open}{shadow of the day

[reyna drake]

i don't know if i'll make it
but watch how good i'll fake it

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with a loud, agonized groan that was thankfully muffled by the pillow that miraculously refrained from suffocating her reyna came awake, if only to bat aside the arm shaking her body as though the fate of the universe depended on her coming alive. which she didn't care to, truth be told. screw the universe. just this once. but the arm was damned persistent, and she knew the next move would be to lift one side of the mattress and roll her off the bed because, jupiter take it, she was the one to give the orders to do so. and so, with no small amount of reluctance she lifted her head and tried to swing one leg over the edge of the bed, which shouldn't have been too difficult as it was a standard issue single bed and not all that wide - but she was reyna drake, and being reyna drake, everything was difficult in the mornings. she tumbled off the bed regardless, landing in an undignified heap of blankets and limbs on the ground, and would have been content to just burrow a nest there and continue her sleep had the blanket not been yanked out from under her. evil, evil people. the sound of giggles reached her ears, coaxing a smile from her own lips. she'd been a member of the first cohort for more than three years, and you couldn't possibly spend that much time with a group of people without getting to know them. some were arrogant, some were quiet, some were gruff, some were playful - but they were all her cohort mates, and thus the closest she had to family. they knew she wasn't the most social or open of people, but if anyone could poke and prod her out of her shell and forget her troubles it was they. she was a sister, and she knew how it went. no matter what happened, they shared a bond.

for which she was exceedingly grateful, for it wouldn't do to have tales of her recalcitrant morning self to spread all over camp and cause her to lose respect. she may not be a morning person, but not everyone knew it, for which she again had to thanks her cohort-mates and the two cups of coffee they always made sure awaited her every time she woke. she didn't function without those two cups of coffee, which they well knew. was it any wonder that she loved them? the may have a reputation for being arrogant, and perhaps rightly so, but they stuck together. it was lovely, that sense of belonging. reyna half-smiled at this, which she didn't even know she could do so early in the morn, before throwing back a mugful of her life sustenance like some would do liquor, making a face at both the burn of the hot liquid and its taste. she didn't even like coffee, didn't understand why some actually enjoyed the bitter thing, but gods help her if she tried to start the day without it. when she first joined camp, she never missed muster thanks to her cohort-mates, but she never seemed to spend much of it awake. it took skill, really, to sleep on one's feet - but she managed it. she swallowed the contents of the second mug more slowly, alternating between inhaling the beverage - truly, even the scent made her feel a bit more awake; it had to be magic - and actually drinking it. after a quick shower - again, a part of her morning schedule and something she was absolutely impossible without - and a change of clothes into a tank top, running shorts and sneakers, a scrunchie pulling her long dark hair back into a ponytail, she was out the door.

it was the weekend and thus no musters were held, else she'd been forced awake far earlier than she had. on the other hand, while most romans were enjoying a bit of a lie-in - it was exactly nine o'clock, she knew, because that was when she always when she left the cohort in the weekends, and was the roman equivalent of sleeping til noon - and so few people were wondering about. perfect. she wouldn't go so far to say she was anti-social - some people would, but not she - but her morning runs was definitely a one-person thing. after a few warp-up stretches she started on her usual route, an easy run with her breathing carefully moderated, even as she cast her thoughts on other matters. it was a heavenly morning, still cool, and it was all hers. perfect.

TAGGED ! [/color]open!
NOTES ! sorry for the shortness!
WORDS ! 782
CREDIT ! MEELA![/url] on CAUTION 2.0![/font][/size]

[jasper stone]

Jasper’s hand fidgeted idly with his lighter as he walked, flipping the cap off and on repeatedly for no reason other than to have something to do. He could never be still for longer than a few moments in time; he had to keep moving, twitching, fiddling, doing something in order to keep some semblance of sanity. Sleep was awful for him, the constant hours of inertness and quiet, maddening. So, he was often awake at the oddest times of night, and up as early as possible in the mornings, wandering around camp or practicing blade training. He’d only gone to sleep about four hours ago, and he was already up and wide awake, ready for whatever would present itself.

