Sorry this chapter took so long. Been busy with university and writing other shit. On that topic, I recently published a PercyxPiper oneshot titled "princess" and I'm gonna make another oneshot where Harry Potter's a cat animagus and does random shit to fuck around with other students and such.

So….

Yeah.

Whatever.

By the way, wanted to say I won't pair Nico and Percy in the flashbacks. Just thought of the idea on the spot and wanted to gauge how many people would be into that. It's cool, I hadn't really thought too in depth about it, so I'll have a direction I want to go in sometime in the future.

On the topic of the actual main storyline of this story… I have no clue. I published the first chapter on a whim of creativity and was curious to the response. I've been extremely pleased with the amount of support I've gotten on something I wasn't planning on updating too often as it was just supposed to be a series of random little tidbits from an interesting pairing.

I'll see what I can do in terms of any main plot, but I wanted to be frank and say that I doubt there's going to be anything major or concrete. Just a journey of Percy as he navigates this strange world. There'll be funny chapters and depressing chapters and everything in between. Hope you like it anyways.

This chapter'll be mostly dialogue. Just a heads up. Enjoy.

Semidate

noun.

Half of a date. Maybe it's a date, maybe it's not. Who really knows?

He was content.

There was no other word for it, really.

He was finally doing something he actually wanted to do. No prophecies, no burdens besides rent and what he had to eat in a few hours. No quests, no wars, no sociopathic entity threatening to rise from the depths of the Underworld.

He was… happy.

But… for some reason, at the same time… it felt like something was missing.

He couldn't quite put his finger on it.

A few weeks ago, as promised, Diana had brought him back to Themyscira to visit. It was certainly an entertaining day, even if Donna had kicked the living shit out of him as soon as she'd seen him. His shin still throbbed, but the smile that subconsciously grew on his face was the only indication one needed to know Percy didn't care.

The small ball of energy was one of the bright spots in his recent escapades, so when the girl was done with abusing his legs with various punches and kicks, it was the happiest he'd felt in a while, trapping her in a warm embrace and laughing while Donna cried into his shoulder and yelled at him for leaving without saying anything.

He'd apologized, of course. He had been, after all, more than slightly guilty about ditching the poor girl without any warning. It only seemed to acquiesce Donna a little bit, but the fact that she had clung to Percy's side the entirety of the handful of hours he had been on the island told wonders to the bond that they both felt for each other.

Other than that… the visit to Themyscira was wonderful. Hippolyta welcomed him back, understanding flowing through her very veins. Antiope seemed indifferent, but she always seemed indifferent. A few other warriors jokingly challenged him to a spar or two, saying they'd missed beating the snot out of him. He'd rolled his eyes. Nobody beat him (maybe a few did, but Percy'd never tell. And if someone asked, he'd say he'd lost to charitably make them feel better).

And after he'd returned back to his apartment, his job, his random ass city in the middle of Colorado… his life remained good. He remained content. Even more so than before Diana had visited. It was like a weight had been lifted off his chest, and now he was free to do whatever he pleased without the burden of his memories to hold him down. Of course, he was still on a strict rule of "never-fucking-control-someone's-blood" again policy, but it wasn't exactly an everyday occurrence where that policy needed to come close to being redacted.

Speaking of Diana, the two had kept in touch quite a bit. In fact, they had fallen into a rather unspoken routine of them meeting up every weekend to just talk and catch up. Usually they'd simply meet up at the cafe during one of his breaks, but recently Diana had mentioned wanting to see a bit of the city he'd taken residence in. So, like the good host he was, Percy'd been showing her to some of the better places to eat

Unsurprisingly, Diana's taste in cuisine was extremely diverse. She particularly appreciated the Asian restaurants they visited, although Percy liked to joke that for a prehistoric princess, she didn't mind getting her hands dirty when it came to handling fast food. He probably deserved the slap to the head he'd gotten for that.

Sometimes they'd do other things in the city. A walk in the park. A visit to a local bowling alley. An ice cream parlor. Back to the cafe.

Never to his apartment though. He barely had enough room for himself, he highly doubted having another person in the space would be any semblance of comfortable. Also, it was maybe just slightly a little messy. He wasn't really one to clean up after himself. He'd always had someone else who was annoyed enough at the messes he made to clean up after him.

Perhaps after one look at the terrible state of his apartment, Diana would instantly force him to clean it up. That probably aided in his attempt to ward her away from his apartment. Also his weird ass landlord. Man, that guy was a creep.

