The Sound of Moonlight
I'm doing this for a Discord challenge. The Pertemis Discord to be more specific. The challenge: Artemis finds love. I'm not gonna spoil it so just read. Credit to Parallaxyt for the second flashback idea. Go read his shit(ty stories haha lmfao get fucked)(jk dont hurt me i'm srry).
The Sound of Moonlight
Percy tapped his foot impatiently in the waiting room of the clinic. His nervousness and impatience got the better of his bodily functions as he couldn't stop himself from turning his head side to side looking around the room. The posters of the clinic were suddenly the most interesting thing in the world.
His wife Artemis was in the room with the doctor and her brother, who coincidentally was also a doctor and so wanted to be there. In fact, he was her twin brother, so it made even more sense for him to be there.
The day had been a long one. Too long for Percy's liking. He had bags under his eyes to show it, having not really gotten any sleep the night before aside from a quick snooze in the waiting room of the hospital. He couldn't go home, not while Artemis was getting the operation. What if something went wrong and he couldn't be there?
That was a grim thought, yeah, but at the time he'd rather have been safe than sorry. The others had gone home to sleep though since they all knew Artemis would be out for hours anyway. Percy couldn't bear to take the chance. He had to be there for his wife, even if she wasn't conscious to know that.
As he sat in the waiting room Percy found himself reminiscing on just how he had met Artemis only a few years ago.
Percy always was a fit guy. While he excelled at swimming, he was still great at running and hiking, and while his strength wasn't anywhere near someone like the Mountain he was still pretty good for his size. Definitely would be categorized as a middleweight in combat sports though.
As such, he often partook in a lot of physically demanding things in his spare time such as swimming tournaments and long walks. One of those walks, one that he personally loved, was the mountain trail just on the edge of his town. The trail wasn't based in his city, in fact it ran through a few. It just happened to have a few exits off to his home city since there were hotels and restaurants there.
One day Percy was just doing his normal thing, going for a light jog down the trail late in the afternoon. He was by himself as usual, and met virtually no one the entire run. That was, however, until he could eventually see someone in the distance as he turned another corner.
What he could see though was that it was not a hulking man or a serial killer, but a small young woman, a bit shorter than him, walking peacefully in the late afternoon enjoying nature. Well, he didn't want to disturb her but he also didn't want to have to slow down to her speed.
He decided to jog faster than normal and just pretend that was his usual speed, seeking to pass her a bit. He approached closer and closer and yet the person didn't even turn to look or move to give way to the runner loudly coming.
Percy finally passed her, and out of curiosity he took a quick glance back. What he saw made him lose focus of the world. It wasn't some ghost girl you'd find walking alone down a road in the middle of nowhere, or actually a dude and Percy was a bit of a jackass, but rather it was perhaps the prettiest woman he could remember ever seeing.
She was slim, he knew that before he saw her face, as well as that she had auburn hair put into a braid that sat on her right shoulder. Her skin was white but not pale, just that she probably didn't go to the beach as often as she went on this trail. Her face was naturally soft but held stoically, and Percy kinda liked that. What really caught him though were her eyes. Large and doe-like, with bright silver orbs locked onto his sea-green ones. Those eyes were indifferent to him when he went past, now they were suspicious, calculating why he had been staring at her for five seconds.
Percy felt the steadiness of the ground below him not be like that anymore as he took another stride and his left foot found that the ground was further away than normal. "Shi-" He gasped, turning back to face forward only to find that there had been a slight turn and he had almost run off the track and fallen down a hill.
When he steadied himself again he looked back at the girl, only to find her smirking at him, either finding his near-fall funny or as satisfaction. Well, it was kinda weird for him to stare at her for so long.
Percy tried to play it off, laughing. "Yikes. Should probably pay attention next time, huh?" He joked, looking back down the hill. He didn't receive an answer, and when he looked back she had turned the corner and just had her head turned in his direction, watching what he was doing next.
Percy actually debated what to do next. He didn't know if he was going to run past her and continue like he should or run up next to her and chat. She was hella cute. Going with option B, he jogged up lightly to her side and asked for permission. "Mind if I walk with you?" He asked casually, not wanting to just silently walk up behind her and scare her.
Unfortunately, that's not how Fate was feeling that day, as the girl didn't answer for a full ten seconds. Her answer eventually came, but it didn't really adhere to the whole yes or no aspect of his question.
The girl turned her head a bit and seemed to notice him. She jolted back, shocking Percy, and both stood wide-eyed staring at each other as he'd just given the girl a heart attack. Before he could defuse the situation, the lady reached into her pocket and whipped out a switchblade. The move was so fast that Percy didn't really process it for a second, so if she moved in for the kill he would have been a goner.
She didn't though, and instead stood in a defensive pose with the switchblade ready, glaring heatedly at him. He held up his hands defensively too, trying to calm her down. "Woah, woah, lady. Easy. I'm not trying to hurt you." He assured her.
Well, tried to assure her anyway. In the blink of an eye, the girl turned and sprinted off, faster than Percy could even consider running. As she disappeared down the track and out of sight, Percy sighed to himself. Cool. Trying to pick up and the girl thinks he's a serial killer. Maybe he should've approached her more casually rather than walking up behind her like a creep.
Percy had a part-time job at a coffee shop, one of those ones that gave out free internet so you could sit there and write books or something while paying the bare minimum for free wifi. He didn't even really like coffee that much, it was too bitter for his taste.
It was an evening shift, roughly 8, so the coffee shop was full mostly with college students needing to finish assignments last minute. In fact, as Percy looked out from the counter, that was all he could see.
He was working with only one other coworker on duty - Piper. She was cool. Cute, but not really Percy's type. Percy hated dealing with all the millenials that rushed in already moody since they had 4 hours to finish an entire assessment they procrastinated on. Unfortunately for him, Piper was in the back when the door opened, signalling they had another customer.
Percy was at the counter before the person even got there, which obviously wasn't impressive considering it was like 5 feet, but he was in a bitch mood thanks to the atmosphere these customers had brought.
Percy hadn't even looked up before grabbing the notepad and pen, not really expecting a polite and chatty consumer. What he got instead was… well, not either of those things, but it was still an interesting sight. Auburn hair, light skin, cute but harsh face, she was very pretty.
Hey, wait a minute… Percy's brain chugged. Of course, it clicked, and he clicked his tongue and tapped his pen. "Woah. Déjà vu." He mused, staring her dead in the eye.
The girl did not have the same reaction. In fact, when she saw him her eyes widened. It was really awkward. This girl still had this perception that he had intended to murder her those weeks before, and now she was face to face with him in a public place and she didn't know what to do. Besides, it was a public place, he couldn't try anything here.
Oh, Percy was gonna try something, alright.
"So, uh… you want some coffee?" He laughed, and the girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. She slid it towards him and Percy took a peek. 2 Lattes. Okay... With no real idea why she had to write it down instead of just talking like a normal person, Percy shrugged it off and picked up two cups.
He turned back. "Can I get a name?" The teen flashed his signature grin, but he found the girl had already whirled around and was heading towards a table. "Miss?" He called, but she flat out ignored him and moved to sit by the window. Percy sighed and looked down at the money she'd left on the counter. She'd give two bucks too much. "Uh, ma'am?" He asked more politely, intending to return her change, but once again she didn't even bother turning her head to look at him.
