Percy
"Any plans for the night?" Jason called him one Saturday afternoon while he was sitting on the couch, boring out his mind.
"Depends." But they both know Percy would answer his call no matter what.
"Club with Thalia." Percy can see the grin on Jason's face without looking.
"And we are under age." Percy pointed out, but that never stops them though. Being spoiled since child, underage drinking and all that is just daily business. Besides, with their mature looks and muscles build from the trainings, no one wants to mess with them, and they haven't been caught so far. They definitely need a private lawyer Zoë mentioned the other day.
"Thalia has free pass." Jason explained.
"Yeah, I'm going."
"Okay, usual spot at 10. Oh, and she said wear something nice." He raised an eyebrow in confusion though the person on the other side of the phone couldn't see it. "Not fancy dinner nice, just bar nice? Just wear shirt and jeans, I think she is going to let us meet a friend or something."
"Well, that's something new." Jason hummed in agree. "Usual spot, 10. Got it."
At 9:50, Percy stood in front of the bar as the cold wind blasted on his face. He can tell that his nose and cheeks are red without looking.
Why arrive early when you know they will get here at exact 10 p.m.?
Sometime he despises his good habits which he inherits from his mother, especially in this kind of winter day. He followed Jason's suggest, a white bottom-up shirt and jeans with baseball jacket, he also tried his best to tidy up his hair. But guess what, as a matter of fact, they can't be tided. Blame the stupid genes from his father. So, he ended up run his fingers through them a few times, making it look attractive enough (at least he would like to date the person in the mirror if he is a girl).
He leaned on the red brick wall beside the entrance which leads to the bar downstairs, scrolling his phone as people pass by, waiting for the brother-sister to show up. All of a sudden, a scent of lemons rushed up to his nostril, he snapped his head up and saw the most beautiful girl he ever lands his eyes on in his short 20-year live.
She looked around his age, blonde golden hair forming in princess curls dancing behind her as she walked towards the entrance. The girl has a not-so-short height which is about to his eyes. With the stormy grey irises looking straight into his green ones, Percy could feel his heart dropped to his stomach, in a good way. He desperately wants to know what caused her rosy cheeks. Is it the cold wind or their little moment of eyes contact? Did she feel the connection like he did too?
Then his glaze trailed down to her outfit. A white crop top showing her slim torso (are those abs?), with leather jacket outside, Demin skirt a little above her knees and long boots hugging her thin leg.
They are wearing a couple outfit if they take off their jacket.
Dude! You don't even learn her name, now you are nightdreaming being a couple with her?
The girl seems to catch the same thought as she looked up and down at him when he did the same to her. The two just stood there, feeling the world fade around them, along with the wind freezing them to died. Percy knows he need to say something but he doesn't know what to say. Blast the experiences with girls all these years, when one really need it, one just couldn't say the words. So, like a coward he is, he gave her a small nod which she returned after.
He sticked his eyes at her back as she walked down the stairs seconds later, trying very hard not to move his attention to her ass and failed. The sound of her boots clicking against the metal surface echoed in his mind, matching the beat of his heart.
At least ask out a name!
I know, no need to remind me!
Great, now he is fighting with his inner-self. He let out a long sigh, and just in time, the two people he is waiting come up to him.
"Hey! What's wrong?" Thalia greets him passionately with a slap on his shoulder before she saw his depress-self.
"I saw a girl." Like they will know he might have just met his blonde Aphrodite.
"And?" Jason asked.
"And I didn't get her name."
"Well, we can go down and after I let you two meet someone, then you can go find this so call girl. Come bro!" Thalia said before pushing them to the stairs force them down.
"Who are we actually seeing?" Jason asked his sister.
"Annabeth." She said with a smug face.
"Your Annabeth!?" Jason gasped.
"Yep her."
"Holy shit… after all these years, I finally get the chance to meet your secret lover." Jason said in disbelief.
