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[commandertoolbelt]

[ Leo's been scarce for the last few days. He's shown up once or twice, but he's vanished just as quickly, with hardly a word to anyone except maybe his sister. Anyone observant may have noticed him sporting a new leather tool belt, but who really looks that hard? He's just a mechanic, after all.

So where's he been? That's a Cabin Nine secret. But when he reemerges, he's landing a giant dragon automaton made of Celestial bronze somewhere between the arena and the forges. Look, guys, he's got wings now! ]

Comments

[commandertoolbelt]

Maybe you should watch out for landing dragons. He's kind of hard to miss, you know.

[ Leo says it lightly as he dismounts, meaning absolutely nothing by it. What do you mean he'd landed in the middle of a busy camp? ]

[usernameallison]

Hey, I didn't even know you guys had dragons. I'm new here, okay? I know about giant elephants and pegasi, but not this.

[He gives Festus a good once-over, though, grinning.]

He's pretty cool.

[commandertoolbelt]

And you didn't see the dragon at the entrance?

[ Observation skills. You must have none. Still, he can't help but return the grin. ]

Of course he is! This is Festus, one of the best automatons you'll ever be lucky enough to meet.

[ Aside from Reyna's dogs, of course. Sorry, Festus, but Aurum and Argentum are in another league entirely. ]

[usernameallison]

I meant, other than that guy. He was sleeping!

[He drops the ball out of the lacrosse stick's net, the stick falling from his grip to his side, and he approaches Festus cautiously.]

Does he breathe fire, or am I safe to touch him?

[commandertoolbelt]

[ Leo shrugs. ]

Yes, and yes.

[ Just don't make him mad. ]

[usernameallison]

Okay, not going to lie, that's really cool.

[And despite how dangerous it is, Scott comes within arm's length of Festus's metal plating, reaching out to touch it with a whole hand.]

Uh...easy, boy.

[commandertoolbelt]

[ The dragon turns to watch Scott cautiously. He's still not entirely sure about any other humans. ]

Relax! He's a dragon, not a horse.

[ Doesn't even occur to him that the other way around is the more reassuring one. He's just more comfortable around dragons nowadays, okay? ]

[usernameallison]

Hey, to be fair, I don't have much experience with those, either.

[They only had two pegasi at Camp Jupiter, after all, and he'd never gotten to the status in the Legion to be allowed to try out being a cavalryman. He only made legionnaire recently, after all.]

What's his name?

[commandertoolbelt]

But you guys have an elephant.

[ Clearly this means you should all be used to any sort of large creature, automaton or not. ]

I call him Festus.

[usernameallison]

I know! Isn't he aweso- wait, Hannibal's here?

[God, Scott loved the war elephant. He'd always been kind of keen on the whole riding it thing, but he'd been told countless times that it was incredibly improper.

Oh, Leo. Scott's a Roman legacy - he speaks Latin, not Greek.]

...dude, you named your dragon Happy the Dragon?

[commandertoolbelt]

[ Nod. ]

Dude, Elephant Quest ended right after I came in. How do you miss seeing that thing around camp?

[ And Leo thought it was awesome until this guy showed up. Sorry, but dragons are way cooler than elephants. Festus makes a series of clicks and creaks at the sound of his name, stretching his wings, and Leo gives Scott a goofy grin. ]

He likes it!