Hey guys! Sorry for not updating in a week. My stupid Word crashed and I had to get it fixed. Hopefully this makes up for it! :)

A Game of Hot Chocolate and Donuts (Part II)

Jason was already long finished with his food when Reyna finally looked up at him. He was watching her with a small smile at the edge of his mouth and this look in his eyes that she didn't really understand.

"More?"

Reyna bit her lower lip. Of course she wanted more. But she shouldn't eat so much. Circe had given the girls lectures on eating healthily and how to keep their waists slim. Reyna knew that she didn't need to worry about such trivial things, but it was hard to break habits that had been drilled into her mind for years.

Jason cocked an eyebrow at her as he motioned for the waitress to come. "Two more donuts, please."

Feeling that at least she hadn't encouraged it, Reyna sat back, satisfied. Her gaze scrutinised Jason's features. She chuckled.

"You have chocolate on your face," she replied to Jason's quizzical expression.

Blushing, he snatched up a tissue and wiped at his cheek. "Is it gone now?"

"No," Reyna answered, biting the insides of her cheek to stop the giggles. The chocolate was smeared at the corner of his mouth and there was even a pink sprinkle on his nose. She covered her mouth with a hand, muting the sound of her laughter at Jason's expense as he scrunched his eyebrows together and crossed his eyes, trying to see where it was.

"I can't see it," he complained after more attempts with the tissue. "Is it gone nowwww?"

"No."

Jason pouted and ran a hand through his cropped blond hair, messing it up. Not that it wasn't messy enough already in the first place. Then, his blue eyes lit up. Reyna hadn't known him for long, but she knew that sparkle wasn't a good sign.

"Help me get it off," he urged, thrusting the tissue at her. "Pleeeeease Rey-Rey?"

She quirked a brow at him. "Don't call me that. Seriously."

"Fine. Just help me."

Reyna frowned. "I'll show you where it is." She motioned for him to take the tissue, then guided his wrist to find where the chocolate was. Reyna could feel Jason's eyes on her as she did so, boring holes into her head as he slowly wiped it away.

"Thanks." Reyna nodded in response.

Moments later, their donuts came. This time, Jason slowed down his pace to match Reyna's. He hoped to learn more about her. He didn't have much time alone with her, and he intended to find out as much as possible—in a good way, of course, which meant earning her trust. There was something… different about her that intrigued Jason and left him mystified and even more curious. His wrist tingled from her warm touch, but he brushed it away, focusing on the task.

"I haven't told you about my friends," Jason stated by way of starting conversation.

"Do you have any?"

He playfully glared at her. Reyna looked just a tiny bit smug as she bit into her donut. "Yes I do, Sassypants. How about you?"

Reyna's gaze shifted away from him in discomfort. Jason tensed. He'd stepped on thin ice—maybe it was a touchy subject. Noted.

"There are two guys and a girl. We're all in Fifth. Bobby and Dakota are my bros. Homies. Peeps. Basically what you girls call 'BFFs'."

Reyna rolled her eyes. "Stereotypical. Not all girls say things like 'OMG'. I'm a girl, doesn't mean I love pink and know all the different types of shoes and dresses, et cetera."

Jason grinned. "Kidding. That's cool. I'm not really into that stuff either. As you can probably see, I don't need fashion to look good. I was born this way." Reyna rolled her eyes again.

"Anyway," he continued, "We're pretty close with Gwen too. She's nice enough, but she gets scary when we mess around. Hint: if you see Gwen angry at Dakota, get out of there fast. She's especially dangerous around him. Jupiter knows why."

Reyna had to smirk at this. Boys, always so oblivious. On the island, girls were well versed in romance (or in Reyna's case, knew just a little about it to be enough despite not understanding a single word of whatever the newest gossip was). She could still spot obvious signs, though—there was something going on between those two.

"Can you describe them?" Reyna asked curiously. Jason was surprised but glad that she was interested in his life.

