sink or swim

[theaveragedemigod]

vvisdomsdaughter​:

Without getting into serious conversation, Annabeth didn’t have a lot to offer in the way of words. She wasn’t sure how to reassure him, or herself, when she had only the vaguest idea of what had happened. Her responses were mostly variations of it’s okay, I’m here, I missed you, and once a slipped I’m sorry. She didn’t know if any of this was even her fault, but she was sorry to have left him at all, sorry to see him hurting.

She couldn’t have been less prepared for it when a wall of seawater crashed over them, soaking her from head to toe. She actually gaped at him for a second, blinking seawater out of her eyes. She had the disturbing feeling that it hadn’t been entirely intentional, and she didn’t know what that meant. Percy didn’t always take things seriously, but if he wanted to interrupt them, she didn’t think that was how he would do it. She nuzzled her face into his shirt in an attempt to dry it. “Maybe we should move this inside,” she mumbled into his chest.

.

One of the side effects of his heritage was that he didn’t have a strong, or even surprised, reaction to getting wet.  Even when he was unexpectedly doused, it wasn’t shocking or disorienting to him.  That obviously didn’t apply to Annabeth, no matter how long they’d been together.  When she pulled away, it was the first real sign something had happened.  Contextual clues took him another minute.  Even beyond that, he was still blinking and disoriented as he tried to come out of the sexy, reuniony headspace he’d been in to connect some dots.  

This was one of the things he hated about smoking.  If he did it too much, his control slipped and things like this happened.  He murmured a gentle apology, trying to get her wet hair away from her face, but the opportunity waned before he could do much.   “Maybe,” he agreed.  “It’d be drier at least.”  He pressed a kiss to the top her head, the only part of her he could get his mouth on with how they were laying.  “Let’s go home.” 

[theaveragedemigod]

vvisdomsdaughter​:

.

He was so calm. She felt like she might start shaking apart from the inside, but he was rock solid. She sank into the steady feeling of his hands on her face and his calm reassurance and nodded. They were together now. She could handle anything as long as he was there. It was the promise they’d made and kept over and over again. “Together,” she agreed softly.

Ordinarily, she might have had more trouble setting her thoughts aside, but it was more tempting to do things his way. They couldn’t fix anything by morning, but they could take comfort in each other. She could reassure herself and him that they were both here, and they were fine, and it would be okay. They deserved at least that much of a reunion after… well, she wasn’t sure how long it had been.

“I always mean it.” She smiled, just slightly, as she leaned up to kiss him again, but she did as he asked. It was slower and deeper, not quite the starving fervor of a minute ago, but with just as much heat. She might not know with her mind how long she’d been gone, but her body understood. She missed him in a way she didn’t even have words for.

.

There were only two explanations for his outer calm.  First, he’d been smoking.  It wasn’t the most obvious choice for him, but he’d needed it to organize himself when she was gone and prevent the second reason for escaping control.  Second, when he wasn’t calm or methodical, when feelings got away from him, things tended to explode a little.  Things like pipes, lagoons, tributaries, and any other water-movement based thing around him at the time.  He had to stay calm for the sake of infrastructure and to prevent mainland flooding.  Or, if he wasn’t calm, he had to at least stay in control. 

He wasn’t necessarily calm as she did what he’d asked, and as she said what she did.  His body twisted just enough his hands could slide over her and pin her body close to him.  It felt like it had been forever, and in some ways it had, but she was still warm and solid, familiar and trusted, loved.  

As he adjusted his mouth, he murmured words of appreciation, disbelief, and most of all, how much he’d missed her.  He didn’t actually want to think of anything else at the moment, beyond how happy he was to be touching her and also the ever-present need to not destroy a local body of water. 

[theaveragedemigod]

vvisdomsdaughter​:

She’d have probably had a lot more questions in his place, but Percy had always been better at letting that sort of thing go. She did have a lot more questions, but they could wait. Percy was safety. Percy was home, and she just wanted to soak in those things for a few minutes. It was a relief when he seemed to realize he was awake and she was really here because she didn’t have a better plan for convincing him. I was waiting. The words filled her with warmth. “I know,” she murmured back between kisses. She wasn’t certain about a lot of things right now, but he wasn’t one of them. He’d chosen to fall into Tartarus with her. As declarations of love and loyalty went, every rom-com in the world could eat its heart out. Percy would wait for her forever, and she’d do the same for him. She never would have stopped looking.

