A/N: So, recap and update. AU Hephaestus, teenage artist/engineer, left at an orphanage as an infant. Brontes, his only friend, blind in one eye, called Cyclops by some of the asshole kids. Thetis, one of the nuns taking care of the kids at the orphanage. Achilles, asshole jock boy (one of the ones calling Brontes Cyclops, naturally), son of Thetis. Enjoy!
…
"C'mon, Heph, you have to at least stop by Achilles' game," Brontes urges, attempting to pull Hephaestus' wheelchair away from his desk. "Sister Thetis is expecting us all to go, for moral support."
"Oh, please, he doesn't need out 'moral support'. Everyone knows he's gonna win. Besides, all he's going to do is point and laugh at the cripple and the blind ginger kid. What's the point?"
Brontes puts his hands on his slim hips, one eyebrow arched. "As if you care whether or not he'll tease us. Come on, we have to go." And he resumes the pushing and the pulling, rocking Hephaestus enough to warrant the brunette to drop his pencil with a sigh.
"No, Bron, you have to go. I have homework," Hephaestus huffs, gesturing to the papers on his desk. "And you know," he pauses, and points a finger to the sky in a very Thetis-esque manner, one that all the children at the orphanage know well—well enough that the redhead joins him in quoting— "Nothing is more important than your schoolwork, young man."
Brontes stops at this point, but Heph goes on, "It won't do you any good to make your little inventions if you can't get a job. Go on, finish your math."
"She does have a point, you know…" it's mumbled, but loud enough for the other to hear anyway.
"Bullshit." Hephaestus spins his wheelchair around at that one, pointing at the half-blind boy almost accusatorily. "I've been building since before I even knew what calculus and physics were. I'm… I'm an electrical artist. Forget the math, I can just look at a pile of junk, sketch up a model and build it into something that works."
"So is that homework, or a plan for a new pile of junk?" Bron asks, pointing over the other's shoulder.
Heph grins and turns his chair back around to face his desk. "A little bit of both." he picks up a stack of papers on his desk, flipping through them until he finds a flyer, and hands it to Brontes. "I'm entering the science fair. I dunno, maybe someone'll hear about me if I win and want to adopt me."
"What if you don't win?" the redhead moves close, leaning his hip against the desk as he skims over the flyer.
"You and I both know I'm going to win."
A shrug, and a little nod. "So, where do we start?"
"I thought we had to go?" Hephaestus props his head up on a fist, smirking up at his friend.
Brontes waves a hand dismissively. "Oh, please. You know all he's gonna do when we get there is point and laugh at the cripple and the blind kid. What's the point?"