3rd Floor Common Room; Sunday Afternoon

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

As much as Luke hated waking up early, he was willing to do it if that meant he could get training and showering out of the way early so he had nothing to do but sit in front of the TV for the rest of the day. Yeah, huge task, odds were he was going to die a very painful death, should be working, he knew that. But there was football on. Playoffs. Just because the Patriots were out of it didn't mean he was gonna stop watching. He was a son of Hermes; he liked to watch all teams equally, and without prejudice. Mostly. He'd be okay with the Jets losing. They sucked.

Deciding to leave the TV in his own room to Nico, Luke headed down to the common room to watch both games. He raided the kitchen for soda and candy before flopping down on the couch to watch TV. He was sorta getting M&M's all over the place since he wasn't paying attention while he was eating but, whatever he'd clean it later.

[Post is open, yes]

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[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley wandered into the common room toward late afternoon. He rooted through the cabinets for a bit before finding a bag of crisps, then moved toward the television. Oh. American football. He'd always meant to get at least some understanding of how it worked. It couldn't be quite as interesting as rugby, but he'd give it a shot.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked, migrating over to the couch.

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"Oh go ahead," Luke said, shifting a little to make sure he wasn't taking over the entire couch. "Watch out for M&M's."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wes was all too happy to do so, because, well, who liked sitting on M&Ms? He watched contemplatively for a while, trying to follow the sequence of plays, and concluded that this might be a little too complex for him.

"So, ah," he asked, trying to follow what was happening. "The, ah, that team there is in possession, yes? And the objective is to simply... maintain possession?"

He might be a little bit of a nuisance.

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

Luke grinned a little, finding the question amusing, but in no way was he mean enough to be snarky at someone who obviously wasn't from this country for not understanding the sport.

"Maintaining possession is important yes," Luke said helpfully. "But the main objective is to maintain possession long enough to get to the end of the field and score a touchdown."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Oh! So that was why they were doing all that running. Logic! "Ah," he said thoughtfully.

Forsaking the bag of crisps, Wes scooted forward so that he was on the edge of his seat, watching the way the game played out. He decided that the team currently in possession would be his favorite, not that he had any idea who it was.

"That was a touchdown, then?" he asked calmly.

Actually, it was someone getting tackled. An easy mistake to make.

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

That time Luke couldn't hold back a laugh. "No, no! That was definitely not a touchdown. When you get a touchdown there's usually more celebrating, less getting knocked on your ass."

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

After spending time with Mrs. O'Leary, Percy wandered in and glanced at the television before he looked at Luke. "So, whose got the puck?"

No, he wasn't that stupid. He knew what football was and how it was played but making Luke think he didn't might be fun.

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

Luke lifted an eyebrow. "Please be kidding."

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

"What?" Percy asked, managing to sound appropriately confused about Luke's question. "Where're the goalies anyway? Don't they play with sticks?"

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"That's it, I'm breaking up with you," Luke said, picking up an M&M and throwing it at Percy's head.

[seaweed-demigod.livejournal.com]

Percy managed to fling it away before he flopped down next to Luke and propped his feet up. "Shouldn't they be playing on ice? Where's Patrick Ewing?"

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"This is football, right?" Katniss checked, scrutinizing the screen as she wandered in.

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"Yeah that's right. American football," Luke clarified. "Which is different from football everywhere else in the world. We like to be special snowflakes."

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"It's good they have those helmets," Katniss offered, tilting her head as she found a seat. "Why's the ball that weird shape?"

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"American football's weird," Luke said. "The ball's not really ball shaped and you rarely use your feet in the sport. Whoever invented it had a weird sense of humor when making up the name."

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"Is this an important game?" she asked, leaning to watch the screen a little better. She was sort of following it -- get the ball down to one end of the field, put it through the big Y. "Or just a typical one?"

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Wesley was trying to make sense of this game himself, so he was right there with her.

"That'd be my guess," he joked. "A more, ah, entertaining form of television broadcasting than what you're used to, I suppose."

But not as entertaining as rugby.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"I think some people back home would argue with you about that," Katniss said, offering a slight smile. "But hey, these men look like they get some kind of armor. It at least looks safer for the players than the Games are."

[wesleynotponcy.livejournal.com]

Well, yes. Americans did seem to have a thing for padding. Not that rugby had padding. Okay, he needed to get over this.

"Probably, yes," he agreed. "Luke was just explaining this game to me. It doesn't appear to be terribly exciting. Just people falling down and throwing things."

And yet it'd taken him over half an hour to understand it.

[thegirl-onfire.livejournal.com]

"They're just trying to throw it through the thing at the end of the field, right?" she asked, tilting her head. "And the best way to stop someone from doing that is to throw your body on them? I guess? It's kind of savage, for games from this country. I mean, baseball seems a lot more civilized. It's still better than home, but I'm amazed no one's broken a bone yet."

[theotherpeter.livejournal.com]

"...Green Bay and Chicago?" Peter said, raising an eyebrow at the TV. "Well, the Midwest will be rioting today, I guess."

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"At least it gives them something to do," Luke said. "Aren't they usually snowed in and bored this time of the year?"

[theotherpeter.livejournal.com]

"I would assume so. At least in Wisconsin. At least Chicago actually is a real city with real culture," Peter said. "And, you know, civilization."

[trickydemigod.livejournal.com]

"Can't say I've ever been there," Luke said. "But it always looks cool in John Hughes movies."

[theotherpeter.livejournal.com]

"Suddenly I'm getting the idea to go and crash a parade in Chicago some day instead of going to classes," Peter said.

"...that would actually be pretty fun."