Dirty Secrets - [OPEN]

[xander]

Yesterday I died, tomorrows bleeding

Dirty secrets – everyone had them right? Some people kept what they liked in bed to themselves; some hid the fact that they had a mountain of stuffed animals in their room under wraps. Well everyone except his sister Clare, that girl had enough stuffed animals to start an army and Xander doubted she cared if the whole camp knew. He honestly hated the things, every time he would go to see her they would just stare at him with their overly large plastic eye balls.

They were some creepy little bastards.

Though whenever he would voice this Clare would just give him a glare and say they were ‘cute’. Truth was the only one of them he even tolerated was a stuffed flounder doll from the little mermaid that someone gave her for her eleventh birthday – okay that someone had been him but he had just left it on her bed with a bow. Little did everyone know, Xander was actually a rather protective older brother to both Clare and Damien – he just didn’t broadcast it.

Like most of the camp Xander Lynch wasn’t without his dirty little secrets, though his secret was probably not one most people would consider dirty. However as he looked from the rising sun down to his guitar in his hand he knew that it was indeed the one secret he kept extremely close to the vest. The only one who knew about his love for music was the Praetor Lia – and that was because she was the one who gave it to him as an outlet.

After the war Xander had fallen into a depression that he had tried to fill with girls and partying – he was pretty sure that he had worried the hell out of both his siblings at the time but he just hadn’t been able to handle all the death. All he had cared about then was making the pain go away, Maddi had helped him do that – sure she could be a real bitch but a part of him would probably always feel a tad protective over her. Though he would probably jump off a bridge before he admitted that out loud – especially after they had finally settled into their ‘I insult you, you insult me’ relationship.

Though it had been Lia giving him a guitar that had finally helped pull him back to his old self – no one really knew what did it but at least in his sibling’s case they seemed just happy that he was back to his jerky self.

It was still a few hours before wakeup call so he took this time to head out into the forest with his guitar – making sure he was way out of sight of any passersby. That way if they heard him they would just think that he was some Apollo kid having some time to himself – this was how he had been doing things for two years and it hadn’t failed him yet. Probably if it had been somewhere else he probably would have had to worry about someone coming to see who it was but no, this was Rome and in Rome no one really gave a damn half the time. He walked through the forest until he found his usual rock that he liked to perch himself upon – climbing up and settling his guitar in his arms he started to play.

WORDS: 566
SONG PLAYING:www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_LOOKssMpA&feature=related

[haley]

It was early. Way too early by Haley’s opinion, but it had been one of those nights where sleep had escaped her, she she’d been laying in her bed bored all night long and now she decided she had enough. There were a few places that were sort of out of the question. The shops, New Rome… and she didn’t trust her coordination enough for the training grounds or baths in the middle of the night when it was still freakishly dark. Knowing her luck, it wouldn’t end well. So she chose only the most logical (ha, not!) place to go. The forest. Packing heat in the form of a sword and torch – flashlight, whatever – and setting off for the even darker than normal setting. Stupid idea? Probably. Thank the gods for Energizer batteries.

As if the walk to the forest hadn’t been bad enough, what with almost falling into a ditch in the Field of Mars from the last war games, the edge of the forest looked like death was awaiting her. Why was she out here again? Oh yeah. She was bored. Well, this was doing the trick already. She pulled her jacket closer and was glad she’d thought to put on jeans. One sweep of the flashlight told her it was clear, or clear enough. So onward she went!

She felt like she’d been in there forever. And knowing her stupid luck, she’d probably been going in circles or something. It was obvious she wasn’t the daughter of the goddess of good directional senses. Then she heard something, still a ways off, but… She clicked off her torch and carefully headed onward. Initially she was worried it might be a monster, but the closer she got… the more definitely she knew it wasn’t. In fact, it sounded like singing.

Keeping as quiet as she could, she inched closer until she was as close the singer as she dared. Wait, was that… the other legionnaire looked like Xander Lynch. The boy who had more people against him than did the idea of Greeks. She’d never spoken to him before, never met him at all, but it wasn’t like his name wasn’t used a lot around here. In fact, she’d heard someone use it once in the place of a swear word. But here he was… singing along with his guitar. He had the most beautiful voice too. After hardly a minute, Haley was lost in listening and just leaned against the tree she was hiding behind so she could watch his fingers dance along the strings and listen to soft voice. For someone everyone was blaming the apocalypse on, this was one thing she hadn’t expected. The heart he was pouring into his every word was making it hard to think of him as the cursed boy. Just lost. She let her eyes close and let her own barriers ease for the moment at least.

When he stopped singing, she just couldn’t resist. Even if it may not be the smartest idea to sneak up on a super powerful demigod in the dark forest in the wee hours of the morning, well, she did anyway. Or at least, she stepped out from where she’d been hiding. “Why in the heavens are you hiding a talent like that all the way out here?”

WORD COUNT: 554

[xander]

Yesterday I died, tomorrows bleeding

Xander let his fingers dance across the strings, just allowing himself to get lost in the rhythm of the music. That was one reason music helped him get through everything so easily, because it let him get out all of the feelings that he didn’t dare share with anyone else – even Clare and Damien who he trusted more than anyone in the world.

