Song Recommendation: "Transatlanticism" by Death Cab for Cutie. This is a song very near and dear to my heart, being one of the first I learned to play on piano as a kid. It's also a song that I think both Percy and Artemis could relate to. This song has that melancholy happiness that I love, starting off much slower before picking up the pace and going, which is oddly contrasted by the lack of wording. Where the song is initially wordy in the beginning with relatively simple backing instrumentals, it swaps towards the end, choosing to repeat the same words while changing the sound to something more complex. I think that's how both Percy and Artemis are at the beginning of the story. They've got their own lives, explaining them to each other with all of these words, but as the story goes on, they need less and less, eventually culminating in this crescendo of emotion and feeling while realizing that they don't need to speak to understand each other. They just need to be closer as they pull one another in.

Also I regret asking about sex. I thought oh yeah one or two of the usual people will be like yeah or no. At the time of writing this note, I've almost only gotten 1's. Knowing this, I should have just gone ahead and written it instead because now I have to stare at all of these numbers and just feel regret. Anyway, have a good one. Voting closed. It'll come along at some point but holy shit. No more voting. Stop. Please. I had no idea that many of you read the notes.

Percy, ever the idiot, sat on the couch, mind intentionally blank. The way he saw it, it was either he thought about something (with this something being Artemis), or he thought about nothing. At all. This was how the goddess found him, practically catatonic under a blanket. It was only when she nudged him a bit that he stirred. The son of the sea snapped back to reality, shifting a little only to find the goddess that had been otherwise occupying his thoughts leaned over him, looking down in mild concern.

"Are you alright?"

"Oh," Percy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah I'm fine."

The goddess had that look again as she stared down at him, and he felt himself shiver as she smiled, "Something on your mind?"

He was red before he even fully comprehended what she said, "Y-yeah."

The goddess laughed, "Care to share?"

He froze, not unlike a deer in the headlights, "Definitely not."

Artemis smiled, instead choosing to get under the blanket next to him, "Are you sure?"

He was certain that the moon goddess was teasing him. She had the usual mischievous look and the foxy smile was doing little to convince him otherwise, "I think so."

The goddess hummed lightly, leaning in just a bit, not that he noticed, "You don't sound so certain."

"I uh… Should we," Percy's mind stumbled over itself as he noticed their proximity, before he had a moment of clarity, "Fire. We should light a fire."

The goddess looked amused as the son of the sea tried to stand, only to get yanked back down. The goddess held him by the bicep, keeping him locked firmly in place while snapping her fingers. The fire roared to life in front of him.

"Done," She said happily before choosing to spare him a little by leaning into the backrest and changing the subject, "What did you think we should watch?"

Percy's eyes widened as he took a much needed second to breathe and collect his thoughts. By the gods, this Huntress was going to be the death of him. His voice came out a little shakier than he meant it to, but it was still infinitely better than it had been, "Yeah. Ever been into mafia movies?"

"I have watched a few," Artemis nodded, "Though I do not spend much time watching things."

Percy chuckled, drumming his fingers against the armrest, "Yeah same, but this is definitely one of my comfort movies."

"Oh so you've seen it before?" Artemis asked interestedly.

"Yeah, I saw it in theaters actually," Percy nodded as he fiddled with the remote for a second, "I really liked it."
"Why is that?"

"Well I feel like it was a bit different from the usual movies because there wasn't all that much action or politics in it like in normal mafia movies. Kinda felt like it was about someone who was just trying to do their own thing," Percy said as he found the movie, "And I think one of the main themes is isolation and it sort of just clicked with me."

"I see," Artemis nodded, "That does sound like something you'd enjoy."

"Right?" Percy laughed as he clicked onto it, "I wasn't going to watch it but then Reyna sort of forced me to go."
Artemis laughed, "Did you thank her after?'

Percy looked away sheepishly, "Yeah. I did."

Artemis laughed, "Do I hear another story?"

"There's not much to say," Percy said, "It was just a weird night for me."

"Do tell."

"Well," Percy rubbed the back of his head again, "We were supposed to be retrieving a demigod."

"Did it not go well?"

"I mean, we found her," Percy said, "but I may have ended up spending a night in lockup for it."

The moon goddess stared at him for a moment, "Go on."

