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Officially, Percy lived in a dorm room he shared with his roommate, Joseph. Unofficially, he’d made himself comfortable in the apartment Hazel and Frank refused to take back the keys to.
Unofficially, his apartment had become an easy place to hang out with enough room for everyone and a private bathroom. It meant that on nights like tonight, he could hear everyone laughing at something Frank had said while he grabbed another soda from the fridge.
“You know,” Annabeth said once he made his way back and took his seat beside her. “I haven’t heard from Apollo in a while. Anyone know how he’s coping after the Lester thing?”
“Well? I think?” Reyna said. Percy wasn’t sure how she was here instead of with the Hunt, but he wasn’t going to complain. “He visits Lady Diana more than he ever did before. He flirts less now.”
Annabeth eyes widened. “Does he really?”
Reyna shrugged. “Less is subjective,” she said, chuckling. “But he certainly isn’t asking me out anymore.”
Percy spat out his coke. “He’s asked you out?”
He didn’t know why the idea was so shocking—it was Apollo, that was kinda his entire thing. But there was something about the idea of Reyna and Apollo together that would either end in Zeus being overthrown or a new dark age and no in between.
“Yep,” Reyna said, laughing to herself. “It was during his punishment. It was kinda cute, really. I think I called him adorkable, of all things.”
“Adorkable,” Annabeth repeated. “That’s a word for it.”
Reyna just shrugged. “Lester was cute,” she said. “So yes, adorkable.”
“Better Lester, or even Apollo now,” Annabeth said. “He asked Percy out once, actually.”
Percy turned to her and blinked. “He did?”
She nodded. Percy looked around. Going off the expressions on the others’ faces, he wasn’t the only one confused.
“When we were on Olympus after dealing with the whole Atlas thing,” she said. “You told me about it after. He invited you to shoot arrows from the sun chariot I think?”
“Huh,” he said, taking another sip of coke to keep himself busy. “I guess he did.”
He didn’t know how to feel about that. He wouldn’t have said yes had he known, but…
“Not that it’s surprising,” Annabeth continued. “He’s always flirted with everyone, but I guess he’s better about it now?”
“He is,” Reyna said. “He learned a lot. I’m curious to see how long it’ll stick.”
Annabeth shrugged, humming. Percy knew she didn’t think it’d last very long.
The main detractor of his apartment compared to his dorm room was its distance from the academic buildings. But, for someone who was used to New York, it was nothing.
He couldn’t even say New York had fewer Gods, because that was a lie, but at least in New York no one recognized them. New Rome, on the other hand, thrived on gossip. Apollo falling into step beside him on his way to class was going to fuel the hoards for at least a week.
“What do you want?” he gritted out.
He wasn’t awake enough for this, but maybe that was a good thing when Apollo’s bright smile only served as a violent reminder of Annabeth’s words the other night. Apollo had asked him out on a date.
“Can’t I say hi to a friend?” Apollo asked, throwing an arm over his shoulders. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”
Percy took a sip of coffee instead of answering. Normally, he’d bite something out about how he wasn’t sure that was the right word, but he was tired and Apollo was close and warm and the only thing he could smell and it was comfortable.
“Ha!” Apollo said, taking his silence as a victory and squeezing him closer. “I knew it.”
As they walked, people cleared the way for them.
“When’s your class?” Apollo asked.
Percy looked down at his watch. He was unusually on time today. “In about twenty-ish minutes.”
“Perfect!” Apollo exclaimed. “We’re getting coffee.”
He held up his own to-go mug, filled to the brim with the cheapest coffee the grocery store offered. “I have coffee.”
Apollo clicked his tongue. “Nope,” he said. “Doesn’t count. Besides, my treat.”
Percy frowned. Gifts from Gods rarely boded well. “It’s really—”
“Nope,” Apollo cut in, pressing impossibly closer. It made Percy feel warm in all sorts of ways. “Besides, they just released their seasonal lattes and I’m dying to give them a try. I’ve heard something about an apple crumble concoction that puts Starbucks to shame.”
Apollo was beaming as they changed direction toward the coffee shop. There was a line out the door and Percy had the hunch that any worries he had about being late for class would be ignored.
“—doing great,” Apollo rambled on, mid-sentence when Percy tuned back in. “I don’t know how I feel about the way Joshua eyes her, you know, but he’s well aware of how much he needs me if he wants to keep living. I’ve always liked that about Dryads, you know.”
