𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

friends are idiots (except percy jackson)

ERITH JAY
AFTER GIVING HEDGE back his club and sending Percy, Frank, and the satyr on their way, Erith retired to her room.

She didn't have too bad of a feeling about the three of them going off. Hedge may be an idiot, and Frank may be unreliable, but Percy had gotten himself out of worse, Erith figured.

So, while Annabeth and Piper went off to comfort Hazel, and Jason and Leo kind of kept stealing awkward glances at Erith, then avoiding her gaze, she went off to her cabin.

Now, she stood in front of her bathroom mirror. In her hand was a pair of kids' scissors. She vaguely remembered using them in elementary school. As she got older, she would use them to cut monsters if they got too close.

It wasn't a bad tactic. In fact, it could be quite efficient.

Erith had let her hair grow out for the six months she had spent at camp, and now it waved over her shoulders.

She looked pretty.

She grabbed a strand of hair and snipped it off, watching the blonde collect in the sink with a glint of faded gold.

Growing up, her mom had always been very nervous about what Erith were to do with her hair, and Erith was always nervous of it turning out bad. Since becoming a demigod, she didn't really care. Impulse worked best, she had learned.

Snip.

When she was done, her hair was back to shoulder length, and she now had a pair of slightly uneven bangs.

She blew the hair out of her eyes. Sweet.

"Knock, knock."

Erith turned.

Jason stood in her doorway. He was leaning against the doorframe, looking very awkward.

Right, she had left her door open.

"Come in," she chirped, placing the scissors on the counter.

Jason awkwardly took a few steps in. "Hi. I, uh... you cut your hair. Um..."

She crossed her arms, going to meet him. "Get to the point, Grace."

He blushed. "I'm sorry. Really." He rubbed his arms as if he was cold.

She sighed. "And why are you sorry?"

"Because... suggesting to leave Nico in a jar was not a good thing to do?"

Erith huffed, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. Jason, I love you, really, but you have the emotional processing of an ant. Actually, that's insulting to an ant. You're too logical." She stood on her tiptoes and ruffled his hair. "Not that it's necessarily a bad thing all the time. But a lot of the time, you need to be more aware of other people's emotions. And especially your own. Maybe it's a Roman thing."

"I'm not a Roman thing," he replied, but the awkward nervousness had faded from his shoulders.

Erith studied his features. "You are."

His eyes flickered sadly. "Not anymore."

Erith shook her head. "Point is, I appreciate your reasoning. But Nico literally gave Hazel another chance at life, and he's helped me more than I can say. So, please be considerate with your words next time."