With a small laugh, he stepped after her, closing the door behind them. "Are you saying it's amazing that somebody got me to swim?" he teased, knowing fully well that it was true. As they walked across the green, Alex couldn't help but kind of wish that Asher would appear somewhere and also go with them to the campfire, but alas, that was wishful thinking.
The trip to the Poseidon cabin didn't take long, and Alex knocked on the door as they got close enough. "Umiko, time to go," he called out, finding it relatively ridiculous how much he was talking through doors that day.
Umiko nodded, before sighing when realizing Alex couldn't see him through the move. Smart move. He shook out his hair one more time before opening the door, not really expecting it when being met not only by Alex, but by a blonde girl as well. He already figured she was friendly if she was hanging out with Alex, so he simply extended his hand. "Umiko."
Elettra nodded, smiling and shaking his hand. "Elettra." She introduced herself as well, not sure what exactly Umiko's tone meant, but figuring she shouldn't judge so early. Instead, she said excitedly, "I'm so ready for the first campfire. It's going to be so fun."
Alex waved for them to follow and started walking before replying. "Yeah, I love the campfires. Not only because of the marshmallows, of course," he joked, referring to his sweet tooth that was widely known. He threw his arms behind his head with a small laugh. "It's so great to sit together with everybody again, though. Not to mention, I can finally see all new campers." He was a bit hungry by now, as he had skipped dinner for... reasons, but he wasn't about to admit that.
Elettra nodded enthusiastically, though in the back of her mind she wondered if Vivienne would be there. She hadn't seen the ginger all day, and was wondering if she was just simply late. However, she pushed it away, telling Alex, smiling at Umiko as she mentioned him, "So far I've just met Umiko." Her mouth then formed an 'o'. "Actually, I saw a girl named Manami earlier. Is she your sister?" She asked Umiko, and although that certainly seemed to catch his attention, all she received as an answer was a nod.
Vivienne arrived at the campfire, seeing Ben with a massive bag of marshmallows. She hadn't seen him since last year, much like many of the other campers with their friends, considering their lack of electronic devices. "Ben!" She called, waving with a grin.
If you're having a bad day, here's a Winchester hug
"I also met Nick today - he was the amber-eyed boy with me, Umiko," he started, remembering that Umiko had come over during the commotion Cecilia had caused. "I'm not sure if you know him, Elettra. He was last here three years ago, but he's really nice. And then I also met... that girl." His voice was as indifferent as he could force himself to be as he talked about her. He told himself it had been wrong of him to get upset simply because Asher was alright with her 'request'. It probably didn't mean anything... right?
He'd have to apologize for just leaving with Umiko without another word....
Shaking his head slightly, he grinned as he spotted the campfire. "Woah, seems like Ben, Joshua and... some girl made the campfire today~!" He didn't know who the girl was, but she seemed to have similarities with Umiko.
Alex had left, asher wondered if it was about the situation but hoped that that was not the case. It wasn't him flirting, he just has a charm with the way he speaks, at least to most people, Percy and Sanaa would definitely say otherwise. "Of course~" he sent a smile her way without the usual trademark wink, then he's taken that's saved only for the one person. Unless its used in other context which was not the case with Cecilia. He led the way for her, but without much thought, his mind was stuck on Alex hoping that hr didn't believe that he was making a move on the new girl.
"Can't say much yet about her." Percy said to Sanaa on a quiet tone. "Just that she has disgusting choice in men." He followed it up with motioning to asher. The red head looked obviously, majorly displeased.
Sanaa raised an eyebrow at that, a teasing light in her eyes. "I totally get what you mean, but are you saying Alex also has a disgusting choice in men with that?" She wasn't being serious, what her nudging Percy with her elbow just underline. She shook her head a bit with a sigh. "I don't like her. Not to mention, when I got here, Alex and another boy called Umiko came past me. Apparently Alex decided spontaneously to show him the beach, and I think he didn't eat any dinner, either."
She scoffed a bit good-heartedly as another thought came to her. "I swear, if he tries to make it up by eating even more marshmallows he'll actually turn into sugar one day."
--
Cecilia just kept smiling up at him, inching closer whenever she could do so unnoticed. Though, the fire did catch even her attention. "Is that a campfire?" she asked innocently, pointing one of her perfect nails at it. A few people were already seated around it, she could spot Joshua and the other two from before, and also two blondes and another boy. They seemed to be having a pretty good time. Well, at least to them. None of them - save for perhaps Joshua - were worth her attention.
Alex smiled as he sat down next to Joshua. He didn't sit with the Hecate counselor too often, but his reasoning was simple - Joshua was closest to the fire right now, and Alex's hair was still wet, and his wet hair curled, which he hated. So, to prevent that, he wanted to get it dry as soon as possible. "Ben, you've got the marshmallows, right?" he asked, a mischievous light in his eyes. It was common knowledge that giving Alex the whole package of marshmallows was a bad idea, as he'd eat them all.
