Homecoming | Open

[Adam Brontes]

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Long Island, Camp Half-Blood	Homecoming
Zeus Cabin	Adam Brontes, Daphne Scotts, Madison Delcroix [Open]

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Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.

Robert Frost

Homecomings are strange business. Especially to those who've been away a long while. The first thing that runs through your mind is an overwhelming sense of nostalgia: a torrent of memories of what happened here and there, followed by a sense of endearment and relief. It's all the same - you'll say... Who knew?

After this initial blast, that hits not unlike a proverbial sock on the jaw, your mind begins to hone in on the differences. New faces, shifts in layouts - some subtle and others less so -, the list goes on. All of this will be the result of one of two things: physical changes or a blurry memory. As with the first stage of this particular situation, this too is shocking and therefore overwhelming, but just as short-lived. Soon enough, the mind adapts to the place you've spent so very long in and you find yourself under the same pull towards the very routine you've begun to remember. This marks the beginning of stage three.

In truth, Home is often the way you want it to be. Meaning, it's largely the way you left it. But as it turns out you see, there's a more than fair chance that the person that went and the one that came back are not one and the same. Things happened to you over there, wherever it was that you went. Your circumstances were different and, therefore, you adapted. Branched out in directions you likely would not have had you remained where you were before. And so comes a time of introspection. A time where you mix and match who you were with who you are, and struggle to find yourself in this new place which, albeit known, has somehow become distant and foreign, and this is exactly what you are to those that stayed, as well. New and old at the same time. And that, is when the moment hits you a third time - the punchline of this particular stage: Remembering why you left. Now, at last, you're caught up. Not only do you feel out-of-place in the one venue you shouldn't, but you remember you didn't even want to be there that much anyway. With that, most of the sense of adventure is gone. Sure, you'll go here or there to try to get a few final kicks out of that nostalgia, but the truth is you know this place already. And it's not as interesting as your life where you were.

So there you have it. From a grandiose high and sense of accomplishment, to a rather foul mood in just a couple of steps. This is when the reintroduction period can actually begin. When you're finally able to get your feet on the ground and allow yourself the opportunity to find your footing once again. And you will. After all, you are home.

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Adam was particularly pensive on this day. A mood that would be broken a good few moments in, by the not-so-little critter at his side: the rather large Husky trotting alongside him. Although he didn't stray particularly far, the dog's head swivelled from side to side often, looking at everything from buildings to people, something which contrasted his master's behaviour which, although similarly curious in nature, did seem to emanate a sense of knowledge and direction. "That's right," - the demigod told himself - "Argos hasn't seen this place yet. I'll have to show him around after I get settled in."

The imposing doors that seemed to pulse as the faux-lightning crackled within were open and the same grandiose interior design was once again in the sight. The dog, smart as a whip, rushed to familiarise itself with the world within these walls, knowing he'd be spending quite a bit of time here, while Brontes moved towards the set of beds Chiron's people had prepared for him: One for him, one for the spoiled dog, that was now far too big to share one with him, when he would ultimately crawl into his master's bed and lay claim to it out of habit, one Adam had never really bothered to correct. It was amusing.

Around the bed were the things that had stayed when he hadn't, including a particularly odd necklace lacing around ten coloured beads... He'd thought this thing was appallingly ugly from the very first day he received it, fourteen years ago. It looked like a hippie's wet dream. But it wasn't until he laid eyes on it that a few chuckles escaped his mouth. It, like this camp, though weird and ugly, was still home, after all.

It'd been four years since he'd even considered returning to this place. Most of his close friends had gone their own ways, and the remainder had moved on without him here. This glorified mausoleum marked the closing of the previous chapter of his life, and the opening of a new one: this was a fresh start, and it was finally beginning.

Looking around to inspect the premises a little better and ensure the two-year-old fur ball moving around the place didn't do something ungainly under the lofty stare of his father's substantial statue, Adam had finally begun to take in his surroundings, and the changes within.

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Decided to write this as an introduction to the character, as it were. It is, however, an open thread, so those in the Zeus Cabin are free to join.
Hopefully it was an enjoyable read.

[Madison Delcroix]

Something was amiss at camp. For days now there had been lots of coming and goings from the Zeus cabin. Campers had been bringing things in, moving things around and in general preparing for something. Maddie knew this not because she had been told, the horse man rarely told anyone anything if you didn’t need to know it, but rather because she had learned very early on that if you wanted to find out secrets you simply had to watch, listen and find yourself in the right places and the right times.

So Maddie did just that. She paid attention and by doing so she learned interesting things like how a new Zeus camper was coming for a visit and how Chiron was trying to get things ready for him. That being the case she was not surprised when rumors started to be whispered that someone new had arrived and after that it didn’t take her long to find him.

