Shocked to Find Him[OPEN]

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I    used    to bite   my tongue and hold   my breath Open ::Tag 1063 ::Words Here ::Notes

Tessa knew how to delegate, how to get other people to do things for her. It was part of a learning experience for them, and in case she were to fall in battle they wouldn't be lost in chaos. This wasn't one of those things. She needed supplies, and was able to find a clinic in Concord a little north of San Francisco that was willing to transfer some extra to her. Thankfully there was a former legionnaire there that could get the paperwork together on that side. So Tessa had to leave camp, for a little while. She wouldn't send someone else out, not in this type of atmosphere. Only a days march to the titan fortress. No, she'd never send anyone out into that kind of situation. Demigods especially, with the scent they would tantalize monsters with. Tessa thought little of herself, a Legacy, out in the open. The trip itself didn't take too long, she hopped onto a bus and rode that pretty close to the clinic. Some guys leaned over to talk to her, she tried to make polite conversation back until they tried moving too close. One didn't seem to understand personal space and Tessa had to lock his arm and push him into another seat. That seemed to draw more attention and she had a good eight or nine pieces of paper with boys, and girls, number on them by the time she got off. She wouldn't liter, but once she got to the Clinic she emptied out her pockets worth of number and washed one off her hand. After thanking the legionnaire she was on her way, ready to get back to camp and away from these people who seemed to think it was perfectly okay to whistle at her and touch her. An arm around her shoulders was very much unwelcomed, and she felt it was appropriately dealt with. Just a sprain, she was good enough to do that with these kinda weak guys. A few times she stopped to look in the window of the shops, a smile as she thought of buying a thing or two for Gunnar the way he did to her. She had sometime before the bus came, and picked up a ring. There was also this rather interesting looking statue of a female of death and a scythe. Tittle 'Hel', and some runes around the edges. He bought her random things, it was all fair game to buy him something like that. She smiled at the purchases she made and left for the bus station again. No. With that single thought Tessa stopped walking, stopped moving and for a few moments stopped breathing. Her muscles froze in place, and the people walking behind her nearly ran into the now statuesque granddaughter of Venus. Her fingers clenched, keeping her from dropping the items she had come to collect. It was the only thing that kept them in hand, for she had completely forgotten them. Obviously he was still around, and sure among thousands of hundreds of people there was a minor possibility of meeting him, but she hadn't thought it would happen. It was such a miniscule chance of fortune, because he for certain was a busy man. He hadn't seen her, off in his own world too much. The softest whisper came across her lips, with the first bit of breath she allowed to escape since she first caught sight of him. “Dad?” The man not too far in front of her wasn't the tallest, but he was possibly the most noticeable. Striking green eyes, the ones Tessa had gotten, a bit of scruff around his chin and was still the most handsome man on the street in his jeans and t-shirt. Tessa couldn't remember a time her father just wore jeans and a t-shirt, it wasn't flashy enough. He blended in well with the crowd though, and had a woman at his side as usual. As she had always remembered, but this time was different. This time there was a little girl. Bright green eyes. In the moments she stood there that small child was scooped up and placed on her fathers shoulders. That would wrinkle his clothes if he wore the nice ones he used to. It'd mess up his hair. She could almost hear the reason she wasn't allowed on his shoulders. He seemed to notice her a moment, notice her staring and put a finger to his lips and smiled. As he did when fans noticed him, when he wanted them to just be quiet. Then he turned and walked away with the small child on his shoulders. How long Tessa actually stood there she wasn't sure, but eventually she made her legs move her forward. Her fingers relaxed and the spare items for the infirmary fell to the ground with a soft crash, she could hear the glass items breaking. As though her heart didn't ache enough in the moment, but she refused to cry here on the street. She should be able to hold the tears as easily as she could make them. The little words of advice from her dad came floating back slowly. It'd been eight years since she last saw him in person. Since she last heard his voice and she though she had almost forgotten everything, but she hadn't. It was just hiding, and seeing him again brought it all back. After collecting everything into her hands again Tessa walked forward, looking at the place her father came out of. A small restaurant, perhaps not even that. Some kind of Pastrami place? She never knew her father to eat sandwiches. But that was her father. His smile, his eyes, the way he tried to shush what he thought was a fan. Yeah, the mannerisms where all there. The face was the same. His slightly short height. All of it was her father. She smiled and sat down at a table, some of the waitresses seemed excited and she heard her fathers name. When someone came over to get her order she couldn't help but ask for what he had, whatever it might be. She was in the open, creatures could attack and she was head of Infirmary, and a centurion of Second Cohort. She should be moving it back to camp, but this wasn't something she could walk past.

