reflection ● jason grace

Of course, things don't go to plan.

 By the time Daria got to camp, she was sure something was wrong.

She stumbled when she crossed the Tiber, probably would've fallen if Dakota didn't catch her. The problem had been there since they got off the ship.

She couldn't feel the ground.

Or rather, she could feel the surface under her feet. She could feel that she was standing on something stable and beneath her, but she couldn't feel Nathan, who was with Michael a few feet away. Jason, who was stood right next to her.

She bit her lip, shaking away Jason's concerned look. Obviously, it was because of the burns on her feet. Nothing she could do about that now. And besides, she thought as the Principia came into view, she had bigger things to worry about.

"Reyna!" Clara exclaimed. The dark-haired girl was talking to some people on the patio of her cohort. She looked agitated but perked up when she heard her name.

"We should go see Leila," Daniel said with a pointed look that meant he, Daria, and Jason should go see Leila.

"In a second," Daria argued. She grinned at the girl she hadn't seen in a week. It felt like too long. "We'll meet you there."

Daniel muttered to himself, stalking off. It wasn't like him to listen to Daria, and she didn't count on it happening again.

But now that he was gone, she didn't feel too bad about rushing up to Reyna and wrapping her in a tight hug as the others chattered about irrelevant things. "I missed you," she murmured into the older girl's shoulder.

"I missed you too," Reyna whispered back. Whatever happened on the ship, those butterflies were back with vengeance. She tilted Daria's chin up and kissed her quickly and Daria hummed into it. She thought this was the best part of being with someone. Daria talked a lot about being independent, but she liked the feeling of holding someone's hand.

"Tell me everything," Reyna said, staying next to her after they broke their embrace. She smelled like oak trees and determination. Daria didn't really know how someone could smell like determination, but she felt sure of her description anyway.

Daria raised her eyebrows. "If I survive my meeting with Leila."

Reyna's expression turned grim. "Don't even joke about that. She's pissed at you, and the whole camp knows it."

Daria rolled her eyes, catching Jason's gaze as she did. Immediately, they looked away from each other, and Daria remembered what happened two days ago.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, Daria chided herself. Jason was off-limits. He had a prophecy to fulfill, and besides, you're with Reyna. The last part was more of an afterthought, no matter how much Daria wished it wasn't.

Because she did like Reyna. She thought the daughter of Bellona was attractive and intelligent; she had a good heart and a dry sense of humor that Daria appreciated. There was only one glaringly obvious problem: she wasn't Jason.

But maybe, in time, that wouldn't matter. Besides, it's not like Daria and Jason could ever be together, and she didn't even like him that much. It was just a silly school-girl crush because he'd been gone for a few days. Yeah, that was it.

"We should go," Daria decided, nodding at Jason. She didn't want to ruin their friendship over something as trivial as feelings, even if he was currently being annoying as hell. "Don't want to keep Leila waiting."

"Any more than you already have," Michael pointed out. "Good luck in there. Keep your mouth shut."

"Why should she?" Nathan demanded. "She didn't do anything wrong!"