Romantic attempt( date number 1)

Of all the weird things he could do, dating was possibly the oddest one of them all. It was funny, he could talk to girls and all, but everytime he has gone out on a date, it has ended horribly wrong. The last time he ended up, unwantingly, on top of his date and was dropped on top of her. She even went to te hospital due to some minor bruising. He was really nerveous and it showed due to the bullets he was sweating. He had agreed to meet up with Kat, but he was now getting frustrated becouse his date was for now a no show. He didnt eat his nails becouse they were too short, but he mentally cursed at the whole prospect. Compared to battle, dating seemed so difficult.

While he was totally overwhelmed, he did clean up nicely. Right now he kept his ragged looks, but styled his hair a bit more and he shaved the miniscule beard he had. He also stopped wearig his dark jeans and coat in favor of a black blazer jacket, a pair of dark trousers and shiny leather shoes. He looked good, but he felt like he was melting at the stress. He groaned, ordered some water and slumped down in his frustration.

"God, warring is easy, dating is so complicated." Complained Brastus as he drank his glass of water and sighed, while still waiting for his lovely date. He ran his rough hands across his dark slicked back hair and huffed a bit, like a bull.

Kat Crystaline was dragging her feet. This wasn't going to go well, she could feel it her her bones. The whole "getting to know you" thing never went well for Kat, because her loud, abrasive personality typically made people want to run away. There were a few acceptions: Randi and Amber, namely. Not to mention getting to know other people often involved both parties being honest with each other- something which Kat had little to no intention of doing.

Kat wasn't exactly dressed up for her date- she saw no reason to, really. She had her hair pulled back in a fishtail braid, and she was wearing jeans, a loose blue-green shirt and a pair of converse. She shuffled into the building, looking none too keen about the situation. But, as usual, she put on a bright, happy mask and flounced over to sit with Brastus.

He lit up immediatly after seeing Lat walk in. He chuckled a bit at the whole situation and flashed his date a massive smile. Truth be told, he hated his clothes since it just limited him so much, it would had been much easier to discard his outfit and put on his usual black coat and jeans. He mentally sighed at how much be hated his hairstyle so much that he placed a hand through his dark hair, ruffled up his mess of hair and them shook hard like a dog so his hair fell down naturally.

"H-hey Kat. Sorry about the hair, but it was just constricting. I am never letting a son of aphrodite give me beauty tips." Said Brastus returning to his usual facial raggednes.

Kat's eyes flickered up and down his features and she shrugged. "Didn't notice," she said calmly. She sat down and glanced around the place. "Never been here before," she mumbled. The atmosphere was much too quiet for her taste. It made her skin itch.

"So..." She started awkwardly.

Brastus was more or less happy. He was certain she seemed a bit off though, like if she was unsatisfied. He tried to start a conversation when he had a brilliant idea. He removed his blazer, whoch revealed a dark almost black blue shirt that was a size too small and loosened a bit. He let put a fresh breath and relaxed his tensed muscles.

" Ok, so like, we don know each other that well dear, so how about a little game? We each ask each other five questions and we have to answer them, then after all the five questions have been answered, the one who asked the questions makes a , preferably humurous, story. Sounds good right?" Asked Brastus as he glared at a waiter to bring them a menu, by which almast immediatly happened. After the intimidated waiter came back with the menus, Brastus smoothened his somewhat villanous face and returned to his usual confident self.

Kat's eyes flickered nervously. This is what she was afraid of. But she didn't let it show. Instead, her lips curled upwards into a smirk. "Sure, why not," she said.

The way Brastus glared at the waiter, used fear to manipulate the poor man... Kat didn't like it. She narrowed her eyes, a dark look on her face, and stared at Brastus in a disapproving if not menacing way. It was a warning. But the look didn't stay for long - - almost as soon as it appeared, it disappeared, replaced by her usual light smile.

She glanced up and down the menu, look a bit apprehensive. She had never been to this restaurant before. "Anything you reccomend?" She asked civilly.

Brastus kept glaring at the man, but only for a second or two until he relaxed again. He never trusted waiters and the feeling was almost always mutual. He restraint his hatred of waiters and politely grabbed a menu as he scanned at the options. While they were in a Steakhouse, he couldn't decide whether to have a piece of meat, or a hearty salad. Since he was too hungry to actually care about his choices, he decided to consult it over with his date as he saw a meal that inclded two rib eyes, two sets of ribs, a bunch of cow organs, three skirt steaks and three side choices. The offer was tempting, but he wanted to talk it over. It wasnt really that he was tryingto save money, but it was a lot of food and it offered most types of cuts the restaurant offered.

