Hot Date...Literally | Lydia

[Virginia Grace]

The forge was definitely the hot place to be on a Friday night. Not in the sense that there was some big party or that it was the big “It” location around camp but because Genie was usually working and when she was the forges were quite literally very hot. Of course the heat didn’t bother the Hephaestus girl that much but for most folks who weren’t blessed with the god’s tolerance for fire the forges weren’t really the most highly sought after location to bring a date.

Was that what this was? Genie didn't know not to mention the fact that she had never really been the dating type. She had never been a girly girl who fixed her hair or who got all fancfied for the people she liked. If people didn't like her for who she was, scars, grease stains and calluses alike then they were out of luck. So that's exactly how she handled this situation. Sure Lydia was coming over and she was about the prettiest thing next to a chrome plated hubcap that this forge had seen in years but if Genie tried to be anything other than what she was did that make it worth it if the other girl decided she liked her when she was like that? Probably not.

So here she was dressed in a faded pair of work overalls and a t-shirt that clung to her body in the heat, her hair was up in a ponytail and she had smudges of soot on her face and hands. In short, she was anything but cutesy so maybe this wasn't a date but considering how much of the large strawberry picking machine she had completed it was obvious that she was trying to impress. 'Hopefully,' she thought as she stepped back to huddle over her plans, 'It will actually work.'

Lydia Shepard

[Lydia Shepard]

It was Friday and Lydia was all dolled up to see Genie. Granted, she was only slightly dolled up because she was going to be in the forges and she was warned that it was hot. So that's why she wore her flowiest dress and put her hair up into a ponytail. She had minimal makeup on, since she was pretty sure that she was going to sweat it off anyway. But she was going to see Genie for this date that they had planned. Or was it really a date? The forges were a pretty unconventional place to have a date, especially since she would be watching Genie fix the numerous ipods her siblings had broken. But she wasn't going to worry about that too much. She was going to see Genie and that was good enough for her.

So after a final check in the mirror, Lydia grabbed the basket of broken ipods her siblings collected and she went off to the forges. It was a pretty quick trip, but she did hesitate for a moment at the entrance. She wasn't quite sure how to announce her presence, but she figured she'd figured it out once she was there. And so she headed in. And just as she was warned, it was hot, but it didn't bother her too bad. She kept walking in until she saw Genie and something she was working on. "Oooh..." she awed once she saw the machine. "Is this the new shiny machine you're working on?"

[Virginia Grace]

Genie was humming softly to herself as she made notes and calculations on her blueprints. She often did this much to the annoyance of her siblings but at the moment she was the only person here so there was no one to bother. She wasn't sure when exactly Lydia was going to arrive but there was no point in sitting around doing nothing while she waited. She had a strawberry picker to build and she was finding out it was a pretty tall order.

An awed female voice behind her brought Genie out of her thoughts and she turned to see Lydia looking up at her latest automaton and carrying a box of ipods. The autom wasn't finished yet by any means and wires and cogs had been left hanging and half installed in what could only be a work in progress. Still, the humanoid machine made for a spectacular sight. However, Genie wasn't looking at the machine as she turned around and it was probably good that Lydia's attention was elsewhere as it took the Hephaestus girl a moment to regain her composure before she could finally speak. Lydia looked good and had obviously dressed up more than she had herself. That was a little embarrassing but hopefully Lydia wouldn't mind too much.

"Oh hey Lydia." Genie said cheerfully as she finally managed to pull herself together. "She's a beauty isn't she and she's not even complete yet. Just wait till I really get her fixed up. Then you'll really have something to see." Genie tried to play it cool as she spoke. She didn't want Lydia to know she had been checking her out a moment ago and as it turned out that was pretty easy. This forge was her kingdom after all and if she could feel confident anywhere it was here. "You're looking fancy tonight. Why don't you let me give you a hand with those iPods and we can see what you've got?"

[Lydia Shepard]

As Lydia admired the machine, she snuck looks at Genie out of the corner of her eye. She was in a t-shirt and overalls and somehow that made her look completely adorable. Maybe Lydia was a little too dressed up for the occasion, but she knew she could never beat Genie with how adorable she was. And that was okay. Lydia was here to be with her and there was no need for there to be competition, yet. She looked back at the machine as she looked it over. It was human-like, which was something she wasn't expecting, but it was impressive. It definitely beat the entire box-like machine that Lydia had imagined.

"It already looks pretty impressive right now," she said as she turned back to face Genie with a smile. "I can't wait to see it fully functional. I think everyone will be distracted by it." She chuckled to herself as she handed over the ipods to Genie, since that's why she came down here. "It's a lot of broken ones," she said with a bit of a shrug. "And some of them were thrown in drunken spats... so I don't know if those are repairable or not."

[Virginia Grace]

Hearing so much praise coming from Lydia made Genie blush. Normally she had no problem receiving praise for her abilities but the Dionysus girl had a way of making even some of the most ordinary things Genie did sound amazing. “Oh it’s nothing too special yet. She’s not even running. When she is though you better believe that folks are going to take notice. Course the picking is the important thing and she’ll be able to do that too. We want to make sure she can do what she’s made to do before we get people staring at her.”

