𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐚; percy jackson

𝟎𝟑 | enough trouble already

𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐈𝐑 ┆彡

i was happy with finally having the ability to leave the nursery for more than an hour, and first thing i did was searching for my friends.

as i was walking on the muddy path back to my cabin, while kicking a little stone i heard someone calling my name a multiple times so i turned around with a confused expression forming up on my face.

"meara!" i recognize... annabeth's voice?

we don't really talk, we don't even have a reason to not be friends, but there was never an opportunity to get to know each other.

now that sounds crazy since i was here, at camp, for five months already but we've always known of each other's existence, just never put an effort to actually getting to know each other.

"yeah?" i ask back as i wonder about what does she want to talk to me about.

"meara," my name comes out of her mouth once again as she runs up to me "i was looking for you everywhere"

"why were you?" i ask while lightly tilting my head.

"chiron told me that i needed to find you before showing the percy boy around" she shakes her head looking happy that she doesn't have to keep running around camp like a crazy person.

"oh, do i need to?" my smile slightly fades.

"yeah? you're supposed to help me guide him" she explains "and before you try to do anything stupid, i think that you should just go with me since you've got yourself into enough trouble already" she smiles almost unnoticeably as she brushes one of her dark braids behind her ear.

"wait how do you—? i mean those could've been just rumors, chiron doesn't know yet"

"oh trust me, he knows" she shakes her head "he's just not doing anything about it, i don't actually quite understand" she pauses "which is unusual"

"but if he knows, why hasn't he mentioned it?" i wonder mostly for myself.

annabeth looks zoned out.

"he seems to treat you two differently than the others" suddenly she looks me in the eyes with a weird look on her face "he seems to treat you two differently than the others" she repeats herself.

it seems like a fog has just cleared in her head and she could finally see.

"yeah you've already said that, where are you going with this?" i ask.

"why haven't i figured this out sooner?" she questions herself under her breath, probably not meaning to actually say it out loud.

"what?" i look at her, concerned about what's happening.

"okay we need to go show percy around camp" she changes the topic right away.

"is this something about him?" i ask, because that's how this conversation started.

"i need to get this confirmed somehow first, now come on" she said and motioned with her head for me to follow her.

𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ┆彡

annabeth and meara started showing percy around, with meara keeping as far as possible from percy, thanks to their first and possibly last interaction which was uncomfortable for both of them.

when it was time for introducing him to the hermes cabin, percy spoke.

"i don't have any, like, disease, you don't need to keep staying away from me like this" he moved his hands sassily, showing the distance between between him and meara.

he was trying to make make things better between the two of them.

but he's never actually talked to a girl, he's never paid attention to them, so he didn't know it worked.

meara mistook it as a mockery.

"actually you look like you do have one" she joked, inappropriately.

"so this is how we're gonna play?" he shook his head stubbornly, keeping his eyes on meara.

"play? oh boy, just focus on annabeth" she shook her head with a slight smile.

"your annoying voice is making it hard for me to focus on annabeth" he narrows his eyebrows, teasing her.

"your weird fuzzy hair are making it hard for me to actually see annabeth" meara responds while doing the same face as him.

percy touches his hair.

"stop." annabeth rolls her eyes.

her words cause them to look at her.

annabeth knew that the dynamic between these two made sense thanks to the theory she has created about their godly parents, but she has experienced enough.
she needed percy to pay attention and that could be achieved only by stopping them from messing around.

"this is the hermes' cabin, you'll be staying here" annabeth speaks again after taking a deep breath.

"so i am a child of hermes?" percy asked while scratching his head.

"no, you're unclaimed, she's explained this a few minutes ago" meara says, shifting her attention to percy once again, with more depth in her voice this time.

"what cabin are you in then? like ares' or something huh" percy says crossing his arms while keeping his head up.

"you must be a child of hephaestus then, for some reason" meara frowns.

annabeth tries not to smile but a light grin escapes as she looks down hoping that nobody saw.

"the hermes cabin is for the hermes' children and the unclaimed children which includes you both" she repeats her explanation after a short moment.

"oh," he nods "just the adhd kicking in you know" he jokes.

when nobody reacts, he tries to fill the silence with more talking.

"whoa, wait, does that mean that i have to be in the same cabin as her?" he points at meara who looks offended by this gesture.

"yes" annabeth simply nods.

meara doesn't like his tone, she thought that they were okay, but then he says this?

"i'm not thrilled about being that close to you either" meara looks at him, not seeming so uplifted as before.

"okay, let's just go in" annabeth shakes her head in disbelief and walks inside.

the two of them follow her, fighting about who gets to go inside the door first.

percy squeezes himself in, looking proudly back at meara who's walking in right behind him.

"no need to take the 'ladies first' rule so seriously" she says while walking around him to stand beside annabeth.

percy looks offended once again, pausing before taking the other side, finally leaving space for annabeth to introduce him.