How Can I Swim if I am Ice?

Better idea...well... Nathaniel wanted so badly to just ask Cade if she would go with him to eat somewhere in New York but that could turn out badly. Sighing he closed his eyes and prepared himself for a terrible anger attack from the girl in front of him. Do you...do you want to go with me to New York for something to eat? Nathaniel asked Cade quietly with his eyes still closed.

"New York as in Manhattan?" Cade asked, looking to him curiously. She considered his proposition. He hadn't asked her whether she wanted to go on a date with him, and she had seen very little of New York City since her arrival at camp. She thought it was a good idea, and so long as he didn't make anymore moves on her she figured she was okay. She nodded after a moment.

"Okay, I'll go with you," she said simply, meeting his eyes for a brief moment.

Nathaniel opened his eyes cautiously when he didn't hear an outburst from the girl he was talking to. This hopefully meant she was okay with his question but sometimes you never knew so Nathaniel stayed careful until he saw her look at him. The son of Khione smiled barely and trapped his arms around his legs before nodding at the question about New York. Yeah Manhattan. Just know this isn't a date but only a question of whether or not you will go with me for something to eat. Nathaniel knew she would be nervous about how she answered after what he had just done a few minutes ago.

"Didn't I just agree to go with you?" asked Catheryn amusedly, a smug grin on her face. "I'll go. I haven't seen much of Manhattan yet, and I'm looking forward to it."

The poor boy looked awfully uncomfortable, and she had pity for him. Anxiety rolled off of him in waves.

Nathaniel nodded and brushed his hair out of his face. It had become more of a nervous motion than anything else and he didn't realize he did it. Okay...h...how soon d...do you want to le...leave? Nathaniel hadn't expected Case to agree and now he was a stuttering nervous fool.

"Well, I would need to change first," Cade spoke, glancing at her bathing suit before looking at him again. "But we can leave whenever you'd like after that." 

She couldn't help but grin at the look on his face, and she nudged him. "You don't have to be so freaked out; if we're going to be friends, you're probably going to have to learn to handle making plans with me," she teased.

Nathaniel smiled and dropped his hand from his hair to grab his jeans and shirt. Quickly he pulled them on and donned his armor and weapons. After sitting in the sun for so long his body was dry enough for him to do this. I'm sure I can handle making plans with you. It's just that I wasn't expecting you to say yes when I asked. Nathaniel thought and pulled on a piece of grass. With little thought as to what he was doing, the son of Khione twisted and pulled on the grass while adding more until it was a miniature rose. I guess we could go in an hour or so. Nathaniel had to think quickly and realized he didn't have money, but he knew who did. Already Nathaniel knew he would have to go borrow some money from Justin, the son of Hephaestus. If this were going to be a good time then the son of Khione would need money. Maybe he'd get a car for times like this as well. That meant he would have to have some way for Justin to get his own car back.

"We can go in an hour," agreed Catheryn, smirking slightly at the rose he'd created. It was kind of sweet, but she still wasn't used to the idea of him liking her. 

"So I'll see you?" she asked, eyeing him carefully as he devised his plans.

Nathan smirked as he noticed Cade look at him carefully with her obvious uncertainty. An hour it is. Maybe by then you will be able to not know my feelings toward you. Nathaniel stood up and walked slowly toward Camp with a polite wave toward Cade. This was certainly going to be fun if things went the way he thought they would.

-----An hour later------

The sun was setting already and Nathaniel noticed that the wind had died down slightly but he twirled the key ring around his finger while looking for the false tree that led to the car port. Suddenly the tree appeared in front of him and Nathan walked up to it while reciting a ballad in Ancient Greek. The tree split in half and so did the hill which led into a car port. Lights flickered on and Nathaniel was able to find his way to the black Audi which was Justin's. He felt the $100,000 in his jacket pocket that his friend had given him and smiled. Quickly he started the car and pulled out onto the other side of the hill. The carport vanished and Nathaniel let the car idle where Cade would be able to see him.

"That's doubtful," Catheryn called with a knowing grin as the boy walked away. Once he was gone she headed off to the showers. When dressing she made sure not to wear anything too revealing or pretty; instead she went with a cute-but-not-too-cute pair of olive green shorts and a plain white t-shirt and a pair of Keds. She fishtailed her wet hair quickly before heading out to Half Blood Hill, where Nathan had told her to meet him. It felt as if she could already sense his mood; he was happy and hopeful and just a little bit stir crazy, filled with anticipation and raring to go. She shook her head; she shouldn't be evaluating his mood so often since she would only exhaust herself in doing so. Regardless, she continued as she approached the vehicle- which was fancy and souped up and clearly not one that he owned- and waved to him. 

"Hey," she spoke coolly, allowing him a slight smile as she opened the door to the passenger side, sliding in and slipping on her seatbelt. The gods only knew what kind of driver Nathaniel was.

