Long time no see. How've you guys been?

School's a bitch, but that's to be expected. Updates will keep on coming, and I'm always brainstorming/publishing oneshots if you get bored.

Enjoy.

Sisyphus Finish

verb.

The act of finally doing something long after expected. Like if Sisyphus ever pushed the boulder fully up the hill, an act that would be much overdue.

Percy found himself, once again, in a precarious situation. This one was a little more unique compared to other instances of life-or-death, and so he felt a little more out of his depth.

He was in a rather small dressing room with Diana, and he suspected he was soon going to die of embarrassment, claustrophobia, or something entirely different. Maybe fatigue from trying on so many gods-damned clothes.

"I feel like we should be aiming for something a little more casual," he said, inspecting the clothes Diana had practically forced him to try on. He reached down to the hem of the rather extravagant shirt and squinted at the price tag. He hoped his dyslexia was the reason there were so many digits, but somehow he doubted it. "And while we're at it, something a little less expensive too."

"Nonsense." Diana casually waved him off. "Money's of no object."

"Okay, but even then, I don't think this is something I should be wearing." Percy flailed his arms awkwardly, allowing the loose fabric of the button-up shirt covered with bright floral patterning to wave about.

"You don't like it?" Diana asked, her eyebrows scrunched up in what he hoped was mock confusion. There was no way he was going to walk out of this store with this clothing purchased.

"I like it more than some of the other stuff we've looked at." Percy laughed, picking up a colorful baseball cap with a suspiciously familiar tiara engraved on it. Diana scoffed and put a delicate hand on her heart as Percy flippantly tossed it back on the floor.

"Well, at least I have apparel with my likeness." Diana smirked at him. He really wished he still had that hat in his hand if only to throw it in her face and wipe that smug smile off. "I don't see a trident or anything else referencing Wonder Woman's sidekick."

"Partner," he immediately objected. It was no use. They'd had this argument many times before.

"Whatever you say," she waved a hand uncaringly and leaned over towards the pile of clothing she had picked out for him to try. It was… big, to say the least. Diana hummed to the soft mainstream song the store provided, filtering through the mish-mash of clothes before finally settling on a set.

"Thank the Fates!" Percy looked skyward and silently blessed the three grandmas forever knitting ugly socks. Diana held up baby-blue sweatpants and a black tank top. At first glance, nothing odd or quirky appeared to be attached to said clothes. He'd hate to put on the sweatpants just to realize they had text cursing the gods or… something. Or maybe he would like that. "A normal pair of clothing. I thought I'd be here trying fishnets and high heels for the rest of time."

"Is that a request?" Diana arched an eyebrow.

"Hades no."

"Then stop complaining, and strip." She tossed the shirt and pants into Percy's reluctant arms.

"Demanding, much?" He rolled his eyes. "You wanna turn around first?"

"Not really."

Against his own will, his cheeks flared red. "Just… turn around."

"If you insist." Diana obliged. Feeling like he was 15 all over again yet still taking one last glance to make sure she wasn't trying to sneak a peek or anything, Percy promptly began to change into the clothes he'd been handed. "For the record, I think You'd look great in a pair of fishnet stockings and some black 6-inch pumps."

Percy dry-heaved at that, thankful they had chosen to get dinner afterwards. "I did not need that mental image."

"What?" Diana's laugh tinkled and bounced off the tight-knit walls."You'd rock that look, don't you think?"

"6-inch high heels?" His eyebrows probably rose above his hairline. "I think I'd sprain an ankle before I took a step."

"It's an acquired skill." Diana giggled.

"And I have zero intention of ever acquiring it." Percy scoffed. He finished putting the shirt on and notified Diana he was finished changing. "You want me to give you a little twirl?"

Instead of responding, she gave him a thorough inspection from top to bottom. Her eyes lingered for a second too long before her gaze raised to his face and her tongue darted out to lick her upper lips for only a moment. Percy was just beginning to get a little creeped out by the rather predatory look in her eyes when she blinked and smiled up at him.

