Tea For Two (Chris)

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Marie was really looking forward to this. She’d talked to Chris earlier and they’d decided to set up a time to meet here and have lunch and go to the library. Well, she did feel a little bad about dragging to the library, though in her defense, he had been the one to offer. Just the whole severely showing the signs of battle – aka blood and mud all over – she figured the librarian would never let either of them in again. So she voted that they postpone their meeting. And besides, who wanted to eat lunch caked in mud and blood. That was a little gross. Not that it was his fault.

Now that was another thing entirely. She felt her anger rising alarmingly. That wasn’t good. She glanced at her watch. She had five minutes to not be a furious jerk. She just couldn’t believe that people treated Chris that way! There was no way at all that he deserved it! He was a great guy and really nice if you gave him a chance. But those idiots just cared about the prestige of beating a child of Jupiter. Well, she was glad that he beat them. They deserved to be beaten. And she was glad that she didn’t know who it was who ganged up on him like that because this was putting her in the mood to break someone’s nose. She just hated Chris being treated so badly. It wasn’t fair at all. And anyone who thought otherwise she would love to have a nice firm discussion with. No nice little Marie in this case. She’d stand up for Chris to the end, even if she wasn’t all that much to speak of when it came to threatening people. She’s still be happy to. Anything for Chris. Was that weird? They’d just met not that long ago and already she felt protective and at the same time safe with him. And she couldn’t ignore the fact that he was really cute along with being really nice. She hoped that didn’t make it sound biased and shallow why she wanted to spend time with him. He was a nice guy, that was her reasoning, really.

Thinking about Chris helped her sudden violent mood to ebb away. She was going to be spending the afternoon with him and it would be fun. Just the two of them. She hadn’t really ever spent time just with Chris before. Well, except their brief talk earlier, which had been a lot of fun. It was nice talking to him. So she was really looking forward to handing out. She dug her heal into the ground and tried not to look too impatient as Terminus eyed her warily. She’d already tried a conversation with him, but he was sort of a grump, which made it a lot harder to be cordial. She’d even lost her temper a little and been threatened to be strangled. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that was impossible given he had no arms. So she just stood on the other side of the road and waited. She hadn’t been here long, and she hoped that Chris didn’t feel bad for her being here before him. After all, he’d felt bad about leaving her before, so she could tell he had a really big heart. That was one of the things so great about him. How he could be a bully like he claimed to be, she honestly couldn’t picture.

Tag: Chris
Word Count: 583
Notes:

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As Chris was talking a shower, he was remembering the small chat he just had with Marie. She was a really nice girl, sweet and she dared to look further than others into the heart of the people that she talked to, including himself. Usually people saw him and only thought about him being son of Jupiter, they allowed his image of pompous bully to get to them and convince them so easily that he was like that. But Marie didn't buy that, she looked deeper and in a way she got a very special place in his heart.

After chatting for a while, they had agreed on going to New Rome and Chris felt really nervous, why? well it was incredible to think that he, son of I-have-all-the-women-I-want Jupiter, hadn't ever had a single date. This wasn't a real date, well maybe Marie didn't think of it like that, but to Chris it was more than just walking with someone to New Rome. They were going to have some lunch together and also they were going to the library. He smiled at the idea of going there with her. for sure not the kind of date that teens were excited about, but he really was and it was because he was going there with a true friend.

He got dressed, nothing really fancy, he was only wearing his common jeans, black combat boots and his purple t-shirt. He didn't want to seem so eager, in a way so desperated to be alone having lunch with her. That wouldn't be good for his image... in front of her. He looked at himself in the old mirror that hanged on the wall right next to his bed. He passed his hand through his straight, messy, blond hair and then sighed rolling his eyes. Marius would be laughing at him, not mocking but as a father would laugh on his son's first date. The image in his mind made him smile.

"Ok... I know I look riddiculus." He had several fresh bruises on his body, one under his right eye, right on his cheekbone, other on his neck, the point of a spear hit him there, some others on arms and hands, well those were the visible ones. He shook his head and then walked out of the cohorts.

He jogged to get in a faster way to where Marie would be for sure waiting for him. He saw some campers frowning at him, he didn't care. He was just trying to get to the boarder to meet Marie. Finally he saw her and smiled at her, he slowed down when he got closer and smiled a bit more at her. "I'm sorry, did I make you wait a lot?" he asked as he stopped right infront of her. He knew that shower had last more than just 15 minutes, but he needed to get all the mud and blood off his body before he would meet her again.

TAG: Marie
WORDS: 521
NOTES: I adore this two!!

