Ready or Not [Lux]

[MARIA HALE]

Lux Aurelius Morgenstern

Camp was always an interesting place the day after a new moon or half moon. That was when the majority of travel between Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter was done. A few still preferred the brave the outside world and travel via plane, or some other method, but the new moon and half moon brought about a quicker, though dangerous, path. A direct path through the labyrinth. So, after one of these "travel days" you were likely to see a number of faces missing, and a number of fresh faces. Demigods traveling between the two camps for whatever purpose. Maria didn't really care much. Most of her interactions with the romans had been non-memorable. They were militant, and unbending. Admirable traits, but also boring. Classic examples that sometimes discipline could definitely be "too much". Maria herself could be serious, when she wanted, and commanding, but what was the point of that? Life was meant to be enjoyed, not wasted.

Today was one such morning, the morning after a half moon. Maria always wanted to make a good impression on these fresh faced Romans that might be checking out Camp Half Blood, so she'd taken some extra time this morning getting ready. Making her her hair and make up were perfect, choosing the slightly too small camp half blood teeshirt that hugged her upper body, and wearing her favorite skinny jeans. Casual, as this was camp, but also attention grabbing. 

Arriving at the mess hall for breakfast, she could already pinpoint the romans. A few were scattered across the tables, sitting with their greek siblings or friends made from previous visits. One individual stuck out to her. He was older, at least not a teenager, and he sat alone at one of the long tables. Target acquired, she crossed the mess hall, and leaned against the tables edge. Close, but not totally over bearing on him. Best to test the waters first and she how he reacted to merely her presence. "I've never seen you before. First time to Camp Half Blood?" Now, who knew if it was his first time here or not, but he was still new to her, and that's all that mattered.

[Lux Aurelius Morgenstern]

The trips to camp half blood had never fully interested Lux in the short time they'd been made possible. He had his duties on the Roman side, not to mention his inherent distrust towards the Greeks. People said it was peace and he wanted to believe it more than anything, but he wouldn't simply accept facts like that at face value. A thousand years of bad blood didn't just disappear because of a singular quest, and this was even more than just a thousand years. From what he'd gathered from Percy in their limited conversations, the Greek didn't really remember the Feud and it was Rome that remembered. There likely wasn't any bad blood from their side, but Lux was distrustful. Something huge was going on in the world and most of the world failed to notice the significance of the peace between the two camps, mostly because they were unaware.

So as he'd arrived at the Greek camp he'd chosen a less formal attire than his usual wear. He wore a very casual mail shirt and some wrist-guards only, which for him was about as casual as it got when entering a formerly hostile environment. After a small tour around the premises he went for lunch, sitting himself at one of the long tables. He had a lot to think about so that he might properly shape his opinion. He realised that talking to some actual Greeks most certainly was part of it, but he didn't quite know how to pick the right people. Every person could potentially be an enemy, or a friend. He contemplated this in silence as he consumed his meal. Not that his quiet meal took long, he was joined soon enough by another individual. He looked up at the person standing against the table near him with a detached but friendly smile and motioned for her to sit. "Indeed it is." He noted casually, or well, his kind of casual. He did always maintain that military training that was so ingrained in him. It was nearly impossible to get him to fully relax. "I'm Lux," he introduced himself, "augur for the Roman camp." Titles and heritage mattered to him, but he didn't really want to seem stuck up or overwhelm her so he'd kept it as short as he could comfortably get away with. He just hoped that she was here seeking familiar interaction over enmity. He wasn't sure how to deal with somebody looking for a fight currently. He was armed, but that didn't mean that he wanted to fight. He just came prepared as always.

MARIA HALE

[MARIA HALE]

Lux Aurelius Morgenstern

The Roman wasn't against her presence. In fact, he even introduced himself, along with that crazy Roman title. She didn't keep up with old trends like that. Soooo boring. Maria didn't hesitate to take the offered seat across from him, flashing her own smile in response. "Well, Lux. it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Maria." No fancy title or anything. She could include she was a cabin leader, but why bother with more formalities? Now seated, and at eye level, she could get a better look at him. He wasn't bad looking. Like she though, older than her, but still a young adult. He looked a bit on the rebellious side, but who knew with these Romans. Considering he introduced himself with his rank probably meant he was pretty militant.

Everyone else seemed to be mingling just fine, so his sitting alone stood out to her. Maybe just because he was new and hadn't formed any connections with his Greek siblings yet. If his godly parent had a greek version. Apparently some gods didn't translate between the two. Such an odd conundrum. Though, her father did. She didn't much like her father's Roman version... They turned him into a chubby baby. "So? What brings you to Camp Half blood? Curiosity? Destiny? Capture the Flag?"

