Sunny Skies Up {-Harper-}

[Gavin Sawyer]

Gavin squinted in the brilliant midday sun. He silently cursed Apollo for the blinding light before returning to his journal. It was one of several composition books Gavin took to writing in during his free time. There was hardly a place for Gavin to go to be alone. He found solitude in his writing and it was pretty much all he did since coming to camp. When Gavin wasn’t holding a sword or bow he was holding a pen. His writings consisted of personal thoughts, ideas, or even poetry (though he would not admit that to anyone). The sun today was making it particularly difficult to see the writing on the white lined paper. Gavin rubbed his eyes, shook his hand out and continued.

Finishing up his latest entry Gavin leaned back on the row behind him. He looked out at the hearth. Gavin always did like this place better during the day. It meant he didn’t have to suffer through the singing and that dumb fire. He also hated how the flame changed color with the mood. Oh how he hated the bon fire. Gavin would have skipped out but it seemed that a few of the counselors had an eye on him, so what if he skipped most activities and spoke ill of a God or two?

Gavin tilted his head back up to the sky shutting his eyes. The only God he ever truly cared for was Eos, his own mother. She claimed him before the Gods were forced to. Gavin thought about her and tired to recall what she looked like detail for detail. He only met her once but it was a meeting he wouldn’t easily forget. It felt nice to know at least one other person cared about his life.

[Harper Marowski]

While the sun bothered others, there was one girl who cherished it very much - well, as much as she could naturally cherish it. For Harper Marowski didn't exactly appreciate the god who was in charge of the sun despite her connection with him. Not many people knew it, but Harper actually resented her father for what he had done. An entire lifetime, practically, and only one contact. When he could have seen her so much more, introduced himself when she was younger. And though Harper was typically the forgiving type... she couldn't bring herself to forgive her father for such a grievous mistake.

She'd been wandering the grounds, not wanting to participate in the latest fencing competition that had started around camp. While Harper enjoyed fighting with a sword and having a friendly competition with her friends, right now she just needed some peace and quiet. So she was walking around Camp Half-blood by herself, keeping an eye out for any harmful creatures or terrifying instructors along the way. Her mind wasn't on anything in particular, and once Harper was sure she was alone, she simply began to sing. Some of the birds, some of which were mysteriously too smart to be regular birds sometimes, began singing along with her, repeating her melody to themselves as they heard it.

Harper wasn't usually the one to sing around other folks - it made her uncomfortable. So that was why she was out here, amongst all the seemingly wild things that made Camp Half-blood so amazing, singing softly to herself as the birds continued her song with their own melodies and harmonies.

She soon found herself at the amphitheater, where she instantly saw someone else there and stopped singing. Red flushed across her cheeks, and she hoped the young man down there hadn't heard her singing. Quickly regaining her composure, she headed down to where he was seated with the small, typical skip in her step. Her chocolate brown eyes were bright as she came up behind the young man, peeking down at the notebook he was writing in. Another writer - she wasn't alone, which secretly made her a lot happier. Instead, she just said,

"Whatcha writing?"

[Gavin Sawyer]

Gavin’s thoughts moved from his mom to the other Gods, which just made him angry. The thoughts were pushed from his head with the help of music. The disembodied voice carried to his ears and at first Gavin wasn’t too offended by song or even had the thought that there was someone nearby who produced the melody. The song stopped almost as soon as it started. Again, Gavin didn’t give it much thought, for some reason he figured his mind had actually started singing.

The voice of someone else broke through what thoughts that ran around in Gavin’s mind at the moment. He sighed and tilted his head back down away from the sky. Opening his eyes Gavin saw that the composition book was still open on his lap. Quickly he closed it and looked back over to the girl. Her face looked familiar but Gavin never cared to learn anyone’s name here at camp.

“Didn’t anyone tell you it’s rude to read over people’s shoulders?” He said sitting up. Gavin took the notebook and shoved it under his legs. He scratched his neck and looked away from the girl. A moment later it hit him. He turned back to her and examined her up and down for a second.

“Were you the one making that noise?” He put an emphasis on the word ‘noise’. There was no hint of a smile or kindness on his lips.

