gold in the sunlight

her words caused him to pause, thinking before opening his mouth again. “the curfew won’t keep us safer. we’ll just be sitting ducks until the monsters figure out how to break into our cabins… we need defenses. lots of them.”

juniper jakobsen… as much as nova’s soft side is more present around her, she is an interesting one. every one has secrets to hide and nova thinks that the daughter of hecate is an entire field’s worth of them — there are times when nova catches herself squinting her eyes momentarily when the other speaks. confusion, yes, but to ask questions is to be curious. sue her for wanting to know juni, then. 

she nods, a teasing smile. “yeah. the city — big and scary new york city.” nova has had plenty of years of practice putting on faces. being sick to her stomach because of other factors ( the diet coke is the last of them, she knows that ) doesn’t exempt her from her number one rule: never flinch. this is how these games are played, after all. every move must be calculated, make others think that you’re on their side — all this just to fool them. “don’t worry. it’ll only take a couple of minutes. we won’t be long,” she raises a brow, then. “as long as we stick to heavily mortal populated areas, i think that might be enough to cover our scent.” 

nova doesn’t wait long for a response before she starts walking, every step leading her farther away from the camp. it somehow lessens the pain — perhaps, twelve years has only made her grow tired of this place. resentment, first as a seed and planted in her heart to grow every year she added another to her roster. “come on, juni.” she calls over her shoulder, “better get moving.” 

there was an aching in the back of her stomach. maybe the echo of a warning. it wasn’t surging through her body, like she’d felt before. the strongest warning of danger she’d felt proceeded a particularly horrible event when she was twelve. when the people she’d grown up with had tried to drown her. something had been off the whole day inside of her. it was like her body had been trying to warn her of impending doom. in the end, it wasn’t this warning which had saved her. it was a thunderstorm. she felt rain start to sprinkle at first. when they’d first managed to drag her into the water, she’d felt the water start to sprinkle on her skin. she’d started thrashing when the sky seemed to break open. juni heard them mention something about lightning. they said they’d come back to it once the storm was over. 

but what she was feeling wasn’t nearly as bad as that. it occurred to her that she was feeling a bit nervous due to the fact that she’d hardly left camp since she showed up. camp halfblood made her feel safe, so it shouldn’t be a shock that she felt off at the idea of leaving it. nova’s explanation made sense, so she nodded and took off to catch up with her. “okay, okay.” she murmured, appearing at nova’s side a few moments later. “we’ll be back by curfew, anyway. so no harm done!”

the daughter of dionysus is well-aware of the plans: introduce and execute stricter policies and attempt to fix what might as well be permanently broken. teeth bite the straw of her diet coke with an apprehensive glance at the barriers, the backs of other campers as they took up chiron’s orders like good soldiers. she can feel today’s breakfast making its way up before — another sip of her cola. 

standing by the hill, nova watches as silhouettes come and go. like a hawk, she searches for her partner-in-crime for the day and her familiar stature pulls her lips to a smile. “you’re here,” though she takes her time to finish her drink — juni is free from her unkind grasp, but not entirely. “good. we’ll have to stop by someplace in the city for a little something about our bit on the barriers — maybe we can even make it into a field trip?” 

getting the barrier back up and working was top priority. it wouldn’t work if they all went at it individually, so a collected effort should do the job. specifically pairs. juni was set to work with nova, a person who certainly brought a certain amount of life to whatever they did. that was something juni could appreciate. so she got ready for the day normally. clad in a tan dress adorned with sunflowers and a pair of boots, she set off to spot she was supposed to be meeting nova at.

curls bounced behind her as she skipped, a playful hum escaping from between her lips. today would be a good day, she could feel it. she spotted her hair first, a bright spot which looked almost painted against the sky from the angle she was at. “the city?” she nearly choked on air. “as in...not here? isn’t that sort of dangerous?”

“yes!”

“Junebug!” he greeted with a laugh, rushing forward and enveloping her in a hug, nearly picking her up.  Man, he missed her.  He missed all his sisters, but Juni was the first he saw, so she would get the excitement first.  “Surprise!  I was going to come back a few weeks from now, but I missed this place and I’ve been tired of things finding my show and ruining them, so here we are.”  He let her go finally, shrugging his backpack on his shoulders more and giving her a smile.  “So what’s happening, what’s been going on since I left.  It’s been like… nine months, I think?”

