Vivienne looked to Ben for help. Their ideas were certainly becoming broad. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, saying, "I think it's just natural red hair." She didn't really want the twins trying to find strands of her hair to wear. Like, at all. Then, she recalled their statement from earlier. "Wait, I get how Percy wouldn't be affected, and Sam I guess, too. But why Alex?" She asked, looking a bit confused.
...
Umiko wasn't sure why Alex didn't want to go back, but he figured he could trust him to know the campers and simply sat down without complaint. Andrea? He'd never heard the name other than when Alex had just said it, and weirdly didn't mind the thought of meeting somebody else. However, he decided to wait for her reply to Alex before possibly introducing himself.
"Nah, I just can't roast a marshmallow to save my life." The girl said dryly, throwing her hands up in the air in mock-annoyance. "I tried sacrificing it to whoever my dad is after it fell into the fire, but I guess he doesn't like marshmallows." She explained quickly, shifting over a bit in case the two wanted to sit down nearby. "You guys can give it a shot, if you'd like. You'd probably do better than me."
"Alex is too smart to be affected! He's probably immune to it!" Freya shot back, holding herself a bit higher and glaring at Ben and Johua, the latter having started laughing the moment her explanation came up.
"More like they want information from Alex and he's too nice to treat badly," he threw in, receiving another pointed look from Freya.
-
"Wow, I can't believe somebody doesn't like marshmallows," Alex said in mock-offense. "I'd feel honored if somebody would sacrifice one for me." He smiled softly at Andrea, then gestured to his plate with food. "I'll try after I'm done with dinner. But maybe Umiko wants to?" he added, looking over at the taller boy. Okay, so perhaps he was trying to get Umiko some more friends, but hey, who could blame him? If he got along with others, it would only help him out in the long run.
Vivi laughed, putting her hands over her face until she recovered and was able to face the twins again without giggling. "I promise Joshua isn't going to do anything to you. Neither is Ben. And yes, Alex is smart, but I don't think that's how cooties work." Honestly, she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up the joke, but she had to admit that it was amusing her quite a bit.
...
Umiko was drifting off into thought when Alex said his name, not starting, more just his head tipping up a bit to look at Andrea and Alex. "Ah, no thanks, I'm not really hungry." He said politely, hands feeling a bit fidgety. Scratch the whole social thing, it was clearly to much for him based on his reaction, or at least that's what he thought. Maybe he'd stick to silently sitting by Alex while his friend socialized.
"Alright." Andrea said with a nod. "But yeah. Seriously, I don't know if I want to be the daughter of someone who doesn't like marshmallows." She added, crossing her arms as she glared up at the sky. Well, eight more days and she would officially be thirteenth. He couldn't delay it too much longer. Maybe she just hadn't done anything worth being claimed for yet? "I don't suppose there's any god with a reputation that he waits for the absolute last minute to claim his demigod children, right?" She suggested half-seriously. It was worth a shot. Normally it might not be a good idea to talk ill of a god, but she hadn't been struck by lightening yet.
Freya had been about to reply, then bit her cheek, turning to Brooke for help. "Brooke, help me," she simply whined.
Joshua kept watching the twins, letting the fire warm him up some more. There was an amused smile on his face as he got a stick and marshmallow himself. He wiped the dirt off the stick on his pants, then stuck the marshmallow onto it and held it over the fire. He didn't eat too many usually, but he was quite good at roasting them. Some said he cheated somehow with how many tricks he usually pulled, but that wasn't the case while roasting marshmallows.
-
Alex swallowed the bacon he'd put on his plate before replying, "Who of them don't? Save for perhaps Athena, but with her that's a bit different." He paused for a moment, tilling his head to the side. "I know that Nick - you probably don't know him yet - got claimed very late by Hades, because it was at the end of the day on his 13th birthday, but there are others who got claimed even later, I think. Just gotta wait and see, right?" He paused, then gave her a thumbs-up. "I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you'll get claimed soon!"
