Originally, Magnus was excited to meet his cousin's friends. He'd met Percy already, and he'd spoken to some of her friends online. And he was stoked about having a playdate with some of her friends!!
But now, some nerves were settling in. He knew there would be other littles, but what if they didn't like him? What if they made fun of him? Silly thoughts sure, he's already spoken to some of them while in his headspace. But still . . .
Alex was extremely nervous to meet Annabeth's friends. Still, she liked Annabeth and found some of her friends amusing. And she was good at hiding her nervousness. And was more nervous about looking after other littles. Sure their caregivers or babysitters would be in the room, but she wasn't good with kids. Well, except for Magnus.
"You ready to meet Annabeth's and Percy's friends?" Alex asked.
"No," Magnus huffed, crossing his arms.
"Really? I heard one of them if fire proof," Alex said. "Doesn't that sound cool?"
"Too many people," Magnus frowned. "Don't wanna meet them."
"You've spoken to them before though?" Alex said. "Plus, I'll be there. And Annabeth will be there."
"I guess," Magnus shrugged.
"Hey, we could totally ditch if you want," Alex smiled softly. "Get some ice cream, tell them it was a bad day for us."
Alex didn't want to force Magnus to go if he didn't wanna go. That would be mean, and not at all nice.
But Magnus did wanna go.
Magnus looked at her hopefully, "Can we get ice cream later?"
"A treat for going?" Alex teased him. "Of course, then we have something to look forward to."
Piper was the one who let them inside. The 'adults' were sitting at the table, chatting over something. Which means Annabeth and Reyna. Both Alex and Mangus wondered where the others were. Jason, Frank, Hazel, Leo, and Percy were also supposed to be there. Nico was there too, but he was kinda pouting on Reyna's lap.
"We're so glad you could make it!" Piper smiled, shutting the door behind it. "Heya, little guy."
Magnus looked at Alex for support, grabbing her shirt. He did give Piepr a small smile though. Piper seemed to understand and gave one back, going to sit back at the table.
"Where are the others?" Alex asked.
As if on queue, Percy ran into the room.
"Annnnabeeeeth!!" Percy whined, tugging on Anabeth's arm. "Can we get McDonalds for lunch?" He say Magnus and smiled. "Magnus!" Percy gasped, crashing into him with a bear hug. "Haven't seen you in so long!!"
"Percy, does Magnus look like he wants to be hugged?" Annabeth called him out. It wasn't a lie, Magnus didn't exactly want to be hugged. But he was more just tense than anything.
"Oh!" Percy frowned, pulling away from him. "Sorry, Magnus. Gotta ask next time."
"It's okay," Magnus gave a small smile.
"Let's go play with the others!" Percy smiled happily, grabbing Magnus's hand and dragging him away, giving Alex a thumbs up that he'd be okay alone.
"Percy-! I'm sorry for him," Annabeth sighed as Alex walked over and sat down. "He can get pretty energetic when he's like this."
"Hazel, Frank, and Jason are in there watching after them," Piper smiled.
"And what about this little guy?" Alex gave Nico a small smile.
"He's just feeling a little shy," Reyna said, earning a small whine from Nico. "Well you are."
Nico huffed, "Am not."
"Well if he shy enough to talk his plushie?" Alex asked. "They seem very nice."
". . . Their names Batty," Nico said, slowly showing his stuffie to her.
"Well it's nice to meet you Batty!" Alex gave a small wave.
Nico giggled and looked at Reyna. She gave a small nod and he hopped off her lap and sat next o Alex, showing her his stuffie. Alex coed and interacted with it, making Nico perk up.
"Leo's playing blocks and I was playing with Hazel and Jason," Percy explained, sitting with Hazel and Jason. "We're playing tik-tak-toe! Here, let's restart."
"What? But we were almost done!" Jason pouted, but took the stuff off their hand made board.
"Hi Magnus," Hazel gave a gentle smile as Magnus sat beside her. "Do you wanna be partner and go against Percy and Jason?"
"Magnus and Jason should be partner cause they're both blond," Percy mumbled, taking all the O's.
Magnus frowned, feeling put slightly on spot. Jason gave him a gentle smile, "Choose whoever you want, okay? I'd love to play with you, but Hazel is pretty good at this game."
". . . Hazel please."
"Hazel's a great teammate!" Jason nodded, nudging Percy. "Guess we'll just have to beat them both, huh?"
They didn't get through one game before Magnus got up, making it Hazel vs Jason and Percy. Frank was encouraging Leo, who was smashing cars into the wall by now. Well, a pillow that was leaning against the wall. Frank didn't wanna damage any walls.
"Can I play?" Magnus asked.
"Yeah!" Leo patted a spot beside him.
"Fraaaaaank!" Leo whined, tugging on Frank's shirt. "Wanna cuddle."
". . . You want me to turn into a bear, don't you?" Frank asked, receiving an excited nod.
Frank sighed, but smiled and stood up, backing up slightly. Magnus had never seen Frank shapeshift before, only ever heard of it. It wasn't unusual though, Alex could shapeshift too.
But suddenly, there was a bear in the living room.
"Frank!" Jason scolded, earning a whine from bear Frank. "You know you shouldn't shapeshift just because Leo asked for it."
"Yeah he should!" Leo giggled, crashing into Frank for a hug.
Frank put him back on the floor and shuffled so he was laying down. Leo shrugged and hugged him again, this time Percy joining him. Frank eyed Hazel and Frank happily.
"Woah!" Magnus gasped. "Can I touch?"
"Hmmm, let's go ask Alex," Hazel suggested. "We don't wanna get in trouble and-"
"Alllleeeeeex!!!" Magnus shouted, running into the other room. "Can I touch the bear?"
"The bear?!" Alex asked, jumping up.
"I wanna cuddle the bear!" Nico gasped, getting up and running over.
"Looks like we're heading into this room," Annabeth sighed as she walked into the room, Reyna shrugged and following.
Nico ran over and hugged Frank, earning a happy grumble. Magnus tugged on Alex's shirt, whining and pouting. Alex, hesitantly, gave permission, even walking over herself. Shapeshifting was fun, even she shapeshifted. BUt she'd never been around Bear Frank before. Both of them hugged Frank, burying into his soft fur. Frank made another happy noise, closing his eyes as he was cuddles, keeping his paws under him just incase.
"You having fun?" Alex smiled as Magnus giggled.
"There's a bear!"
". . . I'll take that as a yes."
