It's time for a tan [Open]

[Leon Orcot]

Leon walked casually down to the beach wearing nothing but a dark blue pair of swim trunks and a pair of aviator sunglasses. He had an orange towel on his shoulder and today's objective was to start getting a tan again. His time in Iraq had messed up the lines he had when he was a bit younger and he wanted to fix everything back up. Reaching the edge of the water, he stood silently in the surf before heading a little further away from the water to lay down. Placing his towel down below him he laid down on it and looked up into the sun. "It's such a nice day today, not too hot, and not too cool either. I may just take a quick nap." Placing his hands behind his head he closed his eyes and let himself come to peace laying there listening to the sound of the waves.

[Deleted]

"Did you know that you've picked a terrible place to regain a suntan?" a whispering, soft voice appeared out of nowhere after a while of undisturbed silence for Leon. Black billowing skirt whipped about her feet, a parasol blocking the sun from a long head of black locks and ultra-pale skin, an almost wraith-like appearance in contrast to the colorful surroundings. Bare feet were untouched by grains of sand or dirt, as pure and pristine as the rest of her face. Slowly, she raised a hand to point in the right direction. "The Aphrodite cabin says that better sun access can be found over in that direction, over that large sand embankment."

Desdemona had come in search of this new arrival because he intrigued her. He was the same age as her, she had heard, yet he had just arrived. He was also of dark features, like herself, although clearly not of the same palette judging by his orange accessories. So she had spied and sussed him out, finding him here. The wide, open sea gave her pause and so she had given it a wide berth.

[Leon Orcot]

Leon was started out of his peace by a quiet voice he could barely hear directly above him. Looking up the first thing he noticed was a pair of barefeet near his head, very pale and for some reason, pristine despite the numerous grains of sand surrounding them on the ground. Eyes traveling upwards over the skirt the woman wore, he noticed the rest of her skin was just as pale as her feet and legs. Above her dark locks of hair was a parasol keeping her in the shade. Focusing on her as she pointed off to the side he chuckled softly to himself before sitting up and facing her cross legged on the ground.

He gave her one of his best smiles and opened his mouth, "Well good morning there. It doesn't matter if the sun is better over there, the peace and quiet is over here. If the sun is better over there as they have told you, then it means that there will be more people over there. I don't really want most people to observe my scarred body most of the time, so I picked this spot away from the rest of the beach. But you found me, so I guess it didn't really work out all that well for me. Although, I'm glad it didn't, you seem to be one of the older campers, like me, and I wouldn't mind talking to someone closer to my own age for once." He gestured to the scars that covered his torso arms and legs as he spoke. Scooting over a little so there was space on the bright towel he patted the space beside him. Giving her a smaller more sincere smile, he spoke again, "Would you care to join me?"

[Deleted]

Black eyes took in the vast expanse of bare skin and the scars covering that skin, irises giving a slight glow as they registered. Her lips parted slightly to reveal a tiny glimpse of white teeth before they closed again, hiding her emotions. She'd seen the appraising look that he'd given her body, silently wondering if it was her colouring or her body that had enthralled him enough to take a closer look. Moving in a little closer, she tilted her head up to view the sun then turned back to him.

"Yes, most campers here are barely adult in any sense of the word," she replied serenely. "Listening to teenagers all day every day is tiring and mind-numbing. A little company my own age would be much more pleasant."

As he offered her a place next to him, the smile disappeared. "I am not sure if that was a wise offer to make," she demurred. "I don't normally come here. The sun and large areas of water tend to have a very unpleasant effect on me. But seeing as you asked so nicely and I do wish to have adult conversation, I will accept."

Carefully seating herself on the spare bit of beach towel he offered her, she pressed the handle of the parasol deep in the sand to anchor it to protect herself without costing him any of his sunlight. Carefully, she set about undoing the top layer of her clothing and soon her pale arms and shoulders revealed themselves. Like him, her arms were marked with layers of scar tissue except in a form of artistic precision as opposed to his more random scarring. Fingering the deep layering of scars on her left arm from wrist to shoulder, like a tattoo sleeve, she smiled at him shyly.

