The Rest Is Silent ((Jespice Cane)) - S, L

It hadn't taken Elijah very long after moving back to the corner of his room for him to move forward...because as soon as Jack's words sunk in, the boy realized he couldn't let go.  He was angry...he was so angry...and his boyfriend had been as well.  But that just meant they had to talk about it and fix it.  Except the older boy was nowhere to be found.  Frightened out of his mind, Elijah had spent the rest of the day searching everywhere he could possibly think.  And the next day.  And the next.  But Gods knew where Jack was...or if he kept on moving...or how it had been three days and Elijah hadn't found him.  And that was when the small boy had realized it...Jack was gone.  Jack was gone for good.  Sure, he had to be somewhere around, unless he had left camp, but he was pretty sure that wasn't the case.  Although Elijah wasn't exactly keeping on top of his paperwork, he was sure he would have seen something about the Centurion of the First Cohort leaving.  Or Calix would have said something.  Calix!  The boy had yet to talk about what happened with his best friend and fellow Praetor.  He had to know something was wrong...after all, Elijah had been making himself scarce in the Principia, let alone in the main room with all the paperwork.  Do the basic minimum, search for Jack, come back at night and attempt to sleep.  But with his human sleep aid gone, the boy wasn't sleeping again.  His bed was too big, too cold, too empty.  It was just proof...this wasn't like last time.  The few times that Jack and Elijah had spent days apart.  There had been hope before.  Now there was none of that...everything was gone, the son of Discordia could tell.  And it was all his fault.  "And just when I thought I couldn't fuck up any worse..." Elijah was empty.  And that was how he really knew Jack was gone.

At first, Elijah had no idea what to do.  River wasn't there to hold him when he cried (which was quite often), though he had written a short letter to her.  He couldn't sit still when he tried.  He was exhausted all the time from tossing and turning at night.  No sleep for the wicked.  There were dreams...nightmares...but not in the typical nightmare way.  In the nightmares, the two boys were together.  Sitting in quiet clearings in the woods or curled up under blankets on the sound.  They were in Elijah's bedroom in the Principia.  They were talking and cuddling and kissing and making love.  It was right...the way it had been for months.  The way Jack and him belonged...or so the boy had thought.  The way the boy had taken for granted.  They were amazing dreams, because it was just the way things should be.  But Elijah would always wake up, gasping for breath and holding a pillow up to muffle screams.  Because he would sit straight up, scrambling for Jack's body beside his to curl up against...but Jack's body wasn't there.  Elijah was alone in a cold and empty bed, feeling cold and empty inside.  It seemed ridiculous, feeling this way.  After all, the boy was only seventeen.  It wasn't like he was past his prime or anything.  Seventeen years old left a really long time to find someone else.  An actual soulmate, or whatever.  Because that was what Elijah was trying to tell himself...obviously Jack wasn't his "one", which just meant the boy would find him sooner or later and have his happily ever after.

Jack wasn't Elijah's happily ever after.  Jack was gone.  And Elijah was grasping at straws.  It had only been a few days, but the boy was already losing his mind.  Sleep-deprived and empty and depressed...above all, he just wanted to feel again.  Because for all the emotions tormenting the boy, he wasn't really feeling any of it.  There was this odd numbness...moments where the Praetor felt he should be sad or should be crying was just...nothing.  Lots of nothing and lots of empty tears.  A physical and emotional burden.  And Elijah didn't know what it all meant.  In a moment of sheer insanity, an hour or so of sleep-deprived mania, the boy decided that the only way to feel was to just throw it all away for a one night stand.  Who the fuck cared about morals and standards?  Sex with Jack always made the small boy feel, so why not with someone else?  He had send a note right away...a Legionnaire had happened into the Principia and the son of Discordia had sent the hastily scribbled note along with him.  It was only after the boy had left with the note that Elijah realized what he had done...and had started praying he could undo it.  Though in all honesty, he wasn't sure he wanted to undo it.  Elijah sort of just wanted to...see what would happen.

Jespice- The Principia doors will still be unlocked at 9pm.  Come right back to my room. -Elijah

Someone Elijah knew would be willing.  Who would come to Elijah's room...who, once upon a time, had promised to ease Elijah's pain.  And damnit, if he could promise that then, he could do it again.  The Praetor's head was swimming by the time he crashed from that hour, and he realized how dumb it was to send that note.  He and Jespice had not finished things on a good note last time, with the son of Cupid attempting to push things further and Elijah breaking his arm and cracking a few ribs.  So there was a definite possibility the other boy wouldn't come at all.  And part of Elijah really hoped that was the case.  But part of him hoped Jespice did show up.  This time Elijah would freak out and break bones.  The two boys would do whatever and Elijah would feel something and it would be okay.  And then the Praetor could start recovering from being the broken boy who pushed away the man he loved.  Because it was all the boy's fault that was Jack was gone...and he had to take matters into his own hands.  The trouble was he wasn't entirely sure how to do that.  Glancing at his watch, the boy frowned.  8:57...please...please let him show up.  I need to feel.

