Flowers For Apollo

Rejection and Reunion

Summary : Lester asks his mother about going camping.

Apollo introduces Meg to his mother.

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Diana had left to meet up with her friends after breakfast and Lester was sprawled on the couch scrolling through his social media and not really paying attention. The swish of his mother's scissors nearby gave a nice background beat he couldn't help but hum a nonsense tune to.

The offer from this morning still hung in the back of his mind.

Camping.

With Diana.

Time.

With Diana.

A change of pace.

With Diana.

His sister was right in a way: life was a little too simple, a little too quiet. It was a good life, a nice life. Lester had no idea what to actually do with that life, but it wasn't like he was going hungry or cold or mistreated in any way even if he would whine and complain about the chores his mother gave him or his homework or his latest crush not really noticing him. It was just... a life. The same sort of things day in and day out broken up by visits and letters and gifts and phone calls with his siblings and extended family.

The most exciting thing that had happened was going to the planetarium on a field trip. He was pretty sure he annoyed Meg during their weekly phone call-slash-piano lesson by gushing about it.

He snuck a peek at his mother clipping coupons in her rocking chair. His eyes traced the long plait of her hair almost touching the floor. It wasn't like they were short on money, but his mother had never been one to pass up a good bargain and he was a teenage boy. What was that saying about teenagers eating you out of house and home?

His mother rarely went anywhere. Every visit with Artemis or Meg she was there in the background, silver eyes drinking them in even when he wasn't in the same room. He didn't mind the idea of his mother always being just in the background and he got his privacy in his own room.

Yet some part of him wanted to be able to go a few days without her in the background. Lester loved and adored her, he did, but maybe some time apart would be good. Maybe she was tired of keeping him near her?

(He'd felt swirling silver eyes on him even while at the planetarium as he laughed with his then-crush about the Artemis missions.)

Lester looked up from his phone, feet kicking in the air behind him. He could already feel the tension building in the back of his head.

"Hey, Mom? Diana brought up something I wanted to ask about."

"Oh?"  His mother looked up from her coupons. "What is it, Phoebus? Is everything okay with her and the Hunters?"

"Yeah. They're fine. It's just..." He hesitated for a moment. It's not like anything bad would happen from asking. He set his phone down on the cushion. The moon charm dangling from the case gleamed like the challenge in Diana's eye.

"She asked me... And I'd like to..."

Just spit it out. What was the worst that could happen?

"She mentioned spending Spring Break with them, at least a weekend or something to go camping together."

Leto went back to clipping her coupons.

"Absolutely not."

Lester felt his heart tighten in his chest. He could almost hear the blood rushing in his ears and failed not to whine as he continued.