Just want some peace and quiet...

London walked in softly, making sure she didn't make any sudden loud noises to disrupt the creatures within the forest. She knew it wasn't wise to enter this area without a buddy, or excellent swordsmanship, but she just wanted some peace and quiet.

Everywhere she went there was just more more kids bustling around everyday. She just needed a small breather and just some time to solitude. She wasn't very sociable, and was fairly shy, so she didnt have much friends, but, her introverted self enjoyed that time alone to just think and reflect. She gracefully then climbed a great oak tree and took a comfortable rest on a sturdy branch, pulling out her sketch book to just doodle things that came to mind. London has been fairly uninspired lately, and her sketch book was just filling up with pointless drawings that just came off the top of her mind, with no thought our effort.

People were so... Confusing, weren't they? They always got upset with Noonian and he didn't understand why. Especially the younger kids. The ones who were hardly even fifteen and thought they were all that and a bag of chips. They were always getting frustrated with Noonian. They bullied him sometimes; they yelled at him and beat him up and broke his machines. Noonian didn't understand that, either. He was older than them. Shouldn't they have at least some respect for his seniority? He was eighteen, now. A legal adult. So why did he always feel so small and childish inside?

Sporting a bruised face and a broken nose (still bleeding) Noonian shuffled through the forest. ("It wouldn't be out walking, it's be out shuffling, because you can't walk. Now what would I want to go out shuffling for?") He clutched the broken remains of a small engine close to his chest, and leaned up against a tree. Feeling tears prickling the backs of his eyes, he slid down the tree and sniffled, staring at the little bits of broken gears and wires in his palm. He had liked that engine. His head pulsed rather painfully and he cringed.

Those Demeter boys had beat him up again. And that girl from Apollo.

"They only hit me because I'm different," he mumbled, running this fingers through his shaggy black hair. His big, blue eyes shone with unshed tears. Big boys don't cry. He brought the tips of his fingers to his split lip and cringed. ("Of course you've never been kissed. You're a funny looking crippled boy!")

Taking a deep breath, he set to work on repairing his machine. That's always how it went, wasn't it? They would break it and he would fix it, uncomplaining. Over and over and over.

As London was sketching, her mind in the clouds, she heard shuffling of feet. This of course didn't really startle her, well... maybe a bit, but when she saw no eminent danger she relaxed again, continuing her sketching. What through her off though, was the sound of somewhat labored breathes. A delicate eyebrow arched as she looked up from her sketch book. She didn't see anyone around her from first glance, but when she heard someone sit down and start to fumble with something, she realized that it was coming from below her.

London peered down and saw a head full of shaggy black hair. Hunch -- Male. She kept looking and saw him play with his machine, which looked to be broken. She suddenly noticed that he touched his lips, and blood covered his fingertips after he pulled them away. Her eyes widened. He was hurt.

She proceeded to hook her legs securely on the tree branch before falling back, hanging down. She got a good look at him and saw some nasty bruises, bleeding, and a broken nose that was already swelling. "Oh my gods!" she said after examining his condition. "Are you okay?!" she asked before flipping over, landing quietly on her feet before kneeling in front of him. "What happened??" she asked before pulling out a cloth, ambrosia, and nectar out of her backpack. London has been around enough injuries in her life to do basic first aid.

Noonian heard talking. He looked up and met the eyes of a girl his age. He was frightened; was she going to beat him up, too? No, she didn't look like she was going to hit him. Noonian sighed in relief and glanced back down at his little engine, trying to repair the broken parts.

The girl in front of him spoke again. Noonian glanced behind his shoulder, trying to find the person she was talking to. It couldn't have been him, after all. Nobody ever talked to him.

Noonian soon realized that she was, in fact, talking to him. His eyes widened, panicked, and he averted his gaze, choosing to focus on his machine. Perhaps if he didn't look at her, she would go away.

London sighed softly. "A stubborn one arent you" she said plopping down sitting in front of him. She got out a piece of ambrosia and held it in front of his little engine that he was so transfixed on. "you. eat." she said firmly, gently taking his hand and placing the cracker in his hand so he could heal better. After she placed the cracker in his hand she took a water bottle from her bag and dampened the cloth slightly before waiting for him to respond and react before she helped him clean up.

Seeing that he was scared and ignoring him on purpose, she gave a small sigh. "hey, who ever did this to you, Im not like them..." she said gently, giving a small smile. "well technically yes, we are all demigods, but thats not the point." she said correcting herself. "The point is. I won't hurt you, and I'm here to help." she said again, giving a small smile.

She hoped her gentle coaxing helped him to open up enough for her to help him with his injuries and his broken and swollen nose. She was hoping he would run away or continue to ignore her because she really truly wanted to help him. She understood his situation from what looks like bullying. She's encountered bullies of her own when she was growing up, and she know they could be out of hand sometimes.

He looked about the same age as her, but that didnt matter. She just wanted to help him now, and then they can talk and get to know each other later, if he wanted to.

Noonian looked rather concerned when a piece of ambrosia suddenly appeared in front of his machine. He stared at it for a long, long time, refusing to eat. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the pain in his nose convinced him to eat the ambrosia.

The girl was still there. That made him uncomfortable. He never did well around girls. Or boys. Or other people, for that matter. The cracker suddenly appeared in his hand and he looked rather mystified. He was rather hungery, so against his better judgement, he ate the cracker quickly.

Noonian still didn't trust the girl. But he didn't resist her attempts to clean him up. Hopefully, this way Luna wouldn't find out that he had been beaten up again. That always made her terribly angry at him. And sad.

London smiled softly when she saw him eat the cracker. She could empathize when she saw him hesitate, if a strange girl just showed up out of no where practically forcing her help, she would freak out and be skeptical too.

Slowly and gently to make sure she didnt touch his nose to hard, she took the damp cloth in her hand and gently began to clean him up slowly. She hoped the coolness of the cloth helped with the swelling. She sighed softly. "Why would someone do something to you?" she muttered softly as she examined his injuries up close. Seeing as how he ate the ambrosia, he should start healing within a few minutes.

She noticed the engine again. "What was it suppose to be?" she asked softly as she kept cleaning up his bloody nose, which was starting to crust up slightly.

Noonian snapped his head up, looking shocked, hurt, and slightly affronted. "I-I-it was supposed t-to be an e-engine!" He cried desperately. "H-her name was H-H-Hazel... I c-c-can't remem-m-mber why..." He trailed off for a second, sounding sad.

"B-but what d-do you c-c-care? You o-o-only want to b-b-break her!"

London chuckled softly. "Don't move your head so much" she said gently still patting the damp cloth on his nose. "I don't want to break hazel" she said simply "I was just curious of what you were working on" she said shrugging gently. "I wish I could make things with my hands, I can only draw things on paper really" she said smiling at him still cleaning up the blood gently. "Does your nose feel out of place? If it is we have to set it before the ambrosia heals it completely" she said softly. "What happened to hazel?" She asked gently

"They broke her," he whispered, mournfully. "Th-they always do th-that. They th-think it's f-f-funny,"

Noonian felt her fingers holding his head in place. It felt nice. He hadn't had friendly physical contact since the hospital a little over a year ago. Or maybe he did. He couldn't remember. Suddenly he felt her hands brush up against the scar on the side of his head. He lurched into a standing position, dropping Hazel's little bits and pieces on the floor. "Don't touch there!" He nearly screamed, panicked. "Y-you're g-going to make me worse! You're g-going to b-real me more i-if you do that!" He cried.

"who is they" London asked gently. "quite frankly, i dont think that is funny in any way, and if I ever see them do that again, I will stop them and make them apologize" she said smiling gently. He seemed to be a sweet and harmless guy, she didnt know why anyone would ever do this to him. It just wasnt right.

After attempting to brush some of his hair out of his face so she could clean some of the cuts, she jerked back, gasping softly from his sudden outburst. Her eyes where wide, and her hands froze. She didnt know what she did to make him react this way. "i-im sorry... i didnt know.." she said still in shock. She gently placed the cloth on her lap before leaning forward and gently picking up the pieces that belonged to hazel, being cautious so she didnt break or ruin something. Make him worse?? B-real him?? what did he mean??

"Th-that's why I'm l-like... L-like th-this!" He gestured to himself in frustration, unable to find the correct words to describe his extreme social awkwardness and mental and physical handicaps. "The c-car attacked me and th-they had to drill into m-my skull," he struggled to recall the hit-and-run that had robbed him of his mental faculties and his abilities to walk properly. "Th-they b-broke my b-brain," he stuttered, sounding sad.

"I-I didn't u-used to b-b-be like this," he whispered sounding sad and a little bit bitter.

London pulled a baggie out of her bag and put the pieces of hazel in there, sealing her up so pieces wouldnt get lost before she stood up gently. London's green eyes were filled with sorrow for this boy. "shhh..." she whispered gently "everything is going to be okay..." she said soothingly. "im sorry" she whispered referring to what had happened to him. "many have wronged you and you do not deserve to be wronged" she said before gently brushing his cheek, hoping to be more soothing than awkward. "do you wanna talk about it? or rant about something? or anything?" she asked gently hoping to make him feel better.

Noonian remained silent for a long time. He studied her face, trying to determine whether or not she was lying to him. After a long internal debate, he finally decided that she could be trusted. He opened his mouth to speak but froze up and promptly shut it again: people don't care about other people's problems. They don't care, not really. That was just how the world worked.

He studied her face again and finally decided to speak: "Wh-why are you d-doing this?"

London sighed softly after a long silent moment. Stubborn. But she understood why he didnt trust easily. "Because if it were me, I would want at least one person to help me, or to at least be with me so wouldnt be lonely." she said softly before sitting down gently against the giant trunk of the tree. She dug through her bag and pulled out a bottle of water and a small baggie full of cookies. She was feeling a bit hungry and thirsty and wondered if he would stay and just talk about whatever he needed to talk about.

London patted the spot next to her. "Want some? I can't finish all of these and it would be a waste for them to go dry." she said smiling gently. She pulled out a chocolate chip cookie and took a small bite of it, enjoying how it melted in her mouth. It was silent for a while after she sat down. "I know what it's like to be alone" she whispered gently. "People think I like to be alone all the time, but I dont really like to be alone all the time, even though I do give a lot of time to myself." She took a small sip of her water. "It get's lonely sometimes" she said gently shrugging softly. "And then all my pent up emotions and thoughts just bubble up until I explode and then I either come to the forest and lash out everything, or I cry it off." she said gently while staring at her cookie.

Noonian watched her intently as she spoke, trying to decipher what she was saying. He had learned, long ago, that people never ever said what they meant. They always hid their real intentions in layers and layers of tone and body language. Noonian was never able to decipher any of it.

This girl couldn't actually be helping him. Who would do that? He wasn't worth helping. So what was she really saying? Was she mocking him? Making fun of his emotional outburst? Yes, that must be it. She was no worse than the Apollo kids who had beat him up.

Noonian felt tears prickle the backs of his eyes. She had seemed so nice. He didn't want to talk to her anymore. He didn't want to talk at all, anymore. He curled up in a small ball, hugging his knees to his chest, and didn't say anything else.

London turned and looked at him, shocked to see him curled up. She must have said something that made him upset. She sighed softly and rested back against the tree and finished her cookie. Of course she had the water bottles, cookies, and the baggie that held Hazel on top of her bag between the two of them, so if he wanted anything he could have a go at it. After a long while she looked over at him.

She empathized, and if she found out all who teased him, she would show no mercy. It was rude, and disrespectful to do such a thing to someone as fragile and sweet as the boy. After a while, London gently reached out and gently patted his head, careful to avoid the scar that she accidentally touched before. She hoped it felt soothing and relaxing for him, and she hoped that this helped show that she really did not mean any harm. After a long moment of her patting his head gently with her legs curled up to her chest and her cheek resting on it, she decided to speak softly. "I'm London, daughter of Demeter, by the way" she whispered as she continued to pat his head and watch him softly.

Noonian flinched at the touch. He expected the patting to be harder, meant to hurt. Was she beating him? Was she going to beat him? In an attempt to defend himself, he curled up tighter. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he registered her name: London, daughter of Demeter. What a pretty name, he thought.

He was surprised to find that the patting did not get more violent. His shaking stilled but he didn't move a muscle.

London had her head resting on her knees as she continued to gently pat his hair, gently grazing is scalp with her fingertips. Even though his black hair was long and kinda scraggly, it was surprisingly soft. Her other hand pulled out her phone and she took a picture of him for reference for her sketch later.

