"I just don't get why they have to have fights on the ice," Annabeth commented, turning away from the TV to glance at Percy. They had been watching a hockey game when a fight broke out on the ice and Annabeth had changed the channel.
"It's just a thing, like touchdown dances in football," Percy said, offering her a spoonful of ice cream. She shook her head.
"Yet another part of professional sports that I don't understand," She said, turning off the TV and stumbling off the couch after getting her leg tangled in a blanket that she had been sharing with Percy.
"Where you going, Annabeth?" He asked, looking over the back of the couch at her. She smiled and threw him a wink.
"We have finals tomorrow; we should actually study for them, even if they're going to be a piece of cake." Percy rolled his eyes but jumped over the back of the couch to walk over to her.
He sat next to her at the table and honestly tried to study. He actually made an effort to memorize the dates that corresponded to Greek and Roman history, but he was too easily distracted by Annabeth spinning her pencil as she read. He tried to ignore it for a while, but eventually shut his binder and watched her study. She glanced at him, but he shook his head and stayed quiet so she could study.
She finally got up to grab a snack, and walked into the kitchen. Percy jumped from his chair to the rug in the next room.
"Annabeth! Watch out! The floor is lava!" He shouted, raising his eyebrows to emphasize the danger of the situation. She rolled her eyes but stepped from the rug onto the stool in the kitchen and grabbed a granola bar from the bin that they kept.
"Why exactly is the floor made of lava all of the sudden?" She asked as she stepped off the stool and jumped over to the rug to stand next to Percy. He rolled his eyes at her and answered in a tired tone.
"Because, Leo made a mess, duh," He said, jumping over the back of the couch onto the cushions with a smile. She rolled her eyes but followed, sitting in a curled up ball on the couch next to him.
They sat on the couch and watched football for almost an hour, when the front door opened and Percy turned to shout at them.
"Jason, Piper! Be careful, the floor is made of lava!" They rolled their eyes but jumped from the welcome mat to a shoe that had been left on the ground in Percy and Annabeth's apartment. From there, they slid across the coffee table to the other couch to sit curled up, waiting for the rest of the gang to come over for their pre-finals dinner. Granted, Percy and Annabeth were the only ones with finals, but they overlooked that minor detail in favor of a group dinner.
"Might I ask why the floor is made of lava?" Piper asked from the other couch, tossing Annabeth a text book as they studied, or, in Percy's case, watched the Jets game. Percy rolled his eyes and tore his gaze away from the television.
"Because, young Piper, Leo made a mess, and now the floor is clearly made of lava,"
he rolled his eyes as he turned to Annabeth as if to say 'what a silly question to ask.'
Piper stuck her tongue out in response, but didn't give him any more fuel. He didn't need their help to be crazy.
Shortly after, Frank and Hazel arrived opening the door, shouting a greeting.
"Hey guys, we're here!" Frank said as he walked in.
"Frank! Oh no! The floor is made of lava, Hazel, I'm sorry, but Frank is now a charred praetor." Percy said as he went to the very edge of the rug to dramatically hold Frank's hand. Hazel looked confused, but took off her shoes and jumped over to the coffee table, where she slid across to sit next to Piper and Jason.
"He was so young!" Percy wailed, dramatically pulling Frank into a hug. Percy turned to face the group as they rolled their eyes. You could almost hear the collective sigh that rose up from the group. Annabeth appeared to be questioning a few decisions in her life.
"Um, Percy?" Frank said from inside the crushing hug they Percy was giving him.
"Shhh," Percy said, putting his hand over Frank's face. "He was so good while he was here, and we can only hope to see him in Elysian." Percy choked back a fake sob, and Annabeth decided it was time to get some studying done, as opposed to this fake grieving for Frank's untimely demise by lava.
"Alright, that's enough. We played along. Now it's time to actually get some studying done," Annabeth said, gently pulling Percy off of Frank, who was blushing dramatically.
Frank silently tanked her and jumped over the back of the couch, to the other couch, and pulled Hazel onto his lap, as the four of them had no chance of fitting. Percy nodded and smiled crookedly.
"You've got to admit, I have quite a bit of talent for acting." He raised an eyebrow, as if daring her to disagree. She just shook her head and pulled him back to the couch, because somebody had to be the responsible one in this relationship.
Just as they'd begun to actually study, quizzing the group about the conjugations of Latin verbs, the door opened yet again. Leo walked in and Percy threw up a hand to stop him. Leo froze and put a hand out to stop Calypso from entering the room, thinking there was some kind of actual danger present.
"The floor is made of Lava!" Percy shouted, earning sighs from the rest of the group, but Leo just nodded solemnly and walked into the center of the room, gesturing for everyone to stay calm.
He burst into flames, taking special care to not set anything in the room on fire, then blowing himself out.
"Problem solved,"