Archive of Our Own ^beta

in vibrant colour, the forest comes alive.

wind rustles through trees. the surrounding creek trickles by lazily, and bird songs linger in the air—the only visible signs of life are the odd critter shuffling through bushes, or jumping from branch to branch. cicadas screech under the summer sun, and there’s a gentle buzzing coming from nearby hive of bees. a scene of tranquility and peace from the outside, yet, a moment of palpable tension for those who lay in wait. watching. listening. planning. anticipating.

a horn sounds across the playing field, and finally, it’s begun.

the sound of jaemin's heartbeat is deafening. it pulses through his ears with such fervor that he's sure any passerby would hear it, and see through his cover.

tucked behind a thick shrub and some rocks, he's focused intently on the view of the grounds ahead of him, eyes trained into any form of movement. he’s listening for the careful tread of feet on the grass below, and gripping the knife hilted at his side.

the first camper to meet an unlucky fate is a first year hermes boy about his age. felix, if he remembers correctly, is only being a diligent scout for team red. jaemin watches him take cover where he can, and clutch his shield when he hears any sudden noise.

really, it’s too bad that yangyang claimed him first; with enough training, jaemin knows he’ll grow to be a half decent fighter. it isn’t his fault that fate pushed him into the wrong hands.

jaemin lies in wait, watching his every move. every step that draws the boy closer to where he hides. he’s only a few feet away, and then he decides to duck for cover just in front of jaemin’s hiding spot.

it's a fatal mistake—one that jaemin is quick to punish, as he grabs the back of the boy's armor and drags him behind the brush. of course, he remembers to cover felix's mouth so he doesn't broadcast their location to the entire camp.

"a true leader knows strength in numbers." he whispers in the boy's ear, quick to gather his arms behind his back and drag him to where he wants him.

to his credit, felix puts up a struggle in his hold, but he’s far less experienced than jaemin, so his reactions are easy to predict. he makes quick work of disarming him, and kicks the back of felix's right knee—predictably, his knees buckle and he falls to them on the ground below. jaemin finishes the job by letting go of the boy's arms to send him falling face first into the dirt.

foot firmly in the centre of felix's back, jaemin leans down to grab the red fibres sprouting from the top of his enemy's helmet. he tugs on them to pull it off of him, and tosses it to the side.

"that'll teach you to take directions from an ares kid, mm? everyone knows they use first years as canon fodder."

jaemin whistles once to summon his second in command. with a smirk, he holds a pilfered sword out to the sunshine boy.

"you'll make sure he's cozy in jail, right, hyuckie?"

donghyuck flashes him delighted grin, and winks.

"aw, don't look so dejected, felix. nana and i had your fearless leader behind bars the first time he strayed into enemy territory, too, you know. it’s a rite of passage.”

jaemin has little time to linger, so he sends donghyuck off with a nod, and he’s on his way.

so far, his plan is as follows: pick off solo campers as easy targets, send scouts to gather intel, and block team red’s escape points.

they’ll take their defences out first, then lead a monster diversion out to the center of the playing field, and grab the flag while they're distracted. he trusts that his tactical teams can carry out the finer details, and he'll task his strongest to defend the flag as it marches down the line.

an asset is that he knows exactly how yangyang thinks—the ares leader will focus on shows of brute strength in favour of careful strategy. subtlety isn’t his style, and it’s clear in the way he attacks head on in favour of taking out weak points one by one.

overall, jaemin is feeling pretty damn confident.

since his scouts should be off by now, he treads carefully along the creek surrounding the playing grounds. so far, monsters are his main concern; he has little to fear when it comes to other campers catching him off guard.

the worst he’ll have to face are opponents with the ability to manipulate the elements—it’s not something that worries him. most of them are friends he’s known for the majority of his life, so he knows a few tricks.

that, and the fact that hardly anyone is a match for his hand to hand combat. elemental assistance or not, jaemin can take anyone down.

somewhere along this trail lies the minotaur cave they’ll need to put to use later in the game; jaemin is no stranger to monster handling, but his expertise has another calling.

right now, he’s hot on the trail of the poseidon brothers. they’re fairly easy to find, if one knows where the water runs around the camp. their only advantage is the sheer mass of the playing field; jaemin’s only challenge is to pick which stream to follow.

notably, blue’s three greatest threats are mark, jeno, and renjun. though he’s positive he could win against any of them one-on-one, he does worry for his less experienced campers.

since he’s positive donghyuck will have renjun handled, jaemin decides he’ll shoulder the other two. they often fight in tandem, anyway. two birds, one stone.

still careful to take cover everywhere he roams and keep track of his surroundings, the second he hears footsteps and the clanking of armour again, he finds a place to hide.

a pair of unsuspecting scouts lose the element of surprise they seek; jaemin already has them spotted, and he’s more than prepared to deal with them. there’s a strategy for every fight, and this particular one is best faced head on.

“hephaestus boys, huh? all that skill and attention to detail, but they send you out like pawns? yangyang doesn’t know a good thing when it hits him.”

it’s easy to lay charmspeak on thick and sway the unsuspecting.

the boys sputter, rendered speechless. jaemin would be far more flattered if their reactions were anything more than business as usual. anyone is quick to fall at the feet of an aphrodite child.

“you’ll be good boys for me, right?”

they nod quickly. jaemin grins.

“can you tell me where mark and jeno are hiding? i bet you’ve seen them; i promise all i want to do is pop over and say hi.”

the hephaestus brothers look at each other, and then back at jaemin.

“just passed them right along the creek, about a hundred yards back. follow it straight.”

the effectiveness of charm is purely based on acceptance; those who reject it are harder to control, but jaemin generally finds that most are just as easy to manipulate as these two. it makes easy work of his checklist, now that he only needs to spend a quarter of the time it could’ve taken him to track his targets down.

he’s feeling generous.

“since you’ve both been endlessly helpful, i’ll share some information of my own. stay on the right side of that clearing if you want to avoid my scouts. they’ve been known to follow up their bark with some bite.”

generally, no matter who leads his team, renjun can sort a game of capture the flag into two phases.

in phase one, he plays nice. he’ll do whatever his team captain tasks him with, be it scouting, creating diversions, or picking off strays. it mostly feels like busywork, but he feels like he can at least contribute that.

in this phase, he’s grown fond of teaming up with chenle—with the whirlwind of chaos the hecate boy is, and the extra level of secrecy that being able to converse in mandarin provides, they make quite the pair.

darkness and magic are the perfect tactical combination; go in silent, make a scene, and escape unscathed. chenle’s ambiguous moral compass works in their favour when it comes to taking down groups, and renjun’s competitive streak ensures that when they go in for the kill, they do it right.

eventually, when chenle runs off to go challenge his favourite oversized lightning boy, renjun focuses on phase two.

by principle, if he has any say in the matter, renjun always prefers to be matched up against donghyuck. primarily, things are pretty unfair if the two of them are paired together. they’re too similar, and both of them have a lot of control over their element manipulation. they know each other too well; they’ve literally been inseparable since birth.

these are the same things that make donghyuck the perfect opponent. the two mirror each other in every way; they’re two sides of one coin, and frankly, the only fair match for each other in combat.

when renjun strikes, donghyuck dodges. a flash of blinding light, a cloud of isolating shadows. piercing song, and hallowed screams of the dead.

the second phase, when teamed up against donghyuck, is to find him and take him down.

renjun never holds back, and donghyuck shows him no extra mercy. they have no qualms about maiming each other in the spirit of friendly competition, no matter how deeply their bond runs.

in technicality, it’s still toward the benefit of their teams—if renjun keeps him busy, donghyuck doesn’t have a chance to fuck over the rest of team red. it’s an unspoken understanding that donghyuck occupies his time with the same sentiment.

it never takes them long to find each other, anyway. the two have a sixth sense when it comes to sensing each other out.

“it’s like you’re obsessed with me or something, injunnie. don’t you have a team to save?”

it’s a game within a game. at times, they’ve wounded each other so severely that they survive for a week on only nectar and ambrosia. they refuse to hold back—it’s very personal.

“do you ever get tired of hearing yourself talk?”

they circle each other like it’s a hunt, never breaking eye contact. when donghyuck inhales, renjun exhales.

they draw closer. toss their helmets to the ground. renjun’s fingers tighten around cold steel.

it’s a quick call in the way it always needs to be; renjun summons a shadow, and dips behind it before donghyuck can catch him. donghyuck huffs, and swings blindly with his sword, but renjun is quick to remove himself from its path.

musical notes ring in his ears at such a high pitch that renjun swears his brain could melt—though annoying, it’s something he’s had years of practice tolerating.

he swipes his foot to take donghyuck out at his ankle; his stance is shaken, and it’s enough that renjun can take advantage of it and tackle him to the ground.

donghyuck is quick to grab hold of renjun’s hair to yank him right down onto the dirt with him, and shove a bony knee into his stomach.

fuck, it hurts like a bitch.

in struggling against donghyuck’s hold, renjun grabs his knife and slashes at the arm that pins down his chest. it hits somewhere around donghyuck’s bicep, and it’s enough to throw him off as he curses.

it’s all the time renjun needs—a firm hand shoves donghyuck off of him, and in as little time as he can, renjun flips their positions to pin donghyuck to the ground.

he’s out of breath, but the challenge is nothing new. it’s all just training. he’ll face far more dangerous situations than this—he has before. they have. together.

after years of practice, even in the midst of a fight, renjun can hold his focus enough to summon bones from the earth below. he pins donghyuck down with his entire body weight, and watches them skewer the few parts of soft flesh his armour doesn’t protect.

he can tell that it’s agonizing, but donghyuck grits his teeth. keeps his silence. his gaze hardens, and yet, the glint of mischief never leaves his eyes. even wounded, donghyuck always has a trick up his sleeve.

this time, renjun isn’t prepared to let him get away with whatever he’s planning—instead, he presses a knife to donghyuck’s throat so hard that it nicks the skin and draws blood.

“you gonna kiss me, huang?”

really, mark and jeno aren’t stupid. if jaemin is leading team blue, it’s expected that he’ll sic his biggest and meanest dogs on the two of them.

they aren’t overly shocked to find that this time, jaemin has tasked himself with this job. though generally warranted, his ego is still absolutely massive. the aphrodite child is as dazzling as he is lethal; jeno sees the wickedness behind his grin.

with as much water as they can draw from the creek, jeno and mark have a mini hurricane whipping around them. it’s enough to blind jaemin and shake his attempts at charm—an essential advantage.

“c’mon, boys. that same old water trick? it’s getting a little worn out, don’t you think?”

jaemin has to call over whistling winds and the rush of water. droplets harden into hail, when jeno concentrates hard enough. it’s all about keeping his composure—if he can’t keep jaemin out of his head, even with mark at his side, jeno is a lost cause.

he grabs hold of the sword hilted at his side in anticipation for the attack he knows to expect. if he can keep jaemin's attention, mark has less to worry about, and it'll be easier for him to focus his power.

"flattering that you think we’re a big enough threat to come here in person.”

"if i were intimidated, i'd have brought some backup, wouldn't i?"

wind and freezing rain swirl at breakneck speed—the blush of jaemin's hair is stuck to his face, and he's completely soaked. jeno finds pride in the fact that jaemin is a little less steady on his feet as the localized weather picks up.

it seems he's started to switch tactics, as jaemin draws his own sword and points it at jeno.

"don’t tell me you’re gonna let your big brother win all of your fights for you. wouldn’t it be more fun if it were just the two of us?”

jeno isn't stupid; he knows that jaemin is trying to get into his head again. to press on his nerves, and break his concentration so he can slither his way around jeno's willpower and constrict.

jaemin creeps closer, and jeno's grip on his weapon tightens.

"never really cared for the rain, myself. it really puts a damper on things, you know?"

jaemin strikes—metal clangs against metal. jeno swings back, and jaemin is quick to dodge. jaemin pivots on his heel, and he's closer. he aims for jeno's side, and catches the body of his shield instead.

jeno only has a second before jaemin swings again, so he quickly throws a wave of water from the creek at jaemin’s face, and strikes the side his shield doesn’t protect. jeno has lost his ability to contribute to the mini storm effectively, but at the very least, jaemin is fully engaged in exacting some sort of revenge.

when jeno swings, jaemin strikes back twice as fast. he moves his sword with quick precision, and it takes all of jeno's focus to keep up and remain aggressive enough to compete.

"you're not all party tricks after all, huh?"

jeno most certainly is not.

“that’s rich, nana. isn’t that like, literally all you do? it’s gotta be cheating.”

"ah, my sweet jeno." jaemin is a little short of breath, but it's never stopped him from running his mouth before, and it certainly won't now. "surely someone's told you by now that there's no rules in this game. fighting fair is for quitters."

every word jaemin throws his way drips in charm, and jeno has to physically shudder to shake how inviting it feels. he side steps, and strikes twice as hard as he had before. catches jaemin in the thigh this time; though he forgot to sharpen his blade in preparation for today’s game, he's sure he's still probably drawn blood.

behind jeno, the storm feels fainter. jaemin is drawing him further from the water where he's out of his element. leveling the playing field.

"don't you have—" another swing parried mid-air by jaemin's own sword. "a team to be leading? you really trust them enough to leave them alone?"

at this point, jeno has two options. he can lead jaemin back toward the creek where he has a little more backup, or he can corner him somewhere and disarm him.

jeno spots his opportunity—a few feet to their left stands a sizeable rock, and all he has to do is lead jaemin to it.

he tries his best to do just that, dodging, lunging, and taking a few blows along the way. he'll need to run his shield by the hephaestus cabin by the time this game is through, at this rate. it lasts, but it's far more warped than it was when they started.

jeno hears commotion that signals mark is no longer alone—being that option one is out of the question, he heads straight into the second, and decides to go in to finish jaemin off. with only a few well placed attacks, and he's got jaemin close enough to the rock that he can set his plan into action.

in no time, jaemin is cornered. his back is pressed up against the surface of the rock, so jeno hits his wrist with the blunt of his sword to disarm him. breathless, jeno crowds his space. the edge of jeno's sword sits across jaemin's collarbone, yet he doesn't look worried in the slightest.

in fact, jaemin looks rather amused.

"what are you gonna do now, jen? you wouldn't leave a job unfinished, would you?"

jeno hesitates. now that jaemin is defenseless, it feels a little out of his comfort zone to move past this point.

"c'mon, jeno. you wanna win, don't you?"

realistically, he knows he’d have to do far more to disarm jaemin to stop him, but he's nowhere near as ruthless as some of the other campers. he didn’t really think this part through, when he was coming up with his plan.

