Oh...That Plan (Nike)

[Ryan Simons]

Okay, that was it. Ryan stood up, not being able to sit still longer. That was the down side of being a demigod. They had ADHD pulsing through their veins with their dang god parent's blood. True, Ryan owed his ADHD a lot since it had kept him alive during a lot of fights; both in Camp and with his aunt. He got a lot of adrenaline rushes too. Those factors, plus being him resulted in a boy who couldn't sit down nor stay still for long. He looked over at her. "Yeah, I am," he said flatly. Just keep telling yourself that, his mind bugged him. What she said was the full out truth, he was just giving his normal lying response. No, that was the truth, he was fine... okay, no not really. Now it was starting to bug him. Seriously, so what if he lived with an abusive crazy head for Hades knows how long. Edmund and Alex, well, that was just... how it went. He would live, he had lived through it for nine or so years. He was half sure that even if he was fine, Nike wouldn't believe him. Ryan began wondering how many times people had asked if he was okay and stuff. It was a lot; if he could get money for every time, he'd be well off.

Ryan knew that Nike was right. It was just to true. From what Kath had told him though, Ryan couldn't really see his mom being abusive. He guessed he got his abusive side from Kath and Ares. Unfortunately for everyone but him, he hadn't gotten any of his mother's personality genes. The goddess flinched when he put his hand up, and for another split nano second, he felt a tiny bit bad. Not that he'd ever admit that either. "I'm fine," he repeated, putting his hand down. Gosh, how many times had she asked that question and he had lied? They'd both be well off if people were paying them for every single time they had this conversation. He looked at her. "Just another scar," he grumbled. That still twinges. It had to be the largest scar on him. He knew Ed hadn't meant it, but he had been ready to strangle him afterwards. He half shivered, remembering when he did get that scar on his back. His aunt told him he'd be paralyzed if he didn't stay down long enough to heal. At the time, he wasn't sure if she was lying or not. Ryan took it as lying. Her reaction to that wasn't pretty. She tied him to his bed to make him stay down and heal. Worst part was he had adrenaline and ADHD bothering him all the time. He wasn't half sure what happened as it was healing. He did remember those weeks being the longest and most tortuous of his life. One day, when he was almost better, she sort of drugged him or something. He remembered her taking out a needle or something filled with liquid and then pricking his back where the scar was. He was trying to get out because he hated needles, then he blacked out. After that, he wasn't sure if it had ever healed properly or not. Kath cut him loose and he was allowed to just do what he normally did. However, after she pricked him with whatever she did, the place were the scar was still hurt on occasion.

"Yeah, I know it is," he said, half rolling his eyes. He knew it and she knew it. Ryan needed a day to catch up with the world. Being clueless about everything was starting to tick him off. Ryan continued to watch the puppy play around with Nike and half rolled his eyes. "She's way to much like you," he said, shaking his head.

"Wouldn't it be obvious?" he asked skeptically. Ryan was slowly beginning to accept this physical contact and sucking it up. "Uh-huh," Ryan said half flat. Green, huh? There was a lot of green around them right now, around the park, so she should just be fine here. He half thought of throwing her off, but decided not to. Dang, I'm going to soft. Just because she was doing it now, didn't mean she could do it later. That went for other people to.

[*nike*]

Scooping Lila's new squeaky toy off the ground, Nike tossed it gently at Ryan. "Throw it for her," She suggested, trying to give the restless demigod something to do. She wasn't really sure if the border collie would pick up on it, but it was worth a try. Not like Ryan had anything better to do. Well maybe if he went back to the camp then he would have somebody to challenge to a fight of sorts. That would probably be more entertaining for him. Maybe not for his opponent. She didn't doubt that Ryan could win in a fight against one of the campers. "Liar," The girl called him out. His lie could have been believable to other people, but she could easily see through it. "But go ahead. Deny it," She grumbled, because she knew that was what he was going to do. The only reason she knew that he was lying and that he was going to deny, was because she had done it herself many times before. She had said she was fine when she wasn't, and usually everyone had believed her. Nike was an excellent liar. Always was, still am, and will be. It was beneficial to her, but at other times she wanted someone to see that she was lying and ask her how she really was. But unfortunately no one ever did. That was the reason she was calling Ryan out on it.

The goddess shook her head in disagreement. Clearly he wasn't. And if he was then he was a truly messed up person. That wouldn't really be surprising though. The mental boy from the Ares cabin. Well actually Nike thought that anybody from that cabin was a bit mental. Maybe not D.J. though. "It must be different," She insisted, noticing him shiver at the conversation or maybe just a memory. "Tell me about it," Nike tried to coax him. This was turning into more of a therapy session then a conversation. Well except usually therapist weren't hit in the face by their patients. But other than that, it was therapy. All that they needed was the white cards with ink blots. Or maybe she needed some type of physchiatric book to analyze his problems. "Will you show me it?" The girl asked, tilting her head to the left questioningly.

"Don't worry, not like you really need to know any of this crap in camp anyways," Nike assured him, barely looking up from the puppy. Not like she needed to see the negative expression that went along with his words. "That's a good thing, darling. It just means she's twice as adorable, and twice as sweet!" She laughed, anticipating the inevitable scowl, or eyeroll from the demigod. Her dark purple eyes twinkling with humor.

Nike shrugged, partially agreeing with him. She didn't feel the need to respond though since the question didn't really need an answer. "It's a nice color. Not girly, but not really a guy color either." She elaborated, though it was a really simple elaboration. "Silver's good too. But not like on paper. Like maybe a silver Sharpie, or a silver flower. I have a couple of those, they're really pretty," Nike was rambling again, that much was obvious.

