R&R | Vega

[Cameron James]

Attempt number two. Ever since the night of the Kraken attack Cam had been trying to come up with a way to see Vega again. Oh sure stopping by her mom's shop for a coffee was cool, it gave them a chance to hang out outside of drill and training but he really did want to get to know her a little better. She was nice and he felt like he could be himself around her which was something that was fairly rare back at the barracks. He also felt a little bad that the Kraken had messed things up for them that first time. Granted he had gotten to fight beside her and that had worked out well but he hated that they didn't have more time to just have some fun.

That was going to be changing tonight. He had been dealing with reports and disciplinary actions all week and he could use a break. That the break included Vega just went to show how well he got along with the girl as normally he preferred to spend his R&R time alone but the Favonius girl definitely had an easy going attitude that was refreshing and for once he thought he would change things up a little. He had spent enough time dealing with the legion's rules and red tape. It was time to pull a little rank and get Vega for a night on the town and he wasn't talking Rome.

First though he needed to stop by the cafe to pick her up. Granted this was a bit spontaneous so there was a chance she wouldn't be there but Cam had found if she wasn't at the barracks and wasn't with her friends he had a pretty good shot at tracking her down at her mom's place. That said he hoped she didn't have any plans or this idea was going to have to wait. Popping inside the cafe he glanced around and waved to Vega's mom. "Hey Ms. S. Is Vega here. I was wanting to ask her something."

Vega Starling

[Vega Starling]

Gods, today couldn't have gone any worst for Vega. Training? Sucked. Her cohort? Sucked. Having to miss her plans with her friends to go home and help her mom with rearranging storage? S U C K E D. After hours of work and a nice shower, hair thrown into a messy bun and a comfy crop top with some joggers, she finally felt like everything might finally be okay for the rest of the day. Wishful thinking. Her mother had been all over lately about the kraken attack, how she wasn't at the front lines like she was suppose to be. How she should have taken it down. Big whoop, she was busy making sure New Rome wasn't destroyed and that her mother was safe. She was in her favorite spot for the night when she needed a breather. In the top of the cafe was a old wooden beams with just enough space for her to sit at. When she was little she would go up there when she was being bad and her mom would call her a evil flying monkey, she couldn't reach thats all that mattered. She wasn't a little girl anymore but the spot still did its job.

So she saw rather clearly when Cam strolled in and and talked to her mother. Well this was a pleasant surprise to say the least. "I'm up here." she said, waiting till Cam saw her in her spot before coming down. And by that she means a almost graceful fall. She was still annoyed with today so her powers read a simple 'down' as 'drop'. Somehow she stuck the landing, not without a glare from her mother for being rude, and walked over to Cam. "Whats up?" Honestly seeing Cam made her feel better already, even since they Kraken attack they hadn't really talked other than a few hi's in drill and she honestly thought he was a good guy and a good friend.

[Cameron James]

Cam had expected to have to wait on Vega, expected even that he might have to make small talk with her mom. He didn’t really mind much. What he did not expect was for Vega to speak up and from the ceiling no less. The son of Jupiter followed the sound of her voice, glancing up and sure enough there she was sitting on one of the cross beams and looking down at him. Cam gave her a curious but amused look but found that he somehow wasn’t really surprised at her choice of lookout spots. The spot seemed totally Vega in some way and he found her being there kind of cute.

Watching as she fell / dropped to the floor Cam couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement. She certainly was unique but then again that was one of the things he liked about her. “Hey Vega. That was some entrance.” He said with a bit of a chuckle but he hadn’t really come here to talk about her flair for dramatics had he? Clearing his throat he decided it was best to just go ahead and get everything out there. He had never liked dancing around the issue when he had something to say and seeing her had already served to lift his spirits a little so he might as well get on with it. “I was just wondering if you’re doing anything tonight. Don’t know about you but ever since that Kraken attack I’ve been swamped. I thought it was about time for a break and if you’re up for one to I may have a surprise for you.”

[Vega Starling]

Vega laughed with him slightly and shrugged at his comment about her entrance. "What can I say have to keep you on your toes." It was true though, Vega never meant to but she was very rash in her thought and actions so she often confused people and became hard to predict. Even her mother knew this. It wasn't long though before he said something else, and before she could help it she knew what he was asking. To. Get. The. Hell. Out. Of. Here.

