Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I blame a minor case of writer's block and homework.
Reyna picks up her pace in as she walks past the cohorts, looking for Jason. She glances up at the sky and sees the dark gray clouds overhead. She used to hate the rain, but now she doesn't mind it as much. And it's certainly not because it reminds her of a certain son of Jupiter.
She searches the principia, the sword fighting and sparring classes, but her fellow praetor is still nowhere to be seen. She glances up at Temple Hill, and runs towards it with the cold wind slapping her in the face.
Reyna finds Jason at his father's temple. For once, Octavian isn't around. He's probably stalking people or maybe he's buying himself some more "friends".
"Twenty five, twenty four, twenty three, twenty two..." Jason mumbles. He's sitting on the grand temple steps, looking up at the sky. Reyna plops down next to him.
She watches him for a while as he counts. His sky blue eyes seem to be reflecting the crowd of slate colored clouds overhead. Reyna wants to ask what he's doing, but she also doesn't want to distract him.
"Three, two... one." Jason closes his eyes.
Immediately it starts to rain gently, a few drops of water appearing on the ground. Then it starts to rain harder. Soon, it's pouring rain, but neither Reyna or Jason gets wet.
It takes her a second to realize that it wasn't Jason that caused the rain to start. But, he could predict exactly when it would rain, and probably how hard it would rain, too. Maybe because of the moisture in the air.
One of Jason's abilities is that he doesn't get wet in the rain, or when he's in any other type of precipitation. The only way Jason can be affected by precipitation is if he wants to get wet, or if he's concentrating hard on something else, such as when he's in battle. He can also form a type of rain shield, which is why Reyna isn't being affected by the rain.
She watches in wonderment as the droplets bounce off the invisible shield a few inches above her skin.
"There's going to be lightning and thunder tonight," Jason says, happily. "I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."
"Where?"
Jason points to the sky and Reyna can feel her face grow pale.
"You want me to fly with you into the sky during a thunderstorm?" Reyna asks, uneasily.
"Well, I was thinking why not? I mean, it's not like lightning's going to hit us. You'll have me." Jason smiles while he wraps his arm around Reyna's shoulders and gives her a friendly squeeze.
Her stomach flips, like it does when she's riding Skippy and he nosedives towards the ground. Her face heats up as well. She prays to Venus that Jason doesn't notice her blush.
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"No, I-"
"No?"
"Jason. Shut up," Reyna growls, bristling with annoyance. He's smiling at her, with a twinkle in his eyes. Her annoyance fades and she almost smiles back. "I said maybe."
"I know." He replies, half smirking.
They sit in silence for a few moments, watching the rain patter around them. The steady flow of rain makes puddles on the ground and small streams of water that flow at the base of the temple, and down it's steps so it's almost like a Niagara Falls for ants.
Jason stands up and clears his throat, then bows to her. Reyna wonders what the Tartarus he's up to.
"Praetor Reyna, would you dance with me?"
"There's no music."
Jason smiles as if this amuses him.
"You don't need music to dance."
Reyna considers this for a second, then takes his hand.
He puts one hand on her waist and holds her other in his. Their dance is simple, their steps in sync, with a few twirls thrown in. Reyna shows him some different types of dancing.
Old fashioned ballroom dancing, which Jason thought dull, the Foxtrot, a few steps of the Waltz (which took a long time, as it is a hard dance to learn), and the Tango (but she suggests moving on to something else when he holds her in the crook of his arm, his lips extremely close to hers, to a point where she is afraid to even breathe and can hear only her fast heartbeat, their slightly ragged breath, and the rain pounding all around them).
It was then she reaches slowly into his pocket and takes out his golden coin that changes into a sword or a spear, and steps away from him.
"Where'd you learn to dance like that?" Jason asks, panting slightly.
Reyna smiles brightly, "Circe's. I had a lot of time on my hands back then."
"You're amazing," Jason says, he looks down and shifts from foot to foot. "The way you dance, I mean."
"And you're a fast learner."
"Thanks."
Reyna nods and flips his coin. His golden coin turns into a sword once she catches it. She sees Jason's holding something, too.
Her Imperial gold dagger. He must have taken it from her just after she took his coin.
"Are you really ready to dance now, Reyna?" Jason asks. He shuts down his mental shield and the rain falls freely on their heads, soaking their clothes and purple praetor capes. Good, it's funner to dance this dance in the rain.
She replies by thrusting her sword towards his chest, which he blocks with her dagger. She whirls and slashes at Jason. He ducks and lunges for her, she blocks. They keep up this dance for what feels like seconds but what must have been minutes.
This dance comes the easiest to her, and in her and eyes it's more beautiful and fluent than any other dance. It is Reyna and Jason's favorite dance. The dance of swords clanging, the dance of war.