Roof Talk

noun.

Similar to pillow talk. The conversation that occurs immediately following a rescue or superhero-esque activity. Usually occurs on rooftops.

He sat atop Half-Blood Hill, his back leaned against the notorious pine tree and his hand gliding across the slick scales of Peleus the dragon.

Distant noises of conversation and laughter could be heard behind him, but Percy paid it no mind. The various sounds of Camp Half-Blood were all too familiar.

Laughter between cabinmates and half-siblings. Conversations between counselors. A game of pinochle between Chiron and Mr. D. The clash of swords of a competitive spar. An argument between rivaling cabins. The metal screeches of welding and machinery from Hephaestus' cabin. Serene songs from naiads and dryads.

It was all too familiar.

Why was he even here?

Ah yes, Chiron had asked him to trial as counselor, at the very least.

Percy'd, for some reason, accepted, at the behest of Nico.

Still, he sat at the border and entrance of camp. Content with staring toward the mortal side of the boundary and petting a purring dragon.

He was anxious. On the inside, he knew that. He could already feel his heart pounding in his chest cavity. The grounding feeling of the pine tree behind him and the soothing action of stroking Peleus calmed him, but it wasn't enough to fully rid of his nervousness.

Already, he was mentally hurling insults at Nico for forcing him to come here. It wasn't fair to the son of Hades, he knew. But that was only because the corpse in his mind wasn't able to talk back.

If he knew any better, he would say that Nico was doing the same as Percy; regretting his decision and cursing him to the furthest depths of the Underworld.

What time was it?

Percy glanced at his watch, a newer model that Tyson had created a while back.

Fuck. It was 10 minutes past the time Chiron had expected him to arrive.

He put a hand to his heart. It was still pulsing rapidly.

Chiron could wait five more minutes.

In his head, he knew that his fear was irrational. This overwhelming anxiety. This burdening amount of stress. There was no reason for him to be nervous.

It wasn't as if he'd start seeing ghosts as soon as he entered the camp. Right?

This was just a job interview.

That's all he had to tell himself. Just a job interview. He was just going to a job interview. Yeah. As simple as that.

Ah shit. He was working himself up again.

Peleus decided it was time to leave his napping spot, and got up to prowl around the base of the pine tree.

Wonderful. Now he didn't even have a dragon to lower his anxiety levels.

He glanced at his watch again. Only two minutes had passed since he last checked. Gods dammit.

"Fuck me fuck me fuck me." Percy muttered to himself. With a groan of reluctance, he quickly pushed himself off the ground and dusted off his black jeans. Man, when did he start taking fashion advice from Nico? He'd found himself starting to wear more and more black.

With one last longing look at the hills and roads of the mortal side, Percy turned around, took a deep breath, and walked through the boundary.

His legs felt like they were shaking with each step he took. He knew it was all mental, but it didn't stop the feeling from feeling overwhelming.

Slowly, the noises grew louder. Laughter that shouldn't have been so loud echoed throughout the valley.

He had to stop and squeeze his eyes shut when a particularly loud clash of sword against sword came from the arena and reached his position.

It was all mental. It was all in his head. There was no reason to be nervous.

"Fucking Hades." Percy muttered to himself. A boom of thunder rang from above and almost scared the demigod out of his pants. "Sorry, uncle."

He could practically hear the sarcasm of the God of Underworld's response.

If he wasn't so nervous, he might've flipped off the sky.

But as it was, he felt like he was on the edge of a panic attack, so he was just slightly occupied.

He somehow made his way into the main areas of Camp Half-Blood, and despite the fact that his hands were sweating and his legs felt like they might give out from under him, he managed to keep moving forward.

The kids just kept getting smaller and smaller these days, didn't they?

Well, that was probably a good thing. So many kids, and so many of them so small and so young meant that the gods were honoring their promise.

Still, the looks of awe, wonder, surprise, and confusion were slightly uncomfortable. He had to force himself to keep his gaze forward, in the direction of his destination.

He passed a game of volleyball. A group of roughhousing Ares kids. The archery range filled with Apollo's sons and daughters. The gardens of the Demeter cabin.

