december 23: building snowmen
in which Piper and Annabeth try to build a snowman, and Percy thinks theyâre ridiculous for trying to compete with kids
âAre you just going to stand there, or are you going to help me build this snowman?â
Annabeth blinks, startled, and her eyes dart to her friend. Piper stares back at her expectantly, her mitten-covered hands filled with fresh snow. Annabeth thinks she looks genuinely offended that she isnât helping build a snowman, but she canât do anything except smile and laugh at Piper.
âYour glare is weak,â Annabeth calls out, but she stomps through the snow until sheâs standing in front of the spot where Piper is kneeling. She pulls at Piperâs scarf blowing in the wind, and knocks her hat off into the snow too, before she lets her hand fall. âYouâre adorable.â
Piper scowls and drops the snow so she can replace her hat. âYouâre so unhelpful. How does Percy deal with you?â
âIt does help that heâs in love with me,â Annabeth suggests. She smiles when Piperâs attempt at rolling a ball of snow crumbles between her fingers.
âWho says Iâm not in love with you?â
Annabeth clicks her teeth. âHow would your girlfriend react to you saying that?â
âI donât think sheâd be all that surprised,â Piper says. âCan you get on the ground and help me with this snowman?â
âI donât think Iâll be much help,â Annabeth admits, but she drops to the ground anyway. The snow seeps through the fabric of her jeans, and itâs freezing against her knee, but she chooses to ignore that so she can attempt to begin her own base of the snowman.
She doesnât remember the last time she actually built a snowman, and she uses that as her excuse for why sheâs failing at it. The ice refuses to hold, and she tries to squeeze it softly in her palms to make it compact before rolling it in the snow, that doesnât do much either.
âI thought youâd know how to make a snowman,â Piper says.
âShut up.â
Piper watches, unimpressed, when the snowball crumbles again. âThis is painful.â
âI donât see you making a snowman?â
Piper grins.
âActing as though youâre any better,â Annabeth grumbles. âI hate you.â
âWhat about Percy?â
âWhat about him?â
âCan he make a snowman?â
Annabeth pauses her desperate pawing at the ground for snow. âI donât know? I donât think heâs ever tried.â
âWhere is he?â
âStill sleeping, probably.â
Piper grins, devious. âWake him up.â
âWhat? No.â
âIf he can control water, he can probably control ice, right?â
âAre you really that desperate to make a snowman?â
Piper sighs. âI have to admit, Iâm a little miffed that your neighbors were able to do it.â
Annabeth glances to their right where another snowman rests. Itâs not particularly impressive, only two sections to it and missing the carrot for a nose, but itâs more than theyâve been able to do.
âI refuse to let them be better, so go get your husband.â
Annabeth doesnât move. âYouâre really going to fight with two ten-year-olds?â
âYes. They deserve to face the real world. We had to.â Piper picks up a chunk of snow that borders an actual piece of ice and throws it at Annabethâs face. âGo get him.â
Annabeth gives her best friend a scolding look, but sheâs still smiling adoringly, even as she stands in the snow so she can make her way back into the apartment. The temperature change is drastic, and her cheeks almost burn with how warm it is. Her cheeks burn for a different reason, though, when she spots Percy walking through their hallway, running a towel through his hair, having just finished a shower. His shirt is off, and it kind of distracts her from when he greets her with a smile.
âAnnabeth?â
Annabeth bites her lip. âHi.â
Percy laughs. âHi. I thought you were going outside?â
âWe were, but Piper is petty and wants your help building a snowman.â
âLike I know how to do that.â He sets the towel heâd been holding on the back of the couch before coming towards her. He tugs playfully at her coat before cupping her cheeks and giving her a short kiss. âTell her to stop bullying ten-year-olds.â
âItâs in her blood,â Annabeth tells him, nuzzling her nose into his neck when he hugs her tightly. âSheâs not going to give up.â
âMaybe we should leave her there.â
Annabeth ponders that. âDo you think sheâll notice?â
âShe might, but we can lock the door and pretend weâre not home,â Percy says. He moves away, and she misses the extra warmth heâd provided. âShe might not notice if sheâs so busy trying to build a snowman.â
âThe key word is trying.â Annabeth tracks him around the living room, and he disappears from her sight when he walks into their bedroom. She can hear him moving around. âCan you please help?â
Percy pokes his head through the doorframe, and she watches as he pulls a shirt over his shoulders. He gives her a knowing grin. âYou want to beat those kids, donât you?â
âSo badly,â Annabeth says. âYou know you do too.â
âKind of,â Percy admits. He walks back towards her, and his hand brushes against her back as he breezes by to throw on his own coat. As he holds open the front door for her, he says, âWeâre horrible people, arenât we?â
Annabeth kisses his cheek as she passes by. âDefinitely.â
Annabeth doesnât think sheâs ever seen Piper as excited as when she spots Percy. Sheâd be insulted, if it wasnât so funny. When Percy kneels next to Annabeth, heâs close enough that his arm brushes against her.
âWeâre good people,â Percy says to the two of them, âbut two little girls canât have a better snowman. Thatâs unacceptable.â
âCan you control ice?â
âWeâre going to find out,â Percy says to Piper. âJust grab snow, and IâllâŚtry to keep it together?â
So it turns out that Percy isnât great at dealing with ice. The ice sticks together better, but itâs also lopsided. Still, they manage to roll a snowball big enough that it gets to the point that they canât move it anymore. They lay that down as the base and continue onto another snowball that somehow ends up even more lopsided. Itâs okay though, because they manage to get the head on the snowman, and that automatically makes it better than the rival snowman.
