Life Two

.

In, out. Slow. Deep.

For every breath Eun took, his body did the opposite of what he tried to accomplish. He couldn't see what was happening in Alasdair's room but the noises were enough. Aila, and even sometimes Alasdair...

Deep breaths. Think about something else, anything else but what they were doing, what his own body was...

Another loud noise and his hand was moving lower.

Life Three

.

Neeks was on the Argo II, laying in Percy's bed with the two of them, watching them each as they spoke about the curse and the war.

At first, Neeks had come back to this timeline without any hope for romance or a relationship. Hell, friends weren't even really on the table. Their focus was on the war and changing the timeline correctly. For a while, they blocked out those sea-green eyes. Their task was a do over, was a soldier in war, was to stay alone and lonely forever.

But Neeks was forced to give Cupid something just as the Fates ordained. In front of Jason Grace, they admitted that they had never gotten over Percy like they had tried to believe, that they couldn't even call themselves gay because they couldn't give themselves a gender.

Neeks just...was. And they were in love with Percy, just as they were in love with Alasdair and Erro. A curse over centuries. A spiteful spit of words that they thought ruined their life.

Then they were laying there, staring at both Percy and Annabeth and wondering if it was possible to love both.

Neeks, as Nico, had never had an interest in girls before Annabeth. They didn't know what that meant or what they'd be labeled, but they remembered what Piper had explained to them. They didn't have to label themselves. They didn't have to fit into a box with the word taped on the front.

They could just be, and that's what they did.

"Neeks, what are you thinking about?" Annabeth asked.

They were both staring, their eyes and souls so easy to read, their other lives so easily seen.

"Us three," Neeks admitted. "What we've been through. Where we're going from here."

"We're saving the damn world," Percy answered.

Annabeth nodded. "We're going to defeat Gaea and help you finish what you started. The rest will come naturally."

Neeks closed their eyes and tried to picture what they would think of as a good future, as something to stop them from jumping into Chaos. The only thing that came to mind was the three of them, laying together like this, a ring on all three of their fingers.

Life One

.

Jaquotte put a hand on Anne Marie's arm, the skin-on-skin contact making her feel something she hadn't felt before.

"Are you interested in the stars?" Anne Marie asked. She didn't move away but didn't move closer, and something in the air felt just as it did when she was near Erro.

Jaquotte slid her fingers under her sleeve, picking at the frilly material. It was pink, something she'd never wear herself. "I'm interested in something, but it ain't in the sky."

Anne Marie didn't look away from the night sky. "If you were, we could point out the constellations together."

"Are you interested in the stars?" Jacquotte took a step closer.

She nodded. "Who isn't?"

"Myself."

"You're so similar to Erro, when you're not hiding behind one of us," Anne Marie observed. "When did you grow a backbone?"

"When I became alone with you. I saw your eyes on mine."

"Yes, but so were Alasdair's."

"I know."

"And mine were also on his."

"I'm acutely aware."

"I don't think he'd mind, if you and I get closer," Anne Marie continued. "As long as it's not another male. He's... Well, you know how he is."

"A man of his time."

"But better. He didn't force me, never once."

"Do you think he ever will?"

She shook her head. "But I am fiercer than he."

Jaquotte stared into the sea. "How'd you know I wasn't male?"

Anne Marie moved her hand to Jaquotte's face, running her forefinger over the jawline before cupping her cheeks, fingers playing with the red curls that escaped her head wrap.

"I know a lot, Jack, and I know a female when I see one."

"Did you see me change my chest bandages?"

Anne Marie sighed. "Yes."

"You were looking?"

"Yes."

"Were you disgusted?"

"How could I be touching you if I was?"