like a dark comedy [open]

[clary]

Clarissa Gray was fairly convinced that she had to have some of the worst luck of all the people in the Legion, being stuck out on guard duty while it was raining, the soft constant drizzle slowly soaking her long auburn hair. Every once in a while she had to take her quiver and drain it of water to keep her arrows from getting too wet, and she was careful to make sure none of her arrows were damaged in the dampness. Her eyes continually scanned the perimeter around the Caldecott Tunnel, keeping an eye out for any arriving Legionnaires, but she highly doubted anyone would be able to find this place with the misty rain that seemed to cover everything and had been going on since this morning when she was first set duty.

Every once in a while she’d steal into the tunnel itself for some semblance of keeping dry, though the purpose was quickly becoming moot seeing as no matter how much time she spent in the tunnel, she’d still have to go out every few minutes and get a little wetter. By this point, there was almost no point of going inside every few minutes, but Clary persisted at it anyway, if only to escape the rain for just a little bit of time. After all, she wasn’t too huge a fan of cloudy and rainy days like this, though every once in a while she was sure that she could hear the distinct rumble of thunder. Or maybe there was construction going on somewhere near her. Being in California, there really was no way or knowing these things.

It wasn’t that this was a terribly bad day, but she would much rather be spending today playing war games or training in the archery fields. An excellent archer, Clary loved spending time getting bullseye after bullseye, drawing the irritated and somewhat jealous attentions from some of the older warriors. But it wasn’t that she could particularly help it - she was a daughter of Apollo, a direct descendant of the god of archery, so she was a natural hand with a bow and arrow. And add that with her eight years of service to the Legion, eight years of training and fighting monsters, it was only natural that her skill had only increased over time.

Besides, she’d heard from some of the Legionnaires that there was going to be a particularly fun war game today, and a monster they’d captured was going to be a part of the festivities. This, in itself, was rotten luck, because Clary always seemed to miss the best war games whenever they were going on. She wondered if it had finished by now, or if it was anywhere near dinner time, when she was supposed to be relieved so she could go eat, do a little bit of training before bed and (if time and circumstances permitted) a nice hot shower so she could warm herself from this dreadful cool drizzle. It wasn’t supposed to be this kind of weather in July, and that was probably what bugged the daughter of Apollo more than anything.

With a huff and squeezing some of the water from her now wet hair, Clary routinely retreated back into the tunnel for a few minutes so she could take a quick breather while still keeping an eye on the entrance to the tunnel. Nobody had shown up all day, and she highly doubted that anyone, not even a monster, was going to approach the service tunnel in this weather. Even a little bit of excitement would have been welcome with this monotone of a day. However, at the sound of someone’s footfalls in the tunnel itself, Clary shot to her feet, having been sitting down, turning around to anxiously face whoever it was that was approaching her.

[keericxi]

The rain was both a blessing and a curse as it fell over the camp in a fine sort of mist. It didn’t rain terribly often, but when it did, it made Kassia feel a little funny. Perhaps it was the fact that the feeling of the fiery energy constantly crawling just under her skin seemed diminished by the moisture in the air, but it made her feel both a little (and forgive the expression) under the weather and also a little relieved to know that there would be no chance of accidents where her particular abilities were concerned. That also meant that she wasn’t really feeling the special war games they were having today and as she had gone to participate, she was really doing rather poorly. It didn’t take long for her to get frustrated with the way she was already feeling and the inadequacy that presented itself in this particular weather. With a huff she’d retreated from the mass of Roman bodies that were clamoring with weapons, shoving her sword into its scabbard as she tried to find some excuse to slip off early.

A friend of hers came after her as she was skulking away from the games and asked her what was up, to which she expressed her previous thoughts with some irritation. Her friend was a sympathetic son of Venus who really preferred other things to the war game as well, but tipped her off that if she sent herself on an errand, it might be less likely that she’d be questioned for leaving the game. Kassia stopped to think for a moment about what sort of errand sounded legit enough to pull her away from the games when the boy suggested that she go check on the tunnel guards and see if they were faring all right in the rainy weather. It was an easy enough task that she took the out as soon as possible, heading towards her barrack to grab an armful of towels, an umbrella, and a power bar for whoever was on duty. When she had changed into something dry and slipped on her rain boots, she set off across the Little Tiber for the tunnel.

She heaved a big sigh as she put the umbrella over her and it kept her mostly dry, which meant she felt just a little more normal in the weather. She could still hear the clamoring in the distance which meant that the game still wasn’t over yet. She felt obscurely guilty for not being more excited that they’d had a special task, but her heart just wasn’t usually in that place when she had to use the beautiful works of art she forged for making war. Blame her soft vanity on her Venus heritage perhaps, but it was still there. Maybe it was why she got along with the Venus kids the best besides a few of her own siblings. She was at the entrance of the tunnel now and as she entered it, she flicked her fingers like she was holding a lighter and a small flame flickered into existence. It illuminated the tunnel a little more than it was in the dreary weather and she was careful to keep the flame away from the pile of towels she had. Seeing the figure of a startled Apollo girl, if she was to judge by the use of the bow and the vaguely familiar face, she continued towards her and ventured to say, “Umm… Hi there. I brought you some towels and a power bar in case you were wet and hungry… The game is still going, but it’s almost done, so someone should be along to let you go shortly.” She sounded a little awkward, but she hoped the other girl would appreciate the gesture rather than being annoyed by it or something.

