Ok so I just finished reading the HoO series again, and while I was reading Mark of Athena I got the idea to start a fic series about the seven. I wrote this particular fic way before I came up with the idea for the series, but I figured this would start it off. I wanted to write a bunch of little one-shots about the seven doing normal mortal things, because I love the idea of all of them (plus sometimes Calypso, Reyna and Nico) hanging out together and doing things normal teenagers do. So this is the first one! Hope you like it!
The Seven Doing Things: Sleepover
It was Leo's idea to have the sleepover.
He thought they deserved a little fun after all they'd been through, so he proposed the idea of an all-night super-fun slumber party with a movie marathon, heaps of popcorn, pizza, Fonzies and plenty of demigod mischief. It took Leo a while to get the others on board – all seven of them sleeping in the same room, under the same roof? But eventually they came around. It was Piper who convinced everyone to go, and she only had to use just a little bit of charmspeak. She told them it would be just like their time on the Argo II, except they'd all be sleeping in the same cabin, so to speak. And besides, she felt bad for Leo after his whole dying-and-coming-back-to-life thing. That had to put some strain on a person. Plus, she wanted to make Leo's girlfriend Calypso feel welcome among the demigods. Ever since Leo had brought her back from Ogygia, Piper had made it her personal mission to make sure Calypso felt happy and comfortable. And okay, okay – maybe she was a little bit excited about a sleepover with six of her closest friends.
And so the seven demigods of the Prophecy of Seven all showed up at Sally Jackson's Manhattan apartment on Saturday afternoon.
Although the party was Leo's idea, Percy offered to throw it, since his mom said they could use the living room. She and Paul were going out that night, anyway, so the demigods would have the place to themselves. Annabeth came over early to help set up, and Percy opened the door for her with a grin.
"This is such a bad idea," Annabeth said by way of greeting. She pushed past Percy and walked into the apartment, smiling at Sally. "Hey, Mrs. Jackson. Paul. It's so great to see you guys again."
"Why is it a bad idea?" Percy asked. He was pretty excited, mostly because he hadn't seen Jason in a while and he was eager to catch up with the guy. He wished his best friend Grover was coming too, but the satyr had plans with his girlfriend Juniper back at Camp Half-Blood. Grover had promised that he, Percy and Annabeth would all hang out next weekend for old time's sake.
"Because!" Annabeth said as Percy trailed her into the living room. "Do you not see the possibility of something catastrophic happening? With our luck, Leo will set something on fire, Frank will turn into a bear in the middle of your living room, and Jason will break a lamp or something when he summons a gust of wind." Annabeth shook her head, her eyebrows furrowed together, and Percy grinned. He walked over to her and put his arms around her waist.
"Why would any of that happen?" he asked. He kissed her forehead. "I think you're being just a little bit dramatic. Have you ever even been to a sleepover before?"
"Yes! Well . . . no. Not really."
Percy grinned wider. "Not really?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes and shoved his chest lightly, and he laughed. "Fine, Seaweed Brain! No, I've never been to a sleepover."
"Well, neither have I. I don't think demigods and sleepovers are a common mix."
"What's even supposed to happen? Are we just gonna sit around, stuff our faces with food and watch movies?"
"That's what Leo said, yeah."
Annabeth looked up at Percy and smiled, her gray eyes sparkling. She twined her fingers through his and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. When had he gotten so much taller than her?
"Sounds fun," she said. "I guess we'd better start setting up."
In an hour, Percy and Annabeth had turned Percy's living room into a giant bedroom for seven. They'd pushed all the furniture back to make room (Percy made sure to hide all the breakable things, just in case) and they blew up some queen-sized air mattresses to put on the floor. They spread out plenty of blankets and pillows everywhere and put bowls of food out on the coffee table in front of the TV. When they were finished, Percy stepped back to admire their work.
"Now this looks like a party," he said.
"Do you think we'll all fit?" Annabeth asked. "There are seven of us, plus Calypso, and there's only three air mattresses."
"Each one's big enough to fit three people," Percy pointed out. "And there's also the couch. We'll be fine, Annabeth. Why do you sound so nervous?"
She blushed suddenly and shrugged. "I'm not nervous."
But she was nervous. Because tonight would be the first night she and Percy would be sleeping next to each other.
She'd always wanted to spend the night with him – his arms around her, her head nestled on his shoulder – but they never had a chance at camp with the rules against it. Of course, there was that time in Damasen's hut in Tartarus, but she didn't really count that. Neither of them liked to think about Tartarus too much. And there was also that night on the Argo II, when they'd snuck into the stables and fallen asleep on top of the bay doors. But then they'd been in the middle of a huge quest, with a huge responsibility resting on their shoulders. This would technically be the first time where they could just relax and enjoy it without worrying about anything that might come afterward. Butterflies swarmed in Annabeth's stomach when she thought too long about it.
Percy seemed to know what she was thinking, because he grinned and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "I love you. Tonight's gonna be awesome."
