AN: Happy Anti-Independence Day (oh, don't mind me, I'm just a little bitter), FF dwellers! I'm sending virtual conversation hearts your way! This is my little Tratie V-Day thingy, I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Or Valentine's Day, while I'm at this disclaiming stuff.
I do, however, own Seraphina and Beth.
Word Count: 2, 692
Forgetful
"Oh, I'm sure Travis hasn't forgotten. He's just...going to surprise you later, that's all," Seraphina, a daughter of Aphrodite and Katie Gardner's best friend, reassured Katie. She applied her lip-gloss for about the fiftieth time that day and slipped the tube into her pocket.
"Ugh," Katie groaned miserably, falling back onto Seraphina's bunk and burying her head in the pillow. "I don't even know why I started going out with him in the first place. I'm not sure if I love him or hate him. Probably somewhere in-between."
Seraphina say down on the edge of the mattress and patted Katie's back comfortingly. "Love and hate are the same thing," she said patiently.
Katie would have rolled her eyes, but she knew Seraphina couldn't see them anyway. "That's bull crap," she said, her voice muffled by the pillow. "You're insane."
"It's true," Seraphina insisted, tugging on a strand of Katie's hair for emphasis. "Love is hate, and hate is love." Katie was starting to think all the hairspray had affected her friend's brain.
"Whatever you say, Ser," Katie muttered. A thought came to her, and she sat up, looking devious. "Does this mean that you love Austin, from the Apollo cabin?" Seraphina blushed; unfortunately for her, Katie noticed this, and smirked.
"I never said I hated Austin...I just strongly dislike him," Seraphina replied reasonably.
"Suuure you do, Ser."
.
"What are you doing?" Travis was mystified. He'd just gotten back from archery practice (which his brother had skipped, by the way; Travis had no one to talk to), and when he entered the Hermes cabin, the first thing he'd seen had been Connor, writing frantically on pieces of paper before ripping them up and throwing them on the floor.
"No...no...no, that's not right...," Connor was muttering to himself. Travis found himself questioning his brother's sanity.
Travis walked up behind him and smacked him on the back of the head. "Dude," he said, "what are you doing?"
Connor looked up at him, panicked. "It's Valentine's Day, dude! Singles' Awareness Day!"
"Um...no, Connor. That's in March." Travis seemed pretty sure about it. Connor looked at him strangely.
"No, Travis. Valentine's Day is in February. As in, you know, today," Connor said slowly, as if explaining something to a very stupid kindergartener. Travis rolled his eyes.
"Prove it," Travis said confidently. Connor walked over to the wall and tore a calendar from it. Then he walked over to Travis and literally shoved it into his face.
"See? February fourteenth. Valentine's Day," Connor said, like he had just won some huge battle.
"OK," Travis said slowly. "So what were you writing?"
Connor shifted uncomfortably. "That was, um... It was...for...someone."
Travis's eyebrows rose and he looked curiously at his brother. "Who? What's her name?"
.
"C'mon, Katie! It's just a little mascara," Seraphina urged.
The two girls were still in the Aphrodite cabin, but about twenty minutes earlier, Seraphina had dragged Katie into the bathroom and was trying to get her to put on makeup. She insisted that Travis was going to surprise her with some lovey dovey V-Day crap later, and that Katie had to look absolutely gorgeous.
"But I don't wanna!" Katie whined childishly. Seraphina had already managed to wash Katie's hair, put some eyeshadow and lipstick on her, and Katie was kind of scared that there was an outfit picked out and waiting for her on one of the many bunks in the cabin.
Seraphina glared at her. "You will keep your eyes wide open so that I can apply your mascara. And then you sit patiently while I curl your hair, and after that you will change into the clothes that I picked out for you," the tall brunette said forcefully. Katie groaned.
.
"None of your business!" Connor yelled. "Gods, stop being so nosy."
"Do I know her?" Travis asked, apparently unaware of the glare he was receiving.
"No," said Connor quickly. Too quickly.
Travis raised his eyebrows and looked at his brother in disbelief. "Well...maybe you do...but, you know, indirectly..."
"Spit it out, man," Travis said impatiently.
"Miranda," Connor told his brother reluctantly. "It—well, they—were for Miranda."
Travis scrunched his eyebrows together, thinking deeply. "As in Miranda Gardener? From the Demeter cabin?"
Connor nodded.
"Well, good luck with that. But if anyone—and I mean anyone—finds out that you like her, I am no longer your brother. You're just some random idiot who awkwardly has the same last name as me," Travis said. Then he frowned. "Oh, holy Hermes! I am so screwed!"
Connor looked up at him, confused. "Wha—"
"It's Valentine's Day, Connor," Travis said, obviously freaking out.
Connor looked at his brother with raised eyebrows. "I thought we had established that."
.
