A knife in the dark

Clove was lying on the floor in the Hermes cabin, silently listening to the whispers around her. She seemed to be the talk of the day, having a Goddess to charm her upon arrival, interacting with Septimus and the son of Apollo. All the drama was added to by the various rumours, which the younglings were discussing. They were discussing what Aphrodite had said, about her having a 'dark past' and they were very curious what that was. Clove didn't consider her past to be dark, it had been a happy childhood, apart from her mother. Yet she'd taken care of that and no longer had any trouble with her mother. Clove, by now irritated by the talk of the other kids, opened her eyes and grabbed one of her knives. Thunk. The knife landed in a dartboard and a dead silence fell over the little group. Thunk. A second knife joined the first one. "Talk on. It's not like I can hear you." Clove said, throwing another knife in. The little group broke apart and ran off to their places on the floor and a few ran to bunks. Clove watched them run with a great satisfaction, before getting up and retrieving her knives before heading out.

Clove could almost feel a bunch of eyes on her back. She was pretty sure that at least half the cabin was awake by now, as she hadn't bothered to be silent. She chuckled as she walked around the silent night. She didn't really know where she was going but she didn't care, she could sleep nearly any place. In the end, her feet carried her to a beach where the weather was just as she liked it, stormy with a good amount of large and slightly destructive waves. With a very happy sigh she felt the storm try to move her body. The wind blew through her hair and the cold bit into her bones but she was happy. This was currently a place of destruction and chaos and that was where Clove felt most at home. She threw her arms back in exultation and let the wind that carried over the sea rage around her, her back turned toward the place where camp was. She laughed loudly and slightly insane when a noise behind her made her turn around.

She wasn't the only one out and about at night. There was another camper at the beach and for a moment she wondered if her little scene in the Hermes cabin had gotten her aa follower but she dismissed the idea. It wasn't likely people would follow a knife throwing maniac with a dark past around. No, it was more likely an accident that there was somebody there but Clove still took hold of her daggers and readied herself to throw in case it was needed. "Who are you? Name yourself." She shouted, letting the wind carry her voice to the other person. She waited for a response in silence, although the storm was anything but silent. She didn't care, she needed to know if somebody needed a trip to the infirmary.

Alex had been laying on a bunk in the Hermes cabin. It had been his turn as him and another kid took turns. "Dude get out of the Bunk.. It's not your time bro." The kid said grabbing a knife and threatning Alex. Alex pulled his hat up laughing. "Kid... Get that knife out of my face before I hurt you... I kind of like you.. So dont make me have to be the one who broke your arm." Alex laughed. The boy backed off. Alex smiled and started hearing rumours about one girl. Alex looked at the one girl, and then looked at the kids. As he was about to get up and tell them to shut up, the girl had thrown a knife and everyone was silent. Alex chuckled, and the girl had left. As she left, Alex picked up the knife from the wall. "Pfft. I guess that was enough to show you your lesson." Alex said. He put on his braclet that would turn to a sword, and a watch that turned to a shield. Alex decided to go to the beach. But to relax at night, he took off his shirt, and a whole bunch of girls looked at him. One girl got up to flirt with him, "Not today, cutie." Alex said and started walking toward the Sound. Alex would usually be in the other part, where the rich people stayed at. Alex didn't really like being a celebrities son.. But it had it's perks.

As he lie on the beach, Alex's hightened senses from training in the Himalayas where coming to use and he could tell easily someone was out there at night. Even when his eyes were closed. Alex opened them and popped his knuckles. The girl who had thrown a knife and that everyone was talking rumours about was there. Alex wasn't going to pay her any attention until she had said "Who are you? Name yourself." Alex was deciding that he wasn't going to answer, but after a few seconds he got up and said "Alex Jones... Now... Who are you?"

Clove shifted her daggers around a time or two, more out of habit than out of fear of nerves. The wind was still blowing fiercely and so she was still at ease. "I'm Clove. Don't bother to ask for a last name, I don't use one." She said casually. She refused to accept her last name, as that was the same as accepting her mother in her eyes and she had a very deep grudge against her mother. Actually, she was holding several grudges at the same time. She was willing to stick her knives into all people who knew her last name to make sure nobody would know it but herself. "So what bring you out in this weather?" She said with her typical smile, judgemental and slightly arrogant. Most of all though, it was mocking with an evil undertone.

