A/N: I own nothing but the plot. Enjoy!

The next couple of days were the most peaceful in Percy's life. He hadn't realized how unaccustomed he was to a life outside of the battlefield where he needed to watch out for his life every moment.

It was a simple life living in the cottage. In the process, he learned more about Annabeth and her likes and dislikes. In passing conversation, she revealed that she had lived here for almost a decade and was twenty-six years of age, just a year younger than him. She had lived with another witch as her mentor before her mentor sadly passed away. Annabeth liked research and experimenting with new medicines, disliked washing dishes, and had a fear of the dark and spiders.

He had accidentally found out about this fear in the night. The cottage was small with just three rooms: a bedroom, the kitchen/dining room, and a bathroom, so it occurred to Percy that there was only one bed, and he had been occupying it ever since he was unconscious.

Percy had gotten up in the middle of the night with a small fever and headed towards the kitchen for a drink of water. But the kitchen was well-lit with candles while Annabeth slept curled up underneath a blanket on the couch.

She was mumbling something as her eyebrows were furrowed. Because of the candles, he could tell that she was having a nightmare as she frowned.

"Annabeth?"

Percy carefully woke her up by gently tapping her shoulder. Though he had seen that Annabeth was not affected by his uncontrollable ability, he felt he still had to be cautious.

"W-what?"

With a start, Annabeth opened her eyes.

"Are you all right? I think you were having a nightmare," Percy said.

Their movements and hushed words woke Mrs. O' Leary, who stretched before padding over to the couch inquisitively.

"Oh, a nightmare…"

Annabeth's eyes were still a little dazed, but she pulled herself up. In the end, Annabeth rose up to get them both cups of water and concoct a fever reducing medicine for Percy.

"Eeek!"

Percy almost threw out his ice magic as he thought that someone had broke into the cottage. But Annabeth was backing away from the cupboard and pointing upwards to the corner of the cottage, shaking in fear.

A black streak shot towards where Annabeth had pointed. Mrs. O' Leary pounced on something before running out. Percy caught a glimpse of something in the cat's mouth. Something wriggling and with tiny, long legs protruded out of the cat's mouth. It was some sort of spider. Percy had seen some out in the gardens earlier. Out here in the middle of the woods, no doubt there would be many spiders venturing.

Annabeth gasped out and kneeled down. Percy quickly went to help her up.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded, brushing some stray strands of hair out of her face. The witch took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

"Yeah," she sighed. "It's just spiders." Annabeth shuddered. "I just don't like them."

Percy wasn't sure how to comfort her and ended up awkwardly patting her shoulder. He looked around at the small but cozy kitchen for other spiders and noted the candles as well as the couch where Annabeth had been sleeping on.

"I don't like the dark either," Annabeth said simply at Percy's questioning glance.

Her tone made it obvious that she didn't like to talk about the reason why, and Percy wasn't inconsiderate enough to push more on the topic. Who didn't have a few demons here and there?

When Percy realized that he was occupying the only bed in the cottage, he insisted that Annabeth take the bed back, but she refuted, saying that he was still a patient and a guest. Besides, with his height, he certainly would be even more uncomfortable than Annabeth felt sleeping on the couch. That could hinder the healing process. So Annabeth bundled Percy into the bedroom and firmly shut the door behind her.

It only made Percy's resolve to get healed faster. Every morning he would get up and practice his swordsmanship much to Annabeth's chagrin that his wounds would be opened again. Some routines he could not just shake. But at Annabeth's insistence, Percy kept the practices shorter and lighter than usual as a compromise.

Often, they chatted about various topics, such as the different ways mages and witches use mana and favorite foods, though Percy noted both of them only lightly touched about their childhoods and family. What Percy was most curious about was why Annabeth was not affected by his touch. Both perused through the books Annabeth's mentor had left behind in the cottage, but had yet to come up with an answer.

She remained the only breathing thing that he could touch without freezing, as evidenced when he once tried to catch a chicken for her. The hapless chicken squawked in fear as frost spread from Percy's palms as soon as he touched its feathers. Annabeth sent Percy to do some weeding tasks after that, leaving the chicken to cluck sadly while the sun melted the ice.

Percy realized how refreshing it was to have a companion who wasn't afraid of him as most people were. He wasn't a chatty person by nature, but Annabeth's straightforward disposition dispelled any awkwardness. Perhaps it was because he sensed there was a loneliness inside the witch that was similar to his.

Often, Percy would help Annabeth sort out herbs and stew common medicine. Apparently, the village on the borders of the Forest relied on Annabeth's effective medicine.

"Do you want to come with me to the village?" Annabeth offered.

Percy considered. He could perhaps gain some information about Octavian's whereabouts while he planned his next move.

"All right. And thank you." Percy smiled.

