The Only Good Heat[open]

[Deleted]

Rhiannon made plenty of noise when she splashed into the cold swimming pool. The sun had gone down long ago, and the winter wind stole the warmth from the waters leaving them a fringed cold. It was an amazing feeling for Rhiannon, the sauna door hadn't even completely closed behind her when she dove in. After resurfacing she let out an audible sigh before making her way to the edge of the swimming pool.

It was probably not the greatest thing to do to your immune system, but Rhiannon loved it. Sitting in the sauna making it hotter and hotter until you couldn't stand it anymore, then plunging into the coldest possible water. This night had been the coldest for the month, and abnormally cold for this time of year. She wasn't about to miss what could be the last time she could do this until winter several months from now.

After cooling herself to the point of shivering Rhiannon pulled herself from the pool, wind crawled across her skin sending goose bumps all up her arms and legs. The wind even cut through her swim suit, bought specifically for the coverage it provided. It came up to her collar bone, and had a small skirt that covered her bottom. Stretching she let the wind over take her as she made her way back to the sauna for one last run. The towel she had left on the bench still sat there, sitting on it so she was back at the hot spot of the room Rhiannon took a deep breath of warm moist air. It was the only type of heat that she liked, the kind you expected and wanted. The sauna was the only place Rhiannon did not mind the heat, though she had to make sure to drink plenty of water before and after. It had already started to relax her muscles earlier.

Rhiannon tossed some more water onto the hot coals and sighed again, reclining back. Stretching and cracking the well deserved bones back into place Rhiannon was feeling refreshed. The heat had not completely over taken her, but she still decided it was time to leave. Picking up her towel she stepped outside the sauna. She carefully placed it over a rail to dry a little, steam solling off both it and her. Something small, white, and fuzzy came up to her. It's red eyes stareing up before making a small barking noise. “Don't worry Inek, just one more splash in the pool and I'll pay more attention to you.” It barked again and looked over at someone Rhiannon had not noticed before. People normally weren't at the pool this time of night in winter anyway.

OOC: you can rp the fox a little when you come up if you want

[alistair]

Alistair felt like crap. He didn't know what was making him feel so horrible, but he decided that he would use this time to attempt to fix what was wrong with himself. Alistair grabbed his gym bag from his trunk in the barracks and slung it over his shoulder. He had promised his dad he would do his best to be better then all of the other big three kids out there. Alistair would try his hardest, but he wouldn't guarantee that he would succeed. He would try, if only to make his father feel a bit more proud of him. Maybe he should kick his drinking habit... nah.... everyone needed their vices and this particular one was his. Sure he was a bit underage. At least he thought he was here in the states. Yeah if he remembered correctly he still had another couple of days before it was his birthday and he could legally drink. Leave it to a bunch of idiots to say that a person could vote and go fight for their country but not have a drink. Made plenty of sense right? Alistair rolled his eyes as he headed into the Roman Baths. Best pool in the world, except for maybe the ocean. Just the thought of the ocean made all of the blood in his veins tug and pull in the direction of the nearest beach. He couldn't wait to go and visit there just one more time.


Alistair stepped into the changing room. He pulled off his shirt, jeans, boots and socks, setting his warm feet on the cool tiled floor of the changing room. Alistair inhaled deeply, the smell of the chlorinated water filled his nose. Alistair pulled on his surf shorts after pulling on a speedo for comfort. He grabbed his towel and swung it around his neck. As he headed out of the male's changing room, he saw the sauna door crash shut and a little white streak run after the crashing door. Alistair tilted his head to the side and shook his head, some one's pet was lost. Alistair didn't much like animals, though some of them could be pretty cool. The fox, that's what it was now that Alistair could clearly see it, it regarded him with large eyes before turning to scratch at the closed sauna door. Alistair shook his head again before heading into the pool. He tossed his towel onto a peg and did some stretching before he approached the diving end of the pool. Alistair took in a deep breath before taking up a proper diving position. He placed his hands together as he stared at his reflection in the clear water. This was going to be really cold, he briefly thought before his muscles instantly coiled up and he sprang into the water without another thought.


