little bird - Percy Jackson

chapter twenty two

"Hey, um, Percy if you want to take a breather before we start sailing again, I can take over."

She didn't meet hit eyes. Wren couldn't look at Percy without guilt bubbling in her stomach. It bothered her how furious he was, how he wouldn't even spare a glance in her direction. He was so mad. And it didn't help that he was on watch-duty with Jason and something attacked the ship every twenty minutes.

He didn't meet her eyes. Percy couldn't look at Wren without fury pooling in his gut. He was so mad. Even with the bruises on her neck already fading from the ambrosia, it was like he could see them clear as day. And it didn't help that he was on watch duty dealing with a ridiculous aerial attack every twenty minutes.

Jason was the one who finally managed to convince Percy to take a break from watch-duty shortly after dinner when Wren came up to take over, knowing that they could handle the attacks from above and Percy needed to be ready to handle the sea attacks when they landed. Percy was reluctant, but he disappeared down the staircase without much of a fuss.

The way Wren's face fell when Percy walked past her without a word was unmistakeable, but she forced it away as she plopped down next to Jason on the deck, "Howdy."

"Hey." Jason nodded in greeting, leaning back against the nearest wall with his arms behind his head, "That was kind of awkward with you and Percy, huh?"

Wren made a face, scrunching her nose up as she turned towards the blond, "No - shut up."

"I'm just saying!" Jason defended with a grin, "I can't tell if you guys like each other or want to kill each other half the time."

That makes two of us, Sparky.

"Shut up." Wren whacked the boy on the arm, "Worry about yourself, Grace. As if I don't see you and Piper's icky jealous lover looks."

Jason made his own face, "Shut up, Wren."

Wren grinned as she leaned against the wall behind her, looking out at the rolling clouds in the sky. Had they not been awaiting a monster attack it would have been peaceful.

After a moment she turned back to the boy, "So, almost sixteen. Any big plans, Sparky?"

"I don't really know." Jason shrugged, the impending date not seeming to weigh on him the way it did Wren, "Maybe I'll get my license."

The mental image of Jason Grace in the car with a driving instructor was enough to make Wren snort, "I was gonna say try and avoid becoming monster chow. You have a better plan - maybe you can be my chauffeur."

"I will not be your chauffeur."

Wren made a rather amusing face towards the boy as she shrugged, "Agree to disagree."

Even after regaining his memories, Jason was still missing a lot of pieces from his past. Chunks from his childhood were missing, he wasn't exactly sure what his favorite ice cream flavor was, and he couldn't remember his birthday. When discussing when to leave for Camp Jupiter, Annabeth had made an guilty comment to Jason and Chiron that she felt awful the quest would overlap Wren's birthday as if there wasn't a chance it would overlap her own.

Annabeth knew how Wren felt about her birthday, and she wasn't sure that a quest to find Percy was going to help.

When Thalia and some stray Hunters visited Camp Half-Blood just a short week after, Jason had made an offhand comment about not knowing his birthday.

July First. The Kalends of July.

Thalia had told him without so much as a second thought, and she couldn't help but wonder if that was one of the many reasons Wren Kelley had always reminded her of her missing brother.