Ava is 16 when she announces that she has a boyfriend.
Percy demands to know everything about him, and she rolls her eyes as she answers almost every one of his questions. His name is Liam, and he goes to school with her and he's on the basketball team and please could they not embarrass her when he comes over for dinner tomorrow night?
Percy makes no promises.
He tries to be polite to the kid, for Ava's sake. He smiles wide and shakes his hand and doesn't mention that he could kill him in a second if he ever hurts his little sister.
He asks about basketball and whether he plays any other sports. Liam plays soccer, just for fun, but he doesn't skateboard, which is a disappointment. He asks Percy if he plays any sports and Percy says, "I fence" which makes Annabeth snicker behind her hand.
Annabeth nudges his leg with hers under the table during dinner, nodding pointedly to where the young couple sit across from them. They're both grinning stupidly, which undoubtedly means they're holding hands under the table.
Sally's food is still delicious, of course, but Percy's too focused on Liam to really give it the attention it deserves.
When he walks in on the two of them leaning awfully close together on the couch while a soft pop ballad plays over the stereo, he clears his throat and puts on his most intimidating expression, glowering at the poor kid. Ava goes bright red.
Annabeth is more understanding. She likes Liam, because he's interested in engineering and so they have a small sample of common ground to cover. He seems genuinely interested about her job as an architect. When he asks her if he'd know any of the buildings she's designed, Percy says, "The Empire State Building."
She shoots him a look and clarifies, "Renovations."
Percy softens when Liam looks suitably impressed.
Annabeth corners Percy in the hallway, splaying her hands on his chest. "What do you think?"
"I don't like it." He pouts.
"You don't like him, or you don't like Ava dating?"
"The second one."
"We were that age when we started going out."
"I know, that's why I'm worried."
Annabeth frowns. "Why does that worry you?"
"I was lucky," Percy clarifies. "How many people start dating the love of their life at 16? What if he breaks her heart?"
"We deal with it if it happens," Annabeth says reasonably.
He sighs and runs his hand down his face. "I could show him Riptide. You know, just to get the point across."
"Nice pun, but all he'd see is a pen, or a baseball bat or something mundane."
Percy pulls Riptide from his pocket and uncaps it, the blade glinting in the dim light. "Baseball bat could still work."
A gasp from the end of the hall makes them tense. Annabeth immediately steps in front of Percy and he quickly puts the cap back on Riptide, shoving the pen into his pocket.
Ava is glaring at him, but Liam looks positively stunned. He points at Percy and asks, "Why do you have a sword? And did you just put it in your pocket?"
They all turn to gape at him, Ava included. "Oh, gods."