Welcome to the Courtyard (private)

Bella nearly jumped out of her skin. What the hell? she thought, spinning on her heel to stare up at a dark haired boy who was looming over her, standing entirely too close for comfort. What did he mean by sneaking up on her like that? Slightly annoyed already, Bella looked the boy up and down in what she hoped was a discreet manner before raising her head to stare him straight in the eye, "Yes?", she said in a tone that implied she wasnt happy about being taken by surprise. Bella Aidan was many things, but she was most definitely at all times in-control and did not enjoy being caught off guard. She wondered whether she knew the boy, whether they had ever spoken or were even acquaintances. His face wasn't even vaguely familiar but in Bella's experience that meant little, she had a terrible memory for faces and would often unintentionally offend people by staring blankly at their face while they spoke to her, unaware that they expected some sign of recognition from her. What could easily be mistaken for a product of arrogance, this embarrassing characteristic simply stemmed from Bella's boredom. Lack of intrigue, excitement and interest combined to form a mixture worth of the Hypnos cabin, yawn-worthy. Simply put, most campers were interchangeable to Bella, nameless, faceless and uninteresting.

As she surveyed the stranger in front of her- despite her misgivings she was nearly positive that he was a stranger- Bella wondered if things were about to change. Perhaps this boy would be unique, intriguing enough to capture her interest and engaging enough to hold it. Somehow, after all these years in camp, Bella thought wryly, I really doubt it.
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Word count: This post has 283 words.

DANTE FERGUSON || SIXTEEN || SON OF KHIONE

dante was taken aback by her tone, his eyebrows raised in surprise after her reply. now that she was facing him, he could finally see her face. she held the features that were considered cute in dante's mind although her eyes locked on his as she spoke, and he felt that she was very assured of who she was. this made him more interested and getting to know about her than using her just to his competitive advantage. "did i scare you that much?" he teased in reply to her startled reaction. a playful tone played on his words and he meant no offense. he wouldn't be surprised if he actually did startle her a bit, now that he thought of it. being caught up in his own confidence caused dante to do stuff without no hesitation. along with that, his tall figure and body type did seem quite intimidating to others even though his green eyes twinkled with open arms. "i'm dante. dante ferguson." he said in a tone that was quite vain. he sounded as if she should know who he was, except that he didn't mean to do it on purpose. it was kinda something that he was already used to doing in high school. if someone were to ask who he was or introduce themselves to him, he had no control of replying in a cocky manner that made him look like arrogant or brazen of who he was. sometimes he meant it, sometimes he didn't.

if she were to be someone that was well-known around camp, this could be dante's ticket out of the lower class of demigods. seeing this as an advantage, dante's mind exploded with scenarios of finally hanging out with a group of people and becoming the top dog once again. although this seemed great and all, he didn't want to use this girl. she actually seemed pretty different than other girls that he met and hoped she wouldn't be a waste of time in meeting.

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A small smile reached Bella's lips, bursting through as though she was trying to be serious, she cocked her head slightly to the left considering the boy in front of her. "Scared of what? You stepping on my toes?”, she said with light sarcasm, sensing that this was a person she wouldnt have to worry about offending. His playful tone and twinkling eyes intrigued Bella a little, apart from having the added side effect of putting her at ease, they had scarcely met and he was already teasing her? Maybe this would be interesting after all. she speculated absently, a silent smirk on her face.

Proffering her hand, she responded, “Bella Aidan.” Her tone was reminiscent of someone inferring a great honour, however Bella meant no harm by it, it was simply the way she spoke. The way the boy spoke though, not the boy, Dante, Bella corrected in her head, the way Dante spoke however was a different matter altogether. The way he regarded her before speaking, like a connoisseur pricing art, was alone enough to make Bella slightly uncomfortable but his regal manner of speaking and holding himself made Bella uneasy, he reminded her vaguely of someone, she wasn’t exactly sure who but remembered enough to know it wasn’t a good thing.

Bella raised her head to look Dante in the eye again, having sub-consciously looked away while she was thinking. Squinting into the sunlight that seemed to reach her eyes directly, Bella registered how annoying it was that she would have to look up to look straight at him. At 5.7, Bella was rather tall for her age and scarcely had this happen before. She realized, with vague surprise that she dint like having to do this at all, not one bit. As she met Dante’s speculating gaze, her eyes widened and Bella realized with a slight jolt who he reminded her of, herself.
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Word count: This post has 321 words.

DANTE FERGUSON || SEVENTEEN || SON OF KHIONE

Dante laughed in response to her sarcastic reply, already captivated by how her personality was. "well, my calf muscles are pretty ripped so i'd be afraid if i were to accidentally step on your toes after all." he told her jokingly, his cocky side already showing. he already felt unusually comfortable around the girl already, even if he didn't know her name yet. she held the presence of familiarity to him and carried an ambience that reminded him of someone although he couldn't quite put his finger on it. this bothered him, but he kept his thought inside. maybe the name would come to him later on.

