[DanMachi/Percy Jackson] Prytaneum

Chapter 52: Adding Part 2

"Welcome back," One of the waitresses greeted, smiling at them.

"Hi, Lunoire," I said, waving at her. "Everything going okay?"

"...It's certain going," She said with a forced looking smile, looking to the side but not looking back, as if she were almost afraid to see what was behind her. The Hostess was as busy as I'd ever seen during the day, with what seemed like every table full, and the benches chairs near the front full of people. I'd known it was popular and it was always pretty full, day or night, but the sight still surprised me.

Although...was it a Friday? Or a weekend? I belatedly realized I didn't know what day it was or even what kind of days Orario used. Were the months as I remembered them? The names of the days? I'd mainly been keeping track of time by how long had passed since my rebirth. For all I knew, it was Christmas, or whatever was a big deal in this town. What kind of holidays did a place like Orario celebrate, anyway?

"Working hard, huh?" I asked, not that I needed an answer. I was mainly just trying to give her a break from whatever she was supposed to be doing. "Should I come back later?"

"That may be best," She murmured, quiet enough to not be heard by the patron. "Things should clear up in a couple of hours, but right now you'll have to wait for at least thirty minutes."

"...I'll go ahead to the old man's," Welf said behind me, catching the words easily with his unnatural hearing. "Catch up with me when you're done talking to your girl, Percy."

"Welf, wait a minute!" I said, looking over my shoulder, but he just waved lazily over his shoulder and stumbled out of Hostess without a second glance, making me sigh. He really must have been tired, because he'd apparently forgotten the amount of shit Wayland tended to give him. If I was there, I was pretty sure they'd play nice, more or less—but when it was just Familia business, I was pretty sure they'd argue for what could be hours. Frankly, I thought he had better odds sticking with me.

More importantly, I wanted to introduce him to Ryuu. Welf had a thing when it came to elves, mainly because most of them hated him for what he family had done, and he'd probably just try to avoid her otherwise—but honestly, I didn't think Ryuu was the type to really care about stuff like that, when it wasn't Welf's fault. She was hard to read, but Ryuu was pretty nice.

"I can get Syr, if you'd like?" Lunoire asked demurely, smiling when I sent a look her way.

"Don't bother," I said. "I see her. Syr!"

I raised a hand to draw her attention, easy enough since I already towered over the rest of the crowd, and she looked up at the sound of my voice. At once, Syr's lips drew into a very happy smile, abandoning whatever it was that she'd been about to do and running towards me through the tavern. I smiled back, lowering my hand as she approached.

Then, she surprised me.

"Percy!" Syr said, soft hands moving to grab a hold of mine and bring them towards her. "I'm so glad you're here!"

I blinked several times, taken aback by her sudden actions, before frowning and furrowing my brows. Her smile was bright and radiant, her pretty grey eyes all but glittering as she looked at me, and her hands were warm in mine.

...Hm.

I looked down at our hands and then slowly back up at her, raising a skeptical eyebrow in response.

"Do you need something, Syr?" I asked suspiciously, reminded of all the times Silena had gotten Beckendorf to do...pretty much anything she wanted, honestly. I was less familiar with it, personally; Annabeth and Rachel had always been pretty blatant about things, as had...as had Calypso, I guess.

"Percy," She whined, expression becoming hurt and eyes almost seeming to well with tears. "How could you abandon me like that yesterday? Ryuu misunderstood things again and everyone made fun of me after you were gone...!"

Ah. So that was it.

"I see," I said, lowering my head and trying not to smile. "I'm sorry, Syr. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

"Percy, can you help me?" She pleaded, doing her best to look miserable. "I ignored a lot of chores and went out this morning, so Mama Mia got mad at me again! Now I've got twice as much work to do!"

That sounded like it was her fault to me, but it's not like I could judge. I'd do any chores that made my mom's life easier, but everything else? Hah. I was the head of my Cabin anyway and I said it was fine. The benefits of authority, I guess.

"Okay," I said anyway, giving in easily. I still need to talk to Ryuu anyway and they really did look like they were overwhelmed. I owed Syr, Ryuu, and this bar in general enough to pitch in a bit. "What do you need?"

"Can you wash the dishes for me?" She asked, somehow managing to look like she was nearly crying and bat her eyelashes at me. "We've all been so busy that no one's been able to do them since this morning and the sink's about to overflow! If it tips over, I'll get crushed, Percy—isn't that more a job for someone big and strong like you? Please help me!"

Syr's story was getting increasingly dramatic, but it really sounded like nobody had been willing to do the dishes.

"Wash the dishes?" I asked, struggling to sound serious and grim and not, you know, laugh. I looked down for a moment as if contemplating my options gravely, and then looked back up at her. "Gee, okay."

"You'll do it?" Syr asked, clutching my hands closer to her excitedly.

"Sure," I said. "You'll forgive me if I do, right?"

Syr nodded excitedly and then began to pull me towards the back of the Hostess. Well, 'pull' might have been an exaggeration; even if she was two years older than me, she was a full head shorter than me and lacked a Falna, but I went along with her enthusiasm regardless.

"Oh, this is surprising! Look what the cat dragged in!" Chloe said, releasing a meow for what I assumed to be emphasis. "He's still alive after training—and he came back, nya!"

"Coming back even after becoming Lyon food," Arnya said, looking surprised. "And being put to work, too! It must be the chains of love, nya!"

I looked at them as we walked by, nodding to them and wondering to myself why they made that noise. After Syr led me to the back, I had to raise an eyebrow at the stacks of dishes in the sink and on the counters—they really did look like someone could get hurt if they fell over. They also looked like the type of annoying task that we'd always try to put off at Camp, which inevitably grew out of hand, except with less lava involved.

"Do your best, Percy!" Syr said seriously, hand rising to my shoulder as if she were sending me off to fulfill some daunting task.

"Kay," I said, watching her hurry away so fast it seemed like she was escaping. Behind me, I heard a quiet sigh. "Oh, hey Ryuu."

"Mr. Jackson," Ryuu greeted, looking over the dishes with judging disapproval. "This is a daunting amount. Allow me to assist you."

"It's okay," I said. "You all seem pretty busy—I don't want to pull you away from anything."

"The situation is Syr's fault," Ryuu stated frankly. "And also ours, because we could not cover for her properly. On behalf of all of us, I apologize, so please allow me to aid you here."

"Well..." I mused, wanting to talk to her but not wanting to cause her trouble. After a moment, I shrugged and made my decision, reaching out to grab one of the dishes and hand it to her. "Okay. Here."

"Thank you," Ryuu replied, accepting it gently.

The moment she had, I gestured towards the sink and the faucet promptly went on full blast, at which point I lifted the water in the sink into the air. It consumed the nearest stack of dishes like some kind of amorphous slime monster, waters coloring as it then proceeded to expand and contract around them in a process that had always reminded me a chewing.

Ryuu looked up at it silently for a moment, hands already working to wipe at the surface of her dish.

"Ah," She said.

I hopped up onto the counter and leaned over, putting my elbows on my knees as I looked at her.

"Hey Ryuu," I said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Certainly, Mr. Jackson," She said, looking down at her plate as she continued to clean it, rag making quiet squeaking sounds.

"Have you ever heard of a group called Evilus?"