Let it be known that his mom was pleasantly surprised by the impromptu IM call. Very confused, especially when he apologized for being, well, him, but as happy to see him as he was to see her. She wanted to know the usual parent things; how he was doing (just fine), if he was eating well (food here was, contrary to the usual, fantastic), if classes were going alright (define alright), if he'd made any new friends (trying to, mom) and if any of his teachers turned out to be monsters (debatable, that one).

You know, the usual worries of a parent.

In turn, he asked about her writing, how her new class was going, and if she could give him a few hints about her writing topic. She was succinct in her replies, but Percy knew she was quite private about her writing process and did not begrudge her.

He told his mom he loved her, and if he lingered on her dissipating image just a bit too long that was no one's business but his own. They made a promise to see each other during the Winter Break and he is looking forward to it.

Last Christmas was their first one without Smelly Gabe and he loved it. It was just them, watching movies and baking blue cookies and creating memories he always suspected the rest of the world (happier, richer, freer than them) easily made.

He's hoping to make it even better this year, so he'll ask Grover to come with him for the break. It was lovely when it was just him and his mom, but his mom is a people person, and he cannot be selfish. It would make his mom happier to have their apartment fuller than last year, he knows.

So, until Winter Break finally decides to smack him in the face, he'll hopefully survive his last year of middle school.

In retrospect, Percy was unsure as to what to expect. He joined Grover at Westover Hall since his mom couldn't find a school in New York City fast enough for the new school year, so off he went with his best friend to rural Maine as an unofficial assistant to Grover's official 'Seeker' occupation. He never really thought too much about what exactly Satyrs did undercover, who would willingly relive middle school more than once?

As he was finding out, a lot of sleuthing.

And stalkerish behavior.

And a lot of snack breaks, Percy's personal favorite part.

For the better part of the week, 'make some new friends' really meant breaking privacy laws. If Grover planned to make friends in juvie, he's making an excellent case for himself.

Part of the 'modus operandi' was to figure out Nico and Bianca's schedules. Grover reasoned that this way, if need be, they could have a convenient excuse to know where each of them was. To do so they hacked the school's database and firewall security during the cover of night.

By which Percy means, Grover just looked it up on an open computer while he caused a distraction in the hallway, drawing the adults away during passing period.

Grover had the foresight to print out the sibling's full info, thankfully.

A fun little tidbit that, figuring out that both Bianca and Nico were related. Finding one demigod was enough cause for celebration, finding two? Grover needs to give himself more props, his nose is impeccable.

Bianca and her brother had a really pretty last name too, di Angelo. He loves his mom and likes to think Percy Jackson has a nice ring to it, but with names like Bianca and Nico di Angelo? They just sounded like the names of a book protagonist.

So, yeah, two full-blooded demigod siblings.

Did he mention how one avoids him like the plague and the other consistently seeks him out like a fly to an open wound?

Dear reader, take a wild guess as to which sibling is which.

Due to this oversight, Grover has relegated him to grunt work. Which is essentially Mist manipulation and Snack Duty.

Not a bad gig, altogether.

It eased his mind too. His earlier nonchalance at his rap sheet crumbled when he realized he'd essentially be spying on innocent kids who, he forcefully reminds himself, are still dubiously demigods according to Grover.

He can't help it though, something in his blood sings that these siblings are just like him.

He never wanted to be a half-blood and would be happy to leave the mythological world behind in the metaphorical rearview mirror but doesn't have that luxury. No demigod does, but he'll be damned if he doesn't reach out to help them to the best of his ability on how to navigate this fatal world.

As such, he can't help but want to befriend Bianca di Angelo.

Nico is easy. He doesn't have to wait long until the boy finds him in the common areas. At first, Nico would not let the Mist manipulation go, but once he realized that Percy was not going to give anything away it evolved into asking him to get Nico Mythomagic cards, which further evolved into actually playing the damn game.

His experience with card games was limited to watching Yu-Gi-Oh on TV and trading Pokémon cards for keeps, where the proper rules of the game were ignored since no one knew them anyway and was basically 'I have higher hp and attack power, so I win.'

His holographic Swampert is sorely missed.

Turns out that actually playing card games required a lot of reading, a lot of rules, and a lot of memorization. Murder to his ADHD and dyslexic mind. What was this fresh hell he entered? It's like English class, but worse since instead of a failing grade can hopefully re-take, he faces a 12-year-old who literally equates beating him to stealing candy from a baby.

His stash is dwindling, and he's running out of candy that isn't blue.

So here he is, losing at a children's game for the chance to save the kid's life.

Well, it is kind of fun actually, when Nico isn't being a smug bastard that is.

"So, since you are playing a Poseidon-focused deck, you need to focus on prolonged weather-based attacks. With Poseidon, you use natural disasters as we progress through the match to chip away at my health. Got it?"

In theory, "Got it, Nico, thanks."

Nico smiles brightly, and the side of him that comes out around Tyson causes him to zip up Nico's jacket higher. They are outside so the chill of October causes his cheeks to redden in an attempt to keep his face warm.

While most of their interactions are based around Nico's card game, Percy suspects that Nico would sit with him at lunch. Percy has plenty of space at the lunch table, believe him, but he thinks Bianca keeps a short leash on him when she can.

Nico can be annoyingly too much at times, sure, but Percy has found that he genuinely enjoys the younger boy's company.

The school bell rings, drawing them away from the game.

"Aww man, I wanted to go another round!"

"Chill little man, you can beat me later. Are we still on for tonight?"

Nico's disappointment washes away to excitement, "Hell yeah! It's gonna be so much fun!"

Despite himself, Percy laughs, "Hell yeah it will be. See you later, I've gotta get to science." And, just in case, "I'll come by your dorm to pick you up, then we can head to the library."

