.Colorful As A Sharpie Marker[JT].

[*nike*]

The goddess of victory had found a new hide-out. Her number one hide-out was the Big House, but she preferred a change of scenery every once and a while. Because really, who liked staring at the mild case of mold developing near the floorboards? She didn't, that was for sure. It was less than appetizing, especially since Nike usually tended to bring a snack of sorts to eat while lounging in the house. Yesterday it was apple chips, original flavor. She found the other flavors either lacked actual flavor or were way too sweet for her taste. Especially the golden kind. Was it golden delicious? She pursed her lips, trying to identify what he name of the flavor was. Not that it was actually relevent to what she was doing. And it certainly wasn't important either.

One earbud was tucked securely into her left ear, the other one left dangling above the girl's knee. Her iPod was playing a familiar tune, one that she could easily sing along to if she had wanted to. But instead, she remained silent, well not completely silent. She made the occasional comment to herself, and was frequently saying something to Lila. Which was basically like talking to herself since Lila was a dog and couldn't really respond besides the simple bark. Not that she did bark back since she was running back and forth repeatedly, completely content with just venturing through the grass.

Her hiding place wasn't all that exciting, but well, it was a good hiding place. She had picked a spot right beside the creek. Nike liked it because no passer-by would even notice she was there. Maybe if the person stopped and actually took a look around, then they would notice her, but no one had so far. She figured no future person would either. It wasn't that she was in a bad mood or that she was feeling antisocial, because she wasn't. Her mood was excellent in fact, and she wouldn't mind it if someone actually took a time-out and paused to talk to her. So the reason why she picked the hidden spot she did? Well for the simple fact that it was comfortable, it had a nice view, and if she sat forward far enough, then she could dip her feet in the water. 

Nike was perched on a small boulder that was located right on the bank of the river. On each side of her, there were clusters of trees. She still found it interesting that no one had noticed her, for the simple fact that she was wearing a bright green zip-up jacket. It was also concerning her that these demigods were so unobservant. Not to the point where it actually mattered though.
    
On this rock, the girl was sipping a Starbucks drink and unsurprisingly doodling on her left leg with an aqua colored sharpie. For some reason, her boredom was cured by the simple act of drawing little hearts, stars, swirls, and the like. The like including an actually decent drawing of baby Simba. Before she had came to the river, she had been having a Disney movie marathon. The marathon consisting of the first and second Lion King and also Sleeping Beauty. Well actually she had also watched one of be James Bond movies, but that obviously wasn't Disney made.

Giving up on the prospect of doodling, Nike slid her legs into the water. It was a bit frosty for this time of the year, but it felt good all the same. And as an added bonus, her Sharpie made drawing didn't wash away! She hadn't really expected it too though. It was called permanent marker for a reason, which meant she was going to have a fun time getting it off later. 

"Well that's a bummer ," Nike mumbled to herself as her hat slid off the rock and into the water, although she didn't sound like she was all too bummed about it. Apparently it was another one of her good mood days, which she tended to have a lot of. The hat was one that anyone would expect her to wear. The lettering on the hat spelled out the word Nike, althouh it was pretty faded since she had had it for a while now. The only reason she wore the hat was because she felt it acted just like a name tag, not because she actually cared about the company. Tiltin her head to the side, she was already in silent debate mode. She probably should go and retrieve it, but that would probably require actually getting in the water, and Nike didn't really want to do that.

[/size]   

[jacob]

Archery, no. Pegasi riding, no. Iron work, let’s get serious. Arts and crafts? Maybe if it wasn’t “required” he might give it ago. He was actually a decent painter, but he wasn’t going to participate in anything organized. Plus when he checked in the arts and craft room, zero, count em, zero women. What was the point then? These kids at Camp Half-Blood really had a lot to learn. At least the dorks like Percy, Russian, and some Athena kid seemed to have their girlfriends already. That was a bad idea too, but better than no women at all. The only thing worse than one woman, was no women.

To that tune, so many of these girls were in fact, girls. Where were the women hiding around here? Jacob wasn’t in the mood for dealing with little girls, he was a troublemaker, but not a law breaker. Well there was that heartbreaker thing too, but that was rare. Mostly he was really a nice guy just worried about letting people get to know him too well. Sometimes he was too honest, but that was definitely part of his allure, he was an easy guy to get to know.

Today he was out of luck though; the adolescent and prebuscent children of this camp weren’t going to be enough to keep him here. He contemplated leaving, but as he walked aimlessly down Zephynos Creek, a glimmer of hope appeared out of the corner of his blue eyes that would hint at gray if this annoying sun would go down! What he did pick up despite the sun though was a hat floating in the water not too far from a pair of legs that certainly didn’t belong to any young girl.

Quickly, Jacob reacted and two thick grape vines shot out of the ground below, wrapped around his ankles, and transported him out of the water. The vines slowly rotated him over until he hung upside down until he was close enough to the water to grab the hat with his teeth. This entire time he leisurely held his hands in his pockets and they hadn’t moved yet. Having retrieved the hat, the vines were correcting his position, placing him right side up again. He did get to see what was stitched into the hat, and he had little doubt as to who it belonged to.

He was not wrong about the legs belonging to a woman, an immortal one at that, even better. The vines carried him all the way over to Nike until he was close enough to her to place the hat loosely on her head from his teeth. Slowly the branches set him down next to her rock and he leaned against it looking up at her now. “So we meet again my dear Nike. I hope you weren’t trying to get rid of your hat, it looks like it carries some experience with it.” JT calmly told her. Well this day was certainly shaping up to be a good one… finally!




Tag: Nike
Words: 517
Notes: Two posts from me in one day! Whoo!

[*nike*]

Poor hat, She commented internally, tapping her fingers on the boulder. It probably wasn't going to last much longer anyways considering the frayed edges and the discoloring. Obviously she had decided against going after it to fetch it. Either too much effort or the cold of the stream just wasn't worth it. Most likely neither honestly. She wasn't sure why, but she just wasn't all concerned about getting that one hat back. Actually it was probably because she had so many other hats that had the same exact name stitched on them. And that one hat was definately not her favorite. The goddess' favorite was a faded red cap with the words written in an off-white. It was old and there were accidental Sharpie marks, and paint splatters on it, but she still found it most appealing.

It took her about five seconds after that to get over the hat crisis that would permanently scar her..Not, She amended, glancing back into the woods. Scanning through them, she could easily pick out the black and white coat that so obviously belonged to Lila. She wasn't entirely sure that Lila wouldn't get lost or run across the property line and become hellhound chow. Though she did seem to be at least moderately smart for a puppy. She at least knew to stay close, and she would actually return when Nike whistled for her.

Uncapping a bright pink Sharpie this time, she drew a large heart on her hand. Hearts were her most preferred thing to draw. They were easy to draw, didn't take any time at all, but they were still cute. And they represented something, which was probably more than she could say for the aqua swirl on her leg. Glancing up at the sound of footsteps, she peered through the trees waiting for the person to pause, decide where they were going, and then keep moving. Or at least that was what the goddess was thinking would happen. Maybe she was wrong though because the pause seemed toast longer than those before.

Ready to turn back to her apparently extreme drawing session, she paused, only a little surprised at what happened. It appeared that someone cared more about the hat than she did herself. "Ah, right. The new guy," She identified him easily, her words too quiet for him to hear. Nike wasn't sure if he would really appreciate the nickname of the new guy, but she knew that she wouldn't prefer that title and that was exactly why she didn't call him that to his face. Even if it was a fairly accurate nickname considering he hadn't been at the Camp for a long time.

"Well, if it isn't my knight in shining..what is that, cotton?" Nike tipped her head to the side, gesturing at his shirt. Cotton was a fairly decent guess, she figured, since it was used in a lot of clothing these days. "My knight who most likely just got his spit on my hat," She pointed out, wet droplets of water falling from the hat and onto her legs. She wasn't actually too concerned about the spit problem because she highly doubted that, with his attitude, he drooled. Not to mention, the hat was easily washable anyways. "Wouldn't dream of it, darling." Nike replied, responding to his comment about her tossing her hat. "Though, if you were so concerned about it, you can keep it for yourself," The goddess smiled, placing the sopping wet hat on his head instead.

[/size]  

[jacob]

Nothing, and I mean, nothing, was simple with this goddess. Had she been a regular girl, then maybe he could find an answer to why she was the way she was, but not with Nike. She was difficult since the moment he met her, but he appreciated that. Hey if she just fell in his arms for getting her hat, then he probably wouldn’t have done so much to get the hat in the first place. Earning her attention was hard enough, earning her favor was a whole different battle.

Knight in shining cotton and spit? Not exactly. JT had a feeling that Nike didn’t believe that herself either. “Why must you always be so tough on me? Did I do anything that would give you a reason to, or do you just like me that much?” he said with a smirk, not really answering the question about what his shirt was made of or whether or not he spit on the hat. He was sure he wouldn’t drool, and even if he did, it wouldn’t do much to a water soaked hat.

When she put the wet hat on his head, soaking his head now as well, he couldn’t help but smile. “An exclusive Nike hat just for me? Well I’m honored,” he told her, not bothering to adjust the hat and letting it stay sitting atop his head. For a moment, he took the time to look at Nike and take in some of the smaller details about her. Besides the fact that she was clearly a beautiful woman there had to be more that attracted him to her so easily.

Easy was probably the thing that did it. Nothing was easy with her, but everything was easy about her. As complicated as that sounded, and it was probably even more complicated than that, it was true. Every time JT thought he took a step forward with her, he took two more backwards and then another five forward. It was like a weird game of Monopoly where she had hotels on everything. At the same time though, she was so easy going and carefree. She wasn’t going out of her way (or at all) to impress him or anyone else. She was just a really cute and fun goddess, what’s not to like?

Thinking about his mental scorecard that he kept of all of his interactions, he noted the update out loud. “Well this is the second time I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy your company alone. So maybe now I can actually get a chance to learn something about you more than just the fact that you like to draw sporadically on flesh,” he told her, actually very curious to get to know her better. She was so cautious with him sometimes though, he wasn’t sure how it was going to go today. Predictable was not exactly the word you’d say if you were playing word association and “Nike” was your word to pair something with.

[*nike*]

Nike wasn't one to spend time figuring people out. Sure she tried with Ryan, but she still wasn't sure why she was trying. Well that was a mystery for her to solve another time. As of current, she was studying the son of Dionysus. He didn't seem all that complicated to figure out. One thing that she was easily able to learn about him was that he was no doubt, a 'player' as one would say. If she was being honest, then yes she could say that he was charming, but was she going to share that information? Hades no! The only person she might share that with was that nice Apollo girl. But she didn't know Adonia all that well either.

The goddess shrugged, tapping her chin with her nails as she debated about an answer. "How was that tough on you? I just called you my knight, if anything that's a compliment." She insisted, amused by the demigod's smirk. It was a bit cocky in her opinion. Apparently someone thought a little highly of himself. "Oh, definately the second. It's just that I find you so attractive and wonderful that and I just treat you that way to hide my true feelings!" Nike exclaimed, letting out a faked dreamy sigh. Maybe the attractive part was true, but scratch that. The mortal at Starbucks was attractive.

Nike laughed lightly, adjusting the hat momentarily so it fit a little better. "Much better now," She claimed, brushing off a drop of water from the cap. "Are you checking me out?" The girl asked with one eyebrow raised in suspicion, though there was a very subtle flush of red in her cheeks. She noticed a little more details than other people, and the looking was one of the things that didn't go unnoticed.

It was almost as if he were looking at her as if he was running over both her physical and mental attributes. She would find it a little awkward if he was, for the simple fact that that type of thing hadn't happened to her in quite a while. Although it didn't seem that she had lost the complete ability to flirt. Okay actually scratch that note from earlier. The Starbucks boy had checked her out, but she hadn't really acknowledged that, because all she had wanted at that point was her mocha.

Nike tilted her head to the side, considering this response as well. "I draw on other things besides flesh," She pointed out stubbornly, crossing her arms and pushing out her lower lip in a pout. "And what exactly is it that you plan to learn about me?" She inquired, leaning towards him and putting one elbow on her knee to rest her head on. She didn't think that there were too many interesting things to learn about her, besides the things that she didn't like to talk about.

[jacob]

One thing Jacob didn’t have to really worry about trying to understand, was whether or not Nike knew she was cute or not. She was cute, that was for damn sure. Her little joking ways and that attitude she could bring out from left field had cute written all over it in Jacob’s eyes. She had a way about her that was going to test even his unbreakable patience. As soon as he had the thought about her, she did it again. Overly sarcastic and cleverly humorous, it was going to make him find more time for her, which was a feeling he didn’t quite like when it came to women.

Jacob smiled and stuck his chest out, obviously being sarcastic, “Well I didn’t know you liked your knights in cotton or else I would have been honored from the start, but it’s not too late!” he exclaimed. He wasn’t really honored, but he did listen carefully to her saying that she treated him the way she did because she was hiding her true feelings. She said it as a joke, and made a laugh out of it, but he tried to get a good read on it. So many times in his experience, humans made jokes out of things, because there was truth to it.

He could only wonder how much truth there was. There was a flash were it seemed like she thought he was okay, and then in a moment she was calling him weird or creepy. At this point he wasn’t sure how she felt about him, but jokes were more telling than people thought. He was a little in over his head at the moment though, because he’d never actually, well made a move on a goddess before. Then again, Nike wasn’t exactly the “I’m a goddess so get away from me” type when it came to demi-gods, which was good.

Right on cue, she adjusted the cap on him and asked what was probably obvious. He didn’t exactly try to hide the fact that he was checking her out in depth. “Well of course I am," he told her, knowing that it probably wouldn’t ease her suspicious nature about him. His powers were no use, or at least he assumed so. He had incredible control over a mortal mind, having the ability to produce arousal in just about anyone if they engaged with him. He didn’t try with her though. Maybe it could work on Nike, but for some reason, he didn’t want to try it. If she was going to be into him, he wanted it to be real.

The tilt of her head when she mulled over his overly simplified questions also struck him as charming. This woman would have driven him crazy could he not control his own desires as well as anyone. He could easily suppress these feelings or else, he’d have acted too much for his own good and she’d probably kill him or worse, reject him and leave him alive to live with a bruised ego. Still, no matter how attracted he was, or intrigued, or both for that matter, he had to keep his cool to really get a better appreciation for her.

When she stuck her lip out, protesting something he didn’t really say, he wanted it for himself. He knew better though, it wasn’t like he could just lean in and kiss it, so he, for the thousandth time, suppressed his wants. He didn’t say flesh was the only thing she drew on, but he let it go. He was pretty good at picking his battles so he focused instead on her question to him. She leaned in towards him, there was no way that she knew what was running through his head. Nike shouldn’t have that type of ability, but it was like she knew what was running through his mind. He wouldn’t give up so easily though, he had not play right into her hands.

Even though she already leaned in close enough to him that the distance was small, it was too much for his preference. He leaned in towards her, his lips drawing extremely close to her ear. He whispered into hear so quiet that even the nosiest of gods wouldn’t be able to make out his words. “I want to know…” he stopped for a moment and pulled back before moving his lips over to her other ear and whispering again, “everything,” he said plainly. He stayed there for just a millisecond before pulling his arms around her.

He knew that Nike appreciated hugs of any kind, but not always his own. Despite what she may have thought, he actually gave her a hug more innocent than those in the past. The water on his hat was dripping down his face and some probably on to her at this point, but he just… felt like hugging her because he was really appreciating the fact that she was just too fun to be around. He wasn’t exactly a hugger, but he felt like it was the best way to show his appreciation with Nike. He wouldn’t hug just anyone, but for her, it seemed appropriate. He knew in the back of his mind she was probably going to get mad at him, but he could only hope not.

[*nike*]

If Nike was going to describe this occurence in one word. She definately wouldn't be able to. Unless she joined all of the words into one long word that made absoloutly no sense. She was briefly thinking awkwardlyweirdbutstillinterestingandkindoftenseforareasonthatwasunclear. Oh and a little flirty. Maybe. Okay so she could describe in two words, but she would admit that it was probably considered cheating, cramming multiple words together. She wondered a bit what the new guy would think if she had expressed that outloud. Actually she probably could guess that one. He'd probably think she was crazy, but he'd probably also wink at her when she mentioned the flirty part.

"I love my knights in cotton," The girl replied matter-of-factly, a small smirk growing on her face. "Although I'd like to point out that I don't know that you're really wearing cotton. You never really specified." She glanced away from him briefly, still trying to keep tabs on Lila, but that was practically impossible. For one, there were a couple dozen trees that she was running behind. And two, this conversation was really distracting her. "It's a shame really, it could be polycotton." The goddess nodded absentmindedly, twisting enough so that she could read the own tag on her jacket. She had to give it a good tug to be able to see it, but she was at least able to read it. "Polyester and cotton." She mumbled, more to herself than to JT.

Nike raised an eyebrow, glancing up at the sky momentarily as if contemplating something. She turned her attention back to him a teasing smile on her lips. "I think you're about a minute too late. Application for being my knight, denied." She sang the last bit, the way she sang it actually acceptable for the word.

Still picky about the details, the goddess brushed some of JT's hair out of his face. "Sorry, I like looking at people's eyes when I talk to them, and you're hair was distracting me." She informed him, but she didn't really put too many specifics into that. Probably because the specifics included, his hair was distracting because it was a great color, and although she did usually like making eye contact, it was more for the fact that she liked the color of his eyes.

Cue another blush, this one a little more noticeable than the last. "Well you know what? Maybe I'll check you out then, since you're going to be so blatant about it." She informed him, managing a playful glare although it was probably ineffective with the blushing. And even though she had said what she was going to do, she still felt a tad uncomfortable doing it. But she did make a great show of looking him over for his benefit. Okay, maybe she found it a little beneficial to herself as well.

Why was it beneficial to her? Because he's attractive? She suggested to herself and even though it sounded questioning in her head, it definately was a statement. Although he was attractive in an obvious way, she managed to pick out a couple of flaws that she just thought made him look all the better. As she'd heard, sometimes imperfection was what made a person perfect. Apparently whoever had made that saying, had been more than correct.

Nike almost pulled back as JT leaned in closer, but she remained still in the same position. His words were beyond quiet, but with her hearing she picked up each one of them clearly. It was very hard to supress the shiver that ran her spine, and that was why she couldn't quite manage it. It was lessened, but it was still there. Hopefully the boy wasn't as observant as the goddess was.

Shocker number two: He hugged her. Not that Nike didn't appreciate hugs, because she obviously did, but she just hadn't been expecting it from the demigod. Despite that, she gave a small hug back, wondering what had provoked the hug. She whispered into his ear to comment, "Your hat is getting water on my face." The words were spoken with a laugh, and a small smile although JT wasn't able to see the smile.

[jacob]

The theme of his relationship with Nike was probably going to be tense. He anticipated her movements and responses and he knew that she probably did the same thing with him. It was interesting that two outgoing people that were pretty blunt could think so much and wonder what the other was thinking when they were so close to each other with all the privacy one could ask for save for the meddling gods who could probably overhear most of the conversation. He found it odd, but then again, the two were an odd pair from the start anyways, he was already over it.

Sometimes it was really hard to concentrate on what was actually being said by Nike. Her body language and mannerisms said so much more. It was the way children first learned how to read. They read books with large pictures that told the story, merely accented by the words that were printed at the bottom of the page. The words printed at the bottom of Nike’s pages were things about liking her knights in cotton, speculation about the presence of cotton, acknowledgement of her own cotton, and an application being denied.

The pictures though! Oh those told a fantastic tale that gave the words true meaning. It told him that Nike was being silly right now, which was his second favorite time to be around her. When she made those little stabbing jokes towards him and then lost herself in thought momentarily, her face went through a wide range of changes. He’d seen her face during different situations and had yet to find one that he didn’t like. “Well I guess if my application is denied it doesn’t matter what my shirt is made out of,” he said with a smile. She wasn’t the only one who could be hard to crack. He had a very different form of TCS, but it was there nonetheless. He may have been hurt by the denial if her book came with no pictures, but after that short exchange, he may as well have had armor on in his mind.

If he would have given thought to what the Goddess of Victory, Speed, and Strength would be like, he probably would have imagined a girl who was tough in every way. Not that Nike wasn’t tough, but she could be so gentle. The way her fingers moved his hair out of the way was the exact reason he loved women so much. His mother never showed him any care or affection, so the feeling of a woman’s touch was still new no matter how many times he interacted with them. Coming from an immortal hand though, well that just made it all the more breathtaking. She would never know it because he wouldn’t share these thoughts, but he had a feeling her saying she liked seeing “people’s” eyes while they talked was adding on to what she really meant.

“Well by all means, you can move anything you want if it makes you more comfortable,” he told her honestly. For as much hell as he got for being creepy, annoying, or anything of the sort, he really did care a lot about other people. That’s what made him so knowledgeable when it came to interpersonal relations despite not having any real friends or family. Had it not been for that, he’d be just a shell of a man sleeping around. Even then, he was sure he’d earn a reputation for that soon enough, but assumptions could do some nasty damage. He could only hope when it came to his reputation, someone would actually ask him questions and not just think what they wanted. If they did though, he wasn’t going out of his way to correct them.

He wasn’t in a position to object to her checking him out while he returned the favor. Actually, he was hopeful that he wouldn’t be the only one trying to figure out the other person. “That sounds like a good idea, I hope you can figure out what it is about me that keeps you so cautious,” he told her about as serious as she was being with him, which wasn’t that much. Her eyes were so pretty when she attempted a fake glare. She had a way of showing him emotions he’d never seen and he really paid attention. A blush combined with a silly glare and true intrigue was something he never witnessed. With her high cheek bones and beautiful eyes though, it was one he would be sad about when it went away.

After being so close to her, and then finally getting to embrace her, JT feared what he knew was coming. She had done a very good job thus far of coming close and pulling away, and on cue, she pulled away again by noting that his hat was getting water on her. Well her hat, but his now, but anyways the hat was wet, which was the point at hand. Since his head was to the right of her, it was the left side of her face that was getting wet a little bit. He released the hug with his right hand and took off the hat, gently sitting it on the ground for now. No more excuses he thought to himself.

Slowly he released his left hand from behind her and rested it on his shoulder, distancing himself enough to get a good look at her. If there was a downside to hugging her, it was not being able to see a face that told him so many stories of blended emotions and feelings. Her smile was so pretty, a word that he didn’t often use. Something about pretty was different than either cute or beautiful. Cute had a fun feel, beautiful a mature feel, and pretty, well he usually reserved that. He was definitely not going to say that out loud either. “Sorry about that, let me be solutions-oriented,” he said as he gently rubbed the water off of her left cheek with his hand. He shook it off and wiped it again just to make sure he got it all and then gave her cheek a gentle kiss for good measure. He pulled back and smiled at her, “Better?”

[*nike*]

It seemed as if they were playing some kind of game. Like maybe whoever brought up the unspoken words between them would lose. Sure they were talking a fair amount, but it wasn't as if there was actually any substance to those words. That or all of those words had some double meaning expressed through facial expressions, or simple movements made by each person. Nike didn't really have a problem with it though. Well, actually, she just didn't want to be the one to give-up and lose. Losing was a no-go in her book.

Games weren't a personal preference of hers though. Maybe board games, or possibly even the occasional card games. So long as they were strategetic games and not ones based on luck. The goddess of victory surprisingly lacked in the luck department. Although she did like that this seemed to be a thinking sort of game, at least this way she could keep up with it. Both of them seemed a little too stubborn to give up on it anyways. TCS, as he would say, Nike smiled briefly at that thought.

The girl bit her lip, chewing on the bottom one distractedly. It was an unbreakable habit that she was used to by now. She did it mostly when she was spacing out, or debating things with herself. Now was an example of both of those things. "O-oh, right," Nike snapped back to reality as JT started to talk again. Regaining a bit of composure, she managed at least a somewhat clever reply. "Shame, really. Because now I have no idea who is going to fill that position." Some of the effect was lost though because of her stutter a moment or two ago.

JT had seemed to notice the specifics without her even having to say them so she withdrew her hand. Slowly enough to the point where it wasn't suspicious, but also quick enough to avoid any further awkwardness. She'd admit that the new guy made her a little nervous. And unfortunately not in the way that came from being around a creepy person who seemed like a crazy serial killer. Oh how she would have preferred that way. Besides that, Nike just didn't like it when other people made her nervous.

"Well, that's very sweet of you." The goddess smiled sweetly in response, patting him gently on his shoulder. Okay so maybe he wasn't all that terrible. In fact, if she considered it, he was actually kind of nice. Maybe she'd even go so far as to say he was a gentleman, but she wasn't really sure on that one. Gentlemen generally didn't check girls out so obviously.

Nike rolled her eyes playfully, though she paused a little bit at then end. There was nothing all that wrong with him. Well besides the fact that he was a 'player'. "I have some trust issues," She explained simply, not sure if she wanted to delve farther into that subject. Her father was still a touchy subject to her even if it literally was thousands of years ago. Daddy's Little Girl was a hard title to ditch despite some occurences.

"Hatin' on my hat?" She teased, watching as he set it down on the dry forest floor. It wasn't that she actually believed that, so much as she was assuming that JT was simply trying to please her. That made her feel a little nice, since no one was all that chivalrous these days. The goddess was still very aware that his left arm was still slung around her shoulder.

Nike raised an eyebrow, wondering what exactly his solution was. Did he carry around one of those mini Kleenex packets? Because honestly, he didn't strike her as that type. And apparently he wasn't, because he opted to wipe away the water with one of his thumbs. Interesting technique, but hey, at least it worked. The kiss on the cheek, which made her flush bright red, was probably unnecessary though. "Much better."


[Sorry I had to modify one little thing because I just realized that I hadn't finished one of the sentences!]

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[jacob]

The good thing about books was that they were predictable to a certain extent. Maybe not the content, but at least about the length. When you pick up a book you sort of know what you are getting yourself in to. One can tell the difference between a one hundred page book and a six hundred page behemoth of collective literature. With Nike, there was no telling. The pictures were fun (and sexy) to look at, the words (again) less telling, but how long could this book possibly be? He wanted to jump to the end and find out, but he knew he had to press forward.

JT attempted to really gather his thoughts and focus on what he really wanted, which was to understand her. At the same time, he wanted to constantly embrace her, and it would probably be hard to do both. Another thing on his long Nike to-do list was to figure out how she felt about him. The more she fumbled over her words and relied on humor to hide what she was really feeling, the more he was learning. “If it’s really a shame, why not just forget the old criteria and change the way you see a knight. You might be surprised at what you get,” he told her, resisting a wink. He knew she didn’t care for it too much, but he knew that both of them wanted him to be her knight in any armor really.

Her touch was telling, but her lack of touch was discomforting to him. When she retracted her hand from his face and moved it over to his shoulder, he was pretty sure that Nike was joining him in the suppressing desires category. He wasn’t a dummy and he knew that a pat on the shoulder wasn’t how she’d react normally to someone who did something nice for her. Her going out of her way to be less than what she normally would be made him really want to let her free from that restriction. He didn’t get too bothered though, because her sweet smile was enough to make even his big mouth close momentarily. He didn’t even feel like finding a cocky response to her calling him sweet, her smile was enough for now.

He was always fond of grammar; the way a sentence was structured could say a lot about the true expression that it was meant to deliver. Nike saying that she had trust issues seriously had a period at the end of it. He normally tried to dig deeper into things but he wasn’t going to this time. She said it so conclusively. “Well I understand that, but I’m not going anywhere, so you have all the time in the world to trust me or keep me at bay,” he told her. She wasn’t the only one not pushing the envelope; he wasn’t too willing to talk about his own trust issues as well.

Only a small chuckle escaped his lips when she questioned him about the hat. He’d more than gotten used to her distracting comments and gestures when she tried to avoid what was really going on. He knew that his kiss on the cheek was unnecessary, but so was the hug, so was their friendship. Neither one of them really needed each other per se, but damn he wanted her. He had a hunch she might want him too, but he knew that it was less likely than how he felt about her. Her final answer to his question was all that he really wanted to know though. In life, you’re not only held accountable for what you say, but for what you do not say as well. The lack of humor, slick comment, or any of that told JT that maybe they were closer to feeling the same than he though.

Slowly he moved his left arm from around her to under her right arm, and did the same with his right arm. Now he had more of the hug that he wanted, moving himself in closer to her. Taking away the distance between their bodies was wonderful. The rock was the only thing that was really in his way now, and he knew he couldn’t get rid of that, so moving their bodies was the only option. He pulled her into him more, and soon lifted her body off of the rock altogether. He pulled his face back and looked right into her eyes. “Better maybe… but not good enough,” he said very slowly. As much as he wanted to keep looking at her, he traded one good thing for another, closing his eyes to lean in and finally go for his kiss.

[*nike*]

She had officially decided on what game this was. It was the board game Risk. In that game, the objective was to take over world using strategy. The game was an endless one, one that could last for hours, even days if you had the right opponent. And JT seemed like the perfect opponent, managing to keep at least half of the board to himself while she had half herself. Both were strategic enough with their responses and actions to set the other off-balance. Nike couldn't honestly say that she liked being off-balance, but she liked that JT could send her off-balance. If that even really made sense.

"You have a good idea there," She admitted, studying his eyes intently. It seemed that he was calculating something, maybe trying to use what she said and the way she had said it to figure out something about her. The stutter hadn't gone unnoticed, that she could tell. He didn't mention anything about it, but somehow she just knew that that slip-up was working against her in a way. Too much thinking, She complained internally, but she preferred that over a simple, obvious conversation with another person any day. It was nice to be challenged.

Was that disappointment that she had noticed when she took her hand away? She could've sworn that she had seen it, but she credited that to just her wanting to see it. "I think I will do just that. Maybe my knight expectations are different than what they should be," The goddess agreed, nodding her head absently. She didn't mention what her changed expectations would be, but she thought that if he was on the same page as her then he would already know.

There was an almost wariness to JT's tone as if he had his own problems. Which she didn't really doubt with him, he just didn't seem like one to have an easy past. "Thanks," Nike replied quietly, instinctively crossing her arms over her stomach, where the physical scar was located. It wasn't that she didn't trust JT about it, so much as it was just natural to her now to cover the scar. She'd shown it to Ryan, but only because she knew that he had gone through much worse.

Also once thing that she had noticed, was that he had a great laugh. Well that is, if a chuckle counted as a laugh. Which she would just so that she didn't have to go into specifics for every little thing. If she did, then she might just go crazy. Or maybe a little more crazy than she already was. Okay maybe crazy wasn't quite the right word, she found that a little drastic. Random, yes. Weird, yes. Maybe the right word for her was unique. It wasn't offensive, but it was still accurate.

Nike glanced down at her arms, surprised that he had grasped for them. She hadn't really been expecting that, which if she thought about it, she probably should have seen it coming. The goddess slid a little as he pulled her closer, accidentally knocking her elbow on the rock. Graceful, that was not. She commented, but refrained from saying anything allowed. It wasn't his fault that she wasn't the most graceful, and that the boulder was a little more slippery than expected. She bent one knee, trying to keep a little leverage using the rock while she wrapped the other leg around JT's back. She did not need to fall on her butt right now. Nike hesitated briefly, debating whether or not this was such a good idea. She decided on, who really even cared if it was a good idea? Closing her eyes, she met him halfway, pressing her lips against his gently. There was an intensity behind the softness of it that was noticeable, at least to her.

[jacob]

Risk, what a wonderful board game. Nike may not have understood exactly how perfect this evaluation was, but it could even be expanded from her ideas. Many strategies could work in risk but of course getting to any continent was a solid strategy. This was a Nike strategy through and through. It was a powerful defensive maneuver that didn’t have much depth to it. This is simple, you have only one vulnerable spot, and by protecting it strongly, no one can really fully break through and beat you. Australia was small, and also had only one way in, so it would have to be a strong direct attack.

There was one problem with this otherwise sound strategy. It offered little mobilization and aggressive expansion. This is why JT was the person who would quickly go after South America. Well first of all, South America had some really beautiful women; great dancers too, can’t lose with that combination he thought. Anyways, it offered a quick continent which could bolster his number of troops, but then it gave him paths to different continents he could take over next. He hated not having options, and had he gone the Australia route, he would feel too closed in and dependent upon his defenses. The two conflicting styles were working so well right now, but who knew for how long.

His thoughts got muddled for a moment and then he realized that he wasn’t doing anything that he was supposed to be doing. Right now this was about Nike, not about how he approached life with a lot of ambition, but too much vulnerability. She did say that her knight expectations were off, but that just raised more questions than anything. He didn’t know what she was going to change them to, and honestly, he didn’t know if he’d fit them. He knew it was arrogant to believe that he was who she wanted to be her knight, but he wasn’t very… knight like at times. More like, a peasant with nice eyes that seemed like a good idea until you considered the family.

He didn’t know how to really put into words what he was feeling. He felt a lot of shame with a sprinkle of guilt. He wanted to be a better man than he was. He genuinely cared, and wasn’t the type that just slept around, actually those surprises would come later when it came to figuring out JT. Either way, he wanted to be that guy who could be someone’s knight, but he didn’t really know how honestly. “Well you’ll have to give me more details there, I’m not sure I know what that change is going to be,” he said. He couldn’t fall into the same trap of making assumptions that others did with him. He needed to hear what she was going to be requiring from her knight before he ruled himself out.

He didn’t know what exactly she was feeling. “Thanks” wasn’t sufficient for figuring Nike out. Things were going good though, so he assumed that she found comfort in his declaring that he wasn’t going anywhere. He didn’t say whether or not she should trust him, but that he was fine with whatever she so chose to do. Either way, he had to worry about his own trust issues and how much he was willing to make himself vulnerable to Nike. Well he wasn’t willing to make himself too vulnerable to anyone really, especially not a girl that he had to admit he liked a lot.

(Jimi side note: Can we get to the good part? YES!!!)

Separating her from the rock was definitely smoother to him than it was to her. He felt like it was seamless, but then again, had he thought something went wrong, he wouldn’t have continued the rest fluidly. At any rate, feeling her legs wrap around him was enough to make the hug alone better. The kiss though, well there was too much to say about it. First, he was just thinking about not making himself vulnerable, he did by leaning in for a kiss without even checking to see if she was receptive of the idea or not.

When their lips met, it was ten percent what he expected. What he did expect was for it to feel incredible. This probably sounds arrogant because it is, but they were two dynamic people that just met in an extremely physical and emotional way. Kissing wasn’t something that JT took lightly, and apparently, neither did Nike. What he didn’t expect, was how gentle this woman could be again. For the second time in their interacting today, she proved just how feminine even the most athletic goddess could be. Her lips were soft again his, a feeling that made him feel powerful in a way that didn’t exactly imply dominance. It just made him feel strong to have such a strong woman be so feminine with him.

He took a few steps back with her, unwilling to let his lips depart from hers as if they were going away if he did. As he continued back towards the creek, he gently pulled at her bottom lip with both of his, claiming it as his own for a while. Without looking back, he let them fall backwards, making it less than one foot down without a bed of grape vines catching him and wrapping around them, gently letting them down into the creek. Zephynos creek was going to have some company on this afternoon. Encased above and below by grape vines, openings at the ends to allow them to breath, they could travel downstream as long as the creek could run. Now flat on his back with her on top of him in an artificial bed (ironically a water bed), he looked up at her, finally parting from his kiss.

“You know I never know whether to keep kissing you or not. When I do, I miss looking at you, and when I don’t, I miss kissing you.” It was quite the conundrum, but there were bigger problems that he could have. In fact, this was a rare catch twenty two situation where both ends were actually more positive than they were negative. He didn’t exactly know what she could do about it either, but he could only smile at her, enjoying her pretty eyes until she decided she missed kissing him too.

[*nike*]

Each strategy was effective depending on how the player used it. That was the key to becoming a successful player. Understanding how the strategy you came up with actually worked. It was possible that when JT would invade South America, he might set up defensive blocks at each entrance or exit depending on how it was viewed. These defensive blocks could also serve as the front for an attack because the two spots could easily gain passage into Central America or Africa. It was admittedly a pretty good strategy.

Nike preferred to use Siam as a place for her defense. After she built up a sufficient army in that area, then she could attack the surrounding areas. It was a well-working strategy as well. This made sense since both of them seemed to plan a little in advance to work to their advantages. The real question was: how would the game pan out? Best case scenario for the two would be for a continuous struggle to try and win. Worst case scenario would be for one of them to get kicked off the board.

Glancing at JT, the goddess noticed a semi-vacant look in his eyes like he wasn't paying attention all too well. Remaining unbothered by that, she took up the opportunity to consider things for herself. Was she being a little too trusting for her own good? Sure, she hadn't always been the most cautious person, but this one was making her think about that a little. The last person that she had really, completely trusted was her father, and look how well that had turned out. She'd been betrayed, left, and stabbed all within a short time frame. Somehow she doubted that the demigod would stab her, but she couldn't honestly say the same about him leaving her or even possibly betraying her. So far, she thought that JT was a good guy, but then again the same went for her father. Someone had once told her that she needed to stop comparing everyone to him, because not everyone would leave just like him. But she just couldn't help it.

Nike chewed on her lip again, wondering how the expectations would go over. They weren't complicated at all, it's just she wasn't exactly sure what the reaction would be. "There are no details to share." She explained honestly, pausing for a moment. "He can be my knight if he cares enough to. Nothing besides that." The goddess elaborated, though it wasn't much to go off of. "No rules, no expectations, no qualifications. Nothing." She repeated the word, and it oddly sounded just right. Like that should have been the definition of what her white knight needed to be all along. Perfectly defined in just one simple word.

She absently ran a finger over the shirt, in the exact form of the scar. The immortal knew exactly where it was, without even having to see it. It was like a tattoo that you had memorized. Except a tattoo could be removed and the scar really couldn't. Covered up, yes, but never really removed. Not that she really wanted it covered up. It served as a reminder to her, and it also served as just a memory. A memory of what used to be, and what was now.

Needless to say, her elbow didn't hurt terrible. Although, she was quite sure that she had skinned it. And alright so she wasn't planning on moving away from the rock, so she did bang her knee a little too. Stop thinking about it, She chastised, wrapping her other leg around him as well so as not to off balance herself. That part at least she was able to pull off without injuring another body part.

The kiss wasn't nice. It wasn't nice, it wasn't good, it wasn't great. And it wasn't any of those things, because in Nike's honest opinion, it was way better. It was obvious to the girl that JT hadn't been expecting her to have such a gentle kiss, because he had a pushed forward a little as though he had been automatically expecting a push back. Their styles contrasted in a near, if not purely, perfect way.

Nike had been expecting the kiss to end there, but apparently the demigod had other plans. Not that she was really going to protest to a little more kissing. Surprisingly, she didn't protest to the small gesture that acted as a claim. Sometimes she would have had a problem with that, but she didn't as of current. She did pull back for just a second, as he purposefully fell backwards. The girl hadn't really been expecting that, and had almost been waiting for the icey splash of water. It didn't come, and she guessed that she should have known that too.

That provoked a blush, the red color flooding the goddess' cheeks again. "Well we could always just face away from each other. Then the option would be neither," She suggested teasingly, although she didn't really like that idea, herself. Scrunching up her nose at the idea, she reached the conclusion that JT had a very good point. "Hard decision, really," She mumbled, looking straight at his intense eyes. She knew that he was waiting on her for the next move so she settled on a very quicky peck on the lips before pulling back.

[jacob]

The only thing certain about the game of Risk was that at some point its namesake would have to come into play. It was beautiful to watch two generals struggle with that undeniable fate while they built up defenses. For some reason, defense was the strategy of competing generals, but it was never enough to conquer. At some point, no matter how strong the defense, everyone has to be made vulnerable when they take that risk that could be enough to win it all or be the end of them. Decisions, decisions.

As the weight of the expectations that JT was constructing in his own head were closing in on him, he had a familiar feeling sweep over him. It was déjà vu all over again for him; he was getting an eerie feeling and hiding it well because this wasn’t new. It was like the final plague foolishly written about in the Judeo Bible from the book of Exodus. The spirit that crept through Egypt taking the first born haunted him. Though obviously it never happened because no Greek God would do that, he shuddered at a force he was helpless in stopping.

As quickly as the fear came, Nike took it away. Like the Jewish slaves of Egypt supposedly did all of those years ago, she gently brushed a stroke of blood over his doors, keeping that spirit at bay to skip over to the next house. When she delivered her expectations or lack thereof from her knights, the weight was taken off of his shoulders for a moment. There was a millisecond where he almost longed for the pressure one more time, just to have an excuse to run and hide. He longed to be the coward that he’d grown comfortable looking at in the mirror, but she might have just taken away the last hope of an excuse he was clinging to.

There were just so many women in the world. Of the plenty that Jacob met, more than enough were willing to give him a fair chance. He always complained about that, but on the inside he was just a scared punk clinging to a fire hydrant during a hurricane of mediocrity. The fact of the matter is, Jacob knew he wasn’t man enough to deserve Nike under normal circumstances. Now though, if she meant what she said just now, he couldn’t blame her for his coming up short. “Sadly I’m good at nothing, but if that works for you, I can do that. It’s high time I changed my own rules for being JT anyways,” he told her though he didn’t explain. She probably had a good idea though from conversations past.

As she ran her hands over her physical scar concealed by her clothes, JT was doing something similar. Though his scars weren’t physical and didn’t need clothes to cover them, they were there. His scars didn’t come from a physical attack, but were holes dug over time from a lack of nurture. He concealed them by filling them with the dirt of his brain. He would mask his emotions well, always under control on the outside. He could toy with other people’s emotions and make charades of his own, but he could never change them altogether. When JT was a child he was never hugged, never told that he was loved, and never made important at all. So in that absence he created self importance, he created love of self, and he created the affection through outside sources. Still, he couldn’t predict what he’d do if it ever meant something powerful, so he never let it develop at all.

Developing, burgeoning, sparking, igniting, forceful artificial selection of emotions all taking place at once. He didn’t have much say in the matter either. It was his fault. He decided to pick her up, and he tried to kiss her. Now he had no choice but to let the array of emotions pour themselves into his blender of a brain. The passion of the kiss, the trust of the soul, and the mutual respect from the hearts all came together into one as he tried to make sense of them in his simple mind. Together a rainbow of feelings cascaded over his darkened world full of rain and for just a moment, he couldn’t control it.

Though the bottoms of the bed of vines was so well woven together that they wouldn’t let even the tiny molecules of oxygen with a double hydrogen bond seep in and soak the two newly romantically connected individuals. Still, it wasn’t tight enough to keep the insecurities that JT was fostering within slip through the microscopic holes between the tight grasp each vine had with its partners. Slowly but surely his mind was becoming a battlefield that would have frightened Alexander the Great with its complexities.

While his flank was being attacked by insecurities and new emotions he hadn’t learned to manipulate, his rear was being hit hard by vision of the future trying to pounce forward into his short distance expectations. While that was going on, there was a full frontal assault of beauty and playful charm that he already announced he couldn’t resist yet had to put away if he was going to pursue the opposing general’s soft and gentle lips. He was glad that he’d placed the burden of command in her court for once, and he wanted to laugh when she gave him a small peck.

“That’s your solution to our harsh predicament?” he asked jokingly in response to her kiss that served as more of a tease than anything. It was like splashing water on a fish that desperately wished to get back to its home. He knew that wasn’t the only kiss left that she wanted, and she probably knew that it was mutual. “You’re so cute when you blush, just in case you didn’t know,” he informed her before picking his head up all the way and kissing her whether she met him or not. Feeling like this, JT didn’t have time to be a coward, he was going to have to get what he felt he deserved all along. Nothing with Nike would be easy, but she knew the same was true with Jacob anyways. All they could do was work at it, enjoy the arguments, and enjoy making up even more. This was a good start…

END!!!