Bruce rolled up to the Solace's home with a sigh of relief. He was lucky that he ordered a car without a driver. He didn't want to seem like he was flaunting his money around and scare his potential wife off.
Bruce followed Lady Aphrodite's advice in the letter that she had left behind. Bruce took a deep breath, got out of the car and walked up to the house door. Before Bruce could knocked he heard yelling. There was about five voices that Bruce could make out.
But there could be more if he waited long enough. When he knocked, Will Solace had answered it. The son of Apollo was dressed in old clothes and was covered in blue food dye and flour and had a blue dyed chocolate chip stuck on his forehead just above his left eyebrow.
He had neon green and and dark neon blue hair dye at the ends of his hair that looked like it was in need of washing out. His nails were painted black and looked like it had some sparkles on them. And it looked like Percy had written on his arm with sharpie to get ear, lip and eye piercings later.
Will looked a whole lot different then what Bruce had seen five and a half hours ago just off of Main Street.
"Hey Will." Bruce said nervously
"You nervous?" Will asked knowingly
"Is it that obvious?" Bruce asked
"I can see the sweat on your brow and you keep whipping your hands on your clothes. All signs of nervousness. You can't exactly tell me your not nervous with all that evidence." Will said
Bruce looked down a little. He couldn't lie or hide things from a child of Apollo. He learned the hard way with Roy when Oliver bring him over that first time.
"Come on in and don't mind the noises or the mess." Will said
Bruce walked in and saw what the home had to offer. It wasn't much, but it felt like home. Especially with the smells that were coming from the kitchen.
Bruce saw about five discarded hair dye boxes and tubes on the coffee table. There was an empty shampoo bottle and used gloves by the boxes and tubes. There was a fading smell of hair bleach lingering in the air. There were about three hairstylist bowls on the table with traces of dye and bleach that needed to be washed out.
There was also about four ratty old towels stained with dye and bleach piled on the floor next to a folding chair. There was so many colors on the towels to make Bruce think that they were used strictly for the hair dying process.
There was a piece of paper tapped onto the tv screen giving Percy and Will permission for the piercing parlor with both Clark's and Naomi's signatures. Saying that the two kids could get an one eye pierced, a lip piercing and up to 2 piercings in each ear.
"Oh, shut the fuck up Alabaster Torrington! And stop your whining right the fuck now!" Yelled Percy from the other room in her regal voice that she rarely used
"I thought Bruce was one of the delivery drivers from sushi haven or Chinese Palace." Yelled a voice that Bruce thought belonged to Alabaster Torrington
Bruce had met Alabaster only once before about a year and a half ago when he and a son of Ares were going back to camp after a quest. And it was for a short period of time. And the son of Hecate was unconscious for most of it.
"Alabaster you're just hungry! And you're a little bit too impatient for us to handle right now!" Will yelled back
"That's what I've been saying for the past ten minutes! He's like Hades fucken vacuum cleaner he uses for the Cerberus!" Percy yelled
Then there was this loud laugh followed by a snort coming from upstairs. It must be Naomi's laugh as all the talking was coming from the kitchen and living room.
"Percy's right. Al is a bottomless pit when it comes to food. Three years ago he ate almost a weeks worth of food at my house in one day." Yelled an unfamiliar voice
"You got that one right Ethan. Alabaster almost did that here a couple years ago." Will yelled
That was who the voice belonged too. Bruce had never met Ethan Nakamura before. But he heard things from Percy, Annabeth and Piper. And Roy whenever he was ever over. And sometimes Clarisse when she vents to Percy in the extra dining room in Wayne Manor that Bruce turned into a demigod med bay.
"And Alabaster is the reason why we are making dozens and dozens of blue chocolate chip cookies! And that we have about ten tubs of ice cream in the freezer!" Percy yelled
"And Alabaster's appetite is the reason why he rarely comes over here to visit!" Naomi yelled to everyone as she came down the stairs
Naomi then turned to Bruce when she reached the bottom and smiled.