She understood why he was naturally vulnerable and was naturally one to not trust. London smiled gently when she felt him relax into her touch, she was hoping he would slightly poke out to have some cookies and water. She hoped the nectar and the ambrosia worked properly and he wasn't in pain anymore. London glanced around and saw that the little clearing they were in was kinda gloomy. She smiled gently and closed her eyes and made a small sweeping motion with her hand. Out of the clearing came out a ton of bright flowers which held sweet scents. The flowers weren't too tall. She was sitting with her knees tucked and the flowers gently brushed up her ankles and stopped short.

OOC I don't know why I overlooked the fact that London is a Demeter kid. I mentioned in my first post that the boys who harass Noonian are also Demeter boys. (And an Apollo girl) I don't know how I over looked it.

BIC:
Muscles relaxing, Noonian slowly lifted his head and watched the flowers unfold. The flowers caused him great joy and great pain. The Demeter boys liked to harass him with flowers. They would hurt him with the thorny ones, or put them in his hair and humiliate him, but at the same time, flowers were always very beautiful. They held a special place in Noonian's heart: he could remember picking them with his mother when he was very small.

Some small voice in the back of his head made the logical conclusion that London must also be a Demeter child. Part of that knowledge distressed him. Part of that knowledge made him happy. It meant that not everybody was evil and mean.

Noonian's head poked up above his knees only a little bit. He stared at London for a moment, then back out at the flowers. "I'm Noonian," he said quietly, still staring out at the flowers.

ooc: lol nah its cool lol

bic: London smiled softly when she felt him relax further, but still refused to get out of his uncomfortable ball like position. "It's okay to relax and lay back. These flowers wont hurt you, they are completely harmless, and are thornless." She said smiling. "Thorns tend to be a mess and yucky, so i dont really like them." she said wrinkling her nose. London has also had bad experiences with thorns, but that was only because she was clumsy and fell into a lot of sharp things a lot while she was growing up.

London was happy that he was warming up to him. Again, she didnt feel like it was his fault for not being trusting to strangers, especially after what happened to him just a couple hours ago. She couldnt help but smile brightly when he shared his name. "Pleasure to meet your acquaintance Noonian." she said smiling while she continued to pat his head softly and comfortably. "I think we will make great friends in the future, that is if you want to be friends of course." she said softly in calm soothing words.

"Friends..." He repeated, softly and stared down at his hands. He looked confused for a moment. "No, we can't. I don't have friends," he paused for a minute, as though he were deep in thought about it. "Friends... Do you really think so?" He sounded almost hopeful.

London frowned at what he said. "You dont have friends?" she asked gently. "Why wouldnt they want to be friends with you??" she asked almost appalled. The nerve of some people! London gave a soft sigh. She then smiled gently and reassuringly at him and nodded. "Pinky promise" she said extending her pinky out to him, stoping the gentle strokes on his head. "Cross my heart" she said making a light "x" over her heart with her other hand. "Scouts honor" she said then holding up three fingers by her shoulder, with the same hand that made the "x". She wanted Noonian to be happy. He deserved to be happy and to be treated equally. Everyone does...

Noonian stared at her for a long, long time without saying a word. Why didn't he have friends? Now she was definitely mocking her. Shouldn't it be obvious? He wasn't exactly normal. Not with his head all screwed up. Ever since that crash he was all backwards and forwards. He could be a bit rude sometimes without even knowing it.

They made fun of him long before his head injury but the added stutter and social awkwardness only added to the equation. They made fun of him because he was different. Would London make fun of him too if she knew?

London gave a small reassuring smile. "hey..." she said softly. "everyone is different." she said shrugging. "That's what makes people unique, and original." she said gently. "could you imagine if we were aaaallll the same?!" she said with wide eyes, almost like a child. "that would be so weird..." she whispered. "but that's a bad weird..." she said reassuring him again. "I mean... I'm different from all of my siblings..." she said gently. "I'm more shy then the rest of them, and im soft spoken..." she said tucking her legs closer to her gently. "I'm not as sociable with others as my siblings are, and I'm not constantly in the sun and in the fields to grow food and or flowers." she said shrugging gently. "I'm kind of the odd ball out in my cabin you know?" she said shrugging gently. "But hey, guess what?" she said nudging him with her shoulder, on his shoulder, gently. "if im lucky enough, you'll be my first official friend here at camp." she said smiling brightly at him.