"Unbelievable," Piper muttered as she twisted the lid off her water bottle.
"Tell me about it," Lou Ellen said with a groan as she hopped up on the counter next to Thalia and Annabeth.
"I don't understand what's so appealing about this activity," Hazel said questioningly.
"I don't even think they do," Reyna retorted with a sigh before leaning back against the counter.
"How long have they been at this?" Katie asked with a tinge of annoyance hidden in her words.
"I believe 34 hours, straight," Thalia replied.
"Then there was the 15 hour streak before that," Annabeth tagged on.
"And the 22 hour time before that with only a total of twenty minutes away from it, none of which was spent with us," Nyssa groaned out.
"You know," Reyna started. "It's kind of sad that we've pretty much been replaced by a stupid video game console."
All eight girls turned and glared towards the middle of the room. The Poseidon cabin had been completely rearranged. The few beds that had occupied most of the room were pushed to the side and a row of barstools sat in their place. Their boyfriends were leaning forward towards the huge flat screen T.V. that was mounted on the wall. They had been yelling and shouting at each other for the past week, nonstop since their stupid monster-proof console and games had been approved by Hephaestus himself.
Jason was on the end, shouting something incoherent to (the girls could only assume) Percy, Leo and Will. Something along the lines of, "No! Holy mother of Jupiter! I was beating you guys!" To which Connor would reply with a loud. "Oh please! I was beating your Roman ass!" Even Frank was getting into it, becoming just as loud and competitive as the other boys. Travis was in between Connor and Nico, which made it very convenient to hit either one of them when he started losing.
The girls watched as Percy freaked out and shouted "NO!" He reached over and smacked the back of Will's head. "That's more physical contact than he's given me in the past week," Annabeth grumbled under her breath.
"Alright!" Lou Ellen exclaimed. "I'm sick of this. Let's have a little contest."
Katie arched an eyebrow at her friend. "What sort of a contest?"
"Let's see who can get the most attention from their boyfriend."
The girls looked at each other and nodded. "No powers?" Thalia asked. Lou shook her head. "Deal."
Piper went first since Jason was closest. She walked up and tapped him on the shoulder. "Jason, I-"
"Not now Piper! I'm winnin-Travis! You son of a gorgon! I was…" Jason went off yelling as Piper turned around and stalked away, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
Hazel tentatively walked forward towards the boys. "Frank? I was wondering if you wanted to go do something with me?"
Her voice was quiet and it was a wonder that he could hear it at all. "Maybe another time, Hazel. We just started playing." Hazel sighed and walked back, delicately sitting back down on the edge of one of the spare beds against the wall. "At least he was nicer," Piper mumbled. Lou Ellen grinned. "My turn."
"Connor, since you're so happy with your video game, I'm dumping you and am gonna go make out with Pollux. Kay?"
"Yeah, sounds good. We'll do that later," He replied, eyes never once leaving the T.V.
Lou rolled her eyes and sat back down. "Knowing him, as soon as they stop, well, if they ever do, he'll realize what I said and completely freak out." Katie giggled and pushed Annabeth forward.
"Percy?" she asked as she came next to him. "Yeah, Annabeth?" he replied. "You want to go do something?" "Maybe later, Wise Girl. I- Schist! Nico! What the Hades did you do?!"
Annabeth walked back over and the girls just stared. "He actually remembered your name," Piper breathed in awe.
Reyna sighed. "I don't even think I should try. I feel like he could barely remember my name before this." She stood up nonetheless and walked over getting the response of "Yeah. Sounds good. Love you. Styx! What are you doing Jason?!"
Nyssa groaned and picked herself off her spot on the floor, pocketing the paperclips she had been fiddling with. Her talking to Will had been semi-successful, at least based on everyone else's experience. Will had remembered her name, told her a full two and a half sentences, and even went to kiss her on the cheek, eyes still glued to the game so he ended up missing and pecking her eye.
The girls sighed, their boyfriends were so oblivious.
Katie smiled. "Here goes nothing." She walked up behind Travis and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Travis…" she called sweetly. "Not now Kathy! Can't you see I'm busy!"
Katie's jaw dropped and Piper ran forward. Kathy had been Travis's last girlfriend, one who had hated Katie with all of her heart and had tried to kill her during the Titan War. In fact, she had succeeded in making a nasty cut down her ribs and stabbing dangerously close to her heart before Miranda had found her and Kathy had ran away. Katie almost didn't make it from losing so much blood.
She ran out of the room with her hand over her mouth and Piper and Lou Ellen trailing after her.