"unless... you don't really want to hurt me. you'd rather just drop your weapons and get back to the water, wouldn't you?"

jeno's world softens a little at the edges. his thoughts grow thick and soupy. the longer he stares into jaemin's eyes, the looser his grip lies on his weapons.

"i..."

jaemin reaches up to grasp jeno's blade, and pushes against it with little resistance.

"you don't have to hurt me, jeno. you've fought well enough, haven't you? it's okay to sit this one out. you're still brave."

jeno's sword falls to the ground. something in his chest pulls him closer to jaemin—it's gentle, and soothing, and warm. he doesn't want to hurt jaemin. in fact, at this point, it’s difficult to even remember why they’d been fighting at all.

jaemin raises a hand, and caresses jeno's cheek. smiles softly at him. jeno is in a state of absolute bliss. he'd do anything just to please him.

"that wasn't so hard, was it? don't you feel better now?"

at the very least, hours after the red banner had been secured and brought back into blue territory, donghyuck gets to attend the bonfire.

he bitterly regrets that he had to spend those hours in the infirmary, having every hole and laceration cleaned and patched up. all the while, though, renjun stayed by his side; the asshole he is, and all. having the audacity to look concerned.

jaemin parades the red banner around, draping it over his shoulders, and going on about how it really brings out his eyes. he absolutely gloats that it's his fourth time in a row winning as captain, and everyone tells him to can it and eat his octopus hotdogs. yangyang in particular complains that jaemin is being all too much, but it holds far less weight back inside the main camp.

true rivalry only lasts on the battlefield—back here in the heart of camp half blood, kids who have been hardened beyond their years find a place to relax, and take comfort in each other. they crack jokes and shove each other, and burn each others' marshmallows. they all find the things they've lost over the years, running from monsters and their own realities.

renjun sticks by donghyuck's side, and runs his fingers gently over the bandages. by request, he's prepared a double stacked s'more sandwich for donghyuck, packed with extra chocolate and the gooiest of marshmallows. exactly the way he likes it.

"i'm sorry for uh, going a little overboard."

his eyes are guilty; very few people get to see the softer side of renjun that donghyuck is used to. they've been through everything together. they've patched up each others' wounds, inflicted them, and held each other through healing. they've seen the best and worst of each other, and no judgment has ever been passed.

donghyuck elbows him in the ribs, and rolls his eyes. "no you aren't. shut up."

he takes a bite out of his s'more and hums contentedly. leans his head on renjun's shoulder, and stares at the flames in front of them.

"you'd do it again in a heartbeat, injunnie. don't go all soft on me, now."

donghyuck winces a little when he moves to wrap his arms around renjun's waist and lean into him. he'll be feeling the after-effects of the fight for at least the next couple of days, no matter how quickly he heals.

"bet you would've done worse, if you were just a little faster."

there's a lightness back to renjun's tone; teasing each other is comfortable. it's easy. it keeps their dynamic entertaining, even after all of their years together.

"please, i've kicked your ass three times in a row. you get the upper hand once, and suddenly you're cocky, huh?"

donghyuck sticks the last of his s'more in his mouth, and chews happily. nothing hits the spot like bonfire snacks after a long game day.

"someone had to knock your ego down a peg. your head's getting too big to fit through doors lately, you know? i was doing a public service. you should thank me."

"whatever, huang. i let you win, and you know it."

jaemin is in the middle of an intense rock climbing session when he gets his summons.

he’s made it all the way at the top, successfully surviving balls of fire being hurled toward him, and footholds slipping, and swinging blades. at the very least, he gets to ring the bell to signal victory before he scales down.

it's a hell of a feat in both directions with all of the hazards, but training is training. his entire life, jaemin has been taught that it’s something every camper needs in order to stay sharp and competitive. the world outside of the camp walls is a lot less forgiving; it doesn't wait for those who get left behind. survival of the fittest, and all.

at the very least, it's only donghyuck calling him down from the wall—it feels a hell of a lot less like he's about to get in shit for something he'll have to spend the entire walk trying to remember doing.

"changmin wants us at the big house. says it's important, or whatever. but like, everything is super urgent and important to him, so don't sweat it."

jaemin takes his sweet time removing his armor, and stuffs it into his gym bag. he truly can't remember anything he's done to be summoned with donghyuck, unless he's pulled one too many charmspeak aided pranks.

"think we're gonna get voted off the island? gods, imagine how boring this place would be without us. we're the lifeblood of this entire camp."

"what if only i'm getting exiled? would you follow me, or leave me out there to die?"

jaemin laughs, and puts his hand on donghyuck's shoulder as they walk toward the big blue house at the center of the camp.

"sorry hyuckie, if you get banished, i no longer know you. can't risk getting your shit pinned on me. that's what renjun's for."

"to think i considered you a best friend... you're really something, jaemin na. maybe the next time your ass needs saving, i'll find somewhere else to be."

it's always an event, walking into the big house. the decorations are haphazard, and they have no consistent theme. there's endless rooms to get lost in, and doors that lead to places jaemin wishes to never find himself in again.

on top of that, most times he’s been in here were indeed to get in shit for doing something stupid. jaemin's got more beads on his necklace than anyone his age here; his only competition for years spent in the camp versus outside of it is mark. for better or worse, growing up with minimal adult supervision and far too much space to run around in made jaemin the man he is today.

it's a strange sight, when they reach the common room and see a small crowd gathered. renjun, jeno, changmin, and yunho sit awkwardly in wait.

the thing is, jaemin never knows how to act around the two adults. one of them is a centaur who runs a tight shift, and the other is a minor god. jaemin's never had the courage to ask dionysus why he's been forced to spend his years in the camp reluctantly guiding kids through their development. in fact, even calling him yunho still feels odd to this day. really, jaemin’s entire relationship with the gods is strange.

"you're all wondering why you're here, right?"

it's an understatement. still, jaemin wouldn't dare talk back to changmin.

"i'm sure you've heard whispers from the other campers, but there's a bit of a sensitive situation that needs to be handled. sooner than later, preferably."

hesitantly, jaemin takes a seat on the couch beside jeno.

he can't say he has heard any gossip of strange happenings around; has he spent that much time practicing lately? generally, he's the eyes and ears of the camp. very rarely does anything pass him by. in fact, it's a little unsettling that he hasn't heard anything, if it's significant enough to call all four of them into the big house.

"all four of you display exemplary skill and control in your training—through your articulate manipulation of the elements to hand-to-hand combat, you’ve all proven yourselves to be our best shot at handling the task at hand."

changmin takes a moment to find his words while the rest of the room waits in tension.

"beyond the walls of camp half blood, there's been an alarming rise in monster activity. minotaurs, harpies, and gorgons appearing all across the state. minor monsters, of course. minimal threat. that was, of course, until we heard rumours of a grander beast that requires a great amount of skill."

it's more than clear what the implications of this information are; jaemin's never been given his own quest before, but it's something he's always dreamed about. it's something that brings him great honour, if not a healthy amount of fear.

"there's been sightings of a hydra down in austin that could seriously threaten the safety of demigods in its surrounding area, if no one attends to it. it's been attracting other beasts, and i fear it's something we'll need to deal with quite quickly. i understand that it's a lot to ask of all of you, but given the circumstances, i'm sure you understand my decision."

"so you're... sending us to kill a hydra. in texas. just to like, clear that up. right?" donghyuck chimes in.

"and you're sure that we're the right team for the job? even against like, doyoung and taeyong? jaehyun?" this time it's renjun, who alike the rest of the room, looks like he's still trying to process the grand task that's been placed on his shoulders.

"are you not all confident in your abilities and skill?"

a challenge to jaemin's pride is an easy target.

well, fuck.

in full honesty, even as a child of death and darkness, there's something about the oracle delphi that fucking terrifies renjun. he's heard all kinds of horror stories from senior campers who have received quests—the riddles that come out as a thick mist, and seep into the ears of the fated. even the room she dwells in unnerves him, full of dusty artifacts and creaking floorboards, and statues that look like they watch his every move.

for a second, they all stand in front of her, and nothing happens. they all look at each other in confusion, and then suddenly, it hits all of them at once.

"four of gods and men embark—of the seas, light, desire, and dark. two trials await ye who seek to leave thy mark. nine faces lie in wait; let them not seal thy fate. the longest sun soon seeks the stars; see them the beast, and three hearts will scar. ye who conquer shall find thy spark.”

few demigods are gifted in traditional academics; even renjun, who spends most of his time with his nose buried in a book, struggles to make sense of the mist. at the very least, he has mind enough to jot it all down before it dissipates, and the four are left alone with their thoughts.

"did anyone get like, more than a sentence of that?" jaemin speaks up after a minute of tense silence.

renjun pores over the words. in the margins, he starts to make notes.

'sea = jeno
light = hyuck
desire = jaemin
dark = renjun'

'nine faces.
hydra heads?'

he underlines the phrase the longest sun soon seeks the stars, and chews at his bottom lip. in fact, he voices it.

the group of boys ponder the phrase—in particular, the part that implies tragedy due to running past a deadline seems an important one to get down. the rest just pretty clearly states what to expect for the rest of their quest.

donghyuck appears to finally reach a breakthrough.

"it's gotta be the summer solstice; longest day of the year. obviously."

the timing makes sense, at the very least.

"but doesn't that give us like... five days? that's kind of a lot of ground to cover if we're supposed to knock down an entire hydra by dinner on top of that." it's jeno who voices his concern this time, and renjun feels his worry.

it's not nearly enough time to form a properly coherent plan, conquer any potential obstacles, and take down a beast far bigger than any of them have had the pleasure of encountering.

"do we have much of a choice?" renjun counters, fingers tight on his notebook. one of them might not make it home, if they fuck this up. it could be any of them. the thought of it has bile rising in his throat. "we've only got the rest of the day to prepare, and then we should set out as early as we can tomorrow. before sunrise. every minute counts."

renjun spares a wary look at donghyuck—one that's met with an equally nervous attempt at comfort. the sunshine boy doesn't appear to be faring any better given the news, but at the very least, he’ll help him out.

"injunnie's right. feeling sorry for ourselves isn't gonna kill a hydra, is it? let's pack some shit up, have a good dinner, and sleep tight. we've got a monster to hunt."

"you're gonna throw your back out carrying that thing. do you really need all of that?"

were jeno able to get out of his head enough to look at his situation objectively, he'd agree with mark. his backpack lies in the middle of his bed, stuffed full of clothes, supplies, weapons, non perishables, and anything else he's touched in the past month. just in case.

it's not like he doesn't trust the three other boys accompanying him on their quest; he's spent a lot of years with jaemin, renjun, and donghyuck. he knows he can rely on them in battle, and their friendship is bulletproof. he's just... a little worried that if he doesn't pack enough necessities to go around, no one will.

"we can keep most of it in the car; it's not like we can buy food and first aid kits with gold drachmas."

"i'm sure you could ask mom for money or something, if you needed it. you know she'll jump at any opportunity to baby you."

though mark has a point, jeno's pride stings at the thought. they rarely get opportunities to catch up with her as it is, and he'd feel guilty using one of them to ask for help. they're out here because it's safer, anyway. she shouldn't have to worry.

"we don't really have the time—we don't even get a full week to track this thing down and kill it, and none of us know what the fuck we're doing."

mark lets jeno pace around their shared room for another minute before he presses again. at the very least, he gets it. they're brothers after all, and on both sides. he knows jeno better than anyone, to jeno’s benefit and detriment both.

"you aren't even gonna wear half of those clothes by the time you're back. just pack like, a couple shirts and a pair of jeans. it's not like you won't be able to find a laundromat or something."

"and if my only outfit gets charred to a crisp?"

"then i'm sure you'll have bigger problems than worrying about what you'll wear home."

jeno huffs, and sits on his bed beside the mess he's created. his duffel bag is nearly bursting at the seams. he knows he's fretting.

on one hand, this quest really isn't a big deal. it's dangerous and all, but with proper teamwork and their collective level of skill, the hydra that awaits could easily be no more than a maintenance mission on the camp's behalf.

from another side, this is the biggest thing any of them have ever been tasked to do. no supervision or guidance from more senior campers. other than the generally massive fucking area that austin covers, they don't even have a clear direction of where they're going, let alone a solid game plan for what's to happen when they're actually confronted with the thing.

a lot could go wrong.

"do you really think we can do it?"

jeno rarely voices his thoughts of weakness, but in a matter that could be life or death, he figures he can bend a little.

mark snorts.

"you've gotta be kidding. between the four of you? that hydra doesn't stand a chance. you'll be back like, two days early."

at the very least, it's not like jeno really has a choice but to go. it's written in their fates—assuming they don't fuck this up, it'll be an incredible accomplishment, and for the greater good of demigods not under the camp’s protection.

even if jeno isn't confident, he'll have to feign it for the others. he owes it to them to be strong.

he resigns to unpacking a few of the more superfluous items he'd decided to bring, and after triple checking everything he has on hand to make sure there's nothing he missed, jeno finally decides to tuck into bed and call it a night. he tries to let the cabin's lingering smell of saltwater lull him into rest.

he'll need it.

rising before the sun isn't really donghyuck's style—he hits snooze on the five alarms he set, and once he's awoken his entire cabin, he only fully wakes when they hide his blanket and turn on the light.

it isn't his fault. in part, he is the sun.

by the time he reaches the edge of the camp to set course on their quest, the other three are already packed into the car and waiting on him.

"we were weighing the pros and cons of leaving without you. i voted we let you stay behind so we wouldn't have to deal with your morning mood swings, but jeno didn't think it was fair."

jaemin's volume is already excessive; donghyuck's head is pounding. he could use one of the eight cups of coffee jaemin has likely already downed.

instead of responding, donghyuck jabs an elbow into his ribs, and gets into the car to cocoon himself in the blanket that was stolen from him this morning. he'll likely be in the car until later tonight anyway, and as a self proclaimed gay who can't drive, he's really got nothing else to do to pass the time.

in fact, the only two with licenses are jaemin and jeno—donghyuck and renjun spent their youth running from monsters, and by the time they reached adolescence, they'd already been at camp for too long to have connections on the outside. not everyone has jaemin's motivation to overachieve when they get a chance to visit home, if they have a home to go to at all.

since jaemin takes the wheel and renjun tasks himself with attempting to navigate them, donghyuck is left with jeno in the back seat. his legs are too long and it's already too cramped with all of the bags they've packed, so he stretches them out over jeno's lap once they start moving.

"do we even know how to get to texas? how the fuck are we supposed to find this thing if it’s on the literal other side of the country?" donghyuck groans, exhausted before their adventure has even begun.

"i mean, we've got a vague idea, right? it can't be that hard to find a nine headed fire-breathing monster in the middle of austin. others will probably lead us right to it." donghyuck is sure jeno means these words as comfort, but at the moment, they only fill him with dread.

