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Clarisse decided she really didn’t like the Romans. Sure, some of them were tolerable, individually. Jason was fine, she supposed, and she held a healthy, grudging respect for Reyna. Hazel was sweet enough, and seemed to make Nico happy, which was a tick next to her name in Clarisse’s book.
Frank though. Her supposed half brother. Clarisse rolled her eyes internally. What a wet blanket. Clarisse had met a lot of wimps in her life, but she’d never met a son of Ares - Mars, whatever - who seemed scared of his parentage. Honestly, it was like the kid didn’t even enjoy a good war.
Clarisse didn’t care much for the other Romans either, the ones who trained within the Legion. As part of the cultural exchange between the camps following the defeat of Gaia, Clarisse had been asked to lead some fighting classes for the demigods, in order to expose them to new fighting styles, in obvious deference to her superior ability.
But gods, did the Romans fight stupidly. First of all, their weapons were stupid. Gold, really? Clarisse was no scientist, but even she knew that gold was soft, and even mortals didn’t use it in weaponry. It must have some godly properties, she supposed, but it was obvious that celestial bronze was the clear winner between the two metals. Secondly, their regimented and strict style of fighting, while visually impressive, was completely impractical, Clarisse thought.
Perhaps when fighting an army of similar size and ability, shield formations and strict orders were helpful, but the modern demigod needed different skills. Clarisse had never had to fight an enemy army of demigods, but she had had to fight monsters, titans, and on occasion, gods. Adversaries like that required adaptability, unpredictability, and most importantly, the ability to hold your own by yourself if required. There were some impressive soldiers in the Legion, even Clarisse had to admit that, but in her opinion, most of them were a long way off being able to survive by themselves in the outside world.
But, they didn’t have to, she remembered. They had a nice, cushy little city to live in after they had served the Legion, and she was willing to bet none of the demigods in New Rome had ever done an honest day’s work slashing through hordes of monsters sent by whichever god you had unwittingly managed to piss off.
Suffice to say, Clarisse was not in the best of moods when she finished training for the day, and only the pull of fresh coffee from one of the little shops in the city had her willing enough to give up her weapons to that idiotic statue god.
“Welcome to Moonbucks!” Greeted a warm, melodic voice from behind the counter. “It’s like Starbucks, except we pay taxes and our patron god is Diana. What can I get started for you today?”
Clarisse blinked a couple of times at the friendly barista. She…well, she was beautiful. She was a little bit shorter than Clarisse, with pretty blue eyes, and long, dark hair that fell in perfectly styled curls, loose and bouncy. She flicked her hair over her shoulder as she spoke, and Clarisse watched her long fingers brush through her perfect tresses.
Clarisse didn’t care about her appearance, but, she had to admit, she knew she’d never had the right features anyway. She wasn’t slim and dainty like other girls, and her hair would never be long and luxurious, so she didn’t try, and tended to look down on girls who did.
Clarisse realised she’d been staring, and rushed to get her coffee order out, a simple americano, and the girl smiled at her as she wrote on a paper cup.
“What’s your name?” She asked, and Clarisse furrowed her brows in confusion. “For your order,” the girl clarified, with a self deprecating smile. “Sorry.”
“Oh,” said Clarisse. “Right. Clarisse.”
The girl gave her a look from underneath long, dark lashes, and smiled. “That’s a pretty name,” she said, inking the letters onto the cup with great care.
Clarisse felt her face go warm.
“Thanks,” she said, slightly awkwardly.
“My name is Silena,” she continued.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Silena,” Clarisse said.
“Likewise, Clarisse.”
Clarisse liked the way Silena said her name. She said it slowly, with intent, and it made Clarisse feel nervous, for some reason.
“Your coffee will be a couple of minutes,” Silena said, handing the cup to her coworker.
“Thanks,” Clarisse said, reaching into her pocket to grab her money to pay. She started to hand over a few gold drachmas before she caught herself. “Wait, sorry,” she said, slightly flustered, as she pulled out a handful of denarii.
“That’s okay,” Silena said, smiling. “You’re a Greek demigod, then?”
“Yeah,” Clarisse said, watching her warily for a negative reaction. A lot of Romans still didn’t really like the Greeks, especially not the ones who came into their camp to teach them how to fight. Even though they needed it.
