Numbing the Poison(Private)

Colin heaved his duffel bag over his shoulder. Its was...8:31. Yes, he was late to his own schedule meeting time. Then again, that's usually how it went with Colin.

"Leila?" He called, the air still a bit chilly from the morning. The Hill was covered with dew, and he regretted the decision to wear his Chacos, no matter how comfortable they were. He had on an old baggy sweatshirt and some old, ripped up jeans. He'd spent a surprisingly long amount of time on his hair, making sure it looked messy but not too messy, until he realized how much effort he was putting into it. That had been odd. He'd never really cared about appearances.

Colin set his duffel on the wet grass. He'd packed pretty lightly. Just some ambrosia (not for him, of course), nectar (again, not for him), a few extra weapons, some beef jerky, extra clothes, a water bottle, an old beat up book he would probably never read, a swiss army knife, and a cigarette lighter. He'd also brought one sleeping bag and a few camping essentials.

Leila tried to catch her breath as she ran up the hill. She could see Colin up ahead and tried even more to run faster but that turned out to be a bad idea since she had a backpack weighing her down and the grass covering the hill was fairly wet. She slipped, letting out a startled yelp as she fell face first into said grass. She got up feeling flustered and wiped the grass and dirt off her clothes. When she looked out the window of her cabin she saw that it was fairly cold so she adorned herself with a soft grey wool knit sweater that ended below her hip and was loose off her body with a thin black parka over it paired with dark leggings and brown combat boots. She was glad she went with the combat boots, they'd make her feel more stable in contrast to her clumsy nature.

"Hiya," She smiled with a small puffs of hot air coming out her mouth as she waved at him once. She pushed her hair away from her face, letting the wavy locks fall on her chest. She looked at him discreetly checking him out and murmured under her breath how good he looked. His brownish blonde hair messed perfectly and all Leila wanted to do was run her hands through it. It looked so fluffy and soft and it was calling to her like angels falling down from heaven. She snickered in her own mind and readjusted her backpack.

"You look good." She managed with what she hoped was a nonchalant tone. She had everything she needed. Her sword, first aid kit (demigod version of course), snacks if she was food deprived, a swim suit of course, money (drachmas and dollars along with some change in her wallet), and a disposable camera strung around her neck next to her neckalace. If Colin thought she wasn't going to take pictures he was foolishly wrong.

"Hey!" He said, surprised she had come. He reached up to push up his glasses, before realizing he'd worn contacts that morning. He awkwardly dropped his hand back to his side, glancing at her bags. Not too heavily packed, and she brought along a camera. Well, he'd never really thought of that, but whatever.

Blech. Contacts.

"I try my best," He replied to her compliment, trying not to blush as he thought of how much work he'd put into his hair. "You don't look so bad yourself," He said, hoping to take some of the attention away from him.

"So, you ready to go?" He asked, reaching for her bags, but not quite grabbing them. Some girls were touchy about that sort of thing. He was pretty sure there was a word for it, but as long he didn't offend them, he was good.

"Yeah, of course!" She exclaimed. She glanced at how he reached for her bags and she let him take the one in her right hand. "That's the tent by the way. Did you bring one or are we going to be roomies?" Leila asked with a teasing grin.

Colin had a duffle bag with him and it looked like he packed for necessity like she did (well besides the snacks and camera). Her backpack was a bit heavy since she put her sleeping bag in it. She contemplated just holding onto it separately since she didn't have to hold the tent bag even though it wasn't too heavy to begin with.

"So how're we getting there?" She inquired as she walked beside him. She had forgotten all about transportation matters and if they were taking an airplane she was so relieved that she always kept her passport with her wallet.

"Nah, I just brought a sleeping bag," He answered, hoping she would be okay with that.

"Mostly plane, but we're driving to the airport," He replied, stepping up to his old, beat up navy F150.It'd been pretty cheap when he got it, and he'd gotten a Hephaestus kid to fix it up for him. It was still a bit dented, but it ran like a Jaguar.

