Chapter 3: In which Malcolm uses his social skills (Part 2/5)

But Lovey Dovey Fest continued until Tuesday. A birthday and engagement party needed to be prepared, after all. Even working and teaching couldn't drown out the syrup. While designing studies with Bae and Chiara Benvenuti and the rest of the stats gang, conversations launched into talk of romance and weddings. Nevertheless, reprieve came in the form of a family brunch party that the Blofises held for Annabeth's birthday in their Manhattan home.

Seventeen people crowded in the dining and living rooms: the couple, the six other Athenians, two other children of Poseidon, the three Blofises, and the four other Chases who'd flown in from Cali.

He braced himself for the inevitable intros. It was harder to do while momentarily cut off from Annabeth and Percy and the Blofises. So Malcolm indulged himself in a healthy dose of Sally's cookies as he watched the Chases make heart-eyes at Alicia.

"What's your name, sweetie?" said Dr. Chase.

Alicia mumbled her name, a third of her behind Claire's legs.

"Sorry?"

"Alicia."

"Alicia," Mrs. Chase tested the name, getting confirmations from the Athenians. "How old are you, Alicia?"

"Six," said Alicia.

"Yeah. Six," Claire told them.

The Chases aww-ed.

"She turns seven in four months," Malcolm let himself blurt out, his gaze directed at Frederick Chase.

"Oh," Dr. Chase said, his voice nearly an octave higher than his normal register.

Malcolm waited to receive a nudge from Claire—but he felt no taps on his back, and Frederick Chase had blinked first and already looked away. The man's head bobbed, his fingers twitching with the bag of goodies in his grip.

The five steely stares that fixed on Dr. Chase only relented when the resident dark-haired girl skipped in between them, landing with a jump in front of the littlest of the Athenians.

"Allie!" Estelle Blofis beamed. "Do you wanna come play with me? Mommy and Daddy said I can show you a new jigsaw puzzle we finished."

Dr. Chase's face contorted yet more.

Malcolm held back a huff. Bless you, Estelle.

Alicia took Estelle's outstretched hand and let her lead her away.

"How's your doll collection now, Stell?" Conrad asked loudly.

Estelle swiveled around, unknowingly dragging a slightly disoriented Alicia with her. "Do you wanna see? Archie the Urchin has a new friend now!"

"Does he? Can we see them, too?" Malcolm feigned the excitement required for a child.

Estelle nodded at him in a frenzy.

Once three meters away, Conrad grunted a snort in Malcolm's ear. In front of them, Sophie covered her mouth, and Zeke coughed as his shoulders shook.

"That's it, 'kay?" Claire said. "I don't think Annabeth would want today to…"

"Yeah, yeah, that's it," Malcolm promised.

"I mean, maybe another time," Claire grimaced.

Fat chance. Their next opportunity would probably be the wedding.

But lest his stubborn temper rise, lest practiced shower tirades spill out, lest any bitterness or boorishness ruin a celebration, Malcolm stuck to his siblings, Percy, Percy's parents, Tyson, and, hell, even Rhode, who just… stunned him.

A train-less, patternless dress today, he noted. Far more functional an outfit than what she'd worn during capture the flag. The extra curliness of today's hair wouldn't exactly have helped (and it seemed awful to take issue with her Greek genes) but guess what… She'd frickin' bunned it. For brunch. And yet, not for a battle! Malcolm chided himself on still being hung up about that. It wasn't like it mattered anymore. (But gods!)

"I extended your thanks to Poseidon," Rhode told him across the kitchen island as they and Sophie took over setup duties.

"Uh, thanks," Malcolm said, pausing his cutlery distribution to meet her gaze. "Thank you. How's Atlantis?"

"Well, thank you," Rhode smiled.

The eyes matched the beam. They were brighter now than Sunday, he noticed. It wasn't just random, now was it?

"We're putting together a festival right now," she said. "People tend to be quite jubilant this time of year. And they're extra happy for Percy this time around…."

Once he put more effort into ignoring any damned cortisol spikes and into not caring to figure out every thing he couldn't understand or pinpoint, he found he could quite easily participate in conversations with the goddess about the architecture of the Atlantian palace and, more generally, the kingdom she helped to govern.

"Oh! Rhode," said Sophie, "I also looked into the hydropower issues you were telling me and Claire about. Has Atlantis found effective ways to deal with the methylmercury from dam reservoirs?"

"Somewhat," said Rhode. "It's also not just from damming, though. A lot of the methylmercury comes from general atmospheric emissions—say, from volcanoes, mines, and"—she grumbled—"especially coal-fired power plants. All that can be trickier to deal with. But, with dams in particular, our scientists—and mortal scientists, too—think that it helps to remove soil with high carbon concentration and to increase levels of oxygen or iron in water."

