Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes of Olympus or any other stories by Rick Riordan
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you get that scar?"
Jason and Reyna were sitting in a café in New Rome. It was late afternoon on the weekend. The past week had been exhausting with new problems and monsters coming up as soon as they paused to take a breath. One would think that after defeating the titans and destroying their fort on top of Mount Tam things would have calmed down some but running a legion was never easy. The pair had managed to get away for a well-deserved break. By now they had been sitting there with their drinks for about twenty minutes enjoying the silence and lack of people demanding attention.
"Which one?" Jason asked. He had a number of scars. It was the natural consequence of fighting monsters for most of your life.
"The one on your lip. Here." Reyna pointed to where it was located on her own lip. "It always struck me as an odd place to get a scar."
"I never really thought about it." Jason frowned. "Actually, I'm not sure what that one is from. I've had it for as long as I can remember. I probably got it when I was really young."
"Huh." Reyna sighed and they lapsed back into silence.
"Were you expecting some kind of heroic story?"
"Not really. I was just curious." Reyna shrugged. "I've got a small scar on my knee from when a fell when I was younger."
They fell back into silence again. It wasn't awkward. Just there.
"Why did you choose now to ask about it?" Jason said after a little while.
Reyna smiled. "It's not like we were talking about anything else. Besides, I have been wondering for a while. It looks like you tried to eat something you shouldn't have."
"Somehow I doubt that's how I got it."
"But you don't know for sure."
"What could I have been trying to eat to get this, anyway? A knife?" Jason poked at the scar on his lip.
"I think a knife would leave a bigger scar. A needle?"
"I'd have probably ended up with a hole from a needle. Maybe it was a small knife."
It was nice to just sit there talking about a scar that didn't matter. Not like the one a centurion from the 4th cohort now had that just barely missed his eye. Not like the one a girl from the 3rd had across her back that she had just barely recovered from. Jason wondered again if there could have been a way to win the war with the titans with less loss. He almost immediately tries to stop thinking about it and just enjoy the rare break they are getting.
"How are we even sure I got this scar from trying to eat something? I still find it doubtful."
"We don't. But if we're going to talk through possible ways you got that then we need to consider the possibility. Maybe you tried to eat a razor?"
Jason shook his head. He went to take a sip of his drink and realized it was empty. "I'm going to get a refill. Do you want anything?" Reyna shook her head and Jason got up from their table with his cup.
When he got back Dakota was standing by the table hurriedly explaining something to Reyna and all speculation about scars was over.
(Months later Jason Grace would meet his older sister and she would excitedly tell him about how he tried to eat a stapler solving the mystery once and for all)