Personal Plot Related Red Wine and Autumn Nights

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

The last person Lilythe had anticipated walking through the door to her little birthday party had been Vienna Pimm. Vee had been one of her best friends since childhood. They had been thick as thieves since the moment the girl arrived, even if Vee's walls had been firmly up until after the Second Giants War. Vienna was one of the few people that got to call Lilythe 'Lithe', which was a play on both her name and the fact that she could be very forgetful. But she had gone off to New Rome to find some much needed normalcy in her life, and Lilythe had thought she would never return. Content to keep in touch with Iris messages and letters.

Having her best friend returned to her, in the flesh, had been the most wonderful gift anyone could have ever given her. And Lilythe knew the only person who could have arranged it was Azrael. She didn't know why, or how, but she knew that he had managed to bring Vienna back. The fact that she was planning on staying for a while was doubly fantastic. So after making sure that she had properly thanked Azrael for his gift, Lilythe found herself a bottle of wine and grabbed it to bring to Cabin 12.

"Hello! Paging Vienna Pimm! I come bearing Merlot." She said with an impish grin.

[Vienna Pimm]

Another visitor? Vienna perked up as she heard a familiar voice through the door. Well, aren't I the popular one tonight?

Her younger brother, Killian, had only just left a few minutes before. She hadn't even had the time to change out of her skin-tight cat costume. Not that she minded - she looked hot, and the child of Dionysus had always preferred to make an entrance. Even better, she'd unintentionaly matched outfits with her favorite person in the world. And that person was currently knocking at the door! Vi hopped to her feet and ushered her friend inside.

"If it isn't the birthday girl herself!" She chimed happily, her speech only slightly slurred. Between the party and Killian's post-game brews, she'd actually managed to get a bit tipsy. Of course, she wasn't about to turn down the offer of wine either. "Come in! Come in! We've so much to catch up on!" She was dying to ask about Azzy and Shadoow. Her brother had shared a bit of the rumors flying around, but she knew firsthand how untrustworthy rumors could be. Vienna wasn't one to believe anything she hadn't seen herself, unless it came from Lilythe's own lips of course. Still, pressing for personal info the second she walked through the door seemed a bit tacky. Much more stylish to be vague about it. "How've you been, Lithe? Tell me everything! No detail shall be spared!"

Vi pointed a threatening finger, though her massive grin made it much less intimidating. "You better not leave anything out, got me? It's been too much time without my best friend!"

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

Lilythe chuckled at the greeting. She walked in and gave Vienna a hug before letting her usher her off to a seat. "I see someone else beat me to it. Had to be Killian, he's the only one of your siblings that was at the party to know." Lilythe shook her head and rolled her eyes, but laughed. If Cabin 12 could be counted on for one thing, it was that they knew how to party, carry on an after party, and get absolutely wasted on alcohol. Their tolerance had to be the highest out of all the demigods. There was no possible way any other cabin could beat them out for that.

"Well, I wrote you about the biggest event." Shadow and Lilythe had broken up at the beginning of the summer. Lilythe had sent Vienna several letters since then, so she was sure she had written her about that at least once. "I haven't really had much time to write about anything else because I don't know that I really know what's going on." Lilythe said honestly. It was true. At this point, Lilythe couldn't really say she was dating Azrael in any meaningful way. They were going on dates, certainly. But she wasn't ready to put a label on it. Not after how hard the break-up with Shadow had been. "Azzy came back from New Rome a few months ago. But he told you before he left, so you knew where he was headed. But... Did he tell you how he felt about me?" Lilythe looked quizzically at Vienna. For years, Lilythe had beat herself up thinking that Azrael was angry with her over something she had done. "When he came back, he... he found out I was single and... Vienna I'm the reason he left camp. Because he didn't want to tell me how he felt, and he couldn't stand seeing me with Shadow. I... I never knew. For years I thought he hated me." Lilythe chewed on her lip, nervously. She was starting to fall head over heels for Azrael. And she had forgiven him, truly, for that, but it was something that she still had to work through and process.

