Kids these Days [August]

[Deleted]

Looking at the pool Lyndis just stood there at it's slippery edges. Her clothes and hair dripping wet, something colorful sunk to the bottom, stones tied in it's cloth hair. Lyndis' doll. The only one she owned, given to her by someone in her family. Given to her by Gunnar. She frowned at it, and a small adorable noise akin ot a growl came from her before she tried to dive back into the deepest end of the pool. Her eyes burned in the water, and her clothes slowed her movements. Her throat stung from repetitively inhaling water, and her lungs hurt from holding it in. A minute or so later she came up, sputtering for air and coughing water out of her throat before clinging to the side of the pool again. Hoisting herself back up she lay on the cold hard cement breathing in air. She was no good at holding her breath. She should have been able to get the doll, at least that's what the boys who threw it into the pool told her.

Staying in place for a while she tilted her head to look around again. The boys had left her there a while ago, she wasn't sure how many times she had dove into the pool trying to get her doll back. It seemed like it was going well though, she got close and closer every time. So that was a good thing. She just wished there was someone to talk to at times like this, the in between period where she tried to make her eyes stop hurting, and her lungs stop hurting. It was a lot different to feel this way from water instead of exercising. She knew how to swim, and could do it pretty well. She never really experienced this water flooding her lungs thing. She didn't like it. She tried so hard to keep her breath held, but in the end she wouldn't and all the bubbles would raise to the surface before she struggled to force her way up for air.

Sitting up she readied herself to try again, lifting her arms above her head to open up her air way like she had been told to do before when training. She had almost gotten sick from that. After a few more deep breaths she took one more long deep breath before diving in again. Pushing herself clost to the bottom she reached out for the cloth doll, a sharp pain at her finger tips made her retract her hand and let all the air from her lungs out followed by an attempt to breath air in. There was no air, only water. Her bubbles raised to the surface as she struggled against the pain in her chest to find her way up and out of the water. Every movement in the water, the movement of it over her finger brought pain to her again. It kept her mildly aware of her surroundings and predicament, letting her at least slightly realize which way was up so she could shoot for that. This time when she came up for air she started gagging. Her body did all it could to expel the water that wasn't supposed to be there. Her finger stung, and bleed slightly on the cement as she gripped onto the edge coughing. The spasms making her shake all over.

[Deleted]

August was tired. It had been a long day so far, to put it lightly. Training had been hard, and getting harassed yet again for no apparent reason was just frustrating. He needed some relief. Usually that came in the form of either his violin or his bow, but there was currently a cohort training at the archery range and it was one of those rare occasions that he just didn’t feel like music. And he knew from experience that forcing it was never good for anyone involved. He was just too… wound up. So he decided to opt for a hot shower. Usually a good idea when stressed. Just hoping the rest of the lot here hadn’t already used up all the hot water.

He stopped back at the second cohort and grabbed his towel and something a little less sweaty to change into. His violin was laying on his bed, the case open. It was one of those things that thankfully people got the idea that if they touched his violin, they died a horrible death at the hands of the scrawny augur. If people hated him (well, there was no if about that) they at least knew better than to personally challenge anyone trained here at the Legion. Even the youngest here were formidable foes, and he’d been here ten years. Walking down the via from the barracks, he studiously ignored ever single living human being and lar as well. It was usually better that way anyway. How someone with his social skills got to be a centurion, he wasn’t always so sure. Though there was the seniority factor. Technically, he should be retired by now. But with everything going on, he didn’t want to abandon the place without an augur, as much as he hated being there.

When he got to the bathhouse, he had to pass by the seemingly empty pool before getting to the showers. Key word being seemingly. It was roughly right when he set foot through the door that a shower of water burst from the edge of the deep end of the pool. It made him jump and took him a second to realize that it was a person. A very small person. And someone gagging at that, as the young girl held onto the edge of the pool. He didn’t hesitate. Dropping his clothes and towel, he was at her side in a moment, reaching for her arms to pull her up. Thank the gods for the training here, and for how light she was, as it didn’t take too much to get her out, though the spasms made it a bit of a challenge. He leaned on the edge of the pool and practically pulled her onto the edge, hurrying to press his hands against her chest in the hopes of getting the water out of her lungs. Gods, what did she think she was doing, jumping in the deep end like that? Unless she’d slipped. But no time to worry about that now.

Tag: Lyn
Word Count: 505
Notes: I have no idea how to respond to such a situation myself, so I hope this makes sense/is right o.o

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Feeling warm hands against the water and wind cooled arms, Lyndis was dragged out of the pool and onto the surrounding cement. A weight pressed against her chest forcing everything from her lungs, including the last bit of water her body was trying so hard to get rid of. She huffed, blinking away tears of pain. Lyndis tugged her shirt up to wipe the snot from her nose, her breath slowly returning to a normal pattern. It was still heavy, but it became less of a struggle for air and more of that heavy breathing one might come to expect in the Legion. Out of breath, tears mingling with the water that dripped off her face and hair, she still managed to smile up at the person who pulled her out of the pool. "Hi." she managed to eek out between breaths, in something similar to her usual excited voice. She throbbing in her head, and her finger pulled away from that hyperness though. It would be hard for anyone who had never talked to her before to notice she wasn't the most upbeat little thing ever. "Thank...you" she said, that candy sweet smile still lighting up her red face. Air slowly catching up with her and her head seemed to hurt less. "My names....Lyndis" she said, continuing to talk through her bodies attempt to obtain more oxygen. She gave one finally deep inhale expanding her tiny chest as far out as she could before letting it all out again. "You can call me Lyn if you want, it's nice to meet you."

It was interesting, her head wasn't hurting very much any more. It hurt a lot when she first came up from the water. Her eyes still stung, and he lungs, and her stomach, it probably hurt everywhere. She was a tough Roman now! She had to deal with pain and hurt! She couldn't go whining, though maybe a little to Edmund. Just a little, because he would listen to her without saying things that made her feel bad. He really didn't say much, but it was better than those people who would try to tell her it was okay to not do anything or worry about it. She wanted to prove she was a good Roman! Unlike what meanie Mars said to her. Neptune was mean too, he said the same thing. She was super determined to prove them wrong, even if it meant hurting for a little while. This wasn't painful like the stitches, or tearing out the stitches anyway. That second one hurt a great deal, and Lyndis made it a priority to listen to Jason when he said to do, or not do, things.

Tag: August
Words: 451
OOC: Sorry, kinda short >.< you completely make sense, its okay.

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At the first word out of her mouth, August officially thought she was crazy. Maybe inhaling so much water was what did it to her. But no one should nearly drown and then be that excited. Or have the first thing they say be ‘hi’ in that cutesy little voice. Maybe it was just the fact that he was still worried about her, gasping for air as she still was, that he didn’t take too kindly to being ‘hi’ed like that. “Hi yourself. What in the Underworld were you doing?” Cut to the point. That was typical August. Even around a little kid. Actually, maybe more so around a little kid. Children were a mystery to him. Gods forbid he ever have one of his own, though he had full intention of living his life alone more than likely. He sat back on the concrete and raised an eyebrow as she smiled up at him. How on earth was she not panicking? She could have died. Spoke a lot for the training here, he supposed. Little thing was a Roman when it came to dealing with rough situations. Though he had to admit, he wasn’t sure it was Roman to be beaming away about it. “Well, I wasn’t going to let you drown.” Then he figured he might be being too harsh to the kid. She wasn’t doing him any harm. That, and he remembered when his mom used to be harsh to him. That was never a good feeling. So he sighed and determined to treat this little girl like he wished he’d been treated. So he did a rare thing… and smiled. Not a big smile, or hardly what could be called a smile by most people’s standards, but the thought was there. “You’re welcome. Just be careful, okay?”

