Title: These Scars Tell Me Who You Are
Rating: T
Word Count: 6,100+
Characters: Jason/Reyna
Summary: After that way she'd quite literally knocked him off of his feet, it's become his personal mission to earn her trust on his own.
Note: Inspired by lyrics from "Misery" by Maroon 5 – Sometimes these cuts are so much deeper than they seem/You'd rather cover up/I'd rather let them bleed
These Scars Tell Me Who You Are
He'd heard that Gwen and Dakota brought a girl back to Camp, but honestly, he sort of figured Bobby was just messing with him or something. After all, happening upon a gorgeous, Roman girl—a daughter of Bellona at that—while returning from a quest seemed pretty far-fetched to Jason, let alone convincing this girl to travel back to Camp with them.
But apparently it's true.
The crowd surrounding the infirmary by the barracks is enough confirmation for Jason.
Frank's standing at the door, trying to keep them back, and looks visibly relieved when he spots Jason and Bobby approaching. Jason's a bit surprised that Cassia isn't with him, but he quickly pushes that thought aside. Frank calls out their names and the crowd looks at them, immediately parting as soon as they see Jason.
(Jason still doesn't understand why people so willingly obey him, but this time around, he's not going to complain.)
"What's her condition?" is the first thing that Jason asks when he reaches Frank.
"According to Cassia, there are just a few bruises and cuts," Frank reports, "but I think she's okay."
"What happened to your arm?" Bobby asks.
There's a cut running up his forearm and it looks fresh, like it just recently happened. Frank touches it with his hand and actually sounds a little embarrassed when he admits, "Oh, she did it when they were bringing her in." Jason arches an eyebrow at him. "She hates boys."
"You're joking," Jason says, eying the size of the cut. It's impressive, and very obviously indicating that she was aiming for his side and somebody managed to prevent her.
"No," Frank insists, "I mean it. She hates boys. She refused to let me or Dakota within three feet of her without going on the offensive." He shrugs almost helplessly, like he can't believe it, either. "She's only letting Gwen and Cassia in the room with her. Dakota's inside, too, but they have him on the other side of the room."
Jason shakes his head a little, maybe in disbelief. "Bobby, stay out here with Frank, okay? I'm going to see if they need help."
Bobby nods, and Frank murmurs, "Good luck," as he passes.
Dakota's standing right by the door, chewing on the end of his Kool-Aid straw like he tends to do when he's drained his drink and needs something to preoccupy him. He's just staring ahead, and Jason follows his eyes down the rows of beds and across the room to where Gwen and Cassia are standing at the very end.
Jason steps in their direction but then Dakota is grasping his shoulder to stop him. "I wouldn't, if I were you," he advises, and Jason notices a purpling bruise on his arm.
He looks back towards Gwen and Cassia. Is this girl really that opposed to men?
"I need to," Jason tells him.
Dakota presses his lips together in a tight line, seeming to hesitate. He knows Jason, though. He knows that Jason worries about others, always needs to know if they're taken care of and if there's anything he can do to help. Maybe that's why all of the campers seem so loyal to him.
"Fine," Dakota says, releasing his shoulder. "But when she knocks you out, don't say I didn't warn you."
Jason gives a small grin. "I'll keep that in mind."
He starts making his way across the room, and Gwen and Cassia turn to look at him when they hear his footsteps coming closer. Cassia's eyes widen in a look of almost pure terror, and Gwen nearly flings herself across one of the beds as she exclaims, "Jason, wait!" before he's gotten even halfway across the room.
And that's when Jason sees her.
She's sitting on the bed with Cassia standing beside her, staring back at him. Her eyes—as dark and as sharp as obsidian—narrow almost immediately into slits upon seeing him, and even from this distance, he can tell that there's pure hate behind them. Her hair is as equally dark as her eyes, tumbling in knotted waves over her shoulders and down her back. And despite the piercing glare she just gave him, he can't help but feel something tug at him when he sees her fair skin marred by scars and bruises.
It seems wrong for someone as beautiful as her to have to experience pain, though he doesn't doubt that she can take it.
He takes a few steps closer and the girl tenses, gripping the edge of the mattress by her knees tightly. Cassia takes a half-step to put herself a little more in between him and the girl, though this doesn't seem to pacify her at all.