Percy silently made the two Lattes. Once they were done and had the lids on, he taped the receipt to one of them, taped the two bucks to the other and wrote on the other side with a pen. Can u pause ur music and stop ignoring me, please? I wanna ask for ur number. Yes, kinda flat and kinda rude but charm and niceties hadn't worked. He hadn't ever seen her left ear so he assumed she must have airpods in or something.
He brought the coffees out to the counter. "Miss? Your drinks." He called, pointing to the two cups. She didn't even acknowledge him. Of course. What did he expect?
She was on her phone, probably blasting music, so he couldn't exactly wave to get her attention. As such, Percy was forced to pick up the cups and manual labor his ass over to her table. He set the cups down and was about to start talking and ask her out. Instead, she looked at the cups and nodded, before picking them up and leaving, cutting Percy off mid-sentence.
As she left and began to walk down the street in the drizzle, Percy stood in astonishment for a second before doing some sort of offensive gesture with both his arms and his back. "Who put you on the planet?" He muttered under his breath at the insanely rude girl before returning to the counter to resume his duties.
Piper had come out from the backroom by this point and was just on her phone snapping people. Percy, seeing he had literally nothing to do, also took out his phone, and the two teens stood like an old man's nightmare, staring at their phones instead of doing work.
"What's up with you?" Piper asked, looking up at her friend and coworker, noticing his sullen and frustrated posture.
Percy shrugged it off. "I hate our customers." He said not at all quietly, looking up to stare at each and every one of the assholes in the shop. Only half of them were actually doing work, he bet. The rest were probably browsing Reddit or something, they gave off that vibe. None of them heard him anyway.
Piper smirked, looking back at her phone. "Same." She said, opening her boyfriend Jason's chat and sending him a picture of her and Percy, though the latter had no idea he had just had his photo taken.
Just then the door slammed open. A few customers looked up, and both Percy and Piper's heads snapped to face the entry. The girl from before was back, looking hella annoyed. She marched up to the counter and glared at Percy, who gulped.
The girl flipped her braid back so both ears were visible, and Percy didn't get it. She pointed to the ear that was previously covered, but there was nothing there. Percy once again shrugged. "I'm not following."
The girl huffed through her nostrils, and did some weird gesture thing while pointing at her ear. Piper raised an eyebrow, and Percy's eyes narrowed. "Um, just talk please, Dr Strange." He said, her attitude kinda turning him off. Piper's eyes widened now, as she realised what he didn't, and what he just said.
The girl was gobsmacked, her mouth open in shock. They were all frozen for a bit before the girl's face hardened with a hint of anger. She looked down and saw his notepad and pen, quickly snatching it from the counter and scribbling something down. When she was done, she threw it down on the counter, grabbed her coffees and left.
As she shut the door and left once again, Percy and Piper both looked down at the notepad and read the message.
I'm deaf, you fucking prick.
6381639290
Percy stared at the phone number, then looking between the closed door and Piper, who was trying not to laugh. She was deaf. That explained a lot. He was a prick.
What the fuck was he supposed to do with a deaf person's phone number?
It turns out texting was a thing.
After attempting to call multiple times that night, he slapped himself as he reminded himself this person was deaf and they probably couldn't hear the ringtone, let alone hear him speak if they picked it up. He hoped to God it wasn't a fake number, and then remembered about texting, so he shot her some.
Hey
I know that whole thing was awkward
I thought u were just ignorin me
Sorry
Whats ur name?
While he was playing GTA, he kept looking down at his phone every ten minutes to check for a reply. Sadly, none came, and he chalked it up to a fake number. What did he expect? The girl he had offended because he didn't realise she was deaf had given him her actual phone number? Yeah right.
While he was listening to Cat's in the Cradle on the in-game radio, his phone buzzed next to him, and he actually crashed into the wall after putting down his controller so he could check. It was a text from that number.
Artemis
He smiled. That was her name? That was a cool name. He was about to shoot back a text continuing the conversation when she beat him to point.
Yeah i know
I get that a lot
Happened a lot in high school
But my therapist says i should forgive and forget or something so as much as i want to kill you i'm not allowed to
Percy's smile dimmed. Therapist? Wow, he did not know that about her. Then again, he'd known her name for all of about three seconds. Rather, he wouldn't have inferred that she had a therapist just by looking at her. He chucked a text back at her.
So whyd u give me ur number if u wanna kill me
He was genuinely curious, wondering if she liked him or was having her hacker friend track his phone right now. Artemis texted back.
Like I said, gotta forgive and that. Part of my programme to try be friends with all the people who piss me off like that
So listen
I really got to ask
What the fuck were you doing on that trail
Cause i thought you were gonna kill me
Percy was taken aback by the question, but not really surprised. The switchblade definitely signalled that she thought of him as a threat, that much was obvious. He cleared his throat even though he was speaking aloud, and began to type.
Yeah i got those vibes from u
Wasnt tryna creep
Asked if i could walk w u
Kinda didn't realise u were deaf
So like u just randomly pulled a knife on me from my pov
Thought u were cute
Lmfao
Percy mentally facepalmed at that. He'd had no idea what to say after telling her she was cute, so he fucking laughed? Smooth. Artemis didn't reply for a while, but eventually came back.
Srry roommate stole my phone
Uh thanks
Whats ur name?
Percy didn't hesitate to reply saying Percy. Artemis took another thirty seconds to text back.
K got that down in contacts.
You in college?
Percy looked down at his blue hoodie that had the logo of their college on it, as well as his position on the swimming team.
Yep. Doin Marine Biology. U?
Artemis texted back quickly, allowing him less than ten seconds to get some peace and quiet from her. Well, in reality he was ecstatic that the cute girl was talking to him.
Zoology
Percy tilted his head when he read that. So they were both studying animals, just of different kinds perhaps.
I didn't know deaf people could be zookeepers, no offence
Artemis had paused for a moment, making Percy cringe as he thought he'd pissed her off again and she was gonna block him. He was wholeheartedly surprised when she texted again.
Some lady in the UK did it so now you can it's just harder
Besides
The monkey cage'd be a lot more bearable lol
Percy couldn't tell if that was the first joke she'd ever cracked in front of him. He wasn't 100% on whether or not the murder thing was a joke or if she really wanted go kill him.
Good for you
Breaking the chain
Deaf people are just as capable as normal people
Percy had no idea how shit he was at not offending deaf people. He was kinda tone-deaf over text. Get it?
I'm deaf not disabled
Percy nodded with a grin when he read that.
That's the spirit!
Artemis didn't reply for a while after that, and Percy had no idea that in her apartment a couple blocks away she had put her phone down and was rubbing her face in frustration. She then picked up her phone again and replied.
Sure
Wyd
Artemis was not a master at conversation. She knew that, and everyone who had ever talked to her knew that. Percy raised an eyebrow but answered.
Just crashed in gta bc of u
Wbu
Artemus looked around the living room of her apartment. Her roommate Zoe was locked up trying to grind out some assignments, which is why Artemis had needed to get the Lattes in the first place.
Sitting on the couch with an empty coffee cup next to me
Roommate needed caffeine for her schoolwork
Tvs got a movie on
Other than that nothin
She had to say this whole making friends business was going extraordinarily well for her. She never usually made it past the 'as much as I want to kill you' part. Percy was a quick typer.