It was unnaturally hard to be nice. There was pretty much no one here except maybe Charlie who August smiled for. So he set his face back to normal, or at least, passive instead of hating the world. “Alright, Lyn it is. Good to meet you too. I’m August. Yes, like the month.” He got that one a lot, especially when he was younger here. Is your name really August? or Did your mom just look at the calendar to name you? or You look more like a February to me. None of it good. He preferred to think towards his connection with the Emperor Augustus, which, while his mom may or may not have intended that, he liked it a lot better than simply the next page after July. He pushed back the memories. Just more reasons to hate people. And this little girl had done nothing at all to earn his hatred. Not yet anyway. He was of the mind that, given time, everyone would let you down. But today, he would be nice to someone. He got up and went back to where he’d dropped his things and tossed the clothes against the wall, bringing her the towel. “Here.” He offered her the towel. “So what happened? Fall in or just really…” Reckless? Stupid? Yeah, those were some of the first words to come to mind, but he reminded himself he was being nice here. “…gutsy…?” He finally finished. That sounded better than the alternatives, right? And had a better connotation.

Tag: Lyn
Word Count: 555
Notes: don’t worry about it!

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Something about people helping her and replying to her made her absolutely ecstatic. There was no way this person could prepare for a happy excited Lyndis, not that anyone really could. So many people would just yell at her, or walk away or if it was Ed just drag her out and make sure she was okay without another work about anything else. She loved all the ways people interacted with people, so many different kinds of ways. Some more fun than others obviously. "Getting my doll!" she said happily. If she had the air in her lungs to explain it father she would, possibly going on one of her little tangents about it. She got side tracked so easily. For now breathing was taking up her concentration. It never seemed very natural to breath in through your nose and out through your mouth, but that's what Charlie told her to do at times like this. She wanted to breath in her mouth because it felt like she got air faster that way, but Charlie was someone she would listen to. Just a little bit. Especially since she was kind of her warrant officer. She was supposed to keep an eye on the little trouble maker that tried repeatedly to escape camp, or trainings, or anything else she found boring. That tendency was slipping away slightly as she tried to better herself and prove to Mars, Neptune, and Pluto she could be a capable Roman. "I'm strong, I'm not going to drown!" she said confidently. Nothing in her mind even remotely associated with the idea of her and death being in the same existence. Sure somewhere in her mind she knew all people died, and that was inevitable, but she was still little. People didn't die until they were older, so obviously she was invincible.

He was nice. That's what Lyndis had decided about him, though to be honest her definition of nice counted a lot of people. Some of the people on the nice list included Edmund, and Felicity. Obviously not the best made list out there. They might be a little hard to get along with, and might do or say things that were mean, but that didn't make them mean people. It was the fact that they seemed to care about other people and wanted them to be safe. More importantly they cared about her and tried to keep her at least a little bit safe. Even if Felicity stabbed her. That was the way Lyndis' world worked, as egotistic and self centered as it was her world revolved around her. When people where nice to her they were nice to everyone, when people where mean to her they were meanies. When things went wrong and people got hurt, it was her fault. That's how her mind worked, centered in that small universe that was a child’s mind. She nodded enthusiastically, and made herself a little dizzy. Her head still aching a bit. The sudden shaking was not helping it in the slightest. Her head wobbled a bit from side to side as she held it. "I'm careful...." she wasn't, but she'd always tell people she was since that's what they wanted. She was never one to think about what was to happen later, just what was happening now. Supposedly to be careful you have to think ahead a little bit, which was not possible when you were happy and hyper and full of all kinds of energy.

Her little head tilted to the side a moment looking at him. "The month? The month! Okay, okay. Yes." she said with a smile. It took her a moment, she didn't really associate people and the things they were named after. "I've met people named April, May, June, and now August! The other ones are girls though." she huffed a bit after that. It took a lot of breath to go on her wild off the wall little paragraphs of speaking. She didn't exactly breath between sentences or words after all. It was just one long continuous breath. It added to the hyperness of her speaking, and sometimes people would just wait for her to talk herself out until they answered any of her questions. She didn't exactly run out of questions, though she did sometimes pause to give people a chance to answerer the one’s she really wanted to know. Her brain just kept rolling sometimes though, and it would all come out of her mouth. All the questions she thought of that branched off the things that were said and the previous questions she asked. Sure there were times when a question would be completely new and unrelated in any way obvious to people, but some how Lyndis would think of it.