" Well, I'm a bit hungry, so I am more inclined to choose a meat meal, but wr can either go for the Argentian Meat Grill, or we can enjoy the seven course meal offer. It really all goes down to rather if you want to share a meal with me or if you want to order seven smaller meals individually." Said Brastus clearly prefereing the meat fest over the individual meals.

OOC: the meat fest is a traditional thing Argentina, and unless your vegan or vegetarian, it is usually to die for XD. I actually ate this in real-life rather commonly.

Kat shrugged. She didn't really have any preference, this having been her first time at this place. "It's your choice, really," she smiled weakly. In all honesty, she was feeling a bit overwhelmed. "Although I think we should go with the Meat Grill," She said. Her smile got a little brighter, and she felt a little more confident. "Before we moved to America, my family used to take a vacation in Argentina for a whole month every year," Kat explained. She would admit that she found the familiar dish comforting.

OOC Sorry for the short post. It's like 5:30 in the morning here so I'm not at my best.

He smirked a bit, which he did so more than he would had enjoyed, and looked at vis date his almost dangerous vlue eyes and sighed slighly, with him placing a hand on his rough skinned cheek, and smiled brightly at her. He was really enjoying thr flow of time, and he eas beyond glad that she ha afreed to the meat dish, given his love of any beef-related meals, and truly becouse of her considerate ways.

"No kidding, huh, I've never visited Argentina, I've always wanted to go and visit the whole place, but I've been to Germany. Once I recall walking down the streets of Berlin and I recall waking up in a bench and a large red silly line painred to my face, while a heart tattoe was placed on my chest. Terrible expirience, iI dont even know what happened " Laughed Brastus as he beamed to her a smile and a light laugh.

Kat narrowed her eyes as he smirked; she was uncomfortable here. Out in the middle of New York... she felt so far away from the Ocean and she felt lost and completely out of her element. She felt strangely agitated.

Swallowing thickly, she attempted a smile. "No kidding?" She asked.

She was ubcomfortable, it was evident. So Brastus, without saying a single word, got up, walked down to her side, knelt down on one knee, and looked at her with his unusual eyes that seemed to flutter with rhe desire make her comfortable.

"Before eating, wanna teach me how to swim, it takes an hour for the dish to be prepared and I though maybe you might enjoy a light splash. So, I can just as the waiter to save our table and rhen call us or something." Said Brastus with his shaky and totally

"You know you're not supposed to go swimming an hour before eating," Kat said with a tiny smile. And then she frowned. "Or is it an hour after..." She looked up at Brastus and shrugged. "Never really been good with rules," She flicked her head in the direction of the chair. "Go sit back down. You don't have to worry about me. I'm just a little bit uncomfortable. I never did well with fancy places, either,"

"Besides, it'll take hours just to teach you how to swim, Meatloaf," Kat said, grinning playfully. "C'mon. Didn't you want to play one of them fancy get-to-know you games?"

Brastus frowned, and this was one of the weirdest things he could possibly ever do. He felt horrible because he couldn't make Kat feel less uncomfortable or make her experience any better, other than by talking and communicating with her. He looked down at the floor, sighed went back to his table, extended his date's chair outside so she could sit, if she wanted and waited for her response.

'I'm sorry for being an idiot. I didn't mean to make you upset or anything, I just wanted to see one of your beautiful true smiles. I know we literally met in less than a week, but I want to make you feel as comfortable and as happy as I can. I am a big idiot, and I am clumsy, but I just want to see you smile up and feel as un-uncomfortable as possible. I...I'm sorry for the speech again... God, I'm an idiot!" Said Brastus as he begun to lose his cool and showed off he was totally out of it. He facepalmed hard, as if trying to slap the idiot out of himself, and then stood up, while holding Kat's chair so she could sit down, with his blue eyes robbed of all sort of brightness. He still tried to smile at Kat, but after a second it disappeared into the past. For some strange reason, he was sadder than he should had been.

Kat took a stumbling step backwards. Her eyes flew open wide, lighting up with fear. The quiet, horrible, familiar voice in the back of her head screamed at her, reminding her that this was her fault. She was the cause of his pain. She couldn't smile for him. She didn't smile, not really. She was nothing more than a big ball of lies. The happy, bubbly person she appeared to be was nothing more than a mask. Nothing more than a big, fat, lie.

And she was terrified that he'd discovered her.

He shouldn't have fallen in love with her. Kat Crystaline wasn't the sort of person anybody should fall in love with. Nobody love me, and it's just as well! Nobody should! She was the sort of person who should be doomed to live her life completely alone. It was only fitting.

In a split second the fear was gone, replaced, once again, by a cheery mask. She glanced over at the seat, but didn't sit: her skin was itching to get out of there. "This isn't going to work," Kat said calmly, completely aware that she had probably just broken his heart (and oh how she hated herself for it. Sticking out her tongue, she rifled through her pocket and pulled out thirty-five dollars, which she threw carelessly on the table. "Here. It seeming only fitting that I should pay since I'm bailing. Hey, I'll catch you around," she said casually and began to make her way towards the exit.

He didn't know what it was, maybe it was instinct maybe it was just his nerves, but before Kat completely left the building, Brastus did two strong strides and went directly in front of her and had his back to the exit. He wouldn't let her go so easily, he just couldn't let go. He had a strong determined face, with a hint of uncertainty and a bit of madness, but he cleared his throat and tried to speak as clearly as he could.

" Look, I don't care if we just met, I love you. You're beautiful you're smart, you're funny, nice, sweet and thoughtful. I've never truly felt this way, normally by now I would either walk away from the date or just end up in bed, but I wont do that, at least not to you. I don't care if you don't love me, I will protect you and be their for you if you ever need me! I just want you to know that I love you, and all your crazy antics. I just wanted to see what was beneath your beautiful and try to be a good boyfriend if I could had. I know these words probably won't matter to you, but I truly love you and even if you tell me to leave you alone, I will be the first guy to be their if you ever fall, give up or god forbid get hurt. I want to be their for you and be just that guy that can make your life easier, happier and less-stressful. I don't care if you rip my heart out and crush it, I will still love you and I will always do. I don't mean I will turn to stalkerism and be a freak, but I will care for you and be your crutch if you ever need one. Just please, smile and be truthfully happy for the rest of your days. Just live life happily and don't ever think you were meant to be a freak of nature that is undeserving of love or of companionship. I might not be your soul mate, but I will protect you if you ever need protecting until that ideal guy appears, be it me or another. Well...that's pretty much it...Kat..." Confessed, said, and expressed the young man in black as his tense and strong shoulders rose up as he tried to catch his breath as he finished his speech.

He didn't know if Kat would be angry or not, but he just had to say what he said and get it out of his chest. His blue eyes were focused on hers all the time he spoke and he spoke with determination. He didn't exaggerate anything, while he sounded hyperbolic, he meant everything he said. He mentally said he was probably going to be branded as a stalker for confessing all he did though. Brastus still had his strong blue eyes fixated on her's but he felt his heart beating harder than it had ever beaten before.

Kat rubbed her nose absentmindedly. "I feel like now would be a good time to pull up your pants, take a step back, and walk away from the situation," She joked; perhaps she'd tell him that story later... If he wasn't trying to kill her out of hatred.

Kat glanced behind her and heaved a sigh. "You shouldn't do that," She said. She had a sad, sympathetic smile on her face. "Love me, I mean," She shook her head. "That's just... it's not a good idea," She lowered her head and her gaze became dark. "You don't know me," She said. "The real me, I mean. Nobody does. And, you see, you never will. Because if you knew who I was... you would've driven a sword through my stomach already,"

She lowered her head again and chuckled. "Brastus, if you take away nothing else, remember this: the monsters we fightsat Camp are nothing but animals. The only real monsters out there are people,"

She shook her head. "Be happy? No... I can't. I can't keep that promise. Not ever. There's no happiness left out there for me; no, none. And it's just as well: I don't deserve to be happy. Not ever. I'm doomed to rot alone. It's only fitting for what I've done..."

He had a stern, serious, and firm face. He was not going to give up on her just yet. He proudly stomped his feet to the ground and held his ground. Brastus knew he was incapable of actully killing anything, as ironic as it was. He was the son of the God of War, but he couldn't take a life. He softened his gruff voice to an almost begging tone and relaxed his eyes.

"Ok, a couple of things. First, it's pretty damm clear I, Carlos Leon Caesar, aka Brastus, am in love with ya. Two, only I will be judge and jury to your so-called darkness and wickedness. Three, If you think I can kill anything, you are sadly mistaken; I can't kill, yes I am aware of the irony. Four, I don't believe your past sins are to be weighted on a scale for your future to reveal to yourself. fifth, I only want to get to know you and see what lies underneath the masks and disguises. Seven, If you think I won't fight tooth and nail to see you smile in truth and see you be in joy, then my dear you are horribly wrong. Eight, I can care less of what you did in the past, I only care about you, your happiness and your future. Ninth, I doubt you can
have a worse past than me, an orphan who had to strive and struggle just to live by each day, and tenth, um, I don't have anything to really add, more than I am crazy about you and you mean the world to me! Im sorry for being in love, but thats how it is!" Finished Brastus as he noticed a crowd of people started to gather around them and even begun to say their "awws and ohs". Brastus could had barked at them to leave them alone, but he was too concentrated on Kat, so he just kept his piercing blue eyes looking at hers.

Kat shook her head, growing frustrated. No, no, no! It doesn't work like that. She couldn't just open up like that. He didn't understand. he never would!

Looking up, she paled greatly to see the crowd that had gathered around them. She felt trapped. She felt... It reminded her of... Of Brazil when... Key felt so panicky. It took every ounce of strength she had to remain in control of her emotions.

"Stop it, just stop it!" Kat cried, loosing control. She quickly composed herself and grinned. "I'm afraid that I can't return your affections. I don't do love anymore,"

She was close to speak to him finally, he could see it, but at he expense of her presence forever, it was too great to keep up pressing forward. Yet, he ignored his logic and allowed his heart to control him again. He needed to dig just a bit more and he could finally see the real her. He grunted loudly and told the people to give them some privacy. Then, after the people dispatched and dispersed, Brastus closed the spece between Kat and himself, knelt down on one knee and tried to once again look as inviting as he could.

"I  understand you better than anybody will.  Kat, my mother hated me, my father Ares, abandoneded me, My stepfather in Italy hought i was a freak and I truly thought I was a monster. However, that all changed when I spoke up. It's hard and It's very difficult, but I will not think anything else other than just how strong and brave you are to tell me your story. I know I'm not mister-top-of-the-line-boyfriend, but I truly want to see you smile and be happy, be it with me or not. I won't judge, hell I never judge anybody by their past alone. The past is passed, so I really see no point in keeping it locked up like that. I am nkt disregarding your past though I just want to see you grow out of that dark abyss and spread your wings and take off. Thats all Kat." Said Brastus who ran his fingers across her beautiful hair with his hard and dry hands.

"No, actually, you don't! You don't understand me at all!" She yelled but quickly cut herself off. "So, good for you Brastus. You want a sticker? You want a prize? Sure! You win. You win the My-Parents-Never-Loved-Me Award. You think I'm a victim?" Her voice grew icy. "I'm a murderer, Brastus. I killed people. Dozens and dozens of people because I thought they deserved it. Because I thought I was God."

"Is that really the kind of person you want to fall in love with? A serial killer? You really want to see me smile? I should be in jail for what I did! They had families, Brastus. Husbands and wives and kids. You say the past is the past? Try telling that to the kids who grew up without parents! To the husbands and the wives who never got closure!" Kat closed her eyes, her shoulders sagging a little bit. There was so much guilt and remorse , it was agonizing. "I made my choice. Now I gotta pay he price for it,"

Brastus grabbed her arm and hid her so nobody would hear what he would have to say. He didn't want others to hear what he wanted to say so they would gather around her and bother her again. He looked at her lovely eyes with his strong ones and planted a short, chaste kiss on her lips for a second. It was more like a peck and not even a kiss, but he smiled at her after he did the action.

"Sorry for dragging you out, I just don't want a crowd to make you feel uncomfortable again. Listen, if that's the worst you've done it's fine by me. Hell, my dad is the fu#king god of war, just because I can't kill doesn't mean I am against killing. I'm pretty sure you regret what you did and I think it's obvious you wouldn't do it ever again so listen up. I'm already in love with you, regardless of your past or not. I want to have a future with you and be able to bring you happiness. I really don't mind you killing people because I feel that you have deep regret and guilt for it, hence you show me that you are a true human being who is not fond of violence and death. Now, don't go off with your I'm-a-monster crap because we both know you aren't a real monster takes pleasure in what happened and you just did something wrong. Something very wrong but still something that you regret. I may not know much in the world, but if one truly is sorry for one's sins I think they are truly forgiven. I may not know the whole story, but I really don't want to cause you further pain by making you remember that awful moment in your life. I just want you to know that I will support you and I will be their for you if ya need me okay sweetheart." Clarified Brastus who just smiled at her and held her hand in an almost tend and warm way. He seemed to radiate warmth, but that may be because of his warm blood, or maybe it was because he was truly trying his hardest to be their for the woman he had developed feelings for.

Kat took a step back, confused at his actions, confused at her own emotions. Yes, she'd kissed and been kissed before, but this was somehow different. It was innocent, almost.