[Leon Orcot]

He listened to her words quietly, chuckling a bit when she mentioned talking to teenagers. He was curious as to why this was a bad idea until he realizing that with the sun and her pale skin, it wouldn't be the smartest place to talk. The water thing he could totally understand, he was not a fan of deep water but so long as he wasn't in the water he was fine. He smiled when she accepted and sat down gracefully on the towel beside him, planting her parasol into the sand just far enough away that he was still fully in the sun. She seemed to be a nice and considerate young woman. "I'm curious about something, how is it that, even surrounded by all this sand and such, your pale feet are still spotless? It baffles my mind."

Noticing her beginning to undo her shirt, he blushed a bit and looked away, before turning back to see she had another on under it, and was just removing an outer layer. He mentally berated himself for thinking like that before noticing the scarring on her arms. He moved slightly closer to take a better look. He reached out his hand for a second before pulling it back. He saw her trace her fingers over the scars and the strange pattern they formed, while she smiled shyly at him. "Now those are interesting. They aren't like mine, all random from, an event I don't talk much about in my past, they seem more, patterned."

He shook his head for a moment before extending his hand forwards for a handshake, "My name is Leon, son of Hephaestus, retired US Marine. What might your name be?" He smiled at her again.

[Deleted]

Adjusting her bangs, she looked down at her feet and studied them as he asked her how she remained so...sand-free, was is? A tiny shrug came, before she tucked them under herself. "Well," she replied softly, "I have a little secret in that department. I simply don't walk on the sand very much at all. I kind of...float on shadows. Maybe one day I'll show you how."

Noticing him looking at her scars as she touched them, a gentle finger traced the patterns more out of thought than any phantom pain. "I have more of them on my body," she softly replied. "All over, in fact. I call them my homemade tattoos. Nobody else alive has these little reminders. They're like yours in a way, in that we both don't talk about how we got them much. They dont really make for polite conversation, do they?"

Looking at his out-stretched hand, she smiled shyly and then extended her hand in return. Wrapping her fingers around his, she grasped their palms together and gave it a squeeze as she shook it firmly. "My name is Desdemona, Daughter of Nyx. It is a pleasure to meet you, Leon."

[Leon Orcot]

Leon looked a little startled at the concept of shadow walking, er, floating. He had no idea how this would be achieved. He supposed it was most likely a product of her being a daughter of Nyx, the primordial of darkness if he remembered correctly. He nodded as she said that and truly hoped she may one day. "That would be interesting to witness. Perhaps some night, as the sun doesn't seem to be your best friend?" He chuckled to himself a bit at his little joke before looking into her black eyes and sliding his aviators up so she could see into his eyes more clearly, a dark black meeting his own bright green. He nodded his head as she told a little about her scars, opening his mouth after she had finished talking, "Yes, not polite conversation. My apologies. Perhaps sometime in the future we can talk of them, but," Here he paused, lost in a particularly bad memory of his time in captivity, before shaking his head, "it is too fresh right now I suppose. On to a, safer, topic now."

He smiled as she introduced her self before being a bit bold on his part. Quickly bringing her hand up to his mouth he placed a soft kiss on the back of it like in the old days before looking deeply into her eyes again, "The pleasure is mine, Desdemona. I look forward to our conversation today." While looking into her eyes, they were mostly dark and empty, but he thought for a second he could see something, but it was more then likely a figment of his imagination. He released her hand and leaned back looking up at the sun for a moment, hoping she would have a good start to this as he was never much for small talk and the like.

[Deleted]

"Indeed," she replied ambiguously, which statement she was answering being slightly unclear. Mysterious as always, although it was clear she meant him no harm. The kiss on the back of her hand made her smile a little at the unusual mannerism, although she had experienced the same movement recently, in the forest with that mystery man. The two were different, though. In the forest, the kiss on the hand had seemed a little...cloying and oily. It almost made her feel like she should wipe her hand off on her skirts. Here, amidst the sand and surf and water, the kiss was different. A little more pleasant in a way.

Having looked into those bright green eyes, she was a little more comfortable with the shaggy haired man now. People who weren't afraid to look you straight in the eye usually weren't liars. She wondered what he had seen in her eyes. Resting her chin on her raised knees, she studied the water with a dark look.

