Song Recommendation: "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service. This is one of my favorite songs of all time and actually introduced me to one of my other favorite bands. It's super pretty, has a great sound, and just scratches the right part of my brain. And for that matter, I feel like Percy would really like it as well. Maybe that's because I've put bits of myself in the character, but I do think he'd like it. It also says a lot about who he is. He's on top of the world, doing what he wants. Especially in regards to Artemis. The common sentiment is that she's abrasive, or closed off, but he doesn't see that and he's happy to be around her and have a good time and just not care about what everyone else thinks. And for that matter, he thinks being with her is like looking through rose tinted glasses. It's all beautiful and good as long as they're together, even if he doesn't quite realize it yet.

Percy sighed contently as he slumped down into his seat. It'd started raining a little bit as they were driving around, looking for a place to park, but he didn't mind. There was something soothing about the sound of the rain gently plinking against the roof as little droplets were caught on the windows. And, it was blessedly warm in the car. They were squared away under the blanket, idly listening to the music. Artemis was reading again while Percy was simply fiddling with his pencil as he drew. He tended to keep a little notebook just so that he could doodle when he wanted to do something.

At the moment, he was drawing the front dash. It wasn't a big drawing or anything, but he was trying to cram as much information and detail into it as possible just so that he could exercise his skills a little. Honestly, he would have liked to been dinking around on his guitar, but there wasn't exactly much space for that. Plus, he was enjoying drawing as he tried to focus in on the specific features of the things around him. The son of the sea had started on one side of the car, first drawing the wheel, before steadily moving over. He'd steadily sketched all the way towards the goddess's side before ending it right before the door.

It wasn't a frame perfect picture either. He'd intentionally left the top left and right sides underdeveloped, letting them slowly disappear into nothing so that one would focus on the center. And, he liked to think that it turned out pretty well. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it wasn't bad either. It was still quite obviously the inside of his truck.

He glanced around for something else to draw. Almost on instinct, his eyes settled on the goddess. She had one leg up on the seat while nestling the book in her lap just above the blanket as she slowly flipped through the pages. Percy wasn't quite sure what she was reading, but it looked to be some sort of poetry. Seemed fitting, though he couldn't quite place why. He glanced down at his notebook only to find the beginnings of a sketch already present. The son of the sea hadn't even processed the beginning of his drawing, but it did look quite nice. Then again, he imagined it was because the goddess was a rather beautiful individual in the first place. Still though, it did look quite nice.

It captured the quiet contours of her face through the frame of her ever-striking hair. Sure, there wasn't any way to color it other than using light shading, but he thought it captured the look quite well. Percy hadn't quite been able to see her eyes, but he'd perfectly drawn what he could. Anyone who'd seen the drawing and the subject would instantly know who it was. And, Percy was quite proud of it. It was just the beginnings of a sketch, but he felt happy looking at it.

Artemis shifted a little and Percy took a moment and reveled in the way her hair seemed to glow in the soft light of the truck cabin. Normally, it'd be rather dark given the dark storm clouds overhead and late hour, but Percy kept a little worklight in his storage just in case he needed to be able to see something. It could be just about any color, courtesy of Olympus, but he tended to opt for softer colors. The current one wasn't far off of the glow of an incandescent bulb, bathing the cabin in a warm orangey light as it sat on top of the dash. It was more than enough light to read -or draw- by, and Percy found that it was quite pretty. He turned back to his notebook, drumming a finger on the page as he stared at his work. Almost instinctively, he looked back up to compare before turning back and moving his pencil.

He worked on it a little more, filling in some of the overarching details like the way part of her hair was tied up in the back, and the way some of it cascaded loosely over her shoulder while touching up some of the other parts. He added the contours of her body beneath the fabric and the tiny creases at the joints. There weren't many defining features of her clothing, other than the print on the front of his sweatshirt, but he didn't focus too much on them anyway. He was far more concerned with capturing her likeness than anything else.

It took him another fifteen or so minutes to finish getting the big parts done before returning to the small details like the little streak of silver hair that matched his own. Eventually though, he did bring it to a close as he looked down in satisfaction. It wasn't like he was the greatest artist by any stretch, but he liked to think that the drawing did the goddess justice. At the very least, it was one of his most spirited sketches, taking on bold lines and shading while also managing to keep all the same soft details that brought it together.

Usually, he preferred to draw in short, little strokes so to see the unusually long, dark lines had been a bit of a surprise. Percy smiled a little before closing the notebook all together. A beautiful sketch, undeniably, but one he could probably do a better job of even still. Maybe a touch of color? A bit more detail?

He didn't notice the goddess smile a little as he spun his pencil around, but Percy was looking out the window, so why would he have? That also wasn't to say that the goddess had been aware of exactly what he'd been drawing, but she'd been happy to see him so relaxed. And, while she wasn't entirely aware of the contents of his sketchbook, she was acutely aware of the fact that he'd been none too subtle in his gaze. And Artemis hadn't minded either. It had sent a warm feeling coursing through her when she'd noticed. The goddess wasn't kidding when she'd told him that compliments were more than just accepted, and the way she saw it, his staring was just as much of a compliment as outright saying something was.

In the past, she might not have thought as such. The goddess was used to getting stared at, be it while on Olympus or in the mortal world, but they typically carried a different sort of connotation. Artemis had a hard time seeing Perseus's gaze as anything more sinister than what they were. He was respectful in nearly every facet of his life, at least on a personal level. The young man was none-to-concerned with decorum or respect when it came to those who'd wronged the people around him, or wronged people in general. And she respected that.

"Are you a cactus person?" Percy asked, breaking their silence.

Artemis was momentarily confused but answered regardless, "They are plants, so yes."

"Okay but would you ever have a cactus garden?"

"I do not think so," Artemis shook her head, "What brought this up?"

"Well you know I was thinking about people who have really nice gardens and then I was like well there are sort of levels to it right? You've got the good gardeners, then you have people with like one or two plants, then you have people who get succulents, and then you have people who can't raise a plant to save their life. Like Jason. He gets plants and they die pretty much instantly. Nico tried teaching him once but it didn't work out so Piper just went and bought a bunch of fake plants -and all of that is to say- I'm wondering if you like cactuses because they're cool."

Artemis hummed in amusement, "And which are you?"

"I'm alright," Percy said, "Like maybe I could raise a few plants on my own, but Demeter blessed most of my plants and Calypso's pretty good at gardening so I'd say I'm like a two and a half out of five."

Artemis laughed, "Glad to see that you've put so much thought into this."

"Hey, long car ride," Percy grinned back, "Speaking of which, do you want to drive a bit more or just chill here?"

Artemis thought for a moment before responding, "I wouldn't mind driving around for a while."

"Cool," Percy nodded, taking a moment to stretch a little, "Maybe we grab something to eat too?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Late night fast food," Percy grinned.

Artemis had to admit that it did sound like a pretty good idea, "Alright. Let's see if there's anything along the way."

There was. It was a quick stop, not taking much longer than ten or so minutes, but they'd ended up getting enough food for the next meal as well. Oh well. It would definitely get eaten given how they both were. And so, Percy found himself happily biting down on a shitty little burger that hit that little urge to eat badly while he and Artemis laughed about whatever they could think of.

And by the gods had he meant it when he said he was happy with his life now. No duties looming over him, no prophecies; just him being him. And, add in his best friend into that, and life was certainly treating him well. Sure, rough patches cropped up here or there, but they were little more than tiny speedbumps in the grand scheme of things. It hadn't been the greatest day, but Percy could firmly say that it had been a good one.

Percy grinned over towards his friend as he checked the back window so that he could merge, "I'm beginning to think that I may be the only person on the road with eyes."

Artemis laughed, "Don't get too ahead of yourself. You still missed one of your exits twice."

"Hey!" Percy pouted, "We don't talk about that. You distracted me."

"Right," Artemis smirked, "Keep your eyes on the road next time."

Percy grumbled good-naturedly for a second, "You try driving while your passenger keeps trying to poke you."

"You liked it."
"I tolerated it."

