Song Recommendation: "Shaking" by Sugarcult. I was going to recommend "Majoring in Minors" by the same band, but that name just isn't it. People look at you weirdly and it's hard to explain. Good song but hard to tell people that. Check both of them out if you want? Anyway, Shaking! Love this song. It's just straight up about sex. That's it. But, it's fun in the terms of a very casual love and just enjoying the actions with someone that you care about instead of just somebody random. Interestingly, I think this song is one I find Artemis enjoying a lot, having never experienced something like that where Percy has. There's a line about it, not being "your only fun" actually that specifically reminds me of her for some reason. That and when they talk about being shattered over what they've done and feeling that sickeningly bittersweet love for someone that you're just not sure about it. And let's make it very clear. This iteration of Artemis is not sure if he returns her feelings, and isn't even sure how they'd work out because she's afraid of hurting him. Of course, it's easy for them to love each other, but until they talk about it, they tend to stress. Anyway, let me know what you think.

So far, things had been going smoothly. They'd managed to track down a few of the escaped monsters, but they hadn't yielded much information that they could use. Just that more and more had ended up in the Labyrinth around that one area. Nothing outright sinister about it, but they'd still make sure to keep an eye out.

Of course, given that they'd now gotten their information, all that was left was to get back out and head back to their rooms which were booked for the next two nights. They hadn't been sure how long it would take, so it made sense to make sure their reservations would last as long as they needed. It wasn't like the money mattered anyway.

The running plan was to get out, take Rachel back to camp, and then spend the rest of the night relaxing. That worked out great for Percy, and certainly wouldn't mind spending some time relaxing with Diana. The others too, but he wasn't going to kid himself about who really wanted time away with. That being said, he did have to talk to Rachel for a moment before she was gone. The two were already leading up the back as Diana had instructed him to stay back in case he aggravated his injury, and the oracle had naturally stepped back with him.

Percy made a quick hand motion to her for the both of them to slow a little more. Thankfully, she seemed to catch on.

"Hey," Percy said quietly as he and Rachel trailed behind a little, "We need to talk."

Diana glanced back to look at them, curiosity evident, but they were sucked into their own little conversation. The goddess wasn't sure she liked the feelings coursing through her at the moment, but she brushed them aside and focused on leading them out. She'd ask him about it later.

Percy, meanwhile, was nervous, "So, I'm not sure how to say this."

Rachel's eyes shone a little as she placed a hand on his arm, "What's up? What can I do?"

"I, uh," Percy looked at the floor as they walked, "Well I've been in a sort of weird spot."

"With?"

"My feelings, I guess?"

"In… what regard?" Rachel asked cautiously.

"Like love."

"Oh," Rachel nodded slowly, and Percy could see her seemingly brace herself, "And this means what?"

Percy winced a little as he glanced around, but Rachel noticed his eyes settle firmly on the goddess in front of him, "I'm not sure what to do."

The Oracle nodded again, "What can I do?"

"Tell me I'm not crazy? Or at least hear me out I guess? I just realized it recently, but I figured I should probably tell someone."

"That?"
"I… might be in love with Diana?" Percy's voice was cautious as he looked around again, "And I can't really tell Thalia because that's her patron and they have the whole Hunt thing going on. And I don't want to tell Nico and not Thalia so that leaves me in kind of a bad situation where I can't tell either of them.."

"Oh." Rachel's eyes were wide as she nodded a little. She looked momentarily thankful, but Percy thought that he might be imagining it, "That is bad."

Percy cursed quietly, "Fuck. What should I do?"

Rachel looked at the goddess for a moment then looked back to Percy, "Tell her, probably."

"What?" Percy whisper-yelled, "That seems like the worst idea!"

Rachel disagreed as Diana glanced back at them again, having heard him, "She likes you. Not sure if she loves you or whatever, but she definitely feels something for you."

"How do you know?"

The oracle stared at him.

"Right. Oracle of Apollo," Percy rubbed the back of his head, "my bad. But what if that feeling isn't the same sort, you know?"

