Late Night Snack | Adam

[Virginia Grace]

Genie hummed softly to herself as she poked around in the kitchen looking for a late night snack. She probably wasn't really supposed to be back here. The campers didn't often make their own food but she had been working late and missed supper. Now desperate times called for desperate measures so here she was raiding the pantry long after most self-respecting campers would have been in their beds. Granted it wasn't the first time Genie had fudged the rules a little but so long as she wasn't hurting anyone who could blame her for sneaking a bite to eat?

That said with no one around it did make the whole sneaking thing a little easier and since there was no one around Genie felt she could take her time. So that's what the girl did poking around first in the pantry and then a few of the store rooms just to see what she could find. There were a few interesting items that Genie considered coming back to but it wasn't until she opened up the large fridge and saw what was inside that her humming stopped short.

"Well what do we have here?" She said cheerfully as she reached in and brought out a large and very delicious looking strawberry cake with pink icing. This was the treasure she had been searching for and the girl wasted no time carrying the beautiful cake out into the mess hall where she could partake of its strawberry goodness. "Yes I think you're gonna be just the pick me up I needed after a hard day's work." Humming to herself again Genie sat down with her treat and served herself up a generous slice. No one would miss one slice and fortunately with no one around to see her she was sure that she wouldn't get in trouble. Besides, treats like this were made to be eaten weren't they?

@adamjackson

[Deleted]

Nightmares, that's what kept Adam the son of Athena up at night. What did a genius artist dream of? He dreampt of claws,knives and feathers. Every night when Adam shut his eyes to try and sleep his mind kept taking him back to his days in Virginia back before and even after his dads murder. It took him back to the times when Amanda his step mother and harpy in disguise would pull him away and use her claws,knives,a curling iron or what ever she could get her claws on to torture him just because she hated his mother. Being a mortal, Adam's father couldn't see through Amanda's mist disguise and because he was having such a good life thanks to his job Adam didn't have it in him to break the news to him. Nevertheless, Adam was awake and needed to keep preoccupied.

Adam sat up in his bunk wearing a pair of cargo shorts and a sleeveless orange camp shirt. He looked across from him to see his blonde brother fast asleep next to him and Angel the 10 foot hell hound sleeping in the corner. Adam did his very best stand up without making a lot of noise, slipping on his sneakers and his favorite leather jacket. He then went over to his desk and grabbed his satchel bag which contained his pencil case, his deluxe colored pencil set and his large drawing pad. He then tip toed over to Angel and petted her head causing her to stand up. Adam quickly got onto her back and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Mess hall girl."

Angel the brown hell hound then snorted and trotted toward the corner and within a second began to shadow travel with her owner causing everything to go black. Once Adam could see again he felt a sudden wave of dizziness wash over him. Shadow travel came easy to Angel because of what she was but since Adam wasn't a child of Hades, it was a bit rougher on him. Once the feeling subsided he slid off of Angels back and looked around. It wasn't long until Adam noticed a face that he recognized munching on some strawberry cake. If Adam's memory served him well which it often did, the woman sitting and munching cake was one "Genie" Grace of Heph cabin but he didn't know anything about her beyond that. Adam just smiled at her with a warm country boy smile and spoke in his smooth southern accent.

"You're Genie of Heph cabin yea? Don't worry I'm not here to bust you. I couldn't sleep."

Adam smiled another warm smile to the girl before sitting across from her. He then pulled out his art supplies and flipped his art pad to an empty page.Angel meanwhile walked over to a corner and flopped down onto her side for a nap.

"So how's the cake?"

coat art pad pencil set Virginia Grace

[Virginia Grace]

Strawberry cake was one of life’s small pleasures. Granted Genie may have been a little biased considering that she was pretty much a strawberryholic but show her a person who didn’t like cake and she would show you a very unhappy person indeed. That said she could have done with a little company during her late night snack. That was the one problem with staying up late, that you didn’t usually have anyone to talk to.

