Tough Break (open)

[val]

Training, training, and more training. Being a centurion had its perks, yes, but it also had its pitfalls. Like getting to keep an eye on the newest member of the second cohort who was not doing so hot. Her name was Amber and she was just eleven, so Val had to give her something of a break, but she just didn’t seem the type to care much for trying even. Or rather, the girl had other issues. Like the fact that she was a daughter of Janus and thus had an incredible ability to not make up her mind at all. When Valerie had asked her to pick a weapon for the training, the girl had spent twenty minutes picking up this one, deciding against it, picking up that one, deciding against it, and so on. It only ended when Valerie just handed her a weapon and told her to get to the fields. A little harsh, maybe, but it worked.

Training after that had been a bear. Mostly because Amber sort of stunk. Apparently that gladius was a bit off kilter for her, but Valerie wasn’t really one to admit her own wrongs. So she kept that on the down low. Jason had been in the infirmary so it was all on her this time. Not that that was a problem really. She’s been in this pot long enough to get the hang of running things. And maybe it was some of her mother’s influence. After all, Bellona was the goddess of war and protector of Rome. She couldn’t help but have a bit of pride whenever she admitted her parentage. Call her egotistical, but she figured her mom was one of the better of the gods. Yeah, probably biased.

So after a solid three hours (plus break) of running the cohort through the defense and offense tactics they did on a daily basis. Had to keep in shape. And not just physical shape but mental shape. It was important to keep them on their toes, so she would gladly randomly throw in some random obstacles and even randomly joined in on the opposing side to give them a real target. She was proud to say that she had not come away unscathed. The cohort was doing well. Which made her more confident in them all as she retired to the armory. An odd place to hang out, but she was a child of Bellona and her sword needed sharpening. Or rather, she had an obsession with sharpening and polishing the thing. Could a weapon be pampered? If it could, hers certainly was. It was her form of a break. Sitting in one of the cases that acted as her own seat, she ran a stone along the length of her sword to sharpen it, polishing clothe waiting on her leg to get its turn at the blade and bottle waiting for her to actually remember it was sitting by her foot.

Tag: open
Word Count: 493
Notes: outfit: camp shirt and shorts with armor

[Deleted]

Jason was pretty happy that there was two centurions for the second cohort. Once again he was held over at the infirmary and was unable to make it to the training of the cohort. Of course, he usually did, this was only maybe the third time he wasn't able to show up. A pretty good record in his opinion, given his schedule. Still, it was pretty bad if a centurion didn't make it to his own cohort practice. Maybe Valerie wouldn't be too angry at him.

Jason walked into the armory, glancing at all the weapons on display. Personally he opted for his bow. It was a pretty interesting bow too. A recurve that could be folded down and made easier to carry about. He saw it in one of those magazines he was always getting in the mail that rich people receive. It worked pretty well and was on its fifth year of being used. Jason may not ever go back to a regular bow. Granted, his bow did show its age a bit but then he would just had it to a forger and they would fix it up, obviously he didn't hand it to Simons, he did care about his bow and didn't want it to end up destroyed. With the relationship Jason had with that forge monkey it wouldn't surprise him if he got the bow back totally destroyed thanks to that blasted demigod.

Anyways, he had a feeling that Valerie would be in here, and after all, Jason did owe her an apology for not being at practice that day. He saw the daughter of Bellona doing her favorite hobby, make sharp objects even more dangerous. Jason watched her for moment. She was so concentrated. Jason almost felt bad for imposing on her, but oh well. Jason cleared his throat, a bit loudly. "So, I heard that the training went well." Jason said with his usually charismatic smile. Always best to use the celebrity features when you might be dealing with someone who was angry. Especially if that person was related to the goddess of war. Honestly, the Romans already had Mars, did they really need someone to symbolize war? Especially with it being a woman, imagine how Rome must have been when it was that womans time of month, utter chaos.

words: 420
notes: sorry for the short reply, but hey we finally got the centurions together

[val]

Valerie was not in her best mood. Hence why she was here. There was something about sharpening weaponry that was soothing. Probably a Bellona thing. Or a Mars thing really. Jason and Zidane and basically the whole cohort, would likely think her crazy. But that was fine by her. This was her Valerie time. Much needed and not often gotten. It wasn’t that she didn’t have time, just that she was one of the people in charge of one of the higher-up cohorts, and combine that with her OCD and perfectionism and it was the perfect cocktail to drive herself crazy. No offense meant to Jason of course. He was a great guy and a good leader. Little bit of a big head, but sometime she could have the same problem so she really couldn’t judge when it came to that. And he was following his passion, and she certainly couldn’t fault him for that. Wasn’t that the same thing that got her a centurion position? And also the same thing that brought her here to the armory now. They were both going after things they cared about and helping people in the process. Her to fight, him to heal. Really, she was thankful for him to be there. Admittedly she missed practices here and there two, so it was nice to have both of them on duty. And he tended to be much more understanding with the cohort members than she was. It made for a nice balance.

