#if annabeth chase read that she would be like WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY I DID??
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this is my roman empire. and after all these years, i finally have to say something.
GRUNT-WHIMPER??? GRUNT-WHIMPER!!!!???
ANNABETH GIRL ARE YOU OKAY??
forget her just standing there gasping for air. forget her very audible sigh. forget the fact that annabeth initiates 80% of their kisses and literally has to restrain herself from kissing him in front of all of New Rome in MoA. i could go on and on about how many times percy calls her beautiful and attractive (let’s not forget how his heart races and his skin tingles at her touch) and all his boyfriend-ly thoughts about her, but lets focus on annabeth for a sec. BECAUSE ANNABETH CHASE IS GRUNT-WHIMPERING??
our girl was feeling ALL the things in this scene. she’s so weak in the knees for him that she can’t even hide it in front of piper. also percy must be a fantastic kisser? BECAUSE GRUNT-WHIMPER??
do not EVER tell me percy and annabeth don’t have romantic feelings for each other. do not EVER tell me it’s purely platonic. if you’re someone who thinks “nah i can’t see them getting married and having kids cause i don’t think they feel that way about each other” you clearly did not read about the grunt-whimper (well, you can hc whatever you want. i respect all opinions. but i do think you need to re-consider and account for the grunt-whimper)
BECAUSE GRUNT-WHIMPER?? ONE GOOD KISS FROM PERCY IS MAKING ANNABETH CHASE GRUNT-WHIMPER?? IS THAT RICK’S “CHILD-APPROPRIATE” WAY OF SAYING SHE MOANED?? HE SHOULD HAVE JUST SAID SHE MOANED. GRUNT-WHIMPER IS SO MUCH WORSE. THAT GOES SO FAR BEYOND A MOAN. A MOAN IS TAME COMPARED TO A GRUNT-WHIMPER.
GUYS I-
#ricky i see you#ricky i can’t believe you wrote about annabeth grunt-whimpering#GRUNT-WHIMPER??#percabeth#LOL#i can’t stop laughing#if annabeth chase read that she would be like WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY I DID??#blood of olympus#percy jackson#annabeth chase#heroes of olympus#percy jackson and the olympians#pjo#uncle rick
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Yan! PJO + HOO the first time they tell that they love the Reader? You can choose the characters you want to write! Love you work 🥰💕
❝ 🌊 — lady l: I only did a few, since you gave me the freedom of choice. I hope you like it and if you want a part 2 with other characters, I will do it! Good reading and forgive me for any mistakes!
❝warnings: none, just fluff, very soft!yandere and me being a cheesy romance reader.
❝🌊characters: percy jackson, annabeth chase, grover underwood, luke castellan, jason grace, nico di angelo, will solace, piper mclean and leo valdez.
❝dividers by: @cafekitsune 💙
❝Yan!PJO/HOO ❝The first time they say: ''I love you.''
Percy Jackson had never been good at expressing his feelings in the healthiest way. He knew he loved you, he knew it from the first time he met you but he didn't know how to put those feelings into words, he just knew how to show them.
And he showed in an unconventional way how much he cared about you, how much he loved you. His favorite way and the one that worked the most, in his mind, was being a bully to those who bothered you. He once almost drowned Clarisse to death after she knocked you down in training. Percy only stopped when you begged him to do so.
He knew there was failure at the moment, so he decided to have another strategy. He needed to confess what he was feeling, get those suffocating feelings out. With the advice of some friends, Percy decided to ask you to go swimming with him. When you were sitting on the riverbank, chatting away, Percy used his powers and made several hearts with the water, along with the sunset, it became a romantic environment.
He got close to her face, held her hands tenderly and whispered loud enough, ''I love you.''
When his lips connected, Percy knew he had known true happiness.
Annabeth Chase always knew what she wanted and when she wanted it and she knew she wanted you. She knew it since she met you at Camp Half-Blood and she knew you were meant to be hers.
Due to her more reserved personality regarding her feelings, Annabeth didn't have much of an idea of how to express them to you. A simple ''I love you'' could be enough, but she wanted something more. She was proud and wanted something that really screamed for her.
So she spent weeks planning how everything would go. The atmosphere, the lighting and the exact words she would say to you. Annabeth had a whole plan, everything was carefully planned. She invited you to go with her to a more distant part of the camp, where you could be alone.
Everything was going as he wanted, the silence was good, the light was beautiful and most importantly, you were there. After you ate some fruit and talked a little, Annabeth knew this was the time. But she got nervous and could no longer say the speech she had planned, so all that came out of her lips was, ''I love you.''
But that was enough. She was slightly blushing and felt her chest fill with happiness when you said you felt the same and when you kissed her.
Grover Underwood is much more cautious in its approach. He is a satyr who is shyer than the others, more reserved, especially towards you. He knew he was in love, but he wasn't sure if you loved him back.
And the gods knew how much it would break him if you rejected him.
So Grover chose to just be friends with him, to yearn for you from afar. He was satisfied with this choice, with this position in his life, but it didn't take long for him to be consumed by jealousy when he saw another demigod or satyr near you. That's when he knew he couldn't stay in the shadows any longer.
He asked Percy and Annabeth for advice, who advised him to be direct, but be more romantic when confessing to you. Grover was still afraid of being rejected, but he couldn't live with himself if he didn't at least try. When the moon was in the sky and the stars were shining and the two of you just watched it, that was when he gained courage.
Grover was a bit confused with his words, but he managed to say everything he wanted. When he said, ''I love you'', you pulled him into a breathless kiss, sealing your love. Grover almost melted in his arms.
Luke Castellan was much more interested in his revenge against the gods than in his feelings. He tried at all costs to ignore them, that is, ignoring you, but it got to the point where he could no longer ignore what he felt.
He was soon overcome by feelings of jealousy, of anger that left him breathless when he saw you near another demigod. When you spent your time with others other than him. He knew he was being a hypocrite, after all, he was the one who left but that didn't mean you could replace him.
When he saw you laughing with one of Aphrodite's children, that's when he knew he had to make it clear who you belonged to. During a cold, calm night at camp, Luke invited you to walk along the beach because he wanted to talk to you.
His eyes widened slightly when the son of Hermes held your hands and with gentle words, the gentlest you had ever heard come out of his mouth, he confessed how he felt to you. You were surprised, even more so when you heard him say, ''I love you.''
Luke waited for your return and when you said you felt the same, he kissed you. For the first time in a long time, he actually felt happy.
Jason Grace was nervous about his feelings, shy even. He was confident in many ways, but he didn't know how to tell you, the person he loved most, how he felt. He had no idea how to make you see the truth, see what he really felt and not just words that could be empty depending on the context and the person.
He was sitting by the lake, watching the gentle waves as he tried to collect his thoughts. Jason knew he needed to find the courage to express his feelings, but every time he tried, the words seemed to slip out of his mouth, leaving him even more frustrated.
He picked up a smooth pebble and began to throw it into the water, watching the circles form and slowly dissipate. It was like his feelings, he thought. They were there, clear as water, but they were lost before reaching the surface.
The sun was setting over the horizon, dyeing the sky in orange and pink tones, while Jason felt increasingly restless. He knew he needed to find a way to show the truth, to make you understand without his words faltering. With his mind made up, he got up and walked to where you were sitting, looking at the sunset.
With a lump in his throat and his heart pounding, he sat next to her, took a deep breath and, on impulse, took her hand and let the words full of feelings come out of his mouth, in love, ''I love you. '', it was said and when he finished speaking, you kissed him passionately, admitting that you loved him too. Jason could die right then and there and he would be happy.
Nico di Angelo was afraid to admit what he felt, he was afraid for you. He didn't want to accept that he was in love, no, that he loved you deeply because he was afraid. Being a demigod was already a danger in itself, but being a child of the Big Three, a forbidden child, only made everything more difficult. But he was selfish, he couldn't stay away from you.
He struggled daily with his own feelings. The weight of being a demigod, a son of Hades, added an extra burden to his already tormented heart. Nico tried hard to hide his passion for you, fearing the consequences of this forbidden love.
Yet his soul longed to be close to you, even if it meant defying divine rules and risking his own safety. He found himself torn between the responsibility to protect himself and the uncontrollable need to be by her side. Every moment together was an internal battle for Nico.
He tried to be distant, but your presence next to him was constant. His eyes held deep secrets, and his silence hid the intensity of what he felt.
One day, when the pressure became unbearable, he summoned the courage to confess. With hesitant words, he revealed the whirlwind of emotions he carried with him. He was afraid of her reaction, but he could no longer deny the love that consumed him. Nico just let the words come out, he didn't try to stop them or control them, he just vented his feelings and when he said, ''I love you'', that's when he knew there was no going back. When you kissed him and returned his feelings, Nico almost cried.
Will Solace was excited to confess to you, to the person he loved so much. He could already imagine your future together and happily. But he was still unsure how to confess to you and he knew it would need to be at least perfect.
He was determined to make this confession a memorable moment. Will spent days thinking about how to express his feelings in the most sincere and meaningful way possible. One afternoon, while walking through the Camp, he saw some flowers that were planted by Demeter's children and, after asking their permission, he had an idea.
With determination, Will began to set the stage for his confession. The chosen location was a clearing near a waterfall, a peaceful place full of meaning for both of them. He spent hours arranging the petals, creating a delicate, winding path to a central point, where he positioned a carpet of grass, adorned with more flowers, forming a heart.
When you arrived at the place, with your heart pounding, Will took a deep breath and, with all sincerity and love, expressed his feelings. He talked about how much the person meant to him, how precious every moment shared was, and how he envisioned a future filled with adventure and joy together.
''I love you.'' Will said, his eyes shining with love. He waited for his reaction and when you hugged him, kissed him, he knew it was worth it. You were worth it.
Piper McLean was confident that you loved her back, not more than she did because no one else could love you like she did. She was very confident and knew exactly what to say and what to do to tell you how she felt. For her, all that was needed was words and a kiss to seal everything. She was a daughter of Aphrodite, after all, no matter how different she is from her half-siblings.
Her confidence was like an aura around her as she approached. Piper knew how to seduce with words, but this time, it was something deeper, something that went beyond the persuasion skills typical of a son of Aphrodite.
She approached you with a smile, her eyes full of determination and tenderness. It was like she knew exactly what you were thinking, like she could read your mind. With a gentle touch to her face, she whispered words that would echo in her mind for a long time.
''I love you.'' It was her first words after a long look and when she saw your face blush slightly, Piper knew what she would have to do.
You felt the warmth of her hand on her face, her eyes shining with a rapturous sincerity. Piper approached slowly, lips hovering close to hers, an emotionally charged silence stretching between you. When they broke apart, she looked into his eyes, a tender smile playing on her lips. There were no more doubts, no words needed. What existed there was a mutual understanding, a palpable love that no divine power could overcome.
Leo Valdez was always that type of person who lit up any room with his contagious energy and playful way. His relaxation and optimism were like magnets, attracting those around him. However, behind his constant jokes and his eccentricity, there was something deeper that he couldn't easily express: his love for you.
He looked for ways to show his feelings, but his mischievous nature and his difficulty in saying what he felt complicated him. He wrote letters, tried to be more serious at times, but always ended up turning everything into a joke, too nervous to express his true affection.
One day, in the middle of one of your games, Leo suddenly stopped, looked into your eyes and, with a somewhat awkward smile, said: "Did you know that I love you?" You almost spat out the drink you were drinking, without having not sure if he was just joking or serious.
When it became clear that it wasn't a joke, you stayed quiet for a few seconds, until Leo pulled you into a hug, placing his head in the crook of your shoulder. You closed your eyes and melted into the warm embrace.
''I love you.'' Leo whispered, holding you tightly.
#percy jackson#yandere percy jackson x reader#yandere pjo#pjo#yandere percy jackson#percy jackson x reader#annabeth chase x reader#yandere annabeth chase x reader#yandere annabeth chase#yandere grover underwood#grover underwood x reader#yandere grover underwood x reader#luke castellan x reader#yandere luke castellan#yandere luke castellan x reader#nico di angelo x reader#yandere nico di angelo#yandere nico di angelo x reader#yandere jason grace#jason grace x reader#yandere will solace#will solace x reader#yandere will solace x reader#piper mclean x reader#yandere piper mclean#yandre piper mclean x reader#yandere leo valdez#leo valdez x reader#yandere leo valdez x reader#imagine
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You drew stars around my scars
Pairings: Percy Jackson x reader, Annabeth Chase x reader, Connor Stoll x reader, Leo Valdez x reader (separate)
Summary: They comfort your insecurities of your scars
Warnings: Mentions of scars but no specifications of how they got there, I tried to keep it Gender neutral but kind of failed
You stood in front of the mirror, the sight of the scars on your body making you nauseous. They were disgusting. You were disgusting. Everything about your scarred and ugly body was disgusting.
They made you ugly, gross, and disgusting.
You hadn't heard them come in..
"What's got your pretty head so wrapped up, huh?" He questioned from behind you, startling you out of your thoughts. You raised your gaze to see Percy behind you in the mirror, his arms crossed as he leaned against the door frame, that flirty dumb smirk that made you swoon laid on his lips.
You turned towards him. "How long have you been there?" You questioned, still a bit startled.
"I asked first." He retorted, pushing himself off of the door frame and coming towards you.
You sighed, rolling your eyes and crossing your arms over your chest. You looked away from the mirror; away from him.
"It's nothing," you said, turning away from the mirror all together and grabbing your shirt off the bed. Before you could put it on, Percy pulled the shirt out of your hands, multitasking and pulling you closer with his other arm.
"You and me both know thats a lie, sweetheart," you spoke into your ear.
"Get off, Percy.." You sighed.
"You're beautiful," you paused. He knew, didn’t he? He knew of your insecurities without you even telling him. But, maybe he was just saying that to say that.
His thumb swiped across a scar on your thigh. That made you realize he did know. He was extremely observant and perceptive despite the learning curves he's had.
"No..." You muttered under your breath. You didn’t agree with him.
He kissed your cheek. "C'mon, hon," he led you over to the bed.
"Wait, what?" Before you could even question anything, Percy had laid on top of you. "Percy! Get off of me!"
"Nope!" He grinned down at you. "I'm not getting off until you agree with me that you are beautiful!"
You sighed in annoyance, giving him a scowl before he leaned his weight on you and hugged your middle. No matter how annoying and stubborn he was, he always managed to make you feel better.
You hugged him with one arm, and you winded your hand into his hair.
Even if the inkling of insecurities still rests in the back of your mind, Percy would keep them in the back. As long as he was with you, there was no chance those thoughts were coming forward. He's there for you, and he always will be.
I feel like she's a little ooc, so sorry if she is 😓
"What's wrong?" She asked. She could always tell. All it took for her was a glance your way, and she could read every emotion you felt.
You glanced at her in the mirror, your gaze resting back on your scars.
Annabeth waited a moment before sighing softly. She stepped forward towards you, placing a warm and comforting hand on your elbow.
"You have to get out of your head, love," her voice was soft, comforting. Something she didn't show a lot of the time unless she fully trusted who she was talking to.
"I know," you muttered, stepping into her arms, "I know I do, it's just.. It's just so hard, sometimes." Annabeth stared at you for a moment.
She grabbed your hand, "Come with me," she told you.
"Where are we going?" You asked softly.
"To the strawberry fields." She gave you a smile.
You stared at her. Now, the back or her head as she leads you to the strawberry fields. She always knew you so well. The strawberry fields were always so calming to you. You liked to take strolls in them whenever you were feeling stressed.
"My love," you looked up from the strawberries, looking to your girlfriend.
"Yes?"
"You are beautiful." Your lips parted in a bit of surprise. "I love your scars, and your hair, and your smile, and just.." She paused, kneeling down and giving you a kiss on the cheek. "I love you."
You hadn't seen or even heard the sneaky son of Hermes come into the room. You only noticed him when his warm hand grabbed your hand from behind you startled you.
"Connor?" You questioned, having jumped a moment before when he startled you.
You looked at him in the mirror. His hand on your arm was so light, yet so firm and warm. Your eyes widened slightly when you saw him lean down to your arm, his lips touching a scar on said arm.
You watched him trail his gentle kisses along your scars. Gods, you loved his kisses, and he loved giving them.
Your heart rate increased when his other hand met your torso, gently pulling you to face him just as his lips got to the base of your neck.
"Connor..." You muttered, but he didn't respond as he kissed your jaw.
You gasped softly when his lips finally met yours in a firm yet gentle kiss. And just like his hands on your body, it made you swoon. You leaned into him, and he set his hands on your hips as you laid your arms around his neck.
"You are beautiful," He said, just barely against your lips. You could feel his breath as he spoke, "say it back, tell me you are beautiful."
You were silent for a moment. His eyes had stayed closed for a few moments after the kiss, but when he opened his eyes. You were met with his beautiful sky blue eyes.
"I.." You hesitated, your lip trembling for a second. "I'm beautiful.." You finally muttered out, voice slightly shaky.
"There you go," He smiled, giving your lips a few pecks, "my beautiful girl."
His thumb was gently swiping over a scar on your hip. You didn't want his thumb anywhere else. And for the first time in a long time, you felt a bit better about yourself.
You felt beautiful.
"Well, look at my gorgeous baby!" Leo cheered, that happy smile you could never resist on his face. He hugged you from behind, his warm and dirty arms landing around your waist. He hadn't realized you were feeling down. Not immediately, anyway.
Leo paused, looking at you in the mirror. He could tell something was wrong. "What is it, mi amor?" He questioned. Those dumb nicknames always made your heart flutter.
"Nothing, I..." You paused, swallowing your disgust for yourself. "I'm fine.." Your voice was quieter.
"I can tell when something is wrong," his arms tightened, "Tell me." He urged almost desperately. He hates seeing you upset, and he hates not being able to help even more.
"I feel.." You paused, staring at him in the mirror. Your eyes locked within it. He was listening intently and waiting patiently for what you would say. "My scars.." You said softly.
"Your scars?" He questioned. He ran his hand across one of the scars on your torso, "What about em'? I love em'"
Your heart fluttered at the feeling of his warm hand over the scar. "How could you possibly love them?" You asked, tears welling in your eyes. Your voice was almost breathless, he has to be lying. "They're so gross and ugly, and.." You stopped, preferring to hold the sob in your throat back rather than continuing on rant.
Leo's gaze softened, "Hey, hey.." He gently turned you around. You just opted to hide your face within your hands. "Hey, Hermosa," his voice was gentle, so we're his hands as he grabbed yours, prying them off your face. "You are the most gorgeous person I have ever laid my eyes on, and a few scars isn't going to change that." He could tell his words weren't helping, so he decided on something that might.
Leo backed up for a second, pulling his shirt over his head. "You say I'm handsome all the time," he started, pointing at a scar on his chest. "Does this make me any less handsome?" He questioned.
You sniffed, wiping your eyes and nose. "No..." You muttered quietly.
"Right," he dropped his shirt on the floor and stepped closer to you. One of his arms, he winded behind your back, pulling you closer to him. Then his other, he raised his hand, wiping you tears with his gentle yet calloused thumb, "So why should your scars make you any less beautiful?"
He placed his hand on your jaw, gently holding it as he leaned in and set his warm lips on top of yours.
#percy jackson#percy jackson x reader#percyjackson#annabeth chase x reader#annabeth chase#connor stoll#connor stoll x reader#leo valdez#leo valdez x reader#camp half blood#pjo fandom#pjo#pjo hoo#pjo x reader#percy jackson and the olympians#percy jackson the lightning thief#percy series#pjo series
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JEALOUS AND POSSESSIVE (YANDERE PLATONIC ANNABETH CHASE x YOUNG SISTER)
A/N: First of all I want to thank my friend @aphroditelovesu for letting me use her headcanons to write this story! If you want to read her original headcanons you can read here.
Since this is a yandere platonic story, I believe you guys know what it contains, it's nothing new, just yandere themes, obsessive and manipulative behavior, characters trying to kill each other, yeah, the basic stuff. By the way, Irina is my original character and English is not my first language, so sorry if it contains grammar mistakes.