"Perfect," she clapped her hands together. "Now to find you 5 more sets."

"Five more!?" Percy started coughing uncontrollably. Diana just patted his back calmly.

"And other items like underwear and jackets and even shoes would be good."

"How long is this going to take?"

"Depends. We could just buy some random clothes if you'd prefer it," she stuffed her hand into the pile of clothes and extracted leather pants with a flame pattern much too flamboyant for Percy's taste.

"I guess we have time."

"That's what I thought."

"So how'd you like it?" Diana asked, propping her arm on the restaurant table between them and resting her cheek in her hand. Her face settled into an easy smile, one that was casual and looked like it should never be allowed to leave. "Was it as helpful as you'd hoped?"

"That and more." Percy grinned. He couldn't remember the last time the prospect of improving his capabilities had excited him so much. He was so excited in fact that he almost spilled the soda he'd ordered along with their food."One day soon, I'm gonna be like the Avatar. You just wait."

"Short and bald, with a blue arrow tattooed on your forehead?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Preferably not," he didn't miss a beat. "I'd rather have his other attributes. You know, like, being able to bend fire and air and all that."

"You think you'll be able to bend fire," she deadpanned. "I find that doubtful."

"That's not what Barry said," he paused. "Well, he said it'd be a longshot, but I'll make my way up to it. Watch this."

Percy stretched out his hand towards Diana's glass of water and scrunched his face up into an intense look of concentration. Within a few moments, the water sizzled and bubbled and eventually evaporated, leaving only a few drops of water remaining. His arm slunk back down and he slouched further into his chair with fatigue.

While he wiped a bit of sweat that had appeared on his forehead, Diana blinked down at her now empty glass.

"You owe me another water," she said matter-of-factly. Percy rolled his eyes, but decided to entertain her by stretching his hand out once more. Concentrating his mind on cooling the air above the glass, he slowly closed his fist, and when he opened his eyes, only a small amount of water had returned to the cup.

Small amount, as in like maybe a tenth of the glass.

Percy groaned with exertion and laid his head on the backrest of his chair, looking up to the ceiling in pain. That took way too much effort to do basically nothing.

With an amused smile, Diana raised a hand and within seconds a waiter came over, filing her glass back up with ice and water.

"That was impressive." Diana said teasingly, fishing one of the ice cubes out of her drink and tossing it to Percy. He caught it instinctively and popped it in his mouth, allowing the ice to melt and refresh his body, even if it was only slightly. "Very Avatar-like."

"I don't see you doing any better," He sighed out. "It's not humid enough so there's not as much water in the air as I needed. If you'd told me beforehand that you wanted the water back…"

"A magician should know the needs of their audience," she said. Percy scrunched his nose up in disgust.

"I'm not a magician," he shook his head. "Merely a performer."

"Well, you performed excellently, then." Diana smiled dazzlingly at him. "Seriously though, that's quite good. I don't see how it'd be too useful in a fight, though."

"Well, misdirection, I guess. Make them think I don't have any water when in reality it's all around them." Percy shrugged. "Barry and them said getting better at transitioning water through its states of matter should be my top priority right now, and I agree."

"How long until you're proficient?"

"No clue," he shrugged. "Caitlin just told me to practice everyday but not overdo it. She said to think about it the same way I'd think about gaining muscle. I have to let my powers rest, or whatever."

"Sounds reasonable." Diana nodded. "I don't remember having to practice all that much for my abilities, but then again I'm not attempting to do anything as complicated as you are."

"Yeah, from what I remember, most demigod abilities come naturally, even the more rare ones." Percy shrugged, remembering Piper's charmspeak and Thalia's lightning and Leo's… whatever Leo did. "I think I'm stretching the limits of my powers more than usual though, so it makes sense."

"Well, with that and a bit of physical and mental training with some of my colleagues, I think you become one of our best."

"Awwww." Percy smiled, a red tint taking his cheeks. "Alright, enough of this. No superhero business whatsoever. Let's just eat and have fun and see that movie."

"Seems like a nice thing to do on a date," she nodded seriously. "What would you like to talk about?"

"Why do I have to choose?"

"Because you're indecisive and I like to see you squirm."

"..." Percy coughed. He would choose to ignore that. How's that for indecisive? "How's work for you?"

"I thought you wanted to avoid this topic?"

Percy groaned in playful annoyance, "Your other work."

"You mean my job as a museum curator?" Diana asked. Percy could only roll his eyes and take a forkful of the Chinese noodles they'd ordered. A little salty, but otherwise among the better half of Asian cuisine he'd eaten over the years. "It's going well. A little hectic this past week because one of our tour guides moved across the country, but otherwise fine."

"I would make a great tour guide," he said proudly. He looked into the distance, trying to imagine himself walking a group of kids and seniors through a museum's exhibits.

"We could hire you on a trial basis." Diana suggested with a grin. "I give you two tours until you tell the wrong story about an object. Actually, make that two hours."

"You shouldn't underestimate my abilities." Percy said. "Remember the gauntlet on Themyscira?"

"Oh my gods." Diana laughed and shook her head unbelievably. "Are you just going to bring that up every chance you get?"

"If you don't like it, you should've won," he took a sip of his drink and shrugged. "I wouldn't be opposed to a rematch though."

"With powers?" She offered.

"You really wanna fight with powers?" Percy asked. "Last time I fought a daughter of Zeus with powers, I ended up almost flooding the camp forest."

"Then it should be good fun." Diana smiled devilishly. "Trust me, I won't go down so easily this next time."

"I'd hope not," he grinned. "It was rather disappointing. I'd have thought the Princess of Themyscira had a little more bite to go along with her bark."

"Oh, I bite," she took a sip of her glass of wine and lounged into her chair. "I just haven't had the right motivation."

"And what's the right motivation?"

"Something for you to find out."

"Why did you pick this movie again?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper as the opening credits began to roll.

"A coworker suggested it." She shrugged. She tossed a popcorn kernel and hit him on the forehead. He frowned, and she laughed lightly. "Not a fan of rom-coms?"

"I don't mind them," he shrugged. "I'm just not a fan of shitty rom-coms."

"Oh, hush." She bumped shoulders with him. "Isn't the actual point of a date the company that you're in?"

"And I'm in such amazing company." Percy deadpanned. She scoffed, and he bumped shoulders with her once more with a smile on his face. "It could be worse, I guess."

"You guess." She drawled.

"It's been nice." He admitted. She offered him the bag of popcorn, and he happily took a generous handful. He half-expected a muttered comment about watching his carbs intake, but it never came.

It was nice. He'd be the first to admit that the prospect of a date - a real date - was borderline nerve-racking. He didn't have much experience, certainly not with someone who he had no prior romantic experience with, but this was turning out to be rather pleasant.

It wasn't really different from all the other times they hung out, if he was being perfectly honest. The label was there, as was the pressure of not fucking up at all, but the way they interacted wasn't all that different. They laughed and joked and conversed through comfortable topics as well as some borderline uncomfortable ones.

Diana was a person who communicated through touch a lot. He'd learned this long ago and so the random shoulder shoves and hand touches and chest slaps were nothing new. He'd gotten used to it over time, even if physical touch wasn't something he was fully used to as a whole.

Still, romance and just girls in general weren't something he was fully comfortable with. He just didn't have much experience with it, and Diana was someone who was capable of making anyone feel flustered and unqualified, let alone him. She was stubborn and sarcastic and gentle and an unstoppable force of nature. But, he supposed that was exactly why he liked her.

"Pay attention, dude." Diana elbowed him in the side, shaking him out of his thoughts.

'Sorry, dude." Percy rolled his eyes. He reached over to take her drink, because yes he was too stubborn to get his own earlier. Diana slapped him in the arm, and he made sure to take an especially loud slurp.

