Cinderella, take two {Jameson}

[Deleted]

Clare had been fairly certain this was going to be the greatest night since she’d gotten here to start with. First off, it was a party. Second off, all her friends would be there. And some she didn’t get along with so well, but she didn’t let that part bother her too much. And there would be fancy outfits too! Like the one she’d managed to borrow from one of the other girls in her barrack. And it was her favorite color too: a lovely soft blue like the ocean on a clear day. And the detailing was gorgeous, and the way it rippled whenever she moved just slightly. It wasn’t often that Clare wore stuff like this, but she was considering making more of a habit of at least regular dresses or skirts. They were so much more fun than shorts or jeans. She spent at least thirty minutes putting her hair up in a way that didn’t look like a sloppy pony tail. Truth be told, she had never spent this much time on her appearance in, well, ever. But it was worth it. When she tucked the little silver tiara into her hair and stood back to look in the mirror, she was only just able to hold back what likely would have been a very embarrassing moment of excitement. She felt like a real princess.

Turned out, parties weren’t so great. Well, it was for the first twenty minutes. She spent a lot of time talking to friends, taking in the sights. This place was spectacular. New Rome had really gone out of its way. Though before too long, she left talking with friends behind and they went their own ways to talk to other people when she realized… Clare Rodriguez did not like crowds. She considered herself good at socializing, but that was more one on one. One on… however many people were here, which was a lot considering it was the inhabitants of New Rome too, was not quite so easy. Nor did she much like that the buffet had a rather large platter of shrimp. She hadn’t noticed that one until she was pretty much right next to it. Talk about startled into a very unpleasant silence as she edged away and tried not to look. Better to stay at the much safer cheese area. Cheese did not involve killing fish.

But nor did it make very good company, as tasty as cheese was. So she fidgeted with her silvery wrap tight around her shoulders and did something that was about as foreign for Clare as ballet was for Xander. She stayed silent and simply watched the people around her. At least the music was good. And maybe she’d venture over to talk to some of the people from New Rome itself here soon. That was something she’d never really taken the time to on a regular day, so why not? For now , though, she was fine with just watching.

WORD COUNT: 498
TAG: Jameson
NOTE: I'm sorry that's so short! >.<
OUTFIT: Dress and wrap here, dress detail here

[jameson]

Dances-so highly unfitting for the Roman Camp. And so highly unfitting for Jameson Collins to even make a brief appearance at one. Then again, this was a masquerade dance-so as long as his mask didn't slip below his eyes then no one would ever even have to know that he had been here. In his opinion, masks didn't do much to disguise one's identity, but for some reason, once you put a mask on-these morons couldn't tell one person from the next. Aside from perhaps the Minerva kids who could tell everyone apart from deducing their exact height and facial measurements. After all, that was what they did for fun now, wasn't it? Then again, he supposed he wasn't much better considering his usual definition of fun included either lighting something on fire or verbally assaulting some poor passerby.

Tonight, though, even though he wasn't sure if he could get away with having fun here-Jameson had made the very strange decision to slip into the ball being hosted in New Rome. He had even put a surprising amount of effort into it-going so far as to don a tuxedo (bow tie and all) and decorate an intricate mask to 'disguise' (disguise, my arse) his face. Technically the mask wasn't required, but he had turned it into a creative, fiery, project. And Jameson didn't want his time to be wasted for nothing-not that it wasn't already a waste, he mentally added. In fact, so far as he could tell, this entire ball was a waste. Too many people present for his personal taste (apparently he had forgotten to factor in his immense dislike for people when he decided upon going), not to mention these 'fancy' shoes which he had borrowed were much too uncomfortable. He had been more keen on wearing sneakers, but once he had hinted to one of his many few girl friends that he was thinking of going-she had absolutely insisted that he dress like a proper gentleman. He still wasn't quite sure why, considering it wasn't as if he was attending the ball with 'someone special' like many of the other campers were planning on doing. Turns out the girls around Rome actually managed to get pathetically giddy over a matter as simple as a dance.

Slipping through the crowds in the dance-which was much harder than it seemed considering he was a big guy at 6'3"-Jameson took a very direct course to the refreshments table, not bothering with an apology to anyone he may have not-so-politely nudged out of his way. Upon reaching the table, the demigod took a much-needed drink of the punch (very clearly wishing it was something more tasteful instead-such as champagne or even wine).

