[Closed] - Smile Like You Feel It

[notworthless]

Callie bit back the curse that formed in her throat at the only friendly face here. Friendly being a loose term defined as 'won't actively try to kill her'... at least right away.

---

She'd been wandering the US looking for stray demigods and Norse Gods, until she had a visit. From Hermes. His Greek form, just to make it worse. She was apparently needed on a quest, the prophecy the cave dwelling redhead was pretty clear on that. The daughter of doorways, homeless and running... will run into that she fears most here. She didn't really care to memorize the other parts, prophecies defied choice, and she wanted as many options to her hand she could. She had to find a God and talk him into rejoining Olympus. Fortunately Hermes was a friend to travelers, so his directions were made for her to follow, including which doors to use and what cities to pass through. He also gave her a a silver bracelet with her name on it, a single silver band for her ring finger (perfectly sized), a Yale sweatshirt, and an imperial gold edged knife (small enough to hide in her pocket, boot, or on a sheath under her shirt). Also strict instructions she should leave her weapon and armors with him for later, and a nicer backpack than her own to put clothes and essentials in.

She arrived about twelve hours early, so she naturally started to snoop around. It was a couples retreat spa, anyone here was either married or engaged. The staff was made of demigod, enchanted human, and nature spirits. She'd seen two couples 'vanish' due to discoveries of infidelity and (past) divorce. Whoever this H. Manning person was in charge of this place his views on romance were way old fashioned. It would explain why his demigod staff members were all of lesser Gods, most of them were not married. And she realized being here alone was... bad, beyond that she was clearly single. Pluto save her this was a stupid plan... if she had one.

She rummaged in her backpack and pulled out the gifts Mercury left her with. Ring on her finger, bracelet on her wrist, knife hidden under the bulky Yale sweatshirt. At least now when she gets caught she'll look the part...

---

One of the mortals was powerwalking toward her as Callie was looking for a hiding place, the doors weren't giving her a way out of here now and what she really needed was...

Not Leo fucking Valdez. The last person she ever wanted to see here. But she figured he was the other half of this sick joke that was a quest.

"Sweety~" Callie trilled as she closed the distance between them and threw her arms around him. "When your flight was delayed I didn't know how to check into the spa without you, it's been so long without you at Yale." She leaned in and hugged him and once they were close enough nobody would hear, "Pretend you like me or we'll both be dead in the next hour. We're engaged, we're at different colleges, and you missed me."

She held the hug to let her catch her breath before she had to force a smile for the next few hours, arm in arm with her least favorite Graecus bastard. Popping one of her legs like a bad 50s kiss scene as she waited for the stern looking 'fun coordinator' to catch them like this. Hopefully the couplyness will protect them.

So long as Leo doesn't botch this.

Comments

[commandertoolbelt]

When Callie attached herself to him, Leo's mind went temporarily blank, and when it booted up again, he immediately wanted to light himself on fire and leave her to burn. But then she was whispering in his ear, and though he had no idea what was going on, it was safe to assume that even she would never do something like this as a joke. There'd better be a damn good reason for her thinking they'd die otherwise.

So he threw on a smile, wrapped his arms around Callie for a tight hug, and even dared to kiss her on the cheek. "Missed you, too, beautiful," he said, slipping into the act far more easily than this should ever be. Leo hoped he looked adoring enough to be someone's fiance, but he was sure his eyes still conveyed at least a little bit of the confusion (and irritation) he felt when he looked at her, all smiles and loving - eurgh - little touches to her hands. "I wish I could visit you more often. We've got a while to ourselves, though, so we should make good use of it, huh?" His eyebrows hopped suggestively, and he tried to keep the cringing internal. She was going to kill him for this later.

[notworthless]

Callie's sense of humor was rare, and pretty much non-existent on the fields of combat. And... this definitely was a field of combat scenario. She knew, intellectually, what was needed for this. There were some very fortunate lines she could assume were in her favor but... it still was something she had to prepare herself for in some way.

And she still flinched a little at his kiss on her cheek. Her chest felt tight and the the air felt thin around her for a few moments afterward as she waited for her body to calm the Pluto down after that little show.

"Not too much time, the Activity Organizers will probably find plenty of ways to keep us busy. And we must not give into temptation, it is part of why we're here." Trying to keep the clues as to why this place was bad news visible but not quite there was a tricky thing. And she didn't really trust Leo to pick up on subtle. Also she was rather bad at it.

"I see you two have gotten lost, you must be..." One of the aforementioned activity organizers finally walked up to them. She was scary in that school headmistress way. Power suit and weary from wrangling people to apply rules to. She didn't have any sort of jewelry on her and... she was human. Which was probably best. She had out a small pad of paper she was quickly scanning over her glasses, "Miss Jacob and Mister Valdez. Your arrangements were confirmed last week by a Miss..." She squinted at her notes for a moment. "Juno Hera Olympos? Is that correct?"

Must not curse Juno's name in public, must not curse Juno's name in public...

[commandertoolbelt]

Hey, if they really were in danger, they had to sell this, like it or not. So suck it up, Callie, because he fully planned on leaving this place alive.

And okay, there was something special about the "activity organizers." Got it. So what were they supposed to do about it? Leo wondered, even as he put on a smile for the lady despite how... well, strict and very distinctly not fun she looked. She was the sort of person who automatically hated him, just because he apparently had the look of someone who would cause trouble. Admittedly, he was someone who would cause trouble in most cases, especially if it meant getting under the skin of someone like her. This type of person was his favorite target, back in Wilderness School and before.

Man, though, using her full name in public? Tia must be slipping - or she'd done it on purpose, just to give them a little extra trouble. That wouldn't surprise him in the least.

"Got it in one," Leo said enthusiastically, grateful for the excuse to extricate himself from Callie's arms. "Is this where we check in?"

[notworthless]

"You have the standard accommodations for our unmarried couples, a three room suite, follow me and I will give you time to unpack before the first activity." The woman looked pretty much like every terrible school headmaster Callie's ever had, the only difference being Callie and Leo had equal shares of the 'I know trouble when I see it' look. She was used to this, written off as soon as she was seen. The living embodiment of never any fun handed Leo a clip board, "Sign at the bottom. Then your fiance can sign her name too."

Callie tried to draw up what little references for 'happy wholesome couple' she could think of... but given her best example was the Praetors, she really had no basis to work from. Her step-father and her mother were happy but... that was a long time ago, and she didn't remember much of that. So she just chewed on her lip and tried to look harmless and not like she was expecting to need to lock this woman in a closet so they could escape. Stealing glances at Leo and hoping he didn't screw this up.

[commandertoolbelt]

"Cool." He signs his name without hesitation and passes the clipboard to his "fiance," trying to pretend he totally belongs in a place like this with someone like Callie. If he managed to convince a bunch of nymphs that he's Dionysus, he can do this, too. The very thought is still kind of weirding him out, but as long as they can get through this, it won't matter for long.

"So, uh. First activity? What's that supposed to be?"