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“Good! That’s what I like to hear.” Genie said happily as she succeeded in getting her way. The girl had her faults, she certainly wasn’t good at everything but she did know how to read people and how to drive a hard bargain when she needed. “Now gimmegimmegimme!” As Adam offered up his bag Genie’s eyes lit up with excitement. Grabby hands took the bag from him and then began removing the equipment excitedly.

For someone who was a pretty strict pacifist it wouldn’t have been known by how reverence with which she handled the weapons. There was something about the metal, the smooth, shiny, perfectly forged celestial bronze, that was something that captured her attention like nothing else and even though the weapons were quite pointy she was still inexplicably drawn to them. Maybe it was the whole daughter of Hephaestus thing or maybe she was a bit nuts but whatever the reason she liked the forge and any work that came her way was worth her time.

“Who wouldn’t?” Genie said as she shoved the first sword’s blade into the forge. Flames flared and sparks flew as the heat began to turn the metal red and malleable. “Sheep are super cute and fluffy and they have little stubby tails that are just the best you know?” She wasn’t sure how much experience Adam had with sheep but she didn’t think he would disagree. How could he after all? Sheep cuteness was an undisputed fact. “As for fun I probably wouldn’t be the best to ask.” She said with a giggle as carefully turned the sword. “My idea of fun is inventin stuff or sittin out on the porch watchin people. That’s fun for me. There’s other things you can do though. I went to a party not too long ago at the Dionysus cabin and that was pretty fun. Then there’s trainin and games and the strawberry fields. Really it’s just a matter of what you want to get into.”

Genie smiled at the teasing. Lydia always knew how to say things real nice and she had definitely turned the niceness up to full blast tonight. “Aww shucks I didn’t do nothing special.” She said obviously still not used to the whole compliment thing. Compliments on her forge work or inventions she could understand but her looks? She had never really thought of that as her strong point. Sure she didn't think herself ugly but it took someone special to see through the gunk and grease. Fortunately Lydia seemed to be that person.

A lively song started though and Lydia saw that as an opportunity to ask Genie to dance. That gave Genie a pause. On some level she knew there would be dancing at the party but she hadn’t actually thought that she would be involved with it. She didn’t mind especially if Lydia wanted to but perhaps it would be good to let Lydia know what she was getting in to. “Lydia, I uh…I don’t really know how to dance. I mean it looks real fun but my momma always told me I had been born with two left feet. Guess she knew I was better at fixin things than hittin the dance floor.”

Genie didn't really get joke so maybe she was still a little asleep but she was waking up at a steady pace. That said regardless of the time it was getting late and she had slept quite a bit longer than she had intended to. Not that it was much of a problem but still it would have been nice to know. For the moment at least it wasn’t that much of a concern. What was a concern is that Genie did recognize the man sitting outside her forge and if memory served her correctly it was one of her favorite people.

“Oh I wasn’t worried. You’ve always been able to handle yourself but I thought you were traveling.” She said with a big smile as he confirmed his identity. “When did you get back?” Her grin remained even as he began commenting how pretty she was. Genie was no child of Apollo but if it had been possible for her to brighten even further at the compliments then she would have. In any case she thought it was very nice of Adam to say so. “Aww shucks. Aint you just as smooth a talker as always. It hasn’t been that long and besides I’ve got a girlfriend to talk all pretty like that. You don’t have to be so nice.” Lydia told her that she was pretty all the time and that was good. She didn’t see herself as anything too special herself but her mom had taught her never to turn down a compliment when it was given so for her part she accepted it gratefully.

It didn’t take long for the conversation to turn back to the task at hand however and as Genie took a look at the weapons that Adam had laid out she nodded thoughtfully. “Lots of pointy things I see. I can definitely help and you’re just in time. I just woke up so I don’t have any projects hangin. Come on it might help if we used some better tools. I know just the thing.” Giving Adam a motion to follow Genie turned on her heels and marched back into the forge like a girl on a mission.

"Gosh," Genie mumbled as she walked up to the Dionysus cabin. "Talk about fancy…" The girl shook her head as she watched the crowd arriving. A loud bass beat thumped steadily from somewhere inside and from the look of things bright lights were flashing hypnotically. The beat of the music, the bright lights and the press of the crowd seemed to surround the Hephaestus girl and it was all she could do to stand for a moment and just take everything in.

For a girl who didn’t go to parties much Genie couldn’t help to feel a little bit out of place. She liked the idea of parties and this one certainly looked like it was fun what with everyone laughing and drinking and having a good time but on a whole this party thing seemed far too fancy for her. Genie was a simple girl who had simple tastes. She wasn’t really hip or fly if that’s what her fellow demigods were saying these days. If there was ever any doubt on this, one merely had to look at the long pink chiffon dress that Genie had worn to the event.

