the worst things in life come free to us - [laby]

the worst things in life come free to us - [laby] Wvd1s4

Renae Hufford

Renae sat on the base of one of the old government buildings, which one, she didn't know. The buildings were old and worn, with marble sticking out of the ground in random patterns. What remained of steps were currently occupied by the demigod's small form as she sat reading. Her hands were clasped around the binding of The Outsiders. It was a book she had read several times, but always found interesting. Every time she read it, the girl felt like her view on it changed into something else, and equally moving.

Her curly golden hair sprung from her head in a mess of bright colors. Renae didn't really care what she looked like today, it was her day off. She would do whatever she pleased, and right now that meant looking through the chapters of the book like she was paging through a memory. The Roman wore a cobalt blue button down, tied in the front, along with a white tee shirt. Her jeans were comfortable enough, along with her thin sandals. It was warm enough, after all. Then again, she might've just wanted an excuse to break out her summer shoes.

Brushing her hair behind her ear,the girl continued paging through her book without interruption. Around Renae, the birds were chirping. The ground was almost completely free of fluffy snow, breaking for the occasional block of marble. Blocks and formations around the demigod made it seem like she had traveled back in time, when the Romans were on top of the world.
outfit

If there was one thing you knew about William, it was that his home was the forge. He was efficient, sturdy and simply better when he was there. When he was outside the forges, however, he changed a little bit. One of the things that changed was how clumsy he was. Inside the forge, he would never miss, drop or break anything. On the marble steps in the forum however, he was prone to tripping over virtually nothing, which he did. He tumbled down a flight of stairs, or at least what was left of them, narrowly avoiding a blonde haired girl. He groaned, head hurting, as he lay prone on the ground. When his eyes opened, they met a pair that were icy blue. A quick sweep of his surroundings revealed the person's blonde hair, which he distinctly recognized. "Renae?" He questioned, not entirely certain if it actually was her.

Renae Hufford

Renae was almost done skimming through her favorite part when she heard footsteps on the steps. The footprints turned into slipping, and soon she was ducking away from a flying figure. The figure was seemingly familiar, and the girl's face lit up at the sight of it's face. "Will!" she giggled, purposefully using the name he disliked. Ruffling her mess of curls, the demigod slid down towards him, taking a seat next to his groaning form.

She criss - crossed her legs, sitting upright next to him with a bright expression on her face, the sunlight dancing through her golden hair. Renae hadn't spoken to William in a while, and she had missed his company, despite the fact that their last conversation wasn't a great one. He was still her friend, and she valued speaking to him. "How's it going?" she asked conversationally, before realizing that he may be hurt. "Oh, uh, are you alright?"
outfit

Was he in pain? Not exactly. His head was spinning though, and there was a slight ringing in his ears. When he had confirmed that it was indeed his friend, he smiled, although he was still flat on his back. As he sat up, he said almost in a groan "It's William, remember?" His smile didn't leave his face though.

With a laugh, he said "Yeah, I'm fine. I can take a small fall." He surveyed his surroundings quickly, noticing a book on the floor next to Renae. It was a nice day out, and Renae looked pretty good. Actually, cut out the good, she looked pretty. William grinned, saying "I'm doing pretty good, outside of being clumsy. What about you? How are you doing?"

the worst things in life come free to us - [laby] 2s83haa

the worst things in life come free to us - [laby] 23upy5d

Renae Hufford

Renae giggled as she corrected her, but she knew she would always tease him with a shorter name. Besides, the smile on his face wasn't of annoyance or anger, so she wasn't concerned. "Oh, right, my mistake," she said with a sarcastic shrug. The girl watched him intently, bright eyes wide with glee of seeing her friend again. She hadn't seen or talked to him in a while, so the idea of conversation was a great one.

