Cook to Perfection (open)

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Amelia needed this break. It was one of those days. Yes, those days. She blamed her period, which was an easy scapegoat, so she saw no reason to change her challenge. Training had been rough today. Though she ususally accepted the facts that a) she was not going to get out of it, at least not every time, and b) it did help with toning and strength (mostly toning), so it couldn’t be all bad. But that didn’t make it any less hard. She wasn’t bad at it, really, she just didn’t like it. And today had been one set or drills after the other with no break, or at least not one long enough for her liking. And she wasn’t that picky on that one even. She’d been here long enough to know the ropes, and that they were made of imperial gold and did not budge for anyone.

And on top of being tired, she was cranky. Or sullen was probably a better word for it. Growing up, she’d been used to being treated like a princess. Here, ninety nine percent of the people hated her. Not that she could blame them when she took the time to look at herself. She tended to go out of her way to be a brat. One did not simply change their nature at the drop of a hat, though, so she didn’t worry much about it. Besides, she had one or two people she got along with. Okay, so two might be pushing it. Despite her unaffected exterior, though, there were times it caught up to her and she found herself in slumps. Today was one of those days.

Which brought her here. The Field of Mars was not highly populated at the moment, so she picked herself a corner and took it over in the name of Amelia for the cause of getting a decent tan. Shorts, a tank top, flip flops kicked to the side, and a magazine. It was the perfect combination. So she laid her towel down and stretched out on her stomach, propped up the magazine so it was easier to read, and set to the solitary work of looking better.

Tag: open
Word Count: 366
Notes:

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Mercury was bored. Strike that, he had plenty of things to do to occupy himself with but at this particular moment, he didn’t want to do anything with the massive pile of missives that he had waiting for him to deliver. He put an aurai to work earlier, just to lighten his massive load of responsibilities. He felt as if his time was better spent whining to Mors, his most favorite buddy in the world, or hanging out at camp. Since his bestest buddy ever wasn’t home (mercury had checked and even raided the refrigerator while he was there) he decided to hang out at Camp Jupiter. He was never one to much go in disguise, but thankfully most of the demi-gods, save for his own family, knew what he looked like. He strode through camp in a meandering way. He waved at a couple of girls who had called out to him. Mercury liked the attention, though not nearly as much as Venus did. But after wandering through the camp, even poking his head in the forge to check up on Edmund, the camp misanthrope who decided he hated all the gods no matter how much Mercury tried to play nicely. Mercury would get him to go along with it eventually.

Mercury walked out onto the field of mars. Mars, he was such a war mongering blowhard. Mercury looked around and tried to find something to get into. Then Mercury spotted something or someone that looked like they could use some harassing. A girl was laying out in the sun, trying to get a tan. Probably a daughter of Venus or a legacy or something of that nature, Mercury wasn’t a betting man, at least today he wasn’t, but he if he was one for betting money he would win a good bit of money if he was betting she was a spawn of venus. Mercury took off his shirt and stuffed it into his magical messenger bag of goodies. He pulled out a towel and laid it down beside the rather beautiful looking young woman. “Such a wonderful day isn’t it?” Mercury quipped as his already bronzed chest was getting warm in the sunlight. “You picked a nice spot. Wonderful sunlight, looks like Apollo is working overtime today.” Mercury flashed her a charming yet mischievous grin. Mercury knew how to work a girl, hell he had a bunch kids to prove it.

“So what’s a wonderful flower like you doing here amongst the tin cans that call themselves romans around here?” Mercury said, stretching out on his towel. “Something rare and beautiful that even Venus herself should claim you as equal?”

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Amelia was annoyed by a lot of things. Like bothersome people. Which might be ironic as she could be something of a bother herself. Or perhaps training. Yes, training was something of a bother. Edmund Simons was a pest of the worst kind, with his pessimism that seemed to have no end whatsoever. Oh, and heavens, she couldn’t forget Felicity Weingarten. Girl had no fashion sense and also was a royal witch. Now Amelia was fully aware that she was not the nicest person to everyone around here. But Felicity always acting like the victim. The girl was terrible luck and had a history of killing people. Lots of people. Did she really expect people to forget so quickly? There were still people Amelia knew trying to get over the losses. Idiot girl. Amelia thanked the gods that she was not anything like Weingarten.