"...I don't know what to say, Seraphina," Katie said, looking at herself in the huge mirror that covered one wall of the Aphrodite cabin. "Except that...this top is itchy, these jeans are too tight, and these heels look like murder weapons."
Seraphina looked scandalized. "What? Katie Gardner, I worked too hard on this outfit. You will wear it, and you will like it, and you will sit patiently as I accessorize you!" Seraphina looked as if she was about to breathe fire.
Katie looked at her friend strangely, but didn't comment. Seraphina walked over to a huge wooden chest by the door of the huge closet and began to rummage through it. She was back in about five minutes, and it didn't take her long to give Katie her jewelry.
Katie turned to look in the mirror. Her hair was curled and pulled back into a ponytail, and her nails were painted pale pink. She was wearing mascara and green eyeshadow, and her lip-gloss was a shade of pink that matched her skin tone perfectly. The long-sleeved top she was wearing was soft, green cotton (she had lied—it didn't itch at all), with hot pink sequins forming a heart on the front (and, of course, it was fitting; every piece of clothing belonging to the Aphrodite cabin was). She was wearing skinny jeans, and a pair of black boots. The jewelry turned out to be a silver charm bracelet (the charms were things like hearts and shoes; typical Aphrodite kid stuff) and silver earrings shaped like tiny flowers. Katie realized that the outfit wasn't actually as ridiculously girly as she had originally feared it would be.
Seraphina looked at her expectantly, obviously expecting praise and thanks. Katie sighed and said, "Well...I guess it's not so bad." Seraphina seemed to accept this statement, and beamed.
"I feel like you're slowly learning. Slowly.But learning. I'm so proud of you, young Grasshopper," Seraphina said happily. Katie got the feeling that the girl wasn't joking. "You're finally gaining a sense of style!" Katie didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, so she decided on the former.
"What am I supposed to do now?" Katie asked tiredly.
"Well, go back to your cabin and wait. I'll come with you!" Seraphina squealed like a little girl on Christmas morning.
The two girls walked out of the cabin, Seraphina nearly skipping with joy at the "beauty of the love-filled day."
.
After about fifteen minutes, Connor had finally managed to process the reason that his brother was in so much trouble. Not being one for serious relationships himself, he'd never really had to worry about such things. He just used the day to snag girls—they all seemed to think that the day made everything more romantic, making it easier for him. Upon realizing that his brother would most likely be either dead or dumped (or possibly both) in the next twenty-four hours, he was highly amused.
"It's not funny!" Travis whined as his brother laughed hysterically at his situation. "Have you seen her when she's mad? It's scary!"
"Aye," said Connor jokingly. "She's a force to be reckoned with, that lass."
"Now is not the time for joking! I'm too young to die!"
Connor raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think you're overreacting a bit? Oh, wait. Don't answer that question; you're Travis, of course you are. Why don't you just get her some flowers or something? I mean, it's the middle of winter, but the Demeter kids have always got something in their cabin, maybe they'll help."
Travis blinked. He wondered how he hadn't thought of this before. Clearly he was the smarter brother...right? He thought about it. Yeah, he was definitely the smart one.
"Thanks bro!" Travis shouted over his shoulder as he ran out of the cabin.
Connor just shook his head, somewhere between amusement and exasperation. Younger brothers are so under-appreciated.
.
Katie fidgeted uncomfortably, sitting on her bed. As councilor of the cabin, she had her own bed. Her siblings jokingly told her that the councilors had been given this benefit just to keep Sleeping Katie away from her cabin mates. Sleeping Katie was crazy.
Seraphina sat beside her, reading a magazine and nibbling on a chocolate bar. She looked up every few minutes to make sure that Katie hadn't messed up her hair or something.
"When is he coming?" Katie asked impatiently. She was now biting her lip repeatedly, which Seraphina found more than a little weird.
Seraphina just shrugged and continued reading her magazine.
.
"Please?" Travis pleaded.
Ivy, the Demeter girl he was talking to, said, "Fine. But it'll cost ya. And just know that you're about the hundredth boy that's come for flowers. This is so annoying." She continued to mutter incomprehensibly under her breath as she gave Travis a bouquet of flowers and held out her hand expectantly.
Travis looked up at her in confusion. "What?"
Ivy tapped her foot impatiently. "Did you not hear me when I said—and I quote—'it'll cost ya'?"
Travis cursed under his breath. He didn't have any money. But then he got an idea. "Two weeks of no pranking. At all, I mean. The whole Hermes cabin."
Ivy narrowed her eyes at him and seemed to think about it. "Make it a month. And get out of the field. You're not helping anyone by standing here doing nothing."
Travis winced. Connor was going to be pissed. But he nodded.
Travis sighed in relief. He would most likely survive the night.
.
Katie had started to sing under her breath when there was finally a knock on the cabin door. Katie stopped singing-Seraphina looked glad-and went to see who it was. Seraphina peeked out the window and squealed.