She looked out over the ocean, imagining sinking ships and the panic that the crews would have. It made her smile her favorite cruel smile. "Don't you just love storms?" She asked the boy and turned to him with her wicked smile. "All the destruction and panic, the fear and discomfort." Clove said dreamily. She just loved those things. "Claimed or did you meet your parent yet?" She asked, wondering for a moment who her father was. All her mother hinted at was that he was a criminal or just a cruel man. Not something that she should be proud of but all she wanted was to know who she was trying to please, who she missed in her life growing up. She had longed for a father to train her, show her how to fight and such things. It was all she missed growing up, although almost killing her mother and temporarily turning her into a coma patient (if she could believe the news), was one of her best childhood memories. All the laughs she and her friends had about that still made her feel like she was in the best place in the world. Yet her friends were not here and so she couldn't be.

Alex moved his neck around, then the girl had said "I'm Clove. Don't bother to ask for a last name, I don't use one." Alex looked at the girl, "No prob.. I already knew." Alex said. As he had known things about the girl using his Sherlock Holmes type of deduction. The girl seemed like she had problems with her parents and alot of times when you did that you wouldn't say your last name. Alex saw the storm. Alex didn't mind the storm, when he was in Australia he went bolting across a field of lightning thinking he could survive it. He knew that day what Electricity smelled and tasted like. "So what bring you out in this weather?" Clove had asked. Alex shrugged "Boredom." Alex said to the girl. Alex had been very bored.. But also not wanted to show that he was copying the girl by leaving the Hermes cabin. Alex scratched his abs. Wincing a bit by the scar that went from the bottom of his chest to the bottom of his abs.

Alex looked out as some thunder sounded and then Clove said "Don't you just love storms?" Alex looked at the girl. Mentally unstable are we? Alex shrugged off the thought and then said "Not really... I guess not... At times the sound of rain and some thunder is relaxing for me.. But I spent 4 years in the Himalayas so it's not really new for me." Alex said taking one of the knives Clove had thrown in the Hermes Cabin. "I believe this is yours." Alex said handing it to her. "All the destruction and panic, the fear and discomfort." Clove had said. Alex didn't show it because he was trained to show no emotion at times like these. "Hobbies of yours?" Alex asked in a normal way. Not making it seem like he was making a Witty remark. "Claimed or did you meet your parent yet?" Clove had asked. Oh she means UNCLAIMED or did you meet your parent yet. Alex said smiling and said "Nah.. I can wait honestly didn't grow up with a mother.. My dad was always too busy fiilming movies it dosen't matter."

Clove didn't like the fact that the guy had just preteded that plenty of people drop their last names due to parent issues. She had some.. pretty crazy things in her past but unlike others, she didn't forgive or forget. She'd never return to her mother, unless it was to kill her. She'd been quite cheerful hearing her mom had been in a coma for a short period after Clove had thrown that knife in. Well, that and slightly more. Clove raised her eyebrow when he answered with boredome. "You could trying boring yourself to sleep." She said dryly. He did nothing to increase her comfort. He was much too casual and Clove wasn't used to that unless she was with friends, assaulting people.

Clove smiled. "It's not really special but I do like it. Storms might be violent but they are dependable." Clove said with a mysterious smile. He gave her a knife back she'd left in the walls. "That was supposed to be a reminder not to keep me up by talking about me." Clove said with a laugh. She listened to him telling her it was his mother and he acted like a rich kid. Had they met on the streets, he'd had a group of vicious mortals and one demigoddess at his throat in seconds and not for the money. Yet she was still happy by the storm and so she'd give him a chance to proove he wasn't spoiled rich stuff. She nodded. "No known parent, isn't that lovely?" She asked with a laugh.

Alex yawned, Alex's sense came up, "Lightning Just dropped in between 89.3 kilometres from. Easily landing in the ocean." Alex said, sounding like a robot. "Sorry 'bout that.. Habit...." Alex said. The girl had said "You could trying boring yourself to sleep." Alex smiled at Clove. "I could do that. Or I could come out here and enjoy a storm.. Or preferably go to the Arena.. Even If there a guards there.. It'll be easy to get past." Alex said. Alex had one time thought about doing an Ocean's Eleven heist on the Big House. To get all the Drachma he could. Alex would have to keep that Idea in mind.

