spark [private]

Jonathan had never gone to a beach party before and he wasn't entirely sure on how it was going to be like. The only thing he was certain of was the fireworks display, and that was about one of the things he looked forward to. As for the other thing... well, he was just about to meet her at right about now.

His beach slippers made no noise against the ground as he made his way towards the Apollo cabin. He raked a hand through his brown hair - just a nervous habit he supposed. His other fingers hooked around the waistband of the red-and-white beach shorts that reached up to his knees. As he walked, Jonathan kept wondering if he was dressed well for the occasion. Sure, it was a beach party but... argh, maybe he was just getting too self-conscious. Yeah, that definitely sounded logical. Upon arriving at the door of the golden cabin, Jonathan swallowed back the lump that had formed in his throat as he absently toyed with the buttons of his white polo shirt. Okay, this is it.

After taking a deep breath, Jonathan knocked three times on the cabin door. Would it be too much to hope for if it was Ronnie who answered? Maybe so, and Jonathan wouldn't be at all surprised if it was one of her siblings who did.

Convinced that one of Ronnie's siblings would have opened the door, Jonathan couldn't stop the rehearsed words from tumbling out of his mouth. "Hi, I'm looking for--whoa!" Having looked up before he could finish the entire sentence, he got totally blown away by the sight of the daughter of Apollo in front of him. Was she the same girl he met back at the arts and crafts shack earlier? Well, he almost couldn't tell at first glance.

Jonathan shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Now he felt ridiculously underdressed. "Wow, you look... wow," he could only utter. Her outfit was simple, just a Pikachu-themed top and a pair of skinny jeans, but it was the eyes that caught his attention. Clearing his throat, Jonathan seriously considered going back to the Aphrodite cabin to change into something more suitable but decided against it in the end. He won't look that out of place in the beach, right?

"You look amazing," Jonathan said, smiling. "...I hope I don't look too plain next to you." He gestured to his polo and beach shorts, feeling more stupid by the second. He should've gone for some pants, at least. "Didn't know you liked Pokemon," he teased, taking note of her striped bag. He was running out of words to say, and the fact that he was still feeling pretty pathetic about his choice of clothes didn't help a bit.

Jonathan's face felt a little hot and he was pretty sure that even the tips of his ears flushed. "Well, I guess that's my mother's doing. Thanks," he said softly, bringing a hand up to rub the back of his neck. Hoping that it was dark enough to conceal the traces of pink in his skin, Jonathan swallowed thickly and cocked his head to the side as a blonde girl walked past and bade Ronnie goodbye. "I'm guessing that she was the one who gave you the makeover?" he asked curiously as soon as the girl disappeared from sight.

Smiling, Jonathan shrugged. "Nah, a lot of my friends at school are into Pokemon. Not dorky at all. Unless you think we're dorks, then it could pass as something dorky..." Mentally he started to thank Walter and all of the other boys in his class for introducing him to the finer points of the franchise. More common ground now, at least. "So your favorite is Pikachu? Just a wild guess," he added mischievously, glancing back at the Pikachu designs on her outfit.

Jonathan stared at the daughter of Apollo, mesmerized by the way her hair framed her face. It took him a fair few moments to realize that she had spoken, and thankfully the pause hadn't been long enough to make it obvious how he was a little inattentive to her words. "Oh, I hope she gets well soon. A party could've cheered her up after... yeah." The son of Aphrodite felt genuine sympathy for the girl he barely knew, worrying a little too much about something that he really had no capacity to change. Just like how Jonathan didn't notice how he put the happiness of other people before himself. Someday, the bitter truth might come to bite him the end, but that was something he had yet to realize for himself.

"Oh, should we go?" he quickly offered. "I've heard that the fireworks are going to be fantastic."

"Well then, I guess you're lucky she didn't put you in a gown tonight," Jonathan teased, hastily rubbing his nose to hide the grin that found its way to his face. Just the thought of him in his casual get-up beside Ronnie in some kind of a ball gown almost caused him to chuckle. If that was the case, he'd definitely rush back to the Aphrodite cabin just to get changed.

Setting that thought aside, Jonathan was suddenly struck with a certain realization. Originally, it was supposed to be three of them - Ronnie, Kaida and him - but due to some uncontrollable circumstances, the number dwindled down to just two. He cleared his throat awkwardly. Just the two of them? Was this some sort of a date then? Not that he was complaining of the outcome, but it still caused Jonathan to feel just a little more nervous than before. The last date he had been in was about a year ago (A year already? Time flies, he pondered) and it didn't end well... for him at least. As for the girl, well, she continued to hang out with some guy she had been seeing for the past few months while dating him, so he assumed she was coping well. In any case, Jonathan was over her now, and it felt nice to think about that incident without his mood taking a turn for the worse.

Jonathan shoved his hands inside his pockets and cast a glance at the beach not too far off. He can already see the large collection of campers in the area, plus all the mechanisms that were needed to get the fireworks up and running. Looking back at Ronnie, he grinned like an excited schoolboy. "Sounds good," he agreed, before stopping there and shifting his weight on the balls of his feet. Uh... what now? he thought to himself. Did Ronnie consider this a date? Should he offer up his arm or something? Would it be too straightforward? Awkward, even? So many questions. He could only hope that he had just as many answers.

"Would it suddenly be too weird if I be a complete gentleman for tonight?" Jonathan suddenly found himself jokingly saying as he offered an arm out for Ronnie. It probably wasn't a smooth move, but it wasn't like he had anything else up in his sleeve. Simon was better than him at this, but hey, that wasn't going to keep him from trying, right? Nevertheless, Jonathan had a wide grin on his face as he waited for the girl's reaction, hoping against all odds that he hadn't made it feel uncomfortable for her. He was just kidding around, or at least showed that he was to lighten up the mood.

Jonathan arched both his eyebrows, not bothering to make any attempt to hide his surprise. "Seriously? I wouldn't have thought," he mused, laughing. He only meant the gown comment as a joke. Little did he know that it was actually possible.

Unable to stop the huge grin from forming on his face when Ronnie took his arm, Jonathan straightened into his full height (he was slightly hunched before) and practically radiated confidence. He couldn't really help it. Nothing wrong with being a shade prouder than usual, right? "Excellent," he remarked, reveling in his moment of giddiness. He could feel sparks flying from where her hand touched his arm. It was something Jonathan felt before, and something he never thought he'd feel again. Okay, maybe he was being overly dramatic with that, but all his experience caused him to be so pessimistic about these kinds of things.

Jonathan led her to the beach where a lot of campers had already gathered. Becoming slightly self-conscious because of the giggles they received (most likely due to their mismatched outfits), Jonathan cleared his throat and kept his eyes on the ground rather than what lay ahead. He breathed a small sigh of relief when his slippers touched sand instead of the hard ground and looked up at the torches alight with Greek fire. "Whoa, this is really something," Jonathan said in awe as his eyes lingered on the decorative plants courtesy of the Demeter demigods. Face alight with excitement and enthusiasm, he turned to look at Ronnie and asked, "What do you think?"