The rush of the water over his body was cool and wonderful feeling. Any scratches or bruises or cuts had instantly healed, his muscles were relaxed and energized. He let out a breath of bubbles before breathing in the water. He might not like being a son of Neptune all the time, but Alistair could appreciate breathing under water. But he was there, sitting on the bottom of a twelve foot deep pool. The only thing he could see while sitting on the concrete floor were the twinkling of the lights way above his head. Alistair thought about trying to put on some weights and his armor, using his shield and sword to train under water. That would be interesting to do, why hadn't he thought about this before now? The water resistance plus the ability to use his hydrokinetic powers, this would be a great place to train. Alistair pushed off from the bottom of the pool and surfaced rather quickly. His hair wasn't even soaked like it should be, Alistair was beginning to wonder why he bothered to bring a towel anyways. He jumped in the pool dry and came out of the pool dry, it was a strange cycle for the kids of Neptune.

[Deleted]

Inek continued to bark and pester Rhiannon as she arranged her steaming towel on a cold bar. Rhiannon left what she was doing with a sigh and followed after Inek who jumped into the swimming pool and paddled around. Inek poked his head down and started barking again when he came up. Paddling back to the edge of the pool Rhiannon could only look at the watered down pile of fur with obvious confusion. When he got to the edge she picked him up out of the pool and dove in herself. Her eyes burned in the water, and Inek's barks were carried through the water. At the bottom Rhiannon saw someone sitting there, just sitting as if there was no water in the first place. Swimming to the bottom of the pool Rhiannon tapped the man on the shoulder and pointed upward before swimming off.

Cold air flooded her lunges as what was left of warm oxygen left her. The water felt warmer now that her head was above water again, and the slight breeze cut to her bone. With a few more strokes she was at the edge of the pool where a small white dripping wet fox lay shivering. “You silly thing, why do you get so worried about other people.” she said gently as she pet him and shielded his small body from the wind. Pulling herself out of the pool Rhiannon dropped her towel on the unmoving Inek and began to fluff and dry his hair. “Here it was drying for me, and little you had to jump into the pool. Good thing you're too cute to be mad at.” A soft smile was always on her face while talking to her familiar, he had grown up to be kind to everyone.

After she finished at least some what drying Inek and the person at the bottom of the pool was in her site, her smile faded to her normal straight faced state. She regarded him, and tried to remember his name. He had been at the camp longer than she had, and was obviously older. She was not one to pay attention to people in general, but she remembered he was a problem drinker. That was honestly the only thing she could remember. A few tid bits came to mind, perhaps that he was a decent enough person to try and save people in combat, but that was a passing though. He was a drunk flirt, and Inek had worried about him. “You worried my familiar.”

[alistair]

Alistair had dove down once more to sit down on the bottom of the pool. It was easy to hear things or see stuff, Alistair loved being a son of Neptune most days. However there were days when it was unbearable, the things people threw at him or insults they hurled, that was what made things unbearable. But sitting here on the bottom of the pool, most no one could harass him, that is, except for his little sister. He wouldn't mind hanging out and talking with her. That would be fun. Two Neptune kids just hanging out at the bottom of the pool, having an underwater discussion, that would be fun. However, Alistair glanced upwards after sitting at the bottom of the pool as he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was a girl and she pointed upwards. Alistair nodded as the girl kicked up and surfaced from the bottom of the twelve foot deep pool. Alistair coiled his legs and shot upwards, he surfaced and took in a deep breath of air. It was cold, his lungs felt better under water then they did up on dry land. The gentle pressure against his skin in the water was much more comforting then feeling the cold wind on his skin.


Alistair clambered out of the pool, completely dry. Even his swimsuit was already dry after being out for a few seconds. He frowned. Most of the time he loved the smell of the water, the salt on his skin, but it was dry and it was irritating most days. Alistair watched the girl dry the fox off. "Here, use my towel to keep yourself warm." Alistair picked up his green towel from a peg and draped it around the girl in front of him as she dried off the little white ball of fluff that was in front of him. The way she spoke to the animal was sweet and calming. It sounded like the way that Alistair talked to Titus or some of the fish that he met in the lake or in the oceans. Heaven forbid he relive that one time he went to the aquarium when he was little. Alistair was so embarrassed after that, he hid in his dorm room for the next two weekends. Later he realized that he wasn't a freak of nature (at that particular point in time), He was simply the son of the king of the sea. Fish were bound to follow him no matter where he went. Alistair knelt down and concentrated, using his hydrokenetic abilities to pull the last bit of water off of the fox. "There you go little guy." Alistair said as he threw the ball of water he collected off of the fox and threw it back into the pool.