Gwen quickly makes her way to him, grasping his arm and stopping him a few beds from where they are.
"I don't think she's in the mood to see anyone, Jason," Gwen tells him, her tone warning.
"I need to make sure that she's alright."
"Reyna is fine." (For a brief second, he lets her name sink in—Reyna. It sounds as beautiful and intimidating as she seems.) "She doesn't want company," Gwen insists.
"Just let me talk to her. You know me, Gwen. I'm not going to hurt her."
"I know, but…"
She bites her lower lip hesitantly, glancing over her shoulder at Cassia and Reyna. "Don't you trust me, Gwen? Because if you don't trust me, then of course she's not going to," he points out. Gwen looks back at him. "If this is about my safety, don't worry, Gwen. I'll manage."
Gwen glances over his shoulder, probably at Dakota, before looking at Jason again.
Then she sighs.
"Just be careful," she tells him as she steps back, and he's not sure if that's for Reyna's safety or for his. He nods and then turns his attention back to Reyna. Cassia is still standing slightly between them, and again, he can't really tell if that's because of her concern for Reyna or her concern for him.
"Cassia," he says, walking towards them again.
She looks panicked still but moves out of the way and towards Gwen.
The entire time while this is happening, Reyna has her eyes locked on him. He holds his hands up, almost in surrender, but she doesn't react to this. He keeps walking until he's standing at the foot of the bed next to hers and she still isn't giving any sort of reaction to him, not even the hostility he was expecting after Frank and Dakota's injuries.
"Hi," he greets casually. Ever so slightly, she loosens her grip on the mattress. He takes one more step in her direction and adds, "I'm Jason."
And then she lunges for him.
... ...
The first word that comes into Reyna's mind when she thinks of Jason Grace is persistent.
She doesn't know what his problem is.
She figured she'd scare him off even a little bit like she did with those two other boys the moment she tried attacking him, but when she pinned him to the ground, her forearm pressed against his throat, he didn't show an ounce of fear. And as much as she'd like to blame it on him not thinking she could hurt him, she could tell that wasn't the case.
He just simply didn't care if she hurt him or not. No matter what she could've done to him, she could tell that he wouldn't try to defend himself.
It irritates her.
And in the following week since she'd arrived, he simply doesn't let her out of his sight.
He always seems to be hovering near her, or inviting himself to stand next to her, offering her food or drinks or a tour or some small story or fun fact as she's learning her way around Camp Jupiter. He also doesn't seem to be bothered by her attitude, either oblivious to her trying to get rid of his company or just ignoring it.
"Jason is just like that," Gwendolyn had told her when she'd asked why he was being so persistent. "I think you freaked him out a little with all of your scars."
"So he thinks I'm some sort of damsel-in-distress, huh?"
Gwendolyn blinked at her. "Of course not." she'd said. "He just wants to make sure that you're okay."
"They're just cuts."
Gwendolyn looked at her like she wasn't quite getting something. "Reyna, the first time he laid eyes on you, you were worse for wear and attacked every boy that came within three feet of you." She handed Reyna a purple shirt and met her eyes as she added, "It's not the scars on your skin that worry him."
Reyna narrowed her eyes a little and Gwendolyn shrugged.
"You'll understand it someday."
Reyna just sighed a little in frustration, changed into the clothes Gwendolyn gave her and let her words preoccupy her for the rest of the day.
There's a knock on the door of Gwendolyn's villa (where she's currently staying while the Senate is still discussing her situation) one morning and, unsurprisingly, Jason Grace is standing on the other side when Reyna goes to answer it.
"Gwendolyn already left," she tells him.
"I came here for you," he replies, and then holds up his basket. "I brought breakfast."
(This has become their typical greeting now, a simple acknowledgment that he plans on accompanying her for the day and that she's not going to stop him from doing so.)
This morning the basket is filled with muffins that smell like they're freshly baked, and she glances at him, wondering for a fleeting second if he'd made them himself. Either way, they smell kind of delicious and Reyna hasn't eaten breakfast yet, so instead of taking the basket, she opens the door a little more and walks back inside.
He seems surprised, still standing at the door as she's grabbing two plates from the cabinet and two spoons from the drawer.
She sets everything down on the table and looks at him.
"Are you coming in or what?"
