𝐖𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐂! percy jackson

xxviii. Kansas Gods

━━ chapter twenty-eight
kansas gods

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

━━It irked Fiona that only yesterday, her camp had been fired upon by the ship she was standing on. It felt like that had been weeks ago, and yet here she was, leaning against the side of the ship and looking out into the horizon.

Already, she missed home. She missed the familiar feeling of her own bed at the barracks. The food at the forum. War games. Heck, she even missed insulting Larry and Octavian, and that was saying something. She missed her mom, and she missed the days where she was given Stable Duty to look after Hannibal. Fiona hoped that once this was all over, she had a home to go back to; one where she wouldn't be shamed out of by 'betraying' their trust.

She felt an arm slip around her shoulders. Smelling sea salt, Fiona immediately knew it was Percy.

"Hey," he greeted her, and Fiona gave him a tired smile. He was no longer wearing a Camp Jupiter shirt, and instead, an orange one much like the one he had arrived in━except this one wasn't in tatters.

Fiona arched a brow at it and her fingers pulled at the fabric, curious. "You have a pegasus on your shirt," she decided to say.

Percy rolled his eyes, "And good morning to you, too."

"And you're in a better mood," she smiled, happy. Fiona knew it was because of the orange shirt, and she tried not to feel that annoying pang of jealousy. Once this was all over, was it goodbye? Would Fiona never see him again? It felt stupid to get upset over that, but she was. Sometimes, you meet people in your life, and you just click. Percy wasn't just her boyfriend, but he was also a good friend━one of the quickest friends Fiona has ever made, and she found herself holding onto that. That made him special and very important to her. Because she trusted him, and got along with him, and felt at ease far quicker than any other friendship she had grown.

Fiona slipped her arms around his waist and settled her head on his chest. Percy hugged her back, startled by the sudden affection. "I'm not sure whether you're trying to kill me, or ..."

"Shut up, Barnacle Biceps," she told him, and Percy chuckled lightly. This dork, Fiona thought to herself.

The both of them were up pretty early, and the only people around so far was Leo at the mast. So, Fiona found it okay to rise up on her toes and gently capture Percy's lips in hers. It was a short peck, nothing more, but Percy looked like he just won the lottery. Dork.

They stayed there for a while, waiting for the others to come up above deck. Percy with his arm around Fiona's small figure and her leaning into his touch as they stood by the railing. When she saw Annabeth walk up the steps with Sam behind her, whistling some tune that sounded like AC/DC but with daisies instead of heavy electric guitar. Fiona tensed, her gaze fixed on him as they approached. She was sure Percy noticed, for he just brought her closer to his side, but he said nothing about it. Instead, he greeted:

"Hey, Wise Girl," his green eyes flickered to Sam momentarily. "What's up?"

"I'm tired," mumbled the daughter of Athena, breaking apart the toast she had carried with her from downstairs. "And I have a shadow who just follows me everywhere."

Sam frowned at his older sister, "I'm trying to be helpful, like you said!"

Annabeth sighed, and closed her eyes. "Look, Perc, I wanted to ask━well, Sam wants to ask━" Sam avoided eye contact and just shuffled his feet on the deck, "━whether you'd give him some sword lessons. I told him that if he stays on this ship, he has to know how to defend himself."