This isn't goodbye, this is only the beginning
OMG it's been three and a half years O.o Didn't expect this to be updated, huh? Whoops. School has literally killed my free time, and I'm very sorry about that. Well this one'll be short because of course homework, but I'll try to update my stories again. Anyways, this chapter is set a few weeks after that last chapter and will include some deets on Solangelo and a new ship I came up with, involving Butch (heehee). Also there will be some insight on how the stables for the pegasus are, because who doesn't love Blackjack, Porkpie and his buddies?
This chapter will mostly be just a chapter dedicated to Butch and his future importance to the story.
Leo (Blaze) POV
I've been beginning to understand and like Butch despite our rough introduction when we were searching for Percy. He seems like a real macho guy who vaguely reminds me of Vin Diesel... if he was shorter and had a rainbow tattoo. Yet, despite his macho exterior, he was a real softy. He cared for each pegasus here, especially when it came to our needs. Our stables were entirely cleaned and managed by him every day. He would feed us a lot of hay, and made sure we each had time outside and the air. Of course, I was much younger and could not fly quite yet, but he took delicate care in trying to stretch out my wings every day, working the muscles so that one day I could fly like the rest.
Occasionally, a few of the pegasus riders would stop by to take their pegasus for a flight, and Percy would come by quite frequently when Blackjack was in a fit. Of course, Percy was always busy trying to train and teach the youngsters, but he always managed to find time to give the pegasus a few sugar cubes (Despite Butch's complaints on the negative effects it had on our health). Butch had him on speed dial in case he couldn't decipher what any of us needed or wanted. He also showed up with Will when any of the pegasus were hurt. When Percy wasn't translating, he would consistently ask Will about him and Nico; often resulting in Will turning red as a tomato as well as Blackjack's snickering.
Butch had created a pretty sound schedule. He would arrive here at the break of dawn to feed us our first meal, and take the older pegasus to walk around. They were what he called the 'veterans', pegasus who were much older than any of the campers. They really didn't like people and appreciated the seemingly empty campgrounds. After the veterans were taken back to their respected stables, he would grab breakfast and come back here to help ease the veterans' aches and pains they accumulated over the years from quests and wars. He would massage their wings and legs while they snorted. They were all a bit rude.
After that he would teach his class of youngsters on caring for a pegasus and how to properly fly on one. Butch would take his pegasus named Astrum, a golden colored female who was about middle-aged. Her name meant immortality in latin and she was the personification of that. She looked as young as could be. Guido and Porkpie both adored her, and Blackjack always mocked them for it. She was way out of their league according to Blackjack. Most of that campers had struggled to tame her, but Butch had easily calmed her down and he was her handler ever since then. According to the others, unless Butch was there, no one could ever ride her, not even Percy. Butch had a way with making sure she was tame for the youngsters, and would take them on a flight if she would cooperate. She was clearly a sight to behold when she flew in the air. She was more graceful than the rest of the pegasus I've seen and Porkpie always blushed and couldn't contain his excitement when he saw her.
After a few lessons, Butch would take a quick lunch break where he would first feed us before meeting Pollux outside to grab some food. Butch would wrap his arms around the Dionysus kid and ruffle his hair before wrapping an arm around his shoulder. I didn't really know Pollux when I was here before; all I knew was his twin had died in the war before I had arrived as a camper, and he was the lone Dionysus kid. They seemed like great friends, but I couldn't quite believe that they were just that. On multiple occasions I had seen Pollux reach for Butch's hand, or smelled Pollux's scent on Butch's clothes when he arrives late to feed us. And one night I had sworn I heard Butch ask Pollux to sneak out. I had planned to ask Blackjack about it, but I didn't want to make a fuss about something that may be nothing.
After lunch, Butch would usually be a bit flustered while handling the other pegasus. He would help the younger Pegasus to fly and teach them how to properly take off and land. He would then spend the afternoon massaging the young ones, like myself. He would start with stretching out each wing, careful with the feathers and the muscles nearest to our torso. Then he would work the hind legs, carefully massaging the muscles. What I loved most about the massages was the treats afterwards. He would give us a few carrots or apples and spend a few minutes to groom our hair. Before dinner, he'd take us outside to walk around and for some, he'd teach us to how to jump, as in preparation to taking off. He would set up some obstacles, like they would for a normal horse, and train us to jump over them.
And then he'd go off to dinner, where, yet again, Pollux would show up as the dinner bell rung and they'd go off to the kitchen.
I had grown to respect Butch and all the time he puts into maintaining the stables. He really was a great equestrian, and despite his weird choice in tattoos, I really hoped he could help me in telling Piper my love for her.