#i just know Percy’s actions had her on her knees | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ameagrice · 7 months

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chapter twenty-seven | the dam thing

percy jackson x fem reader

Sadness was very, very tiring.

Your skin burned with the heat of the sun beating through the truck window, sitting with your knees to your chest. Percy and Grover had chosen to sit in the tow wench part of the stolen truck Thalia drove, while you sat up front with Zoe and Thalia.

You couldn’t take your eyes off the junkyard as Thalia drove, watching it get further and further away. She didn’t seem as bothered as you or Percy, or even Grover, like the death of Bianca hadn’t affected her even a little bit.

The boys’ voices flowed through the back and into the front, mumbling that you were unable to understand. You looked down at your hands; the tiny figurine that cost Bianca her life lay in your palms. Ironically, the one Nico didn’t have was Hades, the god of death. The dark hair, and the stony face he wore gave away which god he was.

Something settled on your chest. What were you supposed to say to Nico? What were you going to tell Chiron when you went back to camp? You’d made a plan—an awful one—that sent Bianca straight to her death. They’d hate you. Everyone would hate you.

In the back of your mind, you thought maybe it wasn’t your fault. Yes, you had the idea, but it was an idea you’d been intending to put to use yourself. You hadn’t forced Bianca to carry it out. You hadn’t even told her to go ahead with it. In retrospect, it hadn’t been your fault.

But you carried the guilt anyway.

Annabeth was right, Maybe you were claimed by the wrong goddess. You certainly weren’t smart by any means if you’d gotten a friend killed. And it wasn’t the first time you’d put Bianca in danger—your stunt at Westover had nearly sent you all plummeting to your deaths off the edge of a cliff.

“You think too hard,” said Zoe beside you.

You looked up. She was pale in the face, and looking out at the road ahead. “What?”

“It was not your fault. Do not think it was.”

Thalia glanced over. You swallowed hard, throat closing up.

“But it was,” you objected. “I had the plan. I was going to do what Bianca did. If anyone should be dead, it should be me.”

Zoe looked completely outraged. “Don’t say that. What happened to Bianca is terrible, but that does not mean you should have taken her place. It is as the prophecy decided. We could not control her actions or her decisions.”

That doesn’t make it any better, you thought.

The truck ran out of gas just as you approached a dead-end street, much to Thalia’s irritation. You all jumped out, Thalia slamming the door shut. One of the tyres burst immediately and began letting air out.

“Great,” she said. “What now?”

There wasn’t much to see or say about the area. Desert in every direction, barren mountains everywhere. The canyon in the distance was the only interesting thing, and a small river flowing down the middle.

“There’s a path,” Grover said. “We could get to the river.”

You squinted in the light. Very faintly you made out the outline of a small path winding down the cliff side.

“That’s a goat path,” said Percy.

Grover turned to him. “So?”

“So the rest of aren’t goats.”

“We can make it,” goat-boy assured. “I’m sure of it.”

A beat of silence caused you to look at Percy. He looked worn out, and a little tired, but determined. “No,” he said. “We’ll go farther upstream.”

“But—” Grover frowned.

“Come on, a walk won’t hurt us.” He looked at Thalia, and she held his stare for a second. You looked between them both; what was that about?

You shook it off, and let the others go up ahead. The quiet might do you some good, you felt—it gave you time to think things through.

Percy didn’t feel the same, clearly.

He looked back at you, slowing until he was at the back with you. You spared him a glance, focusing on the hills ahead of you. Not too far now.

“You okay?” He asked quietly.

You hummed. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Percy shrugged his shoulders briefly. “I don’t know. You’re just quiet.”

“I’m tired, Percy,” you sighed. “I want to go home, now.”

You turned your head, to find him already looking at you. The blood rushed to your face, and you looked away. But…you couldn’t not look at Percy for too long. So you glanced back. Those bright green eyes flickered across your face and eyes, and you paid attention to the way his hair was a little sweaty and more tamed than it usually would be.

“I was thinking,” he said. “Did you want to stay over this summer? At my place? My mom wants to meet you. And it would be fun. We could get, like, takeout and stuff.”

You blinked. A little bit of sunshine made a hole in the dark, and your mouth quirked. “Sure, it’d be fun.” Was all you could think to say.

Percy’s expression faltered an inch, barely noticeable if you hadn’t grown used to the emotions he wore on his sleeve. He nodded once, and his smile was tight.

You wanted to invite Percy over to your place in return. You imagined running down the beaches with him, entirely in his element, and showing him a cove you had discovered one day, the path memorised. But you had left things unsettled at home, and the very thought of going back was too much at the moment, anxiousness spiking your veins.

The rest of the walk, you trained your eyes on the ground, following the river’s dips and splashes. It made the walk go by faster, and when you looked up, almost walking into Thalia. You were about to voice your question, when you sets your sights on the locked-up cabin with a canoe sale sign up outside the front shutters. The ground gently sloped, and the water ran more fiercely along.

Percy turned to you. In the middle of the desert, his eyes shone like stars. “You got a pen and paper?”

Of course you did.

Percy left a stack of drachmas on the countertop outside, and a ragged note beneath them: I O U 3 canoes.

“We need to go upstream,” Zoe said. She sounded like she was suffering from a terrible cold. “The rapids are too swift.”

“Leave that to me,” Percy decided. Nobody questioned him.

You quickly discussed who had which canoe—Percy and Zoe (you’d nearly argued over that one), Thalia and yourself, and Grover in his own.

Once, you never would have had a clue about canoes or rapids or how to get into one without tipping over. But camp had prepared you well, and there wasn’t much fuss getting in them. You held the canoe to the shore with the ore and…was something moving under it?

“Hey, Percy,” you turned your head, looking to him. But he spoke quietly with Zoe, so you left it.

You all got ready (and by ready, you meant, you argued with Thalia for the front seat, and won).

You found you weren’t actually going stir-crazy.

The canoes were pushed forward so forcefully you almost fell out of it, actually laughing when all you could see of Grover were his hooves in the air. When you recovered, you took a peek over the edge and into the water, looking past your reflection: naiads.

You knew what it was before you even saw it fully. After a while, the large monument before you came into view.

“Hoover Dam,” you voiced. “Built in the 1930’s.”

“It’s huge,” Thalia awed.

The naiads stopped pushing, and everyone climbed out onto the river’s edge. When the naiads swam away, the canoes gently floated back downstream, pushed by the current.

You stood together, looking up.

“Seven hundred feet tall,” Percy commented.

“Five million cubic acres of water,” Thalia hummed.

“Largest construction project in the United States,” Grover sighed.

Zoe looked at you all like you were crazy. “How do you know all that?”

“Annabeth,” Grover tilted his head.

“She was crazy over architecture. Gods, try getting some sleep in the same cabin as her.”

“Spouted facts all the time,” Thalia said. “Annoying as hell.”

“I wish she were here,” Percy said.

You didn’t have it in you to be annoyed. Because you felt the same way. In a sense, it felt like a mean joke from the world—you’d stopped in one of Annabeth’s dream locations, and she wasn’t able to see it.

“We should go up there.” Percy said. “For her sake. Just to say we’ve been.”

“We don’t have a great track record with heights.”

Percy just grinned.

“You are mad,” said Zoe. “But that is where the road is. And so, sightseeing it is.”

—

“It’s cold,” you sang. “It’s cold and windy and why are we just standing here?” You pivoted to Zoe, flaying your hands. You side-eyed Grover; he sniffed the air, shifted uncomfortably. “I mean, clearly monsters are coming.”

“How close are they?” Percy asked.

Grover shook his curly head. “Maybe not close…the wind from the dam, and the desert all around…scent could probably travel for miles. But it’s coming from almost everywhere. I don’t like it.”

“There’s a snack bar in the visitor centre,” said Thalia.

Percy’s eyebrows knit together. “You’ve come here before?”

“Once, to see the guardians,” she pointed across the dam, where carved into the cliff were two big statues. In the back of your mind, something felt familiar, maybe something you’d learned in school. “They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built; a gift from Athena.”

Tourists were clustered around the statues, seemingly looking at…their feet?

“What are they doing?” You asked.

“Rubbing the toes.”

You gagged.

“They think it brings good luck,” Thalia said.

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Mortals get crazy ideas. They don’t know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there’s something special about them.”

Percy hummed. “When you were here last, did they talk to you or anything?”

Thalia’s expression darkened. “No. They don’t do anything. They’re just statues.”

Just statues brought a hot flame to your heart. Once again, you were reminded of Bianca. How you wished that one had been just a statue.

“Let us find the dam snack bar,” Zoe interrupted your saddening thoughts. You raised your head, blinking away the cloud cover.

Grover cracked a smile. “The dam snack bar?”

Zoe blinked innocently. “Yes. What is so funny?”

“Nothing,” he tried to keep a straight face. “I could use some dam French fries.”

Even Thalia smiled. “I could use the dam restroom.”

Percy snickered. And you broke, showing a smile. Eye contact with Grover proved to be a bad idea—you both broke out laughing.

Zoe just looked between everyone. “I do not understand.”

“I want to use the dam water fountain,” you wiped your eyes, still laughing.

“And,” Thalia tried catching her breath. “I want to…buy a dam t-shirt.”

Percy burst out laughing, setting you off. Zoe was not amused; her face was stoic, if not a little annoyed. You opened your mouth to make a joke, and then—

“Did anyone else just hear a cow?” Percy had stopped laughing.

You snickered, finding humour in the weird situation.

“A dam cow?” Thalia laughed.

“No,” said Grover, seriously. “I heard it too.”

Zoe listened. “I hear nothing.”

“Percy, are you okay?” You asked. Was it heat stroke? Or maybe he was overtired? “There’s definitely no cows about, man.”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just…you guys go ahead,” he said.

“What’s wrong?” Grover prodded.

“Nothing,” he shook his head. “I just need a minute. I need a minute to think.”

Zoe, Thalia and Grover headed off towards the visitor centre, and you were about to follow after them. But Percy looked…a little too confused for you to be happy leaving him on his own, especially hearing cows that weren’t there.

You trailed after him. Percy leaned on the rail that overlooked the water.

You came up beside him. “Do you want some water?”

Looking down at the water, Percy’s hand reached out and snaked around your arm, pulling you closer. Your eyes widened, but you didn’t resist.

“What—”

You followed his gaze downward, and couldn’t believe what you were seeing.

“Is that—”

Percy nodded. “Bessie.”

“Bessie?”

“Bessie the cow serpent.”

You looked at your friend. Your slightly stir-crazy friend. “That explains it all.”

Percy’s bring eyes practically shone looking at the sea creature. “What are you doing here? How did you get up here?”

A quick glance around showed nobody else could see this Bessie. Either that or they were all hoping it would go away if they avoided eye contact.

Bessie swam in a circle, long tail swishing, before bashing its head on the wall of the dam. “Mooooo!”

It was as if you were in a weird dream, quite frankly. A cow-sea-creature nobody but yourselves could see. But in this whole strange world of demigods and gods and monsters, was anything a real shock anymore?

But after the day you’d had so far, and Bianca’s passing, everyone felt like a big, fat joke on you.

“I can’t!” Percy exclaimed. “I’m with my friends!”

Bessie have an urgent moo, and dove underwater, swimming away.

Percy raised his head, green eyes meeting yours, and you hesitated on saying something. A weird chill settled on your spine, as if to say watch your back. You looked behind Percy, and froze. Two tall men in grey camouflage covered flickering skeletal bodies. And they were heading right for you.

“Gotta go,” you snatched up Percy’s hand. “Let’s go!”

You ran as fast as your legs would take you, lungs burning, toward the visitor’s centre. Percy skidded to a stop beside you as you slowed to fit through the entryway, and you didn’t have the time to pay attention to what it was he was looking at behind you. You bolted down the stairs, security yelling for you to slow down, but you paid them no heed. Your friends had no idea what was going on, and like hell would you let a repeat of what happened to Bianca happen.

Percy called your name behind you. “Wait up!” He yelled. “Slow down!”

“Like we have the time!” You called back, not caring if he heard. The ding of an elevator caught your attention. To your left, a group of tourists waited with a guide, and you took your chance, running across to it.

Just as you slid inside, Percy slid in behind you, and the doors closed with a ding. A few people looked your way, as you heaved for breath.

“We’ll be going down seven hundred feet!” The tour guide said cheerfully. Her dark hair was tied up in a long ponytail, and dark shades covered her eyes. “Don’t worry, ladies and gentlemen! The elevator hardly ever breaks!”

You could have rolled your eyes. Hardly ever—chances were, with your luck, the hardly ever part would happen to you.

“Does this go to the snack bar?” Percy asked behind you. A couple of people laughed. The tour guide looked your way, and shivers ran down your spine; you wished Percy had just kept his mouth shut. Your gut twisted.

“To the turbines, young man. Weren’t you listening to my interesting presentation upstairs?”

“Oh, uh, sure. Is there another way out of the dam?”

“It’s a dead end,” said an irritated-sounding tourist behind. You had half a mind to look them up and down for good measure, but refrained. “The only way out is the other elevator.”

With a ding, the elevator doors opened.

“Go right ahead,” the tour guide said. “Another ranger is waiting for you at the end of the corridor.”

You moved quickly, trying to get out of the small space.

“Young man!” The tour guide called. Percy gripped your arm. You turned back.

She’d taken off her sunglasses, twirling them in her hand, and you blanched. Her eyes were a startling grey. Just like yours. Just like Annabeth’s.

Something tugged in your stomach.

And something felt oddly familiar about this guide.

“There is always a way out for those clever enough to find it.”

She looked at you. She winked, the corner of her mouth curved in a sly smile just the way yours did.

Just the way yours did.

You blinked. Before you could give any thought to what just happened, the elevator doors closed, and the only sound you could focus on was the sound of skeleton chattering.

With Percy still attached to your arm, you ran after the tour group, through a weird-looking tunnel made of jagged stone that seemed to go on forever. The air was humid and hot, and when you came out the other end, fifty-feet below you were enormous wind turbines. It was almost enough to send you dizzy.

By this point, you slowed, and allowed yourself to think. You’d gotten here on spontaneous thoughts, but where did you go from here? Considering your line of bad experiences with your own ideas, maybe it was best to sit this part out, the part full of action, and let Percy take the lead. Playing hero wasn’t going so well, for you.

You looked around in a circle, almost feeling desperately lost, as if your body told you let someone else take over. Preferably, an adult. Someone to take this burden from you all. Because, at last, this quest was wearing you thin, and the lingering question and unease surrounding what happened to Bianca would simply not let up on you.

All you wanted now, was to go back to camp.

Percy, at your side, shoulders slumped, sighed. He span his sword, disguised as a pen, between his fingers. You turned to him.

“Look,” you breathed. “I think—”

Percy’s eyes shifted to behind you, and widened. You barely saw the quick sweep of his arm pushing you out of the way before you felt it, staggering aside.

“H-hey—!”

The gleam of his sword caught your eye, as he swiped it straight down. Almost falling back, you turned to the victim of his harsh death.

Except the girl wasn’t dead.

Just horrified.

And very human.

“What the hell?!” She screeched. “Do you always kill people when they open a packet of Kleenex?”

Both yourself and Percy could only blink at the girl, whose wild red hair danced in her eyes. She blew it away, huffing when it fell back.

“You’re human?” Percy frowned.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The girl pulled a face. “Of course I’m human. How did you get that sword through security?”

Your jaw almost dropped. “Ohhhh boy.”

“You can see this?”

The girl rolled her eyes. Her nose was red as if she’d been aggressively wiping it like she had a cold, and jeans with holes all over, like she’d gotten bored in class. The inner stylist in you cringed.

“Well, it’s either a sword or the biggest toothpick in the world,” she scoffed. “And why didn’t it hurt me. Not that I’m complaining. And woah, are you wearing lion fur?” She reached her hand out to Percy’s coat.

At Percy’s lack of words, you looked to him, going to prompt him to explain. But he stood like a fish, mouth agape, staring at this girl. Jealousy ran through your body, and your jaw clenched.

“It’s none of your business, really,” you huffed. The girl’s eyes rolled over to you like she was bored. “I mean, we gotta go anyway, so…”

Percy raised his hand suddenly and snapped his fingers in the girl’s face. She went cross-eyed looking at them. “You don’t see a sword,” he said. “It’s a ballpoint pen.”

She scrunched her nose. “Uh, no. I’m pretty sure it’s a sword.”

You almost wanted to sock Percy in the arm. “Bro, what are you doing? We need to go.”

“Who are you?” Percy ignored you.

“Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Now are you going to answer my questions or am I going to call for security?”

“Uh, miss Rachel Elizabeth Dare,” you imitated poorly. Her face was a picture at your words. “We really have places to be. Percy, we need to go.”

“You in a hurry or trouble?” Rachel asked.

“Hurry.”

“None of your business.”

Percy blinked at you, talking over one another. He sighed.

Rachel coughed a little too loudly for your nerves. You slowly turned to her, ready to give this random girl a piece of your mind. She grabbed your arm and pushed you along.

“Bathroom, now!”

You tripped on a wet floor sign, knocking it down on your way in. You landed on the slimy floor, complaining under your breath. Your own voice was too loud at this point, but something else caught your attention in the background.

The chattering of skeletons.

“Oh my god! Did you see those kids! They just ran at me with swords! I think they went that way towards the wind turbines! You better hurry!”

The chattering grew quieter, and then a knock on the door. “You’re good!”

You emerged back into the public. Rachel Elizabeth Dare looked shaken and slightly pale.

“All clear, but you better go.”

Down the way, skeletons were running in the direction Rachel sent them.

“We owe you, Rachel,” Percy breathed.

“What are those things?”

“The skeletons?”

Rachel nodded uneasily.

“Do yourself a favor,” Percy replied grimly. “Forget it all. Forget you ever met us.”

“Forget you tried to kill me?”

“That too,” you quipped. Rachel side-eyed you. You looked her up and down.

“But who are you?” The question was, very obviously pointed at Percy.

“Percy—gotta go.”

Warmth wrapped your wrist, and pulled you along. Behind you both, Rachel Elizabeth Dare was whining. “What sort of name is Percy Gotta-Go?”

The cafe was packed with kids shouting and crying, and your heart felt about to burst from the run down here. You scanned the room. In the middle, at a round table, Thalia, Grover and Zoe sat with their food.

You ran over, a gross and sweaty mess, panting. You slammed your hands on the table so hard their trays shook. “We—gotta—go,” you heaved.

“But we just got our burritos!” Thalia said.

Zoe looked around. “No. She’s right. Let’s go.”

The cafe wrapped around the dam, giving your friends a good view of the skeletons that had come to kill you. And all of them were armed with batons and pistons. The more urgent problem now, though—the skeletons Rachel had spotted were making their way over. They began to advance.

“Elevator!” Grover gasped.

You all ran for your lives, and skidded to a stop as the elevator arrived on your level with a ding! You scrambled back, almost tripping on someone’s toes as more skeletons came out. You were completely surrounded.

And then…Grover’s brilliant mind surfaced a brilliant plan.

“Good fight!” He screamed.

And launched his burrito right at a skeleton’s face. His skull fell off his shoulders with a clatter, like he’d been taken out by a grenade and not a burrito.

It didn’t take very long for Grover’s plan to take off. Kids began throwing their food this way and that, and you couldn’t even be mad at the soda and chips in your hair because the skeletons couldn’t aim their guns, and you were soon just blurry faces in a raging crowd.

“Four against eleven. What now?”

“It’s been nice going with you guys,” Grover trembled.

“Woah, their toes are really bright?”

