Snowfall

Football Hangover

The first time the hunters lost a game of capture the flag, it was an occasion to celebrate. Percy had gotten scolded and abused by the huntresses for leading the camp's win, but really, Percy didn't care that much. They'd be fine. In truth, they probably needed to be knocked down a peg. Artemis didn't seem very bothered by it, much to his surprise. When she saw him looking at her with a confused expression on his face, she only smirked knowingly and teleported out. Damn that goddess.

The campers celebrated with a party. All the campers under sixteen, with the exception of a few veterans, were dismissed at maybe eleven, while the older campers stayed and Chiron reluctantly allowed them to break out some alcohol for a night as long as nothing happened. Of course, he shouldn't have trusted them with that. You had to give him some credit, though, he had never allowed demigods to have alcohol, so he couldn't have known how much it messed with their heads.

Surprisingly, the hunters stayed for the party. Most were tucked in the scowling with a few mingling, such as Thalia, Phoebe, a few other younger huntresses, and Artemis whenever she decided to pop in. Percy tried to encourage the rest of the hunt but they were having none of it. He figured he really shouldn't push his luck.

It was only when the alcohol was brought out did the older hunters emerge. Percy shared some drinks with them and Percy figured out that demigods couldn't hold alcohol well. Artemis seemed fine, though her outwards persona slowly dissolved until she didn't even care that the other demigods saw her acting mortal with her hunters, even leaning on Percy for support whenever someone cracked a joke. The goddess eventually overwhelmed herself and Percy was elected to drag her back to her cabin.

He hung around Thalia for the rest of the night, which proved to be not such a good idea. The hunters kicked them out of the party to go to their cabins, but in their drunken haze, Thalia managed to drag both herself and Percy into the Poseidon cabin. Something probably would've happened if they hadn't exhausted themselves already. Both collapsed into Percy's bed, neither really aware of the other person beside them.

Thalia woke up with a foggy mind and the worst migraine she'd ever had. She moaned, pressing her forehead into the pillow for a minute before it finally registered that she wasn't alone. She tried to open her eyes and narrowed them when the light coming from the open window at the back of the cabin momentarily blinded her. The Zeus cabin didn't have any windows.

Her eyes adjusted and she realised that she was in Percy's bed with said boy laying next to her. Luckily, both were fully clothed, but they were sort of tangled. Thalia's face was inches from Percy's neck, with his arms swung across her and hers loosely gripping his shirt. Their legs were entwined and Thalia's knee was in a bit of an awkward position. She exhaled slowly, glancing up to look at Percy's face. He was still asleep. Maybe she could sneak out before he awoke.

Apparently, the universe disagreed. When she rolled out of the bed onto her feet she was struck with a sudden flash of pain in her temples. She let out a soft cry and fell back onto the bed, landing with her head on his stomach. He grunted, shooting awake with a gasp. Thalia clutched her head and groaned, burying her face into his abs.

"Thalia?" Percy rasped. "What happened?" She ignored him, curling in on herself and trying to block out all outside disturbances. "Thals?"

"Shut up," she grumbled, pressing further into him. He tried to sit up and was struck with the same pain Thalia felt. He was heaving for breath, eyes closed.

"I see what you mean," he muttered. "Damn, how strong was that alcohol?"

"Shut up," Thalia grunted, stretching herself out into a more comfortable position. "Talking won't help."

Percy sighed and tilted his head back, trying to regulate his breathing. Having Thalia half on top of him was soothing but her weight did make it a bit harder to take a large breath. "Could you move," he croaked. "It's hard to breathe." Thalia growled but adjusted, rolling to her left and settling her head on his shoulder, her hot breath tickling his neck.

They lay there for a while, waiting for the headache to at least lessen to a bearable extent. It took quite a bit, their brains not made to handle such strong substances, but it eventually wore off. The ache was still there, and no doubt the pain would come rebounding back once they moved, but right now it was relief. "I've got Advil in my dresser," Percy murmured. "We can grab that."

"It'll come back," Thalia whined. "It feels so nice right now."

"I know, but it'll decrease the amount of time we're spending here." Percy made to get up but Thalia grabbed his chin, pressing harder into his shoulder. "Come on, Thals."

"Why can't we just lay here for the whole day?" Thalia complained, pushing his head back down.

"But the campers are expecting me," Percy said. "And the hunters are expecting you. You don't think they won't come looking for us?"

"I'm comfortable here," Thalia demanded. "How much harm could it be?" She pressed a kiss to his neck nipping softly, her hand tracing his jaw.

Perhaps she could stay a bit longer.