Fountain play (august)

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It was a nice day. Charlie-mack had some time off after doing a few things to get the legion ready for evening muster. She found herself at the open air market. There were laughing children, some of them soon to be legionnaires. There were parents that were running around chasing after some small toddlers wearing miniature Camp Jupiter tee shirts. The thought made her smile. Family, maybe she would have one of those things eventually. But the market here was amazing. She loved the fresh fruits and vegetables that this place had. She exchanged some denarii for a couple of apples, some oranges and a few grapples. Charlie didn’t like sweets, fruits were about as close to sweets as she liked to get. Charlie took a bite of the orange and the juice dribbled down her chin. Quickly she wiped it away with a napkin. The fruits here at camp were always bigger and juicier then the ones she remembered in the outside world.

She passed by a drink vendor and purchased a water bottle before sitting down at the fountain. There was a lot of laughter and people hanging about. These were romans, Charlie thought. Maybe one day she would have fun, many of her cohort swore that Charlie didn’t know the meaning of the word fun. Her idea of fun was in the armory or on the coliseum floor, training. Weapons were a hobby, she collected them and it also helped that they were in working condition. There was a whole bunch of pigeons flying about in swarms, in her opinion they were just rats with wings. There were a few cute little girls chasing through the pigeons, making them scatter. Charlie picked up an apple and took a bite of it as she gently pulled out a book. It was a book on the great medieval conquests. She had borrowed the book from the library at the academia. Like a lot of the other things in that place, it was old and musty. The pages were yellow and worn, and it looked like someone had puked on page seventy one. She frowned as she scanned and quickly moved to another page.

The sun was warm and bright, Charlie was losing track of time. Such a nice day and she should have been spending this extra time in practice sparing. She peered up over her book as she looked at the coliseum, she really didn’t have the motivation to actually get up and walk over there. That was what the problem was with nice days in the midst of January. If it was cold out, she could find more motivation to get her blood pumping and so she could feel warm. But when it was already warm out, gods forbid she get someplace with a piece of fruit and a good book on war. It seemed that for all the hobbies she had, most of them had to do with war. It was days like this that she thought about her participation on the battle of mount Othrys. She thought about that battle a good bit here lately. It always replayed over and over in her mind. Though she reveled in the bloodlust that was battle, sometimes thinking about made her feel sick to her stomach, not that she would admit to something like that. She sighed as she returned to her book.

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August had this nasty habit of walking around like he was Julius Caesar. Which he liked to think he had some qualities in common with, considering he almost shared a name with. At least the Augustus part. Minus the whole getting stabbed in the back by his best friend on the way to the Senate part. That was mildly unpleasant. Okay, so at least he (hopefully) didn’t have that part in common. Sadly, his walk was starting out on a sour note. He was so used to carrying his ceremonial knife that he hadn’t even thought about until Terminus threatened to strangle him at the gate with his nonexistent arms. And it had probably been a bad idea to point out that the god didn’t have a means of carrying out his threat. According to Terminus’ very active imagination – seriously, was he secretly also the god of insanity or something? – August had gotten beaten up. Though all August felt was annoyed. So he’d regretfully left his knife with the little girl helping Terminus out and went into New Rome sans weapon. Not like he’d been planning on harming anyone. He didn’t even have any intention of destroying a stuffed animal today.

All that was on slate for the day was to spend some time away from the hubbub of training and giving people a hard time and enjoy the weather. Which, in his book, involved chai and possibly pot pie. So he headed to the forum to get started on said relaxing activities, but was cut off by a very bold little girl who didn’t look a day older than six. As was pretty common, people around here knew who he was, which was actually fairly common for any legionnaire who was a regular or who had some sort of title, both of which applied to him. He was fairly certain that it was normal for little kids here to chatter, from what he’d overheard on his visits, about wanting to be like this centurion or that praetor or that random battle hero. This little girl, for instance, seemed to know exactly who she was talking to and worded the thoughts he would not be surprised were possibly on the minds of a good number of the kids here. “You’re the guy with the stuffed animals, aren’t you? You’re not going to hurt my toy wolf, Fluffers, are you?” Ah, yes, August, cute stuffed animal murderer and terror of New Rome. Not really something he actually liked being thought of as.

