Here's Part 2. So sorry for the long wait, guys! School calls, and today is the first day I actually have some time. Turns out, there's going to be a short Part 3 after this. I'm not one to plan out everything- I just have an idea and writewritewrite! Enjoy!
Jason and Reyna were the first ones to arrive, being the praetors, needing to straighten some things out with the nymphs before dinner. They'd given the whole camp a day off to roam around San Francisco so that the close-knit group of friends could have some time together alone.
With a sigh, Reyna dismissed the head nymph. It had been a long day, and she was under a lot of stress. Which was pretty strange, considering she hadn't had to run the entire camp. That, to her, was normal. This, namely Piper's presence, wasn't and unnerved her a little, throwing her off her game.
Jason noticed Reyna's exhaustion, his eyebrows creasing at her sagged shoulders. Any other person would have thought that she was standing as straight as a fence, but Jason had known her long enough to see the slight droop in her usually perfect posture.
"You okay?" he questioned softly, putting an arm around her waist and guiding her to the praetor's table (which was the one they were using to entertain their special guests).
"Of course," Reyna lied. Seeing Jason's raised brow, she sighed. "Okay, fine. I'm kinda feeling the pressure."
Jason pulled her closer to him, and Reyna snuggled into his side. "Hey, there's nothing to be stressed about," he consoled, giving her an award-winning smile. "You don't have to live up to any expectations. They all love you, and even Piper's willing to make this as not-awkward as possible."
Reyna cracked a smile. Jason always knew what to say to make her feel less worried, or lift some pressure off her shoulders, especially when they had huge truckloads of work to do as praetors. She pressed a kiss to his cheek, delighting in the small blush that erupted on the spot.
"I'll live."
Jason watched his girlfriend as she sauntered away, loving how her shorts complimented her long, toned legs and how she walked with purpose. She never swayed her hips intentionally or did anything to bring extra attention to herself, which Jason admired. She was confident, and that alone commanded the legion to her bidding.
He observed how she gestured as she scolded a pair of lares who were caught doing who knows what ghosts do in the kitchen. Her neat braid slipped from its place hanging down her right shoulder, swishing from side to side against her back as she shook her head animatedly to prove a point, frowning, her eyes and mouth steeled. Jason was pretty sure he looked like a lovestruck teenager by now, but who could blame him?
"Is there a problem?"
Reyna twitched the barest of twitches beneath his palm on the small of her back. Legionnaires were always taught to not be startled, to expect the unexpected. She was freakishly good at maintaining her composure despite probably jumping out of her skin on the inside.
She shot the tall blond an annoyed look, and replied curtly, "No, Augustus and Antony were just leaving."
Her voice held a dangerous, warning tone. The two lares shared a glance, then bowed and slid away from the two praetors. They knew, hell, everyone in the whole camp knew, that either one of Reyna or Jason alone was intimidating enough, but combined—no one dared to cross them.
"I had it," was Reyna's only comment. She shoved Jason's chest, noting how firm it felt under her palm with frustration (how could he be so… perfect, that she could hardly stay mad at him for long?). He rubbed his chest, smiling in the way a child would when they knew that their mother wasn't really angry.
"The others will be coming in a while," Jason reminded. He surveyed the Mess hall, which wasn't so messy without the two hundred campers. "Everything's ready, and—" he sniffed the air— "the food smells great."
Reyna nodded in agreement.
"I'm bored. Can we do something… interesting?"
Reyna raised an eyebrow, indicating for Jason to go on. "What do you have in mind?"
"Well…" he smirked, his azure gaze darkening. "We could do this…"
Barely giving Reyna enough time to look confused, his lips were on hers, hands either side of Reyna's body to support them. She reciprocated without a second thought, moaning into his mouth when he nipped on her lower lip. Soon, their tongues were battling for dominance, the kiss becoming heated and heavy. She pushed on his chest, upsetting his balance, then hooked a leg around his waist, pushing them down onto the chair as she straddled him. Jason groaned in pleasure, pulling her tighter and closer, kissing her more desperately when she pushed a hand into his hair. The heat between their bodies was growing unbearable, and Jason slipped his hands beneath Reyna's shirt, his long gone, thrown haphazardly away, Reyna's hands travelling down his broad shoulders to his lean but sculpted body.
"Guys? Jason? Reyna?" Loud raps on the doors of the Mess hall startled the couple out of their heavy make-out session, their faces flushed and eyes wide as they came to the realization that their friends had arrived. Reyna hurriedly scrambled off Jason's lap, retrieving his shirt and tossing it to him (no, she was not staring!) while she straightened her shirt and quickly rebraided her hair. Seeing her boyfriend's lost expression, she mouthed idiot, rushing over to him to run her hands through his hair and smooth it down (no, he didn't have to suppress a moan at the heavenly feeling of her fingers carding through his hair). Giving each other a once over, they opened the doors.
"Heeeeeyy guys!" Jason greeted overly cheerily. Percy side-eyed his cousin, weirded out. Annabeth, right at Percy's side, cocked an eyebrow at the blond suspiciously. Reyna, who was way better at hiding things from people, simply smiled and ushered the group in.
"Sorry about that, we had to deal with something in the kitchen," she explained calmly. No one questioned her.
