It's Always Back To You

MILKSHAKES (Jason Grace Oneshot)

WARNING: TRIALS OF APOLLO SPOILERS IN THIS ONESHOT

Jason Grace loved milkshakes. They held a special place in his heart and had always comforted him when he was anxious. And he needed comfort. Now.

He fumbled with the lamp switch next to his desk, turned the light on, and put on his glasses. Jason slipped his half-frozen toes into his slippers and walked out, careful not to wake up his classmates next door.

From memory, Jason walked 15 steps forward, turned right, and went up a few stairs to a welcoming sight. The front view of the kitchen door. Contented, he tiptoed inside then quickly winced in pain as the bright lights glared into his face.

Jason went straight to work. First, he opened the refrigerator door and brought out the milk.

"No一the cabin would go here and一" Jason had mumbled as he moved around his monopoly pieces on his large cardboard board.

"Jason?"

Jason smiled at the familiar voice. He turned around and faced Petre一his first human friend.

"I brought you some milk," Petre had held out a glass of milk towards Jason. "I thought you might want a drink while you're working on your project."

"Thank you," Jason replied, touched.

Jason smiled softly as he remembered the incident. Petre had knocked over the glass and had apologized hundreds of times for ruining his board.

Jason would miss him.

Next step一ice cream. Jason walked across the room towards the freezer and extracted the vanilla ice cream.

"You loved ice cream," Thalia gazed at Jason. She leaned forward to brush an invisible speck of dirt off his nose. "Once, when I was seven, mother bought me an ice cream cone. You wanted some and cried and cried for hours," Thalia shook her head in amusement, and Jason reddened. "Of course, I wanted to give you some, but I had already finished my cone."

"Selfish," Jason pouted jokingly at Thalia.

"Hush, do you want me to continue the story or not?" Thalia wagged her finger threateningly. "Of course, since I would一and still will一do anything for you, I collected weeks of pocket money until I had enough to buy us a sundae." Thalia had a faraway look in her eyes and Jason could see her self-doubt and sadness peek through.

"Thank you, Tally." He leaned in and hugged her tight.

Jason teared up at the memory. Gods, how he missed his sister. Eyes wet, he carried the ice cream back to the table. He scooped some into the blender and quickly poured the milk in. Jason closed his eyes in pure bliss as the blender hummed serenely.

After a few minutes, Jason turned off the blender and poured the milkshake into a tall glass cup. He enjoyed the whiteness of the shake and the fact it was perfectly frothy. His mouth watered, and Jason gazed hungrily at the glass. Jason held himself back as he knew he would first need the garnishes.

Turning around, he once again walked over to the refrigerator to take out the whipped cream.

He rushed back to the table and started squeezing it out into a tall pile of unhealthy goodness. It followed with Jason squeezing it into his mouth.

"Jason, stop thatttt!" Reyna giggled as she scrunched up her face.

"Why, ReyRey? It's yummy-licious," ten-year-old Jason replied.

"You're wasting camp supplies," Reyna tried to put on a stern face.

Jason wiggled his eyebrows. "Like how?"