Piper looks at the final snowman, concerned. âIt looksâŚâ
âFrightening?â Percy offers.
âYeah. That.â
âAt least it has a head,â Annabeth says. âTheirs didnât.â
Percy tilts his head. âShould we add a nose to it?â
âWith what?â
âI think we have a carrot.â
Annabeth quirks her lips up. âThat does seem like an awful lot of effort.â
âYouâre right.â He pulls her arm lightly until she comes closer to him, and he wraps himself around her, resting his chin on her shoulder. He kisses her temple before whispering, âIâm not so sure we actually won.â
Annabeth breathes. âYeah, I donât think so either.â
âWe win in spirit,â Piper says. âCan you guys not kiss in front of me? Itâs hurting my feelings.â
Annabeth pouts. âDo you want me to kiss you?â
âYou know, I really wouldnât mind that.â
Annabeth laughs.
âI helped you build a snowman,â Percy says. âNo kissing my wife.â
âIâll kiss both of you,â Piper says.
They bicker a bit, but Annabeth is focused on the snowman. It feels ridiculous, trying to outbuild kids. Maybe she is a terrible person, but Piper and Percy are there with her, so itâs alright. It doesnât get better than building snowmen with her two favorite people.
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only the best for you
the one where he whisks her away on a surprise trip, but Annabeth is not a morning person
âPercy, where are we going?â Annabeth yawned sleepily. She writhed around in the front passenger seat until she got a good look at the mop of messy dark hair next to her.
âItâs a Sunday!â He exclaimed, eyes trained on the road. âSo weâve got the whole dayâŚâ
Annabeth frowned, she wasnât sure they had the same idea on how best to spend what was their first free day, in weeks, together. She needed to know. And she needed to know now. In case she didnât like whatever they were headed for, it wasnât too late to turn the car round and head back to the city.
She loved him but he wasnât exactly the best at planning dates. He wasnât a planner at all â that was definitely more her thing.
âTo do what?â She asked.
âAnything we want.â
âOkay⌠but what are we doing?â
âItâs a surprise.â Percy replied chirpily, fingers drumming against the slate grey wheel. He was practically bouncing up and down in the driverâs seat. It must be something good, she thought. It was probably something sheâd like too. Otherwise there wouldnât have been much point to this. He at least had the decency to tell her in advance when they were headed to rescue a new demigod and their hapless protector.
Annabeth shifted back in her seat so she could stare out front at the road. She supposed she could let this slide. If there was one person who knew her well, it was him. And besides, sheâd trusted him countless times to save her life in the face of impending death and heâd always succeeded, so what was one surprise day-trip compared to that? Although Percy had had a lot of practice when it came to fighting monsters, she wasnât sure the same applied here.
âCan I at least know where it is weâre-â
âBup bup bup,â He raised a finger off the wheel â a sure indication that he wanted her to stop talking, though that never stopped her before.
âThatâll ruin the surprise Wise Girl.â
âFine.â She sighed, squinting out the side window, watching as they passed by cars, blending in with the blur of the trees and the guard rail. The sun was just starting to rise in the left corner of the side mirror, illuminating the world in an oregold light. âThen tell me why we had to wake up so early?â
âOr why you decided to interrupt my blissful sleep at 5 in the morningââ
âI had to carry you to the car,â Percy said smugly, completely cutting her off, the faintest hints of a smirk surfacing on his handsome face.
âSo technically, you werenât awake then.â
âOh yeah?â She shot back, eyes rolling. âThen technically what would you call it?â
âTechnically I would call it sleep-walkingâŚâ He was full-on grinning now, âcombined with a bit of sleep-teeth-brushing and sleep-changingââ
âThat is not at all what happened,â Annabeth scoffed, she swore he was making up words now. â It doesn't even make sense!â
âHow could I have done all those things while asleep?â
âWell, if you want to get really technical...â He peeled his eyes away for a second to wink at her. âIt was also with a little help from yours truly.â
âI donât see how you could possibly think,â She slowed her words down on purpose, âI was still asleep,â biting down on each syllable, âafter you literally screamed in my earâ
âAh my dear Annabeth, technically your eyes were still closedââ
âThatâs because you switched on all the lights!â She snapped.
âTechnically, I had no other choice or it would be too dark to see.â
âWell, technically I wanted to choke you afterwards. And I still do now.â
He laughed. âI love you too.â
âIâm serious.â Annabeth huffed. She made it a point to pout, crossing her arms, feigning ire.
He was infuriating sometimes. How he forced her out of bed at an ungodly hour, and refused to tell her where they were going, and in spite of her behaving like a brat, he was still the same endearing Percy. The same Percy who never snapped, or shouted, or got mad at her, even when she knew she was unbearable. This was a fact she had become all too aware of and unfortunately, so was Percy. Funnily enough, it was that which frustrated her the most.
âOh please,â He winked at her. âWe both know youâre seconds away from smiling.â
âYouâre impossible.â Even as she said that, she could tell she was grinning, shaking her head. But it was true: she was a complete sucker for him. âThis better be worth it, Seaweed Brain.â
âObviously!â Percy glanced sideways at her, a twinkle in those sea-green eyes. âOnly the best for you, Wise Girl.â
Annabeth swore he was the only person who truly saw her, who saw through everything â all the flaws, the imperfections, the scars. And he loved her anyway.
He loved her for exactly who she was.
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