I'm the kind of guy who jokes around with his friends and teases other people senseless.

Sometimes it's to the point that it hurts them.

Sometimes they're able to laugh with me.

Once, I made a girl cry.

I've never felt like such an ass in my life.

I tried to apologize, but I ended up turning the conversation the other way and making another joke, about someone else that I knew she disliked.

She laughed that time, and ended up forgiving me, but I never apologized.

It's like the words wouldn't come out of my mouth.

I guess I'm a jerk, really. And sometimes, I tend to not care.

Chapter Seven

Word of the lucky new guy who Ares' cabin didn't pummel spread quite quickly, but Clarisse, Riker, and an Ares kid named Jesse—Jace's older brother—didn't bother paying the whispering groups of campers any mind as they trudged down to the training area. That was what Riker really wanted to see, after all. They'd left Matt and Jace back in the cabin, since the they had archery class in fifteen minutes and didn't want to be late no matter how much they loathed it—after all, why would one wish to shoot arrows when they could be tying the scrawnier kids to posts with duct tape and covering them in honey stolen from the kitchens? Exactly.

They passed the forge, where children of Hephaestus smithed their own weapons and a variety of other contraptions, on their way down that lawn. They skimmed the edge of the woods and Riker caught a look at the rock climbing wall—actual rock, it was. And not just any rock, but molten. He grinned. Maybe he would enjoy it here after all. All the other camps he'd ever been to hadn't nearly been this interesting.

They walked straight passed the crafts room where Riker minutely glanced in and spotted a few satyrs sandblasting a marble statue of a rather large satyr with a laurel wreath on his head—the god of the Wild, Pan, he supposed.

He rolled his eyes and walked after Clarisse and Jesse, who were murmuring to each other and glancing back at him every so often. It seemed the satyrs still weren't over their successor's death. Seriously, it has been over two thousand years.

He released a yawn as he caught up with his new friends, twisting around for a moment to get a better look at the rock wall. Two of them, actually. They shook violently at unpredictable moments, sprayed lava, and clashed together at random intervals. He almost felt sorry for whatever poor bastard didn't make it to the top in time.

"Here," Clarisse finally stopped once they reached the marble pillars he'd seen in the distance before.. She and her half brother grinned at him. "The arena. So?"

"Yeah, how do you like it?"

He eyed the weapons stacked in the far left of the area and smirked at them. "I think I like it here. Reminds me of my closet, but more spacey."

They laughed. "C'mon," Jesse told him, motioning for him to follow after him as the two blonds made their way out of the arena again. "It's almost dinner, and we really needs showers—but you wanna spar sometimes after, or tomorrow?"

"Do I want to?" Riker asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, duh. Who wouldn't?"

Clarisse grinned. "Food's served at seven-thirty, don't be late or you'll get kitchen duty for a night—not fun, really, unless you enjoy washing your hands in lava. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall and we'll meet you there!"

She waved smugly and then raced Jesse back to the cabin area. Riker stretched until he felt his back pop and and hit his palm with his fist. "Hm," he mumbled. The grin was gone and his eyes were a dark green now, mixed with gray. He made his way over to the marble steps that surrounded the arena—which served as bleachers—and took a seat, hugging his knees to his chest. He stared at the ground blankly for a moment.

Sometimes, grinning so much hurt his face. Especially when the smiles weren't entirely real.

He felt like a little brat, but he really missed his mom. So much it almost hurt. Worse than appendicitis, which had hurt like a bitch. He remembered that hospital trip, screaming in the back of the ambulance and clutching his abdomen. His mother had sat back with tears in her eyes as the paramedics held him to the table and pumped morphine through the needle in his wrist. He'd been sick for a few days, maybe two or so. Really sick, with a high fever and multiple trips to pay acknowledgment to the porcelain deity that resided in the bathroom, giving it his meager breakfast and maybe lunch if he'd eaten as an offering.

He hated being sick. He looked back on those days and the surgery in distaste, but they still didn't hurt as much as he was now.

Really. Because Sally Jackson was just vanished, and Riker had no clue were. He refused to think she was dead, but the way she'd gone was just so...

He couldn't think of anything else.

But, no. She wasn't dead. That didn't mean she wasn't somewhere in the Underworld by chance, and Riker was planning on meeting the Lord of the Dead himself, hades, face to face soon enough. He just had to think of something to negotiate. Maybe like Orpheus—except, Riker sucked at musical instruments and he didn't really think that would work. After all, the were the Greeks, and Riker would be speaking to Hades, not Pluto.