One thing about August that most wouldn’t guess was that he couldn’t upset a kid if his life depended on it. They just had this effect on him. So he knelt down so he was at eye level with the girl. “What’s your name?” The little girl straightened up importantly. “Aria.” With a name like that, he would not be surprised in the slightest if he and this little girl were related. “Well then, Aria, you can rest assured that I have no intention of hurting Fluffers. Every stuffed animal I use for auguries wants to do it. And you know, there’s a special place on Mount Olympus where they all go and get to spend time with all the other stuffed animals and little immortal girls just like you for the rest of time.” Which was totally bs, but looking into that little girls big blue eyes and telling her anything otherwise would have just been wrong.

Aria seemed to find this news wonderful, judging from the enormous smile she gave him. “Oh, okay. That’s good then!” she said before abruptly running off and, by the looks of it, telling her mother the good news. August straightened up and continued on his trip to get a nice iced chai. He dropped a denarius in the tip jar on his way out into the forum, cup in hand now, and paused when he noticed a familiar face at the fountain. A centurion, he knew that much. First cohort. Ah yes, Charlie-Mack, daughter of Mars. Heading that way, he looked at the book she was holding. Medieval, unsurprising. Violent and old-fashioned. A period of time that he imagined Mars would have been quite pleased with. And… battle-centered. Also not surprising. After all, she was a child of Mars. “War history. How very… expected. Charlie-Mack, if I’m not much mistaken?” He was prepared to make some scathing comment as usual, but between the nice weather, his drink, and having just had a chat with a little girl about mythical stuffed animal heaven, he wasn’t up to it. Give him a little bit.

Tag: Charlie-Mack
Word Count: 771

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There was a sudden sound of a rather indignant child accosting a fellow legionnaire. Charlie’s attention was brought back to reality as she regarded the small child who was staring up at the Butcher of Beanie Babies. That Captain of the Cuddly Killer, August. Charlie had met him briefly a time or two before. Most people didn’t like him, but Charlie had no particular opinion of the Augur. He was cordial but at the same time rather cold and seemed to be calculating. He had personally done no wrong to her and Charlie felt he was rather indispensable. She certainly couldn’t do the job that August was there to carry out. The Augur was always an integral part of roman culture and it attested itself by the amount of victories that the Empire had attained. But she watched as August interacted with the little girl. She was half expecting him to slice open the wolf just to spite her, but apparently whatever it was that August told the little girl, she dashed back to her mother and happily bounced up and down. It was good to know that he wasn’t the stuffed animal serial killer.

She glanced upwards, barely lifting her eyes over the top of her book to watch August for a moment. He stopped to get something to drink before he noticed her. Her eyes immediately retreated back to the worded confines of her book. She could feel her ears flushing as she noticed his footsteps coming towards her. Charlie had a tiny bit of a crush on him, but she really didn’t think much on it. Those sorts of emotions were a pain in the arse and tended to get in the way of things when fighting. He commented on her book. She gently closed the leather tome before looking up at him from her position on the side of the fountain. “Yes but only because I just finished The Hobbit again. I was out of material to read for the time being.” She said, taking a sip from her water bottle and finishing off the last bit of her apple. She patted the concrete beside her. “Take a seat if you want. There’s plenty of room. Here have a grapple. You might like it.” She offered up one of her favorite fruits to August. She looked off and watched a few other people for a moment. The nice weather seemed to have brought out a whole ton of families and a few people that might not otherwise get out during winter. Her jacket was light over her camp shirt and to be honest it was a tad bit warm. But Charlie knew if she took it off she would be cold for sure. Her few medals were placed upon her jacket in proper order and she gently brushed her hair from her face as the wind decided it was going to play havoc with her blond curls.

