Ship: Percico x Perleo
Prompt: Secret Santa.
Percy and a group of his friends had finally followed through with one of their very few Christmas traditions.
Secret Santa, a game Percy and his friends referred to as 'the definition of hit or miss'; you had to be in the mood to accept possibly toxic gifts as jokes, or awkward last minute purchases.
This year, Percy had been doing everything in his power to find out who had picked his name out of the large, fluffy pink slipper.
No, not a hat, or even a bowl, a mug maybe. No, Percy and his friends had took turns picking pieces of paper with thin, scraggly scribbles written across them, from out of a pink fluffy slipper.
Now, Percy had narrowed it down to two possible suspects.
Not because he was a great detective, it was because he had already received a no from everyone else involved.
He hadn't even been given the chance to speak! How was he supposed to practice (develop) his detective skills if no one would give him a chance?
It was simply impossible.
About a week after the names where drawn, Percy finally found out who had gotten him.
Except, the information confused him immensely, much to the amusement of a couple of Percy's friends.
The person who drew Percy's name from the slipper was Nico, Percy's longest lasting crush.
But, Leo drew Percy's name from the slipper. Leo, a boy who never failed to be at the forefront of Percy's mind, a flutter in his stomach.
Every partipant had had their name written down once - Malcolm, Annabeth and Jason had made sure of this repeatedly.
So there was literally no way they both could have pulled his name from the slipper.
And there wasn't, as proved by the fact that, in reality, neither Nico nor Leo had pulled Percy's name from the slipper.
In fact, Percy's name hadn't been in the slipper at all when everyone was choosing, having been pulled away by one Clarisse La Rue.
Who now had to deal with the consequences of her actions by becoming Percy's Secret Santa.
Except Percy didn't know this. No one but Annabeth and Jason, the organisers of their Secret Santa, actually knew about it.
From then on, Percy would constantly badger both boys, twisting words and questions ever so subtley. Just subtle enough to hide his intentions from face value.
It may sound both complicated and complex to some, but Percy just really wanted to know who had actually picked his name, as well as what they were getting him.
As 'selfish' as it may seem, both Nico and Leo revelled in the extra attention they received from Percy, feeling so glad that they'd come up with their ideas to lie.
The only problem was that they didn't realise that the exact same was happening to the other one too.
Each boy was in their own little world of glee and wonder, subconsciously finding an edge of excitement amongst the various other feelings they felt.
Percy huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting.
He and his friends all sat in a circle, their purchased gift placed on the floor in front of them.
That was the third time Percy had been told to calm down.
Percy had arrived five minutes ago.
They were gathered at the Grace/Chase/Mclean household, seeing as a total of five of their friends lived there.
There was Malcolm and Annabeth, their cousins Jason and Thalia, and their stepsister, Piper.
After her divorce, Malcolm and Annabeth's mother, Athena, moved them out of their house, and into her fathers mansion.
Jason, Thalia, and Piper had already lived there, Jason and Thalia ever since their father's departure when Jason was just two. Piper had been living there only a year, staying there as her father and their mother took their year-long honeymoon.
Luckily for Percy, their grandfather, Zeus, was nearly never around, often away for business.
Percy had never clashed with someone more than he did with that grumpy old man.
"Percy- I swear, sit down."
Percy paused, his eyes wide at getting caught. He was mid-kneel, having been about to stand up.
"But I'm thirsty?"
"That was a question." Annabeth snarked.
"So?"
This time, Leo butted in before Annabeth could speak.
"That's a question."
On the other side of Percy, Nico rolled his eyes.
"Oh wow, great observation. Not like it was obvious or anything."
Percy's eyebrows furrowed. He was about to interrupt their bickering (again) when the front door slammed closed, loud footsteps making their way towards the group.
There, stood in the doorway, was a fed up Clarisse. In her hand, she clutched tightly at the string handles of a gift bag.
"Look, I know we'd all rather I not be here. I'm just here to drop off my present for Prissy. I'll be off right after."
Percy looked back at Clarisse in surprise, holding his arms out for the gift bag warily.
As soon as Percy's hands touched the bag, Clarisse let go. Her eyes darted around the room once before she left, letting the door slam behind her once again.
Percy turned to look at Jason, his confusion visible all over his face. He lifted the bag slightly, gesturing to it with his head.
"It was her fault your name didn't get put into the slipper, so we made her agree to be your Secret Santa."
Next to him, both Nico and Leo froze.
"Oh. Right."
Percy smiled small, trying to hide his disappointment.
A real, genuine smile spread across Percy's face, having found a family of teddy bears and a bar of chocolate inside the gift bag.
He held the biggest one to his chest, cuddling it as he tried to ignore the two boys on either side of him.
A few presents later, Nico handed his gift to Leo, who in turn passed his to Nico.
They didn't show anybody what they got from the other, instead throwing several glances Percy's way.
Once everyone had received their gift and seperated into smaller groups, Percy approached Malcolm, the largest teddy hugged to his chest with one arm, the bag in his other hand holding the rest of his present.
"I'm gonna head home now Mal."
"Alright Percy. Have a lovely Christmas."
"You too."
Percy smiled before pulling Malcolm into a hug since he knew he couldn't expect to see him for at least a week.
On his way out, Nico and Leo approached him, together, feeling ready to try and explain.
Percy smiled sadly at the two boys before walking straight past them.
"Merry Christmas you too."
The door closed behind Percy quietly, as so not to alert the others of his exit. Nobody but Nico, Leo and Malcolm had realised he was actually leaving.