A/N: I meant to finish this a long time ago nngh. unfortunately now that school has started again, updates will be way less frequent sorry sorry. Ill try to get chapters out to the best of my ability, hopefully more than one a month. im now juggling two stories, so im crossing my fingers. As a heads up, i dont plan for this story to be very long... Im hoping i can finish it quickly but i will still strive for quality chapters!
on a more positive note, look! Update! Cute kids! Read and review and ill getcha the next asap!
Percy was absolutely giddy with boyish excitement that evening, both on the way back to his cabin, and when he got inside. And throughout the rest of the night. Honestly, even after dressing in night clothes and promising himself to get some sleep, it just wasn't happening. Trying to lay down in his bed, but too full of energy to stay still, Percy ended up getting twisted in between his sheets more than once to the point he couldn't move his legs. He would stand up from his mattress, just to do something- rearrange the few possessions he owned, or just pace around the cabin. To go examine his unshakable smile in the mirror, peek out the window to his view of the ocean, or lay down on the cool wooden floorboards to calm down a bit. But he only ended up rolling around on the floor, face in his hands, mind racing with sweet thoughts.
Luke kissed me. He kissed me, he kissed me he kissed me-
Just the fading impression of lips on his...the feeling of Luke's hands on his face and shoulders, gentle and forgiving. How he smiled at him. Pulled him closer, oh man he could just replay it in his head...over and over. And what he'd said to him, Percy couldn't get it out of his mind-
Overwhelmed, the demigod didn't know when he finally got to sleep that night. But whenever he finally succumbed to his mind drifting off, it was with a smile on his face. A faint pink painted on his cheeks, curled into a ball on top of his covers, too happy to even fully comprehend what had happened.
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"I did it."
"What did you do this time, dipstick?" Annabeth rolled her eyes, already fearing the worst. She was on the low end of the spectrum this morning, hardly paying attention to her friend. His fantastic mood was on the verge of really pissing her off, she was that grumpy. "I swear, don't drag me-"
"No, Annabeth, I did it. I said it, it happened, I-" Percy was acting like an excited puppy, pining for attention. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"
"Is this really the time?"
"Well, I-"
"I'm trying to eat."
Now he just looked hurt.
"Fine, I'm sorry," she sighed. "What is it?" was the attempt at a gentler note.
That contagious smile was back in an instant, almost but not quite affecting the grouchy daughter of Athena. She hadn't faired so well in her canoe today; the thing sprung a leak while she was a good eighty feet from shore. She wasn't happy about getting wet.
It was dinner at this point the next day. The whole camp seemed to be in a rush, and the schedules were off due to activity changes- Percy hadn't even seen Luke that day. Which crushed him. He didn't have sword training today, it seemed, instead he doubled up classes tomorrow. The only time he'd caught a glimpse of the demigod was near the pegasi stables in the morning, followed by some quite decrepit looking teenagers. In any case, Percy hadn't been able to talk to anyone for more than a minute or two until now, it had been so hectic. And he had so much to say, too. Now that he had some time to think, that overwhelming bubbly feeling had resurfaced.
"I did what you said to. And he likes me, he likes me back, I can't believe.. " Percy whispered excitedly, unable to even stay still in his seat on the bench. "I couldn't even sleep last night, I just was too excited-"
"Whoa, you mean..." Annabeth perked up, piecing together his words. "You told Luke?"
"He told me," Percy corrected, as if it was the best thing he'd been right about in his whole life. The look on his face explained it all.
"Really?"
He nodded.
"That's so great!" she whispered shrilly, Percy's unbridled excitement rubbing off on her. "What happened? Come on, tell me everything."
He went on to summarize the evening, emphasizing in a quiet mantra that Luke had kissed him. Kissed him, kissed him- well, he does hold a right to be happy about all this, Annabeth chuckled inwardly.
"And, I was right..." the blonde smiled wide. "Wasn't I, Percy? See, I told you he-"
She was cut off when Chiron stopped the eating to make an announcement, calling out to his campers from where everyone could see him. Continuously glancing over to Percy, she couldn't help feeling proud of him. And Luke. She didn't think it would happen like this, but she was glad either way. Sighing and glancing around, she looked for the subject of their interrupted conversation as Chiron spoke.
Percy was busy staring at the wood of the table, hiding a goofy smile. Too bad, really- because in her efforts to find Luke, she did, and he was looking right back. Annabeth caught his gaze, and Luke smiled when she gave him a thumbs up, looking as if he wanted to come over to actually say something face to face. However, the centaur was still announcing a statement- something about the welfare of the canoes. Which Annabeth felt was important for everyone to hear, seeing as she'd had to patiently wait as it drowned. She had to swim back the rest of the way after the canoe had failed her. Really, this announcement was important, people should pay attention...