His eyes stung like he'd gotten rubbing alcohol in them again, and he tapped his eyelids gently, willing the salty liquid to go away. Riker wasn't one to cry, but he just didn't know what to do. He felt completely helpless.

He found himself wandering near the canoe lake and wondered when he'd stood up and started walking. He leaned forward on his toes and raised an eyebrow at the teenage girls sitting at the bottom of the lake-bed. Naiads, he thought, after examining them; they had blue skin, one wore a white t-shirt and gray short-shorts on, and the other was dressed in a shimmering green blouse and blue jeans. The one in shorts was braiding the other's matching navy hair. They paused when they noticed him looking at them and smiled, waving cheerfully up at him. Like he was some sort of long-lost friend, and Riker felt that maybe he should be creeped out, but he wasn't and that was even weirder.

He waved back with a wink anyway.

"Don't encourage them," a voice spoke up from behind him. "Naiads are terrible flirts."

Riker made sure to place a mischievous grin on his face before turning around. "I don't think they were flirting with little old me, Annie-girl, but I'm flattered you think so."

"You ditched me."

"I did, didn't I?" He murmured thoughtfully, glancing at the sky. "And that surprised you, why?"

"Maybe you really are a child of Ares," the blond huffed under her breath, striking a nearby stone with the tip of her shoe. They both watched it tumble down into the edge of the lake. "You have the manners for it."

"Why are you over here?"

"I can be by the lake if I want, can't I?" She raised an eyebrow. "It's not like there's a "No Trespassing" sign anywhere."

"You followed me."

"I did not."

He grinned. "Admit it. You were following me. Ha!" He spun around and pumped his fist into the air. "Oh, wow! Listen, world! Annie-girl had a crush on your's truly!" he cackled as Annabeth's face turned red.

"I do not!" She screeched. Riker winced at the volume, but only smirked and stabbed a finger in her direction.

"Do too."

"I don't!"

"So you're a daughter of the Wisdom goddess, huh?" He asked a bit softly, twisting back around to gaze across the lake with his arms behind his back. Annabeth's eye twitched—apparently,. She found his sudden switch in personality irritating.

But she relaxed her aggressive stance and huffed at him. "Yeah. What's it to you?"

"Isn't Athena a maiden goddess?"

"Yes." The blond's shoulders fell ever so slightly, and a strained look came over her face. Her voice was stiff.

"The how—"

"How was Athena born?" She asked him in answer to his unspoken question.

Riker blinked. "Well, she came out of Zeus' split sku—" His eyes widened. "Oh. Oh, no way!"

"It's true," she shrugged her shoulders, sitting at the edge of the dock they'd somehow walked over to during their conversation. "All of Athena's children are born from her mind. I was sent down to my father's doorstep in a golden basket."

He caught the slight tension in her words when she said father. "I guess he wasn't too taken with that event." He observed.

"I'm not overly fond of him." She said firmly.

"What kind of guy was he, to catch the goddess of Wisdom's eye? Was he a nerd or something?"

"A professor at a university. He taught history."

"So a nerd," Riker nodded. Annabeth glared at him. It seemed, no matter how much she disliked the guy, she wasn't amused when other people insulted him. How strange.

But he leaned back in his spot on the dock next to her and supported himself on his elbows. "I was thinking. It's weird how the gods get together and have kids with mortals and stuff. I mean, they did that way back when, right? So, how can they know that the person they're having a kid with isn't their great great great—how many greats—grandchild or something? It's a bit disturbing, y'know?"

It appeared that Annabeth did. She has paused in throwing pebbles into the lake and straightened, glancing up at the cloudless sky, which thundered slightly. She looked over at him and Riker saw she'd turned a little green.

"Well," He snickered. "Incest is wincest, right?"

Her eye twitched, and Annabeth began throwing her pebbles over at him instead. "Ow! Ow! Okay—ow! Ouch, I was only joking—ow! Geez, Annie, I was kidding!"

She sat back and let her handful of rocks tumble down into the lake under her shoes. Riker straightened up when he saw her ammo disappear, and rolled his eyes. "Lighten up, Annie-girl. You need a sense of humor."

They sat there silently for a while, just looking down at the lake and seeing if they could spot any Naiads. After the thirteenth puckered pair of blue lips he got, Riker looked up when Annabeth let out a sigh.

"Most halfbloods don't survive long enough to make families," she told him softly, swinging her feet over the water. "Monsters and whatnot tend to get us before we can get that far. But it's happened. I've just never really thought of that before. It's kind of disgusting—well, it would be, if gods didn't have DNA."

"That's why Chiron lets the campers date each other?"

"Mh-hm—well, he doesn't need to give us permission. We just don't go out with any of our cabin-mates. That's a bit taboo—what's really incest, around here." Annabeth looked like she couldn't believe she was actually having a discussion about the topic. Riker chuckled and stood up, dusting off his cargo pants. He glanced at the sky. "It's almost seven, by the position of the sun. Half an hour before dinner is served." He turned and examined the girl still sitting on the dock with a skeptical eye. She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

He shrugged. "I'm gonna see if I can catch a shower. Guess I'll see you there, but don't expect me to talk to you, alright?"

And with that, he jogged off.

Ω Δ Σ

"Wait, you've been to Mount Olympus?" That's it. Riker was jealous.

Clarisse appeared smug, and Jesse snickered behind her. "Uh-huh. Field trip. All the counselors of the cabins got to go. Saw the throne room, sat in on a Council meeting and everything."

Riker's eyes gleamed with a strange, plotting light. "How do you get there?"

"Long Island Railroad. You get off at Penn Station, Empire Building—there's a special elevator to the six hundredth floor. You get a key card from the receptionist guy, and up you go," Jesse raised his hand to reference an elevator. "The entire mountain top is, like, floating above the top of the tower, but it's all hidden by Mist so the mortals can't see anything."

"Bitchin'," Riker nodded, enthralled. "I wanna go."

Clarisse shook her head. "Not right now, you don't. I think the Big Three—or at least Thunderwear and Mermaid Man—are fighting or something. See, right after we visited, the weather got weird. It always does that when they're having a go at each other—I mean, Zeus, god of the sky and stuff, and Poseidon, god of the sea and all that. Why wouldn't the weather get weird?" She huffed. "The mortals are calling it a series of freak storms. I'd call them idiots if I didn't know the Mist was messing with their eyes."

The three were sitting at the Ares table, spooning mountains of food onto their plates while talking. Luke and Annabeth and some other campers had tried, along with Chiron, to not-so-subtly—and then outright—tell him that sitting at another cabin's table wasn't allowed during meals—but Riker had ignored them; when they'd looked top Dionysus to order the demigod to the Hermes' table, he'd just raised an eyebrow at them and continued eating. Riker had grinned in victory and Clarisse and Jesse had hounded him for details on how his first meeting with Mr. D had gone, because 'the stuck up prick looked like he actually didn't hate him!'

He'd just smirked and took a sip from his goblet of root beer. Damn, that was good. Unlimited supply, too—cup just kept filling itself right back up before it was even close to empty. He loved it.

"We have no clue what happened, but I heard a couple of satyrs talking," Matt put in as he began to chewed thoughtfully on a leg of chicken. "They're shayin' smthing wsh shtolen."

Riker stuffed some food into his own mouth—he'd thrown a bit into the fire, but it was only to ask Ares if the god would allow him to stay in Cabin Five instead. Truly, he'd get lonely without his friends!

"Uh-huh." Jace gulped down his coke. "And, I heard, if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's gonna be big trouble."

"Maybe we could find out," Riker ignored the eyes of the rest of the curious campers at the other table, as well as the boring stares from Hermes' cabin. "I mean, Annie-girl and Chiron told me about the quest system. Maybe we could get one."

"You'd need to talk to the Oracle," Jesse told him, "I mean, if you're gonna be the quest leader, since you suggested it."

"And you'd need Chiron and Mr. D's permission, too." Clarisse added.

"I think they'll give it to me," Riker smirked. "After all. I have a name to clear."

Jace frowned. "What do you mean? Did you do something bad?"

"I've done plenty of less-than legal-stuff," Riker scoffed, and they all grinned, rolling their eyes, "but that's not what I meant. This time, I'm actually innocent."

They raised their eyebrows, and Riker threw his hands up in offense. "Hey! I am! But Chiron told me that Zeus and some others believe I was the 'thief.'"

"What?" Clarisse's eyes widened. "You mean, they think you stole whatever it was?"

"Guess so." Riker absentmindedly thumped Matt's back a few times to dislodge the bite of chicken he'd began to choke on. "I mean, that's what Chiron said. They might give me the quest themselves—at least, that's what I think Chiron is gonna do. He looked like he would. Not too sure if Mr. D would agree, but I don't really care what he thinks." He laughed out loud. "I mean, I beat the man at pinochle. He'll have to earn my respect back, if he'd ever had it in the first place."

"You?" Jesse gaped. "You beat Mr. D? At—at, pinochle?!"

"How?" Clarisse questioned. "He just doesn't lose. I mean, he's the god of that stuff! He's only lost to Chiron!"

Riker shrugged, taking a bite of some ribs. "I'm just that awesome." And they shook their heads in disbelief. Riker internally scoffed. He would show them.

But, later. He was hungry, dammit!

Luke walked over, then, having finished his own meal. He ignored the scathing looks from the children of Ares and glanced at Riker. "We found you a sleeping bag, and I stole you some supplies from he camp store."

"Nicest thing anyone's ever done for me," Riker nodded, and his surrounding friends snickered. Luke ignored them as well.

The blond only shook his head. "You still sure about sleeping on the roof?"

His friends stopped laughing and turned to stare at him. Riker nodded. "It doesn't even rain here." he said. "I don't see what you're all so worried about."

"Alright, then. Um," Luke hesitate,d then slide next to him on the bench and tried not to flinch at the murderous glares from the surrounding offspring from the god of War. Riker grinned at him cheekily. Ha! They liked him better. "First day here, was it good?"

"Mhm," Riker yawned, swirling the drink in his goblet around and around. He decided he was full and blinked. "Chocolate milk."

"Wha—" Luke started, confused, but he stopped talking when he saw it was been the cup Riker had addressed, not him. "Oh."

They all watched silently as Riker goblet vanished the root beer and filled itself with the aforementioned beverage. Riker took a long sip, before setting it down again. He turned back to the uncomfortable son of Hermes. "So?"

He shrugged. "Do you think you're dad will claim you?"

Riker raised a brow. "Eager to get rid of me, yeah?" He ignored Luke's hurried reassurance that it hadn't been what he'd meant, but the Jackson waved him off. "Nah. He will. I got this feeling. Don't know when—I just hope it's Ares."

"What if it isn't?"

"I guess it doesn't matter. I'm still punching him in the face."

Luke blanched, and the children of Ares gaped over at him. "What!?" Clarisse blinked. "Why would you do that?"

"He can be Zeus for all I care," Riker shrugged. "He still left my mom all alone and we ended up with that douche-bag, Gabe. Whoever he is, he deserves a knuckle sandwich from yours truly."

Luke examined him with a strange look on his face, and Riker blinked. "You're a son of Hermes, I heard he really gets around. Ever met your dad, Luke?"

The blond's face darkened slightly, to the point where Riker was sure only he'd noticed. It surprised him, slightly. Luke seemed like an easy-going guy. "Yeah," the counselor of Cabin Eleven leaned back. "Once."

Riker waited for him to go on, but it seemed Luke wished to remain quiet about the subject. He wondered if the story had anything to do with how the guy had gotten that awesome scar.

Luke gave strained smile. "Ah, don't worry about it, Riker.."

Riker shrugged, then returned to his food. The rest of his new children-of Ares-friends joined him. However, after a minute of absolute silence, Riker turned back to see Luke still hadn't gone away. He raised an eyebrow. "Do ya need something?"

"Annabeth's been following you, hasn't she?"

The question threw him a bit off, honestly, but Clarisse and the others leaned in, suddenly interested. "Chase has been stalking you?" Jesse asked, raising an eyebrow. They all glanced over at the Athena table. Annabeth had her nose buried in a thick tome on statues from Crete. She didn't look up. They returned ot their conversation.

"Yeah," Riker affirmed. "Creeped me out, but I received plenty of opportunities to tease her in compensation, so it's cool—somewhat. Why?"

Luke shrugged. "I just thought you might want to know why." He looked uneasy, glancing over at Chiron before looking down again. "I heard you guys talking about a quest... I hate prophecies." He winced, looking away.

Riker wondered what the topics had to do with each other, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Let's just say I messed things up for everyone else. The last two years, ever since my quest to the garden of Hesperides went sour, Chiron won't allow anyone to go on quests. Annabeth's been dying to go out there, see the world. She pestered Chiron so much, he finally told her that he already knew her fate—he'd heard a prophecy about it, from the Oracle. He didn't tell her the whole things, but he did say that she wasn't destined to go on a mission yet. She had to wait until... someone special, came along to lead it."

Riker blinked. "And... you think that's me?"

Luke let out a sigh, shaking his head. "Maybe. No. I don't know. Just don't worry about it, kid. Annabeth likes to think everyone new camper that comes around is the one she's been waiting for."

"Good," the Jackson snickered. "At least that's cleared up. I was beginning to think she believed I was her soul mate or something."

"That would have been messed up," Clarisse and Jesse said together, and the rest of them laughed—though, Luke only rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

He saw a flash of gold in his peripheral vision, and Riker turned just in time to see Annabeth rush out of the pavilion. Her face was beet red and she clutched the book to her chest tightly. She must have heard them. Luke saw too, and, with a short frown cast in their direction, he hopped off the bench and dashed after her.

