[WING ITTTttt xD. Did you want a summary of those two?}

"Oh good." Reuvan didn't hide his relief at that. Thank the gods he didn't have to describe a plan even he barely remembered.

Not that he'd admit to that.

The bushes up ahead rustled and Reuvan tensed, praying it wasn't another giant ant. Casey stumbled into the path, nearly snagging his foot on a branch and faceplanting into the mud. He gave a shakey smile to Reuvan as he straightened up, eyes nervously glancing at Hartley for a second. The poor guy had been so stressed looking lately. He wasn't getting nearly enough sleep, and all his tossing and turning during the night kept Reuvan awake too.

....Once again something he'd never admit. He could handle sleep deprivation by now-- Casey however looked like a mess. His auburn hair had lost its luster, his watery blue eyes looked more watered-down than the *color* of seawater. Not to mention the fact that he always looked 3 seconds away from bursting into tears. Reuvan couldn't help but pity the hopeless romantic ( especially because he could feel that sadness aswell). His previous-- and only partner-- had not taken it easy on him, especially when they dumped him. Casey had been a crying mess that day, and almost everyday since, even though it had been a little over 2 weeks now.

His dumper was still on a quest (Yes the coward had the nerve to drop Casey right before going off on a quest) but would surely be getting an earful from the whole Aphrodite cabin whenever they returned. "Ah, hey Reu..."

Hartley regards the newcomer to the scene with undisguised curiosity, "Hey, you're uh, that kid who-- who was ah, datin' D'Lan--" He trips over his words a bit, eyes darting to Reuvan just as the other looks at him and he cuts himself off purposefully this time before he finishes saying the name. Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly and avoiding looking at the other kid--one of the twins, maybe?--as though that would distract from his near-slip, Hartley shuffles his feet a bit (as well as one can in heels, however sensible they might be) and announces a little too loudly, "Well, I'm going to-- I'll just-- Why don't we ah, join the others?"

Without waiting for a response from either of the other two, he ducks slightly as though that would somehow make him less visible and heads off to where their teammates are currently gathered.

As he enters the clearing, Hartley sees that one of the other questing trios seems to have just made it back--not the group containing Henry De Lancey, thankfully. Ace is grinning stupidly, one arm wrapped around the shoulders of a disgruntled looking Nerium and the other proffering what looks suspiciously like one of those grenades to none other than Terrance. Hayden looks less than thrilled, but everyone knows there's no stopping Ace once he gets something in his head. Riley stands nearby, looking on in amusement.

Reuvan--

Casey makes a soft pathetic sound at the slipup, quickly blinking away unshed tears. I shoulder my new bow and give him my best 'it'll be okay' smile. I don't think it looks quite right because Casey gives me a weird look.

I ignore him (as nicely as you can ignore someone) and follow Hartley's bouncing teal ponytail. Even after his slipup-- Hartley looks confident. He seems to effortlessly flaunt his own style (I mean come on the dude is wearing heels...). He's got the kind of confidence normal kids my age dream of. I look down at my own clothes. Nondescript brown boots, standard issue 'creamsicle orange' camp shirt, a pair of singed (Thanks, Ace.) cargo shorts, and a faded threadbare jean jacket. Even my Bow and quiver were pretty standard looking, which was, well, some kind of miracle. Cypress' throwing knives came out of the Hephaetus Cabin viper red. Huh. Maybe I should get myself some new clothes next time a supply run comes around.

We enter back into the scene of the crime, theres no yellow police tape so we walk right up the the group. Which got significantly bigger since we left. Casey passes me and wanders off to find his twin. I give him a little wave as he leaves. If we go along with Haydens plan, I should find a partner who isn't as skilled as I am. I would have loved to pair with Roxanne, but it'd be bad to group our best fighters together-- especially if we're the offense.

Oh and--- well it looked like Nerium was back. Belladonna jumped on me, and I just barely managed to keep myself upright. Her muddy paws were sure to leave dirt stains too. I pushed her snout away as she tried to lick me face. Goddammit I wish I wasn't so short sometimes, the dog wasn't even fully grown and she could reach my face standing up. I finally got her off and she went to bother another camper, tongue lolling and tail wagging.



I brushed my shirt off and picked a few hellhound hairs from it. Ugh, I smelled like a dog now... I REALLY smelled like a dog. I grimaced.
"Jesus christ, when is the last time you gave your hellhound a bath Nerium?" I said aloud, not really knowing if he heard me.

Nerium raises an eyebrow in Reuvan's direction before turning a sharp look at Ace, "I don't know, Aconitum, when is the last time you gave my hellhound a bath?"

"I bathed her yesterday, babe," Ace replies just as snarkily, though he looks a bit shifty when he adds, "...though I may have let Em and her friends watch her for a bit after that while I was working."

Adjusting his glasses with a frown, Nerium turns to leave, pulling Terrance along with him, "Whatever, we've got a battle strategy to plan out. See you on the other side, bro." He whistles Belladonna over and walks off. Terrance cheerily flips one of their new grenades from hand to hand, following along as well.

Ace waves them away with a distracted later, babe while scuffing out a clean patch of dirt with his combat boot so that they had somewhere to sketch their plans. Crouching down with a stick in hand, he draws out the major landmarks of the forest and starts pointing out to his siblings the general areas they should think about setting their, as Hayden called them, "lovely surprises" for the other team.

Freya manages to hold her tongue for almost a whole minute before she pokes the back of Ace's head, saying, "You totally forgot he isn't on our team this week, didn't you? We just told your boy our plan for tonight."

"Oh gods," Virgil groans dramatically, "His boyfriend and his best friend are against us? We're doomed. Again."

just a bump--

-bump so it doesn't get locked although I doubt it will be continued-