He blinks.
Then he's giving her this smile that accentuates the small scar on his lip that she's noticed this past week and hasn't asked him about yet, walking in and pulling up a chair as he asks, "So, what's on our agenda for today?"
... ...
He catches her looking at it sometimes, running her thumb over her skin as if it would smudge if she did it often enough. It's probably the only ordinary thing about her, because everyone tends to stare at their tattoo after they've been newly accepted into the legion.
Everything else about her, however, can hardly be considered ordinary.
Like the fact that she doesn't wear any makeup or spend any time on her hair other than brushing it in the morning and braiding it haphazardly over her shoulder, yet she still looks as beautiful as a Roman goddess while wearing the same purple Camp Jupiter shirt and jean shorts that everyone else wears. Or the fact that she's probably about his age, maybe even a year or two younger, but seems to be as intimidating and confident as the members of the Senate. If you look at her as a Roman, it's a very coveted quality.
If you look at her as a girl, though, it's alarming.
He can tell that there's more to her story—a lot more than what she's given up to the Senate. He wants so badly to find out for himself, because he just knows that her loathing of the male gender has everything to do with her past, and he supposes that he could find out if he asked Gwen.
But after that way she'd quite literally knocked him off of his feet when they first met, it's become his personal mission to earn her trust on his own.
... ...
Gwen (who insisted that Reyna call her that instead of Gwendolyn from now on) manages to convince her to go swimming with everyone else at the lake, saying that it's one of the rare days that campers actually get that kind of leisurely time to do with as they please.
And it's not Reyna's never been swimming before. She grew up in Puerto Rico and spent most of her life on Circe's island.
She's used to the water.
But it's not until Gwen tosses a purple bikini in her hands that Reyna realizes this is probably the first time in a while that she's going swimming with so many boys—one of them being Jason Grace. As terribly cliché as that might sound (because they watched a lot of chick-flicks on the island), the thought of it makes her uneasy.
"Why purple?" Reyna had asked to keep from refusing, because she liked Gwen enough to try and be compliant with the girl sometimes.
"I kind of have this theory that you'd look really sexy in purple," she'd laughed.
So that's how she'd ended up at the lake in the early morning, watching as a few dozen campers are splashing water at each other while someone, somewhere, was making the food (she could smell it a mile away) that other campers are eating on their picnic blankets.
"Gwen," someone exclaims.
A boy is jogging up to them, raising a hand in their direction while the other clings to a clear bottle filled with a red beverage. Dakota—Reyna's pretty sure his name is Dakota. And the only reason why she remembers is because he helped bring her to Camp Jupiter and because he always seems to be with Gwen, or at least looking for her.
"Hey, Dakota," Gwen greets. "You remember Reyna, right?"
Reyna could tell that this was mostly as a courtesy. Everyone in Camp knows about her. She just hasn't really interacted with them.
"Yeah," Dakota says, looking at Reyna. "Glad you could make it. Are you hungry?"
"Not particularly."
"Well, should we go swimming and work up your appetite?" Gwen asks cheerfully, taking Reyna's hand and tugging her towards the lake without waiting for an answer.
Reyna glances around, not exactly oblivious to the fact that people are staring at her. Not everyone, obviously, but even if only one person had been trying to look at her, she would've felt it. She's always been sensitive to that kind of stuff. Now that she's out in broad daylight and dressed in practically nothing, it's impossible to ignore the eyes on her.
"Hey," a voice greets, grabbing Reyna's attention from everything else.
Jason.
He's standing at the edge of the lake, waving up at them from the water with his eyes squinted against the sunlight.
"Go hang out with Jay," Gwen says, pushing Reyna forward a little. "I'll stay up here with Dakota."
"Why are we staying up here?" Dakota whines.
"Because," Gwen huffs, "you've probably been drinking Kool-Aid all morning and you'll pass out before lunch if someone doesn't keep an eye on you." She smiles at Reyna, nudging her forward again. "I'll join you in a little bit, okay?"
"Sure," Reyna says.
Then Gwen turns back to Dakota and grabs the water bottle from his hand, ushering him away. Reyna fights a smile as she pulls off her robe. She folds it neatly before setting it on the grass, and when she looks up, Jason has an amused smile on his face. She rolls her eyes at that. (Whatever, it's Gwen's and she doesn't want to just toss it aside.) Then she takes a few steps until she's walking into the water, which is cold and oddly refreshing in comparison to the tropical water she'd grown up with on the island.
