I'm not Rick Riordan, or a guy at all for that matter...so nothing of his is mine.
-Chapter 6-
I opened the door to walk downstairs. My sniffer immediately enticed by the sweet smell of Sally's homemade pancakes. I could almost taste them the further down the stairs I went.
I rounded the corner with familiar ease, and saw that Thalia and Nico were indeed stuffing their faces at the table. I sat down next to Thalia; Percy walked in behind me a moment later and sat in the vacant seat beside me. Immediately he took a large stack of the blue pancakes and put them on his plate, Original Aunt Jemima maple syrup closely following.
I shook my head and sighed. 'That boy will be fat the minute he quits working out.'
I reached for the pancakes, deciding to start with only one and spread butter on it first, then pouring a small pool of syrup on the empty portion of the plate, so I could dip it.
Percy, his mouth half full, opened up some conversation, "Mphf," *swallows* "Guys! We're makin a slip'n'slide to the pond today! Annabeth said we could so we are."
I blew a laugh out my nose, "As if I'm the one who has the say so…"
Thalia answered Percy, ignoring my comment, "Percy you're a grown man. Slip'n'slides are for like 7 year old's. You're gonna hurt yourself! And I'm gonna be there to watch."
Nico smiled and nodded, agreeing with her.
Percy frowned and looked at me and then at them, gesturing for me to speak up and "defend his honor".
I shrugged at him," I have no doubt that you're going to get hurt Perce, however," I turned to face the others, "you have to admit his enthusiasm is catchy. And Hey! Maybe it'll end ok and we will have fun and no pain will be inflicted to anyone?" I laughed as I said that, "Oh, who am I kidding, it's going hurt, but let's do it anyway-while we can still afford to be stupid!"
Nico stood up, "Eh, what the hell, I'm in!"
Thalia shrugged, "I'm not gonna be the only one who doesn't."
Percy looked like a kid who had just been given permission to light the fuse on a really, really big firecracker, "Let the games begin."
Sally who had been listening from the kitchen walked over, "Y'all better clean up your mess in here first. And don't use the good tarps, use that old plastic roll, and don't use too much soap. It'll kill the fish and your dad will be pissed. I'm gonna go to the diner, and I will deny ever hearing about any of this. Have fun, but be careful!"
Grinning, I finished my plate off and started to clean up; the others following my lead.
-11:40 am-
I eyed the slippery plastic wearily. 40 feet of plastic stretching down to the water, with a ramp right at the end. It was a masterpiece of redneck ingenuity, I'll give them that. Here I was, dressed in my swimsuit (with shorts and a shirt over it so I wouldn't have any "technical difficulties" with my bikini while sliding down) watching the boys squirt 5 bottles of soap all over the surface. There were a few sprinklers positioned just right to make the ride as slip'n'slide-y as possible.
Thalia, who was right next to me, glanced over, "I blame you."
I frowned at her, "Don't be a sour puss, sour puss. It'll be entertaining at the least, and who knows, you might actually have fun!" I said putting extra emphasis on 'fun'.
She did the classic grumpy cat face and I laughed a little. I noticed the boys were done and were walking back up the hill to where we stood at the top. As they walked, Percy took his shirt off.
Thalia saw this and smirked "Well, now I fully understand why you agreed to this. You just wanted to see him, shirtless."
Without even looking I smacked her stomach and she cried out from the sudden pain in her gut.
I grinned to myself at the sound of her pain. I wouldn't admit it to anyone out loud, but that was one of the reasons I had agreed. He was just too attractive for his own good. Between the tan and the muscles, you just couldn't help but stare.
By then they had made it up to where we were waiting, and the grin on Percy's face slowly but surely spread to everyone else. Nico had taken his shirt off as well, and part of me wondered why he was so skinny considering he ate as much- if not more- than Percy, and the other half wondered how the guy was so white.
I was startled by my thoughts when Percy clapped his hands together and said, "Me first!"
We all took a few steps back as we watched him walk away about ten feet before turning around any lining himself up with the slide "track runner" style.
He looked over and caught my eye, "Oi, Wise Girl, count me off would ya?" he winked at me.
I shook my head but smiled anyway, "On your mark…get set…GO!"
