A/N: HELLO EVERYONE! HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
So, confession time: I actually posted this chapter because I wrote another chapter for Valentine's Day Caleo-style and I'm thinking that when I'm done with the Christmas plot, I might upload it to this fic, what do you think?
This chapter was written in a rush and I'm ambivalent about it. I think I'll enjoy the next chapter I've got planned much more.
Anyway, thank you for the overwhelming response to this little ficlet and I hope you enjoy it :)
Dedicated to anyone who is celebrating Valentine's Day alone (like me) or not alone (lucky you) or whatever ;) Enjoy!
Shy
TRADITIONAL
PART THREE: CHRISTMAS EVE
The first time Calypso celebrated Christmas, the last minute shopping trip with Leo nearly got him killed.
"For the last time," she ground out, irritably. "We are not getting Frank a horse-head mask."
Leo groaned. "But Sunshine, Hazel loves horses! They'd find it funny!"
"I seriously doubt that." She replied, bluntly. "Put it. Back."
"Fine." He complained, setting the item back down with a huff. "What do you suggest then?"
"I don't know but not that." Calypso said, frustrated. "What about Hazel? What would she like?"
Leo shrugged, his thick jacket puffing up around his shoulders with the movement. "I dunno. I mean, she likes drawing, I think?"
"That's a start." She sighed, rubbing her eyes. The day before Christmas Eve was a nightmare for shopping. People bustled around them in the stores, bumping elbows, snapping at each other. It was hardly the peaceful holiday season Calypso imagined but if any of their shopping partners were as irritating as Leo, she could understand their irritation.
Shopping for their friends was a whole other world that confused and bewildered her- there were rules, price limits, other gifts being given by other people to be taken into account. She would've appreciated Leo's help but he seemed too distracted by the crowds and sales to really be of much help.
And if he suggested one of those ridiculous 'gag-gifts' one more time, gods help her, she might just throttle him.
They exited the store and made their way down the street, the icy wind blowing viciously into their faces.
"What about Piper?" Calypso tried to change the subject but when she turned around, Leo had his head craned inside the door of a toy shop, watching the floating miniature helicopters (she still didn't understand how Zeus allowed such things to flit around the heavens without consequences) with glee. Groaning, she grabbed his arm and tugged him away. "Leo, focus. I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing or-!"
He rolled his eyes, unfazed. "You're overthinking it, Sunshine." he told her bluntly.
"I just want to get something they'll like." She complained, tugging on her thick cream scarf until it rose up over her mouth, leaving only wind-kissed cheeks and worried eyes peeking over the edge of the fabric.
"They will like it!" he laughed. "But half the fun of Christmas shopping is messing around with all the cool toys on sale."
She wrinkled her nose, a fine layer of snow beginning to fall across the scene. "I'm serious. This is my first Christmas, I want to make sure everything goes according to plan."
"And it will," he reassured her, tugging her hand into his. "Just relax a little, okay?"
She tried to force the stress from her shoulders, to let her clenched jaw soften but it was difficult. Finding out she'd misread one of the key Christmas traditions (about gift-giving of all things) had made her worry that she was getting more of them wrong or that she would ruin them somehow. It figured, she thought tiredly, that just when she thought she had a handle on things, it would all turn out differently. She was sick of being taken off guard by this world she was supposed to be learning.
"Who else do we have to shop for?" she asked him, leaning her head against his shoulder.
Leo felt a little guilty as he listened to her tired tone. He hadn't really been out of camp for the past few weeks, too stuck in his workshop, finishing a few select gifts he'd been planning for his friends. Being out in the city with Calypso holding his hand and the snow falling and all these people- it was distracting to say the least. But he hadn't really been making things easier for her. "Everyone except Jason and Annabeth. And Frank." He told her.
Calypso eyed him, tentatively. "You're not actually giving Jason those boots, are you?" she asked in a small voice.
"They are a brilliant idea!" Leo defended, hotly.
"But he can already fly, Wonder Boy." She pointed out as the snow began to thicken, making her snuggle closer to his side. Having a boyfriend who ran a few degrees higher than everyone else was useful for days like this, she decided.
"Not with jet-power-induced-super-speed, he can't." Leo replied, mulishly. "He'll love 'em."