Her first thought upon seeing the camper was that he was very old. That in itself was surprising as old demigods had a habit of meeting their end in one way or another. Still, the fact that he was so old was intriguing and even more than that he had a puppy dog with him as well. It was furry and big and Maddie was sure that the dog's hair would make for some excellent potions if she ever got her hand on some. Yes, this new arrival was very interesting and as he drifted around camp looking here and there like he was seeing ghosts she followed him because maybe seeing ghosts was exactly what he was doing and wouldn’t that be fun?

He came to a stop at the Zeus cabin and went inside and for most that would have meant an end to the snooping. Maddie however, was no normal snooper and being faced with the potential loss of her query she slipped around back and squeezed her tiny frame between a loose board that she often used as a secret entrance here because for some reason the Zeus campers thought that she shouldn’t be coming into their cabin late at night and locked their door. They were a silly bunch.

Inside the cabin Maddie could hear both man and beast moving around. Curious she crept around a corner and there they were looking around like they were still seeing ghosts. It was then that Maddie decided to say what she had been meaning to say since she first saw the man and his dog. “You're really old of a camper.”

[Adam Brontes]

Out of all the things the man had missed in the Camp, this glorified mausoleum never really had been close to the top of the list. In all his years here, he had thought of many words to describe this place, and changed his mind often in regards to it. However, for all his many takes on the building, homey had never once crossed his mind. Still, this is the ceiling he’d be waking up to for the foreseeable future, and that was fine.

When Maddie crept in, both man and dog were in their own individual worlds, until they were jolted out of them and brought back to the land where people lived by a particularly sharp little girl.

”You’re old”, she had said. No ifs, no ands, no buts. There was nothing even remotely resembling a question in the ballpark of that statement. It was all it was. A statement. She’d had a thought, and figured she’d get it out into the world… How peculiar, he thought to himself.

”I know! It’s weird, right?” he told the girl, his tone calm as usual. Adam then proceeded to sit down while releasing a small grunt as a proper old man should. Feigned, of course, but the kid didn’t know that. As far as first impressions go, he quite liked this little one. She has… what’s that ridiculous word the Americans use? Spunk. She’s got spunk.. As his inner monologue came to a close, the sketches of a smile could be seen on the demigod’s face.

”So, young one.” - he said, clapping his hands together once to further emphasise this ‘old man’ status he seemed to have inherited, his normally neutral British accent now sounded a tad more dignified as well - ”Who might you be? Tell me things.” - he was loving this.

[Daphne Scotts]

During her years at camp, Daphne was not used to having siblings in her cabin. Oh sure, they would come and go as they pleased, but none of them seemed to stick around for too long. And this was one of those periods that she hadn't had a sibling or siblings in a while, so she got used to having the entire cabin to herself. Chiron had warned her that one of her siblings was coming back to camp, but she never heard of them before nor bothered to remember what day they were supposed to move in. So that morning she had taken a shower and instead of getting dressed right away, she danced around in her room to music with only a towel wrapped around her head. Her music was already pretty loud enough in her cabin leader room that she couldn't hear anything that was going outside in the main room of the cabin.

She needed to grab something from the main cabin, so she walked over to her bedroom door to open it. However, she did not find an empty cabin. Instead, she found a guy older than her and a little girl. Daphne's eyes widened as she quickly shut the door, but it was probably too late for her to avoid embarrassment. She quickly unwrapped the towel from around her head as she wrapped it around her body so she'd be a little bit more decent. She opened the door a second time as she eyed the two strangers in front of her as she tried to keep a blush from appearing on her cheeks.

"Umm... who are you two and why are you in my cabin?"

[Madison Delcroix]

Maddie may not have known everything but she could tell when she was being played and this man was trying to play her. The calm attitude, the accent, the fake grunt, it was all very patronizing. Doctor Frocta had taught her that people did that with children most of the time. They underestimated them. They thought that they were somehow better than them because they were older. Maddie had seen it a lot during her time in New Orleans and she had learned to use it to her advantage. This instance was no different she just needed to figure out how she was going to use it.

She was about to open her mouth to do just that but right as she did one of the doors in the cabin flew open and she was suddenly presented with an eye full of naked Zeus girl. The girl didn’t leave the door open long but she was definitely there and she was definitely surprised and that surprise definitely lasted long enough for everyone to see her. This was even better than some old camper man and his dog. Maddie had never been one that was shy about the human body, she had seen a lot in the voodoo shop, but she knew enough to know that most people were and using the poor Zeus girl's situation seemed like a lot more fun to her right now. Turning to Adam she gave him a quizzical look and said definitely loud enough that the girl could hear her, “Do Zeus campers always walk around their cabin without clothes on? That must keep things very interesting.”

