Christmas With The Seven

Chapter 4: Culver's

Art by @izabesos on Instagram

They arrived in Omaha at around 10am and decided to pick up some food for brunch. The others begged to go inside for food but Annabeth insisted that they should get the food to-go so as not to push back their schedule. Eventually, Annabeth won out and Nico and Grover agreed to go grab their food.

"How much longer do we have?" Frank asked, leaning his head on the seat in front of him. Even in pug form, he hadn't gotten very much sleep.

"Our next food break will be in Ohio but we're gonna stop in Iowa to pick up Thalia and Clarisse so it's going to get a bit crowded," Annabeth explained. "We'll probably put Clarisse in the passenger seat because she takes up the most space, we'll have Frank turn into a small animal, and we're going to have to cram 3 people into the back row."

"Are you driving the rest of the way to camp?" Hazel asked, concerned.

"I'll switch out with Clarisse in Ohio. We'll probably put you, Nico, Reyna, and Frank in the back row and have Percy, Grover, and Thalia sit in the middle." Annabeth told everyone.

"Do I have to sit in the back?" Reyna complained.

"Unless you want to be stuck in the middle between Percy and Thalia? Yes."

"Hey, Thalia and I get along just fine!" Percy protested.

"I didn't say you don't," Annabeth rolled her eyes. "But you two get a bit... rowdy, when you're together."

"That's an understatement if I've ever heard one," Grover said, having arrived with two bags of food.

"What's an understatement?" Nico asked, climbing into his seat with yet another bag.

"That Percy and Thalia get rowdy when they're together," Annabeth repeated. "And how much food did you buy?"

"Enough for breakfast and lunch," Nico said. "I remember my first year at camp before I left. You and Thalia blew up at each other during capture the flag."

"It was a stressful time in my life!" Percy protested.

"Oh, yeah. Your 'best friend' almost died but then didn't. How tragic," Nico said, already digging into the bag of food.

"You're on thin fucking ice, buddy."

"Here, have some pancakes. Calm yourself." Nico brought out a container of pancakes and syrup and handed them to Percy.

"You're lucky I'm hungry," Percy said, already taking a bite of the food. "Ofervize yud be ded."

Annabeth switched seats with Grover once she had downed some food and began driving. She asked Percy to put on Piper's Ultimate Road Trip Playlist. By the time they arrived in Iowa a few hours later, they had listened to a myriad of songs by Hayley Kiyoko, Clairo, Conan Gray, One Direction, and Avril Lavigne. Annabeth spent almost the entirety of the drive recounting the pagan origins of Christmas to anyone who would listen.

Finally, they arrived at the Menards in Clive. Nico didn't mind Annabeth, in fact she was one of his favorite demigods, but if he had to hear one more "fun fact" about Christmas Nico thought he might just jump back down into Tartarus.

"ANNIE!" Thalia yelled, approaching the car. Annabeth jumped out and gave her friend a hug. "I've missed you."

"Get out of my seat Prissy!" Clarisse yelled menacingly. Percy climbed out of the passenger side to give Clarisse his seat and was met with a punch to his gut.

"Nice to see you, too," Percy wheezed out, doubling over. "I see you haven't changed."

"Is that an insult, Prissy?" Clarisse asked, crossing her arms in the passenger seat.