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Apollo isn't sure what brought this on, honestly. He was getting really bored in his usual life at Olympus, and Will suggested that this might help. Kayla was very enthusiastic too. Meg snorted, and said, "How bad can you be?" so he took that as support. So here he was, teaching a music class as Lester, but in his usual look (so maybe he had a few issues parting with his lovely hair – in his defence, his hair was a work of art).
Today's batch was an interesting one. He got an email from one of the parents about how this entire batch was a group of friends (Apollo tried not to have a class of more than seven, so he could give his students individual attention). He hadn't read the names in the roster, because he liked the students introducing himself. Maybe he should have, or he wouldn't have been so surprised.
"I'm Estelle Blofis-Jackson, and I plan to master a guitar by the end of this year."
In all honesty, Apollo should've seen it. Estelle had the same smile he associated with her mother and elder sister, and everything about her behaviour that he noticed in the past five minutes practically screamed familiar. He'd bet a thousand drachmas Percy Jackson taught her that smirk.
(But thinking about Percy Jackson's smirk got him nowhere except what Austin called pining, so he ignored that part.)
It was easy to focus on the class. He liked this batch, Apollo decided. They were so fun, and full of all the light and energy that he loved about mortals. Estelle Blofis especially, but should he have expected anything else of a girl raised by the awesome woman that Sally was?
Apollo had always been tempted to visit them again, and he'd definitely given the family his blessing at some point, but Percy Jackson had said in no uncertain terms that she wanted to fucking retire, please, I'm not getting involved anymore. The gods respected her wish, or were too scared of the ones who would make sure they did. As far as the sun god was aware, the only immortals she had regular contact with were her godly half-siblings, and Chiron. Not even her father was spared.
Apollo also knew that she helped get new half-bloods to Camp, but that was only because she'd helped one of his sons. He didn't stalk her, obviously.
They finished the lesson, and one of the girls, Riley, said, "Stell, your sister's coming to pick you up, right?"
James' head whipped up, "Wait, seriously?"
Estelle groaned. "Why does everyone want to crush on my big sister?"
Apollo froze. She isn't talking about you, dummy, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Meg and Artemis mixed together spoke in his head.
"It's the hands," Jenny wisely said.
Alex added, "The motorcycle."
She had a motorcycle. This just kept getting better or worse, depending on who you asked. Both?
"She's tall," James stated.
"And so pretty," Anna sighed. You and me both, Anna.
Estelle threw her hands up and decided it was a lost cause. "I should get used to this, I guess."
It was the last class of the day, so Apollo came out with everyone else. Although, obviously, he'd wait until all the kids had been picked up or left by themselves.
James began, "Half of you are literally going to go by yourselves."
Alex shushed him. "We're waiting for the sister."
Estelle put her face in her hands and groaned.
"You guys do that," Jeremy snorted, "But I might miss the bus, so I'll need to leave. Tell her I said hello!"
A few anticipatory minutes later, Apollo heard a motorcycle engine. The sound stopped, and there she was, Perseus Myrina Jackson, taking her helmet off and getting off the motorcycle and oh my god she's walking towards me.
Towards Estelle, his brain corrected, you're just there. Sure, brain, ruin it, why don't you? Something told him Hermes was laughing at Apollo right now.
"Percy!" Estelle squealed, throwing herself into the Hero of Olympus' arms, who just picked the teenager up like she weighed a feather and twirled her around. Apollo imagined himself in that position and filed the thought in the back of his mind.
Percy put Estelle down and booped her nose, "Hi, guppy! We'll have a bonding evening today, right after I talk to the teacher, m'kay?"
Estelle said something and then led Percy to where Apollo was standing. Okay, no foot in mouth. That's easy, right?
"Hey, Percy," Oh. Nevermind.
A pause.
"...Lester."
Estelle cleared her throat. "You two… know each other?"
Jenny snorted from where she was standing.
"We've met in passing," was what Percy decided on.
"Our fathers work closely with each other," was what Apollo said instead.
They stared at each other. Apollo tried very hard not to look at her lips, but judging by her eyebrow raise, he might have failed.
"Suuure," Estelle drawled, "That's a lot of tension for someone you met in passing, ya know?"
