A/N: This is based on a conversation holcene (who is entirely to blame for this) and I had, starting here. I originally wanted to write a fully fleshed out PJ AU (well I originally originally wanted holcene to write said AU), but - hahahaha me and fully fleshed out fic. So not happening. Umm I guess this would require having read at least up to The Lost Hero to understand (since I talk about Charmspeak), but I trust your powers of extrapolation and Google if you haven't haha.

Finally, a pure fluff fic after the last 3 (at least semi) angsty ones!

“Jessi!” Tiffany calls excitedly. “Guess what, I got a new spear!”

Jessica groans and, without moving from her cocoon of blankets, says, “I’m asleep.”

“Look, I know you have cool sleep powers and all, but I also know that replying to a conversation while you’re asleep isn’t one of them.”

Jessica raises her head minimally and cracks an eye open a fraction. “I see it. It’s a nice spear.”

“…It’s not even here.”

“Mmm.” Jessica closes her eyes and drops her head back onto her tower of pillows. “Why do you even need a spear? You can just eye smile an enemy into submission.”

Tiffany settles onto the bed beside her and nudges her with her knee. Jessica grunts but doesn’t move. “You know charm doesn’t work like that. And even if it did, I wouldn’t want to rely on it. I’m never going to be Hyoyeon, but I want to be able to hold my own in a fight.”

Jessica doesn’t say anything.

Tiffany nudges her again, harder this time. “Are you asleep?”

“Yes.”

“Jessi.”

“How am I supposed to sleep when you’re trying to kick me to death?”

“I barely touched you!”

Jessica opens both eyes this time and locks gazes with Tiffany. Her eyes are hard to look into sometimes because they’re so—Tiffany can’t describe it, exactly, but it’s like Jessica has dreams caught in her eyes but it’s impossible to tell whether they’re fantasies or nightmares. Tiffany doesn’t know whether it’s because Jessica is a daughter of Hypnos or because she’s Jessica.

“Do you even know how to wield a spear? You’re so clumsy I think you’re more likely to stab yourself than an enemy.” It sounds derisive, but Tiffany can see the genuine concern in Jessica’s expression.

“You can train with me so I can improve then!”

“No thanks.”

“Come on,” Tiffany whines. “You’re really good at weapons training. How do you do it?”

“I keep in mind that the sooner I end the fight, the sooner I can go back to sleep.”

Tiffany laughs at that, and her laughter… It makes something hum in Jessica like one of the strings in Sooyoung’s lyre. Jessica knows that it’s just because Tiffany’s a daughter of Aphrodite, and a powerful one at that, but.

“Will you?”

“Will I what?”

“Help me with weapons training?” Tiffany’s eyes are wide and luminous, like they’re moons and Jessica is the tide, helplessly moved by them. “Please, Jessi?”

“Don’t do that,” Jessica blurts out.

Tiffany tilts her head to the side. “Do what?”

“Use Charmspeak on me.”

Tiffany’s brow furrows. “I’m not.”

“Tiffany…”

“I’m not,” Tiffany says insistently. “I never use Charmspeak when I’m talking to you. Well, maybe I accidentally did it before when I didn’t know I was doing it, but now that I have a grasp on it, I’m very careful.”

Jessica knows how careful Tiffany is, not to “abuse her powers,” or however it was that Juhyun put it. The Romans really don’t like what “Venus children can do to manipulate others, consciously or not.” Ugh, Jessica has clearly been spending too much time with Juhyun if she can remember verbatim what she says. Then again, there’s something very—disciplined and disciplining about Juhyun, no doubt part of her Roman-ness. Jessica would probably get kicked out on her first day if she ever went to Camp Jupiter.

“Jessica,” Tiffany starts.

“Okay, I believe you.” Tiffany doesn’t look convinced. “No, I do, really. I know how…aware you are. I know you don’t want to depend on your charm.”

Tiffany smiles, and Jessica drops her eyes. “Why did you think that I was using it on you then?”

“You…” Made me want to say yes. Made it impossible to say no. “…can be very persuasive.”

“Can I?” Tiffany’s smile is probably even brighter now. Jessica makes sure to keep her eyes on her sheets. Normally, that alone would be enough for her to fall asleep, but she feels far too awake right now, awake and alert and alight. Tiffany is the only one who Jessica can’t sleep through when talking with, although that’s probably because she’s so loud she makes the cleaning harpies sound quiet in comparison.

“Yeah, you can. You are. But I guess that’s just you, not Aphrodite.” Tiffany gives her a look she can’t read. Jessica clears . “So, you haven’t even shown me this spear yet. Let me guess, is it pink?”

“Yeah, it is! How did you know?”

Jessica smiles. “It’s yours, isn’t it?”

“I asked for an electric one like Hyoyeon’s, but they wouldn’t do that for me,” Tiffany says sadly.

“Wise decision.”

“Hey!”

“You and electricity would be a deadly combination.”

“What’s your ideal weapon, then?”

“A sleep ray,” Jessica answers readily.

“A sleep ray,” Tiffany repeats skeptically.

“Listen, imagine that you’re fighting a really dangerous opponent. A Hydra. A Gorgon.” Jessica pauses for a beat, and Tiffany can’t tell if it’s for emphasis or because Jessica fell asleep in the middle of a sentence. That’s happened plenty of times before, but never when Jessica was talking directly to her. “Sorry, I ran out of monsters there for a second.”

Tiffany smiles. “What’s the scariest monster to you? Insomnia?”

“No idea what that is,” Jessica says breezily, and Tiffany laughs. “Anyway, so – imagine you’re facing a really dangerous enemy. Monster or Hyoyeon on a rage or Sooyoung trying out a new song.”

Tiffany fights back the smile clinging to the corners of at the last two and nods seriously. “Okay, I’m imagining it.”

“And you’re losing really badly and the battle isn’t going your way at all.”

“I don’t even need to imagine that.” That’s basically every weapons fight Tiffany has ever had.

Jessica’s mouth quirks up. “And then – bam! – you pull out your sleep ray. You zap them with it. They fall down snoring. And the fight is over. You’ve won.”

There’s a moment when Tiffany simply stares at her, like she’s in awe. Then she bursts out laughing, so Jessica figures it’s the kind of awe in awful and not awesome. “This is your idea of a battle?”

“It’s my idea of a victory.”

Tiffany shakes her head. “You’re incredible.”

“Come on, it’s a great weapon. You can’t deny that.”

Tiffany shakes her head again, but not like a denial. She’s still smiling, not the smile she gives when she’s trying to win over someone, like Charmspeak in an expression, but the smile she gives when she’s with Jessica, like she’s helpless against it.

“You’re incredible, Jessi,” she says again, and Jessica can’t say anything in reply.

A/N: Fun fact - this was supposed to be a TaengSic fic, and this conversation was supposed to be purely platonic and friendly, but then JeTi were like, platonic and friendly?? HAH, and this happened. #noregrets You can find a ficlet of the TaengSic part here, if you're interested.