🌼🐌 answered asks ! // unprompted. ( always accepting ! )
@tidaltow tried to kill me with: “Hey, listen—”
Percy didn’t know how he was supposed to apologize to a six-year-old. He thought about how he felt when he was that age and saw someone bullying his friend: that same sort of protectiveness that was honed into anger at the unfairness of the situation. Because, sure, she didn’t understand the whole weight of Leo opening fire on the people meant to be their allies (which was already a shaky prospect without his help), but now that Percy had had the time to cool off… Yeah, in her eyes, he absolutely looked like a bully.
And of all the impressions to leave on a child, Percy would argue that had to be the worst.
So, somewhat awkwardly now—like he was having to apologize for blowing up a school instead of yelling at a little girl’s best friend—Percy knelt in front of Ari. “About earlier,” he said, gaze earnest and placating. “It wasn’t right for me to get onto Leo like that. I know… what he did couldn’t have been his fault. I’m sorry.” But still, the apology didn’t seem like enough.
“Here, how about this?” Percy glanced off at the sea surrounding the Argo II, then back at Ari. “I promise I’ll give Leo a proper apology when he’s not busy with, uhh… repairs”—or whatever he did below deck most of the time—“but for now, did you want to meet some of my friends? What would your favorite sea animal be, if you could choose one?”
ARI DIDN’T MEAN TO FLINCH WHEN PERCY CAME NEAR, but the poor little girl with a tender, aching heart was distracted by the steady rolling waves of the sea, silently casting her sorrow into the expanse of foamy green and blue. It wasn’t as though Percy had a mighty, imposing presence—unlike a certain child of Ares—but what Ari had witnessed earlier that day was a frightening sight to behold. It left her feeling jumpy. It created an instinct. It challenged her every moral, her love for her adoptive brother easily overpowering the importance of maintaining propriety. In turn, chaos ensued, and she abandoned her good manners and fought for nothing—Leo was still isolated from the group. Torn away from her.
Ari knows hurt—orphan hearts, after all, are fractured little things—but the ache that Leo’s absence caused ran deep, creating a chasm-like throb in her very soul. Needless to say, a child of six didn’t know how to handle such a complicated and painful feeling all alone. As she carefully peered over the gunwale to quietly watch the languid movement of the sea, rocking the Argo II as gently as a mother would a cradle, her heart begged for Leo’s company. He could help make sense of it all—and even if he couldn’t, at least he’d make her laugh.
Ari met Percy’s deep blue eyes, her gaze nervous and tearful, and released a soft sound of worry. Percy’s voice was low and comforting when he spoke normally, a stark contrast from the commanding depth it held earlier. It felt as though his anger shook the entire ship. Had it not been her dear brother who was Percy’s target, Ari would’ve tucked her trembling self into the tightest nook to hide from the sound of the bellowing lecture. But since it was, Ari mustered every bit of bravery within her to stand between the two demigods, protecting Leo from Percy’s formidable wrath.
It was a poor first impression on her behalf, as well; Ari has always been known as the child with enviable manners and a mild temperament for her age. To make matters worse, Annabeth had been whispering exciting details about possibility into Ari’s little ears, entertaining her with tidbits about Percy and his heroic adventures on the whole trip to Camp Jupiter. Ari was eager to meet him. She thought he might become a new friend.
But what does he make of her now, after the shocking display of upset she gave only hours ago?
Nature’s Little Soul was not wont to throw herself into tantrums and passions. Instead, she was of the quieter sort. The kind of child who behaves. Who doesn’t distract adults from Things of Greater Importance. Percy saw a side of Ari that she herself wasn’t even aware existed. That side was not Truly Ari—the tender, nature-loving, sweet little girl who was strongly attached to the child of Hephaestus.
Then again, in tense that moment, Ari hadn’t met Truly Percy, either.
She wiped her freckled nose and sniffled and shifted nervously on her tiny feet. Intimidating as Percy may be, in those blue eyes of his, Ari found all the things that Annabeth had previously shared. Percy’s eyes were friendly. Kind. Brave.
“lll … Le – lo wouldn’t hurt nany-body … he … he wouldn’t … ” Ari insisted, which was not a way of accepting Percy’s heartfelt apology. It was as though Ari wanted Percy to understand—to know the truth that everyone aboard blatantly resisted as Leo pleaded his innocence. Most importantly, she wanted Percy to believe it. Leo’s corner was currently a vacant, lonely space, but Ari was his proud little champion, ready to fill it with her trust and love.
“ www … why is Le-lo in timeout, peas? i … if he didn’t do nnn … na … didn’t do nany-thing wrong … ? ”
For many hours now, the child’s mind had been burdened by worry, regret, and an unbearably deep sadness. So when Percy asked her this random question, Ari paused, her wispy brows knitted together in fleeting confusion. Successfully distracting her from the weight of the afternoon events, she chose to take this question very seriously and pursed her lips in thought, her innocent eyes dropping to settle on the wooden floorboards as she deliberated. Ari was not as familiar with the sea as she was with the earth—had this question been about forest critters or garden pests, Percy would have received an immediate answer.
After a few awkward seconds of silence, Ari’s attention returned to Percy, her tear-streaked, freckled face a touch less intense than it was only moments ago.
