Percy Jackson one shots

Lay Down Your Little Heart For Me

Summary: Featuring an imaginary emoji of an axe, Percy as a barista, and Annabeth as the girl who comes in every day at 8:30 A.M.

Warnings: adult-ish themes, a bit of cursing, is Axe Harmon a warning because I feel like he should be

Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series or any of the characters I adopt from it. The title is from Something Unusual by Wolf Gang, which I also don't own. Furthermore: I don't own Katy Perry, as per evident.

;;;

"Can I get a shaken iced green tea, please?"

Percy jumps where he's standing next to the latte machine, because he knows that order and he knows that voice. It seems to have ingrained itself in his memory, so much that he couldn't erase it even if he wanted to. Which, he doesn't. He leans back a little to see Jennifer taking the order of a tall, tan, blonde girl in a blazer.

He spills steamed milk on himself, and it hurts like fuck, but he has to make an iced drink in a second so... He'll be fine, he decides.

Annabeth Chase has been something of a permanent fixture in Percy's life for, oh, the past six months. She enters the coffee shop every weekday at 8:30 A.M. on the dot and without fail, which just so happens to coincide with Percy's heartbeat picking up the pace.

It's less of a crush and more of a crushing feeling; kind of like an avalanche is raining down on him ninety percent of the time. She's stunning, in this quiet-but-loud way that has Percy thoroughly charmed before he even learns her name. He's positive that she's from another galaxy.

(Or, more likely, Percy has a weakness for blondes who look out of his league. That's definitely it, actually. Plus, she orders green tea. It's so cute that he aches.)

Jennifer passes the cup off to him. "Sha-"

"I know the order," Percy grumbles moodily, and mostly because it's been six months, roughly 183 days, over 4000 hours that he's known about Annabeth's existence. And of all the opportunities presented, he's still too nervous to say more than two words to her.

"One day," he tells himself. Never, his mind corrects.

He manages to call out her order without blushing. He calls it progress.

;;

Percy's favorite thing about Saturdays are the fact that he can breathe a little easier. Make lattes without searing his hands constantly until they're blood red. Stir teas without knocking cups over so much that even Axe snaps at him. The typical things one should be able to do, but Percy fails to when he's anticipating the arrival of a certain blonde.

Annabeth hasn't ever come in on a Saturday or a Sunday, to Percy's knowledge. He smiles easily at the sleep-ridden customers who wander in and sneaks kids free pastries. He doesn't think about blonde curls, except, like... twice. Maybe more.

He's grinning at a young girl who politely asked for a chocolate chip cookie when he hears the door chime. Percy glances at the clock-about a minute until he goes on break-but he decides to help one last customer before Axe gets back from smoking.

"Welcome to the Crucial Coffee Cafe!" he calls out on reflex, kneeling to grab a box of straws from under the counter. "I'll be right with you."

"Take your time," the person answers, and Percy very nearly brains himself on the counter.

He stares at the box of straws in his hands blankly, replaying the voice over and over. It was Annabeth the first time, and it's still Annabeth the 37th time.

"Don't fuck up," he urges himself quietly, pinching the skin above his knee. As an afterthought, he hopes she didn't hear him talking to himself.

"What do people usually get here, as far as meals go?" she asks, making him start.