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A Matter of Perspective

The Calamity is coming and alternating point of views give their thoughts and feelings on the events happening around them, particularly in regards to the fated heroes of Hyrule.

No Archive Warnings Apply- Rated M (for later)

Relationship:  Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)

Characters: Link,  Zelda, King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule, Impa, Purah, Revali, Daruk, Mipha, Urbosa, Hylia, Beedle, Koroks, Great Deku Tree, Robbie, Cherry, Calamity Ganon, The Yiga Clan, Fi, Zelda's Mother, Kass's Teacher, Kass

Tags: POV Alternating, Story Re-telling, Expansion Piece, Canon Compliant, Follows the Memories, Angst and Feels, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Jealousy, Eventual Romance, Sexual Tension, Romantic Tension, Fate & Destiny, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, A Tad Bit of Smut Later to Come

Read on Ao3

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“Yer a Wizard Percy” Hogwarts Houses and Blood Lineage

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The Seven + their Hogwarts houses? Perhaps some Percabeth/Jasiper in the mix?

Considering I spend a lot of time conspiring where these guys would be house-wise, I have to go for it. You can disagree with me if you’d like some aren’t totally set in stone, but some are (for me, anyway).

House Parties (Rated K+)

I can’t take the blame for the vigorous debate that’s buzzing all through camp, not this time anyway. A lot of controversy has surrounded me since I showed up 6 years ago. Actually, my existence itself is considered a controversy. So, I know what it’s like to be the black sheep and have everyone arguing over you. It’s kinda been my life for a while. 

This time? Not my fault, because all of you know by now that I’m not the kind of guy that starts a book club, let alone an entire discourse on a particular book. 

Before you ask, no, Annabeth isn’t responsible here either. I’m not just saying that because she’s my girlfriend and she’ll get mad that I documented my blaming her in physical writing for all of you to read. It’s really not her fault this time. 

This? The wildfire that has metaphorically and physically ignited across the campground? That is the fault of one Leo Valdez. Ironically, he didn’t start the physical fire, even though he totally could. That was Clarisse, but I’ll get into that later. 

It all started when Leo was talking about how the camp library had Greek editions of the Harry Potter books, which were popular to pretty much everyone in our age range. Grover compares me to Harry all the freaking time, which can be annoying, but I’ll admit, the parallels exist. I know the Stoll brothers get prank ideas from the twins in those books (which is pretty unfortunate for the rest of us). Get Annabeth talking about the differences between the books and the movies and you have an entire evening’s worth of conversation dedicated to solely that. It’s mostly one-sided, but I like to watch her get all heated and passionate about a subject. Her cheeks flush and her chest heaves from breathing- sorry, easily distracted. 

“Man, this Hogwarts place sounds awesome.” He said as we all lounged in a clump on the beach. 

After everything we’ve been through, you can’t blame us for all hanging out together. No one understands the experiences we’ve endured except each other and we take comfort in that. We all practically laid on top of each other. 

“I’ve never read them.” I said. 

Piper lifted her head from where she’d been laying across Jason’s lap. “The shame!”

“That’s what I said!” Annabeth looked back at me from her position between my legs. 

“I’ve been a little busy with the world almost ending twice.”

“Newsflash, Seaweed Brain, I was there alongside you practically every step of the way. And I still reread the series.”

“Well, you’re a nerd.” I poked her sides so she squirmed. 

“Harry Potter is not nerdy. It’s super mainstream.” Jason said. “Even I’ve read them.”

“It’s my first time reading them.” Leo said. “And I’m digging every second.”

“They actually didn’t have Harry Potter at Camp Jupiter.” Hazel said. She was building a sandcastle and I was super tempted to fill the moat she was making with actual water.

“So, you’ve never read it either.” I said.

“No, I have. It just took me a really long time with the dyslexia.” She shrugged.

“See, Percy? And she’s from the 1930′s.” Piper said.

I stuck my tongue out at her.

“What house do you guys think you’d be in?” Frank asked.

I knew this much about the series. Annabeth talked about it enough for some of it to sink into my thick skull. Grover and Juniper did a couple’s reading of it (I didn’t know that was a thing) and he IM’ed me a couple of times about their reading pace. I made him swear on the River Styx to never give this idea to Annabeth. 

“I’d be a Gryffindor.” He said confidently.

Piper rolled her eyes. “Literally everyone says that.”

“But I’m brave.”

“We could all easily be classified as brave.” Frank said. “There’s more to it than that.”

He sighed and counted on his fingers. “I’d say I’m passionate, trusting, stubborn, honest, and blunt.”

“But you’re also cunning, adaptable, bold, and charming.” Piper said. “And those are all traits of a Slytherin.”

He scrunched his face up. “I don’t want to be them! They’re all doom and gloom. Save that for the son of Hades.”

“Not all Slytherins are bad. Most are good.” Hazel objected. “I think I’m one, after all. That, or Gryffindor, actually.”

“Agreed.” Annabeth said. “I’m a Ravenclaw.”

“Well, duh.” Piper laughed. “If you’d said anything else, I’d call you delusional.”

“That’s the brainy house, right?” I asked.

“It’s more about wisdom, wit, and curiosity, but there are intellectual components involved.” She said.

“So… Yes.”

She nudged me in the ribs, but I wrapped my arms around her waist to pull her closer. “All right, Wise Girl, I know you’re dying to analyze me to death and pick which house I’d be in.”

“Sad to say you two would be split up, house-wise.” Jason chuckled and wrapped his arm around Piper. “Whereas, Pipes and I would both be Gryffindors.”

“I could definitely see myself in Slytherin too, though.” She pointed out. “The way I use my charmspeak is definitely cunning and using my own abilities/devices to manipulate others is definitely ambitious enough to be considered Slytherin material.”

“Percy and I would do fine as a Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff power couple. We might even both make prefect status.”

“Hufflepuff?” I said. “Why do I have to be in the house that sounds like a Dr. Seuss character?”

“Sounds like Snuffaluffagus to me.” Frank said. “If it helps, I’d probably be Hufflepuff too.”

“See? You’d have a friend.” Piper smirked.

“He’s a Hufflepuff. They make friends super easily.” Annabeth turned to me. “Which you do, by the way.”

“Yeah, but I’m also all of the things Leo said too! And I’m funny.”

“Every house is funny in their own way.” Jason said. “That’s meaningless.”

“Plus, I didn’t realize you were funny.” Leo said. “Like, at all.”

“I’m funny!” I protested.

“I think you’re funny.” Hazel shrugged. “I mean, I can’t always get the humor, but I’m going to chalk that up to time period differences.”

I groaned. Annabeth kissed me on the cheek. “Look at it this way, Seaweed Brain: loyalty and dependability are like your trademark qualities. Bravery, yes, but your fatal flaw is literally the embodiment of the Hufflepuff house.”

It was tough to argue with that. For one thing, I didn’t know enough about any of this to actually come up with some good points of my own. Second, she leaned back so her head was resting against my shoulder and the fresh smell of her shampoo made it hard for me to concentrate on much else.

Leo fell backwards into the sand, book clutched to his chest. Look, I know reading is a popular past-time, but I found it really hard to believe any book could do that.

Frank, on the other hand, did not share this sentiment with me.

“Did you get to the ending?”

“Yeah.” Leo said.

I’d seen the movies before, because I’m not an animal, so I finally felt engaged in the conversation at hand.

“Dumbledorf dying?” I asked and Leo shot up to his feet faster than a jack rabbit. The guy looked like he was ready to murder me and cry all in one go. Everyone gasped and I could feel Annabeth putting some distance between us so she could properly glare at me. I honestly had no idea what I’d did wrong. They all wanted Harry Potter discourse and this was what they got. All I did was try and talk about the book.

“Come on, man!” Jason sighed. 

“Does that not happen? Is he not killed by Snake or whatever his name is?”

“Leo, cover your ears and go finish the series away from this moron.” Piper said.

“HE’S WHAT?”

“Um, did I say his name wrong or something?” I asked, growing very nervous about the way they were all looking at me. Did I have a poisonous spider on my face? Or did I accidentally just unveil a new life-threatening prophecy? Did my breath smell?

“Well, yeah, but that’s not the point!” Annabeth scowled, eyes stormy.

“What is the point?”

“You just…” Leo trembled and it looked like his whole life was falling apart. “You just ruined the series for me.”

“What?”

Everyone groaned.

“That happens in the end of book 6.” Frank said, taking pity on my soul while everyone else continued to alternate between shooting me glares and comforting looks to Leo. 

“And?”

“I’M ON BOOK 1!” Leo tugged at his hair.

My eyes widened. “Oh… So you didn’t know… Oh, crap.”

“Yeah, oh crap! That’s one of the biggest moments in the series.” Annabeth said.

“He said he got to the ending! I thought he meant the ending of the whole series.”

“You didn’t even read the books!” Leo said.

“I’m sorry!” I said. “I saw the movies and-”

“-Oh, you’re one of those people.” Hazel sighed.

“I’m-I am never talking books with you guys ever again.” Leo said. “Not until I finish them anyway.”

“And we can just do it while Percy’s asleep or something.” Jason said. “Just to be safe.”

“Or you could all just watch the movies like normal people.” I suggested.

“Nope, still too dangerous. He’s spoiled shows for me before too.” Annabeth said. “Remember Dexter?”

“I saved you from having to watch that firsthand. That was noble,” I emphasized. 

It didn’t seem to work, because she rolled her eyes. Still, she didn’t resist when I brought her hand to my mouth to kiss her knuckles. Instead, she laced our fingers. In our time of being together, she’d gotten really good at seeming annoyed with me while also finding it in her to be affectionate.

“What is this, book club?” Sneered Clarisse as she stormed the beaches. 

“Apparently, yes.” I said. “Please tell me you want to duel or beat the crap out of me or something more fun?”

She rolled her eyes. “Why does Valdez look like he’s already crapped himself?”

“Because Percy told me Dumbledore dies?”

Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. “He what?”

“He told me that Dumbledore is killed by Snape!”

She stormed forward and for a moment, I thought she was going to kill me out of anger, so I tried to protect Annabeth, but it was nice to know that my girlfriend didn’t want me to die over this, because she seemed pretty set on staying in front of me anyway.

Instead, Clarisse grabbed Leo by the shirt and hoisted him upwards so his feet were dangling. We all sat stunned for a moment and probably all very confused at the change of events.

“I HAVEN’T GOTTEN THERE YET!” She hollered in his face and I pitied him, because that probably did not smell good.

All of the color drained from Leo’s face in realization that in the wake of his own trauma, he’d just done the same thing to Clarisse. In an effort to repay him for ruining a hallmark book series for him, I decided it was only fair to divert Clarisse’s wrath to me. I was fairly used to it, anyway

“I’m just surprised you can read, Clarisse.” I said as I stood up from my tangled seating with Annabeth, who was looking up at me in confusion and also with a “I like your face not pounded in” expression.

Her mean mug turned to me and she turned as red as a tomato. “What did you say to me, Jackson?”

“I mean, we would have invited you, but we didn’t feel like sticking solely to picture books.” This was incredibly ironic of me to say, because I usually stuck to comic books, which were basically just picture books.

She dropped Leo into the sand and barreled towards me.

“See you guys later!” I called over my shoulder as she chased me. She resembled the Minotaur when she was angry and determined like this. I figured now might now be the time to bring that to her attention.

And that, my friends, is how Clarisse ended up starting a fire in an attempt to sacrifice me to the Gods. They didn’t accept the sacrifice, because they prefer regular food and all feared I’d be a bit too fishy for their tastes.

And no matter what anyone else tells you, it was all Leo’s fault.

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Percabeth arranged marriage au?

This turned out… differently than what I expected… And probably different from what you wanted, but it’s still an arranged marriage. I might make this a bigger piece because I liked this concept so much.

Crossed Unions- Rated T

I met Percy Jackson almost 6 years ago when he was discovered as the sole heir to the Atlantean throne. He, like every other heir to an Olympian throne, received a banquet in his and his father’s name. My mother, Queen of Athens, begrudgingly took my siblings and I to this event out of sheer respect for the virility of the crown. She and the Lord of the Sea never saw eye to eye on much, (outside of a brief project that included the invention of the chariot- but I digress) so it was no question that this was purely out of formality and respect to the High King, Zeus. 

He was a scared little boy no older than 12, like myself, and I didn’t regard him as royalty material. He looked like he’d been taken off of a farm after wrestling with some pigs, hosed off, and wearing clothes that didn’t have holes in them for the first time in his life. His hair was deliberately unruly and dark as the deepest depths of the ocean. He looked absolutely terrified and positively unaware what in the name of the River Styx was going on.

I scoffed. It wasn’t unlike Poseidon to make such a brash decision at claiming this boy as his own. He was better off giving his kingdom to the children of his wife, who at least grew up in that environment and would know how to manage an entire group of people. Instead, like with many of the fine rulers of Olympia, pride got in his way and he was determined to find his singular bastard child.

Mother finds it unlikely that the Sea Lord has just one illegitimate child out there in the realm, but somehow he’d managed to convince his brother, and that was what truly mattered. This was especially scandalous, as the three offspring of the fallen Lord Kronos took a binding oath of loyalty to their wives. 

This led everyone in the kingdom to either hate or love young Percy Jackson, which was a situation he’d never been in before as squalor. He was used to being underestimated and ignored, not plastered on every flyer in town about every movement he made. 

One of the dangers of being claimed as a son of the higher lineage (also known as the “Big 3″) was the idea that he would have to prove himself worthy by fulfilling a prophecy along with 2 companions. He chose a satyr named Grover, despite his father’s insistence he take one of his noble half-siblings, but Percy Jackson was loyal more than anything and Grover was trying to earn his searcher’s license like many other satyrs. To do that, he would need to fulfill a quest alongside a hero.

As for the third companion? Well, he didn’t get much of a choice. His quest was to recover Lord Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt to prevent war amongst the 12 kingdoms. It was a heavy one and I felt it was unfair to bestow this upon a kid so new to this world. He barely knew how to swing a sword. I was the most capable and readily available.

The court was pretty against a girl going, which was super annoying since I’ve kicked all of their sons’ butts in dueling, but Athena sided with me and relented that it was high time I prove myself in her name.

I can’t say I liked him very much upon meeting him, though I will admit to some flickers of jealousy that he was inevitably getting a quest and I haven’t seen the outside of Athens since I was taken in by Lady Athena. 

“So, you’re a daughter of…?” He trailed off as he approached me. I analyzed him carefully and could tell he was obviously nervous. He couldn’t stop alternating between staring a beat too long at me and quickly reverting back to looking at his shoes. They were shiny and all, but not worth gazing at. I would have argued that I wasn’t exactly worth staring at either, but the boy seemed dumbstruck.

“Athena.” I supplied.

He blinked.

“Of Athens.” I said more impatiently. Maybe he was just dumb.

He wrinkled his brow and I could almost see the wires in his seaweed-filled head trying to make out just how that was possible.

“Oh.” He said stupidly and his face reddened. I could tell he was battling between asking me or not. “I thought she was a… Nevermind.”

“I’m adopted.” I sighed, taking pity on him. “We all are, technically.”

“Oh.” He said again. Didn’t he have anything else to say? He was about to embark on a dangerous quest, after all. It would do a lot better to ask someone as trained in the arts of planning and history of our land to converse with me about it. Actually, I had mistakenly believed me was going to do just that at first. 

Nope, instead there we were making weird small talk.

“You drool when you sleep.” I offered, like he needed to know it.

His green eyes widened and it was the first time I’d noticed their impressive likeness to the actual sea. There was no question this was Poseidon’s boy. Though, he could use some training on how to act like a capable person.

“H-How do you-?”

“Who exactly do you think helped nurse you back to health with Chiron after that Minotaur attack, Seaweed Brain?”

“I’m not a Seaweed Brain!”

“Could have fooled me.” I shrugged and slunk away before anyone thought we were getting too comfortable. Had I only known that I’d just met my best friend.

Athena is a virgin leader, so all of her children are actually unrelated to her directly. Those that biologically produce the children are doing so as surrogates and are always the wisest and most intelligent people with whom Athena has built a mental connection with. She is always present at the birth and retrieves her child to Athens. It is as though we are hers through something bigger than blood- fate. 

I am forever grateful to be hers and am rightfully placed, however, I have been waiting for my chance to prove my wit and my strength for the past few years. I am the best swordsman (or woman) in Athens even if I prefer to fight with a knife. No one outside of the great lady herself strategizes like me. I spend all day reading and training, even if mother does not always know it. She is certainly more progressive than some of the other figureheads and wants her daughters to be just as intelligent as her sons, but there is still a standard to be made. She does not think with love like a typical mother might, but in what is strategically best for the good of mankind. 

My mother was unlike many of the other Godly leaders and placed her children with a choice. We were to either marry in the name of strategy and arrangement or to be virgins forever and focus solely on enriching our minds and bettering humanity. At 10, I chose marriage, as it seemed like the best thing for the current climate of our kingdom. Mother had certainly approved of my decision and that was enough for me back then. Hermes had an eldest son a few years my senior named Luke Castellan who was directly in line to obtain his throne. Mother and King Hermes got along well enough and it was always ideal for wisdom to spread beyond the gates of Athens. It was always a goal for the higher up’s to get their children on as many thrones as possible. If I were to marry Luke, I would be in line for Queen of Arcadia. 

This was all good and great back then. I even developed a fixation on Luke Castellan. He was tall, blond and good-looking, not to mention seemed to carry a protectiveness of me that seemed fit in a husband. I was 10 though and more than trying to rationalize the idea that the then 15 year old guy would be my betrothed. I’m sure he didn’t see much in me back then. We were not to marry until we were both of age at 18 and at 10, this seemed like lifetimes away. 

And what does any of this have to do with Percy Jackson? Well, I did my best to dislike him as Mother vehemently dislikes King Poseidon, and at first, I did. I couldn’t stand Percy Jackson. He was ridiculously brash and impulsive, but so thick skulled that I wanted to shake him senseless just about every time he spoke. He wore this stupid smirk that exposed himself with those stupid bright green eyes that told anyone in sight that he was up to no good. I thought he was ridiculous and was glad to be marrying a respectful knight in Luke.

And then, a very dangerous thing happened.

Well, two very dangerous things happened in line with one another. Luke began to betray his father’s realm and planned to overthrow the High King. And, I fell madly, truly, hopelessly in love with the son of the Sea King. It was a slow progression, but it happened and I fear I cannot think my way out of it.

Worst of all? He fell in love with me too.

My engagement to Luke fell through the wayside, due to his own death during his attempted uprising, but our problems in this matter did not end there. I was suddenly supposed to marry the son of King Apollo in an attempt to achieve his throne. Percy was set to be married to a princess from a different country altogether in an attempt to create peace between the Greeks and the Romans. He and Princess Reyna were to be married when they are both 18.

We’re 17 and marriage is no longer lifetimes away, despite how much we pretend it is when we sneak around. When we hold hands and walk together, we pretend we are a normal couple living a content and unplanned life. When we steal dances at galas, we pretend everyone knows about us. When we make love in the protective confines of my room in the high tower, we pretend it’s practice for something bigger than the two of us. There’s a bit of security in knowing I’ll always have Percy as a first everything in my life and likewise. That is something no amount of arrangement can change.

We wear promises that don’t come in the name of rings, but in symbols. I wear a necklace with a coral pendant on it while Percy in an impulsive (it’s become mostly endearing at this point) stunt, permanently branded “AOE” in small letters right over his heart in dark ink. This typically stands for “Of Athenians” and is often accompanied with the owl.

“What if somebody sees this?” I asked one time while we were sweaty and still recovering from being wrapped up in one another. He hovered over me, his muscular chest on full display and I traced patterns into his bare back. 

He smiled that lopsided grin that now made my heart melt and heat grow between my legs if he caught me in the right mood. Sometimes I think he knows what he does to me, but he’s too thick-skulled to see his own beauty and is honestly somewhat surprised every time we arrive in an intimate situation.

He leaned down to kiss a growing mark on my neck. “Who’s going to see it, but you?”

Your future wife.

I didn’t say it, but I don’t think I had to. His smile flickered a bit in his gorgeous eyes and it yanked at my heart strings. Maybe sometimes we pretended a little too well.

Worried I’d ruined the otherwise pleasant mood we’d cultivated in the wee hours of the morning, I leaned forward and kissed the engraving.

“I like it.” I decided. “Now you’re mine forever.”

He leaned in close so our noses were brushing against each other. “As if I ever wasn’t.”

I grow increasingly bitter about the situation as the days go on, even if it could be worse. I am now betrothed to the son of Apollo, who does not lust after me either, but for the son of Hades. For obvious reasons, he does not come out with this claim either. Percy’s bride to be is in love with a lady of the hunt, Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus. For the same reasons as well as a shared duty to her country, she remains loyal and quiet. 

I toy with the idea that we can time things just right. After all, a baby will be expected from both of our ends. If I were to have Percy Jackson’s baby instead of Will Solace’s, it would not be a problem. Unless, of course, that baby popped out with his beautiful dark locks. That wouldn’t solve Reyna’s predicament either. We get together and vent, occasionally, though all of us return to this binding loyalty we have to our parents. What would we sacrifice in order to protect the greater good? What would we lose? Would we regret it?

It’s hard to think I wouldn’t when Percy’s hands slip so perfectly in mine as we stroll in private by the water.

I no longer side with my 10 year old self, unsurprisingly, though my Mother will hear none of it. Strategically, this makes sense, but I am not thinking that way anymore. My siblings know of my affair and tease me by accusing me of being a child of Aphrodite instead. It isn’t like the Sea King’s son and Wisdom’s daughter as a union would be negative. In fact, it might force the two to actually sit down and get along for a change. It would just be unprecedented. 

We weren’t meant to get along and we certainly weren’t meant to fall in love. 

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Glad you're back and super excited you're extending your repertoire (if that's what you want to call it) to other fandoms aside from Arrow. I love your writing and I'm actually a huge PJO fan so I was soooo happy to see you're into it too. Can you possibly do a fic of Percy being on the swim team? You can include whatever ships you want (:

Yes! I love Percy Jackson and have for pretty much the past 10 years since I got into reading the books in middle school. It’s always held a soft spot in my heart as one of my favorite universes and I’m always open to writing about it. Anyway, without further adieu, here’s this little beauty (slightly suggestive themes, but nothing smutty/explicit)

Speedos- Rated T

Percy Jackson never ever saw himself as someone that would be considered a jock, but that all changed when he got to college.

I never believed I would ever, in my life, be at the top of the food chain in school. Sure, I’ve beaten Titans, Gods, and saved the world a few times, but I still never expected this luck would translate into my “real” life in the mortal world. 

This all changed when I got to college in California. I managed to squeak into UCSF after being on the waiting list forever while my girlfriend got a full ride to Berkeley. I’m still not sure how I got into school at all let alone a school that’s 45 minutes away from Annabeth. In case my life decides to resume its regularly scheduled dose of trouble, we’re both pretty close to Camp Jupiter and I have my car on campus. 

But anyway, my heart leapt in my chest the way it does when I’m hungry and finally getting dinner when I realized that California was stereotypically full of swimmers. And my school had a pretty good swim team that made you popular. The popularity thing isn’t a big deal for me, since I know who my friends are and don’t really need too many people in my life that I have to lie to or anything, but it was nice not being treated like gum on the bottom of people’s shoes.

Of course I made the team. I can breathe underwater. Do you know how much of an advantage that gives me? Before you accuse me of being cocky or conceited, just remember that I have been given one real gift in this world and this is it. 

I do take a breath for show every lap, which is still super impressive to the mortal eye, but also let’s them know them I’m not a robot or anything. 

That wasn’t to say there weren’t some steep competition. Some of these swimmers made me question if whether or not my father broke his pact more than once in recent years. They’re all super skilled and clearly have put in the work since they were little. So, I actually need to try if I want to earn my place. 

Everyone is pretty cool with me, though. They’ve all tried to ask who my trainer is and my records (that I don’t have), and very few are really buying that I’m just a normal dude that loves to swim. They’ve stopped pestering me though.

Oh Gods, there is one downside to swim team and that’s the actual suit. It squishes everything (and I do mean everything) all together to be on full and compact show for everyone to see. It leaves very little to the imagination and resembled really ugly panties. 

I made a pretty big mistake of mentioning this to Annabeth one Friday night she was staying over in my dorm. My roommate actually ended up being a Gorgon, who I had to smite during orientation (boo!). So, I got my own room (yay!). 

“It can’t be that bad.” She called from outside the bathroom, though I could hear trying to stifle her amusement.

“I’m not coming out.”

“C’mon, Seaweed Brain. I’m going to have to see you in it tomorrow at the meet anyway and that’ll be in public.”

“Yeah, thanks for that.” I grumbled. 

Everyone is coming to my first meet tomorrow: Annabeth, Mom, Paul, Grover, Hazel, Piper, Leo, Jason, Frank, Nico, Tyson, and even Chiron. My old Latin teacher is about to see me in in tight, glorified tidy whities and a swim cap. 

“You’re never going to want to see me, let alone touch me, again after you see me in this thing.”

“I find that very hard to believe.” She said dryly. “I’ve seen you in a toga, remember?”

It took about 30 more minutes to convince me to come out and honestly, my growling stomach had a lot to do in the efforts. She played to my weaknesses and I was finally coaxed to exit the bathroom and likely embarrass myself in front of my girlfriend.

When the door flew open, she did the decent thing and looked at my face first, which I appreciated, but my face was likely the color of a firetruck, which made her eyes wander downwards. When she caught sight of the navy atrocity that left very little to the imagination, her eyes went wide like silver moons and a deep blush flushed to her cheeks and neck. 

She shifted awkwardly as she choked down a laugh. “That’s not… so bad.”

I felt like I was on fire and couldn’t meet her gaze. “You better just be laughing at the swimsuit.”

This time, her eyebrows shot to her hairline before she threw her head back and actually laughed. 

I immediately turned on my heels, determined to swim in a full wetsuit tomorrow. I even considered wearing one under all of my clothes until Annabeth used her quick reflexes to grab my hand before I could go.

“I’m not laughing at you.”

“You could have fooled me.”

She pulled me close so our chests were pressed against each other. I could feel my skin getting hot for a whole different reason. She stopped laughing, but her eyes still sparkled with merriment. 

“It’s a bad suit, but everyone looks funny in them.”

I couldn’t find it in me to be annoyed with her while she was very pressed against me and her hands stroked over my shoulders approvingly. She cupped my face and brought my head down in a slow kiss.

“It makes your butt look good though.” She said in between the kisses she layered down my jaw. I stood paralyzed like a big dumb dope, because I’m so gone for her.

“Everyone’s going to laugh at me.” Though this was becoming less of a worry or fear as she worked her way down my neck.

“Probably.” 

“You’re full of encouraging words.”

She chuckled against my skin and I swear all of the blood left my head.

“In my defense, I’m trying to stop talking.”

I quirked an eyebrow at her in disbelief. I was still adjusting to this aspect of our relationship, which was still relatively new to us. In baseball terms, our senior year of high school brought us around the bases whenever we were alone together for too long, lingering quite a bit at second and third. This summer at camp had officially taken us to home plate. It still amazed me every time that she liked me this way.

“Really? But it’s a hideous suit.”

“Yeah.” She stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around my neck. “You should take it off.”

And that was how I’d come to terms with the worst part of swimming. Everyone did laugh at me. A lot. But, I rewarded them all with a “spontaneous splash” when I dove into the water. Everyone that didn’t already know was wondering how I managed to do that with a regular dive. 

“He did that on purpose.” Grumbled Jason. 

“Why wouldn’t he? I’d be embarrassed to wear that too.” Frank said emphatically.

“It’s not that bad.” Annabeth tried.

“Oh yeah?” Leo asked. “What’s that on your neck?”

I could feel her glare from across the gym and tried my best not to laugh. 

I got over the judgment when I took first in my 500 IM. I swear I’ve never heard my mom cheer so loud in her life. Then again, I never gave her much reason to growing up since I sucked at all other sports and never exactly made scholastic decathlons. Grover accidentally bleated a few times, but the others were kind enough to try and cover it with whistles and whoops. 

“Yeah Percy!” Piper cheered as they all stood to their feet.

“Leave it to the son of the sea God to win a swimming race.” Jason smirked. 

“I think you’re just jealous that Quidditch isn’t a thing so you don’t get an advantage.” Teased Nico.

“Quidditch actually is a thing.” Annabeth said. “You just don’t fly.”

Hazel struggled to see. “Frank, I told you not to sit in front of me!”

“Sorry…” He said awkwardly.

“Does he get a medal?” Leo asked.

“Do you think he’ll let me eat the medal?” Grover tried.

“No way!” Sally nudged him. “I’m hanging that up in my house forever.”

I grinned as I reached over the lanes to shake hands with the other swimmers beside me. I ripped off my cap and shook my shaggy black hair. I was getting used to actually being wet unlike when I went swimming at camp or on adventures.

I slipped on a pair of trunks over my speedo like most of the other guys do (except some who are strangely proud) before making my way over to the stands. Grover clapped my back and Annabeth leaned over the rails to kiss me before complaining that I tasted like chlorine. My mom ruffled my hair while Paul winked at me in pride.

My teammates were excited too and lifted me on their shoulders since we won the meet. They dumped me in the water, of course, but that was hardly a punishment.

I loved college.

[arrowheadproductions]

The Harpies & Aristaeus

After the stable scene, Coach Hedge subjects the seven to an unexpected lesson that is somehow more awkward than it sounds.

No Archive Warnings Apply- Rated T

Relationship(s): Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Jason Grace & Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase & Piper McLean, Percy Jackson & Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez & Frank Zhang, Coach Hedge & Everyone

Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez, Coach Hedge, Athena (Percy Jackson)

                                                                                                           Read on Ao3

If you were ever curious how to piss off an over-enthusiastic, bat-wielding satyr, I could provide you with a proper step-by-step. It really isn’t that hard for someone of my expertise, because evidently, I am incredibly gifted in the art of frustrating people. Annabeth will vouch for this since she’s made a point of letting me know for the past 6 years. Any of my foes of past and present could probably give a similar reference, but with more bias to their reasoning.

Anyway, back to satyrs that are taking their chaperoning job way too seriously:

        Step 1: Sneak out after curfew at the beck and call of your beautiful/amazing girlfriend.

        Step 2: Fall asleep.

        Step 3: Get caught sleeping beside your beautiful/amazing girlfriend.

So now, thanks to the biggest misunderstanding in modern history (I’m sure Annabeth would normally have a tragic Greek tale about a grander example of miscommunication, but I doubt she’d dispute me now), we’re grounded. I haven’t been grounded in forever. To be fair, I’d been missing for a while and just before that I was kind of thrust into almost dying in the second Titan War, but I’m a good kid regardless.

I don’t regret spending the time with Annabeth, because it’d been forever since we’ve had a moment alone. My heart pattered when I thought about how she didn’t scare when I mentioned the idea of New Rome. It upgraded to full-scale pounding when I pictured the way she’d kissed me shortly after and how it still made me feel like I was floating.

Frank found and alerted the media, because apparently everyone was pretty worked up over the idea of losing us. I mean, I do have a record of going missing and losing my memory now so I can’t say I blame them for the concern. Their tunes completely changed when they saw us sprawled across the clear door cuddling. Frank seemed pretty embarrassed, which probably would have been closer to my response too if I walked in on Hazel and him like that. Piper smiled like a Cheshire cat for reasons beyond me. Whatever it was, it made Annabeth super uncomfortable whenever she looked at her pointedly. Jason seemed pretty indifferent, if not relieved he wasn’t in my shoes. Leo was relentless as if a day ago I hadn’t almost attacked him when I thought he set the canons off on Camp Jupiter.

Coach Hedge was as scary as I’d feared, but I wouldn’t say that to Annabeth. I don’t think I needed to, because she rolled her eyes when she looked over at me while we were chastised. There wasn’t much heat in it though, which told me that maybe she didn’t regret getting caught either. You could tell she’d been through a lot, too much, in these past 6 months. She barely even hesitated as he laid into us with threats of contacting our parents. While I half-expected Athena to storm our ship, scoop me up, hang me, and turn me into a flag, I was more afraid of the idea of Coach Hedge calling my mom. My mom has made it really clear that she does not want any grandbabies yet.

I thought we were safe from humiliating punishment until that night, Coach called for a group meeting. Leo said we’d never actually done that before on Argo II, so I knew something was up. It had just been an incredibly long day of near-death experiences so the fact that Annabeth and I dozed off was so far from my brain. As she laced her hands through mine while we walked from the lower cabin to the upper deck, it seemed to be far from her mind too.

It should have tipped me off that everyone was sitting towards Coach like he was performing a one-man show. Gods, I would imagine his singing voice would be on par with Chuck Norris and Dog the Bounty Hunter, just like the rest of his personality.

He set down a whiteboard on an easel and I could tell Annabeth was immediately cued in. My girlfriend is such a Brainiac and while ADHD like the rest of the demigods, her attentions were always easily grasped through organized visual aid, especially when it was educational. She looked cute when she was learning. She looked cute all of the time, because duh, it’s Annabeth, but her eyes get super focused and she leans forward a bit, occasionally nibbling on her lip.

I, on the other hand, am not taken with graphs or statistics the way I am with her. Whenever she feels the need to recite whatever he said, I’ll listen much more carefully from her. She must have felt my gaze, because I’m being far from discrete. Being away from her for all of that time, even if it was really only a few weeks for me, made me want to capture every detail of her and force myself to save it in safe keeping.

I thought she was going to smack me for zoning out so badly, but her face goes a little dumbfounded at whatever Coach is preaching and then her gray eyes flash to me in… Horror? Oh Gods, what did I miss?

She gently reaches out and turns my head to face the very red and very sweaty Coach Hedge, who looks the opposite of happy at me (or someone directly behind me). It takes me up until that moment to see everyone else is looking at me too, except they seem mad too, which is weird.

“Jackson!” He hollered and that brings me back to reality at a crashing rate.

It’s probably useless to say I was listening and play along.

“I was listening.” Stupid.    

His nostrils flared. “Tell me what I just said.”

I had one of those typical Percy Jackson moments. You know, the ones that make everyone around me gasp at my superior intellect and amazing capability of remaining hyper aware at all costs.

“Uh… Duh…?”

“Smooth.” Annabeth muttered.

“That’s what I thought.” He barked. “If you don’t get your head out of your bungle hole right now, I’m going to tie you to your mattress, so you can’t have another infraction like last night’s ever again.”

“Why don’t you leave that to Annabeth?” Leo snickered cheekily.

I felt my face turning hot while Annabeth gave Leo one of her trademark glares that sent him sliding into his seat to avoid her gaze. Coach didn’t seem impressed by the comment either, because he hovered over Leo and resembled an exploding bottle of ketchup.

“I would hold my tongue if I were you, Valdez. This talk is for all of you little horn-balls. I should expect this from the child of Aphrodite-”

“-Hey!” Piper said indignantly.

He powered on. “But since Annabeth Chase has been dirtied up, it can likely happen to any of you. So, that’s why we need to take a moment from all of this world-ending business and move onto a different kind of life-or-death.”

The glare he sent me when he said “dirtied up” made me want to sleep with my eyes open tonight. Or you know, forever.

“I have not been dirtied up!” Annabeth snapped. I admired her bravery, but we’d already gone in circles about how nothing even happened, and no one believed us. At this point, Coach Hedge was going to trust a son of Hermes not-guilty plea of pick-pocketing over us.      

“Oh really, I know your mother wouldn’t be pleased about your recent deeds.”    

“We didn’t-”

“-Save it!”

I could feel myself sweating and could practically hear my own heartbeat in my ears. The implication behind all of this was uncomfortable at best, even if we had been innocent. It was no secret that Annabeth was born from Athena, who was one of the Maiden Goddesses. In other words, she never biologically produced kids. While Aphrodite was definitely sex-positive when it came to her children, Athena was… Not. She saw more important values than love like battle strategies or instilling constant fear into her daughter’s boyfriend.

“Anyway, it’s time that I have a little talk with you kids. Nobody else seems to have so it’s up to me.”

Everyone around me got super pale and started stammering in disagreement. Me? I was just confused and trying to hide it. I mean, I can’t say I enjoy long conversations with Coach Hedge, but this had to be better than having to sleep outside in the rain or sharing a room with him, right?  

“Why should we have to sit through this?” Frank stumbled over his words and wouldn’t look at Hazel.

“Because I am becoming very aware that you folks seem to think this is a romantic couple’s cruise and I will be having none of it.”

“I am not part of a couple.” Leo pointed out.

“Yeah, but don’t think I haven’t noticed the goo-goo eyes you’ve been making at Miss Levesque here.”

Gods, it looked like Frank was wishing his eyes were snipers by the way he was glaring at Leo. Leo seemed very aware of this and once again sunk down in his seat in an ill attempt to become less of a target. His rescue came in the form of Hazel placing a hand on Frank’s bicep. He looked down at her and calmed down almost immediately. I’m usually the last guy to notice this kind of thing, but maybe being in love has sort of made me more attune to other people in love.

“This ship will not become the playboy mansion!” Coach emphasized this point by referring to a poster with the word “sex” scratched over with red slashes. “So, in order to stop this, I’m going to give you the talk my old man gave me: The Harpies and Aristaeus.”

“So, looking at ugly harpies made you swear off sex?”

Everyone groaned. I bet some of them were wishing they’d never picked me up in the first place, because I was still lost. Coach Hedge looked like he was about 3 seconds from chucking his clipboard at me.

Annabeth smacked my shoulder and was glaring at me with that “can you be more stupid” look in her stormy eyes. A deep blush clung to her cheeks and the back of her neck and if she didn’t already look mad enough to throw me overboard, I might have commented on how cute it was.

Still, she clarified. “Aristaeus is a minor God that is a protector of many arts, Percy. A big one is bee-keeping."

"How is bee-keeping an art?"

Thunder rolled in the distance.

"Sorry." I murmured and tried to put the pieces together.

The bee keeper? That still sounded lame. And what did that have to do with harpies?

        The harpies and the bee keeper.

        The ugly bird people and the bees.

        The birds and the- oh crap.

Needless to say, I felt dread. Like, titan-fighting dread. I couldn’t bring myself to look anywhere near Annabeth’s direction as it dawned on me. My sense of panic must have translated to the outside, because Coach seemed much smugger than he had been earlier. My tongue seemed to swell in my mouth and my face definitely invented its own shade of magenta for the occasion.  Everyone else looked pretty stiff too, but it was hard to believe anyone could be more awkward than me about this kind of thing.

“I had that talk with my mom… A while ago.” I tried, and it was true. It was painful then, but something told me hearing it from a big and loud half-goat with my girlfriend right beside me was going to be infinitely worse.

“Well, if you’re such an expert, you’re going to point out and name every part of the female reproduction system.”

Right then, I wished that maybe, just maybe, Gaia would rise early so I wouldn’t have to live through this. Wow, super selfish and absorbed, I know, but you have to understand that this is basically akin to slow and brutal torture. And I have been tortured before.

Gaia is spiteful and probably saw this as a lovely little way to prolong suffering.

The diagrams were awful and graphic. Coach wasn’t exactly a stand-up comedian, so he wasn’t joking about me having to point out and name every part of the female anatomy. I was wrong about almost all of it, but I couldn’t give the legitimate terms for the parts of the male anatomy either, I swear.

“Is this thing upside down?” I asked at one point.

“Poor Annabeth.” Murmured Piper to Jason, who looked just as dumbstruck and confused as me. Annabeth had her head in her hands out of pure mortification and I was wondering if the entire purpose of this exercise was to embarrass me so much that my girlfriend would never want to so much as touch me ever again, let alone do anything resembling sex.

“Poor Annabeth, indeed.” Coach Hedge agreed after shouting at me for getting the term “clitoris” wrong for the third (or was it fourth?) time.

“Why does Annabeth even need to know this? Doesn’t she just have brain babies like Athena? I mean… Can she have kids the normal way?” Leo asked.

She scowled. “I can’t have brain children and even if I could, it would require an impossibly strong connection of intelligence.”      

Everyone simultaneously turned back to me and Jason clicked his tongue. “Yeah, I guess that’s out of the question.”

“Hey!” I protested.

Consent was talked about, which shouldn’t have surprised me considering how many gross people live in the world. I guess I was just surprised that any sane person would be able to sleep at night knowing they’d just totally broken someone’s trust in mankind in such a violating way.

“NO MEANS NO!” He yelled over and over again. “MAYBE MEANS NO! MAYBE NOT MEANS NO! YES IS YES AND THAT IS ALL THERE IS TO IT.”

But it wasn’t, because he started grilling us on situations where consent was properly given. I passed this was flying colors, because honestly, I’m the kind of person that usually needs intense verification to do much of anything. You saw how long it took for me to admit I liked Annabeth. I know I am not always good with subtleties.

I glanced over at her, who also didn’t seem the least bit worried about this part. I gently took her hand and hoped that it reminded her that I would never hurt her.

Coach went on to explain protection, which seemed like it would be the most mild portion of this TED talk, but when he handed all of us bananas and condoms, I knew it was going to be bad.

“This seems excessive.” Hazel laughed nervously, which made sense since she’s not exactly from a time where even talking about this stuff is the norm. I can’t say I was too comfortable either. Plus, I was pretty perturbed about the fact that while everyone else had a full-sized banana, Annabeth had been given half of a carrot.

“I ran out of bananas.” Coach tried to justify but wasn’t fooling anyone.

“Sure.” I grumbled.

“If you don’t know how to put on a condom, you will die.”

Piper smirked. “Nice Mean Girls reference.”

We spent the next half hour explaining Mean Girls to him while simultaneously trying to take this fun little meeting off the rails. It worked a little bit and Coach even seemed to enjoy some of the smart remarks made in the movie, but he’d apparently drank a lot of persistence juice before calling us together so he was not being shaken from his original purpose.      

It turned into a contest at who could put it on the quickest and the most secure. Annabeth was the first to accomplish this feat, but again, she had the smallest and most slender object to work with. I didn’t do as badly as Leo or Frank, who kept dropping the banana.

“It’s not really staying on.” Annabeth murmured and wouldn’t look at me.

Leo snickered. “Poor Annabeth again.”

This time, she thumped him upside the head and I would be remiss to say I didn’t support the reaction.

“Valdez, I’d hold your judgment since you can’t even seem to finish.”

I laughed this time.

Coach realized we were all having a little too much fun with this exercise and went on to explain the intricacy of orgasms, both male and female. I felt my stomach lurching again, especially as he was clearly trying to dispel any positive thoughts from the girls’ minds by harping over the fact that guys our age do not last long in bed. I was trying to find other stuff to focus on, like the impending mortal threats that were coming our way, but he kept reeling me back in by using me as an example.

“Take Jackson, here--”      

“Please don’t.”

This didn’t stop him. “Someone of his anxiousness and stupidity would have no idea how to pleasure a woman. He’s better suited at maneuvering the Labyrinth than the vagina. He proved that earlier.”

“Thanks for that.”

“I can promise you, that the 15 seconds will not be worth it. And that applies to all of you boys.”

Needless to say, it got a lot worse before it got better. Frank was asked what the best way to prevent teenage pregnancy was, was given the hint that it started with an “A”, and then panicked and said “anal” instead of abstinence. Hazel took a solid 4 steps away from him then and I thought the big guy was going to throw up. Jason, Hazel, and I were then given a nice chat about how if we had children, they would be so powerful that there would be a quorum about whether or not they should even live. Leo asked if it was possible that he would accidentally light a girl on fire mid intercourse. The answer was yes. Annabeth was the only one born of a virgin Goddess present, so of course the majority of her segment focused on “purity” and “clear-thinking” and also the mention of her mother’s intense disapproval.

She’d told me about how her mom already claimed she failed her and I could see her flinch at the idea of failing her further, but then unexpectedly, her gaze turned to a hard steel.

“Hold on a second,” She said angrily, and I knew that look. I’ve been on the other side of that look many a time. She gave me that look a lot in our time of knowing each other, especially when I was being dumb about whether or not she liked me/whether or not I should admit I liked her.      

“What is it, Chase?” He asked gruffly.      

“This is ridiculous.” She snapped. “How is virginity, which isn’t even a physical or tangible thing, something that could possibly increase or decrease my value as a human being?”

“Well…” He started, but she didn’t let him continue.

“If Percy and I have sex, does that make him a terrible person and me dirty? Because that’s how you made it sound earlier.”

Hearing it point blank like that almost made me swallow my tongue and frankly, made my heart race a bit more than I’d ever admit.

“Not on my-” He was going to say “watch”, but she pushed onward with confidence akin to when she’s marching into battle.

“We talked about consent earlier, so clearly you understand the concept of it being my body and my choice at what I want to do with it. So tell me, how is sex more deplorable than going on life-threatening quests that could potentially rip me limb from limb? How is that encouraged, but something that is so biologically basic and innate is considered irredeemable? Do I suddenly become less if I decide I want to feel human every once in a while?”

“You don’t want to get-”

“-Pregnant, I know, and you’re right. I don’t right now, but I’m not exactly an idiot. There are ways of preventing that as we talked about earlier. That is all this should be about, though. Preventing pregnancy, preventing STI’s/STDs, consent, understanding the body, etc. Not guilt about a very natural and human experience. Given the lives we’ve lived, I’d say we deserve it.”

My mouth hung open like the hinges of my jaw had broken and I was left with an open cavern for a mouth for the rest of my life. I tried to shy away from Coach’s shocked stare as if to say, “don’t look at me, I didn’t tell her to say that”, but I couldn’t. I agreed with Annabeth, of course, because she should be the one to get to decide what she does. She’s proven herself capable of that more than a billion times.

I met her gaze while she sat back down and she closed my mouth for me, the smallest remnants of a smile lingering on her lips. Her stare was… hard to read, but I couldn’t seem to stop looking at her. Everyone else seemed to follow my lead, with Jason whistling slightly in approval of her tangent, Piper looking like she wanted to fist-bump her, Hazel smiled cautiously, Frank seemed relieved she shut Hedge up, and Leo looked a little scared and a little aroused.

Hedge cleared his throat as he muttered the words “meeting adjourned” roughly under his breath. Everyone made their move to get away from each other as quickly as possible. We could all probably use a moment to ourselves after that utter humiliation. In the end, Hedge ended up getting the short end of the carrot, so that was semi satisfying.

Annabeth and I walked to our respective quarters in silence and my mind raced on whether or not there was a good thing to say right now. What was appropriate for this moment?

        "Thanks for stopping him before he got to sex toys."

        "I literally cannot stop sweating right now."

        "FYI: mine isn't the size or color of a small carrot."

Thankfully, she spoke. However, when she did, I couldn’t have seen it coming if it was right in front of my face.

“Do you ever think of me like that?” It was so rushed and abrupt that I’m not totally sure she even meant to say it.

I swallowed hard, but I knew if I didn’t answer quickly enough she was either going to get offended or annoyed and I didn’t want either right now after she’d basically saved us all from having to sign anti-pregnancy pacts.

“Sometimes.” I tried to make it sound casual, like I wasn’t a horny, sex-obsessed teenage boy that spent all of him time ogling his girlfriend. I definitely ogled at her, but not like she was an object or anything. She’s just insanely beautiful. Truthfully, I always felt lucky she’d have me in any capacity and didn’t really register that she might want me in that way. Also, I’m usually busy thinking about simple things like food or whether or not I’m going to die painfully in battle. But the thought occurred to me on occasion. Like when we go swimming and she’s climbing out of the water in a bikini or when she sits on my lap and wriggles around a little too much.

The time we made out in the strawberry fields and she placed my hand under her shirt made all the blood leave my brain just thinking about it.

“You?” I asked.

“Sometimes.” She affirmed and looked away and it was obvious in the dim lighting of the hallway that she was blushing again. I couldn’t help but wonder when in Hades she saw me like that, because I’m not exactly smooth. That didn’t mean I wasn’t grateful she did.

“So…” I rocked back and forth on my heels. “You… Want to? Someday? Not today. Obviously not today, but at some point in our lives you want to-”

Thanks, the Gods almighty, because she cut me off from that embarrassing tangent with a kiss. I felt myself relax against her immediately, because she wasn’t totally repulsed by me after both my inability to correctly label the female anatomy or my stupid tendency to make things more awkward somehow. Her fingers threaded in my hair and she tugged a little bit out of satisfaction. My hands found their usual residence on her waist. Her tongue slipped into my mouth and she smiled against my mouth when I inadvertently moaned in response. We stayed like that for a while, her tangling her fingers in my hair while pressing me against the door of my cabin, my hands playing with the loops of her jean shorts, everything seeming impossibly right with the world.

She pulled back and looked at me through sparkling eyes that danced with a knowingness that I will probably never fully understand or stop appreciating. She gently tapped her fingers along the back of my neck in a light drumming movement. She leaned up and kissed me again, this time chaste, which was probably for the best since Coach Hedge would likely be doing some kind of inspection soon.

“We’ll get there.” She smiled, and I wondered if she could feel my heart doing jumping jacks in my chest cavity. “Soon.”

Soon.

She opened the door to her cabin and winked at me before leaving me to the influx of thoughts that decided to attack my brain all at once, leaving me standing there like a big dumb idiot. I wouldn't even have been surprised if I ended up standing here all night out of shock and... Anticipation? She was always going to be miles ahead of me, but I was more than okay with that.

[arrowheadproductions]

Hey guys!

I’m back on tumblr! Changing some things from the last time I was on here. All of my older fics are still in tact and all that (and are going nowhere), but I’m going to create a directory so you can find stuff easier. 

Here’s a list of all of the things I’m writing for and the corresponding romantic ships that you can feel free to request stuff from:

Batfamily (ships: BatCat, Dickbabs, pretty much anyone with Tim or Jason as long as it isn’t incestuous/rape/abusive)

Arrow (ships: Olicity and Dyla)

Star Wars (ships: Han/Leia, Finn/Rey, Kanan/Hera)

Harry Potter (ships: pretty much anything that’s not incestuous/rapey/abusive)

Percy Jackson & The Olympians (ships: Percabeth is my main but I’m cool with all of the secondary ships too)

Psych (ships: Shules)

The X-Files (Mulder/Scully)

Not all of this stuff will be posted to Ao3, but when they are, I’ll include a link! 

[arrowheadproductions]

I love the story you wrote called 'Wedding of the Year' I thought it was great and all this DickBabs feels, amazing! I was wondering if you could have DickBabs wedding (Of course if you want to) Or some young DickBabs as Batgirl and Robin. Or Dick helping Barbara after the surgery that made her legs back?

Wow thank you so much! I have other stuff coming in the series eventually, which may or may not include the possibility of Dick and Babs getting married. All I’ll say is that the next installment will kick off about a year later.

[arrowheadproductions]

Old Habits Do Die

He wasn’t doing it to win her back; he was doing it because he was trying to grow. Maybe that’s what made it all the better.

Curtis asked her if she wanted a ride home. He was wonderful that way. For as much as the man talked (honestly between the two of them, Felicity wondered if the sound barrier would eventually explode), he had a pretty decent read on her as far as her temperament went. He’d also proven to be quite a useful confidant for the most part.

Suddenly, she was feeling like the very thing that broke her heart in the first place. 

Billy easily could be a good confidant as well, but she wasn’t ready to open up to him. Hell, in the grand spectrum of things she wasn’t all that vulnerable with Curtis either. There was a lot he didn’t know, a lot he couldn’t see. In fact, there were times when she would downright lie to him. 

Like earlier, when Curtis suggested she talk to Oliver about the Havenrock situation and she flippantly replied that she and Oliver didn’t have that sort of relationship anymore. As much as she would like to believe that, it just wasn’t true. For God’s sake, they worked alone together all summer. She couldn’t think of a time where Oliver treated her more like an inclusive partner than he did now. Nothing he did or was going to do happened without consoling in her first. He trusted her at such an unconditional and unfathomable level that even she had trouble coming to grips with it.

He inspired her to tell Rory about Havenrock. No matter how much Curtis poked and prodded, she wasn’t sure she would have ever done it had Oliver not blown it out of the water with her own words. Trust was a necessity, whether it meant airing dirty laundry or not.

She resisted the urge to talk to him about Havenrock at all times. It was the one thing she tucked away for herself. She knew if she and Oliver discussed it, he would be able to alleviate some of her guilt. He was like that. He understood guilt more than anyone and hated the idea of her experiencing a fraction of what he’s dealt with all these years. 

She cringed at the idea of the weight that rested on his chest all this time.

Felicity didn’t feel like she deserved such forgiveness, such compassion. She deserved to suffer quietly on her own, because she was her own worst critic. Well... Maybe not as bad as Rory could be. It all depended on how he eventually moved on from what she told him. 

She also knew she would break down in front of Oliver and God, that was not something she wanted to do. She could hold it in while interacting with Billy, the rest of the team, or even her mother, but not Oliver. The second that door opened, the flood would burst through and she couldn’t control the very little emotional security she’d managed to create... Even if it was a facade. 

Maybe it was the drinks she poured herself in the wake of breaking the horrific news to a heartbroken Rory. Maybe it was her hysterical guilt. Maybe it was the televised conference where a confident and honest man took responsibility while simultaneously instilling hope and unity into any unknowing viewer, let alone someone directly and constantly affected by him.

Honestly, it was probably all of those things, but regardless how much she wanted to deny it, Oliver Queen was growing and she had to decide how she was going to do the same. She was internally conflicted in the sense that every time she told herself she moved on, the quiet but persistent voice within said otherwise.

“I’ve moved on.”

Then how come you’re sitting alone in your apartment, drinking Russian Vodka and crying over Oliver Queen... Again.

“I’ve got a boyfriend.”

Who you’ve barely revealed an ounce of truth to...

“We’re no good for each other. That’s been proved.”

You left the second things got hard.

“He’s not doing any of this for me. He’s listening to me, because I’m his partner and he trusts me. He’s growing up, because he’s a hero and to be a hero, you’ve got to be vulnerable with those closest to you. It’s not about me.”

And that’s what you love the most about it. It’s what you love most about him. He never gives up and that is a habit that will never die.

“I hope not.”

[arrowheadproductions]

I NEED A SEQUAL TO "SALMON" BECAUSE THAT WAS SO PERFECT OH MY GOD I LOVE HOW YOU ENDED IT WITH A NICE NOD TO HARLEY QUINN!!!!!!!!!! JUST WHAT I NEEDED RIGHT NOW HONESTLY.

I’m really glad you enjoyed it! I might write something from Oliver’s perspective at some point, but I don’t really think there are any realizations to be had as far as he’s concerned. He loves Felicity, he knows he could only ever love Felicity, and he knows he screwed up. I think at the end of the season, we’ll see him more fully realized in the sense that he needs to fully let the people he loves in to be a real hero and that his “legacy” is going to weigh on those that love him and their memories with him. Later in the year, if I see more geared towards that, I’ll write it.

[arrowheadproductions]

I loved your oneshot "Salmon", because it's really a breath of fresh air to see Felicity's side of the story and not in a way that demonizes Oliver. This is a very healthy analysis of their relationship from an impartial source (though harley totally ships it by the end) that shows they've both made mistakes and need to work on them together, because there's no use in trying to go at it alone. Bravo!

I’d been wanting to read or write something from Felicity’s perspective and in a healthy way no less. It’s funny because like a lot of other passionate fans, sometimes I lose myself in the idea of wanting Oliver and Felicity reunited ASAP, but in reality all of this is just the workings of something EPIC. I think it��ll be a process so I wanted to write this as a beginning to that process.

[arrowheadproductions]

Salmon

It’s remarkable how something as seemingly innocent as a piece of workout equipment can remind someone of avoided concerns.

"Why are you here?”

“Well, my ex was working out again and it was really stressing me out.”

“Why were you watching your ex work out?”

“If you saw what the man could do with a salmon ladder, you would too.”

“... Anyway, that can’t be the actual source of your frustrations.”

“Apparently, I’m having issues opening up, which if you knew me, you’d laugh at how ironic that is. I literally never shut the hell up.”

“Being talkative and being vulnerable are two very different things.”

“Look, I’ve been on the other side of trying to get someone else to open up. I’m the talker, the sharer, the confidant. You name it. I understand the back and forth of it all and how important it is to be open and honest with romantic partners... Or even just partners in general.”

“I’m guessing you’re referring to that ex again?”

“Muscly bastard.”

“What do you hope to accomplish from meeting?”

“I’ve been very overwhelmed lately and I’d like to get over that. I don’t think there’s much you can do about that.”

“Trying never hurt anyone.”

“You’ve never dated then.”

“Is that the source of your anxiety? How long have you been with your boyfriend?”

“About two months or so.”

“It’s still a fairly new relationship then. Did the honeymoon phase end quickly?”

“He wants to move forward with the relationship and I know I’m not ready to do that, because moving forward means he’ll want to meet my friends, see me at work, have sex-”

“You haven’t had sex?”

“Why does that matter?”

“Nothing if you’re holding off for the right reasons.”

“And what are the right reasons?”

“Because you want to hold off not because you’re afraid to be close with this man. And what’s so wrong with him meeting your friends?”

“I don’t think he would appreciate the company I surround myself with.”

“Oh no?”

“I work with my ex... the muscly one. And we spend a lot of time together. In fact, we spent the entire summer alone together. It’s one of the reasons I said yes to Billy when he asked me out. Spending constant time with someone you were supposed to marry takes a toll.”

“Did he ever make a move on you?”

“We may have slipped up once or twice... It was FIVE months.”

“That’s a very long time to be alone with anyone you’re attracted to, let alone someone you used to love. Why did you break up with this other guy? It seems like he’s got an intoxicating hold on you.”

“He lied to me about something really important for a long time. I have this thing with honesty.”

“It’s a good thing to have. Trust is integral to a relationship and if you don’t have that, you don’t have anything.”

“I know and maybe that’s why I’m here. I can’t bring myself to being honest with Billy about a lot of things. Hell, there are things he can never know. Partially because they’re not my secrets to tell and mostly because I know he couldn’t handle it.”

“You’ve had a troubled past, eh?”

“Oh my past was cake compared to what my life has become now.”

“Care to talk about it?”

“I can’t.”

“Miss Smoak, none of this is going to work very well if you can’t find some way to open up. Otherwise, every lethal secret whether it be yours or not is going to eat you up inside.”

“I have a few friends in my inner circle who I can trust, one person who happens to again be...”

“... Your ex. I thought you said you couldn’t trust him?”

“It’s definitely more complicated than that. Again, I can’t even digress why, because it’s not my secret to tell. Honestly, if he’d just realized that I’m a vault when it comes to secrets, we wouldn’t be here.”

“So he lied and you left.”

“Yep.”

“And you still spend all of your time with him?”

“Honestly, my time is divided between him and Billy. Billy wouldn’t be pleased to know I spend more time with Oliver.”

“Who you were going to marry.”

“Correct. Can we get back to me?”

“We are on you.”

“But I mean away from Oliver... This isn’t even about him. I have all this stuff I can’t tell my boyfriend, but need to save this relationship.”

“Which one?”

“... What do you mean?”

“Can you tell me a bit about Oliver?”

“Really dude?”

“He’s clearly a huge part of your life. You’re the one who keeps inadvertently mentioning him every other sentence. It’s amazing Billy hasn’t figured anything out.”

“There’s nothing to figure out.”

“You were going to marry him and you broke each other’s hearts. You spend all your alone time together, you had sex this summer when the loneliness became too much, and he’s the only person you can wholly trust. Felicity, you’ve become so sexually frustrated by him that you checked yourself into therapy after watching him work out. Clearly, you feel guilty about this too.”

“It’s hard to get over someone like that, okay? We’re just very interwoven in a way that I don’t expect many people to understand. I try to keep the two world’s separate as best as I can, but everything is imploding.”

“Oliver doesn’t know about Billy and Billy doesn’t know about Oliver.”

“Sadly.”

“What’s Oliver like?”

“I mean... He was a great boyfriend, almost a perfect boyfriend, outside of the lying. As you know, he’s been through a lot, but I know a lot more so I can say he’s been through more than any human being should ever have to endure. In spite of that, he inspires such hope and... love in people’s hearts. I’ve seen it first hand. I’ve felt it first hand. You can’t just walk into a room and not be taken over by the fact that he’s there, standing tall, unmoving, and determined. I’ve never loved nor felt loved harder than I have with him.”

“And Billy?”

"He’s a great guy and cares a lot about this city too. It’s one of the reasons I was drawn to him.”

“Felicity, why do you want to put this much work in your relationship with Billy?”

“Because I need to.”

“Why?”

“I... I don’t know. I’m afraid that if I don’t, I’ll never be able to be normal with anyone, but what I’m very quickly discovering is the fact that I can’t be totally honest with the guy. I’ll never be able to be in a functioning relationship if I can’t with him. It’s extremely disheartening.”

“I think you’re even more conflicted than that.”

“Really? Great.”

“I think you’re stuck between being afraid you’ll never have a normal life with anyone else ever again and being afraid that the person you can be yourself with has hurt you before and you’re afraid to try again. Now, I can’t make you tell me what Oliver lied about or why he did it, but I really want you to consider whether or not he’s grown from it.”

“He’s trying. I know he’s trying. I don’t think he’ll ever stop trying.”

“Do you want him to stop?”

"I don’t think so.”

“Can you picture a life without him in it?”

“That’s impossible.”

“Do you love him?”

“... That will never be at question for me. Ever. No matter what happens, I have and always will love him and maybe that’s why I’m so scared, because I feel like he could do anything and I would still feel this way for him.”

“You’re trying to protect yourself from being hurt again.”

“Exactly.”

“By hurting yourself and some other guy by being with the wrong person.”

“It’s a real Catch 22, huh?”

"I can’t tell you what to do, but I know what love looks like. If I had to pinpoint why you’re here, it’s because you wanted me to tell you not to go back to Oliver. However, I’m not going to do that and I don’t think you even want me to do that anymore. All I’m going to say is this: you can only win the lottery if you play and sometimes you just need to decide if the payoff is worth the risk.”

“... I’m going to call Billy.”

“I think that’s a good step.”

“It’s been nice speaking to you.”

“Sadly, I won’t be here if you choose to stop back. I’ve been transferred to working with a higher grade of psychoanalytical work.”

“Congratulations! Where?”

“Over in Gotham. Their psychopaths would give Star City a run for their money.”

“I think you’ll do great there. Best of luck to you, Dr. Quinzel.”

“Same to you, Felicity.”

[arrowheadproductions]

For some effed up reason, your fics that you have behind a cut. Can't access them through the tumblr app.

I haven’t been having any problems on my end on mobile... that’s so weird?

[arrowheadproductions]

Hello, hope everything is well with you! I just read Mr. and Mrs. Smoak and loved it SO MUCH! You're so talented with the way you write the characters, and I'm so glad you included Roy, haha. I was feeling a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the story, especially near the end. I thought Oliver getting shot was bad? My poor baby : ( And then I learned it was up to the nurse whether Oliver lived? Omg, that scene was so creepy but creative, haha. Love your stories!<3 <3 <3

Thank you so much that really means alot!

[arrowheadproductions]

Can I make a suggestion? Oliver and Felicity attend a high school reunion together and all of Felicity's old friends gawk over Oliver.

I haven’t written in a while, but I figured this was a good prompt to get my feet wet. Also, I’m really sorry but I kind of ignored half of this prompt, because a plot bunny of my own struck.

Schoolgirl Days

When Felicity was hesitant to attend her High School reunion, Oliver was under the assumption that it was because she was a social outcast. When he arrives by her side, he realizes why her caution was warranted. 

“Why are you so insistent about us coming here?” Felicity grumbled as she and Oliver exited the car and stepped into the dry Nevada air. Despite the sun being down, the June heat was still present and made any unlucky individual want to climb into an air conditioning unit. Instead of taking her chance and moving towards the school, she remained arms crossed in front of the car, clearly defiant.

“Besides the fact that we just got done fighting yet another killer threat and could use a mini vacation?”

“This is your idea of vacationing? Take me to the beach; not my hometown.”

“We’ve been together for two years and for as much as you talk, which is a very charming quality, you never talk about this stage in your life. To be frank, I’m curious why you desperately don’t want to go.”

“Oh, you’ve got a lot of guts. How about we go back to Lian Yu and talk about those fun times for you?”

“Did you really just compare your high school experience to my time washed away from civilization where I was physically, mentally, and emotionally tortured?”

Felicity paused and wrinkled her nose at herself. “I’m sorry. You’re right, that was in poor taste and completely incomparable.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, at least you had a beach.”

“Fel-”

“-Kidding!” She raised her hands in defeat with a sheepish smile to accompany. 

“You’re not getting out of this.”

“Technically, you can’t make me go in there.”

“Look, I know you weren’t exactly… Uh… Top of the food chain in high school-”

“-What?” 

“-And I was, so I’m sure I can’t really understand the emotional trauma that is revisiting such sucky times in your life.”

“Wait a sec-”

“-But I want you to know that it doesn’t matter to me that you were a los… outsider in high school, because kids are mean and you’ve always deserved better than to be hailed captain of the geek squad.”

“Oliver!” She waved her hand in front of his face. “Hey, um, you know what? I changed my mind. Let’s go in.”

“Really? Cool. I’m here for you, no matter what. Remember that.”

“Sure hon.”

However, when Felicity and he walked through the door, a whole bunch of people came over to them and shook her hand, talking about how good she looked and how good it was to see her. Not to mention, a lot of people brought up a lot of anecdotal high school stories. 

To Oliver’s annoyance, Felicity had some high school boyfriends that were trying to slither their way back into her life. Each were tall, handsome and successful, which to be fair didn’t exactly replicate their high school yearbook photos, but regardless it irked him.

It irked him that she never talked about any of this stuff. She seemed to be having a relatively good time catching up with students and teachers from long ago. So why hide it all? Maybe she wasn’t the Queen B of the school, but she had a large enough group of friends to call herself popular.

It wasn’t hard for him to make his way through the crowd, given how he typically used his savviness was much harder. It was as if Felicity could mentally sense his presence, because without looking, she looped her arms around his waist while continuing her conversation with the, slightly dismayed, former boyfriend. 

“So you’re Felicity’s boyfriend, huh? I bet it sucks being so publicized. It is kind of nice being in the know about my girl here, but it would be nicer if she wrote.” A tall dark-skinned woman with shining hazel eyes teased.

“Beth, for the millionth time, you really need to get wifi or internet of some kind, because I’m much more of a tech gal.”

“Oh we know. Felicity built a 6 foot robot in the 10th grade. It was amazing.” Boyfriend #2 grinned in pride. “I mean, I helped-”

“-you handed me tools.” She smirked.

“-Still!” He teased.

“Yeah, she’s amazing.” Oliver answered honestly.

“How did you get so high up at Palmer tech?” One slightly suspicious voice from the rest popped out. By the look on Felicity’s face, she wasn’t pleased to hear it. Apparently she and boyfriend #3 were not on excellent parting terms. 

To be fair, he did look the most snide among all of them. Despite their clear desire to get her back, the other two were happy for her and respectful of her. This one just seemed plain annoyed that she’d been doing so well.

“Oh, hey Dalton.” She replied dryly.

Oliver looked around as some people raised their eyebrows and dissipated to seemingly get drinks. However, they clearly knew something he didn’t, because they cleared out real fast and the atmosphere was icy. Instead, they lingered within earshot out of curiosity, but appeared respectful of the conversation.

“Oliver Queen right?” He eyed Oliver up, clearly unimpressed, despite being a full 4 inches or so shorter than Oliver and not nearly measuring up as far as muscle mass went. In fact, he was quite lanky. No, the kind of superiority he carried was that of an intellectual level, but Oliver just rolled his eyes at that.

“Yep. And you are…?” He tried not to revel in the glare he was shot.

“Dalton Cobe. Felicity and I were neck and neck for Valedictorian, but she managed to somehow take it from me despite our matching GPA’s of 4.138.”

“That’s… More than a perfect GPA?” Oliver questioned.

“Believe it or not, big shot, there is this thing called extra credit, something I’m sure you only utilized to graduate at the skin of your teeth with.”

“I got it because I was in more extra curriculars than you. Plus, I had perfect SAT scores.”

“False. We were in all the same clubs. Our scores matched! People thought we cheated until it was proven otherwise.”

“Look, I earned it, and really, it made no difference. You went to Harvard like you’d always wanted and I got into MIT like I’d always wanted. We’re both successful.”

“-I’ve won a nobel peace prize.”

“… Which is cool.” She shrugged. “I’m happy for you.”

“I was Valedictorian of my college class.”

“So was I.”

“I graduated early.”

“Same.”

“Two years early.”

“Mhmm.”

Oliver’s head was going back and forth, because it was honestly like witnessing a nerd-off. Felicity was so cool and collect, clearly not doubting for a second that she earned every accomplishment she achieved and she was right for not letting the creep get under her skin.

“And then you moved to Starling city and took a boring yet well-paying job as a typical IT girl, not planning to amount to anything…”

“Things change.”

“Yes, yes they do, because very quickly were you promoted, if that’s what you want to call it, to Executive Assistant to none other than the man you are currently sleeping with. Fishy, yes, but it gets worse. Then, you’re promoted to Vice president by a man named Ray Palmer, who you were also sleeping with. Then, said man made you president in his dying will, which again, you slept with him.”

Felicity’s jaw tightened and everyone stared at her, waiting for her to comeback with something in denial of that statement. 

“If I were a man, none of my personal affairs would matter.” She gritted.

“But you’re not, and instead of setting a powerful example for women everywhere, showing them how to fight an honest fight to the top, you followed in your mother’s footsteps by taking it in the bottom before heading to the top.”

“Leave my mother out of this.”

“What? Oh, you don’t know? The reason Felicity got Valedictorian is because her mother slept with the principal.” He started laughing maniacally and then grew very serious. “Like mother, like daughter. Whores.”

Oliver gave into any resistance he had prior and sucker-punched Dalton Cobe so hard that the man went flying back unconscious into the food table, effectively knocking everything on top of him.

Breathing heavily and trying to come down from the red streak that washed over him, Oliver unclenched his fists and turned to look at those around him, who all fell silent. Felicity had a rather mixed look on her face. There was surprise, but also some “I totally called this”, anger, pride, fear, and despite whatever else she’d been feeling, love.

“We didn’t see anything.” A man in a grey suit spoke up.

“Can’t believe that dick just punched himself in the face.”

“He’s breathing. I didn’t see anything.”

It seemed no one really liked Dalton Cobe and that Oliver was going to catch a huge break… From the authorities. Of course he and Felicity left immediately and by her lack of words, he knew he was in for it.

When they got in the car, they sat in silence for a moment before looking at each other. 

“You’re an idiot.” She shook her head.

“Felicity, he was way out of line.”

“I don’t disagree, but you’re a mayor. You can’t just go around punching whoever dishonors me… Not as Oliver Queen anyway.”

“If someone disrespects you, I’m not taking that laying down.”

“You could have just threatened him or something.”

“I’m not great with words.”

“Yeah, well you are good at apparently Hulk-smashing people across a room in front of my old peers.”

“They seemed impressed. Wait a minute, are you embarrassed of me?”

“No-”

“-Oh my God… You didn’t want to come because of me… Not because you were a loser.”

“First of all, when did I ever say I was a loser in high school, huh?”

“You haven’t said anything about high school, Felicity. I had to draw some conclusions to piece stuff together.”

“And you just openly assumed I was a loser?”

“Well… You’re definitely on the nerdier side and I know how awkward puberty can be… I know if I met you in high school… Er…”

“I know you were a dick in high school. It really doesn’t offend me that you wouldn’t notice me. Really. It only matters who you are now, which is apparently someone who still thinks of me as someone who’s a loser on the inside.”

“You wouldn’t have been the loser though. The other kids, like myself, would have been for not recognizing how beautiful, kind-hearted, and witty you are.”

“Only they did.”

“And I’m glad to be wrong, really, I am. That whole time I was in there I was trying to think of reasons you didn’t want to come tonight, which brings me back to you being embarrassed of me.”

“Oliver, I am not embarrassed of you.”

“Really, because you totally knew I was going to overreact at some point judging by the look on your face. In fact, you actually distanced yourself from me for the most of the night.”

“I didn’t do that because I’m embarrassed of you… I did that because I knew everyone was going to ask a lot of questions I didn’t have answers to thanks to the life we lead.”

“Oh.”

“Which is my choice and I wouldn’t change any of it for the world. But God, while everyone else is talking hobbies, vacations, and aspirations, I’ve got to make shit up really quick and you know I suck at lying.”

“Yeah you do.”

“And honestly a lot of times our vigilante lifestyle bleeds into our “real-life”. How did I go from IT to assistant to VP to president in the span of 3 years when I slept with both men involved in promoting me? How did you and I get together? Well, I certainly can’t say after a year of unresolved sexual tension we fucked in one of the League of Assassin’s chambers. How do I stay in Star City despite the annual terrorist threats that invade the city? How do I stay safe?”

“I could have helped.”

“You’re worse at lying than me! Remember when my mom asked how we met and you said “soup”. I had to come up with a whole lie about how I accidentally spilled soup all over you.”

“That did happen eventually.”

“Which made it an easier lie, but still.”

“I’m sorry I assumed the worst when you said you didn’t want to come to this thing. I’m also sorry the life we lead prevents this from being normal for you. Why don’t you like talking about high school?”

“I would… If my mom didn’t really sleep with the principal to insure my spot as Valedictorian.”

“… What?”

“To be fair, she only did it because Dalton only dated me to try and distract me/throw me out of the running so he could get it. I dumped him when I figured it out. I felt so stupid.”

“Hey.” Oliver wrapped his arm around her and she met his eyes.

“I’ve never met anyone more deserving of their achievements than you. Everyone needs a little help sometimes and maybe that means fighting back when people try to take away what you’ve worked for. You deserved Valedictorian and Dalton deserved that punch in the face.”

She laughed. “He did, didn’t he?”

“Total dick.”

She gently picked up the hand he’d hit Dalton with. “Does your hand hurt?”

“Nah. Honestly, it was like punching paper. Kid has weak bone structure.”

“Even though your attempt was misguided, I recognize your pure intentions in protecting me and even though it’s frustrating at times, I’m glad I have you.”

“Really?”

“Oliver, have you seen yourself? How could I ever be embarrassed of all this?” She wiggled her finger in circular motions to encompass Oliver’s entire being. 

“So you just like me for my looks?”

She crawled into his lap, straddling him. “I’ll show you just how much I like you.”

“In the school parking lot?”

“Something tells me this wouldn’t be the first time for you.”

“… Not at this school.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

[arrowheadproductions]

Sorry for the hiatus! Had some family stuff going on, but I am back. Busy, but back and trying to be as present as possible.

[arrowheadproductions]

Never imagined someone would make fanart for one of my stories. Super cool!

My edit for Tangled Souls- A story by @arrowheadproductions