#leo probably called him that after nico and him got into a fight and nico sent hundreds of dead creepy crawlers after him

[your-stranger-halfblood-things]

Nico thinking "batshit crazy" is a compliment because he likes bats and he knows he is crazy

[pigfacedbitch]

Phobia

idea : your phobia relates to your boyfriend's gifted godly abilities.

word count : 0.8k

type : headcanons

pairing/s involved : Jason Grace / Percy Jackson / Leo Valdez / Frank Zhang / Nico Di Angelo x Reader

warning/s : phobia speaks for itself. personally, it's thalassophobia for me. 😓

here is my masterlist!

Jason Grace | Acrophobia (Fear of Heights)

Due to having the same fear as his sister, Jason is completely aware of the dos and dont's when you're an acrophobic.

If you two are forced in situations where you need to be in high places, he always attempts to distract you with anything he can think of.

He prefers embarrassing stories over jokes. His delivery is too deadass and his 'i'm-trying-hard-here-it's-not-funny' look makes you laugh before the punchline.

Knowing that it can be associated with the fear of falling, Jason will reassure you every time that he's going to catch you.

If you did fall, during some battle for example, he will asks you to close your eyes and hold you tighter before slowly bringing you down.

He really lives up to that Superman nickname so much, the others started calling you Lois Lane.

Percy Jackson | Thalassophobia (Fear of Deep Bodies of Water)

Percy would be bummed out. Being the son of Poseidon, he loves to be in the water.

Everything about him— from his favorite hobbies to his happiest of memories, revolves around it and he wants to share that with you.

He plans on taking you on trips underwater; introduce you to the majestic marine creatures nobody else has seen before, unravel mysteries the sea has to offer, and form a big bubble where you can do whatever you want without being interrupted (ehem👀).

But how can he make all of it possible when your fear is literally all of those?

Percy would want to help you get over it. He wouldn't force you but he will at least try convince you.

If you refuse, he will respect that.

But if you accept his help, he'll try to take it one step at a time. Probably by starting to show you how the sea, no matter terrifying it is, is also beautiful place.

Leo Valdez | Pyrophobia (Fear of Fire)

Initially, Leo will laugh. I mean, who wouldn't?

You're a pyrophobic yet you're dating someone who is actually made out of fire?

After he notices that you're not joking, he will begin to be terrified for you. Expect that Leo will be extra careful when you are with him, especially when he is working on something.

His contraptions deemed too dangerous like explosives, will be kept somewhere far away.

As much as he thinks your presence will make Bunker 9 a lovelier workspace, he will understand if you don't want to go there. The essense of it is from the god of fire himself— I mean you need a blast of fire to enter.

He also will refrain himself from using his fire abilities in a fight, making do with his inventions instead.

While pyrophobia doesn't have specific causes, it may be possible that you had some traumatic experience relating to fire. Leo doesn't want to hurt you or make you feel worse.

Frank Zhang | Zoophobia (Fear of Animals)

Frank is confused. He doesn't know that the fear of animals is a thing and would wonder why you agreed on dating him in the first place.

He will ask you tons of questions; what caused your phobia? Are you afraid of all animals, a few, or just one? What can I do? After your conversation, he's going to search more information.

If you're afraid of one animal only, Frank will forget it ever existed. He will never talk of that animal again even when you're not around.

The others will joke about it. Example, if you're scared of snakes—

"What is a snake, Frank?"

"What's that, Leo? I have no idea, so let's never speak of it again."

In the case that you're afraid of all animals (this is a rare condition), he will not use his abilities and will train harder in combat.

When he really doesn't have a choice but to shapeshift in a fight, you two will separate with your friends' assurance that they got your back.

Frank is a nice guy but if someone made an offensive comment about your phobia or hardcore pranks involving that animal? Expect the wrath and rage of Mars.

Nico Di Angelo | Phasmophobia (Fear of Ghosts)

I'm sorry but Nico will slightly judge you. Really, a ghost? What are you, five?

Like Frank, he will ask you what caused your phobia.

He will feel terrible and comfort you if you have the same experience as Reina and Jason, who's loved ones turned into a mania. If it's because of horror movies, he will awkwardly pet your head.

You may think the subject is dropped but Nico will make sure that no ghost will ever come near you.

Having the infamous title 'Ghost King', he will not hesitate to torment and threaten the spirits who try to approach, scare, or talk to you.

He will take you on dates to McDonalds but he will not bring you to any 'ghost business'.

If you want to get rid of your phobia, Nico will summon ghosts who can entertain you; like singers, dancers, those that can do tricks, and stand up comedians.

He will also show you how easily he can bend any ghost to his will, proving to you that there's nothing to be afraid of.

[not-someone-you-adore]

-her dad got remarried to a woman that literally started to hate her for "endangering her children" knowing DAMN WELL it wasn't her fault. Even if her stepmother changed for the better it wasn't always the case. -Step mom kept her from interacting with her step brothers and especially her father -she was tormented with nightmares of her biggest fear -she ran away at the age of 7. How about I say it louder? SEVEN! not enough? Lemme spell it out. S E V E N! she was SEVEN when she ran away. And for a time before she met Thalia and Luke she was ALONE she left her family and made her own. But it didn't last because a Cyclops nearly killed Thalia and she was turned into a tree and pronounced dead. -she had to get over that at the age of 7 because she arrived at camp the same age she left her previous home. -she had to bear the fact that Luke had betrayed them. Someone she looked up to and loved. -she had to be reminded of cyclops when Tyson came into the picture. -Yeah she accepted him as her own brother and family later but having a cyclops, the same thing that she thought took Thalia's life on the team bore down on her like betrayal hand the hands of Chaos and was pressing on her shoulders -speaking about pressing on her shoulders, let's talk about how she bore the weight of the sky. Percy got 2 visions. One where Luke passed the sky to Annabeth. The other when Artemis took the sky off of Annabeth's shoulders. These 2 visions were separate. Meaning that Annabeth was holding the sky for quite some time. Definitely longer than Percy. She was COMPLETELY drained and exhausted. More so that Luke left her to carry it alone. -she was told Luke died but couldn't believe it -Luke visited her but she couldn't bring herself to kill him. A promise she kept, but like didn't. -not as important but the whole "perachel" thing -her half brother died in front of her after passing his work to her -she then proceeds to get stabbed in the shoulder for Percy and nearly freaking dies AGAIN -the person she loved but then loved as a brother started to thrash her around, even if it was another entity in control -HER blade was the one that killed Luke. HER BLADE. imagine how she must have felt holding and fighting with it after -then she got a break -SIKE HER BOYFRIEND DISAPPEARED FOR 8 MONTHS CAUSING HER TO OVERWORK HERSELF TRYING TO LOCATE HIM -she was called worthless by Athena, her own mother, and was given a coin that could have led her to her death -oh they got reunited JUST BEFORE NEW ROME WAS BOMBED NEARLY WIPING ANY CHANCE OF BECOMING ALLIES -realizes she needs to go on a solo quest that ends with the mother of the spiders that have been tormenting her. Seems easy right? Yep! You could even do it with a broken ankle! -she gets the Athena parthenos 🎉🎉🎉 ….aaaaand promptly falls into Tartarus with her boyfriend -puts all her trust in Reyna, who she had probably interacted with for 20 minutes tops to escort the statue of her mother -demon grandmas blind her and make her think Percy broke up and left her -she watches her boyfriend nearly choke a goddess with some scary blood bending shit -she had to step down as a leader and leave Bob and Damasen. Do you even know how much that may have DESTROYED her!? -then she embarks to where her mom and soon-to-be father-in-law's rivalry started to then battle the literal Earth's children, get tossed back to CHB, quite literally, and promptly starts fighting like they weren't just done with mass murdering her great great grandma's other children -immediately thereafter practically watches Leo 'die' -as she is about to go to college and finally get an ounce of a normal human life her friend Jason dies. You guys don't even know how strong their bond must have been after all that. They are so similar but so different at the same time. No way that they didn't bond. -then she learns Nico is going back to Tartarus to get Bob and it hits her that she didn't even think of Bob. She felt so damn guilty

....

YET

She is scared of tiny spiders, but not of plummeting to her death from a set of monkey bars. Go figure.

YET

She looks beautiful

[beuatifulbuttercup]

Okay in your godly parents swap au I'd love to know more about Leo, Its such an interactive concept to put him with Bellona and the fact that people don't think hes roman enough or whatever? But his still really clever and has probably saved people's asses more times than they like to admit? Love that

Also Frank as a son of Hermes is also really interesting would love to hear more about that too

You're asking about my AU? I've waited YEARS for someone to ask me about my au.

(If you get that reference I love you)

We'll start with Leo because I feel like there's more to talk about with him.

Leo is the son of Bellona and is a member of the fifth cohort. He came to Camp Jupiter after the death of his mortal mother when he was eight.His best friends are the two Praetors Piper and Jason. Now he climbed the ranks with Piper to make it to Praetor status. He never really cared about being Praetor but was just there for Piper. During war games Leo would use the traps more as pranks to the other side instead of actually fighting. With that he used a dagger. Not a sword, not a spear, not even a shield, just a measly dagger he had since he was nine. That combined with him being in the fifth cohort and a "wild child" people didn't trust him with important decisions. However, he is his mother's son and is a great strategist. People were so focused on the prank part they didn't notice Piper shadow traveling behind them.

When they finally got close to the position of Praetor they realized that only one of them could be Praetor. Many excepted a battle of some sorts to see who would become the next Praetor. To their shock (?) Leo just kinda dropped out of the running allowing his very ambitious friend to get the job. However, Leo was allowed to become a Centurion instead. During these meetings he was surprisingly serious and had amazing battle strategies and knew a lot about wars.

During the Second Titan War Leo provided a lot of helpful advice to Camp Jupiter. When he was actually on the battle field for real his dagger was probably the most lethal weapon out there. He lived up to being the son of a war goddess. When he was out there he also used those pranks he got so good at using to distract monsters. Sadly many people didn't like this tactic so he got way less credit than he deserved.

When Piper went missing he was offered the role again but he declined AGAIN. Jason was weirdly disappointed by that. He became good friends with the new comers Percy and Hazel. He was able to tell that Hazel was from the past and that there was something about him that threw her off. He went on a quest with Hazel and Nico to Alaska. Only after him coming back did people finally recognize his talents.

Now he is also apart of the Tartarus duo in this AU. He falls in with Piper and the typical Tartarus stuff happens. When he leaves the first person to welcome him back was Jason who hugged him tighter than anyone has before.

Frank's turn :)

Frank Zhang was by no means a troubled kid. He was just a kid from Canada whose mom and grandma died. Sure he picked a couple locks here and there but it was never a lock of importance. Okay maybe one time he stole something from one of the kids at his school but thats just because he stole it from someone else. And sure he rigged the glitter bomb to explode during the pep rally but it wasn't even his idea! They bullied him into doing it, plus it was the school colors so it was on theme. That put him in a school for troubled kids. Eventually he'd been in so many that they called up a distant relative of his in Nevada and sent him there. They put him into the wilderness school where he met Reyna.

Reyna also probably should not have been there but Frank was happy she was. The two became close friends along with Piper. Little did they know all their memories of Piper were fake. Now when he left with Annabeth and Silena to go back to camp he was claimed by Hermes. In this AU the Cabin 9 Curse is the Cabin 11 Curse.

The cabin counselor, Malcolm Pace, explains to Frank that every single on of their pranks have failed since Micheal died. One of these was a fire breathing dragon that has been in the works since before Micheal died. Miranda, the former counselor, was on bed rest from this dragon. Frank doesn't know how to feel about that as his weakness is his very burnable stick. He does the Leo thing and gets the dragon back to running. He gets it not breathe fire but to breathe out glitter.

During his time at camp he never felt more at home. Lacy, Malcolm, Miranda, his other siblings and the unclaimed campers are so welcoming. When he came back from his quest Miranda and Malcolm made him a counselor. The first prank he played on the camp as initiation Lacy helped.

Later on he is a bit wary of Hazel, a daughter of Vulcan and fire user, but they grow and their love story stories.

If anyone has anymore questions about any character feel free to ask! Also I'm not writing this into a fic so feel free to steal my idea-

[via-rant]

When Nico got there he saw his aunt and immediately glared. He had nothing but hatred for her. How can you say you love someone then let them die? Especially for the favor of being a "good wife" as if it's still the dam 1950s. She certainly dressed like it. Percy, his other cousin, was proud of saying that in the court room. Got a riot out of them. He had a lot more to say outside of it. (" 'GoOd WiFe' my ass. You just gave up because everyone knows he's a whore who probably sticks his dick in tree holes.") Percy had more guts than Nico.

Jason pointed to his room and Nico went in knowing Hera wouldn't dare follow him after the frist time she tried to comfort him about his mother. He saw Leo gripping his hair, his head in his knees, and rocking back and forth, mumbling to himself at the head of the bed. Nico sat in front of him. Leo looked up and wiped his tears when he realized who it was.

"Hey, it's okay, I won't judge you. Hera's a bitch." He said and Leo took a big breath, nodding. He took a few more and Nico had to help him to the car, where he fully relaxed.

-----

"Can I ask how you know her?" Nico asked after they stopped at a coffee place. "We didn't really introduce her."

"You know that babysitter?"

"Her?!"

"Yeah... it sucked."

"What did she do? If you don't mind me asking."

"She placed me in a fire when I was 2." Oh! It was already crazy. "Like the first day. It was right before Mom came home though so I only got a small burn on my arm. See?" He showed it to him right above the elbow.

