fireworks beach

@Jung Eunji [G] "No," Hongki responded slowly. "Not really." He rolled the small, red ball through his palm, not knowing what to say. He sat silently, before deciding to draw things in the sand. He got up, dusted himself off and grabbed a stick before returning to his original spot. "Are you tired?" He said softly, noticing her yawns and drooping eyelids.

He sat down and mindlessly traced patterns. Sighing, he erased the patterns, returning his sandy canvas to smooth perfection once more. Faces popped up in his head- most of them painfully blurry until it settled upon his mother. He traced the contours of her face, outlined the silkiness of her hair and sat back. He looked over, waiting for a response.

@Hwang Miyoung [R] [[/claps]]

@Lee Hongki [R] Eunji nodded understandingly and stared at the red ball momentarily. It seemed so simple and plain, yet it had a useful benefit. She found it interesting, really. It felt rather peculiar to think about how a small red ball is an interesting subject, but she had a special mindset as she liked to say. "Mhmm, I see." she mused, laying back on the sand, her eyes staring at the star-filled sky.

A yawn escaped , her sleepiness slowly becoming more noticeable. She rubbed her eyes softly, before fighting the drowsiness threatening to overcome her. She was used to staying up. Sensing the quiet atmosphere, she sighed. "By how you act, it seems like you're not really close to anyone, huh?" she commented, hoping she didn't sound rude enough to offend the boy.

@Jung Eunji [G] Hongki blinked at her. "Oh, this?" He responded, catching the small red ball. "I need something to occupy myself with or I feel uncomfortable. My brother gave it to me shortly after I had arrived." He turned away, cracking his neck. He had no idea what to do. Usually, he wouldn't have this problem- all he had to do was give out the signature Hades glare and everyone would had shifted away.

He was too tired to do that anymore. He had given out plenty of glares that day, even annoying a girl at the library. The thought of her attitude made his temper rise and his hand twitched, heading towards his necklace. He blew out some air, blowing his dark red bangs everywhere. Slipping the ball back into his pocket and combing his bangs back with his hands, he leaned back and looked at her from the corners of his eyes.

@Lee Hongki [R] Eunji blinked mindlessly, knowing that he seemed like the person to be brief and curt. She was going past the need to get more information, getting used to the limited responses. "Ah...me?" she nodded her head slowly, looking around. "I like coming here." she gave a mere shrug. "It's relaxing here." The minutes were passing by and at regular schedule, she would be making her way back to her cabin. However, she decided it wouldn't hurt to stay a little while longer.

Her eyes followed the dropped pendant, glancing at him before shifting the attention back to the calm and mellow ocean. A curosity sparked as a red ball made its appearance. "What's that for?" she asked, nodding her head towards the object that was occupying him. She didn't mean to be snooty; it was a simple question to ask.

@Cho Kyuhyun [G] Sungmin's lips curve into a smile full of happiness once Kyuhyun had parted away, for one, that was his first kiss, and for two, he just nailed Juliet's part of the play he'd always dreamed of being in. He could feel his face burning up, yet it didn't make himself feel uncomfortable at all. "Wanna know something, hyung?" Sungmin said after a short period of satisfying silence. He sits down on the sandy floor once again, making himself comfy as he holds onto the warn hand tighter. "Since I was a little kid, not that I'm not a kid anymore, but younger than now, I used to join every single play at my school and I would get really excited when there's a Romeo and Juliet directed play." The blonde shifts in his spot, feeling the excitement rise and fall in his stomach. Butterflies were let out of their cages again.

"And I would always get picked for being Juliet, but I can never get the kissing part right no magter what. So the play would have to be changed with closing the curtains and changing the scene instead of showing a real kiss. Funny thing is," he pauses and looks into Kyuhyun's eyes for a moment, letting a breathy laugh escape from his lips, "I just made a perfect cut of the same scene I've always failed just now."

@Cho Kyuhyun [G] "Well, Romeo and Juliet. Wasn't it also love at first sight? So romantically tragic, their story." Sungmin chuckles and moves closer, nuzzling his head to Kyuhyun's chest. "You know, wouldn't it be great if such love story can really happen to one's life. They meet, they share their first kiss, they break the forbidden, and they both die for each other. It's just so...beautiful. Deceivingly beautiful." He continues, his words somehow muffled to the fact that his face is almost completely burried to the man's chest.

"Oh, Romeo, Romeo!" Sungmin pushes himself up from the sandy floor, twirling around, dancing with himself as he reenacts the scene from Shakespear's Romeo and Juliet. "Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name! Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet." He stops and looks over to Kyuhyun, a playful smile on his lips as he runs over to the older and grab his warm hand.

"Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine. That all the world will be in love with night, and pay no worship to the garish sun." The beauty finishes the sentence softly, whispering the last couple words as the unfamiliar attraction causes their faces to move closer to each other. Before he could even realize himself, his lips were already attached to Kyuhyun's. Tenderly and gently, without any entrance nor deepening of the kiss.

@Cho Kyuhyun [G] Sungmin didn't bother pushing himself up, but only nuzzle closer to the man he's laying on. It was comfortable; impossibly comfortable. He nods slightly, still not really understanding the point Kyuhyun was trying to make. What reasons would his siblings have to be jealous of? They're all so pretty and handsome, there's no way they could be jealous that he's better-looking than they are.

The blond nods in reply, and smiles at Kyuhyun's sentence. It's a good feeling he feels, but then, he doesn't understand it. He doesn't know why his heart is beating so fast. He doesn't understand why it's starting to be so hard to breath. He doesn't get why he wants to stay like this forever. Is this what they always say? Is this what they call it love at first sight? Is he starting to fall for Kyuhyun even with so little time? Is that even possible? "Kyuhyun hyung," Sungmin finally says after a long while of asking himself questions, "do you believe in love at first sight?" The blonde softly rests his chin on Kyuhyun's chest and lets another blow of wind embrace both of their bodies.

@Cho Kyuhyun [G] Sungmin's face moves to the side at Kyuhyun's poke. He lets out another sigh, burying his face to his knees like a crying little child. Well, maybe not the crying part, but he's still a child. "My siblings always tell me I'm ugly. I'm ugly and I can never be beautiful as mother and anyone else of my family. They say I'm a stupid little who*re that'll do anything even to give myself just to get what I wanted." Sungmin finally lets the words spill out of his mouth. His head slightly turns to the side and looks at the older man, a pout forming on his lips.

"I don't understand why it is such a problem," he continues, "it's not like I did anything to anyone..." He closes his eyes for a moment after his words, just when a strong wind blows by him, sending his weak, tiny body flying onto Kyuhyun's chest. And to be honest with himself, it was rather comfortable...

@Cho Kyuhyun [G] "Cho Kyuhyun." Sungmin repeats to himself and chuckles, feeling the sudden attraction to the man's name. "So you're a couple years older, huh. I should call you hyung then." Sungmin nods his head slightly in agreement to himself. He breathes rather slowly, but it's just a weird feeling that's somehow fluttering around in his heart. Sungmin was too innocent to even know what it means. Thinking that he was just some kind of weather effect, Sungmin brings his legs up to his chest and hugs it tightly, shuddering a little.

"Pretty." Sungmin repeats Kyuhyun's words to himself one more time, only this time he didn't have the smile on his face. "It's not perfect," he continues, "it's only almost." Sungmin looks down blankly at his knees and lets out a quiet sigh. The corners of his lips lifting into a faded smile. "Plus, guys can't be pretty, can they?" Sungmin huffs, tilting his head to the side, not seeing at all that the other was smirking at him.

@Huang Zitao [G] "I know that you can't bear to leave me," Kris teased, "but all good things come to an end." However, the boy was distracted and searching for something. Guessing that Tao was looking for his shoes, Kris kicked a stray shoe that was blocking his way towards Tao. "Here's half of your pair," he said laughingly. His eyes scanned the beach for the other. "I have no idea where's- Oh."

Kris pointed a finger towards the sea where a lone shoe was bobbing on the waves. It wasn't that near but it wasn't that far either.

@Huang Zitao [G] Kris turned his head away so that the water only got him on the side of his face. Seeing how he was already wet, a tiny bit of water did not matter. Deciding that he had spent enough time in the water due to his wrinkly fingers, Kris lazily swam back to shore. He did not bother to dry himself off. Instead, he just wore back the shirt that he tossed away. It clung to his wet skin but his cabin was not far away. Shading his eyes with his hand, Kris squinted at the sun, trying to gauge the time. "I should probably head back," he said with a frown.

@Huang Zitao [G] Kris ducked, submerging himself in the water. He reached out for Tao's legs with both his hands and yanked him downwards with all his might. He made a miscalculation, though, and the two of them ended up closer together under the water than he expected. Kris pinched Tao's cheeks, glad that he was finally loosening up.

Pushing himself away, Kris swam upwards, leaving a trail of bubbles in his wake. Relaxing his muscles, Kris lay spread eagled on the water surface, waiting for Tao to join him. "It's a wonder how we could act like normal teenagers fooling around with friends even though we're clearly different," Kris murmured, enjoying the warmth on his skin.

@Huang Zitao [G] It took all of Kris' willpower to stifle his laughter at Tao's hesitation but at the latter's shout, Kris burst into guffaws as he made his way towards the shallower part of the ocean. He waded towards Tao, shaking the water droplets from his hair. Trickles of seawater rolled down his chest, glistening under the sunlight. Light chuckles escaped him in intervals.

"It's pretty fine to me. Isn't it?" Kris asked innocently. In a swift movement, he brought his hands down and splashed water at Tao before retreating in a hurry, a playful smirk gracing his lips.

@Huang Zitao [G] Kris would not have heard Tao's shout if not for the wind that carried his words from the shore. He did not realise he had drifted so far and he swam back a little closer to shore.

"It's perfect!" Kris yelled back. Well, it was actually a little cold from the morning chill but Tao did not need to know that. Personally, Kris was of the opinion that Tao was too stiff. He seemed caught up in his own world and was distant at times, as though lost in his memories. It would do him good to lighten up.

@Cho Kyuhyun [G] Hearing the unfamiliar voice that feels so calming, Sungmin didn't bother to open his eyes. A smile slowly appears on his lips as he replies to the stranger quietly. "Because I have no one. The sand is like a comfortable bed, and the wind is like a friend to hug me when I'm cold." He explains as his eyes flutter open, his naturally blond hair falling to the side as his body moves upward to sit in the same position before. His head gently turns itself behind, observing the man in front of him for a moment, only to realize that he was a Greek.

"Lee Sungmin." Sungmin whispers, switching himself off to the side as if telling the stranger to sit down. It was almost impossible that Sungmin would do something like this to someone he doesn't know; he was, after all, socially impaired. "I'm fourteen, belongs to Camp Jupiter – youngest son of Aphrodite. You?" He questions, a soft chuckle leaving his lips to the feeling of the introduction rolling off his tongue so easily. He had never really thought that words would come out of his mouth that easy, not to mention anyone else.

@Huang Zitao [G] "Good morning it is!" Kris stretched, basking in the morning rays of the sun. He inhaled deeply, tasting the salty tang of the sea on his tongue. He shrugged off his jacket, finding it a little warm. That action sparked off an idea in his mind and his shirt soon followed his sweater before Kris ran and dived into the sea in a spray of sparking water. He swam a before surfacing with a gasp. Kris pushed his hair back from his forehead as he treaded water, keeping his head afloat. His shorts billowed around his thighs but there was no way he was taking them off. He lay on his back, admiring the blueness of the sky. There were times he wished Poseidon was his father instead of Hermes. To be able to control the tides and the waves.. Kris could only dream of the chaos that it would create.

@Huang Zitao [G] The morning light pierced its way through Kris' eyelids and he groaned, forcing them open. He slowly sat up and wasn't surprised to find the lower half of his body completely soaked. What else did he expect? Kris stood up with a groan and dusted off himself, wrinkling in disgust at his wet pants. While in the midst of cleaning himself up, he caught sight of Tao sleeping on the ground beside him. His hair looked even darker in the sun, if that was even possible. He ruffled his own bleached hair, shaking the sand out of them before he poked a toe into Tao's side, pushing him over.

"Rise and shine!"

@Jung Jinyoung [G] [you're welcome
<4]

@Cha Sunwoo [G] [babe omg you wrote me an essay ouwhqeouwhuorhwer]

@Jung Jinyoung [G] [omg we like got lost underneath all the taoris and kyumin
i ship det but i also cry]

Hearing no hesitation in the other's instant reply made Sunwoo all the more flustered. He remembered when the other first came into camp. Well, he didn't really; it was all fuzzy. He only remembered the quiet kid with red hair who was Apollo's kid, who secretly enjoyed music almost as much as he slowly began to enjoy camp life, who caught him sitting in the sand one night just as similar to this one, and who Sunwoo made an effort to befriend just by seeing how different he was from the others. From there, their friendship escalated, up to the point where, for one week, it seemed as if he was stuck to the other's side indefinitely. However, that was because it was the week before the campers that left for home during the summer... left, he remembered. And he was terribly frightened at the time that his only friend was going to leave him.

As for the water, he didn't see what was so special about it. His father and half-siblings could control water, too, as well as numerous aquatic-favored beings that knew him and his family by name. Compared to what his friend could do, suddenly controlling the water seemed rather petty, he mused. After all, skill plus precision in archery, a father that could afford to visit at times, and not to mention the better treatment from the rest of the campers overall. No, it seemed a much better luck to be the son of the sun god rather than the son of one of the Big Three. Being an offspring of Poseidon was a twisted fate of which both malice and chance played a role in, he supposed.

Even though people were treating he and his half-siblings better due to Percy's selflessness, it didn't mean that the original harbored grudge that was there for years previous left. Gods no, it just lessened a bit, at most not being such a huge deal as when it was for Percy when he was the only one. Even his well-known half-brother claimed that the campers were treating the offspring of the Big Three a lot better than how they were treating them originally, and yet it still stung when Sunwoo heard whispering amongst the others about him, bad things, no doubt. It always has, always will be.

He snapped out of his thoughts with Jinyoung's question aimed at him, and so tentatively trailed a finger in the water as he studied the other's calm and utterly carefree face. "I just... it's a habit to come out here, I guess," he confessed. "If I don't come out here, there's not really anywhere else I can go before it's lights out. I feel that I'm not judged as much here, in my element, as opposed to some other place, like the mess hall."

@Cho Kyuhyun [G] Sungmin sits quietly on the edge of the cliff and smiles to himself, chuckling slightly to himself as he watches the fireworks shoot up in the sky. "I wonder what makes people so happy when there's probably other people in the world suffering at the same time..." He mumbles to himself and swings his legs in the air, dropping his body backwards so that he could lay comfortably on the cold sandy floor. His eyes stare up into dark infinite night sky, a quiet sigh leaving his lips.

"I also wonder when I'll be able to smile sincerely and happily like them." Sungmin questions to himself, slowly shutting his eyes as the chilly wind blows by, caressing his face ever so gently that he could fall asleep at the spot of he wanted to.

@Huang Zitao [G] { I'm going to send my character to sleep because I need to head to bed as well! Goodnight :) }

Kris shamelessly agreed with Tao's statement. "Of course I'm right," Kris replied cheekily. Stretching his arms over his head, Kris was unaware of Tao's eyes upon him as he yawned. The crashing of the waves formed the perfect lullaby and the long fingers of sleep were grabbing at his consciousness. Bit by bit, his lids drifted shut and his breathing evened out as he fell asleep with his fingers in his hair and the sand as his bed.