It pleased him to see just how many cabins there were, and even more so how many smiling children there were. It was enough to get him to smile, and almost enough to make him forget his slight predicament.

"Ah, Percy!" A grandfatherly, deep voice sounded from his right. "Good to see you, my boy!"

There, on the porch of the Big House, sat Chiron and Mr. D, both with wide smiles on their faces.

Well, Chiron was smiling.

Mr. D had a hat over his eyes and was probably drooling happily over a dream that he wouldn't want to touch with a ten foot pole.

Memories rushed to the forefront of his mind.

Somehow, his anxiety was pushed to the side. Any thoughts of the terrible happenings that surrounded this place were pushed to the side.

In that moment, all he remembered was good. The Stoll brothers pranks. Capture the Flag. Friendly spars. Shared laughs. Dinners and chariot races and midnight swims and campfire songs.

Fireworks exploding over the beach. A cake in the form of a blue brick. The memory of an underwater kiss to last a thousand lifetimes.

He smiled. He locked eyes with Chiron.

It was time to begin again. Time to start something new.

"When do I start?"

His vision was blurred and his head hurt like a bitch.

Percy squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his hands.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

He just needed to calm down.

A few jittery foot taps and shaky breaths later, and Percy was able to open his eyes without drums thrumming in his eardrums.

"You alright over there?" A somewhat distorted voice called out to him. Percy blinked. He glanced over to Diana but quickly found out that turning that fast still pained him.

"Yeah." Percy breathed out. Inhale. Exhale. He shook his head and looked to the night sky blinkingly. "Yeah, I'm good. It's just been awhile since I've done anything like that."

"You've saved someone from a raging kitchen fire before?" Diana asked. Her voice was less distorted and almost entirely clear now, so he could hear the teasing and unconvinced undertone.

"Well, not exactly." Percy stared straight up into the dark blue sky. "But, I haven't been keeping active as much as I should since I left Themyscira."

"You should probably get on that." Diana teased.

"Yeah." Percy breathed out, his chest heaving up and down. "I'll probably get on that. I feel like I ran fifty miles and wrestled with Mrs. O'Leary for a whole day."

Wisps of cotton candy clouds floated above, hardly visible due to the night backdrop. He wondered what it tasted like. Probably nothing like cotton candy. His Inner Annabeth was telling him to lean towards water. Could he control clouds?

Just on a whim, Percy stretched out a sweaty arm towards the clouds and - quite simply - swiped. His hand in the form of a claw quickly swiped through the air, and surprisingly, the dark gray clouds above him followed it.

He stared as the clouds quickly accelerated before slowing down to a crawl.

Diana whistled, "That's pretty cool."

"I didn't even know I could do it." Percy admitted. He reached out a finger and twisted it in a circle, causing a large cloud above him to create a hastily drawn swirl that exactly followed his finger's path. "Sorry. ADHD brain."

"No, it's totally fine." Diana said. Groaning in the process, she uncaringly threw herself onto the concrete across from Percy's still, sitting form and laid down beside him. "I'm honestly in awe of your powers every time you use it. Like back there, when you practically suffocated some of the fires with your powers, some of the things you can do are so interesting and frankly awesome."

"Never thought I'd hear you say the word awesome." Percy smirked. "And might I add, you're literally in a league of superheroes with powers beyond imagination."

"True, but… it's different with you." Diana shrugged. "You're so intune with your powers. It looks natural, easy. Freeflowing. And that's not to say others aren't one with their own powers. But… for some reason… it feels as if you don't even have to think about what you want to do."

Percy hummed in thought. "Perhaps it's something to do with the godly heritage? Like, they're physical embodiments of natural forces, so it would only make sense that our powers come somewhat easy, right? Do you feel like your abilities are like that?"

"Sort of. Flying comes easy, I suppose." Diana clicked her tongue. "Still, though, the more intricate parts of your powers had to be learned, no?"

"Ehhh…" Percy frowned. Now that he thought about it, that wasn't necessarily the case. "I don't think I had to really practice my powers or anything. I think it was more of discovering different, more flexible ways to use them. Like, healing, for instance. I didn't know I could do it at first, but once I did, I didn't really have to practice. Makes sense?"

Out of the corner of his vision, he saw Diana nod. "I suppose. Now that you mentioned it, I guess it's the same for me."

"I'm sure there's still more discoveries to be made with my abilities. And yours as well." Percy shrugged. He just wanted to make sure he didn't venture into the wrong areas, as shown by previous actions. "Who knows. Maybe you'll find out you can shoot lightning at people."

Diana snorted. "I'm five thousand years old. If I could produce lightning, I think at this point I'd know."

"Never say never." He grinned. "Man, you know what's unfair?"

"What's unfair, Percy?" Percy could hear her grin.

"That you don't have ADHD." Percy said simply. "Or dyslexia. Frank is the only demigod I've ever known who doesn't have either, and you know? I think it's really unfair."

"How did we even get onto this topic?" She asked with a light laugh. "We quite literally saved a few families from a fire less than an hour ago."

"I don't know, man." Percy groaned out. "That's why I'm jealoussss. ADHD's no fun unless you're on a battlefield."

"Oh, stop being a baby." Diana said. "It probably saved your life back in that apartment complex, and I wouldn't call that a battlefield."

"I would call it a battlefield." Percy said matter-of-factly. He spread his arms dramatically and gasped. "A fearsome battle of water versus fire. Who prevailed? Well, water, of course! Fire can eat water's ass!"

"That's disgusting." She said. "And makes no sense whatsoever."

"That's because of your limited imagination." Percy said. "Fire sucks. Fuck you, Leo."

"I think you drank too much wine." Diana said. "And didn't the fire almost kick your ass? I don't see your jacket anywhere. I wonder what happened to it…"

"It definitely didn't get burned when I kicked a door in, which is badass, might I add? I think we should focus on the fact that I'm so strong, I was able to kick a door in." Percy nodded. "Definitely should focus on that and the fact I carried a little girl out. And I definitely didn't burn my jacket."

"Mhmmm." Diana hummed. "And you definitely didn't stumble out the exit and almost fall flat on your face, right?"

"Right."

The two shared a smile and fell into a comfortable silence. Dulled sounds of the city surrounded them, filling their senses. But, for once, he was appreciably understimulated.

His eyes locked on the night skies straight above, only a few dim lights and the side of Diana's face filling the rest of his vision. The stars were few and far between due to the city's atmosphere, but the pure stillness of his world was appreciable nonetheless.

This was what Percy loved. What he remembered after all those battles and spars and training exercises. After all the sweat had poured down from his forehead, after all the blood had been spilled and his limbs were so sore he wanted to stay still for the next decade.

The world stilled to what felt like slow motion. Adrenaline drained from your body. Heartbeat slowed to a crawl. Your senses felt like they were dialed to an 11, yet at the same time, you didn't feel anything at all.

For all the shit he gave his genetic makeup and ADHD-addled demigod brain, that euphoric experience that occurred after an intense fight, an exhilarating rescue, a hard-fought quest, when you knew everything was over and you could at last rest…

He'd miss it. That feeling was incomparable.

He'd described it once to some of his friends in the past. That feeling of euphoric bliss. The warriors got it.

The others didn't.

Ever since he'd settled down into this cozy little city and built up a life, he'd had an itch in the back of his brain he was just dying to scratch. He felt like an addict with withdrawal symptoms. Perhaps a little more toned down.

But still…

This…

This feeling. Even the rush that came with rescuing multiple families from that raging fire had been - simply put - magnificent.

And when the fire had ended and everyone'd been evacuated without casualty, that well of joy and pride that grew inside him was new yet familiar at the same time. He'd technically been indirectly involved in saving hundreds of lives, but to be a direct component in helping someone to that level was an entirely new feeling that was different. Still, the feeling was just as satisfactory, if not more.

He'd gotten a taste of that euphoria again, and now that he'd been refamiliarized, he was dying to have more. Already, he could feel his fingers twitching. His instincts as a warrior - one of the most powerful demigods to ever exist and a son of the great Poseidon - were raging on the inside, demanding to be unleashed.

The ocean could not be restrained.

Sooner or later, it would snap the chains that dared try and contain it, and the water would freely flow about, furiously destroying anything in its path.

"You did great tonight, you know." Diana whispered softly, her voice inaudible. Percy's lips stretched into a soft smile.

"Thanks." Percy replied. "I honestly thought of that water thing on the spot. Never had to really put out a fire before. Creating a shell of water to head off the flames and using a supply to snuff out fires was just off the top of my head, but it was fun."

"I suppose that wasn't bad, but I think your composure was more impressive."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, I wouldn't have asked you to help if I thought you'd crumble under the pressure of a thousand degrees of suffocating fire, but I think you did really good staying calm and helping everyone out the building." Diana paused.

Percy didn't really know how to respond to that, so he settled for a slight nod and an expression of thanks for the compliment.

"Plus, kicking the door in was pretty badass."

He barked out a laugh, "I know, right!? That was pretty fucking badass of me. I was honestly praying to Zeus himself that I'd actually be able to kick it down. Didn't want to just stomp my foot on the door and stand there like a dumbass."

The two shared a fit of laughter. Blissful, short, and sweet.

"But seriously, Percy." Diana looked up at him. "You did well. If you ever wanted to pursue a career in superheroing, I think tonight's a good example of how good you'd be."

"Superheroing? Is that even a word?" Percy hummed in thought.

"Percy." Diana said seriously. He sighed and glanced at the woman laying beside him. Yeah, this was serious.

He sighed, "Ahhh, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it since you last asked."

"Sorry if I'm getting annoying about it."

"No you're not." Percy responded in an instant.

"No, I'm not." Diana smirked. "But I'm only asking so much because I think you'd be incredible at it."

Percy blew a few strands of hair out of his face, "Honestly, I don't see why you do. There's so many heroes that you know that can do so many amazing things. People who can fly and shoot lasers out of their eyes and bend their whole body and read minds. I can, what, control water? Swing a sword pretty well?"

"You sell yourself short, Percy." Diana frowned. "It's not just your abilities that make you a candidate, it's you that makes you stand out. Your values and ironclad will are special, and you should never forget that."

Percy gnawed at his lip and frowned.

"Heroes aren't solely made by their powers." Diana said. "Hera, we have a number of heroes that have arguably lesser abilities than you, but have just as much a right to call themselves a hero. Look no further than Batman. A founding member and one of the faces of our league."

"I don't have money flowing from my fingertips." Percy joked.

"No, you have water." Diana responded. "And the variety of utilization I've seen you display with that ability speaks to who you are all by itself."

And Diana was right.

He was running out of excuses.

He was hanging onto a thread.

He'd just built up this life in an attempt to live normally. It wasn't perfect, but it was peaceful. Satisfactory, even. He was content.

There was one missing piece, but was it really worth it to try to make his life perfect at the risk of creating an imbalance of everything he'd created?

"I'm not forcing you, Percy. I don't want you to feel pressured by me. Becoming a hero should come as naturally as possible." Diana whispered, sensing his uncertainty. "I know you've built something important to you here, and I'm not trying to uproot the foundation you've created."

Percy nodded in understanding.

"That being said, I think a little push wouldn't be bad for you." Diana said. "Even if you accept, I'm not going to throw you in the deep end and see how you do by yourself. That wouldn't be fair to anyone. All I'm offering is a trial period for both of us to see if the life's for you. A few nights a week where you patrol Gateway City with me."

"How much crime does Gateway City have?" Percy asked.

"More than you'd think." Diana replied. "So, what do you think?"

"Just…" Percy sighed. He'd been thinking in circles for what felt like the past month. "Just give me a week. Next time we meet I'll give you an answer."

"Promise?"

"Swear on the Styx." He replied cheekily. Diana rolled her eyes right as a bout of thunder cracked from above.

"I suppose that's a sufficient enough answer." Diana said. "For now, at least."

"Perfect." Percy smiled. "Then… one week."

Diana nodded.

"One week."