The movie was decent, but to be honest he wasn't even really paying that much attention. Mainly, he just sent Diana side comments about how stupid or illogical some aspects of the movie were. She, in turn, either half-heartedly chastised him or joined in on the fun. In the end, he suspected she didn't care for the movie either.

By the time the movie was finished and they were exiting the theater, it was close to midnight and the city had succumbed to the night's natural darkness. Streetlamps and stoplights and shop signs provided an array of colorful lighting, and while they walked towards Diana's car, he couldn't help himself from immersing himself in the city. It wasn't quite New York, but Wonder Woman's turf wasn't half bad.

"So, how'd you like it?" Percy asked once they were driving back to her house. He'd offer to drive, but he never had gotten around to getting his license. Just a tad embarrassing.

"The movie or the date?"

"Either," he shrugged. He stared out the passenger window, tracing random patterns with his finger on the glass. The city flew by, buildings flashing in and out of his vision.

"Movie was utter trash." Diana said without hesitation, causing Percy to bark out a laugh. "Date was fairly good. Not my worst."

"What was your worst?" He asked with a frown.

"At least you showed up," she said simply.

"Who in their right mind wouldn't show up to a date with you?"

"Men with egos larger than Giganta," she shrugged.

"What's a Giganta?"

"You'll see." Diana smiled subtly. Percy could only hum in response, not knowing exactly how to respond to that.

"So…" He looked over to her. "Did I do enough to earn a second date?"

Her eyebrow rose, but her eyes remained trained on the road ahead.

"Did you?" She asked back. "You'll never know if you don't ask."

"I just did."

"Percy." Diana deadpanned.

"Sorry." He smiled sheepishly. He licked his lips and cleared his throat, making sure to sit up straight and turn his upper half towards her, even if she was still facing forward. "Will you, Diana Prince, do me the honor of allowing me to take you on a second date?"

"Hmm." Diana hummed in what he hoped was a teasing period of thought. He squirmed in his place, an admittance of his rapidly fraying impatience on the tip of his tongue when she speaks. "I accept."

"Whew," he let out a breath of relief he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Next weekend work for you?"

"Perfect."

"Great," He nodded as they pulled into her driveway. He quickly stepped out and made his way around to Diana's side. He opened the driver's side door and offered a hand to her, which she gladly took with a dazzling smile and eyes bright with amusement.

"And they say chivalry is dead." Diana laughed as Percy led her down the path to her front door. He didn't bother letting go of her hand until she had to rustle through her purse for her keys, and if someone asked about it later, he would admit nothing. "You just earned yourself bonus points."

"Is it enough bonus points to try your lasso for a patrol?" He grinned. She shook her head immediately and only clicked her tongue in response.. They filtered into her warm, cozy home and away from the subtle cool of the night, the change in temperature causing him to shiver.

"Come on." Percy pleaded with a pout as they both slouched into her living room couch. "What's the worst thing that could happen?"

"Hestia could deem you unworthy and the lasso could burn you from the inside out." She said casually.

"Somehow, I doubt that'd happen." Percy chuckled. "Did I ever tell you ab-"

"I swear to my father himself, if you insist on bringing up one of your ridiculous encounters with the gods, I'm going to kick you out onto the street." Diana lifted an aggressive, accusatory finger and clenched her hand at the end of her threat.

"Is somebody jealous?" Percy asked with a sly grin, gently taking hold of her fist and slowly lowering it to a less threatening level.

"Not likely," she argued petulantly. He could only laugh.

"I'm sure," he smiled widely. He slung an arm over her shoulder and sunk further into the impossibly comfortable sofa she owned. "You would've loved Hestia, though. And she would've adored you."

"You say that as if it's not still possible to meet her," she grumbled.

"Well…" He frowned and cocked his head towards the ceiling. "I'm not entirely sure what's happening, to be honest. I haven't seen any signs of the divine realm since I've been back."

"Nothing?"

"Nada." Percy affirmed with a grim nod. "No gods, no monsters. I even tried sacrificing to my father and didn't feel anything."

"Do you want to go to New York?" Diana asked. He looked towards her, not even needing to think about his answer.

"Nah." He said. "I kind of wanna just focus on what's ahead. Building an actual life and getting better at this hero business and all that. If they don't seek me out, I don't really see a point in going back."

She nodded, relatively satisfied with his answer. They lapsed into a few moments of silence, content with simply soaking in each other's presence.

"I won't stop you, you know." He said after a beat, gently squeezing her shoulder. "If you want to try to go to Olympus, or even one of the camps, I won't stop you."

"Would you help me, though?" She asked.

"If it meant that much to you, yeah."

"Really?" Her eyebrows raised in surprise and she looked at him skeptically.

"I feel like I should be offended at that." Percy laughed at her reaction. She rolled her eyes and leaned into him, bumping her shoulder against his to let him know she didn't mean anything. "Really, Diana. I'm not your keeper, and I never will be. You're my friend, and if you want to do anything, I'll help you do it."

Diana didn't say anything for a while, completely unmoving, and for a second he thought she'd fallen asleep. But, eventually, she looked up at him with a gentle smile and bright eyes.

"Thank you, Percy." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I don't think I'll go to Olympus, or your camp, but it means a lot."

'I get it," he said softly. "The gods might suck sometimes, but they're still our parents." It was honestly amazing how many times he'd bonded with other demigods over the subject of their collective issues with their parents.

"Yeah," she exhaled. "It's… unsettling, finding out after thousands of years that the gods have been within reach the entire time."

"I can imagine," he pursed his lips. "If it's any comfort, they'll always be there in case you change your mind. The guard at the elevator isn't even that intimidating. Just threaten him with some minor dismemberment and he should let you through."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said slyly. "I'm happy to know Olympus' first line of defense is so stalwart."

"Kronos never had a chance." Percy smiled.

"Especially not with such a dashing young man guarding the thrones." Diana leaned further into him.

"I'll have you know I was sixteen at the time," he said dryly. Diana barked out a surprised laugh.

"I'm over a thousand years old and you're in your mid-twenties." She shook her head. "This isn't exactly a conventional relationship."

"Relationship?" Percy exhaled.

"Well, I could be more specific if you decided to be more daring, but no," she joked. "This little cat and mouse game is fun and all, but you just have to tuck your tail in between your legs every time you have the chance."

"More daring, huh?" He frowned and paused in thought. Because she was right. Diana hadn't exactly been subtle, and he hadn't been ignorant either. Why exactly had he been so scared? So hesitant? What was the point in dancing around the subject, acting like what existed between them didn't exist?

The answer was simply that there was none.

"Hey." He said, nudging her a little bit with her shoulder. She raised her head and looked him in the eyes curiously.

His hand came up to cup her face, his fingers gently splaying out along the underside of her jaw. Her own fingers gently clasped the crook of his elbow, holding his arm steady. Her own lips parted slightly, and his tongue darted out to moisten his own.

He leaned forward, and Diana gravitated towards him in turn.

The kiss was short and chaste. Her lips tasted of the sweet candy they had gotten for their movie and her fingers squeezed ever so slightly at his upper forearm. It wasn't breathtaking or star-seeing or anything like that, but when he pulled away and he saw her eyes sparkling back at him, he couldn't help the wide smile and unexpected laugh that escaped him.

And then her eyes narrowed suspiciously and through her leered gaze, she accused, "Did you happen to brush your teeth this morning?"

"Of course I did!" Percy exclaimed, partly in offense and mostly in worry. She laughed at his reaction and patted his arm to tell him he was fine. He laughed along with her, even if his heart was still racing just slightly faster than usual at the scare.

"Took you long enough," she said. And, she was right, wasn't she?

Yeah.

Took him long enough.