Odie - Scarred
He stood in front of the mirror, clad only in a black pair of briefs, and really looked at himself. He had changed a lot in the relatively short amount of time he had spent with the team. Sure, his muscles were slightly more defined, something that made him look harder, older. But what he was really looking at were the scars. The most noticeable from here were the three parallel scars that ran across his chest from when Campe had grabbed him in his sleep. Without Chiron's healing abilities they would have been much worse, but they were still there. He turned his back to the mirror and looked over his shoulder at his back. Here was the scar that made his stomach jerk uncomfortably at the mere memory.
The scar, about twice as thick as those on his chest, started at his right shoulder and snaked down his back to his left hip. It was no random scar, the creature that had caused it was a sentient being, specifically a sphinx. Apparently, she was an older and more violent relative of Josephine's, who's respect for wisdom and knowledge was slim to none. The scar on his back had been the beginnings of a design, like the ones that he drew idly in his notebooks.
After she had captured him, she had chained him face-down on the floor and decided that his back would make an excellent canvas. She began her drawing using a single claw, explaining as it tore through his skin and flesh that her eventual aim was to draw an hour-glass. Her voice boomed so loudly that he could hear it, even over his own piercing screams. She thought a hour-glass to be terribly ironic, seeing as their greatest enemy was the god of time. At that point someone had burst into the room, sufficiently distracting the beast, and allowing him a moment of peace to pass out.
He didn't particularly mind the scar, as odd as it seemed, but her was not all that concerned about perfection of the flesh. What disturbed him more were those scars that he could not see, the ones that had been left on his soul. He wondered how scarred the others had become through the experiences they had endured. He couldn't really say for sure, because he didn't really know them. They were all fighters, working from a common ground. He was just the I.T. guy who made sure the whole operation ran smoothly. They would all discuss battle tactics until the cows came home, but dare he mention the workings of his newest bit of technology there would be poorly suppressed groans and glazed over eyes.
Truthfully, he reckoned that none of them would've given him a second glance in any normal situation. In a normal situation he could certainly imagine Jay, Theresa, Archie, Atlanta and probably Herry being friends, but he and Neil would go in totally different directions. They were the two outsiders of the group, but apart from that they had nothing in common. Or so it seemed. He doubted that Neil was so wrapped up in himself that he was immune to loneliness, he might be surprised if he extended the hand of friendship. He had turned back to face the mirror by now and noticed something apart from his reflection. In the mirror he could see his bedroom door, ajar as he had left it, but through the gap he saw an eye and a tuft of blond hair rather than the usual hallway. He tugged on a pair of beige cargoes before looking right back at the blond youth through the gap in the door. A blue eye widened and he heard a slight gasp. "Would you rather come in?"
Like it? Review! Tomorrow, fate permitting, Atlanta. I haven't written all of it yet and I'm rather busy at the moment. However, I do not want to break the pattern, so it should be up tomorrow.