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As with many of the games at Camp Half-Blood - the non-violent ones anyway - this game was started by the Aphrodite Cabin. It was an old game, said to have been started by Aphrodite herself. At lunch that day, the whisper went out: "Poor Pussy after lunch. Pass it on."
It was the Athena brat who whispered the message into Clarisse la Rue's ear. Annabeth Chase was so small compared to Clarisse that she had to partially stand up just to reach. She put her lips to Clarisse's ear, brushing the shell of it. Her exhale ghosted across Clarisse's cheek, smelling of sweet strawberry jam and nutty peanut butter.
Clarisse's heart skipped a beat at Annabeth's closeness. For a moment they were frozen in time together.
Then Annabeth sat down again.
Clarisse passed the message on to an undetermined kid beside her, Chris.
During summer, the campers weren't allowed to eat together. Mostly because there were so many of them. Three hundred demigods attended during the summer and the number dropped down to fifty for the rest of the year.
With the announcement of the game, lunch seemed to drag on.
Clarisse waited impatiently, drumming her fingers against the wood of the table and sneaking glances at Annabeth.
Annabeth rattled on about the forts in North America. She tilted her head from side to side a lot while she talked, making her curly blonde ponytail swing in tandem. Everytime it swung toward Clarisse, it brushed her arm and she got a whiff of Annabeth's demigod scent: a mixture of old books and freshly sharpened pencils.
Clarisse loved how Annabeth smelled. The moment lunch was over, Clarisse was on her feet. "You're going down, wise girl," she shouted at Annabeth, jabbing a finger between Annabeth's shoulder blades for good measure. How she longed to trace her finger down Annabeth's spine, teasing a shiver from her. But she didn't. Instead, Clarisse pulled away and stormed out of the dining pavilion.
Annabeth hurried after her and then overtook Clarisse in a sprint down the hill.
Clarisse roared and raced after Annabeth. "Gonna get you, Athena girl!"
"You wish!" Annabeth shouted over her shoulder. She whipped her Yankees baseball cap from her back pocket and disappeared.
They always played Poor Pussy in the meadow. It was spring and the wildflowers were in full bloom. Everyone gathered together, most of them already partnered up. This was almost a courtship ritual so everyone played with their romantic partner or the person they wanted to be their romantic partner. Only the new kids at Camp tended to be with someone they weren't interested in.
Silena, head counselor of the Aphrodite cabin, began to explain the rules. One partner got on their knees in front of the other and meowed as pitifully as possible three times. The standing partner would pat their head and say "poor pussy" each time. If they laughed, they had to get on their knees and be the poor pussy.
Clarisse looked around for Annabeth. "Come on, princess, don't keep me waiting," Clarisse growled. She crossed her arms and took a sturdy stance with her feet apart, showing that she could stay here for as long as Annabeth wanted to hide.
It was not a surprise when Clarisse felt Annabeth tap her shoulder from behind.
Clarisse turned around, made sure to rise to her full height to tower over Annabeth. "On your knees, princess," she said, a growl in her voice. Her heart raced and her palms sweated. Subtly she rubbed her palms on her shirt.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Someone's eager," she teased. Looking into Clarisse's eyes, Annabeth sank to her knees with slow grace. Her eyes were the gray of tempered steel, bright and cunning and deadly. She had such beautiful, piercing gray eyes.
Clarisse's mouth went dry at the sight of little Annabeth on her knees. She noted that Annabeth's face was at crotch level. This revelation sent a sharp tingle of desire through Clarisse's abdomen. She was suddenly aware of her own heartbeat and how it throbbed between her legs. Clarisse flexed and reveled in the small pleasure it brought her.
"Meow," Annabeth said cutely.
"Poor pussy," Clarisse crooned. She patted Annabeth's head. Her hair was soft against Clarisse's fingers like silk. For someone who claimed that vanity was against her, Annabeth sure spent a lot of time brushing her hair. Clarisse was sad to pull her fingers back.
Annabeth's eyes widened, part of her pitiful act. She stuck out her bottom lip in a cute pout. "Meow," she tried again, sounding more grumpy and bratty than pitiful.
Clarisse snorted and hoped it sounded dismissive instead of as the sign of amusement it was. Grumpiness was Annabeth's natural state and Clarisse loved that about her. "Poor pussy," Clarisse said, barely able to keep her laughter at bay.
They looked at each other.
Annabeth's eyes narrowed.
All around them were other campers meowing.
One more meow to make Clarisse laugh.
Annabeth closed her eyes and bowed her head. When she looked up at Clarisse again, it was with wide gray eyes filled with tears and a quivering lower lip. “Mew,” she said, letting out the tiniest squeak of a meow. It was high-pitched like a kitten’s meow and it was completely out of character for Annabeth.
Clarisse bit her cheeks to keep from laughing. Seeing beautiful, proud Annabeth on her knees meowing like a tiny kitten was too much. A giggle slipped out.
Annabeth’s quivering lips turned up in a smug smile. “Got you!” she shouted and leapt to her feet. She put her hands on Clarisse’s broad shoulders and tried to push her down. Annabeth was a strong girl but she couldn’t even make Clarisse budge.
“That wasn’t a laugh,” Clarisse said, rolling her eyes. Where Annabeth touched her shoulders, she felt warmth seeping into her skin. It was all Clarisse could do not to close her eyes in bliss. She wanted Annabeth’s clever hands on her for forever.
"Yes it was!" Annabeth protested, stomping her foot. She pushed a little harder on Clarisse's shoulders.
Clarisse resisted for a few more seconds before she allowed herself to be pushed to her knees. This wasn't surrender; it was a tactical battle move.
Annabeth let her fingers linger even after Clarisse was settled in front of her. Her gray eyes held heat as she gazed down at Clarisse. She licked her lips, her cute pink tongue dragging slowly across her bottom lip. "Well?" Annabeth prompted, raising an eyebrow and affecting her most bored expression.
Clarisse was a tall girl even for a child of Ares and on her knees this felt like an advantage. Her face was about even with Annabeth's chest. Annabeth's chest was so flat she never had to wear a bra and Clarisse could see her nipples through her shirt. Clarisse's mouth watered at the thought of kissing and licking and sucking on Annabeth's little tits. A wave of hot arousal washed between her hips. "Meow," Clarisse blurted out.
Not her best meow.
Annabeth didn't look impressed either. "Poor pussy," she said unsympathetically, patting the top of Clarisse's head. Though it was less patting and more lightly running her fingers through Clarisse's brown hair.
Clarisse needed to up her game. She didn't want it to end in a tie, which it often did. They were both competitive girls and Clarisse burned with the desire to win. Annabeth found winners impressive, even if she resented losing. Get your head in the game, Clarisse. She was going to have to go all out to win. Clarisse smirked up at Annabeth.
Annabeth's confident smile dimmed a little, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Me~ow," Clarisse said, making her voice low and sexy and teasing. She lifted one hand off the ground and did a little cat claw move.
The laughter was immediate and surprised; Clarisse caught her off guard. Annabeth was still laughing as she ran her fingers through Clarisse's hair and said, "Poor pussy. You looked ridiculous, Clarisse."
Clarisse kept the smirk on her face so that Annabeth wouldn't see how much she liked being stroked. She knelt for a few precious seconds more, before shaking Annabeth off and rising to her feet. "I may have looked ridiculous but I still won. Another point to Clarisse and none to the little Wise Girl."
Annabeth stuck her tongue out at Clarisse and pulled a face. She punched Clarisse's shoulder. "This time, maybe. But next time I won't go easy on you."
Clarisse caught Annabeth's fist in her hand and squeezed until Annabeth squirmed. "Good," she purred. "I love a challenge."