SITUATION POST: JUNE 27, 2013

[greekchorus]

[Today is the festival of Skira, which can be both a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who you are at Camp Half-Blood. It's a day about celebrating all female goddesses, so Chiron has taken it upon himself to make it a day of female empowerment. Classes are being taught all over camp celebrating the female heroes of old, and the statues of Hera, Demeter, Athena, and the like are decorated, polished, and clothed in beautiful fabrics suiting each of their temperaments.

Most of all, though, this day is great for the nymphs, since an unofficial rule of Skira for Camp Half Blood has always been 'what the girls say, goes'. So tonight, the boys are serving up the meals at dinner while the nymphs relax.]

Comments

( dining pavilion )

[perenials]

[ This is quite a nice festival, though Anna isn't particularly fond of the bossing around part. She's enjoyed a very fulfilling lesson about past heroines and has taken to reading at the Demeter table, nose in a book, scanning for more lady heroes and committing their stories to memory as best as she can.

Perhaps it is also an act of avoidance because the last thing she wants to do is accidentally order a boy to do something. She's been going out of her way not to give any commands, making suggestions and gentle requests instead. ]

[angeliaforos]

[Count on Anna to be one of the few people Gabriel knows won't push him around to do stuff. He likes the kid for that.

And, as an incentive to keep on keepin' on, he passes by with an extra slice of watermelon for her, dropping it on her plate.]

Special delivery.

[perenials]

[ Anna's leaning over the book with her hands squishing her cheeks while her brow furrows thoughtfully. She doesn't notice the extra watermelon at first, but her head snaps up and the thinking frown turning into a cheerful smile. ]

Thank you, Gabe. [ Extra gracious to the boys today. ] Nice of you to give the nymphs a break.

[wokethedragon]

[Dany's enjoyed the lesson as well, though she much preferred dressing the statues today. Even though her father was not being celebrated, it was still a nice outlet to get her hands working.

She hasn't gotten a chance to speak to Anna since she's come back from the harrowing quest to Camp Jupiter, though, and as she makes her way to send her offering to Hephaestus, she stops at the Demeter table, giving Anna a soft pat on the back.]

It is good to see you home, Anna.

[perenials]

It's nice to see you, Dany.

[ Anna closes her book politely and turns around in her seat to face her, crossing her ankles. She's well-rested and as chipper as can be, especially on a day like today. She's planted flowers for her mother in and outside the cabin, so the entire place smells sweet. A productive day, she thinks.

That's just how Anna is, turning her sorrows and worries into useful energy to put forth into something productive. ]

How are you?

( archery range )

[clearasil]

[ Chances are, Natalie's already forgotten about the festival entirely because, understandably, her mind is elsewhere. She's lost track of time and isn't present for lunch (nothing new), instead burning her excess energy at the archery range, shooting arrow after arrow after arrow until her quiver is completely empty.

Her head lolls back as she sighs and slumps backwards. ]

Ugh.

[ Hm, it'd be nice if someone got her a fresh batch of arrows. ]

[wokethedragon]

[Fortunately, Dany's in the area. She's intended to take what Enjolras taught her about aim the beginning of the summer and put it to good use. The whip, after all, isn't exactly the most effective weapon in battle most of the time, and she's not quite ready to come forth about the whole 'hiding dragons at the foot of your bed' thing just yet.

So she supposes a bow and arrow will have to do.

She does notice Natalie's run empty, though, and quietly refills her quiver, stepping in behind her.]

I believe you were missing something.

[clearasil]

[ Natalie's still weary and even more absentminded than usual, just barely noticing Dany come up behind her to fill in her quiver. She straightens her posture and turns slightly to form as friendly an expression as she can muster in greeting. ]

Hey. Thanks.

[ She lowers her bow and pulls her right arm across her chest to stretch the muscles. ]

Re: ( archery range )

[worldabouttodawn]

[He was already heading over to the archery range when he sees Natalie there. The next thing he sees is that she's out of arrows. For some reason that makes him roll his eyes in a fond sort of exasperation, turning around to fetch more for.

He slips the new arrows into her quiver without much thought, setting his own aside.]

How long have you been at this?

[clearasil]

Wh -

[ Natalie turns her head slowly, blinking herself out of a daze. She is completely unsurprised when she sees Enjolras behind her and stands up straighter, lowering her arms. ] Thanks. Um. I don't know how long I've been here. [ Judging by the scattered arrows on her target - a while. ]

[hypercompetent]

[ Once Stiles is sure that Natalie's not armed with anything that could potetentially take his eye out--he trusts his half sister, not necessarily himself--Stiles slips up behind her and taps her on the shoulder. ]

Well, if that was an enemy, I'm pretty sure you would have just saved the whole camp. [ He passes over a couple more arrows, because that's what he's supposed to be doing today, right. ] Stress relief?

[clearasil]

Hey, thanks. [ Natalie lifts her eyebrows in surprise, taking the arrows with a grateful nod. All but one go back in the quiver, but she does not take aim just yet. At the compliment, however, she smiles smugly, admiring her own damage for once. ]

It's better than the hiding in my bunk all day, I guess. [ Enjolras wouldn't have any of it, though had she known what today was instead of wandering off on her own, she might have requested everyone leave her alone. But since she's here and in the open ... she rolls her shoulders, stretching the muscles. ]

(dining pavilion)

[angeliaforos]

[Yeah, yeah. Enjoy this while you can, ladies, because this is the one day of the year you get to make Gabriel your little bitch. He's carrying plates of barbecue around the pavilion, and might be sneaking bites off them every so often.

