Being Someone Else [OPEN]

(OOC: One month late, but hey. Hope this is still open. )

POV: Aaron Exurgo

Aaron ran a hand through his hair. He was particularly frustrated by a strange, magical hybrid of plants from theater day-a type of Tuberous begonia, and it seemed to wilt no matter what he put in it. However, it refused to move or even be coaxed away from it's firmly kept place in his father's row of carrots. He knew how most people would laugh at him for acting as if the plant were a person, but he had long since disregarded what others had thought of him. The demigod had tossed and turned all night, thinking of possible solutions. It drove him crazy, even now.

Take a deep breath, Aaron reminded himself. Discipline.

He slipped into the Arts and Crafts room, planning to finish the bear he'd put away yesterday. It would at least give him something to focus on until he felt up to trying again with the white flower. It was too early to experiment, anyways. He slid in smoothly past the doorway, snatching up an elegant ivory and dark green bobbin, taking care not to prick himself on the needle.

Bobbin. Aaron smirked. Funny word.

When he sat down quietly on a chair, he took his project-carefully concealed under a sheet and labeled with his name messily on a post-it-and began sewing on the stuffed bear. Yes, it was a soft, cute bear that he was going to keep. With practiced movements, he began a stem stitch, creating a flowering pattern of daisies on vines on the right side of the bear, at least until the highest daisy reached the very corner of the bear's nose.

Finished. Aaron let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

When he began to knot the end of his stitch, he heard the scrape of a chair and a stifled scream. Eyes wide, he whirled around, unsheathing his sword and pointing the end at....holy Zeus, since when was there a alcove there? And why was there a very, very pretty girl who had very nice eyes camper there? He unsheathed his sword, murmuring something like "s'or'y". The son of Demeter paused for a minute.

"Hey, um, you okay?"The words were mumbled quietly, and he scratched the back of his neck. Rats. These people were ruining his anti-social reputation and cold exterior. Guess it couldn't be helped. He had already said something. "I know some people like their space when doing...um, whatever in here, so I could leave. I was just finishing up."He moved push the stuffing he had been cramming more tightly into his stuffed animal, stitching each side together neatly with a running stitch.

"Son of Ares?"Aaron barely looked up from his work, finishing off a stitch."More like Demeter."He took out a knife and cut off the thread, satisfied. He expertly nudged the bear into a basket and hefted it onto a stool, taking out a thin box of mini-tarts, biting one as soon as he opened it. He nodded towards the other demigod.

Wait a second. Son of Aphrodite?

What?

...you know what, I'm not even shocked anymore.

He swept off the extra thread bits, putting them into the trash bin. His eyes skimmed the room, and then he paused, pulling out a notepad from the inside of his jacket. Honestly, if a demigod was patted down by a mortal looking for weapons, they'd find everything but something suspicious. Aaron knew how many demigods just had a seemingly impossible amount of useless things hidden on their person.

Like now. He opened it up, pointedly ignoring the look the other demigod was sending him. He picked up his pencil, biting his lip. Might as well write now, because he wasn't going to get time later. Back to the flower problem. He remembered the vividly pure white flower, so intense it seemed to burn into his eyes. The shape was delicate and curved, not unlike a rose. Each petal was perfectly shaped into a heart, and had the barest tint of gold and red, like a glittering ember, at the very edge.

He sketched out a rough outline, then added some more detail. Unlike other flowers, what tipped him off about it being magical was the...shadow it cast, almost in a lotus or lily shape, not like the airy, rounded form that he was used to. Maybe a hybrid with magical properties? He turned the sketch to the side. Maybe he was missing something.

Besides, the flower was acting funny. All of the plants he had encountered reacted to him in some way. But this one seemed to be suppressing any line he could use to control it. Sighing, he tucked the notepad back in, walking across the room to grab a ladder. He tilted it towards a small opening in the ceiling-more accurately, the skylight. Making sure he had everything-including the baked treats-he scampered up onto the roof, inclining his head at Ariavellesiene (who could mouth that?) as way of invitation and sat, looking out at the camp.

"Thank you? What for?"Aaron leaned back, sucking in the sunlight. He was smiling, though, albeit a small one.

He grasped the flowering vines on a nearby tall trellis and willed them to grow, until they reached the edge of the roof. Running a finger across a strong leaf, he strengthened the plant and smiled more widely as the plant blossomed under his touch. He touched the tip of a petal before a thought struck him hard. His eyes widened.

Oh my gods.

The flower needed to be left alone, from what he gathered. It seemed to carry seeds in a certain part of the flower, but it was very delicate and would open in a week or so. And most magical plants reacted negatively to other types of magic. How could he have been so blind? The plant needed to be removed by mortal means soon, or else it would crop up everywhere.

Zeus, am I an idiot.

He scribbled a messy paragraph of strung together words on his notebook, then grabbed it, scrambling down the ladder to grab clay. Was there a type of soil it preferred? The PhD of the soil? Amount of water? The clay type? Did it matter? H quickly grew various types of flowers on the roof, snatching up samples and placing them in makeshift pots.

"If I can...Yes! But then-Argh-Oh!"He rambled, biting his lip"And if I do that....Then...Yes...But how-No-Yes?..."The demigod wrote down tons of notes, then stood up triumphantly. He had his solution. Looking around, Aaron finally took note of the plants flowering around him...on the roof, and then Ariavellesiene. He had completely forgotten about the other demigod.

"Um..."He stammered, unsure of what to do."Want a flower?"He offered, sheepishly gesturing to the random plants around him.

(OOC: So sorry for the wait! Life was terrifying. Also, it started out light but then turned sort-of mildly dark fast.)

Aaron slowly let an exhale leave through his mouth, carefully rearranging his features into a blank mask."Son of Aphrodite, huh?"

He gestured vaguely at the rose section of the roof. Karol Lohve was one of the most recent child of the love goddess he had encountered, and it was only with a sense of trepidation that he realized with a jolt that basically every child of the love goddess had the same powers. While it might not have seemed much, the brunette looked on it with a wider view. If they were able to manipulate love, they could literally bend every living thing to their will at an extent. He blinked.

Terrifying.

It wasn't a word associated with most Aphrodite kids, but okay.

He rubbed a stick in between his fingers. It was curious, actually. There was an extent to which he could use his powers, he knew, but when pushed to the limit, how much could he do? Erupt huge plants out of nowhere? That was exhausting, but he had a feeling that it could be done. But being pushed to that final point, so desperate and powerful that he used his power until he bled...that was something else entirely.

But children of the gods were not gods, no matter how much power they possessed. Charlie broke that bond between them, and it would never quite become the same again. Gods began to turn on demigods, and vice versa. An all out war, half-god and god-it would be terrible. Most would say that the gods would win, but...gods couldn't fight a mortal unless challenged, could they? Without an outright challenge, they could topple over Olympus. Even gods would fall under their might.

Aaron shook his head. This was dangerous territory, but who could blame him? There was already too much gray in between the lines of good and evil, and something about Charlie's ruthlessness called to him. He set his jaw, firmly clearing his mind.