Ah
Yknow
That sounds kinda boring
But yknow what wouldnt be boring?
You, me, dinner
Artemis raised an eyebrow while Percy crossed his fingers. She looked at the clock and then replied.
Its like 9pm
Percy shrugged in real life even though no one was there to see it. Then he replied, deciding not to sugarcoat it. He'd learned that basic charm did not compute with this girl very well.
Mhm
McDonald's or Burger King or something will be open
Promise i aint a murderer
Artemis paused for a second considering this. On one hand, she had thought when she met him that she was going to die. On the other hand, he was the only one of these programme friends she talked to for more than three lines of text. Plus he said he wasn't a murderer...
Ok sure
I got nothing better to do
BK
Percy grinned as though she had just fallen into his trap and he was an actual serial killer.
Aight
Yknow the one on the corner of Tanning and Harrison?
Artemis remembered for a second. Though she was a master at conversation, she was shit at street names. She thought she knew where it was, and so replied.
Yes
The reply was almost instant.
See you there in 30
Percy had obviously put down his phone after that and jumped up to get himself ready for his first date with this hella cute girl at a Burger King. Artemis pulled herself up and walked into her room towards her closet. A blank tank top and yoga pants weren't very fitting for a NYC night. She didn't try with her outfit though, just a dark green hoodie with a black paw print logo on it from her volunteer work at the zoo and some blue skinny jeans as usual. It's not like this was a date or anything.
It was 100% a date, she just didn't realise until the end.
Artemis had shown up to the Burger King to find only one other customer there eating on the far side. Hands in her pockets, she walked over to the napkin table and took one, before pulling out a pen. The guy at the register stared at her in confusion as she kept glancing up at the menu and then writing stuff down in blue ink on the napkin. Artemis always carried a pen with her since obviously not many people knew sign language.
She wrote down what she wanted and then walked up to the counter and handed it to him. She had done the maths on the other side of the napkin in order to figure out how much money she needed so while he was reading and entering it into the register she pulled the cash out from her wallet and laid it down.
The guy, still giving a weird look, handed her the receipt with her order number on it and she went to sit down at the table by the door next to the window. As she sat waiting she stared out the window, glancing back every minute or so to check if her food was ready. It was raining way more heavily now, as she'd discovered when walking there and as was visible by the soaked nature of her clothes.
If he flaked on her she was gonna track his number and kill him. Stupid therapist and her stupid ideas. As she was thinking that a car pulled into the empty lot outside the Burger King and out stepped a man with a raincoat on. He jogged to the front door and opened it, immediately spotting her after scanning the restaurant. Percy smiled and she nodded back. He gestured with his thumb to the counter and she shrugged, gesturing for him to get his.
Percy quickly went up and ordered, paying with his card and getting the receipt before moving swiftly back to sit across from her at the table. He shook the water off his jacket before he got there and rolled up his sleeves, taking the seat and leaning his elbows on the table. "Hey, sorry. Got downstairs of my apartment building and realised it was bucketing down so I had to climb all the way back up to get my raincoat- oh shit, that's right. You're deaf, you can't hear me." He shook his head in frustration after starting off with a grin, but Artemis shook her head too.
She started doing some stuff with her hands that Percy was struggling to comprehend. Eyes narrowed, he shook his head again. "I'm not following. I can't do that stuff." He said, waving his hands slightly.
Artemis sighed and looked down at the table, then across to the drink stand. She saw one of those napkin dispenser things sitting with the straws, lids, cups and rubbish bin. Getting an idea, she got up and hurried over to it, opening the top and grabbing a quarter of them out. Percy raised an eyebrow as she brought hundreds of napkins over to their table.
She took one off the top and began to write on it with her blue pen. When she was done, she rotated it 180 degrees for him to see. I understood you. I can lip read if you move em clear enough and dont mumble.
Percy was surprised to say the least. He went to speak and then remembered to exaggerate his mouth movement slightly as the note told him to. "You can understand me by reading my lips?" He asked, and Artemis nodded. Percy leaned back in his seat. "Cool."
Their food was ready and the guy called out to Percy. It turns out Artemis' had been ready for like 3 minutes but she hadn't noticed because… well, she had been engrossed in talking to Percy. Yeah it was slightly inconvenient what with her having to write down what she said which took extra time, but it was still the most fun she'd had with a stranger in a long time.
Percy took a sip of his milkshake. "So how's the love life of a deaf person?" He asked, moving his lips noticeably so she could understand. Artemis wrote down her answer. Idk. Never had one. She answered truthfully.
Percy was taken aback. "What? You've never dated anyone? But… you don't… you're like… pretty." He asked in astonishment, bringing a small smile to Artemis' face. Not everyday someone calls you pretty. Most guys just described her as 'fiiine' or 'beautiful', none ever just told her she was pretty.
She wrote down her reply. All the guys in high school were jackasses. Never felt like hooking up with anyone. Dating game's hard when youre deaf. Not many people agree to date you. Not that ive tried but friends have tried to set me up. She wrote, not a look of sadness or regret on her face. She was fine.
Percy raised an eyebrow. "Do you ever plan on dating?" He asked, and she shrugged before writing.
Eventually I guess but i aint gonna seek it out. Just figured id save myself for marriage and that one day id just find 'the one'. She was entirely honest in her answer. Her mom and sister and friends had all wanted her to get out into the dating scene but she couldn't be bothered. Let whatever happens happen.
Percy so desperately wanted to ask if he was 'the one', but he couldn't, cause that would be kinda weird and really lame.
The rest of their talk was fun. Artemis genuinely felt as though she had made a new friend for once, something she hadn't done since high school. When it was close to 11 at night and the rain had calmed down a bit, the two decided to call it a night and threw away their rubbish. Percy unrolled his sleeves and zipped up his raincoat, looking out at how it was still spitting quite a bit.
"Might rain a whole lot more. You want a ride home?" He asked, looking at her after remembering his was the only car in the lot. Artemis paused for a second, thinking it over seriously. She could get Zoe to pick her up, but she didn't want to ruin this new friendship by showing she didn't trust him at all. Then again, she kinda did trust him. She only knew Percy for less than 12 hours really but their talks and budding friendship gave her a whole new sense of faith in him. Plus, rain sucked ass without a jacket.
She relented and agreed, and the two rushed out through the rain into Percy's car, where he promptly turned up the heater. As they sat warming up for a second Percy's GPS turned on, and he leaned over and pointed at it, signalling for her to enter her address. Artemis nodded and typed it in, and once directions came up Percy began to drive.
They drove in silence for obvious reasons, and eventually they had arrived at their destination. Artemis saw the light of the building's lobby was still on and unclicked her seatbelt. She looked over and nodded in thanks before opening the door.
She got out and took one last look back at Percy in his car. He smiled and waved, and weirdly she couldn't help but do the same. She shut the door and rushed inside, seeing Percy drive off when she opened the building door.
They hung out a few more times. Then they decided to make it official and those hang-out sessions turned into dates. Artemis found her first ever boyfriend one of the best people she'd ever met. They would be sitting in a Wendy's eating shitty square burgers and they'd discuss their animal encounters doing volunteer work and taking apprenticeships for their studies.