"This is Blue," Colin introduced her to the truck as he shoved their bags in the back and prayed to Ra that it wouldn't rain. After that, he went ahead and led her to the other side of the truck, opening the door so she could get in.

"Sounds good," Leila nodded both at the transportation and sharing the tent with Colin. Well she was kind of ecstatic and squealing on the inside at that thought. She was going to share a tent with the handsomest guy in camp. Not even the Aphrodite kids had anything on him and she had seen lots of them. She raised an eyebrow when he opened the door for her. Who said chivalry was ever dead?

"Someone's a gentleman," She laughed as she got in the passenger seat in the front, the door closing as she whistled and ran a hand against the interior. It reminded her of her dad's car too. As Colin got into the car Leila twisted her body to lean into the backseat where she threw her backpack and was so glad it was in reach. She opened the front pocket and took out a plastic bag of Dum Dums and settled back into her seat, putting on her seat belt. She opened the bag and rummaged through it to take out her favorite flavor of blue raspberry. She eagerly unwrapped it and put the sucker in her mouth, putting the wrap in her pocket. She took the Dum Dum out of her mouth and held the bag and waved it at Colin like a wand.

"Want one?" She asked putting the Dum Dum back in her mouth.

He glanced at the bag quickly before buckling up. "Grape," He answered, turning the keys and turning up the hot air in the car. The engine roared to life and he pulled out quickly, hardly even checking to see if someone was behind him.

"So you said you never traveled before. You aren't, like, scared of flying or, I don't know, moving around, are you?" He asked, wanting to be prepared if someone had a full out panic attack. He wasn't exactly that fond of airplanes himself. Before coming to camp, he'd only ever experienced his Dad's private jet, and, though he hated to admit it, he did enjoy the high-class options when it came to travel.

"No I'm okay with flying but I get a little freaked if there's turbulence. Nothing I can't handle though," She answered with a wave of her hand. She found the grape flavor and made a sour face at it. She was never fond of the flavor. She unwrapped it, shoving its wrapper in her pocket like before and held it out near Colin's mouth. She figured he had to focus on driving and it'd be better if she just gave it to him rather than him getting it himself.

"I can't believe you chose grape." Leila laughed as she bit down on the blue sucker and took the stick out since she finished it. She was a sweet tooth to the bone and most of the snacks in her bag were 90% candy or sweets despite camp insisting a "healthy" diet. "Is my tongue blue yet?" She asked sticking it out and crossing her eyes to see if she could see it. She bet she looked comical and utterly crazy.

She pulled another blue raspberry flavor out of the bag and shoved it in her mouth. Blue raspberry was the bomb.

"Grape's is love. Grape is life," He said, taking the sucker in his mouth. He took a quick glance at her, trying not to pay much attention to her hair or her eyes or...Yeah, trying to ignore that stuff. "Not quite," He replied, laughing at her.

They were about thirty minutes away from the airport, and he planned on using his time with her.

"So, Miss Advil, I still don't know that much about you, and I'm pretty sure its the same with me. And I'd prefer to know some basic details about the person who's in my truck, especially when I'm going to be spending three days with him," He said, smirking at her out of the corner of his eye. The road was pretty even, not too many cars and not too many ditches for him to fall into. Good. At least he wouldn't have to spend all of his energy focusing on not killing Leila in a car crash.

"Let's start with our favorite color. You tell me yours, then you get to ask me a question," He said, explaining it to her. To be honest, this was one of his favorite games. It was childish, but people tended to stay away from deep stuff whenever they played it.

"Right, I don't wanna spend three days with a chance of you being a serial murderer." She said with a soft laugh while looking out the window a bit as she leaned the seat back so she could half sit/half lie down. The view was mostly full of trees since Camp was really well hidden in it but they were going near the city more since that's where the airport was. She was thankful there weren't much cars but then again if there was traffic she could spend more time talking to Colin.

"So it's like 20 questions? '20 questions to find your inner spiritual self' . . ." Leila proclaimed mystically with a dramatic flair of her hands. She grinned and put her hands down, "My favorite color's green and blue. Can't really choose. Color of the sky, color of the Earth." Color of your eyes

"What's your favorite song?" She asked back as she faced her face to look at the boy driving. Since she didn't have to do anything she just studied him with a curious gaze. She hoped she didn't come off as creepy or anything, she was just . . . intrigued she could say? She flicked her eyes to the window beside him and drummed her fingers against her seat.

"Hmm...I'd have to go with 'How To Save A Life', by The Fray. If not that, then 'If Today Was Your Last Day'. I swear, Nickelback's best song of all time," He answered, pausing at a stoplight. Traffic was getting a bit worse, but they'd probably be able to make it before it got too bad.

Well, she was pretty and had good taste when it came to color. What do you know?

"How about...Favorite pass time. Like, do you play an instrument, or do you just spend all day searching for necklaces and falling at people's feet?" He asked, waiting for the light to turn as he turned to look at her.

OOC: Short post. Apologies. xD

"Hey you don't have too much of a rubbish music taste, was I mistaken when I pegged you for a bubblegum pop boy? I bet you just envy those boybands and secretly fangirl at them." Leila joked with a wink as she nudged his arm with her elbow. She herself loved the Fray, especially Never Say Never. She swore she could sing that all day every day of her life.

She ate the remainder of her Dum Dum and like always, put the trash in her pockets. If you looked closely one could tell she was a literal trashcan who always forgot to throw away the trash she kept on her. She pulled out wrappers every time she went in her pockets. And dust bunnies but who wants to talk about that?

"Matter of fact I don't usually do that," Leila smiled with a roll of her eyes at that and pushed him playfully with one arm as she began to cross them against her chest. But she would more often if it lead to people like him. She could really use the company.

"I'm usually doing Camp activities and during free time I'm wherever I feel like it. I usually just walk around aimlessly and end up somewhere I don't mean to be. But then again I also like to train and spar with others. Keeps me on my feet and alert." She answered with a grin. "What's your favorite food?"

OOC: Eh, I'll let you off the hook for once xD jk jk jk

Colin smiled as the light turned and the vehicle began to move again. "Have you ever had pasta? Like, real pasta. The kind in Italy. Its Heaven," He said, taking a sharp right onto a pretty busy road. It was moving fast, though. They might actually make it in twenty minutes.

Now, let's see. What did girls like to talk about? Guys? That was out. Jewelry? How could he phrase that in a question? Makeup? Well, okay then.

"So what's your favorite rand of makeup?" He asked, and then began to crack up as soon as the question left his mouth. "That's what girls talk about, right?" He said, not judgementally, more clueless.

OOC: I'm pretty sure the majority of all these posts are about traffic xD

Leila laughed along with him as he asked that question. She didn't expect to hear him actually talk about that. Not that she didn't wear make up- she did. Matter of fact, she was wearing some right now though it was to a minimal degree, just some eyeliner and mascara with some chapstick though she didn't really count that as makeup.

"Well girls talk about that with other girls, we figure that guys don't really care about that stuff." She explained with a smile. "I don't really have a favorite brand. I'm more of a collector and if I like what I see I take it so, sorry but I can't recommend you any."

"Have you ever worn makeup or a dress?" She asked. Lots of her guy friends back from Cali always had someone to make them look silly or something and there was always a varying degree of humor to that. She stifled a snort when she thought of Colin in a dress, hiding her grin with her hand.

"I mean- I won't judge or anything."

"To be honest, yes. Its a long story, but let's just say that I walk pretty well in heels," He replied, pulling into the airport parking lot. It was pretty busy, considering all the summer vacations that were happening. He found somewhere to park before stepping out and grabbing all of their bags.

"Our flight leaves at eleven, so we have about two hours to get through everything," He said, leaning his duffel against the truck to open the door for her.

It wasn't necessarily good manners. More of a habit. After all, his dad had insisted on him greeting everyone when they pulled up for some party at the manor.

Colin led the way to an elevator, kicking the bags inside. He was pretty sure they were on the third floor of the parking garage. He pressed the button for the ground floor, holding the door open for Leila.

"You probably walk better in heels than I do," Leila snickered. Well obviously, everybody walked better in heels than her. There was a reason she only wore flat shoes and no heels other than the minimal on some of her boots. The car stopped and she unbuckled her seatbelt, twisting her torso to grab her backpack out of the backseat before stepping out the car. She was grateful that he was so nice and opened and closed the door for her but she felt a small stab at her pride. She hoped she didn't come off as one of those girls who couldn't do anything themselves. Nonetheless she appreciated the gesture and gave him a smile in thanks.

"Alright." She nodded at the information. After they got all their stuff Colin lead her over to the elevator and she got inside as the door closed behind her. She set her backpack on the floor, opening it up as she took off her parka and stuffed it inside. The building was warm enough so she was shielded from the cold outside. She yawned as she put her backpack back on and reached her hand around to the side pocket and got out her passport so she didn't have to take it out later.

OOC: I have no idea how the process for getting on a flight goes so pls guide me senpai :3

OOC: This might be a bit out of order xD

1. Check your baggage to see what you can take as carry ons and what has to be packed away. 50+is usually not allowed to be a carry on.

2. Get your tickets scanned.

3. Get your bags checked and a pat down for weapons.

4. Wait. For. Hours.

BIC: The door closed, and suddenly Colin realized how small the elevator was. He tried to give Leila as much space as possible, and tried not to look at her too long. She was just so beautiful. And smart. And calm, kind, sweet, funny, and independent.

Wow. It was gonna be hard to turn her away.

Wait. Who said he was gonna have to turn her away? Really, maybe he should get to know her a bit more. But wouldn't it just make it harder?

Thank gods the elevator doors opened into the luggage check area, or else he would have passed out from confusion.

OOC: You want to do a time skip so they can go ahead and get on the plane?

Leila put the bag of Dum Dums away and swapped it with a pack of gummy bears. She popped a couple in her mouth and put the bag away, eight was enough to keep her sated. For now. She glanced over to Colin who looked like he had a look she couldn't exactly pinpoint. She tilted her head to meet his gaze and shuffled over closer to him with her backpack, "You okay?"

The elevator dinged as they made onto their floor, interrupting any kind of answer she could've gotten at that moment. She frowned inwardly and followed Colin out the door.

OOC: Yus pls

OOC: Kay

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Colin had pretty low expectations when it came to commercial travel. Now, some might call him a spoiled pretty boy, which, in a way, he was. However, while most of his Dad's-got-all-the-money-in-the-world attitude had been drop-kicked out of him when he was living on the streets, his attitude about travel didn't. Commercial travel was disgusting, gross, and pretty much torture.

However, this plane wasn't that bad. Sure, it was small, and, yes, it was covered in trash, but, from what he could see, the food was nice.

Yeah, that was about it.

Colin slid their carry-on into the compartment above their heads, keeping his backpack out. He'd let Leila decide what she wanted to put up there.

"You want the window seat?" He asked, waiting for her to take whichever seat she wanted. He was going to have to grin and bear it. He wouldn't want to make Leila miserable.

"Sure if you don't mind," Leila piped up as she reached up on her tippy toes to shove her backpack next to where Colin had put their carry-on in and slid past him as she went to sit down in the window seat. She made herself comfortable and closed her eyes as she let out a sigh when her head hit the seat. The ride was going to be as long as 5-6 hours since they were flying nonstop and she knew somewhere between that time she was going to take a nap. But not right this instant since she wasn't tired. And since she wanted to talk to Colin a bit more.

"Do you like flying? I mean you've traveled a lot so I guess you're kind of used to it." She added absent mindlessly as she played with her hands.

Colin waited till she sat down before sliding into the seat next to her. He went a head and buckled up before looking around the plane. He answered her distractedly,"When I traveled, I didn't exactly use commercial airlines. But I don't mind flying in general."

The flight attendant quickly went through the safety information, and the plane began to lift off. "What about you? Have you ever flown before?" He asked, leaning his head back against the seat and turning to face her. As far as he could tell, there weren't any annoying kids behind them, and everyone on the plane seemed to be elderly and about to fall asleep.

It would be a few hours until they reached California. Might as well start some conversation while they were at it.

