#I need to talk about how devastated the Stolls would have been when they were told that their cool mature older brother was a traitor

[astro-can]

put your clothes back on i'm going explain why Connor and Travis stoll are underrated kings who had to take over the responsibility of being head counselor at a young age because their older brother turned out to be a traitor and although Travis was older and therefore the only person who should've become counselor Connor became one with him because they needed each other and--

[demigodsanswer]

Do you have any headcanons of Chris recovering from the Labyrinth? Was a Clarisse there when he woke up? How did he react to his friends being dead?

In the decade he’d suffered at camp, Dionysus had never actually been inside his own cabin. He had been close to his sons, but didn’t offer them preferential treatment. And they were teenage boys, they didn’t need their dad hanging out in their room. 

Dionysus couldn’t pretend that he was a normal father, even if he was around for his sons more than the other gods were. 

Today, though, he feared he had to try. 

He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. That was to be expected. His son was deep in grief. He opened the door, and found his son curled up on his bed, purple curtains drawn shut, so the only light in the room what what streamed in from the open door. 

“Get out!” Pollux yelled at him, his voice heavy with grief. He threw an empty wine bottle at Dionysus. He didn’t know where his seventeen-year-old son had gotten it, but he couldn’t begrudge him for turning to it now. It wasn’t a healthy habit, but Castor and Lee had just died. Dionysus had seen a lot in three thousand years, but he had never lost a brother and a partner in one day. 

“Please, I want to help you.” Dionysus said. 

“Well you can’t. No one can.” Pollux pulled his knees into his chest and started to cry again. Dionysus ignored his pleas for solitude and walked into the cabin. He sat on his bed and pulled his son into a hug. To his surprise, his son embraced him and hugged him tighter as he cried. 

After a few minutes, his son looked at him. “If you really want to help, you need to show the kids here that the gods do care.” He said. “We were just decimated, and none of you were there to help.” 

“What should I do?” Dionysus said. 

“Heal Chris,” he said. 

“You want me to heal him?” Dionysus asked. “After what he did?” 

Pollux nodded. “He’s still my friend. Prove to us, to me, that the gods care and that they can be forgiving.” Pollux said. “He deserves a second chance.” 

“Would you say the same thing about Luke Castilian? He was your friend too.” 

Pollux shook his head. “Chris didn’t get Castor and Lee killed. He never finished his mission in the Labyrinth. He didn’t help do this.” 

Dionysus nodded. “Consider it done.” 

~*~*~*~

Clarisse ran to the Big House when Will told her that Dionysus had agreed to heal Chris. 

She opened the door to the infirmary. Dionysus was gone, but Chiron was looking over him. 

“Dionysus healed him,” Chiron said, “but it may still take some time for him to wake up.” 

Clarisse didn’t say anything. She just pulled over a chair and assumed her spot at his bedside. 

Two hours later, Chris opened his eyes. He tried to sit up, but Chiron moved quickly to assist him. Chris grumbled something, but his voice was hoarse and dry. “Here,” Chiron said, offering him a spoon-full of nectar, followed by a cup of water with a bendy straw. 

“What happened?” He asked finally. “Am I at ... camp?” He looked over to Clarisse, who was looking at him like he had returned from the dead. Clarisse? He hadn’t seen her in months. Not since he left .... But she looked a lot older than he remembered. A lot stronger too. 

Chiron nodded. “You were in the Labyrinth. Some memories of it may return in the next few days. You’ve been sick for quite some time.” 

“How long?” 

“It’s been almost a year since we found you.” Chiron said. Chris gasped and leaned back against the pillows, his head reeling. “Easy, easy,” Chiron said, “you’re still healing. I’ll explain everything soon.”Chiron looked at Clarisse. “In the mean time, you may want to start with thanking Miss. la Rue here for taking care of you. You owe her your life.” 

Clarisse stood up from her chair. “He can keep it,” she said. “I’ve seen it, and i’m not impressed.”  She stormed out of the room, suddenly overwhelmed with an anger she didn’t even know she was harboring. 

Chiron shook his head. “She’ll come around. Don’t worry,” he told Chris. “Now, you should keep resting. In a few hours, perhaps you’ll be strong enough to manage a bath.” 

~*~*~*~

Chiron found Clarisse in his office. She was sitting on his couch, sobbing. He had seen her like this a number of times over the last year. He tried not to think of the campers as his children, it always made things harder, but it was hard to not develop a parental affection for the year-round campers. Her, Annabeth, the Stoll’s ... they were closer to him than most campers. 

“What’s wrong, dear?” He asked her. “I thought you’d be happier.”

“I thought I would be. I don’t ...” she hesitated. “I don’t know. I think it’s just ...”

“It must be overwhelming,” Chiron said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

She nodded and tried to force herself to stop crying, but it didn’t work. 

Chiron walked over to the mini-fridge in the office and pulled out a water bottle. He handed it to her, and she took it thankfully. “Would you like to talk about it?” Clarisse shook her head, which Chiron expect from her. “Alright. Feel free to stay in here until you feel better.” She nodded. 

“Thanks.” 

“Of course,” he said. “And Clarisse,” she looked up at him, “everything will be okay. I know how much you care for him.” She blushed as Chiron left the room. 

~*~*~*~

Clarisse put down her book when she heard a knock at the Ares cabin door. She opened it and saw Chris, standing there sheepishly. She almost closed the door on them, but he held up his hand. 

“Clarisse, please let me in. I want to apologize!” He said. 

She opened the door for him and let him in. She hadn’t seen him in a day, not since he’d woken up. He was still very thin, but there was more color in his cheeks. His hair wasn’t the shiny black use to be, but the matted parts had been cut out. He smiled at her when she let him in, and his smiled was the same as it had always been. It was nice to see him smile again. She was almost tempted to smile back at him. 

He stepped into the cabin. “Chiron told me what you did for me. And what happened to me. And about the battle, and I ...” he paused. “’I’m sorry’ and ‘thank you’ don’t really cover what I feel.” He admitted. 

She crossed her arms and stepped closer to him. “Well, do your best.”

He looked at the ground. “I’m so fucking sorry. For leaving you and camp. For putting you through that. For being on the side that --” his words faltered. “Pollux came to see me,” he said, “and he seemed pretty devastated.” He took a deep breath. “But he said he forgave me. So I figured, if he could forgive me, then maybe ...” 

Clarisse wanted to yell at him. To tell him that she didn’t forgive him and that she never would. But those were all lies. She had forgiven him when she found him in Arizona. 

She pushed down her impulse to lie to him, to hurt him, and instead she hugged him. He hugged her back, holding on tightly. It didn’t take long for Clarisse to realize he was crying, and soon she was crying, which she couldn’t believe. She so rarely even wanted to cry, now she had cried twice in two days. 

When he realized she was crying he started to laugh. “Wow, I must have been in pretty dire straits if I made you cry.” 

She pushed him away. “Shut up,” she said, heading towards the Ares Cabin bathroom for some toilet paper. She blew her nose and came back with some for him. 

“Thanks,” he said. He was looking at her like he didn’t recognize her - a look she had become use to. 

“Everything okay?” She asked. 

“Yeah,” he said, breaking his gaze. “I just haven’t seen you in so long. You look different.” She frowned, her ears getting red. “No, like, a good different.” 

She smiled. “Thanks, I think.” 

Chris rubbed the back of his neck. “Anyway, Pollux and Beckendorf invited me to the strawberry fields to catch me up on what I missed, if you’d like to come. I figured you’d be the best one to tell me all the embarrassing stuff I did the last three months.” 

She smiled and nodded. “Trust me, I’ve got plenty to share.” She took his hand and led him out of the cabin. 

[1ooo-w0rds]

Wedding Bets - Liper

A/N: Liper december fluff!! Also a prompt for Liper week - Wedding. Where’s all the Liper content? I’m dying for some. I will fill this tag up somehow. 

The Stoll twins thought they were clever, sneaky and tricky as their father would be proud of. But no, not really. Cabin Ten had this plan for ages. Drew just liked let the boys think they were brilliant starting a betting pool on who would get married first out of the notable demigods of Camp Half-Blood and Jupiter. It would be wrong to exclude their Roman counterparts.

Being engaged first didn’t count. Drew insisted when the lesser known demigods gathered together for this little bet. Annabeth and Percy were practically engaged since they were seventeen. Being praetors together could be seen as a crash course training as a couple for Jason and Reyna. No, it’s who would tie the knot, the big ceremony, the cake, the dress, everything. Whoever choose the right couple would win the very big pot. Everyone talked about it between the two camps. Piper is confident it’s what bonded the two camps together, their worst kept secret.

Piper giggled as she read Lacy’s text. Leo arched his eyebrow at the sound as he finished chopping the ingredients for their pasta. “What’s up?” He asked, curious what could get his girlfriend to giggle like a teenager.

“Lacy sent me the latest stats for the wedding pool.” Piper said as she smiled at him from her spot on the couch. She rattled off numbers like they were racehorse odds. Many predicted either Annabeth and Percy or Reyna and Jason. Both couples were engaged for a few months now, no surprise to any of their close friends.

“Are we on there?” Leo asked as he heated a pan, getting ready to mix all his ingredients up. Piper plopped down on the couch, kicking her bare legs over the arm as she scroll through the group text of Cabin Ten. The girls created an extensive list that was well researched. It was frightening.

“Yeah but just barely. I think Nico and Will have more votes than us which is saying something.” Piper frowned. “What the heck? Even Hazel and her boyfriend have better odds than us and they just hit six months.” Piper sighed, not sure if she should be offended or not. Leo and Piper dated for over a year, living together for about half that time.

Are we not the marrying type? Piper pondered as she held her phone to her chest.

“What’s the pool?” Leo asked as he popped his head around the corner. Piper pushed those thoughts out, admiring the view of her disheveled boyfriend. His dark hair curled messily. The sleeves of his jacket shoved up to his elbow. The apron he wore was a cute addition, complimenting his amber eyes.

“A thousand drachmae. Malcolm is in charge of it since no one trust the Stoll twins.” Piper answered as she combed her fingers through her hair. She’s been meaning to get it cut soon. Leo appeared with two plates, nudging Piper over as he set them on the coffee table. She closed her eyes, savoring the amazing aroma of the pasta. Leo is a magician in the kitchen, a gift from the gods. If Piper made dinner, they would be ordering take out every other day.

“A thousand drachmae. That’s a lot of gold.” Leo murmured as Piper turned the television on. A holiday movie popped on with a snowy Christmas tree scene. “Who do you think will tie the knot first?” He handed her a plate and fork.

“Not Annabeth.” Piper determined, twirling a fork full of Leo’s famous spinach alfredo pasta. “She’s way too stressed with grad school to think of a wedding right now.” Piper closed her eyes and moaned after taking a bite. Leo chuckled amused how a simple pasta dish delighted Piper. She licked her lips as she thought. “Reyna and Jason are traveling right now but New Rome would riot if their wedding ceremony wasn’t there. I don’t think they have the heart to say no to the city that raised them.”

“No and they don’t seem like the eloping type.” Leo stood up to pull his apron off and hang it on its hook. He stood by their calendar, running his fingers over the days. “They return in June, right? Where are they now?”

Piper tapped her fork against her chin. “Somewhere in South America. I’m still amazed they actually dropped everything to travel. It’s so sudden, irresponsible, so not them.” Piper smiled, proud of them. Reyna and Jason deserve it, time for themselves outside of the demigod realm. They sent a picture a few days ago of them hiking. Jason had a bit of sunburn on his nose but his smile so widely he obviously didn’t care. Reyna hugged his midsection, looking just as happy.

“I know. It’s something we would do.” Leo laughed as he returned, slipping something into his pocket. Piper nodded her head. It would be their move to disappear without telling anyone, picking a direction and just go. But Piper is loving her life right now, in this warm tiny apartment with string lights, yummy food and Leo arm’s length away.

“I love you.” Piper said suddenly, needing to tell the man beside her. Her hand reached out, tugging on his shoulder. A smile bloomed on his lips as he turned to her, invading her space easily. His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against him. Piper curled around him, soaking up his warmth.

“I would hope so, Ms. McLean.” Leo said against her lips, amber eyes twinkling as he looked at her adoringly. “Or this would be awkward.” Piper laughed, hands grabbing for his collar, and pulled him into a kiss.

Leo is her rock, her north point, the person she needed without a doubt. She could live without Jason. Their breakup taught her that. But Leo… That year without him was devastating, each day chipping at her soul. When he returned, Piper held him tight and close, swearing to herself nothing would take him away again, god or mortal.

“We could do it, you know.” Piper’s eyes fluttered open, tilting her head at Leo’s random words. His hand entwined with hers as he spoke. “Flip the odds, collect all that drachmae.” Piper blinked as she connected the dots. Is he? She thought, looking at his hand between them. A simple white gold ring lined with tiny diamonds that sparkled in the light sat there innocently. Piper’s heart thumped rapidly as she looked up back at him.

“Are you proposing to me to win a bet?” Piper chuckled, covering her face to hide her wide smile. It was such a Leo move. He laughed as well, pressing his forehead against hers. Joy bubbled up in her stomach as they got over their laughing fit. “My mother is going to smite you.”

“Not if you’re close by.” Leo held Piper, taking a breath as he met her gaze. “This ring has been burning a hole in my pocket for weeks now, Piper. Every moment with you is a gift, a perfect moment of bliss, laughter and joy. You’ve seen me at my worst and still loves me somehow.” Piper sniffled as she tried to hold back the tears, moved by his sweet words. “Come on, Piper, marry me. It’s a very us move to ruin everyone’s bets. Just think, you get me and a thousand drachmae.”

Piper laughed, cupping his cheeks. “You idiot.” She whispered with a loving smile. “I just want you. You’re all I’ve always wanted.”