Volley Ball! (p)

Claude didn’t particularly like wearing his camp clothing. Not because there was anything wrong with the clothing themselves, but because it felt rather restrictive to him. Which was why he tended to avoid wearing it whenever he could. Today just so happened to be one of those days, wearing a pair of blue shorts and a plain white shirt that clung to his chest as if it were hanging on for dear life.

His feet were bare, his eyes to the skies, as he glided to his desired destination. At this point most Campers had become adjusted to the oddity that was Claude and ignored him, but some still couldn’t help themselves and glanced in his direction whenever he passed. Their expression clearly showing their disbelief at the fact that he hadn’t tripped or stepped on anything sharp yet.

The blonde didn’t mind the looks, had grown accustom to them. Besides he was far too busy imagining what the skies would look like, and by extension the Earth and it’s oceans, if the sky was a different colour. Like Violet or Green.

“Hey watch out!”

A Sudden shout from behind him, snapped the blonde from his reverie, his eyes drifting downwards just in time for him to walk right into another camper. He stumbled backwards, landing on his bottom on top of the soft sand. Blinking in bewilderment, his hands grasping at the sandy ground, he looked up to see the Volley ball.

“Oh,” he muttered. His eyes moving away from the net to look over at the Camper he had accidentally walked into.

“Sorry, the gods must be out of favour with me today.” He apologize with a polite smile. His eyes gaze unfocused as he took in the Camper. “ I didn’t see you there, I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”

Claude pushed himself off the ground, brushing off the sand that accumulated on his form from his fall. He was glad that the other man didn’t react poorly to him not paying attention to where he was going, it was something that happened more often than not his mind simply wandered.

When the man, now identified as Bruno, asked him if he wanted to play Volleyball, Claude tilted his head in response. His gaze shifting between the net and Bruno, scratching his chin he nodded slowly as if he had just closed a deal on some big task. “Well if that’s what it takes to be even…” He said. “I’ll do it, I haven’t played this game much so I might not be as good as you.” He admitted, moving from his position to stoop under the net to get to the other side. Pausing at the midway point between the two sides,a hand holding the net up as he turned his head,  to look back at Bruno. “I’m Claude, it’s nice to meet you Bruno,” He introduced himself.

Dropping the net as he stood on the other side of the court, he gazed curiously at his fellow demigod. “ Maybe you should get first serve?” He offered, swaying as he stood in preparation for Bruno’s next move. He didn’t look ready, given his posture and positioning, but he made the motion for Bruno to go ahead and start the game.

“First one to 15 points wins?”

Claude paused, watching intently as Bruno hit the ball up into the air and smacked it down to the other side of the court. Taking a few steps backwards, his feet sinking somewhat into the sand as he did,  he jumped into the air. His hand pulled back as he knocked it back towards the other side of the net.

He awaited the pending return of the ball. Slightly crouched over as he watched Bruno with intent curiosity. “ That was an Impressive serve!” he cheered politely, biting down gently on his lower lips as he ignored the heat of the sun above. “Do you play often?” He inquired, as he awaited to make his next move.

Stumbling backwards Claude raised his hand high to bat the ball back towards his opponent. Unfortunately it didn’t seem as if he had placed enough behind it as the ball caught onto the net. Looking over thoughtfully at the net, he quickly strided over and picked up the ball, clutching at before throwing it back over the net for the other man to catch. “That was unfortunate.” He hummed. “For me at least,” taking a few steps backwards to ready himself for another ball, he brushed his the edges of his short hair with his fingers.

“I’m guessing that means thank you?” He inquired curiously. His eyes flicking upwards very briefly as a cool wind blowed through the area to lessen the heat of the day. “Papa must be watching…” He thought quaintly as he cracked his knuckles and prepared himself, knowing that he should put a bit more force into his next hit.

“Oh, no” He shook his head at Bruno’s inquiry. “ I haven’t really participated in many sports,” He squinted his eyes slightly, cupping his chin with his hand. “ I’ve been told that I don’t have the attention span for such activities,” Which wasn’t true, he could be quite focused and on point when need be, though he preferred playing games like these for fun rather than for competition so he simply didn’t have the drive that the other students had.

“Speaking of cabins,” he said, lowering his hand from his chin. “ Who’s your godly parent?” A person’s godly lineage usually could tell a lot about them. For instance, most of the Aphrodite kids acted odd around him, which he found strange. They were always whispering a points, sometimes even laughing, but he didn’t mind he just summed it up to some sort of cultural difference. They obviously didn’t know that it was rude to point. “Mines is Aeolus.”

Claude pondered over Bruno’s question for a bit before shrugging his shoulders in response. “I don’t know,” He admitted truthfully. “Never had time to be involved in sports since I got here, I’ve been too bus immersing myself in Greek culture.” He had a slightly distant look as he thought over, in greater detail, why he never attempted to play any sports while he was here. “Rugby? I never played that game before, is it like football?”

When Bruno batted the ball back over the net, Claude was quick to respond, striking the ball back towards Bruno and managing to get it over the net this time. “ Oui ” He cheered in French, a broad smile on his face, feeling somewhat accomplished. “Oh yeah, my father is the God of the winds, he’s gone a little insane recently but he’s not bad.” The blue eyed male surmised.