Genie chuckled and came over to take the ipods for Lydia. While not an overmuscled meat head like some of the guys that she knew the Hephaestus girl was fairly strong having gained a lot of that strength through years of hard work in the forge. That strength helped her here as she hefted the box with surprising ease and brought it over to a clean, more or less, workbench that she could work from. “You let me worry about these ipods. I’ll have them good as new before too long. In the meantime make yourself comfortable. I know it’s just a forge but I try to keep my side of it homey.”

Homey it was. In one corner of the forge a hammock had been strung up that looked like it had seen recent use as a bed. That this was Genie’s corner was obvious by the colorful flowers, admittedly crudely drawn, that were painted on the walls. To make the seen complete Genie’s name had also been painted above the hammock in large multicolored bubble letters announcing to the world that the girl had claimed this for her own. “It’s not much but I like here and sometimes I don’t make it back to the cabin. It’s actually one of the most relaxing places at camp I think.”

[Lydia Shepard]

"I think people are going to take notice even if it's not ope and running yet," Lydia said with a bit of a smirk as she looked over at Genie. "I mean, it's a shiny machine. That's going to distract people to a point and then the function will distract them further. People are like crows sometimes. Shininess helps a lot when it comes to these kinds of things." But she watched Genie as she took the ipods back to her work space as she turned around to look at the corner that she had claimed.

"It definitely looks homey," she agreed as she walked over to the hammock. She moved blankets and pillows around to make herself a little spot as she perched herself onto it. "I really don't see hammocks around camp and you'd think there would be a lot more." She relaxed into the hammock a bit as she watched Genie with a bit of a smirk on her face. "I can see why you find this relaxing," she said with a smirk on her face.

[Virginia Grace]

Genie chuckled. She liked Lydia's comparison. She didn't know if everyone was like crows or not but she certainly was and generally the shinier things were the better. The strawberry picker would work, Genie had no doubt about that, but there was no reason she couldn't go all out with decorating it up. Go big or go home, that's what her mom always said and it was a motto that Genie lived by. "Hey I've got an idea. When I'm done maybe you can help me paint it. Don't know if you're into that kind of thing but it would make the work go faster I bet." It was an idea at least and it would give her another chance to see Lydia which was always a plus. If nothing else at least she would have someone to pass the time with and maybe Lydia would be a better artist than she was herself.

“I know right?” Genie said as she began pulling out ipods and examining them. There were cracked screens, dead batteries and just about every problem you could think of but not all were hopelessly broken. A few Genie thought she could get running as good as new and that was something. "For me I think they are super comfy. Perfect for relaxing after a hard day's work but yeah it's a little place all my own where I can get away from my siblings if I need too. Do you like it?"

[Lydia Shepard]

Help her paint? Lydia didn't consider herself the artistic type, but what the heck? She was pretty sure she could do something as simple as painting. Plus, she'd be spending more time with Genie which she wasn't going to complain about, especially if the painting was going to lead to other things. Lydia smirked to herself as she nodded her head. "Just give me a date and time and I'll be here to make sure your shiny machine is shinier!" And she was looking forward to it, perhaps a little too eagerly.

"I might need to convince my siblings to install one," Lydia said as she leaned back and relaxed into it. " definitely very comfy and homey. I really like what you've done here," she said as she looked over at Genie with a smile.

[Virginia Grace]

Lydia agreeing to help her paint just made Genie’s day. It was pretty rare for her to have some help with her projects but to have an assistant who was so cute would be even better. Plus painting was a fun way to hang out too. Like it or not Genie thought she could already see another date / work night / hangout session thing in the future. “I knew I could count on you Lydia. I could always use another person’s opinion on the artsy stuff. It’s really never been my cup of tea.”

Stacking the devices into three stacks Genie organized the ipods into a group of easily fixable, probably fixable and trash. She was a little disappointed she wouldn’t be able to get all of them but this was at least something and now that the preliminary work was done she could focus her attention fully on the girl in the hammock. “I could install one if you want.” She said with a little embarrassed smile. “I mean it wouldn’t be much trouble and I already have experience.” The thought of getting to see Lydia’s room was pretty appealing but now was not the time to lose her head. “I wouldn’t mind though. I like being handy.”

[Lydia Shepard]

“I’m not a really artsy person,” Lydia said with a bit of a shrug. “But I do know what colors would look good together and what patterns work and stuff… Most of my siblings would call it my fashion sense, but I can probably translate that into painting. It shouldn’t be too hard, right?” At least she hoped it wouldn’t be, but even if she turned out being bad at it, that would probably give her an excuse to spend even more time with Genie.

Lydia watched from the hammock as Genie seemed to sort her ipods into three piles. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what those piles stood for, especially since she knew the state a lot of those ipods were in. But Genie mentioned installing a hammock in Lydia’s room and Lydia was excited at the idea. Another excuse for her to hang out with the Hephaestus girl and get a hammock out of the deal? “I like the idea, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble for you,” Lydia said as a slight smirk crept onto her face. “I would probably have to buy one from the Hermes cabin, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem anyway.”

