special wasn't a word that thalia assigned to many people.

it was a pedestal, something that not everyone could be. sure, some people were different and perhaps even slightly above ordinary, but before now, she hadn't met anyone that she could classify as special.

then she met you. the sweetest girl she had ever laid eyes on.

different to most others she had met, you were sweet yet still fierce in your own right. never afraid to put someone in their place, it was safe to say that thalia had fallen - not softly, but hard and fast, enough to cause a crater in the earth.

the idea of actually confessing those feelings felt stupid.

for one, she didn't know if you were into women. if she were to tell you how she really felt only to find out that you were straight? gods, that would be a train wreck ending to a friendship that she had learned to love dearly.

one thing that she absolutely adored was when you helped her with her make up.

it was no secret that thalia liked to wear pretty bold make up. blemish covering foundation mixed with dark, bold eyeliner and matching eyeshadow - it was eye catching in the best way possible.

but the mornings in where she was too tired to function yet you still waltzed into her cabin, setting yourself on her bed with the needed make up in hand - they were the best ones.

and that was what was happening this morning.

it was the middle of winter, snow blanketing the camp, leaving even the toughest campers curled in front of whatever heat source they could find, and the two of you were no different.

sat in front of a space heater that one of the hermes kids had smuggled in for her, you were practically in her lap as you applied her make up with surgical precision, your hands steadier than her own could ever be.

thalia's eyes were focused completely on you. on your face.

watching how your brow furrowed in concentration as you lightly dusted a dark gray eyeshadow onto her eyelids. really, she should have had her eyes closed but you had gotten sick of telling her to do so because she rarely listened.

why would she when she could be looking at you instead?

her hands were holding you in place. one hand resting on your hip, the other on your waist. fingers curled into the soft fabric of your hoodie - actually, it was one that you had stolen from thalia. not that she would call you out for it.

"you're kind of cute when you're concentrating." thalia murmured quietly, her voice soft, softer than it ever was with anyone else in this stupid camp. "with that little crease in your brow. makes you look like a little kitten."

it wasn't hard to catch the soft scoff of disbelief that left you in response to her words, and it only had her smiling like a cheshire cat. it was amusing, watching you pull back the urge to refute her little compliments.

"what would i do without you huh? who would do my make up then?" she was merely teasing you, yet it had the furrow in your brow deepening.

gods, you were so adorable. you were special.