Lyrics from Roar by Katy Perry
Code done by step

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Somnia loved to have his ego stroked and honestly this woman he was currently doting upon, she knew how to stroke his ego. She was lovely and charming, but still a young woman. He knew she couldn't be more then his own Miyuki's age. No, he couldn't take advantage of someone sweet and innocent like this. Somnia gently put her to sleep with a wave of his hand as he gently laid her someplace where she would not be bothered. Somnia made sure she was safe and well taken care of before he stepped out onto the streets. It was a rather quaint town, though he has more then certainly seen his fair share of charming villages and picturesque small towns. They were the things that hormonal females were dreaming about. At least a good deal of girls dreamed about things like that. Finding love and running off to the woods, there was a reason that there was a channel for that on Vulcan TV. Venus did love a good romance dream on occasion. It was a day that would make the artist daughters of Apollo cry in joy, though it was easy to see that there were artist that shared in his appreciation of the day. the sun was warm and the breeze was cool, this was almost worthy of a post card. Almost.

Somnia closed his eyes, feeling the warmth on his face as he wandered the streets. His grey vest left unbuttoned as he rolled up the white sleeves of his shirt. Anyone else might not have given him a second glance, but once or twice he gained a look from a woman or two. He knew he was good looking, better looking than that oaf Mars or that chatty Mercury. Seriously, Mars thought he was the god's gift to woman kind, no, that brainless buffoon was more like the gods gift to the lower end of the IQ pool. Those gods were hardly behaving like gods, more like spoiled children. HE was like his uncle and Aunt, an old immortal that had stood the test of time, he was forever. Without him, there would be no revolution, no striving to be better, nothing. Without dreams, one's world would simply be boring. So as of now, this immortals work was hardly done. There was no rest for the Wickedly good looking, Somnia thought to himself, smirking in a devious manner that would make little children scared.

But as he closed his eyes, he found a subconcious mind that struck an accord with him. Ahh the girl who was dating his Uncle's Grandson. That would make the boy his.... great-nephew? No, He was never good at that whole who was related to whom thing. Somnia knew that his grandfather was overly fond of this boy, and the boy himself was a legacy of both gods of death. He was strong, cold, so to find that this particular boy had a weakness for this girl, it was intriguing. He followed her for a moment, watching her. HE would never go so far as to try to pull some slick moves on his... oh forget it, that Gunnar boy was his Nephew, his nephew's girl. But he would protect her. She was family though rather indirectly. Tessa, that's what her name was, he thought. Beautiful woman, she had quite grown into her Apollo and Venus heritage, that was no excuse for those lecherous looks that she was getting from a few of the men sitting near her in that quaint little sandwich shop. But he pulled a chair out at the lonesome table that she was sitting at by herself, sitting down. HE hardly doubted that she would recognize the amazingness that he was, after all he was a minor god, not to mention the way his legs seemed to shift in and out in an ethereal manner. He lowered his voice so that only she could hear. "It is not safe for a legacy such as yourself to be seated alone." He said as he leaned towards her with his elbows on the table, attempting to make it look like the two may be friendly or even intimate. Those scoundrels giving her such lecherous looks would think twice about trying to mess with his Nephews girl.

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I    used    to bite   my tongue and hold   my breath Somnia ::Tag 475 ::Words Adjusted template ::Notes