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Was this a date? Was it bad that she was wondering that? Should she have dressed a little nicer? Or maybe that would have made it seem too forward. She knew she liked Chris, but they’d only just met and she didn’t want to seem too forward at all. But what if he wanted to date her? She felt a warmth come to her cheeks as she blushed. Okay, so that reaction probably settled the question of how much she liked him. Now was yet another question of what to do about it. Was it right for a girl to ask a guy out? No, before that, it was still awfully soon. He’d probably think her crazy for it. And she really didn’t want that. So maybe she could wait a while and then ask. Or should she wait and see if he asked her? Oh, how did girls even do this? It was too confusing! Of course, that might just be her, but still. It was confusing! There weren’t exactly guide books for this sort of thing! Unless the library had something. But she couldn’t check now! Not with him right there with her. Maybe the answer would be in one of the psychology books. After all, it was mostly just a question of psychology right? With a hint of sociology and a splash of chemistry and biophysics, which she admitted she knew nothing on that last one.

All the while that Marie was pondering these things, she stood there, rocking on her heels next to the road, chewing at her lip as she tried to figure out the complex problem. Or was it a problem. She liked Chris Ashby. That didn’t seem such a bad thing to her. At least, not that part of it. There was still the what to do about it part. But she would have to maybe play it by ear and see how it went on that part. It was the best she could come up with. And seeing as she could see him jogging up in the distance, she didn’t have time to debate with herself forever. So she made herself stop chewing on her lip and straightened her purple camp t-shirt so it would sit a little better. Before wiping her hands on her jeans for good measure. This would be a terrible time to have sweaty palms or something. Talk about embarrassing! And she wanted to be her best for Chris. Though she decided not to mention it at all yet, he meant a lot more to her than basically anyone alive at the moment.

“You look much more comfortable now,” she said with a smile as he came up to her. That and, while she wouldn’t ever say it aloud to him, she wasn’t much a fan of the mud and blood look. He was possibly the only one who could pull it off a bit, but it still worried her seeing him like that. That and she wasn’t a fan of blood by nature. Which was ironic considering she was at a military camp. It was mostly her own blood she didn’t like to see, but she had a feeling that would soon extend to Chris too. She didn’t want to see him hurt at all. Which was what drew her attention to his bruises. They had been covered by the muck before, but now they were clear. But first, to attend to what he was actually saying. “Oh no, hardly at all. Gave me plenty of chance to bother Terminus.” She smiled mischievously as Terminus grumbled nearby, before continuing on. “You have a lot of bruises there. Are you sure you don’t need to see a medic?” She didn’t see any reason to keep the worry out of her voice, so she didn’t.

Tag: Chris!
Word Count: 636
Notes: me too, me too!!

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Terminus seemed to be annoyed about something, which Chris couldn't find out what was the reason of his annoyment. He looked at him and arround the armless god, nothing was out of place, no new weird graffitti on the walls or over his body. He remembered that someone did it long time ago, a Venus son or something like that. But everything was in place and in the right order, then why he looked like that? then he looked at Marie and couldn't help himself, when he saw her sweet eyes and her nice smile, he smiled back at her. "I feel much more comfortable now." nodded twice and then looked at Terminus after Marie told him she had time to bother the god.

He looked at Terminus once more and laughed out loud, he couldn't stop. It was difficult to imagine sweet Marie bothering the god, but then he opened his eyes and saw the statue there glaring at him, he coughed once or twice and then cleared out his throat, he lifted his hands and smiled at the god. "Sorry Terminus, it is hard to find reasons why this nice lady could bother you..." he said and then realized on the words he had just said. Terminus looked at him and rolled his eyes, he seemed to be annoyed by teens' love too. He breathed deeply and then nodded slowly at the god as if he couldn't believe himself, then he looked at Marie again.

He tilted his head when she asked if he was sure he didn't want to go to see the medics, he frowned a bit for a second and then remembered his image on the mirror back at the cohort. He shook his head slowly and smiled once more, Terminus frowned at the sight, in all the years he had seen Chris, even when Chris got to New Rome at the age of five, he had never seen that kind of smile on the boy's face, kind and warm. "I'm fine, don't worry... if I couldn't handle this ones, then I shouldn't be called a roman soldier, right?" he asked to Marie and then tilted his head to New Rome's direction.

"come on, I'm starving and you should be too" he said and walked a couple of steps into the gate's direction, but looking at her. He could feel how his heart was beating for her, but why? what was so different in Marie that made him feel like that? He had met other girls before and none of them had made him feel so calm and in peace. He knew for some weird reason that he didn't need to pose in front of her as anything else as himself. Maybe it was because Marie didn't care he was son of Jupiter, she only cared about him, the guy inside, the teen injured, not the son of one of the big three. But she was so innocent that he wouldn't dare to put her in more danger than she already was. He was bad luck, all the ones who had cared about him had died in horrible ways, he wasn't going to put her in such situation... ever.

