Hephaercy || PJatO || Hephaercy || Here Pines Hephaestus || Hephaercy || PJatO || Hephaercy

Title: Here Pines Hephaestus – Polympians Event 2024

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Tags: m/m, pining, fluff

Main Pairing: Hephaestus/Percy

Percy Jackson Character: Perseus Jackson

Godly Character: Hephaestus

Polympians Prompt: yearning/pining

Summary: Hephaestus was in love with Olympus' newest god. The most beautiful of the gods, because Percy Jackson was not just beautiful on the outside, he was beautiful on the inside too. Hephaestus just didn't entirely understand why Percy was spending so much time with him.

Here Pines Hephaestus

Polympians Event 2024

Percy Jackson was the most beautiful god on Olympus. And Hephaestus did not care if Hera, Aphrodite or Athena could hear him say it, since it was true. Because beauty was not just about physical appearance, beauty was about someone's character, their heart.

And them? Hera, the goddess of family, who so easily abandoned Hephaestus, her own son, because she saw him as imperfect? Aphrodite, the goddess of love who couldn't even love her husband, who continuously cheated on Hephaestus with his own brother, even in the very place that he had built her as a symbol of their love? Athena, so petty she would rather curse a woman than acknowledge her talents, would rather abandon her own wonderful and clever daughter than feel slighted?

No. None of them beautiful, not where it truly mattered. There was no kindness in them.

Percy Jackson was kind. Kind, generous, selfless. He was the most beautiful god Hephaestus had ever met. He had become a god, because of his kindness and selflessness. Because he wanted to be in a position to help other demigods, to get a say in what happened on Olympus, to hold the gods accountable. In Hephaestus' opinion, they could all use some accountability. Him, too.

After the Giant War, Percy accepted godhood. And now there was a beautiful Rain God on Olympus. A realm well-chosen; water and storms, his father's domain, but the sea would take him away from Olympus and his goal was to keep tabs on the Olympians, take influence on the king too, so he chose a realm that worked closely with Zeus. Clever boy.

The problem, for Hephaestus, only reared its head when he saw Percy be kind to someone Hephaestus cared about. Percy caring for his demigodly friends and for his family were a sign of his good character, but it didn't make him particularly interesting to Hephaestus. The smith assumed that most people who weren't gods actually cared about friends, family and lovers.

"Oh, you are the cutest, aren't you? Okay, okay, fine, one more. But only one. Stop looking at me like that, I will not overfeed you, I think Hephaestus might smite me for that. No whining."

Hephaestus' brow twitched and he reluctantly put his tools down to instead see who Percy was talking to, and why the boy was at his forge. He rarely got visitors and usually they just meant more work for him. Once he rounded the corner, out into the hall, he found Percy… sprawled out on the floor, with a mid-sized, bronze-scaled dragon curled together on his chest, happily chewing a steak (hopefully a steak; if his pet dragon took a bite out of Percy, Poseidon was going to drown him).

"Aereus, get off the boy," Hephaestus glared sternly at the dragon. "Bad dragon."

"Don't say that," Percy gasped and wrapped his arms around Aereus' neck. "You are not a bad dragon, you're a very good boy, yes you are, yes you are."

With confusion clouding his gaze, the smith just watched. People usually complained when Aereus got too affectionate because most people didn't like to be slobbered or squished by a giant lizard. Percy was just petting Aereus as though the dragon was some type of dog.

"What," Hephaestus cleared his throat. "What do you want, Perseus?"

"Don't call me that," Percy wiggled his noise with a glare. "I am so annoyed by all the 'Lord Perseus' nonsense. It's just Percy, you know. Uhm… so, I came here with a plate of food, but your dragon kind of ate the steak so you just get… tomato salad, I guess?"

He motioned to a plate that stood next to him on the ground. Tomato salad and a clear, large mark of marinade that indicated where the steak had been laying before Aereus got a hold of it. Hephaestus turned to glare pointedly at the dragon, earning a near-guilty chirp.

Hephaestus stared at Percy warily. "Why are you bringing me food?"

Those large, sea-green eyes stared up at him like a lost seal pup. Crossing his arms, Hephaestus tried to put some distance between them, physically and emotionally. Cute looks like that could not get to him, he could not let that get to him.

"We were having a barbecue and I noticed that you didn't attend. Persephone said you always dodge family gatherings like that. So I figured I'd bring you a plate so you can at least enjoy the food, even if you can't tear yourself away from your work like that."

The frown on Hephaestus' face deepened at that. "Why."

Percy mirrored his frown. "What do you mean 'why'. What kind of question is that. Why are you questioning barbecue. I just thought it would be nice? I am, and was, friends with a lot of your kids and I know that single-minded focus they have when they work on a project. Not my first rodeo of dropping off food at forges. I'm… still new around here, so I'm trying to make nice, you know?"

Hephaestus continued frowning, until the former demigod huffed and left. Only when Percy was out of sight did Hephaestus bend down and pick up the plate. He poked one of the bits of mozzarella with his finger before picking it up and eating it. Mh. He hadn't realized how hungry he was.

"You're sleeping in the dog house for eating my steak. Don't whine at me, Aereus."

