An Apple For Your Thoughts? {Kate}

[Deleted]

Jason was actually getting lunch. He actually removed himself from his desk, walked out of the principia to the mess hall and was getting something to eat. Just ignore the little backpack slung over his shoulder with some reports that he planned to look over while he eat. It wasn't any reports that were super secret, just everyday ones he had to review, like permission to leave for a day, or some tiny case incident where the pool had too high a pH or something like that. The boring stuff. Which, after dealing with all the missing file reports or writing letters to parents about their dead children, it was a nice breath of fresh air to deal with the mundane tasks.

Jason walked, with tray in his free hand, looking for a place to sit. Sure, he could have joined the ranks of his old cohort, or even go to fourth cohort to sit with his brother. But he was always talking to them. He looked around until his eyes caught sight of the brightest ginger hair. Caitlyn Ashika. One of the nieces Jason had in this camp. Granted, it was hard to keep up with all the godly blood relatives, but Jason at least tried to make a point of meeting them all. He specifically remembered little Kate. Unfortunately it wasn't paired with good circumstances. Jason had been her treating doctor after the second Titan war and had to deliver the depressing news. As the head of the infirmary he always had to deliver the depressing news. He had to tell this sweet, joyful little girl, that her twin and mother had died. Jason almost couldn't do it. Yet, he did, and he hurt him, he couldn't imagine the pain that the news brought to her.

He walked over to the table she was sitting at and sat down opposite of her. "Hey there Kate, mind if I join you?" Jason asked. Which, he probably should have done before sitting, but the tray was getting a little wobbly in his one hand since he didn't have a second to help balance it out for support. That, and the backpack was getting uncomfortable as it slid off his shoulder on the seat beside him. Finally, his arm was free and his muscles in his arm could relax a bit as he remained seating with nothing pulling his arm down. He really hoped it was okay for him to be here. After becoming praetor he had found it hard to keep in touch with some people, after the past war he realized what a mistake that had been and was hoping to mend it.

words: 458
notes: If I need to change anything just let me know ^_^

[Deleted]

Kate usually had lunch with people. Sometimes her cohort, sometimes her relatives, most recently with Nova. Today though, no one seemed hungry the same time she did. Either that or they had plans with other people. They were probably around here somewhere. She didn't mind though. Caitlyn grabbed a plate of food and then sat at one of the many mess hall tables. Slipping out a piece of sheet music, the younger girl began tapping out rhythms, trying to memorize it. Yes… alone time was just as important as socialization. Truth be told, before the second titan war, she didn't really have a concept of alone. She had always had her parents or brother around her. Prior to age ten, anyway. Then she got to the Legion and they continued sticking by each other, just for moral support if anything else. Annoying and mischievous as he had been, she had been in constant companionship. It had it's ups and downs: being twins and attached to the hip could only last for so long before they had to take a break from each other. They had squabbles, gave each other silent treatments, pranked each other, ignored each other… usual sibling stuff, but they had always ended up forgiving each other. Sure, they needed the occasional break from each other… but Kate had just never imagined a permeant break any time soon.

Then someone moved close to her, out of the corner of her eye. She gave a slight jump, but then turned a couple of shades of pink as she realized who it was. "Oh… Praetor Kyoto…. sorry," she said, glancing down into her lap. No, she had nothing to worry about. The wars were over, yet she was still kinda jumpy. Not very Roman like… "Oh! Of course you can," she smiled. Not that he really needed any confirmation from her. And as if she'd refuse him. She remembered a couple of things about Jason Kyoto. He was her uncle and praetor. As of the last few years she had been more of her praetor. He used to hang around a lot with Ethan Hunter, an ex-quest member. He was seeing fourth cohort centurion Clare Fontaine. (She seemed to be a very nice girl. Kate had met her while swimming.) He used to be in the second cohort and head of the infirmary. The last one she couldn't forget. Jason had been the one to tell her of her brother and mother's deaths. Not that she could hold that against him. It wasn't his fault. Plus, he had just been doing his duty as head medic. Reporting deaths. Not that it had changed much when he became praetor. Now he had to send letters to all the fallen's parents. She wondered how many he and Praetor Stone had to send this time around. Hopefully not as many as last time…

OOC: It was great lovely <33

IC: 480

[Deleted]

Jason gave a soft chuckle. "No need to apologize, and thank you." Jason said as he got comfortable in his seat. He reached over to his backpack and pulled out a folder, setting it on the table before pulling out a pencil to accompany the folder. He gave her a soft smile before picking up a fork and squishing down the mashed potatoes on his tray. He had always enjoyed the mess hall food, I know, he was a weird one. Lately he had been spoiled with all the people bringing over their own handmade food. Especially Clare, gods, what a great cook she was. Definitely wife material. Which of course, Jason had plans to make her his wife one day, if she agreed when he finally asked. Neptune told him to wait a little bit which was understandable. People made rash decisions right after a war because they realized how important people were to them as other died around them, they realize they don't want someone to be lost to them forever.

"So, how have you been lately?" Jason asked then took a fork full of potatoes to his mouth. Needed some butter, why were they so bland today? He should have gotten some butter. Oh well, probably healthier without it. But sometimes healthy was boring, Jason wouldn't dare say that because he had been head of the infirmary at one point and would be a bit of a hypocrite if he were to start preaching that now. He glanced around at the table and spied the piece of sheet music. He tried to read it upside down which proves almost impossible as the notes kept seeming to jump lines. Reading sheet music upside down was hard enough without dyslexia. Dyslexia just made it ten times worse.

"Practicing some music?" Jason asked, hoping to instigate conversation. He wanted to get close to people again instead of hiding out in the principia. That may work for Remus but for him, Jason enjoyed a lively group of people. Besides, it would do good for overall moral to see the Praetors walking around, trying to adapt to normal life again after the trauma they just went through. Hopefully that would be the last thing they would have to deal with in their generation. Wasn't two wars enough, or were the fates going to continue to be cruel to them?

words: 410
notes: Sorry that it is so short T_T Muse kept dying

[Deleted]

Katie hoped the jumpiness just wasn't her. How embarrassing it would be if it was! The nightmares were a given, but she hadn't expected to shy away from sudden movements or loud noises. She almost felt like a cat. How had the Vulcan kids gone back into the forge after the war? So much loud noise. So many explosions. The next time she heard one it would be too soon. It had been like this after the second war too. People on edge. Training suspended or made optional. Recuperation time. So maybe they did understand that kids could only take so much. Kate gave a small smile. "Welcome."

"I've been... alright..." Kate nodded quietly, spinning her fork. "Just... readjusting back a little, I suppose." She was allowed to say that infront of him, right? Praetor or not, he was still her uncle, and Kate couldn't lie about her feelings very well. Never could put up the entire stone face/emotional constipation deal. Besides, "I'm alright" here had two different meanings: the Roman "I'm alright" (or I'm-just-trying-not-to-break-down-I'm-actually-lying) and the actual "I'm alright". Although, what she said had been a combination of both. The recent war and infirmary awakening had stirred up memories of waking up to the news that half her family died. Of course... she should've prepared herself for the worst. It had been a war, after all, but as they all did (maybe), Kate had the "it won't happen to me" mentality. Or had hoped it wouldn't happen to her, anyway. Maybe it was selfish... because she did know, no matter first, second, or third war, people were going to die. There were going to to be families in mourning. She had just hoped it wouldn't be hers. "How about you?"

She gave a slight smile as Jason looked over towards her sheet music. "Just a little. Dyslexia's being annoying though. Then again, when isn't it?" she shrugged slightly. She had tried memorizing music by sound and note recitation once. It didn't work. Although, over time she did learn how to focus enough so the swirling notes would stop every now and again. "Doing paper work outside the Principia?" she asked, grinning slightly. It was nice to see him out. She knew that was the only way she could cope: being around people who were going through the same (or similar) things. She just felt bad for Remus, though. It seemed as if he had holed up a bit. She had heard that his fiancé had died during the war. How horrible.

OOC: All good! Sorry about this wait D:
Kate - YAY *keeps the stuffed bunny*
IC: 423

[Deleted]

Jason gave a soft nod at her response. He knew it would be a bit tough for people, especially once who were still in a not so great mental state after the first war. One reason he wanted to make sure Kate was okay, she lost her family before, well, everyone except her dad. He wanted to make sure she was okay, mentally, who knew what went on inside that little girls head. Anyones head really. Well, Robin did, but he had passed during the war too. The camp definitely needed a new psychologist, granted Venus stuck around a few weeks after to try to help people, but now the old psychologists office stood empty. "Yeah, seems like everyone is. If you ever need help with anything, feel free to let me know." Jason said giving her a soft, big brother type of smile.