Her own little world was more than a bit shattered. She was caught up in a wind storm of her own mind, the memories of how her life was before the legion, how much she had forgotten in her eight year stay. How she tried so hard for attention. How selfish she was. The time she asked her dad to pick her up because her legs where tired, or just because she saw someone else get picked up. How she'd ask her mom if she could play with her hair, or wear her shoes. Daddy's arms where tired. The shoes wouldn't fit her, it'd be bad if she hurt herself. Her parents were too busy to go to Disney Land with her, so it was just the sitter and the guards. That was selfish too, if a monster had attacked how many people would have been injured because a girl wanted to go to the park? She didn't know what a legacy was at that time. She didn't know who her grandparents where. She hardly knew who her parents really where. They were smiles, flirting, hugs with flashes of light. Warm hands to hold when the camera's where on. When did they spend time with her? Just the three of them? No camera's, or press. If other people weren’t around, did they pay her a side glance? She didn't notice any of the people in the place, perhaps a little bit of the conversations going on around her, but the voices were broken and slowed. She was overwhelmed at the moment. A voice very close to her cut into her mind, making her startle a moment. She could partially recognize the man in front of her. Vaguely aware of seeing him in Camp Jupiter before. Awake again the rather blank look on her face turned to her more pleasant smile, one of the many faces she practiced as a nurse. Her brain started turning again, with a brush of her hair in her fingers she glanced to make sure she still had her bags. She looked at the man and around him. Around her surroundings. “I'm sorry, I just thought I'd pick something up before meeting up with my partner.” a lie, of course, spoken in her seductively sweet voice. She wasn't entirely put off by his close proximity, not after her initial jump at any rate. “I recognize you, but I can't really put a name to the face, could you jog my memory for me?” she was polite, though she wondered if he was simply a retired camper still loyal to the gods, or someone insane enough to join that wicked brute of a Titan. Perhaps if she saw his legs, which at times went by the Schrodinger's principle of there and not there, she might recall him as the god of dreams.

Lyrics from Roar by Katy Perry
Code done by step

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Somnia focused his attention on the girl in front of him. With this attention, bits of her subconscious flitted across his mind like a butterfly. What sort of childhood has this girl had. She was a legacy of both Venus and Apollo, the dangers must have been paramount, two demi-gods together with a child outside of New Rome. HE couldn't help but let his brow furrow, this was the same child that argued with him over the price of love. In his own mind, Somnia felt that love didn't have a price when it came to children. It was unconditional, uncompromising and consistent. He never asked for anything from his children, nothing more than for them to be what they were. Parents didn't need their children to prove they were worthy of affection and love. This girl might have been a legacy of Venus, but she had a good bit to learn about love. Venus would have his work cut out for her on this one. But for the time being, she was his nephew's girlfriend, that made her family. Family was something that was eternal love. Now as intimidating as it might have been, being in his amazing presence and the thought of being related to someone as great as he was, Tessa might not have thought it was so cool. There were people who didn't appreciate the gift that he was to the world. But when she spoke, her voice was sweet and beautiful. He couldn't help but give a small smile. “My dear, your charmspeak might work on most mortals and demi-gods, but it will not work on me.” He said with a low and strong voice. She had spoken a lie, to a god none the less, but it wasn't like he was openly flaunting his divinity. “I would rather not have to tell Mercury that his gift of lies is being so blatantly insulted by a beautiful rose like yourself.” Somnia gently placed a hand atop of the table, flat, supporting his chin atop his other fist. “I would greatly be saddened if I had to kill mortals because they were idiotic enough to mess with my Nephew's beloved, Miss Yates.” He said.

Still glancing around, some people still seemed to be vaguely unaware of his presence, though a small child has fallen asleep behind him, face planting into the sandwich the child was supposed to be eating. It was a rather unfortunate side effect of being him, the aura of sleep around him was problematic at times, but being the god of dreams, sleep tended to be part of his job. After all his own father was sleep, his uncle was death, so often the three worked closely together. “So unfortunate you do not remember me, though I couldn't be angry, Dreams are mostly over looked at times.” he said, rubbing his chin with his finger as he watched her intently. He was trying to feel more glances of her subconscious mind, something to tell him what she was doing outside of camp, why she would go without an escort. In his mind, women needed an escort, call it old fashioned, but women were meant to be protected. Though against most mortals, the legacy could more than hold her own, he had no doubt about it, it was the more unearthly things that worried him. Again he would hate to have to cause a scene because someone wanted to hurt his family. “Now do I still need to jog your memories, or do you remember the god of dreams?”

