Thinking Outside the Box | Cleo

[Theo Dean]

“So tell me about yourself Cleo.” Theo asked as he walked along the outside of the mess hall looking for a place to sit. He had gotten his breakfast and now ate as he walked with Cleo. He had kept the conversation going on the way over telling her stories about his misadventures and the many humorous situations that he had gotten himself and others into just to pass the time but now he wanted Cleo to talk for a little bit. He wanted to know more about her and wanted her to realize that there really was more about herself to tell. “Where are you from and what brings you to camp? In other words what’s your story?”

Theo already had in mind what they could do today but he wasn’t ready to get into that just yet. He still wanted to know more about this curious girl who didn’t seem to think very highly of herself. He didn’t want the usual list of things she no doubt gave to people who asked that question either. Cleo had a story because everyone had a story and no two stories were the same. She wanted to know how she was different then she needed to think outside the box she wasn’t ordinary or unimportant. She just needed to see it and since that was the case they might as well start at the beginning. “Oh, don’t forget to include all the daring tells of adventure that you experienced on the way to camp. That’s always the best part.” He added with a chuckle.


Cleo Price

[Cleo Price]

Cle had enjoyed their walk to the mess, but now there and with food, she didn't know how to take his questions. Interested  wasn't usual for cleo, and now she had to think back. Does she lie? Save her stories for herself? Keep her life simple? That wouldn't work. besides he thinks she is interesting, maybe he actually wants to know. His last comment made her laugh as she sat down with her food, staring at it for a while before she stared.

"I don't remember my dad. He is the only thing in my life i've never been able to remember. The first real memory I have was at the orphanage. I was there all my life. After a dgo attacked me and a few others, they stopped setting up adoptions for me. When I was sixteen, I found someone apparently had tried to adopt me but couldn't since I had no papers. He never came back after that, guess there weren't second chances after all. I gave up hope, so I left." she said with her hands wrapped around a cup of coffee before taking a sip. "I wouldn't odd jobs here and there. Then attacks became more frequent and only a year ago I found out who I was from my 'caretaker' and came here. No adventures, just staying alive the best I could." she admitted, picking at her food, before looking up. "okay. eye for a eye, what's your story." she said taking a bite of her food.

[Theo Dean]

To be honest Theo hadn't really known if the girl would be honest with him or not. So far she had been giving pretty generic answers whenever the conversation turned toward herself and while he didn’t think that was really intentional it did make getting to know her a little bit of a struggle. So when she spoke up actually getting pretty serious and going into her life story the son of Hecate was pleased to see that she was opening up a little.

He wondered how many times she had talked about her past with others. She didn’t really seem like the type to go out of her way to tell people about herself and judging by her hesitation to tell him she might not be used to going into it at all. Still, as he listened to the story and ate his food he thought that he could see why she struggled so much thinking that she was interesting. Growing up in an orphanage would have been enough but then to feel like no one wanted you? That would make anyone doubt how much they were worth. That being the case he thought he could get where she was coming from now.

Cleo had asked him a question though and he thought he better answer it before they went too much further. He swallowed a bite of food he had been working on and then fixed her with a grin of startling sincerity. ”Oh I suppose it’s only fair. My story is a simple one about a boy born into a life of luxury who left his wealthy upbringing to experience adventure and glory saving the world with the use of his incredible magic powers…” It was obviously another one of his fabrications and he hoped Cleo would get a kick out of it and give him a pass for now. He would tell her about himself at some point but the time wasn’t right just yet. ”Buuuuuuut I wouldn’t want to bore you with all the tales of my grand exploits and besides, this day was supposed to be about you wasn’t it?” He chuckled. “And you said you weren’t interesting. Seems like you have a pretty good talent for taking care of yourself especially since you didn’t find out about your heritage until you were older.”

[Cleo Price]

For a second Cleo nearly believed him, but caught the sarcasm before she shook her head.  Figures, most people didn't tell their life stories so easily, she should have been the same way, but Theo honestly seemed trustworthy. Her past was something that made her physically uncomfortable to think about and she stirred her food as she thought. It wasn't worth it to her to think about that honestly though. She wasn't that anymore, she wasn't alone anymore. Well..