Apollo blushed.
"We've worked together on occasion," Percy conceded.
"The music teacher and the lawyer?" Anna asked.
"It was a long time ago," Apollo defended, "Fifteen years ago, am I right?"
"Fourteen," Percy corrected.
They continued staring at each other. Apollo wanted the earth to open up and swallow him whole.
Percy coughed. "Right, well, we gotta go. I'm sure they'll do great with your tutelage."
"I'm flattered you think so highly of me, Percy," he purred. She blinked in confusion. And now you've ruined it. Good going.
The sisters left, leaving Apollo with the rest of the students. Alex stared at him. "Even the teacher is into her."
Apollo closed his eyes in pain. It was good to know he was obvious enough that a bunch of teenaged mortals could see it. Then again, half his kids had never seen him with her, and they still knew. He was sure Aphrodite was enjoying herself seeing him fumble like a fool.
They left, and then Apollo was alone to deal with his embarrassment. The patchwork of crops that Meg grew, which spelled out 'dummy' for him to see every morning, made much more sense.
Percy Jackson picked up her sister from music lessons every time. It would be adorable (and it was, technically) if not for the fact that every day Apollo was a little bit closer to tipping over the edge and embarrassing himself even more than the usual staring. Percy was known for her obliviousness – although even she had been getting suspicious as of late, which just showed how down bad Apollo was – but Estelle…
Estelle cornered him in class before her sister came to pick her up, and asked him bluntly, "Do you like my sister?"
Apollo stayed silent. It was answer enough.
"Yeah, I don't know why I asked that either," oh thank the Fates, "It's so glaringly obvious that I shouldn't have to ask," nevermind, "Anyway, how badly do you want a date?"
Apollo blinked. "Are you setting me up with your sister? Why would you even want to–"
"Date, yes or no?"
"Yes, naturally, but why would you–"
"Listen," Estelle interrupted, "Twenty different people are pestering her into getting on the dating scene by throwing themselves at her and she hates it, and Mom offhandedly mentioned something about wanting grandchildren – we're not sure if it was a joke or serious. So far, the only person she's shown interest in beyond a one-night stand is you."
He would rejoice in that later. But first, "Why do you know what a one-night stand is?"
"I'm fifteen, not dumb. I've been given the opportunity to plan a blind date for her, so you have one chance at this. You mess up, all opportunities," she snapped her fingers, "Gone."
"Hey!" Apollo said, offended, "I'm a great date."
Estelle scoffed. "Well, I certainly hope so, for my sister's sake."
Only a Jackson would be that impertinent, honestly.
Like a proper gentleman, Apollo made sure to clean up nice today, as well as come early and make sure they got a good table. When Percy came, he got up and offered to pull out her chair.
The demigod blinked. "Apollo?"
"Your sister seems to think this is a good idea," he said, hoping that maybe her sister's approval would go a long way for him.
"Oh?" she sat down in front of him, and leaned forward. "Do you think this is a good idea?"
It's a fucking dream come true, he thought.
"It's a very good idea," he said.
The years, it seemed, had only gone to make Percy more beautiful than she already was. Maybe it was the fact that she didn't essentially have the stress of the world (literally, once) on her shoulders. She seemed… happier. Lighter. Apollo should probably be careful today because he might trip over something if he kept staring at her – to be fair to him, that green satin dress looked exquisite on her.
Like he'd told Estelle, he was a great date. That, in a sense, made him dig his own grave, because by the Fates, if Percy smiled at him like that again, he was going to turn into a puddle on the floor.
Nevermind, she was laughing now. Apollo was going to explode into godly supernova. It would be embarrassing; cause of death: Percy Jackson's laugh. Meg would hunt him down in the afterlife just to make fun of him for it.
And then it was over, which was shitty. Apollo never wanted this to get over. However, as mentioned, he was a gentleman, so he drove her home (an apartment two blocks away from the restaurant, so she kept saying she could walk, but a, he'd be a horrible date if he didn't accompany her, b, there was a car, and c, he didn't want it to end just yet). They stood outside her apartment door staring awkwardly at each other like teenagers.
"I, uh, liked today," Percy said with a small smile.
