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They were out on the canoe lake, Percy lazily floating on the surface of the water, reaching up into the canoe to hold hands with Annabeth. It was hot, late into the Summer, and Percy’s voice broke the silence.
“Hey, ‘beth do you remember when we went to see your cousin, up in Boston?” Percy asked, squinting up at the blue sky
“Yeah, why do you ask, Percy?” Annabeth answered, not looking up from her book
“You remember his partner, Alex?”
“I do, interesting kid. Good for Magnus, they were cute together. Why are you asking though?”
“Well… Alex was, uh… queer, right? Um… genderfluid?”
“Yeah, Alex swapped between she/her and he/him pronouns.”
“Cool… cool, and… you thought that was fine?”
“Percy, you know half our friends are queer, right? Thalia and Reyna are literally dating, Nico’s a trans guy, and both the Praetors of New Rome are Bi now. Of course I thought that was fine. Why are you being weird, Seaweed Brain?”
“I just… I wanted to know how you… it’s just really important to me that I know how you feel about… that.”
“Percy… Honey, are you trying to tell me something?”
“I… IthinkImightbealittlebitthesameasAlex.”
Percy very quickly released Annabeth’s hand and turned over to face the bottom of the lake, face growing hot. Meanwhile, Annabeth very calmly and thoughtfully closed her book, set it aside, and looked down at the water.
“Percy.” Annabeth said, clearly and concisely after several minutes of her partner’s face being under the lake. To which Percy responded by turning back over, and cringing
“Sweetheart, I know that took a lot for you to admit, and you’re very brave to have done it. I only ever want us to be happy, and to be together, your gender, or lack thereof is never going to be something that would make me upset, or want to leave you. Understand, Seaweed Brain?”
“Oh Gods that was too stressful.” Percy answered, taking Annabeth’s outstretched hand and hopping into the canoe
“I’m sorry, Percy. It shouldn’t have been, I should have made it clear to you from the beginning. I will say… I think we need a system for you to communicate your pronouns, you’re so ADHD that you’ll forget to tell anybody, and none of us want to misgender you.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“I’ve heard of some people using bracelets, like different colors for different pronouns.”
“I guess it could work, but it seems kinda easy to mess up, or I might forget I have one on.”
“Hmm… I wonder… alright, I have an idea, but it might take a little while to make, so… for now, just let me know what pronouns to use whenever you remember, okay Perce? Promise me you won’t go martyring yourself and letting all your friends misgender you for their convenience.”
“I promise! Or, at least I’ll do my best.”
-
It was three days later when Annabeth got back to her, Percy was walking up the hill towards the mess hall and his girlfriend almost tackled them. Annabeth had a wild smile across her face, her hair was a rat's nest of blonde curls, like she’d been up for the last three nights, and it was stained black with soot in several places.
“Percy!” Annabeth shouted, voice a little too loud and a little too flat
“Hey, Wise Girl. What’s up? And are you okay? When’s the last time you slept?” Percy answered, not entirely sure how to handle their girlfriend’s manic energy
“Uh… what day is it? No, doesn’t matter. I had Leo and Nyssa help me design and forge a gift for you, and then I had to get Lou Ellen to help with the magic, and then Malcolm and I worked on getting the display right, and… suffice to say it’s been a few all-nighters, but I figured it out. Here!”
Annabeth held out a small, thin, cardboard jewelry box, about the size that a small pendant would come in. Percy took the box gingerly, and slipped the top off to reveal a device. It was rectangular, and looked a bit like an iPod, it was made of Celestial Bronze and had a dark screen, on the top were a button and a scroll wheel that clicked four times when Percy ran his thumb along it. On the back there was a magnet, and a thin strip of stainless steel that would act like a pin to hold it on a shirt.
“It’s… like a name tag?” Percy asked
“Yeah! Exactly! Hit the button on top to turn it on, and then you can use the scroll wheel to switch between different pronouns, Malcolm and I only programmed three specifics, and a ‘any pronouns’ option, but obviously we can customize it to whatever you prefer, or if you hate it I can destroy it, throw it in the lake, or melt it in the fires from whence it came, or-“
Percy cut off her girlfriend’s rambling with a tight hug, and said “I love it.”
When Percy turned the nametag on, the dark screen glowed with a sea-green “He/Him” until Percy flicked the scroll wheel over one to “She/Her” and then again to “They/Them” and finally “Any Pronouns” each label drawn magically in an elegant, but legible, font that looked almost like the careful print Annabeth had taken to using for her notes.
-
It took about a week before Percy worked up the courage to wear the nametag constantly. She knew no one at Camp would really have a problem, but there was still hesitation. Finally, the nametag made its first appearance, Percy was on their way to the Big House, Chiron had called a camp meeting to discuss a longer summer session to integrate a large batch of new arrivals and to make plans for relations between Camp Halfblood and Camp Jupiter. Percy’s nametag was carefully set to “They/Them” and as they sat down, none of the other campers called attention to it. About Halfway through the meeting, a proposal was made that Percy be an ambassador to New Rome, but just as they were about to speak up and categorically refuse the position, one of the Stolls said “Don’t do that to Percy, He and Annabeth deserve some rest.” Percy cringed, but didn’t say anything, Annabeth glared at the twin with murder in her eye, but Clarisse spoke first, standing up and saying “Connor, can’t you read? Percy’s shirt pretty clearly states their pronouns. I still agree, They and Annabeth deserve plenty of rest.”
Percy shot Clarisse a stunned, but pleased, look which she just shrugged at, and the meeting went on. Afterwards, Connor approached Percy and apologized profusely, and Percy promised there were no hard feelings, but they were pretty sure Annabeth was going to enact some terrible revenge on the entire Stoll bloodline.
-
Percy was in Harlem the next time someone commented on her nametag. She was walking along East 122nd, planning to cut across Park Avenue and behind the hospital to get to Marcus Garvey park until she ran into someone she knew walking alongside someone she didn’t. Nurse Kingston Brown, sometime better known as “Kingston Brown from Uptown,” was walking down the sidewalk in his long black trenchcoat and scrubs next to a pale white guy in jeans, a fishnet shirt, and a comfy looking aviator’s jacket, with a mustache and brown hair.
“Hey! If it isn’t Kingston Brown, from Uptown!” Percy shouted, her usual greeting to the male nurse
“Is that old Percy Jackson, hero of Olympus? What are you doin’ up here in Harlem?” Kingston asked, waving Percy over
“Just headed to a date in the park, where are you headed, Kingston?”
“Takin’ Pete here to lunch, like every week. Percy Jackson, this is Pete Conlan: Vox Phantasma of New York City, Emissary to the Sixth Borough. Pete, this is Percy Jackson: Hero of Olympus, savior of the Battle of Manhattan.”
“This kid knows about the Unsleeping City?” Pete asked, Shaking Percy’s hand
“This kid knows about more than the Unsleeping City, you remember a few years ago, that crazy storm system that swept across the country until it finally died down above the Hudson?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Well turns out that was actually the Giant Typhon from Greek Mythos, the Lord of the Titans, Kronos, freed him from his prison to attack Mount Olympus which is actually above the Empire State Building.”
“Damn. Well I like your pronoun nametag kid.”
“Thanks, I hope Nod treats you well.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey, Percy it was good to see you, how’s your mom doin’? I remember little Estelle gave her some trouble coming out.”
“Oh, mom’s great! Tired, but none of us are really sleeping with a baby in the house, so that’s not unusual.”
“Well, you let me know if you need anything, anytime alright?”
“No problem, Kingston!”