Just a Percy/Artemis three-shot. Despite the popularity of the pairing, you rarely see them together in modern/mortal settings. Follow, favourite, review, tell me how much I suck; all appreciated.
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Lusciously rich, auburn locks? Check.
Piercingly bright, silver eyes? Check.
A fierce, feral glare that made him want to run to his locker and hide away inside forever? Oh, very much check.
In a cafeteria full of screaming, uncouth teens, that generally he was happy to count himself amongst, she was a total fish out of water. An effortlessly graceful fish, mind, but a fish nonetheless. A shark, maybe. But one of the smaller, more unassuming ones, gliding around in the pelagic quietly, before BAM, those teeth had taken a big chunk out of your side, and she was gone before you had a chance to react.
It was apt. He'd seen her reduce a 7th grader to tears.
To his right, the rowdiest, loudest bunch of kids in the place beckoned him over invitingly, but his mind was hell-bent on a different, tougher 'crowd'. He sent his friends a mischievous, 'Percy-patented' wink, and turned his attention to the loner, sitting on the deserted table smack-bang in the middle of the room.
The hostility rolled off her in passive droves, creating an invisible bubble that prevented anyone from getting close, and though she had joined the school in the middle of the year, the rest of the kids had quickly learned not to mess with her, or even talk to her. She just wasn't interested.
Percy watched her brow scrunch cutely as she narrowed her eyes at the math homework in front of her, apparently trying to make it spontaneously combust. He'd resorted to that many times before, with no success, and that was without kids screaming in his ear whilst he tried to concentrate. How she managed it with cartons of chocolate milk flying across the room, he didn't know.
In fact, he didn't know anything about her. Nothing meaningful, anyway. He'd heard she'd beaten up a guy in the year above, a 12th grader, after he'd tried hitting on her in the library. The school had been abuzz for weeks after, and rumours spread like the plague. Apparently she was a witch, a demon, a runaway criminal, and secret agent all in one. Still, the football team had lost their star quarterback to a broken wrist, and she'd been banned from the library for life.
Percy remembered being pretty impressed, and somewhat annoyed he hadn't been there to witness it. The library had never been so alive before that day, or since.
He gave his friends another glance, and they stared back silently at the idiot before them, wordlessly begging him not to. His lips tugged backwards into a wide, lopsided grin; their critical, daring looks making the decision for him, and their audible groans when he turned to the auburn-haired goddess only spurred him on.
One of the girl's eyes twitched as he approached, and his frame casted a noticeable shadow over her seated, haunched figure. This seemed to annoy her even more than the unintelligible mass of numbers in front of her.
"Do you mind?" she growled, voice low, dangerous, and oh-so perfect to Percy's ears. It sent a shiver down his spine, and the hairs on his neck stood on end, at the simple words. Her ferocity didn't deter him. In fact, it only made his interest in her grow, and while he noticed her fists clench tightly, those chilling, silver orbs didn't leave the homework, because, after all, a single utterance from her lips was enough to send anyone who got too close scurrying away.
But not Percy.
"Do I mind sitting down? Not at all! Thanks for the invite," he chirped, annoyingly bright and sprightly, even for his standards, before seating himself on the opposite bench, slightly off to the side, out of her immediate personal space. He wasn't an inconsiderate idiot, after all.
The instant he touched down, the rambunctious chatter of the cafeteria died to a light whisper, and suddenly, there were fifty pairs of eyes all looking in his direction, just waiting for the inevitable explosion, the timer of which was gradually counting down.
Those two, precious ingots of silver flickered up, and bored straight through his forehead, laying bare his secrets, until there was nothing left beneath that windswept mop of raven hair.
Her second line of defence. 'Make them feel so insignificant and uncomfortable that they'll run away to their mama's and leave you in peace'.
Percy was mentally prepared for it, however, and while those two orbs blazed brightly enough to melt him through and through, they only succeeded in making his heart skip a beat. After all, Percy's mind was always empty.
His lips tugged backwards in response to her offensive-defence, widening the smirk that plastered his face.
The girl was pissed.
