Current mood:	dorky
Entry tags:	active: hugo weasley, inactive: thalia grace

Hugo & Thalia
WHO: Hugo Weasley & Thalia Grace
WHAT: Some serious and not so serious chatting before enjoying NOLA.
WHERE: Ice Skating Rink
WARNINGS: NA
STATUS: Completed via GDOC.

Hugo immediately knew he needed to go ice skating when he heard the locals didn’t often get to strap on skates. He thought it would be hilarious to watch people and was just glad Thalia agreed to go with him before they hit up Krewe of Krampus.

“Look,” he told Thalia from the sidelines, “that bloke is going to try showing off for those girls. Just watch.” He nodded toward a suave looking college-aged kid, who had been desperately trying to impress a group of girls in matching sorority sweatshirts.

---

“He’s going to try something he’s totally not ready for and fall flat on his face,” Thalia predicted. She’d watched the guy long enough to see that he didn’t have enough control over his momentum and stability to do anything fancy. The only reason why he was still upright because of his strong ankles.

“Aaaand there he goes” she added with satisfaction as he attempted a quick side brake and ended up slipping and falling onto his side. She couldn’t muster up enough schadenfraude to laugh, though; she was still bummed out over Jason and Luke’s disappearance. Why’d they have to disappear? And on the same day? She’d barely started to get to know her brother, the one she’d thought had been sacrificed as a baby, and she and Luke were just barely beginning to talk to each other again. And now both of them were back in their world, where they were both dead. Sometimes she hated her life.

---

Hugo laughed. He really hoped karma didn’t hate him. Maybe this was why the elves left him a snake; maybe he had some Slytherin in him, after all. However, he glanced side-ways at Thalia, noting something was bothering her. “Hey, you,” he said, nudging her arm, “spill. What’s going on?”

---

When Hugo had first asked Thalia to explore New Orleans with him, she hadn’t been ready to talk about the sense of shock and loss she felt over Jason and Luke’s disappearance. She’d welcomed the distraction, though, which was why she was here. But the grief had followed her through the portal and into the vibrant southern city, and she couldn’t even laugh at a guy who’d overreached in trying to show off.

“A bunch of demigods got sent back,” she replied, grimacing. “Including my brother. He’s dead back home, so.” She shrugged, trying to play it off, but it was clear she hated the situation.

---

Hugo took after his father in many ways, but the biggest was his emotional intelligence. Well, his lack of emotional intelligence, anyway. He couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable with feelings, even if he wanted to be a good mate. Still, he tried for the people he cared about, Thalia included. “Shite, love,” he replied. “I had no idea. They’ll come back. They have to.” He meant what he said, even if he couldn’t make any promises. It just seemed cruel to send her friends and family back and leave her there. “I’m glad you are still here.” Okay, probably not the best thing to say. He bit his lip. “Sorry, that was probably selfish. But it is true!”

---

That drew a short laugh out of Thalia. Despite the current circumstances, it warmed her to know she was wanted. With an absentee father like Zeus and a mother who had loved fame and alcohol more than she’d loved her own children, Thalia hadn’t had a lot of people wanting her around.

“You think they’ll come back?” She looked at him hopefully. He’d been around longer, so he would know more about people coming and going than she did. “I mean, they’re in Elysium, which is waaay better than New York - probably smells nicer - but I’m selfish. I want them - him - my brother - back with me. I barely got to know him.” She decided not to delve too deeply into if she wanted Luke back or not.

---

“Anything is possible here.” He gestured around them. “I mean, look, we are in New Orleans all of a sudden! I don’t see why this entity thing wouldn’t let your brother return.” Hugo thought it was horrible the entity allowed him to leave in the first place, but he kept that to himself. “Is there anyone left from your world?” He may not have always wanted family around, but he also never dealt with a world completely devoid of those he knew. Hannah had been in Goodland when he arrived, after all.

---

Thalia hoped the Entity would bring her family back, but she’d been through too many disappointments in her life to hold out hope. She just had to survive it, like she’d survived everything else.

“Nico’s still here; he’s my cousin,” she explained. “He’s cool, but we’re not super close. We didn’t get a chance to know each other, what with him being stuck in a casino for 60 years and his dad trying to kill me.”

She shrugged again. Gods.

---

Hugo had so many questions. Casino? Nico’s dad trying to kill her? He wasn’t sure he should keep prodding, however. He stood up and held his hand out. “Want to try to not fall flat on our faces?” He hoped a distraction might help her feel better.

---

Thalia wouldn’t have minded talking more about it; there weren’t a lot of people she could talk about these kinds of things with. The other demigods were too close to the situation, and mortals would’ve just thought she was crazy.

At the same time, she didn’t think she needed to really dwell on it. So when Hugo offered his hand, she took it and stood up in one swift motion.

“I’m going to warn you ahead of time I’m going to be even worse than Show-Off over there,” she said, nodding at the college guy who was desperately attempting to regain his pride by skating around in circles. “And if you laugh, I will fall on you. Hard.”

---

Hugo held a hand up. “I solemnly swear...not to laugh.” He guessed, since she knew...it was so strange to think, but since she knew the books his family was from, he guessed that she’d pick up on his play of the famous saying. He learned the whole “solemnly swear I’m up to no good” story from his uncle early on. “And I swear not to let go,” he added.

---

Thalia’s pride balked at the idea of having to have to hold onto someone to stay up right, but the more practical side of her took precedence. If Hugo was willing to be her support column so she didn’t faceplant in front of everyone, she was going to take him up on it.

“You might regret that,” she said good-naturedly, her lips quirking up at his play on the saying she knew so well from the books, “but I’m totally taking you up on that. Let’s go.”