"Dorcas?" Lily looked at the daughter of Hephaestus, standing beside her in the control room.

"Yeah?" Dorcas said, taking a bite of her cupcake.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Fire away." Dorcas laughed.

Lily smiled slightly. "How did you come at Camp?"

For a long moment, Dorcas did not speak. She stared at the monitors then finally turned to Lily and sighed.

"Em found me, two years ago. My mother was a mechanic, Rae Meadowes. She died in a car accident when I was ten. I was put in a orphanage, but I ran from there. I met this gang of girls...they took me to a woman who we called "Old Lee" and well..I got into drugs and stuff. Smoking, alcohol, drugs...then Mel found me when she was on a quest in Ohio."

"Oh Dorks, I'm so sorry," Lily breathed, placing a comforting hand on Dorcas's arm. The daughter of Hephaestus smiled, but their was no mirth in her eyes.

"Leave my oh-so-tragic life." She shrugged. "What was your life?"

"Uh-oh." Lily shrugged, a smirk appearing on her face. "Let's see..my dad is a Theology professor. He met Athena in Greece."

"How typical," laughed Dorcas.

Lily smiled. "I was always odd. I could read any language, once I even talked with an owl and when I told my Dad about it, he got all pale and tense. And I was always being kicked out of schools."

"That last bit in typical about all demigods," sniggered Dorcas. "James was homeschooled until, of course, two years ago when he got into St. Silvanna's Academy. After that Mia got diagonised with cancer and she didn't recover until six months ago, so he mostly stayed at Camp and studied here."

"Boarding schools are the worst," groaned Lily, remembering the strict teachers of St. Silvanna's.

"Ha! And foster homes are worse than worst," laughed Dorcas as she swung an arm around Lily's shoulder and dragged them inside the living area.

•••

"Hey, you guys coming from Quebec?" James asked the bird sitting on his shoulder.

"Hell yeah," the female sparrow replied. "The temperature's hot as hell, man. We guys need rest."

"Have you guys seen a certain "Markowitz Forest?"" James said, lightly stroking the bird's feathers in a friendly manner.

"Duh. We live there," the sparrow said.

"Ever seen a well in there?" James said, careful to appear casual and not to scare it off.

"Who are you again?" The bird asked instead.

"James Potter, son of Zeus," James sighed. "And my friends and I are going to defeat Ouranos."

"Eh," the bird made made a squawking sound, like a laugh. "I definitely know that 'well'. Actually, it was the reason why my crew left that place. These two evil twins are doing something in there. The place has very bad vibes! Always seems to radiate fear, man."

James pressed his lips together in a firm, thin line and thanked the bird and her crew, then came inside his room and dug through the several books he had brought with him. He finally found the one he was looking for and sat on the floor, crossing his legs.

For an hour or more, he studied the book for historical evil nymphs. There were Amphithoe and Styx, of course. But he could not find any nymphs who would reside in a city like Quebec and in a forest well.

•••

Lily pushed the door to James's room open, carrying his lunch tray. He was not at lunch and when she had mentioned it to Marlene, the daughter of Aphrodite had given her a sly smirk which screamed I KNEW IT. Dorcas had handed her this tray and pushed her towards his cabin, smiling smugly.

She saw him sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. He was surrounded by several books with Greek and Latin texts on them. His brow was furrowed, and he was running his hands through his hair. He did look rather cute in that nerdy attitude. She kept the tray on his bed and approached him.

"Jay?" Lily said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. James looked up from his book, startled.

"Er-yeah?" He shifted the books to make space for her. Lily sat down beside her and looked at the book, resting her chin on his knee.

"Historical Greek and Roman evil nymphs," she read aloud from the cover and shot James a (super cute) confused look.

James explained to her about his conversation with the sparrow and what she told him. After he was finished, Lily sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, but what if these evil nymphs are newly born?" she laughed. "Do you think newly born comes in the category of historical?"

James swore. "Shit, I didn't think about that!"

Lily laughed and whacked the back of his head, making him grin sheepishly. In the end, they ended up eating his lunch together.

The chemistry between them is something, you know? The sparks, the shy looks they share, and the cute moments. But they are times when it goes far from cute and playful. Sometimes, it makes them wild with an urge to kiss the other one. When their eyes meet? When they are too close to each other? When they are alone in some room? Ha! Talk about sexual tension!

"Hey Lils?" James said after a while when she had moved away the tray and they were sitting on his bed, laughing and joking.

Lily looked at him, smiling, emerald eyes bright and radiant. "Yeah?"

"I love you," James said.

"I love you too," Lily told him.

They smiled at each other again, but knew that their words had a double meaning behind them.

•••

Ignore me gushing over them. WHY ARE THEY SO CUTE ITS SO FRUSTATING- *sighs* We all need a James and a Lily in our lives. (I already have a Lily, lmao. My mom's name is Lily.) Take care and stay safe guys!

Love,
~Aurora♡