She made a sound that she hoped could be interpreted as an affirmative, not really wanting to examine her okayness right now. Physically, she was fine except for a couple scrapes. Mentally was a bigger, scarier question that would take time to address. Much as she wanted to, it wasn’t going to be that easy to ignore though, and the questions were dragging her out of her happy hormone cloud and back into reality. She tucked her face into his neck but otherwise didn’t move. The rise and fall of his chest under her was reassuring. “No. I– I don’t think so.” She’d remember if she’d been dead, right? She didn’t remember anything as traumatic as dying. It was all just so… blank. “I don’t remember where I was,” she admitted, her voice getting smaller. It sounded like such a lame excuse even to her. He’d been here waiting and obviously suffering, and she couldn’t even explain why.

.

Percy hadn’t really stopped to consider how it would derail their current trajectory to keep talking.  He’d forgotten what it was like to have that problem.  It wasn’t until her face found its hiding spot in the curve of his neck that consideration kicked in.  No matter what she said, unless she confirmed she wasn’t okay, it wouldn’t derail the way he wanted her.  What he needed was actually simple in this world where she had just returned.  He wanted her warmth, her skin, her touch.  As far as he was concerned, unless she was bleeding out, anything else could wait.

He only moved his hands to get them on her head, around her face.  “Hey, that’s okay.  We can figure it out later.  You’re here with me now and that’s what matters.  That’s what we should focus on for now.”  Nothing was going to change between then and the following morning, for example.   “Now kiss me like you mean it.” 

[theaveragedemigod]

vvisdomsdaughter​:

Annabeth didn’t know what to say to that. It didn’t totally make sense, for one thing, and she was pretty exhausted, for another. Most of her attention was being taken up by not crying or screaming or hurling her boyfriend into the sea. (He’d be fine. He was a son of Poseidon. At least he’d have a soft landing.) She sucked in a breath, prepared to try again, when Percy’s lips crashed into hers.

That was one way to channel all those feelings. Her body reacted without conscious permission from her brain, wrapping her arm around him and kissing him back just as hard. She pushed him back down into the sand, one leg sliding over his. When her mind caught up, it was totally fine with the situation, and she sighed into his mouth as her body relaxed into his. “Percy,” she whispered between hungry kisses. “I’m here.” You’re awake. I promise.

.

With the speed of a rusty processor, because that’s what his brain was, he caught up to real time.  Annabeth was here, on top of him, kissing him like he was oxygen.  While he had some questions, and they were probably identity-verifying and important, he wanted to believe her words more.  

Not to mention, he felt like he’d probably know if it was some kind of a trick.  He wouldn’t be tricked into being unfaithful or something ridiculous because he knew her.  Then again, maybe that’s what they all said.  Could he be certain?  Hera certainly wasn’t above manipulating a situation to prove her point.  

It was more lazy and abstract as he returned the kiss and the embrace, as his hands explored the warmth and weight of her.  His body was certain and he took a certain amount of comfort in it.  

“I was here,” he promised.  “I was waiting.”  He wanted to echo the sentiments of a cheesy Journey song, have her scoff and slap at his chest, but he couldn’t make himself pull away from her any longer than it took to confirm those two things.   “Are you okay?”  He finally managed, the only clear thought breaking through being one of concern.  The rest of the stuff, while it took focus and attention, didn’t exactly take thought.  It came naturally.  But he needed to address at least the one or two thoughts before he could do what came naturally.  “You’re not hurt or recently back from the dead or anything, right?” 

[theaveragedemigod]

[theaveragedemigod]

vvisdomsdaughter​:

There was a part of her that wanted to pick him up and throw him in the ocean, but it was the part that was trying to keep her from totally falling apart. If she was annoyed at him, she wouldn’t want to start crying because Percy didn’t–couldn’t let himself–believe she was really here. It was a more heartbreaking version of what she’d just done to Jason, making him prove he was the real deal, and it wasn’t lost on her how swiftly karma had come to kick her in the ass for that.

She dropped to her knees in the sand beside him and curled up against his side. He reeked of marijuana, which was new, but underneath that it was still Percy. She pressed a light kiss against his scruffy jaw. The only tattoo she could think of was the SPQR trident one on his arm. There was no way she was taking her gross socks off for that right now, so she brushed her thumb over it and then pinched his arm hard.

“Did you get a foot fetish while I was gone? Wake up, Seaweed Brain.” Nobody ever accused Annabeth of always picking the nice way. She considered it a compromise on the last time they’d done this, when she kissed him and then judo flipped him in front of the Roman army. She hadn’t completely ruled that out either. Though since she was the one who disappeared this time, maybe it was his turn to body slam her.

.