“Percy, that’s really weird.”

“Thalia, pray to your dad.”

Said girl glared at your best friend. “He never answers.”

“Just this once. Please just try!”

“No! He won’t answer me!”

“This time is different!”

“Says who?!”

Percy hesitated. “Athena—” your head snapped to him. “I think.”

Thalia scowled.

“Try it!” Grover begged.

Thalia closed her eyes, sighing visibly. Her mouth moved in silent prayer, and you gave thought to what Percy said.

The grey eyes. That weird feeling in your stomach. And the same smile…

Things like that couldn’t be just a coincidence, could they? And after how you had felt all day…was it weird to hope your mom might be giving you guidance?

You tried it too.

Mom. Please, if you can hear me, give us some guidance. Show us what to do. I can’t anymore.

The skeletons closed in, and so did your chest. It pulled tight in a way you had never felt before…was this impending doom?

You dug for your dagger and held it tight in your fist. Percy clutched his sword closer.

Just as you thought your heart was giving out, a shadow fell over you. In slight fear, you tilted back your head, mouth agape. Above you, stood the very statues you set your sights on earlier. The bronze angels. Bullets pinged off their wings like rain on a metal roof. Both angels swept their giant arms like bats, and the skeletons went flying.

“Man, it feels good to stand up!” One said. His voice sounded tinny.

“Will ya look at my toes?” The other said. “What we’re those tourists thinkin’?”

“Get us out of here!” Thalia yelled.

Both angels looked down at her. “Zeus’s kid?”

“Yes!”

“Could I get a please, Miss Zeus’s Kid?”

“Please get us out of here!”

The angels shrugged to one another. “Could give my wings a stretch?”

Next thing you knew, one swept up Percy and Thalia, the other Grover and Zoe, and before you could get left behind, you leapt for one’s wing, shoes scuffling as you pulled your way up to its shoulder.

And then you flew straight up, over the dam, away from the river and the trouble.

—

“Tell me when it’s over!” Thalia said from your left. A timid peak behind the angel’s head showed you Thalia with her eyes squeezed shut, holding on for dear life.

Not that you could blame her. This high up, with nothing to properly hold on to, you were feeling a little worried, too. You’d situated yourself just in the crook of the angel’s neck, on his shoulder, holding on to his ear of all things. Your arms were starting to go a little dead, but you weren’t taking any chances.

“Are we…high?” She asked.

Percy kicked his foot off the edge of the mountain below and shook his head. “Nah, not really.”

It depends who you asked. Even this high was enough for you.

“We are in the Sierras!” Zoe yelled from the other angel. “I have hunted here before. At this speed, we should be in San Francisco in a few hours!”

News which both delighted you and twisted your guts. You would either find your sister alive and well in a state you’d never forget.

“Hey, hey, Frisco!” The other angel yelled. “Yo, chuck, we should visit those other guys at the Mechanics Monument again! They know how to party!”

“Oh, man, I am so there!”

“You’ve visited San Francisco?” You raised a brow.

“We automatons gotta have some fun once in a while, right?” Yours said. “Those Mechanics took us over to the de Young Museum and introduced us to these marble ladies, and see—”

“Alright!” You exclaimed. “Feel free to stop there.”

“Hank!” The other angel, Chuck, laughed. “They’re kids, man.”

“Oh, right. Back to flying.”

They sped up. The snowy mountains fell away soon enough and transformed into farmland and roads, and then the city.

It turned quiet after a while. Thalia muttered to herself. Grover played his pipes quietly, and Zoe pegged a bullseye on ever my Target you passed.

“Hey.”

You looked down, with hesitancy. Percy was looking up.

“Sup?”

You pressed your lips together, thinking. “You think that was really my mom back there?”

He didn’t talk for a few seconds. “Maybe. I mean, I just…I had a feeling. But…”

Percy’s unsureness didn’t put yours off. Because the more you thought about it, the more you had a feeling you were right.

The angels landed on a ferry dock, once in San Francisco. You scared a homeless man, who ran off yelling about metal angels from mars.

Only when it was quiet and still, did you wonder what next?

You looked between your friends, all appearing as stuck as you.

What Percy said next struck you.

“Look, guys,” he said almost hesitantly. “I haven’t mentioned this before, but, uh, halfway down here, I had a dream. I talked to Apollo in it, and he said something about finding this monster.”

“What kind of monster?” Thalia eyeballed him.

“I’m not sure.” Percy shrugged. “He just said it would help us find our way. Nereus, I think he was called.”

“Nereus, eh?” Zoe pulled a disgusted face.

“The old man of the sea,” said Percy.

“You know him?” Asked Thalia.

“My mother was a sea goddess. Yes, I know him. Unfortunately he is very hard to find. Just follow the smell.”

You all strolled across the pier to a charity shop hosting cardboard boxes of free clothes for the homeless outside. You were confused as Zoe stopped outside of it and turned to face you all.

“Trust me,” she said, talking to Percy, who instantly pulled a mistrusting face, mouth curved unhappily. “Put these on.”

She dressed him in too-big pants, a ragged flannel shirt and shoes that made him look like an improvising clown, lost from the circus.

You couldn’t help the laugh that fell from your mouth at the sight of him. Even Grover was holding back a smile. Percy was not by any means impressed.

Zoe stepped back and looked him over, and then nodded, impressed. “A typical male vagrant.”

“Thanks a lot,” he grumbled. “Why am I doing this?”

“I told thee; to blend in.”

Zoe led the way down to the water-front. After a long time of her searching for something, she finally stopped, and turned to Percy. She pointed to a group of homeless guys huddled together with blankets.

“He will be down there somewhere,” she said. “He never veers far from the water. He likes to sun himself during the day.”

“How do I know which one is him?” Asked Percy. You nodded, looking at Zoe.

“Sneak up. Act homeless. You will know who he is. He…he smells different.”

“Great. And once I find him?”

“Grab him. And hold on. He will try anything to be rid of thee. Whatever he does, do not let go. Force him to tell thee about the monster.”

Ah. The monster, which nobody had mentioned to you. Just another punch to the chest.

“We’ve got your back,” said Thalia, reaching out and picking something off of Percy’s new—well, reused—shirt. She gagged. “On second thought, I don’t want your back. But we’ll be rooting for you.”

Percy huffed, looking the least happy you’d ever seen him. He turned to you, and offered a tight-mouthed smile. More of a grimace.

“Any advice?”

“I’ve stopped all that. It doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere good. Just do you.”

The rest of you observed your friend as he wandered down the dock, looking lost and confused. Eventually, Percy left your line of sight, and you found a nice spot on the floor to rest a while.

A ruckus a few yards away caught your attention. You looked at Thalia, who hummed. Then her eyes went wide, and the shouts of anger turned into awe.

“Whoa!”

You turned, mouth agape, as a giant killer whale came burst out of the water and feet into the air. Percy gave you all a little wave, before plunging into the sea.

“Well. At least we know he’s fine.”

It wasn’t long before Percy wrestled the old man to the surface. Thalia tapped your arm. “Let’s go!”

“You got him!” Zoe yelled. The four of you sprinted down to Percy.

“You don’t have to sound so amazed,” he said.

Even from a foot away, the smell of gross seaweed and dried up something filled your nose. You wanted to gag. Nereus groaned. “Oh wonderful, an audience for my humiliation. The normal deal, I suppose? You’ll let me go if I answer your questions.”

“Sure,” you shrugged.

“Only one question per capture!”

Percy’s silence followed with his sigh. “Alright, Nereus. Tell me where to find this terrible monster that could bring an end to the gods. The one Artemis was hunting.”

“Oh, that’s too easy,” Nereus grinned evilly. “He’s right there!” Nereus pointed at the water by Percy’s feet.

“Where?”

“The deal is complete!”

With a plop, he turned into a goldfish and summersaulted into the sea.

“Wait!”

“Stop!” Thalia shoved forward. “What is that?”

“Mooooooo!”

You blinked. Maybe you weren’t insane at all. The serpent-cow swam around in the water, giving Percy the puppy dog eyes.

“Ah,” he grimaced. “Bessie, not now.”

“Moooo!”

“He says his name isn’t Bessie,” Grover said.

“You can understand her…I mean, him?”

Grover nodded. “It’s a very old form of animal language, but he says his name is Ophiotaurus.”

“The what?”

“It means serpent-bull in Greek.” Thalia said. “But what’s it doing here?”

“Moooo!”

“It says Percy is it’s protector.”

You scoffed, playfully. “Percy couldn’t protect a teddy bear.”

“Hey!”

“He’s running from bad people. He says they’re close.”

Thalia’s eyes practically bugged out of her head. “And you somehow forgot to mention this before?”

“Well, yeah.”

“I know this story!” Zoe said suddenly. She snapped her fingers. “From the War of the Titans. My father told me this tale thousands of years ago. This is the beast we are looking for.”

Your gaze dropped to the doe-eyed creature swimming in urgent circles. It mooed sadly. You eyed it sceptically.

“Bessie?” Percy’s tone of voice told you he had the same thought. “But…he’s too cute. He couldn’t destroy the world…”

“This is how we were wrong,” Zoe persuaded. “We had been expecting a great monster of terrible power. But the ophiotaurus can not harm the very way that other creatures do. He must be sacrificed.”

“I don’t think he likes the S-word,” Grover muttered.

Percy knelt, the damp ground around him soaking into his jeans and drying instantly. He reached out a hand, and scratched the creature’s head. “How could anyone hurt him? He’s harmless.”

Zoe nodded. “But there is power in killing innocence. Terrible power. The Fates ordained a prophecy eons ago, when this creature was born. They said that whoever killed the Ophiotaurus and sacrificed its entrails to fire would have the power to destroy the gods.”

“MMMMMM!”

“Um,” Grover said. “Maybe we could avoid talking about entrails, too.”

Thalia stared at the cow serpent with wonder. “The power to destroy the gods . . . how? I mean, what would happen?”

“No one knows,” Zoe said. “The first time, during the Titan war, the Ophiotaurus was in fact slain by a giant ally of the Titans, but thy father, Zeus, sent an eagle to snatch the entrails away before they could be tossed into the fire. It was a close call. Now, after three thousand years, the Ophiotaurus is reborn.”

Thalia sat down on the dock. She stretched out her hand. Bessie went right to her. Thalia placed her hand on his head. Bessie shivered.

“We have to protect him. If Luke gets hold of him…”

“Luke wouldn’t hesitate,” you said. You didn’t know him well, not the way Percy or Thalia did, but you knew that much. And, even if you didn’t, you could sense it. “The power to overthrow Olympus? That’s…that’s huge.”

“Yes.”

A hand clapped down on your shoulder. You pulled away, walking backward into Grover. Your heart thudded painfully.

There, before you, stood Dr. Thorn, eyes glinting menacingly.

“And it is a power you shall unleash.”

oh. my. gods. it’s quite literally been months. and I didn’t even finish this chapter. I just needed to get something out.

I’m so sorry for the absence.

taglist: @bl6o6dy @lilyevanswhore @embersparklz @rottenstyx @rory-cakes @i-am-scared-and-useless-bisexual @marshmallow12435 @lantsovheiress @distinguishedmakerpandapatrol @twsssmlmaa @gayandfairycore @padsfirewhisky @emu281 @charlesswife @jessiegerl @crackerphobic20 @mata0-0mata @jccc1000 @xx-all-purpose-nerd-xx @nothankyou138

#capsize #percy jackson #asks #anon #percy Jackson x reader #percy Jackson fanfiction #percy Jackson x oc #Annabeth chase #Disney #Rick riordan #leo valdez x reader #leo valdez #nico di angelo #Thalia grace #percy jackson x y/n

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blueseachelle · 1 year

Text

A Reunion

So, this is going to be a smut for my series, It’s a Contract. You could call this Chapter 7 if you want. It technically is. Same features and everything. If you have not read the small series, I do recommend reading! Let’s continue.

I feel like Percy needs some love. True lovin’.

Critical Role Vox Machina

Percy De Rolo x Fem! Reader Smut

Minors do not interact

Percy decided to lay in bed with Y/n after sitting on the edge for a couple minutes, admiring her peaceful state.

He stood up and started taking off the remainder of his outfit. First was the boots, then the vest, and finally, his pants. He crawled into bed in nothing but his boxers. He wrapped his arms around the smaller lady. He snuggled into her hair as he spooned her.

His hands landed on her hips. Y/n moved slightly to scoot closer to him. Percy chuckled. The vibration pulled her from the light sleep she was in. She slowly readjusted her position to face Percy. She looked up at him with her beautiful blue eyes.

“You done tinkering for tonight?”

Percy leaned down and gave her a small kiss,

“Yeah. Taking a break for the night.”

She smiled at him and cuddled closer to him.

“Good. I was getting a little cold.”

She leaned up and kissed him, holding on to the kiss in the process. Percy squeezed her almost bare hips. All she was wearing was s pair of panties. Since she wore her armor that held her chest all the time, she had no need for a bra, so she developed a habit of no bra when sleeping.

She gigged into the kiss and moved to wrap her arms around his neck. This gave him the okay to in his mind to flip the situation. He gripped her hips and twisted them so that he was on top of her during the kiss. He moved one leg to be in between her legs.

The kiss instantly became something else. It deepened immediately. Y/n’s hands moved from around his neck to on in his silver locks and the other to the middle of his shoulder blades.

Percy moved his knee to be right against her clothed womanhood. He could feel the wetness that was forming because of his actions. The kiss finally broke so, he moved down to kiss the blue-nette’s jawline, making his way towards her neck. In between kisses he told her,

“I miss you so much, My Love. I thought about you every second of the day and longed for you every night.”

With that, he bit down on the familiar place that made her gasp, which she did. Gods above, it’s been so long for them.

“*Gasp* I know, Perc. I missed you so so much. I longed for you every second. I prayed for our meeting again and your safety.”

He smiled and made his way down with his kisses. When he got to her nipple, he gave it a little suck and moved his hand to play with the opposite one.

Y/n moaned slightly and gripped his hair as he played with her. He switched between sides a couple of times before continuing to move down.

Percy worshipped every inch of her body as he made his way down to that sweet spot between her legs, licking and sucking every spot his lips touched. He whispered sweet words and how much he missed her. Everything he never got to say until now. Y/n’s body soaked in all the pleasure it could. She missed him so much. Her body was so sensitive so, the wetness just kept gathering more and more.

When Percy finally got down to the pooled heat, he moved past it and kissed her thighs instead. They quivered with need as he made hickeys and nipped at them. He let out a breathy chuckle making her face turn red.

“P-Percy, I-I-“

“I know, Doll. You will be satisfied soon.”

With that, he bit down on her thigh on last time, making Y/n let out a squeak. He smiled at her and slowly started to pull down her panties.

When they were finally removed, Percy settled between her legs. Y/n instinctly opened her legs wider for him. He bought a hand down and started to tease the now exposed wet flesh.

She sucked in a sharp breath.

“Wow. Look at how wet you are for me. You really did miss me.”

She didn’t have time to respond before he started to slow began it insert one of his digits inside her. She let out the breath as a moan and arched her back slightly. Percy watched her reaction and it went straight to his already hard cock. He didn’t know how long he would hold out. He knew it’s been a long time for both of them so, he will make this amazing. He knew that he would have to take it slow with her. She’ll have to be readjusted to his size.

With that thought, he added another finger into her tight slicked pussy. She let out a louder moan, he hands grabbed the bedsheets next to her. He brought his unoccupied hand to hold one of her hands. He rubbed her knuckles and kiss them as he fingered her.

Y/n thighs started to shake worse. That familiar coil formed in her abdomen. He felt her tighten around his figures.

“P-Perc-“

Percy knew what she was going to say and stopped his figures movement instantly and slowly removed them. Her eyes instantly flicked to his. She watched as he sucked on his slicked figures. After he was finished, he came up and kissed her, making her taste herself in the process. After the kiss, Percy moved back to his position,

“Since it has been so long, My Darling, I want you to cum on my cock. I think it’s only fair we cum together, don’t you agree? You taste divine by the way.”

Y/n could only nod. Her head was still swirling as she was still coming down from her almost high. Percy removed his boxers, revealing his extremely hardened member. Y/n’s eyes widened. It was bigger than what she remembered it being. She laid in shock until she felt it poke at her entrance.

She widened her legs more. Percy moved his hands to hold on to her thighs and gave them a squeeze,

“I’ll take it easy, I promise. Just relax.”

With that, he slowly entered her aching heat. He squeezed his eyes shut as did she. They both were breathing heavy. He slowly entered little by little, taking queues by her body language. He then felt a hand on his. He opened his eyes to meet Y/n’s blue ones. Nothing was said. All Y/n did was nod. Percy knew that was an okay to go in all the way and start moving.

Of course, he did this cautiously at first. Y/n’s moans of pleasure gave him more courage. Soon enough, he was trusting harder and faster, one of his hands holding one of Y/n’s.

Amongst the moans and grunts of pleasure, they told each other how much they love each other and missed each other. Y/n felt her coil once again, it was building more and more now.

“My Love, I’m getting close.”

Percy heard this and nodded,

“Okay. Let’s finish together. Hang on a little longer.”

Percy moved his other hand that was on her thigh to her other hand. He held it. Her legs instantly wrapped around his waist. He kissed her desperately. Y/n couldn’t hang on anymore. Percy felt this and mumbled into the kiss,

“Cum for me, My Love. Please.”

The coil instantly snapped in her abdomen, Her hands unconsciously gripped onto his tighter. A couple thrusts later, Percy hit his high. He removed his hands to hug her as his hips spammed. She felt his twitch and a hot liquid fill her up. They stayed in that position for a couple minutes, basking in the after glow of being reunited.

Percy lifted his head and gave Y/n a kiss.

“I love you so much, Y/n. You are my world.”

Y/n smiled at him,

“I love you so much, Percy. You are my world.”

Percy pulled her in again for a deep kiss.

I hope you enjoyed this smut! I do have a request post so, drop a request if you like! See ya in the next one!

#vox machina #d&d 5e #percy de rolo #percy de rolo x reader #x reader #dungeons and dragons #percival de rolo #critcal role #smut #tlovm smut #tlovm percy #tlovm x reader #tlovm x you #the legend of vox machina #percival

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via-rant · 10 months

Text

Obrumbratio Scintillae

Chapter 5 -

Leo stormed out of the tent, Nico following close behind.

"Leo, what's wrong?"

"We're watching our leader turn against us, that's what!"

"They hurt you. You passed out. He's protecting us."

" 'Protecting us'?! What?! Like Agnus?!" Leo yelled and Nico glared. Agnus is a guy they trusted. They became friends and he used them, framed them for drug use.

"That's different." Nico said, sounding like he was going to cry.

"Oh, it's different! It's always different!" Leo yelled and Nico glared harder. He didn't know what that meant but he could tell he heard it a lot. Maybe he said it a lot. And he did. He's trusted over and over and over and they all ended up with him heartbroken. And he had that same feeling with Luke now. He's not ignoring it again.

"We can. Trust him." Leo had smoke coming from his arms but neither noticed.

"No! You can trust him! How am I supposed to trust a guy who used kids?! Percy deserved it but other ones?!"

"He saved my life! He just saved yours!"

"He probably only did it because he felt like he needed to!"

"He's been taking care of us!"

"Just like everyone else here! You think we're special?!"

"Woah woah woah boys!" Faith said running to them. She didn't hear anything they said except the last few sentences. And she saw the smoke coming from Leo. His arms, legs, hair. She heard commotion over here with swords and came over as fast as she could when she heard them arguing. She took a breath.

"Nico? Why don't you go see Luke? I need to talk with Leo." Nico stormed off to the tent wiping his tears and kicking rocks on the way. Faith looked back at Leo and sat in front of him.

"What?" He asked holding back tears. She pat the spot in front of her and he rolled his eyes but did what she said in an angrier way, knees to his chest, picking at the grass next to him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit."

"Nothing!" He yelled and she sat quietly in concern. She waited until he was calmed down just a bit. The smoke clearing with each piece of grass he ripped out of the ground.

"You know I'd never hurt you. Right? You can talk to me." She said and it was a few seconds before Leo sighed.

"I met dad." He said and Faiths eyes widened.

"Oh! When?"

"In my dream." She smiled.

"Was I right?" And he laughed.

"Yeah you were right. It's 'Hephy'." He used finger quotes and frowned, wiping his tears and she frowned with him. She debated asking about the smoke but decided against it. Focus on helping him relax.

"What happened?"

"He watched. My entire life he watched and did nothing." He hugged his legs tighter. "And now Luke is leaving and you guys saw the smoke and I might have just ruined mine and Nicos friendship."

"No. No. You guys had an arguement. That happens sometimes. Friends have arguements. You just need to apologize and make up for it." She assured and he wiped his tears. Then she thought about the other things.

"And the smoke?"

"I... I don't have any control over it. If I get too worked up about anything it just comes out and I hate it. I always end up hurting someone."

"So you just... don't use it?"

"What if I lose control again?"

"Leo, it's better to use it more. The more you use it, the more practice you have with it. Learn to control it so you don't hurt the good people when you do use it."

"How?"

"I don't have any experience with powers but I can try."

"Maybe look in your archives and books. Boring, boring books."

"You read books."

"Fantasy books, ma'am. With action and adventure. Not text books." He said and she rolled her eyes with a smile. Especially at ma'am. Being Trans was really hard here. People respected her but only when they knew it was her. Anyone who didn't know her just immediately thought she was a guy. Short hair (all the woman had to cut their hair short due to the lack of supplies they had) taller, more muscular than a woman. She didn't have any satisfaction of any HRT or surgeries due to her family kicking her out as soon as she said those words, so her voice sounded "manly" too. When she told Luke he gave her immense support and loved her very much. She cried that night.

She shook her head knowing she was getting off topic. Then thought about Luke. About what Leo said about him.

"One more thing Leo." She asked and he

"What do you mean by Luke is leaving?" He told her what happened since he woke up and she stared in heartbreak. "I'll uh... I'll talk to him and we can come up with something." She said when he finished explaining.

"But, for now, why don't you go to bed? It's late and we're all tired. We'll talk in the morning okay?" She asked and he nodded before hugging her. Which surprised her. He didn't let anyone else but Nico touch him unless they needed to. He trusted her. She smiled and hugged back. They lasted for about a minute before he left for bed and she walked to the tent.

---------

Nico went back to the tent trying to calm himself down but the tears just kept coming. He closed his eyes and imagined he was with Bianca. Maybe at a beach.

"Nico?" Luke asked in concern. No. He was with Luke. "What happened?" He asked and Nico hugged him for comfort. He did that a lot. Luke or Leo or Faith whoever is closest to him. He just asks for comfort and they gladly give it to him. Luke hugged back and started rubbing his head.

"Me and Leo had a fight."

"About what?"

"He doesn't trust you. I just don't get it. You saved us. And you're trying to protect us, why doesn't he get that?!" He started shaking and his breathing was getting faster and he couldn't stop crying.

"Nico? Nico, it's okay. I'm right here. Breathe. In... and out. In... and out." He followed his instructions and was sitting next to him, leaning his head on his arm in a few minutes. He was too small to reach his shoulder. Kronos groaned in his head and mumbled cursesat Luke.

"Nico, he doesn't have to trust me. He can do whatever he wants."

"I know I just..."

"You want us to be friends?"

"Yeah..." Luke loved how sweet he was. No matter what shit the others said about them they always proved them wrong. Another reason to leave.

"Nico, you can't change peoples minds about some things. You can't force him to trust me. And honestly I don't blame him. I wouldn't if I learned someone I loved hurt other people before. What stops them from doing it again? Besides when I go back to Camp they'll probably kick my butt. And guess what? I deserve it. Immensly." He said sadly and looked at Percy. Nico was half asleep on him. He had a long day today with the worrying and the arguing and the panic attack. So Luke took this time to talk to Percy.

"I'm really sorry. I don't think I can convince you guys to trust me again, I just... I want you to know that I..."

Don't say it.

"I was... wrong." Percy was about to say something when someone walked into the tent and they looked over. Faith looked at Luke with a weird expression. She looked hurt.

"We need to talk."

--------

I know you guys have been waiting I am working on it don't worry!! Also yes, Faith is Trans! We don't have enough Trans girls and I want to show my appreciation for them! They're all gorgeous and smart and funny and I love you all!! Here you guys go!!

@moa-broke-me @yonemurishiroku @pjo-hoo-toa-freakazoid @potatoman-taterdude @the-demigod-slytherclaw @im-always-lost-in-a-book @stillcarmine @art-randomness @cryptic-ember

#obrumbratio scintillae #leo valdez #nico di angelo #luke castellan #faith port #valdangelo #percy jackson #trans oc #original character #I feel like I did something wrong

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utilitycaster · 1 year

Note

Im very very intrigued by your take on wisdom being the more arrogant stat. Is your thinking that wisdom is more ‘inherant’ while intelligence is typically earned? Please elaborate!!

Not quite about what's earned vs. inherent and more about where these types of arrogance draws the line.

In real life, while I’ve run into no small number of immensely arrogant academics, nothing will ever exceed the smugness of people who claim to be “empaths” while generally being insufferable black holes of energy and time. At least the academics are correct some of the time. Having good insight is all well and good but if instead of using that simply to inform your interactions with that person, you act like you know what’s best for them…that’s a level of arrogance that intellectual snobbery can never, in my mind, achieve.

To use the examples I gave - I think Percy is, to be clear, a hugely arrogant prick (honorific), and I think Keyleth is typically a more well-intentioned person than he. But I also think that Keyleth does, for example, tend to operate on a sense of legacy that presumes a thousand-plus year lifespan, and doesn’t really think through the fact that Percy is someone who’d be lucky to live a century and who has spent his entire adult life assuming he is the sole survivor of his family line. It’s not that Percy’s actions are good; but they are understandable, and he is coming from a very different place than Keyleth. And it’s Percy who’s able to point this out.

This is also true of Caduceus, who of the Mighty Nein has very little life experience, but does tend to assume he knows what’s best for people. He is, as I’ve discussed many times, a quietly deeply arrogant character. Many of his banger lines absolutely don’t land with the target - “rest well with your poor decisions” is hilarious but judgmental and completely misses Fjord’s objectives; his line to Trent flies so far from the mark he may as well not have said anything at all. He’s not wrong, per se…but he assumes everyone operates on the same principles he does.

I think while the flaw of intelligent characters is often to assume their knowledge surpasses that of other people, the flaw of wise characters is often to assume that their perspective is objectively the right one. And the thing is, an INT 20 wizard probably does know way more than other people, whereas a WIS 20 cleric probably doesn’t have a universal perspective. Wise characters often don’t know what they don’t know, and intelligent characters often do.

I should point out - in Worlds Beyond Number, this observation concerned a fey-influenced girl with anti-magic abilities who had a job with a weird and unpleasant hedge mage. Suvi, a wizard of the Citadel and essentially the adoptive daughter of someone important within the Empire, suggests she go to the Citadel for opportunities. Ame, a witch from a small town, opposes this in part because she (with a good insight check) realizes that the girl is not unhappy in her role, which Suvi does look down upon. The thing is…neither of them know what will be best for her! They both assume they’re right, and they’re both well-intentioned. But Ame fucks it up specifically by telling Suvi that she (Suvi) had opportunities this girl would not - which may or may not be true (it’s genuinely not made clear). Both Suvi and Ame make a ton of presumptions here, but Ame is the one who specifically assumes Suvi is wrong.

This also happens to tie into another common thing about WBN: While for narrative reasons I do expect the Empire to be a deeply flawed and well, imperial thing, I’ve already seen so much that’s just people knee-jerk hearing “empire” and losing any sense of nuance and analysis. It’s simply not possible yet to have any meaningful discussion of the actual flaws in the specific society in question. We’ve really only seen Suvi, who is, I should note, arrogant, but also at most 20 years old and a wizard prodigy who was orphaned at the age of six by parents who died for the Empire, and that should be taken into account. Which kind of gets back to the main point! A lot of people who I think would consider themselves insightful and empathetic tend to also go off gut feelings instead of actually exploring the reality of a scenario.

#answered #faltermoth

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nicosavior456 · 3 months

Text

Adventures of Chika Hanabusa: The Restoration of Earth

Disclaimer: This book follows the events of Percy Jackson and Heros of Olympus fanfic, this fanfic will not include Trails of Apollo, The Kane Chronicles, and Magnus Chase.

Chapter 21: Earth Being A Cranky Old Lady

Gaia PoV

I had awakened from my nap, still trapped in that girl’s body. Her self-consciousness seems very pure with many flowers like roses, sunflowers, daisies, and even cacti. The landscape is forever a sunny day. It is impressive but it is still a prison. This girl, Chika Hanabusa, is painfully naive when it comes to understanding evil, but I sense no malice from her compare to her kind. I would have pity demigods for they are slaves to the gods, if they didn’t defeated my children and I in the war. I can respect the fact that they are braver than the gods and have the gall to face me. How can demigods be so content to fight for uncaring beings? After all, they have neglected to take care of my body and focus on making bastards with mortals. Humans are awful too, they have polluted my domain with their factories and have wage wars with each other since they were created by Prometheus, my grandson. Speaking of humans, I can sense the girl has appeared in this realm.

“Hi I assume you have woken up, I want to talk to you?" The human girl, Chika appears, with her green shorts and a floral design tanktop, I'm assuming these clothes are what is considered sleepwear.

“What makes you think I want to talk to you mortal?” I sneered, that gall of this girl to demand my audience.

“If you don’t want to talk to me that’s fine but I do want to understand you.” The girl naively says. I just bitterly chuckle, how can a human even attempt to comprehend a being such as myself?

"Know your limits, girl, how can you think of such a thing?" I coldly say and the air has become a bit colder, I see so this place can change this girl and my emotions.

“You’re right, I can’t understand you since I’m a human and you are the planet. I do want to make this world a better place and I do want to end pollution in some way. I do want to stop animals from becoming extinct thanks to my kind actions. I do need your guidance.” Chika bows in the grass. I came out under the grass and formed a humanoid form. The grass has covered my body and hair is loose around my head. The human looks at me in awe, it seems she can sense my power.

“You seem aware of human wickedness and yet you dare pester me with these false promises, tsk just say you want my power to wage your stupid wars," I say in an irritated tone, I'm not going to hear it from her, she's no different from her kind. Greedy, treacherous, violent, revolting primates.

“No I don’t want your powers at all, I just want to help the planet the best way I can. I’m very limited but I am passionate about preserving the environment. I just want to make things right.” Chika exclaimed while she sat on her knees in front of me.

“You can’t make things right, you are just one stupid demigod. Your kind has hurt me for all too long. Your kind are nothing but a bunch of selfish ingrates, who destroyed my body beyond repair. Your kind has made zero contributions to making my realm better. Now get out of my sight before I will kill you." I say loudly, this human is making me angry. She has been wasting my time, saying all this feel-good rubbish. ‘oh, I want to help you, I’m a good person’, she just scum like all the rest.

“You’re right, I’m a stupid demigod who is way over her head. But at least I’m not a bitter old hag like you, you just give up on us. I guess I can’t blame you, my kind have taken you for granted and we have exploited you for our gain for far too long. I do want to help you, but not at the cost of killing my kind. Look I will leave now, someday I hope you can open your heart to me and we can become friends. I just want to say on behalf of my entire species, that we are sorry and that we will do better for your sake." Chika says while her presence is gone away from me.

Good riddance, this girl is way over her head. I’m not going to get duped with her small promises. Is she right about me being a bitter old hag? Great now I'm being self-conscious about this. Why did she just apologize to me? What game is she playing? Was she being sincere? I didn't detect any lies from her. I don't know what to do with her or even what I should feel about her. I can say that she's annoying, I'm going to sleep. I'm too old for this do-goody nonsense.

#pjo #pjo ocs #pjo fanfic #gaia

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bishop-percival · 9 months

Text

@stuckinuniformdevelopment

(prev) Teddy was stunned that Revenard Mike respected his refusal. He blankly stared at him, blunk a few times, then averted his eye and rubbed his head. “I suppose I could prob him to see if it’s even possible without an apology and show of respect from Shep and Bishop Percival. Primarily the latter. All Shep ultimately did was light the fuse.” That much wouldn’t be taking advantage of Commander Peepers. As much as Teddy despised him, using him didn’t sit right with him when he’d hinted at watchdogs getting close to him for his position before. Besides, he had a hunch that some of his recent rants were as much blowing off steam as feeding him information to leak. “Commander Peepers currently sees the Glornists as parasites clinging to his magical support,” Teddy said as he started to pace. “And he’s already interviewing replacements. I believe he’s one spat away from loosening the watchdog requirement.” He paused to put his hand on his chin. “I’m fairly new to this, but aren’t watchdogs an anomaly when you compare their magical potential to other small eyeclops? Any rare, almost mythical beings are probably out. Yet it isn’t terribly hard to find a decent selection of orisi in this galaxy when you have an entire empire at your disposal.” Then Teddy tested how sturdy the stepladder was before leaning on it. “Your best bet may to make clergy work part-time so you can gain positions he respects. That way staying abroad won’t rest solely on if Bishop Percival decides to play nice or not.” “Convincing Revenard Miriam to use her magic directly for the empire may be enough to preserve the Glornch on its own. Although surely the rest of the Glornists would still be judged by how they benefit him.” Teddy tilted his head back to look at Revenard Mike. “The team hunting down relics of unspeakable power has had a months-long string of disappointments. And librarians are always in short supply.”

Mike quietly wrote some notes as Teddy spoke. He didn’t interrupt once, save for a quiet scoff that slipped out when Teddy mentioned Miriam. Mike knew his sister wouldn’t be caught dead using her magic for someone like Commander Peepers. And just the thought of her trying to function in a part-time job outside of the church was rich.... Although, he really couldn't imagine himself doing well in one one either, even if it was something that pertained to his interests.

He rested an elbow on his knee and leaned his head into his hand. “Some of what you’ve described here isn’t too far off from how the COG used to function. Deacons at least were allowed to have a life outside the church. Some even volunteered to do odd jobs around the Skullship. But over the years, Percival became more and more controlling about the clergy’s doings. Just as he’s become more and more careless about his own actions. And as he’s become more and more powerful…”

Mike removed his glass from his face and got out a soft cloth from his pocket to wipe it down. He was hesitant to speak out loud further about his concerns with Percy. But it was such a heavy weight on his mind that bearing it alone was proving to be difficult, almost impossible. It was only slightly humiliating, and ironic, that the only person Mike felt somewhat-comfortable enough talking about this to was some infiltrator who held mutual distrust towards him.

After a pause, Mike replaced his glass. “Listen, I... accidentally let it slip that I learned of Percy’s true intentions. And when pressed on how I learned this, instead of ratting YOU out,” He leaned over and flicked Teddy’s helmet during the emphasized 'you', hoping it would make him stop leaning on the ladder, “I took it upon myself to lie and say it was me who was conscious during the last summoning ritual.”

Mike fixed his gaze on the telescope. "My next moves have to be delicate. I'm one more misstep from being scrapped. Glorn knows I can't take him on."

#stuckinuniformdevelopment #long post

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letannabethchasesayshit · 11 months

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Summary: Ripley Curbello's father always told her how she was born of the night sky. As it turns out, he was telling her the truth. She is the Daughter of Nyx, Greek Goddess of the Night. After Ripley's father is killed, she is sent on the run. She is all alone but not for long. She finds Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, and Luke Castellan. All four of them lost their families or were rejected. All four were alone, but they found love and family together. It was the four of them against the world and Ripley thought it always would be. Ripley must grapple with finding a family, losing them, and her fear of herself. All rational people are afraid of the dark, and Ripley is not different.

Fandom: Percy Jackson

Read on AO3 here

Part 8/14

Chapter Eight: Rest in Spaghetti Never Forgetti

“Finally,” Thalia sighed.

Luke held back several branches in order for Thalia and Annabeth to step through. I was still on Thalia’s back, she and Luke had been taking turns carrying me as they crossed the state.

We finally found ourselves on the border of New York and at our hiding spot. This was the furthest North we had ever made a safehouse and it hadn’t been long since we had been back. The woven vines and leaves perfectly camouflaged the safe house. Inside, several sleeping backs were rolled in the corner along with an empty ice chest and a kerosene lamp. On the opposite side a few old bronze spear tips were gathered in a tin can. An old cookie tin held the bits of ambrosia we had left behind for exactly this sort of situation.

Thalia crouched near the small fire pit in order to let me off her back. With Annabeth’s help, I slid off and slowly sat on one of the four logs surrounding the fire pit. Annabeth quickly fell to her knees next to me, allowing me to lean against her for support.

Without a single word, Thalia began to set up a fire. She stacked logs and tinder without looking up. Her every move was smooth, almost too smooth, Thalia always had a bit of a jagged edge to every move. For her to be so smooth, something had to be wrong.

I was in too much pain to realize the chill hanging in the air. Thalia’s anger was evident not only in her actions but in the air around her. The whole way to the campsite, she had been completely silent, only ever talking to Annabeth and I. Every time Luke tried to talk to her, she would give him the cold shoulder, just as she was doing then.

Luke quickly shrunk into himself. He suddenly went from a warrior without a single care, to a nervous kid. His hands shook ever so slightly as he moved to the makeshift tent. He pulled a quarter of the ambrosia out of its cookie tin and handed it to Annabeth, “Make sure she eats this. Remember, small bites.”

“Small bites,” Annabeth muttered to herself as she broke off a corner, “Got it.”

She handed me a piece of the ambrosia as Luke began to unroll the sleeping bags in the tent. The entire time, we were dead silent. As the ambrosia began to take effect, I began to notice the darkness lingering around more. I could feel the absolute fury Thalia had in her soul, but there was something else much deeper. She was afraid. She hid it well, covering it in mountains of anger, but I could feel it. Thalia was afraid, of what, I didn’t know, but from the way she looked at Luke I had a few guesses.

Dinner was just as quiet. Luke cooked up the last of our hotdogs as Thalia checked all my bandages. She sat opposite of Luke but never once looked at him, not even when he handed her a hotdog.

I was just about ready to jump out of my skin when Thalia suddenly stood, “Alright, come on, you two, it’s time for bed.”

Annabeth and I didn’t even have it in us to argue. She and Thalia each took one of my arms and helped me to the tent. Not even ambrosia could heal my injuries so quickly. Though they got better faster, it would still take time for my wounds to be fully healed. Annabeth and I curled up side-by–side as we always did, our sleeping bags almost blending into one. Thalia stood at the door for a moment watching us with a slight smile.

“I’ll take first watch,” Luke came up behind her.

Thalia’s smile dropped as she spun around to look at Luke for the first time since we chased the boar, “You and I need to talk.”

Thunder cracked in the distance and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Annabeth gripped my hand, though I don’t think she fully realized. Both of us peered over the edges of our sleeping bags to watch the two older kids move to the opposite side of the dying fire.

