One Less Enemy

The kiss in forest a few weeks ago still haunted Rachel's dreams. She would often paint away for a whole afternoon and never see Octavian the whole day. But her thoughts always drifted to him, wondering what he was doing. Obsessing. She didn't like to obsess over anything, except maybe painting, but this was a whole new level.

On Tuesday, the whole assemblage of both camps met at the Mess Hall. Rachel could see Octavian farther down, but she thought it would be rude to move closer while Chiron was talking.
"We will need guards. Gaia maybe delayed by the boundary, but that does not mean she won't try an attack. Luckily, we have double the campers, therefore we can have double the defenses. Meanwhile the rest of us who are not guarding need to be training longer and harder. Arts and Crafts is off-limits, and forges are for Hephaestus kids only, to be making as many weapons as possible. Athena? I want a plan for where to place the defense. I want at least six Ares/Mars campers on watch at all time. Reyna, would you please see if your sister Hylla would join forces with us?"
"Of course," Reyna bowed, then walked away to the Iris cabin to send a message.
"Oracles, anything to say?" Chiron looked between Rachel and Octavian. Rachel shook her head, Octavian said "No."
"Alright then, meeting adjourned," Chiron announced.

As the campers walked away to go train, Octavian stole up behind Rachel, and asked "Are you sure you didn't see anything?" A hint if the scowl played on his lips. Rachel shook her head, and tried to walk faster, but Octavian was taller, and his stride was longer. He caught up. "Postitive?" he asked, fingering a piece of her hair.
"Look, Octavian, I know what I saw, and I saw nothing, alright?" She stomped away angrily.
"Not going so well?" Reyna walked towards him, glancing back at Rachel's retreating figure. "You should actually talk to her, not flirt."
"What do you know? You only ever had a thing for Jason, and then he didn't even notice it," Octavian snarled.
The words stung Reyna, but she didn't admit it because it was true. She and Jason were just praetors. Nothing more.

Later that night, Octavian went up to Rachel's caves. He heard her talking, but nobody else was there. When he drew back the curtain, he could see she was angrily slapping the paint onto the canvas and muttering Greek under her breath. Probably cursing. When she noticed him staring at her from behind the curtain, he could tell she wanted to kill him. But her eyes softened slightly, and she stepped aside to let him in.
"Look Rachel, I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I didn't really mean it. I don't know what happened. Sorry," Octavian stared at the ground, expecting to be slaughtered. But what happened next was totally unexpected. She kissed him. Sort of held his face. Not as romantic as the forest, but it would have to work. He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer until her body was flush with his, kissing away. When they pulled away, there was no blushing. Just one more shorter kiss, then Rachel left for bed, leaving Octavian outside in the cool night air.

He stepped inside the cave, looking at her paintings. He began to wander, and suddenly came across her bedroom. Her back was turned, and all she was wearing was a thin green bra, and matching underwear. Octavian quickly drew back, ashamed at himself for staring at all. He went back to his room, got undressed, and went to sleep, dreaming of fiery girls and paintbrushes.

Notes