/break\

Over the following months, this somehow became a… routine. Not the steak and salad specifically, but Percy Jackson trying to include Hephaestus in things. Movie nights, game nights, banquets. Hephaestus wasn't sure if they had always had all of these events on Olympus and he had simply never noticed due to his work-load, or if Percy was the one initiating them in an attempt to bond the gods closer together. The truth, most likely, laid somewhere in between.

Though that wasn't the part that got to Hephaestus, what made him grow attached was the way Percy was around Aereus and any other of Hephaestus' companions, both animal and mechanical alike. Hephaestus has since learned that Percy owned a pegasus, a hell-hound and a skeleton kitten, so it wasn't as much of a surprise in that context. The boy clearly liked animals, particularly untypical animals. Still, seeing him coo over Hephaestus' dragon made the smith feel warm.

"Here," Hephaestus grunted with a glare, shoving a shield at Percy.

"Wha…" Percy, sitting at Hephaestus' feet so he could cuddle Aereus, who was napping there.

"Ares broke your shield when you sparred last week," Hephaestus didn't look at Percy. "So, here."

"Oh," Percy whispered, sounding surprised. "You didn't have to do that."

"If you don't want it, then just put it in the pile over there," Hephaestus ground out.

"What, no," Percy glared and hugged the shield close. "No take-backs. I just… I just meant that I'm not spending time with you to get something from you. I've seen how often people come in here, never to ask how you're doing or anything, but to ask for new weapons, armor or jewelry. So. I want you to know that you didn't have to do this, that that's not why I'm here."

Not knowing what to do with that, Hephaestus simply grunted. Then why are you here? But he couldn't bring himself to ask the question, dreading the answer. He'd rather enjoy whatever this was for however long it would last. He looked down at the teen, who was feeding Aereus a treat.

/break\

Percy kept coming to the forges and even to Hephaestus' workshop – his sanctuary, that nobody was allowed in. And yet, Hephaestus let the boy in. Because the stubborn, kind young god had wormed his way into Hephaestus' well-guarded heart. Whenever Hephaestus wasn't at work, he found himself looking for Percy, hoping to see his bright smile. He had even started to attend some of the social events, solely because the sad baby-seal eyes made Hephaestus feel awfully guilty and made it impossible for him to deny Percy anything. Much of the jewelry Hephaestus had crafted in recent months featured blue and green jewels, anything that reminded him of Percy's eyes.

There was no denying it anymore. Hephaestus was in love with Percy Jackson. With every smile, every kind gesture, every silly pun that would force a laugh out of the smith, every time Percy cooed at one of the dragons or fed them a treat, every time Percy brought Hephaestus food. He was hopelessly in love, smitten, pining, yearning, desperate for the boy's company.

"Why," Hephaestus forced out, not looking at Percy. "Are you here."

"U—Uhm, snacks for Aerie?" Percy offered confused, holding up said snack.

"No," Hephaestus closed his eyes and sighed. "In general. Why are you here. With me. Instead of… out there, with… anybody else. They like you, I know everyone on Olympus adores you, so why do you choose to spend your time in a smelly, hot forge with a grumpy, old man…"

"Got a thing for grumpy DILFs," Percy replied so casually, it startled Hephaestus into hitting his own thumb with his hammer. "Oh shit! Are you alright? Do you, uh, need something for that?"

Hephaestus cradled his aching thumb and glared at the teen. "Why would you say that."

Sea-green eyes blinked at him near owlishly. "Well. I have been very openly and blatantly flirting with you for like months now. Spending time with you and your pets. Bringing you food and cool stuff I found. But you seem really content just pining for me. I'm tempted to make a commemorate plate for you that says 'Here Pines Hephaestus' because you do it super obviously but also seem as oblivious to someone flirting with you. So I decided to, you know, spell it out for you."

"Why would you…" Hephaestus faltered just a little bit. "Like me?"

Slowly, Percy got up and then walked over to him, laying his arms around Hephaestus' neck and offering him a soft, compassionate look. "Well, the superficial bit aside where you're really hot – do not scoff at me, mister, your biceps alone have fan-clubs, I tell you – you are also very caring. You take in orphaned dragons and raise them. That's. Damn, realizing that actually made me swoon. And you're good company. I tend to ramble, I fill silence and you… are comfortable to ramble to. I love seeing you work, you are so passionate and that's contagious. You're… I like you."

Aereus cooed and then head-butted Percy in the back, causing the former demigod to stumble right into Hephaestus' lap. A blush lit Percy's face up as he turned to glare at the dragon.

"Bad dragon! No treats for you," Percy muttered in embarrassment.

"No," Hephaestus wrapped his arms around Percy's waist. "Good dragon."

Curiously, Percy looked at Hephaestus. "Yeah? That mean you're ready to be done pining?"

Grumbling, Hephaestus nodded. He just wasn't used to people wanting him, in any capacity, so he was blind to it. Looking into Percy's eyes now though, he could see it. Could see the love. Hesitantly, he leaned in until their lips touched, relived when Percy eagerly kissed him back.

~*~ The End ~*~


Author's note: Aaand I am done! That is the last of my Polympians fills, I covered all the gods I wanted. I hope you had fun with this little event too ;) I liked ending it on a fluffy note!