AN: Set during Season 1 Episode 12. Just a look into our favorite monster lover's mind.
Gwen wanted to sigh. Today had been a shit day, especially for David. While the seeres was worn out after cleaning up the Godling and Legacy's messes, she knew full well that today would be the day that David would reach his limit.
Today would be day that he lets that stupid mask of his shatter. The one he'd put on at the beginning of every summer since Gwen has known him. The one where he pretends that this year would be the one where he didn't have to look at the half dead eyes of children whose birth alone proclaimed isolation, pain, and power, and try to fix what he can before sending them back out into the world that wanted them for all the wrong reasons.
That the innocent (ignorant) ones would not be bogged down by their abilities, no matter how small or minorly debilitating.
That the ones with loving parents could revel in that quiet camaraderie for just one day more, before the universe saw fit to separate them in a likely traumatizing manner.
That, if they are even able to return to camp the next summer, David wouldn't have to start back from the beginning as he pieced their broken hearts together while teaching them how they can hide or maybe even fit in with the rest of the world.
(She's beginning to think that this pattern of initial denial is a result of her co-counselor's origins. The soft reset he experiences just makes his inevitable determination to help these Godlings and Legacies blossom all the more potent. She just wishes she didn't have to watch the glass shatter every time.)
Gwen has a feeling that having Max as a camper this year would make that breakage sting all the more. The young Godling of Dolos had the most vindictive, possessive, and powerful mind she'd seen. But all that potential was trapped behind eyes too young to fully comprehend his lonely life, the effects of which he buries beneath cutting words and desperate grabs for power.
(Gwen will think back to this day, after a ruined teddy bear is snatched from her grasp, and suddenly realize who (or what) those tear laden whispers of his were directed at every night.)
A Godling too young to look past David's mask and see the glittering eyes which held the remnants of a pain oh-so-similar to his own.
As the young woman makes her way to the front door of the hall, she can't help but lament her place in all of this. She's just a normal human who can seem through the veil that the gods placed over the eyes of the masses in an attempt to protect their surviving children and descendants. The occasional prophetic dream does little to change this reality, and yet she always finds herself here, at a camp where she has to sooth the emotional wounds of camper and counselor both. She wasn't made for this, not like David was.
Glancing back at the campers who are being uncharacteristically silent (one of contemplation and something else heavy that has no place in a children's summer camp, no matter those children's ancestry), Gwen hears a crash. One not accompanied by the yips and hisses of cats and dogs, so it can't be lightning. She quickly opens the door so she can retrieve the last of her brood, not willing to leave them out there alone in a storm for any longer.
Hopefully, the two of them were far away from whatever caused that crash.
As luck would have it, Gwen steps out just in time to see Max's form crest over the little hill. That hope was quickly squashed as she took in the look on his face. The kid looked like the world would never be right again. Like a solid foundation that he'd built his whole life upon was suddenly turned to sand.
He looked… lost. And scared. Two words Gwen never thought she'd use to describe this jaded and pessimistic camper.
Taking the initiative, Gwen met the boy halfway and got a disjointed explanation in return.
Looks like David broke in a real way this time. And he brought Max along for the ride. Gwen never thought she'd see this bright little Godling dim to such a degree. His eyes are more distant than ever as she runs back into the mess hall to get the first aid kit.
As she makes her way through, the campers are overcome with a different kind of silence. One of morbid curiosity and schemes. One she was well used to from this batch of Godlings, and one she is confident she can quell (at least temporarily) until she's assessed the damage David has sustained.
One succinct word from her is all it takes to glue the campers to their seats as she races up the hill with Max.
When she reaches the clearing, it takes her a moment to find her fellow counselor. Usually, his bright hair is second only to his bright personality. Right now, underneath the remnants of a well meaning bonfire, David's auburn hair blends in with the logs he's buried under.
The moving of logs progresses slower than she would have liked, especially with her attention divided in order to keep tabs on the little Godling that's not moved an inch from his spot nearby, eerily still.
She examines David's head. A superficial cut, but one that must have come to be due to his own actions in order to exist in the first place. The woman looks to the sky, praying to the gods that rarely listen, and prepares to repair her tin man and comfort her lost child.
A day in the life of Gwen never ceases.
AN: I hope you liked Gwen's POV. She has an interesting place in this AU, being the only wholly human member of the Camp Campbell crew. She's well aware of her limitations and is often at a loss of how to take care of these exceedingly powerful and destructive campers. She's trying her best, though.
If you have any questions about what the heck is going on in this story, leave a comment. If you don't have questions and just want to say something, leave a comment. If you want to bash on my horrendous writing, leave a comment! All comments are welcome in this household!