Snowfall

Tortilla Chip

Demigod attempts at being normal never ended up the way they were supposed to. Their first try had been doing what mortals called a 'sleepover,' where they all, as in the seven, Nico, Thalia and Reyna, decided to spend the night in the Zeus cabin, as it had literally nothing in it other than a giant statue, a bed and a hammock. Usually, doing Percy's cabin would be more acceptable, since it actually had beds, but all the beds would end up getting destroyed by the ADHD demigods. The Zeus cabin had no such restrictions other than the actual walls.

So they all dragged over a pillow and some blankets to sleep on, not bothering with anything else since their cabins were just outside. Thalia had shoved all of her junk into her corner, not one to be very tidy, while Jason just watched in amusement with nothing to move.

They all gathered in the cabin after the campfire, Leo deciding to bring maybe ten bags of tortilla chips. How he managed to acquire such things, no one knew, but it was food, so there wasn't any complaining.

The first dozen minutes were spent doing a makeshift fight, with blankets as the shields and pillows as the arsenal. Frank and Thalia, the two archers, were deadly, managing to hit people square in the face with more force than should be possible. The sword fighters were more strength than speed, charging people head on and knocking them down, while the knife fighters were all dodges. Anyone who fought with a spear was at an extreme disadvantage, meaning Reyna was really bad at pillow fights. Eventually, they were all on the ground and no one felt like standing up to hit someone else.

"Hey Nico, toss me one of those chip bags, won't you?" Piper asked from her position draped over Annabeth. Nico, the one closest to the chips, tossed one towards the demigoddess. Annabeth snagged the bag before Piper could get to it and ripped it open, popping a chip into her mouth and allowing Piper to steal some.

"Those are mine! I have the rights to have a bag to myself!" Leo demanded, ignoring the fact that Thalia was eyeing him from her spot beside him. Reyna hit her in the shoulder and Nico threw one bag at Leo and another at Thalia. Reyna tried to take a chip from Thalia but failed as Thalia kept the bag away. Reyna lashed out and pulled the bag away from the daughter of Zeus, who tackled the praetor and the two girls began wrestling on the floor.

Jason pulled their bag away and stole a handful for himself, allowing Hazel and Percy to grab some from him. Nico just sighed. "You do realise there are enough bags for each of us to have one of our own?"

"Nonsense!" Leo said dramatically. "I as the bringer of the chips decree that no one can have their own bag except for me!"

"Then why did you bring ten?" Nico replied, his face cracking a slight smile as Leo struggled to find a comeback.

"Because there was a sale!" He decided, it obviously being an excuse. Nico just gave him a blank stare and tossed a bag to Frank, two towards Thalia and Reyna, two towards Jason, Hazel and Percy, one towards Annabeth and Piper, then opened the last one himself, raising a challenging eyebrow at Leo. The son of Hephaestus summoned a fireball in his hand in his hand but was hit in the head by Reyna, who was done trying to pin Thalia to the ground.

There was casual conversation about things that definitely were not mortal topics (ex. Why stabbing was better than slicing) late into the night until everyone began to pass out. It was maybe one in the morning and Percy was still awake. From what he could tell, everyone else was asleep, but he just couldn't fall asleep. The wooden planks were just too uncomfortable, the statue leering above him too unnerving.

He sat up, glancing around. Most of them weren't even on their own bedrolls. Annabeth and Piper were still curled up together on Annabeth's blankets; Reyna was laying between Jason and Leo's bedrolls, her head on Jason's stomach and her feet on Leo's. Frank was laying by Hazel's feet as a shaggy golden retriever dog. Nico, of course, was secluded from the group. Thalia was next to Jason, constantly shifting and rolling over. She didn't seem to be asleep.

"Thalia?" He called softly, watching as she twitched at the sound of his voice. "Are you awake?"

He heard her sigh. "Unwillingly," she grumbled softly. Percy moved from his sleeping spot and sat by her head. "I'm too uncomfortable, no matter how tired I am."

"I feel the same way," Percy muttered. Thalia groaned, sitting up and stretching, her back popping audibly. Percy shifted so that he was beside her. "How can you deal with that giant statue?"

"My hammock's behind it," Thalia pointed out. "I can't feel its eyes boring into me back there. Out here, though, it's not very comfortable."

"It sure isn't," Percy agreed. He noticed how Thalia's shoulders sagged, her eyes half-lidded. "You really are tired, aren't you?"

"I wasn't expecting to be staying up this late tonight," she yawned. "Didn't get much sleep last night."

"Why not?" Percy asked.

"I hadn't been tired," she said. "Went out into the woods. Very interesting at night. Hadn't expected it to take such a toll on me tonight." She yawned again, leaning heavily on his side. The warmth was refreshing, something other than the cold hard ground beneath them. He shifted so she was leaning against his chest, her involuntarily sighing. He watched her eyes almost immediately flicker closed, her breath slowing down and her body sagging against his.

He leaned back onto her bedroll, his eyes already closing. Somehow, having Thalia draped on top of him was a better blanket than he'd ever had.

This was nice.