gambler: percy jackson²

006

in which: jelly beans and betrayal
are the foundations of an army.

Minho made his way past sign posts and stomped over the crusher dust paths as he headed to the Principia- headquarters for the camp leaders, more or less.

One step behind him was Percy who contained his wandering questions about camp to his mind, ogling the chariot dealership, coffee shops and weapon rentals. His pen was in his hand, and Minho felt a little bad that they hadn't passed by Julia on their way out of the city. He'd been more keen on a direct route.

It took him a lot of mental energy to summon his thyrsus but usually it came back on its own merit (within two minutes or so). The staff always seemed to know when it was allowed to return to Minho's palm, never cheating its way past the borders of New Rome. He figured it would be in the Principia, waiting for him.

Sure enough, as he weaved past the white marble columns and ducked under the low-hanging SPQR banners, there it was, leant against the chair he usually sat in. Percy looked amused as Minho collected the staff, giving it a twirl before letting it rest back in his palm. "Huh, so yours does the whole, teleporting thing too?"

"Yup. Think it's to do with god-given gifts Jason has a sword-javelin thing that does the same thing." Minho said with a vague wave of his hand, collapsing back into the chair he'd claimed his own- one of the visitor's chair's dragged around to sit beside Ryena's, the second praetor's seat always felt like a step too far. "Was yours a gift too? Or was that info loss in the memory purge?"

Percy seemed to have no such qualms about the Praetor's seat, making himself comfortable against the high back and purple cushion.

Minho frowned. "No no, you sit on the visitor's side."

"But you aren't"

"I'm an exception."

The long wooden table that held the room's centre had two very distinct sides, one covered in scrolls, maps, one giant bowl of jelly beans and handwritten notes speared into the table with daggers- and the other which was clear. Percy sighed. "Fine."

He dragged the chair he'd claimed- Jason's chair, around to the visitor's side, collecting a handful of jellybeans on his way past. He settled directly across the table from Minho, smiling like he'd found a loophole. Minho let a small smile slip past- this son of neptune certainly was something.

"So," Percy shoved three blue jelly beans into his mouth at once, muffling his words as he spoke around the candy. "What makes you an exception?"

An interesting question really. Minho pondered it as he collected his own jelly bean from the bowl- just one for the time being (unlike others). As of late, since the beginning of Reyna's adventures in solo leadership, Minho had unwittingly become her advisor of sorts- and a person for her to pass off her lesser duties to. Such as welcoming the newer socal outcasts of the legion (see Frank Zhang as example one) or babysitting people who weren't proven trustworthy (Octavian and new-comer Percy Jackson, although Minho was coming around to the latter).

"Well, Jason went missing, and it was all hands on deck to find him." He frowned at the messy scrawl of his own handwriting, littered along the desk, a sign of the time he'd spent in the room. "I've been at camp for nearly ten years, and I guess Reyna always found it easier to work with someone she's friends with. We sort of tackled the bulk of it ourselves, an attempt to keep the Legion calm."

"Oh." Percy paused, like it was a concept he understood. Then he frowned, head tilted in slight confusion. "Are you and her... you know."

He held up two entwined fingers and Minho barked a laugh, one of his rougher ones, jagged with surprise.