prompt: jump

pair: percy/clarisse

"No."

Of all the idiotic-

"Jackson, quit being a fucking wimp!"

"I am not a wimp!" Percy said, "I'm sane. More or less. Which would be why I think it's a bad idea to jump off a volcano!"

Clarisse pictured Silena's voice (or what she hoped was a reasonable version of it- twenty years could wreck a lot of damage on a girl's memory) telling her to try and count to ten before resorting to her fists. It was a method which had proven itself to be surprisingly effective against everything from rude sales clerks to sadistic drill sergeants, but under Percy's overly skeptical expression, it fizzled out and died.

"This is unbelievable!" Clarisse screeched at him, "First you decide to turn tail and run away from a couple if little hellhounds-"

"Which turned out to be a very good idea, seeing as how it turned out to be a Hellhound family reunion, and in what universe is ten feet tall 'little'?"

"And now," Clarisse continued, "You're too chicken to jump a couple of feet-"

"I'm not scared, I'm being sane. I could fall into lava, and it's hot down there."

"You're like ninety percent water, you dork. Also, when the Hades did you get sane?"

Percy opened his mouth to retort, then hesitated. Clarisse noted with a start that there were laugh lines around his eyes, little frowns marring skin that she remembered as being smooth. All that said, he probably looked less weathered than she did.

Maybe this had been a bad idea. Maybe, after hearing rumors of breeding hellhounds, she should have gone to CHB or (ugh) Camp Jupiter and asked the younger kids to do something about it. Maybe she should have let old demons and old memories lie in the past, and not gone charging ahead in an attempt to relive it.

Or maybe she should have done all that, except with a less wimpy companion. But really, you couldn't blame her for thinking otherwise- Jackson was (had been) the least wimpiest person she knew, for all that she was unlikely to admit it to him even under pain of waterboarding. Apparently, kids mellowed out hardened warriors. Who knew?

Percy cursed spectacularly as he landed in a crouch a foot away from her.

"Nice one," Clarisse told him, appreciating the jump, "wasn't sure you could make it."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Percy's voice was positively acidic, but Clarisse could see his eyes gleam from much more than fear; so she wasn't fooled.

Old warriors retired, she supposed. Some of them even did it successfully- she was positive Annabeth hadn't given a thought to monster-maiming ever since she'd won some prize and been flooded with projects, and she knew Chris greeted every hint of supernatural involvement in their life with a volley of really spectacular greek curses. Others, like her and Percy, needed to get up and charge at something once in a while, just to assure themselves that all was well with the world.

"You coming?" Percy demanded, looking back at the approaching hounds, Riptide's edge gleaming in the firelight.

"Please," Clarisse snorted and twirled her spear, "Try and keep up with me."

Note: Clarisse does not really care about keeping the language kid-friendly, nope. And that stint in the army did nothing for her vocabulary. Y'all will have to deal with that. /nodnod