Annabeth tugged her West Highland terrier along. The day was just one of those days where it wasn't hot or cold - it was just cool. A couple of clouds kept the Sun from shining it's full force on her and the westie she walked (and pulled every now and then). Thankfully, they were white clouds so she didn't think she was at risk of a downpour.

Needless to say, it was a good day to be walking Ody.

Up until she reached the blue house at the end of the street. Her feelings about that day digressed downhill pretty quickly after that.

"Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!"

She hadn't even reached the house yet and she could already hear the loud, annoying barks of the Scottish terrier up ahead. She groaned as the dark black dog came into view.

Somehow, the terrier thought it was as commanding as a German Shepherd and as menacing as a Pitbull. The dog had a serious issue with wanting to be a watchdog but in his attempt to be one, he only succeeded in irritating Annabeth far beyond what she could bear.

It wasn't long before Ody - little white Ody who had just as big an attitude as the black terrier - was echoing the barks.

Annabeth couldn't stand it anymore. She pulled fruitlessly at her dog who just continued to bark for pack dominance. Ody definitely wasn't winning gentleman, er, gentledog of the year. Whatsoever.

"Ody, stop!"

He kept right on yipping and Annabeth breathed in deeply, "Odysseus West Chase! Cut it out!"

Quieting, her dog began to whimper instead and Annabeth rolled her eyes, ever the drama king.

Turning her attention to the black terrier (who was still barking), she pinched her nose.

She couldn't do this anymore. She just couldn't!

Sure, maybe there were other streets she could take but this was supposed to be her neighborhood where she could walk her dog without being yipped at by a terrier with an ego twice it's size!

She'd moved to this neighborhood about 6 months ago and for the better part of 2 months she'd had to suffer through all this frustration.

No more.

The dog never moved too far from its yard so it was smart in that aspect. Recently however, it'd started inching closer and closer.

Gripping Ody's leash tighter, she stepped toward the black terrier and made as if to kick it by lifting a leg in its direction.

Immediately, the black terrier quieted and joined Ody in whimpering. Annabeth raised her eyebrows in surprise. If she'd known "defending" herself against the ball of black would've worked to get the terrier to be quiet, she'd done it sooner.

Then again, maybe she wouldn't have. While she felt relieved, she also felt guilty even though she hadn't so much as come a foot near the dog.

"I hope you really didn't plan on kicking her."

She whipped around in surprise. Standing over to the side was a guy who looked her age; that meant he was probably in his early twenties.

The black terrier barked with delight, it's-her previous encounter with Annabeth forgotten as she bounded over to the guy who grinned down at the terrier. Bending down to scratch her ears for a second, he straightened and returned his gaze to her - his expectant gaze. Right, she still hadn't answered his question.

"N-no! Of course not! Well… yes. But not really! I mean, no." Stuttering the whole way, she finally decided to come out with it.

"Yes, I did act like I was going to kick her. But I just wanted to scare her off, not actually, you know, kick her, kick her. I would never do that."

The guy just stared at her.

With the panic of the moment gone, she noticed that his eyes were green - unnaturally green. Then again, she had unnaturally gray eyes so she couldn't be one to talk.

He was clad in sweatpants and a wrinkled t-shirt that had a picture of Nemo on it. She almost laughed when she saw it. It was obvious he'd literally just rolled out of bed.

Considering it was 8am on a Saturday though, she couldn't say she was surprised.

"You're her owner right?" She asked.

At his nod, she continued, "I've actually been meaning to try and talk to you for a while,"

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Finally, she could be able to get this whole mess done and over with. "I actually walk my own terrier out here and -"

The guy's eyes grew big at her words and his gaze darted to the side. His face split into a lopsided grin as he seemingly spotted Ody for the first time.

Closing the distance between them, he dropped to his knees in front of Annabeth. Petting Ody, he grinned like a little a two year old, "Look, Mrs. O'Leary! It's a westie! You have a friend!"

This time, Annabeth coughed to cover up her laugh. Mrs. O'Leary? That was an interesting name for a terrier.

As the guy's dog ran over, Annabeth grew more sober, "Yeah… That's kind of the problem."

The guy looked up at her questioningly. Annabeth couldn't help but notice how surreal this situation was. Some stranger who was basically the source of countless irritation for her was petting Ody… a very content Ody.

Shaking herself out of it she explained. "Mrs. O'Leary doesn't exactly consider us friends."

Even as she spoke, the dog barked playfully at Ody who barked back. Annabeth unclipped his leash and the two dogs were soon playing and chasing each other.

He glanced quizzically at her, "Really?" He asked with a pointed look at the terriers who both seemed to be having the time of their lives.

Annabeth faltered for a second before making up her mind to be bold. "Usually your dog barks at us like the feminine version of an Alpha male protecting her territory. Not exactly friendly."

To her surprise, the guy laughed. "Sorry, sorry," he said, "It's just how you described Mrs. O'Leary, Feminine Alpha Male… I've never heard it that way before but that is literally what Mrs. O'Leary is."

Annabeth cracked a smile before becoming serious again, "Well…"

"Sorry, sorry," he repeated. "For laughing and for my dog. Though it isn't like her to act mean, I guess she just wants to play."

Annabeth pursed her lips, was he trying to make excuses for his dog?!

Seeing her expression, the guy backtracked. "Not that I'm saying that makes her behavior acceptable!" He hastily added, "It's honestly probably my fault that she's been acting like that. She has so much energy and lately I haven't been able to take her out as much as I would like. All that energy with nowhere to go - It doesn't add up well."

He glanced back at the house, "Usually my roommate helps with taking her out on walks but he recently started dating and well… Yeah."

There was a period of silence as the two watched their dogs play together. Glancing at the guy of out of the corner her eye, she noticed his expression was almost sad, like he hated it that he didn't have enough time to be able to play with his dog and give her more attention.

"You walk your dog around here a lot don't you?"

Annabeth nodded, "Yeah… That's kind of why we get barked at so much."

Shooting her an apologetic smile, he said, "Sorry. Again."

He bit his lip, "You don't suppose-" he cut himself, "I mean, if it wouldn't be too much to ask, would you be willing to walk Mrs. O'Leary as well?"

AN: This used to be a chapter story but once I got to chapter 4, I discovered that it was a lot better if left as a simple one-shot. I didn't really have a plot for it and at that point, I was just so done.

Instead, I leave you with this little read you can enjoy whenever, though I did edit it a little from the original. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO

Of Terriers and Love

Annabeth's eyes widened and the guy rushed on, "I know it's a lot to ask but I can pay you. It'd just be walking her with your dog maybe once a day during vthe week and twice during the weekend. Other than that, I guess just figure out a day she could play with your westie whose name is…." He trailed off.

"Ody" Annabeth automatically supplied. The rest of her brain was still processing the guy's request.

"If you could just think about it- it wouldn't even be for a long time, just until work hours calm down enough. Please?" He looked at her with his bright green eyes who at the moment looked so pleading.

Annabeth looked at him oddly, "You do realize I tried to kick her, right? I wasn't going to but … I'm sorry by the way, about that … "

The guy rubbed his neck sheepishly, "Well yeah but you just said yourself you wouldn't have really kicked her. Plus, I know her first impression wasn't the best but I promise you on the seven seas that my dog is one of the sweetest dogs you could know."

Annabeth sighed. How had trying to get Mrs. O'Leary to stop annoying her and Ody led to her being asked to walk her and play with her?

"I guess… I guess we can give it a try."

The guy looked like he was going to melt of happiness, "Thank you, thank you so much! This really means a lot to me!"

Annabeth just smiled, "As long as she doesn't bark like an Alpha male anymore, I think we'll get along just fine."

Then she whistled, "Ody! Come on, we need to go." Her dog ran over, albeit looking put out playtime was over. She clipped his leash on before straightening.

"I guess we can sort out the details later unless you want to do it now…"

The guy shook his head, "No, it's fine." He patted his empty pockets, "I left my phone inside but I can give you my number."

Nodding, Annabeth took out her phone and created a new contact.

Awkwardly, she said, "What's your name?"

"Percy. Yours?"

"Annabeth."

Percy smiled, "Nice to meet you, Annabeth"

"Nice to meet you too, Percy. I'll see you around" she answered.

His response was a bright grin, "Until then"

As Annabeth walked away, having to drag Ody ever few steps since he wouldn't stop looking back towards Mrs. O'Leary, she couldn't help but feel the same as her dog.

Picking the terrier up, she began to jog and nuzzled him as she went. "Can't get her out of your head, huh? Well, I'll tell you a secret; I can't get him out either. Guess we'll just have to see what happens, huh boy?"

As if Ody knew what she was talking about, he began to wag his tail and Annabeth smiled. She had a good feeling about this.