Percabeth One-Shots

Dance Dance Revolution

The first thing Percy noticed as he stepped into the stuffy 90s style arcade was the Dance Dance Revolution machine in the far left corner of the room. He was half-expecting a fifty foot line wrapping around the room because that's always been the case every time he's been there. However, today, the machine was lonely. Not to brag, but Percy used to be pretty good at the game, even had his name on the high score list when he was younger. Now? Well, Percy was an uncoordinated heap of a man that could trip over an ant on the sidewalk.

Percy obviously had to play.

He strolled over to the counter to buy a game card, trying to casually blend in with the large crowd of 10 year olds and their moms. As he stood in line, he did a quick sweep of the room. It was as if the place was protected from the effects of time. Everything was as if Percy was still an eight year old boy whose only problem was figuring out the ice cream truck's route. He saw the spot where he and his friend Nico would play a not-so-quick game of Mythomagic. He found the carpet stain where his buddy Frank accidentally dropped his nachos when he saw Hazel for the first time. Even the smell was the same: body odor and hot dogs. Once he got to the front of the line and placed $10 on the card, the cashier dude narrowed his eyes and slowly slid him the card as if to say, "You're not four feet tall; what are you doing here"

Percy would like to say that he nonchalantly drifted over to the game, but he practically twirled all the way there, singing "You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen". The machine had two sets of dance pads that allowed for a two player battle, single player, or a large one player field. LED lights danced brightly on either side while electronic music drummed out of the speakers. Percy stepped onto the dance platform and promptly swiped his card. Just like the wallpaper, the song list hadn't changed. He decided he really didn't care which song it was as long as it wasn't the very last one. As a kid, Percy could never complete it as his legs were much too small to keep up with the song's tempo. Instead, the song was chosen at random. The arrows came at a normal pace, but his movements were slow and tired. He realized just how long he'd been out of practice. Percy's feet felt like lead and he probably looked like a sumo wrestler playing hop scotch. A thousand missed steps later, he finally found his rhythm. A grin formed on his face as his footing quickened. Just as he was about to select his next song, the air next to him shifted and suddenly there was a girl on the dance platform. She was tall and strong, with clever eyes and a certain air of brilliance. She didn't even spare Percy a glance.

"Hey, wait, what are you-"

The girl wordlessly swiped her card against the reader and, before Percy could even protest, chose a song on a harder difficulty level. Percy wasn't ready; he could barely play the basic setting without tripping. He wished he had the nerve to walk away, but he couldn't. He's not usually one for competitions, but the girl gave off that don't-talk-to me-you-peasant-vibe and he felt like he had something to prove to this stranger. The song quickly started and its tempo was three times faster than the last one. Percy swung out his left foot but his shoelace was caught underneath his right. Gravity did its job and he fell down with a hard thud, getting a giggle from the girl as he sprang back up. Percy glanced at her score and she was hitting every note with perfects. Who does this girl think she is? You can't just join the game without asking-oh god, don't look like an idiot again. Left, right, up, up, down, DAMMIT!

The girl was looking at him, and still getting perfects. Was she some sort of machine? An android? That was the only logical explanation, really.

Percy blinked at her. Her blonde hair flowed down in waves over her shoulder and she was, if Percy's eyes weren't as bad as his dance skills, the same age as him. His mind finally registered what she said. "I, uh- shut up."

"Good one. Remind me to write that down." Her eyes darted back to the screen.

Percy huffed. He used to be good at this game. Why was he so bad now? He wasn't scared of this scrub. Yeah, okay, maybe he was. It wasn't his fault. She had these stormy grey eyes that seemed to analyze his insides and dig through his soul. Any sane person would quiver in her presence. He focused on the arrows and ignored everything else, especially the totally unattractive way her tongue peeked out as she concentrated. Completely not adorable. He tried to time his steps a little more carefully. His feet started to match the cues and, within a few seconds, he was scoring greats. Not perfect, but close. His breathing was heavy and his lungs burned, but he didn't care. Soon, his score was only a few dozen behind the girl's.