Percy blinked. “Joshua?”
“Yes,” Apollo answered, looking surprised by the question. Maybe he hadn’t expected Percy to listen. Unfortunately for them both, that felt like enough of a challenge that Percy was now determined to be the best listener he could be. “He’s a dryad at Aeithales with Meg. Good friend, great tree, etc. etc.”
“Isn’t Meg like, twelve?” he asked, stepping forward with the moving line. “Is that really something you need to be worried about?”
Apollo threw his head back and laughed, drying the eyes of everyone around them.
“For how much of it you’ve lived, you don’t know enough of your myths,” Apollo said, still chuckling. “Twelve is absolutely old enough to worry. Besides, she’s thirteen now.” He mocked wiping a tear. “They grow up so fast.”
Percy nodded. “Right,” he said. “That’s, uh, good? I guess?”
Apollo’s eyes went sad, just for a moment. Long enough that Percy’s heart went out to him. He couldn’t begin to imagine what it’d feel like to face mortality, understand the brilliance of it, and then have it taken away only to watch everyone you’d grown to love age and die. There was a reason he’d rejected Godhood and why he’d continue to.
“It is,” Apollo whispered. “It’ll be a treasure to watch her grow and call her a friend.”
It was one thing to find Apollo pretty—who didn’t—but it was another to empathize with him.
They fell into a comfortable silence, the other people in line murmuring around them as they all waited. Apollo’s arm was still around him, firm and steady. And, just for a second, Percy thought it might have been him offering comfort.
Apollo was right, much to his ire. The latte Apollo ordered before he could open his mouth was delicious and absolutely worth the detour.
The company wasn’t too bad either.
Percy threw his bag into the corner of Hazel and Frank’s shared office as he took his seat. “Hey,” he said. Neither of them looked up. “You called?”
The kid who’d found him on a bench outside to deliver the note had looked like he’d been about to faint.
“We did,” Hazel answered, not looking up from whatever document she was reading. Frank leaned back and stretched his arms over his head with a groan. “We wanted to run some new drill ideas by you. You’ve seen more battles than the average demigod, and you’re still technically Praetor. Figured we’d put you to work.”
He snorted. He’d tried to step in more than once, only to be pushed away. “Sure,” he said. “No problem.”
Frank handed an open notebook over. It took a moment to register what he was seeing, but after a moment, the arrows started to make sense.
“You want to try splitting the Legionnaires up more? Into smaller groups?” he asked, still looking at the plans. “Isn’t that like, anti-Roman?”
“To some? Maybe,” Frank answered. “And it’s never going to be a focus, but Hazel and I think there might be benefit to sending out smaller groups on their own quests and missions for some real world experience. Less Godly involvement than you Greeks, but go and find a monster, bring home a spoil of war, that sort of thing. At the very least, I’d rather have them be over prepared than under.”
“Ideally they’ll never need to use this knowledge,” Hazel chimed in. “But our lives are unpredictable—we were attacked by our own former Emperors, after all. The prophecy spoke of a group of seven. Seven is a lot less than a cohort.”
Percy nodded. “I like it,” he said. “And these look good. Switch up the groups and maybe add in a little bit more one-on-one sparring and I think you’ll be solid.”
Frank hummed. “We’re working on it.”
“I think that’s the best you can do at this point,” he sighed. “But you guys are doing amazing, seriously.”
“Thank you, Percy,” Hazel said, smiling. “That means a lot. But, more importantly, how are you doing?”
He blinked. “What do you mean?” he asked. “I’m doing great. We see each other all the time, you know this.”
“Sure,” Hazel said with a shrug. “But how are you actually? Anything exciting happening? Is there any truth to the rumors?”
Percy furrowed his brows. “What rumors?”
“All kinds,” Frank answered. “But we’re mostly interested in those about you and Apollo. We’ve been placing bets on who’d he’d go after first, but I honestly didn’t think he’d have the guts to pick you.”
His jaw dropped open. “I—”
“It’s okay,” Hazel cut in, grinning evilly. She looked too much like Nico sometimes. “You don’t have to tell us. I mean, we know you so well, we can just fill in the gaps.”
“Hey!” he cried out, panicking. “That’s not—what are you—there’s nothing to talk about!”