Now even with that list of negative things, there were some positives. One thing, for instance, that she did like, was hot guys deciding to take up camp next to her. Shirtless. Albeit he was a little old looking for her, maybe a New Rome citizen retired from service, but not for long. Either that or he kept up with his training really well. And kept a decent – no, impeccable – tan as well. Not to mention had a lovely way with words. She closed her copy of Elle (courtesy of Maddi), leaned over on her side, and gave the newcomer a very obvious once over. Yep, he definitely classified as hot. And definitely worth getting to know.

“It really is a lovely day. Especially with company.” The one thing Amelia did best, well besides coordinating outfits: flirt. “Well, thank you. I do pride myself on knowing where all the good spots around here are. Years to sort it out,” she said with a laugh. “But yes, it does seem like Apollo is making it an especially good day.” He had a nice smile. A little on the troublesome side, like the kids of Mercury tended to have, but nice all the same. It seemed to fit him perfectly, like he smiled a lot.

She could feel her face going a touch pink at his compliments. A wonderful flower. “Well, I could be asking you the same thing. You’re certainly the handsome type yourself.” While she was stuck at this place, he didn’t look the type to still be in service and therefore able to leave. So what he was still doing here she wasn’t sure (though she wasn’t arguing against it either). Unless he was one of those rough, tough, save the world types. She wouldn’t argue that either. There was something endearing about those types. Actually, now that she thought about it, she had no clue what ‘her type’ was. She had dated multiple guys here over the years and they had been of varying sorts – save the nerdy kind, no way – and none of them had worked out so well. In fact, she’d either been dumped or had to dump each one in under a year. Every single time. But she was a child of Venus. Which meant she was nothing if not determined to find true love. How could she be her mother’s child and not believe in that ‘special someone’? At his second compliment, though, she almost gasped. No one around here dared to challenge the gods, especially when it came to things like fighting better than Mars or prettier than Venus or anything better than Jupiter. That was just a no-no. He must have been joking, that was it. Though it was still flattering. She just hoped her mother wasn’t listening. “Well, she is my mother, so I suppose it’s in the blood. But thank you.” She held out her free hand – the other elbow was supporting her – to him and gave him her best smile. “Amelia Rose MacArthur. And whom do I have the great pleasure of sharing this sunshine with?”

Tag: Mercury
Word Count: 661
Notes:

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Mercury tipped his fedora over his eyes, blocking the sun out as he tried to play oblivious to the girl’s obvious once over. Even by his standards he was a bit of an attention whore. He loved being in the spotlight for good, like rescuing fair damsels in distress, or ill, like when he ran the Boston Marathon in under two hours. Though in defense of the latter, he did only finish four seconds ahead of the mortal in first place. But as he watched the shadow of the girl next to him from under the brim of his hat, Mercury wondered how he wanted to play this out. It was always a hard decision since he had so many faces. But at this particular point, he was obviously not going to be playing the part of business shark. It was rather obvious that Business sharks didn’t lay out in the sun in New Rome. They didn’t roll about in the grass or anything of that sort. Not that Mercury played by the rules dictated by the classes of socialism, he was rather fond of tossing that old rule book out the window and just doing his own thing. He didn’t pay much attention to the rules Jupiter liked to set, though in his opinion, Mercury thought that Jupiter’s rules tended to be on the stupid and old-fashioned side.

He easily flipped the brim of his hat upwards, staring at one of the sons of Mars as he decapitated a training dummy. The decapitation was impressive and the wooden head rolled a couple of feet before coming to a stop in front of Mercury’s boots. Mercury easily picked it up and tossed it back over, the Edmund kid would want all the pieces together if he was going to repair the dummy. He took in an almost inaudible deep breath, the gods didn’t need to breathe but it seemed to make the mortals feel more comfortable and a little less ill at ease. Besides, if Mercury knew how to play it out, breathing would be important. You can’t catch girls when you aren’t breathing and don’t have a pulse, being alive and having a pulse was something that really was a must-have for catching girls.

“Years huh?” Mercury quipped as he took out a bottle of Gatorade to sip on. The purple Gatorade was something of a favorite of his. He watched the girl speak. Her laugh was nice and light, like a marshmallow. “Then I bet you know a bunch of great spots like this to hang out. I bet if you could find a way up there, the Barracks roof would be a nice place to catch a tan. But it seems like there’s a bit too much work involved.” Mercury commented, off handedly. He glanced up at the sky, watching the clouds drifting lazily across the sky. The south west breeze was nice as it floated through the field of Mars. It was cooling and kept the sun from becoming too hot. But the next time he saw Apollo, Mercury made a mental note to try and thank him for such a nice day to skip off of duties and hang out with a beautiful girl. Beautiful girls made everything worthwhile. Mercury leaned his head back and tipped the fedora hat back as well, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face. He then turned to look at the girl beside him. He flashed another grin at the girl. Sure mercury was a smiling sort of guy, not that he minded. In general he was a happy guy.