Jason pressed his lips together and scrunched his brows up. Reyna assumed this was his 'thinking face'. "Kota's a little big. Not big as in buff, or fat. He's not even that big. Just a little wider than me, I think. We're about the same height. He has curly-ish black hair and green eyes. He likes to get sugar-high or drunk on Kool-Aid. The red kind. Probably 'cause he's a son of Bacchus. No one can stop him. Maybe Gwen—she terrorises him.

"Bobby's shorter and skinny as a stick. He's got dark hair and brown eyes. He's cool, but can be kind of a buzzkill sometimes. He gets freaked easily. For some reason, he's not scared of Hannibal. They have some weird creepy spiritual connection thing that no one really understands."

"Hannibal? Isn't that the ancient warlord?" Reyna looked a bit panicked at the thought of the ghost of an insane, murderous warlord in the camp.

Jason nodded. "Don't worry. It's just the name. Hannibal's our war elephant. He's tame—most of the time." Reyna bit her lip, still looking unsure.

"And finally Gwen. She's a legacy of Venus, but hates being related to any of the Venus girls. She can't stand their gossip and obsession with looking pretty. She's blonde, like me, but a little reddish, and has green eyes. And I already told you, she's sc-a-ry."

Reyna nodded. "They sound nice," she commented. Jason was obviously very fond of his friends.

"Yeah. They are. We stick together 'cause some stuck-ups in the First cohort take it out on us just because we're in Fifth." Jason hated that he and his friends were guilty by affiliation. It wasn't fair that other cohorts disliked them just because of something that happened ages ago.

"So, how are you so close with the praetors?"

She'd picked up on that? Wow. Talk about observation skills. "I've been here a long time, since I was really young. It's unusual for demigods to come to the legion at such a young age, and I couldn't join yet, so… Joe and Maria would sometimes drop in and visit. I remember Joe made me a wooden sword and he'd teach me how to kill monsters under my bed."

"Must've been nice," Reyna said wistfully. Her youth had been the best part of her life. Until her father died.

"It was."

They sat in a comfortable silence, finishing off their delicious donuts and sipping hot chocolate. It was well into the afternoon, and the sun had eased up on its glare. Jason's belly was satisfied. Reyna looked pretty happy too—she nursed her cup as she stared into nowhere, probably remembering something from the past. Sometimes, Jason would do that too, delving into the depths of his mind to try to find answers. The problem was, no matter how hard he tried, the answers just weren't there.

He dropped some denarii down on the table, wiped his mouth (and his face) once more, then looked to his companion. "Come on," he prompted, startling Reyna out of her thoughts. "Someone wants to meet you."

Jason stopped suddenly at the hallway leading to the infirmary rooms. Reyna stopped with him.

"I had a great time," he said sincerely, smiling at her. "We should do this again."

Reyna smiled back. Jason had been kind to her and seemed sincere. It was a luxury Reyna had not been offered much in her life. Sincerity was hard to find in their world.

"Thank you," she said, touching his shoulder, then immediately retracting her hand as if it burned.

Jason grinned at her action. "You don't have to thank me. I volunteered for this, Reyna, and I enjoyed it. You don't owe me anything."

Warmth spread through her body at his words. She bit her lip, not accustomed to the feeling.

She didn't have much time to enjoy it, though. Jason's eyes widened as he glanced up at the wall clock. "Pluto! She's waiting in your room. Please don't tell her I kept you out. Time got away from me. I should go now. Bye! Have fun!"

He scurried away, waving, leaving Reyna confused. Who was 'she'?

Finally arriving at her room, Reyna took the door handle with one hand and gripped her dagger with the other. Thank the gods she'd gotten it back from Terminus.

Slowly, the door eased open. Piercing green eyes stared back at her.

If you liked it, please please leave a review or follow! It's greatly appreciated :D

Maybe it's not really plot development, but I'm easing Jason and Reyna into their friendship. Next chapter will bring in some other characters.

time-failed-us