No More Paperwork [open]

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The spa, well Charlie felt as if she had truly needed this. She had been up to her eyeballs in paperwork for the past three days. If she were to be honest with herself, She hated paperwork more than anything else in the world. She could totally do with a week long training session or another forty eight hour drill over the weekend, doing push-ups and sparring till she couldn't raise up her arms. But Paperwork? It was ridiculous. Nothing was more mentally exhausting or depressing as doing paper pushing. Her head was pounding crazy horrible, not enough to warrant going to harass Kyle in the infirmary, though Charlie liked him a lot. But in the female locker rooms, she stood there, changing into her bathing suit before going to sit in the hot tub out by the pool. Maybe hot tub wasn't the word that was proper for it, but for the life of her, Charlie couldn't remember what it was called. She tied her curly blond hair up into a pony tail, though tendrils fell around her face as she sank into the hot water, her plush towel sitting on a wooden bench above the wet floor.

She sat down on the ledge after inhaling sharply as the hot water hit her skin. already the pink tinge flushed her cheeks as she leaned her head back against the stone floor that encircled the hot water area. She let out a long sigh, closing her eyes as she smiled, thinking about how relaxed she felt. All of the muscles in her body were relaxed instead of being coiled all the time. Her hands wern't hurting any more either. All day writing out and signing forms because the little kids in her cohort were total idiots, well she might have to go get her hand checked for carpel tunnels syndrome or something. It ached and creaked when she moved it earlier, though if she ever saw another infirmary form again it would be too soon. Not that Charlie needed the infirmary, she was quite stubborn and wouldn't go there barring a loss of limb. Letting out a long and drawn out sigh, she heard feet approaching. She didn't even bother to crack an eye, she had a knife on her in the water if need be.

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James wanted to checkk all the place, he wanted to see the buildings, the barrckas, the mess hall, even the baths. All the places that he once called home. As he walked down the via pia, he noticed how the campers went running to their trainings, he went to the field of mars too and noticed the third cohort was in training. He used to be part of that cohort. something no one thought he would be able to accomplish. He was the son of a minor goddess and also one that was rejected by one of the big three gods! Still he made it.

There were two in charge as he could see. He knew them! one was Mikayla, the baby sister of Clare, the other guy was an asian boy son of mars. He smiled widely when he noticed how hard they made the cohort train. He was glad that finally they had good centurions, that they were finally working hard to become as strong as First. He turned back and let them train as always. Then he continued his way to the Barracks. maybe he could sneak in and see the one that used to be his old bed. would it still have that weird squeaky sound?

He chuckled as he walked and then as he was walking into the barracks, the feeling of water called him, it wasn't something he could avoid. Even less when he hadn't gotten into the water in a bath, pool or similar stuff for like 24 hours! that was a lot for someone that had lived in a ship more than half of his life! He walked into the baths and there he saw a beautiful blonde one. He smiled as he looked at her red apple cheeks and her golden curls marking her sweet face. "Not even mermaids could be as beautiful as your are, love." he smiled.

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Tag: @charliemack
Words: 318
Notes: Hope it is ok! XD

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The water, while her hair was tendriling out like an octopus or a curly looking squid, her face was barely above the water as she floated in the hot and calming water. The heat flushed her face, bringing color that only winter ever seemed to bring out. It was the feeling of the water bumping against her ear drums that had hearlded the sound of someone. Every thing sounded different in the water, the pressure of water against her skin and ears just made everything feel odd. Not that she minded. It brought back memories of being a girl and hanging out at the pool on base. The memories of simpler times echoed in her mind, allowing her to relive the fleeting moments that came with being an army brat. Always changing schools, always knowing that any friends you had would be gone the next year. It was always changing, hectic. There was nothing certain. There was no guarantee that your parents would come back from war. That was just a fact of life.

She opened up her eyes, blinking at the man that had called her a mermaid. Someone who didn't know her very well obviously. She was no mermaid. She wasn't delicate, she was butch, as some of the Venus girl called her. "I don't know if that was supposed to be a pick up line, but if it was, it wasn't too bad." If anyone had come upon her, they might have thought the daughter of Mars blushing at the handsome Male that stood before her. It was mearly the heat from the spa, or at least that's what Charlie blamed it on. And she would probably continue to do so till the day she died. She would never admit to blushing over a guy. Even if he was hot. "If you want me to sign anything you'll have to wait till tomorrow." She said as she surfaced, propping her chin on the tops of her arms and peering up at the guy. Tilting her head she smiled at him, fully aware of the situation. How many times had she heard about strange men accosting women while they were alone and unarmed? Though Charlie would always be far from unarmed.