“Handsome huh? That’s a first for me.” Mercury smoothly said before taking another sip from the purple Gatorade. He hadn’t heard handsome in a while. Mostly it was something of the nature akin so sneak-thief, liar, cheater, or FEDEX if you were Minerva. Mercury was really starting to like the attention that the girl was giving him. It’s not like he was going to be like his dad and say something to the degree of ‘I know I’m awesome but tell me more about myself.’ Did he look like Jupiter? Strike that, he didn’t want to be told that he looked like his dad at all. Mercury gave a sly smile as she offered up her name and her hand. Mercury gently took it before kissing the top. “Amelia Rose McArthur, Daughter of Venus, a lovely name to go with such a lovely woman.” Mercury tilted his head to the side, winking at her as he spoke her name with a bit of a flourish. Amelia asked for his name. He was good at thinking of things up, but what would suit him? “Merc,” He decided upon that. “My name is Merc, named after someone important somewhere down the line you know?” He smoothly said as he took a long sip from the Gatorade.

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A hot guy in a nice retro fedora. What was wrong with this picture? Absolutely nothing. Whatever luck or fate or what have you that landed her here spending her afternoon with this fine specimen of a guy, she thanked the gods for it. She did her best to look coy and innocent, if those could actually be applied to her. Her mother wasn’t exactly the most innocent person – goddess, whatever – in the world, so some of it was hereditary, she usually blamed it. That was about when the head came into the picture. “Well, maybe this isn’t one of the best spots with all the inconsiderate trainees around.” Of all the time to disrupt her getting to know a hot guy! Seriously? She gave the kid one of her patented scowls for the disruption, then left it at that. Hopefully without her new friend noticing. Last thing she wanted was for him to have a bad opinion of her, even if it was a correct opinion.

So she gave him her best big baby browns and smile. “I’ve been here eight years, so I like to think I’ve found all the spots humanly possible to get to. Or most of them. The barrack roof is an interesting idea. I admit I never really tried. Talk about uncensored sunlight there. And no dummy heads,” she added with a laugh. Laugh. That was a good idea when dealing with meeting a hot guy for the first time. Guys liked girls with good senses of humor right? At least, all the ones worth hanging out with probably did. Which meant naturally that people like Edmund for one were not on that list. No surprise there though. That kid had a horrible attitude. Even worse than hers.

When he said that that was the first time he’d been called handsome – did she really hear that right? – she gawked a little, then checked herself. Gawking was not attractive. “You’re joking though! You have to be. Because it’s so fitting for you, that it just seems silly no one’s ever told you as much. Well then, I’m sort of glad to be the first. And I mean it too, you really are handsome. And so far as I can tell, you have the personality to go with it.” The wink definitely added to it too. Yes, she was determined to get to know him better. She blushed at his compliment. She usually took compliments as granted, but it was still nice to get one. Especially from this particular stranger. “Why thank you. She pondered his answer for a moment and smiled. “Merc. I like it. I’m guessing a so many greats grandparent or something. Very nice. Sounds like your family must be very close then. That’s wonderful.”

Tag: Mercury
Word Count: 462
Notes: Sorry it’s short. And late. Her muse has been so finicky.

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If Venus found out he was flirting with one of her daughters, well he could just hear the eyerolls now. Not to mention all of the guff he would get from his kids. It wasn't out of the ordinary that gods cared about what their kids thought, Mercury did. He really did care about his kids, even the ones that wern't his. Ethan, Josh, Lance, even crazy Rhiannon and little sullen Edmund, they were all his. He made a thought of leaving a present for Edmund in the forges, something that hopefully would make the sullen son of Vulcan a little less.... well sullen. A nice big bucket full of water with a note attatched to it saying “for the times when couples get too mushy”. He was certain that Edmund would appreciate the humor and gist. But for now his attention was brought back to the pretty blossom that was right here beside him. He gave her a gentle smirk, only slightly mischievous. “The training is needed at times, but there's no harm in relaxing after a long and hard day.” He said stretching out his arms as he rested his elbows on his knees. He placed his chin on his forearms, tilting his head and looking at Amelia with a grin. There was a good bit about this camp that he loved. The biggest thing was the people in it.

