~ * Chapter 12 ~*
Flying sucked.
Flying really really sucked.
And so did Poseidon.
"It's not like you could even see the plane descending," his father rationalized, amusement far too thick in his voice as Percy swayed, feeling oddly seasick.
"I hate you," he declared even as he clung to Poseidon like a drowning man to a raft.
"That's the spirit," Poseidon said cheerfully. "You really turned some interesting shades of green there, I should have taken pictures."
"Jerk," Percy muttered darkly as his father led him down the airport corridors, one arm dragging his suitcase and the other constricting around Poseidon's. Somebody bumped against him and he couldn't help but flinch.
"I don't know why you won't let me buy you a cane," Poseidon sighed, steadying him. "Less people would run into you and hey, you'd actually be able to avoid running into things – trashcan right ahead watch it."
Percy faltered, letting Poseidon pull him out of his apparent collision course with the trashcan. Percy tolerated the manhandling with nothing more than a vague scowl. "I can take care of myself, I don't need a cane."
"A cane would allow you to take care of yourself," Poseidon sighed, his voice thick with exasperation. "That way you wouldn't have to cling to me like a spider-monkey to avoid getting knocked over. Not that I mind, I'm here to help – " Poseidon quickly added as Percy's face twisted. "But I don't want you to get hurt when I'm not around."
"Why wouldn't you be around?" Percy asked and his voice came out kind of funny, a little too high and almost wavering. His chest seized, his fingers tightening their grip on his father.
"I – you know what, never mind, it doesn't matter, I'll be around," Poseidon said firmly. "Come on, let's drop our stuff off at the hotel."
The ride to the hotel wasn't long and Percy leaned against the wall as Poseidon got the keys to their room. It was hard to make a judgment of his surroundings since the hotel hallway was so wide and the only sounds were those that Poseidon and the man at the front desk made. It smelled overwhelmingly of cleaner and new carpet, which he guessed was a good sign. A quick ride up an elevator and they were stepping into their room for the week.
Percy had never stayed at a hotel before, Sally couldn't exactly afford it and they never traveled anyway. He tried to refrain from appearing too awestruck, and he was quite proud of himself – he only kind of made a sound like a dying whale when Poseidon offhandedly mentioned the 'cheap' price of the room.
"It's nothing fancy," Poseidon was saying, his words followed by the soft squeak of the wire mattress as his father presumably tossed his luggage onto it. "But it's a nice hotel and relatively close to everything."
Percy left his suitcase by the door and shuffled into the room, his hands coming out to trace his surrounds; an espresso machine, flat screen television, mini fridge...
"It's awesome," Percy disagreed, a grin splitting his face.
Poseidon ruffled his hair, calloused fingers scraping against his scalp, and when his father spoke, his voice sounded slightly pinched, "Let's go get some dinner."
"So the Seaquarium is how much bigger than yours?" Percy asked, grinning and practically bouncing on his heels as Poseidon groaned, handing the attendee their tickets.
"Size doesn't matter," the man muttered murderously. "The diversity of animals, environments – education! Rehabilitation – that's what matters."
"Sure, sure," Percy snickered.
In retaliation, Poseidon tripped him as they started moving forward. Percy stumbled, cursing as he floundered.
"Whoops," Poseidon said innocently when Percy regained his footing.
"Jerk," Percy tried to scowl, but the effect was lost as he started to laugh, shoving against his father in feeble retribution.
Slinging an arm around Percy's shoulder, Poseidon led him into the Seaquarium. It was loud inside, much louder than theirs back home. The building must have been built without acoustics in mind because sound seemed to echo a hundred times over. Percy couldn't even hear the filters of the tanks or the gentle push of the water, things that he had come to associate with and love about Poseidon's aquarium. As much as Percy enjoyed teasing Poseidon, he wasn't entirely sure how this trip would go. This was so different from Poseidon's aquarium – he couldn't go into the tanks, couldn't touch the animals, it was so crowded…
"Do you know the people who work here?" Percy asked as they shuffled along.
