[2] 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 ― p.jackson

002.

「002. connor stoll is a dead man 」

TWO THINGS woke cadie up that morning. the first thing was the dumb drakon her cabin mates made her try and fight off (why, she'd never know. she had the worst aim). after coming back from gallivanting off in the fucking night for some stupid aethiopian drakon, she'd came back to her cabin thinking: ah yes, the sweet release of a nap. joyful. delicious. spectacular. she thought that was it, but no. see, the second thing that woke her up (after a bitch went back to sleep) was cam motherfucking anderson, with his dumbass little scream, bursting into the apollo cabin with... bright red hair?

it was way too fucking early for this shit.

"connor stoll is a dead man for dying my hair red."

what the literal fuck.

she groaned, rubbing her eyes, blinking again before she muttered, "what the fuck."

"connor stoll has a death wish for dying my hair red," the son of ares reiterated, he pointed to his hair furiously, "what the fuck? he's taken this pranking thing too far!"

she blinked again, looking around her cabin. they were gone, probably their usual early morning archery practice before breakfast. cadie winced, rubbing her eyes again and blinking again. her eyes assessed cam carefully, trying to make sure she wasn't making anything up. he didn't look hurt. his fake-leg was still there, newly polished actually. he wore usual clothes, a pair of shorts and a sleeveless red tanktop, his pale skin pretty normal. even his eyes were the same colour too. blue eyes, the same sort of calm ones, nothing special about them. cadie had a suspicion that cam liked to keep it that way.

he was the motherly sort, angry and aggressive when it was needed (though cam liked to think it was never needed, but sometimes... well, yeah). he was a mix between an introvert and an extrovert, but he liked to just be there. being too noticeable, he said, was something that his siblings did well with- him on the other hand? to quote cam himself, i think i'd die out of mortal embarrassment if people kept staring at me.

she looked at the bright and obnoxious red hair he now had, his eyes wide and panic riddled in his posture.

the hair would certainly keep people staring.

"is it permanent?" she managed, trying to sit up.

"i don't know!" he fretted, pacing in front of cadie's bed, "people have been staring at me since i woke up- i don't- i don't need this! i've already gotta break up fights, i already gotta make sure your dumbass doesn't die! i'm not antisocial but godsdamnit i don't want people's eyes on me constantly! why would conor do this?"

there were some actual solid reasonings as to why connor had done this, from what cadie could tell. it was a weird thing within the hermes cabin, they liked pranking people they felt close to (romanticly, platonically, whatever works). and it was a proven fact.

nobody could really easily forget the day travis stoll pranked katie gardner (who cadie was pretty sure was dating travis now) had gotten pranked by having her flowers start trading insults with her. or, when stevie mayweather (daughter of hermes) pranked holly marlow in the aphrodite cabin by making her perfume actually visible, meaning she sort of looked like a splotchy painting stick for a while.

regardless, it was their weird way that they showed love.

cadie blinked, eyes bleary still as she tired to form words. it was far too early in the morning for this shit. still, she let herself digest cam's worry before saying in a croaky voice, "you're gonna be okay cam. it suits you, alright? just..." she rubbed her eyes, "chill out man, i haven't even had my green tea yet."