Well, That was a Lovely Dinner

If only I knew ahead of time that my thirst would turn to hunger. Desperate for a drink, my image blurred to any onlookers who may have seen me rush to the kitchen. Delectable aromas filled my nose during my approach. Why must my kitchen always smell so good when it's time to eat?

Attempting to blur my nose from the fragrance, I arrived to the room of interest to discover both Katie and Calypso hard at work. Perhaps the most interesting bit about their choice of meal was the spitroasted chunk of meat being rotated over a simmering fire. Embedded into the fireplace (because this kitchen includes everything), a smokeless flame eternally burned. If the smell was anything to go off of, they were cooking… is that lamb meat?

"Hey, Percy. What brings you to our humble domain?"

I turned to Katie, who was giving herself a serious workout by rotating the meat.

"Well, now it's the smell and the company. But originally, I came to get a drink."

"Aww. Is someone thirsty? You wouldn't be the only one."

I snickered as I made my way to the fridge. "Subtle."

"I think it's been well established, I don't do subtle."

"Trust me, Katie," Calypso interjected, "if you start doing subtle, he'll never pick up on it."

"Hey!"

Both girls laughed at my expense, but I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

"So what's that you've got cooking there?" I took a long sip from the glass. The ice cold water burned nicely at my throat.

Hmm… Ice cold… That gives me an idea.

Katie turned to Calypso. "Well, someone got me into cooking more Greek style meals. So for now, we're making gyros."

I pulled the glass away from my lips. "Can't say I've had those anytime recently. Don't forget about Piper though."

"I know, I know. Our supplementary dish is spanakopita."

"Spinach pie," I translated. "Well, that's different. And for dessert?"

Katie smirked. "Well, for us, we're making baklava. However, you're already getting your dessert in the form of Silena."

"Aww, come on! Don't be mean. And how'd you know about that?"

A knowing twinkle sparked in Calypso's eye. "Because we know you. And if you want a piece so badly"— she turned to a filled cookie sheet a plopped a piece of pastry halfway into her mouth— "then come and get it."

Despite my better judgement not to fall for Calypso's wiles, I surged forward and sank my teeth into the flaky filo pastry, simultaneously taking Calypso's lips for my own. We both let out soft moans as we kissed and chewed, unsure if our enjoyment was from the dessert or the action.

My hands worked their way around her waist, taking note of a very familiar low cut dress.

"I see you've acquainted yourself with your new loom."

"Indeed. Thanks to you, I assume." She winked.

"Well, you needed one, so—"

My words stuck in my throat as Calypso silenced me with her lips.

I pulled away to see Katie pulling at the collar of her blouse, clearly a little heated from watching us.

"So, what did you think?" Calypso asked.

I returned my gaze to her and smiled. "Delicious. There's just one problem."

Both Katie and Calypso frowned as I searched the cabinets, confused by my meaning. Only when I returned with my item of choice did Calypso let out a laugh. Katie still looked confused.

"Why blue?"

"You can blame his mother for that. I see some things don't change."

I smiled at Calypso as I dribbled the blue food coloring onto the pastries, then did the same with the lamb meat as Katie rotated it. She shook her head with a smile on her face.

"So should we make all of our food blue from now on?"

I smiled sheepishly at Katie's question. "Maybe just mine. I know you guys think it's weird, but this is how I keep in touch with my mom."

Katie's bright smile softened. "Okay. I can do that. In the meantime, you need to wait for your food like everybody else."

Sit patiently and wait. If only doing so came easily. I gave my best effort to wait at the dinner table, but the smell drove me crazy. With little to no other choice, I decided to escape the room.

In all honesty, I should have paid attention to the time. After all, crashing into Annabeth around a corner isn't the best way to say "Hey, babe, how was your day?"

Both of us fell back onto our butts. Annabeth clutched a bag to her chest like it was her baby. My guess was a new laptop from her mom.

Annabeth grumbled. "Percy, watch where you're going."

"Sorry, babe. Didn't know you were back already. How was class?"

"Fine," she said as she stood up.

"Nothing new or interesting?"

She scoffed. "Since when have you been so interested in architecture?"

"I… I don't know. I just wanted to ask… You know. Since we didn't exactly end on a positive note earlier."

Annabeth turned up her nose. "Yeah, well, don't worry about it. Go ahead and bang all the chicks you want."

"Annabeth…"

"Please," her voice rose, "like you don't already have your night planned for someone else."

"Um… I mean…"

"That's what I thought."