She smiled at him, the soft, kind smile normally seem on the face of Renae Hufford. "I've been good, training, eating, breathing, normal stuff," the demigod responded with another shrug. She brushed a loose curl out of her face, and tucked it behind her ear. "Oh, I have some Reese's, you want one?" she asked, producing a bag of mini candies from her purse. The bag was already opened, and half empty, but she offered none the less. Renae adored candy, especially those that mixed chocolate and peanut butter.
outfit

When she admitted her 'mistake' with the almost obligatory sarcasm, he simply stuck his tongue out at her. After retracting it back into his mouth, he grinned again. It had been a while, but William always enjoyed seeing her. He was especially glad that she was feeling good, since the last time they had talked there had been something... off. But, that seemed to be gone now.

"Breathing. Good. Glad that's a normal thing for you." He grinned, letting out a small laugh. When she offered the candy, he laughed and said "Sure, why not." Before popping one into his mouth. William pushed himself off the ground and offered a hand to Renae to help her up. "Sitting on the ground is fun and all, but I think I need to stretch my legs out after my little tumble."

Renae Hufford

Renae returned his 'tongue' movement, laughing childishly as she did so. That was the thing about that girl, she didn't mind looking strange for the benefits of her friends. If she looked strange, so what? If it put a smile on the faces of those she cared about, it was worth it in her mind. She raised a playful eyebrow at his comment about breathing, bursting into a smile soon after. "Breathing's great, yeah?" she replied, giggling.

Taking William's extended hand, she used his weight to pull herself up. The girl didn't take it as an act of chivalry, but of friendship. At that point in time, she was too naive to consider the friendship between them as anything more than that. Friendly. "Haha, whatever works Will," she responded.
outfit

William laughed, responding with "Yeah, it is.". He lifted her up when she took his hand, and started walking away from the steps that Renae had been sitting before. "It's still just William." He reminded her, before smiling to make sure she knew he wasn't mad or anything. As they walked along, he asked her "So, what was that book you were reading?" He remembered seeing her with one before his tumble down the steps. Despite being realms relatively intelligent, William wasn't big on books. He didn't read well, like most half bloods, and preferred to stay in his forges anyway. If he tried to read during a project, the book would either be covered in soot and smoke or be burnt to a crisp. If he did read any books, they were on a tablet or computer. Most demigods stayed away from technology, but William never seemed to have a problem with it. Maybe it had something to do with him being a son of Vulcan. William was honestly enjoying the time spent with Renae. When they first met, she had been friendly enough, but also very closed off. Now she seemed much more open, which allowed a closer friendship to develop.

Renae Hufford

Renae smiled at him again, a cheeky smile of a girl who knew that William wouldn't be mad at her. He couldn't be, he wouldn't be. The two hardly ever argued, and she was perfectly fine with that. "Oh, I was reading the uh... the Outsiders," the girl responded, picking up her book from the marble steps. She brushed the cover off of the worn book, using her jeans as a way to clean it. "It's pretty good, I've read it a few times," she added with a half smile.

She took the liberty to lean against one of the marble pillars that would've supported a gateway, if it had still been intact. The pillar was sturdy, and she didn't think that it would have a problem with her leaning on it. Taking a ponytail out, the girl set her hair up, to prevent her mane of curls from getting into her face as the breeze blew by. "So, what have you been up to? Staying out of trouble?" Renae asked, raising a playful eyebrow.
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"What's it about?" William asked, genuinely curious. Even though he wasn't exactly big on reading, he loved a good story. He walked over with Renae to the pillar, and when she chose one to lean against, he chose the one next to for him to climb onto and sit on. He planted himself on top, but the pillar wasn't very high. It was meant for decoration, positioned directly outside the entrance to the forum. In fact, it was more of a pedestal than a pillar, but it easily supported his weight.

"Not much honestly. A lot of repairing weapons and enchanting gold. If trouble came my way, I think I might actually welcome it at this point..." He trailed off at the end of the sentence. It was true, he hadn't been doing much, and he was starting to get bored. Really bored. Which gave him an idea.