"It's hard not to in this field," Poseidon sighed dramatically, like it was hard to be him. "With only so few real, large scale aquariums in the world, the operators all know each other, even if only by name. But yes, I probably know at least half the people who work here. In fact, I'll introduce you to one later, but for now, we are merely tourists."
"Don't make any curators cry," Percy groaned, sure that it was already a lost cause.
"Now where's the fun in that?" Percy could hear the smile. "Let's start over here – oh look the fresh water hall, how quaint."
"Poseidon."
"Don't mistake me, fresh water fish are very important. But nobody wants to pay forty dollars to see pike and carp when they can go to their own backyard – where's the excitement in that? Here feel this."
Percy obligingly reached out and let his fingers etch a picture of the world before him.
"It feels like a tank," Percy deadpanned. "Wow, a tank in an aquarium, how amazing."
"Indeed, and a very nice tank at that. Nicely built too, sturdy, see I can be charitable."
Percy snorted.
"It's a good size too, at least ten feet in length – "
"You're stalling, tell me about the fish." Percy interrupted, grinning as he let his fingers slip down until the smooth of glass changed into the cold of metal.
Poseidon stalled some more, "You wanted me to be nice, this is me being nice – "
"Carp and pike," Percy read as he found braille on the plaque. "Is it seriously just carp and pike?"
"How did you – ? Oh, is that braille? How unfortunate, I can't lie now." Poseidon's voice was thick with amusement. "And I was looking forward to making all sorts of inaccurate descriptions."
"It's really just carp," Percy repeated, his shoulders shaking as he tried to withhold laughter.
"Now Percy," Poseidon mock scolded, "be nice."
"Shut up and find some more interesting fish to describe to me."
Poseidon laughed, a rich deep sound that drowned out the chatter around him as he led Percy deeper into the aquarium. The crowd grew thicker, the voices increasing to a constant wall of noise. Percy figured that was a good sign, there must be more interesting fish this way.
"We're in the shark and ray exhibit," Poseidon explained. "Here, let's stand off to the side so nobody plows us over. They have more sharks than us – don't read too much into that – and a...rather impressive variety. There are at least two dozen shark's swimming in front of us. About your usual size for a large tank, probably about twice as big as the one back home. Oh, we have a friend, here's a juvenile sawfish. Not actually a shark although the mistake is common enough, they are in the same family. His nose is about the length from your elbow to your fingertips and riddled with sharp teeth – yes teeth outside their mouths."
Poseidon continued in this manner, the insults to the aquarium fading out as his natural enthusiasm for the ocean took its place. He described the fish around them in great detail like he did back home, throwing in tidbits about the animals and their life as he talked.
"The red lionfish is usually found along the western and central Pacific and off the coast of western Australia. However, there has been a problem lately with them in the Gulf of Mexico as an invasive species – and what time is it?"
"Lunch time probably," Percy immediately rejoined with a grin from where he was been reading the plaque for the red lionfish.
"You're always hungry," Poseidon dismissed. "We'll find some overpriced popcorn or something. We're almost late, glad I remembered, come on."
"Almost late for what?" Percy asked with a frown as Poseidon dragged him away from the lionfish exhibit. "I don't want to leave, why are the lionfish causing a problem in the gulf?"
"No natural predators or conditions to keep their population in check, outcompeting native species, damaging the food security and ecological balance – you know the usual reasons why invasive species are a problem," Poseidon said dismissively. "And we're going to be late for the dolphin show."
"The dolphin show?" Percy repeated with a frown. "That I can't see?"
"You can't see the fish either," Poseidon pointed out. "I'll describe the show just like I describe the fish."
"But they'll be so many people and it'll be loud," Percy complained. "Can't we just go back to the lionfish?
"I want to see the dolphin show," Poseidon good naturally replied, and well, Percy couldn't think of any rebuttal to that. He felt vaguely guilty. He knew there were a ton of fun things Poseidon could do on vacation that Percy couldn't yet the man chose to be here with him.
Percy would sit through the stupid dolphin show.
