[deerington] au threads; chb

[laruetheday]

[ Easiest way to get to Camp Half-Blood is via the city, so that's the way they go. A taxi ride from Queens to Long Island, then a short walk, and they crest a hill, and there's the camp. It's still strange, for Clarisse, after all these years to go from one of the most crowded cities on earth to the rolling hills and valleys of the camp. She can't imagine what it must be like for someone who's literally never been here before.

The first indication that this isn't a normal summer camp is the copper-colored dragon. It lies sleeping, curled around a large pine tree at the top of the hill, smoke rising lazily from its nostrils, and as Clarisse approaches, it opens one sleepy yellow eye and stares at her, and then at her companion. ]

Hi. It's just me. [ Smiling, she gives the dragon a little nudge with one hand as she passes by, and it settles back into its doze. On the other side of the hill, down in the valley, is a large farmhouse. Beyond it, what looks like various buildings designed with Greek architecture in mind, including a circular ampitheater. There's a lake, endless strawberry fields, and in the distance, the ocean—but there's also a climbing wall with what looks like real lava pouring down one side, and what looks like a real, working forge.

Clarisse shifts from one foot to another, seemingly not sure where to go from here. ]

So, [ she says after a moment. Awkward. ] This is it.

Comments

[armd]

(in one word: it's overwhelming. the city is absolutely insane to abby. she's used to the bustle of the stadium but this is activity on an unfathomable scale to her. there are so many people, all walking around and talking to each other, going about their business completely devoid of any caution. there's nothing threatening them, or their way of life, they just... are, unapologetically. she spends most of the taxi ride with her face up to the window, drinking it all in as they wind their way out toward the countryside.

the camp is a little more her speed, though she's definitely not expecting the dragon either. when they stop in front of it and abby realises that it isn't a statue because it's breathing, she grabs clarisse by the back of her shirt in alarm, tugging her away– but there's nothing to be worried about. clarisse even touches it on the way past. abby doesn't. she's decided she's not about to push anything, not when she's so out of her depth.

clarisse won't let anything bad happen to her though. and eventually they make it down toward a cluster of buildings, with a view. there's so many things to look at that abby doesn't know where they should go, or what she wants to see.

lev would fucking love it here. it's the first thing that occurs to her.)

It's crazy. (she says, awed. she'd turn to look at clarisse if she wasn't too busy trying to look at everything else on offer. abby wasn't expecting this, she had some notion of... tents, maybe?? or old, wooden log cabins, weathered and dark. nothing so elaborate as a fucking amphitheater. she's kind of delighted by it all.) Where's your cabin?

[laruetheday]

[ Clarisse grins, pleased that Abby likes the camp, like she had anything to do with it. They start down the hill, past the Big House and the volleyball court and the first strawberry field, where there's a satyr playing what sounds like Call Me Maybe on a reed pipe to encourage the crop. ]

You get used to it, [ Clarisse says, probably referring to the existence of satyrs but also maybe to the reed pipe cover of Carly Rae Jepsen's biggest hit. Who knows. ] The cabins are this way.

[ They walk up a winding path past the forge and the armory, and there are the cabins: twenty of them set in the shape of an omega, and a large green commons area in the center dotted with fountains, statues, and basketball court. The cabins are all... kind of weird. Each one is clearly devoted to a particular god or goddess, and Camp Half-Blood really goes hard. For instance, the Apollo cabin is straight up glowing, and the Hades cabin has no windows and is made of solid obsidian. (Typical.) The only one that actually looks like it belongs at a regular summer camp is the Hermes cabin, but even that has a big caduceus over the door.

Clarisse stops in front of cabin five, which has an aggressive red paint job, a stuffed boar's head posted over the door, and barbed wire lining the roof. ]

This is it. Watch for the land mines.

[armd]

Right. (abby simply assumes that she's talking about the satyrs, though i did just frantically google carly rae jepsen and call me maybe was released in 2012 so it does exist in the the last of universe. thank god. they didn't get emotion though, which is a genuine tragedy, unless crj survived outbreak day... she is good with a sword

naturally abby wants to stop at the forge properly and look inside, ditto the armory.) Hey, wait a second– (she tries to grab the back of clarisse's shirt to stop her from walking ahead any further but she isn't actually looking in her direction, so she misses completely.) Cla-risse, (she whines, but clarisse has already moved on without her, so abby has to reluctantly jog away to keep up. she did ask to go to the cabins... she just didn't realise there was going to be so much cool shit to look at on the way there.

even the other cabins keep drawing her eye. she wonders what cabin she'd be in if she were here, and then she dismisses that, because obviously she wants to be with clarisse. in the ares cabin.

which is... ostentatiously ares' cabin, alright.)