"it'll be like, a three day trip from long island—two if we really push ourselves. that leaves us like, a day and a half? two days? to track down and kill this thing. not accounting for like, stopping for food or unexpected delays." jaemin calls over his shoulder, eyes still trained on the road ahead of them.

along the side roads on the way to the city, there's no street lamps to light the way; it's still fairly dark out, so donghyuck is definitely intending to get a little more sleep before things start to really set in motion.

the pillow he's got pressed up against the side of the car already makes his neck ache, and his brain feels a little scrambled leaning against the window, so he unbuckles his seatbelt and crawls over to curl up on jeno's lap instead.

it's not new—there's very few friends of donghyuck's that haven't been subjected to his enthusiastic tactile tendencies. though he's a little bony, jeno is a hell of a lot comfier than his prior arrangement.

jeno tugs donghyuck's blanket back over him, and runs absent fingers through the back of his hair. it's soothing enough for donghyuck to properly feel sleepy again, so he finally closes his eyes in an effort to get a few more hours in.

"only wake me up if there's food." he grumbles into jeno's thigh; he feels the soft shake of jeno's body that's surely indicative of laughter, but for once, he'll let him live.

eventually, maybe four or so hours in, jaemin's bladder decides that it's time for a pit stop. he's due for another hit of caffeine anyway, and he supposes it's probably healthier if he can take a break over a hot meal.

he's fairly sure they're somewhere in the middle of maryland when he takes the first highway exit that leads them to a denny's—it's mostly renjun keeping track, anyway.

when jaemin checks his rearview, he sees that donghyuck and jeno have both fallen soundly asleep in the backseat. though admittedly it has him feeling a little fond, he tasks renjun with waking the two up and leading them inside while he fills up on gas.

the wad of cash changmin sent them with seems like it might be enough to cover the expense for the rest of their journey, at least, so it's another thing they don't have to worry about when there’s already so many other details to stress over.

by the time he makes it inside, the three have already found a table and begun to pore over their menus. when jaemin finally takes his seat, he's overwhelmingly grateful that a cup of hot coffee already greets him.

jeno and donghyuck finally look properly rested; renjun sips a mug of steaming tea while he weighs his meal options. he of course decides on the most decadent stack of dulce de leche pancakes that everyone takes it upon themselves to steal a bite of while he pretends to look affronted.

jaemin settles on as many meat options as he can fit onto a breakfast plate, and he coats them with the runny yolk from his sunny side up egg; jeno grimaces at the sight.

"kinda sucks that we don't really get to see all of these places we're passing by, doesn't it? like, there's so many cool things we're gonna miss out on just because we're tailing a monster and we don't have time to look." renjun muses, stealing a forkful of donghyuck's home fries.

"assuming we all make it out alive, maybe we can catch them on the way back?" jaemin offers; though his tone is lighthearted, it still causes a small amount of tension over their table.

"you think that thing really stands a chance against us? imagine how embarrassing it would be if we came back to camp without taking it down. there's no way." donghyuck, in higher spirits, at least successfully lightens the mood.

for the most part, he's right—there's a reason the four of them were tasked to this particular quest. all of them are individually strong fighters and quick thinkers, but combined, they're an unstoppable force.

it doesn't ease all of the worry gnawing at the pit of jaemin's stomach, but it's enough that he can brush it off. everyone is going home.

"maybe we'll get to take the solstice as a vacation day; d'you think there's any beaches in texas?" donghyuck muses, mouth full of bacon strip.

"it's got a coastline, dumbass. of course there's beaches—ow, fuck!" it's safe to assume that donghyuck has kicked jeno under the table—it's enough to get everyone laughing at his expense.

"can it, fish boy. normal people don't know the location of every body of water on planet earth."

the banter continues for the better part of their breakfast; no one's plate is safe from wandering forks, but they're all beyond caring anyway.

the bill is settled, jaemin forgets to tip (renjun covers it and nags him about it later), and they're finally settled back into the car and on their way.

in another few hours they'll switch so jeno can take the wheel, and jaemin can fight shitty highway service to play a few mobile games and maybe have a nap.

so far, he really supposes he can't complain.

from what renjun's waze app tells him, apparently the four of them have landed somewhere between virginia and tennessee before they decide to call it a day. jaemin was quick to protest and suggest that he could switch off with jeno again, but the three of them were quick to shut it down. he didn't catch a wink of sleep during his break, and they're all due for a late night meal again, anyway.

it's healthier if they rest up properly to gain their strength, so renjun insists they find a half decent motel room to settle into for the night.

they've only got the money for a one bed room, but at the very least, jaemin charmspeaks his way into scoring one with two. the beds are fucking tiny and rock hard, and there's questionable stains on the carpet, but at least it's something.

it's a game of rock-paper-scissors that decides sleeping arrangements; renjun and jeno end up in one bed, with jaemin and donghyuck in the other. they'll switch again tomorrow night when they find somewhere else to stay, anyway. they're making it work.

they pair up to spend what little free time they have before turning in for the night—jaemin and donghyuck want to stretch their legs and explore a little, so renjun is happy to stay back with jeno who's found the pool out back.

"the breathing under water thing is convenient and all, but you can literally taste the chlorine." he complains, arms folded on the pool deck beside renjun who cools his feet in the water.

jeno didn't really think to bring a pair of swim shorts, so for the moment, the most he's got is his pair of—thankfully not white—boxer briefs. the water makes the inky streaks of his hair cling to his forehead, so he pushes them back to see better.

in the water, even when it reeks of chlorine, jeno absolutely glows. while renjun always feels more at ease come nightfall, it's nothing compared to the absolute bliss jeno looks like he's in every time he swims.

he grabs hold of renjun's ankle, and tugs it lightly.

"don't you wanna come in? it's too hot out tonight—i was dying to cool down."

it's not like jeno is wrong. the further they travel south, the warmer it gets. it's already nearing the peak of summer, where days are sweltering, and nights are hardly cooler.

still, renjun isn't much of a swimmer.

"i'd rather sit up here and watch you make a fool of yourself. it's not even a great pool."

renjun smirks, though his words are soft at the edges. it's rare that any of them get a chance to truly relax like this; they're always training, or socializing, or in renjun's case, studying. if they ignore the true purpose of this trip if even just momentarily, it really sort of feels like a summer vacation. a road trip with a group of his closest friends.

wet fingers reach for renjun's own—jeno plays with them, smile soft on his face. it's enough to get something bubbling in renjun's chest, and once his heartbeat quickens a little, before he knows it, he's already lost. jeno is playing a game that results in tugging renjun's hand until he loses his balance, and he heads face first in the pool.

thank gods renjun's phone is still on the deck.

when renjun resurfaces, jeno is already halfway across the pool, and his eyes are completely lost to the rest of his smile. he's laughing his ass off, and renjun is coughing up some water that went down the wrong pipe on the way down.

"you'd better stay the fuck over there, jeno lee. don't forget that i can strangle you in your sleep tonight."

jeno, very clearly, sees through renjun's threat. before he knows it, the boy is back on his end of the pool again, and his eyes are still crescent moons.

"c'mon, that was hilarious. you really should've seen your face when you—hey!"

renjun sends the biggest splash of water he can manage, aimed right at jeno's face. it's enough to have him sputtering at the unexpected taste of chlorine, too, so renjun figures they're somewhat even now.

well, halfway even.

before renjun knows it, he's initiated a water fight with a child of poseidon who's feeling a little too mischievous for the night. it's a clear loss, but at the very least, he's nice enough to let renjun get a few more splashes in and drag him under the water once for good measure.

"are you two done being five year olds, or are you sleeping outside tonight?"

it's jaemin that calls out to them, breaking renjun's focus on preparing another attack.

the rose haired boy looks at them with a raised eyebrow, face full of amusement. beside him, donghyuck carries an armful of variety store snacks.

"it was your idea to rest up early for the night, injunnie. at least play along."

jeno wakes up hot and sticky, and he can’t feel his arm. when he goes to move, he realizes he's trapped. he's got an arm under renjun's head, one around his waist, and his legs have been compromised by renjun's sleepy koala limbs. he can't really complain; the shampoo renjun packed smells nice, and he certainly doesn't have the heart to move him off. in fact, that very same heart sort of aches at the sight of the smaller boy making a home for himself all over jeno.

he really only gets another five minutes or so to relax before the alarm goes off and everyone is groaning in complaint—renjun included. he buries his face further into jeno's chest in protest, and it has jeno feeling overwhelmingly fond.

the moment doesn't last, though secretly jeno wishes it could've.

they all get out of bed and go about their morning routines—jaemin brushes his teeth with his hair sticking up in every direction, and donghyuck laces his shoes with sleep squinted eyes, as if the light is still a little too bright.

they pack up what few things they all took out of their bags for the night, and head out on the road. this time jeno is first behind the wheel, letting jaemin have a little more of a break before they switch off later in the day. renjun still sits up in the front seat, feet on the dash, lazily navigating jeno to a starbucks for a quick morning coffee and a chance to get something to eat. afterward, it’s back onto the highway before sunrise.

somewhere behind him, donghyuck and jaemin have no regard for seatbelt safety, and they're tangled up in each other on their phones. jeno doesn't really let it bother him, though. it’s far too fucking cramped back there.

eyes still on the road, jeno grabs what assumes to be his own frappuccino from the console and takes a sip.

"wait, jeno, that's—" renjun tries to stop him, but it's already too late. jeno nearly swerves off the road for how horribly it catches him by surprise; he chokes and gags a little, and once he's finally sure he won't die this instant, his face scrunches up in discontent.

"gods, jaemin. are you drinking fucking rocket fuel? how can you stand that shit?"

renjun's face is pinched, like he's trying to keep his expression neutral, but he's mere seconds from laughing.

jeno shoots him a glare.

"that's why i didn't order it for you—i don't tell you how to live your life." jaemin calls from the back seat, and finally, renjun loses it.

he at least spares kindness enough to hand jeno his own proper drink to wash the toxic waste down with.

"i tried to warn you."

the longer they spend on the highway, the further donghyuck sinks into jaemin. he's currently sprawled on top of him, legs cramped uncomfortably against the other side of the seat—jaemin's are even longer than his own, so the entire back seat is a mess.

both of them have their phones in the air; jaemin is scrolling through social media, and this time it's donghyuck who plays mobile games. he's lucky enough that his data is cooperating enough to hold a round of pubg steady, since it seems like for once, they’re not in the middle of nowhere.

jaemin, seemingly bored of whatever is happening on his phone or lack thereof, locks it and rests his hands back down over donghyuck's torso. he's stolen all the pillows and blankets to support his own neck, so all donghyuck can do is wiggle around to get comfortable. it proves to be quite the feat—quite simply, jaemin is too fucking large to be back here.

donghyuck figures that maybe jaemin has gone back to sleep when his breathing evens out and his heartbeat slows, so he starts up another match after losing horribly—70th place certainly takes his ego down a notch.

it turns out he's wrong; jaemin traces fingers along donghyuck's stomach in his boredom. it's a little distracting and donghyuck is fairly ticklish, so he squirms again.

"can you stop that?"

"stop what exactly?" affronted, donghyuck tries harder to focus on his game. he's stranded out in the middle of the woods, and he's got no fucking gun. just a bunch of useless shit and ammo clogging his inventory. he's a sitting duck.

"moving. just like—settle."

petty as always, donghyuck shuffles a little more where he lies, and turns over to be lying completely flat on his back on top of jaemin, crushing him. he wiggles some more.

"hyuck."

donghyuck rolls his eyes, and decides to play along. it's not like he has much choice back here—in fact, next time he thinks he'll steal the front seat and make renjun take the back. he's a hell of a lot tinier, and he's used up enough of his navigating privilege. it really can't be that hard to wayfind on a highway.

miraculously, donghyuck finds an untouched warehouse; it's got a decent lookout point, and his favourite gun. he tosses out all of the useless garbage, consumes a few health packs, sets up his 4x zoom, and he's ready to fucking go.

in seventh place, it's getting intense. the play area only gets smaller, and he knows it's only a matter of time before it's a fight to the death. he fully intends to collect his chicken dinner.

what he isn't prepared for is jaemin's fingers tracing over a sensitive patch of exposed skin right along his waistband; he physically holds back the shiver that threatens his spine, and tries to ignore it.

he takes down another unfortunate player, and is quick to run over and loot them. be it accidentally or intentionally, jaemin's pinky finger slips momentarily under his waistband before resurfacing. he's only wearing a pair of sweats that are fairly loose and comfy, and now he feels way too exposed. holy fuck.

"can you stop that?"

donghyuck fumbles with his phone. he accidentally shoots his gun, and now he's blown his cover. fucking fantastic.

"stop what?"

jaemin's fingers, daring, ghost further down donghyuck's hipbone. donghyuck's face burns.

"that. you fucking know what."

jaemin's thumb rubs firmer circles around his hip bone, and every time he extends his thumb before he brings it back again, it's far too close for donghyuck to even remember what he's doing on his phone.

donghyuck's entire body freezes—he's out in the middle of a road with no cover. the final player takes an easy headshot, and at this point, he can hardly blame them. fuck. fuck.

"jaemin na, i swear to the gods—"

jaemin's fingers trail lower, but only for a moment. to brush along the inside of donghyuck's thigh where the skin is extra sensitive, even through his sweats.

there's breath over his neck, and finally, words in his ear. then jaemin's hands are gone.

"payback."

they're halfway through arkansas when jaemin decides it's time to make another pit stop. after jeno's turn driving this morning, he's finally crashed in the back seat, though renjun sits awake on the other side. his co-pilot donghyuck is also out cold, and he seems to be enjoying his extra leg room to its fullest.

he doesn't really have the heart to wake them, but he looks into his rearview to raise an eyebrow in silent question directed at renjun. he seems to agree, and meets jaemin outside the car. it's another rest stop—this one is merely a mcdonald’s in an otherwise empty lot, so they both head into the bathroom to take a leak. maybe he'll buy them all a burger.

renjun finishes first, since jaemin is too busy rubbing his eyes in front of the mirror; he's a little dazed after the better part of two days traveling straight, but he knows they can make it.

"...uh, jaem?"

renjun is still at the door to the bathroom, clutching the handle. it's only open a sliver that he peers through carefully.

"what's up?"

"the lights are all out. i... think there's something here. i feel it."

at the very least, they all have mind enough to carry celestial bronze on them in the event of a monster run-in. in fact, they're pretty lucky that this is the first one of the entire trip, but it doesn't make things any less serious.

jaemin grabs the dagger he keeps strapped to his calf, and looks to renjun to do the same.

instead, renjun looks kind of nauseous.

"aren't you armed?"

"i uh, left mine in the car. i wasn't thinking."