The Son of Hades made his way out of the Argo II, wearing his usual faded jeans and leather jacket over his camp shirt, without acknowledging the other demigods around him. He wasn’t much for small talk, and his fellow campers had learned not to take his ignoring them to heart; it was just his way. Jasper wasn’t a social creature by any habit, instead preferring the solitude and calm of the night, or simply being alone with his thoughts in the woods. His favorite places were cemeteries though, as that was the closest he could get to his father. He wasn’t overly fond of the old man, but Hades was still his father, and he liked having some form of link with him, regardless of his mixed feelings. He wanted to love his father, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so; not with the fact that the bastard had let him live the way he had in Chicago, not to mention that he was basically the Greek’s version of the Devil. It was just…too much to take in, even after three damn years of knowing. He shoved the unwanted thoughts to the back of his mind and began jogging away from the Greek ship, hoping to kill some time before he was needed elsewhere.

As he jogged, Jasper’s eyes scanned around him, taking in the sights this strange place offered. He still wasn’t sold on the idea of Camp Jupiter, and had more than a little difficulty even talking to their Roman clones, let alone trusting them. He wasn’t sure what to make of the Roman demigods, specifically those who were Pluto’s spawn. He didn’t know if it was innate or simply his own mind, but he didn’t like them. The whole Hades/Pluto situation simply confused him, and it was hard enough to wrap his mind around the fact that his father was the king of the Underworld, let alone that there were two versions of him. Once more, it was something he didn’t need to think about, and so he buried it deep, along with the rest of his unwanted emotions and ponderings, and focused on his jogging. Putting one foot in front of the other as he picked up the pace, his arms pumping back and forth at his sides as he moved. He regulated his breathing as he ran, keeping it at a steady rhythm to match his steps. Jasper had been participating in parkour for years, and his legs were made of thick stuff, allowing him to run for longer and longer stretches the more he practiced.

Jasper wasn’t running anywhere in particular, he simply needed to run, get his blood pumping and his heart beating faster. It was a kind of meditation for him; he kept his body working and drowned out everything else around him while his mind went blank. He could deal with one problem at a time systematically, and get a good workout in the process too. He sped up his gait, pushing himself to go even faster as he ran under the morning light, the sun warming up the morning with every passing moment. It really was a nice day out, though Jasper did prefer rain himself; something about the rain pounding against the ground and cleansing the earth, the smell of it all afterwards, brought a smile to his face every time. Caught up in his musings, he almost missed the other person running in front of him. Frowning slightly, Jasper gained ground on the other jogger, and glanced her up and down. He felt like he should know who it was, but then again, he hardly remember the names of campers from his own neck of the woods, let alone the Roman camp. He remembered faces though, and he was sure he’d seen this particular broad somewhere recently, and he knew she wasn’t of his own ilk.

Smirking, the Son of Hades sped up once more, jogging next to the woman, keeping his face straight ahead at first. He eventually turned his head, offering the girl a smirk, almost in challenge, before charging forwards, pulling past her slightly. Jasper chuckled derisively in her direction as he moved, hoping she’d take up his unspoken challenge. He might not be fond of talking to the Romans, but he was more than happy to challenge and push them, gauging their actions and reactions. Jasper began elongated his strides, pulling forwards even further. Hopefully, the woman wasn’t the kind to turn away from a challenge.

This ought to be interesting.

Words: 907
Tagged: Reyna
Muse: Watercolour - Pendulum
Notes: half asleep when writing this, hope it's decent ^.^

[reyna drake]

i don't know if i'll make it
but watch how good i'll fake it

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even and steady, the cadence of her own footsteps soothed her, putting her in what she considered - a bit embarrassingly, if not for the fact that no one but her even knew of such a thing - to be the zone. she was far enough out of it to not have her thoughts and plans and plots bother her, to not be worrying about the necessary renovations with so and so buildings or news of gathering monsters in so and so areas, but conscious enough of her surroundings not to randomly be attacked for the gods only knew what reason - not a common worry in new rome but with the greeks recently arrived she didn't know what to think - and still able to enjoy the breeze on her skin. it was a nice balance. maybe her morning jogs weren't quite the thing for her health - it was hardly as though she needed the exercise, what with the gladiator training all the romans endured day in, day out - as the gods knew she needed what little sleep she could get, and somehow sleeping wasn't as bad in daylight. maybe her mother had some whole drama dating a couple of centuries back involving baddie creatures of the night, and the thing was genetics; maybe it was just her damaged psyche - spending the majority of one's life running from monsters were sure to have some side-effects, after all. at any rate, sleeping at night just wasn't for her - on the other hand, come morning, it was nigh on impossible to get her to wake. what a perfect catch-22. her life was just like that, and it was just a case of 'been there, done that, gotten over it while you were in diapers '