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Marie had to smile when Chris inspected the unhappy god statue thing. He really was adorable. And being concerned about Terminus was not something many people did. Once again, she wasn’t sure how people could see him as anything but kind and caring. She gave him a jokingly innocent look as he broke down laughing. It was nice to see him seeming to enjoy himself. Though she wasn’t entirely sure why he was laughing so hard. It was still fun to see. His words seem to help clarify some of it at least. “Aw, thanks. But really, I warned you when we met, I’m good at confusing people. And I don’t think Terminus here liked so many questions.” Boy, that was an understatement. And it was obvious Terminus agreed too. Or maybe it was something else. It was hard to tell with a stone statue. There was something going on between the two though. Did they have some little known guy bonding thing going on here or something. She watched curiously, the idea of giving them a moment to themselves not even occurring to her until it was too late and Chris looked back to her. She met him with a smile, hoping it wasn’t obvious she’d been staring.

It was just so easy to be comfortable around him. His smile, that light in his eyes. Just everything about him seemed just right. Well, except the bruises. She wasn’t a fan of the idea of him getting hurt. But on the bright side, him being here seemed to keep her from getting angry about it all over again. Though if she ever caught anyone insulting him or trying to hurt him, she would not be a very happy camper. She hoped that didn’t come. Bothe because she didn’t want Chris to go through more ridicule or pain, but also she didn’t want him to see that side of her. There was always a chance he would at some point, and a good chance at that, she didn’t want it to happen so early. She was determined to keep her mood swings under control around him. Though he did make it a lot easier to be happy.

She shrugged, having to admit his point about the bruises. “Alright, you got me there. Just as long as it’s nothing serious. Which I suppose a few bruises doesn’t fall under that category. Although I bet if anyone here was a proper Roman, it would be you. And I mean that as a compliment, not any of that weird ‘et tu brute’ stuff.”

She smiled brightly at his invitation and followed him without a second thought. “Now that you mention it, yeah, pretty hungry. So, food first and books later then? Lead the way!” Seemed like a logical order to go in after all. She didn’t like eating or drinking – except water – around a book for fear of spills and damage. Was that nerdy of her? Probably. But hadn’t Chris said it didn’t matter to him before? Yet another thing she liked about him: he wasn’t put off by her quirks. At least, not the little ones. He was yet to learn about her little mood problem. She hoped with all her heart that he wouldn’t push her aside for it. She really did like him, more than any guy she’d ever known here. And while she didn’t want to see him hurt, she didn’t want to lose him either. Though if it came to a contest between the two, she’d rather see him happy and healthy without her than miserable with her. She smiled at him. “And thanks for hanging out with me. It sounds like it’ll be a fun day. I mean, just hanging out with you is fun by itself.”

Tag: Chris
Word Count: 625
Notes:

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Chris walked to where Terminus was so the god could check that he wasn't carrying any kind of weapon. Terminus nodded at Chris when he checked that everything was undercontrol. Then Chris walked with Marie into the grounds of New Rome. He was smiling imaginining or trying to imagine the kind of questions that she could have made to Terminus to get him so upset. No matter what she had said or done so far, she hasn't been able to make him upset at all. He looked at her once more and smiled at her dying out of curiosity. "what did you ask to Terminus to get him so upset?"

She also commented that he was a good example of a proper roman. He shook his head and scoffed at the comment, he had never thought of himself as a perfect banner of what a roman should be. He did go to all of his trainings, tried to obey to his centurions and the praetors. but his extreme bad temper and being a hothead didn't post him as a great image for the rookies. Yet Marie thought he was a good example of roman and not in the brute way. That idea made him smile, it was nice that at least someone that wasn't family, because for him Felicity was family, could consider him a good roman and an example of being one. "thank you... I don't know how much I can agree with you on that, but I'm glad you think of me as that..."

Chris smiled at her optimism, her joy for life, she seemed to be always shinning and that happiness and goodness was being irradiated from her. Maybe that was part of why he liked to be with her, she gave him that part of him that he had lost so long ago. She had the innocence he didn't have and he was in peace with her by his side. So when she told him to lead the way, he nodded and started walking down a road that would take them to the streets by the forum. "You must feed your body first so your mind can be fed too." he said and smiled, it was something that Marius used to tell him. for him knowledge was very important, even more for a battle, but he knew that in order to get your mind focused you needed to take off other necessities, like eating.

"No need to thank me... in fact it is my pleasure to be here with you... I hope you like italian food..." he said as they kept walking down the road, it was weird for him to go to that place, the last time he went there was a night before Mt.Othrys battle, with Marius.

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Marie had to smile at his question. “It was more like what didn’t I ask, I think. I think he’s permanently in a bad mood because he’s just a torso. And… I might have told him that when he snapped at me once years ago. So I don’t think he likes me much to start with. If he really likes anyone. Though he seems fine with you. What was that back there, by the way? It seemed like you two had some top secret mental communication. Or is that a guy thing?” she asked with a laugh. She wasn’t that worried about not knowing, for a change. Usually she liked to know as much as she could about everything and everyone around her. But Chris was different. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust other people too, she just felt extra at ease around him. “I don’t mean to upset him usually, it just sort of happened that way. Usually does. We have a weird relationship.” She hoped he didn’t think poorly of her for it. Anyone else, she didn’t care too much what they thought, but Chris was a different matter.