"should we call jeno and hyuck?"

renjun takes his phone out of his pocket, and whispers curses.

"shit. no cell service."

something crashes around in the restaurant outside, and jaemin tenses. he steps in front of renjun, and grabs hold of the door.

"you'll be my eyes, right?" he looks back at renjun, feigning confidence. renjun, too, looks a little shaken, but he keeps his composure. it's a necessary role; renjun’s night vision is catlike, where jaemin’s regular human-grade eyes betray him.

"i'll see if i can buy us some cover with shadows?"

jaemin nods.

he reaches for the door, but renjun's small fingers grab hold of his wrist.

"nana—wait."

he looks back in concern; renjun seems to hesitate before speaking.

"just... don't try to be a hero, okay? if it means we just have to make a run for it and drive off as quick as we can, we're doing that. we're already separated, it's not a good idea."

jaemin isn't entirely sure what classifies as being a hero or not, but he's fairly confident he can take out a monster. the hydra that awaits them a mere state over is a far bigger problem.

still, he nods for the sake of it.

the two slowly creep out of the bathroom, moving the door only little by little so as to avoid the squeak it'd made when they opened it to come in. renjun is pressed to jaemin's side, eyes concentrated on their surroundings—jaemin can only feel his presence. aside from a fallen light that shoots sparks off every few seconds, it's pitch black. he grips his dagger tightly in front of him.

he feels renjun so close that his lips brush against the shell of his ear; his whispers are so quiet that they're nearly just breaths. it's all the noise they can afford.

"we're covered as long as we stay quiet, but i can't see it. it's hiding."

their heads whip immediately in the direction of the kitchen, where pots and pans crash to the floor. the creature hisses; the noise is strange, almost as if it echoes itself.

they both freeze.

"is that—"

"fuck. gorgon. get back."

jaemin missteps once, and he knocks a tray off of a table.

fuck. fuck fuck fuck.

the creature hisses louder, and its humanoid head hums.

"ah, i knew i'd find you. you can't hide, little demigods. i can smell you." her voice is serpentlike, long-drawn and sharp. a rattle sounds, and renjun gasps softly in surprise.

the creature slithers closer; jaemin closes his eyes. even in the dark, he can't be sure it won't turn him to stone.

"mm, that aroma. so sweet—do i smell a child of aphrodite? my, i haven't had one of those in eons. you make such pretty statues. works of art."

their path to the door is blocked; in order to escape, they'll have to walk right in front of the thing.

their time is running out.

there are times where renjun wishes he couldn't see in the dark. while shadows normally bring him comfort, they also hide horrible secrets. monsters thrive in absence of light—it makes their prey easier targets.

"renjun, close your eyes."

he can see that jaemin's already are, but it's not like they basically weren't already with how thick the shadows are.

"not yet. trust me; follow my lead."

by the small of his back, renjun pushes jaemin forward to inch toward their escape route. they're losing time, but it's the only thing they can do before they get cornered.

"i don't smell a child of hades, do i? the stench of death and rot; my, it'd be a favour to rid the world of you. your father is such a pest."

resentment burns in renjun's chest, but he shoves it down. his father, though scarce, is all he has left anymore. it's a raw nerve.

he pushes jaemin further, and they're nearly at the threshold of the door. the gorgon only draws closer—whether or not they make it depends on what happens in the next few seconds.

jaemin is hesitant on his feet without vision to aid him. renjun can't really blame him for it, but by the time they reach the open area, it's too late.

she's waiting for them.

"three o'clock." he whispers urgently to jaemin; it's where he directs his blade, though he makes no move toward the thing.

"the door's at nine. we can make a run for it in three... two... now!" he pushes jaemin one last time in the direction of the door, training his eyes on it.

it's only a thirty foot dash, if they can make it. renjun's feet move as fast as they'll carry him, but when he hears jaemin yell, he stops cold in his tracks.

something that sounds sickeningly similar to jaemin's dagger clatters to the floor.

"thought you'd be slick, didn't you?" she coos at jaemin. when renjun covers his eyes and sneaks a peak through the slits of his fingers, ice runs through his veins. she has her claws around his arm, and she's right in front of jaemin's face, caressing his cheek.

jaemin struggles, but her grip only tightens, and he winces.

"renjun, go!"

renjun eyes the exit only once before he decides against it—by the time he finds the others to come help, jaemin could easily be a goner. he can't let anything happen to him. he'd never be able to live with himself.

instead, dashes toward the nearest object (which happens to only be a napkin dispenser), grabs hold of it, and whips it at the thing.

it's nearly a miss, but it catches a few serpents at the back of her head, and crashes loudly against the wall behind them.

it's enough of a distraction that it confuses the creature into looking toward the direction of the sound, and renjun takes his chance.

he skids along the floor in an effort to grab hold of jaemin's dagger, but by the time he's almost got it in his hand, the serpent's tail sends it flying across the room.

renjun only trusts himself to look at the floor now—he's too close, but at the very least, the creature is anchored holding jaemin in place.

he’s quickly running out of options. all he has at his disposal is his phone and a bin of plastic cutlery; the former of the two he intends to use as a blunt weapon if need be.

he needs to get to that dagger. renjun is behind her now, and he sees the way she slithers closer to jaemin. right up against him, where she tries to force his eyes open. if he fucks this up again, renjun gets a front row ticket to jaemin's demise. he can't risk that.

he darts under the table it sits beneath, and his heart races so quickly that his pulse is in his ears. it takes two tries to reach far enough to grab hold of the thing, but once he does, renjun is quick on his feet toward the gorgon, and he jams the blade square in the middle of her back.

it's not instantaneous—she stills, and roars, and falls forward onto jaemin before she turns into bronze dust and is banished to the underworld.

as she falls, the serpents with teeth still lodged in the skin of jaemin's forearm do quite a number on him. he's bleeding pretty severely, but fuck, he's alive.

renjun runs into him with a full forced hug, squeezing jaemin as tight as his arms will allow. somewhere along the way he started crying, but it's the least of his worries.

"she's gone, nana. you can open your eyes. it's over."

jaemin still seems to be in shock; renjun can't say he blames him, given that he was two steps from death itself.

still, they're okay. they made it.

jeno feels a little groggy; he must've slept later than he expected, because when he wakes, it's dark outside, and they're stopped in front of a mcdonald's. jaemin promised he'd find them somewhere to stay before nightfall, but knowing his stubbornness, he probably wanted to push through a little longer until they were closer to the city.

donghyuck is still asleep in the passenger seat—his face is all squished up against his shoulder, and were he a little less moral, jeno would snap a picture for the memory.

once he's fully awake, however, jeno knows something isn't right. renjun and jaemin should be back by now, if they were only stopping in to get food.

on further inspection, the lights are out inside—or at least they appear to be, so it's enough for jeno to unbuckle his seatbelt and cautiously investigate.

he's almost to the door of the restaurant when renjun and jaemin come stumbling out. they look like hell; jeno is immediately concerned.

"what the hell happened in there?"

renjun is out of breath, and jaemin barely looks himself. in fact, the taller of the two hardly spares him a look. he's pallid and glassy eyed, and before he makes it three steps out the door, jaemin collapses.

they're both quick to his side—jeno holds jaemin's head up on his lap, and does a once over. from the shoulders up, jaemin looks unharmed, though his breaths are quick and shallow. jeno continues to scan jaemin until he finds the source; his forearm has started to balloon, and it's turning purple. he's losing blood quickly, but it almost looks like he's...

"renjun, what the fuck was in there?"

it seems to be enough to shake renjun from his horrified trance; he grabs hold of jaemin's arm. though blood runs down his fingers, he looks like he's trying to concentrate.

"gorgon."

in one word, jeno immediately understands what's happening. jaemin shows all the signs of an allergic reaction; it's snake venom, and his arm is covered in bites.

renjun blinks away his tears, and his eyebrows knit in concentration. jeno feels the air around him start to shift—slowly, jaemin's arm is surrounded by a localized dark cloud. it's too thick to see what's happening underneath, but if jeno searches his memory, he can recall renjun having a similar healing power to his own.

through manipulating water, he can clean and heal wounds; renjun and donghyuck aren't as practiced in doing this, but in the middle of dry land, jeno's resources are pretty stripped.

for a few minutes, it’s silent. jaemin’s breathing is still laboured, and he begins to tremble; jeno is absolutely at a loss for what to do. the entire situation rests in rejnun’s hands.

then, finally, things start to look less bleak.

jaemin's breathing starts to even out, and he becomes more aware of his surroundings. in fact, a little too aware, because he tries to sit up, and jeno has to hold him down.

"whoa, hey there. take it easy, nana. no one's going anywhere." he reassures soothingly, and after a second or two, jaemin slumps back against jeno's lap.

he runs fingers through jaemin's hair to soothe him in the same way that never fails to calm donghyuck down, and it proves effective. thankfully, he relaxes and lets renjun heal him as he comes back to himself.

"i just wanted to pee and get some fries." jaemin pouts; jeno chuckles softly.

"this wouldn't have happened if you listened and found us a motel, you know. you kind of had it coming."

weakly, jaemin rolls his eyes.

when they both look up toward renjun, however, jeno's heart sinks. he's forcing himself so hard that he's sweating, and his nose is bleeding—his eyes are closed, like he's concentrating every bit of power he has to counteract the venom.

jaemin seems like he'll survive, but renjun is about at his limit. jeno reaches out to grab his hand to get his attention.

"injunnie, that's enough. you can stop now—we don't need both of you out of commission. we'll find somewhere to rest up, mm?"

when renjun opens his eyes, they’re hesitant.

"i packed some ambrosia in case any of us got into a freak accident or something. can't trust any of you as far as i can throw you." he gently teases. now that he isn't frantic to save jaemin's life, jeno's entire body feels like a weight has been lifted off of it.

they've had a long day—they're all due for a proper meal and a good rest to heal themselves before they reach austin tomorrow.

unease nags the back of jeno's thoughts about how they'll fare against a hydra if they nearly lost jaemin to a minor monster, but he tries to push it aside.

they'll make it.

the first thing donghyuck does after renjun finishes his retelling of the night's events is smack his shoulder.

it's stupid—he knows that renjun did all of the right things, but it still fills him with worry, so he frets. checks renjun all over for any minor scrapes and bruises, and wipes away the blood under his nose with a wet cloth.

he's been taking care of renjun his entire life; after he lost his mom, donghyuck's took him in. when they were only eight years old and donghyuck lost his own, they were all each other had left in this world. he's renjun's sun. renjun is his stars.

donghyuck is quick to steal some ambrosia from jeno for renjun to eat, and when they're having actual dinner, he continuously shoves things on his plate in an effort to nourish him back to full strength.

he can't help but worry; renjun is exactly the person who would let his own flame burn out just to light another. he's always put donghyuck's safety before his own, and he's constantly getting himself hurt because of it. tonight is no different—he looks out for the people close to him, no matter the cost.

he nearly pushed himself to exhaustion saving jaemin's life today, and while donghyuck worries for them both, he can't fight the knee jerk reaction to feel overprotective of renjun. besides, jeno seems like he has a good handle on the jaemin situation for the time being, anyway.

"gods, you're such an idiot."

his words hold no real malice, lying across from the boy on their shared tiny bed, running his thumb softly across renjun's cheekbone.

renjun looks guilty, yet not regretful. he frets over donghyuck an equal amount; he has to get it, to some degree.

"you didn't even think to wake me up before we stopped for dinner? you just like, sat there half dead pretending everything was fine?"

"half dead is a bit of a stretch." renjun counters. donghyuck gives him a look, and he sighs.

"didn't want you to worry. jaemin's the one who got the worst of it, anyway. it's nothing i can't just sleep off."

though renjun is right, donghyuck isn't quite ready to admit defeat just yet. instead, he voices his worries one more time.

"you'd better not pull any dumb shit when we're fighting that hydra. if you die on me i'll march right down to the underworld myself and drag you back, so help me gods."

his actions still counteract his words—his fingers, in softly brushing along renjun's cheek, briefly touch the corner of his lips. donghyuck's heart is in his throat.

"mm, i know you will."

fuck. renjun says it with such reverence, such fondness, that donghyuck feels the tips of his ears get a little hot. his fingers lose their confidence and tremble a little; renjun feels it, so he reaches up to grab donghyuck's hand, and laces them with his own.

there was barely any distance between them to begin with, but now everything feels like it's too close, and the world is moving in slow motion, and everything is a little rose coloured.

every time renjun speaks, donghyuck feels his breath against his skin. donghyuck almost wonders if he's forgetting how to breathe himself.

"don't get any ideas about dying either; my dad still owes me a favour. i have some real pull down there, you know. my running plan is to keep you immortal if i can help it."

somehow, if possible, renjun has drawn even closer. it has to be intentional. he's doing that on purpose, right?

renjun gently squeezes his fingers.

"please, you think i'd ever let that thing take me alive?" it only feels right to whisper; the moment is delicate.

it's donghyuck this time, who inches closer. his brain is trapped in a sidecar while his heart takes the wheel.

renjun's eyes shimmer in the moonlight; his eyelashes flutter softly when he blinks. slow motion. soft sensations. the first dive donghyuck takes is to look at his lips and then back into renjun's eyes, every emotion in his heart on full display. the second, from the highest olympic diving board on planet earth—hell, maybe one situated right on top of mount olympus itself—is to close the distance between them and capture them in a kiss.

if donghyuck's heart beats any faster than this, he's sure it'll explode. again, renjun squeezes his hand, but this time he keeps the pressure steady like he too can hardly believe it, and kisses him right back.

their lips are soft together, languid and savouring; all of the times they've teased each other and flirted, played cat and mouse, surely must have meant something after all. the fates have been knitting their strings together since day one, haven't they?

renjun puts a little more heart into it, but everything still feels warm and sweet, and not just because donghyuck can still taste the ambrosia on his lips. because the world was waiting for this.

when renjun pulls back, donghyuck is a little too nervous to open his eyes again—everything feels so raw and exposed. his heart beats loudly and desperately as it sits in the palm of renjun's small hand.

