Gone Away (Quest Thread Thingy)

[Marius Rodomonte]

Marius was just about to ask about her blush when she leaned up and kissed him, catching the son of Hermes completely and totally off guard. He stood there as she kisses him for a few seconds. He started to kiss her back just as she pulled back, leaving him wanting more. The thief just barely caught her muttered apology before she rushed back to the hotel room. "Daphne!" He barely managed to call out before she closed the door. Marius stood there for a few more seconds, trying to process just what happened between himself and his best friend.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne leaned up against the door once it was closed. She took deep breaths as she tried to recover from what she just did. She just kissed her best friend. What was she thinking! She was sure that he still had Valeria. She took a couple of deep breaths before she moved quickly to the bed. As she passed Ariel, she didn't say anything as she crawled into the bed and moved so that she was the furthest away from Marius and her back was facing him if he came back into the room. She took deep shaky breaths as she closed her eyes trying not to break down into tears that she just did the stupidest thing in the world just a few moments ago. She wasn't sure how long she was like that until she finally drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

[Marius Rodomonte]

Marius stood there for a few more minutes, still more than a little stunned by what Daphne did to him. A muttered curse escaped his lips as he thought about what he should have done. He walked over to the door of the hotel room and took a deep breath before opening it and walking inside. He looked over at the girl's bed and nearly called Daphne's name again. The son of Hermes stopped himself when he saw that they were both asleep. He cursed himself inside his head again before walking over to his bed and laying down, staring at the wall for several minutes unable to sleep.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne tossed and turned all night. She didn't notice that her bed become emptier in the middle of the night. Once the sun poured into their hotel room, Daphne was up. She glanced over at Marius in his bed and she felt dread. The events of last night were still fresh in her mind. Daphne quickly locked herself in the bathroom as she took the longest shower possible. It was like she was washing off her sins from the night before. She messed up, really messed up more than she possibly thought. No matter how much she sobbed in the shower and scrubbed at her skin, she still felt that guilt. The first quest day was barely over and she screwed up. She should have been honest with them and ducked out because of Achilles.

She finally stepped out of the shower and got dressed as she peeked outside the bathroom door. Marius was still asleep... or maybe he was awake. Daphne couldn't tell. She quickly stepped out of the bathroom and grabbed her purse and room key as she left to get some breakfast. Maybe that would make things better... maybe...

[Marius Rodomonte]

Marius woke up after a while to find both Daphne and Ariel missing, looking around he sat up as he tried to find some hint onto where they went. A note on the nightstand in between the two beds caught his eye. He reached over and grabbed it, looking it over to find out that Ariel had heard of an emergency and had to go back to camp to take care of it. The thief looked around again after reading the note, hoping to find some hint on where Daphne went.

After a few minutes, he walked into the bathroom to take a quick shower, still thinking about what happened last night. Marius sighed as he turned off the shower before drying himself off and getting dressed. He walked back out into the hotel room, hoping that Daphne would be back.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne managed to get her head cleared up a bit when she left the hotel and wandered down a street. She screwed up and she didn't know how she was going to fix it, but donuts helped everything, right? She popped into a local bakery and picked up a dozen. After eating a couple herself, she headed back to the hotel room. Donuts would be an excellent peace offering. Hey, I know I just kissed you last night, but forgive me because I have donuts? It sounded lame even in her head. There was no way they were going to recover from this.

She walked back into the hotel room just as Marius stepped out of the bathroom. Her face heated up furiously when she saw his hair was still slightly damp. "Umm..." she muttered to make her presence known as she stared down at the door. "I brought donuts..." she sheepishly said as she presented the box to her best friend.

[Marius Rodomonte]

"Hey." Marius said as he turned to look at Daphne before walking over to her. "About last night. I have a few things I need to say." He told her before taking the box of donuts from her and setting them off to the side. "First things first." The son of Hermes started before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a deep kiss, keeping it going for a few seconds. "I liked it." He said after the kiss was done. "Second, if you really want this then you should know that Valeria dumped me and left." Marius smiled down at her.

[Daphne Scotts]

About last night. Dread built up in the pit of her stomach as she felt her face get redder with each passing moment. She screwed up. He was going to say that he didn't have feelings for her because he was still with Valeria. She screwed up. Her heart pounded in her chest as he stepped up to her and took her box of donuts, her only line of defense and placed them to the side. She sheepishly glanced up at him before the unexpected happened. He wrapped her up in his arms and his lips found hers.