"Sorry for the noise and mess." Naomi said
"It's fine. I have a lot of kids coming in and out of my house in Gotham. Alfred has a huge medical cabinet because of them." Bruce said
Bruce only said the kids because he didn't trust her with the Batman secret yet. The only other person in the Solace house at the time who knew about the Batman was Percy Kent.
But she was scarcely used to keeping secrets for the people who she loved with her whole heart. Especially when involved her home life.
"Really? Are they demigods?" Naomi asked with an eyebrow raised
"Yeah, they're demigods." Bruce said
"How do you know about them?" Naomi asked
"I've been working with Princess Diana of Themyscira and King Arthur of Antlantis for years. And Percy is Diana's adoptive daughter and Arthur's younger sister. And have even met Poseidon and Zeus before." Bruce said
Naomi turned to her son.
"You behave William." Naomi said
"Of course I will mom. I'm not my brothers. And I'm definitely not Roy." Will said
This caused Bruce to snort from not believing Will. Bruce knew what the children of Apollo were like. And behaving was not one of them. Naomi didn't believe her son.
"Percy you're in charge!" Naomi yelled into the kitchen to her unofficial adoptive daughter
"Sure thing Naomi!" Percy yelled back
Naomi started to walk out of the house.
"Will, Percy make sure that the both of you wash out your hair before you leave for the parlor!" Naomi yelled into the house
This made Bruce think Percy did her hair again. Maybe with even more bleach to put more color in. Percy had said once that the hair bleach and dye that she has was a gift from Aphrodite because mortal stuff won't work on her hair.
Bruce and Naomi left for the restaurant the billionaire had picked out. It was not too fancy or too casual. It was somewhere comfortably in between. And Naomi never once worried about her son or Percy and what they're about to do.
She knew their pain tolerance was high from getting so many beatings from training and going on quests. So she knew the piercings they were going to get were going to be nothing. Soon the two adults sat across from each other.
"I don't know how to start this." Bruce said
Naomi smiled.
"How long have you known Percy for?" Naomi asked
"I met her when she was five. She always seemed to like being everyone's comfort." Bruce said
Naomi nodded at what Bruce said. That was she thought about Percy first time she met her as well. Being the comfort for people who needed it the most.
Naomi and Bruce diverted their conversation away from Percy and the demigods that surround her to what they like to do in their spare time. They even shared stories.
"And then Berry tumbles down the staircase with Oliver at the top saying that he's king of the universe. Berry gets back up to his feet to try and win his title back but with no avail. And I have to mention that they were both drunk off of whiskey, scotch, beer and whatever the stuff the Amazons make for the gods at the time." Bruce said
Naomi laughed. She laughed because Bruce had strange friends.
"And during all of the shenanigans, where was this taking place? Or even when it was taking place? You never quite tell me." Naomi asked
"It was at the Kent home a few weeks ago. We were all there for a barbecue." Bruce said
They found that they had a lot of stuff in common. Like giving back to the community they lived in. Hanging out with the people that they loved. And their love lives being manipulated by Aphrodite.
Bruce made Naomi laugh and smile which made him smile in return. After dinner, Bruce took Naomi on a walk in a nearby park. The stars were out shining brightly, so it was beautiful. Naomi began to think that both Nyx and Artemis had done wonderful.
Bruce bought Naomi an ice cream cone and a couple flowers. After about four hour the date was over and Bruce drove Naomi home. When Bruce got Naomi to her home they saw that Will, Percy, Alabaster and Ethan were on the porch sitting on the chairs and the swing.
They were all talking and laughing and having a good time. There was the faint sound of Led Zeppelin playing in the background. The group of four had bowls of ice cream. And they had soda cans in a garage bag so it wouldn't make a mess.
Will's and Percy's hair was pulled to the point where both adults could see their freshly pierced ears with two earrings in each along with their new lip ring and eyebrow piercing.