“That’s cool,” Silena said. “I think it’s a good idea for the camps to come together. So what brings you to New Rome?”
“I’m teaching classes on Greek fighting,” Clarisse said, fighting the urge to boast. She wasn’t one to stereotype, but she couldn’t imagine the pretty girl in front of her to have much interest in fighting. But then again, she had been wrong before. That Drew kid from back home was plenty beautiful, but Clarisse really didn’t want to get on her bad side.
“Oh wow!” Silena said, leaning over the counter and propping her head on her hand, staring up at Clarisse with admiring eyes. “You must be really good then!”
Clarisse found it unsettling how much of an impact Silena’s words had on her. She had to fight the urge to smile like a loon, and she found it hard to meet the other girl’s adoring eyes.
“I’m not bad,” Clarisse mumbled.
Silena reached out a hand to squeeze at Clarisse’s bicep, giggling slightly. “You must be so strong!” She gushed, batting her eyelids.
Clarisse’s eyes widened. Was Silena…flirting with her? Clarisse felt her face go red, and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling, though she still looked away nervously.
“Uh, thanks,” Clarisse said, flustered. Silena seemed to notice her nerves, and smiled.
“I wish I was good at fighting,” Silena sighed. “It just doesn’t suit me. I’m such a stereotype.” She smiled ruefully, and looked up at Clarisse slyly through her lashes. “Maybe you could teach me?”
“I-sure, I’d be happy to,” Clarisse said. She wasn’t used to being this flustered. Rather than feel unsure and wrong-footed, however, she felt giddy. Silena was having an unusual effect on her. “Stereotype? Do baristas not go to war in New Rome then?”
Silena laughed.
“We do, I’m just not very good. Child of Venus,” Silena said, rolling her eyes. “We’re more suited to personal warfare. Espionage, honeytraps, the like. Not exactly useful against monsters.”
Clarisse chuckled, though it was half hearted. A daughter of Venus. That explained it. Silena wasn’t paying particular attention to her, and Clarisse wasn’t reacting stupidly. Ares and Aphrodite kids were naturally drawn to each other, that was all. It had to be the same for the Roman aspects as well. Clarisse wasn’t special. Silena probably flirted with everyone. Especially the Mars kids.
“You must be the daughter of a war god, right?” Silena asked. “I’m getting that vibe off you.”
“What, a scary, brutish vibe?” Clarisse scowled. Silena blinked.
“No,” she said. “You feel powerful. Like, really powerful. Chaotic, yes, but in a good way. I like it.”
“Oh,” Clarisse said. She was used to being intimidating, of people disliking her immediately, of her attitude putting people off. She wasn’t used to pretty girls taking an immediate liking to her, not despite her off-putting aura, but because of it.
“Here’s your coffee,” Silena said, handing the cup to her. Clarisse took it from her, and tried not to let it show on her face when their fingers brushed. Silena had very soft skin.
“Thank you,” Clarisse said.
“I’ll see you around?” Silena said hopefully. Clarisse smiled.
“Sure,” she said.
She turned and left, still unsure just where she stood with the pretty barista. Silena probably acted that way with everyone, right?
Clarisse lifted her cup to take a sip, when something caught her eye.
She lowered her cup again.
Silena had inked her name on the cup with delicate care, in elegant, loopy handwriting. She had doodled a heart in lieu of the dot on the ‘i’ in Clarisse’s name, and underneath, was written a phone number.
Clarisse couldn’t help the dumb grin that spread across her face, and she was just glad for small mercies that no one was around to see it.
Later that day, Clarisse was sat on top of the Pluto shrine with Nico di Angelo. She was still fiddling with the empty coffee cup, having drank its contents hours ago.
“Either text her or throw the cup away,” Nico grumbled, prodding her arm.
If it had been anyone else, Clarisse probably would have punched them. She would deny it if anyone asked, but she quite liked the freaky little kid. He was a fighter, she admired that. She wasn’t put off by the death powers. Ares and his violent tendencies were looked down upon enough by some of the other demigods, and Clarisse saw no reason why Nico’s powers would be a reason not to like him. She had to admit, being able to reanimate dead soldiers at will was a pretty cool power.
