Cameras, Laxatives, and Snorkeling Gear, Oh My!

[Bailey Allison]

Camera? Check. Picnic basket? Check. Snorkeling gear? Check. Batteries? Check... Bailey went down the list again, checking off items mentally as he found them. If he forgot even one thing, there would be a chance that the prank wouldn't go as planned. And while this was only a "Class B" prank, there was still danger present if it went wrong. His three main concerns? Castration, death, and torture. Nothing he couldn't handle. Except for the castration and torture part... Bailey shuddered as he thought of what his targets would do if they found out that they had been set up. No, it was more like when they found out that they had been set up.

But he needn't worry about that! He was fairly sure this would go well, and everyone would survive without too many grievous injuries. After all, Bailey was quite the expert when it came to complicated pranks like this. His motto when it came to pranks? Prior proper planning and preparation prevents piss poor pranks. And he followed it exactly, as evidenced by the five pages in his notebook that were entirely devoted to this practical joke and filled with tiny, cramped lettering detailing the prank. After going through the list for the fifth time, he was satisfied and quickly set up the picnic.

As he spread out a red checkered blanket, Bailey couldn't help but grin to himself. This prank would be so damn amazing. And if all went well, not only would he elicit a hilarious reaction from his prankees, but he would also have the whole camp in laughter. After all, he had set up one of the best blind dates ever. Somehow, Bailey had convinced Max Darke and Finn McCain to participate in one. Getting Finn to agree had been easy... It had only taken the mention of an extremely hot girl who would go well with him. That, combined with Bailey asking Finn to do it as though it were a challenge, had taken care of one of the victims. It had been much more difficult to convince Maxine. However, after a bit of manipulation and not-so-subtle hinting towards a date with her crush (whoever he was), Bailey had snagged his second victim. That had been the hardest part, and Bailey was pretty sure that everything would go smoothly after this.

Chuckling slightly, the Hermes camper finished smoothing down the blanket, opened the picnic basket, and pulled out a jar of flower petals. Earlier that morning, he had collected them from the forest floor, and he needed to put them to use before they dried up. Grabbing a handful, he strewed them around the blanket and in the grass. Satisfied with his work, he tucked the jar in his backpack before pulling out two wine glasses and placing them on the ground. Bailey filled them halfway up with Coke, Max's and Finn's favorite drinks, before dropping a pill in each. They were over-the-counter laxatives that he had nicked from the infirmary, and after using them in several pranks, he knew that they would be reliable and best of all, indistinguishable. By the time the two arrived, the pill would've dissolved, and with a bit of luck, both would take a sip of their drinks without a second thought. Tonight would most definitely not be a good night for them.

After questioning some Aphrodite girls the day before, Bailey had decided that roses and chocolates would definitely help set the mood. He carefully plucked out two roses from the basket and laid them on next to a tiny dish of chocolates. It was a good thing Max was fond of those since they were tainted as well with crushed up laxatives. Almost everything in the basket was laced with that stuff, but Bailey had been sure not to put in so much that they would become seriously ill if they ate everything. He didn't need a death hanging on his conscience. And the stuff was less dangerous than ipecac, which he had originally planned to use, so the risk was even less.

Once he was sure everything was in place, Bailey opened the basket, revealing a wide array of food. Hopefully, they'd take one look at it and start stuffing themselves. With a mischievous smirk, he carefully collected his backpack, which was filled with essential gear, and crawled into the nearby brush. Bailey would wait here for the two lovebirds that were due to arrive in just a few minutes. Soundlessly, he pulled out a camera and raised the viewfinder to his eye. Although a few leaves blocked his view, he could still see the picnic, and Bailey was almost positive that they wouldn't be able to see him. He took several shots to ensure that the flash and sound wasn't on before he was satisfied and turned it off. Although there was little chance of them spotting him, he flattened himself to the ground even more, ignoring an uncomfortable shrub that poked into his side.

Something rustled, signifying that someone was coming, and Bailey slowly brought the camera up, ready to take pictures. This would interesting...

Word Count: 858
Muse: Alive
Notes: Sorry for the rambliness, and don't worry about matching the word count. EDIT: Posting order will be Bailey, Max, Finn until Bailey drops out.
Tagged: Finn, Max

[Max Darke]

Maxine Darke walked across her cabin. ''No!'' She said one last time.
''But Maxxx!!!'' The other girl, Sadie whined. ''You have to! Please? You'll look amazing.'' She reasoned. Max held up the sun dress Sadie was trying to get her to wear and shook her head. ''Never! I will not where a dress!'' Max told her. At this point, the girl backed down. She had already gotten max to brush her hair, what more could a Max be pushed towards? Max pulled her hair into a ponytail, then slipped on her shoes. She had clean clothes on, that was totally fancy to her.