On that count at least it seemed that Genie wouldn’t have to wait long. While she was eating and thinking about some of her more current projects a boy came into the mess and spotted her. The Hephaestus girl glanced up to look at her company and smiled broadly when she saw who it was. She knew this boy and apparently he remembered her too which was good. “That’s right.” She said cheerfully. “And you’re Adam right? It’s nice to see you again and Angel too. Hi Angel.” Genie turned her warm smile on the hellhound and gave the girl a little wave as she went to the corner and flopped down for a rest.

Genie wasn’t your ordinary Hephaestus kid. While many Hephaestus kids were more comfortable with their machines than people Genie was one of those extraordinary people who had a talent for getting along with just about everyone. While she loved her machines and was completely happy working all day in the forges she was also cheerful and friendly and genuinely liked all kinds of people. She took an interest in others and that gave her a great advantage when it came to remembering even those little details like names.

“The cake’s pretty good.” She said in answer to his question as she turned her attention back to Adam and her snack. “Would you like a piece? There’s plenty to share and there’s nothing better after a hard day of work than a tasty snack.” Genie chuckled. She wasn’t really sure if Adam liked strawberry cake or not but there was no reason to be stingy. She certainly wasn’t going to eat the whole thing after all and it was delicious. That being said though she did wonder what someone else was doing out so late. “So how are you? Trouble sleepin or are you just a night owl like me?”

[Deleted]

Adam smiled at the fact that Genie was so polite and nice to not only him but also his hell hound Angel which was a rarity because most demi-gods didn't trust monsters inside of the camp. Chiron had allowed Adam to keep Angel because she had been given to him by Athena as not only his personal companion and battle mount but also as the personal guardian for the Athena cabin. As Adam tried to decide what to draw, he listened to Genie ask him if he wanted some cake. Jack held up his hand and shook his head politely with a smile. Adam loved sweets but certain things he didn't much care for.

"Thank you for the offer but no thank you. I'm not much of a strawberry guy and the thick icing they use on the cake makes my throat feel clogged. I appreciate the offer though. You go ahead and enjoy."

The cake did give Adam and idea for his drawing however. He quickly grabbed one of his regular pencils from his pencil bag and began to go to work on the line work. He decided to draw a portrait of the rather pretty Genie with the fork in her hand enjoying her late night snack. As he looked down at his drawing pad he couldn't help but smile as his hand skated along the page. When Genie asked why he was up, Adam just shrugged and sighed.

"Nightmares of the past. The biggest headache of being an Athena child is that we have a hard time forgetting things, even things that we don't want to remember anymore."

Adam felt his hand grip his pencil tighter as his neck began to build up tension. It was beginning to look like he was getting ready to snap his pencil until a loud deep snoring began to happen from across the room. Adam loosened his grip on his pencil and looked back at Angel who was now sleeping soundly drooling up a large puddle. This made Adam's smile return as he turned his head back to Genie and began to draw once more.

"Did you know that even children of Athena can get dyslexia? I can't read or write worth beans but my combat skills are top notch while my brother Jeremie has trouble in combat but when it comes to books and stuff he can't be beat. We balance each other out nicely I think. Since I have trouble reading and writing, I often draw out notes instead of write them. I find it easier that way."

Adam smiled as he finished the line work for his drawing and began to start adding the color, starting with Genie's hair. As he colored it in, he gave Genie the occasional smile. She was kind of like him, she was an oddity in the fact that she was vastly different then her siblings. Where most Heph kids had trouble with others, Genie had people skills flooding from her pours. Adam unlike his brother was a combat expert and lived for the thrill which made him a bit odd for an Athena child. As he started on Genie's eyes, he cleared his throat.

"So, besides the whole forge thing, what do you do for fun? When I'm not training, I can most often be found in the art building or in my cabin making sure my brother doesn't work himself to death. Angel really likes the lake so I'm down there a lot too. So what about you? What makes Genie tick?"

Virginia Grace

[Virginia Grace]

Not a strawberry guy? The words were almost foreign to Genie who perhaps enjoyed strawberries a little too much for her own good. Still, she supposed she could understand. Not everyone could like strawberries as much as she did and if there was one good thing about him not being a strawberry guy it meant more for Genie if she wanted it. "It's a delicious cake but I've got you. Actually is kinda a shame to mess up such a beautiful creation but cakes are made to be eaten."

