Sorry for not posting in such a long time! Love you all! Enjoy!~M
"But the story can't just end there, because they aren't sixteen, and I know something was up last summer. I may be new, but I'm not stupid," Taylor crossed her thin arms across her skinny chest, suddenly aware of all the eyes on her. She knew she was still young, but there was an aura around her that demanded to be recognized, almost as if she commanded power. Her dark hair contrasted with her pale skin sharply, giving her a look of sinister scheming, even when she was planning a princess party. Her skin was so different from everyone else here, with their deep tans and scars from years of living. Even people who were clearly not fighters had skin that seemed to glow; she assumed it was something in the water. She raised her larger than average eyes to meet those of Travis, never letting his brown eyes break contact with hers.
"It's time to take showers before dinner. We can tell the rest of the story at the campfire. Gosh, you are demanding for one so little." A mischievous smile came flashing onto his face and he picked up her almost 60-pounds-if-I-lie body and threw it over his shoulder, running to the cabin, hooting and hollering.
"Put me down!" Taylor yelled, shrieking with laughter as he poked her in the stomach as he ran.
"You sure about that, little one?" He asked, and while she couldn't see his eyes, she knew they had a devious fire in them. She giggled, feeling his boney shoulder pushing on her stomach. She'd never had an older brother or a cousin or really anyone who cared about her before, but she always imagined this was how brothers were supposed to be.
"Yes! Let me go!" She yelled back, seeing the smiles from other campers, like Travis acted this friendly with everyone, and she assumed this was the case. If you think about it, everyone at this camp is in the same boat, so they must be pretty close.
"Ok!" He yelled as he stopped suddenly and she was briefly in the air. In retrospect she realized he had let her continue forward off his shoulder for a moment before his brother grabbed her softly and set her back on the ground, casually brushing invisible dust off her shoulder nonchalantly. She laughed, a crystal clear sound that seemed to make the whole world sharpen in focus, sending rainbows shining off her teeth.
"So you never had family that was too cool before, eh?" Connor asked, keeping a protective hand on her shoulder as they walked the last 20 yards back to the cabin. He felt more like family than her own father did, but she had only known him for almost a day. There was something timeless about this place, like the trees that towered around them had been there for centuries and would remain there for even longer. It made her feel more solid, like she was no longer melting into a world she didn't understand. Now she knew people and history and she was one with the world.
"Nah, my dad never recognized that I was special until I accidentally blew up the locker room at school. They were mean." She defended herself after he raised his eyebrows in shock. He nodded understandingly, and she knew she would never be alone telling weird stories here. They all were a mixed bag of screwy family and circumstance. I guess when you think about it, we're all just responding to what's around us; take that away and who are we?
"My dad ignored me, threw himself into work, hired a sitter, or didn't. I was just some kid that he got stuck with, which I guess if you think about it, I kinda am." Her hair fell into her face, but Connor just pulled her shoulder against his side, like a half hug. She assumed he wasn't quite as huggy as his twin.
"You aren't stuck with anyone. You are where you choose to be." He smiled down at her, and her eyes lit up again, pulling her out of her small, sad past.
"Go take a shower, Taylor. I'll meet you back at the cabin after we're both clean and ready for dinner." He gave her a gentle shove in the general direction of the wash houses in the middle of the camp. She was jealous for an instant because he had his own shower, but took it right back. The counselors only got those privileges because they had sacrificed so much. She knew that the majority of them had fought in the Giant and Titan wars, but their smiled and actions never betrayed whatever darker events may taint them.
"So explain it again,"
"I really don't get why it's so hard to understand, and regardless, you're the smart one, figure it out," Percy shot back, his green eyes full of light. They were sitting in the middle of the woods, high up on the top of a boulder that they'd climbed. The position didn't look comfortable, but for a couple that had survived Tartarus, it must have not been too bad. Percy sat with his back leaning on a massive tree that grew up the side of the boulder with Annabeth facing him on his lap. Their faces were very close together, hands intertwined, smiles that could fix the world on display only for one another.
"I still don't get why anyone likes us, like worship likes. People like us because we're totally awesome, but why would anybody worship us. I mean, we've fought in two wars, but so have tons of people, and nobody watches them. Yesterday, this kid was watching me brush my teeth. BRUSH MY TEETH! Who does that?!" Her hands waved around her face, her eyes wide with disbelief. Percy smiled and ran an uncomfortable hand through his hair. He'd done the same thing to Luke once (only once) when he was a first year.
"Really, it's not all that bad Annabeth. Just pretend that you're Beyoncé. That's what I do." He made a duck face and winked at her.
Annabeth laughed, throwing her head back. Percy smiled like he couldn't actually stop.
"All the single ladies indeed," Annabeth commented, raising an eyebrow. Percy made a mock offended face and poked her in the ribs.
"That was a really long way to go for a break up joke," Annabeth smiled, glad he'd caught her drift.
"Thank goodness I can make break up jokes again, because I have a multitude. I also have blonde jokes for your pleasure," Percy gave her a suggestive smile, but then backtracked seeing her incredulous face.
"I also have numerous nice pickup lines and compliments for you, darling," He said in a nasally voice, barely keeping the shake out of the last few worlds.
Annabeth laughed. "Thank you, love" She replied in an equally nasally voice.
Percy reluctantly looked at his watch, like he wouldn't mind missing dinner if he got to sit alone in the woods with Annabeth and make her smile. To be honest, he would prefer it, but he knew that tomorrow was capture the flag, and that required diplomacy, and general playing nice with the others, something he didn't excel at.
"It's like 5:45. How much do you want to be on time to dinner?" He said, tilting his head to the side and moving closer to her lips, so when she answered their lips brushed.
"I kinda need to go, diplomacy among the campers and everything. And you know people will talk if we don't show." She pulled back a bit, but he followed, pulling her into him by her waist.
"Let them," he whispered, kissing her properly, for the last time before helping her up.
"Fine, I guess we should go," He smiled mischievously.
"Wha-"But Annabeth never got to finish that accusation because Percy acted quicker.
He picked her up under her knees and behind her back and threw them off the top of the 20 foot boulder, flipping head over heels, cackling.
His sneaker clad feet made indents in the ground when they hit, a full ten feet from the rock.
"Ta da," he said with a dramatic bow after he'd put her on the ground. He looked up dramatically, a hand to his forehead.
"Forsooth, doth the lady hath a fear of thine heights? I doth say that thine smile doth betray thou, my lady," He smiled. Annabeth just shook her head.
"That was terrible," but she still took his hand and pulled him out of the woods. By the time they'd arrived at the dining pavilion, Percy had received uncountable numbers of kisses for saying stupid things. And absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary about that. Thank the gods.
A/N: This is becoming a regular thing, but Sorry for not posting for so long, I literally have no ideas, so you shall suffer through more fluff! Ha! I did actually laugh out loud, and now my lovely sister thinks I'm bonkers (as if she needed more proof) but anyway. Thank you all so much for reading! And don't forget to leave me a review! No te olvides! A bit of Spanish for you cool kids. But if you review I'll send you a nice PM with a thank you and a bit of random info about my life. Muchas Gracias my Lovelies!~M