Presenting the colors is an honor! (Octavian guarantees his spot as resident jackass)
Time and Place: Late August 2010, preparing for a feast to celebrate the victory of the Titan War. The legion's colorguard is practicing on the inspection pad in front of their barracks.
The Camp Jupiter colorguard is made up of eight people. One person bears each cohort's flag, two guard the eagle, and one bears the eagle. The colorguard must work as not just a team, but as a body. They should understand each other's movements and intentions, and above all appear poised, professional, and completely and utterly Roman.
~The Legionnaire's Handbook for the 21st Century: The Colorguard's Creed
The Legion's eagle-bearer is Jacob Hannigan. The eagle-guards are Andrew Sedran on spear guard and Anne DeVries on torch guard. Octavian Imperata represents the First Cohort; Alyssa Whitney, the Second; Megan Harper, the Third; Denise Martinez, the Fourth; and Gwendolyn Aurum, the Fifth.
~Camp Jupiter Almanac 2010: People of Interest
"Jacob! Keep that standard in the air! You must be proud of your position, even if the eagle isn't there!" commanded Octavian. "Denise, straight arms! Megan, your angle is off! Gwendolyn, that flag must point straight up! And- Good gods, Andrew, your shoulders look like a unicorn sat on them! Square them up!"
"Centurion," Megan addressed him, "before you criticize us, you should watch your own posture at right shoulder!"
"I don't have time for criticism from Third Cohort scum," he muttered under his breath, then returned to his spot and realized that his grip was off- just a little.
"Octavian," Reyna called from her wooden patio chair, "I don't really care that you come from the most distinguished family of Roman demigods currently at this camp, but when one insults the praetor's own cohort, there is need for punishment. Call Miss Harper scum again and we will see just how much unicorn crap you can clean up."
"Understood, Praetor Canina," he grumbled.
Jason twisted his lip from his own chair. "Anne, if you hold the torch there you'll never be able to defend the eagle with it. A little higher."
"Understood, Praetor Grace."
Andrew cursed as he nearly dropped his pilum. Octavian glared at him. "Andrew, language. Defending the eagle is a privilege. Common men from the taverns would not be suited to fight in the Roman army, much less represent the Imperial Legion in their colorguard. Therefore, you cannot use the language of a common man from the taverns in the colorguard."
Andrew, who was in essentiality Octavian's greatest rival, flipped him the bird as soon as his back was turned.
"I'm choosing Andrew if we ever have to nominate a new praetor again," Gwen said with a smile, holding the Fifth Cohort's banner a little higher.
"That's the way to go," Megan whispered.
"Andrew is boss," Denise agreed.
Alyssa representative of the Second Cohort and Anne the torch-bearer remained silent but both cracked smiles.
Octavian probably didn't hear them, otherwise he would have thrown his spear-topped, vibrant purple First Cohort standard at them. Gwen wouldn't put it past him to stab a fellow legionnaire.
"Can we please shut up and get back to practicing?" Jacob asked. He was probably the only serious person in the colorguard—when he wasn't playing Wizard101 or Skyrim.
Alyssa rolled her eyes. "It's not our fault that Octavian has an aptitude to act like the Emperor."
"Well, his last name is Imperata*," Denise pointed out.
Jason snorted upon hearing Denise's comment, eliciting a glare from both his coworker Reyna and Octavian, who did not like to be laughed at. Jason narrowed his electric-blue eyes at the augur and sipped his iced tea, continuing to watch the colorguard to ensure their perfection at the feast tomorrow. After all, he wasn't nicknamed "Eagle Eyes" for nothing. Reyna had given that nickname before he'd become praetor; when the old praetor, Matthew, had complimented his eye for detail.
Vitellius the ghost stepped in front of Octavian and frowned at him. "The lady's right, your posture is off."
Octavian finally broke his concentration, turned bright red, and tried to stab the ghostly warrior with his flag, failing ridiculously but nicking Anne on the back of her armor.
"That's it," Reyna said. "Centurion Imperata, you're on stable duty, and you will be once a week until you learn to control your anger."
Reyna's comment didn't help Octavian's anger as he threw his flag, which Alyssa caught before it hit the ground and handed to Reyna, who tried not to touch the handprints Octavian had left on the pole.
*Imperata is derived from 'imperator' which is Latin for emperor.