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Looking at Charlie, James couldn't help but smile. She definitely was a vision, even more for a man that had spent some time in the sea, with a bunch of sailors, his family after all but non of them had the beauty that the woman in front of him had. He wanted to know more about her, but he also didn't want to sound as everyone had pictured him once, as a male with no manners and no style. He knew better now, he had been outside in the world and maybe that had taught him one or two things.

He chuckled when she mentioned that about the line that he had used to open his entrance, his introduction to such amazon. "I'm glad you had liked it, but even if it was a pick up line, believe me there was no other more accurate for what my eyes are looking at, love." he smirked with a combination of rogueness, flirtousness and maybe a hint of amusement, but he wasn't mocking at her, just admiring her in the most respectful way. Or as respectful as a pirate could be.

"Oh, no..." he said when she mentioned that she would do other thing about what he had done and said. He liked that spirit, it seemed that she had fire inside, a fire that only real women had, those with their own ideas and thought, the ones that didn't fear to show their strength and their pride. He liked those women, he liked that fire! they wereinteresting, not just dull dolls. "I would like in fact to share the pool..." he said and took off his jacket, he half folded it and then placed it on a bench. "you, would mind? love." he asked as he started undoing his shirt. He always wore swimsuit as underwear, he never knew when he would like a swim.

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Tag: @charliemack
Words: 314
Notes: hope it is ok, and I already love them!

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There had been times that there were guys that had flirted with her and most of them, on a dare, had ended up in the infirmary with broken noses and bones just because they thought to play jokes on her. Her grandfather had taught her that women were something to be respected, though not belittled by men. Her father, however, made it hard for her to get dates. She was always one of the guys, someone that was often over looked. She had been used to it, until she hit puberty. She would never admit it, but the jokes played on her often hurt and she would put up a wall around herself. Charlie was always skeptical when people were nice. They always wanted something or were trying to play her. She couldn't quite decide which was happening right here.

He seemed alright, but maybe Charlie was being a bit too mean. Or at least she was being a bit too mean to him in her mind. None of what she was thinking slipped from her mouth, surprisingly. Charlie had always been one for speaking her mind simply because mincing words or pretending to put it nicely lead to many problems. The exact problem she had with females. She didn't have female friends any more. Mika was sweet, adorable. She was a good friend, but ever since Felicity had been so mean to her, Charlie had a hard time believing that other females were decent. Charlie had felt so hurt, so betrayed by someone she once called friend. Why would other females be like that? Why did things have to go that way. Charlie wanted to reach back out to Felicity, but she didn't know how. Felicity didn't even care, probably. Her father told her she needed more friends. That her relationship with Mors wasn't acceptable. Mors, the thought of the god hung in the air stagnantly. She hadn't seen nor heard from him in months. Not since Christmas. The gods were busy, yes, but still. Charlie had felt so alone.

"It's a free state, water's great. I hear Ronan is petitioning to change the pool over to a salt water pool with a natural filtration system. He's the son of Vulcan, you've probably seen him around." She said as she raised her wet hands to pull her hair back into some semblance of order. Charlie wouldn't say it, but she missed the last place she called home. California was nice, but it wasn't the same as the east coast. It was different. The ocean water was colder, the temperature was mild, but at the same time, it never got cold enough for her. She wanted to move someplace up north. Like Where the weather actually had snow. She had never seen it before. Even though she was a roman and felt a duty to the camp and the city, Charlie wanted to explore the world, see everything she could, learn what she could. "I'm Charlie, Centurion of First, Daughter of Mars. All that sort of Jazz." She said as she stretched out a hand to the newcomer with a genuine smile and grin.

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James smirked the moment that the blonde agreed to share the pool with him, He had tons of ideas of what to do with her in that situation, but he didn't want to ruin his image with her or any single opportunity or chance that he could have with that beautiful human Venus. He got undressed and dropped his clothes to his side on a dry bench, then he got into the pool wearing only his underwear. "It is good to know that I am allowed to share this nice pool with such a gorgeous woman." he said and then rested his body in the water. He for sure missed the salty water from the Ocean, but for the moment he had decided to stay in Camp and be useful there... for a while.