Seeing Nathan made Juni’s day that much brighter. Things, truthfully, had been tense the last few days. Ever since the party she couldn’t seem to shake the idea that they were constantly on the verge of attack at any given moment. An idea which wasn’t explicitly untrue. It was hard not to dwell on it. Harder yet to not let it consume her thoughts. But if there was one thing that Juni had become good at, it was compartmentalization. Just like the trauma she’d endured as a child, she’d stow this away until it came time to use it. 

hana had a vast list of books she wanted to read. truthfully that along should be enough to distract her and keep her in her cabin but hana didn’t want to fall into a routine, not at night either way.  “i mean there are tons of things you could do but i prefer to spend nights outside. i’m a firm believer that the nights were made to stargaze not to be waste inside but maybe that’s just my heritage speaking for me.” she mused, a smile forming in her lips. 

the excitement in juni’s voice amused her. she couldn’t relate to what the other felt. whenever she entered her cabin she headd straight to her room and tried to avoid as many of her siblings as possible. “draw?” that was one option she had not considered. “i dont really have talent for it so i’m not sure if it’ll be fun to me.” after all how could anything be fun if she failed at it? “can you draw?” 

“well, the night is absolutely beautiful. you’re right about that.” juni had fond memories of sneaking out of bed to go look at the stars. before running away from the group she’d grown up with, she’d been a bit more rebellious. but it was done as a means of survival. whether physical or emotional. she had to escape somehow. but after she’d run away, she found no need to do those things. it made her feel bad to disappoint people. one of the only perks of growing up where she did was the fact that the night sky was clear almost constantly. “i used to look at stars when i was younger a lot. never knew the names of them or anything though.”

“you know what? fine, fine. you’re right. i just don’t think chiron should be treating us like children. we’re been taught from a young age that monsters were after us…. this shouldn’t be a shock.”

nova remembers and knows juni easily — being one of the few younger campers that she cared for with a sincerity that’s both rare and unlike of her. she shrugs her shoulders casually, “i’ve been busy cleaning up.” the mess left by the party, by the breach of the barriers. she sighs, “it’s… going. though, i’m not the best at cleaning but someone has to do it, right?” the daughter of dionysus playfully nudges juni. “it’d be nice to have helping hands.” 

cleaning was something juni hadn’t been a fan of when growing up. mostly because she had almost always been stuck doing it. while boys her age were able to go out and play, she’d been stuck inside cleaning or cooking. there had been many times when, tired of the relentless routine, she’d snuck away to get out of cleaning. that hadn’t ended well, but in her mind it was a worthy decision. one that only further showcased how much she truly did not fit in. now that she was older, and cleaning hadn’t been forced upon her, she wasn’t so opposed. 

                     ‘   it’ll be forgotten in a week , y’know . some other big fuckin’ drama will jus’ pop up an’ everyone will think you’re fine again . i still think you’re pretty damn good , kiddo . ain’t your fault .   ’     jakub shifts a little , leaning forwards , placing chin in one palm while the other lifts to pat companion’s shoulder with a hum ,     ‘   want somethin’ to eat ? i got snacks . make y’feel better .   ’

“the rules were made to try and keep the gods off chiron’s ass, if they even care. i’m not gonna be confined to my room like a child.”

“is your blood sugar low?”

It was good to be back.  It really was.  Tour was great, sold out shows and dealing with a magic debunker that couldn’t figure out his tricks - and tried to come up with explanations for the ones he used real magic for.  But no one was going to believe it was real, which was the best part.  Nathan wandered into camp, taking in the smells and sights of his favorite place on earth, wandering further into camp and seeing a figure walking towards him.  He squinted, seeing a figure walking towards him and gave a cheerful wave.  “Hey!”

as soon as she was able to figure out who exactly the person in the distance was, she let out a loud squeal. one that caused a few other campers to jump in surprise. juni picked her pace up to get to him more quickly, hugging him the moment she was close enough. “nathan!” to say she’d missed her brother would have been an understatement. any time one of her siblings left the camp she felt a bit of sadness. but with her brother touring all over the world, she knew she could only be so sad. “you’re back! i’ve missed you so much.”

“i hope they do listen,” she nodded. it wasn’t often that arwen was all that serious, but safety was of utmost importance to her. even more so when it meant the safety of her family. “just make sure you listen to him, that’s all i can expect of you. none of us can make anybody else follow orders. are you feeling okay…about everything? i know the cabin was empty that night with me running josephine to the infirmary. i should have checked in with you and made sure everything was alright.”

“i was thinking we could have game board nights. and movie nights. and baking. and all sorts of stuff to make sure everyone has fun and is okay.” she was also thinking about suggesting sock surfing or something fun like that. but those seemed to be enough for right now. plus, she really wanted to make sure arwen was okay. “i was fine, arwen. i hope you didn’t worry yourself.” she said, her voice soft and reassuring. “how are you? did you manage alright?”