Enjoy it ❤️
Irina Chase was special, at least to her sister, Annabeth, the famous daughter of Athena. She, just like her older sister, was also the daughter of the Goddess of Wisdom, but she was as well the spwan of Frederick Chase. This was what made Irina even more special to Annabeth, the two were daughters of the same mortal father and goddess mother, since she was little Annabeth wanted her father and mother to be together, when Irina was born, she felt that this dream was not so far away to come true, right?
She and Annabeth were 7 years apart, although the older one stayed at Camp Half Blood, she always made sure of visiting her mortal family, not to see them, but rather her dear little sister, Irina. Nothing and no one else was important, just her baby sister, she was everything to Annabeth and she would do everything to make Irina only for herself, after all she was proof that in the end she would have their family's dream together.
As Irina grew up, Annabeth did everything she could to be by her side, no matter what it was, whether it was family gatherings, birthdays, no matter what, she was always there to support her little sister and be the most supportive family member for her. Anything the younger Chase did, the older one would be there to celebrate, even the small achievements (excellent grades, learning to ride a bike, etc.).
The day Irina was ready to go to Camp Half Blood, now 11 years old, Annabeth was ecstatic, many things had happened like the wars, but everything was left aside when Irina was sent there, now the oldest could to have Irina by her side basically the entire time, as she had impatiently waited all this time. Of course she made sure that Irina stayed away from her half-siblings, after all, they weren't important, the two of them were.
Annabeth was extremely possessive and jealous, she hated seeing her little sister mixing with demigods that she thought weren't worthy enough for her, her little sister can't mix with those types of people, what if she forgets about her? No, there was no way she would let that happen, Annabeth made sure of limiting her little sister's contact with other demigods, if she had obligations she would take Irina along, she justified it by saying that it was just to ensure that she was always safe. Ha, big shit.
As if the possessiveness and clinginess that Annabeth had wasn't enough, it got worse when Percy Jackson got into the picture, yes, the super mega famous son of Poseidon. The moment he met Irina, he completely fell in love (platonically duh) with the young girl, she was like a young and shy version of her own older sister, and it wasn't long before Irina was considered Jackson's little sister, after all he wanted to protect her from everything and he was one of the only people Annabeth allowed to talk to and interact with on a daily basis.
But lately, and it took Annabeth a while to realize due to her illusions about family and such, Irina was moving away from her, very gradually. It's because? All thanks to Leo Valdez, who became friends with young Chase a short time ago, as he was one of the people Annabeth accepted for Irina to interact with, she didn't worry so much at first, after all Irina would come back to her like she always did.
How wrong she was. In a short amount of time, Irina began to idolize Leo, she saw the son of Hephaestus as an example to be followed, every time she found herself confused about something, she turned to him and no longer to Annabeth and worst of all, she began to refer to him as a big brother. This began to worry Athena's daughter. No, there is NO way Valdez would steal Irina from her!! She was HER little sister and not the Hephaestus's son’s, let him look for another child to satisfy his need.
“Irina, we need to talk.” Annabeth said dryly when Irina entered the empty cabin, where only she was. The young girl looked at her older sister with curious eyes.
“What is it Annie? You seem kind of angry…” She said hesitantly, you could see in Annabeth's facial expressions that she was angry, but she had reason to be.
“Oh no, Irina. I’m not, I just need to ask you something.” The blonde said, trying to hide it, but of course the young girl didn't let that go, but she decided to pay attention to what her older sister was going to ask.
“What is it, Annie?” Irina asked curiously, it was then that Annabeth took a deep breath and said dryly to her sister.
“I want you to keep your distance from Leo Valdez from today onwards. I already asked Percy to tell him about this too.”
Irina was static, not believing what she had just heard her older sister saying. Why? She finally had a friend she could trust and spend time with that wasn't just her sister or her boyfriend. Leo was intelligent and had a lot to teach her, she loved him, why did Annie want her to stay away from him? Did he do something wrong? But he wouldn't be able to.
“W-What? But why?"
“Isn’t that obvious, Irina? Oh please, don't act stupid to me! Do you think it’s cool to start ignoring me just to spend more time with Leo??” Annabeth questioned her, she didn't care if at that moment she was showing her true colors, after all, it wouldn't make any difference.
“W-What? But he-"
“It’s always ‘Leo this, Leo that…’, where is our partnership? We are sisters, blood sisters! From the same father and mother and you dare call that son of Hephaestus your older brother? Have you lost your mind??” Irina was increasingly scared, she had never seen Annabeth so angry with her, and it was for real. The young daughter of Athena, however, didn't understand why, until something finally made her realize and everything made sense.
“Are you jealous, Annie??” She asked her older sister, who looked at her with wide eyes and her anger grew significantly, never that she would admit it, not even to her little sister.
“As if, Irina. He is nothing compared to us, daughters of Athena━”
“That's why you're talking bad about him! You’re jealous of him, aren’t you???” Irina cut Annabeth off to continue her line of reasoning, her frustration and now anger made her realize everything. “You're insecure as hell, that's why you wanted to keep me away from others?? You… ugh, you are the one who ruined all the friendships I had and now I have no one, no one looks at me or talks to me….” Tears started to form in Irina's eyes, Annabeth immediately noticed, but instead of comforting her, like she always would, her pride didn't allow it.
“He’s not good enough for you, no, no one is! Only I, Irina, only I am good enough for you, why other people if you have me? You always had me in the end, now you're going to abandon me and go to someone else?! He’s worthless and a bad influence!” Annabeth argued and Irina had had enough of her, now with angry tears falling from her eyes, she screamed loudly.
“I HATE YOU ANNIE! I HATE YOU, I’M NOT YOUR SISTER ANYMORE!” She screamed and Annabeth fell silent, motionless and unable to properly process the words she heard her little sister, her precious Irina say out loud and with pure hatred. Before Annabeth could respond, Irina left the cabin in tears, leaving the older Chase contemplating her hateful words.
Irina ran into the middle of the forest in the camp, she ran until she tripped, she wanted to find Leo, he would be in his Bunker, but she couldn't take it and continued to cry, she hated her sister, she finally realized why she never had friends . This was all Annabeth's fault and her selfishness.
"Are you ok?" A not very familiar voice asked her, the young Chase looked around scared, but finally her eyes met with two black irises that belonged to a certain son of Hades.
“I-I am but… who are you?” She asked hesitantly before wiping her tears away, he wore an alternative look and Irina had definitely never seen him before.
“I am Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. You must be Irina Chase, sister of━”
“Yes, Annabeth Chase.” Irina said with a derogatory tone, which surprised the son of Hades. “I need to find Leo, I don’t want to be closer to her.”
“I think you'd better go to the infirmary. Your leg is bleeding a lot.” The Italian said pointing to the young girl’s leg, which indeed was. But Chase didn't care, she managed to get up with difficulty and was trying to walk around looking for Bunker 9. “Hey, where are you going?? You won’t go very far with your━”
“I’M FINE, I DON’T NEED HELP!” The child screamed in response, but stumbled again, letting out a groan of frustration and pain as she fell face first onto the ground.
‘Prideful like her sister.’ Nico thought, approaching the girl who was whimpering against the leaves. “Come on, I’ll take you to the infirmary. Will will take care of you.” He said picking the girl up carefully in his arms and before she could protest, he entered a shadow to take her to her destination.
But if she hadn't been taken, she would have faced Leo and Percy in a verbal confrontation, in the end, Leo actually wanted Irina as his little sister and he wouldn't hesitate to get rid of Annabeth to make that happen, after all, the young Chase deserved a better older brother and who would be a great candidate like himself?
That day, Leo Valdez and Annabeth Chase started a war over Irina, a war that would cost the young girl dearly.
#yandere percy jackson#yandere platonic percy jackson#yandere annabeth chase#yandere pjo#nastya's stories#yandere drabble#nastya's oc
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POPSTAR BUT IM YOUR BOYFRIENDS GIRLFRIENDS FAVORITE DJ !
Annabeth Chase x reader
GENERAL ROMANTIC HEADCANONS
a/n: HERES YOUR REQUEST ANON!! hope you enjoy some stuff about annabeth, i love her sm 😓 hope you enjoy!!
ᝰ the two of you are basically a match made on olympus (im so sorry idk why I did that)
ᝰ she loves to talk to you about her architecture plans for olympus and other places she's doing
ᝰ if you guys have similar music tastes be prepared to be sharing headphones with her constantly
ᝰ she shows you her sketches of her ideas for olympus to see if you like them
ᝰ gelato dates 100%, the two of you sit outside on a patio eating your gelato and talking about whatever comes to mind at least 1 time a week
ᝰ shes a human calculator, so if you're struggling with math or science at New Rome, ask her and she will gladly assist
ᝰ be prepared to be going to historical sites and museums A LOT
ᝰ if there's a science museum nearby, you are going to be planning her birthday party there
ᝰ I think annabeth takes her sleep to another level, so when you start sleeping with her, know that your going to have memory foam pillows and mattress topper, cooling blankets, throw blankets and pillows, and stuffed animals
ᝰ you and annabeth for sure have the best sleep schedule out of the 7 (I headcanon that they are all still friends 😭)
ᝰ Barnes & Noble dates every other day. no questions asked.
ᝰ she has a tote bag collection and picks the one that best matches your guys outfit that day
ᝰ you two are regulars at this one Cafe by your shared apartment—it's the one with a library upstairs, so self-explanatory why you guys go there
ᝰ yk those restocking videos on tiktok of kitches? I feel like annabeth would be one of the girlies that do that, so be prepared to help her restock her snacks and fridge
ᝰ if your feeling to tired to highlight your notes for whatever college class your in, annabeth will happily color code your notes with her highlighters she paid 45$ at an overpriced art store
ᝰ along the topic of college, if you mention to annabeth you have a test, she will sit you down at the table and you'll be there for hours working on flash cards and other studying methods
ᝰ she will ramble to you for hours about the latest book she's read, especially if it's a historical or mystery genre
ᝰ you and annabeth have volunteered so many times at the local library that the staff considers you one of their own at this point
ᝰ and if you play UNO or any other game of the sorts, she will get competitive
ᝰ no exemptions—even if your dating her
ᝰ you'll sometimes come with her to her appointments to get her hair braided, so you get to listen to the gossip she shares with the person doing her hair
ᝰ she'll also ask you beforehand if you like certain beads or crystals and what would look best in her braids, or if she should just go natural for that period
ᝰ be prepared to have your mind boggled by the random facts she says at any given point, it becomes a routine in your day
ᝰ shes an amazing partner to have and is always going to be by your side
#percy jackson#percy jackson x reader#percy pjo#annabeth chase x reader#annabeth chase x you#hoo x you#hoo x reader#pjo x reader#pjo x you#percy jackson x you#x reader#annabeth chase headcanon
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annabeth chase and her many losing dogs: an (incomplete) anthology
read on ao3
or
chapter one: a (brief) introduction to the game and it's players
She gives Cerberus her red rubber ball.
Because he’s a monster, but she doesn’t think he means to be.
Because he’s a lonely dog and she is lonely the same way. The kind that doesn’t know how lonely it is until a person shows up and reminds them. The kind that wishes to just be left in loneliness long enough for companionship to be forgotten altogether.
The ball will make him happy. He will destroy it within minutes, it will disappear after he does nothing but be himself.
(She does that sometimes too.)
First Round: Frederick Chase
Bet Type: Blind Faith; awarded via mass tradition.
Made with no experience.
Trust given without the knowledge that trust must be earned.
Annabeth is four years old and hungry.
She hasn’t eaten since dinner last night.
Dad is playing with his planes again. The fancy small piece ones that Annabeth is not allowed to touch, ‘not now, not ever.’ She’s not supposed to bother Dad when he plays with his planes.
Plane time is Dad’s very special ‘by himself’ time. He’d explained a while ago that he has lots of very hard work to do, and then he has to take care of her which is even more lots of hard work, and sometimes he needs his special ‘by himself’ time, because Annabeth is a big girl now who can read her books and not touch the sockets.
(She wonders why he doesn’t do his special ‘by himself’ time when she’s taking her naps. That way they could have their together time when she’s awake.)
This would be fine, but she just ate the last of her super secret dad-is-in-his-study snack stash that she hides under her bed last week.
She wants to go in and ask, but the last time she’d interrupted him, even though he smiled at her, his eyebrows got all scrunched up together. He was not happy to see her.
(Sometimes, she wonders if he ever is.)
Annabeth is really very hungry.
There are bananas on top of the fridge.
Annabeth creates a plan.
The plan goes south almost immediately and she ends up dangling from the top of the white mountain with glass and bananas all over the ground.
“Christ! Annabeth!” She is being yanked from her very small cliff and carried into the living room and Dad’s voice is very loud and his face is more than scrunched eyebrows and Annabeth is ashamed.
“What were you doing?”
“I was climbing on top of the fridge. I knocked over a vase.”
That was the wrong answer because somehow his face gets even angrier. “Yes, I can see that. What were you thinking?”
“I wanted a banana. They were on top of the fridge.”
He pinches his nose. That wasn’t the right answer either. “You just had breakfast.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. You had the fruit circles.”
“That was yesterday.”
He hesitates. “Okay, well you did wake up late, you couldn’t have waited until it was time to eat lunch?”
The clock on the microwave says 4:13 pm. “It is lunch.”
He looks at the clock. Closes his eyes. When he opens them, he still looks angry but not at her. His voice is much quieter. “Why didn’t you come get me?”
“Last time you got sad. You were in a groove, you said unless it was an emergency not to come in. I thought I could reach it.”
She watches his face change. His eyebrows are still scrunched up but his eyes get gentler and sadder all at once. He sits down on the couch and lifts her up into his lap. It’s been so long, she sits on his knees like he’s a chair. He turns her around in his arms.
“You’re such a quiet kid, Annabeth. Sometimes I forget you're here.”
She doesn’t think he said it to make her sad, but it does anyway. Which is irritating because she didn’t do anything wrong and she feels bad anyway.
“I was a quiet kid too.”
She doesn’t want to be quiet. She wants to scream. She wants to cry. She wants to hit him. She wants—
“I’m gonna clean up the glass and then we’ll have mac and cheese.”
She nods and lets herself be sat back on the couch.
Second Round: Ms. Helen (from Dad’s work)
Bet Type: Good Faith; awarded via proxy.
Made with no experience.
Trust given without the knowledge that trust must be earned.
The first time her father forgets to pick her up from daycare, she is too young to remember. She was also too young to remember the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th times.
She remembers the sixth.
Ms. Helen, dad’s work friend that has come to dinner every wednesday for four weeks, shows up at school wearing black yoga pants and a messy-on-purpose bun.
(The kind that always looks strange in the bathroom mirror when she tries it on her curls in the morning before they leave.)
She smiles at her teacher, tight and pinchy. She does that laugh/talk/sigh thing adults do when the words they're saying don’t really matter. And before Annabeth knows it, she's staring at the backseat of a minivan.
“What’s that?”
Ms. Helen raises an eyebrow. “The car seat?”
Annabeth nods but looks down. She said it like it was obvious. Annabeth knows obvious things.
“Don’t you sit in one of these to come to daycare?”
“No.”
“You just sit in the seat?”
“Yes.”
“You're too little. It’s not safe to sit by yourself.”
Annabeth doesn’t know what she's supposed to say. This happens a lot. Adults do this thing where they ask you a question that they want a specific answer to. Annabeth has developed a skill in which she can always tell when the truth is not what an adult wants to hear. It has, so far, been a pretty useless skill because she has yet to master the skill of knowing what it is that they actually want to hear.
(Sometimes, she figures it out and tells the truth anyway. Those times she doesn’t really mind getting in trouble after.)
“Your father must’ve put you in one of these.”
Annabeth shrugs. Her talent has deduced that Helen does not want Annabeth to say that she has never been in one of those, and figures nonverbal is the safest option because she would like to go home.
Helen crouches down and gets way up close to Annabeth's face. Her grown-up face-paint is smudged around the corner of her left eye. She smells like dish soap.
“I borrowed this from my friend when your father called, so we have to get you your own. From now on, you don’t get in a car without one of these. Understand?”
Annabeth nods.
Helen is looking at her with something strange and sad in her smudged up eye. She takes a deep breath.
Annabeth crawls into the backseat and waits to be tied in.
Fourth Round: Thalia Grace, Grover Underwood & Luke Castellan
Bet Type: Calculated Risk; awarded to an individual after carefully evaluated outcomes
Made after a great loss, in which perceived benefits outweigh potential detriment.
Trust earned after a win.
Thalia is frowning at her.
Annabeth hasn’t been with her and Luke for that long, but she knows that this is not cause for too much concern because she’s usually frowning.
Luke is the one with the smiles, and the cuddles, and the soft spot for the helpless strays—dogs and girls alike.
Thalia is the one with the frowns.
(Annabeth can tell she has a soft spot for Luke though.)
Before she can muster up the courage to ask, Luke beats her to it. “What’s up with you?”
“Her hair.” Thalia has a talent where she can frown and speak at the same time. Annabeth wants to learn how to do that.
Luke smiles at her before fixing his eyes on her puff. She gets that feeling in her stomach she used to get when her teachers asked her questions about her house, like she should be hiding behind her fathers legs.
(The last time she tried, Helen had snatched her arm and told her she was being rude.)
“Her hair.” He repeats in a way that tells both Annabeth and Thalia he has no idea what the problem is.
Thalia ignores him, and scribbles something down on his arm. “I saw a beauty supply store down the road. I need you to figure out a way to get this stuff.”
Luke frowns over her shoulder. (Uh-oh.) “That’s gonna be a bit of a stretch.”
“So stretch.”
“Thals—,”
She looks up at him and her eyes are all intense like when she’s fighting a monster. “They weren’t combing her hair. I took the hair tie off and it’s staying put. She’s only been on the run for 3 days.” Thalia looks back down at her. “Right? That’s how long you were by yourself?”
“Yes.” Annabeth nods. One of her favorite parts about being with Luke and Thalia, is that the truth is always enough.
Thalia looks back at Luke with something in her eyes that’s even softer than when Luke sleeps. “They weren’t combing her hair.”
Luke nods, a new kind of frown. The one he had when they found her. “On it.”
He winks at Annabeth and tweaks her nose which makes her laugh. Then he’s gone and it’s just the two of them.
Annabeth and Thalia have never been alone for that long before, except for bathroom trips and when Luke gets them snacks.
Annabeth knows it wasn’t Thalia’s idea for her to join the two of them. Annabeth doesn’t think she wanted to leave her there, but she knows Thalia liked it when it was just her and Luke.
She’s looking up at the sky muttering something angry in another language. “What’s Luke going to get?”
Thalia considers her for a moment and then sits down leaning against the brick alleyway. “Some hair stuff. Basics.”
“I thought we only took risks for food.”
Thalia smiles a little and it makes Annabeth's chest feel fuzzy.
“You’re a smart kid.” She pats the ground next to her and Annabeth goes to sit next to her.
“My mother…had a bad time. Things that aren’t supposed to be hard for mortals were very hard for her. And sometimes that made her not very nice to me.” She pauses and Annabeth waits patiently, doesn’t dare speak a word.
“She couldn’t really take care of herself. So, she couldn’t really take care of me either. My hair is curly like yours. And hair like ours needs special attention. When you don’t give it the care it needs, it gets stuck like this.” She takes Annabeth's hand and brings it up to her head, lets her tug on one strand gently.
“I like your hair a lot!”
“Thank you. I do too. But, it wasn’t my choice. My mother let my hair loc up so she didn’t have to comb it every day. You should get to decide whether you want your hair like this. Did you ask to have your hair up in a bun for that long?”
Annabeth could tell her how her Dad used to braid her hair on Sunday nights. How they would sit and listen to music and he would spray and comb and braid until she fell asleep on his leg. How when he and Helen got married, he suddenly had no time to do anything that Helen could do instead. How her slick, shiny, and smooth haired stepmother would wrinkle down at her curls, yank a brush through her head and tell her she was ‘impossible’.
But, she doesn’t. She looks down at her shoes and doesn’t say anything at all.
Thalia, even smaller than before, says, “Your parents weren’t very nice to you either. Were they?”
She doesn’t answer.
She doesn’t have to.
‘You’re such a quiet kid, Annabeth.’
(When Luke gets back, he and Thalia spend three hours spraying and combing and braiding until Annabeths hair isn’t stuck anymore.)
(In a few months, a satyr named Grover will take them to camp.
Thalia will not make it across the border.)
(Annabeth will refuse to let anyone touch her hair for a year.)
Final Round: Perseus Jackson
Bet Type: Wild Card; awarded to an individual that fails to qualify through conventional procedure.
Made with gut feelings, no logic, and excruciating human defiance.
Trust is given without measure.
Annabeth's first thought when she sees him for the first time is, “He must be the one.”
She’s sure of it. She says it out loud. Chiron tells her to hush, and she doesn’t even care.
He's the one.
She's not sure how she knows. She's waited for so long, seen so many campers. Many were far more promising than he is.
That's her second thought. He's skinnier than she thought ‘the one’ would be. Skinny and pale and more gangly limb than person.
He’s blinking up towards them but his eyes are unfocused and hazy. That's her third thought. He's fading. They’ll have to carry him.
‘Percy’ Chiron calls him. It’s a hero’s name.
She wonders if whoever gave it to him knew he’d be the one too.
‘He’s the one.’, she thinks again. It feels strange and tingly in her head.
Strange, but not false.
Hello, Percy Jackson. It's nice to finally meet you.
#SHEEEEEES BAAAACCCCKKKK!#it's been a while! i evolved and got a life and the show humbled me and took over my life.#for the percabeth induced insanity gc on twitter (love you)#percabeth#percy jackson#annabeth chase#percabeth fic#grover underwood#percy jackson and the olympians#pjo series#pjotv#pjo tv show#pjo tv series#pjo tv spoilers#luke castellan#thalia grace#frederick chase
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I love watching the pjo show with my sister, because both of us have read the books and we're having the time of our lives yelling at the screen. Here are some of my favorite things we've yelled so far
My sister, "It's the Grover cheese scene!"
Both of us "BLACKJACK!"
My sister about Nancy"Have you considered that she's a bitch?"
Me about Chiron "Gaslight, gatekeep, NOT girlboss"
Both of us when Gabe showed up on screen "That fucker" "Asshole"
Me "The Blue candy!"
Sally "I believe my kid" my sister "what a great mom"
Me "di Angelo's delly! My boy!!"
Both of us "poor Grover" "honestly"
Me, when Percy asks about the minotaur wearing underpants "it's a fair question"
My sister about Sally in the car chase "she's got this. She's a New Yorker"
My sister "oh, look it's Thalia"
Me "Annabeth said the thing"
Me, when Dionysus shows up "PETER JOHNSON!" Mr. D "Peter Johnson" "YES!"
My sister when Chiron first shows up as a centaur "give the kid some warning before you just walk up like that"
Me about the Hermes cabin "the crime cabin. The fun cabin"
My sister "unrealistic how none of the Hermes kids stole Percy's stuff"
Us almost everything time Luke says something we know has double meaning "you know, like a liar"
My sister when Percy makes the toilets explode "gee, I wonder who your dad is? Hmm?"
My sister every time someone asks Percy why he doesn't know something "because you don't tell him anything. You are not fucking telling him anything!"
My sister when Percy gets claimed "Why does that trident look more like a dinner fork?" Me "aren't all forks just small tridents" "Okay, true"
My sister about the Poseidon cabin "why is there just a giant water trough in the middle of the room? Why did you think that was a good idea?" "to put rubber ducks in" "okay, fair"
Us whenever Zues is mentioned "FUCK ZUES!"
My sister when Hades is acusesed of stealing the master bolt "would you leave him out of this?! The man just wants to stay with his dog and wife"
My sister when Luke says the shoes are a gift from my dad "that's why they're old hand-me-downs" "so true"
#pjo series#pjo tv show#percy jackson#grover underwood#annabeth chase#nico di angelo#luke castellan#sorry about the typos#my sister is the best#ace rants
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hi!! Could I request a annabeth x fem!reader where they are hanging out in readers bed and like annabeth is yapping and reader is just laying with her head in annabeth’s lap looking at her with adoration
“ ur my lullaby ”
annabeth chase x fem!reader 🦉
spending a rainy day with annabeth chase
⚠️ hunger games spoilers
✩₊˚.⋆ ⛆ ⋆⁺₊✧
Although most people, if asked, would say how much they loved their bed, or couch, perhaps a hammock in the sun’s heat. However, if you asked y/n, there was no place more comfortable than laying in Annabeth Chase's lap. Especially on rainy days like this one. Although rain in Camp Half-Blood was a rare occurrence, sometimes, Zeus was having a bad day and needed to take it out on the demigods, which was how Annabeth had wound up in her girlfriend’s cabin.
“I finished reading Mockingjay,” Annabeth began as her girlfriend made herself comfortable.
“Oh my gods,” Annabeth sighed, beginning to twirl her fingers in y/n’s hair, “it was incredible, you should read it.”
“I’ll see it when the movie comes out,” y/n replied, causing the other girl to roll her eyes, “but how did it end?”
Her heart soared at the way her lover’s eyes beamed as she spoke about it, “remember how I was telling you about Finnick,” y/n nodded, “he died, in this awful way. I mean, he got his head bitten off by this-”
“Ew, Beth, what?”
“You didn't let me finish.”
“He got his head bitten off, that's all I need to know.”
Annabeth just laughed, looking down, “okay, fine. But then Prim also died-”
“No way.”
“It was so sad,” she added, “what happened was that,” this was when y/n suddenly noticed the shade of a deeper blue that surrounded her girlfriend’s pupils. The way it contrasted with the rest of the gray. It reminded her of the sky when a storm was coming in on a beautiful day. She even started to wonder if anyone else had ever noticed this. It was something that you really had to stare into her eyes to see it, she almost felt special being able to observe the colors.
“Are you listening?”
Not at all.
“Of course, babe.”
“What did I just say then?”
“The thing about Prim.”
“Yeah?”
“You're so pretty.”
Annabeth smiled, a blush finding a way to her cheeks, “so are you.”
“I love you.”
She brushed some hair out of y/n’s face. “I love you, too,” she whispered softly “what were you thinking about?”
“Your eyes.”
She giggled, “my eyes.”
“Yeah, I never met anyone else with gray eyes,” she leaned her hands up, brushing her thumb against her girlfriend’s cheekbone, just below her eye, “they’re so lovely.”
Annabeth laid her hand on top of y/n’s, “thank you.” They just stayed like that for who knows how long. Just staring into each other's eyes, enjoying the other’s company. The rain patting at the windows was the only sound outside of the two heartbeats.
“You really should read more.”
Y/N smiled, “what’s the point if I know you’ll just tell me everything about a book anyway?”
Annabeth pressed a kiss to her forehead, “good point.”
As Annabeth continued on with her ramblings, y/n just watched her mouth move with adoration. It wasn’t long before she drifted off to sleep in the one place she loved to be most.
#annabeth chase x reader#annabeth chase#heroes of olympus#percy jackson#percy jackson and the olympians#percy jackson x reader#cabin 6#daughter of athena#annabeth x reader#annabeth chase x you#annabeth chase x fem!reader
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Can I request Annabeth Chase x Son of Phobos or Deimos reader head canons? Thanks, in advance!
Annabeth with a Child of Phobos
Ooooo new character unlocked😍😍 This is a really interesting duo and I LOVE IT
I hope you like this, I feel like I’ve been lowkey out of my game with writing😭 I have a lot of asks in my inbox rn, but I’m slowly getting through them guys, I’m getting there🙏🙏
Ok so i did a bit of reading on these gods and the POTENTIAL I SAW FOR THIS ASK WAS SO AAAAHH
I feel like this relationship would be an enemies to lovers kinda thing
OK SO
Imagine reader is the kid of Phobos cuz why not
Phobos is the god of fear, panic, all that good stuff, so obviously those traits would be passed down to his children
And a special power of Phobos is allowing those he makes eye contact with see their deepest fears,, lets say that that’s an ability that children of Phobos can do to an extent!!
So the first time you and Annabeth meet, it is NOT on good terms💀
Sent out by your father, Phobos, to mess up some quest Percy was sent on, an order from Ares himself, there's a face-off between you and Annabeth
Like, Annabeth is so ready to take you down the second you show up to disrupt their quest but she just can't seem to shake off the shivers and chills going down her body once you appear
And you already know how Percy cares for his friends so targeting someone whose close to him (Annabeth) was an open option
Cold sweat rolls down Annabeth's face at point, her heart slowly speeding up as you look toward her
The second you make eye contact with her BOOM
She immediately goes into panic mode when she feels something crawling down her hands
She can only start screaming in absolute FEAR when she sees hundreds of spiders crawling on her body, dropping her dagger to the ground and trying to swat them off her to no avail
And the worst part is that literally no one can help her because they can't even SEE what she's seeing and feeling, except you!
Yeah your meeting is the worst memory Annabeth has of you💀
Fast forwarding to after your meeting, you get caught in some trouble with a dangerous monster and dun duunn!!
Annabeth saves you because she knows its the right thing to do
And you're so touched by her action despite the literal hell you put her through after showing her worst fears that you just
Join their quest and decide to become her friend (or at least try to)
Annabeth would be super awkward and nervous around a child Phobos solely because of her first encounter with one
Whenever you try to talk to her, she just awkwardly looks at you
You see her somewhere at camp and brightly wave to her, she's doing a quick wave and speedwalking away
But it's low-key not her fault😭😭 Whenever she's around you she can't stop the way her hands get clammy and her heartbeat speeds up
It's something you can't control but you have this aura that ignites fear in anyone near you
I don't think a friendship could come from this unless you were to apologize for what happened
It could be the worst apology known to existence because you don't know how to properly express your feelings, but Annabeth appreciates the thought behind it!
After that, everything is a little smooth sailing
She would slowly get used to your presence, getting used to your aura and knowing that you most likely won't use your power to cause her harm (again)
It would take some time for you two to become close enough for her to see you in a romantic light, but you still manage to break down her walls
Your constant figure in her life makes you a part of her routine
She’d give you a nickname, something dumb like panic pants
(when Percy first heard Annabeth call you that, he made it his mission to just refer to you as ‘PP’ to ‘shorten it’💀)
Annabeth would see you as friend while on the other hand, you be quick to catch feelings for the grey eyed girl because of her witty personality
I think the small things would really matter to her if you’re wanting to up your game with her
You give her a small flower while walking to lunch because it reminded you of her
She appreciates the way you give her your undivided it attention whenever she takes about architecture
Sometimes Annabeth fees like she’s talking to much about it but seeing you listen to her with interested eyes allows her to keep talking about what she loves
She feels seen and heard when she’s around you😭
Oh my gosh if you weave her something, no matter how bad the pattern is, she’s gonna treasure it FOREVER
Having something made just for her will make her all giddy inside UGH
Annabeth is so used to being grouped with her siblings so having someone pay special attention to her makes her feel important and well, special!
This is when the game shifts, she’ll begin giving you small gifts too!!
Whether it be a small weaving of her own or a clay bowl she made herself, Annabeth wants to show that she truly appreciates as a person!!
She’s all blushy while gently giving it to you and you’re face is just RED cuz oMGGG
Let’s talk about when the relationship becomes official >:)
It could be anytime but the one I see happening is if you save her after she’s attacked while outside of camp
Inside running to get away from the threat, you stay behind and protect her while she recovers herself
Like you get BRUTALLY beat, limping towards her when she just runs to you and pulls you in a crashing cuz!!! You literally!! Risked your life to save her!!😭
“Annabeth are you alri- hmph!”
“What we’re you thinking ?! Thank the gods you’re ok! I thought- ugh don’t scare me like that again!”
Everything is HISTORY
Like you guys just naturally click after getting together
Omg wait
Ok so since Annabeth like REALLY trusts reader at this point she would let them like see what her greatest fear is, you know to solidify that trust bond😁
And what if!! What if!!!!!!!
Instead of seeing the spiders, this time you only sees glimpse of what her now current fear is, which is losing you😭😭😭
Hugging session is a must after seeing that cuz damn😭
And imagine like if your abilities were really strong you’d be able to show your own fear to someone else
And Annabeth sees your fear is the DAME except your afraid of losing her?????
UM??
That moment would leave you guys so vulnerable like??
Moving on! During battles, you both are back to back fighting together. Annabeth had full confidence in reader, like she knows she’s in good hands
No one goes near her because all the enemies are too busy panicking with what you’re doing. With a lot of concentration, you’re able to instill fear to all the monster, with the exception of your girlfriend teehee
The dating life with Annabeth wouldn’t be too different tbh
You guys still bucket with each other, throwing lighthearted, sarcastic comments but theres a more sweeter vibe
I think Annabeth still gets a little blushy with you cuz cmon! She still has a MAJOR crush on you even if you’re dating🤭
You provide her with so much confidence and happiness. You help her face her fears, calm her down when she begins panicking when something goes wrong
Despite being a child of Phobos and having such a scary ability to make people see their greatest fears, Annabeth knows that even the ‘scariest’ people have kind and gentle side
Ugh this feels like such a trope but I don’t even care cuz ITS CUTE
When Annabeth holds your hand, she no longer feels the chilling sense of fear crawling through her body, instead, now she only feels a sense of calmness and protection😭💔💔💔
#pjo x reader#percy jackson and the olympians x reader#Percy jackson x reader#Annabeth x reader#Annabeth chase x reader#Annabeth chase#annabeth pjo#percy jackson and the olympians#percy jackson pjo#pjo x you#x reader#percy jackson#Annabeth pjo x reader#pjo annabeth#pjo headcanons
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Can you do annabeth x reader hcs?
Parings: Annabeth Chase x fem!reader
Warnings: Fluff, Ooc Annabeth (??)
A/n: Okay, so I've only seen the series and read half of the first book, so these might be very ooc. I'm sorry about that!!
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Annabeth Chase x Reader Hcs:
• When the relationship first started, Annabeth would be hesitant with affection, mainly because she was a bit guarded, but as you broke down her walls, little by little, she would be more secure in it. At that point, Annabeth wouldn't be one to flaunt the affection everywhere, but she wouldn't shy away from it either.
• If she ever had to go on a quest without you, she would take the last week before she had to leave to do whatever your heart desired. Though she would also try to find ways to get ready for the quest while doing the activities you wanted to do. That's not to say she wouldn't pay attention to you, tho.
• If you ever had to go on quest, she would find any excuse under the sun to go with you. She was not about to let you do that alone. If she had no other choice, she would teach you and prepare you aslong as she possibly could.
• At night, when either one, you or Annabeth, got nightmares ya'll would sneak into eachothers beds or find a little clearing in the woods were nobody could find you and just cuddle, talk, or just enjoy eachothers presence in silence to calm eachother down. At first, Annabeth was very against this, knowing you'd most likely get in trouble, but after a while, she started to just enjoy it, noticing how much you both benefited from it.
• When you call Annabeth cute nicknames, she pretends to hate them, at first they did feel a little unusual, but now she absolutely loves them and looks forward to hearing you call her what only you can.
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a/n: Sorry if that was short. I've never done hcs and don't know how long to do them! I also didn't know what else to put as again I'm new to the fandom! Hope ya'll enjoyed tho
#annabeth chase x reader#annabeth chase fanfiction#annabeth chase#Annabeth chase headcanons#headcanon#annabeth chase x reader headcanons#percy jackson fanfiction
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So I was reading your Athena & Apollo headcanons and it made me think of a hc to help fill a (very mild but infinitely frustrating) plot hole in the books! (Well, plot hole is stretching it, it’s not even a plot dent, more like a detail inconsistency that affects Literally Nothing but it has driven me crazy since I read mcga)
The detail in question: Why are all of Athena’s kids blonde and (possibly) curly-haired, when Annabeth is said to get her hair from her dad and Athena has never actually appeared as a blonde? (Aside from that time in Sea of Monsters but tbf that was a hallucination so possibly not accurate). It’s bothered me for a while, because Athena doesn’t Do romance and therefore it wouldn’t really make sense for her to have a Type, right? Why would someone attracted to mortal’s intellect care about their hair color? I guess I just figured she’d been blonde for a while and decided to go brunette later, but the “dumb blonde” stereotype has been around for a long time, having been especially prevalent since the ‘50s, and I can’t imagine Athena to want to be seen as anything less than the smartest person in the room.
But then your hcs got me thinking… we know that Athena is very proud, but she’s also deeply insecure. Like, “she got made fun of for playing the flute One Time by two goddesses known to be bitchy that she already did not get along with and threw it into the woods with a curse and refused to pick it up again (until Apollo coaxed her to)” insecure. And she doesn’t have very many friends, does she? Apollo’s kind of all she has, other than mortals, but her relationship with mortals is that of a devotee and a god. Reverence is not the same thing as connection. But Apollo, who is in a similar boat to her, makes connections so easily! Even at his worst, he makes people like him against both his and their will. Even his relationships with his devotees were… well they were messy lbr but they were also very genuine, most of the time. There was something more, there.
So, all this rambling to say: what if the reason Athena’s kids all look so similar is because Athena chose to look like Apollo? I don’t think she chose to act like him, but. I dunno. Maybe she thought mortals would like her better if she looked more like her pretty, popular brother. She’s always had to listen to people, mortals and immortals alike, praise her brother for just about everything while she had to fight for even a scrap of respect. Maybe she thought she could absorb at least a little of that something that makes people genuinely like him. That something that draws her to him again and again. Maybe it’s like armor, pulling on her brother’s face. If they don’t like her, it’s not because it’s her, right? Apollo’s been driving everybody crazy lately, anyway… (and yet, he’s still more beloved than her…)
And that ALSO feeds into my preexisting headcanons about Apollo looking like a Chase, which is fun!! (I think his modern godly form looks more similar to Magnus but Lester has a face/hair texture that is really, really similar to annabeth’s! So when he bashes the two forms together he makes the two of them look even more like siblings because he’s basically a bridge between the two of them, lol. But his old godly form looked strikingly similar to Annabeth in a lot of ways… hmmmm.)
Anyway it’s kind of a convoluted hc and once again falls into the “Apollo is the specialist little guy in the WORLD” mindset but I!!! Just like it!!!! When siblings are weird and messy!!! And admiration gets mixed up with jealousy and genuine affection is twisted by circumstance and time!!! And identity issues!!! And loneliness!!! It’s latching on to someone and having them be your whole world when you know that you’re just a small part of theirs!!! AUGHHH. Weird fucked up Olympus dynamics my belovedddd
HELLO LONG ASK
I never noticed this before, but this explanation seems Interesting👀
And don't worry, this fandom basically goes "AND THIS IS WHY APOLLO IS [insert description here" ALL the time XD
BUT YES THE COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP EAT THEM UP WE ARE EATING THEM TOGETHER!!! :D
#the oracle speaks#the trials of apollo#apollo#athena#knowledge n wisdom#pjo apollo#pjo athena#magnus chase and the gods of asgard#magnus chase#annabeth chase#fredrick chase#natalie chase
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FRIENDS? FRIENDS.
percy jackson x annabeth chase blurb
warnings: none, just some pre-percabeth cuteness! some minor spoilers for the TV show & the books but nothing major or all that important
note: percy & annabeth will forever have a place in my heart. I'd love to write more little drabbles of them! feel free to send it any requests! I'll also write for other character (but keep in mind I am just now reading the House of Hades so I haven't reached the end of the heroes of olympus series yet). also, please use your imagination a little as to where this would fit it post the lightening thief quest lol.
...
Moonlight reflected off the steady water, bringing a sense of peace to Percy as he dangled his feet off the edge of the pier. He traced patterns in the wood grooves and attempted to clear his head which hadn’t stopped spinning since he arrived at camp.
He should have been more alert, but he missed the series of footsteps that crept up on him until he felt a presence at his back.
Percy jumped, startled, and reflectively reached for Riptide.
“Hey,” Annabeth greeted, instantly disarming Percy. He let out a sigh of relief and dropped his hand back onto the pier.
“Hi.”