[Harper Marowski]

Now, Harper wasn't an exceedingly nosy girl, but the idea of someone else here at camp that wrote just as much as she did made her curious. But she was also quite understanding, so when the boy snapped his notebook shut and shoved it underneath his legs so she couldn't see it, she wasn't offended in the least. It was probably how she would react too if someone had snuck up on her and asked the same question. However, not all people were her, as it was quite clear this boy was not. His response to her question didn't catch her off guard at all, though. Harper had dealt with several camp grouches while here.

"Hm, they probably have," she mused. "But I typically ignore them." Her tone had that typical bubbly quality to it that she always used when speaking to someone new. It wasn't exactly her real voice, per se, and the only ones who had ever heard it were her mother and... regrettably, her father. There was a strange light to her chocolate brown eyes that was somewhat artificial too, but there was still that natural glint they had to it whenever she was out in the sunlight.

Harper kept a smile on her face, even though his comment about her singing annoyed her. It stung a little bit that he thought of her singing voice as noise, because singing was one of the few things Harper took pride in. But she kept her composure, as she was so skilled at doing, and gave him a little shrug. She stepped up to stand on the bench beside him and hopped down to be level with him. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and smirked.

"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. You obviously think I was, so I'll let you keep your own opinion," she answered as she sat down unceremoniously beside the boy. Now, Harper was many things, but one of them was not a flirt. So she kept a respectable distance, giving the boy a once over in a non-predatory way. "And just in case you were curious, which I bet you aren't... my name's Harper." She tried to smile again.

[Gavin Sawyer]

Gavin adjusted his sitting position making sure to keep the notebook safely under his legs. He snorted and turned away. The tone in her voice dug under Gavin’s skin. She was happy, a little too happy. Her up beat attitude only further worsened Gavin’s. He sunk down on the bench and stared at empty hearth. He rolled his eyes, “Funny thing about ignoring people. Some can’t take the hint when they are being ignored and some can’t take a hint when they want to be ignored.”

His eyes didn’t waver. If she only understood the irony behind what he said. Gavin had been trying to make a point. He figured it would be lost on her cheery disposition. Of all the people at camp Gavin had to be found by Miss Sunshine. Her round about way of answering him clawed deeper in his frustration. Maybe she was maybe she wasn’t? Gavin’s jaw jetted out at her overall response.

The movement on the bench made Gavin jump slightly. He looked over and watched with a sneer as the girl made a move to sit next to him. Gavin eyed the distance between them with obvious distain. And when she introduced herself as Harper his lips gave a twitch.

“That’s a bet you would win.” He said. “What are my chances of telling you my name and you leaving me alone?”

Gavin watched her for a few moments. He sighed and leaned forward on his knees. “Obviously not good.” He grumbled mostly to himself.

“Gavin. And before you continue let me guess, daughter of Apollo?”

[Harper Marowski]

Harper had never been a stupid girl - she could take a hint. She just chose to ignore them most of the time, just like many ignored her whenever she wanted to act like herself. In many ways, Harper just didn't know what was good for her. She often didn't pay attention to warnings that other people gave her, and didn't listen when someone else told her to do something. Simply another reason why she didn't leave the boy alone when he had clearly implied that he would like her to do so. Because Harper saw a chance to be herself. Not the bright, cheerful girl that everyone else saw around camp, but the snippy, witty, intelligent girl that lied on the inside.

So she just grinned. She could tell she was annoying him, and for once Harper was actually glad she was getting on someone's bad side... then again, she had to wonder if grumpy teens like this even had a good side to begin with. When he told her his name, Harper just gave him a small smile as the artificial gleam in her eye slowly began deteriorating. Behind it was a deep chocolate brown color that had always seemed muddy before. If Harper had been looking in a mirror, she would have been shocked at the change she would have seen in herself.

"And the chances aren't good that if you throw a stick I'll go away either, just to let you know," she informed him with a completely straight face. Harper had seen people wearing that shirt around camp before, and it came to her on a simple whim. She had always been good in situations like this, it seemed. Her friends often commented on that fact.

