October (PJO Oneshot)

It was a rather unpleasant night as Percy and Annabeth made their way through the thick forest, the sky colored a deep gray and shrouded with storm clouds that threatened to open up and pour on them at any time. The air was thick and dank with humidity even as the temperature plummeted. They’d been at this all day, trekking through the woods somewhere in upstate New York in an attempt to locate a son of Demeter that Chiron had told them about. When they’d arrived in the small town around noon the weather had been perfect for early October; the skies were clear and blue with very few clouds, the air was breezy but relatively warm, and the sun shone high in the sky as usual. As the day progressed; however, and the afternoon hours drew to a close, conditions grew worse. Blue skies slowly faded to grey, the clouds seeming to roll in from the edges of the earth. By the time they had settled completely, Percy and Annabeth could barely make out the orangey hues of the sunset. They were forced to keep moving though, determined to locate the demigod and get the heck out of the forest before it got too late.

That was wishful thinking.

Percy had managed to direct them in the opposite direction of their destination, and by the time Annabeth realized, argued with him, and got to recalculating their route, they were only just starting toward where they were meant to be as the dusky evening set in. Neither of them said more than a few necessary words to each other because both knew that if they did, they would start arguing again. Percy had picked up on this after the third time he’d tried to apologize for his misdirection, when he’d been greeted by a thick silence and a set jaw. He’d learned quickly not to bother Annabeth when she was angry after meeting her and so he simply stumbled after her in the rapidly dimming light of the sun, allowing her to guide them to the demigod’s supposed location.

The dusky evening quickly turned into a dark night, and while they’d finally reached their desired point in the Catskills, there was no sign of human life. They realized that it could take another day to locate their camper, if he or she was even still her, and since there was no use continuing on, Percy and Annabeth resolved to stop and rest for the night in a rocky alcove they’d located between the trees at the base of a low mountain.

With his curse of Achilles, Percy tired easily, and at this point he was practically dead on his feet. It was at least an hour’s walk away from society and trying to navigate the woods in the dark with a barely coherent son of Poseidon was a terrible idea. Annabeth IMed Chiron, who wasn’t particularly keen on the idea that the couple was staying in the woods overnight, alone, -though they’d been on countless quests together, practically alone and sleeping in the same room- but as he didn’t really have much of a choice he allowed them to stay.

And so Percy and Annabeth settled down and spread out their meager belongings, the tangible silence thick between them. Annabeth, being the (mostly) rational daughter of Athena that she was, had brought with her a backpack full of supplies, including a compact sleeping bag and a couple blankets. She searched the surrounding area quickly to make sure the coast was clear while Percy tried to find means for making a fire, without much luck. Eventually Annabeth resolved that the fire may attract monsters anyway, and the two settled for eating by the light of their flashlights, pulling out the jar of Skippy peanut butter and crackers that Percy had brought along in his pack. Half of the rest of their food supply- which consisted of Doritos, some cans of Coke and organic granola bars (which Annabeth had forced him to bring) among other frivolities- had been consumed during their journey due to the fact that Percy was constantly hungry… yet another effect of his Achilles heel. By the end of the night they were both ravenous and exhausted and they ate in relative silence, the weight of their earlier argument still heavy between them. While they had been together for so long that conversation was sometimes unnecessary, and silences between them weren’t generally uncomfortable, right now they weren’t on the best terms and it made things especially awkward. Finally, Percy spoke up.

“I’m sorry about before. I didn’t mean to screw things up so badly, and I should have been paying more attention.” He looked at her, his sea green eyes nearly coaxing her to forgive him singlehandedly. This time, unlike some of the apologies he’d made earlier, he left out the part where he defended himself, stating that he was dyslexic and the font on the map was small even if he had been right.

Annabeth was quiet for a minute or two, pensive, before she met his eyes and couldn’t stop herself from smiling slightly, even though she really hadn’t intended to do so.

“It’s fine,” she spoke, looking down at the gingham pattern of the picnic blanket for a minute, her fingertips tracing its even lines. “I shouldn’t have expected you to be able to navigate perfectly; I was too focused on how we were going to get back to camp with our refugee.”

Percy nodded and they sat together in a more comfortable silence for a little while, enjoying each other’s company. A chill had set into the night, and while Percy didn’t feel it, Annabeth did, shivering involuntarily as it settled into her skin. Percy wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him instinctively. He was warm, she realized, his body temperature slightly higher than average, yet another effect of his curse of Achilles.