“Bella Aidan.” Ah! Bella Aidan. That was her name. "mind if i call you bella?" he asked her, even though he knew he was going to call her bella either way if she told him yes or no. Dante took her hand and shook it firmly, his large hand seemingly engulfing hers. Dante didn't realize how much taller he was compared to Bella, although she held the height that he didn't see much in other girls. Guessing that she was around his age, she seemed tall for her age. He instinctively thought if she played some kind of sport with the advantage of her height. Volleyball? Swimming? Basketball? Before he had approached her, Dante examined she had a athletic built, especially with the shorts that she was wearing that showed off her long legs.

Not realizing that his eyes had been obliviously staring at her legs while in thought, he quickly raised his gaze and met hers. He saw the widening of her eyes in surprise and quickly thought that she may of caught him staring at her legs or something. Playing it cool, he raised an eyebrow and asked her, "What? Is there something on my face or something?" He became unaware of the fact that the two demigods were similar in so many ways. The itch of trying to remember who Bella reminded him of still remained in his mind, but he didn't seem to be able to put the puzzle pieces together.

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Bella ran a hand through her hair absently, it was still damp from the beach. She couldnt help but smile at Dante's response, her eyes straying to his calf muscles as he joked They were rather ripped she agreed silently, more than slightly impressed as she looked back at him wondering if he played some sport, soccer perhaps, that would give him such an athletic and well toned body. Bella blinked, coming to, slightly embarrassed as she realised she'd basically been shamelessly checking him out. Hoping he hadnt noticed, she withdrew her hand from his grasp and answered, "Well I'd say yes, considering that I'd probably kill you if you called me anything else", she said, a small smile reaching her corners of her mouth.

Still not completely over the shock of realising that Dante reminded her of herself, Bella found herself wondering what cabin he was from. Could he be a sibling of hers? She brushed away the idea in the same thought, no crowded as the Apollo cabin was, she'd have noticed him for sure. Besides, he dint look like a child of Apollo, besides being tall and rugged, he was also rather pale and slinking around here in the courtyard on a lovely sunny day like this was definitely not the trait of an child of the Sun god. Still, she decided, it was rather a compliment, me comparing him to myself. When I have scarcely even met him too!

However it was not a compliment Bella intended to let him know about, not in the near future atleast. But she couldnt be sure he hadnt reached the same conclusion himself, looking up to meet his searching gaze Bella was surprised to find that he too had been distracted- lost in thought like her- quickly meeting her gaze however, he decided to pretend that Bella had been staring at him the whole time, not realising that she had been distracted as well. Bella had to hold back a chuckle as she wondered how to respond, deciding to play along she said quizzically, "Yeah, a sea urchin", frowning as though confused, but she ruined the effect slightly as her lips twitched giving the game away as they unsuccessfully tried to fight a smile.

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Word count: This post has 375 words.

DANTE FERGUSON || SEVENTEEN || SON OF KHIONE

"Well I'd say yes, considering that I'd probably kill you if you called me anything else" Ooh, she was fiesty. Dante couldn't help but smile at this response, his hand reaching up to scratch the rough patch of facial hair that was already starting to grow on his chin. This made him seem older than he looked, which he felt as well. Being seventeen made him feel like he was 'too old' for this camp and that he shouldn't even be here right now, although he tends to feel that like pretty much every single day he spends here. His thoughts started to wonder how old Bella was then began to expand to many questions on getting to know her. Her resemblance to..something that he couldn't think of was still bugging him in the corner of his mind, but as he began to study her and watch her actions, his mind started to work out the puzzle. It took him a few seconds later until he actually figured out who she had reminded him of. His own self. When he thought this couldn't have been more a nightmare, his green eyes started to widen, the same way Bella's did just before. Damnit, no wonder I thought she was cool the minute I met her. She's like me.

Dante began to have mixed feelings about this whole situation. When he first talked with Bella, he thought alright, she's cool..nice personality..pretty.., but he never thought that she would be so...like him. He was pretty sure they weren't exactly like, thank the gods, but he could definitely see the similarities in how they both acted. If she ended up being an athlete as well, Dante thought he would pretty much lose his sh*t. He suddenly began to wonder if Bella had caught onto this. This made him have second thoughts on his speculations and began to think that he was probably losing his mind or over-seeing things too quickly. Bella's voice snapped him back to reality, and he quickly shook out of his daze mentally. He could see that slight twitch of a smile after she had spoken, and smiled a little himself although his smile faded quickly since he remembered that he needed to play along as well. The shock of their similarities still remained in his mind, but he dared not to actually say it out loud. What if she thought he was crazy or some freak thats trying to hook up with her or something? "A sea urchin? Well I wonder how that got there.." he pretended to be in thought, his head tilted up to the right as he scratched his chin. "Mind explaining that to me, Aiden?" Dante wanted to see how she would react to being called Aiden, other than her preferred name of Bella. He knew she wouldn't kill him or anything..at least he hope she wouldn't.

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Watching as Dante’s eyes widened and his expression shifted slightly, Bella wondered what had surprised him. Had he perhaps not got the joke? Argh, that would be hideous., she thought. Bella hated having to explain her statements to anyone, whether that was simply explaining a joke or justifying some action, she saw it as bothersome and unnecessary. From a young age Bella had grown up to be extremely independent and was not used to be being questioned or being answerable to nearly anyone, well on most occasions atleast. There were ofcourse the times when Sarah came back from tour and decided to be a mom for a bit again, but those times were short and infrequent besides she was rather hopeless at being a mother anyway, she never knew quite to do. Bella always felt like she was more like an older sister or neighbor if anything and while they had some fun times and Bella always felt like she could go to Sarah for an advice, the absence of any sort of parental authority from her life had left a deep impact on her personality.

Far more motherly than Sarah was her lovely Italian housekeeper, Vittoria but as staff there was only so far she could go with Bella and eventually one day she was simply gone, with no explanation and a note from Sarah to say she had been replaced. From that time on, Bella was unconcerned about the people that so freely entered and left her home and sometimes never came back, often changing. Bella gave up trying to remember names and faces and simply went about her own business, from then on began a period of slow rebellion where Bella expressed her disconnect with Sarah by first refusing to call her “mom” and then slowly reducing her influence on her life. Sarah’s visits back home became less frequent and more far in between and Bella learnt to live with it, scarcely noticing the changes.

It was at this time that she had become heavily involved in sports, basketball particularly, chosen perhaps out of some subconscious desire to draw attention and appreciation from her mother. The daughter of a star NBA player taking up basketball however was no big surprise to most and apart from achieving some degree of praise from Sarah, Bella came into her own discovering something that she loved and enoyed. Rising through the ranks of the team sport, Bella captained her team for a year before she left to come to camp, that however was a whole different story.

Lost in thought Bella hadn’t realized that Dante had been speaking, snapping back to the present she heard him ask her what was presumably a rhetorical question. It was not the question however that bothered her, but the title latched on the end of it. Aidan. Well, this one certainly likes to take risks , Bella thought, narrowing her eyes at Dante as he immediately discarded her chosen name. Its not that Bella particularly minded being called Aidan, that’s what she was called on the basketball court anyway but she realized that letting him to get his way now would be allowing him to dictate the terms of conservation and that Bella wouldn’t allow. What was more, as she met Dante’s scrutinizing gaze, she was also sure that he had come to same conclusion and that was why he had done it in the first place. There was absolutely no doubt that he was waiting for and would be gauging her reaction. Bella held back a smile, so he was curious about her, curious enough to try and trick her into giving away more than she ordinarily would. The move was so simple yet effective that Bella couldn’t deny that she was impressed, however, she was one step ahead- naturally- and wasnt planning on giving too much away in a hurry.

On the other hand though, why not turn the tables? , Bella thought wryly. If information was what he wanted, then that was what he would get. However what was the harm in throwing some startling information at him? That way it would put him off track and invariably lead Dante to reveal something about himself, by means of his own clever ploy. The hint of a smile touching her lips, Bella said, “I’d prefer if you dint call me that. It’s what my mother is known as on court.” Aidan-court, Bella would expect Dante to be able to make the connection, if he dint however there was no harm, she would simply be setting herself up for more.


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Word count: This post has 770 words.

DANTE FERGUSON || SEVENTEEN || SON OF KHIONE

Dante couldn't help but smirk as Bella's eyes began to narrow at him. He was now for sure about something. She did not enjoy being called Aiden. Or was he absolute sure of that? This frustrated Dante mentally, not being able to figure out Bella just as easy as he would another girl. Relief flushed through him once he realized that Bella had probably caught on to seeing their similarities. They were definitely playing mind games with each other and this was a game that Dante was for sure certain that he was going to win. He eyed Bella, the smirk on his lips curling into a faint smile. Of course, Dante wanted to learn more about Bella, but he wasn't just going to let her take control.
“I’d prefer if you dint call me that. It’s what my mother is known as on court.” Court..court..court... Dante looked at Bella with a surprise expression, however he quickly changed his countenance, trying to seem as if he wasn't phased by that at all. On court? Her Mom? The wheels in Dante's mind started to turn. He wasn't much of a hardcore follower on the NBA, although he did enjoy the sport very much, but he recognized the name 'Aiden' from some team that he watched on the TV..Well, this means she has to be an athlete then.. he thought to himself, the bothering thought of the familiarity of her last name still stuck in his mind. Dante's father was a professional snowboarder, however Dante did not follow up on his father's sport but instead found his love in running. Of course, this made his father slightly disappointed since he knew that Dante would of been a great snowboarder, but he supported him in every way at his track meets.

The words that played on Bella's lips were very clever, he admitted grudgingly. "Court, huh? You must be a great basketball player then." His tone was confident, however he was a bit unsure about his words. He hoped that she had played basketball, or else it was going to be quite embarrassing for him and make him look like a fool.

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