Though he can't help but spend a little more time at the Dionysus table than usual, considering how many extra nymphs are sitting around at dinner today.]

Re: (dining pavilion)

[renegadehero]

Don't think I don't see you eating on the job.

[Sojourner crosses her arms over her chest, shoulders squared. She's trying her best to imitate her Papa when he's in his uniform and lecturing stupid kids or perps or her.

It last all of five seconds, and that because she starts giggling that bird-like giggle of hers.]

So can I get some BBQ you haven't munched on?

[angeliaforos]

You know, I really don't see the problem with it. Think of it as taste-testing to make sure the guys' cooking doesn't suck, yeah?

[He leans over, sliding a small rack of ribs onto her plate.]

There. I didn't even lick those. Just for you, Soujourner.

( Beach )

[serenesuccessor]

[Naomi really doesn't understand the who Skira festival, nor does she actually realize today is the day she could boss around the boys. That's because she's only been able to think about the female heroes since class. Particularly the story of Atalanta.

Which is exactly why Naomi is running along the beach, wearing a toga made from her bed sheet and large stick she's pretending to be a spear.

Currently she's trying to kill the imaginary Caledonian boar.]

[wokethedragon]

[Dany recognizes exactly what Naomi's doing, especially considering it's something she probably would have done when she first arrived if Viserys would have let her engage in such 'frivolous' pastimes.

Admittedly, though? She would have picked someone like Hippolyta or Otrera.

Still, she gives Naomi a small smile and a nod as she walks along the beach, playing along, her back tall and proud as a queen's.]

Hail, fair Atalanta.

[serenesuccessor]

[Naomi spins around, eyes lighting up when Dany approaches, and if possible, more when she greets her. She's so use to Kou rolling his eyes at her antics that she didn't expect any of the older campers to play along with her!

She raises her "spear" in greetings, thinking for a moment of how to greet Dany. She looks like a queen...

Oh! What were those books Kou had read her? What did they call their queen? It's something she's sure Dany'd like... Oh yeah!]

Hail, Khaleesi! What business have you on this hunt?

(forges)

[commandertoolbelt]

[ What Leo doesn't get is how this "girls bossing the boys around" thing is any different than usual, so his reaction to it is to do nothing different than usual. So he's at his usual hangout, doing the usual Cabin Nine stuff, which today means working on some weapons for the other campers - those lazy dudes who didn't want to be bothered forging their own, or engraving their inscriptions, whatever they needed doing.

Bring it on, ladies. You all know you love Leo or just bossing him around, whatever. ]

[wokethedragon]

[Fortunately, Dany really only does her part to enforce the unspoken rules amongst those who she feels have wronged her. (Derek. Gabriel.) Leo has been nothing but kind to her, and a better brother than Viserys ever was by a long shot. She feels terrible, thinking this way after only knowing him for such a short time, but she'd have to lie through her teeth to think otherwise.

So she comes up behind her brother with a bottle of ice water, tapping him on the shoulder.]

Leo?

[commandertoolbelt]

[ One more tweak, a swipe to clean up, and Leo looks up from the part he was making with a smile. By this time, he's completely forgotten about the Skira thing. ]

Hey Dany! What's up?

[clearasil]

[ Oddly enough, with all that's happened, Natalie hasn't forgotten that she owes Leo a favor, having put him to work literally his first day here. She drags her feet along the ground, arms tightly crossed over her chest, half-patrolling, half-planning. Peering around the corner to the forge, she puts on a half smile, lifting a hand in greeting. ]

Yo.

[ She clears her throat. ] I mean, uh, hi.

[commandertoolbelt]

[ Grinning up at Natalie, he sets his work aside for a moment. ]

Yo!

[ That's right; he caught that. ]

( lake side )

[kissmyass]

[ This is super not okay :| The nice thing about being the couselor of Ares cabin is that generally no one messes with you, given that you're the guy in charge of the people who put landmines around their cabin. But that doesn't usually apply to one Jill Thompson, who unfortunately has best friend privileges, and this is the kind of thing she loves. Mainly because she makes Ben hate it.

He's not hiding. He's... being elsewhere. Not avoiding either. But after Jill ordering him to go around giving hugs to half the camp for this festival last year, he'd rather just stick it out hanging with the tadpole swimming around his feet in the lake. He nabbed a collection of strawberries, and between that and an apple he got in and out of the dining pavillion with, that's dinner. ]

[staysthesame]

[To say that Jill totally abuses the whole female empowerment and bossing boys around would be an accurate description of how she deals with this particular time of the year. But she enjoys it, and it's not like she gets all that many opportunities in general to tell Ben what to do and see him go through with it.

When she doesn't see him sitting at his table during dinner, she figures that he's hiding out. After all, she's not the only girl who likes to go around being bossy.

She finally finds him down by the lake, a grin on her face as she moves in closer.] Hey. I was wondering where you got to. [A beat.] Hand me one of those strawberries.