Takes Two to Tango... Tough!

[jacob]

Why hang out behind the big house? Good question. Camp Half Blood is a beautiful place. Lush trees in a forest, a beautiful beach, and all the amenities that a demi-god could ever dream of. So why was Jacob Titus roaming around behind the big house... well we already established that was a good question. Perhaps the answer lies in his genetics, if you can call it that. Knowing his father would tell a lot.

Dionysus ran Camp Half Blood. The God of wine, partying, and being a jerk it would seem at times. He was at least kind enough to let wild strawberries be grown in camp. Jacob spent many hours there, it was like being home within a home. There was one thing missing though... grapes. Where were the famous grapes of Mr. D? The grapes that could make the finest of wines. The grapes that indeed were only fit for royalty.

The sneaky bastard hid them! That's why no one could find them. He grew them underground, the vines concealed by the dirt. JT was a perceptive one though, and noticed that one ambitious vine snuck out from the ground. "Heh, he thinks he's slick," Jacob snorted. He bent down and rubbed the vine, causing it to burgeon out of the ground and towards his hand.

He took a plump red grape, though the name wasn't fitting since red grapes are more purple than anything, and pushed it in his lips. "Mmmm fit for royalty indeed," he said aloud to himself since he was all alone. He made a mental note to both keep this place a secret and confront his father as to why he didn't tell him. Or maybe not, a conversation with him didn't seem necessary, fruitful, or frankly, worth his time in any way. Ah, what a great start to a lovely day.

[Julia Porter]

Children of Aphrodite were rarely, if ever, seen alone. They were the epitome of the social animal that is the human race. Whether talking about relationships around camp or who was wearing what today and how they looked in it; and normally they were lounging around the shore or on a dock working on their tans. Which was why it was strange for one of them to abandon the tribe and go off for a walk by herself. Most of her siblings didn’t pay it much heed, assuming she would be back soon with a bathing suit to join them in working on maintaining that healthy glow they were all known for.

Julia didn’t plan on getting back to her siblings in time to do any sunbathing. It wasn’t that she didn’t like them, but she wanted to spend some time in the beauty that was nature. This was, in Julia’s opinion, something that set her aside from the majority of her siblings. Most of them only cared about how they looked or how other people looked. But beauty was so much more than that. It was everywhere you looked. Sure, she knew that Persephone and Demeter had more of an influence on nature, and that maybe their children were more in touch with nature, but as a child of the goddess of love and beauty she surely caught on to the beauty of flowers and trees. It was just relaxing to walk around camp alone and take everything in. To stop and smell the proverbial roses.

Not to say she was some sort of hippie. Ew. No. Julia would never live that lifestyle. Sure, she loved and believed in love and could find beauty in almost anything… But she could never be one of those people. She liked showers, for one thing. And most hippies didn’t have closets full of designer clothing.

With those thoughts wandering through her head, Julia made her way towards the Big House. The house itself was pretty, but the nature around it was even better. Her head had cleared quite a bit from her walk, and it was probably time to be around other people again anyway. Her foot was over a step to the porch, she planned to go check on a sibling who was in the infirmary, when she heard a voice coming from behind the house. Fit for royalty? Well then certainly whatever had caught this person’s attention was fit for a child of Aphrodite. She made her way around the building, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the man back there.

”I know, I know. But people here rarely treat me like royalty.” She smirked, announcing herself. Well there was one person who treated her like royalty, but he was a special exception.

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[jacob]

His eyes got wide, but only momentarily as he quickly wiped his hands off on his pants. Company wasn’t to be expected, but he was going to have to first figure out who it was before he could explain what he was talking about. When he turned and saw a beautiful girl, maybe he wouldn’t even care to explain the real story. He saw the smirk emerge from her perfect face, a child of Aphrodite no doubt. JT knew women well enough, and women of her variety with such grace and physical beauty rarely came from anywhere else. He returned the smirk and laughed off the thought of no on treating her like royalty.

“That truly is a shame my dear. Under different circumstances, I’d have you redefining what you think of when you hear that word, but sadly, I’m in no position to do so.” JT sometimes had his moments, the moments where he spoke in a way that was clear and unclear at the same time. He wondered if he should explain or not, but thought that for now it would be alright without it. He would just continue about his lovely day. “Still, I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of making your acquaintance,” he said as he took a few steps toward the girl who wasn’t too far away to begin with.

As he approached her, his blue eyes glinted in the soft afternoon sun, causing him to blink before offering a smile as he returned his gaze to her. He figured it wouldn’t be much of a crime to at least be friendly, and it’s not like Jacob could help himself if he tried. With his arm now outstretched towards her he introduced himself while he waited for her to take his hand. “The name is Jacob Titus, but most just call me JT. And what can I call you? The only thing coming to mind right now, is pretty,” he said with a broad grin.

[Julia Porter]

Julia could sense that the man in front of her was a little tense, nervous perhaps. Had she caught him doing something that he shouldn’t have been doing? If she had it wasn’t as if she was going to run off to Mr. D. or Chiron and tell on him. She had much more important things to worry about than a demi-god breaking the rules. What was the harm in hiding one more thing from the camp compared to what she was already holding back? Now that was something that could rest nicely on her conscious.

She smiled when he said it was a shame that people didn’t treat her like royalty, but raised an eyebrow when he said he would have her redefining that word under different circumstances. Slightly weird, but alright. ”No, I don’t believe we’ve met.” Not surprising, considering it was Julia’s first summer at the camp. She was late to be claimed, but until the past year life really hadn’t been too bad for her. When monsters started attacking right before graduation her father had decided it was time for her to head to a safe place. Not that Julia was complaining. She had met some wonderful people here. And a few not-so-wonderful gods.

Julia looked the man over as he approached. He was handsome enough, though his eyes caught her attention for a moment. Joel had no competition anywhere as far as she was concerned, so she wasn’t worried about interacting with a new person no matter how charming they seemed. Giving him a smile, Julia reached out and took his hand. ”Julia Porter,” she said, giving his hand a light shake, ”but you’re more than welcome to keep on calling me pretty, JT.” She looked him over again, trying to place his godly parentage. He had been messing around in the dirt when she met him… Demeter perhaps? ”I’m a daughter of Aphrodite.” Though from what she had gathered he had already figured that out.

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[jacob]

Indeed she was right; they hadn’t met, as she said. In truth, JT’s brain was awfully powerful and his self taught learning paid dividends. He exercised his brain the way that Ares’ children exercised their bodies. While he certainly wasn’t as endowed naturally as children of Athena, he frequently angered them with his wit and free speaking tongue, for he was a fan of their logic, but not chained to it as they were. Such is the life of Jacob Titus though, a fan of many principles, but chained to none. Since he could feel no chain attached to a memory of this beauty, he knew for a fact that they didn’t meet before he took his leave. She must have just arrived at camp as he exited.

With their hands together, he listened to the way that she said her name. With Jacob, the words were meaningful, certainly, but the smaller details always meant more to him. The smile with eyes locked, the polite hand shake, all of it exuded confidence. JT never had an issue with a confident woman, in fact, it was for the better. His charm could get the best of many, and when it didn’t well that just made things all the more fun. “Ms. Julia, Ms. Porter, Ms. Pretty,” he started, his eyes still fixed one hers as he finished, “So many lovely names to affix with such a beautiful woman, however will I choose?” Her dark eyes were accented by her perfectly lined eyebrows and he knew then her game could equal his.

Then she made it obvious as to why, she had her mother’s charm, and he was right. She was a daughter of Aphrodite in multiple ways apparently. While she looked him over, he figured she was asking with her eyes the question that many campers wished to ask each other upon first meeting. “My ‘father’ lives here,” he said, motioning with his head to the big house, though his icy blue eyes never left hers. “Still I think of myself as a son of no one, but a man aligned merely to myself. Mr. D isn’t exactly the father type I’m sure you’ve seen if you met him.” He smirked at the thought, and almost let out a small laugh as he imagined calling Dionysus “dad.”

[Julia Porter]

Julia tried to place Jacob; he wasn’t the type of person you forgot once you had met them. She was like her siblings, quite social and up for meeting pretty much anyone. After all, how were they supposed to set up couples if they didn’t know anything about anyone at the camp? But she was pretty sure she had missed JT somehow. She would just have to make up for the missed time then. He continued on with the charm, but Julia was fairly sure she could resist it. There were plenty of charming people in her cabin, but she seemed to be able to look past charm when she needed to. Perhaps that was part of her Charmspeaking ability, or maybe she had just grown accustomed to it over the time she was at camp.

”Flattery will get you everywhere, you know.” She said, reversing the old adage that it would get you nowhere. Though she did like to be seen as more than just a pretty face. It was a shame that most of the other campers thought that about her cabin and her siblings. They were so much more than that. Sure, most of them weren’t as skilled in combat as a child of Ares or as book smart as a child of Athena, but they contributed their fair share to the whole of camp. She would prove people wrong one day, she was determined to do so.

”Oh, you’re one of those people.” She said, rolling her eyes as he said he thought himself to be the son of no one. ”Even if your father isn’t the fatherly type he is still in fact your father.” Not that she’d ever had that problem with Aphrodite, and she understood that the gods were busy. Even Mr. D was busy despite the fact he had been confined to running Camp Half Blood. That was no easy task and it would only get harder as things continued on the way they were going. ”Though I don’t think I could keep a straight face if anyone ever called him dad in front of me.” She smirked, trying to steer her thoughts away from what had been bothering her. That was the point of walking around alone after all.

”So, what is so interesting about the dirt over there?” She asked, raising an eyebrow and looking past him towards the patch of earth he had been examining.

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[jacob]

Ah this one was quick witted, this much JT could be sure of. It wasn’t so much that she was showing it a lot, but how quick she was to tip the conversation with a little bit of hidden sarcasm, it was clear. She wasn’t sarcastic in that she didn’t mean what she said, he could tell that much. Naturally a girl with her looks would be used to flattery, and it was probably for the better that she grew to enjoy it. How annoying it was when someone couldn’t take the smallest of compliments!


Slowly he let his hand leave hers, his fingers lingering just a bit. “It has gotten me many places already, and hopefully I’ll put that everywhere theory to test,” he said with a touch of assuredness in his voice, as if to show he wasn’t necessarily joking. Ironically, though neither of them knew it, their thoughts would remain fairly similar in terms of people joking them, JT just always seemed to be the one to air out his concerns, especially when he listened to her explain parenting to him.


He moved his body to the side a bit, putting his hand up to her face as he spoke. “Well, well, and here I would have thought that a pretty girl with quick wits wouldn’t judge anyone too quickly as she might be tired of people judging her all the time.” He smiled as he knew he was pretty close to her, and wanted to get his point across by not allowing for too much room between them. “Father in the biological sense, yes. Father in the sociological sense that each of us may construct for ourselves should we escape the phenomenon of conformism, no. Not by my standards.” He finished by removing his hand from her chin and giving her a bit more space.


The change of subject was very much appreciated. Though JT was never one to think of himself as one of “those people” of any category, he was no stranger to having people make assumptions about him. He decided to see how it would play out the rest of the conversation, however long it would last before she grew tired of his smart replies. “Well my dear, even though you think I’m one of those people, I’m going to make an assumption about you too. I’m going to assume you can keep a secret,” he winked at her and smiled to show her there were no hard feelings.

He backed up to the space she saw him messing with, and raised his arms up, his eyes turning purple just a bit. When his arms were above his shoulders, the thick grape vine he was trying to cover up came soaring into the air and landed around his shoulders. His eyes returned to normal and he let his hands pick a grape each. “My ‘father’ has been hiding these amazing, plump, sweet grapes and tried to keep them all to himself. I’m normally a strawberry man, but I was going to keep these lovelies to myself. Want one?” he finished with a question and holding out a sweet purple grape towards her.


((I'm so sorry about such a long wait!))

[Julia Porter]

My, my, my… The son of Dionysus certainly was sure about himself, wasn’t he? Julia raised an eyebrow at his statement about putting the theory of flattery to the test. As far as she had found, that theory was completely true. Flattery could get you everywhere. Or at least her kind of flattery could; but that usually included a touch of Charmspeaking to ensure things went well in a situation. Attempts to flatter could also get someone in a great deal of trouble or so she had heard. It was a fine, fine line to toe.

The arch of her eyebrow rose slightly as he put his hand to her face. What was he trying to do exactly? If he was trying to flirt with her then he was definitely doing something wrong. If he was trying to creep her out then he was right on the mark. Though Julia had used the same actions when seducing guys in her past. But surely no one would think they could successfully seduce a child of Aphrodite. ”You’re right, I do get tired of people judging me all the time, but you said it yourself; you think you’re a son of no one.” She rolled her eyes at him. ”Well at least you admit he’s your biological father. I’ve heard of people here at camp who just refuse to admit their parent is actually their parent. Which is ridiculous.” She remained unchanged when he moved away slightly, other than her eyebrow losing its over-exaggerated arch.

The assumption that she could keep a secret almost made Julia laugh. Oh if he only knew how many secrets were swimming around in her head… And surely his secret was nowhere near the level of confidentiality that others held. Unless he had been digging a tunnel to bring monsters into the camp or something his held no candle to most of the others. ”I think I can manage to keep something hidden.” She said coolly as he backed towards the space where she had first seen him.

What happened next was interesting. She had never really seen a child of Dionysus at work before. As the vine erupted from the ground she took a half step back, her eyes following the vine as it landed around JT’s shoulders. Interesting indeed. ”Well one could understand why he’s hiding them. Isn’t he supposed to be forbidden from growing grapes? Strawberries only?” She asked, looking at the grape he held out to her. ”I don’t see how there could be any harm in it.” She shrugged, reaching out and taking the grape. She shot a smirk at JT before popping it in her mouth. ”That is amazing.” She said once she’d finished. ”Is this the only vine he’s been hiding?”

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