Written for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments) Term 13
Additional challenges listed below
Word Count – 655
Dionysus took another swig of his Diet Coke. He was getting tired of that taste and the gas burned his tongue, but it was better than nothing. Oh, how he missed wine.
He looked outside the window and saw the Brazilian demigod that didn't talk to anyone just sitting by the lake, with his feet in the water. Dionysus liked the child. He wasn't going to ever admit it, but he felt bad that no one made the slightest effort to try and understand him. Not even the year-round campers. Paolo looked as lost there are Mr. D felt.
"Enjoying the view, kid?" Dionysus asked in perfect Portuguese as he approached the boy.
Paolo looked up slightly shocked. "Hm, yes. I didn't know you could speak my language."
"Well, Athena did say that Olympus might move to Brazil someday, so I may have started studying it. It's not like there's much to do here anyway." He motioned to the almost deserted camp.
"I see," Paolo said. "To answer your question, yes. I like the way the sun reflects on the water. It reminds me of home."
"Do you mind if I join you?" Dionysus asked, before looking around to check if anybody could see them.
"No, please. Have a sit."
As much as he tried to fight it, Dionysus missed having someone to talk to. He loved listening to stories almost as much as he liked telling them, but there at camp he had an image to uphold. Percy Jackson already thought he was at the same level as the gods, he couldn't have any of the other campers think the same. So, he made sure he never learned any of their names and never held conversations with any of them. Even stuck there, he had to appear untouchable. Distant. Godly. He didn't feel any of that with Paolo.
The boy didn't look full of himself. He didn't look like he wanted to be better than anybody. He looked homesick. He looked like he wanted to belong, but didn't know how. Dionysus could relate to that more than he actually wanted to.
"Did you live by a lake back in Brazil?" the god asked.
"No, a river. I used to go swimming there with my friends. Our parents weren't the biggest fan of us doing that, because it could be dangerous, but we went anyway. We just didn't tell them. But there was no hiding how dry our skin was after it, so they always found out."
"That sound like a lot of fun."
"Oh, it was. Have you ever swum in a river, Mr. D?"
The afternoon went by quickly, with Paolo telling Dionysus about his childhood in Brazil. Dionysus had been to a lot of countries in South America, specially Chile and Argentina, to check out their wine breweries, but he hadn't been in Brazil much. Everything Paolo told him was new and exciting. He, in return, told Paolo about some of his trips. Most of the demigods wanted to hear about the wars, the fighting. Paolo wanted to him about trivialities. What his favorite restaurant was, what his favorite park was and how many trees he had climbed. Dionysus enjoyed this.
"I should get going, because the monsters are going to come out to eat soon," Dionysus said, in reference to the other campers.
"And you can't risk them seeing you be nice," Paolo noted, with a playful smile on his face.
"You get it." Dionysus winked and got up, taking the three empty Diet Coke cans he had drunk that afternoon.
"I do. I'll see you around, Mr. D," Paolo said in perfect English, as he waved him goodbye.
Dionysus threw his head back laughing. He really liked this kid and he trusted that he wasn't going to tell anyone their afternoon. No one understood the child anyway, and even if they did, no one was going to believe him, right?
August Auction
Day 26/ Auction 4 – Mythology: Dionysus