#also i am suspicious that the aquarium glass will collapse on me

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

six ways to tell you I love you

Hello lovelies! This fic is a result of the lovely @NotYourBitch playing the little challenge I had going (and still do have going) on my previous fic (my handprint on her ass cheek) and winning one of the two fic prizes I had! Thank you for the prompt my sweet and I hope you enjoy this. It was genuinely so much fun <3 also I know I said the prize was a drabble but lmao this got a little out of hand

And I am once again asking that we all pretend this is edited and ignore the fact that it most definitely isn't thank you I heart you

Also I have no idea what's happening with the spacing right now tumblr is literally falling apart. Reading on ao3 may be easier and more peaceful but if you choose tumblrs hell ish violence cheers to that bro

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Percy is on to them. He’s been onto them for weeks. And he is enjoying himself immensely.

Seduction Attempt #1: make him his favourite breakfast food (pancakes with blueberries and too much syrup) in bed

—Rachel, because between the two of them she’s the only one who can cook.

—Completion Status: 10%

Percy has thought about retaliating, so to speak, but so far he’s enjoying their back and forth. Rachel does something and Annabeth gets that gleam in her eye that tells him they’re all in for a show when she thinks up her next trick. A few days later Annabeth does something and Rachel stares so long Percy can practically see the drawing outlines she’s trying to make of her next idea. They've been friends for six years and still they never fail to surprise or amuse him.

Seduction Attempt #2: take him to the stone castle on the hillside near the sea so he can feel like a princess overlooking his kingdom

—Annabeth, because she could use the ‘im interested in the architecture’ cover

—Completion status: 25%

Percy strikes the last dummy down, and pockets Riptide with a small grin. Hardly anything satisfies him more than a successful sparring session with his favourite straw opponents. Sweat drips down his temple, tickling at his skin. Collapsing against the padded wall of the training room he tugs at the edge of his shirt and swipes it across his face, adding to the dark patches already decorating it. The sun is just setting, casting burnt orange glows across the wood floors. If he had the camera his parents bought him three birthdays ago he would have used up far too much film capturing this exact moment. He guzzles down water, lets it soothe his aching muscles and tired eyes. Sleep is on the come and go, and while he is not always exhausted the way he used to be, tiredness still clings to him like dew on glass. He wonders if he makes it look half as pretty as the morning is.

“Only if you did something you think you should be in trouble for?” She matches his expression.

“Only if you did something you think you should be in trouble for?” She matches his expression.

“Only if you did something you think you should be in trouble for?” She matches his expression.

“Then I'm not in trouble, mom.”

She sits down next to him, bumping his shoulder with her own.

“What did you need me for?”

She pulls her knees up to her chest, rests her chin on them. Like this she looks like a baby bird waiting to fly the nest. Both eager and nervous, excited for the big blue world and scared for what’s in it.

“It’s your birthday tomorrow,” She starts.

He can’t help but tease. “Yes, been having them for twenty one years so i’m pretty used to them by now.”

“Shut up,” She laughs, “Annabeth and I want to do something for you, with you.” And there’s so much vulnerability in her forest green eyes as she turns to look at him. “If you’d let us. If you’d like that.”

Seduction Attempt #3: Aquarium

—Annabeth and Rachel, so he wouldn’t get suspicious about what they were trying to achieve (spoiler alert he was suspicious two attempts ago)

—Completion Status: 50%

“Mhmm,” He frowns, “Let me think: spend my birthday with my two favourite people, or spend it doing who knows what at camp?”

She shoves him gently again, this time falling with him so by the time he rights himself she’s pressed into his side. The fire warmth to his ocean cool and Annabeth’s even stone.

“What do you two have planned?”

“Can’t say. Big surprises.”

He turns to stare at her, eyes wider than comical. “The last time you guys surprised me we ended up with pastry dough in the plug sockets.”

“I promise no cooking or baking of any kind from either of us.”

Their laughter melts into the sunlight, and by the time he goes to bed that evening he is glowing with a warmth nothing but happiness can carve. Maybe in another life, he’ll become an honorary child of Hestia. Maybe in another life he will inherit her place at the Hearth. For he is sure, this feeling. This ethereal, gentle light that sits deep within him is what makes up the goddess of home.

Seduction Attempt #4: Orange picking in the Citrus Groves

—Rachel, because oranges are her favourite fruit, and orange blossoms remind him of his mom

—Completion Status: 65%

The first thing he smells is burning wax, tinged with a slightly sweet scent… like frosting. Percy Jackson opens his eyes, and sees a bright grey gaze and a blue, honey-glazed cupcake.

“Happy Birthday Seaweed Brain!” She jumps on him, settling her legs on either side of his hips. “Are you ready for the greatest adventure of your life?”

“Thought that was the week you told me we were going to Six Flags and you ended up taking us to Vegas instead?”