He took a bite of his food as he mulled over the question. How was he? Better than he had been, thats for sure. When he first woke and had to deal with the shock of no arm and the names and faces of all those who died under his command he had gone insane briefly. It was his first war as a praetor and he was stressed. How Remus managed to do it sometimes surprised him. But he had gotten better, gradually. Granted he his in his work for a few days before spending more time outside, getting to know people, going to therapy to get use to one arm. Mentally he was bouncing back really quick. It helped that he was also eagerly awaiting to propose to Clare. Any day now and he'll have that gorgeous love of his life hopefully become his fiancee, if she said yes, of course. "Well, I'm getting better. Just like you I'm trying to readjust. We can help each other readjust." Jason said in another big brother type of way. He seemed to take that role a lot lately to his nieces, maybe he had always wanted a little sister, not that Ethan wasn't good enough. But Jason just enjoyed being there for them, protecting them, helping them. It made him feel good.

He gave a chuckle at the dyslexia comment. Yeah, it liked to kick him and other demigod in the butt. Make it easier to read Latin his butt. Have you seen the way it use to be written on columns? Almost illegible. Using a chisel was not a good enough excuse for illegible handwriting. "True. And what piece is it?" Jason asked taking an interested in her work because it was far more interesting than the stupid papers he brought with him from the principia. He gave a nod. "Yeah, I figured getting out and mingling would be better than staying in the office the entire time. It can get a bit musty in there. Plus it gave me the chance to talk to people. Which is important as praetor. Helps me keep up with the latest in camp." Jason said, taking another bite of his food.

words: 523
notes: whoot!! went over the 500 word mark xD

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Even though they were all rough and tough Romans, they were all just kids and teenagers. Most of the camp aged under twenty. Even more depressing if one thought of the death toll. Children under twenty. Adults who left the Legion life in hopes of starting a family or a life outside fighting. That had been her parents hopes. They got to live that life for ten years... until the Second War. Kate really thought the psychology unit in New Rome would go up after that. They needed more counselors. They'd never have enough, probably. A Legion full of at least three generations of trauma: monster attacks, war, heck, even training. She gave a small nod. Of course they all were.... admittedly or not. She gave a slight smile. "Okay... thanks. The centurions have been really nice about it." Seems like the only times they've decided to ease training a little." Granted, some people were still in the infirmary and all, but it had become a bit more relaxed. With all the straight fighting they had done, Kate would be happy not to pick up a sword for a month. But.. that was never going to happen. She still had a duty as a Roman soldier to train and work hard. Even if the Legion was in recovery mode.

She cut some more pieces of the chicken she had gotten and dipped it into the potatoes. The Mess Hall food wasn't that bad. Of course, she had preferred her father's cooking, but that wasn't going to happen unless he decided to sober up a bit... so. Mess Hall food it was! Besides, Mess Hall food became part of the Legion experience! Fancy cushions and tables, grapes all day everyday. The Romans did have a thing for grapes... The wind spirits did a good job. What were they called again? Aurae. Yes, aurae. She wondered if anyone ever helped them. They had to prepare quite a lot of food for camp. Plus, they were all growing kids and on a daily work out/training regiment. So they needed even more food for their tanks. Maybe a camper or two who enjoyed cooking. Perhaps a couple of the Ceres children. She heard they made good cooks. And that at least two of them had died during the war. How sad. She wondered whether the aurae liked the help or didn't. It must've gotten tiresome: cooking so much food day in and day out. Katie had tried cooking a couple of times with her father. It had been relaxing, kinda fun, but that wasn't to say that she'd do it on her spare time.... She gave a nod. So he was getting better. Good. That was good. She could only imagine the stresses of being a praetor and then losing an arm. Although, from her daily forge trips, Nova had been working long and hard on a prosthetic one. Jason'd have two arms again in no time! "That's good," she said softly. She gave another smile. "Sounds like a good plan!" At least she'd have him and Nova this time around.

Of course, she understood the need for dyslexia to read Latin and stuff, but really? Reading it in it's original form on the architecture was like trying to read chicken scratch. Of course, they had it transcribed and all, but she could only imagine what a pain that had to be. She could just imagine: 'hey, does that say axe or--'. "Mmm a classical one. Adagio in G Minor. By someone named Albinoni." What must it be like? Being cooped inside an office for hours? She probably wouldn't be able to sit there with just filing and paper work. "It's nice to see you out.... I've missed seeing you around." She couldn't help but laugh slightly, a grin flickering across her face. "Sure, sure. Catch you up on all that gossip."