"Well you know how the mist just changes what mortals see?" Percy asked to which the goddess nodded, "Well instead of seeing me killing a monster, they saw me beating up someone and tried to arrest me."

"And you let them?"

"No," Percy chuckled, "Definitely ran but let me tell you. Mortal police do not play around with their guns."

"You got shot?"

"Passed straight through my shoulder," Percy chuckled, "In my defense, I was trying not to hurt any of them."

"An admirable enough reason," Artemis reasoned, "but I don't see any scarring."

"Yeah cause I dumped a bottle of water on it and it healed mostly. You should have seen the look on that officer's face while it was healing."

The moon goddess sighed, "It is good that you are as durable as you are."

"Why's that?" Percy laughed, "So you can throw me around more?"

"Because I care not to imagine the amount of scars you'd have."

"Do they bother you?" Percy asked. Artemis stared at him for a moment and he realized that was a stupid question.

"Not in the slightest, but I'd rather not think about the moments that put those scars on you."

Percy chuckled, "Yeah that makes sense."

Their conversation slowed after that as the movie started in earnest, with the two watching with rapt attention. Occasionally, there'd be a small pause or lull for snacks, but they watched almost continuously for the full two hours with little to no speaking. And, they didn't mind that either. It was easy, sitting around each other. Percy, for one, was enjoying it. Artemis too, but for different reasons. Sure, the movie was interesting, but it didn't quite appeal to her in the same way that it did for Perseus. Then again, she certainly understood why he liked it as much as he did.

That wasn't to say that it wasn't a good watch. It was something that she'd return to watch again, but Percy sat there in rapt attention at every little part, even despite the rather slow pacing. It was interesting to see him, leaned forward in their blanket, eyes affixed to the screen. He hardly moved. Mostly, he sat there. She might have thought he was dead had she not been able to hear his heart beating steadily in his chest.

It was when the movie ended that he finally came out of his little stupor. Artemis smiled as she watched him stretch a little before turning to her.

"What'd you think?"

"That I understand why you like it as much as you do."

"Yeah?" He rubbed the back of his head a little.

Artemis nodded, "It did not seem like something you'd like at first, but I understood about half-way through why."

Percy offered a small smile, instead turning to look at his hands which were firmly in his lap, "I didn't like it the first time I watched it actually. It made me unhappy. But, I also couldn't really stop thinking about it for a little while."

Artemis looked curious, "Really?"

"Yeah," Percy ran a hand through his hair, "I felt a bit called out by it at first. And that made everything feel a bit worse. But, then it sort of clicked with me."

"How so?"

"For one," Percy started, "We both know I didn't really like who I was a while ago. And at first, all of the interactions in the movie felt so surface level and fake and then it seemingly randomly shifted to more heartfelt interactions. It was less so 'I have to do this because it's my job' and more 'oh hey this is kinda nice' you know?"

Artemis nodded as he continued, "And it really annoyed me because I thought it was a bit unrealistic. Shit like that doesn't just happen. And then I thought to myself that maybe I was just being bitter about it. Because it all happens basically on a dime right? It goes from this shallow, kinda impersonal tone to a more genuine and sincere style and I just thought that couldn't happen. And then I realized it sort of happened to me. Not in the sense that I had surface level interactions or anything like that, but that my life changed completely through one action."

"And even then I guess, it did sort of happen with me right? I mean," Percy paused for a moment to gesture between the two of them, "This happened in one night almost randomly."

"It did," Artemis smiled at him, rubbing his arm gently. He seemed to appreciate the gesture, "What made you like it though?"

"Well I guess it was the realization that my life didn't have to be like that. I felt called out by it and I was bitter about it, but the truth of the matter was that I was putting myself in that situation," Percy chuckled mirthlessly, "It's weird you know? You want things to get better, but sometimes it's better to stick around in the comfort of what you know, even if it isn't good for you."

"I do," Artemis nodded, "But I think that you have come a long way since then."

Percy shrugged, "Feels slow going sometimes. Feel like I hit a plateau and I don't know how to feel about it."

"What do you feel about it?" Artemis asked, "Without how you think you should feel, what do you actually feel?"

"A bit scared," Percy said honestly, twiddling his fingers around in his lap, "I'd like to keep getting better, but I feel like I've been stuck at this one level for a while now."

The moon goddess nodded, "Are you unhappy?"

"Sometimes?" Percy looked a little uncertain, "What do you mean?"

"Think of it this way," the moon goddess shifted so that she was facing him, "You cannot expect to be happy all the time. Nor should you be sad all the time. But, your baseline feeling should be better, as opposed to worse."

Percy stared blankly for a second, "I might need you to rephrase that."

"For one, it is unrealistic to think that you or I might be happy at all times. But healing isn't about being happy all the time. It's about being 'okay' all the time," Artemis paused, "I think it's fair to say that you were unhappy before, but now, you feel that way less so. It hurts from time to time, but it's not anywhere as often. That isn't to say you're done healing either, it may take you the rest of your life, but you are better off than you were."

"Yeah," Percy sighed, "But sometimes it feels like it hurts just as much as when it happened."

Artemis nodded understandingly, "Yeah. But I think that's just how it goes."

"That kinda sucks," Percy said glibly.

Artemis agreed, "True, but it will happen less and less."

"Yeah that's fair," Percy's tone shifted a little, "Sounds like you're speaking from experience."

Artemis smiled softly, "I think you know me well enough to know that I am."

"Yeah," Percy agreed, "But you seem like you've got such a good handle on it compared to me."

"Because I have had much longer to deal with it," Artemis replied, "but between the two of us, you've certainly handled it much better than I have."

"You think so?"

Artemis laughed, "Given the timeframe alone, I would say so. You took four or so years while I might have taken four hundred."

"Huh," Percy was surprised, "I guess that makes sense. But, I do owe a lot of that to you."

"Perhaps," Artemis agreed, "But you have still taken far less time."

"Does that ever bother you?" Percy asked, "that some people just have it easier?"

"It used to," Artemis said honestly, "But I think that I have always had it easier than others."

"Hey hey hey! Don't say that," Percy's tone shifted to something firmer, "You get onto me about that."
Artemis smiled, "I suppose I do."

"Guess it should go to show me," Percy chuckled, "If the goddess does it, what hope do I have?"

"Very funny," Artemis rolled her eyes in amusement, "We are not that different."

"Nope," Percy agreed, "But I'm not sure if that says more about you or about me."

"Perhaps it says something about the both of us."

"I can live with that," Percy yawned, "As far as I'm concerned, we're great partners."
Artemis smiled lightly, "I agree. I doubt anyone could put up with you for long."

Hey, you're no saint either," Percy shot back, "Goddess you may be, but you're still just like me."

"How so?"

"When we decided to torch Ares's statue on Olympus, who was it that decided to just go ahead and throw it in his pool?"

Artemis laughed, "Okay, that is fair. But which one of us came up with the idea?"

"I did," Percy agreed, "But you know what I didn't come up with? Blowing up the front portion of somebody's house."

"Call it a sibling rivalry."

"That is not normal," Percy cackled, "Regular people don't do blow up their twin's home."

Artemis smiled, looking out towards the water, "We hardly count towards being regular people."

"Okay maybe not," Percy agreed, "but still. I mean I guess I can't say too much since I agreed, but still!"

She laughed, "We can be strange together then."

"Partners in crime?" Percy raised his fist, to which Artemis reciprocated while she laughed along.

"Partners indeed."

"Fuck yeah," Percy grinned as they settled down a little, "What time is it?"

"Late," Artemis replied, glancing out towards the water again.

Percy nodded in amusement, "Had no idea. Are we staying here for the night?"

"I don't see why not," the moon goddess replied easily, "we can head back in the morning."

"Sounds good to me," Percy said before pausing, "But if you wake me up at dawn again, I might ignore you."

"We can have a late start tomorrow then," Artemis rolled her eyes in amusement.

Percy gave a small whoop, "Laziness prevails! Where would you like to sleep for tonight?"

"Where is there?" Artemis asked casually, gazing over towards the door they'd entered through.

"Well there are two other bedrooms."

The moon goddess hummed in interest, "I do recall that. Which do you think is better?"

Percy grinned, "Definitely the attic sort of lofty one."

"That's the one you built yourself, is it not?"

"Yeah, it is," Percy nodded as he led her there, "It's kind of perfect. I sleep there sometimes instead of my own bed."

Artemis chuckled, "High praise."

