Part 4 - Piper

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Piper wasn't sure what woke her that morning - the sun streaming through the window, the birds calling in the distance, or Percy's soft breath at her ear. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she raised a hand  - and realised she couldn't move her arm. That was probably about the time she realized Percy was in bed with her. Piper was squashed against his chest, her arms in front of her, and he was hugging her to him, his hands resting lightly on her waist. Stretching, she rolled backwards slightly, and Percy pulled her back. Smiling to herself, she retied her hair, then tucked her head back into the crook of his neck, firmly jamming her freezing feet into the duvet which was hanging off the edge of the bed, and wrapping her arms around his neck, twirling a single strand of his messy black hair around her finger.

The next time Piper woke up she didn't even need to check her watch to know it was lunchtime. Her stomach was rumbling, and she rolled out of Percy's embrace, who was still sleeping peacefully. Grabbing a few of yesterday's rolls of the table, she padded back into her room and sat heavily on the bed, making the springs creak. Percy moaned softly and opened his eyes, smiling at Piper. She handed him a roll, smiling too.

"Morning Pipes."

"Afternoon, actually."

"We slept for that long?"

"Uh-huh."

They chewed their rolls in silence, both staring out the window.

"Do you fancy just staying here today?" Percy asked.

She glanced at him, her heart thundering in her chest. "Sure. Uh - but what would we do?

"I dunno, read, or go paddling in the stream, or explore the woods, or go to the beach we found yesterday." Piper nodded along.

"Let's just hang around here. I wanna see if there are any fish in the stream."

Percy grinned, which she took for a yes. As neither of the made a move, Piper nudged Percy in the arm, and he padded out the door. She changed quickly, combing through her knotted hair and the putting it back in a ponytail. When she was done, she went to the main floor of the villa and tried to see if there was anything  in the stream.

… 

The water in the river beneath their villa was so cold Piper felt like she would scream. It barely reached to her ankles, but already she was freezing, and had only stood there for a minute. Percy laughed as she screwed her eyes shut, flicking some water at her, and she thumped him.

"Damnit, Perce, stop! Don't you have the normal body temperature of, I don't know, anybody else?! How aren't you freezing?"

"Pah! Cold! I am Percy Jackson, God of water, and I do not feel cold."

Piper grinned slyly. "Oh really? So you don't mind if I do this!"

She scooped up a handful of water and threw it at Percy, who stood spluttering, as she shrieked and scrambled out the river. He raced after her, but she flew up the steps and in to his room, locking the door behind her.

"Pipes! Come out! I need a clean shirt and we need to go get some food for dinner."

He heard the lock click and Piper peeked round the door. Seeing he didn't have a jug full of water, she opened the door wide, and he grabbed a shirt from the chest of drawers. As they walked down the path to the food hall, Percy took Piper's hand absentmindedly. It was freezing.

"Pipes?" Percy drew out the 's'.
"Percy?" Piper drew out the 'c'. He laughed.
"I can't believe how beautiful this place is. I mean, like, imagine if you lived here, and got to wake up every morning to the view of the sea."

"I know, right? The skies so clear at night as well, it's insane!"

Percy grinned at her, his face almost splitting in half.

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