So uh, this chapter is lovely and I love our girls and they love one another very much.
Replies:
Undeath9087: I mean, I have future plans lol. You shall have to wait and see. And yeah, definitely just friends, no unresolved romantic tensions there at all.
Thickneck: I mean, they're all dumbasses who don't realise but yes.
ant-death: the question is, when and how? Will it even be in this fic?
rage2091: It may become a thing lol. Annabeth's just there like 'Read to me!' and Percy folds easier than a piece of paper.
Space Snoopy: They really are precious. And I love reviews and I love replying, seeing what people like and don't like and stuff.
Guest: True- but hey Percy's Poseidon's daughter and she can just summon up some water to not be dehydrated lol. And it is lovely reading to someone you care about I know that much.

It was strange, Percy always thought, how time could pass both shockingly quickly and yet so mind numbingly slowly all at once. Especially on adventures like this.

It hadn't been so bad when Percy had been reading to Annabeth Piper- that had actually been pretty nice. But eventually she'd gotten tired of reading, and while there was a TV, it wasn't connected up to anything at the moment so they couldn't even entertain themselves using it. So Percy decided to go out onto the deck, brushing her hair out of her face as she climbed the ladder that led onto the roof of the boat- the deck itself was reasonably large but the roof of the cabin had a set of railings around it- and some pretty comfortable bench seating.

Piper and Annabeth joined her after some time- before they all got hungry and headed below deck to make themselves some food- they'd brought a decent supply and Percy was able to make them all some scrambled eggs- at Annabeth's request.

She did, of course, pop some blue food dye into the eggs, and when she severed them Annabeth and Piper both laughed.

Still, they dug in very happily, and Percy watched, feeling very amused. "Good?"

"Of course." Piper managed after finishing her mouth full, "Your mom taught you very well."

"I know." Percy's eyes narrowed, "I gotta teach you guys how to cook."

"I didn't do that bad last time I tried to cook-" that came from Annabeth, and Percy raised an eyebrow.

"Wise girl, genius, my wonderful friend, I tried to eat it. I really did. But that cake was-" she held up her hands, pulling a face as Piper started to giggle. "I mean I know you didn't mean to almost kill us, but I'm saying that it could have been used as a weapon of mass destruction. We should give it to monsters- it'd be a sure killer."

"Percy." Annabeth twitched, "You a- stop laughing Piper-"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry but she's not wrong." Piper pressed her hand to her mouth to try and stifle the laughter. "It was really bad."

"This coming from the girl who burned the pasta bake you tried to make us! It was cremated."

"You're both terrible." Percy grinned, "And I should definitely teach you guys to cook. I was lucky with mom. Best cook ever and she was always willing to teach me." she scooped up a fork full of her own scrambled eggs.

"How about you just cook for us forever and ever." Piper asked, leaning over the table slightly. "You're a very good cook we might as well make use of you-"

"You know, I do spoil you guys." Percy shot them a grin, "Sometimes I wonder- I mean, we all know what you get out of being friends with me. You get top grade entertainment, you get a rich friend, who reads to you and cooks for you- but what do I get from you guys-"

"Humbled?" Piper shot her a mock innocent grin that made Percy burst out laughing, throwing her head back with the force of it as Annabeth added.

"I think I'm the one with the common sense. The one who tells you guys not to do the ridiculously stupid things that you seem to find incredibly fun." she paused, as if thinking before adding, "With varying degrees of success."

"Okay- okay if this is about that time I decided to surf down the stairs- that is not the most crazy thing I have ever done and Felix routinely turns those stairs into a slide so really it wasn't that crazy-"

"Or is it about the time that we flooded the school gym to try and make it a swimming pool because it was funny when Haley opened the doors and got knocked over by the water rushing out-"

"About both of those times and more." Annabeth gave a long suffering smile, "Honestly I don't know how Carter hasn't murdered you both a million times. And Sadie too for that matter-"

"Eh, by the time Piper came along Carter was very used to the stuff Sadie and I pulled. These days I think he's generally given up on controlling what Sadie and I do- and that extends to friends of ours."

"That makes sense." Annabeth gave a wry grin, "I can understand how you guys could drive him to losing the will to argue."

"Besides-" Piper smirked, "That's coming from the girl who attacked a lady in the middle of the Parthenon-"

"In my defence that bitch had it coming-" Annabeth declared, "She was defacing my mothers temple. I should have probably broken at least one bone-"

"Oooh." Percy whistled, "Our Wise girl gets vicious when annoyed-"

"I know." Piper grinned, "It's awesome."

And with that they settled into a somewhat comfortable silence as they finished their food, and Percy was just getting them all drinks- she was making some smoothies- they'd packed a bunch of food, including fresh fruit and such, since they'd known the boat would have a fridge at the very least. And it wasn't like Percy didn't always have access to a blender- and Piper and Annabeth both burst out laughing when they saw Percy pulling it out of the Duat- and at their looks Percy gave her best 'I don't care what you think' look.

