Chapter Text
Set during the Sea of Monsters
At sea, there wasn’t much else to do but talk.
With the old pirate ship generating no light of its own, they were grateful it was a clear night and a full moon. Annabeth had pointed out all the constellations she could, but the moon was stubbornly dominating the sky, cold light radiating so intensely that it made Percy shiver. The pair had found some scratchy blankets below deck. Percy had questioned if they carried the plague. Annabeth pointed out that hypothermia would kill them quicker, and that Percy was part rodent now anyway.
As they sat under the watchful sky, Percy noticed Annabeth’s cheekbone looked like it was glowing.
‘Is that some glitter? On your face?’
Annabeth looked embarrassed and began furiously wiping at her cheeks. ‘Which side?’
‘Uh, the left. Sorry, didn’t mean to freak you out.’
‘That stupid witch. Is it gone now?’
Percy inspected and tried not to feel awkward about how intently he was staring at her. ‘Think so.’
‘If only Hermes had put makeup wipes in those duffel bags.’
‘I don’t think he was anticipating makeovers in the Sea of Monsters.’
‘Well, he anticipated something if he gave us those vitamins.’
Percy had no answer. But he did have a question: ‘What’s a makeup wipe, anyway?’
Annabeth looked at him sideways, vague amusement playing in her eyes. ‘It’s a wipe. For makeup.’
‘Thanks a lot,’ he replied sarcastically. ‘Sorry I don’t know girlie things.’
Annabeth looked a little sad. ‘I don’t really know girlie things, either.’
Something about the tone of her voice caught Percy off-guard. Annabeth hated admitting she didn’t know things. He left the silence open for her to fill, if she wanted. She must have picked up on this invitation, because she sighed and said,
‘I don’t really have girl friends, you know? And it’s not like my mom was around to teach me any of this stuff.’
Percy hadn’t thought of this. He had originally assumed Annabeth’s willingness to follow Circe’s employees was a result of some kind of enchantment, but now he wondered if there was something deeper at play. Circe had drawn Percy in, promising to show him his true self, and used his low self-esteem against him. It occurred to Percy she had also used Annabeth’s insecurities against her. She had seen a young girl with no good female role model in her life, and taken advantage of this.
Percy felt another flash of anger towards Circe, but it was pointless. The witch’s island was already overrun by pirates, and anyway, they were miles away now. All he could do instead was try to be a good friend.
‘What about girls in your school?’ he asked gently
Annabeth’s face fell. ‘I don’t think they really like me.’
Percy felt a surge of protectiveness toward his friend. More than that, he felt sympathy.
‘I know what that’s like,’ he said. ‘But I can’t believe someone wouldn’t want to be your friend.’
Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Really? Even after how I was to you when we first met last year?’
Percy chuckled. ‘Yeah, but I’m a guy. And a son of Poseidon.’
Annabeth smiled. ‘True, you don’t have a lot going for you.’
Percy bumped her with his shoulder. ‘So the girls at school…’
Annabeth sighed again and looked down at her fingers, which were busy untying and retying her shoelaces. ‘They’re different to me. I mean, I’m different to them . I’ve been out of the mortal world for so long, I don’t see how I could ever fit in with normal girls. Like, they know how to do their makeup and they crush on celebrities and they just…they know how to talk to each other. I feel like I’m speaking a whole different language.’
‘That’s rough. I never thought about what that would be like for you,’ Percy said. He was acutely aware that Annabeth, who usually kept her walls up so high, was actually opening up to him. And she looked so sad. He wished there was something he could do to help.
‘I bet if they knew you killed monsters and saved the world in your spare time, they’d want to be your friend.’
Annabeth smirked, and then suddenly cracked up like she’d just remembered something hysterical.
‘What?’ Percy asked.
Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. ‘Ugh, it’s so embarrassing!’
‘Okay, well, now you have to tell me.’
‘Fine, but it doesn’t leave this boat, okay?’
Percy nodded sagely.
‘So I kinda befriended this girl in my chemistry class. She invited me to a sleepover with a bunch of other girls, and I was all excited because I thought I might get to make some friends…’
‘Go on.’
‘Well, the girls started pulling things out of their bags that they’d brought. One girl brought snacks, someone else had facemasks, someone else brought some nail polish. And do you wanna know what was in my sleepover bag, Percy? My knife .’
Percy burst out laughing. ‘You did not.’
‘Oh, yes. And it gets worse. When it was time to go to sleep I offered to take the first watch .’
Percy was really cracking up now. Annabeth was laughing, but she was cringing at herself, too.
‘They all looked at me weird, and I tried to play it off but…but I think they all think I’m some kind of freak.’
The forlorn look on Annabeth’s face made Percy stop laughing. ‘Hey,’ he said, ‘it’s okay. I’m not exactly Mr Popular, either.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Oh, yeah. The first real friend I ever made at school turned out to be a goat who was basically employed to be my friend.’
Annabeth laughed. ‘Aww, poor Grover.’
‘And I can do you one better than that sleepover story.’
‘I’m all ears.’
‘Well, I was in class, and I was playing with Riptide like this,’ Percy said, demonstrating by spinning Riptide between his fingers.
‘Yeah.’
‘And then some kid came up to me and asked me if he could borrow my pen. And I kinda panicked because I don’t know what would happen if a mortal tried to use Riptide, but knowing my luck, it wouldn’t just be a normal pen, you know?’
Annabeth nodded. She was suppressing a smile already.
‘So I looked him dead in the eyes, Riptide in full view, and said…I don’t have a pen.’
Annabeth cracked up, and it was the hardest Percy had ever seen her laugh. Something about laughing broke Annabeth’s features wide open. They were usually so intense, from her steely grey eyes to her serious, firm mouth. Watching her laugh was like watching a wave crash into the shore, tumbling free and wild. Percy’s chest fluttered in a way similar to when he had seen her post-makeover on Circe’s Island.
He tried to ignore this feeling as he joined her in laughing at himself.
The boat creaked and groaned as it passed over the water, lilting up and down with the motion of waves. Despite this being the Sea of Monsters, Percy felt oddly at ease. He was in his element, both on the open ocean and sitting next to his friend. He felt more relaxed, and he realised it was because he was finally getting to know Annabeth - not just Annabeth the daughter of Athena - but Annabeth Chase.
‘You got any more stories like that, Seaweed Brain?’ Annabeth asked, still grinning.
‘I’ll trade with you,’ he countered.
And he told her every embarrassing story he could think of.
Anything to keep making her laugh.