Chapter Text
Percy loved the Hephaestus cabin. He spent much of his summers with the children of Hephaestus, mostly due to Beckendorf, and he always felt warm and fuzzy with the campers. Which may have been due to the fire. Though, he didn't visit for a while after the Titan War, not after Beckendorf’s…
Percy wasn't gonna think about that right now.
Anyways, Percy wasn't too sure why he was heading to Cabin Nine. Call it Fate, call it a gut feeling that he should drop by for a visit.
And maybe it was a good thing he did.
Percy poked his head through the door, seeing the familiar mess of gears and metal scraps around the cabin… As well as a not so familiar demigod on a bed drawing.
The daughter of Hephaestus had blue hair that she had clearly cut to be the length of her shoulder herself because of how choppy it was. She had tan skin with splotches of fair skin scattered across her face and neck. Her eyes were as red as fire, and they were glaring at the paper she was working on as if it had personally offended her. The bead-less necklace told Percy this was a newer camper. Ellie Ginerva, if Percy remembered what Jake Mason had told him correctly.
He didn't know what possessed him to do it, but he knocked on the door before letting himself in. Ellie glanced up before doing a double take at seeing Percy, clearly not expecting to see him. The roundness and softness of her face told Percy she was young, maybe twelve or thirteen.
“Hey," he smiled. "Mind if I see what you're working on?”
Ellie hesitated for a couple of moments before scooting over on her bed. Percy took that as a yes and sat next to her. He peered over her shoulder to see what she was drawing.
It was a drawing of a toy train. From the notes he could decipher through the dyslexia, it looked as if she was trying to make it move on its own.
“It's for my brother,” she blurted out. “He's really into trains right now, and I wanted to see if I could make him one that free roamed, and Jake said it'd be good if I drew it out, and-”
“Hey," Percy said softly. “It looks good. Mind if I make a suggestion?"
Ellie looked him over for a couple of seconds before shaking her head.
He pointed to the carts. “You can make those a tad bigger, so that way if you also make him figurines, they can ride in the train. He'd like that, right?"
Ellie lit up and nodded.
They sat like that for the next few hours. Ellie would make another note, and Percy would make a suggestion. There were moments where Percy would make a quip or a joke, and Ellie would laugh, which made Percy smile.
By the time Ellie happily skipped off to the forges, Kiva, a fifteen year old daughter of Hephaestus, walked in as she left. She then looked at Percy and raised an eyebrow, which he just shrugged at.
“And you wonder why campers call you mom," Kiva teased.
“They do what?"