Nebula

Seven

[compos mentis / in control of the mind]

Tessa made two discoveries in the ten seconds she hesitated after Charlie introduced himself. One, he reminded her of someone that she couldn't place, and two, he was pretty darn attractive.

Before time could draw out for too long, Tessa withdrew her hand from her side to shake Charlie's. She gave him a small smile as she did, looking into his gem-like eyes. "Tessa Brennan, nice to meet you."

Charlie's face paled a bit as he shook her hand. "T-Tessa Brennan?"

Tessa arched an eyebrow but nodded. "Is there something wrong?"

The tall boy blinked, an embarrassed look on his face. "No! No, not at all. It's just, I've heard all about you. Daughter of Nep—Poseidon, right?" He scratched the back of his neck, biting his lip.

Her lips quirking into her signature smirk, Tessa nodded. "Right," She confirmed. "And you?"

With a small sigh of relief, Charlie dropped his hand. "Vulcan," He said, a hint of pride laced in his voice.

Tessa ran through the inventory of gods she was keeping track of in her head, and matched Vulcan to be Hephaestus. With an amused thought, she tried picturing Charlie with Calum and Nova and the other Hephaestus kids back at Camp Half-Blood, and her smile grew.

"Well, Charlie, I'm a bit lost right now and I could use some help. Are you a legionnaire?" She started, and when Charlie nodded, she continued. "Do you mind showing me back to Camp Jupiter?"

Charlie's eyes shimmered in a way that Kaden's normally did when Tessa was around, which made her heart do an odd sort of backflip in her chest. "Yeah! I mean, no. I mean," The son of Vulcan's cheeks pinked. "I can show you back to camp."

Tessa smiled. "Then let's get going." She cast a quick glance around them, as if waiting for Kaden to somehow magically rematerialize before her. When he did not, and the image of him being carted around by Mallory surfaced to the forefront of her memory, she started down the cobblestone streets.

Thankfully, Charlie got the message. He hurried after her, and directed her in the right way. The two demigods made their way through New Rome, and absentmindedly, Tessa kept an eye out for Kaden and Mallory. Despite her airiness, Charlie managed to keep up a conversation to pass the time.

"So," He drawled, looking around them. "How are you finding Camp Jupiter so far?"

Tessa made a face. "Hardly," She said sarcastically, and when her companion laughed, a ghost of a smile made its way onto her lips. "But it's beautiful."

Charlie smirked. "Yeah, we have a habit of luring beautiful things here." He winked at her, and Tessa quickly looked away, her heart racing. Five minutes ago, he'd been stumbling over his words and now he was sweet-talking her?

Tessa took a breath and laughed along. "Do they always stay?" She asked sarcastically.

Charlie arched an eyebrow in amusement. "That depends," He mused. "How long are you gonna be here for?"

Tessa laughed out loud. She ran a hand through her hair, casting a look around them. They'd emerged from New Rome, and were now on one of the paths leading back to camp. "Roughly a month," She replied. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason," Charlie responded nonchalantly.

"I'm sure," She retorted. "So you mentioned you've heard about me. Care to enlighten me on that?"