For a split second, Percy really thought she was going to explode, such was the way her arms trembled, and her fists clenched; knuckles white against the ball-point pen she was holding.
The room was eerily silent, and all of the occupants watched with bated breath, just waiting for the inevitable reaction from the school's 'black sheep'. Percy tuned them out, though. His attention was held utterly by the person in front of him, though he was quite aware that a fist may have been flying towards his face at any second.
It didn't, and the room was vaguely disappointed at this fact.
The girl exhaled heavily through her nose, closing her eyes for a second or two, seemingly doing the classic 'count to ten' routine. Percy had his suspicions that she was on very thin ice with either her parents, or the school itself, when it came to behaviour. He was relying on it to protect him from any major physical harm. The risk was wholly worth it.
Her eyes opened, and immediately narrowed on the sea-green pair before her.
"There are plenty of other seats. Why don't you sit, for example, with your friends?" she chewed out quietly, rolling the words in her mouth as though the mere act of talking to another human-being was distasteful enough.
Percy gave a casual shrug, silently revelling in his small victory of not being slapped.
"They're way too loud. Was hoping for some quieter company, ya know?" he replied neutrally, making sure his friends heard him. He could picture the rolling of eyes behind his back as clear as day.
"I am not 'company', and this is my table. I suggest you get lost," she warned, gritting her teeth, but Percy was on a roll, immune to her threatening demeanour now that he knew she wouldn't hurt him unless he got close.
"Last I checked, the school owned these tables, but if it makes you more comfortable, I won't say another word," he tempted, in full Persassy mode.
The eyes of the room switched to the girl, sensing the 'make or break' moment in the exchange. If Percy was going to die, it was going to be within the next three seconds.
Once more, he could see the anger boil, and once more he was left surprised at her ability to shrug it off. The rage-fueled trembling ceased as quickly as it started, and the girl exhaled, breathing away her issues more expertly than Percy ever could.
"Fine," she eventually decided, realising that he probably had no ulterior motive, before leaning in towards her homework without a moments' recourse, and glaring at it more fiercely than when he had arrived. A collective groan of disappointment quickly passed like a wave through the room, as the nosy spectators realised there would be no blood spilled that day. Percy almost felt sorry for them.
Still, his immediate aim was complete, and it gave him a chance to look the auburn-haired 'mystery' over, without fear of getting an arrow through the eye.
He stood by his original thoughts; she was effortlessly pretty. From her rose-tinted cheeks (his fault) across that pale complexion, to those luscious, all-natural, red locks of hair; he'd never seen anyone like her, except maybe on a TV screen. In that regard, she looked utterly out of place, but if anything, her passive non-conformity drew him to her like a Siren's call. Maybe he was a masochist.
That said, it wasn't her appearance that wholly interested him, striking though it was. Percy didn't consider himself shallow. Obtuse maybe, but never shallow. Rather, it was the entire mystery that came with her that held his attention. She was smart in the classroom, and utterly without peers when it came to sports and other physical activities. She should have been the most popular person in the whole school, and yet, whenever Percy saw her, she had a permanent scowl etched on her face, and though no one else could see it, there was a certain sadness to her striking eyes that made him want to run up to her and hug away whatever her problems were. He never would, though, out of fear of...well...dying. But still, he was determined to find out what made her tick.
"Are you even listening, or is that head full of mushy kelp?" the voice snapped, forcing Percy back to reality.
The girl was glaring at him again.
"Huh? Sorry? What?" he replied smartly, confused.
She rolled her eyes. "I said, can you stop drumming your fingers against the table. It's very irritating," the girl repeated, affixing him with that familiar, killer stare.
For the first time, Percy was caught off guard, snapping the guilty hand back to his lap, whilst the other ran through his messy hair habitually, a light blush appearing on his Sun-kissed skin.
"Um, sorry. ADHD. I'll keep quiet," he apologised, not having realised he was doing it.
Once more, the girl rolled her eyes, but seemingly accepted his excuse, though not without muttering something about 'boys and their seaweed-brains' under her breath, before she returned to glaring at her math homework.
True to his word, Percy made sure he wasn't a further distraction to her, though this meant he had to look away from her simmering figure, or else he would lose himself once again. Gradually, the volume of chatter in the cafeteria reached its previous, party levels, and by the time the bell rang, Percy's eyes were closed.
There was a chorus of chairs scraping against the floor, in that hideous, 'chalk-on-blackboard' way, and though he couldn't see her, Percy sensed the girl shifting as quietly as possible, movements masked by the ear-wrenching sound. She was definitely light-footed, with the grace of a ballet dancer, but the ferocity of an MMA fighter. It only deepened his interest in her.
"See you tomorrow, Artemis," he said politely, with just a hint of smugness, keeping his eyes closed.
There was a frigid pause as Artemis froze, apparently failing in her mission to escape without him talking to her.
"I hope not..." she then quietly muttered, before grabbing her bag and silently stalking her way through the parted sea of students, leaving Percy with a fleeting glimpse of her retreating figure, and a permanent smile painted on his lips.
With the ice broken, and knowing she likely wouldn't stab him on sight if he got close, Percy moved on to the second part of his plan to make Artemis loosen up a little. It may have sounded sinister, or weird, to anyone else, which was partly why he hadn't really told his friends anything, but his intentions were pure. He simply refused to believe that Artemis was a bad person at heart, and where others before him had failed, he would succeed. Wasn't like he had anything else going for him.
The next morning was a drag, though it might have gone a lot faster if he hadn't glanced at the clock every five-seconds, waiting for the lunch-bell to ring. When it did, he all but vaulted over his desk, and was out of the door before the teacher had a chance to finish the word 'dismissed'.
Rather unsurprisingly, Artemis was already there, in her usual spot, with that invisible force-field that kept unwanted visitors away.
He had no idea how she always got there so fast, and while he would have pegged it as another characteristic of her mysterious persona (appearing in the cafeteria ten seconds after the bell rings), his group of friends were already seated as well. Perhaps they just had more merciful teachers than he did. Not that he was particularly complaining. After all, so long as Artemis beat him to the table, there was no way she'd ever leave once he sat down. That was the same as admitting defeat, and Percy had her down as a winner to the bone, despite her frosty exterior. Sometimes, his own perceptiveness frightened him.
A collective groan went up as he approached the 'forbidden' table, though whether it was his rowdy group of friends who took the prize for being loudest, or the auburn-haired mystery, he couldn't decide.
A smirk painted his lips; Artemis was not amused.
"What do you want, Jackson?" she said lowly, as friendly as ever, sighing with a deep level of frustration as he seated himself a respectable distance away.
Those silver orbs flickered upwards, holding that same level of animosity as the day prior.
Anyone else would have flinched beneath that pointed glare, but Percy found himself yearning for it more and more.
"Nothing. Just felt like some peace and quiet again. You don't mind, do you?" he hummed spritely.
Artemis clenched her jaw. "Yes. I do. Very mu-" she began, but Percy was ready with the interruption.
"Great!" he cut her off, drumming his fists against the table loudly, whilst his cocky smirk dared her to continue the argument. Their eyes met in a silent battle of wills, sea-green on deep-silver, to see who could hold their nerve. Percy could feel the tension, as did the rest of the room, but if Artemis assumed he was a push-over before, it was the perfect moment to prove her wrong.
She eventually blinked, and looked down at her math textbook, growling under her breath about 'insufferable boys', leaving Percy to silently revel in his victory once again. He'd be lying if he said she didn't unnerve him, but it was all about swallowing fear and damning the consequences. The reward was far more important.
As before, he tuned the rest of the world out, suddenly being struck as to why he was going to so much trouble. It was not something he could easily answer himself, but he'd like to think that everyone was worth a little effort on his part, and if he couldn't get through to Artemis by the end of the week? Well, at least he had seen those eyes up close. They had been burned into the back of his mind the instant he had gazed upon them.
"Jackson… You're doing it again… Kindly stop, or I'll break those fingers for you," she threatened, a slam of her palm against the table catching his attention.
His knuckles had been tapping a beat the whole time.
He glared at them as fiercely as Artemis glared at him, though she quickly went back to her reading with a shake of her head once he had held up his hands in silent apology.
