Camp Half-Blood: Salty Shorts

Ben & Rose

-Ben's POV-

I was sitting peacefully at Camp during my free period of time. Rose and Myra had disappeared to go hang out with each other while Cole was teaching an archery class. I leaned against a tree, the warm sunlight hitting my face. It was so quiet and I almost fell asleep. That was until Myra crashed into me. "BEN! BEN! Rose is gonna kill me so I gotta tell you this fast!" She shot a frantic look behind her and her eyes widened.

"MYRA! DON'T YOU DARE!" Rose yelled.

"Rose has a thing for lip rings! You've gotta get one! Even just a fake-" Myra was cut off as Rose tackled her to the ground. The two scuffled for a minute or two before Rose came out victorious. She held Myra by the back of her sweatshirt and dragged her away from me. Myra quickly looked at her and then back at me, a mischievous grin on her face. "Get a fake lip ring!" She yelled. Rose instantly covered her mouth with her hand and rolled her eyes at me.

"Don't listen to her, Ben. She's crazy. Absolutely desperate without Cole-" Rose was cut off by Myra's muffled, indignant shout of "Shut up!" Rose dragged Myra away from me, presumably heading back to their cabin. I smirked, considering the idea. Rose had looked pretty flustered... I got up quickly and headed to the Camp border with my daggers. I could probably make it to a store and back to Camp before my free time ended.

Rose's POV

It was dinner now. I hadn't seen Ben since Myra had told him I liked lip rings on guys... gods I almost killed her. At the moment she was sitting across from me, whining to Cole about something while he ate. Ben walked into the Pavilion. He looked scratched up, his hair was messy and I noticed a cut on his cheek. Golden dust was mixed in with his brown hair, but what got my attention was the lip ring Ben was nervously chewing on. I didn't say anything, I could only stare as Ben shyly walked over to our table and sat down, a heavy blush on his cheeks. "H-Hey guys..." He mumbled in greeting. Myra burst out laughing, a smirk on her face. Cole gave me an apologetic look and pulled Myra up from the table. She weakly protested in between bouts of laughter as he lead her away somewhere. "So..." Ben coughed awkwardly, a light red blush dusting his cheeks. A bit dried blood was still on his face, running from a gash on his left cheek.

"Are you alright?" I asked, trying to focus on his cut and not his lip ring, which he still chewed nervously.

"Y-Yeah... Do you... you know... like it?" Ben fumbled for words, running his hands through his hair. He cracked a nervous smile at me.

"Gods, Ben. You put yourself in danger for this?" I asked, letting some irritation slip into my voice. Why would he put his life on the line just to get a fake lip ring?

"Is that a no then?" Ben asked, a dejected pout forming on his face. He stuck out his bottom lip, drawing my attention to his lip ring again.

"N-No... it's not-I mean..." My face started to get red. Ben's lips curled up into a smile, the silver glistening in the fading sunlight. I looked down at pushed at the little food left on my plate. Ben moved so he was sitting next to me. We lapsed into a comfortable silence while he ate. I watched him out of the corner of my eye. I'm pretty sure he noticed, but if he did, he didn't say anything.

"Wanna head back to your cabin?" Ben whispered in my ear, his voice becoming low and raspy. I shyly nodded and he grabbed my hand, leading me away from the table and out towards my cabin. We didn't speak at all on the walk there, but he kept running his thumb over the back of my hand. Once we got to my cabin we went down to my room. Cole, Myra, and Hunter weren't there. Ben quickly pressed his lips to mine. I could feel the metal pressed against my lips. I responded quickly, resting my hands on Ben's hips and biting teasingly at his lip. The sharp tang of metal filled my mouth. He breathed out my name quietly and starting deepening the kiss, pressing me back up against a wall. I ran my hands up his spine and he shivered, starting to kiss rougher, fighting to take dominance. "Rose..." He growled out my name. I could feel the vibrations from his voice. His heart was pounding and so was mine. Ben's eyes were half closed, taking me in slowly between kisses. I moved my left hand to his wounded cheek, being careful to avoid the cut. I kissed him softly again before pulling away. Ben pouted, gasping for breath. He whined and tried to kiss me again, but I pushed him away a bit.

"Later, Ben." I sighed, catching my own breath. I could hear noises from outside, probably either Percy or Myra. Either way, I'd have to finish things with Ben later.