Avery's bunk

I sit down hard in my bed, exhausted from the archery range. Taking my writing book out from under my pillow and grabbing my guitar out from under my bed, the inspiration had hit me a few minutes ago and I'm praying like heck that my father had kept it. Words flow from my hand to the page and I push all my pain into the book. Playing a few chords, I continue, matching the lyrics to the music.

Another long day at the infirmary -- what could be better than that?

Anything else, really. One has no idea what sort of weird shenanigans demigods could get themselves into.

With a yawn, Nelly trudged into the open cabin door to be greeted by the sound of guitar playing and then furious pencil scribbling; with a curious glance to the side as she covered her mouth, she noticed one of her younger half-siblings playing the guitar on her bunk bed--

Did Nelly even know her name? Probably not. There were so many Apollo kids she barely could keep up with them as they kept arriving -- Dad really needed to calm down. Stretching her arms over her head, she walked over to her bunk to look for some Advil as she mentioned nonchalantly: "Nice playing there. What song is it?"

Avery was a little stunned that someone was talking to her. She quickly closed her book hoping that the other girl wouldn't see the words she had written.

"Nothing much" she said quietly "Just a song I'm writing"

Avery looked down and smiled a little. Maybe She could be heard for once. Then the flashback happened again and she decided to be friendly but not to let her close

"I'm Avery" she said looking up

Aah, right. Nelly had almost forgotten: their dad was god of music or something. So a lot of her siblings were musically-inclined. Huh. Maybe she should go out more often, soak in things other than medical techniques and crying children.

"Nelly. Weird how we don't know each other's names, huh? So many half-siblings, so little time... 'specially with all the wars. Infirmary duty sucks." With a grunt Nelly had fallen back onto her bed, making the mattress squeak underneath her as she lay there for a moment, staring at the bunk bed above hers. "Nice for everything to be calm for a change."

Avery laughed. "I've been here for what seems like forever. It's understandable. Not a lot of people notice me. And I hate the infirmary. Medicine just really gets on my nerves and..."

Avery shuts her mouth, realizing how much she is saying. She starts putting her guitar back into her case and her cat, Ruby, walks into the room.

"Yeah?" Nelly replied absently, rolling over onto her stomach and laying her head back down on her pillow. "Infirmary ain't so bad, but everyone's got their own preferences. Half the people here don't even go on duty."

Which probably would include Avery herself, owing to her tone when she was talking. Out of the corner of her eye, the demigod noticed a cat walk into the room -- who had a cat here? Plenty of people. It was like an animal shelter in every cabin -- Nelly got really pissed off when someone's stupid dog would start barking in the middle of the night and then the rest would join in.

Avery looked over at Ruby and sighed. Animals were always better than people. At least thy didn't leave when you dress up as an anime character...

Pulling her guitar back over and continuing work on her song, she started playing, stopping periodically to write more lyrics. She soon forgot about Nelly and just kept writing. Ruby jumped up on the bed at some point and Avery didn't notice until she sat down on her songbook.

"Really cat?" She said a little exasperated.

It was several minutes later, during which Nelly had sort-of-but-not-really-dozed-off on her bunk as she nuzzled her face into her pillow, that Avery spoke up again; the older daughter of Apollo hadn't even realized how silent the room was until the other girl sounded like she was talking to her cat. Blinking, Nelly turned her head to look over at Avery again, noticing that her cat had decided to sit on her book.

"Cute little things, aren't they?" she commented, rolling over onto her back again. "How old is it? She. He. I don't know."

Avery smiled "she's about two. I don't know for sure. She was a stray. Showed up on my back porch one night looking for a meal. She's been my best friend ever since"

Avery continued petting her and Ruby made a little meow that resembled the sound a cricket would make. She laughed and rubbed the cat'a stomach.