𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐀'𝐒 𝐁𝐎𝐗! heroes of olympus²

ii. ten different ways

chapter two!
002. ten different ways

claire.

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SHE FELT OUT of place. It was a strange feeling. Claire had been invited to sit at this table; to lounge back in the soft lounges that were set out in the forum. She was being offered food and drink by air spirits who would give her cheeky little smiles before they materialised back into nothing. She was shaking hands and nodding at other senior officers; smiling and being as polite as she could manage. She met Percy's new friends Frank and Hazel; she complimented Hazel's determination to fight with a cavalry weapon despite her height and discussed different arrows and different bows with Frank ... they were being kind and they were being accomodating ... but Claire knew she was not welcome.

She felt the same on edge feeling that made her tense and check every noise, every exit and entry▬count every single Roman that sat around them in case something happened. She couldn't describe why, but she just knew deep inside her chest that she did not belong here and that she needed to leave.

Claire pushed through it. She did her best to fight it. She was sure it was rooted deep within her from her ancestry▬the ichor of the gods that ran through her blood warning her. Like animals that knew to run from their predator because evolution had written it to become a part of their very being. However, right now, Claire didn't know whether she was a predator, or whether she was prey▬she supposed the reason she felt so uncomfortable was because both sides were capable of turning a peace talk into a declaration of war.

She picked at the food▬there was so much of it, but she could barely manage much more than a bite. Claire kept eyeing the boy with the scars; the same boy she had come across at Hoover Dam. She had felt that same feeling then that she felt now. She had questioned who he was ever since, and now, he was sitting only a few seats across the table from her. He eyed her with a similar look▬staring up through the strands of hair that fell over his brows; and Claire pursed her lips. She recognised that look: it was the look she wore whenever she didn't trust someone ... almost to the exact.

Her heart was pounding. It told her the answer to all of her questions, she knew, but she was too scared to listen to it. Claire eyed him for a second longer before turning away, finishing off her lemonade and setting it back down on the table. As she did, she caught the scowl the blonde kid▬Octavian▬sent her. He was freshly back from burning one of his build-a-bears and was not happy to be around any of them. And for some reason, he was especially vexed by her. So she decided to set him a sickly, sweet sarcastic smile as she picked up a grape and sat back against Percy's side, satisfied to see Octavian take a sharp, bothered breath.

It felt strange, too, to sit beside her boyfriend again. To look up and see his face, to feel the warmth of his side against her▬it almost didn't seem real. She was scared that she'd blink and he'd be gone ... that she had dreamt it all.

Claire frowned a little to herself and quickly took his hand that rested on her leg. She held it tight, and the warmth he brought▬not only did it make her positive he was real, it also reminded her that she was, too. Sometimes, she forgot that she still wasn't lost between death and life. Percy glanced at her, a little concerned, but he just linked their fingers together and squeezed.

"Hey," he then gently gestured for her to come closer. She frowned but leaned in, letting him speak softly to her so no one else could hear. "I want to show you around New Rome. Just you and me. The place is incredible." Percy gave her a little smile, waiting for her answer. She was quick to nod, very careful not to seem too hesitant. He could read her easily; she didn't want him to see how tense she was▬how uneasy and unnerved she had become; she didn't want to disappoint him.