Chapter Text
Perseus had taken to Silena's company rather quickly, and with her came Beckendorf (or Charles, which nobody called him). Perseus thought that the two were an odd pair. Silena was overtly kind and sympathetic (which the boy slightly judged at first) whereas Beckendorf was physically intimidating and permanently scowling. He thought that Beckendorf wouldn't be as kind as he actually was. The older boy didn't speak much, but seemed at ease and more open to talk when around Silena. He clocked their relationship rather quickly; being trained to notice and exploit emotional attachments. But, the more time he spent around them, the less he felt to need to document their vulnerability. Strange, he thought.
Today, the three of them were picking strawberries in the fields.
"Percy, would you pass the basket? Mine is full." Silena's voice called out. He obliged.
Beckendorf reached over and stole a strawberry from Silena's mound of berries, which she tried to swat away but failed. Perseus smiled and chuckled. Beckendorf looked over at the sound of Perseus' contentment and smiled back at him, nodding approvingly.
(Once, Luke overheard the couple talking about whoever must have hurt Perseus for him to be so emotionally detached from others.
"He's so inconsistent, it's like he puts on a mask of what he wants us to see. He doesn't talk to people, Charlie. He rarely initiates his time spent with us. I'm worried about him."
"He hovers around Luke like he's puppy-guarding the guy," Beckendorf murmured.
"It's weird, isn't it? That Luke found him but they're so attached to each other?" Silena whispered. Beckendorf only nodded. Their conversation shifted from there and Luke crept away. He didn't tell Perseus any of what he overheard.)
"How are you liking camp, Percy?" Silena asked, "Surely we aren't your only friends," she said, teasing.
"It's fine. Cabin 11 is kind of shitty. Too many kids. Too few beds. Too little floor. The Stolls are… amusing to watch. Very chaotic."
Beckendorf's eyes crinkled, "yeah, they are. Sorry about the cabin. Chiron tries, but-"
"Sometimes the gods forget how quickly time passes," Silena cuts Beckendorf off, "and they lose track of what we've asked for. But we make do and support each other. It's the demigod way!"
Perseus only nodded, focusing on the strawberries.
Then, he asked, "why do we harvest strawberries?"
Beckendorf answered, "Well, Mr. D can't grow grapes but he can still grow other fruit-bearing plants. So, we landed on strawberries, which gives us a mortal cover as Delphi Strawberry Service and helps pay for some of the stuff around camp. Mr. D, Castor, and Pollux all help with the plant growing and the rest of camp helps harvest, which is what we're doing."
"How does that business work?"
Silena answered that question, "well, Chiron used to handle all business with mortal restaurants and stores but a couple years ago, Luke volunteered to take over handling mortals, so Chiron has more time for camp stuff. I think he's planning on training Annabeth to take over once he's ready to leave camp. They're both year-rounders. Like you." Silena faltered at that, forgetting the implications for a moment.
Perseus smiled, "it's okay. I know what happened. I'm just glad to be here now. Camp answers so many of my questions."
And maybe he let them draw their own conclusions to what he meant by that, but that was their fault for not pressing him more. He still maintained that they were soft.
"We're glad you're here too, Percy. You're a smart kid," Beckendorf said while pulling Silena and Percy into a hug.
Maybe being soft wasn't so bad.