Princess of the Sea (Fem Percy x YJ)

25

My hands curled in my lap, fingers twisted and pulling at each other. My actions went unseen. Dad was too busy staring down at his scorecard to notice, and I doubted he would care. He probably used up the last bit of concern he had when he stopped that guy.

I blinked, slow. The dice were different. The cup had moved, when did it move?

"Percy?"

A hand touched my shoulder, and I flinched back. My nails pressed hard into the flesh of my wrist. Dad's face was in front of mine, eyebrows drawn together and lips pressed into a thin line.

"You're dissociating," he said in a soft voice. "Can you tell me where you are?" I didn't know how long it was before he started talking again. "You're in my room. It's six forty-three in the evening." He held his hands between us. I stared at them. "I'm the only one in here with you. We were playing Yahtzee."

Dad's fingers wiggled and flexed as he held them between us, and my gaze fixated on them. When he stopped, I moved my eyes down to my own hands. The digits moved. But it wasn't the same.

"Can I move you?" he asked. Without thinking, I nodded. Pressure, no, hands were on my shoulders. He guided me forward, letting me lean on him and press myself against his chest. He's solid. No sobs left my lips. I thought they would've. Isn't that what they always show when stuff like this happens? I should be breaking down, right? So why- Why couldn't I feel anything? Even the heat coming off of Dad felt like an afterthought, taking the backseat while the numbness called shotgun.

"Percy?" he asked. I didn't say anything. The hole in my chest yanked that option away the moment I opened my mouth. No words would come; I'd have them in my head, but they never met the water. My only option was to press myself further against him and hope he didn't ask me anything, that he wouldn't pressure me. He sighed. Warm hands pushed against my back, bringing me closer. One moved to the back of my head. My own arms looped around Dad's back, bunching in the fabric of his shirt. "I've got you." The hand on my back rubbed soothing circles against my spine. "You're safe. I'll keep you safe."

For some reason, that was what made me sob. That innocuous sentence sent me curling into Dad and sobbing. My mind was blank, but my body screamed safe. I was safe with him.

"Promise?" I said. He stiffened at the whisper I managed, but his arms tightened around me. The steady thump of his heart resonated through my body.

"I promise."

For as much as I had expected him to shove me away for me questioning him, for acknowledging the honeyed words gods so often offered, he didn't. He pulled me closer. I took a deep breath.

"I'm on Dad's lap," I mumbled. "I'm in his palace. I-"

"You're safe," added Dad.

"I'm safe."

Energy crackled over my skin. At first, my hazed mind thought Dad was mad at me because I knocked the dice he kept out aside. But then he smoothed his hand over my hair, and I peered up at him. What was- My eyes widened and I flexed my fingers. Nothing. As my powers slipped from my grasp, my heart slowed and my shoulders dropped. There was no longer the painful thrum of them begging for an escape. I pressed myself closer to Dad.

"I can give them back, Percy." His arm tightened around my shoulders. "They could hurt you if you attempt to contain them." I frowned and shifted. He was slipping back into being more formal. "What's wrong?"

"Can..." I swallowed. "Can you come up with another nickname?"

"What?"

"I, uh, I- I liked it when you called me a nickname."