"hey," renjun whispers. he runs his thumb along the back of donghyuck's hand. donghyuck breathes in shakily, and finally opens his eyes—certainly, nothing could've ever prepared him for the look in renjun’s. like he sees right into his soul, but he's baring his own for donghyuck.

they stare into each others' eyes for only a moment longer before renjun closes the distance between them again. donghyuck's heart absolutely floats—it makes itself a home among the stars, glistening and ever-burning.

maybe this is a feeling he'll have to get used to.

as far as near-death experiences go, jaemin can't say this one warranted a shining yelp review—mainly, it just caused a lot of unnecessary worry and commotion. he's eaten all the ambrosia he'll allow jeno to push on him, and just about as much food as he can stomach, but he still feels guilty. that, and a little exhausted.

at the very least, he spares everyone peace of mind by letting them dote on him for the night. jeno carefully cleans and bandages what sounds still haven't healed. for the most part, renjun took care of the serious parts, anyway. anything that remains will be gone in a mere few days.

in fact, he worries more for renjun than anything; he had to see everything jaemin couldn’t. to save jaemin's life in a split second—it's something that haunts you, nearly seeing someone die. he'll have to catch up with renjun later to properly show his gratitude, though he and jeno left him behind with donghyuck to grab some more food for the road. it was fairly clear that they needed some alone time, anyway.

by the time they make it to the closest grocery store and back, the two figure renjun and donghyuck will have had more than enough time to talk out whatever they needed to—all of them need a proper night’s sleep to prepare them for tomorrow, anyway. the second they hit austin, there's no telling what lies ahead.

if today’s minor monster fight turned sour, jaemin can only imagine what a shitshow accidentally running into an entire hydra would be.

since he's the one with a free hand (jeno insisted on carrying almost all of the bags, though jaemin insisted right back that he was just trying to show off), he's the one to open the door back to their room.

in full honesty, jaemin is pretty ready to just flop onto their shared bed and crash. he trusts jeno will make sure he gets up on time, anyway. he has a fairly good head on his shoulders.

once he's in their motel room, however, it’s clear they underestimated just how much time renjun and donghyuck needed.

both he and jeno freeze by the door; jaemin always had a slightly suspicious read on their relationship, but he certainly didn't expect to walk into a full on make-out session. heat rises up the back of his neck, and immediately, he's setting down the groceries and awkwardly making an exit.

"shit, i uh—i was just gonna, um. yeah, i'll just leave these here and go."

he pushes jeno right back along with him, and as soon as the door is closed, he leans back against it. it's... hard to make eye contact with jeno, so he stares very intently at a car in the parking lot across the street.

"i..."

jeno, it seems, doesn't quite know what to make of the situation either. it’s something they both need to talk about, but jaemin makes no move to start that conversation. it’s weighted—jaemin’s a little more involved than he likely should be on both sides, and he’s really not dying to admit any of that out loud.

“that was… unexpected?” jeno offers; jaemin shifts uncomfortably.

what’s worse than dealing with the renjun-and-donghyuck situation is jaemin giving thought to his own jeno situation. there are clear parallels between their dynamics, and it’s enough to amplify the awkwardness tenfold.

this isn’t the kind of distraction jaemin needs on his mind during their quest.

“was it really?” he throws back. it’s not like it was entirely out of the realm of possibility; they’re his best friends, but the four of them don’t know everything about each other. it makes sense; the two have been inseparable since the day jaemin met them.

he swallows any lingering thoughts down like a dry pill, spares a look at jeno, and turns around to face the door again. he figures renjun and donghyuck will have been embarrassed enough to be decent by now, so he’s not overly hesitant to open it.

jeno trails behind him like he still has more to say, but he thankfully keeps it to himself.

it’s not that jaemin is bitter—rather, he feels a little more confused, but there’s a little box of thoughts in the back of his brain where he locks things he doesn’t really want to deal with. once he opens it, he’ll be due for a lengthy session of emotional distress and overthinking.

he’s tired—he nearly died today, and it’s late.

when jaemin finally turns out the light, he keeps a little distance between jeno and himself.

as soon as he’s awake enough to be aware of his surroundings, renjun can feel the tension. it’s eerily silent while they get ready for the day, and as they pack their belongings into the car. even when they start driving and jeno turns the radio on to fill the space with some kind of noise, it’s still overwhelming.

eventually, renjun decides he’s had enough.

“look, let’s get over it. can we at least try to act like a bunch of adults? it’s not like it’s the first time you two have ever seen anyone kiss.”

it doesn’t resolve things entirely, but it’s a good enough start.

“a warning would’ve been nice.” jaemin complains, kicking the back of renjun’s seat. renjun rolls his eyes.

“i mean it’s not like it was planned. it was his fault, anyway.” donghyuck counters.

he’s not entirely wrong. if renjun actually had access to his brain when he was kissing donghyuck, he would’ve remembered that the other two could be back at any minute. however, the same can be said for donghyuck—both of them had an equal hand in it.

“ugh, you two are so married. disgusting.” beside renjun, jeno scrunches his nose.

“you both just sound jealous. if either of you want a kiss, all you ever have to do is ask.” in the rearview, renjun sees donghyuck unbuckle his seatbelt, and climb back on top of jaemin. whether it’s to prove his point or in relief that the tension is finally broken so he can assume his usual roadtrip position is a toss-up, but he supposes it doesn’t really matter.

donghyuck and jaemin become a pile of limbs together again, and things feel a little more normal.

“anyway, so like, what’s the game plan? are we dropping our shit off and then running out to kill a monster, or can we at least get dinner first?” he pitches in again, now fully draped over jaemin as if nothing was ever wrong in the first place.

“i mean, the point is that we kind of don’t know. the second we hit austin, we could run into it anywhere—it could even be waiting for us at the first motel room we stop at. we kind of just have to be prepared for anything at this point.” jeno shrugs.

“oh, sexy. a hydra in our motel room?”

“what are you gonna do, flirt it to death? make it fall in love with you?” renjun snorts.

“i can’t help that i have that effect on people, injunnie. i’ve never said a thing about your lifelong goth phase, yet all you do is taunt me for my curse.” jaemin sighs dramatically.

“mm, i’ll remember that the next time your ass needs saving.”

renjun absently scans through radio stations—the further south they go, the more frequent country stations are. it’s awful.

“as i was saying, i think we should like, properly go out and have a good time before we set out to kill this thing. d’you think we can find a way to get wine drunk at olive garden? i feel like our chances are pretty good.”

the thing is, donghyuck kind of has a point; if they really do fuck this up, it might be their last meal together. it couldn’t hurt to make the most of things together for just a night.

“if we have to fight a hydra drunk, i’m using you as a human shield.” jeno threatens. donghyuck remains unfazed.

“whatever jen, everyone knows you’re a lightweight anyway. maybe it’ll just eat you when you’re too drunk to walk, and then we’ll all get to go home.”

as it turns out, convincing an olive garden waitress that they’re all of age really only comes down to a bit of charmspeak and a wink on jaemin’s part. donghyuck insisted they go with a rosé—red is too fancy, and white is too casual, apparently. whatever the case, it’s enough to get the four of them far more inebriated than they have any right being in a big unfamiliar city.

so far, no hydras.

instead, the only thing they attract is noise complaints—when they’re gently ushered out of olive garden, they stumble around the city until they find somewhere else to settle. the closest place is a children’s park with a playground, and as a group who got to experience few carefree childhood moments, they have a fucking field day.

jeno and donghyuck sit on top of the monkey-bars and point out constellations; the rust and old chipped paint scratched jeno’s hands, but he’s really past the point of caring.

“sometimes i wonder if they’re like, up there watching us, you know? can they see us right now? are they listening?” donghyuck muses, eyes trained on the north star.

it’s not like any of them have spent extended periods of time with their godly parents—in fact, jeno can only really recall two interactions he’s had with poseidon face to face in his entire life, and they were only for mere minutes at a time. a few offhand times, he’s heard his voice. he doesn’t spend a lot of time humouring the thought.

“i doubt they care enough to listen. they’re too busy starting petty fights and letting them escalate into wars. fucking humans and leaving even more fatherless kids down below.”

maybe it’s the alcohol that has jeno’s tongue so loose, but they’re words he believes in. he had to grow up too quickly; when they lost mark, jeno was all his mom had. he got a job the second he was old enough to so she wouldn’t have to overwork herself, even if it meant that he had to instead. were it not for the monsters he attracted that made it too dangerous to stay, he’d still be with her.

“mm, maybe. i think it just helps me pretend i’m closer to my dad, though. like he’s out there watching out for me, or something. like he cares.” donghyuck admits, leaning his head against jeno’s shoulder. it’s certainly a nice thought—jeno is unsure if it’s one that’s ever matched his reality.

“i think there’s a lot of times my dad could’ve stepped in and helped us out, but he didn’t.” jeno starts. they’re memories that feel a little raw; they’ve been through some tough years together.

“mark grew up with me, you know? it was just the two of us, and mom. dad stayed out of our lives, and she tried to hide it from us for as long as she could. there wasn’t a lot she could do for us, since she worked so hard just to put food on the table, but one year we decided to go camping for a weekend. it was like, this gorgeous place up in the mountains—lush forest, and a river, and everything. perfect view of the sunset.”

the memory still tastes bitter on his tongue. he’s spent a lot of years sitting in resentment over the entire thing.

“we set up tents, and we had campfires. we explored; they had like, these hiking trails, but we kind of got a little lost on one, so we figured we’d follow the river back up to somewhere familiar. we pinky promised to be extra careful around it, because the current was really fast, but neither of us really saw mark slip away until it was too late. he was already in the water by the time we got to him, and he was too small to swim against it. he was screaming, you know? and then it got really quiet. like, fucking eerily quiet. he must’ve hit his head pretty good on one of the rocks, because it knocked him out cold. there was a pretty nasty looking waterfall just a little ways down from where he fell in, so we thought we lost him for good.”

“they never found a body. figured some animal must’ve finished him off, or something. we thought he fucking died, but he could breathe under water. dad never told my mom any of that shit; what to expect from your demigod sons. he didn’t tell us that mark woke up and found his way out, and then wandered around attracting enough monsters that doyoung found him, and took him to camp. he didn’t tell me my fucking brother was still alive—he let us mourn him, and hold a fucking funeral for him, and try to move on. i only saw him again the first night i slept in our cabin.”

jeno’s hands are balled into fists; donghyuck smooths his hand over one, and gently tries to pry it open with soothing fingers.

“they aren’t watching us. they could give two shits what we do down here; when we ask for help, they’re silent. i’d trade all the abilities and shit just to like, have a normal fucking life back with my mom and mark, but it’s his fault we can’t have that.” jeno slides down from the monkey-bars, and mulch crunches under his feet. donghyuck follows suit, and stands before him.

“mm, i think you’ve done pretty alright for yourself in spite of all of that though. even without mark, you’ve really grown into someone a lot of people look up to. you’re a strong leader, and you’ve got like, insane control of your abilities. a lot of self discipline. you’ve taken everything you’ve been thrown, and made something good out of it.” donghyuck assures him with a warm smile.

“the gods do a lot of things that are hard to forgive. renjun lost his mom in an accident, and mine got sick. we spent a lot of years on the streets together just trying to find somewhere to sleep next. promised each other we wouldn’t let ourselves get dragged into the system, because we knew we’d lose each other. there’s like, horror stories about those places, you know?”

there’s only a small amount about renjun and donghyuck’s past that everyone at camp has heard; the details hurt to hear, but jeno listens with intent.

“even though we got to camp so young, it took us a pretty long time to get there. we almost lost each other a thousand times—we were just a couple of orphaned kids, you know? no one ever taught us how to fight monsters, or why they were chasing us. we just had to figure it out on our own. it’s kind of a miracle we made it, when i look back at everything we went through together.”

donghyuck, too, looks a little bitter, but far more like he’s accepted his feelings and dealt with them.

“so i mean, i kind of get it, you know? all of us have been dealt a pretty shitty hand with the whole godly parent thing. maybe there were times here and there where they stopped us from getting killed, but they’ve never been around for any of us. it’s just kind of the reality of things; we all just have to learn to live with it, and find ways to cope. that’s why we find each other, and stick together.”

between them, to emphasize his words, donghyuck squeezes jeno’s hand—he squeezes it right back.

“i’d say i’m pretty proud of everything we’ve all accomplished in spite of everything though, you know? we made it, and we make a fucking kick-ass team.” donghyuck glows in the warmth of street lamps; his eyes are bold and unwavering, and even among the stars, he shines like the sun.

“maybe we’ll do alright, after all. whether they’re watching or not.” jeno decides, chest full of pride and warmth. donghyuck smiles, satisfied, like he knows what he’s done.

when they finally decide they've had enough outside time for one day, jaemin and renjun aren’t hard to find; it seems they’re all pretty worn out after their long day, and they’re ready to turn in for the night.

the four, in varying states of sobriety (perhaps on a scale of renjun to jaemin, sober and least sober, jeno and donghyuck fall right between), head back to their motel to crash.

jaemin loses his footing a few times, and renjun has to grab him to steady him, though they carry a wordless tension between them. in the neon lights they pass, jeno swears he sees their cheeks tinted pink.

what had he and donghyuck missed out on?

by the time they finally reach the motel and get themselves settled, sleeping arrangements fall on the pairings they ended up splitting into for the night, even in spite of the tension between the other two.

jeno is sure it’s something they’ll work out tomorrow.

donghyuck reaches over to turn the light out, and then faces jeno again, smile softer than it’d been at the park.

“i’m proud of you, jeno lee. don’t you forget it.”

he seals the promise with a kiss to jeno’s cheek before he curls up against him, and sets off to sleep. jeno finds slumber a little less easily, warm-cheeked and a little short of breath.

donghyuck is truly something else.

jaemin dearly wishes he started their grand monster-hunting day with a clear head. instead, it pounds in dehydration and regret, and emotional turmoil.

in more ways than one, last night, he’d been a fucking idiot.

on the swing set, blood full of wine, he made an absolute fool of himself, and spilled his heart out to renjun. really, he’s been a fool this entire time, hasn’t he? splitting his heart in three, and indulging. sinking deeper and deeper.

actions are easy—feelings, not so much.

he can’t very well tell renjun again now that he’s sober, as per request, when they’ve got a hydra to kill.

instead, he offers to drive.

at the very least, there’s enough commotion in the car that his turmoil goes largely unnoticed—they all have far more pressing matters to focus on.

it seems jeno brought enough weapons for a team of ten, and with renjun and donghyuck’s combined forces, they’ve at least established a list of likely locations a hydra may be hiding.

it’s difficult to properly pin things down through news stories; the mist, thankfully, has been too thick for passersby to notice. it’s something that makes their job far more difficult, but it’ll be to their benefit when they’re trying to finish it off.

today, jeno sits up front in the passenger seat—it’s hard to tell if renjun is intentionally avoiding him or if he’s just invested in their quest, but it does sting a little that he’s not in his usual spot.

logically, jaemin knows he should stop checking his rearview to catch a glimpse of him. to check in on him, and gauge his mood. it’s not of much use anyway; renjun is an expert at concealing his emotions.

instead, he follows road signs, and lets siri tell him which turns to take. sips his iced americano, and turns the shitty radio station up.

