death and all his friends;

Theios practically glowed when he noticed Evan’s smile widening. He was glad he could make the other camper so happy with such a tiny gesture. Really, it was amazing. Evan was amazing. “I’ll make sure to look it up later.” Probably as soon as he got home, actually, before he forgot. Or tomorrow, at the latest, in case he couldn’t find it and had to go ask Robbie, which was probably pathetic, but at least Theios was confident that Robbie would help him if he asked. He hummed a little after. “I don’t know if I’ve ever had strawberry pie. Lucien makes the best apple pie ever, though.”

Theios smiled to Evan, bright and content, thoroughly at peace with the world for the moment. After a second, he paused and then leaned over to shyly return the kiss on the cheek. It was…probably okay, right? He hoped so. He wanted to give Evan everything that Evan was giving to him, everything he could because this was so nice. He wanted to be someone that Evan could reach out to and receive warmth from. “Uh. I don’t. Well, I don’t really know what it’s called? I don’t know a lot of food names.” Not in English, at least. “But there’s a restaurant I know near here. I think they have a menu online. I might be able to find it? And then I can show you.” He could put in a very valiant effort, at least, or just go and ask Robbie. Robbie would know, or Robbie could show him and then snicker at his attempts and that would be okay because as long as Robbie was having a good time, Theios would be happy. “What’s your favourite dish?”

Theios flushed deeply as Evan leaned over to kiss his cheek, flustered in the best way by the casual affection. He still wasn’t used to such things, but he was getting there and thriving with the knowledge that he could reach out to so many people and be given affection without question. “We should! It’ll be fun!” The planning as much as the event itself, as long as Theios was planning it with Evan. Caelan would be so very surprised and hopefully in the best way.

Theios smiled to Evan, warm and sweet. “Yeah, but I want to find a nice place for us.” Somewhere with even terrain so that it wouldn’t be hard for Evan to walk and so they could comfortably sit on the ground- assuming he didn’t just shadow-travel them straight to the picnic location. “Oh, can we? They’d love that!” And he’d love being able to surprise them with such a sweet thing.

Theios grinned at the idea and then tipped his head in thought. “Maybe a beach, or a cliff? I bet I could find someplace nice.” Even if the ‘finding’ was more along the lines of asking Lucien for good places to go. He rather thought that Lucien would be plenty willing to help him pick out a nice place for a sunset picnic. It would be a lot of fun.

Theios wasn’t very good with affection, in that he wasn’t used to being able to get and give it. He was more than willing to learn, though, and was glad that he had so many people willing to teach him. He lit up as Evan smiled at him and suggested that they invite Caelan next time- because that meant there was a next time and he was plenty excited for that. “As long as I am not in charge of making the picnic foods, I think that’s a great idea.”

Theios was still very new to the whole affection thing- most of the affection he’d ever gotten had been from his mother and she was years and years gone, so this was him re-learning it all and it was bewildering but so nice- and he was trying. It helped that he had fantastic teachers that he adored plenty enough to make the effort. He glanced up as Evan spoke and smiled, sweet and genuine. “I’m glad to be here. I’m glad we’re both here.”

Caelan never really thought that anyone would accept them before. Being lost and ending up decades later in a different year had its perks and this is one of the good things. And it was even better that they found two boys who loved Cael even if they don’t fully understand themself. “Okay,” they replied. Cael was glad to know Evan liked their hair, long or short. His words kept replaying in their mind and they liked thinking about this more than the mistakes they’ve done. “Oh. I love you, too,” Cael added after a short while. “I think I’m still not okay, and I’m sorry. I’m just… so confused. I’m as confused as I was when I came out of the Casino and now I’m back here.”

Theios flushed deeply as Evan kissed his hand, fending off the urge to hide because of it. He took a breath instead and then hesitantly tugged on Evan’s hand so that he could do the same thing. It was just sweet and nice and he didn’t want to interrupt the movie, but he wanted Evan to know that he’d appreciated the affection. He appreciated it a lot, actually, even if it couldn’t quite look at Evan after, too shy to see what was on his face. He didn’t let go of his hand, though.