She looked wide awake despite the late hour. All of the other campers were asleep or tucked away inside their cabins. Percy had spent the better part of a couple of hours tossing and turning until he gave up trying to sleep and wandered out toward the lake, the only place at camp where he felt the most at ease.
It looked like Annabeth was in the same boat as him. Instead of her usual orange camp shirt and cargo pants, she wore a matching, soft pink sweatshirt and sweatpants. Little hearts were embroidered on the front pockets of the sweats and the neckline of sweatshirt.
With a light smirk, Percy said, “Nice PJs.”
She rolled her eyes in typical fashion and moved beside him before she took a seat. Annabeth sat close enough that her arm brushed against his. Percy didn’t know if she meant to sit that close, but she didn’t move away. She stayed with her arm nearly resting up against his and dangled her feet over the edge of the pier.
“They were a gift from the Aphrodite Cabin,” she said, rubbing her thumb over the little hearts on her collar with a small smile on her lips. “They help my bunkmate, Veronica, with my braids.”
Percy hummed in response before he said, “You look like you belong in their cabin.” He didn’t quite realize what he said until the words left his lips and his cheeks heated up instantly in embarrassment; however, he didn’t get the chance to say anything before Annabeth did.
“Are you calling me beautiful, Seaweed Brain?”
Percy silently thanked the gods it was dark on the pier and that Annabeth couldn’t see the red hue of his cheeks. He cleared his throat and shook his head. “No! I mean, that’s not what…not that you’re ugly…oh jeez.” Ducking his head, Percy contemplated throwing himself off the pier.
Annabeth was cool and she obviously was cool looking. It wouldn't have been a shocker if she had been claimed by Aphrodite, but because of her wicked brain and the fact that she was always six steps ahead of everyone, Athena made more sense. Athena was probably cool looking too; she was a goddess after all. Everyone in the Aphrodite Cabin was also cool looking because their mother was known for being the most beautiful goddess of all, or whatever, but they were no Annabeth.
A belly laugh erupted from her throat and echoed through the quiet air, taking Percy by surprise. She slapped her hand over her stomach and threw her head back as she managed to say between laughs, “You should see your face right now!” Percy couldn’t help but smile sheepishly.
Once her laughter subsided, she shook her head. “I’m just teasing you.”
“Very funny,” said Percy, desperate to change the subject. “What’re you doing out here, anyway?”
“I couldn’t sleep,” she replied. “You?”
Percy had gotten used to his mind racing and almost never turning off, but after they returned from their quest and he finally had a second to think over everything that had happened since learning he was a half-blood, his brain was in overdrive. There were a million more questions he had but was slightly scared to get answered. He needed to sleep off their quest, but every time he closed his eyes, he was bombarded with visions that made little sense and unsettling memories of every time he, Annabeth, and Grover nearly died over the course of one week.
“I just needed somewhere to think,” he answered.
Humming in response, they let their conversation drift off into comfortable silence for a couple of moments.
Percy wondered if her mind was also swarmed with too many thoughts, memories, and questions. It seemed unlikely, Annabeth having questions. If there was one thing he learned about her from their time together, it was that she knew the answer to nearly everything, and if she didn’t know the answer, she would figure it out before anyone else.
“Percy?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I ask you something?”
He furrowed his brows and turned his head to look at her. “Uh, sure.”
“You remember when we were at Meduas’ and you were telling Grover and me about the prophecy the Oracle gave you?” He nodded, urging her to continue. “You said that you only picked me for the quest because you couldn’t see us ever becoming friends.” Her voice had become a lot softer than normal, which freaked Percy out. A part of him wanted her to insult him or start bickering with him instead. The small but noticeable twinge of sadness in her voice and the frown that rested on her lips twisted up his stomach in a really weird and uncomfortable way.
“Do you still feel that way?”
“Are you insane?” he asked, wide-eyed and confused. She simply shrugged and kept her gaze set on the rippling water ahead of them. “No. No way. I didn’t even fully feel that way I said it. I was just really worried about the Oracle and really, really confused.”
She met his gaze and narrowed her eyes slightly, not believing him.
“Okay, I guess I meant it a little but only because you were intense and I didn’t think you would’ve wanted to be friends with me, especially after you left me to fight Clarrise alone and then shoved me into the lake.”
“I needed proof that you were who I thought you were,” Annabeth defended, causing him to smile lightly.
“Yeah, and it worked. My dad claimed me because you didn’t really give him a choice.”
“I think the words you’re looking for is ‘thank you.’” There was a beat before she sighed and backtracked a little, even though Percy wasn't upset at her for it. He understood why she did it, and who knows when or if his dad would have claimed him if she hadn't. “Sorry. I maybe could have helped you a little or not pushed you so hard.”
With a wave of his hand, he dismissed her. “Nah, I get it. It did help, and you got to go on your quest. But then we kind of fought at the beginning and I figured you really didn’t like me.”
Annabeth moved her hands into her lap and picked at the skin around her fingernails, almost like she was nervous, which seemed unlikely. Maybe Percy was just really bad at reading people. Annabeth seemed good at it, though. She was kind of like Grover in that way; she could sense danger or a problem before it appeared.
“Though, I kinda got the idea that maybe you didn’t totally hate me by the end of the quest.”
She shrugged again, but her frown disappeared. “Maybe I don’t.”
“Cool,” he smiled until he realized maybe he was smiling a little too big and he needed to chill out. “Because, you know, if I have to go on another quest, I would…well, I’d probably pick you again.”
Annabeth moved to look at him. “Probably?”
“Definitely, actually.”
That got her to smile, and Percy felt himself relax. “I’d pick you too,” she said before quickly adding, “As long as I’m still in charge.”
Percy put his hand to his forehead in a mock salute. He was not going to argue with her, not after she was the main reason they didn’t die on their quest.
A yawn escaped Annabeth that she tried to muffle under the sleeve of her pink sweatshirt. The night had caught up to him too, and the fatigue of the past week settled in his bones. He rolled his shoulders back with a stretch before he stood to his feet.
Outstretching a hand toward her, Percy said, “We should head back.”
She didn’t hesitate to grab his hand and let him help her up. Her hand was really warm compared to his cold one, and he held it just for a second longer after she was standing up. Annabeth cleared her throat and tucked her hands into the pocket of her sweatshirt before she led the way off the pier.
Together they walked the footpath back to the cabins, listening to the croak of the frogs around the lake fade and the buzz of crickets grow louder.
They arrived at Percy’s cabin first. Annabeth paused alongside him and offered him another smile as she said, “Night, Percy.”
He grinned. “Night, Annabeth.”
She turned on her heel and started walking toward her cabin, still with her hands in her pockets and her head held high.
Friends. That was nice. He had another real friend that he trusted and who trusted him. If nothing else went right for him, at least he had that. Maybe that was all he really needed to survive as a Half-Blood. Maybe he would be okay.
#percy jackson#annabeth chase#percabeth#percabeth fanfic#percy jackson x annabeth chase#pjo fanfic#izzy’s library
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Accidental Study Session
PJO
Pairings: Annabeth Chase x GN!Reader, I wrote this with a platonic relationship in mind, you can do whatever you want but I was craving platonic ones so I wrote one.
Summary: Annabeth always goes to the library when she has free time, mostly when she is trying not to die aka not being chased by monsters who want her dead or when she is at camp, and one day she meets other person with the same interest.
Notes and Warnings: Well this is my first work so I would be very happy if there is no bullying 🙏❤️, and English is not my first language, as you see at the description of my profile, and I just wrote this for my enjoyment so dont expect for me to start writing normaly.
You were in the library two days in a row and Annabeth has been glancing at you. Not for the weirdo reasons of course, its just that you are holding one of her favourite books about architecture, more specifically, about the Renaissance era.
She just really wanted to talk to you and maybe hear your opinion, you didn't look too far from her age, maybe 2 years older at best...but she just couldn't, what if you just looked at her the wrong way, or if you really didnt want to talk and you just wanted to be left alone.
Annabeth sighed, and then made a decision.
She wasn't a Daughter of Athena for nothing. She had the courage to do this.
She aproached your table when you are reading and taking notes.
She sits at the chair in front of you and when you see her there you close your book (with the marker of course).
"Hmm. Do you need something?" You ask, making Annabeth almost jump.
"Oh, its just.." You can do this Annabeth. "I saw you reading that book and well its one of my favourites... so I wanted to know your opinion, since..well..I saw you taking notes." Did I talk too much?
"I see..well. This is a good read but Im just studying this because of my history classes. The next test will be about the Renaissance art and.. well Im very good at the history kind of topic but art isn't my favourite of all." You tell her but when you see that she is becoming a bit more tense you smile and say. "But Im glad someone likes this type of topic."
None of you talks for some seconds.
"Well if it isn't too much, could I read your notes?" She responds with a light of expectation.
"Sure, and its good that someone that understants this more than me sees it." You smile at her making her a bit embarassed for the compliment.
-♥︎-
You shared your name and Annabeth shared her's, and for the rest of that day she also helped you for your test and you two talked about other topics, eachother lifes (of course without all of that "Greek Gods are real and I'm a demigod" thing).
At the end of the day you were packing your things when you heard.
"Is it possible to do this more times?" Annabeth asked.
"I would love too." You smiled at her and Annatbeth couldn't almost contain her exciment.
Finally she could have a place to think about other things, things not related to being a demigod. She could even have a mortal friend, she interrupted those thoughts when you placed a paper in her hand.
"My number. If you want to contact me about these study sessions." You tell her and say again. "What's your number?"
Annabeth made the first excuse she could think of. "Well I dont remember it and I dont have my phone here."
You make a quick glance but just has it is there it disapears and you smile.
"Well, then you can always contact me trough that."
You two get out of the library and you make a quick wave.
"Goodbye Annabeth."
"Goodbye Y/n."
As you start walking away Annabeth just yells at you.
"Good luck on your test!"
You look at her and give her a thumbs up.
-♥︎-
The next time you are together you show her your result: 100%
Annabeth smiles.
#pjo series#pjo#annabeth chase#pjo x reader#percy jackson and the olympians x reader#platonic pjo please!!#annabeth chase x reader#annabeth chase x platonic reader#gn reader#PLATONIC !!!!#percy jackson x reader#oppsie
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How do you feel about Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase, and why should we throw Leah a huge parte for being the annie we always deserve but never got much of
HELL YEAH ARE YOU KIDDING ME LEAHBETH IS THE BEST THING THATS EVER HAPPENED TO ME THIS ENTIRE YEAR OH MY GODS AND GODDESSES im fully self aware that "i look like i would have been an annabeth kid" and its because i FOR SURE WAS WHY WOULDNT ANYONE BE she is The Character the MOMENt the ICON of the AGES and leah is adapting her energy to screen so ???? perfectly ?????? like did rick just shake the book and she fell out ??????? what sorcery is this?? ??????
no but in all seriousness leah is killing it as annabeth and its super clear that she did her research and understands the character (in interviews she talks about how she read annabeth povs in later books and did research on greek mythology and athena so she could understand the lightning thief not just from percys pov but from annabeth 🥺🥺 she so annabeth coded irl i adore her) and it genuinely shows like ive microanalyzed all her expressions because her facial acting has so much DEPTH and LAYERS and OH MY GODS leah deserves all the parties and we are so privileged to have her as our annabeth chase <3 imagine being that talented at like 13
im super excited to see what additions she makes to the character in this adaptation!!! already i think she's really highlighting annabeth's battle strategy smarts over just booksmarts which EVERYONE ALWAYS FORGETS ABOUT SHES NOT JUST A BOOK NERD SHES A FUCKING GENERAL HEAD OF THE ATHENA CABIN MOST FORMIDABLE DEMIGOD AT CAMP AS A 12 YEAR OLD the duality is giving me LIFE and i love how she gets to boss around percy and grover (leah also talked about loving to get to be in charge and competitive as annabeth which shes SO REAL FOR THAT shes such an annabeth type) BUT ALSO YOU ALREADY GET TO SEE HER VULNERABILITIES AND INSECURITIES AND THE WAY SHE CARRIES HERSELF THAT MAKES HER SIMULTANEOUSLY COOL BUT ALSO IS A REFLECTION OF TRAUMA AND POOR EMOTIONAL COPING yeah basically shes not just giving us annabeth shes giving us annabeth but MORE and its making me understand her character BETTER and in a NEW way (and if you have anything to say about her portrayal in the show i will genuinely pull up with a full ass powerpoint slideshow because IF YOU MEDIA COMPREHEND FOR TWO SECONDS AND KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HER CHARACTER IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE AND ITS SO JUICY AND JALKDJFKBL)
i think about that shot of her looking at percy using medusas head through the screen porch ALL THE TIME. and her delivery of "grover can you tell your friend to pull himself together" LIKE THATS WHEN SHE TURNS TO HER PROTECTOR FOR HELP AND IT HAS A LITTLE BIT OF A SASSY IM-BETTER-THAN-YOU-PERCY VIBE TO IT BECAUSE SHES HIDING THE FACT THAT SHES SCARED AND UNCOMFORTABLE TO TALK ABOUT HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER UNAVAILABLE MOM (and percy sees right through that just as she sees right through percy and oh my gods if i get started on percabeth ill never shut up)
anyways thanks for giving me an opportunity to go on a mini rant about leahbeth i could say so much more because when i say ive analyzed every frame my girl is in i am NOT joking
but ill just end by saying that anyone who is upset by show annabeth being black literally did not understand her as a character or the percy jackson books in general so they can stfu and get their little butthurt wrong opinions out the door bc they dont belong here anyway <3 rick and becky also talked about how they hired black sensitivity readers to help write annabeth's blackness more authentically into her character in the show so very much hoping that they do that well! and im overall just super excited to see what changes they make to adapt my favorite character to a new era, a new medium, and a new audience!
go treat yourself to some leah interviews because i actually adore her and will protect her and annabeth (though arguably theyre one and the same) with my life <3
#god i coudl talk for hours but ill stop#sorry for hte long ass post but honestly whats the point of tumblr if not for me to be autistic on main about annabeth chase#omg i still remember the moment they announced annabeth and grovers casting#i litearlly slapped and hand over my face and was like no way no way no way THEY FUCKIGN DID IT OH MY GODS#ltierally thank the gods every day that we got the perfect trio based on actual voice and personality <333333333#anyways bestie i will talk leahbeth w you anytime we should throw her a party because she is actually eating up this role#the sass#the emotiosn#the Generaling#will never get over her in her armor THAT IS MY QUEEN RIGHT THERE THAT IS THE ICON I REMEMBER FROM MY CHILDHOOD#they ltierally just stole annabeth from the books but made her better#and by that i mean like rick has a chance to rewrite her for the modern era and make her characterization cleaner and tighter#esp becuase APPARENTLY people missed the point the first time#annabeth haters actually make me so fucking mad if think about it too long ill explode#BUT WE DONT HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THEM BC WeRE GETTING A TRUTHFUL ADAPTATION OF ANNABETH AND THE TRIO AND THEY CAN CRY ABOUT IT#YIPPPEEEEEEE#time to rewatch episode three#im not going to survive the tunnel of love#or the discussion in the vegas truck if we get that#leah sava jeffries#SHES TRENDING!!!#leahbeth#annabeth chase#leah jeffries#annabeth#percabeth#percy jackon and the olympians#i love the mispelled tag#pjo <3
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so i've just joined the pjo series discourse on sm (i've read all the books) so maybe people might have already said this but i feel like the monster fights are kinda underwhelming ?? the fights themselves but the atmosphere around them too. i'm just going to say it point by point to be clearer :
Mrs. Dodds: she's the first monster and threat of the show. i was waiting for something scary and surprising, that would have terrified percy or something. but instead the "reveal" was slow, and there wasn't even a fight, he just kind of opened the sword (even tho we don't even see him doing it) and she just. dies like that ?? it was really easy and i get that they can't just kill percy in the first ep but there wasn't even a bit of struggle or anything. tbh this first fight really dissapointed me. there was mystery that creates an intrigue but she just wasn't scary or a menace imo (EDIT : I HAVE NOW REREAD THE SCENE AND IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT THIS IS EXACTLY HOW THE FIGHT PLAYS OUT IN THE BOOK (extract down below) so forget everything i said in this part, i'm sorry. )
2. The minotaur : i liked this one much more than the first one, the car chase was thrilling and the atmosphere of the scene was really cool. i've only got one little thing to say about it, but i think it's just a me thing and i'm nitpicking (idk how to make gifs so i hope you can picture it in your head) :
when sally takes percy's jacket to lure the minotaur away from the boys and uses it as a red cape like in a corrida, i think it kinds of take the attention away from the fear of the monster in itself by being comedic. AGAIN i know i'm nitpicking here but why not say it.
(also i regret that the last scene was so far away from the camera and from the camp border. i know it's bc it's percy's pov but i loved percy's desperation in the movie (I KNOW IT'S BAD) when he's failing to save his mother and finally sees her (and her emotions) when she is gets taken away from him.)
3. Medusa : i LOVED what they tried to do with medusa and how they tried to make us sympathise with her. however, the fight was REALLY dissapointing to me. it kind of happened from nowhere. it's implied that it's annabeth plan but it really happened way too fast and did not give enought time for the viewer to appreciate the threat that medusa can be. it felt way to easy for them to beat MEDUSA. the fight lasted 5 seconds max and it felt shy in a way, like as if they didn't not want to fuck it up.
+ special mention : 4. Clarisse: I'M NOT SAYING SHE'S A MONSTER, I'M JUST PUTTING HER HERE BC TECHNICALLY SHE WAS A THREAT TO PERCY. i like dior's acting, idk anything about her outside of the show but i'm going to be honest : not knowing the cast at all, at first i immediately thought she was drew 😭. she IS a really pretty girl but for me she doesn't emanate clarisse's ares' daughter vibe. when her spear broke she was so GOOD, but appart from that she's just really chill i think ? like she's not menacing, she just kind of a mean girl bully (which clarisse is ig but she's not a menace enough imo) and tbh i think she's just not as "rough" as i think she could have been.
tldr : i think the fights were not scary enough and did not set a good tone for the series. they were also too easy and fast for them to be enjoyable.
of course i still enjoy this show a lot so i will be watching the next episodes and the rest of it so maybe there will be improvements. please yell what you guys think !!
it's the first time i ever talk so much on tumblr, so i hope it was readable. if there was any mistakes please tell me, english is not my first language.
#pjo series#pjo fandom#percy jackon and the olympians#percy jackson#the minotaur#mrs dodds#clarisse la rue#pjo tv show#pjo spoilers
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Holding Out For A Hero, co-written by @darkmagyk [read on ao3] [written for the @pjo-hoo-bigbang] [thank you to @ashilrak for the absolutely stunning art!!]
[part 1/2]
---
At twenty-seven years old, Annabeth had had enough. Truthfully, she’d had enough at seventeen. And at seven. But at twenty-seven, she had enough bravery and arrogance to refuse the next time a god came to her with a quest that needed taking. Even when it was her mother who offered.
“You will not take it, then?” the goddess asked.
Annabeth nodded. “I will have to decline. Respectfully.”
There was a beat as Athena appraised her, gray eyes calculating. They softened, then, apparently finding Annabeth worthy. “You have become very wise, my daughter. The hunger for glory has brought the downfall of many a hero; I am glad that it will not take you as well.”
“It’s not about that,” said Annabeth.
But Athena ignored her. “Fear not, Annabeth. I am not disappointed–rather, I am proud. You have done very well.” And then she rewarded Annabeth with a rare, sincere smile, a queen bestowing her favor. Even a few years earlier, Annabeth would have flipped for joy. She would have fallen to her knees and begun to weep at this display of motherly affection.
“Thank you, mother.”
It was just too bad that Annabeth no longer cared.
---
She didn’t think she had taken a breath all day. Something was going to go wrong; she just didn’t know what yet. She watched the movers, carrying her things, telling them how she wanted her new house to set up. It wasn’t very much stuff. Her apartment in Boston had been so much smaller than the house in Maine. And she didn’t want to fill it up yet. She’d bought the place, more crumbling manor then one woman’s starter house, because she wanted to build it and shape it to be everything she needed.
It would be great if she could figure out what that was.
But she was starting with a house. She was an architect after all, even though she’d sold her firm.
