why has everyone just decided to disregard everything that makes percy interesting?
we are always begging for a main character who is given a life outside of being a main character and then we were given percy jackson, a demigod in the summer, saving the world and looking good doing it, but is also just a kid.
he skateboards and collects them, he listens to punk rock and alternative rock (are they the same thing or is punk rock a sub-genre?) but doesn't dress 'alt' (like thalia) and has anger issues and has been kicked out of multiple schools for said anger issues, some of them being (court-ordered) military schools.
he also has problems with authorities who abuse their power (gabe, the gods, the nypd etc.) and will not hesitate to call you out on your bullshit no matter how powerful and important and feared you are.
but he has morals and doesn't do things without reason. he has a level of maturity and integrity that isn't even present in most adults. he is really smart and gets better grades than annabeth, and is the most considerate person you will ever meet. he is humble and never tries to be the center of attention.
he's not the most optimistic person in the entire world, but he tries to find reasons to be happy in really crappy situations (when they were traversing Tartarus and he was so happy that annabeth was with him that he started smiling).
he is always grateful for everything he has and tries to show genuine interest in all the things that interest his loved ones, even if they bore him to death (like annabeth with her architecture).
and we completely erase that for some reason to make him nothing but 'annabeth chases' boyfriend,' and, well he is her boyfriend, and he's very proud of that fact, but he is his own person as well.
people get really mad when we erase all of annabeth's character to make her nothing more than percy jacksons' girlfriend but we do it to percy all the time.
Wait wait wait is Percy actually canonically a skater boy? Because all I remember is that Piper said he LOOKED like one, but I can’t remember if he actually said he skateboards.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 2/?
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson)
Additional Tags: Percy is a skater boy and I refuse to be told otherwise, Annabeth goes to a country club, Annie comes from that money life, money vs love idfk, what do you want from me? Real tags?, I don’t DO tags, I guess thats kind of a lie, we die like mne, Not Beta Read, I probs never will have a beta
Summary:
He was a skater boi she was a daddy’s girl idk I never listened to skater boy? Jk jk that’s all I listened to when I was twelve- no I’m not twelve anymore
“We're gonna be okay, I promise that” for the prompts, if you want to ofc
yeah, um...i planned on making this angsty. but then i remembered: skater percy.
read on ao3
“We're gonna be okay, I promise that.”
Annabeth looked down at the steep slope of the concrete beneath her. It was steeper than she’d thought.
Slowly, her eyes drifted back to her boyfriend, whose hands rested comfortably on her hips.
“How do I know that we’re not gonna fall off and die?” she said, not daring to move an inch from her death grip on Percy’s neck.
It was a miracle that he hadn’t choked from her grasp already. She probably looked laughable—all paralyzed and wide-eyed—but she didn’t care.
“Because,” he said, holding her tighter. “I’ve got you. And I’m not letting go.”
“Reassuring,” she muttered but didn’t argue further.
She had to do this. There was a reason why she’d practically begged Percy to teach her how to skateboard. She knew the basics now, but hanging out too much with his friends and feeling useless around them as they all took to skating around this particular park had done something to her self confidence.
However, she’d told herself that she could do this.
And yet, she had no clue why the idea of this ramp and her balancing on just a piece of wood terrified her so; she’d experienced much more frightening situations during her lifetime. Monsters weren’t exactly cute and cuddly, after all. But there was just something about this slope and this skateboard that made her want to run and hide and never look back.
“Hey,” Percy said softly. He’d likely sensed her thoughts, what with how well he knew her. “We don’t have to do this, you know. It’s okay to be scared. I was scared the first time I tried this. We can just do it another time.”
“No, no—I want to try this out.” Because she couldn’t give up; her pride wouldn’t allow it.
“It’s going to be a breeze after the first time. Trust me on this.”
Easy for him to say. He was the invulnerable one in the relationship.
“Just…don't let go, okay?” she said.
“I won’t. Already promised that.”
He tucked a stray curl behind her ear—which was partially hidden under her helmet. A helmet he’d forced her to wear, though she realized just how foolish she’d been to argue with him against it, because if she fell off, the helmet was her only salvation. His fingers swiped at some other stray hairs, and the tender feel of his fingers brushing against her skin made her heartbeat slow down its galloping pace.
“You ready?”
She took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, okay. Cool.” Her arms wrapped around his neck impossibly tighter than before. “Let’s do it.”
“Okay,” he repeated, grinning.
She saw his leg lift itself off the ground, ready for its placement on the skateboard. But still, the board barely moved an inch, as if Percy was waiting for some kind of signal.
“What are you waiting for, Seaweed Brain? Get it over wi—AAAHHHH!”
The words left her throat in a shrill screech. Clarisse would’ve never let her forget it if she’d been present in that moment. Luckily, it was just her and Percy and the steady roll of the small wheels beneath her feet. She closed her eyes and concentrated on what Percy had taught her. Tighten the butt and tighten the abdomen.
And most importantly, not letting go.
The moment was over as quick as the wind rushing past her face when going down the ramp. Through her screams, all she’d felt was Percy. She’d only felt his warm hands on her back keeping her in place, and when she opened her eyes, they were gliding steadily across the rest of the park.
Annabeth let out a breath of relief.
“That...wasn’t so bad,” she managed to say, glancing up at him.
The smile he gave her was infectious—a boyish grin that only meant trouble. Fit for a skater boy, some of the Aphrodite kids would say.
But she knew, better than most, that Percy meant more than just trouble. He was beautiful this way, with his snapback making his curls peak out like clouds in the sky and his green eyes sparkling with pride, that gaze directed only to her.
“Hey, I knew you could do it,” he said as they turned a corner.
With the wheels from the skateboard, the concrete felt as smooth as glass, like she could skate for hours without stopping. Most of all, this closeness to him felt like freedom. Like the first breath after submerging underwater. It was as if, now that she’d gone down that ramp, she felt unstoppable with a giddiness that only occured on the first kiss, or on a first date.
She’d begun to realize however, that with Percy, everything new felt like turning a chapter.
“Feeling good for another round?”
She found herself beaming. “Sure thing.”
They stopped suddenly, and she craved that intimacy with him as soon as he jumped back into solid ground. She had no choice but to do the same.
“I’ll accept another round. But only if you don’t let go,” she said, nudging him. They walked side by side, hand in hand, towards the ramp.
“Easier said than done.”
Suddenly, he halted in his step but didn’t drop her hand. That’s when she turned around, only to find him mere inches away from her.
“What are you doing?”
He cocked his head to the side, sending her that look. It was a look that she’d never get used to, even now, that they were dating. His lips tugged upwards; she felt his arm drag her closer to him, like when they were riding on that skateboard that currently lay discarded on the ground.
“You told me to not let you go.” He shrugged. “That’s what I’m doing.”
His breath was warm against her lips.
“Getting cocky, are we?”
It came out breathier than she expected. It wasn’t like anyone could blame her, really. Not when Percy’s lips spread to a full-on grin as he cupped her cheek.
“What can I say? Dating you makes anyone’s ego skyrocket.”
She barked out a laugh, ignoring the way her cheeks grew hot. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”
He only hummed, leaning down even more. Taking his face in her hands, Annabeth, guided him closer—and that’s when her helmet bumped with his forehead, making them both laugh.
“I told you the helmet was stupid,” she said.
“Ah, fuck it.”
Percy’s head tilted slightly further to the left, and before she could protest, their lips had already met in a soft, feather-light kiss. Sighing, her fingers brushed against his jaw. She stood on her tippy toes, then, deepening the kiss.
Who knew he’d one day grow taller than her? Sometimes, she saw it as a disadvantage. Like right now, as she tried to grab hold of Percy's snapback that was just barely out of reach. Finally achieving her goal, she broke the kiss.
“Hey!” he protested, noting how she’d promptly taken his snapback and placed it on top of her head. “What was that for?”
Annabeth gave him a quick peck on the lips before stepping away. She winked at him, throwing her helmet his way.
“It’s my turn to look cool, now!”
“Get back here!”
But she’d already broken into a sprint, reaching for the ramp.
“Race you to the top!” she called out.
“That’s not fair and you know it!”
“See ya later, boy!”
“Ohh you are not quoting Avril Lavigne on my watch!”
“Why not?”
She felt a breeze brushing by her side and heard the tell-tale sound of the roller wheels. Faster than she’d thought possible, Percy whirled and whisked the snapback into his own hands, then tossed the helmet she’d hurled at him earlier. Demigod instinct took care of that, hands reaching to catch it in the blink of an eye.
“Hey, no fair!”
“You weren’t being fair, either!” is all he said, as he kicked back with his leg and sprang to the top.
Show off.
He made skating look easy, the jerk.
Apparently leaving a skateboard behind with a Skater Boy had its disadvantages. But she laughed anyway, once she reached the top—once he belted out the lyrics to that Avril Lavigne song at her arrival.
The pull of gravity when skating down the ramp took her breath away, but afterwards, she laughed again, and again, until that’s all she knew how to do.
And of course, she now knew how to skate.
(She’d found that in more ways than one, dating a skater had its perks.)
