Percy sat cross-legged on the grassy hill just outside the Big House, Sprinkles the stuffed shark tucked protectively under one arm. The sun was warm, the breeze was nice, and Annabeth and Grover were on either side of him, passing around blue cookies like it was any other chill Camp Half-Blood afternoon.

Sprinkles, with his slightly crooked fin and one missing button eye (battle scar from a Minotaur incident), was nestled against Percy’s chest. He absentmindedly patted the plush shark’s head.

“I still can’t believe you actually named it Sprinkles,” Annabeth muttered, biting into a cookie.

“You bought him,” Percy grinned. “You’re basically his mom.”

Grover snorted. “Shark mom. That’s a new one.”

Just then, Clarisse stomped past, probably coming back from wrestling a Hellhound or something equally aggressive. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Percy and Sprinkles. Her lip curled.

“Still playing with toys, Jackson?” she sneered.

Without missing a beat, Annabeth turned her head and said, deadpan, “Duh. It’s his emotional support teddy.”

“It’s a shark,” Percy corrected, completely unbothered.

Grover nodded solemnly. “Emotional support shark. Very therapeutic.”

Clarisse looked like she was buffering.

“…You’re all freaks,” she grunted, and stormed off.

Percy held up Sprinkles and made him wave. “Bye, Clarisse! Sprinkles says chomp chomp, which is shark for ‘have a nice day.’”

Annabeth rolled her eyes fondly. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“I know,” Percy said smugly, hugging Sprinkles tighter. “Sprinkles told me.”

Grover chuckled,“He did that?“ He chuckled again.