stress-baking | theyna

ix.

"Thalia! You're up!" Her manager called. "Directions are on the box!"

Thalia sighed. It was her turn to deliver the pizza. It was honestly not a terrible job, but running around at midnight, trying to find the correct house, was never something she looked forward to.

She picked the box up from the heater, holding it on the edges so as not to burn her fingers. Thalia put the pizza in the basket of her bike and dejectedly sat down on the motorcycle. It wasn't that she didn't like riding it, it was just late and she wanted sleep. "Let's see," She pulled the sticky note from the top of the box, "Half-Blood Hill, Farm Road. Long Island, New York." She reread the address multiple times. "What the fuck? Why is it so far away?"

Thalia decided to just deliver the damn pizza and earn her pay.

Thalia walked up to the dark house. It was exactly out of a children's Halloween movie meant to scare little kids. She slumped to the doorway and rung the doorbell. The entire house was gloomy-looking.

Thalia heard a little girl's voice, loud and energetic, and heard the doorknob jiggle. She looked down at her receipt as the door opened, not caring how less-than-enthusiastic she appeared. "I've got an order here for... Death Boy?"

"Thalia?!" She looked up. There, standing over the little girl, was Reyna, pajama-clad and beautiful as ever.

"Reyna?! What are you doing here?" The pizza was hot on Thalia's hands.

The little girl hid behind Reyna's legs. "Who is she?"

Reyna smiled and took her hand, pulling the girl out from behind Reyna's legs. "Hazel, this is my friend, Thalia. Thalia," She gestured, "Hazel." Thalia blushed at her title of "friend," hoping that she'll be promoted to more than that.

Thalia crouched down to Hazel's eye level. She had curly brown hair with caramel highlights piled on top of her head, and her eyes were like liquid gold. It was almost sobering, how serious she looked due to the intensity of their hue. "How's it going, Hazel?" She giggled and hid back behind Reyna.

Thalia looked up at Reyna. "When we were talking, you said Nico's house was only a few blocks away, not half an hour!"

Reyna grinned sheepishly. "I lied... But I promise it was for a good cause! I didn't want you to worry."

Thalia rolled her eyes but smiled. "Alright," She said, straightening, "I have a medium pepperoni here with breadsticks for Death Boy. Who is that, exactly?"

Reyna's eyes were full of mirth. "It's Nico. His, and Hazel's, dad is a funeral coordinator."

Thalia laughed at that. "Your relationship with him is quite entertaining. Who came up with that nickname?"

"Will did." Reyna crossed her arms in front of her chest without any explanation as to who Will was. "Now, how much do I owe you?"

Thalia checked the slip of paper. "Just five-forty."

Reyna handed her six bucks, and told her to keep the change, a la Grace-sibling-style. Both girls denied the fluttering of butterflies in their stomachs and the electricity that danced where their fingers met. It seemed that the pair of them would rather ignore everything than risk anything.

Hazel had run off somewhere, exclaiming something about "cooties," but neither one of them took heed. Reyna opened the door a bit wider, no shame in her oversized Led Zeppelin nightshirt and bright pink booty shorts. The shirt's neckline was deeply stretched and falling off her shoulder. "Do you - Would you join us? We're in the middle of playing Mythomagic and I'm currently beating Nico's ass."