The two Athenians listened intently.

"See, in the air," said Rhode, "mercury is mostly harmless. It's when the soil (with inorganic mercury) is under water that it's exposed to less oxygen. And when there's less oxygen, the inorganic mercury will be more likely to 'methylate', therefore making it highly poisonous."

"And that methylation process is caused by iron-reducing and sulfate-reducing bacteria," said Sophie. "I read that at least."

Rhode smiled at her. "Yes, that's right. And also poisoned microorganisms like plankton."

Sophie nodded. Malcolm could tell she was dying to write it on her phone. Alas, her hands were occupied with divvying up cookies onto various plates, so he made sure to log in his brain as much as he could on what Rhode had to say about demethylation and reductions in the bioavailability for methylation. He just knew Sophie would pull him into a debrief later. And, yet again, she'd probably be altering her study plan if she was already working on assignments two months early.

Malcolm then realized he'd zoned out a bit when Rhode had stopped talking. So much for helping his sister. Where were they now?

Rhode was staring straight ahead of her, yet way past him. A dark storm had formed in the goddess's irises. How could they be described? Haunted? Haunting? Both?

"It's deteriorated merpeople's nervous systems," she gritted. She took a deep, audible breath and let out a long sigh, refocusing then on wrapping cutlery into napkins. "Mortals are even less accustomed. They can suffer more from the neurotoxicity. It can particularly harm fetuses, causing paralysis, limb deformities, physical growth disorders, intelligence disorders, impaired vision, potentially also ADHD…. So many things."

"I'm assuming Atlantis monitors methylmercury concentrations in different species?" Malcolm said. "How's that going?"

"We've been trying to map them to food webs, also to see impacts on interconnected ecosystems," she said as he forced himself to meet her eyes. "It's not looking good, if I'm honest."

The problem was that it was just difficult to process every word. You know, as it could be, generally speaking, with such direct eye contact.

Students' eyes shouldn't follow the professor around the room. That's how you know they're not really present, his father had once noted. (That was also how Malcolm knew who wasn't paying attention in his classes at camp.) But, surely, one should be able to pay attention in one-on-one conversations, because eye-contact was impor—

Methylmercury. Monitoring. Mapping.

"—no easy solutions," said Rhode, "and still no consensus on what's the ideal response." She looked down again to count the dressed up utensils. "Even mitigating already done damage seems impossible. Fish and other creatures that happen to be poisoned with high concentrations of mercury aren't quarantining themselves or they don't even know if they've been infected, so they're, in turn, infecting anyone who happens to eat them. The effects also build up higher up the food chain."

"Bioaccumulation," said Malcolm.

Rhode faced him again, hesitating before she responded. "Yes. Per organism, I guess you could say. Or per trophic level. Biomagnification up the chain."

"Intra versus inter."

"Yes. Both."

"I see."

"So, apex predators are more at risk than prey," Sophie remarked.

"Funny that, isn't it?" said Rhode. "So, rule of thumb," she said. "Avoid eating fish that are larger and have longer life expectancies. Big eye tuna, ahi tuna, king mackerel, sea bass, yellowtail, marlin, swordfish, tilefish, sharks…."

Malcolm wasn't going to remember all that. That was okay. He didn't eat fish.

"And the accumulation happens because—" Rhode turned to Sophie again. "You've probably come across this in your research. Unlike inorganic mercury, methylmercury is so easy to absorb. It's almost entirely absorbed by the organism consuming another infected organism. Methylmercury is also difficult to get rid of. It stays in living beings. It doesn't quite get excreted. It builds up."

"Yeah, I read that the half-life of methylmercury is something like seventy days," Sophie said. "And ecosystems can experience elevated methylmercury levels for… decades?"

"And yet," said Rhode, "not everyone wants to or can evacuate from highly infected communities. As for those who do, we ultimately have to consider the politics of the neighboring communities and how livable those habitats are."

"How big are the evacuation zones?" said Sophie.

"Oh, huge," Rhode said. "But then that has a negative impact on the ecosystems, which, of course, can't be sustained if abandoned."

"And fish travel. Those food webs must be complicated then," mused Sophie.

"I could show you those models and maps," said Rhode. "It's certainly complicated. It makes testing and contact tracing all the more difficult. And, slowly but surely, we've built up testing capacity and tracing capabilities. But, unfortunately, there's been a little bit of pushback due to privacy concerns in some areas. Marine communities are quite independent. Atlantis tries not to interfere when uncalled for. So, as one might expect, the situation demands some compromise and creative political maneuvering."

"Does it involve moves like throwing that game of Risk?" Malcolm said. "You didn't need to do that, by the way."

"I think I can do whatever I please, thank you," she said.

There was no bite to her words or her expression or her glance—not even a hint—yet Malcolm's instincts detected something. Was it amusement? Was it annoyance? Something else?