Genie watched as the boy pulled out some art supplies and saw him begin to work on something. She wasn't sure what it was yet but she liked to watch artists work because she thought it was interesting. Personally Genie had never gotten much past stick figures and paint by numbers but she did have a pretty strong creative side and her lack of skill didn’t stop her from decorating the forge and her room with big pastel flowers painted with all the skill of a child’s finger paint masterpiece. The Hephaestus girl liked bright colors and she was just doing her part to fill her life with as much of them as she could. Still, real artists were almost memorizing to watch and Genie found herself falling under the spell as the two of them talked.

“I guess I could see where not forgetting things could be a problem. It’s a bummer about the nightmares but at least you’re awake now and there’s no nightmares here.” Genie supposed some might make the case that the hellhound, Angel, could give nightmares but the Hephaestus girl really didn’t mind. There was a lot of stuff in the world that was way scarier so a friendly hellhound wasn’t that big of a deal. Still, having nightmares was never fun. Genie wished there was something more she could do for Adam but sometimes being friendly and upbeat did more to help than you realized.

“Hmm…I didn’t know that about the dyslexia. It’s good that you have your brother to balance you out though. Personally I’ve never been much for books either. Machines and their workins are what I get into but you probably knew that.” Genie said as she continued to watch him draw. “It looks like you found your own thing that you’re pretty good at though and that’s just a part of what makes us all different. Speaking of, whatcha drawin?”

Genie took another bite of her cake as she tried to puzzle it out. It was difficult to tell what he was really doing from this angle but it seemed to be coming along nicely. In the meantime she turned her attention to answering his question. “Oh lots of things.” She said with a giggle. “I like relaxing in my hammock or taking walks down by the lake. Hanging out with my friends or my siblings is fun. I love shopping even though I don’t have much time to go and even just taking a moment to sit around and people watch is a good way to pass the time. I guess you could say a lot of things make me tick really. What about you?"

[Deleted]

Adam couldn't help but chuckle at Genie's fascination with the cake. If Adam ever decided to get Genie anything for a gift he had to make sure that no matter what it was it was strawberry flavored or had something to do with the fruit. As Genie munched on her cake and talked about how not forgetting things could be useful, Adam began adding the finishing touches on his drawing of Genie with the fork in her mouth as she munched the cake, it was a completely accurate replica of her as if he had snapped the picture with the camera. As she mentioned the nightmares he couldn't help but shrug.

"The way I see it, Nightmares are a minds way of making us remember things that we will need later but choose to try and forget on purpose."

Adam then forced himself to smile past the dark thoughts. If he didn't try and put a happy edge on his bad situation he would most likely fall into a deep depression or madness and as someone of great fighting skill that would be horrible for everyone involved. As Genie said that she wasn't much into books but that it was good that he had his brother to balance him out, Adam couldn't help but smile and nod. She was right in that fact, Adam was happy and lucky that he had Jeremie. The way Adam saw it, they sort of completed each other and having them taking care of each other was the best way to stay alive. When Genie asked what he was drawing, Adam just slid the drawing pad over to her.

"It's you eating your cake. Since I can't forget anything, I studied your facial features while you were talking and eating and used that memory image to replicate every exact detail as if I was using a camera instead. I use the same tactic when making things like maps or models. I can replicate anything as long as i've seen it at least once."

Adam smiled and then turned the page of his drawing book back a page to show a picture of Angel sleeping under a orange and red colored tree while a family of four fluffy squirrels slept on her back. He then turned the page backward once more to show a picture of Jeramie fast asleep at his desk, using his arms as a pillow while Adam's leather Jacket was draped over him as a blanket while the orange sunset shined through the window behind him.

"I believe that there is no better way to capture the worlds beauty then with ones own eyes and ones hands."

As Genie asked him what else he was into, Adam couldn't help but rub his chin as he thought about the things he liked to do the most. He then smiled.