The rocket-boots were just one of the gifts he'd been organising in the Forge. The others included a specially designed monster-free fully-internet-capable computer for Annabeth (who lost her awesome Daedalus laptop in Tartarus) and a set of super cool, enhanced arrows for Frank with attachments like grappling hooks and taser-capacity. Leo refused to say where he got the inspiration from, but she suspected it and Jason's boots had come from the superhero movie he'd made her sit through, the one with the flying aliens and the enormous green giant.
"Fine," she sighed, rolling her eyes back at him. "What about Piper and Hazel? You said Hazel likes drawing?"
"Yeah but Pipes and Jason are already getting her a cool new art set." He sighed, suddenly recalling.
Calypso, who'd been looking into the windows they passed, suddenly paused and pressed a hand against the frosted display. "You said she was from out of time, right?" she asked, distantly.
Leo nodded. "Hazel's from the forties, yeah. Why?"
She jerked her thumb upwards at the sign above the shop door. Riddicks Antiques and Estimations. "This is full of old things, correct?"
Leo let a grin cross his face. "Sunshine, you are definitely the brains of this operation."
"I don't think that's how they're meant to look." She muttered as Leo juggled the gifts in his arms.
"What're you talking about, that's exactly how they're meant to be!" he argued, defensively. He peered over at the pile of presents in her arms which were reasonably well wrapped, a little clumsy and with an overabundance of tape ("But it's sticky? This is so strange, how do they make it stick without a glue of some kind…?") and stacked neatly in her arms.
Leo's half of the presents, on the other hand, looked a bit like a toddler had gotten hold of every sheet of wrapping paper in a mile radius and slathered it together with tape, glue and elastic bands. "I was a little busy!" he added when Calypso eyed him, smugly.
"Wrapping is an ancient and delicate art." she said instead as they approached Cabin 3. The thick grey rock walls and shell-encrusted appearance sent spiralling nostalgia through her stomach. It reminded her of her mother's palaces, of nights spent watching the stars twinkle through the clear water and gardens of waterfalls exploding around her.
It had been Hazel's idea to do a Christmas Eve present-swap since Jason and Piper were going to be leaving to California in the morning and Percy had volunteered his cabin since he was the only one using it, apart from Tyson who was arriving the following day.
She reached an arm out to knock on the door but the presents began to slide and she had to recoil to catch them before they dropped. Trying to keep them all together was harder than it looked. She was about to try again when Leo raised a leg and kicked on the door three times hard.
"Open up Jackson, we come bearing gifts!" he bellowed and Calypso rolled her eyes.
"You know we're not meant to be out this time of night," she reminded him. "I think shouting might raise some suspicion."
"Please, no one would tattle on us." Leo dismissed, kicking on the door again.
On the third hit, the door swung open and Hazel eyed Leo, irritably. "Do you have to shout like a madman?" she asked, rhetorically as she let them in. "You'll wake the whole camp up."
Calypso threw him a 'told-you-so' look that Leo ignored as he entered the cabin.
"Beware Greeks bearing gifts," Jason quipped, helping Calypso with her half of the presents which she handed over gratefully. The low-ceiling room was strung with tiny glowing lights which shimmered like moonlight on water and the bunkbeds had been pushed back to make space for the demigods, although several of the silky green pillows had been removed and arranged in a circle on the floor where they sat.
"You're hilarious, Peter Pan." Leo retorted, setting his own stack of gifts along the far wall near the window where some kind of coral-type tree was set up, with little glowing decorations hanging off the neon yellow-green branches. Hazel settled back alongside Frank who was poking a few low-hanging ornaments with his toe while Percy and Annabeth exchanged hushed words nearby. From the looks of things, Percy was losing whatever argument it was but he didn't look too upset. On the contrary, his hand absently traced a thin puckered scar along her knee while they spoke and Annabeth was playing with the loop of his camp bead-necklace, neither of them looking as though they had any idea of the movements.
Piper, on the other hand, sat beside Hazel surrounded with brightly wrapped gifts and wielding a felt-tip market. She smiled at Calypso and waved her over. "Hey Calypso, can you come help me with this? Someone," she said, casting a pointed look at Jason. "Forget to write names on our presents."
The sight of his friends all collected around the same bizarre (but strangely fitting) coral-Christmas-tree, munching on snacks Piper had sweet-talked out of the nymphs, made him feel sort of warm all over. It was small but this was his family now, he realised, his eyes studying how Calypso's smile grew steadier as she spoke to the Aphrodite daughter. They were their own family.
"I've broken the wrapping code apparently." Jason whispered, breaking his thought process. "Merry Christmas Valdez."
"Merry Christmas," Leo replied, exchanging a quick man-hug with his best friend before peeling off his jacket. When he was certain the girls were occupied, his face lit up with a mischievous grin. "So you're meeting Piper's dad tomorrow huh?"
Jason grimaced. "Don't remind me. I'm trying not to puke."
"You've already met him before," Leo pointed out and winced. "Well, kind of." Mr McLean had kind of been kidnapped, attacked and tortured by Enceladus at the time.
"He doesn't remember any of it," Jason sighed as he took a seat, completing the circle. "And she's really excited for us to meet. I'm just worried I'll screw it up."
"Tristan's pretty relaxed." Leo tried to reassure but it seemed to make Jason even more morose.
"You've already met him?" he groaned, scratching his head.
"Well not in person…that he remembered." He explained. "But we talked over the phone once when Piper and I were at the Wilderness School."
"Why?" Jason asked, confused.
Leo shrugged. "I get bored easily and Piper's phone was right there…I couldn't help myself when it rang."
"You convinced my dad that you were one of my teachers and that I'd gotten into trouble for kicking some girl's ass because she was insulting me." Piper chimed in, flatly but her eyes twinkled with humour.
Leo held his hands out defensively. "We didn't know each other all that well back then. Besides, Isabel was talking smack about you. And I made it up to you didn't I?"
Piper sighed. "Ah yes, the Great Make-Up Purge." But her lips twitched. "That was like $600 worth of stuff you stuck to the mirror, you know."
Leo waved his hand. "She got over it. Besides, it was Jason's idea to toss out her foundation."
"Except it wasn't." Jason added, snickering. "You can't blame me for that, I wasn't even there."
The fire-starter frowned, thoughtfully. "Man, I forgot for a minute. Sorry."
"It's a miracle we weren't expelled," Piper marvelled as she continued scribbling names on the present. She was bundled close to Jason, wrapped in an enormous knit sweater with green snowflakes around the hem, her hair loose except for a single braid down the right side of her face.
"Why? You guys couldn't have gotten into that much trouble," Frank said, dubiously.
Piper snorted. "Oh no? Well, there was the time Leo changed the headmistress' number to a phone-sex line and the time I suggested to one of the teachers that he should let me have the master key to the campus and of course-"
"-The lights that changed colours every nine seconds." Leo finished, laughing. "How many times did he try to replace them?"
"Seven by my last count." Piper said, mischievously.
"You were just as bad as him weren't you?" Jason teased her. She tugged on the sleeve of his thermal shirt in retaliation.
Leo snickered. "Oh my gods, Mr Termaine was furious with us for that one."
"You didn't," Calypso looked amused but slightly stunned. "My gods, my mother would've been livid if I'd done things like that during my lessons."
"We were in the middle of the desert and not of our own free will!" Leo laughed. "What do you expect?"
"My boyfriend is a truant." She sighed but she couldn't hold a straight face for too long. Leo landed a sneaky kiss to her jaw line as she laughed.
"That's nothing," Percy bragged, his legs crossed and one arm entwined with Annabeth's. "I played dodge ball with Laistrygonian Giants once and set the school on fire."
"You lost dodge ball to Laistrygonian Giants once." Annabeth corrected with a smirk.
"Hey! They were going to eat me and they cheated." He replied, hastily.
"It's a wonder any of you got an education at all." Calypso shook her head.
"What about you Frank?" Piper asked, giggling.
"What about me?" the praetor replied, evading the question. He was outstretched beside Hazel who looked tiny in comparison with her legs were crossed over his, their sneakers touching.
"Did you ever screw up, Beast Boy?" Leo cut to the chase, leaning into Calypso's side until his chin was on her shoulder. She didn't seem to mind, just linking her hand with his and stuffing both of them inside the pocket of her hooded jacket, the warmth of his skin creeping through her.
The tall demigod shrugged, uncomfortably. "Well, I screwed up a lot- I mean, I was a clumsy kid. But I didn't sabotage the school or anything."