One of Percy's stories involved a penguin knocking him out and nearly breaking his leg by sliding directly into him at the aquarium he worked part-time at for experience and to help pay for college. Then there was the seal who tried to rip his face off in a tank at that same aquarium while a crowd of tourists watched and took videos. Or the time he got stung by a stingray at a beach and almost died. Considering she worked with spiders, snakes, gorillas, chimps, lions, tigers, bears, oh my- she was astonished to find that Percy's job was so much more deadlier than hers. She thought the most dangerous thing a marine biologist could face was a shark but apparently Percy had never had any bad run-ins. Yet.
He even still had scars for a few incidents. She hadn't noticed some faint lighter lines on his face until he pointed them out. They were definitely faint, but hella noticeable once you knew about the seal incident. He also reportedly still had the mark from the stingray assault in his side, but obviously he hadn't shown her because taking off your shirt in a fast food restaurant is not generally allowed.
Artemis had a few bad stories of her own. Early in her training a boa had begun the process of choking her but her trainer quickly unlocked it so she wasn't at harm at any point. While playing with one of the tiger cubs it had scratched her on the cheek, but since it was a baby it was no worse than a cat scratch. That scar was even more faded than Percy's despite being only a few months old. She'd also had to go into animal enclosures quite a few times to retrieve guests phones or whatever the fuck they threw in there, despite the zoos policy of whatever falls in is the animal's property.
The only one she felt really in danger was the polar bear enclosure. They were hella mean. Literally only a select few keepers were even permitted in there, but they were all away that day on a trip to something. The manager on duty that day was the one who did not care about the rule and only about appeasing the customers, so he told her to make it quick and get the phone.
Well one, its a bad idea to run in front of a predator or even make any sudden movements, and two, it's incredibly hard to rush on fucking ice. As such, Artemis had to speed walk across to the phone, and the longer she took, the less time until the bears decided homicide was a valid option. They never actually attacked, but all three were growling by the time Artemis could start rushing back to the door, and for once Artemis was glad she couldn't hear a thing. When she made it back, she saw that two of the bears were mobilised by that point, and if she stayed just a few seconds longer they could have rushed her. Fuck polar bears. She preferred the tigers.
Obviously after she told her trainer, the guy had a stern talking to the acting manager, and she'd never had to go in with the polar bears again. Thank God.
Percy loved that story. He always thought polar bears were so cool. Same with most exotic animals. If he didn't wholeheartedly prefer water and the creatures within it to normal animals, he could've gone into zoology himself.
While they were dating Percy was forced to meet Artemis' loved ones, and all of them made Percy nervous as hell. If Artemis' nature wasn't to be cold and distant, then her nurture definitely was.
Percy climbed up the stairs of the building after putting his phone away and moving from his car to the lobby. His relatively new girlfriend Artemis had just responded to his text saying he had arrived. Just getting changed. Come up n let urself in. Ill be out soon.
She had invited him into her apartment.
Percy had never been into Artemis' apartment before. He'd entered the building a couple times and walked to her apartment but he'd never stepped foot inside. He remembered which room was hers from the last time he'd been there and as such had no trouble finding the place.
He knocked on the door, then slapped himself as he remembered not only had she told him to come in, but she couldn't fucking hear the knocking. Dating a deaf person was annoying sometimes because he kept forgetting she was deaf.
He opened the door and stepped inside. Honestly the room looked like the set of a Friends episode. Wide open space with both a kitchen and a living room together. A small table for two off to one side, a couch and a chair in front of the tv, a big window covered most of one wall that looked out into the New York skyline.
Hands in his pockets, he slowly stepped around while scoping the place. Yeah, no. It just looked like a modern version of the Friends apartment.
There were three doors at the end. One was wide open so he could see that the bathroom was in the middle of that wall. The other two were shut until the one on the right opened and a copper-skinned girl with sweatpants and a blue shirt came out. When she saw him she gasped and choked on her food. While Percy was taken aback she grabbed the doorway and tried to recover. "What the f- Where did you come from?!" She yelled.
The sound of a hair dryer could be heard from the other as Percy's eyes flicked over there. He pulled out his hand and pointed at it. "Artemis told me to let myself in. I'm Percy, by the way." He introduced himself, not knowing if a handshake was the proper approach to this encounter.
The girl nodded, crossing her arms. "Figured. She's just getting ready." She nodded to the right, indicating towards Artemis' room. Percy didn't wanna go in there in case 'getting ready' meant she was still in the process of putting pants on.
He settled for walking slowly around the apartment admiring all their decorations. A lot of it seemed to be either replicas of famous works like the Last Supper or homemade art and he had no idea who'd done it. As he walked past one wall he saw the Death of Pentheus, a naked ancient Greek guy getting ripped to shreds by a bunch of women. Lovely. He was alone inside an apartment with two girls, with no one knowing he was there. Normally that'd be a guy's dream, but not when they have a painting of women mutilating a guy on their wall.
Percy turned around and decided to strike up a friendly conversation with the girl. "So you must be Artemis' roommate? The one who needed coffee the night we met?" He asked, obviously having already inferred that the answer was yes.
The girl nodded as she opened the fridge and pulled out some Pepsi. "Mhm, and you're the serial killer." She smirked, turning around leaning on the kitchen counter.
Percy rolled his eyes. "Okay, that- that's simply untrue." He couldn't think of a good comeback.
Sweatpants lady laughed. "Well you did stalk her in the woods the first time you met her." She countered. Percy stuttered as he tried to respond.
"Uh, is that what she said? Well, just saying. When you're deaf things get taken out of context." He joked.
The girl's face fell immediately. "What the Hell's that supposed to mean?" She asked, and likewise Percy's smile vanished.
"Um, nothing. Just she couldn't hear me ask if I could walk with her so it scared her when she saw me right next to her." He gulped as the girl looked furious.
"Is that supposed to be funny?! Artemis has a serious disability you know. She's been totally impaired from birth. She's never heard a single thing in her life, jackass." She yelled, and Percy was worried Artemis would hear and- oh wait, nevermind.
Percy held his hands up defensively. "I swear I didn't mean anything by it. Just… y'know, I'm still learning what is and isn't okay to say about it. I'm not even really sure if deaf is like a slur or something. Is it?" He told her, quietly asking a question at the end.
The girl sighed, cooling down a bit. "I get what you mean. I've been friends with Artemis since freshman year of high school. I was one of the only ones who bothered trying to get close to her. Generally you don't need to learn whole languages to make friends but I took sign language courses online and got the hang of it after a couple years. Artemis liked that. I'm Zoe, by the way." She nodded.
Percy smiled. "Again, Percy. Yeah, I've been thinking about trying sign language too. So far she's just been writing on napkins, which is kinda inconvenient." He laughed.
Zoe smiled, and they stood in silence for a while. Then she turned serious again. "I don't wanna have to be the one to give the talk since she has three brothers but if you hurt her I recreate that painting with you." She pointed to the Death of Pentheus.
Percy gulped again. "Gotcha." He answered quietly.
Just then the door and Artemis walked out pulling on her other sock. She began signing something to Zoe before seeing Percy out of the corner of her eye and turning. She waved, and Percy smiled and waved back. He stood up slightly. "Ready?" He asked.