"I was only curious to see if you'd beat Conrad. He's the best at Risk," he said before looking away.

"Did you feel guilty for attacking my troops?" said Rhode.

While Sophie ducked her head, his turned sharply up. "Is that why you did it?" he said quietly.

As Rhode opened her mouth, Sally came by to fetch the plates of snacks. Sophie eagerly followed at her heels.

"It was just a question," Rhode said.

A hint of animosity lingered in the air nevertheless. Perhaps his bias must've been coming through from remnants of their arguments previous. Malcolm wondered if his other siblings felt some sort of side effect of their parents' rivalry when around her. Or was it all just in his head?

Out of spite of some sort and for Annabeth and Percy's sakes, Malcolm decided he'd ignore whatever jabs she'd throw and win in politeness.

"I thought it'd be nice to see someone win against him, and I do think you probably could," he said.

Their resulting stare down probably benefited him less than it did her—because while she seemingly got what she was looking for, he came out with zilch. So, he retreated to tend to the pitchers of juice.

Malcolm didn't know if he was imagining it, but he felt the weight of her gaze on his back—confirmed as he turned around.

What surprised him was that Rhode looked pleased. And, for some reason, that made him feel pink.

Rhode smiled then for sure.

Annoyed somehow, he directed his attention to the beverages again. Why did it feel like he'd lost? Had he played right into her hands?

"Seriously, what is it with you?" she muttered, seeming even more amused.

"What? Nothing," he chose to say.

It truly wasn't difficult to act dumb when he had no idea what the fuck she was alluding to.

But, really. Nothing.

Totally. He could stand there in front of her at the island again. Because there really was nothing up.

Rhode's grin broadened.

"Oh, awesome! You're done!" Paul came in, this time followed by his stepson.

Percy looked like he was about to say something before he bit his tongue. He grabbed the pitchers Malcolm had prepped without uttering a word other than his thanks for helping out.

"I can help clear this up," Malcolm offered to Paul.

"No, you two, go enjoy the party!" said Paul. "I'll be there in just a minute."

Both were silent until Malcolm held open the door leading to the living room.

She paused for a moment in the doorway. "Thank you."

Malcolm felt like ignoring the comment and consciously tamed his grouchiness before diving into the festivity.

It seemed, judging by a lack of snappy remarks the rest of the afternoon, Rhode wasn't even going to play whatever stupid game of civility he'd figured they would. Instead, she spent much of her attention fussing over her brothers and conversing with new faces, including the Californian visitors.

Malcolm wondered if Annabeth's mortal family even knew she was less than two months younger than he. And he wondered if she'd ever told them where she had spent parts of the summers she turned eleven and twelve (and, nearly, thirteen). Theories floated in his head throughout brunch, and he ultimately decided, no, he still wouldn't even ask Annabeth.


There was little left to be executed in Aphrodite and Piper's grand party plan for that night. The Aphrodite kids were already handling lighting and photo booths, the Apollo kids set up music and speakers, the Demeter kids were on flowers, and the Hephaestus kids were dealing with furnishings.

While their siblings managed food and some tra-la-la, Malcolm and Alicia opted to set the tables in the dining pavilion. Eight tables in, and she spoke less and less, now fiddling with the ends of a tablecloth.

Her glum ruminations made him wonder if she'd even dozed on the ride back to camp or if she'd just been closing her eyes. Was she in a cranky mood but showing self-restraint? Had Dr. Chase reminded her of her dad? Was she missing him in general? Was she just tired? Was she not managing to get sleep at night but didn't want to tell him or their siblings? Was the night light not bright enough? Was it actually too bright? Was she missing Texas? Was—

"Are you looking forward to tonight, Allie?" Malcolm tried to insert a little more excitement in his tone.

Alicia merely nodded.

"Wanna help me set this table?" he asked.

Alicia dutifully assisted.

"Did you have fun with Estelle earlier?" Malcolm asked.

Alicia nodded again. "Estelle is cool," she said. She still seemingly refused to look at him.

"Yeah."

"She's also six," said Alicia. "And she reads very well. Actually, she already reads books for second graders."

Ah.

Malcolm's brain whizzed with possible responses.

"Well, that's really nice. Good for her," he said. "I couldn't do that when I was six. I wished I could."

Her gray eyes met his.

"And, you know," Malcolm said, crouching down beside her, "when I was six, I also didn't know the parts of an engine, let alone know how to assemble a car. And not that any of this is a competition, but I'm pretty sure Estelle doesn't know either."

Alicia blinked. Her lips twitched.

"So," he continued, "you know she's cool because she reads very well, despite her not knowing how to build engines or do algebra or other stuff you can do. And, meanwhile, you're amazing in engineering and math and so many things, but—like me and pretty much everyone at camp—deal with dyslexia and have had trouble reading. So, what does that tell you?"