“Eight years? How many more till you retire?” Mercury showed genuine interest in what she was saying. He really wanted to know more about the kids here in camp. Even the oldest person in camp was considered a kid to him by comparison of age. “I bet I know of a few spots you wouldn't think of to hang out if you were ever feeling adventurous.” She laughed, it was sweet like the sound of a ringing bell. Venus really did love this child, Mercury could tell. She was sweet and well a real Venus child. He personally didn't see anything wrong with being a child of love. There was much more to love than just romantic flirting. As the little angel in the infirmary loved to put it, it was about all kinds of love, family, romantic, and friendship love. “Adventure is fun at times, I have a great love of adventure.” Mercury commented as he then leaned against the grass. It was nice and warm, the breeze was just perfect. He glanced skyward where it looked like the sun was just laughing at him. Damn you Apollo, Mercury thought. He could just see the sun god laughing at him. He quirked an eyebrow skyward, pondering on what that gasbag is thinking.

Okay, maybe he lied a little bit. Handsome wasn't the first thing that came to mind when people first met him, usually it was thief or sneak. She gawked a bit at him, the face made her all the more adorable. He couldn't help but give a small and inward laugh. Then she complimented him. Normally his compliments came from his kids, so it was nice to get them from elsewhere, especially from a beautiful girl. “Thanks, being called handsome means a lot coming from a beautiful rose like yourself.” Mercury gave her his trademarked crooked grin, a smile that revealed perfectly strait and white teeth. She complimented his name, again he brought out a smile. It was nice to have someone to talk to that wasn't a blowhard or someone who was trying to lie through their teeth to his face. Sincerity was something that was hard to come by for him. “I wouldn't go as far to say my family is close.” Mercury started to say, turning his head to the side to look at Amelia. “They put the fun in dysfunctional to say the least.” He tried to choose his words carefully, not wanting to upset any powers at be.

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Amelia shrugged. Training wasn’t her thing. Mostly because she was terrible at it. It was a wonder she hadn’t died in that blasted war to be honest. But the gods must like her if she had made it this far, right? “I guess so. Especially with the way people have been talking lately. I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up in another war. Just what we need. It feels like a lot shorter than just two years since the last one.” She sighed and sat up, propping her arms behind her and leaning on them. War was one of the few things that Amelia took seriously here. It terrified her, the idea of having to go back to war. It wasn’t something you could get away from. You either faced it or you died like a wimp. Even Amelia Rose MacArthur believed in fighting back for her and her friends. She watched some of the people training with a troubled look. Maybe she really should be training more. She’d remember that for the next time she had a chance.

She looked back to him when he responded. She’d almost forgotten the conversation for a minute. Nick wouldn’t let her live that one down. Not with her reputation around here. “Just two. So close, yet so far.” Her smile was back in place. She turned a little where she was when he continued, curious. “Oh? Like where? I think I could do adventurous.” New places might be interesting. She had to admit, the old thrill of finding a new spot all of her own back when she was new here had been fun. Finding what she could and could not do. It was all such a, well as he put it, adventure. That was back when this camp seemed an exciting new place. Filled with all sorts of new things to check out. From the shops and beautiful homes in New Rome to the variety of people. There was still always the people, but she didn’t exactly have a lot of friends here. There were her siblings, whom she loved dearly, but that was about it.

“Well, I’d say it was earned, if you ask me. I’m just calling them as I see them. And thank you as well.” Ugh, she wasn’t on her game anymore. Thinking about the war had thrown her off. This wasn’t good. Amelia was nothing if not a creature of determined habit. So she doubled her effort while still keeping to herself. She laughed at his comment though. “Fun in dysfunctional. I haven’t heard that one before. Well, I’m sorry to hear it’s dysfunctional. Then again, that I’ve heard, just about everyone here has some sort of family issues, so you’re not alone.” Albeit she was one of the few who didn’t, but that was beside the point. It did make her feel a little bad for him all the same.