She wades until she's waist-deep and Jason walks over to her.
"What?" she asks because she can tell that he really wants to say something.
"It's nothing."
"Jason," she exhales, "You might as well just say it."
He grins, albeit somewhat nervously, and rubs the heel of his hand into the back of his neck. She rolls her eyes again. Honestly, she knows that she has a lot of scars that he can probably see, not to mention a lot more that he can't unless he knows where to look. It's not that big of a deal.
"Just don't try to kill me for saying this." She meets his eyes. "You look really good in purple."
"What?"
He holds his hands up in surrender and briefly, she thinks about the day they first met. "It's a nice color on you," he explains. "You look… Well, you always look beautiful, but—"
"What?" she repeats.
"Sorry," he says quickly, "Was that too pushy?"
"No, it's just—"
"No?" He grins again. She doesn't know why that makes her feel so warm. "So I can call you that from now on?"
"No!"
He laughs and she exhales in frustration, crossing her arms over her chest. She's less irritated by Jason than she is by the fact that his laughter makes her want to laugh, too. Either way, she looks away from him and scowls at the water. At least until it's being splashed into her face and she's sucking in a surprised gasp.
"Jason!"
... ...
He goes with her on her first quest and yes, he kind of nagged them into letting him go. He doesn't care that everyone knows that, either, because it's kind of obvious to everyone in Camp that she's unofficially his responsibility. Not that he thinks she'd be thrilled to hear that, of course. Actually, knowing how she is, she'd probably hate the protectiveness. Because it's not like she really needs him to look out for her, anyway. He's seen her spar with Gwen. She knows how to fight and she's pretty awesome with any kind of weapon.
But then they run into a small band of pirates and she freezes, and they barely manage to escape, ducking into a run-down motel to get out of the storm.
He pulls up a chair by her bedside after Bobby's gone to get them something to eat, unties the scrap of his shirt that's around her arm so that he can change the bandaging.
"The bleeding's stopped," he says, mostly to himself.
She nods.
He wipes the gash gingerly, feeling himself cringe at the sight of it. He's seen worse (unfortunately), but the fact that it's her…
"I'm sorry about today," she says softly. "It's just that… Running into those pirates brought up…"
She trails off, obviously hesitant to go on. But as he's looking at her, he has this feeling that it's not because she doesn't want to tell him. She just doesn't know how to.
"Don't worry about it."
"Jason—"
"Tell me in the morning," he interrupts, pressing a clean pad to her wound. She meets his eyes and he thinks he sees them glisten with tears she refuses to cry. But then the corners of her lips curve up into this soft smile and he knows that she's going to be okay.
... ...
It's Gwen's idea to throw a small party for Reyna when she moves into her own villa.
Naturally, Reyna tried to but couldn't refuse.
Besides, it's not like it's a party. It's basically just Gwen and Jason and a few of their friends that Reyna's met a few times before because of the two of them, like Dakota and Bobby and Cassia. Frank and Jacob are also here with a few others, and there're less than a dozen people in her living room so it's not that bad.
"So, you like your new place?" Gwen asks when Reyna's alone in her kitchen, refilling her punch.
"It's nice," Reyna says, meaning it.
"It'll look even better when you start personalizing it," Gwen promises. Then she links her arm with Reyna's and adds, "Sorry for the home invasion, by the way."
"Not sorry enough to call off the party," Reyna mutters, making Gwen laugh.
"I can't believe that they let us even have one," Gwen admits. "Though, it's not like this is really anything. You should see us during a festival."
"Is it really that bad?"
"We're all about the business every other day of the week," Gwen reminds. "Festivals, holidays, birthdays… any reason to celebrate is a reason to let loose a little—or a lot."
Reyna smiles in amusement, bringing the rip of her glass to her lips to take a sip. That's when Jason walks into the room, laughing with Frank about something, and Gwen lets go of Reyna's arm to wave at Frank and give him a hug, saying something about how it's crazy that they've been here for half an hour and she hasn't given him a proper hello.
