Chapter Text
Reyna sighed and waited, standing with the majority of demigods and legacies as they waiting for the Argo II to arrive.
It'd been three months since she'd last seen the seven, or anyone from Camp Half-Blood in person, for that matter. After the war, the legionnaires from Camp Jupiter stayed at Camp Half-Blood. After a celebration for winning the war and a funeral for those lost in battle, they left back for New Rome.
The only communication she'd really had with the seven was occasional Iris Messages with Annabeth, and nearly daily Iris Messages with Nico. Her and Jason had talked at first, but he had spent the past months constantly working on building the cabins for the Minor gods. Thankfully, in the time they had talked, Jason and Reyna had succeeded in fixing their friendship, even if the dense idiot was still oblivious to her feelings. In truth, Reyna was happy for both Jason and Piper, even if she may hold a torch for the son of Jupiter for a while.
Hazel bounced on the balls of her feet beside Reyna, Frank standing by them and gazing at his girlfriend fondly. It made Reyna smile; those two were absolutely perfect, although she'd never admit that to anyone but Hazel.
The Argo II came into view, landing but a few moments later. The seven stepped off the ship, and Reyna couldn't help the grin that spread across her face when she saw Nico. He waved awkwardly and she tried and failed to suppress a chuckle. Behind Nico came Annabeth, her chin held high, a grinning Percy following close behind. Next came Jason, Piper smiling brightly on his arm. Lastly came Leo, who was smirking and winking at all the girls, only to have them roll their eyes and scoff.
Hazel rushed up to pull Nico into a tight hug.
"Hazel... too... tight," He gasped.
"Oh," she said, pulling back with flushed cheeks and a shy smile. "Sorry, Neeks."
"It's okay." He shifted his gaze to Reyna and she smiled brightly, stepping forward to bring him into her own hug.
Reyna was cautiously aware that Nico didn't like to be touched, so she always kept their hugs quick and simple, giving him the choice to hug back or back out. By now, of coarse, Reyna knew he would hug back, yet she still respected him and gave him the choice. To her delight, Nico hugged her back.
They pulled away and chuckled as people around them gasped and gaped.
a) Nico didn't like to be touched, or show PDA
b) Reyna never seemed like the hugging type. She always had her guard up, only making physical contact if necessary. In reality, Reyna didn't mind physical contact, although she would be cautious as to whether PDA would be appropriate at the time.
"What? No hug for me?" Leo asked, a hand to his heart and a dramatically hurt expression.
Reyna snickered, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. "Not even in your dreams, Valdez."
Leo winked. "We'll see."
Reyna could only roll her eyes and try to suppress the smirk, feeling her lips twitch in protest.
Annabeth cleared her throat, gathering everyone's attention. "There's been a slight change of plan."
Reyna raised her eyebrows incredulously. "A change had not been discussed with me."
Leo snickered, mumbling something along the lines of 'number two this time, hon.'
Reyna scowled at the son of Hephaestus as Annabeth began to explain. "Well, Chiron kind of discussed it with Frank, since he's also a Praetor."
Reyna glanced back at Frank with crossed arms, only to see him blush and look away. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously."Uh, yeah. It was kinda this thing so you could get a vacation too, instead of watching over the camp while everyone else got to have fun with the Greeks."
Her irritation immediately faded, replaced by a fond smile. Frank was always thinking of everyone else, even if he wouldn't be happy with the outcome.
"I would much prefer watching over the camp, this way you could visit the Greek camp. I know you miss the seven, Frank."
Frank smiled shyly, blush darkening. The guy really was a giant teddy bear, even if Ares' blessing made him look all buff on the outside. He shrugged. "I'll be fine here. Go have fun, Reyna."
"I could always stay and keep him company." Hazel said, looking at Nico as if for permission, and he rolled his eyes with a smile, apparently coming to that exact conclusion. Hazel smiled, her golden eyes lighting up her face, as she continued. "Besides me and Frank get multiple chances to visit Camp Half-Blood. Reyna, you don't get to often. Take this chance now to have fun."
Reyna shook her head with a smile. "No matter how much I argue, am I still doing to lose?"
Hazel nodded enthusiastically, and Reyna sighed in defeat. It looks like she's going to Camp Half-Blood.
They waited a bit longer for Reyna to grab her things, as the rest of the camp already had been packed for a week or two. No matter how much she asked why their was a change of plans, no one on the ship would give her an answer.
Probably because only three people really know, Piper thought, snickering. Annabeth grinned mischievously, Piper mimicking the look on her face as Nico sighed and shook his head in the corner of the room.
"Reyna," Piper called, "we'll be stopping by the nearest Mall, soon." Reyna paused in the middle of trying on a black dress. "What? Why? I don't have any money, anyways."
She looked thoughtful for a moment before resuming putting on the dress.
The girls had no problems changing in front of each other, as they had the same parts anyways, but somehow ended up not giving a second thought about changing in front of Nico, either. He was gay, after all, so he never got turned on from seeing the girls. It had no more effect than him seeing a hand or a shoulder would.
Piper couldn't remember the first time they'd began changing in front of him. After he'd come out to Percy, pretty much the entirety of Camp Half-Blood found out. He'd been terrified, avoiding people all the time until Jason and Piper forced him to come and be social. That led to him becoming better friends with both Percy and Annabeth. "
Don't worry," Annabeth said, pulling Piper from her thoughts. Damned ADHD. "Nico said he could pay."
Reyna glanced over at Nico warily. "Neeks, won't you need the money? I wouldn't want you spending your money on me, especially when I don't even know what it is that's being bought." she glared halfheartedly at the girls.
Nico nodded. "It's fine. Dad's the god of riches too, remember?" Reyna nodded, but still looked wary.
Piper grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "All we need to know is your dress size and if you prefer black or white."
Reyna sighed in defeat.