*Happy Holidays! Surprise lol here's a fluffy chapter set between Chalice of the Gods and Wrath of the Triple Goddess.*

The Saturday after Percy retuned Ganymede's chalice, he came over to Annabeth's dorm to pick her up. Well, technically, he came to find her in the campus library. They'd made plans over Iris-message last night to meet at 2pm, so she'd figured that morning that she had plenty of time to finish up an essay for one class and a design for another by noon so she could enjoy her afternoon. But after struggling through finishing her essay, she'd gotten absorbed in the much more enjoyable task of working on the design for her drafting class and, not for the first time, the day got away from her. She was curled up on a corner of her favorite couch, hunched over her computer, engrossed in trying to get the trusses lined up for the vaulted ceiling she was experimenting with, when a hand touched her back.

Annabeth jumped, nearly dropping her computer.

"Sorry!" Percy put his hands up. "Didn't mean to startle you. I figured you'd hear me walk up."

"It's fine," Annabeth said, her heart rate going back to normal after the brief spike. "I was just…focused."

"Yeah, I know." Percy grinned. "It's nearly 2:30."

"It is?" Annabeth looked at the clock in the corner of her computer and swore. "Sorry, Percy. I just—"

"Lost track of time," he finished for her. Luckily, he didn't look mad, more affectionately exasperated. "It's fine, we're not really on a tight schedule today. And when your roommate said you weren't there, I took a guess about where I'd find you."

"Good guess." She smiled at him, then shut down her computer and stood up. "Let's start over. Hi."

"Hi." Percy kissed her cheek. "You ready to go or did you need to finish that up?"

Annabeth shook her head as she packed up her laptop, books, and notes. "Actually, your timing was perfect. I was stuck trying to make my calculations work so that my trusses would actually support the ceiling and it wouldn't collapse."

"That sounds important," Percy said. As Annabeth swung her bag over her shoulder and they started walking, he reached out to take her hand. "Is this a design for class or for fun?"

"A little of both. It's for an assignment, but we got a lot of room to make up pretty much whatever we wanted. So I'm trying out some new techniques."

"Cool." As they passed the front desk, Percy waved to Florence. To Annabeth's surprise, the security guard smiled and waved back.

When they stepped out into the warm afternoon, Annabeth asked, "You make a new friend back there?"

"Huh? Oh, Florence? Yeah, we're buds." Noticing her expression, Percy grinned again and said, "Hey, I can be charming when I want to be."

"So I've heard." Annabeth squeezed his hand and took a deep breath. The day was sunny and breezy, still warm with the end of summer, not yet cut through with the crispness of fall. As much as she loved working on a design, she was grateful her boyfriend had come to drag her out of the library to enjoy this weather. "So, where to?"

"It's, um, actually a bit of a surprise," Percy said as they started walking up the street, towards the nearest subway station.

"Oh really?" Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Did you make a plan, Seaweed Brain?"

"I tried." Percy suddenly looked nervous. "I don't think you've been there before. But I think you'll like it."

"Okay." Annabeth squeezed his hand again. "Lead on."

"Seriously?" Percy raised his eyebrows. "Just like that?"

"Yep. I'm tired of thinking for today. Lead on. I'm yours for the afternoon."

Percy smiled slowly. "Just for the afternoon?"

Annabeth felt heat rise to her cheeks, but she stopped walking so she could face him full on, pull him close, and kiss him. "This afternoon and then some."

"Good to know." Percy traced his thumb over her cheek, then kissed her again. "Ditto."

Annabeth smiled. "Perfect. Because I was hoping this date would at least last through dinner this evening."

Percy laughed and slung his arm around her shoulders. "I guess it depends on how good the dinner is."

Annabeth poked him in the side, making him laugh again. She couldn't help smiling herself as they headed down the stairs into the subway station.

They took the subway all the way down to the Bowling Green station, coming out at Battery Park, near the tip of Manhattan.

"Statue of Liberty?" Annabeth guessed. After hearing how Percy's day had gone so far, she'd spent the second half of the subway ride trying to figure out where they were headed.

"Nope." He was smirking slightly as he laced their fingers together while they crossed the street.

"Bowling Green? The actual park? It's the oldest New York City park."

"No—wait, really?"

"According to Google."

"Well then it must be true," he said sarcastically, and she poked him again.

"Ellis Island? Governor's Island?"

"Nope and nope. But we're almost there. You'll see in a few minutes."

