Raindrops on Roses (open)

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Clare was in a great mood. Just to reassure her great mood, she glanced down at her left hand to see the ring glinting on her ring finger. The engagement ring. She grinned and went back to humming her way down the via. It was a beautiful September day, a little hot and humid, yes, but it would do. Maybe it would rain later! Most people didn’t like the rain, but she loved to stand out in it. Rain may not be part of her father’s dominion, but in her mind, water was water and it still felt good. But at this moment, there were just a few darker clouds rolling in far, far away. The rest of the sky, however, was a brilliant shade of blue with only a few stray puffy white clouds meandering across it. All in all, it was what she would call a perfect day. Not as perfect as a certain trip to the aquarium with Jason day, but still pretty good.

She stopped a moment when she reached the forum to watch a small group of kids playing tag while they waited for their parents to finish grown up talk. Clare couldn’t help but admire how sweet they were. “Someday…” she told herself quietly. Yes, someday there would be a happy little boy or girl whose last name was Kyoto running around this city too, playing with the other kids. And he or she would be the most adorable, lovable child in all of New Rome. She let out a happy sigh and kept walking. She ducked into a coffee shop and bought herself some English breakfast black tea with cream and sugar just the way she liked it. It was too hot to drink right off the bat, so she headed back out into the forum to watch what was going on.

But something had changed. The children were shrieking, half in delight hand half in heavens only knew what. She had still yet to come to know the intricate language of children. Parents were hurrying about trying to gather their children and their things. What for though, she wasn’t sure. Then it hit her. Literally. A plink of water smacked onto her arm. She looked down at the splayed water drop and laughed before looking up. The ground still showed sunshine around the little spatters of water here and there speckling the cobblestones. Yes, the sky was clear except one little dark cloud that had escaped ahead of the rest still far off but looming closer. So it was raining in broad daylight. She grinned and held her free hand out to see if she could catch a drop. One plinked on her pointer finger, but the drops were too sparse to really do any damage. Shame that. Then she was corrected. Shame on her for mentally thinking that dark cloud was cute. Apparently it didn’t like being called cute, or perhaps Jupiter was having a good joke on the forum-goers. Because in that moment, it started crashing down rain and soon the children’s cheers of joy turned into bursts of laughter as they all ran for cover behind the adults. All except for Clare Fontaine, who only moved to cover the lid of her tea so as not to water it down with rain. No, she was smiling, and for a change, getting wet. And she hardly minded at all.

Tag: open!
Word Count: 570
Notes:

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Ronan didn't much usually go to the forums. But he was here on a mission in particular. He had just finished up a project that had taken up most of his time here lately. Between the project and getting the cohort back into shape, he had little time for much else. But now that the project was finished, he had something else he wanted to do. He had a couple of things that he needed to get. First on his list was a finishing touch for his project. It was a set of cushions to go with the rocking chair he had put together. It was going to be a gift for Joshua, his co-centurion. It was for his wife actually, who was expecting a kid. Ronan was happy for his Mercury counterpart. A child was a blessing. For the longest time, Ronan thought his own mother hadn't wanted him. But that was before he knew the truth. He hoped that his rocking chair would be strong and sturdy enough to last for a couple of generations at least. Well, demi-god children non withstanding, any mortal family that would be blessed to have a chair like that would last at least a century.

Next on his list was some more blue print paper, some mechanical items, Ronan needed a new pair of pliars and tweezers, and a few other tools to help his little sister walk again. That project in itself was going to be a massive task. He had a list on his mechanical sphere but as per usual, he realized that he had left it in the forge and was feeling a bit too lazy to go back and get it. He remembered at least half of the items on the list, but he would cross check it later and make a second trip if he had to. But he knew he had to do a few things to make sure what he was working on would actually work. He needed a guinea pig but it's not like he was going to go sever someone's spine so he could work on making sure this robotic piece of equipment worked. Some of the other things he wanted to get was for Zoe. Ronan knew she was a wonderful girl, he wanted to get her something for helping him to learn how to write in English. Flowers? Chocolates? He didn't know what to get the daughter of Khione. Maybe he should make her something, girls liked that sort of thing didn't they?

But as he was lost in his own thoughts, the rain started to drop. Not that he minded. Rain was always welcome to the overly hot son of Vulcan. As usual, he wasn't paying much mind to what was going on around him. He bumped into someone smaller than he was. Well to be honest, most people were smaller than he. He looked down to see Clare standing there. She was his Aunt, as his mother was her sister. Ronan had never talked to her at much length before, but she was a seemingly sweet girl. Ronan knew she was dating Jason, the praetor. But past that, he didn't know much more about the daughter of Neptune. "Hi Miss Clare." Ronan stated in his deep and heavily accented voice. Most people thought he was a bit slow and stupid because he had a heavy accent. But that was most close minded rednecks. The gods only knew that the camp had it's fair share. Ronan didn't care. They could talk all about him behind his back, he didn't care.

