Katie Decides to Chill

Annabeth didn't spend too much longer trying to grill me for information, having deduced that I already told them all they'd find important. So rather than make a show of things and march her way to rip Hylla a new one, she elected to stick with the plan and survey for information first. Of course, doing so meant research. That meant she made a beeline for the archives, eager to dig up anything of use on Amazonian politics and customs.

Rachel and Calypso shared her zeal. Though they may not have been as versed in research as Annabeth, they elected to break the workload between themselves and headed to the archives together, all of them wishing me a happy birthday once more and parting with equal hugs and kisses.

What with all of the romping about over the past… who knows how long, I figured I owed it to thank the individuals who led me to arguably one of my most memorable birthday celebrations ever. Right up there with when Annabeth and I first got together.

The nymphs took over the two rooms in the middle of our row of prison cel– Ahem, dormitories. A quick couple of knocks, and Palírroia opened up.

"Master!" she exclaimed, bright-eyed and fidgeting her fingers before her. "Is there something I can– Ah! Mmm…"

I scooped her in for a tight hug, pulling her in by the waist as she nuzzled herself against my shoulder.

"Thank you for the surprise," I said, rubbing circles along her lower back.

She mewled in my arms, letting out a breathy sigh as her eyes fluttered shut. "It pleases me to know you enjoyed yourself. I did not wish to conceal such events from you."

"Kind of defeats the surprise if I knew what I was walking into."

"That's what I told her," Ashe said, approaching us with her arms crossed, a smirk on her lips. "But oh, no! 'We must be honest with Master.'"

I reached out and pulled her into the hug as well. She yelped.

"Wait, what did… Ohhh."

If Palírroia enjoyed cuddling up to me, Ashe went in the opposite direction. At first, she pushed back. But once her body rubbed against us both, she openly voiced her pleasure. Shuddering, mumbling to herself, and smothering her face with my neck, she locked herself against us both, for all of about ten seconds. After which point, she pulled away with a flushed smile.

"That was…" She shuddered, her flushed smile brighter than I'd seen on her for quite some time. "Um. I mean… Thank you."

She rushed back into the room to the only person who couldn't see her blush. Specifically, Thŷella, who sat on a bunk with a hairbrush in her hands. Admittedly, her hair was quite the mess, which means she either had a rough night or I wasn't the only one kept up with some nightly entertainment. Given Palírroia's quite affectionate mood, I decided on the latter.

"So how have you all been holding up?"

Palírroia spent a moment longer with her face buried into me before pulling back.

"We are… doing as well as we can."

"Certainly less outdoorsy than we'd like," Ashe said, bringing the hairbrush to Palírroia. "Not to mention this is now the fifth day our life sources have been in a stranglehold. So we'd definitely like to move on and root ourselves as soon as possible."

Palírroia took the brush and returned to Thŷella, her facade of calm hope withering.

"Look, we know you want somewhere safe and ideal for us. We really do." Ashe palmed my chest and looked me in the eye. "But the greatest paradise in the world won't matter if we fade before we get a chance to see it."

I gulped. "How much longer do you think you have?"

She shrugged. "Days? It depends on the life source. Some are more delicate than others. We're all feeling the effects, but it won't start to get really bad for maybe another day or two if we're lucky."

I pressed my fist to my mouth and mulled over her words. "We'll see what we can do. This shouldn't have taken so long, and I'm really thankful for your patience with this."

They all nodded.

"In any case, I should get back to Sierra." Ashe tried sliding past me, but stopped for a moment when her weighty breasts rubbed over my arm. "Um… Excuse me," she said, biting down on her lip.

I let her pass without further issue, pressing a kiss to her flared green cheek.

"In the meantime, just try to rest. Keep up your strength any way you can. And if you need anything, and I do mean anything, let me know. I don't care if I'm eating, sleeping, or in the bathroom; don't hesitate to ask."

"As you say, Master," Palírroia said, brushing Thŷella's hair.

I parted with a nod. I did a quick peek to check in on the other nymphs as well, but Sierra's halfhearted glowering and Ashe's request for more time had me backing out of their room before much could come of it.

So in the meantime, I decided to remedy one slight issue I'd been dealing with that morning. The other girls may have filled up on breakfast before our celebration, but I'd gone to both the gym and ran myself ragged while pleasing three women all at once, with only some fruit and dips to satiate me.

Suffice to say, I needed food.

Following my nose often got me into trouble. It also led me to some amazing food. So all in all, it balances out.

My search to satiate my hunger inevitably led me to the cafeteria. Courtesy of breakfast having already finished and with lunch still quite a ways away I had the luxury of walking down the cafeteria line unimpeded. Yet as I meandered down the line, my heart deflated. No leftovers. Not even a spare bagel for me to pick from. I almost settled with grabbing a cup just to fill up on water when a familiar voice called out.

"Percy?"

I looked into the kitchen to find Katie behind the counter, decked out in an apron, gloves, and a hairnet.

"Hey. Uh, you wouldn't happen to have any leftovers, would you?"

She cracked a grin and snickered. "Consider yourself lucky, birthday boy. Get back here and I'll warm something up."

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

I made my way behind the counter to find the kitchen almost completely empty, save for two people. Katie, who rushed to put together a quick breakfast plate, and Phoebe, who deconstructed a whole chicken in about fifteen seconds flat.

"Julia and the others are out for their break." Katie popped a dish of ham, eggs, and hash browns into a small oven. "Should be back in about an hour and a half or so."

"That's quite the break." I strode up to them, my mouth already watering from the smell of juicy ham and savory potatoes.

"They have weird shifts." Katie shrugged. "They work from like four in the morning until ten at night, so they deserve the long breaks."

"Fair enough. Then what are you two doing here?"

She grinned, marched over to Phoebe, and gestured to a small pile of chicken parts and diced vegetables. "Making lunch! Julia gave us permission to use the kitchen during their breaks as long as we clean up after ourselves. Turns out Phoebe is quite the virtuoso in the kitchen."

Phoebe maintained her concentration for the next five seconds it took her to finish the last of the chickens. After that, she headed to the sink to clean her knife and cutting board.

