Home sweet Home (Open)

POV: Fletch Kealoha

I looked up from rosining my violin bow as I sat on my bed. I was in mid stroke with my bow on the small piece of rosin that cleaned the strong horse hair I had previously tightened when the heavy cabin door swung open. With a jump and wide eyes, not expecting anybody to walk in, I dropped my tools. All of my sisters were out at free time activities, and I had't expected them back so soon. But there, in the doorway of the golden cabin stood my half sibling Karley, with her signature bright smile and happy eyes. Her long wavy blonde hair shone a little brighter due to the sun reflecting off the cabin.
One of my own wide smiles slid onto my face at the sight of her. I hadn't seen her in a really long time. She had left camp for a while for some personal reasons.
"Hey, Karley!" I greeted excitedly as I slid off my bed. In all of my happiness of having my half-sister return, I had forgotten to mind the dip in the bunk bed, resulting in me whacking my head off the wood.
I blinked repeatedly to clear the stars that danced around in my eyes and stumbled into the middle of the cabin to greet Karley with a goofy grin.
"Welcome back," I said.

I grinned at her as she brushed her fingers gently over the place I had hit my head on. Honestly, between her and Roxy, it was like I had two moms. But with my balance issues and constant tendency to find different ways to hurt myself, two sisters who were skilled in the art of medicine were exactly what I needed.
I pulled her into a welcome home hug.
"I'm fine, Karley," I reassured her. "I've had worse." I pulled out of the hug, my expression not wavering from a happy grin. "And it's really good to see you too." I moved closer to my bed again and flopped down on it. Careful this time not to hit my head again on the way down by keeping my arm raised, clutching the wooden dip. Why did we even have wooden dips on the bunk beds? I collected my violin and bow and hung them on the hook I had nailed into the wall. Then, I patted the space next to me for her to take a seat.
"Feel good to be back?" I asked.

I hugged her back as she pulled me in after sitting herself down on my bed. My face fell as she told me she had had a bad time and gotten home sick. I knew how the homesickness felt. Last time I had left camp, I had left for a quest, and in the middle of it had started missing camp. That, plus monster attacks, plus my friends getting hurt hadn't made up for a great trip. She told me she had missed her favourite brother, which lifted my spirits a little. I was her only brother, but that's not gonna stop me from feeling special.
"Aw, sis," I replied sympathetically. The wonder of what happened to her that had made it such a horrible experience tugged at my brain. I wanted to make her feel better about her stay away from camp, but I had no idea how.
"You want to talk about it?" I offered. Sometimes all someone needed was someone to rant to, and I was definitely going to be there to listen to my sisters problems.

I had smiled back at her as she called me a sweetheart and pinched my cheeks. She was older than me, so I guess that's what older sisters did to their younger brothers. That, or fight, but when you're a demigod you learn to keep your friends, siblings, significant others, whatever close. You never knew what trouble you were going to get into, and when you live a life like that, there's no room for negative feelings in the relationships you have with your family. I liked to get along with my siblings anyway. So many years growing up as an only child only made me feel incredibly blessed to have an amazing group of half-sisters to share my new home with.
When her smile dropped, I suddenly got concerned, but I tried not to let it show on my face. I hadn't realized how little I knew about Karley's past before this moment. I didn't know a lot about anybody's past but my own, really. I had drilled the habit of not asking demigods about what their life was like before camp in my brain. Obviously, sometimes I forgot about it and let my mouth say whatever it decided.
"You can tell me anything," I said, lifting the side of my mouth into a crooked smile. I wrapped an arm around Karley's shoulders comfortingly.

A sad and soft smile played on my expression. I wiped a tear away from her eye as gently as she had brushed her fingers over my head. I couldn't believe anyone would do anything like that to a girl like Karley, who was so happy and optimistic about the world.
"You're right," I answered, pulling her into a comforting hug. "I'm sorry all that happened to you. You definitely don't deserve to have gone through that... But you're really, really brave for going back there." I muttered from over her shoulder. I had a lot of respect for Karley. She had faced her past, something not a lot of demigods would be at all okay with doing. Even despite her past, she was a happy girl who lived to make people just as smiley as she was. At least, that was my perception of her.
I pulled away from our hug and looked at her with a gentle smile. I wanted to cheer her up, and definitely change the subject from the gloomy turn it had taken.
"You want to head down to the Dining pavilion? I know a satyr who'll allow us in to get some ice cream," I said with a smirk. What could be better for helping people forget bad memories than ice cream? Especially when you had the freedom to choose absolutely any flavour you wanted. Having one of your best friends as a Satyr who could get you a lot of things in camp definitely had it's perks. I just hoped he was down there working to set the tables before the next meal break.

I smiled wider now that she seemed to be less upset and sad. I knew ice cream could cheer anyone up.
"Hah! Because it's everyone's weakness," I said with a jokey wink.
Once again, careful not to hit my head, I stepped off the bed and waited for her to do the same. When we were both ready to go, we headed towards the heavy golden door. With a strong push as I turned the knob, the door swung open as if it was lighter than it actually was. The fresh summer breeze and daily goings on of camp greeted us as we stepped out onto our porch. You'd think you'd get bored of the sight of camp after a while, seeing as it was always sunny, the campers were always milling around, and the trees always blew in the directions of the soft wind. No matter what, though, home was home, and I could never quite get bored with it.
Karley and I skipped down the steps of the porch and walked side by side in the direction of the Dining Pavilion. It must have been nice for her to finally be surrounded by a positive space, with friends and activities to keep her spirits up.
It didn't take long to get to the Dining Pavilion. It was straight to your right from the cabins. There weren't many campers around, only ones passing it to get to somewhere else. Inside, I could hear the clatter of plates on tables. I peered into the hall and saw the familiar blonde haired, freckle faced boy I normally saw rushing around camp now a days on his sandy coloured goat legs with the bleach blonde fetlocks and freckles.
I entered the dining hall, as Karley followed.
"Hey, Casper," I greeted. The Satyr looked up from the table he was setting and smiled at the two of us as we walked into the Mess Hall.
"Hey!" He greeted happily. "What are you guys doing here?" He asked.
"We were wondering if we could get some ice cream," I answered, tilting my head down to look at the shorter Satyr with the blue puppy dog eyes he could never resist. I tucked my arms behind me back and gave a smile. Casper tried to force a smile down, but failed miserably. Rolling his forest green eyes, he led Karley and I to the Apollo cabin table that had already been set.
"You and your snacks," he muttered lightheartedly.
"You're great!" I called after him as he walked off to finish setting the tables. I grinned at Karley and looked down at my plate, wishing for some Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. The green desert appeared on my plate instantly, and I quickly dug into it with a fork.
"So, let's talk about something happy." I said with a smile her way. "Done any of your favourite activities since you've been back?"

(How long as she been away? Does she know about Charlie?)