"She made me try to fight a snake when I was 3. I refused because I didn't wanna die of snake venom and she left me alone for the rest of the day after calling me a coward." Nico had to take a big breath.

"The last straw for mom was when she made me stand against the wall and threw knives at me when I was 5. I wasn't allowed to flinch. Or cry. God she hated it when I cried. Mom fired her after seeing my bruised shoulder." Nico has never wanted to kill anyone as much as he did now.

"How is she not in prison?"

"Mom didn't have the time. But she promised to never let her near me again. I'll admit it was fun watching her run out of the house, screaming and waving her arms whenever she did come over. Hera stopped trying to convince her after a while." Nico smiled.

"I think I'll tell Jason about that technique. She will not leave him alone."

"Love passing on the tradition." And they laughed at it.

Leo not celebrating any holiday for who knows how long, especially his birthday, will always be on my mind. Like no one cared enough and it was probably just more punches he took. I can imagine him telling the adults nervously that it was his birthday the first few years and them telling him they don't care or just a simple "So?" And he'd give up and eventually not care enough to celebrate it. What was there to celebrate?

Imagine him at school on Valentines day trying to ask a girl out and all she does is laugh at him as other kids say yes to others.

Imagine him watching other kids on christmas get gifts and make cards and santa letters and he makes one in class and when he hands it to whatever parent they scoff and tell him "Santas not real. Grow up."

Imagine him being homeless and him going door to door on Halloween holding out his grocery bag because he needs something to eat. He tells the people "Trick or Treat" so they don't feel bad for him and report him. All he wants is something to eat.

[not-even-a-little-beanery]

ok so this is my list of unpopular riordanverse opinions :)

rachel is a good person, idk why everyone hates her. she didn’t know that annabeth liked percy, neither did percy. she didn’t really do anything wrong. 

luke is a pedo. he probably groomed silena and annabeth, no denying it. 

i feel like reyna and jason would make more sense than jason and piper. jason parallels annabeth and reyna parallels percy sort of, so they would make more sense. 

hazel is one of the most powerful demigods, if not the most powerful of the 7. percy would definitely be a close second, but if it came down to it, i really think that hazel would be the most powerful. she stopped the first rise of gaia by herself, and she can control the mist. . . so. . .

leo and calypso weren’t the best couple. rick really played up the fact that leo was lonely, but it felt like he shoved leo into a relationship with calypso. i also don’t like the fact that calypso has had to deal with so much heartbreak and then immediately fell for leo, i personally think that she would join the hunters.

it makes sense for her to join the hunters, she gets to travel all over (after previously being stuck on an island) and she gets to get an eternal break from boys and heartbreak. i personally like the idea a lot. 

the only reason silena and clarisse didn’t date was becasue rick is a coward. 

i mean seriously do either of them seem straight to you

i don’t think drew is that bad of a person, i think she was more misunderstood by the people around her. 

WHEN JASON CALLED PIPER A KNOCKOUT THAT WAS WEIRD. idc how piper felt about him, he was kind of sexualizing her, considering the fact that she was really uncomfortable with the change. 

annabeth is probably the least powerful of the 7. trust me, i lover her as much as anyone else, but rick screwed up with athena’s kids powers. she is no doubt one of the better strategists, but physically, she isn’t as powerful. but she’s still a badass :)

PERCY AND LEO ARE SMART. there are so many text posts with the punchline that the two are dumb, when in reality, percy fought most of his battles by outsmarting his opponents. and leo could do insane math at 8 years old!!!! 

annabeth and leo are different types of smart. i will only say this once, leo does better in school than annabeth does. 

i don’t think jason is boring, but i think rick could have done a lot more with his character. 

i personally think that rick should have made percy and jason’s rivalry a bigger thing in hoo. their beliefs clash so badly, it would make sense for them to fight more often, esp cause of their parents. 

thalia is annabeth’s og bsf and grover is percy’s og bsf. 

also: leo and piper were best friends before they even fake-met jason

percy. is. not. upset. about. him. not. being. nico’s. type.

this got a little long, but yeah. please respect my opinion!

[youarestellarverse]

@starlightshadowsworld tagged me in a thing about sexuality headcanons!

For the actual canon, my general feel is that it started at a period of time when having a main queer character in a series for young people that wasn't specifically a Queer Series was unacceptable. This has fortunately started to change in recent years (partly because of Nico— I cannot overstate the impact it had that a hugely popular author who could afford to take that risk insisted on taking that risk; the difference in post-HOH mainstream queer youth characters is so massive it makes my fourteen year old self weep as she keyword searches "gay and lesbian" on her library network because David Levithan and Annie On My Mind were her only options). The books seem to be adapting from "everyone is straight because Hyperion Publishing is owned by Disney" to "young teenagers are still figuring things out". I like that method, personally!

So that's why I'm answering this over here on my ficblog instead of my main @stillneedsmorekissing. I present the sexualities I am using in my fic (plus a few kink roles for the ones I've actually considered):

Percy is a sub who uses both "bisexual" and "pansexual":

"You know I think you're breathtaking."

"Against all odds, yes, I do."

"How do you feel?"

Percy blinks, like he hadn't been expecting it.

"I feel...pretty," he says, after a long minute of quiet. Then he smirks, and Jason gets where he's going with it a second before he makes the West Side Story reference. "And witty. I have too much baggage from the 'that's so gay' craze to use it as an umbrella term for myself, but 'bi' rhymes with 'guy', so it almost works if you swap it in and moosh two stanzas together."

"Are you still using pansexual too?" Jason takes another photo, watching as Percy relaxes into the pillow again, his eyes closing.

"Yeah. They both fit, they're both comfy, so why not?" He half-shrugs. "Pan is probably closer if we're going purely by definition, but they're similar enough that I don't care about making a firm distinction for myself. Plus I got most of my pride stuff secondhand from Paul, and he got most of it, like, a decade before pansexuality was coined. He even gave me a couple vintage bi-angle pins."

Jason immediately pictures a set of two tri-tone portraits, one for each flag. That's a project he'll definitely have to use Rachel's studio for; he'll need oil paint and a large canvas to do it justice.

"I wonder how he'd feel about you calling them vintage."

(From Here in Our Bed, chapter 12)

Jason is a bisexual dom.

Nico is a gay switch.

The rest are under a cut because they spoil some plans.

Reyna is biromantic and asexual/sex-neutral (she's not bothered by doing it, but she wouldn't seek it out for fun). She is, however, very much a domme...which can be a tiny bit of a problem, because:

Piper is a lesbian, and also a domme-leaning switch.

This is set up for the bisexual Annabeth to figure out she thought she was a domme, but she's actually a sub-leaning switch— she was misinterpreting her bratty streak. She and Piper are both allosexual and she doesn't mind getting ganged up on and losing fights, which balances out the relationship and gets it running smoothly again!

Hazel is straight.

Frank is straight with one (1) exception.

Leo is the exception, and isn't actually sure how he identifies, because it doesn't occur to him until many years down the line when they enter a V with Hazel and he eventually has to come to terms with the fact that at some point he acquired a boyfriend and made the V a triangle when he wasn't looking. Tentatively, he ends up landing simply on "queer", because nothing else seems to fit exactly right and that's what it's there for!

I'm still considering gender, because I'm undecided on whether my current Brand New Genderfluid Awakening Process is something I want to work through fictionally yet, but I suspect Percy will ultimately decide he's a guy with an asterisk.

(Also, the mental image of Jason using drag as a vehicle for self-expression after a lifetime of being molded into the Paragon of Masculine Ideals will not leave me alone, so there's that.)

That's about all I got so far!

[happyk44]

Fic prompt: so I don’t know if you are still doing these but how about a fic with DID!Jason where upon Reyna making it to the Argo II she finds out what happened or maybe she calls Grace out when he’s acting like Jason after all by now she’d probably be able to catch the tells of Grace impersonating Jason verse actual Jason.

Reyna swirled her spoon through the rest of her ice cream. Across from her, Grace was eating mint chocolate chip. No one else seemed to be aware of his presence - she wasn’t even sure if they knew about it. But it was a tell-a-tale sign.

Jason hated mint chocolate chip.

Grace did not.

She scanned the area around him. Leo was fairly close. Piper less so. She cleared her throat and laid her emptied bowl down. “Jason? Can we catch up?”

Grace glanced up at her and nodded. “Yeah!” He sent her a smile as he popped up to his feet. “Come on.”

In the distance she could see Nico talking to Hazel. There was a slight concern about him. She liked him enough but traveling through shadows over a vast ocean with two extra people and a giant statue... It seemed like a big risk. Hopefully he could manage it.

She settled down on the grass a couple hundred feet away. Grace followed suit. His shoulders were tensed. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin down atop them. “How was it?”

The silence was steely. Almost painful. Then, “They know. I hate it.”

“They don’t know it’s you out,” she said.

“Of course not. You know damn well I don’t alert my presence to fucking idiots.” Flattery hit her. So she wasn’t a fucking idiot anymore? Excellent. He crossed his arms. “Jason’s upset. Him and the girl aren’t talking. Annabeth thinks we’re a science experiment. Everyone else keeps acting like we’ll suddenly start stabbing them for no reason.” He pressed his hands to his face. “Jason can’t deal with that. Emotional backlash. I’m... not great at it and JJ-” His voice cut out. Dropping his hands, he glared out to the horizon.

“JJ deals with the upset,” Reyna finished.

“JJ deals with the upset,” he agreed.

She turned to the front. “Science experiment?”

“Asks too many fucking questions. Wanted to see us co-front. Wants to talk to us, like we can just be yanked out at her whim. Wants to know everything.” He grit his teeth. “And you know Jason. He’s too fucking nice.”

“He has to be.” Her legs slid out from under her with a quiet whap. A chill rolled through her stomach. “Nice good children don’t get hit.”

Grace glared at her but slowly his face softened into a look of clear pain. They both had experience with being nice good children so they wouldn’t get hit. He looked away. “Yeah.”

“I can tell them off. I don’t want any of you struggling for another two weeks and... however long it takes to get back after this fight.”

“Honestly, I’m probably just going to fly us back myself,” Grace muttered. She snorted. “I don’t know. I don’t know what he wants. He doesn’t know what he wants. I’d tell them all to fuck off, but he doesn’t want them to think I’m evil.”

“Evil alters aren’t a thing.”

“They don’t fucking know that.” He laughed bitterly. “They don’t know anything! And Jason- he doesn’t talk about it. I don’t talk about it. So all their dumbass questions are in the wrong direction.”

She ran her hands over thighs. Grace was breathing hard, his fingers clenched up tight. He exhaled sharply, ducking his head. She watched quietly. His body drew in a frozen shake. His gaze was fully trained ahead of him but there was a distance there. After a few moments of unheeded silence, he blinked rapidly, glancing around tightly then winced and drew his hands up to his head.

His dissociation lasted a couple more seconds before he dropped his hands and turned to her. “Hey, Rey.”

“Hey.” She pinched his cheek. He swatted her hand away. “Some difficulty choosing there?”

“JJ got lost,” he said. He scooted closer, until they were pressed up into each other and laid his chin to rest on her shoulder. “I’m here now.”

“Grace and I were talking.” He hummed curiously. “I told him I would tell everyone off for you, if you’d like.” His eyes drew closed. “I can’t imagine it’s fun to feel trapped on a boat surrounded by people who don’t know how to be nice back.”

“It’s not great,” he mumbled. “But I’m fine.”

“Grace disagrees.” She ruffled his hair. “Bet JJ disagrees too.”

He snorted. “He missed you.”

“Yeah, well, I missed him too.” They shared a quiet grin before it slid off her face. “Seriously, Jason. I can shut them up.”

He pulled back. “I don’t want to cause any more friction than probably already exists.”

“It’s not friction if it hurts you. It’s just mean.”

Turning away, he sighed and dipped his head. “What would you even say?”

“Stop being dipshits.” He choked. She grinned. “Grace would be a fan of that one.”

Covering his face, he groaned. “Oh, I hate you both. You both suck.”

She leaned over and kissed the top of his head. Into his hair, she continued on. “I would tell them what I know. How to be nice. Putting JJ in a dark space when he fronts. Not trying to figure out if it’s you or Grace because it doesn’t matter. Not startling you from your nightmares.” His shoulders shook. She pulled him in tight. “The fact that you hate my mofongo.”

His eyes glistening, he laughed and pulled back. “You have got to get over that.”

“You have the same mouth and two of you like it.” She pinched his ear. “How the fuck do you not?”

He rolled his eyes and rubbed his unfallen tears away. “I just-” He sighed. “Yeah. Okay. Just... be nice about it. And just- just them. Okay?”

“No problem.” He squeezed his eyes shut. She cocked her head. “JJ?” He hummed a painful affirmative. She drew her arms away from him but held out her hand instead. Shaking, he took it. “Just breathe, Jay.”

He grunted under his breath, trying to fight off the switch. Between clenched teeth, he said, “He says hi.”

“I say hi back.” She squeezed his hand soothingly. “Don’t be mean, JJ. I gotta go and I don’t know if I can leave if you pop up.” Jason’s eyes glinted up her, a flash of wide-eyed innocence for they returned to Jason’s steely squinting blue gaze. “We’ll hang out soon.”

Jason exhaled softly through his nose, closing his eyes and nodding. After a couple seconds, he released her hand. “We’re good.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “It hurts.”

“I know.” She kissed his head again. “Come on. Let me go shout out at your crewmates before I have to take off.”

[moa-broke-me]

Hey @yonemurishiroku I made a third part!