Percy grinned, "I think it's mainly because it was one of the only things I designed myself. Don't have much of an eye for how these things look but I thought it turned out perfect."

Artemis agreed upon seeing it. It wasn't a small space, probably being able to situate six or seven people comfortably, but it was cozy. The attic space was one continuous area accessed by ladder. In it were a few basic items like a small couch and coffee table, along with a few love seats, but the main attraction were the rather large (for the space) bed at the end of the room and the wall of bookshelves. Now, most of the bookshelves weren't full. Some had books while others had small trinkets or odd items that Percy himself had collected over the years. His minotaur horn sat at the center of everything, seated on a little wooden display that he'd made himself. The rest of that wall was much the same. Even despite the rather large number of books, most of the shelves were dedicated to seemingly random items. A pocket watch, a bottle of whiskey and corresponding glass, a motorcycle helmet, and a collection of pens to name a few.

Artemis looked over it appreciatively. In a strange way, it made the space seem smaller, enclosing things by giving it a solid back wall. Each of the other walls had at least one window, with the opposing, sloped wall actually having two. And, it was darker than the rest of the home, being done in a different, darker wood that gave the entire area a sort of enclosed feeling. Add the assorted rugs that decorated the floor and the small sets of seats towards one end of the space, and everything seemed like the perfect little nap spot. And, that wasn't mentioning the bed itself. It wasn't much. Compared to the other items in the room, it was by far the simplest, but that made it all that much more appealing.

It was seated right under the largest window, letting one stare through it into the sea. Pillows were stacked right up below it, and the bed itself was seated on a very simple frame made of what looked like polished maple. And, to top it off was a large quilt hued in dark reds and greens to match the darker tone of the rest of the room. From the looks of it, it was embroidered with some form of pine tree.

"So?" Percy asked, "Thoughts?"

"You designed this?" Artemis asked curiously, gently plucking one of the many pens he kept on display, to which he nodded, "Maybe I should have you design a room for my palace."

"Okay I know I'm bad about compliments, but I feel like that's a little much," Percy smiled.

"I disagree," Artemis said easily, placing the pen back, "I do not often find myself so enamored with a space."

"Really?" Percy rubbed the back of his head, "That much?"

"That much," Artemis nodded, "I am suddenly very happy that we are designing a fort together."

"Is this the style you want to use?"

"I had not given it much thought until now, if I am being entirely honest."

"Who's to say we couldn't start now?"

Artemis grinned, "I'll bite."

"Sleep be damned," Percy joked as he led them over towards one of the less crowded parts of the shelving. He snagged a few items before making his way over towards the opposite end of the room to the little study area across from the bed, "You want a little notebook too or should we just work out of one?"

Artemis shrugged, "Two works, but I may borrow one of your pens if we do it that way."

Percy smiled, "Go for it. Take whichever one you want."

He, meanwhile, plopped himself down in one of the loveseats and began idly drawing up small sketches. The moon goddess took a moment to look at the offered devices. It would seem he had a thing for pens given the sheer number he had, but she supposed that made sense given his weapon of choice. One in particular caught her eye. It wasn't anything fancy, being little more than a fountain pen clad in a black metal of some sort inlaid with a sort of silvery pattern in the shape of a moon. The goddess smiled to herself as she picked it up and twirled it around in her hand.

Percy glanced up as the goddess dropped herself into the seat next to him and he couldn't help but comment on the pen she chose, "Like it?"

"Very much so," Artemis, who had taken to idly spinning it around her fingers, nodded.

"Keep it then," he smiled, "I got it because it reminded me of you."

Artemis was thankful that the son of the sea couldn't hear her thoughts in that moment. She gave the slightest shake of her head before focusing a bit of divine energy into the item, making a quick copy of it. Percy looked amused, "See I always forget you can do that."

"Quite useful, no?" Artemis gently set the original on the table and began to scribble away with the one in her hand, "So what do you have in mind so far?"

"Well," Percy offered her his little notebook, "I got distracted and started drawing trees so not much."

Artemis laughed as she observed, noting that his drawings were actually quite decent, "Perhaps we can come up with where it should go first then?"

"That's not a bad idea," Percy agreed, "I'd hate to draw up all these great plans just to not have anywhere to put them."

"What do you think would be a good spot?"