"Besides drawing I like to go on walks with Angel, listen to music or audio books, spend time with my family and train. Oh you being a Heph child reminds me of something. Give me one second!"

Adam then turned his back to Genie and whistled softly causing Angel to hold her head up and then get to her feet and walk over to her owner. Adam then stroked her chin.

"Hey Angel, go grab my staff for me will ya!?"

Angel panted and let out a soft bark before running toward the shadow filled wall and quickly disappearing into it. As his friend Vanished Adam turned around to face Genie once again.

"I use a hooked staff for mid-range combat but unlike my twin swords it's too long to put in a holster effectively. I was wondering if you could take a look at it and maybe come up with a way to make it travel sized when I need it to be?"

It didn't take long for Angel to return through the shadow that she had left from with the long staff clutched in her teeth. She quickly trotted up to Adam who took the staff from her and held it out with a smile.

"What do you think? Oh and sorry about the drool"


staff Virginia Grace

[Virginia Grace]

"Hmm that's a good way to think of things." Genie said as she considered his point about nightmares. She didn't really understand what she might get out of her nightmares especially the irrational ones where she was running from Freddy Kruger but then again Genie didn't have many bad dreams which was probably pretty fortunate compared to many here at camp. "Some of those things I wish I could forget though like the ones where you accidentally go to school naked. Those nightmares are the worst."

Genie didn't have long to ponder over the finer points of this dream theory he had though as he was soon pushing the picture he had been working on towards her. Once it was turned right side up she had no trouble picking out what it was because it was a face that she had seen staring back at her in the mirror over the course of her entire life.

The picture itself was pretty great and incredibly life like. It was almost like looking at a photograph and Genie had never really seen anyone draw anything like it. The Hephaestus girl stared at the picture in awe, a bite of cake still on her fork and it was all she could do to not just reach out and touch it to make sure it wasn't real. Adam really had some talent and it made Genie smile that he would pick her as the subject of his work.

"Oh wow. That's a real wizbang picture. Have you always been able to do that?" It was pretty crazy to think that this guy had done such a good job but here it was and Genie had gotten to see it with her own eyes. Not only that but he had more pictures too that he showed her and each one was just as good as the last. "Have you ever thought about being an artist professionally? It looks like you've got some great talent. These pictures are all so good. Really impressive stuff."

She listened to his explanation of his work and nodded along. Genie couldn't do anything like that but she could understand where he was coming from at least. "Oh I know." She said happily. "I get the same kind of thrill when I work on a new machine or get an old engine running again. Really just doing anything with my hands. It's all an act of making things in some way or another even though I'm bending metal and melting things down I'm still doing something beautiful."

She really liked the positive outlook that Adam was giving off while they talked. It fit well with Genie's own happy view of the world. Of course Adam seemed way more heady than she could ever hope to be but he was an Athena kid after all so that made sense. For now she would leave all the philosophical fancy talk to him since he seemed to be able to put things in better words than she could and it was kind of fun just listening to him explain things in his own way.

As he spoke up again Genie discovered that Adam's interests were almost as varied as hers. She was about to say as much but she was interrupted as he thought up one more thing to tell her and it was apparently tied to her heritage as a child of Hephaestus. She wondered what it could possibly be but she didn't get an answer for a few minutes as Adam gave some instructions to his hellhound first. Still, Genie waited patiently and eventually an explanation did come but it wasn't anything that she would have expected.

A weapon? People normally turned to Genie's siblings for those kinda of things as the girl wasn't much for weapons. In fact, Genie was all but a self claimed pacifist. That said it was the job of the Hephaestus cabin to keep the camp well supplied. Fortunately she had worked on a few before but still, would she be able to do what he asked? "Hmm...I guess I'll just have to see what you've got. You never know till you try and a little look see never hurt anyone right?"

Despite Genie's reservations she was a little curious about what he was bringing her. Also, it wasn't like she was working on a sword or gun or anything. Staves could be used for nonlethal combat right? Genie sure hoped so though she guessed she could add some flowers and pink ribbons on the end if all else failed. That made everything way less dangerous. At least in her mind.

