A/N: Twelve chapters down, three more to go... Enjoy!
Camus woke up to someone banging on the door early Christmas morning. He groaned and climbed out of bed to get the door.
Anna stood in the doorway.
"Every single item those kids asked for", she said. "-every single one-has been delivered to the children at the hospital. Delphine called me at six o'clock this morning, in utter shock. I knew you two must have had something to do with it."
Camus looked at Milo, who hadn't even made it into his bed. The Scorpio saint was curled up in a chair, a blanket half-draped around him, with a handkerchief clutched in his hand.
"Well, they're just children", he murmured. "And it was the least we could do to keep their dream of Santa alive after Milo nearly ruined it."
"Still it was really sweet of you two. We never realized how much new socks and cookies meant to them."
"When you have nothing, the littlest things can seem like something. Delphine said a lot of them had been abandoned by their families because they're dying. They can't have a lot."
Camus thought back of when he was training Hyoga and Issac in Siberia. They'd been extremely happy when Camus had given them new sets of thermal pajamas on their ninth birthdays because they'd outgrown theirs. Kids were easy to please-a lot of adults forgot as they got older just how easy it was to please a child.
"I came over to see if you and Milo wanted to join my sister and me for breakfast."
Camus gave her what he hoped was a sincere smile.
"Thanks for the offer, but I think Milo needs to stay asleep for a little while. He also wants to go to the hospital later, and we have to get ready to go home tomorrow."
"Oh. Well, no biggie. I'll see you both for dinner tonight." She smiled, but Camus could tell his refusal had upset her. "I guess I'll see you later. Meet me in the lobby at five-I'll take you guys to the place we're staying."
"Thank you, Anna", Camus said.
The girl smiled again, this time without sadness in her eyes, and let herself out. Camus watched her blond waves bounce around her shoulders as she walked down the hall. He sighed and shut the door behind him.
"Smooth move, Romeo", Milo murmured.
Camus turned his attention to his friend, who was now sitting up in his chair, his blanket wrapped firmly around his shoulders.
"How long have you been awake?", Camus asked.
"Since she knocked on the door-but I didn't want to make an awkward situation for you even more awkward."
Camus crossed the room and sank in the chair across from Milo's.
"I'm so confused", he admitted.
"What's wrong?", Milo asked.
"Anna", Camus replied. "I thought that much was obvious."
"Camus", Milo said softly. "Just because I can speak with you telepathically does not mean I can read your mind. There are a lot of things about Anna that could confuse you. Can you be a bit more specific?"
Camus sighed. He was definitely not used to this-usually Milo was the one who needed help and Camus offered advice.
"It's always easy for me to reject them-I give them an icy look and act uninterested and they leave me alone. I never really cared if I hurt their feeling-with Anna, though, it's different. I like her-I'm not interested in her as a girlfriend, but I like her. I don't want to hurt her feelings."
"You're going to hurt her more if you keep leading her on, Camus. Be honest with her and let her know you like her, but you only want to be her friend. She'll understand." Milo stood up and stretched. "Besides, she lives here and you live in Greece. A relationship with you two probably wouldn't work."
Milo walked towards the bathroom. Camus stared at him, dumbstruck. Finally, the Aquarius saint found his voice.
"Who are you and what have you done with Milo?"
The Scorpio saint grinned.
"Oh, I'm Milo, all right. I've just grown a but more mature is all."
"Since when?", Camus asked.
Milo looked thoughtful.
"Ohhh...two days ago. When we went skiing."
"What happened to you two days ago?", Camus persisted.
"Oh", Milo replied, without any hesitation. "I realized I like someone."
"And that girl would be...", Camus asked.
"Shaina." The name rolled off Milo's tongue in a soft whisper.
"Shaina? As in Ophichus Shaina?"
Camus felt as though his brain was breaking.
"Yeah", Milo replied, without the faintest bit on embarassment in his voice."Ophichus Shaina. You know, with the green hair? The Italian one?"
"How did you find yourself attracted to her?", Camus couldn't help but wonder. Milo was the type of guy who liked to be in charge in a relationship. While Shaina was the type of girl who not be dominated.
"I'm not sure. Must be those sexy green eyes she has-have you ever noticed how delicious they look? And that tight little ass of hers..." the Scorpio saint trailed off and laughed at the look Camus was giving him. It was an interesting mix of horror and disgust. Once he'd gotten himself under control, he continued. "I'm just joking, Camus. Shaina, is a very beautiful girl, don't get me wrong, but she's also a very tough girl. She can take care of herself. I like that about her."
Camus chuckled softly.
"You had me worried for a moment there."
Milo smiled again.
"Just be honest with Anna, OK? Be gentle with her feelings, but don't try to sugar-coat and say if you lived in France you would want to be with her or anything like that if you wouldn't. She'll appreciate your honesty."
Camus nodded.
"Thank you, Milo", he said.
Milo bowed.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day and would like to take a shower."
"Hey, I was up before you, I should get to use the shower first.", Camus replied, trying not to laugh at the water buffalo comment.
"Oh, no. You are not allowed to shower before anyone ever again. Or did you forget that time we all had to room together and you nearly killed Shaka?"
"We were twelve, that's first off. Second off, it's not my fault Shaka didn't check to see what I'd set the water to before he turned on the water."
"Third off is Shaka rarely opens his eyes and probably didn't know just how weird you are."
"I like cold showers. How is that weird?", Camus demanded.
"Cold showers and near absolute-zero showers are two different things. When people are passing out in your shower from hypothermia after being in it for two seconds and they're not me. Well..."
"Ok, I get your point", Camus said. Then with a small smirk, he added "Though Shaka's hair did look amazing after that. Cold water is great on hair."
Milo rolled his eyes and stalked off into the bathroom. Camus shrugged his shoulders and flopped onto his bed. He had just flipped on the television when he heard Milo's scream.
The Scorpio saint stormed out of the bathroom a few seconds later.
Camus burst out laughing.
"I hate you, Camus", Milo muttered.
"I'm sorry", Camus choked out. "Even I get the occasional desire to pull pranks on people."
Milo just glared at him.
"Oh, go turn the water on to hot and finish your shower and stop being a baby. How many times have you pranked me? Surely this doesn't surprise you."
Milo sighed and his glare slowly turned into a grin.
"I guess you're right..."
Cursing was heard coming from the rooms around them, and someone shrieked "What's wrong with the pipes!?"
"Crap, Camus...you didn't just freeze our room pipes...you froze the pipes that bring water to ALL the rooms on this floor..."
"That's not good", Camus commented dryly.
"You don't care, do you?", Milo asked.
"Not really"
"You're terrible."
"Look, go put some clothes on, please."
"I still say you're terrible"
Milo disappeared back in to the bathroom to put his clothes back on and he and Camus continued their argument.
A/N: Sorry so short, but I have the rest of this story mapped out into chapters, and this was all I could think of. Next chapter, they go to the hospital for a visit and meet someone from Camus's past. After that, dinner with the girls becomes an interesting occasion. Hope this was enjoyed, short as it was. Please review!