“So what brings you here to the forum handsome? It’s a fairly nice day so I guess that’s why you’re here…” Charlie felt stupid trying to make small talk. It wasn’t really something she was good at. One of these days she would learn. But until she was out of the legion did she think the skills of small talk and diplomacy would really show their strengths. But until then she would work hard on her battle skills. Charlie was top notch for sure when it came to battle prowess. “Sorry I’m just not sure on how to talk to people. Maybe I should go read a psychology book or a Dr.Phil book on that thing. I’ve never been good with people. I’m just a one trick pony who’s only good at war.” She muttered darkly before taking another sip of the water bottle. She watched a older couple sitting outside at the coffee shop. It seemed like there were couples everywhere this time of the year. Many times it irked her. Other times it reminded her that she would be that old crazy cat lady of New Rome. “So what’s up August?” Charlie asked curiously.

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August wasn’t one for socializing. It wasn’t so much that he hated people, though that could be an arguable case at times, but more that it just was something he was hopelessly clueless about. So he made up for it by keeping his distance. Maybe not the best tactic, but hey, it worked. And going on with this personality of his also meant he didn’t get bothered as much. Though the bothering he did get – a certain Felicity Weingarten came to mind here – was not exactly pleasant. Ah well, you get what you pay for, and August, well he was a cheapskate. So what on earth he expected to gain from going to the forum on a day that was irresistible even for his unpleasant demeanor and would surely be very crowded, he couldn’t quite say. But he also didn’t feel much like training or sitting back at his barrack. And New Rome and Camp Jupiter didn’t offer a whole lot of variety on things to do.

While it wasn’t surprising, he couldn’t say he’d expected to be having a chat with a little kid regarding the eternal fate of stuffed animals. Even though, admittedly, it was not the first time kids had been put off by his job. Aria was just the first in a long while to get up the courage to ask about it. So hopefully his answer would at least spread to her little circle of friends so he’d get a few less cautious glances from timid little faces. So now, tea in hand, he noticed he was being watched. And not by some 6 year old fearing for Teddy’s life. No, rather by a legionnaire, and one he actually knew to boot. Well, sort of. It wasn’t as though he had a lot of in-depth conversations with her or something. Heck, he only just managed to remember her name. But all the same, he made his way over to where she was sitting and, unusual for him, struck up a conversation. Unusual for, well, anyone, she seemed perfectly willing to have a nice chat.

He sat down when she offered. “The Hobbit? Heard of it, I think, but never read it. That’s that one about the short guy going on a long journey with a ring or something, right?” Yeah, his knowledge about literature was pretty bad, but he’d never found reason to change that. He took the fruit, looking at it a moment. Another thing he wasn’t familiar with. He really needed to get out more often. “Thanks… Uh, Grapple? Looks like a regular apple to me.” He polished it on his shirt and took a bite before looking at it like it had just hopped out his hand and recited the Emancipation Proclamation while performing a wonderful rendition of Riverdance. Mostly, because it tasted nothing like it looked like it should. “Whoa, wait. That was… odd. Pretty good though.” Shock passed, he took another bite and followed Charlie’s gaze to the people out and about.

Until she spoke again. It wasn’t so much that she asked him a question that called for a response, but the nickname she gave him. “Handsome?” He’d been called a lot of things, most of them not very nice, but that was not on that list. “I, um, just sort of hanging out, I guess. You? Besides reading.” When she went on to apologize, he shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.” After all, he could certainly relate. “Well then, best that the one-trick ponies stick together, I’d say,” he said to try and make her feel a bit better. Her dark tone made it pretty clear she didn’t like her reputation all the time. Though he had to admit, it was unexpected. Kids who were good fighters and the like were put on pedestals here. This was the new age of Rome. And that meant power was the key word. So a daughter of the god of war who wasn’t happy with her lot in life here? That didn’t fit what he expected at all. “Though really you’ve got a pretty good rep around here. I’m going to guess you don’t agree so much though.” Why he was being so curious, he wasn’t entirely sure. Maybe he’d used up his mean quota for the time being. Or maybe he really was curious. Either way, it was unusual to say the least. At her question, he pondered it a moment. “I don’t know. Nothing much more than the usual. Things don’t seem to change too much around here. What about you? Anything new and interesting?”

Tag: Charlie
Word Count: 765

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Charlie cracked a small smile as August came over and sat down, taking up her offer. She wasn’t sure if he would have accepted. August was a bit abrasive sometimes, but Charlie knew that it was a fact that she didn’t get along with just about anyone. That Ed kid in her Cohort, she tried her hardest to be nice, but that little brat made it exceptionally hard. But that was alright by her, she would make him train harder and push him further than anyone else in the cohort. You wouldn’t want to cross your centurion. That was always one of the worst ideas you could do, other than make an enemy with the praetors or the augur, or a child of Venus. Sometimes the children of Venus were the worst to make an enemy of. Charlie had a few enemies that much was true, but she was just an abrasive person and many people didn’t care for her pushing as centurion. She wanted her cohort to be the best, as the first cohort should be. Most of the younger kids were a pain in the ass, but that was to be expected with needing an adjustment into the life of the Romans.

“Yeah, something like that. I know it’s surprising, a child of Mars can read. Call the papers!” She said with a laugh. Most of the time, Charlie made sure to poke fun at herself because she wanted to beat people to the punch. Plus it seemed mostly to lighten the mood. Charlie couldn’t begin to go into the amount of insults on her intelligence just because of being a Mars child. But to be honest, Charlie was a bit surprised that August agreed to sit down, to have a conversation with her. She felt her ears go pink but luckily her hair was down today and her cheeks were already tinged pink from the slight chill in the air. She took a sip from her water bottle and returned her attention to August as he tried the Grapple. It looked like an apple, but had the flavor of a grape, it was a unique fruit and sometimes it was hard to come by. But it was proof that like many of the other Romans here, you couldn’t judge a book by its cover. “It’s one of my favorite fruits. Very surprising once you take a bite. I’m just glad they have a good bit of them in this time of the year. Normally they have sold out this time. They are the best in the fall though.” She said in a thoughtful voice.

“Mostly been hanging out, I got a bit tired of dealing with some of the little snots. So while they are scrubbing the cohort barracks with their toothbrush, I’m hanging out here. The big bad wolf has to take a break every now and then.” She said with a shrug of her shoulders. He seemed to pick up on her dark tone. Sure she shouldn’t complain, but it was her lot in life. Charlie would deal with it and it was a pretty good lot in life. She was well respected and for the most part liked, but she really detested that there was only one thing she was good at. “Not complaining, I love my job. But for once I just wish that people would see me as a person. Not just some clunky tuna can with a knife. There are other emotions in that suit of armor. Some child of Mars I am.” She stated before taking a bite of the orange she had started peeling. “Sorry, I shouldn’t vent to you like that.” She said before she fell silent for a few moments. Charlie felt embarrassed. She probably would end up scaring the guy away with a confession like that. She felt the heat rise up from around her neck, great, more problems with emotions. Stupid emotions, maybe she would have to remember to gripe to her half-brother Cupid later. It’s not like she was going to sit Remus down and talk about boys to him. Hell the thought of sitting her dad down and asking for the talk that would have been something priceless. Mars wasn’t exactly known for his sentimental side.

“Yeah this place, it’s a bit boring. Maybe they should put something new up around here. Though no doubt if this place ended up with a roller rink Remus would find some way to make it into a fighting exercise.” She said shaking her head back and forth. “I wouldn’t mind going to the beach or something if we could. But I’d be too worried about attracting monsters and hurting innocents.” Charlie took another bite of the orange. “Well what sort of things do you like to do for fun?” Charlie asked before she could stop herself. Charlie was fairly curious about what the Augur liked to do for fun. Maybe they had a few things in common. Not that she was into decapitating teddy bears or anything like that, but she had a stuffed animal she had that was near and dear to her heart, but that camouflaged teddy bear with the marines uniform was just a reminder now of her mother. “This place seems to be teaming with the divine here lately. You should have seen the gods in the camp yesterday. Thought I was nearly going to have a heart attack.”

