Welcome

Caesar yawned as he flounced down at his table. Most of his brothers and sisters never left the cabin without at least an hour of preparation, but not him. He brushed his teeth, washed up a bit and threw on a fresh pair of pajama pants and a blue t-shirt. He hadn't even bothered to comb his hair, which now fell around his face in an uneven mess.

in front of him was a plate of food, but it was mostly forgotten now that he had his book of poems open. It was old ratty looking book from when his father was in college. The margins were covered with pencil marks and notes. His father’s notes were all in red and his were in green. The two colors nearly overwhelmed the printed black text. Sometimes Caesar read through the analysis and added more, but that wasn't the goal at the moment. He took out the green pen that had been put in place as a bookmark and placed it behind his ear for safe keeping.

Now, which poem should he read? He had a lot of options. He liked reading sonnets. They flow of them relaxed him. Sonnets about love were even better. He often wondered if his brothers and sisters even knew what love was. They sure did not act like it. They seemed to only love themselves.

Noa was convinced that something was wrong. She hadn't spoken to Gavin in days and really she had barely seen him, either. She rather missed talking to the blonde boy, belonging in Aphrodite where according to Noa, he didn't really belong that much since he was way too nice compared to his thickheaded emptyminded sisters. The sad thing here being, that she couldn't find him anywhere around camp and she really did want to talk to him about whatever.

So the natural response was going to the mess hall and trying to see if she could find him there and if she could, she would talk to him. Upon arriving she made her way to the Aphrodite table which was remarkably empty. Save for a boy. Her heart made a slight jump as she thought it was Gavin, but soon realisation struck that this boy's hair was darker than Gavin's and he was wearing pajama pants. Now, the latter wouldn't have been so strange, considering people wore pajamas and maybe even to the mess hall for breakfast, but it being from an Aphrodite kid, that wa just weird.

He seemed to be bending over a book and Noa decided that it was a very smart thing to stand behind him and lean over his shoulder while trying to get a peek at what he was reading, not realising that if she startled him, he may throw his head back and that would quite possibly result in a bloody nose. But nope, Noa never thought about the consequences of things like that. "What are you reading?" she finally asked, when she couldn't really make much sense out of it by trying to read it herself.

So which poem should he read? He pondered this for several moments before finally settling on a old friend of his. All of them were familiar of course, but he had read this particular poem far more than the others. The thick notes were a sign of that. To anyone else, the sonnet was unreadable, but Caesar mostly had it memorized.

"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red."

He paused when he heard someone speak to him. Usually, he was good at blocking out outside sources, but this voice was so close it would simply be rude to ignore. Yanked out of his usual zone of quiet time, he turned to see the person who had spoke. He wasn't cross of course. He never really got cross about anything. To top it off he was in the Mess Hall; what else should he have expected? He made a mental note to find a nice tree to sit under the next time he tried to read from his book.

His eyes combed over the dark haired girl that had addressed him. Whatever resentment he had towards the intruder, trickled away. He couldn't be mad at the girls curiosity. If people were not curious about things, then life would be a boring and predictable place. Nature wasn't predictable, so why should humans?

"I'm reading a Shakespearean Sonnet." He scooted a little to the side to provide more room for her to sit "Please, sit. I'll read you some stuff if you want." He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips to kiss.

"Beauty clear and fair,
Where the air
Rather like a perfume dwells;
Where the violet and the rose
Their blue veins and blush disclose,
And come to honour nothing else:"

He decided to end the poem by John Fletcher, after the first stanza. He didn't think any of the rest would be needed. He was aware people did not like poetry as much as him, so he usually abridged them when he quoted them to people.

" Pleased to meet you. Has anyone ever told you that you have a radiance about you? Like a tulip, first peeking out of the ground before releasing it's beauty into the world with a silent springtime bloom. Like a butterfly, escaping it's cocoon in the early morning light, flying on it's newly found jade colored wings." He paused for a moment and ruffled his hair, making it even messier.

"And what may I call such a beautiful flower like yourself? I am Caesar, by the way." He smiled up at her and he motioned for her to sit down.

Noa could just feel her face turn all kinds of red when he took her hand and kissed it. That was.. whoa. "I.. That would be nice. Except we can't sit at other tables at the mess hall or at least not while eating.." Noa said and looked at the seat. Well, okay, she wouldn't actually be eating anything, right? That should be fine, right? Right. She sat down quickly with her back towards the table. There, now it didn't look as if she was going to sit there to eat and everything was fine like that.

