A one-shot inspired by a new year's dream three years ago.

3 AM and the rain is falling …

Percy inhaled a deep breath of sea air, savoring the rich, heady scent of nature. A flash of light seared its way through his closed eyelids, and the boom of a firework resounded out before hollowing in the frigid night. The demigod leaned forward with a slow sigh, towards the sea from his perched seat on the starboard ship railing. One sneaker-covered foot, at least, sat locked behind the lower tier of rails, keeping him from going overboard; the other foot (clad only in a black, cold, and dry sock) toed the whistling wind.

Tempting as the depths of the harbor were, Percy refrained from jumping in. With another detonation of light (green this time), in time with the slow lulling of the boat, he turned and slipped through the rail bars back onto the deck with nary a sound. His mind wandered, and his feet led him once around the moderately sized vessel and a few turns further before he found himself outside the main cabin. Where he'd been earlier, really. Another smattering of lights burst behind him, casting his shadow before him in blue - then orange - then red.

And there he hesitated, contemplating the wheel locked door in front of him. Oh, how would things go? With a ginger push, the demigod entered the dimly lit room. "Still here, Art?"

The giggle that tickled Percy's hearing in response warmed his soul vastly more than the insulated cabin atmosphere warmed his body. "And just where else would I be, silly?"

"Certainly not outside," Percy retorted, kicking off his shoe and peeling off his socks. With a single bounding step and twist, he slid his butt onto the bed that featured so centrally in the cabin. "I looked, but the clouds were too thick …"

The woman that resided within the fluffy heaven of pillows and blankets shifted to look up at him directly. Percy's breath hitched for a moment when she captured his eyes with her own startling silver eyes irises. The movement redistributed the areas of comfort on the mattress, and Percy took the moment of both of them readjusting minutely to move his attention towards admiring the swells of her right side. He smiled softly as he reached out to caress the skin of her exposed upper arm. She felt smoother than the silk that she lay on.

He moved his hand back to where it had begun its drifting, and traced along the silvery crescent tattoo that adorned - no, complemented - actually, no, accentuated her pale skin. "But I did find you right here, I suppose."

"Ah, yes. Back from nothing. Beginning again, and all that jazz," she mused in assent, before pulling away from his touch. The edges of her mouth tugged downwards as his wandering hand followed.

"Let me, please?" Percy pleaded. Too lazy to stretch his body further, he began playing with the woman's bed-messy cherry-red hair. "I've missed seeing you."

"Your hand is cold," she pouted, but returned nonetheless to let him continue his ministrations.

He'd only had a moment more to stroke her side (moving down to her blanket covered waist) before she brushed his hand off and scooted closer, forcing him to stand up or slip off the bed.

"If you're going to do this, join me properly," she ordered, rising from her mostly supine position. Forcibly turning Percy around, she wrapped around his back to begin undoing the bottom buttons of his black dress shirt.

The Son of the Sea grinned as he felt her nuzzle his back with her cheek, and mirroring her actions with his shirt buttons, top down. When their hands met, done with their work, he let her pull his arms around to his back, where she seized the cuffs of his shirt and yanked it off.

He turned around, eager to join her on the bed, only to find her with the covers kept tightly wrapped over herself. "Pants and socks, off."

And then they were gone, and she scooted back and raised the blanket to let him underneath the sheets. He climbed in, and she budged about at his side for only a second before leaving that area of the bed entirely in order to lie on top of him.

Silver and sea-green locked without a sound, and the rasps of the shifting sheets were accompanied by only the pattering rain, the lapping waves, and the muted fireworks. Still deeply absorbed in whatever he saw, Percy lifted his head slightly to let her arms slip their way past to cradle him, while his hands found their way around her waist to wrap around her in return. Their legs, at first her around him, became him around her, and then became an entangled mess of which the only intention was to maximize bare skin to skin contact. And her oh so soft breasts rubbed against his front, with the heartbeat right above that only the cotton of her shirt apart from his own heartbeat.

And that lasted for, he could not tell if seconds or minutes or hours, until she began to recite a mantra into his chest. For a while, Percy just enjoyed the warmth of her breath on his bare skin ... until curiosity got the better of him.

"What are you saying?" he rumbled when she finally stopped.

"A prayer of thanks." She peered up at him and smiled. "That even if not from our own culture's, is heartfelt enough that I found myself in the mood to speak it."

"Oh? I have something of my own that I think would be appropriate for the moment," said Percy.

"Really?" The weight of her head changed sides as he rose slightly to collect his thoughts. He stared across the room to front of the cabin, and through the window there, watched tiny fireworks flower from far beyond the listing bow of the ship.

"A poem I say it every time I first see you again," admitted Percy. "But … but … I'm having a little trouble remembering how it starts right now. I can remember the middle stanzas, like here is the deepest secret, but not the beginning … ugh."

She hummed into his chest, settling in once more. "I'll wait until you do."

And try as he did, he couldn't. He closed his eyes, brow furrowed in thought until … yes. "Art?"

He shifted his fingers, feeling the tee he wore. "Art?"

Eyes still shut tight, Percy slowly but frantically shifted his legs and tightened his arms, but felt only the blanket around him. And when he realized why, all he could do was but try to keep the tears from appearing at his eyes.

And quickly, before all of what he remembered had happened left him, he recited the poem he'd memorized just for her.

"I … I carry your heart with me. I carry it in my heart. I am never without it … anywhere I go, you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling. I fear no fate, for you are my fate, my sweet; I want no world, for beautiful you are my world, my true. And it's you are whatever a moon has always meant, and whatever a sun will sing is always you. Here is the deepest secret that - that nobody knows. Here is the root of the root and the bud of thebudandtheskyoftheskyofatreecalled, called … life, which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide. And this … this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart."

Percy took a deep, shuddering breath. "I … I carry your heart."

And he opened his eyes to find himself facing a series of bunk beds, and wrapped in sheets, and wrapped around nothing but the lost love in his dreams.

"I carry it in my heart."

A/N: I thought up of the name for this fic this new years (so it's also set at that time, loosely). It's a bit familiar from the famous line from Blade Runner, but in this case it feels … more optimistic than the other example. Still futile, but optimistic. And the actual event of the story is based off of my own dream, just a few days ago.

Because there's nothing like heartbreak to inspire.

the original poem

[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in] by ee cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Posted 1/11/2017