This was supposed to be her oasis. This was supposed to be her retirement.
So, something was bound to happen. She scanned all of the movers. Looking for a flick of a tail, the clump of a hoof, the shimmer of scales, anything that would give the game away.
She knew that monsters stopped bothering demigods as they got older, but they didn’t normally completely leave them alone. She’d killed a lot of monsters in the last decade. And she couldn’t imagine moving into her new home, her quiet retirement, without one last great battle.
She felt for her knife, tucked into her waistband. Ready for her, always ready for her.
But none of the movers turned into monsters all day. They just unloaded her things, unwrapped and unpadded things, deposited boxes in the rooms as marked.
And then they left, without attacking, without breathing fire or raising a weapon against her. For dinner, she pulled out the phone book and rooted around for the pizza place, and lamented that there was only one in town, and that her house was barely in delivery range.
When she settled into her new house, in her new bed, with cold Dominos in the fridge. And no one tried to attack her.
Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena, Hero of Olympus was almost thirty years old, and she was trying to figure out what you did, when all the best and worst things that could ever happen had happened to you, happened before you were eighteen.
She tried not to feel like the protagonist of a shitty romcom, but it was not like she was making it easier for herself.
Helena, Maine, was very small. It felt kind of ridiculous to say that Annabeth was feeling culture shock. But it was just so small, and Boston had been home for so long. She swore that she would miss the colors, the skyline, the crush of souls. She had promised up and down at her goodbye party that she would miss it all…
And yet.
The smell of sea air was much, much stronger here, and somehow even more intense inside of the fixer-upper she had recently acquired, the salt smell soaking and permeating every pore of the wooden beams. It was a beautiful piece of property, a couple blocks away from the shoreline, placed neatly between the evenly-spaced trees of the neighborhood and the wilder, more overgrown forests as the land stretches inland. She didn’t really want to know what happened to the previous owner, or when, how, and why the gods of Olympus decided to try their hand in real estate, but a house in Nowheresville USA was a small price to pay for years of blood, sweat, and tears, she supposed.
It had a little downtown area, which was just a mainstreet with local grocers, a beauty salon, a couple of restaurants that all claimed to have the best lobster, a diner that did have the best pie she’d ever had in her life, the most historic building, now a hotel that she’d helped restore, had more or less sold her on the town, a little gift shop and tour right next door that advertised historic district walking tours, sun set cruises, and the best whale watching tours on the East Coast, a clothing store she’d bought some new sandals from, a coffee shop, a record store with a decent selection, and a little book store that had already told her they did not have anything in ancient Greek, and was therefore useless to her.
The arts and craft store was actually a little ways out, but they had some great wool and she’d already stocked up.
She was retired. But she was still planning on taking the occasional consulting job, or even a few independent design projects. But not yet. She wanted to give herself some time to sit and relax, and let the sea air soak into her veins.
And she’d knit while doing it.
Oh, she did a lot of other things too: she compared all the lobster restaurants in town, ordered a full pie a week from the diner. She bought new leggings at the store. She bought Into the Gap and the Footloose soundtrack at the record store. She broke down and bought Firestarter because the guy in the bookstore wouldn’t stop talking about Stephen King. She had lunch with the hotel manager and talked about architecture, and she went on walking tours, the Blueberry Tour, and even the ghost tour. She walked on the beach, and on the little docks.
She went back to Boston, too, sometimes. They had not yet finished the renovations on Magnus’s shelter when all the paperwork from selling her company and buying her house came through. And she liked to visit her dad, too. She was always worried about him getting out and talking to people, after the divorce. Sometimes she wondered if her dad had ADHD, too, given how he could go for days, absorbed in his books.
She was shocked, twelve weeks in, when she drove back into town on Monday, after her fifth trip to Boston, and found her shoulders loosening as soon as she spotted Main Street. She rolled down her window, and breathed in the sea air.
And she felt herself relax. Really and truly relax, for the first time since she was five or six.
No monsters or Harvard admissions or deadlines hanging over her head. Just home.
One day, she drove into town, and got dinner in the little hamburger place near the boat docks. It was the third best hamburger in town, but it was the only restaurant with a window onto the ocean. The patio was closed for the winter, but it was still a phenomenal view.
She ordered a glass of wine, automatically sending a prayer of thanks to Dionysus, and made herself a pair of leg warmers in between bites and sips.
“Those are cute,” said her waitress, Sarah, who went to the local high school, and worked every Monday, Wednesday, and alternate Saturdays. She had a boyfriend who was more serious about their relationship than she was, loved Danielle Steele, and was ambivalent about college unless it could take her someplace romantic like New York, or Los Angeles, or even some magical, faraway place like Paris–if she got really lucky.
You learned too much about everyone in a small town. Privately, Annabeth thought it was kind of delightful.
“Thanks,” she said. “Honestly, this is the fifth pair I’ve made this month.” She considered them. They were a bright purple. She liked the color, but probably not anymore than the blue and gray ones she’s been wearing.
“Fifth?”
“I’ve had a lot of time on my hands.”
Sarah’s eyes flashed. “Uh huh?”
“Yeah, just–it’s been nice to get back into a hobby and everything.”
“So, do you… um…” Sarah twirled her pen around her fingers, looking decidedly left of Annabeth’s cheek. “What does your boyfriend think of them?”
“Oh, I don’t have one.” And thank all the gods for that. And may the gods curse the lot of the male heroes for their idiocy.
Her eyes went wide. “You don’t? What about an ex?”
Annabeth shook her head.
“Never? But you’re so ol–I mean… uh…”
Annabeth shrugged. She wasn’t that old. “Never had the time for one.” She blinked away the flash of sandy hair and angry blue eyes, and took another sip of wine.
“O–okay.”
If Annabeth hadn’t been retired, maybe she would have taken more notice. Maybe she would have correctly clocked Sarah’s interest in her newfound free time as more than a little concerning. Maybe she wouldn’t have forgotten the conversation after she went home, snuggling down into her bed after another half a glass of wine, drifting off into a thankfully dreamless sleep.
Then again, what was the harm? Annabeth was new, and interesting, and her lack of things to do was just a little bit of small-town gossip to pass around. Gods knew they needed some kind of excitement in their lives.
Big mistake.
It wasn’t two more days before Brenda, Sarah’s mother and co-owner of the dive, made her move.
Which was a damn shame. Annabeth really liked this grocery store.
“Oh, Annabeth!”
Brenda’s bright, brown eyes were ringed with blue in a way that she imagined Silena might quietly approve of, and at least today, they had all the laser-focused intensity of a Gorgon stare as she came barreling towards Annabeth in the cereal aisle.
She acknowledged Brenda, but didn’t quite smile. Smiling sometimes gave people the idea that these interruptions were desired.
This had never been a problem in Boston or New York. You could go on fifty shopping trips, and never run into someone you know. That was a big drawback of small towns, all the people.
“I’ve seen you at the restaurant a lot lately,” Brenda said. “And Sarah has, too.”
She nodded. “I love your patio.” Because she did. It reminded her a little bit of her own back deck. Except for someone else cooked, and then cleaned up at the end.
“I’m glad,” Brenda said, “but several of us have noticed that you always eat alone.”
That was true. In her five months here, her dad had visited four times. And she hadn’t taken him to Brenda’s place, because that would involve way too many questions. “Yeah, I feel like I always run into someone I know at the restaurant.” She said.
“How long have you been in town now, Annabeth?”
“I moved here in September,” she said, cocking her head to the side, unsure of where this was going.
“And do you think you’ve really settled into the community?”
“Um…” What kind of question was that? “Yes?”
“Because I worry about you.”
“Oh Brenda,” she sighed, “that’s sweet, but…” But she could already see where this was going. She’d had this conversation four or five times with a few of her neighbors. She looked Brenda up and down and wondered if she was Catholic or Lutheran or whatever Presbyterian was. Also, if someone was ever going to explain to her what the differences between all those things were.
“I’ve spoken to some of the others, they say you eat at one of our restaurants nearly every night.”
Oh… well, that didn’t seem like a lead up to invite her to church, at least. And it wasn’t like it wasn’t true. “I can’t cook.”
Brenda frowned. “And how does your boyfriend feel about that?”
Again with the boyfriend stuff. “Well, I don’t have a boyfriend, so nothing.”
“Yes,” Brenda nodded, “Sarah mentioned that. And so, I was thinking, there are a lot of great guys in Cabot Cove. And with you being so new, me and my book club might be able to help you out.”
“Out… with a guy?”
“Yes,” She smiled, “exactly.”
“Um…” That mostly sounded like a headache and a half. “I don’t know if… that’s… the best idea…” In fact, she knew it wasn’t the best idea. It was, plainly, the worst idea anyone had ever come up with. Never mind the fact that daughters of Athena didn’t date on principle–dating a mortal sounded like a very particular brand of Tartarus. And she had tangled with enough of Tartarus to be wary.
Undeterred, Brenda powered through. “Oh, that’s fine!” she said, patting Annabeth’s arm. “The book club is usually just for us girls, anyway.”
Annabeth chuckled, weakly. That didn’t make it sound any more appealing.
“So will we finally see you on Thursday?”
Internally, she sighed. Brenda and her entourage–Denise from the bookshop, Susan the grocery store clerk, and Linda, the receptionist at her contractor’s–had been gently hounding her to stop by their book club for weeks now. Annabeth already didn’t particularly enjoy hanging out with many people her own age. The fact that she was officially invited to the realm of forty-year-old mothers with too much time on their hands didn’t sit well. What she wouldn’t give for Clarisse and Chris and a no-holds barred beatdown to let off some steam right now.
Brenda’s eyes were wide, the bright blue making them look even wider, a pleading look that was wildly out of place.
Maybe if she went once, it’d put them off for at least a few weeks.
“...So, what are you guys reading?” she asked, finally, withholding most of the skepticism from her voice.
Brenda cheered, giving her a hug.
Which was how Annabeth–a known dyslexic–found herself in Denise’s living room at 8 PM on a Thursday night, reading some new romance novel called Snow on the Beach by Sally Jackson (where had she heard that name before…) after choking down some of Linda’s cheeseburger pie which did not at all pair well with the cheap Chardonnay Susan brought with her.
At first, Annabeth had been worried, as dyslexia did not exactly make her an avid reader. Luckily for her, it turns out none of the other women were avid readers either, preferring to spend most of their book club time drinking and talking shit on their husbands. It almost reminded her of being in college, only a little bit sadder.
Right down to gossiping about cute boys.
“I’m telling you, ladies,” said Susan, throwing her wine hand a little wildly, her third full glass nearly tipping over. “There’s no way he uses mousse. His hair just looks so touchable all the time–and the way it whipped in the wind!” She sighed, her eyes fluttering.
Apparently everyone’s favorite hunk had given a presentation about local marine life to the town’s boy scout troop, and they could not shut up about him.
“You know,” chimed in Denise, “I heard from Karen who heard from Nancy that he rescued little Jennifer Woods’ cat from a tree just last week!”
They all broke down, cooing.
Annabeth just barely contained her eye roll.
She was almost glad when the talk turned to the town doctor and his recent divorce.
“I could see it coming from a mile away,” said Brenda, taking a sip of water. “I have some experience with that, after all.”
“I just can’t believe it happened so soon!” Susan said. “They had only been married for, what, two years? And he’s still so young!”
Linda tutted. “How could a woman who landed a man like that–a doctor, of all things–just give that up?”
Susan leaned in. “I heard,” she whispered, conspiratorial, “that she ran off with some childhood sweetheart of hers. Joyce lives across the street, you know, and she said she saw a strange car pull up to their house in the middle of the night, before taking off! It was such a racket, it woke up her yappy little dog, oh, what’s-his-name–”
“Have you ever met him? The doctor?” Brenda asked Annabeth, obviously sensing her disengagement with town gossip.
She blinked, stupefied for a split second. “Oh–uh, no, I still go to my doctor in Boston.” Her doctor being her cousin with magical healing powers, or either her ambrosia supplier when she could get a hold of him.
As one terrifying, multi-voiced entity, they all shrieked. “He’s so handsome!” Susan cried.
“And he’s so sweet!” said Denise. “My sister works at the front desk part time, and he always gives her a smile and a ‘good morning’ every time he comes in!”
Wow. A smile and a good morning? What a keeper. “I’ve only heard good things about him,” she said, attempting to shrug off the attention. “I’m sure he’s a very nice man.”
Which was when Linda decided to make her move.
In hindsight, Annabeth really should have seen this coming.
“You’re not seeing anyone right now, right, dear?”
All that attention she had hoped to avoid was now all focused on her. She hadn’t felt this intently watched since she had taken on those gorgons last year.
“Um…” she began, intelligently, her mind racing. No, but they didn’t need to know. Also, she was going to kill Sarah the next time she saw her.
“That’s perfect!” crowed Denise. “I’ll talk to Katie, and she can get you two set up on a date!”
“I–”
Brenda and Susan cheered. “Oh, you two would make such a cute couple!” Susan said, taking another very large sip of wine.
“But–”
“And I’m sure you’d be a much better woman to him than his bitch ex-wife–”
“And your kids would be just adorable! With his brains, and your beautiful hair–”
“Hold on!” Annabeth finally cut in, face hot. “I am so not interested in kids right now!”
“Well, you’re not getting any younger,” Linda said, her voice just a little too sharp to be entirely friendly. “But you don’t need to bring that up on the first date.”
All her cleverness and strategy, and somehow, she couldn’t figure out the right combination of words to get these old ladies off her back. “I just think that–”
“I think it’s a great idea, sweetheart,” Brenda said. “Why don’t you just give him a chance?”
Which was how Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, hero of Manhattan, Harvard graduate magna cum laude, ended up on a blind date with some doctor from some podunk New England beach town in the only bar for miles.
Jack’s Bar operated out of the town inn, appropriately named the Helena Inn. Presumably unable to recoup its costs with just the few out-of-towners, it was open to the general public until well into the early morning. It had an interesting kind of energy–with the low ceilings, poor light throw, and creaky floors, you could certainly feel the age of the eighteenth-century building. But the exposed beams gave it an interesting charm, and no one could deny that they made a damn good lobster roll.
Despite herself and her low expectations, she had dressed up for the occasion. Her outfit was an older one, but it still fit her, even if it didn’t exactly fit the bar’s atmosphere. Her black skirt was long, and a little bit faded, but it still mostly matched her black suspenders, and any wonky coloring would be hidden by the contrast of her gray sweater. Sitting at the corner of the bar, she pulled her skirt down, even though it already fell below the knee, feeling distinctly out of place among the blue jeans and stretched sweaters of everyone else around here.
“What are you having?” said the bartender.
“Some wine, please,” she said, softly. “White.”
He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t argue. “You from out of town, or something?” he asked, pouring her a glass.
Her shoulders sagged. “No. I actually live down on Meetinghouse Circle.” Gods, she stuck out like a sore thumb. This was a mistake. “I just… haven’t gotten the chance to stop by yet.”
Her bartender just nodded. “Just wondering, since you seem a bit too dressed up for a little old place like mine.”
Jack’s Bar. “You’re Jack, then?”
He shook his head. “My dad. I’m John.”
Annabeth stuck her hand out. “Nice to meet you. Annabeth.”
Shaking her hand, he didn’t smile exactly, but his face relaxed in a way Annabeth found pleasing. “So you’re the mysterious newcomer I’ve heard so much about.”
“Guilty.”
“You meeting up with someone?”
She nodded. “Brenda and her friends set me up on some stupid blind date…”
“Excuse me,” came a smooth, deep voice from behind her. “Are you Miss Annabeth Chase?”
She turned.
He was wearing well-fighting trousers and a clearly expensive unbuttoned Izod button down–she could almost sense the tightness of the stitching. On his broad nose was a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, resting delicately atop his prominent cheekbones, and his dark gold hair swooped gracefully across his forehead.
Also, he wore his lab coat.
Oh, brother.
“Dr. Martin Stasiovsky,” he said, holding out his hand. “And may I say, I am very pleased to make your acquaintance.”
So he was that kind of guy, huh. “Me too,” she bit out, shaking his hand.
“Shall we?” He held out his arm to her, brows raised expectantly.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw John suppress a laugh, disguising it as a cough.
And then he led her to a sticky wooden table, pulling out a chair with a cracked leather seat, before sitting himself down opposite her with a flourish, as though his lab coat were a cape. He rested his elbow on the table, placing his head in the crook of his palm. In the dim light, you could certainly call his features handsome, even seductive–or at least they would be, if he hadn’t already advanced to playing footsie with her under the table.
She pulled back her feet, tucking them beneath the rung of her chair.
“So,” he said, undeterred. “Tell me about yourself.”
She tried. Gods of Olympus, did she try. But every time she began a sentence about herself, he would swiftly interrupt her, going on a barely-related, irritatingly erudite tangent. For example:
“I’ve lived all over, but I actually grew up in Boston for a bit–”
“Ah, Boston, yes, you know it was the staging ground of the Revolution? When I was younger, I was able to correct the tour guide at the Old North Church on a thing or two–”
Or:
“I work at an architectural firm–”
“Oh, architecture is very important. Do you know, it was famed nineteenth-century skyscraper architect Louis Sullivan who said the iconic words, ‘Form Follows Function,’ which has become something of a motto of mine–”
Or even:
“No, I don’t really see my family–”
“My family and I tend to summer in southern France every year, though we recently had the opportunity to visit Vienna–an absolutely marvelous city–”
The thing that finally got him to shut up was: “I did my undergrad and grad school at Harvard.”
He stiffened, nose wrinkling like he had just got a whiff of something really bad. Maybe it was the gross-ass whisky he ordered. “You,” he said, absolutely dripping with patronizing disbelief, “went to Harvard?”
“I did,” she replied. “And I graduated magna cum laude.”
A pause, and then he laughed, short and ugly. “No, you didn’t.”
“Um… yes I did.”
“Please,” he scoffed. “A pretty girl like you doesn’t have the head for Harvard.”
Anger began bubbling up in her, like lava in the pit of her stomach. She clenched her fingers around the stem of her wine glass, and tried to breathe through her nose. “And where did you go to school?”
He pulled back, frowning. “Well, I mean–I went–my first choice was Harvard but I ultimately settled on–”
So he didn’t even get in. She didn’t even let him finish. “Ah, that’s a shame. Must have been one of my girlfriends who took your spot.”
“Well, when I was applying to school,” he sniffed, “they knew better than to let girls into Harvard.”
“Wow,” she whistled. “Fifty percent more spots, and you couldn’t even get in then.”
Leaving him sputtering, nearly speechless with shock, she stood up, downed the rest of her wine, then walked over to John to pay her tab.
She skipped next week’s book club. And the one after that. She tried to tell herself it was because she was mad at them for setting her up with such a douchebag, and not because she felt that she had somehow failed at being a proper girl.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t hide forever in a town as small as this one. Once again, she was accosted in the cereal aisle by one of the well-meaning but perhaps a touch over-bearing town ladies.
Maybe she should just stop buying cereal.
“Oh, Annabeth, dear,” said Susan, setting down her green plastic basket. “It’s so lovely to see you! We’ve missed you at the book club.”
She had only gone once. “Yeah,” she replied, for lack of anything else to say. “You know…”
“And I was so sorry to hear about your date.”
Annabeth bit her lip. “Oh?”
Susan nodded. “Denise’s sister told us all about it. May I just say–how rude!”
Annabeth looked away, rubbing at her arm. Sure, she had been a little forceful, but he had kind of deserved it.
“The nerve of that man, to say you weren’t smart enough for Harvard!” Susan took her hand, patting it. “Don’t worry: I have a first cousin who lives in the next town over, she has a son who’s single, and you will love him.”
“That’s really kind of you, Susan, but I don’t really think–”
“Nonsense! He goes to Dartmouth, working on his PhD. He’s an intellectual, dear, and he’ll be able to appreciate just how smart you are.”
Despite herself, she found she was a little bit interested. “What is he studying?”
Susan frowned, thinking. “I believe he’s a historian of some kind,” she said. “He studies something very old. I think the Middle Ages?”
