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Percy
It was the morning after Percy and Annabeth returned to his home and the Jacksons were sitting around the table enjoying a relatively quiet breakfast. Well, thought Percy, the Jacksons plus one Miss Chase, but she'll be a Jackson too, soon enough. He smiled to himself at the thought and squeezed his girlfriend's hand before reaching for his mug of coffee.
"It's still hard to believe you're actually drinking coffee," Paul stated dryly. "I would think the caffeine would drive your ADHD insane."
Percy shrugged. "Somedays it does, but at this point it usually just helps us wake up like everyone else."
"Leo on coffee would have been an ADHD nightmare, though," Annabeth said, looking at Percy with a mixture of sadness and humor. Percy shared a moment of silence with her before snorting in amusement.
"Please, Leo was an ADHD nightmare without anything. I doubt caffeine would have made a difference." Sally looked at him, amused, as Paul warily eyed the almost-full mug Percy had waved around while talking.
"You're lucky you're hydrokinetic," Paul grumbled. "If I tried to move even half that much while drinking, I'd have an earful from Sally about the mess." Percy smirked and held his mug upside-down over the table before Annabeth smacked his arm. Percy grinned harder and returned his mug to the table.
"Let me drink my coffee in peace! Five hours might be more sleep than I've gotten in a long time, but that doesn't mean it was enough." The table got quiet again and Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"Good going, Seaweed Brain," she said sarcastically. "Worry your mother while she's pregnant. The hormones won't blow that out of proportion at all." Paul snorted then looked away innocently when Sally narrowed her eyes at him. Apparently deciding calling out her husband wouldn't be entertaining enough, she turned to Percy.
"Exactly how much sleep have you been getting?" Percy flinched at the too sweet tone of voice his mom was using. He went to answer, then furrowed his brows in thought.
"Uh… honestly, I'm not sure," he responded sheepishly, rubbing his neck in nervous habit. "Normal demigod nightmares suck, but after… there…. well, sometimes it's just easier not to sleep."
Before Sally could start yelling, Annabeth cut in. "Neither of us have gotten a full night's sleep since before T- before the quest." She cleared her throat, but everyone knew why she had stumbled over her words. "Time acts funny in some of the places we were in, and afterwards we couldn't usually get more than three hours without having a nightmare so bad we couldn't fall back asleep."
"Yeah, and that's with us sleeping with each other. By ourselves, we pretty much can't sleep," Percy said. After realizing what he said, he turned bright red, while Annabeth just hit her forehead on the table.
"Why do I keep you around?" she muttered into the tabletop.
Sally looked at them funnily for a moment. "I'm assuming Percy means actually sleeping?"
"Of course!" Percy exclaimed quickly. "We're smarter than that!"
"Besides," Annabeth muttered again, "a small battleship constantly being attacked by monsters and hell itself aren't exactly places that put you in the mood." Paul snorted again before choking his laughter back at his wife's unamused scowl. Percy rolled his eyes fondly and rubbed Annabeth's back as she continued to grumble to herself under her breath.
After a moment of comfortable silence, Paul stood up and went to the sink with his now empty mug of coffee. Percy stood up to go help, but sat back down when Paul gave him an amused scowl. "I could finish those really quick, you know," Percy said, amused.
"Yes, well, I need to earn my keep," Paul joked back, "and besides, you've earned a rest. No more quests, no more monsters, and hopefully no gods popping up out of nowhere, at least for a while."
"Try not to get your hopes up too much," Percy retorted. "I'm just too attractive for them to stay away." He flinched as Annabeth flicked the side of his head, not pausing her conversation with his mom, and Paul shook his head, laughing, and turned to do the dishes properly.
As Percy sat quietly, he smiled to himself. He hadn't realized how much he missed this, and he was starting to realize just how much he wanted to build a home like this with Annabeth. Well, I've got time to plan, Percy thought. I can IM Tyson for help, and then when we visit Atlantis I can just slip away for a few moments to –
A bright flash interrupted his thoughts. He grabbed Riptide out of his pocket, eyes closed against the glare, and was jumping at the intruder before the light even died down. He slammed into what felt like a person – Oh, good, it's a god – and pinned them up to a wall with his sword at their throat before opening his eyes to see his father looking at him with a mix of confusion, pride, and fear. He dropped his sword and stumbled back towards the kitchen table, only avoiding tripping due to Annabeth catching him. He ignored his mortal family's stares as he caught his breath, the sudden exertion too much for his still-burned lungs.
"Sorry, Dad," he choked out, reaching for the glass of water Annabeth was already pushing into his hand. The cool water soothed his throat and calmed down his coughing as Poseidon looked at him warily.
"I suppose I should have knocked first," his father stated. "I forget how much you have gone through sometimes."
"Well, that makes one of us," Percy responded. Annabeth squeezed his hand, concerned, and he flashed a small smile at her. She turned to Poseidon and nodded her head in respect.
"What can we do for you?" His mom raised an eyebrow at Annabeth's lack of formality, but Percy just shrugged. Poseidon didn't seem to mind though, as he smiled at his son's girlfriend.
"Today it is what I can do for you." Poseidon smiled at the two while Annabeth looked at Percy confused. The god frowned at the lack of excitement. "Unless you have changed your mind?"
Percy set the glass back down on the table, now empty, and turned his attention back to his father. "I thought it was going to be another month or so." He wasn't sure that it came out quite like a question. Poseidon merely shrugged.
"It worked out for today. We can go whenever you're ready."
"Where exactly are we going?" Annabeth asked. Percy flinched at the threat in her tone. He rubbed his neck nervously.
"Well," he started, "I know how much you're into architecture, and you never get to see all the cool underwater stuff that I get to, so I used my request for dad to get us a visit to Atlantis." Percy squirmed nervously as Annabeth continued staring at him with a blank look, the silence stretching to awkward lengths. Finally, his girlfriend heaved a deep sigh and grinned at him.
"You know, you really are too selfless for your own good sometimes." Annabeth's smiled softened. "But thank you. It means a lot." Percy smiled back at her, then turned his attention back to his father as Annabeth went to go grab her sketchbook.
"Do we need to pack anything or is this a day trip?" Percy asked.
"You two will be back by tonight at the latest. While I managed to get Amphitrite to allow this visit, she was adamant that we not be hosting… mortals," Poseidon replied.
Percy raised an eyebrow at the stumbled phrasing. "You mean she didn't want your illegitimate son and the favored daughter of your rival staining her palace." Poseidon winced and opened his mouth to apologize before Percy waved him off. "It's fine, Dad; I get it. I appreciate you allowing us to visit at all." He turned back to his mom, ignoring the frown still on the god's face.
"We're going to have a real talk about what we can do to help when you two get back, alright?" his mom asked, worry evident in her tone. A wave of guilt hit Percy as he realized just how much his breakdown the night before and his comments this morning had unnerved her. He nodded and gave her a tight hug. Annabeth came back into the kitchen with her bag and her sword strapped to her belt and gave the Blowfises hugs goodbye as well before grabbing Percy's hand and turning to the god of the sea.
Poseidon nodded at Sally and Paul and turned to the demigods. "Alright, close your eyes and brace yourselves; from my understanding, our children do not think very highly of being flashed places." Percy screwed his eyes shut and gripped Annabeth's hand tighter, and with a loud roar of water and a sharp smell of the sea, the world twisted around him and he was gone.
