"How's our newest worker?" Jason asked as he started to wipe down the table in front of him. His eyes moved over to the bar. Piper was busy wiping everything down. Frank helped her stock supplies and would then restock the tables.
"I'm not sure," Piper answered. Her gaze moved to the door, where Clarisse and Reyna were standing. Clarisse looked like she was in the middle of a rant, and Reyna only nodded every so often. "She doesn't talk much."
"Even at Chiron's place she was quiet," Jason noted. He finished wiping down the table and moved to the next one. "Clarisse seems to like her."
"I haven't seen Clarisse talk to anyone for that long in months," Frank added. Piper hummed her agreement and started to polish the glasses. "You know something we don't?"
"Annabeth caught her trying to steal the other day," Piper answered quietly. "Chiron gave them his credit card and told her to get whatever she needed. Annabeth found her stuffing a backpack full of clothes."
"Maybe she was trying to make it easier to carry," Frank suggested. Piper pursed her lips and didn't answer.
"Old habits might just die hard," Jason commented with a shrug. "Or, she doesn't like to owe anyone."
"I don't think she's a bad person," Piper said. She sat the glass down and looked up. "I just see a lot of grief there. And I'm worried it might be followed by anger she doesn't know how to control. I don't want anyone to get hurt."
"Annabeth is rubbing off on you too much," Jason joked. Piper rolled her eyes and tossed the rag at him. Jason laughed.
"Can I join in throwing things at Jason? It's my favorite pastime," Leo chimed in as he walked towards them. He sat on the bar counter and stretched.
Leo was wearing a chef's apron over his overalls that were over his regular clothes. When he used fire to make food, it tended to get messy. That was why the kitchen closed down an hour before the bar did. It gave plenty of time for Leo and the others to clean up.
"He said Annabeth is rubbing off on me," Piper said.
"You are a lot bossier now," Leo commented. Piper raised the glass. "Just a joke!"
Piper huffed and turned away. Jason smiled. The three of them had met as freshmen in the Wilderness School. It was a place for troubled kids to go, and it was the only place that would take a packless orphan in.
Jason didn't remember much of his childhood, nothing good at least. His mother had been a famous actress who let fame get to her, and she drank herself to death when Jason was young. He knew that their mother had been abusive, but she never laid her hands on him. All because his older sister took all of the blows. In fact, the only physical scar from Jason's childhood was the one on his lip that he gave himself.
Jason's thoughts drifted to his older sister. Like him, Thalia was a halfling. She wasn't a half-werewolf, though. Instead, she was a half-elf. The only physical indication of her being a half-elf were her pointed ears, but she still maintained the beauty and grace of one.
Everyone took one look at them and couldn't believe they were related. Jason was taller than Thalia, just barely, but never let her forget it, had ears like a human, and he had blonde hair. Thalia's hair was black and always spiked up. The only real physical similarities they held were in their blue eyes.
Thalia worked as a hunter. It could be dangerous work at times, and Jason held his breath every time she went on an assignment. Hunters were sometimes employed by the state government to track down dangerous creatures that couldn't control their powers or just used their powers to hurt others. There were only hunters, though; ones that weren't employed by the government and seemed to target innocent creatures just to torture them.
Part of Jason wanted to be a hunter, helping out others and protecting them sounded like a noble job. Thalia forbade him and instead wanted him to get a job in the city. Jason sighed and looked down.
"What's wrong?" Piper asked. Jason glanced at her. Piper was so good at reading him like he was an open book.
"Just thinking about Thalia. I haven't seen her in a few months," Jason began. Thalia's work took her all across the country, and each assignment could take as little as a few days or as long as a few months. It was hard being away from her.
After their mother died, Thalia and Jason were split up and tossed from orphanage to orphanage. No one wanted a half-werewolf, and Thalia wasn't old enough to take care of both of them. When Thalia was sixteen, she met Chiron, and their lives turned around from there.
"She'll be back soon," Piper promised.
"Until then, no one can beat us up for bullying you," Leo teased. Jason smiled.
"The only person that is going to be getting bullied is you. Don't you have tests tomorrow?" Jason asked. Leo groaned and looked down. At the Wildness School, they all took extra classes to try and escape earlier. Their plan didn't work as Chiron would pull some strings while they were sophomores to get them into a regular high school and a job at his bar.
With the extra classes they took, their senior year was only loaded with half the classes as normal, so they could come in late or leave early. They all came in late to be able to work the bar at night and get enough sleep for school the next day.
"There was something else that happened with Reyna and Annabeth at the store," Piper spoke up. Jason looked at her. "Annabeth said she was talking to Percy, who originally caught Reyna stealing."
"We're talking about the newbie, right?" Leo asked. Piper nodded. "And she got caught stealing? Amateur."
"Anyway," Piper continued with a glare at Leo. "Annabeth said she was ranting to Percy about Reyna and didn't realize that Reyna was listening in. Mentioned her facial scar."
"It's badass," Leo commented. "Could you give me one, Jason?"