Rachel stared at him again before looking away, "Take that chance? I can't say if it's good or bad, so the only way you'll find out is by telling her and finding out for yourself."

Percy shook his head, "Absolutely not. At least not yet."

"Why?" Rachel questioned.

"The anxious part of me says that's a bad idea because it feels like our relationship is either as solid as a rock, or a house of cards. And it does not want to find out which," Percy said quietly, rubbing his wrist awkwardly, "I'll do it at some point, but I need some more time and it's been killing me not to be able to tell anyone."

"Well," Rachel scratched her cheek, "Have you considered talking to Aphrodite? I feel like she'd be a pretty good option given that it's her domain. Or Apollo. You two are close."

Percy grimmaced, "Right because telling him that I'm in love with his sister is going to go over so well."

"Good point," Rachel cringed, "Maybe just Aphrodite then? Or Chiron. That could be a good option as well."

Percy perked up at that idea, "That's not too bad of an idea."

"Well, I did come up with it," Rachel smiled. Percy's mouth twitched as he looked at the goddess. As it would happen, she looked back at nearly the same time, leading to the two making eye contact. Percy smiled awkwardly which she thought was just adorable, but he didn't know that. She returned it before going back to her previous task.

"Okay," Percy nodded to himself, "Talk to Chiron definitely. Talk to Aphrodite maybe. Talk to Apollo, no."

"Sounds about right. Was that all?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah that was the gist of it," Percy said absentmindedly, fiddling with his trusty pen, "Thanks."

"Sure," Rachel said easily, "Guess I shouldn't really be surprised."

Percy didn't hear her at first, but turned back to see the girl staring at him, "What?"

"Just saying I shouldn't be surprised that you'd fall in love with the one person you probably shouldn't."

"Why's that?"

"Just seems like something you'd do," Rachel shrugged, "She's better than your last choice anyway."

Percy felt annoyed by that statement, "Let's not go there."

"Sore subject?"

Percy stopped himself from huffing, "Something like that."

It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about it. Just that he didn't want to talk about it to her. For one, Annabeth hadn't been that poor of a choice. Truthfully, he didn't regret that relationship. Maybe the way it ended, but not being with her for certain. They were children at the time. One could hardly blame either of them for not having a perfect handle on it all. Plus, it seemed that they were actually doing better after their talk those weeks ago.

All of that was to say that he didn't like people insulting her, even if she had treated him poorly. Actually, that was one of the things that had endeared him to Artemis. She'd never stopped to insult her. Pointed out where she went wrong, but she'd never been impolite or excessive about it.

Then again, Artemis just seemed to be one of those people. Kind without really trying. Or at the very least, courteous. He wasn't too sure about others, but she'd always been incredibly kind to him. Speaking of the goddess though, he wouldn't mind talking to her for a little bit. In fact, he would rather be doing that than anything else at the moment. Still, even despite his want, he wasn't sure he could justify distracting her. Look at where that had gotten him.

Ah. Who cared? They had dealt with most of the issue, gotten what they came for, and now they were leaving. And he'd be damned if this stupid maze stopped him from talking to her. Thankfully, he managed to keep that attitude as he made his way up to the front, walking so that they were matching strides.

"So," Percy started, petering off as soon as he opened mouth at the thought of his little crush, "Uh. Have fun?"

The goddess turned to look at him, clearly amused, "You seem nervous."

"Just not sure what to say?" Percy shrugged, "I wanted to say thanks and talk a bit but I figured I could do that behind closed doors."

"And why would this need to be behind closed doors? Unless you're interested in some other way of thanking me," Diana smiled easily, looking back ahead of them.

Percy cocked his head, clearly missing what she was saying, "It's just one of those personal things and I feel like every time I get hurt, we end up talking for a long time about all the… other stuff."

The goddess quirked an eyebrow as she turned back to him, "Did something else happen?"

"Not really?" Percy said, "I'm just used to saying thanks in private is all. Guess I'm in the habit of it now."

The goddess laughed, "Whatever makes you happy."