Theios knew that both he and his partners had their fair share of self-esteem issues, but to him that just meant being extra genuine in his compliments and making sure that even if Caelan or Evan had problems seeing what he saw, they could at least trust that he did see in them something amazing. He curled his fingers into Evan’s and smiled sweetly to him before turning his attention to the movie, reading the subtitles with no small amount of awe.

Cael was surprised at Evan. They thought he’d be annoyed or something at their long hair but was just dealing with it because Cael was keeping it that way. It usually gets in the way of Cael’s sight especially when they’re in bed. “Would you prefer me having shorter hair?” They showed a faint smile and squeezed his hand.

Theios squinted at Evan and shook his head a little bit. “You are wonderful.” Because Evan was and deserved to be told over and over until he believed it. Theios knew it wasn’t that simple, but he also knew that he was more than willing to try. His partners both deserved nothing less and Theios didn’t have much to give, but he could give this freely. He smiled as Evan moved closer and hesitated for a moment before offering him the hand that wasn’t petting Luke.

Theios knew that there was a lot of technology that he was unfamiliar with and he could probably learn, but that required asking for said technology and he didn’t want to be that much of a problem for anyone. Asking for help was less of a hassle, but technology was expensive and Theios already had a phone. He didn’t need anything else. He was content being surprised and amazed- and seeing Evan smile at his reaction just made it better. He flushed as Evan kissed his cheek and offered a small but brilliant smile. “I believe you.” It was hard to remember, sometimes, that he could just go and ask for him and harder still to remember that he wasn’t a problem, but he was working on it. “That’s one of the reasons that I think you’re both so wonderful.”

Cael was looking out of the window, but they really wasn’t seeing anything. They wasn’t familiar with the place anymore and it felt like they was watching some random video or a person driving. So when Evan spoke, Cael found themself getting distracted by their thoughts and turned their head towards their partner. Their hair was one of the very few things they kept since living in this century and it was both a symbol for themself that they used to not belong in this year and that they were living freely in the present. The only time Cael gave in to getting a trim of their split ends was after countless nagging from the sweetest Aphrodite kids. They even taught Cael what products to use and how to keep their hair healthy and soft, being a person who likes being under the sun. Ponytails only existed during Capture the Flag or when they was training—it was very traumatising to see a Camper get an uneven cut from a fight. And, one of the things they loved about having a long hair now was asking Theios to put flowers in their hair because it makes them feel special. “Really?” Cael asked softly, their free hand touching the tips of their hair.

Cael found their fingers interlocking with Evan’s. This was somehow comforting them. “I want ice cream. Or milkshake or a frappé please.” Anything cold and sweet enough, but those were the ones at the top of their mind right now. “Junk food?” They shrugged, pulling their hair tie off to let their hair loose.

Once they were far enough, or maybe it was just a minute since they left the driveaway, Cael placed their hand on Evan’s leg. They just stared at the window, while trying to help with his pain. It was a way to lessen their train of thoughts as they were imagining seeing their old friends walking in the streets. Maybe if Cael saw them right now, they’d recognize them, but they couldn’t exactly remember their faces anymore. “Are you hungry?” Cael spoke. “We could grab something to eat.”

Theios was almost pathetically easy to impress when it came to technology, but he was okay with that. There was a simple joy to be had in constantly being amazed by what his friends and family could do with the press of a few buttons, a simple happiness in allowing himself to be impressed by what seemed to be such simple things to them. Theios had long learned to appreciate the little things were he could find them. He beamed to Evan after, genuinely delighted by the thought of being able to have subtitles in a language he understood. “That’d be amazing, but not if it’s too much trouble. I can always ask you to rewind if I have to.” Though he usually didn’t because that was a hassle itself, but still. Theios was growing confident that Evan- and Caelan- would help him understand when people in movies spoke too fast.