"So...what brings you here to Camp Half-Blood so late in life?" she asked pleasantly. "I think I'm the oldest here at the Camp, at least before you arrived, but I came when I was ten, one of the youngest ever to arrive. You're here so late in life. It makes me curious."

[Leon Orcot]

He chuckled as she seemed to answer both of his questions with one word. She seemed to be a mysterious person, but he loved a good mystery. He wasn't really sure which question she had answered, but it didn't really matter. He was glad she hadn't pulled away from him after the kiss, as so far he was enjoying her company.

He watched her rest her head on her knees before hearing her question. He pondered how best to answer her question. He shrugged to himself and decided the truth was best. "Well it all started seven years a go when I turned sixteen. I came home from a day as school to find my mother being crushed under a car in our automotive shop. That was the day I discovered my heritage as a demigod. I used my technomancy powers to move the car off of mom, pulling her out from where it was. She explained everything to me before dying right there in my arms. Over the next few weeks, I fought to get myself emancipated as a minor, allowing me to live on my own and take care of myself. After two years on my own with the shop, I graduated school and joined the Marines, mostly to escape from the place where my mother had died. I mostly forgot about my heritage as a demigod. I served for four tours in Iraq, earning me a spot in a POW camp, where I got these," He gestured to the scars littering his body, before pointing out the three bullet wounds over his kidney, "But these three are why I'm here now." "

After being rescued, we were ambushed and in the chaos, I was hit three times in the kidney to save one of my friends. Under the intense fire, I lost it, and nearly lost my life. I was given a medal for heroism and the Purple Heart for being wounded in combat. Because of the damage, I was honorably discharged. Returning to my home, I found the note my father had left me, along with this wrench I usually have with me. Remembering all that happened on that night, I attended a reunion at my old high school and then drove straight here. I wanted to leave my old life behind and start anew. 

He sighed a bit as he leaned back on his hands, looking right into her eyes again. He had told his story, and revealed more about his scars. He shrugged a bit before saying just a final bit, "I know someone out there has had it worse then me, so I don't find much time to complain anymore. I'm just going to keep pushing on through life and let it go where it will."

[Deleted]

The other occupant of the towel listened to his words, studying the curve of his lips and the way they moved as he spoke, pondering on his life story as it spilled out. It was nice that he had got to spend some of his childhood with one of his parents, even if his father hadn't been around. It seemed that was the all too common theme amongst everyone here, that every divine parent disappeared. Why was that? Was it some kind of unwritten rule? Maybe a dislike of children? A fear that any of them might fall into the ways of their parents and eat the children? Whatever reason, it didn't seem to have left a deep scar in this man, at least to her eyes. Her black eyes studied the three bullet holes in his body with interest, reaching out a hand to almost touch them before she drew them back.

"It must be nice to have lived with a parent," she wistfully spoke. "I've never met my mortal father and glimpses of my mother are...rare. I have to shed blood to see her, use it to cast a ritual. I would have liked to have spent a tiny bit of time with a family."

She gave him a small smile to reassure him. "Your scars are noble indeed, as is your intent. You will be welcome here."

[Leon Orcot]

Leon watched her move her hand towards the old bullet wounds on his side before she started to pull away. He gently took her hands in his and guided them to the old wounds on his side. He shivered a bit at her touch, as he could still feel something there some times, but he didn't mind. Dropping his hands away from hers, he smiles a bit, "Yeah, it was nice living with mom while she was here. I still have the car the two of us were building together, all put together now. I'm sorry to hear about your parents, I think whatever keeps our divine one away from us is moronic and needs to be abolished. Why shouldn't we be allowed to see the one who birthed us and should love us?" 

He gave her his own small smile in return, before looking deeper into her eyes. "Truly, I hope you are correct. I would enjoy leading a new life, with new friends." He gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder for reassuring him he would be welcomed here.

[Deleted]

His skin felt nice as she touched it, a little warm and cushy but soft too. Feeling the wounds softly, she could feel the shiver as it passed through him and into her, it felt quite nice. Eventually letting go of his side, she arranged her hands in her lap and studied the nails with a gentle reminder to repaint them soon.