"Here, enjoy this popcorn it cost me a fortune," Poseidon said once they were seated, passing a slightly oily bag to Percy.
"Was it more or less expensive than the stuff you sell at home?" Percy snorted through a mouthful of delicious buttery popcorn.
"I would never sell popcorn at our aquarium," Poseidon said, sounding scandalized. "Especially around an open exhibit. We don't let guests take food outside the café."
"Yeah because I could throw a kernel into the pool."
"Well, maybe not you," Poseidon said, the bench creaking as he leaned over, his shoulder pressing heavily against Percy's as he snatched some popcorn. "But I definitely could."
"It's not because I'm blind," Percy scoffed, batting Poseidon's hands away as he tried to steal more popcorn. "They wouldn't let us have food if they thought it would be dangerous to the animals. There's probably a wall or something, or we're up really high."
"We're not, and stop moving the bag you brat. I bought it."
Percy moved the bag. "I don't believe you."
Whatever Poseidon might have said or done in retaliation was interrupted. The crowd around them grew quieter and a moment later an energetic young voice starting speaking over a loud speaker. Poseidon sat back, managing to steal a couple of quick kernels. Percy jealously guarded his snack, only vaguely listening as the show started.
More introductions. A splash.
A round of applause and the click of cameras.
Poseidon leaned in close again, his warmth seeping into Percy as he explained, "Two dolphins just swam out. Common dolphins the kid said which is a genus type, idiots."
"Be nice," Percy said mildly.
"By their coloring I'd say they were Arabian common dolphins. Both female."
Poseidon kept a commentary up for the rest of the show, adding unnecessary comments and critiques of the show that Percy tried not to laugh at, they were mean, but he just couldn't help it. Percy and Poseidon stayed where they were after the show ended to let the crowd bleed out, not wanting to have someone accidently knock the blind kid down in the rush. Every once in a while Poseidon would bump his hip or shoulder against Percy, which kind of felt like the blind equivalent of a wink and as valiantly as Percy tried to resist, he couldn't help giggling a little each time he did.
"Stop," Percy demanded, shoving against his father as he tried desperately not to let any more laughter escape. He wasn't quite successful. Pressed against Poseidon's side as he was in the tight space, he could feel the man's body shaking with his own laughter.
"Poseidon, Poseidon Olympian?"
"Yes, that's us," Poseidon said, leaning forward a bit and leaving Percy's side cold.
"So sorry for the short notice," his father continued amiably and the bench beneath them creaked, the cheap plastic sinking in as the weight shifted before popping up as Poseidon stood. "Thank you for accommodating us."
"Of course! Lilaea called ahead and spoke to us! It's an honor to have you here," the woman laughed. "Everyone's heard of Poseidon Olympian."
Percy felt his eyebrows raise, 'is that a good or a bad thing' on the tip of his tongue. Poseidon must have sensed it because he smoothly but quickly replied, "And we're glad to be here. This is my son, Percy, Percy this is Doris, dolphin trainer and marine mammal specialist."
At the introduction, Percy scrambled to his feet and a moment later fell under the umbrella of Poseidon's arm as the man drew him to his side.
"Nice to meet you, Percy," Doris said.
There was a pause, then –
"She's holding her hand out to shake."
"Oh," Percy said, his face hot as he held his hand out towards where the voice sounded like it was coming from. His embarrassed 'oh' was echoed in surprise before a slight, slightly wet, hand shook his.
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking – " Doris apologized, squeezing his fingers tight.
Percy kind of wanted to disappear. This was why he hated meeting new people. He turned his face down, realizing for the first time that he wasn't wearing his glasses. Without realizing it, Percy had become accustomed to going without them when he was with Poseidon. He pushed the thought away, mumbling some form of 'it's okay' to comfort Doris.
"Well," Doris said, her cheerful tone returning, if somewhat forced, as she released his hand. "Let's go join the others then and have some fun shall we?"
"Fun?" Percy repeated as Poseidon pushed him forward, "others?"
