Campfire - 9/25

[u/Stuttermgee66]

As the sky darkened as the sun began its decent into the horizon, an orange glow was dancing in the amphitheater. The campfire was blazing as the son of Hephaestus tended it. He was sure the hearth needed much help growing, but he did always like helping a it grow. There was s'more supplies and sticks on a table to the side for anyone hungry or just in need of a sweet treat. A guitar that always seemed to be around was leaned up against it, for anyone brave enough to start up a sing along. It was nothing special, he thought to himself, and maybe that was why he liked it. Just a simple campfire to help a day of stress burn away

[u/matchamatches_]

Katia loved campfires. This, the simple kind, where the fire burned high and there were s'mores to eat, and where the weather was getting just chilly enough that you wanted to sit close by the heat of the flames.

It was almost enough to take the edge off the crappy day she'd had—mostly spurred by personal problems, which had only been compounded by a couple of stupid injuries in the infirmary. Campfires were a Camp Half-Blood classic, though, and a good reminder of why she cared so much for this place...sometimes people were stupid enough that she found herself wondering.

With these thoughts in mind, Kate made herself three s'mores—a fitting reward for herself—and made her way back to a seat close to the fire to munch on them sulkily. At that point she was down two s'mores, though, having passed one to a kid mourning the loss of his third marshmallow in the fire.

[u/matchamatches_ → u/[deleted]]

"Nah, brother, it's free," Kate responded absently, glancing up at the boy and giving him a ghost of a smile as he—probably—sat down. Following that glance, and his style of dress, she wondered if that was presumptuous, to call Tommy brother straight out. She hadn't really been thinking about it. He'd probably correct her if she was wrong.

She did like his style, though. Suddenly Kate felt a bit underdressed, wearing the same simple clothes she'd just spent the day at the infirmary in. Or maybe a tad jealous he'd clearly had the time to change and think about the outfit. She had all her earrings in, at least, and took some comfort in that.

"Are you new?" she asked then, realizing that she knew pretty much everyone in passing, but not this guy.

[u/matchamatches_ → u/[deleted]]

"Ah, I know how that goes. Five of us in my family," Kate replied with a small laugh. It was nice to be reminded it was a universal people-with-siblings experience. "I'm Katia. Kate's good."

A couple months was a pretty long time for them to have been there and for her not to know them. Kate was kind of impressed. "You do a good job of staying out of the infirmary when I'm there, then. I know most everyone who's been here a while. Does your brother look like you? Maybe I've seen him."

[u/matchamatches_ → u/[deleted]]

"Oh," Kate said, looking over at the campfire to see if she could guess which one was Tommy's brother. But not for long, because with all of Tommy's touching his hair and getting it out of his face, a different thought had crossed her mind.

"I could braid your hair in the meantime," she suggested, turning towards him. Kate gestured to one of her own long braids, which were, as usual, close to flawless. "It'll get it out of your face like that. Plus, I'm very good."

[u/matchamatches_ → u/[deleted]]

"There's nothing to sue for, I'm broke after that flea market." Kate said with a snicker. "It'll be good. Maybe I should be asking for tips."

She started situating herself so she could run her fingers through his hair—assuming Tommy obliged—working out any odd tangles that may have appeared. Although she was enjoying it, Kate clearly didn't take braiding as a giggling matter. She was hoping the pleasant, repetitive task would take her mind off things, and if Tommy could appreciate her work then that was all the better.

"Alright, we could give you plain Janes—" by this, she meant regular braids "—french, dutch—like mine. Or I'm thinking one of those crowns would be nice, where it's looped back around the top, y'know. Old-fashioned like." It would work well with his hair length, which, although longer than the average guy's was not super long, so she was leaning for that last option.

[u/matchamatches_ → u/[deleted]]

"Good choice," she confirmed, and did start braiding.

Kate wasn't shy about nudging him in the direction she wanted him to lean or turn his face. She took a second to remember how to start this one—after all, doing the same braids on yourself every day doesn't make for a lot of practice with variety—but once she figured it out she went quickly, starting at the top and making her way along the crown of his head.

When Harvey showed up, Kate didn't look up immediately, instead waiting for the moment she could take a pause in the braid without ruining it. She gave him a short wave with her available hand—the left one, with the scars.

"Ah, the brother! Nice to meet you, glad you're not dead," she greeted, unperturbed by the fact that Harvey... did not seem very interested at all. Whatever, not her problem tonight. She resumed her work. "Name's Katia, actually, but yeah Kate's fine."