๐ช๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐ (part one)
๐๐๐ถ๐๐พ๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ถ ๐
๐๐ ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐พ๐๐๐๐ถ ๐ต๐๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐ถ๐๐น
summary: little exposition for this ship, and Clarisse tries to train Silena in some sword fighting. They aren't dating Chris or Charles yet.
contains: fluff, swearing, NOT PROOFREAD
--โฎ โ ห๏ฝก โ๏ฝกยฐโฉ--
Clarisse grumbled to herself as the blaring hot sun beat down on her shoulders, her fingers digging into the roots of what felt like the millionth weed she'd pulled that afternoon. After one too many (just the right amount, she felt) run-ins with brand new kids in the Hermes cabin, Chiron felt the need to step in. He had changed the schedule so she would be in the strawberry fields this week as her chore, whereas she would typically be training campers in spear throwing or sword fighting.
She looked around at the Aphrodite campers who carried baskets lined with cotton, gossiping with each other and occasionally clipping a weed, shaking her head. Looking to her left, further down the strawberry fields some Demeter kids laughed and pulled the weeds from the ground while barely lifting a finger, having the time of their lives. Clarisse frowned extra hard as she assessed that she was severely out of place.
"Clarisse!" a cheerful voice yelled at Clarisse from a few rows over. Clarisse recognized her voice in an instant, frowning even harder than before, if that was even possible. Silena Beauregard.
"Clarisse!!" Silena's voice rang over the fields again, her arms waving, as if Clarisse could have missed her. Of course, she was pretending to ignore her.
Staring at the weed she was preoccupied with, a pair of pink converse stepped into Clarisse's eyeline, and a shadow covered the ground.
When Clarisse looked up, she met a towering Silena Beauregard, her hands on her hips, wearing a pout. "Clarisse! Are you ignoring me? Be honest."
"I'm just," Clarisse held up her pair of clippers and a thin smile. "Focused."
Silena didn't look satisfied with Clarisse's answer, but continued on anyway, "Well you need to be covering your hair. You're gonna burn your scalp. Here. I brought you this." Silena was holding a dark green scarf in her outstretched hand.
Clarisse tentatively took it, rubbing the soft fabric in her dirty fingers. Looking back up to Silena, she took in how her soft dark waves were covered in a white scarf, tied at the nape of her neck, creating a triangle against her hair.
"I brought you this colour because I feel like it matches your army aesthetic you've got going on." Silena said with complete seriousness.
Clarisse gestured with the scarf. "You know what, thanks Silena."
"Anytime." Silena nodded. "You have to be taking care of those curls and your skin now that it's sunny."
"Will do." Clarisse said, before Silena promptly skipped away, joining her giggling Aphrodite sisters the next few rows after. Clarisse's smile quickly dropped.
She didn't hate Silena or anything, but Silena found a way to get under her skin in so many different ways. She had kinda just always been there.
It hadn't been quick before Clarisse had been claimed by Ares, but there were a few days between her crest of Half Blood hill and her move in to the Ares cabin where she was a very angry kid in the overcrowded Hermes cabin. Silena had came up to her one afternoon, with a basket of welcome strawberries, and an eager smile. She had been sent by the head Aphrodite counsellor, a customary tradition of welcoming the Aphrodite cabin insisted on attempting when Clarisse was younger.
"Hi!-" Silena approached the Hermes porch while Clarisse was going up the steps, a huge smile on her face.
Clarisse quickly cut her off of whatever her next sentence was going to be, by whirling around and slashing the basket out of the girl's arms. "Leave me alone!"
Silena gasped, as the strawberries spilled everywhere in a mushy mess on the ground. She stepped forward, and said "Well...screw you!"
Silena picked up the wicker basket from off the ground, and promptly stepped away, but Clarisse had been watching her. Awe had crept onto her face, as she was surprised she had stood up to her. She didn't know much about the Aphrodite kids, and she didn't want to, but she had thought they were just supposed to be love-crazy kids who liked flowers or something. But this girl had matched her anger in a way she hadn't expected. Shaking her head, she had stepped inside the cabin.
After that, Clarisse had expected Silena to hate her. That's what she would have preferred anyway, she didn't need anyone to like her in this bizarre place. But the next day she was offering her sunscreen at the archery range and marshmallows at the campfire. Clarisse had been confused at first, but then it just started to bother her. Why couldn't this girl just get the hint?
"I'm Silena. By the way." she had shrugged as she sat next to Clarisse on the log she had been sitting on alone just moments before. "Marshmallow?"
Clarisse stared at the bag. She couldn't help but appreciate the flames flickering on the campfire, and took one. "I'm Clarisse." she said, to be polite.
When that first summer was over and everyone left to go 'home', Clarisse was stunned to find Silena was a year-round camper, just like her. Clarisse had been looking forward to having some peace and quiet when everyone left, she actually liked the idea of being a year-round camper. It meant she could go to the arena whenever she liked to work on target practice or scale the lava wall with no Hermes or Apollo campers not taking it seriously. However, her peace and quiet was always shattered when Silena would come and bother her, either by stomping into the Ares cabin with an insistence to do face masks or try to bond over some boy-band.
"I don't know what you're talking about Silena."
"Well, what kind of music do you listen to?"
"I don't know. Maybe rock, I guess."
"mhm. I don't really know any rock bands."
Silena would eventually leave, but after overstaying her welcome by at least an hour.
It continued that way for years. Silena just would not leave Clarisse alone. Whether it was trying to give her makeup tips, or asking stupid questions during a capture the flag game, or trying to fish out if she had a crush on any boys at camp (Clarisse never did).
