Bromance
Waking up in the infirmary for the fourth time that summer was not Percy's idea of a "relaxing summer break." In fact, he expected himself to be lounging around the lake with Annabeth and helping the new demigods every once in a while, especially since he didn't have any cabin mates to worry about.
Apparently the fates had a completely different idea in mind. It had decided that Percy, being the powerful demigod he was, would have numerous responsibilities, ranging from acting as an ambassador at Camp Jupiter to constantly training and drilling younger demigods to be prepared for monster attacks. However that wasn't what got him in the infirmary four times within two weeks. What got Percy in the infirmary was sparring matches he had with Jason Grace.
He constantly fought with the Son of Jupiter, not out of hatred, but out of curiosity. Who was stronger? Well after both always ending up in the infirmary after a fight, Percy was starting to realize that they were their own worst enemies. If it wasn't Jason's lightning shocking Percy into a coma, it was Percy exhausting himself by using all of his power to drown Jason, or the combined effort of the two. Today, as far as Percy could recall at least, Jason and he wrestled and both took a nasty fall off the hill. Sometimes Percy wondered if he was testing the limits of the ambrosia and nectar's curative abilities. If he and Jason got in another fight the camp may suffer from an ambrosia shortage. He laughed a bit at the thought of he and his friend duking it out to the point of no return, since it would be such an ironic end after all they've been through, but had his thoughts interrupted by a familiar groan in the neighboring bed.
He laughed a little more as he saw the silhouette of his rival slowly sit up, and the two of them reached for the curtain and pulled it at the same time, tearing it. Before Percy could even register what they had just done, the son of Jupiter chuckled.
"We would," he said, starting to laugh more, and Percy realized he wasn't only laughing at ripping the curtain, but the entire situation they got themselves in, and Percy snorted and laughed loudly. Both boys were still holding their ends of the curtain, and were too busy laughing at their own foolishness to notice when their girlfriends entered the infirmary.
"Well, Seaweed Brain, it's good to know that while I was worried about you, you were fooling around with Jason!" Annabeth scolded.
Percy looked at her, and tried his best to stop laughing. He looked into her stormy gray eyes and gave her an apologetic smile, to which she responded with an exasperated sigh that Percy took as a sign of forgiveness.
"Honestly, I don't understand how Piper can tolerate her boyfriend the way she does."
Percy laughed a bit and held her hand. "I like it better when I get a reaction. Especially if it's a negative one." She squeezed his hand, a smile creeping onto her face.
"So you're okay?" She asked, her eyes filled with concern.
"Completely fine. As usual." He kissed her gently and gave her a big goofy grin once she pulled away.
"Okay. I'll believe you. I have to get back to work."
Percy sighed. He knew that Annabeth loved him, but he also knew that she had a lot to work on since she had been sidetracked from rebuilding Olympus when Hera wiped his memory and shoved him into Camp Jupiter and she went looking for him. Now that they didn't have a quest, she finally could get back to the job she stopped. He waved as she walked out, and watched as Piper stepped into his line of sight with her boyfriend.
"You really know how to worry a girl." She scolded, though she was smiling, and Jason simply rubbed the back of his head, looking embarrassed. Piper then regarded Percy by waving at him, and she kissed Jason's cheek and said her farewells. Percy was a bit curious about where she was going, but he figured she'd .talk about her day during when they were all together in the mess hall.
Jason turned to Percy and grinned as he held out his hand to help Percy out of the bed. Percy firmly grabbed his hand and used it as support to stand up.
"That storm must've completely wiped you out," Jason bragged, and Percy scowled, then smirked. "Not as much as having half the lake dumped on me would have. Good thing I was the dumper, not the dumpee." Jason rolled his eyes. "As if. The true victor from that battle was the rock I hit my head against."
"As if you were responsible for my concussion? I hit my head on the same rock, too. You really need to get your head out of the clouds, Grace."
"Yeah, Jackson, I think all that salt water has seeped into your brain and rotted it if you think you can beat me."
"I can totally beat you. Anytime. Any place." Percy then bit his lip, realizing that he had just issued a challenge. "But not now. I think if we fight again our girlfriend's will have our asses, not to mention what Chiron will do."
Jason nodded in agreement, then looked around the infirmary. "Dude, I think we should just move into this place considering how many times we wake up here."
"Yeah, we could probably put a TV up on the wall there, get Leo to make a few upgrades, hey we could even get a hot tub in here."
He and Jason looked at each other silently, and then bursted into laughter. Percy's sides started to hurt from laughing so hard. He found it hard to believe that he could be such great friends with a kid who he either ended up putting in the infirmary or being put in the infirmary by simi, but by no means was this a bad thing. He liked being with Jason and hanging out with him and to be honest, right next to Grover and Annabeth, Jason was his best friend.
