𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍° ! percy jackson

𝐢𝐢.𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢𝐢 - 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞.

Aurora had never had a home.

She'd had places she stayed and lived, sure.

As a toddler, she grew up in a quaint little ranch-like house, the garden vibrant and the paint the palest of blues. Her father had loved it there, as it was far enough from New York City to be rural, but close enough for the busy area to be considered interesting. It had also been the region in which Aurora's parents had met and gotten together, so she was born and bred upstate—well, until she was five.

The daughter of Persephone had never left the Empire state until Percy Jackson arrived unannounced some random summer day, but when he did, the Demeter cabin had become her new living quarters. Cabin 4 was welcoming and oh so familiar to Aurora, whose childhood consisted of gardening and floral arrangements. Plus, the children of Demeter were family, of some sorts. It was as close to a home that Aurora had ever had.

But after she revealed her parentage to those who she considered siblings, she had never felt more displaced, even when she moved back into her old cabin, as Cabin 11 was far too overcrowded to tolerate her presence. So yes, Aurora Miller had never had a true home.

But Percy Jackson had. And that was abundantly clear, in the way that Percy tossed his sweatshirt to the right, missing the hook where it should be hanging by at least two feet, and propped his legs up on the ottoman in front of the worn-in couch that screamed comfort.

Not that Percy was opposed to Aurora hanging around his apartment, but he didn't want her to be bored. With his mom at work, and his home being small and untidy, he feared that Aurora would count down the few hours they had together and bolt out with a breath of relief. However, he couldn't help but preen with pride as Aurora bit into her first slice of true New York style pizza, her hazel eyes glistening with the blazing lights of Broadway and her beam dazzling, as if she was posing to be on one of the billboards.

"We should watch Hamilton," Aurora tried, but Percy simply snorted and shook his head, promising her something better.

"Dude, you don't want to watch Hamilton." He tried to reason, causing her eyebrows to furrow. He didn't have anything against the musical—though he wasn't a huge fan of singing, but the rapping was cool, he guessed—but everytime the Founding Father was mentioned, it was like Luke was sliding the blade of Backbiter through Aurora's neck again, and all Percy could do was watch.

"Yes, I fucking do, Jackson." She argued, but when Percy supplied the price of a singular ticket, that quickly shot down her proposition with dejection.

And that is how Aurora ended up on Percy's living room sofa, her feet curled underneath her knees, watching with wide and joyous eyes as Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago professed their love for each other.

"This is a popcorn moment," Aurora insisted, holding her breath as the two fictional cops went undercover as a couple, subconsciously grabbing Percy's elbow.

He glanced over at her skeptically, rolling his eyes. "Oh my gods, it's not even scary."

"They're literally trying to get together right now, Perce. They're talking about their feelings for each other, my gods. Don't be stupid. That's even more terrifying than facing a drug lord." Aurora shivered, making a face of mock terror.

Percy laughed loudly this time, shoving her shoulder as he passed her the bowl of microwave popped popcorn as her eyes stayed glued to the screen. "What about the Titan Lord?" He joked. Obviously, he joked. He couldn't understand why anyone would shy away from talking about your feelings. Like, yeah, it was embarrassing, but Sally Jackson usually just made him cookies and had him confess over a glass of milk. Percy liked to think he was sort of funny. But Aurora's gaze snapped towards him with enough violence and menace that she could rival Rosa Diaz herself, and he suddenly wanted to take back his words as easily as he could a body of water.