Silena had a reason she wouldn't stop bothering her though. She was overtly friendly, but eventually, Clarisse found herself making her way over to the Aphrodite cabin during the winter months to drink hot chocolate or listen to music on Silena's secret CD player. It was never Clarisse's kind of music, but she liked trying it out.
Clarisse would never admit it, but Silena was her friend. Her constant nagging and questions bothered her, but she appreciated that someone cared about her.
Running her fingers over the green fabric, she attempted to tie the scarf in her hair the same way Silena had. She had made a mess of it, but her hair was covered now.
"Cute!" Silena yelled across the field.
Clarisse flashed an awkward smile at the giggling Aphrodite campers, before continuing to pull at the weeds beneath her.
--โฎ โ ห๏ฝก โ๏ฝกยฐโฉ--
"Come on pleaseeeee" Silena was in the doorway of the Ares cabin, talking to Clarisse through the cracked door. The dark green scarf from the few days ago was tied around Clarisse's neck.
"You had a free hour today, why didn't you just do it with Luke?" Clarisse asked. Despite it being dark and just thirty minutes until curfew, Silena was trying to convince her to go to the arena with her, to teach her some sword fighting. "It's not even my best skill."
"You know." Silena looked at her with bright eyes, trying to say something with them instead of words.
"No." Clarisse just looked at her, wishing she would just spit it out.
"He's too cute! How can I focus on sword fighting when-"
"I get it." Clarisse held up a hand. She didn't need to hear anymore about any of Silena's crushes.
"I'm just more comfortable with you." Silena pleaded, wearing a hopeful expression. "Come on, you're my friend."
"I'm not your friend." Clarisse responded with a straight face, before letting a smile break loose. Silena smiled too.
Clarisse rolled her eyes, but before she knew it they were headed down the hill and through the path in the trees, to the arena.
They both grabbed the wooden practice sword, Clarisse adopting a sword fighting stance. Silena tried too, but a few things were off.
Clarisse told her to make the changes, and they were ready to practice duel.
When they began, Clarisse had disarmed Silena within an instant.
"No fair." Silena pouted.
Clarisse chuckled, before saying; "I could teach you how to do that?"
"Okay." Silena breathed out. Her black waves were tied back into a ponytail, but she still looked perfect.
That was another thing that irked Clarisse out sometimes, is just how beautiful she was. She was a daughter of Aphrodite, but even then it seemed that the whole camp felt she was the most beautiful girl in cabin 10. When they got older, boys started to take note, and so did Silena. Even when they were picking strawberries the few days prior, the dirt under Silena's fingernails and in the lines of her palms looked nice at least.
It's not that Clarisse was jealous of her looks, she never paid much attention to the image that looked back at her from the mirror for that matter, but something had shifted one summer with the way the boys treated Silena and it gave her an icky feeling she was never able to place.
After Clarisse had taught her the move, Silena successfully disarmed Clarisse on the first try.
"Okay." Silena's shoulders sagged. "Come on, I know you let me win there."
"Okay, yeah I did." Clarisse admitted, shrugging. "But I just wanted you to get the feeling of actually doing it!"
Silena rolled her eyes. "Come on. Fight me for real, I actually want to learn." her tone had taken an air of seriousness that wasn't there before.
Clarisse was slightly taken aback. "Okay." she stared at her with wide eyes.
They assumed fighting stance once again. Silena made the first move, Clarisse easily parried her wooden blade. Clarisse made a slower than normal arc with her blade, and Silena surprisingly parried as well. Clarisse was still going easy on her, but not explicitly letting her win. They both looked surprised, and Clarisse cocked her head, impressed by Silena's okay swordsmanship.
They continued fighting, not going farther than a parry and deflect each time. Clarisse going easy, and Silena not knowing how to do much else.
"Come on! I can tell you're still going easy on me!" Silena was out of breath.
Clarisse saw an idea flash in Silena's eyes, and was ready for her spin. She was clearly trying to do some sort of move and try to pin the blade against Clarisse's neck. Probably something she had picked up and wanted to try out from when they watched The Princess Bride on one of the movie nights Chiron had put on during a long winter break. Clarisse was ready for her, and as she was spinning, she hooked her foot under her calf, got her on the ground, and hooked her hips on either side of Silena's, holding the wooden blade against her neck. Silena's blade slipped out of her hand and lay on the wood next to them.
They were both out of breathe, but Silena more so. Clarisse stared into her blue eyes, letting herself get lost in the impossibly blue pool of them for a moment.
Silena broke the silence by chuckling. "Okay, I am never trying to recreate something I saw on the TV ever again."
"Hey, it could have worked. I can teach you that move for real some time." Clarisse said.
"Yeah, but we better get back." Silena said, glancing at the dark sky.
They stared at each other for a beat, before Silena started chuckling again.
"You want to let me go?" Her eyes gestured to Clarisse's wooden blade, still pinned to her neck.
"Oh, shit, yeah, sorry." Clarisse leapt up, a rush of warmth spreading across her cheeks.
They both laid the swords against the rack, and began stepping up the steps, back towards the trees.
"Do you like this nail polish colour on me? I feel like it's too pink." Silena was trying to show Clarisse her fingernails in the dark light.
"Something can be too pink for you?" Clarisse jokingly wondered.
"Well, like, I don't know! Silena's voice echoed off the trees, as they made their ways back to their respective cabins.
Clarisse's face still felt warm, but neither of them were saying that what had just happened was weird. So it was normal right?
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Trust, there will be many more parts to come :)