"Do you want to take a field trip?" William asked, a grin worthy of a child of Mercury on his face.

Renae Hufford

Renae smiled as he asked what the book was about. Even though she wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, she still enjoyed talking about things she adored, like the Outsiders. "Oh, it's about this kind of... gang, I guess. They're called the Greasers, and they hate the Socs, or like, the rich kids. They get in lots of fights all the time, and well... you'll just have to read it to know the rest!" She inhaled after her short speech, grinning. The girl brushed another strand of hair from her face, deciding that the wind must not want her to have a decent hair day. "You could borrow it if you'd like, I've got it right here," Renae offered, smiling brightly.

She laughed at his reply, finding it amusing that he would be looking for trouble. Still, she raised her eyebrows as he suggested a field trip. The demigod hadn't left camp in a while, but she trusted William. "A field trip, huh?" Renae asked, standing up without the support of the pillar now. "Sure!"
outfit

William waved away her offer. "I appreciate it, but I'm not much of a reader. Maybe I'll download the audiobook or something." He said with a small grin. After he expressed his idea for a 'field trip', he hopped off the pillar so that he was standing straight up. "I know we're already technically at a camp and all, and we're not really supposed to leave, but how about we actually take a short camping trip?" He asked.

"We'd sleep in tents and have a campfire and roast marshmallows and stay up as late as we wanted to and do whatever we wanted to really." As he finished his very long sentence, which had increased in energy as it went on, he had a very big smile on his face. A lot of children of Vulcan were calm and collected all the time, taking the energy level they had in the forges out into their social lives, but William was a bit different. He had a few sparks in his personality, which meant that when he got excited about something, it was very obvious. "We could go out to the Berkley Hills and stay there for a night or two."

Renae Hufford

When her offer was turned down, the girl merely shrugged, keeping her attitude upbeat. "Whatever floats your boat," Renae replied with a small laugh. She raised her eyebrow at the idea of leaving camp. Sure, it was nice to get some fresh air once in a while, but at the same time it was best to stay. Wasn't it? "A trip, like... out of camp?" she asked, her voice growing soft. Renae wasn't one to break the rules, she stayed in her cohort and did as she was told.

However bad breaking the rules was, the idea of camping sounded great. She hadn't ever gone camping, and roasting marshmallows under a starry sky sounded fun. The demigod smiled as he did, finding the idea exciting and intriguing. The idea of going to Berkley Hills instead of actually leaving basically sealed the deal. "Oh my gosh, yes!" she yelped, clapping her hands together as her smile grew. "I've never gone camping before, but it sounds like fun!"
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William watched her eyes when she hesitated. He could practically see the gears turning in her head, deciding whether or not to come with him on the trip. It took a few moments for her to make her decision, but when she said she wanted to come, William couldn't help but form a huge smile.

"How about we leave tonight? We can pack up the things we need and meet up by the Caldecott Tunnel when we're ready to go." He explained. It wasn't like they would need too much. Food, water, tents, maybe a lighter or some other random pieces of equipment. He couldn't wait until nightfall.

Renae Hufford

Renae's head was filled with buzzing thoughts of campfire light,warm marshmallows, and sleeping in tents. It was strange how ideas that were so foreign to her could see so appealing at the same time. Then again, she trusted William well enough to know he wouldn't suggest something if it wasn't safe. "Okay, I'll start packing uh - now, maybe?" the demigod asked, still smiling playfully. "I'll meet you there, okay?" she promised, grabbing her book and then heading off to pack.
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William let out a small laugh "Yeah, that will work." He smiled as he finished his sentence. "See you there." He said as she grabbed her bag. William watched walk off for a few seconds before making his way over to pack his own things.

OOC: Do you want to make a topic in Berkley Hills or should I?

you can? if you'd like.

Cool, here's the topic: Reaching far beyond the milky way

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