“Psamathe?”  He inquired, tilting his head as he tried to rack his brain for information. He wasn’t sure if he ever heard of that Goddess before, then again there were hundreds of Greek Gods that went before the main 12, some of greater or lesser significance. “Sorry no, I don’t,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as if he was slightly ashamed by the fact. “I don’t mind knowing more about her though! What is she a Goddess of?”

Claude nodded in acknowledgement. From the sound of it, Rugby didn’t seem like something he’d be interested in, he quite prefered non-contact sports and the idea that he was suppose to intentionally harm someone else in order to win the game didn’t seem right to him. He wouldn’t judge others for partaking in such activity, just that he couldn’t imagine himself being apart of it.

Batting the ball back towards Bruno’s side of the court. He found himself becoming less and less interested in the game itself but in the demi-god he was playing with. “Cool you play soccer? I quite like that one, not any good at it though.” He said with a sheepish grin.

Chuckling along with his fellow demi-god, the blonde nodded in affirmation. “Yeah, I can’t imagine wanting to even live that long.” He said, pausing a few moments after speaking. “See your mortal love ones die must not be a very pleasant experience.”

He smiled pleasantly. “ You seem a bit too chill, I can’t imagine what you’d look like if you went insane.” He said, truthfully drawing blanks. Though anything was in the realm of possibility. “Wow, is that why your pretty quick on the sand?” He said rather impressed by the man’s Godly heritage. “Do you like… have sand powers?”

The blonde huffed as his opponent scored another point on him. Reaching low and grabbing the edges of his shirt, he pulled it over his head and subsequently threw it to the side, he was getting hotter despite the fact that there was a gently breeze blowing. The sun simply overwhelmed it’s effects. “Nice try papa” He thought affectionately, thoroughly convinced that his father was indeed the one causing the wind, it might seem preposterous to the other campers, but Claude always felt that his Dad was more attentive of him than the other Gods of their own children. It could be that, as far as he was aware, himself and his sister we’re his only demigod children at the moment. Unlike the Major Gods who had cabins full of children, half of which they probably couldn’t recall their name.

“Looks like you scored again,” He praised good naturedly, clutching the ball and tossing it over to the other man once more. “You’re not terrible at this at all,” He mused, briefly pushing his hand through his short locket before leaving them to rest at the back of his neck.

“Hmm, I always wanted to surf,” he said pondering over the man’s words. “ I never got around to it though.” He admitted, shuffling his feet through the sandy ground. “ What’s it like? I hope Poseidon doesn’t get upset that your using his waves for surfing.”  He said, his facial expression briefly becoming serious.  

“We should go on a quest sometime,” He offered. “It’ll be fun to see what we’re both capable of don’t you think?”

“Hmm, I should probably play more often, maybe I’ll get better if I played with you more often.” He claimed with a cheesy grin on his face, hitting the ball back over the net when it came back towards him. His feet leaving deep marks into the sand, which became smudged with his constant movement.

Claude bit down gently on his tongue, titling his head to side, smirking in amusement. “Well he hasn’t struck you down yet… or tried to send a sea creature after you so that’s a plus.” He joked playfully. “I suppose he doesn’t mind.”


When Bruno said he wasn’t important enough to be given a quest, he frowned in response. “Of course you are! Why wouldn’t you be?” He inquired, perplexed by the man’s statement. “Everyone has the ability to be heroes if they tried you know. You’re no exception.”

“Besides,” His lips tugged upwards, his eyes lighting up, as he beamed at the other demi-god. “We can make our own quests. It doesn’t have to be anything grand, we can go exploring the forest or take a trip to the city.”

“Woo!” Claude cheered, clapping his hands together rather enthusiastically. He hadn’t been paying much attention to the game at this point, more focused on hearing what Bruno had to say, so he hadn’t even notice that he scored until the man was scrambling back and asking him for the score.

He shrugged in response. “ Only Zeus knows for sure.” For all he knew they could’ve been at 15 already. “ He peered upwards the skies once more, the sun lower than it was before, though just as hot. “Hmm, next point wins the game? I remembered that I have to meet my sister soon. She’s get’s rather angry when I don’t show up on time.”

Batting the ball back over to Bruno. He thought about the possible mission they could make together. “Yeah, I think so as well, we could explore the forest or go on a hunt for rare artefacts/animals it’ll be fun!”

Visibly beaming at Bruno he spoke again. “ It can be just between the two of us as well, no one else needs to be involved”

“Glad you had fun, I did as well.” Smiling right back at Bruno. He really did enjoy spending time with Bruno and playing this game, it made him wanted to try playing more sports, especially if they were as interesting as this one or if they had players as friendly as Bruno. He perked up a bit more and was seemingly bouncing on his heel with excitement when the other demi-god offered for them to play again tomorrow, nodding enthusiastic he agreed. “Yeah definitely. Though next time i’ll try not to walk into you when I get here.” He said with a small chuckled.

Following Bruno’s lead, the blonde walked closer to the net and lowered his voice. Making a show to look around to see if anyone was eavesdropping, a goofy grin on his face, he nodded. “Yep, I think it’ll be great. I find it’s more comfortable to do things like this in smaller groups. Besides It gives us another chance to hang out with each other.”