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Eloise wakes early, as is her wont.
The sun is barely streaming in through the heavy purple window shades of the Hecate cabin, the first sickly rays of morning light slipping up against the horizon. The forest casts long shadows over the cabins, dim in the before-dawn light. Eloise rolls out of bed, stretching tall in her nightgown, feeling the invigoration of morning burst into her. She throws open the blinds to this cabin that she lives in alone, until the mysterious purple-toned room is completely filled with the beginnings of a day. Eloise smiles.
She steps into the small bathroom off to the side and takes a brisk, hot shower. The feeling of the water beating down on her is the ultimate refresher, the perfect way for Eloise to start her day out right . She takes a moment to relax into the hot liquid running down her face before she clambers out, clean as a whistle and twice as chipper. Eloise pulls on her usual yellow and orange dress, a flowing thing with a cinched waist and sleeves that are loose, except for at the wrists. The skirt is long, and Eloise pulls on her favorite heeled boots to go with it. Glancing out the window as she brushes her hair into place, Eloise realizes that it’s actually snowed.
First snow of the winter! How absolutely lovely. Eloise grins, because she knows that this means it’s Big House decorating day. First, however, is breakfast.
It’s not a long way to the Mess Hall from the Hecate Cabin, so Eloise doesn’t bother grabbing a proper coat. Instead, she just throws on a thick knitted cardigan and throws open the door, stepping out and-
Immediately, Eloise falls flat onto her bum.
After the original sting and shock of the impact, Eloise stares down, legs spread akimbo, at the traitorous ice beneath her feet. The rain from last night must’ve frozen where it landed on the paving stones (before it had turned to snow, of course), and without more grippy shoes on, Eloise has no chance of navigating the path that leads to the Mess Hall. Nevertheless, she supposes she has to try, because in no world is she going to wade through calf-deep snow the whole way there. That would be miserable .
Eloise pulls herself up slowly, getting to her feet. She takes another step. This time, she does not fall,
Gaining confidence, Eloise begins to move a bit quicker. She’s still careful not to rush, but she thinks she’s really getting the hang of this. It’s not that hard after all! She’s-
“Eloise!”
Instinctively, Eloise whips around at the shouted sound of her name. And, of course, that only does her in again. Eloise topples backwards, barely sticking out her hands in time to avoid another crack to the tailbone.
“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to spook you there,” Oli Orion, son of Apollo, says. He doesn’t sound very sorry at all, actually. He’s dressed much more sensibly in winter boots, and seems to have no trouble travelling across the icy paving stones. Reaching Eloise in a few confident strides, Oli looks down at her, before putting out his hand. “Need a leg-up?”
“I’m all good, thanks,” Eloise huffs, cautiously picking herself up once again and taking another teetering step forward. The adrenaline of the past two falls has made her shaky, however, and she barely manages to avoid taking yet another tumble. Goddamnit!
“If you’re sure,” Oli says as Eloise totters forward, that stupid smirk quirking up the right corner of his mouth. Eloise purses her lips, and pretends that her heart isn’t going crazy with something more than simple adrenaline. “Because it looks to me like you could use some help. I mean, why would you ever wear heels when it’s icy and snowy outside? You’re just like Acho.”
“I don’t need- help !” Eloise says, the final word turning into a shriek as her boot slips and she tumbles forward. For a split second, she’s sure she’s gonna fall face-first into the stone and break her nose- and won’t that be a pain to heal. Some ambrosia and nectar will get her right back to good, of course, but she’ll be off-kilter for the rest of the day! Alas!
Surprisingly, though, Eloise does not hit the ground. Oli’s hand shoots out as she trips, grabbing her arm and pulling her back into a standing position, where she’s left glaring at him, arms crossed. He raises his eyebrows, looking supremely unimpressed.
“I think you do, though,” he argues. “You can just lean on me until we get to the Mess Hall. It’s only a hundred feet or so.”
“I’ll be fine-”
“That’s not true,” Oli says, “and you’ve proven that, like, five times now.”
“Not five ,” Eloise grumbles.
Oli shrugs. “Real number doesn’t matter, does it? Here, go on.”
Eloise grudgingly slings her arm over Oli’s shoulders. His arm moves under hers, keeping her upright as she takes another step. And unfortunately, she does have to agree that this is a lot easier. Slowly- but not as slowly as Eloise had been on her own- the two of them make their way to the pavilion that is called the Mess Hall. As they walk, Eloise slowly becomes more and more aware of Oli’s body heat mingling with hers, their bodies close in the cold air. Whenever he cracks a joke and Eloise snorts in response (or once, bursts into giggles) his arm tightens around her as she wobbles in her heels against the ice, and all Eloise can think is to keep laughing so he holds her tighter.
