There's something that just hits different when you're up after midnight.

It's quiet. Serene. Peaceful, almost.

Almost because generally when one was up so late, they couldn't sleep.

It was the case for Percy Jackson most nights. He'd given up expectations of a perfect night of slumber. The only way he could fall asleep when he first laid down was after working himself to the bone, and he was much too lazy for that.

So. There he sat, 2:34 A.M, with a pounding headache, burning eyes, and a blaring white screen in front of him.

Not the most ideal situation, but he managed.

His limit was 2:40 in the morning. Not a limit of crawling into bed and finally finding rest amongst exhaustion, no. His limit of boredom. There was only so much one could do so late at night without being scolded for volume management, falling asleep in places that weren't your bed, or making tons of mistakes because, well, you were tired.

When Percy reached his limit, he called a friend.

He called a friend because they were great people who were willing to stay up with him. Some had the same issues as he did, others reluctantly agreed to a few rounds of Among Us out of their own generosity and kindness.

Percy loved his friends.

It was at 2:37 A.M. when he found himself reaching for his cell with a half lidded gaze, fingers tumbling over each other to get a good grasp.

Dialing was a blur, he couldn't be bothered to find the very convenient contact under Grover's name that happened to be sitting at the top of his call list, it was 2:37 in the morning, after all. Percy wouldn't call himself sane if he did things normally after midnight.

There were a few beeps and bumbles, sounds that organized themselves into a little tune against his ear. Waiting, just waiting for him to pick up.

Any day now, Percy thought just as there was a click and a shuffle from the other end.

"Hello? Is this you, Thalia?"

Percy froze, eyes finally opening fully for the first time in a couple of hours. Uh oh.

"I only picked up because I figured you finally got that new phone, you know. Otherwise I would've ignored it; don't call so late without letting me know first. Why are you up so late, anyways?"

Percy didn't know a Thalia. He didn't know what numbers he'd punched in while half asleep, and he surely did not know the girl speaking from his phone.

"Couldn't sleep," he said dumbly.

There was a pause accompanied with deathly silence.

"Well you're not Thalia." Her voice was casual, laced with an undertone of fatigue similar to his own. "Is there a reason I shouldn't hang up on you right now?"

"Not really," he said. "Go ahead, if you want. I guess I dialed the wrong number. Sorry."

"No, you're fine." Another pause. Mystery Girl didn't hang up either, though, so Percy waited quietly. "I don't know you though, at all, right? What's your name?"

"Percy."

"I'm Annabeth." He could hear her shifting, the sounds of fabric scratching against each other serving to turn him deaf for a few moments. "This is actually a good time, as crazy as it sounds. You said you couldn't sleep, would you mind giving me your opinion on something real quick?"

Percy looked down at the start button, clearly displayed on his screen. "Uh. . .sure."

"Okay, so–"

"Wait."

"Yes?"

"If I answer whatever it is you're about to ask, will you play a game with me?" Percy allowed a bit of a smirk to touch his lips. "It's the least you could do after keeping me on the phone so long," he said dramatically.

There was a hesitant, drawn out laugh on the other side. "I don't really have time, but sure. A few rounds won't hurt, whatever it is. Can I ask now?"

"Shoot."

"What is your opinion on climate change? If I handed you a petition sheet, right now, listing ideas to prevent it's climb, would you sign it? And if so, why?"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "You. . .You're really going to make me answer that?"

"I might sound involved, but I hate this as much as you do," Annabeth assured him. "Come on stranger, please? I haven't had much luck and I've got an assignment due tomorrow. Help a random wrong-number person out."

He sighed. "Okay, uh, climate change. . .don't really know much about it, if I'm being honest. It sounds bad, I guess? If the scientists and those smart people say it is, who am I not to believe them? I probably wouldn't sign the petition though, for two reasons––I like to know more about stuff like this before I act on it, and my signature is trash."

Annabeth let out a breathy laugh, scribbling something down. The sound of a pen gliding across paper filled the silent space between them for a second. "Okay. That was good, thanks."

"No problem. So. . .a round or two?"

"What are you thinking?"

"Among us, of course. I am a man of taste."

Annabeth the snorted. "Slow down there, stranger. Mario Kart is clearly the superior pastime."

"I. . .cannot argue with that." Percy wrinkled his nose. Everything about this girl sounded awfully. . .smart. Wise, almost. He couldn't see her face, but he could imagine the gears turning in her head with every word.

"I'll give you the code when you're ready, Wise Girl."

"Wise Girl? What the heck, stranger."

"I know. My nicknaming skills are supreme."

"That's one word for it," she muttered.

a / n

lolll yeah, i don't know what this is either 😂🤷‍♀️

but you can be sure percy saved her contact as wise girl when they hung up uwu

im sorry for all the ooc au's, i get that i'm basically stripping them of all their quirks and personality and trauma and basically everything that makes them them, but i've been having writer's block trouble and this is what i keep ending up with at 12 am XD

THANK YOU SM FOR 200K READS WHAT THE FRICK FRACK DIDLY WACK PADLY CHIT CHAT 💙💙💙💙💙

LY WEIRDOS UWU

~ grace 💙🍪💙🍪💙🍪💙