At least it's on theme. (landmines and all. doesn't even need to ask if clarisse is joking. abby is twisting the handle, and pushing the door open with some trepidation.) How many people live in here?

[laruetheday]

There were about twenty when I left, but the summer session hasn't started yet, so it's probably not very full right now.

[ Clarisse swings the door open, eager and apprehensive, and steps in. It's only been six months since she left for school, in this universe, but for her it's been a lot longer. She doesn't think any place will ever feel as much like home to her as the Ares cabin did for the seven years she spent there, and she's a little worried it won't look like she remembered it, but it's largely the same as it was when she left. The punching bag is in the corner and the CD player with the collection of rock and metal CDs they've built up over the years is next to it, and there's a table that's ostensibly for playing cards but really just so they can arm wrestle or play bloody knuckles or five finger fillet. On the far wall, names have been carved into the wood, the letters jagged and etched with a knife blade—an Ares tradition when new campers get initiated. There are lots of names, the oldest ones faded with age, and many have a single line scratched through them.

The beds are set up like they would be in a barracks, singles with trunks or duffel bags for the campers' belongings set at the end. There's a somewhat disjointed feeling to the decor, with posters and polaroids stuck to the walls next to spears and swords, and there are various pieces of armor set out, helmets and greaves poking out from under beds or leaned up against them. Like she'd figured, though, a lot of the beds seem to be unused right now. ]

It's not... like... fancy or anything. [ She lifts a hand and then drops it back to her side. ] But this is it.

[armd]

It's cool. (as if abby was expecting it to be fancy... it's summer camp, it's where kids go to fuck around for a couple months a year, right? she likes the slightly feral touches to the place anyway, the punching bag and the random posters and polaroids strewn over the walls, the names carved haphazardly into the wood. she's stepping across the floor now to go and look at them because she wants to find clarisse's name, and once she's picked it out she reached up to trace it with her index finger, scratching at the rough edges.)

It looks like you. (not– the name on the wall. she glances over her shoulder, dropping her arm.) The whole cabin, I mean. Is everybody in here the same age?

(abby's lived in barracks before. she was in them at the stadium before she climbed ranks enough to get herself into a six bed, then a four, finally a two. they can really suck sometimes.)

[laruetheday]

[ Clarisse is shaking her head as she walks to the back wall. ]

Kids show up between ten and thirteen, usually, and stay until they either age out or get killed, so there's always a mix. Ares cabin tends to skew younger than some, though. Oldest is head counselor, and I got the job by the time I was thirteen. [ She pulls on a claymore mounted to the wall and grins when a rope ladder drops down from a loft area above. ]

Come check this out. This is where I used to sleep. [ She starts up the ladder. Because, duh, no head Ares counselor worth anything sleeps in the same room as the grunts. That would just be humiliating. ]

[armd]

Oh, you're head counselor huh. (abby's shaking her head even as her attention is immediately drawn toward the sudden appearance of the rope ladder,) Those poor kids.

(clarisse undoubtedly would have been a very... interesting camp leader, that's for sure. talk about a power trip. she's grinning ruefully as she grabs hold of the swinging end of the rope ladder and gives it a good shake while clarisse is still climbing up the last bit of it. just to give her a hard time, before she hauls herself up it after her.)

This place is fucking huge. (all of it, the cabin, the grounds, the whole goddamn area.)

[laruetheday]

Wait til you see the arena and the woods. [ Fun stuff, Abby! Clarisse pauses midway up the ladder to roll her eyes—she's climbed up this thing while it was on fire, so a little shaking isn't going to throw her off. Then she's up and over the side, waiting for Abby to follow. ] And former head counselor. Gave up the job when I left for college.

[ Now it's her brother Sherman's job to boss the other Ares kids around and play general whenever the camp is being attacked by, like, titans or Mother Earth or whatever nonsense Apollo is up to these days. Her brother Sherman who is sprawled across what used to be her bed, tucked deep back in the loft, dead asleep in the middle of the afternoon. Also, he's taken down all her Metallica and System of a Down stuff (!!!) and put a Babymetal poster (!!!!!!!) on the wall directly over the bed. ]

What the fuck...

[armd]

Oh good, so I don't actually have to listen to anything you say? Got it.