From there, a routine was quickly established. Wake up, eat breakfast, nap or movie, eat lunch, nap or movie, eat dinner, go to bed. And no, they weren't kidding about carrying him to the bathroom. It was embarrassing, but he never complained.

He didn't see much of them at first, because most of his time awake was when he was eating, and he turned them away. But then, his appetite inexplicably came back full force, and suddenly, he was constantly eating. His stomach felt like a bottomless pit, always wanting more, more, more. At that point, it didn't make sense to turn away from them in shame anymore, considering he was stuffing his face from the minute he woke up to the minute he went to bed.

Sometimes, he had trouble sleeping. But Nico let him have his phone and earbuds, and after adjusting to the feel of a cellphone in his hands (Calypso had thrown his own phone out of the window years ago after she accused him of cheating, long before the hitting even started), he found a video of Joe Pera that loops for 10 hours. That usually works pretty well. All he has to do is imagine that he's in high school again, that maybe Joe is one of his teachers, he's letting him sleep on his couch because it's cold outside and he knows he doesn't have anywhere else to go. There's a strange kinship I feel with him when he mentions Elise, even if Calypso was much, much worse.

That video was still playing when he heard Annabeth's voice. "Is he awake...?" She whispered just as he opened his eyes. "Hey. I... Heard the bad news. And I actually found some resources online, so if you need me to hook you up with something, don't hesitate to call."

He nodded silently, his eyes flitting over to Percy.

His eyes caught Leo's, and he shook his head. "I knew it. I knew it all along. I wanted to tell everyone something was wrong, but then they'd think I had something against you being in a relationship."

Piper sighed. "She used to seem so nice... But everything I learn about her just makes me hate her. Maybe if I saw the red flags, I would've gotten you out of there before it got to this point." Her voice cracked, and she wiped the last of her tears away. "I've been a horrible friend, Leo. I'm so sorry."

Reyna looked calm, but anyone that knew her could see the heartache in her eyes. "... Don't worry, Leo. We're gonna keep you safe. If she wants to hurt you, she'll have to go through all 8 of us first."

"Yeah." Frank spoke up. "I don't like fighting , but I can probably take her if need be."

Hazel breathed out shakily and nodded, her eyes rimmed with red. "... We... We're all so sorry, Leo. I..." She burst into tears again, her face flying into Franks' shirt, who held her tightly and lovingly. It was then that Leo noticed Annabeth and Percy were holding hands, that Piper's head was resting on Reyna's shoulder, Jason's arm reaching behind him to put it around Nico's hips.

Suddenly, he missed her again.

He hasn't missed her in days. He hasn't even thought of her in days. But now, all I wanted was those serpentine arms coiling around his delicate ribs, sucking the breath from his lungs.

The idea of missing her was so ridiculous he should've found it funny.

But he didn't. he didn't even feel any self pity.

Instead, he felt humiliated, like a former stray that had to be trained not to eat garbage anymore.

He hadn't realized he was crying until he heard Nico's gentle voice. "Hey, Caminetto. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just a little overwhelmed. Thank you all, really, I just..." He fell silent. It was hard to get back into the swing of things. To actually voice his needs again.

Luckily, Jason seemed to catch on. "Maybe you should all give him some space." He suggested, which was a nicer way of saying 'maybe you should all leave'.

They all understood and said their goodbyes, though Percy lingered in the doorway for a little bit, his eyes misty as his shaking hand drew the door closed, leaving only Leo, Nico, and Jason.

"... Should we leave too?" Nico asked.

Leo threw his arms around Nico in response, crying into his shoulder. He didn't want him to leave, or Jason for that matter. Nico stroked his back and shushed him. "Hey, it's ok. It's gonna be ok. What's wrong, caminetto?"

He tried to calm down enough to speak, but he just kept crying. It took him a while to get down to that fragile state where he wasn't crying anymore, but could start to at any moment. "... I miss her. I shouldn't miss her, but I do, but I never wanna see her again but I don't wanna be alone either!" Soon, he was sobbing again, and Jason rushed to comfort him.

"But cub, you're not alone. You have us, and you have Piper and Percy and-"

"No, I mean... I mean like, the single kind of alone. I'm probably never gonna get another girlfriend, just look at me! Especially if she finds out what a wimp I am."

"Hey, you're not a wimp. And you'll probably fall in love again. And even if you don't, that's ok. We've got your back." Jason smiled at him. "Now, I'm gonna make you some breakfast. You stay right there."

"Yeah... Ok." Leo sniffled, watching Jason stand up and leave.

Nico didn't let go of Leo for a while. "... I'm glad to see you eating. When you first got out of that hospital, you looked..." Nico shook his head. "... The way I used to. When I was at my lowest."

Leo shuddered. "Fuck, I was that bad?"

Nico nodded, tightening his grip on Leo's waist. "... Oh, Leo." His hands moved up to card through his hair. "I love you."

Both boys stopped in their tracks.

"I... Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"No." Leo leaned on Nico's chest. "... I-I don't mind. I don't mind at all."

The first time she hit him, he was shocked.

Not because he hadn't been hit before. But because all those people that hit him were cold and cruel and drunk. And she was nothing like that. She was completely sober, and she was normally so warm, so loving and kind and sweet. Even she looked surprised, glancing down at her hand and back up at his face like she was having trouble connecting the dots.

He was, too. One moment, she was screaming in his face, and the next, she was standing there in silence, and his cheek stung. He could even feel a small cut from the gem in her engagement ring.

It was a long time before either of them spoke, but eventually, she broke the silence.

"... Don't look at me like that. You know I didn't mean it, right?" She asked, her voice straining to be even and calm, but wavering with barely-disguised desperation. "I'd never hurt you on purpose, I just get so wound up sometimes and... I act without thinking. I'm so sorry, baby."

Leo nodded. "I-I know. It's ok." He cringed at his stutter, making him look weak, making him look like a kicked puppy. Which, in all honesty, is exactly how he felt. "Well, if you're so sorry, can you, um... P-patch me up, at least?"

Her expression soured. "You know how to do it yourself, don't you?" She asked. "The bandages are in the medicine cabinet."

He nodded and smiled, walking off to the bathroom and locking the door behind him. He decided not to dress the wound right away, and instead to take a shower.

So she wouldn't hear him crying.

She used to make him feel happy, make him feel... Safe.

From there, it only got worse. Now, every nickname, every touch, was nerve-racking. When she hugged him, it felt like a snake coiling itself around him, sizing him up to see if she could swallow him whole.

The anxiety got so bad, he could barely even eat. She judged him when he did, anyway. The only times he didn't feel ashamed was when he snuck to the fridge in the dead of night and frantically stuffed his face. Even then, there was the looming threat of her wandering down for the bathroom or water and seeing him pig out.

It was like one moment, she was the perfect, loving girl that he proposed to, that he would die for, and the next... She was unrecognizable. And all he could do was sit there and take it, and wait for her tantrum to be over so she could apologize and say she didn't mean it, and the cycle would start again.

If he ran, she would just throw something at him, and he didn't fight back because even when she threatened his life, he still loved her, and still didn't want to see her hurt. After a while, he didn't have the strength to anyway.

He didn't wanna call the cops, because nobody would believe him, and he didn't want to be believed, really. He loved her. He didn't want her to go behind bars, he just wished that she would stop. None of his friends knew, either. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen his friends in a while, at least a month or two. Didn't even call them, and every time they called him, he kept it short and acted like everything was normal.

He didn't work either, she insisted he stay around the house, living off of her dad's inheritance money. He rarely had an excuse to leave the house, which he supposed was a good thing, because his leg ached from one of their more intense fights. He should've gone to the hospital, but she reminded him that they're living on a fixed income.

And he was still gonna marry her. Because he's spent too much of his life alone, and nothing is worse than that.

One night, though, things went too far.

"You never even talk to me anymore, let alone come to me when you're upset! I hear you crying, y'know. But do you ever cry for me? No! You cry for your mommy." She grabbed him by the collar. "Your mommy is dead and has been for years, move the fuck on!"

That was it. He couldn't take it anymore. He'd been beaten and broken and insulted and screamed at and he'd taken it all in stride, but that was just too far. "... Y'know why I never cry for you? That's why."

"Oh, what, because I'm not dead yet?"

"Because you're mean!" The words ripped from his throat before he could think.

She looked more enraged than he'd ever seen her before, and grabbed him by the collar. "I'll show you what mean looks like."

He just realized that they were at the top of the stairs. He was waifishly thin by now, and it took no effort for her to throw him down the stairs.

He woke up in a hospital room, noticing the single flower on the side table. It was from Calypso, he thinks she called it a tiger lily. And despite all the trauma and cynicism, for a moment, he smiles. For a moment, his heart flutters, seeing her name in beautiful cursive script that he can't read. She loves me! He thinks. Somewhere deep inside, she does love me!

She does this every time, makes a big romantic gesture to apologize for hurting him, and the trick never gets old. Because even though, deep down, he knows he's been had, he pushes it aside and indulges in the rush of love he feels anyway. It's the only comfort he can get these days.

The door opened, and in came Jason, sitting next to him. "Hey... Heard you fell down the stairs. I hope you remember who I am."

Leo laughed a little. "Yeah, yeah, I remember."

Jason smiled, and then held up a bag. "Oh, Nico bought you this earlier yesterday." He pulled it out, and it was a red floral silk tie. "It's, um... For your wedding tonight. Well, I guess that'll be postponed now, huh?"

Leo looks down at the tie, and he knows he should be happy, but he feels his throat tie in a knot. "About that... I, uh..." This had been on his mind since that first incident, but he banished the thought before it could form. "... I'm not so sure about the wedding anymore."

"Really? Why?"

Suddenly, he was shaking, and he couldn't form words, and his bottom lip was trembling, and oh god... He was crying.

Jason tried to put a hand on his back, but he flinched, and started to panic, breaking into sobs. "Hey, hey, it's ok... It's ok, Leo, it's just me."

He started to calm down, but he was still so scared. He'd always been so scared.

Jason stared at him for a while. "... I'm gonna kill her."

(does anyone want a part 2?)

[valdangelodumbasses]

Valdangelo Headcannons #1

Leo and Nico are both introverts but Nico loves affection

Leo made Nico tiramisu once and he swallowed it faster than Percy could ever

Leo couldn't look him in the eyes for a week or he got so flustered

Nico is lawyer bf 

and a demon at monopoly; him playing w/ Annie is the worst.

gamers! both like monster (specifically mango loco) but Nico also loves tropical redbull

Nico teaches Leo and hazel how to play so they can battle 2v2

Nico wipes the floor and Leo is just glad he understands half the rules

Nico and Leo wear heels. 

and they're good at it too.

Confident Nico>>>>>>  

Leo has a fucking heart attack when Nico pins him to a wall

Leo makes Nico laugh with his jokes and shitty pickup lines

but when Uses shitty pickup lines on him he steals them, after he stops looking like a tomato

Nico does Cosplay and they cosplay together and its so fucking rad

making out while baking/cooking? more likely than u think

Leo tells Nico he looks cute one day b4 they started dating and Nico is like: Is this friendly affection

Caffeine addicts rise up

but Nico hates coffee and honestly same

teas n energy drinks>>> 

Leo is a fucking swine who mixes all his foods and Nico nearly vomits bc he wont let his food even touch goddamit

Piper and Hazel being wingman while Percy and Jason are the matchmakers

p r a n k s

like so goddam many

they are unstoppable and they pin it on the Stolls

or Leo gets caught

Nico n e v e r does bc like? scary emo kid? prankster? nah, NAh,

he sticks his tongue out at leo anytime leo gets caught

bisexual leo or gay leo? leo doesn't even know!

all he knows is that nicos hot and has a cute butt & personality

nico is a theater gay

he sings every musical

his favorites are Heathers, Beetle juice, Legally blond, and the greatest showman

Leo has theater kid energy but probably works the tech stuff

he likes heathers, Chicago, legally blond, Grease, and dear evan Hansen the best

Hamilton is neither of their favorites yet they end up dueting it all the time

Art kid and Repair kid>>>>>>>>>>>>

Percy sees them kiss after dating (and kissing) for 6 months and wait yall are friends?

Hes slow but he means well, Nico sticks his tongue in leo's mouth after percy says that

he's like  “O H , sorry im dumb”

“jackpot” “Valdez shush”

they talk abt their moms

angsty emo boys listen to greenday

and every other emo band

Leo calls Nico mammacita once

never again (Nico started crying)

why? It was commonplace used by his uncles and grandpa

Nico demands leo call him that more though

Leo is Hesitant but obliges

mexican or italian food restaurant arguments

leo steals nicos breadsticks even tho he has some

nico steals leo's nachos when he has his own

they're petty? yes but petty and in love!

and gay/ did i mention g a y 

Demiboy leo rights

leos a fuckin lefty

Trans Nico rights mtf or ftm rights

nico may not be trans but he's also demiboy

demi boys calling each other they all day because nobody uses the they in he/they (speaking as a demigirl)

If nico IS trans tho hades 100% uses magic to transition Nico bc yes good dad

laughing abt trauma and they're friends are like: NO

memes

“get ur hands off my bf”

“kick their ass baby i got cho flower”

imagine, just imagine nico fussing over leos hair because curly is the cutest

leo fusses over nicos when he's in a slump and brushes his hair

skincare is vital to both

Leo does engineering n shit but does it for like 16 hours straight much to everyone's dismay, but Nico who has (arguably) fresh eyes and make sure his physics is right

Nico loves physics fight me

but nico sleeps like 4 times a week for 3 hours or 3 days a week for 12 hours

Insomnia gang don’t rise up go to fuckin sleep 

will keeps giving them melatonin and they always forget to take ti and will is going to fuckin murder them maybe then they'll sleep

u know that comic where they naruto kiss S P I D E R M A N  K I S S I E S

nico hangs like a bat and leo is a memelord

nico also loves spider man

they def try to make spider man gear but annie smashes the shit out of it

dorks! comic!

omg comic book shop au nico owns it

soulmate au where u loose shit n it goes to ur soulmate

nico has NO clue what the hell to do with all this nails n hammers n shit

Leo builds stuff out of nicos lost mytho dupes 

Leo doesnt know what to do with his underwear, or all the mcdonalds receipts and the crumpled up sketches and sketch books

anyway

aphrodite ships it as she SHOULD and hades n heppy do too

why did i cal hephaestus heppy ? idk maybe aphrodite calls him that

They both hate yoga with a passion

does nico have an obsession with spn or does he hate it sm that he watches it ?

its as ambiguous as leo's sexuality!