Then as he felt the water she told him about the project with Salty water, those words made him look at her again and smiled. "That would be a very good idea, but what makes you think that I would enjoy more the salty water than the common sweet water?" he asked and then smiled at her. He thought about the guy she talked about and nodded. "I... remember him, we never really talked before, but he has good ideas for sure." He nodded and then as she was telling him who she was he nodded and never lost his smile. "Well, it is very nice to meet you Charlie, daughter of Mars. I'm James Farrell, son of Keto and captain of my own ship." he said never showing intimidation because of her father or her rank.

"And the daughter of Mars would let this humble man to invite her to have dinner with him?" he smirked at her.

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Tag: @charliemack
Words: 293
Notes: SORRY for the delay!!

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Charlie really couldn't believe that she was sharing a pool with a hot guy. She could admit that he was handsome, but after the break up with Mors, it was a horrible feeling. It was empty and a rather uncomfortable pit in the middle of her stomach. She didn't quite want to talk about it yet, but after Rhiannon dying and then Tessa, though she was closer with the former than the latter, the latter held a professional relationship. She didn't have such good self esteem. Charlie thought of herself to be sub-par as far as being a woman went. It was something that she had a hard time working on. If it wasn't for battle, she couldn't really have much in the way of looks, or at least that was how she felt about it. Charlie was someone who over rationalized and internalized her problems. She was ego centrical, in thinking that everything that had ever gone wrong was because of her. That if she could have simply been good enough, or stronger or better, or in general a person who was better at life then she was, she would have made better choices or done things differently. If it wasn't for battle, she would have probably slunk into a hole and lived their shut off for the rest of her life. So when James had said that she was a gorgeous woman, she turned pink, deeper than her already flushed face. "Thank you." She said in a small voice, something that should have been more acquainted with a mouse than a daughter of mars.

He asked what made her think that he was one for the ocean. "You smell like the sea. Even with all of the chlorine in the pool, you smell like the ocean. I miss seeing the ocean." She said with a wistful thought at the tail end of the sentence she had spoken. He introduced himself. She couldn't help but smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you Captain James." But he didn't seem intemedated by her father's name or her rank. Though it seemed to make people uncomfortable to find a woman of rank especially in such a male dominated society. The Roman Army was nearly entirely patriarchal. Her counterpart, male, Ashby was a good leader and was able to keep her in check when he felt as if she had gotten out of line. "Dinner, dinner is wonderful. I like food." Way to go Jolly, she thought as she mentally scolded herself. What on earth would he think when she said, I like food. Talk about the social awkwardness that came with being a child of war and not of feelings.

Words: 449
Tags: @jim
Notes: sorry I took so long, hope it's okay! I'm playing catch up this weekend.

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Tag: @charliemack

Word: 278

Notes: Sorry for the wait.

It was something different for James to see and meet someone like Charlie. He was so used to meet women that acted as weak ones, damsels in distress all the time. In a way, James felt like their hero all the time and it was nice... for a couple of times, but being a hero 24/7 wasn't something that he was looking for his life. He wanted at some point be only a man, not some hero for some woman in distress. Maybe that was other reason for why he had come back to Rome, because there, he was a common guy, like any other.

He looked at her as she spoke and smiled. So he smelled like the Ocean, that was something new. Not that he didn't like it, but no one before her had told him that he smelled like that. "I do? Well, no one had ever told me that before, thank you for noticing it, Love." he said and then got comfy and breathed in deeply. Then he smiled at her comment, well he definitely enjoyed that she liked food. He hated those girls who only ate a leave of lettuce and a glass of water. How could any healthy woman be healthy eating in such way?!

"I'm glad you like food, I like it too, healthy people eat well, not only a lettuce, right?" he winked at her, trying to make her feel less awkward in that moment. "Definitely I would enjoy very much having dinner with you if you allow me to take you to a seafood restaurant near here." He smiled and then started moving closer to where she was.

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Charlie submerged the back of her head, curls and all, into the warm water as the bubble jets started to bubble up again, sending a hot burst of water across her back as she surfaced. She couldn't help but smile at James. No matter what she was going to do, she couldn't help but feel happy despite the problems that she felt that were trying to pull her under. Why did she feel so depressed here lately? But even though it was a hard and rough time, with a few people dissapearing, her father being a jerk to her like he always was, that particular thing was nothing new. But for the most part, at this point, she felt as if she was so alone. Chris was still recovering from his problem, his own ordeal, she had taken on his responsibilities in the cohort too. She chalked it up to being over worked, even though she had this bit of pain every time she thought about the god of death and his sudden vanishing. Even though they hadn't exactly spent so much time together their relationship was always fairly cordial and not exactly on the overly lovey dovey side. She almost wished it had been like that. She loved all of the stories where the women were swept off their feet but even though she was a strong woman, she didn't mind being her own hero. Sometimes that was the only hero that you needed was yourself. No one else was going to save you sometimes. Cynical, but it was the truth.

