Steal the Rainbow (OPEN)

[Lucas Foster]

Lucas kept screaming as he flailed his limbs. Scary bubby was being mean and saying mean things about his momma. He knew that his momma loved him very much, even if she was constantly on tour with the band. The band loved him. His cabin didn't. He stopped crying and he sniffled as he sat up. He looked around the room. All the beds of his bubbies and sissies and nobody loved him. They didn't want him. His favorite sissy hit him. The scary bubby was mean. Lucas didn't belong here. He wanted his momma and he was going to find her.

He got up from the floor and walked over to his bed as he started pulling clothes from his dresser and stuffing them into his Star Wars backpack. He had no clue what to pack, so he just packed too many shirts and not enough undies. Once he had that backpack stuffed full, he put it on his back and walked towards the cabin door. "I'M RUNNING AWAY!" he declared to the cabin and whoever would hear him.

[Ashley Bates]

As Ash left the wailing finally ceased thank the gods. Unfortunately the lack of Lucas' temper tantrum did not bring the peace that Ash had hoped for. Almost as if it expected something else to happen the silence carried with it a dark sense of foreboding and as the older Apollo boy finished cleaning up he began to wander what fresh hell Lucas was planning to get his way.

Sure enough, no sooner had Ash put away the broom and started back to his bunk than it happened, Lucas' tiny voice cutting through the silence like a hot knife through butter announcing that he was 'running away.' Ash had half a mind to let him go, the other half told him to go out and beat the boy within an inch of his life like his grandfather would have done to him. It took him a moment but with some reluctance Ash decided on something in between. Charlotte was going to owe him for this.

"Lucas Foster if you take a step out that door I will hunt you down and drag you back by your ears." His voice was loud and filled with exasperation but it didn't sound as cold or emotionless as it usually was. Reluctantly the boy turned and went to join his younger brother before he could do something truly stupid. As he did he spoke trying to grab the boy's attention and stop him from leaving. "Why are you trying to run away?"

[Lucas Foster]

Lucas was heading towards the door with his mind already full of plans of what to do when he left camp. He could get a real weapon! His momma would be so proud of him that he was a big boy with a big boy weapon. He was lost in his plans when he heard scary bubby call out his name. But it wasn't his full name, so he wasn't in trouble... yet.

"You don't even know my real name," he called back at his bubby. He whirled around and placed his hands on his hips as he scrunched up his face to glare at his Bubby. "It's Lucas Dakota Foster. And you didn't use it so I'm not in trouble." He spun around on his toes and almost lost his balance. He straightened up again as he marched to the cabin door. "And I'm finding my momma since you and sissy are being mean to me."

[Ashley Bates]

"You aren't in trouble yet." Ash clarified and then added in an off handed manner. "I think that's the problem." He had not expected to have to play councilor today but here he was so he would at least give it a shot. The problem was that conversation wasn't one of his strong points, compassion even less so, still, sooner begun, sooner done. "We weren't being mean. We are trying to teach you responsibility and that there are consequences for everything we do."

Ash sighed hoping that something he would say would get through to the little boy but suspecting that it would not. Now that he had begun however there was little choice but to find some way to finish. "Just because you can do something doesn't mean that it is a good thing to do. Taking candy without asking is one of those things. Throwing a fit and acting like a spoiled child when we don't get our way is another. Obviously you can still decide to do those things but when you do you'll have to deal with people getting mad at you. The reason Charlotte hit you is that she was trying to get you to learn not to do those things in the first place."

[Lucas Foster]

You aren't in trouble yet. That sentence made Lucas pause at the door as he looked suspiciously over his shoulder. He wasn't in trouble? He tried to be good. He was especially good around Christmas because he wanted presents from Santa, but most of his siblings didn't think so. He slowly turned around to face scary bubby. But that was a mistake. Because Scary Bubby went into a lecture. A lecture! Only Chiron gave Lucas those and those were so boring that Lucas worried about more important things, like getting more candy from the Hermes cabin.

But he rolled his eyes and stared off into space as Scary Bubby lectured. What was he lecturing about? Lucas didn't know, but he also didn't care at the same time. Once Scary Bubby was done lecturing, or at least talking, Lucas came back into reality and stuck his tongue out at him. "YOU CAN'T CATCH ME!" he taunted as he turned on his heels and dashed towards the door.

[Ashley Bates]

The boy wasn’t even listening. Ash could tell and that made him madder than any of the events this entire gods forsaken evening. Perhaps he didn’t understand his little brother because he had never had the privilege of not listening when someone was trying to tell him something. Back home he knew he would have been cuffed on the ear so hard that it might have drawn blood or worse. Ash’s grandfather was a hard man and as much as Ash tried to avoid becoming as cruel and cold as his grandfather was he had certainly picked up the man’s extraordinary lack of patience foolishness.

Currently that patience had been frayed to its breaking point and he was beyond done with his brother's antics. So when Lucas shouted at him and ran out the door Ash made no move to stop him. There were some things you had to learn the hard way and trying to drive a point home did no good if the person you were trying to teach was as stubborn as a concrete wall. If Lucas wanted to get himself in trouble then Ash would let him. What he wouldn’t do was let the blame for his little brother’s rashness fall squarely on his shoulders.

With a sigh more akin to an old man than a boy the age of fifteen Ash walked over to his bed and collected his things. There was no telling what Lucas was up to but Ash wasn’t going to get in a situation where he was unprepared to face whatever trouble his younger brother might stir up. Grabbing his bow, backpack, some extra clothes and other supplies the son of Apollo turned and began heading towards the door. He had only wanted a nap but he supposed a hunting trip would have to do. Thankfully little boys running from their brothers were a lot easier to track than wild boar and deer.