“Let me take first watch,” he murmured eventually in an attempt to be a gentleman, but his voice was thick with exhaustion. Annabeth grabbed the jar of peanut butter and stuffed it back into his knapsack, trying and failing to keep herself from laughing at him.

“Percy, you know you’ll end up falling asleep if you take first watch. I bet you can barely stand up without swaying,” she reproached, and Percy could just make out the small grin that turned up her face through the dim light of their lantern.

“I’m fine; I’ve got it; trust me. You need to sleep,” he argued, but her grin only turned into a smirk.

“Really, Seaweed Brain? Stand up and walk over to me.”

“Fine,” Percy said resignedly, exhaling in frustration as she stood and gave him a hand up. She moved a couple steps backward before allowing him to take a step forward towards her. Inevitably, he stumbled, and Annabeth had to move forward and wrap her arms around his waist to keep him upright. She suppressed a blush as he fell into her, dead weight in her arms before he managed to regain his footing. He smelled vaguely of seawater, salty sweat, and Percy, and it was intoxicating in an odd way.

“I told you,” she murmured, laughing, and Percy just groaned and mumbled something incoherent. “You’re going to sleep, now.”

“Fine,” he conceded, allowing Annabeth to pull him off of her and help him sit down again on top of their picnic blanket. “But you get the sleeping bag, since you’re cold.”

“I’m not,” she countered him immediately, but Percy was right. She was cold, and she was shivering, and Percy had had to give her his jacket. She felt like a high-schooler in one of those clichéd movies young teens tended to like. In a prior incident that she didn’t wish to recall, Percy had managed to leave his own sleeping bag back in his cabin, and so they only had one, and since Annabeth was cold and Percy’s body was like his own personal space heater, Annabeth grudgingly climbed into the bag and took watch as Percy laid down on the blanket a foot or so away for her and attempted sleep.

He excelled in his attempts. Despite the hard rock beneath his head, Percy had managed to fall asleep in less than fifteen minutes

Somehow Percy wasn’t drooling, and so Annabeth gently pulled his head into her lap, running her fingers through his hair and tracing them along his cheek. Okay, maybe she was a little bit distracted by sleeping Percy, and she wasn’t keeping the best watch, but she wasn’t too worried. After the war with Kronos, the number of monster attacks they faced had dwindled, and it was nice to be able to relax a bit for a change. Still, she was wary, but that didn’t stop her from getting distracted occasionally.

She kept note of the time, and managed to wake Percy up with some difficulty once it was his turn to keep watch. It took him a while to come to, but the first words he managed to utter were “Why are your hands so damn cold?” Annabeth managed a quiet laugh, but it was true, she was cold. She’d tried to deal with it, curling up within the sleeping bag and stuffing her hands in Percy’s jacket pockets, but after a while nothing was effective, especially when she had to constantly get up and make sure everything was secure.

“I’m fine,” Annabeth lied, curling up next to him in the sleeping bag and pillowing her head on her arm. “I won’t even notice once I fall asleep.”  Of course Percy was still perfectly warm at this point, and now that he was coherent, he could watch her as well as the woods. He knew she was trying her hardest, but he could tell by the way she was shivering and the way that the corners of her lips quivered when he traced her skin or hair that she was awake, and still freezing, and Percy didn’t know what to do. She had all of the blankets, his jacket, and the sleeping bag, what else could- oh.
He was incredibly warm… if only he could transfer some heat to her. And he could. But she was probably going to try to kill him in the process. This felt like some scene out of Twilight, or something, and he knew she was going to protest if she was awake enough to realize what was happening, but hesitantly he unzipped the side of the sleeping bag and slipped inside, she tensing as the cool air hit her skin.

“Don’t freak out,” he murmured, more to himself than to her, and gathered her against him, tucking her head against his chest and trying to rekindle the heat in her fingers by clasping her hands in his gently. The pair just barely fit into the sleeping bag together, but he made it, and unconsciously Annabeth leaned into him, burying her head in his chest and entangling her ankles with his. He blushed, and she mumbled something that he couldn’t decipher. It took a few minutes, but she fell asleep quickly after that, her shivering ceasing, for which Percy was grateful. He found himself playing with her curls, and this was how she woke up, with Percy twirling one around his finger. She blinked, foggy, and managed to vocalize with her sleep-heavy voice.

“What are you doing, Seaweed Brain?” she asked him, amusement evident in her tone, and in his surprise the curl slipped from his fingers. He hadn’t noticed that she’d woken up.