They had both been really swamped since that afternoon that they raced out of this shop to keep their city safe. And ever since then she had been miserable, but he was offering a escape and she'd be damned if she didn't take it. Before she said anything she made a sly peek over Cam's shoulder to her mother, ready from the disapproving look that she was sure she was going to get but it wasn't there, replaced with a approving smile and a nod before returning to her work. That was, surprising to say the least. Her mother had been so serious about her helping today for her to suddenly release her cause Cam was asking, weird. She looked back at Cam and nodded, not bothering to hid her excitement. "I am definitely up for something, I need a break badly."

[Cameron James]

He had barely gotten the words out before Vega was agreeing. Apparently she needed this just as much as he did which he could appreciate. The burdens of responsibility were never easy whether you were a centurion dealing with legion red tape or a legacy dealing with the pressures of parents that lived far too close for comfort. In any case he was glad she seemed as eager to be off as he was and hoped that she would enjoy his plan for the night.

Cam's face broke into a wide grin. Things were looking up already and he couldn't help thinking this was going to be just what they both needed.
"Well then come on then." He said as he grabbed her hand and nodded towards the door. He did have a surprise for her but preferred to get going before anyone had a chance to stop them or any monsters had a chance to interrupt what he was planning. "So I told you I had a surprise for you and I do." He said once they were safely outside and away from the prying eyes of the parental figure. He was still grinning and continued to do so as he spoke thinking that this might start their evening off on the right track. "How would you like to get away from New Rome for a while? Head out into a normal city for once? Sound like fun?”

[Vega Starling]

Vega gave out a small laugh as he told her to come on and then took her out of the store, giving her mom a wave bye before she said anything else about it. Honestly the idea of escaping was a good idea, plus cam was nice company to keep, he may be a huffy stuff legionnaire but she like to get to know what he at least did for fun, all she really knew was that he liked football. Cam was still pretty much a mystery to her and she wouldn't mind getting to know him.

Surprises weren't usually Vega's style, but the second Cam said something about leaving New Rome her face looked shook. Leaving? Like going to the outside world were they weren't all trained warriors and battle scared demigods? She was sure for a solid minute she sat there like a deer before she light up like Christmas and started to jump around excitedly, a specialty of Vega's energetic self. "ARE YOU SERIOUS. LIKE SERIOUS SERIOUS" she exclaimed out, jumping around like a excited toddler while still holding his hand. "YES YES PLEASE. Ahem, I mean, yeah sure that sounds like only the best freaking surprise ever." she said, pretending to calm herself down. Literally she felt like she was made of air she was so excited. She laughed at her own ridiculousness. "Can't you tell I get out a lot?" She wished. Best surprise ever.

[Cameron James]

In all his talks with Vega he had gotten a pretty strong impression that she wanted more for herself than what was waiting for her here in New Rome. Cam could understand that or at least he thought he could and maybe that had played into his decision making tonight If there was anyone he knew that really would have enjoyed a night just away from everything well it would be her and judging by her excited reaction he thought that he had made the right decision in inviting her. He watched her bounce up and down and scream excitedly about the idea all the while smiling and enjoying the sight. Yeah, this was definitely going to be worth it.

"I think it's good to get out and away every once in a while." He said confirming her statement. "Gods know I don't do it enough." Maybe that could change though. He was starting to think that he wouldn't mind making these breaks a more frequent thing so long as Vega was involved. "How's you're flying today? No reason to walk if we can get there faster in the air."

[Vega Starling]

It was hard to image that Cam had once lived in the outside world. Grew up out there. It was hard to imagine him, a centurion of the roman legion as a small kid, playing behind a picket fence and other stereotypical american dreams. She was roman through and through, she had no idea what it was even like out there except for small trips in and out to get a few things that new rome couldn't supply. God the look on her face when she first saw a cell phone must have been amazing. The more she thought about it she wondered what his life outside the borders of camp had been, if it was a pleasant past or one he'd rather leave in the shadows, she did her best not to think about prying, it wasn't her place to.

She smirked as he asked about her flying, answering with a quick shot into the air. This was her element, being in the sky was where her home was. Not New Rome, not Camp, up here where nothing else could touch her to bring her back down. "I am always good to fly." she said with a smart ass smirk on her face. "The real question is if you think you can keep up Jupiter boy." she had no idea where she was going  but she was itching to speed off into the world. Escape, even if just for this moment.

 

[Cameron James]

Cam wasn’t sure about Vega’s experience with the outside world but he got the impression it wasn’t that much. It was a shame really. He could understand the idea that New Rome was supposed to be self-sufficient but he didn’t like the idea of legionnaires only rarely seeing what it was like outside of Rome’s borders. Perhaps it wasn’t quite that serious but he could see nothing wrong with some leave every once in a while just to get the experience. There was a lot to learn out there. Other ways of thinking that could probably do the Legion some good…but he had promised himself that he wouldn’t think about work tonight. This night was about relaxing and Vega and having a little fun. He was done with thinking about the Legion for a while.

