Of Fuzzy Socks and Hot Cocoa

When Apollo told Percy that he essentially hibernates when winter rolls around, he thought Apollo had been joking...

Now, in this predicament, he had clearly been wrong to laugh off Apollo when he told Percy about the little titbit about what he does during the winters. Stuck far from home, in Apollo's cosy cabin tucked away in the mountains of Iceland.

--

The getaway after the chaos that was the festive season with his family and cabin seven had been Apollo's idea, sprung onto him the morning after all the festivities of Winter Solstice, Christmas and Saturnalia had been over. After the whirlwind of hastily packed bags, and triple-checking that everyone who would be concerned knew where he was, Apollo had flashed them to Iceland, to a little clearing by a forest.

--

It had been beautiful when the duo had first arrived there with the help of a little godly magic since Percy couldn't exactly travel in the sky in a plane. The comfortable silence was a welcomed change from the shouting, delirious laughter, and chaotic celebrations. Well, he could technically, but he would rather not risk Zeus being in a bad mood and deciding that he wanted to rescind the go-ahead for Percy to fly in planes.

The northern lights at night had been a sight to behold, painted across the night sky, with the stars speckled throughout. The glass window on the ceiling of the cabin had continued to provide a view of the sky even as he and Apollo snuggled together in bed, under the blanket.

The cosy atmosphere lulling Apollo to sleep, while Percy continued to stare into the night sky, for once awake while Apollo slept. Usually, it was the other way around, Percy drifting off while Apollo laid beside him, content to just stay in the presence of the demigod, even as the demigod slept. Casting his essence out to take care of some of his duties while he lay in bed with his beloved.--When he woke up next, he woke with a start. He didn't remember drifting off last night, it felt like it had just been night just moments before the sun has risen again. He checked his watch, startled to find it was almost noon by the time he had woken up. Looking to his side, he sees Apollo still asleep, dead to the world that he was.

Which would have made him question just how the sun was in the sky a few months ago while Apollo was still in bed. Except that he had met the other sun gods of the different pantheons when Apollo had forgotten to attend the meeting while they were on a date. The sun gods of the other Pantheons had decided to crash their date to remind Apollo about their meeting, and they had ended up postponing the meeting to mess with them.

He got up, deciding to make some coffee before waking Apollo up, to return the little favour that Apollo does for him every morning, waking him up with coffee at the ready in his hand.

Padding out of the bedroom, he cringes at the temperature outside of the bedroom, suddenly thankful for his fuzzy socks. The difference was night and day, Apollo shines as a heater in the cold he mused as he enters the kitchen.

It's in the kitchen when he changes his mind and starts to take out food from the fridge to make some breakfast for himself and Apollo.

When he returned to the room, Plates and coffee mugs carried around on a floating tray of water, Apollo had shifted to burrow under the blankets. Golden hair peeking out from under the warm blankets.

He sets the food down on the nightstand as he crawls back into bed, wiggling under Apollo's arm to take the place of his pillow that Apollo had taken to desperately hugging the pillow Percy had left vacant when he left to prepare food.

Gentle nudging quickly transitioned to shaking him violently until Apollo releases Percy to turn to the other side of the bed, ignoring him to continue sleeping.

"C'mon, it's already 12.30. Time to get up Apollo" Percy tells him while trying to sit him up."No! I'm hibernating" came a whine, muffled by the pillow Apollo had taken with him.

"What?! Did you bring me on this trip to sleep it away? And you're not even an animal!" Percy exclaims, still shaking Apollo. His expression is fond even as he rolls his eyes, trying to wake his stubborn sun.

"I could be!" came the reply, muffled still by the pillow. And with a pop, Apollo transforms into a bear cub, burrowing further under the covers. His golden-brown ears, twitching under the blanket.

"Oh come on..." Percy mutters as he sits on his legs, contemplating what he could do. Before an idea hits him, he pulls the covers off and grabs Apollo the bear; exactly like he would with Estelle. This is to say, like how one would with a toddler and brings the bear cub out.

He leaves the bedroom, this time without the temperature difference since he was bringing his personal heater along this time. Opening the cabin door and dumping the golden bear into the snow, after verifying there wasn't anything that could hurt his bear under the snow.

A tiny sneeze came from Apollo, as his eyes finally opened to look at Percy. A little clump of snow stuck to his snout, Percy, overwhelmed by his sudden desire to boop Apollo's bear snout, does so.

"Boop," He goes before laughing at Apollo going cross-eyed to look at his snout.

A flash of light later, Apollo the bear is gone, with Apollo's usual form taking its place. A pout on his lips, not too dissimilar to how Percy himself would pout at Apollo when Apollo woke him up after he had returned from raising the sun.

Percy only smiles at Apollo, mimicking Apollo's bright grin before a snowball hits him in the face.The grin sharpens, as the snowball fight begins.--When the pair finally returned to the cabin, the food has long gone cold. Snow stuck to their clothes and hair, but neither was too affected by the cold. Divinity - or partial divinity stemming from the god of the seas - comes in handy for them to shake off the cold.

With a thought, the snow dissipated, and evaporated into the air. Percy grins at Apollo when a mumbled "show off" is heard. Apollo returns the grin with his soft smile, expression fond.--That evening the duo cuddled in front of the fireplace together, Apollo reading aloud one of the books they had brought with them. Hot cocoa by the side, as they shared the blanket. Fire crackling happily, with nothing nearby but each other.

The ambience was cosy, peaceful while the low rumble of Apollo's words lulled Percy off to sleep.--Between chapters, Apollo looks down at the cuddled-up demigod in his lap since he hasn't moved in a while. Even closing the book and setting it aside hadn't roused him.

Finding him asleep, sandwiched between Apollo and the blanket and thus more than warm enough to be lulled to sleep. The usual expression of worry and stress is replaced instead by a relaxed one. A small patch of drool was visible under his mouth on Apollo's sweater, which made Apollo snort when he saw it. The glow of the fire illuminated his features in all the right areas, highlighting his handsome features, and making Apollo want to capture this serene moment. To immortalise it, to keep it, even once his beloved slips from his grasp when their time runs out. "This little vacation was a good idea." was the last thing Apollo thought as his eyes slipped closed.

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A/N

Hi! I have been trying something new recently. If you like this new development, do let me know!