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So, it would seem that even the repercussions of what was going on divine was even being felt here. Mercury had to give it to the semi-divine. They were much more sensitive and in the know than many of those on Olympus would give them credit for. They were smart and in tune of what was going on. They had a way of surviving and making the best of the situations no matter what. He liked that spirit in them and he felt that it was that will and spirit that led them to survive for so long. He didn't know what he would do without his kids, his grand kids, or even his adoptive children. “It does seem like it's been a real short time. Seems like it's flown by.” He mused as he ran a hand over his chin. He glanced over to see the troubled look on her face as she watched the others train. “Well just remember, all the training in the world, rest and relaxation still is necessary too. Too much training can hurt you just as much as not training at all.” He said wisely. He had a natural ability with his skills and his weapons that he had chosen, he didn't need to train as often as demi-gods did.

Mercury felt a genuine smile grow over his perfectly white teeth. She was really charming to talk to. “Well there's a nice and secluded spot in the forest, it's a little bit of a hike, but it's worth it and the view is amazing.” Mercury said, telling of one of his favorite spots. He could almost hear the sound of the gurgeling creek, the smell of the grass and even shade. It was nice, there was also a great spot atop a rock for getting a nice tan. The animals loved it, or maybe they loved it because Mercury made it his spot. There was even a nice spot to stash some pilfered goods. “I'd like to show it to you sometime.” He said with a smile. He didn't mind sharing his spots with people, it's not like he was going to take her off to his private island off of the south american coast in the nice warm waters. “I know places all over the world, not just here in New Rome. Been all sorts of places with my job, but with all things considering, I feel like I'm needed here instead of abroad.”

Again he smiled at the compliment. “You are beautiful. I bet not even the most beautiful vinyards at sunset could compare to you.” Again, Mercury adjusted his had over his eyes. Then the talk turned to family. It was an interesting subject to say the least. “Well, it seems that you can't be here without having some sort of family issues.” He shrugged his shoulders before glancing skyward. “To say the least, it's a dysfunctional family, have you ever attempted to sort out the divine family tree? Tried to do it once and ended up with a migraine.” He said with a laugh. He shook his head, trying to figure out that gnarled up tree was like trying to untangle that gorgon knot from the greek stories. It was damned near impossible. Rhea could do it, the titan of family, she wasn't so bad as far as grandmothers went, or even Juno or even Vestia, but Mercury wasn't going to attempt to try it. “It's hard when this guy married his sister who is also his wife or whatever..... or this guy married his brothers daughter who was also his sister.... it's too much to be working out.” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

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Amelia gave him a quiet smile when spoke of needing breaks. He had a point, and she was grateful for it too. But that didn’t mean that she still didn’t need to train. It was something that usually nagged at her. Soon. Soon she would start a new regimen and get herself ready. Not just physically in shape – which she strived for anyway – but a force to be considered at least on the battlefield. No more being shunned to the side in the war games. Amelia was going to be a real Roman. For now, though, that break was sounding pretty good. Besides, if she didn’t complete said break, she would have an uneven tan and that was simply not allowed. “I couldn’t agree more. And nothing says a break like enjoying the nice weather.”

She listened silently to his words about the spot in the woods. It sounded nice. Not what she would usually expect, considering there were some demigod-unfriendlies in the woods as well. To think of going there for a break though? It sounded… nice. Surprisingly. “I’d love to go with you. It sounds like such a pleasant place to spend a break. I’ve never thought to visit the forest for that.” Probably not the best place for a tan, but maybe a good fashion magazine and a bottle of vitamin water. “Ooh, so you travel a lot? That’s so exciting! What’s your favorite place to visit? Barring the current… situation. After all, we’re all needed here, but that doesn’t mean we all would be here if it was our first choice. Personally, I’d love to visit Paris. Have you been there? What sort of job do you have that takes you so many places? Well, busy job or not, I’m glad you have time to be here.”

She blushed pink at his compliment. “Vinyards at sunset? Wow. That’s very kind of you.” She shrugged in response to his comment about family problems being a prerequisite. She didn’t feel it proper to point out that she didn’t really have any herself. Then he went on, looking to the sky, and she faltered. The divine family tree? Did he mean…? She stared at him, jaw hanging slightly open as he spoke on. Merc… divine family… She clasped a hand over her mouth. No way. This whole time she had been talking to… “Mercury? You’re… you’re not a demigod are you? Oh my gods… I am so sorry, I meant no disrespect at all. I mean, if it ever seemed like I did.” Her face was bright red. She’d been flirting with a god!

((OOC: short, sorry. have a bit of a migraine so...))