Alternatively

From Sea (i.)

                hour 1

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, rolling his head back against the head rest. Sweat beaded on his forehead and rolled down his neck and he wanted to get the fuck on the road, but Grover somehow convinced him that it was just the best idea to bring her along. And she didn't even have the courtesy of being on time.

"Pop the trunk!"

Percy huffed and yanked up the lever, scowling when he caught her hissed, "Jackass."

"This'll be fine," Grover called through the window, smiling a little too big when he passed off one of the bags. "It'll be fun!"

"Sure," his fingers drummed faster. "Nothing like three thousand miles with a she demon in the back seat."

"Perce..."

"Hey, don't give me that look, I already agreed she could come."

"Can't you be a little nicer? Not saying be best friends with her, but just enough so that we don't self combust ten minutes down the road. Be like an Uber driver, ya know?"

"You're working with what you got," Percy wiped his forehead. "I don't like her, she doesn't like me, this is your one favor for the rest of history because if I have to- hey! Hey!"

The blonde whipped her head around to glare at him in the driver's mirror, shot putting her backpack in the trunk with a sharp, "What?"

"Stop throwing your shit around!"

She slammed the trunk, the car shaking and his temper rising.

He fell back in his seat with a violent, "See?" gesture, his friend only sighing and knocking his crutch on the passenger door. Percy shifted and kicked it open, readjusting his legs on his side again. "Go through the window next time."

"I'm still wearing my good pants, so no thanks."

"God, your car is a mess."

Percy just glared through the rearview mirror as the girl slid into the seat behind Grover. "And yet you're here."

"Would it kill you to turn on the air?" Annabeth scowled, whipping her curls in a bun that brushed the car ceiling. "Or do you enjoy living in hell?"

He just barely refrained from calling her 'demon' as he turned the key in the ignition. "AC's out."

"Shocker."

Gritting his teeth, Percy waited for the engine to stop whining before pulling away from the curb and into traffic. He didn't like driving in the city, mainly because it was pointless. There was never any parking, the subway was way easier, and unless you had a towncar and a personal driver, it generally sucked. Ubers and taxis were fine, but he personally liked to chance the homeless guy on the train who probably was just as chill as he'd like to think he was.

Grover reached over to fiddle with the radio, pausing when he cleared his throat.

"Fuse blew out a couple weeks ago," he explained, eyes flickering to the mirror as Annabeth shifted on the cracked leather seat.

She just raised an eyebrow, making a show out of grabbing earbuds from her bag. "What kind of car is this?"

"One you can get out of at any time," he replied, flexing his hands on the steering wheel. "I'm sure you can call up any one of your private jets."

She sneered wordlessly and hunched over to scroll through her phone.

He caught Grover shaking his head, pulling his headphones out and Percy sunk into his seat.