"It just takes practice. Perhaps not as much as I've had feeding the Hunt, but still."

"You were their cook?"

"Among a select other few." She grabbed an onion from a mesh bag and set it up on the chopping block. "Though I imagine the tastes within our group are a bit more refined. So I'll hold off on wild deer or duck."

"That would be greatly appreciated. Go ahead and add boar to that list. Speaking of which…" I turned to Katie. "I also appreciate your contribution to the celebration we had this morning."

She preened at my words and flashed me a bright eyed grin. "You're very welcome. But that was easy work. I'm more concerned about prepping larger meals. Especially with how much the harem seems to be growing."

DING!

She pulled my breakfast from the oven and let it sit on the counter to cool. All the while I tried to make sense of her words.

"Growing? Sure, Sierra's now a part of the harem, but I thought nature spirits don't need to eat like us."

"They can, but it's not a necessity for them like it is for us. Their main source of sustenance will always be their life source. But that's not necessarily what I meant. I was talking about your future drive to pound town with the queen. Let's not also forget about your standing agreement with Lou Ellen. Unless you just made a deal with her to get her to leave us alone."

I blanched. Because of everything we've been through lately, I'd almost forgotten about my agreement with the daughter of Hecate.

"On top of that, we also have this mystery goddess that Hestia is apparently trying to bargain with, so all in all, if everything goes our way, we'll have a few more mouths to feed."

"Okay, fair. But who knows? Maybe Hestia will just offer a blessing and give us a free meal every day."

"Pfft. That's wishful thinking." She handed me the plate, and I wasted no time in digging in. "Besides, I'd rather keep my role as the resident cook, thank you very much."

"You don't say." I rolled the slice of ham with some hashbrown in the middle and inhaled it like a little burrito. "Gods, this is delicious."

"Easy, killer. It's not going anywhere. Besides, you still need to have room for the next course."

I barely heard her, too engrossed in shoveling the eggs down my gullet. So far as I was concerned, there wasn't a brazier nearby, so no need to bother myself with making an offering to any gods. Though I may have been tempted to offer one up specifically for Hestia. For good luck, if nothing else.

"Speaking of sustaining the nymphs, their time limit is getting pretty close before we need to anchor them again." I turned to Phoebe. "Since you've been through this before, any idea how long we can risk?"

"It varies from nymph to nymph, the constitution of their life course, along with what that source actually is. An oread can last much longer with their source stored away than a dryad, who normally only last about a week."

She backed away from her diced onion, leaving the knife on the cutting board. "To be more certain, I would need to see the nymphs myself. There are indicators. Though I must admit I'm not too familiar with the likes of Thŷella. She's… unique. Not a variety of nymph I've yet seen."

"Can't argue with that. But if you really know what to look for, then whenever you have the chance—"

"Say no more." She washed her hands off and left her kitchen rag by the cutting board. "Their well being is of far more value to me than a single meal."

"Hurry back," Katie said. "The quicker we can take care of them, the better."

She nodded and took her leave.

"Well, that could've gone better," I said after a moment.

"At least we'll have a measure on them." Katie took over where Phoebe left off, peeling and dicing down an onion in seconds. "Besides, if you ask me, Phoebe's much more open than she used to be."

"In no large part thanks to you, I'm sure." I grinned, squeezing her flanks.

She squeaked. "Watch it, buster. I'm armed and dangerous."

"Without your signature frying pan? You don't stand a chance."

"Don't tempt me."

We snickered while I finished the breakfast plate. Katie finished off the vegetables and set the chicken up to marinade.

"Well, since you seem to love my cooking so much, you happen to have room for one more course?" She wiped her washed hands dry.

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

"In that case, I made a little something for your birthday. My personal gift for you."

"Cake?" I pitched my voice in excitement.

"Considered it, but that seemed way too standard. In line with breakfast, I went with something I knew a little bit better."

I let my shoulders deflate for a moment, only to perk up when the pause in her words ended.

"Muffins."

I stiffened. "What flavor?"

"Blueberry." She flashed me a coy smile.

"Where?" I spun around the room, scanning over each and every counter while she chuckled.

"It's in the fridge. Come on. I'll go get them and warm them back up."

She motioned to walk towards a walk-in refrigerator, but once I picked up on the direction, I grabbed her by the hand and dragged her along. She let out an "eep," but I was way too focused on getting those muffins to care.

"Brownies one day, muffins the next. You all are spoiling me."

"Right, right. I'll keep that in mind when my birthday rolls around."

"When is it?" I shifted my weight from one leg to the next once we reached the door.

"April first." She opened up the heavy door, a wave of cold rushing out of the room. "And I swear, if you make any jokes about it…"

"Not when my muffins are being held hostage."

"Good. Now, I'll just grab them real quick and we can…"

I rushed past her, into the fridge and zoomed around the room with my eyes on the prize. Speckled with that lovely indigo color and topped with a sugary crumble, the beautiful muffins all but cried out for me to snatch them up. And compared to the array of fruits, vegetables, and meats, the muffins stuck out quite a bit.

"Way to wait for your gift," Katie said, shaking her head and following me in.

I grinned ear to ear as I toted the tray of four muffins back to her. "They're gorgeous."

"I know. Hence why I put them in here. Technically, you're not supposed to put bread into a fridge, but I needed a spot to hide them from everyone else, and the bread pantry seemed like a way too obvious option. Besides, I knew you wouldn't be too long."

"Then let's not wait anymore. Time to warm these babies up and dig—"

Thoop.

Everything went black.

"Um…" I clutched the muffin tray to my chest, cradling them as if they were my own child. "Katie?"

"Looks like the door closed on its own. No biggie. These have handles on the inside. Now, if I could just see…"

I fished Riptide out of my pocket and uncapped it with my mouth. In spite of almost carving my cheeks into a permanent grin, I managed to shed some faint light into the room.

"Better," Katies said. "Alright, follow me."

We marched up to the door, where I held the bronze blade up to shed some light on our escape.

"Here we are. And with a little pull…"

She pulled on the handle. Then pushed. Then tried twisting it.

"Um… No need to panic."

She wiggled the handle, but it didn't budge.

"Are you sure that's the handle? It's still pretty dark in here."

"I'm pretty sure. Uh… Um." She ran her hands along the surface of the silver walls, tracing her fingers up and down, but she kept returning to what was obviously the handle. "Yeah… So… I think it's safe to say this is the handle. But…"

"It's jammed," I finished.

She went silent for a moment. "Yeah."

Like her, I paused for a bit, wracking my brain for a solution. "Is there like a panic button in here or something? Or any way to get ahold of the staff?"

I think she shook her head, but I couldn't be sure. "If there is, Julia didn't show me. And they aren't supposed to be back for over an hour."

"And Phoebe just went to go check on the nymphs…"

"Yeah… No telling how long that will take."

"So in short, we're—"

"Fucked. Yes."

I wasn't sure how to proceed. Getting locked inside of a fridge wasn't really on my plans for today.

"Um… these things are airtight… right?"

"Yep… But to my knowledge, something of this size should sustain enough oxygen for a whole day. At least for one person. So give or take about twelve hours for us."

"Great… So unless somebody decides to take the rest of the day off…"

Katie tried punching me, but only managed to throw a cool breeze by my shoulder. "Don't even joke like that. Julia will be back. Or Phoebe. Of course… she has no idea we're in here. Nor a reason to think we would be…"

"Okay. No more thinking about that. Someone will find us. Of course, we could try Iris… wait… no, we can't."

"Yeah… no light. Not really much in the way of water here either."

"Happen to have a phone on you?"

"Since when do any of us use phones?"

"Right…"

"... Fuck"

"Yeah…"

We let a moment or two pass in silence. At which point, she let out a shaky breath. "Okay. Now, I'm starting to get cold."

If I was wearing a jacket, I would have offered it to her. As it was, all I had was my own shirt, and staying locked in a fridge for over an hour without a shirt on seemed like a bad idea.

"We should probably stay close together. Conserve body heat."

"Y-yeah. Um… Let's find something to sit on. The floor is metal, so that's probably not a good idea."

After a few minutes of waving my sword around, we found a few boxes full of egg cartons. We removed the eggs and unfolded the cardboard until we had a decently thick pad with enough space for us both to sit on.

In no time after that, the two of us were shoulder to shoulder, huddling together as we fought off the cold with valiant shivering. Meanwhile, we tried to pass the time by eating the muffins. I delved into mine with gusto while she pecked at hers.

"Damn." I moaned into the buttery sweetness of the muffin. "Cold or not, you outdid yourself with these."

"Just wait until you get to the middle. I had them filled with—"

"Mmm!"

"Custard. Yeah… I had it colored blue, but you can't really see it right now."

"In that case, I'm definitely saving one for when we get out of here." I laid the tray of two pastries to my side and wrapped my arms around Katie. "Thank you. For what it's worth, this still isn't the weirdest thing to happen to me on my birthday."

"Kronos?"

"Kronos."

She sighed in content, leaning into my hug while she finished off her muffin.

"Okay, I know you kind of gave me an answer about this already, but it was pretty vague."

I pulled back. "About what?"

"The whole blue thing. Not judging, but what's your reason for blue food?"

"Ah… Yeah, you can actually thank my mom for that. After she remarried, my first stepdad declared there was no such thing as blue food. So she went out of her way to bring back blue food all of the time. Generally, it was just candy and stuff. Jelly beans and the like. Then she tried other things. Blue tortilla chips, purple potatoes; she even made a natural food coloring using red cabbage."

She paused for a moment. "Percy… I hate to break it to you, but red and blue are—"

"I know. But if you soak red cabbage in a slightly basic solution, you can turn it blue."

"... Huh. For once, you actually managed to teach me something about food and plants that I never knew about. That's… really impressive actually."

"I have my moments."

She chuckled, then went quiet. "You said your 'first stepdad' said that. Does that mean they divorced?"

"That's one way to put it. She killed him. Turned him to stone with Medusa's head."

"Oh," she said, her voice small.

"He deserved it. I… didn't pick up on it until much later, but he was abusing her. She only stuck around him to keep me safe from monsters. Grover told me he could still smell him on me weeks after I showed up to Camp Half-Blood."

"She was… Wow… I won't go digging. But I hope she's doing better now."

"That makes two of us. Last I saw, she was a mess, but that was because of me disappearing for almost a year. My new stepdad is a really cool guy though. He's the reason I even managed to get into high school."

"I'll have to meet them someday."

"Hopefully. I know she's dying to meet everyone. All things considered, she took the idea of the harem pretty well. She's more put off by the immortality than anything else. But that'll have to wait until after we find a place to live."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Which reminds me, what about your family? I've already met Piper's dad. Same with Annabeth's family. And I know some of the others aren't in the best situations, but what about yours?"

"My dad? Well… it's been a while since I've seen him. He's probably freaked out by now. I was supposed to be back to continue my next semester in college. Not to mention my internship."

"Internship? If you had college, we could have figured something out. And you just had to ask; I'd be more than happy to let you see your family."

She shrugged, leaning her head into my chest. "Guess I just didn't want to be a bother. You have enough to deal with right now."

"But you're still—"

"Nope. We can worry about that later. In case you forgot, we don't exactly have to worry about dying anytime soon. I may not be getting any younger, but I'm not getting any older either."

"Alright, fine. Another day then. That said, it's good that you have a good relationship with your dad. A lot of demigods can't say the same."

"Fortunately, I didn't have to deal with Captain Thunderpants or Mister Haiku as a dad. Not that they'd stick around. Too busy chasing the next piece of ass like true manwhores. Nope. Instead, I get chased by a manwhore."

She adjusted herself and planted her butt firmly on my lap, leaned her back against my chest, and pulled my arms around her in a forced embrace.

"Last, I checked, I wasn't chasing anyone."

"And yet you still have a buffet of open legs to choose from. Looks like your mom raised you right."

I shrugged. "Can't deny that. But what about yours?"

"My mom? Can't really say. I've only met her a handful of times."

"No no. Your dad. Come to think of it, despite going to camp together for years, I really don't know anything about you."

She wiggled her hips on my lap. A blatant attempt to distract me, but I wouldn't be denied.

"What's to know? Don't we all basically live the same lives?"

"So you choked out a snake as a toddler?" I rested my chin on her head.

"Wait, what? Is that supposed to be some sort of metaphor? Because if so, gross."

"I'm serious. Two of them actually. Mom still brings that up every now and then. She almost had a heart attack when she saw me playing with the corpses."

"Morbid, but okay. So maybe our lives are just a little different."

"Tell me about it. Seriously. How you grew up, how you found out you were a demigod, what your dad was like. I'm all ears."

She sighed. "Alright. You've twisted my arm. If you were to guess, what would you say my dad did for a living?"

I rapped my fingers along her waist while mulling over the question. "Something tells me I shouldn't say he was a gardener."

"Everyone wants to, but you're only half right. He was in a way. He was a lead researcher in a hydroponics lab set in my hometown's botanical gardens. He… was a really big fan of irony. Always joking about opening 'Gardner's Gardens.'"

"Sounds like my kind of guy. Doesn't take himself too seriously."

"Should I tell you he was friends with a vasectomy surgeon named Richard Chop?"

I blanched. "Wait, what?"

"Yep. They sort of made it their life goals to live up to their names. Anyway, my mom, if you couldn't tell, is also a fan of irony. Just look at Miranda."

"Still took me forever to realize that you two weren't full sisters."

"Trust me, we leaned in on that angle for as long as we could. Back to the point though. Shouldn't be too much surprise that my mom was smitten with my dad. By all rights, he's still a good looking guy. And in his field, he's a bit of a savant. Finding natural ways to cross breed plants to be healthier, more flavorful, and pest resistant. No GMOs. No pesticides. You should have seen the work he did with sage.

"It didn't take long for my mom and him to hook up. She played the role of an intern for him, but that fell away when they were off the job. He tried being professional. She wouldn't have it. One month later, she reveals the truth to him. Not only did he land a goddess, but she was also pregnant."

"Oof. Talk about having a flair for the dramatic."

"Yeah. All things considered, he took it pretty well. My mom admitted that most mortal parents cower away when they realize they're having a child with a god. Or they just refuse to accept the truth. My dad considered it one of his best moments in life. Not just that he was becoming a father, but that he managed to get my mother's attention."

"You know, after meeting some of the parents of the others, I really wonder what it would be like to get them all together. Like one giant dinner with all the parents of campers."

"Your heart's in the right place, but I think that's a terrible idea."

"Hey!"

"I'm serious. Look at all of the demigods who died. All of the parents who would show up to a meeting just to have another reminder that their child is gone. Or look at someone like Silena. As far as her dad is concerned, she's still dead. Or Thalia, her mother is dead."

She turned around, straddling my lap and resting her hands on my shoulders. "It's a fun thought at first. Really, it is. But something like that would only lead to more pain for a lot of people."

I went quiet for a moment or two. "You have a point. Though Silena's dad definitely deserves to know she's still alive."

"That's for her to decide when the time is right."

"Fair enough." I raised my hands in surrender, but brought them back to her waist when the cold air hit my fingers. "I interrupted your story. So your dad actually enjoyed having you."

She smiled, her eyes not quite looking at me. "Yeah. Even when I was a kid, he did everything he could to avoid having someone else raise me. Apparently, he brought me to work even as a baby. Strapped me to his back with a carrier and pulled double duty. Since he was the lead researcher, and it didn't slow him down by too much, he rarely had people make a fuss."

"Pretty sure my mom did the same at the candy store…"

She leaned her head down on my shoulder, pulling herself flush against me and hugging my hips with her knees.

"Go single parents," she cheered halfheartedly. "But yeah. He kept that up for years. By the time I was eight, I knew more about plants and genetics than most college students."

"Was he trying to get you set up as an understudy? Maybe take over where he was when you grew up?"

"That may have been a part of it, but I wasn't quite so keen to go that route. We always spent so much time at his job that I ended up treasuring our time at home even more. Did everything I could to keep him home. That's actually where I picked up cooking. Food is sort of universal, and by making it well, I kept him for myself for just that little bit longer."

"Possessive much?"

She grunted. "More like I just wanted to have a more normal relationship with my dad. Don't get me wrong, he was great. We spent a lot of time doing the normal stuff. Not that I was ever the tea party kind of girl, but we bonded over a lot. I just wanted some of that bonding to happen in our own home instead of in a lab."

"Fair enough. And for what it's worth, your cooking skills are some of the best I've seen. Not to mention your knife work. Not many people can cut a strawberry into the shape of a rose."

"Hm. Thanks. That's part of why I went into culinary arts as my degree. I proposed the idea to my dad, that I could serve the very same plants that he's working on. Almost never saw him cry, but that was one of the few times that did it for him."

"I'm serious. If you want to finish that degree—"

"At some point, sure. Maybe even sometime soon. But for now, focus on getting us a place to live."

"Alright. You win. So did your dad also tell you that you were a demigod?"

"Sort of. He didn't have much of a choice. One night, he heard me crying outside. He thought I got into the backyard somehow and locked myself out of the house."

"Why were you crying?"

"That's the thing. I wasn't. I was in the bathroom. He never realized that was why my bed was empty. The thing is, I heard it too. I followed him outside and found him getting attacked by a crocotta."

"A what?"

"A cro… Think a big hyena monster that can mimic voices."

"Oh, jeez."

"Yeah… I panicked to say the least. I don't remember everything. Just him getting his flank gnawed on by a giant monster. I wanted to help him. I needed to help him. Then it was like the world just decided to listen to me. All the grass and other plants around them went nuts. Everything wrapped up the crocotta and dragged it underground. Never saw it again."

"What about your dad?"

"It let him go when it started getting tangled up. He was messed up pretty badly. Even still has the scars to this day, but he tells people it was a bear attack from one of our camping trips. Still though, he was tough. He brought me inside, cleaned and patched himself up, and explained to me the truth. I… was freaking out to say the least."

"You still probably took it better than I did."

She gave me a deadpan glare. "You fought the minotaur with your bare hands before even finding out you were a demigod when you were twelve. So far as I'm concerned, you took it better than anyone had any right to."

"And how old were you when you found out?"

She looked away. "... Ten."

"I rest my case."

"Whatever. So yeah. He calmed me down. It was about another six months or so before a satyr came along to bring me to camp. He actually drove me during my first stay. But after that, he always arranged a flight for me to go. Always made me promise to not kill anyone. 'No more vine cocoons,' he'd always say."

When she finished, she let out a long sigh. Her shoulders relaxed while she nuzzled the crook of my neck.

"It's official. When we get a spot to live, you're going to see him."

Her fingers curled into my shoulders. "Thank you."

In the chill of the pitch black fridge, illuminated only by the soft glow of Riptide, we held one another close, sharing our warmth and letting our breaths tickle one another's skin.

"So… you liked the muffins?"

It didn't take long to realize her desire to change subjects, so I decided to play along.

"Are you kidding? Keep cooking and baking the way you do, and I'll have you on permanent kitchen duty. The whole harem will get fat, and we'll love every second of it."

"Hm. That'll happen," she giggled. "Still though, I was happy to do it. More to the point though, I wouldn't mind giving another birthday gift."

Though I couldn't quite make out the details of her face, I still pulled back enough to try and look her in the eyes. "You've given more than enough. Honestly, I could go to bed tonight more than happy with how things turned out today. Assuming nothing terrible happens."

"Don't jinx us! And you missed the point. I'm feeling pretty generous today." She trailed her fingers down my chest and massaged them over my lower abdomen. "If you catch my meaning."

"Oh! Wait. Here? Now?"

She slid her cold fingers under my shirt and left me shivering by massaging my abs. "Mhmm. We should still have about an hour until someone shows up. Sure, we can't really get naked, but there's still plenty we can do."

I mulled over the idea.

Look, I'll admit it. Even in the dark, Katie could turn heads. Her figure didn't quit, and she felt so warm, firm, and supple all at once pressed against me. So it'd be a lie to say she didn't get me going, so to speak. Still though…

"What did you have in mind? We can't make a mess."

"Well… I was curious. Aside from Silena, Reyna, or Ashe, none of the girls really seem all that stacked up top. Any chance you've ever gotten a boob job from any of them?"

I cocked my head to the side. "Can't say I have. And you're selling yourself short. Last I checked, you're not lacking in padding up here."

To cement my point, I ghosted my fingers up her flank and cupped a breast through her apron. She bit back a moan. Resting a hand on mine, she squeezed down and groped herself through me.

"I know. Honestly, I think only Silena has me beat. Speaking of which, I'm surprised she didn't go that route."

Snorting, I pulled my hand back to slip it around the apron and squeeze her side. "She was a bit tied up, in more ways than one. But we did agree to focus on her boobs a bit more next time. Wait… why are you talking about another woman when we're doing this?"

"Curiosity. And so I'd know whether I'd be your first to try this with."

She pulled away from me, leaving me pining for her warmth once more. With a bit of shuffling around, she seemed to remove her apron, but based on how long she spent doing it, I think she tried taking off more than that.

"Damn, that's cold. Okay. New plan."

She hugged herself to me once more, grabbing my hands and placing them under her shirt to massage her toned, shivering midriff, which bit back at my fingers with chilly skin.

"Think we could crank up our body heat a bit more before I try that? And how are you not shivering?"

I massaged her subtle abs and washed the chill away. "I'm pretty good at handling the cold. The bottom of the ocean is worse than this. Not to mention I've already been with Khione."

"Point taken." She rolled her hips over mine, wrapping her arms around me and raking her fingers down my back. "Though I guess she'd be right at home in a place like this."

"You're always welcome to trade spots. See you the next time I find myself in an ice bath."

"Eesh. No wonder you're shrugging this off."

"Having you all over me helps." I slipped my hands out from under her shirt and rubbed down her sides. While she shivered, pressing her full chest into mine, I ghosted touches over her hips and thighs before taking her firm butt into my palms. "Nice and warm."

"Not warm enough," she laughed. "Get your hands moving!"

"If you insist."

I squeezed her ass. Thick and firm, with enough give for me to call it supple. Katie embodied the physique many of the veteran campers sought to achieve. And I understood why the Stolls loved messing around with her so much. Poor guys probably considered it like flirting, at least if you followed elementary school rules. But a woman like Katie, she knew what she wanted, and damn if I didn't want her in return.

My fingers massaged her, rubbing from the peak of her thighs to the base of her spine. Every now and again, I rubbed a finger up the center, brushing over where her cheeks parted, to which she arched her back, pressing further back into it.

"Mmmf." She shuddered. In the dim lighting, I couldn't make out her expression, but she let me feel and hear her pleasure as she brushed her lips, teeth, and tongue over my neck. "Percy."

Whispered into my ear with such a husky tone, she couldn't have stroked my ego nor inflamed my desire any better if she tried.

So I returned the favor.

A one handed pop and zip is all the warning she got. She grunted, confusion clear even in her sounds. Until, that is, I returned my hand to grope her ass. Only without her jeans in the way.

She sucked in a sharp breath, her hands clenching along my back, pawing with a fettered need to do… something, anything, to express her delight.

Fingers curled under her pantyline, I pulled them back ever so slightly to rub the soft cotton along her pussy lips. As the material dampened, I ran a finger down to stroke her delicate labia from behind.

Keening against my neck, she ground herself along my stiffening cock. Breasts flush against me. Nipples so erect, I could feel them poking me through our clothes.

"Antsy?"

Her thighs clamped onto my sides. "Stop… teasing. Gods, I've needed this."

One hand still firmly on her ass, molding and groping it to my heart's desire, I pulled my fingers away from her damp slit only to ghost them just above her waistline. A trail of her juices marked their path as I brought them to the front. She bowed her back with a tremulous breath, opening up the space for me to dip my hand back down the front of her jeans, slip under her panties, and rub her pussy.

"Come on, come on, come on," she mumbled to herself. "Just a bit more."

Not quite dipping inside, I rubbed her puffy lips until my fingers were coated in their entirety with her dewy nectar. Only when I could feel the sticky juices webbing between my fingers did I pull back to rub her clit, which left her clamping and bucking with heightened gasps and more desperate moans.

"Fuck, yes," she rasped, pulling up our shirts and exposing us both to the chilly air just so she could smash our flushed bodies together. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. Gods. When this is over, I'm dragging you to the closest tree and fucking you until neither of us can walk."

As a token of my agreement, I dipped my fingers back down from her clit and slipped two of them into her wet pussy.

"Mnnnh!" Her body convulsed, bucking into my fingers and shuddering as she dragged her hard nipples over my chest. "Fuuuck…"

Still rubbing my palm over her clit, I rubbed my fingers along the warm ridges of her snug pussy. At first, tracing over her slow enough to keep her on edge. Every languid brush over her most sensitive spots left her shuddering and crying out into the dark space.

Only then, I'd push back, away from her g-spot and brush my palm along her clit and pussy lips, forcing a keening gasp from deep within her throat. Mouth wide open, she puffed hot breaths into my ear, trying halfheartedly to nibble at my jaw.

Once satisfied, I pulled my fingers back over her g-spot and brushed over with a simple "come hither" motion. Meanwhile, I kept my palm firmly on her clit, keeping the pressure up on both ends. I even slipped my other hand down her ass and rubbed her pussy lips from behind. All while whispering into her ear how much I wanted her to cum.

"Percy," she rasped. "Yesss… You're… I'm… gonna… Mmmnn… Just a little… Hah!"

Growling into her ear, I tightened my hold on her. My fingers, already knuckle deep into her, gave her g-spot one last gentle stroke before I let my wrist go to work. Faster and faster. In short order, my palm ran sticky with her juices while I sped up my pace. Only when she couldn't hold herself back from screaming did I level out, holding her there as I fingerfucked her with little to no regard for who might hear us on the outside.

The same couldn't be said for Katie. As much as she wailed and moaned, she fought back every step of the way. Biting down on her fist. Burying her face in my neck. Even trying to shove her own tit into her mouth. It wasn't until I turned my head to kiss her that she could finally let loose.

Desperate cries vibrated both of our dancing tongues. Our teeth pulled at our lips. Through gasps and moans, Katie drove every ounce of pleasure she felt into that kiss.

Not that it was enough to slow me down. Despite her knees clamping on my sides and her hands tangling up in my hair, I kept the pace of my hand up. Her hips bowed back, then forward, trying to escape both of my hands while desperate to get more all at once. Soft sloshing sounds managed to escape even the thick confines of her jeans.

In a last ditch attempt to save her clothes, I lifted her up, our mouths still locked in a desperate attempt to taste every inch of the other, and tugged her pants down to her thighs. With the extra room, I moved my hand all the faster and harder, pistoning my fingers over that ever so sensitive spot inside her while my free hand rubbed her clit.

She screamed into my mouth. Her keening wail signaled her overwhelmed body. The sudden exposure to the cold, the rush of my fingers, the brutality of our lips pressed together. All of it brought her crumbling down to her knees as she clamped down on my fingers, spraying my palm and the cardboard pad beneath us with her sticky juices. Her musky scent left me dizzy, energetic, and grinning like an idiot.

Meanwhile, she collapsed on top of me, panting while her legs quivered to either side of me.

I slipped my fingers out of her and brought them to my lips. In the soft light of Riptide, I could barely make out the way the sticky threads of her cum bridged over my fingers. But damn if she didn't taste good. Sweet and earthy, like a fresh sap straight from the tap.

In her dazed state, she didn't bother fighting when I prodded her lips with my fingers. She sucked one digit clean, then another. In no time, my hand shined in the dim bronze glow with her spit, freshly cleaned of her nectar. Not that she didn't share it with me. Her next move was to pull me into a lazy, open-mouthed kiss where we traded that taste for about a minute.

"Warm enough?" I asked, running my palm over her very exposed ass.

"Yeah. You've earned this."

Even in the frigid chill of the room, I could feel the flushed heat radiating from her body. Perhaps not as much as some previous partners. But if there was any uncertainty left about whether she'd be able to handle the next step, it skipped out of my thoughts the moment she pulled off her tee shirt and let her breasts pop out.

"No bra?"

The lack of light couldn't hide that little fact. Especially with how eager my hands were to cup and squeeze them. Her nipples dug into my palms while she made no attempt to stop me. Instead, she leaned forward, granting all the permission I needed to fondle her.

"Didn't think I'd need it. I was just planning on making lunch, then showering up before hitting the gym."

She shivered. While I busied myself with enjoying her soft tits, she grabbed her apron at her side and slipped it on… backwards. Wearing it like a makeshift cape, she tied the bottom around her waist, which gave her back a reprieve from the cold air.

"You sure you can do this?"

She grabbed my wrists, her hands warm and strong. Once pulled from her breasts, she brought them to my sides.

"Keep up with this nice guy stuff, and I'll have a hard time not falling for you. So do us both a favor and let me give you the first titfuck of your life."

I snorted. "If you insist."

"I do. Now, pants down."

"What? Not gonna help me?"

"I'm a little busy keeping my tits warm." True enough. She ran her hands around her breasts, occasionally pinching and pulling at her nipples until they pebbled as far as they'd go. Mesmerizing as the view may have been in the light, the dark only made what she was doing vaguely obvious. "So if you want wrapped up in cold tits, I can—"

"No, no. That's okay."

My pants were down my thighs only a few dry breaths later. Cock out and balls laying on the frigid cardboard pad beneath me, the knowledge of what this beautiful woman was planning fought back against my shaft shrinking past the point of recognition because of the cold. Instead, it stood out with no shame, reaching for Katie, who in turn reached out to warm it with her hand.

"Wow. I'd almost forgotten what it was like. Just feeling it is surreal." She shuffled between my legs while I propped myself up on my knees to give her a much needed height boost. "Oh, fuck… And that smell…"

She leaned forward, gently stroking the shaft. Her nose buried into my scrotum. Shivering as she stroked me, she pulled back with a muffled moan.

"Gods, I want this inside of me again."

"We might have time."

