"Hazel blinked, as if coming out of a trance from watching the Percy/Annabeth Show."
-The Mark of Athena, Rick Riordan
She really shouldn't have been disappointed when she looked in the mirror once again and could still see herself. Her cap hadn't been working for the past few weeks, and there was no reason for that to have changed in past 24 hours.
"Morning, Wise Girl," her boyfriend greeted her from the doorway. She wondered how long he had been standing there.
She quickly took the cap off and turned around to answer him. "Morning, Seaweed Brain," she said as she walked over to him before greeting him with a quick kiss.
"I want to show you something." He grabbed her hand and led her back to the mirror. "Put your hat back on."
She obliged despite her confusion. The look he gave her sent chills up her spine as he stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Look at yourself."
She did, taking in her jeans and orange t-shirt. Her feet were bare and her hair was up in a ponytail that she had pulled through the back of the hat.
"What's up?" she asked him. "It's not like I'm wearing anything special."
"This," Percy replied, "is exactly how you looked when you pulled me out of the Styx." He let the statement sink in for a moment. "Achilles told me to focus on what it is that keeps me mortal. Once I was in the Styx, so many faces passed through my mind- Grover, Rachel, Tyson, my mom- but yours was the only one I could hold on to. All the others faded as soon as they came. I was almost gone, but then I heard your voice and it held me together." He stopped and blushed, like he only now realized what he was telling her. "I-" he stuttered and tried to hide his face in her neck. "I just thought you might like to know."
Annabeth quickly recovered from her shock and turned to face her boyfriend. He flinched at the intensity of her stare. He seemed to think that she was going to punch him, but she simply took his face in her hands and brought her lips to his. The kiss was desperate and solid and relieved and flattered and a million other things she needed to tell him but couldn't put into words.
She forced herself to pull away when she heard someone knock. She looked over to see Piper poking her head through the doorway and banging on the frame.
"Breakfast's ready!" beamed the younger girl, trying not to giggle like the Aphrodite girl she was.
"We'll be right there," Annabeth replied when it appeared that her blushing boyfriend was incapable of doing so. Once Piper had disappeared, she returned her attention to Percy, grinning.
"You okay, Seaweed Brain?" She kissed him on the cheek. He nodded, his face still bright red. She was tempted to tease him about it, but had it been anyone other than Piper, she knew that she would have looked the same way.
"Come on." She tugged on his hand. "We should probably join the others for breakfast."
A/N: Just a moment on the Argo II that I couldn't get out of my head.
