We went back to the girls' room. "It's kind of late and my school is far away, so I'm afraid I'll have to stay with you guys" Annabeth's mouth twitched into a smile for a fraction of a second. This usually meant "Things are going great for me, but I can't let anyone know or they'll stop doing what they're doing" This was probably a battle strategy thing rather than a trust issue thing. I could almost see her brain working to create the perfect response "Percy, you have means of extremely fast, effortless transportation. Your argument holds no strength and I agree with your conclusion 100%" "I'm assuming my opinion doesn't matter here" Piper said. "Piper, I'm super gay for you and Percy would do anything that I want. If you really wanted your opinion heard, you could convince both of us easily" "Okay I don't really care, Percy can stay. It's not like he's gonna take up that much extra space" "Why is that?" "Because any moment, something triggering will happen and then it'll take a particle accelerator to separate you" "Can't argue with that, can we seaweed brain" "Hey, I'm just being protective of my girlfriend's emotional health" "I wasn't complaining. I literally stated a good thing about you two. Why are you defending yourselves?" "Trauma" Annabeth suggested. "Trauma" I agreed. "What kind of trauma would lead to this specific reaction?" "It's not a specific thing" Annabeth explained "And more of a general feeling of 'Things are going in a direction that is not good for me and I need to do something about that' that tends to build up after a few years of almost dying on a daily basis" "I think I know what you two need" "What is it?" "Therapy" "Percy, do you think we need therapy?" After a quick exchange of consent glances, I kissed her. "Are you happy Annabeth?" "Yes" "Do you feel loved?" "Yes" "So do I. See Piper, we don't need therapy" "I still think you do, but if I try to convince Annabeth, she'll just call your mom" "My mom would be a great therapist" "Since when has good ever been enough for Annabeth?" "I think Sally would be good enough for me if I needed therapy, but I don't because I got Percy" "Fine, maybe you don't need therapy. I already had this discussion with just Annabeth a while ago and apparently triggering a massive dopamine release is the solution to all of her mental health problems. It is not" "It is a solution. Also, Percy and I are working through our trauma, and doing that actually requires large amounts of endorphins" "Let me guess, there's some study that proves that cuddles help with trauma" "Well, there will actually be a study showing that ecstasy helps with PTSD. It does so via oxytocin, so having a fulfilling relationship should also work" "Did you just say 'there will be a study'? How can you know the results of a study that hasn't been conducted yet?" "Will told me about it. God of prophecy and all that. Most Apollo kids occasionally get small obscure glimpses of the future, like a study that won't be published for another eleven years" "I give up. Percy, make yourself at home. As well as you can do that without having anything with you" "Don't worry" Annabeth said. "I have, as always, over prepared and packed some stuff for you" She tossed me a duffle bag full of clothes. "That's not over preparing, that's planning with all options in mind" "You're right" "You're actually agreeing with me, seaweed brain, instead of staying with your own opinions" "Well yeah, your opinion makes me look better. It doesn't make me look like a paranoid overthinker. Even though I probably am exactly that" "You're a paranoid overthinker?" "Of course. Have you met me? I expect enemies behind every corner. And in front of a lot of corners" "Can't you see that there's no enemy in front of the corner?" "I can see friends there, but all of my enemies started out friends, so I never really know" "At least you'll get to hold onto me for a while. A very long while hopefully. If I can, a lifetime and more" "Thank you" Annabeth whispered. She inched a bit closer to me, the universal symbol for 'I want a hug'. I granted her her wish.
Annabeth
Percy put his arm around me. Then he also came closer. Since he was on my right, I could feel his heart beating, but maybe that was just confirmation bias. Either way, having him there gave me somewhat of a feeling I rarely felt. "Safety". I hadn't meant to, but I'd said that out loud. "Give me more" I demanded. "But only if it's okay with you, if not that's fine. See, I told you I was an overthinker" "It's no problem. But with these clothes it's gonna be a bit uncomfortable. Maybe we should get changed first" I agreed. Percy respectfully turned away. This was the only time I wasn't sad about him doing such a thing; in fact I was glad he did. Of course I wasn't going to go full on Artemis on Percy if he saw me like that (partially because I lacked the godly might to do so) but I didn't exactly enjoy it either. Once we were done changing, we did everything else necessary to get ready for bed. Waiting so long for the promised safety was… tantalizing would probably be the right word here.
After what felt like an eternity, we arrived back in my room. Piper had used the chance to get changed herself. "I think I'll leave you two lovebirds alone now" She said as she left the room. "Hey girl, you wanna feel some safety" Percy said with the best seduction voice he could pull off. I personally found it pretty good, but I was in love with him after all, so that might have skewed my perception a little bit. "Oh, absolutely" I answered. Percy gently pulled me onto the bed, into the same position we had been in before, but not before pushing the blanket all the way up to the wall. "I think this is the part where I ask you for more" "More safety?" "Exactly" Percy gently grabbed my shoulder and pushed me all the way onto the bed. He did so in such a way that my head landed on the pillow. I could have made a somewhat mean joke about his ability to predict my path so precisely, but I felt that that might ruin the mood. Percy lay down next to me, so close I could once again feel his heartbeat. "Is that it?" I whispered. "I think I can do better" Percy responded. His first improvement was to get riptide and swing at the air. "No monster will get past that" I said, partially to trick myself into an even stronger feeling of safety. Hey, maybe I have issues, and maybe the ways I dealt with them weren't the best, but at least they were effective- at least short term- and not unhealthy. "I think we can step this up a bit more" Percy said just as Piper came back in. "What are you stepping up?" She asked with a smirk. "Not something to be smirking about" Percy answered. Piper repeated her question, this time with a completely straight face. I never thought I'd use the words Piper and straight in the same sentence. Wait, I actually had, but it had been something like "Piper, you're making me less straight", so it doesn't count. "We're stepping up the safety because apparently Annabeth likes that" "Well, good thing you're in this room with solid walls that provide additional safety" Her words gave me so much safety-induced joy that I didn't even care that she'd used Charm speak without my consent. I suddenly noticed that I was moving my hands around a lot, so I stopped.