"No. Don't tempt me. It's not about time. It's about making a mess. You made me drip all over these boxes with just your fingers. The last thing we need to do is contaminate the entirety of the Amazons' cafeteria refrigerator."

In spite of her words, she sped up her stroking, her breaths growing heavier until she seemed to realize what she was doing. After I drew a sharp breath, she let go of me and seemed to hesitate for a moment. Taking her breasts in hand and massaging them together, she knelt before me with only Riptide on the floor to illuminate her side.

She leaned forward to lick my cock, running her tongue from the base to flick it off the tip. Up and down she went, never taking me in her mouth, but moistening me up all the same while she softly moaned and shuddered. Once she deemed me sufficiently lubed up, she dribbled some spit between her tits and rubbed them together.

Though I wanted nothing more than to grab hold of her and thrust my cock between her pillowy cleavage, I used every ounce of willpower I could muster to stay still. A wise choice in the end.

Before my self discipline wore out, she pressed herself forward and wrapped her breasts around my hard cock.

"Good gods…" I let my head fall back against the wall.

So soft. So warm. So… oddly intimate. Katie slid her soft breasts along my shaft, squeezing them together and puffing her chest out to keep every possible inch covered. The pressure and slick tenderness melted my brain. Slumping down and relaxing further into her embrace, I let her smother me with a grin on my lips and a very happy cock between her tits.

She started slow. First rubbing her tits with little rhythm or direction. We both got a feel for one another. I for the warmth and gentle touch; she for the pulsing shaft leaking on her chest.

"Wow," Katie said, her voice airy. "It's so… hot. Fuck. Even your precum is nice and warm." She paused, dribbled a little more spit between her tits, then picked up where she left off, stroking up and down the shaft a bit faster. "How's this?"

I spaced out, lost in my own little happy world of soft boobs. Only when she paused again did I take notice.

"Huh… Wha…? It's… really good. You sure you haven't practiced?"

She snorted, but resumed rubbing her breasts over my cock. "For once, yeah. I tried practicing a while back, but keeping a cucumber between my tits without anything for it to hold onto is a little difficult. And most people would notice if giant vines started sticking out of the ground around camp."

I began tuning out her words toward the end. Not on purpose. But gods, the fact that I could barely see her only amplified the sensation. Something she took advantage of in full stride. Kneading her tits together as she reached the tip, pressing her hardened nipples into the sensitive skin, then dragging them down to the base while I couldn't do anything but shiver and rub her head in appreciation.

"That said," she continued. "I could always do with more practice… if you don't mind being my test dummy."

The teasing tone may not have gone over my head, but I couldn't care less about it.

"Consider me on board." I panted, my thighs twitching.

"Good. And I expect a little quid pro quo. So you better stretch me out really well after the fact." She leaned forward, moaning as her cheek pressed into my stomach.

"You help me, I help you," I gasped out.

"Consider it a deal. Not sure I could go too long without getting this inside me again."

To sell her point, she squeezed her tits all the tighter together, and sped up as much as she could risk without bouncing herself off of me. Head bobbing with every downward stroke, it didn't take long before the tip of my cock poked her cheek from between her tits.

"Looks like he still wants to play." She panted. "Good."

With a practiced ease belying her ability to see me, she dipped her head down to catch my cockhead between her lips. Her warm spit trickled down her chin and my shaft, where her cleavage swallowed every drop before dragging it along my cock once more.

My body trembled. Whether by the cold, the warmth, or the energizing euphoria sending pulsing waves through my core. The more her lips toyed with and suckled my head, the tighter my grip on her hair grew, shaking while she tickled and lapped at my weeping cumslit with her tongue.

"Fuck… Katie… You're really… good at this."

She hummed along the tip, making my back spasm and push a bit more into her mouth. But that didn't deter her. Still bouncing her tits, she took my bucking in stride. No hesitation. Not a drop of concern left for the mess she was making on my cock. Slobber and precum splattered her chin, neck, and breasts, down through her cleavage to drip over my balls.

Tension began to build in my gut. An all too familiar sensation these days. One I dared not to fight back.

Katie took what little space she had left and stroked her tightly pressed breasts along the shaft untouched by her mouth. Though it didn't take long for that remaining length to dwindle as she sucked down more and more cock, moaning her own joy while slathering our messy union with her breasts anytime she bobbed her head back up.

Base to tip. She covered everything she could reach. Her breasts slapped along my thighs while I battered the back of her mouth with my cock, unable to resist bucking up with the growing euphoria clouding my eyes. As if I had the ability to see much anyway.

In one open mouthed gulp, she bashed through that dazed cloud and swallowed my cock down to the hilt. Gone was any pretense of using her breasts. Her spit drenched fingers massaged my balls while she gurgled on my shaft, her throat coaxing a stream of precum directly into her stomach.

"Katie!"

Both hands latched on her head. Bucking my hips up into her mouth, I found myself relentless in my growing need to finish.

She didn't say a word. Not that she could. Instead, she pushed back on my arms, her strength overcoming my fatigued ability to keep my cock down her throat. The moment she had my cockhead on her tongue, she massaged my balls with one hand while using the other to pump my cock, unbothered by the spittle and slop strewn about by her quick movements.

There wasn't anymore my body could take. The knot growing in my gut unfurled, driving waves of familiar euphoria through my being, boiling and bubbling over. My balls contracted and tightened, pulsing in Katie's gentle grip as streams of thick cum right onto her tongue.

Katie massaged the load right into her mouth. Stroking my cock, she keened and grunted with every spurt, letting the thick semen pool into her mouth until she was forced to swallow. But even that didn't stop the errant stream from leaking out from the corner of her mouth and onto her impressive bust.

When the pulsing stopped and she collected all she could keep on her mouth, she slurped her way off my cockhead, letting out a resounding POP within the dark space.

"Mmnfgh." She gulped it down. "Guh."

"You okay?"

The fuzzy sensations of orgasm were great, but thankfully didn't overstay their welcome. Most likely due to what I'd gone through just a little while earlier. So in spite of my cock still more than happy with Katie's fingers rubbing it, I pulled it back and tucked it back into my pants.

She panted, pressing both of her hands onto my thighs to keep her upright while she caught her breath.

