"Dude!"

Let's Dance?

Little lights twirled around tree trunks and hung low from branches. The smaller saplings swayed from side to side along with the gentle music, their wooden faces holding a placid smile. The fire around Sing-Along was burning big and bright. It changed colors almost every second like a pyro-kaleidoscope. The sun had set long ago, but it wasn't lights out this night. Harpies did not flock the sky, and no demigod feared being out.

Camp Halfblood had been established not long after Chiron's wish. Every 1000 year anniversary called for some sort of celebration. For surviving this long. For keeping the greek legacy alive. For victories.

And what better way to celebrate year 4000 than a dance?

Despite the calm and low music, the inside of the Big House and all the cabins were filled with tapestries of multicolored fabric and confetti littering every square inch of the floors courtesy of the Stoll brothers and the new pair of siblings that seemed to look up to them.  Conversations drifted in and out of Percy's conscience. He was too busy smiling at the two girls, Piper and Annabeth, jokingly twirling each other around and having enough fun to erase the lines of worry from their faces.

Even Nico seemed to be enjoying himself with the son of Apollo. They didn't dance, but Will would place his hand upon his and tap his fingers to the beat. His head would sway to the rhythmn and he looked about as happy as he ever could be.

Apollo had stuck around long enough after his "horrific mortal experience"", as he liked to put it, to stalk around groups of friends and annoy Mr. D to no end, belting out the tunes he had made up to the music.

Percy stuck to the sidelines, like usual-he never really participated in dances, even school ones- and watched with ease the euphoric atmosphere of the whole camp.

He jumped slightly when an elbow lightly bumped his side. He was met by the flashing eyes of Jason. His eyes seemed to dance between the flickering flames and the color changes taking place could've made his own girlfriend jealous.

"Great, isn't it? Camp Jupiter celebrations were never...like this, I guess. This is something different."

"Expecting something more along the lines of wild?"

"No, no. This is better. Camp Jupiter celebrations always felt a little strained to me I guess. Granted, I was son of Jupiter and soon to be praetor, so everyone looked up to me. It was a bit pressuring. This feels so much more free."

Percy smiled. "Yeah, it is."

Jason bumped his arm again. "Have there always been parties like this?"

Percy scrunched his eyebrows. "Nah. This is too special to happen often. Never after battles we would celebrate, like you'd expect. But some nights feel like this. We are usually a happy camp."

Jason snorted. "Usually."

"The past year has been an outlier, okay?," he laughed.

And the year before that, and that one, and the other one... then there is before I even came.

He kept the smile on his face,determined to not let the memories swamp the good time his was having.

He watched as Jason fondly stared at his girlfriend twirling with Annabeth, a laugh escaping her mouth for the millionth time the night. All the vibes coming off Jason and well, everyone, was so calming and joyous that Percy almost felt his eyes prickle with too much emotion.

He blinked quickly when Jason glanced down at him. "You okay? Your eyes are shining." His grin faltered into a concerned frown, although it was slightly amused.