This is a short drabble about an idea that I had. I'm not too proud of it and it is not what I had envisioned in my head, but it is something. So yeah heres to Insomnia!
Percy was no stranger to insomnia. He'd gone days without closing his eyes. He was used to operating on little sleep, the others not so much. Out of the group Annabeth was the closest in comparison, but even she would hit her limit of no sleep before him. Percy had interesting ways of passing the time while he lay awake. And to the rest of the seven they were glad when his insomnia resulted in gourmet baked goods and food to feed an army. While they would rather he sleep they relished in the fact that he was not a grumpy insomniac but rather a chef in his lack of sleep. Annabeth had always known about Percy's sleep schedule or lack thereof. She had tried to help him over the years but found that this was something he had always struggled with, dating back to when Gabe came to live with him, and only got worse after Tartarus. The rest of the seven did not know what to expect those first few nights. At first they didn't realize how deep his insomnia was, or how when he did sleep it was a deep sleep and for a long time, sometimes an entire 24 hours, and most of the time would come on as a narcoleptic episode and he was dangerously hard to wake up. He always volunteered for the night shifts. Everyone thought he was just trying to be courageous. But when he had his no sleep days the crew would always wake up to a full breakfast and many treats to make it through the day. They all just thought he was being nice or hungry and an early riser.
One evening Piper took a night shift and heard noises down stairs in the armory only to find Percy training and reprimanded him for not trusting her. Percy just nodded and left the armory to find the kitchen. By the time Piper realized he had not gone to bed, he had made a large stack of blue pancakes. Piper came in and sat across from him.
"Well if you're not gonna sleep at least share" Piper requested. Percy slid over his plate and they both dug into the pancakes.
"Okay what did you put in these, crack? They are so good!" Piper explained.
"Just my mom's recipe. And blue food coloring!" Piper laughed, understanding his love of blue food.
"So are you going to go to sleep after our midnight snack?" Piper asked him. Percy just shrugged his shoulders. "Perce, I got this. You have done the night shift multiple nights in a row."
"I trust all of you Piper, I just can't sleep and would rather be productive than bored." Piper nodded, letting the topic slide, thinking she would talk to Annabeth in the morning. "I would rather you all get some sleep during the night, when I know I'll be up anyways" Percy added.
"So you're not even tired?" Piper asked.
"No, not really. I don't need much sleep." Percy replied. Piper nodded, unsure of what to say. "If you want to go to bed, go ahead. I'll be up anyway." Percy offered.
"How about I stay up with you. Wanna play euchre?" Percy laughed and got the cards. They played until the sun came up. Percy then made a gourmet breakfast for the whole crew. One by one the rest of the 7 woke up and made their way to the kitchen following the smells of breakfast. Annabeth came in, kissed Percy on the cheek and helped herself to a plate, not even batting an eye at him being wide awake. Piper was starting to fall asleep at the table once everyone had come to eat.
"Hey Pipes. How about you go take a nap?" Annabeth offered. Piper nodded. But motioned for Annabeth to go with her. Annabeth followed Piper out the door to her bedroom.
"So Percy is always up during the night?" She asked Annabeth. Annabeth started to laugh.
"Are you just now noticing? Yeah he can hardly ever sleep during the night. That is why he always volunteers for the night shifts. He can go a few days without any sleep. But when he does sleep he will sleep for a long time. Once he fell asleep while eating. And we had to carry him back to his cabin and he was out all day. But he just has really bad insomnia, he has for as long as I have known him. Just let him do his thing. He seems to know his limits so far."
"I really didn't know. But he was up all night and I thought he just didn't trust me" Piper said.
"He trusts you. Go ahead to bed Piper. We will wake you for lunch." Piper nodded. Annabeth made her way back to the kitchen to find only Percy washing the dishes. "You freaked Piper out with your insomnia" she stated as she came up behind him and hugged him.
"She thought I didn't trust her. I was just sparring to pass the time when she found me. I guess next time I'll go for a swim."
"Maybe you should try and sleep tonight. I think Jason is on duty."
"You know it won't work. I think they are starting to catch on to my sleep schedule."
"Maybe you should tell them. So when you pass out I don't have to cover for you." Percy shrugged. "Think about it, Perce. You don't want to make them all feel incompetent. Keep in mind most of them haven't been on quests with you. And they don't know you as well. Piper was chill but Jason may think of it as an insult and we don't need another Kansas incident." Percy nodded.
By dinner that evening Percy was starting to fade fast. At this point he had been awake for 72 hours and was close to his limit. By the time he had eaten most of his food. He passed out at the table. His head landed beside his plate. Everyone looked over at him in concern. Annabeth just laughed and moved his plate away.
