hiraeth

one

(I put a picture!)

~~~

i. Nia

In the midst of brewing coffee, Nia glares at the P on her arm. She hates it.

"what in the fresh hell is this supposed to be?" she demands, bending her wrist at an awkward angle to show her friend.

Enne peers over the counter from her stool and shrugs. "A letter-"

"No shit."

"-of the alphabet," Enne finishes. 🥰

Nia rolls her eyes before watching her friend catch up with what she just saw, her eyes going round.

"That's a soulmate mark!" Enne jumps up, tea sloshing all over the marble. "That's so cool!"

"Shut uppp." Nia drags a hand down her face and reaches for a paper towel. "I don't want everyone to hear. I got it this morning while I was in the bathroom."

"Romantic," remarks Enne, wiping up the mess.

"Disgusting," retorts Nia. "do you think I can get a tattoo removal?" 💀💀

"I mean..."

Enne, Nia acknowledges privately, doesn't understand there's nothing romantic about getting a soulmate mark, especially in New York City where she barely knows anyone.

That is, excluding Percy Jackson, who comes twice a week to Broadway Bagels Café (yes, an actual place in NYC fjdjhd) for literally no apparent reason. The one time Nia asked him about it, he said the place had the best bagels, which was a definite lie. The only thing Nia kind of liked was the scent of pastries. oh, and getting her paycheck. that was pretty much it.

Even weirder was the first time they met, because Nia couldn't shake the feeling of deja vu when he entered. She wasn't sure why his prescence felt familiar, and Enne had said the same.

The two of them may share one brain cell, but even that wasn't normal

Plus, Percy seems kind of--

Wait. Her thoughts stutter to a halt.

Percy Jackson.

Percy.

"P!" Nia yelps, absolutely horrified. The entire café turns their heads, gawking. She reaches out and shakes Enne by the shoulders. Her friend's cup tips over. "Percy!"

Enne surveys the puddle of tea in dismay. "I was gonna drink the rest."

~~~

On the walk home to their apartment, Enne reasons with Nia that there are plenty of people in the universe with the letter P in their name other than Percy.

"Besides," she adds, as they cross the street, "aren't soulmate names written in all uppercase? You don't know your soulmate starts with P. They could have P, like, in the middle of their name or something."

"Yeah, but you know Percy and I have this weird...thing going on," Nia protests, fiddling with her bag.

"you mean that thing where he orders a bagel and sits down and pretends to eat but in reality he's sneaking glances at you from the booth nearby?"

"Exactly. It's lowkey creepy, though."

"Noted. Ever consider he still might not be your soulmate?"

Nia frowns and crosses her arms. "You're really out here attacking me today. It's not like I want him to be."

Enne simply flashes her a thumbs up.

However, Nia feels as though she's missing something. Something crucial. The premonition kicked in ever since she met Enne, who seemed so familiar despite having no previous recollection of her

They're entering their skinny building in the Bronx when she decides to bring it up.

"hey, I was just thinking..." she starts, crossing the tiny entrance. both of them plop down on the sofa, tired. "I mean, do you remember how we got here?"

"In new york?" Enne inquires. Nia nods. "We woke up in the train station and we both don't have any memories before that."

they had asked around the neighborhood closest to the station, and to their bewilderment, people recognized them and confirmed they lived in Apartment 63 down the road. Their keys lay under the doormat. Stacks of money, they discovered, were stashed in their bedrooms under the mattresses. all personal identification documents with their names somehow ended up in their pockets later that day.

Don't you work at Broadway something? their neighbours had asked quizzically.

Her and Enne had been so terrified and confused, they fit themselves into the role to avoid concern. The following week, they discreetly found a walk-in clinic and made an appointment for the sake of their sanity.

Nothing like a little trauma to create a nice friendship 😁🥲

They were, however, mutually disappointed to find out they were not Broadway stars

Enne shivers, recalling the chaos. "The doctors said it must be amnesia. There was probably an accident at the platform, but the police are still looking into it."

Couch squeaking, Nia stands up in frustration and begins to pace. "C'mon, we can't stop questioning how weird this is. It's been months, and we have no answers."

"And...?" prompts Enne slowly. "I feel like there's an 'and' coming."

"And-" Nia halts abruptly, eyes narrowing at the new letter forming on the back of her hand: E. "I think Percy Jackson knows something we don't."

~~~

A/N: im hungry