Leos like what if i'm straight

then nico walks in 

No he's definitely not straight

who even heard of greeks being straight smh

Nico in miniskirts, aline, or any skirt makes leo go brrrrrrr

he wears leggings or tights under them though

Nico also wears leggins to bed

or the fluffy pants he steals from leo so leo doesn't have any pants

“IM FEELINGS DEVIOUS AND LOOKING GLAMORUS-”

band band band band band band band band band  Nico can sing and leo plays drums

Nico and katie are friends and Nico has a green thumb so leo is surprised when nico has more houseplants than crowley (Good omens)

He has tons of hanging and not hanging terrariums

Leo tries not to set them on fire

After Leo and Nico start hanging out more Nico bribes Lou Ellen to make his plants fire proof

they are now

Nico knows how to fire a gun and he's good at it

Pirate Nico!! 

Leo and Hades get along well

So does Nico and heppy

the parents get along too but they diss heras bad mothering

Nico gets de aged and leo is ???? but he's so CUTE AND TINY

Leo babysits him for a week in the bunker and nobody even knows until Percy and Will goes in there looking for him

Nico and Clarisse sparing? Sweaty bf? Leo loves it and chris and leo are just staring and say “yes”

Nico has freckles and leo kisses each one

Leo has these really dark freckles spread across his body but they aren't as frequent as freckles?? y'all know what i mean? ne way nico kisses them

Leo uses Yall. 

It rubs off on nico

jason is a die hard anti y’all

they annoy the shit out of him

Cuddles

nico and leo having bakeoffs

Nico asking piper for advice but editing it so its not super obvious its leo

She figures it out and tells leo like any good bff

nico promptly leaves camp when leo busts in asking if he has a crush on him

hades laughs but understands

leo sulks back to piper and percy is there and Percy got no chill

so he goes down there

Hades ain't too happy w that but Nico just gets so embarrassed and goes back with him

Hephaestus and aphro watching this go down like a romcom

I'm getting tired so im going to stop here anyway stan valdangelo for clear skin

[fandomlit]

sunshine (percy jackson x reader)

requested by anon “Hey, just found you today! I was wondering if you might do a Percy x reader? Something fluffy and the reader is an artsy, music loving, child of Apollo? Percy sees her and suddenly has a new found interest in pottery or drawing or something. His friends (the seven + Nico, Will, and Reyna) notice he’s spending a lot of time at the arts center and call him out/convince him to ask her out. That kind of seems like a lot so no pressure but thank you anyway!”

summary the seven and friends are sick and tired of seeing you and percy tiptoe around your feelings, and decide to push you two together the best they can.

a/n this is super long and im not sorry in the least,, keep those requests coming y’all !!!

gif cred belongs to @pydiasterek​

“has anyone seen percy?” hazel asked, walking up to her friends with frank trailing behind her. “he said we’d be able to spar after lunch, but he didn’t even come to lunch.”

“probably at the arts center,” annabeth said, smirking to herself as she flipped the page of her book.

“arts center?” hazel repeated, furrowing her brow. “since when has percy been interested in the arts?”

“since he caught sight of y/n l/n,” jason snickered, his friends joining his chuckles.

“who’s that?” frank asked.

“apollo girl,” leo said, wiggling his eyebrows as the two romans joined their friends under the tree were lounging under. “she’s super talented. percy walked by the arts center and legitimately did a double-take when he saw her. i didn’t know people actually did that.”

“are they dating?” hazel asked innocently.

“of course not,” reyna said, not looking up from where she was shining her sword. 

“well, why not?” hazel asked, looking around at her friends.

they all looked around, no one seeming to have an answer.

“maybe we should help them,” piper suggested. they all looked to the aphrodite child, who began to smirk. “you know, push ‘em together a bit. couldn’t hurt.”

and that’s how it started.

“hey, percy!” jason called out. the sea demigod had just entered the arena. jason waved his friend over to him. “you up for some sparring?”

“sure thing!” percy called back, heading toward him. as he approached, he caught sight of you spinning a spear near where jason was waiting. he watched you swing toward leo, who immediately whimpered and cowered. you giggled.

“ready?” jason asked. percy’s gaze snapped back to him.

“yeah,” he said, nodding. they both got into their stances before charging at each other. as they sparred, percy glanced back every now and again to watch you and leo fight, you easily overpowering the hephaestus child. one of those times percy glanced over his shoulder, jason took the opportunity to catch him off guard, making percy stumble as he countered and fall back. but before he could hit the ground, something hard dug into his back.

he opened his eyes to see you standing over him with a smirk. “well, hello, water boy,” you said, shaking your head. percy offered you a sheepish smile. he realized it was the butt of your spear digging into his back, holding him up.

“uh... hi,” he breathed. you giggled, pushing your spear forward to held stand him up straight. he turned to you with an embarrassed smile as you leaned against your weapon. “good catch.”

“thanks,” you hummed. “maybe you should stick to swimming, water boy.”

“maybe you should stick to singing, sunshine,” percy retorted, crossing his arms. you let out a scoff, followed by a laugh.

“sunshine?” you repeated. “now that’s just lazy.”

“and water boy isn’t?” he retorted. jason and leo shared looks as you two continued to tease each other, slowly moving away to leave you two alone. they weren’t surprised when they found out nothing ended up happening.

the next day, annabeth invited you to join them around the campfire after dinner, hoping to at least get you and percy to realize the other’s feelings. when you arrived, they all greeted you warmly.

“who invited you, sunshine?” percy joked as you took the seat next to him on one of the seating logs surrounding the fire.

“someone who doesn’t think of such lazy nicknames, merman,” you tutted, shaking your head. he scoffed as you winked at annabeth. 

you all talked for the longest while, telling stories and jokes and enjoying each other’s company. while you two may have not noticed, the rest of the group noticed that you and percy had gravitated closer together during the time you two sat around the fire, your thighs almost pressed completely together after just an hour.

“im gonna call it a night,” will yawned, standing and stretching. nico had slung his jacket over the boy’s shoulders a while ago. 

“that’s my cue, too,” nico sighed, standing after his boyfriend. will grabbed his hand with a smile before turning and pointing at you.

“don’t get back too late, missy,” he teased, winking at you.

“i know the rules, william,” you scoffed teasingly. he chuckled and the couple waved goodnight to the rest of the group. reyna, hazel, frank, and piper followed soon after. that left annabeth, jason, percy, and you around the fire.

“you’re not tired yet, water boy?” you hummed, looking over at percy.

“no,” he shrugged, looking down at you. “are you?”

you shrugged in return, stifling a yawn. “i won’t go to bed until you do.”

“that’s not a good rule to live by,” percy laughed.

“why not?” you grinned, quirking an eyebrow.

“well, you know how im great at a lot of things?”

“you are?”

“i am,” he confirmed in a soft tone that made you giggle. he grinned down at you. “but uh, the one thing im not very good at is sleeping.”

you hummed. “that’s tragic. maybe you should just sleep.”

“you know, i didn’t think of that.”

“i figured as much,” you tsked. neither of you noticed that annabeth and jason had snuck off, leaving you two to flirt and tease alone. the only evident product of success from that night was seeing you return percy’s sweatshirt the next morning. they took that as a small victory.

the kicker was when you were all playing a game of paranoia in jason’s cabin. you were all sat around in a circle on the cleared out floor when piper had sneakily proposed the game. you were all for it. to make sure they could manipulate the game to go their way, the group had separated you and percy. you rested your head in leo’s lap and draped your legs across jason. annabeth caught percy’s stare when you had first looked into leo’s eyes and grinned as you settled in.

“i’ll start,” piper proposed. she leaned over to whisper in nico’s ear. the boy considered, looking around the circle as piper leaned back with a smile.

“annabeth,” he answered. “for sure.” said girl flipped the coin she held. they all watched it land on heads.

“reveal!”

“the question was ‘who do you think would get away with murder’,” piper snickered.

“yeah, that’s about right.”

“i believe it.”

“honestly, she probably has already.” you all turned to the athena child in question. she shrugged easily.

“that’s a woman’s secret,” was all she said, making you all laugh. the game continued on and more laughs were shared. then, it was time for annabeth to whisper to percy.

“lay it on me,” percy sighed as annabeth leaned over, making you all chuckle. percy bit his lip as annabeth leaned away with a not-so-secretive smirk. he kept his gaze trained on the floor in front of him as he considered. he turned to annabeth and asked, “why is this so hard?” you all chuckled as she shrugged.

“gotta answer, though.”

he sighed, still not looking up as he answered, “y/n.”

you blinked in surprise as your friends erupted in whistles. you watched annabeth flip the coin and your heart dropped as it landed on tails.

“damn,” you muttered. they all laughed and you joined. “i really wanted to know!”

the game continued on until it was leo’s turn to whisper to you. you sat up so he could whisper quietly in your ear.

you shivered as he leaned away. “sorry, i got chills.” you laid back down as you considered and they laughed. you smiled to yourself before answering, “will.”

leo nodded. “flip.” the coin landed on heads.

“i asked who the hottest guy in the room was,” leo grinned.

“sun child vibes!” you exclaimed, throwing up peace signs as will cheered. “no? no one? okay.” you leaned forward to whisper to will as they laughed. percy couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. 

the circle went around again, and when it was back to percy, he braced himself for a similar question to the one he received last time. he sighed as he leaned away from annabeth.

“i gotta go with y/n again,” he said, shaking his head.

“i didn’t know we were playing favorites,” jason scoffed, making you all laugh.

“what can i say, sparky?” you sighed dramatically. “you’ve been replaced.” jason placed an offended hand on his heart as you turned to annabeth. “flip, please.”

percy wanted to walk into the ocean when the coin landed on heads, making the circle ‘oo’ and laugh. “uh, i was asked who the prettiest girl in the room was.” he scratched the back of his neck and blushed. you opted to blush as well instead of saying anything as the group burst into ‘aww’s and leo started cheering.

after another few rounds, you all decided to call it a night before dionysus or some other unfathomable thing came to break up your makeshift party.

“can i walk you to your cabin?” you turned to see percy standing with his hands in his pockets.

you gave him a smile. “sure thing, barnacle boy.” he rolled his eyes at the nickname as you two walked out of the zeus cabin.

after a minute of silence, you broke, “so, you think im pretty?” he blushed.

“i was hoping you wouldn’t remember that.”

“who do you think i am?”

you both laughed as he scratched the back of his neck. “well, yeah, i guess. beautiful is a better word for it, though.” you smiled as you both stopped before the steps of the apollo cabin. you knew will was probably watching from the window, but you didn’t care. you only cared about the demigod in front of you at that moment.

“wanna know the question i answered you for?” you hummed. he nodded. you smiled, looking into his sea green eyes as you recited, “‘who would you kiss out of everyone here?’”

his eyebrows shot up, as did his heart rate. “really?” you nodded with your usual easy smile. he looked away from your prying eyes for a second to nod and absorb the exciting information. he looked back down at you and started, “can i-”

“please,” you answered with a laugh, eyes closed as you cut him off. he smiled and leaned down slowly to press his lips to yours gently. he pulled away after a moment. your eyes met his and nothing was said before he leaned down again, this time his hands settling on your waist as you wrapped your arms around his neck. 

the kiss was more intense this time, both of you spilling all of the thoughts and feelings and tension you had held in since you first met onto the other’s lips. and it was nothing short of euphoric. 

but not euphoric enough to drown out the cheers of your friends from all around you two.

[melancholic-pigeon]

bonus wip #1

Because it’s mother’s day and I happen to be writing about Sally’s birthday (which I made up) in a multichapter of mine: a longer excerpt (same one I published last time, plus revisions) to show some appreciation to everyone’s favorite mom. (No context needed.)

In the morning, Paul makes coffee while Estelle helps unwrap. She's at the age where ripping paper makes her squeal with hysterical laughter, which worms its way into Percy's heart and melts it into pudding. 

Several of the presents are from Percy's friends, including a handbound book of original recipes from Leo, a lovely silver bracelet inset with mother-of-pearl that Beckendorf made himself, and a huge sheathed knife with a matching decorative handle from Clarisse. The last one makes his mom snort as she gets up to put it on the bookshelf, out of reach of curious toddler hands. 

"Decorative. Sure." 

"I bet she'd teach you how to use it if you asked." 

"I know how to use a bowie knife, dear. Your father and I used to catch and cook our own fish when we went camping."

"Which reminds me, he still hasn't taken me out," Paul cuts in, frowning. "We've got dad jokes and stories to swap, and you can't teach me to fillet a herring without a herring to fillet."

"I'll bug him about it the next time we talk," Percy promises. "It's probably the ADHD." 