Angel returned a moment later carrying the staff in her mouth. When Adam offered it to her Genie took it and began running her hands over it and examining it with an appraiser's eye. She didn't really mind the drool. She worked with oil and fire and soot. Getting her hands dirty had never really fazed her so there were no worries there. Still, she spent a few minutes turning the staff, examining the angles and letting her mind work over the problem.

"Well it's not very mechanical." She said in a disappointed voice but she didn't hand the staff back right away. "It may be a little tricky but I can see what I can do. How attached are you to the staff?" It may take her making a new one, one that was built from the ground up to do what Adam was wanting it to do but she wasn't about to turn down a challenge if she thought she could do something with it. Genie thought she could definitely do something maybe even more than he was asking. It would just take a little ingenuity on her part.

[Deleted]

Adam couldn't help but blush as red as an apple as Genie praised his art over and over even going as far as to ask if he had ever considered to do it professionally and ask if he had always been able to do art like he could not. Adam shrugged and nodded. The truth was that since letters were always jumbled for him, he always saw the world through color,shades and different hughes.  To better answer his friends question, Adam flipped to an empty page, grabbed his colored pencils and began to slowly recreate Vincent van Goph's "starry night" in perfect detail, his drawing hand moving with smooth swift strikes on the page as if it was a sword striking into the air.

"I have always been able to do this yes. I believe it's my mother Athena's doing. See, Athena has two distinct traits that people associate her with. They associate her with her wisdom and knowledge as well as her combat ability. The way I see my brother and I, we are our mothers traits personified. He is her wisdom and book smarts while I'm the combat expert and strategist. I was given another one of my mothers natural gifts however. My mother is renowned for her craft ability. No one is able to beat her in that though many have tried just like the even spider queen Arachne.

I don't consider myself as skilled as my favorite painter and artist Vincent Van Goph. That man was truly a genius who wasn't appreciated in his time. During his life time people called him mad and would barley buy a single painting but now after he is long dead, there are entire museum wings filled with his work. In my opinion he is the greatest artist who ever lived. I see things like he did. I see every object, every person or creature as not just a completion of traits but I see them for what they are made up of, feelings,colors, shades and textures.Color dances all around us during every second of every day even when you think there is none to be seen. You just have to be brave enough to ask for a dance."

Adam smiled softly and once his recreation was finished he slid it over to Genie with a proud smile. When she began talking about his staff and weather or not he was really attached to it he just shook his head with a smile. He had the staff made when he first arrived at camp but that didn't mean that he was extremely clingy to it.

"Not really, if ya need to scrap it and start from scratch that's okay. All I ask is that the new one has a hook on it too. It is totally needed for the style I use it for. I fight close up with twin swords or mid range with the staff. I'm garbage at long range. It's not a rush job either. You take your time."

Once he was done speaking, he felt Angel get up off the floor and start walking toward the kitchen. Seeing this Adam held up a hand as if to say he would be right back. He then walked with Angel into the kitchen so that he could get his pal something nice to eat. After a bit of looking around in the large freezer, Adam found a nice large raw steak and slapped it on a plate. He then walked back to the table that Genie was at with Angel and sat the plate down on the floor causing Angel to instantly start comping on it.

"No wonder she is so massive, she eats or sleeps none stop when not playing."


starry night

[Virginia Grace]

"That's a pretty impressive skill. I knew that Athena kids were smart and all but I had no idea that any of them were that good at art. I guess it just goes to show you that you really never can judge a book by its cover." Genie smiled big and broad as she ate another bite of cake. It was good to know that all of their parents’ traits didn't come straight down through their children's demigod heritage. Each and every person at this camp was just as unique as the ordinary everyday mortals no matter which god or goddess' blood coursed through their veins and even though they shared a lot of things in common just because somebody was a child of Dionysus it didn't mean that they had to be a drunk party girl.

