A/N: I think I'm getting better at updating...sorta. Baby steps. Oh, by the way, we finished the first chorus of the song, so that means we are about one third finished with this story! I know it seemed like a much longer time since I started this, mainly because of my updates lately, but trust me, there is more to come.

Plus, my birthday was on Wednesday, so I'm feeling a bit more joyful.

Next scenario is: a rainy day (ironic, now that I think about it).

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson characters, nor do I own the song New Perspective by P!ATD.

~Taking everything for granted
but we still respect the time~

It has been two weeks since the first two weeks being there. As horrifying and slow as that may sound, Jason wasn't entirely distraught by this news. This just meant he was one third finished with being in the new realm. There were two moons – months, he now learned to be familiar with the term – left. And he would take what he could reap.

So, instead of his usual frown and negativity, he got up that day with a smile. He looked twice in the mirror, brushed his teeth leisurely, wore his – Leo's roommate's – clothes, which seemed to fit him better than Leo's, and even he couldn't miss the slight skip in his step. He was feeling optimistic. It was a once in a lifetime experience, he felt. Of course, around his father, he never was like this; he'd be caught dead before a peasant saw him with a goofy smile plastered on his face. But this was different.

After one more brush of his blond hair, he stepped out of the room at approximately 8:50 in the morning. As soon as he passed the doorway, a scent wafted his senses, and he paused, lifting up his nose for more. Whatever it was, he felt it smelt rather good.

A peek into the living room, and he saw it. Or rather – her. She was in night clothes still, though that didn't stop the fierce blush that swam across his cheeks when he took it in. Her cotton shorts reached mid-thigh, almost to her knees, but it was still awkward for him. Her shirt in which the sleeves were stripped off – a tank top as she called it – didn't quite help the matter either. Thankfully, she had a white apron to adorn her front from more embarrassing matters.

She was beautiful, no doubt. She knew it, Leo knew it, Jason knew it, all the other boys who glanced at her twice knew it too. But that was the most he'd let himself ponder over. "What are you cooking?" he managed to ask.

Piper didn't even turn around, though he wasn't surprised; to him, she seemed to have eyes at the back of her head. "Food."

Jason rolled his eyes. "I mean what food."

From the side of her face in which he could see, she grinned down at whatever was in the pan. "I know what you meant," she said, earning a groan from him. After a short while, she responded, "I'm making scrambled eggs."

He blinked. "What?"

She smiled wider. "You know. Eggs. That are scrambled."

He only flushed further. "I know what scrambled eggs are!" Piper chuckled, taking a wooden thing and nudging the eggs in the pan. "I meant...I wasn't expecting you to be cooking food at all."

"So you expected me to be cooking toys?" she asked.

Jason rolled his eyes, kneeling against the kitchen frame, watching her movements as she sprinkled some salt in the pan. "I could do without your smart comments for a day, you know."

"You love them, don't deny it," she said, shrugging. "Aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing at your apartment so early?"

"It's almost nine. That's not early," he pointed out, crossing his arms on his chest. "But fine: what are you doing here so early, may I ask?"

"Yes, you may," she said, amused thoroughly. "I'm here because I want to be. Also because it's raining as fuck, and my place is boring. And Leo's at Calypso' place, so he won't be coming back here for a while."

Jason looked outside and noticed that, indeed, it was raining outside. Heavily, in fact. He raised an eyebrow. "Again? Hasn't he been not here for two days straight? Are you not worried?"

"He texted me. Told me not to," she still didn't turn around fully to him, but his mind was too preoccupied to notice.

"Oh," he frowned, despite himself. "He didn't text me."

At that, she laughed, startling him slightly. "You don't have a phone, silly."

"Yeah," he said, feeling utterly oblivious for a moment there, "right."

She grinned before twisting a knob on the black thing below the pan, to what he assumed to be a lower heat setting. Piper kept smiling like that, her gaze on him crinkling as her dimples creased prominently.

"Are you going to tell me why you're looking at me like that?" he asked her, shifting uncomfortably under her stare.

She shook her head, chuckling. "You're upset that Leo didn't tell you where he was. You care."

He shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal, but he was sure even she saw the tint of red on his ears as he did so. "I just don't need him randomly missing. It would be a shame if he somehow got zapped into my realm, and he had nothing to do with it. Could you imagine him as a prince? Making orders that didn't involve girls all the time?"

Her eyes narrowed, her creepy smile still there. He shifted again on to his other foot. "You're stalling. Why?" When he didn't answer, the corner of her lips quirked upwards once again, though it was bitter. Then again, most of her smiles were. "Why is it so hard for you to admit that you care about one of us?"

The tension in the room increased tenfold. His stomach felt queasy, and he felt he was starting to lose his appetite. Though despite the fact he couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes, he still tried to make his voice cautious and unfeeling. "What's with the sudden subject change, Piper?"

They were silent for a while. This was happening a lot, now that he realized it. The both of them snapping at the little things together. Especially when they were alone. It was like an invisible force kept pushing them to the limits, making him feel almost suffocated when he was around her. God, he thought, I've known this girl for a month. Eventually, Piper sighed. Her defenses fell as her features softened characteristically. "You're right. I'm sorry. I guess I'm a little...I don't know." To change the matter again, she added, turning back around to her pan, "what's gotten you so happy, huh? When you entered the kitchen, you were practically skipping in your step."

He grinned, the previous tension dissipating. "Your grandfather is coming back in two months from that country you said earlier. That's okay if you can't communicate with him by...by phone because of roaming or whatever you call it, but still. Two months. Can you believe I survived even one month? Soon, I'll be back with Reyna in my arms and a whole kingdom to await me. I'll be home. What's there not to be happy about?"

Piper was silent. So silent in fact that her hand froze above the wooden spoon thing. "Piper? Are you okay?" he felt obligated to ask, but he was still concerned on the inside. It was like something had switched off momentarily.

Of course, it was just temporary because her hand moved again in the pan, and he saw her smile appear, this time soft and...something else he couldn't quite decipher. "Yeah. My stomach just rumbled a little. I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," he grinned. "But come on. You aren't even going to miss me one bit? You didn't just pause because you were hungry. When you're hungry you take pride in it. Stake claim in it. I know you." When he noticed her silence again, he frowned almost. "Piper? I was just teasing."

Slowly, he saw her shoulders move in a shrug. She turned to look at him, that same look he saw just moments before present on her right then, that same soft smile curving on her lips. "It's all you seem to do these days."

He frowned; he couldn't deny it this time – that definitely felt like a punch to the gut, and he didn't know why. He never did. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Piper shrugged again – why does she keep doing that? She bit her lips, almost as if she was nervous. But what could she be nervous about? She was Piper McLean; she wasn't afraid of anything. "Is it so wrong to say that maybe we would miss you? And...perhaps, you wouldn't?" And this time, when he took in her words, catching that slight tint of vulnerability within those colorful eyes of hers, actually seeped it in his mind, it was his turn to become silent. She sighed, "at least...that's how you seem to feel. Am I wrong?"

He didn't answer. He didn't know how to. He was left speechless. Piper was always the one who didn't seem to care about the world, not him. Well, maybe him too, but Piper was something difficult. Something hard to understand. She made him want to. But how to respond? He didn't know how. He didn't know what she wanted from him – whether it would satisfy her or not.

Gratefully, he was saved from the impending wreck by her phone ringing, a tune that was about loud and reckless as her personality. She picked up the phone, and she frowned. "I have to take this," she said, her eyes not meeting his, shutting off the stove – yes, that's what it was called – before walking out of the kitchen.

What just happened?

Jason stood there, his brows furrowing in confusion, before walking over to the stove with caution. He glanced hesitantly at the pan, noticing the yellow shrivels of food inside, and ever so carefully, put his hand down on to the pan. With a sharp howl of pain from the abrupt heat that shot through his nerves, he jumped up, shaking his finger multiple times. "Ow..." he cursed.

"That's why you don't touch something metal right after it being heated," Piper said, returning back after hearing his shout. He knew she had been concerned, despite the fact she was using her smart comments as a way of escape; her pursed lips and expression said it all. The thought strangely satisfied him. "Metal is very conductive – meaning it can heat much faster than liquids, especially."

He raised an eyebrow, looking down on his now red finger that was slightly throbbing from the after effects. "How?"

"It's a particle motion of matter. Heat means energy. It causes the particles to move faster, and therefore, you burn yourself. Summing it all up, of course," she shrugged, walking closer to assess his finger. She gently took it in her own, glancing at it almost absentmindedly. "You'll be fine. It's just a minor burn. Be thankful it's just the pan and not the oven."

He nodded his head, though his mind was preoccupied with something else. His finger was still in her palm. Hers were strangely soft, compared to his. It was almost comforting. He cleared his throat, snapping out of it, "Don't I get like...a...what's it called?"

She laughed, her breath wafting over his neck, making him tired all of a sudden. "A Band-Aid? No. You wanna prove you're a prince? Suck it up."