She watched him get up and walk back towards his things. She took to standing up herself and stretching her arms above her head to breath better, deeper, like Charlie had told her to. She learned more from Charlie than she did her own centurion, possible because she didn't always go to her practices. She looked at the towel and shook her head, little bits of water flinging against eh concrete that surrounded the pool. "I still have to get the doll." she slid her foot along the tiles that make up a small portion of what was around the pool. It was a bit slick she supposed, but you wouldn't really fall in unless you were running. They told them not to run a lot. "Training!" she said with a smile "The others left, but they tied rocks on my doll so it'd stay on the bottom. It's motivation!" she hadn't quite understood the reason they were always laughing when she came back up for air, or the reason they had left. She wouldn't stop though, normally she might, but they were right about it being motivation. She had to get the doll back. It's a gift from Gunnar.

Tag: August
Words: 995
OOC: Rawr! getting caught up on posts!!

[Deleted]

Little kids. Never his forte. Then again, people in general weren’t his forte. The only thing that he might be considered good at was auguries. Which was fine by him. He didn’t have many friends – in fact, Charlie and Jason were the only two he could think of – and he was okay with that. He was a loner. It was just in his nature.

Which meant that facing a very excitable – what, maybe ten or eleven or so? – year old was not high on his list of things to do. Or to know really how to handle. He looked back to the water when she a little too enthusiastically announced her intentions. “Kid… This is the deep end. You’re not going to get that yourself. Not unless you can breathe underwater or something.” He cocked an eyebrow at her when she said she was strong. Well, determined was at least true. Maybe not strong yet, but she had the makings of it. Just would take a little time and training. Then again, hadn’t they all been in her shoes at one point? New people with little to no training or understanding of the way the world, or especially the Roman military worked.

He sighed. “Careful would mean not recklessly diving into the deep end and swallowing half the pool in the process.” Which was obviously not something she was doing at the moment. He watched her, a little surprised that she hadn’t caught on to the let’s-make-fun-of-the-kid-named-after-a-month deal sooner. Then again, she was young. And she babbled on about other month-named people she met. “Well then, sounds like all you need is July and you have five in a row,” he said, not actually caring much what he was talking about. Did he mention he wasn’t a kid person?

He looked back to the water when she insisted she get the doll. He could make out some of the doll’s features from through the considerable amount of water. Then she went on and he looked back to her with an expression that clearly read he was not impressed with her logic skills. “Motivation? No, it’s called treating you like rubbish and torturing you. You really need to learn the difference, and fast.” He sighed and sat down, setting to work getting his tennis shoes off. Once he had them off to the side next to him, he got back up and looked to Lyn. “Now don’t go anywhere.” With that he dove into the water and began the swim to the bottom. Yes, he could see the rocks she’d mentioned now. Whoever did this was even more messed up than he was, and that was saying something. For all his nastiness, he wouldn’t purposefully torture a little kid. He knew full well what it felt like to be on the receiving end of that, even if this little kid in particular was a little dull when it came to recognizing it for what it was. Finally, his fingers wrapped around the little toy and he grabbed it, turning and pressing off against the bottom with his feet to get him to the surface faster.

The air was a welcome thing. He set the doll on the side of the pool, then pulled himself out and plucked it up again. He set to work untying the stones from the doll and tossing them to the side before offering it back to her. “Next time they try to ‘motivate’ you, get someone’s help a little sooner.”

Tag: Lyn
Word Count: 584
Notes: I really need to do that too o.o This week I swear!

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Her damp hair curled in and around itself as it fell about her slim shoulders. Tumbling as she cocked her head to the side. "Rubbish? Torture? What's that?" not entirely words she had heard used before, except perhaps in passing more recently. Someone saying something was painful she could understand, she at least knew what pain was. What little kid hadn't accidentally hurt themselves once or twice. The idea of someone hurting another on purpose with a malicious intent was completely foreign to her. Evil intent in general was something she had not encountered before. "I need to learn lots of things, it's super different here than home. Even the weapons you train with is weird and different. Bows as tall as me, and straight swords, and no horses! Horses are much more fun!" not many people had been trained with weapons before gong to the Wolf House, but Lyndis had. Perhaps the Mars and Bellona children had experience with weapons, considering the types of people they had as mortal parents, but a child of a goddess of Luck? Not so much. "Okay?" she replied a bit questionably, though she'd do as he asked. She questioned everything and anything, but normally ended up doing whatever the older kids, or adults would ask her to. She only ever had contact with adults who wanted to help keep her safe, so following what they said was a good thing. Coming to this camp had not opened her eyes very much to the fact not everyone in the world would want to help her. In fact she was only starting to realize that perhaps not everyone would even like her. August dived into the pool and Lyn dropped to her knees, he hands on the edge as she looked down into the water. She could make out a kind of silhouette of him, shaky and fluid like that which he swam. It wasn't long until he popped up out of the pool with her doll, her little heart sank a bit. He had done it so easily, they were right about her being weak. She had to get stronger, had to prove them wrong. Had to show them she could be a good Roman. Not even sure why she felt like she had to prove herself to those three meanies, but she felt she had to. "Thank you..." she said a bit meekly when he put it down next to the pool. It was soaked in water, and the stones still clung to it. That was until August took the doll again and pulled them off. She sat on her knees, looking up at him as he tugged and pulled at them until there were none left. She took it gently when it was offered. "They just wanted to help me....because I wanted to be a good Roman, be stronger..." "Thank you...for helping me August." though she hadn't asked for help, or wanted it, she felt like it was good to thank them. One, twice, however many times she felt like doing so. She gave him a small sweet smile. "I should come get you if they do this again? Is there better ways to get stronger? How did you do it?"

Tag: August Words: 539 Notes: Muahaha V5 posting templates

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August didn’t even bother trying to hide his eyeroll. “You’re kidding me, right? Rubbish, like trash, garbage? Treating you like you're worthless? Ringing any bells? And torture is hurting someone on purpose.” Ugh, how’s he end up with the stupid kid? He mused while she babbled on. “I take it you’re pretty new here then. It takes some getting used to. But before you know it, it’ll be home too.” Which was a total lie in his own case. This place would never be home to him. It just had the honor of being the first place he felt actually needed. So that was the reason he stayed, nothing more. Not the people, not the atmosphere, not the food. Just the job. He really didn’t care about how at home this little idiot felt. She meant nothing to him, just like the majority of the people here.

Why was he doing this again? Oh yeah, because picking on little kids was wrong. He wasn’t above picking on people, but he did have some rules. Don’t harm the innocent. That was first and foremost. Don’t take advantage of people, and don’t hurt a person who was down. All things his mother had taught him by doing the exact opposite. He hated her, so he had grown up with the idea that whatever she did was bad and the opposite was what should be done.

He pulled his shoes off and dove into the water, getting the doll for her with at least a little difficulty. He wasn’t the best swimmer in the camp, but he wasn’t horrible. In time enough, he was back at the surface with the doll and hauling himself out of the water. He shook his head as he pulled the rocks off it. “You’re kidding me right? Wanted to help you? How about not. They were toying with you, trying to upset you. Or worse. Never underestimate people. There are those who are out to hurt you. And they will if you let them. So don’t let them. Those idiots who dropped your toy in the pool wanted to hurt you. Getting hurt does not make you a good Roman.”

