This is a completely random thing I came up with while reading PJO. So I was like, 'Sure, why not.' And here we are. Don't take me too seriously guys, I'm weird.
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.
ƤЄƦƇƳ ʆƛƇƘƧƠƝ ƊƖƊ ƝƠƬ consider himself to be immature, per se.
Sure, Annabeth was constantly reminding him of his oblivious nature and his lack of attention to detail, but that didn't make him childish. No, he was more naive than anything.
All of his friends were intelligent. He was sure of that. Some were more clever than others, and some were more strategic than others. But none of them were stupid or oblivious, except maybe when it came to mortals and their lifestyles.
He sat with his friends in silence two weeks after the war. They were on the beach alone, mourning Leo's death. Reyna had allowed Frank and Hazel to come and, even though she'd had an initial dislike of Leo, came herself. Even Coach Hedge showed up. Nico came because Jason had dragged him, but Percy thought that all of them had a reason to be there.
"I can't believe he's gone," Piper said. Her face was wet with tears, but she wasn't crying. Percy got the feeling that she was speaking literally- she actually was not capable of accepting Leo's death. He didn't think any of them were.
Hazel choked on a laugh. "Yeah, I keep expecting him to come swooping in on Festus telling jokes. But-" she glanced at her brother. "that's not possible. He is dead. I felt him die."
Jason stared at the ground, his golden glasses glinting in the sun. "He was so inappropriate a-and immature."
Annabeth added, "And destructive?"
Frank smiled grimly. "Oh, gods, yes. Can we really be sure he's dead? I mean..."
Hazel and Nico exchanged glances.
"He died," Hazel said.
They stared at the water in silence. Percy was surprised that Coach Hedge hadn't spoken. He always said what was on his mind. He decided to change the subject.
"So... Coach, how's Chuck?"
Hedge smiled tiredly. "He's fine. Mellie's tired. I'm tired. But he's fine. Growing fast."
Reyna smiled.
"That's good," Jason said.
Coach nodded. "Soon enough we'll have to be giving him the talk and everything. He's growing so fast."
Percy coughed awkwardly. He remembered when his mom gave him the talk. It had not been a pleasant conversation.
"The talk?" Hazel asked, confused.
Oh, gods.
"Yes, on... how babies are born," Piper explained.
"Oh. Right."
"My grandma gave me the talk," Frank said miserably. Percy nodded in pity.
"They teach us mortal subjects at Camp Jupiter too, so..." Reyna trailed off.
"Chiron," Annabeth said.
"My dad," Piper added.
"My nanny goat told me," Coach said.
Percy realized that they were having some sort of group therapy session. He also realized that only he and Nico were left since the Romans had all learned at camp. Considering Nico's personal vendetta against sharing personal information, he decided to go next.
"My mom told me," he said. "It was awkward."
Hazel nodded. "What about you, Nico?"
"What?"
He had the decency not to glare at his sister, at least.
"You know, the talk about how babies are born. Who told you?"
Bless Hazel and her saint-like patience, Percy thought.
"Oh. Father."
They all stared at him, trying to figure out if he was joking. His face was blank.
Percy tried to imagine Hades giving Nico the talk. His mind instantly rebelled.
"Hades?" He asked, just to clarify.
Nico blinked. "No, Roosevelt," he deadpanned.
"Hades gave you the talk?" Annabeth asked again.
"...Yes."
"Oh gods," Jason said.
Nico blinked again. "The talk about how babies are born? And the storks?"
Reyna frowned. "Storks?"
Nico nodded patiently. "Yes. When parents want a child, the pray to the gods and the gods send a baby to them with a stork."
"That's what Hades said?" Piper asked.
"Yes. Why?"
Coach Hedge opened his mouth to say something, but Jason nudged him so he shut up.
"Um, what about pregnancy?" Annabeth asked, glancing at Percy.
"It's a timer for when the stork will arrive. I thought you said you've heard this before?"
The poor kid was beyond confused, Percy saw.
"Right. Well, Nico, that's not exactly how it works," Percy said cautiously.
"Then how-"
"You don't want to know."
How the mourning party for Leo had turned into a very awkward discussion, Percy had no idea. But, he thought, this was how he would have wanted it to be. Not them crying and being sad- he'd want his friends to get along and move on.
And Percy was also secretly glad that he wasn't the most naive person to fight in the Second Grant War. After all, he wasn't a complete Seaweed Brain.
It was exactly as Hazel had described.
A few weeks later, Leo Vladez came swooping in on Festus the dragon cracking jokes as if he'd never been gone.
Calypso was with him, and Percy was very relieved that she's gotten off of her island.
"Sorry," Leo said with a grin. "We made a few pit stops. So, what'd I miss?"
Percy punched him in the face.
"Ow!"
"You missed a lot, man," Jason said, helping him up. "We'll tell you later."
A/N: I just had to add in Leo's return there. I would have expanded on it more, but... yeah. I'm too lazy. Anyway, I was reading the books and I realized that Nico was 10 when he went to CHB. Then his sister died, and he was basically just in the Underworld. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!
TempestWolf999
