Daughter of Wine

Callida

"Good morning, kids!" I greet loudly, bursting into the bunker with as much energy as I can muster. A dozen Hephaestus kids jump in surprise, then give me irritated, grumpy looks. 

Their bad mood doesn't last long, however. As I walk down the aisles, greeting everybody, the mood livens. I happily pull myself up the scaffolding on the side of the Argo II to where Leo is working to attach all the oars. 

"Good morning," I greet, sitting myself down next to where he's laying. He looks crazy. He's got a pair of welding goggles on his forehead, streaks of grease on his face, and a screwdriver in his mouth. 

"Grd mrghrd." He tries. 

I smile and nod my head, patting my legs and looking around. "Everyone's working hard in here. Hardddd work. Hard workers." I look at the oar. I find that I actually understand what he's doing. I can see the pieces, how they'll work together. I look down at the Hephaestus cabin, the rows and aisles of mechanic benches and equipment and storage units. 

I exhale loudly. "Fun." 

Leo chuckles and sits up. "Feeling extra ADHD today, are we?"

"What does that mean?" I ask, fiddling with the ends of my hair. 

"Nothing." He shakes his head. "What kind of music are we listening to today?"

I shrug. "I figured you guys are probably sick of the music." I nod my head down to his siblings. "They definitely are." 

He shakes his head. "I don't think so. Last night, Harley and Nyssa were both humming that one song you played last week." 

I gasp and place my hand over my heart dramatically. "Really? They like it?"

"I'd say yes." Leo grins at me and my heart flutters involuntarily. "You wanna help with these oars? If you haven't noticed, there's a lot of them." 

"I guess I can help." I sigh, scooting down to the next oar. "You know, you should really start thinking about the details in here." 

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," I sigh, laying down at the next oar like Leo was. "Like, what kind of chairs are we going to sit on in the mess hall? What kind of pictures are we going to hang on the wall?" I sit up again to look at him. "These things are important, you know. We're going to be on this ship for a long while. It needs to be comfortable. It can't be a warship through and through. We'll go nuts." 

"You're already nuts." He mutters in response. 

"Yeah?" I raise an eyebrow. 

He grins up at me. "You wanna be in charge of all that?" 

I scoff. "No. Are you kidding? You don't want me in charge of anything near this ship." 

"I don't know." He shrugs. "You do have a way of making everyone feel welcome. Maybe you should  be in charge of that. What kinds of chairs would you choose?"

"Something comfortable." I think. "Ooh, with a massage function." 

"You're hired." He looks up at me from his oar. "Better get to work, mamacita. Interior design is all you."