WE’RE NOT REALLY STRANGERS. ₁
⤷ a percy jackson dr shifting experience!
We were currently sitting on the floor in the poseidon cabin. this is my first time in here.
Piper and Hazel were sitting on the bed behind me, Piper’s hands running through my hair.
When I first got there she told me that my hair was nice and asked if she could play with it, and of course, I said yes because I’m a sucker for people playing with my hair.
and for her. She’s pretty.
She asked me what I did for my hair care, and I almost felt bad saying ‘nothing’. the only thing I did was not use heat on my hair, but it wasn’t because I cared about my hair so much, but because I didn't know how to use those tools.
It's unfortunate, I know. I’m a sixteen-year-old girl who did not know how to curl or straighten her hair.
as she ran her fingers through my hair, I found it hard to keep my eyes open, her slender fingers were gently scratching and threading through my hair sending shivers down my spine, making me feel relaxed.
I forced my eyes open and looked around the cabin, It was oddly cooler in here than it was outside, but I say oddly because I didn't see any AC to keep it cool in here. On one of the beds, there was a whale shark plush.
Everyone else was talking amongst themselves, probably trying to figure out what to do, but I wasn’t paying attention. I just closed my eyes and focused on the feeling of Piper’s fingering raking through my hair.
The sound of the front door opening makes me open my eyes again out of curiosity about who it may be. It was Nico and a tan blonde boy walking in, their eyes scanning every one of us.
I’m gonna bet to you right now, blondie is a child of Apollo.
“Hey guys,” Jason says with a polite smile, pushing his glasses up his nose. Percy seemed a bit amused like he didn’t expect them to show up.
I hadn’t seen Nico since our talk last night when I weirdly told him about my life before camp half-blood, and the regret was starting to settle in as I felt the embarrassment of telling him about that stir in my stomach.
Why'd I overshare so much?
I mentally facepalm myself.
I know he’s the one that asked, but I still felt awkward about it.
Nico’s eyes fall on me and I avert my gaze somewhere else, trying to not look too awkward and like I was just looking at him without thought, not like I was embarrassed to be seeing him again after last night.
“What are we gonna do?” blondie says sitting down with a smile, his face turns into a puzzled one when he sees me. “I’ve never seen you around before…” he tilts his head as if racking his brain trying to think if we’ve ever interacted before this.
“I got here yesterday,” I say quietly with a subtle nod.
He perks up at that and smiles at me “Ah! That’s why then,” he extends his arm out to me, giving me a handshake “I’m Will Solace,”
His hands are soft and warm.
“Cītlalli Ohara” I let go of his hand and brought it to rest in my lap. I managed a small nod in acknowledgment to Nico next to him, he gave me a nod back.
I want to rip my scalp off.
“PERCY IT’S A MESS UNDER HERE!”
Annabeth's head was currently lost in the darkness under Percy Jackson’s bed in search of some sort of game we could play to pass the time together. “No, it's an organized mess!” Percy yelled from the bathroom running his hand through his dark hair before coming out of the bathroom and getting on the floor to help Annabeth look for the card game.
I laid back on the bed behind me, observing everyone. Piper behind had started braiding my hair.
I know it’s a weird thing to do, but I’ve always been a people watcher. It’s almost like watching a movie for me. I liked learning from people just by looking at them.
It is normally not this quiet—
“HEY HEY HEYYY” there he is.
The curly-haired boy strutted into the cabin with a grin on his face and surprisingly didn't have on his repair boy suspenders.
bring back the suspenders, repair boy!
“Hey, star shine,” He says, giving me a fist bump and flashing me a charming smile, my fist making contact with the ring on his.
The area had become more lively now that the tan boy was here, weirdly. Being around him is like having a shot of espresso.
“I FOUND IT!” Percy yells standing back up from under his bed, in his hands is a small red box with white wording, reading;
we all gather around on the floor, the box being put in the center between all of us. Percy opened the box revealing well-organized cards. “I’ve been wanting to play this for a while” Percy murmurs, Jason taking out the game pamphlet from the box and reading through the game's rules and directions.
“Listen, learn, reflect. you’ll go through three levels of questions, each level becoming deeper. be honest with your answers. you won't be strangers by the end of it.” Jason reads and puts the pamphlet on the bed, careful to not let it be folded or damaged in any way.
He took out the first card from the first level and read it aloud.
“Level 1 Perception: Do you know how others see you? Level 1 is about gaining perspective on what first impressions we give off and challenging the assumptions we make about others.”
Jason sets the card down next to the box “Who wants to go first?” he asks, pushing his round frames up his nose. The lack of response from everyone made him chuckle. “I’ll go first then,” he turns his head to the right to look at Frank.
“You’re like a gentle giant,” he begins, making us laugh softly. “you’ry kind and look out for everyone around you. and we appreciate it a lot, Frank” his tone was genuine.
Frank smiled shyly “Thank you,” Jason nodded his head and Frank turned to his left to answer the question about Hazel “You have a big heart... you care about everyone.” He says looking into her eyes as hazel looks away to hide how flustered she is. which made me smile a little bit.
“Even when you shouldn’t care” he adds, rolling his eyes jokingly, making Hazel slap his shoulder lightly.
Hazel turns to her left seeing that she’s to answer the question about Nico.