All the girls waited a few minutes before the three came back, Katie obviously trying not to cry. "I'm just gonna stay for Thalia's turn," she said. The girls gave a smile and she sat down in between all of them. Thalia took a deep breath and walked forward. "Nico…?"
"What?" he snapped, clearly annoyed. You could almost hear Thalia roll her eyes as she spun on her heel, ready to march back to the girls. But Nico grabbed her hand at the last second and spun her in a twirl, pulling her so she was standing in front of him in between his legs, facing the T.V. His hands wrapped around her with the controller and he rested his head on her shoulder.
"Press the red button on 3," he whispered in her ear, sending slight shivers down her spine.
The other guys seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Thalia was with him. "One…two…three!" Thalia pressed a single finger to the button and something on the screen exploded. All the guys groaned and Leo even threw himself off the stool and onto the floor. Nico spun Thalia around and pulled her in for a kiss. It ended and Nico rested his head against hers. "That is how you beat a bunch of losers." She chuckled and leaned in for another kiss.
A few seconds later, Jason pulled them apart. "Okay 1.) Don't touch my sister 2.) How in Jupiter's lightning bolts did you WIN?!"
Nico smirked. "I just showed Thalia and she beat you guys." The guys groaned in unison. Again.
Thalia pulled herself from Jason's grasp and walked back to the girls, grabbing one of the Stolls' stolen sodas. All the girls just stared in awe at her. "He managed to remember your name, pay attention to you, and beat the guys all at once. I don't even…" Reyna mused.
Katie stood up and Lou Ellen went with her, wrapping her arm around the daughter of Demeter. The boys were milling around, coming out of their video game daze and rubbing their eyes in an attempt not to go blind. After a few minutes of stumbling around and yawning while the girls watched in amusement, their minds finally seemed connected to the world.
Connor was the first to snap to attention. His eyes widened and he frantically scanned the room for Lou Ellen. "Did she say…."He trailed off and eyed the girls before running for the door and shouting, "Lou Ellen! Wait!"
Annabeth and Piper chuckled. Leo walked up to where Reyna was sitting on the counter and stood between her legs. He grabbed her hand and laced their fingers, but she pulled it away and crossed her arms, turning away from him. He furrowed his eyebrows and pulled her face towards his so she had to look in his eyes.
"Hey…" he whispered. She stared at him with a blank poker face. "What's wrong?"
Her eyes narrowed, but she continued to be silent. "Is this about me playing the game, because I-"
"No, Leo," she sighed. "You do realize that this is the most physical contact I've had with you in a week. And the longest conversation I've had. I understand that you want to play the game, and I think that's good, but I just wish you would spend some time with me, too. You do know I'm going back to Camp Jupiter in two days, right?"
Leo stared at her. "Estoy viniendo con usted."
Reyna's eyes widened. "Leo-"
"No," he interrupted. "I want to come with you."
His eyes were determined. "Leo, I don't want you to move across the country just because of me. You have a life here, people who will miss you."
"Yeah, but I would miss you more than they ever would for me. I don't want to leave you, Reyna. Te amo."
And Reyna got the biggest smile on her face as she pulled him forward and into a kiss, whispering 'Te amo' on the way there.
Percy had found Annabeth lounging on his bed with Piper who stood up when she saw Percy coming over. Percy climbed onto the bed and pulled Annabeth onto his lap with his back resting against the headboard.
"I haven't been paying very much time with you," he whispered as he played with her fingers.
Annabeth sighed and leaned her head back. "It's fine Percy. You need guy time, too. I get that."
"That doesn't mean I should just ignore you," he insisted. "And to make it up for you, a couple weeks ago, I asked Chiron for permission to leave camp for a date night."
She twisted around to see Percy. "Aww. I love you Percy."
"To Olympus and back," he muttered as he pressed a small kiss to her lips. Annabeth had a content smile as she turned back around and leaned on Percy, closing her eyes. Until she felt something cool slip onto her left ring finger. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a sleek silver band with a few gems engraved in it.
Her eyes widened as she turned around to face Percy once more. He smiled sheepishly and whispered "Surprise?"
Piper was rinsing her hands in the sink Percy had in his cabin when Jason's arms wrapped around her waist. She paid no attention, continuing to let the water rush over her hands, then reaching over to dry her hands on the hand towel, as if he wasn't even there. Jason burrowed his face in her hair.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled against her neck.
Piper sighed, twisting around in his grip. "It's fine, Jason." Jason hugged her tighter to him, letting her run her fingers through his hair. "You still feel bad, don't you?"
