Chapter 10 - Unrestrained
"Mr. D!" Percy yelled as he entered the Big House, Kronos on his tail.
"Perry," Dionysus sourly greeted, from one of Chiron's personal rooms in the Big House. His eyes narrowed sharply at the omega behind the demigod. "Krosbie."
Kronos bared his teeth, growling lowly at the alpha. "That's a girl's name. It's not even close to-"
"Hey – be nice," Percy said, firmly nudging Kronos in the ribs.
"Why does he insist on not remembering my name? Surely he should-"
"Hush," Percy chided, giving Kronos another prod. The omega shot Percy a sour look, but fell silent and instead gravitated over to the boom-box set on the windowsill. Dionysus watched him for several seconds, but Kronos seemed content alternating between trying to figure out how to turn on the thing and peering out the window at the volleyball court.
Dionysus turned to glower at Percy. "What are you doing in here, Perico?"
"Percy," Percy muttered under his breath.
"Percival."
Percy took in a deep breath and watched as Kronos turned, his mouth opening to say something that would probably get Dionysus angry at him, so he quickly spoke before the omega could. "Camp is ending soon," Percy said. "In three days. I… was hoping that I'd be able to take Kronos with me… back to Mnahattan."
Mr. D's expression darkened. "You actually think it's a good idea to take him back to your house? Him?"
"He hasn't hurt-"
"Two days ago."
"That was an accident," Percy defended. "Besides, Clarisse was asking for it. And she's perfectly fine now."
"I've had complaints from the nymphs and naiads," Dionysus informed Percy. "He causes chaos."
"He's bored," Percy snapped at the other alpha. "Stuck here all the time, unable to do anything but laze around – those shackles still on him. He needs to entertain himself."
"You are supposed to entertain him," Dionysus said rather pointedly. "Do you really want him back at your house? In Manhattan. With your mother, and your step-father? How do you suppose he'll entertain himself while you're at school?" When Percy hesitated, he smiled grimly. "Haven't thought about that?"
Percy considered leaving and coming home to their apartment having been trashed, a monster getting in or Kronos simply trashing everything solely for the entertainment value that he got out of smashing things. "No," Percy admitted. "But… I'm gonna have to trust him if I want any kind of progress here. That includes giving him back the power to turn me into a cockroach with a snap of his fingers."
"He won't even have to blink, Petunia."
"Okay, how did you even get Petunia out of my name?"
"You're avoiding the point, Perla!"
The boom-box Kronos was fiddling with exploded into life, a cacophony of men singing opera in Italian making Percy jump about two feet in the air as Kronos sprang back, looking completely horrified.
The omega's fingertips glowed despite the shackles.
"Wait – Kronos, no!"
Percy shut his eyes as the boom-box exploded. A piece of burning plastic whistled past Mr. D's ear and completely buried itself in the wall behind him, another bouncing harmlessly off the side of Percy's face. If he didn't have the Curse of Achilles, he'd possibly be permanently blinded.
Surrounded by burning plastic, Kronos looked rather sheepish. "Sorry," he apologised half-heartedly to the two alphas. It was obvious from his eyes that he didn't mean it and was only gleeful at the chaos he'd caused.
Mr. D began to glow, looking murderous, so Percy swiftly shoved his omega out the door and out of the line of fire. "Wait on the porch," he ordered sharply.
"Persephone, I'm so-"
"Don't you fucking start with the names too," Percy snapped at him. Kronos recoiled slightly, looking faintly surprised by Percy's anger. "Just… wait here."
Percy found Dionysus wrenching the foul-smelling, burnt plastic out of the wall. The god sighed before he snapped his fingers and summoned a new boom-box from somewhere, looking exactly the same as the other just as Chiron poked his head around the door and into his apartment.
The omega-centaur's eyes narrowed sharply at Dionysus. "What did you do?"
Dionysus turned to scowl at him. "Nothing. It was your daddy-dearest."
Chiron hummed. "Ah."
Percy shrugged slightly. "I mean, to be fair to him, it was your Italian opera singers and they managed to scare away the Stymphalian birds. Can't really blame him for reacting that way."
Chiron shook his head slightly. "Why was he even in here?"
Percy cleared his throat. "I was hoping to get the shackles off him, but…" he gestured to the new boom-box. "Then that happened."
"No," Dionysus said flatly. "They're not coming off. Not ever."
"You can't keep him chained for the rest of my life-"
"I most certainly can, Persephone."
Had Mr. D heard Kronos call Percy that? Probably. Percy ground his teeth together, only barely stopping himself from snapping at the god. "I thought he was my problem."
"He is, Percy," Chiron said, "but we don't want to risk any campers getting harmed."
Percy's jaw tightened. "Please? Look, I… I can't just stand back anymore. He's my responsibility, right? My omega? Let me actually do this. Unshackle him – I think he'll be a lot more reasonable if he feels he has more freedom." He turned to face Mr. D properly. "Please. How would you like it if Ariadne was restricted the same way Kronos is? I… there's got to be some way to give him back more control over his powers, but to still be able to know where he is, right?"
"And when it comes to the end of camp?" Chiron questioned. "What will you do then?"
Percy took in a deep breath. "I'll figure something out," he promised.