"Oh," Annabeth said.

She blinked. His smile seemed to lift up his entire face so much that she almost forgot to breathe. Not to mention, it was the first time that she had seen him actually smile, the outer corners of his green eyes crinkling along. Percy had been stoic but polite throughout the days he had been here. The man didn't even flinch whenever stinging medicine was placed onto his wounds.

"Are you all right?" Percy asked with concern.

"Oh no, i-it's nothing. You shouldn't smile so suddenly like that," she muttered quietly.

The corner of Percy's lips went back down.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean that you shouldn't smile! Just that, give me a warning next time." Annabeth scrambled to make sense of her words.

Percy cocked his head to the side, confused at what she was saying.

"Do I look scary when I smile?"

He looked quite crestfallen, and Annabeth could have sworn that she saw puppy ears droop behind his head.

"Not at all! Rather, your smile is quite captivating." Annabeth admitted.

"Captivating? This is the first time I've ever heard anyone call me that."

"Really?" Now it was Annabeth's turn to be confused. "I would have thought many women would have given such compliments to you."

"People...didn't really like to be around me," he admitted. "Since my ice ability deterred many people."

"Ah, right. Well, regardless, you should smile more often." Annabeth said, truthfully. "I think it's pretty. Should the other people look past and gotten to know you, they would realize you're a good person."

Percy had told her she was the only person who could touch him without being affected by his ice ability. Annabeth was still curious about why but had no answers for now.

"You don't know that," he warned.

"I do," she refuted. "I'm quite adept at detecting whether someone is a good person or not. Now, that's enough sorting of the herbs. Go and take a bath."

Annabeth sent him to take a medicinal bath to heal his injuries. For the past several days, she had only allowed him to wipe himself down for fear that bathwater going into his wounds would cause them to fester. She wouldn't admit it, but he was smelling like he was doused with earthy medicine. After twenty minutes, Annabeth knocked on the bathroom door.

"Percy, don't stay in the bath too long. The medicine can be damaging to your mana if you bathe in it past the time allotted."

Annabeth waited for a while for a reply but she couldn't hear any sounds, much less the sloshing of water.

"Percy?" She called out, worried.

She knocked harder, yet no reply or sound was made. He hadn't fainted or fallen asleep, had he? Percy rarely complained, so it was possible that he had been holding his pain in. If he had collapsed in the water, then it was possible he was submerged and couldn't breathe. Could water mages even drown?

Annabeth bit her bottom lip, wondering what to do as a multitude of panicky possibilities flew in her mind.

"I'm coming in!"

She knocked harder a few times more just in case, then pushed the door open, expecting to see Percy fallen in the wooden bathtub. What she did not expect to see was Percy standing up straight in the bathtub.

"Oh my!"

Annabeth covered her eyes with her hands.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't see anything!"

She fled out of the bathroom, quickly shutting the door behind her. Yes, she had most definitely not seen the way how the water had dripped from his black hair to his muscular torso. Nor had she seen the water rivulets trickle down much lower to beneath his pelvis where…

Annabeth slapped her cheeks a couple times, trying to get the blush out of her face.

Mrs. O' Leary meowed, shaking her head, as she saw the witch's cheeks redden even more.

Truth to be told, Percy hadn't heard the knocks or Annabeth's calls since he had been meditating in the bath to recirculate the mana in his body to help combat the poison. To him, it was a miracle that Annabeth had found a way to get the poison out of his body without concocting an antidote.

When he had finally heard Annabeth's call, he had stood up and meant to reply to her when the witch dashed in frantically in a worry. Her grey eyes widened, looked down from his startled face towards his torso and instantly blushed before running from the bathroom.

"..."

Percy got a glimpse of himself in the mirror where a slight pink began dusting his cheeks.

A/N: Honestly, news here in the US have been bumming me out. Almost like clockwork, I hear of a new attack on the Asian community. I can't help but worry for my family and for my own safety, you know? There have already been prominent attacks in my city. Although they have been on the elderly community who generally cannot defend themselves (which really shows how cowardly these assailants are), there's no telling who might be targeted next. I've already been stalked, harassed on public transportation, cat-called, and yet I feel like I'm lucky compared to how much other people have been harassed and attacked. How much more can we all endure? I'm getting real tired of all this shit. I know the world is suffering pandemic burnout, but it's no excuse to attack a certain race, and it never has been. I dream of a world where we can all get along together, where systemic racism doesn't exist, where my children can grow up safe and happy along with other children of different cultures. But is that dream realistic?

Anyways, pardon me for my frustration. It's been difficult, and it's something I try not to let leak too much in my writings. So to distract myself from current news, I had a little extra time today, so even if it isn't Sunday, surprise Thursday update! See you all this Sunday. Stay safe my lovelies, and sending virtual hugs to you all.