Without the Mistletoe
Pairings: Pipabeth
Summary: Piper has a bit of a love-hate relationship with Christmas.
A.N: So I've been out of town since getting out for Thanksgiving Break and I found out that pipabeth won one of the December spots for pairing of the week over at pjo-slashheadcanons and I saw this beautiful little drawing of the two in wintery clothing and I couldn't resist. A Christmas one-shot was spawned. I'll probably write more Christmas stories before Christmas actually rolls round, but I'm hella busy this month and I can't really swear to it.
Other A.N: I love putting random snippets about Leo and Piper's friendship into these things because they are lovely friends.
Piper has a bit of a love-hate relationship with Christmas. On one hand, she hates how the cold air nips against her skin and how it gets dark so quickly. But on the other hand, she loves soft scarves and the smell of cold. She despises the trite Christmas movies that play on every channel and the annoying old carols that domineer the radio stations the moment the calendar changes to November first.
Piper wishes that she could just make up her mind one way or another about the season. She readjusts her rainbow beanie as she walks through the crowded streets of a pre-Christmas New York City with her girlfriend, Annabeth. If there is one thing that Piper absolutely loves about winter, it is the way the cold made Annabeth's ears such a lovely shade of red. Annabeth always wears a ponytail, no matter the weather.
Piper remembers Annabeth once telling her, "Piper, the weather won't change for me, why should I change for the weather?" Normally, Annabeth's incredibly smart, but she's also stubborn too. Sometimes, Piper feels that she borders on bullheaded. No matter how much Piper enjoys the flush of Annabeth's ears, she wishes she could get her girlfriend in a pair of cute earmuffs, at least then she wouldn't have to worry about her getting frostbite.
Her fingers brush against Annabeth's, and she's grateful that she only wore her fingerless gloves (which Leo had dubbed her "hobo gloves") today. She could feel the soft, cold skin of Annabeth's fingers against her own.
Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer plays softly in the background. Piper is suddenly reminded why she had a love-hate relationship with the entire Christmas season.
"Remind me why that's supposed to be whimsical?" asks Piper, breaking the silence between the pair.
Annabeth sends her a strange look.
Then, to elaborate, Piper adds, "I mean the song about Santa's vehicular homicide of some poor kid's grandma. Why's that supposed to be funny and Christmas," at this point, Piper realizes that Christmas is not in fact an adjective, so she improvises, "Christmas-y."
"Black humor?" Annabeth suggests, but she doesn't seem too invested in discovering the reason. Annabeth always eats this Christmas stuff up.
Annabeth had once told her that Christmas was the only time that she felt truly at home with her dad and stepfamily, so Piper understands. Well, she doesn't completely understand, because she still thinks that many things about Christmas were silly and overrated, but she lets the rest of her complaints lie because Annabeth's eyes have lit up like the Christmas lights that graced the rooves of buildings and snaked around the wreaths that lined the walls.
Piper exhales deeply and watches her breath. She wonders briefly if that is how it feels to be a dragon.
Annabeth's still smiling wider that Piper's seen since showing Piper around the partially constructed Olympus.
"It will be amazing when it's done," Annabeth had said, her voice light as pillow fluff, "A city worthy of the gods- something that will stand the test of time."
She once again sees the hope in her girlfriend's eyes that she had seen then, and that same joy at the corners of her smile. Piper's hit with the sudden urge to do something rash. Ever since her breakup with Jason, she hasn't been as bold in her love life. Gods, she's been dating Annabeth two months and she hasn't even kissed her. Maybe it's a daughter of Aphrodite thing, or maybe it's just the cold and the adrenaline, but somehow, Piper knows this is the moment to amend that.
She takes off her scarf and wraps it around Annabeth's neck.
Annabeth sends her a sly smile raising her blonde eyebrow.
"We're blocking traffic," Annabeth says, and she's right. People have started walking around them, glaring at the couple intensely.
Annabeth smiles and then says, obviously knowing the irony full well, "It's a bit dangerous." Piper sort of wants to laugh because this could quite possibly be the least dangerous thing that she'd ever done. But she also remembered her first date with Jason, or at least her first date with Jason. Dancing, at night, on a rooftop- Piper smiled at the memory that never was, and is suddenly glad, actually happy about her break up with Jason. It had been built on fake memories and it never lived up to them. This, this with Annabeth- it was all real.
"Danger's the heart of excitement," Piper says, and it feels cheesy, but Annabeth laughs, and she feels glad she didn't recycle her line. She touches her hand to Annabeth's cold face, and presses her lips against Annabeth's. It's a tiny bit like a fireworks show, the tingles on her lips and the soft scarf wrapping around both of them.
Winter Wonderland plays in the distance as Annabeth's lips press against Piper's own. She remembers Annabeth's full smile that this season has brought and Piper wonders if she doesn't just love Christmas after all. But she still hates Leo's disgusting fruitcake. She thinks that she's earned that right.