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[Ryan Simons]

The demigod easily caught the ball that Nike threw at him and looked at it in slight curiosity. "Okay..." he said, half hesitant. Ryan threw the ball a few feet away from where they were. Well, it was either this with no fighting or Camp with fighting. He liked fighting, but hated Camp. He guessed he'd go with no Camp and no fighting. "Whatever," he snapped as she called him a liar. He had lied about it so much that he was half convinced it was the truth, even though he felt no where near it. "Okay, fine. I will," he growled. Even though Nike seemed happy a lot, she still had a pretty messy past. Anyone with a perfect past was the messed up one in Ryan's mind. He could easily see how they could both be good liars, if Nike lied about her condition, that is. So people many took him as a mental headed nutcase, which, to an extent, they were right. Other people usually didn't care and when he just flat out lied, he usually got an 'okay whatever,' sort of thing. That worked for him, no one needed to know his life story or anything. He was just a mental Ares kid to everyone, and he had no problem staying like that. It irritated him that Nike could see right through it though. Maybe she could do that because she always lied about her condition too. Edmund had seen though it and he had always said that he was fine, maybe he wasn't. Ryan began wondering how many people, besides him and Nike were in that position.

"What?!" he snarled, glaring at her as she shook her head. She was so irritating! Yes, he was still saying he was fine when he wasn't. But why the Hades did she have to press the topic? Since he had lied so much, half of him had just sort of accepted it. Yes, he was fine... to some extent; usually not even that, some times he was far, far, far from fine. He half looked at her, tilting his head slightly. "What do you mean?" he asked, half loosing the growl and more questioning came into his voice. He rolled his eyes. "What's there to tell?" he snorted. "I was fighting and I got a cut on my back," he said, shrugging. A really big cut apparently; it went from his right shoulder down to his left hip. When he got it, it had almost damaged the middle of his spine. He guessed that's where Kath had gotten that he may become paralyzed. Ryan had looked at it plenty of times after Kath cut him loose. Now, it looked like any other scar on him, healed; only it didn't feel like that sometimes, sometimes it felt like he was still on the forest floor a few seconds after Edmund had slashed at him. Usually, it didn't hurt that much though. Oh gods... when he really stopped to think about it, all the scars he had accumulated was sickening. He looked at her, tilting his head slightly. By now he was sort of used to girls looking over his scars and healing him; it felt far from awkward and he was okay with it by now. He had grown up with a girl healing and beating him, Kath. Then he got into a fight and healing session with Reena, now Nike. "Sure, if you want," he grumbled, turning around so that his back was to her. All she'd see was the really big one on his back, other small ones and then some on his shoulders and arms. Fun.

"Guess not," he said, shrugging. What Nike said was true, Ryan would like to know some stuff but it wasn't necessary. He knew what he needed to in the demigod world, minus swimming. Yeah, he sort of needed to learn how to do that. He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Oh joy," he growled. "Now I'll need to put up with two of you," he hissed, rolling his eyes.

Nike didn't really respond. That was fine with Ryan. He knew that the question didn't need one. They just continued to sit there, oddly his mind was to focused on trying to suck up physical contact, so he didn't really feel that on edge. If he did feel jittery, it was more uncomfortable jittery, not ADHD jittery. "Uh-huh," he said flatly. Dang this goddess was so random. They had gone from a conversation about her being depressed and him trying to suck up her holding hands with him and such then they had moved on to 'what's your favorite color?'. It was weird. "Good for you," he said, slightly toneless. He did remember her talking to him about colors she liked in the forest. She said something about that she liked being a goddess because you would bleed gold, then she said something about preferring silver.

[*nike*]

Lila didn't seem all that interested in the toy, or at least not from the way she trotted over to it, sniffed it, then wandered away. "Huh..Well scratch that idea," Nike mumbled, tapping her fingers on her chin as she debated what Ryan could do to entertain himself. They could play cards, but that sounded stupid for multiple reasons. One: No one played cards in the park. Two: Ryan probably didn't know how to play cards. And three: If Ryan knew how to play cards, he would probably hate it. Most people just talked in the park, but Ryan lacked social skills, and pretty much hated people. "Um, well we could go get some food now," She suggested, figuring that it was a ways past lunch time anyways. Plus maybe eating would distract him from the ADHD. She was starting to decide that Ryan was using the word whatever as a deflector. Generally it was a topic ender whether it was intended to be or not. In the demigod's case, Nike figured that it was intended for a conversation ender. "It would be much easier for you to just admit that you're not fine. I have all the time in the world to sit here and argue with you about it. And sooner or later you're going to get extremely annoyed with me," The goddess smiled mischieviously, because her words were very true. She could take as much time as she wanted annoying him about it.

"I didn't say anything," She replied smartly, remaining unbothered by his bitterness. Nike shrugged, she had figured that there had to be some more interesting story behind it. It didn't seem that the rest of his scars actually caused him pain. No doubt they had hurt at the time, but they didn't seem to have a lasting effect of pain. "It just seems different that's all..." Nike mumbled, wondering if this was one of those topics she shouldn't press. Approaching him slowly, she gently slid the back of his shirt up so she could actually she the scar. The goddess kept her touch soft and gentle so that she wouldn't accidentally nick his scar or he wouldn't freak out on her. Nike bit her lip at the sight, she had seen worse, but usually it was on older people who were more experienced fighters. It was a long jagged scar that reached a ways down his back. The scar had a reddish tinge to it unlike most of his scars, indicating that it was more recent.

"More like, I know not." She corrected, scratching Lila's belly. That doesn't sound like good grammar, Nike pondered that, going over variations in her mind. "Better than two of you," She pointed out, mimicking his eye roll. Negative, bitter dogs weren't all that fun. Not to mention they could go all psycho on someone, bite their leg, and then said victim might just sue the owner. And Nike didn't exactly want to deal with a lawsuit.

"Somehow I think your tone implies that you don't really care," She commented, picking a white piece of Lila fur off of Ryan's shirt. Followed by another piece of fur. "Sorry, that was bothering me." Nike mumbled, flicking the two strands of dog fur onto the grass. "How about indigo? It's like a deep blue. It's a nice color, I think you'd like it." Nike suggested, also considering maybe a maroon. She wasn't really sure why she was trying to find him a favorite color. It just seemed to her that everyone needed a favorite color.

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[Ryan Simons]

Ryan shrugged, watching the dog trot over to the toy then reject it. "Whatever," he said, waving it away. He was used to people rejecting his ideas and him basically. He didn't give a copper any more; he almost never did, not after living with Kath. The ADHD started to simmer down a bit and he tried standing still for a few seconds. He half knew that it wouldn't really work; he had horrible ADHD and then a lot of adeline running through him. That, combined with him always being on guard and tense meant that he wouldn't stay still for long; ADHD bothering him or not. "Sure," he said, shrugging as she mentioned food again. Ryan was sort of getting this theory that his stomach was sort of shrinking, because lately he was never really hungry. Maybe it started after the oven thing, he wasn't sure. He rolled his eyes. "No, it wouldn't be because I am fine," he snapped. He glared at her. "Yeah, I know. I'm already there," he growled.

"You're looks can tell more than your words," he snapped icily. True, he wasn't good with facial expressions, but he did know what a head shake and nod meant. Coming from her, he could guess that she was disagreeing with him. Different? It was sorta, but it was a scar none the less. Sometimes when it did hurt, it would turn red like it was a recent scar. Ryan knew better though, he had gotten it nine years ago. "I got it from Edmund instead of Kath," he growled. "That's pretty much all the difference," he snarled. Ryan felt her lifting the back of his shirt up. Better than Reena, she had just torn his entire shirt off him before. Then she touched it. It didn't exactly hurt, but it did tingle a bit; it was sort of like it was someone else's pain. He was half suspecting she'd ask, so he decided that he'd just say it. "We were sparring and... well," he grumbled. "Edmund miss aimed, I was looking the other way and his blade hit my back," he said.

He shrugged. "Whatever," he growled, rolling his eyes. "Besides, that sounds like it was incorrect grammar," he snorted, just to annoy her. "Yeah, true," he growled. It was true and he knew it. To most people it would be better to have two Nikes then two of him. The people would probably kill him out of anger or whatever. Ryan began to wonder if dogs could loose it sort of like humans did. Him more than any other human he knew. He was mental and he knew it; a mental son of Ares. That's what he was now, and what he would always be.

"You bet," he growled. He couldn't really care less what her favorite color was. Ryan didn't really have a favorite color anyway, all of them were sort of dull to him. The goddess went to pick two fluffs of hair off his shirt. "A lot of random things bother you," he snorted, rolling his eyes. Gee, he didn't know that dogs were so messy sometimes. He shrugged. "Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes.

[*nike*]

Nike shook her head in annoyance at the continued useage of the word 'whatever'. Not to mention the way he pronounced the word. It was emotionless or maybe even a bit angry. It gave off that nothing-bothers-me-because-I-hate-you vibe. And it probably gave off that vibe because that was exactly what Ryan was thinking. "Okay then," She smiled happily, fishing the car keys out of her back pocket. She tried calling Lila's name once or twice, but the puppy ignored it this time. So she crossed over to where the dog was, picking her up along with her leash and the toy. Walking past Ryan, she gave a gentle tug on his shirt as an indication for him to follow her back towards the car. "You're not fine," She sang, crossing the street and opening her car door. If she was being honest, it worried her a little. All of his stories about his past were more than disturbing, and he denied that any of it affected him.

"Yeah, but I still didn't actually say anything." She argued, almost offended by the coldness in his voice. It seemed even a little more harsh than usual. "But you make a good point," She commented, using his own words against him. He said he was fine, but his facial expression tended to day otherwise. The goddess scrunched up her nose a little, wondering how a friend could actually do that to him. "I'm just trying to help," Nike insisted, her voice noticeably affected by all of his growling and snapping. The scar looked like maybe the cut had been pretty deep originally. "Were you okay?" She asked. Most likely answer: 'I'm alive aren't I?' spoken rhetorically, with sarcasm in a growl. Another question that she wanted to ask: did Edmund even feel bad? She clearly wasn't going to ask that though. Him and his friends didn't really seem like the type to feel bad about those kinds of things. 

Nike shrugged, running a piece of grass along Lila's nose, causing the dog to shake her head at the tickling feeling. "Yeah, I know." She mumbled, burying her face in the grass for no apparent reason. "Wow. I love that you pretty much hate yourself," The girl mumbled, her words garbled and indecipherable because she was talking around the grass. There was a clear sarcastic tone that anyone could distinguish though.

"I'm well aware of that." Nike replied, picking at another dog hair. She wasn't always the most focused. People would say she was easily distracted by those bothersome things and that was probably true. "You're killing me," The goddess grumbled, burying her face in his shoulder.

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[Ryan Simons]

The goddess was shaking her head again. Out of annoyance with him, probably. He really didn't care if anyone was annoyed with him, it was their problem, not his. It was becoming annoying that she always approached everything so positively. That concept was crazy in his mind. Then again, he never really tried to approach it that way, since he didn't really know how to. True, Nike was rubbing off on him a little, but that didn't mean he that he was going to make this big turn around any time soon. Hopefully, he wouldn't at all; maybe he would decide, in the end to stay the way he used to be. If others didn't like it, they just have to suck it up and learn to live with him like this. He shrugged, watching her pull out the car keys. She went to get Lila and then gave a gentle pull at his shirt to get him to come along with her. "I can walk," he protested in a slight growl. He went to cross the street and opened the door to the car. "Am too," he snapped back at her. Oh gods, she'd never let this go, would she? Not until he confessed that he wasn't fine. He was fine... wasn't he?

Ryan rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I'm just saying," he said flatly with a shrug. He looked at her. "Meaning...?" he asked, now slightly confused. The son of Ares was no good at interpreting facial expressions, just vocal ones. He had been told that you could tell a lot from someone's face. They had told him that your face reflects your voice or feelings most of the time. Sometimes you could control it, just like you controlled your voice. It wasn't something Ryan did though. He gave his eyes a roll. "Yeah, I know," he growled. What he really wanted to know was what Kath had injected him with. Most times he forgot that he had this scar, other times he was made well aware with it. It had never happened with any other of his scars he didn't think. "I was fine. I'm here and alive and talking to you, aren't I?" he scoffed. He was pretty sure that she had guessed what his response was going to sound like. He had picked up that Nike was sort of good at guessing what would come out of his mouth, so he was guessing that what she was thinking wasn't that far off.

Incorrect grammar. Why the Hades had he just said that? It wasn't like he had perfect grammar or anything. Besides, he wasn't into the whole education thing either. It seemed like Nike knew that it sounded incorrectly as well. "Good for you," he said in a slight snarl. He eyed her as she stuck her face into the grass; this goddess was very weird sometimes. She said something that sounded sarcastic, but he couldn't really hear the words since her face was in the grass. "Okay, whatever you said," he growled.

"Oh joy," he growled sarcastically. She picked another dog hair off of his shirt. He really didn't see why it would irritate her so much. A random thinking goddess. He sometimes wondered if she had ADHD herself. She was easily distracted and had a lot of random thoughts. He snorted. "I don't see any blood," he snorted, rolling his eyes. She went into his shoulder again. Ryan tensed very slightly, but relaxed faster than he had before.

[*nike*]

Sliding the keys back into the ignition, she turned the car on. Flipping open her phone, Nike dialed Buffalo Wild Wings. She mumbled a moderately large order into the phone before giving a cheery thank you and goodbye. Snapping it shut, she tossed it into one of the car's cupholder. She had gotten enough of a couple different things so Ryan would most likely like at least one of her choices. She had also ordered some water and an orange juice. Pulp free. He didn't seem to care for the sodas so she figured OJ and water were a safe bet. "Well sorry," The goddess mumbled, not sounding sorry at all. The reason she had tugged on his shirt was because she wasn't honestly sure if he would follow along or not. She was half expecting to make a break for it, not that she really would have stopped him. It was his choice if he wanted to ditch the camp. "Are not," She argued, placing Lila back onto Ryan's lap gently before steering the car back onto the road.

"Meaning you keep saying you're fine, but your facial expressions and body language say otherwise." The girl explained. She had mastered the art of reading expressions and body language. The littlest things tipped her off. Tone, gestures, even the slightest movement or twitch. Ryan didn't give off much indication, but he gave off enough. Nike frowned, figuring that Ryan wouldn't notice since he was facing the other way. Not to mention he probably just wouldn't even care. "Just because you're alive doesn't mean that you're okay." She mumbled, tracing this scar with her finger as well. "In fact, the two have nothing to do with each other," The goddess continued, letting his shirt drop back down, but not before teasing him about something. It was just too tempting. "Nice back muscles there, sexy!" She exclaimed, managing to bite back the laugh she was holding. Not that she disagreed with her own statement, it just seemed weird for anyone to say it to the Ares boy. If she was being honest, he actually did have nice muscles for a demigod. Not that she would ever say that in a non-joking way. She didn't need to be mocked mercilessly by Ryan.

"Isn't it though?" She asked rhetorically, her pronunciation more understandable this time. Still slightly muffled though. "Stop staring at me!" Nike grumbled, feeling his eyes on her. She turned her face so that it was no longer pressed into the green grass. Yes, much more understandable now that she wasn't talking with a mouthful of grass. "You wouldn't like or agree with what I said so whatever to what I said is right." She agreed, not bothering to repeat what she said earlier.

"I sense sarcasm," Her statement was obvious, and she knew that. Not that it was really important anyways. "Your attitude is frustrating me causing my blood pressure to skyrocket, which will lead either to a heart attack or to heart failure." Nike retorted, finding her comment actually quite believable if she wasn't immortal that is. She noticed a tense in Ryan's muscles, but that quickly changed.

               

[Ryan Simons]

Ryan watched as Nike started the car. These were strange contraptions, so weird. The demigod watched the immortal as she took out a cell phone. It was another outlandish item; she dialed a number with it and started to mumble out a long order with what sounded like food. "I didn't know you ate so much," he growled sarcastically after she flipped it back closed and threw it into a small compartment. Well, duh, that wasn't for her, she was immortal for gods sakes! "Yeah, right," he snapped. He picked up on her voice and it didn't sound at all sorry. For a second, he looked out the window; a thought flashed across his mind. He could make a run for it; he had the chance to never see that Hades of a Camp again. Ryan could just bolt out of the car and run to... somewhere. Maybe Nike would stop him, maybe she wouldn't, he had no idea. His muscles tensed, half of his body wanting to do it. Then, for some reason, he relaxed. What? Did he seriously want to go back there? Yes. It was a tiny voice very very very (yeah, yeah, you get the picture) deep down inside. Mostly the voice of reason and truth, dang. Camp was the only place he had. It was safe and even though he didn't really get around and said he hated everyone, did he really? Ryan had fought for Camp durning the Battle of Manhattan. Even though it was his first year here, he could of easily ditched the place and could of run over to Kronos' side; he could of died then. Ryan rolled his eyes. "Am too," he snapped back at her. Oh gods this was going to go on forever, wasn't it? Well, he wasn't going to be the first to snap. Even though she was immortal and could bug him way after he was in Hades, he was still not going to give in to her. He sighed and half glared at the dog now on his lap, the goddess started to drive the car away.

The demigod just glared at her. She was more than right. Oh gods, he really needed to learn how to control his face, people had the ability to control that, right? Sort of like how people could control their tones of voices, maybe. He never had really controlled his facial or body expressions at all, just his voice. He was hating that she was picking it up more from his facial expressions than from his words and tone. He found it sort of frustrating right now that he couldn't really read facial or body expression; just tones of the voice. Right now, he wasn't sure how much emotion his body or face was giving off, but it must of been substantial for Nike to read it. "Yeah, it does," he growled. She wasn't going to leave this alone, would she? She'd never leave anything alone. Not trusting that he was fine, not believing that he was okay. Wait, those were the same things. "I'll live," he snapped icily, hearing her voice going into a mumble. He could almost picture her starting to frown. "Sure they do," he snarled. Well, in his mixed up and twisted world. He felt his shirt being dropped down and then he went to get back up. "Oh shut up," he growled, glaring at her as he turned around. That would be the safest bet, right? Sounded enough like him. He didn't really know how to react; was that was supposed to be offensive or not? He wasn't sure since he didn't know the definition of sexy. To admit to her yet again that he had no idea what a phrase meant was sort of uncomfortable. Sooner or later, though, he'd end up asking, he was sure. Either that or she'd ask him if he really knew what it meant.

He just rolled her eyes and sat with his legs crossed. Even though it was muffled, it was a bit more understandable. It sounded sarcastic and sort of rhetorical. She had a weird sarcastic sense of humor. Then again, you could say that about him, only cut out the humor part. Nike turned around to face him, taking her face off of the grass. "I was staring at the grass," he snapped. "You incorporated yourself in there along with the fact that you were making yourself nearly incomprehensible!" he said in a growl. That was obviously her face in the grass. He shrugged. "Alright then, whatever," he hissed, rolling his eyes.

"Thought you would of by now," he growled. Those two statements were obvious, whatever. He rolled his eyes. "Good," he snarled. Once of his goals: frustrating people. Her having a heart attack or heart failure? He snorted. It could be probable, but she was immortal. "Yeah, sure," he growled. "And you'll live through it all since you're immortal," he said icily. Besides, not everyone who got a heart attack or whatever died necessarily. If he carried on like this, with ADHD and adrenaline and temper combined, he had a chance of getting one. Oh well, whatever.

[*nike*]

Nike muttered something under her breath in annoyance. Her patience was starting to wear a little thin. She considered purposefully slamming on the brakes just to annoy Ryan or to possibly make him hit his head against the dashboard, but lucky for him, she didn't want to hurt Lila. "Well I do," She retorted sarcastically, turning a sharp corner with ease. She had even slowed down more than necessary just for the simple fact that she wasn't sure if Ryan would prevent Lila from whacking into the car door. "Well it's kind of hard to actually mean 'I'm sorry' when I'm talking to you," She answered, and unfortunately that was a good, honest point. He was so rude that it was just terribly hard to mean it. Glancing over she noted the slight contraction in his muscles. "I don't think you'd make it out there for long," She pondered aloud, truly curious as to why he wasn't actually jumping out of the car and running for it. She could picture that image. And honestly, she wasn't sure that he would last all that long outside of the Camp, especially with what little knowledge he had of the outside world. With his luck, he'd probably get gang-beaten or something dramatic like that. "No you aren't!" She argued. Because if he was fine, then Nike would have to think that Ryan was truly heartless. His friend had just died, that had to mean something to him. "And don't glare at my little girl!" She chastised, removing one hand from the steering wheel to pat Lila on the head. The puppy wagged her tail happily in response. Though while Lila was happy, Ryan was probably preparing for the response 'I'll say whatever I want to' or something of the sort. Freedom of speech was a terrible idea, She grumbled internally, flipping on her blinker before making another turn.

Her own response to Ryan's glare was a glare of her own. And if she could say so herself, she had a pretty good glare. Although, with the purple eyes it was a little less intimidating. Purple just wasn't an angry color. Added onto that was also the fact that she wasn't very good at being angry with people, which lessened the affect of the glare. Ryan, on the other hand, had perfected the art of being angry at people, and pretty much the world in general. She supposed being raised by an abusive aunt would give anyone that outlook on life. "Um, it so doesn't," She pointed out, chewing on her lip absent-mindedly. At least she didn't think alive and okay were the same thing, and she was sure that plenty of people agreed with her. The goddess ignored the next few comments, figuring the growling and snapping didn't need a response anyways. "You know, the angry attitude really puts a downer on your hotness factor." She informed him, half faking a serious tone. In her opinion, attitude really did affect how one thought a person looked. She was unable to keep a straight face and instead resorted to a small cough covered laugh.

The girl, clicked her heels together, having an odd Wizard of Oz recollection. There's no place like home! She quoted, tilting her head to the side. Where was home for her? Not Olympus, that was for certain. And not the actual houses she owned. Maybe Camp Half-Blood was, but somehow it just didn't feel like she could call it home. She didn't exactly belong there. Which pegged the question, where did she belong? "Whatever," Nike mumbled, stealing a quote from Ryan's metaphorical book. 

"You overestimate me then," Nike replied, clucking her tongue against the backs of her teeth. Ah, someone wishing you would die, always a good feeling. "I'm considering abandoning you, just to see if you wouldn't miss me." She tapped her fingers along her chin. Her plan was never actually going to be set into motion though because she was a little concerned that Ryan would  throw a party after she disappeared. Well actually she figured that Ryan wouldn't throw a party simply because he didn't know how and then he'd have to invite people to it. But oher than that, she could see it.

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[Ryan Simons]

Ryan heard something very faint come out of the goddess' lips, but he didn't hear her. Dang immortals could talk so quietly sometimes, it was annoying. True, she was being much more patient than some other people (okay, almost all people) were with him. The demigod was still a bit curious about these car things. They looked sort of dangerous to him, Ryan didn't really understand why people couldn't just walk or something, they didn't have cars in Camp. Then again, Camp Hades was sort of like life with Kath: old fashioned and under a rock. If a demigod got into a fight with a mortal, they usually had a sword. If the other person was very threatening, they would mostly likely have a gun. The demigod would be dead, no fight necessary. He knew her comeback was sarcastic. She was an immortal and had no need to eat whatsoever. However, he couldn't resist a jibe: "No wonder you're heavy," he retorted, referring to the time that he was half carrying her. That had been really bad. He felt the car turn, slowly, yet sharply. "Gods, what is it with these car contraptions?!" he growled. Ryan knew he had just driven this car an hour or whatever ago, but it was still so bizarre to him. He was still surprised he hadn't drove them straight off a cliff. Well, it may of been better that way. No dog, they wouldn't have to go back to Camp. Bad part was that Nike wouldn't leave him alone for, well, eternity. Then again, he didn't see her leaving him alone now or ever. "Yeah, I know," the son of Ares said with an eye roll. What she had said was very true; he was so negative, that no one could really possibly mean their apology when they knew they were going to get snapped at a second later. The fifteen year old stared out the window a second longer and then turned his eyes forward again, a slight scowl, but a look of confusion on his face. Even he didn't know why he hadn't gotten up and ran for it. He had entirely opposite feelings about Camp. He hated it, then at the same time, well, he didn't love it, but it was okayish. Why the Hades was it so hard to pick out his feelings for Camp? He inhaled and half looked at the goddess beside him. "Yeah," he grumbled. He leaned his head back slightly. "I know," he muttered truthfully. He, himself could picture himself just running out and towards the hills, just somewhere away from here. Away from where things made no sense; to the time where he grew up in a normal mortal world. When he didn't know about any of this. A place with no gods or goddess or monsters. A place where he had normal parents and couldn't see through the Mist. Ryan rolled his eyes. Back to the original fight. "Yes, I am," he growled through gritted teeth. "Stop being stubborn about it and just accept it," he snapped. Maybe, if you lied about something long enough, it became the truth. Was he fine? Usually he was, but he wasn't; he just tricked himself into thinking he was. He had just accepted his condition and position and past and everything. Today, was it any different? Sorta no, but it wasn't like he was going to tell Nike that. "I'll give her any look I'd like," he snarled. If someone caught on to Ryan's attitude and how he acted and everything, they could easily know what was going to come out of his mouth next. The goddess patted the dog on the head while Ryan rolled his eyes.

The demigod just glared back at Nike, not standing down, as usual. "What's this? A kindergarden glare contest?" he growled at her. "You're eyes are so intimidating," he snarled sarcastically. Ryan didn't think she was that fantastic at staying angry for long periods of time. Overall, Nike seemed like a very nice and hyper person, scratch that, goddess. Sure, he may be trying and wearing her fuse out but so far she was putting up with it fairly well. Most people would of just blown up on him by now. "Yes, it does," he growled. He was beginning to think this would turn out to be another one of those life long arguments between him and her. He shrugged, not really getting what she was talking about. Ryan was sort of wondering if he should ask what she meant, but it sounded more like... he didn't know how to describe it. More like, something you shouldn't ask about. Wait, what? What she just said made no sense. "I thought you said that anger made your blood pressure go up," he said, remembering what she had said. Then he took it from experience: "Which makes you feel warmer," he said looking at Nike. She had said it put a downer on it, did that mean cold temperature? He had always wondered what had made him feel warmer or what made blood rush to his face, he guessed it was his blood pressure going up. That would usually be when he was fighting or when he was angry... which was all the time. This goddess was so confusing... and random.

As they continued to drive along, Ryan started to think. All those houses and apartments they had passed, they each had people in it. That was the one place of their own, where they belonged. Ryan used to live in a house completely isolated, he didn't call that home at all. It was more like a torture house. Camp? He spent most of him time there, but he hated it. Besides, he was the antisocial, mental son of Ares. He didn't mind that he didn't really fit in or anything with anyone. He guessed he could just be a drifter and just belong no where. It didn't sound horrible. He didn't have any responsibility to any one place or anything. He was responsible for himself and that was it. "Fine with me," he growled, rolling his eyes.

He shrugged. "Okay, fine, get used to it. I never learn," he growled. Well, that was the truth; besides she seemed to be pretty much on target all the other times. "Okay, fine," he snapped, glaring at her. "Go ahead if you want," he snarled, taking his eyes off of her and half looking at the floor. So what if she did? He wouldn't miss her at all, right? "I wouldn't," he growled. Plenty of people had just left him before. Why not one more? Besides, this is why he was today, anyway. He seriously needed to stop going soft around Nike. Nothing good ever came out of it.

[*nike*]

The Ares boy was annoyed, that much Nike did know. What was annoying him, she was uncertain of. Her, Lila, the city, people in general, the possibilities were ridiculously endless. Though the annoyance had passed in his eyes right when she started mumbling about something. Note-Ryan didn't like her making comments that he couldn't here. Not like she was going to stop that though. Sometimes she needed to express her feelings outloud and more often than not those words still needed to go unheard. Just because she was normally a nice person didn't mean she didn't know how to think up some pretty mean things. Rolling her eyes, she aimed a light punch at Ryan's shoulder. "That's all muscle, darling. It's a shame you don't have any." She replied back stubbornly. He wasn't the only one who could come up with an insult. The goddess could be rude when she wanted to be, and half of the time Ryan really made her want to be. It wasn't the most clever retort she had ever given, but it was at least mediocre. Nike raised an eyebrow at the sudden grumble about cars. He hadn't seemed all that bothered by it during the drive to the city. Maybe a little confused by it, but not irritated. "Calm down crazy, calm down," She instructed, turning the car into the Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot. They probably had another ten minutes to wait, considering the fact that they had arrived pretty fast. "Good. Wouldn't want you to think I'm going soft on you," As if. She was way softer on him than anyone should have been. Sure they bickered a lot and they did insult each other, but when it counted she was nice and understanding. "So why haven't you ditched yet?" It was the obvious question. Yet she suspected it wouldn't be all that easy for Ryan to explain. "Nu-uh," She argued, sticking out her tongue in a childish manner. Who needed maturity anyways? "You stop being stubborn and just admit it!" Nike replied, emphasis obvious in her tons. This was one of those incidents where the goddess didn't give up. For one thing, it would mean losing the argument, and she didn't like losing. That was obvious to anyone who knew her title. And also, she thought that it would actually be better for the boy if he actually admitted it. It was a nice free therapy session for him, courtesy of he goddess of victory. "Not unless you want to die at the age of fifteen, you won't." She glared at him, annoyed to an extent, but not to the extent of murder. She wasn't a murderer, that she knew.

"Yes, and I'm going to win." The goddess retorted, refusing to blink as another little bit of childishness shone through. "Aren't they though?"She replied rhetorically. She knew that the purple of her eyes toned down any intimidation powers she had. But anyone who had seen her at the highest peak of her anger could tell you that she could be scary as Hades. "You just say that because you're uneducated," She mumbled beneath her breath, easily unheard. She didn't want Ryan to hear for the simple fact that she noticed his childhood was a bit of a touchy subject. Mostly because both of his best friends from his childhood were gone. Okay, it was kind of funny to Nike that Ryan didn't have a clue what she was getting at. Scratch that, it was almost down-right hilarious. "Oh wow.." She laughed, hitting her hand against her head. The contact making a audible smacking sound. "Okay for future reference hot or sexy are basically synonyms for attractive or good-looking." Her explanation was a little distorted from her soft laugh. It was too funny that he had no idea what she was talking about. It kind of ruined her original tease, but this was probably better. Okay, it was obviously better, there was no probably about it.

"'Course it is." Nike replied, chewing on her lower lip as she debated the answer to her own question. Maybe she belonged in Hawaii. There was plenty of sun there, and she wouldn't have to worry about a darn thing. Interesting volcanoes, tasty drinks, cute boys, and those adorable little hibiscus flowers. Yeah, that definately wouldn't be a terrible place to belong, she decided. Not that she really did belong there, but it was nice to imagine it. She figured that she was just trying to figure out some place. Okay so maybe she needed a therapy session or two herself. Not that she would actually attend. It would be kind of hard to explain all of her problems without dropping the 'I'm a goddess,' bomb.

"So I've noticed," Nike sighed, almost as if she was a little disappointed in that fact. Which, maybe she was. Ouch, she was starting to really believe that he would have preferred it if she was rotting in Tartarus. "God you're such a.." She bit her tongue to prevent herself from letting loose on a rant of not-so-nice phrases. It's a wonder why Edmund was ever friends with him, Nike grumbled, truly intrigued at the idea that anyone could put up with such a rude person. She quickly detached her hand from his, considering a hurtful punch to his arm as well.

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[Ryan Simons]

Ryan was annoyed. Then again, when wasn't he? Answer: Probably never. Usually he was annoyed at everything and everyone. The world, basically if people hadn't figured that out yet. A light punch landed on his shoulder; Nike, obviously. He shrugged. "Goddess of Strength," he growled, rolling his eyes and mimicking her from the first time they met and he had told her that she was the goddess of victory. Ryan glared at her. He was beginning to realize that they were a bit like eachother. Both stubborn to the core mostly. Nike could be mean when she wanted to, everybody could and Ryan didn't over look that. It was usually him who made them tick. Most of the reason that Ryan hadn't gotten ticked with the car at first was because he was mostly confused by it, now it seemed sort of weird to him. It was much more dangerous then walking in his opinion. He glared at her. "I'm not going to calm down any time soon, get used to it," he growled. The goddess pulled into a parking lot. He rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't ever think that," he snarled. He didn't want anyone to be soft on him. He just wanted them to act the way they normally would. He knew Nike was being nicer to him than anyone so far; even though she was, however, it didn't mean he'd show it back in any way, shape or form. He knew this question would come out of her mouth sooner or later, mostly after he looked out of the car and then decided not to run. He shrugged. He had no problem belonging no where, but Camp was more familiar. "I'd get into trouble," he said flatly. Well, that was one of the most lamest excuses he had ever invented. He had risk of getting into trouble every single night he went into the forest. He glared at her; he wasn't going to be the first to back down from this. "You!" he growled, crossing his arms. He rolled his eyes. "Don't care," he growled at her, shrugging.

"I doubt that," Ryan snapped, still not blinking. Gods, this was so dumb. Here they were, having a glare contest. Well, just like the 'I'm fine' argument, he wasn't going to back down. However, this was going to be a bit harder than that. "Oh, very," he snarled with heavy sarcasm. No doubt she could be mean or scary, it was just that her purple eyes toned it down a bit. She grumbled something under her breath that he couldn't hear. Well, whatever she had said: "Whatever," he snarled. "Am too," he growled, still not giving up on it. "What?" he asked, his anger melting into confusion as the goddess started laughing, then smacked her own head. "Oh... okay," he said, looking at her a bit weirdly. Those were sort of weird terms. Scratch that. Down right weird.

He rolled his eyes. "Great," he growled sarcastically. He didn't belong anywhere and he knew it. Camp wanted him dead; Kath wanted him dead. Those were the only two places he knew. No, wait. The forest, maybe he belonged as a vagabond in a forest. The forest was the place he was most comfortable. Probably the forest he had grown up in when he was little. That, along with the armory when it was empty. In the arena, he was always uptight and ready for a fight. He liked it there, but he wasn't exactly comfortable. He was at ease with his surroundings, but it was a different type of comfortable. How could someone be truly comfortable when they were all uptight and ready for an attack at any moment?

"Thought you would of by now," he snapped at her again. As he said, he almost never learned. That was another big flaw of his. He was beginning to think that he would be thrown into Tartarus if he died. Either that or the Fields of Punishment, he didn't know why because he thought he was pretty much there at Camp. "Such a what?" he snarled challengingly, glaring at her. If she started spewing out insults, they'd most likely go bouncing off him again. "Go on, say it if you want," he snapped. He really didn't care right now. She detached her hand from his and he put it on his lap again. Thank the gods that was over.

[*nike*]

"That's me!" Nike exclaimed happily, tapping her fingers on the automatic shift. If she was being honest, than she would admit that loved being the goddess of strength simply for the fact that it proved any sexist man wrong. The ones that always thought that women couldn't be as muscular as them just because they were woman. So she was a little bit of a feminist, that was no big deal. At least she didn't cram it down their throats like one of those annoying girls. They probably couldn't win at an arm wrestling contest, much less an actual wrestling match. Such a disappointment, The girl shook her head, putting the car into park before opening up the car door and climbing out. "Be right back," She mumbled, although that probably didn't need saying. Entering the restaurant, she walked up to the hostess with a smile. "To go order for Nike, please." The other girl nodded, leaving Nike to fish out the right amount of money as she went back to the kitchen. A moment later, she was out of the door with three bags in her hands. She probably could have ordered less, but she didn't want Ryan to not ear because she hadn't picked anything that he liked. "You can wait to eat it until we get back to Camp," She suggested, because she figured that he wouldn't want Lila bothering him while he ate. "You would get into trouble? Oh, that is the worst excuse ever." Nike mumbled, already exiting the parking lot. She had guessed that they had had enough of each other for the day. Cue a shrug from the goddess and one overused phrase. "I still think you're a liar."

"You doubt that I could win?" She inquired, a little amused at that. She was a little bad at staying angry, but she was very good at winning things. Once again, she had the title of the goddess of victory. "I thought you'd agree with me," Nike winked, noting the change of scenery as they headed out of the city. Luckily the two weren't all that far apart. She shook her head, smacking in on the steering wheel. There was an obvious look of confusion on his face, and frankly it was the funniest thing that she had seen yet today. He wasn't all that educated, at least not so much in the ways of technology and well maybe grammer skill. Maybe he was school book smart, but Nike doubted that she would ever figure that out.

"Just like me!" The immortal smiled brilliantly, wanting to get under his skin. It was actually fun. She would have preferred it if they were actually having a nice, civil conversation, but that would never happen, so this was second best. And she could settle for that, since she wasn't always all that picky. "And Lila," She amended, pulling up to the property line and stopping the car. Shifting the gear into park, she moved her foot off the break. Reaching over the middle compartment, Nike picked Lila up off of Ryan's lap.

"Well I had a fun time...well at least part of the time. Thanks for coming I guess." Nike refused to acknowledge the negativity for a moment. "Sorry, I don't like to cuss in front of small children." She grumbled back, a small smirk that actually looked like it was tinged with annoyance, on her face. Okay, so it didn't just look like it was tinged with annoyance, there was definately annoyance. "Nevermind, just shoo. I'll see you tomorrow, darling."

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[Ryan Simons]

"Great," Ryan snarled sarcastically. Not that he doubted her strength or anything. Her being the goddess of victory also incorporated strength and speed, that was fine, whatever. It was far from that. To him, was more like, he wanted to annoy her, but as he was catching on, it wasn't that easy. He wasn't that sexist with the whole men are better than woman, never had been. One: he had been beaten by a woman 24/7/365 for twelve years. Two: most of the fights that he had gotten into at Camp, it was with girls, and they had usually won. Annabeth, Harper and Reena, just for the record. He shrugged, biting back the reply of: "I hope you don't come out." Gosh, he really was going soft. Usually, he would of just said it. Instead: "That's obvious," came out of Ryan's mouth with the usual eye roll and growl. As she left and was in there for a few moments, Ryan looked out the window at things going on. His mind wandered to why he hadn't jumped out of the care again. Gods, he had to stop thinking about that. He had made the decision not to and he wouldn't, done. In his mind it wasn't done, though. It was annoying and probing him to no end. He watched her come out with three bags and couldn't help but roll his eyes. Over the years with Kath, he had just sort of learned how to eat what he was given. "Fine," he growled, shrugging. He may look like an idiot, but he didn't really care. He was already one to the Camp anyways. "Yes," he growled. She was right, though, stupid Goddess of Victory status. It was one of his worse excuses ever. The reason for that was: he didn't care if he got into trouble. He glared at her. "Whatever, think what you want," he snapped. Gods, how long had they fought over that?

"I'd like to say that," Ryan snarled. "But your oh so high, Goddess of Victory status," he growled sarcastically. "Is making me think otherwise," he hissed, still glaring right at her. His stubbornness was refusing to let him blink. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," he growled as the scenery changed. Thank the gods for that. The city was so weird and... just weird. It was sort of odd to see how much the stupid mortals had changed the land. Maybe Kath hated it too, so she stayed in upstate where it was untouched with lots of nature. "What?" Ryan snarled as Nike smacked the steering wheel. Perhaps the fact that he didn't know what the words hot and sexy meant. Yeah, probably. He didn't get why they would use the terms for something that was temperature hot to describe the way a person looked. That was just weird to him.

He snorted and shook his head, rolling his eyes. This goddess was crazy. If she was thinking she'd have civilized company, she was wrong. Very, very wrong. That would not happen in a very very very very very long time. If not ever; probably not ever. He'd be in Hades for a century and still be like this... hopefully. Her 'become nice thing' had gotten to him once or twice, he had to admit. Dang, why did he say yes?! He rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, we can't forget about her," he growled sarcastically. The goddess removed Lila from his lap and they were facing the border. Great, back to Camp Hades for him. He was half glad, half not so glad. The glad part came from him not having Lila and partially Nike with him anymore. A tiny fraction inside him told him that he'd miss Nike in the slightest, but that feeling wasn't there now.

Ryan nodded and got out of the car, he started to walk over the line. "Oh pity," he snorted, rolling his eyes. He walked over the line separating the worlds. "Yeah, yeah, I know," he growled, rolling his eyes. For most of that time, he had forgotten that Alex was gone, but now that he was back here, he remembered again. "Bye," he said flatly. He turned and walked back up the hill.