[video]

[keeperfromtheflame]

People would tell me how much they hated this place.  Why they thought it was awful.

I used to think that it wasn't so bad, really.

[Hazel's expression is stone-faced and her tone calm, but there was a noticeable tightness to her shoulders.  She was sitting on her bed with a borderline defeated aura, closet door behind her partially open and a...bow in hand.]

[Those who had known him may or may not recognize it as Frank's bow.]

[Her fingers gripped it so tightly, it was a wonder the wood hadn't broken in half yet.]

Now?  I finally get it.

Comments

[heirtotheshield]

[ James does not understand why that thing - ogre? - is brushing his teeth with something out of a bug's butt. But, it's cute animation at least. ]

You've met a giant?

[ James is curious. ]

[keeperfromtheflame]

[He had a very bizarre definition of cute.]

Met...fought...

[Same difference, really.]

[heirtotheshield]

[ He stares at her for a minute. ]

You fought a Giant? Like a really real Giant?

[ He's starting to understand that his world isn't the only one out there. It only took him six months or so. ]

[keeperfromtheflame]

I had help.

[Whom her mind kept bringing her back to, even in spite of James' best efforts. She couldn't help it. With her attention span, and the last several months of her life devoted to fighting and being with her friends...it would take time before she could go any length without thinking of them.]

[If nothing else, she didn't feel like she had to hide it. Not all of it. People here...people like James...they understood. They might not have been demigods, but the rules were different here. Which was why she could use devices like that cell phone without fear of instant attack.]

[heirtotheshield]

[ He has no doubt of that. But... wait. Is that donkey flying? ]

Wait, how did the sparkly stuff make the donkey fly?

[keeperfromtheflame]

Hmm?

[Her attention immediately turned back to a movie. That...was definitely a flying donkey on the screen. Was it bad her first thought was of Jason? Because of the flying, not the donkey.]

I don't know.

Maybe that's how movies show magic?

[heirtotheshield]

Well, it didn't last long.

[ He's finding the donkey funny as heck. He likes the sass. It reminds him of Azari and Pym. He puts his casted arm on her shoulder. ]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories.

[keeperfromtheflame]

[Her eyes first fell to his arm, and even though she had known James for a while now, there was a noticeable hint of pink to her cheeks when she looked up again.]

N-no. You didn't.

I'm fine, James. Promise. I was only thinking of a friend back home. Jason. He could...fly too.

[heirtotheshield]

[ His arm must be too heavy on her. He should have thought about that before he did that. Whoops. He moves his arm, because he doesn't want to hurt her. ]

My brother, Pym, he can fly too. He loved zipping around the biodome and playing tag.

[keeperfromtheflame]

[It definitely wasn't the weight.]

[But she did shift a little, trying to cover up her embarrassment. Reaching up with one hand in vain effort to brush some of the unruly strands of hand from her face that hadn't been restrained by the hairband.]

You never mentioned a brother before.

[heirtotheshield]

[ He hadn't? Oh, maybe he hadn't. ]

I have three brothers: Pym, Azari and Francis. Then there's our sister, Torrun. We were raised together after our parents were killed.

[keeperfromtheflame]

[There was a moment of understanding at the mentioning of losing his parents. Her father might have been absent, but he was still...well...immortal. But she had lost her mother long ago, and still felt the pain of that loss, even now.]

It must be nice to have so many siblings.

How old are they?

[heirtotheshield]

[ James has to think for a moment. ]

Pym's 13, but all the rest of us are 14.

[keeperfromtheflame]

[She was slightly taken aback by that, doing a quick mental count on her fingers.]

...twins? No, wait, there's a word for more than two.

Qua...druplets? Was that it?

[If they were all siblings of the same age.]

[heirtotheshield]

[ He blinks, wondering what she's talking about. It takes James a minute. ]

Oh! No, we all had different parents. We were just raised as siblings.

[keeperfromtheflame]

[Her brows rose, and for the second time, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She should have...yeah, that made a lot more sense, didn't it?]

Oh. I see.

I thought...never mind.

[heirtotheshield]

[ He smiles a bit crookedly. ]

I did make it sound like we had all the same parents didn't I? All of our parents were Avengers. So it was like having the same parents? Sort of.

[keeperfromtheflame]

I can relate.

[Pun completely unintended.]

Nico and I...we do have the same father, but the rest of us... [Okay, technically they were all related in some fashion. Because gods and goddesses and the most insane family trees one could ever hear of] ...we're all like family.

[heirtotheshield]

Exactly.

[ He does understand. He and the others are family, no matter what their bloodlines. ]

I'm sorry they're all gone, now. If you ever need anything, I'm around, okay?

[keeperfromtheflame]

[She nodded.]

I know.

[And she really did know. Once time had given her the chance to settle down and she'd stopped staring at that stupid bow for so long she couldn't decide whether to break it in half or hang it on her wall. There were still friends here. She wasn't as close to them as she was to the other demigods, but they were people she could rely on.]

And I'm sorry I'm not being a very good houseguest right now.

[They were there to watch a movie, and she was barely paying it any attention.]

[heirtotheshield]

[ James stifles a yawn. He really should be a better host to Hazel, but he's not sure what to - ]

What? No, you're fine. I invited you over just to get your mind off things.

[keeperfromtheflame]

...but you're yawning.

[Yawning was a sign of boredom, right? At this time of day, given the situation...]

It's not that easy. I have-- [ADHD was the term the other demigods always threw around. But they also mentioned doctors and medication. Things Hazel had no first-hand experience about. She had grown up in an era without modern understanding of learning disabilities. Her teachers had always assumed her inability to focus came from being a lazy child.] --I mean...it's hard for me to pay attention. I was never very good at sitting still.

[heirtotheshield]

[ He shakes his head. It's not her fault. ]

It's not you. Things have been... weird since the titans, that's all.

[ It's not quite a lie. He's not sure what's going on, but sleeping is all but impossible. ]

[keeperfromtheflame]

[At the mention of the Titans, Hazel sat up a little straighter. One of the few things she was able to focus on...a side-affect of her genetically-inherited brand of DNA...was battle. And anything related to battle.]

Weird how?

[She hadn't noticed anything. Besides the closets acting up, but that wasn't affecting her sleeping.]

[In fact, Wonderland was one of the few places where she could sleep better than usual. Fewer demigod nightmares.]

[heirtotheshield]

[ He's not going to lie to her, but he's also not going to admit that he's scared of sleeping. ]

I've spent most of my time down in the clinic with Armin. He lost his leg because of me.