Joshua met Ben's gaze, thinking as well for a moment. "I'm rather sure Alex's main weapon is a dagger," he said slowly after a few moments. "Don't hold me to it, but I think Marinette uses one, too." Joshua had started using his gladius more again, so he really didn't feel like he'd know much about daggers to begin with. The thing he could help Manami with, though, was mist manipulation.
Though, after mentioning said blond camper, he couldn't help but add, "Where did Alex go, anyway? I think he wanted to ask Marinette something real quick, but he never returned back to talk more with us."
Ben bit his lip, the question making him look around instinctively. "I have... No idea." He replied, looking a bit guilty that he'd not realized that the younger wasn't with them. "You think he went of with Sanaa? Maybe Asher got here?" Ben asked, running a hand through his hair.
Joshua shrugged after a moment, having no clue himself. "Maybe? Who knows," he replied. "Either way, he should be fine. We're inside the camp after all." He nodded to Manami afterwards, though. "We could ask Alex later if he can teach you a bit, I believe. He's really nice, so don't worry about it~"
Manami nodded, before asking, "Is there anything... Dangerous? I mean, like, not monsters and all that.. But rock walls, or crazy training exercises and all that?" She asked, looking excited at just the thought of it. She wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if a camp like that had insane activities compared to what she used to do during regular summers.
Joshua walked a few more steps before answering, "Yeah, there's a climbing wall with lava and all. Pretty dangerous at times, it's not uncommon for somebody to burn their eyebrows off if they're not careful." He cracked a smile at that, shaking his head. "But if you do get hurt, the Apollo cabin can help. I can show you where the climbing wall is later on." He'd used it himself a few times during winter, mainly to work out a bit, though he'd never admit that he'd actually almost burned his eyebrows off himself.
Ben's smile dropped at the thought of being on the climbing wall again. It was a pain to think about not that he was a lot less athletic, but he dismissed the idea of that. He put a small grin on his face again, saying, "I'm a child of Apollo, so I can always help to heal you."
Manami nodded. "Thanks! I'll probably need to take you up on the offer eventually. I tend to be rather clumsy." She said with a giggle.
...
Umiko was lost. He didn't think he was going to get lost, but who ever thought about that? He stumbled across a building, different from what the cabins had looked like, and he put aside his dignity, walking in. He, just his embarrassing self, came across a shirtless, blonde boy, and looked at the ground as he asked, "U-uhm, do you know where this is? I'm lost." His voice was just audible.
Joshua smiled a bit as he listened to them, then stopped. "Here we are~ Hecate's cabin. I'm sorry if it's a bit messy inside, I didn't expect to share it with anybody," he admitted with a small laugh. It wasn't like it was really messy, but it also wasn't all tidied up. A few of his things were scattered around, considering he was at the camp the whole year.
-
Alex looked up sharply as he heard a voice, eyes narrowed in case anything bad had happened, but when he saw the other boy, he had to hold a shout of surprise back. He blushed, quickly crossing his arms in front of his chest before he also looked away. "Er, well, this is the infirmary," he started slowly. "I kind of managed to get stabbed right after getting here...."
Umiko's eyes widened a little bit, and his accent showed just a bit when he said, "Already? How? Is there something dangerous in camp?" He asked, voice dull, although he was thinking of his sister, assuming she had no idea how to fight. He didn't want her getting hurt, despite them drifting.
...
Manami smiled, shaking her head. "It's fine, I don't mind a mess." She replied with a shrug, looking at Ben, who was leaning against the door, and then Joshua. "Everybody stays in cabins like this?" She understood it was a naive question, but she was pretty curious about this place. After all, it was her home for the summer.
Alex shook his head, finally looking at the other boy, though there was still a blush on his cheeks. "No, it was mainly my fault. I didn't consider somebody's reaction enough and ended up getting stabbed because they panicked," he explained, drawing up one of his knees to rest his chin on it. "You're lost, right? I can help you out once my friend brought me a new shirt. I kind of... didn't want to have people see me shirtless but, y'know," he said, gesturing at their situation. He hadn't been so sure what to call Marinette. He did consider her as a friend, but her thoughts on the matter could be totally different.