“i mean, the thing is, there’s absolutely no fucking way we can search every waterfront in austin and still have the time to actually kill the thing. that river goes on for fucking miles and splits off in a thousand directions, and that’s not even accounting for all of the little lakes and ponds scattered around. there’s gotta be like, a few hundred different places it could be.”

renjun’s words check out—on their way into the city, they passed no less than twenty possible locations, and they’re still no further ahead than they were a few days ago.

“maybe we could like, keep driving down the main river and then check out the popular spots next? that way we’ll at least have covered a fair amount of ground, you know? if we still can’t find it, we start to dig a little deeper.” donghyuck offers.

at the very least, it’s a start.

“how will we know if we pass it, though? what if it’s underwater and we’re just on a wild goose chase? we don’t really have a huge margin for error.”

“maybe we’ll use you as bait, fish boy. shouldn’t you be able to sense that kind of thing?”

jeno throws a crumpled napkin at donghyuck in the back seat.

“aren’t we all kind of bait here? four demigods in one place is kind of like an all-you-can-eat buffet for that thing. it’ll be able to smell us for miles, anyway.” jaemin points out. at least, to the benefit of the entire city of austin, it’s a creature that only dwells in waterways. they have far less ground to cover than they would if it traveled on solid ground.

renjun sighs.

“if we don’t find anything by lunch, i guess we’ll start getting our feet wet.”

even by sunset, their labours are still fruitless.

it’s beyond frustrating. they’re all tired, and they’re starting to get short with each other; the mood has gone sour, and it’s beyond saving. even at the best of times, it’s been a long fucking week of spending all of their time trapped together in such a cramped space. these are the worst of times, while they watch the clock count down and feel like they can do nothing to stop it.

though renjun tries his best to not let it show, he’s absolutely fucking terrified. he takes his time to look at all of them individually—donghyuck, beside him, refuses to take his eyes away from the window in case he misses anything. he’s tense, and his own worries show.

up front, jeno is clearly putting up a guise of confidence; it’d fool anyone but the three of them, who know him better than anyone. even as their strong and reliable leader, it’s clear that he’s as confused and upset as the rest of them.

beside him, jaemin shows a whirlwind of emotions. he speaks the least of all of them, yet says the most. in part, renjun feels guilty about his own hand in jaemin’s internal strife, but he isn’t self centered enough to believe it’s only his own fault. jaemin cares far more deeply for all of them than he lets on, and out of anyone, he looks like he’s taking all of this the hardest.

renjun’s heart aches so deeply that it makes him nauseous—he’d never be able to live with himself if he didn’t do everything in his power to keep them all safe. they’ve got less than twenty four hours left, and they’re still no further ahead than they started out. things are getting desperate.

“we’re getting out of the car and walking. this isn’t enough.” he insists, already unbuckling his seatbelt.

thankfully, no one disagrees. jaemin finds them a place to park along the river they’ve lapped at least three times over now in its entirety, and they grab as much as they can comfortably carry.

renjun wastes no time in rushing toward the river, scanning the water for any sign of movement. it’s difficult to tell if anything at all lurks beneath the surface; the murkiness of slow-flowing freshwater hides all secrets.

“i wanna go in.”

renjun looks at jeno incredulously.

“like hell you are. that thing could be like, just lying there in wait ‘til you get your head under, and then you’re a fucking goner. don’t be an idiot.”

“does it look like we’ve got any other choices right now? if we keep dragging our feet, one of us won’t make it back—fuck, maybe none of us will. i’m not just gonna stand here and watch it happen.”

jeno is already bent down, untying his shoes. renjun touches his shoulder to get his attention again, but words sit heavy in his throat when jeno gives him a look of absolute desperation.

“renjun, please. we're running out of time.”

renjun’s heart strings pull so tightly that he fears they may snap. at this point, he knows he’ll regret it if he stops jeno, though he so desperately wants to keep him out of danger. to keep all of them out of danger.

he holds jeno’s gaze for a tense moment, weighing rational thought and selfishness, before he resigns and nods.

“if you’re under there for more than a minute, i’m coming in. don’t try anything stupid.”

a glimmer of mischief returns to jeno’s eyes, and finally, renjun lets himself believe that things might be okay. they’ll all make it home; they have to. together.

“wouldn’t dream of it.”

when the clock strikes midnight, one of them has to make some kind of an adult decision. the four of them have been out in the water for hours, and they’ve done nothing but log their skin with water until the pads of their feet and each of their fingertips are pruned.

there’s still no sign of the beast—at this point, jeno is fully convinced they’re in the wrong spot. he’s soggy, and cold, and tired.

“it’s starting to get ridiculous now. can we please just head back to the motel and sleep on this? if it were in here, it would’ve come hours ago.” it’s donghyuck who finally speaks up and voices his thoughts.

“we could camp out here, you know. just in case.”

“jaemin na, we are not sleeping in a random fucking park in the middle of texas. we’re getting something to eat.”

“do you really think ihop would let us in looking like this?”

“then charm them into letting us in, or something. if we stay out here all night, we won’t last like, forty five seconds against that fucking hydra. seriously.”

donghyuck looks to jeno for help; at the very least, he can provide that.

“he’s right, nana. we’re gonna wear ourselves out.” jeno offers. it’s to little avail—jaemin, though clearly exhausted, still looks determined to stay out there all night.

jeno wades forward in the water, and lays a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

“we’ll start over fresh in the morning, mm? somewhere new.”

it’s enough to get jaemin to turn and look at him, at least. with enough nonverbal persuasion, eventually, jeno wins him over.

instead of dragging themselves to a restaurant to eat, they nominate the two who feel the least dead to run and get take-out from the nearest place to their motel. this turns out to be renjun and donghyuck, who leave jaemin and jeno to clean themselves up and get ready for bed in the meantime.

jeno is second to shower; for once in his life, the heat is more soothing on his skin than the water on his skin. he spent enough of the day logged in murky river water that he starts to think he could spend a few days away from it.

he steals renjun’s body wash in absence of his own—its smell is warm and soothing, anyway. it’s relaxing after a long day of stress. more is definitely to come, so he takes in every small comfort he can.

by the time he’s finished, jeno feels about ready to skip his meal and crash. he towels his hair off languidly, and slumps onto his pillow across the bed from jaemin. they’re sharing one on this rotation; jaemin is sure to complain in the morning that jeno is an incessant blanket hog, and yet, he absolutely cannot find it in himself to care.

what stops him from falling asleep, though, is the uncharacteristic silence that jaemin sits in, propped up against his own pillow and staring at the muted television ahead of him. not watching, but staring.

it’s enough to shake jeno out of his sleepiness; it’s been a rough day for all of them, but in good conscience, he can’t ignore it and let jaemin stay up like that all night.

instead, he scoots over closer to jaemin, and drapes himself over him; face pressed in the crook of his neck, and arms wrapped around his torso.

“nana, you’re thinking too loudly.”

“you should get some sleep. it’s late.”

the act jaemin puts on is expected—jeno still isn’t about to give it any power. instead, he pokes jaemin’s ribs.

“you won’t sleep if you don’t talk about it. i won’t sleep.”

it’s at least enough to shake jaemin from his silent brooding. he groans in protest, and jeno smiles against his skin.

“it’s really nothing, jen. seriously. ”

jeno, finally, stops prodding at jaemin’s ribs.

“are you… nervous? about tomorrow?”

it’s a delicate moment; jeno listens to jaemin’s pulse, and strokes gentle fingers across his hip. they’re all nervous. an entire day’s search came up fruitless, and time is running out. they all expected to be far further ahead than they are now.

the two sit in silence for a couple minutes, words of worry unspoken. so many terrible things could happen tomorrow, and all they can do is pray they’ll make it.

“how could i not be? it feels like we’re wasting time. we could be out there—we’ve got renjun to help us see, so it doesn’t really matter that it’s dark now. that thing is still out there.”

“would it not be smarter for us to head out when we’re fully rested and we can all see? i think you of all people should know how useless it is to try to fight something with your eyes closed.”

if jaemin’s sigh means anything, at least, it makes jeno feel confident he’s made an inarguable point.

“this isn’t just your quest, jaemin. all of us are here to help each other out—you don’t need to be a martyr. if you’re worried about one of us getting killed, this is exactly the kind of shit that leads to that.”

“but what if it’s not enough? if i’m not enough?” jaemin shifts uncomfortably in jeno’s hold. jeno only holds him tighter.

“i can’t lose you. any of you. if i fuck up, it could be any one of you. how can i sleep knowing that?”

“we all have to go to sleep tonight with tomorrow weighing on us. we’re all worried about what happens if we can’t make it in time.”

jeno leans back to catch hold of jaemin’s gaze, and he tries to convey reassurance.

“for what it’s worth, i believe in us. there’s a reason we were put together to fight this thing, you know? it’s written in our fate.”

“and what if i don’t believe in myself?”

“you’re our strongest fighter. has anyone ever lost a battle against you in hand to hand combat? is anyone quicker on their feet? are they thinking ten steps ahead of their opponent like you are?”

jaemin’s eyes burn right through him, yet jeno holds steady. he won’t back down so easily.

“i believe in you, jaemin na.”

it becomes a little hard to breathe, face to face in such close proximity to jaemin. reading such strong emotion brewing in his eyes. it’s a little hard to think. it’s true what they say about aphrodite boys; they’re dangerously captivating, and jeno is only a victim. though, in the back of his mind, he knows that this is a jaemin thing. the hold he’s got on jeno’s heart has nothing to do with his godly parent.

against his better judgement, jeno makes a stupid call—he leans forward to close the small remaining gap between them, and kisses him.

it only lasts for a few seconds; when jeno pulls away, jaemin’s eyes are wide, and he sits rigid.

jeno offers a small innocent smile. blood rushes up to jaemin’s face, and jeno feels his own heating up.

“for good luck? you’ll need it.”

at the very least, jaemin is no longer brooding. he still sits silently, and it’s enough for jeno to turn back away and lie on his own pillow. he’s made things awkward. perhaps it’s time to sleep now after all.

or rather, it should be time to sleep.

“hey—” jaemin grabs hold of his arm, and tugs at it.

“you’re really just gonna do that and go to sleep?”

jeno’s face is absolutely on fire; of the pair, he’s not the smooth flirter. he’s never charmed anyone just because he can. it’s from the heart. it’s genuine.

“it’s late—you should get some sleep, too.”

“jeno. look at me.”

jaemin tugs loosely at his shoulder; sighing, jeno turns to lie flat on his back, and braves a look in his direction.

“you’re gonna distract me from our fight. how am i supposed to forget that?”

jeno blinks. his brain has left the building.

to his credit, at least, jaemin seems aware that he put his foot in his mouth.

“i mean, like, if i go to sleep now and nothing else happens. it’ll haunt me.”

“…nothing else?”

“we have to do that again. so it isn’t weird. it’ll be weird, right?”

“jaemin, you’re allowed to just tell me you want to kiss me again.”

again, it seems jaemin is at a loss for words. jeno gives him a look.

“just do it. don’t be a coward.”

“are you… sure?”

“seriously? gods, for someone who’s supposed to be an expert on this kind of thing, you’re pretty helpless.”

“i just wanted to—”

“jaemin. just kiss me.”

at the very least, that seems to be enough to kickstart jaemin’s brain into action. there’s a charged moment, where jaemin is so close that jeno can feel his breath on his lips and count the flecks of gold in his irises, and then everything comes together. it’s real this time.

it’s coming home after a long day, into a warm and inviting bed. it’s cherry blossoms in the wind, as pink as jaemin’s hair. they both smell like renjun’s lavender body wash, and cheap hotel shampoo. like the mint of freshly brushed teeth.

gentle, yet not delicate. savoured. sweet.

when it’s over, jeno bites his bottom lip to suppress the absolutely dumb fucking grin that jaemin has earned. he’s not in high school anymore; it’s so much more than just a crush.

“that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

jaemin rolls his eyes in feigned annoyance, but the fondness in them gives the act away.

“you’re the worst. the actual worst, jeno lee. i swear.”

jeno tilts his head up, and places a kiss on the tip of jaemin’s nose.

“that sounds like a you problem. i’m just trying to get us both to sleep.”

it’s almost laughable, the next morning, how easily they track down the hydra. after they spent actual hours wading through water in an attempt to bait the thing, they find it on their first fucking try.

tracking it down is the easy part. coming up with a game plan on the spot proves to be far harder than any of them expected.

at the very least, the hydra doesn’t seem overly keen on following them out of the water. really, though, they shouldn’t test their luck—donghyuck is fairly certain that soon enough, it’ll find a way.

the thing is, no matter how much they all tried to prepare for this moment, absolutely every bit of battle training slips from their minds the second nine fire-breathing heads are pointed at them.

“just so we’re clear, if any of you even think about cutting one of those heads off, you deserve to be roasted like a marshmallow. i’m not saving your asses.”

“hyuckie, isn’t that kind of the point? you have to cauterize them to stop them from growing back. you can’t just like, stab it in the heart or something. there’s a certain way to do it.” jaemin points out.

“how are we even supposed to get close? we’ve kind of lost the element of surprise, here. aren’t we sitting ducks?”

renjun offers a valid point—in fact, every second they spend trying to come up with a plan, the less likely it is that they’ll be able to carry it out in full. they don’t really have an abundance of time.

“we can distract it. hyuck, you can like, blind it, right? i’m sure i can stir up some water to disorient it. that leaves jaemin and renjun to like, actually fight it head on.”

“aren’t we missing the searing hot blade part of the story? it’s not like we’ve really got a lot at our disposal here. we’ll just run the risk of worsening the problem.” jaemin retorts.

“i can like, bend the light enough to heat them up... probably? it’s also literally breathing fucking fire, so there’s that.”