"Do you want me to bug you about bugging him?" 

"If you haven't set something up by blueback season, yeah."

Percy and Paul went in on a pound of jasmine tea, which his mom reaches for next. She immediately asks for a cup— it's one of two days out of the entire year where she lets other people wait on her, for a change, and even that took a lot of cajoling. 

Paul makes the tea, since Percy usually scalds the leaves and it turns out tasting like grass. She probably wouldn't complain anyway, but it's her birthday, and she deserves to have the best tea that can be made in their kitchen. 

"Is the blue bag from Jason?" Paul sets the mug on a coaster in the middle of the coffee table, and Percy scoops the baby into his lap so she doesn't try to grab it. She mashes her toddler hand against his cheek.

"And Thalia. I'm not sure if they went in on stuff or he just packed them both in one bag to make it easy." 

Either is a possibility. He watches as his mom reaches in and pulls out a large frame, her eyes widening as Estelle rips away the paper.

"Please pass on that I am absolutely furious."

She turns the frame around. An autographed vinyl EP of Sign O' the Times by Prince— one of the albums Percy grew up on, though she skipped a few of the songs when he was little, most of which ended up in his library by high school anyway. Thalia must have spent a fortune on it. 

"That woman is incredible," Paul breathes, lightly touching the glass. "How does she even find this stuff?" 

"See!"

"Ebay genius, probably." Percy grins as Estelle reaches for the album, and holds her over the glass so she can touch it too. "She's also really good at barter chains."

His mother shakes her head as she puts the album aside and digs back into the bag. 

This frame is smaller and wrapped in the same paper, with Jason's careful print written out across it. The crinkling sound draws Estelle's attention, and she reaches over to do her job and tear it off.

Their mom gasps and puts a hand to her mouth, her eyes going bright.

It's a watercolor portrait of Percy and Estelle, laughing by the shoreline. She's dressed in a little bucket hat, a ruffled swimsuit patterned to look like a clownfish and the coolest shades in the world— sparkly blue frames shaped like seashells that he kind of wishes he could get in his size. He's in a wetsuit, having spent the morning of his birthday surfing, and he's holding onto her hands so she can jump at the waves. In the distant background is the Montauk lighthouse.

It's beautifully done, like everything else Jason's ever put to paper, but Percy's never choked up like this over one of them. 

"You remember that, Beluga? That was on my birthday, when you came and visited me and Jason at the beach."

"Beach?" she asks, expectant. Paul bursts into laughter. 

"You're your mother's daughter, sweet pea."

"Beach!" Estelle insists. Percy noses her pudgy cheek. 

"It's too cold to swim, baby." His mom's eyes are sparkling, still a little teary. He can see Estelle in the smile on her face. "But we could go for a walk and visit." 

"Brunch first." Paul kisses her— Percy averts his eyes, wrinkling his nose at his sister to make her giggle again— and gets up, heading back into the kitchen. 

It's a lovely way to spend a late morning. Pale blue araucana eggs, courtesy of Grover's new hens; a blueberry coffee cake from Nico by a fantastic hole in the wall in Hell's Kitchen; Paul's signature home fries, made from blue potatoes and seasoned to perfection; all of it delicious.

Jason calls while Percy's doing the dishes. After his deep, resonant performance of the happy birthday song, the five of them chat on speakerphone for a little while, though he has to excuse himself pretty quickly to keep banging through his reading. 

"Maybe next year," Percy sighs. His mom puts her hand on his hip, then crouches down to help Estelle with her light-up sneakers. 

"He's always welcome for a rain check." 

Percy ends up carrying his sister on his hip, snuggled into his jacket to block the chilly sea breeze. She points at seagulls, shouting triumphantly every time. 

"More bird!"

"That's right. A whole flock of 'em."

They watch for a while as the gulls fight over a discarded pizza crust. Then Percy feels an arm around his back and a head against his shoulder.

"I don't know how I got so lucky," his mother murmurs. "I have a wonderful husband, time for my passions and the best two kids in the world." 

Percy's eyes sting. 

For most of his life, her birthdays had been spent without fanfare. He was rarely actually there for them anyway, and Gabe complained so much it was easier to just ignore the day and focus on survival instead. 

She'd been triaging like that since before she even met Percy's dad, keeping herself afloat when nobody seemed to care if she drowned. It would have been easy to lie down and give up. Percy's pretty sure he would have.

He turns to hug her with the obligatory proclamation of a Stella Sandwich, leaning his cheek against the top of his mom's head while his sister wriggles with delight. 

"Luck's got nothing to do with it."

[depressedacadamia]

Sore Losers

A/N: This was meant to be a simple one shot but I couldn’t help myself and now it’s a twoshot because I’m extra af. I hope you enjoy it and please comment!

Summary: Percy and Annabeth are both the most competitve people to ever exist by far. So when they both lead teams in a match of Capture the Flag Paintball edition, a very fun game ends up becoming a battle. Annabeth and Percy also happen to be the biggest pair of sore losers out there. 

Word count: 3.8K

Tagging: @showtunesandsolangelo

Chapter I

Let it be known that Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase were both the biggest pair of sore losers on this side of the Atlantic. You’d think that a large group of teenagers at a paintballing park would cause a lot of trouble. Yes, yes they would indeed. But not nearly as much trouble a group of traumatised teenage demigods could cause.

They had 1 rule- don't use any powers.

However, the demigods were never really much good at following rules.

Percy promised Annabeth that his team would win and Annabeth, unable to help herself, boasted back how amazing her team were going to be. It was quite obvious how their fatal flaws- hubris and loyalty- were going to be their downfall in a game of paintball.

“Oi! You two stop flirting and get on the damned bus, would you!” Piper shouted from the window seat with Hazel to her. The yellow bus was warm due to the sunny weather outside and it smelt like teenagers.

“We aren’t flirting!” Annbeth protested violently as she threw her sports bag over her shoulder while climbing the steps. Percy, being the gentleman he was, took the bag off her shoulder and carried it for her- not that it was truly hard.

“Even I can tell that you’re flirting,” Leo called out from the back where his fingers idly fiddled with some copper wire, a battery and a nail- it seemed like he was making an electromagnet.

“Can you blame me if Percy thinks his team is going to win Pipes?” Annabeth turned around in her seat.

“That’s because we are going to win,” Will commented with a hint of sarcasm from the side of the bus where Percy’s team sat. Nico, who sat next to Reyna and was on Annabeth’s team, was more invested in fidgeting with his rings until Will spoke up.

“Says you, traitor,” He snorted.

“Death boy, it’s a game. You chose Annabeth's team- it would be unfair if we were on the same team. Besides, If anything, I should be upset. You chose Annabeth's team after I chose Percy’s!”

Nico refused to answer, his arm clinging to Reyna who barely took notice and smirked at the boy’s ego’s.

“How sad must it be that you genuinely believe that you will win?” Reyna was about to sheath her spear when Hazel put her hand on hers.

“Reyna! We aren’t allowed to bring weapons. We need to prove we can beat them without weapons!” Hazel argued.

“Having second thoughts over there?” Frank called out from beside Jason. Hazel stuck her tongue out at him- he pulled a funny face in return. While these two were considered the most mature, when they were talking to each other, they were no better than 5 year olds.

The venue was huge. It was like an abandoned forest with upside down vehicles, camo everywhere and at least 3 places to get perfectly shot in the head- not that it was allowed. There was a specific reason behind the demigods choosing to go paintballing- they were never trained to use guns. It was something that none of them were familiar in, thus they were all at a completely fair level. Had they been sword fighting, they would have all destroyed each other. They had to pull on protection suits- which were also camouflage.

“Okay, this is to capture the flag but in paintball. You’re all familiar with capturing the flag- the only difference here is instead of our regular weapons, today we have these peculiar things…” Calypso trailed off slightly.

“Guns,” Hazel and Nico finished off together. The entire squad gave an alarmed look at them saying Why in the name of Hades do you know that? In sync, they both replied.

“World War 1,” Hazel sighed.

“Hitler,” Nico grunted, kicking at the floor. A couple of scattered snorts came from the group who could not picture them in the 1900s.

“Enough enemy mingling! Comrades, let us unite to beat the Owls!” Percy commanded his group comedically. Nico raised his eyebrow at the communist joke while everyone laughed slightly.

“I see you’ve learnt something in History- let’s find out if your seaweed brain can figure out how to surrender shall we?” Annabeth challenged as she took steps towards Percy, her hands resting on her hips confidently- Her hubris was showing. She half expected Percy to slip his hand around her waist or try and show off like she did but instead, he turned to his team and began frantically whispering.

The game was so on.

“Okay, this is it. We go in, storm the boys and capture their flag,” Annabeth decided.

“And don't forget to shoot as many of them as you can!” Piper added and the group happily agreed.

“Okay Comrades, Mission ‘infiltrate’ the owls is about to end- when we meet at what I like to call No man's land, we shall take their flag while they attempt to take ours. Will, guard our flag- the rest of you, position ourselves in the formation we discussed earlier. Jason and Leo, you’re my backup soldiers if I’m down,” Percy announced. The boys nodded and prepared for the plan.

Annabeth was crouching, gun in hand with Hazel behind her. Annabeth's blonde hair made her stand out a bit whereas Hazel had a greater advantage- from a vantage point, one wouldn’t even be able to see her. As Annabeth approached through the clearing she froze. Up ahead was a dangerous place. No bushes, no trees, no cars- she’d be totally exposed to whatever Percy was plotting. She did not doubt that he had some person watching this area, ready to release fire on any enemies. Annabeth was going to wait, she crouched by the bush before the clearing and kept her gun pointed and her eyes on the lookout.

She was about to move when paint balls began exploding all around her. The sound ricocheted in her ears and the droplets of paint remained floating about in the air. The boys had planned an ambush! Annabeth knew she had 2 options- retreat and play defensive or attack and play offensive.

“Hazel, you’re in charge. Nico, you’re coming with me. Make sure Reyna is still guarding the flag!” She whisper- shouted as she began running across No Mans Land with Nico trailing close behind her. He may or may not have been using his powers to bring shards of earth encased in shadows to protect himself and Annabeth from the shower of paintballs heading towards them. Nobody really needed to know- besides, he was forbidden from using death powers, not earthly ones.

“Nico, I hear something,” Annabeth warned. The sound of crackling and rushing water surrounded them.

“It’s coming from the creak…,” Nico mumbled.

They both made eye contact, agreeing on a time to run. 3 ,2 ,1- Now! They began sprinting, dodging the rocks and the flames which were scattered across the field. The other team were really going all out and being ruthless. Leo had set half of their frontier on fire that was only being controlled by the fact that Percy had a lot of water coming in from the creak preventing the fire from spreading too far. Flashes of light came striking down on the trees, causing crackles in the trees. There were echoes of thunder rumbling throughout their section and the smell of carbon monoxide slowly rising into the air.

The tree that had been struck by lightning was causing an awful mount of crackling, a bit too much for comfort. It wasn’t until the distinct sound of a tree snapping did Annabeth and Nico realise that the tree in front of them was falling.

Directly. Onto. them.

Back at Annabeth's side of the frontier, Hazel had decided to play dirty and get powers involved. It was only fair, was it not? Piper, Reyna and Calypso were all very happy to oblige to this. They had restructured their battle plan with Piper guarding the flag and using her charmspeak if necessary. Hazel, Calypso and Reyna were at the front, using their powers to their advantage. Reyna had not decided to use her empowerment- it wasn’t necessary and it was never comforting knowing she had made her friends feel brave; she felt like she was manipulating them whenever she did use it.

“So Hazel, what were you saying about not using weapons?” Reyna raised an eyebrow as she impressively pulled out her spear of imperial gold, glimmering in the sunlight. Hazel who sheathed her Spatha simply shrugged.

“Calypso are you ready?” Hazel asked, slightly concerned- she didn't want to overwork her so quickly after she had only just started to get her magic back.

“You think I’m going to let Leo win?” She scoffed slightly as she raised her hands slightly, the magical aura around them visible.

“We have a battle to win,” Reyna announced.

Nico grabbed onto Annabeth and closed his eyes. She felt herself slip into the darkness with Nico- the moment was awful. Dark, cold and creepy whisperings surrounded her. She did not want to know how Nico was able to do that. As he pulled them out the shadows, Nico dropped to his knees, trying to catch his breath. His eyes looked significantly tired post- shadow travelling.

“Don’t tell Will, he’ll go crazy if he found out that I shadow travelled,” he said weakly, his hand clutching his ribs. Annabeth slowly helped him up to his feet, only one gun still with the both of them- Nico had dropped his when he had to shadow travel them.

“Nico, I’ve got another plan if you’re up for it,” Annabeth offered. She leaned over and whispered her strategy. The corners of Nico’s lips twisted upwards into a cruel smile- cold and menacing. Was this plan extremely dangerous if one part went wrong? Probably. But Nico decided he liked the idea of winning too much to really care.

He dug his feet into the ground again, pushing every ounce of energy into controlling the shadows. He needed to keep this accurate- too much and Hazel’s side of the field goes dark, too little and Percy’s team will be able to see what's coming.

Slowly, shadows covered every inch of Percy’s field. Nico and Annabeth were grasping onto each other, Nico was holding onto her for strength while Annabeth was staying with the only person who could control what was happening. The only light that was visible were the fires ignited by Leo but by now, they were weak. All they had to do was wait for a figure to light up their hands- all the members would flock to the light, except whoever was protecting the flag.

“What just happened?” Percy yelled as he followed the stream of water that led to the fires.

