disclaimer: characters belong to Rick Riordan
alrighty, first things first: percy and frank are 12 yrs old; the rest of the kids are all 11
also, the reason piper walked into a restaurant unattended was bc in this au she's still pretty much neglected by her dad, and likes to do dangerous and rebellious things like this to get his attention
prompt 3: game night fights
enjoy!
The old restaurant feels as cozy and warm as it's ever been, the atmosphere carrying its lazy and serene aura throughout the spacious environment; the men, most dressed in white shirts and dark pants, a few of them holding long, dark brown cigars, idly blowing small circles of white smoke into the pleasantly mild air, merrily discussed both business and sports; the women, with their pretty multicoloured dresses and shiny jewelry, sip on fancy tall glasses filled with various cocktails of their preferred choice. All these surrounding murmured chatters and laughter act like soft white noise to Percy's ears, who currently sits at his usual table by the large, translucent windows.
Next to him, his mother holds a casual conversation with one of her longtime friends, both calmly eating their desserts, neither noticing Percy wiping his clammy hands on the white silky tablecloth every twenty seconds. They're also too tangled up in each other's cheerful words to take note of the way the young boy's green eyes rapidly shift from the gloomy, somber skies outside to the ancient, wooden longcase clock that stood tall on the other side of the packed room.
Percy's stomach feels full and satisfied. He drank plenty of water and ate a delicious piece of blueberry pie. He'd even covered the golden brown crust with a thin layer of powdered sugar for that extra dose of energy he would be needing soon.
Across the space filled with large and small tables and people, stood a vast, light beige painted wall with modestly sized double doors to the right, where you'd find an enormous kitchen. To the left side of said wall, however, a sizable glass window offered anyone within the eating area a clear view at what used to be a storage room, adjacent to the cuisine. Some dusty cardboard boxes could still be seen resting inside the broad space here and there, but it was mostly occupied by a vibrant, neon air hockey table.
A few years back, the quiet restaurant had grown in popularity, and it was increasingly frequent for patrons to bring along their children to this place of elegance and peace. Sadly, kids and peace don't go very well together, as the desperate manager would soon come to find out. In a daring, frantic move to restore order back to the notorious establishment, they had suggested to the owner that providing a secluded yet safe and monitored space where the younger public could have their fun, would benefit everyone equally. And indeed it had: the children could play and yell as much as they wanted without much interference, and their parents managed to easily relax and keep a watchful eye on them at the same time.
This was the room Percy was so eager to go into. But not yet, he quickly reminded himself. Not until she gets here...
A couple of months ago (Percy's not exactly sure when anymore), a new costumer had arrived. With confident footsteps, she'd fearlessly walked up to one of the passing waiters, politely asked where the kids usually hung out, and, after getting her answer, trespassed the kitchen doors.
About an hour later, the girl walked back out, plastic bag filled with a substantial amount of sweets craddled in her arms, and left the premises without a word.
Percy, who had been casually enjoying a meal with his mother at the time, hadn't initally understood what the mischievous smile he'd seen on her lips meant, but he promptly learned the following week: his friends (who also had the habit of dining with their families at the restaurant once a week) had come to him bearing disheartened faces, recalling how they'd been outsmarted by the unknown girl on air hockey; she'd somehow tricked them all into betting their precious treats whenever they played a match against her.
At first, Percy had been perplexed at the unforeseen news. He couldn't fathom how one girl had bested about a dozen kids in the short space of just one hour. Especially his buddies! Jason was awfully smart for the tender age of eleven, he wouldn't let himself get caught up on such a scheme so freely; Frank and Grover were gullible, sure, but not to this extent; Leo, on the other hand, Percy had no trouble believing had been quickly outwitted by this crafty girl... He tended to be impulsive like that.
When she'd finally arrived a few minutes later, after his pals had filled him in completely, Percy had all but demanded they'd play the game right then.
"That depends," the girl had slyly hummed at the boy's boisterous words. "What can you bring to the table?"
Percy had a feeling she wasn't using that expression correctly, but disregarded that suspicion entirely as he reached into his jeans' left pocket and pulled out a small bag of gummy bears. He raised it high enough for the girl to see, then set it slowly on his side of the rail.
Seemingly pleased with his treat, she copied his gesture, and soon a matching pack rested next to Percy's.
Wordlessly, both kids got into position, each on their end of the neon structure, slightly bending forward in antecipation. Percy was faintly aware of his sweaty and sticky hand, the one that was busy firmly holding his bright orange mallet; he wished he'd previously wiped it on his shirt, but the puck was placed on the center of the low-friction table, and the match began.
Soon enough, the puck moved back and forth in swift dashes of a vivid red colour, the high pitched sound of it hitting the borders of the gaming area quickly filling the storage room, making everyone inside it completely deaf to anything else.