"It's not really special but I do like it. Storms might be violent but they are dependable." Clove had said giving Alex a mysterious smile. Sexy smile. Alex thought to himself. "In what kind of situations would you find storms dependable? Getting to sleep like I do?" Alex said wondering if he might've misunderstood the question. When Alex had given her the knife back "That was supposed to be a reminder not to keep me up by talking about me." The girl had said. "Thought you might've wanted it back.. Best not leave the things like that around the Hermes Cabin.. They might use this to prank you... But I'd advise them not to do that." Alex said. "No known parent, isn't that lovely?" Clove had asked. Alex was starting to be a bit surprused by the girl. Evil, Alex just went with the flow. He didn't want to have to get in a fight and send a girl to the infirmary or vice versa.Alex popped his knuckles. "I learned this cool thing in France." Alex said throwing the knife out towards the sea and the knife came flying back like a boomerang. Alex had caught the knife between his index and middle finger. Dropping the knife.

Clove looked at Alex with a raised eyebrow. "I don't use storms to sleep. I just enjoy them." She said with an eyeroll. Who used storms to fall asleep? You were supposed to be scared by them or love them. Clove loved them as they were dependable. Very dependable. "You see, you always know what to expect of storms, chaos, destruction and trouble. You know that crazy things are coming your way while in the quiet times, anybody can randomly decide to kill you." Clove said with a smile that clearly stated she'd have no problems with killing him. She wouldn't really have trouble killing anybody though, if her own life depended on it. She hadn't killed anybody yet but she had lost count of the number of people she had landed in the hospital for fun, let alone those she'd gotten there for self-defense. Her guess was about 250 in the first catagory, although some had only needed minor stitches and such, like that girl she'd cut up for direction, well, for fun mainly but the directions had been convienant.

Now the other catagory had less people but most of them had multiple trips on her name. Her old gang, bless them, had often let her deal with people as she knew the best ways to hurt people without killing them. Each of them had a nickname, all 5 of them. The leader had been Meatcleaver, an eighteen year old guy with blonde hair. He tended to have fits of anger to take out on random people. There was Glamour, a blonde girl, rich like no others and very allergic to bees. Her brother, another blonde boy, although skinnier than their leader who they called Johnny-boy for some strange reason. People never really thought that those two were dangerous but they were proved wrong so often it almost wasn't funny anymore, althought the disbelief in the eyes of their victims was. There had been another girl, big, brawny with brown hair and a nose that wasn't straight after she'd been punched in the face by Glamour. That girl had been Brawler. Clove herself had been Daggerdeath out of respect for her skills with knives and daggers and Clove still tried her best to live up to that reputation.

Clove watched, unimpressed as he did the boomerang thing with her knife. She took it from the boy and threw it at a tree with such force that it went is as ifthe tree was butter. The entire balde was in the tree and Clove turned to the boy with a grin. "I prefer a properly penetratig knife over a boomerang, although I do see the use." She said with a smile, walking up to the dagger and pulling it from the tree again. It wasn't as easy as it seemed but Clove had needed to do it on several occasion and so it went fairly smooth by now. "I was told the reputation of the Hermesians. For that reason I didn't use my own knife to leave behind." Clove said and laughed. She'd taken one lying near her piece of floor and thrown it to stick there. That way she didn't lose any and the warning remained. "But thank you anyway. An extra knife is never a bad thing."

Alex looked at the girl,was she trying to scare him? Alex wouldn't really be scared by the girl as the screaming fangirls where scarier than her. Or it was the fact that he had seen a whole lot of things that he never really showed emotion. "I don't use storms to sleep. I just enjoy them." Clove had said. Alex nodded his head in somehwat of an agreement. "You see, you always know what to expect of storms, chaos, destruction and trouble. You know that crazy things are coming your way while in the quiet times, anybody can randomly decide to kill you." Clove had told Alex. "And who'd kill me?" Alex asked the girl all mysterious like. People had tried to kill Alex, and he could die, but unless you studied all around the world and all those things, it'd be less than likley that you would have a chance at killing Alex. Alex looked at the girl, "And It wouldn't be the first time someone decided they would try and kill me... Although it back fired... Not that I killed the person or anything.." Alex said motioning to the scar on his abs where a master swordsman had cut him.