Admittedly, she got a little too obsessed with the battle part of it sometimes. Whether it be personal or for the whole cohort. Speaking of which, maybe she’d have to do some more single training later. Heck, maybe she’d try to talk one of the other cohort members into it just for the sake of getting a little extra practice in. They weren’t the first, but the second cohort did have its share of battle enthusiasts. Had to be to some degree to survive here. She ran the whetting stone against the blade again. That was roughly when the noise distracted her. Someone cleared their throat, and it was someone close. And breaking her concentration was usually a bad idea. She gripped the sword hilt tighter, but thankfully looked up before drawing the weapon. Jason. Well, speak of the devil. She let herself relax. “Yeah, went pretty well. How did the infirmary go?” It wasn’t like she was chewing him out or anything, that much was good. She wasn’t known as one of the kindest people around here, but at the same time she wished he could have at least warned her that he wasn’t going to be there. Oh well. Getting angry about it wasn’t going to change anything. “At least, I assume that’s where you were.” Pretty safe assumption usually.

Tag: Jason
Word Count: 471
Notes: yay centurion party! Number 2 ftw. Sorry mine’s short too

[Deleted]

Well, from the tiny knowledge Jason had on women he safely assumed that Valerie was not mad. Well, at least he hoped she wasn't. Mars and Bellona children were not fun when they were mad. As far as Jason was concerned it was always better to stay on their good side. He might be pushing Remus's buttons lately but Jason assumed that they were still alright with each other. Afterall, it was for the best of camp and all.

Jason nodded. "Yeah, I got held up in there again. Charlie did one of her forty-eight hour drills again. We were flooded with kids suffereing from exhaustion, muscle soreness, dehydration, shin splints, twisted ankles. All that nice fun stuff which can be simply treated but if we have too many at once it can get out of hand." Jason said. He figured she might not care about the details, but Jason couldn't resist saying at least a little bit about the chaos. He could say how he spent a nice long time scraping one person after another. It wasn't a hard task but again, with too many people it became taxing. Especially when they were all from the first cohort and they were complaining about how they didn't need treatment when they were the ones that came to the infirmary. Talk about a bunch of annoying big headed Romans.

"I did write out a notice to you about it, but I guess it got lost in all the other papers. Sorry about that." Jason mumbled. He should be sorry afterall, two centurions were suppose to lead the second cohort, not one and a half. Still, they were a pretty strong cohort, even with the other problems getting in the way. That was something Jason took a little bit of pride in. Sure, they weren't as great as the first but they were second and still one of the best at camp. During war games it was always a fight between the first and second over who would win. The thirds and under cohorts never really stood a chance. Especially with Valerie making the battle plans. Thank the gods there was Valerie to make the battle plans. Jason lead the archers of the cohor and healed the wounded quickly but overall when it came to sword fighting, that was Valeries expertise, not Jasons.

words: 429
notes: Jason muse ended up dying in here >.< sorry. Not your fault...just getting annoyed.

[val]

Valerie tried to follow along with his doctor speak most of the time, though pretty often it was over her head. Overtaxing people to the point of exhaustion and injury though, now that part she understood. The unfortunate side effects of the battlefield were not rocket science. If you got hit by a sword, you got hurt. You worked too long in the heat, you got dehydrated. You worked Charlie’s schedule, you’d likely die. It was as easy as that. She frowned. “I wish she’d stop doing those. I know she’s in first and all, but that’s just wearing down the cohort members. I’d be pissed at her if I was in their shoes. That’s why I like our schedule a lot better. A little more sane. Sorry to hear you had to deal with her perfectionism though. Though if there’s anyone who can handle it, it’s probably you. You have an impressive team there, and under your leadership, it’s all the better. So don’t worry about practice. Gods know you know how to fight well enough and can take a few off.”

She couldn’t fault him. He was very dedicated to his work, no harm in that. That and Charlie could be typical Mars kid sometimes with her warlike drive. Her and her siblings. It was crazy. Not that Valerie could talk. She wondered if she would be leading the cohort in much the same way if it weren’t for Jason there to counterbalance her. She decided it was best no to know even if she could. She liked having Jason there to help lead. They made a good team.

Val shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. You were busy saving the world. Totally understand.” It wasn’t meant to sound mean or anything, just her usual little joke way of referring to his job. It was fitting really. He was saving people, or at least alleviating their pain. Which she likened to saving them. She could remember a couple of times she had had to go to the infirmary herself. It hadn’t been Jason at the time taking care of her, but one of the people who worked with him. And it was obvious the way the guy had spoken that he admired Jason a lot. What wasn’t to admire though? Guts, determination, and a good personality. She wouldn’t admit to anyone, but she did think that Clare was a lucky one. Not that she was crushing on Jason or anything. That would be awkward. No, she was perfectly happy where she was with Zidane. She just saw that Jason was one of those noble sort of guys too. Okay, enough thinking about this. It was getting too complicated. So she ran her whetting stone along the length of the blade again before looking back up. “You can have a seat if you like. No sense in standing if you don’t have to. So, beside the influx of patients, how has the day been treating you?”