“Someone’s using their powers… probably Nico, I can hear whisperings and these shadows are really cold!” Leo responded, lifting his hands up to signal his location to his teammates- though that may have not been a good idea. A giant flash of light came striking down to the ground again and the loud rumble of thunder came soon after, only adding to the creepiness of the game.

“It’s definitely Nico using powers which means he’s somehow gotten through our borders,” Jason gritted out. They all looked at each other agreeing to search for the son of Hades.

“Nico, you can summon the skeletons now, right?” Annabeth asked as she supported Nico on her shoulder. Feebly, Nico nodded while trying to summon some of his own strength. His skin which had almost returned to it’s olive hue was now close to a deathly pale. Annabeth could feel his cold fingers and slightly shivered- it was like holding a corpse. The ground started cracking, the earth splitting open as a skeletal arm reached out, climbing into the real world. Within a minute, Nico had summoned enough skeletons for the plan to work.

Annabeth knew what had to happen next- she would either run after the flag or go drive the remainder of Percy’s team far back enough so that her team could attack them from behind. She cherished the idea of getting the flag, a truly victorious moment, but she knew that if she went after the flag, she’d be sending Nico who seemed as fragile as glass right now to go fight 4 of the most powerful demigods. She decided to take her chances- hopefully whoever was guarding the flag wasn’t too hard for Nico.

“Nico, here take the gun and go after the flag. I will push back the other team.”

“I don’t need that- you’re going to be 4 against one, take it.” He batted his hand, refusing to allow Annabeth to hand over her gun to him.

“Nic-”

“-If you want to actually win this, you need your gun. You don’t stand a chance fighting 4 of them alone. Take the gun,” He managed to snap. Annabeth actually smiled at this. If Nico could give her snappy comebacks, then he still had a bit of strength in him. She kept her gun as she ran into the shadows, the skeleton army close behind.

“Does the other side look kinda funny?” Hazel asked, tilting her head to the side with her spatha in hand.

“It’s...it’s dark. I can't see anything there,” Calypso responded, slightly shocked.

What in the name of the gods was going on over there?

It seemed that the answer hit Reyna and Hazel at the same time- Nico! Not that they were about to admit it, but they were a tad concerned- you know, if you saw pure shadows just floating about, you would also be slightly concerned.

“We should move ourselves further up the frontier into No Mans Land. Annabeth must have planned something with Nico.” Calypso announced. They all agreed and moved further downwards, cautious for any ambushes.

“Oh Annabeth, aren’t you meant to be the smart one? You know, daughter of Athena?” Percy mockingly asked as she approached them, the shadows encasing most of her but not enough to go unnoticed. The skeletons however, were hiding perfectly in the dark.

“And where is the little shit?” Jason looked around Annabeth, trying to see if Nico had hid himself among the shadows- something that wouldn’t be too hard for him.

“Technically this is cheating,” Leo pointed out. Annabeth snapped her head towards him, still wondering where the skeletons were.

“We weren’t the ones who started it- if I remember correctly, you literally almost crushed us under a tree.”

“That was an accident,” Jason sheepishly rubbed his head.

“Don't think you can walk in here without being defeated, Wise girl.”

“If all 4 of you are going to fight me, I think all guns should be prohibited- does that sound fair Jackson?”

“3. All 3 of us. Frank has been… patrolling.” Leo rubbed his hands mysteriously. Annabeth wanted to gasp, they had been cheating from the beginning, using Frank as surveillance on them.

“Well since you were cheating from the very beginning, you definitely cannot use your guns,” Annabeth protested, enforcing her plan. The boy shrugged and threw their guns to the floor- Annabeth did the same but the gun was still close enough for… a change of heart. Fire raged from Leo’s hands, Percy had Riptide in hand and Jason had his Gladius, the charge of lighting running through it. Annabeth had to try to not visibly gulp- Where on earth were the skeletons? Here getting toasted was not part of the plan. She could only start to take them one when the distraction was set.

Nico forcibly pushed his foot one in front of another, searching for the flag. The entire half of the arena was covered like a blanket. The only light source being Leo’s fire and the occasional fires that Nico let loose through the ground to help him see. Up head, Nico could see another light source- did he just walk himself into a circle? He couldn’t see Leo or any fires. In fact all he really saw was light.

Light?

He trudged forwards, keeping to the shadows. As he got closer, he realised the light source was Will- his skin was the lightsource, literally. It was like he was watching a firefly for the first time- Will was glowing! No, focus Nico. The game, the flag. Capture it and reign victorious with Annabeth.

“Frank, dude, get off my shoulder,” Jason said. As the hand remained on his shoulder, Jason grew slightly agitated and turned around before jumping back and letting out a scream of surprise. Catching the attention of Percy and Leo, the skeletons began to close in on them. Now was Annabeth's chance. While the skeletons pushed them back, hopefully Hazel would have the team ready for an ambush on all sides.

“You’re very shiny today,” Nico commented.

“Well if you didn’t plunge us into semi- eternal darkness, I wouldn’t be a night light,” Will retorted crossing his arms.

“I’ve always wanted my own personal nightlight. Also now, I have an actual justification to call you sunshine- you’re literally glowing.”

“Quit laughing at me.”

“I’m not laughing at you… I’m just stealing,” Nico shrugged as he made a dash for the flag. Will scrambled for his gun but it was too late, Nico had pulled the flag into the shadows- the paintballs from Will’s gun had only hit the tree that Nico had once stood in front of. As Nico emerged from his travelling, the shadows that once covered the entire field started fading.

With their guns strapped to their backs, Hazel and the team made their way across No Mans Land- trying to avoid the shower of paintballs from the other side.

“You made a machine gun out of this?” Hazel asked in dismay as she dodged the fireball coming from Leo.

“I am Admiral Leo, of course I made a machine gun, Hazel.”

“Hazel, on your left!”

Hazel swiftly ducked a paintball coming her left which proceeded to hit Leo square in the chest. He groaned as he felt the bruise start to form across his chest. Saddened by getting hit, he fell to the ground dramatically.

“Oh I’m wounded! Tell Calypso I might not make it!”

“Tell her yourself,” a voice snorted. Jason and Reyna were both fighting- Jason’s gladius would come down harshly onto Reyna’s spear, who continuously tried to disarm him. When Jason came down again with his sword, Reyna twisted her spear towards the hilt and pushed the butt of her spear upwards successfully disarming the sword with a clatter from his hands. She placed her foot on the sword and kicked it backwards, away from Jason before she dropped her spear.

“Hand to hand?” Jason asked. Reyna did not reply and instead charged towards him.

Calypso was trying to not get set on fire- while Leo had been shot, he was not about to let her win so easily. Her magic could only do so much and it annoyed her that Leo was setting everything on fire.

“Calypso, don’t you have telekinesis?” Annabeth shouted nodding towards Leo as she dodged another slash from Percy. Calypso got the memo and closed her eyes, harvesting as much power as she could. Being an ex-titaness came with it’s privileges from time to time. She opened her eyes and flung her hands towards Leo. Easily, she threw him into the creek where he landed with an ‘oomph’ and a very loud curse word that will not be repeated.

Piper hated being the guard. Everyone was probably having a blast and here she was, away from the action. There was a buzzing noise that was annoying her and she really did not want to deal with it. She had one of her daggers clutched in her hand while the gun was slung over her shoulder. She had gotten so bored that she had resorted to talking to the crow opposite her who had just sat there. It would tilt its head every once in a while when she said anything that could be deemed controversial.

Suddenly, the crow flew towards her, as to rest on her shoulder but instead, went towards the flag. Nothing wrong there, just a crow going towards a flag. Afterall it wasn’t as if it was trying to pull it out of the ground. Just as Piper turned around to see what the crow was really doing, she caught Frank with his hand wrapped around the flag, smiling and saluting towards her as he turned around and ran, flag in hand. Piper swore she had run as fast she ever had in her entire life, trying to get her charmspeak to work. The panting did not help her.

Annabeth slashed her knife in Percy’s direction, missing him by a millimeter as he stepped back to avoid it. Riptide came back at her, instead of it going for a blow to the chest as she expected, Percy aimed for her feet. As he wanted, she tripped and fell but her knife was still in hand. Just as she was about to use it, Riptide was held under her chin- she could feel the cool metal of it as Percy smirked and lightly teased her neck with it.

“You know Miss Brainiac, you really have yourself in a bad position, giving up would be easy, wouldn't it?”

“Jackson, you are enjoying this too much. I think you’ve forgotten the point.” Annabeth grabbed Riptide and twisted it before roling backwards slightly and throwing herself forwards. The sword clattered to the ground making Percy pout slightly but he wasn’t disheartened. Annabeth backslashed towards Percy who grabbed her arm, rendering the weapon in hand useless.

Annabeth had one last plan.

She leaned forwards and pressed her lips against Percy. It was quick and daring and Percy certainly did not expect it. Their lips met gently- it was comforting, warm and soft. Their lips brushed and when she pulled away lightly, he could taste her chapstick.

“Ouch!” Percy yelped as he jumped away from Annabeth and let go of her wrist. She held the knife under his chin and winked at Nico who held the gun with the flag under his arm. There was a giant yellow splatter on his back.

“That's not fair!” Percy sputtered. “ You seduced me!”

“All's fair in love and war.” Annabeth winked.

“I’ve got it! I’ve got the flag!” Frank gasped slightly- mainly due to being out of breath. He looked at Jason who was on the ground, Leo who was soaking, Percy who had a massive paintball splatter on his back and then at Nico who was holding the flag.

“We planned this. To make you win. We were taking it easy on you guys,” Frank decided. All the boys nodded in agreement only making Annabeth's teams chuckle.

[finiteuniverse13]

Clay Spenser; Son of Poseidon

Together with @jayhalsteadfan-2417, we made a wonderful AU spawned from me Really, Really liking the idea of Clay with a 7-foot trident.

Clay (& Percy)

Clay is a son of Poseidon – but was only claimed after the events of PJ&The Last Olympian.

Clay’s trident is stored in a bullet necklace because if riptide can be a pen and a dragon can be a suitcase, a sword can be a bullet necklace.

His sword is in a bracelet that Percy gave him and that Charles Beckendorf forged to make magical.

Clay and Percy doing hand to hand combat together.

Clay showing up at Sally’s apartment to see Percy and he is super tired and wants to nap.

Sally, Annabeth and Percy being the ones waiting at the end of deployment.

Clay calling Sally “mom”.

Clay interrogating Paul when he and Sally started dating.

Clay helping campers with their homework.

Clay helping with the Prophecies and giving tips for combat situations.

Jason Grace being mistaken for Clay's brother.

Campfire and Clay has a good singing voice.

Clay has a room in Sally’s apartment, and he stays over after deployment.

Percy and Sally showing up after Clay’s deployment, so he has someone there.

Clay calling Percy “little bro”.

Clay and Percy having movie nights and fall asleep on each other.

Clay and Percy fighting monsters together.

Someone picks on Percy and clay finds out when Percy comes home covered in Bruises and cuts.

“Percy what the hell happened; I need names now”.

Clay showing up at Percy’s school for a sibling day.

Clay causing a tornado.

Clay and Percy video chat while Clay is on deployment.

Poseidon having to be like "yeah so I also broke that 'no Big Three kids' rule that other time too" to Zeus

Clay showing up to help with Gaea.

Clay, showing up to battles with a celestial bronze sniper rifle: I'm not here to mess around!

Clay helping kids get to Lupa when he was stationed in Cali.

Clay comes back covered in gold dust.

Clay using a trident in a battle.

Percy meeting Ash Spencer

Sally meeting Ash Spenser. She'd kick his ass into the next century.

Percy staying over at Clay’s apartment.

Clay meeting Annabeth and ribbing Percy about her.

Clay is an overprotective older brother with Percy so when quests come up, he volunteers to help him out a bit.

Clay getting various SEAL teams to check up on quests to make sure they're all alright.

Clay being Percy’s guardian when Sally and Paul go on their honeymoon.

Clay’s in the arena at camp as soon as the sun comes up and trains for hours on end.

Cerberus (3 heads) is protective of Clay.

Clay at the campfire and is leading different songs around the fire.

A long op (like Mexico) in a monster-infested area and every couple of days Clay grabs his trident and sword and goes monster killing for a couple hours.

One time Clay was stressed out he accidentally flooded the dining hall.

Clay teaching Percy tricks and techniques with water manipulation and vice versa.

Clay finding out about Percy getting kidnapped and going missing.

Percy showing up at base covered in blood and dirt from a battle with a hydra.

Percy and Clay sword fighting in the base’s gym.

Poseidon showing up and both drop to their knees.

Percy and Clay going fishing with Jason. And a sea monster shows up and It Goes Down.

Clay runs out of monster bullets and instead starts going wild with his trident.

"I'm out of ammo! Going, uh, trident?" "Trident?" a Trident flies through the air and lands in the chest of an approaching monster, turning it to dust "Bravo Six has gone Trident, understood".

Whenever Clay is bored, he does fancy spins with his trident and scares everyone around him.

Clay looking calm but behind him a water fountain explodes.

Clay’s bunk is across from Percy’s at camp.

Clay’s bunk is a "borrowed" hammock from his cage on base.

Clay and Percy both love to kill the minotaur. They each have one of the horns of the same minotaur.

Clay’s hangs in his cage on base.

Clay runs out of bullets and just yeets a trident across the battlefield.

Clay wasn't claimed during his time at camp, so he basically adopted all the Hermes/unclaimed kids.

The Stroll twins go between him being their older brother or "Uncle Clay".

Clay graduating Green Team and going straight to Olympus to tell Poseidon.

Clay putting Ares kids in their place when he is at camp.

Bravo with Demigods

Blackburn is a son of Athena.

Blackburn and Clay having conversations in Ancient Greek.

Clay dragging Bravo to camp for a day.

Trent and Jason nearly pass out when they see the lava wall.

Nico would LOVE Cerberus.

Cerberus is a descendant of Cerberus.

Bravo watching a game of Capture the Flag.

Bravo and Blackjack

Clay comes in with a blue lunchbox and nobody makes fun of him in case they invoke Sally's wrath.

Clay having blue cookies in that lunchbox.

Clay swearing in Ancient Greek on the battlefield with Bravo.

Percy has a swimming competition and Bravo go and watch him.

DEVGRU adopting Percy as their little brother's little brother. Aka Little Brother2

Percy having a father-son relationship with Jason.

Jason and Ray giving Paul parenting tips.

Clay and Percy playing video games together.

Percy and Emma meeting and Percy is protective of her.

Clay Causing an earthquake with Bravo team.

Paul and Sally are busy and Jason shows up at Parent's Evening

Jason is a good uncle and is proud of Percy.

When Percy's dyslexia is bad he sends a photo of the textbook and Bravo sends a voice message of them reading it out loud.

Trent helping with his Health homework.

Percy asking ray and Jason for date ideas.

Percy showing up at base coved in blood and freaks out Bravo.

Trent would probably cry with joy when he discovers Ambrosia being a quick heal thing for Clay (and Blackburn, but that’s way less likely).

Brock would Lose His Mind meeting those metal guard dogs that Reyna has.

Bravo rocking up to the battles and helping.

Bravo meeting a monster on an op and Clay summons his weapons and just Goes To Town killing this monster.

Clay just YEETS a trident at some Tango and bravo has their jaws on the ground.

Percy and Clay basically doing adoptions for the orphaned half-bloods in the SEALs.

He introduces orphan half-bloods to various service members who can't/won't have babies but want children and/or want to adopt.

Percy Iris Messages Clay after a nightmare and Clay is out with Bravo and they all hear him crying.

Bravo can all see through the mist so they know about the monsters.

Bravo at Camp Half-Blood and hanging out in the Poseidon cabin for the nights, Percy has a nightmare and wakes them by accident.

Percy and Clay practice fight manoeuvres together and Bravo watches them train together.

Bravo leading “In the navy” at the campfire and trying not to crack up.

Younger campers asking for stories and bravo tell one's that are highly edited for security reasons.

Clay teaching Bravo campfire songs during deployment.

Bravo making tributes to various gods/goddesses of war/strategy before going on an op.

Blackburn and Clay racing up the lava wall.

Bravo stumble upon an entrance to hell and Clay is pulling them out.

Clay goes "Oh yeah, the Amazonians run Amazon" any nobody can tell if he's joking or not (he's serious)

Annabeth and Blackburn being Wholesome Sibling Goals.

Clay takes on a cyclops and gets smashed up a little bit and Bravo is panicking.

Bravo has monster-killing bullets for any situation that happens.

Sally bringing Bravo blue food for BBQs.

Clay comes to base one day covered in dust with a minotaur horn in hand going "You will not BELIEVE the day I'm having”.

Blackburn just hands him some Ambrosia because Clay got a little cut up.

“My baby brother started another war so you guys wanna help out?“

Trent getting a monster killing RPG

Metal has Ares' blessing.

Ares appears and everyone kneels except for Metal and Percy, Percy because he's Percy Jackson and Metal because they're bros.

Trent is Will’s mother’s brother.

Stuck between "MY NEPHEW IS A DEMIGOD? " and "YOU HAD A CHILD WITH A **GOD**????".

Blackburn and Clay sword fighting

Clay fighting Hercules in the arena while Bravo watches.

When Clay's sad Bravo does their best at blue pancakes to cheer him up (it normally end in disaster)

Brock loves O'Leary.

Percy having a group of uncles that have his back when he needs it.

Trent teaching Apollo kids medical procedures.

Bravo & Half-blood friendships:

Frank and Sonny

Annabeth and Lisa

Trent and Will

Mandy and Piper

Sonny and Leo

Lisa and Hazel

Metal and Clarisse

Ray and Chiron

Lisa and Reyna

Reyna and Jason

[rosyredlipstick]

guess who watched high school musical 2 and got caught up in the ryan/chad of it all: a conchell AU

this is pure 100% cheese. thats ur warning. also unbeta-ed.

Spending the entire summer at their mother’s golf resort had sounded like a dream for exactly 3 seconds, until Mitchell remembered the…. Everything about his siblings. 

When he wasn’t pulling Sebastian away from flirting with all their guests and the entire staff, he was lecturing Scarlett and Drew about taking advantage of the concierge service, making sure Stefan and Valentina weren’t spending too much time in the sun and were definitely drinking virgin cocktails, reigning in Lacey and Sophia’s pranks, and making sure Sabrina was happy in her first summer enrolled in the youth program. Oh, and he was choreographing a major number for the end of summer talent show. So. Full plate. 

Still, it was nice he had convinced Will to come along for the summer. While he was one of Mitchell’s official guests, he had quickly befriended the entire young staff in the kitchens and by the poolside. More than often, when they were on their walks around the resort, Will would no doubt be called out to or greeted by grinning teens in red and white polos. 

Mitchell, used to his friend’s sunflower attraction toward attention, smiled knowingly and let it happen without a complaint. At least Will was enjoying himself--he’d been way too stressed about his pre-med program the last few months and, with Mitchell spending most of his time at the resort trying to rein in his power-drunk sibling, he was glad his friend wasn’t spending the summer alone at the poolside. 

Of course, with all his new acquaintances, that also meant that Will’s tendency to interfere with Mitchell’s personal relationships appeared. 

“I’m telling you, you need to hang out with friends more, you’ve been busy all summer!” Will was smiling brightly. “This is the perfect opportunity!” 

“Yes, the perfect opportunity to intrude on a social gathering!” Mitchell protested, “It’ll be weird if I go. You should just go and have fun, don’t worry about me.” Mitchell sighed, “I don’t want them to be uncomfortable! This is their down time, I don’t want to ruin it by being the boss’s kid.” 

Will rolled his eyes, “It’s a baseball game, Mitchell.” 

Mitchell shook his head, final. “Sorry. But I don’t think so. Text me afterward, okay? We can grab ice cream.” Will said nothing. He peeked a look back to the other boy, “Unless there’s something else?” 

Will sighed and looked off to the side as his cheeks colored. “Okay, listen, of course I really want you there because you’re my best friend and everything but also -” 

“There’s a guy.” Mitchell guessed, bored. Will found the love of his life at least once a week. “Who is he?”

Will didn’t even put up a fight. “I’m not sure if you know him. He works in the coffee shop? Pale, dark hair, sharpest cheekbones I’ve ever seen?”

Mitchell thought for a second, “Nico?” He guessed. Nico, for the past few months, has consistently served him the best caramel macchiato he’d ever had every morning. Mitchell dreamt about that drink, on especially good nights.  

Will melted into a dreamy mess. “Yeah. Nico.” 

Mitchell blew a puff of hair up into the hair around his face, “I mean…” He grimaced, “If you need a wingman or something -”

“Yes!” Will was already celebrating, “Thank the gods, thank you! I mean, I think you’ll enjoy yourself at the game and everyone’s really cool, but yes! Okay, if you could just like, set up a really good opportunity for me and Nico to be together like, alone, I’d so appreciate it -” 

Will continued to ramble about the perfect situation Mitchell could set up, including the ideal mood lighting, when Mitchell interrupted him.

"Is Percy okay?" Percy had just rushed by, looking upset, and hopped in his mother’s car without a word to either of them--odd, as he usually offered at least a hey guys! If not a full on conversation that left Mitchell feeling like a better person for having it. It was kind of his thing. 

"Oh, he's in turmoil because he feels like he has to choose between swimming or singing with Annabeth at the talent show and he doesn’t know which to choose." 

“Oh.” 

Will wrinkled his nose, “Yeah, he’s kinda got his own thing going on right now. I saw him dancing by himself in the golf course earlier, but I thought I’d just give him some space.”

“Smart,” Mitchell commented, growing a bit uneasy as they approached the field. There was a crowd already assembled there with a smaller circle throwing a baseball back and forth. As they approached, a few people called out to Will in excitement but it wasn’t until they were faced with a smaller inner group of people that Mitchell was addressed. 

A tall, smirking guy with wild curls was the first to greet him, lightly tossing a baseball into his own mit as he spoke. “Brought a friend, Will?” 

Will smiled brightly. “Yeah! This is Mitchell.”

“Trust me, I know who Mitchell is.” His humor-filled gaze flickered to Mitchell himself. “Nice to finally meet you.” 

Mitchell’s cheeks heated. “You know me?” 

Travis let out a small disbelieving laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” Travis elbowed the guy at his side, who shared similar curls and features. “And this is my brother, Connor.” 

“Hello, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” Mitchell held out his hand with a smile. “I’m Mitchell. You’re on the staff, here?” 

Despite the incredibly stupid question Mitchell just asked considering Connor’s bright red LIFEGUARD tank top he still wore, Connor was kind enough to nod along with Mitchell’s obvious question, his eyes wide. Mitchell’s hand, still extended out to him, wobbled in the air. 

He was a second away from dropping his arm and shaking it off completely when Connor seemed to realize that he was waiting for a handshake in the first place and nearly dived for it. In his haste, he almost completely tripped over himself and onto Mitchell. 

“Oh, well,” Mitchell caught him before he could take them both down on the dirt field. “Are you okay? Is it too hot or something?” Connor’s face was strangely pale compared to his brother’s, despite the mid-afternoon summer sun. Mitchell resisted the urge to reach out and touch his skin for sun stroke. 

“So hot,” Connor whispered, in his arms. Mitchell stared down at him in concern.

A girl--Katie, maybe--came up beside him and physically took Connor out of his arms, a tight smile on her lips. “This is nothing, he’s just dehydrated.”

“More like thirsty.” A girl across from them muttered.

Katie continued on like no one said anything. “Let’s get some water in you, dude.” 

Will was smiling on like this interaction was completely normal. “So anyway I was wondering if Mitchell could join our game?” 

“Hmm, well this is an employee-only game.” Despite his words, the light tease in Travis’s voice kept Mitchell from getting nervous about the whole situation. “But it does raise the stakes.” 

That Mitchell could work with. His lips stretched out into a wide grin. “Yeah? What were you thinking?” 

Travis clicked his tongue, “How do you feel about being Captain? I take one team, you take the other.”

He thought it over then nodded. “That sounds fair. What’s the prize?” 

Travis shrugged, messing with the baseball in his mit as he spoke. “Any ideas?” 

Mitchell pretended to think, already knowing what he wanted. With a group this size, his choreo could really expand into something great. “If you lose, you guys have to join my dance group for the talent show.” 

“Hmm,” Travis looked to the girl at his side--Phoebe, he thought, another lifeguard. She once helped him with Sabrina’s floaties. “We’ll consider that. Guys?” The circle of employees gathered a bit closer to talk it over. Will shot him an excited look. 

Suddenly, in the midst of their talking it over, Connor burst from the huddle and pushed his way over to Mitchell. “I’ll give you fifty dollars if you let me on your dance team.” 

“Wait, no -” Travis grabbed his shoulders from behind to push him back, “Connor, we’re trying to negotiate with him!” 

“Oh,” Connor nodded seriously and turned back to where Mitchell was waiting, amused. “I’ll pay two hundred -” 

Katie slapped a hand over his mouth and dragged him back to the crowd, him protesting all the way. Travis looked back to Mitchell, tired. “Just ignore him, please.”

Mitchell watched him sink back into the crowd, something small curled at his lips. “I don’t think I can.”

“Anyway,” Katie was the one to speak now. “We talked it over, that sounds fine. If we lose, we’ll be in your show.” 

Mitchell had to resist punching the air in excitement. “Great.” 

Travis leaned back with his arms crossed, looking him over. “And what do we get if we win?” 

“Well, what do you want?” 

“Dinner and a movie,” Connor choked out, almost like he didn’t mean to.

Mitchell raised an eyebrow, “An catered employee afternoon in the movie theatre?” He thought it over, then shrugged. “I could probably arrange that.” 

Travis rubbed at his forehead, “I - sure. Yeah, that sounds fun.” 

“Alright,” Mitchell smiled with a small shrug of his shoulders. “I guess it’s game on, then.” 

...

Of course, against a batch of peers who had been playing baseball all summer, Mitchell was bound to lose. However, they didn’t lose as hard as he expected. 

After the match, when Mitchell was left aching from the game and loss but proud despite it, Will sunk down next to him at the picnic table. “Good game. I didn’t think you’d get so into it.” 

At the last moment, Mitchell had ended up diving for a ball, completely dirting up his outfit. He had caught it, and it had counted, but two players had already made it home in the meantime. Still, it was a close loss. 

Mitchell smiled slightly. “Me neither. But it was worth a shot at a full dance group.”

Will laughed softly, “Still. Great catch.” 

“It really was.” They both looked up at the new voice--Katie, from before. She’d been on Travis’s team with Connor, Jason, Leo, Annabeth and a few others. The rest of the group was mostly dispersed by now, most of them arranging rides home or plans to grab food. “We haven’t had a game that fun in a while.” 

At her arrival, Will stood and offered her his seat. Which was kind, but also definitely just a ploy to escape and run off wherever Nico was lurking. Mitchell waved him off with a roll of his eyes before returning back to the conversation. Katie took his place without a word. 

“Well, I’m happy to help. It was a good time, you guys work well together.” Mitchell shot her a knowing grin. “I’ll start working out the theatre rental. Any movie requests?” 

She shrugged, “We can take a vote on it. But we’ve also been talking.” Katie had an amused twinkle in her eye. “We’re in. We’ll still do your show, it sounds fun.” 

Mitchell sat up completely, a bolt of excitement hitting him. “Wait, really?” At her nod, he absolutely lit up. “Oh my god, it’s gonna be such a fun show, I promise!” He got to his feet in excitement and threw his arms around her shoulders in a hug, pulling away promptly. “Oh my god, wait, I’m covered in dirt I’m so sorry -” 

She waved it off but stood herself. She, too, was covered in dirt from the game so didn’t seem to care much at any additional. 

He couldn’t help but babble on. “It’s going to be so much fun. You won’t regret it.”

She smiled at him, looking like she was indulging him. “I know. Anyway, just a moment,” She disappeared for a few moments only to return, dragging Connor by the wrist. She pushed him toward Mitchell, almost bumping them into each other. “Connor will be your contact point for organizing this. Trade numbers, will you? For planning.”

“Oh, sure!” Mitchell fumbled to get his phone out and hand it over. Connor’s phone appeared under his hand faster than he thought possible. 

Katie left them alone as he punched in his own phone and name, drifting back to where Travis and a few others were waiting. He handed back Connor’s phone, suddenly closer to the other boy than he had realized. He paused. 

“You have grass in your hair.” Connor breathed out. 

“Oh,” Mitchell dipped his head in embarrassment and rubbed at his head. “Oops.” 

“I -” Connor gestured to his own temple. “Other side?” 

He tried but Connor only stepped forward slightly into his space, reaching out slowly. “Let me -” Mitchell felt a slight pull on his hair, not painful. Connor pulled away with a blade of grass in between two fingers. 

“Got it,” Connor said weakly, staring down at him. 

“My hero,” Mitchell teased. Connor nodded gravely at that, like he was accepting a mission.

Connor licked his lips before he spoke. “That was a really good catch. You’re a good player.” 

“Baseball’s just a dance of its own.” Mitchell shrugged, joking. “What can I say? I’m just that much of a star athlete.” Connor nodded, looking like he completely agreed. 

Before either of them could say anything further, Will called out to him and ran their way, grinning, with another guy at his side. “I heard the news! They’re still doing the show, that’s great!” Will was glowing, “See, coming to this was a great idea!” 

Mitchell stuck out his tongue, “You just wanted to brag that you were right.” 

“No!” Will looked behind where he had ran from and lit up, “Actually, I wanted to introduce you to Nico!” 

Nico, who trailed after him a few steps, walked up beside Will with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. Mitchell liked him already. “Next time you’re going to run off mid-conversation, can you at least give me a warning first? I’ll die before I jog after you in jeans.” 

“You’re the one who wore jeans to a baseball game!” 

“And why not? You think I’m gonna participate in this?” 

“Well, you’re an employee at an employee baseball game. Perhaps I thought you were going to play.” 

“Where would you get that idea? Have you not seen the everything about me?” 

“Hi, I’m Mitchell.” He stuck out his hand with a grin. He could sit here all day, truly, but he did have things to do. “You’re Nico?” 

“That’s me.” He raised an eyebrow. “You look familiar.

“Mitchell is one of Aphrodite’s kids. He’s a good one, don’t worry.” Will explained, shooting Mitchell a wince like he didn’t know exactly how his siblings were. 

Mitchell snorted, “On behalf of Drew and Scarlett, I can’t apologize enough.” 

“That… helps.” Nico winced. “I messed up Drew’s chai latte my first day on the job.” 

Mitchell groaned, “Again, I’m so sorry. I’ve been trying to get them to act like, you know, normal people -” 

Nico cut him off. “We work at a golf club. I get more cranky boomers in an hour than an AARP meeting.” Nico shook his head, “They’re a lot, but definitely not the worst customers to have. At least they tip well.” 

He could have wilted in relief. Across from him, Will’s eyes were nearly hearts. God, he was already lovesick. 

Which reminded him --

“Actually, Connor and I were just leaving. We’ll leave you two be.” Mitchell lightly grabbed Connor’s elbow to start steering him away. “Will, can you get a ride home? I’m probably going to be staying late.” 

Next to him, Nico perked up. “Oh, I can give you a ride? If you want? I’ll have to pick up my older sister but, um, it’s not that out of the way -” 

“I would love to.” Will looked perfectly composed, despite the screaming excitement that must be running through his head. He even managed to grab onto Nico’s hand as he led them away toward the parking lot. 

“Young love,” Mitchell commented, shaking his head fondly as the other couple walked off. “Must be nice.” He stepped back and dropped his hand from Connor’s elbow. “Oh, sorry!” He laughed lightly. “Sorry, I was recruited as Will’s wingman and I wanted to give them some time alone. Cute, right?”

Connor’s throat bobbled. “So cute. Um,” Connor made a jerky movement, like he was gonna run his hand through his hair but decided not to. “So you’re, uh, staying late?” 

“Yeah,” He blew some air up into the hair hanging over his face. “If you guys are gonna join the number, I want to have the choreo adjusted for a group before we start rehearsals.” 

“Cool, cool.” Connor nodded slowly, “Cool.” 

Now that he was closer, Mitchell could almost recognize Connor from his many shifts poolside. His lifeguard chair was almost right across from where Valentina would occasionally drag him to tan in the afternoon sun. Didn’t he once help Mitchell apply sunscreen, when Valentina ran to get slushies right when he was reapplying? 

His hands were cold, Mitchell remembered, or maybe his own skin was just that hot. He shivered when Connor applied the first handful of cream on his back. Mitchell had to advise Connor to take some of the sunscreen himself, after his own skin started to stain red. 

He was kind, was the point. Or at least, that’s what Mitchell remembered. 

Mitchell gestured at his parked golf cart as they approached it. “You want a ride anywhere? I’m heading toward the main pavilion.” 

Something wobbled in Connor’s expression before he spoke. “I could, um, go with you?” He said it as a question, looking slightly nervous as he spoke. 

“Yeah, sure! The employee entrance? Did you forget something?” 

“No, no, like -” Connor made another awkward gesture toward nothing. “Like, if you need help with the number? I could come? I mean, it’s never too early to get started on learning the dance, right?” 

Mitchell smiled, “Oh, sure! Do you have experience with dance routines?” 

Connor nodded confidently. “Yes.” 

“Really?” Mitchell turned to him in excitement. “Have you been in any dance groups before?” 

“Um. No.” 

“Oh, so like private lessons or something? A club?”

“Uh. No again.” His confidence was fully wavering now. 

Mitchell raised his eyebrows, “So what experience do you have?” 

“I sometimes dance in my room?” Connor scratched at the back of his head. “I, um. I didn’t think you’d ask many questions, actually.” 

Despite his awkwardness, Mitchell was… charmed by Connor’s fumbling. 

“Um,” Mitchell bit his smiling lip, looking away then back. “Actually, I was supposed to get ice cream with Will after the game.”

Connor deflated before he could finish. “Oh. Okay, yeah.” 

“No!” Mitchell was quick to correct. “I meant like, with Will going off with Nico, I still want to get it. With you. If that’s okay?” 

Connor’s expression bloomed into something so joyful, Mitchell was almost taken back. “I would… adore that.” 

“Adore?” Mitchell couldn’t help but tease. “Why’s that?” 

“I just,” He turned to Mitchell, his eyes wide. “I just really, really like ice cream.”

Mitchell bit his lip, “Me too. I mean, I really like ice cream. Ice cream is… sweet.”

Connor huffed out a small laugh, “Yeah. I, uh, agree.” He made an awkward little motion with his arm at the golf cart. “Um, shall we go?” 

Mitchell stepped forward and looped his arm with Connor’s. “Actually, I thought we could walk?” 

“I will do literally anything you want.” 

Mitchell laughed, “I’ll hold you to that.” 

To Mitchell’s amusement, Connor’s face turned a dark, dark red. He looked away, his lips pressed together in a small excited smile. Perhaps the baseball game hasn’t been such a bad idea.

[anachronisticcrab]

Nico talking is a disaster

I’m addition to my post about Nico talking with his hands in canon:

That’s the reason that Nico stays a bit away from everyone when they’re talking

He’s hit too many people in the face while talking, so he takes a step away from them, just in case it happens again

It still happens, but a little less now, thanks to the distance

He and the other Italian kids at camp have weekly meetings to talk about how they’ve hit people while talking and other things that’ve happened

The total list of people he’s hit in the face is::

Hazel. He felt horrible, and told her to hit him back. She refused, cause she knew he didn’t mean to, and it’s not like it hurt or anything. However, she does throw it in his face sometimes to get something she wants. She’s learned to be ready to duck while her brother is talking

Percy. Nico laughed his head off, and then Percy summoned a total wave to hit him. Nico still occasionally hits him while he talks

Jason and Reyna when he first met them, which was really, really embarrassing, since it was in front of the entire senate who were deciding if they should keep his sister at camp. What he thinks is worse is that he’s hit them both many times since then

Travis and Connor, on multiple occasions. He refuses to apologize, and they refuse to let him

Maria and Bianca. Plus the rest of his family in Italy. It was a common occurrence. They all did the same thing, but slapped him when he accidentally slapped them

Hades. He laughs about it now, but was terrified the first time. He definitely hit Hades when convincing him top fight in the Battle of Manhattan

Demeter and Persephone. He laughs his head off about it every time he thinks of their faces. However, Persephone turned him into a rose and Demeter turned him into a patch of wheat

Leo, who was completely gobsmacked for .2 seconds, and now makes fun of Nico for it all the time

Grover, who still thinks Nico’s awesome, and laughs. Nico feels bad about it

His teachers at the military school, who all gave him detention. Especially when he almost/ did hit them all with pencils, erasers, Mythomagic figures, and pens

All of his classmates, who took it upon themselves to ostracize him and Bianca because of it

Dionysus, who thought Nico’s reaction (read: terror) was hilarious

Chiron, who didn’t speak to Nico for two weeks out of pure spite

Probably Zeus and Poseidon at some point. Nico says it was an accident, but no one really believes him. It took the entire force of Hestia, Hades, Apollo, Will, Cecil, Lou, The Seven, Reyna, the Hunters of Artemis, and Clarisse to stop them from killing him

Annabeth, and then he hid from her for a few weeks cause she’s terrifying

Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who talks just as much with her hands

Clarisse, who tried not to smack him

Piper, who fired a bunch of fruit at him through the cornucopia, which was very entertaining to watch

Lou Ellen and Cecil, who both decided to pull pranks on Nico. Lou cursed his hands to stay by his side for a day, and Nico refused to talk the entire time. Cecil decided to hide all of Nico’s shirts and replace them with pink crop tops. Nico didn’t bat an eye

He accidentally threw a plastic water bottle at Frank, who was 15 feet away, and Hazel never let him live it down. Frank thought he did it on purpose cause he knew Frank liked Hazel (this was before they were dating), and that added to his fear of Nico. Nico didn’t do it on purpose, and apologizes all the time for it, but still

Daedalus, who laughed and gave Nico and Percy shared custody of Mrs O’Leary

Minos, who made Nico feel worse about himself, and called him a monster who would never belong since he couldn’t even talk normally

His ring accidentally hit Kronos and Gaia.

His ring also flew off his finger and hit Coach Hedge in the eye at the picnic at the end of House of Hades. Hedge got a black eye, and Nico felt really, really, really bad about it. He still apologizes years later, and Hedge still finds it hilarious. Nico got it resized (for the third time) after that

Nico has definitely smacked himself in the face while talking. A lot. Whenever he does, he pauses for a minute to reavaluate his life while his friends laugh at him

He’s hit Will so much it’s not even funny. Will gets him to rant and joke around all the time, which makes his gestures go wilder, and causes him to hit everyone within a 2 metre radius, and yet Will refuses to move away from Nico

He’s accidentally thrown food at people. If there’s something in his hand and he’s talking, no one is safe. It will slip out of his hand. He accidentally spilt a cup of hot coffee on Austin, and he apologized profusely. Really though, he was more upset about his spilled coffee then burning Austin

He hit Seymour the Leapord with a slice of pizza once, and it then fell on Kayla. It was a sad day

He accidentally threw his plate at dinner, and to cover it up, Will yelled ‘Opa!’ and everyone else smashed their plates too. Mr D made Nico pay for all of the plates and cups that broke, which Nico completely offered to do (what was worse is that Camp Jupiter was also at camp that day)

Now if he starts talking with something in his hands, everyone ducks. Nico doesn’t think it’s that bad, but they all agree it is

He slapped the TV in Bunker 9 off the stand once. He really didn’t mean to, and he payed to replace it

He’s broken a lot of Leo’s inventions that way. Leo forgave him, but he was still upset about it

The 7 tried tying his hands together during House of Hades when he slapped Festus and almost had his face melted off. Nico tried talking but couldn’t stay focused whenever he opened his mouth to speak

He started waving his arms around together and almost gave Hazel a black eye thanks to both his hands being thrown together. She ducked at the last second and didn’t get hit. Nico apologized profusely, and she laughed her head off. She’s used to him talking with his hands, so she’s ready to duck if necessary

He’s hit Hestia a lot, and she laughs it off every time

Castor and Pollux have both gotten black eyes from him

Clovis gets slapped in the dreamworld sometimes

In conclusion. Nico is a disaster who shouldn’t be allowed to talk with his hands. He still does, much to everyone else’s chagrin