( —&. syrup and honey ).

“Oh, I totally forgot to tell you, I finished your daggers.”

“Oh, wow, thank you so much!” She grinned. “I hope it wasn’t too much of a hassle to squeeze them in. I know you went on your trip back home and all, so thanks for thinking about me. Do you have them back at your cabin?”

He laughed a bit and made a face. “I’m a soccer player. Not a dancer. Honestly I’d probably be terrible at it. Also I have no idea what this dance is.” he said with a laugh.

“This is old school Britney Spears!” She pointed out with a gasp. “I’m totally ashamed that you don’t know that. I need to start doing better as a sister, apparently,” She joked and went over to stop the song from playing from her laptop that sat on her bed. She closed it and pushed it to the side. “ —I won’t make you suffer through dance lessons from yours truly though,” She chuckled and twirled back around to face Rian.  “...Did you want to do something together?” She asked, smiling. “I’m actually as free as can be, if you wanted to hit up the bonfire or the Rec. Room or something.”

“This is why…. knee pads are a thing? I think I have a set you can use if you ever try again.”

Vienna chuckled lightly, listening to him. “—You can keep your knee pads, Ri. I won’t be trying that again, don’t worry,”  Vienna responded, rubbing her knee with her hand; before standing up straight again and getting an idea. “...Unless, you wanted to try it? You’re an athlete, right? You could probably nail it and make it look hot, and not embarrassingly painful like I made it seem.”

“You dance?” Keaton asked, his eyebrows raised at Vienna.

“No, not really,” Vee replied, brows raising and a smile forming on her lips as she replied. “I’ve never taken a class, but it doesn’t stop me from dancing around my cabin when I get in the mood. I’m sure my siblings would all love it though, if I actually took some classes. I’m sure they’re sick of my music taste by now... ” She chuckled, before adding. “—Well, maybe not Cass.”

“Um, Brazil. Rio de Janero. We don’t, uh, yeah. No Halloween there.”

“That’s so cool,” She commented, chuckling, before tugging on the back of her earring. “I must sound so weird to you then," Stopping to think for a moment. “...I’m, like, almost positive that one of the cabins will end up throwing a costume party when it gets around that time, though. That’s also a tradition, by the way. To get into costumes and dress up like something scary, or cute, or even sexy. Anything’s up for grabs on Halloween,” She shrugged as she continued to explain. “But, even though you don’t celebrate it, you should still feel free to come to the parties that happen around then. I know you said before that parties aren’t really your thing but camp ones can be fun, if you give them a chance.” She replied, hoping to slowly change Gabe’s perspective on parties and social gatherings.

“Uh, um, what kind of shopping?” Gabe asks, overwhelmed by Vienna’s friendliness.

“Oh, Halloween shopping, of course,” She confirmed, having no problem with repeating her. “For costumes and maybe some decorations for my cabin. I know I’m not the counselor, so I’m not going to, like, totally cover the entire cabin in fake blood, or something,” She chuckled, thinking about how her mother would probably watch in horror from her cushioned seat in Olympus as Vee degraded the cabin and its reputation by massacring it with blood. “But I think that a few pumpkins on the porch would be super cute. I don’t know,” She shrugged. “—I hate carving pumpkins, but I think they’re just so festive, it feels wrong to have a Halloween without them.”

“No, just drawing. Were you?”

“Nope, not today,” Vienna replied with a shake of her head and an over-dramatic sigh. “Mind if I sit with you?” She asked one of her own before plopping down into the space next to him, not waiting for a direct reply from Gabe. “...I actually had an amazing idea this morning about sneaking out into the city today, and stopping in some stores that I haven’t gotten to go to since I’ve been back,” She began to explain. “And maybe even do a little bit of early Halloween shopping,” She looked over at him. “ —But it was all too last minute and somebody I asked even said it was too early to be thinking about Halloween. Can you believe that?” 

Gabriel bites his lip and glances to the side, thinking of the empty wine bottles covering his cabin. “N-no, I’ve been good. Um. Yeah.”

Vienna chuckled, noticing that Gabriel still maintained most of his shy demeanor. “Don’t worry, I was only kidding around, but I’m glad that you’ve been doing good,” She smiled. “—Were you headed somewhere?” She asked.

“N-no, you’re fine. Just, uh, surprised,” he says, squinting in the sunlight. “I was just, um, checking.”

“For who? Chiron?” She asked. “Don’t worry, you can normally hear him when he’s around,” Vienna replied. She wasn’t the type to be a teacher’s pet exactly-- she just much preferred to be on people’s good sides. Especially those of one’s who held a high status. “--And the harpies usually leave you alone if you stick to the rules. Unless you’ve been breaking rules?” She asked.