They were quiet for several minutes. Thalia would glance at us every so often and it occurred to me that she was waiting for us to go to sleep. Annabeth and I exchanged glances beneath the folds of our sleeping bags and we simultaneously had the same idea. We wanted to know what was wrong and there was only one way, we had to pretend to fall asleep and eavesdrop.

It was easier said than done. At the end of the day, we were still just kids. Annabeth was only seven and I was only six, no amount of monsters killed would change that. After such an eventful day, it became easier to fall asleep than stay awake. Annabeth started to snore almost as soon as she closed her eyes.

For me, it was different, it always was. As the fire began to die, the night became darker, and I became more afraid. Annabeth fell into a peaceful sleep by my side, but I remained wide awake and as still as a statue. Apparently, that was enough to convince Thalia I had fallen asleep.

“What has gotten into you, Luke?” Thalia whispered.

Luke hesitated, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We’ve spent the last year running away from monsters but ever since we left your mom’s house, you’ve been chasing them.”

“If we didn’t chase them, they’d chase us, I’m just saving time.”

“You aren’t saving anything,” Thalia spat, “You almost got Ripley killed today, Luke.”

Silence fell between them and I could feel two pairs of eyes on me. Luke’s voice became softer as he spoke, “I know, Gods, if the huntresses hadn’t shown up, I don’t want to think about what might’ve happened.”

“It wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t chase that boar,” Thalia responded.

“I know, I know, it’s my fault. If I had known what could have happened, I would have turned my back in an instant.”

“After all this time, you should have known to do it anyway.”

Once again, Luke was silent. I could feel his guilt, but it felt thin and light, as if it were just a thin curtain hiding what was deep inside. The doubt still lingered, he would always have that in his heart, weighing him down like an anchor in the deepest sea. In that moment, however, I could feel his resolve.

“I didn’t have a choice,” Luke finally answered, “I had to chase that boar.”

“You and I both know that’s a lie,” Thalia’s voice was flat.

“It’s not. Thals, imagine what would have happened if we did kill that boar?”

“The same as every other monster we killed, it would turn to dust and we’d move on.”

“And we’d have another battle won under our belt,” Luke explained, “Thalia, listen, we’ve been running for so long, aren’t you sick of it?”

“Running keeps us alive, Luke.”

“There’s no recognition in running.”

Thunder cracked once again as the night suddenly became colder, “Is that what this is about? Recognition?”

“Heroes don’t run. Hercules, Achilles, Perseus, Odysseus, they all have one thing in common, the gods gave them great glory,” Luke responded.

Thalia scoffed, “We didn’t run away to be heroes, Luke, we ran away to stay alive.”

“What’s the point if we can’t be somebody?”

“Since when do you care so much about what other people think?”

“Not other people. The Gods. My father, your father,” Luke hesitated, “They don’t care about us, Thalia. We’re expendable. They give us no help, no praise, no love, but heroes always get that. They get recognized, they get seen. If I’m ever going to be somebody, I can’t keep running away.”

Thalia was silent for just barely a moment. When she did finally speak, her voice was soft in a way I never thought Thalia would allow it to be. She was always tough as nails and would insult you much quicker than she would express her affection. As she spoke to Luke, her voice was tender and full of care, “You are somebody. You’re Luke, you’re my best friend.”

“That’s not enough,” Luke responded.

I almost wanted to cry with the pain I felt from Thalia. Her heart broke right then and there but Luke never knew the difference. She had a remarkable poker face but nobody could hide their emotions from me. I could sense the unbearable pain she felt deep down in her soul.

“I have to fight, I have to prove myself,” Luke stated, “I’m a hero and if I have to fight every monster in the country to prove that to the Gods- to prove it to my father- then that’s exactly what I will do.”

There was something new within Luke. His doubt was still there, but something new surfaced. I could sense the fear he felt and hurriedly tried to bury. He wasn’t angry, he was afraid, but I had no idea why. When he spoke of being a hero, it came with more fear than I thought he could have.

There was something else there, something I had sensed before. I couldn’t identify this emotion. I couldn’t tell if it was buried too deeply for me to sense it or if it just wasn’t something I recognized. Fear, pain, anger, comfort, love, and joy were all easy to sense as I had felt them countless times. Whatever Luke was feeling was something alien to me.

“I’m sorry, Thalia, but this is what I have to do,” I could hear Luke stand, “Wake me up for second watch.”

He didn’t give her time to respond, instead moving to the tent and curling up on Annabeth’s opposite side. His breathing didn’t level out for several minutes, making me think he was just as wound up as Thalia. I waited for his breathing to fall into a familiar rhythm.

Outside the tent, the fire was nothing but embers and Thalia hadn’t moved. I glanced over the edge of my sleeping bag to see Thalia staring at the dying embers. The light did nothing to illuminate her figure, but I didn’t need it. I could see her then just as well as I could in the middle of the day. I could see the tears tracing paths down her cheeks and the far off look in her eyes. She didn’t move, I could barely tell if she was breathing, the only sign of life were the moving tears making rivers down her cheeks. Her mind and her heart were somewhere far away.

Her heartbreak hung heavy on my own heart. I could feel it just as clearly as she could and it made me want to break down crying. Most of all, it made me want to comfort my friend. My fear of the dark took a backseat as my worry for my friend persevered. I kicked away my sleeping bag, being careful not to wake Annabeth or Luke, and crawled out of the tent.

The ambrosia had made it easier to move. The pain was slightly less as I crawled over to Thalia, but I didn’t think I could go much more. I was nearly out of breath whenever I finally made it to her side.

“Thalia?” I whispered.

Thalia jumped slightly, spinning around to face me. She quickly wiped her tears as if pretending I couldn’t see her. Moving to straddle the log, she gazed down at me, “Ripley, you’re supposed to be asleep.”

“You’re sad,” I said as Thalia helped pull me up to sit on the log next to her.

“I’m fine, kiddo,” Thalia ruffled my hair gently, “You need to go back to sleep, the ambrosia will work faster when you’re rested.”

I leaned my head on her shoulder, “I can rest out here with you.”

“That’s not how that works.”

“It can work this time,” I shrugged, “You’re sad, I’ll be sad with you.”

Thalia was silent but she didn’t argue any further. Instead, she turned back to the dying embers. I took her hand in mine and she made no moves to pull it away. Instead, she squeezed tightly to my hand.

Her pain was slowly easing, I could feel it. What had felt like a million heartbreaks pulling me straight to the ground turned lighter. A warmth spread from my stomach out and I got the sense of comfort, like I had just returned home after a long time away.

“How do you do it?” Thalia smiled.

I glanced up at her, my head still on her shoulder, “Do what?”

“You always manage to make me feel comforted just by being around,” Thalia answered, “Just a minute ago, I was seriously considering target practice on some tree, but now I couldn’t imagine moving from this spot.”

I gave her a bright smile, one which she returned. I squeezed her hand and said, “It’s because I love you.”

“I love you too, kiddo,” Thalia laughed.

We sat in silence for a few minutes after that. This was the comfortable sort of silence one could easily make a home. It felt like reading by the fire, both of us reading different books with our minds off in different worlds, but feeling the comfort of being together.

Luke’s snores began to radiate from the tent. I glanced over at him, watching his chest rise and fall in rhythm with Annabeth’s. Furrowing my eyebrows, I bluntly said, “He doesn’t mean it.”

“What?” Thalia looked down at me.

“Luke, he doesn’t mean it,” I added, “He didn’t mean to break your heart.”

“My heart isn’t broken.”

“It is, I can feel it. It feels like a whole army trying to rip their way out of your chest, each one weighing a thousand pounds.”

Thalia was silent. She blinked rapidly, wrinkling her nose in confusion, “That’s- that’s exactly what it feels like.”

“He doesn’t mean it,” I repeated, “He’s scared too and he’s full of doubt.”

“Doubt? Doubt about what?”

“I don’t know, I can just feel it.”

“What does it feel like?”

“Like- like I swallowed a bunch of rocks and they’re pulling me to the ground,” I answered, “It’s heavy, I don’t want to carry it, I don’t think he does either.”

Thalia glanced at Luke before turning back to look at me, “Can you really feel all that?”

I nodded. Thalia stared at me for a moment longer before speaking, “I knew you were empathetic, but I didn’t know it was that strong. How long have you been able to feel these things?”

“As long as I can remember.”

“I don’t know how you do that, but that’s awesome,” Thalia grinned, “You’re a pretty amazing kid.”

I giggled, “So are you!”

Thalia ruffled my hair once again. The weight had gone from my chest as well as hers, it didn’t feel like her heart was broken anymore. More than likely, she had just forgotten about it for at least a moment. Heartbreak like that doesn’t go away. Whether it was still there or not, I was glad to comfort Thalia for as long as I could.

#percy jackson #pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #hoo #riordanverse #annabeth chase #thalia grace #luke castellan #oc

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inamanicpixiedream · 1 year

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2022

I've answered these questions on various platforms for over ten years now, I think? That's wild. There's better questions out there but tradition is tradition.

1. What did you do this year that you’d never done before?

Lived alone.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions?

I don't tend to make them. My goals evolved over the year. I did aim to spend more time doing creative stuff and while I still didn't meet my expectations, I did did more than I had previously and just feel like I'm moving more to where I want to be.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

My aunty gave birth to my cousin, which will probably be the last of our generation of grandchildren. We share the same middle name - my grandma's name - which feels really special.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Not a person, but my darling dog Juno had to be put down a few months ago. She was almost thirteen years old, and it was time, but that was just awful.

5. What cities/states/countries did you visit?

This year I found myself in a long distance relationship, so I went to Brisbane quite a lot. Got back today from my fifth trip today.

Also went to Melbourne for the weekend with a friend which was lovely.

6. What would you like to have next year that you lacked this year?

More stability in health and finances. Otherwise, time with my partner.

7. What date(s) from this year will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Hoo boy, some pretty big ones. The end of April had a lot of significant dates, culminating on May 4, where I asked to separate from my husband.

And also began a new relationship.

April was a time, y'all.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Professionally, I was on top of things this year. After a couple of years where I felt overwhelmed and underappreciated, and like I wasn't doing anything right. Taking a step back from leadership and just focusing on what I was doing in the classroom was huge.

Personally? Realising I had more agency in my life than I realised.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not having that realisation earlier, I guess.

And while I do not really regret anything, there are things about my separation I could have handled better.

10. What other hardships did you face?

I mean....kind hard to trump my marriage ending. That really was the biggest thing that happened to me, though that phrase implies I had no agency in it, when in reality it was the most empowering thing I've ever done.

Grappling with the decision, putting it into action, and then dealing with the fallout is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

But also one of the best.

11. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I strained my ACL and the meniscus tendon in my right knee on my first flight to Brisbane, giving up my seat so two friends could sit together. I am lucky it wasn't worse; thankfully no surgery, just rehab and a splint, and a weak knee for god knows how long.

12. What was the best thing you bought?

All those plane tickets are up there.

But Leia, my puppy, has got to top this list. I bought her a few months after Juno died, when it was clear Percy needed a companion. It was also a decision I got to make on my own, when I was new to making those, and she has been the perfect little addition to our family. She has helped so much with my healing and the rebuild of my life.

13. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

The support and love my family, friends, and even colleagues showed me this year was unexpected and unparalleled. Where I expected judgement, I got compassion. My workplace accepted my name change without question and told me I could take as much leave as I needed. I was overwhelmed by how much understanding I was shown.

14. Whose behaviour made you appalled?

While he was acting, understandably, out of hurt, shock, and wounded pride, my ex-husband did not take our break up well, and as a result, said and did things that were beyond what I would have thought he would have. Appalled is the right description for my response. Only good thing that came out of this was it just confirmed my decision.

Also, fuck Elon Musk and Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson.

15. Where did most of your money go?

Plane tickets.

But also I had to refurnish my entire house. I did say my ex could take anything he wanted, with the exception of my bookshelves and personal belongings, and he took absolutely everything. My entire savings went to new things, and while that sucked, everything I have in my own now is mine, and bought with my money, and by my choice. I have loved making my house my own.

16. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Every time I went to Brisbane. Adopting Leia. The release of Midnights. Finally seeing Hamilton. Feeling free.

17. What song will always remind you of this year?

Call It What You Want To by Taylor Swift.

The entire Midnights album.

A bunch of other love songs.

18. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. Happier or sadder? Oh, so much happier. Happier than I ever thought I could possibly be. ii. Thinner or fatter? I no longer pay attention to this. Probably fatter, and that's fine. I struggle a lot with my knowledge that this doesn't matter and the world's expectations on me and my body, but all I want to do is focus on my health and my strength, and fuck what I look like. iii. Richer or poorer? Technically poorer, but I have complete control over my own finances now, so while I'm broke af right now, it's in my hands, and I can afford to rent a house on my own, and buy food, and go out, and do things for myself occasionally. I am grateful finances were not a factor in preventing me from leaving my husband. I have less money, but I feel richer.

19. What do you wish you’d done more of? Reading and writing. Going to the cinema.

20. What do you wish you’d done less of? Sleeping. Worrying.

21. How did you spend Christmas? My family did our celebration on the 18th. We had a potluck lunch at my aunty's house, and it was the first time I'd seen my new baby cousin, and I was a bit worried about it being there for the first time without my husband but it turned out to be lovely.

I then drove over 2000km to Brisbane with the dogs, and spend Christmas with my boyfriend and his family. I was nervous about it, as I hadn't met all of them before, and I knew a bit about their dynamic, but it was wonderful, and I was the first girlfriend he'd ever brought to Christmas, and he was super nervous too, but it went super well and he was so happy and relieved, and that made me happy.

The best part though was honestly Christmas Eve. We made spaghetti together, and I've never had someone help me in the kitchen like that before. We played The Whitlams, and then ate dinner with a bottle of rosé I brought, a gift from a student. We ended up doing karaoke, just the two of us warbling away to Jolene, Dancing in the Dark and You Gotta Be. He then asked if we could exchange gifts then because he couldn't wait, so that's what we did. It was lovely because of what it was, but also because it felt like the start of new traditions, and I haven't felt that way in a long time.

22. Did you fall in love this year?

This really is the story of 2022 for me.

I'm not going to tell all of it, partly because it doesn't entirely belong to me, and partly because there's a lot of it I want to keep to myself.

On top of that, some of it I have already shared here. I was married for thirteen years to the man I had dated since I was 13. He was not a bad or abusive man, but there were several aspects of our relationship that often left me feeling unhappy, unseen, and unloved. But I did not know I could do anything about this. Requests for change, therapy, and even listening, went unheeded. I did not know I had the right to ask for anything else.

And then I fell in love with someone else. I was not looking for it. I did not expect it. I did not ask for it. It took me by surprise and when I saw it for what it was, it only shined a brighter light on the emptiness I felt with my husband. I confided my feelings, and the object of my affection told me simply to work things out with my husband, and he would always be my friend, and he wanted me to be happy. Nothing else happened.

But when I spoke to my husband about the problems that I saw in our marriage, and confessed that I had developed feelings for someone else, I was not faced with anyone who was open to working things out. I was told the problems in our relationship were not ours, but mine. I was told my expectations were unrealistic. I was told I was addicted to attention. I was told that the ball was in my court.

So, I left. I didn't leave for someone else; I left for me. I didn't know anyone else would be waiting for me. What I did know was that I'd a glimpse of another future for myself, and just the knowledge that it was possible was enough to know I had to leave.

But after I asked for the separation, the man I loved was waiting for me. He told me I didn't have to stay, that I was free now and could do anything I wanted. He had no expectations of me, and all he wanted was for me to be happy.

I did not know it was possible to be in love the way we are. I sold myself short for years. It feels like a waste of time, but god, I cannot believe how lucky I am to have it now.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I don’t think so.

24. What was your favorite show? Frontline. The Hollowmen. Always Sunny. Derry Girls. Abbott Elementary. Curb Your Enthusiasm.

25. What was the best book you read? Tell Me Again by Amy Thunig. How We Love by Clementine Ford. Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman by Richard P. Feynman. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery of the year? My boyfriend is a DJ who's passion is electronic music, so I've been introduced to a lot of that this year.

27. What was your favorite film?

Films that came out this year - Elvis. Top Gun: Maverick. I also barely saw anything new so I know there'd be more.

Films I watched for the first time - The Man from Earth. Anna and the Apocolypse. Being John Malkovich.

28. What was your favorite meal?

I made a lot of burgers for myself which is easy and good and comforting.

One night we went out to a Korean BBQ and I honestly think that's one of the best meals I've ever had.

29. What did you want and get?

To stay in my home and keep my dogs.

30. What did you want and not get?

I don't know how to answer this, for some reason.

31. What did you do on your birthday and how old did you turn?

I turned 34. I went to work, and then streamed on Twitch in the evening.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

To be able to get divorced. I hate that I haven't been able to fully close that chapter, and I hate the policy that says I have to wait 12 months before I know my mind and what I want.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of the year?

Comfortable. Embracing my body. Showing my tattoos. As sustainable as possible.

34. What kept you sane?

My dogs. My friends. Podcasts, particularly Maintence Phase and MBMBaM. My boyfriend. My students.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you admire the most?

Michael Hobbes, who may just be on this list forever and ever. Clementine Ford, whose work inspired me to change my life.

36. What political issue stirred you the most? The overturn of Roe v Wade - don't know if I've ever been so angry to get the news. Misogynist, right-wing men having huge platforms.

37. Who did you miss? Long distance relatonships are terrible, and I miss my boyfriend every day I am without him.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

A bunch of new people on Twitch, a community that is still new to me but been so wonderful.

39. What valuable life lesson did you learn this year?

You deserve more.

40. What is a quote that sums up your year?

Sometimes love means having the courage to end what is no longer working. Love for other people. Love for ourselves.

From 'Leave Your Husband', in How We Love by Clementine Ford

You know there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love The slowest way is never loving them enough Do you really want to know where I was April 29th? Do I really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?

From 'High Infidelity,' on Midnights, by Taylor Swift

#year in review

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stuckinuniformdevelopment · 9 months

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@bishop-percival

(Previous) Mike quietly wrote some notes as Teddy spoke. He didn’t interrupt once, save for a quiet scoff that slipped out when Teddy mentioned Miriam. Mike knew his sister wouldn’t be caught dead using her magic for someone like Commander Peepers. And just the thought of her trying to function in a part-time job outside of the church was rich.... Although, he really couldn't imagine himself doing well in one either, even if it was something that pertained to his interests. He rested an elbow on his knee and leaned his head into his hand. “Some of what you’ve described here isn’t too far off from how the COG used to function. Deacons at least were allowed to have a life outside the church. Some even volunteered to do odd jobs around the Skullship. But over the years, Percival became more and more controlling about the clergy’s doings. Just as he’s become more and more careless about his own actions. And as he’s become more and more powerful…” Mike removed his glass from his face and got out a soft cloth from his pocket to wipe it down. He was hesitant to speak out loud further about his concerns with Percy. But it was such a heavy weight on his mind that bearing it alone was proving to be difficult, almost impossible. It was only slightly humiliating, and ironic, that the only person Mike felt somewhat-comfortable enough talking about this to was some infiltrator who held mutual distrust towards him. After a pause, Mike replaced his glass. “Listen, I... accidentally let it slip that I learned of Percy’s true intentions. And when pressed on how I learned this, instead of ratting YOU out,” He leaned over and flicked Teddy’s helmet during the emphasized 'you', hoping it would make him stop leaning on the ladder, “I took it upon myself to lie and say it was me who was conscious during the last summoning ritual.” Mike fixed his gaze on the telescope. "My next moves have to be delicate. I'm one more misstep from being scrapped. Glorn knows I can't take him on."