For a split second, Annabeth was worried she would say that he studied World War II. That would have been a little too close for comfort. But she did like history, and people with multiple degrees, so… why not?
“When is he free?”
He ended up being free that Friday night. Annabeth and Malcolm met up at Jack’s Bar, only this time, Annabeth had chosen to tone down her outfit, opting for a brown, blue and white striped sweater, with a pair of nice black jeans instead of a skirt. “So, Susan tells me you’re studying the Middle Ages?”
Malcolm nodded. “I’m writing my dissertation on the 1204 Sack of Constantinople.”
Ooh, a siege. “What about it?”
“How it directly led to the eventual collapse of the Byzantine empire,” he said, his eyes lighting up. “The Latin invaders, by destroying Constantinople, left it wide open for the Ottoman empire to come riding in and capture one of the key military bases in the Mediterranean.”
Gods above, he sounded just like her dad. Strangely enough, she didn’t seem to mind. “Win the battle, lose the war, huh?” she offered. Every tactician worth their salt knew that way failure lied.
“More or less,” Malcolm agreed.
“Reminds me of a paper I wrote in college, actually, in a history class. About the civil war, and how the confederates had aimed for a lot of splashy victories, but not a cohesive strategy,” she said.
“I’ll admit, I haven't focused much on US history in recent years. But I’d love to read it.”
She felt herself blush. “I mean, it was just an undergraduate paper in a history survey course,” she told him. “It wasn’t like it was written with publication in mind.” Though it had made her professor more or less beg her to become a historian.
“I mean, you clearly had a lot of interesting ideas. And I’m a TA, I read undergraduate papers for a living. I’m sure yours would be a breath of fresh air.”
“Well, you’re in luck, because my dad felt the same way, and kept a copy. So I might actually be able to read it. I can maybe have him fax it to you sometimes.”
“I’d like that,” he said.
“But you’ll have to share some paper from your past, too. What was your master’s thesis about?”
“The repurposing of Athena as the Madonna in Medieval art.”
Annabeth had already been paying attention, but she felt herself lean forward. And she thought some battle strategy was her kind of research. “That sounds amazing,” she said. “Now I have to read it.”
“Did you do art history as part of architecture?”
He remembered what she did! Her opinion of him went up a few notches. “Yeah, but more than that I’ve always had a… an interest, you could say, in Athena.” That might be putting it mildly.
“Me too,” Malcolm said.
“But you aren’t a classicist?”
He shook his head. “This is going to sound weird, and maybe kind of arrogant, but… the classical world always almost made too much sense to me. Everything I ever learned, I got it, I understood it. It made researching it… almost harder. It was hard to form questions, because everything felt like it had an answer. That’s why I like the Medieval period. It's almost like taking some of the puzzle pieces from the classical world, and some new ones, too, and trying to figure out a new picture. Like… Christianity. No accounting for Christianity. And that makes learning it so much more interesting.”
“Not a church every Sunday kind of kid?”
“No, my moms,” he paused, coughed, and cleared his throat. “My mom wasn’t really for it, and so it wasn’t a part of growing up. That a problem?”
“Oh gods, no,” she said.
Malcolm seemed nearly as invested as she was, they’d both leaned forward, and he had a clear view of his gray eyes. They were nice eyes, she thought. Intelligent and maybe a little dangerous. She thought maybe she’d seen them before. “But, we’ve talked too much about me. Tell me about your work.”
And so she did.
“...and I like the idea of Neoclassical, but it always seems so flat to me. I feel like what it’s missing is color. I want more color in architecture in general, I think, but all that white marble is grating.”
“Have you ever been to the Parthenon?” He asked, with an almost breathless reverence in his voice.
“I have,” she said, smiling, “my dad took me as a graduation present.” Or, really, more of a one-two punch, graduation present for her, divorce present from him. Visiting Athena’s holy place seemed fitting for both reasons.
“What was it like?” He asked. “I’ve never been able to go, but gods, I want to. More than anything.”
Malcolm got it. Malcolm got the Parthenon and Athena.
And so maybe, Malcolm could get her. Maybe Malcolm could understand a child of Athena.
She looked at him. He was handsome in a way. His chestnut brown hair, his clear gray eyes, his…
His gray eyes.
His moms.
But gods, he’d said.
He was looking at her now, and frowning.
“You’re a child of Athena!” They said at the same time, accusatory, surprised.
They leaned back and looked at each other for a long moment.
“Well, damn,” Annabeth said. “I think we might be siblings.”
“I… yeah.”
“Um…”
Just her luck. Here she was, actually enjoying herself, having fun with this guy, and it turned out he was her half-brother.
“That sounds about right,” Annabeth said. “The first guy I can stand, and it’s because he’s my little brother.”
“Sorry,” he said.
She sighed.
“So… I guess our date is over?”
She thought of her home, quiet and lonely, and sighed. “No. I’d rather not go back to my place just yet. Besides, if I left early, Susan would never let me hear the end of it.”
Malcolm laughed.
“But, tell me more about your research,” she said, resting her head on her hand. “I’ve never spoken to another child of Athena before. Lay out the battle for me, and the strategy for Byzantium going forward.”
She saw her dad the next weekend. He came up from Boston, excited to see the progress she’d made on her house. And for the first time in a long time, recounting her new friend Malcolm, she had something to actually update him on other than the contractors finding termites or the pipes needing to be replaced.
She was actually excited, until she said the words “Turns out having a half brother is actually pretty fun.”
Cause she’d tried half brothers before, and it hadn’t really worked out.
But her dad just smiled, said he was so excited for her, and then complimented her on all the structural work she’d gotten done, before they both got distracted by a discussion of the tactics of the Germans in World War I. Her dad was kind of awesome. It was so much fun to talk to him.
She couldn’t really explain to Susan and Brenda and everyone that she and Malcolm were half-siblings, and so she would not be entering a relationship with him, but they did start spending a lot of time together, and so she endured just a little bit of teasing, and figured it was alright.
She and Malcolm plotted out the siege of Constantinople half a dozen times, trying to find the perfect strategy to defend it. They broke out swords and knives and sparred in her backyard. She even had lunch with his mortal mother, and heard someone else’s reminiscences of Athena, which was much more fun, and less desperately sad then her Dad’s.
It made his return to Dartmouth in early March a new kind of struggle. So much so that she not only returned to book club, she asked about another date.
She brushed them off when they asked about a break up, but she did find herself enthusiastic when Brenda suggested a new person. A firefighter and beloved local hero. He volunteered with kids and saved kittens from trees and “He’s just so handsome, Annabeth.”
She was actually kind of looking forward to going on this date, especially when Brenda called her to tell her excitedly that he was going to take her on one of the world famous whale tours they had in town.
Annabeth showed up all ready for water and whales. It was an unseasonably warm March morning, so she had on a yellow shirt, an older pair of overalls with monster claw marks in the knees that she had successfully disguised as deliberate rips, and she looked through her sunglasses for the dark haired man in the Fire Department shirt.
She found him. He was broad and stocky, with a fire department shirt under a light washed denim jacket. His hair was dark and clearly gelled and hair sprayed into its perfectly coiffed place.
He was probably two inches shorter than her, and she could see his face drop when she introduced herself.
After some brief, stilted small talk, they followed another couple and a family of five onto the boat. And the man at the front, driving the boat, announced that he was a replacement, that the normal tour guide was out this week, but that it would still be just as fun.
And if that was the case, Annabeth vowed that she would not be coming back for the regular guy. They saw one dolphin far off, and found themselves sprayed with the water as the speedboat choppily stopped and started, sending her stomach roiling angrily.
Graham, her fireman friend, complained every ten minutes, and then every five minutes, and then every other sentence out of his mouth.
She couldn’t get an answer on what movies he liked, or his family, or his work. He asked her questions, but looked angrily at the ocean while she answered.
She gave up, and sat on the gloomy boat, in the hot day, and listened to the tour guide swear they’d see something interesting soon.
They didn’t. And Graham was uninterested in dinner, as they had originally planned, whining that he needed to go home and change.
Annabeth let him go. And skipped book club again.
And again.
And again.
“You should go back,” Malcolm told her on the phone. “A date might do you good.”
“Fuck off,” she said, leaning her head back against the wall. “Children of Athena don’t do romance.”
“I would like to remind you, I also went on that date. And I even had fun. Companionship is nice. Even mom knows it.”
Clarisse said something similar when they chatted about her upcoming wedding. Which was infuriating.
Clarisse, of all people.
It was enough to raise her hackles, and to complain about it to Malcolm, again.
Which led to him getting invited to his mom’s house for lunch. Which led to Polly Pace proving she could replicate Susan and her friends' notions of how to get Annabeth a proper boyfriend.
“I might have a few ideas.”
She groaned. “Polly…”
“Look, sweetheart,” Polly said. “So many of those women around have one or two young men they have their little crushes on, and they are never going to give up that hope. So they try and live vicariously through you.” She rolled her eyes. “But I promise, I want what’s best for you. Let’s just have one more try.”
Annabeth couldn’t believe she agreed, but she did. And here she was. Polly swore up and down that this one was the most handsome man in Helena and that Susan had been trying to entice him for something like an affair for weeks.
Annabeth decided to go just to see what it looks like.
But she opted not to dress up for this one.
Annabeth slid into her usual spot at the bar, dressed in baggy jeans and a faded pink sweater on the last cool night of the spring, her back as close to the wall as physically possible. Wordlessly, the bartender slid over a glass of the house red, with a sympathetic smile. “Another date?” he asked.
She grumbled, taking a sip.
John just laughed. “Word on the street is Brenda’s declared you the most eligible bachelorette in town. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has half a dozen more dates lined up for you after tonight.”
Groaning, she resisted the urge to slam her head against the bar, settling instead for digging her palms into her eyes.
She felt, rather than heard someone come up beside her. “Evening, John,” said a male voice. A… sort of familiar voice.
“Hey, kid,” he replied. “Haven’t seen you here in ages! Still not drinking beer?”
The mystery man chuckled. “You know it. A coke, please.”
Annabeth frowned into her hands. Where had she heard this voice before? Was he a news anchor or something?
John tsked. “I don’t get you, kid. Why come down all this way if you’re not even going to have a proper drink?”
“What, the pleasure of your company isn’t enough?” Mystery man laughed again. “No, but I’m supposed to be meeting someone here.”
Annabeth’s ears perked up, attention fully grabbed. Was this…?
“Oh?”
“Yeah, a friend of Polly’s, or something.”
She jolted back, as though she had been shocked, and turned to face her blind date.
He was tall and broad, with tanned skin and messy black hair. He had gotten taller, she thought, and she could see the lines of his pecs where the muscles had developed under his plain black t-shirt and denim jacket.
His voice was deeper, but the timbre was the same.
And then he turned, his sea green eyes widening, and she had no doubt.
Percy-fucking-Jackson.
Oh dear gods. Percy-fucking-Jackson, son of Poseidon.
She had her knife in her grip before she even registered she had taken it out.
He swore in Greek, and then his sword was out in his hands.
“Whoa!” John yelled at them from behind the bar. “You gotta take those outside!”
Annabeth glanced around. Him, and all the other patrons, were staring at them, eyes wide in fear. “Huh?”
“No guns in my bar!” She glanced down at her knife, and could see, out of the corner of her eye, the mist swirling around, coalescing into the flicker of a gun. “Either put them away, or get out.”
Why did the mist have to pull this shit all the time?
“Sorry,” Percy said. He shot her a glare, like this was all her fault, as though she were the one who had apparently stalked him to fucking Helena, Maine of all places, and then he tucked his sword away, turned his back on her, and stomped towards the door. Like she wasn’t a threat. Like she didn’t matter.
Fuck him very much.
She didn’t put her knife away, but she did chase after him, out into the gravel parking lot. “And just where do you think you’re going?”
“You know, Chase,” he said, “I was supposed to have a really nice night.”
He had his sword raised again as he glared at her from under the one streetlight in the parking lot, which made her feel much better about not putting her knife away. “Well, so was I.”
“And now, some girl is going to think I’m an asshole who stood her up, all because you couldn’t keep it in your pants.” He eyed her knife, like he was funny.
“Newsflash: I was the girl you were meeting,” she said, “Gods, I can’t believe Polly thought I should go on a date with you.”
Percy scoffed, looking her up and down. “Well, you really turned out all the stops for your date.”
She gritted her teeth, too angry to flush. “I wouldn’t have bothered if I’d known it was you.”
They glared at each other. And then, again, infuriatingly, Percy put his sword away.
“Stop doing that,” she nearly growled.
“Doing what?”
“Putting your sword away.”
“Excuse me?”
“I am a threat!” Annabeth pointed her weapon at him. “So, pull your sword back out, and act like it!”
He looked blank for a long minute, and then he smiled. “Annabeth Chase, you are absolutely a threat,” he agreed, “but I don’t think you’re going to attack me.”
“I could so attack you.”
“You absolutely could,” he agreed, and nodded at her knife, still out, clutched tightly in her hand. “But you know better than to start a useless fight. It's a waste of resources and energy, and you’re too smart for that.”
She glared, and pretended she didn’t enjoy being called smart by him. “You don’t want to fight?”
Shoving his hand in his pockets, he sighed. “It’s been a long day, Annabeth. I don’t feel like getting my ass kicked and wasting what little nectar I have left on your knife wounds.”
That, more than anything, caused her to pause, and lower her knife. She didn’t put it away, though.
Percy Jackson wasn’t just a demigod hero. He was the demigod hero. He’d fought gods and lived to tell the tale. He raised storms or probably armies, if he really wanted to.
When Kronos had risen, Percy Jackson had been at the head of the defending army, an army cobbled together from the handfuls of demigods spread across the country.
Annabeth had been by his side.
To hear him say that she was a threat, that she would kick his ass. She… found herself blushing. And hoped that in the darkness he could not see.
But she still kept her knife out. “What are you even doing here?” she finally asked.
“Same thing you are–living here.”
“You live here? But you’re a New Yorker.”
“And you're a Bostonian,” he said, and then he sighed. “I’m tired, Annabeth. I thought I might be able to escape. To relax. To retire.”
Well, that was relatable.
“Yeah,” she sighed. “Yeah, I get that.”
They stared at each other again. But it was less charged, now it was almost lost. That day, on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building, she had been so sure she was never going to see Percy Jackson again. So very sure she would never again hear his voice, roll her eyes at his stupid jokes, fight with him, laugh with him. And why not? He had been offered the most priceless gift the gods could offer.
And then he had refused the gift, and fucked off.
“Why Helena?” She asked, her teeth gritting despite her best efforts. “You could have stayed in New York.” Or gone literally anywhere else.
“You mean, ‘Why did I decide to follow you to some little beach town in the middle of nowhere’?” He sneered, and she glowered. “If I had known you had moved here, too, I would have already left town.”
She rolled her eyes. “When did you show up then? To intrude on my quiet retirement.”
“It will be two years in June,” he said, and she clenched her mouth closed. She hadn’t even been here six months. By all accounts, she followed him here. Fuck. “Never thought I’d find you in a place like this.” He glanced around, but there was nothing around them. “Not a lot of skyline here to add to.”
She was surprised he remembered. She did not remember what his career goals were. “What do you do? I haven’t seen you around before today.”
Percy… suddenly looked away. “I give whale watching tours.” There was something so awkwardly earnest about his statement, she almost felt bad that she burst out laughing.
“Of course you do,” she said. “I went on one of those world famous whale watching tours, you know. Honestly? Not impressed.”
“When the hell was that?” he said. “I’m pretty sure I would have recognized you if you came on one of my tours.”
“It wasn’t with you, it was some other guy, but–”
He scoffed. “Annabeth Chase, surely you know that a child of Poseidon would make a better tour guide to the wonders of the ocean then some mortal.”
“Yeah, sure,” she said, with a dismissive wave of her hand.
“Just for that, I’m going to take you on a tour.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m taking you on a whale watching tour,” he said. Ordered, really. “Tomorrow. Meet me at the east docks at three, and I’ll show you.”
“You’re… serious?”
“Of course. My honor as a tour guide has been besmirched.” In the darkness of the parking lot, she couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. “And I’m going to prove to you just how amazing I am at it.”
She didn’t have anything to say to that, so she just rolled her eyes one last time and turned towards her car. She didn’t put her knife back in its sheath until she was half way home.
She had no intention of showing up the next day.
She knew that, and Percy knew that, and the gods knew that, and no one expected anything differently of her.
Which is why it was so strange that she found herself driving towards the East Marina at 2:30 the next day.
Why? She could not say. It was so dumb.
Percy didn’t actually want her to be there. He’d probably just laugh if she showed up. This wasn’t even where the last tour had set off from.
Fucking Jackson. If this was all an elaborate prank to get back at her for accidentally… okay, maybe accidentally-on-purpose leading him into Clarisse la Rue’s secret safehouse so she could ditch him that one time, she was going to kill him.
She was stupid to come out here, she was stupid to even entertain this, she was…
“Annabeth,” Percy Jackson called, from where he was leaning against a wooden post at the edge of one row of boats. “I’m so glad you came.”
And he sounded like he meant it, too. Or at least that he hadn’t been dreading her presence.
He was not dressed so differently then he had been last night: acid wash jeans, a gray henley which was starting to thin around the shoulders, hair again looking like it had never seen a brush or comb in his entire life. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed and straight onto the dock. And yet he was still disgustingly handsome.
It made her even angrier. She had spent all morning trying to tame her stubborn curls so that her hair looked nice, and he couldn’t even be bothered. Prick.
“Yeah, well,” she said, crossing her arms as she came to a stop in front of the boat. “You better make it worth my while.”
She looked at the boat, it didn’t look like the one from her last whale tour. It had a small deck surrounding the steering. And then what looked like a door going down to somewhere. On the back, in blocky letters, it said Little Star.
“Come aboard,” Percy said, “welcome to the Little Star.”
“Different boat from the other one.” Annabeth said.
“Well, yeah, that was the tour company’s,” Percy said, “this is a personal matter.”
“Personal, huh?”
“My honor has been challenged,” Percy said. “So have a seat while I blow your mind.”
“I’m hard to please, Jackson,” Annabeth said, “so we’ll see.”
She sat in the seat he offered, a little white bench. And watched Percy lean over to the dock to untie the rope.
She had a clear view of his ass. He probably was doing it on purpose.
Asshole.
“Annabeth Chase,” he said, grinning as he turned back to her. “You, unlike every mortal I have ever taken out, know that I can do anything on the ocean. Once we get far enough out, we can even do our own private scuba diving tour.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t you dare cheat.”
“What?”
“You can’t just… charm me with the temple of Poseidon or whatever,” she said. “You have to give me what the mortals get.”
He paused, a flash of disappointment crossing his face, but then he shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
He didn’t touch the wheel as the boat headed out from the dock, just sat down in the captain’s chair and turned to look at her. “So.”
“So.”
“How long have you been in Helena?” He asked.
“I moved in September,” she said.
“Was it because you heard through the grapevine I was here, and you couldn’t resist?”
“As if.” Annabeth said, making a face.
“Well, if you’re not stalking my every move, what are you doing here?” Despite his tone, she thought she should be offended. But she couldn’t bring herself to feel bad.
She shook her head. “It was like you said, about wanting to retire, relax. I just…” Annabeth sighed. “I just wanted to get away from the monsters, the gods. The expectations.”
“This is a nice place to disappear, I think,” Percy agreed.
“How many monsters have bothered you?” Annabeth asked. She hadn’t seen hide nor hair of one, even out of the corner of her eyes, but she was not ready to be so relaxed from the constant fear that had plagued her since she was a little girl. She’d been told that they would become less insistent once she reached adulthood, and strictly speaking, that was true. But that had been saying that the biweekly occurrences had trickled down to once a week, and after many more years, twice a month or so. And she dreaded to know just how long this peace might last. Or not last.
“I’ve never been bothered by any out here,” Percy said. “A few when I was in the city, visiting Ma, but that’s it.”
Annabeth let out a breath that she maybe hadn’t known she had been holding for months. “Oh.”
“It has been a relief.” He said, “Nearly fighting you was the most exciting thing I’ve had in like a year.”
“It's not too late,” she offered. She did have her knife on her. Some things would never change.
