When Apollo heard his son Will's prayer, he raised his eyebrows. There was so much exasperation and desperation in his voice. And his request was completely out of the ordinary. From his four thousand years, he had received some strange prayers, but "Please talk with Percy he refuses to sleep that idiot and he is wasting away and nothing is working and he is not talking to anyone and he stays in his bungalow all day, and if he misses another meal this fool he would take him by - "

O —kay.

So intrigued (and no it was not because the son of the god of the sea was adorable with his doe eyes and his cheeks that blush at the slightest compliment, and even less for thoses smiles so bright that he lacked eclipsing his own chariot, or even less because of his heart failing to come out of his chest when he laughed) he appeared directly in bungalow 3.

His jaw dropped at the sight in front of him.

All around him were pieces of broken furniture. The fountain was chipped in one corner, as if he had gripped so hard he left a mark on it. Apollo slowly approached the bed, being careful not to step on the broken shards of glass. He would heal in a second, but having a piece of glass in his foot was not pleasant at all.

He got to the foot of the bed, and could see the extent of the damage. Percy had his eyes closed, and moaned in his sleep, his dreams chasing him. His skin, usually tanned from hours of sunbathing (or sun-kissed ?), had turned pale and sick. His clothes were wrinkled, and damp from the sweat. Her hair was sticky, and instinctively, Apollo approached his hand, and gently brushed the demigod's hair from his face.

Percy moaned louder at the touch, shivering, muttering incoherent words, words tinged with fear, despair. He fidgeted a little more, clenching his right fist, an imaginary sword in hand.

" Shhh, Percy, calm down," the god whispered.

His heart ached to see him in this state. And his head reproached him for not having seen anything before. Apollo had gotten into the habit of trying to think of the young man as much as possible. He avoided going to the places he went, he didn't try to contact him like some gods did. He was afraid that a tragedy would take Percy away from him, and he would rather know that he was alive and far from him, than dead because of his bad luck in love.

So he hadn't noticed his decline, and blamed himself for it.

He sat down next to the demigod, and began to stroke his hair, cheek, jaw… Gradually, Percy woke up. He blinked, a small smile on his lips. The warm thing stroking his face felt nice against his skin. It seemed to be chasing the nightmare that haunted him.

Apollo smiled when the demigod's gaze focused on him, continuing his caresses.

"Apollo…?"

"Hey, Percy. Will told me you weren't taking care of yourself lately."

Percy blushed and looked away, but didn't try to shy away from the god's touch, which the god considered a victory.

"Only a few nightmares. No need to worry," he minimized, making the god snort.

"Percy… Of course I'm worried. This kind of behavior is not healthy. And I'm the god of healing. And I care about you."

He finally put his hand against Percy's cheek, and left it there, gently stroking his cheekbone with his thumb. Percy was bathing in the heat that escaped from the god. He closed his eyes, and rubbed his face against that pleasant hand.

"I'm sure you have more important things to do, so what are you doing here?"

He hadn't opened his eyes, but felt the moment Apollo froze.

"I just answered my son's prayer," he finally answered.

But his hand didn't leave his face, which made Percy smile.

"Wouldn't it be a little unnatural for the God of Truth to lie?" he teased him.

Even though Percy was laughing at him, Apollo was happy to see some color come back on the demigod's cheeks.

"I'm not lying!" he protested vainly

The demigod just laughed a little more.

"But you're not telling the whole truth either."

Apollo was silent, before sighing. He really couldn't hide anything from Percy. It was both frustrating and fun.

"Have a good laugh. Me who came to help you, is that how you thank me?" he breathed.

Percy was laughing lightly, and even though the sound sounded rusty, as if his throat wasn't used to making that sound anymore, Apollo found him charming, and found himself staring at him, a tender look on his face. He yawned, and Apollo busted him.

"Go back to sleep, Percy. You need it."

"What? No ! My nightmares…"

"Won't come while I'm here. I am the god of light, I push back the darkness. As long as I'm here, Morpheus won't dare to torment you. He won't want to make me angry. And hurting you is tantamount to angering me," he finally confessed.

"Hurting me?"

Percy opened one eye, and smiled at the soft gaze the god was giving him. He was not stupid, he knows how to recognize the signs when he sees them. He might not be trying anything with the god right now - he was far too broken for that - but maybe one day...

Apollo smiled and Percy closed his eyes, moving slightly to rest his head. on the knees of the god.

"Stay with me ?"

"Until the end of eternity."

He fell asleep again, calmer and happier than he had been an hour earlier. Apollo let him sleep. He would have plenty of time to convince him to take a shower and have a bite to eat when he got some rest.

He leaned down and placed a light kiss on his parted lips.

Yes, he would have all the time later.