"What am I missing here?" Percy looked at them strangely and asked as they walked in the bar. Thalia told the person standing in the front her name before they get in.
"We'll fill you in later." Jason patted on his shoulder after Thalia disappeared in the crowd to find the Annabeth they are going to see, while a guard lead them into a booth deep inside the bar. Within two minutes, Thalia is back with the girl in his dreams in her arms.
"It's her." He murmured to Jason when the girls slide in the booth.
"Who?"
"The girl I met before you guys came."
A pause. "Shit."
"Fuck indeed." Then he quickly straightens he body as they finished ordering. Percy gulped when the girl looked at him in a strange expression.
"Okay folks." Thalia said with a clap, grabbing their attention. "This is Annabeth Chase, Aunt Athena's daughter, and my secret lover." The girl, Annabeth, shoved Thalia with a smile at her last introduction.
"Jason Grace, Thalia's little brother, I've heard a lot of you." Jason held out his hand after introducing himself and they shake. Percy looked at Annabeth held out her hands with grace. She has long fingers. He thought.
"And I you." She gave Jason a nod and turned around, facing him. "Who is this? I thought Thalia only has one brother?"
"Perseus Jackson, but I prefer Percy. Family friend with these two trouble makers." The Grace siblings looked surprised that Percy tell Annabeth, a person he just met, his real name. Percy doesn't go with the name, it's too unique for his liking, too easy to be remembered, the exact opposite he wants. He mostly prefers blending in the crowd, that way is easier for mission and stuff.
But he felt like it's the right thing to do, or maybe, he wants be to recognized this time, the words just left his lips without his notice. Then they shake hands; he can feel goose bumps forming on his skin, starting from the place they touch all the way to his arms. They might have held a little longer than they should be before let go; Thalia raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything while Jason standing next to him, grinning like a madman.
"Perseus, like the Greek hero who slay Medusa's head." She tilted her head before she spoke, Percy can tell it in her eyes that she was thinking the origin of his name as they shake for the past minute.
"Ten point for Ravenclaw." He sent her a wink.
"Why not Slytherin?" She looked in his eyes and twinkled with mischief.
"What's going on here? Am I having illusion? Annabeth making a joke?" Thalia gasped across the table and look back and forth.
"Shut up." Annabeth said through her gritted teeth. "I suppose introduce us to one and another isn't the only purpose you dragged me here?" She cleared her throat and asked.
Thalia was about to speak but cut off by the clerk, who is serving them the drinks they order a few minutes ago.
"You majoring architect in uni." Thalia state the obvious to the two boys after taking a slip on her alcohol. Percy immediately knew what she is inferring.
"Thalas... you..." Jason is so shocked that he stammered (that never happened before, at least not in front of him) and the nickname slipped. The younger brother took in a deep breath, Percy can sense the blonde is about to make a speech. "Tell me the coincidence here. You met one of dad's employee's child while running away, a core member of company might I added. Now, just when we need an architect, she happened to be majoring it."
"I know this sounds —" The sister starts to protest yet cut off by the other two people.
"You ran away?" "Why do you need an architect?" Percy and Annabeth asked at the same time, the two shared a look and blushed.
"Yes, I run away from home once, planning to do it next time and bring Jason." Thalia tried to push down her urge to burst out laughter at the fact that two of her closest friends are blushing like crazy across and beside her. "We are going to explain the whole thing to Annie, and with no doubt, she will say yes."
"Don't called me that." Annabeth shot daggers at the boys when they opened their mouth, about to ask. "Only Thalia gets to."
After that, they made a brief about what they are doing with Argo and the reason why they need an architect. Thalia did most of the talk with Jason adding details in between while Percy busy staring Annabeth's face. He got a close look at her features under the dim light across the table. With her eyes getting bigger as their ideas pour out, he decided her eyes is far from grey.