He knew that most campers felt frustrated the longer it took for them to get claimed. Sadly, Alex couldn't really say he knew the feeling, as he had been claimed very early on in life.
Brooke huffed, crossing her arms and looking at Vivi. For once, the twin was a bit lost for words. "Y-you don't know anything about cooties, you've never had them or anything because you're a redhead!" She exclaimed, hoping that was good enough of an excuse for her older sister.
Vivi sighed, shaking her head and sitting back down. "I give up, I really do." She said, although she was still grinning. She figured that she could argue with the twins forever and she still wouldn't win or lose.
Ben laughed, smiling and tossing a marshmallow to Riley, who caught it in her mouth. "Well, alright then." He said, sneakily grabbing a marshmallow and throwing it lightly to Vivi, watching as she scrambled to catch it before it finally fell into her mouth. "Yep, still the champion." He told her, giving her a high five.
...
Umiko couldn't really come up with anything to say considering he'd been told from the start that he was a child of Poseidon. However, he could see how not being claimed could mean a lot. He supposed it generally wasn't a good feeling, but like usual, he wasn't exactly wanting to speak up.
"Hmm." Andrea hummed thoughtfully, tapping her foot. No real clues, then. It had been worth a try. Her gaze flickered to Umiko for a moment before she returned a half-smile to Alex. If he didn't feel like chatting, it didn't seem nice to stare. "Thanks. I'm hoping for that, too." She replied, one hand tugging at the sleeve of her t-shirt. Truth be told, she didn't feel any kind of connection to her godly parent, whoever he may be, but she was dying of curiosity. She was so close, but so far this had felt like the slowest June of her life. She got up, dusting off her jeans, the ghost of a smile on her face. "I'll be back soon, going to grab another marshmallow."
Freya huffed, but then ended up just sitting down. "I want marshmallows," she whined, obviously done with the other topic. They had won the argument, in her eyes.
Joshua brought he marshmallow away from the fire, blowing a bit on it to cool it down. He took a bite of the slightly brown marshmallow, then grinned. It was perfect. Well, if his plan to become a magician didn't work out, perhaps he could become a professional marshmallow roaster.
-
"May the marshmallow gods be with you," Alex called after her, smiling. He glanced at Umiko for a moment, smile never leaving his face, then he turned back to his food. He still had some French fries left, so he picked a few off the plate and began eating. No matter what, he wouldn't force Umiko to talk if he didn't want to. Besides, he had enough things to think about while eating. Namely, talking to Asher. He knew that it hadn't been right to just leave like that because he hadn't liked the situation.
Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk. He'd just talk to him once he caught him alone. How long could that take?
Ben smiled, holding up the bag for Freya to take one. He saw Vivi sit down, hearing her yawn and not really minding as she leaned against his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow, deciding it was a good opportunity to tease her. "Little sisters wear you out?" He asked, a grin on his face as he handed her another marshmallow.
She nodded, although she seemed the slightest bit serious. "Always," She said jokingly. She loved the twins, but arguing with either, let alone both, was quite the task. She turned her head a bit, eyes widening when she saw Joshua's marshmallow. "Woah. How do you do that?" She asked, completely shifting and using Ben's side as a backrest.
...
Umiko had been wondering about something for a while now, and looking up at the sky, the question came to him again. He sat up in an attempt to be a bit more polite, asking Alex quietly, "Does it rain here?" Considering mostly all the noise was away from them, and they were sitting in mostly silence, he for some reason felt like he should be talking in a voice that was close to a whisper.
"It is a talent I have," Joshua replied lightly. It sounded like a joke, but it honestly wasn't one. He took another bite before he added, "I've just always been able to guess when the marshmallow's done, for whatever reason." Shrugging, he looked back to the fire, grinning a bit.
-
"Only if the ones leading the camp want it to," Alex replied, looking over at him. He felt bad about being the only one with food, but Umiko had refused his offer, so it was probably fine. "So, usually not. It's very rare for it to rain here at the camp." He also kept his voice down, not because he felt like it was needed, but rather because he didn't want Umiko to feel uncomfortable.
