A dark, alien world, where strange noises are the only sign of life, but any life that is there could kill you, and when you turn the corner, OH SHIT, it's a fellow person, but they shoot you and now-

Your laser tag pack beeps for a few seconds, telling you that you've been shot, and now you have to wait a minute before you can go out and shoot someone again. You've also just lost three points as a penalty of getting shot, and if you want to balance out your score and stay out of the negatives, you're going to have to tag at least three more people with your own laser gun.

"You doing okay Pipes?" Asks Annabeth, holding her gun tight against her chest, still ready to shoot whoever

Piper smiles. "Yeah."

This is her very first time going laser-tagging, and she has to say, though she's having loads of fun, she absolutely sucks at it. They hear a sound, someone's footsteps as they thunder down to the ground level where Piper and Annabeth are currently hiding in the center of the laser maze. Both of them fall silent, and Annabeth starts to quietly run away, motioning for Piper to follow. The brunette notices how Annabeth's white shirt has become see-through in the strange lighting, and Piper notices how Annie's bra is pretty blue.

"Piper?" Annabeth whispers. "You coming?"

Piper blushes, realizing she was staring at Annabeth's chest a little long, wondering if the other girl noticed. Then she nods, following the blonde down a tight corridor. Annabeth pokes her head out at the end, trying to see if there's anyone on the other side of the corner. It must be clear, because she advances, and so does Piper, and they wind their way through the laser maze, getting up to the second level, finding their way into a small room.

Piper walks the perimeter, assessing the situation.

"Can I have a windows count, Pipes?" Says Annabeth from the other side of the room, where she's sitting with the gun on her lap.

"We've got one window, two exits, and a view out to the ground level."

"Perfect."

"Yeah, I think so too-" Piper turns around, smiling, trying to make eye contact with Annabeth.

And suddenly, Annabeth is gone.

"Annie?" Piper's voice is the only noise in the room. She figures she ought to hole up here for a little while, lay low, wait for Annabeth to come back. But something in her wants to go out and shoot some of the other guys. Percy, Frank and Jason are out there, working together to bring down all of the others- Piper knows that much. And Leo and Hazel both went rogue (separately) a while ago after making alliances with different parties and turning their backs on Annabeth and Piper in the process.

There's also the threats of Reyna and her allianced group, as well as that one girl- Thalia? Damn, Annabeth knows her better. All Piper knows about Thalia is that she's Jason's sister, and is currently working with her own force in the laser-tag complex, a group of girls all wearing matching silver clothes under their laser packs.

But despite all of the dangers in the laser maze outside, Piper wants to go. She knows she'll find Annabeth soon. But why not have some fun while she's waiting? It's just a game after all. And hey, if Annie's decided to go rogue on her suddenly, it's not like Piper will be a sitting duck anymore.

So Piper takes a deep breath, re-braids her hair, and looks down at her gun.

"You need a name, dontcha?" She says, eyeing the laser gun fondly. Yes, it's just a game, but they're gonna be here for a while- Annabeth and Jason worked together to book the place for a few hours so that the two of them and their friends could fight each other laser-tag style. She knows that Percy's already named his gun something weird. Badwave, was it? Quickcurrent? No, Riptide. He named the freaking gun Riptide. What the hell percy.

Piper isn't going to name her gun something as stupid as Riptide.

"Katoptris."

Piper isn't sure where the name came from, but it sounds nice. Maybe she's heard it somewhere. She just knows that it was a way better name than Riptide.

Then she runs out into the open.

She has a good time, even managing to shoot someone (Leo, she guesses, based on the creative cursing and the build of the boy, but it really could have been anyone. The lighting in this place sucks.) She almost manages to evade Thalia and the group of girls that seem to be currently dominating the game, but they end up just asking her if she wants to make a truce with her, even offering her a silver jacket like one of the ones they're wearing. Piper politely declines, and is allowed to leave without being shot, but knows she has just made an enemy. She overhears some shouting, which she learns is coming from Percy, Jason and Frank. They're goofing around, talking about how they're planning on 'killing' some kid named Octavian, and how some of the guys are still calling Percy a 'Lighting Thief' because he's stealing everyone's thunder by being the 'best laser-tagger in the group' or something like that. She spies on the guys for a while, but then they are ambushed by Thalia and her girls. It's amusing to watch Jason be crushed by his sister, but she doesn't want to be discovered, so she keeps moving.

Really, Piper just wants to find Annabeth.

And then, Annabeth finds her.

Hands. Arms, around her. She's being pushed into a corner. She looks up to see who the person is.

"Annie?"

Annabeth smiles. "Hey, Pipes."

"What are you doing? Jason, Percy, and Frank were cornered back there, and now we're going to be cornered and-"

"Shush Piper. It's just a game, isn't it?"

Annabeth smiled mischievously. Piper noticed the other girl's bra again. Was it strange that she wanted to touch it? Stop being a perv, Piper. She told herself. I think this is what pervs do. You don't want to be a perv, so stop being a perv.

"Well-"

Piper's cut off as Annabeth leans in and kisses her. Piper gasps. It's a small, sharp intake of breath, but it causes Annabeth to hesitate. So Piper assures her that kissing is fine- more than fine. Great actually, AMAZING- by leaning in for more, putting her hands in Annabeth's hair, allowing Katoptris to fall awkwardly to the floor. She notices that Annabeth's gun is still holstered. So, the blonde had planned this. Hm.

Piper feels Annabeth undoing her braids, running her fingers through the brunette's dark locks. Annie breaks the kiss for a moment to look at Piper's kaleidoscope eyes, and admire the changing colors. She smiles again, that same mischievous smile as before. Piper blushes.

Annabeth takes a step back, pulling out her gun on Piper, and shooting the flustered brunette right on the laser-tag armor. Piper's armor starts beeping again, signifying that she wis temporarily out again, and had just lost another three points.

"See ya 'round, Pipes," Annabeth says, and then leaves.

And though Piper should be angry, she isn't.

She sits down in the dark corner of the laser maze, braids undone, Katoptris on the floor beside her, remembering how it was to kiss Annabeth Chase, the girl of her dreams, and hoping that it was real- not just another scheme put in place by an incredibly intelligent blonde.