Daphne's mind went blank. He was kissing her? Before she could even react to his lips on hers, he pulled away. Daphne blinked a couple of times as she looked up at him. "You... you did?" she stuttered as her face really heated up. This was not how she was planning the rejection to go... there wasn't even a rejection! She looked up at him as he smiled down at her before she blurted out, "Are you sure?" Her face heated up even more. Daphne could be such an idiot at times.

[Marius Rodomonte]

Marius held back a chuckle when Daphne asked him if he was certain, smiling a little wider when her blush deepened. "I'm sure, Daphne." He assured her with a quick peck on her forehead. "I like you and want the chance to try to be with you." The son of Hermes told her with a grin. His lips pressed against hers again, keeping this kiss short before he pulled back. "Just don't make panic again like I did last night." He requested. His arms slowly let her go after a few seconds.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne's eyes closed and she sighed softly when he kissed her forehead. She had no idea what to think about this turn of events. Was she really going to get her second boyfriend ever during a quest? She opened her eyes and looked up at him as her heart fluttered in her chest. But his lips finally met hers and before she could second-guess herself, she kissed him back. She inwardly groaned as he pulled away much too quickly and he slowly let go of her. "I won't," she muttered to him as she moved to wrap her arms around his neck. She leaned in and kissed him. It wasn't a sweet kiss or even a deep one, but it was thorough. She made sure she kissed him good. She hadn't been kissed in a while and she was making sure she savored every moment of it. She finally pulled away from his lips slightly before she breathed out, "Yeah, I want this."

[Marius Rodomonte]

Marius was prepared for another kiss from Daphne when she wrapped her arms around his neck and was able to actually kiss her back this time. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up against him as he kissed her back, enjoying it. "Good, because I do too." He told her with a smile. He kissed her forehead again as he held her close to him. After a few minutes of staying like that, he sighed as he realized that they would have to leave soon. "We should probably get going." He whispered, preferring to stay there with her.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne kept her eyes closed after the kiss and smiled softly as he kissed her forehead. For a moment, Daphne forgot about all the bad things that happened to her recently. Everything just seemed so right, so perfect in that moment.... until Marius pointed out to her that they probably should head out. Daphne groaned as she moved to bury her face into his chest and took a deep breath. The quest. They were on this quest because of him so he could get better. As much as she would have loved to stay in this hotel room with him forever, they had a job.

"I guess so," she muttered as she reluctantly pulled away from him. She took a step away from him and towards her bed to grab her backpack when she noticed something. "Where's Ariel?" she asked as she turned around to face Marius. A bit of panic started to set in. If something bad happened to Ariel while she was getting donuts, she would never forgive herself.

[Marius Rodomonte]

"There was an emergency at camp and she had to go back to take care of it." Marius assured Daphne before walking over to the box of donuts and grabbing one before starting to get packed up to leave again. "We won't have her here for the quest, but she's fine, Daphne." He told her as he walked over to her and hugged her comfortingly for a brief moment. "Let's go find that stupid seer so we can figure out what we should do." The son of Hermes said as he grabbed his stuff.

[Daphne Scotts]

"Oh..." Daphne said softly as she glanced over at the nightstand and saw the note. She couldn't help but feel ridiculously stupid. She was the first one up. She should have seen the note. She was swamped by her thoughts until Marius hugged her comfortingly. That snapped Daphne out of her thoughts as she finished getting herself packed up.

It wasn't long after that they checked out of the hotel and Daphne slipped into the driver's seat of the stolen car. It took a lot of begging and a couple of kisses for Marius to agree to let her take over. She started up the engine and drove away from the hotel as she glanced over at Marius. "So where is this seer supposed to be again?" she asked him as she pulled onto the main road.

[Marius Rodomonte]

Marius glanced down at the map in his hands, looking at the location the search had told them where there might be an actual seer. "According to this, it should be just a few miles south of where we are now. It shouldn't take us too long if we take the highway." He told her as he folded up the map and put it to the side, grabbing the last donut from the box. A slight smile appeared on his face as he thought about how she managed to talk him into letting her drive.