Maybe Riker felt bad, if slightly, maybe he didn't. Truth was, he didn't care.

Or, the truth was, he did, and he just said he didn't.

It was easier to not care, anyway.

That was how Riker was.

He bent over his food again and continued to joke around with his new friends until Chiron stood to announce the end of the meal. He then cast a look to Mr. D, who rolled his eyes, but stood up. There wasn't that much of a height difference from when he was sitting down, but the mess hall grew silent anyways.

"Yes," the Wine god gave a self-suffering sigh. "I suppose I better say hello to you brats."

Riker snickered quietly and a few demigods could be heard grumbling to each other, but he only got a strange look from Matt as the camp director carried on.

"Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, has informed me that the next Capture the Flag is this Friday. Presently, Cabin Five hold the laurels."

Riker laughed, clapping Clarisse, Jace, Jesse, and Matt on their backs as they rose with their half-siblings and cheered loudly. They sat down and Clarisse and Jesse shared a grin with him. "You gonna be on our team?" Clarisse asked.

"Is that an invitation?" He whispered back while the other tables reluctantly clapped.

She smirked.

"Personally," Mr. D went on, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also," here, Riker saw a strange gleam entered the god's violet-tinted eyes, and the director smirked over at him, before switching to a playful sneer—that of course would have seemed as if the man really detested him if Riker hadn't been so observant. "We have a new camper today, I should tell you. Over there, at the Ares table—where, of course, he isn't suppose to be, but oh well—is one Riker Jackson. Say hello, minions."

Clarisse and Jesse, who sat on either side of him, immediately turned toward Riker and tackled him to the ground as the rest of the campers murmured a greeting—though, it wasn't like they could be heard over the raucous cheers from Cabin five.

As soon as they died down, some children of Athena glanced over between Riker and Mr. D curiously—they probably had noticed that the director treated him slightly different somehow, perhaps by actually getting his name right, but Riker ignored the looks as he stood and bowed with a smirk.

"That's right," Mr. D announced, quite boredly. "Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

After a round of Riker and the rest of the Ares cabin laughing and teasing the other campers as they sang stupid songs and joined in on the eating of s'mores, Riker found himself lying on the roof of the Hermes cabin, which was actually really comfortable. He could see the tendrils of the now dead camp fire over the amphitheater roll off into a starry sky. He didn't realize how tired he was until he pulled the borrowed sleeping bag around his shoulders. It wasn't that cold—warm enough for him to sleep outside in just his sweatpants, as he was now—but it was comforting to have the fabric around him. Like a shield. He wasn't one to fear the dark, he actually enjoyed it, but it was all the same. He liked feeling safe, too.

His fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn, and he closed his eyes—barely able to contain his excitement for that Friday, but too exhausted to keep them open.

That was his first day at Camp Half-Blood.

Maybe if he'd known how briefly he could enjoy the mere visit, then he would have planned a lot more pranks on a lot more people.

But, oh well. You couldn't have everything.

Sorry, this took a while to put up. Had a big project in English that we had three weeks to do but I started and finished last night XD I'm behind in math class and I'm actually suppose to be doing homework right now ^ ^' But lookie here, I sneaked onto the computer just so you guys could have more Riker. Don't you just feel loved?

Oh, here's a fun little thing to know: I just learned how to make Korean sushi form one of my new Asian friends—we've got tons of Asian exchange students at my new school, I feel so lucky XP I have three Japanese, Aya, Erina, and Moe; one Chinese, Yoyo; and a Korean named Chanhee.

Mwahaha. For an otaku like me, this is the best school year ever despite it being my first year of high school—and honestly, I expected it to be a lot more difficult and complicated.

And for those of you who complained about not being able to vote on the pairing pole, I apologize. However, I did announce it the chapter before in the AN, so it was only the matter of readers not reading the notes-which, unfortunately, happens a lot. Skipping over ANs-I admit, I do it too T-T Sorry! But I would appreciate it if you read them-these things-anyway ^-^

As for the pairing-I won't tell you. You'll probably be able to guess anyway. I'm thinking of having them interested in each other at first, try dating-like maybe how Percy and Rachel did but more meaningful-but call it off and pair Riker with Clarisse in the end anyway since I absolutely love that pairing XP Riker/Clarisse was second with the most votes anyhow, so it's not like I'm just raking it up there.

Anyway, make sure to REVIEW, please!

Thank you for reading ^-^

~Scylar X