The tactile hallucinations were new, if that’s what they were.  He’d heard her voice or seen her plenty when he slept, but he’d never really been able to swear her warmth was next to him or her mouth was on his jaw.  He’d missed those sensations a lot, thanks.   It was hard to totally write off the pinching around his legion tattoo, though.  Whether or not that was the tattoo he’d meant didn’t matter.  His eyes popped open and his head rolled to the side he’d felt her from.   “Not unless you got a foot fetish while you were gone,” he flipped back.  It was definitely not even in the top ten of the weirdest conversations they’d had.  “Ow, by the way.”  His hands were faster to find her, one on her back and the other across his body to cup her jaw, than he was to sit up.  But he made it all the same and, when he did, he kissed her as hard as he could. 

[theaveragedemigod]

kvvisdomsdaughter​:​

​Annabeth had two choices. She could trust that this person who looked and acted like Jason and knew things that probably only Jason could know was really Jason and would take her to Percy. Or she could wander around an unfamiliar town she’d never even heard of and hope that she’d find someone else who a) was willing to help her and b) even knew who Percy was. It wasn’t really a choice. She was about 90% sure it was the real Jason Grace walking her home, and while she wished it were higher, it had been too weird a day for that. It wasn’t bad odds for a demigod.

He told her a little about the town while they walked, but maybe she was more tired than she realized because it all sounded like gibberish to her. Her mind was still a confused tangle of memories of the woods and New York, with a terrifying blankness in the middle. It sounded like the boys had been looking for her for a while, and the thought filled her fear. Where had she been? Why couldn’t she remember? She was a daughter of Athena. If she couldn’t trust her own mind, what could she trust?

Her heart broke a little when they reached the apartment on the water because it looked like exactly the kind of place she would want to live with Percy. Before she’d even raised her hand to knock on the door, her eyes were drawn to the figure on the beach. She’d know him anywhere, from a mile away in the darkest depths of Tartarus. She barely heard herself as she said goodbye to Jason and thanked him for bringing her home. He really deserved a lot more than that, and she’d realize it when she got her head on straight. Right now, the only thought in her head was getting to Percy.

She swung herself over the short railing guarding the beach and started toward him. She wanted to run, but her body wasn’t having it. She halted when she got close enough to see him properly. She knew it was Percy, but he didn’t look like Percy as she’d left him. He was ragged in a way she’d never seen, not even when Hera had snatched away his memories and dropped him into Camp Jupiter. He’d looked different then, but better almost. Sharper, stronger, more settled in his skin. Not like this defeated person sitting in front of her. That, more than anything, impressed upon her how bad this was–far more than she’d realized with her missing memory. She felt a sob crawling up her throat, but she swallowed it down. “Percy?” She wanted to throw herself at him, but you didn’t just sneak up on a demigod.

.

Percy wasn’t sure how long he’d been laying there on the beach.  It was long enough the battery on his headphones had died.  He’d finally splurged on the Bluetooth ones because, for as coordinated as he could be, the stupid cord on his cheaper ones was the bane of his existence half the time.  What that meant is he had to remember to charge his headphones, and in all reality, that only happened halfway.  So the words had faded out, and so had he.  But, right on schedule, his wife’s voice slid into his dreams.  Not that he slept well enough to dream most of the time.  That was another conversation.  “Hmm?” He responded.  It seemed rude not to.  And, really, one of these days he thought it would be real when she approached.  He’d never forgive himself if he wasn’t welcoming and responsive when it was the real deal.  Even if it meant he laid out here and talked to himself, for absolutely not the first time, he would always answer.  He didn’t want to open his eyes and be disappointed, though, so he laid a test.  “If it’s really you, tap your toes twice on my tattoo.  It’s like pinching me, but not mean.  And I can’t fake it.  So then I’ll know.”  He sighed.  “If it’s not you.... then go away.  Please.” 

[theaveragedemigod]

[theaveragedemigod]

couple thousand miles is just a little space || percabeth

In Annabeth’s absence, Percy supposed it could be said he let himself go a little.  His once bouncy, outgoing demeanor had faltered.  He’d kept his job with the fire department, but he hadn’t really bonded with his co-workers.  He would like to have been able to say he’d spent a lot of time getting a handle on the whole reading thing or building his relationships with other family members who were in town, but that wasn’t strictly true, either. 

He had spent a lot of time at the lagoon.  He’d spent a fair amount of time exercising, because when he was in motion, his mind could focus on something -- anything.  That was his tactic to work through where he’d looked, how he’d searched, and what he would use to clear the nagging worry that said she was never coming home.  

He was just.... waiting, suspended animation, hoping he didn’t get cosmically yanked from this place before he found out where she was.  He had all the faith in the world they would find their way back to each other, and he just needed to work on his patience a little.   

So, he sat on the beach in view of their apartment building listening to an audio version of The Ocean at the End of the Lane.  He’d thought it would be soothing, because it had the word ‘ocean’ in the title, but mostly it was just weird and he was only half listening.

@vvisdomsdaughter​

[loganlermansboyfriend]

Logan Lerman photographed by Shayan Asgharnia for TheWrap’s Sundance Portraits

[theaveragedemigod]

whatthedormouse-said‌:

“I guess there are worse qualities to have in a friend.” She huffed a quiet laugh. That, on the other hand, did sound like the Jason she knew, but it was one of the things she liked about him. Reliable was a quality she needed more of in her life.

“That was pretty much his take on it too.” She nodded. It was interesting to hear similar things from another source. Like Jason, Percy didn’t look that intimidating at first glance, but now that she knew who he was, she was betting he’d be a lot like Jason in a fight: deadly, magical, and faster than any human. “If you like alarming us mere mortals, sure.” She grinned.

“Yeah, totally,” Percy agreed.  He had, after all, seen worse qualities.  It took him an extra blink to shake off the quick thought about Luke.  It wasn’t that he thought about it frequently, or really ever anymore, but the reminder had been sharp and swift. They weren’t talking about Luke, though, who had met a tragic end. They were talking about Jason, who was alive and well for the most part as far as Percy was aware. 

After he re-centered himself, he smiled.  “I feel like all of us would say the same.  We got a lot of out of it, but it sucked hard.” His smile became a full-on laugh.  “Sometimes it’s fun!  Alarming mortals, baffling monsters -- all in a day’s work.” 

Originally posted by dearholder

[theaveragedemigod]

whatthedormouse-said‌:

“Really?” She tipped her head. That seemed contrary to what she knew about Jason. Their friendship had happened so naturally, and he was an easy sort of person to be around, at least for her. “Not that much. Just that you guys had been through a lot together, and you and your wife played a pretty big role in it. The thing about being hunted sounds a lot less creepy in context.”

“Yeah.  He’s gotten better, but he’s kind of intimidating because he’s always frickin’ right.” Percy shook his head, but it was fondly.  They were friends now, close friends, but it had been a tough road at first because Percy was basically the mess skating into battle with no real plan and Jason was... not.  Jason was Blonde Superman.  Time and familiarity had softened those edges, but the initial impressions had not been particularly favorable. 

He nodded.  “Sounds about right.  If I never end up in a group of demigods playing out a thousands-year-old prophecy again, it’ll be too soon.  But it does make for good bonding experiences.”  He couldn’t totally ignore the sharp pang he felt at the  mention of your wife, and it made him sigh.  His countenance fell a little.  “Yeah, I guess it would be less creepy.  But it’s so much more fun without context sometimes.” 

Originally posted by loganlermansboyfriend

[theaveragedemigod]

whatthedormouse-said‌:

The way he repeated her name instantly put her on guard. He didn’t sound like somebody from Wonderland, but she could be wrong. Not everyone from there looked the same. Then he said his name, and it put their whole conversation into the proper context. “The Percy. You’re right, I think we do.” She relaxed, smiling. “It’s nice to meet you. Our conversation makes a lot more sense now.”

Percy let out an uncomfortable chuckle.  He wasn’t sure there was ever context for that much emphasis on a word.  But he’d brought it up, so  he only had himself to blame.  And some wild hope that maybe Jason hadn’t said as much to her about him as Jason had said to him about her.  Or something along those lines.  Her smile made him smile.  “I think it’s probably nicer to meet you.  Finally.  I’m glad Jason has a good friend here.  He doesn’t always make ‘em so easy.  But... what about our conversation makes sense now?  I need to know what he’s said about me.” 

Originally posted by stayinlove

[beautaplinpoems]

[theaveragedemigod]

@wise-girlannabeth

[theaveragedemigod]

[theaveragedemigod]

whatthedormouse-said‌:

“It’s good to know your options,” she agreed with a smile. “I’m Molly, by the way.”

“Exactly,” he agreed.  “Situational awareness and stuff like that -- all those good things.”  He tilted his head, like the gentleman he sometimes unconvincingly pretended to be.  “Mo... Molly. “ He stammered a little as he recognized the name from other conversations with other people.  He offered a small grin, because this just got interesting and he could, like, totally try to help his buddy out.  “I’m Percy.  I think it’s possible we have a friend in common.” 

[theaveragedemigod]

whatthedormouse-said‌:

“I guess if you’re as good as your threat, and your threat is pretty good…” She shrugged. Sadly, it was not in the top five of weirdest conversations she’d had in Fableton. “Not being hunted is always a plus.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he agreed.  “I mean... I’d rather just not have threats and violence.  But it’s nice to know I can defend myself if I have to.” 

Originally posted by loganlermansboyfriend