The more Revenard Mike spoke the lower Teddy sunk on the stepladder. He had tried not to hold out hope. Yet he was disappointed that he was still on his own for both of his objectives.

Teddy's shock at how close Revenard Mike came to giving him up-- and confusion at why he was telling him about it-- was quickly overtaken by rage when he messed with his helmet. This was a way to remind him of his place, wasn't it!?

Although that didn't explain why he seemed so... vulnerable. Was it a ploy to manipulate him or was he being genuine?

Teddy stepped out of Revenard Mike's reach and glared as he adjusted his helmet. Then he found an old rolling chair and sat backwards in it so he could rest his chin on the back.

"Thank you for deciding to keep your puppet around another day." His sarcasm was clear, yet the general message was sincere. "I'll remember that next time I'm tempted to kill you."

A few minutes of stargazing was enough to settle Teddy down. "He's getting arrogant, isn't he? With the way he's headed you won't have to do anything but minimize collateral damage."

Then Teddy paused as he thought about the worst case scenarios. His main concern was Bishop Percival openly going after Bert regardless of his ant army and Commander Peepers' protection.

Logically that would be enough to keep Bert safe as long as Bishop Percival didn't get close. He should try not to worry and trust that Bert can handle it.

The Glornists were more likely to get destroyed. Teddy included, as much as he hated to admit it even to himself. If Bishop Percival ever found an accession ritual that required sacrificing his faithful followers they were toast. Or at the very least Shep was. Probably the rest too with how little regard he showed to Charlie and Owen.

Teddy slumped forward and draped his arms over his chair as he said, "If Bishop Percival suddenly decides to invite every Glornist to a ritual I'm taking all my vacation days at once."

#bishoppercival #revenard mike #Albertbutyoucancallmebert #Follwrshep #Eyeballcommander

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zarysa-of-zorcai · 11 months

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Ch 3: What’s Deserved

Vox Machina hunkered down for the night in a secluded alleyway. The drunkest of them- Keyleth, Grog, and Vax all passed out straight away. Pike and Vex didn't have problems dozing off a few minutes after either. Nor did Scanlan or even the ever so fluffy Trinket.

The same could not be said for the soberest set of the bunch.

Zia and Percy were both wide awake. They didn't even try to shut their eyes. They knew how useless it would be with the adrenaline of the tavern fight still buzzing through their bones. Instead, they each sat upright on opposite sides of the alleyway, backs against the cold bricks, legs outstretched for comfort, and worked on cleaning their respective weapons.

Not that Percy's focus was really on his pepperbox.

It was not thoughts of Whitestone and the horrors he suffered at the hands of the briarwood's that plagued his tactful mind this night. But rather, the observation that the woman across from him appeared to be rather worried. He couldn't help but notice it. It was written all over her face. The down turn of her lips, the unfocusedness of her eyes, the telltale crinkle between her brows. It was obvious.

At least, it was to Percy.

He knew Zia. All of her little signs and tells that she tried to hide he could read like a good book. It wasn't that her expression was easily readable, per say, it was just easy for Percy himself to read it.

That said, He didn't know what was weighing on her mind exactly. Whether it was the recent events or the upcoming meeting with the king. But Percy had known Zia long enough now that he could wager a guess.

"Worried about tomorrow?" Percy's voice cut through their friends symphony of snores.

Zia startled at the question. Though she reacted to his voice she hadn't really heard what he asked.

"Sorry?" Zia's head lifted, amethyst eyes settling on the man across from her.

"Your brows are crinkled." He gestured to the spot on his own face. "That only happens when you're worried about something."

"Oh." Zia mumbled fingertips lifting to rub against the very spot. As if she could thwart the action that way.

"So, is it tomorrow..." Percy pressed, head tilted as he studied her. "...that you're worrying yourself over?"

Zia pressed her lips together. Her hand lowered, gloved fingertips gliding against the flat slide of her sword as she thought about her answer.

Percy waited patiently, he knew one would be given after some deliberation. His questioning had been sudden. Her answer didn't need to be.

"I just..."Zia was hesitant as she began. "I don't know if it's a good idea for me to go in with you guys when you meet the king."

"Zia..." Her name fell gently from his lips. His brows drew together in concern.

"I'm cursed, Percy." Zia frowned further. The words hung heavy in the air. "What if the king takes one look at me and sends us away?"

"That isn't going to happen." Percy insisted.

"You don't know that."

"I do." Percy denied. "The king would be a blinded fool to turn us away because of you."

Zia remained silent. Her eyes downcast on her sword in her lap. It was clear she disagreed.

Percy placed his pepperbox on the ground. He ignored the small puff of black smoke that angrily swirled around the weapon at the action. Percy crossed over to Zia's side of the alley.

He knelt down in front of her. Fingertips feather light under her chin to guide her gaze upwards onto him. Though the touch lingered he drew his hand back to his knee when their eyes met.

"Now, I can't speak for everyone, only for myself," Percy's voice was low. "but you would be sorely missed if you didn't come inside with us tomorrow. I..." Percy's hand curled into a fist. "Zia, whenever you're next to me, you give me this...this sense that nothing could possibly go wrong and even when it does go wrong everything is still right because you're there. Your presence it helps. You provide this steadiness, this immovable surety of safety just by being there. It's hard to describe, and it sounds rather silly saying it aloud, but it's the truth, believe it or not."

He studied her face. Her expression. She looked surprised not that Percy understood why. Didn't she know how integral she was to the group? Hell, to him? Perhaps he needed to make it more clear to her.

"You may not be proud to be a part of Vox Machina, but I'm proud that this group has you, Zia. Even cursed as you are you deserve to stand with us in that throne room whatever the outcome. That's what I think."

He reached up a hand and rested his gloved palm to her cheek. Her skin was stone, so it was certainly hard, but it wasn't rough or jagged, it was smooth like a skipping stone found at the bottom of a riverbed. There was the slightest shimmer to it as well if you looked close enough. He admired it for a moment. Admired her. She was a treasure.

"And I also think..."

Perhaps he'd had too many glasses of wine back at the tavern. Getting in close like this could prove to be an impossible mistake, but he couldn't help himself. He couldn't not kiss her. As he was speaking he got lost in her amethyst eyes and then-

Percy had closed the distance between them before he could think about any repercussions. His lips met hers in a gentle touch. The smallest of gasps escaped her, but she didn't turn her head or pull back from him.

It was a bit awkward with his glasses, and it didn't last very long on the account that he was about to lose his balance and fall onto the sword lying in her lap, but it was quite easily the best kiss Percy had ever shared with anyone, because it was with Zia.

He pulled away, retreating from her space despite his want to linger there. Not that he got very far. Zia's hand latched onto the lapel of his coat to stop him. "Percy..." It seemed like she wanted to question him but none escaped her. Zia's grip loosened after a moment. The only thing she settled on saying was that they should probably get some sleep.

Percy agreed with a nod of his head and a light clear of his throat. He could still see the surprise in her eyes, at his words and now his actions. They would talk later...when she was ready.

He promptly returned to his side of the alley and laid down. They didn't say anything more to each other that night. Neither slept for shit. All they could think about was the kiss they shared and wondered what would happen tomorrow.

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Okay here's chapter 3!!!! Percy and Zia had their first kisss ahhhh!!! I really need to make a ship name for these lovely's. I love them so much together. Percy's so patient with her and Zia just ahhh-next chapter will be out before New Years! I hope you enjoy'd this one! Let me know what you thought of it in the comments!

#oc #oc fiction #percyxoc #vox machina #percy de rolo #canon x oc #cross posted on ao3 #cross posted on wattpad

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theoreticslut · 3 years

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Plaything

pairing: charlie weasley x reader; bill weasley x reader; fred weasley x reader; george weasley x reader

requested: nope

word count: 5.1k

warnings: SMUT, age differences but all characters are 18+, first times, fingering, oral (female receiving), penetration

A/N: Please do not judge me for this. That’s all I ask. I know this is questionable, but the weasley boys?? All of them?? They’re pretty hot and I’d be down to sleep with all of them, just saying. I’ve had this written for months and have just been too scared to post it, but you know what? It’s written, it’s pretty freaking good in my opinion, & I just really want/need to post shit again so hopefully you enjoy this.

Taglist: @justmesadgirl @xuckduck @yikesyikesyikes95 @filipi-yes @aestheticwh0r3 @siredkai @matsuno-nadeshiko @msmarklee1213 @immajustreadwritereblog @msmimimerton @perfectlysane24 @mischievous-queen @bunnyboo7 @grandeoptimist @kaitlynw011 @daddystevee @slytherinxhunter @streetfighterrichie @sarcasticallywitty15 @isthereanymorejello @karushinekomiya @p0gue420 @hogwartslut @sebby-staan @darthwheezely @slytherin-7 @callmelilone @teenagesublimefan @midsummernightdream @hufflrpuffforfred @aviezap @stxrryxsky @snoopydoop1 @fredweasleypls @hopefullhearts @pandaxnienke @georgeweasleyishot @christhebell @fredshmeasley @youralternantpersonality @angeletarte @stoopidwithtwohoes @georgeweasleysbabe @psychocracker @tovvaa @weasley8800 @wand3ringr0s3 @pinkypurplemagic @pineapplesandpinas

^let me know if you’d like to be added/removed (or add yourself here)! Xx

You were excited to be staying at the burrow again this summer. You had pretty much grown up with the Weasley boys as your parents were friends from their time at hogwarts.

You had also been around to see Ron and Ginny grow up, so all of you were almost like siblings. You got along with all of them really well, and you were an only child so anytime you came to the burrow felt like you were coming home.

You were closest in age to the twins, being only a month or two younger than them, which meant that the three of you were as thick as thieves. There are plenty of stories from your childhood of you three planning pranks...and getting in trouble for them later.

Even though you’re closest to Fred and George, both in age and friendship, you still got along really well with Bill, Charlie, and Percy. Percy could be a bit stuck up at times so you didn’t socialize with him too much, but you did have a good relationship with Bill and Charlie.

In fact, most of your late childhood into early teen years you had a bit of a crush on the two older siblings. It’s bound to happen when they’re cute, older than you, nice to you, and almost always around.

Once you started at hogwarts, however, your crush on the two faded as they weren’t around as much and you were surrounded by other guys. Not that that really mattered any because you found yourself starting to crush on Fred and George more and more.

You knew it was weird since you literally grew up alongside them and they were your best friends, but you couldn’t help it. Even though the two of them could be a menace, they did know how to be really sweet. They had consoled you many a time from scraping your knee to losing your longtime family pet, even to when you had had a falling out with a friend.

You suppose that’s part of the reason you had fallen for them; since you grew up with them, you knew all these different sides they had that others didn’t necessarily get to see.

“Y/n! It’s so nice to have you stay here with us again.” Molly smiles at you in greeting as you, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny walk through the door after yet another school year.

You, Fred, and George had just finished up your sixth year and were excited that you were so close to graduating.

“Thank you for letting me stay again. I swear I’m not trying to permanently move in.” You smile, earning a chuckle from her as Fred rolls his eyes and mumbles a sarcastic ‘sure’ to which you slap his bicep for.

“Don’t worry about it, dear.” She chuckles. “You’ve been a surrogate daughter to me for years. It’s almost wrong to not have you here.”

You smile, loving that you’re essentially a part of the family. Don’t get it wrong, you love your parents just as much and wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world, but something about being a weasley just sat perfectly with you.

~.~

You frown as you make your way down the stairs. You’re not really sure where everyone was. You’ve been hiding away in ginny’s room with a fan trying to stay cool while you read a book you bought in hogsmeade you just hadn’t had the time to read yet.

It’s surprisingly quiet, which is why you become so curious. It’s almost always full of noise in here.

Even though it confuses you, you decide to ignore the itch you have to figure out why and instead find yourself something to eat as your stomach is growling something fierce.

You make it down to the kitchen and make a beeline for the fridge, looking around to see what there is. Just as your about to pull stuff out, you hear someone call you’re name from behind, startling you.

“Ah, sorry, y/n.” the same person chuckles as you turn around.

If you had been annoyed before, it all left your body when you saw who it was that had scared you.

“Charlie! What are you doing here? It’s been ages!” You ask, running up to give him a hug.

After he graduated, he decided he wanted to study and work with dragons and moved out to Romania to do so. That was nearly four years ago now, and you’d barely heard anything from him since.

“Nice to see you too, kiddo. How have you been?” He chuckles, hugging you back.

He doesn’t like admitting it, but he’s always had a bit of a soft spot for you. He remembers always wanting to take care of you when you were real little, granted he was real young then too, but something about you fascinated him. Maybe it was because you weren’t a boy.

Either way, he took care of you a lot when you were both real young. He got to watch you grow up, seeing you as a cute and innocent toddler to a carefree child.

He loved how you were wild enough to keep up with his twin brothers, yet were so soft and laidback as well.

He ended up having a bit of a crush on you. But he never acted on it as he was about five years older, and didn’t want anyone to think he was a pervert or anything. It’s not like it would matter, you two had grown up together, but you were both young and people don’t always like an age gap in young couples.

“I’ve been really good, Charlie. I was chosen as one of Gryffindor’s prefects this year! Not to mention I’ve done really well on all my tests.”

“That’s amazing, kiddo. I always knew you would do good. I hope you’ve been able to keep Fred and George in line?”

“Well, sort of...” you trail off. You didn’t really want to tell him how being a prefect gave you the ability to help Fred and George sneak around even better to set up their pranks.

“You’ve been helping them out with their pranks, haven’t you? I remember how much you three would get in trouble for them when you were younger.”

“We only got in trouble because Percy would rat us out.” You argue to which Charlie chuckles. He does remember how feisty you were at times.

You sigh as you take in his features. He was the same Charlie you had always known, but he was so much more mature now. His muscles were even more defined since his days of quidditch from working with dragons day after day.

You couldn’t help the butterflies that had started fluttering in your stomach as your heart started racing. You thought you were over your crush on him, but seeing him now resurfaces all your old feelings, only tenfold as you’re now with raging hormones.

“I see you’re still as feisty as ever, kiddo. Glad to know you haven’t changed that much since I’ve been gone.”

“If I’m ever not feisty, somethings wrong.” You chuckle, getting him to smile as he looks over you.

He has to admit just how well you’ve matured. Your y/h/c hair fell smoothly against your shoulders, not much longer than that. Your locks only highlighted your soft face, framing your features perfectly.

Same as you, he can’t help but feel his childhood crush on you reappear.

“You know, you never did answer what you were doing here? Does molly or any of your siblings know you’re here?” You ask after a moment of you two admiring each other.

“No, she doesn’t. Nor do they. I was hoping to surprise them with my visit, but none of them seem to be here. Honestly, I was more than surprised to see you here.”

“I’m surprised to see you. I don’t know where anyone else is, but I’m glad I got to see you first.”

“Same here, pumpkin. I didn’t expect to see you at all, but I’m glad I am. It’s been real nice seeing you before anyone else, especially since I don’t think I’ll have much time away from them whenever they do come home.”

You smile, looking up at the man you’ve been crushing on for years. He’ll never know what his words do to you.

“Y/n, kiddo. Can I tell you something?” Charlie asks, pushing some of your hair out of your face as he tucks it behind your ear.

“Of course.”

“This might be crazy and I know it’s probably a bit weird, but I used to have such a crush on you.” He confesses, smiling at you as you watch him.

“Yeah? Well, I used to have such a crush on you too, Charlie.” You blush.

He quirks an eyebrow at you, chewing on his bottom lip as he mulls over his next action.

“Used to? Or still do, kiddo?”

“Still do...” you mumble, your cheeks a furious shade of red now as you admit to liking him.

You’re not really sure where your confidence came from. Sure you’ve always been comfortable talking to him about anything, but this was unchartered territory.

“Good.” He smiles, kissing you before leaning in so he can whisper in your ear.

“Because I do too.”

You gasp as he kisses your neck, not giving you any warning.

“Charlie.” You gasp, as you wrap your arms around the back of his neck, your hands tangling into his hair and tugging.

He moans, pulling you even closer as he sucks on your earlobe, drawing a whiny moan from you.

“What do you say to taking this up to my room? We can have a bit of fun before everyone gets back?”

“O-okay.” You agree, melting against his body.

You’ve never been kissed before, let alone touched like this. Your body was going crazy with all the sensations and you weren’t sure what to do.

Charlie leads you up to his old room, that had been left pretty much the same. He closes the door, placing a locking spell on it even though no one should question why his door is closed. Molly keeps it shut anyways.

“Have you ever done anything, kiddo?” He asks, laying you down on his bed as he hovers over top of you.

You shake your head, chewing on your bottom lip as you watch him for any sort of reaction.

He smiles warmly at you, gently tucking your hair behind your ears as he admires you. He would love to be the one to take your virginity, but only if you’d like him to.

“Are you okay with all of this?”

You nod, moaning lightly as you clench your thighs together.

“Do you want me to stop?”

You shake your head, not wanting him to stop at all. No, you much rather he do something to help this sensation you’re having.

“No.” You whine. “Please don’t stop.”

He smirks, pressing a soft kiss to your nose as he feels down your body.

“You’re so beautiful, y/n. I hope you know that.”

“Charlie, please do something. I-I don’t know what to do.” You whimper. You’ve never felt so needy before and you need something to happen.

Charlie chuckles lightly above you before pressing a kiss to your lips.

“Are you feeling a bit needy, pumpkin? Need me to take care of you?”

You whimper, nodding at his words as he smirks.

You close your eyes as he leans down, pressing a soft kiss to your lips before whispering to you, “let me know if you want to stop, okay? I want you to feel comfortable.”

You nod, moaning as he starts to undress you, feeling your body up and down.

“So pretty, pumpkin. You’re so so pretty.”

Slowly you feel him drag his hands over your breasts, gently massaging them in his palms before trailing his hands down to your thighs, pulling your legs apart so he can see your pretty sex.

“Charlie.” You groan as he trails his fingers around your inner thighs, placing kisses at the tops of them but not touching where you need him to.

“Patience, kiddo. We gotta make sure you’re warmed up enough. I don’t want to hurt you any.”

You nod, tossing your head back as he tauntingly trails his fingers closer.

You become lost in the bliss of everything, not being able to separate his hot kisses from when he starts rubbing your clit before sliding two fingers into you.

No, you’re too far gone in the bliss to even realize he’s ready to slide himself into you until his head is pressing against you, ready to be enveloped within your soft walls.

“You okay, pumpkin?”

You nod, a few tears falling out as he begins sliding himself inside you, intertwining your fingers with his as he holds your one hand near you head, the other gripping at the sheets while his is planted on your hips to hold you still.

“Feel so good, pumpkin. You’re taking me so well.” Charlie praises, slowly pushing his way inside you.

“Oh, Charlie. Fuck.” You groan, squeezing the hand that’s intertwined with yours.

“It’s alright, pretty girl. You’re doing so well. Just a few more inches and I’m inside you, yeah? Can you handle that?”

You nod, moaning as he pushes further into. You never would have expected him to be so well-endowed. It felt heavenly, but bloody hell.

He hisses when he finally fills you completely with his dick. He’s had sex before, but nothing has ever compared to this. He swears there’s nothing that could top the feeling of filling his childhood crush with his cock.

“Charlie. Oh Merlin, please move.” You whine, your walls finally stretching enough for the pain to dissipate.

The next few minutes go by way too fast. One second, Charlie’s thrusting into you making you feel the best you ever have, and the next you’re coming all over him as he does the same in the condom he’s wearing, his dick still buried inside you.