She gave him a smile and shook her head a little. “Of course I do. I see no reason not to. Don’t worry, I bet someday you’ll see you’re really a great guy.” And he made her feel better about herself too just by being there. She was far from perfect herself and fully accepted it, but he seemed to think she was something good, and that made her want to be just that. All the same, she was happy to fall into step next to him. This was going to be a fun day, hanging out with Chris. She smiled at his comment. “Of your body will make lots of very loud noises to alert you it wants to be fed and disrupt the feeding of the mind. At least, it does that for me,” she said with a laugh. Yes, she had had several instances where she’d forgotten meals or flat out skipped them and then paid for it later when reading a book would be interrupted by her stomach being loud and obnoxious. No, what was really bad was when her stomach decided to start acting up in protest. That had not gone so well. Especially as during those times she skipped meals and got really hungry, she tended to lose control of her emotions a lot easier. She really hoped that didn’t happen around Chris. Though part of her thought she’d best to warn him in advance. If he didn’t already know that was. But hey, wouldn’t hurt.

She was about to say something when he spoke up and she had to smile instead. He liked being here with her too! Was it bad to feel as happy as she did about that? “Oh, I love Italian food! Definitely agree with your pick!” After a moment, she decided now would be just as good a time as any. “Um, Chris? I was wondering if we could talk about something. Or, I mean, maybe more like I should give you fair warning about something. Which sounds really bad, but… I… I hope it’s not that bad. And that didn’t make any sense, did it?”

Tag: Chris
Word Count: 548
Notes:

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As they walked into New Rome, he looked around and noticed that he felt a bit more... free. Even when he was born reall far away from that City, he felt it as home. He knew every street and alley, he even knew some of the people that lived on the same street that he used to live on when he lived with Marius as his protector and adoptive father. New rome made him feel better and even a normal person. Not that he hadn't had some troubles there in the past, like when a kid that lived in the department above Chris' beat him up only because he wanted to tell others that he had defeated a son of Jupiter... stupid son of a minor god... and some other things like that, but yet, New Rome and Marius, made him feel like a normal kid for a couple of years.

He looked back at Marie when she told him what had happened between Terminus and her. Well her explanation couldn't have made him done something else but smile again. He knew Terminues very well, and she was right they have had communicated to each other in a rather easy way. "Well... he hates a lot of questions... and he hates to be bothered a lot..." but he kept smiling, as if he had found Marie's actions fun and innocent. "I know Terminus since I was 6, when I was bored I used to come all the way from the aparment where I lived with Marius to see Terminus, I played around, climbed on him, which he hated..." he half laughed. "I even run to him when older kids wanted to hurt me and Marius wasn't at home but at work, Terminus always made that upset face and the other kids ran back to the City..."

He noticed he had told her some very personal stuff, he had never told that to others, maybe only to Felicity and only once. He hated when people knew he once was a weak little boy. But again, with Marie was different, she seemed to understand about that stuff. Then after she confirned that she really thought of him as a great person, he smiled again, he thought he wasn't, but he would try to be one around her at least. "Yeah... maybe someday..." He thought as they got to a more populated area. Some people looked at them as any other couple of young campers spending an afternoon in the City, others looked at chris and smiled at them... people from when he was a boy and used to live there. Chris only nodded at them and half smiled at them.

He laughed noisly when she told him about the noises his stomach would make. She was so right about that, his stomach would make those noises, it had happened him before, so noisy that even the old woman in the library asked him to go out and have something to eat before he could come back and finish his reading! "so true!! Mine does that too, so don't worry, maybe our stomachs could make a cool duet and the lady in the library would ask both to go out to get some food." he smiled a bit more, but only at her, whenever he had some eye contact with other people his faced and expression changed inmediately.

"I'm glad you like Italian food, the place where we are going is the best in New Rome..." he told her as they were walking already down the First Avenue. Then her next words made him frown a bit, what did she wanted to warn him about? would it be something bad? would she already had a boyfriend that would be upset at both of them to go out on that semi-date? "uh... Sure..." he replied and smiled again at her. "what's wrong?"