Artemis nodded and walked to the shoes. She grabbed a pair of casual boots and slipped them on. Where they were going wasn't a formal place at all, some African-themed restaurant.
As both her and Percy walked to the door she turned around and signed to Zoe. Don't wait up for me.
Zoe laughed and waved them off, signing back for her to have fun. Artemis nodded before shutting the apartment door and leaving Zoe alone for the night.
So much for bros before hoes.
Percy didn't even know Artemis was a twin for quite a few weeks after they started dating. In fact, the first time she told Percy was when she was inviting him to Thanksgiving at her parents' place. Great, why did he have to start dating a girl in Fall.
Needless to say Percy was pissing himself.
He was the one driving for obvious reasons. Artemis could drive, she just had to pay extra attention. She had great peripheral vision though, better than most people, but nevertheless Percy was driving just because they had the option to make it that much safer.
Her parents' house was a few hours west of the city in upstate New York, so they'd left at five in the morning planning to get there some time late morning. They'd gotten chips and soda from a gas station as their breakfast and had just stopped at a bakery an hour ago for lunch. Thanksgiving dinner wouldn't be until late afternoon so they needed to fill up in order to survive.
Artemis was asleep so Percy was just following the GPS instructions she had entered. Even though she was asleep he could play his music relatively loud as it'd only wake her up when it started vibrating noticeably.
While David Bowie was playing over the radio, Percy saw they only had 2 more miles to go so he leaned over and shook her gently. Artemis' silver eyes blinked open slowly, and with a small hum of tiredness she woke up. Looking around, she saw they were almost there and tried to sit up, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
She looked over at her boyfriend and tapped her wrist twice, indicating she wanted the time. It was ASL for 'what's the time', but that was just because it was simple. Most of the time Artemis had to just charade it instead of speaking actual sign language to him. Percy was good at charades, but hadn't learned much ASL yet. He checked his watch. "Ten thirty." He said, facing her so she could read.
Artemis nodded and leaned back in her seat, just waiting for the two miles to pass and for them to arrive. The trees, or more specifically the leaves, were a nice mix of red, orange, yellow, brown and green as they passed, providing her with a nice aesthetic to be entranced with. Fall really was the best season, especially in the Northeast from Pennsylvania onwards.
Eventually the trees passed and revealed a rather large house. It was alone in this section out of town and Artemis sat up and pointed at it, signalling it was the one. It's not like he had the GPS or anything.
There were quite a few cars already parked in the open yard area when they pulled up. Percy was still looking around inspecting everything. Artemis never told him she came from a rich family.
She had him park behind a red pickup on the grass and Percy followed her command. Once they were off the driveway Percy turned the ignition off and they hopped out of the car.
The two of them immediately took the moment to stretch, as even though they'd only been sitting for an hour that was still way too long. Even better, they were making the same trip home again the next day. Very exciting.
Artemis turned around once she was fine and started to head towards the door, and soon after Percy rushed to follow her. They'd bring their overnight bags in later, now it was just time to settle in. They walked up to the door and Artemis knocked three times.
The two stood waiting for a few seconds. Percy looked around at the porch in curiosity. Yeah, Artemis' parents must have been loaded. Artemis moved her ponytail back behind her head as the wind had blown it to the side.
Eventually the door opened and a middle aged woman with brown hair opened it with a smile. "Artemis, so lovely to see you!" She greeted, leaning in to hug the auburn-haired girl. Artemis smiled and hugged back silently, before parting from the woman.
The lady turned to look at Percy, so he took that moment to introduce himself. "Hi. I'm Percy, Artemis' boyfriend." He greeted, and the woman smiled faintly.
"Nice to meet you. I'm her mother, Hera.. Come in, come in! You must be tired after your trip." Hera said, turning to Artemis while she spoke so her daughter could understand.
The woman brought them through the house into the living room, where the rest of Artemis' family seemed to be congregated. When they walked in everyone looked and said their hellos, getting their personal ones in as Percy and Artemis toured the room saying hi.
She had a large family, to say the least. Three brothers, two sisters, one twin brother and a few nieces and nephews. Not to mention her dad, an intimidating bearded man named Zeus who smiled and shook Percy's hand but nevertheless the latter was deeply terrified of getting the dad talk from him.
As Artemis had predicted to him earlier when asking if they could stop for food, there would be no thanksgiving lunch, instead a thanksgiving dinner. That was due to be cooked around five or six, as it was Artemis' mother and younger sister Hebe cooking. As such, all there really was to do was sit around and wait for some turkey.
Most of them, including Percy and Artemis, were sitting in the living room watching TV while Artemis' brother Ares' kids ran around fighting and being nuisances. Not that Percy himself minded. Kids were kids.
While the TV was playing, Percy felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to the left. Leaning on him was his girlfriend, but next to her on the other side of the couch was her blonde twin brother Apollo, who Percy suspected was the one who tapped him. "So Perce, how did you meet and charm my baby sis?" He asked, and luckily Artemis wasn't looking at him so she was unaware he had just referred to her as his 'baby sis'.
Percy tilted his head and sighed, remembering the last few months with his girl. "Well it all started with her thinking I was a serial killer…"
Every Thanksgiving since then had been celebrated either at Artemis or Percy's parents house. A few years later and both Percy and Artemis had graduated college with degrees in zoology and marine biology, with them taking on full time jobs at the aquarium and zoo they had been working at when they met.
When he was 21 the couple were at Artemis' parents for Thanksgiving. Percy had been playing some football with Artemis' brothers and nephews and was understandably tired by five when the sun was setting and everything was quieting down. Dinner was to be served in the next couple hours, and Percy found himself seated by Zeus and Artemis' brothers with a bottle of beer in hand.
The hot sun and cool breeze worked wonders as he relaxed after such a tiring day. He had something on his mind though, something really bugging him. His eyes flicked around looking for his girlfriend, seeing if she was nearby. He couldn't see her, so he wasn't really sure where she'd gone.
He turned to his left where a shirtless Apollo was basking in the late afternoon sun, flexing his golden skin on all his white relatives - aside from the pretty tanned Percy of course. Still nervous as hell, Percy leaned over quietly. "Hey, dude."
Apollo's attention was caught and he shifted his head to look at him at first before sitting up as he saw Percy wanted to talk about something. "What's up?" He asked his sister's boyfriend, flipping his shades up onto his blonde hair.
Percy's eyes flicked left to right anxiously. "I need to talk to you and your dad about something." He said quietly, not wanting to alert the other siblings of Artemis' and ruin everything. Apollo nodded and called Zeus over, and soon the three of them were gathered over in one corner away from the other Olympias, with Percy and Apollo still on their chairs while Zeus stood.
"What is it, Perce?" Apollo asked, and Zeus didn't say anything yet took another sip of his beer and waited for Percy to continue.
The young man in question gulped, fidgeting with his hands as the situation and incoming question made him extremely anxious. This question could literally upend his life.
He took a deep breath, steeled his nerves, and posed to them a question. "Am I allowed to propose to Artemis?"
They said yes.
Artemis sighed as she lugged the bucket of meat along with her through the dark tunnel to the door. The zoo had a bunch of underground routes the public didn't know about, primarily for storage and for travelling to zoo enclosures. It's a bad idea to have the door to the wolf enclosure right there for the public to walk up to.
