Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
A/N: Ah Tratie love. Don't worry, SIUC is coming. Eventually. Like in September. Maybe. ANYWAY, this is back when our darling couple claimed to 'hate' each other. We all know they didn't. This isn't exactly my usual fluff/humor stuff with these two, but I do find it pretty amusing.
Prompt: Ladders
What Goes Up Must Come Down
"Travis Stoll, I swear to Demeter that if you let go just because you think that it's funny your ass is going to end up on a platter. And it's going to be mine."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"Stoll!"
Travis rolled his eyes. "I think I can handle a ladder, Katie. Chillax."
Katie crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Sure about that?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Yes I'm sure. Just get up there and freaking finish painting those shutters so we can leave."
"It's your fault that we have to do this, Stoll. Don't forget it."
"Oh please. You threw just as much as I did."
"You started it."
At this Mr. D grew tired of their bickering (which had been almost nonstop) and stuck his head out the window. "Will you two shut up? You've been going at it all afternoon. I knew we should have hired professionals to do this and just let you two get eaten by harpies," he mumbled the last part clearly enough for both Katie and Travis to hear him, before slamming the window shut.
Slightly abashed (for about all of two seconds) Katie and Travis looked away and just went to pick up the bucket of paint. In all reality it was both their faults. They had started the food fight at breakfast this morning, and now they had to paint the back of the Big House together. It had taken them most of their afternoon and all they had left were the shutters of the very highest window. It sucked, to say the least.
But was she supposed to let him just stick a buttered biscuit down her shirt? Katie thought not. In retaliation she threw her ketchup'd eggs at him. And so began WWIII.
"Remember, if I even feel one tremor it's all on you."
"What if there's an earthquake? You can't blame me then."
"Then I hope that you fall straight to Hades."
Travis put a hand to his heart, acting as if he was wounded. "I'm shocked, Katie, that you think so badly of me."
"Shut the hell up. And don't let me fucking fall."
"Okay, okay." As Katie stepped her way up the ladder Travis made a face at her behind her back.
"Don't think I didn't see that."
"What? What did you see?"
Katie just shook her head and told him, "Look, the longer we argue the longer we have to put up with each other. Can we just finish this, please? Truce?"
"No."
"Seriously? You are so impossible! You realize that, don't you. No wonder you haven't had a girlfriend in three months."
"Hey, shut up about Sarah. Or we can start talking about Malcolm."
"Why you little piece of-"
"Do you really want to finish that sentence?" Travis taunted. "You're the one that wanted the truce, remember?"
He was impossible. One minute he wanted to be the biggest piece of shit on earth and the next he wanted to have a truce or something. Katie decided that he wasn't even worth fighting with anymore.
"Whatever." Katie began painting the house and for once Travis didn't have to have the last word.
It was nice (and quiet) until Travis got bored and he decided to spice things up by shaking the ladder a little bit, making Katie clutch on the ladder for dear life.
"Gods I hate you," she spat at him after her heart rate slowed.
"Don't worry, the feeling's mutual," Travis replied, grinning that shit eating grin of his. Katie wondered what he would do if she was to smack it right off his stinking face.
"Great, I'm glad that's settled. Now, just let me finish this without shaking this so that we can leave."
"You know, if you died I bet we would be done and I wouldn't have to do this anymore."
"You are so horrible. You know that? Horrible!" Katie turned around in the ladder so that she was facing him.
"Oh Katie, you know you like me."
"The day I like you is the day that Conner gets together with Whitney," she said, referring to her half sister and Travis's brother. Everyone knew that Conner had a huge crush on Whitney and she didn't return it. In fact, she had a boyfriend back home.
"Who says that hasn't already happened?"
"What do you know that I don't?"
"Oh nothing, nothing..." Travis trailed off suggestively. Then, noticing that Katie was distracted, he shook the ladder once more just to goad her. He got the results he desired.
Katie's eyes grew wide and she barely could grab on. She scrambled for a good grip. "I hate you."
"You've mentioned that."
"I just want to make sure that you knew that. Because it's true. I can't wait until we're done so that I can get the hell away from you."
Katie turned back to the window and hoped to the gods that he didn't make the ladder shake again. She didn't know how much her poor heart could take.
She was almost done painting it, she only had a corner to go (Thank Demeter. She didn't know how much more she could take of this, of him, before she exploded and began ripping his great hair right out of his damn head.) when she could feel the ground rumble.
It was Nico. It had to have been, because there was no way that there would ever be a natural earthquake at Camp Half-Blood. But Katie didn't know this. She thought that it was Travis. She turned and glared at him. "Stop it," she hissed. "We are almost done. Why can't you just let me finish. You probably want this to go on forever."
"Katie, that wasn't me. Honest."
"Oh yeah. I'll bet it was an earthquake, wasn't it?"
"Seriously, it wasn't me."
"Whatever, Travis, just don't do it anymore. Got it?"
She began painting again when all of a sudden a bigger earthquake made the earth ripple. Travis almost fell over and he just saved himself whenever he saw the ladder falling.
It was almost like it was in slow motion, like some action movie. Katie was on the ladder and then the ladder tipped to one side, the paint going up and then down straight on Katie's head. Travis wondered wildly for a moment if this was what it was like for people on acid.
Then Katie fell to the ground and everything went back to normal speed. The Robin Egg's Baby Blue, as it said on the label, fell all over Katie's hair and face.
For a while neither of them said anything. Travis gulped. He knew what was going to happen. Then Katie opened her eyes and looked straight at Travis. "I. Am going. To. Kill. You."
Travis ran.