"Yeah, a few times when I was younger and when my dad and I moved to New York." She replied thoughtfully as she turned her head to face Colin and a bit surprised when she saw him already looking at her. She couldn't help but feel a little surprised at that though she didn't know why. Maybe she was surprised that he was facing her when she was usually the one to do that first.

"How come you didn't usually fly commercial airlines? Didn't you guys travel a lot?" Leila asked with yawn giving the boy a quirky smile with a raised eyebrow. But then again he did mention last week that his father was a business man.

OOC: Just to let ya know I'm probably not going to be able to post for the majority of today since I have a family party thingy curse dresses D:<

OOC: Its fine :) I had volleyball tryouts earlier curse spandex rashes

BIC: "We usually used more private means. My Dad had his own jet, so we preferred to use that," He said, taking out some gum as the plane leveled out. Grape. Yes, please. He took a piece for himself, before offering Leila some.

After a while, a pretty, maybe early thirties flight attendant rolled beside them with a cart of food and drinks. He asked them if they wanted anything. "I'll have some ginger ale, if you have any. And peanuts," He said, looking back over to Leila and waiting to see if she ordered or not.

He let the fold-up table on the back of the seat in front of him slide down, placing his elbows on it and resting his head on the base of his right palm.

Leila nodded at that but it was more like a confirmation to show she was listening. She shook her head when Colin offered her some grape gum and took out her own bag of candy that was filled to the brim with chocolates and caramels. She took out a caramel and dropped it in her mouth as she put the bag away. Usually she didn't like caramels since they always stuck to her teeth but she was craving the flavor.

"Just water's fine," She said to the flight attendant, flashing the woman a quick close mouthed smile. She could feel the caramels stuck in the insides of her teeth. But then again nothing that can't dissolve or get out with her tongue or something.

"Okay lets continue our 20 questions game since we'll just be here for a while." Leila declared getting more comfortable. They had blankets right? She'd have to ask for one later.

"What's your most embarrassing moment?"

OOC: ugh the flats i got turned out to be too small and my feet were freakin' killing me Dx my dad wouldn't let me wear my converse or sneakers

The lady brought back their drinks and Colin took a sip of his ginger ale. Well, okay then. There was the...no. What about the...nah, that wouldn't do. Finally, he decided on one, and began.

OOC: Yay, Long Story Post Time xD

BIC: "This is a bit of a long one," He warned her, laughing a bit.

"When I first got to camp, I was pretty confused. And depressed. And curious. Yeah, all those things together don't really mix well," He smirked, almost going back into the very day.

"I was...thirteen, I think, and a group of guys my age asked me to help them prank some of the girls in the Aphrodite cabin. I told them I was okay with it, and they told me the plan.

"It was a pretty stupid idea. Sneak in there, steal their pillows and suitcases, and hide them somewhere in the forest, preferably in a tree. They just needed me to take the bags and find something to do with them. So all the guys snuck in there during lunch and stole the stuff, before giving it to me. Thank the gods they'd brought a wagon to wheel the stuff around, or else I would've had to make thirty trips.

"So I drag this stuff into the forest, right? And I decide to try to hang them from a tree limb. So I take some old rope and tie as many bags to it as I could. Halfway through, though, the branch snaps and falls onto me, and I ended up completely covered in makeup and girl's clothes. I tried to find my way out of the mass of clothes, when I heard branches snapping. Thinking it was a monster, I hid back under the clothes, hoping to jump out and scare the thing away or something.

"So I hear it getting closer, and wait till its only three feet in front of me, before jumping out, covered in makeup and whatever else was in there, to face three Aphrodite girls who'd come to look for their stuff.

"So they ended up dressing me up in a bunch of tight dresses and skirts or whatever before sending me out to be ashamed of what I'd done. I would've changed, but they somehow managed to take all my clothes and hide them in their cabin." He finished, turning back to look at her. It definitely wasn't the most embarrassing moment of his life, but it was the one he remembered the best.

"My turn. Do you know any other languages. Not including Greek, of course. Don't even try to give me that," He said, eager to hear her answer.