TAG: Marie
WORDS: 657

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Marie couldn’t help but smile around him. Like he had some contagious disease that just made you happy instead of sick or something. And she had most certainly caught it. Which was fine by her. She didn’t want the cure. Quite the opposite really. It made her want to spend more time with him. And the fact that he was smiling too made it all the better. She knew he was right about Terminus. She’d annoyed the statue god half a million times while she was here. It was almost a hobby. Mostly because he got frustrated so easily and had no way of actually doing her bodily harm. Though there had been an incident in which he had found just the right thing to say to set her off and she didn’t dare go near him for a month unless she had to. And when she eventually returned, she of all people apologized. After all, it wasn’t exactly nice to threaten marble gods with chizels. Thank the gods she had not been alone at the time or she might have actually knocked his ear off or something. She nodded at Chris’ words though, extra thankful now that she hadn’t become known as the girl who defaced the Terminus statue, seeing as Chris liked the guy. “I guess that makes sense.” Though when he said he used to play with Terminus she couldn’t help but laugh a little. She hoped that was okay. She wasn’t laughing at him, just with him, right? “You climbed on him? Oh, I bet he just loved that! I wish I could have seen!”

Though what he said next wiped the smile off her face and she could feel her anger rising just slightly, so she took a moment to take a deep breath and pray it didn’t come. Not now. Not with Chris. “Kids have really picked on you your whole life? That’s horrible. What gives them the right to do that? You never did anything to them, never had any say in it. Just happened to be who you are. There’s nothing wrong and certainly nothing worth picking on about that!” Though the fact that Terminus had helped him out forced her to give the marble god a bit more respect. If he helped out Chris when he was little, he couldn’t be that bad. She made a mental note not to be so hard on him next time. Maybe even spare him a few questions. Hey, it was possible.

She had to laugh, completely ignoring, or more accurately, not noticing, the people giving them looks. Her full attention was on Chris. “That would be hilarious! Embarrassing, maybe, but so worth it. I wonder if there’s a way to make your stomach growl without it just doing it whenever. I really want to try that now.” She couldn’t help but grin at the idea. Looking back at him, she noticed him look away and something, well, everything, about his expression change. Was that normal? All joking forgotten, she watched him worried for a moment as he looked around. “Hey, you okay?” She glanced around, looking for any sign of something that might be wrong. But all she saw was a bunch of people and the occasional glances their way. Maybe he didn’t like the looks they were getting. Which was understandable when she caught one of them which wasn’t so nice and out of instinct, stuck her tongue out at the offender. Who promptly burst into laughter. She decided they had lost their mind and looked back to Chris.

“You bet!” she said with a smile. “Can’t wait to try it then. How did you come to find out about it?” After all, he seemed to know just where he was going like it was second nature for him. She looked a little more toward the ground when he frowned at her. She sent up a quick silent prayer to the gods that he wouldn’t ditch her, or that she wouldn’t just confuse him all the more for saying anything. Then she set about trying to put herself into words, her voice a little quieter. “Well… I’m not really like normal girls. I mean, I am a normal girl, but I mean… like in my head. Wow, this isn’t sounding right already. Let me start again. My dad is Janus, right? God of choices, doorways, beginnings and endings. And according to one god I talked to once, he tends to give people headaches a lot too. But that aside. Well, I inherited stuff from him and all. Like I was telling you before, about confusing people. Which if I’m doing right now, I’m really sorry. But I also… well, I can’t always control my emotions. Mom said it was bipolar disorder, but I think it’s more because my dad. Two faces, two personalities. And I’ve done bad stuff before. I’ve gotten angry and hurt people before. Or gotten upset and skipped practice to just cry about nothing before. I can’t always control it. But I am getting better, I really am. I’m trying to. I just… I thought you should know.” She kept her attention on the Roman style road they were walking on, only looking up enough to not run into anyone or anything. It wasn’t something she talked about a lot, because it could be kind of embarrassing. Heck, she even had something of a reputation for being unstable. But she wanted Chris to know. He deserved to know. If she wanted to be friends or anything at all with him, he deserved to know what he was getting himself into. She just prayed he would still like her.

Tag: Chris!
Word Count: 948
Notes: muse, where did you come from??

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Chris kept walking with Marie by his side. He almost felt like a normal teenager, no more training in his mind for the moment, no more people treating him as if he was a weird and rare jewell that was destined to destroy the world if he dared to do something that wasn't in the original plan. He felt kind of... free when he was with her! He looked at her and nodded when she asked if he climbed Terminus. Well he used to do it, when he was a kid, before the legion, before the first cohort and the pressure of being the best of the best in the camp only because his father was the king of the Gods.

"He didn't like it much, but he accepted it..." In fact he never knew or never asked if the armless god allowed him to do that because he was a defenseless kid or maybe because he was Jupiter's son. But he was thankful that the god would allowed him to have a more or less normal childhood. Then she commented in a kind of annoyed way that the other kids didn't have the right to bother him, to pick on him. He looked at her again and then away, he felt an almost inexistent pebble of pity in her voice and he just hated when people pitied him. "could he... stop talking about that... please?" he asked and felt how his hands were charged with electricity, ready to set off a lightning, but he didn't want to hurt her, that would be the only thing he would never forgive himself of doing.