"He's here!" she shouted, just as Katie opened the door.
.
"Hey Katie," Travis said when she opened the door. Then he looked at her a little more closely. "Are you wearing makeup?" Katie blushed.
"That's my handiwork," they could hear Seraphina say loudly.
Travis held out the flowers. Katie raised her eyebrows. "I thought you'd-"
"Forgotten? Please. Never," Travis lied. "C'mon." He pulled at her hand, but she refused to budge.
"Where are we going?" she asked curiously. "I'm not moving until you tell me."
Travis sighed. "The beach," he answered. "Now are you coming?" Katie allowed herself to be pulled gently in the direction of the shore.
.
Seraphina watched them leave from the door of the Demeter cabin, and smiled. Ah, young love. After sighing contentedly and thinking of all the wonderful things in life (chocolate, malls, and love were a few things that came to her mind), she decided what to do. "And what exactly is she going to do?" you may ask. She was, of course, going to follow them, and spy on them.
She grabbed her bag, pulled on her shoes, and hurried out of the cabin. Just as Seraphina was passing the Hermes cabin, she got an idea. Why leave him out? Travis was his brother, after all.
Glancing towards the beach, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and headed to the door.
.
Connor balled up the piece of paper and threw it into the trash can, deciding to give up. He hadn't even like Miranda much, anyway. Sitting down on his bunk, he decided to brainstorm for some new prank ideas while Travis was gone. At least it was something to do, and (in an odd, juvenile delinquent sort of way) productive.
He heard a knock on the door, but ignored it. One of his siblings would probably answer, and he refused to let his concentration be broken. He was right. A few seconds later, Beth, his nine year-old sister, opened the door.
"Connor!" Beth called. "It's for you!" Connor sighed. It was probably one of the Athena campers. It wasn't exactly a secret that they were sore losers, and they were most likely still bitter about losing the last Capture-the-Flag game to Ares cabin. But when he walked to the door, he was more than a little surprised.
.
There stood Seraphina, in all her designer-clothing-clad glory, playing with a tassel on her on her purse and tapping her foot impatiently. She plastered on a fake smile when she saw Connor. Connor knew that it was fake because he had pranked Aphrodite cabin the other day, and the little drama queens sure did know how to hold grudges.
"Hey, Seraphina... What's up?" Though he would never admit it, Connor was a little nervous. He was kind of scared that he'd end up in clown makeup for the next month.
"Travis and Katie are on a date," she said excitedly. Connor didn't know why this was so important to her, but he knew from experience that the Aphrodite girls were emotional and weird, and that to question them meant certain death...of your social life.
"Ooookay. I kind of already knew that," Connor said carefully. He didn't want to make her mad—girls were like bombs. One wrong step and BOOM! You're dead.
Seraphina rolled her eyes. "Of course you do."
Then...why did she just tell me? Girls are so crazy.
"I wanted to go spy on them... I figured maybe youd wanna come."
Connor's mind went into overdrive, weighing all the pros and cons of spying on his brother's date. Pros: cure for boredom, possible blackmail material... Cons: ...NONE!
He grinned at her. "Let's go."
.
"So, why are we out here again?" Katie asked Travis. They were sitting on the beach, engulfed in a silence that was quickly approaching awkward.
Travis rolled his eyes, as if Katie should know this. "It's V-Day, Katie. This is what couples do on V-Day. They sit somewhere quiet and reminisce and all that."
Katie snorted and scooted closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder. "Well, it's really sweet," she said. There was no mistaking the surprise in her voice; Travis wasn't exactly the sweet type.
Travis grinned. "Thank you. And to think, you thought I'd forgotten."
"Sorry," Katie mumbled apologetically.
Travis's grin widened. There was nothing better than receiving an apology for being suspected of something that you actually did do. Except for chocolate, maybe. And bacon. And snowball fights. But you get the point.
.
Seraphina and Connor were sitting as close as possible to the outer wall of the Poseidon cabin, watching Katie and Travis. The only problem was that they were too far away to hear, and going any closer risked being seen. Being ADHD, the two got bored pretty quickly. Connor was the one who broke the silence.
"Seraphina," Connor said, smiling wickedly. "What if I told you that Valentine's Day is never complete without a kiss?"
Seraphina sighed and looked at him suspiciously, but answered, "Well, it would be a shame to let a whole day go to waste..."
They looked at each other. Why the Hades not?
.
"We should probably be getting back," said Katie. "It's at least nine by now. I have to check on my siblings."
Travis sighed, cursing her sense of responsibility. But he stood up and held his hand out to her. She grabbed it and they started walking, slowly, back to Demeter cabin.
When they reached the cabin, Katie said, "Happy V-Day, Trav."
He just kissed her cheek and walked away. She smiled and entered the cabin, almost walking on air.
.