"I think I made Annabeth upset. Like really upset," Percy began nervously as he studied the computer in front of him. He had tried to write their sales report a few times, but it was just a giant glob of numbers. Percy sighed and leaned back. "What do I do?"
"Not bother me," Nico replied bluntly. He leaned back in his seat and popped his spine. Percy winced from the cracks. His eyes moved back to the computer. With his mind focused on Annabeth, he couldn't focus on his work. He tried texting and calling. While she answered her texts, she was very curt. Like Percy was in trouble.
"You're like the Oprah of advice," Percy complained as he put his full attention on Nico. Work would come later. Nico scowled and didn't look at him. His gaze was focused on the ceiling as he continued to stretch. "You hand it out to everyone whether they ask or not."
"Oh, yeah. I really want to help you now," Nico retorted with a roll of his eyes. He looked at Percy and scowled. Percy widened his eyes slightly to give Nico the best puppy dog gaze that he could. His cousin averted his gaze, but it didn't take long to wear him down. A sigh left Nico. "Fine. Tell me what happened."
"Well, we were hanging out on the beach. I asked her about how her career in architecture was going. And, I guess it's not. I told her that she needs to pursue it… I just wanted to encourage her. And, she got mad. She just left and hasn't really talked to me since."
"Was this last week?" Nico asked as he looked at Percy.
"Um, well not really. Maybe like… four weeks ago," Percy muttered as he scratched the back of his neck. Nico facepalmed.
"You really just let this fester for an entire month?" Nico questioned. He shook his head. "You're useless."
"Thanks, Nico. Real helpful," Percy replied. He hung his head. "I don't know what to do."
"Try talking to her," Nico supplied, talking slowly like he was explaining to a child on how to do a math problem. "Ask her what is wrong. That's all you have to do."
"I've been texting her," Percy began. Nico gave him a look and made a motion with his hand. "I haven't asked her about it because she hasn't been really responding to my texts. What if I do ask, and she doesn't want to tell me?
"For one, you are never going to know until you ask," Nico began. He followed it up with a shrug and glanced at his watch. "If she doesn't respond, just tell her that you will be there when she is ready. And leave her alone about it until she approaches you. If she tells you, just try and talk out your feelings."
"Thank you, Oprah," Percy said with a small smile.
"I hope you get run over by the cart pusher," Nico returned as he looked at his computer. A growl caused Percy to turn his head. "Shut it."
"Hungry?" Percy questioned. Nico remained silent. "I can buy dinner for us. McDonald's isn't far."
Nico seemed to think about it and nodded. A knock on the door caused Percy to turn his head. Nico sighed and spoke loudly, "Unless someone is stealing, I don't care!"
"Not even for McDonald's?"
The speed at which Nico stood was impressive. Percy would say it was because he wanted to greet the person behind the door, but they all knew it was because of the fresh McDonald's waiting on the other side. Nico opened the door, and a smile came to his face. It was followed by disgust as he turned his head.
"Don't have time for you," Nico remarked as he pointed at Thalia. Their cousin stuck his tongue out. Nico turned and crushed Reyna in a hug, being very careful of her sling. Reyna smiled as she hugged Nico back with one hand.
"I am the one holding the McDonald's. Do you really not have time for me?" Thalia questioned. She looked at Reyna and shook her head dramatically. "He is so mean to me. I should just throw this all away."
"Give it," Nico said as he pulled away from Reyna and snatched the bags out of Thalia's hands. He glanced inside the bag. "Did you get anything?"
"We ate before we came," Reyna replied. A small smile came to her face. "It was our second date."
"You made it to two dates?" Nico asked as his eyes widened in shock. "I can't believe it."
Thalia flipped him off. Percy looked at Reyna. She didn't look as tired, which was probably due to the month off that she had. Her arm was in a sling, and one of Thalia's arms was around her waist.
"Hey, Reyna. How have you been?" Percy greeted. Reyna focused on him. The dark circles were gone from her eyes, and her posture was relaxed. Percy hoped that it was because her shoulder was doing better and not from how exhausted work made her.
"I'm getting better," Reyna replied. "How are things here?"
"Amazing," Percy promised. Nico shook his head. Thalia smirked and let out a small laugh. Reyna raised an eyebrow. "It is! I thought I was doing a good job."
"You're doing a great job, but I'm not about to let your ego grow any bigger," Nico shot back. Percy beamed at him, and Nico rolled his eyes. "I do miss having my dictator, though."
"I miss being a dictator," Reyna agreed. She leaned on the wall and smiled slightly.
"Are you coming back?" Percy questioned. "Not that I don't want you to!"
"I'm not coming back just yet," Reyna answered. "I still have a few more weeks, but I was going stir crazy at home. This is the first time I've been out other than doctor appointments. I wanted to visit everyone here."
"That's sweet. Disgusting, but sweet," Nico commented. Reyna smirked. A sigh left Nico. "Alright, this is a lot easier since the two of you are here. Will wants to know if you and Thalia want to go on a double date."
Reyna glanced at Thalia, whose eyes were wide in surprise. After a moment, Thalia nodded, "Yeah. That would be great. I haven't seen Will in forever."
"Just wait for Reyna and Will to dominate the conversation with gossip," Nico complained.
"We do not gossip," Reyna argued. Nico snorted. "We just talk about... things."
"You tell him about annoying customers and some coworkers," Nico said as he gave Percy and then Thalia a pointed look.
"You think I'm annoying?" Thalia asked incredulously as she looked at Reyna. An offended look came to her face.
"Before we started dating," Reyna confirmed with a shrug. Thalia scowled and turned her back dramatically, facing the wall. Reyna sighed and wrapped her good arm around Thalia. "Don't pout. It doesn't look cute on you."
"I'm always cute," Thalia huffed. She turned and gave Reyna a small peck on the cheek. Reyna's face instantly turned red. Thalia pulled back. "Something wrong?"
"No," Reyna said quickly.
"She doesn't like kissing in public," Nico commented. Reyna tried to glare, but her face was still red. "Having a homophobic mom will do that to you."
"Sorry to make you uncomfortable," Thalia apologized. Reyna just nodded and didn't look like she knew what to say. Thalia just gave her a gentle smile.
"Once you get comfortable kissing in public, it gets a lot more fun," Nico commented. He sighed and stood. "I just saw some idiot trying to steal a kindle, but they can't get the security tag off. I'll go handle that. Thalia, you tell Percy not to be an idiot with Annabeth, and Reyna, stop by before you leave."
Nico left the office without another word. Percy moved his gaze to Thalia, and she raised an eyebrow. Percy spoke, "It's a long story. I'll tell you later tonight."
"You better," Thalia said. She moved her gaze to the side. Reyna looked at her.
"I'm going to talk to Lupa," Reyna began. "And, uh. I..."
Without warning, Reyna kissed Thalia on the lips. Thalia's eyes widened. Reyna was out of the room before Thalia could say anything. Percy gave his cousin a small grin.
"How was it?" Percy teased.
"Amazing," Thalia replied in awe as her gaze grew distant. "That was our first kiss, and it was amazing."
"Since you're in such a good mood, maybe I can explain this Annabeth thing to you before I have to help Nico," Percy said as he sat at Nico's desk and stole a fry out of his bag. And then another for good measure. Thalia sat next to him. "You can't laugh at me, though. It all started on the beach."