Chapter 1

Percy relaxed under the waves, far enough out from shore that he wasn't being rolled around by the surf. Times like this, it was good to be a son of the Sea God. Underwater breathing was great.

He stared up at the sky through ripples on the water's surface, laying back against the sand. Some sea creatures had started to gather around, curious about the strange sea-thing in the water, and Percy absently rubbed his hand over the rough skin of a young shark.

The flash of golden light caught his attention. It didn't seem like a monster-type-thing. Looked more like that flash from when the gods teleported… or like someone had blown out a light-bulb the size of the sun.

Percy surfaced to look and was surprised—despite his earlier suspicion—to see Apollo standing on the beach, turning a slow circle as though looking for something.

Curious, Percy willed the currents to carry him to shore and waded out of the shallows. "Lord Apollo!" he called, by way of greeting.

Apollo spun to face him, suddenly looking more nervous than Percy had ever imagined a god being. "Percy!" he returned, taking a hesitant step towards the demigod. "Um… can I talk to you?"

"Sure, Lord Apollo," Percy liked Apollo. The god was one of the few that had never wanted him dead, and the Sun God had a pretty awesome sense of humor.

Apollo made his way closer, then dropped down to sit in the sand just above the water-line, indicating with a gesture for Percy to join him. "Please, Percy, there's no need to call me 'Lord'."

That was… unexpected. Still, Percy grinned, "All right. Apollo it is."

Apollo managed a quick, still-nervous smile. "Percy… I…" he hesitated, trying to think of how to say what he wanted to say. Percy would want to know what was going on, straight-up and right off the bat. The Sun God knew more than enough about Percy to know that.

He let out a breath, dragging a hand through his hair. "I spoke to your father," he eventually settled on.

Percy twisted to face him more fully, tilting his head in question.

"I asked for his permission to court you," Apollo blurted out before covering his eyes with one hand. "That was not how I wanted to say that."

Percy was staring, "You what?"

"I… I like you, Percy," Apollo dropped his hand to twist his fingers in the hem of his sky-blue t-shirt, looking down as his cheeks flushed golden. "I mean, I really like you. I want to see if we could…" he trailed off.

"You asked my dad if you could date me."

Apollo looked up, mildly affronted, "No. I asked if I could court you. There's a difference."

Percy made a 'keep going' gesture.

"Courting is to see if two people are compatible for a long-term relationship. It's not as quick or messy as dating."

Percy leaned back a bit, seeming thoughtful. "Why me? I'm not anything special."

Apollo stared at him. "Not… Percy, you're…" he gestured a little, trying to illustrate without words. "I've never even heard of someone more special!"

Percy seemed doubtful and more than a little confused.

"Look, I know this is a big decision," Apollo said quietly, "It's not like I want you to tell me right now that you'll marry me, or anything like that. I just…"

Percy spoke before the god could decide exactly what to say, "Do your kids have any idea about this? If I agree… I am not going to be the one telling Will I'm essentially dating his dad."

Apollo blinked, looking startled, then chuckled. "I wouldn't make you do that."

"I have friends my age in your cabin," Percy stated.

Apollo eyed the demigod for a moment, trying to decide what that was supposed to mean.

Percy noticed the scrutiny, "Apollo, please go talk to your kids about… this. I need a few minutes to process."

Apollo stood, brushing sand of his clothes. "All right," he agreed, because it was a big decision and he was pretty sure the ever-loyal Percy didn't want to do anything to hurt his friendships. "Look away; I don't want to burn your retinas or anything."

Percy closed his eyes and turned his head and Apollo flashed out.

Percy sighed, flopping back against the sand. He'd never really thought much about his sexuality. He'd been mildly attracted to others before—both male and female—and he was pretty sure that was normal, but he'd never really had the time to try and develop a relationship.

He'd felt bad leaving Calypso, because she loved him, but he didn't love her. Not that way, not that quickly. Annabeth was like a sister, and she treated him like a brother. It had crossed his mind upon occasion that a man was physically attractive, but he'd never really cared to pursue those thoughts. And even if he'd wanted to… well, hello, war!

Now, though… and this was the freakin' Sun God asking to court him!

It was confusing.