Artemis huffed, "Next time I'll just smack you instead."

"Yes yes because that's just a wonderful idea," Percy laughed, "Hit the driver going ninety-four on a dark highway."

"It's not my fault you're an idiot," Artemis shot back, "You could just slow down."

"Where's the fun in that?" Percy asked, "Plus, I distinctly remember one of us doing nearly triple the speed limit earlier."

Artemis looked away with a smile, "Guilty."

"What would your mother say?"

Artemis shrugged, "Might join me."

Percy tapped his finger lightly against the steering wheel, "Sounds like an interesting person."

"Would you like to meet her?"

Percy paused for a second before turning to the goddess with unconcealed interest, "Are you serious? Can we?"

"No, I just asked so that I can keep you away from her," Artemis rolled her eyes, "Yes I'm serious."

Percy pumped his fist a little, "I've wanted to meet her for a while."

"Have you?"

He nodded, "I've heard a lot of stories about her from Apollo. Plus, she is your mom so I'm willing to bet she's pretty cool."

"She is also Apollo's mother," Artemis pointed out.

"And he's the second child," Percy countered, "You know how that goes. They're either spoiled rotten or the overachievers of the family and I think it's safe to say Apollo's poetry career isn't going anywhere soon."

"Coming from Mr. "I'm the shore"?" Artemis made little air quotes.

"I can drive us both off of the road right now," Percy grumbled, causing the goddess to laugh.

"You wouldn't ever risk damaging your precious truck."

She wasn't wrong. Percy agreed and the two laughed about it for a moment before getting back on track, "When would you want to meet her?"

Percy shrugged, "I'm good whenever honestly. You tell me."

"Any time will do," Artemis said easily, "It would be far harder if it were my father."

Percy chuckled, "Much more awkward too I bet."

Artemis looked like she was considering something for a moment, "I think you're right. I'd much rather meet with your family."

"We should do that," Percy perked up, "Maybe our moms could meet. That could be fun."

The color didn't quite leave Artemis's face, but she did freeze momentarily. If Sally had been bad, the two of them together would be the end of her little secret. Still though, she did quite like the sound of that, "I wouldn't mind that."

"We should set that up then!" Percy smiled happily, "Maybe we could all get dinner or something?"

"Perhaps we could make something at your home and relax there?"

Percy liked the sound of that, "That sounds like a better idea so we should go with that one."

"I do seem to come up with rather good plans," Artemis joked.

Percy agreed, "Won't argue that. They're better than mine for sure."

"I don't think a plan ever survives first contact with you."

Percy pouted but had to agree, doing so with a light laugh, "Alright, I'm admittedly a bit rough on plans, but it works!"

Artemis shook her head with a smile as the two continued to cruise along. Their conversation lulled and the two found themselves falling into a pattern of talking for a bit and then simply sitting in quiet contentment with one another. It was only when a song that Percy particularly liked came on that they stopped this pattern all together. Artemis laughed softly as Percy brightened up as it came on, watching the way he sat up a bit straighter while shifting a little so that he wasn't so slouched. And, naturally, she wasn't all that surprised when he started moving a bit in his seat along with the song. From the looks of it, he was even mouthing the words.

It was a song that she herself liked, so she saw no reason not to sing along. Percy had looked momentarily surprised for the moment, but had joined right in. Their little ballad only lasted only another few minutes, but the two found themselves continuing right onto the next song. Sometimes they'd take turns. Other times they'd just do their little duet; whatever worked honestly. It was good fun, and within the hour, the two of them found themselves quite happy as they listened along, chests quietly heaving from belting out their songs.

"You're unfairly good at that," Percy said easily as he caught his breath.

"My brother is the god of music."

Percy chuckled, "Sibling rivalry really made you good at everything, huh?"

"Not everything," Artemis said easily.

"Just about," Percy retorted, "I haven't seen you do anything you're not good at."

Artemis shrugged, "It is the same with you."

"Hardly," Percy chuckled, "I'm okay at best at most things. I'm not particularly great at anything either. You, on the other hand, pick something up and act like you've been doing it your entire life."

