Instead of leading the way, though, Piper fell into step with him. Walking in front of him would just be weird, and okay, she didn't like that hint of menace in his voice either, but there was some humour in it too, albeit pretty cold humour. Plus it would be hard to talk to him if she was literally leading the way.

Not that she had any idea of what to talk about right now. Then again, she could usually think of something, and the answer found her as she looked over at the other demigod.

"That's a pretty badass sword. Stygian iron, right? How long have you had it?"

This guy was way closed off. Best to start with a seemingly safe (if probably pointless) topic and move on from there. Then again, maybe it did have some kind of history, who knew? Anything to prevent an awkward silence, and to get him to engage rather than push away.