When Best Friends Are Annoying [Brandon/Amber]

[Brandon Gale]

To be truthful, Brandon had never enjoyed swimming; it probably had something to do with the dangerous result of mixing wind and water—hurricanes. Not that a miniature natural disaster exploded every time he set foot in the liquid form of H₂O, of course. Things just got rather… uncomfortable. Like intensely uncomfortable.

For instance--that one time when he tried surfing on a calm, sunny day? High tide suddenly decided to get a lot higher and random winds came out of nowhere to battle the advance of the rising waves. Finished product: something of a nature drama with yours truly playing the part of helpless victim. Not fun; especially when every one of your instincts tells you that you’re in mortal danger of something a lot bigger than a friendly dunking.

Hence, his apathy towards activities involving you-know-what, and customary avoidance of large bodies of water. Customary, but not always. If he needed to get away from people for a while, and if everywhere but the beach was filled with the aforementioned people, and if he was desperate enough to risk a catastrophe, then Brandon usually headed towards one of the places he should have avoided at all costs: the lake.

So that’s why the sun, peeping from behind the gray clouds, found only a lone figure sitting on the dock and trailing his toes in the water. And yes, Brandon was bored enough to take that risk too.

Really; if he'd had any close friends, he probably would have dragged along a one of them to be with. Not necessarily to talk to, just to be with. Enjoy each others’ company and such in mutual introvertism. He would have enjoyed being around Her. Pandora Relenta. Or Panda Relentless, the boy thought with a sudden, lop-sided smile.

Surprising himself, Brandon decided that he’d like to get to know her better. Maybe become friends. Maybe even become more that friends. That thought startled him even more than the first. He’d only seen the funny, cute daughter of Hectate a couple times since their first meeting at the climbing wall, and all of those times from a distance.

Despite his aversion to people, Brandon might have approached her… if it weren’t for her best friend, Amber James. Oh, there was nothing exactly wrong with Amber, or at least he tried to tell himself so. The girl was just really… loud… and hot-tempered… and just plain hyper! Basically, she was someone that he needed to steer clear of even if he did want to talk with her best friend.

For Brandon, avoiding someone was usually a cinch—but this girl was different. Just that morning, he could almost feel someone watching him, and a couple minutes later, there she was! Waving impatiently and definitely beckoning him over. What could he do? To just turn around and walk away would have been rude, but to stay and talk would definitely have been a mistake. So of course, he compromised. A quick nod, and then a walk-away. But he wasn’t sure that Amber had been completely satisfied.

Absorbed in his reflections, the half-blood was only vaguely aware of approaching footsteps and didn’t even turn around when they stopped nearby.

Words: 534
Muse: Surprisingly good.
Notes: Greetings!

[Amber Craze James]

Amber found it quiet rude that Brandon hadn't come over when she had bekoned. Of course, Brandon was the shyest (word?) guy she ever knew. But his crush was her bestie! Of course Amber had to get them together, so she walked over, having no idea that she was the one keeping them apart.

Amber would have run away and cried for a few hours if she found out that she was the only reason Brandon wouldn't approach Pandora. Pandora had a crush on him, therefor she was crushing her friends happiness by her presence. It had never even occured to her that she might be loud, or annoying, or repulsively bright, or to bold for her own good. It was never a thought that she might be keeping anyone from anyone -- in fact, she thought she was doing them a favor by trying to get them together.

As she sat down next to Brandon, she gave him a bright smile. She choose to skip the 'hello's and get right down to the serious stuff -- the crushes. ''Look,'' Amber said, not giving him a chance to say anything. ''Skip the crap, I know you have a crush on Pandora.''

Giving him a moment before plowing on, Amber gave him a look like 'I approve of you'. ''And I also happen to know that she likes you.'' Of course, if she didn't approve of him, she wouldn't help. It was a simple as that: you check out the guy, then if he's bad slao some sense into your bestie, if he's good, get them together. It's easy.

''But the thing is,'' Amber continued. ''What are you going to do about it?'' See, if he said something as dumb as 'because I don't know what to say to her' then Amber might slap him right there. To be with Pandora, you gotta have guts. Because of her wild thoughts and backwards thinking, she needs someone who is confterble going out there. Anyone else wouldn't last.

Amber had promised to talk to Brandon, dispite Pandora's protest. She couldn't be all that bad, right? She was obviously helping them... or, that's what she thought. Truthfully, she was running them into a trainwreck. The whole thing was a misunderstanding. I mean, Amber had good intentions.

She ALWAYS had good intentions when it comes to Pandora. Amber loved Pandora.

[Brandon Gale]

Speaking of the devil, Brandon thought with a perceptible wince as Amber herself flounced onto the dock beside him. What was that idiom about speaking—or in his case, thinking—too soon? Well, it applied to him if it applied to anybody. Restraining a sigh, the half-blood turned to the child of Apollo and proceeded with the formalities.

“Hey—” he began politely, but was immediately cut off by the Amber’s quick and ever-ready tongue, something that never failed to intimidate him.

“Look, skip the crap, I know you have a crush on Pandora.”

Brandon could only stare. What the heck? Then his crush’s best friend gave him a look that could only be interpreted as approving—and it failed to do anything but unnerve him even more.

“Um, are you—?”

“And I also happen to know that she likes you.”

What Finn would have said that I can’t resist typing here: “Well thank you, Captain Obvious! I’m sure we all appreciate that well-timed and appropriate remark.” (It’s not to raise word count or anything, because I have enough without this.)

