Leo

I stared down at the steaming cup of hot chocolate that Malcolm had given me. The son of Athena had claimed that drinking that would clear my mind and help me improve in my training. 

Honestly, I think he was just saying that to make me feel better. 

"Ughhhhhh." I groaned as I put my head down on top of the table that I was sitting at. "Why is this so hard!?" 

"Why are you back to complaining again?" Andrew asked as he sat down in the chair directly across from me. 

I lifted my hand and gave the son of Khione the middle finger without lifting my head off of the table. 

Andrew clicked his tongue and leaned back in his chair. "Dude, you have some serious mood swings." 

"If you don't shut up, I will pour my hot chocolate all over your damn face." 

"I would like to see you try, Mr I-Can't-Even-Control-My-New-Powers-Properly." 

I lifted my head off of the table and glared angrily at the smug son of Khione. "Did I not tell you to shut up!?" 

"You did, but I just didn't listen." 

I moved my arm to grab the cup that contained the chocolate milk, but before I could even touch the object, a blast of ice froze my entire arm to the top of the table. I tried to pull my arm free, but the ice didn't break. 

I swore under my breath and shouted "You bastard, remove the ice now! My arm is going to get frostbite!" 

Andrew raised an unimpressed eyebrow and laced his fingers together. "No, I think I'll pass. Plus, it should be easy for you to free yourself." 

I growled at him as I continued to try and pull my arm free. "And why is that, you piece of shit?" 

Andrew ignored the insult and smiled. "Are you really that dense? Have you even been taking your training properly? If you're really the one who is going to fight Perseus to save us, then we're all screwed." 

I got ready to spit another insult at him before I realized what Andrew was trying to say. I raised the hand that wasn't pinned to the table by fucking ice and concentrated, feeling my palm grow warm. Flames flickered to life, and I placed my hand over the ice.

Andrew watched as the flames melted the ice fairly quickly, and soon enough, my arm was free. 

"See? That didn't take too long for you to figure it out." The son of Khione said, the smile still present on his irritating face. I had to tell myself not to punch him, and to save it for when we have a battle again in the future. 

"You're infuriating." I hissed as I curled my fingers around the cup of hot chocolate. 

"I know, I've been told." 

"Don't you have anything better to do than to annoy me?" 

Andrew shrugged as he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. There's nothing to do down here except training, and that gets boring fast." 

I raised the cup to my lips and took a sip of the hot chocolate. It was good, but Malcolm was clearly trying to mess with me when he said it would help me clear my mind. 

"What happens if you see your mom again?" I suddenly asked, and Andrew glanced at me with a confused expression. "Where did that peculiar question come from?"

"No idea." I admitted. "I just thought about it. Your mom knows you wouldn't join her and Perseus, so I was just wondering what would happen if you two meet again."

The son of Khione bit his lip and leaned back in his seat. "No idea. All I know is that she probably wants to kill me for joining the enemy. And if we do meet on the battlefield, I wouldn't stand a chance against her. She's way out of my league when it comes to combat." 

I set the cup of hot chocolate aside and reached out, grabbing Andrew by the arm. He flinched and immediately tried to pull away, but I tightened my grip. 

"Listen to me, you snow cone. You're underestimating yourself and your capabilities. You're a pretty good fighter in my opinion, and your ice powers are amazing. Have a little more faith in yourself." 

Andrew blinked at me, stunned. I let go of his arm and slumped back against my chair. 

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Andrew sighed and said "You're right. But if you're going to tell me to have a little more faith in myself, then I can say the same for you." 

I opened my mouth to argue with him, but the bastard sitting across from me raised his hand to tell me to shut up. I rolled my eyes before closing my mouth and deciding to let him continue to talk. 

"You keep complaining that training is difficult. Of course it's going to be hard, what do you expect? Learning how to control the powers that you were given two days ago isn't going to be a piece of cake. But I know you can do it, IF you'll shut up and stop whining like a spoiled brat." 

I huffed and jabbed a finger at him. "You're calling me a spoiled brat!? That's rich, coming from you. If I remember correctly, you came in here like you owned the place." 

Andrew's cheeks reddened and he snapped "I have no idea what you're talking about!" 

"Yeah sure, you snow cone." I muttered as I took another sip of the hot chocolate. 

Actually, I can't even call it hot chocolate anymore. I was taking so long to drink it that it wasn't even hot.

"Don't call me that." Andrew grumped, but I could tell from his tone of voice that he didn't mind. 

I smirked before gulping down the rest of the hot (not really) chocolate. I rose from my seat and set the empty cup down before fixing my gaze on Andrew. 

"Come on, let's have another battle. I'm feeling the urge to bash your face in today." I said. The son of Khione scoffed as he also got up. 

"I'll be the one to bash your face in." 

Percy

"Is that all you got?" I asked as I planted the hilt of my scythe onto the ground. Alex and Jake, the twin sons of Hyperion, were standing across from me. Both of them were breathing hard, and they looked like they were about to faint at any moment. 

"Come on." Alex whined as he wiped some sweat off of his forehead. "You know we aren't able to win against you!" 

"Yeah. The Primordials didn't bless us." Jake agreed. 

I rolled my eyes before my scythe disappeared from my grip, turning back into a bracelet that fit snugly around my wrist. "Fine. The two of you are dismissed." 

Alex and Jake eagerly dropped the weapons that they were holding and scrambled out of the training arena. I shook my head before walking towards the exit. 

As I made my way back to my chambers, I couldn't help but think about Nico and Will. I didn't know why I put those two together. It would have been a better choice to separate them, but something at the back of my mind told me to put them together. 

"Am I going soft?" I muttered as I opened the doors to my chambers. I gritted my teeth and crossed over to the bed that had been positioned in the middle of the room. 

I sat down on the edge of it and buried my face into my hands. 

What was going on? 

Word count: 1280

when i was writing the interaction between leo and andrew, it made me think that they're acting like some sort of old married couple

and yes, my bad, i haven't updated in a month