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August was terrible at socializing, and he knew it. He’d never really gotten a lot of practice with it early on, so now he just sort of followed that pattern. Besides, in his mind, the people here were mostly not worth socializing with anyhow. So what he was doing sitting next to one of the more intimidating centurions in his opinion, he wasn’t one hundred percent sure. Maybe he hadn’t worked up his meanness for the day yet. As he hadn’t run into anyone like Ed or Felicity that demanded immediate hatred, it wasn’t bubbling up like normal. Which meant that August was about as August-y as a paperclip was at the moment. Or at least, in the eyes of most of the camp. Apparently, that did not include Charlie. He shook his head as he sat down. “Never said I didn’t think you could read. Other people, names going unsaid, might not reach that level of intelligence, but you’re not on that list.”

Then there was the fruit that tried to psych him out, looking like one thing and then abruptly tasting totally different from what he was expecting. “Surprising is definitely a good word for it. I can see why you like it though. It’s very unusual, but still good. Did you want this back, or do I owe you a new one?” he asked with the unusualness of a chuckle. He rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward while he listened to her. He couldn’t help but smirk as she mentioned his punishment for troublesome little brats. He could understand how it was to get fed up with people sometimes and cleaning barracks with toothbrushes seemed a good plan. Though he really wasn’t sure if she was being serious or not. She was one of those people where if you ticked her off, there was no telling what she’d do. And cleaning barracks with toothbrushes was not really out of the question. He’d seen a few of the new recruits and honestly, he wouldn’t blame her for getting strict with them. “Nothing wrong with a good break. And keeping the troublemakers busy all the while.”

He nodded slightly at her words, knowing exactly what she meant. “Well, between you and me, I have the same problem. So… maybe we can help each other out. The soldier and the stuffed toy killer. Unusual duo, but it works. I mean, if you want. And feel free to vent all you want, really. I don’t mind. I’m not really the heartless hate-everyone that most think I am. But anyway, being unhappy with the status quo doesn’t make you any less worthy a child of Mars. You’re perfectly allowed to not be an emotionless automaton with a weapon.” Like your stupid brother is, he finished in his head, deciding it was best to not insult her family.

He pondered her idea of a roller rink for a minute. “Sword-fighting on roller skates. Yeah, I can actually see that becoming part of the ludii or something. Maybe a movie theater or something. Can’t see that becoming training, and that way there’s something new every now and again. That’s all I got though. Afraid I’m no good at brainstorming fresh new stuff.” He pondered her beach idea. “I snuck out once. Nothing too bad happened then. Then again, I was about thirteen. But hey. And I found a section and time at the beach where there aren’t a ton of mortals. If you really were interested.” He couldn’t say it was the best idea to sneak out, but she was a centurion, so she had to be able to get away with more, right? And her brother was a praetor. Sounded like the recipe for perfect excuse to him. And he’d be fine with telling her about his find. Or showing her, whichever she preferred.

He paused when she asked what he liked to do. It wasn’t really something he talked to other people about. “Well… now don’t laugh, okay?” After all, with his reputation, this was probably really far down on the list of expected hobbies. “I usually… practice my music. I play the violin. And a piano if I can find one. And sing a little, but not that much…” He picked at a fold in his jeans absently, seeming enthralled by it out of his own self-consciousness. Until she mentioned the gods here. Now that was unusual. And he couldn’t say it wasn’t a little disappointed he’d missed it. “Really? Who all was around?” If it was enough to get Charlie-Mack Jolly nervous, it had to be quite something.