“That was fun,” She pouts, memories flashing across her face. “But this doesn't compare to that so be prepared.”

“Is it a good kind of be prepared?” He bites into the cupcake, failing to keep the groan in as it melts on his tongue. “Or a ‘Scar is singing his villain song’ be prepared?”

“Special order from the Aphrodite cabin,” She nods at the cake, curls bouncing. “And it's the best kind of prepared.”

“What should I wear?” He smiles up at her.

"Your outfit is hanging next to your basin. Be ready in twenty. We leave after breakfast." And with a peck to his forehead and another whispered “Happy Birthday Pers” she's gone.

Seduction Attempt #5: Road trip listening to the mixtapes he used to make

—Annabeth, because she's the only one who can stay awake during car rides

—Completion Status: 80%

Percy gets ready in ten minutes and then spends the next on an iris message with his family. Sally and Paul had insisted he stay at camp till after the summer was over. He knows they're onto whatever his girls have planned. Estelle blows a lot of bubbles at him– she's obsessively happy about her new toy, the Bubble Wand That Never Fails– and then gives him a toothy grin before running away. Her little pigtails bounce, making them lopsided and it's everything in him not to reach through the rainbow and fix it.

“Enjoy the day Percy,” His mom says, ocean blue eyes twinkling at him. Oh they definitely know.

“Take lots of pictures!” Paul’s wink makes him laugh.

“See you guys in a few weeks.”

The bell for breakfast rings out across the camp just as he swipes a hand through the rainbow. With a final glance at his outfit— blue crop top, fading jeans, sneakers, Annabeth's Yankees cap, and Riptide— he's both extremely curious and only slightly nervous for what the day holds.

Breakfast is a fanfare of birthday wishes and far too much cake. The dining pavillion had been decorated in blue streamers and little ocean themed confetti, water dissolvable and the exact colours of his eyes in different lighting. It never fails to amaze him how much people are willing to do for him, to celebrate him. He's met with hugs and laughter and a lot of hair ruffling. For once nobody sits at their assigned cabin tables. Everyone is enjoying the Percy Specials that come with his breakfast and excitedly telling stories about the adventures they'd been on together.

His sadness comes in waves, flooding him. It feels cool to the touch. And relieving. Every year, his birthday is tinged with this blue. Like clear springs. Layering and lapping at every moment in the day. Collecting stones labelled “I'm growing up”/ “I wish the people I lost were here to celebrate with me”/ “another year of my life goes by, did I do enough?”

“Pers,” Rachel and Annabeth saddle up to him, twin grins on their freckled faces. “You ready?”

“Take me away, my lieges.” He holds out his hands and they each grab one.

“Thanks for breakfast everyone!” He shouts over the din of the pavilion. There's cheers and holler in response and then he's practically sprinting towards the woods, laughing as warm hands tug him along. Curls in ash blonde and fire red flying behind them. The three of them together make the blaze.

Rachel with her inferno, Annabeth with her wispy end, and him with his pitch charr aftermath.

“You guys are certainly in a rush,”

“We have an itinerary planned we can't be late.”

They eventually stop in an clearing surrounded by juniper trees. He can feel the nymphs have made themselves scare. The earth is not humming the way it usually does when they are here.

“Alright,” Rachel turns to him, “Put this on and when we say look you can take it off and behold!”

He takes the soft green sash from her, letting the material run through his fingers, catching it before it can fall away entirely.

"Is this necessary?" Amusement tugs at the corners of his mouth.

"Yes," Annabeth nods firmly, "We worked really hard on this so you just gotta trust us.”

“I do.” His voice is softer now, but there's an edge to it that only exists in hard truths. They must never doubt that.

"We know," Rachel smiles gently. "Now on, and no peeking.”

He hears shuffling and some whispering. He swears he hears Nico but brushes it aside when a not even thirty seconds later hands take his own.

“Ready?” Annabeth asks.

“Of course.” He squeezes the hands in his.

Suddenly his body is being pulled out of itself. Tingling sensations running up his spine like marathon winners. His legs are four years in front of him and his shoulders are still being born. He feels like melting butter. And then everything stops. And he is one and the same again. Hands are still in his and the ground is still below him.

“What just happened?”

“We shadow traveled.” Annabeth speaks up.

“So Nico was here.”

“Very briefly but yes.” It's Rachel this time. “Okay Pers.” He can hear their inhales. Deeper, more grounding than normal. He knows they glance at each other. Can feel it in the way their bodies turn towards him, towards one another.

“You can take off the blindfold.”

He pulls at the knot behind his head and let's the green silk slip off his eyes into his palm. The light change overwhelms him for a second before he blinks into focus. And what he sees makes his lungs collapse.

Seduction Attempt #6: take him to the planetarium and manipulate the stars into a new constellation that reads, “will you be ours?”

—Annabeth and Rachel, because they love him across space and time. Across universes. Forever.

—Completion Status: 100%