3Disclaimer: I am an Orca, Rick Riordan is human, therefore I am not Rick and thus Rick owns this stuff. I just mess with it. Also I own all the non-canon characters in here.
And don't worry my other fics will be updated soon!
"Holy Juno."
That was the only thing Jason could say when it was decided that, as the most diplomatic person at Camp (being a former praeter and a counselor helped), he would be the one to go to the mortal camp nearby as a "friendship visitor" for a week and he found himself standing outside the camp entrance watching all those mortal teenagers.
It might've been a new camp but it was still pretty cool...for a mortal camp. Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood were way out of any mortal camp's league.
"Jason Grace, I presume?" A man with a curly brown beard and brown eyes was standing in front o fhim, holding a clipboard. "I'm Mr. Adams, the co-director here at Greenfield Adventure Camp."
"Yes, that's me." Jason nodded and shook the offered hand. "On behalf of Delphi Summer Camp, thank you for letting me come here."
"Our pleasure. And I believe there was another camper or two from your camp that was going to come...?" The director looked around for someone who wasn't there. Jason held back a smirk.
"Yeah, we've got a few more coming later. Hazel's a little busy right now and she has to come from our sister camp in California. She'll be here either tomrrow or the day after. She and one of our other head counselors, Will Solace, will come either tomorrow or the day after. Um, fair warning, they might bring along Hazel's brother and Will's boyfriend, Nico. Though I doubt he'll stick around, it's probably a good idea to warn everyone that the emo guy who looks ready to pass out isn't a threat or anything. He doesn't give off great vibes and he tends to creep people out." Jason said, acting like it was normal.
Mr. Adams nodded. "I'll make sure arrangements are made. We're about to start lunch and then I'll have one of our other campers show you around in the afternoon. You can introduce yourself at the mess hall." He started walking towards a large building where campers were headed. Jason followed along. "You can leave your bag in the office and pick it up later as well as your camp things."
"Of course. Sorry for coming at this time, I meant to come earlier but I got tied up with a little...incident on the way." Jason apologized as he placed his bag in a cornor of the nicely-furnished office, making sure it stayed zipped. The zipper wouldn't open unless it was him openign it but he didn't want to take a chance. Leo's inventions sometimes went haywire.
"It's quite alright, young man. Flat tire on that strawberry truck you came in?" The director asked, smiling.
"Yeah. Something like that." Jason replied. Actually it had been a very mad snake lady named Kelli but mortals didn't ened to know that. Too much explaining, anyways.
Mr. Adams led him to the mess hall once Jason was ready. The whole place was filled with all sorts of campers, between 14 and 18, plus several staffers. Most turned when the doors opened to face Jason and the director and most of the chatter went to mumuring and whispering.
Maybe he shouldn't have worn his (slightly edited) camp shirt-a mix between Roman and Greek. (mainly orange with purple cuffs and the legion symbol with a pegasus instead of an eagle with "CHB" and "CJ" written above and below the flying horse).
Mr. Adams spoke up. "Hey there, eveyrone! I know you're all excited for lunch but first we're got a special visitor. As you know, Delphi Strawberry Farms is just down the road and they double as a summer camp and home for kids with ADHD and dyslexia. Their directors, Mr. D and Mr. Brunner, as well as Mrs. Adams and I, have decided to have a few of their campers from both their camp here and their camp in San Fransisco to come and help build relationships between our camps. As we are the new ones in town, Delphi Summer Camp and Camp Jupiter have sent their campers to us. The others will arrive later in the week, but they've sent this fine young man to come here first." Mr. Adams laid a hand on Jason's shoulder. "Go ahead and introduce yourself. Say a few words if you want. Nothing too long." he invited.
Jason stood up straighter and faced the crowd of teens head-on. Adjusting his glasses, he gave a small smile. "Hi everyone. I'm Jason Grace, counselor of Cabin One at Delphi and a former senior counselor at Camp Jupiter. I'm really looking forward to being here, it's going to be pretty cool seeing how other camps run since our camps aren't really your conventional kind of camp. And like Mr. Adams said, my cousin and some of the others from my camp - well, camps - will be coming later. Hazel's a little busy and we figured it'd be better if she comes out with the rest of the exchange campers in a day or two instead of having to come on her own and Will and Nico are still tired from a trip they went on recently so they'll also come later. On behalf of Camp Half-Blood, we're really glad you guys are letting us come and visit." It was a little long but it'd do.
"Wonderful, Jason. Jason will be staying in Cabin 3A and bunks in cabins 2A and 1B have also been reserved for his companions. Now, let's eat!" Mr. Adams declared and the staffers started serving out the plates. Jason found himself sitting at what was probably Table 3A with 5 other boys.