Dionysus was observing him thoughtfully before he finally sighed. "I suppose, in the end you are responsible for his actions. Perhaps I'll get lucky and I'll be able to turn you into a dolphin. Or a floating patch of kelp."
The demigod's lips twitched.
"Get him back in here," Dionysus relented.
Percy grinned. "Thank you," he shot over his shoulder on the way out, snatching his omega by the elbow as soon as he found his way to the porch. The alpha was certain that there was a bounce to Kronos' steps as he trotted after him back inside.
"I'll warn you now," Mr. D said, eyes glowing with power as he turned to glower at Kronos. "I don't trust you. If you place one toe out of line, these," he said as he closed a hand over the shackles, "will go straight back on. Is that understood?"
Kronos bared his teeth, just for show on principle, but he nodded. The shackles flared purple before unlatching and falling to the floor. Kronos' eyes narrowed at the thin band around his wrist.
"A simple tracker," Dionysus drawled.
"You think it'll stay on for long?" Kronos questioned, looking rather amused.
Mr. D shrugged. "Father and all of his siblings collaborated to get that made for you," he said with a sharp smile. "So I'll be rather impressed if you find a way to get it off."
"Now," Chiron said, eyes narrowing slightly at his father. "I do believe that the two of you are late for dinner now."
Percy nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Thank you, Mr. D. Chiron," he said, grabbing Kronos' hand and pushing him out the door, completely ignoring his protests.
Dionysus just smirked. "I'll be waiting for you to come back in a body-bag next summer, Percy."
"Percy," Chiron abruptly added after the demigod's retreating back, "inform Kronos that his room is still the basement! You two are not permitted to be alone in a cabin!"
The demigod alpha smiled. He decided not to mention to the god that he'd called him by his real name and instead simply left to run after the omega.
Kronos was already busy killing the local plant life when Percy arrived, finding a perfect circle of grey and withered grass and weeds around the Titan. The demigod sighed. "Really? Five seconds and you decide to kill everything around you?"
The omega shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Just testing that everything's working as it should." He waved a tanned hand, and the plant life sudden came back to life. "I wouldn't do that – not to mother's creations."
Percy blinked. "Mother? Gaea, right?"
Kronos' eyes flicked briefly towards his feet and the ground, before warily nodding. "Yes," he said stiffly.
Percy, getting the feeling that Gaea was not a subject he wanted to talk about, sighed. "Right. So… dinner?"
The Titan nodded slightly. "Dinner," he agreed.
The alpha laced their fingers together as they walked, causing Kronos to stiffen slightly, but Percy acted as if he hadn't noticed his reaction. After several minutes, the omega let out a faint sigh before relaxing slightly.
Percy smiled.
After a large dinner, Percy and Kronos retreated to the very edge of the campfire where Kronos was less noticeable, despite his golden eyes shining in the firelight as the colours flickered to reflect everyone's moods. The son of Poseidon tensed slightly as he caught Luke's cerulean blue eyes staring at the two from across the fire, Annabeth sitting next to him. Luke's eyes flicked to Kronos before returning to Percy, only to be greeted by bared teeth and an inaudible growl.
If the other alpha went anywhere near Percy's omega he'd be retreating without some of his limbs.
Kronos shifted slightly next to Percy, pressing closely against him so Percy got a sharp whiff of his scent.
"Oh," Percy said. "Right. Chiron said your room is still the basement."
The omega hummed. "Oh?" He smiled lazily at Percy. "And he's going to keep me there, is he?"
"What do you…?"
Kronos just smiled.
So Percy really wasn't surprised when – after he'd gone to bed – the door creaked open and a shaft of moonlight crossed over the floor, before the omega shut the door to the cabin. The alpha wordlessly shifted, letting the Titan slide under the covers next to him.
Percy blinked, eyes flicking down slightly. His eyesight wasn't perfect in the dark, but he was pretty sure… "Are you naked?" He asked suspiciously.
Kronos smiled in the darkness. "Habit," he said dryly.
"You sleep nude?"
The omega hummed. "Why?"
The alpha grinned widely. "No reason," he said, before shifting closer. His hands found the Titan's ass beneath the covers and his grin widened.
Kronos pressed himself flush against Percy, simply letting the alpha's hands roam where they pleased. He let out a low groan as a finger pressed against his entrance, and then Percy heard a splash of water and Kronos recoiled away sharply, spluttering and sitting out the saltwater from the fountain.
"What the Hades?" Percy gasped out, now feeling wide awake and Kronos looked a lot like a murderous drowned rat. "Oh my gods," he said as he saw the water moving and making words.
GO TO SLEEP
"Dad," Percy groaned, burying his nose into Kronos' hair as the Titan shook with laughter.
Kronos is loose! Yeah, that'll come back to bite Percy. So Annabeth is shooting for Percy, and Luke is shooting for Kronos xD ah this'll be fun.
ShadowsClaw: You can manage to wait that long? I'm constantly checking the stories I'm following. No, Kronos doesn't give a shit - he's just taking the opportunity to be a lazy little shit.
That Weirdo Writer: Thanks!
Mistress1296: Haha, yes, it has. But not just Percy xD. Luke has his eyes on Kronos too haha.