Don't Judge a Book by It's Content Too Often

"If we were a patchworks family...I guess. I hope not, though," she laughed. "Don't wanna be mean but some of your brothers and sisters aren't exactly my kind of people."

"Hope not either. Some of the Hephaestus kids don't really like me either." he shrugged "I don't like the Aphrodite kids too much. Too perfect, some are narcissists or worse." Aiden was one of the few below standard Aphrodite kids. Unlike his sibling, who are infamous for heartbreaking so many, he was more caring toward others.

"Well, y'know, spreading nasty rumors and charm speaking others into embarrassing themselves ain't gonna get you a lot of friends," Sawyer shrugged. She herself had never been charm spoken, but cabin #10 had found worse.

"No it won't. That is why I am different from every single one of my siblings. I am a child of Aphrodite yet I remain kind, like Hestia. That is why I do not get along well with them nor do they to me." he began a monologue. "That is why you, Sawyer Quasimodo, can call me your friend. Probably your first Aphrodite friend, right?"

"Thanks, Aiden Barbie," she counterattacked. "I know one or two who're nice, so nope, not the first. But deffo the one who knows most about tech." Sawyer was actually fairly selective on who she considered a friend and who not. Her friends had to be people who were loyal most of all, and didn't let others down or go back on their promises. They had to be trustworthy. Maybe she'd give this Aphrodite kid a chance. As a sign, she extended her right hand for a shake.

Aiden shook Sawyer's hand. Her grasp was strong but he tried not to squeak when it happened. "I don't exactly have Hephaestus friends, but heh." he shrugged

"First times for everything," she said with a smile, her hair gleaming with grease. Her half-burned face looked like it was partly melting when she smiled.

"Right...right...first times for everything..." Aiden thought for a brief moment, before continuing. "Do you have any friends? Those who are not your siblings?"

Now that was a bit rude. "What's that supposed to mean? Of course I have friends," Sawyer frowned. It wasn't because she didn't look like magazine cover that people would shun her. "Do you?" She asked with a half grin.

"I am envious." he admitted. "Because I don't. No one at Camp beside my girlfriend Astrid. I always had those 'fangirls', so I didn't have friends who are girls. And those boys at school were jealous so I didn't have any either. It's nice having a friend after a while, Sawyer." he failed to suppress a smile.

She was taken aback. Aphrodite children were the popular kids, always surrounded by crowds of fellow popular, admired and known. People always sought them out for outfit tips or dating advice, and generally, that made a lot of friendships happen. A child of Aphrodite with no friends? Now that was something.

"Wow, um... Gotta say, I really didn't expect that," she said, toying with her drone. "Must be tough, I mean. We're teens, we generally don't have real real friends but still, we're demigods, we risk our lives together. Surely that creates bonds."

That's how she had gotten friends with Lindsey, the military daughter of Nemesis. One hell of a girl, she was. Rarely seen someone that brave. She and Zane were probably her closest friends here, excluding siblings.

"Like I said, I am different from my siblings. While they tend to shatter people's hearts and crush their dreams to shreds, I am the opposite. I oppose many of them who are megalomaniacs, using their popularity and powers for their own purpose." As he said so he thought about his former mortal friends. They were great, but he would never see them again. Astrid was his only friend, but that was a week prior. Now they're dating.

"I had a bunch of friends in the mortal world, but I broke up the bond now." he shrugged after a brief moment of silence

"Not all of your siblings are like that. Lacy's adorable. Niamh's great. Em's nice too. I don't socialize a lot with you guys, but they're not all like Drew. I remember Silena...." Sawyer fell silent for a second, because remembering Silena meant remembering Beckendorf. She never really talked about it but she still thought a lot about him -- at least she knew he was happy in Elysium, which was a consolation.

"Why did you do that?" Sawyer asked Aiden. "Keeping mortal friends can be lifesaving. If I hadn't ketp contact with my girl Livia, I would've died on the street in California a few years ago. She took me into her house for the night and gave me food and even a bit of money from her savings."