She stepped back from him after that, her lack of presence letting him able to breathe again. God, he prayed, where is Leo when you need him? Deciding it would be better to change the subject, he asked, "So who called you?"

At this, she paused. Again. He winced internally, wondering why he did not seem to be on her good side today. "My...my sister. She was just calling to check up on me."

They fell into a silence as she walked behind him to the stove, more carefully than him, putting the scrambled eggs into two plates and spreading them. She nudged his eggs together, and he couldn't figure out why until she was done; his eggs were shaped into a smiley face. Granted, she did that to Leo's too on several occasions, but it was strange to see it on his now.

"I didn't know you had a sister," he said, disrupting the lack of noise.

She nodded. "I do. Her name's Drew. She's twenty today; she called to remind me."

"Oh, that's nice," he replied. He tried not to focus his mind on his own sister, Thalia Grace, from back home, and a rush of nostalgia hit him. He talked to Piper freely about her over the weeks he had been in the realm, but each time it still hit him. He missed her. To keep up the polite conversation, he asked,"Is she nice to you?"

In response, Piper took a fork and violently stabbed her eggs with it, pulling the metal thing to her lips and chomping down on it. Her eyes, however, gleamed unfeeling. "She's a slut."

Well, there was that.

He added that on the list of things not to talk about with Piper McLean unless one wanted their asshole to be ripped out from underneath them. No, he was not exaggerating. He'd seen her do it before. Well, to the meat she was cooking for Leo, but still. A human was no different.

They ate their food in silence, him giving her a small thanks. As he brought the eggs to his lips in a much more softer way than Piper had, he noticed that she was a really good cook. Worthy of working in his royal dining area, he decided. But then again, they were just eggs. He reminded himself to not get ahead of himself.

"So what did you like to do for fun back at your home?" she asked, her tone shifting vastly into a much nicer one than before. He took the hint and responded immediately.

"Uh...well, I didn't do much. I was the prince, remember? I was always occupied," he said, trying not to give in to the fact he sounded pathetic right there. When he noticed her staring at him with a straight face (her no bullshit face as Leo always claimed), he adjusted hastily, "There was always the fact there were balls every now and then. I'm a pretty good dancer, if I do say so myself."

She raised an eyebrow, her interest piqued. "Really?" He smiled bashfully, something strange coming from a notorious prince, he knew, but he couldn't help it. "I mean, I knew you could dance. Obviously, you must have been trained. But I didn't think you...liked it."

"I never said I liked it," he staked, shrugging and taking another bite of his breakfast. "I just said I could."

"Bullshit," she said. She grinned. He was thankful; he was afraid she'd never do that expression to him again. He was thinking they were finally starting to become close acquaintances if not friends. She stood up suddenly, walking over to her phone and began to scroll furiously.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "You're not gonna...make me dance, are you?"

When she glanced up at him, it was almost malicious. "That's exactly what I'm going to make you do."

And just like that, music, loud but strangely contagious, blared through her speakers, and he was enveloped in it, completely taken back from it. Especially when she started moving – her hips started moving, and her hands flew to her hair, to her collarbone, then to her – "Piper what are you doing?" he shouted out as his eyes widened. There was no way this was appropriate. If the people back home could see the type of dancing Piper was doing right now, they'd faint in horror.

"I'm dancing," she said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What else?"

"Uh..." he didn't even find it in himself to answer. He felt he'd only embarrass himself. His cheeks flamed as his heart beat faster. "I – when I said I could dance, I didn't think – I mean..."

She rolled her eyes, sauntering towards him slowly. "I know what you meant. But you have to chill. Calm down. If you don't, I'm afraid you'll explode. Just...let go."

"I..." he trailed off, his eyes not leaving hers. From the way she was smiling at him, he could tell she was just being platonic with him. It was not like she wanted to force him into doing something he did not want to do. Reyna's face flashed across his eyelids, and he hesitated. "I don't know how to."

"I can teach you," she said, and this time, she raised out her hand for his, and he accepted it shakily, "if you let me."

Could he? Nodding slightly, she took him away and swung him around the kitchen as the music followed their footsteps, him tripping over his feet as she laughed, moving gracefully. "I...don't think I can do this, Piper," he stated, frowning as he bumped into the counter for about the tenth time.

She laughed, "Sure you can, sire." His breath hitched; it had been a long time since she called him that. The terms was oddly unfamiliar coming from her mouth. As if to prove herself even more, she grabbed his arm upwards and twirled herself under it, chuckling from his awkward cough.

"What song is this?" he choked out, twisting his body with hers around the kitchen once more.