"You know that I have to—"

"I said drop it! If you want to bang Rachel, I don't care! If you want to plow the Hunters into their mattresses, be my guest!"

I reached out to take her arm, but she recoiled, keeping her bag close to her chest.

"Babe, listen to yourself."

"What!? Isn't this what you wanted!? For me to just be happy with everything!? For you to just plow your way through everyone like a daughter of Aphrodite in heat!?"

THUMP!

A flogger hit the floor. Standing at the base of it, with a pale, but angered expression, was none other than Silena.

"So that's what you think of us?" A tear rolled down her cheek.

Annabeth smirked. "Doesn't look like I was wrong. Thanks for letting me know who's getting railed tonight. If you'll excuse me."

She turned away, but I caught her wrist. Annabeth lashed her eyes back with a venomous glare. "Let go of me!"

"Apologize to Silena! If you won't make things easy on me, then at least say you're sorry to her!"

"For what!? Being honest!? I've had up to here with all of the nonstop adultery! If you're so desperate to get your dick wet, then go ahead! I won't stop you!"

My grip tightened. "Annabeth, please! You're not acting like—"

"I'm acting the way I choose!" A stray tear dripped off her cheek. "If you don't like it, then you can go run to Piper again. Or better yet, Calypso! Since you've already promoted her!"

"Since when would you talk about your best friend so aggressively? She didn't do anyth—"

"I know damn well you guys talk about me behind my back! I'm not stupid!"

But didn't she send us both into the shower when that happened?

I tried to voice my thoughts, but the frustration of Annabeth yelling at me stalled the words in my throat. I could only stare at her and voice my words through my expression, praying for all it was worth that she understood, to no avail.

She simply scoffed and turned away, whipping her ponytail against my face. Her footsteps echoed through the hall as she stormed off, a trail of tears followed her as she went.

Give her some time to herself, Chiron would say. She will calm down on her own time. Though I wanted to deny it, his words almost always rang true.

For a few moments, I stood there in silence. Though I wanted to follow in Piper's footsteps and punch a wall, I couldn't bear the idea of scaring Silena further.

I turned to the daughter of Aphrodite. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"No," she said. "I'm sorry you have to go through that. How long has this been going on?"

"Just today really. It just came out of left field. I don't understand why she's behaving this way."

"Oh… well…" Her attention turned towards the flogger on the ground. "If… if you need to vent some frustration…"

I took in her meaning. "No. Please, don't make me hit you. I already have another idea for you. I think it will work for both of us."

"But I need to be—"

"You will be. I have my own ways of punishing."

Silena tucked in her chin while crossing her arms, but rubbed her thighs together in a subtle sign of arousal.

"Are you sure you still want to meet tonight? You know… after that debacle."

I lifted her chin and kissed the tip of her nose. "Don't worry. Everything will be okay."

If only I could believe my own words. Though I wanted to believe things could be mulled over, I just couldn't understand why Annabeth was becoming so hostile. Only a few days prior, she was supportive, but now my anchor was slipping away from me.

"In the meantime," I picked up the multi tailed sex toy, "I think this could use another place to rest."

I placed the flogger in her hand gave her another kiss on the nose. After saying our goodbyes, I returned to the dining room. The smell grew even stronger than before, drawing a near drunk expression from my face.

The only difference between this visit and the last was the massive pile of makeup and accessories. Nail polish, hair extensions, foundation, or eye liner; no item seemed left behind. If what Piper said was true, and she really did know of every piece of Drew's makeup, then I need to have her keep track of my car keys… Oh, wait…

Speaking of which, the girl in question rummaged through the oversized mound. Every box was searched, every container was checked. She hummed a light tune to herself, bouncing her head along with every note.

"Something tells me you're going to enjoy lighting these on fire."

Piper peeked her head over her shoulder. "Hmm? Yeah, you have no idea. This can be a double victory. One for me, one for Leo."

Touchy topic! Tread lightly!

"Yeah? How so?"

She clicked the locks in place for a half used box of blush and turned to me. "Drew made his life miserable when we were building the Argo II. Poor guy was always a hopeless romantic, despite his obnoxious antics." She sighed and chuckled at the memory.

"This one time, Drew found out about a crush he had on a girl in the Hecate cabin. She charmspoke that girl to transfigure a cactus into a copy of herself and animate it. One hug later and Leo was pulling spines out of some very unsavory places."

My hand instinctively shielded my crotch just from the idea. "Ow. Yeah, I think she's had this coming for a while."

"Oh, yeah." She looked me over, scanning my face in a familiar manner. "You got into a fight with Annabeth." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah." My head fell a few inches.

"Did you confront her about what happened?"

My head fell lower. "No. It wasn't about that. This morning, she started getting jealous. Like really jealous."

Piper tilted her head. "Why? Sure, I get this isn't exactly the best situation for any relationship, but she seemed fine a few days ago."

"Exactly! That's why I'm confused." I buried my face in my hands. "She supported me when we first arrived. Now she just yells at me and tries to brush me off."

Piper curled her fingers around mine and pulled my hands from my face. With an innocent, albeit loving, gaze from a bowed head, she pressed her pressed her forehead to mine.

"Listen to me. It'll be okay. Just talk to her at dinner. Or after… Wait… you're meeting my sister."

"Yeah." My voice dripped with grief. "That didn't help matters."

"Dammit. Okay, well I'll go talk to her then."

"I wouldn't recommend that. She doesn't seem too fond of either of us for the moment. Or Calypso for that matter."

She cocked her head. "Why? What did Calypso do?"

"Aside from subtly putting her on the spot in front of my mom? Nothing. It's what I did. I… I offered Calypso to be one of my mistresses. She accepted."

Piper gasped in mock disbelief, placing her hand to her chest. "And you haven't even asked me? Maybe I should join her in being jealous."

I gave her a pleading look.

"I'm just playing. Well, I can see why she would be a bit territorial. But to go as far as screaming at you? That's uncalled for. So what does she have against me?"

"She knows we talked about her in the shower. She doesn't know what, but she knows we talked."

"Mmm," a dreamy expression worked onto Piper's face, "I'd love to repeat that some time. Anyways, that does complicate things."

I looked on, hoping for any semblance of advice or hope.

"Wait, why don't we all talk to her about it? Calypso and us both, I mean. Clear the air, see her side of the story."

"I have heard her side. It doesn't make any sense. It's like she's picking and choosing what to be upset about. Never have I seen her behave this erratically. Except maybe when she thought Rachel would steal me away."

"Did she?"

"Well… maybe a little."

"Ooh, Percy. Getting girls even before the harem." She grinned jokingly, nudging my arm with her elbow.

"Can we please get back to the topic at hand?"

"Yes," a voice interjected. "Let's."

Both Piper and I snapped our heads in the direction of the new speaker to see Calypso in the doorway of the kitchen with her arms crossed.

"It seems like there's much to discuss."

Piper and I caught her up with any details she didn't previously know, not that there were many.

"To think," Calypso muttered, "I was hoping for nothing more than a friendly competition over you. Maybe to see who could please you more. Never did I think this would happen. I should have though." She turned her head to face me. "I'm so sorry, Percy."

I didn't want to accept the apology. It wasn't her fault. It couldn't be. Even I didn't see this coming.

Clearly reading the struggle on my face, Calypso wrapped her arms around me in a warm embrace. Her breaths were short and choppy. The smell of cinnamon in her hair seemed too fragrant for the situation. Piper joined in, allowing us to enjoy a momentary group hug session.

"We can still fix this," Piper said. "Percy, while you're… christening the bed with Silena, Calypso and I can go talk to Annabeth. We can't let this go unresolved. Best to tackle it now before it gets out of control."

I smiled gratefully at Piper. Even when the odds fail her, she never turns her back on her friends. I could definitely relate though. Never would I do the same.

"Hopefully it will be enough," Calypso said. "I'd like the only problem being you struggling to sleep with everyone."

I couldn't even make a face at her. Too many emotions welled inside of me, waiting to burst. I could only bury my face in her shoulder and hug her tighter.

"Thank you, guys. Er, girls. It looks like we have our night planned out."

Calypso pulled back. "Seems like it. In the meantime, I could use some help setting the table."

Though delicious, dinner was quiet. Aside from a few remarks about the blue stuffing inside the gyros, hardly a word was spoken. The tension needed to be broken. There must be some way to give everyone something new to focus on.

Please don't let this be like last night.

What didn't help was a certain absence. Annabeth's chair (my lap) remained empty. Piper sat to my left, her foot hooked around my ankle. Calypso sat in her usual spot, two seats down on the opposite side of the table. No doubt she didn't want to draw any attention by trying to claim my lap for herself in Annabeth's absence.

My brain swirled with thoughts. Too many to count. From activities to be done to people to talk to and everything else in between, an endless incoherent mess scrambled my thoughts until one small detail worked its way out.

"We're adding pegasi to the island," I blurted into the silence.