He shrugged when she thanked him. “No problem.” He pushed his wet hair out of his face and sighed. “Come get me? Doesn’t matter who you get really. Someone you trust preferably. Who isn’t the kind of idiot who would do this to you in the first place.” He laughed, though there wasn’t a lot of humor to it. “A better way than nearly drowning yourself? I should think so. Hit the obstacle course, train with the weapons. Possibly a bit young for war games, but get in on those when you’re old enough. Just train like everyone else. It’ll come in time. That’s what I did. That’s why just about everyone here did. Just follow your centurion’s instructions. He or she will help you.”

[Deleted]

“I'm no good for you.”
“I will not hate you.”

I will be brave
I will not let anything
Take away
What's standing in front of me

Words: 527
Tag: August
OOC: Late, sorry >_<

"People who want to hurt me? Why?" her innocent brown eyes watched him with curiosity. His head almost seemed to roll with his eyes at her comment, she kind of recognized the gesture but wasn't exactly sure what it meant. What it was for. "Yes! New!" she smiled widely "Home is where the people you care about are! I've only been here a few months but I already like Ed, Charlie, Remus, Gunnar, Nick, Jason, Clare, and Prom! They are super nice and fun to talk to. Train with too, not Ed, he's mostly in the forge. Gunnar doesn't train with me either...or Clare, really it's just Nick and Charlie. I bet I can get the other to help me too!" she nodded a bit agreeing with herself, her tubly curly, wild mess of hair was only under control from the water that weighed it down.

"Upset over a doll? I like it a lot, but it's not people. People are irreplaceable. If they put a person in the pool I'd be super upset! They won't right? Not tie rocks to a person!" The idea was terrible, and horrible and quite possibly the worst thought the little ten year old could ever have. Though if that were the case she probably wouldn't care how much her lungs burned she wouldn't come up until she got all the rocks off the person. It was a bit nice to know that it didn't take being hurt to be a good Roman, though she hadn't thought of that before. She just thought working hard and doing your best made you good, getting hurt was something that happened. You play with knives and swords and you get hurt, even bows hurt when you first started using them. The little calluses on her fingers from using a bow for many years were already formed on her hands, as well as from gripping a sword. Different places from where she might need them in the legion though, because of the different handles and styles of fighting. The strap of the shield was starting to wear on her skin as well.

He laughed, even if it wasn't the nicest laugh it made her happy. She smiled even more when he did that. "Nick? He's helpful, yes. And Charlie!" she smiled widely "How do you know if people want to hurt you or if they are helping? Why would people pretend to be nice when if they are being mean? Why are they purposefully mean? I know you can be mean on accident, or um.....no filter? Where you say what's on your mind. Is it different?" A rapid fire question session, as was her usual way of talking to people and especially when she was learning new things. Everything about people being mean on purpose was new to her, and she did not pause to think about her questions. In a way she could be said to have no filter, it just happened nothing particularly mean came from her. Also she tended to be a bit more sensitive to when people where sad and she shouldn't be hyper and running around asking lots of questions.

Lyrics from A Thousand Years by Christina Perri
Code done by step

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Why do people want to hurt other people? How the heck should he know? He just knew it happened. A lot. “Some people are just mean, that’s all there is to it. You can’t trust everyone you meet, especially if you only just met them.” And yes, he knew that included him. But it was best she didn’t trust him either. He had a low opinion of himself, after all, and was perfectly content in the idea that no one should be around him. Except maybe Lilith, his sister/niece. Or maybe Charlie and Jason too. Maybe. All the same, it was a short list. Oh great, she was new. And apparently hyper now too. Great. He raised an eyebrow at her list of names. It was certainly an odd mix. Gunnar, Ed, Remus…super nice and fun to talk to? Were they thinking about the same people? A few of the others, he could understand. Though he didn’t know Charlie was a kid person. Huh. “Well then, sounds like you should ask them too.” Gods knew she needed all the help she could get.