"That's what real talent is." Vivi told Joshua with a grin, squeaking as Ben tossed another marshmallow over his shoulder. She caught it between her palms, glaring at him although he couldn't see. "You couldn't possibly have expected me to catch that in my mouth.
Brooke went over and sat next to Joshua, a marshmallow in her hand. "Can you teach me how you did the super perfect marshmallow thing?" She asked cheerfully. She figured that since Vivi said she would be safe, it would be okay. As long as she didn't get too close.
...
Umiko nodded. The ocean it is, then. He thought to himself. He personally loved the rain, and always used to get sick as a kid because he'd just walk outside and sit on the sidewalk while it poured. "Thanks." He said, before looking back at the others. He didn't mind where Alex wanted to be, would stay with him either way since he was the most comfortable around him, but was just thinking about what he'd said earlier. "What made you say that we should sit over here? Just wondering." This time, he allowed a bit of enthusiasm in his voice, or at least something a bit different than his usual dullness.
"Wow really? Lucky! Well not about the kidnapped guys but still." Chevy said in her usual manner throw in some hand gestures as she was satisfied for now about the answer to her question and looking around the other campers that had gathered around the campfire, she took notice of the two younger campers -twins perhaps?- tackling another girl camper which made her wonder what cabin they were from as she was also forgetful at times; she soon turned her head to see two campers Lucia and Nathan who she started to run over to them in hopes of getting a hug. "HEY GUYS!"
"Yeah, I wonder why she's been gone for lo-" Nathan began to say before seeing a fourteen year-old girl running over to them which he was friends with said-camper since she always threw the best parties at camp and he did help give her love advice a few times yet, She hasn't changed that much....does she still have that mallet? he thought to himself as he did spar with the Dionysus camper which landed both campers in the infirmary for some days.
"Hmm...my favorite memory? I have too many to count,but i guess, it would be the memory of meeting all you and making friends here on the forums. :3" ”One day I’m going to sit down and make a list of all the books that I finished reading....” “It's going to be a long list...”
Asher gave a grateful nod as they got to the dining pavilion to get some food. "Do you want to eat at the campfire? It'll give you a chance to make some other friends~" He suggested to the girl.
Oliver's head tilted to a bit, but his face still showed indifference. Still, he asked, "No, what?" Obviously he could have some inferences considering being the god of death and all, but facts were better than guesses.
Joshua looked up, grinning a bit. "I'm not too good at explaining, but maybe just watch what I do and copy it?" he suggested sheepishly. Turning his head, he said, "Yo, Ben, wanna give me a marshmallow? I gotta teach my new student here something~"
Alex turned his head slightly, giving a small smile. "Freya and Brooke can be a bit... much at times, especially when they appear together. Not to mention, they're even harder to handle when you don't talk much, so yeah," he replied, making it obvious that he had also sat down here for Umiko. Alex got a bit annoyed by them sometimes, but he could deal with them just fine, yet, he wasn't sure how Umiko would've handled them. No need to scare him on his first day.
Lucia laughed as she saw Chevy, extending her arms when the girl came towards her to give her a hug, too. "Hey, Chevy! Nice to see you again!" she cheered. The fire was nice, she noticed, because she had forgotten a jacket. Oh well, if Chevy clung to her some more, that also wouldn't be a problem anymore.
Cecilia thought for a moment, then nodded, flashing him a smile. "Sure~ Friends are always good." In actuality, it'd give her time to scout out the other campers, and maybe also see his girlfriend and what she was dealing with. "Ready to go when you are~"
Nick ran a hand through his hair, walking a few steps to see whether Oliver would follow or not. Then, he replied, "Most notable would be the ability to summon skeletons and shadow-travel, really. I'm better at shadow-traveling than summoning things, though." Not to mention, the ability to summon people that were already, well, dead, did make him a bit uncomfortable despite being a child of Hades.