The rest of lunchtime was a blur, and while Percy should have felt bored with nothing to do, he entertained himself by shifting every so often, just to see Artemis's brow scrunch in frustration. It was the simple pleasures in life.
By the time the bell rang, he was back to tapping his fingers on the table, but quite mercifully, she neglected to break his fingers before skating away.
"See you tomorrow, Artemis," he said, just before she could escape, like the annoying, persistent tick he knew he was being.
His words apparently reminded her that he was, very much, going to be sitting with her tomorrow, and Percy caught the distasteful sound just before she slipped into the mass of retreating students.
"Ugh…" she glumped.
Percy could only grin.
Wednesday was weird. Not least because the fire-alarm rang three times before lunch. A part of him found the idea of Artemis being the culprit quite amusing, in some vain attempt to escape from the inevitability of his presence. It wasn't her style, though. He certainly had her down as someone who confronts their problems head on. Preferably with a whirlwind of curse-words and fists.
She certainly proved the former when he arrived in the cafeteria, waiting for him to show up.
"Hey, Artem-" he greeted, but for once, it was she who did the cutting off.
Her palms slammed down on the table lightly. "Right, what would it take for you to leave me alone and never talk to me again for as long as you live?" she said, words flying out of her mouth quite whimsically, it had to be said.
Percy raised a brow, silently contemplating whether or not he should put the second part of his plan into motion, but quickly decided against it. She wasn't quite there yet...
His lips quickly morphed into that familiar, lop-sided grin. "Tickets for a two week cruise in the Bahamas?" he tempted hopefully, wide sea-green orbs almost begging, albeit jokingly.
Artemis wasn't amused, rolling her eyes and flipping open her textbook, much to his surprise. He expected an argument, in truth. "Just shut up, Jackson. I have a test after lunch, and I need to study…" she muttered, looking away from him, and concentrating on her studying instead.
He decided not to test her. It would have been a little harsh to scupper her grades, after all, but further than that, she seemed a tad muted than before; tired even. It was stress, he quickly realised, but it was hardly a shock. There was no way of telling what kind of pressures she was under, save the usual school-related bull.
In fact, it only strengthened his resolve when it came to getting her out of her shell. Her fighty, hissy, impenetrable shell of doom.
Lunch went by without a hitch, and though he daydreamed quite heavily, his cursed fingers decided to play ball, and not tap away at the table mindlessly. Artemis had said almost nothing, but had given him a lot to think about.
"Good luck with the test, Artemis. I'm sure you'll ace it," he called out after her quite sincerely, as the bell rang, signalling the classic 'Race-Away-From-Percy' event.
Artemis didn't acknowledge him.
Thursday was the day, even though it didn't seem like it at first. Percy dozed off during science, first period, and had worked up an all-mighty sweat during PE in the second period - nothing unusual there, but as he walked into the cafeteria during lunchtime, Artemis was nowhere to be seen.
In fact, he had been left quite troubled by her no-show, which he found quite surprising in truth. He found himself kinda missing the daily threats of broken fingers, and the persistent air of hostility. Sadly, he neither shared any classes with her, nor knew any of her classmates to find out if she was actually in.
It occupied his mind right up until the end of the day. Well. Right up until he was slammed against the lockers with enough force to dent the thin metal. The sound reverberated down the empty corridor, and while he would have fought back, the twin, silver orbs that he daydreamed about constantly were suddenly mere inches from his own.
The auburn-haired devil's warm, minty breath washed over his face, and for a few seconds, he was completely stunned. As weird as it sounded, he was surprised by just how tall she was - easily on par with his own height. The thing that didn't surprise him, however, was just how intimidating she was up close, with nothing but those moon-like iris's surrounding his vision.
For a second or two, nothing was said; their eyes did the talking - green on silver, and while Percy was vaguely aware of Artemis's forearm digging into his throat, nothing else seemed to register.
"Jackson..." she eventually said, rolling the name across her tongue in a way that Percy couldn't describe. Disapproval? Resignation? Frustration?
Maybe all three.
There was a tense pause, before Artemis withdrew her arm from his throat, and retreated a few steps.