Good. She wasn’t upset just over a doll. At least she did have some sense in that soaking wet little head of hers. Though this day and age, he couldn’t be sure what people would do, he shook his head all the same. No need to mentally scar the girl. “No, nothing like that. If they do, you get help before trying to do it yourself though, got it? You’re right though, people are irreplaceable.” At least she had that much right. That was good. Not like some kids he saw around this place that considered a teddy bear on the same level as a human being. Heh, those sorts of kids really were terrified of someone like him, which he found both a little funny, and a lot exasperating. At least she wasn’t like that. Either that or she didn’t know what he did here. Perhaps both. He’d give her some credit though for valuing a human over a toy. Though some of it had to be taken away again for her risking her life to save her toy.

This was getting old. August was not a kid person, and this little girl was getting a little too much for him. Unfortunately, he didn’t know the half of it. That was about when the babbling started. He could hardly get a word in, she was shooting off questions so fast. He tried to keep track of what she was saying so he could address it all, but it wasn’t easy. He waited a moment after she stopped talking just to make sure she was done. “Right, um, let’s see. Well, um, depends on how they act, I suppose. If they do something you know will hurt you and they seem fine about it, then they probably mean you to get hurt. If they offer help if you ask them, they probably don’t mean it in a bad way. Um, pretending to be nice. I don’t know. Because the world is full of cruel, manipulative people. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. You can be mean on accident, but usually people would say they were sorry if they realized they were being mean. Like you won’t see that gang that dropped your toy in the pool coming to apologize and help you out. No filter, that one is different. Some people can’t help what they say. They just… say it. That help any?” He wasn’t sure if he covered all the topics, but gods only knew she probably had more to ask.

Tag: Lyn
Word Count: 611
Notes:

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“I'm no good for you.”
“I will not hate you.”

I will be brave
I will not let anything
Take away
What's standing in front of me

Words: 452
Tag: August
OOC: always questions

Not trusting everyone you meet? What was that? Could you really not? Lyndis would have to ask Ed about that. "But I just met you! And you're nice!" she said with a smile. He hadn't been mean to her at all, though her idea of people who had been mean might be in question at the moment. Considering she had just dove into the pool multiple times to try and retrieve a toy which was impossible for a little girl like her to get in the first place. "They are all lots of busy!" perhaps not first class English, but Lyndis was proficient enough to speak normally in it. Sometimes she got a bit confused with how words were supposed to conjugate, or sentence structure. "I'll ask Ed, I like his answers!" To the inattentive girl Ed's short and to the point answers were perfect, while people like Remus or Charlie she would sometimes get a bit distracted from their explanations. Though she did try to listen, it was just so hard for her to do sometimes. Unless someone was angry at her. She could pay attention very well if she was in trouble.

What a relief to hear that people wouldn't tie rocks to each other, not that Lyndis really believed in the idea in the first place. She knew people died, she'd seen people die. Mostly older people, sometimes adults who were injured on a hunting trip or something. It didn't happen very often, but accidents. Even with that she didn't believe she would die. She was only ten years old, so she was completely invincible in her own mind. Even if she could have easily drowned in that water, she didn't think about it.

His questions she payed a bit of attention to, trying to do a better job than before. Her mind had wandered off while Remus was answering a question and she only caught the end of it. It wasn't too hard to listen to August, a few words she missed as she tried to blow some hair from her face. Watching as it flopped from the water that held it together and pasted it back onto her face after each puff of air blew it off. Her eyes stared at the strand or hair and the water that dripped off of it."Yes" she said suddenly as he stopped, her gaze returning to him along with a bright smile. "Thank you." it nothing else Lyndis did try to be polite, saying her please and thank yours, or apologizing when she was supposed to. "What's too good to be true?" another question, at least this was only one, and not some strange torrent or flood of them. Yet.

