Nika didn't fully relax with her back to him, though she wasn't as tense as she would normally be. She was getting better. Slowly.

"Well, we'll have to think of something to do, then," Seth said with a smile. He pretended not to notice her blush, even though he thought she was adorable.

Jason noticed she was tense, but didn't say anything. He just kept working on her shoulders steadily.

Dawn didn't say anything for a moment, thinking. She cast her gaze around for a moment, looking for something to spark a topic of conversation, and she noticed her lyre hanging from her belt loops. Carefully, she undid the strap.

"I've always wondered," she said. She handed it to him. "Know what to do with this?"

Nika slowly relaxed as he got out some of the knots and tension in her shoulders, and she closed her eyes, just enjoying the massage.

Seth grinned briefly as he took it, starting to strum chords on the lyre before shifting into one of his favorite songs. "I probably shouldn't be transposing between guitar and this, but oh well."

"Better?" Jason asked after a little while.

Dawn grinned.

"I doubt it would work for you as a guitar," she said, referring to the instrument. "The fact that it works for you as a lyre doesn't surprise me, though."

"Yes. Thanks." Nika smiled a little as she half-turned to look at him.

Seth chuckled. "Yeah, I didn't think it would." He shook his head a little, still strumming idle chords.

"No problem," Jason replied, smiling back a bit.

Dawn grinned.

"Seems like we have something in common," she said. "Little bit of overlap in our talents."

Nika turned and leaned back against the wall, just relaxing while she could.

"I thought that might happen," Seth said with a chuckle. "As long as it has strings, I can play it. Anything else is beyond me, though."

Jason watched Nika out of the corner of his eye as he leaned back against the wall as well. Although he would never admit it in the presence of his siblings, or hers, come to think of it, he was really starting to like her.

"Same here," Dawn replied. "I know I can play it if it has strings. I'm not entirely sure about anything else, though I know drums aren't that hard. I can keep a beat pretty easily."

An arrow landed firmly between the two, sinking into the mud several inches. Nika yanked it out and scowled. "Wait here," she ordered Jason, getting out of the water, still dripping wet. "Ares, you son of a bitch!"

Ares appeared a little ways away, also scowling. "Nika, what the hell do you think you're doing?" he growled, his eyes narrowed.

"What do you think you're doing?" Nika growled right back. "You have no right to interfere!"

"No right? I'm your father!"

"Oh yeah, so that gives you the right to butt into my personal life?"

"Yes, it damn well does!"

"You never cared before!"

"Of course I cared! You've never been in this situation before!"

"No, I was worse off! Where do you get off telling me who I can and can't see?"

"I'm your father!"

"Again, that doesn't give you the right! You have never acted like my father before!"

"Well I am now so sit down, shut up, and deal with it!" Ares growled at her.

Seth nodded. "I've never tried to play anything else." He shrugged. "I probably won't try. It's not a big thing for me."

Jason blinked, listening to the argument. He wasn't sure if he should be nervous that they were arguing about him or not.

"I hate to interrupt, but do I get any say at all?" he asked.

Dawn sighed happily.

"It's the best feeling in the world," she said. "My mother used to play her guitar for me when I was little, but that first time I picked it up on my own and started to play... It was amazing." She didn't play much beside strings, but she wasn't half-bad with a flute or some drums when she wanted to be.

"No," Ares and Nika snarled at the same time.

"You're a fool, Nika," Ares said, his voice bitter. "A damned fool."

"No one asked for your opinion, Ares," Nika growled. "Go away."

Ares gave her a look that promised this wasn't over before he vanished. Nika didn't relax.

Seth chuckled quietly, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I kinda know what you mean."

"That was..." frightening "...interesting," Jason said carefully after Ares was gone. He held out a hand to Nika, inviting her back to the hotspring.

Dawn blinked when she realized she had been rambling.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to completely take over the conversation," she said.

"First time he's pulled that shit on me," Nika grumbled as she took his hand, sliding back into the water. She'd gotten rather cold, since she was still dripping wet. "Sorry you had to see that."

"It's fine." Seth laughed quietly. "Really, I don't mind. If we ever have a conversation about, um, borrowing things I'm sure I'll monopolize the conversation too."

"It's alright," Jason replied as she sat down in the water again. "I'm actually kind of glad it was just arguing and not something worse."

Dawn laughed a little and rolled her eyes.

"I will admit, lock-picking is a useful skill I don't have," she said.

"Oh, trust me, we've had our arguments and we've had our brawls." Nika grinned wryly. "I usually come out a little worse off than he does."

"It's really not that hard," Seth said with a shrug. "I could show you if you want."

"Well, that's what I'm around for," Jason replied. "You know, to take care of the bruises and such."

"You'd teach me?" Dawn asked. "I thought it was kind of a 'family specific' thing."

Nika just nodded. She didn't want to depend on someone else, at least not very much. Not even if she kinda trusted him, which surprised her.

"Well, I can show you the basic techniques," Seth said with a shrug. "It won't get you in if someone's really determined to keep people out, but it's better than nothing."

Jason leaned back against the wall of the hot spring, just relaxing. Every so often, he would glance back at Nika, though he tried to do it casually enough that it didn't seem like he was staring.

"It couldn't hurt to learn," Dawn replied. "It could be useful one day."

Nika leaned back and closed her eyes, just trying to calm down again. She still had adrenaline in her system, and she hadn't gotten into a real fight like she'd half-wanted.

"Exactly!" Seth grinned. "Besides, I'll still have my family secrets."

"You sure you're alright?" Jason asked after a moment. "You're shaking a little."

Dawn snorted.

"It's no secret that your siblings can crack any lock in creation," she teased, grinning. "We all know that by now."

"Just adrenaline," Nika said, glancing over at him. "I'm used to a brawl or something to get rid of it."

Seth chuckled. "Well, that is what we do best."

Jason was quiet for a moment.

"I might be a little insane," he said, "but if you want, we can go dry off and head out to the sparring field. Just try not to kill me or anything."

"No shame in that," Dawn replied. "Everyone's good at something."

Nika glanced over at him. "You can dry off if you want," she said, pulling herself out of the water and shaking briefly. "I need to go do something. Now."

"Our talent just happens to be a little less... honest." Seth shrugged.

Jason got out of the hotspring as well.

"I may as well follow you," he said. "I can at least be a target, if nothing else."

"As long as I don't hear about it directly, I'll ignore it," Dawn replied. "The less-than-honest things, at least."

"I wouldn't recommend that," Nika said, starting towards the training area. "You'll see why."

Seth nodded. "Deal."