Suddenly he could breathe, though the fact that she had even stolen his breath at all was only just registering.
"Artemis. We need to stop meeting like this," he replied, laughing a little nervously, rubbing his neck where she had quite expertly pinned him. They were in uncharted waters, he realised.
"I concur," was her simple reply, blowing a loose strand of her auburn hair from across her eyes. Percy felt the urge to reach out and tuck it behind her ear, but the fear of losing his arm stopped him.
"Didn't see you in the cafeteria today. Got a little worried," he said awkwardly, running his fingers through his own raven locks instead.
Artemis blew him off with a soft huff. "Hmpf. Mrs. Dodds kept me after class because I only got a B on my test."
Percy raised a brow. He would have killed for a B in math, but generally had to make do with a C- or a C. They were clearly held to different standards, but Percy already knew Artemis was smart. He attempted to appease her obvious disappointment. "Oh, well, a B is good! Just ignore her. I had Mrs. Dodd's last year, and was totally out to get me as well, so I wouldn't wor-" he began, but that voice cut through the air like a knife on paper.
"It's your fault, Jackson," she glared.
Percy was taken aback. "...What is?" he slowly asked, confused, but within a second, Artemis was on him, slamming him into the locker once more, with that arm digging into his throat, quite literally stealing his breath away.
"Everything! I sit in the classroom, and you're there sitting next to me! I lie on my bed reading, and you're there lying next to me! I walk in the park, and you're there walking next to me!" she hissed, lips millimetres from his own.
Again, he was taken aback. Artemis imagining him when she was alone? Her eyes swirled erratically - she was confused, he realised, and had he the balls, he might have voiced the first thing that to his head when she described the 'symptoms'.
Artemis liked him, and she was so out of touch she didn't know it.
He almost smirked. Almost. But he had the feeling that would have resulted in a black eye.
"Um...well… I'm sorry, I guess?" he said, giving another little nervous laugh.
Artemis's expression turned dark, and she slammed him back against the locker with a frustrated growl, before releasing him fully.
"This is serious, Jackson. I don't know what you've done to me, but you're going to make it right. Now. What do you want? What would it take for you to leave me alone in this hell hole?" she bargained, frowning heavily in his direction. Her obliviousness, which rivalled his own, he would freely admit, was terrifyingly adorable. He saw his opportunity, and took it.
"The school fireworks display is on Saturday. I'd like you to come with me," he said seriously.
It took a second for the invitation to register, but when it did, her voice was dangerously low. "A date?" she whispered, taking a step towards him in a slightly threatening manner.
Percy held up his hands in surrender. "No, no! Just...you know... two...acquaintances, together. Casual," he explained lamely.
Artemis appeared unconvinced, frowning as she approached. "This better not be a trick, Jackson..." she warned, gripping his shirt collar.
He shook his head, speaking in a softer tone. "Of course not. I'm not like that. I just think you could, you know...do with loosening up a little. Look, I promise not to bother you until graduation, if you agree to come. That's over a year away."
She seemed to consider it for several seconds, but Percy could barely handle the tension. His shower was definitely going to be set on the coldest setting as soon as he got home…
"...Fine. I'll come to the silly fireworks display, but I'm warning you, Jackson… Any funny business, and you'll be going up in flames like the rest of those rockets, got it?" the auburn-haired demon warned, and though Percy utterly believed her, the surrealness of the situation almost got to him.
"Yes ma'am," he swallowed, hiding his laughter.
Artemis released her hold on him, and suddenly he could breathe again. She gave him a smug look of satisfaction, though Percy couldn't help but feel like he had won. "Good," she said, almost to herself, whilst turning on the heel and gliding away, such that Percy watched her retreating, graceful figure with a level of awe and respect that he offered no one else.
"See you on Saturday, Artemis," he smoothly called out after her.
She froze on the spot, and just when Percy thought she was going to offer a polite and normal reply, he got the cold shoulder.
"...Yeah," she said, before sliding away, leaving a thoroughly stunned Percy in deathly silence.
A shark. Definitely a shark.
Tell me if you'd like to see a second chapter, and hopefully I'll see you soon.