Yesterday I died; tomorrow's bleeding

He still didn’t completely feel like the same man he had been before the war and the truth was he doubted he ever would. Feeling all that death, knowing that people you used to see every day were losing their lives – something like that changes you. For a while it had changed him in a way that no one really believed he could come back from – but he was coming back from it, he was being able to be a brother again, a solider but there would always be something different about him.

To know why hope dies
And losing what was found, a world so hollow
Suspended in a compromise

He saw it all the time when ghosts came to him asking for help, no begging for help. Truth was after seeing so many spirits in pain – was it so weird that he held so little hope for the world? When it all came down to it would he lose Damien and Clare like he had Erin and his mother? Sure he still saw Erin when she came to see him but that was different – he knew that her life was over, her young life that she had yet to live. Her young life that she had lost because of what her little brother was – he didn’t tell anyone but sometimes he really did think he was cursed. That was one of the main reasons he kept people at arms length, even those who seemed to want to give him a chance. Damien and Clare were also pushed away allot of the time, well as much as he could manage because he knew that deep down at the end of the day he was selfish – selfish because he needed his brother and sister by his side even if he was cursed.

Is the proof of time killing all the faith I know
Knowing that faith is all I hold
And I've lost who I am,
and I can't understand

Everyone in camp hated him, he should really be used to it by now but he wasn’t. It was now when he was alone with his guitar that he ever acted like it mattered because he had promised himself years ago that he would never give them the satisfaction of seeing that their accusations pissed him off – that the whole camp treated him like a plague and it hurt. Just he was really starting to lose any hope he had that things would ever change – he would always be the camp scape goat and his brother and sister would be the only ones he would ever be able to truly trust.

Yesterday I died; tomorrow's bleeding
Fall into your sunlight

As he played the last cord that was when he finally sensed that he wasn’t alone – shit! Who the hell was out here this early? – Crap! He honestly was praying that it was a monster here to eat him but he was soon disappointed when he heard a girl’s voice – fuck! In one quick swoop he was off the rock with his guitar in one hand behind him, in the other hand was a sword pointed at the girls face. Could she really blame him? Sneaking up on the guy who was hated by most of the camp? That wasn’t exactly smart on her part. He looked at her for a few moments as he placed her face, Haley something – she was pretty well known because she was the only Britt in the place. What the heck was she doing out here?

When her word finally sunk in he raised an eyebrow, looking at her like he was wondering if she could possibly be serious. Talent? She had to be pulling his leg. It was easy to see whatever vulnerability she had seen while he was singing was now gone – he had all his walls up.” Well brown eyes – I just didn’t want to see the heartbreak on all those Apollo brats faces when I upstaged them.” He said sarcastically before he lowered his sword slightly.” What are you doing out here? Or do you always sneak up on people while their trying to think?” Yeah he was pissed – he barely knew this girl and she found him when he was letting himself just feel. Feel everything that he never let anyone see and she had to come and sneak up on him.

WORDS: 801
SONG PLAYING:www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_LOOKssMpA&feature=related

[haley]

Haley probably could have stood there until the sun rose, just listening. Well, except his song didn’t last that long. It was such a lovely song though, sad though it was. It made her think about her own story, about the things she kept hidden. She’d never fit in here, and though she usually acted like she didn’t care, she was lonely. Her journal, safely tucked away and locked, told as much on every last page. Sometimes she wondered why she’d had to leave her home in England at all. Things there had been perfect. Friends, family, feeling at home. All gone. Yes, she too had lost who she was.

And she imagine Xander Lynch had similar reasons for playing it now. Maybe there was a lot more to him than the mean, uncaring exterior he always put off let show. She knew just as well as anyone how he’d gone through such a dramatic slump after the war. At the time, she had just avoided him. He was a loose cannon. It was foolish to get anywhere near him. Until his slow passage back to where he was now. Still meaner than most here, but perhaps more. His song made her wonder just how tied he was to those words.

Perhaps it was that that spurred her on to make the incredibly stupid move of approaching him. She wasn’t even sure if she was fully conscious of the decision to do so. But she certainly was conscious of it when a sword was pointed at her face. That had a way of waking a person up. So much for the softer Xander Lynch. She looked at the sword point aimed roughly at her jugular, then up at him with an expression as though he were wearing a horrid disco-age jumpsuit. “Hello to you too.” Then again, so she really couldn’t blame him for reacting like that. She sort of had snuck up on him while he was playing his incredibly emotional song that probably wasn’t meant for anyone else to ever hear at all. Not that she’d meant to sneak up though.

Haley rolled her eyes a little when he finally spoke. “I have a name, thank you very much. And yes, I’m sure that’s the reason. Now will you kindly lower your sword. I’m not here to shishcabob you and you better not do the same to me.” She clicked on her torch to light up the small clearing a little better. “I was out for a walk and thought I’d come here for a change. I wasn’t following you or anything. Do I really look like that much of a creeper? It was just hard to miss the random guitar music. Not something you expect monsters or tree spirits to engage in. So sue me for being curious. Now, what are you doing out here? Besides serenading the grass.” She knew he sort of had this doing his own thing sort of reputation around the camp, but going out to the woods in the middle of the night and playing guitar and singing? That was a little pushing it.