"It not a talent or anything." she said simply looking down at her food, before eating a bit of it. Food didn't seem so great anymore. "Its not interesting, it's was that way whether I wanted it to be or not. I didn't get a single say in my life till I got out of there." Honestly she hated that aspect, she was always having to rely on others for support, and they always seemed to abandon her in her need. Her birth father, Her adoptive parents, her 'caretaker'. Everyone, so she became independent. Alone. "I didn't ask for any of it, I learned late and that means I have to work  twice as hard to catch up everyone. Its a burden that could have been avoided."

[Theo Dean]

Theo thought things were going pretty well until Cleo took a turn down a dark line of thinking. He supposed that wasn’t too surprising. Her past couldn’t have been very happy for her but then again that was exactly what it was the past. It didn’t have to define her. Personally Theo didn’t think that it had but there was still some resentment she was holding on to and that was never a good thing. Besides, he didn’t really agree with her that she simply had to accept everything that had happened to her.


“You didn’t ask for any of it, true, and you may not have had much of a say in how things turned out but you do have a say now. I would go crazy if I had to sit here following the camp rules all the time so every so often I disappear for a while and follow my own agenda. The same can be true for you as well even if it’s not leaving camp like I do. You don’t have to accept anything that you’re given and you don’t need any special talents either even though I think you’ve got one or too you might be holding back on. You already know how to take care of yourself and that’s a lot more than most can say.”


He had said a lot and when he stopped he gave her some time to really chew on all of it. In the silence between he ate his breakfast and glanced around at the demi gods going here and there about their day. In a camp where the extraordinary was just plain ordinary it was easy to lose sight of the fact that you were an individual. "I made the choice when I got here that I was going to be different from the rest if only because being different is fun. It’s not hard either. You just do what everyone else is not doing. How about you Cleo? Do you want to be different or are you just going to take what other people give to you?"

[Cleo Price]

Cleo let his words sink in, not saying much after he spoke. Theo had a point but it was a point that she had a hard to visualizing. Having a home and going away? Special talents that was hidden? None of those seemed to peek Cleo’s mind or make her feel any better than she did currently. Cleo was cynical and she knew that. She saw the worst and always attributed it to how she grew up, but he made her think for a moment. What if she was cynical not because of how she grew up but because she wanted to be, she wanted to see the worst in the world.

She blinked twice at the boy before raising her eyebrow “You make it sound like being a normal person is the equivalent to the plague.” She said taking another bit of her food before returning to what she was saying “Being normal isn’t terrible, it’s just a idea. And like all ideas some people believe it and others don't. It doesn’t make them any less than us for believing it or us anything else for wanting to join it. But to answer your question no, I don’t want to be different. I'm already ordinary, i don’t see different as a way to describe me.”

[Theo Dean]

It didn’t look like Cleo was buying it. Which was a major bummer because he really thought she was selling herself short. What could he do to help her realize? How could he make her see that there really was more to her than met the eye. Theo thought there was anyways and he didn’t usually take an interest in just anyone. Maybe he needed to regroup. Maybe he needed to change his approach. He wasn’t one to accept defeat so easily after all no matter how hard the nut was to crack.

“Plague? Nah. It’s not that being normal is a bad thing.” He said with a chuckle. She had him all wrong if she thought he was trying to say that it was a bad thing. He definitely hadn't seen any bad qualities in Cleo at all save for maybe not thinking enough of herself which he was trying to change. “Alright, since you refuse to listen to reason I’ll show you.” Finishing off his breakfast he brushed his hands together before pointing at her camera. “Take your pictures for example. You think they’re just run of the mill but it takes a pretty keen eye to catch something in the moment like you did this morning with me going across the lake. You say you didn’t do anything but take a picture but I know plenty of mooks who would just stand there and gawk or run away screaming. I say that's pretty awesome. Another example. You’ve got a pretty cynical nature about you. It takes a different kind of person to look at the world and see through all the idealistic nonsense to what’s really going on. I like that too. You’ve got something that makes you stand out even if you don’t know it yourself Cleo. You're an individual not just another ordinary camper. Think about it. There's only one you.”