But… where was the harm? It's not like they were going to jump in headfirst. According to Apollo, this was to see if they could work out. And, well… ancient Greeks did the whole bi-thing all the time, so campers tended not to have a problem with it.

Still, he didn't want to upset Will or the others.

Percy huffed, draping an arm over his eyes. If the only way he was certain to refuse depended on the Apollo Cabin's reaction… well, he'd just have to wait.

xxxx

Apollo flashed into the Big House and meandered over to Chiron, who bowed on sighting him, "Lord Apollo," the centaur greeted.

"Hey, Chiron—could you round up my kids and bring them here for me? I need to talk to them."

Chiron nodded, obviously surprised but equally obviously not going to protest. "Of course, Lord Apollo."

Apollo waited after the centaur cantered off, settling to lean against one of the support columns and stare out at the sky. He really hoped they'd be okay with this.

He straightened and turned as Will, the cabin's head counselor, followed Chiron inside, the rest of his kids filing in after him. They lined up and knelt, intoning "Father" as if they'd rehearsed it.

Although, they might have, knowing his kids.

"No need to be so formal," Apollo waved them up, adding on, "You can stay if you want, Chiron. You'll find out sooner or later if things work out."

Will looked at Chiron, who was the first to actually ask. "Lord Apollo? What is this about?"

Apollo shifted, "I've gotten Lord Poseidon's permission to court Percy Jackson," he admitted.

There was an uneasy pause, the campers exchanging glances. Finally Will spoke up, "You do know he's our friend, right?"

Apollo shrugged, seeming a little self-conscious, "That would be why I'm telling you."

"Awkward," Will muttered.

Apollo looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"What? It is, Father."

Apollo shook his head, lips quirking towards a smile. "I wanted to see if any of you had any actual protests."

Again, the campers exchanged glances, this time with the addition of shaken heads. Will spoke up again, "No, Father—aside from the 'awkward' part. Have you talked to Percy?"

"A little," the Sun God glanced back towards the sea, "He wanted some time—not that I blame him. He suggested I come talk to you for a while."

Will smiled, "I think we're okay. I mean, yeah—having a friend dating a parent is a little weird, but…" he shrugged, "We won't give him a hard time or start spreading it around camp."

Apollo smiled at his kids, then tilted his head, "Any of you have anything to talk about outside of my love-life?"

That brought grins to his camper's faces, and Will started firing off suggestions for the cabin.

Apollo settled in to listen, nodding where appropriate and occasionally snapping his fingers to adjust something about the cabin.

xxxx

Percy raised his arm off of his eyes as a bright flash edged past his eyelids. "Hey," he greeted.

Apollo nervously made his way closer as Percy sat up, gesturing idly to the patch of sand beside him.

The god took that as the invitation it was and sat down, clearly not quite sure what to say.

"So," Percy twisted to look at the Sun God. "How'd it go?"

Apollo shrugged one shoulder, "Can't say they're ecstatic about it, but no one seems upset. Will's only comments were 'awkward' and 'kinda weird' before they collectively decided not give you any trouble about it, whatever you decide."

Percy nodded, idly chewing at his lower lip. "All right," he stated.

Apollo looked at him, his expression mixed confusion and hope.

"I'm reserving the right to break this off if it doesn't work out," Percy warned, "but… we can see how it goes."

Apollo gave an abortive movement towards the demigod, literally glowing as he smiled, then froze, seemingly not quite sure what to do with himself.

Percy watched him for a moment, then shrugged and stood, offering a hand to the still out-of-sorts Sun God.

Apollo took the hand and found himself pulled to his feet more easily than he'd expected, then the son of the Sea God gave him a brief hug.

Apollo's arms came up to return the gesture, though he let go immediately when he felt the younger male start to pull back. If he was honest with himself, he was just grateful that Percy felt comfortable enough to allow a hug.

Percy eyed the god for several seconds, "So. What next?"

Apollo titled his head, then grinned. "How about I take you somewhere tonight? I promise it won't be too upscale."

Percy nodded, blushing a bit. "Like a date?"

Apollo's grin widened, "Like a date."