As magic, she changed the subject, she found it funny how his stomach could have put him in such troubles in the past. He smiled and tilted his head just a bit, like thinking. "well... I could eat nothing while you eat, that would make my stomach growl in such way..." was he insane?! That would bring a lot of attention on him, people would laugh of him! but for some reason, when he looked at her and that soft innocent smile, he didn't care the laughs of others, but hers, she foudn it fun, not funny, she laughed with him, not of him... that was a lot to say in the world he had lived the past 13 years of his life.

Then her question about how he had found that place made him smile in a different way, happy and sad at the same time, if that was possible. "My father... he used to bring me there almost every day before my camp days, after I got in... only once a month, but I really looked for those days, I enjoyed going there and talking to him... it was nice." he stopped and then continued walking. An old woman smiled at him and nodded at him, as if she was pleased to see him smiling. He nodded at her and waved once at her, then continued walking with Marie.

Suddenly when she started telling him about her 'problem', he stopped and looked at her, directly to her sweet eyes which now seemed to be scared at some point. He nodded slowly at some points then shook his head at the same speed, he was trying to understand all what she was trying to tell him. So she was... crazy? two personalities in a mind, just like her father, two in one. He tilted his head and knit his brows for a second. Then he looks around and walks away from her, not too far just like some feet awat from her. He stopped at a small shop there. After a few seconds, he walked back to where she was.

He smiled at her and gave her a small red baby-rose. "Marie, all of us have small or huge problems... I'm a hothead, I tend to electrocute anyone who bothers me..." he smiled and then breathed deeply. "I don't care, I want to meet you, you and your other personality, because both of you are Marie..." he smiled and never felt so... weird, so good, so happy and so confused.

TAG: Marie
WORDS:703
NOTES: hope you like it XD

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Well, her excitement had not been in vain. All they’d done was walk so far, but it was still fun. Just being with him was nice. It was… normal. No one calling her Jekyll and Hyde, no one pegging her as a psychopath, and no attacks, as she called them, when her mood would swing into something else entirely. It was great! Just spending time with Chris being a normal person. And picturing him as a little kid climbing on Terminus. Which just the thought alone brought a smile to her face. “Aw, well, I’m glad that he accepted it at least. That was nice of him. I would think he would be hard to climb though. You must have been quite the mountaineer when you were little.” Which just sounded too adorable.

Right, new topic. As was normal for her, things usually didn’t stay on the same topic for long. Blame her ADHD if you wanted, but that was how it was. She looked over at him when he asked if they could stop talking about that. He looked tense. Really tense. She hadn’t even noticed it with all the attention she had been putting into just being mad at people in general. And she immediately kicked herself for not being very aware. “Right, I’m sorry.” With that, she gladly launched into a new topic. Grumbling stomachs. An unusual topic for most, but heck, it was fun. And a lot lighter than the previous topic. Though she gave him a hard look with a hint of a smile at his suggestion. “Oh no, I am not going to allow that to happen. I am not eating a bite until you do. Just to make sure. And I won’t forget that either.” Though the fact that it ended in a laugh made is slightly less threatening. She couldn’t help it, she just hard to be happy around him. She hoped he was having as much fun as she was. “Besides, if we go with the stomach growling idea, I think it should be a duet. The librarian would appreciate it so much more that way,” she said jokingly. It would be funny though. And as long as it was with him, she had a feeling any level of embarrassment would be gone.

And so the topic changed again. Courtesy of her scatterbrain. She smiled slightly automatically when she saw his smile. It was happy, but at the same time there was sadness in his eyes. Just a hint. It made her all the more curious about him. She really didn’t know a lot about him at all and where normally that would bug her, with Chris is drove her crazy. She wanted to know more about him, but not in a smother with questions kind of way. Maybe take some time and hang out with him more to get to know him. That would be good. “That’s really sweet that you both had something special like that to share.” Though she had a feeling that likely made it mean a lot more difficult to come back now. If this was a place he shared with his dad. “Do you still come very much?” she asked quietly. Maybe he did to remember the old days? She was disrupted from her thoughts at the appearance of an old woman who obviously knew Chris, though. Though she had no idea who the lady was, she smiled brightly at her before carrying on walking with Chris.

That was roughly when things took an apparent turn for the worst. Talking about her problem with anyone was bad enough, and by the look on his face it was not going smoothly. Or maybe that was just her paranoia at the whole thing. Chalk it up to whatever, it was not pleasant and she was sure she was about to be ditched. Which made it a hundred times harder when he actually did turn and walk away. She stood there, watching his back, not really registering anything anymore, just feeling crushed. He didn’t like her at all. He hated her for her issues. She just knew it. She was alone. Well, she had other friends, but Chris was different. She didn’t know how to explain it but he was. The seconds dragged on, even though in reality they felt like hours. When he turned back, she didn’t even notice anything that he’d been doing and didn’t register the flower in his hand until he handed it to her. That little bubble of hope came back and with his every word, it seemed to get bigger. He didn’t care that she had problems. She even chanced a small smile when he admitted his own. But what he said next blew her away completely. He not only accepted her, but he wanted to get to know her better, even the part of her she wasn’t so proud of. Without warning, she threw her arms around him, careful not to harm the flower, and hugged him, just for a minute before letting go and looking him in the eye. “That is the nicest thing anyone has ever told me. Thank you, Chris. And thank you for the flower. I’ll treasure it.” And she meant it too.