"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry the little guy." Alistair apologized. This girl spoke flatly and it seemed like she was acting like Edmund, rather emotionless. Alistair really wondered how many Romans around here were emotionally constipated. She looked like she had swallowed a lemon, that probably meant she recognized him as the Roman with the drinking problem. Perfect. Just what he needed. Alistair never drank enough to be drunk, He was also no son of Bacchus. Now that guy was weird. "I really didn't mean to worry him. I didn't think there would be anyone here at this time of night, or in the winter none the less." Alistair stated as he surveyed the pool, save for the three of them, there was no one in the immediate vicinity.

[Deleted]

The man came out completely dry. If parentage had not before been completely obvious it had to be now, she payed little attention to him as he went off out of sight. Soon something soft fell upon her shoulders startling her, it was not something she had expected. Not knowing if he was actually being nice, or if it was the compelling feeling guys seemed to have towards girls. She was not about to turn it down at the moment, it really was chilly out of the water. She chose to leave the towel be, not bringing it closer or tossing it off her shoulders. After she had gotten the little fox as dry as possible with a now soaking wet towel, the man pulled water directly from his fur making him nice and puffy. Rhiannon couldn't help but smile and give a small laugh as she pet him. “He's just a nice little fox, worries about everyone.” she said her voice just a bit more cheerful when talking about her favorite little fluff ball.

Rhiannon stood to her full height, back straight and with perfect posture as she normally did. She was still shorted than whomever it was that stood in front of her. Turning her back towards him she flattened her towel out to dry on a rail again. This time with much less hope than before. “Yeah, I hadn't expected anyone out here, especially since it was supposed to be so cold tonight.” She said coldly.

Rhiannon was not someone to keep her opinions to herself, and though she was not a fan of people who drank as much as he did, at least he didn't cause absolute chaos. It was always what happens when drunk that Rhiannon had a problem with, not the drinking itself. Kill your liver if you want, not my problem. He never said anything of it, at least not that Rhiannon had heard, but he did seem to have mood swings while drinking. It was a good thing his pendulum never went to the extreme of anger, but seemed more bipolar than anything. Rhiannon had not seen him much around camp, so she didn't know he acted the same drunk or not.

“My name is Rhiannon, this is Inek.” she said leaning against the rail behind her “You're forgiven, since you did get that last bit of water off him. He's smarter than most animal, so he knows how long people are supposed to live underwater. He's not too used to Neptune’s kids though, at least that's what I'm assuming based on...” she proceed to wave her hand gesturing at all of him.

[alistair]

Alistair wasn't sure what to make of the little white ball of fluff that was being cooed and adored upon by this girl. She wasn't like Cassie, gods, no one was like Cassie. But she was smart and from what he remembered of her, she loved this little white fox. He couldn't remember her name, but then Alistair wasn't much good with names. She gave a small laugh as he pulled all of the water off of the fox. Besides this little guy was really smart, Alistair had seen the fox around more then his owner. Come to think of it, Alistair never had a pet, though he hardly thought the fox was a pet. Well other then the horses that he spoke with in the stables, but horses were reserved for Praetors and cavalry. He wasn't quite sure what entailed having a pet. Alistair had spoken to a few goldfish that were true to their three second memories, that was as close as he ever got to a pet. "What's his name?" Alistair asked, his voice a bit gravely. That tended to happen when he stayed under water and used his nose fore breathing instead of his mouth. He had a really bad case of cotton mouth. Alistair grabbed his water bottle and took a long drink from it. He instantly felt relief come to his parched throat.


