𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

── archery

          𝕿he forges were the first stop. They were the closest and the farthest away from where the Ares cabin was.

"I don't want you to have your head on a platter before being claimed." Luke pointed out, handing her a rather unflattering apron and goggles. "So, we'll just avoid them and you can try out everything else, yeah?"

"Why is everything in this camp so ugly?" Aurora muttered, pulling the gloves on with a scowl.

"They're protective gear, you're not walking a runway."

"I'd still rather be caught dead than in this." Luke continued to steer her into the forges as Aurora scowled. "Oh god, I look horrible."

She had caught a glimpse of herself in a reflective bit of metal, wincing as she saw how badly the apron sat on her body and how weird the glasses looked.

"Can't we just assume I'm not a child of Hephaestus and be done with it?" Aurora pleaded with the son of Hermes, but he shook his head. "Look, Luke, I know I've been bruising your ego, but this is mean, please. Come on!"

"You're being dramatic." Luke pointed out to her, an amused grin playing on his lips as the girl moaned and whined until she was handed a hammer and a pair of tongs. He chuckled at the look on her face, causing Aurora to scowl once more as the technique was demonstrated to her.

"Nice and easy." The instructor explained as Aurora copied the motions, following the movement. Luke watched on, leaning back against the work bench as the other teenager corrected her form and explained it more. "There you go, alright."

Cocking an eyebrow at the boy, Luke sighed as he saw the man shake his head. So, she wasn't a daughter of Hephaestus.

"Well done, you weren't too bad." The boy, Talon, explained as Aurora sighed.

"So, not a child of Hephaestus?"

"Not really. Sorry." Aurora waved him off, yanking the apron over her head and scowling as she set it down. He laughed. "Hope you get claimed soon, Aurora. Nice meeting you and you need anything making, we're the cabin to call."

"Moving on." Luke appeared, thanking the boy as he wrapped his arm around Aurora's shoulder and steered her out. "What to do next?"

"Get off of my shoulder?" Luke took the hint at her words and unwrapped his arm from her shoulder. She brushed her hair back and out of it's plait, before looking around. "When's lunch?"

"We can do food." 

"Let us take you." Mack and Chris were back from wherever they'd been hiding, wrapping their arms around Aurora's shoulders as they took her towards the pavilion. Luke huffed in annoyance, seeing the way Aurora didn't push them off and actually laughed with them, before following afterwards. 

They all got their food and Luke was quick to slide in on Aurora's side before either of the other boys could, leaving them to sit opposite her.

"What's Luke had you done so far?" Chris questioned.

"Went to the forges and then here. Think we're going to archery after lunch?" She cocked an eyebrow at the far quieter man beside her, who nodded his head in agreement.

"You sure it's your dad, right? Not your mom. You could be a daughter of Aphrodite?" Mack pointed out.

"It's my dad alright, I'm certain." Aurora replied. "Just got to find the thing I'm good at to get claimed."

"We'll find it. No problem." Luke shot her a smile as Aurora hummed in agreement. She knew who her dad was, he was just not claiming her and she got that it was the normal thing, but she was getting a little sick of sleeping on the floor. A bell chimed as the other kids began to get up and move. "Our turn."

"Our turn for what?" Aurora questioned all three boys. 

"Burnt offerings." Luke explained. "The gods like the smell, so it gets their attention before you say a prayer."

"They like the smell of burnt pizza?" Aurora had a list of things to ask her dad about and this was one of them.

"They like the smell of begging." Chris called to her as Mack nodded.

"Cause we all reek of desperation to them apparently." Both boys cackled as they walked off though Luke waited for Aurora to get up, standing next to her as he led her over to the brazier. 

"You burn what you'll miss the most. They they know you really mean what you're about to say, so they listen." Aurora hummed, before finding the worst looking piece of greenery on her plate and throwing it into the fire.

She grinned as it burnt.

Hi dad, if you don't claim me in the next two hours, I will scream and start telling everyone you're my dad. Love you. 