OOC: SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SHARE ED? / Ed: >.>
Katie: -hoards all her stuffed animals- Myyyyyne <3
IC: 649

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"Adagio in G minor? Sounds like a very cool piece. Ya know, I bet Albinoni guy was a son of Apollo." Jason jested, of course he had no proof. Heck, Jason hadn't even heard of the piece. Sure, Apollo had the arts under his belt, but Jason took more to the acting portion of the arts and Apollos knack for medicine. Though, he did enjoy the ones who were skilled with instruments. Didn't August have a violin and if he remembered, Kate had skill with some other classical instrument too. "I'll have to hear you play it. You probably would make Albinoni super proud, play it so majestically he'll turn in his grave. Wait, is he dead? Well, if he's not, he'll suddenly wake up with the realization that someone is able to play his piece perfectly." Jason said with a compassionate smile. Was he being a bit of a goof, yes, he was. Was it because he was talking to Kate, yes, kinda. He really did see her as a younger sister and the joker thing came to him. He had a good comedian to learn from to, growing up around Ethan.

Aw, Jason was touched. Kate missed seeing him around. Well, he missed seeing her and everyone else too. He had seen his fair share of Clare, not that that was ever a bad thing. But he had wanted to let the rest of the world know that he was okay and was alive and all that other stuff. Plus, he wanted to get a social life again. No offense to Remus but he didn't want to become a workaholic like him. Sure, Jason took the time to do his work and make sure it got done accurately and to the best of his ability, but he didn't want to slave all day to become a perfectionist over it. He had no intention to stay praetor all his life. Part of him really wanted to ditch all the paper he had become accustomed to during his legion life and go back to acting, maybe even trying his hand at directing. He had always wanted to and maybe his retirement from the legion would give him that opportunity.

Jason chuckled. "Yeah, I can't trust all the Venus children to give me accurate rumors. Better if I see things for myself. Find out who's dating who and who is the new top rule breaker on the block." Jason joked, kinda, he actually did have the intention on his outing. It was wise to stick to the latest happenings around camp. That way if a camper named Jimmy had been muttering about burning down the mess hall because they gave him a medium rare burger instead of a well done one, Jason would know about it and if there was an attack against the mess hall he would know who to question first about the incident. "I trust you've been making sure to stay out of trouble, or are you getting into your rebellious years now?" Jason said with a slight laugh at the end.

words: 531
notes: Kate and Jason are so adorable! I love their interaction. Sorry its short though.

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Kate gave a slight grin. From all the piano pieces she had seen, nearly all of them seemed to have had some Apollo blood in them. Crazy, technical, yet rather beautiful if the player managed to get the piece right. Especially Bach. Bach was a pain mainly because he had the melody, but then a whole harmony that could almost be it's own melody, it worked so nice together as a whole... "Probably. Seems like all Classical Piano players were. They're the most frustrating pieces," she laughed. Even though she enjoyed the music and the eventual, end result, she was still a child. She got frustrated, had to walk away, and sometimes even wondered why she was still playing. Then again, all part of the process. She was pretty sure everyone who went here got frustrated at their past times at some point. Besides, if one didn't have the entire range of emotions, whether it be positive or negative, toward something, could it be called a passion or something you loved? She wondered if any of the forge workers ever got tiered of what they did: working in the heat all day, making the same things over and over. From what she had seen from hanging out with Nova, it took the forgers quite a few attempts to make something, especially if it was something different or on commission.

She blushed slightly, but couldn't help laughing again. "Thanks... although I do wonder if that's actually happened. I mean... any demigod musicians who decided to become a lar," she wondered. Another thing she started to wonder as she talked to her uncle: how much longer was Jason going to remain in the Legion? He deserved a break! It must've felt like a long time of service. Heck, it did to her already and she had only been here three years. Either way, he'd be able to retire with great honors: Praetor, past 2nd Cohort Centurion, and past Head-Medic. So much achievement in his life... she wondered if she could ever become as great as him. Both the praetors and the centurions of the cohorts, really. Everything a leader should be, even if they doubted themselves at times.

"Well, I hear that you're pretty high on the dating block," she said with a smile. Yes... she had heard plenty about Jason dating the fourth cohort centurion. How worried she must have been when he had gone missing... heck, they all had been. "But other than you two let's see. I think Cousin Ethan and a medic named McKinnon. I've seen her sing in New Rome once or twice. She seems really nice. Then there's Ashby from first cohort and a girl from fifth... I think she's a daughter of Janus." Those were just the few off the top of her head. She was pretty sure there were more. They were a camp full of teenagers for gods sakes... "Haven't really kept up with all of the trouble makers..." In all honesty, the last big thing she had heard was something months ago about someone breaking into the Principia. And then that whole fiasco about the Praetor's girlfriend being a traitor or something like that. Then again, all rule breakers seemed to start small and then ended up escalating into something bigger. "Wellllll, you know me. Causing trouble left and right. How could you even ask?!" she grinned.