"I like your place," Jason says to her. She hasn't spoken to him since he first got here with Jacob, but that's because Dakota was telling her a rather interesting story about his first quest and she didn't get a break from him until she went to refill her drink.
"My villa looks exactly like every other villa," she points out.
"That's what I meant."
She grins, shaking her head. "There's a whole lot of space here that I probably don't need."
"It only feels that way because you haven't filled it with your own stuff yet," he reassures. "Want me to ask if they'll let us take you to Ikea?"
"No," she laughs. "Circe hated their furniture."
It isn't until she's already said it that she realizes this is the first time she's talked about anything—or anyone—from her past with him, or since she got here, really. Jason raises his eyebrows a little and she bites the inside of her cheek.
"Well, just because Circe hated Ikea, does that mean you have to?" he asks, and it doesn't sound like he knows what Circe she's talking about. Or maybe he does and he's just pretending not to, because he wants her to tell him herself, like before. At first she thought he only spent so much time with her because she was a mystery he was trying to solve.
But ever since her first quest, whenever something happens like this, when her past slips out in bits and pieces, he gives her space.
"Sometimes it felt like that about everything," she admits. "Circe… she was—"
"Reyna," he interrupts, smiling. "It's okay. You can just tell me—"
"Later," she guesses. "I know."
"Good," he says. "Until then, do you think they'd count shopping as a quest if I say that we're hunting down supplies for you?"
She laughs.
... ...
She's kind of obsessed with jelly beans. It's hilarious, if not extremely cute. (And no, he's not telling her that. He likes being on her good side, thank you very much.)
He doesn't really know when he figured it out, but they were sitting at the table in Gwen's kitchen when Gwen pulls out this bag from the pantry, cuts it open with a pair of scissors and pours all of the jelly beans into a ceramic bowl. She sets it in front of Reyna casually, without saying anything, like this was normal for them.
Then when he reaches for one, Gwen swats his hand away and looks at him like he's crazy.
Reyna continues flipping through the papers in front of her, either unaware of this exchange or ignoring it as she scoops jelly beans into her palm and pours them into her mouth, chewing as she reads.
"I'm getting a cavity just looking at you," Jason says after a moment.
Reyna arches an eyebrow as she looks at him. "I take great care of my teeth."
"All of that sugar can't be good for you."
"Tell that to Dakota."
"Reyna," he says, watching as she scoops another handful into her palm. "Do you usually finish that whole thing in one sitting?"
"When people aren't trying to have a conversation with me, I do." She sounds totally serious about it.
He laughs, shaking his head. Gwen sets a bowl of Skittles in front of him and says to leave Reyna alone, and he's not sure what he finds more amusing—Reyna's jelly bean addiction or the amount of candy Gwen keeps in her kitchen.
He starts snacking on his Skittles after Gwen tell them that she needs to find Dakota, telling them not to burn down her house as she's heading out, and for a few minutes, they're just sitting at the table and snacking. Then when he looks up again, he finds her staring at him.
"What?" he asks.
"That scar on your lip…"
"Oh, that. I tried eating a stapler when I was two."
"What?" He rolls his eyes. "And you tried telling me what I shouldn't eat—"
"Shut up!"
She laughs and he steals a jelly bean just to spite her.
... ...
It starts pouring suddenly while they're returning from New Rome, and they run into Jason's villa to get out of the rain since it's the closest one to them. He practically pulls out all of his towels at once so that they can dry off quickly, but since they're still wearing their clothes that are soaked completely through, they don't make much progress.
"We need to change," Jason says, teeth chattering slightly. "I have clothes you can borrow."
He walks towards his room before she can protest, and when she looks outside, she can barely see out the window because it's dark and the wind keeps throwing more rain against the glass, blurring everything.
Obviously the storm isn't going to let up anytime soon.
And obviously that means she's going to end up spending the night in Jason's villa, because there's no way he'd let her run back to her own villa in this storm, even if she wanted to. He's usually pretty compliant when she's being stubborn with him (which is, honestly, all the time), but he can stand his ground. It doesn't happen much, surprisingly enough, at least not with her. But when it does, it's usually because he thinks that something is potentially harmful to her, usually whenever quests or training are involved.
(She's become rather infamous for taking that stuff a bit too seriously, but really, isn't that what this is all about?)
So this time she doesn't even try to put up a fight, just accepts the clothes that he gives her—black sweats, a gray tee, white socks—and goes into the bathroom to dry off and change.
When she walks into the living room a few minutes later, there are blankets piled onto the couch and Jason's stirring marshmallows into two mugs of hot chocolate. He smiles when he sees her walk in, pops an extra marshmallow into his mouth before rolling up the bag and setting it on the table.
He hands her a mug when she makes her way over to him and smiles when she says, "Thanks," like he knows that she means it for everything else, too.
"No problem," he says, smiling.
She smiles back, holding his stare, and she realizes that she's become used to his smile.
Honestly, she's become used to him. She's used to finding him standing on her doorstep with breakfast in the mornings, and sneaking her jelly beans when they're not really supposed to be eating, and sitting in their spot in the back corner of the coffee shop where the chairs are the most comfortable. She's even become used to him being there for her. And not in the spoiling or babying way like she'd received on Circe's island, leaving her helpless on her own because she became too accustomed to people taking care of her.
But he's there for her for all of these small things—a bottle of water after War Games, silent exchanges during meetings, walking her home. Her dependency on him isn't like her dependency was on the island. She can survive without him just fine.
She just doesn't want to.
... ...
When she answers the door, the first thing he sees is her smile.
The second thing he sees is blood dripping down her hand and over her wrist from a cut by her thumb.
"I'm fine," she says before he can ask about it, obviously taking in his concerned expression. "I was distracted and accidentally shattered a plate in the sink while I was washing it right before you knocked. It's just a scratch."
"No, a paper cut is just a scratch," he corrects, taking her wrist gently and turning it to get a better look at the cut. "This is bleeding."
She rolls her eyes.
"Let's take care of this," he says.
He can tell that she's about to say something along the lines of how she would've done that already if he hadn't shown up, but she just sighs and steps aside to let him in. She turns the sink back on and starts rinsing the cut under the water, but when he opens her cabinet and starts searching for the bandaging, she tells him, "No."
He looks at her. "What?"
"It's just a scratch," she says again. "I just need to rinse it off. It doesn't need to be covered."
"You have to." She arches an eyebrow and he shrugs. "Okay, poor word choice, but it's a little more than just a scratch, Rey."
"I'll be fine."
"And you'll be even better if you wrap it up."
"I'll be fine," she repeats. "I've had worse scratches that I didn't cover up."
He nearly drops the bandaging.
She looks up at him suddenly, as if just realizing what she said. He clenches his teeth together a little tighter because, yeah, he remembers all of the cuts and bruises that Reyna was covered with when Gwen and Dakota first brought her back to Camp. They're mostly faded now, barely visible unless you know where to look for them. But it's kind of really sickening, the idea that someone, somewhere, would ever lay a hand on Reyna, especially like that. And it's not that he'd forgotten all about it, but how casually she brought it up startled him.
He shouldn't be this protective of her, but honestly, he doesn't care. He's always cared for others and hated when they were hurting, but it's like those feelings are intensified when it comes to Reyna. It's been like that since the moment he first saw her sitting on that infirmary bed.
And he knows that she doesn't need him to be protective of her. She does a pretty awesome job at looking out for herself. But it's almost as if he can't help it. He likes to think that's his compassionate side, as well as his Roman side with a strong need to defend. But what comes to mind is how an alpha male is protective of its mate—like wolves, almost.
He doesn't know why he thinks of it like that.
Something touches the hand that's squeezing the roll of bandaging, snapping him from his thoughts, and he realizes that it's Reyna. She grins at him, holding up the cut hand as she asks, "So, are you going to help me dress this or what?"
He smiles.
... ...
Reyna should've known that something was up when Gwen invited her to her villa and the door was cracked open when Reyna got there. Still, when she walked in, the last thing she expected was to be greeted by cheering and horns and a shower of confetti in her face.
"What's going on?"
"Do you not know what today's date is?" Gwen laughs, skipping up to Reyna and starting to pick out confetti from her hair. Behind her, Jason's smiling widely, still holding a party horn between his teeth. Dakota's there, too, a pouch of Kool-Aid in his hand as he's standing beside Bobby, Jacob and Frank, who're all holding small packages of confetti.
"I'm pretty sure it's not my birthday today," Reyna says.