sleeping in reeked on lack of discipline - or self-indulgence. either of which she simply wasn't in the mood for. instead she ran - not to escape her problems, which she couldn't, would never, but to give herself the illusion of a certain freedom to do so. she ran in a circle, around everything, surveying the land so to say, before coming to a stop right where she started. she refused to think of the irony of that. instead what filled her mind was the steady thump-thump-thump of her running as she jogged past all the familiar sights. she didn't have to put on a smile for the people she ran past, for who bothered to smile while running? she could just run and be, and no one could possibly think her unfeeling or cold or whatever. she wasn't an awful person - at least, she didn't think she was - but she just didn't know, sometimes, what the perfect thing to say to bring's someone's mood up, or to build enthusiasm or spirit for anything. that just wasn't her forte. give her a sword and you wouldn't need to look any further for a leader - but take her blade away from her and she was just another teenaged girl, practically. she was growing, sure, but octavian's glib lies and percy's relaxed amiability was just something she could envy. she did have her high points, but she had to try so hard to say or do the right thing, and it was difficult. even more difficult was having to watch others manage everything so easily, so effortlessly, and pretending she didn't care.

they all had their cards to play, and at least she had a good pokerface. distracted by her own thoughts of self-pity, it was a moment before she heard the cadence of another sound just behind hers, practically copying that her trainers made, but maybe half a beat behind. gaining ground. frowning slightly - not an annoyed friend, harsh and unfriendly, she was too out of it for such an emotion, but more confused - she turned her head back slightly to eye her new friend. although that was an exaggeration. he was just some guy she'd seen around a couple of times, a greek. no one important - no one who was going to flag her down to talk about the fate of the world as they knew it or whatever. and so she turned forwards again, the length of the aqueduct ahead, with a small smile for him because it wasn't like he meant to annoy her, sought her out for the sole purpose of making her morning just a little bit worse. pluto, he didn't even know her. in battle, her quirk of expecting the worst of others and just proceeding for there was handy. in daily life, quite a bit less so. or so percy, her co-praetor, claimed, trying to coax her into a more relaxed mood with one of the effortless grins he seemed to have an endless supply of. but never had she been more annoyed for the score to be reyn 1, percy 0 as when the greek camper of name unknown picked up his pace to match hers.

she didn't even want to know what other campers would think, them jogging in perfect rhythm like they were doing - and for one moment she wondered if he wasn't even aware of it, that is was just another greek thing to do. unusual breed of people, the greeks. she didn't know the reason for their actions half the time, and after a while, decided she didn't much care to. octavian, suspicious thing that he was, was keeping a good eye on them and giving her regular reports. but the thought had barely crossed her mind when he turned to face her, smirking, so obviously throwing some sort of gauntlet. she may have grown up with her brother but it didn't take a person long to figure the male species out. they slept too much - or too little, ate - definitely - too much, and were constantly spoiling for a fight. quite a lot like her, in fact. and then, completely disregarding her wide eyes and shocked expression, he charged forward as though to do battle, turning back slightly to laugh at her as he did so. stupid male. stupid greek male. despite herself, she, too elongated her strides almost effortlessly, coming up beside him once more - but constantly just half a step ahead. though she didn't turn to him, a corner of her lips were lifted in a smirk as she matched him stride for stride - before launching into a sprint towards the acqueduct. that would be their finish line, then. because of her size she would never be the strongest fighter, but also because of her size she was damned fast. and, really, a little exercise never killed anyone. it didn't matter that she had a little head's start - she never said she played fair.

TAGGED ! [/color]open!
NOTES ! competitive little buggers xD also, your post was great so hushhh
WORDS ! 1150
CREDIT ! MEELA![/url] on CAUTION 2.0![/font][/size]