He turned his head, squinting suspiciously in the space he thought Poseidon occupied.
"Stairs, be careful," was his father's ambiguous reply.
"I hate stairs," Percy grumbled, swiping his feet before him and toeing at the space where the floor disappeared. He tried to probe for more information, but Poseidon would only hum thoughtfully and then not warn Percy about the next step. In self-preservation, Percy refrained from asking any more questions until the ground was flat again.
"I hear a pool," Percy said as they descended, brow furrowed. A child was laughing, sharp, delighted laughter cutting across the gentle lap of water. A chirp pierced the air and the laughter increased. Percy's head perked up.
"Was that one of the dolphins?" Percy asked. The sound came again and he turned to his father, excitement growing in his chest, "I hear the dolphins chirping."
"Yes," Poseidon agreed, his voice rich and warm. "We got lucky. Lilaea managed to squeeze in a spot for us in one of the Seaquarium's private dolphin sessions."
"Private dolphin sessions?" Percy repeated, excitement and disbelief thrumming through his veins as his fingers dug into Poseidon's arm.
"Three days a week we have an hour and a half private session between four guests and our dolphins," Doris spoke up. "We had someone cancel for today's session so you get to take their place."
"I get to swim with a dolphin?" Percy asked, sure his eyes were bulging even as his grin threatened to split his face.
Poseidon laughed, perhaps at his undoubtedly ridiculous expression. "Bright boy isn't he? Yes, you get to swim with a dolphin, close your mouth it's not that impressive. You swam with a manatee for weeks, remember? Much more exotic."
"I didn't bring my wetsuit," Percy said, speaking over Poseidon.
Doris laughed, gently laying a hand on his shoulder and pulling him away from Poseidon. "We have special suits. Most of our guests don't even own wetsuits you know. Come with me and I'll get you sorted."
The wetsuit was a little big and he could feel a sticky logo running across the front of his chest but he was too excited to care. The dolphin team explained the procedure for the dolphin encounter while Percy bounced on his heels, his ears more attuned to the splashes of the pool and chirping of the dolphins than the people before him.
"Alright Percy, right this way," Doris said once the instructions were over, gently linking their arms together as she led him forward. "The pool is right in front of us, and the latter is on our left, can you feel it?"
Percy reached out and his fingers brushed against something cold and metal.
"Good alright, now I'm going to get in first then you can go ahead and climb down okay?"
Percy nodded and Doris gently let go of his arm. A moment later he heard the light splash of Doris entering the pool, echoed across the room as one of the other trainers slipping in.
"Alright, Percy, go ahead and climb in, we're going to go immediately to your left next to the edge of the pool okay?"
The water was warm and as he sank into the pool, he was strongly reminded of Mindy's little pool. It was relatively shallow, the water only came up about half way up his chest. As per Doris' instructions he swam to the left by the wall.
"We're going to be spending time with my favorite girl, Bessie."
"Bessie," Percy interrupted, laughing. "You named a dolphin Bessie?"
Doris gave a gentle laugh, "Seems silly doesn't it? But she's gentle and sweet, and only black and white. She doesn't have any of the yellows or tans that other common dolphins have so I thought it fit."
"No, I like it," Percy grinned. "I can't wait to meet her."
"Then let's not keep you waiting, here she comes now. Hiya Bessie girl."
Percy could feel something strong and sleek slide passed him as Doris cooed.
"This is our new friend Percy, can you say 'hi' Bessie?"
Bessie obliged her trainer with a sharp chirp.
"Don't be shy now, Percy, come say hi to Bessie. She's right in front of you, and she's really quite a friendly, social creature. Just hold your hand out and take a step forward."
Percy reached his hand out, warm water running through his fingers as he stepped forward. He brushed against something smooth and almost rubbery.
"Hi Bessie," he said, laying his hand flat on the dolphin's back and gently running it along the smooth skin.
"Bessie here is three years old, so she's an adult now. She's a rescue animal, like most of the animals here at the aquarium. She came to us when she was only three weeks old. We think her mom was killed, probably by a fisherman who accidently caught her in their net."