If that's the worst you've done, it's fine by me. She wanted to scream at him for his ignorance, for downplaying her crimes and guilts and sufferings. She wanted to scream because he didn't understand; he would never understand. And part of her didn't want him to understand. Part of her didn't want to burden him with the understandings of what she had gone through. ...Doesn't mean I'm against killing. Kat shook her head. No, no, no! This is all wrong! He wasn't supposed to do this! He wasn't supposed to act like this! He was supposed to hate her. He was supposed to see her, finally, for the monster that she was, and abandon her. He wasn't supposed to... forgive her.

And yet, she longed for forgiveness. She wanted to be forgiven so badly, it made her heart ache. He had forgiven her. And no, he didn't understand, but he had forgiven her. Already, it felt as though a crushing pressure had been lifted off of her spine. But at the same time... Her face was blank, but her eyes screamed "confusion". She searches his features for any sign of malice, deceit; any sign of an ulterior motive. Who could ever love you? The Little Voice in the back of her head screamed. But as she searched his eyes, she found nothing. No evil, no darkness, just love. Kat was confused. She didn't understand why on earth he loved her.

She squeezed his hand for a second, desperate for reassurance. But in all of her confusion, she was sure of one thing: she didn't want to give it up, his love. Something fluttered in her chest. It made her feel light.

Shaking her head, she smiled. She took his hands and lead him back to their table, pretending as though the whole thing never happened. "C'mon. Our food should be here, soon,"

Brastus stopped with a crash of his heels as they begun to walk inside the restaurant. He had to make sure of one thing before they ate. He probably would not like to hear the answer but he needed to know the truth. He grasped her soft hand again, gave her a kiss on the cheek for a second and then looked at her with his piercing blue eyes. He could detect if she was lying or not by looking at someone directly into their eyes. Something he learned while living in Italy. With reassurance in his touch and with unusual softness and weakness in his voice, he begun:

"How...do you feel about me? You confess to me, you let me give you kisses, but you refuse to drop the act and keep going on with your masks and lies. I don't care half-sh!t about the food right now. I just want the truth and the honest truth. I have been completely honest with you the whole time, but you have lied and hidden to me the truth. I am not going to give up on my feelings for you, but I need to know this Kat. How do you feel about me?" Asked Brastus scanning her bright yet slightly somber eyes with his penetrating blue orbs.

Kat took a step back. Her eyes displayed hurt; confusion. "I told you the truth! Nothing but the truth!" She cried, referring to her terrible sin. She could feel the nasty prick of tears welling up in her eyes and she wasn't sure why. She quickly looked away: she couldn't bare to see the hurt in his eyes. It pained her greatly to know that she had wronged somebody else. You hurt everybody around you! Kat shook her head violently. No! No, please... not here! Not now...

"I-I don't know... I don't know! I only just met you this morning! I-I can't... I can't!" She was struggling within herself: She liked him, she liked him a lot, but she'd been pushing people away and running all her life. "Everybody leaves in the end... they always leave..." Her voice was hardly even a whisper. She didn't want to let him in. She didn't want to risk hurting herself anymore. "I don't know!" She cried again, but her voice betrayed her true feelings: She liked him. More than she should. But she had to protect herself, she had to shut him out.

Shaking her head again, she smiled brightly, pretending as though the whole thing had never happened. "So am I still teaching you how to swim, Meatloaf?" She asked, her eyes filled with mischief.

He notched an eyebrow, which was one of the more curious things Brastus did whenever he found something odd, confusing or way out of place. He found it odd that she said, well more like whispered, that everybody left in the end. Brastus sighed, grasped her hand tightly, but not too tight since he didn't want to hurt her, looked into her eyes and opened his lips again.

"Kat...I think you haven't been hearing anything I said. I said I want to make it my life's goal to make you happy and joyful. If you dare think that I will leave you then I am sorry but your crazier than me, and I'm a guy that's crazy in love with a former killer. I love you Kat, more than I should for just having met you, but I am honestly and completely in love with you. I promise and I make this oath, I, Brastus, AKA Carlos Leon Caesar, promise that as long as I live I will be that back that will help you carry the burdens of your past, I promise to have both shoulders ready if you ever need one to cry on, I promise to be your companion forever, be it as your friend, your lover or even your husband if you want. I make it my mission to make you the happiest woman alive and I will fight not for my sake, but for yours. I will never use your past against you and I will always be your shield and sword if you ever need one. I will be the man that will hold you dear in his heart for as long as I live, just as long as you promise to try to live as happy and as fully as you can. That's all kat...oh and I need to say this, you gotta teach me how to swim so I can be your swimming buddy in the future...sweetheart." Finished Brastus by pressing his forehead to her's like swans do and with a simple gaze of his blue eyes.