ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ ʙɪᴛᴇꜱ: ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴄᴀʙᴇᴛʜ/ꜱᴏʟᴀɴɢᴇʟᴏ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ

ɪx ᴡɪʟʟ | ᴛᴡᴏ ᴅᴇᴍɪɢᴏᴅꜱ ᴡᴀʟᴋ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴀ ᴛᴀᴛᴛᴏᴏ ᴘᴀʀʟᴏʀ

"You ready for this?" Will asks when they pull into the parking lot.

Annabeth swore to him earlier that she did lots of research and found just the right artist who even specializes in cover-ups, but it's a tattoo for crying out loud! It's permanent! Will has every right to be nervous.

He shouldn't be so jittery. They each have a tattoo; he knows exactly what Annabeth's getting into, and so does she. Right after the war against Gaea and the giants, a bunch of the older demigods invited him to tag along to a little outing. Will had expected something mundane, like pizza and maybe some screwing around in Central Park. He was a little more than taken aback when the others led him into a tattoo parlor.

"Live a little!" they told him. It wasn't the most sound argument, but not even Will is immune to peer pressure.

He didn't want to look uncool the first time the older campers invited him out. He'd spent all year as the new head counselor, not really in the same 'in crowd' as the more experienced ones like the Stolls and Katie Gardner and Clarisse LaRue.

So little sixteen-year-old Will Solace gave in, even offering to go first. He hesitantly picked out an ornate sun for his chest, while the others cheered him on. It was one of the smartest choices he's ever made, choosing Apollo's symbol. Even though it was impulsive, he doesn't regret the design he chose.

And Will was so proud of himself when he got out of that chair and Annabeth Chase- Annabeth Chase- high-fived him.

It was all a blur from there. He's pretty sure Travis Stoll went next. Will doesn't exactly remember what he or most of the others got; he was so shell-shocked by his sudden boldness.

He does remember Annabeth getting the trident on her thigh, Percy holding her hand the whole time. Everyone thought that was the romantic gesture to end all romantic gestures. It had been, at the moment, but now that they're all grown up and Percy isn't in the picture anymore...

Annabeth picks at a band-aid on her finger and finally responds, "I think so. Yeah, I'm ready. I should've done this a long time ago."

"Can't argue with that logic." The SUV makes a dinging sound when Will unlocks it and gets out. He has to walk the whole way around the car and open the passenger side door for Annabeth since somehow the child lock got stuck on.

The tattoo shop is this place that doesn't have a real name; the sign out front just says "TATTOO" in fiery red lettering. Next door is a Little Caesar's pizza place, and on the other side is a Verizon store. Will wishes he were picking up some Crazy Bread or looking for some cell phone accessories. If something goes wrong, it's all his fault for suggesting she get her tattoo covered up in the first place.

Will opens the door for Annabeth. "After you, M'lady," he says. She rolls her eyes and steps inside. It's every bit as creepy as Will anticipated. It's dark and the ceiling is trimmed with red LED lights. There are skulls and all sorts of creepy designs on the walls. This resembles Sid's bedroom in Toy Story.

He can't believe he's playing hooky for this. What if they need his help at the hospital?

"Hi, how can I help you, folks?" says a woman. She's gorgeous. Her hair is dyed dark purple, and she wears thick-rimmed glasses. The beginning of a sleeve of tattoos peeks out from under her sweater. Will notices the gages in her earlobes and subconsciously reaches for his own ears. That must have hurt. Then again, everything they do here likely hurts, he supposes.

Will likes this first impression, so he decides to set the tone. "My, uh, twin sister made an appointment for a cover-up."

This is what Will and Annabeth do. They never introduce themselves as roommates. It has too many implications. If one of them is getting hit on and they're uncomfortable, they're dating. Too many times has Will had to throw an arm around Annabeth's waist and said, "There you are babe! I was looking all over for you!"