Thoughts of Dionysus girls or at least one particular Dionysus girl were a pleasant distraction while they talked. Genie wondered what Lydia was doing right now before finally coming to the conclusion that the girl was probably in her cabin fast asleep like most sane and reasonable campers. It was only the insomniacs and the late workers like Genie that stayed up this late and as was evident by the current peaceful quiet that was over the camp those were definitely in the minority. Maybe she should head to bed soon. Much later and she was going to be up making Lydia breakfast which, considering Genie's cooking skills, would probably do more to scare the Dionysus girl away rather than improve her chances.

It was something to keep in mind but currently she had another project to think about and she could worry about sleep after she was done examining the staff. As she did just that she let Adam continue talking about his artistic talents. She was only half listening by that point, her mind already turning the problem of the staff over in her head, but she figured it would be rude to interrupt so she let him talk. Besides, she could always catch back up to the conversation if she needed to, she was good at that. For now though her mind was busy working through the possibilities.

It wasn't that it was a hard problem to solve, especially once she found out that he wasn't too attached to the staff. She could make the weapon, even make it collapsible but there was still some lingering doubts about what she was doing. Essentially all she needed to do was make the weapon collapsible with a spring loaded hook. She could make it pretty much any size so that wasn't a big issue but she didn't want to make things that were so super dangerous especially if it got out that she was doing it. Maybe her siblings could ignore something like that but Genie really thought everyone would be much better off if they all got along. Then she could build all kinds of cool things to help people and make life better instead of ending it. Still, a decision had to be made.

"What are you going to use it for..." She asked as she set the staff back down on the table. "I mean I get that it gives the big bad guys a bump on the head but do you really kill people with it?" It was a serious question. Not all people, not even all monsters were "bad guys" but thinking of them that way did help her feel better about what she was doing. Still, even bad guys weren't all bad, not really, not usually anyways. Most of them had friends and lives and homes all their own. They lived, they loved, they laughed, they cried and didn't they have the same right to enjoy live noggin bump free? It would be interesting to see what Adam thought.

[Deleted]

Adam smiled and blushed a bit as Genie complimented his skills once again. What she said was the truth in the fact that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. Just because someone was a son or daughter of Athena didn't mean they couldn't be loving and compassionate to others or had to be a total egg head with no other interests. Adam just watched as Genie continued to munch on her cake. She looked so content and happy with the simplest thing to make her happy. It was nice to see and without thinking, he reached out and squeezed her hand thoughtfully before pulling away.

"If there is anything I hate, it's a stereotype."

Adam sat up in his chair and took on a serious face when Genie asked how he was gonna use his staff. She asked him if he had plans to kill people with it. This caused Adam to look down at his hands as they tensed up as he thought back to the dark feelings he had toward monsters. A harpy had tortured him and had his father killed. He knew most monsters couldn't be trusted but he also knew from his personal experiences with  Angel that not all monsters were evil. Adam just sighed and looked down at Angel who had finished her steak and was now sleeping soundly once again. He then looked back at Genie with a serious gaze.

"That's an interesting question in it's own right. Us Athena's are thought to be the smartest of our kind and yet even I sometimes have trouble seeing the gray in some situations. I used to hold all monsters at the same level of evil because a harpy tortured me and had a cyclops kill my father but ever since mom gave me Angel I began to see things differently."

Adam then reached down and scratched Angel behind her ear causing her leg to thump in her sleep. He then flipped his drawing pad to an empty page and began to absent minded began to draw a picture of Angel,himself and Jeremie together in the Athena cabin. Even though he wasn't looking at the page, his recreation of the figures were spot open due to memory and muscle memory.

"I started to think that maybe some monsters deserve the benefit of the doubt. I believe the big reason my mom sent me Angel was to teach me a lesson in tolerance and restraint. What makes a warrior truly wise isn't knowing when to attack but when to stay your hand and try a diplomatic approach. She wanted me to see things differently then the rest of our kind so that maybe we could reach an understanding with the few monsters who want to be our allies. I'm not saying I wouldn't kill if it was the only way to save my or someone I cared about's life but I would only do so if i wasn't given another option. I see all lives as precious now, even monsters."