AN: So in my last chapter I mentioned that I had three new ideas for this story (four including the one I posted last week) but I also mentioned that one of them might not go up prior to the Blood of Olympus. I've decided that it will not go up, partially because there aren't enough weeks for me to get all three up but mostly because I just can't work the prompt into a story the way I want to. So with that said, there will be two more chapters for now, this one and the one that I will post next weekend. Tell me what you think.
Travis stood balancing on an old wooden rocking chair in by the front door to his house. He was trying to secure a bottle of Greek fire above the door.
"No. No. No," Katie said entering the foyer. She had oven mitts on and something smudged across her cheek. Obviously she'd been attempting to cook something.
"Hello, Katie-Kat," Travis said. The chair rocked back again and Katie winced.
"Are you crazy, Travis? You're going to fall!"
"Son of the swift-footed god," he replied with a smirk. "Remember?"
"You're certainly son of a something," Katie muttered. "And what is that?!" She all but shrieked. She had evidently only just then seen the glass jar in his hands.
"Uh..."
"Tell me that isn't Greek fire," she demanded pulling off her oven mitts. "Travis, tell me that isn't Greek fire!"
"I'm monster proofing the house?" Travis tried weakly.
"Travis," Katie said with a groan. "Alice is sleeping upstairs. What if you dropped that right now? What if it fell on my head when I walked through the door? What if it fell on you? Or Alice?"
"I'm sorry," he mumbled. He slipped off the chair and fell into a sitting position on it. He looked upset.
"I know," Katie replied. "This is just your nature. Just like that," she pointed out the window where plants were growing like crazy all over their back yard. "Is mine. What we need is to find you a nice, safe outlet."
Travis perked up. "Well now that you mention it, there's this place called Applock. It's kinda like a paintball setting, but you basically have a prank war. I was thinking we could go and if you like it we could make it a semiannual trip."
"Sounds fair," Katie reasoned. "Where'd you hear about this place anyway?"
"Connor told me about it." With that Travis stood up and in doing so accidently knocked over the jar of Greek fire. It hit the ground and the glass shattered. The flames, instead of filling the house, immediately sputtered out.
Katie looked down at the broken glass and then back up Travis several times mouth open.
"That's not Greek fire," she mumbled. Travis for his part, tried his best to look indignant.
"They ripped me off!" Katie continued to stare at her husband mouth agape. Slowly everything began to make sense. Of course Travis wasn't putting real Greek fire above the door to "monster proof" the house. He was reckless but he wasn't stupid. And he knew she was bound to reprimand him for pulling this stunt. Fixing her with that ashamed look when she scolded him made her feel bad and ensured that she'd say yes to whatever he asked.
"Travis did you plan this?" Katie demanded.
"Would I do that?" Travis asked with a grin. Katie simply glared.