Percy is already leaving when he hears Nico's distant squeal.

What has Nico so excited is that, through their combined efforts, they have managed to get approval for the first-ever Westover Hall TCG Tournament.

Originally, Nico wanted it to be exclusively for Mythomagic, but they quickly found out that the incredibly niche game was incredibly niche for a reason. In terms of popularity, Mythomagic comfortably rested dead last. So, to counter that, they expanded the definition and instead included other card games. Nico's focus must have been exclusively on Mythomagic because he was confused about the more popular card games that even Percy had heard of. Names like Magic: The Gathering and (tragically!) Pokémon meant very little to Nico.

The event gathered a lot of traction, and despite himself, Percy is unusually excited to get his shit pushed in.

Science class was a bore, but nothing new. What was new was the fact his name was called over the PA.

Almost never, Percy knows, is that a good thing.

"PERSEUS JACKSON PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE FRONT OFFICE. PERSEUS JACKSON MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE FRONT OFFICE PLEASE."

Pulling out his government name always puts him on edge, and the snickers around him don't help either.

Twirling Riptide as he makes his way brings him a small comfort.

Mercifully, instead of razor-sharp teeth and claws, he instead finds a brown package with his name (Percy, not Perseus) on the label. First Class from Hermes Express. 'Fragile - Treat With Care' is printed on the side.

From one Sally Jackson.

From his mom.

He takes it gingerly from the perky front office attendant, afraid to even smear it with his palms.

His mom sent him something. Money is always tight for them, even now, so she never had enough to spend to send him something during the school year. Not from the mortal services, a divine service? Impossible to even imagine.

Yet, here it is.

Science is his last class of the day and he's free, so he heads to his room excitedly.

An actual package from his mom!

Shutting the door behind him, he refrains from demolishing the tape that seals his treasure. Anything from his mom would be a blessing.

Looking inside the package, Percy feels like a million golden drachmas.

The evening comes, and Percy finds himself in front of Nico's dorm. He barely finishes his knocking before the door swings wildly open.

"Percy!"

Percy smiles, his hands behind him. "Hey Nico, you ready to go?"

"Where are we going again?"

Ah. Shit.

No, this is good actually, just super unexpected is all. But Percy is all about 'going with the flow.' Water-based pun is fully intended and acknowledged.

A meager "Hi" is still all he can manage to Bianca di Angelo.

She's not exactly glaring at him, but the weight of her gaze is unnerving to say the least. Increasingly familiar pitch-black eyes bore into him, and Percy felt his pulse quicken.

Nico cuts in, "I already told you Bianca, do you even listen to me?"

Bianca's attention diverts to her brother, and Percy watches the byplay of the squabbling siblings.

"I heard you Nico, but you never told me exactly where it was."

"What does it matter? You don't even like Mythomagic! Percy and I are just going to hang out with other gamers."

"I'm your sister, I have a right to know where you are and who," Bianca's eyes flicker to Percy for a nanosecond, "you hang out with."

Nico rolls his eyes, "Percy is my friend, B."

Bianca crosses her arms, not saying anything.

The younger sibling exhales deeply, looking away. "Fine, let's just go."

Then, suddenly, "Let me go to the bathroom first!"

And so, Percy is left with Bianca di Angelo in a room alone together.

He so cannot fuck this up.

He tries to smile at her, but he's pretty sure it isn't convincing if Bianca's arching eyebrow is anything to go by. She sighs again and sits on what he presumes to be Nico's bed.

The clock tics.

Eternity drags on as he struggles with what to say.

He does try. He'll make a motion, either with his mouth or hands, but it all withers away as soon as Bianca's attention is on him. He just can't get a word out no matter what he tries. After his disastrous first impression, it's so hard to reach out to her.

He was never good at first impressions. Teachers, authority figures, even gods have a natural inclination to dislike him. After a while, he just accepts that a large majority of the population will not like him.

But he (desperately, a small voice in his mind speaks) wants Bianca to like him.

Gods, he just wants to talk to her!

Gods, why did he have to be so awkward?

His hand clenches the bag behind him, causing a crinkling sound to echo in the too-small, too-silent, too-cold room.

She says, "Nico pees a lot when he's nervous."

Percy blinks.

"Well, he also pees a lot when he's excited."

Percy blinks again.

"So I guess he must be really looking forward to tonight."

Percy can only nod.

'C'mon Percy, say something!'

Bianca jumps off the bed and reaches Percy.

She is, vaguely annoyingly, the same height as him. Her straight hair, free of the usual cap she wears, is dark and glossy, reaching down her back. The tips of her ears peak through the curtain of her hair, but she's not wearing jewelry as far as Percy can tell. Her eyes are lovely, dark, and deep. It reminds him of walking into the woods at night. Not necessarily the color, but rather the deep feeling of walking into the unknown. Olive skin, thick eyebrows, and a blanket of freckles decorate her nose and cheekbones. She has a pimple near her chin, and her lips are thin and pink.

Bianca smells like lemons.

She extends her hand out, and even he can recognize an olive branch when it is extended.

"My name is Bianca di Angelo, nice to officially meet you."

Percy, belatedly, realizes Bianca has a slight accent to her voice. It isn't prominent, but when she says her last name, he realizes it exists. It sounds nice and even a tad lyrical.

It takes a lot less force than he expected to make himself speak, but he's self-conscious enough to try to keep his voice steady, "Percy Jackson, nice to officially meet you too."

He takes the olive branch.

The cold of her hand, Percy reasons, must be why he got goosebumps.

"You have a really pretty name, Bianca di Angelo."

She smiles, a flash of teeth peeking through her mouth. It is small and not as warm as he wants it to be, but Percy chalks it up to a win because he hopes there is a chance.

"Perseus Jackson isn't that bad, either."