Storm and Fire

Fallen

Jason's POV

Piper came out to me today.

We were sitting next to each other at breakfast. I had a spinach and feta omelet and Piper was pouring syrup all over her stack of waffles.

She looked nice as always. Her short dark hair was pinned up today, so you could see the many piercings that adorned both her ears. She wore a pink Camp Counselor tank top and beige cargo pants with hiking boots. Around her waist was a belt that held her dagger Katoptris.

"So I realized I was a lesbian" she said, her mouth half stuffed with waffle. I choked on my apple juice.

"What?" I sputtered, beginning to have a coughing fit.

She laughed while she patted my back, watching me suffer.

"Les bee annnn" she said again.

It did surprise me at first.

When I first met Piper, I was sure that we would've ended up together. It felt right to hold her hand and to kiss her. But something changed after we saved Hera. I felt a sudden disinterest washing over me. And I knew that she felt it as well.

It was a hard breakup. I felt so guilty for falling out of love with a child of Aphrodite. I woke up in the middle of nights, fearful of being struck down by the love goddess. But Piper was more confident than I was, and she supported me through our own breakup. It felt silly in the beginning but I think it strengthened our friendship.

Thinking about our relationship in my head, it became less surprising.

I was still hacking on apple juice, so I tried to smile and gave her a thumbs up, which made her laugh even harder.

"Well of course you're a lesbian" Leo sat down next to me with a big plate of eggs, bacon and sausage.

"I couldn't be the only gay one in the group". Piper reached over me and flicked Leo on the arm.

"Ow!"

"That's right Valdez, you're not special anymore" Piper teased.

Leo stuck his tongue out at her playfully. And then he caught me looking at him.

"Mornin, sparky," he said with a grin. I instantly felt my ears get warmer.

Leo was always able to do that, and I found it so annoying. Today, his hair was pulled out of his eyes with a headband. His dark curly locks fanned around his face like a lion's mane. His brown eyes sparkled with the same mischief that they always do, and his smile was wide and toothy. He had a new band aid placed over his small pointy nose, and I could see redness pooling from it.

"What happened there?" I said, lightly touching the tip of his nose. Leo went cross eyed, and made a goofy face.

"Oh this? Just a little cut from a fight I got into earlier" his voice was dripping with sarcasm, but I decided to humor him.

"Oh really? how big were they?" I said, unable to hide my laughter. I could practically hear Piper rolling her eyes beside me.

"Oh they were biiiiiiigggggg" Leo stood and lifted his arm up above his head to demonstrate.

"Is that so?" Will Solace appeared behind Leo, making him jump.

"Nyssa told me," Will continued. "that you fell off your bunk again and broke your nose"

Leo slumped back down next to me, his previous confidence wavering.

"Nyssa doesn't know what she's talking about" Leo claimed while shoving bacon in his mouth.