Drawing in the strawberry fields | Open

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Hope walked from her cabin smiling as she did she grabbed her backpack as she did she shut the door behind her smiling widely. She walked down to the strawberry fields fixing her headband as she did. She loved looking nice because it just felt better then wearing trashy clothing. She walked to the fields and when she got there she sat down smiling slightly. She loved being by herself and just doing small drawings like a little child would do because you know she was a child. She laughed softly and pulled her stuff out of her backpack smiling as she did.

She slowly opened the sketchbook she had got and some of the pencil crayons and started drawing the scene in front of her even if it did look messy and terrible she thought it looked amazing. She kept drawing just keeping her eyes on the paper as she drew. She slowly looked at her thing and smiled as she kept drawing just letting the wind in her hair play some of it around but was careful not to allow any of her hair fall from her headband. She fixed her headband quickly and then went back to drawing smiling as she drew not noticing anyone else but herself.

[Virginia Grace]

Strawberries were delicious of that there was no doubt. The only problem was that Genie wasn't really supposed to be eating them. The strawberries were the camp's main source of income and if Genie ate them the camp wouldn't have enough, at least that's what Chiron said. The Hephaestus girl wasn't so sure about all that, the camp seemed to be doing alright to her, but she was sure of one thing, she loved strawberries and couldn't stay away no matter how many times people told her no or slapped her hand for sneaking a few. There were worse habits to have after all.

Fortunately Genie hadn't given in to temptation just yet. The strawberry fields had other benefits as well and sometimes it was just nice to go for a little walk in them which was precisely what she was doing now. As she walked Genie breathed deeply of sweet, earthy scent of the growing berries and hummed softly to herself while she thought of engines and motor oil and her next engineering project. She didn't have long to think on these things however as she soon discovered she wasn't the only one who had sought out the fields for the day when she came across a little girl drawing.

Genie smiled. She hadn't expected to run anyone else out here, at least not anyone so small and cute, and she decided that as usual this was another opportunity to make a new friend. Still smiling she spoke to the girl as she approached. "Hello there. A nice day for drawing isn't it? You picked an excellent spot by the way."

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Hope had been drawing a pretty butterfly when a girl talked to her and Hope looked up and smiled at her. The girl was really pretty to Hope and it made her eyes wide as she watched her. Tilting her head she smiled and nodded. "Your pretty" She spoke with a sweet sounding voice. It was one of the few times she sounded like a kid. Sure hope acted like one but she normally sounded a lot older than she was. She then smiled and slowly shifted her drawing book to show the girl the drawing. It wasn't as good as it could have been but it was good for a six-year-old.

"I was drawing a butterfly see. I'm gonna draw it sitting on one of the strawberries as well." It was just like Hope to try and get approval for her drawings she just wanted to show everyone how good she was. Same with when she was trying to train she just wanted to show the elder kids that she wasn't a useless little kid. She pushed some of her hair out of the way smiling a bit as she looked back down at her drawing and picked up one of her pencil crayons and colored the wings in slowly a wide smile on her tiny face.

Hope liked to talk to people and just show them the things she did so it made her happy when someone would look at her artwork even though she wasn't the best. She then looked up at the girl and held her hand out smiling "I'm Hope daughter of Hecate" She told the elder girl with a wide smile on her face waiting to learn the other girls name. Hope liked to make friends but was sometimes scared to but right now she knew this girl seemed nice and kind. So Hope didn't mind talking to her at all.

[Virginia Grace]

The little girl opened her mouth and gave Genie a simple compliment that was just as nice and as sweet as she looked. It made the Hephaestus girl's heart melt right away and Genie knew instantly that she liked this one very much. She wasn't sure who this girl was or what her circumstances were but she expected the two of them would get along just fine.

"Thank you," Genie said in response. "And I think you're just adorable." If it was possible Genie smiled even more warmly at the girl after the compliment. A lot of people said that the Hephaestus girl really knew how to light up a room with her smile and that was definitely true in this case as Genie visibly brightened with pure delight. Coming over when the picture was offered Genie leaned down and inspected the drawing almost like a serious art critic examining a work of art. The daughter of Hephaestus was certainly no artist herself, at least not one that used paper or canvas mediums, but she did like to paint and draw at times and she thought that this looked great. "I love it and strawberries are my absolute favorite thing so I definitely approve your work."

Genie watched as the little girl went back to coloring and was just about to ask her name when she beat her to the punch. "Hope. That's a lovely name. Well I'm Virginia but you can call me Genie. That's how everyone else knows me. I'm from the Hephaestus cabin and it's nice to meet you." It was no wonder that they were getting along so well if Hope was a Hecate kid. Genie had learned long okay that Hecate and Hephaestus had a pretty good working relationship so it only followed that their kids would too. Still, it was definitely more than just that and Genie didn't want to stop their conversation yet. "Mind if I sit down? I would love to watch you draw and it would give me a chance to sneak a few berries." She said with a giggle.

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Hope looked at her with a wide smile as she drew, she heard the elder girl call her adorable which just made Hope smile wider. She looked up at her and smiled "Thank you." She spoke softly and looked back down blushing slightly. She went back to drawing her smile wide on her face as she did. Hope had been complimented before but each time just made her smile brighter and brighter. Hope looked down as she slowly began to finish her butterfly drawing smiling as she wanted to make it perfect.

Hope looked up at the mention of the other girls name and smiled. "I like your name as well, it's very pretty" She smiled as she spoke. Hope didn't know anyone from the Hephaestus cabins so she had no one to compare Genie to but she had heard that as long as you don't mess with their machines that they were pretty nice kids. So Hope wondered what they built from time to time but she was never brave enough to go to their forges plus Hope was pretty sure she wasn't allowed down there. "What do you build? I know that your cabin builds thing's just like how the Apollo kids are good at healing and singing and stuff so what do you build?"

Hope smiled at the question of her being able to sit down and she nodded patting the spot beside her with her small hand. Hope then giggled and spun a bit reaching into her bag and pulling out a little container. "The nymphs like me and so they let me take a few strawberries if I help out in the fields" She explained as she showed Genie the little box filled with strawberries and she opened it holding it out so she could take a few. "You can have some if you like" She smiled widely at the elder girl as Hope waited for her to take some.

[Virginia Grace]

The little girl was just getting cuter and cuter all the time and with all the compliments she was giving out she was well on the way to becoming Genie's new favorite camper. Personally she really wasn't used to people telling her that her name was pretty. Funny? Maybe. Childish? Probably. Genie really didn't care. It was what her mother always called her around the shop because she was always so good at fixing things and it had just kind of stuck with her. It was nice to have someone say that they liked it though and if anyone did she was glad it was Hope.

The conversation turned towards an even better topic however because if there was one thing Genie liked to talk about more than just about anything it was her work. "Oh I build lots of things. Automatons, tools, weapons...practically anything you can imagine. Things just pop in my head ya know? Probably a lot like your pictures and once there in there it's hard to stop thinking about them unless you get them out in the open. My most recent project is a chariot for the races at the amphitheater. My sister and I have been working on it and we're almost done." Genie grinned again not knowing how interested Hope would be but thinking she might like her next idea very much. "You should come by my cabin sometime and I could show you some of my inventions. I've got automatons that can fit in your hands but fly around the room like birds and that's just one of many. I bet you would like them."

Realizing she was probably getting carried away she let the girl have a chance at talking again. Genie knew about the nymphs and even though she generally felt left out in there conversations about which guys at camp were the hottest, fashion and camp gossip she liked to watch and listen when she could. The strawberries though, Genie didn't need to be invited twice to share Hope's treats. She happily plucked one from the container and took a delighted bite. "Delicious..." she said happily and then turned her attention back to Hope. "So what about you Hope? Are you new to camp? How do you like living in the Hecate cabin?"