Love, Hate, and Teddy Bears

The rumbling of loud voices in the pavilion made it nearly impossible to pick out any specific sentence. Octavian's cold gaze scanned the residents of the meeting, his eyes clearly avoiding Reyna, who stood at the head of the table. His nearly-decapitated teddy bear sat on the table in front of him, while a fresh one was dangling in his hand. The incomprehensible jumble of voices became too much for the blonde. Suddenly, Octavian's threatening voice rang clear through the chaos.
All eyes were on him.
Before he could open his mouth to say what he had originally planned on saying, thunderous footsteps echoed around the stone pillars.
"Who in Jupiter's name..." He began to hiss, facing the culprit of the angry footsteps.

It was a girl unlike anything he had ever seen. Her fiery red hair bounced around her shoulders, her shirt was laced with streaks of multicolored paint. There were even marks on her jeans of what looked to be Greek letters.

The girl stormed across the room until she was facing Octavian. Before he could open his mouth to say something snarky, her eyes flashed a foggy green, and her hand came in contact with his face. The boy flew into the nearest pillar, where he then crumpled into a skinny heap.

"That was for Percy." She growled.

Reyna walked briskly around the table, hands folded neatly behind her back.
"May I ask why you did that, before I restrain you?" She asked, her lips pressing into a straight line.

The redhead shrugged, her nose crinkling slightly.
"He tried to overthrow Percy Jackson from his position." She waved her hand dismissively. "Plus, he mauls teddy bears."

Reyna sighed heavily, a headache starting to surface between her eyebrows.

"What is your name?" The praetor asked, crossing her arms.

"Rachel," the stranger replied sweetly. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Though, I feel like there should be an 'Oracle of Delphi' in there somewhere."

"Rachel?" A groggy voice chuckled. "Your name is just as idiotic as you look. Oracles are pointless."

Rachel glanced at Reyna, who then gave her a tired nod of approval. Though she may have been the Oracle of Camp Half-Blood, they had no quarrel with her.
How she had gotten inside the camp, well, that was a story for another day.

The redhead crossed the room in a few swift strides. She grasped the front of Octavian's toga, and hoisted him up against the pillar. The boy kept his gaze forward, not looking at the girl.

"Listen here, you little punk."

Suddenly, he cleared his throat. Rachel heard something in his hand shift.

"Want one?" Octavian asked quietly, still holding the teddy bear firmly in his hand. "It's the best brand... I-in my opinion."

Rachel creased her eyebrows in a mix of confusion and horror. It must've been cursed or something equally torturous.

Octavian brought his gaze up to meet the redhead's. A small smile was evident in the corners of his mouth.
"If it was cursed, would I be holding it? Do you really think I'd be that stupid?"

Rachel shrugged, still keeping her fingers locked around a fistful of his toga.
"Yeah, actually. I kind of do."

Nevertheless, she gingerly took the gift he was offering her. When torturous pain didn't ensue, she took it completely into her hand. A puzzled look was evident on her freckled face, but at least she had accepted the bear.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Rachel asked, cradling the bear in her arms.

Octavian rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, his cheeks a cherry red color.
"No girl I've met has ever had the guts to infiltrate enemy lines, crash a war meeting, and give the augur a light concussion, all for the sake of her friend." He stuttered. Rachel loosened her grip on his toga, and he dropped to his feet.

"That's what friends do." She replied simply, suddenly feeling awkward and out of place with her bright orange, paint splattered shirt.

"Oh," was Octavian's response.

Rachel rocked back and forth on her feet.
"Maybe if you weren't such a jerk all the time, I'd do the same for you someday."

Octavian's blush deepened, standing out on his pale face like a sore thumb.

"Really?" He mumbled, almost inaudibly. He'd never had a real friend before.

"Yeah," Rachel nodded, pulling a pen out of her hair and jotting down a few numbers on his hand.
"Give me a call when you decide not to be a jerk."
And with that, she turned and exited the pavilion, the teddy bear still tucked safely in her arms.