--“You betrayed me!” (source: jubilee (now petcrmaximff(?)) on tumblr)
Seven years.
That’s how long it had been since Perseus Jackson had left Camp Half-Blood. How long it had been since Perseus Jackson left with Luke. How long it had been since Perseus Jackson and Grover Underwood had had a normal talk.
And yet, somehow, some way, they had started a conversation as if nothing had happened. A traitor, and the satyr who was supposed to protect him.
“Wait, wait, so you’re four years younger than me right now.”
Grover laughed, a small bleating sound.
“Yeah. I age half as fast as you, remember? Seven years for you is three and a half for me. So here you are, nineteen years old, an actual adult, and I’m still a kid.”
“Does time seem slower or something? I’d think it does.”
“No, not really? It’s hard to explain, really. Maybe a bit faster if anything.”
Percy gave a small nod, tapping his fingers a bit - a familiar fidgeting, something he’d been doing since when Grover met him.
“But, still,” they continued. “Seven years. That’s still a long time.”
“Aw, did you miss me?” Percy teased, smiling a bit.
“I mean! Yeah! You were my best friend and, then you ran off for seven years. It stings a bit, man.”
“I did ask you to come with me.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, but…” Their voice trailed off. This wasn’t where they wanted the conversation to go.
“What? You’re a protector. You bring kids to camp. You’ve seen how ignored this place is.”
“Your dad claimed you when you came to camp. Sure, not immediately, but pretty soon afterwards.”
“Yes, my dad. The one that didn’t help my family at all or try to reach out to me at all for twelve years.”
“He cared. You know it would’ve been dangerous.”
“A bit of danger is better than nothing!”
Grover took a deep breath, planning what they were about to say carefully.
“Percy. You were twelve when you went with Luke. You were impressionable. He manipulated you, when are you going to stop believing what he told you?”
“He didn’t manipulate me. I wasn’t forced to go. My father never reached out to me, never tried showing me that he cared.”
“And Luke took advantage of that.”
“He didn’t! He gave me options and I chose the right one!”
“You betrayed me!” Grover’s voice broke, tears welling up in their eyes. “You chose someone you’d just met that summer over your best friend? And you’re calling his option the right one?”
“It was the right one! The gods never cared for their kids! I chose the right option!”
He took a deep breath, turning away from Grover. “Believe what you want to believe. But I wasn’t manipulated.”