As the words left my mouth you could see his muscles tense in preparation. On "go" he took off, and the world seemed to almost take on a slow motion view.
Right foot. Left foot. Arms swaying accordingly.
His mouth hung in an open grin.
On the fifth step, he leaped, body bracing for the impact to the ground.
When he hit, the world remembered what was going on, and snapped out of slow motion.
'SMACK'- He flew down the plastic as if the water and soap were being willed to propel him faster and faster.
"WOOOHOOOOOO!" His scream echoed off the trees surrounding the pond.
We watched him with breaths we didn't know we were holding. He approached the end, gaining the last bit of speed he could before being launched off the ramp and spinning through the air as he pulled his legs up and landed in the pond with a colossal splash.
I felt myself lean forward from the anticipation. He burst out of the water with a yell, "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!"
I laughed and looked at the other two, who were just staring at him, "I guess I'm next."
I took a running start like Percy did, but I was a little more cautious. Nico went as if he had a death wish. And Thalia was going great until she panicked at the end and ended up belly flopping onto the water, surfacing with a groan of pain. We all went down countless amount of times, having a blast, and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. We even went two at a time for a while before I accidentally kicked Nico in the crowned jewels on the way down, and he decided to put a stop to that idea.
After only a few hours of fun, the sun disappeared and the weather turned on us.
I was the only one who had noticed the change, and had opted to grab my towel and start drying off. Thalia noticed me and decided to dry off as well.
Nico and Percy were oblivious to the weather, or us, and were currently trying to outdo each other in what tricks they could. Thalia and I squatted down a little ways away and watched the stupidity unravel.
Nico (who apparently was somewhat of a parkour enthusiast) did a series of flips and cartwheels as he was running to the slide, and at the bottom managed to do a full back flip and landed in a canon ball.
Percy was glaring at him the entire time and ended up calling down to him from the top, "NO FAIR- I DIDN'T TAKE GYMNASTICS!"
Nico, who was laughing hysterically due to the thrill of his stunts working out, called back, "Hey, you snooze you lose, Jackson! Not my fault I'm a beast!"
Then everything changed when the fire nation attacked- err I mean- then something changed in Percy's demeanor. It was no longer playing it safe. I knew that face. He was about to do something totally and utterly stupid and dangerous. Just then it started to rain- lightning flashed, thunder following- looking up I opened my mouth to stop him from continuing but it was too late, when I looked back at him he was already half way to the slide.
There was a chorus of:
"Percy, NO!"
"Perce!"
"Kelp for brains you're gonna get electrocuted!"
He ignored us.
When he reached the slide he didn't jump or land stomach first or on his butt- He landed on his feet as if he were going to attempt to "surf" the entire way down.
It worked. Until he looked up, and looked at me, winking with a big smile.
I watched in horror as his face morphed into that of panic as he started to lose control. I covered my face with my hands, afraid to watch him break his neck.
Mixed in with the sound of the storm, there was a bunch of yelling and the sound of his body hitting many different surfaces.
Then nothing but the sound of rain.
Out of the silence Thalia laughed. And then Nico did too from a little further away.
Percy groaned and I could just barely hear him say, "Should have seen that one coming."
I uncovered my face and looked at the scene around me. Thalia looked as if she were watching AFV reruns. Nico was walking towards Percy, who was attempting to get up from his sprawled out position, half way down the slide-but 10 feet into the grass where he was stopped by the paddle boat they had pulled out of the water the day before.
Other than the grass that covered him and a few red grass burns, he looked mostly unharmed. Judging by the look on his face though, his pride would need a few days.
*Cue backstage short guy in an old film urging for "more lightning!"*
It thundered loudly as I walked towards the big baby in royal blue swim trunks and he pouted at me the closer I got.
"I hurt myself." He said pitifully.
I mockingly pouted, "Po Chang- want me to kiss it? Make it feel better."
He cocked his head and raised his eyebrow, "Well if you insist, I think the worst pain is on my lips, I face panted pretty hard on that last fall.." He said it so innocently I almost did, but then he cracked me his signature grin and I heard Thalia scoff, snapping me out of my odd daze. I shoved his shoulder instead.