After his thirty minutes spent at the dance, the son of Vulcan already looked as though he was prepared to abandon ship. Or did he? Wasn't his mask supposed to disguise his irritation with the dance? Hm. Valid question, he thought as he glanced up from where he was leaning against the far end of the table. His eye was caught by something he hadn't expected to find himself staring at while he was at the ball (or really at all at Camp)-a beautiful blue dress. Wrapped elegantly around an even more beautiful girl. Tilting his head to the side slightly, Jameson could feel that he was staring, but he was intrigued. Daughter of Neptune if he recalled correctly-not someone who he had ever actually met, only had heard mention of. A shame he had never met her before this point too, considering she was absolutely gorgeous. That blonde hair, the way she nervously fiddled with her wrap, even the apparent glow about her. So despite it being highly unnatural for Jameson to initiate friendly-or flirty-conversation ever, he straightened up slightly in his suit before approaching the younger Camper. "Pardon me, love, but I don't think someone who looks as stunning as yourself, should be looking as lonely as you do.

[/color]"



tag ;; clare
word count ;; 665
note ;; hell yeah, we're cute

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[Deleted]

There had to be someone to talk to. Trouble was, everyone was already talking – or dancing – with someone else. And though she may not act like it, she really wasn’t that comfortable with breaking into conversation. Well, unless the topic was really interesting and she simply couldn’t resist. But right now, that sort of opportunity just wasn’t presenting itself. First of all, she couldn’t hear any conversation worth butting into. She couldn’t really make out individual conversations at all, for that matter. This was the sort of place where it was probably not good to have ADHD. Every little thing kept grabbing at her attention, bidding for a moment of her time. Maddison’s dress was too gorgeous not to want to look at, Nate was, well, Nate, she thought she spotted Xander way off in the distance looking like he hated himself for coming, which was probably accurate, no sight of Damien, Zidane looked adorable and happy out on the dance floor. She couldn’t help but just look around the room and find herself staring at various things or people.

Until she found she wasn’t the only one people-watching. She met the gaze of a pair of stunning blue-green eyes that no mask could hide trained directly on her. She recognized the older legionnaire, but at the moment couldn’t place a name, which was a bit annoying as she prided herself in her ability to know names fairly well. But she did recognize the man (young man? Boy? Guy? She got so confused as to when to use each term). Now it wasn’t Clare’s thing to dislike anyone. It was almost physically impossible, she’d come to the conclusion. It was more that she knew who were least likely to be open to being friends. People like that jerk from last week, or Julia after her skeptical reaction to Clare’s usual attitude. Maddison was once on that list too, but she was pretty sure she could take her off it. As long as she didn’t tell anyone on threat to her very existence.

Jameson! That was his name! Son of Vulcan, able to create fire at the smallest whim, and generally didn’t have the best reputation. And he was staring at her. She wondered if she should worry. From what she’d heard, especially from that rather upset girl in her barrack a few days ago, getting his attention wasn’t always a good thing. But there was something in his eyes, in the way he was looking at her, that actually didn’t seem dangerous at all. And well, Clare just wouldn’t be Clare if she didn’t give people the benefit of the doubt. There was some good in everyone right?

And he was coming her way too! She made herself stop fidgeting. The odd thing about people with terrible reputations was your mind just sort of tended to believe they should be mean and scary looking. But that wasn’t the case with him. Mask on or not, he really was handsome. And it was hard not to notice how incredibly tall he was too. It was easy to tell, even cleaned up as he was, that he worked at the forges a lot. He was sort of rough looking, but not in a bad way. And when he spoke up, she would’ve sworn she could be talking to one of the sorts of men that were in fairy tale stories. He had manners better than she’d seen pretty much anyone here have. It was easy to forget any of the bad things said about him. She had to smile. “Why, thank you. And I certainly wouldn't mind company. I don’t believe we’ve met before. Clare Rodriguez. It’s a pleasure.” Talking so formally was another thing not normal for her most of the time, but it was a nice change of pace. And after his introduction, she felt it was sort of fitting anyhow.

WORD COUNT: 651
TAG: Jameson
NOTE: Second that! Completely adorable.