You sigh as you come down from the high, not quite believing that just happened, but wanting to do it all over again.

~.~

You groan, frustrated at the feeling you’ve been dealing with for the last few days. Charlie only stayed for a week, and as he said, he had been swept up by his siblings wanting to spend time with him before he left again.

Since you two slept together, you’ve been finding yourself getting turned on and needing release more and more.

Charlie had been kind enough, or needy enough depending on how you want to look at it, to please you a few more times during his stay. Each time was absolutely amazing and you wanted so much more, but you knew he would be leaving again while you were stuck here.

Charlie has been gone for nearly three weeks now and yet you still find yourself getting turned on and needing release. Unfortunately, there was no way to do that, not unless you want to risk completely embarrassing yourself.

Bill had come home for a visit and he’s been here a few days now. You wanted to blame him for getting turned on, but you knew it wasn’t anything but your own thoughts doing it to you.

Same as with Charlie, the moment you saw Bill, all your old feelings arose and hit you tenfold.

Unfortunately, no “promising situations” arose where Bill might confess that he’s had feelings for you all along as well.

“You look grumpy, kid.” He points out as you come into the kitchen.

“I am a bit.” You frown, making your way over to the fridge. Again, you had been so preoccupied that you didn’t realize just how hungry you were until your stomach was yelling at you.

“What’s got you so grumpy?”

“I’m really hungry and just kinda tired.” You half-lie. Sure you were hungry and tired, but that’s not really what was making you so grumpy.

“Really? I would’ve pegged it on something else.”

“Yeah? Like what?” You ask, too irritated to really care what he thought anyway.

“Well, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re turned on and haven’t done anything about it yet.” He states, not shy about it in the slightest.

“Excuse me?!” You blubber, choking on your own saliva at his answer. You never expected him to say that, especially to you.

Bill was always the mature, proper one out of all the boys. You two were close, but never in a million years would you have expected him to say something like that.

“Y/n, kid. I’ve been through puberty myself. I know what it’s like to be sexually frustrated.”

You whimper, not meaning to in the slightest, but it’s out before you can stop it.

“Is that the case, beautiful?”

You nod, blushing furiously. You don’t like to admit how needy you are, but here you are anyway.

“Would you like some help to feel better?”

You look up at Bill with such a needy expression on your face. Your eyes are wide and your lips are pouted. You don’t want anything more than to have him help you out, but the thought embarrasses you.

“Is that a yes, love?” He chuckles, caressing your cheek as he watches you. He’s always thought you were attractive but for merlins sake the sight of you all horny was a bloody masterpiece.

You nod, watching as he smiles at you, grabbing at your hand and tugging you along behind him.

He leads you up to his bedroom where he kisses you, pulling you flush to his body. Even though you’re younger than him by a number of years, he’s always had a crush on you. Seeing you now, nearly all grown up and matured, he wants nothing more than to make you feel good.

“Please do something.” You moan as he keeps kissing at your neck, his hands feeling over your sides, hips, and ass.

He nods, placing one last kiss to your lips before ripping your shirt up over your head and quickly unbuttoning your shorts.

Before you know it, you’re naked underneath him as he’s naked hovering over you. He looks absolutely delicious, and you can’t help but kiss at his neck as he pushes his way into you.

“Oh, fuck.” You groan.

“Ugh, fuck. Doing so well, love. Taking me so well.”

You can’t help but moan at the praise. You love knowing that you doing good, that you’re making him feel good.

As soon as he’s all the way inside you, you’re arching your back, wanting him to move. You swear he’s even bigger than Charlie and yet you’re taking him better.

Before long, Bill has a fast pace set that’s nearly knocking the bed into the wall.

“Feels so good.” You whine, arching up against him.

“Almost there, love.”

You let out a high pitched moan as you both hit your highs, you arching against the bed as your one hand grips at the sheets, your other holding on bill’s shoulder.

“Feel any better, love?” He asks, panting as he pulls out of you.

“So much better. Thank you.” You smile, happily curling up into his arms as he holds you to him.

~.~

Summer passes by with days filled with happy and fun memories of swimming in the pond near the burrow or eating marshmallows that you toasted over the fire.

Soon enough though your back at hogwarts, stressing over classes and spending all your free time with the twins.

Tonight they had decided they wanted to drink and play silly muggle party games as it was a Friday after a big test in potions. You all felt pretty confident with your work, but it had been a long and stressful week. One that Fred and George just wanted to drink away. Being their best friend, you were of course invited.

“Alright, y/n. Truth or dare?” George asks.

“Let’s go with truth, I guess.” You say, taking a drop of the Veritaserum you all insisted you play with to make things more interesting.

“Alright, let see. Fred, what are you thinking?” George asks, leaning over to his brother to converse.

You were drunk, but not so far gone that you weren’t aware of what was happening or that you’d forget tonight’s events in the morning.

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s a good one. Okay, y/n. Have you lost your virginity?” George asks, giggling at the alcohol coursing through his veins.

Neither of the boys knew you had, which is why they both choked on their drinks when you blatantly answered “yes.”

“Wait, really?!” Fred asks, his eyes wide as he looks at you in a new light. How did he not know his best friend had lost her virginity?

“Yeah.”

“When?!”

“Over the summer.” You answer before you can stop. You really, really did not want to tell you’re best friends that you had slept with their two oldest brothers.

“Over the summer? B-but, you never left the house.” George splutters out, not quite putting the pieces together yet.

“Mm-hmm” you hum, your cheeks flushing in embarrassment as you can’t help but tell the truth. Stupid veritaserum.

“The only people you would’ve seen...w-were,” he trails off, blanching at the realization that you slept with at least one of his brothers.

“Bill and Charlie.” Fred answered, not yet at his brothers realization.

You all sit in silence for a minute before Fred shouts out.

“Oh Merlin! You lost it to one of our brothers?!” Fred asks, a hint of disgust in his tone.

You nod, closing your eyes as both Fred and George shake their heads at the images.

“Which one?” Fred asks.

“Uh, well...both?” You answer, the veritaserum wearing off only slightly as you had such a small dosage.

“Both?!” Fred and George exclaim.

“What the hell, y/n! They’re our brothers!” Fred groans, disturbed by the thought of you sleeping with his older brothers.

“Hey! I didn’t start any of it, okay! They initiated it each time.” You defend.

“Each time?! How many times did you sleep with them?” George asks, exasperatedly.

“Uhm, 3 or 4 times with Charlie. Twice with Bill.” You admit, the veritaserum kicking in again as it works it’s way out of your system.

“Oh, godric. Ugh, we didn’t need to know that.” Fred huffs.

“You two asked!” You huff, blushing wildly as you lean back on the bed, crossing your arms.

A few minutes pass in silence as you mull over your words while Fred and George try to accept this new information.

“What was it like? D-did it feel...good?” George asks, shyly.

“What? Sex?”

He nods, blushing lightly as you start to get wet, thinking back on how amazing it feels.

“It feels amazing, Georgie.” You sigh, your thighs clenching together unconsciously.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I-I don’t know how to explain it, but the high it's-it's phenomenal.”

“C-could you show us?” Fred asks, both twins flushing madly.

“You want me to show you?!”

“Yeah. C-can you take our virginity?” George asks, shifting around in his spot as he gets turned on by the idea.

“I-I guess. B-both of you?”

They nod and you smile shyly, a deep blush on your cheeks as you lean forward to give each of them a kiss.

“Alright, well both of you lie back then, yeah?”

They do as you say, laying down on the bed you three were sharing. You take a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves. These were your best friends for merlin’s sake, you had literally grown up together.

Slowly, you climb on top of George as he’s closest to you and you smile lightly as his breath hitches at the sight of you on top of him.

“You’re sure you two want to do this?” You ask, looking between the two twins.

They nod, gulping as they watch you. True they had never really thought about you being their first, but now that the moment had arose, they knew they didn’t want it to be anyone else.

“Okay, uh, how should I do this?” You mumble to yourself, blushing at the reality that you’re going to be taking your best friends’ virginity. Not one of theirs, both of theirs. At the same bloody time.

“How did your first time go, love?” Fred asks, watching you as you try to figure out what to do first.

“Uh, well. It started with kissing; kissing each other’s lips before h-he trailed down my neck.”

George gently sits up, connecting your lips as Fred works on kissing your neck, drawing a moan from you.

“Like that?” Fred asks, as George pulls away and taking his turn at your neck.

“Just like that.” You hum, pulling the older twin into a soft kiss.

“What next?” George asks, trailing his fingers up your sides.

“A lot of touching, caressing. W-we undressed.” You say, a bit breathily as you pull away from Fred, the red head immediately moving back down to your neck and shoulders.

“I-I’m supposed to be making you two feel good.” You moan, both of their hands feeling all over your body.

George had decided that he’d trail his fingers over your hips and thighs, roughly grabbing onto them every now and then to get you to grind against him.

Fred, however, decided he’d take responsibility for groping your breasts, sides, and stomach. His touch sending shivers throughout your body.

“We’re feeling good, don’t worry, y/n” Fred mumbles.

George nods, groaning in agreement.

“No. Let me take care of you guys.” You say, halting their movements as you push Fred back down on the bed.

You trail one of your hands up each of their stomachs, lifting their shirts as you do. You place a kiss to both of their lips before ripping off the fabric.

You slowly grind against George as you reach over and palm Fred, locking your lips with him as George throws his head back in a moan.

“Fuck, y/n.” Fred groans, upset at the lack of contact as you switch to kissing George.

You slowly trail your kisses down george’s neck and stomach as you crawl down to unbutton his trousers. You can hear him groan and you smile to yourself. Sure you’ve had sex, but you had only just started and were still quite inexperienced, especially when it came to focusing on the guy's pleasure. Hearing that they were enjoying it certainly made you feel better about your skills.

Once George’s trousers are off, you move over to Fred to give him the same attention. You slowly straddle his hips, grinding into him slowly as he grabs yours.

“Godric, y/n. You’re so...so good to us.” Fred sighs, grinding you down onto him harder.

After a few minutes you get both boys rid of their bottoms and them ridding you of your clothes except bra and panties.

“You’re so beautiful.” George smiles, kissing you before easily removing your bra.

“So beautiful.” Fred agrees, kissing you after his brother. You let out a shocked gasp of air when Fred pushes you back onto the bed, kissing your neck.

“Can we fuck you now, princess? Please, angel?” Fred begs, looking up at you after making a mark on your collarbone.

“Go ahead, weasley.” You hum, a shiver running up your spine as he hooks his fingers in the crotch of your panties to rip them off you.

“Oh fuck, Freddie.”

He smirks, carefully bringing his finger to your folds, circling your clit carefully before slowly inserting his pointer and middle finger inside of you.

You groan, back arching up off the bed as your one best friend fingers you, your other best friend gently massaging your breasts.

“Come taste her, George.” Fred says, pulling his fingers from inside you and sucking on them.

You moan at the sight, never imagining your two best friends would be here taking turns on you to lose their virginity. In all honesty, it was quite a spectacle. You really hoped you’d be able to do this again with them...except maybe one at a time though.

You sigh out in pleasure as George begins fingering you, bringing his tongue to your folds and eating you out at the same time.

You fall into a bit of trance, not able to differentiate between all the pleasure, the twins taking their time in prepping you. You don’t even realize they’re ready to fuck you until you feel George enter you, stretching you out.

“Oh fuck, Georgie. So big. Feels so good though, baby.” You groan, grabbing ahold of his shoulder as he pushes himself inside you.

You can just barely see Fred kneeling at the end of the bed, watching the two of you as he absentmindedly palms himself slowly.

George groans, twitching as soon as he’s inside you, much too overwhelmed with all the stimulation.

“Merlin, darling. You’re s-so tight. Feels so good.”

You moan, feeling him finally enter you completely. He waits a minute, letting the both of you adjust before he starts moving.

The next ten minutes or so go by much too fast, it didn’t take long for George to cum, pulling out of you as Fred takes his place. You register the switch, Fred feeling different inside you as well as going at a different pace.

You’re a moaning mess, reaching your high with Fred who stills inside you, leaning into you as you both ride out the bliss.

“Oh fuck, princess. That was amazing.” Fred smiles, kissing you as he massages your lower back, laying down beside you, facing you.

“Yeah it was.” George agrees, laying behind you and massaging your hip.

You smile tiredly, nodding in agreement as you try to catch your breath. The three of you lay together in silence for a few minutes before Fred kisses your nose, George kissing your shoulder.

“Is it cool to do that again? Like, tomorrow or something?” Fred asks, smiling at you as you chuckle.

“Yeah. Yeah, we can do that again. It felt amazing.” You smile, looking at Fred and then over your shoulder at George.

“Definitely, angel.” Fred agrees, kissing you and you feel george nod against your back as he continues placing soft, warm kisses to your shoulder.

You never expected all this to happen when arriving to the burrow this past summer, but you can’t say you weren’t pleased with the outcomes. Not only did you get a confession from your two oldest crushes that they also liked you back, but you lost your virginity to one, got to sleep with the other, and you got to sleep with your two best friends; which you’re pretty sure the three of you are going to continue to do for quite awhile. What more could you possibly ask for?

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prettyvampiress96 · 3 years

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The Malfoy Secret - Chapter 4

Excitement buzzed through the halls of Malfoy manor, with Draco home on break, Lucius and Anastasia had been invited by Cornelius Fudge himself to the Quidditch World Cup . Bulgaria VS Ireland. Of course once Draco had heard the news it became a family outing. Draco was thrilled Anna was tagging along. "Draco darling just because your home from school , does not mean anna can shy away from her work. Your father and Anna will have reputation's to uphold as do we?" Narcissa warned him yet again. " But mother that's barbaric, Anna is my friend . Mine and I want her to watch the match with me" Draco whined turning on his heels to pout up at Anna. Lucius , Narcissa and Anastasia all shared a look to each other which Draco completely missed. Keeping this a secret would be that much more difficult yet all the more so exciting.

The Malfoy's and Anastasia apparated to the match and they proceeded to walk through the crowds in order to reach their private box , stopping to greet others along the way. Lucius and Narcissa began walking up the flight of stairs first followed closely behind were Anna and Draco. "Ah here's Lucius now. I'm positive most of you know each other " came the voice of Cornelius Fudge. Anastasia tensed when she laid her eyes on who Cornelius was conversing with. The Weasley's. Anna tensed and her jaw locked into place, her hand reaching towards her wand. After her last run in with Percy, Anna was certainly taking no chances. Draco noticed the change in Anna and turned looking confused at the situation. Anastasia narrowed her eyes completely having zoned out of the conversation , until Arthur Weasley held his hand out towards her . Instead of shaking his hand Anna chose to not take notice. "Anna" Narcissa scolded as if Anna was one of her own. "Oh that's quite alright Narcissa truly, Percy did say some rather unforgiveable things, it's bound to be hard for her to forgive. No hard feelings. Right lets get to our seats shall we?" Arthur said clapping his hands , he began rushing the children up the stairs. Draco took Anna by the hand and proceeded to drag her to their box, very nearly pulling her over . The private box even had a adjoined balcony with slightly more spacious seats than the original. " Look Dray, As spectacular as this view is these shoes are not made for me to be on my feet leaning over a railing for the whole match , so I'm going to fetch a seat by your parents" Anna said her cloak swishing behind her. Spying the two elder Malfoy's seated alone in the back row with a seat saved between them.

Anastasia sidled her way to the spare seat squeezing herself past Narcissa , whose fingers trailed up the smooth skin of Anna's bare leg. The entire arena suddenly erupted into applause and cheers. The Bulgarian team came flying out along with their mascots. Veela's. Veela's were stunningly beautiful creatures capable of entrancing any male in their presence. At the sight of the many Veela's Anastasia eyes Lucius watching his reaction, her hand grasps the top of his thigh squeezing hard. Lucius jumped at the unsuspected contact, his actions gaining the attention of Narcissa. " Oh Darling I do believe our princess wants to play" Narcissa cooed. " Yes it would certainly seem that way. It is rather brave of our babygirl if you ask me. Tell us babygirl is that what you want ? You want us to make you scream our names for everyone to hear ? Does our dirty little princess want an audience to watch her beg ?" Lucius teased , his voice low enough for both women to hear. The effect of his words had Anna squirming in her seat. With her hand still on Lucius's thigh Anna could feel his length hardening beneath her touch, deciding to test the waters ,Anna began slowly undoing the zip . " Don't start something you can't finish baby " Cissa whispered into Anastasia's ear while sliding her hand to cup Annas throbbing heated , panty-less sex . At the discovery of no panties, Cissa was in two minds to whether to take Anna over her knee right there and then or completely fuck her senseless later. Deciding on the latter Narcissa began dragging her index finger through the slick folds of Anastasia's wet folds, reaching the bud of nerves she began rubbing slow circles. Anastasia bit down on her lip in an attempt to keep their cover being blown. With Lucius's erect shaft free from its clothed prison, Anna wrapped her hand around the base. Anastasia moved her hand up to the red swollen tip swiping her thumb across the tip spreading the glistening pre-cum over her thumb. Anna made eye contact with Lucius as she popped the cum covered thumb into her mouth humming in approval at the salty taste it provided. Lucius stared in disbelief at his little princess's bold action. Leaning to her slightly Lucius whispered.

" You do that again princess and I'll take it upon myself to personally destroy the beautifully tight cunt of yours and mummy wont be able to save you" Lucius smirked with a glint in his eye. " You promise daddy" Anna whispered back.

