Foreign Friends [me and momma morgan]

Emily was nervous, no scratch that, she was ecstatic to get to see Laure. the daughter of Aphrodite had managed to sneak away for the day to get to spend time with the roman. As she approached the tunnel she noticed that there were two guards on either side and she assumed it was just for show but as she approached she was disproven. "Halt. No greeks allowed beyond this point." One of them said as they both approached the Aphrodite and stopped her before she could even reach the shade of the tunnel. I think there must be a mistake. I'm meeting someone here who attends camp Jupiter. you have to let me through, she's expecting me. The Aphrodite explained as she fixed her headband and belly ring. There was no way she was going to miss this day for the world. Can you just go get her or let her know I'm here? Her name's Laure. She asked as one of the guards walked off and the other glared at Emily as she tapped one booted foot and pulled her phone out of her bag and texted Laure, telling her she was here and that there were two unattractive and annoying guards who wouldn't let her into camp and one was coming to get her.

http://www.polyvore.com/untitled_162/set?id=165195610

Laure arrived several minutes later, her braid all messy from her running. "What is this, why didn't you let her in?" she asked with frown.

"This is not a visiting weekend," the other guard told her.

"So? Reyna specifically said Greeks are to be welcomed, or do you want to start a war again? Come in, Emily," she said and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, going inside the Caldecott tunnel. "You have to excuse them, they're still very mistrustful," she told her as soon as the door had closed behind them. Her Latin lesson had finished ten minutes earlier and she had spent the time laying in a hammock outside her barrack with other girls, texting and gossiping. She was wearing a creme chiffon top and a pastel pink skirt with a bowtie on the hip, bracelets glittering around her wrists.

"Did you have a pleasant trip at least?" she asked as they walked through the tunnel, their heels sending echoes around. She had met the daughter of Aphrodite only twice but they had buddied up even despite Laure's initial held back attitude. Emily was nothing but a big sweetheart and real fashionista as well! They just had to get along.

Emily smirked as she walked past the boys and into camp Jupiter with Laure by her side. It's alright, plenty of the campers at CHB are exactly the same way. And the trip was smooth as ever, I quit enjoyed driving my new cherry red mustang dad got me. The girl admitted as she spun her car keys around one finger and walked through the tunnel of camp. As the two walked on Emily began to fiddle with the crescent moon necklace Lena had given her for holiday this year. Em had been lucky enough to have been invited by both the Duchannes children to the annual ball they held and was made a friend of the house. It was a privilege amongst the higher class, which she knew all to much about, and was honored to be a friend to the name of Duchannes.

Laure smirked -- she maybe wasn't as rich as Emily, but she was wealthy. Her father owned a range of fashion and accessories stores across Southern France and his soon-to-be wife worked for a designer perfume brand. Not to mention, her father liked to spoil her a little…

Chatting and talking, they made their way to the camp. Soon the subject drifted to celebrities and Laure started talking about the K-pop groups she liked, and how gorgeous they were -- especially Jungkook from BTS and Baekhyun from EXO, her two main celebrity crushes. "Ah, I just want a Korean boyfriend! Why are they so hard to find?" She giggled.

Emily laughed a little to herself. I have a very different taste from you my dear. I would prefer a scene girl or a shy girl over anything. Boys aren't cute. Emily admitted openly to Laure. It wasn't too odd for her to admit to being homosexual towards Laure because they were super good friends in all honesty. Emily watched everything they passed on their walk and was oddly surprised to see that there wasn't anything really similar to her camp. It was all fighting all the time and to Em that was fun for a while but would get boring rather quick.

"Oh, K-pop has girls too and they're even better-looking," Laure assured her. "You should check out SNSD or Red Velvet."

Oh, so Em was lesbian? Interesting! That must've broken a lot of male hearts out there. Laure liked girls too, but not exclusively. And when it came to girls, there was only one she really liked.

Striding through the military camp, Laure led Emily to her barrack. "Quite different from you guys' cabins, huh," she smiled. "I'd be quite curious to see what an Aurora cabin would look like, but I'm just fine in here." The inside was, well, barrack-like: identical bunk beds with the same purple linens, weapons on the walls, a banner of the Legion, the insignia of the Second Cohort right underneath... To the Roman demigod, it was just perfect.

Emily made a mental note about the Kpop bands that Laure had mentioned but was probably not going to listen to them in all honesty. Upon arriving at the barracks Emily grinned as she looked around the room. It was the coolest place she had been in in a while and wanted to live here for a while and train harder than she could at Halfblood.This is the coolest thing ever. And the cabins are overrated. My siblings constantly bicker about colors and styles its annoying. The Aphrodite admitted as she looked at the weapons on the walls. They had everything from chain whips with blades to a bastard sword that was taller than even her. HOW DOES SOMEONE LIFT THAT?! She mentally shouted as she looked at it. She may have been a daughter of the goddess of love but she swore she had some Ares in her somewhere.

"Oh there's some bickering here too but when we fight we're as united as ever. Legionnaires rarely backstab each other," Laure said, going over to her bunk bed and grabbing her purse. Her bed frame was covered in band posters and pictures of her family and friends, with a little string of lights going around it.

"Do you wanna stay here or should we go to New Rome?" She asked, putting on her designer sunglasses.

Ten for Ten on the sunglasses. I don't care where we go, it's just exciting to be here at Jupiter. Emily admitted as she played with her naval piercing and smiled at Laure. It was nice to get away from camp, and even better that she got to spend time with someone who was part of the upper class in a way.

"Let's go to New Rome then," she said and pulled her sunglasses down her nose to wink at her. "It's classier there anyway." Chirping a laugh, she left her gladius and pugio on her bed and walked out into the Californian sunlight, breathing deeply. Nothing was better than free time in the afternoon!

Exchanging the latest gossip, Laure and Em walked through the gates and down the Via Praetoria, New Rome glimmering in front of them. Laure couldn't wait to be done with her service in the Legion to move into a villa there.

Emily nodded and got up to follow Laure. It was going to be an interesting trip to New Rome and an even better opportunity to get to meet and see the Romans and see how different their lives were from her life at Halfblood. She had never heard of New Rome and was curious as to what it was that New Rome was exactly.

They were about to cross the pomerium when a statue popped out of nowhere, looking quite grumpy. "That's Terminus," Laure told Em. "He protects the city."

"Come on, I don't have all day," he grumbled. "Show me your bags." Laure opened her purse and Terminus squinted inside with suspicion. "That perfume flask, it's too big for the standards. Take it out. Julia!"

"Oh, snap, forgot I had that." Laure said as a little girl with pigtails hurried along, carrying a large tray. After spraying a little bit of the perfume on her neck and wrists, Laure put the elegant flask down on the tray next to a dagger and a pair of nail scissors.

"Right, right, go in legionnaire. Who's next? Ah, a Graeca. Stand straight miss, stretch out your arms. Anything you want to declare?"

Emily did as she was told but decided a little bit of rich flare was required. That I have over a thousand dollars in my bag and on my person so if you touch it I'll sue your arse. She said with a smirk but complying with all the ridiculous poses she had to make in order to get cleared to go to New Rome. None of her weapons were on her and the only things in her purse were her wallet, phone, ID, work badge and a small pouch full of Drachma in case she needed to buy anything. This whole process seemed a bit much but she knew better than to question it after all, this was nothing like camp and she needed to make sure she was allowed back in after today.

Terminus' eyes glowed dangerously. "If you want to go into my city, you'll show a bit of respect. Turn out your pockets." Obviously annoyed at Em's cheekiness, the statue did every possible security procedure he could think of before narrowing his eyes dubiously. "Right, you're clean. Go in. Please don't destroy anything, I had the hardest time cleaning up after some of your lot last visited."

"Bye bye Terminus!" Laure said with forced enthusiasm and hooked her arm with Emily's. "Oh dear, you shouldn't have said that, he's a god you know," she whispered as Terminus shouted after them to de-crease their clothes and cut the grass exactly two inches off the ground. "He's a bit OCD."

Emily waved goodbye and shrugged.Didn't know, therefore lesson learned. She said calmly as she ignored his words that followed them leaving. She had had her fun an now she was going to go back to being as respectful as she normally was towards others. Walking with Laure the demigoddess couldn't keep her eyes still, there was so much to take in and see.I wish all us demigods could have two parties a year; one at my dance hall and one at your New Rome. Think of it! Everyone getting together for a night to remember. We could do one in the spring and one in the winter, giving each other plenty of time to plan and prep for the next one.

"That sounds really cool!" Laure agreed. "It would draw people closer together than just attending this or that party. Oh look, here we are," she said as they entered the city. They were greeted by gleaming white roads leading to the forum, shops and restaurants lining the streets. It was rather busy today, and Laure had to make sure she didn't accidentally lose Em.

Emily was in awe as she looked around New Rome. It was truly something to behold and somehow she didn't know how to express it in words. She shrieked a little with joy and rushed up to all the restaurant and store windows. She had money to burn and with all the cool stuff here in New Rome there was bound to be at least one thing she was going to get if not more. What kinds of stores do they have here? Emily asked, looking around to find Laure in the wave of others.

"All sorts," Laure giggled. "Clothing, accessories, all kinds of food, anything you need. They even have a couple souvenir shops for the veterans who come here as tourists," she added. The girl whirled around, checking her purse for denarii. "I'm starving. Fancy a drink? I know a great coffee shop."

Of course! Emily said peeling herself away from the window of the store that sold probably the cutest bracelets she had seen ever. Do they sell weapons as well? I want to try out another weapon and what better place than in New Rome right? She laughed at herself slightly. There were few things Emily liked that weren't stereotypical for children of Aphrodite and fighting was one of those things. There was just something satisfying. Don't get her wrong, she loved fashion as well as her Katana but she felt like she needed a ranged weapon for if she decided to take one a quest later.

"Darling this is New Rome. No weapons inside the pomerium," Laure explained. "That's why Terminus searched us on our way in." Hooking her arm with hers again she led her through a maze of gorgeous little colonnades blooming with honeysuckle and fuchsia. "If you want a weapon we can go to the Via Principalis on our way back, they have bunches of weapon stores."

I would love that! Emily said with a small bounce in her step now as she walked. Looking at the fuchsia in some stores as well as honeysuckle she wondered if honeysuckle was edible and decided why not try to ask. Can you eat that? She asked pointing to the honeysuckle at one of the stores.

"Why do you want to eat the flowers?" Laure giggled. "Oh look, here we are." She pushed the door of a friendly looking shop, the front door flanked by gleaming columns. Inside they were greeted by the aromas of coffee and fresh muffins; the bartender seemed buried in orders but still managed to welcome them with a smile. "What are you getting?" Laure asked, queuing up.

Emily felt her cheek redden at the mention of eating flowers, she knew some were edible and was just curious to know if these were as well. As the two walked into a coffee shop Emily scanned the menu and was faced with a difficult choice; did she want a Caramel Frapuccino or a Triple Chocolate Chip Frapee. It was a tough choice but in the end she went with the first of the two, seeing as she wanted as much sugar as she could get so she avoided any crashes while with Laure.I think a caramel Frappe. They're full of sugar anyways. And maybe a chocolate muffin if i really feel like it. she said searching her bag for some money to pay Laure back in the end. Do you guys use Drachma or can i just pay you back in cash? She said yet again embarrassed that she didn't have any money of her own to pay.

"It's denarii here, but they sometimes accept dollars," Laure explained, taking a couple of gleaming coins from her wallet to pay for her order. She had taken a latte with cream and caramel on top, as well as a croissant -- the ones here were (almost) better than those in France.
They found a nice little place on the balcony, overlooking the garden, and sat down to enjoy their drinks. It was a nice and sunny afternoon, the warmth seeping through the canopy of leaves. Children were laughing somewhere. The city was stretching its marble and domes all around them.
Laure took her sunglasses off and sipped her coffee; creamy, a little sweet, it was delicious.

"So, Em," she smirked a little as she set her cup down. "Any cute girls yet or do you like someone back home?"

Emily made a note to herself to try and get some denarii before her next visit, and there would be another. Grabbing her things she followed Laure to a beautiful balcony, sitting and sipping her drink as she eyed the muffin. After coffee. She declared mentally. At the notion of a girl of her own the demigoddess grew a little sad. There aren't really any girls who are single who are either bi or lesbian. Even then they don't typically date an Aphrodite because of the rep my siblings have given us. Flirts and basic hoes. She said sipping her drink again. Yes it was depressing to think about but it couldn't be avoided. I know of one other who is single but she and I had a bit of an awkward moment and I kinda screwed things up again. You know how hopeless I am with other girls. It was both true and funny. A daughter of the love goddess was a hopeless romantic.