R&R | Vega

[Vega Starling]

As the departed from their tour Vega couldn't describe how she was feeling. Cam honestly was the best friend she never knew she was missing out on. He knew how much this meant to her, to be out of camp, even for this little bit of time. The idea of leaving camp had been in her mind for as long as she could remember, but she had never left on her own. As much as she wanted to leave she was always so scared to go, it was all she had ever known. But this wasn't New Rome. This was her moment with Cam.

As they hopped off the the trolly she looked at the pier and the ocean. The smell alone was so strange, salt layered the air and soft roars of sound were everywhere. Sea food? She shook her head, looking up at Cam as he talked about all the special food and what was popular. "Nope I've never even heard of those before" she said with a little chuckle. She let him order and followed him as he pulled them off to a table overlooking the bay. The sea breeze felt amazing, the ride here had felt like a city tour, everything big and over populated. Here felt different, everything had slowed down. She smiled "Its better than anything I could have ever imagined. Honestly Cam this place, this world. It is amazing. I've never seen anything like it before." she said as she slowly opened up her food, even that was different. She felt like a explorer of a new world. Everything was different, new and exciting. She didn't even know how to thank Cam for this day of relaxing. She looked down at her food before trying a piece.

"What. The. Hades." she said softly, before taking another bite. "THIS IS AMAZING IVE NEVER HAD ANYTHING SO GOOD IN MY LIFE." She said in her once again over excited voice that she had started this day with. She may have started shoving the rest in her face, this was amazing. She loved the outside world.

[Cameron James]

The fact that Vega didn't even know what he was talking about made the moment even better. For all the benefits New Rome gave them it didn't offer a whole lot of variety. Out here though there was variety everywhere you looked and the thing that Vega didn't realize was a little variety and change of pace could blow your mind if you had never had it before. That being the case Cam took particular interest in watching her as she had her first real bite of non Roman food.

Her reaction was another one of total amazement and it made him chuckle before taking a bite of his own food. "If you think that's good you should let my mama cook for you sometime. It will make you wonder how you've survived so long without it." He took another bite and let Vega enjoy everything in quiet for a moment. It was a good time to take everything in and he imagined for someone who had never been outside Rome Vega was probably on sensory overload as it was.

"I'm glad you're having fun." He said after the initial shock of the food had time to wear off. "The world's a pretty big place but just because we're serving the legion right now it doesn't mean we have to sacrifice experiencing it. We can always go other places too since you like it here so much." He liked the thought of more time with Vega and if this day had taught him anything it was that she was just waiting for the chance to spread her wings a little. That was alright with Cam as he wouldn't have her any other wat. She was like a breath of fresh air in the tiny roman community they served and lived and he needed that. "I haven't even gotten to take you to a football game yet so there's plenty of reasons to come back."

[Vega Starling]

This must what it felt like to be immortal. As they sat there eating in quiet, Vega finally found herself adjusting to everything. The sounds of the waves, the smell of the sea and city mixing, the taste of crab cakes. It was finally hitting Vega, everything that she had been unable to figure out before slowly register in her mind and she knew this must be what i was like to be immortal. She felt so much bliss just being here with Cam. Like the entire world could stop and she wouldn't care. 

When he made a comment about his mother's cooking she paused for a second. That was right. Cam's mother didn't live in New Rome, she lived out her in the mortal world. She didn't know why Cam's mother gave her mix feelings of joy and terror. The idea of meeting his mom was scary, she had no idea what she was like and if she'd even like her. Then again why should she worry about that right? She just nodded while finishing up her food. His mom huh? The mortal part of Cameran, the one she hardly knew. Demigod Cam she knew from the cohorts and their run around and battles. Precamp Cam she barely knew anything about.

The one thing she did know was football. She laughed as she mentioned it. "I'd love to get out more. And I have a feeling with whats been happening recently they will be sending more scouting parties out. " she started shaking her head, no no talk of New Rome right now. This was her free time.  "Is it weird to want to see it all? To want to take in everything?" she questioned for a second before laughing a little to herself. "Though I think the next thing on my list is football. I want to know all about it. Specifically about you and football." she said gesturing her fork towards him dramatically. She wanted to know a lot more about Cam.

[Cameron James]

“I don’t think you’re weird at all.” He said in answer to her question. “Just don’t go trying all at once. I don’t want your head to explode from overload.” He grinned at her from behind his crab cake wondering if she really would try and see it all. It was a tall order but if anyone could do it his money would definitely be on Vega. He just hoped she would still keep things in perspective. Experiencing new things was all well and good but taking things slow wasn’t always a bad idea.

“More about me and football huh? Well you might regret that decision after we get done but I don’t think I’ve ever met a girl who has said that to me before. It would be a shame to turn you down.” Cam’s grin got a little wider. Vega was taking an interest in him and his hobbies and he was right. He definitely couldn’t turn down an opportunity like this. “You know that sounds like a pretty good idea for a second date...If that’s something you think you might be interested in.” He kept his tone light not wanting to scare her away but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking it. He wanted to spend more time with her and what better way to keep things going than by going out, maybe even a little more officially this time.

[Vega Starling]

Vega laughed as he said no one has ever asked about football before. That was weird to her, if it meant something to Cam why would not one ever talk about it? There had to be a reason for him to mention it when they met right? It meant something. His life meant something. She shrugged "Is that a threat or a promise?"

Error: 104

Vega can not process this current emotion.

Date. Second Date. A second date would imply a first. But wait, when was the first. The first. First. Words couldn't begin to process what she was thinking. Cam thought this was a date. When was this declared a date? A date with Cam. Was she interested? That was the real question. Cam interested her, and she was in him. Maybe it wasn't at that level yet but she knew for a fact she was. She had never felt that way about someone before, ever, in her life. All she knew was that she was interested in him for sure. A second date, making this the first.

It was a soft nod, mostly looking down at her plate before she looked up at him. "yes." she said raising up her voice a little more. "I'd like that a lot."

[Cameron James]

It was a clever game that Cam was playing. He knew he hadn’t precisely said this was a date but that didn’t mean he hadn’t wanted it to be one. He liked Vega and he hoped she liked him too. The only thing that he had to do now was make sure she knew that he liked her and so he snuck that one little word in there and waited for her reaction. If you wanted something you had to go get it after all and this was him going after Vega. Now he just had to see if his efforts were worth it.

It took her a moment and she looked away from him as she thought. Cam found that he was a little nervous about her answer but pretty soon she was saying yes and that wiped all those nerves away. He grinned at her when she looked back at him, a really happy grin because he was and right now this day couldn’t get much better. He had a second date and that meant right now he needed to make sure they kept having fun on the first one. “Great. That’s really great. I’d like that a lot too.”

Cam chuckled as he tossed his trash and then glanced back at Vega. “So, what could make this day more special? We’ve got plenty of time before we have to head back and personally I think you’ve still got a lot to do if you plan on seeing everything so what is one thing Vega has always wanted to do when she got out of camp?”

[Vega Starling]

Cam's grin. Something new to add onto the list of things Vega has ever seen that made her truly warm inside. She had never seen him grin like that for as long as she had known him. Which she realized wasn't that long. That once chance encounter had lead to this, all of this. It wasn't something that Vega would have ever expected before. He liked the idea. He wanted to go on a date with her. They are on a date right now.

She watched as he asked if there was something else she wanted to see. She glanced around for a second and it caught her eye. On the ground laid a flyer. That. Was. It. Vega's grin had to double as she stood up and walked over to the flyer and picked it up. "Well there is a Zoo near by. I've never been, We could go check it out" she said rather uncharacteristically calmly. She was finally handling all these outside world thing better than before and though she was excited managed to not freak out.

[Cameron James]

Cam was interested in what activity Vega would pick for them to do. Up until this point they had hung out a few times and talked. They got along well enough but this was the first time they had really entertained the idea of being anything more than friends and well, Cam wanted to learn more about the girl. What did Vega like to do? What was she interested in? Cam knew her enough to know that he liked her but there was so much more to know especially if they wanted to get closer.

Her answer surprised him. The zoo huh? He could do that and he could only imagine how excited Vega was going to be if this was her first time. "Alright," he said with a chuckle. "The zoo it is. I didn't know you liked animals so much but if you do in betting this is going to blow your mind. Come on. We can catch another cable car and head over there." With that he held out his hand to her ready to lead her off on another adventure.

[Vega Starling]

Vega had always been so determined to be free, away from New Rome, away from anything Roman at all. She would have dreams as a kid of her growing wings and flying out of New Rome, seeing the world and never stopped flying. Each flap of a wing taking her someone new, somewhere where she felt new. Vega had dreamed about it all her life and never thought she would get that feeling of pure freedom. Free from the world and herself. Looking at Cameron's outstretched hand, the look on his face that was a mix of happiness and something else, the way the air felt like it swirled around them. She felt it. She felt her freedom and he was starring back at her.

She didn't know how she felt about him truly yet, all she knew was that she wanted to know. She took his hand.

It hadn't take long to find the cable car, which Vega had to say was a close second for her favorite way to travel. She was so amazed by the way it moved up and down the steep rolling hills of the city. Animals were cool she had to admit, because honestly, she hadn't seen a lot of them. New Rome wasn't exactly a petting zoo, mythical beast that roamed the grounds where normal to her, But things like otters? Heck she was so excited. But one thing couldn't leave her mind. As they road the cable car she leaned, letting her arms drape over the railing and resting her head on it, eyeing the boy next to her till she finally just couldn't take it anymore. "Sooo....Date huh?" Foot meet mouth.