Tag: Jason
Word Count: 496
Notes: No, it’s ok. Mine was pretty short too. Val just isn’t a very responsive muse, lol

[Deleted]

He couldn't help but nod in agreement. Those first cohort drills were insane. Why was she even doing them? The second was just as good as the first, granted they might have a weak link now and then, but they gave the first a pretty good challenge and Jason and Valerie weren't killing their cohort to get that result. Maybe Charlie had some form of a motive for doing those insanity things. "Maybe she's trying to prove she can fill in Remus's shoes with taking order of the first cohort. Or heck, maybe shes trying to gain attention from Mars. Either way it causes us to get overworks. But things for that. Yeah, we were able to handle it pretty well. Even if I can fight good there is always room for improvement. Especially with swordsmanship. Archery I pretty much have perfected." Jason said with a slight laugh. He was trying to make light of the situation and not come off as a totally egotistic person by exclaiming that yeah, he was a great fighter and a great leader in the infirmary. Even Jason Kyoto made mistakes sometimes.

He smiled. Yeah, saving the world that was totally what he was doing. Nowhere near in his opinion, but that seemed to be a running joke with Valerie. "Nowhere close to saving the world. Not even close to saving the camp. I'm just healing the sick and wounded. A lot more is needed to save the world than a good medic." Jason stated. He watched as she rubbed the whet stone over the blade. It honestly didn't look like that sword could be any sharper or well managed, but then again, swords weren't exactly Jasons main source of knowledge. Sure, he knew how to fight with one. Who in the legion didn't? But if he had to choose his weapon of choice it will always be his bow, which lucky for him was a rare collapsible one that cause hundreds of dollars that he happily splurged on so that he could have his bow on him about eighty percent of the time. He didn't sleep with it, that would be too awkward.

Jason nodded and sat in the same proximity of Valerie. He let out a sigh. "Nothing too strenuous. I have a normal sleeping schedule set again and nothing too major has happened in regards to anything else. Mainly if I'm not at training or the infirmary I hang out with Clare. What about you? How's Zidane treating you?" Jason asked.

words: 461
notes: I am so so so super sorry for the wait.

[val]

Valerie shrugged. Proving herself she could understand, though she didn’t much agree with it. Actually, in her mind, the daughter of mars was not the most intelligent or apt for the job. But she admittedly had some bias in the matter. She’d never much liked Charlie, and was definitely glad that the girl didn’t have sole control of her cohort anymore. That was something at least. Hopefully Chris would smack some sense into her. Or jolt it into her. That would be kind of fun to watch. Was that horrible to say? Possibly, but it wasn’t like she was actually saying it to Jolly’s face, or even out loud. Which made her wonder a bit how a duel between her and Jolly would go. Interesting to be sure. She nodded a little at his words. “Completely agree. Always room for improvement no matter who you are.” She knew Jason could sometimes come across as egotistical. Heck, when she first met him, she wanted to hit him. But he’d been working on it and it was easy to tell. At least, easy for those who knew him. He was a good guy all in all.

She rolled her eyes as he combatted her terminology for his job though. “Really now. We’d be in a bad spot if it weren’t for medics. Give yourself some credit. Hard to get on with training if you’re sick and your body all busted up.” Sort of like how first cohort got to be. Funny how that worked. She was proud to be in second. She glanced up at him from her work as he took a seat. Good. Though she would have been fine talking still, it was nice that he was seated now. Felt a little more natural to talk to someone who was at her level. She stopped what she was doing to give him the proper respectful attention. Well, that and he was her friend and she didn’t want to be rude.

Val smirked, though it wasn’t in a mean way or anything. “Normal sleeping schedules are typically a good thing. And no news is good news they say.” She smiled and nodded. “That’s good. I bet she appreciates it.” Then he had to ask. She picked up her polishing clothe and took a new interest in getting the blade to a high shine. “I’ve been busy. So has he. He takes his job very seriously. So I… I haven’t really talked to him in probably a month.” It wasn’t something she liked to talk about, or think about for that matter, hence the hyper polishing. When she had met Zidane, everything seemed so perfect and they seemed to fit together so well. Now it was slowly and painfully dissolving away. Sure, he had a lot on his plate, but didn’t everyone? And even the other praetor was in a relationship that last she knew, Felicity wasn’t being ignored. Great, she was jealous of Felicity Weingarten. What was this world coming to? But that was just it, wasn’t it? She was jealous. She wanted Zidane back and the way things were going, she wasn’t sure when and even if that would happen. She’d tried to visit him the other day but he wasn’t around. And that seemed to happen far too often for her liking. And he never came to visit her. But that was okay, right? What didn’t kill you made you stronger.

Tag: Jason
Word Count: 572
Notes: