Writer's Block Sucks, Doesn't It? ((Kryiakos))

Jeni laid there, surrounded by balled up papers, her guitar by her side. Scribbles, doodles, and simple words. An occasional phrase every now and then. Of course the child was frustrated. Writers block was never a good thing, especially for someone with lightning at their fingertips. “How did mom deal with this?” she muttered, abandoning her bed to pace around the room for the umpteenth time. She felt like pulling her hair out from the frustration. The words floated around her head, just out of her reach. It was mind boggling!

Sighing, Jeni looked up the statue of her father. ‘Stand strong and brave,’ she father had said. She smiled at the memory of her claiming. She had woken up, sad and nearly depressed by the memories that had stormed her head the previous night. She had gone to the beach to clear her head after breakfast, intending to cry her eyes out and sing some. Instead she had made a friend and gotten claimed. Chuckling she turned away from the happy memories from that day, and back to the depressing, frustrating present.

Grabbing a pen and pencil, she started writing yet again. Only this time, the words floated right onto the page…

Kyriakos stood, leaving his pen and sketchpad next to where he had been leaning up against the Athena cabin, and began pacing around the central cabins area. He was trying to sketch out what he imagined Athena to look like, but something wasn’t coming out right. He had never seen his birth mother before, but something about his drawing didn’t seem true to what he imagined her to look like. He wasn’t sure if it was the set of her lips, the battle armour, or her stance, but something just wasn’t right. Sighing in frustration, he paced the centre of the camp, clenching and unclenching his fists, staring at the ground, trying to figure out what to do differently.

A slight whisper caught his attention, and Kyriakos looked up—straight into the open door of the Zeus cabin. He had always gotten a sort of “stay away” vibe from the massive white building, and now he knew why. The place didn’t exactly feel welcoming with a 20 foot tall Zeus replica staring down at the world. Looking past the statue, though, Kyriakos saw what had caught his attention. A fellow camper was pacing around the space, looking just as frustrated as he had a minute ago. He smiled, recognizing the girl as Jeni Carter, someone he had met shortly after arriving.

He watched her as she suddenly stopped pacing, grabbed a pencil and some paper, and began scribbling something down. Kyriakos knew the signs of a newly found muse, and he hated to interrupt the girl. Still, simply watching her felt more like intruding than announcing his presence. After a moment, he stepped up to the door and cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt. If you don’t mind me asking, what are you working on?”

IF Jeni had been paying attention, she would have noticed the fellow demigod approach the door. She would have also noticed the way said demigod watched her write. If she had been paying attention, than when he, the demigod, spoke to her, she would NOT have ‘jumped’ off the bed and land uncomfortably on the floor. Sadly, however, Ms. Carter was NOT paying attention.

So, instead of simply greeting said demigod with a kind smile and a hug for the old friend, she greeted him with a rather loud gasp of shock, and the rather uncomfortable landing took place. Said landing sent the crumpled paper scattering. Oh, the way things would turn out if one would just pay attention.

“Oww…” Jeni spoke, sitting up, rubbing her head. Her back was turned to earlier mentioned demigod. “I would really appreciate it if you wouldn’t sneak up on me…” Of course, Jeni didn’t know who it was she was speaking to. Again, something that could have been avoided if one would just pay attention. “I mean, really, is it too much to ask that you just knock on the door so I don’t get hurt?” Sighing, she turned around, prepared to see some new kid, or possibly a dumb Hermes kid come to bother her, NOT Kryiakos Areleous, the old friend she hadn’t seen if forever.

This being Jeni, the realization took her a few seconds to hit her. And boy, did it hit hard… For the demigod in the doorway that is.

“OHMIGODS! Kryiakos! Where the Hades have you been?!” She said, hugging (Or would it be considered a glomp?) his neck. “It’s not nice to disappear on me like that! I got really worried!”

Kyriakos winced as Jeni landed on the floor, sending her work scattering. He hadn’t meant to scare her like that. He only intended to talk to an old friend he hadn’t seen in a while. Her back to the door, Jeni grumbled something about not sneaking up on her, and Kyriakos apologized quietly. He didn’t want the girl hurt anymore than she appreciated it. The boy took a few steps forward, intending to help her off the floor, when she turned around. Help was apparently unnecessary, though. When Jeni saw him, she flew to her feet faster than she had fallen. Kyriakos had no time to brace himself as the girl launched herself at him, hugging tight. He smiled, happy to have been received so well, and returned the hug.

“I’ve been around,” he said, his answer rather vague. “Just sort of…I don’t know. Just lurking around camp, I suppose you could say. I’m sorry to have worried you. I really didn’t mean to. I’ll make sure to keep around a bit more.” He smiled, taking a step back to survey the girl. His memory did not serve her justice. She was so much prettier than he remembered. Kyriakos had never been great with compliments, but hey, there was always a chance to try.

“You look good,” he said, slightly cautiously, trying hard not to look away. The compliment kind of lost its effect if the one giving it couldn’t even look at the person. “You look really good. Whatever you have been up to since we last talked has definitely served you well.”

A frown worked its way onto her face at Kyriakos’s answer. “And you’ve been too busy ‘lurking’ to come see a good friend?” By now, her arms had crossed, her head tilted up, leaning away from him a bit. Of course, this had been learned from years of seeing her mother take this position when arguing with her sister. “Whatever.” Sighing, she walked back to her bed, about to pick up to papers when she paused. Turning around to say a thing or two about his lurking, she was met with a rather unexpected compliment.

‘ You look good.’

Her skin flushed as a bright splash of pink danced on her cheeks. She turned around quickly, trying to resist the urge to go hunt down a mirror. “You look really good. Whatever you have been up to since we last talked has definitely served you well.” This comment made the pink go straight to scarlet. “Um, ah, thanks Kyriakos. I, uh, appreciate it,” She said, her mother’s quiet laugh sounding in her ears. “You, ah, look good too,” she said, half way turned towards him, covering her blush with her hand. “Really, you do.” With that she gave an embarrassed laugh, and sat down on her bed, trying to put the blush to rest.

((Finally got it.))

As soon as the words left his mouth, Kyriakos knew he had said something wrong. He should have known I’ve just been lurking around wouldn’t be a satisfying response to answer where he had been. Curse his upbringing for teaching him that that was okay. He had spent plenty of time with his grandparents back in Greece, and the Oceanside town they lived in was far too small for anybody to do anything wrong or get into any kind of trouble. Nobody questioned it if he said he had just been around. In all honesty, that was all anybody was around there. Just around. There was still so much the boy needed to learn here in America, and apparently the fact that I’ve just been around wasn’t a suitable response to where have you been? was one of those things.

Jeni stepped away from Kyriakos, clearly upset, and the son of Athena quickly tried to backpedal. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I really didn’t mean to just disappear like that. So much is still new here, and I just get so lost and confused sometimes. Having people who look out for you is different, too. My family always did, my community at home tried to, but I never really had close friends. It was usually just me and Ketos. I’m really, truly sorry for not coming to see you more often.”

Trying to make up for his faux pas, Kyriakos delivered his compliment. He wasn’t sure how he expected it to be received—part of him seemed to be expecting Jeni to laugh at him—but he didn’t think he was expecting the reaction he got. A light pink blush colored her cheeks when he told her she looked good, but that pink skipped about 8 shades and went straight to dark red as he continued on. She mumbled a sort of thanks, before returning the compliment. Whatever Kyriakos had been expecting, it definitely wasn’t that. “You, ah, look good, too. Really, you do,” she said. In a matter of seconds, a blush crept up the boy’s face, and he was sure his cheeks were just as beacon red as Jeni’s.

“Thanks,” he muttered quietly, not quite sure what else to say. Trying to move past the moment of slight awkwardness, he quickly changed the subject. “Um…how have you been since I last saw you? Is everything okay?”