And, well, she also liked talking to him because he was also gay. It had taken months for her to fully understand what her feelings about other girls meant, and then months still to admit it to anyone. Not that she had been scared, she just…didn’t know where she fit, when she wasn’t what she had thought was normal.
Nico though, after the Giant War, had been so open. He’d come out to the golden couple, Percy and Annabeth, started dating that idiot from Apollo’s cabin, and he didn’t care who knew it. No one else cared either.
They had grown closer after the Giant War, but it wasn’t until one evening, when they were both hanging out in the Hades cabin together, when Nico had turned to her and asked “Do you have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend? Or…someone?”
The casual acceptance that Clarisse might be interested in someone of the same gender had blown her away, and she was ashamed to admit she had sat there, staring at him for an awkward amount of time, long enough for him to get a weird look on his face and look away nervously.
Clarisse had choked out an explanation, and Nico just nodded. He didn’t gush, or praise Clarisse for being brave, or any of the other mushy stuff that Clarisse hated. He simply nodded, said ‘cool’, and pulled out a pack of Mythomagic cards and asked her if she wanted to play.
He had become somewhat of a confidant since then.
“Do you think she was being serious?” Clarisse asked, feeling uncharacteristically nervous. “What if she flirts with everyone?”
“Don’t be stupid,” Nico said. “That’s a stereotype about Aphrodite kids, for a start. Venus kids. Whatever. You know Piper don’t you? That girl couldn’t flirt if her life depended on it.”
Clarisse snorted.
“Besides, she’s hardly going to give her number out to everyone, is she?” Nico pointed out, with infuriatingly sound logic. Clarisse kind of wanted to punch him for being so calm about the situation.
“So what, I should just text her?” Clarisse said uncertainly. She wasn’t sure she liked the feeling of not being totally in control. It wasn’t often she was faced with a problem she couldn’t solve by punching it until it went away. “What do I say?”
“Offer to give her a combat lesson,” Nico said. “Then you’ll know what you’re doing and you might not act like such an idiot.”
Clarisse shoved him.
“Well if you didn’t want me to say you were being an idiot, you should have stopped being one,” Nico said with a cheeky grin.
“Be quiet, Death Boy,” Clarisse said, though there was no bite in it. She pulled out her phone and stared at it.
Leo Valdez had decided after the war that a life without the latest technology wasn’t a life worth living, and had spent weeks modifying electronic devices, with some input from Annabeth, as well as some help from the Hecate kids, in order to produce phones and computers imbibed with the Mist, in order to block their monster attracting signals. Now, every demigod worth their salt had one. It made quests a hell of a lot easier.
However, it was currently doing nothing to make Clarisse’s life easier.
She stared at the blank text box for a couple of minutes, internally agonising over what to say, when Nico snatched her phone out of her hands and typed something, hitting send before she could react.
“I’m gonna fucking kill you, di Angelo!” Clarisse shouted, lunging at the boy. He expertly dodged out of her way, standing up and moving to the middle of the roof.
“On my father’s shrine? You have a death wish or something?” Nico teased.
“No, but you’re going to by the time I catch you,” Clarisse growled. “What did you send her, punk?”
“I just asked her if she wanted to have a combat lesson tomorrow,” said Nico. “You should be thanking me.”
“Thanking you?” Clarisse said incredulously. She moved towards him, but stopped dead when her phone chimed in his hand.
They both stared at the phone.
Clarisse lunged forward, grabbing the phone from him, holding it covetously, close to her chest. She sat back down, back turned to Nico as she nervously checked the chat log. He came up behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder, watching the screen.
Hey, it’s Clarisse. Fancy meeting tomorrow? I can teach you how to fight.
Hi Clarisse. I would love to! Meet at the training grounds at 11am? <3
Clarisse couldn’t help the dumb grin that spread over her face.
“Told you,” Nico said, in a deadpan tone.
“I’m gonna push you off the fucking roof,” Clarisse growled, but she was still smiling. Nico just laughed.
