obsidian black ● jason grace

darkest

Piper tried to hold firm, but as Hazel struck the base of her sword with her own spatha, she stumbled, allowing Hazel to back her into the edge of the ring, spatha pointed at her chest.

    "You win," Piper relented, putting her hands up. There was a glimmer in her friend's eyes as she sheathed her weapon. Quickly, Piper spun Hazel around, wrapping one arm around her stomach and holding her sword in front of her neck. "Or maybe not."

    "Come on, Hazel!" Leo jeered from the sidelines. "Oldest trick in the book."

    Jason shook his head, also watching as Piper put her sword away. The two girls shook hands. "Romans don't play dirty."

    "Still," Hazel grinned. "It was a good fight. You're getting better."

    "Not good enough to face me, I suppose," Leo said, puffing his chest out. "But better."

    Piper rolled her eyes. Sweat clung to her forehead. "I need some water."

    "Dinner?" Hazel suggested. "We've been here for a while."

    While Percy and Daria had retreated to who knows where, and Frank and Annabeth were on duty, the four of them had come down to the armory to have some fun. Well, Leo was having fun. For Piper, beating Hazel was a workout.

    And as always, Jason looked lost in his own head. Piper knew that seeing his mother had shaken him up, among other things, but she wished her friend would share his thoughts with her. Piper may not believe in love, but she did give pretty good advice.

    Leo made grabby hands as Jason stood. Piper watched as the taller boy rolled his eyes and helped his friend to his feet, or tried to, halfway through, Jason winced and let go of Leo's left hand. Thankfully, Leo was ready enough to stumble to a standing position, but Jason's face was still sharp with pain.

    Hazel cast him a worried look. "Jason? Are you okay?"

    "Fine," he said, blinking. And he looked fine; Piper's wouldn't have been concerned except for the fact that she had seen the whole fiasco. "Old injury."

    "Your shoulder?" Leo asked dumbly. "It was fine when we were at Camp Half-Blood."

    "Yeah it's," Jason thought about it. "Well I guess it's pretty new." He shot Piper a look that clearly read, get me out of this. Unfortunately for him, Piper wasn't going to do that.

    "You just said it was old," Piper pointed out.

    Hazel gave her a small nod, a smirk on her face when she realized where this was going. She approached Jason, expression as gentle as always. "Did you get it in Tartarus?"

    Jason flexed her arm, testing out his shoulder. He looked around at the three of them, frowning. "Is this some sort of intervention?"

    "Yeah," Leo echoed nervously. "Can we um, not have an argument in the armory?"

    "Because I've told you already, I'm fine," Jason continued. Leo herded him out the door, and Piper and Hazel followed.

    "We're not letting up this time, right?" Hazel muttered as they shut the door.

    "Not a chance," she replied.

    By the time the two had caught up, Leo had already laid out plates for them. The best part about the Argo II was that they could eat whatever they wanted without having to cook it. Piper didn't even think any of them knew how to cook save for Leo.

    "Dios mio," she heard Leo mutter as she dug in the fridge for some Coke. "That's all you're going to eat?"

    She re-entered the Mess Hall and saw the issue. Jason had pushed his plate aside and was instead nibbling on some saltine crackers, which would have been fine if he hadn't only eaten half of his lunch.