MYTHOMAGIC
"Whatcha doin'?"
Nico jumped at the sound of Thalia's voice right behind him.
"N-Nothing," Nico stammered a little guiltily.
Thalia reached around him and plucked one of the things he had been looking at out of the box sitting on his bed.
"Mythomagic. I seem to remember Percy telling me you burned all of these."
Thalia looked at Nico a little questioningly.
"Not all of them," Nico murmured.
Thalia looked at the shoe box full of cards.
"I don't remember you having this many, though. You only had as many as you could carry when we first brought you here."
"I might have been building my collection back up since I got back," Nico mumbled quickly.
Thalia's eyes twinkled mirthfully.
"Looks like you have enough there for two people to play," Thalia said.
"I have enough here for at least seven people to play," Nico said defensively.
"Well then. Wanna play?" Thalia asked, jumping up onto Nico's bed.
Nico looked taken aback. Thalia laughed.
"Yes, I know how to play," Thalia answered his unasked question. "So, do you want to play? I bet I could beat you."
Nico raised his eyebrows skeptically as he climbed onto the bed. He sat and faced her.
"Really? You think you can beat me. There is no way that will happen," Nico said matter of factly.
"Fine then," Thalia said calmly. "Let's up the stakes. Let's make it a game of Strip Mythomagic. Loser has to remove any article of clothing the winner wishes."
Nico looked Thalia up and down.
"Deal," he agreed. He extended his hand. Thalia took it in hers and shook it.
"Deal."
Three hours later...
"How are you doing that?!" Nico exclaimed incredulously.
He sat in nothing but his skull and crossbone boxers across from a fully clothed Thalia.
"I told you I could beat you," Thalia said simply, looking at all the cards.
"Ugh! Now I'm all self-conscious," Nico complained.
"Don't be," Thalia said, looking up at him and giving him a once over. "I like you like that."
Nico raised his eyebrow suggestively.
"Oh really? How 'bout you make it a little bit more even?" Nico asked.
"I thought you'd never ask," Thalia said, starting to remove her shirt and sweeping the Mythomagic cards off the bed.