As Reyna slipped into the booth, the others following suit, Leo made a point to squeeze in next to her. Reyna sat sandwiched between Jason and Leo, who kept on shooting not-so-discrete glances and winks at her. Normally, Jason took his best friend's behaviour for granted and didn't really mind, but it was his girlfriend, for Jupiter's sake! No one could blame him if he felt a little bit angry.
"Calm down, Sparky." Jason was startled by Reyna's light touch on his knee. She gave him a knowing look. "My hair's starting to crackle."
Oh. He must've accidentally made the air around him statically charged. It tended to happen when he got irritated.
"Sorry."
Dinner turned out to be fine. Percy and Annabeth had a little fight, though.
"Seaweed Brain, wanna share dessert?" Annabeth asked with a smile.
Percy glanced at his girlfriend with a grin that looked more like a grimace. "Are you sure, Wise Girl?"
"Yeah, I probably can't finish it anyway. I mean, a whole ice-cream banana boat sundae!"
"A whole ice-cream banana boat sundae, Annabeth. We never get to eat such heavenly delicacies…"
Annabeth rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's childish antics. "Look, if you don't want to share, then fine. It's totally fine."
Percy pecked her on the cheek with a smile, then dug into his delicious dessert. Mmmm…
"You know, you could try being a little romantic."
This started the son of Poseidon, who immediately wiped his mouth and looked at the blonde. She picked at her ice-cream, avoiding his sharp gaze. The whole table was silent, watching the drama unfold between the two.
"What do you mean?" he asked, incredulous.
"Oh, I don't know. Just that sometimes, you're so oblivious I don't even know if you're pretending or not. I always have to initiate. Like our first kiss. And our second one. And I practically asked you out too… Twice."
Percy's frown deepened, his sea green eyes darkening. "Wise Girl, you know I care about you. I'd do anything to—to make you happy, but is this really a problem? Don't you know that you mean the world to me already?"
"Well…"
"How about this." Percy reached into his jacket pocket, and retrieved a small box. It was a dark forest green, and had Wise Girl embroidered into the leather. Annabeth gasped, her eyes wide.
"Percy…"
Smiling at her reaction, he opened the box. Inside was nestled a smooth, thin band that seemed to be made out of spun stone. As light danced off its surface, it seemed to change colours from silver grey to black, confusing the eye.
"Annabeth Chase—"
"Percy, stop! We're only eighteen, we can wait for a while—"
She halted abruptly when he started laughing. "What?" Why was he laughing? This was no funny matter!
"I knew you were going to take this the… well, funny way. I'm not proposing to you, Wise Girl. Not yet."
Annabeth bit her lip, blushing out of embarrassment in front of their friends, but mostly because of the whispered not yet at the end of his sentence. One day, maybe, hopefully, when the time was right. One day.
"This is a sort of promise ring. Because even though we're still finding our way in our lives, I know I need you by my side. We went through the hardest part of our lives together. You helped me discover the person I really was. You gave me my identity, and years of your life fighting right next to me. And if the thought of me not being eternally grateful and thankful to the gods for bringing you into my life ever crosses your mind, then… I really don't know what to do. You were my anchor to humanity when I was in the Styx, and you're my anchor to reality now. I want you to know that I need you. I'll always need you. And you have to know that I'm always by your side and I'll always support you, no matter where the road ahead takes us. I promise."
Annabeth gulped, her face threatening to split apart from her huge smile. She was speechless, and all she could make herself do was fling her arms around Percy's torso and bury her face in the crook of his neck. Millions of emotions ran through her mind—all about Percy. To think she accused him of not being romantic enough! Gods, she would've beaten herself up if she could.
"Hey, Wise Girl, I need to breathe," Percy wheezed.
"Sorry." Annabeth released him, wiping at her eyes before any tears fell. He only chuckled, taking her right hand in both of his.
"No, I want it on this one." She swapped her hands around so he held her left hand instead. Percy's eyebrows shot high.
"You sure?" he clarified, plucking the ring out of its velvet box. She nodded.
Carefully, tenderly, he slipped the ring onto her fourth finger. One day.
Taking her hand back, Annabeth admired its simple, yet unique beauty. She had no idea what the material was, but it was breathtaking. The detail was, too—there were two tiny symbols etched into the ring. One was a trident, the other an owl.
"What's it made out of?" she asked, her eyes still stuck to the ring.
"It's a Stygian iron alloy," Percy answered, relieved and happy that his girlfriend loved his gift. "I got Nyssa to make it for me using Beckendorf's old notes and instructions. I figured it would be symbolic."
He was so thoughtful. Stupid perfect boyfriend. What could Annabeth do for his next birthday that would even be on the same level as this? Gods, she loved him so much it hurt, but that boy really made life hard.
"Thank you. So, so much. I love it. This is probably the most thoughtful gift ever."
"Only for you, milady," Percy grinned, making a show of kissing her knuckles and using the worst fake British accent he could muster.
"And I thank thee, milord."
To be continued…
Don't worry, no cliffies here! It's just that there's already quite a lot and I don't want to shove everything into one huge chapter. So I split it up again. I think it's fair to say this will be a six-shot. Hahaha.
I'm suffering from lack of Percy Jackson books syndrome. Maybe during the next holiday, I'll just reread every single book and spot all the Jeyna and Percabeth bits that I missed!
I'm so sorry for the wait. Really. I hope you guys understand. Thank you, as always, for your support! Review!
time-failed-us