"Neither of those things are true," Artemis laughed, "You have been dubbed the greatest swordsman in a hundred years, and that's not mentioning your other skills. You may not think so, but you do have a lot of talents."

"Outside of the sword? Not really."

Artemis groaned, "You're kidding right? You're not only extremely physically capable, but you're smart as well, no matter how dumb you pretend to be."

"First off, hey! And second off, I'm not pretending," Percy said.

Artemis sat there for a second, eyes fixed on the young man next to her. She rolled her eyes before pointing to her face, "See this. This means I call bullshit."

Percy laughed as he looked over while the goddess only cocked her head, still pointing, "If you say so. I'm really not that great. I'm adequate at a lot of things, but I'm not great."

Artemis pointed again, causing Percy to laugh, "Alright alright I get it. You disagree. Even if you're wrong."

She smacked him lightly on the thigh before leaning back against her door, "You're not going to win this."

"Do I ever?"

Artemis smiled softly, "I suppose not."

Percy chuckled and the two went back to driving for a little while longer. They weren't entirely sure where they were going to stop, but some of the clouds had started to break away, letting pale moonlight shine through. Fog blanketed the roads and Percy elected to steer them off the highway in favor of some of the less traveled roads. It was peaceful, traveling along. Really, the only noise came from their radio and the sound of the engine as the fog dampened everything around them, obscuring the bases of trees and bushes alike as long, wispy tendrils snaked out around. Even the road wasn't spared as everything was blanketed in the thick brume. Only the bright yellow paint allowed him to keep track of exactly where they were.

"I'm glad we're doing this," Percy turned to look at his friend as she continued, "It's peaceful."

"Yeah," Percy nodded before quietly agreeing, "It's nice. I've wanted to go on a casual road trip most of my life."

"Casual?'

"Well most of my travels across the country involved Olympus in some way, not that this doesn't," Percy said easily, "But I asked you to come along you know? I got to choose this."

Artemis nodded understandingly, "It is nice to do something you haven't before."

"Especially because it's a change of pace."

The moon goddess agreed, "What else haven't you done before?"

"Lots of things," Percy said easily, listing off a few, "Never been skydiving before, or snowboarding, or been to an amusement park aside from that abandoned one."

"Perhaps I should take you to do some of those then," Artemis said easily, leaning against the door while pulling her knees to her chest, "I'm sure we could knock off a few of those things before we return."

"No need to rush it, right?" Percy asked, "We've got all the time in the world."

"What would you like to do first then?" Artemis asked.

Percy took a moment to look around. He didn't answer for a second before craning his neck out towards the driver side window and stopping the truck. The son of the sea pulled them off the road and into the dirt causing Artemis to look at him curiously. He looked happy though.

"You were saying we should do stuff we've never done before, right?"

Artemis nodded, still regarding him with the same curious eyes as he stepped out and opened her door, "What did you have in mind?"

Percy smiled softly, "Kinda always wanted to dance around in the fog and it's really pretty right now so I couldn't help myself."

Artemis smiled, laughing lightly as she spoke, letting him help her out of the truck, "What brought this on?

Percy looked away a little, pausing for a moment before responding, "Honestly? It was something I always wanted to do with someone I cared about. I just never got the chance."

The moon goddess nodded understandingly before grabbing his hand and dragging him out towards the center of the little area they were in. It wasn't much, just a small field, but it was beautiful, "Then I'm more than happy to oblige."

Percy couldn't bring himself to speak for a moment, so he just smiled.

"Are you alright?"

Percy gave a single nod, "Yeah I'm okay. Just happy."

"About?"

"This," Percy gestured around them before looking back, "You. Kind of just all of it."

Artemis's response was simple, "Good."

Percy just let out a breathy laugh, "I'm really glad that you're a part of my life."

"What brought this on?" The moon goddess froze for a second before smiling widely, "And, I should say that I feel the same way."

"I dunno," he looked sheepish, "You're just a really good friend. I feel like you're always taking care of me."

She smiled serenely, "And I will continue to do so."