All heads snapped towards me. Some pulled away from their gyros, others (*cough* Rachel *cough*) took another bite for dramatic effect. Piper's spanakopita halted halfway between her lips as she raised an eyebrow.

"Since when was this going to be a thing?" Thalia asked.

"Since day one. Blackjack wanted a place for him and a couple of his friends to stay. The same can be said for the hippocampi. We'll be getting some of them to live on the island as well."

"And where exactly will they be living?" Katie asked. "I'm not quite ready to have the gardens trampled by a pegasi stampede."

"On the opposite end of the island. They want their privacy."

"Well, there's a relief. I haven't invested in my flying equestrian repellant."

I cracked a smile. "Speaking of which, a few of us are going on a trip tomorrow. If we're lucky, we might have some additional creatures joining us."

"What kind?" Hazel asked. "Please, no more unicorns."

"No. I won't go bringing any unicorns. I have enough creatures referring to me as 'lord' or 'master' as it is."

"Aww," Rachel said, "so you don't want me calling you 'master' as you-"

"Rachel!"

"Yes, Master?"

A round of giggles passed through the girls. My face went beet red. Piper squeezed my hand, but couldn't hide the smile on her face.

"So, why don't we get to the question everyone has?"

I glanced over to Thalia. "And that would be?"

"Well, right now, there is a certain someone not grinding her butt in your lap."

Another wave of giggles.

I sighed. "Annabeth is preoccupied-"

"Bullshit."

I furrowed my brows and frowned.

"I know you two better than you think. You're lying. What's really going on?"

"It's… it's nothing to worry about right now."

"Since when has it ever been nothing to worry about? You know as well as I do that 'easy' doesn't exactly go hand in hand with us."

"Okay, fine. Annabeth and I are just… going through a difficult time right now. I'm guessing she didn't want to show up."

Though in all honesty, I should have checked on her when I first noticed she wasn't here.

"What kind of 'difficult time?' We're not talking like… divorce stuff, right? You two haven't even really had a wedding yet, so how would that even—?"

"I don't… what? No! Nothing like that!"

"Uh huh… Listen, if things are getting rough, you can talk to us. Don't think you're alone on this."

I decided not to mention my current help in this matter.

"Thanks. Seriously. But for right now, we have enough on our plate. Are you guys ready for a trip tomorrow?"

"I don't know," Bianca said. "I've never been to Texas. I don't know what to expect."

"Let's see. Texas in August. Expect heat and a bipolar state of humidity."

"Since when did you become an expert on Texas weather?" Thalia asked.

"Since Annabeth took an interest in mission style architecture. Plus, I've been there before."

"So dress in cool clothes," Bianca said. "Got it."

"So, is there anything else you want to divulge before I bring out dessert?" Katie asked.

I pondered for a few seconds. "No, that should be about it."

"Good. Since Calypso already gave you half a piece, you can clean up the plates while I get these served."

"Hey!"

"It's only fair. Besides you're about to have another dessert anyways."

Silena's face matched mine in turning red, leaving no question as to Katie's meaning.

I grumbled to myself, but carried out the order. So this is what it feels like to be the subordinate…

I washed the dishes and put everything away as the giggling and chatting continued in the dining room. Pout creases became near permanently affixed to my face as the smell of honey wafted into the kitchen. Only when a visitor walked in did my pout vanish.

"I snuck one for you," Calypso whispered. "But I want some form of payment."

"What kind?" I asked with a raised brow.

She lodged the baklava between her lips and gave me a dark eyed puppy dog stare. Wide eyes and a small pout with a sweet treat in the lips. Death came early, and Elysium was my destination.

A mix of crunching and moans sounded throughout the room, despite our efforts to remain quiet. We both munched away at our pieces of pastry as we pulled at one another's lips. Our tongues rubbed against one another, swiping away at any sweet honey left over in the other's mouth. Only when her tongue was clean of the sticky syrup did I pull away, brushing my nose against hers with a slight huff.

"Consider this an appetizer," she said. "I can make much more for another time."

With a wink, she danced away and returned to the dining room. A fair few catcalls directed their way to her, but her nonchalant responses made it difficult to guilt her further. Instead, the effort was put towards Silena.

A few remarks were made towards my plans with her later in the night. I would assume she left after the third one, which described a very interesting way I could use my water powers on her.

Such a remark reminded me of something. Her punishment. With a villainous smile on my face, I grabbed a cup and filled it with iced water. After double checking to ensure the dishes were all cleaned up and put away, I waited for the conversations to disperse. With an estimated half hour since Silena left, I trailed my way to her room with the cup in my hand.

Tonight will be a night to remember…