A Game of Gods and Grit (PJO/MCU Crossover)

Chapter Two

"No, that's not how you pronounce that," Percy shook his head, pointing at a piece of paper he'd written a few Ancient Greek sentences on for Loki to read aloud and then translate. Several months had passed, and Percy's hair had grown to the point where he had to tie it back into a bun that worked extremely well for him. He kept complaining about it, and Loki had to resist the urge to tell him it looked great. He didn't want to seem pushy. "Ancient Greek is a tonal language. That means you don't stress the sound on an accent mark, you heighten your pitch. Try that and you'll be flawless."

"Oh, okay," Loki squinted at the paper before reading it aloud but, rather than stressing certain words, he heightened his pitch on them. When he looked up, Percy was smiling. Genuinely smiling- a rare sight. Loki smiled back. "Did I pronounce that right?"

"Téleios."

"Perfectly," Loki translated immediately.

"That's right," Percy confirmed. He put the palm of his hand up to face Loki, still smiling.

"What are you doing?" He asked, confused at the gesture. Percy furrowed his eyebrows, losing his smile.

"I'm trying to give you a high five," he said. "You don't do those here?"

"Er, no," Loki shook his head.

"Oh. Well, it's sort of like clapping, except it's collaborative," Percy explained, using his other hand to take Loki's, which sent a shockwave through him, his heart picking up to an unusually fast rate. "Now you take your palm and hit it against mine," he let go of Loki's hand in front of the one that had been up this whole time. Percy smiled again. "Try it."

So Loki did. It created a small clap sound from the conflict.

"Back home on Midgard, we do it to congratulate, greet someone or celebrate something. Or just because we feel like it."

"Humans are so odd."

Percy paused for a moment, looking at Loki with a small smile, as though he knew something he didn't. "Yeah. We know."

*

Percy had unintentionally fallen asleep on Loki's shoulder after they had practiced Ancient Greek some more later on that night. Loki hated when people got close to him, he hated physical contact- yet, somehow, Percy's presence didn't faze him whatsoever. He was perfectly content with the Midgardian curled up next to him, sleeping soundly, his body rising and falling with each breath.

In his sleep, Percy looked slightly younger and far less tense. So relaxed. Perhaps he would dream pleasantly tonight, a rare occasion, but a wonderful one.

He hadn't had a real friend in so long, Loki had honestly forgotten what it felt like. He was always the annoying little brother, tagging along with Thor and his friends. But Percy changed all that. Before his arrival, Loki was a mess, constantly negative, always destroying whatever he could. After sharing a cell with Percy, however, he became much calmer, found better ways to pass the time. For that, he owed Percy an unpayable debt, although the Midgardian was unaware of this.

Loki was attempting to tackle a Charles Dickens novella, The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain, translated into Ancient Greek when Thor showed up outside the cell, walking in quietly and cautiously. Loki marked his page and put his book down, pushing Percy off him, causing his friend to wake up uncomfortably and groan tiredly, before standing up and glaring at Thor.

"What the fuck, Loki?" Percy protested frustratingly, letting his eyes adjust before spotting Thor, who didn't look away from Loki.