“Uhh,” he spoke, struggling. “I was just- um..”

Something rustled in the trees, and Percy was interrupted. Both of the young demigods nearly jumped out of their skin. Percy groaned slightly before forcing himself out of the sleeping bag, his hand on Riptide as he scanned their surroundings. His eyes stuck on a bush that was trembling suspiciously.

“Hello?” a small voice called, and Percy took a hesitant step forward. Behind him, Annabeth crawled out of the sleeping bag as well, and the two of them looked like quite a couple, what with their disheveled clothing and hair. Out of the bush stepped a little boy who couldn’t have been more than 8 years old, with bright red hair and a smattering of freckles across his red, chilled cheeks. He spoke, his voice quavering with the chill.

“W-why are you guys sleeping in the woods? Are you married, or something?” he asked, his eyes wide with confusion. Percy took a step forward, kneeling down in front of the boy, who was staring at Annabeth in horror. In haste she’d drawn her dagger, and now she stood before the boy with it in hand. She realized quickly and sheathed it, moving over by Percy.

“We’re not married,” Percy said quickly, laughing slightly as he looked at the boy. “I’m Percy, and this is Annabeth. She has a knife to fight monsters with, not to hurt anybody. That’s what we do, we fight monsters. Have you met any?” Percy asked this question clearly, meeting the boy’s wide green eyes. He knew that he would understand. The boy had been on the loose for a little over a day now, having had run away from his foster parents, and Percy knew that he’d been attacked previously. He nodded emphatically, his eyes widening in recognition.

“A big black dog tried to get me before, but I dropped a rock on its head and it turned into dust,” he said, fear flashing in his eyes. “You get rid of monsters?”

“Yes,” Annabeth replied, moving forward to see the boy. She was better at this than Percy was, as she had run away from home as a child and experienced the same things as he. “We can help you and bring you to a safe place for kids like you, kids who are different. I hear that you can make plants grow from nothing,” she said, feigning wonder. He nodded, the corners of his lips turning up as if to smile.

“I can!” he said, his eyes lighting up. “I want to go.” Annabeth reached out to take his hand and he let her, stepping closer. His fingers were freezing, and she unzipped her jacket, taking it off and slipping his thin, supple arms through the oversized fabric. He stuffed his hands in the pockets, reveling in the fleece. Annabeth shot Percy a look, and he knew they’d have to get going if they were going to get to camp anytime soon. He summoned Blackjack in his mind, telling him to bring a friend.

While Annabeth got to work packing up their stuff, Percy crouched down and met the boy’s eyes, which were wide with curiosity. “So you get rid of all the monsters in the world?” he asked, and Percy smiled.

“Well, not all of the monsters, but we try. At camp, you’ll be able to live with people are just like you and me, people who have special powers. I can control water and make storms and all sorts of things, like how you can control plants,” he explained.

“That’s so awesome!” the boy exclaimed, and Percy couldn’t help but blush. Annabeth watched him, suppressing laughter. “What can you do?” he asked Annabeth with curiosity.

“I’m not that special, but I have an advanced mind. I can make up plans and figure things out quickly,” she said, and the boy frowned. “That’s no fun.”

“Oh, but you don’t get it,” Percy said, entrancing the boy with his words. “Annabeth is more special than she claims. Once, she saved the world by figuring out a prophecy that no one else could understand. Without her, we wouldn’t be here right now,” he said, and she blushed, looking away from him.

“The whole world?” the boy asked in astonishment, staring at her in awe, and Percy nodded earnestly.

“Percy helped,” she said simply, shooting him a grin, and the boy’s face lit up. He was about to say something more before two pegasi hovered in the distance and his attention was stolen. Percy stood and Annabeth walked over, grabbing the boy’s hand in hers and waiting for the horses. Percy took her other hand, giving her a lopsided grin.

“I think,” she began, looking at Percy, “that you have fully redeemed yourself after the incident yesterday.” Percy grinned, lacing his fingers through hers gently.

“I’ll always be there to defend your honor,” he said lightly, and she managed to elbow him in the ribs with her hand in his. “Not that I have to.”

They watched as the two horses landed before them, and Annabeth helped hoist the young boy up onto Blackjack’s companion, amused as he grazed his hand curiously against the creature’s flank. Percy mounted Blackjack and guided him next to Annabeth’s horse, allowing her to mount it before he urged them forward.

“Come on, kid,” he said, glancing over at the son of Demeter and his confusingly ravishing girlfriend. “Let’s go home.”