A/N: My friend Jason Graceless and I are doing a forum about Perssassy and general puns and sarcasm. PM me if you're interested, or if you want to mediate. It's called The Persassy Jackspun Party, so check it out if you're interested. ~M
The stars were twinkling and the air was soft, like the world was holding still for a picture. The sea was glass and reflected the stars so perfectly that the horizon was unseeable. The water seemed to melt into the sky at an undefined point and go on forever, like the sky was the sea. The only disturbance in the water was two pairs of feet walking along the still water making small ripples that seemed to echo into the sky.
The whispers were almost silent, ghosts of words drifting through the air more than actual words. It seemed they didn't want to disturb the perfect silence of the night.
Percy's arm was around Annabeth's waist, hers around his. There was no space between them as they walked, their feet in time perfectly. They were almost like one entity, split into two bodies.
"It's beautiful, don't you think?" Annabeth commented, glancing at Percy, who gestured noncommittally.
"I guess. I've seen better." He smiled and leaned down to give her a proper kiss. Not like those little stolen moments from the daytime. They stopped walking and stood, two halves of one perfect moment. Cliché or not, Percy knew his comment had been well received.
"But it's crazy about Taylor, don't you think!" Percy said, finally asking the question that he'd been holding back all day. Nobody else seemed disturbed by this, but he was majorly weirded out.
"Well, it was bound to happen at some point, I mean, some of us are bound to survive. I think it's hopeful." She leaned into his hug, both facing the ocean, her back to his expression.
"I'm a big fan of demigod kids." Percy slid his eyes to meet Annabeth's. She snorted, catching his drift.
"No, but really, it makes sense! Think of all the cool stuff that she'll be able to do! Man, I hope she can't charmspeak. We'd all get roped into all sorts of crazy brilliant stuff." Percy waved one of his arms around to emphasize his point, but his other hand remained on her hip. Both of her hands were on his, both of them grounded in the moment.
"Can you imagine how incredible our kids are going to be?" Annabeth whispered softly, so quietly Percy almost thought he'd imagined it himself. He pulled her a bit closer and rested his head on the top of her curls. He smiled.
"They're going to be totally awesome!" He whispered back, an excited smile gracing his face. She turned around and matched his smile with her own.
Annabeth stood on her tip toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his neck, smiling. He put his arms around her waist and snuck his face into the crook of her neck, leaving no space between them. Percy suddenly smiled and picked her up from the sandy ground.
"What are you- Percy Jackson do you think this is some kind of joke?" He had picked her up with his arms under her knees and shoulders like a baby and was walking into the water. He was waist deep before he thought better of his idea.
"You're right." He said, gently pitting her down in the water so she stood next to him. He reached over his shoulder and pulled off his t-shirt. He threw the garment a few meters to the beach, "Can't have that getting wet, can we?"
His tan abdomen flexed impressively. He raised an eyebrow at Annabeth.
"Checking me out?" He said, smiling and stretching his shoulder in what he assumed was an impressive manner. Annabeth chuckled softly, but shot him a wink. She grabbed the bottom hem of her shirt and pulled it off, briefly getting it caught in her hair. She threw it to the beach, a foot further than Percy's throw.
"Are you?" She asked, answering his question with a question. He just smiled in response, deeply enjoying the direction this evening had taken. She pulled her hair out of the messy bun, if you could even call it that, and stuck the band on her wrist.
"We're going swimming right?" She asked, seeing his confused expression.
"Yea, yea..." he replied, his expression a bit dazed.
"You alright?" She asked, grabbing his hand. "If you're uncomfortable, I can get my shirt, I was just messing around,"
He cut her off with a kiss, almost laughing at her misunderstanding.
"No, you stay just the way you are. I was just a bit confused as to how lucky I am to be with somebody who is so perfect." He smiled, and she couldn't help but return the smile.
"I like to think it's a bit more than luck that I got you. It was quite a fight to stay perfect with you." She replied. She stepped closer to him in the cool water, tucked under his arm. They stood like that, her arm around his waist, his arm around her shoulders. Their scars had faded to everyone but each other, but they couldn't care less.
"But for real, are we going to swim?" Annabeth asked, turning to face him. She moved her hands up his side, across his chest to his shoulders. His hands slid down her arms then to her waist, her back to the moon. He couldn't see her face clearly, but he knew she looked beautiful.
"Yea, enough with this romance crap. Let's go swimming. You weren't planning on breathing tonight anyways." He smiled, letting her take that how she wanted.
"Yea, you totally took my breath away," She shot back sarcastically, her eyes rolling attractively. They walked into the dark water, very little space between them as they walked. They were waist deep in the water; standing on what Annabeth assumed was a sandbar. She was no expert.
He dove into the water, his presence suddenly gone from her side. She dove after him, their eyes open and seeing the world.
"Can you hear me?" Percy thought at Annabeth, his face all squished up in concentration.
"No," She said, her voice echoing in the bubble that was around her head. "I'm not a fish, and you're talking out loud."
He scowled, sticking his tongue out at her and shooting them under the water, being very careful to check the pressure so she was alright.
"That's better," Percy said with a sigh, his hands behind his head like he'd done something very impressive. The bubble seemed smaller than the others, but perhaps it was Annabeth's imagination.
"How deep are we?" Annabeth said, looking up dubiously. Percy looked around, doing a quick check of how deep he could bring her without freaking her out. She was pretty cool with lots of things, but being underwater was new, so she liked to not go too deep. Percy on the other hand, was a big fan of seeing how deep he could take her before she yelled at him.
"Maybe 20 feet, probably less," He said nonchalantly. She smiled, like this was an acceptable depth, and moved closer to him, which wasn't difficult in the bubble.
"Good, you know I hate being really far underwater." He drifted closer to her, so she was on his lap, their legs tangled. His hands were on her stomach, which made her self-conscious, but his head was on her shoulder, gently kissing her neck.
"Stop it," he said quietly. Annabeth blinked once, confused.
"Stop what?" She said her hands on top of his, leaning back into his chest.
"Quit worrying; you're beautiful. And yes, I'm sticking to that one. Because you are," He said, tightening his arms around her waist, the tops of his thumbs brushing the band of her bra.
"I know you say that, but," He gently spun her around in his lap so he could face her.
"Do you really think that?" He said, his voice cracking at the end. The very idea that she didn't think she was beautiful was heartbreaking to him.
"Well, yea. I mean, you're a bit biased. I'm not tall, and my face squishes up too much when I smile, and I'm not thin enough, and my hair isn't straight, and I have literally no curves, and-" He cut her off with a gentle kiss. He'd heard enough.
"No, you're not tall, you're adorable. And yes, you're face does squish up when you smile, and it's beautiful. And I'd take a girlfriend who could beat me up over a skinny little one any day. I find that very sexy. And you're right, your hair isn't straight. But I don't know if I ever told you this, but the first time I saw you, I thought you had princess curls, so you can calm down about straightening your hair. Why do you think I hate it when you do that stuff for school? You're so much more beautiful when you're Annabeth, not that girl at school. And on the topic of curves, you're just dead wrong," He said, giving her a dramatic once-over.
She laughed, making their bubble shake.
"Thank you," she whispered.
She pulled her hands away from her stomach and put them on his shoulders, her legs already on either side of his hips.
She hugged him tightly, her smile tangible even though he couldn't see her face.
"Please love yourself Annabeth. Because I promise I always will." He gave her a kiss that proved his point, her every insecurity thrown from her mind.
They pressed their foreheads together when they were out of breath and smiled.
"I've been waiting all day for that," Percy whispered.
"Damn right." Annabeth said with a smile.
A/N: Well, there we go. Hope you all enjoyed! The next chapter will have some Frazel. You absolutely will not review.
Nope, don't do it.
I see you, don't even think about it.
But please review, you rebellious kid, you.
Muchas gracias, my lovelies, stay incredible, and DFTBA!~M