backyardbbq | Open smut post

[Nanaki was a bit unusual in that, while she had exhibited her powers from a very young age, she had been clueless as to the origins of her powers up until recently. In fact, she had no clue she was a half-god, not until a random day near the end of summer, just after her sixteenth birthday. Before then, all she had known was that her dad had run off before she was born and that she was cursed with a horrible power.

Finding out that she was a half-god had been interesting at first, up until she was told that she would have to leave Japan and go halfway around the world to stay in a camp in a country she knew nothing about. She couldn't even communicate with most of the campers, since her English was rusty and most of the other kids didn't have the patience to deal with her struggling over words. Sure, this camp was full of demigods like her, but Nanaki felt very much alone here.

So, she kept to herself. She was polite and always had a smile on her face when talking with people, but she was pretty good at discreetly sneaking away and hiding in the Apollo cabin while everyone else practiced archery or worked on their various musical talents. There were enough kids around anyway, she was able to blend into the background when she didn't want to be noticed.

Interestingly enough, shortly after Nanaki's arrival, the number of serious injuries to campers dropped dramatically. Nanaki never told anyone about her powers-- partially from her past failures at warning people, partially because she didn't have the vocabulary to adequately explain it-- but she hadn't given up on her prediction-breaking ways. She had just learned to be more discreet about it.

Most of the time, anyway. Sometimes she couldn't help but be obvious, like the time she had to sneak into cabin nine to 'take care of' a drill with a cracked bit that would have taken someone's eye out the next time it was used. It was unfortunate that most of kids in cabin nine only saw her tossing the drill into the lake and didn't bother listening to explanations.]

[Leo had been down at Bunker 9 working on the ship when one of the other Hephaestus kids came and told him that the new girl had broken into their cabin and stolen a drill and dumped it in the lake. This was one of the things that sucked about being a cabin leader. Having to deal with things like this when he'd rather just work.

However, the new girl - Nanaki? He thinks that's her name. Anyway, he thinks she's very cute. So having to go talk to her was actually a bit of a blessing. He'd been looking for an excuse to talk to her, but she was always ducking away and hiding out before he could get close to her.

He finds her down by the lake, surrounded by a few of the other Hephaestus kids. Sounding as confident as he could, he walked up to them and told them to get back to work. He'd deal with this. Once they were out of the way, he smiled at Nanaki.]

So what's all this fuss about? Not gonna drill ya or anything, but you did dump a perfectly good tool into the lake.

[Nanaki was sitting on a large rock, mostly because a few of the Hephaestus kids had 'oh so kindly given her a place to sit'. AKA it was harder for her to book it from a sitting position.

When Leo showed up, Nanaki looked a bit sheepish. She had a bad habit of thinking in the present, and she hadn't considered the consequences of her actions when she had tried to think of a way to get rid of the drill permanently.]

I....yes?

[Leo's accent is a bit harder to pick apart, but it's pretty obvious what his question is. There's no point in denying it either, several kids saw her do it.]

[Leo reaches up and scratches the back of his head. He wasn't asking her if she did it. He didn't think his siblings would lie about it. He sighs before trying again.]

It's okay. You're not in trouble. [He gives her a reassuring smile.] I just want to know why.

[Why. That's definitely a question she understands. It's only unfortunate that she can't answer it honestly.

So she frowns as she tries to think of a convincing lie she can tell. What would other teenagers believe and not question if she said it?]

...

It was a dare.

[Hopefully they believed that. Nanaki had no idea what terms the Apollo and Hephaestus houses were on, but being egged into it as part of a dare seemed like a good excuse. All new kids went through some kind of hazing, right?]

[Leo was nowhere near as good at reading people as Annabeth was, but he knows that look. Mostly because he's had a lot of experience making it. He sits down on the rock next to Nanaki. Resting his arms on his thighs he leans forward and looks at her from the side. Maybe she'll be more honest with him now.]

I don't think it was. Doesn't sound like something any of them would make a newbie do. Too tame. [He laughs.]

It is?

[Deflect deflect deflect

Though it is an honest question hidden in the deflection. Leo might be making her worried, now she's imagining all the hazing the kids at camp could put her through. She has quite an active imagination too, so it's not pretty.]

What would they do?

I haven't seen much of it myself, but I've heard stories about the Apollo kids cursing the Ares kids to speak only in rhyme. And about a couple of the Hermes kids putting centaur blood inside a t-shirt and giving it to a hunter of Artemis the night before she was supposed to leave on a quest.

[He watched her as he spoke, hoping he wasn't making things worse.]

[Both of those sounded like dick moves (the Apollo one for sure, Nanaki isn't sure of the significance behind centaur blood for the Artemis one), though they're not nearly as bad as she was imagining. So she relaxes a bit, and she sighs.]

Those kinds of pranks are childish.

[He laughs. Maybe now is not the time to tell her about Taco Claus or some of the other pranks he's played over the years.]

Yeah, guess they kind of are. Doesn't really match up with dumping a tool into the water.

[Damn, her distraction tactic didn't work. She glowers again, and then she looks away from Leo entirely.]

I'm not explaining myself.

[If she can't make him believe a lie, then she can just be quiet about it entirely.

But even so, she does feel a little guilty about it, so a few moments later she adds a bit more.]

...I can get you another, to replace it.

[He's not sure what's got her so upset.]

It's fine. It's not like it was our only one. I just don't get why you won't tell me. I won't report you to Will. Or to Chiron for that matter.

[Well. That was unexpected.]

Thank you, but why?

Because you're hiding your reason for it. I figure that means there's a good reason you don't want to tell anyone.

[At least that's been the case with himself. Maybe she had some weird power or something.]

[She falls silent there. While she is happy that Leo isn't going to be pursuing this any further, she doesn't really like the fact that he can see through her so well. Most people take her words at face value, so finding someone who doesn't is a little unsettling.

And intriguing at the same time, actually. But she will satisfy her curiosity about Leo another day.]

Can I go?

Not yet. This is gonna bug me forever not knowing why.

[While there's demigods with special powers, they're not all that common. He's able to do some things that the other Hephaestus kids can't, so maybe that's the case with Nanaki. Things had been different since she arrived, though he'd never thought too much about it before now. He holds out his hand in front of them. ]

I want to show you something, don't get scared. I want you to know you can trust me enough to tell me what your reason was.

[He creates a small flame in the center of his palm and lets it burn there while he waits for her reaction.]

[Nanaki's eyes go wide and she backs up a bit from Leo, half-expecting to get burned by the fire. But when the fire doesn't burn her, she goes from scared to curious, with a bit of suspicion mixed in. She glances around at the other campers, trying to gauge their reactions to it, before turning her attention to Leo again.]

It's...fire.

[There's not much else to say about it. She does wonder why he's showing her this, though.]

Can't others make fire too?

[Leo shakes his head.]

Nope. I'm the only one. It's been a couple centuries since anyone has had the ability.

[The fire is still burning in his hand, but after a few moments he extinguishes it with as little flourish as he'd started it.]

You're lucky, then.

[Being able to control fire like that is a very useful power, and Nanaki imagines that many people would love to have it.

Unlike her power. While she is alright with using it as much as she can, she can't imagine anyone wanting the power she has.]

I guess. Kind of thought it was a curse for a long time.

[He wasn't going to go into why he'd felt that way. He'd known Piper for several months before he wound up telling her and Jason, and even then it was only because they'd witnessed him survive a kerosene fueled fire without a burn. And he didn't tell them right away either.]

[That strikes a chord within Nanaki. Everyone here seemed to love who they were and what they could do, and she had never thought that someone else here would feel their powers were a curse. It makes her consider Leo a little differently now, at the very least.]

What do you think of it now?

It's not so bad. But sometimes I feel like the other campers are afraid of me even if they don't show it. The worst fires in history have been caused by demigods with the same power I have.

[It's a concern he hasn't voiced before, despite thinking of it often.]

[That's something she can understand, at least. And since Leo opened up to her like that, she'll give him some friendly advice.]

Don't let what they think bother you. If they don't understand, then that is their problem, not yours.

Yeah, I know.

[The fact that it's their problem doesn't make it any less his problem. But he's not going to argue with her.]

So, let me try to understand what you were doing disposing of that drill?

No.

[Sorry Leo. Even though you seem like a cool guy, she's not opening up to anyone that easily. Give her time, though, and soon enough she will.]

I have my reasons for what I do. That's all anyone needs to know.

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