"I always did wonder why we never got visited as children," she admitted. "It would have been nice to have seen her before I came here. Things would have been...different for all of us, I suppose. But the Gods have many children after all, it'd be hard to live with all of them all the time as babies and toddlers. Gods get jealous as many times as humans do."

She stared back into his eyes just as deeply, the black orbs drilling into his soul. Or, at least appearing to. As he touched her shoulder, she looked down at his hand and then back up without pulling away or commenting on it.

"There are friends here," she mused. "But enemies too. Some of the people here want to end the rule of the Gods, but nobody knows who they are. So if you really want to fit in, be wary. Everybody is these days."

[Leon Orcot]

When she pulled away, he missed the feeling of her hands for a moment. He shook his head to clear his thoughts of the feeling. He chuckled a bit as he heard her talk of the gods. In his mind, most of them where pretty much glorified whores. They slept around and had several kids each. Then they abandoned them all to the harsh world, with or without their other parent. No he wasn't happy with the gods for how they treated their children, but he knew they had rules. "Still, it wouldn't hurt to pop in every once in a while. 'Hi son how are you?' 'I'm great dad, thanks for stopping by!' Something like that would be just fine. The only time I ever heard from him was when mom died."

He pulled his hand gently from her shoulder after she looked at it before rotating both of his arms at the shoulders. They were a little stiff from a lack of stretching. He pulled them both up above his head before locking them together and pushing them as far back as he could. He nodded his head to her words, still looking her in the eyes while giving her a show of his muscles rippling as he stretched. "I'll keep my ears and eyes around for them then. I don't particularly like the gods, but they seem to be doing good so far." Dropping his arms back to his sides he shrugged at that. "So, what do you want to know about me now? I don't mind answering questions."

[Deleted]

Desdemona tilted her head to the side as she listened to his words, and the anger behind them, the bitterness evident in his tone. The chuckle made her smile, a cold smile that sat easily on her lips. His anger was fresh but at the same time old, like he had been thinking about it for a very long time but each time the anger came anew. Sitting her fingers in her lap, she intertwined them together and studied her pale digits. "I am not sure how or why our parents cannot come to visit. Mayhap there are laws put in place that ban them from interfering in our lives. The Gods don't like to talk about it, because their very nature is hedonistic. Think only of today, never tomorrow."

The admittance made her flex her lips in a kind of smile. "No, you don't particularly like them. But I am glad you do not seek the destruction of people you've just become acquainted with. It would be sad if you did."

Debating his question, her eyes turned slightly hazy with thought as she wondered what to ask him. They wandered off to the side, her teeth chewing her bottom lip slightly before she spoke again. "Questions, hmmm? Very well. Do you have anything that you are scared of? Anything you like particularly?"

[Leon Orcot]

Leon's smile turned bitter at her words. He knew they were true and it didn't dull the feeling he had any. "I typically avoid seeking the destruction of things. I'm more of a fixer then a breaker. It's more satisfying then breaking all the things." His smile turned back to normal here and he listened to her questions quietly before thinking on them. While it wasn't normally safe to tell someone his fears, he trusted this beautiful young woman and decided to risk it. "The thing that scares me the most is being abandoned. I've been abandoned twice in my life. The first time was when mom died and all dad did was send me a note and a hammer. The second," He paused for a moment here, clenching his fists a bit. He took some deep breathes and calmed back down before continuing, "The second time, I was abandoned by my squad. They could have reached me and backed me up to help and we would have been fine, but, they left me. That's why I have these scars. Other then that, I don't really want to ever go back overseas, and I'm not fond of deep water."

His face turned upwards in a smile as he began talking about his likes, "Well for starters, I love my car. She's my pride and joy. I'm actually going to ask Chiron later if I can re-purpose one of the bunkers to use as a garage/hanger type area. I also enjoy my rock music, dancing around, fixing up anything and everything, drinking, and playing cards. I also enjoy smoking from time to time but not all that often. Usually alone because I never know who doesn't like smoking." He gave her a gentle smile and made a few gestures while talking about his car. "What about you hun? Likes, fears, and maybe even your dreams."