People usually think grey as the color of lifeless or dull, while the eyes of hers is not; they sparkle with life and swirl with emotions. Percy knew there is more behind, sitting there waiting him to discover. Sliver is the perfect word he is finding, the color itself is as mysterious as the girl.
They ended the meeting with a few hugs and handshakes, then part ways at the exit. Percy couldn't put himself to sleep that night, with his mind always drifting back to a blonde girl with silver eyes.
About a week after meeting the light of his life at Thalia's bar, he got the message from the Argo's group chat, saying there will be an extra meeting tomorrow. Hence the reason he is now parking his car beside Chiron's cabin, carefully not to squash Cal's flowers, she would be outrage. Spotting there is another car other than Bessi, Percy frowned at the possibility of some stranger is going to see the group. Yes, the car is a girl, her name is Bessi, and in fact, she's a blue car. He knocked the door in a certain pattern, two shorts one long; the door opened automatically with a click, he walked though before it shuts.
The first thing he heard is the sound of people talking from the inside, according to the voice he can tell one of them is Zoë, the other one sounds familiar but he couldn't point out where he heard the voice before. Then he noticed Jason and Nico are spreading their limbs on the couch, Percy gave both of them a bro-fist-bump before dropping his things. He decided to go to the kitchen and pour himself a glass of water, also take a look at the owner of the car.
"Annabeth?" Percy said with surprise, spotting the long blonde hair who is sitting at the table with her back facing him, Zoë is across her, the two of them are discussing something on the table with their heads almost bumping to each other. The girls turned around (or rose her head, in Zoë's case) and saw him, the younger girl's face lit up as she realized the boy as the older girl gave him a smirk and a nod.
"Hey, Percy." Annabeth said after putting down the pencil in her hand. The way of her saying his name is the sound of nature in his ears. She stood up from her chair, and now Percy noticed she is pretty tall for a girl. She was wearing heels the first time they met so he didn't think much about her height; her head is a little higher than his shoulder, which will be perfect if she is his girlfriend.
Stop daydreaming!
"The car..." His voice trailed off as he snapped out his thoughts and tried to engage a conversation with her.
"The car?" She tilted her head with confusion.
"The car outside, the silver one, that yours?" He said in a strange sound like a person trying to speak but choked in the middle. Percy is now fully aware the fact the whole house is focusing on this poor interaction, he can actually see the picture of Bianca and Thalia redoing this whole disaster when Annabeth left.
"Yeah, Thalia called me here, saying that we need to start working on the mansion." She blurted out. She said We, Percy figured that Zoë already made her an official member of Argo.
"I thought we need a mechanic too to start the whole plan?" He asked, then shift his glaze around the room.
"And we happen to have a perfect candidate." Zoë said with a smirk and nodded her head at her little sister. Percy looked at the flushed cheeks on Cal's face, probably because of the teasing from her sister, then to the stranger standing next to her, wondering why he didn't notice the young man before. The boy has tan skin and scars on his hands, Percy bet there will be more on the arms under the sleeves; but the fact he can standing so close to Calypso surprised him more. Is he the guy Cal told them long time ago? The guy she is seeing?
"You guys dating?" He put on his best big-brother façade and question him. The boy gulped and nodded weakly.
"What's your name?" Jason asked.
"Leo Valdez, 18 years old. My intentions with Calypso are completely pure!" He answered nervously before turned to Cal and whispered. "You didn't tell me you have this gang of families."
The boy doesn't know how right he is.
"Is he the same guy you said months ago?" Bianca chimed in.
"Yeah." Cal said. She grabbed Leo's hand for comfort also daring any one to hurt him. Everyone saw the gesture yet no one push, Cal is famous for her temper.
"He is part of dad's company?" Thalia questioned.
"His dad is the former engineer." Chiron said.
"Hm. Okay, back to business, how long have you been dating? Did you guys kiss?" Thalia gave him her best Cheshire cat smile and the group know the couple is damned.