"Well since I've apparently got forests on the mind," Percy idly gestured towards the pad he'd handed her, "We could certainly stand to put it somewhere with a lot of trees. Personally, I think that somewhere along the west coast would be nice."

Artemis smiled, "I see. I suppose we could check off a body of water by making it on the coast."

"If you're okay with that."

Artemis assured him that she was, "I am quite fond of the ocean, even if I do not spend much time in it."

"Guess that makes sense," Percy nodded, "You did say nature was nature."

The moon goddess smiled, "I did. I do think that somewhere a little colder would be nice as well."

"Agreed," Percy said easily, "Gives me more reasons to stockpile random blankets and quilts."

"Do you make it a habit of collecting those?" Artemis asked, looking around. Quite a few were stacked around the room, either being thrown haphazardly on various seats, or stacked neatly in one of the shelves on the wall.

"It's more like Hestia has a lot of free time and knows I like soft things."

Artemis laughed, "That checks out. Did she make you those stuffed animals as well?"

Percy grinned, "Any of them that are crocheted, yeah."

"They are quite cute," Artemis summoned one into her hand. It was a small stuffed dolphin that was, in fact, quite soft.

"Definitely," Percy agreed, "on a related note, did you know I keep one in my ring?"

"Really?"

"Mhhhmmm," the savior of Olympus nodded, "Kids work a lot better with stuffed animals."

Artemis found herself agreeing, "I imagine so."

Percy chuckled as she handed him the little dolphin, "I think everybody does better with stuffed animals. Might have to keep a couple in our hideout."

"I think that would be wonderful," Artemis agreed, "I wouldn't mind keeping a few pillows on hand either."

"Not a bad idea," Percy agreed, making a mental note of it, "I'm thinking we might have to do mostly lamps for light. I feel like it makes everything cozier."

"Perhaps a fireplace?"

Percy nodded, "I think that'd be nice. Especially if it's somewhere colder. Maybe we could have a little coffee maker too?"

"Do you drink coffee?"

"Nope! But we might," Percy grinned, "Maybe we could just make hot chocolate in it instead."

"That does sound more like you," Artemis agreed, "I will keep it in mind."

Percy yawned, and the two kept brainstorming. It wasn't much more than an idea, but they did lay out a few of the core things they wanted. It had to be cozy, a bit secluded, and preferably in a cooler area. That left them quite a few options, though Artemis did like the idea of having it somewhere with mountains nearby, simply because people tended to avoid settling there. Honestly, that appealed to Percy as well. Sure, people were nice and all but he could get around easily enough. It wasn't like he had a job or anything he needed to be around for.

Their little brainstorming session lasted a little while longer before coming to a close as Percy began to fall asleep. The moon goddess watched as he'd begin to nod off, little by little, before finally falling asleep in his seat. She smiled, seeing that he was sprawled across the seat. After a moment of debate, she stood up and picked him up. He was heavy, but she was more than capable of carrying him, hoisting him up with relative ease and moving him over to the bed. Despite being asleep, he curled up almost instantly, causing her to smile as she watched.

After another moment of debate, she summoned a book into her hand and dropped down next to him. There was more than enough moonlight to read with, so she didn't bother with much else. Percy would twitch in his sleep on occasion, but he was still other than that. On more than a few occasions, the goddess found herself staring at him. It wasn't intentional, but she didn't exactly condemn herself for it either. She'd long since resigned herself to her fate, even if she did worry about how he'd take it.

Then again, she considered, she'd made worse choices before.