Alistair watched her hang up the soaking towel, she seemed a little bit irritated about it. But none the less as a man should treat a woman, Alistair stepped towards the towel and pulled all of the water off of it. He tossed the ball of water up in the air and caught it with his hand. Sometimes he hated being a son of Neptune but for the most part, Alistair loved having the hydrokenetic abilities. Manipulating water was so much fun. "Cold water feels the best. I'd probably be in the hot tub to soothe the muscles, but I decided to go for a cold swim first. Fun right?" Alistair probably knew why her voice was cold, but he was at the point of deciding to ignore it. She knew of his 'drinking' problem, that tended to be a problem that a lot of people had with him. Or maybe she was naturally cold and distant, much like Edmund. But at least Edmund was fairly nice towards Alistair. Well they didn't try to kill each other at least. There was once or twice that Alistair felt like he needed to kill someone, but then his pacifist nature took over and he went and dove under the mountain of paperwork in the infirmary.


Rhia. That was her name, the daughter of Trivia. Then she introduced Inek, the Fox, rendering his previous question to be a moot point. "I'm Alistair." He said, introducing himself to the girl standing in front of him. "He's smart. And for the record Inek, no one gets used to Neptune kids." Alistair said to the fox as he knelt down to talk to the fox like he was a normal person. "Yes I'm a son of Neptune. Camp curse at your service." Alistair said with an eye roll. He knew the whispers that floated around behind his back. He didn't care. After his service was up or when he didn't want to deal with the Legion he would go to medical school or maybe become an aquatic vet. That would be something right up his alley. And he could do some good, well if people around here would let him do good he would.

[Deleted]

He pulled the water from her towel, just as he had done for Inek. It was nice, and Rhiannon did not expect nice, especially with the tone of voice she had been using. “Thank you." she said clearly, smiling a bit as he tossed the ball of water. “I came for the cool water also, I suppose there was always a possibility of someone sharing that enjoyment, however it doesn't happen often." A simple comment, not entirely cold or annoyed at him, but not exactly warm either. Still a small step up to the voice she had been using only a moment ago. She felt she should at least give the man a chance, she was not a fan of writing people off immediately. The fact came that she did it, just as everyone else does.

Rhiannon watched from near by as he spoke to Inek, not in the baby talk one speaks to an animal in, but as a normal person. A true smile swept across her face, but only for a moment. She was glad someone finally spoke to him as an equal, instead of as a being of lower intelligence. That was often how she saw baby talk, it also made you look like an idiot. “I don't believe in this curse non-sense unless I see it myself. However it is nice to meet you, I'm sure Inek's happy to know your lineage. He may be my familiar, but unfortunately we can't share information without actually speaking about it. It would be great if we immediately knew all the information the other had. Wait...I don't think I want all of Inek's information." Rhiannon had to give a bit of thought to the idea, Inek knew more than Rhiannon ever wanted to about certain things. She knew he roamed around the camp by himself, and had little idea of where he went. The thought of him going to the male showers was not something she wanted to share. Often she didn't want to see the female showers.

“I don't believe I've seen you sober before Alistair." she said, curiosity bugging her a little at the back of her mind but nothing she was to concerned about. She left it as an easy subject to drop, or to avoid. Worst than judging people before knowing them was prying into their lives. Of course there were many people chased off by her bluntness, but she had seen how blunt some children of Mars could be, and they got along with people just fine. With some people. Sometimes. Rhiannon wondered how the people who were her friends now could stand it so long, she'd not change for the world, but she still wondered.

[alistair]

“cold water is great for burns and aches sometimes. I’m a big advocate when it comes to using water therapy for my patients.” Alistair commented in an offhanded voice, of course he would be an advocate for water therapy. Son of Neptune, lord of the seas and what not. “I prefer the cold water first thing in the morning, it really wakes me up.” He always did a good and long swim first thing in the morning, before the sun rose and the entire camp still in the process of waking up. Rhia spoke to Alistair, her tone moving from frigid iceberg to semi-flat. It was more akin to the same tone that Edmund spoke with him about things. He rolled the water around his hands and then, continuing to concentrate, Alistair wound the water around his body in a trailing manner, the water taking the form of a snake. It wrapped around his arm and gently caressed the underside of his chin. The water made snake flickered its tongue at Rhia. Alistair’s control came naturally to him, that and years of practice made this little bit of fun easy. The snake wound its way down Alistair’s leg and towards Inke, but it changed course and slipped into the pool where it blended into the water and vanished.

