Percy sat on the floor leaning back against the side of his bed, holding Annabeth's hand as she reclined on the bed behind him. Nico leaned on the post securing the top bunk aloft, his arms crossed over his chest. Jason and Piper sat across the floor, facing the rest of the group. They had been trading theories about Theseus, trying to guess his parentage, and sharing their amazement at his similarities to Percy.
A knock on the door startled the group, and Nico jumped to answer it as the room fell into an awkward and cautious silence.
"He-" Nico stopped, his eyes wide when he saw who was waiting outside. He hadn't been in the pavilion during lunch when Theseus arrived, and despite hearing the bewildering description of the newcomer, he had not expected the resemblance to be so distinct.
"Who's there, Nico?" Percy called from the floor. Nico blinked a couple of times and opened the door wider, making Theseus visible to the rest of the room.
Percy jumped up and walked to the door as well. "If it isn't the man of the hour. Come on in, Theseus," he said, friendly. He beckoned Theseus inside, leaving Nico standing frozen at the doorknob, staring incredulously between Percy and Theseus. Percy clapped Nico on the shoulder as he passed, pulling up a chair for his newest guest.
Jason noticed Nico had yet to move from his spot by the door. He quickly made his way over to him, placing both hands on Nico's shoulders to snap him out of his trance, "Hey man," he whispered, "Watch the googly eyes. You're giving yourself away." He playfully shook him, chuckling as he went back to his seat next to Piper on the floor.
Theseus gladly took the seat, "Thanks. Chiron dropped me off. He said that you could help me settle in and that if I had any questions to go to you," he explained, dropping his backpack on the floor beside him. Even with several eyes on him, he looked around the cabin, admiring the scenic view of the lake. "So, this is Poseidon's cabin, huh? It's pretty neat," he observed, standing up from his chair to break some boundaries and pick up a few knick-knacks from Percy's table. His fingers glided over a small collection of snowglobes, picking one up that displayed the Hoover Dam inside. He shook the snowglobe so that the glitter engulfed the dam. He rolled his eyes, setting it back down, and kept walking until he was face to face with a large trident that was leaned against the wall underneath a few pinned-up photos. He picked up the heavy trident, eyeing it carefully and twirling it in his hands a couple of times. Theseus thought back on how Poseidon never let him touch his mighty trident because they were too dangerous for a demigod like him. He scoffed, laughing inwardly that Poseidon might actually be scared of him and the power he possesses. His lip twitched downward, and he finally placed it back down against the wall. He started to return to his seat, but a particular picture caught his eye that made him stop in his tracks. Suddenly, a memory flashed through his mind of the first time he saw this photo when he snuck into Poseidon's quarters. The anger and betrayal he felt in that moment resurfaced as he unpinned it from the wall. He was unaware that the room fell silent and the mood had shifted in an unpleasant direction.
Percy had been watching closely as Theseus wandered through the space, tensing each time he picked something up or set it down again. He watched as Theseus spun the trident around in his hands and felt a strange twinge of recognition, a fleeting moment of deja vu. Percy finally intervened when he saw him take a photograph off the wall – a portrait of him and his mother. It was Theseus's expression that gave Percy pause. His face was not fond or nostalgic but altogether measured, as though he was going to great pains not to react outwardly to what he saw. Percy walked over and calmly took the photo, pinning it back to the wall where it had been.
"That's my mom," he offered, trying not to add to the growing tension in the room. He turned around and surveyed the rest of the cabin, as Theseus had a moment ago. "Yeah, it's a pretty cool place. I'm the only son of Poseidon at camp right now, so I get my own room. No big deal." He turned back to Theseus. "Do you know who your godly parent is?"
Theseus stared at the photo as Percy took it away from him. The farther the picture was, the faster the anger left him. He snapped back to reality upon hearing Percy's voice, listening in as he talked about his parents. Percy's question didn't take him by surprise. Instead, he was hoping he would ask. "Oh really? That's pretty cool. Although, it's funny because Poseidon is my dad too," he shrugged like it wasn't important to know as he made his way back to his seat.
It was Percy's turn to freeze. All day, he had brushed off Theseus' existence as a crazy coincidence. It would be something they could all laugh about whenever Theseus was claimed and his true godly parent was revealed. He looked around the room at the faces of his friends, all of whom mirrored many the same emotions he was feeling. Confusion, disbelief. Nico looked positively ashen, his eyes wide and mouth clenched shut as he tried to process. The room, which had been filled with the peaceful but awkward silence of a new encounter, had transformed abruptly into a chilling chamber of shock. Percy's mind raced. He had a brother? Why had they never met? Did his mom know?
