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[the_beta]

Remus is on his second cup of coffee.

It's foul and acidic and makes his empty stomach want to shrivel up and crawl out of his body--he's never even liked the smell of coffee--but it's hot and however bad it tastes, at least it tastes strongly of something. At least it doesn't taste like blood.

Nothing does, he thinks. It wasn't real, didn't count

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[provincialbelle]

Belle had seen the boy around Jacob before, but she'd never found the time (or the moment) to properly introduce herself, though she wanted to. She wasn't sure she wanted, so much, to be drinking as much coffee as he was. "Want me to get you another cup?" she offered as she began tea for herself.

[the_beta]

"Merlin, no," he answers, gulping down the water like he's been stranded without these past ten months. It isn't until he's finished, spent five head-aching seconds willing a towel into his hands before finally wiping his mouth on his wrinkled sleeve, and turned to squint at her that he remembers his manners. "Ah, no thank you, that is, I've had enough."

It's a bit more squinting before he starts to think she's rather familiar. "I'm aware it's not the biggest of islands, but have we met?"

[provincialbelle]

"Not officially, I don't think," she admitted, finishing the water in the kettle and plugging it into the wall with aplomb, taking small victory in learning the device. "But I've seen you around a lot. I live at the Homestead, too, but I'm usually tucked away reading. I know you know Jacob."

[the_beta]

"Making you Bella," he surmises, except that can't be right, Bella is...something to do with tall, dark, and sparkling boy that Jacob isn't terribly fond of.

To put it lightly.

Remus shakes his head, only enough to clear it, "No, Belle--forgive me, he speaks so highly of you both. I'm Remus."

[prodigaljaybird]

Jason enters the kitchen looking only slightly better. His wounds are dressed, and he's more pale than anyone on an island has a right to be, but his clothes are clean and his hair is combed in a neat, straight line.

They'd said it'd be boring here, and from the dozens of placid faces Jason had encountered in the last week, he'd believed them, and then a bloodthirsty robot had appeared and tried to murder him along with that pretty Potts lady.

Frankly, Jason had been sad to see the guy go, but he's not sorry for the first night of decent, exhausted rest he'd had last night. Even if he'd pretty much kill right now for a cup of coffee.

"You gonna stand there all day?" he asks the guy all but draped over the sink. He's the last obstacle between Jason and the coffee pot, and he's not afraid to move him.

[the_beta]

Leaning a little harder into the sink, Remus lifts the mug the short distance to his face and clears his throat before answering, exasperated: "I could collapse down to the floor if that would be more convenient."

It's been a night, and he left a few of his manners in that imaginary tunnel. Still, after another long sip, he sets the mug off to the side and manages to slide after it. Rubbing a hand over his face, he gestures back to the sink with it, "All yours."

[prodigaljaybird]

Jason arches a brow and edges past him, borrowing some of the Red Hood's nimble speed to get a cup in hand. "You look like a stack of warm shit," he observes as he pours.

[the_beta]

Remus smiles thinly around the edge of his cup. "I do feel a bit like someone put me in a bag and lit it on fire," he agrees, tipping the cup back again and watching the young man over it. "You don't seem much better," he adds, gaze catching at his throat.

[fatalpride]

Despite many, many reasons why her mood should point to the otherwise- all of which involve Luke Castellan - Annabeth is actually happy. Well, maybe as close to happy as she can really get on this island, stuck in limbo. She also has a new book, which could also explain for her elevated mood. When you're a demigod prone to bad luck and curses by angry or mischevious deities, you have to take what you can get. And since the bookshelf has been more than unco-operative lately (why would she ever feel the need to read Cosmo?), it's enough for now.

The book in itself is incredibly old and dusty, the type that could only be described as a tome. But she's happy enough to prop it up against the table of the kitchen, an apple in hand. As usual, the kitchen's far from being empty - but the other occupant seems to be in a bad state, so she leaves him alone for a while until curiosity gets the better of her.

"Why are you drinking so much coffee?"

[the_beta]

Remus squints at his cup like he's considering the philosophical merits of the question, which he supposes he is, thinking of how he's seen Sirius live on coffee and cigarettes for days and comparing it to his two cups.

Two cups more than he'd usually drink, though. "I've heard it does wonders for one's health," he says dryly, "especially when one has been destroying it with alcohol."