(Fem.) Percy meets Spidey

23

"Why does he get to babysit me? He's younger than me!" I threw my hands in the air for emphasis. "It's not like I have anywhere to go."

Mom sighed. "I just-" She moved closer and dropped her voice. "-I don't want you alone. Not after what happened last year. I couldn't deal with it if I lost you." Her hand rested on the side of my face and I ducked my head so she could kiss my cheek. "Be good, and don't leave unless it's an emergency. Peter, you have my number if you need anything."

Mom moved away and let Paul hug me. I squirmed awkwardly, but settled until he eventually released me.  I frowned. Great, it's going to be one of those days isn't it? Once Mom and Paul left, I collapsed onto the couch. Peter sat on the ground. Neither of us said anything and I twirled a strand of hair around my finger, over and over again. I huffed and rolled onto my side. A small whine slipped out, and Peter looked at me with an eyebrow raised.

"You okay?"

I waved my hand before getting up. I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a cup of water. I paced the floor, a mental conversation going on in my head. I didn't even know what it was for, all I knew is I wanted to talk out loud, but not with Peter in the apartment. It makes stimming harder. I mean, it's not exactly easy to explain why you're having a full out conversation with yourself without seeming insane. Gods, I need to talk to Will.  

"Jackson, open the door."

My eyes widened and I did as the voice said. I opened the door, and was immediately pulled into a tight hug. I simply gritted my teeth. "Will, bad day. Let go."

"Sorry!" he said, dropping his arms. "My dad told you might need this stuff, so I decided to drop it off. I got Blackjack some donuts for you too." He handed me a bag. I opened it and looked inside. Some of the stuffed animals I kept at Camp, along with my tangle and other stim toys. I pulled out two containers and looked at Will for an explanation. 

"We made slime during arts and crafts, figures you might want some. The other stuff is salve. I know Nico flaps his hands, and I've seen you do something similar so this should help if your wrists start to hurt." Will rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not a big deal. I make a lot of it for the others, and I never realized no one ever gave you some."

"Thanks." I smiled. "Uh, I need to talk to you later. I'm not sure how much your dad told you. How do you feel about teaching a kid on how to remove bullets?"

"Do I want to know?"

"Peter over there decided it would be a good idea to come to my room to get a bullet removed than going to a hospital like a sensible person."

"Name one time you've been to a hospital."

"Hopefully I've just been in a coma for the last five years of my life," I said. Will rolled his eyes and sat across from Peter with his 'I may not be a registered doctor but you better listen to me or else' face on. For once, it wasn't directed at me or Nico. While he started launching into a lecture on how stupid and dangerous what Peter did was, I walked into the kitchen and got another drink of water. I felt safer about mumbling to myself, knowing Will's voice would easily cover mine. If it was Mom or anyone other than will, I probably wouldn't have, but Nico has similar habits to me so I knew will wouldn't judge, plus he'd talk louder if he thought Peter would overhear.

Reentering the living room, I reclaimed my spot on my couch. I made sure to lay down so one hand could rest on top of Will's head, messing with his hair. I didn't get to do things like this often, and Will's hair is so soft. Part of my brain wondered if Apollo blessed his kids with super-soft hair, another part of me thought that was dumb. I drew my hand back. Then again Dad admitted he blessed me to be even more comfortable in water. 'A small blessing to make up for the curse I laid upon you with your existence,' he had said.

"Percy, you're not bothering me," Will said. "Nico does it all the time."

"He's your boyfriend." I rolled my eyes. "I'm his cousin."

"And I'm the person fully responsible for your health and wellbeing. Unless you want me to transfer you to one of my sisters?" 

"Do you want them to die? You're the only one in that cabin with the calming aura thing."

"Cabin Leader blessing. The gods may be crappy parents, but Lord Apollo does offer us more than most. Nico thinks its because Camp houses the Oracle. It makes sense, but we like to think it's because he's proud of the one who becomes counselor."

"Are you sure though?" I asked. "I don't-"

"I wouldn't tell you to unless I was sure."  At his reassurance, my hand found itself back in his hair. Honestly, the physical contact wasn't the only reason I did it. The calming stuff he can do works without contact, but if someone's touching him, well, it relaxes muscles. Helpful for removing things from muscle tissue, and it makes him popular with the girls in camp. Will continued to talk to Peter about basic self-care as I messed with the blond strands. Another frown settled on my face.

"Dad's a really affectionate person," I said with nothing else for an explanation.

"And?"

"What if  I have another bad day while I'm there? He's- Will, you know how Tyson is? He gets that from Dad. It's not exactly like I can tell him to stop or let go, Mom tries to hug me when I very much do not want to be hugged."

Will sighed. He pulled out a pad of paper and scrawled something out. "Here. If you don't feel up to it, then you don't have to. Doctor's orders. Peter, don't do anything stupid. I would tell Percy that, but it never works."

Time to write thank you notes at 12:40 am

anything you want to see?

See yah