"Yeah," Percy smiled, "I know."

"Good," Artemis pulled him towards her, "Now, I was promised a dance."

"Of course, My Lady." Percy laughed. They stood, dancing around each other through the field, "The sky's pretty tonight."

"And what of the moon?"

Percy grinned down at her as they danced, "You're always pretty."

Artemis laughed, "Feeling some way tonight, are we?"

"If you mean happy, then yes."

Artemis just shook her head in amusement, "I am happy to hear that you are feeling better."

"No kidding. Can't mope all night, you know? Earlier was more than enough."
"I wouldn't blame you if you did," she said softly, leading their little dance.

"Yeah well if I was," Percy grinned at her, "I wouldn't be able to do this."

He laughed happily as the two danced around, making their way all throughout their little area while laughing with each other. Artemis led mostly, but Percy would occasionally take charge and pull them back towards the center. Most of the cloud cover had broken, and the moonlight had only grown stronger, gently illuminating them as they trailed all around. Everywhere they went, the fog parted around them, leaving small pockets of disturbed air in their wake. It'd settle after a little, only to be quickly churned again as they danced through it.

"Enjoying yourself?" Artemis asked, gently pulling him along.

"More than I could ever explain," he said easily, following the goddess's lead, "Should I be surprised that you know how to dance?"

"Not particularly," Artemis said, "But what about you? Where did you learn?"

"My mom taught me a bit when I was kid. Had me stand on her feet and she'd lead us around. And then I learned a bit more at camp and stuff, and then I picked up bits and pieces through the years."

Artemis looked amused, "You sure it wasn't because of a girl?"

"Not really," Percy chuckled, "But I won't lie and say the thought never crossed my mind."

She tugged him close to him, "That's about what I expected. Still though, you are quite good."

"I aim to please."

"Would it surprise you to know that this is the first time I've done this as well?"

Percy laughed, "I'd say it shows but you're definitely better than I am. And have you really never danced before?"

"Of course I have," Artemis said softly before leaning into whisper, "Just never with a man."

"Then I'm honored," Percy smiled softly, "And doubly glad that I'm somewhat okay at it. Hate to step on your feet and ruin your first time."

"I have a hard time imagining you messing up," Artemis said easily, "And don't try to deny it."

"You know me too well," Percy grinned.

"Just shut up and dance with me."

Percy laughed.

My responses got deleted which is annoying but whatever. Anyway not much to say, fun chapter to write but I'm not sure if everyone will like. Let me know.
To aPancake: Yeah that's part of the reason I started writing this since it's just a really nice outlet for these emotions. Glad to see you're enjoying, and I've got a few things in mind for Artemis. To Dab055: Thanks! I'm always happy to hear that. Means a lot to me even if I don't think I deserve that. I'm glad that you think so though! Double update for this stories anniversary. To mastercheif1229: Thanks! New chapters out. To ByrnHildr56: Thanks! I've been enjoying writing it. To Vladiz45: Agreed, but I love listening to heavier stuff so I've always loved Beartooth. To TomorrowCarpe Diem: Agreed! I have some stuff planned for her that I can't wait to show off. To kikinder: Yeah I didn't even intend for it to be that way but that's just how it turned out. And she definitely is. And I'm super excited for the mission. I've got a few fun scenes scripted for the mission. Chaos will ensue. To dudududhehe: Thanks mate. Love hearing from you as always. To IsItReallyTho: Yeah that's what that meant and I figured that Nico wouldn't really care as long as Percy was happy. He just strikes me that way, being a bit more reserved and responsible, but with a heart of gold. And I'm not going to do that, too much unexplored potential. And I tend to just write with a general idea in mind. I have a rough story planned out, but I add chapters as I please. It'll be a while before it's over. To HellRaiderS: Thanks! New update is here. To sushiman57: Well I always love hearing it so thank you! Me either. We're in the home stretch. To Remvis: Yeah agreed. Definitely one of the things that I feel like these two would have an easier time doing. Always fun to explore their thoughts as well.
Anyway, let me know what you guys think. Been a blast to write, but I'm not sure how it turned out.