So here I am filling an Octachel prompt from Hugs6 :"They surprise each other with stuffed animals."
It's a little different than you planned, probably, but oh well.
Pairing: Octavian/Rachel
Octavian stared quizzically at the object sitting on his bed.
It was a large teddy bear, almost life size. His fingers itched for his knife, instinct wanting to slash through the fabric and reading cryptic messages in the displaced stuffing.
He almost did.
That is, until he read the note attached to its arm, scribbled in blue marker in loopy letters.
Happy unbirthday!
:)
Rachel
(P.S. don't gut it.)
(P.P.S. Seriously. It cost like a hundred bucks.)
(P.P.P.S Bet you can't go a day without slaughtering it.)
Well, now he wanted to.
Probably wouldn't help his reputation of being the Pillow Pet Zodiac Killer, a nickname the insufferable Percy Jackson had come up with.
Part of him wondered if this was sort of test set by Camp Half-Blood's resident Oracle.
Well, two could play at that game.
He would show Rachel that he could go at least a day without spilling a single tuft of stuffing.
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare!"
Rachel, who had been making small talk with Piper (both talking about the obnoxious Drew Tanaka), turned at the singsong call of her name to see Octavian striding towards her.
Well, trying to stride towards her. The giant teddy bear she had given him seemed to be difficult to carry.
"Octavian, what...?"
He came to a stop in front of her, holding the teddy bear at arm's length. "I have succeeded in passing your test!" he cried jubilantly, though it looked as though the teddy bear was talking to her.
"Test?" she echoed.
"You said in your letter you didn't think I could go a day without sacrificing this bear to the gods! Well, it has been a day, and the bear is still alive!" He paused. "As alive as it could be, I suppose. It is a stuffed animal, however."
"Oh," was all Rachel could say. She noticed Piper awkwardly edging away from the conversation.
"I now have a test for you!" Octavian handed her a haphazardly wrapped and lumpy package. Warily, she opened it, and found a stuffed rabbit inside, though it was completely white, and was holding a pack of fabric markers.
"What's this?" she asked.
"I found it specially for you and paid one of the horrid Stoll twins to smuggle it in," he said proudly. "I am confident you cannot go a week without drawing on it."
Oh...wow.
It was weird, but also sort of thoughtful, even if he had no idea he was being thoughtful.
"Wow...thanks, Octavian. I appreciate it," she said. "You didn't have to get me a thank-you gift."
"This bear was a gift?" his voice asked incredulously.
"Yeah... I don't know, I thought you'd like it. It was just something I got from the Amazons using my dad's credit card," she answered.
"...Oh." There was a silence before the bear shifted in Octavian's arms. "...Thank you, Rachel."
"Sure thing. Thanks for this."
"Goodbye, Rachel."
And with that, Octavian turned and stumbled back to the Apollo cabin.
Several weeks later, the rabbit remained uncolored, though Rachel itched to decorate the blankness.
The large teddy bear also remained untouched, without a single ripped seam.
It was as if their bet was ongoing.
Or perhaps it was a sign of respect, or admiration.
Only the gods would've known for sure, and even then...
Maybe not.
Review, please!
Come on, guys, any prompts?