"Just let him sleep. And don't be surprised if he's not up by tomorrow morning."
"Is he okay?" Hazel asked in concern.
"Yeah he's fine. He has a hard time sleeping. And then it hits him and he's out for the day." Annabeth briefly explained. Jason and Frank carried Percy to his cabin and Annabeth tucked him into bed and left the room. They all continued on with the evening and night duties. Percy finally woke up by lunchtime the next day after a full 18 hours of sleep. He stumbled out into the great room in only pj pants and a t-shirt. Percy went straight to the kitchen and came back with a cup of coffee and a bagel.
"Hey sleeping beauty." Leo called. Percy looked up at him bleary eyed and nodded.
"Only 18 Perce, I'm surprised. Remember your 48 hour stint?" Annabeth asked him. Percy nodded, swallowing.
"That was after the Titan War and all burials. I had been up and going for a long time." He explained. Annabeth nodded.
"Okay so what's this about you not sleeping? And how dangerous is it for you to be up so long?" Jason finally asked. Annabeth motioned to Percy.
"I have insomnia. Like severely. Always have, nothing works to help me sleep on a normal basis. I go till I pass out. Then sleep for a few days. Then I'm fine for another few days. It's a weird cycle. But it's how I've always been. It's why I offer to do night shifts since I'll be up anyways. But I can't always tell when I'm gonna pass out. It's just hits like narcolepsy." Percy explained while sipping his coffee.
"Is that why there's always food in the mornings?" Leo asked.
"Yep. When I can't sleep I like to be productive and I usually end up cooking and eating or training during the nights."
"Well keep up with the cooking. I had to make my own breakfast this morning and it wasn't as good as yours!" Leo exclaimed. Everyone laughed and continued on.
"Have you ever fallen asleep in the middle of fighting?" Hazel asked timidly, worried for her friend.
"No, too much adrenaline. We think part of my insomnia is related to my ADHD. I've always struggled to sleep." Percy explained.
Percy's insomnia became a normal thing for the crew. They quickly got accustomed to gourmet meals in the mornings. And more than once taking turns carrying Percy to his cabin. Piper would commonly relay how fat she was going to get with Percy's baked treats and gourmet meals. He quickly became the chef of the Argo II and any time someone was craving something specific he would be the one they went to.
After Tartarus no one was sure on how things would be for him and his insomnia. But it proved to make it worse for both him and Annabeth. When the pair had arrived at the earthside doors of death, they looked as though they hadn't slept in weeks, which was most likely the case. Once the seven got them back to the ship and cleaned up, Annabeth fell into a fitful sleep with Percy by her side. Everyone expected him to pass out next to her. But he sat straight-backed until she woke. Even after they had assured him they were both safe, he would not close his eyes, it was like he was staring off into space but not focusing on one thing. Piper even tried to charmspeak him into sleeping. But nothing worked. Eventually after Annabeth had been asleep for 8 hours Percy started to drift off next to her, still holding her hand. The seven could tell it was not a restful sleep that they had wished their friend could experience, but at least he had fallen asleep. As time went on the pair healed physically and somewhat mentally. But sleep had been hard for both, especially Percy. Percy had set a new record of not sleeping, which was scary in itself.
Once the war ended they finally had some peace and room to heal. Annabeth was doing better out of them. She would have a few sleepless nights plagued with nightmares and she was quieter and sucked into her work more. Percy hardly slept. And when he didn't sleep he had more frequent flashbacks. He was a different person, more guarded but his wit would come through still. He relied more on touch than before, it helped keep him grounded. He rarely slept but he could not sleep unless someone was with him. Many times one of the seven would find themselves sitting beside Percy with his hand touching a part of them, to help him fall asleep. Percy set a new record for himself in the not sleeping category, which was scary for the rest of the seven.
After the war and once things calmed down for a bit everyone hoped that he would be able to get some much deserved rest. Directly after the war and procedures were completed Percy slept for 4 days straight, possibly with some help from Annabeth and Will. Throughout the months after the war Percy's sleep schedule was still almost nonexistent. It took getting Sally involved and dragging Percy to a mortal doctor to finally get him some sleep aids. Those sleep aids did little to help. After some work at camp they were able to alter them and help create one that helped a lot, if Percy remembered to take them.
During college Percy still had many sleepless nights, some attributed to schoolwork, some to nightmares, and others to just his normal, if you could call it that, struggles with insomnia. As the years went on and the help of friends and sleep aids he had a somewhat normal sleep schedule. That was until his son was born and he volunteered most nights to stay up with him, so Annabeth could sleep, he was up anyways.