MLG [Private]

A day ending in the letter Y was a day that was spent either in front of a screen or one spent out in the camp. Today, was one of those days that Malik was using to be as lazy as humanly possible. He woke up at noon, went to lunch in jeans and a tank top he found, which was probably his older brothers, and then proceeded to bring Mountain Dew Code Red and a bunch of different Doritos back to his cabin for a day of nothing but gaming. He had just gotten the Xbox One and was going to relish in Assassins Creed Syndicate. Dressing back in his pajamas he poured himself some Dew, in a coffee cup he had no less, and proceeded to take a photo of him with his headphones on, cup of Dew in hand and the game loading screen behind him. Captioning it "Nothing like a Monday with nothing to do." he posted it on Instagram and Twitter for his 3K followers. He never really understood why he had so many, but then again with him working in the Circus everyone shared everyone else's social media info like it was some kind of infection. Either way though, he was having a good day. Sitting in his gamer chair and putting on his headphones the son of Thanatos settled in for a day of bingeing the new game.

Laure knocked on the door waiting. She was dressed in a blue EXO top and white shorts, her hair gathered up into a ponytail. No one came. She knocked again, absently checking her pastel nail polish. Still no one?
Her ADHD won and she simply opened the door, walking in. The cabin was empty except for some tall dude in Deadpool tee and pajama pants who was playing video games. Looking around, Laure decided the best way to describe the cabin was luxuriously macabre. Everything was dark, the bunk beds cut from sleek ebony. Golden candles were burning in holders, surrounded by butterflies. A statue of Thabatos stood in a gleaming niche, his wings outstretched, and the columns holding the window looked like they were made of human bones dipped in gold.

"Where's Lena?" Laure asked the guy. He looked quite strange, with white hair and milky eyes, like some kind of undead maybe?

He didn't hear the knocks on the door. Hell! Malik didn't even hear the girl open the door and walk into the cabin. Feeling the air he turned around and groaned as he paused the game and moved to shut the door. Then he heard the voice and nearly jumped out of his skin. Jesus! Make a sound next time. He said fixing his white hair that fell into his face before looking back at her. Lena and Syn are working in NYC at the club then heading home for a week for something that doesn't involve me. Why? The teen inquired as he moved back to his chair and sat down, resuming the game and parkouring though the night.

"Or maybe you should get your ears checked," Laure replied. Having listened to his answer, her shoulders slumped a little. "Oh. Well, I'm with the Romans who came to Camp Half-Blood yesterday, and I was hoping to see your sister. We had nice chats last time I came."

Malik laughed. Nothing Lena does is ever genuinely nice. Sarcastic and blunt, for sure. But hardly ever nice. The white haired boy said as he continued to play his game. I'm Malike by the way. I'm the middle child of the Duchannes family. The "mistake" everyone says. He made her aware, using his fingers to air quote while still playing the game seamlessly. You could tell he took gaming seriously.

"What makes you think the chats were kind," Laure smirked. "Also, is your hair died?"

Died white hair made her think of Kpop groups, especially EXO. Kai with white hair....oh gods.

Frowning he paused the game and looked at her. And I suppose you want to know if my contacts are colored as well? Getting up and saving his game the teen moved to his bunk and sat down as his hellhound shifted in his sleep laying next to him. No it's not died and I'm not wearing contacts. I have a condition called Vitiligo where melanin cells just stop functioning on parts of my body. Using his arm that was tattooed he pointed to the whiter patches on his neck and jawline as well as the one on his wrist, frowning again as his involuntary tic happened as well.

She raised an eyebrow. "Vitiligo? Never heard of it." You learn something new everyday. "What did you say your name was again? Malik? Hi, I'm Laure," she said, extending her manicured hand.