Alex was in the Warehouse high in the hills of Los Angeles. He was on a case.. Aparentlly a supposed suspect had been in underground fighting and Alex was going under cover to the fights and to fight. He looked at the list. His first match was against the Suspect. Alex had used his somewhat of an encyclopediatic mind to study the man. A master swordsman and a extremlly lethal death machine. As Alex went to attack the man pulled out a black bladed Katana and slashed down towards his head. Alex evaded the attack by it narrowly missing his nose but a deep cut on his abs. Alex had found it to be cheating and when the man slashed at Alex again Alex moved towards the side and swept the person on their feet. As Alex saw that the man was using the same type of blade used on the victim and other things.. He deduced that the Swordsman was the killer. Alex held him down and punching him in the face. Something coming over him. Alex had never been like it before. The police came in and arrested all the people they had caught. And had gotten Alex away and stopped him from punching the man.

Clove had been talking, but Alex hadn't really listened since he was remembering the memory. All he had heard was "But thank you anyway. An extra knife is never a bad thing." Alex looked at the girl. "Welcome.. You should've seen their faces when you left.. Some of them peed their pants." Alex chuckled a bit. "So.. What are some of your hobbies?"

((So yeah.. My comma buton is broken..))

"Who would kill you?" She asked confused. Then she remembered, not everybody grew up knowing there was always somebody that wanted them dead. For Clove it was the only normal thing, she'd had it all her life. At first her mother, after that at least half the people on the streets. It was as normal as breathing to have people wanting to kill you. Not for him it seemed. "Nobody I guess. You're just too likeable." She said but she didn't really mean it. She was slightly annoyed by him but not enough to use her knives on him. He seemed like he could be acceptable rather than just annoying. She dismissed him as soon as he told her he didn't kill him. In those cases it was kill or be killed. Now Clove had never killed anybody herself but her friends had. Once, Clove had complained about being left out. Meatcleaver, feeling sorry for her had bought her a knife. It's blade was curved like waves and wickedly sharp. There were snakes on the handle and a few gems in their eye sockets and such. All in all, far more than they could afford. It wasn't one to kill with though, not for Clove. Meatcleaver had joked and said she'd make a mess of that, leaving them to suffer far longer than needed. Clove had used the knife for torture and it was by far her favorite knife.

Clove mere shrugged when he told her of the effect she had on the younglings, it was nothing but the usual. There had been a time when all she had to say was 'boo' and all the kids around her would run screaming. Johnnyboy had loved it and had made her do it again and again. Clove hadn't minded, it was funny to her to see how scared people could be of a young girl such as herself. "Well, I'm used to it. I doubt it's as funny as adults being scared of a little eleven year old girl." She said without much interest. Seriously, she'd seen a lot of scared and even though she enjoyed the fear, she wasn't very impressed by it. It was just an amuzing detail in interacting with people.

"My hobbies..." Clove mused for a bit. Did she have hobbies? She guessed she did but she hardly expected Alex to see them as hobbies. She decided to go with something she planned to try out later. "Woodcarving I think. At least, I'm planning on taking it up as a hobby. I haven't had all that much time for hobbies in the past." Clove lied. Her little gang hadn't needed to steal, they usually prefered robbing and such. They did steal for the fun of it but not because they needed to. Stealing wasn't much of a hobby to begin with and Clove hadn't liked it at all. She prefered going to her goals without detours and pretences. Intimidating people for fun? perhaps not much of a hobby, although the knives did add something to it. Torture? Well, Clove had only tortured people who had threatened her gang in the first place so it's had been needed, not just for fun. It didn't really count. Hmm, she really hadn't had hobbies after all.

Alex sighed. He was being a complete idiot.. And Making himself look arrogant and acting like a retard. "Who would kill you?" She had said. "Nobody I guess. You're just too likeable." Clove had said. Alex sighed once again.. He wasn't mad. He would've done the same thing in her position. "I know a few people who would love to put a bullet in my head." Alex said. He could've gone and said 'I know a few people who would love to stick a knife down my throat.' But that would leave the girl thinking 'Me.' So Alex looked at the sky.. The strom was getting a bit weaker. Alex took out of his pocket two kunai knives. Alex looked at them. It was one of those times where you had no Idea that something valuable was in your pocket. He smiled and put on back. He spun it on his hands. "I got these in Japan. We were getting attacked and whole bunch of these went flying towards our head." Alex said not wanting to remember.