Harper rolled her eyes when he mentioned being the daughter of Apollo. Though she was glad to be a demi-god, she wasn't exactly on the best terms with her father at the moment, considering as she had only met him for the first time a few nights ago in her dreams. The jerk had said he'd missed her so much... how was that possible when she'd never seen him before in her life? She blinked, banishing all thoughts of him from her mind as she glared at the newly introduced Gavin. "If you think so, then sure," she sneered. "And I must say, there are so many grumpy gods and goddesses, I couldn't tell you which one bred you." She had never really been the venting type, but the thought of her father sent Harper into an oblivious, subdued sort of rage.

[Gavin Sawyer]

Gavin rolled his head away from Harper rolling his eyes in the process. He noticed the obvious fake smile planted on her face. If she was annoyed or offended by him then why did she now leave and be done with it? Gavin had to hand it to her; this was probably the longest anyone had put up with him. Normally people would storm off after his first rude comment or at the signs of his stand off-ish behavior. She was resilient, interesting. Gavin sniffed and looked back to her and let out a sarcastic chuckle.

“Well I guess I’ll move onto plan C then.” He commented coldly. Gavin stood up taking his journal in his hand. He turned his back on her and took a few steps forward. “I’ll have to uproot and plant myself somewhere else. Where I can be away from the Daughter of Annoying.”

He smiled to himself as he began walking away. Sure it wasn’t the cleverest come back Gavin had ever thought of. It would certainly get a reaction out of Harper though. It was sure to get a reaction out of anyone. His victory was short lived though. Gavin froze and his body tensed when Harper practically insulted his mom. He jaw set and he turned on heels and walked back over to Harper. He was only a foot from her bending down to her face.

“No one. Talks about my mom like that. No one has disrespect for her, you can say whatever you want about the others Gods and Goddesses, but not her.” He drew in a deep breath. The deadly expression on his face remained there. Gavin took a step away from Harper. His mother was the only God he didn’t absolutely hate. He sighed and licked his lips.

“Your stupid father and his buddies on Olympus made it hard for the rest of the demi-god children of minor Gods. We don’t have a place here? We don’t deserve to be respected? My mother brings the Dawn. She opens the stupid gate for Apollo’s dumb chariot to parade through. You’re father of all Gods should have had respect for that. So don’t go talking about her like that again. Especially since it was Helios who was the original God of the Sun. Your father is just the replacement.”Gavin finished his rant feeling out of breath. One could say it was just a bit of a sensitive subject with him.

[Harper Marowski]

Harper was exceedingly stubborn, something she inherited from both her mother and father. Not that she would ever admit it, but Harper was more like her father than some of her half brothers and sisters even expected. She was brave and courageous too. All three of these were reasons as to why she stood her ground during Gavin's rant. She didn't move an inch when he was so close she could kiss him (as if Harper would ever think bout kissing that jerk, it was just an expression), even though most of the time she would have. Her eyes narrowed with each word he was saying, until finally it looked like her usually bright brown eyes were nothing but horizontal slits on her face.

It was plain to see, even though Harper wasn't exactly happy with her father at the moment, that she didn't like people dissing on her ethereal parent either. So she just glared at Gavin the entire time, giving him an equally dangerous death stare that, if looks could kill, would have murdered him in the most painful way possible. Like the sun her father pulled across the sky everyday, Harper had violent bursts of anger every once in a while. Even though she was usually pretty good with keeping her emotions locked away somewhere.

"Just so you know, mama's boy," she began as she took a step closer to him now, becoming just as close as they had been before, "Nobody talks about my father that way either." Harper glared up at him with an emotion that was kin to hatred harbored in her eyes. She'd always been good in an argument, like her father was sometimes, and she was really really stubborn like both of her parents combined. So she poked Gavin in the chest in a not so gentle manner and said, "And if I were you, I wouldn't give people reasons to insult your mother, which I wasn't even intending on doing for your information, dipwad."

Harper stepped back in the very same style Gavin had just a moment earlier. Her glare lessened just a tad as an attempt at a smirk appeared on her face. But it only turned out to be a horrible grimace. "And since you seem so uneducated, I'll give you some more information. If you had actually been paying attention to what I was saying about a minute ago, you'll realize I never said that your mother wasn't important. I never said that folks shouldn't be grateful to your mother. I only said that you were being grumpy, and that I couldn't tell who your parent was with that kind of attitude. But now I know. Eos, goddess of dawn right?"

[Gavin Sawyer]

Gavin was slightly impressed that the girl didn’t back down from his attempt of intimidation. He was also highly frustrated at it all. Why wouldn’t this chick take the hint to just hit the road and go mess around with the arts and crafts? There was something about her that reminded Gavin of him, it wasn’t the smiley part though. Admitting it only to himself he somewhat admired the balls Harper had to stand up to him.

The admiration quickly vanished as a direct insult slapped him in the face. His head tilted down to Harper as she moved closer to him. He did everything in his will power not to full out send the girl flying across the stupid amphitheater. The hatred in her eyes was matched by the sheer loathing in his own. Gavin didn’t take his eyes off her for a second and allowed the Daughter of Apollo her own rant. Though he wasn’t sure why he stayed to listen.

He folded his arms across his chest and listened. While her stare seemed to weaken, Gavin kept his strong and powerful. It wasn’t too hard. Gavin had mustered up this kind of focus over years of always being mad at the world and the people in it. Go him. Gavin’s mouth twitched slightly at being called “dipwad” like they threatened to pull into a grin but he resisted. When Harper stopped Gavin sighed.

“You finished?” His arms dropped back to his sides, one hand still holding firmly onto the journal. He used the edge of the journal to tick off fingers on his other hand. “One, what do you mean give people reasons to insult my mother? Two, so what if I’m grumpy why does it bother you so much? And three, did you just call me a dipwad?”

He stared incredulously at Harper. “No one has called me a dipwad since…well, never. I’ve never had anyone call me a dipwad before. What are you seven? And for your information Miss. Know-It-All I am educated and that has nothing to do with you insulting my mom.”

Gavin paused for a minute and replayed what he just said over in his mind. He talked himself into a corner. Great. He shut his eyes in frustration for a second and reopened them. He shook his hands at Harper. “Who made you the Queen of Can’t Take a Hint? Why aren’t you storming off in the other direction huh? You should be over there crying to your friends about how the meanie from Eos cabin scared you.”

[Harper Marowski]

Harper had never been one to back down, mainly because she was exceedingly stubborn and she didn't like letting others lose. She wasn't exactly sure if that came from her mother or father, but either way in a fight - verbal or physical - she made a very strong opponent. Maybe Gavin was learning this right about now, but she highly doubted it. Guys like him were just... jerks when it came to their ego. Then again, just about all people of the male species were. But Harper held her ground, her gaze hardening again into a glare that, if she were a monster or a god, would probably paralyze and kill the person she was glaring at. Harper had been told she was good with her 'death stare'.

"You know what? I'll answer your questions one by one." Harper began reasoning through it all, lifting her chin almost as if she were proud and didn't want to have to deal with this anyway. "To your first question, you're being such a grump that I'm sorry I can't tell if your mom is the goddess of the dawn or the queen of all emotionally disturbed kids. Second of all, hello? I'm daughter of Apollo, your constant anger with the world is the complete opposite on my optimism. Thirdly, yeah, I did just call you dipwad because to be honest you're not really worth any other insult."

As usual, too many words came out of her mouth and Harper had to force herself to shut up before she gave this guy another chance to come down on her. Harper folded her arms tightly across her chest once more and continued to glare up at Gavin stubbornly, the fire burning brightly as usual in her chocolate brown eyes. "Well, since I've never had the title of 'Queen of Can't Take a Hint', I guess that would be you that made me queen. And I'm not leaving because... because..." Harper paused. Why wasn't she leaving? She could have walked away moments ago and completely avoided this entire conversation/argument. She glanced back at Gavin, the glare almost completely gone and a look of confusion stuck on her face.

[Gavin Sawyer]

Gavin stood back and watched Harper as she listed of the answer to his mostly rhetorical questions. He had never felt so annoyed by one single person probably ever. Then again Gavin hung around people for an extended period of time to allow himself to feel this way. He was learning to get over being offended by Harper. He was trying to fight fire with fire and it obviously wasn’t working. But Gavin didn’t know of any other way to fight, and even if he did he probably wouldn’t have done anything different. He could tell Harper wasn’t going to simply walk away. And for that Gavin decided to try harder.

“A: I am not emotionally disturbed. Your perception and expectations of how people should act is way out of whack. B: Don’t stand around me if you don’t like my attitude, hello? I’m sorry if my existence puts a rain cloud over you ‘optimism.’ Next time I’ll make sure to be more careful.” Was this going to be their interaction in the future, constant listings of insults and replies? Whoa. Who said he wanted to see her again in the future, let alone have further conversations with her.

He licked his lips and kept her stare. He wasn’t backing down. She would crack. She had to. Gavin had to give it to her though (in his mind at least) she was tougher than she looked. Gavin was pretty sure that Harper wouldn’t be afraid to scratch up her pretty nails or tangle her hair if he challenged her to combat. He misjudged her once and he wasn’t about to do it again. There was a possibility that she could kick his ass. Not that he would give her that chance.

Gavin scoffed and rolled his eyes finally breaking their staring contest. “And what a mistake that was.” he mumbled under his breath. He raised an eyebrow waiting for Harper to come up with an excuse. When she failed to think of one he let out a faint chuckle, unusual for him. He couldn’t help it though; the expression on her face was priceless.

[Harper Marowski]

Harper was getting more baffled and flustered as time went on. Of course, she was stubborn and somewhat courageous so that did make her a very good fighter when it came to these sorts of battles, but the question Gavin had thrown at her had caught the daughter of Apollo completely off guard. She wasn't used to that happening, usually she always had the upper hand in a verbal fight like this one. The only thing she could do, at this point, was hold her ground, even if it felt like she was beginning to lose this battle. Harper was stubborn, and somewhat competitive. She hated to lose with a passion.

So the bewilderment clear from her eyes and were replaced with the passionate fire they'd had just a few moments ago. The bright sun seemed to warm her, as if encouraging her to keep going on. Harper smiled and glanced up at the sky before glaring right back at Gavin. She jutted her chin out and strode right up to him. Of course, she wasn't as close as they had been a moment before, but was close enough that if she whispered something, he would hear. In a normal toned voice, doing her best to keep the anger from it, she said, "You should be more careful. You could hurt somebody with that kind of attitude." She gave Gavin her best little smirk, one that she'd mastered after years of practice. "Especially yourself."

His last response was a grumbled, so she didn't really hear it, and Harper kept her glare going strong. It was her turn to be on the offensive now, so she took another step towards him, this time putting herself right up to his face as she growled, "So you might want to back off, Gavin." She practically spat his name. "Because I don't give up easily, and if anyone's going to lose this thing, it's going to be you. And I'm not leaving until you crawl away with your tail in between your legs in defeat." There. Harper was proud of herself, and she gave him the smirk again, this time close to his face.

[Gavin Sawyer]

In all honesty, Gavin would have walked away a while ago. He did enjoy intimidating others to the point where they left in a huff or in a fit of tears. But he stayed for a reason unknown as well. He had tried to leave earlier but Harper provoked him to stay. Gavin should have just ignored her and kept walking. She claimed he wasn’t worth any other insult? Well, she wasn’t worth any insult in the world. Gavin tried to set it in his mind that she was hardly worth the attention he was giving her. He recovered from the chuckle and ignored that it even happened. Gavin put his serious expression back on.

His eyes scanned her up and down for a second. “Why should I care? And more importantly why in the name of Hades do you care? I’m perfectly fine the way I am. I haven’t hurt myself. In fact I’m the only person I can trust to not hurt me.” It was true. Though, it probably wasn’t hard to guess that Gavin had trust and social issues. He probably wasn’t stating anything Harper couldn’t have figured out for herself. Gavin glared at her smirk. He tried to figure out where it was coming from. As it turned out, Harper was a hard one to read and a hard one to crack.

Gavin was taken a back slightly as Harper approached him and got right up in his face. He took half a step back from being caught off guard. He rooted himself to the spot though. As Harper barked out his name, Gavin blinked and jerked his head back in shock. He mockingly wiped off invisible spit and leaned back in her face. His lips curled into a crooked grin.

“If you haven’t noticed sweetie, I don’t give up either.” Gavin heaved a deep sigh. “Which means I think we’re stuck here until the other surrenders. So why don’t you just call it quits and go back to your cabin and write a poem or something. Because Harper, I don’t crawl away in defeat. I am the defeater not the defeaty.” Gavin towered over her and inched closer to her face to the point where he could feel her breath on his face. “I have all day. And I’m not going anywhere.”

[Harper Marowski]

"Whenever you're up against a guy who looks like he might win in a fight against you, just hold your ground, Harper, honey," was what Harper's mother had once said a few years ago while they were in New York, a few hours after Harper had almost been assaulted by a few muggers had her mother not stepped in. So the same principle applied here, even when Gavin was so close she could feel his breath against her face. Her chocolate brown eyes glared up at his, and she rolled her sleeves back like she was about to clock him a good one, but she didn't. Harper wasn't the time for physical violence, unless it involved a bow and arrow. Both of which she had left at her cabin in the main part of camp.

A mistake I realize now, she thought bitterly as she continued hre glaring contest with the son of the goddess of dawn. "Why should you care? Because you should be taking care of yourself, idiot," she snarled at him. "And I care because you're a fellow camper. Our parents work together. If your mom gets all emotionally screwed up because you hurt yourself, my dad won't be able to do his job. Get it, you arrogant..." He voice trailed off - she couldn't even think of a good enough insult. Maybe her name-calling abilities were getting a little bit rusty.

And as they got even closer, Harper felt her mother's words echo through her mind again. "Stand your ground. Don't let the guy know you're either afraid or nervous. It makes them feel more macho." So she stood her ground, keeping her feet firmly planted in the grass below her. She raised her chin high, almost as if she was proud of herself and said to him with confidence, "Then it looks like neither of is moving for a while." Then, without warning, Harper plopped down on the ground, sitting there Indian-style, and folded her arms tightly across her chest. "I think you forgot the fact that I have all day too, idiot. And only one of us is going to lose this. And it's not going to be me." She quirked an eyebrow and smirked again. "And why go write a poem when it's obvious I can just read one of yours, lover boy?" she asked, dipping her head towards his notebook. It seemed like they were at a stalemate.

[Gavin Sawyer]

Gavin’s eyes followed Harper as she rolled up a sleeve. He waited and actually anticipated her to clock him one. She did nothing though. It would have been curiously funny had she decided to lay a punch on him. Gavin wished she would have. He wouldn’t have retaliated. But seeing her crack like that would be a reaction at least. He scoffed and rolled his eyes at Harper.

“I’m a big boy Sunshine Girl, I can take of myself. I have been taking care of myself a lot longer than you have. I bet up until you came here mommy and, if you had one, step-daddy got you everything your heart desired?” He eyed her again. “Yeah. You look like the type who would burn a hole in mommy and daddy’s check book.”


He raised an eyebrow when Harper failed to come up with an insult for him. He tilted his head back a little. “I don’t need you caring for me. I don’t need anyone caring for me. My mom has been completely fine with my attitude towards others. I haven’t seen her emotionally scared from it. So don’t worry about it okay? I may be arrogant but I have a good sense of self-preservation. You can’t get hurt when you---“ Gavin stopped. His lips grew tight. Why the hell was he saying all of this? He leaned in a little more, his eyes narrowed on hers. “Caring about myself is all I’ve ever done and it hasn’t steered me wrong yet.”

Gavin’s head followed Harper as she plopped herself down on the grass. She looked like a four year old who wanted that last cookie and wasn’t going to budge till she got it. The next step would be holding her breath until her demands were met. How childish. It was secretly kind of endearing but childish.

“Well princess, if that’s how you want to play it. But I think you’ll find that I’ll have you in checkmate. It’s just a matter of time.” Gavin eased himself to the ground placing the journal in his lap. He hands flew back over the cover as soon as Harper made mention of it. Gavin’s ears turned a light shade of pink for only a split second. He let out a small chuckle and inclined his head to Harper. “I don’t write poems sweet heart. That’s your department.” It was a lie of course. Sure, Gavin had written a few poems in his spare time but if anyone were to get wind of that it wouldn’t end well. Some things were meant to stay secret.