"Yeah, like the ocean. There is the scent of salt, even the sand, your skin shows you've been near the ocean for a long time. My mother always said that if you have a steady hand with a nail polish brush and the ability to walk on the beach, there was no reason to pay for a manicure or a pedicure. Sand and salt are natural exfoliants." She said, hearing her mom's voice ringing in the back of her mind. The thought made her smile. She missed her mother dearly, her grandparents even more. She missed the family vacations, the holidays spent together, even though they didn't have much, they had everything that they needed. They had each other. Just like her cohort, her brothers and her sister, they were all family. She had even been plotting out presents for them for the upcoming holidays. She would have to add once more someone to the list.

"I like food, mostly cuz whatever good you put in the body you'll get good things out." She said blushing as James moved closer to her. Not that it made her uncomfortable, but it was just something new. Even any of her other two boyfriends she had, well, they wern't exactly the type of people that were into closeness and intimacy. IT was just something new for her. "A seafood resturant? Fish and shellfish are supposed to be really good for you." She said, again turning scarlet, not really knowing what else to talk about with him.

Tags: @jim
Words: 518
Notes: sorry for the wait!

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Tag: @charliemack

Word: 339

Notes: No worries, hope you like this XD

James looked at her, how her pale cheeks got pink little by little until to got a strawberry tone. He adored that tone in the cheeks of beautiful women, he really did. But in Charlie it got an even more beautiful tone, a color that he considered to be... pure, to be innocent and immaculate. He then knew that maybe it was because she was a different kind of lady, not the kind of port lady that the sailor met once in life and had a very good night with and then, never saw her again or wrote a word to her in several months or years, until he knew he would go to that port again and needed a place to stay.

He had never done that, not in such a jerkish way. In fact he had never found a girl to spend such nights, or days. For him, his life had always been the ship and the idea of having his revange about how his father was murdered. But in that moment, he could reconsider all of that to spen one afternoon with Miss Mack Jolly, just talking and joking, just enjoying the afternoon...

He chuckled in his mind, how was it possible that he had felt in such enchantment?! But then he looked at her again and chuckled for real, then he knew why... She made him smile.

"Well, if you allow me to say it. Your mother was a very wise woman." he smiled at her and then got a bit more closer, she was blushed, her eyes were bright and he could feel her warmth, and no... it wasn't the Water heat. He knew it, it was human warmth. "Then seafood will be Love, tons of amazing, healthy food for our bodies and minds." he said smiling, softly and in a rusty, husky voice, then he leaned and his lips aimed for hers, he wanted to kiss her, to know if his mind was fooling his heart or was it the other wy around.

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Post by Jack Shepard on a few seconds ago
There were like a thousand thoughts that had gone through her mind as she had sank slightly into the warm water that was the spa bath, hot tub thing. Charlie wasn't sure what to call it really. What sort of luck was she having? Maybe someone in the divine variety was having fun at her expense. There was more than likely that was the problem. The gods seemed to really love to have fun at the expense of Mortals. Not that she was going to lie, she kindda felt sore towards the gods but at the same time, there were those that she really couldn't blame. Mors... the thought frowned her face even though she wasn't with him any more. IT was stupid. But she wasn't going to let that stop her from having fun at times. No, she was going to go do things that normal people did. Well as normal as a child of Mars was at any rate. Charlie was determined that she was going to hang out with friends, though right now the thing was what sort of friends did she have? None now that she thought about it. Well there was Remus, and Ken, but they were brothers. Mika was her friend for sure. Yeah she had friends. Despite what her cohort said to the contrary. She knew that they talked about her behind her back. She was the slave driver after all.

Charlie didn't mind the company in the least. James was quite handsome and really sweet. He had a warm smile and it reached his eyes. He had beautiful eyes, like sea green foam. Scruffy, but at the same time he was someone that was much different from all of the other men that she had come across. He was rugged and strong, he had power. It was a strength that emanated from him like an aura. Charlie felt drawn to him like flies to honey. Or maybe fish to water was a better phrase.

He flattered her, her mom, and she really couldn't help but smile and look away. She felt embarrassed, but at the same time, she liked the bit of attention. He turned in to kiss her, and Charlie couldn't help but kiss him back. It was like the movies. "James, you're..." Charlie always knew what to say but right now she couldn't find the word for just exactly what he was.

Words: 403
Notes: none
Tags: @jim