PJO oneshots/ headcannons

29-- Wings

"Whoa, okay. I'm really high up aren't I?"

Percy looked up at her. He had to crane his neck, and even then, the sun blinded his eyes. "Yes, you are. Please don't fall."

Annabeth laughed. "I'm not going to fall."

She was kneeling on a thick tree branch high above him, hands gripping the bark to steady herself. Now, she started to stand up; slowly and carefully. She stretched out her arms to steady herself and stood, somehow balancing herself perfectly on the branch. "See, I'm not going to fall."

Percy couldn't help but admire the way she stood, perfectly poised in those pale pink high-top sneakers. Standing underneath the tree's enormous, sweeping branches, with the sun was to her back, her features stayed hidden in the dark. You couldn't tell that her hair was blonde, or that she had sparkling grey eyes. But the way she held herself, the way her arms bent at the elbows; she looked like a bird. A bird, ready to take to the skies without a second's warning

"And even if I fall," Annabeth said, "You'll be there to catch me, right?"

Percy smiled. "Sure. But- don't fall, okay?"

"Okay."

The wind didn't get the message. It blew a little too hard and a smaller branch snapped across her head, tripping her up a bit. Percy shouted. For a moment, he thought she really would fall, but she grabbed the bark of the tree and steadied herself, going back to a cautious, kneeling position.

"You alright?" He called up.

"Fine." She said tersely.

It took him a minute to decide. "I'm coming up."

"You?" Annabeth called down. "You're scared of heights."

"Yeah-" But he already had his foot on the tree roots.

He didn't look down, mostly because he knew that if he did, he'd be too terrified to keep going.

Annabeth smiled when he finally pulled himself up to her branch.

"Welcome to the world of the immortals." She said.

Percy sat down as close to the trunk of the tree as possible. He looked down, past his yellow shoelaces hanging below him. They were really, really high.

He took in a deep breath.

Annabeth nudged his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Fine."

"You don't look like it."

A bead of sweat ran down his cheek. "I'm okay."

"Here." She took his hand and pulled it up with hers to point out the setting sun. "Look ahead. Don't look down."

He started to breathe easier. "Okay." He whispered. "Okay, this is cool."

They allowed a moment of comfortable silence between them. "It's beautiful up here isn't it?"

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "Is that why you come here?"

"I guess so. It feels eternal." Her voice was quiet. "I wish I had wings. Then I could fly. Away from, everything down there."

He looked at her. She was steely staring ahead, looking right at home in this picturesque kingdom.

"What's down there?"

She looked at him. "People. People with their stupid words."

"They've been saying things again?"

She turned away again. "Yeah. Stupid things. It doesn't matter."

"Stupid things like what?" He asked.