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I'm   forced to   fake a smile a laugh everyday of   my   life Somnia ::Tag 626 ::Words Adjusted template ::Notes

All of her worries, all of the pain she did her best to push back. To not think about it, unknowingly leaving it fresh for the god of the subconscious to pick through. Her mind thought and tried to process what was happening now, listening to his words and trying to find queues, foreshadowing in them. He admitted Demigods and Mortals were often affected by it, but his tone left it as though he distanced himself from those two categories. Though she tried to keep her smile, a bit of the scarce amount of blood that had been returning to her face left abruptly. The only other category meant she had most likely just insulted a god. She used to not proceed to that conclusion, even under extraordinary circumstances. Such as a small child bleeding gold ichor instead of blood. She was becoming a bit more used to the idea of gods actually interacting among them, and the hard fact they seemed to find some reason to interact with her. She felt she was boring, and unworthy of such attentions. It was the solid foundation which she built all of her relationships. With Gunnar, Lilith, Nick, and of course Jason she felt inadequate for them. That she needed to work to keep any of them interested in her That was another bit of panic her conscious mind held onto, as the repercussions of what she saw began to take hold in her subconscious. Her father, with another child. Another daughter. The inferiority she had felt before began to increase. Something must have been wrong with her, even with how hard she worked and all the things she did to make them smile he never treated her that way. She was perhaps three years old, only five years after Tessa was dropped off at the Wolf house he had another daughter. Maybe less. After he and her mother decided they could use the money they spent on her to do something more fun. More fun than spend time with her, because Tessa was certain getting teeth pulled was more fun than being with her. How could anyone stand it? She'd have to do something, to try and keep at least a little love and attention from the people she cared about. Again her conscious mind was working hard to put a name to the face. “Thank you...but nephew?” He knew her, obviously. Someone who cared about her, Gunnar's uncles would still be demigods. Jason was the only one she could think of with godly uncles. He was handsome, but she wouldn't say he was Lord Cupid to be Nick's uncle. Some child had self planted into his food, poor thing must have been tired. A few other people seemed to be yawning, and droopy eyed. Perhaps the food or... Sleep. More specifically Dreams. Somnia. Her neck stiffened a bit as she recalled the event where they met. Perhaps not her shining moment with respect for the gods. “Lord Somnia, I'm sorry for not recognizing you.” She nodded a very small bit. “But also dreams are often forgotten, because it's not always your conscious that makes them...right?” She had read the tomes of mortal medicine on dreams, more so the ones that attempted to explain them as electronic signals randomly firing in the brain. Though she thought that was a bit ridiculous assumption to jump to. Ice cream sales increase on hot summer days, and so do shark attacks. That doesn't mean ice cream causes shark attacks. “Then...you mean Gunnar? He's...actually your first cousin once removed. By standard convention, but if you prefer to call him nephew that is completely up to you lord. I....your family must be very close if you'd go out of your way for him.”

Lyrics from Because of You by Kelly Clarkson
Code done by step

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Somnia wasn't about to outright say he was a god. If this young lady couldn't put two and two together, well he'd rather his little Miyuki seek medical care elsewhere. But the pain flashing through this young girls mind, well it was enough to provoke a small seed of pity. Apollo and Venus didn't deserve the love and affection of someone like this. The poor child had gone pale at his words, though he gave a small smile. "There are those of us who do not openly flaunt our divinity, but as we are in a public place, feel free to speak plainly." It was a gift that Somnia rarely afforded those that were not in his family. Tessa should have felt grateful for such a gift, though he didn't think she was the type to be so familiar with the deities. Though she was a beautiful girl, he had heard she felt too plain for the affections of others. The last conversation they had at camp, a talk about love, well to be plain, it was rather un-Venus like. Somnia of all people knew that there were different kinds of love and for some kinds there was no need to prove that a person was worthy of affection.

Somnia's brow furrowed as he felt more flits of emotions from this girls subconscious mind. Inferiority, self-consciousness, panic, though Somnia wasn't quite sure what was the cause of it. He followed her gaze to a man with a child. A movie star crush perhaps? No, it was something much more deep seated then that. It was.... it was painful to experience. HE couldn't quite make a connection between the man, the child and this young woman here. Though given enough time, Somnia could draw a conclusion. Or he could just peer into her subconscious mind instead of trying to be polite and only get the flashes that were going past his mind. He was quite sure that at some point, a comic book character had said, 'it's not nice to read other people's mind'. Ahh yes, it was that Professor X. That leader of the X-men comics that his uncle was rather fond of. Well he wasn't sure if his uncle liked the x-men, but he knew his uncle loved comic books. Mercury did tease him so about it.

