Gone Girl.¹

Bonus: The Staff of Hermes

gone girl.
━━━ the staff of hermes.

❀

Living as normal teenagers after they had both gone through hell felt absurd but incredibly refreshing. Amaryllis thought everything was finally alright as she laid next to her boyfriend, sunglasses on as the surprisingly warm sun of September lit up the Great Lawn in Central Park. They were relaxing on a comfy blanket, with some snacks and water bottles amongst them, as well as a box of pizza. Normally, Amaryllis was in charge of the music, but that day they had decided to not have any music and just enjoy the peace.

"You know... today is September eighteenth," Percy said. He was leaning on his elbow as he was laying, so he could look at her.

It was hard to get concentrated on anything but his girlfriend when she looked like that. Her tanned skin glowed under the sunlight and she was wearing some kind of cherry-flavoured lip balm that he had grown addicted to tasting. She was dressed casually; she was wearing one of Percy's Led Zeppelin t-shirt that she had shamelessly stolen a few weeks ago and denim shorts, while her blonde hair was slightly darker than usual, after she had impulsively dyed it at the beginning of the month. Sometimes he couldn't believe he had been so lucky that someone as beautiful as her liked him back. 

"Mhm," she said. "So?"

"So that makes today our one-month anniversary," he said and he watched as a small smile form on her lips.

"Oh yeah. I thought that's why we were having..." she stretched her arms. "This."

Percy couldn't help but feel that a simple picnic wasn't enough to celebrate their first kiss. It didn't feel enough. That last month had been the happiest he had ever been, but he couldn't stop second-guessing himself. Even though Amaryllis was pretty chill when it came to their dates and she didn't necessarily need something extreme to feel content, Percy wanted to be the best possible boyfriend. Besides, that was what she deserved.

Before he could tell her about this thoughts, a sudden streak of light made him blink, as if someone had flashed a mirror in his face. He looked around and he saw a brown delivery truck parked in the middle of the Great Lawn where no cars were allowed. Lettered on the side were the words: HERMES EXPRESS. 

"Oh, good," Percy muttered. "We've got mail." 

"What?" Amaryllis asked and she took off her sunglasses, leaning on her elbows.

He pointed at the truck. The driver was climbing out; he wore a brown uniform shirt and knee-length shorts along with stylish black socks and cleats. His curly salt-and-pepper hair stuck out around the edges of his brown cap. He looked like a guy in his mid-thirties, but Percy knew from experience he was actually in his mid-five-thousands.

Hermes, messenger of the gods, dispenser of heroic quests, and frequent cause of migraine headaches. He looked upset as he kept patting his pockets and wringing his hands. Either he'd lost something important or he'd had too many espressos at the Mount Olympus Starbucks. Finally he spotted the couple and beckoned them over.

"Can we please ignore him? Pretty please," Amaryllis begged. "I can just put on my sunglasses again and we can pretend you have some kind of vision impairment."

"I'd love to, but you know how gods are," Percy sighed. He stood up and held his hand, which Amaryllis used to pull herself up.