"Because I don't leave Camp anymore. I'm a year-rounder. And they've all gone MIA. They attended their universities by the time I finally returned to their houses." he said. They all went abroad, some of them to the same university in Northern Norway, some to England. And one particularly close subject died.

It hurted him to talk about them.

Sawyer played with her drone in silence for a moment before looking down at him again. "You won't be here all your life, son," she finally said. "Sooner or later, you'll be back in the mortal world."

"No I won't. And don't call me son!" Aiden protested. "It's like saying 'get rekt son'. To me, it's just annoying. Are we good? Good." he added to boost his first protest. "And I'm thinking I should start to study. Probably in New Rome. I didn't attend it at the average age of 18 and now I'm bloody 19. I guess I'll be studying with underage turds." Aiden suppressed a laugh, replacing it with a giggle. "Then hopefully live in New Rome or out in the mortally dangerous mortal world."

Sawyer raised both hands in apology. She hadn't meant anything bad by calling him "son" but obviously that was a big thing for him.

"New Rome....Yeah, I thought about that too. I'm not sure yet though." She sighed. "What are you thinking of studying?"

"I don't know. Maybe I should study engineering like you suggested, or English major." he shrugged. "Or subjects like Physics."

"What about you? What will you study as your major? Engineering?" Aiden raised an eyebrow, althoughit was obvious.

She nodded. "Can't picture myself doing anything else. Though I still haven't decided whether to go in robotics or mechatronics...or plain old mechanical engineering. Kinematics, thermodynamics, nanotech." She shrugged again, her big bulky shoulders going up and down heavily. "Too bad I can't study everything. Microelectronics or automotive engineering sound sweet as hell."

"You like physics?" She then asked. "You could try a double major, I think they allow you to do that in New Rome. English and physics double major."

"Maybe I should." he shrugged. "Or probably goin' for astrophysics. I like 'space' related things better. Although a bunch of basic physics rules still apply in outer space. The preservation of mass, although that might not apply in extreme conditions. And then the theory of a singularity. Despite our knowledge never got as far as beyond this very solar system, but I still wanna give it a go." Aiden said with absolute certainty. Now, he knew what to choose should he live long enough to make it to university in New Rome. Maybe he should send an application form and begin his semester early before September. That would be fitting.

"Astrophysics is really plain physics," Sawyer said. "But it is interesting as hell. Had this book about compared planetology, I can give it to you if you want. Geology of the planets and everything "

"Yeah, but that would be nice as well. What I like most is the theory of a singularity, which has a lot of masses from a collapsed star, generating a large amount of gravity, therefore bending the basic strand of space-time continuum, making time travel and long distance travels like lightyears in space possible." Aiden suddenly fell into a nerdy spill of singularity theories, which he read from somewhere, or from someone. "Sorry, sometimes I just go really nerdy. And yeah, maybe I should sign up for geology as well." he shrugged. "In a way, learning about the Earth is nice."

Sawyer just smiled at his nerdy outburst. She could relate, even though she didn't know much about astrophysics.

"I'm not much of a space person myself," she apologized. "But I know a bit about geology, specially volcanism -- call me cliché but that's my field. Daughter of Hephaestus till the end."

"Yeah. Geology - I could scratch something else out to put it as a replacement." he joked, although this might actually be done in reality.

Scratching his head, Aiden abruptly started to walk. "You comin' for a stroll, Sawyer?" he offered. Normally he didn't go jogging or strolling whatsoever. But today he needed some fresh air.

She shrugged. "It's not like I have something to do till lunch. I'm down. Where d'you wanna go?"

She pressed a button on the side of her drone and it started folding itself with mechanical clicks until it became a little rectangle in her hand, barely bigger than a USB stick , which she slipped in her pocket, along with the equally folded remote.