(she won't be too mean to clarisse though... she wants to see the arena, and the woods. and the armoury, she's still thinking about that. and there's the whole thread of college, too. abby's dad went to college. that was something that a lot of people did in the old world. she supposes they have a version of it now, because people still decide to become doctors, or teachers, or scientists, that kind of thing. it's less official, that's all. you don't get a mug and a ring and a piece of paper any more.

she's got her mouth open to ask clarisse about college, but clarisse interrupts her instead with indignance, directly toward a kid lying sprawled out on a bed. whoops. they were talking pretty loud before, it's a good thing they didn't wake him up.)

Are– people supposed to be up here, right now? (maybe he felt sick or something.)

[laruetheday]

Gods, you're so lazy, [ Clarisse says, kicking at the bedframe hard enough to rattle it. If Abby's glad their talking hadn't woken the boy up, Clarisse doesn't seem to share the same consideration.

The boy jolts into a sitting position, already snarling and ready for a fight even half-asleep. He's maybe sixteen or seventeen, tall and muscular with a scowl very similar to Clarisse's, though that's where any physical similarity ends. "What the fuck is your problem, Clarisse?" he's grumbling, still getting his bearings, and then: "What are you even doing here? Couldn't hack it in the real world? I'm not giving up head counselor."

Clarisse rolls her eyes. ] Just here for a visit. Abby, this is my little brother, Sherman. The laziest one.

[ "Hey, what up, she's a liar," he says, casually extending a hand in Abby's direction. "Sherman Yang, head Ares counselor." ]

[armd]

Little brother, huh. (clarisse he's huge. abby shakes his hand with interest, her wariness over waking him erased completely by their back-and-forth. clarisse acts toward a younger sibling exactly the way that abby would expect her to, and there's something reassuring about that.)

Good to meet you. I don't have a fancy title. (isaac wasn't into that kind of thing, and 'top scar killer'... she's keeping that one to herself, thanks. it would be weird to have to explain all of that here.)

Which one was yours? (the whole place is pretty decorated... it's interesting, abby kinda like the opportunity to snoop.)

[littlelesshelpless]

[Bella spends a good chunk of the ride over trying to figure out her backstory. She's torn between Artemis ("cause I'm pale??? Like the moon??") and Hecate ("I don't know, she seems cool??") and as for how she ended up chilling with a daughter of Ares...well, she doesn't have a good backstory, okay? She's hoping that Clarisse's reputation will keep most people from prying.

Still, the actual camp is...shockingly camp-y. Bella only went to summer camp once (for less than a day, because she fell off the dock, almost drowned, then stepped in an ant's nest, then got a splinter that became infected and her mom had to come get her) but it's a pretty standard image. Rolling fields, nature, farmhouse, climbing wall with...lava....and a dragon.]

Is that a real dragon?

[laruetheday]

[ And Clarisse spends most of it trying to coax Bella off whatever metaphorical fake-background-related ledge she's on, starting off with "Artemis swore she would be a virgin forever, babe" and then shaking her head re: Hecate, who's at least a possibility as godly parents go. Problem is, she has kids who are already living at camp, and if Bella says she's one of them, she's gonna have to go sleep in their cabin and eat meals with them and will basically never see Clarisse. Also, would a god or goddess smite a person if they claimed to be one of their kids but they weren't? Better not to risk it. ]

We're just going to say you're my girlfriend [ which is true ] from college [ not true, but at least Bella is from Arizona ] and I invited you here. It's allowed. [ Just not common. ] Also, yeah, this is Peleus. He guards the entrance. Don't you, buddy? [ Clarisse gives him another pat, sort of similar to the way someone would thump a very large dog. ]

You can pet him if you want.

[littlelesshelpless]

["I could be an immaculate conception," is Bella's very serious argument, but she eventually agrees that the simplest fib is probably the best one. She'll have to make up an elaborate, dramatic backstory for her own benefit later.

But for now, there's a dragon! A big, thumpable, pettable dragon. Bella crouches down to sit on her heels, carefully reaching out and petting the dragon along his neck.] He's so cool. How does he know who to let by?

[laruetheday]

He seems to be able to sense who's an ally and who isn't.

[ Maybe Chiron trained him? Or he has some kind of special instructions from one of the gods? Like most things Greek, Clarisse has learned not to question it too much. She gives Peleus one more pet, then reaches for Bella's hand. ] Where do you want to go first?

[littlelesshelpless]

That's a useful talent.

[Bella, of course, is super curious about the hows and whys, but she's sufficiently distracted by the hand-holding, lacing their fingers together and thinking seriously.] I want...to go to your favorite place. Wherever that is.

[laruetheday]

Sure is.

