#queenof10

Whispers: Don’t question it just enjoy that everyone’s shutting up and take a day off

     the dust settles, the smoke clears, and yet silena’s heart still feels like it’s just about ready to burst out of her chest — she’d already followed up with charlie in the infirmary, two steps away from threatening when she made the healers promise they’d update her on his condition ( selfish, selfish, selfish ! — like she’d been as a traitor, for most of the war; this thought alone is enough to make her sick to her stomach, so she pushes it as far back as it can go ). silena’s on a warpath as she weaves through the throng of demigods, a single thought in her mind that propels her to move forward even when she just wants to crumble into the ground: drew. 

     she can’t bring herself to pay attention to the seemingly hundred pairs of eyes on her or whatever whispers they utter that may or may not be about her, she’s only interested in locking eyes with one of them, one she can’t find just yet. and it worries her, drums up a myriad of emotions that push and pull and conflict — there’s a hot press of tears in her eyes all of a sudden and she wishes she could walk faster, see clearer, do better.

      the wind is knocked out of her chest when she finally sees her, drew standing amidst some friends — silena can’t help the smile that splits her face, relief coursing through her veins. “ drew ! ” she calls out, running towards her sister as fast as a hobbling, injured leg will allow her. silena just about crashes into drew, enveloping her in a tight, bone-crushing hug upon contact. there’s so much she wants to say, and so she vocalizes the first, most pressing thing in her mind:

     "You-- you called me?"

      Nyssa was tough. Nyssa was strong and covered in motor oil, Nyssa had no qualms about punching people’s lights out. But that same girl was also a total sucker for Drew Tanaka. Her smell, her sassy attitude, her perfect eyeliner, her even more perfect body-- gods, Nyssa would do anything for her attention. She’d heard from Piper that Aphrodite kids automatically knew French, and she’d literally tried to pick up some helpful phrases to impress Drew. Gods knew it sounded ridiculous coming out of the Hephaestus girl’s mouth. 

     "Oh, um, the-- the dangly ones?” She tried to think of the pair. Being unsure how to flirt, Nyssa had a tendency to make things for Drew. Hair clips, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, jewelry that doubled as hidden weapons, curling irons, whatever she asked for. Whatever she wanted. Poor, awkward Nyssa couldn’t tell Drew with her words how she felt, and so she showered the Aphrodite girl in handmade gifts. 

     “It’s alright, really. Earrings are easy to lose, I’m sure.” She’s not sure, actually. She doesn’t have any piercings whatsoever. But they’re awfully tiny, weren’t they? In Drew’s assortment of tiny pieces of jewelry, it’s understandable that one of them would go missing. 

     “It’s no problem, really--” Nyssa tried to assure the distraught half-blood. If she cried, she’d mess up her makeup, and then she’d cry more; it’d be a vicious cycle that Nyssa had witnessed before. 

      She wondered if Hephaestus made gifts for Aphrodite in this same way. Unsure to use his words to woo her, in love but unable to appear sexy or beautiful, and only having his hands to create. Did he shower her in presents the way Nyssa did for Drew? Did it work?

      –She needed a minute to properly respond to that. 

      Drew Tanaka had just kissed her. Drew Tanaka had just kissed her. Nyssa knew that she was never going to use facial cleanser again. Come at me, acne and oil grease, it’s never getting washed. …Maybe that was too much, because this would never happen again if Nyssa had a super dirty face. But still. Still. Wow. She wished she’d gotten that on video camera, just so she could watch it a million times over. Gods, Nyssa hoped she wasn’t making too dumb of a face right now. Leo said she only had a resting bitch face and a ‘I’m-about-to-pummel-you’ expression; hopefully, neither. Her mind was going like twenty trillion miles per hour, but also felt strangely blank at the same time. 

      Nyssa only managed to respond when Drew had stepped off the stool and had begun to walk away. She jolted out of the trance she’d been in, blinking hard. 

      “Drew, wait--” She shook her head, trying to think of what to say. I love you? Let me give you a kiss too? You look really nice today? I’ve had a crush on you for years? Her face felt like it was burning harder than if Leo put a flaming hand on it.

:: love thine neighbor // ACCEPTING.

“ kiss me, and you will see how important i am. “

29. …as a promise 

leaving camp-half blood is always difficult. goodbyes are just… bad, even more so when reyna knows that all she has waiting for her back at camp jupiter is piles of paperwork and that strict, unbending roman schedule. drew is the last on her list of people she needs to say farewell to. not because she’s saving the best for last, as the girl would undoubtedly claim, but because reyna knows it will be her hardest.

there’s something in drew’s voice, the way she huffs, ‘ you’re coming back SOON, right?? ‘ that makes reyna think it’s not just herself who is grieving her departure. it’s typical drew, the way she dominates the conversation, but reyna doesn’t mind that, she never does. ‘ you can’t pull the same crap you did last time and not show up for six months. ‘ the greek continues. ‘ promise me you won’t. ‘

reyna’s not sure what comes over her. it’s not like there are assorted animals surrounding her singing ‘ sha-la-la-la-la you know you wanna kiss the girl, ‘ or something equally dumb, but there is something like a gravitational pull on her head and she finds herself slowly, tentatively pressing her lips against drew’s. the other girl doesn’t pull away, leans in a little closer, in fact, and that’s as good a sign as any for reyna.