Cold As Ice {Open}

[blake]

Okay, so Blake didn’t get out much. He was about as shy as it was possible to be, didn’t really have a distinguishing personality (unless showing few signs of ADHD was distinguishing, which perhaps it was in this place), wasn’t hugely popular, didn’t know anyone save for his brothers and that Annabeth girl that had come to his cabin when Erik had nearly blown the roof off (again). So, all in all, he was a nobody. Not that he minded all that much.

He sat cross-legged near the campfire ring, which was completely devoid of people as it was the middle of the day. On his lap he held a plain bowl, which he’d managed to get from the dining pavilion, filled with water. It didn’t seem like much, but this was one of his ways of practicing. He was, after all, a son of the North Wind and Lord of Winter. And what showed the presence of winter better than water? He started just taking a deep breath and focusing like he usually did. It was always an odd feeling, though he was growing accustomed to it. The breeze started to pick up, a cold, biting breeze, even though it was summer. A scrap of paper blew across the campfire ring, along with some forgotten ashes picked up in the growing gust. Ripples started across the water in the bowl and some of it started to splash out, but, unfortunately, that was it.

The wind died immediately. Plan two. He’d heard that his father could do this on a massive scale, but he’d never tried it himself. Well, worth a shot. He took a deep breath and blew on the water in the bowl. The ripples came again, but the stopped almost immediately. Around the edges of the bowl, tiny hairs of ice started to creep across the surface of the water. He paused as briefly as he could, just to inhale again, then kept trying. After a couple minutes, he stopped and smiled. Holding the bowl out, he turned it upside down. Thunk. A bowl-shaped chunk of ice fell to the ground. “Cool…”

[*nike*]

Nike sauntered slowly through the woods, making her way to the demigod camp which she visited frequently. The sunlight cast down upon her, warm and delightful but there was a cool breeze along with it making the goddess wrinkle her nose in disgust. She wasn't a fan of the cold except for when it rained and very seldomly when it snowed. Rain she could deal with because it was simply fun and it was in its own way, sort of cheerful and refreshing. Snow on the other hand was only good for its beauty, skiing, sledding and don't forget building a snowman.

A white cardigan was wrapped around her, shielding her from the wind. In accompaniment, she was a wearing a simple black tank top and a pair of jean shorts. Shorts to Nike were a much needed thing, she preferred them way more than jeans, even during the winter. Her eyes were focused on the pair of sneakers she had worn today, so much so that she almost collided head on with the tree that protected the camp's borders. "Whoops!" The brunette giggled, sidestepping the tree and continuing in to the camp. Out of habit she was headed straight for the Big House but something, or more accurately someone, caught her eye.

Diverting off her original course, Nike wandered down to the Amphitheater, drumming her fingertips along the inside of her cardigan's pocket. Coming up quietly behind what she now could tell was a boy, Nike peered over shoulder, examining what he was doing. A bowl of water? She arched an eyebrow but her silent question faded as the water slowly started to freeze over, creating a thick sheet of solid ice. "Nifty," She spoke up for the first time since she had come up behind the boy.

[/size]

[blake]

Blake jumped, dropping the bowl, which rolled away. He hadn’t thought anyone was watching! Much less right behind him! He turned around, his already pale face still a bit paler than normal from the surprise. “I-… I-… um…” He swallowed. Gods, why was he so horrible at talking to people? Hmm, maybe because his dad, Boreas, was rather the independent aloof type too? Yeah, that could do it. Didn’t make it any less embarrassing though. Nor did it make this camp any less hard to live at, what with so many people. “Um… thanks…”

He felt like an idiot. And probably sounded like one two. But that couldn’t be helped. He wasn’t sure who the girl was (and, naturally, was too tongue-tied to ask), though he at least knew he’d never seen her before. Though that didn’t mean anything at all. He hadn’t seen most of the people here, mostly because of his own doing. She seemed nice though. Or, if nothing else, at least bubbly and energetic. She reminded him strongly of his youngest brother, Zack. Though the outfit looked more like she’d just come from some sort of sports practice. They didn’t have tennis courts or something here, did they? He didn’t think they did. Then again, there was that not-getting-out-much thing that was an inconvenient little barrier to knowing much about the camp. They could have an entire YMCA and he wouldn’t know about it.

[*nike*]

Nike pursed her lips together, laughing slightly as the the bowl escaped the boy's hands, landing with a muted sound on the grass. She walked around him, taking a seat on the ground across from him. Making herself comfortable, she rolled over onto her stomach, propping her head up with her hands. "You're welcome," An amused smile played on her lips as the demigod stuttered over his words. Already she was liking this boy more than the Ares kid she had met. Although considering, he had only said like two words but at least he didn't growl them."You're funny...In that kind of tripping over yourself, awkward and not on purpose way. And that's a good thing!" Nike added the last part quickly, not wanting to offend. Sometimes the best kind of joke was the one that wasn't intentional.

Staring at the person across from her intently, Nike decided he must be very antisocial because he seemed content or maybe more likely comfortable in the silence. The girl thought it was kind of an awkward silence, on the other hand. They sat in silence for a few moments and he looked like he was about ready to start twiddling his thumbs. "Nike," She gestured at herself, sort of introducing herself to him. After another moment of semi awkward silence, she piped up again. "This is where you say 'Hi I'm Eugene,'" The brunette added, pulling a random name out of her head. "Although I really hope that's not your name because that would be cruel of your parents to stick you with that name. And it would also be weird that I actually guessed your name." Nike tilted her head to the left, clicking the heels of her sneakers together behind her. They were appropriately Nike brand, which the goddess felt it was slightly humurous but no one else seemed to find it as funny as she did.

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[blake]

Okay, so being called funny, especially in a bumbling awkward kind of way, was certainly not what Blake had expected. Oh great, he thought. Well at least I can act like enough of a dork that I amuse other people… Not the most reassuring feeling. And her attempt to make it sound positive only did so much, though he did try for a smile at least. He knew his shyness was an annoying problem, after all, and that he had a lot of problems talking to other people. That, and he wasn’t really used to other people talking to him either. He shifted his feet a bit, uncomfortable.

And then she broke the silence and he looked up from where he realized he’d been staring at the dirt. “Oh…um…” Gods, why was he so bad at this! Why couldn’t she have picked someone actually social to talk to? Then he realized that he was, in fact, being really rude. “Oh! Right, sorry… I-it’s nice to meet you, Nike. My name’s Blake. Blake Aileron.” He felt completely embarrassed that he had let his manners slip so horribly. He paused though, when he noticed something… her name… he’d certainly never heard that one before except in shoe companies and he thought there might be some greek hero or deity or something with that name. Though why someone like that would be here now was beyond him. Must just be coincidence.

After the horrible fail, he decided maybe he’d try to make amends. Not that he was any good at conversation. He dug his toe into the ground, glancing at the slowly melting bowl-shaped block of ice. “So, um, what brings you out here in the middle of the day, Nike?”

[*nike*]

"Lovely to meet you, Blake," Nike bit back a small laugh, sensing how uncomfortable he was feeling. Apparently he wasn't much of a 'social butterfly'. His name didn't sound familiar but she figured why would it? Not like she paid too much attention around here. "Son of a minor god?" She asked, pursing her lips, taking into account the fact that the Olympians were very social. In fact she couldn't think of one who could be as shy as the kid across her. "Don't really have a guess though...I'm kind of a bad guesser." She mumbled, staring blankly at the bangs in front of her face. Betting on the outcomes of war on the other hand.. Nike smiled to herself, recalling the current bet she had going with herself.

"Boredom?" She offered, trying to think if she had any other reason to be here. "And your positively stimulating personality," Nike quipped, lifting her lips slightly so he knew she was just teasing him. "And yourself? Besides the whole nifty water/ice trick." The goddess waved it away, complimenting but also letting it slide a little bit. She figured if she focused on his water trick, which she did truthfully think was cool, then he would just flush a deep shade of red and stutter some more.

(I'm sooo sorry that was horribly short!)

[blake]

Okay, maybe Blake could at least try to be a bit more outgoing… try. “Um… yeah. My dad is Boreas. The North Wind, and the Lord of Winter. Guess that’s why my personality’s not too warm,” he added with a tentative laugh. Oh, gods, that was bad… Knowing his luck, he’d be blushing too. “Sorry, that was lame…” He sat for a moment. Think… think… “Um… what about you? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”

Boredom. Yeah, that seemed like a good enough reason to be here. Was pretty much why he was here too. He let out a short laugh under his breath at the irony. “Me too actually. Sitting in your cabin building airplane models gets old after a little bit, and my brothers were all busy. Thought I’d get a change of scenery. And yeah, a bowl of water.” He laughed slightly. There was something about her that just sort of made one smile. Like she was radiating happy or something, as weird as that sounded. Maybe it was the fact she was bubbling over with energy to the point you could almost see it.


((OOC: It's ok. Mine's uber short too! Sorry!))