[ Clarisse starts heading down the hill, toward the Big House, going slow so Bella can take everything in as they walk. Once they get down into the valley, it's easier to pick out specific details about the goings on. There are kids in Greek armor climbing on the lava wall, and others sitting around in orange camp shirts, hanging out. There are also satyrs playing reed pipes to get the strawberries to grow faster, and nymphs darting in and out of the trees.

Clarisse's favorite places here are the climbing wall and the arena, but she doesn't think it would be a great place to start Bella off. She cuts a right past the Big House and cuts across the grass near the volleyball court, waving idly at the teenagers playing there, and they continue on until they come to the canoe lake. It's empty of campers, right now, and very peaceful. A dock cuts into the water, and once they step onto it, they're able to see what look like teenage girls in jeans and t-shirts at the bottom of the lake, sitting and talking as tiny fish swim through their hair. One looks up and waves at Bella, smiling. ]

Naiads. [ Clarisse rolls her eyes, smiling. ] They love to flirt.

[littlelesshelpless]

[It's only Clarisse's close-by presence that keeps Bella from wandering right into the lava wall and/or the volleyball game. Part of that is her natural clumsiness (of course), but the other is how she's just gaping at everything. It's like a combination of a summer camp from a movie and all the mythology books she's ever read. It's both incongruous and absolutely amazing.

Going to the dock is a good idea -- it's quieter, and Bella's awkward anxiety abates a little as she looks out at the water, very nearly wandering off into the water as she does. Clarisse's voice brings her back and she crouches down to sit on her heels, staring down at the figures.]

...wow. Are they campers too? Or are they just...benefitting from modern fashion?

[possessum]

( Thankfully, Peter had been too shocked by the dragon to scream about it. He almost had, but he'd managed to not, just falling over his own feet instead, ending up scraping the fuck out of his arm on a tree trunk. Now his blood stains the forests of Camp Half-Blood.

He's holding the wounded spot with his opposite hand, the material of his shirt sleeve ripped wide open. He hasn't even made it into the camp yet and he's gotten a battle wound.

Of course, he's been a nervous wreck the whole ride over anyway; it's not like this energy is anything new for him. He's stayed pretty much attached to Clarisse's hip through the impossibly crowded streets of New York (we're sure not in Utah anymore, Toto), and now he slides closer to his friend again, his shoulder bumping against hers as his eyes scan the area anxiously. He also really has to pee after the taxi ride and it's making him even more anxious. )

Wait, what if one of the gods can tell I'm not a real demigod and they kill me?

( He just now thought of that. And considering all the Awful Shit he's heard from Clarisse about what gods are capable of..... he might be in danger. )

[laruetheday]

[ Clarisse is watching him with an expression typical for interactions with Peter, full of affection but also totally exasperated. She has to admit that he does have a point, though. Joking about claiming him as a demigod son of, like, Hypnos or something had been funny back in Deerington, but if they tried to go through with it here, the chances are high that one or more of the gods would be offended and come after them. They won't necessarily end up dead, but maybe they'd be stuck living the rest of their lives as cacti or sheep or something. Either way, not something she wants to experience. ]

We'll just say you're my boyfriend from college. [ Or, if that's gonna make Peter have an aneurysm: ] Or just a friend. I'm allowed to bring mortals here if I want to. It just doesn't happen much. [ Which is why saying he's her boyfriend would probably be the less weird option. ]

[possessum]

( Is he going to have to pretend to be a demigod? Can he... do that? (Probably not). Peter's.... not exactly the best liar, not because he has any kind of real moral parameters, but just because he's so.... anxious. He'd probably give it away due to having a panic attack the second he had to talk about his demigod life and whatnot.

Clarisse's idea, however.... sounds a lot less daunting and less potentially life-threatening (or, getting turned into some weird inanimate object-threatening). His brows lift, like he's seriously considering this plan. )

We could do that.... yeah.... Yeah. I can be the boyfriend from college. Are your friends gonna like, want to know all the details? Like how we met or whatever?

( He's.... actually fine with this?? Just call him Bae.... )

[laruetheday]

[ Clarisse glances upward, thinking, and then admits, ] Probably not.

[ Look, the Ares cabin doesn't give a shit about meetcutes, everybody else will probably be too scared to ask for specific details, and the one cabin full of kids who'd want to know everything (Aphrodite) aren't exactly Clarisse's biggest fan. They'll definitely watch them walk by and then gossip about it after the two of them leave, though. ]

We can just say we met at— [ She's about to say "the gym" but then she takes a good look at Peter and decides on, ] in class.

[ She takes him by the arm and starts heading down the hill, dragging Peter along beside her. ] Okay. Where to first, boyfriend?