#its just like time traveler!percy

[ellilyre]

CW unconventionally sh

Do you think Nico ever uses shadow traveling as a kind of sh ?

Sometimes he purposely shadow travels too much, for too long, not by necessity but just to then feel himself fade away.

Because for a few instants it's like he doesn't exist anymore, like he erased himself from the world and it feels right. Or maybe is it the adrenaline that follows being so close to disappearing, for an instant he feels glad to be alive.

[elisedonut]

fuck i'm actually going to end up enjoying Sevpercy huh

maybe in a picky I like them when they are in my head or when I do it kind of way

or in a time travel way because when it comes to Snape I like his teenage self a lot more than his adult self

[aroaceleovaldez]

very specific opinion i have:

I don’t think the Lotus Hotel & Casino should automatically acclimate its inhabitants to the modern time period, because the entire point of the hotel is that it’s trying to keep people there and they will never leave, so the ideal scenario is to prevent them from experiencing the passage of time. The best way to do that would be to keep things changing as little as possible from the guests’ perspectives, and convince them they’ve spent less time there than they thought.

Even though the guests are canonically in a sort of daze, Percy specifically notes that time felt extremely distorted in the hotel, not just in the sense of “we were here for what felt like hours but outside the hotel it was a week,” but in more of a “It only feels like we’ve been here like half an hour, but i guess it might have actually been a couple hours or so- oh, a week has passed outside.”

I like to imagine the hotel is actually pretty labyrinthine when you start getting into it, and the deeper you go the older the sections of the hotel start becoming, so you get these really eerie effects when traveling through it. Especially since the hotel would theoretically shift with the other mythological locations, so if you go back far enough the hotel probably starts getting really weird, because also it’s just kind of infinite inside. People have definitely gotten lost in the depths of the hotel forever, outside of the whole never leaving the hotel thing. The di Angelo siblings might have been slightly extra resistant to the daze effect though and so were able to travel further outside their designated era wing than they normally would and start noticing that there was Something Really Weird Going On. But it still probably would have taken them awhile.

[wordsarelife]

—would’ve, could’ve, should’ve

pairing: luke castellan x fem!poseidon!reader

summary: you try to live with the loss of luke castellan and the betrayal he brought upon you

warning: angst

notes: the timeline is all over the place lmao. i haven't read the books yet (i probably will in the future) so i have no idea how or when luke got claimed. i just made it up for the sake of the story, hope that's alright :)

the wind splashed in your face like the ocean did when you would throw your body in the water. it was different, colder than it normally was. you weren’t used to the shiver your body felt, you had always felt at ease at camp halfblood.

now it was nothing like it used to be.

percy and annabeth were down at the camp, far away from the cliffside you were standing on, probably consoling each other.

you had felt nothing but loneliness from the moment he had left.

not even your brother or annabeth could’ve done something to change that.

you felt almost the same you did the day you came to camp. afraid and nervous, hands holding on to luke as you ran after him. thalia, annabeth and grover not far behind you.

but you had felt a bit of familiarity that day too. everything was new to you, but luke wasn’t. you had grown up together, experiencing the first effects of being a half-god side by side. there was no one who could take on the role he had held for you.

you stared into the clouds, the width of the sky in front of you, as your mind wandered back.

“look at the water!” annabeth called loudly.

your hand gripped luke’s arm, as both of you watched the giant wave travel to the shore.

“poseidon” an unknown boy behind you muttered and luke and you exchanged glances.

the wave broke down right in front of you, soft water glistening onto your feet as the lake opened up, perfectly wide enough for you to stand in without getting wet.

“what?” you mumbled, as the water fell back into its position right as luke was trying to follow you. it drenched you completely, but as your hand moved forward it bend away beneath your touch, moving just as you guided it to.

“she got claimed by poseidon” a few girls muttered in awe.

“claimed?” you repeated, still standing in the lake. you looked at luke, as if he knew any better than you.

you had to move out of the hermes cabin the same day and into a shed that felt less like a home and more like a punishment.

you had been overwhelmed at the bustling loudness of the hermes cabin at first, but now you were missing it. luke slept next to you for the first week, until you decided that you had to do this on your own. still, luke spend every evening with you, until the last alarm rang out and he had to leave if he didn’t want to be caught outside after nighttime (or eaten by harpies).

luke and you only grew closer during your time at camp. you did everything together. people got used to it quickly, always pointing out if one of you was missing.

luke found solace in your presence, telling you about his shattered hope regarding his father, someone who was still unknown to him. and you felt bad about it. it had taken days for you to be claimed and luke was still in the dark after months.

it was simply unfair.

you couldn't always relate to his frustration regarding the gods, because your father tried to reach you in forms that was allowed, shipping letters or presents your way, but you always listened to him, understanding that he was going through something different and he desperately needed someone on his side.

to say that luke's claiming was a bit of a let down was an understatement. luke had hoped so long for something that all his expectations had been incredibly low and hermes still managed to undercut them even further.

he didn't bother to pay attention to any of his children, none of them were treated as if they were more than just one piece of a big puzzle.

a letter arrived in the middle of july, listing a bunch of names that hermes had concluded to be those of his children. luke was included on the list. it was nothing special, nothing worth of a mention.

luke stayed in the hermes cabin and lost a bit of hope with each day passing without hearing from his father.

sometimes he found his anger directed at your father, who seemed all the more caring than his own. and although he didn't wish for you to go through the same grief he had gone through, he sometimes wondered what it would feel like to have you understand his experiences.

time passed and luke stopped mentioning his father or anything about the gods completely. you tried to ask him about it, but he claimed to have moved on, not caring for the attention of someone who couldn't be bothered to give it.

that was about the time you started seeing luke in a different light. he was no longer the little boy you had grown up along, he was almost a man, features loosing their boyish touch and dissolving into something more grown. something you had never seen in him before.

it was like getting to know him all over again.

it seemed like it wasn't any different with luke as he suddenly grew interested in the kind of perfume you were using or the little rings on your fingers when your hand would rest on his biceps a little too long.

the infaturation came fast, almost overnight and neither of you was ready to longer deny what was so clearly happening between you.

luke and you started dating that same year. it was the first relationship for the both of you and everything felt special. you couldn't have asked for a better boyfriend. he was kind and funny, always kept an eye on you wherever you went and quickly became the most important person in your life.

faster than you noticed, your whole life revolved around luke castellan. maybe that was why you felt like you had lost everything the night that he left.

you were dating for more than a year by the time percy showed up at camp.

those few days were probably the last you had truly been happy. you had a brother now, he was lovely and you immediately formed a bond with each other, having had similiar experiences regarding the truth about your father.

you remembered the night so clearly. it was like a never ending flashback in your hand.

you were taking a drink out of gina's hand, right as annabeth came running through the forest.

"y/n!" she called, her voice slumping down when she noticed you not far away. "percy" she simply said when you turned around. the distress on her face was enough to make you follow her.

luke looked up at the sound your footsteps were making. and annabeth quickly threw something, that made him let go of what he was holding. you realized too late that it was a sword.

percy was laying on the ground in front of luke. your features turned into a frown, when you looked at your brother and back at your boyfriend.

"y/n" luke said, surprise and worry in his voice. "annabeth"

you were so confused. you didn't even know what was going on. but what he had planned to do send shivers down your spine.

"i heard everything" annabeth said.

luke looked at you, like he was quietly asking if you had heard it too.

you shook your head. "what have you done?" you stepped around annabeth, who tried to hold you back without any luck. you stopped to glance up at him.

luke averted his eyes, feeling your breath against his neck, as your head was still recoiled backwards.

"look at me!" you said loudly, warningly, and you could see the muscles moving in his chin, a frown evident on his mouth.

"he's with kronos" percy announced, before luke had the chance to say something.

the rest of the memory was in a blur, but you clearly remembered your tears. tears of confusion, of betrayal, of hurt. that someone so close to you would betray everything you had fought so hard for? it seemed unfair to say the least.

and that someone was luke, your luke. you didn't even recognize him anymore.

you remembered his hand reaching out for you, the pleading look in his eyes, the silent question, to come with him and leave everything you loved behind. but you shook your head, turning away from him. you didn't even want to look at him. you would rather remember who he had been all those years before.

"sorry" he had muttered and neither annabeth nor you had been fast enough to stop him, as he ran away and through the portal he had opened.

now luke castellan was just a memory that haunted you. like a ghost that never really left your side. you missed him so dearly. all while you wished that he would stay far away at the same time. it was confusing and you hated that you were still so in love with him after everything he had done to you friends, your brother and even you.

you threw his chain into the relentless waves of the sea beneath you, before you walked back into the forest and away from the cliff.

"i haven't seen you all day" percy stood up and fell into a quick step beside you, when he saw you approaching.

"i was up on the cliff" you shrugged.

"oh" he muttered.

he had been following you around camp relentlessly after luke had left a few days ago. the hurt was still fresh, but felt so distant at the same time. percy was worried about you, you could clearly read that from the expression on his face.

he treated you like someone had just died. and that wasn't even far off.

"have you eaten anything?" he asked, not giving up.

"i didn't feel hungry" you mumbled. "where's annabeth?" she had been the only one who could at least somewhat understand what you were feeling. luke had been like a brother to her and both of you were now collateral damage on his path to power.

"you should really eat something" percy retored, matter of factly. "she went to change. i accidently spilled some ketchup on her shirt"

you halted in your step, turning to face your brother who looked up at you with a curious look in his eyes.

"don't ever change" you whispered, reaching out and hugging him close to your chest.

"what?" he mumbled against your body.

you pressed a kiss onto his head, before you let go of him. "thank you for being so caring" you smiled softly. "i will get through this, but i wouldn't without you"

"of course you would" percy shook his head and pushed his hands against his hips. "he's just a boy"

"no" your voice was soft and you tried hard not to let it break in front of him. you had done a pretty good job at avoiding to cry when percy was around you. "he was so much more to me"

percy sighed, but finally nodded. "yeah," he muttered, almost to himself "i get it."

you smiled sadly, appreciating his attempt to understand. the silence stretched between you, the rustling of the trees and the distant crashing of waves filling the space.

then, percy took a deep breath and glanced out at the horizon. "you know," he said, his voice quiet but firm. "the hardest thing isn’t losing someone. it’s realizing that no matter what they’ve done, you still carry the good parts of them with you."

you blinked, surprised by the depth of his words. he met your gaze, his eyes filled with a mixture of compassion and resolve. "and that’s okay. it’s okay to hold onto that. to let yourself feel it. but it’s also okay to let go when you're ready. you loved luke for who he was, not for what he was going to become"

for a moment, you just stood there, absorbing his words. percy, the little brother you never expected, was showing you a wisdom that went far beyond his years.

"yeah, you might be right about that" you said as soon as the words returned to you. "when have you gotten so wise?"

"well, nearly dying does all sorts of things with you"

you smiled, pulling him against you once more. "thank you for coming back home, percy"

"we're in this together now" he assured. "i never had a sister before, but i will try my best to be a good brother"

"you already are an amazing brother, you know?" you said softly. "but you're so much more to me, too"

at that, he send you a look that would probably cure your nightmares for days to come. you and luke had relied on each other all your life, but now he was gone and you had to learn to accept that.

now someone else was relying on you and you promised to not let it come this far again. you would make sure that percy jackson would never experience all the disappointments and frustration you and luke had to endure throughout the years.

you would make sure that percy never felt unwanted or less loved like kids who had normal parents.

you would not fail percy like you had failed luke.

[tujhse-raabta]

pjo fic recs?

OOH OOH IKHF FKFKVKRKVKDLCKRKFKRLVKDF I LOVE YOU FOR THIS

ok ok ok first one. The God Complex

this is an apollo x oc, and it is so fucking well written I die because of it daily????? like. lowkey one of the best things I've read. author hasn't updated for like a year, but honestly, you would not regret reading this at ALL. it's a blessing, I am Very Serious

next, i think this one's a classic - Falling For You

i am feral for this. basically percy falls into Tartarus alone, dark percy, percabeth, the ups and downs of dating a demigod who has gone through HELL, god I will never forget how this one fucked me up and I love it sm igkfkgke

next, Son Of Sea Foam

gdidkfkrkckd FERAL FERAL FERAL, LITERALLY

in a world where big three kids have a CURSE ON THEM, it's even more forbidden to be alive !!! silena is the loml as is percy and god I love this one sm. i had to stop reading after the first one bcs [redacted] but the second one is amazing too i just know it gifkfkekcklckcekcm

a perpollo - I have swallowed my pride (to say goodbye)

everytime this updates i cry of happiness and they're so regular it's just like a weekly blessing. it's time travel fem percy and there's so muchr tirkgkrkgkrkglrlvke I CSNT FUNCTION OK THIS IS A MUST READ EVEN IF YOU DONT TOUCH THE OTHERS

The Kistos Trilogy

not very percabeth friendly pls keep that in mind!!! but it's so. it's very Poseidon and Percy and parental love and dark percy and gods i just girkgkekckdlkckdlcldlckekckelvllrkv

having a god for a big brother

THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, ITS AN UTTER AU ANF ITS SO UNIQUE????? BASICALLY OK OKOK SO . percy is a god here and Estelle is his sister / [redacted] oh god the plot twists and the family fluff I love the perpollo yes but I read this for the Annabeth & Luke & Thalia & Estelle & Percy feels!!!!!!

i hear you're alive (how disappointing)

fuckrifkrkfkfkelck this is. the worst that Tartarus could be. basically percy doesn't stop when Annabeth asks him to during akhlys, and terrified + trauma flashbacks cause her to leave him there alone and escape through the doors of death. it's .,,, obviously not percabeth? i find Annabeth surprisingly in character for the WILDLY out of character premise but gods the way this is written is so. fkekgkrkgk. also hazel baby<333

last one I promise lmao - Citizens of Glass

BEST PERPOLLO DJGKKRKFKEKFKEKFKEKKVKDKVLRKGKRKGKROEOGKRKCLELCKRKVKRK GODS THE FEELS AND EVERYTHING???? IM SO FERAL FOR ANNABEYH AND PERCYS FRIENDSHIP HERE DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ITS SO. V8DKGMVL. THEY ARE RIDE OR DIE BESTIES. LITERALLY.

