Gavin woke in his usual way: with a knife being plunged into his palm.
Even that pain barely woke him, though. He flopped around a little before finally sitting up, instinctively reaching to the pack of band-aids next to his bunk, pulling one out of the box and applying it to his palm. Underneath the blood, there was a scar showing how long he'd been waking himself up like this for.
Ashley looked down at him, the knife now set down next to the band-aids. Her short, dark hair was still unruly from sleep, not that she cared much about it. It just eventually calmed down throughout the day, until it got boring enough that she messed it up again. Her baggy camp t-shirt hung loosely on her thin baggy frame, and in her hand she held a coffee, which was being held out to him.
He grabbed the drink and swallowed a big gulp down. He could instantly feel the caffeine sizzling the sleepiness out of him. He sat a little more upright and looked around him at the other sleeping children of Hypnos, then back at his friend. "Thanks, Ash," he said, giving her a slight smile and gulping down more coffee. "You can go now."
"As per usual," she said. She gave him a little wave. "I'll let you get dressed. See you at breakfast."
He waved back, and watched as she left the cabin. He felt himself slowly start to droop, and he drank more of the coffee. Ten hours of sleep, and he looked like he'd gotten two. Great. He ran his hand through his hair, feeling the light brown curls and letting them fall back to his forehead. He should probably start getting ready. He glanced at his watch, which confirmed for him that he was a little late.
He got up from his bunk, careful not to disturb anyone as he got up. The ever-present violin music was soft, and the warmth from the fire was comfortable enough that he took another swig of his drink. He quickly made his bed and finished his drink, dropping the empty cup into the small trash can isolated in the corner.
He showered and got changed in the little Hypnos bathroom and, on the way out, slid his dagger into the little scabbard he wore at his side just in case he fell asleep when he shouldn't. Finally, he headed out to the dining pavilion.
Gavin sat down at the Hypnos table, alone for the moment since no one else from his cabin had gotten up yet, and there were no visiting Romans. He glanced around, spotting Ashley at the Hermes table. She hadn't been claimed yet, despite being there for almost two weeks, now, which was a little worrying. However, other kids were getting claimed, so it was just about her, and maybe her godly parent.
He said to his glass, "Starbucks Grande coffee," something which he was aware was filled with enough caffeine that one glass would make him golden (not that the glasses ever ran out, which, come to think of it, meant there was a chance he was drinking the equivalent of three of them-sometimes camp made his brain hurt).
He accepted a plate from a nearby dryad, giving her a smile. He stood up, getting in line to scrape some of the food into the fire as an offering to the gods. He looked down at his plate: two pancakes, three slices of bacon, and a nice and large helping of eggs. He threw in one of the pancakes and a healthy amount of egg into the flames for his dad, smelling the heavenly aroma and sighing with pleasure.
He made his way back to his table. Still no one else. He silently started picking at his food, looking down at his plate and putting a small bite of food in his mouth. He zoned out without anything to do, and before he realized it, his plate was polished off, and the last traces of sleep had been hidden by the caffeine in his drink. He looked up from his plate for anything to distract him from...whatever this was. Sitting alone at a table, he supposed?
A couple of the older campers had already left for cabin inspection. Gavin wasn't really worried about it. The Hypnos cabin rarely needed cleaning, mostly because things rarely happened there. As long as he kept his area clean, and made sure everyone else did the same, he'd be fine. Clovis, the counselor, was pretty lax, though Gavin wasn't exactly excited for next year, when he'd start going to college. Someone else would have to take over, and, at current standings, he was next in line. Maybe he wasn't the oldest, but he'd been going here since he was ten. Which, come to think of it, is a bit strange for a minor demigod.
Anyway, no real worries on that front. Nothing else big seemed to be happening. Ares cabin seemed to be having a mass arm-wrestling contest, someone at the Apollo table had brought out a guitar and was playing it, a Hermes kid looked like he'd eaten a piece of Ashley's bacon, judging by her furious face, and the Athena kids had brought out plans for the game of Capture the Flag.
Ah, yes. The game which camp loved most. He always enjoyed it. The teams were going to be Ares, Athena, and Apollo versus everyone else. Should be interesting, since it would be numbers versus pure skill. He knew the odds were stacked against them, but it was still going to be fun. He knew that he would likely be the only Hypnos member to show up to the game. Technically, it was mandatory, but no one really wanted them on the team most of the time, as no one can keep them awake. Even Gavin was only able to play by downing several Cokes before it started.
He was glad he and Ash were going to be on the same team. She was his only real friend, in the sense that he knew her better than anyone else at camp, and she hung out with him more often than she did with other people. So, in the loosest term possible, they were good friends. He tried not to let that sting.
He was in the middle of his thoughts when someone else finally showed up to the table. He looked up. Clovis. "Oh, hey," he said, giving the older boy a polite bob of the head. The blond gave him a sleepy smile. He, like Gavin, was prone to falling asleep without warning, but he, unlike Gavin, was perfectly fine with it. He didn't seem bothered at all that he was missing out on life and other people would continue having life while he slept.
"Hi, Gavin." A dryad came by and set a plate in front of him. "Katie just woke me up." Yeah, checks out. Katie was the head counselor for Demeter and the current inspector. She was the sort of person to get annoyed that Clovis hadn't showed up to breakfast and would send him Gavin's way. "I was having this great dream about marshmallows, too..."
"You didn't eat your pillow again?" he asked, alarmed. Last time Clovis had dreamed about eating marshmallows, it hadn't ended well, exactly.
"No, no...of course not..." His words dropped away, and he started snoring right there at the table. Gavin sighed, reached over, and shook him gently. The boy's snores hiccupped slightly and he drowsily woke up again. "Right, sorry. No, I didn't eat my pillow. It was a bouncing dream. It was pretty good..." His eyes glazed over and drifted to the brazier, and he shook himself slightly and said, "I'm gonna go make an offering..." He waved his hand vaguely.
Gavin nodded. Clovis was company, which was better than nothing, but it was hard to keep a conversation with him. See, this is why I got addicted to caffeine. It may be unhealthy, but at least I can stay awake long enough to frickin' talk to people and get things done.
He tried to remember what the schedule for the day was. He was pretty sure they were making weapons later, and they were going on the rock wall at some point. What was first up, though...? Right, sword and shield. He grinned softly. Sword was his weapon of choice, and he almost always fought with a shield and some degree of armor. Maybe it was a bit of a crutch, but he didn't especially care. It made him safer, plus it meant there was a chance he wasn't instantly dead if he fell asleep on the battlefield.
Clovis came back and ate his meal fairly quickly (for Clovis), though it included some absent shaking on Gavin's part. After what felt like an eternity, it was time for them to move on. He got to his feet, taking one last drink of coffee for good measure, and filed out with everyone.
Time for the day to begin.