Aphelion ⎯⎯⎯⎯ Stiles Stilinski

10.) A Brief Morning Contemplation On Jumanji

Xan thanked the gods for Allison's mom for interrupting, a little breath of relief at her easy escape. As long as she made sure to keep the conversation off of herself, there was no way that she could run into trouble.

"Race ya," Allison said, her grin filled with confidence. Xan thought it was cute, too bad she'd have to crush her, she never lost a race. To a mortal at least.

The pair bounded down the hall, Allison had a strong lead as they reached the top of the stairs, and let out a cheer of triumph. Xan pushed her sore muscles to move faster, the gap between them increasing. Forgetting herself, she took the one advantage she had left, and leapt onto the bannister. Precariously squatted on the polished beam, her sock covered feet allowed her to zip past Allison.

Xan rode the handrail like a surfer on a wave, approaching the baluster too fast to think, so she jumped off of it instinctively. Her knees groaned at the impact, there wasn't enough space in Allison's foyer to roll or jog off the extra momentum. Her only option was to crouch down to the ground to try and ease it, but her already sore body still felt the impact.

Allison was agape on the stairs, giving Xan enough time to recover and stand up. Her joints throbbed angrily, as if Xan ever listened to anyone, especially her body.

"What the hell was that?"

"Uhhh, something my brother and I do all the time," Xan lied, "Now come on you slow-poke, it's no fun without a little competition,"

It was technically true, Michael and Xan slid down railings around camp all the time, it wouldn't hurt Allison to not know which brother.

Xan speed walked over to where she could hear Allison's parents talking, the delicious smell of coffee growing stronger as she approached. She swung her elbows wildly across the hall to keep the newly reinvigorated Allison behind her, and they both collapsed into the kitchen, red-faced and puffing.

"Oh it was you two making all the noise," Allison's mom smirked, "I thought it'd been a herd of elephants,"

"Like a Jumanji situation?" Xan questioned, turning away from lording her win over Allison. The adults chuckled, setting down coffee mugs for everyone.

"I suppose that is the only way we'd get elephants here," Allison said, Xan thinking up several different ways one could bring elephants into suburban California. The existence of gods and magic opened up several different realms of possibility.

"Allison, why don't you introduce us to your friend?" Chris said, pouring cereal into the bowl in front of him. His face made it clear that he took no prisoners, and the two girls glanced nervously at each other.

It was four in the afternoon and Xan was still at Allison's house. She thought that Stiles and her brother, or at least her mom, would've come to pick her up by now. It didn't bother her too much though, as her and Allison were having the time of their lives.

Breakfast had been shockingly pleasant, Allison's parents didn't ask her too many questions, and they didn't pry for more information when she gave them weird and evasive answers. Even Allison seemed surprised about this, her parents looked like the strict type, who only wanted the best for their daughter in everything, including friends. After brushing off Allison's worry that Xan was going to be scared away, Chris and Victoria retreated into their home office to whisper to each other.

This left Xan and Allison to entertain themselves. And entertain they did. In just seven hours, they had taken a tour of Allison's totally not threatening garage, reorganized her entire closet by color, planned 32 new outfits, completed 4 different Mario Kart Cups, and had begun working their way through Just Dance.

A droplet of sweat slipped down Xan's face as they restarted Poker Face for the umpteenth time in a row. They certainly weren't getting very far.

"Jesus this is some hard choreo," she complained, through an embarrassing amount of panting.

"You're telling me," Allison replied, spinning the wrong way, her face beet red. The screen was lighting up with lackluster 'ok's, the occasional 'good' popping up to validate the two struggling girls.

"That's it," Allison cried, "I quit, I need a water break,"

"Oh thank gods me too," Xan gasped, "I'm going to have that song stuck in my head for weeks."

Stumbling into the kitchen, they stood in front of the opened refrigerator as they gulped down several glasses of ice cold water. Finally, their heart rates slowed, and their flush died down, leaving just a fine layer of sticky sweat as evidence of their best efforts. Settling down at the kitchen table, they sat in silence as they both recovered, the occasional giggle escaping.

"Xanthippe dear," Victoria called, as she walked down the hall to the kitchen.

"Just Xan please, Mrs. Argent," Xan said politely, sitting up attentively, "Xanthippe is such a mouthful,"

"It's a very pretty mouthful, but alright," Victoria agreed, starting up a pot of water to boil, "We're having dinner in an hour, would you care to stay, or would you like me to call your mother to come and pick you up?"

"I'd love to stay," Xan said, "But my mom is supposed to be getting home from a lecture series today, and I really want to see her. Would you mind calling her? I think Ro forgot that I wasn't staying at home last night,"

"Of course, it's no problem," Victoria wiped her hands on a dish towel, "You'll just have to visit again to have our baked ziti some other time."

Xan smiled, enjoying the domestic nature of it all, as Chris entered, standing at the stove behind his wife, kissing her cheek, then taking over command. He began confidently chopping veggies, observing his family as Victoria punched in the numbers Xan recited to her. There was so much love in this house, it almost seemed tangible, and she couldn't help but think of her own family.

It had been rough for her, when she was very young. Before she knew she was a demigod, she was always getting into trouble, even running away while on a family vacation. She met Thalia and Luke then, before getting caught and taken back home. The next time she ran away was an accident, but those next few months changed her life forever. Xan found her friends again, met Grover and Annabeth, and most importantly, she found camp.

Once her mom realized that she wasn't making up all of those dragons and one-eyed men, family life became much more enjoyable for her. Days spent like this one, bonding with Ro and her mother, laughing and doing nothing special, just basking in the comfort of being together. Watching as Victoria spoke on the phone, Xan felt so grateful to have something like this to herself. One thing that she didn't feel jealous of.

Her reverie was broken by frantic pounding on the Argent's front door.

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It's super short, and not my favorite work, but hey! I'm alive!