She stopped when she reached the door and put down the bucket, rolling her sleeve up so she could check the time. 10:59.
11:00.
Go time.
Artemis unlocked the many locks on the door. She had no idea why they had so many, it's not like animals could open one lock, let alone three. Sure a bear could probably bash in a locked door if it tried for a while, so it was understandable to have multiple locks on that door, but wolves?
Then that clip from Jurassic Park where the velociraptor starts turning the doorknob flashed past her mind. Yeah, better safe than sorry.
Once the last one was unlocked she opened the door and stepped inside, making sure to shut it behind her. As the door was subterranean and the rest of the wolf enclosure was ground-level, she now sighed as she braced herself to have to carry this heavy bucket up a hill. Once she felt ready, she grabbed it with both hands and began the climb.
Obviously this enclosure wasn't full of ice, rather dirt, grass and trees. She finally appeared over the rise to find not only some canines chilling and walking around, but a sizable crowd of people a distance away behind the heavy glass wall. She half-heartedly waved to the crowd as she imagined the announcer would have begun speaking by now.
Indeed she had. Percy stood in the middle of the crowd listening as some lady on a mic commentated over Artemis feeding these wolves. "Alright everyone, it's time for the wolf enclosure to be getting it's lunch! Everyone give it up for our keeper Artemis, who is actually one of the few fully deaf zookeepers in the world!" The lady said enthusiastically, and Percy clapped along with the crowd.
He was surprised how unfazed the wolves were with everything. If they didn't look, y'know, bloodthirsty, he would've thought they were just normal domesticated dogs. They weren't bothered by the people clapping, the loud mic, nor even a human invading their territory. Maybe that was because they knew Artemis brought them food.
Artemis was really confident with all the animals now, even the polar bears to an extent, though she never volunteered to do those fuckers. She'd found most of the animals didn't mind her, they just let her come in and drop off their food. Obviously if she ran up and started hugging the jaguar it might freak out but she clearly knew better than that.
But goddamnit, being a zookeeper just showed her how dumb the human race was.
Thankfully she'd never had to Harambe an animal because some dumbass tried to fistfight a gorilla but there were definitely multiple occasions where she had to grab a person and move them back because they were leaning over the railing of a particularly dangerous animal's enclosure, feet off the ground. If it were up to her, let nature take its course.
The announcer continued to commentate for the crowd while Artemis was blissfully unable to hear her. Zoos were great when you were deaf. No screaming monkeys, no gaping crowd noises, no traffic noises from a mile away. Just her, some trees and her animals. She'd often dreamed of working at some sort of reserve, somewhere where the animals just roamed free and were protected for conservation and that. That would be such a better job. No annoying tourists and traffic jams on the way to work. She just drove around in a jeep and let nature be nature.
She didn't think Percy would particularly like to move to Kenya or somewhere like that.
She put the bucket down, alerting most of the wolves to her presence. She was a few feet away from a couple just laying down basking in the sun or resting. They had their heads turned to her eagerly awaiting. She smiled and rolled up her sleeves, knowing this was gonna be messy.
The bucket was mostly filled with chunks of meat for consumption, occasionally a whole leg for them to chew on for a while. Bucket kind of undersells it a bit. This wasn't a little pail for carrying sand at the beach, this was a full plastic tub of meat and bones.
She grabbed two chunks with both hands and looked around. She saw one off to the left and a few more off to the left. She decided to appease them first rather than the entire pack swarm around her if she chucked it to the two in front of her. She threw the bigger chunk off to the small group and then lobbed the other one nearby the lone wolf. Hand-feeding was a bad idea, not just because she'd lose her hand, but because they were wolves, they liked to hunt. They were much more comfortable chasing after it or playing tug-of-war. While they couldn't feed the wolves live animals in front of a crowd for ethical reasons, they could make feeding a bit more fun for the animals.
So while the lone wolf ran for a few metres chasing after it like a receiver and the group snatched and tore at it, Artemis reached in and grabbed another big chunk before chucking it far from the two in front of her. Hungry, the two were forced to get up and chase after their food, which had landed right in front of the window where the crowd was all watching.
As such, the crowd got a great photo opportunity as two wolves began digging into some meat like a… pack of wolves. Artemis continued chucking meat chunks around the enclosure until she noticed something bright on one of the wolves by the window. Inwardly cursing, thinking one of the visitors had chucked their yucky, sticky rubbish over the wall and gotten it stuck to an animal again - the last time that happened was the panther, and it was not fun tearing that off of it's fur - she rushed over to get it out of the way before some other wolf ate it and died because it was chocolate or something.
She made it over looking visibly annoyed as she kneeled down to see what it was. The wolf was still eating, so thankfully it was staying in place. As she looked, she saw it wasn't plastic, but paper, and nor only was it not stuck via some food remnant, but it was held in place by some metal collar ring thing.
Confused, annoyed and suspicious, she took the folded up paper out and then began removing the ring. The wolf looked up at her in confusion, mouth very bloody, but she calmed him by rubbing his ears as she slowly slipped the ring off his neck. Boy, she was lucky they liked her.
She then opened the piece of paper to find it had writing, and so while Percy sat there waiting for a reaction, she read the note.
Artemis,
I know our relationship started out hella weird. You thought I was stalking you, I thought you were an asshole, turns out I was the asshole all along.
I also know how hard it's been. I mean, you don't even know what the fuck I sound like, and I've only learned a bit of sign language.
But I don't care. We're getting there, it's just taking a while. And I don't want to wait anymore for me to learn how to say 'will you' in sign.
So I'll just say it American.
Artemis, will you marry me?
P.S. Find ring enclosed around animal neck, courtesy of your coworker Phoebe.
As Artemis read the letter tears came to her eyes, until finally she reached the last line. Well, not counting the PS. When she reached that she lowered the letter and looked at the giant ring she held in her hand. Attached to the bottom of that giant ring was a much smaller one. Silver with a blue gemstone in the middle of it.
Tears blurring her vision, she shakily tried to detach the engagement ring from the oversized ring-keyring-ring. When that became to fiddly she started trying more aggressively, only to give up and just jam her finger into the ring while it was still attached. As such, it was tight and didn't go far down her finger, but it was on.
She looked up and suddenly she saw him bright as day standing in the crowd. How she hadn't noticed him before, she didn't know. His smile was bright and she was in love all over again. With a shaky arm, she held her hand which were the ring up for him to see, which also meant the crowd saw. Many 'aww'd or clapped, while a few had even seemingly recorded it on their phones.
Percy's eyes suddenly widened and he leaned over to the side, catching Artemis' attention. She turned around to see what he was looking at and saw two of the wolves were just eating straight out of the bucket while she was distracted.
Artemis cursed inwardly and rushed over to them. Percy was trying to hold in his laughter as she brushed the two wolves away before grabbing the back of the tub. Obviously not bothered to manually feed them all at this point as she felt the immense desire to run out and kiss her boyfriend, she just silently told them to share and tipped it all out of the bucket. After tapping the tub to catch the wolves attention, she picked it up and began heading towards the door. Behind her, several wolves rushed over from the food they already had to dig into the absolute gore pile that now sat free in the middle of the enclosure for them all to feast and share.
