The Moon's Shine (PJO)

Chapter 15

"Perseus!' Artemis scolded. "What are you doing?"

The demigod watched in horror as the bubbling water rose out of the huge pot, threatening to spill all over the kitchen tiles. He tried to coerce the water back down, but there was just. Too. Much. Pressure. 

A snap echoed through the room, and the water disappeared—along with the pot and the contents.

Artemis was standing next to him, a hand on her hip. 

Percy turned to her. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "I was boiling pasta in that!"

The kitchen knife in Artemis' hand—a tool that she'd been using to cut the vegetables nearby—made her glare look much more menacing. "It looked like you were trying to boil my floor."

The demigod waved in dismissal. "I had it under control."

On a normal day, Percy would've been completely fine in admitting to his girlfriend that he sucked at cooking.

But this wasn't a normal day.

It'd been two months since Lord Apollo had attacked Percy. Artemis had been glued to his side since, despite Percy's protests that she was neglecting her domains.

"They can wait until I know you're safe," Artemis had said.

However, Percy had recently struck a deal with her: if he cooked something with her—something he sucked at—and it wasn't a disaster, Artemis might dismiss the "time-to-kill-Percy time" for some harmless "bro time."

Naturally, not wanting to start any conflicts, he accepted.

Only, things weren't going so well.

"You had one job," Artemis said flatly. "To boil some pasta. And five minutes in you almost burn yourself."

He waved toward the stove the pot had recently been on. "I didn't spill any water before you lost faith in me. How can you judge me on something that was going to happen?"

"Aha!" Artemis exclaimed triumphantly. "So you do admit that you were about to fail!"

"Hold up. I wasn't insinuating that . . ."

But it was too late. Artemis was already drowning in her victory. "If you didn't mess up now, you were going to mess up somewhere down the line. I win—and you don't—"

She halted to a stop when Percy suddenly lunged forward and kissed her.

He didn't know why he had the urge to kiss her; he just desired to wipe that annoyingly smug grin off her face.

Percy pulled away sheepishly, his face flushed red. They'd kissed before, but never this . . . casually.

Artemis' face was red too. "Wow. I was . . . not expecting that."

Percy's face paled. He hadn't considered the consequences of his actions. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know why I did that. Sorry," he mumbled.

"Not this again," Artemis grumbled as Percy ducked his face in embarrassment. "Look at me. If I didn't enjoy that kiss, you would be on the ground with a few stabs through your heart by now."

Percy looked up. Strangely enough, the indirect threat reassured him. "Really?"

"Really," Artemis confirmed.

They stared at each other for a few moments, locked in an appreciative gaze only two people who knew each other superbly could dream of having.

And then Percy's stomach rumbled.

Percy groaned in embarrassment as Artemis burst out laughing. The tender moment between them was over. "Can you just bring the pasta back?"

"No." Artemis stopped giggling, though she couldn't hide the laughter dancing in her eyes.