"It's not badass," Jason declined. He shook his head and glanced to the side. Clarisse and Reyna had walked away, probably to the back offices. "It's a mark. We read about those in class."
"You don't know if it's a mark or not," Piper argued. "And, it's not our business. Annabeth feels bad enough about what she said."
"What did she say?" Frank asked. Piper sighed.
"That Reyna only intervened with that drunk asshole because she was looking for a reason to fight. That's why her face is so fucked up," Piper answered. "Reyna confronted her and told her to finish what she was going to say. Then told Annabeth to leave her the fuck alone."
"Beth was being a little harsh," Leo commented.
"She hates when you call her that," Frank stated. He looked at Piper. "Why is Annabeth so untrusting of Reyna? She wasn't like that for me or Hazel."
"Annabeth's seen a lot of assholes come and go. Most want to take advantage of Chiron," Clarisse said as she towered over them. "Reyna's not like that, and if any of you give her shit, you'll be answering to me."
"No shit to give here," Leo began as he held his hands up.
"You're full of shit all the time," Clarisse returned with a small smirk. "I'm serious, though. I finally found someone who listens and does their job. If any of you fuck this up for me."
"You'll kill us. We know," Leo said with a wave of his hand. "Same old threats. Nothing new."
Clarisse glared at Leo and then looked at Piper. She spoke, "Reyna said she was going to walk back to Chiron's. Can you give her a ride?"
"Piper rode with me, but I have no problem dropping Reyna off too," Jason said. "We'll be another twenty minutes, though."
Clarisse nodded, and Jason saw Reyna slip out of the back hallway. She had taken off her jacket and had her backpack slung across her shoulder. Clarisse spoke across the bar, "Reyna! Jason is giving you a ride. No arguments."
Reyna stopped walking and slowly looked at them. She walked towards them even slower. It was hard to read the emotions on her, as she had worn a scowl since Jason met her. Jason smiled at her and spoke, "We just have to finish wiping some stuff down."
Reyna quietly placed her backpack down and walked towards them. She silently helped Piper polish the rest of the glasses. Jason watched her for a few moments and then continued to clean the tables.
Chiron tried to help out a lot of people from a varied array of homeless all the way to former criminals. Most of them didn't work out. Others did, like Jason, Piper, and Leo. Granted, they were on the less extreme side of the spectrum. Jason felt like Reyna was on the more extreme side, but at the same time, he felt good about Reyna.
Jason wasn't sure what it was, but he had this gut instinct. He had been told long ago to just trust his gut, and he did his best to do it. Jason focused back on his tables, and when Clarisse joined in to help, they finished within ten minutes.
Jason helped put the cleaning supplies away and led the others out of the bar. He waited by the front door for Clarisse to lock everything up. Leo tried to race Frank to his car, but it was one-sided as Frank just walked there. Piper stood next to Jason and leaned on him.
The two of them weren't dating. Jason wouldn't even call them friends with benefits. They just sometimes slept together around the time of the full moon to keep Jason sane. It didn't always help, though. Jason could always feel himself starting to get lost when he had sex with Piper, but he had to force himself to pull back to avoid hurting her.
It left some emotions pent up inside, and Jason didn't know how to get rid of it. If he could just lose himself in sex and let all of his frustrations out that way, the full moon wouldn't be a problem. He couldn't do that to Piper. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.
Clarisse locked the doors and walked them to their cars. As much as she tried to hide it, she acted like a second mother to all of them. As Jason made it to his car, he spoke, "Have a good one, Clarisse."
"You too," Clarisse muttered before walking towards her car. Jason unlocked his car, and Reyna slowly sat in the back seat. Jason noticed how she gingerly sat down as her side was probably still bothering her. News of her helping Annabeth had spread fast around the bar as anything did really. Reyna looked out the window as Jason opened his car door.
Jason felt a set of eyes on him, and his gaze flickered up. He tensed as he saw a man with red eyes watching him from the alley. Jason shook his head and quickly got in the car. That was a problem for another day.
"How was your first day?" Piper asked as she sat in the passenger seat. The other two didn't seem to notice the figure in the shadows, which Jason was grateful for. Reyna slowly looked away from the window and focused on them.
"It was good," Reyna replied after a moment. She looked down at her backpack and fell silent. Jason turned on his car and flipped his headlights. He pulled out of the parking space.
"I'm hosting a small party at my house this weekend for everyone that works at the bar. You're welcome to come," Piper began. Reyna nodded but didn't look up. "There will be plenty of food and music. Even Clarisse is coming."
Reyna nodded once again, and Jason frowned. Piper usually got anyone to open up and talk. Piper seemed unbothered by it, and she gave Reyna a huge grin.
"If you need some cheap apartments, there's a few by me," Jason began. Reyna's eyes flickered towards him. "Rent and utilities will only cost one paycheck, and the guy who owns the building is gruff but sweet. No down payment required, especially if you mention Chiron's name."
"T...Thanks," Reyna said after a moment. She tensed after her stutter and looked down at her backpack. Jason smiled slightly. Something told him that with Reyna around, things would get a lot more interesting.