as we fall ✤ octavian ✓

three

Laoise was certain she'd never smelled anything as nasty before as the bus they were currently clambering onto. The assault on her nose was something she knew she'd need days to recover from, and it took everything in her not to gag as she took the middle seat, sandwiched in between Logan and Octavian, who each looked as miserable as she felt.

"This is disgusting," Logan attempted to whisper to her, though he failed at keeping his voice down, as several people around them gave them looks. "I think I saw a mouse by the lady with the cane's feet."

"Let's hope they don't crawl up your pants," Laoise placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing down.

Logan squirmed, though he was giggling, and she grinned down at him.

"She's only kidding, kid," Octavian sighed. "No mice are going to come anywhere near you. They'll have to go through me first."

"Yeah, because you're soooo tough," Laoise rolled her eyes, as Octavian began to dig into his pockets. For the briefest of moments, she worried he was about to draw a knife and slit her throat in front of the already traumatized Logan, but he didn't - instead, he yanked out a large piece of gold, carved into a circle.

"What's that?" Logan peered over her shoulder to get a good look at it.

"It's a compass," Octavian explained, staring down at the dial, where it was pointed towards his right, not wavering even in the slightest. "Vulcan gave it to Reyna."

"Vulcan gave Reyna a compass? What for?" Her brows pooled together.

"It tracks Brigid," he said, twisting the contraption around in his fingers. "It's aimed directly at her, so we know what direction she's in. It'll come in handy when we get close to the Yucatan, I suppose, or if she moves locations."

"She better not," Laoise clenched her teeth. "I've always wanted to go to Mexico. We're not ditching the warmth to go find her in fucking Alaska or something."

"You said a naughty word!" Logan exclaimed loudly, earning peculiar glances from those around them.

She sighed, but before she could come up with an excuse, Octavian jumped in.

"Yeah, Laoise, do we need to set up a swear jar for you?"

"If you keep talking, we certainly will," she hissed at him, resisting the urge to smack him, and he swung his head back, letting out a hearty laugh.

"Gods, Laoise, you can't just treat this like a vacation," he attempted to chastise her, though through his snickers, it lacked the desired affect.

"Why not? After we kill the bitch - sorry, Logan, I mean, mean girl, we don't have to return to Camp Jupiter right away. We can just...relax. Go to the beach. I mean, Gods, how long has it been since we've been to a beach, Octavian?"

"I've never been to a beach," Logan frowned, looking up at Octavian. "Are they nice?"

"Wouldn't know," he shrugged. "I've been at Camp Jupiter my entire life. Never left the place, actually, outside of my training with Lupa."

"I want a tan," Laoise continued, grinning at the thought. "I want to bathe in the sun, and get tan, and relax in the sand where no monsters or Gods can find me."

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but that isn't going to happen. Reyna will kill us if we don't come back immediately. Quite literally - she threatens to stab me every other day, and it's only a matter of time before she takes herself up on her threat."

"Is that supposed to dissuade me from wanting to do that? Trust me, Octavian, the day Reyna shoves a dagger in your stomach will be the best day of my life."

"Do you want me to shut you up?" His jaw clenched as he spoke, anger flaming in his expression. "Because I can."

"Yeah, right," she rolled her eyes. As if Octavian could do anything to quiet her loud mouth, the way she could rile him up. "I'd like to see you try."

His lips curved up in an amused smirk, though before she cold say a word, his mouth opened, and he began to sing. His eyes were locked with hers the entire time, and she was about to burst out laughing, though she found she couldn't. Instead, her brain went groggy the moment the lyrics lulled from his lips and met her ears. It was serenity, tranquility, perfection in every sense of the word, and her eyelids began to droop. She didn't even understand the song he was singing, just the beauty of it, as her head lopped to the side, and she lost consciousness.

*

The jolt of the smelly bus hitting a pothole shot Laoise out of her blissful slumber and back into reality, eyes fluttering open as she took in her surroundings. Her cheek was on something, her head lulled to the side sometime when she'd fallen asleep. When she strained her neck, moving her head away from the offending source, she realized, in utter horror, she'd fallen asleep on Octavian's shoulder.

"What-" she sputtered, blinking as she glanced at the two boys she was sandwiched in between. "What the f...fluff? Why was I asleep on your shoulder?"

"He sang you to sleep," Logan giggled. "Then your head fell on his shoulder, and he let you."

Octavian simply rolled his eyes. "I thought if I moved you, you'd wake up, and we'd have to deal with more of your incessant chatter. It was the only option I could think of."

Laoise barred her teeth, though her curiosity got the better of her, as she questioned, "How did you do that?"

"Sing you to sleep, you mean?" Octavian teased, eyes shining with glee at his achievement. "I'm the descendant of Apollo. Whoever my song is directed to, I can cause to fall asleep, as long as they're looking me in the eye."

"I'll be sure never to make eye contact with you again," She grumbled, folding her arms over her chest as she squirmed at the idea of her being asleep on that boy's shoulder. There was something grossly intimate about the idea, that made her heart jump in what was clearly signaling disgust.

"Please, we know you can't resist me."

"Resist what? Your ability to sing a lullaby? I'm quaking in my boots, really."

"Better than anything you can do, child of Eros. All you're good for is s..."

"What's she good for?" Logan pestered when Octavian trailed off, avoiding looking at the child, as though he just recalled he was there.

Avoiding the burning in her cheeks and the anger and insecurity mixing around in her stomach, Laoise forced a smirk, tilting her head. "Yeah, Octavain, what exactly is it that I'm good for?"

For a long moment, no one said nothing.

"Singing to," Octavian eventually concluded with a nod and a sharp exhale. "All you're good for is singing to."

"That wasn't the s word I was thinking of," Logan frowned.

Laoise gaped. "You know what sex is?"

His brow furrowed together. "No. What's sex?"

"Never mind," she waved a dismissive hand as several people on the bus glanced over to them. "What word were you thinking of?"

If Logan was confused, he didn't show it, as he continued, "Smiling - Lee-Lee smiles an awful lot. Her smile is beautiful, right, Octavian?"

Octavian clicked his tongue, meeting Laoise's eye with a knowing look. "Not the b word I was thinking of."