reflection ● jason grace

Romance and Deathball

Daria should've been mad at Jason, but in all honesty, she was just glad he talked to her.

Ever since the siege, the son of Jupiter had been shut off from everyone, except for maybe Daniel who had taken his chess lessons somewhere else when Daria kept beating him. Jason was taking his training seriously, but Daria couldn't help but think that it didn't suit him. She was too used to him playing pranks with Nathan or sparring with her in the mornings.

None of that happened now. Daria tripped on a stone as she got lost in her thoughts, cursing in Spanish (you know, because it didn't really mean anything if no one around you could understand it). Even though he said he wasn't mad, anxiety pooled in her stomach. Three months since he stopped being friends with her, and she hadn't found a solution.

But Jason's silence had given Daria time to do other things. She tried her hand at archery, she practiced her languages, she talked about the daughter of Bellona and how her brown eyes were the same color of hot chocolate.

Octavian was getting pretty tired of it.

See, the thing was, Daria knew Jason wasn't weirded out by the fact that Reyna was a girl. But she couldn't make the same guarantee for anyone that was outside of her friend group. When Jason told her that everyone noticed, her heart sank into her stomach.

But she liked it. She liked it when Reyna would bump her shoulder or when she would laugh at one of Daria's stupid jokes. She liked it when Reyna nonchalantly told Daria she had pretty eyes, and she liked the idea of holding her hand.

Reyna's arrival had shaken up their little group. Daria used to be like a planet – their friends in the shape of stars and moons would revolve around her and everything was balanced. Reyna was Daria's sun. She really, really, really liked her.

Daria could hear her friends talking as the Forum came into view. It was nearing sundown, so there were lots of people preparing for the Deathball tournament tonight. The game was pretty much a free for all, but Daria had managed to recruit Michael to be on her team.

"We prayed to Mercury for good fortune and..." Clara hesitated, a grin playing on her face.

"And?" Reyna prompted.

"And we got Nathan," Dakota said. "He's dumb as rocks"

"He's not even here to defend himself!" Michael chirped. Right, Nathan was with his mother for the holidays. Daria was so used to his presence that it took a second to get used to.

"Also, that is so not what happened," Daria interjected. She looked at the metal linings of the bench and winced, no doubt it would feel like ice.

Reyna picked up on it. "Sit next to me," she said softly as the other three argued with each other about what Daria said. "You look frozen."

"I feel frozen," Daria admitted, rubbing her hands together. Like she expected, the seat was frosty to the touch, but Reyna was very warm. Daria hummed, leaning into her. Another thing she liked: Reyna's blush.

"Nathan is not good luck," Dakota whined, raising their eyebrows. "Daria, tell them!"

"No yeah," Daria recalled. "On the same day that Nathan arrived, there was a monster attack at the War Games. No one knew how it happened, but Atticus was a centurion at the time so," her voice turned bitter. "Place your bets."

"Atticus was so nice," Clara sighed as Dakota frowned at her. "Until he wasn't."

"Thanks for your insight, Clars," Michael said sarcastically. He turned to Daria with a forced expression on his face. "Ready for Deathball?"