Word count: 642
Notes: .oO(I'm sorry if it's kinda blah. I haven't got the hang of Kassie yet)

[clary]

When Clary could see that it wasn’t a praetor or a centurion who’d spotted her sitting down at the tunnel’s entrance, she let out an audible sigh of relief, brushing some of her wet auburn hair away from her forehead. She probably looked like a small drowned rat, but there wasn't much escaping that - not in this weather. Gripping her bow, she slung it by the string over her shoulder and approached the other girl in the hopes that this was her replacement for the next shift, but she was only barely disappointed. Because her eyes lit up at the sight of what the girl was carrying, even if she had no guise of being the next watchman (or watchwoman, as Clary was fond of saying).

”You are an absolute lifesaver, honestly,” Clary gushed, her hazel eyes bright with cheerfulness. This was certainly a bright spot and a very welcome gift. She hadn’t had the chance to eat lunch, being on guard duty, and upon seeing the power bar, her stomach involuntarily grumbled and she wrapped an arm around her midsection as if that would successfully shut it up. ”Thank you so much. How did you get stuck with this job?” The question was meant somewhat jokingly, considering as she was sure that this wasn’t exactly something this girl enjoyed doing. Clary knew that she definitely wouldn’t like being stuck with a job like this, but who knew? Maybe the girl was a legacy of Angerona or Cura or some other goddess that cared for people who needed it. Not that Clary wanted to classify herself as needy, but with her sneakers soaked through and a stomach about to devour itself and a mind that was about to implode due to boredom, she considered her situation pretty dire.

Gleefully, Clary reached forward to take the towels and the power bar out of the girl’s hands. She draped one of the towels over her arm as she tore open the power bar package and took a bite out of it. She very nearly took another huge bite out of it, but as Clary was a reasonably civilized girl and also didn’t want to seem like she had awful manners, she didn’t. And she chewed and swallowed before continuing too. ”I never thought I’d see the day when I’d say that a power bar hits the spot. I’m Clary, by the way, daughter of Apollo. You?”

After all, surely it was only proper to introduce yourself to a girl who’d brought a saving grace. She was only slightly disappointed that she technically wasn’t being relieved yet, but she nodded at the news that the game would be ending soon. That was good at least, she’d be able to grab some dinner. Maybe even be able to sit with… Clary’s face turned red at the thought and she banished the idea from her head immediately. She didn’t need to be thinking about that right now, and she doubted that he’d even want to sit with her for a meal. Her dating preferences certainly didn’t need to be analyzed right now, so Clary tried to force herself to completely forget about it.

”Thanks, though, really. This is great. It’s a huge help - I’ve been out here almost all day, if the whole ‘I-look-drowned’ thing didn’t give it away.”

[keericxi]

The rain sometimes wasn’t kind to Kassia, and as she made her way through the tunnel to the girl who was standing guard, she could tell that having had to stand out in it all day as a guard could make the moisture equally as taxing for others. She saw that the girl had gotten up and was coming towards her now and she hastily snapped out the reedy flame that had been hovering over her fingers and made her offering of goodies. She couldn’t keep the smile off her face when the girl’s eyes had lit up at the stuff and that had made her guilt about leaving the games early go away. She’d definitely done the right thing. There was just a little pity blended in with Kassia’s relief as she heard the grumble of her query’s tummy and thought that maybe she should have come earlier. “Sure, it’s all good, I’m just sorry I didn’t come earlier!”

There was a slight awkwardness in her expression when Clary asked how she’d gotten pinned with this job, and she was kind of concerned that her answer might make her seem weak, but she figured the girl she was talking to was so relieved that it might balance out. “We’ll, to be honest the rain makes me feel a little out of sorts so my heart really wasn’t in the games today… So someone tipped me off that the guards out here might be miserable and I thought I could at least do something more useful than lose.” She smiled a little tentatively at her own remark, knowing that what she’d really rather be doing is crafting something in the forges where it was hot and dry and she felt most like herself, but this was okay too, she decided. Even if the tunnel was damp.

She held the load in her arms out for the girl to take and stood politely as Clary began to eat and dry off. The silence stretched as the girl chewed and Kassia wasn’t sure how to break it, but it turned out she didn’t have to. “Heh, well. When you’ve been standing in the rain all day on an empty stomach, I’m sure lots of things start sounding good in someone’s head. But those bars aren’t the usual ones that taste like crap anyways, thank the gods.” She held out her hand for the other girl to shake as she introduced herself. “Very nice to meet you. Kassia, daughter of Vulcan, at your service.” She smiled at Clary, hoping that the replacement was coming soon. In the time it had taken her to make it down here, the game was probably about over now so it was probably soon. “It’s okay, even sopping wet, you don’t look anything like a drowned rat. You ever seen one of those things? It’s pretty nasty. And you aren't.”

She knew she was rambling now, but whatever. She stopped her train of thought when the blush on the other girl’s face caught her attention, though, and her eyebrows rose. “Uh, everything okay?”