"OUCH," he said sharply.
I froze, "What?! I didn't shove you that hard!"
He held onto his right arm, "I think I dislocated it and then popped it back into place when I did those three flips in the grass…" he smiled sheepishly.
I laughed lightly, not feeling sorry for him at all, "It was your own fault Seaweed Brain! But ok, I'll let you milk it for now." I spoke to everyone, "How about we go back to the house and just chill. I'll make some fudge? It doesn't look like the weather will let us wash our cars today- sorry Perce." He made a face, but they all nodded their agreements and Percy grabbed his towel from the ground with his unhurt arm as we all started walking up to the house.
Thalia was the first to claim my shower, going into my room and emerging with my clothes- completely unashamed of her actions- she got in and started to blaring her punky music from the speakers we had installed a few weeks ago. Nico had at least brought his own clothes and was in Percy's shower, which left me and Percy alone in my kitchen. He was sitting in one of the chars around the island- still shirtless. As I started to prepare the sweet, chocolate goodness which was my great grandmother's hot liquid fudge, I sighed heavily.
Percy picked up on said sigh and frowned, "What's wrong with you?"
I smiled at him softly, "You're just an idiot."
He furrowed his brow and took a big breath as if he were going to argue, but stopped with his mouth open. Closing his mouth, followed by a series of shrugs and sideways nods said that he a agreed with me.
"Just because I'm an idiot- you're gonna huff all dramatically? I doubt that. So why are you really all…huffy?" his expression was soft.
I looked back down at my bowl of egg, milk, and sugar. Taking out the powdered cocoa and put in a few heaping scoops.
"I'm usually not one to cower away from watching someone hurt themselves, but I couldn't watch you." I laughed slightly, "And I don't know why….I HATE not knowing why." I looked at him and searched his face for some kind of answer I knew I wouldn't find.
His eye's glazed over slightly, and he smiled sympathetically. I lowered my head and began to whisk the contents of the bowl all together. I was so focused on my task that I didn't know Percy had moved from his seat across the bar and was standing right behind me. Only when he wrapped arms around my waist with his bare chest at my back and put his head on my shoulder- causing me to jump slightly- did I notice. I froze mid stir.
It had started out with small stuff; a shove here and there, something -anything- touching when we went to the store together or sat on the couch, then it went to a celebratory hug when the team won on Fridays, or as Percy explained it, "a friendly goodnight kiss" on the cheek. Recently- when I was focused on something usually, he would do that thing. You know the whole arms around me and head on my shoulder thing. The one that made my heart race and the butterflies in my stomach go ballistic.
He laughed quietly, "Don't stop your mixing on my account Wise Girl." I felt him start to sway slightly.
His comment made me realize that I had indeed stopped stirring. I resumed my mixing, a little slower this time. The swaying continued and I couldn't help but smile slightly.
He turned his face into my neck, his lips gracing the skin and with a voice barely a whisper, "You look adorable when you're concentrating. You know that?"
My breath caught in my throat as the words tickled their way up to my ear, riding on the sound of his deep voice. My eyes closed subconsciously, and I tilted my head just enough for his mouth to have full access to my neck.
I felt feather light kisses trailing from the base of by neck to just below my jaw. I bit my lip. The music stopped from the bathroom, and we both knew Thalia would come out any moment.
I heard the handle of the bathroom starting to jiggle, and Percy wordlessly took all contact points away. I missed the warmth immediately. Keeping my eyes closed I straightened my head. Taking a deep breath, I could still smell the mixture of lemon soap, grass, and a hint of his cologne floating in the air. I let it out laughing in a "what the heck?" kind of way, and my lips formed a slight smile.
"What did I miss?" Thalia said, bringing me out of my world and crashing into what was the reality of the situation.
I opened my eyes and looked around. He was gone, and Thalia was standing in the door way of the bathroom looking at me funny.
She came closer, observing me with every step, "Why are you blushing and smiling dreamily with your eyes closed all alone in the kitchen?"
I blinked a few times and looked down, my eyes wandering all over- looking at everything, but seeing nothing.
"Honestly Thals, I have no freaking idea."
~stay tuned 3
