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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.

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[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?

[ James has to think for a moment. ]

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

[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.]

[ 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.

[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.

[ 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.

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.

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?

[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.]

[ 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.

...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.

[ 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. ]

[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.]

[ 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.

[Her expression twisted into a small frown. Far too experienced with battle injuries (and even death) to be overly-horrified at the news, but that didn't mean she was so hardened that she couldn't still feel saddened by it.]

I hadn't heard about that. [Her own involvement had been more from the sidelines.] what happened?

[ James fidgets uncomfortably for a moment. ]

I was running cannonshot on the roof. My foot slipped and a titan grabbed me. Armin stopped it, but it caught him and bit off his leg.

[ Matter-of-fact and blank. But it really bothers him. ]

[She winced, sympathetic to poor Armin. He had been the one to warn her of the Titans preferred means of "attack", so it seemed almost ironic that he end up the one getting bitten.]

It wasn't your fault, James.

We all knew the risks. Him, better than anyone. And if nobody tried to stop them, we could've all been killed.

[ It's obvious he doesn't believe that. ]

Can we talk about something else? I'd... I'd just rather talk about something else.

[Pretty obvious, yes.]

Is talking about something else going to help?

[ Nothing will help. ]

I think so.

[There was a strong chance he was lying.]

[...but she couldn't be sure. She didn't know him well enough yet to determine that, and pressing the issue wasn't going to help.]

Alright. What did you want to talk about, then?

You work with a sword right?

[ Because maybe that'll help her too. ]

[That was slightly unexpected, but not unwelcome.]

I do.

I've been training with one for over a year. But my sword didn't come to Wonderland with me.

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