A Happy New Year

"I've been in there once or twice." Lauren admitted. There was a time back before she had become Optio that she had gone into the club while very underage. Luke had found her and dragged her out faster than she could blink her eyes, but he had told her that he wouldn't tell anyone if she didn't try again and so she took him seriously and was too afraid to go back underage. Coming up in the next minute Lauren would be legal to enter any place that sold alcohol in New Rome.

"I promise, we wont go to any lesbian bars. I'll take Lennie with me, she seems to enjoy the same things." Lauren said with a bit of a laugh. Despite the fact that Lauren and Lennie didn't always get along, Lauren didn't resent the daughter of Nerio, there were a lot of people she resented and she simply wasn't one and neither was Christian.

"I might have a thing for another girl, I never really gave it too much thought. You know I don't dive into these things called feelings. Also don't worry, I wont go after Corinne, I see the way you look at her." The daughter of Apollo teased after pulling away from the embrace and nudging him with her elbow a bit.

"Assuming you could get with Corinne." Christian coyly spoke to her, with a grin probably far wider than it should have been, but he could thank the intoxication for it. "She's a lady of class and high tastes, you know." He was getting ready to make his move, he figured he could at least still out-drink Lauren, but he had to wait until just before midnight.

"Lennie!" Christian called out, waiting for a response, which didn't come. "Lennnnie!" He called out, probably louder than he should have. Hewas pretty sure she responded down the hall with "I need a minute," but he wasn't sure. He threw his upper torso over the top of the tub, like he was a teenager trying to reach his charger from his bed without getting up to get Corinne's pocket watch from her pile. He flicked it open, he was excited to get the time and activate his plan. Then, he noticed the time.

He carefully placed her pocket watch back on her pile of clothes before returning his upper body to where it was before, he turned to face Lauren and spoke in a monotone. "It's 12:01." He said, simply.

A giggle escaped out of Lauren's lips when he made his comment about Corinne and then shook her head a bit as it loosely swayed side to side due to have little to no control on how much she was moving any part of her body. "I don't even think she's into girls, to be honest. That and she's not my type." Lauren confessed before she took another swig of alcohol hoping it'd keep any other confessions deep down. The daughter of Apollo had been opening up too much in the passed fifteen minutes.

As Christian kept calling out for Lennie the giggles continued. "She's not here anymore!" Lauren said before she set the bottle back down and watched Christian as he leaned out of the water to look at the time. It wasn't long before he had announced that it was 12:01. They had missed the ball dropping and there was nothing that they could do to get the moment back, but at least they were together for the new year, that's all that counted.

The brunette had already been sitting fairly close to Christian after their embrace, so all she had to do was lean in a little before she kissed him on the cheek like she had last year. She would have been braver and "manned up" to kiss him on the lips and go for the hail marry, but given recent conversation pieces, she didn't want to strain anything. "Happy New Year, Christian."

The moment was quiet, but it was less upsetting than the previous moments. It felt like there was a new slate to start, even if Christian was planning to end the old one in a wildly different way. He could feel warmth enter him as Lauren kissed him, which only conflicted his feelings more. He was painfully aware that a kiss on the cheek was a friendship thing for so many people, but it didn't help him get over the feelings he was currently facing. He could almost feel his face redden.

"Happy birthday, Lauren." Christian said to her. "You're an adult now, you can do whatever it is your heart desires." Christian said, almost enviously. "Gonna head out to the bars tomorrow night? I'll give you the time off." He promised her. "Either way, I do need you for an hour tomorrow, at noon. Your gift isn't something that would be right to give you here." He said, sitting back and grinning at her. "Wear hiking gear." He finished.

"Thank you! It's really difficult sharing your birthday with the new year, it's so exhausting!" She proclaimed as she grabbed the alcohol bottle and mumbled something about needing another drink before she took just a sip this time. "I might head out to the bars, I'm not too sure yet. There's nothing fun about being legal and drinking." Lauren said jokingly with a small laugh.

At the mention of hiking gear Lauren groaned and looked over to him. "You know how I feel about hiking Christian, but I'll be available." She said with a heavy sigh at the thought of having to go hiking. "You know today's my birthday right? Shouldn't make me do things I hate on my birthday." The daughter of Apollo said with a bit of scowl on her face.

"I'd go with you, but I have to wait around at the Senate House tomorrow night." Christian nearly rolled his eyes at what was ahead. "I mean, only until 11:00 though." He shrugged. "Anyway, today and the third are yours to do with whatever you want, in case you have a hangover tomorrow night." Christian grinned at her. "Guess I should change and go find the others." Christian decided it had been long enough of having fun and rampant emotions, and it was probably time to be responsible again.

Christian stood up, and instantly could feel himself wobbling as he stood up. He caught himself, before he slipped. He narrowly avoided splashing Lauren with water. "Sorry." He frowned. "For everything." He stumbled over to a towel to dry himself off. He hoped Lennie and Corinne hadn't wandered far.