As they got ready to go Cam couldn’t help but smirk and shake his head a little as she made what was a simple flight into a competition. He guessed he couldn’t blame her. She was excited and that attitude was one of the things he liked about her. Still, he had no doubt that she could beat him in a straight out test of flying skill. That was alright though. “Come on.” He said with a chuckle. “Let’s put those flying powers of yours to use. I’m hungry and I’m tired of all this Italian food.” With that he called up the wind currents and lifted off into the air. Next stop was San Francisco and some fun.

[Vega Starling]

The idea of getting out of camp was more than enough for Vega to be thrilled with her life for a while, but getting out with Cam? She couldn't even pretend that she wasn't thrilled because she was. Cam was a great guy and honestly she enjoyed being his friend. She watched as she he start to use his powers and smirked slightly, it seemed just as similar as hers but still, his had some real force behind it. It was a hard wind, powerful, and demanding. Hers was more swirling, it rotated around her as if she was the world and her powers were all the breezes combined. She was so close to escaping, so close to being free from all the rules and regulations. Freedom.

She threw herself up into the air following in suit. Everything bent around her and shot her up, taking her far and far away from her cage. She looked over at Cam, smiling at her as she did. They made their way out of the city and to the mountains. Out and away, out and away. Freedom, Freedom. God she was in love with this feeling that leaving gave her. A sense of choice, that she for once could make her life the way it was suppose to be. Maybe it was the leaving, that what it had to be giving her this feeling. Other than Cam. As the city approached she saw a back alley that was shielded from view and gestured to Cam to land there. Out of the site of mist seeing mortals.

As she landed she looked back at Cam and just smiled. This is the best gift ever. "Thank you Cam. This is. Amazing" she said before grabbing his hand and pulling him with her "Come on lets go see the world!!!" she said super excitedly before calming down slightly "Come show me what the normal world is like."

[Cameron James]

No sooner had he finished talking than Vega was rocketing up into the air as light as a leaf caught on the wind. Cam shook his head but he didn't have much time to waste before having to play catch up. He called on his father's power to lift him off the ground and then he was soaring after Vega in her wake. He could tell she was already enjoying herself and that was good. She looked like she needed this as much as he did and hopefully they could have a little fun together before having to be back in Rome.

Flying was always liberating but flying with Vega was something else. Cam knew that his father's element was the sky but he thought that Vega acted much more like how the wind was supposed to be. Fast, carefree, fun. She was definitely not meant to be contained and flying beside her it was easy to see that. Cam couldn't help himself from taking a few glances at her every now and then to just watch the expression of pure joy on her face and that made the flight speed by. Pretty soon she was gesturing to a spot for them to land and he had to follow the motion of her hand before nodding and following her down.

The excitement of the flight carried over past the landing and when she turned to him Cam could tell this really was a treat for her. "I thought you might like it." He said with a chuckle as she took his hand and let her tug him along probably a little more slowly than she wanted. "This really is your first time out huh?" Cam couldn't really imagine being cooped up in New Rome and it was still kind of odd to him how the legion was so strict on that. Sure New Rome was safer but safer was not always better. People needed to have some control over their own life, a freedom to expand their horizons. That was Cam's thought anyways and it definitely seemed to be needed in this case as Vega asked him to show her what 'normal' life was like. It was that simple request that made him decide that he needed to make sure they didn't waste any of their time today. He was going to show Vega what it was like outside Rome and they were going to have fun doing it. "Come on. I'll show you the sights and I think I know just the way too do it." He nodded towards the street where one of San Francisco's staple cable cars was passing by and with that started leading her towards the station

[Vega Starling]

Every sight and sound felt like a thousand. The noise of movement, city sounds and the clogs of air. Nothing was roman. Tall steel and cold. Full of noise, of chaos. Disorder was the order and everyone feel into their own lines. Vega loved it. It was new and unexplored. She wanted to see it all. Vera determined that it would be best to let Cam take the lead, seeing how he had been out here and everything. It was strange to think that cam had lived out here, he had once been here on his own without her. She smiled at the thought of a younger cam being mortal, playing football, going to school, exc. She looked up at him and smiled, following him towards the cable cars. They look just like she'd imagine. Breathless was what she could describe it as. She felt like she could do anything. "This is extraordinary. I mean it really, this is the greatest thing anyone has ever and probably will ever do for me." She still had his hand. "So whats first. I am all for being a tourist." Once they hit main street level she was agape at everything. This was huge. It could fit at least two New Romes and it was all different. Different colors, different styles, fog settled in a bay in t he long distances, mountains in the other and hill lined with red shapes filled the distance.  