Percy nodded before considering what she'd said, "Wait. Did you want for me to thank you in some other way?"

The goddess hummed, looking at him out of the corner of her eye, "I never said such a thing. Why?"

"You were talking about some "alternate method of thanking you" and I wasn't sure if that meant you wanted something else. And thank you by the way. In case, that wasn't clear. It does mean a lot to me," Percy started rambling, and the goddess found it adorable.

"You're fine, Perseus," Diana laughed easily, "It seems something is on your mind though."

And, of course, she was right. He tended to ramble when his mind was too full, "Now I'm just thinking about some way to say thanks. I know you're going to be all opposed to it or whatever, but I want to."

"You don't have to," Diana agreed, "you yourself are enough thanks. There's no need for anything else."

Percy made a face as they continued walking, "Okay but still. I'll find something."

He almost instantly looked back down, staring intently at the floor. He looked to be deep in thought as he idly scratched at his cheek. The goddess couldn't help but smile as he continued, mind obviously hung up on finding some method of repayment. Well, she supposed she could help him out a little.

She spoke up, just enough to break him out of his thoughts, but not enough for everyone to hear, "Perhaps dinner then?"

"What?" Percy looked up, clearly confused before his brain finished processing, "Oh dinner. We could do that! That could be fun. I could cook us dinner and we could chill for the night?"

The goddess smiled to herself as they continued walking, "That sounds lovely."

"Great!" Percy beamed before looking at her, "You were totally helping me out, weren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"The dinner thing."

The goddess chuckled quietly, "Maybe. Or maybe I just was just hungry."

Percy smiled, "Right. Definitely believe you."

"Good," Diana nodded easily, nudging him with her elbow.

And, as it would happen, by the time they were out of the maze, it was getting dark. Percy still wasn't entirely sure how that worked, but it seemed like the time dilation was still as potent as ever. They'd only been in there for a few hours, and nearly a day had passed. Oh well, still wasn't nearly as bad as the Lotus Hotel. Independent of that though, Nico decided it was best for him to go and explain to his father. Thalia had offered to go with him, saying that she might as well go back to the Hunt since she was technically still scheduled for some of her duties. So what if Diana had absolved her of them since the demigoddess was with them? Thalia saw no reason to intrude on her and Percy's night. She did have a bag of drachma on them after all.

Now, that would have left them with one extra person, but Rachel had other plans. Namely finishing up a painting in her cave. And so, that left Percy and Diana perfectly alone while the others went about their own thing. And, since they were on their own, they figured they might as well do it at Percy's home. It was, after all, far more comfortable to cook in the comfort of one's own kitchen. Still, if they were going to make a night out of it, he figured they could go all the way by shopping for ingredients and all that. Since they weren't too sure what to cook, he figured it might be fun to shop around a store and see what there was.

First though, he was interested in a shower, as was the goddess. Percy had to stop himself from peeling his clothes off as soon as they set foot in the home. Sure, it wouldn't have been the first time he'd stripped in front of the goddess, but it was probably best to limit that whenever possible. Then again, she had insisted on checking out his wound at least once more, just to make sure that everything was healed properly.

She'd simply instructed him to take his shirt off and sit down on the couch so that she could move him around as she needed. While he sat down, she went behind the couch, allowing her to lean over the backrest and adjust his arm where needed. Plus, if he leaned back against it, she could see the front of his shoulder too.

"Raise your arm a little," Diana said as she gently prodded shoulder, feeling to see if there was any interior damage still.

"This good?" Percy asked, raising it so that it was stuck straight out.

"That's great," Diana hummed. She had him go through a few more actions. This time though, she let her palm rest firmly against the now healed wound in his shoulder so that she could feel if there was any tightness. There wasn't, but she wanted to make sure.

"Did you feel any twangs or pinches whenever you moved it?" Diana was doing her best to embody Apollo, trying to get any little piece of information that could help her.

"Not really," Percy said, closing his eyes so that he could better feel anything that might happen when he moved, "Nope. Feels great. Your hands are pretty warm though."