“it’s gonna have to work for now. just… don’t get killed, okay? any of you. be smart about this. stay focused.” it’s clear that renjun’s confidence is a front, but the rest of them fare no better.

it’s enough to set them in motion; there’s really no right way to go about the entire ordeal, but there’s no turning back.

this time, feet soaked in lake water, things are far different.

donghyuck and jeno stay further back from the others in an effort to maintain some level of focus while nine heads try to roast their friends alive.

jeno seems to have stirred up a violent undercurrent, and everything above it is a mess of waves and violent winds. it’s near impossible for donghyuck to focus on blinding nine sets of constantly moving eyes—on top of it, he still attempts to bend the light strongly enough that their swords stay hot.

renjun and jaemin lure the hydra close enough ashore that at least they can find proper footing, but so far, all they’re really doing is avoiding being burned to a crisp.

some of the heads can see, but thankfully, donghyuck’s distraction works perfectly on the rest.

jaemin is the first to hack a head off of the beast—thankfully it seems to work, but it still hardly makes a dent in compared to the rest they need to do.

it goes against every instinct in donghyuck’s body, to stay still like this when his friends are in danger. the people he loves. he desperately needs to focus, yet his fingers itch for his blade.

he’s a hands-on kind of fighter; though it’s not new territory for him, it’s certainly not the most comfortable set-up.

renjun gets the idea to catch the edge of some fire with his sword, and he makes quick work of the long neck that thrashes closest to him.

it slices off cleanly—on the bright side, there’s only seven of them left. the less favourable result is that the beast is only angered further, and manages to knock jaemin off of his feet with a powerful blow.

apparently, it’s enough to get jeno to step in; he rushes to the water to gain better control of it, but he’s thinking with his heart instead of his brain, so now donghyuck has a third sword to keep track of.

it’s starting to drain him a little; donghyuck isn’t used to having to focus his power in so many directions and for so long, but he’s determined to push forward in spite. he can’t afford to give up now. not when they need him most.

jaemin slices another head off of the beast, and in slow motion, donghyuck swears he sees the world end.

fuck.

fuck, fuck, fuck.

for the first time in his life, as he watches two heads grow back in the place of the one severed, renjun feels absolutely powerless in battle.

they’re back to where they started.

whatever donghyuck is supposed to be doing back there has clearly stopped working, and they have no time to spare.

they’re too close—there’s nowhere to run when fire-breathing hydra heads outnumber them three to one.

jeno sends another wave crashing at the thing, but they’re close enough that renjun loses his balance, and gets knocked back by the water. he loses his grip on his sword, too, and scrambles for a few terrifying seconds to retrieve it.

no amount of training could ever have prepared them for this; renjun is unsure of what wetness on him is sweat, water, or tears, but it matters little.

whether they like it or not, it’s time to start playing with fire.

jeno is the first—he catches a flame, and uses its heat to take another head down. thankfully, at least, it stays severed. it’s a clear enough indication that this is their new game plan, being that they can no longer rely on the first.

“we could use your help down here, hyuck!” jaemin calls back while renjun dodges another swinging head. it’s a fight too tasking for only three; there’s no more time for tricks of light.

it frustrates renjun to no end that he’s out of his element, out here in the water and in broad daylight. there isn’t a single shadow in sight to draw energy from, so all he’s left with is his agility and training.

he makes a desperate call—he catches the eye of the closest head to him, and he hopes that the distraction is enough to take the focus off of him so he can harness the flame in the way he so desperately needs.

it works, for a second. the blade is hot in his hand, and he’s ready to strike again, but the beast catches him by surprise, and lunges right at him.

he’s half a second too late on his swing, and suddenly, he’s in searing pain—renjun cries out in absolute agony, and collapses.

his entire world burns, white-hot, and searing.

the screams are painful.

until now, jaemin has been so blindly focused on his opponent that the rest of his surroundings faded to a dull roar, but now renjun’s agony is all he can hear.

there’s nothing he can do; if he doesn’t keep his pace, they’ll all die out here in the middle of this stupid fucking texan lake. he lobs another head off, and is suddenly aware of the water’s stillness around him.

when he spares a glance in renjun’s direction, at least, he’s calmed by the sight of jeno carrying him out of danger.

a glance is all he can afford; he leaps to the side to dodge a wall of flames from another head, and needs a second to find his footing.

only he and donghyuck remain in the water with the hydra, and they still have eight heads to take care of. it seems donghyuck is smart enough to make quick work of one on his own, at least.

the severed head crashes into the water below.

seven.

jaemin worries about renjun—he can’t afford another look to check in on his condition, and his fears only worsen. he worries about all of them.

it’s far worse than any of them expected. in fact, the fight seems near fucking impossible to win.

he struggles to grip his sword firmly, through water and second degree burns on the palm of his hand, but jaemin refuses to give up.

instead, he makes the idiot hero move, and charges at the beast.

desperate times, and all.

his goal is to get behind it, to raise their chances, but in order to do that, he has to get so close to the hydra that he needs his shield to dodge swinging heads.

“keep it distracted, i’ve got a plan!” he calls out to donghyuck, hoping to be heard.

another ball of fire comes hurling in jaemin’s direction, and he catches it with his shield, but his forearm fucking burns like hell.

he endures it, and pushes on.

if he gets this right, finally, they’ve really got a fair chance to end it all.

whatever donghyuck does, at least, seems to be enough. though he’s buried waist-deep in water, jaemin is at the hydra’s backside, and he’s got at least three of its heads trained on him alone.

it’s weaker, back here. it’s harder for the creature to properly focus or balance, and it’s just what the two of them need.

donghyuck slices another head off of it, and the distraction is enough that jaemin does the same on the opposite side.

five.

in continuing his pattern of idiocy, jaemin starts swinging at the beast in an attempt to injure it, rather than just to behead it. whether it actually works to weaken the hydra is a mystery, but at the very least, it angers the thing enough to lose focus again.

donghyuck takes advantage of its moment of weakness, and leaves them with only four fire-breathing heads to battle.

for the first time since they started, jaemin actually feels confident that they can kill this thing. he’s faced worse opponents than a four headed water monster.

between donghyuck and himself, finally, he’s positive the hydra stands no chance.

the thing is, renjun really doesn’t remember passing out.

he feels a little groggy when he comes to, and then searing pain all over his body come into full effect. it’s absolute hell.

he’s still in the water—it splashes around him while he struggles, yet something holds him in place.

someone.

when renjun finally opens his eyes, the first thing he sees is jeno. jeno, who refuses to let him move from where he lies, absolutely covered in unsanitary water, and in pain.

“shh, stay still. you’re only making it worse for yourself.”

mainly, renjun is filled with confusion. there’s a commotion behind him, but jeno’s energy is calm.

renjun isn’t—when his eyes focus enough, he can see jaemin and donghyuck still struggling with the hydra, and he immediately tries to sit up to help them.

he should be out there. what the fuck is he doing all the way back here?

“hey, seriously, stop. i’m trying to heal you, dumbass. they’ve got it handled back there. you only need to worry about what’s happening over here.”

it still doesn’t feel right, but at the moment, renjun is at least physically too weak to fight against jeno, so he goes limp in his hold again in exhaustion.

if he focuses, he can feel the water draw heat away from his skin. it tingles a little when it creeps up his neck—jeno really is healing him out here in the murky water of lake lady bird.

they’re both absolutely soaked, still half submerged, but renjun is tired enough to admit that he feels safe.

he closes his eyes, pressed firmly against jeno’s chest, and he’s sure he wakes and drifts off a few more times before his body finally decides it’s healed enough to properly be awake.

“…he’s pretty much fine now; nothing a little ambrosia can’t fix. promise.”

he feels jeno speak more than he hears him. it takes renjun a minute to feel fully coherent enough to process his words, but when he does, miraculously, he thinks he agrees.

compared to when he’d first awoken, the pain has dulled from a hot sting to a dull ache. of course, renjun still feels generally sore all over, but he’s already faring far better than before.

when renjun opens his eyes, jaemin and donghyuck are by his side, eyes full of concern. he stirs in jeno’s arms, and this time, jeno actually lets him properly sit up on his own to greet them.

“hey, sleepyhead. had enough near-death experiences for one day?” jaemin’s words are playful, and his smile is warm, but they both hold an underlying tension. it hurts renjun’s heart to be the cause of their worry—now that he’s coherent, he feels kind of stupid for his moment of weakness. they didn’t need to see what they saw.

“that’s kind of rich coming from you. i had to save your ass twice.”

“at least mine didn’t have prophetical ties. for a second there i thought we really fucked up.”

renjun squints.

the prophecy. the hydra fight.

the sun hangs low in the sky, and it’s quiet.

“wait, what the fuck? how are the two of you sitting here right now? what happened to the hydra?”

“sitting under a pile of heads at the bottom of the lake, probably.”

“it’s obviously in the underworld, hyuckie. it takes a little longer to kill, but it’s still a monster.” jaemin argues. donghyuck rolls his eyes.

“for real? it’s like, actually over? we get to go back home?” though it feels a little unbelievable, renjun is only faced with the facts. it’s calm, and they’re all a little banged up, but they’re safe. the sun is setting.

“mm, promise. you think i’d let that thing live another second after what it did to you?”

renjun’s ears heat up—it’s rare that donghyuck is ever so candidly affectionate in front of others, but he supposes that others doesn’t really apply to jeno and jaemin. when renjun looks around, he sees three pairs of eyes trained on him that make his heart swell.

what the four of them have is different. they’re a package deal.

really, it only makes renjun a little more shy; each of them look at him with… love. absolute reverence. he squirms a little. scrunches his nose.

“gross. thanks for like, not dying though. all three of you. i really would've gone down to drag your corpses up from the underworld with my bare hands, if i had to.”

“aren’t you being gross now?”

renjun elbows jeno. when he looks down, he realizes jeno’s arms are still wrapped loosely around him. the heat spreads to his cheeks, and something flutters in his stomach.

“shut up. shouldn’t we get like, some dinner or something? or at least get out of this fucking lake?”

they really do get to take a vacation day on the summer solstice—a couple hour drive takes them to houston, where the gulf of mexico greets them warmly.

it doesn’t matter that they spent the better part of the past few days submerged in water; they owe it to themselves to take a beach day to properly relax after the week they’ve had.

jeno has donghyuck to enjoy the salt water and sun with—renjun opts to stay under the shade of a pilfered beach umbrella, complaining that he has no interest in getting wet again, and jaemin faithfully stays by his side in the interest of making sure he’s healing well.

the second jeno’s toes are wet, he feels at home.

the water calls out to him, and he embraces it warmly. of course, with donghyuck at his side to splash and tug under water.

they collect sea shells, and donghyuck complains about seaweed touching his feet; jeno can’t help but laugh every time, so donghyuck decides to pelt him with their found treasures.

they chase waves, and dive into the water, and float on its surface—all the while, jeno absolutely cannot take his eyes off of donghyuck.

his wet skin absolutely shimmers in the sun, and the salt waves his hair, and he smiles brightly. summer was absolutely made for him, and jeno is awestruck.

he’s is in love.

in love with the boy who laughs the loudest, and sings beautiful songs, and lives life in full colour.

he supposes he’s done a lot of falling in love lately; there’s exactly enough room in his heart for each one of his boys, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

in time, he thinks he’ll forget that this trip was a quest to kill a monster, but instead, the one that he truly found happiness on.

so, naturally, he does the absolute cheesiest thing he can think of. sickeningly sweet, and nauseating.

“do you trust me?”

donghyuck treads water lazily in front of him; he floats up and down with the ebb and flow of waves in absolute bliss.

“if i say yes, will i regret it?”

jeno rolls his eyes.

“yes or no.”

“…fine. do your worst.”

jeno grabs donghyuck’s hand, and leads them further into the water. they swim for a couple minutes, out past where anyone dares to stray. where the good stuff is.

“are you planning to murder me and scatter the pieces on the ocean floor? feed them to the sharks? fuck, there’s actual sharks out here, jeno. for real.”

“hyuckie, i can literally talk to sharks. none of them are gonna fuck with you.”

“if i die, it’s my blood on your hands, fish boy. i swear.”

“listen, just trust me. i wanna show you something.”

if jeno is right, he’s led them to a fairly impressive coral reef; at least, the best they can get as close to shore as they are.

he tugs donghyuck’s hand along with him as he swims down, and is satisfied to see that he’s right—below them is an entire world of colour.

it’s a simple enough trick to manipulate enough air around donghyuck’s head that he can breathe underwater with him, but it’s one that seems to impress the hell out of donghyuck nonetheless.

“holy shit.”

there’s absolute wonder in his voice as he really takes in the sight. it’s still shallow enough that they can swim to the bottom without much trouble, and jeno is lucky enough that the marine life isn’t disturbed by his presence.

in fact, they gather around him. fish dance between his legs, and a tiger shark swims close enough to pet.

“jeno, this is fucking surreal. are you seeing this shit right now? did you plan this?”

“i’m kind of relieved i was able to find anything worthwhile at all; y’know, global warming, and pollution and shit. it’s driving them away.”

“you literally just pet a shark. a fucking shark, jeno!”

“to be honest, it was a little slimy. i think i prefer dogs a little more.”

the water slows him down enough that it doesn’t hurt, but donghyuck still hits him all the same.

“gods, you're lame. you take me all the way down here to impress me, and now you’re making dumb ocean jokes.”

donghyuck’s voice echoes a little strangely underwater, but it’s still unmistakably fond.

“we can go back, if you want. i thought you’d like it, though. i’m a little wounded.”

“jeno, you absolute moron. come here.”

donghyuck grabs his face, and steps close. even down on the floor of the gulf, jeno still sees flecks of gold in his irises.

“so fucking lame. honestly.”

this time, donghyuck’s words are barely above a whisper—jeno barely has enough time to cherish his closeness before he’s being kissed underwater by his favourite sunshine boy.

apparently, it worked after all.

speaking strictly on level of comfort, donghyuck misses his own bed. the motel ones are musty, and the springs dig into his back, and he has to actively suppress all imagination of what’s happened in each of them he tucks himself into for the night.

on every other level, secretly, he’s regretful he’ll have to stop sharing these gross beds with the others. sharing their space, and food, and warmth, and kisses, and smiles.

he’s got a pretty sweet set-up back at camp half-blood. as one of the older residents of the apollo cabin, it means he gets his own room, and all the pillows he could ever desire. silky warm sheets.

he’s still a little disappointed that he has to go back so soon.

it’s only a matter of days before their grand road trip comes to a close, and he can only hope that all of them want to prolong the inevitable as much as he does. they aren’t in any rush to come home—they killed the monster, and all that’s left to do is return to the camp as heroes.

in essence of cherishing the time he has left, donghyuck suffocates renjun by lying directly on top of him. renjun squirms, and shoves a bony knee right into his thigh, but donghyuck refuses to move.

instead, he pouts.

“don’t you love me, injunnie? we’re gonna go back, and you’ll barely even see me. aren’t you happy you get to spend such precious time with me?”

renjun looks up at him with a blank expression, but his cheeks are a little pink, and it’s a dead giveaway.

“i’d sell your soul to hades for one corn chip.”

“gods, get off tumblr, edgelord. what is this, 2012?”

still no reaction, short of a look of disdain.

“don’t you wanna kiss me, injunnie?”

donghyuck leans close enough to brush his lips over renjun’s, smiling against them. he pulls back, and raises an eyebrow.

“i’ll literally make you sleep on the floor.”

“all you do is send me mixed signals. it’s like plucking daisy petals.”

“you’re literally making it hard to breathe. i swear to the gods, donghyuck.”

donghyuck props up on his elbow, and sighs dramatically.

“i bet jeno and jaemin would kiss me.”