[Cameron James]

One of the great things about the city was that it was never very hard to find another ride if you knew how to get around and getting around was something Cam knew how to do very well. It didn’t take them long before they hopped on another cable car and pretty soon they were off and heading towards the first place that Vega had wanted to see, the zoo. Cam could see it honestly. She wanted so badly to see everything the world had to offer and what better place was there to do that than a zoo where she could see animals from all over the world and none of the magical variety. Personally Cam could go for some normal creatures as well after the camp’s battle with the kraken so why not? Besides, it gave him plenty of time to enjoy Vega’s company.

In the cable car with Vega standing beside him and having fun he found that he could finally relax and enjoy the sights of the bay and the city that he had been away from during his time at camp. It didn’t take too long though before Vega broke the silence which caused him to look over at her. She was eyeing him from her position resting against the railing of the cable car and it looked like she wanted to say more. Cam supposed that meant that the game was up and he might as well come clean to her now just to make sure they were still on the same page.

“You caught that huh?” He said with a smirk as he watched her. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Wanted to think up some cool way to ask you but I guess this was the best way I could come up with.” A nervous chuckle came next as he wasn’t really sure what she was thinking right now and continuing meant making this up as he went along. “I like you Vega and I like hanging out with you so I thought why not come up with something fun for us to do and well, we can see what happens.” Still giving her the tiniest of hopeful smirks he watched her closely to see her reaction. Was she even looking to date? He didn’t know but he thought this would be a good time for them both to kind of test the waters with the idea. “What do you think about that?”

[Vega Starling]

One thing Vega was never good at was hiding how she felt. Her mother always knew when she was lying, when she was hurt and wouldn't say so. If people normally wore their hearts on their sleeves Vega's was on her forehead in bold print. Extra bold. As Cam spoke her face heated up, every little thing he said and did might as well be on hyper drive in her mind. The Nervous chuckle, the way his eyes traced over her waiting to see what she did. It was times like this she wished she could hide her emotions. Be cool and collective. But no, here she was listening to Cam spill his guts and all she could do was turn the same color as the bridge and wear the goofiest smile that has ever crossed her face.

Cam liked her. The klutzy flour wearing bakers daughter she was. He liked her. The one thing that plagued her mind was if she liked him. She knew she did, but she didn't think of it in terms like he was. She liked being around him, liked to be his friend, but anything passing that was never a thought in her head and she didn't know how to handle it. She hadn't moved her arms, burying her head in them for a split second before regaining her thoughts.

"I think I want to see what happens." she said simply, confirming what he had said and looking over at him. "I, I won't lie I never thought of it like that. But I know I like hanging out with you, a lot. You always make my day better when you come to the shop, and I know my mother adooooores you." she teased lightly, her face still bright red, but cooling itself off. "I want to try though." she declared, in a unlike her firmness before laughing at her own seriousness. Try was something she could do, and Cam was definitely worth it.

Just as she finished the ding for the next stop came and she recognized it as their stop for the zoo. Try huh. She jumped up, almost refiled with a new excitement in her before looking at Cam with a sweet smirk and holding out her hand "Come on its our stop."

[Cameron James]

Vega seemed to delight in torturing him. He had just opened up to her, admitted his true intentions and the seconds until she responded seemed to tick by with agonizing slowness. Thankfully though she didn’t keep him waiting forever and when she did speak up it was with words that he had wanted to hear.

Cam watched as she seemed to warm to the idea and then brightened with excitement. It was then that he realized the idea of getting away from camp with her today really was going to pay off. She liked him that much was certain, but more importantly she wanted to find out how much she liked him and that made him smile even more than how cute she looked right now. Vega wanted to see how things could go between him and if right now was indication Cam liked his chances so far.

“That’s good.” He said with a chuckle. “That’s real good. Though your mom may change her mind on me now that, well now that we’re going out. I might even lose out on free coffee privileges.” Cam wasn’t that worried. Vega’s mom was nice and he had a suspicion that she had secretly been hoping they would get together for a while now. He wouldn’t be confronting her on that any time soon but she did seem to like him. Hopefully that wouldn’t change.

The bell dinged for their stop though and that served as a good enough distraction from those thoughts. All of a sudden Vega was smiling at him and holding out her hand and there in was the prospect of getting to see her face when she saw all the animals for the first time. That was something he couldn’t pass up so taking her hand he returned her smile. “Well then what are we waiting for? We’ve got a zoo to explore.”

Hopping off the cable car with her Cam led the way over to the admission booth to purchase their tickets. This was turning in to a proper date so he might as well treat the girl to her first trip to the zoo. That said he was curious as to where they should start. “So what’s your favorite animal? Monkeys? Zebras?” He turned to her and handed her a ticket. “Or maybe you’re a penguin girl.”