Christmastime at Camp Half-Blood was, as a general rule, exceptionally quiet.
For one thing, despite being the children of pagan gods, most half-bloods celebrated Christmas away from a) school and b) a summer camp involving a lava-spouting rock-climbing wall and a boar that really got around.
And really, not many campers were year-rounders anyway, so the mere sixteen demigods present for Saturnalia was no surprise.
Dionysus was positively overjoyed by the lack of campers, though clearly dismayed by the hot chocolate he found himself sipping, flipping longingly through a wine catalogue as he did so.
And Chiron, of course, was mostly there to make sure that no one was skewered.
Honestly, it was nothing new—wearing two handmade sweaters (in part because the light snow allowed past the borders was, for obvious reasons, quite cold, and in part because the sweaters-being some of Iris's earlier work—were quite loose, and therefore slightly uncomfortable to wear on their own). Occasionally he would take a bite of Iris's Cupcakes of Wonder (though she referred to them using a string of words that was the rough equivalent of reading the nutrition information).
The same as always.
Until, of course, the previously mentioned goddess arrived at the camp.
"Just visiting Butch," she had told him, though she quickly added, "and you, of course, Chiron. I figures you must be lonely."
So she went off to see her rainbow-tattooed son, though taking a route that was doubtlessly calculated to determine whether or not Chiron had been putting her care packages to good use.
And he had been.
For the most part.
Well...
Kind of.
Anyway.
Iris visited Butch and later Chiron, and eventually she left, insisting that Saturnalia really was her busiest time of year, and that she ought to get going because Fleecy couldn't be left alone for long without getting into some sort of trouble.
And the sun shone despite the light snow falling, and just for a moment, an arc of color flashed across the pale blue sky.
The next second, both Iris and the rainbow were gone.
AN: A quiet Saturnalia as requested by Kassandra (thesocialhermit) on Tumblr. On an unrelated note, I'm quite pleased that this happened to be my sixtieth fic. Chiris deserves that. Though really it's not much of an honor considering what my fiftieth fic was. All the same, Chiris is brilliant. Anyway, thanks for reading. (: