Annabeth wrapped her hands round her mocha, attempting to get some warmth into her body. Although she was sitting at a table in the little café, she still had her bobble hat jammed onto her head and her scarf wound tightly round her neck (but she did have the decency to take off her coat). It was just so cold.

The bell jangled merrily then, and her head snapped up to the door.

Percy was striding towards her, grinning, ripping off his own hat to expose pink ears. He threw himself down opposite her, shrugging off his thin coat to reveal his Green Day T-shirt.

Before he had the chance to say anything, Annabeth exclaimed, "how are you not freezing?"

"A hello would be nice?" he teased.

"Yes, yes, hello," she waved her hand dismissively. "Now tell me your secrets."

Percy looked down at his bare arms as if noticing them for the first time, then grimaced.

"Funny story," he sighed, but he was still grinning a little. "Mum told me to wear a jumper, that I was going to get cold. But I said, no, I'll be fine, and she was like, you definitely won't but it's your funeral, oh Perseus dearest." He adopted his best Sally Jackson impression, failing dismally to capture her unique voice.

Instead, he sounded more like Mummy Pig. Though why and how Annabeth remembered that frankly nightmarish cartoon pig's voice worried her more than her boyfriend's lack of impersonation talent.

She arched an eyebrow, half amused, half exasperated. I mean, who doesn't wear a jumper in Manhattan in the middle of December? Mad people, and Percy, it seemed, but really, was there much of a distinction?

"So, anyway, after she tried to guilt trip me by saying I was a bad influence on Estelle-"

"Which you are," Annabeth interrupted, smirking.

"Whatever," Percy shot back. "Long story short, I left the house without a jumper, I thought I'd be fine in just a coat, but I'm not, I'm cold and I regret all my life choices." He sucked in a deep breath as Annabeth raised the other eyebrow.

"You idiot," she said, leaning over the table to give him a quick kiss. His cheeks were cold. Percy shrugged, looking quite pleased with himself.

"If all I have to do to get a kiss is to put up with being cold, then I think I'll try and leave my coat at home a little more often," he grinned, green eyes lighting up.

Annabeth punched his shoulder.

"Come on, order something, then let's head to the library," she said after taking a sip of her mocha, which was now only pleasantly hot instead of scald-your-mouth-and-blow-your-brains-out hot.

"How predictable," Percy rolled his eyes as he stood up, shooting one last grin over his shoulder as he headed to the counter.

The two left the café a few minutes later, Percy now clutching a hot chocolate. He took a tentative sip, then frowned.

"I asked for caramel syrup!" he complained, zipping up his coat.

"What, syrup with your marshmallows, cream, honeycomb and crushed peppermint?" Annabeth said, dryly.

"Yeah!" Percy nodded enthusiastically. "It tastes delicious."

"It probably tastes like impending doom," she retorted, slurping at her own drink. "With all that sugar, it's a wonder you're neither bouncing off the walls nor lying down dead."

"Shut up," Percy nudged her playfully. Their banter echoed down the streets as they hurried towards the public library, trying not to slip on the ice. It was one of Annabeth's favourite places, reminding her of evenings huddled on beanbags with Percy when she visited him, her studiously scouring the organic chemistry textbooks she found so interesting, him leafing through a comic.

They crossed the road and entered the park. It was the quickest way to get to the library, and it was nice to pass under the trees, dodging the clusters of snow that occasionally fell.

They passed shrieking little kids, dashing in front of their parents, kicking footballs, or scooting faster than they should and then tripping over onto their faces and sobbing (Percy dissolved into silent giggles at that one).

"That was a good mocha-"

Percy screamed, throwing himself at Annabeth. The blonde staggered, stumbling to keep herself upright, her empty mocha cup bouncing out of her hands.

"W-what's going on?" she panted as Percy clutched desperately onto her shoulder.

Her boyfriend didn't reply, just breathed heavily, muttering something unintelligible under his breath.

Were they in trouble? Some sort of monster? Annabeth, with some effort, pushed Percy off of her, then whipped around to face the direction he'd been before he started screeching, pulling her dagger out of her pocket (yes, she kept a weapon on her at all times, she was a demigod, what would you expect?).

She scanned the horizon for the threat but saw nothing. She dropped her eyes to the floor and saw… a sausage dog? No one else was around, just the tiny dog.

"Percy?" Annabeth drawled, turning back to her boyfriend, who was cowering behind her, hands held over his head, eyes screwed shut. "Are you scared of the dog?"

The dog barked in response, its stubby tail wagging excitedly.

Percy yelled in fright again, taking a step back. "Stay away!" he shouted in the vague direction of the animal; he still had his eyes shut tight.

"You are!" Annabeth exclaimed delightedly. "You're scared of a sausage dog!"

The dog woofed again, its pink tongue lolling out of its mouth. Then it spun in a little circle, tail still wiggling happily.

"Yeah, you're a good boy, huh?" Annabeth crouched down and she wasn't talking to her boyfriend. Shoving the dagger into her pocket, the dog a scratch behind its ears, which it seemed to really like because it started licking her nose.

"Gross!" she exclaimed, overjoyed as she scrubbed at the warm spit. It was gross, she decided, but in a very cute way.

"Where's your owner, hm?" she asked, standing up again, not even trying to hide a smile at Percy's obvious discomfort, because it was a sausage dog. What was it going to do? Lick him to death?

The dog turned another happy circle, then suddenly took off through the trees, settling into a galloping gait. Annabeth stared after it, slightly concerned, but she was sure it would manage to find someone.

Percy was still bent over, his hands back over head. Maybe he thought sausage dogs could fly. Well, news flash, they couldn't, and the threatening canine had scarpered off.

"Perce, it's gone," she smirked.

Percy shook his head frantically. "I don't believe you," he wailed.

Annabeth moved closer to him, then slung an arm over his shoulder and pulled him upright.

"Open your eyes," she commanded. After a moment, Percy hesitatingly unstuck his sea-green eyes and blinked up into Annabeth's own.

"It's gone," she said again. "And it was never going to hurt you in the first place. It's a sausage dog, for gods sake."

"It might have," Percy muttered, straightening up and cracking his knuckles. Maybe he was trying to be intimidating, to mask the fact that he'd nearly been reduced to tears by a miniscule dog, but the jarring pops just made him seem more scared.

"Percy," Annabeth put her hand over his, effectively stopping him from cracking the rest of his knuckles. She tried to stay serious as she said quietly, "It was a sausage dog," but her laugh exploded out of her. She rested her elbows on her knees as she wheezed.

Percy stared down at her coldly, scowling.

When she was finished, she met his gaze again. "Sorry," she grinned. "It's just a little ridiculous."

"Why?" Percy exclaimed. "They're vicious, man-eating beasts that have no remorse and-"

"Wait, wait, stop," she cut his rambling off and raised a hand, staring at him with mixed parts of disbelief and amusement. "You fought the Minotaur when you were 12, without any training. You were the child of a world breaking prophecy at 16, and you've fought Kronos, the literal Titan of Time. You've been trained by Lupa, the immortal wolf goddess. You've fought giants, and you're one of the heroes of Olympus. You've fought countless numbers of other monsters, and you haven't died yet. I think you can handle a dog."

Percy shifted uncomfortably, as if only now realising how stupid it sounded.

"Praise me some more?" he said, hopefully.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, smirking. "No. You've got a big enough head as it is, Seaweed Brain. Now, come on, I do actually want to get to the library."

Percy sighed, brushing his coat off. Annabeth bent down to pick up her cup which she had dropped when Percy had first started yelling his head off. Thank the gods that no one was around to witness that embarrassing show, she thought. She might have dumped Percy on the spot if everyone walking through the park had seen him bawling like a baby at a sausage dog.

As they made their way to the library, Aphrodite smiled up on Mount Olympus. She clicked her fingers and the groups of mortals strolling through the park unfroze. Anything to save their young love.