"Anyway... he came back and after I berated him for letting me think he was mad at me for so long, we decided we would explore our feelings for one another." Lilythe smirked, thinking about that night in New York, and the plan she was already formulating to make it up to him that he brought her best friend back. "Shadow came back. He says he just wants to be friends and in my life. So... I'm giving him a chance. But... sometimes I miss what we had." Shadow hadn't always been bad for her. Before his altercation with Azrael when they were teens, he had actually been pretty typical. But as he got more possessive and toxic, things deteriorated until Lilythe had felt like a shell of her former self. Like everything she did, she had to think about how it would impact Shadow. It was an uncomfortable way to live, and she had called things off. If he can handle being just friends though... I'd really like that.

"Azzy and Shadow got into another fight during capture the flag though..."

[Vienna Pimm]

"Lucky guess!" Vienna teased. She knew it wasn't though. For as much time as Lilythe spent with her head in the clouds, she was surprisingly observant. Vi knew that better than most - those observations had gotten the two of them out of more than one tight spot. It was so good to see her again. Just to be sitting in the same room, breathing the same air, drinking the same wine... if she'd ever had a feeling of "home", this would be it. Just chilling out and gossiping with her best friend in the world. They'd sent letters of course, but it simply hadn't been the same.

Due to those letters, she did in fact know about the breakup with Shadow. That was a development she'd actually been quite happy about. Frankly, she'd never thought he was good enough for Lil. He'd always been clingy, even by normal people stansards. In the eyes of the free-spirited Vienna he might as well have been a prison warden. Though she got the feeling that "good riddance" wasn't the response her dear friend was looking for. "Yeah, I remember. That explains the sad-puppy vibes he was giving off at the party!" Right... probably ot the response she was looking for either. The child of Dionysus could certainly hold her liquer, but it still gave her a wicked case of loose tongue syndrome. Realizing what the reaction was about to be, she began to backpedal. "But don't you dare start thinking that's your fault either! He'll get over it, I'm sure it's just a combo of the memories and the alcohol. Y'know how breakups are."

At least, Vienna assumed breakups were pretty bad. The world had broken her heart enough times, she wasn't prone to letting men close enough to do it themselves. Vienna was ever the heartbraker, not the breakee. Lilythe on the other hand... that girl had a heart of steel. She was the real strong one of the pair when it came to things like romance. No matter what happened, or what horrors they had faced, Lilythe Rayne remained the most open-hearted and kind person Vi had ever known. And she'd known her long enough to see the strength that took.

"Mad at you!?" Vi nearly snorted wine out her nose in a rather unattractive fit of laughter. Perhaps calling her friend "observant" had been a bit too generous. "Mad over you more like! He told me alright. The poor boy couldn't shut up about it. 'Lilythe this, Lilythe that -how do you think Lilythe is doing?' I swear, he missed you nearly as much as I did!" He laughter died down after a moment, but the grin remained on her face. "I swear Lil, all boys have a one track mind. And his is a one way track to Lilytown."

She perked up upon hearing that Azrael and Lilythe had taken to "exploring their feelings." Now that was a pairing she could get behind. She'd known Azzy for a long while, and was certain he'd make a healthy partner for whoever he fell for. Lithe deserved the very best - and while nobody could ever quite measure up to Vienna's standards in that regard, the man came pretty darn close. "Oh that's wonderful, darling! Good for you two! Judjing by Azzy's physique, I'm sure you're more than satisfied!" She gave her friend a bawdy wink. After all, if she couldn't make Lithe's face go red it'd prove she'd lost her touch.

She also didn't beleive for a moment that Shadow just wanted to be Lilythe's friend. Not with how posessive he had been, and how jealous he'd been acting in the breif time they'd been in the same room. It was just like Lil to put that jerk's feelings above her own. But VIenna wasn't about to let that happen. "Whoa whoa... stop it right there sister. You're doing that thing again! Do you actually 'miss what you had'? Or are you just trying to make him happy like you always do. Even if it means risking your own happiness? And Azzy's too for that matter? And a fight? Ugh... those boys... nobody got seriously hurt, did they?"

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

Lilythe shook her head. "No, I know that." Offering her friend a bittersweet smile. "I just feel bad that he's in pain. He wasn't always an asshole..." Lilythe scrunched her face. She hated that all of her friends thought of him as a villain. Sure, he hadn't been the best boyfriend in the world, but Shadow wasn't always the possessive creep he became at the end of their relationship. He had once been someone that she had fallen in love with. He had been romantic, caring, and kind to her. And other than demanding all of her time, Shadow hadn't ever really done anything terrible to Lilythe in their relationship.