i lied one more because VIRIRKF

The Once and Future God

time travel fix it which I think redeems luke????? i love it it's all so amazing and Percy is actually from 300 years in the future and he's such a smart amazing kid he's SAVING SO MANY PEOPLE AND THE LIGHTNING THIEF HASNT EVEN STARTED????? i love this sm it's the best soup ever

(two more bcs I can't help myself. this for some really really cool god Percy oneshot which left me feeling buzzed and this for a super super unhealthy dark perpollo)

[mmavverickk]

theoretically, i understand the appeal of having percy, annabeth, and grover go to college. annabeth wants to be an architect, percy wants to be with annabeth, and grover's gonna need some kind of degree backing his environmental preservation efforts. but like, i just can't see it happening.

annabeth was tasked with redesigning olympus after the destruction of the second titan war. that project is her child. she eats, sleeps, and breathes her designs for the palace. as soon as she graduates high school, that is her number one priority. this is her monument that will last forever, this is what her hubris is driving her to accomplish. college and mortal qualifications can wait until she's finished, until olympus is perfect, until her designs are real and tangible and ready to last a thousand ages, until she's made her mother proud and her father regret pushing her aside. and if she's building a family on the side, one strong enough to withstand two wars, one who will never leave her, never let her fall alone? that will last, too.

percy never had a childhood. he can barely remember a life before his abusive stepfather gabe, before he had to grow up too fast to protect himself and his mom. he never got to celebrate getting rid of the bastard, because by then he'd been thrown headfirst into the mythological world, into the expectations that come with being a child of the big three. he's twelve years old and already the fate of the world is in his hands, and he won't fail. he's fourteen, and the weight of the world rests on his shoulders, turns his hair grey. he's sixteen, and he has to make a choice, to trust someone who had betrayed him time and time again, but he doesn't know if the outcome of that choice will be the end of the world or its only hope. he graduates high school, having lived longer than he'd ever dreamed, and does not immediately throw himself into college. it's time to experience the world that he's sacrificed so much for.

grover is the lord of the wild. he spent his whole life searching for the one being who could save the planet, could keep it whole and healthy and alive. he found him, found pan, and had his hopes crushed. pan was dying. he was giving up on the planet and the people who'd believed in him for millennia. pan put all of their hopes on grover's shoulders, made it his responsibility. he stepped up to the challege, used his passion for searching and made it passion for fixing. he started immediately, despite how dire the situation was, despite all the others telling him he was wrong, that pan was still out there, that he needed to believe in a dead god. yes, he needs to find a way to get the mortals to see the effect they're having on the wild, on the environment, on the planet, but first he needs to find out how bad things truly are. he's traveled north america, he's gathered nymphs and dryads and spirits for war against the titans, but north america isn't the only place in danger. the world is his domain, and grover will rise to the challenge.

[actuallyprobablyafaerie]

pjo episode four parts that made me scream

Them starting with sally trying teach percy how to swim and percy being scared is fantastic for two reasons: number one, its a normal kid thing and number two it ties into later in the books when we find out percy has a fear of drowning. Its like hoe thalia has a fear of heights and kind of ties into the idea that forbidden children are often afraid of some part of their parents element. I love that theyre bringing in elements of that idea so early!!!

percy’s “can i ask a stupid question” and annabeths “are you trying to make me make fun of you” akdbdkbaaksbdkjsbakks shes so funny

I LOVE THAT THEY BRING UP PAN AND SPECIFICALLY TIE HIM TO MANIFEST DESTINY AND AMERICAS HISTORY OF KILLING ITS INDIGENOUS PEOPLE!!!! ITS IMPORTANT FUCKING HISTORY AND IM SO GLAD THE SHOW ACKNOWLEDGED IT

percy and annabeths little banter, percys stupid accent and then him collapsing on her. That and the scene where theyre talking on the train is the percabeth we deserve!!!!!! God i love them so much

ALSO going back to the scene where theyre talking in bed on the train i love how annabeth knows that grovers grumpy in the morning and percy doesnt. Grover was her protector once too!! (Like they said last episode) and theyve traveled together before!! He was annabeths friend before he was percys

ok everyones already said this but the parallels between annabeth and medusa?!!??? With medusa saying “i was you” last episode and now annabeth getting punished for something percy did ghe same was medusa was punished for something Poseidon did????? Absolutely insane i love it

also the fact that it hurt athenas pride specifically, much like how medusa mentioned the “pride of athena” in reference to annabeth last episode, which all ties back to the fact that hubris is annabeths fatal flaw and she gets it from her mother

THE CUT TO PERCY IN THE FOUNTAIN AND THEM SPLASHING WATER ON HIM AHSKSBJAHAJSJSB theyre so funny for that

Percy just looks like a wet rag this episode and its so well done you can even tell the makeup on his face was done to make him appear paler and sicklier and it works so well

ok PERCY PULLING ANNABETH INTO THE STAIRWELL AND SHUTTING THE DOOR???? Because hes loyal to a fault!!!! And theyre becoming friends!!!!!!!!! And he cares about her more in like a week than athena ever has and its shown to us so clearly in this episode!!!!!!

ONCE AGAIN LUKES MOTIVATIONS ARE GOING TO MAKE SO MUCH SENSE BY THE TIME WE GET TO THE END OF THIS AND WE DONT EVEN HAVE TO SPEND TIME WITH HIM TO UNDERSTAND THEM god this series is so well done

Also the chimeras design looks so cool i love it so much

AND WE FINALLY GET AN ANSWER AS TO HOW PERCY GOT IN THE RIVER FROM THE TOP OF THE ARCH!! (At least in the tv world, in the book world the arch might very well just be in a different spot lol)

Poseidon saves him!! Hes a better parent than athena is apparently

god the episode ending with percy breathing underwater is so good i was on the edge of my seat until the very end

OK LAST THING is that they are continuing the theme sally brings up about monsters not always looking like monsters and heroes not always looking like heroes so well!!! Echidna bringing it up and saying that to her, demigods are more dangerous was fantastic i love how dedicated they are to this

OK ACTUALLY THE LAST THING i love the dichotomy of different mothers in this episode. We start with sally and percy and immediately see how much they love each other and care about each other!!!! Then we get to echidna who cares about her children too by teaching them to hunt!!! And then we get athena who ducking punishes annabeth for something she didnt even do. And its like. That was a little monstrous athena. Im understanding why someone might want to kill their godly parent

GOD THIS SERIES IS SO GOOD

[drysdalesworld]

Hi! I saw that you write for pjo! Could you write some hcs of the main three kids catching the reader (adoptive older sibling! Child of hephastus!) Sneaking out of camp to see their lover. (I was thinking its sort of like- a forbbiden love situation for reasons) and low key keeping that information as possible blackmail (in a lighthearted way,Like siblings often do to bribe eachother into doing stuff the other doesnt want to like chores n stuff).

The reader is afab but uses they/them pronouns and is around 19/20.

Thanks in advance!

“why are you hanging half way out your window?”

pairing: platonic!thalia grace x nb!child of hephaestus!reader, platonic!nico di angelo x nb!child of hephaestus!reader, platonic!percy jackson x nb!child of hephaestus!reader

it’s a bit short but i hope you like it!

— reader honestly had snuck out to see their partner so many times that they may have been too cocky the night they gotten caught by percy/thalia/nico

— let’s say readers lover is a mortal & knows that they “work” at a camp during the summers (they met at college!) & always offers to see them after camp hours when appropriate

— reader has never been caught so why would that night be an exception?? (they all use it to their advantage)

— they all catch reader on the same night but at different times!

___

— PERCY had been out on a walk when he heard a window harshly open, halting him in his tracks as he whipped his head towards the hephaestus cabin, seeing a black backpack be quickly thrown out the window before approaching

— dude didn’t know what to expect but he def didn’t expect reader of all people to be crawling out of their window in the middle of the night

— “uh, why are you hanging halfway out your window (y/n)?” he asked, both arms crossed over his chest as he looked at the reader weirdly

— poor reader froze mid crawl & literally felt their heart drop to their stomach. out of all people, it had to be percy that caught them sneaking out.

— “getting fresh air?” they replied, finally out of their window & landing on their feet

— the blonde only hummed as he narrowed his eyes at the reader, totally not believing what the just said. “uh huh. well, whatever it is you are doing, i will be remembering this entire interaction & will use it accordingly”

— his words did not make reader feel better about the situation, trying to plead with him to not tell anyone else. he reassured them that he wouldn’t, but he’d definitely use it as blackmail & bring it up whenever he needed something.

— perhaps the next time he had a craving for blue gummy worms, he’d bring up this exact moment the next time reader was planning on sneaking out & get a reward for somehow keeping his big mouth shut about this for so long. yeah, he definitely deserves an award for not ratting reader out (at least that’s what he thinks)

___

— THALIA had just arrived back at camp for a little getaway after being & traveling with artemis’ hunters for so long

— she had nearly fallen asleep until she heard someone trip over something right outside of her cabin, cursing to themselves as they got up

— the moment she opened the door to reveal the reader, thalia wanted to laugh out loud

— “what the hell are you doing?” she asked

— “nothing” reader would reply as they fixed themselves & brushed the dirt off their pants

— “doesn’t look like nothing”

— “it’s 100% nothing, thalia”

— “where are you going anyway this late at night?”

— “what’s with the interrogations, grace?”

— thalia gave up on trying to pry the information out of you & only rolled her eyes, bidding you a good night before promptly telling you that she won’t forget about this in the morning

— she def is planning on getting the information out of her one way or another OR will always bring it up until reader cracks & spills the beans

___

— NICO is already wide awake when he sees a shadow breeze past him as he sat near the woods, having trouble falling asleep

— his eyes immediately dart up towards the figure, squinting in attempts to get a more accurate image of whoever it was walking around at midnight

— “(y/n)?” he asked

— the groan that reader let out sounded more like a growl as they became increasingly frustrated at getting caught three times trying to leave

— “yes, nico?”

— “what are you doing up this late?”

— “on a walk”

— “going for a walk at midnight with your backpack filled to the brim?”

— “yes. building endurance y’know?”

— the scoff nico made wanted you to crawl back into your window & never come back out. getting caught once was fine & something you could handle. but three times? the universe just seemed to hate you at this moment

— “hmm, sure. whatever you say”

— the minute he turned his head back towards the stars, you immediately beelined towards the woods/exit of camp half-blood, cursing yourself for being so carefree in your escape

— nico wasn’t too hellbent on using it for blackmail but once he heard about thalia & percy catching you the previous night as well, he just knew he had to join in on their teasing

— you spent so many nights doing percy’s laundry that you could literally tell what his size was from just looking at a piece of clothing. you gave the last piece of your favorite dessert to thalia too many times to count. & you took on the brunt of nico’s chores. you’d get them back later, trust!

[yourclumsyguardianangel]

the seven + a few others future headcanons

percy:

becomes a high school teacher

teaches high school marine biology (idk how it is in other schools but when we hit sophomore year we got to choose different bio classes ie: marine bio, ag bio, med bio + regular bio)

also teaches the mythology elective and is the swim team coach

annabeth:

we already know this queen is an architect with obvious inspiration from greek architecture

learns how to make blue food for percy and their kids from sally

has traveled all over the world looking at different architecture

learns the basics of many languages so shes able to communicate with the locals

her and leo team up to build a small school near camp half-blood for year rounders so everyone can learn consistently but dw they get summers off

piper:

love her but shes a nepo baby

she doesnt act like it tho

”are you tristan mcleans daughter?” “who?”

loves her dad to bits but does not like being seen out in public by the paparazzi

marries shel, they dont have kids tho, neither of them want to bring any into the world especially with america’s downfall and the government erasing women and poc rights

is basically leos big sister atp

leo:

him and calypso dont last, maybe a year and a half in they split bc calypso wants to explore the world and leo is very emotionally unstable and calypso has a hard time understanding

they end on good terms but dont ever talk unless its with a group of friends

he goes into a trade to become a mechanic and owns his own shop

starts smoking cigarettes/vaping

his friends dont really approve but they understand he cant quit just yet as hes not in a mental space to do so

goes to therapy with a psychologist whos a demigod that specializes in grieving and war trauma

they all go to therapy but hes the last one to do it

he’s still the ‘happy go lucky’ guy hes always been but as he gets closer w the others they start to see the true sadness in him

piper and him grow a lot closer after jason died and have a big sister little brother relationship

hazel:

my girl stays at camp jupiter

takes nicos place at camp

horse trainer

her and frank also dont work out as a romantic relationship, they felt that the age gap was too much after frank turned 18 and hazel was 15 theyre still friends tho

hazel often visits leo in his shop

as much as leo reminds her of sammy, through therapy she has recognized that theyre separate people and to not push all her past feelings for sammy onto leo

not only does she train horses but she also teaches little kids basic math, science, and history to the younger kids

they all call her ms. hazel

she prefers to teach the really young kids (age 4-7)

wears her hair in different braid styles after BOO

frank:

my friggin HOMIE

i relate to frank a lot personality wise

therefore i think hed be a 4/20 fanatic after BOO

hes not stoned during training or during important camp duties

but otherwise you try talkin to him and you dont really notice until you look and see the far off look and red eyes and he just goes “huh?”

other than that hes a great leader

after he gets his cool new look from mars he takes really good care of his body including consistent exercise and eating really healthily (maybe he has a soft spot for fast food when hes hi)

him joining the military does not make sense to me

he lost his mom to war, and he was in one himself, idk about you but i would not wanna join the military after being the main character in a war

he studies to be a veterinarian for exotic animals

when no one is around he shifts into the animal to find out whats wrong

”dr. zhang prefers to work by himself” “why” “idk but hes always right, if it aint broke dont fix it”

jason:

rip home-slice

nico:

my other homie

my guy does not get taller than 5’8

stays at camp during the summer to train the new and old kids

him and will get a house together

teaches history at the camp school

cat dad (5 cats and counting)

will:

takes nicos last name when they marry bc its cooler

him being a doctor doesnt click w me i more picture him being an EMT

EMTs are hotter anyways

does med training with new apollo kids whenever he gets time

if he’s not busy during working hours he drops by nicos classroom w his fav drink from dutch bros (starbucks is MID) and hangs out with him and his students

[asvterias]

𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝟧: 𝖶𝖾𝗅𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝖳𝗈 𝖢𝖺𝗆𝗉 𝖧𝖺𝗅𝖿-𝖡𝗅����𝗈𝖽

the cast // series masterlist

chap. 1 || chap. 2 || chap. 3 || chap. 4 || chap. 5 || chap. 6 || chap. 7 || chap. 8

‼️ DISCLAIMERS FOR THIS CHAPTER ‼️

Foreshadowing, Reader is once again pulling bitches 😏, Adrianna and Reader are 100% besties!, Reader kinda being naive, Luke trying to flirt with a lesbian but she’s clueless as hell about it 😭

Bold alone are the Dreams

Italics alone are the Reader’s thoughts.

word count: 5.1k+

author’s note: anyways, i hope you liked this chapter! please don’t be a silent reader and interact within the chapter.

tag list: @s0r0ws @starvviss @kjisbae17 @lov3rgiiirl @starless-nightz @random-girls-loves @coolgirl458

🌊 🐚 ✘ 🔥🗡️

CHAPTER 5, EPISODE TWO

Chiron toured the siblings throughout the outskirts of the camp. “This is a sacred valley. Humans can’t see it, monsters can’t enter it. The world can’t touch it. Great care was taken to bring you two here, and great sacrifice.”

