by the seat of your pant leg [open]

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If Mars had a break room, it would be the obstacle course. He did love to watch and gauge how his Roman's were doing. He was their patron god after all, he was the father of Rome. But he watched the obstacle course closely. Charlie and Chris had done well training their cohort, he thought as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. Some of the younger children in the first cohort needed some work but there would be time for that in the ages to come. The troops would always need more work, more training, and they would need to be polished and rounded off. There was always going to be something that needed to be worked on. Whether or not Charlie and Chris, or their successors, was up to the job, it would be up in the air. But for now they were doing a fine job. Second and third cohort were coming along great, and even Fifth cohort was doing well with coming up. Ronan may had been a reclusive son of Vulcan, but he was doing a good job about trying to get the cohort into shape. Even if he met a good deal of resistance. Fourth Cohort, however, because of the damage that Felicity did in his eyes, well little Mattie had her work cut out for her.

Mars watched as a few smaller children go through one of the easier courses, though naturally the courses got harder. And it probably didn't help that the Mercury kids would come through with vegetable oil and grease and make everything slick. That must have been the case at one of the other obstacle courses as he watched some kid be drug to it by the scruff of their neck and thrown at the ground with a bucket and scrub brush with a loud shout of being disgruntled. Mars couldn't help but smirk at the sight. It was quite amusing. Though there was another loud squeal, and not the good kind, as Mars turned to see one of the campers dangeling by the pants leg as Mars gave a small sigh of exasperation. Kids. But none the less, Mars walked over. "Hold still." He ordered with his usual commanding and authoritative voice. A few people even stopped and stared at the god with their mouth agape but he would reckon that they didn't even figure out who he actually was.

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Pluto always seemed to have more downtime in the summer. Less people seemed to be dying then. Well, except for people who died for DUI's or stupid pranks that usually were done with alcoholic beverages too. Ah well, still not as much work so in the summer he liked to venture above ground more frequently and look at the work his wife put together. Gods, he missed her. But, this also allowed him the chance to spy on his children too. Gabe seemed to be making a new friend, yet he seemed, it was a tough word. Lost? Not physically, no, if the boy couldn't figure out he was in a demigod camp then Pluto had far more things to worry about. Just, he seemed to have lost his purpose at the moment and was trying to find it. Pluto could only hope something good happens in his son's life soon. He always feared what his children were capable of when they let themselves find their inner darkness. And with the track record for this generation of his kids there was more bad than good, yet his daughter was trying to mend that and do good too herself, Gabe on the other hand had always been his star child.

As Pluto passed by the obstacle course a familiar voice caught his attention. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Mars trying to help a boy out of whatever he was caught in. He made his way down, people backing away from him with the ominous presence he seemed to always portray. "Well this surely is a sight. I guess you secretly are really good with children." Pluto said, trying to be a joker, even if it might not have come across in such a way. The two of them always seemed to work well together, at least in the pass. After all, war was friends with death. But, Pluto couldn't help having that reminder in the back of his head that his daughter was engaged to his lump of a son. Praetor or not, Pluto still believed his daughter could have done better. Mars kids had a temper after all and were violent. Though Pluto felt he made himself clear to Remus when he took the young man to the Underworld and showed him Tartarus in the distance from the balcony of Pluto's estate down there. "So, any particular reason you're gracing camp with your presence this time of year? Figure you would be reclining on a beach with Venus." Really their affair was no secret. Everyone knew Venus and Mars had the hots for each other. Plus it made for good TV whenever Vulcan caught their adultery in the act.

words: 461
notes: hehehe, this should be fun

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For the moment, times were quiet. Rome was at peace, but that was simply for now. Mars knew that the Roman's had this little thing for trouble. They didn't exactly go looking for trouble but whenever they went out to play, trouble decided to kick down the front door of the Peace party and bust though the walls like the Koolaid man. It was inevitable. Trouble followed his Romans like a cheap streetwalker. Okay maybe that was a bit extreme, but it was true. Mars had little time to sugar coat things. Mars had been spying on his children. Not that they needed it, but they tended to do things that generally got them in trouble. It usually had to do with their temper. Not that he could particularly blame them, he had a rather volatile and explosive temper that many of his children inherited. Mattie was a little spitfire and Mars loved her dearly. Remus and Ken were both turning into fine men, but Remus needed some refining. His choice in women was strange and he didn't agree with the decisions that he had made. Had it had been Mars's choice and his say so, Felicity would have been punished much more severely. She would not have been allowed to continue to walk freely around Rome.

Speaking of Pluto.... His uncle made his way towards where Mars was trying to unhook one of the kids from the monkey bars. "Now that I can be a father, I can try to be good with them." It was true, while he was a bit rough around the edges, Mars loved his children dearly, in his own way. He wasn't the doting type nor was he the type to shower someone (other than Venus) with presents and affection and lovey dovey shit. That wasn't him. He was the type of dad that helped pick you up, that gave you words of encouragement with insults and poking fun. The type of dad that could rough around and be stern at the same time. He missed that chance to watch his girls grow up or to help Remus and Ken become men. "Checking in on my kids really. Been spending time with my little boy in the Orphanage. Mother died in the last titan war when she joined back up. Daughter of Aquillion, beautiful, cold and strong she was." He said as he offered a rough and calloused hand to Pluto. "And don't tell Venus, but..." Mars considered his words rather carefully for the moment. "for the time being, while I have the chance, I want to be with my kids. We'll always have each other, but you know better than anyone else the lives of Demi-gods are short." He said in a sad but matter of factly voice.

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Pluto gave a short nod at his words. He was able to relate. Granted, Pluto kept his distance more than some other gods would but he had never been good with kids, take Melinoe for example. So he figured that they were able to live their own lives and when he needed to really put his foot down with them then he would be able to. It had worked for his other daughter, Felicity, even if she still had room for improvement. At least with Gabe he could be proud of. Though he was worried for him, after the entire scenario that dealt with his ex-fiance having a child with Jupiter. It made Pluto mad at his brother at that time, he was defending his son after all. He just hoped that Gabe would be able to handle this difficult time after the breakup better than some kids have.

"It's a wonder that despite your and Venus's affair you still find yourself drawn to the strong women when she is known for love, not war. But do not worry, your secret is safe with me." Pluto said before going silent a moment as his mind wandered at tad. He did know how short the lives of a demigod were. He knew the precise moment when his children entered his domain. Granted, now the number of children he had was always drastically low. It was rare that he even had two children in such close age to each other. Needless to say Proserpina was not a happy wife during that decade and she even found a way to enact revenge by having a child of her own with a mortal. He forgave her though, how could he not.

"Granted, without your presence your children tended to turn out very well. Like, your son, Remus. Praetor of camp, you must be proud. He is an impressive young man, but no one is perfect and there are certain things I would change about him before I would eagerly allow him to marry my daughter, a feeling I'm sure you experience with your daughters." Pluto stated courtly. He was not insulting or insinuating anything, whether Mars took it that way or not was unknown. He had a feeling that Mars himself was not as eager about the wedding as his son might be due to his daughters reputation. Pluto just wanted to make sure there was no ill will directed to her that Mars might act upon. After all, Pluto was proud of Remus being in Felicity's life, he thought it was one reason she was trying desperately not to bring notice to herself nowadays and try to live a normal life. Both of his children were just trying to move past their troubled past, he only wished they would find a way to become siblings.

words: 475
notes: