Hunter's eyes opened and he rolled to his back, staring up at the Jake sized impression above him. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes again, hoping to go to sleep again, but nothing happened. He took deep breaths, but he couldn't sleep. He had slept, but he had strange dreams. He didn't remember all of them, but he knew Arabella made an appearance once or twice. Then again, so did a giant donut wearing a haltertop.
After a few more minutes slipped by, he swung his feet over the side of the bed and stood, stretching a little. It was still a little early, but he obviously couldn't sleep anymore. He changed clothes and grabbed his sword then headed for the arena, hoping to get there before all the dummies were taken. Though as he stepped outside he realized that it wasn't likely that anyone was going to beat him there. It was still dark out. He yawned a little as he made his way to the arena and he closed his eyes while he was walking. He opened his eyes just in time to bump into a person.
"Whoa. Watch where you're going." Hunter opened his eyes and saw Ethan stumbling backward, glaring at him. "Oh..."
"Hey, Ethan." Hunter said quietly, as he straightened back up and looked at Ethan. "Good morning."
"What's so good about it? Nothing has happened." He said, turning back to the arena. Hunter raised an eyebrow and then followed him into the arena. Ethan walked over to the nearest dummy and started to stretch a little while Hunter went to a dummy a few places down. Hunter drew his sword and did some stretches with it, shooting glances at Ethan occasionally.
"So, what are you here so early for?" He finally said, trying to maybe have a peaceful conversation with the one guy he hated more than Brett. Brett got his comeuppance and he was dumb enough to get caught before Arabella fell for him. Ethan lied to her to break the ice then kept it up. And they love each other. "I just couldn't sleep."
"Yeah, uh...same here." Ethan said, looking over for a second. "I've been stressing a little bit lately." Hunter nodded softly then cleared his throat.
"You alright? Anything big?" He said as he spun his sword. "Problem with Arabella?"
"What do you know about it?" Ethan barked, taking a step toward Hunter.
"Nothing. Chill. It was just a guess." Hunter said, putting his hands up in surrender. He might not like the guy, but he's had enough attacks by boyfriends for one lifetime. "So, it is Arabella, then?"
"And if it is?"
"Well, I was just thinking that if you needed someone to talk to...I've given the offer to Arabella and since you two are together you're welcome to it."
"What, so I can talk about all of my feelings and bear my soul to you? Then maybe I can put my head on your shoulder and cry? Bury my troubles in your welcoming bosom?" Ethan scoffed a little then faced the dummy. "Yeah. Thanks, but no thanks."
"Wow. I totally get why you had to lie." Hunter mumbled, turning to face the wooden dummy in the room instead of the human one.
"What'd you say?"
"Nothing. Well, the offer is out there. And the fact you haven't made any gay jokes, while somewhat surprising, means that it will remain out there. I'm just saying." Hunter took a fighting stance and gripped his sword. "I guess, I'm just used to the Caleb format of Ares kid."
"Caleb's a jerk." Ethan said with a sigh. Hunter raised an eyebrow at him.
"I thought I saw you guys palling around during capture the flag last year." Hunter said quietly. Ethan scoffed and turned to him.
"First of all, he's the cabin leader. Second of all, he's one of the best fighters in the camp. Third of all, just because I hung out with him doesn't make him less of a jerk." Ethan nodded and then turned back to his dummy.
"Well, I can agree with you there." He said, stabbing his dummy.
"Why do you think I helped Arabella beat him up that game?" He said finally. Hunter sighed and glanced over.
"Right." He said under his breath. "So close..." Hunter slashed across the dummy's throat then up under one of the arms, quickly pulling his sword back. He took a step forward and swung in a wide arc through the gut then made a downward strike through the head.
"Y'know, I gotta be honest. You're not bad." Ethan said, looking at the dummy. Hunter stopped and let his sword hang at his side. "I mean, The whole cabin heard about the dummies incident last year, but he just said it was luck. You're actually not bad. Just...unpracticed."
"Oh. Thanks. What a resounding endorsement." The two of them laughed for a second.
"How'd you become friends with Arabella?" Ethan asked, leaning up against his dummy, his spear sticking out of its neck.
"I dated Brooke Stephens last year for a few weeks. Honestly, the only good thing that came out of that heinous thing that could be seen as a relationship was the face that I became friends with Arabella. I mean, on top of that we both kind of...broke up with our respective others at the same time and we ended up brooding about it at the same time."
"You dated Brooke Stephens? Damn..."
"Right. The important part of that speech."
"Sorry. She's hot stuff. But anyway, it's good to see she's got friends other than her gay brother and all the other bitchy dandies in the Aphrodite cabin." Ethan said with a laugh that Hunter didn't particularly share. "And that Jake guy. Kind of a dork to be honest." Hunter froze and raised an eyebrow. Could have been a facial tic, but we'll say it's an eyebrow raise.
"I'd advise you to stop talking about that, right now." Hunter said, turning back to the dummy. The training dummy, that is.
"Oh, right. Forgot he was your brother." Ethan said, sounding almost genuinely apologetic. "Forgot he was a demigod, really."
Hunter threw his sword down so hard it stuck straight up. "Listen to me, stop talking about him like that. He's just as much of a demigod as everyone else, alright? Let's just stop talking about him." Ethan put his hands up in surrender and turned back to his dummy. Hunter took a deep breath and yanked his sword out of the ground, closing his eyes a moment. Don't attack him. Don't attack him. You'll lose. Just leave. You've had enough practice. At least you will be after you're done kicking him in the nuts in your mind. "Yeah. I think I'm going to see if breakfast it open. I'll talk to you later, Ethan." Hunter said, sheathing his sword.
"Later." Ethan said with a half wave as Hunter turned to leave.
Is it possible to pass down douchebaggery through genetics? He thought to himself as he walked. He got all the way to the mess hall when he finally saw someone emerge from the Hermes cabin. Jake.
"Hey, what are you doing up early?" Jake said, meeting Hunter at the door of the cafeteria.
"Oh, just uh...trying to keep my rage under control. Same old, same old."
"Oh, gods. What is it this time? Brett again? Does it necessitate a prank?" Jake said, rubbing his eyes and yawning.
"No, no. Just...weird morning. Breakfast will fix it. Come on."
"Well, I won't keep you waiting. Let's go." Jake said, walking inside and getting in line. Hunter wasn't all that hungry. He wasn't really all that hungry due to the bad taste in his mouth from that last conversation with Ethan. Hunter quickly moved through the line, grabbing a little bit of everything, then sat down across from Jake. What bothered Hunter the most wasn't the fact that Ethan didn't like Jake. Jake was a bit of an acquired taste and kind of a dork, but he was Hunter's brother and friend and no one is going to talk about him like that. What bothered him the most was that conversation kind of showed how much Ethan didn't actually care about Arabella. Hunter had thought that even though he was lying, he still cared about her. That he had only used the lie to break the ice. Now that assumption was in jeopardy.
"Hunter. Earth to Hunter." Jake said, snapping his fingers in Hunter's face.
"Hmm? What?" Hunter mumbled, shaking himself a little and looking at Jake.
"Wow. You're just so interesting in the mornings. I forget about that because you rarely get up before...anything."
"Oh. And you're just the life of the party?" Hunter asked, taking a sip of cranberry juice from his cup.
"Yeah. That's my thing. Yours is uh...witty retorts."
"Huh?"
"Right. Never mind." Jake said with a laugh. "Well, we'll find you a thing. It'll be good."
"Gee, thanks, Jake."