"Yeah, I did too." Was his voice always this raspy and dry? No, definitely not, right? "Would you like a part two?"
No one was going to hear about this. Apollo would take it to the fucking grave. Part two. But his date giggled, and she was still smiling, so it must be worth something, right?
"Sure," she whispered, "I'd be up for a part two as well. Text me."
Percy left before he could ask for a number. Apollo was dejected for all of three minutes until he found a tissue paper that he did not take from the restaurant innocently sitting in his car, with a number scribbled across it.
apollo: good morning
percy: i'm going to pretend that wasn't sent at four in the fucking morning
percy: but yes, good morning
apollo: it's noon
percy: and i just woke up. your point?
They went on a few more dates, all of which were amazing and Apollo was at risk of explosion in every single one. They texted almost constantly, and Apollo was always happy to learn about which stray animal she played with today, or what her coworkers did (that was so out of line, Sarah, honestly) or, a personal favourite, the things that reminded her of him. They called every evening, talking about their day.
By the fifth date, there were little happy solar flares every time Percy addressed him as anything resembling boyfriend.
percy: so hypothetically if i commit a murder will you back me?
apollo: darling, you know i'll help 🥰
apollo: just give me the details
percy: not so serious right now
percy: this guy at work is so infuriating i swear
apollo: infuriating how?
percy: well. misogynistic, chauvinistic, homophobic pig who doesn't actually bring anything of worth to the table and keeps thinking i'm incompetent
percy: i want to deck him so bad but it's unprofessional. and i refuse to waste all that energy on him. but sometimes he makes all these comments and it's just
percy: ugh
percy: sorry for dumping all that on you i'm just really frustrated right now
apollo: that's okay. i'm willing to listen.
apollo: do you want to grab a coffee and rant about him to me in person?
apollo: and then we can cuddle on the sofa to watch chennai express again
percy: you're such a doll
percy: Rainbow's in ten
The guy in question gets fired for misconduct. Apollo pretends to be innocent while internally cheering.
Estelle stares at Apollo. Apollo stares back. She blinks eventually, which means that the sun god has won the staring contest. He internally puffs his chest in pride.
"Really?" she says, "Percy's actually bringing you home?"
"Why wouldn't she?" he asks, mildly offended, "We've been dating for a year."
"You must be better than I thought," she shrugs, before running back inside. Some part of him wants to protest, but yeah, the fact that Percy Jackson is still interested in him of all people kind of shocks him too. Sometimes he will just randomly remember that Percy smiles at him (him!) like that, and is cheerful for the rest of the day.
Paul is mostly a good sport, talking about how 'it's wonderful to see you again', and 'Percy talks a lot about you, but it's nice to put a name and face to this mystery boy' (Apollo preens), but also sends tiny 'I'm watching you' glares when no one else is looking. Apollo is not fazed. He obviously adores the fact that there are people looking out for her, but also… it's not a very effective glare. Maybe having seen the demigods' wolf stares makes him find others not as intimidating.
Sally is surprised, but also very happy. She makes the seven-layer dip and Apollo knows, as he always has, that it's much better than ambrosia and nectar.
It's difficult to pretend that Percy's secret smiles don't send flutters to his stomach. Estelle looks at the two of them and makes vague gagging gestures, pretending to look innocent whenever Sally or Paul's gaze catches her.
(Estelle still beams at being made godmother five years later, although she never quite gets over teasing Apollo constantly.)
The family dinner opens the metaphorical floodgates, because she occasionally takes him to lunches with her friends – the mortal ones are fine. He can handle it. However, if it means staying with Percy, he can also handle the very creative, very serious death threats of her godly-sided friends, which somehow also include Hermes and his own kids. The news travels like wildfire, and the day after he gets pranked by his baby brother, he has to run from seven different deities.
Naturally, he runs into Percy's arms.
Naturally, when fifteen years later, Perseus Myrina Jackson takes a ten-year-old demigod to Camp, who is hers, nobody is surprised.
And naturally, Sally invites him to extended family events, blatantly calling him her son-in-law. Apollo likes that too.
But it's Percy's birthday and they're slow dancing in the apartment while the radio plays Mere Naam Tu, and he thinks he might be capable of destroying the world if he lost this.