As Vienna changed the conversation towards Azrael, Lilythe blushed bright red. I really was the only one who didn't know... She sometimes felt like she had been a complete idiot and super oblivious for not realizing it. Sure, he had never come out and told her how he felt, but Azrael had definitely shown signs if Lilythe looked back. She could see how his treatment of her had been different than the other women he had been friends with. As she gave innuendo, Lilythe's blush deepened. "Vienna!" But she chuckled continued. "I will neither confirm nor deny... Other than to say that he's definitely not bad at it." The fact that Azrael had left her unable to catch her breath, walk, or think straight while they had been in New York in the foreground of her mind.

"I miss how things were at the beginning of our relationship. Before the possessiveness took over." It was the truth. Lilythe really tried to look back at their relationship objectively. Shadow wasn't a terrible man, he just was not a good boyfriend for her. He needed someone that was okay with being his entire world and spending all their time together, in a way that Lilythe never had been. "I... I don't think I want to date him again. At least, not if he hasn't changed. I'm just saying that... if Shadow could go back to being the better version of himself, he wasn't a terrible partner. And my feelings didn't just evaporate because we broke up." She had said as much to Azrael and Shadow themselves. The one thing that Lilythe had been proud of was the fact that she had been transparent with both of them. "Besides... I don't think I'm really ready for another relationship just yet anyway. If I'm going to date Azzy, I need to be completely over Shadow. Right?"

Lilythe rolled her eyes as Vienna asked about the fight. Not because she asked, but because of how ridiculous it was that they had even fought at all. "Thankfully I don't think there were any real injuries. Just a lot of sharp words. Words about me..." She chewed her lip nervously. "Shadow said he was fine with just being friends, but I don't know how much he really meant that if he was fighting with Azrael about it. And I honestly just expected better from Azrael. I was mad at both of them. But they apologized... so... we'll see."

[Vienna Pimm]

Vienna's expression softened. "Look Lil, I didn't mean he was evil or anything. I know you loved the boy and I really do trust your judgment. It's just," she sighed, looking deeply into her friends eyes. It was all in there - real pain, frustration, and worry. Lilythe had too much empathy for her own good. Vi had always admired that quality in her, just how much she managed to care about everyone around her. But sometimes it still took a minute for the guarded Vienna to understand that dumb, blind trust as anything more than obliviousness. "He just wasn't good for you. It wasn't healthy, ya know? You gave him everything you could and it was never enough. I just don't wanna see you get hurt again."

She nodded as Lithe described her dilemma. On one hand she wanted to tell he to just go for it. Why wait one the old feelings to die out when she could replace them with something new and incredible instead? But she didn't operate that way. "I get ya, Lithe. And you definitely shouldn't push yourself do do anything you're not ready for. But you can't hold yourself back either, especially not to save Shadow's feelings. That's not fait to any of you - not even him.  And it's not like Azzy's' a rebound or something just because your old feelings aren't a hundred percent buried either. That's just not how emotions work." Vi liked to pretend she was an expert on emotions. If only she'd put that same focus into figuring out her own.

"Speaking of emotions, I can't believe those boys! Fighting over you like that... I mean you are quite the catch, that that doesn't excuse them stressing you out like that." Her look of concern got deeper when she heard that Shadow had agreed to be "just friends". If Lil was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt then she'd do the same... for now. "Just be careful, girl. And try not to be too hard on Azzy, okay? He finally got his shot, I'm sure the last thing he wants to do is screw it up."

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

"I promise I'll be careful and look out for myself." Lilythe nodded and smiled. "But you honestly don't have anything to worry about. I'm not committing to anyone right now. I need time with me." It was the honest truth. She had been with Shadow for the better part of a decade. Lilythe was learning what it meant to be her own person again. Outside of a relationship with someone who made their whole personality about the relationship. Lilythe gave her friend an encouraging look. "I promise, all is forgiven between Azrael and I." Lilythe's mind wandered back to the day before. She had given Azrael a very thorough thanking for what he had done. "I thanked him for a whole evening." Lilythe blushed bright red.

