After Ages
It was cold and dark. Two teenagers, a girl of 16 and a boy of 14, were sitting on a log in the middle of the woods staring at a cackling fire, and wearing torn clothes. Seriously, which teenager lounges in the forest with tattered clothes? Apparently these two do.
Being a demigod is hard. Having the Athena Parthenos with you is harder.
The boy, Nico spoke up, "Where is Coach Hedge?" He wouldn't know, after all he was sleeping earlier. Reyna, the girl looked up and replied curtly, "Out to collect firewood. We're running out of it." Nico smiled, just slightly and said, "We would get it…..unless he decides he is hungry and eats it all up." Everybody knows the appetite of a satyr. Reyna first snorted, then chuckled, the, to Nico's utter surprise, started laughing.
A good hearty laugh.
And she kept on laughing till tears were forming in her eyes. Her laugh was so infectious that Nico started to laugh quietly and, eventually, loudly. Soon they were rolling on the ground, having fits of laughter, not caring about the dirt, and clutching their stomachs. The joke was not so funny but with all the stress for the past couple of days, fighting monsters and just trying to…..survive, even this simple resort to depression was welcome. Once their abdomens started aching, they changed from laughing like maniacs to laughing like mildly mentally disturbed.
And suddenly they stopped. And looked away.
Why, you ask?
They realized how simply odd it was to be laughing. They both hadn't done it for ages. Nico had a flashback. The way Bianca would laugh- letting go completely and submitting herself to the mirth. Reyna, Nico thought, was the same, just not sure if she should laugh or not, being praetor and all that. And that's when he realized. Reyna was very similar to Bianca. How she cared for others and put them before her. Her warm brown eyes, just like Bianca and Nico, before he had given in to the forces of darkness. Thinking of Bianca made him nauseous, but he kept on smiling nonetheless.
Reyna, on the other hand, was completely bewildered. After years of holding back and keeping the stern façade on, she thought she had forgotten even the meaning of laughing. But this guy, this scrawny yet dangerous, skinny yet powerful boy, had brought her laugh back. And she hoped that she could now open up, let out all the anger, frustration, joy, sadness, relief now that she had met someone who had tragic past like her.
Both of them knew, hoped and realized and whole lot of things, but what they didn't know was that a little smile was plastered to both of their faces. And both chose the same moment to steal a glance at each other, only to have their eyes met. They both looked away when the memories of their previous fit flooded their minds. Feeling a mischievous smile creeping up their faces, and their eyes twinkling with amusement, their eyes met once again and they easily gave in to the waves of laughter.