𝗩𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗔 ✶ 𝗽. 𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝗼𝗻

𝐈𝐈𝐈. honey-laced violence

003. 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄──────🏆🗡️💋

❛ 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚-𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 ❜

𝕾omeone had spilled nectar on the path again. Sticky patches shimmered in the sun like honey traps, and Kian made a dramatic show of tiptoeing around them, balancing a wooden crate on one shoulder.

"You'd think demigods would've mastered basic coordination," he muttered.

"You tripped over your own bow yesterday," Adira said, not looking up from her clipboard.

"That was strategic falling."

Annabeth passed with a quiver slung over her shoulder and a roll of fresh targets tucked under one arm. "You hit the dirt so fast I thought you got hit by something."

Kian glanced between them. "Do you two rehearse this stuff, or?"

"We improv," Annabeth said.

Adira flipped the page on her clipboard, pen tapping lightly against the wood. "Yup. We're gifted like that."

The three of them reached the gear shed. Kian dropped his crate with a dull clatter, half the swords inside rattling loose.

"Great," he muttered. "Love starting the day with a health hazard."

"Then maybe don't drop a crate of bladed weapons like it's laundry," Adira said, brushing past him.

"I swear," Kian said, lifting the lid on a box of arrows, "if one more Hermes kid misaligns the targets, I'm setting the range on fire."

"You won't," Annabeth said, setting aside a cracked arrow. "You like yelling too much."

Kian pointed at Adira. "Back me up here."

Adira leaned back against the doorway, sunlight glinting off her golden earrings. She pressed her lips into a thin line. "Maybe if you spent less time complaining and more time checking the range before practice, you wouldn't need backup."

He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Annabeth grinned. "Exactly."

Kian shrugged it off. "Fine. Just remind me not to end up on the other team during Capture the Flag."

"We're on the same team," Annabeth said. "Which means you get to hear her insult other people instead of you," she added, nodding at Adira.

Adira gave her a dazzling smile. "I don't get mean. I get loud. It's important to be memorable."

The sun caught the edge of her clipboard just then, and she squinted toward the sky, tracking its climb. Her expression shifted, like her brain had just switched tabs.

"Crap," she said, half-laughing as she rolled her eyes. "I'm supposed to be at the arena."

Kian caught the shift–how her weight shifted to her heels, how her fingers tightened slightly around the clipboard. He raised a brow. "Duty calls?"

"Unfortunately," Adira said, already turning. "Time to go yell at teenagers with swords."

She didn't wait for a response, just spun on her heel and started down the gravel path, braid bouncing behind her.

"Bye, Annie! Love you!" Adira called over her shoulder, already halfway down the path.

"Bye!" Annabeth called back, grinning.

Kian lifted his hands. "I don't get a goodbye?"

Adira spun just long enough to shout, "Fuck off!" – sweet as honey, sharp as glass.