"We have different strengths," Alicia mumbled.

"Right. And?"

An almost resigned look washed over her. "And there's no need to compare ourselves to others. It's healthier and more effective to put on blinders and just keep improving ourselves," she practically parroted, a bit too robotically for his liking.

"That's true," he said. "And?"

Moments passed as Alicia's eyes sped at ever increasing paces.

"Ähm—" she said.

But the brakes weren't activating. Her widening eyes darted across his face and beyond as she failed to cling to something—anything. As if by some Athenian voodoo, Malcolm could almost feel himself running out of oxygen.

"And it means you're cool, too," he said, chiding himself for giving her a pop quiz to panic over. Had he just made things worse?

Thankfully at least, the freefall was over.

"You know Estelle's cool," he said. "By the same logic, you must know you're cool, too, right?"

Alicia didn't say anything, but he read an oh.

"If it helps, I know you're cool. And Estelle is cool and smart, so she must know you're cool, too," he said. "And you know what?" he tried for a conspiratorial whisper. "Dyslexic or not, I'm sure you're still the most curious, most brilliant , most hard-working kid there is in all of New York and Texas. Okay?"

Any awkwardness he felt dissipated the second her lips curled into a failed restrain of a smile. For a moment, he even forgot there were campers around.

"Come on, you know it." He grinned as Alicia returned a fist bump. "And remember what Mom says," he added. "It's okay to say you don't know. It's how we learn, and there's no shame in learning."

Alicia's cheeks turned pink.

"It's okay , Allie," he said gently. "And if I'm asking you questions, yes, it's because I want you to think for yourself and push you a little. Because I know you're smart. But, no, it's not a test. You don't have to know."

She nodded.

Commotion erupted as Annabeth entered the pavilion. A bunch of thank-yous and laughs passed before she made it over to her siblings.

"Connor and Travis want to do pyro later," she said.

"That's exciting. You liked their fireworks last week, didn't you, Alicia?" Malcolm said.

Immediately, Alicia lit up, infecting them her delight.

"So, if you wanna see them, you might want to take a nap," Annabeth said.

Ultimately, Alicia agreed. Hand in hand, they ambled away to Cabin Six, with Alicia jabbering to Annabeth that she liked the swirly-whirlies although they were pretty loud, and that although she had hurt her neck last time, she found out the ideal way to watch the fireworks, and that she hoped it would work because she didn't want to miss the story, since that was her favorite part….

"Gah! She's adorable." Such cute aggression was displayed by Ainsleigh, resident of the Demeter cabin and head of agriculture of New Athens, who paused her flower arranging to squeal at Alicia.

"Yeah." Malcolm returned a grin.

It wasn't saying much for her. Ainsleigh was always smiling. Like Claire. And like Valentina from the Aphrodite cabin. Interestingly, he noted, none of them were in the same circles. And Malcolm randomly remembered that, even in situations that didn't call for a smile, women would smile—overwhelmingly more so than men would. Which kinda irked him.

"I think your sister's giving people baby fever," said fellow Demeter resident Billie Ng.

"I mean, I love her, but I don't think I have baby fever," he chuckled.

"You're good with her, though," Ainsleigh said.

Seriously? Annabeth? Yeah. Percy? Totally. Me? "I'm trying" was all Malcolm ended up saying. "Thanks, though." Truly, it was comforting to hear.

They worked in silence. As he prepped the last table, Billie decorated another pillar, and Ainsleigh rearranged flowers on nearby tables for the nth time. She offered more help still, but the pavilion looked perfect. Once the ladies excused themselves to get dressed, his mind snagged onto something.

"Hey, Ainsleigh?" he called out.

She beamed her beam again. "Yeah?"

"Thanks— Well, first, thanks for this. And Billie. It means a lot that everyone wants to pitch in for Annabeth's birthday. And engagement party. The flowers really add a lot. And also, thanks for befriending Alicia. She says you've been showing her around the fields and teaching her about fruits. On behalf of Cabin Six, we appreciate it. Thank you."

"It's a pleasure," said Ainsleigh with her warm, radiant beam.

And what a relief it was to hear. It really took a village to raise a kid—and an emotional toll Malcolm hadn't been prepared for.

He needed to thank Leo, too, he realized. And Rachel. And, of course, Percy. Naturally, Percy would never accept thanks for what he'd consider to be such basic efforts, but he deserved it most. And not that he hadn't been family before, but still.

The reminder led Malcolm to crack a grin. He'd officially gained another bro.


While drafting this chapter, I realized that I've never seen a fic in which the Athena cabin meets the Chases. Am I right or am I right that that scene is as well as a meeting between them would go? Lol.