She smiled and began to speak “I think people would perceive you as cold or mean, but I don’t see you that way,” the tension in Nico’s shoulders seemed to relax a bit as she spoke like he wasn’t used to people speaking of him this way.
“you’re extremely observant, you read people very well, you’re a good listener,” she rambled on about the boy, making me smile again. I had only met Nico yesterday, but I found myself agreeing with everything she said.
“Okay okay—that's enough” Nico cuts her off, letting out a little huff. Shaking his head.
He didn't mean it rudely, he just seemed flustered, and or annoyed. like he didn’t like talking about himself.
Nico turned his attention to Will sitting on his left, he wore his usual stoic expression, but his eyes told me something else. “You’re nice,” he shrugs acting indifferent and looking down at the floor, his right hand twisting the rings on his left. “you’re really nice” He speaks again but this time quieter.
My face softened a bit watching the scene. It was sweet, even if Nico looked like he’d rather jump off a cliff right now.
Will smiled at him softly and gave him a little nod, he knew that was all Nico would say about him.
Will turned to Piper to answer the question about her “You aren’t shy about your opinions and feelings on this, and I admire that a lot about you,” his smile got bigger as he spoke, “You’re passionate about the things you care about, I like that about you.”
Piper seemed shocked for a second before laughing softly “Thanks Will” she said pushing her brown choppy hair out of her face.
I didn't miss the way Jason smiled either.
Piper’s eyes met mine, and I don’t know why, but I felt dread.
I met all of them yesterday, what could she— any of them have to say about me?
“You’re hard to read,” her eyes studied mine like we were looking for something in them. We all stayed quiet waiting for her to continue. “I don’t know much—anything about you, really,” she shook her head.
“But I like you.” she finishes.
I stared at her for a little bit, literally having no idea what to say.
“I like you too,” I say just above a whisper, I don’t even know if anyone other than her would’ve heard it.
I turned to Leo next to me to answer the question about him, not giving myself enough time to watch Piper’s reaction to what I said. I didn't wanna know.
I stared at him for a few seconds and a grin slowly appeared on his face as I did. “I think you’re really fun,” he’s full-blown smiling now “I’m fun? That's all I get?” he tilts his head teasingly at me.
I roll my eyes playfully, shaking my head “You’re really fun. there? happy?” I tease back trying to not smile. He sighs dramatically, running his hand through his black curls “I guess…”
He turns to his left, Reyna sitting next to him “You,” he points a finger at her “You scare me hella,” I bite my cheek to keep me from laughing, I hear Piper next to me let out a low laugh.
“But you’re a damn good warrior, and I respect you a lot.” he finishes.
Reyna’s face softened as she processed what Leo said about her, she didn't say anything, she just wore a thoughtful expression. Leo smiled and held his fist up to her. She smiled and collided her fist with his in a lighthearted fist bump.
Reyna turns to Annabeth next to her and says “I have a lot of respect for you too” She has an accent, but I genuinely cannot tell where it's from. “It’s been an honour to fight along side of you.” her voice firm. she means it.
Annabeth looked touched by what she said, but her face hardened a bit again, “Thank you,” she said back to her, i’ts obvious they both had mutual respect for each other.
Annebth turned to Percy, and it seemed like she had been dreading her turn this whole game. Percy smiled mischievously, he had been waiting for this to happen. He points to his ear, mocking and anticipating whatever she’s about to say.
“I don’t like anything about you.”
Nico lets out a sort, a tiny smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “Yeah yeah laugh it up,” Percy says rolling his eyes and making a few of us snicker in his response.
Percy turns to Jason, the last person left. “You take care of all of us.. and you’re responsible. We’d probably be lost without you” He says lightheartedly.
We move on to the more lighthearted part of the game,
I read my card aloud “Give this card to the best listener.”
You mean the boy I’d been avoiding making eye contact with for the last 15 minutes?
I stare at the card for a few moments before looking up a Nico, his face unreadable as usual. I extend my arm out, holding the card between my middle and pointer fingers. He takes it from me, glancing down at the card before up at me again.
He didn't say anything, he just looked at me for a little bit before moving on.
“Give this card to the biggest flirt” Nico reads, his tone indifferent. without a second thought, he gives the card to Leo.
Leo smiles and takes the card from him. somewhat prideful “Y’know it,” he says taking a card from the unread pile and reading it.
“Gives this card to the person that stirs the pot,”
“Jackson,” Annabeth laughs, clapping her hands together. Percy grins and puts his hands together, bowing his head down. “That’s for you, love,” Leo says in a posh accent putting the card in Percy’s hands like it’s something precious.
“D1 instigator” Piper jokes, making us laugh.
“Give this card to someone you want to get to know better.” Percy reads before looking up at me, handing me the card with an awkward smile, the kind with both your lips pressed together in a line.
It made his dimples visible.
I take the card from him laying it on the floor next to me, I reach out to get a new card and read “Give this card to the most intimidating.”
I stare at the card for a few seconds, trying to figure out who to give it to.
That’s who’s going through my mind right now.
after a few moments of thinking about my answer, I look up at Annabeth and Reyna, still trying to decide on who to give it to. “You guys can share that,” I say, putting the card in front of both of them.
There was a ghost of a smile on Annabeth’s lips, Reyna’s face stayed emotionless.
I think I might be growing on them.
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