Right on cue, the doorbell rang. Percy let out an excited whoop and went to answer it. Annabeth glanced at the clock – it was seven o'clock already, which was the time Leo said they should all meet up. Annabeth took a deep breath and ate a handful of buttery popcorn to calm her nerves.
When Percy came back into the living room, Jason, Piper, Leo and Calypso were with him. He spread his arms wide with a dopey grin. "Welcome to Casa del Jackson. Please help yourself to the complimentary snacks provided for you, and we hope you enjoy your stay."
"Aw, yeah. This is what I'm talkin' about!" Leo dove for the bowl of Fonzies on the coffee table. He shoved a handful in his mouth and then politely offered some to Calypso, who tried one tentatively. She crunched down, chewed thoughtfully, and her eyes widened.
"You certainly weren't lying. These are good," she said, reaching for another one. Leo grinned at her and nodded.
"Told you, Sunshine. Fonzies are the gods' gift to earth."
Piper smiled at Annabeth and sat down beside her on one of the air mattresses while Jason and Percy reunited with an enthusiastic hug and exchanges of "I missed my bro so much".
"Hey," Piper said.
"Hey." Annabeth smiled back at her. "You ready for this super spectacular sleepover?"
"I guess. I've never really been to one before," Piper admitted sheepishly.
"Me either!" Annabeth said. "There's a first time for everything, I suppose. Percy promised a movie marathon and plenty of pigging out."
"Sounds like a party to me," Piper said with a grin. "Hazel and Frank should be here soon – they're coming from Camp Jupiter, but I think they're riding Arion, so it shouldn't be too long."
"All right, kiddos." Leo clapped his hands to get everyone's attention on him. "Uncle Leo brought an assortment of his favorite movies, and we are going to watch every single one of them."
He took the movies out of his bag and spread them out on the floor while Calypso sat on the couch and watched him. Annabeth and Piper looked at Calypso and then leaned in close to whisper to each other.
"Has she spoken to you at all since Leo brought her back?" Piper asked, and Annabeth shook her head.
"Not really. She's kind of shy." Her eyebrows furrowed, and her gray eyes darkened a little. "I think she's kind of nervous around me, because of Percy. She might actually hate me." Annabeth remembered her time in Tartarus, when she and Percy had been fighting the arai and Annabeth had gotten Calypso's curse to Percy – she'd thought he'd abandoned her. It was horrible.
"She doesn't hate you," Piper assured her friend. "She and Percy got closure, right? And she's with Leo now. They seem really happy together. I would know." Piper grinned at her, and Annabeth smirked. "She's just shy," Piper said. "She's been trapped on Ogygia for a really long time, and my guess is she doesn't really know how to interact with so many other people at once. We just need to make her feel like she belongs. I know that's what Leo wants, too." Piper smiled at Leo, who kept looking back at Calypso as if to make sure she was still there. "He wants her to be happy."
"I think that's why Leo suggested this whole thing," Annabeth said quietly. "As a way to make her feel like a part of our group."
"He's so different around her," Piper shook her head in amazement. "It's sweet."
Just then, the doorbell rang again, cutting off their conversation. Percy bounded down the hall to answer it. A moment later, he came back with Hazel and Frank under his arms.
"The gang's all here!" he said, and Annabeth rolled her eyes. Her boyfriend was such a dork.
Once the Romans arrived, the party officially started. Everyone took turns in the bathroom changing into their pajamas. Percy was very proud of his Poseidon jammies – a blue shirt with flannel pants that had little tridents and smiling sea creatures on them. Annabeth's own pajamas had owls on them, and Piper was wearing her favorite Cherokee eagle pajamas. Hazel had an old-fashioned nightgown that looked like it still belonged in the 1940's, and Frank wore a plain shirt with pants that had bears and woodland creatures running around on them. Jason's pajamas had little lightning bolts all over them. Leo just wore a pair of grease-stained sweatpants and a white t-shirt, and Calypso had a flowing nightgown that almost matched Hazel's.
Everyone took turns complimenting each other and throwing lighthearted insults at each other's pajamas, and when they were all comfortable, Percy turned on the TV and popped in one of Leo's movies. No one could sit through the whole thing because it was so bad, so they moved on to games instead. They played poker with Fonzies and popcorn for chips, Go Fish, Old Maid, and Texas hold 'em. Jason and Percy tried to beat each other in a cringe-worthy rap battle, and Leo told corny jokes to try to make Calypso laugh. Annabeth, Piper and Hazel involved Calypso in everything they did, treating her like she was one of their own. After a while, she started smiling more and Annabeth could see her shoulders relax as the tension flowed out of them. Calypso's eyes were almost constantly fixed on Leo, and Leo was almost always staring back at her. Annabeth was happy Leo had found someone he loved. She looked over at Percy, who kept glancing over at her and smiling, and she thought that everyone deserved as much happiness as she felt when she was with her Seaweed Brain.
Gods, when did she turn into such an Aphrodite kid?
As the night wore on, the demigods ate so much pizza and drank so much soda that Annabeth thought no one would ever go to sleep. In other words, it was the best night of her life. She'd have to go to sleepovers more often. Maybe just her and Piper and Hazel and Calypso could hang out sometime, and they could even invite Reyna. Girls' night sounded fun.