Anastasia felt a rush of adrenaline surge through her , whether that was due to him or to the fact Cissa was still launching her attack on anna's clit she didnt know neither did she care. Anna's hand picked up the pace around Lucius whilst she ground down against Cissa's fingers . Narcissa's fingers curling inside of anna hitting the spot each and every time she thrust , her thumb hitting the bud of nerves driving Anna so close to the edge. The closer she got to her big finish the harder and faster she gripped Lucius. Narcissa felt Anna's walls constrict around her fingers. Cissa removed her fingers from Anna lifting them up for both Anna and Lucius to see Anna's juices dripping from her fingers. "I'd offer you a taste my love but I really dont want to " Cissa smiled warmly at the pair as she cleaned each finger with her tongue one by one making a rather erotic show for the pair. " Fuck Cissa ! I'm so close babygirl I highly suggest taking your hand away before we make a mess " he warned , Anna chose to disregard his warning and continued her ascent, hell bent even to make her daddy feel as good as he makes her. Anna felt Lucius's cock twitch in her hand signalling he was about to cum and boy was she ready for it. Lucius with his eyes momentarily clenched shut, he missed as Anastasia bent her head down, with one last pump on his twitching penis Lucius rode his orgasm out shooting white shots of cum. Surprisingly Anna caught the majority of it in her mouth leaving little to no mess. Anastasia rose back into her seat laughing lightly. Narcissa placed her hand on Anna's thigh. " You did such a splendid job darling and you taste so sweet . Our sweet babygirl " Cissa commented softly. Lucius hummed in agreement. " Indeed she did my love , I must admit it does make me wonder how her lips would feel wrapped around it, perhaps her lips on you too my dear . The possibilities are endless wouldn't you say?" Lucius replied quietly. Anna blushed furiously. In the background the arena erupted in to applause. Draco and his friends turned from the railings and ran approaching Anna and his parents. "They lost , the Bulgarians lost by 10 points 10 freaking points. What a match though Anna? " Draco asked. "Oh yes It was definitely quite the match. Had me on the edge of my seat the entire game" Anastasia enthused back. Draco looked pleased at her response. " Oh father , mother Blaise invited me and the others to go back to his tent for a while , Would that be alright with you" Draco asked them politely his hands clasped in front of him. "Yes Draco that's fine by us , you know where our tent is should you need something. Be safe" Lucius allowed , secretly happy that Draco would be elsewhere giving him and Cissa time with their babygirl. Draco fist pumped the air in pure excitement. "Anna you want to come I'm sure everyone would love to see you again you are everyone's favourite head girl after all " Draco asked his eyes wide and hopeful. Anna shuffled her weight from foot to foot . " Oh um Draco that's rather kind of you but in fact I'm rather tired . I figured I might just go and get some sleep" she replied scratching her neck at the awkwardness silently praying Draco wouldn't see through her lie. Draco nodded at her response waving and leaving with his friends in tow. With Draco gone , Anastasia, Narcissa and Lucius walked side by side back to the tent . " Are you actually tired little princess or can mummy and I convince you to join us in what I do believe you started earlier this evening?" Lucius asked with every intention of keeping the promise he made her earlier. " Well I suppose theres a chance I could be persuaded" Anna shrugged lightly, spotting their tent she turned to them with a small giggle and took off running . Leaving Lucius and Narcissa to watch in complete awe. Narcissa curled into her husband's side. " My god I love her " Cissa whispered softly . Lucius planted a soft kiss to the temple of Cissa's head smiling at her comment after all he too felt the same way. " Me too my darling me too , let us hurry I do

believe our precious girl would not fare well being kept waiting." Lucius said taking Cissa by the hand and into the tent. As they entered their room of the tent , they both froze in complete and utter shock , the sight of their princess already on their bed completely naked . Her long hair pulled back into the high ponytail that Lucius seemed to adore . Her hands on her knees patiently waiting . " You and mummy kept me waiting daddy, that's not very nice of either of you. I thought I'd have to try and start things all on my own . It wouldn't have been as good as mummy's but you were taking too long" Anna pouted . Narcissa felt instantly guilty , Lucius however was plagued with the image of his babygirl on the bed pleasuring herself without them. That thought being more than he could take , he strode over to a pouting Anna turning her by the cheekbones to look at him. " Oh Is that so little one ? You would start without us ?Really, is that so?" he taunted her. Anastasia looked from him to Narcissa who watched on with an arched brow, embracing in the confidence their princess had today. Lucius didnt like the attention shifted from him and pulled her back to look at him by her ponytail. " Touch yourself princess I dare you and I'll take you over my knee and give you the spanking of my dreams. Only mummy and daddy get to fuck you with our fingers. Wouldn't you agree darling?" Lucius asked pulling Anna to stand in his arms turning them to look at Cissa who had also now gotten rid of her clothes. " Oh I absolutely agree my dear of course unless we tell her otherwise" she caressed Lucius's cheek placing a kiss to the corner of his lips , leaning over Anna's head in the process. Narcissa then stood looking Anna dead in the eyes. " Although I might add that I will spank you myself should you ever leave the house without panties on again my baby" Cissa warned , Anna silently cursed in her head. Lucius's arms tightened around her bare waist placing her down on the bed with Narcissa close behind , their hands roaming over Anna . Lucius let his left hand cup her cheek while his right hand gently held her throat. " No panties ? Really ? In that case perhaps a punishment is needed hmmm?" Lucius thought out loud to Narcissa. Anastasia gasped at the sudden surge of pleasure rushing through her just from his hand on her throat . Before he could apply pressure , loud noises of explosions and screaming interrupted. Leaping up Anna and Narcissa quickly dressed using magic while Lucius went to see exactly what the commotion is. When he returned , he had a panic stricken look on his face. "Death eaters we need to leave" Lucius said sternly. He knew all too well the damage they were capable of. Narcissa's hands flew to her mouth. " DRACO" Anastasia and Narcissa shouted together. Anna wasted no time hurrying out of the tent with her wand drawn ignoring the shouts and cries of Lucius and Narcissa behind her. Curses were being thrown from every direction. Anastasia spots Blaise and his friends leaving but no Draco. " BLAISE , where is Draco ? He was with you" Anna asked frantically .Blaise nodded. "He was until they started attacking , we got split the last I saw he was by my tent" Anna didnt wait to listen the rest. Running as best she could in a dress and heels, Anna began calling Draco over and over until she saw him . Draco was doing his utmost best to defend himself against three Death Eaters. He was doing so well until he tripped over an abandoned backpack. "Stupefy" Anna cast knocking the death eaters back, Anna helped Draco to his feet keeping him tucked behind her back. She now stood facing the Death Eaters. " Protego" Anna shouted blocking their attacks. "SECTUMSEMPRA" Anastasia cast leaving two of the three Death Eaters bleeding to death on the floor. A flash of green hit the third . The Killing Curse. It was an unforgiveable spell. Lucius and Narcissa appeared from behind Anna and Draco , grabbing onto them , they apparated back to Malfoy Manor. Draco broke into sobs at how close he came to death. Narcissa rushed to him

cradling him like the child he was. Narcissa took Draco upstairs and let him talk his way through what happened before they found him. Upon hearing Draco's side of things, Narcissa would be forever in debt to Anna for saving him the way she did. Meanwhile in the master bedroom Lucius pulled Anastasia into him , needing to hold her in his embrace. Never had he felt the amount of fear and panic that he had when he saw her trying to defend herself and Draco against three ruthless Death Eaters. Tomorrow he would absolutely scold her so bad but for tonight both her and his son remained in one piece . No physical damage. " Princess you have no idea how relieved I am that your not harmed . Myself and Cissa can never lose you babygirl. We need you" Lucius almost cried into her hair. A single tear rolling down his face. Narcissa entered the room. " He's okay he's sleeping poor boy is shaken though, We owe you a thousand thank yous darling , without you I fear our Draco may not be here tonight so thank you our beautiful Anna . Now we've had enough for one night wouldn't you say ? How about a bath and some much needed cuddles in bed hmm?" Cissa suggested. Anastasia and Lucius nodded in agreement. All three of them now submerged in a bubble bath both Narcissa and Lucius refused to let go of Anna's hand . The events of tonight really shook everyone to their core. Narcissa offered to wash Anna's hair while Lucius just wanted to hold her a little longer. After they were all bathed and ready for bed Anna had yet to climb in with them instead hesitating by the door. " Darling girl are you not coming in with us? Is something wrong?" Narcissa asks panicked at the possibility Anna could have seriously hurt herself. " No nothing is wrong it's just with Draco home shouldn't I be in my guest room?" Anna asked looking to the floor. When Draco was usually home Anna usually stayed in a guest room down the hall to keep their secret. " Darling come and cuddle with us for a while, we all need it , I can carry you to bed later princess" Lucius persuaded. Anna didn't need to be asked twice . She jumped straight up onto the bed crawling into Lucius's open arms, Anna settled down and held hers open for Cissa to crawl into. Lucius began playing with Anna's hair twirling it around his fingers. Kissing the crown of his head as he twirled each piece. Anna wrapped her arms around Narcissa holding her against her chest. Something about being stuck between the two made Anna feel safe, the safest she had ever felt. " I love you Lucius and I love you Narcissa "Anastasia said sleepily, her eyes fighting to stay open. Lucius and Narcissa both tensed at those words. The first time their Anastasia had said that she loved them and with their names well it just melted them both. " We love you too darling so much " Narcissa whispered gently moving to kiss her forehead , catching the smile on her face from her words brought tears to Cissa's eyes again. Anna drifted peacefully to sleep surrounded in a loving embrace .

#lucius malfoy smut #narcissa malfoy smut #draco malfoy #harry potter smut #narcissa malfoy #lucius malfoy #narcissa x lucius x oc

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comfortwriting · 3 years

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Three Can Keep A Secret F.W & G.W

Fred Weasley x Fem Reader x George Weasley (Part 1 of 3!)

Part 2, Part 3

masterlist

A/N: I saw a few fics and head canons that inspired me to write a bit of spice involving the twins! I’m open to Polyamorous Relationships, despite never being in one, so I hope that I’ve done an okay job at this! Enjoy my lovelies😊

About: The reader is in love with her two best friends: the Weasley twins. Little does she know, they’re both in love with her too. After a night of drinking at The Burrow, their secrets are out in the open - leading to an interesting night.

Warnings: Polyamory (if you’re not into it), light smut, alcohol, intoxication and swearing.

You smirked at Fred then at George, lifting up one of the bottles of fire whiskey you stole from your parents house. You flashed the label at them and quickly hid it before Percy could snitch.

“It’s so lovely to see you again my dear!” Molly chirped hugging you tightly.

You smiled into her warm embrace, hugging her back. “It’s lovely to see you too!”

“I’m guessing you three will be up late tonight, so I’ve already got your sleeping arrangements sorted in Ginny’s room with Hermione.”

The twins smiles instantly dropped as they were hoping you’d get to spend the night in their room for a change; but it wouldn’t matter, you wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight anyway.

Reaching the end of the fabulous mouth watering and filling dinner, you helped Molly clean up whilst Fred and George went outside to the garden.

Walking outside to join the two of them you stared at the gorgeous sunset.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” You sighed, realising how much you didn’t want to leave the burrow and go back to Hogwarts.

Fred shot a smirk at George “we think you’re looking rather beautiful tonight, love.” Fred flirted with you.

You let out a laugh and shook your head, sitting down with the twins. Pulling your bag closer to you and unzipping it.

Did Fred just flirt with me? you thought to yourself and George agrees with him?

“Are you sure you’ve not been drinking?” You pulled the two bottles of fire whiskey out of your bag.

George put his arm around you “positive”

You smirked at him, eyeing up his soft lips, questioning whether to kiss him or not, wondering what Fred would do and if George would kiss back.

You and the twins had been best friends for years, you went from fancying both of them to falling completely head over heels for them; with the three of you entering your last year at Hogwarts, you couldn’t help but feel your heart pain, you’d hate never being able to see them everyday, you’d hate them being so far away.

As the sun slowly went to hide behind the moon the three of you continued to share the bottle of whiskey, gazing up at the stars when you weren’t too busy laughing and chatting; it would be a fair call to say you were all drunk and if you weren’t mistaken, having a pretty decent first date.

“Want to play a game?” You asked, not wanting a silent awkward moment to creep up on you all.

“What kind of game?” Fred asked, smirking.

You bit your lip for a moment, debating which game would get you the answers faster.

You began to shiver as the air cooled with the entrance of the night, both of the twins moved closer to you but hesitated for a moment, staring at one another. Both Fred and George were head over heels for you too, but they were unsure if you only liked one of them back.

“Please can one of you grab the blanket?” You slurred “so we can all cuddle underneath it together”

It became apparent to the twins (and later on it would become apparent to you) that the fire whiskey had removed any type of filter you had before, and they were going to use this to their advantage.

Fred grabbed the large blanket, throwing the other end to George, the two of them pulled it over their shoulders and moved in, cuddling you.

“So what game are we playing, love?” George asked, reminding you.

“Truth or dare” you smiled, looking at both of them “we all ask one another and we choose which one we’d rather do.”

Fred and George exchanged grins and nodded, the two of them appearing to be rather excited about this little game.

“Okay then” answered Fred “I’ll start.”

The air became more nippy but the twins body heat was keeping you warm.

“Truth or dare Y/N?” Fred smirked at you.

You hesitated for a moment “Truth” you replied.

Fred looked at George and then back at you, placing his hand on your knee.

“Do you fancy my brother George?” he asked, making you go red.

You didn’t want to lie and you didn’t feel the need to “I do.” you admitted, causing George’s heart to pound.

You bit your lip, both of them watching you “George, truth or dare?” you asked him.

“Truth” he replied, a spark of confidence in his voice.

“Does your brother Fred fancy me?” you smirked, knowing George wouldn’t have the time to make up a lie to protect Fred.

Fred smirked, fuck, you were good.

“He does” George replied.

“Fred, truth or dare?” George asked his brother, the moment they had been finally waiting for coming closer and closer.

“Dare.” answered Fred.

“Tell Y/N everything.” George commanded his brother, the two of them chuckling at you, beating you at your own game.

Fred stared into you beautiful Y/E/C eyes and bit his lip, then licking them.

“Me and my brother think you’re hot, Y/N. We talk about you often, we both have feelings for you and we think it would be unfair if only one of us could have you and not the other. We both want to fuck you, would be a shame if one of would miss out on the girl we love.”

You fell silent for a moment feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of you, you couldn’t believe what Fred had just confessed, you couldn’t have counted your lucky stars more clearer - the boys you had fallen in love with, loved you back, and best of all, you wouldn’t have to worry about leaving one of them out.

“So Y/N” George slurred, kissing your neck.

“Truth or dare?” Fred smirked, cocking an eyebrow.

You breathed out feeling elated “Truth”

“Do you accept our offer?” George asked, stroking your hair.

Fred started to trace circles onto your thigh “Do you want to date both of us?”

You took a hold of Fred and George’s hand “I do.”

What happened next could only be described as something dreams were made of - you were sat in front of George in his lap, his lips planting kisses all over your soft neck - and Fred facing you kissed you passionately.

Moaning against Fred’s lips the rest of your evening was nothing short of interesting, passionate, and out of this world.

Stumbling into Ginny’s room the boys whispered goodnight and went off to bed, you held their jumper up to your neck, climbed in the sleeping bag and went to sleep, thankful that Ginny and Hermione were fast asleep.

Opening your eyes you nearly jumped out of your skin, Ginny and Hermione hovering over and staring at you. You yawned and rubbed your eyes, your head suddenly banging from all the alcohol last night.

What exactly happened last night?

“Thank god you’re awake” hissed Hermione, the girls moving back allowing you to wake up.

“Who the bloody hell did that to your neck?” Ginny asked, trying to figure out if it was Fred or George.

You stood up so fast the blood rush almost caused you to fall back down again, stumbling over to the mirror you were horrified but also amazed at the love bites scattered across your neck; suddenly remembering what had gone on last night.

One side of your neck covered in huge love marks belonged to Fred, the other side with smaller but plenty more love marks belonged to George. The two of them taking turns with you before tiring themselves out.

You had to stop yourself from telling them it was the twins “Uh, Fred” you replied, your own voice causing your ears to ring.

“George isn’t going to be happy” Hermione sighed.

“Here” Ginny tossed you a hand-me-down turtleneck jumper “you can cover his marks with his jumper, if mum sees she’ll have a fit.”

Breakfast felt like torture, you, Fred and George were so hungover - your breath stinking of fire whiskey.

Molly’s scolding made your head pound even more and the three of you had to grip the table when given a plate of food to stop yourselves from throwing up.

Arthur chuckled and winked at the three of you trying to get you to drink some juice to make you feel better until his wife caught him, scolding him.

Despite feeling like shit, the three of you exchanged smirks and questionable glances that made Hermione and Ginny exchange looks of their own. Finally, breaking away from the table after clearing it, the three of you went outside to ‘get some fresh air’.

“Nice jumper” George smirked.

“Really suits you” Fred winked.

“About last night” you said coolly “was that just the fire whiskey talking or is your offer a fulltime option?” you asked, the bruises on your neck starting to feel sore.

Deep down, no matter how crazy last night felt, you wanted it to be real, you didn’t want it to be the actions of drinking too much alcohol.

Fred and George looked at one another, Fred nodded towards George, giving him the go-forward to speak.

“Fulltime option, love.” George answered, his hands going into his pockets.

“It’ll be our secret.” Fred added, searching your eyes.

Again, not counting your lucky stars, you smiled at both of them, laughing lightly into the air.

“Three can keep a secret.” You smirked, hugging them both.

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the-ghost-king · 3 years

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love seeing ur tags on my posts it means i get to think 🥰🥰 anyway mostly agree but at least to me nico’s constant need to prove himself is a sign of feeling like he’s not worth other people’s time and effort and he has to MAKE himself worth it. he does all he can in the hopes that people will notice him and tell him that he’s good enough because he relies on the approval of people he loves. he thinks love is something conditional for him and that he always has to be earning it because he doesn’t have enough worth to have it just granted to him. again this is more my own interpretation of his character and possibly a bit of projection

(Post)

I will not fail to acknowledge that I might also be projecting somewhat onto Nico, what is media but self reflection? I think there's a couple ways you can see Nico that are canonically "correct"

What I personally think happened with Nico is that he was aware he was worth more than the treatment he was receiving, but because so much rejection occurred he eventually just assumed he was the problem. There's things on this I would rewrite now but it holds up okay in what I'm about to try and explain.

The thing about being rejected is that the first time you argue it's the other person. And the second time you'll argue it's still them. If you're still arguing it's other people the third time, maybe but it's thin ice... But eventually you just have to accept that you're at fault.

I think this is something that really describes Nico. He is never able to nestle himself in the comfort of sameness after a certain point. He is not given authority in his own story in the beginning, he is thrust into solitude, he is told he is a monster already and if not then he has no choice but to become one.

And he takes this blame upon himself, believing that it's him who has to prove himself. He doesn't acknowledge that maybe other people have their own biases against him, he says "I have to prove them wrong," and then does his best.

It's important to note that Nico is definitely grappling with Childhood Emotional Neglect, he's in a broken situation- and he recognizes that nobody wants him around, and that he's just more stress for an already stressed group of people, so he just backs down and starts to figure stuff out for himself. We see him accept some help and friendship from The Stolls in TTC but eventually he stops doing this at some point.

His leave from camp and time with Minos is when he is used:

you unknowingly wear your heart on your sleeve and people will see this and take advantage of your trusting nature and unconditional love and they’ll never really love you they’ll just see you as an easy tool to be manipulated and used how they see fit and you won’t recognize that this is a bad thing because you don’t believe you’re worth anything more than this

This is something I would say is very true about this time period of Nico's life. Minos emotionally exploits Nico, emotional neglect and abuse (possibly physical abuse, who knows) are defining characteristics of their interactions. Nico talks about how Minos will just randomly leave him for extremely long periods with no assistance, and about how when he's around he's always telling Nico to try harder, to do better, do more. Note the time he tells Nico "you have no power over me", he's definitely holding things over Nico's head. I don't think it's wrong to assume comfort is a part of that, Nico is alone all the time at this point, and I'm sure he's starved for touch, and support, and connection- and he will take whatever he can get whether or not it is good or right.

At first he doesn't do anything against this, and it might be because he was so starved for attention that he was willing to endure abuse to receive somewhat a consistent form of it. I also think there's some evidence that points to the idea Nico was getting something from Minos, training and similar stuff, it's possible he was willing to form and upkeep a toxic relationship with him in order to gain experience.

However, I do disagree with "and you won’t recognize that this is a bad thing because you don’t believe you’re worth anything more than this" because Nico does realize eventually that his situation isn't sustainable and that he has to do something- so he takes his narrative back into his own hands:

“Minos laughed. "You have no power over me. I am the god of spirits! The ghost king!" "No." Nico drew his sword. "I am.” (X)

So Nico, if he ever thought he was worth the treatment of being used for someone elses personal gain, he definitely overcomes some of it here, if not all of it. Nico is manipulated and used for Minos's personal gain, but he recognizes that it's not sustainable and makes a stand for himself. And this is the first time in the series where Nico truly is able to take control of his own narrative, everything before this moment is Nico being forced, or Nico with something looming over him, Nico crowning himself is him claiming his story.

So let's consider Hades in all of this, I don't think Hades manipulated Nico to the extent Minos did- but nonetheless, he did manipulate and abuse him, and this hurt Nico more than when Minos did it. Again, in the situation with Hades this is also true, "you unknowingly wear your heart on your sleeve and people will see this and take advantage of your trusting nature and unconditional love and they’ll never really love you they’ll just see you as an easy tool to be manipulated and used how they see fit and you won’t recognize that this is a bad thing". By the time Nico and Hades truly start interacting, we see that Nico's heart hasn't been fully removed from his sleeve, but it may have been lightened.