He started reading some poem which Noa had never heard of before and the red that had finally gone away a tiny bit, was now returning at full power. What on earth was going on? All of this made her assume he was one of Aphrodite's kids. No others at camp had been that romantic before, not even the Aphrodite kids who were usually just stuck up and vain and liked themselves way too much to be healthy. "That was a really nice poem.." the brunette said with a smile. This guy was kind of cute, too and Noa was almost shocked at herself for thinking about any other guy like that. Gavin was still her friend right? Even if he was totally away and gone and she probably would never see him again. Yeah, it was fine to think this guy was cute. Stupid Gavin.

It was rather funny that he compared her to a flower and whatnot, Noa couldn't really follow it for she was too amazed at how amazing he was being to her. She was a daughter of Demeter afterall and thus comparing her to a flower wasn't at all a strange thing to do. "I'm Noa.. I'm from the Demeter cabin.." she said with a smile. She didn't even think about the fact that she had said something that may seem a bit weird considering he had just compared her to a flower and whatnot, but Noa usually just told everyone her cabin when she met them. "What cabin are you in?"

Caesar tilted his head slightly upon the sight of the girl blushing. He liked when people blushed. It was beautiful to look at. The reds and pinks combining on the flesh to make one cohesive warm glow. He was tempted to reach out and touch her face while it was still warm, but he refrained. That wasn't something you did to someone the first time you met them. He was aware people liked to keep their personal space.

"Oh don't worry about that, if someone says something about you sitting at this table you can always sit on my lap. That would solve that problem." He said this genuinely. He could totally be her seat if she needed one.

He glanced at her and smiled when she said she liked the poem. He liked it when others enjoyed poetry. He was aware it wasn't everyone's cup of tea to read poetry, but he liked to believe that all people could recognize the beauty of a the music poems created when spoken out loud. Caesar openly admitted that Noa was pretty. She truly like a flower, a freshly bloomed flower; sweet, young, innocent.

"Noa? A rose by any other name smells just as sweet." Out of reflex he leaned in to smell her as if she truly were a flower. She smelled like raspberries. A interesting smell that tickled his nose. "Demeter cabin? Well, you truly are a flower. He flipped to a different page in his book and pulled out a dry, pressed rose. "A flower for a flower," he said holding the rose out to her.

He smiled "Well I'm sitting at the Aphrodite table, I guess that means I'm a son of Aphrodite. I could be wrong of course. But as far as I know I'm a son of Aphrodite." He smiled. "Don't I look the part?"

Noa giggled. Ew, giggling. Giggling was such a weird, girlish sound and that was nothing like Noa at all. However, being offered a human seat wasn't just something and it did make Noa giggle because no one had ever offered. She usually had just sat down on people whether they liked it or not. Well, she only did that to friends, really. "I'm sure they wouldn't really mind if I sit like this.." she said softly and with a smile. Wow, she hadn't smiled this much since Gavin had gone MIA.

When Caesar leaned in, for a second Noa almost freaked as she wondered what he was going to do but she relaxed when he.. he smelled her? That was a bit odd but she guessed with all the talking about flowers, it made sense. Especially 'cause she as Demeter kid would smell of flowers? Right, now she had just stopped making sense to herself.

When he pulled out the rose and gave it to her, Noa blushed again right away. "Oh.. That's.. thank you so much.." she said while accepting it and looking at it. She looked back up at him and suddenly realised that she had asked a really stupid question. Duh, he was sitting at the Aphrodite table. Gods, she had been there long enough to know what table was whose.

"Gods, I'm such and idiot!" Noa exclaimed and hit herself on the forehead with her free hand. "I'm sorry, you do look like an Aphrodite kid, I wasn't paying attention.." she explained and bit her lip. Now that she thought about it, he really, really was cute. Ugh, stupid Aphrodite and her making perfect children skills. She still didn't believe that former Aphrodite girl, Catherine, who had told her she was going to be the prettiest at camp.

Caesar also liked the sound of giggles. Laughter was like the human bodie's way of making music, from throaty deep laughs that sounded like tubas, to light giggles that tinkled like bells. Noa's had a very flute like quality to it. "No I suppose they wouldn't," he said. He bit the end of his pinkie nail as he thought for a moment. Should he read the poem he had originally intended? It was a fairly common poem. She had probably hear it before.

Caesar smiled slightly when she blushed again. "It's no problem. Flowers are so beautiful. They are springtime and life condensed into one colorful symbol. So transitory and fragile. Very much like human life. It's short, but when a person blooms and reaches their full potential, they are truly beautiful."

"You're not a idiot I'm sure." He raised a eyebrow slightly when she said he looked like a Aphrodite kid. He had meant it rhetorically, but now that she mentioned it, he was curious what that meant. He supposed that most of his siblings had blonde hair. And apparently they were all beautiful. Caesar of course thought all humans were beautiful in different ways. Sure roses were noted for being very beautiful flowers, but that did not take away from daises, or tulips.

"Now let me read to you? I want you to close your eyes. To truly appreciate it, you have to cut off all your senses in the real world, and hear the poem to create your own senses to feel the poem. Nothing else matters right now other than my voice and the words weaving melodies in your mind. Picture what I say."

He scooted closer to her. It was odd to ask a stranger he just met to trust him enough to close their eyes, but he hoped he looked trustworthy enough.

There really was no end to Noa's blushing. Caesar knew exactly what to say to make her blush. Sure, Gavin had been able to make her blush but that was so different. With Gavin, you really barely noticed he was one of Aphrodite's kids, apart from his looks. Now this guy, he knew how to talk to a girl and Noa had no idea how someone her age would have to react to it. She just didn't have experience with boys that way and this boy confused her a LOT.

"Oh I am.. I'm not that smart but it's alright because I'm smart enough, and people protect me here so I'll be fine until I get a bit older." Noa said with a chuckle. Wow, she hadn't laughed this much since Gavin had left. Right. Caesar was the one she was talking to right now and that was what was important and Noa just hoped that if she decided to trust him, decided to become his friend, he wouldn't leave her just like Gavin had. Blegh.

She smiled. Simply smiled and nodded while closing her eyes. "Alright.." her hand made it's way to his so she would be sure that he wouldn't leave her. "Promise to not scare me though?" Noa asked softly while her eyes were closed. It was a bit scary. Just a tiny bit. She was sure Caesar wouldn't do anything scary or bad, since he seemed to really just want to read her something. Okay. It would be okay. She would be fine.

Caesar observed Noa's face as once again she blushed. Her cheeks must be so warm to the touch. His fingers itched to reach out run the back of his finger across her cheeks and absorb the warmth that glowed off her skin. Of course he knew better than to touch people without them consenting to it. He was still a stranger to her and that would make things awkward if he just randomly touched her. But, he really, really wanted to.

He simply nodded. If she wanted to believe that she wasn't smart, it wasn't for him to try and to convince her otherwise. Just like it wasn't his job to tell the sun to shine or the wind to blow. There were things one simply could not control, and the female mind was one of those things.

To his glee she listened to him and closed her eyes. What he did not expect was her reaching for his hand. He took it despite his surprise. For a moment he just observed their interlocked fingers. They were like two pale spiders intertwined together in a strange hug. He stared at them for a long time, noting the warmth of her hands and the softness. He was broken out of his stupor by her speaking again.

"I would not scare you," he said scooting even closer to her. The mess hall was getting a bit loud and he didn't want to have to yell the poem. Poems should roll of the tongue like honey. He put his face close to hers so he could whisper the poem to her and let the words seep into her conscious. "Remember, visualize what I say." He bent his head forward completely so he could whisper in her ear.

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

He paused at the end of the poem and waited for her reaction. "Did you see it," he asked with a smile. "That wasn't the best poem for visualization I suppose." He shrugged. "I can find a better one." He pulled his fingers away from hers and began to flip through the book for a better poem. "What would you like to hear?"

If Noa had had any idea that Caesar was so tempted to touch her face, she would probably just have blushed more. It was rare for her to consider that she could be of any interest to boys although she very well knew that she wasn't ugly. There were, however, so many older and prettier girls at camp. Especially the girls from Aphrodite although she assumed that if you fell for your cabinmate, it would just be all kinds of awkward. Luckily the only guy she had in her cabin was Cody and he wasn't exactly the friendliest person. At least she could just ignore him most of the time. Wasn't like she did anything besides sleep in her cabin anyway.

Right, he was still there and her eyes were closed and she was holding his hand. Wait. When had that happened? Not that it mattered because it reassured her that he wasn't going to scare her or run away while she was sitting there with her eyes closed, waiting for him to start reading a poem to her. Something about that statement sounded so weird to Noa since she never was one to sit still and listen. What was wrong with her today? She probably had to go outside and dance her nerves off for a while and as she thought of dancing, her legs started to itch for some moving.

Although the second he scooted closer and started whispering the poem in her ear, Noa was stunned. It was a bit difficult imagining what he was telling her. It was a sort of confusing poem and Noa wasn't sure what to focus on as she tried to picture it. When he spoke to her again she opened her eyes and nodded slightly. "A bit.. It was a bit difficult.." she said and watched as he pulled his hand away from hers. "I don't know.. I haven't read much poetry so I don't know that much about it.." she said with a slight shrug.