Tag: Chris
Word Count: 876
Notes:

[Deleted]

Chris found it kind of nice that she wasn't mocking of him, in fact he had never told other person, but Felicity, that he played around Terminus and even climbed on the god. But there was something in Marie's eyes that made him feel comfortable enough to talk to her and to know or almost be sure that she wasn't going to mock of him. So when she said that it had been nice of him to let him do that, chris smiled and nodded at her. "Yes... not many people in cam or in the city know that Terminus isn't all the time that grumphy god." he said and then continued walking with her.

Chris smiled when she agreed to change the subject. He just didn't want her to see the darkest side of him so soon. Maybe never, he didn't know yet, what he knew was that he didn't want to scare her away. she was Fifth cohort, minor god daughter, in a way all what he never liked in a legionair... still he didn't want her to go away, he liked to be with her. then as they kept walking She commented about not eating if he didn't eat either. and how fun would be to make a duet in the library. Chris smiled widely and laughed thinking on what the librarian would do if they ever do that. "she would exile us from library... oh and I wouldn't dare to let you starve, so the deal is that both of us eat, ok?"

Then he looked at her and shook his head slowly, his smile was fainting. He hadn't had the desire to go back to that restaurant since Marius died. He felt no reason to go there. Maybe that is why the people he used to know from then looked at him in such way. All of them were also amazed for his presence there. "I had no reason to come back after he died..." he said and looked at her. "that old woman used to take care of me when Marius had to work late... she was nice to me..." he said and then looked away.

then as everything with Marie, everything changed in a second, but he liked that, he wouldn't get bored ever! He had given her the small rose and in a sudden she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him! He just froze there, trying not to electrocute her, he didn't feel the usual electricity that he would deply when someone touched him in such way, yet he tried to keep it undercontrol. His heart was beating faster than in battle and he could feel how his face was hot and red. Then she pulled back and Thanked him. "you don't need to thank me... It was earnest and... I'm glad you are here with me today..." he smiled at her still feeling his heart beating fast. "shall we?..." he asked pointing at the restaurant.

TAG: Marie
WORDS: 511
NOTES: Sorry it is so short

[Deleted]

Marie had to laugh. He certainly had a point there. “Yeah, I admit to being one of those people who figured he was. At least to me he was. Good to hear he isn’t though.” Or rather, she was mostly glad to hear he seemed to have some fun parts to his childhood. He was really nice and all, so he certainly deserved it. Speaking of deserving and not deserving, she felt like the luckiest girl in camp right now, getting to hang out with Chris Ashby. Forget all the credentials. Whoever’s son, centurion of what cohort, none of that mattered to her really. It was his personality that had her. He didn’t give her grief about who she was or her weird moods. Or all the questions she tended to ask. So that was rather nice. She could see herself spending a lot more time with him. At least, she wanted to.

He had a nice laugh. She couldn’t help but laugh right along with him. And the whole idea of a rumbling stomach duet was really funny all the same. “Exiled from the library? I don’t know what I’d do with myself if that happened. Not to sound nerdy.” Which it was probably too late for that hope. “Alright then, both of use eat a full meal. Sounds good to me. No tricks on the librarian for today.” She added a wink just to show she was joking about playing tricks on the librarian ever. Though if he wanted to, she wasn’t really sure where she’s stand to be honest. Because on one side, jokes were fun, and spending time with him was fun too, but on the flip side, getting exiled, as he had put it, from the library would end her attempts to study in her free time. Something that was rather important to her. Though she had a feeling that from here on out, spending more time with people like Chris was going to take more of that spare time if she had a say in it.

Seeing his smile dip like that, though, made her own drop too. She hated seeing him unhappy and was afraid she’s said the wrong thing. Her mouth could too often get ahead of her brain. She felt terrible for having asked at all. “I’m sorry, that was a stupid question on my part. Sorry if I made you feel bad…” She looked over at the woman in question and nodded. “She does seem nice.” When he looked away, she took it as her cue to not talk anymore about that topic. That and she wasn’t sure what she could say anyway. She didn’t want to make him feel worse. And knowing her luck, just that would happen.

Topic change. Yes, that was good. Though the topic was unexpected. The last thing she would have seen coming was him getting her a flower and saying something so sweet. So she did the only thing to come to mind: she hugged him. She felt him stiffen when she did, which was one of the reasons she didn’t hold on to him for long. Maybe he didn’t like hugs? What if he didn’t get a whole lot of hugs? Oh, that would be sad. Then again, there weren’t a lot of people here who hugged Marie either so she could sort of understand on that one. That and she had a feeling she might be blushing. Sort of embarrassing there. But what he said, then she was truly sure she was blushing then. “I’m glad to be here with you too.” She took his hand with a smile. “Yes, let’s.” She led the way toward the restaurant, keeping slow enough that he would easily walk alongside her. Once inside, she looked around. “Wherever you want to sit. I don’t know this place as well as you do.” She noticed one or two of the people there looked up and seemed a little surprised to see them. She guessed that had to do with him not having been here in so long probably.

Tag: Chris
Word Count: 681
Notes:

[Deleted]

Chris kept walking with her and smiled when she apologized about her question. It wasn't her fault at all she hadn't been on the Titan's side past time, she hadn't killed his father and she hadn't been the one who had been bothering him his entire life. So he shook his head slowly and then breathed deeply. "you don't need to feel bad at all. I should have gotten back sooner, it was just that... well you know... the whole place has his image in it, so... I kind of ran away from this place"

He looked again in the old woman's direction, then he looked back at Marie and shrugged. "she is an amazing woman..." he just said about it and continued walking. They got to the restaurant and looked around. Marie was right, she had never been in there so how would she know the best place to have a seat as frriends, couple or family? He smiled at her and then looked back at the inner part of the restaurant. The smell of the warm food welcomed you the moment you set a foot into the place. They had all kind of roman food, not only modern but ancient too.

The people in that place were all demigods or legacies, one of the many good things of living in New rome or close to it, wasd that when you went into the city, you didn't have to pose as someone else, you could be yourself and didn't have to hide from others, because you were normal among them. Some of them looked at the door when it opened because of the air that got in and the two figures that stepped in. "Well, I think that if we take those seats by the window would be nice..." Chris told Marie and smiled at her once more.

The sitting hostess came by and smiled at them. She was a medium high girl, bright green eyes and black coal curly hair. her skin seemed to be made of olives exotic woods. "Welcome!..." she said and asked if they would want any particular place in the restaurante, Chris nodded at her and pointed at the table that he had just told Marie about. The hostess smiled back and walked to the table as if she was leading the path. Then put the menus on the table and told them she would be back in a minute.

Chris nodded again and then after moving Marie's seat so she could have a seat first, he sat on the other chair. "well... something had changed, she wasn't here before..." he said not with a sad voice, but a pleased one. in a way he was glad that things had changed in that place, they also evolved, just like he did. Even when Marius wasn't there anymore to see those changes. "ok... so you can order whatever you want." he smiled again, it was a sweet smile, in fact kind of tender, a smile that he hadn't shown in a long... long time.

TAG: Marie
WORDS: 522
NOTE: sorry the delay

[Deleted]

She nodded as they walked. It must be hard to be so near and yet so far so someone so dear. Like his memory was infused in this place, but Chris could never reach it. How sad. She reached over and gave his hand a quick squeeze for no other reason than to make sure he knew she was there for him if he ever needed her. “We can go wherever you like, as long as it’s comfortable for you. I really don’t mind.” Him being happy mattered a lot more right now. She looked to the woman in question and tried to imagine a young, happy Chris running around these streets, carefree and joyous. The thought made her smile. Which might have looked a little weird, her just smiling out of the blue, but that was fine. She was in her own little world a lot of the time. So random smiles from Marie were not strange or out of the ordinary things.

She looked over at the seats he indicated and smiled. “Looks good to me.” She was about to walk over when she noticed a hostess coming over. That was close to an embarrassing moment. That was about when she noticed the ‘please wait to be seated’ sign too. Double oops. She did her best to recover with a smile to the hostess and letting Chris handle it. He seemed to be much more in his element than she was here. Which only made sense.

She followed Chris to the table and couldn’t help but blush a little when he pulled the chair out for her. Such a gentleman! She took a seat with a thank you. At first, she wasn’t sure how to reply to his words, but his tone was at least reassuring. It wasn’t sad like she’d feared it might be. “But not all change is bad, right? And I should hope she’s new! She looks like she would have been a bit young to be working here if not,” she said with a laugh. She looked to him and noticed that lovely smile. It made her feel so warm and at home. She couldn’t help but smile back.

She looked over the menu. Whatever she wanted. Hmm. It all looked so tasty! “I think I might be cliché, but...” She looked up, torn from her thoughts as the hostess returned. “Oh, I think I’ll have the lasagna and water, please.” She set her menu down and waited for Chris to make his selection too. This was already turning into a lovely time out though she had a feeling that was chiefly the company.

Tag: Chris
Word Count: 440
Notes: wow that was short. I am so sorry