doing whatever I want | open

It was late afternoon by the time Taze got off work. Today, he had to do repairs on a ship out at the ports and spent most of the afternoon hanging upside down from a scaffold starting at the butt end of a steel vessel. There had been a gaping hole in the bottom of the starboard side and, without Taze's nifty pyro kinetics, the ship would have been at the bottom of the sea by the next morning. Fortunately for everyone, he took his job seriously.

Now that the work day was finished, Taze was walking back up to the mainland of Concordia. He paused to watch the ship he had spent most of the day welding drift over the horizon and shook his head. It had been a long day and he had a headache. Taze found a bench that seemed to be dangerously close to the edge of the ports and sat down. His feet dangled over the edge of the wooden docks and he looked down to see the water crashing under his toes. Breathing in a deep breathe of salty beach air, Taze leaning back and propped his hands behind his head, allowing himself to relax after a long days work.

Seeing ships on the water always reminded Accalia of her father. He was a sailor who was lost at sea. She had spent so many years obsessing over training herself in order to go find him, that she never actually made the effort to do so. Ever since she was fourteen she was hoping to train, and train, and train until she could find him-but to no avail. She never actually knew where to start and she never even tried. She had failed her father, she knew that. There was nothing else that she could do now. She wasn't even in California anymore, so where was she supposed to start?

She had been wandering along the ports and had removed who shoes to get a better feel of relaxation. The only problem was, there was something sitting on the bench that she usually found herself choosing for her relaxation and thinking needs. Now she was facing a dilemma, should she keep walking or just go sit down next to the guy? She wasn't really one for making new friends but... she made her way over to him and sat down on the bench beside him, placing her sandals on the panels in between them. He was relaxing too, it seemed, so he may not even notice she was there. Granted, would she be a total creeper if she didn't say anything? Now she was really not sure what to do. Well, better to crash and burn then not try at all, right? "Hey," she said softly, glancing over at him which caused her brown hair to fall around her shoulders.

Taze knew the girl was there the minute she came within ten feet of him. He thought of it as a sixth sense, but his buddy Deacon just said he was being creepy. After hearing that, of course, Taze made sure never to respond to a girl's presence until they were within at least three feet. To his surprise and amusement, the girl plopped down o the bench next to him. Target acquired... He thought to himself, suddenly shaking his head because he knew if anyone knew he'd thought that, they would think he was the weirdest person ever.  Before he was able to say anything, she spoke.

He turned his head and sent her a dazzling smile, "Hey back at ya." He said smoothly, returning his gaze to the sea. She had been exceptionally beautiful. Of course, this was coming from a guy who saw all women as beautiful, but there was a sad attractive quality tot his girl he simply had to explore more, "What brings you out here?"

Accalia was glad that he wasn't annoyed at her acknowledging him and ruining his moment. Actually, he seemed pretty darn excited to see her, which was strange. She didn't even know him... did she? He certainly wasn't Roman... maybe he was just excited to have some company. She could understand that. She had lost so much that good company was hard to find these days, and she didn't trust anyone. It would be nice to make some real friends--not that this would happen with the guy--but the possibility was there. And that was nice. And different.

She also couldn't deny that he was incredibly good looking. Accalia liked to think that she had good taste when it came to guys--at least with looks. Personality... not so much. Accalia nodded once and smiled as he returned the greeting then turned back to the sea along with him. She placed both of her hands in her lap and kept her eye on the horizon for a moment, "I come out here to clear my head actually, fairly often. What about you?" she responded.

With a smile, Taze motioned to his t-shirt and said, "Work. Not the most glamorous job but I'm one of the only people who can conveniently weld out on the ships." It was true. As if to explain, he pulled his Zippo lighter out of his pocket and flicked it so the flame sprouted. He wrapped his fingers around the flames and turned his hand so the fire was dancing over his palm, "After all, I don't need any equipment." With a smooth motion, the fire move to balance on the tip of his finger and built intensity until it was glowing just like the arch of a welder. He held it there for a moment before closing his hand around it so the flame was snuffed out.

"Oh, duh." Accalia mentally facepalmed herself when the guy gestured to his work shirt. She should have noticed, but she really wasn't paying that much attention to his appearance, it just wasn't in her nature. She nodded as he explained where he worked and how he didn't need any equipment. HE must have been a son of Hephaestus or Vulcan. Accalia didn't need anything in the orchards either due to her parentage. When the fire appeared she was completely convinced of his words, "Awe, I see. Greek or Roman?" she asked with a smile. Most likely Greek, she hadn't seen him in the legion. Granted, she hadn't been int he legion for four months before the attack and missed a lot of newcomers.

Taze shook his head, "No worries." He laughed and leaned his head back, propping it up on his hands. He wondered who she was. She obviously wasn't a Greek girl, unless she came in as an immigrant recently but he got the distinct feeling that was not the case, "Greek. Hephaestus to be more exact." He raised his eyebrows at her and leaned in to ask her, "And yourself?"

She nodded as he told her of his parentage, and didn't move when he leaned in. Actually, she didn't even notice. "Awe, I see. Roman," she gestured to herself and smiled a little-an awkward not convincing smile. "Ceres. Erh-Demeter equivilant," she added just for explanations sake. Not every kid knew which Roman and Greek Gods were the same part of one another, it was often kind to explain. It was obvious who his Roman equivilant was-Vulcan.

Taze shook his head, chuckling to himself, "What kind of messed up world do we live in where it is normal to introduce our parents before we introduce ourselves?" He asked her with a grin. He then reached his arm in front of his chest so he could offer her his hand to shake, "Taze Fowler." He wondered if she would be one of those girls that freaked out when they felt his overly warm hands, but he didn't bother himself with too much thought on the subject.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes, "That's a good point-I'm so sorry," she laughed. They really had skipped over each others names, hadn't they? It really was... special being a Demi-God. "Taze," she reached out and shook his hand as she memorized his name, hopefully. His hands were extremely warm and it shocked her a little. Granted, she worked out in the sun all day. Still, it was hot. "I'm Accalia Phillips," she smiled at him, pulling her hand away. "Do you fry eggs with those hands?"

He laughed and looked at his hand for a moment before winking, "I probably could." He grinned at the girl and arched a brow, "So is that how you like your eggs? Fried?" Taze put his hand behind his hair and messed with his hair a little bit, looking at her face sweetly. He wasn't normally so cheesy with his pick up lines but, hey, if it failed her knew never to do that again and that was good enough as a lesson learned.

His wink just made him all the more charming, which Accalia liked. It was nice to have some people around who were good at making others feel good and he seemed to have this talent. At least in a first impression. "Next time I need breakfast, I'll be sure to let you know," she chuckled. Then she realized how awkward that could have sounded. And how awkward it was that she said it right as he messed up his hair. "Fried-Fried is good," she said with a short nod.

Bingo! For some reason the cheesy egg line had worked. She didn’t think he was a freak! In fact, she might have found it charming? He chuckled, shaking his head, “Maybe you don’t have to let me know.” He said with a grin, “I mean, if you get breakfast with me tomorrow, you can just tell me then.” He had moved himself so he was facing her more directly, hoping it would make his question seem more serious.

Accalias eyes widened insanely as he made the 'breakfast tomorrow' comment. Okay, now he was really starting to reminding her of Geoff, her ex. She leaned back a little as he turned to face her square on. "Can't tomorrow," she said, trying to keep her cool that this charming, and strange guy was obviously hitting on her. "Tomorrow I'm having breakfast with my friend. He's called Yeah right," she cocked an eyebrow at him with a little glare. Though, she wasn't resonating a malicious nature.

Taze raised his eyebrows. So she was going to put up a challenge? How interesting. She seemed so okay with his personality not even six minutes ago and suddenly the mock hostility was coming out. He held up both his hands as if to defend himself from the words, "Hey now, I was just trying to be nice. Now need to bite my head off, darling." He said, shaking his head and looking away. Was there a possibility that this girl had that split personality thing that made people either really nice or really murderous crazy?