Like Mindy, Percy thought, his fingers running up to trace the curve of the dolphin's dorsal fin.
"She's beautiful," Percy said and the fin suddenly dipped as Bessie dove, playfully bumping against him.
"She'll be back," Doris said, but Percy only laughed.
He twirled in the water, hands held out before him as he tried to locate the dolphin. The pool was loud, the chirping of all four dolphins, the laughter of the other guests, gentle corrections of the trainers, the low murmur of the filter, the lap of the water itself…
Something bumped against him, playfully, and Doris quickly said, "That's – "
"Bessie," Percy finished for her, laughing as he tried to pet the dolphin but the quick girl was already gone.
"She just wants to play," Doris said, "I'm sorry. Maybe you could trade spots with one of the sighted guests – "
"No, I can play," Percy assured her, feeling the sway of the water and twisting around when he felt the direction change. "Found you!" He happily exclaimed, reaching out to gently bump against the dolphin like she did with him.
Only Bessie moved too fast and he was left with nothing but water.
"Hey!" He laughed, but dutifully tried to find her again. Bessie never strayed too far, corralling around him and nuzzling against him before darting off. She let him catch her a few times, chirping happily before diving again.
"It's like she understands there's something different about you," Doris marveled.
"Dolphins are highly intelligent creatures," Poseidon's voice suddenly boomed and Percy automatically turned towards it. "They are used as therapy animals for people with both physical and mental disabilities."
Bessie bumped against Percy's shoulder and he reached out to run a hand along her back.
"That's my dad," he introduced and Bessie gave a little chirp that had him laughing as he bent over to place a kiss on her back.
"Sea animals always love him," Poseidon told Doris. "We had an injured manatee calf back home that utterly adored him. She didn't want anyone to feed her other than Percy – hey Percy hold still."
"Why?" Percy asked in confusion, tilting his head towards his father's voice.
"He's taking a picture," Doris said indulgently. "Why don't you give Bessie another kiss so he can get a good one."
Percy obliged, only rolling his eyes a little, but at the exact moment Bessie chirped and splashed him.
"Hey!" Percy called, laughing, and their game started once more.
"Alright, well time's almost up. We have to give our dolphins a rest, so we have to start saying goodbye," Doris said after Percy was breathless and leaning against the pool wall while Bessie chirped and nuzzled against him.
"Bye Bessie," Percy said, giving the dolphin one last kiss. "I had a lot of fun."
As Percy hopped up on the ledge of the enclosure, he could have sworn he heard Bessie chirping after him. With a grin on his face, he let Doris lead him away so he could dry off and change back into his clothes. Relatively dry and redressed, Percy could hear Poseidon clicking away on his phone when he emerged from getting changed.
"Who's that?" He asked curiously.
"Hestia, I'm sending her pictures," Poseidon said. "Looks like you made a friend."
Percy grinned, letting Poseidon put an arm around his shoulder as they walked away. "That was amazing."
Water lightly dripping from the ends of his hair, the damp strands weighing slightly heavy on his head as the beads of water made their way down his neck, Percy happily followed alongside his father, unable to wipe the grin off his face.
"Where are we now?" Percy asked, not quite caring. His head buzzed pleasantly, maybe from the water still trapped inside his ears, the strange echoing from the aquarium, the beat of his own heart. His shoulders brushed against something soft and the light clang of metal caused his eyebrows to raise.
"The gift shop," Poseidon said, "watch out for the clothes rack there."
"Too late, think I just ran into it," Percy grinned.
Poseidon scuffled him forward, Percy's arms flailing a little as he tried not bump into anything else. Poseidon put a hand on each of his shoulders, keeping Percy firmly in front of him.
"Why are we in the gift shop?" Percy asked as they suddenly veered left.
"To shop, Perseus, what else? I need something tacky to bring back to Nereid that says 'our aquarium is clearly better'," Poseidon mused.
"Oh right, of course," Percy grinned, shaking his head. He tried to wait patiently as Poseidon riffled through the shop, muttering under his breath all the while.