She had been convinced by Bailey to go on a blind date. He said it was with her ''crush'', but since her crush was bailey, she knew it wasn't true. She just went along with it because she was interested to see how Bailey's prank would play out. But that didn't mean she wouldn't crack some skulls if she had too. She tucked a loose hair behind her ear, cracked her knuckles and marched out. Confident that tonight would be a disaster, she walked slowly, preparing herself to beat the living crap out of a Mr. Bailey Allison. She put on her best intimidating face and almost felt sorry for the poor guy on the other end of this prank.

She wondered who it would be, if it was Ilo she would have to beat them both. If it was Misha . . . Well, he has a girlfriend? Max wondered how that would turn out. If it was Kyle that would just be plain awkward, but Max wouldn't mind that much. Kyle was a pretty good friend of hers and she could probably deal with that. Now anyone else and Max really DID feel sorry for them, not only was this her first date, but it was a prank, so she would have no idea what to do and probably end up channeling her emotions into a swift smack in the face.

She walked through the grass, it was the perfect temperature to her. Not to hot, not to cold. That was a rare thing. A beautiful, rare thing. The grass skimmed her ankles and she stopped for a second to look up into the sky. A perfect ring of dark clouds surrounded the camp, and Max hated it. She wished it would rain! Rain was a part of nature, and nature was her whole childhood. Why did they have to bless this camp with perfect weather?! Stupid Gods . . .

Max came up, a few yards from the meeting place. She cracked her knuckles and walked forward, her cruel, intimidating face on. She walked forward and she scanned the ground, looking for anything and everything that could tell her if someone was hiding. Ready to break someones nose if they popped out at her, she walked forward slowly, on alert. Nothing happened as she approached the picnic, Bailey had out done himself. Flower petals lined the checkered blanket and wine glasses with coke in them where laid out overtop.

Max sat down chocolate was there along with roses. Max knew better than to eat the chocolate, she would eventually, but once her ''date'' got there she would make him eat it, too. If she was going down, so was he. The absolute last person Max would expect is the one that showed up. When Finn McCain showed up, he sat down and Max hung her head. ''Oh my gods, Finn. It appears we're on a date.'' she said.

She was going to kill Bailey later.

[/center]

[Finn McCain]

Hands in his pockets, whistling cheerily in a deceivingly good imitation of the song-birds that frequented Camp Half-blood’s grounds, Finn strode along the grassy fields that overlapped the sand at Fireworks beach and wondered who his date was for the ridiculous prank that Bailey had convinced him to attend. Though the meticulously discreet, over-planning son of Hermes hadn’t mentioned anything about a prank, it was almost beyond obvious that, indeed, the blind date was some sort of potentially embarrassing prank; since a matchmaker was one thing he knew Bailey was not.

Still, he had felt obliged to accept; mostly because the suggestion had cleverly been concealed in the form of a dare – and Carter Finn McCain never, ever backed down from a challenge. And of course, there was also the possibility that his friend had really convinced, in his words, an ‘an extremely hot girl who would go well with him.’ That the kid had convinced any girl to go on a blind date already impressed the twenty-four year old a lot.

But as he topped the sandy hill he was climbing, two words broke from his mouth. “Maxine Darke?!” Immediately Finn felt grateful that he still had a ways to go before the girl sitting on the bright, checkered picnic basket could hear him. Thank gods she hadn’t; the counselor had to teach fighting the next day and he didn’t want an extra big bruise on top of the ones he would get later.

“Sheesh, Bailey, what the heck were you thinking?” A scowling frown passed over his perplexed face. There was at least ten years between himself and Max; and while the girl was really hot, even the laid-back and open-minded Finn considered the age difference one too large. This made him suspect that something more was behind this seemingly simple prank…

At any rate, though, it was much too late now to back out; he would have to think later and act right then. “Ha.” That suited the impulsive young man very well. Take advantage of opportunity was another one of his mottos which he definitely lived out. Hopefully Max wouldn’t yell at him, punch him in the gut, or (!) completely decapitate him.

Starting up his whistling again, Finn jogged down the rest of the way to the site and sat down immediately. With that quirky smile on his face, he prepared to blurt out a friendly greeting when to his surprise, Max hung her head and said, “Oh my gods, Finn. It appears we’re on a date.”

Totally put off his guard but not showing it at all, the twenty-four year old didn’t know whether to be insulted or amused. Then something that was definitely laughter flickered in his dark eyes as he said teasingly, “And is that such a bad thing to you?” It definitely held a lot of risk for him, with the notoriety of the girl’s punches and the experience of having felt one for himself, but other than irritation and perhaps some embarrassment, there was no reason for the ‘hanging-head-implying-I’m-dreading-it’ action on Max’s part.