“It’s nice to know there is someone who doesn’t believe in the curse.” Alistair said, setting his jaw tightly. Stupid Romans and their superstitions, he couldn’t believe that such a people would believe in something of that nature. “Well in any case, I’m not cursed, I’m just unlucky.” Unlucky, that was something Alistair knew very well. There was a good bit of unluck, Fortuna must have had it out for him. OR his dad was trying to throw a good amount of things at him. Alistair mentally snorted at the thought; his dad must have totally thought he was a badass. “It would be cool if you could share selective information with him. I don’t think you want to know ALL that he knows.” Alistair gave a small laugh. He could only imagine where the fox went without Rhia’s knowing. After all, Alistair had seen the familiar wandering about camp by himself. Alistair had seen the familiar in the Infirmary a time or two. “Well Inek is more than welcome in the infirmary if he so wishes.” Alistair said with a nod of his head, it would be nice to have a distraction on occasion.

“I’m never sober, but I’m not completely smashed all the time.” Alistair commented. “Well partial true, I haven’t drank a single drop today. Trying to cut back from being that stereotypical drunken Irishman, that sort of thing.” Alistair shrugged his shoulders as he took another sip from his bottle of water. Rhia was blunt with her speaking, a good bit of Romans were like that. Not that he was bugged by that particular prospect. “Promised my dad I would cut back.” Alistair left the sentence hanging in the air. He wasn’t particularly proud that it took some divine doing to get him to stop drinking, but if he could get and stay sober, it would be something to be proud of. Though at the ripe age of just turning twenty one, that wasn’t something he should brag about.

[Deleted]

"I would be surprised if you were not an advocate of water therapy, given you're heritage. Though I can't say I agree with your method of waking, it certainly is effective when used. I would never participate in it willingly though." That is not to say that Rhiannon had never participated in it unwillingly. She was often difficult to wake in the mornings, but cold water to the face will often wake anyone. It was one of the reasons she had taken to creeping out of the barracks to sleep else where. She was most certainly not a morning lark, which was rather unfortunate given the ten year contract she had with the legion.

Watching the water shape and form in his hands was interesting, but Rhiannon would hardly want to be able to do such a thing. Her mother had been given access to sky, ocean and land, but Rhiannon was not one to trust something that was not made of metal. She supposed certain humans could be trusted, in certain ways. She trusted her friend Josh to watch her back in the war, but she would not trust him to not swipe things when in New Rome. No one could be trusted perfectly, but everyone could be trusted to do something. Even if that something was to mess up, or in a certain forge boys case, be a complete jerk. This one in front of her though, she did not know very well. Alistair was someone she had seen in passing, perhaps because they had not started together as Josh and she had, nor was he in her cohort, or even a forge boy that was necessary to go to sometimes. The water boy was just someone who was around.

"Some thing that if you are unlucky it is a curse, I believe that people have periods of good and bad luck. Which also mean I don't believe that an individual is unlucky, just going through a time of bad luck. Perhaps they can not see the good luck, whatever it may be." Rhiannon could not help but think about her life and the lives of everyone in camp. Demi-gods had such tragic back stories sometimes, but normally the people they met here would change that. It did not always happen, but Rhiannon liked to think the opportunity was always there. It was tragic back stories that bring up stronger people, when dealt with correctly anyway. It was a way of forging a soul, though many wished for the simple unmelted unformed metal their soul was before bad things happened. There had been a dragonlance book called Soulforge. Rhiannon pondered about where she had left off in the dragonlance series, until the annoying voice broke her thoughts. She had been talking to someone, she nearly forgot. "Inek tends to be accepted anywhere."

Rhiannon bestowed one of her few smiles that dealt with someone other than Josh and Inek. "That's good, sometimes it takes someone who cares about you to help you cut back. Tell me when you get to a week of sobriety, I'll take you out to lunch." she could not help but like when people were working on quitting something harmful. She hoped he would be able to make it. Alcohol was fine in moderation, but even Rhiannon knew if you became addicted to something, anything, moderation was more difficult to do than simply quitting.