All jokes aside, thanks for voting! All of you need help. First off, this scene will not be happening any time soon. That's a crazy thing to just throw in here, but I do want to try my hand at one down the line. Not in the typical sense, cause I'll do it in my own way. Here's what I'm thinking. I'm between two options, either I devote an entire (albeit shorter) chapter to whatever scene and post a second chapter along side it for story and whatever. Or, I add it in at the end of a chapter and throw it with a warning before anything starts happening, and it will be the end of the chapter. Either way, it can be skipped entirely without the need for a second story because that's a lot of work. I'll think on it some more. On to the fun stuff, I'm not going to bother responding to numbers because that'd be almost sixty things to reply to. Anyway, onto that stuff.
To Prenicolado: Thanks! I plan to have that come up at a future date since I want to get the story moving again after this chapter. To smirks-in-sarcasmic: It has but that's my intention since there's some important stuff to set up in a rather short set of time. Also I just enjoy doing that. Glad to hear you enjoy! To HellRaiderS: Thanks! Always good to hear from you. Same time next week? To Vladiz45: Agreed! I'd rather not jump the gun on that. To Cmonty17: Thanks! That means a lot to me, but I've got a rough idea. I think a lot of people focus in on that graphic, sort of just horny sex and that's not my intention. To GuyWhoReads3003: Yeah I thought about that but there's a lot of extra steps. Who knows though, might change my mind. And thanks! Glad to hear that everything flows well since I do try to make sure it's not too jarring or anything. To Gallantmon228: Yeah agreed. Thank you for reading! It feels pretty natural since I've written more than what you guys are reading, so I hope it does come across that way whenever it comes down the line. To Icefire99: You know I really do love hearing that. I try to focus a lot on them so it always makes me happy to hear that it's coming across well! Thank you again! To kikinder: I'll make sure to throw in a warning. Dialogue is hard, but I find that it just kinda flows when I write. Not sure why. Also, I am looking forward to the challenge in it because I want to do a more nontraditional lemon without as much of the graphic stuff. Who knows though? To BoyFromAngels: Yeah there are way to many votes. Glad to hear you enjoyed! Much love and I hope you're doing well! To TomorrowCarpe Diem: Thanks! Always lovely to hear from you. To IAmOutOfIdeas: Noted! Not a bad idea but I'm going to have to think about it all. To willdulevitz: Glad to hear you enjoy! Thanks for the vote of confidence. To OkBoomer147: Yeah if it's forced, it won't work. I do have some stuff in mind though since I want these characters to be authentic and work the way they normally do. I think it I can pull it off. Also, first kiss has been scripted already. It's coming so don't you worry. To iNeptune: Thank you, it's been a blast to write and I think it's something that I'll always be proud of. To Darth66: Yeah I like making shit up on the spot, but it'll start moving faster again after this chapter. Thanks! That's crazy though. I'm proud of the fic, but I don't think it's that good. Thank you though because it does mean a lot to me and inspires me to keep going. To Remvis: I agree. I had a lot of fun when I was drafting it and I was like oh yes, this is the perfect amount of being on the nose while still leaving room for interpretation. And I've got some interesting friends to say the least. Most of the Artemis and Percy interactions stem from me unintentionally being a serial flirt, apparently. But, I do get into some weird, but fun, conversations. Thank you for reading! To Ishimaru Taiki: Thanks! I love writing it and I'm always super happy to hear that people like reading it. Next one is up, and just a thing, I've got some fun stuff planned in the upcoming chapters. Hope you enjoy. To Guest: Thanks! That's part of the reason I even considered writing it. I'm sure I could do it respectfully, so I plan to have a bit of fun and explore my options with it a bit. I think these characters are ones that it could work with so hopefully it goes well. To Guest: I plan on finishing it! Short of me dying, I think it will end up finished so don't worry too much. Haven't faltered on that weekly upload yet! To Sankarea396: Yeah I hope I did her justice. I tried to play into the love god aspect while keeping it fun and joking. Hoping it came across well. And Sally is putting in work for everyone. To Reader0404: I've got some ideas floating around, but thank you for the vote of confidence. I think it'll turn out well if everything goes the way I have it in my head. I think it'll be fine, but we'll see! To Aether27: Thanks! Always love hearing that! Inspires me to keep writing. To ShadowSaiyan666: You know that does mean a lot to me. There are definetly issues that I need to fix, but I do enjoy it and I'm proud to say that I've written it. I wanted to deviate a bit from the usual story and do my own thing and have some fun with it. Thank you again! To Psych1c: Agreed! I want to do it in my own style. As weird as it is to say, I care about these characters a lot and I'd rather not write it if I thought I couldn't do it justice. I think there's a certain level of explicit content needed but I don't want it to be crude. Thank you though! Hoping I'll do it justice. To DoomsdayKid: Thanks! It won't. It'll be way down the line, but that's not to say there won't be some more indulgent scenes between then. Their relationship is super important to me and I want to really nail this aspect of it so it'll definitely be a while.

Anyway! Enjoy. Let me know what you think.