7. I Almost Scorch My No-No Square
Saben's POV
I was fumbling around trying to find the needles when Raven walked in. My back was turned, so I couldn't see her reaction.
I couldn't hear her footsteps, so I turned around to see if she was still there.
She stared back at me and something about that made me want to blush. Fortunately, I didn't, though I couldn't say the same thing about her.
Raven cleared her throat and cocked her head slightly to the left. "Why are you on duty?"
I explained to her about Chiron's system of shifts and stuff with a shrug. Only then, did I notice her arm that was clutched to her chest. It was dripping blood all over her clothes.
I raised an eyebrow. "How did you get that?" I asked her.
I was surprised when she didn't roll her eyes. "From a bloody sword, genius."
"Now, now, no need to get sassy," I shot back with a smirk. I gestured for her to sit down.
Raven didn't oblige and she glared at me. "Just fix the bloody arm, James."
I spread my hands in surrender and shrugged. "Whatever," she finally came forward.
Raven was silent as I pried away her fingers from her arm. She inhaled sharply, and my cheeks burned.
I'm sorry, I wanted to say.
Her skin was really warm, but thankfully not feverish. I inspected her cut. It wasn't very deep, thank the gods, but it sure was…well… bloody.
I dabbed some liquid antibiotics onto her arm, so it would get an infection and bent over, so she wouldn't see my flaming red blush.
Raven was still silent. I wondered why she was so quiet.
Finally, my curiosity got the best of me and I looked up. She was looking away. She was studying the infirmary, taking note of the posters, and cases, and rubber gloves, and everything. She was looking everywhere except at me.
I let my hands fly on their own as I studied her. I noticed that Raven had a light olive complexion, as if she had a bit of European blood.
Her shirt slipped a little off her shoulder, though I doubt she noticed. I caught a glimpse of black ink on the back of her shoulder. I wondered what that was.
Raven gasped quietly and I immediately turned by attention to her arm.
I didn't see anything wrong, so when I looked up, I was confused to see her blushing/grimacing.
Oh my gods… did I hurt her?
Crap, I hurt her.
She must hate me now.
Crud cakes, crud cakes, crud cakes.
I stumbled around, trying to get my apology through to her.
"Oh my gods, I'm sorry, Raven. I didn't know and I-"
She cut me off and waved her other hand. Her face didn't look as pained as before. "It's fine, Saben. I'm fine."
I nodded and blushed. I tried to hide it, but I think she noticed, even though she made no reaction.
I stared into her emerald green eyes. They shined. They sparkled. They glowed.
Something about those eyes made me want to know everything about her. I wanted to know her secrets, I wanted to know her past.
I wanted her to trust me.
She looked into my eyes. In fact, she was staring at my right eye, most likely at the golden 'sun spot.' I wondered what she was thinking.
My hands eventually slowed down. They sat motionless on her arms.
She exhaled softly, and then I realized we were barely a few inches apart.
My heart raced as I recalled the night she was claimed; Capture the Flag.
I stared into her emerald green orbs. They seemed to be swirling with so many undefined emotions. Some part of me wanted to pick them apart like a machine, discover those emotions.
Raven's usual smell of jasmine punctuated the air around as I cupped her cheek on impulse.
She didn't shrink away, much to my relief. But I was barely thinking. Next thing I knew, my other hand was on her waist, her palms were pressed against my chest, and we were both leaning in.
The only thing that I could make sense of was how right this felt.
Our lips brushed up against each other when I heard the footsteps from the other side of the door.
Not just any footsteps, but the slapping of flip flops.
Will's flip flops.
I bit my tongue to keep from cursing Will out loud for having terrible timing. I bit down harder to keep them from pouring out.
I pulled away from Raven, my cheeks burning up.
Will walked in just as I was finishing bandaging her arm. I think he and Nico were holding hands, because the younger boy had stuffed his hands into his pockets and his face was rosy. Will cast me a look that said, "Why didn't you just give her ambrosia or nectar?"
I gave him a shrug and he shooed us out.
And so I left with Raven by my side. The air between us was stale with awkwardness.
That was the second time we almost kissed. The second time.
We almost kissed twice.
And we haven't even talked about the first one.
Though that one was more of a trick to let my guard down more than anything else, but still.
Raven starts walking towards the Arts & Crafts center, so I follow her, desperate to walk her there,
She has a smirk dancing in her eyes as she glances at me through her peripheral vision.
When we stop at the double oak doors, Raven stares at it for a little bit.
An idea popped into my mind. I shoved my hands into my pockets and stare at the ground with a frown, thinking about what I was about to do.
What if she pushed away?
What if she just stood there?
What if she laughed in my face?
