Stucco hearts

Chapter 2

His first thought about his soulmate is that she's kinda hot.

She has this curly blond hair that makes Percy think about fairytale princesses, and it's long and he wonders if the curls at the end would spring if he tugged on them. She has eyes that seem to move even when they're not actually moving. The colors shift and swirl as her pupils move up and down, taking in Percy's outfit. A small crease appears between her eyebrows when she sees the suit that Percy is wearing, and he immediately straightens up, awkward in her scrutiny.

As his soulmate stares at him, Percy fidgets uncomfortably, wondering what he usually does with his hands. Does he let them hang, normally? Does he cross his arms? Instead of grasping at a solution that does not seem like it's about to come to him, Percy decides to stare at his timer.

ANNABETH CHASE.

Annabeth Chase is beautiful. Too beautiful for him, probably, but she's going to have to reconcile herself to that if they're going to grow old together. Which they are. Because they're soulmates.

Shit.

This is fucking insane. He had been going to get coffee. That's it. He had wanted to go grab some coffee for himself and Frank, and he had been about to go to his favorite coffeeshop when he'd realized that there was construction going on. So, instead of braving the loud noises, he had turned to go to the coffeeshop to the left of his office, not the right.

And now he has a soulmate.

Percy had always thought that the first time he met his soulmate, she would smile shyly at him and stare at him and they would click immediately. Maybe shake hands, and feel some sort of spark as their fingers touched for the first time.

Meeting Annabeth isn't going quite like that. She's alternating between glaring at him and glaring at her timer. She doesn't seem very pleased with either of them. Percy actually feels bad for his soulmate's timer, because she's known the timer for longer than she's known Percy and he's not taking her anger very personally.

Well. Not too personally.

Annabeth still hasn't said anything, so Percy decides that it's up to him. She does seem a bit shocked, after all.

"So," he says, trying to keep his voice conversational even though his hands are shaking and his knees feel weak. "Did I hit my head, or did three months go by unusually fast?"

Annabeth narrows her eyes and cocks her head to the side slowly. She looks a bit dangerous. Percy has never been into dangerous girls-- he always pictured himself ending up with someone who likes snuggling. What if Annabeth doesn't like snuggling? Wait, what if Percy doesn't like snuggling either? He's never had someone to snuggle with, to be fair. What's the point of emotionally investing in someone who isn't your soulmate?

"I mean, had I known I was going to meet you today, I would have worn a nicer blazer," Percy jokes, trying again. Annabeth's face doesn't change.

Okay, he'd at least wanted a soulmate who would laugh at his jokes. He can't even have that? No, maybe he's just approaching it from the wrong direction. Maybe he needs to try puns. Maybe Annabeth Chase is a pun girl.

"Well, even though it's a bit early, I guess it's about time we met."

Nailed it.

No wait. No, no, no. That's a terrible pun. That's the worst pun he's ever made. Is there a delete button for bad puns? Shit, she's going to think that he makes bad puns like this all of the time. He usually makes bad puns of way better quality. His mom laughs at most of them, so they have to be good, right?

"What did you do?"

When she speaks, her voice is slightly hoarse. It's quiet, but Percy can pick it up. He's been waiting to hear her voice for twenty-two years.