This is my first story, no flames please! This fic takes place a couple of hours after the battle with Gaea. I've only been able to find a couple of stories about Reyna and Malcolm so I decided to take it upon myself to write one! So without further ado, Blush!
All right go to Rick Riordan.
Reyna was tired. All she really wanted to do was flop onto that deliciously soft-looking couch in the Big House and sleep for a week, but Reyna had duties as a leader and a diplomat to fulfill. She had to take the official Camp Half-Blood tour, courtesy of Annabeth. While Reyna thanked the gods that it was Annabeth instead of someone who might ask too many questions, she was getting sick of Annabeth's running monologue about the camp.
"...but Chiron thought that 'poop pile' was inappropriate for..." Annabeth paused, looking at Reyna over her shoulder. "I was doing it again, wasn't I?"
Reyna nodded, giving her a wry smile.
" Sorry, I know you want this over with," Annabeth said, grinning. "Let's skip the archery range and woods and cut straight to the cabins, shall we?"
"Lead the way, Chase." Reyna replied, relieved refrained from the long descriptions, which Reyna was grateful for, and led her around the cabins. The cabins were a strange grouping, with a cabin of solid gold, one decrepit looking cabin with the paint peeling off, one with grass growing from the roof, and one that was so pink, it was hard to look at. But Reyna's favorite cabin was the Athena cabin, with its simple outward decor, nothing too flashy. But what Reyna liked best about the cabin was the inside. Past several rows of bunks and a few chess tables further back, were rows upon rows of bookshelves, filled with books. Annabeth explained that while most of the books were non-fiction, per-Athena style, anyone could donate a book to the library they had set up, and over the past few years more and more shelves were added to their fiction section.
Reyna was in heaven. She ignored the fiction section, looking for her favorite books on the non-fiction part of the library. Though a great deal of them were in Greek, Reyna found several classic books in Latin. When Reyna finally looked up from her book by Pliny the Younger, several hours had passed. Surprised, she looked around for Annabeth. But the only one left in the Athena cabin was Reyna.
Or so she thought, because sitting unnoticed at a chess table in a dark corner was a blonde boy Reyna's age. But Reyna did not see him, so she started when he cleared his throat.
"Annabeth told me to stay and make sure you could make your way back to the dining pavilion; she figured you'd be a while."
Reyna spun around to look at him, heart pounding.
"You might have mentioned you were in here," she huffed, slightly embarrassed at being startled by the boy. "Or told me what time it was about an hour and a half ago. I wouldn't have wasted the whole afternoon in here if you'd done that."
The boy stood, and stepped into a beam of light coming from a skylight. Reyna looked at him, and automatically began assessing him. Tall, she thought, but not quite tall enough to have an advantage in a fight. Blonde, grey eyes. Obviously one of Annabeth's brothers, so probably at least as good as at strategy as me, if not better. He's not armed, at least not visibly so, so his only possible weapon is a knife because it's easier to conceal-Reyna cut herself off. We're allies now, she reminded herself, so start getting out of the fighting mentality.
Without noticing, while having this small inner battle, she noticed something else. He's rather good looking, she thought, surprised. She refused to call him cute, or, gods forbid, hot; it was too far beneath her dignity. But something about the sparkle in his eyes, the the almost-shy smile on his face, the casual slouch in his shoulders, the seemingly ready-for-anything in his stance was attractive. Stop it, Reyna, she scolded herself. Just because you shouldn't act like he's an enemy does not mean you should moon over him like some child of Venus!
Luckily for Reyna, all of this went through her head in the space of about three seconds, so when the boy spoke to her again, she didn't miss anything he said.
"Wasted? I don't think it was wasted. You got to read, didn't you? And you didn't have to put up with other campers, Annabeth and I made sure of that."
It took Reyna a moment to remember what they were talking about. She opened her mouth to thrust back a smooth reply, but found she couldn't argue with his logic.
"What about you?" Reyna said instead. "Don't you count?"
The boy flushed lightly. Oh gods, Reyna thought, he looks just that much more attractive when he's blushing.
"You didn't know I was here though," the blonde said, bringing Reyna once again from her thoughts, "And that was the whole point."