Raven's voice shattered my thoughts
"Thanks, Saben, for… everything."
I looked up and caught her eye. She was smiling brightly. It was hard for me not to grin back at her. Her smile was contagious like that.
I looked her in the eye and replied, "Anytime, Raven."
She blushed slightly at that and her eyes flickered to the ground for a split second. Something about that made little tingles erupt from the soles of my feet all the way up to my scalp.
And so we just smiled at each other for a little while, drinking in each other's presence.
I thought about what I wanted to do. My heart was screaming at me to do it while my mind was pulling me back.
For a second, I said screw logic, and I stepped forward without thinking.
I may have hesitated, I may have not, I didn't really remember. All I knew was that I wanted to get this over with, just in case she pushed me away.
My hands and arms took over as I grabbed her wrist and gently pulled Raven against me. She breathed out a soft gasp as her head instantly fixed itself in the crook of my neck, right on the shoulder.
My arms had minds of their own as they encircled around her waist. My head drew up and I fixed my chin on the top of her head.
Raven inhaled some, and she wrapped her own arms around my waist.
My heart flipped over and over and my thoughts seemed like they were pieces of paper scattering in a fan; chaotic. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe.
The only thing I could do was struggle to take quiet deep breaths and catch the scent of lavender in her midnight black waves.
We stood like that for gods know how long. I saw a flash of dark brown hair in the corner of my eye, but I paid no mind to it. I was focused solely on the girl standing in front of me. The girl whose arms were wrapped around me.
Eventually, I had to pull away, or else I would've suffocated. Gods help me. I've only known her a few weeks and already she's going to be the death of me.
My chest and arms had grown accustomed to her warmth, so when I pulled away, I felt like I was freezing, despite the hot October sun beaming down overhead.
Raven blushed hard and stared me in the eye. I grinned at her, grateful she didn't push away.
I raised a hand in salute, "Anytime, Rave. Anytime," I promised her.
She nodded and turned towards the door. I turned around and started for the forges.
Time for free time.
xxxXXXxxxXXXxxx
As soon as I walked in, I changed my mind.
Here I was, determined to spend my free time in the corner, just fooling around with scrap iron and bronze.
But as soon as I inhaled the smell of wood smoke and heated metal, as soon as I heard the sound of metal clashing against metal, as soon as I saw the fire, my mind had other ideas.
My siblings were working on weapons of some sort. And I mean all of them. Even little Harley was crafting his own battle axe.
Nyssa caught my eye and waved me over.
"Hey sis," I called to her.
She grunted in response. Her soft mega curly brown hair was pushed away from her caramel colored skin in a black bandana. Her hazel green eyes were glued to the wicked sharp bronze sword lying on the table. The blade was orange red. She picked up a bucket and dumped water all over it.
The water hissed and steam curled up in wisps. Nyssa then picked up the sword and sliced it through a slab of concrete. The slab separated like it was hot butter.
She smirked in satisfaction and muttered, "Perfect," before she set it aside.
Nyssa turned to me. Her eyes pierced into me as she wiped her hands on her shirt.
"Hey there, Saben. Are you here to help out or are you just gonna keep Jake company?" She asked.
I raised an eyebrow. "What do you think, Nys?"
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking,"
I sighed and walked over to the other side of the table. Nyssa nodded, getting her answer and went over to Harley to help him sharpen his axe.
My hands flew on their own as I turned to my thoughts. I don't even remember what I was thinking about.
Before I knew it, I was done and I decided to pull over a chair to take a break.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that at first I didn't acknowledge the burning sensation on my crotch.
Only when the smell of smoke punched me in the face did I look down and realize that my jeans were smoldering.
With a valley-girl-worthy scream I jumped up. My siblings stopped mid swing, mid hammer, and mid sharpen as they turned to stare at me.
I swatted at my pants like a maniac screeching, "Get it off! Get it off!"
The flames only grew. A voice that was not masculine (which therefore, did not belong to me) let out a blood curdling screech as the fire stretched downwards.
Finally, Harley grabbed a water bucket and threw the whole damn thing at my pelvis.
The flames immediately died and I stopped screaming. The whole forge was dead silent as I stared down at the column smoke wafting up from my pants and my siblings stared at me.
Finally, Nyssa cleared her throat, breaking the silence. "Saben? Are you okay?"
I laughed sarcastically and shook my head. "Absolutely not."
The room remained silent.
I reached out towards my chair. "You know what? I think… I think I'm gonna sit down f-for awhile."
And so I plopped down in a chair, still shaken up from my near sterilization.
Author's Note:
And there's chapter 7! I finally got around to typing it up! Thanks so much for reading, my lovelies. Hope you liked it!
XOXO,
PercyJacksonGreekFreak
