The Acceptance Letter.

Because Reyna is hella scary.

Because Frank is…Frank.

Because it's been a while.

Frank

To say that Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano was less than pleased when she stepped into their joint office would be an understatement.

She was in that grey area between livid and murderous Frank had always associated with Killer Sharks and baby Chihuahuas.

And Frank's confused face probably wasn't helping matters at all.

"What. The. Hell?" Reyna pinched the bridge of her nose as she breathed these words. "What the actual hell, Frank?"

Frank cringed and rubbed the back of his neck unsurely, placing his coffee on his desk slowly, afraid any sudden moves might provoke Reyna into some sort of caffeine influenced, table throwing, Mars-Spawn murdering rampage.

Which, given the tight jawed expression and slight eye-twitch the usually composed individual glaring at him sported, was not quite short of unlikely.

"Um…hi?"

Reyna's eye twitch went crazy. "Hi?"

Frank had heard rumours about Reyna's temper, but he'd kind of hopped that that was all they were: rumours. It had always been extremely hard for him to imagine Reyna, who was always so self-controlled and calm, to react like this about anything.

Now, it was extremely hard for him to imagine any way for this conversation to end without her glower setting him on fire.

The funniest thing was he wasn't even sure what he'd done wrong. The last time he'd made Reyna angry he'd let her dogs roam the apartment when they were due for their monthly tune up.

Reyna hadn't been this livid, despite the unfortunate fate of their chocolate croissants, but she'd been pretty irritated.

Doing the exact same thing twice would definitely piss her off.

Still, he was pretty sure he locked up Aurum and Argentum that morning.

Reyna sat herself on his desk, probably in an attempt to ground herself and calm down. "Frank, remember that little discussion we had a couple of weeks ago?" Given the tone in which she asked that question, grounding herself was not working on the calm-down front.

"Um…"

Oh crap.

Did he lock up Aurum and Argentum that morning?

"No."

Reyna's eye stopped twitching.

"You don't." It wasn't even a question. More like a death threat.

"Well…" Frank scanned the office for any sort of escape route. "Buddy," Maybe using her nickname for him would serve as a distraction. Or, at the very least, deflate her anger. "It's just, you know, we…um…talk a lot so…yeah…"

Very articulate.

If the situation were different, Reyna might've raised an amused eyebrow. Instead she narrowed her eyes and got to her feet, and fished out a piece of paper.

"I, Frank Zhang, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion," She read in a high-pitched voice that sounded nothing like his own. Meanie. "Hereby accept the request of Pontifex Maximus Jason Grace, and pledge that I, and my fellow Praetor, will be available for any further activities in the line of honouring all gods, minor and major."

Suddenly, the aforementioned discussion came rushing back and Frank prayed that his chair would swallow him.

"Did I not, specifically, tell you that the wording of anything you write and sign is crucial?"

Yeah, he remembered something along those lines.

"Did I not, specifically, tell you that we should discuss any formal acceptance letters in depth before we hand them to the Senate?"

Yes, there might've been a little of that in there too.

"So why, in all hell, did you send this damned acceptance letter?"

That's what this was about?

Huh…so he did lock up Aurum and Argentum?

"I signed that?" Frank blinked, not exactly remembering even writing it. Then again, considering his work load, all his paperwork blended together in a vortex of cursive and sub-clauses. "I didn't think it'd be a problem since, well, Jason–" He stopped dead in his tracks.

Frank double face-palmed and groaned. "I did not think about that." He mumbled, more to himself than to her.

Reyna rolled her eyes. "Really? Because now, thanks to you, I have to spend the entire evening with him tomorrow."

Frank frowned. Not good. Not good at all.

Some 'buddy' he turned out to be.

He probably said this out loud because Reyna's scowl softened ever so slightly. It was still murderous, but only so much so that he'd simply experience second degree burns as opposed to being roasted to a crisp.

"I am so sorry, Rey," He tried, giving her his baby koala face for good measure. "So, so sorry."

The best way to sway Reyna to your side: be adorable and pray.

And Pluto did he pray.

Reyna raised an interested eyebrow. "Are you?" She asked, her anger seemingly evaporating.

Frank nodded.

"Sorry enough to do anything?"

Frank nodded.

"Even tag along to tomorrow's shrine inspection?"

"Of course." Frank nod–wait a second? "Tag along to what now?"

"Well," Reyna crossed her arms over her chest. "It is your fault that I have to spend an entire evening of awkward conversation with our beloved Pontifex Maximus." She clarified. "You owe me. Big time."

Frank was more confused than he'd ever been in his entire life. Even more than he'd been during last week's shopping trip.

Then, something clicked.

"You aren't angry with me!?"

Reyna allowed a grin. "Do you want me to be?"

Frank blinked again. "But I thought–" He stammered. "You looked like you were about to kill me!"

"Oh, I will." Reyna confirmed, punctuating her statement with a shrug. "If you don't join me at the Temples tomorrow."

"So all that, a few minutes ago–"

Reyna handed him the empty parchment. "The art of persuasion."

"WHAT!?"

Sure Reyna was a clever, devious manifestation of cunning, but getting Frank shit-scared to blackmail him into doing something he'd probably never do in his right mind…

Actually, that was kind of brilliant. Why hadn't he ever thought of using that on anyone!

"You're a genius." He relented with a scowl. She'd pay for this.

"I know, Buddy." She said as she sat at her desk. "I know."

He rolled his eyes and sighed, turning to his work before reconsidering and looking back at her. "Who put you on PM duty anyway?" He asked.

"Who else?" Reyna scoffed as she sorted through her own work.

Frank frowned. Octavian had always been bad, but at least, at the end of it all, he cared about Rome with all his twisted little heart. Lucius Harrington on the other hand was the kind of power hunger, narcissistic, son of a bitch that made Frank really hate being a son of Mars.

"You ok?"

"Honestly," Reyna sighed, not looking up at him. "I have no idea."

Frank stormed into their apartment, his face red with anger. "REYNA!"

Reyna looked up from her book, scanning him up and down before flicking her eyes back to her page. "Nice try, but no."

"C'mon," Frank pouted slightly. "Can I at least––"

"No."

So, I'm seriously hopping I've done Third justice.

I also edited chapters One and Two in case you're interested in a re-read.

I'll try my best to keep the Freynship coming.

Review, maybe?

Chapter Question: In TLO, which centaur chapter found the root beer?