starbucks isn't real coffee

Emory waited at the hill, leaning against a tree almost sleepily. He had woken up an hour before the time he and Alex had promised to meet up and after having getting ready faster than he expected he just waited at the hill since 3. It was a nice feeling and he was thankful that some other campers were nearby and the knowing that his friend was coming soon calmed his nerves to the fact that he was nearly alone. He distracted his fleeting thoughts by occupying his hands with weaving threads of grass in a twisted mess and picking at his lip.

He had sorta dressed up if you could say that. He was torn between wearing a white button up or a comfortable band tee and a jacket. He had chosen the latter to be pared with dark jeans. Hey, comfort was his go to.

Emory tilted his head up so that he was staring at the expanse of the tree top. He followed as the branches spread out but yet still close together like river water flowing around rocks. Wow that metaphor sounded even worse in his head than he expected it too. Good job, Em.

I had decided to go get myself washed up before my meet with the son of Eris, Emory. In all honesty, I couldn't wait for our date. Wait was it a date? It hadn't really been clear whether this was a friendly thing or a something more intimate. Crap, I'm late! I said to myself as I rushed toward the hill. I was wearing a pair of khaki pants, a short sleeve light green shirt, and a pair of dark green Sperry's. Hopefully he wasn't too over dress for this outing with Emory.

Speaking of Emory, there he is by a tree. "Hey! Sorry I'm late!" I exclaimed, jogging a bit toward him. "I had somethings to take care of." I laughed a bit, rubbing the back of my neck nervously.

Emory's ears perked up at the sound of a familiar voice and instead of jumping, a small smile took place on his face. He looked away from the tree, feeling a little dizzy after staring up for a while, to look at Alex. Woah he looked nice. Emory felt 100 times more self conscious just from Alex's appearance. He stood up, using the base of the tree for a small support. The son of Eris gave the other a reassuring smile at the apology. "Don't worry about it. I got here earlier than I thought anyway."

He leaned against the tree he had sat in front of and peered at Alex through a small bit of his hair. He pushed it back a bit just so it wouldn't get in his eyes, wincing when he accidentally poked himself in the eye. He was so smooth. Emory rubbed his eye with the side of his finger before asking, "S-So uh taxi, bus, hitchhike, or walk?" Walking would take a long while actually. The camp was pretty secluded from the rest of civilization. Or at least as close as you could get to seclusion in New York.

I chuckled some, refraining from hugging Emory. I knew that he wasn't really a touchy feely type of guy. "Eager I'm assuming." I liked teasing Emory, always looking to see how he would react. He seemed so introverted, always keeping to himself. "We can catch a taxi. I have enough money saved up." I gave him a warm smile before reaching out and tugging at the ends of his shirt.

"Shall we?" I asked in an old English accent as I flagged down a taxi. It only took about five minutes before one decided to stop for us. Now, to me, dating guys were a bit harder than dating girls. With guys, you didn't know if you would un-masculate them if you decided to open the door for or pull out their chairs for them. Girls were different in the fact that most of them enjoyed such chivalry. So just to be save, I opened the door that was closer to us and crawled in to the other side. Therefore Emory could just following me inside an shut the door behind him. Perfect!

After buckling my seat belt, I turned to look at the son of Eris. "So where is this coffee place you talked about?"

Emory allowed himself to open up and smile at Alex's teasing. He even rolled his eyes a bit. He looked down to where Alex tugged down at his shirt and he allowed himself to be pulled off to wherever the other boy wanted. The son of Eris' thoughts wondered off to the coffeeshop they were going to go to. He was excited to go back since he hadn't been back for a long while. He knew he could only go there periodically though or else some monsters would smell him there and wreck havoc in the shop. He shuddered, thinking what two demigods in the same place would mean. It was too late to back out now. Besides, he knew Alex could protect himself and the both of them if it came down to it.

Emory, on the other hand, always chose flight instead of fight, for the most time.

He didn't realize that a taxi was there until Alex was already sitting on the other side inside of the car. Emory blushed for his distracted thoughts and hurriedly climbed inside the taxi, shutting the door behind him. "Oh it's uh . . . I don't remember the street name exactly but I know how to get to it. It's um across the street from the entrance of Central Park. It's really small but it's nice. It reminds me of home." He regretted those last five words because his home had brought back bad memories. In a way the coffeeshop was an old home of his too.

I waited for Emory to get into the taxi for me to scoot a little toward the center of the backseat. I had to keep reminding myself of the boundaries with him. Yeah I found him attractive in a quiet, boy shy type of way, but I knew that I couldn't come right out and say that. I had to let Aphrodite or Eros to work their..magic? Yeah I guess that was the word for it. A thought came to mind that caused to me give myself a facepalm.

"Crap! I could've grown the coffee beans..." I grumbled, hoping not to spook the son of Strife. "Eh, sorry for the out burst, Emory."

Turning toward him, I listened while he told the taxi driver where the coffee shop was. "Home? That's cute." Cute? Was that the word for it? Maybe 'nice' or 'cool'? Eh.

"It's okay," He replied as he fiddled with his thumbs. Emory looked down and then looked outside the window, leaning his head back. Cute? His eyebrows furrowed at that. He wouldn't really say it was cute but it wasn't like Alex knew anything about it. Cute would be a good word to describe his childhood he guessed but that's where it stopped. "Suppose so." He shrugged.

"S-So where's home for you?" Emory asked, turning his head to meet the other's eyes. "Or where'd you grow up?"

I smiled a bit at Emory before answering him. "Well, the last place I've lived before coming to Camp Half-Blood was Raleigh, North Carolina." Raleigh was a very busy city with lot to do and occupy one's time with. I could feel my heart quicken when his eyes met mine. I almost wanted to reach across the seat and kiss him right then and there, but I decided not it. He already seemed nervous; no need to bring him over the edge.

"Oh that's cool," Emory commented simply. He mentally winced at how nonchalant that sounded. He wasn't the best at small talk but that much was obvious. He offered the other a sheepish smile, "So how'd you get to Camp?"

It was confirmed. Small talk was his worst enemy. 'How'd you get to Camp?' Really Em, really? Some people didn't like talking about how they got to camp because sometimes Emory, sometimes, they bring back bad memories. Gods he truly was an idiot. Like would he want to talk to someone he vaguely knows about how some freaky monster ladies dragged him into the woods and used him as a punching bag and scratching post? Well he probably would if they asked but still.

I nodded my head and crossed my arms over my chest, staring down at my shorts. I was hoping that on our "date" there wouldn't be any type of awkward silence. When he asked me the question, a small smile grew across my face, turning my head to face him. "Uh, well My friend and I traveled from North Carolina to New York by car. It was kind of fun minus the fact that we had a couple of close calls." I smirked the last part, resting one of my hands on the seat between the two of us. I watched as the building and people on the streets went passed the taxi as we drove deeper into the city.

"What about you? Was it a safe trip?" I asked, smiling at the son of Eris.

Emory smiled at Alex’s words. A road trip sounded fun to do, the son of Eris wondered if one day he might go one with someone too. He glanced at the hand placed between them and looked back out the window. They were driving further into the city and Emory could recognize familiar buildings around them. They were close. He leaned towards the driver but just barely, “Next block please.”

The driver nodded and Emory leaned back into his seat, turning his eyes on Alex. He rubbed his fingers together and scratched the back of his neck. “N-Not exactly.” He answered with a twitch of a smile. “Some monster ladies took me from the coffeeshop and r-roughed me up in the woods before a s-satyr found me.”