@Huang Zitao [G] "Then you haven't been in enough," Kris replied simply, mirroring Tao's actions as he too lay down on the sand. He crossed his hands behind his head as he traced constellations in the sky. A smirk graced his features when the heard the latter's confession. "Sure, but you'll never be as awesome as me," Kris retorted.

@Huang Zitao [G] The lad's sullen mutterings told Kris that he had, somehow, insulted Tao with his careless remarks. He shook his head, slapping Tao on the back in a brotherly fashion. "Why be like the rest of them when you can stand out? You're unique," Kris told him. Usually, he wasn't one for serious conversations like this but there was nowhere else he could go and to leave now would be rude. Hence, he decided to make the post of it as he asked hesitantly, "What exactly do you think of yourself?"

@Huang Zitao [G] Kris briefly wondered about Tao's past and his correction of his own words. To him, a person must have had a traumatic experience in the city to actually like the camp. But his views were always biased so he just kept quiet as he listened to Tao's query.

"Does it matter?" Kris questioned with an indifferent shrug. He dug his toes into the sand and, scooping some up onto the top of his foot, he tossed them into the sea. Kris glanced at Tao. "You're different from what I expected of a child of Hades," he commented offhandedly.

@Huang Zitao [G] Kris accepted Tao's hand with a gracious tilt of his head.

"I'm Kris... or just Kris. That is, if you didn't know that yet," Kris echoed, then smiled to show that he was joking. Withdrawing his hand, he said, "And I do know you. Though I don't think we've spoken before." A light chuckle escaped his lips before he continued, "I miss the city. All the noise and the bustle.. And the fact that you can just blend into a crowd and disappear. You can't do that here."

He gave a rueful shake of his head. Kris knew that Tao would not know what he was talking about and mark him off as a lunatic. That was his image, anyway. Kris, the trickster. He was even called a flirt sometimes. That was how people viewed him when he was in the city too. And he just went along with it because, hey, at least they were talking to him. Furthermore, it wasn't that bad.

Kris shrugged. "Fair enough."

He settled himself down on the slightly wet sand with a grunt. Since Tao was here, he might as well abort his plan and if he were to do that, might as well get comfortable. Kris stretched his arms above his head.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it," he remarked, trying to make a little conversation. Silence bored him. "There were never these many stars in the city."

Kris did not care about the fact that Tao might not be interested about his life. It was just the way he was. He was not one to think too much about things. He would rather enjoy and bask in the moment because it was the only moment you could get. Time went in one direction and memories in the other. His philosophy was that if you spent too much time on the past, you'll miss out on the present.

@Huang Zitao [G] "What are /you/ doing here?" Kris shot back. He twisted his lips, a little disappointed that it was not some stranger that he could tease. You could never be too careful around a child of Hades. Kris glanced at Tao. He had already forgotten how they met but if his memory served him right, they both entered the camp at around one year ago. They were never exactly acquainted although almost everybody knew everybody around here.

@Huang Zitao [G] It was that time of the night again. Dark, cold, /mysterious/.. Kris shrugged on a biker's jacket that he had stolen when he was still a juvenile and stepped outside his cabin, breathing in the crisp air of the night. It was this time of the night that he loved. The perfect time for mischief. A playful glint lit his eyes as he treaded his way to the beach to collect some sand for his next prank. Few people would visit the beach at this time.

Whistling a soft tune under his breath, Kris kicked off his shoes and stepped on the soft black sand, feeling the grains giving way under his feet. He rubbed his palms together and was about to begin his planning when he caught sight of a silhouette in the distance. Kris squinted and took a few steps in that direction. That was a demigod alright. But what was a demigod doing out here in the dead of the night? A smirk curved Kris' lips as he tip toed stealthily to the person's back and, moving slowly so that he would not alert the demigod, Kris whispered beside his ear, "Boo."