Watching, Waiting, Commiserating {OPEN}

[Lydia Shepard]

Most girls went to the lake to swim or maybe sunbathe. Not Lydia. This was a new location that she could read her books. They weren't cute little romance romance novels or some fantasy fiction. No. Lydia liked to read textbooks and on topics like psychology and ethics. And on this particular day, she had a big ole textbook on the Freudian school of thought on psychoanalysis. But this was a bit of light reading for the Dionysus girl. She was out on the dock as she had her shoes off behind her and her toes dipping into the water. She was reading up on dream analysis during this outing. She had the book in her lap turned to the page as she leaned back on her hands. She quietly sat there as her eyes scanned over the words on the pages.

[Michael Faucheux]

Mickey wasn't doing too well to say the least. How many other teenage dads are doing well, anyways? He just kept telling himself that. He couldn't be the only one handling this shit so poorly. He was avoiding Jessi and had spent most of the day in his cabin nestled up to empty cans of beer. He couldn't ignore the world forever though, even if he wanted to. Running away was still an option, one he had been seriously contemplating. He had somewhat convinced himself that he would always be an asshole and abandoning his girlfriend and unborn child would be no big deal.

Never make decisions when both upset and drunk. Mickey was particularly good at doing just that. The beer on his breath and red eyes were clear indicators of his somewhat disintegrating mental state as he stumbled around camp with little direction. He found himself at the lake and had a very great idea. What better way to deal with suppressed feelings than take a nice dip? He grinned at the thought as he began to strip, completely ignoring the fact that it was freezing out. He paused once in his boxers before having a 'fuck it' moment and pulling those off too.

And then he ran, feet slapping against the wood as he ran down the dock. His bare leg brushed the girl sitting at the end but he payed little mind, leaping into the water. It was fucking freezing. He let himself sink for a bit before swimming back up to the top, shivering violently as his head broke the surface. He grinned at the girl, winking with his black hair dripping the freezing water all over his face. "Bit chilly ain't it, babe?"

[Lydia Shepard]

Lydia was lost in her own little world that she didn't notice that someone had joined her on the dock. It was only when she flipped the page of her book that she heard the pounding of footsteps heading towards her. She looked over her shoulder to see what it was before her eyes widened. There was a boy. A naked boy. A very naked boy. She adverted her eyes and blushed a bit before she saw a bit of bare bum before there was a splash in the lake. Lydia didn't know if the boy had done a cannonball or belly flopped, but the splash was big enough that it got her wet and soaked her book.

She sat there and blinked a couple of times before she shook off the cold water and lifted her book off of her lap and tried to shake it somewhat dry. The Athena cabin would not be happy with her returning the book to them in this state. But the naked boy emerged from the water and had the nerve to talk to her and wink. He winked at her. Lydia just stared at him. Why kind of person went skinny dipping in the middle of the day?

But she saw his eyes. They were bloodshot and she got the feeling that he wasn't in his right mind. She didn't know whether to blame it on her Dionysus powers or her psychology knowledge, but Lydia somehow just knew. She leaned forward toward the man as she rested her elbows on her knees. "Are you alright?" she asked calmly as she looked at him.

[Michael Faucheux]

He burst out laughing at her question? Him? Alright? Now that was a good one. When had he ever been alright? Maybe when he was much younger, before he understood things. People aren't lying when they say innocence is bliss. It took him a while to stop laughing, though he still giggled a bit through his words. "Oh I'm great," he slurred with a touch of sarcasm.

Damn this girl was hot. And concerned. He'd be lying if he said he didn't like people caring. He thrived off of attention, whether good or bad. That had always been the case. Well, not always. He supposed it didn't happen until he realized his father would never care. After that he did whatever he could to be noticed. The press loved him for it once he became a model. There's nothing more delicious to the vicious packs of media than a young beautiful boy caught in sex and drug scandals. Man were those days fun.

[Lydia Shepard]

Oh I'm great. If Lydia didn't catch the slur or even the hint of sarcasm, she wouldn't believe the naked boy in front of her. And she could smell the alcohol reeking from him, even if the lake should've washed away the smell. She pursed her lips together as she kept leaning in towards the boy. He needed help and maybe Lydia could provide that for him. She wasn't the self-proclaimed cabin therapist after all. This boy was troubled and she would hate to see him do anything else stupid while he was in this mental state.

She looked at him as she tilted her head to the side to analyze him. She kept her eyes above his chest, since she was already quite aware that he was naked and she was not interested in what he was packing. She looked him in the eyes as she cocked an eyebrow at him. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked. "I've heard that I'm a great listener."

[Michael Faucheux]

The last thing he wanted to do was talk about it. The baby. He wanted to forget about it if anything and he was certainly trying to do just that. He ignored her question, instead responding with, "You're real hot... Wanna hook up?" he raised his eyebrows, fairly sure that she couldn't resist his charm. He was being a bit cocky considering his level of flirting skills wasn't very high when intoxicated. He was used to people just sorta coming after his body regardless of his shit personality. That and gold diggers. The thought of Jessi lingered in the back of his mind. They yelled at him to knock it off, to just go back to the cabin and sleep it off. He was fairly good at ignoring common sense though.

[Lydia Shepard]

This boy was being completely dense. Here she was completely ready to help him, because he needed it and he was completely ignoring it. Was there more that she could do to help him? Probably. Was she going to help him further? Not the slightest chance, since he seemed to be more interested in the other services she could provide, but wasn't offering. Lydia rolled her eyes as she slammed her book shut. She pulled her feet out of the water and shook them off a bit to dry them as she slipped her shoes back on.

"Unlucky for you," she snapped as she glared down at him. "I don't hook up with naked boys in the lake. And you don't get out of there, I'm gonna let Chiron know that someone is skinny dipping in board daylight." She rolled her eyes again as she stood up at the edge of the dock.