"First cousin is it?" Somnia raised an eyebrow as he thought about it. Yes the girl was right. "I never put much stock into figuring out the divine family tree. It gets quite tangled on some branches." He said, flashing a small smile. "Most of the older immortals tend to have more of a sense of family then some of the newer divine beings. When you've been around for a while, Family becomes the only constant fixture in your life." He nodded his head as he fixed his eyes on Tessa. He could see why Gunnar had taken a shine to such a girl. Though despite her insecurities, she was quite charming. Respectful for the most part, though she had unwavering loyalty to the gods. A bit of a pain, but it could be used. She was still family. "But you are Gunnar's heart and I would hate for family to be in pain when I could have prevented such a problem." Somnia simply stated.

((sorry muse went on the downslide there at the end.))

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I'm   forced to   fake a smile a laugh everyday of   my   life Somnia ::Tag 822 ::Words word explosion ::Notes

Her own parents didn't want her. She'd worked so hard thinking maybe she could do something good enough to go back to them, but it was a lie. The same way she'd pretend the cards she had were from her mother and father, not the secretaries. Even those had stopped coming though. Who could possibly want her when not even her own parents wanted nothing to do with her? Jason was buried in work since he came back, nothing too different.. Still she'd talk to Remus more than her own Uncle, possibly because like her parents he didn't want her either. She really must have been a disappointment. She knew it was greedy, it was unsightly to want to be the most loved by anyone. Especially gods, and when she was only a granddaughter. She felt so jealous of Lilith sometimes, it would burn in her chest. She spent time with both Lords Apollo and Mors, and Tessa had seen the type of grandfather Lord Mors was. Lilith lived through the last war because of him. Lilith's health was a concern for Lord Apollo. Lilith would speak with their uncle Jason more. Lilith was family to Gunnar, and he cared about her. Lilith had wonderful parents who loved her. What was she missing? What was Tessa missing that Lilith had? She worked at the infirmary longer, she was in a better cohort, the was the centurion and head of the infirmary. Sometimes she felt like Lilith was going to take everything she worked so hard for, and without as much work. She loved Lilith, she was her only and best friend. She was her cousin, she was so glad when she found out about her and Ethan. When she found out Gunnar had let her know he cared. She glad for her friends happiness. She knew her friend deserved it, after all the heart ache she had. Still she would wish she didn't have to share. Lord Apollo, Jason, Gunnar, even Lilith herself. She didn't want to share any of them. It was selfish and wrong. Maybe that's why no one could love her for very long. She did manage to smile, to be glad that Lord Somnia seemed to not take as much offense as she might have suspected. He even seemed worried about her. It must be nice for Gunnar to have family who cares so much about him. Though he'd had more than his fair share of ill times with family. For now she seemed of some concern to Lords Mors and Somnia, soon enough though Gunnar would stop caring for her. As long as she wasn't hated she was sure she could get through it, she could find some paperwork to do somewhere to keep her mind off it later. She was resourceful like that. “Thank you for your kindness, but I simply couldn't Lord. You are a god it'd be terribly improper for me to speak candidly.” With a bit of a nod she did have to agree the entire family tree was a bit too much to try and get down. Though she didn't personally thing it should be too hard in terms of mortals. It wasn't quite as in-turned on itself and especially with the family tree that stemmed from Lady Nyx. It was a bit straight forward, Lady Nyx had her one husband and her children were from him or none at all. She had looked it up a bit more in depth when she began to date Gunnar. She could call Mercury her granduncle technically, though he had become the only god she did not use the term 'Lord' with. Possibly because he showed up as a ten year old one day in the infirmary. She couldn't say she quite believed the immortal when he said the older generation of gods trusted more in family than the younger. She knew of Mercury and his fairly often visits to camp despite the rules, or lack there of. Lord Mars was a good god and concerned about family and the entirety of the legion, which she supposed was kind of like his baby to begin with. Romans. “I believe all of the gods care greatly about their families, and sense of family can be a bit difficult with the odd intertwining of lineages, as you said earlier my Lord.” she wouldn't speak without reserve to a god, but she would reply with her own opinions on the matter. She still believed in her words, she still trusted in the gods of Olympus. Besides, who could say that Saturn or his father had any sense of family? They were tyrants who tortured their children for no reason but being born. Perhaps one exception doe not make an argument, but she believed for the most part the gods, from chaos to the demigods, cared about family. “I'm...sorry. I'll do my best not to cause Gunnar any pain.”

Lyrics from Because of You by Kelly Clarkson
Code done by step