Chapter Text
Frank
The Praetors' office wasn't as large as he thought it’d be. Sure, Romans were all about practicality, but Frank would’ve thought that a job as important as theirs needed to be accomplished in the most comfortable of environments. It wasn't too small either, but with one glance you could tell that everything was a little cramped. Weird. Frank had never really thought about its size before, or the plain white walls, or even the fact that his desk was too close to the window.
Yeah, he definitely needed to get that thing moved.
That probably wouldn't be an easy challenge. His desk was pretty congested with unread invoices and strewn about parchment. And, much to his fellow Praetor’s chagrin, he couldn’t even clear them away because he had no idea where to put them. He was new at this and this job was so technical he didn’t want to screw anything up too badly.
Reyna was the one who had a natural proficiency at this sort of thing. While he was off helping with Probatios or weekly War Games or managing construction, she was putting her brain to use, negotiating, speech writing, sorting through all the nitty-gritty paperwork.
That might have contributed to why she was so good at chess.
As a son of Mars, Chess was his game. He beat everybody, Percy (not much surprise there), Jason, Hazel and even Annabeth on occasion.
Annabeth!
When she'd suggested the game he'd accepted, thinking that he could prove he wasn’t only good for grunt work. Jason chose him for a reason, and hopefully his strategic skill would show, would impress her.
Also, it wouldn’t hurt to thoroughly thrash Reyna Ramirez-Arellano at something. Bragging rights were hard to come by in New Rome. And Reyna had enough racked up that she could donate them, no problem. How was it possible for someone to be good at everything?!
The game had started out well, Frank had taken out one if her knights in a matter of seconds.
His lead didn't last too long. Now, he had only five pieces on the board.
And Reyna was trying to hide her growing smirk. That was never a good sign.
"Your move, Zhang." She gestured to the board.
Frank's mind went into overdrive. Five pieces left against Reyna's eleven. He could move his rook, but then his King would be wide open. His bishop was pretty useless at the moment and he had two pawns. He made to move the bishop, but paused to watch his co-worker's face.
Her face was the stoic mask it usually was. She didn't seem worried, but she didn't seem impassive either. Her obsidian eyes glared elsewhere, like she was thinking of something more important.
She was playing him.
He moved his bishop and Reyna cringed. It was indecisive. Not an 'oh-my-gods-I'm-screwed' or a crap-there-goes-my-plan' cringe. Just a cringe.
"What?" He asked.
Reyna raised an eyebrow at his irritability before answering. "I don't think you should make that move."
Frank stared at the board, then at Reyna and back at the board. She was bluffing.
Was she bluffing?
Wasn't she though? Chess was all about mind games. And Reyna was a mind-game master. He'd seen her convince Nico to participate in the Feast of Florum. He’d seen her hold her own against the Athena cabin.
"No, I'm good," He said, though it sounded more like a question. But he wasn't backing down. Battle strategies were his thing, he wasn't letting anyone win. Not even the great Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano.
Reyna nodded with a tight lipped smile and moved her queen forward. "How's Hazel?"
Frank scratched the back of his ears. "Hazel?" In the short six months they'd been working together, Reyna had rarely ever asked about his personal life. This was part of the game wasn't it?
"I'm not falling for it?" He said more to himself than to Reyna. She heard though, and she didn't seem very amused.
"I don't follow." Of course she did. She was Reyna. The all-knowing, all powerful, all everything Praetor.
"You're playing mind games with me, trying to get to my weak spots." Frank's narrowed his eyes. "I can see straight through your ploy."
"Ploy? Frank I only asked how Hazel was. You’re over reacting."
Frank raised an eyebrow. Before he might’ve bought it. He had been naïve then and hadn’t known that his fellow Praetor was damn right devious. She might’ve seemed genuinely confused, but then when was Reyna ever confused? "No. You’re up to something."
"Frank, relax. I just noticed that you haven't talked to her in weeks." Reyna said smoothly. "Not since you asked her to move in with us a while back."
Oh no. She knew. But how? He hadn't told anyone. "What happened Frank?" Reyna asked, her voice slightly laced with concern.
Frank hesitated. Reyna was a friend. Sure they weren't exaggeratedly close, but they worked together and lived in the same apartment. And she wasn't as bad as he'd first thought she was.
He thought about it. She'd let him in on the secret in her closet, as embarrassing as she felt it was –– though that probably had more to do with the fact that they shared an apartment…
Now that he was thinking about it, he realized he told her tones of stuff too.
He breathed. "Hazel isn't sure she's all for moving in with me."
"So..." Reyna coaxed when he took a long silence.
Frank brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck, slightly nervous. But the look in Reyna’s eyes told him there was no reason to be. He knew, she wasn’t the type to judge or make fun of him.
"So, I'm not sure I'm good for her y'know." Frank confessed shyly. "I mean, we've been on like a couple dates and I didn't even think up half of them on my own. She's such an amazing person, and I'm the stupid, clumsy guy just holding her back." The words came before he could stop them, and, honestly, voicing his worries out loud felt… good.
"Holding her back?" Reyna clarified.
"She wants to start high school and I feel like I'm the reason she isn't going for it."
"Right," Reyna sighed. She had an expression on her face like she'd got a whole lot more than she bargained for. "Have you, maybe, talked to her about it?"
"Why do you think I haven't talked to her in so long," Frank frowned. "We had a fight about it–"
"And now you're trying to convince yourself that you want her to start school even though you'll miss her like crazy?" Reyna interrupted, finishing his sentence perfectly. "I get it, I once had the same problem with my sister, Hylla."
"Really?" Frank couldn't help but ask. Reyna never talked about her relationship with her sister. It was like, the no-go zone.
"Yes," Reyna admitted. "She wanted to join the Amazons and I was so reliant on her I couldn't imagine a life without my big sister watching over my shoulder."
"But you split anyway."
"Hylla wanted the Amazons, I didn't. Besides,” if she were any other person, Frank might’ve thought that the smile that crept onto her face was mischievous. “Camp Jupiter is awesome. You've just got to decide what's more important: the fact that you'll miss her or the fact that if she doesn't go she'll miss out on a new experience."
Frank thought about what she'd said in the silence that followed their conversation. At the end of the day, all he wanted was for Hazel to get what she wanted. He’d miss her, more than anything, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Because that just proved that he cared for her.
He looked at the board. He hadn't noticed before, but when Reyna moved her queen, she left her king right open for his rook. "Checkmate."
Reyna just rolled her eyes and clapped her hands in a manner that could be considered sarcastic. "Good move, Zhang."
He’d won? He’d won!
Frank felt pretty good about himself. He was still King of the Chessboard! Pluto, he was so revved up, he might even find time to organise his desk. He got up with pride, but couldn't help but notice Reyna's smirk.
Then it hit him like a pile of bricks. She'd played to get him to the point of frustration and used that to milk information out of him.
Mind games.
"You let me win didn't you?"
"Yes."