Time to Meet Percabeth

Grover and Beckendorf

A/N: This takes place during the summer after Percy and Annabeth have returned from their quest for the Golden Fleece. Enjoy.

Camp Half Blood was alight in a hopeful and optimistic fervour. For once, everything at camp seemed calm and content: no monster attacks, no missing demigods, no new arrivals. Everything just hovered as a perfect picture of equilibrium. The demigods' spirits were high, their camp flourishing.

Upon every hill, against every building and glittering on each ripple of the lake was peacefulness. Everywhere you turned, demigods were laughing and joking, even training, without the weight of imminent death upon their shoulders. This year, the campers had endured a close call to the collapse of the camp, but now that the questing demigods had returned with the golden fleece, Camp Half Blood had never before been such a painting of picturesque beauty.

Grover Underwood and Charles Beckendorf were lounging in the Mess Hall for lunch; one munching a ciabatta, the other a tin can. Beckendorf was marvelling at the beauty of the camp and how nice it was to not have to be scared for a while. The satyr was watching the nymphs and spirits dance across the distant hills. Yes, for once, nature seemed to be unafraid to dance in the light of the world.

The duo was chatting between themselves endlessly, a small chitter emanating around them from the other demigods that were themselves placed around the hall. There was no set time for lunch, so the demigods tended to care much less about designated tables.

In an instant, a shadow loomed over Grover, blocking him from bathing in the sun.

"Oh, hey Annabeth!" The satyr grinned and shimmied along the bench, allowing her to sit next to him.

Annabeth smiled gratefully and settled her butt onto the benches. She was dressed in typical camp attire: denim shorts and orange CHB top. Unsurprisingly, she had her cap tucked into one pocket of her shorts, her bronze blade attached to the opposite hip.

Annabeth seemed aggravated, the only demigod around not bathing in blissful freedom.

"Have you seen Percy?" She asked as she moved her joints in a stretch, grateful to be sitting down. She was supposed to have met Percy at his cabin nearly half an hour before to go canoeing in the lake, but after knocking on his door a million times, checking the Big House and searching the stables, Annabeth had given up.

"You checked the sword arena?" Beckendorf chimed in. On most occasions, he wouldn't be wrong. Ever since returning from the Sea of Monsters and he had fought Luke sword-to-sword, Percy had spent hours of unscheduled training in the arena. It had been making Annabeth worry about him and, honestly, that was why she was looking forward to their rendezvous.

"I've checked everywhere," Annabeth admitted, defeated. "Maybe he's just hiding from me and doesn't want to hang out."

"I highly doubt that." Beckendorf laughed, giving Grover a little glance that conveyed something, though what Annabeth couldn't work out.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Jackson are inseparable, that's all." Beckendorf shrugged off the question. There was a mischievous glint in his eye that made Annabeth think he was trying to hint at something, and there was something teasing woven through his tone.

Annabeth squinted her eyes at Beckendorf, considering him carefully, but just decided to move on. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a small paper bag and plonked it in front of Grover. "Here you go- I did a round about the Athena cabin for you."

Grover peeked into the bag and grinned at the pile of Diet coke cans that resided in there. The Athena and Grover had a good system; to destroy all evidence of the illegal contraband, the Athena cabin would bag up the evidence for Grover to munch. He pulled the first one out and began to chew: "Perfect!"