"What should I do now?" Percy whispered, after Chiron had wrapped up and let the campers begin to eat again. "Do you think he wants to date or something? I haven't done this before..."
Annabeth almost shrugged, but thought better of it, knowing it would give off the wrong impression.
"Well, knowing this camp, everyone already has found out anyways," she stated, as if it was no big deal.
"What? You think?" Percy's eyes widened at the casual statement.
"Probably. Look at them," Annabeth gestured to the Hermes table, where more than one camper was glancing at Percy from across the hall- yeah, they wouldn't do that if it wasn't for the two rumored campers. "They know."
"Oh...oh, well I..." Percy flushed darker, and that might have been related to a Cabin Eleven camper snickering and nudging Luke with his elbow. It looked like he might have been the fellow counselor.
"Why don't you ask Luke yourself?"
"Yeah...I could..." Percy cleared his throat, picking up his scraps of food to leave the table in a sudden and awkward wave of embarrassment. Pausing, he threw out the vague question to Annabeth's presumption. "Everyone knows?"
"Don't let it get to you, it's no big deal," Annabeth said brightly, turning her head to watch him go.
"Mm. Yeah."
Now, Percy was nervous. What if everyone did already know? Was that why the other campers were catching his eye, or was it because of something else? He tried not to think too long about it. Annabeth had been positive, and he wasn't sure where to go from here... he'd didn't have anything to worry about. After throwing his plate in the garbage, Percy came face to face with no other counselor than Luke, who had been tagging along.
He couldn't say he was too surprised.
"Luke! Hi!" Percy managed, unconsciously backing up against the bins. He wasn't sure what to say. Ironic, really, because of how often he'd been thinking about Luke- but nothing along the lines of what to actually say to him.
"Hey," Luke played along with the casual tone to their exchange, hands in his pockets. He looked amused, examining the others face with a grin. "Did you sleep okay?"
"Ah...not really." Wasn't it weird to upfront say he'd been a little too excited to sleep? "I mean, it's fine, though. I'm not that tired, really, I-I...um..." Percy became increasingly aware of the campers around him. Starting to feel heat rise to his cheeks, he glanced at the ground quickly. "Did you?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"I thought saw your cabin having to clean stables early this...ah, this morning..."
"Do you want to talk somewhere else?" came an interruption. Not rude, but it was more of a statement than a question, as he glanced around. Abandoning the light conversation to get to the point he'd obviously had in mind. Percy blinked, timidly reaching up a hand to mess at his hair.
"D-do you think that's really-"
"Come on, Perce."
Luke didn't give him much of an option, expecting Percy to follow as he exited the hall. Anxiously eyeing for Annabeth, she seemed to have disappeared to somewhere else in the time he had been distracted. Catching up with a jog, and then walking in pace with Luke, they headed outside for whatever the reason deemed necessary. They turned around to the side of the establishment, the chatter of campers only dull now. The sun now setting, the sky an orange and red shade. Luke sighed at the open air, turning towards his company.
"Okay here we are-" he leaned against the wood wall, "I'm sorry you didn't sleep well. It must be strange going from a cabin to no one else..." he continued their last exchange thoughtfully, shrugging.
"I-I've kind of gotten used to it," Percy admitted. He glanced away, fiddling with the hem of his camp shirt; Luke tried his best to ignore the slight movements.
"Oh, and I assigned stable duties this morning, thats why we were out," he added, referring to the previous question. Grinning at the memory of his campers scrubbing the stalls, constantly complaining about the smell of the foul place.
"Why?" the boy laughed, scrunching and unscrunching his left sleeve with his fingers, feeling anxiety ebb away from his system. What a punishment.
"Well, when you have that many kids to control, you've got to do something."
"But that place reeks, if you get within fifty feet you can smell it!"
"Exactly. No one wanted to get up this morning- I had to encourage them somehow." Luke looked pleased with himself.
"Isn't that a little harsh?" the younger half-blood tilted his head, questioning. "I'm not sure 'encourage' is the right word for it."
"Encourage them to listen. Now that they've had to clean that thing, maybe the kids will quit being such brats all the time..."
"Ah, well I'm thankful I'm not in Cabin Eleven anymore," Percy snorted.
Acting offended, Luke made his lip quiver, pouting. His scar pulled down as he did so, but somehow it didn't take away from the expression. "Oh, you don't mean that," he complained, though was unable to keep the look on for long. The son of Poseidon laughed again, hair falling in front of his eyes as he tilted his head down. "I was a good counselor, right?"
Percy couldn't come up with a reply, giggling instead, leaving Luke to his own inference. Taking a breath, the demigod shifted, rocking back and forth on his heels.
"Why'd you want to come out here, anyways?" he asked.