Jespice was becoming more and more antisocial… Not very much of a surprise considering his situation. The son of Cupid was too familiar with heartbreak, but most of it was kind of his fault anyway. He’d messed it up with Andrew, then he went after a taken woman… It shouldn’t have been that shocking that Jespice was having ‘bad luck’ with relationships. Sure he had done somethings with other people on the side, like the one-nighter with Paisley and the clusterfuck that had happened with Elijah. The son of Cupid rubbed his arm, a ghost chill running through it, remembering when Elijah had broken it after Jespice had sexually harassed him. The teenager ran his fingers through his hair, grumbling to himself when a boy stopping right in front of him. Jespice looked up at the other Roman, slightly annoyed that he had to look up at someone, and let out a sound that was probably “what do you want?”. A scrap of paper was shoved into Jespice’s hands and the other boy quickly turned away from him. “From the Praetor” the other person grunted in the same slurred tone that Jespice that given. The son of Cupid blinked and looked at the paper in his hands completely caught off guard. From the Praetor? Did that mean Calix? Jespice shook his head, there was no way… The demigod couldn’t think of a reason why either of the Praetors would want to talk to him. Maybe the guy was messing with him… If he was it wasn’t very funny. The Roman looked at the crumpled note a little longer before gently unfolding it.


Jespice- The Principia doors will still be unlocked at 9pm.  Come right back to my room. -Elijah


The son of Cupid’s body went rigid. What could Elijah possibly want him for? Jespice’s mind was on overdrive trying to think of what the note could possibly mean. The demigod imagined a torture chamber… He imagined Elijah with a whip or something, laughing maniacally… And then he imagined other things that made the teenager’s face flush. Maybe seeing Elijah wouldn’t be so bad… Maybe the son of Cupid would leave without any broken bones. Maybe he could even get on the Praetor’s good side? That would be very helpful… The Roman didn’t need anymore enemies, it would be great if he could lose a few of them. Jespice bit his lip and looked at his watch. 8:45… It didn’t really seem like the safest idea to go… The teenager grumbled intelligently and shoved the note in his pocket. Jespice turned on his heel and went back to what he had been doing before: wandering the camp grounds. The son of Cupid wasn’t paying attention to where his feet were going, he never did. Jespice glanced at his watch, 8:50… Would he go to the Principia or not? Man, the minutes were going by really fast…


Should I stay or should I go… A song Jespice had heard once before rang out in his skull.

8:55

The son of Cupid shook his head. No he wouldn’t go… It was a bad idea.

8:56

Jespice’s steps quickened. He wasn’t going to go… He going to stay in his barracks and avoid the situation… The son of Cupid could just imagine the smaller boy’s fist against his cheek.

8:57

A thought slapped the seventeen year old across the face. What would Elijah do to him if he didn’t go? Jespice froze, his heart started racing as he imagined the angry Praetor hunting him down… That would be worse than the torture chamber…

8:58

The son of Cupid took off towards the Principia as fast he could. The Roman had wandered all the way into the Greek camp, there was no way he could be there right at nine o’clock… Romans were all about the schedule… Jespice shuddered, Elijah just might kill him for being late… The teenager kind of assumed Elijah would kill him for any reason. Jespice pushed himself through the doors of the Principia and rushed to Elijah’s room, checking his watch nervously. He nearly skidded to a stop in front of the other Roman’s door and raised his fist to knock when he froze again. This felt way too familiar… It was de-ja-vu and Jespice didn’t like it. Instead the son of Cupid pushed the door open and slipped inside.

9:05

“Sorry I’m late” Jespice breathed, pulling the note from his pocket and tossing at the Praetor’s feet before standing at attention, his body stiff as a board. As soon as the son of Cupid had slipped into the room he knew something wasn’t right. There was something clouding the air… Chaos probably, Jespice was in the presence of a son of Discordia, but there was something else too… A smirk tugged at the edges of the Roman’s mouth before he could stop himself. “Lust maybe…?” Jespice asked aloud, not meaning to. It was almost a laugh. Elijah would know what he was thinking. The son of Cupid was amused by what he felt in the air, maybe even pleasantly surprised. “...You of all people…” Jespice breathed, he had given up on trying to conceal his grin but the teenager’s body was still stiff at attention.

“You could have just wrote it in the note, you know… I would have gotten here faster…” His body relaxed a little bit but Jespice did his best to keep his guard up. He took a step forwards and grabbed the back of his Camp Jupiter shirt, pulling it over his head and tossing it at the smaller boy. “So what happened to Venus boy?” Jespice asked, knowing that would be a stupid thing to say. Something inside the son of Cupid actually wanted to get sent away… If Elijah had called him... something was seriously wrong.