The goddess chuckled, "That's not what you should be focusing on."

"Whatever you say Doc," Percy grinned, letting himself fall back against the backrest, head draped over. Diana smiled as he regarded her, "Am I good to shower now?"

"As soon as you direct me to one," she smiled, "And allow me to steal some of your clothes."

"You can just use mine then," Percy said, easily pushing himself up. Diana made a face but Percy responded to her before she could say anything, "And before you start complaining, you're using mine because you can go directly to my drawers from there. I can just get clothes from upstairs."

"Seems like you've thought this out."

"Not really. Just thought it'd be easier for you."

"Even though it's your home?"

"I have clothes everywhere. My guest room has other clothes in it because Aphrodite went overboard on all of them. And if you're about to say that I should be the one to use my room, it has all the clothes I wear and like so you should go there because they're better than my other ones. And I can always put on a pair of pants and walk around topless."

Diana smirked, "Oh I'm not sure you want to challenge me on that."

Percy blinked for a second before rushing to speak, "That's not what I meant."

"That's too bad" Diana smiled a bit, "I really don't mind. I'm sure you'd love it too."

Percy blushed furiously, stammering for a second before pointing at the guest room, "I'll uh, be in there."

He could distinctly hear the Huntress laughing as he closed the door before she called out something to him, "Make sure you knock before you come in. Or don't. I wouldn't care either way."

Percy groaned, putting his face in his hands. Really, she was going to be the death of him. At least his shower was peaceful. Up until he started thinking about her offer. Things had gotten a little harder after that.

Whoops.

After what felt like an hour, the man finally pulled himself together. He'd taken a little bit longer in the shower to get out some of that tension, but his head was clearer in the end. It made thinking a little easier, especially as he tossed on a pair of pants and made his way over to his room. He did make sure to knock.

The goddess let him in moments later, actually coming to the door and opening it for him. That worked just fine, up until he observed that she was wearing one of his white, buttoned shirts and a pair of boxers. That'd caused a momentary lapse in focus, and he had to look away rather quickly, much to the goddess's amusement.

"Between the both of us, we have a complete outfit," She joked, tugging on one of his belt loops to pull him into the room, "But, I think I'm going to steal a different pair of pants from you."

Percy, forcing himself to function, responded, "What color are you thinking?"

"Blue," Diana said absent-mindedly, peering into his closet and shifting clothes around so that she could see what he had, "You should wear some of these more often. They'd look great on you."

"What do you have in mind?" Percy asked, watching as she worked while trying to keep his eyes from wandering.

Diana briefly turned to look at him over her shoulder before going back to looking through the closet, "Maybe I'll make you wear some of it tonight."

"Works for me," Percy nodded, dropping himself onto the bed, "Trying to make me your little dress-up doll?"

Diana smiled to herself, "That's the idea. What do you like wearing?"

"Uh," Percy rubbed the back of his head, "Pretty much anything in this room. I keep all my favorites here."

"And yet," Diana pulled a sweater off of its hanger before replacing it with something else he couldn't see, "I can't recall seeing you in a majority of these."

Percy chuckled, "I did say Aphrodite went overboard."

"No kidding. Put these on."

Diana tossed him a new pair of pants. They were a simple brown color with a plaid pattern that he wasn't sure how he felt about, but he'd liked the way they fit well enough so he'd ended up keeping them. He was pretty sure Aphrodite would actually call them "trousers" or whatever, but he didn't really care. They fit, and they looked decent on him.

"When did she get you this?" Diana asked curiously, holding up another sweater in interest. It was a simple sandy beige colored piece with some black amaranth decorating the front.

Percy shrugged, "I think a few months ago. She just kinda drops things off that she thinks would look good."

Diana hummed before handing it to him, "Well, I'm agreeing with her."

Percy quickly dressed himself while Diana went back to finding something else. After a second, he regarded himself, standing so that he could look in the mirror, "What do you think?"

Diana turned back to him, watching as he turned a bit, "It looks good."

Percy nodded easily, letting himself flop back onto the bed, eyes closed as he relaxed for a second, "What are you thinking about for dinner?"