"I might as well get some use out of this baby while I'm waiting for the perfect opportunity to ram that annoying smug vindictive little asshole of a spirits head into it."

"Such violence." Piper's voice was teasing, "I love it."

"Of course you do." Percy shot her a grin, tucking her hair behind her ear before she got back to chopping up the fruit , piling it all into the blender with some yogurt and honey before pressing the button.

The blender whirred to life, and within a few minutes Percy was pouring out the smoothies and handing them to the other girls. "Enjoy." she rolled her shoulders, "Because I'm putting you guys in charge of cooking the next meal-" and she burst out laughing at the panicked looks on Piper and Annabeth's faces.

"But Percy- you can't do this to us we need your food, it's not a want, you know that don't you my darling Sea Star."

"Really?" Percy laughed despite her best efforts not to. "You two are capable of doing sandwiches or somethin' c'mon guys I am not doing all the work on this quest. I expect you two to pull your weight too. Besides-" she smirked at them, "I'm looking forward to the entertainment value."

"Oh now that's just bullying!" Annabeth took her smoothie, taking a sip, "Piper, do you think that we could survive until tomorrow on the smoothies and those scrambled eggs?"

"Hmmm..." Piper expression was thoughtful, "They are very nice and filling." she sipped her own smoothie, "But we're going to get hungry sooner or later."

"Maybe if we make a deal." Annabeth rose from her seat, "We can wash up after you." she moved towards the sink quickly, "See, very helpful."

"Hmmm..." Percy pressed her lips together, a thoughtful look on her face. "You both do all of the clear up the entire time and I will graciously do the cooking for our trip."

"That actually sounds like a great idea." Piper declared quickly, darting after Annabeth, "I do drying if you do washing, sound fair to you?"

"Sure." Annabeth nodded quickly, "Just as long as I don't have to cook."

"It's probably for the best." Percy rolled her eyes fondly, "I don't want to spend this trip puking into the sea because you guys gave me food poisoning." she gave a wry smile, shaking her head as she sipped her own smoothie before getting to her feet.

"While you guys are on clean up duty I think I'm going to unpack our clothes- put the in the drawers under the bed."

"Of course." Annabeth nodded, "I guess we are going to be here for a good few days."

"At least four." Percy paused, "actually no, no at least five I'd say. We already know it'll take around two days or so to get there- we need to allow for at least a day in the Sea of monsters itself but being realistic it's probably going to be a few days. And then there's getting back too." as she spoke she got to work rummaging through the clothes that they'd all packed, quickly putting them into the drawers, setting aside their shower stuff to aside, ready to put it all in the little bathroom area.

Once she was done Percy rose, twitching the curtains aside so that she could peer out of the fairly small windows, "I think I'm gonna go and sit up in the sun." she decided after a moment of consideration. "Not like there's that much else to do." which was going to be annoying.

She loved hanging out with Piper and Annabeth, but it was going to be tricky, annoying not being able to actually go out to entertain themselves. There was only so much they could do to pass the time.

"We'll join you up there when you're done." Annabeth shot Percy a smile over her shoulder.

"We should all stay out there when it gets dark." Piper added with a grin, "We can look up at the stars- it's got to be so much better away from all the city lights."

"I'll bring some blankets up ready." Percy declared, "Do we have milk- we can do cocoa and just camp out up there. It's not supposed to rain or anything so we should be fine, and if it does we can just come back down."

"And it would be easier to keep a watch that way." Annabeth pointed out.

And so that was what they did- after eating- which once again was Percy's responsibility, and she made them all some basic but filling food, and then as night drew in they returned back above, setting down several blankets on the deck, the three of them settling down on the roof, led on their backs, Percy in the middle, Piper and Annabeth on either side of her.

And Piper told them stories- Percy had heard most of them before- some of them from the source- Piper's grandpa. But Annabeth hadn't, an Percy liked hearing them again.

The stories were ones Piper had been told by her dad. And sometimes Percy wondered if they were based in truth just like the Greek myths and the Egyptians.

Probably. But Percy was very happy with not getting involved with any other pantheons and Piper, whilst interested in her heritage, had no intentions of coming face to face with any of their stories.

Yeah, Greek and Egyptian were more than enough for them.

And that was how Percy fell asleep, Piper's fingers tangling with her own, and Annabeth shifting closer so that she was pressed into Percy's other side, her head shifting so that it was tucked into the crook of Percy's shoulder.

And somehow, despite the fact that the blankets didn't soften the hard wood and metal of the deck much, despite the fact that she shouldn't have been even remotely comfortable, it was one of the best nights sleep Percy had ever had.