Intrigued, Annabeth let him lead her up the street. She was wracking her brain for New York City landmarks in the area. To be honest, there were quite a few, but she really couldn't guess which one exactly he was bringing her to. "Are we going into the river?"

"Not today. I think those guys are still a little hacked off at me for getting in their faces last year. Hate to push my luck."

"Smart boy." Annabeth looked around. The street was crowded with tourists and locals, everyone enjoying the nice weather. "Okay, I give up, I really don't know."

Percy's smirk widened into a grin. "I don't think I've ever heard you say those words before."

Annabeth shot him a dirty look. "Don't ruin it, Seaweed Brain."

His grin only got bigger. "I've got to enjoy the moment, babe."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but she let him put his arm around her shoulders again.

After another block, Percy paused in front of a stretch of buildings. Annabeth looked around, but it looked like just a street with offices. No obvious or interesting signs. Percy frowned, brow furrowed as he surveyed the doors and the numbers. "It should be just about—ha, right here!"

Annabeth studied the glass doors that looked…pretty much like all the other glass doors on the street. The only difference was the mural of New York above the doors. "What is it?"

"This," Percy grinned as he opened the door for her, "is The Skyscraper Museum."

"The what?" Annabeth asked as she walked in—steps rose in front of her and a small sign stating "The Skyscraper Museum" pointed up them. "Like a museum about skyscrapers?"

"Yeah," Percy said, following her up the stairs. "Someone at school mentioned it, so I looked it up. It's all about the history and architecture of skyscrapers, like all around the world. I thought—I thought maybe that was something you'd like to check out?"

They both nearly fell down the stairs when Annabeth hugged him.

"I'll take that as a yes," Percy said.

"Percy." Annabeth grasped his hand as they reached the top of the steps and her eyes traveled over the displays of miniature scale replicas of skyscrapers and the placards explaining their construction and history. "This is amazing."

That earned her the much softer smile that was only ever for her. "Awesome."

They spent a couple of hours looking around the exhibits. Annabeth was sure this wouldn't have been Percy's first choice of a way to spend the afternoon, but he seemed happy walking with her and he asked good questions when she started talking about the designs. The descriptions of the processes of the construction were fascinating, especially since it covered the earliest skyscrapers from the 1890s up until the current construction of multiple supertall skyscrapers from around the world.

"There's the Burj Khalifa," Annabeth told Percy, stopping in front of a display of model skyscrapers and pointing to the tallest, which tapered up to an elegant point. "Currently the tallest building in the world. It's just over half a mile high."

"Dang." Percy studied the model. "Do they offer hang gliding or base jumping from the observation deck?"

Annabeth laughed. "No, I'm pretty sure they don't."

"They should think about it. That'd be sweet."

"Seaweed Brain," Annabeth muttered, but she smiled at him before turning her attention back to the building. "I'd love to see it someday. It's really gorgeous, and they've used some fascinating design techniques to keep it stable and functional, since it's built on the edge of both the desert and the ocean."

Percy nodded, studying the pictures of the skyscraper behind the miniature replica. "We'll go one day."

"Yeah?" Annabeth asked, surprised by the confidence in his voice.

"Yeah." Percy squeezed her hand and smiled. "Getting into college is just the beginning. There's a lot of stuff I'd like to see and do with you. That's my plan anyway."

"Good plan," Annabeth murmured, pleasantly caught off guard by his pronouncement. She laced their fingers together. "But we can give it a couple years. Our trip to Europe this summer was enough for me for a while."

Percy laughed. "Agreed. So, what's the deal with this other skyscraper? It looks short compared to the tallest one, but I'm guessing it's still pretty big?"

"Very big. That's Taipei 101. It's still over a quarter of a mile tall—" And Annabeth went on to discuss the other features of several different skyscrapers as they continued to wander through the exhibits.

When they left a bit later, Annabeth stopped Percy on the sidewalk and kissed him. "That was incredible, Percy. Thank you."

"Of course." He kissed her again. "Anything for you. And thanks for helping me with all the chalice stuff."

"Any time. The plan starts with going to college together. And I'm going to help you get there." She kissed him one more time. "Now, how about pizza for dinner?"

"You read my mind."

They set off up the street. It was, Annabeth reflected, a great Saturday date.

*The Skyscraper Museum in New York City is a real place—they have a pretty cool website with a lot of facts and info about skyscrapers—all building facts in this story were found on their site. It seemed like a fun place that Percy and Annabeth might go on a random Saturday in between quests.*