Percy was winning. Three more points and he'd be celebrating with his friends and eating gummy bears till they puked. The girl was behind him by only one point, but Percy was focused and his reflexes were at the top of their game tonight. He was certain he'd win this.
Suddenly, the puck went flying out of the table. Dang it, he'd hit it way too hard...
He hastily went to retrieve it, proceeded to position it carefully on the cool surface, and then made the tremendous, irreparable mistake of glancing at his opponent. It was the first time he was really looking at her: chocolate brown hair (a tiny amount of it tied into a messy braid on the left side of her head) fell carelessly across her shoulders; her cheeks were slightly red due to the physical effort of the game and covered in freckles, along with her nose; a black cap, turned backwards, covered the top of her dark locks; and her eyes, Percy realized, were of an infinite mix of colours.
He was so stunned with her appearance, and so lost in his newfound crush, he practically didn't hear the final noise of the puck entering his slot that signaled the girl's victory. She'd pulverized him.
When at last Percy came to, the gummy bears were gone, and his friends were inquiring him as to "what the heck had happened back there". He barely listened to their cries of disbelief and distress.
He dashed out the room, ran through the kitchen and miraculously avoided colliding with anyone working there. His green eyes searched the restaurant from side to side, looking for a black hat on a dark brown head. He finally spotted it, making its way to the main doors of the building.
Percy quickly followed suit, and soon found himself outside, abruptly stopping the girl in her tracks by tugging on the sleeve of her blue jacket. Confused, she turned to stare at him questioningly.
"What?" She asked a bit angry, clearly she wasn't fond of being manhandled like that.
"Um, sorry," Percy rapidly let her go, not wanting to upset her any further. "I just wanted you to know that... uh..."
He couldn't concentrate. Not when she had a brow raised at him, and her face was still adorably red. The soft, yellow light of a nearby lamp post was giving her fascinating eyes a shade of an incredibly charming golden hue, which contrasted beautifully with her dark tanned skin tone and the cute pink band-aid she had on the bottom of her right cheekbone.
She seemed to have antecipated what the boy wanted to verbalize though, for her mouth displayed a rather self-assured smirk. "You won't be seeing me for a while, so a rematch is going to have to wait."
At this, Percy straightened up and stared at her with a mix of surprise and sadness. The thought of not seeing this girl (whom he knew absolutely nothing about) so soon, made his chest well up with a bitter feeling of melancholy.
His eyes were still fixated on her figure, hoping she'd reveal some more information. Maybe her name...
She didn't, much to his dismay. With a quick 'See you later, kid!', she was gone. And Percy had remained rooted to the ground for a few more seconds, silently wishing she'd come back.
And now here he was, praying this would be the night she'd come strutting through that front door. He'd brought a pack of gummy bears just like he had when they first met, and just like he had every Friday night since he'd last seen her. Partially because he knew she'd want to bet something of her own against one of his if they played (it was her operatus morandi after all), and partially because he scarcely believed it might bring him the good fortune of finally reuniting with her. But mostly it had been because it was the treat she'd gambled that faithful night. According to Percy's logic, if she'd bought it then she must at least enjoy eating the sweet. He hoped his guess was right: he wanted the gummy bears to be her favourite...
A small tap on his shoulder forced him back to reality. His mother's tender blue eyes watched him gleefully. Soundlessly, she raised her hand and discreetly pointed towards the back of the restaurant.
There, wearing her signature black cap, stood the nameless young girl, amiably chatting with a tall, handsome man, whom Percy assumed was her father, as they shared the same skin tone and hair colour.
Taking his eyes from the scene to his mom, he needn't ask permission to leave the table: she smiled gently and warned him she'd be watching. Percy understood immediately what she meant by that (once or twice now, she'd witnessed him getting into fights with other kids in the storage room), and hastily jumped from his chair.
He saw her enter the kitchen, so he slowed his pace to give himself some time to think about what he was going to say. Deciding he'd rather let her speak first, and from there just go with the flow, Percy quickly found himself alone in the room with her.
Once she took notice of his presence, she raised a hand in greeting. "You ready to go, kid?"
Percy giggled, feeling giddy and just the tiniest bit lighthead (her fault, no doubt); he unceremoniously threw the bag of sweets on the rail and grabbed a mallet and the red puck. "Born ready!"
As they readied themselves for the start of the match, Percy saw her raise her magnificent kaleidoscope eyes to meet his green ones.
"Sorry I kept you waiting." Her words had been practically whispered, and her tone was sweet.
Percy's cheeks suddenly felt warm (and his hands were sweaty and sticky once again) but he didn't care to conceal it. "No problem."
As his mallet hit the maroon puck for the first time that night, he decided introductions were long overdue. "I'm Percy, by the way."
In a flash, the girl had scored her first point, broad and lively grin all over her pretty face. "Piper."
okay i had no idea writing kiddies with crushes was so much fun, i loved turning percy into such a hopeless piece of goob
hope y'all liked this, feedback would be great :D