Static

XXXV

When he woke, he was surprised to find out he had no dreams yet again.
     It was late morning when his eyes fluttered open. His lips were crusted together and his eyes were the new home of sleep. Jason peeled his lips apart. He made the sleep homeless.
     He sat up, realising too late that a banner was tied right above his bed, and when he sat up, his head got caught in it. He flailed to remove the banner, which he succeeded in doing after about five minutes of solid hard work.
     When he finally pulled the banner away, he read the words, which was hard because 1) He was dyslexic, and 2) The banner was swinging, which made it harder to read. But he could still make it out: Happy Birthday!
     At that moment, everyone jumped out from behind the furniture and yelled, 'Surprise!'
     Jason was scared half to death.
'Wha-' His voice faltered.

Seven months had passed since the Summer Solstice. Ever since then, Jason was living happily at Camp Jupiter, and he sometimes made Camp Half-Blood trips once every month - twice, if there were no attacks.
     It was July 1st, Jason's birthday. Like always, he forgot, but this time, his friends made sure he wouldn't forget again. Hazel and Reyna planned a party and Frank and Reyna put it in action. Everyone at camp was in on it, which surprised Jason because none of them spilled spilt the beans.
     When Hazel was decorating his room, while he was sleeping, Reyna ordered the nymphs to plan and set up the Mess for Jason's birthday feast. Frank was in charge of the presents that everyone bought at the New Rome Gift Shop.
     This all lead to when he woke up.

Everyone was gathered to the Mess for the feast.
     Hazel and Frank were the first praetor-and-partner to sit down, then it was Jason and Reyna.
     When everyone saw Jason, they clapped, cheered and yelled 'happy birthday!' which scared Jason half to death.
     What happens if you get scared half to death - twice? Jason thought, which was irrelevant to the event in play.
He waved back, sat down and raised a glass and said, 'dig in!'
They ate, all cheering, talking and congratulating Jason on the fact that he lived this long as a demigod.
Jason ate, talking to everyone. After about ten minutes, he spoke. 'How old am I?'
'16,' Reyna replied without hesitation. 'You know, the average lifespan of a demigod is 15 years.'
'Thanks,' Jason said, taking it as a complement.
'Sixteen whole years,' Hazel murmured. Jason couldn't make out entirely what she said next, but he heard: Lived. Jason. Nothing. Me.
He just shook it off.
     'So,' Frank said, freezing the cold around them. 'How were your earlier years? I haven't heard about them.'
     Jason blushed, remembering his mother's faint glow when she smile. Her warm hand running through his blonde hair. Her blue eyes staring at him when he tried to eat a stapler. Good times.
     Not to mention Thalia. Jason's sister cared about him so much. When he "ran away", she claimed that she couldn't get over it, and the fact that their mother would do such a thing, letting him run off like that.
     'They were... Good.' Jason answered, not sure how to respond. 'Well, it all started when...'
     Jason rambled on about how his mother let him run off, how he was found by Lupa, the wolf goddess, how he was raised by her, how he stumbled into Camp Jupiter, how he trained and how he became such a skilled swordsman, and how he became so successful.
'Alas, I can't remember much else because of Juno and, you know, the incident.' Jason concluded.
     'Oh.' Frank finally said after a few seconds of silence. 'I didn't realise how much backstory you had. Well, I mean every hero had a backstory, am I right?'
     'It's okay.' Jason comforted. 'After all, I am old enough to share it.' He smiled, receiving others' smiles with his.
     That was a perfect way to end a birthday feast.

The four gathered near the forest, where a campfire had been lit. A packet of jumbo-size marshmallows and sticks were laying on the floor next to some logs. The group sat on the logs, opening the marshmallows and distributing the sticks.
     It was still his birthday, and the day went terrific. As far as demigod birthdays go, his was pretty successful: He only got attacked once!
     They chatted about Jason's past, such as his disappearance, his quests and the prophecy of seven.
'I remember, when Jason was about thirteen or fourteen, he snuck into my office at midnight just for a jellybean.' Reyna told everyone, who laughed hysterically. 'Luckily, I couldn't sleep, so I decided to catch up on some stuff, and that's when I found him. He was such a little kid back then.'
'Hey!' Jason said, laughing.
'Oh! I got one!' Hazel said enthusiastically. 'Okay. One of my first days here at camp, but was talking to my fellow guard when I saw someone struggling to climb Jupiter's temple-'
'The Jupiter Optimus Maximus?' Reyna asked.
'Yeah. Anyway, I see them trying to lift his leg over the roof. I then realised that he was going to fall, so I told the guard to hold up, then I went over to see what was happening...' she paused, glancing over at Jason who was blushing, remembering that time. 'And as soon as I came over, he fell, landing on top of me!'
'Jason!' Everyone shouted jokily.
'I still have a bruise from that!' Hazel said, lifting up her sleeve to reveal a faint but dark splotch on her dark skin. 'See?'
'Wow.' Frank said.
'Jason,' Reyna said, eyeing his suspiciously. 'Two questions. One: why were you trying to climb the Jupiter Optimus Maximus? And two: why didn't you just fly up there?'
'First of all, this was two or so years ago.' Jason protected himself. 'I don't remember because of what happened with Juno. And secondly, why are you always in mom-mode.'
'Woah, there, buddy.' She said. 'I am not!'
'Wanna bet?'
'Okay, okay.' Reyna said, Frank and Hazel giggling in the background.
A few minutes passed. Then a hour. Then two.
Hazel finally said, 'Er, Jason. Your marshmallow is on fire.'
Jason shook out of his trance he was in. 'Wha- wait.' He blew his marshmallow to extinguish the flame.
Everyone laughed.
What a beautiful way to end a birthday.