Reciprocation [open]

[Deleted]

Gabriel was on a mission. He felt as if his present for Sabella wasn't enough. No not after all of those books that she had given him. He loved books, all kinds of books. So he was going to do something really special for her. At least he had this sort of idea in his mind of what he wanted to do but he wasn't sure if it was going to work out the way he wanted it too. But he had to find what he wanted first and that was the problem presently. He wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for. He had went and purchased some of the food he was going to surprise her with a picnic even if it was a bit cold out. He was going to do some soups, maybe some hot sandwiches and some hot chocolate. But the thing that he was looking for the most was some new paints and canvases for her as a thank you for the wonderful present she had given him. The only problem was that Gabriel didn't exactly know what it was he was looking for as far as paint supplies went.

Gabriel felt as if his head was spinning as he looked around the art stall that was out in the open air forum. The cold air nipped at his nose, but with a deep breath and the cold air filling his lungs, it felt great. Winter was pretty awesome if he did say so himself. His step-mother was back where she belonged and his father was happy. Ceres not so much. But Gabriel was grateful that his powers were much more powerful in fall and winter. The days were shorter and the nights were longer with the shadows as well. He watched the breaths of air come out in little white puffs, making him feel like a dragon. Kind of childish and stupid, but it made him smile. A smiling Gabriel was few and far between. He just wasn't sure what exactly to buy. He had heard that the artists were really picky with their paints, so he didn't want to get something that was so cheap that it wasn't worth the money. But then again he didn't want to get something that was going to be expensive and her not like it. He really wanted her to like it. But it seemed like there were less canvases to choose from than there were paints. Maybe he would look at those first.

[Deleted]

Finished with her training for the day, Nora hurriedly put her armor and weapons away and then scuttled back to her barrack. Half an hour later the legacy of Ceres was showered and changed into jeans, a purple Legion t-shirt, and her light, denim jacket. Hair puffed and falling around her head, excited to be released from the confines of a ponytail, she pranced back outside and inhaled the fresh air. Today was a good day. She was getting stronger and faster. The past few months of hardship had started to reap their rewards. She wouldn't say she was anywhere near "good" by Legion standards yet, but she was improving, and that's all that mattered to her. Baby steps. Not that she was complacent with it by any means... no, she wanted to be as good of a fighter as the praetors! Surely Remus, Ronan, and Jason were the standard to live up to. How else would they have gotten such a prestigious position?

With her day of work over, Nora decided to do what she did everyday: give herself a reward for living through yet another day with intimidating soldiers and without her parents to kiss her goodnight. Living here with homesickness wasn't the most ideal. She was surrounded by rough and tough soldiers that weren't afraid of anything, so she couldn't be afraid either. Still, at night, she'd curl up in her sleep and cry a little, just wanting to go home, but knowing she wouldn't be able to. At least not for another ten years. In some pocket of her mind, perhaps to help her cope, she believed this just to be sleep away camp; perhaps it was just a boarding school and her parents would pick her up at the beginning of the summer or something... But this... this place wasn't home. Not yet, at least. Some days she felt as if she was getting close to it. Others, all she wanted to do was leave.

Today, she decided to wander into New Rome. Only having been in it one or two times, she was prepared to get herself lost. Most people she had met around here had been... moderately nice after she plucked up the courage to squeak out a small "how to I find Camp again?". After walking past Terminus, the ten year old wandered until she found her way to the open air forum. A smile floated onto her face. She had been here before! She had only covered a few shops it had been so big... She started to walk around, peering at all the goods people in New Rome had to offer. Bracelets, jewelry, books, flowers, glass... anything a person could imagine! Suddenly, a large, white space caught her eye. A canvas. A paint shop! Grinning, Nora trailed her fingers along one of the tubes of paint, remembering how much her mom liked to paint in the studio. Not realizing that she had reached the end of the row, Nora took a step out, nearly running into a much taller, much larger, and much older looking person. "Sorry!" 