Alex had given her somewhat of a weird look when she had said "Well, I'm used to it. I doubt it's as funny as adults being scared of a little eleven year old girl." Alex smiled. "That sounds awesome. For me it's the opposite.. Till when I was twelve no one ever took me seriously. They just thought of me as a kid who went with the flow. Who never wanted to learn and when I said 'I'll kick your butt.' They thought I was being cute. Till when I was twelve and got so frustrated I challenged a dude twice my size and literally almost killed him." Alex said. Was he sounding too arrogant? "Sorry if I sound too arrogant." He said. He found it lucky that someone would be scared of an eleven year old girl. Alex then thought.. Using his good skill of deduction he snapped his fingers as if to say 'Eureka!' He decided not to say outloud what he had discorvered. That she was the Clove 'Daggerdeath' Taylor. Alex needed to watch his moves. He knew of her gang. He didn't care much for it. Altougth it had been one of Amercias most wanted. Alex didn't pay much attention to them.

After she said her hobby Alex said some of his "Well.. I like Marital Arts.. All types really Karate and Jeet Kune Do. I like to Parkour/FreeRun. I love to play basketball. And like to do swordplay. And with the accuracy you had on your throwing knives I cant believe you only like to woodcarve." Alex said in a friendly jokingly tone.

Clove smiled wickedly. "I know a few people who wouldn't love to put a bullet through my brain." She said. It was quite amusing to her how different her life was from most of the other people at camp. The self torture at their past or the joys when finding out their life wasn't as bad as that of others, Clove hadn't done either of those two. She was proud of her past, which most other people might be sad about, although they wouldn't have lived. Meatcleaver had tried accepting another member into their group but he'd only seemed strong. He had wanted their protection, which Clove herself had managed to have him say. The poor kid had been bleeding and screaminng a lot when he finally confessed. Clove had just laughed at him as Meatcleaver had finished him off. They had been deaf to his begging and had laughed about it later.

Clove wasn't too impressed with his knives, there was history, but not a pleasant one, judging by his expression. The knives themselves weren't too bad but not Clove's style. He seemed impressed that she'd been feared at the age of 11 but appearantly, nobody had taken him serious. Why should they have? He was just a boy at that age. Even if he had been a fighter he hadn't done anything impressive enough to make the newspapers and such. Clove had managed that all in one day, the day she'd left the cage that was her home. Clove shot Alex a calculating look as he said he'd almost killed the guy. That was mildly interesting. "And are you proud of that? Do you wish he had died or that he'd been less damaged?" She asked. It didn't matter all that much but if he could find pride in the almost kill, he wasn't too bad.

She saw two pieces of a puzzle click in his mind and guessing what he was thinking wasn't too hard. He'd probably remembered exactly who she was. Clove smiled her most wicked smile, the one they had printed on the newspaper to make sure people were actually careful around her. She kept her smile when he talked about his hobbies. "Well, I prefer the bloody types of fights. I want to see the effects that I have on people." Clove said and laughed loudly. "As for other hobbies, let's just say none of my activities count as hobbies." She said. She grabbed one of her knives and smiled at him. "So, did you want to test my skills and let me kill a moving object?" She said, throwing a piece of wood at him. It was rather small and not the most easy thing to hit, even less so when it would be moving.

Clove was as good as stunned at finding out he wasn't listening properly. Was it just her or was he checking her out? What was happening to the world? Shouldn't guys seeming interested be in the same unlikely catagory as penguins launching a nuke at the north pole to steal the ice from the polar bears? And the end of the world, by nature. Clove would have thought one guy was strange but now she had one Aphrodite infected love story, one random bloke checking her out and a stalker. Had Aphrodite cursed her for some reason? What made it obvious? Well, Clove assumed normal people didn't call it nice that somebody had a lot of people wanting her dead.

Clove laughed loudly, the cruelty evident again. "So you're one of those guys that need a reason to do harm?" She asked, already guessing the answer. She smiled, shaking her head. "Your kind is so funny." She said and suddenly all emotions made way for concentration. Her eyes were intent on the piece of wood and her hands loosely held two throwing knives. Her first knife landed in the piece of wood at the first curve, the second not long after he'd kicked it away. She quickly grabbed one last knife and threw it into the piece of wood. Clove got up, still staring at the piece of wood intently for a couple more seconds.

Clove let her concentration go and looked over at Alex. "Good enough for you?" She challenged, the wicked smile popping up yet again. He'd better be impressed, she was satisfied with that one. Apart from that, Clove wasn't one to show off, if she did it was accidental and while training. Clove loved using her knives but she refused to do it just for show, usually. What was the use of working the knives when you weren't serious about it? So Clove had been very serious about hitting the piece of wood three times. Prove your value.

