I like fish. [clare]

[Deleted]

He didn't know if she would be training. She probably would have been keeping her cohort in shape. She was such a good little girl, his guppy. Clare was so precious to him. Mikayla was too, but right now he was here to see Clare. It was cool, slightly cloudy, but all in all, it was a wonderful day. It was a bit too far from the sea for his taste, but there was an endless water supply. Despite the cloudy day, Neptune pulled on a pair of wrap around sunglasses he had since liberated from Mars. The war god had a thousand and some pairs of the sunglasses, so Mercury liberated a pair from mars and then handed them over to the sea god under pain of 'I like those don't make me tell mars.' It was easy to coerce Mercury into doing things for him, though Jupiter got it easier. Neptune smirked as he shook his head, Jupiter. He loved both of his brothers dearly, thought himself to be the more approachable of the three. He loved both Pluto and Jupiter, but Pluto was a strange bag of cats and Jupiter was one paranoid ass hole. Okay, he was an asshole but going about calling him so was a bit much.

Neptune hummed a song to himself, a little number by his favorite band, The Beach Boys. He really liked the beach boys. Went to all their concerts when he could. He also loved the beatles too. Not that they toured or anything any more. He loved California and it's beaches, the music, the people. His children were here. That's why he loved it the most. He easily hopped over a wall and sat there with his feet stuck in the little Tiber. Neptune loved the cool feeling of the water cascading over his toes, it was a bit akin to feeling the tiny waves wash up on the shores. He wanted to take his girls somewhere special. Where it was exactly, he didn't know. So he would ask them where they wanted to go and make a decision based off of that. IT was a good enough and democratic way of going about doing things. Not that the Olympians could do Democratic. They have only ever had one democratic vote and it was put to a premature death by Jupiter getting free. Not one of his proudest moments, but Neptune had done what he had for the greater good. And the greater good meant that Jupiter had to be a better ruler.

He gave his watch a side ways glance as he watched the sun tick higher and higher in the sky. Hmm, he thought to himself, thinking of nothing in particular. New Rome and Camp had become quite interesting, full of life and such a buzz. There were many people, lots of people. They bought and sold all kinds of goods. Though he didn't much care for the fish market stalls, he understood the need to have fish as part of the diet. Though how could he blame them? After all his fish were the important food that contained those omega vitamins that helped boost brain activity. That was important. And all on him of course. And maybe Apollo had something to do with that too, he was never sure.

[Deleted]

Clare was tired of training. Thankfully, it was finally over. She dismissed everyone five minutes early, just because it was nice out and she thought they should enjoy the day. Mattie hadn’t seemed pleased with that decision, but she would likely be hearing about that later. She stretched her arms high above her head as she headed back to the barracks to grab her shower caddy. Today called for her favorite Beautiful Day shower soap, which smelled of flowers and fresh apples. It was between that and lilac. So she got her caddy and a change of clothes and headed for the showers.

Showers were hard now. Sure, she liked the water, but it hitting her on the head like that was a little unnerving. After what her once-captors had done to her… So she winced when it first hit her and found herself holding her breath as if fearing it might drown her. Finally, she relaxed and took a proper shower. She hated being scared of the element she was practically born in. She’d been in water since before she could walk, since her mom took her to the kiddie pool all the time and she did have a cute little baby pool from gods only knew when. And bubble baths. Though her mom had puzzled over why she didn’t always get wet. In fact, it was usually everything else, including her dear mom, who got wet from her splashing about.

Squeaky clean, she dried off and dressed. Drying off was wonderfully easy. She didn’t even need a towel. She just used her ability to control water to pull the remaining water off her and drop it in the drain. She ran a hand through her hair, pulling the water from there too and leaving it perfectly dry. Handy trick. Satisfied with everything, she pulled on her jacket because her and the breeze did not get along too well, and headed out.

She decided to check out the Little Tiber. The running water made her feel better, as long as she wasn’t under it. She wondered how long that new fear would last. Hopefully not too long. That was about when she saw a man sitting on the bank with his feet in the water. And it clicked. A hint of a smile came across her face as she walked up. “Dad…?” Yep, it was her dad! She hurried to close the distance and dropped to her kneels and hugged him. “Dad!”