Nathaniel saw Cade and instantly had to make his mind go blank because of any possible feeling he could have. The guy was calm and good at being anti social but even he would see and notice the beauty that Cade had. Nathan pulled out on the road and smiled at the girl before allowing himself to actually think again. It was normally after the initial shock that he was really good and Nathaniel hoped to the gods that he wouldn't embarrass himself on this night. So what exactly do you want to do?

As soon as he caught sight of her, Nathaniel instantly  closed himself off, making it incredibly difficult for her to decipher his emotions. She could feel them just beneath the surface, but it was difficult to tap into them, which outwardly frustrated her more than she realized. Eyebrows furrowed, she leaned back into the car's leather interior and listening to him as he spoke. He seemed to relax a little, his emotions flowing more freely, but at the moment she didn't really care what he was feeling. 

"I don't really care what we do; it's my first time in New York, do you have any ideas? We could hit some tourist traps, get up the Empire State Building- although I'm not sure how the gods would react to that." Cade looked at him.

Nathan nodded thoughtfully and drove on toward the Empire State Building. While it was true that Mount Olympus was over the Empire State Building, demi gods were still allowed to travel to and from the building itself without issue so the teenager stopped in front of the Empire State Building and looked up at the sky. He could almost imagine what it would be like to be up on the top of Mount Olympus smiling down at his friends and allies down on Earth. What do you like to do? There are many things we could do in New York but what do you like to do?

"I don't know. Let's go to the State Building first; I've never been to the city, and it's kind of a rite of passage, right?" Cade asked, smiling slightly at him. "Maybe afterwards we can got to dinner; I've heard that New York City pizza is to die for, and we'll go from there," she spoke, shrugging.

((lately I have been coming to know new york quite well so rping this should be a breeze for me!))

((Lol I haven't been to New York but briefly one time so...Google time for me ))

Nathaniel idled the car for a second as he glanced over at Catheryn and then he looked away quickly as he blushed. This was going to be difficult because the son of Khione hadn't been very attentive when he went through the city all those times. While it was true that he knew the city of New York quite well, he certainly knew nothing about where to go with his friends on nights like this. Nathaniel put the car into drive and pulled out into the street with ease as he looked for somewhere to go. The State building was right in front of them but he wasn't sure what to do there. As he pulled into an actual parking area, Nathan shut off the car and turned to look at Catheryn. Honestly, I don't know what I'm doing here so...here we are at the Empire State Building. At the top of the building is a great force of nature that will strike you down if you upset it. Nathaniel tried to pull off the false and humorous tour guide at the end of his words.

Catheryn smiled and rolled her eyes at his statement, laughing and taking him by the hand, walking to the lit-up sign in the garage that read "ENTRANCE." "It's so simple, Nate," she said, gazing at him whilst reading his emotions. He seemed nervous about leading her through the city; some tour guide he was. They entered the lobby of the state building, and off to the side there was a place where you could purchase tickets to go up to the observation decks. 

"Tons of tourists come here every day; it can't be that hard to maneuver."

((Psh I haven't even been to New York but for a very short period of time for like a family thing and that was just passing through))

Nathaniel let Cade lead him along to the entrance as she joked around and talked about how it was easy to maneuver New York but he just didn't see it that much. His emotions warred within him as he debated whether or not to tell her he was too tense to do anything or if he should just go ahead and tell her that...no that hadn't gotten him anywhere. Slowly his eyes slid down until they rested at her face and then he let his gaze drift a bit more but...quickly Nathaniel looked up before Cade could tell where he was looking or what he was thinking. His face burned as the blood flowed to his cheeks and he tried to hide his embarrassment from being so attracted to her but it wasn't working.

Catheryn could practically feel the testosterone swimming through Nathaniel's veins, and it was making her just a little bit uncomfortable. Maybe this was a mistake, maybe she was giving him the wrong idea, but she wound up blushing and she wasn't sure what to think. Being the untraditional girl that she was, Cade walked right up to the counter and bought the tickets for the both of them, laying out the cash and taking them without even a backward glance at Nathan. She then proceeded to head off to the elevators, expecting him to keep up with her like a little puppy-dog; since she could still sense his aura, she knew he wasn't far behind.

As Cade walked forward to buy the tickets and then go to the elevator, he saw the blush darken her cheeks which did no good to keep his eyes from drifting down further until he was blushing himself. He tried to look up several times but all Nathaniel could do was watch the sway of her hips and the way she walked and how she moved and notice everything about her. In a quick jerky motion, Nathaniel forced himself to look up and walk into the elevator but the space didn't help as he could smell her shampoo and skin and could see the way she moved when she breathed and it drove him insane to just stand there. Nathan breathed in deeply and then moved so that he could avoid any awkward questions from the girl he was with. The other two girls who were in the elevator kept looking over at Nathaniel and giggling while they muttered something about size and being a guy. He blushed again and looked away uncomfortably.

