Hey, I know it's been a while...

My only defense is that I've been lumbered with loads and loads of exams and that this chapter was an absolute pain to write. It's also a bit filler-y ,BUT...you get to find out exactly what was on the note next chapter so bear with me :)

Hermes Cabin and large amounts of clay definitely didn't mix. Will was going to stick a ton of arrows in Travis when he saw the Arts and Crafts Cabin but he didn't care very much at that particular moment.

Katie, at the very best, had thought his letter was a tasteless joke. That letter that he had poured his heart and soul into, seriously he'd spent almost twenty minutes on it, and she thought it was a joke.

Or, she had taken it seriously and was so repulsed that she couldn't even look at him. And now that stupid ginger girl was going to tell Katie everything and he was going to have to jump of the creek, into the lake and ask Poseidon to make it quick. Great.

Yep Travis Stoll was basically on the verge of panic, and Connor definitely wasn't helping.

He rolled his eyes "Oh she was probably asleep, when did you turn into such a daughter of Apollo?"

Travis turned on him "Daughter of Apollo? What's that supposed to mean?"

Connor was concentrating on his sculpture "Err...Drama Queen, what exactly was on that note anyway?" Connor smirked "Oh come on, did you admit that you've always loved her? Or go on and on about the way her brown eyes melt your soul or something disgustingly gooey like that?"

A horrible thought crossed his mind "You didn't did you? I mean you don't do you..."

Travis felt his ears burn "Of course not..."

Connor groaned and looked at his brother incredulously "Seriously, you seriously like Gardner...Katie Gardner, the straight up daughter of Demeter with no sense of humour, who follows all the rules all the time, who has got us busted so many times?" Travis scowled at him "That Katie Gardner? Are you kidding me?"

Travis blushed "She's cool..."

Connor stared at him "No, she's the total opposite of cool. She is the most un-cool person I know. It's actually quite impressive."

"Shut up" Travis snapped "What exactly am I going to do?"

"No idea" Connor said, nonchalantly turning to his half sister behind him "Lily, guess what Travis has just done. He's only gone and..."

He didn't get any further than that because Travis, utterly incensed, took the large ball of clay he had been kneading and shoved it right into his brother's open mouth. "Shut up!"

It was a sign of how strange life in Hermes Cabin could be that Lily barely even reacted to one of her brothers apparently trying to choke another to death. She'd already turned back to her topless statue of Apollo "Uh uh Connor, that's great"

Connor pulled the clay out of his mouth, scraping off his tongue and gagging. "You complete and utter piece of..."

Travis raised his eyebrows but his eyes were twinkling "Language Connor, there are young children in the room remember?"

Connor scowled at his brother before smiling "Right, you asked for it"

He lunged at Travis, knocking him off the bench and onto the floor. They started fighting and it took Travis a few seconds to realise his brother was surreptitiously going through his pockets.

"Hey" he pushed Connor off him and felt his heart drop even as he reached into his pocket. The letter was gone. "Give it back"

Connor no longer looked so happy "I don't have it, I swear" The other Hermes kids were watching now, placing bets on whether Connor was going to lose another tooth.

Travis calmed down enough to glare at his half siblings until them looked away before he hissed "You must have it. It didn't just fly out of my pocket did it?"

"No" a horrible thought crossed Connor's mind "No, she couldn't have..."

"What?" Travis asked, all of a sudden Connor looked very ill.

Connor spoke slowly "The ginger one, Philippa was it? She couldn't have...A daughter of Demeter can't have pick pocketed a son of Hermes, right?"

Travis's heart stopped.

"No, No" he put his head in his hands 'Hi Dad, seriously, what did I do to you?'

Connor put a comforting arm around his brother's shoulders, aware that his face was twitching oddly as he tried really, really hard not to laugh.

He failed miserably.

"It's not funny!" Travis elbowed his brother in the stomach "Stop laughing!"

"No you're right" Connor stopped laughing long enough to pretend to be serious "It's hilarious!"

Travis spoke slowly; poison dripping from every word "I hope you get trampled by a herd of drunken centaurs"

His brother didn't take him too seriously "Love you too bro" He paused, watching his brother nonchalantly "So...What are you going to do now then?"

Travis's voice was muffled as his head slumped onto the table "Kill myself, any objections?"

"Yes you overreacting Pansy..." Connor smirked "Hey maybe you and Gardner isn't such a bad idea, we already have a nickname for you...Anyway, I bet that Philippa girl will give it back. She and Katie aren't exactly the best of friends after all. Still maybe to diffuse the tension, I'd better go. Look I'll corner her after lunch, o.k?"

Travis raised his head slowly "You really think you can get it back?" he asked uncertainly.

Connor rolled his eyes; no wonder people thought he was the older one. "No girl can resist my charms, no matter who her mother is" he said confidently.

Travis was starting to regain his composure a bit "Cool, so you'll...deal with it?"

"Of course I will" Connor clapped his brother on the back "You can always count on me mate..." Inwardly he added, especially when I've messed up big time and really need to cover my tracks