"Well maybe I'll come by." She said aloud not really thinking what she was saying. She knew just as well as he did that paperwork and filing could be rather boring, and so she'd probably save herself the trouble and show up about five minutes to 11. "I might not have a hangover tomorrow night, I was kind of hoping to spend time with you. Going out drinking wouldn't be as fun without you, I can wait until you turn 18 at the end of April." She confirmed with a nod and watched as he stood up to go find the others.

Part of Lauren was sad that the bathhouse sneak in was ending in so early. She had enjoyed the time spent with Lennie, Corinne, and Christian, but she didn't think it'd end so soon. When he apologized her grin slipped off her face and she stood up on the edge she was sitting on, wobbling a bit as she felt the alcohol do its work in her body.

"Christian." She said softly. "It's okay."

The daughter of Apollo was going to reach out to him with her hand, but she figured that'd be a bad choice given their states and lack of balance they both had. She pulled herself out of the water and slowly steadied herself. She stumbled a couple steps towards Christian before stopping. "Can I kiss you?" the demigod asked in almost a whisper.

"Come by the Senate House on a work night?" Christian replied skeptically. "I don't think even a saint would be willing to do that." He told her. It was a boring time; even paper pushers thought it was a boring time. It felt warm knowing that Lauren at least still saw him as close, it was important to him, and set fears in him to rest.

"What?" Christian asked. He'd brought his arms out to make sure she didn't slip, slide, or fall, which was silly considering he was just as tipsy as she was. His wrists rested on the sides of her body, while his hands layed over. Eventually, Christian spoke again. "I mean, yes, of course, always, but you just did, so I don't understand why-"

"Well not during the whole night, but I'll stop by at some point." Lauren said with a shrug of her shoulders. It was probably the least favoured job in the legion and even if they put a job posting up for one single person to do it, no one would ever take it or if they did, they'd leave as soon as they got there.

When Christian was confused by what she had asked, she sighed a little, although it wasn't long until she felt his hands on her body. She assumed at that point he was just trying to steady her, but she was fairly sure if they tried too hard then they'd end up back in the water whether they liked it or not. He did speak again and he had said yes. When he began to ramble Lauren took the plunge and she cut him off by pressing her lips to his.

The moment took Christian by surprise, the whole night was just generally bizarre. His feelings got shot down, and then somehow became unanswered again just now. Not that the kiss was something Christian was complaining about. Lauren always seemed to be under his skin, whether it was in the best or worst ways, he couldn't shake her. It was like they weren't supposed to be apart. Somehow she'd ended up in the fifth, even though her mom had at least some credibility in the legion, and even after all these years, all these changes, they hadn't left one another's side.

Christian tensed, but then eased. His hands slid back, resting on her sides now, as he eased into the kiss. His heart beat harder than he'd felt it in a long time. The kiss lasted a while, Christian didn't want it to end, but when it did art, a likely droopy looking grin appeared on Christian's face. His hands didn't leave her, and he opened his mouth. "What are we doing out of the water again?" He asked coyly.

There were moments in Lauren's life where she was impulsive. Well a lot of moments in her life she was, but this was a different kind of impulsive that Lauren wasn't used to. She had known Christian her whole life and to say she never had any sort of feelings towards him that were more than platonic would be a lie, something that she was incapable of doing. The daughter of Apollo felt so many things well up in the moment that she had pressed her lips against the legacy's. There was some fear of possible rejection, but it seemed obvious that wouldn't happen, yet it was still there. Then there was the emotion of this whole situation being surreal and exciting.

Her arms slowly moved to rest on his shoulders. The moment his lips parted from hers there was a sadness that began to grow inside of her, but it was relieved when he asked why they weren't in the water. A grin slipped on her face before she spoke. "I mean, I was hoping to bring you back to the water. Did I convince you well enough?"

"I'd say you're putting a good argument on the table." Christian coyly replied. Lauren always had that smug look on her face, and that attitude that she could take the world on and do anything she wanted whenever she wanted. Christian often pretended it annoyed him, but it was in the moments like this that her ambition and attitude made Christian's heartstrings turn and mould, and made him wish he didn't have to spend another moment in charge. He'd rather have the freedom to explore these feelings, but he also knew it was silly. It was important not to waste the opportunity Rome had given him.

It didn't change the feelings that ran through his mind and heart while he looked at the girl in front of him. He gently moved forward, pushing Lauren back with care. He put one foot in, pulling her down into the hot tub in with him. "Surprised you didn't splash me at all tonight." Christian said, before his lips moved forward to her.

"I'd hope so, otherwise I'd have to try harder." She would keep her promise on it too. If she had to she'd kiss him as many times as it took, or even she would do other things to make her argument stronger. The daughter of Apollo usually went after what she wanted and she did so with a strong determination, this wasn't going to be any different. she had made up her mind and she was going for it.

It wasn't long before he was leading them back into the hot tub one step at a time and he did it gently. When he made the comment about being surprised that she didn't splash him, she was about to make a comment saying she didn't think of, but his lips had pressed back onto hers which wasn't something to complain about. She leaned into the kiss as she pulled herself closer to him.