When she had locked the door to the enclosure Artemis felt safe to start running. She ran to the kitchen area where she found her coworker Bruce was already hosing down another tub, obviously having just completed the feeding of another animal. Without saying a word, she dropped the tub in front of him and made a fingers crossed gesture to him before sprinting out of the room. She needed to go kiss and hug Percy right now.
Bruce's moustache and beard twitched as he watched the young lady sprint out of the shower-like room on a mission. He didn't even say anything, just started hosing the wolf tub down too.
Artemis stared into the mirror in a trance as she couldn't comprehend what was happening. Here she was in her wedding dress while her mother, Sally, Percy's sisters and her own sisters, Zoe and her other two bridesmaids prepared her. Zoe was obviously her maid of honor while Athena and her friends Thalia and Atalanta were bridesmaids. She had never been close with Hebe as the girl was a lot younger than her but she knew about beauty so she was there too.
Her dress was pretty normal. White, strapless, with a hella long skirt. She thought it was perfect. Not overdone like her sister-in-law Aphrodite's had been when she married Artemis' brother Ares. It was her. Simple and quiet.
Seriously though, how was she, a deaf and temperamental girl who most assumed was a lesbian when she was in high school, only the second one of her seven siblings to get married? To a guy too. She was the epitome of defying expectations.
Hours later and Percy stood at the altar. No, he hadn't been standing there for hours, it had only been a few minutes. Nevertheless, the whole occasion was nerve wracking.
The doors opened and Artemis appeared, standing in a beautiful white dress. Her bridesmaids stood behind her, each holding their bouquets of flowers looking pretty, but none as beautiful as her. As Percy laid eyes upon her all his anxiety faded and a big smile crept onto his face. They locked eyes, and Artemis smiled back, too self-conscious to grin with all these people watching.
Trying to ignore the feeling of hundreds of eyes piercing her, she began her walk up the aisle with her right arm linked to Zeus'. The walk felt like a mile, but just as suddenly as it started it was over, and Zeus gave her a quick hug before handing her over to Percy with a warning glare directed towards the young man.
Artemis smiled as she felt Percy's warm hands take hold of hers and bring her up the steps. With the veil still covering her face the two stood in front of each other, eyes locked as the guy officiated the wedding. Artemis' mind couldn't even stay on what he was saying as she was lost in Percy's sea-green orbs.
Eventually she felt him squeeze her hands lightly, and then mouthed the word vows. Well, he probably mouthed it. Either that or he said it out loud. Didn't matter to her either way.
She stepped back a bit and let go of his hands, and immediately she felt a longing to return to him and just to cuddle into his embrace, lost in her peaceful silence. Instead she ran over her vows in her head, what she had memorized. She had rehearsed this over and over, and now was her moment to perform.
She turned and held out her hand, and Zoe took from inside of her glove a small folded up piece of paper not unlike Percy's proposal note. She turned back and handed it to Percy, who opened and read it, not out loud though. When he was done he put it in his suit pocket and looked back up at her.
Artemis smiled and then performed a simple three gestures. She pointed at her chest, made a love heart shape over her heart area, and then pointed at him.
I love you.
The entire crowd 'aww'd, and Percy had tears in his eye. He wasn't going to recite the vows, because it was more than just vows, it was really personal, and felt happy knowing the only two people in the world who knew it were he and his soon-to-be wife.
He was lucky his mother Sally, who had known about the plan of Artemis', had suggested he do the same thing. So following in his fiance's footsteps, Percy turned to his best man and took the letter, handing it to Artemis and mimicking the gesture. It wasn't actual ASL for 'I love you', that was one hand gesture, but shut the fuck up.
They linked hands again, and after a few minutes Percy silently nodded to the right, signalling that it was time for her next line. Despite there being no audio coming from her mouth, Artemis knew the line off by heart and mouthed it to him so he could read her lips. I do.
The official repeated the same question to a now grinning Percy, who answered honestly and audibly. "I do."
The man closed the book with a smile. "You may now kiss the bride."
While Artemis didn't actually know the man had just said that, she expected it and was waiting for it. Even then, she was still caught off guard when Percy lifted her veil, wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her tight into a kiss.
Despite all the hardships Artemis had endured in just over 20 years of living, she had made it. She had her dream job, she'd managed to make friends, and now she was married to the man of her dreams. Her life was complete, her story was perfect, the ending could not get better.
You bet your ass the ending can get better.
Percy's tired eyes threatened to shut as he adamantly tried to force himself to stay awake. The clinic was quiet, too quiet to keep him alert. His stomach, nurtured only on fast food the past day, growled as it realised it hadn't been taken care of for hours. He couldn't go eat now, not when any moment they could open the door and call him in.
The surgery had gone well. Well in the sense that Artemis hadn't bled out on the operating table. Whether the surgery was a success was a different story. This was experimental in the field of medicine, and Artemis was not known to be a healthy person immune to disease and disorder. She'd had to stay at the hospital overnight or several nights before.
The door opened, nearly giving Percy a heart attack, but it wasn't the door he had been waiting hours for. It was the front door, and in came two adults and two children. Hera rushed over while Zeus shut the door behind them. "Thank god. Are we late, how is it?" The worried mother of the patient asked her son-in-law feverishly.
Percy smiled half-heartedly and shook his head. "No, no, you're not late. They're still in there, haven't heard anything." He assured her as Zeus came and sat down at a seat over by the window.
The older girl let go of Hera's hand and walked over to Percy. "Hi, daddy." Selena greeted quietly. She seemed tired like her father, even though she had gone back to her grandparents' for the night.
Percy smiled and took her hands. "Hey baby. Mommy's still in the room. We can see her soon, okay?" He assured her softly, and the little girl nodded. Percy looked to his left and pointed to the box of toys. "Why don't you go sit down and play while we wait?" He suggested, knowing she'd die of boredom sitting here for hours like he had. Selena agreed though it was clear she'd rather just go see her mom and bring her home.
While the little girl sat on the ground and reached in for one of the many McDonald's toys, Zeus handed the other child over to Percy. "Hilo, Kaylee." Percy said in his baby-voice to his one and a half year old daughter, who in opposition to Selena's black locks had inherited Artemis' auburn hair.
The child grinned with her hand in her mouth as Percy took her from her grandmother onto his lap. "Dada." She said as Hera sat down next to Zeus. She was excited to see him but the sadness at her mothers absence was weighing down on her. The kids weren't often away from either of their parents for so long. "Where mama?" She asked, and Percy sighed in defeat. The girls had missed their mom despite it only being a day. They knew she was getting something done to her and were worried, despite everyone's assurances that their mom would be okay.
He frowned. "She in with the doctor and uncle. We go see her soon, princess." He assured her just as he had Selena. Worriedly chewing on the fingers of her right hand, Kaylee looked around the room and softly whimpered, breaking Percy's heart.
The toddler then decided to lean into her dad's chest as they waited for Artemis to be ready. As she sat cuddled up to him like a baby in the womb, Percy honestly felt like they would both be fast asleep by the time the doctor came out to get them.
The clock felt slower now than it had been the whole time he was here. His eyes constantly switched between rereading the posters on the wall, watching Selena play with the toys absentmindedly and the top of Kaylee's head as she was cuddled up almost asleep.