Percy shifted his feet in the sand, blush deepening. "Um. Okay," then he smirked a bit, moving into the more familiar territory of teasing, though he'd never really teased a god. Taunted, yes. Teased? That was much more friendly. "But, Apollo? If we go anywhere mortal, you should turn off the glow."

Apollo blinked and looked down at himself, then flushed golden, the golden halo vanishing.

Percy couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him. "Don't you have godly duties to attend to before tonight?"

Apollo nodded once, still blushing in the golden manner of gods. "See you at six?" he offered.

Percy, feeling a bit daring, agreed. "It's a date."

Apollo smiled, then indicated for the demigod to close his eyes before vanishing in a brilliant flash of light.

As soon as Apollo was gone, Percy found himself much more nervous about that evening than he could recall having been about any non-life-threatening situation before. Granted, he'd never dated before. He'd never even thought about dating. There was no way he'd drag an uninformed mortal into his life, and he was rarely at camp without some sort of major something going on.

And—gods. He hadn't even considered what his mother would say.

Percy bit his lip, fumbling in his pocket for a drachma, and pulled some of the sea-spray into a makeshift screen in the air. "Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering," the toss of the golden coin was thankfully familiar, "Sally Jackson."

The faint rainbow became a view of a familiar kitchen as his mother bustled about, making what looked like an early lunch. "Mom," Percy called to get her attention.

The woman turned, smiling broadly on sighting her son, "Oh, Percy!" she redirected her attention towards the table for a moment, "Paul, it's Percy! How are things at camp, dear?"

"Good," Percy smiled back, a little nervously as he paused for his stepfather to move into range of the IM.

"Percy? Is something wrong?" Sally walked closer to the screen of mist, clearly concerned.

"No, nothing's wrong," Percy hastened to reassure, "It's just… I'm kind-of… seeing someone."

Sally smiled, "Oh, that's wonderful! When did this happen?"

"About ten minutes ago," Percy's wry tone wasn't lost on either of his mortal parents.

"Oh? And who is she?"

The demigod flushed, "He."

His mom was visibly surprised and Paul's eyebrows shot towards his hairline.

"Well… do you like him?"

Percy shifted, "I don't know… I mean, he's nice. But I don't know him very well, yet."

Paul made as if to say something, glanced at Sally, and stopped himself.

"… Are you sure this is safe, Percy?"

Percy nodded, "Well, he managed to get Dad's permission to court me, so…"

Sally frowned consideringly and Paul repeated "Court?" as though he couldn't believe he was hearing the word.

Percy nodded, "He said that we'd just be getting to know each other for a while, which is okay. I mean, it gives me some time to sort things out in my head."

Sally nodded, "All right, Percy. But if you need someone to talk to about things…" she emphasized the last word in a very specific manner.

Percy blushed, "Okay, okay. I get it. But, really, it's nothing to worry about for a while. Anyway, I should get back to camp. Talk to you later."

After farewells, Percy dismissed the IM and made his way back towards his cabin, only to find Will Solace sitting on his doorstep.

"Hey," he greeted, a little awkwardly, because—seriously, he'd just agreed to a romantic relationship with the other demigod's dad.

Will stood up, "Hey, Perce. What's the verdict?"

"… I agreed, if that's what you mean."

Will hesitated, getting a very strange expression on his face. "Okay, yeah. That's just gonna be weird," the son of Apollo decided. "I mean, he obviously cares about you, and I want him to be happy. You're my friend, and I want you to be happy. If this works out… well, I wish you both the best. But still. Weird."

Percy gave a laughing groan, "Tell me about it. He's taking me on a date tonight. I keep on thinking about the fact that I know his kids."

Will snorted, a smirk quirking his lips briefly upwards before he suddenly grew serious. "Percy, the Apollo cabin's agreed to keep quiet about this for now. That's okay, right?"

Percy nodded, "Yeah. I really don't need any more attention."

Will laughed, "Yeah, I thought you'd say that. Well, see you later, Percy."

Percy waved as the other demigod headed off towards the archery range, then made his way into his cabin and collapsed face-first onto his bed with a relieved huff, burying his face in the pillow for several seconds before flipping onto his side so he could breathe and closing his eyes, determined to take a nap. His brain needed a break.

xxxx