[Virginia Grace]

"Hey that's pretty good in my book. Besides it'll be fun I think and having an extra pair of hands will help get the work done extra fast." Genie smiled brightly at Lydia happy that this was going well. Granted this might just be a cheap ploy to get the girl to herself a little more often but could she help it if she thought Lydia would make a really hot workshop assistant? Course that might make working a little difficult if she was always being distracted by the cute, smart Dionysus girl but that would be a sacrifice Genie was willing to make.

As for the hammock maybe she could show Lydia just how handy she could be by doing a little work for her. Personally she thought it was a great idea and she really did like hammocks. "Naw, it's not any trouble at all. Why don't you tell me when you get one and I can stop by?" Genie wondered if Lydia liked handy girls. She knew a lot of boys who thought it was odd for a girl to spend time in the forge, she had been dealing with that stigma most of her life but hopefully Lydia was different. Genie guessed she would have to figure that out eventually which would make things a little more awkward for a while. Hopefully she would be able to survive that even if it was the part she wasn't good at.

Genie grabbed one of the ipods that was in better shape and began fiddling with it to give her hands something to do. "So...I guess you can figure out that some of these are in better shape than others. I think I can fix most of them, might even be able to get a few done before you go but you'd probably get board watching me work. We could do something else or maybe talk while I tinker. I might be able to get this one up so we could have some music..."

[Lydia Shepard]

Lydia smiled to herself and nodded as Genie said that her fashion sense would translate over to painting. “Sounds like a date,” she said as her face blushed slightly but she tried to play it off that it was hot down here. And it was, in more ways than one that Lydia willing to admit now. And she nodded her head again when Genie agreed to help her install the hammock in her room. “It sounds like another date,” she said with a giggle as she shook her head. She didn't even know if this was even considered a date and here she was making more dates. Hopefully, it would be okay with Genie.

She watched the Hephaestus girl as she picked up one of the ipods and started messing with it. Her eyes glanced from her to the ipod before going back up to her again. “Hopefully you'll like the music,” she said with a shrug. “There's a lot of party music on there.”

[Virginia Grace]

More dates? Was it just her or did Genie actually hear some excitement in Lydia's voice? Once could have been a slip of the tongue. A date could mean anything really even between friends but more than one? Dates on dates on dates? Well when you put it like that it sounded like they were dating and well that couldn't be could it? Genie bit the corner of her lip as she popped the ipod open and busied herself with the doodads and gizmos inside. It was certainly a lot to think about and right now even her Hephaestus blood wasn't enough to compensate for the heat in the room.

Thankfully Lydia was right there to save the day by bringing her attention back to what might be contained on the device she was fiddling with. She gave a little giggle. "Party music is good though. I'm not much of a party girl, they're usually too fancy for me, but dancing is fun even if it's by yourself and music is fun too. I sometimes jam out when I'm here by myself. It helps me concentrate and if there's nobody to watch you then you can sing as loud and be as crazy as you want."

[Lydia Shepard]

Maybe she was throwing herself at Genie a little too eagerly... Lydia didn't know. She knew that she liked hanging out with the girl and spending more time with her. Sadly, she didn't know if Genie was just putting up with her or returned the feelings. Lydia thought she was an excellent people reader, but she still couldn't read minds. But she thought that Genie might've liked her back, but it could've been the heat of the forges as well. Only time could tell, honestly.

"Hopefully that's not the one with the grind music on it," Lydia said as she scrunched up her face slightly. "My brothers are a big fan of that... and I find it disgusting." Lydia never understood the concept of grinding especially during a party. Who wanted a boner while dancing? That seemed completely illogical to Lydia. "But that might be the one with the good pop music on it. It was such a shame when it broke because I liked the playlist on it."

[Virginia Grace]

Genie' hands worked quickly as they talked seeming to move with a kind of unconscious grace that even Genie herself wasn't aware of. She was no child of Techne but that didn't seem to matter once she got down to the nuts and bolts of the thing. Like her father she liked to tinker and her fingers seemed to be made for the fine work of fixing the ipod. As she worked she was seemingly not distracted by Lydia's conversation and even giggled again when she noticed the girl's reaction to the grind music. "And here I thought you liked when people got a little dirty." She said and paused long enough to grin at Lydia and wave fingers that were still a little soot stained from working in the forge all day.

"I hear you though. I would much rather dance to something tasteful even if getting dirty is my thing." Secretly Genie hoped that she had picked out Lydia's favorite ipod. This was one that she was going to fix but it wouldn't hurt if she got a few brownie points for picking the right one. Reaching behind her Genie brought out a few tools and made a few minor adjustments before setting the tools aside and sliding the back covering into place. "Well there's only one way to find out right? Come on I've got something we can hook it up too." Grabbing a cable Genie led the way over to a small sound system and plugged in the device. "Would you like to do the honors?"