“stop dragging us into your bullshit, hyuck.” jaemin calls from across the room, sprawled out on the couch with jeno’s head on his lap. the latter scrolls through his phone, generally looking unbothered.

“i still bet they would.”

instead of going for the lips, donghyuck dives down and leaves kisses all over renjun’s neck, taking his sweet time. savouring cool skin on his lips—the air conditioner in this particular room is kind of a blessing. they’re usually left to get through the night without.

he knows renjun is ticklish, so he’ll surely be sensitive; donghyuck kisses all the way up to the skin just below renjun’s ear. he squirms a little, and donghyuck chuckles.

“still holding out on me, jun?”

renjun’s breathing is a little more shallow, and he’s chewing on his bottom lip.

it’s an absolute win.

“shut up. fine.”

“fine what?”

“kiss me, or whatever.”

donghyuck beams.

he’s a little too affection starved to drag it out any longer, so donghyuck finally does kiss renjun. properly kisses him, with every bit of emotion that’s been building up inside of him over the past week.

with excitement that they successfully completed their quest, and the fear that consumed him when renjun got hurt. with the love and tenderness that surrounds them.

in spite of his prior protests, renjun seems just as motivated to seek affection—it takes no time for him to be chasing donghyuck’s lips just as greedily. for small fingers to tangle themselves into the back of donghyuck’s hair in an effort to pull him closer.

at the very least, donghyuck shifts to a position that’s a little more comfortable; he straddles renjun, and in doing so, accidentally manages to grind up against him. it’s enough to make renjun gasp, so he takes advantage of the situation, and goes a little deeper. renjun tastes like ambrosia again, and donghyuck chases it.

this time, it’s intentional when he grinds his hips down, and it’s enough to earn him a soft moan that tastes even sweeter.

“seriously? do you two have to do that here?” jaemin complains.

donghyuck is entirely unbothered by having an audience—in fact, it eggs him on a little, and he decides to show off. a hand travels down to brush over the front of renjun’s jeans, and it earns him another soft noise.

it’s apparent that renjun isn’t overly bothered either; his hands have found their way under donghyuck’s shirt, and he kisses just as greedily. it’s enough to have donghyuck breathless; he takes a break to mouth back along the expanse of renjun’s neck. back to that little sensitive spot that has renjun gasping again, where he thinks a mark would look extra pretty.

“you two are the fucking worst. honestly.”

this time, donghyuck breaks away from renjun to look at the other two—though renjun looks vaguely annoyed, both of them seem a little flustered. it’s enough that jeno has moved off of his lap, and found his own corner of the couch.

“like you two are any better.”

“that was like, one time. you two are gross constantly.”

“it really sounds like you’re jealous, jaeminnie. you could just come over here.”

renjun tenses a little under him—there’s still some weird shit between the two of them, he supposes. he’ll be nice for renjun’s sake.

instead, still a little breathless, donghyuck pushes himself up off of renjun, and crosses the room to where jaemin sits. lips still wet and swollen, he grabs the front of jaemin’s shirt, and presses an open mouthed kiss right on his lips. he keeps at it for a good few seconds, and when he pulls away, jaemin is still absolutely stunned.

“all you had to do was ask.”

jaemin is starting to get a little sick of fast food; along the highways, it’s not like they’re overwhelmed with variety. he’s big mac’d out, and the one time they tried to bring a pizza into the car, he got bitched at for getting grease all over the steering wheel.

he’s on his third iced americano of the day, and his stomach is starting to get a little sour, so he makes the executive decision to take an exit that veers a little off of their main route.

they’re halfway through georgia, anyway. it won’t put them too far off schedule, but it’s certainly worth the trip. that, and it means that they won’t have to stay in another shitty motel for the night, since they’re rapidly running out of pocket change.

renjun is asleep in the back, and donghyuck doesn’t know the first thing about wayfinding, so it’s not until he’s turning onto a dirt side-road that he questions anything.

“aren’t we like, in the middle of nowhere? are we lost?”

donghyuck has finally looked up from his phone, and his confusion is apparent. in the mirror, jaemin sees jeno’s curious eyes scanning the area.

it doesn’t take long for jaemin to find what he’s looking for—the second he turns into the driveway, he’s filled with nostalgia. he drives along fields where cows and horses graze, and finally, up to the big farm house that sits at the end of it.

he’s sure his smile gives him away.

“holy shit, are we—”

“it's just for the night. and like, a free meal.”

“are we on a farm? gods, jaemin, i knew you were from the south, but i didn’t think you were a country boy.”

“i knew it. your accent is too strong for just atlanta. you’re such a fucking liar, nana.” jeno pitches in.

“listen, i don’t wanna hear it. you’d all better behave yourselves in front of my dad, or you’re finding your own place to sleep.”

donghyuck reaches over to pinch his cheek, and jaemin is too slow to dodge it.

“we’re meeting your dad? gods, that’s so cute.”

jaemin rolls his eyes, and hops out of the car to open the trunk. he grabs his bag, and walks up to the door; he figures the others will find their way in on their own.

when he knocks on the door, there’s no answer. it’s still not quite dinner time, so it makes sense—his dad is probably still in the barn with the animals.

a quick search under a few rocks in the garden, and he’s got the house key to let himself in.

it’s the smell that really hits him; aged wood, a bit of must, and ripe peaches that make up his dad’s famous jam. like childhood summers, when he helped out on the farm, and rode the horses.

it’s been too long since he’s been back here—he had to leave when he was far too young, and it’s rare that he ever gets to visit.

he never wants to put his dad in danger, when he has so much to live for. he’s all jaemin has.

behind him, the door opens again, but jaemin doesn’t look to see who’s come in. he’s too preoccupied with taking in his surroundings—he’s a little startled when he feels someone’s chin on his shoulder, and arms around his waist.

of course, it has to be jeno. the other two are far too tiny.

“it’s really beautiful here, nana. thank you for sharing this with us.”

renjun and donghyuck grew up in the bronx—living at camp half-blood is already an adventurous nature experience, as far as he’s concerned.

staying at jaemin’s farm house is another experience entirely. outside, the only sounds are the cicadas, and the breeze through the trees. the trickling of the koi pond out back, just off the deck.

now that night has fallen, an orchestra of bullfrogs set the mood while renjun looks up at the stars.

he really looks up at them; out here, in the middle of the country where the sky isn’t polluted by light, they shine so brightly that he can hardly believe they’re real.

it’s cleansing; he ate one of the best meals of his entire life, sitting at jaemin’s childhood dinner table. he has nothing weighing on him anymore. it feels like a real vacation; not like the beach day where even under an umbrella he got sunburned. he’s at peace.

so at peace that even when the door behind him opens, he doesn’t startle, when normally he’s known to.

“better than weird motel room stains?”

it’s jaemin that takes a seat beside him on the swing that overlooks the backyard; jeno and donghyuck are likely still exploring, or taking advantage of the amenities of an actual house again, after being on the road for so long. he certainly can’t blame them.

“mm, definitely. i swear i almost forgot what it’s like to have personal space and some alone time. it’s healing, you know?”

he doesn’t mean it with any malice; he’s had enough time to himself that he doesn’t mind sharing his space again. he can’t go too long without any of them, anyway.

they sit in silence for a few minutes, where renjun curls up onto the seat cushion, and tries to find constellations. it’s not something he’s very good at, but he’s certainly trying his best to learn them for times like this.

“i owe you something, remember?”

it takes a second for renjun’s memory to catch up; a lot has happened over the past few days. it’s certainly not something that he’s forgotten about, but it hasn’t been at the front of his thoughts. rather, he’s avoided thinking about it, but he supposes it’s best to face it.

he turns toward jaemin to look at him, and nods.

“i meant it, you know? like, really.”

understandably, jaemin looks a little nervous—renjun can’t really blame him. together, the two of them are the worst when it comes to emotional confrontation. the situation is almost laughable.

“it’s not just because i was wine drunk and i had too many breadsticks. i… really do have feelings for you, injunnie. you have like, no idea how special you are. seriously. how could i not?”

renjun is absolutely not tearing up, but if he were, he’d hope the darkness hides it.

“you’re beautiful, and you’re so fucking smart. i know you could kick my ass any day of the week, too. even in a fair fight.”

“are you confessing to me, or proposing?”

jaemin throws a glare his way, though it’s painfully transparent.

“i’m confessing, dumbass. i’m in love with you, and you deserve to know it. in fact, i’ve been in love with you, and i swear i’d tell you a thousand times over.”

a sniffle gives him away; renjun absolutely can’t fight his tears. not after hearing such soft, genuine words. he curls into himself a little tighter where he sits.

jaemin is quick to reach over and wipe his tears away—gentle fingers linger on his cheeks, and renjun decides he absolutely can’t stand it any longer, so he moves over to curl up against jaemin instead, and crushes him in the biggest hug he can muster.

he’s an absolute mess, with his head pressed up against jaemin’s chest, and tears that soak through his shirt. he’s a mess, but he feels like he’s on top of the world.

“i’m gonna be really heartbroken if i spilled my guts in my childhood home and you don’t feel the same, though.”

renjun is quick to resolve this—finally, he sits up, pulls jaemin down by the back of his neck, and kisses him so hard that he swears it’ll bruise.

“gods, jaemin, you’re such a fucking idiot.”

he leans in to kiss him again a few more times before he breaks away again.

“you already know i feel the same. of course i'm in love with you. isn’t it obvious?”

“i’m literally gonna tell everyone that you cried like a baby. your reputation is ruined.”

“you think i won’t take you up on an opportunity to prove you right and beat your ass? you’re on thin fucking ice, nana. i swear.”

jeno is unbelievably unmotivated to leave the comfort of jaemin’s guest bed when morning comes, even though a beautiful farm-fresh breakfast awaits all of them downstairs.

in the short time he’s known him, jeno has really come to quite like jaemin’s dad—he shares jaemin’s warmth, brilliant smile, and wit. his can-do attitude.

when they all leave, each of them have to promise him that they’ll return to visit someday, even if it’s not with jaemin. it’s something jeno really wouldn’t mind doing; though it’s no competition for the comfort of being back home with his mom, it’s the absolute next best thing. it feels like a home away from home.

it’s his turn to drive, and he has a hell of a time navigating them out of small-town georgia, but at least he has renjun to help him. even if they take a few bad turns along the way, that is.

overall, the mood between them is brighter; it seems renjun and jaemin are back to their normal selves, and donghyuck is as sunny as ever. in the back seat, the two are stretched out and tangled up in each other again. jeno dares not look back in the mirror for what he’ll see—one accidental glance of kiss-swollen lips and disheveled clothes was enough to distract him enough to miss the exit he needed to take.

when he reflects on their quest, with all of its ups and downs, it seems like it’s been far longer than just a week of chaos. like they’ve been on the road for a month, fighting monsters, and falling in love.

to drown the other two out, he and renjun sing along to shitty top 40 songs on the radio, and challenge each other to tally up every strange thing on the highway they see.

from broken down cars to accidental nudity and questionable bumper stickers, it’s a fairly even game; renjun spots a few deer, and jeno points out a truck towing horses.

when passing bodies of water in the south, they’ve learned how to spot gators, and now they’re absolutely obsessed with trying to find one. spotting bubbles and questionable dark masses is mainly as far as they get with the speed they travel at, but it’s still a game of maximum effort nonetheless.

a few hours later, when jeno checks back on donghyuck and jaemin again, they’re both decent and absolutely dead to the world in spite of all the noise they’ve been making up front.

jeno absolutely can’t stop smiling for the life of him—his heart was never blind to the way these boys make him feel, but having it as a tangible thing is something entirely new.

it’s easy, with all of them. it’s something each of them share for each other, in one form or another. love, with no boundaries or strings. with trust, and understanding, and patience, and passion.

renjun plays with his fingers on the gear shift, and when the stop at the wawa to fill up on gas and grab a couple more snacks for the road, jeno breaks, and finally kisses him.

right in the middle of a gas station bathroom, where they’re almost caught and they giggle to each other quietly. jeno tells him that he holds all of the stars in his eyes, and renjun flicks his forehead.

donghyuck and jaemin give them shit when they get back to the car, because they’re lovesick and dumb and obvious, but jeno reminds them that they can’t say shit given the way they spent their afternoon.

they all have dinner together, and they explore on their last night together. at this point, the only motel room they can afford is one that has a single bed, so they all have to squeeze into it, and they end up haphazardly sprawled all across each other, half on the bed and half off. it’s something that each of them complain about, but it holds no weight. they all look like lovesick fools when they fall asleep in each others’ arms, anyway.

it’s not something they talk about because it’s simply something all of them understand. it’s theirs, and theirs only. it’s patient, and teasing, and annoying, and heartwarming, and exciting.

it’s love.

in full honesty, after the week the four of them have had together, it’s a little hard to return to camp half-blood. back to their normal lives, where they wake up to train, work their asses off, go to sleep, and do it all over again in the morning.

they’ve built a happy little bubble around themselves and lived in it, and though it wasn’t for very long, donghyuck feels like all of them have changed.

things going back to normal sounds strange with all of the things they’ve been through together that no one else will have any memories of. they’ll only have stories, and parts of their relationship that they choose to disclose—it’s bittersweet.

camp half-blood is the only home that donghyuck knows. the only home that renjun knows, and the one that jaemin and jeno have come to accept as their new home away from home. it’s a place where everyone is family, no matter what cabin they sleep in. they share it with the satyrs, and the nymphs, and the dryads, and the forest monsters. they share it with each other.

wherever donghyuck goes, he knows he has three boys he’d die for right in an arm’s reach.

they arrive back at the camp after dinner, halfway through the bonfire. overtired, all of them cling to each other on a log in front of it.

jaemin is the only one energetic enough to tell stories of their quest, opting to leave out certain parts of it, and exaggerate others. renjun talks over him to correct him, and the two end up bickering while donghyuck and jeno nearly doze off curled up against each other.

absently, renjun runs his fingers along donghyuck’s ribs. it’s soothing enough that for a second he really does pass out. renjun has to shake him awake, though he looks unbelievably fond in doing so.

“all four of you are gross. are you like, married now, or something?” chenle complains once the fire starts to die down, and all of them truly start to show their exhaustion through tactility.

“kinda. some weird shit happened back in texas, and now i’m stuck with all of them. it’s super annoying.” donghyuck complains.

jisung, who sits just as suspiciously close to chenle, scrunches his nose.

“nah, you guys have always been gross. you’re just like, extra gross now. gods, get a room or something.”

donghyuck decides, after flipping off a minor, that change can be good. that normal is subjective. that fate knows exactly what it’s doing, and that they were chosen to lead this quest together for a reason.

that they’re meant together, and they’re exactly where they’re supposed to be.