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'Definitely not the most convenient work setting,' Annabeth admits to herself, pushing her face into the comforter for a breath. She keeps it there for a moment longer, inhaling the familiar smell on the sheets before lifting her head to refocus on the computer screen. Brief reprieve over.
She's laid out on her stomach across the width of the bed, tapping away at a design program. Would she be more productive at a desk or a kitchen table? Oh. For sure. But, she can't bring herself to make that sort of commitment to academic achievement. Not at this point, in the middle of spring term. And this assignment... the same assignment she's been battling with for actual days, it represents her least favorite part of her major program: toiling with software that uses unfamiliar coding languages. But she's pulled through and made progress, right here on the bed, and there's something to be said for convincing your mind that you aren't really working because your body is relaxed.
Then she hears the bedroom door swing open, and her swinging feet cross at the ankles as she looks up from the screen to see Percy entering his room.
His housemates had already told him she was in here, but actually seeing her feels like coming home. Annabeth in his bed, wearing his clothes, after a day of classes; it's pretty much the best case scenario of his life as it currently stands. He sits down by the pillows, pulling his sweater off with a grunt. It's dropped somewhere behind him, but that doesn't matter; what matters is Annabeth, shutting her laptop and her notebook and moving them to the side before rolling from her stomach to maneuver up the bed, on her hands and knees, closer to him.
"You done?" he asks. She shakes her head no, hand going to his shoulder for balance. She studies him as she brings herself closer to his side, mattress dipping beneath her knees. There's something in her face, he can't figure it out. Maybe a shyness. He reached for her.
"You're blushing Annabeth." His arm wraps around her waist; he pulls her into him. "Why are you blushing Wise Girl?" She remains focused on her task, one knee sinking into the mattress by his hip while she swings her other leg over his lap to straddle him.
"I'm thinking about something I found today. In my notebook." Her hands go to the sides of his neck.
"What?" His confusion is genuine.
"I was getting ready to write out a to-do list for tomorrow. Imagine my surprise when I turned the page and found someone had already left a note."
His lost frown morphs into wide-eyed surprise, then a rueful grin as understanding dawns. He had commandeered her notebook for a bit, not so long after she had purchased it for a new semester. That was more than half a year ago, during that weird period of jittery anticipation as he prepared to return to school after his year off. What's rueful turned playful as he teasingly asks, "What did it say?"
She arches her brow. "It said, 'you're doing amazing sweetie.'"
His forehead knocks against her breastbone as he leans into her and laughs. "An accurate assessment."
"Right." Annabeth combs her hands through his dark, wavy hair. She pulls at the hair at the top of his head where it's longest, holding it out so she could mentally measure its length and absently estimate the months between now and his most recent haircut. The strands slide from between her fingers, rejoining their silky, black counterparts as she slowly pulls her hand away. "It was really something," she breaks the quiet between them.
"Hmm."
"And you know me, I had to flip through the rest of the pages to see what else the mystery man had written."
"How'd you know it was a man?"
"Handwriting was atrocious."
He tips his head back to look up at her.
"He was probably in a rush," Percy offers, boyish grin adding happy lines to his face. "He'll do better next time." He watches her eyes crinkle and her mouth purse as she fights her own smile. "Well?" He squeezes her thigh lightly. "What else did you find?"
"Oh, well, there really was a lot, maybe up to ten of these little notes, maybe more."
"Your favorites?"
She shrugs. "I don't know if I could choose. They were all rather lovely and flattering." She looks up at the ceiling as she tries to recall. "One of them said 'you can do absolutely anything.' I liked that one." She brings her hand from his shoulder to cup his cheek. "I needed that one today." His hands slide up and down her back in a comforting way while her thumb presses against his mouth in a kiss of a touch. "Although, I'm pretty sure absolutely was missing an e."
He rolls his eyes.
"Then there was one about my breasts. Something like, 'they're the best in the west.'"
"'Your ass and your breasts are totally the best, from the rivers east to the mountains west,'" he corrects. A beat. "Or something like that. Probably."
His grin is troublesome. And contagious. She taps her thumb against his lower lip. "Something like that."
"This guy knows his stuff." His hands have been making a slow journey down her back and in this moment, they finally settle on their destination, landing just beneath the hem of the shirt she was wearing to grip her upper thighs. "What other remarkable insights did this wise and perceptive fellow share?"
She tangles both hands in the hair at his nape. "I'll tell you my favorite one. For real."
"Tell me."
"Με κάνεις ευτυχισµένη" she whispers. His expression turns a little bashful, lower lip trapped between his teeth.
"You make me happy," he translates. His smile widens when he tagged on, "You do. Make me really happy."
"Με κάνεις ευτυχισµένο" she responds in kind. She kisses him. Then repeats the words, spoken in the language that sang them into existence, against his mouth. And repeats it again and again, between kisses, as they fall into the mattress.
