"MMMOOOMMMMMYYYYYYY" the little boy screamed as soon as he saw Travis and Katie walk through the door to Katie's house. He was young, somewhere between 7 or 8 years old. He was mixed race and surprisingly muscled for a child, he appeared to be playing with a toy sword and stabbing the living crap out of a pillow. "KKAATTIEEE'S WITH A BOOOYYYYY"
"Katie sweetheart he better be hot" A woman's voice called from the kitchen "Come in here sweetie"
"Just a friend" She shouted back
"Sure sweetie, and I'm the princess of new Guinea"
They moved to go to the kitchen but Travis's path was blocked by a small boy with a toy gladius. Travis tried to move around him but the boy kept moving in step with him, eventually Travis leant down and spoke to him "Hey buddy, what's your name?"
"I'm Shak, are you brave? Did you fight in the war? Are you strong? Can you fight? Cause I can fight, and I'm strong. And I ca-" He was cut off by Katie picking him up and slinging him over her shoulder
"Come on Shak, don't harass Travis" They walked down a fairly modern corridor into a wide room, covered in cooking utensils, the room held a heavy aroma of African spices and instantly made Travis hungry. Two children sat at a table, both looked a similar age of about 2 or 3, they both craned their heads around too look at Travis.
"Hey Asha" Katie said "he's a demigod so say what you want"
A beautiful but scary African-American woman walked through some bead curtains at the back of the room. She was tall, and muscular, not so much that she was hench, but just enough to show she'd kill you if you came near her. Her hair was braided and went all the way down her back and ust to the top of her thighs. She walked with a purpose of someone who knew their own importance.
"Asha" she said, holding out her hand for Travis to take "Daughter of Justitia, roman god of justice, Katies step-mom"
"Travis Stoll" He said, shaking her hand "Son of Hermes"
"Ahhhhhh, so this is the famous Travis Stoll" Asha said smiling mischievously "Katie's talked about you enough I feel like I know you"
"Really?" He dragged out the really and raised an eyebrow looking at the fast going red Katie
"Shut up Asha" Katie said "I'm gonna get changed, you two" She said, pointing at Travis and Asha "don't talk to each other"
"Katie said you're a really good fighter" Shak said, tugging on his trouser leg "Can you teach me so I can be good at Camp Jupiter?"
"I fight like a greek little guy" Travis said, crouching down to his height and picking up two wooden swords "And I fight with two swords, I can't teach you anything about roman fighting"
"Oh" The kid looked a little disappointed, then thought of something "Can you teach me how to make Katie's hair green? That was really funny when she had green hair because of you!"
"Oh my gods was it still like that when she got home?!" Travis laughed
"For about a week" Asha said, turning round from one of the many pots billowing delicious smells "Hey Shak, why don't you go and watch some TV so me and Travis can chat?"
"Buut mooomm, I wanna fight the grreeeekk" The boy whined as he walked out of the room
"Sit down" Asha gestured to the table "You've got a cut, you want some nectar?"
"Yes please ma'am" Travis said as he sat down
"Cut the manners" she laughed as she delved through cupboards "You're a Hermes kid it doesn't suit you"
"You're probably right on that front" Travis said, sipping gently at the cup she handed him "Do you get much trouble with monsters around here? we just had an attack but it's the first sign I've seen of them in LA"
"More than most people, Katie and I are both fully recognised demigods, and the three kids are all descendants, but not as much as when I lived in San Francisco"
"So my mom, brother and me should be fine?"
"Maybe one attack a year" She said, pulling something mysterious looking out of the oven "You hungry?"
"Ahh cool, and yeah I'm starving" She practically threw a plate with some kind of spicy smelling pastry on. Asha sat down opposite him, with the same thing. Only hers smelt considerably stronger.
"I'd like to thank you" She said, taking a bite out of her pastry, and looking at Travis. He went to take a bite out of his own and strong African spices flowed through his mouth instantly, his mouth felt like Tartarus, and his salvia the fire river Percy talked about. He wanted to run to water but the serious expression on Asha's face made him stop and hold it in as she continued "After the bomb... you were the only one who went after her, you searched for her. I got a call from a girl, Annabeth, she was calling the parents of the missing and the dead. And as she spoke, we put her on speaker so her father and I could both hear, every part of me felt like it was being ripped apart.
I cried, down the phone to this girl, for longer than I care to admit, then somebody ran in shouting, they shouted loud and panicked, the guy was screaming 'TRAVIS IS MIA' and the girl on the phone said 'But he was in hospital' and the guy said back 'He ran out about 5 minuites ago as soon as somebody told him Katie was missing' and the second he said that, the girl came back on the phone and said, 'Mr and Mrs Gardner, I can't guarantee the safety of you daughter, but her chances just went from impossible, to marginal' and I started to come back together again.
Because I remember every word, every little gripe, or every complaint about the guy called Travis, and the way they turned into little happy mentions, or praise, or after the battle of Manhattan, we were stood outside the building waiting for you to leave, but first we saw these two kids come out, salt and pepper hair, bags of candy in hands, laughing with a dangerous looking woman, and I could already tell she was alive, because you were too. You're like ying and yang, or loki and thor. One cannot exist without the other"
By this point Travis face was red with the spice of the food and he could barely breathe, "Oh I'm sorry, have I embarrassed you?" Asha said, concerned
"Not...Quite... spicy" Travis mustered
"Oh shit! Sorry" She grabbed a glass of milk and gave it to Travis, who slugged it in a few gulps and began panting
"Thank you" He managed "I'm *cough* touched"
"TRAAVVVIIISSSS" Katie shouted from upstairs, he managed a thumbs up to Asha as he staggered upstairs
"Yo" He said, slowly recovering from the spice
"Asha's food?" She asked
"Yep" He coughed
"In here" She said, leading him into her room, he was instantly hit by the heat and the jungle like area "I'll find you a weapon hold on
As she rummaged through cupboards, Travis started looking at the jungle room, he wasn't particularly interested in plants but there was one he couldn't help but wonder if Katie had one particular plant. He started smelling the most suspicious looking plants he could find in the room.
"Please don't tell me you're looking for marijuana in my room?" Katie said dryly, looking at him, holding two draggers
"I was just wondering... since you have like a jungle, or maybe some shrooms?"
"I don't grow drugs!" She said exasperated "Why does everyone think I do?"
"You do realise, if you did, they'd be fucking brilliant" He said
"We're going come on" She said, walking out of the room, they both walked down the stairs and Travis popped into the kitchen and saw Asha
"Hey, it was nothing, felt like the right thing to do" He said, smiled, then followed Katie out the front door
Once they were outside he turned to her and said "If you were to get into the drugs business..."
"TRAVIS" Katie shouted