Theseus reached the chair Percy had offered him earlier and sat down, seemingly unaffected by the astonishing silence his declaration had triggered. He stretched his legs out in front of him, placing his hands inside his pockets while looking around the room as though deciding how best to decorate his new bedroom. He scanned the faces of each of the others, carefully considering their expressions until his eyes landed on Percy, and their eyes met. The corner of Theseus's mouth twitched into a smirk, and he raised his eyebrows at Percy, beginning to laugh.
"Holy Olympus, you should have seen your faces!" he shouted, roaring with laughter, stretching his arms up behind his head. "No. I don't know who my godly parent is," he answered, resting his hands behind his head.
Annabeth stirred in her seat, uncomfortable with the response that Theseus gave, "How is that funny?" she asked, her face scrunched up in distaste. Theseus might've thought he was funny, but to Annabeth, it was a failed attempt at easing the tension in the room.
Piper shook her head in disappointment, "Yeah, you seriously call that a joke?" She groaned in annoyance, pinching the bridge of her nose as she pondered why men ever think they're funny.
Nico's shocked expression quickly turned to anger. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted, shattering the silence which had previously filled the room. He made a step to lunge at Theseus, but Jason caught his arm and held him in place.
"Whoa, Nico, it's okay. Calm do-" Percy started, but Nico cut him off, wrenching his arm out of Jason's grasp.
"Get off me!" Nico snarled.
Jason snatched his hand back. "Nico, you have to calm down. It was just a joke." He looked apologetically at Theseus.
"Fuck you, Jason," Nico growled. "Why would you joke about something like that?" He turned to Theseus, his dark eyes seeming to glow with anger. "Who do you think you are? You think it's okay to come in here and make jokes about serious shit?" Now free from Jason's grasp, Nico lunged at Theseus again, this time successfully tackling him, sending the two boys and the chair careening backward into the floor.
Without a word, Percy entered the fray. He grabbed Nico around the waist, lifting him off of Theseus and into the air, holding him firmly against his chest to avoid another attack.
Nico was unfazed by Percy's interference and thrashed to free himself, shouting all the while. "You don't know what we've been through! We finally have some peace and quiet, and you come in and decide to make stupid jokes just to fuck with us. For what?"
Theseus pulled himself up off the floor and brushed off nonexistent dust from his shirt. "Can't you take a goddamn joke? If anything, what's wrong with you?" He barked at Nico. He picked up the fallen chair and placed it back upright, clapping his hands of any dirt. "Control your child," he ordered.
Piper immediately shot up from the floor, "Hey! Watch it!" she called out sternly. "You need to calm down. It was a terrible joke that no one understood. So if I were you, I would shut it and sit down." She had no intention of using charm speak, yet it came out on its own.
Theseus didn't know why, but suddenly he wanted to sit down and be quiet. He sat back in his chair and waited quietly until spoken to.
For the second time in just a few minutes, Percy was caught off-guard by what Nico said. Nico did not ordinarily get mad or start a conflict with others, so this outburst in defense of his friends came as a surprise. While Percy was touched by Nico's willingness to fight for him, he couldn't have anyone picking fights with new campers unprovoked. He turned so that he and Nico were facing away from the others in the cabin. Nico still held pressed to Percy's chest and leaned down to speak more directly.
"You gotta chill out, Nico," Percy hissed in Nico's ear, his stern voice scarcely above a whisper. "We've all been through a lot in the last year, but I can't have you attacking people the second they say something stupid."
Nico's cheeks warmed with embarrassment, and he stopped struggling against Percy's grip, allowing himself to be restrained.
"Pull yourself together." Percy slowly released his grip on Nico's chest, testing that he would not attack Theseus again before letting him go entirely.
Nico slowly turned to face Percy, averting his eyes.
Percy rested a hand on Nico's shoulder, and his voice softened. "I know where you're coming from. You know I do, and I appreciate you sticking up for me." He smiled softly at him. "But this isn't the way to act. If you want, we can talk more about this later."
Nico just nodded.