Lyrics from A Thousand Years by Christina Perri
Code done by step

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August resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Yes, you just met me. But the other part… I’m just being logical. Do I look insane enough to want someone dead?” Seriously though, he wasn’t heartless. He didn’t know this girl, but he didn’t wish harm to her. She looked like, what, ten? Eleven maybe? She needed a good example, and obviously her little pool prank ‘friends’ weren’t doing their part. Not that August really planned on doing his either. He wasn’t a kid person. With his horrible childhood, he really had no idea what was the right thing to do for a kid. Just what not to do. Anyway, back to the present. He nodded at her immaculate English skills. He was tempted to correct her, but decided against it. “Lots of busy. Yep,” was all he commented on that tidbit of grammar extravagance. “Well, there is a war coming. Of course they’re busy. Everyone’s getting prepared.”

I’ll ask Ed… More troubling words had never been spoken. Was she seriously that off her rocker that she thought hey, I should ask the most annoying, worthless blob in this camp important stuff? Not to mention antisocial and stupid. Not that August could comment much on the antisocial part, but he didn’t care really. He liked being antisocial. Not making friends meant no one could betray your trust. Simple as that. That was his philosophy on life. And so far, it was working well enough for him. All the same, back to the moment at hand. He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you have fun having a meaningful conversation with Simons.”

She was blowing hair from her face as he spoke. Oh wonderful. So in other words, he could start reciting the Iliad and she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference from actual productive talk. In one ear and out the other. Perfect. Just perfect. Why was he even bothering? Well, at least she was polite about not having caught a word he said. He had to give her some credit there. And then she caught him a little by surprise with a question that actually pertained to what he had just said. Albeit a little early in what he’d said, before the hair-blowing incident had come up, so his theory still held water. Ah well, better a little than nothing. “What that means, you mean? Well, it’s like when something seems perfect, I guess. Because no one is perfect and if people act perfect, it’s probably a rouse. A trick,” he added, figuring a little late that ‘rouse’ might be outside her vocabulary.

Tag: Lyndis
Word Count: 432
Notes: sorry late!

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“I'm no good for you.”
“I will not hate you.”

I will be brave
I will not let anything
Take away
What's standing in front of me

Words: 477
Tag: August
OOC: always questions

"Why would someone want someone dead? Especially when you just meet them!" Some of the things he said simply did not make sense to her. She'd always been loved by the people in her camp, and she met a bunch of people who loved her here. Sure you might not particularly like people, she'd met a few people who didn't like her, but most of the time that just meant she would get ignored. She could at least wander away when she was ignored. She couldn't quite understand how sometimes when people don't like you they don't simply ignore you, but instead take the opportunity to do bad things. Or to bully. "You look very not insane." she said with a bobble of her head, very similar to a nod.

She pouted a bit at his talk of war. She'd heard a bit about it, but she didn't really know what it meant. She had more recently started learning about war in the classes she was made to go to, but wasn't sure what it really meant. It meant fighting, she knew that. It meant people getting hurt, kind of equated with fighting, but not in a nice friendly way. It was really weird and foreign to her. "Maybe! You don't know. Maybe there is no angry fighting, just friendly fighting!" She had only been in camp a few months, it was nothing unusual for her to not be used to the way it was. She hadn't learned all about people fighting and being killed. Her family taught her that countries had struggles at least, that they would fight each other and that a lot of the time they stopped and formed treaties when they had fought too much. That's what she knew of wars.

Again with the bobble of her head, quick nodding motions that only a hyperactive child could do. "Yup!" she said with a jubilant grin. "I have the best conversa-chun's with Ed!" she was still getting a little used to pronunciations, her words a little off-skelter, with a bit of a slavic accent. "Have you seen the super cool stuff he makes? He made this metal flying bird thing! It belongs to someone else, but it's still really cool, and awesome! Just like Ed!" Perhaps a little bit more than delusional, she loved Ed and thought he was the best person here in camp. Her favorite person here.

"But people are perfect being people?" her head tilted a bit in confusion "You are you, and Ed is Ed, and Charlie is Charlie. All perfect? No?" she blinked up at him trying to understand. She really was, despite all of his eye rolling and obvious annoyance with her. At least obvious to anyone who knew how to read such things, while Lyndis was imply unaware of any of it. People loved her after all.

Lyrics from A Thousand Years by Christina Perri
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