Drunk

Disclaimer: I own nothing, thank you very much.

It wasn't, by far, the first time that Reyna receive a compliment, but it was, no doubt, the first time she end up tripping over her own feet after hearing it.

"What the hell, Jackson?"

It all started with a stupid feast. Yes. She knew that they had just won The Great War. Yes. She knew that after the whole shenaningans of losing memories, traveling to Greece and back, leading the full-fletched army to the Door of Death, they were all deserved a celebration. But that wasn't a good enough excuse for the aghast sight of dunken teenagers stumbling around the Camp and drooling all over each other. (Making out? Pft. They all ended up passing out on each other's shoulders anyway, not to mention the disturbing amount of vomit incident throughout the night. She wouldn't be surprise if it turned out that half of the couples were to break up when morning came.) In order to save herself from a massive headache and painful mental images (Yes, seeing your older sister and a centaur going at it was NOT a healthy experience), Reyna decided that she had to get away.

When she figured she was in a safe distance to let her guard down, what with the feast being at the mess hall and her trailing absent-mindedly round and about in front of Bellona's temple, Reyna undid the hair band, letting her long silky hair flopped around her face with a content sigh. Shamefully enough, yes, she did take a sip or two of wine, and yes, the girl did feel herself becoming more and more tipsy, though still no match to the herd of demigods who were trying to have a competition over vomitting in record time...

"Pretty..."

Reyna stumbled forward almost immediately. The amazing reflex of a demigod was the only thing keeping her from falling flat on her face.

"What the HELL, Jackson?"

Of all people in the world, Percy Jackson was the last person she expected to receive that compliment from.

Her expression was downright hilarious, and when you had just witnessed Leo Valdez dancing 'Sexy and I know it' while hiccuping about the wisdom of life merely thirteen minutes ago, that was really saying something.

"Your hair... You look way better without the braid."

If there was anything Percy never understood about girls, it was how they manage to turn from a dangerously fuming creature to a consciously innocent being in a matter of minutes.

"I like my braid. What's wrong with my braid?"

He nearly smiled at her defensive tone.

"I like your braid, too. But letting your hair down, well, it makes you look...kinda...sweet?..."

An uncomfortable silence surrounded them. Reyna stared at him, her expression slowly changed from utterly astonished to wearily doubtful. Sounding immensely confused, she asked:

"Are you drunk?"

"Is that your usual way of responding to a compliment?"

She sighed:

"You are, aren't you? You've just called me 'pretty' and 'sweet' in nearly one sentence."

OK. Now he was being frankly offended. What made her think that he has to be drunk to recognize his own bossy co-Praetor to be a beauty?

"I've always think you're pretty, Rey, when you're not trying to bite my head off, that's it."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Percy sucked in a deep breath, preparing himself for a harsh chew out of some sort (probably even a punch in the nose, it was Reyna, after all). But it never came.

"Sit." The icy tone of her voice was hard to miss and Percy found himself obediently flopped into the mass of grass. He shifted uncomfortably so that he could face her properly.

To his utter surprise, Reyna's expression wasn't that of fury. In fact, she looked almost...concerned:

"Jackson... Whatever has happened to you, it isn't a good enough reason for you to both getting drunk frantically and trying to provoke me into beating you up. At all. You should have known better than that."

Oh?

"And stop gaping. You'll catch a fly."

Oh?

"What make you think there was something wrong?" His voice sounded painfully fake to even his own ears.

Apparently, Reyna thought the same thing:

"You're having your miserable drunken moments, Jackson. Back then, at the Feast of Fortuna...you seemed...merrier, even when you was trying to escape from Kinzie. You was drunk, but never this much of a desperate miserable mess."

Oh?

"So... What is it? Jason? Annabeth?"

Percy nearly winced, she didn't know how right she was.

"Both?"

"... Hn." Yes.

"What happened?"

Percy had never taken Reyna to a compassionate person. Maybe he was wrong.

"... We have a fight."

"You and Jason...? Over... Annabeth?" She sounded honestly confused.

Percy grumbled:

"Of course not. Piper would have assassinated Annabeth by now if that was the case."

He could see her strained smile from the corner of his eyes. He shouldn't have mention the Aphrodite's daughter, after all:

"I thought as much."

It was his turn to feel worry for her:

"If it bothers you that much, why not walk straight to her and demand Jason back? This isn't like you."

She shot him a look:

"He's never mine in the first place. And what do you know about me?"

"I know enough."

Of course he did. They were friends for almost half a year now, and he knew that she care for him as much as he do her, regardless of what she said.

"So... You were saying...? You have a fight with Annabeth?"

He had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at her poor attempt of changing subjects, but complied anyway:

"She said she wanted a break. Apparently, her mother is giving her a hard time, again. Aside from the fact that being friends with Romans is an absolute shameful betrayal of her daughter's part, Athena also thinks that I'm having an unhealthy and utterly unacceptable bad influence on Annabeth. So..." Or maybe she was right, and I was not good enough for Annabeth. It was my fault then, for not believing in my own girlfriend for a moment. (However short-lived that moment was)

He didn't say all those thoughts aloud, though.