"All of these key chains are creative and tasteful," Poseidon grumbled. "Where are the tacky, distasteful things? Hmph. Here – "
"What?" Percy asked as something soft was pushed into his arms. "What's this?"
"What do you think?" Poseidon asked, returning to his rummaging.
Percy turned the object over in his arms. It was plush and fuzzy. He ran his hands over the shape of it, tracing a long tail that flared, two sleek protrusions on the side and one curved on top.
"It's a stuffed animal. A shark maybe? Or a dolphin?"
"A shark?" Poseidon repeated, his voice far too amused.
"A dolphin," Percy amended, feeling the bottle-shaped snout. "It's a dolphin."
"Very nice Sherlock," Poseidon chuckled, which didn't explain why he shoved a stuffed dolphin into Percy's arm.
Still, it was very soft. It felt well made, better than well made, he couldn't feel any seams or other abnormalities. He found himself absently petting the soft toy as Poseidon browsed. Obviously, it felt nothing like Bessie did, but it made him smile anyway.
"Alright, I found something. It's a magnet," Poseidon explained, dropping the object into Percy's hand for him to feel. "It's big, blocky, it's got clashing colors – a horrid yellow and bright red – with the aquarium's logo on it."
Percy humored the guy and ran his fingers over the block letters. "And how exactly does this say 'my aquarium's better'?"
"It's got a picture of a pair of orcas and a humpback whale on it."
Percy frowned as Poseidon took the magnet and toy dolphin back, "I don't get it."
"Did you see any orcas or humpback whales here Percy?" Poseidon asked as if speaking to a child as he pushed Percy forward to check out.
"I didn't see anything," Percy replied in the same indulgent tone.
"Your total is one hundred thirty-four dollars and forty-five cents," the cashier cheerfully interrupted.
"Jeez, what'd you do buy the whole store?" Percy asked incredulously over the sound of a register dinging and the rustle of bags.
"Well the dolphin was forty-five," Poseidon mused and a second later said stuffed animal was being pressed against his chest.
Percy grabbed the toy in surprise as Poseidon thanked the cashier.
"You bought the dolphin?" Percy's brow furrowed in confusion as the soft fur tickled his chin, "why?"
"Well, the dolphins here are common, Arabian common dolphins to be exact, and that there is a bottlenose dolphin. Absolutely ridiculous, why didn't they have a toy for what they actually have in the aquarium? Also," here Poseidon's voice dropped a little, his hand tightening on Percy's shoulder, "I thought it would look nice in your room. It's rather barren."
Percy played with the tag on the dolphin, head angled towards the ground, "Dad, I'm thirteen."
"Well if you don't want it I could always take it back – "
Percy's grip on the dolphin tightened, "What, no! I mean, you already bought it."
"Yes I did," Poseidon agreed, tussling his hair. "Hold on, let me get the door."
The Miami sun felt unusually hot on his face, and the humidity of the air did nothing for his still-wet hair as Poseidon led the way to their rental car.
"I liked it," Percy declared. "It was a nice aquarium."
Poseidon 'hmphed' but Percy cut him off before he could say anything else;
"But ours is still way better."
A/n Virtual cookies to anyone who realizes the reference for the dolphin's name. I messed with continuity here which nobody probably would have noticed if I hadn't pointed it out, but my obsessive self had too; in FAtD they go to Seaquarium after they visit Lilaea. I flipped it here because it just worked out better. I don't think it's all that big of a deal. If you've actually been to the Seaquarium I stalked their webpage and then proceeded to make things up so I apologize if it's not a faithful likeness. Also, I know swimming with dolphins is a controversial topic, but honestly, I don't know much about it and the Seaquarium, for all I can tell, is on the up and up. But who knows. Also2.0, this is a dialogue heavy chapter, which usually doesn't happen in Percy POV.
Once again I thank you for your patience. You're all amazing and I love each and every one of you. Please let me know what you thought and I hope you enjoyed ~ *
(PS Hermit, I'm buying the book)