OOC: Here have a frightened mouse xD
IC: 524

[Deleted]

There was just so much color. Sabella was a colorful person, Gabriel wondered if she had found the store, probably. Gabriel was starting to become less and less surprised that people were surprising. She'd probably been so well known at the store they probably knew her by name. Just like the two book shops in town knew him by name. He was always at the book stores, one for more rare and classical titles, the others for some more contemporary titles. He was going to find another book for his mother, a leather bound book with an embossed cover. Those were always the most fun. So here he was standing in a shop, turning around like a may pole and trying to figure out just exactly what he was going to purchase. There was just so much to choose from and he didn't know what he was exactly going to get. Was there something that was better than the other stuff? It wasn't like he was going to get one of those multi coloring kit sort of things he had once recieved as a child. The crayons were more wax than color and the water color paints were more water than color. No, he wouldn't get anything like that for Sabella. She deserved better.

He felt a little bit tired, training had really been fairly tough for a general day of training. But it was nothing he couldn't handle. He was in first cohort after all. Hard training was an every day thing and soon it was just normal day of training. Gabriel was pretty sure that a normal day of training was where he just slept through the night with no problem instead of passing out for two days. Gabriel loved his sleep. Sleep was awesome, best thing in the world. He wasn't a go-getter like Charlie or Chris. Even though he was well disciplined, Gabriel liked his time off and he wasn't into over training. He enjoyed sitting under the tree and reading books that were some of his favorites. The kinds of books that he could pick up and read over and over again. The titles were well worn and the backs could probably use some rebinding.

Gabriel blinked as he was run into by something that was very fluffy. It kind of reminded him of Sir Miles, the dog that lived next door of his mothers flat. He wasn't sure what it was actually now that he thought about it. A golden poodle? No, that wasn't it. Anyways it was a fluffy but wiry and curly haired pooch. But this wasn't a dog. No it was a little girl. There was a small smile that crept up to his eyes as eh looked down at the little girl. "I'm not going to bite you." Gabriel said as he smiled at her.

[Deleted]

Nora remembered art class fondly. Not that she could rival a child of Apollo or anything, but she just really liked art. She was actually pretty decent at it, through practice alone. She mostly liked drawing patterns with a calligraphy pen, but paint was fun too. She remembered when her mother would get her paint by numbers. Nora didn't always paint by the numbers though: sometimes she painted with whatever color she liked best. At least, that's what her mother had told her to do. Directions didn't have to be everything. Although she was a rebel in color choosing at times though, as soon as she had enough control to paint/color inside the lines, she did. She supposed she was a young perfectionist in that way. Everything had it's own, little proper place: very orderly and neat. Her aunt used to get her the big multi-purpose art kits. Not that anything in there had good quality. However, whenever she would receive them, she would be more enamored with the casing and the amount of space in the box than with the actual art supplies itself.

She wondered what her parents were doing with her room now. Would they make it into storage or would they keep it there for her when she got back, untouched? What would she do when she got back? She remembered a few kids whispering one day about a "drop out" because another kid's sibling had done it in their high school. They just stopped showing up to school. She supposed that's what she did... just left during the middle of the school year. What did her parents tell the teachers? And what could she do when she got back? Her mother had always stressed the importance of school, but now she wasn't in one! They did teach school here, but it was all Roman things... and besides, she didn't think that places near her home town would accept this place's school... the mortals didn't even know it existed! That's what she learnt in the Roman class! About the Mist and monsters and gods! But what if some of the monsters were nice? In Brother Bear and How to Train Your Dragon, the bears and the dragons were just trying to protect their cubs and their homes...

The young girl blinked, her stream of thought abruptly coming to a halt. She had to crane her neck to actually look at him. It wasn't hard to be taller than her, really: a menacing 4'7". She mirrored the older guy's smile. "Okay!" And with that some of her fears evaporated. Most people here were really nice... despite them all looking intimidating. "Do you like painting too?" she asked curiously.

OOC: Wow I'm so sorry for this lateness
IC: 452