Thankfully they were the only ones in the waiting room of this clinic so he didn't have to mind Selena. He would let her sprawl out on the floor in boredom and she wouldn't trip anyone up.
When the clock struck three minutes past 1pm, they heard a door down the hall open and the sound of footsteps on the carpeted floor. A familiar head adorned in shoulder-length blonde hair snuck it's way around the corner, looking at them all. Selena visibly perked up when she saw Apollo standing there. "Uncle!" She said excitedly.
The young doctor grinned brightly back at her and then his eyes flicked back to Percy. "Ready to try?" He asked, and Percy nodded.
Not sure if she was awake, Percy gently pulled himself up off the seat while still holding Kaylee tight so that she wouldn't suddenly drop. At the feeling of being lifted up, the toddler shifted around in her overalls, moving to rub her eyes from tiredness. Percy doubted she even processed that they were going to go see her mom, nor that her uncle had finally showed up. Selena though had better cognition and she hurried to wrap her arms around uncle Apollo's waist.
He hugged his niece back before parting and taking her hand in his. Standing up to his waist, Selena was much shorter than the young adult that happened to be her mom's twin. While Percy carried Kaylee, Apollo led Selena and the four ventured down the hallway until they reached a door left ajar.
Apollo pushed it open, allowing the smaller family entry into the room. Struggling with holding Kaylee up by only one arm, Percy turned around to shut the door behind them but Apollo was already doing so. "Remember what you're doing?" He asked, and Percy nodded, still not saying anything.
Apollo shut the door and Percy turned around, looking to make sure Selena hadn't broken anything. Instead he found her standing by the large window on one side of the small room. The room was a small booth, like something you'd record music in. It barely had enough space to fit the three of them, but Kaylee wasn't taking up much space clinging onto her dad.
Selena was waving at the window, and as Percy came around to look he saw that the opposing room through the window was a bit bigger. That one could definitely fit three people, and with a bit of space too, as demonstrated by there being three people in there. There was some older looking guy Percy knew to be the doctor, and Apollo had just entered the room and started saying things to the doctor that Percy couldn't hear.
That wasn't what Selena was focused on though. In the middle of the room sitting on a stool was her mother Artemis, smiling and waving back to her elder daughter. Percy saw and acted much the same as Selena, smiling and giving a wave. He turned his head to the half-conscious Kaylee. "Look, there's mom." He whispered.
Kaylee's neck snapped up and she looked around until she saw Artemis. "Mama!" She said rather loudly for that tiny room, making Percy cringe a bit. Artemis laughed after seeing Percy's face and she waved at her baby too.
Percy turned back to his daughter and began to sway to keep her alert. "See? Told you she was fine. We might be good to go home soon, princess." He assured his youngest daughter. Kaylee nodded slowly, liking that idea as she was transfixed by her mother on the other side of the glass.
Apollo and the doctor separated and the former turned to the window. He gave a shaky thumbs up gesture, asking if they were good to go. Percy nodded back and pulled Selena over to him and Kaylee. There was a stool in the middle of the room like Artemis', only in front of theirs was a microphone stand.
Apollo walked over to his sister and began conversing with her in sign. Percy watched as his wife understood everything her brother said by watching his hands, and then vice versa when it was her turn to answer. He himself got quite a bit, mainly Artemis' as she was facing him. He'd learned a lot of sign over the few years they'd been married, and now he felt confident enough to hold basic conversations.
When he felt she fully understood what he wanted from her, Apollo backed off and walked back over to the doctor. Meanwhile it seemed like both of her daughters were trying to have staring contests with their mom, and Selena was giggling from Artemis' intense wide-eyed face.
The doctor and Apollo stood around a computer for a few seconds before Apollo turned around and handed Artemis a pair of headphones. The young woman took a deep breath before putting them on. Even though she was literally deaf it still felt like everything became more quiet when she put them on.
Percy got Selena to sit in front of him while Kaylee kinda hung off the side of his neck like a baby koala. Both girls were fixated on their mom as Percy leaned down and whispered something in Selena's ear. Selena nodded, and the three patiently waited for the all-clear.
After another minute or so, Apollo turned around and held up three fingers. Slowly he began to count down visibly to them. Three. Two. One.
Percy squeezed Selena slightly as Artemis felt a noticeable difference instantaneously, and it shocked her. The little girl paused for a second, remembering her lines. This was a lot of pressure for a four year old girl.
She looked between the microphone and then up into Artemis' eyes. "I love you mommy." She said simply, and for the first time in her life Artemis heard her, and for the first time in her life Artemis heard, and it was beautiful.
Tears flooded Artemis' eyes and she choked. Still not able to say anything, she had to simply nod with her hands over her mouth before shakily removing them to do a heart gesture over her chest, making Selena grin.
Upon realising her dad was right about her mom's thingy, Kaylee excitedly yelled. "Mama!" Artemis visibly cringed much like Percy had done just a couple minutes ago, and Apollo looked back with an expression of shared pain. Nevertheless, Artemis fought through it and laughed, squinting and looking at Kaylee before waving to her too.
Percy brought Kaylee closer to the mic so they could say a few more things before it was his turn. Selena hopped off and stood beside him while Kaylee continued to sit on his hip. Percy cleared his throat and brought the mic closer, thinking about what to say again.
"Hey, Artemis. It's me, Percy. This is my voice, you can hear it now. I don't know why I'm talking to you like you just woke up from a coma, but I don't know what to say. You can finally hear us, hear your husband, your twin, your daughters. Holy shit. I… I love you, Artemis. I just realised you've never heard me say that, only read it…. I love you…." He repeated, truly at a loss for words. It was a miracle.
Artemis fully had tears streaming down her face by this point, and after wiping a few away she repeated the same three gestures she had on their wedding day to substitute her vows.
I love you.
Percy nodded at Apollo and he cut the mic. The family of three stood up, and after taking a moment to calm his two ecstatic daughters down, Percy opened the door. They all needed to hug Artemis right now. Artemis herself wss tapped on the shoulder by Apollo, and for the first time in her life, despite sharing a womb with him for 9 months, Artemi heard her brother's voice. He sounded exactly how she imagined.
The family of three showed up in the room a minute or so later, and Selena immediately tackled her mom. Artemis, weak at the knees, crouched down to pull her eldest daughter as close as she could. Percy quickly came over with Kaylee and Artemis stood up, pulling the two of them into a hug.
She parted a bit so that she could grab Kaylee and kiss her on the nose, making the baby giggle. God, she thought that giggle was her new favorite sound in the world.
With both girls in between them, Artemis turned to Percy and locked her eyes with his. The two smiled, tears in their eyes, before Artemis took the plunge and latched her mouth to his.
After over twenty years of hardship, Artemis could finally get her happy ending.
That's a wrap. Over 10k words goddamn. Few things. 1) I wrote this for a Discord challenge, so there's my motives and the reason I haven't updated BSC in like two months. Also still got an ArtemisDianaPercy lemon i'm halfway through but I may focus on BSC just because of popular demand. 2) I'm not deaf, so I obviously don't know what it's like to be deaf, so criticisms allowed but if you want me to change something that would completely upend the story like Artemis being mute then just save it I guess. Idk what else to say. Its time to publish this bad boy, I guess. Cya. Time to get the word count to 13k. Heres eleven words.
Word Count: 13000