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“Oof!” She stepped out to keep from falling over when someone bumped into her, someone definitely bigger than her. “Sorry!” she hurried to say, even though it was not her fault really. Funny habit that: why did people often apologize as a reflex instead of just a response? She was sure someone somewhere, some when had come up with that question long before her, but she’d never herself heard a good answer to it. Perhaps there wasn’t one. Maybe there was a god she could ask about that, though which one would know, she wasn’t sure. Gods and mortals were so different in so many ways that she wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t have so silly a reaction. She had, however, done it a hundred times herself. Though maybe it was her personality? Maybe it was her father she should ask about that. Yes, her father would know. Even though she hadn’t seen him much, Neptune was her hero. She loved him dearly. She just wished she could spend more time with him. But that was the position of a demigod, wasn’t it? Some were lucky and their immortal parent was around more often. She’d heard plenty about that. Others… well, her dad was really busy, seeing how important he was. And he was married and had a family of his own under the ocean according to myth. She was… just Clare. A mortal who would pass eventually into the sands of time.

But there was more to it than that. She knew that now. Her father had taken the time to get to know Jason, that was something. Albeit, some of it was because they were forced to stay together for a long time. But still. That showed that he cared. And besides, she had Jason, and she had her friends. She was happy. She had a bright future to look forward to, and she wasn’t about to let a spot of rain bring her down. Especially not rain. Rain was beautiful. If it weren’t for rain, there would be no rainbows. And plants would wither and die. So with all that on her mind, she looked to the offender with a smile. “Oh! Hey Ronan! How are you today?” She laughed before adding, “Besides getting wet.” Which – don’t ask her how without using the letters ‘ADHD’ – reminded her. “That’s right! I remember you in the trials for Edmund and Rhiannon! We’ve never really had much chance to talk, I know, but I really respected what you did back there, trying to help both of them. That was really admirable.”

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Ronan really hadn't thought much about the trial. okay that was a bit of a lie. He knew that there were people, mostly a few in first and second cohort that felt as if his opinions and thoughts were a bit soft. But Ronan had a method to his madness. There was a good bit of him that really felt that it wasn't his place to decide whether or not someone's life was forfeit. He did what he could for his brother, for his friends girlfriend. Compassion was what netted him in fifth cohort to begin with he reckoned. He just couldn't bring himself to being a calloused bastard. There was much he still didn't know about himself. Ronan already felt as if he had much blood on his hands already, and he did make a promise to Nova. Though it seemed to him that Jason and Chris both were calling for blood. Chris was one of his friends, he could understand that the son of Jupiter probably felt betrayed, angry, and to top it off he had heard only whispers of what Jason had gone through. But he truly didn't feel as if he was worthy to judge someone because of the decisions they made. It wasn't his place. He didn't know what everyone was thinking, what they were feeling. What drove people or what floated in their subconcious mind. Saturn was a liar and rather good at convincing people to join up on his side. He couldn't even begin to start on mental states and well being. In times of emotional stress, people could make a whole ton of rash and horrible decisions. "There were many people who were calling for blood. But it's not our place to judge as such. That's for the immortals to decide." Ronan said as he shook his head and then smiled. "But you, your composure was needed most in the court room." That place had turned into a veritable three ring circus.

But none the less, Ronan sighed in contentment. This was the first time he had been out of the forge since... well the trials. He was dressed in jeans, boots and a tank top. Though his skin was smudged with soot and smoke, it felt nice to his skin to feel the cooling rain. His high body temperature afforded little rest in the summer, Winter was where he really shined. "So what brings you out here Miss. Clare?" Okay so there goes his manners. It wasn't polite to ask a woman her age, the contents of her purse and what she was doing. He probably should get to know more about his fellow centurions. It would probably improve the cohort relationships, maybe not, but the centurions had to stick together. Ronan laughed to himself, he thought of something quite funny. Or at least it would be funny to see someone like him, or Remus, or Jason, or Charlie for that matter, doing what he had thought of. But it was something he might present to Remus. And Jason if the son of Apollo was in a better mood. Maybe he'd pitch the half assed idea to Clare first to see what she thought.

