blame it on the goose | open

[Abcde Grace]

The sun was bright in the sky, It was the absolute most perfect day Abcde had ever seen. And honestly, it was made even more perfect by the smell of strawberries that floated in the air around her. She was in heaven. It was crazy to her that her Roman companions didn't like it here. The Greeks knew how to live. Of course, it helped that Dionysus was in charge. It was like a camp after her own heart. The freedom to do basically whatever she wanted really made Abcde feel more at home than she ever did at Camp Jupiter.

Today was no different. Abcde was twirling her fingers, making the Strawberries bloom into beautiful flowers around her. She was humming to herself, although she didn't exactly remember the words. It was some pretty camp song she had learned at Camp Jupiter. A tune to sway to and inspire comradeship, or something. To be honest, all that stuff usually went over Abcde's head. She didn't really like being forced to be something she really wasn't. Abcde wasn't really into the labels. she just wanted to have a good time.

As if to back up her personality, Abcde pulled a cup out of her bag. More accurately, it was a wine goblet. A stone one made of a material she didn't recall the name of. She took a few ripe strawberries and threw them into the goblet and with a wave of her fingers it sprouted into a pink wine that sparkled in the sunlight. She knew that they weren't supposed to have wine in camp, but how was she supposed to live without it? It was like asking the Venus girls to ignore make up or ask Mars boys to never touch swords. It was completely against her nature. At least out in the fields, it was less likely that someone would catch her.

created by rynstone.

[Natalia Davis]

It was a beautiful, sunny day. Natalia had decided to practice her speed travel for a while. She had started off just fine, but every time she tried again she got more and more distracted and ended up further and further away from where she was trying to go. She decided to try once more before finding something else to do.

Natalia knew she had ended up out on the strawberry fields before even looking around. The scent of strawberries was strong in the air, she figured it was both the warmth of the sunlight and the meddling of Dionysus and the demigods with plant-related powers that caused it. She shrugged and bowed down to pick some strawberries, thinking she might as well get something out of ending up here. She picked up on the sound of someone humming, looking up in the direction it was coming from. She couldn’t really see the girl’s face, but she was fairly certain she didn’t know her.

Lia placed the last berry she’d picked in her mouth and stood up. She started walking towards the girl, making her presence known by shouting “Hi!” in case the girl hadn’t noticed her. She thought the girl might be one of the Roman campers, or perhaps a new Greek one Lia wasn’t aware off.

[Abcde Grace]

Shocked by the sudden intrusion, Abcde tossed her goblet in the air and spun around, hoping the bottle would land amongst the strawberries behind her and never be mentioned again. Of course, she couldn't be that lucky. The bottle plopped on the ground in front of her, landing squarely between Abcde and the girl. Her blue eyes watched a few drops of the liquid spill out before she bent over a scooped it up, not able to resist the urge to save what wine she had left. Laughing, she let out a heavy sigh and shrugged, realizing she had already been caught. No point in worrying anymore.

Abcde took this opportunity to pull the goblet to her mouth and empty the contents. Might as well go out with a bang...

"Hi back at cha." She sent the redhead a toothy grin and leaned back, letting herself sit on the ground again amongst the strawberries, "Can I off you a drink?" She held the now empty cup out in front of her and raised an eyebrow, hoping the bribe would keep this person from running up to that big house and telling daddy dearest about her most recent afflictions.

created by rynstone.

[Natalia Davis]

“I guess she hadn’t noticed me then.” Natalia thought, a small smile on her lips as she saw the girl’s reaction to being called out to. Lia followed the bottle with her eyes as it made its way through the air and landed between them, fixing her eyes on the blonde girl when she picked it up. Now that she was this close Lia was certain she didn’t know who the girl was.

As the girl was emptying the cup she was holding, Lia did her best to look serious, as if she was one of those campers who liked to follow every rule to the letter and wouldn’t hesitate to tell on anyone who didn’t. However her serious look soon gave way to a chuckle, and she couldn’t help but to respond to the girl’s grin with a smile of her own.

“Sure, why not.” Natalia answered, closing the distance between the two and taking a seat on the ground next to the girl. “Not that I was planning on telling on you anyway.” After a moment she remembered she hadn’t introduced herself, so she added: “I’m Natalia, by the way. Lia for short, if you prefer nicknames.”

[Abcde Grace]

Abcde was pleased to learn that the girl was at least reasonable. She waved her fingers over the glass and watched the wine fill it back up. It was glittering pink in the sun and smell sweet. The perfect strawberry wine. She reached her arm out and offered the cup to her new friend, "Lia, what a nice name." Her voice was wistful and cute, "I'm Abcde (ab-SUH-dee)."

It wasn't very often that someone else venture into this part of the strawberry fields. In fact, this was the first time, in the short time that Abcde has been at Camp Half-Blood, that she has seen anyone other than her sweet siblings there. This, naturally, spawned many curious thoughts that Abcde couldn't help but vent, "So, what brings to you out to this neck of the woods?"

created by rynstone.

[Natalia Davis]

Natalia watched the cup fill up with a wave of the girl’s fingers. “Thanks. Abcde is a pretty name, I haven’t heard it before.” she smiled as she accepted the cup. “You a daughter of Dionysus then? Or what’s his Roman self called?” she asked, nodding towards the cup in her hands, now full of the sweet-scented pink wine. She tasted the wine, which was delicious, while she waited for Abcde’s answer.

Lia had another sip of the wine before answering Abcde’s question with a laugh: “Honestly? I wasn’t really meant to end up here. I was just practicing my speed travel. Couldn’t really concentrate so I ended up off mark.” She shrugged and took a swig from the cup. When she had finished the rest of the cup, she handed it back and said: “This wine was really good! Great choice of bribery.”

[Abcde Grace]

That was the most common reaction to Abcde's uncommon name. Most people have never heard it before and find it pretty sounding, "Yeah, it's definitely different. People always think it's a joke when they read it since it's spelled A-B-C-D-E." She giggled, feeling the buzz and wine hovering over her head.

When Natalia started inquiring about Abcde's lineage, another giggle floated from her lips, "Bacchus. I significantly less pretty name if you ask me..." Abcde reached her fingers around the dirt making small flowers sprout from the ground and bloom in many different colors, "Dear old dad..." Abcde winked at Natalia, "He's the reason I have such wonderful bribes."

created by rynstone.