Annabeth got up from the bed once Nico calmed down and was released from Percy's grasp. She couldn't hear what Percy was telling him, but she could trust Percy to be able to ease the tension. Whether Nico liked it or not, Annabeth knew Nico had a soft spot in his heart for Percy. Once she knew the conversation between them was over, she gave herself the responsibility to take Nico back to the bunk to keep him calm and console him. She placed her hand on his back, caressing it comfortingly. She didn't say a word, knowing that would only annoy him even further. She sat him down on the lower bunk and sat down beside him to keep him company.
Percy turned to Theseus. "Sorry about that. We've all been through a lot recently, but that's no reason to lash out. It was a pretty stupid joke, though." He looked around the room, sensing the tension had not yet dissipated from the group, and tried to find a way to smooth things over. "Well, uh. I'm Percy. But you knew that." Percy waved a hand toward Nico. "The guy who tackled you is Nico, son of Hades."
"Remind me not to piss him off next time," Theseus grumbled.
Percy continued. "That's Jason, son of Jupiter, and Piper, daughter of Aphrodite, over there, and on the bed, there is my girlfriend, Annabeth, daughter of Athena." Percy motioned to Theseus. "And this is Theseus Jackson. Which... insane coincidence." He chuckled. "You'll meet everyone else later."
Annabeth looked up at the sound of her name being mentioned and was met with a wink from Theseus across the room. She rolled her eyes and brought her attention back to Nico.
Theseus leaned over the side of the chair, "Percy, your girlfriend's pretty hot. How did you ever manage to swoon a beautiful woman like her?" he commented, failing to whisper. He didn't care that the others overheard him. In fact, he wanted them to hear him. During his time alone in the human world, he got all his modern-day information on human communication from watching T.V. shows and movies that portrayed the 'cool' guy as a selfish prick. Those were his favorite characters.
All five heads turned to face Theseus in disgust. "Duuudde, not cool," Jason droned out, disturbed.
Annabeth groaned in annoyance, "Oh come on, really?"
"Ewww, gross dude," Piper complained.
"Can I hit him again?" Nico groaned from the bed.
Percy grimaced at Theseus' comment but attempted to laugh it off, seeking once again to dispel the tension stubbornly permeating the cabin. "Yeah, I know."
"What? No! Percy, don't take that from him," Jason protested. "He just hit on your girl. Are you really going to let him do that?"
Theseus enjoyed watching them squabble, a grin plastered on his face. "Why are you so worked up about it? I was only giving a compliment."
Jason pointed at the door, "Dude, get out. This isn't cool. You're obviously enjoying this, and that's weird enough."
Percy raised his hands to gain everyone's attention and laughed nervously. "It's alright. This is just a misunderstanding." He nodded toward Theseus. "It's pretty obvious this guy just sucks at telling jokes. We're all still getting to know each other. We just have to figure out when we're supposed to laugh."
Jason shook his head in disagreement, "Nope. That's not joking. That's being disrespectful." He bawled his fists, now agreeing with Nico that this guy needs to be punched.
Annabeth noticed his bawled fists as tiny sparks of electricity bounced off his skin, "Jason, it's alright. Just ignore the guy. He's not worth it."
Jason shook his head once more, "No! That's not okay!" He noticed his body temperature rising and decided it was best for him to leave, "You know what, I think I'm going to go clear my head. Enjoy the rest of your evening." With that said, Jason grabbed his belongings and exited the cabin, larger sparks flying off of him.
Piper chuckled nervously, grabbing her things as well, "Well, it was nice hanging out with you guys, but it looks like it's our time to leave." She said goodbye to Annabeth before quickly following Jason out the door.
Percy attempted once more to break the awkward silence that had descended on the room after Piper and Jason's exits. "Looks like it's almost time for dinner anyway." He turned to Theseus. "You want to join us?"
Theseus had nowhere else to be, nor did he have a cabin to stay in yet, "Yeah, I'm pretty starved." He stood up from the chair, tossing his backpack over his shoulder, "So, what is normally served at dinner?" he asked. Ever since he escaped Poseidon's grasp two years ago, he had to fend for himself and find his own food source without any money- U.S. dollars or Drachmas. He spent the first few months dumpster diving behind fancy restaurants around New York. He couldn't believe the amount of perfectly good food wasted at the end of the day from these places. As for shelter, he bounced from house to house after thoroughly investigating when the homeowners would be out on vacation. He hadn't had a proper meal for months and was desperately looking forward to it.
"Anything you want," Percy grinned.