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Clare thought back to the trials. There had been that childish thrill of being part of something important and bigger than herself, but it had quickly been replaced by a sense of responsibility. She was a centurion and thus owed it to her peers to act as such. Especially in times where her opinion counted for something, which seemed more and more lately. She still believed herself to be probably the most lenient, soft of the centurions, but fourth cohort didn’t seem to mind. She supposed they were just glad to be rid of Felicity’s insane strategies. As much as she hated to, she agreed with them there. Waking up that early to fight so many skeletal warriors… not her cup of tea.

She nodded slightly at his words. “To be honest, sometimes I wonder if that’s even an immortal’s place. Unless it’s perhaps the Fates themselves. Not to sound like I’m doubting the gods.” She sighed. Even though she had a feeling that just about everyone here had at least on point in their life that they doubted the gods, so in all fairness. No one was perfect. His smile caught her attention again though, as well as her curiosity. Thankfully, he not only satisfied said curiosity, but brought a smile to her face as well, if a shy one. She remembered way back when Jason had told her that he’d been getting a lot of positive feedback from her cohort, and the occasional words of encouragement from her peers, but she still wasn’t used to getting that many compliments, especially not on her composure, considering until quite recently she had been more considered somewhat… immature. Very few said it to her face, but she knew well enough about it. Now Ronan, she had never really talked to him much, but from afar she had always considered him to be a great example of composure and leadership. The way he took his cohort, despite it having such a poor reputation – and frankly, she could sympathize with the idea that when people didn’t expect much of you, you tended not to be motivated to get very far, which she was pretty sure was what was happening with a lot of five’s members unfortunately – and really tried to lead them to greatness. It was really admirable. So, needless to say, she was flattered that he thought her composure had been needed most. “Thanks, Ronan. That means a lot. Though I think it was your advice and evidence that did the most, especially for Edmund.”

His question, oddly enough though, made her laugh. Not at him; heavens no. More at herself if anyone. “You know… now that you mention it, I don’t think I really had an honest purpose for this. I just felt like walking a bit and my feet led me here. I know, a bit absentminded. What about you?” Then something occurred to her rather spur of the moment. “Oh! Hey, I got an idea. Would you like to train fourth and fifth together sometime? Maybe make like a mini war games out of it? Those are always pretty fun, and good training.”

Tag: Ronan
Word Count: 524
Notes:

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Ronan thought he would be lucky if he never had to sit through another trial ever again. It was stupid, but he did his civic duty as a centurion. He couldn't believe how many people snuck in to the senate building to watch instead of just letting it be. The thought that he was an important role, well it was nice for a change. It was nice to be in charge of a Cohort, of people, even if they didn't like it. Ronan had made some changes to the fifth and people were rather infuriated with him, mostly the lazier people. Ronan didn't care. He'd work hard to make this cohort something. Even already they were starting to look much better than what they were originally. They were starting to look more like a cohort instead of a disorganized mess. He thought back to the training that he had done with Remus and Lyn and Ryan for the fifth cohort. IT proved to be a disaster for his cohort. But it was a success in his own eyes. Josh had worked hard to expose the cracks and fissures in their cohort. They hardly worked together. Maybe he'd work at their teamwork next.

"I know I've doubted them at one point or another." Ronan said honestly to his fourth centurion counterpart. He didn't want to sound blasphemous or to be struck to the ground by lightening, it was a horrible thought. He'd rather not be a bloody smear on the cobble stoned pavement. "I think a lot of things were needed at that trial, but it seemed as if there was little to persuade people otherwise. The cries for blood were.... disheartening." He finished sadly. Not that he didn't believe that the Roman punishment of death was a bad one, but he wanted to believe that people could change. He did. He went from being a killer child to someone that people relied on. "I made Nova and my father a promise that I would do what I could for Edmund, though I doubt he would ever call me brother." Ronan said as he shrugged his massive shoulders.

"So just out for a nice walk then?" He asked with a smile. Sometimes there was really nothing better than just going for a walk, to clear your mind or to think about something important. "I'm actually looking for some material for a gift for Josh. I made his wife an oak rocking chair for their baby. It's good and sturdy. The Nuns where I grew up often said that a rocking chair was a gift that no mother should be without." He said in a matter-of-fact voice. "Oh and I'm out of wood stain too. We used the last bit of it on fixing shields for the First cohort." He said with a laugh. Yeah, the first cohort went through weapons and armor like a baker went through eggs and flour and milk. "Plus it's a nice break, going to stop by that bread stall and that cheese vendor later, Tessa will kill me if she knew I skipped lunch... again." The head of the infirmary seemed to have taken it upon herself to feed all of the other centurions and people in charge. "We should do that, but with a twist. My cohort needs some desperate work with their teamwork, I'm about this close to duct taping them at the torso and have them fight against the first cohort like that." He laughed hard.