[Adam Brontes]

At Daphne's entrance into the room, Adam's eyes moved to inspect the interloper. She was naked, and darted out of the door as quickly as she'd come in. As soon as the door closed behind her, the man's left eyebrow rose slightly, no doubt revealing a moment of sheer surprise. But, once again, the little girl before him had been able to expertly remove this Sky Father's son from his pensive mood. By the time his sister had come into the room a second time, Brontes's eyes were firmly planted on the little girl before him who'd once again captured his attention, the warm smile on the man's face had grown.

Something about this little girl was telling him her questions weren't quite as pure as he'd originally believed, but even if that was the case, it was still very much amusing. Brilliant., he thought to himself. Still, as he was about to dispel this girl's question on reflex - before adding in a bit of fuel to the fire himself, of course - Adam found himself stopping in his tracks. His brows furrowed slightly and his head cocked to the side at a tilt, after which his eyes rolled up to the top-right corner of his field of vision. A short ”Hmm” escaped his closed lips. In truth, idiosyncratic never did feel like quite enough to describe his siblings. A short list of faces and people ran through his mind to make certain that this girl hadn't stumbled upon an actual quirk of Zeus children he himself hadn't realised.

”Not according to what I remember.” - he finally answered after a beat or two of silence in a room no doubt filled with awkwardness. Whether Maddie had done it on purpose or not, the truth was things would be oh-so-sweeter if neither of them acknowledged the naked blonde just yet. Especially considering she seemed to be edging closer towards striking a pose that said something along the lines of 'Don't ignore me!'. ”But then I have been away a while..." - he added, just reticently enough to have the poor Daphne believe he was had said his piece, before continuing: "That was a very good question, little one. I have to say I'm surprised. What's your name?” - Adam would inquire, offering Maddie a flash of his pearly whites, no doubt a gesture of approval.

The growing smile on his lips was halted, lest the sly grin it was no doubt evolving into be seen, something which would likely spell the end of this situation that was much too fun to pass on. After all, what kind of big brother would Adam be if he didn't get a few laughs at his baby sister's expense?

[Daphne Scotts]

It was bad enough that two more people had to see Daphne naked, but it was even worse that they were now ignoring her. She was at least decent this time around with her towel covering her body instead of her hair. But the fact that they were avoiding her question made her mad. She could feel her skin start to tingle as it became electrified. But nobody was getting zapped today. At least, not yet.

She cocked one of her hips out and put her hands on them as she glared between the two of them. Even though Daphne caught a snippet of the boy living here once upon a time, that still didn't explain why the kid was here. "Excuse me," she said as she raised her voice a little louder. "Who the hell are you two and why are you doing in my cabin? I will write you up for trespassing if you do not answer me."

[Madison Delcroix]

For the most part Maddie viewed things with cold detachment. Her stoic attitude rarely cracked save for occasionally when her mother’s nature took over and she became a little more sadistic. One of the things that brought this side out in her though were volatile situations like the one she was in right now. In such instances she usually liked to be the one causing things to explode but sometimes it was fun to just sit back and watch the sparks fly. Perhaps literally in this case.

The only problem was that everyone wanted to know who she was. Maddie didn’t like that but maybe she could use it to her advantage. “She seems mad.” Maddie said ignoring both of their questions. She was still talking to Adam but there was no point in revealing her identity if she didn’t have to. “I don’t know why. She’s the one who was all naked. If anyone should be mad it should be us. I don’t think Chiron would like it if he knew she was walking around naked and showing other people do you?”

[Adam Brontes]

Adam's smile would vanish from his face for a few moments as he sized up the girl standing before him. She couldn't be older than twelve. His head tilted to one side as his brows furrowed ever so slightly: the look of a man in thought. This particular demigod had always been proud of his ability to label people in record time and yet, this child before him seemed to be throwing him for a loop. Once again Brontes questioned himself on just how innocent the child was, because her words did not sound too far off from what one might expect from a particularly bright child, but he could not help but shake the feeling that there was a more than fair bit of not-so-innocent instigating oozing from her tiny frame. Camp had always had its fair share of the unexpected, but a ten year-old with this kind of insight might just register off the charts. Confused, a little paranoid and a little angry at having allowed himself to follow this little conspiracy theory - something he had assuredly inherited from the master conspirator himself - Brontes stopped in his tracks and took a breath.

When a problem proved too confusing, the best thing to do, he found, was to table it for a moment and grab a palate cleanser... And he knew just the thing:

Though clearly angry at having been spotted in the nude, Daphne now seemed to have lost all notion of putting proper clothing on, no doubt having forgotten the idea that she was still very much in indecent display in front of a child, in favour of asking... nay, demanding an explanation for this heinous crime the duo had committed against her. One she had no issue with perpetuating until she'd obtained retribution. She's her father's daughter alright... - he thought to himself as his mind finally returned to the real world.

The sister was now striking a full blown pose, with some of the some of the few dry hairs in her head beginning to rise up into the air. A consequence of static buildup. Boiling point was in sight, it seemed.

Adam, who'd been cornered by two particularly strong-minded members of the female persuasion, remained by his bed and personal items. As such, in a swift motion, the man would grasp a nearby jacket and toss it at Daphne with the added remark: "I have to say I'm flattered by the greeting but, by the looks of it, you are my baby sister. So, I'm going to have to side with the little one on this: clothing should very much remain on... Wouldn't you agree?" - Brontes spoke with the same calm tone he typically sported, something which very much clashed with the implications of his words.

Unable to resist the temptation of adding just a little extra fuel to an already volatile situation, the man would flash Daphne a friendly smile before pressing on with his speech: "Kudos on the forwardness, though. It's good to feel comfortable in your own skin."

Ithaca's scion would then take a step forward and approach Maddie, positioning himself between his sister and the mystery girl, a subtle reminder to his apparently hot-headed sister to mind her words in front of such an adorable, 'impressionable' child. Tilting his head down to face what he now believed to be a rather curious interloper, Adam would remark: "Although I tend not listen to him as much as I should, you I don't believe Chiron told me about. How interesting."

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne thought she was quite decent given the situation on hand. There was no way she was going to put on clothes just because these two invaded her privacy. The little girl was still not answering her, but the guy on the other hand, tossed her a jacket that was on his bed so she could apparently cover up. "So you're the new guy Chiron was telling me about," she said before she decided to make herself more decent but still reluctantly put on the jacket. "At least he could've told me exactly when you were coming. Instead of giving me a vague timeline." And she could tell he was teasing her and she rolled her eyes at it. Welcome back to having brothers.

Once she was so-declared decent, she crossed her arms over her chest as she noticed her brother stood between her and the little girl who still didn't make her intentions known. "That still doesn't explain why she's here," she said loudly as she sighed before she added, "Such a shame I would have to write up someone this young for cabin trespassing."

[Madison Delcroix]

Maddie watched the exchange between the two siblings with muted interest. The old man was trying to calm his nuddy sister down but blonde girl was having none of it. That was fine with Maddie as she didn’t mind the tensions in the room. Maybe it was her nature or maybe it was her mother making things a little more difficult but Maddie’s initial reaction to the girl’s words was to push more buttons which was exactly what she did.

“You wouldn’t write me up because then it would get out what a bad girl you are. Only bad girls walk around with their clothes off isn’t that right Mr. Old Guy?” She said clearly directing the comment at Adam to respond. Then Maddie said something that was sure to make the situation heat up? Why? Because things weren’t crazy enough already and the child of Eris did like when things got crazy. “Besides, I’d have to tell everyone what a fat cow you were.”

With that little grenade thrown out there Maddie did the wise thing and stepped out of sight behind the big tall old guy. He seemed like a pretty good conductor of electricity after all and being a son of Zeus he was probably immune to it anyways. Probably. Truth was that she didn’t know but hopefully she would get the chance to find out.

[Adam Brontes]

Just as the man prepared to sketch a smile, or perhaps even let loose a few chuckles at the sight of his newfound younger sister being pushed to the ropes by this small child, in came the fat cow remark. For a son of lightning, lover of swords, bows and spears, a man who lived on the blade's edge, this rather comment, akin to a mace, was far too blunt for his taste. The efficacy couldn't be denied, but it lacked the finesse he found so amusing in this little game he oh so enjoyed. As such, rather than it (although it couldn't exactly be ignored), what really drew his attention was the fact that this pocket-sized troublemaker had wasted no time in using him as a perhaps not-so-proverbial meat shield, effectively using his own play against him. The fact that such a young child had played him in such a way stung. That much, was undeniable. Thankfully, his skin was far too thick for it to do any 'real' damage, and for remarks like Mr. Old Guy to even stick in any way, shape or form.

That said, Adam had lived at camp for a long time and, while children of Zeus weren't common, their stories were well documented... He knew better than anyone that his levelheaded temper was a rarity among his kin. And, having just met Daphne, there was no way he could tell how far this would impact her although, like Maddie, he wagered it had cut deep.

Zeus was the God of Justice and, unfortunately, this apple didn't fall too far from the tree. Far too moralistic and prideful to possibly allow an irate sibling of his to ever come close to harming someone this young, Brontes allowed the little imp to duck behind him and remain there. With a bruised pride, Brontes would sigh inwardly, accept he'd lost this first round... to a ten year-old... shoulder the title of Switzerland and take on the task of keeping the discussion from going too far overboard, for the time being.

Adam was then forced to do the one thing he could do in this situation and resigned himself to silence, awaiting Daphne's reaction before making a move himself.

The one upside to this whole ordeal was now the fact that any doubts he had of the young agitator being blissfully ignorant of her antics were just about out the window at this point which meant that, in his eyes, this miniature rascal was growing more interesting by the minute.