Pleasure. He said politely then realized he was in his pajamas, not really caring all too much but bashing himself on making a rather horrible first impression. Either way though, he was glad he had someone to talk with, he was starting to get very focused on his game and that would lead to him being antisocial until he finished it, whenever that may be. James woke up and yawned, showing off all his massive teeth, and Malik scratched him behind the ears. The hellhound looked at the Roman and tilted his head to one side, his red markings and eyes looking like rivers of blood.

"By Mars Ultor. Is that a hellhound?" Laure immediately grabbed her gladius, which hung at her hip. The imperial gold flashed as she drew it and pointed it at the monster, her body getting into her supple fighting stance.

Woah calm down. Malik said as he instinctively placed himself in front of his friend. This was weird, even as far as demigods went. A lot of underworld demigods had hellhounds as pets and some of the Hecate kids even used them as mascots of sorts. James is my friend and won’t hurt you so long as you don’t hurt him or my family. The white haired teen explained as he noticed James was eyeing the swords that was drawn and every muscle in the hounds body was tense. Can you please put the weapon away? Lots of demigods here have hellhounds as pets and companions. He explained again to prove his point and as if on cue, Andy and Necro ran past happily in love with whatever chaos they had just made.

Laure shook her head. "What the hell is wrong with you people," she sighed, reluctantly sheathing her gladius. Having hellhounds as pets. What next? Adopting a cute little dracaena baby?

Curious, but glad to have the sword put away and James relaxing again, Malik stood and leaned against the bed post. Do they not have hellhounds as companions in your camp? What sort of pets DO you have anyways? He had to admit, calling James a pet felt wrong seeing as he WAS still a hellhound and all but even still, it was odd that Romans wouldn't keep them as pets. Especially considering more of the Roman gods were very war like and a hellhound would have made a great battle companion once trained and outfitted with armor of sorts.

"We don't exactly do pets," Laure replied. "Well Reyna had Scipio, but that's as far as it gets. The only animals we have at camp -- by that I mean our horses, giant eagles and elephant Hannibal -- are all meant for war, not personal companionship."

I mean some of the Ares kids sort of have pets mostly for war and battle. James is still wild at heart so I have no doubt he can do some serious damage in a fight. Malik explained as he tried to remember what Lena said about companions at camp. That and Lena has Stark who is really just for hunting and fighting. He said as he recalled the first time he met the hound and it seemed to be stalking him with his eyes no matter how many times Lena told him he was family. Other than that there were plenty of campers who had plenty of normal pets like cats and dogs, there were always the few people though that had an exotic pet of sorts.

"You guys are begging to be killed," Laure muttered, turning away though keeping the hellhound in her vision field, just in case. "What game were you playing?" she asked, gesturing at the couch he had been sitting on.

I mean I guess you could view it as staring death in the face. Demigods don't live all too long anyways, so why not have some fun with it right James? He smirked as the hellhound gave a happy bark before perking up his ears as Necro walked into the cabin and the two laid side by side. They were really like brothers here at camp in a way, even Andy said they were close as far as hellhounds went. Moving back to the couch and sitting to face the screen Malik picked up a controller and resumed the game. Assassins Creed: Syndicate. It's the newest game. He explained as the twins were running around the streets of London.

"Oooh, Assassin's Creed," Laure said. "I loved playing Brotherhood!"

Softly sitting down next to him, she watched as he played his way through the game, sometimes giving a bit of advice, sometimes applauding his skills. "You're quite skilled at this. You must've played a lot," she guessed.

My circus family would always tell me I was born on the trapeze with a game controller in my hand. It was sort of the running joke.Malik said after thanking Laure. It was nice to have company when playing and he smiled a little when the two hell hounds moved to sit on each side of the two. James laid his head in Malik's lap and Necro did the same to Laure, almost like he was testing the waters to see if she would be ok. Of course within seconds of relaxing Necro fell asleep with his head in her lap, his red markings pulsing in time to his breathing. What a silly little hound.Malik laughed as he used a hand to give him a quick scratch as he slept and went back to his game.