quiet kids (private)

“

Sliding into a narrow alleyway, Max leaned his back against the brick wall to catch his breath. He had been running for the past hour, slipping on the snow for who-knows-how-many times now, desperately trying to locate the prototypes he had spent weeks developing. The mechanical beetles had escaped the confines of the Hephaestus cabin and flown amok out of camp and into the city. Quickly throwing on the first jacket he could see, Max had instantly snuck out of camp without a second thought to bring them back before they could do anything serious. After all, the prototypes hadn't been properly tested yet, and Max couldn't go to sleep at night worrying if one of them managed to blow something up. Well, they weren't exactly designed to explode or anything, but still.

Brushing his shaggy brown bangs to the side, Max took a deep breath and flipped open his tracker - a device that could pass as a flip phone at first glance. Thank the gods he had enough sense to install tracking microchips in all of his inventions. If he didn't... well, imagine trying to look for robotic bugs in the whole expanse of New York without any clue as to where they could be hiding. Sounds inviting, no?

Max slid his finger across the mini-screen. He had already found four of them - all of which now safely deactivated in his small red backpack - leaving just one more to go. A grin spread across his face as he found the blinking red light that signified a beetle on the loose. And it was pretty close to where he was standing too! Relieved that this could be all over soon, Max straightened up and stepped out of the alley. Wasting no time, he launched into a run.

Big mistake.

Losing his footing on the slippery sidewalk, Max skidded right into a girl who just happened to be leaving a cafe. If that wasn't bad enough, her scalding hot chocolate promptly soaked the front of her shirt, and Max didn't have to hear her exclamation of pain to know that it hurt, that he was in pretty big trouble. Forgetting about his mission for a few moments, the son of Hephaestus stepped back with a terrified glint in his big widened eyes and held his hands up - one of them still firmly holding the phone-looking tracker - in surrender. As his features morphed into the most apologetic look he could manage, Max bit his lip before mouthing 'sorry' over and over again. Wasn't he having enough bad luck already? Why did he have to inflict his misfortune on the innocent girl?

“

Max's sapphire eyes grew big at the introduction. Talk about the unexpected. A child of Athena was the last person he would have thought of slipping up.

He looked at her outstretched hand for a few moments before raising his own for her to see. Not that he meant it as an offense of some sort, but as it was a little grimy from working back in the cabin, it probably wasn't a good idea to shake hands. Glancing around to make sure that nobody had heard her, he slipped the flip phone tracker back in his pocket, fishing out a notepad and a pen he had clipped to his shirt. He seemed to hesitate for a few moments in-between scrawls before finally sighing and holding up the pad - now smudged with small oil stains - for her to read.

“

Max noticed the flicker of a frown on Anna's face before she smiled. He couldn't help but wonder if it was because of how dirty his hand was. However, at her question, it was his turn to frown and there was no mistaking the grim look that crossed his eyes as he jotted down a quick reply on his pad.

It was a simple answer he had grown used to giving and he never felt the need to elaborate. He gave people the leeway to fill in the blanks themselves. Some assumed it was a birth defect. Others mused the possibility of him having a surgery that cost him his voice. Never the real reason, though. And Max wasn't about to disclose it to anyone anytime soon.

Before Max could do anything else to detract from the conversation, something buzzed near his right ear and zoomed right between him and Anna. It landed on the back of her hand and started creeping up her arm. Upon closer look, it was a robotic bug roughly the size of an iPod shuffle - precisely the robot Max had been looking for.

He didn't know if the daughter of Athena noticed it, and he really didn't want to startle her or anything in case the bug would get scared away. Keeping a calm front, Max looked her straight in the eye and jerked his head towards where the bug was making its way to her elbow. It was then that the cold sense of dread washed over him at a certain realization. Weren't Athena kids really scared of spiders? The bug wasn't a robotic spider, but Anna wouldn't suddenly scream if she realized that a beetle was suddenly creeping towards her elbow, would she..?

anna tyler belaire; athena

Anna waited for him to write down his reply. "Well, why are you mute?" She asked. "Oh wait nevermind. It's none of my business anyway." The daughter of Athena said. She smiled at him. Then, the demigod heard a buzz near her and Max. It was probably a fly passing by. Anna didn't give a care in the world about it. It was going to be winter soon and it was probably going someplace warmer. Then she saw Max look at her then looked at her elbow. What was the matter? Couldn't he just talk? Oh wait, he couldn't talk he was mute. She looked at her elbow and saw a bug. It kinda looked.... robotic? Then she remembered Max was the son of Hephaestus. Anna picked up the bug with her index finger and her thumb. "I believe this is yours." She said handing him the robotic bug.

tag: --- words: --- notes: --- outfit:

maximilian grant son of hephaestus

“

Max sighed in relief and took the small bug. With a careful gentle pinch to avoid crushing it, he took out a small screwdriver from his pocket and went to work. With one twist, the struggling bug became still and Max dropped it in his bag where it joined the others. Smiling gratefully, Max held up his hastily written message.