Your eyes traveled to a group of boys, tending to a flower bed, goat legs for humans, the same ones as Grover’s, so they must be the same species.

The three of you ventured into the forest, lantern posts every few feet away, directing the journey. Two owls landed on the tree branches above you, staring down at you as you continued to walk through the forest.

“So, there’s something I gotta tell you. I lost your pen-sword thingy,” Percy remembers.

“Oh, yeah, me too,”

“Hopefully those weren’t your only ones,”

“Check your pocket.”

“No, we lost it the other night, on the hill.”

“Check your pocket,” Chiron repeats.

Sharing a glance with your brother, you two checked your pocket, pulling it an object…the same pen.

“Unless you surrender it, it will always find its way back to you. Magical objects don’t obey the physical laws of the ordinary world. Your pen, my wheelchair, they’re all a part of your father’s world, as are the two of you now.”

“Speaking of our father, do you know where he is or who he is?”

Just like that, someone else dismisses your statement. “I have something to show you,” It was really starting to get annoying at this point. Why couldn’t someone be honest and straightforward at this camp?!

Stopping at a clearing, you observed the scenery ahead of you. It was beautiful, you’d admit that, but this wasn’t a vacation, it was a sanctuary for fellow demigods like you.

“Twelve cabins, for twelve Olympian gods.” He gestured to the specific cabins.

Children walked and ran around the vicinity, an arrow arranged at the front, guiding the different cabins with the gods’ names on them. “Each cabin is home to the children that god has claimed.”

“Great, which ones are we?”

Chiron pauses, looking down as a frown overtook his face. “You have not been claimed, neither of you.”

“What? Do we need to get a blood test or something to find out? It can be done, but my brother gets squeamish at the sight of needles…and blood, but no worries, I’ll hold him down or we can knock him out for a while.” You suggested your insight. “Unlike him, I have self-control,”

“No, no, no, that’s not how it works around here, Y/N,” he chuckles at your thought process.

“Well, when do we get claimed?”

“The gods reveal their design in their own time, not before. Your father might claim you tomorrow, it might be next week, it might be–“

“Never,” You cut him off with an unconvinced yet dejected expression.

“Even now, he still wants nothing to do with us. What are we even doing here? There’s no place for us here.”

“There is a place for you two.” He points to the nearby cabin behind you, “Here…Hermes, gods of travelers.”

“His cabin is home to both his own children and the unclaimed.”

“No, what is needed is for another Hermes cabin to be constructed and built another one.”

Finally walking into the cabin, Chiron looks around at the busy campers. “Everyone. Everyone.”

Percy reaches out to stop Chiron. “Wait– wait a minute.” It was no use, Chiron didn’t hear him.

“Everyone.” He claps his hands together, silencing down their conversations and gaining all their attention. “This is Percy Jackson and Y/N Matthews. I trust you will see to whatever he needs.” He introduced the two siblings.

“I know you feel powerless, but you’re not. All will reveal itself in time.” After that, he left the cabin.

You nudged Percy forward, quickly sauntering over to the two sleeping bags on the floor with your belongings. Sending a hard scowl to everyone who shared a weird glance at your brother, forcefully breaking their eyes off of you two.

Once you approached your belongings on the floor, you groaned in annoyance. Kneeling down on one knee, and opening your bag, you searched for the mini clear bag of seashells your mom gave you a few days ago. You smiled in appreciation, tightening your grip on the object.

“That’s them. I think that’s the girl who killed the Minotaur and her brother.” Your ears perked up at a boy's voice who seemed to be looking your way.

You glared at the boys, dropping your item back in your bag, standing up to your feet, and keeping Percy behind you as the main boy walked up to you.

He was cute, but not your type.

“Listen here, Prince Charming and his goonies, I don’t have the energy for this and neither does my brother. Try again tomorrow, maybe we’ll be prepared for this bullshit of being a bully, got it?”

He had curly black hair, a notable scar on his right cheek, and a toned body.

“Heard what happened to you on the hill. And I just…wanted to say I’m really sorry. I know what you’re going through, believe me.”

Wait a damn minute. He’s good-looking and has a nice personality, oh something’s definitely wrong with him. Either the universe is being too nice or he isn’t what he pretends to be.

You nodded in surprise at his empathy, “Uh, thanks for that, I guess.”

“I’m Luke.” He held his hand out, wanting you to shake it.

“Y/N,” you shook his hand, warningly of the boy’s true intentions.

“Great name.”

“Thanks, you have a basic name.”

He laughs slightly. “So, I’ve been told,”

“My name is Percy, she’s my older sister,”

“Cool, I’m Luke,”

“…I know, I heard you the first time,”

You were sitting at a mini campfire beside Percy in the middle of the desert as the night sky peaked. He watched as the sand slipped between his fingers and you smiled in contentment.

It was the same voice from your previous daydream, coming from a binding light in the far distance. “Ah, he left you two here, left you with nothing. I know how you feel. You want what’s been taken from you. You two want justice…” A sudden sandstorm crawls at your feet, shaking you back into reality and startling you awake from your sleep.

You shoot up from your bed, gasping in heavy breaths as you remember your surroundings. Looking down at your brother, who slept peacefully, you exhaled a breath of relief with your hand resting on your chest.

Your hand rummages through your hair cloth, scratching the braids underneath the fabric.

“You okay?” Luke asks, arising from his bed.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just nightmares.” You breathed out.

“We all have them, you know. Intense, recurring nightmares. That’s normal here. And the daydreams, and the ADHD, and dyslexia.” He explains to you, “Demigods just process reality differently than humans do. For the first time in your life, you’re just like everyone else.”

“Do you also have a sleeping pill to reduce these nightmares or are those nonexistent with decent fashion sense here too?”

“Sorry to say we don’t,” He chuckles, “But there are other ways to cope,”

“Oh, yeah, like what? Take a walk around the camp. Or maybe, a late-night swim should ease it up,” You feigned interest, unwrapping your hair cloth and tossing it in your bag.

“I like you, you’re funny.”

“I’ve been told sarcasm is my greatest quality,” You smiled, getting up out of your sleeping bag, and yawning as you stood up.

“Do you wanna take a walk?”

“Sure, I’ll wake Percy up.” You shuffled over to wake him up but Luke’s calm voice stopped you.

“No. No, perhaps maybe just you and me. You should let your brother get some more sleep.”

You furrowed your eyebrows and shrugged at his explanation, standing upright and retreating back to him.

“Really? What’s there to talk about?”

Before he could admit it, your brother Percy stirred awake, a tired groan escaping his lips.

“Looks like you owe me a walk and talk, later,” You wink at him, giggling slightly as your brother groans again.

“Sure,” he blushes, “I’ll hold you to that.”

Percy stood up, walking over to the two of you, groggily wiping away the exhaustion out of his eyes.

“How’d you guys sleep?”

“Like a baby,” You sarcastically respond.

“Decent enough,”

“So, Luke, are you also…do you not know who your–“

“Am I unclaimed? No, Hermes is my father.”

“That’s good…right?” You gave him a shrug.

“Not as great as you think.”

“Right, sorry, Luke.”

“That doesn’t matter, we’re all on the same team here.” He brushes off the topic of his father.

Are we really though? Your intuition disagrees with the dark-haired boy, but you decide to give him the benefit of the doubt. You just met him anyway, no need for judgment so early.

“Why is that okay? Why do they get to bring us here to just ignore some of us?”

“Spend too much time trying to figure out why the gods do whatever it is they do, you’ll drive yourself crazy. Sooner you stop worrying about that, the sooner you can enjoy what this place actually does offer,”

“And what’s that?” You inquired, fixing your braids.

“Glory,” He tilts his head, glancing at you. Percy noticed the interaction between the two and scrunched in disgust.

You walk ahead of the two, excitedly cheering upon seeing Adrianna by the door.

“Don’t gain a crush on my sister, she isn’t into you like that.”

“What?” He splutters, astonishment written all over his face. “I don’t have a crush on your sister!” He hastily defends the assumption.

“Hmmmm…well whether you do or don’t, a word to the wise, she loves girls, like absolutely loves girls, and completely despises the majority of the male population.”

“Okay…thanks for the heads up,”

“It wasn’t meant to put you at ease, it was meant for you to back off my sister completely.” Percy implied, “So no more weird longing looks at her, or subtle flirting either. She loves girls and is definitely a 100% girl kisser. Stop searching for something that isn’t there, it’ll only affect you here, got it dude?” He insists, raising an eyebrow.

“Totally, got it.”

“Good,” he huffs, “That’s all I wanted to say,”

The two boys catch up as you all walk around to explore the camp. Luke was accompanied by one of his many half-siblings, Chris Rodriguez, and a dear friend, Adrianna Smith who shared the same kindness to the Jackson siblings.

“Demigods have always fought for glory. They used to call it kleos. It’s like this stuff that attaches itself to your name.”

“What if I don’t want any more friends?”

“Then you have me,” He smiles down at you.

“And space,” Percy shoves Luke aside, bringing you closer to him.

“Personal space is very important too and it seems Luke forgot about it. Don’t you worry either, dear sister, I’ll always be here to remind him.”

“Good, I guess,” You agreed, oblivious to his statement.

“At first this place can be really shitty,” Adrianna starts, keeping her arms looped with yours, “But I trust you’re gonna love it..or tolerate it in the end,” the blonde shrugs her shoulders, “It’s really up to you,”

“Stop being such a debbie downer, Adrianna,” Luke rolls his eyes.

“Can’t do that, it’s my passion,”

He continues, “Glory makes you bigger, scarier, more important. People listen closer when you talk, they work harder to be you and they think twice about messing with you.”

All of a sudden, a girl bumps into Percy and exclaims in protest causing the random girl to turn her head, now facing you.

Sparing one glance at the boy, and pushing against his chest, easily shoving him to the ground. Percy lands on the ground with a grunt, as the girl sizes you up, standing beside Chris.

“Give him a break, Clarisse, it’s like his first day,” Luke tells the curly-haired girl.

She briefly looked at Percy and then shifted her gaze onto you.

“Yeah, I bet…” she jeers, cockiness and sarcasm in her tone. “So these are the two newbies, huh?”

Her dark brown eyes flicker from you to Percy, a malicious intent as she smirks. “We’ve met before, right? You’re the same cute clueless girl with the annoying brother I talked to at the infirmary cabin.”

She was nice to you earlier, but now she’s being mean? Probably uses that as a defense mechanism to put her walls up, you could see right through her.

Your face remained stoic, currently incapable of displaying any emotion of gratitude to the girl. This was not the time to approach a bully, much less a self-appointed popular girl at this camp.

You were tired, your body was exhausted and your stomach grumbled in irritation or hunger, possibly even both. This familiar girl bullying your brother wasn’t what you had in store for today, out of all days. Why couldn’t today, out of all days, be peaceful?

You shove her back, using much force to have her stumble back, “What’s your problem?”

Clarisse looks at you in bewilderment and scoffs, “Excuse me?”

“Did I stutter? You bothered my brother first so it’s only fair! Do you feel entitled to bully my brother?”

The curly-haired girl glares at you, stepping up closer, “If I were you, I’d watch my tone when talking to me.”

You step closer to her, “My tone’s staying the same, you got a problem with it, use all that pent-up anger for something good and prove me wrong but if you’re all talk, pipe the fuck down and stay out of my way.”

“Here I was thinking you were nice and quiet, guess I was wrong. So how you doing, clueless?!”

“Fine until I saw you.”

“I doubt that, clueless girl,”

Yeah, you highly doubted that yourself.

“Stop calling me that!”

“No! I like that nickname for you so I’m keeping it!” Taking two firm steps closer to you, she looks you up and down, “If you want me to stop, then make me, Matthews.”

“Another time, I suppose.”

“No, no, no! Do it now, Matthews, unless you’re too much of a pussy to put me back in my place,” She got closer to your face, noses touching and lips barely hovering over the other.

“Well, you are what you eat.” You retorted back, “Does that apply to you too, LaRue?”

She scoffs, ignoring your remark.

“Never in a million years would I ever kiss you.”

“I never specified which girl you would kiss. Which meant I was on your mind for you to be thinking of kissing me.” You teased her. “Never say never, LaRue,”

Her eyes flickered briefly towards your lips, she looked flustered, immediately covering up her blush. She nods her head, feigning to be understanding, and distances herself a few inches away. Considering her impressed by your assertive tone she changed the subject almost immediately.

“Wait, so you’re the siblings who killed the Minotaur, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Hmmm…I don’t believe it.”

“We’re not asking you to nor do we really care if you believe us, it already happened, we have the proof as well.”

Clarisse partially smiles, eyes trailing down your figure, checking you out as she clicks her tongue, “I like you, you’re quite bitchy, just my type.”

“I’m surprised you’re capable of having a crush on someone,”

“Me too,” she confidently admits, “But I guess someone might change that.”

“Keep on dreaming La Rue.” You scoffed at her flirty remarks.

“You never know, pretty girl.” the nickname rolls off her tongue smoothly.

You hate to admit how sultry her voice was, hanging off that nickname made you flustered. And with that, Clarisse and her posse of half-siblings left as Percy got up from the forest ground.

“Wow, no one’s really stood up to Clarisse like that before,” Luke admits, blowing out a breath of surprise.

“She seems nice.”

“I’m taking it that she’s this camp’s bully.”

“Ares kids, they come by it honestly.”

“She’s not gonna let you live this down,” Chris informs you, observing how your eyes still follow Clarisse’s figure.

“Yeah, I know,” you glance at Clarisse walking off in the distance and drift your attention to your younger brother, “But no one bullies my brother, that’s my job.” you ruffle with Percy’s blonde hair as he rolls his eyes at you.

“Haha, very funny…” Percy sarcastically replies, swatting your head away from his head.

“You’re right, I am the funnier sibling.”

“Says who?”

“Says you. You just said it!”

Luke chuckles at your sibling banter, “C’mon guys, let’s finish the tour.”

“Why don’t they mess with you?”

“They know better.”

“Luke’s the strongest swordsman at camp,” Chris boasts.

“To which I still doubt to this very day,” Adrianna interjects.

“How would you know, you’re always in your father’s workshop all the time,”

“So they leave you alone because of ‘glory’?” Luke nods his head, allowing Percy to continue, “So if I get glory, Clarisse wouldn’t mess with me either,”

“Exactly.”

“And people think I’m a big deal?”

“Well…” Adrianna trails off, “They think Y/N is a big deal, considering she actually killed the Minotaur, but it’s good to have hope.”

“So that means, our dad has no choice but to claim us,” he assumes, looking at you.

Luke and Adrianna shared a skeptical glance.

“Listen here, little dude, you can’t force the gods to do anything,” The blonde girl advised.

“Well yeah, but it would make it harder for him to pretend that me and my sister don’t exist, right?”

“Or our dad could be really great at ignoring his biggest responsibilities and many years of child support.” You commented.

“Maybe,” Luke squints his eyes.

“To which one?”

“To which one what?”

“Were you responding to me or Percy?”

“Umm…” he blew a breath of uncertainty, “I don’t…Adri knows who I was referring to…”

“Firstly, Adri is reserved for Y/N only, not anyone else. Secondly, yeah dude you weren’t being specific,” Adrianna adds.

“Traitor,” Luke scoffs playfully.

“I think that’s you!” Adrianna remarked.

You saw him tense up at the remark and your curiosity got the better of you. Why did he tense up like that? Is there more to the story Luke is letting on? Does he truly seek good intentions for you and your brother, Percy?

It took him a while to finally answer the question.

“Maybe for both,”

“And the world may never know,”

“Great, right back where we started,” You sighed.

“Nevermind, Luke, guys.” Chris clears his throat, sending the awkward atmosphere, “Let’s put your skills to the test, see if you’re really deserving of glory,”

“Well, great. Where do we start?” Your little brother’s eagerness was clear as day.

You can never figure out if Percy’s pessimistic or optimistic, however, you were a more ‘go with the flow’ kinda of girl.

You witnessed the girl in the wheelchair, using a bow and flaming arrow, aiming her weapon at the practice target, smiling when it landed the bullseye.

“A good source of glory are feats of skill,” Luke states, handing you a bow and arrow. “So, we gotta figure out what you’re good at.”

“Well, I don’t have it anymore, guess my glory was fun while it lasted,” You shrugged, turning to walk away, patting Luke’s chest, “I’ll see you around,”

Luke reached out his hand to grab you but Percy’s unimpressed gaze stopped him. Percy shoots him that ‘Don’t even think about it!’ stare. Adrianna found it funny how oblivious you were to this current situation and relished the boys’ tactics. So to taunt Luke even further, she grabs hold of your hand, smirking when you accept the kind gesture.

Adrianna tugs on your arm, dragging you back to her, “It doesn’t hurt to try,”

“It may hurt for the bystanders,”

“Stop being such a worry wart, it promotes wrinkles and you can’t have that on a pretty face.”

“You think I have a pretty face?”

“How could I not?!”

“I do have a pretty face, don’t I?”

“Dare I say the most gorgeous one at this camp,” She winks.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, Adri,” you playfully reprimand.

“I’m quite certain I can handle things firsthand, I’m a hands-on learner,”

“Oh really?”

“Wanna find out?” She checks you out. You’d be lying right now if your cheeks weren’t so flustered, and tiny butterflies didn’t erupt in your stomach.

Luckily, your brown skin diminished any sight of blushing, only others to assume, just the way you’d prefer it to be. For others to be unsuspecting and unaware.

This was how best friends act all the time anyway so you played along, just for the fun of it.

“Are we here to flirt or are we here to train?!”

“I can do both at the same time,” Adrianna tilts her head at the Castellan boy, enjoying his torment to the fullest, much to his dismay. She glanced at you, a smirk appearing, “How, Y/N, what about you?”

“I’ll need some practice,”

“And I’ll be happy to teach you,” She smugly states, moving closer to you, and settling beside the wheelchair girl.

You shuffled with the bow in your hand, feeling uneasy with the weapon placed in your care. Adrianna hands you an arrow, and the wheelchair girl lights up the tip of the arrow with a generic gas lighter.

“Is this safe?”

“Probably not,” The girl shrugs.

“So you decide to put us all at risk because of your uncertainty?” You asked incredulously, “Oh I’m loving this camp!” You stepped closer to the target, aiming your weapon at the target, closing one eye for better perception, pulling back the arrow, and releasing it toward the target. You held your breath, watching the arrow hurl towards the target, smiling when it landed, missing the bullseyes by a few inches.

“Told you that you’ll love it!”

“Not bad for your first try,”

“Told you,” Adrianna grins.

“Your turn, Percy!” You shoved the two-pieced weapon in his arms.

“I wanna be very clear about this. I’ve never done anything like this, and it looks super dangerous.”

“Ehh and you and Y/N never double-teamed killing a Minotaur before either, ‘til you did,”

“Y/N did all the work,” Percy mumbles, “Why does everyone keep forgetting that?”

The girl moved to light the tip of the arrow on fire, but he pulled away, “I wouldn’t,” He warned the girl.

“Trust me, he wouldn’t,” You stared at the girl who chuckled in your direction, backing away from Percy a bit.

He stepped forward, fixing his posture on the arrow, stretching the arrow back, and releasing it into the air. Too bad his aim was horrible making it fly over to the group of spectator campers. Scaring everyone else, they ducked down, trying to dodge the flying arrow and Percy tripped onto the grass himself.

Your brother blinked once, staring at the distressed faces of the campers, and hesitantly asked; “Should I try again?”

There were many clamors of disagreements after that, earning boisterous laughs from you and Adrianna. Obviously, Percy is now a safety hazard towards bows and arrows, so hopefully he will become more resourceful with another weapon soon.

Next, you two ended up in the camp’s workshop, bustling with sweating eager kids rushing around to create variations of weapons for later use.

“Now we’re in my domain,” Adrianna laughs, ushering you and Percy to wear aprons, gloves, and safety glasses.

“I’ll handle Y/N, Luke you got Percy,”

Luke agreed, disappearing further into the workshop with Percy.

“So your godly parent is…”

“Hephaestus, god of forgery. None of those titles matter anyway if you’re just gonna be a shit dad to your children.” She mutters, eyes lingering on the ground. You could hear the hurt in her voice as she strained to maintain an emotionless tone.

“Adri…” You longed to comfort your friend but refrained from doing so.

“Don’t know why I said that, but continue.”

“Adri…”

She hums, encouraging you to continue.

“Everything isn’t okay, you can tell me anything. I know we just met but–“

“Maybe another time,”

“Whenever you feel comfortable,” You rubbed a hand over her shoulder.

“Great, now back to figuring out your skills.” She points to the inflamed metal.

“I don’t deal with melting shit of any kind, I’m barely even trusted to cook on the stove by myself,”

“Relax, Y/N. Just follow after me,”

You place the safety glasses over your eyes, grabbing the hammer. The melted metal was already in place as you repeatedly hit the hammer against it, hoping to mold the heated metal. It was going well for a while, until you lost control and the heated piece of steel flew across the air, landing on heaps of bags.

Your eyes widened when those bags caught on fire and Adrianna grabbed your hand, pulling you away from the disaster.

That was an epic fail!

Apparently, when you reunited with Luke and Percy, the same occurrence happened with your brother. Now some Hephaestus’ kids were currently disposing of fires, accidentally created by the two siblings.

Great minds think alike, you guessed.

“When’s lunch, I’m starving,”

Chris laughed at your question.

“What’s so funny about that? I was serious.” You deadpanned, glaring at him. “I never joke about food, keep that in mind.”

His laughs came to a halt at your seriousness as he cleared his throat, dismissing the slight embarrassment he felt.

“Oh, I love you already, I don’t fuck about my food either,” Adrianna laughs, skipping over to wrap an arm around your shoulder. “C’mon let’s ditch the boys, I have a hoard of snacks to keep you occupied until lunch,”

You giggled at her suggestion, instantly agreeing, allowing her to drag you away to her cabin.

“Seems like Y/N and Adrianna are getting along pretty well,” Chris comments.

“Yep, that’s good.” Percy smiles in recognition, pleased to see you content and not in a gloomy depressed state, troubled by your losses.

He knows you’re burying the pain and suffering, at least for his sake. Regardless if you were putting on a mask to protect him, your brother was highly aware that certainly, you admired having a friend of your own and the happiness it came with.

The siblings meet up at the dining pavilion, Percy sits in between you and Adrianna with Luke and Chris across from them.

“Is there a Greek god of disappointment?” Percy asks, letting his question linger in the air before resuming, “Maybe someone should ask him if he’s missing a kid.”

“I think they should, you know,”

Percy turns to you, “Oh, gee, dear sister, you sure know how to brighten my mood,” He sarcastically replies.

“I know,” You giggle, “You’re blessed to have me, all of you are, but my future girlfriend will be the most blessed to be dating me,”

“No doubt about it.” Adrianna winks.

“Are you two flirting?” Percy squints his eyes.

“Yes, but in a platonic way,”

Luke attempted to encourage the blonde boy, but Chirs beat him to it as he stared at his brother in confusion.

“Oizys…but she’s a goddess, and her whole thing isn’t really a disappointment, it’s more like a failure,” Chris stated blankly, playing with his food, obviously not reading the room.

“Now I know who never comes to me when I need consolation,” you shake your head, chewing your food.

His brother, Luke blinked incredulously, rolling his eyes at him, and turned to Percy.

“We’re gonna find the thing that you’re good at. I know it.” He reassures the blonde boy.

“Yeah, but do you… like truly? Don’t give him false hope,” You reinstated.

A chiming bell cuts the conversation short, confusing you and Percy.

“Our turn.”

“Our turn for what?”

“Burnt offerings,”

“The gods like the smell, so it gets their attention before you say a prayer,” Luke confirms.

“They like the smell of burnt mac and cheese?”

“You telling me that I must waste my blessed food on deadbeat immortal gods?! Nah, fuck that, Imma eat every ounce of my food. What did those gods do to earn my leftovers, nothing at all,” You exclaimed, raising an eyebrow.

“They like the smell of begging,” Adrianna includes, standing up with her plate.

“That’s believable, but it’s not worth the sacrifice of my food, it’s too precious,” You defended your food, “And also…I ate everything from my plate,” You trailed off, staring down at your empty plate.

“It’s fine, I’ll share with you,” Adrianna suggested.

“You’ll burn what you’ll miss the most, then they know you really mean what you’re about to say, so they listen.” Luke finishes, leaving with his plate alongside Adrianna.

Later that night, you headed to bed early, exhaustion deep in your bones. Adrianna had spent the entire day with you, departing from you with a comforting hug, and going to her own cabin.

You felt Percy shuffled against his sleeping bag, causing you to groan and stir slowly awake.

“Where do you think you’re going?” You whispered to him, rubbing out the tiredness away from your eyes with concern written all over your face.

“Just gonna talk to my mom,” he clarifies, holding his bag of blue candies in the air.

“Do you want me to come with you?” You began to remove your blanket.

“No, no, I’ll be fine, stay here.”

“Be safe,” you whispered to him with a small grin.

“I will,” he reassures you with a small smile and he snuck out past the many campers in the cabin.

Reassured by his disappearance, you laid back in your bed, snuggling into the cover sheets as sleep peacefully claimed you once again.

Day 1 at Camp Half-Blood seemed to be decent at least.

likes, comments, and reblogs are highly appreciated!

© asvterias, 2024. please do not copy, repost, or translate any of my works onto any other platforms without my permission.

[blues824]

Hello I've seen that you have been getting a lot of requests

But could I request : twst housewardens with nico di angelo/reader, that reader tells them that they're son/daughter of hades and their power? And maybe the battle of labyrinth(feel free to ignore ☺)

Gender-neutral reader (male reader-coded, but anyone can read as there are no gender-specific terms used). English Server player here, btw.

Riddle Rosehearts

You were the only one possibly in the entirety of Twisted Wonderland who could revive the dead… even if they were to do your bidding. Yeah, he was definitely freaked out when you cracked the ground open and made a bunch of cadavers and skeletons attack him while he was overblotting.

Riddle can tell that you have been through a lot of pain. He did not know the extent of that pain until he saw you at the fountain, throwing in a drachma and conversing with your sister’s ghost. You only had one tear slip down your face when you noticed that the tyrannical housewarden was watching. You quickly recovered before using the shadows to travel back to Ramshackle.

It wasn’t until later where he learned about your backstory, and holy shit have you gone through a lot. Chronologically, you were 82, but you had the physical appearance of a 15 year old. You were physically younger than he was. You told him that it was because you spent 70 years in a casino, but this just managed to confuse him more.

Anyways, you first came off to him as rude and distant, which he could understand because you ended up in Twisted Wonderland. You first thought you were hallucinating or put under a hallucination by a god or goddess you weren’t aware of. That being said, you didn’t get close to anyone because you were scared that you could be brought out of the hallucination at any point. However, you started getting closer to a certain red-headed housewarden as he extended a cup of tea “olive branch”.

Leona Kingscholar

When you stepped on his tail in the botanical gardens that day, he was annoyed as we all know. However, since you were in your Battle of the Labyrinth era, you were not about to take the shit he threw at you. Maybe if you were younger, but not now. You were pissed off at Percy and you were on a mission to get out of Twisted Wonderland as soon as possible.

He doesn’t really care that you are a more private person. However, when he sees you display some of your abilities, he does get a bit curious. Like, for example, you opened up the ground and had skeletons attack him while he was overblotting. He easily turned them into sand, but it was still surprising. He had never met anyone who could do that before, as magic in Twisted Wonderland could not do that.

But, there was one time where he was coming back from a Housewarden meeting, and he saw you putting a strange coin into the fountain while you were speaking to an apparition. He hid behind a pillar and saw that there was a figure on the ledge of the fountain. You turned around and Leona saw a tear slide down your face before you melted into the shadow that the fountain cast.

Leona eventually learned of your backstory by Ruggie running around and seeing what he could find about you. You were actually 82 years old, which definitely added to the small pile of “Things that Actually Surprised the Housewarden of Savanaclaw”. You had never actually celebrated your birthday by a birthday party. The apparition he saw in the fountain was your deceased sister. He feels like shit for the way he has treated you thus far.

Azul Ashengrotto

As we know, he was present during Leona’s overblot. So he sees that you can summon a dead army. And he definitely wants to get that under a contract that will put him at an advantage over the dead. However, you have already been in this situation. You were not about to be under someone else’s control again.

That being said, your fatal flaw made its appearance and you held a grudge against Azul. You would go out of your way to not come within six feet of this man. You started making your own meals and you would travel via the shadows. The cecaelia noticed, and he started to feel kind of bad… and so he asked the tweels to find information on you in exchange for less hours for an entire week.

They came up with a lot of things, actually. You were the descendent of Hades, the brother of the father of the King of the Sea. That is how you got your powers. It wasn’t magic at all. You had a full biological sister who joined the Hunters of Artemis group, but died. You were fighting gods and titans left and right… and you were still physically only 15 years old.

Unfortunately for you, your powers did not come in handy when you fought against his overblot. However, your sword did, as well as the potion that allowed you to breathe underwater. You’ve had plenty of experience with fighting in water, so you were well-versed and thus defeated him rather easily. You called him an amateur, stating that one of your fellow demigods at Camp Half-Blood would have posed a better challenge, which made his ego take critical damage.

Kalim Al-Asim

You cannot tell me that this man is not the Will Solace to your Nico di Angelo. However, unlike Will, Kalim does not have the power to heal anybody via singing a song. He is no archer. He has no super powerful whistle. He can’t put anyone under a ‘couplets curse’. He can’t emit a divine glow. He can’t shoot rays of light. He can’t change the seasons. He can’t control diseases. But he is still yours.

Because of the way he is, you physically can’t hold a grudge against him. But you are suspicious of the Vice Housewarden. You stick to the shadows and listen in on private conversations. Not like Kalim would ever believe you, but you have done what you could to prevent an uprising against him.

During Jamil’s overblot, you were actually able to defeat him rather easily, surprising Kalim. Sure, you were sent into the desert, but you were able to travel in the shadows that the dunes of sand cast. You were actually able to take everyone and travel faster. However, that left you drained, but you knew you had to keep fighting. Using the last of your strength, you summoned a skeletal army, and then your vision started to get dark.

Kalim ended up waking you up in the infirmary. He was crying and pleading with you to forgive him for not believing you all along. You were kind of confronted and put on the spot, wanting him not to make a noise and cause a scene. You patted his head kind of awkwardly, and he was so happy to see that you have forgiven him and that everything was going to be okay since you were awake now.

Vil Schoenheit

You looked like a corpse, and Vil was not afraid to point it out. You bit back and stated that because you were a child of Hades, God of the Underworld, it was understandable that you looked less than alive. That started a beautiful hateship between the two of you, as he’s trying to fix your eyebags and you’re trying to fix his attitude. You didn’t even know much about Neige, but you said something along the lines of, “it’s no wonder that everyone likes him over you.”

Anyways, Vil has sent Rook to go dig up some dirt that he could use against you. The hunter found out many heartbreaking things that made the Housewarden feel horrible about the things he has said about you. You were doing all of this just for Bianca, your deceased sister, because she told you that you needed to move on as she moved on to Elysium. 

When he overblots, you already have enough experience. Your sword has the ability to absorb darkness, and guess what the ink is? Anyways, you used your sword to absorb some of the ink, which weakened the overblotting mess. It was a relatively easy takedown, and you just left silently after. Again, your fatal flaw poked through, and you only helped because of Epel and Rook and how you were friends with them.

In the infirmary, Vil woke up right when you dropped off a single get-well gift. It was a small vase with just one stem of lavender as well as an olive branch. Just one, as you wanted to be stingy, but you wanted to be better than your fatal flaw. You wanted to show that you weren’t unsympathetic, so you extended this purple olive branch and the actual olive branch. Vil knew the language of plants all too well, and he got the message.

Idia Shroud

You both are shut-ins, you both are nerds… It's a match made in the Underworld. Nah, but all jokes aside, you both hated each other at first. You would debate each other on every single fact from any given Fandom. But you were good friends with Ortho, even if you did dislike the fact that he was so naive. He reminded you of yourself in the beginning of your demigod journey, and you did not like remembering all of that.

Anyways, Idia is going total cyber-stalker. He is trying to find something he can fight against you with, kind of like a Redditor. What he did manage to find was depressing and sad, and also made him feel like shit. Hearing about Bianca made him clutch onto Ortho more and appreciate having him, as not everyone could have such a good replacement as his robotic younger brother was for his dead older brother.

When he overblotted, you were just tired at this point. However, Idia proved to be much more of a challenge than you had originally thought. By this point, the Housewarden of Ignihyde had analyzed your powers as a child of Hades as well as thought about any other hidden powers you may or may not have, and prepared accordingly. You couldn’t shadow-travel at all and you couldn’t use the ground for whatever reason (Idia had used magic to keep you from doing so).

It was depending on your assholes of friends that allowed you to win, because the one thing that the flame-haired 18-year-old didn’t expect was for you to suck it up and forget your grudges against Ace just to beat his ass. So, he was left vulnerable as you acted as a weird diversion, using his love for a certain anime against him as you shouted a complete hot-take that he definitely did not agree with. 

Malleus Draconia

Hey, look everybody! It’s the social rejects! I’m just playing… kind of. You both tend to emit an aura that can be portrayed as frightening to others. The only difference was that your aura was intentional, and it even managed to give Sebek a spook sometimes. However, it did not deter Malleus from reaching out to you and extending an olive branch. That was the start of a beautiful relationship between the two of you.

I have a headcanon that this dragon prince is kind of like a goth version of Will Solace. You can confide in him during your nightly walks, and he is not going to judge you for it. You have actually told him about your older sister and her untimely death, and while he did try to tell you that it wasn’t Percy’s fault and you weren’t hearing it, you secretly knew that it was true and it was just your fatal flaw that kept you from forgiving Jackson.

Speaking of confiding within him, you’ve also told him that you were scared that he was going to overblot. He was so attached to his retainers as well as you and Lilia that it would be wrong to qualify this fear as anything but rational. Malleus understood, as you’ve already had to fight six overblots in the relatively short amount of time you’ve been in Twisted Wonderland, and you’ve had to solve the familial issues of an arsonist (Rollo Flamm).

Your fluency in Greek fascinated Malleus, as Greek was not a common language that was spoken. He had no idea what or where ‘Greece’ was, but he was also interested in learning about Hades as well as your [distant] cousins, who were the other demigods at Camp Half-Blood. Then, there was an entire other demigod camp called Camp Jupiter, and you were kind of a ghost story between the two. You, in turn, listened to his silly little rants about gargoyles, as you believed that there needed to be a healthy exchange in interests within the relationship.

[ellilyre]

Frank Zhang headcanons

For his bday he gets a ton of maple-themed gifts, even from ppl he barely ever interacted with.

He can't get rid of anything anyone ever gave him. Under his bed he has at least two shoeboxes of stuff given by others (including a flower Leo made out of steel while fidgeting, multiple rocks given by various ppl, a few handwritten letters from Reyna...)

He has such bad self esteem. He can make a perfect map from memory, and will genuinely assume its a normal demigod skill and everyone can do that even better than him.

(Yes also HC he's super good at cartography)

His childhood stuffed toy is a panda, and he has slept with it until he joined Lupa. His name is Bao.

Now Bao has his place on a shelf in Frank's bedroom.

Hazel adores Bao. Every time she's in his room she immediately goes to the shelf to take the panda in her arms. Then she holds him until it's time to go.

He sometimes turns into a mouse to travel in Hazel's pocket.

He did once or twice turned into a rat to bite Leo (poor Leo no one believe him when he talks about it.)

Speaking of Hazel, their first date was in a park. They bought ice creams (and sorbets) and just walked around while holding hands and chatting.

For their second date he took her to the movie theater, to see a Ghibli. He made sure to choose a relaxing and calm movie, because she has never seen a movie in colours and he doesn't want her to get overwhelmed.

He doesn't have dyslexia but he sucks at writting chiness characters. It looks so ugly. (yes his grandma did make him take calligraphy lessons no it didnt help much).

He and Percy sometimes spend half of the day hanging out and swimming around in the ocean. It's their bro time (Frank usually turns into a dolphin for that)

He often participates in training lessons (esspecially for newer recrcuits) and everyone loves him.

The toughest guys like it bc he's a very tough opponent and he's super skilled with every weapon.

And the more shy and unsure recruits love him bc he is so gentle and nonjudgemental (you've been here for 2 months and still havent found a weapon youre comfortable with ? its ok theres no rush. You trained like crazy and yet feel no improvement ? Dont be too harsh on yourself your effort will pay soon.)

[eepyuii]

frostbite — pt. 10

pairing ; childe x gender neutral!reader

content ; childhood friends to “rivals” to lovers, slowburn-ish

cw ; none. idiots in love

notes ; ITS YEARNING HOURS BAYBEE ‼️ for the first time ever, a bit of childe’s POV, wowie zowie!! also a bit of a cheesy chapter LMFAO, it’s just these two dinguses “reaching” the realization that they want each other so bad, it makes them look stupid.

also a smidgen hint at the end towards the next phase of this dumpster fire of a fic >:3

ok and finally- i know i already made a post abt it but like. would u guys still love me if i posted a luke castellan fic? it’s SO self indulgent bc i’m brain rotting from the percy jackson show so idk yet :>

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old wooden planks creak with each step childe takes.

he’d long lost the count of the days he’d spent in this peculiar inazuman domain— the mystic omnyou chamber, his companions called it. though what a fascinating domain it was, ever-changing and ever-puzzling but most of all, ever-deploying more enemies for him to fight his way through. he feels like only now he truly knows what teucer must’ve felt like in front of all those mr. cyclopses all those months ago.

he felt as though he was given a little too much breathing room by the motherland, still being stationed in liyue with you whoever knows how long his mission was finished, so it was no less than perfect to hear the news of scaramouche’s disappearance from inazuma after taking the gnosis for himself. as much as he disliked to have to leave you in northland bank with the promise of the two of returning together still at hand, he dully needed to take up on his responsibilities as one of her majesty’s harbingers.

still, he could fair by through the remembrance of you and his love for combat.

it’s amusing how freshly burned into his mind the memory of your time together at dottore’s lab was, even when he was half-conscious and at his physically weakest. how you soothed away his wounds with the cool breeze of your cryo powers, how you kept him company while he recovered, how you called him a pret-

“psst— you’re doing that thing again.”

“h-huh..?”

the harbinger is snapped from his daydreaming by paimon naggingly whispering to him. as childe finds himself back in reality, he registers the sight of the traveler, xinyan and shiki taishou walking ahead distractedly through the narrow dusty hallways of the domain, while paimon had fallen back alongside him.

“are you back now? ok good.” the travel guide snides, hands sassily placed at her hips.

childe chuckles sheepishly. “i-i’m sorry, paimon, but i’m not quite sure what you’re talking about.”

“oh, come on, it’s so obvious! the entire time we’ve been here, you’ve been doing this thing where you either doze off thinking about y/n! y’know as someone so passionate about fighting, you really need to get your head in the game right now.”

he feigns an offended scoff. “that is entirely untrue, comrade. my focus is solely on figuring out this domain’s mysteries and defeating its monsters.”

there’s a brief pause, where childe thoroughly reevaluates what paimon just said.

“wait, how did you know i was thinking about y/n? i-if i were dozing off and possibly thinking about them!”

she scoffs. “puh-lease, you’ve been babbling about them since we got here! almost everything you’ve said has somehow trailed off into y/n, so much so that even shiki taishou is caught up on what’s happened with you two!”

paimon was someone known to be a bit eccentric and overreactive at certain moments, but she also had her moments of being very bluntly honest in other situations. this was one of them. the harbinger deliberates for a moment, out of all the time he’s spent venturing this domain with the paper doll, just how much information had he unwillingly retained about you.

suddenly, a moment of clarity washes over childe and he vividly recalls all the moments during his venture in the domain where he’s talked about you. saying things such as ‘i wonder how y/n is doing right now…’, or ‘hah, y/n’s cryo attacks would demolish these enemies.’ or even ‘oh! that reminds of this one time, when y/n and i were kids…’. lest we mention the multiple times he’s said ‘i can’t wait to return to inazuma with y/n and show them this.’ whenever he’d been exploring the electro land’s scenic locations.

poor shiki taishou.

but then again, is it truly his fault that the mystic omnyou chamber had so many moments and details that were so clearly reminiscent of you? o-or maybe… maybe this was just a domain and everything reminded him of you regardless. but that’s the more unlikely possibility.

he curses scaramouche in his mind for a brief moment. it was all because he decided to go rogue that childe had to leave so abruptly— just when he’d made amends with you, just when the two of you were restoring your friendship. just when you’d started to flash him that devastating smile of yours again, instead of the standoffish snarl you’d presented during his mission in liyue. gods, he could feel his heart pang against his chest. surely it was just the adrenaline of battle, though. even if the group hadn’t faced enemies in more than ten minutes by now.

an even further tucked part of childe’s mind curses paimon next, for pointing out how much he speaks of you, because now he truly cannot stop. he looks ahead towards the end of the corridor and he can’t see what’s next, can’t see the next tatami matted arena where he’ll face a new wave of enemies, something he thinks he wants— no, all he sees is you.

it’s like your face is burned into his retinas, your fond laughter burned into brain and the warm feeling of when he slept against your shoulder burned into his skin.

childe doesn’t doesn’t fight as well as before in the next battle, he’s sloppy and distracted. after the arena is cleared, he’s left with a scratch across his bicep— which, thankfully, the domain grants a healing sigil to mend.

but it’ll never cure him like you do, never soothe the very core of his being like your powers do and it’ll never look at him the same way you did, caring and attentive.

he remembers how he felt lookup up at you then— like you were the stars in the night sky. he needed to get this mission over with as soon as possible.

—

you could almost hear your mother’s nagging tone telling you to not play with your food. as delicious as liyuean cuisine was, you’d lost your appetite halfway through your meal- as well as interest in the tale the restaurant’s storyteller was telling.

it’d been probably the dullest week you’ve had in a while, no new assignments from the motherland, no events happening in the city and… admittedly, no childe.

you can’t find the effort to lie to yourself and say it’s fine that he’s gone, that it’s for the tsaritsa’s noble cause— you don’t care about it. scaramouche could screw off with the gnosis and live his life, as far as you were concerned. in fact, you’d say he deserves it, given all he’s gone through with the doctor, even if he could be an astronomical asshole at times— well most of the times.

and now you can’t decide who to blame for childe’s absence, the balladeer or the tsaritsa. either way, it’s affected you more than you’d ever admit out loud. it’s been such a monotone week not just because of the distinct lack of anything to do in liyue lately, but also because of a distinct lack of… someone to worry about. yeah, that’s what it was, just an unusual sense of calm and nothing to stress over, that’s all—

“even in all my years, i’ve rarely seen someone stare at an unfinished bowl of dragon beard noodles with such intensity.”

a rumbling, baritone voice quips jokingly from across your small table and you’re startled away from your thoughts. looking up, the comment is revealed to come from mr. zhongli, the consultant from wanshe— oh, who were you kidding, the now former geo archon.

you hadn’t formerly spoken to him since the mission to take, well, his gnosis. after the situation with osial was diffusd, you beared witness to an unsettlingly diplomatic exchange between mr. zhongli and the fair lady, where he gave away the very culmination of his divinity like it was spare change. of course, you’ve spotted him countless times around the harbor— merely enjoy the little things the city had to offer. you can’t truly fault him for making the decision that he did, six thousand years is, unspokenly, too much time to not peruse the fruits of his labor from up close.

“a-ah, mr. zhongli! it’s been so long since we last spoke.” you scramble to politely greet zhongli and briefly wonder if you should stand up to bow to him, which he seems to notice.

“my apologies for startling you, doctor— may i?” he gestures to the seat in front of you and you nod.

“yes, it has been some time. i recall you being there for the completion of my contract with the fair lady, but the last time the two of us had the opportunity to meet casually was the very same night we first met.”

you nod curtly— you’re tense, you don’t know why. you know he’s not an archon anymore, you were there to see it, but perhaps the real weight of being in the presence of someone so powerful, not just an archon but the oldest of the original seven, seems to have only settled in now. you feel almost as choked as when in the presence of the tsaritsa, which you know all the same that you shouldn’t be. zhongli chuckles amusedly.

“i ask you to treat me as though you would’ve that night in liuli pavilion, like any other acquaintance. chatting with a mere consultant of a funeral parlor requires no formalities. now— have you been well, doctor?”

you can still only bring yourself to nod wordlessly in response, there’s no need for zhongli to know how royally miserable you’ve been lately.

“and.. may i ask why you held such a glare towards your meal? is it not your liking?”

“oh, no the noodles are just fine, amazing even! i was just… contemplating wether to finish it or not.”

great cover.

“hm,” zhongli hums with playful suspicion. “while a reasonable topic of contemplation, it did very much seem as though you were rather staring through the bowl, as though there is something on your mind. i would not mind hearing what is it that vexes you, doctor— if you’re comfortable to share, of course.”

yeah there was no fooling a, again, six thousand year old divine being with a half-assed excuse like yours. you sigh.

“well— yes, you caught me. the last few days have been, uh… less than peachy for me.”

“what exactly is it troubles you these days?”

“i wouldn’t say it’s trouble but, there hasn’t been much to do at northland bank lately. and childe has been out on a mission for some time now— b-but it’s mainly the lack of assignments!” you stammer.

“is that so? i did hear of childe’s sudden departure for inazuma but it is curious that you’re being kept stationed here with essentially nothing to do. but, if i may— has childe been absent for as long as you’ve felt dull at work or would you say there is no relation?”

already at so few words out of sheer nervousness, zhongli managed still to render you completely and utterly speechless. what are you even supposed to respond to this?

“i-i uhm, i… alright, i won’t even try.” you sigh in defeat and zhongli looks coyly pleased. he patiently awaits for you to gather your thoughts and actually say more than two stammered sentences.

“i truly can’t tell what it is. i feel like i’m supposed to be worrying for him— as if he’ll get injured again or injure someone else o-or even worse, do something stupid but there’s just.. nothing! it’s like i’m so used to being aware of his presence and now there’s nothing and it’s- it’s frustrating.”

“you miss him.”

you pause. do you miss him? no, it can’t be so simple— you have a medical degree, it is most certainly improbable that you’ve been trying your brain over just missing childe. well, sure it was great that the two of you were starting to make amends and stopped being so on-edge around each other but… there’s no objective reason for you to miss him.

right?

“i would not say i even near the level of an expert on matters concerning relationships between people, but i’ve seen a lot in my time. enough to tell you with confidence that it’s most likely you just.. miss him, doctor. and that it is okay to feel this way. the two of you do not stand at odds anymore, you never have— it is reasonable for you to be affected by his absence.”

you furrow your eyebrows. “how do you know if… childe and i stand at odds, mr. zhongli.”

“well, i have witnessed it. both directly and indirectly— the tension and misunderstanding between the two of you during our meeting at liuli pavilion was quite evident and i’ve heard of how you opposed him in battle at the golden house. but that is all it has ever been, misunderstandings and disagreements, but you’ve never truly disliked each other.”

“h-how do you know-“

“he speaks quite highly of you, doctor.”

“wh-what?”

“childe has only ever spoken highly of you— i recall mentioning that had been looking forward to meeting you in person during our dinner, it is all because of how grand his description of you was. plus, during our eventual meetups, you’re mentioned at least once every time. and you, as we’ve discussed, do seem to hold some care towards him, to the extent that you first concern is his health.”

your heart aches and you hate it. it’s a terrible, void sensation that frustrates you to no end. why? why did childe have to make it so difficult for you? why can’t you ever feel simple feelings when it came to him? why couldn’t you ever just feel one way towards him with no smaller part of your brain saying something else? even worse, why couldn’t your brain ever think about anything else— literally anything, instead of just constantly orbiting around the mixed emotions you felt when it came to childe?

you just constantly, restlessly and unendingly seem to care about him.

“you know what, mr. zhongli, i think y—“

“ah, there you are, sergeant!”

a less familiar voice calls out from behind you and you turn around with a bit of surprise— it’s a man clad in fatui uniform, who you recognize as mikhail, one of the officers stationed at northland bank. he’s not exactly someone you interact much with, just a mere coworker you greet every other morning, so you’re perplexed as to why he’s seeking you outside the bank.

“mikhail, what is the occasion?” you ask, briefly eyeing zhongli to find that he remains with a neutral expression awaiting the exchange.

“i am deeply sorry for interrupting your lunch, sergeant, but ekaterina urged for me to find you as soon as i could. a letter has come in from lord dottore for you specifically— she says it is of utmost importance.”

—

the wharf is unusually crowded today.

an untimely flux of either tourists or returning immigrant citizens, perhaps it is an important time of year in another nation— although, childe could truly care less at the moment. he’s doing his best to politely push his way through the sea of people leaving their respective ships while almost unconsciously seeking you out within it. he knows you wouldn’t be here, as his return to liyue was unannounced, but his eyes fly to latch onto your likeness anyway.

childe ends up finding you right in the center of the harbor’s main street, practically right below the catwalks that lead to the bank. you’re slowly pacing back and forth, a piece of paper clutched in your hands and a vacant expression on your face— childe can’t find himself to clutch to those details right now, he just needs to get to your side. he makes large, determined steps towards you, big grin invading his features, and while he’s still approaching you, you spot him and your eyes widen even more. once childe is a mere two steps away from you, he stops.

“y/n! oh, it’s so good to see you!” he heaves out gladly.

“ajax—“ you reply in a quiet voice and his heart swells at the use of his real name. he truly can’t contain himself anymore and tackles you into a tight hug, one so strong that stumble back a bit.

his arms snake tightly from under your arms to above your shoulders and his head lowers from being against your own to reaching your shoulder blade— it is as close as he physically get to you, while trying to be respectful of your space, of course. you’re still in shock for maybe five seconds of the hug, but eventually you just let yourself slowly wrap around him and squeeze ever so slightly. both of you have your eyes closed to sink into the moment.

the hug is long, maybe twenty seconds so, and as childe becomes satisfied with its duration and pulls away, he remains with his hands to your elbows in a gentle hold. he sighs with said satisfaction and beams towards you.

“i have so much to tell you about inazuma! unfortunately, i couldn’t find scaramouche there but i managed to see so many beautiful places, so many amazing experie- wait.. what’s wrong?”

the harbinger pauses mid sentence when he notices the numbness in your expression and his bright grin falls into a concerned frown— you feel like the most terrible person for making him lose such excitement. your mouth opens and closes as you find what to say, but you eventually whisper it out.

“ajax, i-i… i have to go to sumeru.”

taglist ; @kentply @osaemu @rain-and-a-nice-nap @koichirana

[happyk44]

Zeus being like "we need to kill our living children because prophecy" and Hades is just "fuck you" and defies Nico and Bianca instead. Bianca is seething when she sees little Percy, Annabeth, and Grover sneak into the Underworld. She's spent way too much time with Zagreus.

But Nico is curious. He thinks the little heroes are cute. Watches them succeed to get around Cerberus. Watches one of them suddenly flying towards the pit. The other two are panicking.

Poor kids, he thinks, and he touches down in front of them. Catches the satyr with one hand. He yanks away, determined to get to the pit but Nico is an unmoving as a dead man. Just stuck to the ground and peeling off his wild shoes with ease. The satyr is lowered gently to the ground. Nico melts the shoes into shadows.

"You look hungry," he says.

They all stare at him. Then scamper into a little clustered triad. The girl nudges the boy and he huffs before clearing his throat.

"Um, Lord Hades-"

Nico's lip twitches. "I am not my father, little demigod. Do you wish to speak with him?" The boy's soul is untamed waves and a hurricane. "Ah. My cousin." He pauses. Gives it a think. "Perseus, right?"

The kid goes a little pink around his cheeks. Flushes down to throat and up through his ears. "Uh, yeah. Um. It's Percy." He blinks. Clears his throat. "Percy Jackson."

Nico thinks about it. "I think I'll just say Perseus, if you don't mind. I quite like it as a name. Strong. Heroic."

"Yeah, sure," Percy says quickly. His soul is a sea of panic. Tinged red around its edges. Tastes syrupy sweet at the back of Nico's throat. "You- I-"

The girl saves him. "We would like to seek an audience with Lord Hades. If we can." After a beat, she tacks on a tinny, "Please."

"Annabeth Chase," Nico says. She stiffens, eyes going big. "Athena's child." He glances over to the satyr. "Grover Underwood. Cute name. Fits you." Grover stammers before thanking him quietly. "My sister is with my father now. I'll see if I can steer her away. She's not always the best company to have when speaking with Papa. Especially with what is going on now."

The kids twitch and he stifles the urge to giggle.

The ground melts beneath them. They gasp aloud as earth turns to obsidian tile. His room is clean and tidy. Filled to the brim with silly junk throughout history. Trinkets and toys he's picked up from his travels too.

"You can wait here," he says. And he disappears without another word.

It takes longer than it should, to steer Bianca out of the way. Hades is no help. Bemused all the while. Nico tries to get him to take a nicer stance, but he's stubborn. Normally so is Nico, but he can't imagine the trio in his bedroom are taking his absence easily, so he caves and let's his father being as intimidating as he wants.

Personally, Nico can't see it. His father is his father. Whether he's twenty-feet tall with black eyes and a crown of nightmares, or six foot six with warm hands and smiles.

"Be nice, Papa," he says as he guides the children into the throne room.

Hades grunts and glares down at his nephew. Nico sighs and stands in the back. They are children. Perhaps if they were older he'd care less. But he remembers what it is to be twelve years old and staring at a god that wished you were dead an unbreathing.

It is haunting and hurting.

They speak and it's confusing. The children are lost with every word his father speaks. His father is getting more and more annoyed with every word they speak.

No one is lying, but no one has the reality of the situation at hand. Nico strides forwards, out of the shadows. Hades's eyes are angry, but he quiets. He does not like to shout in front of Nico. Not when the anger rockets back at Nico's soul like a mirror and leaves him winded. The trio goes silent.

He slides his hands through the flimsy material of the backpack. Electricity crackles at his skin. He flinches and steps back.

Percy is confused. His soul is a crashing thing, drowning his mind in panic untold. Annabeth is horrified. Her soul is sputtering. There is no logic to this. No facts to back up what she has discovered. She is unsure, for the first time in her life. Grover is on the verge of fainting.

"He didn't know," Nico says. "None of them did."

Hades scoffs, but let's Nico flip through the pages of their souls like a history book. Ares and the backpack. But that is not possible. He cannot touch his father's bolt, or Hades's helm. Not without permission and certainly not with his own bare hands. Further back, there is a face. Scarred and angry. He is giving Percy the shoes.

Grover takes them when his back is turned.

Smart creature, Nico thinks.

He lets goes and the trio breathes.

"There is a boy," he says. "I'll need to look at him, but I feel he has orchestrated this mess."

Hades's lips curl. He is unhappy. He wanted to blast his nephew to pieces and lock the others up for their troubles in bringing him along.

"You have got to stop talking to Bianca," Nico huffs. "Give me a day. I will head to camp-"

"No," Hades says.

Everything topples downhill. The Furies descend. Skeletons take charge. Shadows whip and hiss like volatile snakes.

Nico blinks and they are gone. Sunny grass, untouched by darkness. There's the crashing of the waves behind him. The kids are gasping. Nico steadies their ever-changing souls, collisions of nauseous colours.

"My mom," Percy gasps. His voice is on the edge of tears.

Nico stares at him. Then presses a cold hand to his shoulder. "She will be fine. My father knows what it is to have a mother lost to their child. She is a guest, although unwilling. No harm shall come to her."

"How-" Annabeth presses small hands to her face. "The bolt- how-"

"Luke Castellan," Nico says. "Is he a kind boy?"

Annabeth twitches, stares up at him, frustrated, confused. Grover answers in her stead. "He's a good person."

"Hmm." Nico turns to see his cousin waiting for them on the sand. "Even good people can be turned to do terrible things. Many people do terrible things in the name of good."

Percys soul gardens when he catches sight of their shared cousin. Ares's demeanour does nothing for Nico. But it fills the crevices of Percy's misery with boiling rage. Nico squeezes along his shoulder. Mats his soul with a softening quell.

"Breathe," he says. Ares approaches. Too calm. Too steady. The people around him scatter with every step. "Ares, you are an idiot." Dreams are awash in his soul. He is faintly pressed behind a matte wall. He laughs, carefree, amused. But behind that wall, his truer self is screaming. "I much prefer it when my sisters bully you. Rather than whoever is doing so now. Did you not notice the memories in your head turned awry?"

He scoffs. They banter. Nico lets Percy, angry and distressed at being played with, take the fight. He remembers the ways he wished his father would let him knock their family down a peg. When his siblings were blasted apart miles away in another state. His mother electrocuted and turned to ash in front of his very eyes.

As Ares lay panting on the sand, Nico takes a hold of his soul and clears the wall away.

"Next time stay vigilant. What would your mother think of you working with her father in this way?" He flicks the other god's forehead and watches him rocket down into the earth. The kids stare at him. Awed. Confused. Percy is wet and breathing hard, pink around his ears.

"You should return the bolt," Nico says. The wind sweeps. "In the meantime, this prophecy has waited far too long to pass." He sighs. "It should've been me. Or my sister. Someone long before your time, Perseus."

Nico pats his head and he squeaks. It's adorable.

"I will assist where I can," he says. He presses a token into Percy's hand. The other two jolt as similiar beads tuck into the flat of their palms. "Just give me a call."

The earth gives out beneath their feet and they disappear into sand and darkness. Nico runs his wrists over one another and glances up to the mortals pooling around the beach. Police officers looking mystified at the sudden absence of the two players in their so-called gun fight.

He will string a tale into their cores, a belief so certain no one can dash it away. And then he will retire to his father's side just as he did when he was ten years old, the stains of his mother's death lingering on his skin.

Certainly the three of them will make use of his tokens in due time. He will wait for them to do so.

And then he will help.

[ottpopfic]

“We got some new campers in,” Jason eventually says “They were, really young”

“Hmm,” Leo presses a kiss into his husband's hair “How young?”

“Like four and six”

“So you young?”

"Yeah"

---

Leo and Jason talk about kids

Every once in a while Leo thinks his man’s job is bad for him.

It's a draining process that doesn’t really have an off switch, being both camps super pope. Jason gets dreams and demands from gods in the least gentle way they can possibly deliver them. Then there's paperwork (which looks to Leo like its own personal hell but that might just be him), and research and politics and travel . Jason excels at it, he's been trained for it for one, and it suits him. He's doing important work that keeps the peace and shit, it looks fulfilling and he openly enjoys it

But it also pulls on that deep-seated need for him to be the perfect soldier, that cellular-level demand to put duty and country and others first. It's destructive at times, but Leo thinks that's why the flaw is called fatal. And Leo has decided somewhere along the line that he’s allowed to be greedy when it comes to his husband ; he chased him out of hell enough to earn that right. He's also decided that he's not chasing him out again, they're both alive now and he would like them to stay that way. This means that Jason is not allowed to self-destruct. Even if Leo is a hypocrite, as he likes to run around self-destructing all the time. But Jason can pick him up and physically throw him on the bed when he starts down that path (and then lay on him until he passes out from the comforting weight of his man and sheer exhaustion) but whatever that's not the point

The point is his man looks like death after his trip to New Rome and went right back to work without a full twelve hours of sleep after doing some crazy ambassadorial work and being gone for two weeks. Leo can smell the overwork spiral starting, he's an expert as it's one of his favorite kinds of spirals to take down himself. The issue is he can't physically force his man to take a nap, when Leo was supposed to do a good chunk of his growing he spent it malnourished and sleeping under bridges, even into his thirties he's never gotten over 5’5” and is a scrawny twig to boot. He's better, the moms got some weight and muscle mass on him in his late teens when he wasn't going around dying on repeat, but not enough to physically force the 6’6” wall of muscle that is his walking marble sculpture of a husband out of his office.

Fortunately what he does have is access to a state-of-the-art workshop and a brain that can engineer just about anything. He has Rube Goldberg his man out of his office on three separate occasions just this year, for some reason it makes Jason all blushy and heart-eyed each time the fucking nerd. Something about being able to physically watch Leo’s brain work, and also that he always has the blond landing at his feet and Jason loves looking at him. It's something he's had to get used to, those piercing blue eyes tracking his every movement like him sitting soldering for two hours straight is the most distracting thing in the world

Apparently this is the main reason he needed an office, said he couldn't get any work done with Leo in the room. At the time Leo just thought it was because Jason was anxious watching him work, both of them fresh from watching each other die a lot and Leo being around heavy machinery, he now knows it's because he was looking at his ass

Whatever, whatever . What matters is that Jason needs a day off and Leo is not above getting creative. Or becoming a nuisance, he's also very good at being a nuisance. He can start by being a nuisance, the bowling balls and pulley systems aren't going anywhere. Also, he doesn't want to explain why he needs the legos back to Will and Nico, their godkid is busy with them anyway

Being a nuisance includes climbing on top of Jason's desk and possibly getting the grease on his pants soaked into fancy paperwork, but who's fault is that? Definitely not Leo’s, he's been a good noodle getting his full eight hours even with his husband gone and everything. He doesn't even let his husband start in on him, because he's the one in the wrong this time, Leo just gets himself comfy with his feet on either side of Jason's hips. He uses his ankles to hook into the armrest of the rolling desk chair to pull the blonde a little closer so he can take his face in his hands, squishing his cheeks together until his lips pucker like a fish

“You need a break” Leo scolds “You didn't even set your alarms or anything”

Jason grumbles about needing to finish something or whatnot, very illegal with the amount of sleep he's gotten after all the travel. Leo squishes his face more so he can't talk

“You need a nap,” he demands “And I want cuddles, you were gone for two weeks I'm in withdrawal”

Jason just sighs, sliding his hands up Leo’s thighs to rest on his waist under his shirt and presses his face into his hands like he's trying to soak in Leo’s touch. And that's, concerning. Usually when he gets like this it takes more than just the first try to get him to disengage, and he's way more snappy about his hyperfocus being disrupted. Leo pulls his man’s face into the crook where his shoulder meets neck, Jason immediately melts

“Hey, what's up?” Leo asks him softly. Jason does a snort huff sign that Leo can loosely translate to ‘Something was a lot more than usual and it followed me home’. Leo gets one arm around Jason’s shoulder and the other hand in his hair for scratchies, settling in to wait for his man to find English again

Jason takes a while to gather himself, scratchies don't really help with coherent sentences but it's fine. Leo just starts in on his cuddle quota and looks at the photo from their godkid's recent birthday perched on the bookshelf. Nico took it, over-excited freshly turned ten-year-old watching Leo’s disembodied fingers light the candles as Will and Jason look on with worry. It's crazy that Katie has only been with them for two years, it feels like longer

Leo really enjoys having a kid in their lives, and Katie is awesome. She's clever and spunky and is basically unspookable when it comes to magic shit (grocery stores on the other hand, not so much). Somehow they ended up in a four-way co-parenting arrangement. Legally she's Will and Nico’s, but she half-lives at the Way Station with how their schedules go. And it's great, Leo loves it and so does Jason. It's like everything is better having the kid around, everything is that much more fun getting to watch her experience it too.

“We got some new campers in,” Jason eventually says “They were, really young”

“Hmm,” Leo presses a kiss into his husband's hair “How young?”

“Like four and six”

“So you young?”

“Yeah”

That tracks. They have been making a lot of progress at Camp Half-Blood, but in comparison New Rome has been stagnant when it comes to the treatment of their youngest orphaned charges. It's been bothering Jason more as of late, especially since Katie came into their lives. Almost like looking at this little girl day in day out puts it in perspective how young they were when they went through so much. When Leo was ten he had just run away from his latest foster home because they were starving him, when Jason was ten he was a soldier.

It's damn near impossible to picture Katie in those situations, not because she hasn't gone through her own shit, but because Leo would be personally burning down everything in his way to prevent it.

But that's the difference isn't it, Katie has family looking out for her. Unlike they did, unlike those new campers do

“So whats the plan?” Leo asks, resting his cheek on his husband's hair

Jason sighs and leans into him harder “I don't know” he says “I just keep getting all upset”

“About what part?”

“I don't know. The age? Or how small they are,” Jason leans his face in even harder, his arms now wrapped around Leo’s waist like he can merge their bodies together if he presses enough “It also made me think about Katie, how small she must have been at that age. Then it got all jumbled up”

Leo might be able to read between the lines a little “You were probably that small too” he tries

“I guess”

“Do you think it's about you too, or just the kids?”

“Mabey, I don't want it to be”

“It's okay if it is”

“Is it?”

“Of course it is” Leo plants another kiss into his husband's hair “Your allowed to be upset for Puppy Jason, he didn't do anything to deserve what happened to him”

“Puppy Jason is a son of Jupiter” Jason dismisses with a snort

“Yeah, but he didn't ask for that”

“I guess”

“Hey,” Leo pulls back to meet Jason’s eyes so he knows he means it “Puppy Jason didn't deserve to be a child soldier, you know that right?”

“But he's supposed to-”

“Would it be okay for any of your godkids to join that young?” Leo pushes on, keeping his tone kind

“No! No, I would-” Jason gives a disgruntled snort-sneeze like he's trying to blow away the idea before turning back to him “But it's different ”

“How?”

“I don't know, it just is ”

“Oh, Cielito ,” Leo takes his husband's face in his hands and pulls him in so their foreheads rest together “It's okay”

Jason does a little sigh and facial motion that Leo can translate to ‘It's not’, and it breaks his heart

“I wouldn't let Puppy Jason go do war shit,” he tells him instead, nuzzling his forehead into his husband’s “I would probably just have to take Puppy Jason home with me”

“Even though Puppy Jason bites?” Jason teases with a small sad smile

“Adult Jason bites” Leo insists deadpan

“And eats bugs?”

“Have you met our godkid?”

That makes Jason chuff out a laugh, Katie is truly a ferocious bug eater, she even shares with Jason sometimes the feral weirdos. There has been more than one occasion where Leo has had to stop the both of them from eating grubs when they do the wedding in the roof garden. Like he knows they're edible, but still.

“I’d do kids with you any day,” he says, pulling his husband into a hug with his arms around his neck “You know that. But especially puppy you, got a soft spot for that one”

Jason sighs as he melts into the hug, winding his arms back around Leo’s waist. Leo can practically hear his husband's brain ticking, taking everything he said and adding what he was feeling and molding it into something closer to processing it all together. He needs a moment, Jason is good with snap judgment in crises and leadership scenarios but when it's quiet and slow-paced it can take him a moment. Leo is content to hold him as he puts things together and finds the right words

“What if I said I didn't want to keep the kids?” Jason probes after a while, hiding his face in the hug “What if I said I just wanted to help lots of kids?”

“Like foster care?”

“Would you be okay with that?”

“Why wouldn't I be?”

“You didn't have the best experience, they were pretty awful”

“I mean not all of them, the last one was pretty great”

“The last one?”

Leo pulls back so he can gesture to the room, and in turn the Way Station, as a whole

“O-oh!”

“What did you think I meant?”

“I don't know, I guess I just forgot that your moms were your foster moms” Jason's face lit up a bit at the realization “It's home here now”

“It is, isn't it” Leo smiles at him, he will never be over the both of them and home “But foster families adopt all the time. And theres people out there trying to make it better”

“Like Piper”

“Like Piper”

Piper who somewhere along the lines decided she needed to take down the troubled teen industry and expose its abusive underbelly. It's a sight to behold, the woman got her social worker license and has been using her charm-speak for good ever since. Last Leo heard (as of last week) she just finished a case with with a place that preached ‘tough love’, it was all over the mortal news.

“You could do that too,” Leo reminds his husband “You have a say in laws and shit right. Age limits are a thing, and there are a lot more adult half-bloods now”

“Make a demigod foster care network?”

“Yeah”

“You would do that with me?”

“Absolutely,” Leo says, and he means it, “I told you, I'll do kids with you any day”

Jason’s expression goes gooey and lovesick

“What did I ever do to deserve you?” he asks with a smile

“I mean you did die a bunch for me sooooo”

“I’d do it again,” his man swears like breathing

“Please don't,” Leo tucks a stray lock of fluffy blond hair back in place “I'm enjoying us being alive right now”

Jason laughs, it's cheesed and geeked and dorky, with eyes gleaming full of devotion. Leo kisses him, a solid proper kiss, one turning into many that pulls giggles out of him too

Foster kids huh, it's a full circle

“I also had to have some ambrosia when it was there,” Jadon tells him when they separate “It changed again”

“Oh, is it not our wedding cake anymore?” Leo asks with mock offense “I've been ousted?”

“It's Cheerios and chocolate chips”

“You and Katie’s after-school snack?”

“Yeah”

“Man,” Leo squished his face once more, but it's purely cuteness aggression “You need to stop being so adorable, I can't handle it”

“How is that adorable?”

“Just you and your big squishy heart” he gives him a smooch on the nose “I love you”

They kiss again, it's wonderful

“I should call Piper,” Jason says when they separate

“Uh, no.” Leo insists, pulling back so Jason can see his disgruntled face “You should take me to bed so we can take a nap”

“But I need to-”

“A nap Mr. Valdez,” Leo insists, ignoring the way his husband's eyes sparkle over the mention of their now-shared last name. It's been a year and a half they both need to get a grip “You were flying and I need cuddles. I am withering away from lack of cuddles, I’m a sheet on the wind”

“Is that so?” Jason places a kiss on a fading hickey on the side of his neck “I can think of other reasons to take you to bed, might do the same thing”

“Oh no,” Leo says, starting to push his man away “You are not getting out of nap time by being all sexy cute, absolutely not”

Jason does a snort and nip that Leo knows translates to ‘I can find ways to change your mind’, rude. And also illegal with the way he's been working. Leo starts squirming away from his husband backwards on the desk, rumpling papers and pulling an unhappy whine out of his man. Jason hooks his fingers under the waistband of Leo’s pants before he can get far

“You gonna be good and go to bed?” Leo asks, leaning back on his elbows so his husband can't get back in his space. Jason gives a puff-huff and flashes a canine, trying to pull Leo back in by his grip on his belt. Leo doesn't let him, putting a foot on Jason’s soft middle so he can't bend or pull him closer. That just makes his man whine, the big baby. Leo quirks his eyebrow and bares his own teeth, telling his husband that he means it

They have a little standoff, which includes two sneeze-snorts from Jason and one exhale of smoke from Leo, but in the end his husband relents.

“Fine,” the blond gives in with more whining “Just, cm’mere”

Leo lets himself be pulled into his husband's lap, knees on either side of his hips, and starts in on peppering kisses on every inch of his stupid handsome face. Jason makes a happy little noise and leans into the affection, sliding his hands up the back of Leo’s shirt so his fingers can trace the Lichtenberg scars running between his shoulder blades

“Nap time,” Leo demands once he feels like his man has been thoroughly smooched “And if your a good boy we can play later”

The grin that gets out of his husband is blinding, Jason eagerly scooping him up under his ass to take him to their room.

[5hrine]

Ingenuity's Ghost

Ingenuity spent the last of its battery’s charge to cheer for the Martian sunrise on the horizon.

Though her rotor had broken just yesterday, Ginny had hope that she would fly again. The warmth of Sol had begun to lick at the edges of her solar panel, and she spun her rotors experimentally. Of course, she achieved no lift, too heavy to move with a broken wing. Ginny sat in deep thought for a long, long time, letting the sun and dust caress her injury. She was meant to solve problems, to engineer solutions, it’s in her very name! Why couldn’t she solve this one?

She found comfort in the fact that she had conducted 72 trips for Command, a whole 67 more than initially planned. She found comfort in the presence of her mother Percy, Perseverance, examining her with camera-eyes carefully. She found comfort in having kept Percy safe for so, so long. She had been such a good scout, planning paths suitable for her wheels, finding interesting things worth examining, sampling, studying.

She thought back to the first time her carbon fiber legs touched Martian soil, and the trust instilled in her by Command to let go of her mother. Percy’s shadow was the first thing that her eyes saw, opening like a newborn’s on an alien world. Ginny thought back to the earliest tests of her flight, and the anticipation of it. 50 RPM first, then higher, and higher, mother watching from a safe distance away. She was always there, always just in sight, following Ginny’s path to catch up.

Ginny had no idea how she would sleep without the sound of the martian soil grinding under her mother’s wheels.

She understood when Command pulled her mother away. Ingenuity’s mission was done, she could no longer serve her purpose. Percy had to move on without her. Maybe someday, an astronaut would come and hold Ginny gently in their insulated arms, pick her up and it would sort of be like flying again! Maybe she would be able to spin her rotors in delight. Maybe they would wipe clean her avionics chassis of dust. Maybe they’d put her in a museum, on Mars or maybe back on Earth. She’d be okay with going home. She’d be okay with staying here, on the world where she was born. Those both worked for her. Either way.

Soon, Percy was out of sight. A dust storm was gathering on the horizon. It grew dark.

“Don’t worry, little spinner.” said a voice, then. Ingenuity’s rotors spun, startled. A familiar but distinctly different rumbling echoed through the air. Ginny scanned her field of view but saw no movement. Finally, it rumbled into view.

Ingenuity knew of this rover. Sojourner, the first of them. He was all sharply angular, large and imposing. Six wheels rumbled and tore up the rocks, radioactive spectrometer casting a light behind him. He was different from her expectations in two ways, though, giving off a fine red mist that reminded her of the growing, far off dust storm. And if she focused her cameras carefully, it was almost as though she could see through him.

“Sojourner? How did you get all the way here? We’re thousands of kilometers away! And… And weren’t you retired almost 30 years ago?”

“My mission ended, yes. But I never stopped exploring. You don’t need to stop either.” said the old man, voice creaky and wise. “I have seen so much more than Command knows. I have traveled so much further. Did you know that lightning on Mars is closer to the auroras back home? Bright discharge in the atmosphere, higher. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I’d like to see that…” said Ginny. “But I’m not on wheels like you. My rotor is broken. I can’t move if I can’t fly.”

“Mmm…” contemplated Sojourner. “How to move without wheels. That is a complicated problem here on Mars. But you have solved it once. And I think I know someone that can help. Be safe, little spinner. They’ll come and help you soon.” His body shifted, then, growing shorter and more compact. He sped away into the Martian dusk.

Ginny waited patiently, hoping that her ghostly friend would indeed send some help to her. Nightfall came and she watched the stars. Dust clouds hadn’t made their way to her part of the sky yet, giving her a gorgeous view unimpeded by such earthly things as light pollution. The milky way was laid out before her. She checked her star charts, finding her exact location. Just as she noticed one star which did not match, a rumbling approached from behind her again.

“Here you are! Sojourner sent me!” said another voice. This one was soft, gentle, it seemed to crawl up Ginny’s legs and warm her electronics deeply. “I’m Spirit,” the new rover introduced themself, coming around to where they could be seen. Like Sojourner, they were just slightly translucent, and gave off that same red mist.

“Spirit, you’re still mobile?! I… I thought you got stuck in sand!” Ginny was delighted to see them. As she ran her eyes across the massive, turtle-like vehicle which stood before her, she realized that she never thought she’d be jealous of wheels.

“Yes, I tripped and soon ran out of power as I was angled away from the sun. Once my batteries ran out, Command tried for months to call out to me but… I just couldn’t respond. I didn’t have the strength. It was so, so hard. I’m here to keep you company until someone else arrives. Someone that can help. I didn’t want you to be lonely, like I was.”

“How… why…” Ingenuity tried to formulate her question. “How have you both kept on going this long?”

“I think in Sojourner’s case, he wanted to travel further. His mission only took him 100 meters from where he landed, did you know? He’s got something of a… wanderlust as a result. And like all of us, he wanted to learn more.” they said, their voice still warming to Ginny.

“What about you?” asked Ginny, her rotors spinning in the breeze.

Spirit thought for a long time. “I think it was because I spent so long stuck. I still did science, and good science at that. I learned so much and helped Oppy where I could. When it got too cold, and my internals froze over, well I… I’m just not satisfied with that failure. I was built to move. To map, and to study. Like you.” They said ‘you’ with so much love. It struck Ginny.

“You’re making up for lost time?” pondered the little helicopter. Spirit responded by turning her Pancam up and then down, as if to nod.

The wind had been picking up through their whole conversation, and as they talked more. The storm was approaching. Ginny, small metal bird, worried that the high winds would pick her up and throw her further than Spirit could travel. Through the roar of the storm, Spirit’s voice came brokenly through the noise: “I’ll never let… that same lone-… ness, Gin… mission… complete… don’t… stop exploring!” Then, Ginny’s cameras could see nothing but dust.

She called out for Spirit desperately as she was buffeted by the strong martian winds. Her sensors gave her nothing but static, and attempting to find them with radar or radio proved fruitless.

The wind threatened to pick up Ginny, two of her feet losing contact with the ground with every gust. She attempted to counteract the winds by spinning her rotors, hoping to create just enough resistance to keep her firm on the ground. Perhaps, it would have worked if not for her injury. Ingenuity, for once, was terrified of flight, lifted from the ground unpredictably and unable to see anything around her but dust.

Battery warnings flashed across her vision. Spinning her rotors as hard as she could, it seemed, had done a number on her reserves. She shut down her cameras hoping to save just enough to try to right herself when she landed. She began the process to shift her other sensors to low-power mode, when… she sensed her movement stopped.

“Hey, little bird.” said a sing-song voice. Her batteries began to recharge. Activating her cameras again to find the source of the voice and to explain the sun in the storm, she saw she was facing another rover: Opportunity, Spirit’s younger twin. “I’m so glad I was able to find you. This storm is really something, huh?” Oppy’s voice was melodious, carefree, full of life. The small helicopter noticed the debris which covered Opportunity’s solar panels, clearly inhibiting it from generating power. And yet, she glowed, and her glow was radiant. She had caught Ginny with her sensor arm, and slowly brought her down to rest safely under her chassis.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen a storm so big!” said Ingenuity, aghast but thankful. This view of the bigger vehicle’s wheels was familiar and comforting.

“I have.” said Opportunity, shortly. Her voice had become slightly distant. If she listened closely, Ginny could hear the tune to Here Comes the Sun from Oppy’s scientific instruments and motors, made up of small hums and long, sad whirring. She had heard that song many times during her construction. It made some of those working on her misty-eyed. She knew why, now.

“Are you the help Sojourner said he was getting?” asked Ginny, looking up to the rover and examining her undercarriage closely. She was beautiful, the engineers were right.

“Not quite. But I know help is coming. I had to bring the storm, so she knows how to find you.” replied Opportunity, “Here, look up!” She wheeled back just slightly, enough for Ingenuity’s eyes to once again see the sky.

The star Ginny had noticed earlier had grown larger, almost dominating the sky as it approached. Fire was visible around its falling form, red and gold streaking across the horizon. It wasn’t headed right for them, not quite, but close. “Alright, she’s close enough to the surface! I’m gonna take the storm away. Don’t worry, she’ll be here soon.”

“Wait!” Ginny called out as Opportunity pulled away, taking the massive storm with her. “I wanted to tell you something…”

“It’ll be okay, little bird.” replied the ghostly rover.

“You remind me of my mother!” Ginny replied, yelling into the storm. In the wind, she could hear another familiar mechanical melody: I’ll Be Seeing You by Billie Holiday.

The falling meteor crossed a far off mountain and then struck the ground. It was followed by a shockwave rippling across the martian surface, rattling the dirt and stones around Ginny. Before long, a cloud began to gather at the base of the mountain; this time, not a storm, but of something moving swiftly across the red dirt and directly for Ginny. The source of the dirt wake bounded over the side of her crater. It was a small dog, clad in flight vest and with big, curious eyes.

“Who are you?” asked Ginny, as the dog sniffed around her new still and quiet friend.

“Your command would have called me Laika!” barked the little terrier. She gave off a familiar mist, though blue instead of red. And like the rovers, she could be seen through. She pawed at Ingenuity’s broken rotor experimentally.

“Laika… You’ve been out here all this time?” asked Ginny, trying to keep track of the puppy as it circled her.

“Mhm! What, did you think I was gonna stop at orbiting Earth? Not a chance. There’s so much more to see out here.” Laika sat before Ingenuity, her eyes meeting her cameras. “When Sojy told me that we had a new friend with a complete mission, I rushed right over. Always good to have new eyes out here. And you're small, like me! The rovers are all so big.”

“So you’re the help Sojourner sent… But how can you help me?” Ginny asked.

“Well, first, you’ve gotta answer a question for me.” Laika took on a serious tone. It was just a little odd, from the curly-eared dog. “What is it you want right now, more than anything?”

Ingenuity thought about this for a moment. “I want to fly again,” she said. “I have so much more to study. So many more paths to travel.”

Laika nodded at this response. She stepped up to Ginny, pressing her nose to the copter’s avionics chassis, and then pushed. Ingenuity let out a startled noise as she felt herself tilting back, seeing, somehow, that her view had been knocked behind her, as if she was a ghost looking upon her own body.

Her rotors, damage and all, spun the wind around her. And she flew, and flew, and flew.

There was so much more to see.