Alex looked at Clove. Wondering if he was going to be able to walk out of there without one of the snapping and trying to fight to the death. Alex's money.. Which was alot of money was on Clove. Just because it seemed she'd have a shorter fuse than him. Alex closed his eyes like he was sleeping and then opened them back up. A really long blink. Alex looked around the beach.. The Storm had stopped. Once in a while you could still hear the thunder crashing but that was all. "So you're one of those guys that need a reason to do harm?" Clove had said. "Yeah I guess I am." He responded her without hesitation. He hated looking weak infront of people. But with the people she had met and the way they acted.. It was hard.

After she had thrown two knives at the pieces of wood. Alex nodded at her. "Good enough for you?" Clove had said. Alex laughed. "Good? No. Not at all." Alex said. After giving a long pause he said "That was great!" He said showing that he was joking. "I can show you a couple things I do.. And tomorrow if you don't mind. You could show me the rest of your skills in the Arena?" Alex asked. He didn't have plans for the following day. Just to be flirted by the Aphrodite girls. A breeze came through Alex as he forgot he didn't have his shirt on. He didn't really care.

Clove had a very smug smile on her face when he'd said her knife throwing skills were great. She shrugged. "Sure, show off a little." She smiled wickedly at Alex. "Although I'm not too sure about tomorrow. I have other plans you see. If you happen to run into me the day after, we'll go to the Arena." Clove said. She was actually planning to take a break from here and run away, permanently. Clove didn't know her little plan would fail due to another guy at camp. Yet at that moment Clove really believed she'd be out before the next sunset. This place was pretty messed up if you asked her and so she didn't intend to stay much longer.

Another reminder about her disaster of an arrival was the Goddess that just popped in. "Aphrodite." Clove said with murder in her voice but was, naturally, ignored. Clove had to hold back a laugh when Alex got a mirror. Okay, so Aphrodite was vain but giving your son a mirror? Strange. Yet on one point it was a rather great gift. Alex could stay in touch with his mom a lot easier than any of the other kids at camp. Not to mention strange mirror calls to other kids. Clove was sort of happy for Alex, although she hated his mother for all she was worth. The reason why became even more obvious when Aphrodite called her a nuisance. She wasn't as bad as the Love Goddess thought she was. Seriously. She just liked a little doom and destruction, nothing wrong with that. Clove had a cruel smile on her face when she turned to Alex again. "You know what? I really really hate your mother. But congratulations anyway." She said with a shrug. It was all the same to her.

Clove realised he was confused by finding out who his mom was. Clove had no pity at all for him. "I'm sure you'll fit in just fine." She said with a grin. "They could use a little spice in there. Besides, who else is going to get me make-up if I ever have to wear it?" She teased. She was sure Alex wasn't the only Aphrodite kid who wasn't a walking disaster around weapons but she wasn't going to tell him that. Forget it, she had a reason to get on his nerves now. "Perhaps you'll learn to do braids too and we can go shopping for a nice dress. It'll be lovely!" She teased. This was just perfect for her mood.

"Knowing her background? Knowing my background with her. Your mother made me fall in love with Andrew as I arrived at camp and it still didn't fully wear off." Clove said, her expression very close to that of somebody who's about to throw up. "I don't want to be in love. It's by far too much trouble." She said, pouting. She didn't mention Septimus, the life-saver. He managed to get on her nerves, save her life and give her the idea he wanted her dead, and that all in one afternoon, didn't prove much good for the future.

Clove thought about it for a moment. "A little bit of both perhaps? I mean, not everybody manages to have some Goddess like her for a girlfriend, even if it never lasts." Clove said with a shrug. Aphrodite had to be good at what she did if she managed to seduce the likes of Ares. But then again, all was fair in Love and War so perhaps they just matched up perfectly.

Clove watched as he walked up the bench, claiming he'd show off. What was he going to do? Lift it? Clove didn't expect him to be impressive, she'd seen too much to make that easy and he was the son of Aphrodite. Clove wondered if he had charmspeaking abilities and hoped to the heavens he didn't. She totally hated it when his mom had used that on her. He hit the bench/tree and broke it straight through the middle. Nice. Clove thought but she didn't say it. How could she? "Wow. You just destroyed public property boy!" She chided him with a laugh. "Now where am I supposed to sit down and relax?" She had managed to relax a little, which wasn't easy for Clove. She was impressed but not showing. If Alex had more brains than his average sibling, he'd know impressed when he didn't see it.