“Do you want to fight me on the ocean, on my boat, Chase?” He raised an eyebrow. “Because you’re good. You’re very good, but I don’t think you’re that good. And it seems like a waste of a good architect.”
“Whatever,” she said, because it was easier than admitting he’d kick her ass in a boat, on the ocean.
He took her acquiescence with grace. Which was nice. He was much much too smart to not know what was happening. “So, what have you been up to? Did you decide you wanted to build your monuments somewhere untouched?” He glanced behind them, and the shape of Helena.
And she could admit to seeing it, to seeing the temples and palaces she could build there. But Maine had no place for temples and palaces. “I bought a big old house,” she said, “1870.” Over a hundred years old. Only the Helena Inn was older. “And now I’m trying to renovate it.”
“I bet it will have ionic columns, over-designed pediments, and domes out the wazoo, huh.”
“Not sure that goes with the Victorian style.”
“You’re a great architect, you can invent your own style.” He was being much much too complimentary of her talents. She needed to get them on a better footing, tease him properly.
“Where are you living?” She asked.
He gave her a slightly lopsided look, that twisted into his dumb, troublemaking smile. “Here.”
She glanced around, trying to figure out how literal he was being. “You… bank out at the bottom of the harbor?” She finally asked.
He let out a laugh. “No, I live in my boat.”
She glanced around. “This isn’t a houseboat.” Unless it was. But she’d seen some before, and they seemed to have more space. More everything.
“No, it's not, but it's got a cabin below.” He motioned to the door. “Galley, table that turns into a bed. Even a bathroom. I can hook her up to utilities on the dock. But houseboats don’t normally move that much. I wanted mobility.”
She glanced around, and tried to reassess the fact that she was in Percy’s house.
“You let me into your house.”
“It isn’t that big a deal.” He said, “I mean… I trust you. And the boats for the tour aren’t mine. So, welcome aboard. We’ll be reaching our final destination momentarily.���
He looked uncomfortable, and for the first time, turned his attention to the wheel in front of him. And Annabeth did not know what to say. So she turned away, too, looking out at the view.
It was pretty, she had to admit. The murky water of the Atlantic expanded out before them. She thought she could see some scattered schools of fishes beneath the waves. “No cheating,” she said again. “I want the mortal experience.”
“I cheat with the mortals basically all the time.”
“Bullshit.”
He walked over the edge of the boat, leaned over the side, and grinned. “Hey, they pay for the beautiful ocean life, and I am happy to provide. I’d have taken you on a Poseidon Adventure, if you wanted, but everything I’m doing now is stuff I’ve done in front of a hundred mortal tourists.”
“So, what, the whales just hang around and wait for you to come out?”
He shrugged. “Pretty much.”
“And the other guy?”
“What the whales do with the other guy is not my business.”
They hid from the other guy, if Annabeth’s experience was anything to go by. “Well, you’re not allowed to–to talk to them or anything. No summoning sea creatures.”
“There’s really not much summoning on my part, anyway,” he said, turning them alongside the wind, taking them further out of the bay. “They sense me coming, and then…”
From behind her came the sound of something breaching the waves. From… close behind her.
He grinned. “They come out to say hi.”
Twisting around in her seat, she nearly shrieked at the sight of an enormous, fifty-foot-long humpback whale, not more than a handful of meters away from the side of the Little Star. Its large, dark eye was fixed on her, peering into her soul, before gently blinking, bobbing its head up and down so its bumpy nose caused little swells to rock the boat.
“That one’s Tiffany,” Percy said. “She’s waiting for you to say hi.”
Annabeth swallowed. “Um… Hi there, Tiffany.”
The whale blinked at her, slowly. Like a cat.
“It's really nice during calving season when all the babies are just born. They come so I can bless them. And people go wild for the babies.”
She almost couldn’t tear her eyes away from the giant frickin’ whale that was close enough she could spit on it, but she managed it, turning back to Percy. “You… bless sea creatures?”
“Of course.” And he sounded almost surprised by her question. Like most people just… blessed baby whales as part of their day job.
“Does it help?”
“I mean, I’m no Poseidon, but yeah, a little bit.” He looked at her for a moment. “Has no little owl chick ever asked for your blessing before?”
She reached out, and kicked him. And though it connected with his calf, he laughed.
Asshole.
He didn’t just show her the sights, he talked her through everything, offering a collection of facts about whales and dolphins, the Atlantic Ocean, and even Maine history. She knew she was getting the tourist spiel, but it was also pretty interesting. For instance, did you know that once lobster was considered food for only the poorest of people, and laws were passed so that even prisoners wouldn’t have to eat it every meal.
“How did that change?” She asked, almost despite herself.
“Businessmen started selling it as a delicacy on railroads.” Percy said, “It was cheap, and not available elsewhere, so they were able to turn a big profit, and position it as exotic.”
He did tell her other things too, mostly, he pointed out different dolphins they ran into by name: Lana and her son Todd. Betsy and Chaz and Anna. A school of fish who he said operated as a collective named David. He gave a little bit of a running commentary on most of them, including explaining how he named little Sally himself, earlier this year, when her mother asked for a blessing.
She tried not to think that it was really, really cute that he named her after his mom.
After last time, she really hadn’t been expecting much, but the day ended up being really fun. And beautiful beyond belief. She was really regretting not bringing her camera, or her sketchbook. She’d used so much of her drawing skills for blueprints and designs, but perhaps she could capture a different kind of beauty.
Maybe he could bring her out here again sometime. Let her take in the shoreline or the horizon.
“So, have you seen enough?”
She blinked, and then looked at him. “What?”
“Have you seen enough to know that I am the person in charge of the best Whale Watching tour on the Atlantic? Are you dazzled and amazed by my charms and natural beauty?”
“In your dreams,” she snapped. That was dumb. This was dumb. This was about him proving a point to her. And she hated that he was succeeding. She didn’t want to encourage him. Or give him any more credit then she had to. She wasn’t going to come out here again.
And she certainly wasn’t going to think about how nice it was to spend some time with him again.
They didn’t talk as he guided the boat back into port. He actually used the steering, this time, hands on the wheel, not looking at her, or really anywhere but the shoreline.
When they got there, she watched the easy way he tied the knots, almost missing it when he offered his hand to help her onto the dock. She just gave it a scathing look.
He laughed a little, and she nearly stomped her foot in indignation.
It was spring, so there was still enough daylight left at 6 PM. Maybe she could sit on her porch and sketch in the natural light. Try to remember what she’d seen today.
“Do you want to get dinner?” She looked up, and he was smiling at her, cocksure grin, hands in his pockets, body totally open to her.
“Are you serious?”
He shrugged. “Well, I figured that neither you or your siblings had developed a way to inject sustenance directly into your veins, and therefore still needed to eat. But if you don’t want to eat, no skin off my nose.”
“I think I’ve had enough Seaweed Brain for one day, thanks.”
Something flashed on his face for a second, but it was too quick to know what it was, and then he rolled his eyes. “Well, I hope you’ve become a better cook since high school.” He said. And then turned around and walked away from her.
Which was a pretty profound statement, given that she was standing next to his house.
She let out a breath, anger or annoyance or something else, and then jogged over to her car, in time to see Percy walking down the sidewalk, and turning towards main street. A place he could get dinner, without her.
“Asshole,” she said it out loud this time, if only to herself. And then she drove home.
She had some leftover lobster mac and cheese in her fridge, between the blueberries and the half-empty bottle of maple syrup. The freezer at least had a couple weeks worth of TV dinners. The rest of the fridge was empty. Just like the cupboards.
She ate the mac and cheese cold. It was still pretty good, but she couldn’t help thinking, as she chewed on meat once considered fit for only widows and orphans, that it was pretty fitting.
The loneliness was certainly the same.
Her dad came up the next weekend. School was officially out, his grades had been sent to the registrar's office, and he’d decided to start his summer visiting her. It was nice to see him. And the fact that he brought a box of Mike’s Pastries cannolis and a separate box of lobster tails brought her no end of joy.
He brought her a couple of other things, too. At her request, he’d picked up the order she’d called into her favorite yarn shop in Wartham. It was run by her half-sister, apparently, as Malcolm had told her, an expert weaver who no longer had an eye for quality, because at age eighty-eight, her vision had started to go, but she still knew everything but texture and touch.
He’d also gotten the other things, the painting and sketching supplies she’d battered Alex Fierro with questions on ravens wings about.
She was going to embrace the beauty of this town.
And she needed more to fill her days.
You could only make one hundred pairs of leg warmers before your craft got a little boring. And they had passed sweater season a while back. And she’d redesigned the entryway about seventeen times in three weeks, before her contractor had told her he needed to be elsewhere for a month while she finalized her plans.
Ironically enough, it ended up being Brenda’s idea. Despite having sworn to never return to book club, she found that her Thursday night TV dinners were becoming just too interminable to bear alone. The other women hadn’t commented on her long absence when she showed up at Denise’s house with a blueberry pie that Susan had seen her purchase, only poured her a glass of wine and made room for her on the comfortable couch.
It was nice. It was really nice.
And it was that nice mood that must have made her more agreeable to Brenda’s suggestion.
“Sarah talks about your knitting all the time–she says it’s better than some of the store-bought leggings that the girls like to wear these days.”
“Thanks,” she said, weakly, not wanting to admit that knitting, by itself, wasn’t really that hard… though she did certainly have a significant advantage.
“Have you ever thought about starting a business?”
“I actually have my own business,” she said. Despite being up in the boonies, the fruits of her architecture consultancy was more than enough for her to live on. “I’m really not interested in another one.” What would her lawyer say, if she asked Connor to incorporate her legwarmer business? There wouldn’t be enough celestial bronze in the world. She had been thinking about getting rid of some of her excess leg and arm warmer supplies, but it was so easy to make them, actually making a profit would seem underhanded.
She said as much.
But then, Brenda lit up. “Oh! What about the Flea Market in Norfolk?”
Which was how Annabeth ended up with a corner stall in the Norfolk Outdoor Flea Market, the shadow of a great oak tree protecting her delicate skin from the first truly hot day of summer.
Interest hadn’t been as high as she’d hoped, less because she wanted to make money, and more because she wanted to reduce the pile of knitting that was sitting on the chair in the living room.
But she’d probably sold about twenty pairs, and only managed to knit two more in the time, so she would call it a win.
The market had started at 11, and the crowds had thinned out after 4. She’d gotten lunch at a cart down the little line of tents from her, some of the best falafel she had ever eaten in her life, and that was saying something, since Magnus knew all the best spots in Boston. All the ladies from the book club had stopped by, cooing over her socks and scarves and leg warmers, and even seemed enthusiastic about buying a thing or two. Now, though, it was getting late, and looking over her leftover stock, she frowned at the idea of having to pack it up and take it home.
She had hoped to empty her tub. Maybe she’d price it lower, next time.
“Annabeth Chase and knitting.” She paused, closing her eyes, and resisted the urge to groan. She’d know Percy Jackson’s voice anywhere. “Who’d have thought it?”
She looked over at him. He was in a green and blue color blocked shirt and acid wash jeans. His green eyes sparkled in the late afternoon sun, his black hair looking like he just stepped off his boat.
He probably had.
“That fact that you don’t know anything about my mother shouldn’t surprise me, Seaweed Brain.”
Understanding dawned on his face. “Weaving!” he said. “Right.”
He reached out and picked up one of the few non-fashion items. It was a little fish, of indeterminate species, but rendered in shimmering blue, made, she wouldn’t admit, after their whale tour.
“How much?”
“What?”
“The fish, how much?” He looked at some of the other things, and then grabbed a pair of shocking pink leg warmers. “And these, too.”
She just stared at him, confused. “You need bright pink leg warmers?”
“They’re for my sister.” He said, running the knit between his thumb and forefinger. “These feel nicer than anything I could buy at the mall.”
“Oh.” She said. And was caught out. Not least because she wasn’t sure if she knew he had a sister. It couldn’t have been a sister on the Poseidon side, otherwise Annabeth would have heard about it.
“How much?” he asked again.
“Um…” What had she been charging again? “Three dollars.”
“For which one?”
“For both.”
It was Percy’s turn to say “Oh.” He pulled out an old leather wallet and handed her the money. He gathered his things, but didn’t wander away. She looked at her watch, and looked at the booths around her. And with a sigh, she started to pack up.
“Do you want help?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him to fuck off, but then, the pile was large, and the box was going to be heavy, and she could see the muscles in his arms pushing against his shirt. “Yes please, I’m just throwing everything in it.” She demonstrated her haphazard practice. “It’s yarn, it will be fine.”
“How long have you been making these?” Percy asked. Distracted by a green scarf that would match his eyes.
“Since I moved here,” she said. “I mean, I’ve always knitted and stuff, but I’m basically retired now, and I have a lot of time on my hands and…” She shrugged.
“That’s a lot of work in just a few months.”
“I’ve had a lot of time,” she said. “Hopefully it will sell better in the winter.”
“Do you make a good return?”
“I don’t care about the money, but I know I’m not going to stop, so I’d love to get rid of some of it so it doesn’t migrate from the chair to the coffee table or something.” After she said it, she looked up at him, fearing for a moment that he was going to make a joke about how she never had visitors, so never had to clean up her knitting projects. It would have… hit its target.
“Fair enough.” He let her put the lid back on the box, and then he lifted it up, just like she knew he would. She grabbed her bag, and led the way out to her car.
“What are you doing out in Norfolk?” She asked. She didn’t even know if Percy owned a car. For a New Yorker who lived his life on boats, it seemed strange.
“Cindy likes to come up to get for the preserves, and she invited me along.”
Annabeth had no idea who Cindy was, but she found she did not like her. Not one bit. “Oh, where is she?”
He shrugged. “One of the guys selling wood sculptures was her old high school boyfriend, and I’m pretty sure the reason I was invited along. I was dismissed about two hours ago.”
Oh. “Sorry,” she offered, chagrinned. “You’ve been having bad luck on dates, I guess.”
He laughed, and it was such a nice sound, different from his derisive snort. “Cindy driving me here wasn’t a date,” he said. “Though, I guess you’re right. The last actual date I went on did almost end with a daughter of Athena gutting me.”
“That was an actual date?”
“Sure,” he nodded, “most eventful blind date ever. Normally it's all ‘Oh, where are you from?’,’What’s your favorite color?’, ‘What do you do?’”
“New York City, blue, blesser of whales,” she said, automatically.
“See, we skipped the boring stuff and went straight for the throat,” he grinned.
She rolled her eyes. “I see, now. It’s because no one else ever believes you.”
He said nothing, only shutting her trunk with a broad grin.
“Do you need a ride back?” The offer was out of her mouth before she could really think about it. But when she paused, she decided it wasn’t a mistake. It was about a twenty minute drive. And she suddenly realized that she wouldn’t hate spending it with him.
He looked at her for a moment. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to put you out.”
“You wouldn’t be. And this way Cindy doesn’t need to be interrupted in her pursuits.”
“Thanks,” he said as he crawled into the passenger’s seat.
Annabeth closed her eyes, breathing through her nose, then swallowed.
Into the fire.
“Thor, really?” Percy said, about ten minutes later.
They had actually been having quite a nice talk so far, comparing pantheons. Last time Percy was in New York, he had ended up tangling with some kind of Egyptian alligator monster, and Annabeth had plenty to share about the vikings. “It was weird.”
“And how do the Norse gods compare?”
She shrugged. “They’re fine, I guess. No ban on alcohol, so things are considerably less…” She paused, casting about for the right word. “...Contained, I guess, when you get a bunch of them in one place.”
Their own god of wine and madness had been banished to an arcade in New Jersey some time ago, cursed by his heavenly father to a century of sobriety for some infraction or other. The few times Annabeth had run into him, though, he still managed to make her life more interesting than she cared for.
Even without their god of revelry, the few times during the war that the Greek demigod army had gotten together, they’d managed to pull enough of their tattered and tired spirits together to have something resembling a shindig. Maybe throwing a party in the woods of Long Island the night before laying siege to the Empire State building wasn’t the best idea, but after Beckendorf’s death, they needed to let off a little steam. Especially Percy.
Especially Annabeth.
Percy may have been the one on the Princess Andromeda with Beck, but it had been her plan that had gotten him killed.
Pollux and Travis provided the drink. Katie, a daughter of Demeter who Annabeth hadn’t gotten a chance to get to know very well, provided the weed. Austin, Will’s brother, brought the music on his boombox, something hard and loud and thumping.
And Percy and Annabeth, they had spent most of the night together.
Not… not the night, but…
She glanced over at him. His eyes were on her, unfathomable as ever. She wondered if he was thinking about the same thing: kissing the taste of wine out of her mouth the night before they thought the world was going to end.
“Sounds like a party,” he said.
“Yeah,” she replied, her voice hoarse. “It was.”
It had been different, exploring the nine worlds with Magnus. Likely because she was only a lost legacy. People, in general, hadn’t wanted too much from her. But it had been pretty funny the few times she had to introduce herself. The Norse were matrilineal.
“Now I want to change my name to Percy Sallyson,” he said after she told him about it.
“You already have her last name,” Annabeth pointed out.
“Sure,” he agreed, “But I could make it better.”
They were almost back to town, almost back to the marina. But she didn’t want their conversation to end. “Do you want to get dinner?” she blurted.
He’d asked her, last time, after they’d gone whale watching. She’d been mean in her reply.
“That sounds great,” he said, without skipping a beat. “Where do you want to go?”
The answer ended up being the Italian place, which Percy promised was delicious, though, “Nico swears it's not authentic and is therefore an affront to Italy. I told him that was only because Helena didn’t have a mob scene worth its salt.”
It was good, but after childhoods in both Boston and New York, she got what Nico probably meant about the lack of authenticity. She’d also never been to this particular place before, it was a little off Main Street, and the few times she’d seen it, it had seemed too fancy for her. There was another, cheaper, greasier pizza joint she defaulted to when she was in the mood.
“So, things are better with your dad?” Percy was asking as he tore the last breadstick in half, handing one of the halves to her.
She couldn’t even believe he remembered that. “Yeah, much better. Charlotte’s still weird about the divorce, but Dad is much happier. And he’s glad to be back on the east coast, too.”
“I saw one of his books on cassette at the library,” he said, “I was thinking of grabbing it and listening to it.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I wanted to see if I could spot the hidden demigods in World War II.”
“You’ll have to tell me how it is,” she said, twirling the breadstick around her fingers.
Percy started. “You don’t read your dad’s books?”
“Not anymore.” She paused, then sighed. “When I was really little, he used to read me drafts. But he got busy, and married, and had more kids, and… It never felt right, I guess, to read them myself. I’m not a big reader, anyway. You know that.” Demigods always struggled with reading anyway. If it wasn’t in Greek, it wasn’t even worth it.
“My mom used to do the same when I was a kid,” said Percy, his voice wistful.
“That’s right–she’s a writer, isn’t she?”
“She is. She actually just had her fourth book come out a couple of years ago. I’ve got them all on tape.”
She felt her lips quirk up. How could someone so infuriating be so adorable?
“You know…” She could hear Percy tapping his foot under the table. Their plates were bouncing a little. “If you wanted, I could–I could give you one.”
“A tape?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged, dragging his breadstick through the remnants of their communal olive oil. “If you wanted. I think you’d really like her latest book.”
He wanted to give her one of his mom’s books. That meant he’d have to come by and drop it off. And then come by to pick it up. Or she would have to go to him.
She… did not hate the idea. “Sure. What’s it called?”
“Snow on the Beach.”
Annabeth started. And then laughed.
Harder than she meant to.
“What?” Percy was defensive, his arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
“Nothing, nothing,” Annabeth chuckled, coming down from her momentary insanity. “I just–I already read it. In Brenda’s book club.”
“Oh.” He sounded unsure. “I um… hope you liked it.”
“I loved it,” she said, without hesitation. It had taken a few false starts, but the story of Joanna and Mr. Taylor had been so compelling, she had powered through dyslexia by sheer force of will just to be able to see how they slowly fell in love, despite the regency class pressures that surrounded them.” She felt a slight flush cross her cheeks and she didn’t know why. “Um, please tell her I really enjoyed it.”
