17 March 2016
A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry for the long break! I was really at a loss with this one, plus I've written a bunch of other stuff in the meantime. Also, this chapter is quite short (761 words), but I wanted to let you know that I'm not dead, and neither is this story. So, yeah, to those of you who are still there: Enjoy reading! And thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites, and last but not least thank you for 1585 views! You are the best!
Oh, and I hope you like the way I implemented the secondary characters from PJO as part of the Ghost King-stage team.
Important P.S: From tomorrow, I have Easter holidays, and I'll be on vacation for a week. So, no updates. If anything, I might write the old-fashioned way with pen and paper and type it out when I come back.
Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus are the intellectual property of Rick Riordan. I own nothing but the plot.
Percy
"This is Jake Mason, he is the head technician. This is Clarisse LaRue, she's in charge of the security. This is…" Percy's head was spinning due to all the names he had to memorize. Nico's father introduced him to a huge bunch of people. Some of them, such as Jake Mason, were nice, while others, like Clarisse LaRue, treated him with blatant condescension. Eventually, Hades introduced him to his predecessor, a guy named Charles Beckendorf. Beckendorf (that was the name everybody referred to him by; only his girlfriend was allowed to call him Charlie) told Percy that he had decided to leave the team because of said girlfriend, and as he talked about how hard it had been to be parted from her half the year, Percy inwardly celebrated the fact that Nico and he wouldn't have to go through this.
Beckendorf filled him in about his job, and when Percy was finally allowed to leave, his head was filled with speakers, amplifiers, effect rigs and whatnot. Jesus Christ, how could anyone memorize all this? The controlling unit for the whole stage had about one billion buttons, and Percy was glad that he would get to learn all this stuff over the time span of at least eight months. Though his tasks would be a lot easier at the beginning. Like, plugging in cables and such stuff. If somebody would have told him the function of every button and commanded him to memorize everything, he would have totally been at a loss.
Not that Percy would complain. One, this was far more interesting than scolding stupid brats who disobeyed the rules of a pool, two, he'd be with Nico. Hell, he would have agreed if Hades would have offered him the job of cleaning the toilets if it would have meant to be with Nico. His feelings for his boyfriend were stronger than what he had felt for most his handful of boy- and girlfriends over the years. His mere presence made the world look like a way friendlier and warmer place.
He was on his way home when his phone ringed. He glanced at the screen, which read Mum. Really, he should have programed the number into his phone himself instead of letting Sally doing this. He loved his mother, but nothing was more embarrassing than to see the text 'mum' appear on his screen in front of his friends. Death gets everyone, the taxman comes after you, a twenty-one years old young man doesn't say 'mum'. That's that. But somehow he had never have the heart to change the contact into something more neutral, like 'Sally'.
"Hi mum" he yelled into the phone he held with his right hand, while his left rested on the steering wheel. A hands-free headset would probably be a good idea.
"Percy! You haven't called all week!" He could almost hear her frown. "What's that sound? You aren't calling while driving, are you?" He sighed. "Yes, I am." Sally gasped, and he quickly added, "you wouldn't be less worried if I hadn't answered your call, mum. Get used to it." In the background, Percy could hear his stepfather Paul snicker, and he realized that his mother must have put the call on speaker. "Why are you calling?" he asked. This time, both of his parents burst into laughter. "We wanted to ask if you've made any progress in the, hm, 'romance department'" Paul chimed in.
"Dad!" Percy yelled (yep, he called his stepfather 'dad'. They were on good terms with each other). "Mum, tell him to shut up. And you really need to stop babying me! That goes for both of you!" He was fuming, and it didn't help that his mother chuckled, clearly audible through the phone. "Did you or didn't you? And you can't really blame us for caring about you, now can you?" Percy sighed. "Fine. Since you're so eager to know… long story short: We argued, he ran away, I apologized, we kissed, he's my boyfriend." He let out a grumble. "Satisfied now?" he sighed.
"Did you use protection?"his stepfather piped up.
"PAUL! I SWEAR, IF I GET BACK I'LL HAVE YOUR SORRY HEAD!" More laughter at the other end of the phone. "You shouldn't drive when you're so upset, darling" his mother chuckled. "Then why did you upset me like that?" Percy demanded. "We'll talk later, okay? Make sure to bring your boyfriend for lunch some time soon." Percy sighed. "Maybe. If you promise you won't embarrass me any further in his presence."
"Deal. What about saturday?"
"Fine."
