He… was running late.

Either Hayden had forgotten that they were supposed to be having lunch together, or, like in the past, he’d gotten so lost in his work that he wasn’t keeping track of time. Lost in the intense heat radiating from the flames of the forge. The mere thought had her shifting uncomfortably on her bed. She was still getting used to that- the heat. Even after having been together for years- well… on and off anyway.

A sigh passing through her lips; Issie fell back against the pillows. Her legs stretching out in front of her, and it was only a few seconds later that she was pulling her phone up in front of her. Scrolling listlessly through the TikTok videos that came across her page. That was, of course, until the sound of a familiar voice filling the air hit her ears, causing her to turn her head towards the source. Her bright blues flicking towards the figure standing in the doorway, “You know… you move slower than the ice age. What took you so long, Frost..?”

Astrid almost frowned that she actually didn’t get now wave of applause from her sister. “What can I say? I’m a gal who loves her camp.” Which was a lie, but Astrid had the charisma and confidence to convince herself that was the truth. “But if you want me to come back, I can go for round two around the camp.” Astrid half turned in her feigning attempt to guilt her sister just a tad.

“..do you have to be so dramatic..?”

A heavy sigh passing out through her lips; Isaura both locked and lowered her phone down to rest on the bed beside her. Hands pressing down into the mattress as she pushed herself up and into a sitting position; her legs crossing underneath her as she made herself comfortable, “..we have enough of that going on around the camp this summer; please don’t add any more…”

Astrid smiled, though there was a part of her that felt guilty. And a moment later that part lost to all the other moving gears in Astrid’s head. “You don’t say.” As she walked closer to her sister’s bed, Astrid pulled a chair that was nearby and dragged it with her and took a seat in it. “Who knew stealing a dove would cause such a commotion.” The Daughter of Khione laughed as she crossed her legs on Isaura’s bed and looked down at her hands.

A commotion… that was one way to put it. Exaggerated… ham… overemotional- there were a plethora of words that could be used to describe the situation. All of them perfect for when talking about the Gods; particularly when it came to the Greek Gods.

”..for what it’s worth, I don’t believe that she did it.” Shaking her head lightly, Issie once more allowed her back to rest against the pillows behind her. Her bright blues flicking across to rest on her sister, ”..not that it matters much...”

Astrid shrugged, giving the impression she didn’t care one way or another. Erin wasn’t her favorite person and under normal circumstances, she might’ve rooted her to fail. Nothing would bring a smile to the frigid bitch’s face to see the Princess of the Underworld be taken down a peg, but on her worst day, Astrid wouldn’t want to see her dead. And she knew if Erin did fail, that would be a very likely outcome. “So, do you think she’ll do it?”

”..I think she’ll do everything in her power to...”

It was a diplomatic answer; she knew that. But really, Issie couldn’t say definitively one way or the other as to if Erin and her posse would be able to succeed or fail. She didn’t have all the facts, and they never would. The only ones that would be able to say for sure were the ones that Erin had handpicked out of the rest of the camp to go with her, ”..but, that being said, I wouldn’t underestimate her and the others. We’ll just… have to wait and see what happens...”

A sound left Astrid’s lips, seemingly confirming that she agreed with her sister. “And if she fails, then I guess we’ll have some angry Gods to deal with.” The thought of throwing hands with a few of the Greek Pantheon appealed to the part of Astrid that had Vidar’s spirit flowing through her, but even that cranky bastard could grant her so much. Against full-fledged gods, even as a collective, did they really stand a chance? “Leave it to those Children of Hades to make life around here exciting!” Astrid laughed with both a genuine thrill that carried her into a grin but a subtle worry creeping its way to the surface.

”..even if we had to stand against the Gods, it’s not like it’s impossible. It has been done before. Demigods have managed to take down Gods on multiple occasions.” Pausing a moment, Issie lifted her hand. Gently using the tips of her fingers to brush some stray strands of her long white hair back and behind her ear so it was out of the way, ”Percy took down Ares… Jason and others stood against the Gods as well. Annabeth and Luke both worked together to take down a Titan. Hell- even Hayden’s half-brother, Leo, took down our own mother. She didn’t win that fight. It can be done; it’s just… difficult.”

Astrid didn't intend to look up at her sister out of her stubborn pride or whatever, but when their mother was mentioned, along with a brief history of some of the greatest warriors of Camp Half-Blood -- warriors that Astrid secretly admired for their strength -- she couldn't help but feel a certain inadequacy in comparison. To them, she barely accomplished anything.

And as much as she wanted to hate on the Princess of the Underworld, she was given a chance (albeit life or death one) to prove herself. "That's a lot of praise for Miss Gloom and Doom," Astrid remarked, filling the silence she let form. "But I understand what you're trying to say. And as much as I might not like her, I wouldn't want her to die at the hands of any God if she fails." Astrid said, almost feeling a melancholic relief as she spoke. "At least not until I had a chance to test my strength against her." She chuckled at her comment and the satisfying thought of defeating Erin in combat.