"'I'm Sexy and I Know It' by LMFAO," she said, her eyes twinkling as she took in his reaction.

"Doesn't that mean..." he trailed off, and she looked at him, almost daring him to say it. He took the challenge anyway. "Laughing My Fucking Ass Off?"

Piper halted in her spot, making him bump into her so hard they almost fell over. His hand accidentally nudged at the hem of her shorts, coincidentally slipping in. Her skin was soft and smooth underneath, and his fingers trailed upwards further as he lost balance and bent over her. Her nose was so close to his. He gulped and snatched his hand away from her thigh quickly, shaking as if he'd been scalded by her touch, stepping away until there was a respectable distance between them again.

Reyna, Reyna, Reyna, Reyna, Reyna, Reyna, Reyna, Reyna, Reyna, the name kept flashing like those red lights on streets he'd learned about and saw lately, and he ran his tongue over his lips in distraught. Reyna...I'm in love with Reyna.

Then why was he reacting as if he'd touch the stove all over again? It was utterly strange, but he managed to convince himself it was just that he'd never touch a woman before like that...especially on their upper legs. He was just reacting this way because he was inexperienced. And if he was going to do it again, it would be with Reyna. When he got back home.

Yes. That's it.

Piper, however, didn't notice all these thoughts crawling like spiders in his brain because she was too busy shaking after she finally shut off the music. At first, he was worried why her face was covered by her hands, but then he relaxed as he heard her slight chuckles being muffled by her palms.

She was laughing. Drastically. At him.

He frowned. "Why are you laughing?"

She shook her head, finally coming down from that, still resorting into small chuckles. "Nothing, it's just..." she glanced at him, "I've never heard you curse like that with no shame before. I think I'm rubbing off on you...it's kinda...I don't know..." he'd die if she finished that sentence, he thought, "cute."

Dead. He's dead. The place suddenly got uncomfortable for him, and something prickled down his spine. He glanced at his arms, and he was in shock at what he saw. Schism, he thought, why are there goosebumps? She seemed to notice because she followed his gaze, and then she smiled crookedly at him.

Oh, he thought. Oh. He'd never seen her smile at him like that. It was weird.

He wanted – no, needed – it to stop. Something in his stomach fluttered. That better be nausea, he tried convincing himself. No. It's just because she's attractive. That's okay. A lot of girls are attractive. Reyna's gorgeous. Her looks would be able to take down any man. She's breathtakingly beautiful.

He thought of Reyna then with her long, voluminous black hair that was almost always obscured in a braid that extended down her back. He remembered tucking a bang behind her ear then kissing the spot of skin below it. He would mutter in her ear just how amazing she looked and how he couldn't take his eyes off of her, and then she would shiver from his words. Reyna would not stop smiling at him for the rest of the day.

Yet, an annoying chime in his mind reminded him that Reyna, despite being affected by him, did not affect him back the way Piper did now. He felt something in his pants harden – well, he knew what that something was, but still. He remembered Leo talking about something like this happening to him, and he ignored it, but he did remember what Leo did to calm it down. At least temporarily.

Jason needed a cold shower. And fast.

The thought scared him.

So, naturally, he ignored it...reluctantly.

Piper walked towards one of the drawers next to the stove and pulled it, as if nothing even happened. She didn't think anything abnormal happened between the two of them, so why should he? The thought comforted him, and he sat down in his chair, pressing his legs together, hopefully so she would not see his...unusual predicament.

Piper came back momentarily, and she dropped something rectangular in front of him. He read the label, and he frowned. "What is so amusing about fifty two cards of paper?"

She grinned. "Poker, that's what." He continued staring blankly at him – at least now he was preoccupied enough to forget about his conflict moments before. But still...he had a feeling he should be prepared.

"I don't know how to do...that," he finished lamely.

She blinked at him, the same mischievous edge she always held to all of her responses. As if she always kept a secret from the world, and she was just waiting for something or someone to unwrap it like a present. Piper was more than confusing, he thought, she was confounding. Always a surprise.

"I can teach you..." Piper offered once more, and he remembered when she said that when they were dancing together. But now...he had a feeling she was talking about other things than just...Poker. "If you let me."

With one last cautious glance at her, he grinned, nodding as if to encourage her. She picked up the little box of cards and held it in her palm before taking them out separately.

If she was willing to teach, then he was willing to learn.

A/N: If this wasn't Jasper, I don't know what was. He's finally accepted her. It only took about a third of the story, but we're here! It's just a matter of time for them, huh?

Remember to review and all that jiz!

Till next time,

Penguin