"So, back to stepping it up" Percy said. Now I realized why he had pushed the blanket away before. It was so we wouldn't be laying on it now, which enabled him to put it over us now. "I think that's a bit too warm" "Yeah, I mean being so close to you, that's pretty hot" "Percy, stop being so horny" "Sorry. I'll cool us down" He pulled one hand out of the blanket and made a small movement with it that transformed my bed into a convincing emulation of San Francisco. With the mist came the cold, which in our case just meant lack of intense warmth. "There's other people here too" Piper complained. "Too bad for those people" Seaweed brain responded. My seaweed brain. "Maybe those people should also get under the blanket" Percy disregarding Pipers needs in favor of mine was probably a bit mean, but since I was usually the one who's needs where being ignored and Piper had a history of getting everything she wanted, I really didn't care. Also, I was feeling so comfortable that there was no going back now. I had Percy next to me and a blanket covering most of me. But it still wasn't quite enough, so I took the blanket and pulled it over both of our heads. Don't worry, this blanket was school issued quality, so we could still breathe under it, even I with my Tartarus damaged lungs. "What was that for?" Percy asked, turning his head towards me under the blanket. There was no criticism in his voice, just… playful curiosity I guess "I didn't have two layers of protect every part of my body, so I wasn't safe enough" "Valid. So, are you safe enough know?" "Remember what I told you about childhood debt and how I'm chronologically touch starved? That same logic applies to feeling safe and protected as well" "Hey, I'm the one with the schisty childhood. You don't get to claim that title" "This isn't a trauma competition, so you better stop arguing before you trigger yourself" "That would probably happen, so maybe I should shut up. Were where we?" "I have a massive safety debt" "Well, that's why you have me now" He rolled over to face me, I did the same, such that we were almost touching. I closed the gap, then slip down a bit such that my face was at the same level as his neck. He put his arms around me. "You're so sweet" I whispered. "What did I do to deserve this?" "You lived through what you lived through? Safely is not something you earn. It is something that life creates a necessity for. You are and will always be entitled to safety, and I'm willing to provide" "You don't understand how much this means to me" "I do. Gabe was very good at making me feel worthless. Sometimes he degraded me to nothing more than his personal servant. And that was the best case scenario" "And the worst case?" I already knew the answer and the question had probably triggered him, so asking that had probably been very stupid. "Sorry" "It's okay. The answer is ashtray"
Percy put his hand in mine, allowing me to trace his scars. It didn't take long until I found the right one; small, circular, seemingly a burn mark. "Are you okay?" I asked, half joking, half concerned. "I'm here with you now. That makes it a bit better" I realized that as much as I liked Percy supporting me, he needed me too. I wiggled back up to be face to face with him (because being protected by someone smaller than you probably doesn't feel very reassuring) and returned the hug. "I know you're usually the one who says this, but you're entitled to safety and I will provide it" "Usually? I said that like a minute ago" "No arguing, it ruins the mood" "Right"
We were silent for a few minutes. Eventually, I heard Percy's breathing get slower and more regular. Even though he was asleep, he was still holding me tight. A few minutes later, I was asleep too, despite the hour or so that I'd slept in the afternoon. I was probably so sleep deprived from being constantly vigilant that that had just put me back to normal.
Percy
Believe me when I say that there's nothing (except maybe illegal drugs) as calming as cuddling your girlfriend under a blanket. Originally, Annabeth had been the one seeking comfort, but after I had slightly triggered myself by talking about Gabe, she'd been happy to give some back to me. Feeling completely safe and protected, I quickly fell asleep. Usually, I was the one protecting, so the situation was a bit unusual for me, but I somewhat enjoyed it.
That night, something extraordinary happened. I had a nice dream. I was used to reliving memories in dreams, but those were usually bad memories, like being used as an ashtray. But today, I got something better. The dream started out in a dark void. On the sides, flickering lights appeared. What was this place? In front of me, a clearer shape appeared. At first it was a light colored blob in a yellow frame. The blob formed into a face and the yellow frame became blonde curls. As my vision cleared, more details appeared, but the most notable was the girl's (I could now see enough to tell the face was likely a girl) steely grey eyes. She looked down at me and said "You drool when you sleep"
The scenery changed. We were now sitting in a small room lit only by my sword. Grover was also there, but he was asleep. We were talking about the upcoming war. Annabeth said that even if Poseidon were to fight Athena, she'd fight on my side. "But why?" I asked. "Why would you ignore your parentage?" "Because you're my friend seaweed brain. Any more stupid questions?" I thought about that sentence for a while. The part about being friend, not the part about asking stupid questions. It was not something I heard often and judging from the way Annabeth had said it, she probably didn't say it very often either. There was something about her that made her seem very lonely.
So, this is the chapter. I just felt like writing some fluff, but I feel like it reads more like smut. This doesn't mean it should be interpreted as such. And I know I got some of the dialogue wrong. Blame it on Percy's bad memory and the fact that it is a dream