Oh my gods, guys. RL's been a...well, Imma keep the rating to a K. You get the picture. I've been away for MONTHs now, no updates on TCH, no new one-shots, no reviews on my favorite stories! You have no idea how guilty I feel, but I'm back now, and hoping to get the next chapter on TCH up in a day or so, depending on how I feel.

I got hospitalized for severe dehydration, and have been recovering. I'm not even in a place without water or anything. Whatever, my being REALLY sick and out in the sun a lot and not drinking enough made my body go basically dormant or something, and I just randomly passed out awhile back. I didn't really understand the big words all the doctors used. But I'm almost fully recovered now, and hoping to get back in the groove!

This oneshot I wrote ages ago, and was going to put up a few months back, before this whole debacle happened. So now I'm putting it up as an "IM BACK!" gift to all of you, and because it's a short fluffy drabble with pre-Percabeth and everyone needs Percabeth. :D Sorry for the super long authors' note, but I felt that I needed to put it in.

Disclaimer: Do I look like Rick Riordan, or even whatever IDIOTS made the Percy Jackson movies such a failure? No. No, I don't.

"Wait, you're not a brunette?!"

"Duh, Seaweed Brain!"

"But…you were."

"Ever heard of something called 'Hair Dye'?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"It was a one-time thing, okay?! Drew dared me."

"Drew? Who's that?"

"Aphrodite's spawn—not important!" Annabeth stormed away.

Just her luck to dye her hair the day before she met Percy for the first time. Now, back three weeks later, before the competition in the Arena, Percy was confused to find his best friend suddenly blond and curly haired.

Figures. And the stupid guy just had to not like the real color. She voiced the latter thought angrily, much to the son of Poseidon's chagrin.

"I don't not like it! I mean…gosh, Annabeth, I was wondering why you dyed it in the first place. You're so much prettier now… Uh, did I say that out loud? Oh, shoot." He tried to slip away, but she whirled and caught his eye before he could.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "You think I'm pretty, Seaweed Brain?" He wrung his hands, internally freaking out. If he said yes, she'd kill him. If he said no, she'd kill him. This, Percy thought, was more hazardous than any quest he'd been on.

"I…uh, well, I meant….um, I was trying to say, uh-" he stuttered.

"Well?"

"Geez! Just forget about it." He mumbled sheepishly. She laughed, but then moved closer to him, suddenly hugging him.

"Did you mean it?" She whispered in his ear.

He lost his qualms in the lemony scent of her hair. "Yeah, of course, Wise Girl. You're beautiful."

She pulled away, and she was smiling. "No one's ever told me that. Thank you, Percy." Annabeth could hardly believe he thought she was beautiful, especially in jeans, a camp tee, and a messy ponytail.

He was bright red, stuttering and scratching the back of his head. "Uh…you're welcome."

"Come on, let's go." Annabeth turned and walked away, still smiling absurdly, blushing, and practically buzzing inside. "Or did you forget, we have an arena challenge today? I think you're up against Clarisse!"

"Oh, shoot." Percy groaned. "I did forget. Hey, wait!" He ran to catch up with her. "Just…don't dye your hair ever again, okay?"

She smiled at him. "Deal, as long as you don't." She kissed his cheek and ran ahead. He stood there for a moment, dumbfounded.

"O-okay," he called after her. "But why would I? I mean that's such a stupid idea!"

"You're a son of Poseidon!" The reply came drifting back on the breeze.

"Yeah…" he stiffened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Means that you have stupid ideas every three seconds." She snorted.

"Says the person who already dyed their hair." He muttered.

"I heard that!"

"Oops."