𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒, apollo

𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐱. you may not like it

WHEN I OPEN MY eyes, the familiar feeling beneath me tells me where I am. Because my bed back at Camp Half-Blood is not this comfortable. I sit up, and a heat wave meets my skin. I roll my eyes, knowing exactly why.

As I walk past the walls I've come to recognize, a grin forms on my lips when Desri hops out from a corner, clearly trying to startle me. I laugh softly, bending down to pet the fox. We step outside and her bright orange fur begins to fade to white, melting in the sunlight. I've noticed that the more light she absorbs, the whiter her fur becomes, like she's soaking up the sun itself.

She didn't even have a name until recently. Apollo finally named her after a week of me bugging him about it. It was just ridiculous how the little creature remained nameless for months. After a while, he had finally relented calling her Desri. It probably had some meaning, I just didn't bother asking about it. It probably was something deep or poetic, but it sounded pretty, so I didn't really care.

As usual, I find Apollo leaning against a tree — a laurel one, I think — staring at the city below. I can't help but glance at the plant, knowing the story behind one of them, Daphne.

My eyes slowly drift from the tree to the tall figure beside it. The golden sunlight filters through the branches, casting a warm glow over him. I shake my head, "So, who's responsible for this heatwave, your father or me?"

He sighs, running his hand through his golden hair. "I don't know, my darling chaos," He says with a smirk on his face that I can hear, "What do you think?"

I roll my eyes, ignoring how much I like this better than 'pet'. "I think you need to stop being like this, or you'll turn into him."

Zeus. After everything I had experienced last summer, I've come to hate the god. There wasn't a once of respect you could pull out from me for him.

And during one sunset, Apollo confessed to me that his worst fear was to become his father.

So, I jokingly swore to him, that I won't let that fear come true.

He finally turns to face me, his eyes meeting mine with that look I have been seeing a lot recently — sharp, like he's watching me more closely than before. "And have you despise me too?" He asks, the hint of amusement in his voice crossing with something else underneath. "I quite like your company, you know."

My heart skips once. Just once. I flash him a teasing smile. "But...?"

He clicks his tongue, rolling his eyes. "But," He says, and I can already feel an argument building between us. There's something in the way he says the word — low, measured, it's his tell. I already know that I'm not gonna like what comes out of his mouth next. "I thought we had a deal about you using your powers beyond a limit."

I don't skip a beat to reply, "And I thought we agreed that you can't dictate my life. You only get to give me advice, Solar." My tone is sharp, but the way his eyes linger on me reminds me that if I were anyone else, he wouldn't have brushed the attitude off.

He opens his mouth to retort, but I shoot him a look that makes him pause. Instead, his voice drops softer, "You may not like it, Bridget, but I actually care about your bloody health."

Something shifts in the air, and for a brief moment, I can't tell if it's the heat or something else altogether that makes my skin prickle. I roll my eyes to cover it, "Since when are you British?" The tension breaks as his mouth falls open in slight astonishment, and a laugh escapes my lips, before another one, and one more.

Apollo's lips form into a grin, and for a moment, it's just us — no teasing, no powers, no gods or demigods. Just this moment.

But I have a feeling that it will be the last one I'll remember with a smile in a good while.