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“I know you didn’t say that, most people make the assumption and it kills me. You wouldn’t believe how many other campers say ‘oh you know what those little squiggly lines on the paper are?’ I know my brother can be a Neanderthal sometimes but geeze.” She flashed August a grin. Then there was August’s quip of people not quite making that particular list of intelligent beings. “That Edmund kid is a bit short on the intelligence scale. I have to remind myself that I can’t use much in the way of corporal punishment. Zidane has already reprimanded me once over that kid. If I kill him there will be hell to pay. Maybe I can talk my brother into removing him from under my command. Maddi has a short leash with everyone but that little twit especially.” Charlie frowned. She really couldn’t stand Ed and his antisocialism. She always had to grin and bear it whenever she was around that kid. She couldn’t afford to get another mark against her with that dopey praetor. At least Remus would probably take her side. She took another bite of the orange and then another sip from her water bottle. The cool and clear liquid was just wonderful on this rather breezy day. The dry wind really seemed like it wanted to parch her throat.

“The grapple is really good. Very sweet but with a slight citrus tang on the finish.” Great now she sounded like some sort of Ceres kid. They were the ones who complained about how the fruits and vegetables around this place were really horrible. “You can keep it. The snack’s on me.” She said with a smile. She liked his laugh. Sure August seemed really abrasive sometimes, but Charlie was like that too. Some of the people really disliked her training regimens. She was a pushy and forceful centurion. Things had to be done to attain perfection on the battlefield. Charlie wanted her soldiers to be the best, the best needed discipline and training of the highest degree. You didn’t become a marine by being a wuss. Romans were like the Marines of the ancient world. If they hadn’t been stretched so far, they probably would have been able to keep a tight grip on Europe without a problem. She thought about the punishments that she mentioned to August. He might have thought they were a bit harsh, gods most people thought Charlie was some sort of sociopath with the way she dealt out punishments. “Everyone needs a break now and then. You probably have your hands full working in the temple all day long.”

Charlie nodded, agreeing with what August was saying. “Thank you, August.” Charlie smiled. “It will be nice to have someone to talk to and I think you’re right. We could be quite the interesting duo. Though needless to say I think my brother might be threatened by it. He can get over it. But I’m glad that you’re not heartless. I don’t understand what people have against you. I’d probably have gone completely crazy if I was in the temple all day like you. August, you have a really important job. It’s probably super stressful.” Charlie watched a small child run up and throw a few pennys in the fountain, wishing for a pony and a unicorn for her fourth birthday. Charlie could remember a few times going to the mall or park and tossing some stuff in the fountain. She always wished that she could be like her mom, meet her dad and live up to her family’s expectations. “You know a movie theater would be great. Though I think we would probably be forced to watch old war films. But it’s been a while since I’ve actually seen a movie. One of the last ones I saw, I was eight….That was 2001…” She tapped a finger on her chin. “Yeah the last movie I ever saw was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Geeze I feel old now.” She gave a small laugh. “That beach idea, I would totally love to go with you some time!” Charlie loved going to the beach. “We should totally plot on going some time. I used to go with my family all the time. It would be a nice break when the weather gets warmer. So long as neither one of us tells.” Charlie gave a small laugh.

To be honest, Charlie wasn’t much surprised when August told her that she loved to practice his violin, piano and singing. He was a child of Apollo so Charlie would bet all of the denarii in her pocket that his voice was amazing. Most of the children and legacies of Apollo had amazing musical talent. “I bet you are one of the most talented guys ever.” She said. Then came the talk about the gods. They had really made Charlie nervous. She didn’t like the fact that they all came and gone at their own pace. “well I spoke to Cupid, my divine half-brother. He’s in for the valentine’s day fun. I met Prometheus, he was quite interesting. My dad turned Ed into a pig, puppy, and meercat in three different occasions and Diana tried to recruit me to be a hunter.” Charlie tapped her chin with her finger, trying to remember if there was anyone else that she missed. “That’s all of them I think. But some of them were much more quite terrifying than the others were.” She said in a matter of fact voice. “You might have liked speaking to Prometheus. He was a very, strange? No that’s not the right word…. Inquisitive I guess?” Charlie didn’t really know the best way to describe the Titan. “You ever met any of the gods?” Charlie asked.