Percy thought her life had gotten weird when she found out her dad was Poseidon, Greek god of the seas. She figured her life had reached maximum weird when she had to train her girlfriend's dead Norse cousin for his own end times prophecy. Yet here she was at her mom's dining room table. Talking to her sword. Again.
Apparently her sword was some form of sentient, which made her feel bad about all the years she had used it for monster killing. She, of course, only found out about this because another sword had told her. The sword of her girlfriend's dead Norse cousin whom she had just trained for naval combat. Gods her life was weird. That wasn't the only thing she learned about her sword today though.
"Et tu, Riptide?" Percy asked her sword, proud of herself for the literary reference. Annabeth was rubbing off on her. Percy had found out that not only was her sword secretly somehow sentient, but was also secretly a girl. Percy could swear she could hear the fates laughing all the way from her mom's NYC apartment.
The more she thought about it, the more staying in the closet made no sense. Camp was, to her knowledge, accepting of Nico and Will. She had no reason to believe Camp Jupiter or New Rome University were any different. Plus, with how weird her life and family was, being a trans woman was down right mundane. Yet still, the fearless heroine was scared shitless.
Not that Percy even really knew what coming out would mean. There were still feelings she needed to unpack. Heck, how did she even feel about the name Percy? Sometimes it felt gender neutral enough to get by and sometimes it felt so unbearably masculine.
She thought of the friend of the dead norse demigod cousin of her girlfriend she had just trained for naval battle. Alex, he had said his name was. The genderfluid child of Loki was the first halfblood like herself Percy had met, even though he was from a completely different pantheon. When she had heard Alex was genderfluid her eyes had immediately shot to Annabeth. Her girlfriend hadn't given any hints to a negative reaction.
"Looks like we really were made for each other, huh Riptide?" Percy asked. She could have sworn her sword pulsed in agreement.
When Annabeth entered the apartment with lunch, Percy couldn't help but jump. Almost like she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have. Not that Annabeth could know what she was thinking. Gods, please don't let her find out Annabeth had had mind reading powers for all these years.
"Everything alright, seaweed brain?" Annabeth asked. She was obviously concerned, the two knew each other well enough that Percy couldn't hide her less than happy mood if she tried.
"Nothing…" Percy didn't know what to say. "Just thinking, that's all." She knew that that wasn't an answer, not a real one anyways. Not one that would get Annabeth off her back.
"Olympus help us, Perseus Jackson is thinking?" Annabeth joked. Percy gave a laugh, though her heart wasn't in it at the moment.
Percy took a deep breath, putting her hand over her face, dragging it downwards. She trusted Annabeth. She trusted Annabeth with every cell in her body and yet she was still scared to say the few short words she knew she would eventually need to say.
Yet even with all her trust she knew there were so many things that could go wrong. For starters, if Annabeth was straight then this could be the end of their relationship. Their romantic one anyways. Or she could surprise him and react negatively. Annabeth had always been a feminist but Percy had never brought the subject up before.
Plus, once she told Annabeth then there would be somebody who knew. It would become a million times more real. For as long as it was her secret she could avoid it, put it off for a tomorrow that would never come.
Percy hated thinking that way though. She always had. She remembered a few years ago when Annabeth had called her a coward. If only Annabeth had known just how true that was.
"I just…" Percy took another breath. Annabeth turned her body, fully facing her. She looked as nervous as Percy felt. "Remember that whole bit with the mist after we helped out Magnus and the be yourself and all that hunkey doorie stuff?" Percy asked.
"Yeah?" Annabeth asked. It wasn't very often anymore that Annabeth looked confused yet Percy had managed it. Percy felt her stomach sinking even further, which she was surprised was possible.
"Well…" Percy didn't know how to say all the things she needed to say. "I don't know how to do that. I mean I do, but I don't." She internally winced at how badly she was mincing her words.
"Percy, you know anything that's going on you can tell me right?" Annabeth spoke slowly, like each word was a careful decision. "Whatever's going on we can get through. Together. Like always." Annabeth intertwined her fingers with Percy's, squeezing reassuringly.