The foursome made their way into the elevator and Catheryn could hardly take it as the two hormonal teenaged girls loaded in, flipping her mind into overdrive. Her head ached, filled to capacity, and she shut her eyes for a moment. 

"You girls can have him; he's not my boyfriend," she said, looking to them and glancing at Nathan snarkily. Maybe that'd get him off of her case, for now. This was a mistake, though, because their feelings of lust just intensified and by the time the elevator reached their floor her face had paled, her mind throbbing. She stumbled out, only to find that they'd landed on a security floor. She let the attendant rummage through her over-the-shoulder tote until she was satisfied, walking through the metal detector without a problem regardless of the knife she'd hidden in a sheath in her shorts' pocket. She'd never liked the things, but she knew that in some cases, she'd have to deal with them. They reached a second elevator and Cade groaned internally as she waited for Nathan to get through security; he hadn't seemed to have had as much luck as her.

Nathan had began to step out of the elevator when one of the girls giggled and pulled him back into the elevator just as it closed. He gasped but soon everything grew quiet from the outside as the guards figured that the three had gone back down or something. About ten minutes later, Nathaniel stepped out of the elevator with his hair seriously messed up and his eyes glazed over while a stupid grin was stuck on his face. He stumbled a few times and the two girls giggled again and ran up just in time to kiss him, each lasting a couple minutes. Nathaniel continued to grin after wards and then stopped at the guards.

Both guards smirked and waved for Nathaniel to walk by since obviously he wasn't any threat in the condition he was in. Yet one of them stopped the son of Khione and whispered something to do with elevators and babies but it wasn't loud enough for anyone to hear other than those two words. Nathaniel walked through still wearing his grin and messed up hair while his clothes were wrinkled. He walked over to Cade and then just stood there still not saying anything at all.

Cade gaped in disbelief as the girls took her advice and Nathaniel had taken a spin with one of them in the elevator doing gods knew what, because he came out looking dazed and ravaged. The color flushed from her cheeks as she mentally scolded herself, trying desperately to close her mind off from the feelings of lust and satisfaction being radiated by the son of Khione. He finally got through security and she didn't say anything to him; she just stood there waiting for the second elevator, having crossed her arms over her chest subconsciously. They boarded the elevator and Cade finally spoke as the doors shut, gazing at the closed doors. 

"You're not going to immediately jump on top of me since we're alone in here, right?" she asked, eyeing him for a second before gazing up at the automated floor sign, which illustrated their ascent up to the observation deck. When she'd joked with those girls, she hadn't expected them to actually go along with it, or Nathan to agree so easily if they did. She wasn't sure what to make of him, because what kind of guy was he if he was willing to hook up with some random girl on an elevator? Who had she come into the city with? What if he tried to hurt her, or worse, thought she was here because she had a crush on him, which she may or may not have had, and tried to make a move on her? There'd be none of that, but he was a year or two older than her, and that unsettled her.

Nathan blinked and then smiled to himself because he wasn't even sure why he'd allowed those two girls to coerce him but now he was with Case. If you wanted me to then yeah. Still we did agree to being just friends and I respect that. Nathan absent mindedly ran his fingers through his hair and then smirked. You knew exactly what those girls were feeling, didn't you?

Catheryn's cheeks burned, partly in anger and partly in embarrassment. 

"I made a joke. I didn't think that you were going to practically impregnate her!" she shouted indignantly, her fiery gaze meeting his for a moment before she looked away, glaring impatiently at the elevator sign. The dinging sound of the bell at each floor mocked her with its slow redundancy, she longed to step out of this elevator, away from the boy's poisonous, rueful, lust-ridden radiation.

Nathaniel glanced at the floors lighting up, slowly wondering if this were supposed to be the time he found out answers to his questions for Cade. He had only one that he absolutely had to ask and Nathan wasn't sure why he had to or how he was going to say it anyhow as the dinging ringed in his ears like annoying bells. Why are you so upset about me being with other girls if you only want to be friends? I already tried to date you and you told me no so I moved on to someone else, who may or may not be pregnant after today. Yet you are here acting like I was wrong in not looking at you and hurting myself because I wanted to kiss you but knowing that you would get upset at me for it. Nathaniel's voice was low and filled with frustration and sadness while he rubbed his arms and looked at the floor hoping that Cade wasn't too angry with him to completely ruin the day. Sure that girl in the elevator, or more like girls, could be pregnant but he wasn't sure it would really matter anyhow because let's face it, a child of a mortal and demi god weren't in as much danger.

Nathaniel felt his mind begin to clear and soon all that filled it was regret for making Catheryn so upset for his behaviors. Now that he knew what was going on, Nathan looked at Cade again, fear in his eyes as he realized that this could be the last time she ever talked to him again after today.