[Cameron James]

They hadn’t even seen any of the sites yet and already Vega was looking like a kid a candy shop. He guessed that would be a pretty normal reaction when seeing San Francisco for the first time but if Vega thought this was something then today was absolutely going to blow her mind. This was his town and he wasn’t about to let Vega get hung up over just one part of the City. There was so much more to see and do and they were just getting started.

Seeing her expression and hearing the wonder in her voice Cam gave a little chuckle. “Come on. You’ve got things to see and it looks like our ride is here.” Cam had taken the liberty of making a few preparations before taking his leave and one of them was up ahead. A cable car was getting ready to leave across the street and he tugged the girl into a jog so they wouldn’t miss it. Even still it was a close thing and he hopped on the back just as it started moving. Not wanting Vega to be left behind he pulled her in beside him making sure to wrap an arm around her waist to steady her as they picked up speed.

“Have to keep up slow poke.” He said jokingly as the cable car got going. “We should hit most of the sites this way so don't blink.” And hit them they did. Cam had picked this particular line just so it would take them by the bay and as they rode he made sure to point out everything they passed from the famous Nobb Hill and the Coit Tower to the Oakland Bay and more famous Golden Gate bridges in the distance. They rode like that for a while with Cam leaning in to point out a feature or two she might miss and when they began nearing Fisherman’s Wharf he gave her a nudge. “Next stop is us. I hope you’re hungry.”

[Vega Starling]

Vega let him drag her along as she took in everything. Their ride seemed to be a cable car hooked into the middle of the road. Mortals where everywhere. Everything was so simple and laid back. She smiled as she saw the world around her, this was her dream, her freedom. Yet she couldn't imagine being out there without Cam. He was her personal tour guide. She was too distracted and almost fell behind when Cam was jogging and felt his arm wrap around her waist and hike her up.

She heard his joke  about keeping up but all sense were hyper aware of the arm around her waist as they hovered on the back of the car. He pressed against her to keep her klutzy self steady. All her life she had wanted to be free, be out here and feel like she was finally living for once in her life. She was a actual person now, not just a solider. All her life she had this dream, but now it seemed off. Everything was different now that it was real. Exploring this city wouldn't be enjoyable without Cameron by her side. She looked down at her waist where his arm there, carefully leaning into him before bringing her focus back to the overactive sense around her.

The sights were almost too much for her to believe they were real. Romans had some amazing construction but she could have never imagined anything like the world around her. She smiled when Cam pulled her attention back to him, saying that their stop was coming up and they were getting food. She nodded and waited for their stop to come before hopping off of the cable car with Cam "Food sounds great. Honestly anything sounds good right now. I still can't believe im here." she said looking up at him and smiled, "Thank you so much for this Cam. This is the best thing anyone has ever done for me." she said rather softly compared to her normal voice before shaking it off and tugging on his hand "So lets go eat some non roman food!"

[Cameron James]

Everything was amazing to Vega which made Cam’s job pretty easy. Even if he was just a glorified tour guide he didn’t mind so much so long as he got to spend the time with the girl which was a little odd for him. Usually when he needed some time away from camp he went alone but there was something about spending the time with Vega that was enjoyable in itself. Maybe it was that infectious energy that she put off or maybe it was just really cute how excited she got every time she saw something new but whatever it was Cam liked it.

The ride didn’t seem to take them that long even though they must have covered half the city on their little sightseeing trip. Time flew when you were having fun but just because they had reached their current destination didn’t mean it had to stop being fun. In fact, Cam thought getting to see the crowds and shops of Pier 39 might make Vega’s day and of course they could have some very non Roman food too which was precisely the point.

“Nope. No Roman food in sight here though they do have some of the best sea food.” Mental note. The fastest way to this girl’s heart was to just do things that had absolutely nothing to do with Rome. Easy enough and perfect too since he needed a break from the responsibility every once in a while. “Have you ever had crab cakes? If not I’m about to show you what you’ve been missing.” He led them over to a food stand on the pier and ordered for them. He could get her something else if she wanted but he wanted her first taste of food outside of New Rome to be something San Francisco was known for and crab cakes with a side of sourdough bread was the best place to start.

Stepping to the side with her as their food was prepared Cam took a deep breath of the air off the bay. He wasn’t some Neptune kid to get all excited over a little water but he had to admit it was definitely a good place to be on a day like today. Something that he thought Vega would appreciate. “So is it fair to say you like the outside world? Is it everything you thought it would be?”