Clove was a little dim at that moment. When Alex said something about hoping people wouldn't think he was... gay? Was he worried that people thought he was gay? Clove thought it was a rather amuzing idea but she couldn't really imagine people thinking he was gay. I mean, she didn't see him dragging handbags around or giggling like a girl. He was such a normal guy that it seemed rather unlikely. She got him a glare when he responded to her matter of make-up. "Don't sound so surprised. I have used the stuff before. It's hard to crash a highschool dance without the stuff plastered on your face and we used to crash a lot of them." She said. Yes, even her gang had attempted to go to prom but somehow it ended in disaster more often than not.

"You think of Aphrodite a little stereotyped. It just means you are somebody who can love and inspire love. It doesn't make you weak you know. Maybe it makes you stronger, I've heard that people get stronger when they are willing to fight for the things they love. I wouldn't know what it's like." Clove said with a shrug. Love, what did it really matter? Not much to her. It should have bothered Clove that she didn't really know anything that she loved so much she'd die to protect it. Or at least, nobody. Her knives were dearest of all things to her and they didn't exactly do love for love. Now Meatcleaver, he was the only human she knew that she might be willing to die for, if he loved her that was. But Clove didn't know if he did so she wouldn't risk it.

He put down another tree trunk for her and Clove smiled. "A true gentleman. If you're anything like your father I understand why Aphrodite liked him. Gentleman are hard to find these days." She said stuck out her tongue to him. Clove did sit down on the tree trunk and she saw in his face that he was about to pull up something. Her history perhaps? Clove suspected that he knew so he might as well throw it out there. She was Clove Tyler, the almost killer. She was Daggerdeath, even though she'd never killed a human, she left that to Meatcleaver. Yet there was something about it, like a confession that was more than just him knowing about who she was. It made her curious.

Yet at that point a bunch of monsters decided to break through the bushes and Alex just had to challenge Clove. As if he'd win, he had a melee weapon which meant the monsters actually had to get close for him to kill them. Clove didn't intend to let that happen. She took out her throwing knives and threw them into the monsters, throats, hearts and brains. In a matter of seconds four of the monsters had exploded to dust already and Clove already had her next load of knives ready. "You know, they have to get here before you can kill them." She said, throwing her knives into the throats of another two of them.

Alex lay to the side of the tree trunk as he didn't want to share a spot with Clove. He felt it was more respectful to let her have all the space she could have. He looked out to the moon and yawned. "Don't sound so surprised. I have used the stuff before. It's hard to crash a highschool dance without the stuff plastered on your face and we used to crash a lot of them." Alex looked up at her and his eye almost twitched. One of those proms was mine! I went with Lisa McNelly! You had no Idea what she was going to do after prom! Alex shrugged the thought off.

Then the monsters had shown up. Alex had challenged Clove and she had quickly taken down the monsters. Four. If Alex was sure there where six left. If Alex was able to kill those he'd win. Alex took off bolting faster than any average person. He had ran all long time around with weights on his legs in Tanzania. Alex stabbed down on the Lion Woman and then the Hellhound. He gave a leap and jabbed at three sprites. Five. The last one. It was too far. Alex wondered if he should kill it or let Clove kill it and let it be a draw. Alex couldn't reach it so he had no choice.

When Clove saw how Alex reacted to her comment about crashing proms. Had she possibily crashed one of his? It was possible, if not likely. She just smirked for a bit and didn't comment on it any more. Well, that was the plan. "I remember this one dance, I was wearing this black dress. It had a very open back. Quite the fancy thing it was but the school was rather fancy. I don't remember exactly what happened but I'm pretty sure that Johnnyboy decided to have the chandeleer crash. How lovely that one was, it surely made my top ten." Clove said, remembering fondly. "You should have seen them running." Clove said and giggled.

But there was a tiny problem. Alex managed to get five out, leaving only one for her, which was down in a second. They had a tie, which meant she needed to practise more. "Congratulations." She said. "You're quite talented." She said and went to retrieve her throwing knives. It wasn't like she had an endless supply of those. After retrieving every single knife she'd thrown she went back to Alex, cleaning them as she went. It was mainly blowing the dust off them and some required a small dip in the water. When they were all clean, dry and back where they belonged Clove sat down on the log again and stretched. "Well well. Wasn't that exiting?" She said with a bored tone of voice and a large yawn.