𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙮.
the daily orders — a familiar warmth tinting his words as he half - barked at the first cohort [ there is a power to his role that becomes him ; he thinks of the split sides of reyna, the harsh - backed frown of a praetor, the laughing teenage girl who sprouted her way into adulthood one acne - coloured blush at a time ]. he thinks he is equally as divided, as the gods are between rome and greece. he wonders how much of that split demigods truly carry with them, now that new rome has opened to them. THERE WAS A FUTURE FOR THEM NOW, one that wasn’t littered with the promise of eternal bloodshed. safety in their old age rested in his soul. as safe as people could be around the more war - like sides of the gods, that is. he dismisses the first cohort with a single glare, scattered to the wind, but it is the sudden shout of JACKSON that shocks him out of his thoughts. what scrawny little first cohort punk was calling him jackson —- ??
piper blurs into view and the brief shot of anger is quick to fade. his arms are around her waist in an instant, a pull of happiness so deep that it almost misses his heart, and he swings her around — once, twice, before dizzily placing her back on the ground. ‘ MCLEAN. ‘ he laughs, a light, happy sound ; he sensed the quick glances of the cohorts, no one ever really seeing their praetor like this in public. ‘ what the underworld are you doing here ?? ‘
𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨. even if you feel watched in front of the people that he leads and commands. he’s a praetor, he’s a leader of a whole cohort. it’s clear that they’ve never seen him like this. never seen him like this, happy and clearly a little excited to see you.
the laugh comes easily as he spins. both arms around his neck as he does. it’s even easier to bury your head on the nape of his neck, easy to hide yourself in him. once he settles you safely on the ground, ❝ jackson, ❞ you sigh again, a happy little laugh included. even if you can so clearly see that everyone’s eyes are bulging out of their eyes. ❝ tell your... ❞ you looks at them slowly, trying to figure out the name before coming to, ❝ subordinates that they should leave, ❞ you laugh again, throwing your head back even. arms so clearly around him, closer to him is always nice. after all, percy jackson is one of the warmest people you know, and moving to be closer to him seems like the best option right now. ❝ i’m moving here, ❞ you don’t pull back all that much, instead you keep yourself close to him. ❝ to go to college, i’m doing pre-med and i am... moving here now. ❞
















