Cabin 3 was unrecognizable from when they had arrived the night before. Annabeth's suitcase had erupted and her makeup and hair appliances now littered every flat surface. Thankfully, Percy had vacated their room to hangout with Frank and Leo so she could ready in private.
It had been awhile since she'd gotten dolled up to this extent, curling her hair, a full face of makeup, and heels. Annabeth hadn't gotten this glammed up since Piper and Thalia moved away.
Annabeth went out with Rachel occasionally, but it was always to some hipster dive bar in the Village where a flannel and jeans would suffice. Sometimes, if Annabeth was going straight from work to meet Rachel, she'd even try to make herself look worse coming from a day at the office to fit in with Rachel's grungier friends.
It was nice to take time to do her hair and mix-and-match and pick out an outfit that matched with the bachelorette party sashes Leo had acquired for them. Getting ready was especially relaxing after she had taken the best shower of her life. It was a much needed hot, relaxing session after the day they had all just had.
After brunch, all of the wedding guests had returned to their rooms to change, and rest up for an afternoon of camp activities.
Annabeth set down her curling iron, and shook her arm out, sore from their first activity after brunch — archery. Annabeth had never been spectacular at it in camp, and the years removed their camp training days had made her worse. Not as terrible as Percy, though. Annabeth spent the morning laughing at the cute face he made while he aimed for the targets.
Annabeth finished curling her hair, and got to work concealing a scratch on her arm.
After archery, a group had taken an excursion to the training arena to spar.
"Who's next?" Annabeth asked, eyes sparkling as she swiped sweat from her brow. She held out her hand and helped Jason up.
"Hades, Annabeth," Jason muttered, sheathing his golden gladius, "Can't even give me a break on my wedding weekend?"
Annabeth grinned, "I was already going easy on you, Grace." She looked around for her next opponent. Piper, Hazel, and a group had gone to the stables to groom the horses. Leo sat, bruised, physically and his ego, on the sidelines nursing a scrape on his arm. Frank messed with the straw poking out of one of sparring dummies, and refused to make eye contact with her. "Come on!"
"I'll have a go," piped Percy, standing up from the bench where he'd been sitting with Nico watching Reyna and Thalia spar across the arena.
Annabeth shot him a look, "Really Percy? It's alright. These guys are just babies."
Percy stood directly in front of her, "No, for real, I'll spar with you."
"Percy, it's okay," Annabeth sheathed her knife in the holster of thigh, "We've all trained to sword fight since we were kids at this camp, it's—"
"You scared?" Percy said, his wagging eyebrow challenging her.
Annabeth gaze darkened, "Alright, then." She unsheathed her knife, "Pick your weapon."
Percy picked up a bronze sword from the chest Chiron had brought out to the sparring area, swinging it back and forth testing its' weight, "You alright with those little knives, Chase?" He stood in front of her.
Annabeth unsheathed another, "Perfect with them. They let me get closer to my opponent." She stood directly in front of him. Thalia and Reyna had paused their spar to watch.
Percy grinned, "Rules?"
Annabeth twirled the knife in her left hand, using them to point to the markings on the straw covered sparring arena, "First person to step out of the boundaries."
"Not to the death?" Percy grinned at her.
Annabeth smirked back, "Ready, Jackson?"
The two faced each other within the ring and fell into a fighting stance. Annabeth beckoned him with her hand to make the first move. Percy made the first strike, and Annabeth parried him with a basic block, but Percy struck again, this time disarming Annabeth. Her knife cluttered to the ground. Annabeth raised an eyebrow, her face failing to conceal the shock.
"Jason, I don't think she really was going easy on you," Percy said, sweeping up her knife and tossing it back to her. "Don't you dare go easy on me, Chase. Let's call that a warm-up round."
Annabeth's expression was unreadable, "Fine, let's go again." This time, Annabeth made the first move, which Percy smoothly blocked.
Suddenly, they were dancing. The clang of bronze against bronze and the whip of blades flying through the air filled the training arena. Every strike from another was met by a perfectly in sync parry. They fought as if choreographed, his body occupying the space hers was in seconds before being interrupted by the clang of metal. Annabeth didn't know if she was fighting against Percy or with him. He seemed to know exactly what her next move would be.
Annabeth's muscles burned in a way she hadn't felt since her camp days — the exertion required of an equally adept opponent. No one had matched her combat skill like this since, well since Luke, who had taught her to fight in the first place. Fighting with Percy was a dance, and she didn't want the song to end.
Annabeth knew that she wouldn't be able to outpower Percy, not due to her own strength or skill, but because she was three rounds of sparring in and he was fresh. His technique was a little rough around the edges, but his natural skill was apparent. Annabeth noticed this in his stance, and they way his arms extended when he swung his blade at her.
She would have to end this round with strategy. He had caught her off guard with his skill when he disarmed her in the first round when she was going easy on him, but now she truly was exerting herself. Percy was having fun, too much to stop or give in. She could tell from the way he almost had her disarmed a couple times, but also eased up just in time for her to block his saber with one of her knives. How dare he go easy on her now, Annabeth thought as she swung her blade as his throat.
Clang! Percy blocked it. She saw him grin and couldn't help a smile from spreading across her face.
But she had a plan. Percy swung his sword at her, and Annabeth resisted the urge to block, just for a second, but that was all it took. Percy's arm faltered, just for a second, when she didn't move from his attack. The tip of the blade grazed her arm. That second hesitation was all Annabeth needed to get close enough to shove Percy off balance and take a step out of boundaries.
Jason and the others whooped and cheered from the sidelines.
"That's what you get for going easy on me, Jackson," Annabeth said, holding out her hand.
Percy shook it, and didn't let go, "Believe me, I wasn't."
"Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
"I'm an actor. Years of stage combat classes."
"Nerd.
Annabeth finished concealing the scratch on her arm, and began tidying up her mess of makeup and clothes around the cabin.
After a couple more rounds that afternoon (Percy and Jason fighting round after round until eventually calling a tie), they left to meet up with the stable group in the woods for a game of capture the flag — bridesmaids and dates against groomsmen and dates. Annabeth's team won, of course. "I always have a plan," Annabeth said with a wink. That plan had just so happened to involve using Percy as bait and a distraction while Annabeth claimed Jason's flag right from under his nose.
A walk through the strawberry fields in the afternoon had allowed Percy to bond with her camp friends. They all seemed to love him, and she did as well the more she got to know him. Percy was charming and funny and retorted back to her witty remarks with clever jibes at her that made her laugh. They hung back from the group on the walk and Percy told her about his mom, Sally, who raised him as a single parent and faithfully supported his acting career, and his stepdad Paul, who was an English teacher.
Annabeth justified it as informing Percy on the need-to-knows of being her fake boyfriend, but the sun and the smell of strawberries had her spilling tales of her stepmom and the rough years with her dad and the move from Virginia to San Francisco that made her summers at camp the best times of her childhood.
When they had returned from the strawberry fields, Jason and the groomsmen had invited Percy for a couple of beers down by the lake. Annabeth said goodbye to him with a shy kiss on the cheek to get ready for Piper's bachelorette party.
That had been an hour or two ago before Annabeth had taken the best shower of her life, and washed away the grime and sweat of the day. It had been an amazing first day of Piper and Jason's wedding weekend, participating in her favorite camp activities and getting to know Percy — bringing him as her date was a great idea from the looks of today.
Annabeth looked in the mirror hanging against the wall next to the door of Cabin 3 and adjust the bridesmaid sash over the short black dress she wore. Piper had no idea what was coming for her at the bachelorette party.