Here's the thing about the way Nico approached Hades, it's not naïve to trust family. The text in multiple places implies that Hades was around for at least a handful of years when Nico was a kid, it's not unlikely that Nico may have taken naps on his shoulder, held his hand to cross the street, maybe called him "Papa", "Dad", or "Tata" (Italian, English, old Greek). It makes sense that Nico goes to him, what doesn't make sense to Nico at first is that Hades would manipulate him. Unlike many of the other demigods, Nico knows he was a choice, and that at some point he was something wanted, so he expects some level of okay treatment from Hades. Hades loved his mother, and Hades if not wanting of Nico would have wanted Maria's wishes fulfilled, and Nico probably remembers Hades treating him warmly- or at least not harshly. The way Nico went to Hades makes sense, he wasn't expecting open arms surely, but he also wasn't expecting abuse.

Hades emotionally exploits Nico by using information about Maria, what would a little boy want more than the safety of his mother? He's so starved for human contact, who ever held him more than his mother? Who ever loved him more than her? Once Nico delivers Percy to Hades, his father crushes him, not only by harming Percy but by exploiting Nico's trust through Nico's mother- one of the things he's most desperate for.

We see Nico's heart come off his sleeve at this point, maybe not fully, but enough to where a stranger couldn't recognize it at first glance, and in a way where he has the means to hide it from most.

Except we don't see much of this, because the series is narrated by Percy- and Nico can't hide his heart from Percy.

Almost everything Nico does, everything he tries to do, is for Percy. Nico is so desperate for contact that he is pliant, but in Percy's hands Nico actually wants that contact, he's not interested in imitations of love or substitutes- he's looking for the real thing.

And Mr. Oblivious does-Annabeth-like-me Jackson isn't in any headspace to realize that a boy might like him, let alone Nico. This concern that Nico will join Luke, isn't entirely because Percy is misreading signals, but it's definitely part of it. Nico likes Percy so much that at one point he is willing to go to Tartarus if not entirely for him, then partially for him.

If Percy had realized, and rejected Nico- maybe he would have joined Luke, or at least he definitely would have been more likely to. The perception of Nico we get in PJO from Percy is unreliable, because Percy looks at Nico through the lenses of a concerned older brother, and Percy feels guilty in some way for the situation Nico is in. This gives not only a skewed, but slightly falsified narrative of who Nico is.

The original post of mine I linked, although yes, I would like to rewrite aspects of it now it holds up in the sense that Nico is always trying to prove himself, and this is a bit different than being a puppet. Nico is so starved that it is present in everything, @/arabnico gets it right:

nico’s longing is just so raw it consumes him whole and he cannot hide it at all because it reflects in absolutely everything he does and is nico’s just the means of the way for them and he settles for being it because he doesn’t think he can be much better or even deserves to it is sometting so twisted because nico has this innate utalitarian desire to be useful and to do something and to do the right thing but in the game of things he’s reduced to that puppet in the hands of fate and deities millennia older than him that see a wounded wandering soul doomed to be forever alone by a destiny so cruel it keeps him on his knees

Nico, in PJO especially, has little control over his own narrative. His mother is killed in punishment for his father's "wrongs", Nico is forced to endure this. Bianca grows tired of caring for Nico and leaves him behind, this is not Nico's fault but Nico is forced to endure the consequences of her actions. Bianca's fate is decided on a quest Nico isn't even able to go on, he is forced to endure the results. Nico then breaks the cycle, declaring himself The Ghost King, and dethroning Minos. Nico is forced to endure Hades's manipulation only because he did not see it coming, this wasn't an aspect in which Nico didn't have his narrative (he had already taken ownership of his narrative) but a blind spot in his rational.

The place where we vary is why Nico behaves this way, we can agree that it's because he's starving for human connection- but you believe it's because he has no confidence he is willing to submit himself, while I see his submission as an act of desperation.

Personally, I think to argue that Nico is like this as a result of lack of confidence does a disservice to his narrative (obviously it's fine to view him however you wish, and I wish you all the fun in doing so!). To boil this down to starvation and lack of confidence removes some level of Nico's autonomy in his own life, but also strips him of one of his strongest characteristics- those qualities of him which are like Orpheus.

Nico willing to go to the ends of the earth for love is not a weakness but a strength, his ability to carry on beyond the point in which he needs a rest is not a weakness but a sign of strength. His ability to go to the ends of the earth to right wrongs, and to show his love:

"... Cupid struck, slapping Nico sideways into a granite pedestal. Love is no game! It is no flowery softness! It is hard work- a quest that never ends. It demands everything from you- especially the truth. Only then does it yield rewards."

Cupid is explaining Nico's idea of love in this scene, we see Jason say he prefers Piper's idea of love- but Nico only knows love in the way cupid describes, working desperately for a few moments with Bianca, working just to hear any scrap of information about his mother, always trying to prove himself to Percy- to overcome the way he feels about Percy (and boys in general).

Nico has only known love as something you walk to the ends of the Earth for, but he never stops fighting to be loved and acknowledged. Lesser men would give up and lay down, accept they are unworthy, but Nico keeps pushing to be acknowledged and accepted- to be recognized and loved without having to walk to the end of the Earth, but Nico knows he has to walk to that edge and face it before unconditional love will come to him.

To imply that Nico seeks love the way he does because he's unconfident in his ability to receive love ignores the idea that he's had his life forced into this position because of the fates. It loses acknowledgment to the strength it takes to pick yourself up and walk to the end of the Earth time and time again, because if he was unconfident then he would eventually lay down and accept he shouldn't be loved ever again.

I don't think confidence doesn't play into this at all though, it definitely has some impact on Nico, he does view himself as inherently less (he is overly self sacrificial- think Tartarus :/), and he does try to remove himself from others:

You yourself said: you blame yourself for the way people have hurt you, taken advantage of you, and abandoned you. they exploit your love and your naïveté time and time again. you tell yourself, surely, there must be something wrong with you. because—you are convinced—that people are good. “if they hurt me, it is because i am flawed. it is because i am weak. people will always hurt me—even people i love. it’s an inevitable truth for me.” (X)

And this connects to what I said: "The thing about being rejected is that the first time you argue it's the other person. And the second time you'll argue it's still them. If you're still arguing it's other people the third time, maybe but it's thin ice... But eventually you just have to accept that you're at fault."

I do think there's a reason Nico makes himself so "utilitarian", because he hasn't been handed unconditional love since Bianca. But again we disagree on the why, I see Nico's behavior in his utilitarian example of love as caring, the way more people should be in love. Too many people see love as something given without restraint, and yeah, love should be unconditional but in order for love to be unconditional you have to do the work to lay good foundation. To be utilitarian in loving is not an act of weakness, or a symbol of lack of confidence, it is a showcase of more care in love than most have to offer. We care for things, and place value on them determined by how much love and care goes into those things.

I also don't see Nico's self blaming for what happened as flawed, it's logical in his situation, and a common result of CEN. This self blame shows care and kindness, and this coincides with Nico's arcs, "If I am bad, how do I improve? If I have no choice but to be evil, how do I still be good?". Nico is always fighting not to be recognized for good or bad, but to be recognized for what he is.

Trust is not naivety either, the only reason Nico is regarded as naïve is because of the extreme circumstances of his life. People shouldn't have to expect abuse from people who are supposed to love them, people should have to accept abuse in order to receive love. If Nico's life had turned out different, his naivety wouldn't be viewed as a weakness but a strength- a kindness.

We're not actually viewing Nico all that different, there's this space where his character blurs together, and it becomes an individual duty to determine at what point a flaw becomes a strength, and a strength a flaw. Nico's stubbornness is a flaw if we're thinking about grudges, but it's a strength in his work ethic. Nico's ability to stand on his own is a strength in terms of questing, but it's a flaw when it prevents him from experiencing love in fullness.

#asks #gayleafpool #idk the ending of this is shit but idk how to close ends so hopefully you understand anyhow #also i don't want this to come off as there's a right and wrong way to view something because that's not true #i was just trying to elaborate further on why i view nico a certain way #i can definitely see why you view him how you do #i think we're both definitely projecting a bit because we're both right in a flawed wya #*way #but what is the human mind but flawed?#uhh to tag or not to tag?#i'll tag #nico di angelo #pjo #long post

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wasithard · 4 years

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Percy wakes up on his seventeenth birthday in his own bed.

One year ago today, he’d woken up in a room at the Plaza Hotel from a vision of the Titan Lord Kronos planning his attack on Manhattan. One year ago today, he’d woken up in the middle of a war – and that’s not even the most recent war he’s fought.

Percy wakes up on his seventeenth birthday and immediately goes back to sleep.

His day goes like this: waking again to blue pancakes and waffles and eating them with his mom and Paul. Having a picnic lunch with Annabeth and Grover in Central Park, then driving with them to camp for dinner and a bonfire with their friends. Roasting marshmallows and singing songs and kissing Annabeth by the fire. Getting too lost in the way the firelight tinges her grey eyes red to notice the rest of the campers gathering around them before they pick them up and throw them in the lake, just like last year. Sitting around the dying embers of the fire, remembering the friends they lost in the war that ended one year ago today, the heavy silence of that moment burying itself in the middle of his chest, sitting there like a weight. Going to bed in his cabin, Tyson snoring in the bunk above him, wishing the love he’d felt from his friends that day would be enough to silence the voices in his head yelling it should’ve been me.

Percy wakes up on his nineteenth birthday, three years after the war.

He wakes up and wonders if he’ll ever stop thinking of it as the anniversary of the war instead of a celebration for another year he’s lived, or another year he’s spent with Annabeth.

Annabeth, who’s living on campus in the city they almost gave their lives defending three years ago now and comes over for breakfast that morning with Sally and Paul. He’s sitting at the table with them all, laughing and grateful to have them, but wondering if he should be worried that it’s been three years and he still wakes up on August 18th with a tightness in his chest at the thought of getting another year older than his friends who will never see another day. He knows they’re in Elysium. The thought should bring him peace.

Breakfast trickles into the afternoon and he and Annabeth go for a walk in Central Park before driving up to Camp. On the way there, Percy takes a detour to a small beach he’d scouted out a few weeks before and surprises his girlfriend with a picnic on the sand. He helps her build a sandcastle that’s almost taller than he is, holding the waves back so that they can use the hard, wet sand near the shoreline to make their castle stronger.

By the time they get to Camp they both smell of salt and seaweed and his spirits are high. It makes it worse, somehow, when they have their annual memorial to those they lost three years ago that he’s had such a nice day so far. Annabeth notices his change in mood, presses a kiss to his shoulder as she entwines their fingers.

After the campers start to trickle off to bed, Chiron catches his eye and Percy follows him to the Big House. They are sitting on the balcony, crickets chirping around them and a glass of cool blue Coke in Percy’s hand when Chiron fixes him with a stare that has seen countless tragedies and asks him if he still blames himself for being alive.

It’s jarring to hear someone so bluntly say out loud the thoughts he hasn’t dared to speak for so long. He swallows, can’t bring himself to hold Chiron’s gaze so flicks his eyes down to his feet instead, the only part of his body that doesn’t feel like it’s shaking. His fingers clench around the clear glass in his hand and he watches beads of water slide down the outside of it. Chiron doesn’t speak, but the silence is heavy and Percy feels like it’ll suffocate him if he doesn’t break it.

“I don’t– ” he clears his throat. It sounds too thick. “I don’t blame myself.”

He takes a sip of his Coke, swallowing it completely. “I don’t blame myself. I just don’t understand…”

He doesn’t want to finish the sentence, doesn’t want to say the words, I don’t understand why it wasn’t me, but when his eyes meet Chiron’s again he knows the centaur understands. How many other heroes has he seen feel the same way? Does he feel the same way?

“Percy,” Chiron says, his voice steady and deep with thousands of years of wisdom and loss and hope. “You help no one by holding on to guilt that isn’t yours.”

Percy exhales roughly, running a hand through his hair. In his head, he understands this. He just doesn’t believe it. If he had been a little bit better, in any sense of the word: faster, stronger, smarter. Maybe Charles wouldn’t have gotten caught in the engine room of the Princess Andromeda. Maybe Michael wouldn’t have been caught in the earthquake Percy had caused on the Williamsburg Bridge. Maybe Clarisse could have been convinced to fight in the war earlier, so Silena wouldn’t have had to impersonate her.

“Percy.” Chiron repeats, voice firmer. “You might be a hero, but you are also a person. And all a person can ever do is their best.”

Percy closes his eyes, bows his head. Chiron continues speaking. “The gods have done wonderful things, but they have also made many, many mistakes. More and far more devastating mistakes than the ones you have made in your short life. The benefit and curse of immortality is seeing how the actions of a moment can fade over time. How they can be made up for when a similar situation arises in the future. How it is not one’s past that defines them, but how they learn from it.”

Percy doesn’t want to look up at Chiron now, because there are tears in his eyes and it’s embarrassing, frankly. But he owes it to him.

He looks up. Chiron’s gaze is as steady as before, and Percy exhales one more time, releasing air all the way down to his belly. One tear slips down the side of his face and stops at his upper lip. He licks it away, using a hand to wipe his eyes as he turns his face to the now quiet camp. He can see the volleyball court, the rock climbing wall, the smoking embers of the campfire and the beginning of the circle of cabins. He sees his home: safe, intact. Filled with his friends, the survivors. He breathes it in.

“Thanks, Chiron.” He says, turning back to the centaur who gives him a soft, understanding smile in return.

Percy finishes off his drink and leaves the empty glass on the same wooden table he saw Chiron and Dionysus playing pinochle at when he first arrived at Camp, all those years ago. He stands up, wishes Chiron goodnight and starts walking back to the cabins.

Cabin 3 stands there: dark, alone and familiar. He feels tiredness tug at his eyelids and muscles but inside he still feels too wired to lay down just yet. He heads for the beach.

Annabeth is already there. Her legs are bent in front of her, arms tucked underneath them and chin resting on her knees. He sits silently beside her and they stay there, no sound between them except the gentle crash of the waves on the shore. After a few minutes she leans her head against his shoulder and he rests his atop hers, closes his eyes.

“Do you remember when we were in the Sea of Monsters and I wanted to hear the Sirens?” Annabeth asks, voice quiet. “I would’ve killed myself on those rocks swimming to their island but you dove into the ocean and pulled me out of their range, even though I was kicking and screaming at you to stop. We were thirteen.

“And remember in Mount St. Helen’s? I know you didn’t have a plan, but you made me get out anyway. You made sure that I was safe before even thinking about how you would survive.”

He feels her weight leave his shoulder then, glances over to see her sitting up and turning towards him, crossing her legs under her. The light of the full moon washes her in an ethereal glow, and her eyes are gleaming wide and bright as they lock onto his, pinning him in place. Annabeth is always beautiful, but when she’s determined – whether in battle or in convincing her boyfriend that he doesn’t deserve the pain he inflicts on himself – she has a face that could launch a thousand ships.

“And in Rome,” she says, her voice catching. “You wouldn’t let me face Tartarus unless we could face it together. I don’t know how many times you saved my life down there…” Percy sees her eyes begin to well with tears. “When we were fighting the arai…” She closes her eyes as a few tears escape them. Percy reaches forward and wipes a few away with his thumb. She opens her eyes into his again and gives him a small smile.

“My point is,” she continues, her voice thick. “Being a demigod is a high risk life that none of us asked for. An occupational hazard of us just being alive is death by monster attack. This is the first thing we learn when we find out who we are. All the friends we’ve lost over the years…they knew that too.

“And that doesn’t mean that their deaths were ok or justified or that we can forget about them, but I think that shouldering the burden of their deaths is stopping you from remembering the beauty of their lives. And it’s stopping you from remembering all the people who haven’t died because of you. Every single person in this camp owes their life to you, either directly or indirectly. Yes, a lot of people died on this day three years ago, but even more people were saved, and you had more to do with the last thing than the first.”

Percy’s getting teary again, but he doesn’t feel embarrassed this time. Annabeth shuffles closer to him on the sand and grabs both of his hands, squeezing them tightly, bringing them up and pressing her lips against them. “Percy Jackson, you have the purest heart of anyone I have ever met. It’s glaringly obvious to anyone who knows you – except yourself, apparently. I will spend the rest of my life trying to help you see it, but until then you’re just gonna have to trust me.”

Her face changes. It goes from open and pleading to playful, one eyebrow raised and a challenge in her eyes that makes his heart skip a beat, even when the rest of his system is in emotional overwhelm.

“Do you trust me, Percy?” Annabeth asks him.

He lets out a laugh, shaky from tears, and nods, “Yes, Annabeth. I trust you with my life.”

She beams at him, sitting up on her knees to bring her face closer to his, until it’s close enough that he can feel the warmth of her breath as she speaks, her eyes still locked onto his. “Then believe me when I tell you that you deserve forgiveness. And you need to give it to yourself.”

It’s too much. Percy swallows, jaw clenched and glances down. Annabeth releases one of his hands and grabs his chin, not letting him get away that easily.

“You. Deserve. Forgiveness. More than anyone in this world.”

He’s searching her eyes, frantically almost. It feels too easy. There has to be a catch.

“Ok?” Annabeth prompts, her voice still soft but firm, uncompromising.

He opens his mouth to speak but any words get caught in the knot at the base of his throat. Tears are leaking down his face and he can’t. He can’t. It can’t be that easy. It shouldn’t be.

Annabeth exhales, removing her hand from his chin and instead running it through his hair, stopping at the back of his head and bringing it forward until their foreheads touch. She doesn’t say anything else, just sits there with him.

With him, while he closes his eyes and thinks about the Minotaur choking his mom when he was twelve. Thinks about imaging Tyson drowning in the Sea of Monsters when he was thirteen. Thinks about losing Bianca di Angelo and Zoe Nightshade later that same year. He thinks about the campers that fell in the Battle of the Labyrinth whose names he didn’t know, and the campers that fell in the Battle of Manhattan whose names he made sure he did. He thinks of a Titan and a Giant at the Doors of Death, sacrificing themselves so that he and Annabeth could get to safety.

Percy sits on a beach at nineteen years old and thinks of all the death he’s seen in such a short time, all the death that’s been haunting him for years.

A cool breeze passes by him, coming from the water. As it brushes his skin, he comes back to the warmth of his best friend’s forehead pressed against his, her hands: one clutching his, the other tangled in his hair. He feels her soft exhale of breath and thinks about how she is alive, here, with him. Against all odds. He thinks of the campers asleep in the cabins just metres away: alive, here, with him. He thinks of his mom and Paul and Rachel, his friends from Camp Jupiter, all the people he cares about who are alive, here, with him. He thinks about the fact that they outnumber the dead, and realises he’s never really thought about that before.

Percy lifts his head and looks at Annabeth. She cups one side of his face with her hand, eyes still trained on his intently.

“I love you.” He says. “I’m so happy you’re alive.”

Her smile is small and bittersweet, her eyes wide grey pools of understanding.

“Me too,” is all she says.

It is enough.

#i woke up yesterday not expecting to create original content for percy's birthday and instead #here is the longest coherent thing ive ever written #percy jackson #pjo #percabeth #idk what's happening with the form at the beginning #and no estelle is not valid in my universe sorry #its 1:19am i have no business being up so late for this but its percy......i love him #ok bye #hi i wrote a thing #tw death

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