SAFE . . . reyna ramirez-arellano

91 - coming out

BRIAR DIDN'T WANT to get yelled at by a three-legged table.

When Reyna visited her cabin that evening, she made sure to keep the door open, because Buford the Wonder Table took his duties as acting chaperone very seriously. If he had the slightest suspicion that two people were in the same cabin without supervision, he would steam and clatter down the hall, his holographic projection of Coach Hedge yelling, "CUT THAT OUT! GIVE ME TWENTY PUSH-UPS! PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!"

Reyna sat at the foot of Briar's bunk. "I wanted to check up on you."

"How sweet," Briar gave her girlfriend a soft smile before continuing to take out her braids, watching her hair unravel into waves. "Who's on guard duty?"

"Jason and Leo," Reyna reported, and Briar could feel her stare at her. She tried not to blush as she slowly took out her braids.

"You think they'll do any work?" Briar asked, slightly appalled.

"It's not about doing work, it's protecting the ships from monsters. They'll be fine," Reyna reassured her.

Briar squinted at herself in the mirror, but then she shrugged. "Uh huh," she said, and left it at that. They lapsed into a comfortable silence.

"Are you okay?" Reyna finally asked, just as Briar had finished her hair.

"Huh?" she said, fluffing up her hair. At least she looked pretty.

"Since you've been awake, you've seemed down," she could see Reyna's frown in the reflection of her mirror. "Did you have a bad nightmare?"

Bad nightmare. Because it was so normalized to have nightmares as a demigod, that there's a difference between regular nightmares and really bad nightmares. Briar didn't know why she was surprised. She'd spent years waking up with Piper in the middle of the night from night terrors, after all.

"It was certainly . . . interesting. But it's fine." Briar tried to give Reyna a reassuring smile, but when she thought about what Venus had told her, it faded.

Reyna's frown deepened. "You're sure? Doesn't seem like it."

I know you and how you express your emotions, she really meant.

"I can't tell you about it," Briar said, propping her elbows on her vanity as she started to take off her makeup.

"Can't or won't?"

"Can't," Briar insisted. "Mom told me not to."

Reyna straightened. "Your mom talked to you?"

Briar licked her lips. "Uh huh." She stared at her hands, still soft from her skincare routine — or maybe it was just her genes. But they were still worn from her years of being a legionnaire. "She told me that I couldn't tell anyone. Except for Piper, but when am I going to have the chance to see her again?"

Reyna didn't say anything. Briar was about to ask her to leave so she could go to sleep when she said, "I need to tell you something."

"Okay," Briar shrugged, though now she was very awake. She looked at Reyna from the mirror. "What's up?"

"I—" Reyna swallowed, and Briar waited, wiping off all of her foundation and concealer off of her face. "I think I'm asexual."

"Cool," Briar said, and then there was a long beat of silence. Then she realized what Reyna had said, nearly facepalmed, and looked back at her with a grin. "Sorry. I mean, congrats! I'm really proud of you, Rey."

Reyna frowned. "You're not going to break up with me?"

"Uh, no?" Briar furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would I? You just don't like sex, and that's fine. I don't know why you're thinking about it, considering we're sixteen, but—"