"Good because that's not what we're celebrating." Everyone laughs. "It's been exactly one month since we first met!"
Reyna blinks a few times and looks at Jason, who nods at her. She thinks back through the days, trying to figure out how it's only been a few weeks. Honestly, it seems like it's been a lot longer than that since Gwen and Dakota first brought her to Camp Jupiter, but that's probably because so much as changed. Or maybe it's just that she's changed so much since then. The Reyna from a month ago probably wouldn't have recognized Reyna as she is now, friends with so many people—with boys—and surprisingly comfortable with everything.
Gwen pulls her into a hug, squeezing tightly, and Reyna lets out a laugh and hugs her back.
"I'll never forget how freaking strange it was to come across you in the woods," Gwen continues, making everyone laugh again. "And even though I'm sure Dakota was deathly annoying, you came to Camp with us, anyway!"
"Hey," Dakota protests.
"Camp just wouldn't be the same without you," Gwen continues as id Dakota hadn't spoken at all, beaming at Reyna.
"That's a bit of an exaggeration," Reyna points out.
"It really isn't," Bobby disagrees. "I've never seen anyone stand up to the Senate like you have during meetings, or make campers actually want to listen."
"The only other person that people usually pay that much attention to is Air Head over there," Gwen adds, nodding her head in Jason's direction. Reyna smirks at the nickname and Jason rolls his eyes. "Seriously, Rey, we're not kidding. You're kind of a big deal."
"And you don't act like it, either," Dakota adds. "That's what makes it so crazy. You don't even try and people still listen to you."
"You both should be nominated as a praetor," Frank suggests.
"No," Reyna says at the same time Gwen says, "That's a perfect idea!"
"I don't know, Frank," Jason admits.
"You know the campers need a strong voice to stand up to the stiffs in the Senate," Bobby reminds. "You guys would actually be perfect for the job."
Jason meets Reyna's eyes, and Reyna shrugs. Honestly, it's not the worst idea she's ever heard of. She grew up on Circe's island managing all of the paperwork and employees, so it's not like she'd be totally out of her element, even though it's far more serious on this level. And, okay, the idea of working with Jason like that isn't exactly awful, either.
"Well, we still have a few months until elections," Jason reminds, though the smile he gives Reyna somehow tells her that he probably shares her opinions on the matter. "Nothing needs to be decided now."
"Exactly," Gwen says. "Today is Reyna's day, so let's go in the living room and eat!"
Gwen links one arm with Jacob and the other with Frank, tugging them through the doorway with Dakota and Bobby tagging along.
Jason falls into step beside her. "Praetor Reyna," he says experimentally, making her laugh. "It kind of has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
"So does Praetor Jason."
There's a glint in his eyes. "Co-Praetors Jason and Reyna," he declares.
She grins. That does have a nice ring to it.
... ...
He has trouble getting the bag of jelly beans open and ends up slicing his finger on the corner, definitely drawing a bit of blood. Of course, this is the exact moment that Reyna walks into her kitchen with an empty glass, probably coming in for another refill. She grins at him and he rolls his eyes, amused.
"It's nothing," he says.
"No, a paper cut is nothing. This is bleeding," she teases, and he laughs, shaking his head. "Let's take care of this."
She walks over to her cabinet and pulls it open, scanning the shelves for a few seconds before reaching for whatever she was looking for. She pulls out a small box of Band-Aids with lightning bolts and shakes it in front of his face. He laughs a little harder. Okay, the possibility that she bought that particular pattern with him in mind is pretty awesome.
He holds out his finger as she administers the Band-Aid, grinning when she presses it on and crumples the remains, tossing them into the waste bin.
"Now I'll live," he tells her, "because this Band-Aid is keeping me from bleeding out."
"Baby," she says.
He holds his other hand over his heart. "Harsh," he jokes.
She laughs, opening the cabinet to put the Band-Aids back. "You should meet my sister, Hylla," she tells him. He stares at her and she closes the cabinet. "I guess I've never mentioned her or anything about my past, huh?"
"You haven't," he says. "But it's alright if you don't want to. You can always tell me later."
But then she smiles, looking up at him from underneath her long lashes. "Can it be later now?" she asks softly.
He smiles back at her.
"I thought you'd never ask."