Needless to say Genie was slightly overdressed for the occasion but the dress, which she had worn to her prom last year, was pretty and her favorite color and it was the dressiest thing that she had to wear so why wouldn’t she wear it to her girlfriend’s big shindig? Granted it wasn’t Lydia’s shindig so much as the whole Dionysus cabin’s but she had been invited and Genie rarely turned down any chance to see Lydia. Besides, it seemed like this party was going well. She didn’t know why Lydia was always complaining about them.

Now, with the moment of wander passed Genie decided she would head on inside so hitching up her dress she joined the flow of people heading in that direction and if any of them were giving her looks at her somewhat more formal appearance Genie for her part didn’t seem to notice. She didn’t know how she was supposed to find Lydia in all this chaos but there was only one way to find out and she figured they would bump into each other at some point surely.

Being a child of Hephaestus was no easy matter. Spending all day in the forge pounding away at hot metal to repair weapons and armor and invent new things had a way of tiring you out. Even the best demigods had to take a break sometime and for Virginia Grace it was no different. Fortunately the daughter of the forge god had been blessed with an acute sense of ingenuity and, that being the case, had long since come up with the solution.

It was simple really. Genie had long ago converted an unused corner of the forge to her own personal area complete with car magazines, tools and brightly colored bubble letters and flowers spelling out her name painted on the wall. The corner also included a hammock strung up over the floor and that's precisely where Genie found herself now napping after spending several hours in the forge finishing up her latest project.

She smiled happily as she snoozed to dreams of smoking tires and roaring engines but her sleep was not deep enough to ignore when her domain had been invaded. When the familiar sound of scrapping on metal came to her in her dream it was enough to make her stir and as she swam back up from unconsciousness it became immediately apparent that she wasn’t alone. Sitting up in her hammock Genie stretch and let out a loud yawn before swinging sleepily down to the floor. Shuffling her feet, still not fully awake and rubbing the sleep from her eyes the Hephaestus girl made her way blearily towards the sound wondering what all the noise was about. “Hey, can’t you see a girl is trying to sleep here? Whaaaaa-aaaa-aaaah…” She said with a long yawn before finally finishing. “…What time is it anyways?”

There were so many things Genie wanted to do with Lydia right now but most of all she didn't want to rush anything. The Dionysus girl was unlike anyone Genie had ever really known. She was special and Genie wanted to make sure that their time together was special. That said looking at Lydia now and seeing how irresistible she was made Genie think that it was going to be hard to keep herself contained. Genie was just about to dive back in for some more kisses buy then Lydia said something that made her think that the Dionysus girl had other plans.

"Oh? And what should I expect from my pretty girlfriend if I underestimate her?" Genie practically purred as she gave Lydia a quick tickle. She was enjoying the game but she was also curious about what Lydia had in mind. "It looks like I have you right where I want you after all."

"mmm...I think I could fall asleep just like this with you in my arms." Said Genie as she snuggled against cold, hard frame of the engine block she had her arms wrapped around. "The delicate curves, the beautiful melding of aluminum and true blue American steel..." Genie ran her fingers slowly, almost lovingly over the smooth chrome exhaust pipes as she came out of a haze of awe and wonder. "When I hook you up I bet you're going to purr like a lion on catnip."

Genie took another moment to gaze at her reflection in the shiny metal surface of the engine and then seemed to come back to herself as she stood up and began strapping the beauty she had just been snuggling into the harness so that she could hoist it into position. There was work to do and if she was going to have any hope of getting the Hephaestus cabin's chariot ready for the races she needed to stop drooling long enough to get this engine installed. "You just sit there and look pretty darlin. Momma will have you home in just a minute."

The process was simple. Use the lift to lower the engine into place at the front of the chariot, get everything hooked up and ready to go and then start her up and let her roar. The only problem was that Genie hadn't quite taken into account how much weight her modifications had added. A problem she was about to discover.

With the engine block secured Genie grabbed the chain to lift it into position and pulled. Nothing happened. She tried again grunting with strain. Nothing happened. Talking a deep breath and cracking her knuckles Genie let out a huge squeal of effort, succeeded in just barely getting the engine off the floor but ultimately no matter how strong the girl was from her hours in the forge this was simply a job for two people and she had to set the engine back down workout moving it anywhere.

Panting and trying to catch her breath Genie took a moment to mop sweat from her forward. This was a problem. She was going to need help but no one was around. "Where's one of my siblings when I need them?" She said wonderingly. "I guess you'll have to wait a little bit longer old girl. But don't worry. I'm going to fix this. I've just got to figure out how."

Royce Reynolds