Clarisse was working off her nerves by beating up zombies. Nico was sitting in the stands of the training grounds, watching her, having summoned her some undead sparring partners, and promptly removing himself from her proximate vicinity. He was lounging in the shade, lazily flicking a wrist to reanimate a soldier whenever Clarisse hacked one to pieces.
Clarisse felt adrenaline course through her as she battled four soldiers at once, effectively channeling her nerves into her fighting.
She hacked, slashed, stabbed, dodged. She got Nico to give her variety with her sparring partners. Greek, Roman, British, French, Zulu, Mongolian, American, all from varying wars in history, and all with different weapons and fighting styles.
This time she was fighting four French revolutionaries, and they jabbered to each other in French as they slashed and shot at her with bayonets. She deflected bullets off her sword, and lunged with her spear, impaling two at once.
She noticed that Nico had stopped reanimating them, and once she had quickly dispatched the other two, she turned to him, about to to chew him out, when she heard light applause behind her.
She whirled around to see Silena standing there, having clearly snuck up on Clarisse to watch. She clapped, bouncing on her feet slightly.
“That was so cool!” She said.
Clarisse hastily pushed her hair off her sweaty forehead, all too aware that she had been sparring for close to an hour at this point.
The remains of the soldiers melted into the ground, and she noticed Nico dissolve into shadows out of the corner of her eye.
“Uh, hi,” Clarisse said. Silena looked as intimidatingly pretty as she had in the coffee shop, dark hair pulled away from her face in a ponytail, and it cascaded down her back, curls bouncing with every move of her head.
“Hi,” Silena said, smiling. She pointed to where the bodies had melted into the ground. “Will you teach me how to do that?”
“I mean, I don’t know if you’re gonna be fighting four at once by the end of today, but I’ll do my best,” Clarisse said. “You know how to hold a sword?”
Silena nodded.
Clarisse tossed her the bronze sword she was holding. Silena caught it and hefted it in her hand.
“This isn’t gold,” she said.
Clarisse shook her head.
“It’s celestial bronze. It’s what we greeks use. It has the same properties as Imperial Gold, as in it can dispatch monsters but won’t hurt mortals, but in my opinion, it’s hardier. Less flashy as well.”
Silena grinned.
“I’m sure it’s superior in every way,” she said, teasingly.
Silena adopted a fighting stance.
“Like this?”
“Almost,” Clarisse said, confident in her element as a combat instructor. “You need to shift your weight a little. Here,” she said, grasping Silena’s shoulders and tilting her body. “This way you can get more power in your swing, without using up more of your strength and energy.”
Silena swung her sword experimentally.
“You need a more natural swing,” Clarisse said. She moved behind Silena and placed a hand over Silena’s, on the hilt of her sword. Silena’s back was pressed against Clarisse’s chest.
Clarisse guided Silena’s arm through a swing, twisting the other girl’s body to follow through. She felt her hands shaking slightly, one wrapped around Silena’s wrist, the other on her waist. She could feel her heart thudding against Silena’s back and she hoped the other girl couldn’t feel it.
Silena twisted in Clarisse’s hold, until they were facing each other.
Silena was shorter than Clarisse, but not drastically so. They were close enough in height that their faces were close, very close. Close enough to-
“Clarisse,” Silena said, quietly, still pressed up against the other girl.
“Yeah,” Clarisse said, voice miraculously steady, not belying the palpitations her heart was going though.
“Are you going to kiss me or what?”
Clarisse’s mind went blank. She stared at Silena, who was wrapped up in her arms, face flushed, eyes darting between Clarisse’s eyes and her lips.
Words failed her, so she leant down and kissed Silena, gently, hand falling from her wrist and moving up to tangle itself in her long, silky hair. She dimly registered a clatter as Silena dropped the sword, and felt delicate hands on her body, one on her shoulder, the other coming up to cup Clarisse’s face.
Silena rose up on her tiptoes and deepened the kiss, and Clarisse’s hand tightened on her waist. The arena fell away from them, and for a moment, it was just them, alone in the world, and nothing else mattered.
After what was probably minutes, but felt like hours, they broke away from each other. Clarisse stared down at Silena, who was grinning.
“I thought you’d never do that,” Silena said. Clarisse rolled her eyes.
“Shut up,” she grumbled, and then leaned in again.