Percy Jackson meets the Avengers [VERY SLOW UPDATES]

Chapter 17 (Unedited)

Percy POV

Coffee with Louisa was a fun, it allowed us to catch up without having to keep an eye out for teachers. Although Louisa had always been closer to Annabeth, mainly because we hadn't really shared any classes alone, I found that we had a lot in common, including a love of animal documentaries. After almost twenty minutes of marine documentary discussion Annabeth was able to gently guide the conversation back towards our most common interest - athletics. Whilst Annabeth and I would be at the track meet next Friday for whatever the coach put us down for, Louisa told us how she was going to be running the 100m sprint, 200m sprint and potentially the 100m sprint relay as well. We spent another hour seamlessly jumping from one topic of conversation to another before Louisa caught sight of the time and had to rush off to pick her little sister up from soccer practice.

"That was nice," I said to Annabeth, as I helped her get up, hoisting both out bags onto my shoulders. "I hadn't really talked to Louisa much before, I just knew her through you, it was surprising to find out that we had so much in common. Should we go grocery shopping for Elsie now before we head to hers?" Making our way out of the shop I waited for Annabeth's response. "I think if we get some basics at least - like some soup, a loaf of bread, some cereal, and like tinned fruit and veg that should be enough to stock the cupboard. And then if we get some fresh stuff we can cook her dinner tonight and leave some leftovers to heat up tomorrow."

What she had said made sense. "If I cook like a stir fry or a risotto or something it shouldn't take too long so we could do some more cleaning of the mess the carers didn't do anything about. You could sit with Elsie and take care of the mess in her room downstairs, and I could vacuum all the rooms. That should tide it over till the new carers your dad is organising come through." Annabeth nodded, starting to swing her way to Elsie's. Thankfully it was only a short walk from the coffee shop to begin with, which shouldn't take much longer with the crutches. 

We popped into a small grocery store two blocks from Elsie's house and stocked up on some canned food, and other basics, before I picked out everything I would need for a chicken stir fry. Even with her crutches Annabeth insisted that I give her a bag to even out the load a little, so reluctantly I slung my gym bag across her shoulders. The remaining few blocks to Elsie's quickly passed, and as we entered we called out greetings to Elsie. 

We dumped our bags out in the conservatory, before heading back into the front room to say a proper hello to Elsie. She was sat up with the remains of the breakfast and lunch Annabeth and I had made her this morning before we had left. Till the new carers were finalised it seemed that Annabeth and I may be adjusting our schedules to ensure that Elsie was looked after. My mom worked a short drive away so it was likely she'd be able to pop in at lunch to heat up some soup for a few days at least. Her new job put her creative writing course to use, as she wrote short stories for children magazines and newspapers. Out of sentimentality she'd still held onto one weekly shift at Sweet on America, and still brought home the blue sweets that I had been practically raised on. Whilst Annabeth and Elsie chatted, I quietly slipped out and headed into the kitchen. Turning on the radio, I switched the volume down low and began to clear out the remaining food from Elsie's cupboards.Anything out of date immediately went into the trash, and after a quick wipe down I put the rest of the food back, along with the new groceries. Leaving out only the stir fry ingredients I worked quickly, wiping down every surface, and rinsing all the utensils I would be using.

By the time that Annabeth hobbled back into the kitchen, having opted for the knee brace over the crutches, I had managed to clean most things, and was just waiting for the chicken to be fully cooked, before I added in anything else.

"She fell asleep whilst we were watching one of her game shows, so I took the opportunity to clear up the trash we missed the first time, and the empty plates from today." We worked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, as Annabeth washed the plates, and I slowly added in the peppers, noodles and the other vegetables that had come in the ready made stir fry packet. "I think I'm gonna call my dad, see where he's got with finding a new care agency. I love Elsie, but there will only be so long we can do this for, whilst keeping our grades up in school, and also having any sort of social life, or contact with friends."