“If you say so,” Frank said, matching Hazel’s expression perfectly. “We’re rooting for you. We want you to be happy. Maybe Apollo can do that.”
For some reason, Frank’s words stuck with him. Maybe it was because it was from Frank and Hazel of all people. No matter the reason, their well wishes lingered.
It meant he was a bit faster to smile when he registered the sight of Apollo waiting outside of his classroom.
“Percy!” Apollo greeted, smiling bright and beautiful. “I was hoping to catch you.”
Percy pushed down the instinctual rise of suspicion. He trusted Frank, Hazel, and Reyna with his life. If they said Apollo was different, if they seemed to want to encourage this, maybe he should let himself see what would happen.
“What’s up?” he asked, walking to Apollo’s side.
Even Annabeth had tried to tell him to put himself out there more. This probably wasn’t what she had meant, but he’d never been the best at following directions.
Apollo’s brows shot up, seemingly surprised at his ready acceptance of the God’s presence. It only lasted a moment.
“Oh, I was just in the area,” Apollo said. “Just wanted to see if my favorite demigod was free.”
He snorted. “Don’t let Meg hear you say that.”
Apollo grimaced. “She’d understand.”
“Would she?” he asked, raising a brow.
Apollo nodded. “Without a doubt,” he said. “But you didn’t answer my question, do you have a few moments to spare for your local God of the sun?”
He did, and he guessed that this was the sort of opportunity Hazel and Frank wanted him to take. “Sure, I don’t have class for another hour and a half.”
“Perfect!” Apollo said. After a moment, he extended his arm in an obvious invitation. Percy hesitantly took it, not sure this was the right way to hold onto Apollo.
“So,” he tried, letting Apollo guide them away from the university buildings. “Why?”
“I already told you,” Apollo answered. “Wanted to see if you were free.”
Percy nodded. “Well,” he said. “Obviously I am. So, now what?”
Apollo threw his free arm out in front of them. “Anything you want!” he said with a theatrical flair. “I’ve become allergic to being bored.”
Percy hummed. “In that case,” he said. “I believe you once mentioned something about shooting arrows from the sun chariot?”
It was not nerve, nor any sort of strategy that had him asking, but rather a lack of a brain-to-mouth filter that had the first thought bursting out. It was unfortunate that this had been on his mind for so long at this time, it was bound to come out at some point.
And now he was left to flounder, because Apollo wasn’t saying anything. “Or, uh—”
“Aren’t you supposed to be beyond even my ability to save when it comes to your archery skills?” Apollo asked, eyes wide like he couldn’t believe this.
Percy swallowed, resolutely not looking at Apollo. “Heard there might be a chance you could help me with that.”
Whoever put the thought into his head to try and flirt with Apollo needed to be shot. This was so far out of his comfort zone he was barely aware of his own surroundings. If there was any time in his life he’d wanted to press rewind more to take back what he said, he didn’t think he could think of another moment.
Apollo stopped walking, pulling Percy to a standstill at his side. “Are you flirting with me?”
“Trying to?” he squeaked. “Maybe? I don’t know. Whatever I am doing, I’m doing a bad job at it.”
“Maybe,” Apollo said, tilting his head to the side. “But it’s working, so maybe not.”
Percy jumped in place. “It’s working?”
“Always,” Apollo said, grinning and walking around so he was in front of Percy instead of at his side. Chest to chest like this, Percy was very aware of the couple of inches Apollo had on him. “Though if I had known you were interested, I might have put more effort in.”
“Effort,” he repeated, feeling like his entire body was red enough he was going to combust.
“I mean,” Apollo said. “I’ve spent all this time trying to ease you into it, I wanted it to feel natural. Didn’t think you liked me.”
He frowned. “I’m not sure I do right now.”
“Oh?” Apollo smirked and stepped closer. He didn’t seem to care at all about the people staring at them in shock. “So, if I were to ask you on a proper date, you wouldn’t say yes?”
Percy wasn’t sure he’d ever been asked on a proper date. Butterflies were filling his entire body right now; he’d always thought they were supposed to stay in the stomach. “I didn’t say that.”
“So you’d say yes?” Apollo asked, blue eyes flashing gold. “You’ll go on a date with me?”
Biting his lip, he nodded.
“In that case,” Apollo said. “I’m going to take you on the best date you’ve been on. There’s perks to being a God, you know.”
Oddly enough, Percy looked forward to it.