as great at expressing emotion as was a rock. He huffed. He would not be thrown off his rhythm though. He introduced himself, figuring that would bring a reaction. He was August Mitchell, augur of Camp Jupiter. He was the connection to the gods! The other guy introduced himself as a very anticlimactic Adam. At least he looked a little happy to be here. He smiled slightly and nodded his head in a hint of a sort of bow in greeting. His violin teacher had been Japanese and always greeted him with some form of bow, which had instilled the habit in August, seeing as that man was one of the few he respected. “Pleasure.”

Now to business. He was here to do an augury and he rather liked the idea of an audience to this whole thing, so of course he invited him to stay. He smiled, proud of himself for no apparent reason, when Adam said he wanted to stay. August laid the stuffed toy on the altar and turned to Adam as he asked about how it worked. “Simple. In ancient times, they would sacrifice and animal and the entrails would tell the message from the gods. Unfortunately, we are no longer allowed to use real animals, so the gods allow stuffed animals to do the work. Their stuffing tells the gods’ will now. I have a blessing from my father, Apollo, to read it fluently. So I appeal to the gods and then sacrifice the animal and read the stuffing. Like this.”

He cleared his throat and raised the dagger, blade up, towards the painted roof as the temple’s thunder rumbled. “Oh mighty gods, I appeal to you as your loyal servant, August! I request of you to show your humble camp the way so that we might please you! Guide my knife and lighten my eyes to see what you need me to see!” Then he twirled the knife and brought it down to rip into the belly of the dog. Stuffing spilled out, a rich, high-quality stuffing used only for augury animals by the chosen seamstress in the city. August straightened his back, taking a deep breath, then leaned down to read the stuffing. He frowned. “And who in blue blazes is Michael?”

TAG: @adam
WORDS: 418
NOTES: