From @bittersweetstargazer for @ryuusei-niu using the prompt "Coffee shop AU where Lester is working there and there's this girl who always go there just to pass time away from home and they become friends (not romantic, just friendship). (Also, if is not too much it could be this one guy {Hyacinthus} who always go there too and Meg make fun of Lester to be all flustered every time he see this guy)"
Hello? Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked in that askbox before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact. So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week, okay?
Uh, let's see, first there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. Uh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know. Um, "Welcome to Tumblr Tumblear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Tumblr Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced."
My [ @see-252327 ] entry for the secret santa event. For @bittersweetstargazer.
Prompt: Meg seeing apollo’s god form for the first time and having mixed feelings about it/not liking it very much
—–
Meg doesn’t know the god Apollo, she only knows Lester.
Lester was simply Lester, nothing more, nothing less.
He was the stupid, idiotic dummy that she was forced to protect in his trials. The dummy that she had to save countless times. The dummy that had acne and flab like everyone else but still constantly complained.
Sure, it was annoying at times, but Meg got used to it, like she always had, it was better than Nero at least.
Lester had good intentions, the beast didn’t. Nero, not the beast, her mind whispered. Whatever. Meg didn’t want to think about that.
Lester was her dummy, hers.
And Meg didn’t like it when others fed Lester’s ego. This was Lester, not Apollo. Apollo would never exchange complaints with her, or allow himself to be kicked in the shin, or or be complied to just be with her.
When did Lester start growing on her? Meg couldn’t afford that. No one had ever cared for her, and it certainly wouldn’t start, not now, not ever.
“He’s evil, you’re good. You must make your own choice.”
Meg shook her head. No! It was simply impossible! When has she ever cared about someone? (Besides Lu of course).
“Always, the sun always comes back.”
Yes…
So maybe Lester had grown on her a bit. That doesn’t mean anything. Right?
Meg was great at accepting truths, unlike a certain dummy with the name of Lester Papadopoulos. So, when her brain yelled at her that it meant something. Everything. Meg reflected upon her experiences.
Maybe, maybe, maybe… Meg was annoyed. Meg didn’t like the mention of any sun related terms. Lester was not Apollo. Lester was Lester.
But what was he now?
Lester had ascended the throne back to Olympus, he wasn’t Lester anymore, he was Apollo now. The greek god of the sun that Nero had been so obsessed with, the subject of his countless berating in front of her.
As a smart demigod, unlike a certain Lester, Meg decided to push this thought to tomorrow.
—
Somehow, Meg completely forgot about that, until Apollo came to camp. Not Lester.
It had been a cold day, with the winter breeze slamming against her, and Meg didn’t like that. She missed Aeithales, but she had to honor her promise, Lester had begged for her to celebrate Christmas with them after all.
And in her stupidity, Meg agreed, and she blamed it on Lester’s ugly weeping and pathetic begging. Meg had a heart alright, and she pitied Lester. To be honest, it was somewhat fun, but she definitely enjoyed Aeithales more, even if the reason was spite.
Lester felt more like Lester, and Meg felt more like Meg. He would never wear that half baked look that was half Lester and half… what he had been before, he would still be the Lester she knew.
Meg didn’t like it when Lester hybrid came to see her, he had brown hair mixed with blond, muscles that were never there, eyes still blue yet shining gold gold and gold. He didn’t give off that pathetic vibe anymore, but Meg will never let him know, his ego was big enough, she didn’t have to indirectly increase it. It was her dummy, and not at the same time. He had a presence now, one that reminded her of Nero. It reminded her of the beast.
Meg didn’t like that, not one bit.
So when he asked for her opinion, she told him the truth, of how he reminded her of Nero, and sort of regretted it with the way he dramatically gasped. Meg would have ignored it if he were still mortal, still at the start of Lester’s stupid trials. But it had already ended, and deep down, she knew her words genuinely hurt him.
Maybe she shouldn’t talk so bluntly, but that’s what made Meg Meg. Like how being pathetic made Lester Lester. He’s Lester, not Apollo.
Yes, that’s right. Dummy will always be a dummy.
Meg sipped her hot chocolate. Hot chocolate always made everything better. Water was great, it made plants grow; hot chocolate is better. Meg liked it.
“Meg!” Steve cried, “Apollo’s here!”
Meg rolled her eyes, she didn’t like that, he’s Lester, “It’s just pathetic old Lester. He’s Lester.”
Steve yawned (ignoring her), before plopping onto one of the beds, earning a glare from her, “Whatever you say. Whatever you say.”
Meg crossed her arms with a huff, “I’m leaving.”
Putting her hot chocolate down, she slammed the door to the cabin and walked in a moderately fast pace towards the big house, where Lester was sure to be. And soon enough, it came into view, and Meg couldn’t help but increase her pace, it wasn’t everyday that Lester came to visit. And no, she did not miss him. No no no NO!
The big house came to view, along with the crowd of demigods that surrounded its porch. They were trampling on the grass, can’t they stop already? But it was always like that everytime he got here. Even from such a distance away, Meg could already hear his annoyingly smug tone.
“So, like always, there was an Olympic council and father, of course, argued with Poseidon again. They were fighting over this bird called an albatross, since it technically tresspasses onto Poseidon’s domain, according to him.”
Meg could almost imagine him smiling with that sheepish smile of his, being pathetic while apologizing for the thousandth time.
She pushed through the crowd, and immediately tackled Lester into a hug.
Meg felt a hand fawning through her hair only seconds later, “Woah Meg. Woah. You’re lucky I’m a god now, a full fledged Olympian in fact!” Lester huffed.
Meg would have usually darted away, refuting him with something ‘Meg-like’ as Lester would have said. But today? Her mind kept replaying the tone of his voice, and no no no, that was not Lester’s tone! It was distinctly his, but without that patheticness. He wasn’t Lester if he wasn’t pathetic!
Moving her face away from his chest, she looked up, huffing slightly, “You’re Lester. My now god servant. Once a servant, always a-”
She stopped. That wasn’t Lester.
Who was that?
“What’s wrong, Meg? What were you saying again?” Lester, no, He cocked his head slightly.
He had golden, perfect hair that cascaded down his back, sparkling under the light of the sun, and golden eyes that held a pretense of confusion. And even that looked perfect when it was He who did that. Who? Who? Who?
‘A god. Apollo. He’s your friend, Lester.’ A part of her brain whispered.
She refuses to believe that. Lester didn’t have golden hair. Lester didn’t have golden eyes. Lester wasn’t perfect. But why? Why is she even panicking? (No, this wasn’t panic. It was something else. And you know what it is.) It was Lester, her idoticdumbstupidpatheticturnedmortal servant, not some stupidlypowerfulperfecteverythingispossible god.
‘He looks like Nero.’
And like every other time someone reminded her of Nero, she ran away, her brain shut down. Her mind turned blank. And when said god’s grip loosened, confusion imminent on his face, she knew there were only two options: flight or fight.
(”Run Meg! Run.”)
She ran, ran and ran, ignoring the confused looks the others gave her. (And the disappointment that was most likely on Apollo’s face).
There was no other solution.
—
Apollo didn’t know what was going on. He had just finished an olympic council meeting that had been going on for 5 hours. 5 hours!
His father had increased the amount of council meetings ever since he returned, and it did not help with his already downscaling popularity: The gods do not approve of change. And Apollo is a changed man (god) since his little stint as a mortal.
He almost wished he was still struggling in his trials, desperately grasping at an impossible task. Everything only succeeded because of Meg and the other demigods. He wouldn’t have the faintest chance of succeeding without them, heck, he might have died from his fall from grace! And by fall from grace he meant, Mikey and Cade hitting him until he perishes because of blood loss. He might have actually died there if it was not for sweet sweet Meg.
When did he start dreaming about his trials again? Apollo mused. Whatever, it was all the more reason to obey his dear friend’s scarce orders nowadays, he does want to see Meg, even if that entails visiting whenever he’s available.
Even if he wanted some shut eye, and forget he was a god and everything in his entire bane of existence.
Wait…
Meg wouldn’t like it.
Apollo groaned, he did not want to be found out by Meg again, and how could he ever lie to her? It always ends one way or another, with Apollo spilling the truth and Meg kicking his shin.
He shuddered. He was an Olympic god for god’s sake! Why was he afraid of a little girl?
He should choose what he feels like doing: sleeping.
But… But… But Meg would…!
Apollo’s 100% sure that she would march up to Olympus somehow, stomp into the council room without getting found out somehow, yell about his stupidity in front of the Olympic council somehow, then proceed to hit him and make him suffer public humiliation somehow.
Keyword. Somehow.
No one would be able to pull this off if they ain’t no Meg McCaffrey.
Okay. For the sake of his life, he shall go to camp half blood. Apollo did not suffer through his trials just to get killed because of a stupid reason of tiredness.
That’s right. He suffered through worst.
With that in mind, Apollo took a deep breath, before teleporting himself into camp half blood, preparing his ‘everything is fine and I’m happy to see you look’ as Artemis would have put it, scanning through the already gathering crowd for his dear Meg.
“Dad!” Kayla cried, and he was sure that was her without looking at her face. Yes, he can say with confidence that he now recognizes every single detail of his children’s voice. No, he will not bring shame to himself by forgetting their names again.
An enthusiastic Austin soon followed, along with Yan, Jerry and Gracie. Not to mention Will pulling his boyfriend by the ear. Oh, that reminds Apollo of the old times, him pulling one of his many lovers by their ear to go play with him.
Memories of the beginning soon followed as always. Hyacinthus. Daphne. Commodus.
He shuddered. Best not think of those. He can mope around later.
Anyways, back on topic, where was Meg? She wasn’t kidnapped was she?
“Where’s Meg?” He asked, concern laced in his voice.
Kayla turned around, her eyes flashing across the crowd, “I’m pretty sure I saw her earlier, probably tending to the strawberry fields or something. Is she here?”
“She most definitely is,” Austin snorted, “In the strawberry fields that is. When has she been doing something else?”
Yan raised her hand, “I second the motion.”
“I do as well!” Gracie said.
“Just wait a while and she’ll probably come by,” Nico added, cocking his eyebrow, “But are you sure you want her here? Meg will most likely kick you in the shin again, Lester.”
“Be more polite!” Will huffed, and Nico cowered from his glare (wow, his son was scary), “Even if I do appreciate your rather straightforward comments about certain things, not everyone does!”
Kayla snickered, “Lover boy!”
She was joined in by the inhabitants of cabin 7 and Apollo which soon resulted in a very flustered Will Solace and Nico Di Angelo, undoubtedly attracting the attention of the new campers.
Apollo and his children proceeded to catch up on more things, like Kayla’s archery, Austin’s saxophone… Yeah, those things, and how could Apollo not tell them of the countless misdeeds of the Olympian council to his now very attentive crowd.
“So, like always, there was an Olympic council and father, of course, argued with Poseidon again. They were fighting over this bird called an albatross, since it technically tresspasses onto Poseidon’s domain, according to him.”
In the corners of his eyes, he vaguely registered an incoming flying object. It could only mean one thing: dear, dear Meg.
Preparing himself for the impact (and the most likely coming pain on his shin), he spread his arms open, and welcomed her as she tackled him on.
They stayed like that for a while, before he reached his hand to fawn through her hair.
“Woah Meg. Woah. You’re lucky I’m a god now, a full fledged Olympian in fact!”
Eh? Was she not refuting him? What was that confusion shimmering in her eyes? Did he do something wrong again? Apollo was pretty sure he didn’t.
Meg didn’t slap his hand away, Meg didn’t refute him a few seconds later, Meg didn’t complain about his lack of reaction. He should have known there was something wrong. He should have known he had forgotten to change his looks. He should have known it would make her uncomfortable.
Moving her face away from his chest, she looked up, huffing slightly, “You’re Lester. My now god servant.”
Of course she had to mention that! The embarrassment!
“Once a servant, always a-” Meg stopped.
Was there something wrong? Why did she stop again?
Was there something in his eye?
He cocked his head slightly, “What’s wrong, Meg? What were you saying again?”
Meg only stared at him with those dark brown eyes of hers, not a word coming out of her mouth. It wasn’t like her, and he should have known by then.
He opened his mouth, apologies at the tip of his tongue, but it was already too late, Meg had pushed him back.
“Wait Meg! Wait!” He exclaimed. But she didn’t look back, and he didn’t know what he should do.
Apollo was ashamed to say, he let her run off into the forest. What a terrible friend he is.
He wanted to chase after her, to ask of her what had he done wrong. Yet he knew, he remembered; every single time he had tried but didn’t realise what they needed was space. That’s right, he could always wait for a while. Maybe a few hours.
Meg wasn’t going away, and he isn’t as well. Perhaps he was just afraid of what he might have done.
—
Meg wasn’t feeling the best, she had freaked out over Lester’s appearance after all.
She knew she should go back, apologise, talk it out, and ignore the stares the campers would give her later. But she couldn’t. Her mind wanted to do so, but her feet clearly weren’t listening as they brought her deep, deep into the strawberry fields.
Twisting her head, she scanned the horizon for any curious demigod, god or mortal following her here. Meg wasn’t in the mood for an interrogation right now.
Reaching far into the fields, she deemed it far enough, collapsing onto the mud and ignoring the freezing ground. No one will be able to find her here, not even Mr D, it was a hiding spot she herself had found. She’ll go back to her cabin once night falls, Meg didn’t want to freeze to death again, she had stayed frozen long enough for a lifetime.
Gazing into the hazy sky, she watched as the snow gently fell onto the leaves. Stupid Lester, stupid Apollo. If only this was as easy as snow falling, Meg wouldn’t be so troubled.
If only he stayed as Lester forever.
She shook her head.
No, that was selfish of her. She couldn’t subject him to her whims, he had already done so quite a few times, and she couldn’t very well be asking for more.
Why are friends so complicated? Why are relationships so annoying?
Meg knew herself, Meg knew what she wanted: unicorn stuff.
Why couldn’t the world be as easy as that?
A flash of light blinded her eyes all of a sudden, and Meg was once again reminded of gold hair and gold eyes.
Her heart hammered in her chest.
No! He couldn’t be here already! She had to run! Meg had to leave!
Sitting up frantically, she summoned her scimitars, her eyes narrowing as it scanned the horizon for the threat.
There was no threat? Then where did the light come from?
Her head raised, and she finally understood. It was the light from the sun. His sun.
She sat there for a few more minutes, making sure there was really no one, before letting her body fall back onto the ground, releasing her hold on the scimitars and willing them back to rings. Ah. Gold. Why did her rings have to be gold?
No. She shook her head. Her rings are hers, they belong to her. They aren’t that foreign gold that she saw earlier this day, they aren’t the gold that belonged to Nero.
Meg had too much today, maybe she should get some shut eye and everything will end up as only a dream.
She was sure no one would be bothered enough to find her.
Red and green entered her view. A dangling strawberry. They had to finish it before the temperature drops further. No one would find out if she took one, right? They would all be busy with Apollo here anyways. Besides, eating strawberries always made everything better.
Reaching her hand out, Meg grabbed it, before biting down onto its flesh.
The strawberry tasted incredibly bitter.
—
Apollo continued on his day, replying to his children’s concerns over Meg with half-truthful reassurances. She had to have her space after all. It was what the book ‘A parents guide to rebellious teenagers’ had said and who was he to question mortal wisdom? It had been so long since he raised one of his children the mortal way, he wouldn’t know what he should do.
His children definitely did not believe him. Especially Will. They just don’t understand the troubles of playing god. Which… which is why he found himself being cornered by Will and Nico.
“Why is Nico even here!?” He exclaimed.
“Wherever Will is, I will follow him,” Nico said, crossing his arms. Such young love, Apollo could almost remember the days when he was still young, his first lover protective like that…
His dear son only sighed, snapping him out from his tumbling thoughts, “Dad. Apollo. Lester. Why is Meg running away from you?”
Should he tell him the truth? THat Apollo didn’t know what he had done wrong?
His son must have somehow detected his confusion, as Will narrowed his eyes, “So?” He said.
“I don’t know!” Apollo shouted, shoulders slumping down, “The guide clearly did not say anything about running away!”
Nico stepped up, glaring at him with obvious distaste, “She clearly ran away after looking at you? Just what have you done?”
Will nodded as silent approval.
He shifted around, “I might have done something… wrong.”
Apollo tried to ignore the glares the two demigods were giving him, “Like always.”
“So what did you even do! What did you do wrong!?” Nico yelled, barely restrained by Will.
“I don’t know.” He squeaked.
Will sighed, “Go find Meg. She clearly needs someone to comfort her.”
“But I don’t know how!” He raised his voice.
“Then, you can learn. Like all of us do,” Will said, making a hand motion to Nico, “Let’s go Nico.”
With his son in tow, Nico brought them away, shooting one last glare at him before walking towards the direction of the Hades cabin. Apollo stood there, watching as their shadows quickly disappeared into the distance.
Perhaps Will was right. Perhaps he was wrong. Perhaps Apollo has returned to his previous ways of not caring for the mortals again.
Had he forgotten what it meant to be mortal? To be Lester?
HIs son was right, he had to learn. When did he last stop learning? Was this just an excuse again?
Raising his hand, Lester slapped himself, as hard as he could. The sting on his cheeks could never compare to the pain when he was still mortal. The blood that flowed from the wound was clearly golden. Not red.
He had been an idiot again, he should have listened to Meg’s advise. Ask bluntly, not dance around the issue, not being afraid now that he has the power to protect them.
‘But you still messed up, you made her run away from you.’
He was stupid, his son was right. If there’s something he doesn’t know, he can learn. Like how he learned that he was wrong the entirety of his immortal life. Like he learned how gods can change. Why did he stop changing? Why had he reverted back to what he had been?
He is Apollo, the god of the sun, poetry, music, archery among many others. Yet he is also Lester Papadopoulos, servant of Meg McCaffrey, the god turned mortal. They are not separate, and he will still be both, he will still be himself. No matter if he wore the skin of Lester or Apollo.
Yes. He had to find Meg. He had to apologise, he was being stupid again. Knowing her, she would be hiding among the strawberry fields; it was the only farm field here in Camp Half Blood, and whenever Meg was feeling down, she would farm or garden. She had to be there.
—
Apollo made his way through the fields, being mindful not to step on any of the vines and leaves of the strawberry bushes. He was already here for so long yet there was still no sign of Meg. Where was she hiding? Was she even here?
In the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of light. Could this lead to Meg? He curiously thought.
Walking over to the edge, he swatted the leaves obscuring the view, and almost instantly, two golden rings entered his view, and it must have been the source of the light he had seen, golden surfaces reflecting light and all. It hid patterns of patterns that he had learned to grow used to, and it screamed magical at the face of anyone who laid their eyes on it. These were her rings, it could only mean her.
Apollo’s breath stilled. He crouched down, and indeed he was right, the familiar visage of a pixie haircut and cat eye glasses. Meg.
Meg was there.
She hadn’t seemed to notice him, brown eyes blank as they were directed to the gray skies. Unfocused. Apollo had only seen this once in their months of journey together. Right after she returned to him from Nero. Just what had he done?
“Meg.” He whispered in her ear, as silent as possible to not scare the demigod. He didn’t want her to think of him as a wayward monster. Even in this haven called camp, demigods could never afford to drop their guard. The second titan war taught them.
Meg responded with a slight shift, clothes fluttering slightly, her eyes focusing and unfocusing before finally zooming in on him.
“…Apollo?” She said, in a voice all too silent.
He nodded in acknowledgement, “May I lie down with you?” He asked.
Meg stayed silent for a while. “Alright.” She eventually said. He now knew enough that something was bothering his friend.
So they laid there, eyes watching the clouds drift across the sky. In silence. How often was it that they spent their time together in silence? He and she would have exchanged snide remarks by now if this were any normal day.
“Why did you run?” Apollo eventually asked, they couldn’t very well ignore the elephant in the room could they.
Meg flinched slightly, and he couldn’t help but think it was his fault. “You don’t have to say if it makes you uncomfortable,” He said.
They didn’t talk for a few minutes.
“I didn’t like it,” Meg finally whispered, “I didn’t like it when you show up like a god.”
Twisting his face, he looked at her, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it made you uncomfortable.” He said.
“I’m sorry, Meg.”
“Don’t be sorry, I was just being selfish,” She grumbled, eyes trailing back towards the sky, “I can’t force you. You’re a god now.”
He could feel the pain laced within her words, the way they sang of a bitter tale of the past, and he couldn’t help but want to know more, to understand this forbidden fruit. But she was his friend, and he couldn’t force her to tell him, he was more that now.
He let out a soft hum, and willed the world to obey him. Slowly, Apollo shifted back to the look that was Lester Papadopoulos, brown hair, blue eyes, pale skin, flab, acne and all. Perhaps not the acne.
“Meg.” He called out, “Anything for you. If you don’t like it, then I’ll be Lester whenever in your presence. I am Apollo as much as I am Lester.”
Meg stared at him, wide eyed with shock, not a single word escaping from her mouth. Tears gathered in her eyes.
“Can I hug you?” He asked, receiving a small nod in return.
Embracing her, Apollo wiped away the tears in the corner of her eyes.
As the wind blew across the fields, Meg must have recovered from whatever was going on, “I’m not crying!” She soon grunted.
“Alright then. You aren’t,” He said. He’ll do what she wishes for a day, it was the least he could do in return.
“That’s right, I didn’t,” Meg crossed her arms, “Now be helpful and go help me get a strawberry. I want one.”
Apollo let out a whine but complied with her request, reaching out to pick 2 strawberries, passing one to her, and one to himself.
“Cheers.” He said, and they clicked their strawberries together, before biting into it.
It tasted bitter yet sweet, like the times he had suffered and learned in his trials alongside her.
Standing up, he gave his hand to her, pulling her up. She accepted.