OOC: All good. This wait was atrocious. I'm sorry ._.
IC: 565

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Jason couldn't help but let out a chuckle. Yeah, classical pieces were hard, not that Jason knew exactly, having taken on the more vocal performance side of the Apollo art field but he knew the skills those with instruments had and he was confident in their ability to practically perfect any piece given enough time. "Well, I bet you'll play it amazingly well after a few more time of practice. You know what they say, practice makes perfect. And if he is sticking around as lare, he'll be too stunned by how well you performed it to think anything ill of it." Jason said, hopefully motivatingly. He always had used the practice makes perfect phrase when he was centurion of the second cohort, in all honesty Kate was probably tired of hearing and rather enjoyed her other Apollo centurion descendants. Though, Jason did remember training her during her first year and a half at camp. He always took extra time to make sure the new campers weren't too intimidated by the craziness of camp, though, it hurt Jason when he had to deliver the bad news to Kate about her family.

Jason gave a slight, kinda embarrassed smirk. He didn't exactly think his relationship was any different from all the others that happened in camp but he was always told how adorable it was and how lucky he was. Well, he generally thought he was lucky that Clare decided to be with him and stay with him but he didn't do anything amazing or special to keep it up. He just treated her the way he wanted to, the way he felt she deserved to be treated. After all, she made his life better, the least he could do is try to take time each day to see her and bring a smile to her face, no matter what may be going on. He loved her more than anything he could thing of.

He gave a slight nod as she listed off the couples she knew of currently at the camp. He knew there was more but props to Kate for not making it all her time to keep up with every single couple in the camp. Jason chuckled. "Oh yeah, how could I forget about how troublesome you are. Always a thorn in my side since day one." Jason said teasingly before shaking his head. "It's amazing you haven't drove your current praetors mad." He added, also joking and giving his favorite little camper a smile to prove his joking intention.

words: 431
notes: I'm sorry it's so short T_T

[Deleted]

Kate always thought it was so interesting... how people's godly talents took all sorts of forms. Decedents of Apollo were all over the place: acting, theatre, singing, music, healing, archery, pencil, paint brush... it was quite marvelous when she thought about it. And that went for every demigod here. They had their certain gifts, and they all used them to keep the Legion running. Vulcan kids kept them supplied with weapons, armor, and everyday legion necessities. Mars and Minerva offered their leadership, wisdom, and battle tactics. Apollo healed and provided entertainment. Bacchus and Ceres gave the place beauty and fun amongst all the fighting and shouting. She considered herself to be quite lucky that her grandfather was the god of the arts. Arts could just mean so many things. Of course, she had chosen music to be her main art: classical piano pieces and acoustic renditions of pop songs on the guitar. One day she'd have to switch it up, but she wasn't quite sure how a Mozart piece would fair well on her guitar. She turned slightly red and gave her uncle a smile. Even after hearing that phrase repeatedly while he was centurion of her cohort, she couldn't deny that she missed hearing it in his voice every once in a while. "Thanks." Then her face slipped into a grin. "You going into any Roman melodramas any time soon?" she asked with a very slight tease.

She gave a slight giggle. "You two are really cute though. There're bets on the 'it'll be x-amount of time before he pops the question'. Mostly Venus kids, but, y'know. To be expected," she said with a laugh. She remembered her mom and dad telling her and her brother how they had met. Not on the best of terms. It had been kind of laughable, really, once Kate got past that she'd probably do the same thing to someone if they took her guitar. The Venus kids all thought they were going to get together, and they'd just laugh... until a couple of years later and they actually got together. Forming relationships and falling in love was an odd thing... not that her mom and dad had ever hated each other, but there had been some grudging glares when they were younger and in the same cohort after their initial meeting. Kate did the former all the time though... but it was just interesting how some people could go from hate or grudging respect to best friends or lovers. Or, sadly, the reverse.

"Been even better since my lessons from Ethan!" she joked. Nope, she couldn't steal for her life. Only thing she got from Mercury was the teleportation. And not a lot at that. Her brother had gotten most of the stealing and athleticism, but hadn't gotten along with projectiles. Fair trade. She gave a fake groan. "Don't be so sure. I think August is considering throwing me out!"

OOC: All good. Sorry for my mass lateness
IC: 488