WORD COUNT: 522
TAG: Xander

[xander]

Yesterday I died, tomorrows bleeding

He noticed when he pointed the sword at her throat that seemed to wake her up – good! He didn’t like people sneaking up on him, especially after twelve years in service he liked to think it was hard to do so. Just it was so early that the sun wasn’t up so why they hell was she out here? It was natural that he didn’t really expect anyone to be around to catch him. When she finally spoke he rolled his eyes with a bit of a huff. Great – she was a feisty one, he was usually all for finding someone who could deliver sarcastic comments as much as he could but this morning he just wasn’t in the fucking mood.

“Yes I know you have a name, but I’m not really one to remember them.” He said as he flashed her a snarky smirk. It was true that he didn’t call people by their actual names much; it wasn’t that he had a bad memory it was just more that he enjoyed annoying people by not using their names. When she asked him to lower his sword he stared at her for a moment with his deep blue eyes that only seemed brighter in the moon light. After a bit he finally lowered his weapon and put it in the sheath on his belt.

“I don’t like shicabobing people – especially when they could get blood on my guitar.”

He said as he walked back over to his rock and leaned against it, crossing his arms over his black t-shirt clad chest.” No you don’t look like a creeper – Im the camp creeper remember? I follow everyone around plotting your doom.” He said as he did mystic fingers before returning them to their placed crossed over his chest.” [color=25170aBut people don’t really come within 50 feet of me and –

[/color]“ He motioned to the amount of ground space between them.” – and your only at about 10 or 15.” As she continued he shrugged a little, according to most of the camp he was a monster but he decided not to contradict her.

When she asked what he was doing out there he just looked at her for a moment. What business was it of hers what he was doing out there? He was pretty sure she wasn’t a centurion or anything so he couldn’t get in trouble from her finding him – unless she told but then again no one told on Xander that often.” The grass could use some love too ya know.” He finally said with a shrug of his shoulders as he kicked the ground.

“Is it illegal for a guy to have something that he keeps to himself?” He finally asked with a raised eyebrow. No one knew about his little hobby, not his siblings, not his barrack mates – he was even pretty sure that Lia Logan didn’t know if he had taken her advice to heart or not.” If it is go ahead and tell a Centurion – Im sure they will have a field day with me.”


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WORDS: 511
SONG PLAYING:www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_LOOKssMpA&feature=related

[/blockquote]

[haley]

Haley didn’t really see a whole lot of point in introducing herself when he basically made it clear he didn’t care. But she did anyway. Fully expecting him not to take it, she held a hand out. “Haley Campbell. Daughter of Victoria. Also answer to Brit, Annoying Pest, Hey You, and pretty much anything you can come up with. Though can’t guarantee I’ll be too pleasant about answering to some names.” She grinned like she was having a good amount of fun with this. “And you’re Xander Lynch, son of Pluto. Camp’s resident emo goth and supposedly cursed kid but really I haven’t seen any proof for that superstition so it’s a bunch of hokey to me. Pleasure to meet you too!” she finished without waiting for the usual greeting that would have to come before that, as it likely wasn’t coming anyway.

She watched him sheath his sword and shrugged. “Yeah, wouldn’t that just be a right shame. Though I hear Coke is great for getting out bloodstains. Not sure what it does to musical instruments though.” She took a few steps to the side and surveyed his little clearing hangout. “Yes, I have heard some things about your plotting the demise of everyone in this camp. But as you’ve yet to carry any of that out, either you and select others, like Phil from cohort three for instance if you were interested, are bluffing, or you really suck at proper planning. Or maybe you’re just biding your time, hmm?” She looked down at the ground as he motioned to it. Ten to fifteen, huh? Well then. She walked straight up to him, perfectly aware that she could be mortally injured for doing so, but not really caring. Once she was as close as she dared, she stopped and stared up at him as though daring him to do anything. “Two, maybe two and a half.” She smirked and let the moment of discomfort – or at least that was what she was shooting for – simmer nicely before walking back to where she had been standing before and looking back to him.

Haley shrugged. “O’course it’s not illegal. Just more something you’d think to find on the loo or under his bed, not in a clearing in the woods in the middle of the night. Do you not sleep often or something? But alright, alright. Not like I was planning on putting this on the front page of the news anyway. Cross my heart and hope to die and all the crap you lot do to reassure one another.” She gave him a look that quite clearly said she hoped he was pulling her leg or there was no excuse. “Tell a centurion? Pft. Please. This place is stuffy enough as is without deliberately trying to get involved with the politics. Politics make me ill anyway. So you can rest assured your little secret isn’t going anywhere. You can keep your manly guitar serenades to yourself as long as your heart desires.”

WORD COUNT: 502
TAG: Xander