It feels good to be supported by someone else, not to mention someone so-
Wait.
Oh, shit, does Eloise like this guy? Oh, she totally does.
Her face warming, she looks sideways at him. Oli has a straight nose that turns slightly down at the corners, and acne scarring at the edges of his ruddy cheeks. His hair is bleached-blonde, bangs swept fashionably to the side. His lips are curved upwards in a slight smile that only grows when he catches her looking at him.
“Well, hello there,” Oli says jokingly. Eloise pushes her lips together into as thin a line as they’ll go. Otherwise, she’s afraid she’ll say something stupid.
Eventually, they reach the Mess Hall, and Eloise doesn’t think she can take another moment of this. She’s ridiculously flustered, she can’t talk properly, and she’s at once half-freezing from the long exposure to the cold air and half-hot from being pressed up against Oli’s side. As soon as she presses a foot onto the Mess Hall concrete and finds it void of ice, Eloise removes her hand from Oli’s shoulders. She breathes a silent sigh of relief at the fact that her senses are no longer completely overloaded with “there is a very attractive boy right beside you, Eloise”.
She and Oli are the first people there, which definitely isn’t surprising. It’s early in the morning, and in the winter, people just tend to sleep later in general. Eloise takes a step into the main area of the open-air pavilion that is the Mess Hall, and immediately, the magical heating of the area warms her right up.
“Well, that was quite a journey,” Oli says, tone light as he stuffs his hands in his pockets. “I should probably go wake up the rest of my cabin now, though.”
And with that, he turns and walks away.
Eloise has a few options here- she can let him go. She can talk to him later, and try to build a friendship, and then maybe she’ll ask him out. Or… or she can call him back.
Her mind is made up as soon as the last thought crosses her mind.
“Oli, wait,” she calls. Oli turns around immediately, a goofy smile back on his face, as if he’d been waiting just for this. “I just wanted to say- thanks for helping me out. I know I didn’t really ask for it, but you’re right- I would’ve hurt myself if not for you. So, thanks.”
“No problem,” Oli responds airily, waving his hand in the air as if to say ‘oh, it was nothing, really’. “Always happy to help out a fellow camper in need. And plus, after the shenanigans Acho and Wil got up to last night, I needed-”
Eloise crosses to him in a few long strides. Then she grabs his face and kisses him.
It’s a little abrupt, that’s for sure, and Oli makes that very known with the surprised squeak he makes against Eloise’s lips. But then he relaxes, his own hands coming up and wrapping around Eloise’s wrists, kissing back softly. Eloise pulls away, her hands still on his face, ghosting over his skin.
“Sorry,” she mutters, voice hushed. She doesn’t- why did she do that ? What the hell happened to her? She’s known Oli before this, sure, but they’ve never been friends . And she just- kisses him? Out of the blue? What the fuck is wrong with her? Her voice gets louder as she continues, more frantic, growing in panic. “Seriously, I- I don’t know what came over me there, I’m- I’m sorry. That was out of pocket, I-”
“Eloise,” Oli says, voice quiet like a whisper. It shuts Eloise right up. “ El . You’re okay. Don’t worry.”
“I just should’ve asked-”
“Do I look like I mind?”
Eloise takes a moment to genuinely consider his statement. His cheeks are red- more so than the cold would make them. He has a slightly starstruck look in his eyes, and- and his hands haven’t left Eloise’s wrists. To put it bluntly, the boy looks head-over-heels.
“No,” Eloise answers honestly. “You look like you want me to do that again.”
“Me?” Oli jests, eyes widening in mock surprise, friendly sarcasm coating his tone. “Why on earth would I want to be kissed by the prettiest girl at Camp? Honestly, El. You don’t know me at all .”
Eloise does her best to ignore the prettiest girl at camp comment because god that’s a whole other can of worms she’s certainly going to rant at Scott and Beks about later. “I mean- I don’t, really. We’ve never talked much, outside of our mutual friends.”
“Well, then I feel like this is a great time to start,” Oli puffs, smiling again. “I’d love to get to know you better.”
“And I’d love to get to know you,” Eloise admits. “Do you- uh- d’you wanna do the dating thing?”
“Eloise Soup,” Oli says, drawing out every syllable of her name like she’s a rare bird he’s just spotted through his binoculars, “I would love to ‘do the dating thing’ with you.”
“Then it’s official,” Eloise agrees. And then, because she can’t help herself, she leans in and kisses him again. Because she can do that now .
And all of a sudden, Eloise is very, very grateful that she’d been stupid enough to wear slippery heels when the ground was covered in snow.