He was silent and Piper chuckled, taking it for a yes. "Well, how about this, tomorrow you can make it up to me by helping me hide, preferably up in a tree."
Jason straightened up. "Why do you need to hide in a tree?"
"Abigail and Veronica have been trying to give me a make-over and I've been making excuses, but I know their getting restless."
"Deal," Jason said, chuckling as he leaned forward and kissed her. When they pulled away, the light caught something across the room and Piper turned to see a silver band wrapped around Annabeth's finger. Her eyes widened to saucers and she could literally her mom squealing from Olympus.
Frank grabbed two waters from the chest in the corner and walked over to Hazel. Before he could even open his mouth, Hazel said, "Please don't even try apologizing. You have nothing to be sorry for."
Frank closed his mouth and sat down sheepishly. Hazel scooted over and cuddled into Frank's side, letting the peaceful silence wash over them. After a minute, Frank began to shift and Hazel found a puppy sitting in her lap. She giggled as Frank licked her hand and curled up into a ball, falling asleep to Hazel patting his head. "Love you," she whispered.
Nyssa was sitting against the wall when she felt Will come up and sit next to her. "Hey, Archer Boy."
"You have no right to call me that," he muttered as he wrapped an arm over Nyssa's shoulders.
"Well, I just did." She looked him from the corner of her eye. "What are you gonna do about it?"
"I think I'll have to punish you for it. You have to spend tomorrow with me," he responded cheekily, resting his head on hers.
"Oh, we're handing out punishments, are we? Well," she turned sideways and looked over at Will. "Then I have one for you. I will not talk, kiss or, interact with you at all for a week as punishment for doing the same thing to me."
She smiled sweetly and stood up, walking out of the cabin. Will sat for a moment before realizing exactly what she said and running forward. "Nyssa!" he called when he got close enough. She kept walking, acting as if she had never even heard him. Right as she started stepping up the steps to the Hephaestus cabin, Will caught up and gripped her wrist, pulling her back and to his chest. He didn't even give her a chance to protest before he leaned down and kissed her. She didn't do anything for a moment before she caved in and brought he arms around his neck, cursing him for being six foot and her for only being five foot three.
"Okay," she admitted. "I don't think I can stay away from you for another week."
He chuckled, a deep, raspy sound and rested his forehead against hers before the door opened and showed Jake standing there with Christopher and Shane behind, all glaring at Will. "Oh, schist."
Travis glanced around the room, before asking, "Where's Katie?"
Piper and Thalia turned to look at him with solemn eyes. "Travis, thing back on anything you had told her today."
He furrowed his eyebrows. "I only told her-Oh Styx!" He bolted out of the room and after Katie. It took a bit, but he found her sitting under a big willow tree by the Demeter Cabin.
"Katie!" she turned her head and the minute Travis saw her, his heart dropped. Her eyes were rimmed red and the sunset light showed dried tracks of tears down her cheeks.
He sprinted towards her and dove down, sliding the last few feet on his knees. He hovered over Katie, pulling her face into his hands, and wiping away her tears. She sniffed once and Travis broke, burring his head into her neck. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.
"It's okay, Trav," she said, her voice a bit crackly from crying.
"No, it isn't," he said, pulling up and looking her in the eyes. "I don't care if I was out of it. That was no excuse to call you her. I want to know that you know you are the only one I love. Ever. And I feel terrible because what she did was my fault. I should've seen it, and –"
"Shut up," she muttered as she reached up and kissed him.
Connor weaved through the campers running around, looking for Lou Ellen's brightly colored hair. He finally spotted her, walking towards the Big House with Pollux. He ran forwards and yelled out her name.
She turned around and was met with Connor running forward and pressing is lips to hers. She was shocked for a moment, but remembered what she had said earlier and grinned, wrapping her fingers into his hair. When they pulled apart, Pollux was gone and Connor looked relieved.
"I know what this is about," Lou Ellen started. "And you should probably remember that he's dating Miranda."
Connor froze and blinked, realizing that he hadn't even considered the thought. "Besides," she continued. "I love you too much to give you up to some stupid video game."
Back in the Poseidon cabin, Nico was playing with the ends of Thalia's hair, where she was laying with her head in his lap.
"By the way," she told him. "I won our contest."
Nico arched an eyebrow. "What contest?"
"We were trying to see who could get the most attention from you guys," she answered, smirking.
"Well, I believe I am part of why you won. Don't I get a reward?" he asked with a questioning glance.
She smirked and grabbed Nico's collar, pulling him down to her. And when their lips were not even a centimeter apart, a throat cleared a few feet away from them. "Oh give it up, Jason! Go back to your stupid video game!"