Eating in the Mess

The son of Hephaestus, Malcolm Johnson, walked into the Mess Hall after spending some time in the forge and in the sparring arena with some of the Athena kids. He particularly enjoyed the Athena kids more than any of the other demigods at camp, expect for his own siblings of course. Not only did they have brains, but also bronze and for Malcolm, that was important in being a skilled hero.
Any who, the 6'3 demigod lumbered over to the table and grabbed a plate of steak, garlic mash potatoes, and cabbage. Oops, almost forgot his goblet. The Greek demigod grabbed it and headed back to one of the open tables where anyone could sit at. Closing his eyes, the cup filled up with Pepsi, almost to the rim.

Today Ryan learned that almost dying makes you very hungry. He might be exaggerating a bit but sword fights in the arena were no holding back. His siblings from the Athena cabin always fought the hardest. Ryan loved it. He always fought extremely hard, earning him a spot as one of the camps top swordsman. Today, he got to fight against one big Hephaestus kid. They both fought well but no one was declared the victor.

Anyways, the hard fighting brought Ryan to the Mess Hall in search of some grub. He loaded his plate with nearly every meat he could find, a small amount of vegetables then grabbed a cup that instantly filled with Coke. Ryan took a sip and smiled. Coke was his favorite thing to have after physical activity.

He looked around for a place to sit. His locked on the back of a big dark skinned kid. A grin came to Ryan's face. He slide into the open seat across from him, a little Coke spilling onto the table, "We meet again. Malcolm? Wasn't it?"

Malcolm had cut his stake into bite sized pieces and was about to take a stick his fork into his mouth before he realized that the same blonde haired, son of Athena that he had sparred in the arena had slid into the sit in front of him. The guy was maybe two, three inches shorter than himself. His build was athletic, not uncommon for a child of Athena.

"Oh, uh, Yeah, Malcolm Johnson. Son of Hephaestus." He greeted officially. It was rare for people to come up and talk to him sense he spent the majority of his time in the forge, his bunk, or in the wrestling arena. "You're...Ryan, right?" Malcolm had to make sure that he didn't call him by the wrong name.

OOC: Sorry if it's short

Half of Ryan's barbecue had already been devoured by the time Malcolm checked with him. "Huh?" He looked up, mouthful of meat. He quickly swallowed, choked, threw back some Coke, then recovered. He sat back, blinking and pounding his chest for a second. "That was sucky. Yeah, I'm Ryan. " Ryan couldn't blame Malcolm for struggling to remember names. Ryan even messes up on his family sometimes.

He ate a smaller amount of meat this time, "Who knew fighting could get you so hungry?"

Malcolm's eyes grew big when Ryan started to choke and grew bigger when he threw up some Coke. This wasn't turning out as planned, but he didn't say anything to him other than, "You okay?" With that the son of Hephaestus lost his appetite and moved his tray over the said, hoping that'll come back again. He grinned a bit, barely noticeable. "Oh, yeah. Totally. You're bodies tries to replace the calories that you've lost." He stared down at the table while Ryan was eating, not wanting to interrupt him.

OOC: My bad, that meant to be more of a chug of coke, like throwing back a shot. I'll play off it though.

BIC: Coughing up that Coke did not do wonders for Ryan's stomach. The small amount he tried did not taste as good as he wanted it to. After pushing his plate to the side, he grabbed a handful of napkins. Who wants to sit around with already-been-drunk Coke lying nearby. Luckily, the regurgitated Coke was just Coke. It cleaned up nicely.

"Sorry about that," Ryan apologized. He didn't know what happened, probably choked on the Coke as well. He laughed, "Well that sucked. Now we can't eat."

OOC: Its okay.

BIC: "Uhm, it's okay." Malcolm stuffed his hands into his pockets, fiddling around with the scrape celestial bronze metal that he had brought from the forge. He watched Ryan clean before asking him a question, "Ryan, do you...enjoy- I mean do you like being in the arena?"

Malcolm and Ryan were at least different in one way. Well, besides godly parent and obviously skin color. Ryan would of been, and is, pretty bummed about someone ruining his appetite. Since he ruined his own appetite, he dumped the rest of his meat into a nearby bronze braziers. At least the gods might enjoys it. If they didn't witness the puking.

Ryan leaned back into his seat and faced Malcolm. He raised his eyebrows at the question, "Do I like being in the arena? Of course I do. I'm the son of the war goddess. It's in my blood." Ryan did very much enjoy the arena. The fighting, ruch of adrenaline and overall atmosphere was top notch. He chuckled. "It like you probably enjoy working the forge."

"Yeah I guess that was a pretty stupid question..." Malcolm blushed some and looked over at his plate. "And yes, I do enjoy being in the forge as well as the wrestling ring and being in my cabin." He slowly slid his plate back over to him and started eating his food again. He kind of felt bad that Ryan put his plate in the trash and decided, after taking oneast bite of his food, to put it in the hearth, blessing both his father and Hestia. He came back and say down in front of Ryan, smiling shyly

Malcolm ended up throwing his food into the flames as well. A shame that Ryan had to get sick and waste a meal. Ryan took a small sip from his goblet and found it had been changed to grape Powerade. Guess he mentally wanted something with less carbonation.

"So," He asked, swirling the purple liquid in his cup. "How long have you been fighting? You wae pretty damn good." Another swallow of Powerade.