But, it was fun to just talk about everything under the sun with Diana. It didn't have to be monsters and quests and past heroics with her - although they didn't shy away from those topics either. They simply… clicked. Like pieces in a puzzle. Two peas in a pod. Whatever the shit they say.

It reminded him of his dynamic with Annabeth, but at the same time, it was entirely different. Diana was kinder and more gentle, which wasn't necessarily a better or worse thing. Annabeth was jarringly sarcastic, and while Diana was a less intense version of that, their senses of humor were slightly different as well. Both of the two seemed to tolerate him equally, so that's really all he cared about.

The pattern he fell into was fulfilling. Weeks spent getting better at his job and spending time with his coworkers while weekends he'd do something with Diana and even sometimes visit Themyscira. The job he held as a barista might not be luxurious or high-paying or anything special, but that was what made it so alluring.

He craved a sense of normalcy, any sense of ordinary. And for once, he had it.

"You're lying."

"Absolutely dead serious. On my father's name." Percy responded, a contagious smile on his face and a sparkling twinkle in his eyes.

Diana unmovingly stared at him, a forkful of pasta in her hand accusingly pointed in the son of Poseidon's direction.

"I still don't believe you." Diana said. "There would be absolutely no reason for Apollo to be terrible at creating poems. He's the literal god of music!"

"I'm not lying, the first thing I heard from him when we met was a haiku that was probably worse than most of my high school classmates might make." Percy smirked. He shrugged and sighed, faking reluctance, before choosing to take a sip of the red wine he'd ordered. It wasn't the worst wine he'd ever had, but he would be lying if he said Mr. D would be impressed by it. "I can swear on the Styx if you'd like."

Diana blinked at him. "I'm not familiar with that term."

"You're not?" Percy asked incredulously. He was incredibly confused. "What do you use for oaths, then?"

"I've never had to make one." Diana shrugged. "What does swearing on the Styx do?"

"Well…" Percy bit his lip. "I don't actually know. Never seen someone break it. But, how it was explained to me, was that if you break an oath that was sworn on the River Styx, you basically disintegrate."

"Really?" Diana pursed her lips, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "That's… odd. I'll have to ask my mother about that."

"I'm surprised you've never heard of it." Percy commented. "I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of Styx oaths I've heard surpassed a few dozen."

"I suppose there's never really been a reason for me to hear one." Diana said. "There's an unbreakable amount of trust among Themyscira's inhabitants, and nobody I know in the mortal realm would know of the phrase either."

"Well, that's what I'm here for, I guess." Percy said with a smirk. "Need to catch you up on all the modern mythology."

"That's an oxymoron, and doesn't make any semblance of sense." Diana pointed out.

"Eh, at some point you learn that nothing really makes sense." Percy shrugged.

"Amen to that." Diana sighed. "Honestly, at this point, if someone told me the Norse pantheon exists, I wouldn't bat an eye."

"Well…" Percy raised a shoulder and grinned cheekily at her.

"You're kidding."

"You said you wouldn't bat an eye!"

"Well, obviously I was lying!" Diana laughed and threw up her arms in exasperation. "How many gods have you interacted with?"

"Technically, I haven't actually interacted with any Norse gods. My girlfriend had a cousin who was a Norse demigod, and I had some interactions with some Egyptians, but I couldn't tell you if there's any other pantheons out there."

Diana stared at him for a moment, taking the time to process what he'd just said.

"After all of your stories, it still amazes me with some of the things you've experienced." Diana said. "And I'm in a league of superheroes! I feel crazy even saying that."

"Eh, I'm honestly probably numb to everything cause of the whole nearly dying part 90% of the time." Percy said, cheeks glowing slightly pink. "Of course, most of that is kinda my fault."

"Mhmmm." Diana nodded, recalling Percy's tale of pissing off too many immortals to keep track of.

The two of them lapsed into a period of silence, the both of them peacefully and comfortably eating their respective pasta dishes that they'd ordered only half an hour earlier. The restaurant they were at being a relatively fancy Italian place that was maybe a 15 minute walk from his workplace.

Percy hadn't been here before, solely because it was far too fancy for a guy like him to go to without anybody else. But, he'd heard enough good things from co-workers and other regular customers that had significant others or one-off dates that he'd decided Diana might enjoy it.

So far, he was right.

Their conversation, as always, was free-flowing, easy, and entertaining, aided by the soft and relaxing environment of the warm restaurant.

"So, I was just curious, how accurate are the gods to their descriptions?" Diana asked.

"In what way?" Percy glanced up from his food.

"Like, you told me that Ares is apparently a righteous asshole, but what about the others? What's your dad like? Or Zeus? Or Artemis?" Diana shrugged a single shoulder. "I've never interacted with any of the gods, and I'm one of the few demigoddesses of Themyscira, so I was a little curious what the Olympians are like."

"Well, Zeus is kinda like Ares - no offense - but slightly more intelligent and much more powerful. Artemis is pretty similar to Zeus, now that I think about it. Both are pretty prideful with quick tempers. The main difference is… you know. The whole hating men thing." Diana chuckled. Percy pursed his lips and frowned for a moment in contemplation. "You know, now that I think about it, All of Zeus' kids have similar characteristics to him, with only slightly differing personalities related to their domains. I wonder if the inheritance is similar to fatal flaws."

"Fatal flaws?" Diana frowned.

"Yeah. The way Athena explained to me made it seem like every demigod has a fatal flaw. Something that, if ignored, could be… well… fatal." Percy shrugged. "Like, I know a son of Hades had the fatal flaw of grudges, and many of the Athena children have the flaw of hubris. Mine is loyalty."

"Does that mean I have one?"

"No clue." Percy said candidly. "You were born in a really weird way-"

"Thanks." Diana deadpanned.

"-So it might not apply to you. If I had to guess, you have one, and it's probably related to pride or something like that, but I wouldn't worry about it."

"Is that a jab?" Diana raised an eyebrow.

"Nah." Percy smiled. "It's just kinda what I was thinking. If demigods have fatal flaws that are related to their godly parents' personalities in some way, does that mean gods inherit some of their parents' inherent traits?"

Diana blinked.

"This is why I leave the thinking to Annabeth." Percy muttered. He rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Ugh. My head hurts."

"Yeah, let's leave that topic while we still can." Diana smirked. "Wouldn't wanna overload your big brain."

"Yeah, let's." Percy said, choosing to ignore her sarcasm. "Well, anyways, did I answer your question? Sorry I went on that useless tangent, but are there any other gods you wanna know about?"

"Don't apologize. Seeing you think yourself in circles is extremely entertaining." Diana said. She exhaled and leaned back in her chair. "I suppose you sufficiently satisfied my curiosity. For now, at least. I know you have many more interesting interactions with immortals, and I wanna hear all about it."

"You know, technically, you're immortal too."

"But I am no god."

"Thank the gods you aren't." Percy said with a smirk.

"I don't think they'd appreciate that." Diana responded. Despite her obvious attempts at keeping her face stony and disapproving, a small dimple was evidence enough of her amusement.

Percy shrugged.

"Fuck em."

Diana sighed, apparently resigned to his behavior. "My father is going to strike you down one day."

"It would be a fitting end, then." Percy said uncaringly. The waiter that'd been serving them passed by their table, and after a wave, a gesture, and an affirming nod from the employee, the man was off to get their check. Their admittedly amazing food had been practically fully polished, and all that was left of their plates and glasses were scraps and droplets of leftover wine. "I've honestly pissed off so many people it's a miracle I'm alive."

"Part of the job." Diana smiled. "Although, in your case, probably more your fault than any type of circumstances."

"Definitely my fault." Percy affirmed.

The two of them shared a smile, one that felt private and simple and intimate. The gods had wanted him to start a new life, right? Maybe he wasn't doing such a bad job.

"I'll be right back, Percy. Nature calls." Diana said, rising out of her seat.

"Don't let me stop you." Percy said, spotting the waiter and nodding at the man who was slowly making his way over.

"Here's the check, sir." The middle-aged man said, placing the receipt and its holder onto the table.

"Thanks." Percy said, squinting at the numbers in spite of his dyslexia. Thankfully, he was able to stabilize the floating numbers enough to form the total amount owed. He fished out his wallet, took out the appropriate amount of green bills plus a little extra for a tip, and set it on the receipt's rectangular carrier. "I think that'll be it."

"Wonderful." The waiter said, bowing his head slightly as he collected and inspected the money, ensuring it was a sufficient amount. "You can leave the dishes, we'll have someone clean it up for you. I hope the rest of your evening's date goes well."

Before Percy could correct the man, he'd already set off, maneuvering between the tables and making his way to the kitchen. He stared at the empty space where the waiter had been moment's before. With a roll of his eyes, he chuckled.

"What's got you laughing now?". Percy glanced to his side to see Diana had returned from the washroom. Smiling, he shook his head. "Nothing terrible. The waiter just assumed we were on a date, that's all."

"And that's funny to you?" Diana asked with a raised brow. Percy gave a sheepish shrug.

"No?"

"Mhmm." Diana frowned and nodded.

"Sorry." Percy said, rising from his chair and collecting Diana's purse which had been laid over her chair's backrest. "We can go now, though. Wherever you want. I'm pretty sure the ice cream parlor's only a couple blocks away if you want it."

"You already paid?" Diana asked, her eyebrow raising even higher as Percy handed her back her purse. She already knew the answer.

"Yup." Percy answered nonchalantly.

Diana released a frustrated sigh. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'll pay? I literally have more money than I'll ever need."

"A gentleman always pays." Percy said simply, using the excuse he always gave. Every time they went out to some place to eat or whatnot, he always tried to pay. Of course, sometimes, Diana would beat him to the punch, and she was as stubborn as he was.

"I think that rule only applies on dates." Diana said. "And seeing as you think the mere concept of that is funny…"

"I never said that."

"You never didn't say that, either."

"I don't think the concept of a date is funny." Percy said with a grin. They reached the doors of the restaurant and duly exited the establishment. The chilly wind hit his exposed skin and he saw Diana shiver at the sudden change of environment. "There. Jacket?"

"Only dates can give women their jackets." Diana snarked, nonetheless gratefully accepting his offering and wrapping his much too large jacket around her upper body.

"Well, I suppose if it must be, we'll classify this as a date." Percy said. He hummed thoughtfully and cocked his head. "Man, I don't think I've been on a proper date since… forever ago."

"Really? Nothing?" Diana asked incredulously.

"Well, not nothing. I remember Annabeth and I going on a handful of dates, but nothing really too fancy or organized. We were more of a spontaneous couple. And what with… everything else…" Percy trailed off, the rest of his sentence rather obvious.

"And nothing since you've… come back?" Diana asked. Percy shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Well, I'm pretty sure that cute co-worker of yours is single."

"Which one?"

"I don't remember. Starts with an "s". Sarah, maybe?"

"Sasha." Percy remembered. Blonde. Slight Russian accent. "If you think she's so cute, why don't you go after her?"

"Nice try." Diana said flatly. She tsked. "I've seen a couple customers eye you up. Any of them fancy your interest?"

"Not at the moment." Percy responded. "What about you? Any co-workers you fancy? I've heard you talk a lot about J'onn."

"Uh, no thanks." Diana scrunched up her nose. "No offense to him, but green isn't really my color."

"That sounds racist." Percy said immediately. Diana let out a surprised bark of a laugh.

"Racist?" Diana asked, seemingly extremely offended. Probably an appropriate reaction.

"Next time I see J'onn, I'm telling him." Percy said with a grin. Diana growled and punched him in his arm, but nonetheless smiled. Probably because he insinuated he'd try to see J'onn soon. "What about Batman? He looked pretty dashing when he visited me."

"Please, I do not want to hear you describing him as 'dashing' of all things." Diana laughed. "We tried. Long story short, it didn't work out. In my humble opinion, he takes his job too seriously."

"Have you seen Gotham?" Percy asked. Granted, he himself hadn't seen Gotham. But he'd heard the stories. It was enough for him to give the Batman some type of pass. Whatever that meant.

"Yes, Percy. I've seen Gotham." Diana deadpanned. "Still, I can respect him for what he does, but still not want to ever try a relationship with him again. Not unless he moves to a completely different city."

"So you're saying there's a chance."

"Everyone has a chance, Percy. As long as you give me a good time." Diana looked at him, almost knowingly.

"And don't have green skin." Percy added for her.

"And don't have green skin." Diana repeated.

"That's still-"

Percy was suddenly interrupted by a faded noise from behind him. He turned around to the noise. Flashing red lights added to the increasingly loud siren were enough to alert him of what was happening.

"That's a lot of fire trucks." He mumbled to himself. He followed the line of fire trucks and saw a light trail of smoke in the distance, rising up into the night sky.

"That it is." Diana said softly. She glanced up at Percy. "Looks like I'm back on the clock."

"Got an alleyway where you can change quickly?" Percy joked lightly. Diana smiled back at him.

"Nope. Don't need one, either." Diana responded. She looked around the street they were on and saw that only a few stragglers were still on the sidewalks, most of them rushing away from the direction of where the sirens were headed. "Wanna tag along?"

"Tag along?" Percy repeated. His brain was having trouble processing that particular question. "Like, now?"

"Fires only last so long." Diana rolled her eyes. Percy pursed his lips and hummed.

He wanted normalcy, and so far he'd succeeded. But… then again… right here he had an opportunity to help people. Maybe even people he'd seen or interacted with in this city before. And if doing that interrupted what semblance of tranquil peace he had, so be it. It was worth it.

"You know what." Percy shrugged. "Why not? I'm in."