Once she felt like she had control of her face again, Lilythe turned to Vienna. "I came to drink some wine and catch up, though." Lilythe gestured at the untouched bottle. "Tell me about New Rome. I bet it's stunning there. I almost went west when I took a break from camp, but I ended up going down to Florida." She smiled. The breakup had been hard and both her and Shadow had left camp. Lilythe only stayed away for a few weeks, though. As much as she loved to travel and explore, her home was Camp Half-Blood and it always would be.

[Vienna Pimm]

Vienna nodded, but a certain wariness was still plain on her face. It seemed like a good idea - perhaps the best scenario even - for Lilythe to take some time for herself in the midst of all the drama. Whether her friend was capable of such a thing... that was what gave her pause. Lil had a level head when it came to a lot of things, but romance was not one of them. Nor was she prone to setting aside the feelings of others to take care of herself. Azrael would be patient. He was a good man, after all. But between Shadow's moping and Azzy's eager advances, she couldn't help but wonder how much of Lilythe's attention would truly go toward connecting with herself. Still, she set her doubts aside for a moment. This was her best friend. There was no sense in pressing the issue. Vi would simply have to trust her until something went wrong. And if it did... well, she'd just have to be there to support her friend just as Lilythe had done for her so many times in the past.

Vi laughed aloud at "I thanked him for a whole evening". She knew exactly what that meant. At least those two were on good terms, at any rate. Vienna had known about Azrael's crush on Lilythe long before the woman herself had. Of course, that wasn't saying much - anyone who'd even briefly met the two of them could tell. But she was exceedingly happy for the both of them. She giggled, taking another sip of wine. "Well, I'll admit that Killian and I had a drinking contest before you got here. But don't worry- I can stomach a bit more for your sake." That was, of course, a blatant joke. Vienna Pimm was never one to turn down a drink.

"Oh, New Rome was a blast! Such a vibrant city! Honestly Lil, for a little bit there it almost seemed like I was a normal person. Taking classes, going to parties... just living life, y'know? You simply must visit one of these days!" Her features relaxed as she took another sip of wine, setting back into her old cot. It was nice t obe back here with, spilling gossip just like the old times. "Florida, huh? That sounds exciting! Give me the details, sister!"

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

Lilythe giggled and popped open the bottle. "I didn't think you'd say no." She said with a wink and began to pour the two of them a glass each. The wine wasn't anything incredibly fancy, but it was a decent enough bouquet that it could suffice for an evening between old friends. The two of them had been separated for so long, and even though they had written letters and done the occasional Iris message, nothing beat an in-person conversation. Lilythe settled into her seat with her wine as she listened to Vienna's story.

The way Vi's face lit up as she spoke about New Rome, Lilythe could tell that it must have been a very magical place for her. It had probably helped her push away some of the old trauma associated with camp and really feel free again. Lilythe envied that about her. She still bore a lot of the burden of the events from the various wars she'd participated in. She began to get a starry-eyed look on her face as her focus began to drift, a bad habit of hers that her friends were more than used to by now, when Vi asked her about her trip.

"Oh it wasn't much, not really. I just let my impulses take over, whenever I came to a crossroads. It led me down south to Florida." Lilythe's father was the god of travelers. Whenever she felt the urge to leave camp, and got the permission to do so, Lilythe would let her impulses taking control, trusting that it was her father guiding the way. It was just a superstition she'd had since she was a little girl. But it gave her comfort when not many things did. "Anyway, as soon as I got there I decided to go visit all the obvious attractions. Don't ask how I got in." She winked. Her father was also the god of thieves. "Had a bit of fun. Flirted with a few men at the beach. Drank some cocktails in the Keys. And then, eventually, decided that I missed home."

Chewing on her lip, Lilythe dared to ask. "Now that you're back, you planning on staying a while?" She had missed all her friends who had left camp, but most of all she had missed Vienna. When Vi left, Lilythe had a particularly big hole in her heart that was hard to fill. Even though she knew the girl wasn't gone forever, she struggled with her best friend being so far away. While she would never ask Vi to stay at Camp just to keep her happy, she couldn't really hide the fact that she had missed her friend dearly.