The one across form him was obviously the cabin leader and so he was the one to start the conversation while they waited for their food. "Hey there Jason. Name's Arnold. These guys here are Dave, Olly, Finn, Caleb, and Allister."
"Nice to meet you." Jason smiled and waved a little, quickly eyeing over his new cabinmates. Arnold was a pretty stocky guy, though he seemed nice enough. Jason pegged him as a sporty athlete-muscles, tanned skin, buzzed hair. Dave had a contemplative look on his face though his brown eyes glimmered with interest at Jason. He definitely gave off good vibes even if he was quiet.
Ollly was definitely the oddball in the group. He wore an unconventional mix of both high-end clothing and the camp shirt (a bright blue shirt with a simple forest logo on it with the camp name). He had on dark jeans, hiking boots, a black and silver jacket, and for some reason, small spiked earrings. He sat between Arnold and Caleb, a blond that resembled Will Solace except he probably wasn't a son of Apollo ready to burst into song, shoot arrows around, or heal everyone who got hurt. Compared to Olly's unnerving aura Caleb's was less obvious and he looked quite settled and accepting compared to his grouchy companion.
Finn was the only one besides Arnold who looked like he fit in perfectly at an adventure camp, with his reddish-brown hair tucked under a baseball cap, well-worn hiking boots, and jeans.
And finally, there was Allister. Jason was pretty sure the guy was some kind of genius, he had the thoughtfully mischief-inducing face of the Hephaestus kids and the awkwardness of an Athena camper in the wrong place.
Jason then realized something just as the food arrived: He couldn't make his customary meal sacrifice. No one had thought about it beforehand and he doubted fires would be appreciated in a flammable building.
Maybe he could just take his chances-
"Hey, um, excuse me, is Jason here-Oh hey Superman!" Leo Valdez practically bounced from the door to where Jason was looking very confused.
"..Leo? What are you-"
"Can't have you roasted by your dad. Or stepmom. According to Annabeth you're probably not lightning-proof or fireproof. And, uh, Mr. D insisted. I got quite the earful." Leo rattled off while handing Jason a samme caselike object. "Also, can Piper and I remodel your cabin-"
"No." Jason quickly said. "Thanks Leo. Uh, what is this?" He knew people were staring but pretended not to notice.
"A bit of a collab between me, Nyssa, and Hestia. Don't lose it and please don't send anythign but actual food in, it doesn't get rid of KitKat wrappers for some reason." Leo explained vaguely. "Gotta run, have fun and don't die, it's way too far to go to get that thing we used last time." The Latino bopped out of the building cheerfully and lefthe mess hall very silent.
"...Mr. Grace, would you care to explain...?" Mr. Adams asked, his left eye twitching.
Jason sighed and rubbed his forehead. How to let it easy and not give away too much..?
"That was my best friend, Leo Valdez. Uh, he's one of the other head counselors and he's on the far end of the ADHD spectrum. So uh, yeah, anyways we're both in this sort of religion I guess you can call it and part of it involves us burning some of our food during meals. Normally if we're not near fire it's alright for a while under certain conditions but I'd rather not take the chance of making my dad go nuts, or actually most of my dad's family. They're pretty thing Leo borought is like a portable version of the firepit we use at our camp, it won't burn anything other then what you put into it."
"Ah." Mr. Adams didn't look convinced but let it slide. "Well then, you all cna go back to your food." he told the rest of hte camp, who quickly went back to eating.
Jason quickly opened the portable fire up and sacrificed some of his french fries before eating the rest. Luckily his cabinmates didn't take too much notice and went to chattering with each other. Or rather, Caleb and Allister started having a mini debate over ketchup vs. relish, Finn and Arnold discussed what activities they were going to do that afternoon, and Olly stabbed his fries with a fork like he wanted vengeance.
At one point, while the other were busy chatitng, Olly quietly asked, "So, Jupiter huh?"
Jason blinked, after neraly jumping out of his seat. "Oh. Um, what?"
"Camp Jupiter."
Jason eyed Olly ove, swallowing nervously. "Um, yeah..?"
"Huh." Olly squinted at him. "Interesting.
Jason squirmed a little under Olly's narrowed gaze. The teen finally grumbled in another language and turned away to take part in the debate on condiments, piping in with mayonnaise
Jason breathed a sigh of relief and tried to enjoy the lunch. At least he would've, if he hadn't gotten a feelign that Olly knew more then he left on.
He'd have to keep an eye on him for sure.