”..if that’s the case, then all we can do is simply support her. At least as best as we can from here in camp.” Chuckling softly, Issie gave a light shake of her head, ”You know as well as I do that we can’t interfere any further than that..”

Astrid strongly disagreed with her sister's point but not enough to argue it, so she shrugged and nodded absentmindedly. "Anyway, enough about all this potential end of the world BS - where is lover boy?" Astrid asked her sister, acknowledging the elephant in the room that was almost as big as Hayden himself. It was clear by the tone of her voice that she still wasn't happy that they were back together.

”..in the forge.”

And just like that, the civility of the conversation they’d been having was gone. Replaced instead by the animosity of the argument that had taken place between them the night before; and it was thick enough that she could slice right through it with her axe. Really, this was not the topic that she wanted to be revisiting, ”He has work to get done. We’re planning on meeting up later for a bite to eat.”

..that was if he didn’t forget… Though Issie didn’t mention that out loud; instead keeping a straight, non-phased expression on her face.

Astrid didn’t want to ask about Hayden, especially given the way she and her sister left things earlier about him, but she couldn’t hide her displeasure when she was told they were back together. Astrid’s form of overprotection of her sister could be called tyrannical at times, but to her it was just making sure no harm came to her. And sometimes that meant saying things that she wouldn’t agree with.

And that’s why the two had a somewhat tense conversation before they came back to camp. Now, Astrid had to control what she said. “So he’s working instead of being with you?” Astrid chuckled and stood up. “How long has he left you by yourself?”

”He has a job to do, you know that…” Great… it was starting again. Unable to stop herself from sighing, even softly, Isaura stared at her sister. A light frown crossing her features, ”..he was here last night- he stayed over. And we spoke after the meeting earlier. He’s the best blacksmith in camp, Astrid. I understand that, and I support his work. Even if that means we work our lives around it.”

“I… see.” She almost visibly cringed when Isaura said that he stayed over. It wasn't that she had a problem with Hayden, but Astrid couldn’t help but be anti-him; it was a natural reaction she had. “It doesn’t matter if he’s the President of the United States, he should at least tell you when he’s going to be back!” Astrid huffed in her usual ‘I’m about to do/ say something regretful’ kind of way.

”Astrid… don’t start.” Giving clear enough warning by both her words, and the tone of voice she was using; Isaura narrowed her eyes slightly towards her twin sister.

“Don’t start what?”

”You know what.”

Astrid smirked almost as if she was taunting her sister. “I know you know we’re--I’m--amazingly gifted, but I’m not a mind reader.” Even though she knew exactly what Isaura meant, Astrid played dumb. “So why don’t you enlighten me, sister?” She asked, leaning her back against the wall behind her.

Twisting on her bed, it was all too soon that Isaura’s feet had hit the ground, and she stood in front of her twin with her arms folded, and an expression that clearly read: unamused. Seriously..? She was playing the dumb card..? Please, the girl was anything but…

”Don’t act coy- it’s not cute.” Unable to stop herself from rolling her eyes, or heaving out a sigh; Issie’s arms broke from across her chest. Sliding around until she was able to instead slip them down into the back pockets of her jeans, ”I know you don’t think much of him, but I love Hayden, okay..? I love him… so stop giving him crap, and just stay out of my relationship, Astrid. I’m happy. Is that such a bad thing..?”

Her arms were folded across one another over her chest and Astrid absentmindedly tapped her left fingers on her right inner-forearm as Isaura gave her a not-so-subtle warning. “Of course it’s not a bad thing,” she somewhat confirmed with a small shrug. “You know that’s the only thing I want. I just wish you’d choose someone who wasn’t so…” She thought about what word she wanted to use that might describe Hayden accurately. He wasn’t exactly dumb despite looking like a caveman. “I just don’t understand what you see in him.” Aside from his muscles and hair, yeah Astrid couldn’t fathom what her sister was attracted to. And no that wasn’t her being attracted to Hayden. Astrid could objectively see what some might find an appeal in with that Son of Hephaestus.

”..that’s the thing...” Biting down on her lower lip- chewing on it for a moment or two as her thoughts turned to her man and all the things about him that just made her fall in love over and over again, Issie shook her head lightly.

”..you never will...”

The air in her sister’s room had suddenly turned almost as chilly as the very powers they commanded. The tension they always seemed to have (mostly on Astrid’s end) when it came to Hayden was something that naturally drove a wedge between them from time to time, but right now, it definitely seemed like history repeating itself.

Astrid narrowed her eyes on her sister, offering very few words; a simple “yeah” left her lips before she left, heading for her room. Or somewhere that wasn’t here.