When We Were 'Us'

HEY! CATCH THAT- Percy POV

We ate dinner with the Romans, at special tables set up on the Field of Mars so anyone could sit with anyone. A lot of kids with the same godly parents sat with each other, talking and laughing as they ate.

I sat with Annabeth, the rest of the Seven, Luke, Nico, and Reyna. We joked and made fun of each other between bites of food, teasing each other about things that happened in the past. At one point Luke produced a tiny metal pig that he explained he had pickpocketed from one of the Vulcan kids (he swore to Reyna and Frank that he'd return it), and it scurried around our table, stealing bits from our plates when we weren't paying attention.

Nico noticed the commotion first. "Why in Hades name are they making that much noise?" He peered at one of the far tables.

I watched for a moment before grinning. "Oh gods. That's a food fight."

"Perfect." Annabeth rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Just what we need."

The mess slowly moved towards us. I heard a faint 'YEET' from the middle of the tables involved, and then a full pitcher of lemonade came flying towards us.

"Hit the deck!" I jumped to my feet, doing exactly the opposite of what I'd said.

The rest of my table ducked and hid while I guided the lemonade back into the pitcher and grabbed it out of the air.

"Who threw this?!" My voice stopped all commotion as people turned to look at me. Several kids shrank back into their seats.

"I said...." I cleared my throat. "WHO THREW THIS?!"

After a long silence, a kid raised his hand meekly. "That-that was me, sir...."

I nodded and set the pitcher down, picking up a dinner roll. "I want you to do something right now."

He nodded nervously, and I could see him swallow. "Y-yes?"

I inspected the roll for a second before winding up. "Catch this!" I hurled it at him.

Pandemonium ensued.

Most kids were screaming and laughing and throwing things. I heard more than one more 'YEET' from the mess. A couple kids did get away from the crowd of people and food items, laughing as they ran.

"Hey Seaweed Brain!" I turned around and promptly received what could only be a bowl of rice and beans to the face. "Catch this!" Annabeth laughed.

"Oh you're on!" I grinned and grabbed a plate to reload and bombard her.

Finally the chaos calmed down. Food was everywhere, and most of us were soaked or caked with something or another. I chuckled as I watched one of the last kids involved smash a huge handful of mashed potatoes on his friend's head.

"Okay, everyone!" Reyna shouted, getting the group's attention. "Report to the showers! I'm sure a certain Son of Poseidon who encouraged this will be able to clean up quite quickly."

I chuckled and nodded. "Yes ma'am. Everyone make big rings around the tables!"

Everyone scrambled to do as I said. I began to pull water from the showers up in the various bunkers. "Everyone close your eyes and hold your arms out, feet shoulder-width apart!"

Water swirled gently around the whole group, cleaning food off the ground, the tables, the chairs, and the people. When I was sure everything was clean, I picked all the water up and sent it to the bathrooms, feeding it down the toilets.

"Thank you, Percy." Reyna nodded.

"No problem, Praetor."

Jason shook his head as Reyna walked away, issuing orders for the tables to be folded up and put away. "I can't believe you're the face of your camp. And you were a Praetor at one point."

I chuckled. "Lighten up, Jase. Sometimes you just gotta have some fun."

"Fun like pitching a baseball sized biscuit at a kid and telling him to 'catch this!'"

"Exactly." I grinned.

"That was way better than any Camp Half-Blood food fight." Luke commented, grinning. His sandy hair was sticking up at odd angles from the water that had cleaned him and everything else off. Annabeth reached over and ruffled it, grinning as she agreed.

"Definitely. There's just so many more people."

I chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist. "We make due at Camp."

She grinned and kissed my cheek. "I know, Seaweed Brain."

"Ugh. You guys need to stop being the perfect couple." Piper complained. "It puts so much pressure on the rest of us."

We laughed as Jason scooped her up dramatically, dipping her and kissing her deeply.

"We're still better." I teased when he finally stood straight again, holding Piper close.

"Nothing can come close to an underwater kiss." Annabeth grinned.

"Fair enough." Piper chuckled.

[A/N- Y E E T]