[Lux Aurelius Morgenstern]

The young lady that had joined him was pleasing to the eye, although she was clearly a bit younger than he was. Not that such a thing mattered, as he wasn't here to find a partner and even if he was, he certainly didn't think that his father was likely to approve of him dating a Greek. Well, his mortal father, he honestly didn't think Apollo would care as he changed very little between the two pantheons and thus seemed unlikely to care too much. The idea of bringing home a Greek just didn't seem right. It made it easier to ignore she was actually very pretty. Otherwise he might have been somewhat more distracted.

It didn't help that Maria offered only her name as a means of saying who she was. There had to be more than just that, right? Maybe she didn't care about rankings? Strange Greeks, not understanding how much easier it was if a certain sense of hierarchy was maintained. Not that he was about to get into such a discussion with one of their kind. But luckily he wouldn't have to, as she was curious enough to keep a conversation going despite his lack of commitment so far. It wasn't that he was rude or anything, he just hadn't had much he'd been wanting to say thus far. So as she inquired about his reasons for coming to camp he felt a mixture of nerves and relief. Nerves because he didn't want to start trouble by giving the wrong answer but some relief that she was trying to strike up a relatively casual conversation. She offered him up plenty of options, which was good enough for him to get a little more comfortable. "Mostly professional interest, I suppose." He admitted honestly. Yes, there was more than the basic shapes and form of the professional interest he was supposed to show but it was reason enough for him to be there. "And along with that some curiosity as well. I've heard some stories so it's nice to see the place in reality now." He said with a relaxed smile. He felt his answer ought to be more than satifactory and not give offense in any politically charged areas. He wasn't doing too bad!

MARIA HALE

[MARIA HALE]

Lux Aurelius Morgenstern

It wasn't necessarily the Maria was invested in the conversation, or the roman. It was purely opportunity that kept her around. She was an opportunitist. In life. In love. In battle. Whatever. Life was all about opportunity. Why restrict yourself to plans, schedules, rules? Okay, some rules were good. Because, you know, safety. But that was besides the point. The point was he was an opportunity, and she was bored.

Maria's eyebrows raised as he explained it was "professional curiosity". Professional huh? "Oh? Not personal?" That was interesting. What did professional opinion entail exactly? Was he being ordered to come by the Roman army or whatever it was they called themselves? She didn't really bother learning the formal names the Romans used. Though as he elaborated and explained he'd heard stories she flashed her most charming smile. "All good things I hope. I promise only a few of us bite." Though she didn't quite specify she was one... The smile sort of hinted. People always thought love made you a pacifist. When they learned who her father was. ERos wasn't known as a "fighter" but people always forgot one thing. Eros was still a son of Ares, the god of war. And as the saying went, "all is fair in love and war".

[Lux Aurelius Morgenstern]

For some reason the woman in front of him was very interested in him for the moment and it kind of unnerved him. He wasn't quite used to casual interactions, even less so when they were as informal as this in a first meeting. He was raised from a very different point of view and while he knew many people didn't regard the world with the same sense of formality he always found it shook him a little and left his guard down a little due to confusion. So as she questioned if his interest was not personal he wasn't even certain if he lacked personal interest or had simply failed to consider his own personal interest. He furrowed his brow slightly, deep in thought for a moment. Was he interested in them at a personal level? Probably. He considered everything first and foremost from his position and life as a legionnaire, not as a person. Was that a bad thing? This wasn't quite the time to consider that entire mental debate so he inclined his head ever so slightly. Shrugging simply was not his thing. "I suppose there is a personal interest too." He conceded after some careful consideration.

She was beautiful and charming and clearly knew how to charm people. That unsettled him even more than her lack of protocol. He wasn't sure if this even consisted of flirting but he decided it simply couldn't be. It wasn't so much lack of confidence as being particularly dense when it came to romantic interactions and being so caught up in his job he regularly failed to properly gauge interest from other individuals as he considered almost everything from a work perspective where romance was hardly appropriate. Her comment made him smile and ease up a little bit though, which already was quite a large thing coming from him. He relaxed his stance somewhat as he leaned back a bit and looked at her in a more personal perspective. She seemed nice enough at least and he did want to build better relations with the Greek ones. She'd be a good place to start, right? "I suppose that depends. I wasn't raised with the good stories, but they do seem to hold more weight in current times than the stories told from generations back. I rather like the peace and hope it can be upheld, which seems to be possible so far." He answered in earnest as he popped a strawberry into his mouth. "What about you, Maria?" He asked, smiling a relaxed smile as he genuinely wanted to know more about her. "What stories have you heard of us and were they good or bad?" He really hoped she wouldn't judge them by the dimwit of a halfbrother that Octavian had been. As far as Lux was concerned he was a stain on the Legion and he would not be missed at all.

MARIA HALE