After what seemed like forever, he felt a hand resting on his shoulder. Reyna was looking at him straight in the eye, her expression soften:

"'Can't believe I'm saying this, but... It's not your fault." It's not your fault Juno took you from her. Not your fault Jason was so hard to cooperate with. And certainly not your fault that the war had made the two of you become in need of a desperate break. "Jason... He's kinda hard to work with, especially with you. You both have been 'the (only) one' for so long that it's impossible to share both leadership and responsibilities. I don't think there is anything you can do to fix it. Just try to be civil." She shrugged, "About Annabeth... you didn't do anything wrong. And you probably never will, with the way you look at her. You two are made for eachother. Give it time. She will think it through eventually."

He felt oddly touched. This was magnificently emotional, coming from the Ice Princess Reyna. He looked at her, smiling a bit, and realized with a touch of horror that they were having a moment. Then it drawled to him:

"...Say... Reyna?"

"Hm?"

"We're only having this...sentimental moment...because I'm drunk, right?"

"For a drunkard, you're awfully bright, Jackson." She let out a low chuckle.

"... I'm not though."

"What?"

"My stomach is empty, ever since this morning. No alcohol either."

It took two minutes to sink in. And then she sock him in the mouth.

It wasn't even funny anymore, Percy grumbled under his breath. He never said that he had been drunk. She was the one who assumed he had. So why did he have to suffer from her eternal violent wrath again? Oh right. Because the sky hated him. Or maybe it was Zeus. (No surprise there.)

Percy glared at his reflection in the mirror. God, his nose looked disgusting. Sighing inwardly, he slammed the door shut.

"Percy!"

Immediately, his irritation came back. Everything Reyna said came flying out of the window.

"What now, Gra..." Civil. Try to be civil. "...Jason?"

The proud son of Zeus gave him a skeptical look. His blond hair was drenched in sweat and his face looked somewhat horrified. What? Seeing Minotaur wearing bikini for the first time? Not that Percy had seen it, though.

"Reyna... She's challenging Octavian to a code duello!"

Percy could feel pride swell up inside him: "Finally! Someone ought to teach the brat a lesson!"

Jason swore:

"You don't understand! Reyna's drunk! She can hardly stand... Hey! Jackson?"

Percy was nowhere to be seen.

"Reyna!"

Good. They hadn't started yet.

The daughter of Bellona slowly turned to face him, she looked downright muderous. Oops.

"What?"

He almost flinched. She was growling at him, wasn't her? Ignoring the urge to run away screaming like a little girl, Percy rushed to her. Grabbing her small shoulder, he whispered:

"You're drunk?" It wasn't a question, and she knew it.

"Get away, Jackzxon. Whatever Jazxon told you, it'ze not xtrue. "

Yeah right. Dearest, in case you haven't noticed, you're slurring. I had taken my eyes off you for -what?- a little more than half an hour and you was already this drunk.

"No. You're drunk. We'll take care of Octavian when you're not slurring."

"Out of the way! Else I'll rip your throat off!"

Percy snorted loudly:

"Yeah right. 'Cause it goes so well with my bloody nose."

She halted abruptly and stared at him, particularly his nose, then started laughing hysterically. Good lord, how much had she had?

"'Glad my pain bring delight to somebody." He grasped her arms and jerked her up. "Come on, we're getting you home."

"But... Octavian..." The way she said it, it was almost a whine, a weird adorable whine, no less.

"Yes. What about me, Jackson?"

The first time ever since his arrival, Percy laid eyes on the Apollo's descendant. The blonde was smirking slightly, swinging his teddy bear in one hand and his dagger in another. So, the brat wasn't drunk, eh? Well, that changed things. Percy actually considered slamming his fist onto the Augur's face and be done with it. He grind his teeth instead:

"She's drunk. Get out of the way, Octavian."

The Augur merely shrugged:

"So, Praetor or not, she's just going to run away, isn't she?"

Percy tightened his hold on Reyna, which turned out to be completely unnecessary, she had dozed off long ago. The son of Poseidon breathed a sigh of relief and turned to glare at Octavian:

"Do not make me repeat myself. Piss. Off."

He then proceeded to carry Reyna pickaback toward her room, all the while ignored a fuming Octavian along with the drunken campers stumbling around and groping each other.

When Reyna woke up, she saw a glass of water on the table, next to a note with messy writing: [Drink water and take a day off. You're drunk, so don't bother showing up. I'll have to escort you back again. Percy.] The daughter of Bellona groaned loudly, and flopped back onto the bed. After all, her headache had become almost unbearable.

What had possessed her to think that falling for a certain son of the sea god is a good idea, anyway?