“Really, is this—?”

“But the thing is,” the girl continued persistently, despite Brandon’s attempted interruptions. “What are you going to do about it?”

Well, nobody could say he hadn’t tried, that was all.

“Hey, I want to do something about it,” he said, fast loosing patience. “But it’s not as if I can when she’s with you twenty-four seven! And when I do get a chance to talk to her, it’s sort of hard to bring up things like that when every other word she mentions is Amber, and then yours truly comes a long five minutes later to have at some crazy activity or other!”

Immediately Brandon winced. Maybe that had been a little harsh.

“Look. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. So what are you going to do about it?”

Words: 281
Muse: Iffy
Notes: This is more like what I wrote for Brandon’s character. xP

[Amber Craze James]

“Hey, I want to do something about it, but it’s not as if I can when she’s with you twenty-four seven! And when I do get a chance to talk to her, it’s sort of hard to bring up things like that when every other word she mentions is Amber, and then yours truly comes a long five minutes later to have at some crazy activity or other! Look. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. So what are you going to do about it?”

It hit Amber like a bullet in the face. Am I the reason that they're not together? Amber thought. Then she shook the crazy thought out of her head. Of course not... right? She was doing them a service, at the very least. The lot of them had no dating skills, so they needed Amber. needed Amber.

''Okkaaayy, Mr. Grouchy-Pants. Whatever you say.'' Amber said, ignoring most of what he said. Stubborn ol' girl, she is. ''I'm sorry.'' She admitted a moment later. ''But I just like you two as a couple. I love Pandora, and she hasn't been...'' Amber shut her big mouth before it could cause more trouble. ''I mean... okay... let's start over from when I just got here, kay? Okay.''

Amber took a deep breath, wishing she hadn't of opened her mouth to start with -- she got that feeling a lot. ''So, hi, Brandon. How are you?'' She asked, hoping he would go along with it and/or understand what she was doing.

[Brandon Gale]

“Okkaaayy, Mr. Grouchy-Pants. Whatever you say. I'm sorry. But I just like you two as a couple. I love Pandora, and she hasn't been...”

"Been what? Brandon wanted to ask. But he kept his mouth shut. Like as not Pandora would skin both of them if he got information about her through her best friend. "Don't call me that," he said instead, feeling unreasonably irritated. What was the chant that he'd heard some younger kids jumping rope to? Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me. No, it wasn't the Mr. Grouchy-Pants thing that got on his nerves. It was the daughter of Apollo's complete and utter unawareness of anything that wasn't shoved under her nose. Boy he might be, but even Bran could tell when to back off. That was a useful talent sometimes. Surprisingly, Amber seemed to take the hint.

“I mean... okay... let's start over from when I just got here, kay?" she asked. "Okay."

Raising his eyebrow slightly, Brandon said nothing. It was probably one of those weird, Amber-ish things that everybody talked about. "Sure, whatever," he said, repressing a sigh and scooting further up on the dock to lean against a pole. "Go for it." Not that the irrepressible girl would need or even want his approval to "start over." Sure enough, without waiting for an answer, Amber James charged on.

“So, hi, Brandon. How are you?”

"Hi, Amber. I've been alright, I guess," Brandon said, shrugging to show indifference. "A few minor catastrophes here and there, but pretty boring otherwise. You?" he asked, glancing sideways at the blonde. "And how is Pandora doing?" he added pointedly, wanting to make sure that the girl didn't dash off on some side track of how she was reading this great book and it was so awesome and she had this run in with this cute boy or whatever. Yep, this guy had seen and heard a couple things in his time at camp. He knew what girls could do (sort of).

Words: 293
Muse: Eh
Notes: Amber reminds me of Nudge from MR. *nodnod*

[Amber Craze James]

"Hi, Amber. I've been alright, I guess. A few minor catastrophes here and there, but pretty boring otherwise. You?"

Amber shrugged. Nowadays had been kinda rough for her. That's kind of the reason that she was so hyper. She usually let people breathe, but now she didn't. But that wasn't Brandon's problem. "Uh... you know. The uh, the usual." She said. It wasn't a direct lie, but it wasn't the whole truth. Hopefully Brandon wouldn't question it.

"And how is Pandora doing?"

"Oh. Well, she's sick. And she almost died the other day, but she's... doing well enough. Okay, I'm going to shut myself up before I start rambling..." Amber smiled. He obviously was expecting her to do something stupid or start talking again, but she didn't. Amber just laid back onto the dock and looked up at the sky. It was deep blue with a ring of clouds outside the camp. It was... well, beautiful.

Sometimes Amber wished it would rain. She used to go out and dance in it back home, and perfect weather just didn't feel right. There was something about it that made her feel a little off. Her brain still need to register that she couldn't go loud watching or stand in the rain beacuse there where no. Fleeping. Clouds.

Her mind wandered back to Brandon and Amber realized how stupid she was a few minutes ago. Part of her eanted to say sorry, part of her wanted to pretend it never happened. And of course, with wandering thoughts about the convorsation was wandering thoughs about what he had said about her being the reason the weren't together. Amber stared at the sky, thinking. And thinking. And thinking. Was she really that annoying? Maybe she actually was the reason they weren't together. Without realizing it, a hard expression crossed her face as she thought.

She sat back up, Amber was almost - almost - ready to cry. This is why thinking was dangerous.