"Something heavy," Diana commented, somewhere off to his left. She was probably looking through his dresser, "I'm hungry, and it looks like you want to sleep."

"I wouldn't complain about a nap," Percy smiled lazily, "But after dinner."

"I'm fairly certain that's called going to bed," Diana laughed softly. After a few moments of companionable silence, she spoke up again, "What do you think?"

Percy sat up, moving so that he could look, "I like that. It's different from what you normally wear."

"A lot less functional," Diana agreed, taking a moment to look down at herself, "But we're not doing anything tonight, and if I'm going to dress you up, I might as well do the same."

Percy grinned as he took the sight of her in. She was wearing the same items from earlier, but she'd tossed on a pair of navy blue pants he'd had and one of the long, black coats he had laying around in one of the drawers. It looked quite nice. Again, he wasn't exactly surprised that it looked better on her than it did on him.

"You look a lot better than I do," Percy said easily, pushing himself up so that they could leave.

"You seem to not realize that you're quite attractive."

"And you're a goddess," Percy shot back, "Both literally and figuratively."
Diana smiled easily, walking up to join him, "Think we're overdressed to get groceries?"

"More than just a bit," Percy grinned, "But that's what makes it fun."

"I suppose so," Diana agreed, "Though we never did figure out what to make."

Percy shrugged, "Have we done shepherd's pie before?"

"I don't recall," Diana said thoughtfully, trying to remember.

"Why don't we do that?" Percy asked, "Nice and simple, but it's heavy like you wanted."

"I like the sound of that," Diana agreed, "What's with you and pub food?"

"Do you want the real answer or a joking one?"

"Both?"

"Well, my mom used to make that type of food a lot because it was easy, and it was cheap. Plus, it went great with beer. And the other is that I like pretending I'm elderly British man that stops by from his cottage when he has nothing better to do."

"Both of those sound equally plausible," Diana laughed, "Especially coming from the man who enjoys pretending he's a peasant dying of starvation despite being the farthest thing from a peasant."

"Hey, I never said it made sense," Percy grinned, "Do you want to drive to the store, or should we just flash there?"

"We're already going to the store instead of just summoning the items. We might as well drive there too. Really get into the mortal swing."

Percy nodded with a smile, "Then let us go. It'll take us a little bit to get to the nearest store."

"Meaning?"

"Roughly half an hour for the one I like going to. There's one closer, but I don't like it all that much and it's not as nice."

"Picky picky," Diana laughed, "That works just fine for me so long as I get to choose the music."

Percy found that agreeable enough, and soon they found themselves buckled into Percy's truck, cruising down the forested roads. It took a little less time than Percy had thought it would, but that was likely due to the roads being empty. And yet, despite the barren roads, the store parking lot was filled. Odd, but he did live out in a direction people rarely visited.

All of that was to say that the store was rather full, and that neither Percy nor Diana had expected this. Still, it had little effect on either of them as they went about their business, making their way around the various aisles and tossing things into their cart.

"Do you think we should stock up on snacks while we're here?" Percy asked while staring rather intently at a bag of gummy worms.

Diana laughed, "I see no reason not to, especially given how you've been staring down those candies."

"Shoot me," Percy said, grabbing a large bag, "What do you want?"

"Anything will do."

"You do know that makes my life harder right?" Percy asked dryly, "I'm going to start picking things out for you unless you help me out."

"Food is food," Diana shrugged, "and, I don't exactly need to eat."

"How does that work anyway?" Percy asked, glancing down the somehow empty aisle.

"To be entirely honest, I'm not sure," the goddess laughed.

"Okay fine, but if you had to choose between let's say chocolate and fruit candies, what are you choosing?"

"Either are acceptable," Diana smiled as Percy groaned before taking pity, "But I think I'd prefer chocolate. I'd much rather just eat fruit over fruit candy."

"That makes sense," Percy nodded. He reached for a bag of the stuff before looking back at Diana, "Wait. Dark or light?"

"Dark."

"Perfect," Percy grinned, tossing the treats in their cart. They'd collected most of the other stuff, prioritizing the necessities. Basically, they'd gone around the store once, grabbing things like potatoes, fresh vegetables, and meat before going around a second time just to look at things since they were hungry. Anything that stood out to them was thrown in the cart. And that was precisely how they found themselves in the snack aisle, looking for anything they might want on their road trip. And, since said aisle happened to also have beer, they figured they might as well stop and look. Really complete that British pub feel, you know?

"You know you're getting stared at?" Diana asked under her breath as she reached up and grabbed a pack of drinks.

"Yeah I can feel it. Wonder why?"

The goddess glanced back behind her friend to find a small group of girls staring at them. They couldn't have been much older than sixteen, but they seemed to have no issue staring at Percy. It was sort of funny, watching them whisper back and forth between each other as they snuck unsubtle glances at him. To be fair, the goddess couldn't exactly fault them as she'd been doing the same thing since they'd left.

"Probably because you're attractive."

"Or they think we're a bit overdressed for the grocery store," Percy countered, looking towards them out of the corner of his eye, "They're blocking our exit."

Diana smiled, "Are you afraid of them, Perseus?"

"No," the man shook his head, "A bit uncomfortable I guess?"

"Not flattered?" Diana teased.

"Uh, should I be?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Why?"

Diana rolled her eyes in amusement, "I can tell you for a fact that they're not staring at you because they think you're overdressed."

Percy pulled another item from the shelves and the two made their way back to their cart, "Well, regardless of the reason, do we have to walk past them or can we go towards the back of the store and wrap around?"

"Oh no," Diana shook her head, "We're definitely walking past them so I can watch you squirm."

"Can we not?"

"I'll choose what we watch tonight if you do."

Percy looked at the goddess, then back towards the small congregation of students before sighing, "You're lucky I like you."

Diana laughed, "You'd have done it if I asked you to anyway."

"Probably," Percy admitted.

Hello! Sorry for the inconsistency. Life's a bitch and all that. Anyway! New chapter out and I finally have a chance to respond to them. Let's not wait any longer yeah?

To lmfao180: Already posted it! To mastercheif1229: Thanks! Next one is here and I hope you enjoy. To Prenicolado: Sorry it took so long to get out but here we are. Hope you enjoy! To mathew w marker: Thanks! I feel like the pacing drags at times but that was also sort of the intention. To Mike699: Well I'm glad you've taken a chance and love to hear that you're enjoying! To AmWRAZ: Yeah that was the intention but I want to have some fun with it in a bit. And posted! To Hippie Painter: Ah well I'm doing as well as I can you know? To Aimlessamo: Heh. Yeah had some fun and I can't wait to actually get them into a relationship together so I can mess around with the more intimate stuff. And I agree with the aspect thing so I think I've got a little scene together in my head. To kikinder: Thanks! That was actually the intention, even if it might be a bit odd for the reader. Glad to hear that it worked out. Glad to hear from you as always as well! To IsItReallyTho: Let me know if there are any good ones to watch. I don't watch things but I do love suggestions and recs. To Vladiz45: Thanks! Happy to hear that. To Irredeliae: I posted it so you'll just have to click on my name and it'll be on my profile as The Night Does Not Belong to God. To HellraiderS: Thanks! New one is up. To INSERTSMARTBUTSASSYNAME: Posted! To Remvis: Thanks mate. Doing a lot better than I was and back to writing finally. Anyway, always good to hear from you. To Nocturnal8: That's always crazy to me but thank you so much! Means a lot to me and I'm glad you've enjoyed the music. To vector arrow: Oh they're around, I just forgot about them. To tieflin: Hey! That's a lot but I just wanted to say thank you for reading and reviewing! Means a lot to me and I loved reading through them. More than that, I'm happy to hear that you're enjoying so thank you! Hope I continue to impress. Thanks again!

Thank you again to all of those of you who read this story. I hope you continue to enjoy. Let me know if there's things you guys want to see, and have a good day or night!