Despite what people thought, Caesar didn't consider a girls beauty very often. Sure their were beautiful girls at camp, but he never distinguished one above the others as being more beautiful. That would be like trying to catch snow flakes and deciding which one was more visibly appealing. In his opinion, it was an impossible task. Noa was simply one snowflake that he had captured in the palm of his hand, and was now admiring. He tilted his head and simply stared at her for a moment, taking in every detail of her face. Her milk chocolate colored eyes, her adorable rounded nose. Yes, he liked the snowflake he had found.

He nodded when she confirmed his fear. He had picked a horrible poem for such a reading. He closed his book and looked back at her. He tried to think what poem would be best to read next. He bit his thumbnail as he thought. He couldn't think of any. "How about this? Next time we meet I'll have better poems for you. Ones you can really lose yourself in. Kind of like how I get lost in your eyes. Your eyes, so deep and brown, like mud. Not dirty mud, but the kind you play in as a child. The kind the you make mud pies out of and try to sell for 25 cents. Mud, that personifies childhood."

"What do you know about the five senses. Maybe we can write a poem together, but first you need to know about the five sense and how to describe each one. The key to writing poetry is to experience any of the five senses and be able to describe it in detail. For example. "He took her hand back in his."How does that feel? Warm right?"

He let go again. He scooted close, and breathed in her face. For the first time he was he had gotten to use his mango toothpaste. "What does that smell like. Describe it." He leaned in again and hummed into her ear, just a simple tune. "What did that sound like? Describe it."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small chocolate candy in the shape of heart. It was wrapped in a red foil. Caesar always carried candy with him. He never ate it, but he handed them out very often. "How does that taste? Describe it." He pointed at himself. "What do you see? Describe it." He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and took the pen from behind his ear. "Now combine it all and write a poem. I'll do one about you!"

Noa was a bit surprised when he started comparing her eyes to mud. Mud? Was that even a normal thing to compare eyes to? Although he did make it sound nicer than any other guy would have. Would it have sounded nice if Gavin had said it? Noa thought it probably did. Why was she still thinking about him? She had a perfectly cute guy in front of her that was reading poems to her and generally talking in a very very poetic way. It was definitely a sign of Aphrodite, the way that Caesar knew exactly what to say and do to make her blush. Maybe it was some super effect Aphrodite's kids had on other kids. Like in pokemon, they would just use 'Aphrodite kid uses charm' and it would be 'very effective' every single bloody time.

Then he started talking about the five senses and made her snap out of her own little world. "I know what they are?" she answered before he suddenly grabbed her hand and asked about it. Caesar had soft hands but she couldn't exactly tell him this. He breathed in her face. Mango? Why was there such a thing that made your breath smell like mango? It did smell kind of nice. He kept going on and on about the senses and her describing them, and Noa blushed once again. "I.. I don't think I can though.." she said with a half smile and looked down a bit. "I'm not a very poetic person.. But I can dance. You want to go dancing somewhere some time? Are you a good dancer? If not I could teach you how to be a good dancer.." Noa started rambling. Yep. She loved dancing. Obviously.

Caesar didn't give much thought to how he talked. He didn't think there was anything special about what he said. He for sure did not connect his poetic tongue to being the son of Aphrodite. He simply said what came to mind, it that caused girls to blush that wasn't the intended plan. It was kind of a bonus though.

He smiled politely when she knew what the five sense were. He wondered if that was a sign that she found this conversation annoying. Some people easily got annoyed with Caesar. He blamed the media for ruining peoples attention spans. I- pods and TV's were all silly devices that could not capture the true majesty that nature could provided to the senses.

For example, right now Caesar was enamored with one single strand of hair that was highlighted by the sun. He could stare at that single piece of hair for hours if he didn't think it would freak her out.

"Oh, okay. If you don't want to... We can do something else." That was presumptuous of him. Maybe she wanted to go off and enjoy the beautiful day on her own. Maybe she wanted to go swimming in silence; to sink beneath the water without Caesar's intervention. Caesar was brought out of his thoughts when she mentioned dancing.

Caesar loved watching people dance. He imagined Noa in movement. He could see her moving like a swan across a lake; graceful, fragile and beautiful all at the same time.

"I'm a horrible dancer. I kind of just thrash about with no rhythm." He got up and moved his shoulders back and forth in a awkward way. "See I like the grace and poise that I'm sure you have. I can see you as a dancer," he sat back down. You have the physical features for it.. Can I examine your feet.To a dancer, their feet out their instruments. I like to examine the instrument that will later produce the beautiful music that is your dance."