Hazel smiled at him and kissed his cheek, raising deep blushes to both their faces. "Good, we need someone who at least finished a year in one place." She told him, sweetly.
"Wait, you didn't finish a year?" Jason suddenly asked Annabeth who shifted, uncomfortably.
"I used to be a year-round camper," she explained, hesitantly. "And when I did go to school…well…let's just say it wasn't that great of an idea."
"Go on Wise Girl," Percy egged on. "Tell them."
"I was close to finishing at one point," Annabeth admitted with a sigh. "But I managed to upset Hera-"
"That's easy to do." Leo and Calypso said at the same time.
"-and I got stuck with three dozen cows stampeding after me during lunch one afternoon. They thought I'd let them in for attention and had me suspended because of the damages." She finished, scowling. "But if they hadn't come after me, I would've finished it!"
Leo let out a bark of laughter. "Cows? That's so-"
"-appropriate for Hera." Calypso finished, dryly.
"Enough talk about cranky goddesses." Piper ordered, sitting up quickly. "It's present-time!"
"What about-?" Jason began, casting a glance towards Hazel who shook her head.
"He said he was busy." She sighed, disappointed.
"Better get started," Percy prompted, oblivious to the hushed conversation. "Annabeth and I are heading over to mom's place tonight."
"She wants to spend the night before Christmas together." Annabeth explained with a careless shrug as she surveyed the pile of presents.
"She's going to do the Santa thing," Percy sighed but he hardly looked displeased. "She does it every year like I still bel-"
"Well, would you look at that!" Leo suddenly shouted, eyes wide as he glared at Percy. "I forgot a present!"
"What?" Calypso said, counting the gifts. "No we didn't-"
"No, no, I'm quite sure I did." Leo sighed in an overly disappointed way. "Damn, I'll have to go get it. Percy, come with me?"
"But I-"
"Come on." Leo gritted his teeth and yanked the sea demigod to his feet. "Be back in a minute guys!"
When the door was shut behind them, Leo dropped his grin and eyed Percy who looked confused. In the cool night air, the warmth of Cabin 3 seemed to violently recoil. "O…kay, what was that about?" he asked, slowly.
"You can't tell Calypso Santa doesn't exist." Leo blurted out, desperately.
"What?" Percy laughed. "Leo, that's crazy. Calypso knows Santa Claus isn't real."
"Well…"
"Wait," the sea demigod paused. "She does know, right? Leo?"
"Kind of?"
"Oh my gods." He muttered, wide eyed. "You haven't told her? Leo, what the hell-?"
"I know, I'm a terrible person!" he cut in, quickly. "But she's just really excited for Christmas and she thinks Santa is the god of the holiday and it's- okay, it's been really hard for her." He admitted, reluctantly.
"What, why?" Percy retorted, brow furrowed. "Christmas is hard?"
"She doesn't understand a lot of modern stuff," Leo mumbled. "And it really upsets her that she's not picking it all up right away."
"But that's crazy," Percy interrupted. "She's been trapped for millennia."
"I know but Calypso- look, when she found out about Santa and the pine trees and the traditions and stuff- I don't know, she just understood it, because it's like the old traditions she's used to and she was so happy…It's not fair and I swear I was going to tell her but she's been really happy that she's, you know, getting it and I didn't want to take that away from her." Leo rambled, frantically. "So you can't tell her."
Percy rubbed his eyes. "You want me to lie and tell her there's a Santa Claus?"
"Not lie. Just don't bring up the fact that it's a myth." Leo suggested, weakly.
"I don't know, Leo, I mean, she's going to be so angry when she finds out." He pointed out.
Leo winced. "I know but I'll handle that. You guys are just following my lead, it'll be fine."
"Wait, everyone else is following along as well?" he realized, incredulously. "This is going to end so badly."
"I'll burn that bridge when I get to it." Leo mumbled. "But can you just…wait until after Christmas?"
Percy studied Leo's face intently and sighed, heavily. "Fine. But when she comes after you with a tidal wave, I'm not breaking it up for you."
"Deal." Leo said, immediately.
A/N: You know, writing some of this made me want to write another fic about Piper and Leo and Jason (well, their memories of Jason at least) at the Wilderness School. Hmm...all the ideas :D
Anyway, enjoy and thanks to everyone who reviews or reads or follows or favourites, I'd be your Valentine in a heartbeat ;)
Shy