Reyna waved her hand, dismissing it.
"Whatever. What time is it anyway...?" Reyna trailed off, realizing that she still did not know the boy's name.
"Malcolm McCallister. Sorry, I get distracted sometimes, ADHD you know," the boy, Malcolm said. "And it is..." He glanced down at his watch. "Five o'clock."
"And what, Malcolm, did you do while I was in here for... three hours?" Reyna asked, curious.
Malcolm gestured at the chess table behind him.
"I was practicing."
"The whole time?" Reyna was surprised. For a boy who claimed to have ADD, that was a lot of sitting still. The boy, Malcolm, seemed on the verge of blushing, but, unfortunately, didn't. Wait, what? Unfortunately? Why do I care? Reyna asked herself.
"Yeah, it's a hobby of mine," he said, still looking embarrassed. "Even some of my siblings find it kind of weird." He shrugged.
"May I?" Reyna surprised herself, and evidently Malcolm as well, as she gestured to the chair opposite the one Malcolm had been sitting in just minutes before.
"I, ah, sure! You play chess?" Malcolm asked her, fumbling over his words.
"Yeah, my sister taught me," Reyna replied, while silently making vow to get him to blush again. She sat at the table, and began to set up the black pieces.
"Should I go easy on you Reyna?" Malcolm asked, grinning. With a start, Reyna realized that it was the first time he'd said her name. She also realized that she really liked how it sounded when he said it, smooth and easy.
"Easy on me? Do your worst, McCallister!" Reyna said.
And with that began the hardest chess match Reyna had ever participated in. Malcolm was fantastic, even better than she'd thought. Not only that, but Malcolm was incredibly distracting. Not only did he seem to grow more and more attractive by the minute, but she was also fighting another fierce battle with him; trying again and again to get him flustered. He'd caught on too, and was now trying to do the same to her, and it was now even harder to get him to blush. And all the while, they took piece after piece off the game board.
"Well, Miss Arellano," Malcolm said, grinning at her scowl, " You are quite good, but not good enough, I'm afraid." He then proceeded to take out her queen with his last rook. "From here on out, it is only a matter of time before I win, Reyna dear."
Reyna forced back her blush, and instead looked at him coyly.
"Well, Mister McCallister, you certainly have taken my queen," she said as she rose from her chair. Placing her hands on either side of the table, she leaned forward without breaking eye contact with Malcolm. He leaned back a bit, looking a bit nervous.
"But there is just one flaw with that plan, Malcolm darling. You forgot about my pawn."
She then took his rook with her final pawn, moving it into the place she wanted. She looked back up at Malcolm's confused face.
"Checkmate," she said, smiling widely.
Malcolm looked at her in complete shock.
"How did you-" Malcolm faltered. Reyna had come around to his side of the table, a dangerous smile on her face. She slowly leaned down until she could feel his warm breath on her cheek. He looked very nervous.
"Reyna, what are you doing?"
His voice, Reyna noted with satisfaction, was higher than normal. Instead of answering, she continued leaning down. She put her fingers through his hair. He started, and put his arms tentatively around her waist, closing his eyes. She leaned in until she and Malcolm were less than a centimeter apart. After a moment, Malcolm opened his eyes to see Reyna a grinning at him. She swiftly kissed him on the cheek and then bent forward to whisper in his ear.
"You're so cute when you're confused. Almost as cute as when you're blushing."
She leaned back just as she heard the conch shell horn for dinner. Malcolm was a deep crimson, and Reyna smiled.
"I don't need your help finding the dining pavilion; you can stay here for as long as you need. See you at dinner, Malcolm, dear."
She turned and walked towards the door. Just before she left, she turned partially back towards the dumbfounded Malcolm.
"I can't wait for rematch," Reyna called over shoulder, grinning maliciously. And that being said, she walked to the dining pavilion, where she spent all dinner thinking about a particularly cute blonde boy she'd left blushing in front of his chess board.
So, what did you think? R&R, leave a comment. Again, no flames please. But do tell me if I make grammar mistakes, and constructive criticism is welcome! :D Thanks!