[Deleted]

Neptune couldn't help but smile as he was tackle hugged from behind by his eldest daughter. Clare had quite the aura about her, she was always happy, cheerful, bubbly. Man, it must have run in his genes. Mikayla was like that too. Happy and cheerful. He wanted his daughters to be happy, even if that meant that they were going to be with those horrible boys. Oh Neptune hated them, both Jason and Erich and August. Clare, Mikayla and Julia deserved men better than that. He had already turned one into a starfish, his mother mad as all get out. Not that Trivia was apt to turn Mikayla into anything. No, he was mad at the boy. Just like he held a special place in hell for Jason should he mess with his little girl or make her cry without good reason. Sure he had a blind side when it came to his little girls, his grandchildren were just as important. But he held his sons and grandsons and male legacies to a different standard then the females. There was a good reason for it. Maybe it was old-fashioned. Neptune really didn't care. The men needed to be real romans. THey had to be strong willed, leaders, fighters, people that Rome needed. It was why he didn't have a problem with his Vulcan grandson. Rome needed builders and makers.

Neptune turned and smiled at his little girl, watching her blond hair bounce. He grinned. "How's my little Guppy? Training hard?" He said with a sly smile. He was proud that she had become centurion. Fourth cohort was getting better, though they were still behind. He believed that his guppy was doing the best that she could given the circumstances. It wasn't like that cohort had the best of leadership. Felicity, that strange Pluto child was not fit to be any sort of leader by any means. His girl was the best leader that the camp could ask for. Okay, maybe he was a little biased. He didn't care. He loved his children more than anything and the thought that Jupiter had finally allowed them to be apart of their children's lives was more important to him than anything he owned. If he could have been with them from the start, he would have. He hated Jupiter for putting so many rules and restrictions in place. It wasn't right and if he had any sense, he wouldn't have put them in place to begin with.

“You doing okay? Is there anything that you need? Or do you have some time for a little chat with your old man?” He said, his eyes twinkeling with a bit of mischviousness. He had a present for her, since she was getting married and all. He wanted to know that he was there and he would be there if he could. If he was wanted was a better word. Neptune knew that he hadn't exactly been the best of dads. He wasn't in line for the father of the year award, or anything like. He wanted to change that as fast and as best as he could.

[Deleted]

It wasn’t every day that you saw the Lord of the Oceans. Even when said immortal was your own father. So she took the opportunity to hug him with every ounce of enthusiasm she had in her system. She made sure to hug him a little longer for good measure, then let go and took the spot of grass next to him as her new sitting place, leaning against his shoulder affectionately. She let out a fake exasperated sigh. “Training hard is an understatement. It’s fun though. I’m trying to come up with a way to incorporate water in the training, what with resistance and then me being able to make it a little more challenging for them, but something tells me Mattie won’t go for it. I’ll still try though. I mean, Felicity did something with skeleton warriors once when she was a centurion.” Then it dawned on her: she was rambling. She made a face, which then changed to an apologetic look. “I’m rambling, aren’t I?” She made up for the awkwardness by pulling her shoes off, rolling her jeans up to her knees, and dipping her feet in the rushing water. Sure, it seemed strange. A daughter of Neptune, taking care that her clothes didn’t get wet when fact of the matter was… she could simply decide they wouldn’t get wet even ten feet under water. But… the Little Tiber was different. Some bodies of water were out of Neptune’s control, and the Tiber and Little Tiber were two of them. If Clare decided to go for a dip in this river, no doubt the freezing fast current would carry her away. There was no controlling the Little Tiber. Still, it felt good on her feet. Ice cold rushing water.

She smiled at him. “Of course I’m okay, dad. Wonderful, actually. Especially now that you’re here!” She grinned at his question and nudged him, before talking sarcastically, teasingly. “Ugh, must I hang out with you. It’s not like you’re the best dad in the whole wide world and I love you uber lots.” She smiled. “Kidding of course. All that’s true. So then! To what do I owe the amazing surprise getting to have a chat with my favorite dad ever?” She kicked her feet in the water and rested her head on his shoulder. “And just in case I don’t see you very long… I want you to know that I really, really love you, okay?”