Percy's heart swelled. She knew a better time wouldn't present itself, she needed to go for it or she may never do so. A coward no more.
"I'm trans." How two short words could feel like such a life changing event was beyond Percy. And she had a pretty high bar for life changing events.
Annabeth visibly relaxed with a quick sigh, her shoulders loosening before Percy had even realized how stiff they were in the first place. Annabeth gave Percy's hand another squeeze and smiled. A moment of silence passed as Percy watched the cogs turn in Annabeth's head.
"Alright, you're trans." Annabeth finally said. "So you prefer feminine pronouns?" Percy's mouth fell agape as she nodded. As practical as Annabeth was, this was a whole new level. Annabeth smiled at Percy reassuringly again.
"You know, you really had me worried." Annabeth said. "I was scared another prophecy had come up or something."
"Sorry." Percy said guiltily. "Didn't know how to bring it up." Her girlfriend looked at her sympathetically.
"Yeah, I can see why." Annabeth said. As understanding as she was being, Percy was still worried. She was glad Annabeth accepted that she was trans but there was still the question of them. As a couple.
"What about you?" Percy asked. "I mean how are you feeling? I mean don't you, you know, like guys?" Percy asked.
"Yeah." Annabeth said. "Doesn't mean I don't also like girls." Annabeth smiled playfully as Percy slumped back with relief. She had gotten over the biggest hurdle. She had Annabeth by her side, she had nothing to fear anymore.
"You know, I could get you in touch with Alex if you wanted someone to talk to. Someone trans, I mean." Annabeth offered. Percy shook her head. Would Alex be surprised? Percy didn't think she gave off closeted vibes but for all she knew Alex had seen right through her.
"Maybe in the future." Percy said. Now that Annabeth knew and was OK with her she didn't feel like she needed to talk. Sure, there was some personal stuff she still needed to work out but she now felt like she could tackle them. Maybe she didn't have to fully stay in the closet while she worked things out anyways.
"Alright, well, unless you have anything else you need to talk about, our lunch is getting cold." Annabeth said, grabbing the bag of takeout from the table. Percy felt her stomach rumble. Food sounded amazing right about now. Percy put Riptide away, a quick shink sound as it turned back into a pen.
Annabeth had picked up pulled pork sandwiches, which were quickly devoured. She had also made a smoothie run, of course getting Percy blueberry and mango for herself.
"And uh, needless to say this is between us for right now." Percy said as she finished draining her smoothie, getting a nod from Annabeth. Perhaps it wouldn't be a secret much longer, but a secret it was nonetheless.
"What about your name?" Annabeth asked. "Are you planning on changing it?" Percy shrugged as casually as she could. That was a can of worms she couldn't unpack now. With that the two of them lulled into a comfortable silence.
The two demigods had the apartment to themselves, Sally, Paul, and Estelle out on a trip. Sally was devastated when she found out they would still be gone the first week Percy and Annabeth would be back, though Percy reassured her they would be here for a while.
NRU had been a whole new kind of difficulty for Percy. She had never been the best at school, thanks ADHD and dyslexia, but her new courses were a level beyond a mortal high school. Probably beyond that of a mortal college as well for that matter. Add to that that Percy still had no clue what she wanted to major in and she wasn't exactly having fun. Annabeth, on the other hand, was flying through her architecture courses. Turns out once you design Olympus itself there isn't much to learn in undergrad.
She had hoped to get the gang back together when she returned to New York, but it was proving to be an issue. Everyone seemed to have so much on their plate nowadays both magical and mortal. There was the Argo II reunion in a month but she was dreading that because of…reasons.
After eating, Percy and Annabeth raided the apartment for board games. It had become a favorite pastime of theirs, involving enough skill and luck that they both had a fair shot at winning (there was a reason the seven had banned Annabeth from Monopoly though). Gods, monsters, coming out anxieties, they all faded away as the two got lost in each other's company.