There's a lilt to her voice that many hadn't heard in a while. One that isn't anger, or sadness, or fear. One that screams of diluted happiness because today, twenty days exactly after the fourth of July.
So, like they had scheduled last year on the fifteenth of August, before everything had went wrong, Annabeth came up to whisper into the ear of Katie Gardner of the Demeter cabin.
She said no more than five words before walking forward to the next table (Hephaestus) and whispering the same words.
Your cabin, midnight, the usual.
Because finally after a year of wrong and sons of Poseidon and betrayal, it was time for the annual camper tirade of fun.
(The name had stuck after a game of truth or dare, when Travis had insisted on renaming was had just been called the night of fun).
The five words were whispered into the head councillors ears, and Chiron was none the wiser. Sure, Mr. D knew, but he was the one who had-
Never mind. But he didn't mind, as long as the older campers kept quiet.
See, they had a system - Mr D and the Hermes cabin would stock the games up with boose and other things they definitely should not have given to a preteen-and-younger-because-she'd-been-hosting-these-games-since-she-was-eight because she was in charge (and the dealer, for most games).
In exchange, they would try to stay out of the director's hair for a while. Now, though, since Chiron had noticed a delay in activities annually, they switched up the dates and pretended it was just a stomach bug. Lee Fletcher and his siblings had been happy to supply proof for the story.
All too soon it was dark, and everyone old enough was counting down the seconds because finally they could behave like teenagers and not young adults sent to handle monsters and problems and everything that was the gods fault.
(The rule was to be eight and older, that was the general rule, but some councillors chose to moderate the ages of who would be joining. Athena cabin had the highest rate, as Annabeth was the dealer, and she always, always won, and they wanted a show).
This time, though, poker was the main highlight (though truth and dare, spin the bottle, and seven minutes in Elysium wound their way through the campers system as the games always did).
Annabeth couldn't help but notice that Percy was very, very good at the game. And it had nothing to do with the cute way he had pulled his hair back in a ponytail once the game started and Annabeth dealt the cards, official dealer of the annual camper tirade of fun.
Soon, everyone had folded. It was just Percy and Silena - who both managed to pull off looking so, so pretty and handsome, fuck, Annabeth was doomed - who both were trying to take a peek at the other's cards.
Technically, this was fair. And it was clear even to the newer campers that all went except for-
Shush, do you want Mr D to smite you, child?Annabeth fingered her deck of well worn cards. If she had been paying attention correctly, she should know well what the two demigods should have, just not exactly.
The seconds ticked by, the game grew to a close, until Silena folded and leaned back with a quiet fuck echoing in the otherwise silent forest.
Percy hadn't looked up, but his hands drummed against his thighs. Then he eyed the dealer's play, and showed his cards.
The daughter of Athena showed hers.
Claps went around the circle, no one enjoyed a sore looser, but they had all knew what would happen.
The house always wins, anyway. Annabeth was proof of that.
With everyone ready for another round of truth or dare, led by Katie as she handed out illegal substances that her mother probably wouldn't approve of, Annabeth leaned back. The deck shuffled easily under her hands and the weight was comforting. To be honest, she was surprised by the way it turned out. A newbie, even though he had proven herself, had pulled his ranks and had drawn to close to beating Silena, who was easily the second best player of them all.
Katie called out to her, asking for truth or dare, and Annabeth smiled. Maybe by next year, everything would be fine. Everything with Kronos would settle itself, and Grover would come back from searching for Pan, safely.
So she called out dare, and when the head of the Demeter Cabin told her to kiss a rather new girl from the Hermes cabin, she didn't hesitate, only standing to dust off her knees before being pulled into a heated kiss from the (definitely lesbian) daughter of Hermes.
Maybe everything would be alright
I know almost nothing about poker, and it shows. Anyway, if I get enough reviews, I'll go through the years.