Malcolm took in a deep breath and looked down at the table. "I've been, well...I started playing football in high school and wrestled too...wait that's not the question you asked." He laughed a bit and looked up at him. This why he never left the forge; he didn't know how to interact with other humans. "I've been fighting since I got here." He finally answered, feeling up his goblet with Arizona Sweet tea.

Ryan laughed. He learned that laughing generally lightens the mood if something goes wrong and Malcolm seemed a bit nervous about talking to people. Ryan could relate, he used to suck at talking to people.

He finished his goblet, "Cool. You look like you would be good at football. I also played in high school." He was ok at it.

"Thanks, Ryan.." He smiled a bit and took several large gulps of his drink. Placing his cup down, he continued the conversation. "W-what position did you play?" Malcolm asked as he goblet refilled with the sweet tea. "I played q-quarter back." Why was Malcolm so nervous?? Come on, big guy, get a grip!

Some of Ryan's siblings apparently had a similar idea. They wandered into mess sweaty and looking exhilarated. They gave a quick wave to Ryan, which he returned. They also seemed to recognize Malcolm as well and gave him a friendly nod. Ryan drank some more from his apparently-been-refilled cup.

"Huh?" His mind registered the question a second after he said that. "Oh, I played wide receiver." Ryan grinned. "How far can you lob a ball? With those muscles, I would say the whole field length right?"

Malcolm gave them a smile before turning his attention back to Ryan. His face was hot when he commented him on his muscles. "Uh, yeah...about forty yards." He admitted, scratching the back of his head with a stupid grin on his face.

"W-what about you? I'm s-sure with those leg m-muscles you could sprint up the field." Malcolm laughed some.

Ryan laughed again. Malcolm was pretty funny without meaning to be. He leaned across the table, "For future references, most guys would think it weird to compliment their legs. But thanks." Ryan sat back down. He started tapping his fingers on the table. "I have never been really that fast. Just ran good routes and had good hands."

"Oh..I-I'm sorry. Ever since this incident in the wrestling arena I've been...anyways." He laughed a bit, slowly poking his head out of his shell. "A-and your gluts..uhh I mean...you squ--I.." Well it was fun while he it lasted. Malcolm folded into himself looking down at the table. He could hear the words of his step father echo in his ear. "It's not natural!" Said the voice.

Malcolm was definitely an oddball around other people. But he wasn't the only one that Ryan had dealt with. Or the weirdest. One kid kept poking Ryan with a sword, so complimenting muscles and stuttering was okay. Ryan took his drink and pointed it at Malcolm. Some grape drink spilled out onto the table. "So, son of Hephaestus." He angled his up back. "Tell me about your forge work." Ryan really enjoyed working in the forge. He thought he was decent until he watch some of Malcolm sibling make stuff. He was mildly depressed for a little after that. "What can you make? I bet it's some pretty cool stuff."

"I can make anything." Malcolm was now able to talk without stuttering. "Although I work with making and crafting weapons, I was so a little tinkering." He looked around the mess hall, looking for any scrap metal, then realized that he always carried some in his pocket. He pulled a few pieces out and placed them on the table. He closed his eyes and soon the metal pieces transformed into a small solider around five inches high. "Now watch his.." The solider saluted Malcolm and jogged over to Ryan, almost slipping in the purple drink.

Ryan leaned back on the bench. Malcolm was able to talk easy now, which made the conversation a lot more fun. He watched as Malcolm created a little metal soldier out of literally scraps. Ryan grinned as the soldier moved around on the table, then almost took a nose dive from his spilled Powerade. Ryan picked it up and looked at it. It was well made with like no effort. Ryan laughed, "That's pretty cool." He handed the soldier back. "I wish I was that cool. All I can do is think."

He took the solider back and smiled to himself. "Thanks." He made the celestial bronze solider immobile again and put it in his pocket. "But that's a good thing! That's why I like Athena childen so much. Because you guys and girls are thinkers...and we're like the doers." Malcolm smiled. "I've always wondered what we, I mean Hephaestus kids and Athena kids could do if we did a project or something." He bit his lip and sat up straighter.

Ryan stole a roll of of a nearby campers plate. He considered it quite an accomplishment considering the kid didn't notice. He munched on it absentmindedly. Maybe plain food would be good for him to have. He finished the roll and thought about Malcolm's words. "A project would be cool." His mind was exploring the unlimited possibilities that could be done. He laughed, "We could create something so awesome, the gods would praise us."

"I don't know about that." Malcolm chuckled a bit. "But I do like the idea...maybe you and I could get together sometime and work on something. The possibilities are endless." He smiled and took another snip of his drink. "I'll be back." Getting up from his seat, he went over to the table to grab a couple of brownies.

As Malcolm went to get deserts, Ryan called after him, "Grab me some too!" Then. "Please!" Always got to be polite. He leaned back or what you could call leaning back on a bench. Ryan wished they had back rests. Then he could really relax.

When Malcolm returned, Ryan continued, "Here's the deal, you teach me how to forge stuff better one of these days and I'll teach you how to think." He took a brownie. "What do ya say to that, huh?" He smiled and managed to hold back a laugh.

Malcolm quickly went back to get Ryan a brownie and tossed it to him with a slight smile. The son of Hephaestus raised his eyebrow at Ryan, feeling a bit offended. "I can think, Ryan..." He cracked his knuckles nervously, not wanting to make their conversation awkward.