Ben grinned, nodding, although he picked up the package and took a single marshmallow out before handing it to Alex. "Let's start with this," He suggested amusedly. He then turned to Manami. "This is Manami. She's new here." He introduced, pointing at the girl. When looking up close, one could see several similarities to her older brother, even if she hated to admit it.
Umiko sat next to Alex, considering he was the only camper he really knew, and even so, he already knew that Alex wasn't the type of person to ask him to leave. However, as soon as he noticed his sister he just had to look everywhere except her. Or, he tried. It was hard when he'd gone so long without even texting her. However, he did poke Alex after a second, seeing if he could get his new friend's attention. "Shouldn't you eat something real?"
Citrine (This is kind of short, but I couldn't think of anything else to type)
Alex waved to Manami for a second with a grin. "Alexander Bishop, but please call me Alex~" he chimed cheerfully, then stuffed the marshmallow in his mouth. He was chewing on it when he felt Umiko poke him, which made him glance over, blue eyes illuminated by the glow the fire gave off. He held up a finger, signaling for Umiko to hold on a second as he swallowed the sweet. Then, he rolled his eyes a bit. "I often live off sweets, no big deal. Either way, I'm not gonna go get dinner now - it's way too late." That was a lie, Alex just didn't want to get up and leave right now.
After saying that, he promptly turned back to Ben, holding his hand out with the silent demand of another marshmallow. He knew that they usually got more than needed, simply for campers like him who ended up eating more, anyway.
Ben sighed, looking amused as he gave Alex another marshmallow. He moved to sit in a more comfortable positron, but grinned when he saw a redhead in the corner of his eyes. Turning, he saw the familiar face he was expecting to see.
Vivienne smiled as she walked over to the others, bundled up in a hoodie, eith her blue eyes reflecting the flame. "Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late." She told them, grinning as she started to recognize the faces she hadn't seen in so long sitting in front of her.
Alex took the marshmallow with a bright grin, then looked over as Vivienne spoke up. "Hey, Vivi!" he called out, waving with his free hand. He did love giving people nicknames, at least when the normal name was a mouthful to say, hence why he didn't like people calling him 'Alexander', it was just way too long and formal, in his opinion. "Come sit down," he added, then ate the marshmallow.
Joshua also waved, actually reading the textbook Ben had given him. He'd engage in conversation when needed, but he felt like getting an early start on the textbook, considering it was a bit harder to read than the books he usually read. He saw Alex glance over, eyes flicking over the page. He seemed rather... curious about the book, which, in turn, made Joshua curious. Was Alex interested in this stuff?
Vivienne smiled, sitting down by Alex, who was seeming to be peeking over at Joshua's book. Taking a quick glance, she was able to tell it was a medicine book. She thought it was Ben who was interested in that kind of stuff, but maybe Joshua was as well. She looked into his eyes, hoping to catch his attention, saying, "You're interested in medicine?" Her voice was simply curious, and like always, she wasn't afraid to ask a simple question. It didn't seem all that interesting in her opinion, but then again, she liked rock climbing and cliff jumping and diving, everything a little bit out of the box when focusing on a future living. In the corner of her mind, she also wanted to know if there were any new camp otps already.
Joshua looked up with a hum. "Hmm? Not really, to be honest, but I want to read some actual educational stuff instead of only fantasy books or whatever else I can get my hands on," he replied, glancing at her with a smile. He was about to close the textbook, then gave Ben a quick glance before dropping it into Alex's lap, who jumped a bit. "But I think Alex is~"
Said blond stuttered out something nobody could really understand, blushing. He hadn't thought that anybody had noticed him looking over, so he ended up running a hand through his slightly wet hair sheepishly. "I... uh, yeah, actually," he finally brought out, not meeting anybody's eyes.
Ben looked at Alex, his eyes lighting up. He didn't think anybody else at camp was interested in it. "Me toooo!" He said excitedly, before grinning and calming himself down a bit. He turned to face Alex a bit more, saying, "I had no idea you were interested in medicine."
Vivienne turned to Joshua, seeing as it looked like Ben was about to have a heart attack talking about medicine, and asked him, "Are there any otps so far that I've missed?" There was a grin on her face, she loved the camp's entire atmosphere. Mostly everybody was friendly and accepting to whatever she threw their way, and she liked it. Plus, she was always in the mood for some good shipping.
Alex still seemed embarrassed about the whole situation, but looked at Ben with a small smile. "I honestly got interested last year during the time I was stuck in the infirmary," he admitted. "It just seemed interesting, so I started reading up on it a bit." While talking, he nervously held onto the textbook. Alex reading was even rarer than him swimming, because he hated reading, but for things he was interested in, he didn't really mind. "Y'know, I think it feels great to help people when they're hurt."
Joshua leaned a bit backwards so that Ben and Alex could talk, and also so that he and Vivienne could talk without anybody really paying attention to them. "I dunno how many of the pairs that happened last summer you already know, but there's Henry and Alethea, Sanaa and Naomi, and Alex and Asher." Any other person who actually knew anything about romance would've also been able to see certain things going on between campers such as Lucia and Nathan, but Joshua didn't pay attention to rumors and gossip.