Luke smiled- almost bashful, out of character- before answering.
"Well, I just..." He looked away. "You get pretty shy when there's other campers watching... I thought it'd be better out here, you know? Just us." He cleared his throat.
"O-oh." A red hue painted Percy's face, not for the first time, but for a new reason now. That was unexpected. "I-I, uh... that's really...kind of you," he said, flattered Luke had actually taken the time to think about that. Yeah, contemplating for a second, he did get quite self-conscious when others were watching them...
"It's not a big deal, it's just...better this way. I guess. I like it better, us two out here. In there's too crowded anyways."
Now both boys were acting shy, smiling and staring at the ground. Percy still rocking on his heels, biting his lip to contain how much he wanted to say. It would be too much though, too off-guard in the pretense of the situation; he wanted to hug the blonde, or kiss him or something, but wasn't sure if it was the right time. Which ended up passing, and Percy never got the chance to change his mind and do it anyways.
Luke was the first to speak again, slipping back into his usual flirtatious self, charismatic as he was.
"I missed you in my class," he started, speaking just a bit softer now. Hardly noticeable, really. "You're coming tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure, Chiron told me something along those lines."
"I'm glad, then- I don't get to see you much anymore, otherwise."
"Yeah...I-"
"You've got something..." Luke interjected, leaning forward. The other leaned back on instinct, but tried his best to keep still as Luke brushed his thumb over the side Percy's mouth. Whether some reminisce of crumbs or drink were legitimately on his lips, he didn't care too much. "...here. Got it."
"Thanks," Percy whispered, as Luke was close enough to hear. He hadn't retracted from Percy's lips, dropping his hand to gently hold his chin between his thumb and fingers, rather than letting go. Luke's eyes flicked over the other's face, remembering after a moment to reply.
"Don't mention it."
There was a pause, prolonged silence as they both waited for something to happen. In the dimming light of the evening, Percy watched the blonde lick his lips.
"A-are you going to kiss m-"
The answer was a 'yes' of sorts. Luke's mouth opened just the slightest as he bent forward, gently pressing against Percy's lips, careful as not to startle him. A flickering recollection of the previous night rose to the surface, how Percy had so irrationally freaked out and pulled away, landing himself on the ground. Luke didn't want that to happen again- taking all the precaution he could as not to repeat events, simply chaste as he moved his other hand up to set against the side of Percy's neck. Curling ever so slightly up into the demigod's hair, maybe going as far as to lean into him, suggesting that the boy move backwards against the side of the mess hall.
Percy had been excepting it, and yet still had trouble processing the moment. Stalling for a second or two, not knowing how to respond or- he shut his eyes quickly, curling his fingers against the wooden structure he was leaning back against. Suddenly quite aware of his senses, heightened as he felt Luke's just-barely-open lips against his closed ones. He wasn't sure what to do. And so on instinct, he tried the techniques he'd only seen and heard of, opening his mouth in a flustered haze and tilting his head so the lock was snug between their lips.
He thought it might help. He hoped, but hadn't anticipated what would come afterwards.
Luke pulled away sharply at Percy's new movements, more surprised than anything else. Percy, on the other hand, automatically jumped to the conclusion that he'd done it wrong.
"S-orry, I wasn't sure how-"
"You're so cute..."
Luke couldn't break the stride, only stopping the kiss long enough to press back against him. Percy tensed up as Luke was back on his lips again, much more exerted in his activity now. Hands still for the most part fixed to the back of Percy's neck, threading through his locks every so often. Percy shivered. Mouth closed again, retreated from his gutsy attempt, and didn't have the confidence to try again. Luke did it for him, coaxing his lips open again and gingerly flicking his tongue against the front of his teeth.
Percy's breath hitched at the contact, and Luke took it safely as the time to stop. Or at least slow down.
"You okay?" he asked softly, left hand swiping over the other's cheek before he backed away.
He was relieved when Percy nodded vigorously, relaxing a bit against the wall.
"I-I'm fine." All the physical contact was overwhelming, honestly, but it felt nice. More than nice. "I-m..." he teetered off, not knowing what to say.
"Have you ever kissed anyone?"
"Not like that. I've never..." he looked embarrassed, and of course as always, the other demigod noticed.
"That's fine," Luke smiled warmly, placing a quick kiss on the top of Percy's head. "I'm kind of glad, actually."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Percy took a breath, deciding to ask. "So, are we dating now, or...? Do-"
"Why wouldn't we be?"
Percy's face lit into an even brighter smile, trying to cover it up by looking down or something but couldn't seem to break eye contact.
He didn't really want to, either.
It was dark out now, they could only see each other from the light emanating from the hall. Stars began to dot the sky as they did every night, except it was only here, in Camp Half Blood, that he could see them clearly.
"Cool."
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