She finished her little internal prayer, sending the fire one final glare before turning back to Luke.

"Sometimes, I think you hear what I say and then ignore it anyway. Best bit of your plate, Aurora, best bit. Not some weird looking piece of lettuce." 

"My dad hasn't claimed me yet. He gets lettuce." Aurora grinned as Luke sighed. "What?"

"It's like you try to get yourself smited." Luke groaned as Aurora nodded her head. "Your dad might never claim you if you insult him."

"He'll claim me. I'm sure of it and look, I don't want to reek of desperation or beg." Aurora shook her head, hurrying after Mack and Chris as Luke followed in her path.

∘☽༓☾∘

The stop in the afternoon was the archery grounds. Now, Aurora was determined to not like many things at camp, but she did actually find the archery grounds pretty good. They were large, lots of targets and it helped that there weren't as many people in bright orange shirts to make her day worse.

Chris and Mack had disappeared with the rest of Cabin Eleven to go do rock climbing, leaving Aurora and Luke to carry on with trying to find what they were good at. 

"Okay, archery." Luke handed her the protective gear, stopping himself from explaining as she slipped it on easily. "Before I embarrass myself, have you done it before?"

"Once or twice." Aurora shrugged, pulling the quiver over her back as she looked up at Luke. "Sorry, did I ruin your speech?"

"Why do you assume I have a speech for everything?"

"You seem like the type of person who would." Aurora replied as Luke held the bow above her head in annoyance. "Luke!"

She tried to jump to reach it, finding that he was too tall as he began to explain the safety procedures anyway. If she kept thinking he had a speech prepared, he'd make sure there was a speech prepared.

Her hands dug into his arm, reaching for the bow and trying to yank his arm down towards her, but Luke didn't give in.

"By the gods, you're so annoying!" Aurora huffed, blowing her hair out of her face and putting her hands on her hips.

"Finished, sunshine?" Luke teased as Aurora glared some more. "That's what I thought. Now-"

She jumped when he was distracted, grabbing the bow and grinning in glee before realising that she'd taken both of them out in the process as she felt her back hit the floor with an 'oomph'.

"Ow!" Aurora groaned, the quiver digging into her spine as she opened her eyes to look up at Luke. He was hovering over her, eyes wide and blushing heavily as his arms trapped her down on the ground. Aurora gulped, not used to having someone this close and in her space. "Can you get off me-?"

"What?" Luke stumbled over his words, still hovering above her and watching her with wide, dark eyes.

"Luke, get off!" Aurora grumbled, placing her hand on his chest and pushing backwards. Luke finally took note of the situation that they were in, beginning to stumble over an apology as he hurried to get off of her and stand back up. He helped her up, still stumbling over his words as Aurora sighed. "Luke, Luke! It's alright. It's fine!"

"I'm really sorry." He mumbled, going soft as Aurora sighed.

"It's fine." Aurora placated, patting his shoulder. "Alright, archery."

"Archery." Luke nodded, turning away to try and calm his blushing cheeks and also to not scream into his hand. By the time he turned back around, she had gotten three bullseye in a row and was nodding her head. "What...?"

A golden lyre appeared above her head and Luke stuttered to a stop. He looked between Aurora and the lyre, noticing the girl barely looked surprised.

"Daughter of Apollo." Luke stuttered out. "You're a daughter of Apollo."

"Wow. Who would have thought?" Aurora snarked quietly to herself more than anyone else. "What do I do now, Luke?"

"Let's go find your cabin councillor. That's a good start." Luke sighed, trying to regain his composure. "Congratulation on being claimed."

"Thanks." Aurora shot him a grin, that had Luke's cheeks turning red once more as he continued to curse himself and his inability to be normal. "Now I finally get a bed!"

∘☽༓☾∘

Hiya,

So, Luke is just jealous of everyone and also can't keep himself from blushing every time Aurora gets close to him and Aurora is just oblivious to it all, which I find super funny. Anyway, your honour, I love them and now we're moving onto other fun things!

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx