A lil cliche, but it's whatever. Short but sweet, enjoy.

Wonderlust

adj.

The innate, intense desire to be constantly stimulated, explore, adventure, and to another extent self-actualize. The goal to fulfill curiosity and wonder.

The café had been closed for an hour at this point, and still Percy sat in the dull lamplight at a table next to the window. He nursed a china cup of tea which had once been scalding hot, but was now only slightly lukewarm. Of course, he'd refilled the cup multiple times, which was yet another sign of the predicament he found himself in.

He glanced outside the window. It was dark and overcast with dulled colors and softly falling rain. One thing he'd noticed in his time in the city was that it seemed incapable of deciding what it was. One day it would be pouring buckets and the next it would be 70 degrees and shining. It truly confused him just how it was possible for the weather to be so polarizing.

Today, it wasn't quite at the point where it was hailing violently and he was wondering who the hell had pissed off Zeus this time, but it was still modestly sprinkling with the nighttime sky covered in a sheet of gray.

The tea helped. He liked water, sure, but he also liked the sun. And bright lights and a blue sky and clouds that made weird and fun shapes. He was easy that way.

Shining sun and blue skies good. Hailstorms and gloomy skies not good.

Sprinkle in a few days of light rain and Percy would cherish it. Other than that, though…

No thanks.

In other news…

Percy had been granted a week. He'd thought it'd be a long enough timeframe to come to a decision.

Now, he had two days left. He was no closer to a decision than he was five days ago. He'd spent the last few days thinking in circles so much that his head hurt and he had to take a break. Honestly, he wouldn't say no to a couple aspirin.

Diana was going to kill him.

Truly though, he still didn't know where his heart was at. He'd long since determined that the main conflict in his head was his desire to have a sense of normality and this irritating, overwhelming itch to - simply put - do something.

His head hurt like a bitch.

The tea helped, but it didn't help that much. He'd need Athena's miracle brew of genius tea to get rid of this headache, if that was even such a thing. It probably wasn't.

Who was he kidding, it definitely wasn't. If Hermes could make something like that, he probably would. Athena, on the other hand, not so much.

So, here he was, sipping his millionth cup of chamomile of the day, sitting alone in the café he'd closed and cleaned not too long ago with the steady sound of beating rain the only other thing filling his senses.

He really should leave and get back to his place. Immediately, his thoughts were filled with the reminder of his slightly cramped studio apartment. Floors covered in laundry and tabletops hidden under scattered objects flooded his mind, and suddenly he was consumed with dread over having to go back.

It didn't feel like home. Despite everything, even though the city he now inhabited had become all too familiar, the apartment he'd shacked up in still didn't feel all too familiar enough to be home.

Home was still back in New York, specifically in his mom's apartment, and until something else proved otherwise, it always would be. His apartment now was barely smaller than the one back in Manhattan, so size wasn't really the problem. It was honestly just the feeling that came with being in the room.

In the one he now rented monthly, all he really felt was a sort of cold loneliness whenever he spent a prolonged amount of time in the apartment. There was a void there, one that was a constant reminder of what he didn't have but once did. For that reason alone, he liked to spend as much time as possible outside of the building. Sometimes he just roamed the streets, sometimes he visited the park.

He really needed a hobby. Or… something.

Percy groaned and slapped a hand against his forehead. Another excuse, however valid it was, to take up Diana's offer.

He was getting nowhere.

With that conclusion, Percy flicked his eyes over to the sink across the café and with a wave of his hand, willed the tea within the cup to surround it and pull it towards and into the sink. With a quick wash that took some complicated movements of water to turn on the sink and actually scrub the cup, Percy nodded in satisfaction and stood to finally leave the closed establishment.

It was still raining outside, but even though Percy only had a thin hoodie with him, he'd be fine. He'd manipulate the water enough so that the surface of his clothes still appeared wet, but the inside would be perfectly dry. He'd done it so many times at this point that it almost became second nature whenever he was around civilians.

The bell attached to the entrance jingled when he exited and he could immediately feel the rain pitter pattering against his jacket. Making sure to lock up the place before he left, Percy made his way down the street toward his apartment only a few blocks away, humming a tune that was vaguely familiar as he did so. Perhaps it was the beat of one of the songs the café softly played when they were serving.

Unsurprisingly, not that many people were out and about. It was, after all, close to midnight on a weekday with a good amount of rain sprinkling from above. There were a few stragglers and a handful of passing cars, but otherwise it was a fairly quiet evening.

Humming the tune that just couldn't escape his mind, Percy leisurely made his way to his apartment, in no hurry to arrive and all the more content to simply enjoy the relatively silent night.

It was one of those nights, where the city was overcome with a sense of peace and calmness, one that you wouldn't ever be able to find in a bustling city like New York. It was times like these where he was grateful for where he was.

He could only hear the steady rhythm of the rain spiking against the ground below him and his shoes slapping against the sidewalk. The fading screech of a car engine passed every now and then, but for the most part it was consistent.

That meant his senses were perfectly aware when a faded yelp sounded not too far from him. Percy stopped for just a moment, and was inclined to keep going as if nothing happened (because, in all probability, nothing did happen), when another loud crash led to another muffled screech.

Percy frowned, but decided to make his way toward the noise nonetheless.

A puddle of water splashed up as his boot inadvertently slapped against its surface. Silence imbued from where the odd noises had originated from.

Just as he was questioning where the noise had actually come from and why exactly he was sticking his nose into something that more than likely wasn't anything close to being his business, another high pitched shout sounded from a street up the block he was on and to his right.

With his frown still intact, Percy sped up his pace and peered around the corner, only for his eyes to harden in barely concealed fury at the sight he stumbled upon.

A few meters down the street, poorly concealed even in the sprinkling shower of rain, was a man and a woman. The man was fully covered in black from head to toe, practically not an inch of skin showing except for his bare hands. The woman, on the other hand, was dressed in layers, with a large coat hugging her form and an umbrella strewn to the side.

With nothing else but a few scattered cars in view, Percy's eyes blazed in anger as he witnessed the man grappling with the woman over a backpack, the woman forced to a kneeling position and hugging onto the object for her dear life. The man had one arm violently tugging at the backpack, desperately attempting to rip it from the woman's somehow ironclad grip.

His free arm was raised, and despite the baggy sleeves he donned, Percy could tell his muscles were clenched.

Percy's teeth gritted and his hand fisted tightly. Later, he'd realize that he drew blood within his palms, but in the moment, he couldn't feel the blood dripping down his fingers due to the rain masking its presence and his heat pumping in his ears.

In the moment, he was too immersed in memories of his first stepfather, knee-deep in a sea of beer bottles and so drunk he wouldn't even recall hitting the one he married the very next morning.

It disgusted him. But more than that, it birthed a fury so furious he felt like he might actually snap. All he could see through the haze of pouring rain was the silhouette of a lumbering, potbellied, walrus look-a-like of a man, stalking menacingly over a woman with blue eyes and chocolate colored hair.

Deep breaths.

He closed his eyes, but only for a few seconds. When he snapped them open, he consciously made sure his movements were controlled and level-headed.

Quickly, subtly, and with a look around to ensure that nobody else was within viewing distance, Percy took the hand behind his back, swirled his index finger in a downward spiral, and flicked.

Without delay, the man who had previously been boring down on the rather helpless woman was violently jolted away and thrown into the car across the street. The woman was so shocked that she let go of the backpack and it slid to the middle of the street, between her and the now unconscious and hopefully not-dead man.

Despite his previous manner, Percy winced. He had not meant to throw him that far. Into the car, no less. He hoped they had insurance, although he didn't know any car insurance that covered random human imprints in the side of the car.

Focusing his attention back to the woman, he could see that her chest was heaving and she was practically frozen on the ground, staring at the man who was lying still on the pavement now more than 20 feet away from her.

Hoping to nudge her to act, Percy flicked his whole hand outward, and the backpack was slapped to slide back to the woman, who instinctively wrapped her arms around it as it lightly hit her chest.

Thank the gods above that the woman rushed to her feet, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and began to sprint away. Honestly, though, Percy was half-tempted to yell at her to slow it down in case she twisted an ankle or something like that.

The only problem was that she was running in his direction. In a panic with no idea how he was going to avoid being spotted, he did what an idiot with an IQ equal to his would do.

"Eeep!" The woman screeched as she rounded the corner and barreled into Percy, who had braced himself after back-tracking for the collision.

"Woah!" Percy caught the woman by her arms before she could collapse to the floor, ensuring that his hold on her was loose yet firm and that he was as least-intimidating as possible. "You alright there?"

"U-uh, y-yeah." The woman stuttered, her expression wild and anxious. Up close, he could tell that the woman was most likely actually younger than him. Probably in college, if her worn backpack was anything to go by.

"You sure?" Percy asked, letting go of her as soon as he was sure she could stand on her own two legs. The woman wobbled a bit before steadying, yet her breathing was still erratic and her face frantic. "Deep breaths, miss."

"Y-yeah." The girl nodded hastily and inhaled deep through her nose, out through her mouth. After a few breaths, her chest stopped heaving so much and her breaths became less shaky. All the while, Percy observed her from close by, but not too close to be uncomfortable. Eventually, she calmed enough to glance back to the street she came from. Percy followed her gaze, and sure enough, the man was still on the floor. "D-did you see what happened?"

"See what happen?" Percy feigned confusion with a raised brow. The woman glanced at his face for a moment before she shook her head.

"N-never m-mind." She shivered. "I must be going crazy."

"Nah." Percy shrugged a single shoulder. "You don't look crazy to me. Although, you probably should get inside somewhere. It's pretty cold out here, might catch something."

"I could say the same to you." The girl said. Percy chuckled.

"I'll be fine." Percy said. "You should go, though." The girl nodded, but before she could take a step, she glanced back at the man lying in the street.

"What about him?" She asked, jutting her chin out toward the lump. "Should we move him?" Percy looked at him for a moment and pursed his lips. He might've been more sympathetic, but for the life of him he just couldn't force himself to feel something. All he could see was an afterimage of a towering stepfather with barbeque sauce smeared at his lips and a broken beer bottle in his hand. He looked back to the girl.

"Do you want to?" Percy asked genuinely. After a few seconds of contemplation, she shook her head. "Alright then. Have a good night."

"Bye." The girl whispered hurriedly, rushing off in the other direction past Percy. Her gaze followed her the whole time until she disappeared off in the distance, the rain covering her escape.

Despite himself, a sense of satisfaction and pure good bloomed within him. So, this was what it was like. This and the fire...

This was what Diana felt, what she described. Her duty to people who weren't able to protect themselves from the evils of the world.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Percy's face.

It wasn't perfect, but it was a start.

"So you're in?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't get all starry-eyed over it." Percy rolled his eyes and chuckled. "I'm in."

"Percy!" Diana laughed loudly and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. Percy laughed along with her, responding immediately and twirling her around in a circle before setting her back down on the ground. "That's great! You're gonna be an actual superhero!"

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself." Percy chuckled and released Diana. He stepped back and released a huge sigh of happiness. He really was glad that he'd made a decision. He just hoped he wouldn't regret it. "It's only a trial basis, and I still have no clue how good I'll be at this."

"Don't worry, you have me to whip you up into shape." Diana flashed a radiant smile, one that warmed Percy down to his toes. "If you do anything stupid, I'll be there to correct it."

Percy smiled back at her.

"Wouldn't want it any other way."

If it was even possible, Diana's smile grew even wider at that. Percy's did as well. She was just so… otherworldly. He'd seen goddesses and immortals, up close even. But, nothing compared to Diana. It was hard to describe, but he could sum up royalty into a woman, Diana would be it. And yet… she was nothing like the stereotypical princess one might think of. She was kind and determined and independent and strong. Stronger than maybe anyone he'd ever met, and not just because of her powers, but because of her will, as well.

Of course, the demigods he'd battled besides during the war could never be questioned in terms of their willpower. His friends and comrades who'd battled even while bloody and beaten and partially dismembered had willpowers to rival anyone in existence. But Diana…

Percy couldn't put into words how hard she worked. Too hard. And yet she still found the time to be so carefree and joyful and bouncy yet regal whenever they met up. It shouldn't've been possible.

"Once you're done with your shift, I'm taking you out to eat. Somewhere fancy, I think. Maybe even out of town." Diana smiled brightly. Right when he opened his mouth, Diana interrupted him. "And before you say anything, I'm paying. No arguments, got it? We're going out to eat, maybe at a fancy Japanese place that Bruce can get us into, and I'm paying."

Percy opened his mouth again, but closed it once Diana raised an eyebrow in a challenge. He relented, and sighed. "Fine, I give. I do have one question, though."

"What is it?" Diana asked, still seemingly on guard in case Percy wanted to protest.

"Who's Bruce?"

Diana blinked.

"What do you mean, who's Bruce?" She quirked her head in confusion.

'What do you mean, what do I mean?"

"I mean, how do you not know who Bruce is?" Diana asked again. "Bruce Wayne?"

"Um…not ringing any bells" Percy shrugged. "I don't know. Sorry?"

"Percy." Diana pursed her lips. "You've literally met him. Are you just messing with me? This really isn't one of your best."

"No, I'm not messing with you." Percy shook his head. "Who the fuck is Bruce, and when the Hades did I meet him?"

"Percy, he's…" Diana glanced around before leaning in to his ear to whisper. "Batman."

Diana leaned back, and once he'd processed what she'd said, he furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" Percy asked. "It's just a name, isn't it? Sounds like a pretty normal dude. Besides the part where he cosplays as a bat."

"Hera above, you're completely hopeless." Diana threw her arms up in exasperation."Whatever. It doesn't matter. All you need to know is that we're going out tonight at 7 to a relatively exclusive restaurant, and I'm paying. Got it?"

"Got it." Percy shrugged.

"Thank you." Diana nodded. She took a deep breath to calm herself, and Percy had to bite back a smile. "I'll see you back here at half past 6."

"Bye." Percy grinned and waved as Diana walked off, heels clacking against the pavement.

"Gods, he's just so damn obtuse." Diana muttered to herself as she left, along with a bunch of other words that got much more unintelligible and probably much more insulting as her voice faded into silence.

Percy stood there, outside his café, eating away at the limited time he had for his lunch break.

He'd just made a major decision, and yet it didn't feel like it at all. He didn't know what he was going to do about his job, his living situation, or anything in between, but in the moment, it didn't matter. He found himself smiling to himself, not feeling any type of regret and already looking forward to any heroic escapades he would have with both Diana and possibly other members of the Justice League.

It'd been a long time since he'd had true comrades, and perhaps he missed the feeling. Hopefully he'd be able to make friends. At the very least, he was already familiar with a couple.

He wondered if he should get a gift for Diana. Perhaps he'd go back to New York and try to find one of his pots of moonlace.

Nah.

He was leaving that part of his life behind. At least, for now.

Roses.

Yeah, roses would be nice.