But he didn’t comment on it. “I’ll definitely let her know.”
She kept expecting them to run out of things to talk about, or to be forced to revert to the war, to the demigod expectations that always hung over them a little.
But they never did. They made it through breadsticks and pasta bowls with anecdotes about mortal families and movies they’d liked and a little cafe up in Cabot Cove she just had to go to.
They fought over the check, and he won. But they walked out together.
“You were right,” she said as they stepped into the evening. It had been a long dinner, but summer was barreling towards them, so it was still mostly light out.
He blinked, and a slow smile spread across his face. “Me? Right?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t let it get to your head.”
But he was still smirking. “What was I right about?”
“Dinner with you was lovely.”
His smirk dropped, and she could see his blush in the not quiet setting sun. “Oh.” He coughed. “Um, yeah, it was really really great to properly catch up. We should do it again sometime.”
“How about Tuesday?” She said impulsively, before really thinking about it.
But the cat was out of the bag now.
“Um…” The hesitation was not what she wanted.
“We don’t have to,” she added, quickly. “If you’re busy, or if you have other plans–”
“Would it be weird if I asked to have dinner at your place?”
“My place? You mean my house?”
“Yeah.”
That gave her pause. No one had ever been to her place before. Ever. Not even Malcolm. And there were boxes she still hadn’t unpacked, painter’s tape she had left on the wall, kitchen cabinets empty of pots and pans… “I mean, we could, but we’d probably have to order a pizza.”
“No, I…” He paused, “I’d cook for you, if you’d let me.”
“You’d… cook in my kitchen?”
He nodded. “My boat has a galley,” he said, “but it can get a little cramped in there. I haven’t had the opportunity yet to make my mom’s famous blue chocolate chip cookies.”
She frowned. “Blue?”
Percy grinned, sly and easy. “Yep.”
“Dare I ask why?”
“They taste better when they’re blue,” he said. “Trust me.”
Trust me. He’d said that to her once before, the first time they’d met when they crashed into each other during a quest to the sea of monsters. She’d been looking for the Golden Fleece to save Thalia’s tree, and her spirit, from dying. He’d been doing it to keep Kronos from getting it. They’d ended up on a boat together, but despite his skill at sailing, she hadn’t wanted to trust him. She hadn’t trusted him. She had wanted to go to the beautiful world then sirens had offered her. But she’d done it, some little spark of her soul had wanted to trust him. He’d saved her from drowning.
And then she’d said those same words to him two years later, when she’d been on Olympus with him and had a knife in one hand, and Luke at his feet.
And he had.
“Alright,” she said. “My kitchen, Tuesday.”
She then spent the next three days summarily freaking out.
She had one, pathetically small sheet pan. Her oven wasn’t clean. Her sink was somehow overflowing, despite the fact that she had less than ten dishes overall. Her remaining bell peppers had begun to grow a brand new colony of mold. The fridge was full of leftovers she never remembered to throw out and the freezer-frozen dinners. And those were just the kitchen problems.
Her knitting had taken over the loveseat and was migrating to one of the end tables. She’d managed to put the leftover items from the flea market right into the spare bedroom she was using for a storage room while she continued to work on the house, but too many boxes had migrated out of it when she’d needed something, and never managed migrate into the recycling or back into the room.
And three days was not really enough ramp time to psych herself up for a major cleaning. And unlike Boston, Helena didn’t have a maid service she could call last minute.
But, she was honestly proud of herself for managing to throw out everything that had obvious mold or smelled really bad in the fridge, get all the dishes in the dishwasher and turn it on, though not unload it, and crochet a new afgan for the couch that matched the picture she’d painted of the ocean, inspired by the tour, that hung in the living room.
The last one probably wasn’t strictly necessary, but it had certainly seemed like it come Tuesday morning.
Annabeth had only just barely finished putting her mop away when there was a knock at her door. “Just a minute!” she called. In quick succession, she straightened the afghan on the couch, pushed in the wooden chair at her kitchen table, and checked her reflection in the mirror, moving a stray curl behind her ear. After some consideration, she had decided on the light blue dress from the back of her closet, pairing it with an old set of owl earrings that her father had gotten her for her birthday when she was young.
There was no hiding the big grin on her face as she opened the door.
“Hey!” Percy was smiling back at her, his eyes sparkling in the late afternoon sunlight. His arms were laden with plastic grocery bags, and she tried not to notice how tight the sleeves were of his black, Social Distortion t-shirt.
She stepped back, making room for him. “Come on in.”
“Your place is gorgeous,” he said as he stepped inside.
“Thanks,” She said, “I got it because I felt like it was a real diamond in the rough. I’m doing a lot of work on it, off and on.”
“You redesigned something that could please the gods, I think making a perfect house is something you can do in your sleep”
She blushed, and showed him into the kitchen. “I’m… I don’t have the most extensive kitchen set up, I’m afraid.”
“That’s alright,” he said. “We can make do.”
And make do they did.
Percy had had the foresight to bring all the necessary ingredients at least, though they did run into a bit of a snag after dinner. (Percy had made her beef stroganoff. It was without a doubt one of the best things she had ever eaten. Not that she would ever tell him that.) “So,” he said, plopping his bag of flour on her counter. “Where’s your stand mixer?”
She blinked. “My… what?”
“Stand mixer. We’re going to need one if we want cookies.”
“Oh.” She wasn’t even sure that she knew what that was. “I… don’t have one.”
“Oh.” Percy blinked, taken aback. “You don’t?”
She shook her head. And made a mental note to get one, as soon as possible. Brenda would be able to help her. Or Susan. Or somebody.
He bit his lip, his eyes darting around. “That’s–that’s okay. We can–we can wash out the marinade bowl,” he picked up the dirty bowl in the sink which had held the raw beef, “use that to cream the butter, and then we can mix it by hand. Do you have a whisk?”
“Uh…”
Percy opened his mouth as if to say something, then shut it, shaking his head with a rueful grin. “You know what? That’s fine.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” He took out the eggs from the fridge. “They made cookies before stand mixers were invented, right? I think we can manage.”
After a brief pause to clean some of the dishes, they were off to the races. Percy had unearthed a wooden spoon from the back of one of her cabinets, and was mashing the butter with the eggs and sugar while Annabeth sifted the dry ingredients together with a fork. She was perfectly aware that Percy had given her the easier task, but from her vantage point at her little kitchen table, she was perfectly content to sit and observe as Percy leaned against her counter, one arm cradling the bowl to his chest while he mashed with the other.
He was a lot taller than she remembered him being. During the war, she was only an inch or so shorter than him; now she wouldn’t be surprised if he had nearly half a foot on her. And he had filled out, too–broad shoulders and big hands and sturdy thighs. He had just the barest hint of stubble on his sharp jaw, and strong brows… one of which was raised as he looked at her, his lips quirked in a smile. “Hm?”
“I said, can you pass me the vanilla and the food coloring?”
“Oh.” She cleared her throat, setting the bowl down so hard that the flour mixture jumped a little. “Yeah, sorry.”
He just chuckled to himself.
“So, what’s the deal with the blue food coloring again?” she asked as she passed the little bottles to him. Their hands touched and she tried not to think about it.
His face dropped, just a touch. “How much did I tell you about my mom?”
She frowned, taking her seat. “Not much, I don’t think. She’s a writer, and…” Screwing up her eyes, she racked her memory for something, anything, any small inconsequential detail he might have shared with her when they were younger. Back then, though, there really had been no reason to talk about their pasts. They didn’t spend that much time together. Not a lot of time for sharing in the middle of a war. “Was she married?”
He nodded. “Twice. Her first husband, he was a real piece of shit.” A scowl overtaking his face, he measured out the vanilla, but dumped nearly the entire bottle of blue into the flour. “I didn’t know at the time, but when I was really little, he would beat on her.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Oh, Percy, I’m so sorry.”
Percy shrugged. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago. Almost… wow.” He paused. “Almost twenty years.” Shaking his head, he stuck his hand in, mixing the cookie dough. Slowly, inexorably, the color changed: from tan, to periwinkle, to cerulean. “They had this dumb fight–I don’t even remember what. But somehow, the topic of blue food came up. He swore up and down that there was no such thing. But my mom insisted. And ever since then, she would have blue food all the time. Blue tortilla chips, blue candy, blue gatorade–and eventually, she started adding blue food coloring, too. He hated it.” Percy grinned, reaching for a spatula. “Blue food was her way of fighting back. Her one act of rebellion. Eventually, it just became our thing.”
She could picture it, a young Percy looking up at his mother with those big green eyes as she whipped up a batch of blue cookies. “How is she now?”
His face didn’t change much, but it was almost like there was a glow about him, a warm little fire lighting him up from within. “She’s good. She’s working on a new book, and she remarried almost ten years ago.”
Oh, that was right–he had a sister! “You have a sister, yeah? What’s her name?”
“Estelle.”
She inhaled, something clicking. “The Little Star?”
The smile spread across his face, lighting up the whole room with his love. “Yeah. She’s pretty great.”
Together, they spooned out the cookies, fitting as many of them onto her sheet pan as they possibly could, and she settled back into her seat as Percy slid the tray into the oven.
“So,” she said, about six minutes into cooking. “Whatever happened to her first husband?”
Percy crouched, peeking into the oven. “Remember that time we ran into Medusa in Jersey?”
“Don’t remind me,” she said, shuddering.
“Well, I gave her head to my mom.”
“How did you even get–”
Annabeth stopped. She blinked.
“Wait. You gave… she…”
He smirked.
Dang. “Are you sure she’s not a secret viking?”
“She’d never wielded an ax, as far as I know,” Percy said, “but she’s a dangerous one.”
She did have a spatula, which she mainly used to get frozen pizzas off the baking sheet, though the cookies had to wait on a plate, because she didn’t have a cooling rack.
“Oh gods,” Annabeth said, ten minutes later when she bit into a still warm cookie. “Oh my gods. This is the best damn cookie I’ve ever had in my life.”
“I’m telling you, it’s the blue,” Percy said, having already swallowed his cookie whole. “There’s just something missing without it.”
“You might be right,” she said. “Might be.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” But he was smiling, “I’ll just have to keep proving it, blue food. It's the best.”
“What else can you make blue?”
“Lots of things: cakes, bread, pasta, mashed potatoes,” he shrugged. “I like trying new things. And my mom has been teaching me some of our family recipes.”
“Do you take requests?”
“Sure. Whatever you want.” Somehow, despite being taller, he managed to look at her from under his eyelashes. Expectant. Hopeful.
And really, what did Annabeth have to lose out on? Another fantastic meal? “Are you free on Friday?”
He was.
Friday rolled around, and Percy arrived, once again loaded down with groceries. Only this time, he stepped into a full kitchen. “Whoa,” he said, quietly stunned as he opened a cabinet. And then another. And another.
Annabeth felt her cheeks heat up.
“Where did you get all this?” he asked.
“Oh, here and there,” she said.
Maybe one day she’d tell him about driving to Boston on Thursday and practically buying out the Sears kitchen department. But not today. Not tonight.
That night, they made pastichio, and split a bottle of wine Annabeth had picked up from the grocery store.
The next week, it was Swedish meatballs. Then, the following Monday, Percy stopped by unannounced, bringing with him an extra container of vodka sauce for pasta, because he had just made too much and wouldn’t be able to eat it before it went bad. Eventually, he started showing up to drop off a cassette. Then to watch the game. Then just to say hi.
And he always stayed for dinner.
By the end of June, he was over every night, making great use of Annabeth’s kitchen. The fridge was still full of leftovers, but it was leftover soup or pasta or vegetables or to die for chicken. And she wasn’t worried about the onions in the crisper going bad. She even learned what the crisper was for, and what it was called.
She didn’t think she’d ever eaten so well in her life.
“Are you doing anything for the holiday?” he asked, after he had finished the dishes.
Annabeth shook her head, sipping her wine. “Dad’s in Europe, and Malcolm and his mom are visiting family in Virginia. You?”
“Paul’s family is taking a vacation in Chicago.”
“You weren’t invited?”
“I was, but I don’t think the risk of inciting dear old uncle,” he flicked his eyes upwards, “is worth flying out for it.” he shrugged, “and I might be joining my mom the day after, so I’d have to come straight back anyway.”
“Shame,” she said. “But I hear that Fourth of July here isn’t so bad. Apparently the local scout troop puts on a pretty great fireworks show on the beach.” According to Denise, it was quite the romantic evening. Asking a girl to the fireworks show was a very common step in the romantic playbook around these parts.
“So I heard! Polly says that the beach is always packed full of people, so I’m going to take my boat out a little ways away and watch there.”
“That sounds really nice.” She said, before chomping on a bite of the blueberry coffee cake he’d made them for dessert.
When she looked back up, he found him looking at her, half trepidation, half excitement in his face.
Percy took in a breath, and licked his lips. “Would you want to… come with me?”
His eyes reflected the color of the water outside her home, the sea where he lived, this town where they had come together by some twist of fate.
And she nodded.
They were both grinning as she showed him out that night, a sort of youthful giddiness bubbling up inside her when she looked at him.
She shut the door behind him, and as soon as he was out of sight, she felt the bubble pop.
The enormity of what had happened sinking in.
And the absolute imperative she not fuck it up.
She didn’t just go dress shopping, she went to Boston, and spoke to a magical tailor and Blizten had to talk her down four times while he fitted her for a dress for her… date… with Percy Jackson.
Because Percy Jackson had asked her out.
On a date. On his boat. To see the fireworks.
Even thinking about it like that sent a weird shock through her. It made her feel like she was sixteen, instead of pushing thirty. What kind of woman, on the eve of her twenty-eighth birthday, would feel butterflies in her stomach as she thought about going to see some fireworks?
Well, sure, when she’d been sixteen, she hadn’t even thought she’d make it to twenty-eight. But still.
And with Percy Jackson of all people.
Yeah, they’d kissed the night before the battle of Manhattan, and yeah they’d been on Olympus together and saved each other’s lives, and yeah Percy had turned down immortality for… for his mom.
But then he’d walked away. From all of it. From her.
Did he regret it?
Her dress ended up being a light blue with white pinstripes, with a wide collar and a cinched, belted waist, coming down right to the tops of her knees.
She stood in Blitzen’s shop, in front of the three way mirror, while he worked on accessorizing it on July third, and wondered how she was supposed to make it until tomorrow without throwing up from nerves.
But make it she did, and at 8:30 in the evening, she met Percy at the east dockyard, in her blue dress and brown sandals. She had spent upwards of three hours on her hair, teasing and curling and spraying until her hair was as poofy as it could possibly be. The humid ocean air still managed to penetrate the layer of hairspray, however, stray curls escaping at her temples.
“Annabeth, hey!” Percy waved at her from the deck of the Little Star. In the evening light, she could see that he had dressed up for the occasion too, trading in his t-shirt for a white button down and a pair of dark jeans. “Did you get some wine?”
She held it aloft. “Last bottle they had!” The grocery store wine selection had been nearly cleared out by the time she got there, but luckily she had managed to snag the last good red left. It was odd, though–she could have sworn she had walked past that shelf about four times before spotting the bottle. Maybe she had just missed it.
“Great,” he grinned. “Come aboard!”
In short order, she had boarded the Star, Percy had set off from the docks, and they were anchored a little ways away from shore, sharing the bottle of wine over a Greek pasta salad. They were sitting together on a bench at the stern, a blanket thrown over their legs. “This might be the best feta I have ever had,” she said. “Where the hell did you get this? Did you fly it over from the motherland?”
Percy laughed. “No, my mom brought it up from New York last time I saw her. There’s this little grocery in Astoria run by this old yiayia, Sophia, she’s got all the best stuff.”
“And the olives?”
“Same place.”
“Damn.” She picked off another olive, popping it in her mouth, savoring the deep, salty flavor. “If we ever go back to New York, you’ll have to take me there.”
A strange silence fell between them after that.
“Would you… ever go back?” he asked her, quietly.
“To New York?”
He nodded.
Annabeth rolled another olive between her fingers, frowning. “I… I don’t know.”
She hadn’t meant to say that. It wasn’t like she’d been thinking about going back–not permanently anyway. She liked Helena. She liked Brenda, and the little restaurants, and the pattern of people who waved to her during her morning walks on the beach. She liked the quiet, the peace, the space she had to relax and breathe and be, without the threat of monsters or gods. She liked not having to look up at the Empire State Building and be reminded of all her failures.
“Would you?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. I’ve been thinking about it. I mean, my whole family is there, you know? My mom comes up every so often but…” He sighed. “It’s hard, being so far away from them.”
Her heart panged.
She liked having him here. She didn’t want him to go.
His eyes flicked up to hers, softening as soon as they met. “But it’s been easier, recently.”
“Yeah?” she breathed.
“Yeah.” He smiled back at her, gentle as a sea breeze. “It’s… I’m really glad I ran into you.”
“Even though I pulled my knife on you.”
“Especially because you pulled your knife on me.”
In the back of her mind, she wondered if her mother would be mad at her. And then she remembered that she didn’t care anymore. “Me, too.”
They sat in companionable silence, drinking wine, watching as the stars came out over the water. Eventually Annabeth dropped her head on his shoulder, scooching closer.
“Are you cold?” he chuckled.
“A little,” she lied.
A pause, and then she felt him rest his head on hers.
“What time is it?” she murmured.
She felt the muscles of his chest shift as he checked his watch. “Almost ten.”
Then, a clap of thunder. Beneath her, Percy jolted. She sat up. “Percy? What is it–”
But out of the corner of her eye, there was a brilliant flash of light, a little yellow star exploding into showers of red and green and blue.
Percy relaxed. “Oh thank the gods,” he sighed, sagging back against the boat. “I thought Zeus was coming to kill me.”
It wasn’t funny, but she started giggling. “For what?”
“Does he need a reason?”
“I’m sure you’ve given him plenty.”
“Hey!” he pouted. “It’s not like you haven’t done plenty to piss off the gods, too.”
“Oh yeah? Who mailed Medusa’s head to Olympus?”
“And who turned her back on Hera?”
“Well, who turned down Zeus’ gift?” she shot back, kicking his shin.
He stilled, shifting closer to her. And he didn’t reply.
“Do you regret it?” she asked, turning from the fireworks to face him.
“Hm?”
“Turning him down.” In all of mythology, there was no greater boon from the gods than immortality. It was the ultimate reward for any demigod. After all that Percy had done–defeating Kronos, saving Olympus–she had been sure he would have taken it. And why shouldn’t he have? Demigods were scattered across the United States. Most of them never even knew that they were special, and how. She could count the number of times she had met her own mother on one hand. Percy had had the chance to live among the gods, with his immortal family, for eternity.
And he had turned it down.
He bit his lip. “Not really.” He looked off, not towards the shore and the fireworks, but out over the ocean, “I remember being just sixteen, and thinking when he made the offer, that I could stay in my prime.” he shook his head, “I don’t know what my prime is, or was, or might be. But I am so sure it wasn’t being sixteen. I… there might be a time I want forever, sometimes having that kind of power… it does have its appeal. But I realized that I didn’t want that.” Then he looked at her. “What about you?”
She almost laughed, “It didn’t occur to me that it would be on the table until they offered it to you.” She shook her head. “I’d have taken it if they’d offered it to me first. I know that. I’m certain of it.” She smiled. “But I am so, so glad they didn’t. You’re right. Sixteen forever isn’t what I should have wanted.”
She saw him open his mouth, and then snap it shut.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he said, too quickly, with too much force.
“No, really, Seaweed Brain, what?” Between the boom of fireworks, all she could hear was her own heartbeat. They were already so close, but she leaned closer, like they were going to share a confession around a fire while they were camping out during the war. She wished she could roast a marshmallow. “You can tell me.”
“If they’d offered it to you first, and you’d taken it, I wouldn’t have…” She could feel his breath on her face. “I would have…”
Well, fuck. What else was she supposed to do, but close that centimeter gap and kiss him?
The fireworks exploded behind her closed eyelids, but that didn’t matter.
She could feel the sparks on her lips, and smell the sea air all around her.
She kissed Percy Jackson, and it was everything.
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