-
"Mostly," Joshua answered. "Naomi, our oracle, has her own place that's not a cabin. But the campers, yeah, we do." It had been an odd thought for him at first, especially because back when he had arrived he had thought he'd have to share the cabin with somebody the whole year, which he just wasn't used to. Though, by now, he was really excited, because it meant the cabin wouldn't be as quiet anymore. "I'd say the cabins who are often the fullest are either the Hermes cabin or the Apollo one." He glanced at Ben for a second while saying that, wondering if he had said something wrong now. At least, he thought those were the cabins that usually held the most people.
Ben nodded as Joshua spoke, shrugging as he was looked at. "I think that's right." He confirmed with a small smile, crossing his arms. "The Hermes cabin is where not only the children of Hermes go, but also where unclaimed kids go until their parent claims them and they go to the correct cabin." He told Manami.
She looked thoughtful, sitting down in one of the empty bunks. "This place is so complex. I didn't even know it existed until a few years ago. It's huge, too." She commented, remembering all that she'd seen just during the walk to the cabin.
...
Umiko nodded. "Oh." Like usual, a pretty calm face met Alex's expression. He laced his hands together, placing them in his lap and waited. "Thank you for offering to help." He then said, remembering that he should at least be polite.
"Same here," he admitted with a laugh. "I got here when I was 14, and I'm 16 now." It was odd, but he honestly didn't miss England much. The camp felt like a home to him already, which wasn't hard considering what events had taken place back in the old world.
-
"Yeah, so... I guess we have to wait until she gets here," he said with a small laugh. Alex glanced at his bloodied shirt for a moment, wondering if he should just put that back on that not be shirtless anymore, but decided against it. Running around the camp with a bloody shirt would draw way too much attention, not to mention, the more people he'd have to explain it to, the more likely it was Asher would find out, too.
"Me, too. I just turned 16." Manami said with a smile, resting her hands on her lap. She turned her head when Ben's lips curved up into a grin, and he jokingly tossed his hair, placing his hands on his hips.
"I'm the eldest!" He said, grinning. "I'm 18 already. Although, you're still much taller than me." He pouted, looking at Joshua. "But the bad thing about being 18 is that I only have a few years of camp left." He said glumly.
...
Umiko extended a hand toward Alex for a handshake. "My name is Umiko Tanaka." He introduced himself quietly, but confidently, and his voice was nearing friendly, although that's not exactly a word you'd use to describe it. He still refrained from making eye contact.
Ria looked up at the sound of her name. "Hey, Lucia. We meet again." She said with a half-smile crossing her face, small but genuine. Absentmindedly, she fiddled with the dagger in her pocket - not that she had any intent of drawing it, she just felt safer armed. Probably just a reflex after one too many monster attacks. "Nothing too important happened in the five minutes I was gone, right? Nobody's died yet?" It was meant as a joke, but to be fair, in Ria's experience half-bloods had terrible luck. With the exception of Tyche's kids, sometimes.
Marinette made her way back with long strides, "Baaack~ Sorry it took so long, I was totally snoop-" Her eyes paused on Umiko, but as Alex didn't seem to have died yet, decided it was all fine. "snooping." She finished her word, even though it was a total lie. The black-haired girl tossed the shirt to Alex, letting it land softly on the bed.
Asher's eyes opened and he let out a groan. Forcing himself upwards, he left the cabin with his sunglasses fixed back onto his face. He had a nice enough nap, he could go for some meeting up with people.
"Hey, you can always explore the world afterwards," Joshua said with a grin. He was glad to be at the camp, but his dream was to explore as much as possible of the world. He felt so small compared to it, so he wanted to see as many different cultures and places as possible. He shrugged a moment later, though. "Besides, you totally act like a grandpa already," he added, a smirk coming onto his face.
--
Alex called a quick 'thanks' to Marinette, ignoring the part where she had talked about 'snooping'. He quickly grabbed the shirt and pulled it over his head, feeling much better the moment he wasn't shirtless anymore. Moments later, he took Umiko's hand and shook it. "Alexander Bishop, but please call me Alex. I don't like it when people use my full name," he said, sending a pointed look Marinette's way before he pointed to her. "And that's Marinette, Aphrodite camper."
He let that all settle for a moment before he added, "So, you said you were lost, right? I could help you out. Where are you supposed to be?"
"Nah, a cyclops already trashed the camp," she joked with a smile. With Lucia, it was very obvious when she was joking. Her smile usually stretched very far, and she had to hold her laughs back. Though, she couldn't help but tease the Ares counselor for a bit. Not to mention, it was good that it was obvious with her, because they really had that much bad luck at times.