Well, the upside to the whole situation was that he got a pretty splendid view, chocolates, roses (not part of the meal, thank gods… at least he thought so…) and—was that Coke? “Gods, Bailey certainly outdid himself with the food,” Finn observed as he kicked his sandals off and lay sideways on the wide spread of the blanket, immediately popping a bite-sized lump of chocolate into his mouth.

“So what’s up with you, Max?”

Words: 588
Muse: Decent.
Notes: Heya!

[Bailey Allison]

Surprisingly, Max showed up. Bailey had fully expected her not to go or send someone in her place and mess up the whole blind date. In a way, he almost would've preferred it if someone else had shown up. After all, Max's punches were a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, Bailey knew this from experience. And he could only guess what she would do once this night was over. If her routine punches left bruises on his shoulders, she could probably break his arm if she wanted to. Thank gods he had a practically foolproof escape plan...

The sound of whistling heralded the arrival of the other victim. Finn's arrival didn't surprise Bailey nearly as much as Max. After all, Finn would do practically anything if dared, and that went doubly true if the dare involved a hot girl. Bailey watched the scene with continued interest. In a way, he kind of felt sorry for Finn. After all, the guy was bound to get killed by Max. And then pictures of him getting beat up by a vicious Max would make their way around Camp, further humiliating him. If Finn was lucky, he'd be dead before he realized that there were pictures of this date going around.

Disappointingly, Max didn't try to kill Finn as soon as she spotted him. However, that was a minor disappointment as there was still plenty of time for drama to break out. Bailey took the opportunity to snap a few pictures, grinning to himself as he did so. The Hermes camper only wished Max would smile a bit for the camera. After all, a picture of Max smiling up at some guy who was ten years older than her was priceless. And a picture of Max and said guy on a picnic blanket with chocolate and roses? Even better. Hey, maybe he'd be able to sell these pictures... That would be freakin' awesome. And maybe it'd indicate a possibility of a future as a paparazzo. If the whole professional surfing thing didn't work out, surely he'd be able to make money setting up celebrities on blind dates and snapping pictures of them. Come to think of it, being a paparazzo had to be the easiest job in the world. They got to make money taking pictures of people! And the pictures didn't even have to be all artsy and fancy! Yeah, Bailey would definitely keep that career option in mind as he got older.

A flash of movement pulled Bailey out of his thoughts and back into the present. Finn popped a piece of chocolate into his mouth, and Bailey had to bite his tongue to keep from cheering. Damn, this would be so perfect. Hopefully, Max would copy Finn and eat a piece herself. Or maybe she had already tried one? Bailey mentally kicked himself for not paying more attention. Oh, well, he'd know later. The two would be locked in the bathrooms for the whole night, leaving Bailey a chance to escape and hide somewhere safe. And if he was lucky, the two would blame it on lunch or something, never suspecting Bailey. Ok, so maybe the fact that the two were the only ones with bowel movement problems would be a bit suspicious. But surely they wouldn't link it back to him, right?

Whatever. He'd worry about it later. Right now, he'd just soak up the moment and take pictures of Camp Half-Blood's newest couple.

Word Count: 575
Muse: Alive-ish
Tagged: Max, Finn

[Max Darke]

“And is that such a bad thing to you?”

''Yes. Because you're Finn McCain. The idiot who pushed me into the lake. Bite me, you didn't make a very good first impression.'' Max said like he was an idiot. Which, of course, he was. She retraced when they first met. It was... quite embarassing, to be honest. I mean, she had flipped when she lost her locket. It was... really annoying to know that he knew this stuff. She was always inwardly scolding herself for letting it slip.

“Gods, Bailey certainly outdid himself with the food,”

"Yeah, I wouldn't--" Max made a face as he ate one. "Those probably have a bunch of... interesting things in there." The girl picked one peice of chocolate up then looked at it. There was nothing you could see, so she sniffed it. She stratched at it with her finger for a second and still couldn't see whatever it was. So she took a chance and licked it. ''Bailey is a genius... Gods, I can't believe I just said that." She said. Then with another chance, she popped it in her mouth. It tasted way too... normal.

“So what’s up with you, Max?”

"I started a list of people I want to punch in the face." She said seriously. Finn would probably think she was joking. She wasnt. The other day she had seen a black book from the camp store and stolen it. After that she had left it on her bed for a few nights, then come into her cabin one night and started scribbling down names of people she met that day. Then she realized that she hated all of those people and wanted to punch them. And that was how the list got started. It had to have thirty pages by now. "You?" She asked. Not that she cared, really, it was just the thing to do. Right?

And I know what your thinking 'oh gods! When does Max do the right thing?'. But unlike what most people thought, Max wasn't openly mean. She just didn't let people bully her or annoy her. Sure she didn't have the best social skills... but hey, she wasn't mean.