𝐂œ𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬é𝐬 [Percy Jackson]

145

Then he panicked and pushed Percy into the water.

Percy broke the surface a moment later, completely dry. "What the hell was that for?" He cried as he splashed Hadrian.

Hadrian just responded by pushing him underwater again. It's not like Percy was at risk of drowning. But then hands wrapped around his bare waist and pulled him down into the water.

"Kira was right, you are a dick"

Hadrian wanted to make a you are what you eat joke, but he could only flip Percy off underwater.

The light from the ship only illuminated around ten feet of water, everything below that and outside their bubble of light was pitch black. If Percy wasn't there, he would have been terrified. But since Percy's fingers danced on his skin and Percy looked like a statue, he let himself relax.

It was sort of nice to be underwater, to not have to worry about filling the silence, just watching Percy try to communicate with the fishes and do increasingly idiotic tricks just so Hadrian would laugh.

He wanted to live in that moment. Being underwater was always so peaceful, Hadrian was jealous of Percy's powers. Everything always felt much more surreal, all sounds softer and muted, the lights all tinged blue and reality was hazy.

Hadrian motioned for the surface, hoping Percy understood that he was running out of air. But Percy just beckoned him closer.

"I forgot you can't breathe underwater" he said as a bubble formed, engulfing them. Hadrian was suddenly colder inside the air bubble somehow. He'd gotten used to the cold water, but the bubble was worse. He took a deep breath of air.

"How do you forget people can't breathe underwater?"

"I've always been able to do it," Percy shrugged. He seemed colder now too. In the water, it didn't seem to bother him at all, but now he was shivering.

Hadrian moved ahead towards him. "Body heat" he mumbled, much too busy looking at Percy's shoulder and arm.

The light fractured through the water, turning their little bubble haven into a disco ball.

"Bet you can't hold your breath longer than me— without powers" Hadrian wrapped his arms around him to conserve the warmth.

"Prepare to lose," Percy grinned back. "On the count of three I'll make the bubble vanish. One, two, three—"

The bubble burst and they were plunged into cold water again.

Hadrian had taken a deep breath, he floated next to Percy, watching his hair move ridiculously in the water. They were a few feet deep, not too much if they had to go back up for air, but low enough that Hadrian would have swim upwards.

He wasn't sure how much time passed, how long they were there. Truthfully, he didn't trust Percy to not use his powers.

But Percy was holding his breath diligently, watching his every move.

Gods of Olympus. He'd come up with the plan just now inside the bubble. There was no way he would win against a son of Poseidon, but cheating? That he could do.

Just as Percy raised his eyebrows in challenge, Hadrian waded closer to him under the water. He could feel himself slowly run out of air. It was now or never.

Percy's eyes narrowed in confusion. What's up? He seemed to ask.

Hadrian didn't wait to answer. He cupped Percy's jaw and kissed him.

An underwater kiss was quite awkward, but not as much as Hadrian was expecting. Percy's lips felt the same as they had in the underworld, so fucking sweet. His skin was cold to the touch, Hadrian could feel his sharp jawline under his hand, he could feel the warmth of his lips, the soft sigh that escaped as bubbles.

For a moment, Percy was so stunned, he didn't move at all. Hadrian thought he'd misjudged the situation completely.

And then he was moving like a man on a mission. He kissed Hadrian back like he wanted to bruise him, he was pushing him— back, back, back, Hadrian let him. Percy mumbled something but it only came out as bubbles. Hadrian slid his hand down from Percy's jaw, moving down his neck, shoulders, chest, to his waist, his fingers digging in like griffin claws, refusing to ever let go.

Percy's waist was everything he'd ever dreamed of and more, and gods he had dreamed a lot. Kissing Percy in general was better than anything he could imagine, the soft fluttering of his heart under Hadrian's fingers, the way his touch made Hadrian a believer in everything holy. If kissing Jason was electricity, kissing Percy was a whole damn 4th of July fireworks display inside him.

More, more, more, he could drown here and he wouldn't care.

He pulled Percy closer, both hands on his waist. Percy's hands were all over him, at the back of his neck, cupping his jaw, then moving down, digging into his collar bones, holding Hadrian's arms, making him feel like nothing he'd ever felt before.

Then they were shooting through the water like they were caught in a geyser.

Up.. up.. up... they broke the surface of the water and flailed through the air before landing harshly on the deck.

Percy just groaned in pain, both of them drenched, half the deck was sprayed in water too, but Percy couldn't give a lesser shit.

"Sorry, I got excited—"

Hadrian scrambled over to him, not wasting another second. He looked like a dehydrated man gone mad searching for water. Now this was a much better use of their time than being angry and jealous. Hadrian looked beautiful, framed by the moonlight behind him, like a halo.

Percy could feel the wooden deck against his bare back, the cool night wind making him shiver, he could feel his heart beating so fast he felt like he should probably get it checked. Hadrian hovered on top of him and it felt like the gods themselves had granted him a divine favor.

"So you were jealous" Percy had a shit eating grin on his face, the smug one he knew Hadrian wouldn't be able to resist kissing. Hadrian's hair was completely light pink now, like the cotton candy Percy used to love to eat at the fair. He just paused for a second, letting his eyes capture the scene. Percy wasn't very self conscious, but he couldn't help biting his lip, what if Hadrian changed his mind?

"Shut up" Hadrian mumbled as he bridged the gap.

He was all too aware of the fact that they were both barely wearing any clothes and the ones they were wearing were wet— at least Hadrian's shorts were. Water dripped off and fell onto Percy, but the boy didn't complain.

Every single nerve ending Percy had, felt like it was on fire, the entire world stopped, but it also sped up.

Hadrian was warm and familiar. His lips tasted exactly like what Percy imagined they would. Late at night he would think back to when his lips grazed his neck, replaying that scene in his head. Well, Percy didn't have to rely on day old memories anymore.

Hadrian moved like he'd had this on his mind for a long time, like Percy had just given him confirmation to do what he'd wanted for weeks.

"Mon cœur" With great self control, Percy pushed Hadrian, "You're wet— and no don't make a dirty joke. You'll catch a cold"

"Totally worth it" Hadrian grabbed Percy's face and his words died in his throat.

But there was one way he could think of getting Hadrian to dry himself and to get him to take care of himself.

"Your bed is really warm" Hadrian flushed a beautiful red and Percy bit back a laugh. "Probably way more comfortable there"

Hadrian got to his feet and offered Percy a hand, "Screw night watch" He agreed.

"Actually, Annabeth will kill us if we leave the ship unguarded, so I'll tell her to assign someone else" Percy grabbed his wrist and led him down.

He didn't miss the way Hadrian's expression fell at the mention of Annabeth.