"Are… are you sure you celebrated hard enough? Because there's no way you could be that pent up."

"I didn't think I was."

"Right," she said, shaking herself back to reality. "Well, aside from almost drowning me, you seem to be in better shape than before. At least in terms of diet."

"Meaning?"

"You taste better now than you did before. That cum of yours is decently sweet now. Not quite as salty, though that's not to say it was ever bad. Our lives kind of require us to not eat junk for the most part. That said, it seems you need to increase your iron intake. So expect more spinach and maybe lentils in the near future."

"You could tell all of that just from the taste?"

"And the texture. Most likely some lower sperm count. Though… that might just be from overuse. Guess we'll just have to make regular appointments to be safe."

Even though I couldn't see it too well, I could all but hear the smile in her voice.

"Right… Well, I'll pretend like I'm not looking forward to any medical check ups then.

We did our best to clean ourselves up, along with remove what evidence there was in the area. Neither of which were very easy. What what with the dark, cramped space and the fact that we literally couldn't just throw anything away, we had to resort to some interesting measures to keep stuff concealed… including smashing one of the crates of eggs to cover up the fact that Katie completely drenched the box they would have gone in.

A fair little while longer passed during which we just settled next to one another and embraced, sharing our warmth and enjoying the comfortable silence of our company. But leave it to my need to fill silences to muck things up.

"So… how do you feel about this situation? You never seemed like you were against the harem from the start. And now… well… I think just calling us friends doesn't fit."

She sighed. "Look, don't get me wrong, I think you're a great guy. One of the best anyone could dare get their hands on. But after these wars and just the stress of trying to live these days, I was just happy to enjoy the reprieve."

Legs tucked under her, she leaned into me and rested her hand on my knee. "I don't want things to get messy between us. You've got enough going on in your love life, and I'm more than happy to just call you my friend with many benefits."

"Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense."

"Don't think it means I don't care. Trust me, you're more to me than just a convenient fuck. But our lives are complicated, and I want something to stay simple for now at least."

"So when the day comes when we inevitably meet with your dad…?"

She traced a pattern on my knee. "You're my friend. My roommate. Give it enough time, maybe my boyfriend. Anything but the full truth. My dad finds out that I'm an immortal sex slave, he'll stop at nothing to put you or the gods responsible in the dirt. And we both know how that would end."

"You don't think he'll ever notice you not aging?"

She shrugged. "I'm half god. For all he knows, I could live for centuries. Most just never have the chance."

"Had a lot of time to think this through, didn't you?"

"Too much time. I almost miss the chaos. But honestly, I'm more than happy about this raunchy vacation."

We settled in from there. Braced against the cold, using one another as shields and my sword as our light, the chill settled back in around us after enough time. Though the distinct smell of our earlier activities dwindled, it never quite vanished, given it had nowhere to dissipate to.

CLICK! THFFF!

The door to the fridge opened, and the subsequent light almost blinded us both.

Standing at the entrance was a woman who couldn't have been more than thirty five, but carried an authority and weathered expression as if she were decades beyond that.

"Thought so," she said. Stepping into the room, she took a deep breath before letting out an equally exasperated sigh. "I sent that request for maintenance to fix the door a week ago. Damn lazy… Anyway, sorry I didn't mention it earlier."

Katie and I were all too quick to drag ourselves off the floor and accept her apology. As long as we were out of that ice box.

"Aww, but did you have to destroy the eggs?"

"Sorry." Katie winced. "I panicked when everything went dark."

"Uh huh. Sure. I'm sure it had nothing to do with you trying to cover your tracks."

"What?"

"If you stumbled into them or something, there'd at least be footprints or a trail of smashed egg behind you. Messed up jeans and shoes, but you're completely clean in that regard. Not to mention, that smell is kind of hard to miss. And lastly—" She reached out and swiped her finger right below Katie's collarbone, where a small dollop of white fluid stuck to her chest "—that doesn't quite look like eggs. Or the custard you put in your muffins."

Katie froze on the spot, staring at Julia's finger while she wiped the mess onto her apron. While I half expected her to run or try and make up some excuse, her shoulders relaxed and her panicked expression shifted into an unbothered smolder."

"Well… what can I say? There are worse ways for us to stay warm."

Julia rolled her eyes and left the fridge, muttering about cleaning up the mess. Katie turned to me with an only slightly ashamed expression.

"Guess I owe it to her to help out a bit longer."

"I'm just as guilty. I'll pitch in."

"Nope. As birthday boy, you are forbidden from doing any chores today. Those are the rules. Speaking of which, why don't we get those muffins warmed up?"

I glanced down at the two remaining muffins on the tray. Both managed to survive our activities unscathed. It didn't take more than two seconds for me to swipe them up and carry them out of the fridge, toting them like my own child.

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

"Perfect," Katie said, escorting me to a microwave. "So let's enjoy this moment while we can. We've lost a lot of time, and I'm sure we both are about to have very busy days."

A/N: Talk about an improved schedule. Over ten thousand words, but this one didn't take me over two months to come up with. In all seriousness, I know there are plenty who have wanted to see more of Katie. After all, she was one of the first to sleep with Percy, but then took a massive step back for the rest to hound him. And look at that, we even get a backstory to fill in this almost blank slate of a background character. Personally, I think the crocotta should have been included in canon. Especially with the cyclopes having stolen their mimicry abilities, but that's just my own two cents.

Percy gets his first ever boobjob... in a fridge. Yeah, we're getting pretty outlandish with setups. Too bad Silena couldn't be his first in that regard. Wonder where she is at the moment. Oh well. Anyone who's seen Katie's artwork or model knows she's more than capable for that particular task.

Life continues on. More or less settled into my new apartment now. Just a few more things to go, like getting a sawn in half couch put back together (long story). Work continues to batter down my soul. Hopefully, you all take solace in one my solaces... writing. If not, well... how did you even make it this far?

I'm rambling at this point. Leave your thoughts. Leave your questions. Reviews are free, Discord is free, P atreon is... affordable. I hope to hear from you all, and that you've enjoyed what this chapter brings. This is Ronin signing off.