Before the meal even started, you could feel the tension in the air. There were never a lot of demigods at the thanksgiving dinner in camp, because even a few of the year-rounders wanted to go home to their family during this time. That was probably for the better, because thanksgiving meals in camp Half-blood had the tendency to get crazy. The heroes were often the first to arrive. After that, Chiron entered the pavilion, closely followed by Dionysus, who always looked like he hated the fact that he wasn't on Olympus in the moment.
Everyone sat down, except for Chiron. He smiled at everyone, while the tension was rising. 'I hope the meal tastes as good as it always does. Now, happy thanksgiving!' He sunk down into his wheelchair-form, while nobody dared to eat. Chiron always took the first bite, and only after that did the rest start to eat. The tension was still rising, while the soup started to quickly disappear into everyone's stomach.
When the tension was at its highest, everybody stopped eating, until one of them finally jumped up, almost knocked the soup of the table, and screamed: 'I am the captain of thanksgiving!' This year, that was a boy from the Aphrodite cabin. He couldn't go home because of his transphobic father, who kept insisting he was a girl. Everyone at the table sighed. 'What do you want?' Will Solace asked, while Nico shook his head slowly (Nico was of the opinion that Will was the best person to be around on Thanksgiving, and Will's mother was on a tour and didn't have the time to stop right now).
Harper grinned and looked around the table. 'I want everyone to honestly tell if they would rather be with other family or not.' Harper sighed sorrowfully. 'Sometimes I wish my dad wasn't such a piece of trash, so that I could be with him. Yet, he is, so I am here.' Harper sat down, and pointed at a girl on the other side of the table - a daughter of Hecate. 'Well, I would like it if my father was still alive,' she said quietly. She sighed. 'I mean, I don't really remember him, and the first thanksgiving I ever celebrated was over here, but I sometimes still wonder how things could have been if she was still here.' Everyone stayed silent for a while, until the girl pointed at Clarisse, on the other side of the table.
Clarisse studied her fingernails. 'I still think this "Captain of Thanksgiving" thing is stupid, no matter how many times we do it. I mean, it is not like any other normal family does it.' A hephaestus boy on the other side of the table laughed. 'We aren't exactly a standard American family, are we?' Clarisse rolled her eyes. 'I noticed it. Of course I wish I could be with my mom, but my family always goes to the same city in the north and it is infested with monsters. I am not able to set a single foot there without being attacked, and everyone except from my mother just thinks that I am beating up piglets with a paintbrush, because of the mist.' She looked at her food, which had just turned into the second course.
Everyone kept silent for a while, until Clarisse said: 'but at least I get to see her sometimes. So, sunnyboy, what's your story?' 'My mom's on tour, and I truly wish her a successful career, because she deserves it. She tries to see me as often as possible, so I don't really blame her for it.' Will pointed at Logan, the Hephaestus child. 'Well, Logan?' 'I am happy here, and don't wish to return to my mother's house. I am not saying anything else about it. Go for it, Nico.' Nico rolled his eyes. 'I am with Clarisse on this one. This is incredibly stupid. And I guess I would really like Bianca to still be alive, so she could eat Thanksgiving dinner with us. I don't really know how that would have turned out with my mom, though - it was world war two time and all.'
Nico smirked and pointed to Dionysus, who had mostly tried to stay out of the discussion. He Drummed on the table with a spoon. 'I don't want to be here, never, and you all know that. Yet, the Olympians have the annoying habit to bicker even more than they usually do on Thanksgiving, and after everyone has had a few drinks things start to get... more out of hand than they usually do.' He paused. 'Alright, it is disastrous on that mountain with Thanksgiving. If Ariadne would be in this camp every thanksgiving, I don't think I would bother to miss that place. Yet, she isn't, so I still do.'
Eileen, the daughter of Hecate, started laughing. 'How wild do gods get on this day for some of them to just rather not be there?' Dionysus shrugged. 'The year before I left Hera threw an entire turkey at Hercules head because he was chewing to loud. In that same year, Athena forced everyone to listen to a tipsy rant about children these days for an hour. The only reason I stay throughout the entire party is because it is extremely entertaining and dramatic, but people like Artemis, Hecate, Hephaestus and even my Ariadne just go home after the second course.' 'I want to see that someday,' Logan said, laughing. 'Yet, Chiron, you are the last one to tell us something.'
Chiron smiled, as the turkey arrived on their plates. 'I've been to a few Olympian thanksgiving parties too, and the year where Ares started to drunkenly flirt with Artemis, to which she responded by knocking him over the head with her quiver, was very memorable, although maybe not for the right reasons. But, I haven't been to one of those in forty years, and I realised that that is because over-the-top parties on Olympus are nothing compared to celebrating thanksgiving with my own demigod group. I wouldn't trade you all for nothing.' When Chiron stopped, everyone except for Dionysus and Clarisse started clapping. Clarisse stuck her tongue out. 'That's so cheesy!'
It stayed silent for a while. 'Let's do something with less emotional baggage next year,' Will remarked. 'I remember that last year I was the captain of Thanksgiving and I just asked everybody why they liked pumpkin pie.' Everybody else nodded. 'Sounds like a plan to me,' Eileen answered.
After the desert with extra pumpkin pie, the demigods all fell on their beds. Some immediately fell asleep, others thought about things for a while. After an hour, Nico decided that he wasn't going to be able to sleep, walked over to the Apollo cabin, snuggled up to Will and proceeded to immediately fall asleep over there. Chiron woke up around 3 'O'clock, when he heard someone stumble around in the living room. He opened his bedroom door, and saw Dionysus walking through the hallway. They made eye-contact, but Chiron closed his eyes and quickly closed his door again. If Zeus didn't want Dionysus to see his wife, he should get better security, he thought as he walked back to his bed again.