The Sea's Warrior (Fem Percy x YJ) [REWRITE]

42

Triton's room was a mess of papers, maps, and glowing plants. The algae climbed up the wall, long strands billowing in the current. It was unorganized and messy, and painfully similar to my room at home. 

The sharp points of a shell comb dragged across my scalp. I tilted my head into it, and Triton paused long enough for me to lean forward again. It wasn't hard for him to get me to cooperate. Dad was in a council meeting, and I looked like I just rode in on a pegasus. I had nothing better to do. 

"You know--ow!--I can do this myself, right?"

"It's easier to practice on you than it is on my mother. Athena keeps making fun of me for messing up her hair."

"She has you do her hair?"

"Has me, I break into her place and force her to let me do it because she'll have to cut it off again otherwise, same difference." He waved the comb. "Now sit still, so I don't tie a knot."

"I like my hair."

"Yeah, it's very pretty, so sit fucking still." 

-----------------

"Triton, you need to--" Dad blinked, then sighed. "You should've told me you already got her." He picked his way through the room with practiced ease-- A map moved to Triton's dresser--and with the casual use of powers. Worn, weathered hands cupped my elbows. He lifted me. "You could make this easier."

"I can walk," I said, looking at my feet as he carried me out the door. They brushed the floor like a slack-stringed puppet's. "That would make things easier."

"With the amount you've been healing things lately, I'm beginning to think you can't."

"Alfred really likes waxing the floor."

Dad hummed and let me down. I fell into step beside him, basking in the softness of his presence. Being beside a god wasn't an easily describable experience. It was warm and comforting and cold and hair-raising. Dad usually fell on the first end of that, but the undercurrents of danger lurked. 

"I want you to stay until morning." He stopped outside a deep mahogany door. Gilded patterns were etched into its surface. "It's far too late for you to go somewhere, and you're far too exhausted to use your powers." 

"I'm fine."

Dad placed his hand on my shoulder. I leaned into the touch, greedy, before turning and hugging him. Anything in turn was unexpected, so it was a welcome surprise when I felt his hand at the back of my head. "What's wrong?" he asked. 

"Mm, nothin'." Liar. "Just wanted to hug you." 

"There's something." He rubbed the back of my neck. I shuddered and sagged against him. It felt good, even if his fingers weren't soft like Mom's. If he'd stopped and asked me again, I would've given him what he wanted. He didn't stop, not even as he hoisted me up and carried me into the room. I should've protested. I should've when he picked me up, and I should've when he sat and held me.

(Was it wrong for me to want the safety?)

My arms around his neck, I kissed his cheek. It happened without thought and without care, with only the stupid affection that existed despite everything. He was my father, and I was his daughter. It was natural and right, and at the same time so wrong.

He's a god. And I'm a demigod. He's everything, and I'm nothing, and it wasn't the first time I'd forgotten my place. There---There had to be a cut off point, where he'd go through with what he almost did once before. That was the last time I'd done something this bad, and the threat of being turned to sea water still hung over my head. Maybe it shouldn't have, since he'd said it was good he looked, but how much patience could he have? I choked out an apology. It wouldn't help things, apologies didn't, unless you groveled. Things never---Things never changed with them. My nails dug into my skin. 

It would be the second time I drew blood today. 

"Breathe." Dad brushed his fingers across my cheek. "Of all the things you've ever done, child mine, this is far from one that would upset me," he murmured. A soft kiss to my temple, an arm pulling me closer. I savored those, because they couldn't last. Shallow breaths turned deep; it was far too easy to relax against him. 

When I'd fallen close to sleep, he prodded me up and towards the bathroom, handing me a set of pajamas. Blearily, I got ready for bed. By the time I made it back into the bedroom proper, I was stumbling over my own feet. My hip rammed into the doorframe. 

Dad chuckled. I grumbled until he cupped my face and kissed my forehead. "Get some sleep."

"Love you." Face warm, I scrubbed at my eyes. I didn't mean to say--- He snatched my wrist. The grip was tight, almost painful with the way his fingers dug in. "What're you..." My words trailed off, replaced with the rapid thrum of my heart. No. No. 

The look on his face made me want to burrow under the covers. My left arm burned as he trailed his fingers over the scars. They moved over the thin silvery lines crisscrossing the brand, failed attempts at ruining it. A bigger one where I'd slipped, curving around the side and ending near my wrist. The ones with beaded scabs, then one that reopened. 

 "Little one," he breathed. 

"I-I know it-- it's stupid. I'm stupid. It's stupid and--" 

"Stop." His words weren't a request. I snapped my mouth shut. Weight pressed down on my shoulders, his large hands pushing me back into my skin and squeezing with enough force to make my bones ache. He sighed, and the death grip loosened. "Calling yourself names isn't going to help anything." Silence. "My door-- My home is always open to you."

"I know."  Then, as an afterthought. "Thank you."

If this isn't clear aka if ive forgotten to mention it which i probably have, this story is beginning its deviation from the original version (for instance this was originally chapter 45. so ive cut some chapters out) which is why these aren't as long as some of the others (not to mention all the things I cut out that were just bad)

Also not me throwing in the way my mom used to get me to sleep as a baby lol (the rubbing the back of the neck thing. It still kinda  works tbh)

Anyway

See yah