Despite all the sugar they had in their systems, the seven demigods all conked out around three in the morning. But Calypso couldn't sleep. She was lying on the couch, Leo on the floor in front of her, his arm stretched upwards as if to hold her hand. She smiled and leaned down to plant a kiss on his cheek as she got up from the couch and carefully picked her way around the sleeping demigods. A couple of people were snoring lightly, but they all looked so . . . peaceful. Percy and Annabeth were curled up next to each other, Percy's arm draped around Annabeth's shoulders and her arm lying across his stomach. Her head was resting on his chest and his face was turned towards the top of her head, his hand resting on her hair. Their legs were tangled together under the blankets, and Annabeth looked entirely content, as if she didn't care if she ever woke up. She sighed dreamily in her sleep, and Percy snuggled a little closer to her. Next to them, Jason and Piper were sprawled next to each other on the second mattress; Jason was splayed out like a starfish on his back, his head tilting to the side, his glasses askew on his face. His mouth was slightly open – one of the snorers. Piper had her head on his stomach, and she was smiling in her sleep. On the third mattress, Frank had his arms around Hazel like he was holding a football. She was curled up in a ball against his chest, and his chin rested on the top of her head, his arms encircling her protectively. Calypso almost found it funny how much bigger he was than her.
And then, finally, there was her Leo. He was on the floor in front of the couch – the couch wasn't big enough for the both of them, and Leo had insisted she take it. He was sleeping on his stomach, snoring loudly with his face in a pillow. One of his feet was dangerously close to Frank's nose, and his left arm was draped over Jason's head. The other arm was still reaching up towards the couch. Reaching for Calypso.
Calypso didn't realize it at first, but she noticed that all of the demigods were sleeping close together, all seven of them subconsciously leaning towards each other. Annabeth's fingertips were touching Piper's back, and Jason's leg was brushing Hazel's. They were all connected, even in sleep.
The scene was so perfect that Calypso found herself wanting to take a picture. They were asleep, but she thought they deserved to remember this moment. It might be a long time before they would get another one like it – one never knew, with the lives of demigods.
Luckily, Calypso brought her camera with her. The first few weeks after she and Leo left Ogygia together, they took a whirlwind tour of Europe, and Leo built Calypso her very own camera, one that printed out the picture as soon as it was taken. She'd discovered that she loved photography, and she used her camera every chance she got. She always kept it with her. She tiptoed over to her suitcase by the couch and took it out as quietly as she could.
With a smile on her face, she snapped a picture of the seven sleeping demigods. The picture spewed out of the camera, and Calypso looked at it with a smile. She'd have to make copies for everyone.
Calypso felt happy. These people were her friends. She'd had her doubts at first – of course, she was happy to be with Leo, but she'd been nervous about meeting all of his friends. Would she have a place at Camp Half-Blood? And then, of course, there was the matter of seeing Percy again, but that had turned out not to be such a big deal. He'd made gallant apologies to both Leo and Calypso, and Calypso found it easy to forgive him. Percy Jackson was a kind soul and a good friend to her.
It took a few weeks, but Calypso found that she did have a place at Camp Half-Blood. The other campers welcomed her easily, and with Leo at her side, it was almost perfect.
Calypso had friends, and she was happy. Happier than she'd been in a long, long time.
In the morning, when the demigods woke groggily from sleep, they found Calypso's invisible servants making breakfast for them in the kitchen. Calypso had summoned her magic servants to the apartment – she didn't know how to cook herself, although she was determined to learn. But she wanted to do something nice for her friends. And since she couldn't sleep anyway, she was up before any of the others.
She was standing in the kitchen, pouring seven glasses of orange juice, when the demigods stumbled sleepily into the room.
"Whoa," Leo said, eyeing the breakfast buffet spread out on the kitchen counter. "Sunshine . . . you did all this?"
"My servants cooked," she said, smiling at him. "But I poured the juice. I can do that much, at least."
Leo grinned at her, and her heart fluttered in her chest.
"If this is a dream, nobody pinch me," Percy said, rubbing his hands in anticipation. Annabeth pinched him anyway and he smirked at her. The counter was filled with plates of Belgian waffles, cinnamon French toast sticks, a stack of blue pancakes, a large bowl of scrambled eggs, a plate of steaming bacon, and a bowl of fruit salad.
Percy's eyes slid to Calypso, and he smiled a thank you at her. She smiled back.
"Leo, I think Calypso's a keeper," Jason said as he began piling his plate high. Leo grinned and went to put his arms around Calypso's waist.
"Tell me about it," he said, and he kissed her.
The seven demigods and Calypso sat down at the kitchen table – which was miraculously big enough to seat all of them – and dug into their meal. Percy drenched his blue pancakes in syrup while Annabeth chided him, Jason sprayed whipped cream onto his waffles, Piper filled her plate with healthy fruit and Frank took almost all of the French toast sticks. Hazel and Leo challenged each other on how many eggs they both could eat. Calypso felt herself smiling again, and she sipped her orange juice so no one would see.