Say You'll Remember Me (Lukercy)

Chapter 3

It was late afternoon by the time Chiron delivered Percy back to Luke, and the boy seemed to still be stunned by the information that the immortal had laid on him during the orientation and tour. Luke felt a twinge of guilt; he never delivered on his promise to get Percy some breakfast. He had just finished a sparring match when Chiron dropped Percy off, and after an hour practicing in the heavy leather armor, he hoped he didn't smell too ripe on the walk to show Percy his new home. 

"Well Perce, this is Cabin 11, Hermes," Luke announced, gesturing at the plainest cabin in the semicircle. "This is where me and my siblings live, and it's where you'll be staying until your dad claims you." He didn't finish the second part of that thought; that the claiming may never happen, that Percy could end up like many of the kids in Cabin 11, lifers with no sign at all from their godly parent, or children of minor gods with no cabin to call their own.

"You know Luke, with all I've learned today, about the gods and monsters, learning that I actually have a father, a living father -well sort of- is probably the most exciting."

"I wouldn't get my hopes up man, even after you're claimed, most of the gods don't want anything to do with us, unless they need something." He shouldn't be raining on Percy's parade, this was the happiest the boy had been since he arrived, but it was still difficult to not feel jaded when the topic of immortal dads came up.

"Need something?" Percy asks, "Chiron had mentioned anything like that."

"They call them quests -like the ones they used to go on in the old days- I call them free labor. The gods need something that they're too lazy to get, so they send a group of us off to get it for them. It's supposed to bring glory or some shit,  it usually it just brings death."

"That's a little grim isn't it?" Percy comments. "Have you ever been on a quest, Luke?"

"Yeah, but it's a story for another time, let's go get you settled in."

Luke leads the younger boy into what might be the most unruly hellhole he had ever seen. The cabin, because of its overcrowding, was usually pretty crazy, but today, it seemed like everyone had taken shots of espresso. There were groups of younger campers running around the bunks while the older ones stuck their legs out trying to trip them. There were sounds of pranks going off, and of course the reactions to them. And on top of everything, it seemed like every camper in there was yelling at the top of their lungs. Luke looked back to see if Percy had hauled ass back out the door, but the kid was the happiest Luke had ever seen him. Maybe he was a child of Hermes; that would certainly screw up Luke's small crush on the boy.

"Hey, everybody, listen up !" Luke shouted. Despite the full-bodied shout, it took a while for the sound to die out, spreading out like a wave towards the less-crowded outskirts of the cabin. The sound of random pranks going off continued even after the talking had stopped. Finally, Luke began again, "This is Percy Jackson," he paused, knowing what was going to happen.

"Hi Percy," 50+  voices called out in unison, all of them with the same cheeky grin, knowing they were pushing Luke's buttons.

"Percy lost someone on his way here, so I'd appreciate it if all of you fuckers would at least give him a day before the pranking starts, okay? Now everyone, be on your best behavior and make our new camper feel at home."

There are sporadic batches of "okays" and "sures," but almost instantly the commotion picks up again, the new arrival quickly forgotten.

"Come on Perce, you get the bunk above mine, you'll be safer from the pranks there."

"But they all agreed to leave me alone," the boy said, too innocent to know not to trust the word of his new cabinmates. 

Luke let out a small laugh, "listen man, rule one of cabin 11 is never believe anything they say."

"Then how do I know I can believe you?" Percy asks, a smirk playing on the corners of his mouth.

Thrilled by Percy's happiness, Luke flashed a big grin, "Because, I am the king of pranks, and if I wanted to do anything, you would've already been tarred and feathered. But, I think you're cool, so I might just train you in the art?"

"How do you know I'm not already?"

"Because you're about to sit on the mouse trap one of the twins laid out for you."

"Oh shit!" Percy cries jumping up just in time to avoid having to sleep on his stomach for a week. "Thanks, Luke."

"No problem, man. You wanna go get em back?"

"Sounds like a plan," Percy laughs.

They walk out of the cabin, planning a prank for the brothers, and Luke casually puts his arm around Percy's shoulders. The touch was light, friendly, and Percy seemed to either welcome it, or at least not mind. They kept walking in the embrace, heading to finally get Percy his bite to eat.

Luke, encouraged by the high of his proximity to his new bunkmate, decided to take a risk. "So Perce, you see any pretty people since you've been here?" Luke asks, making it sound more like a joke than a probe. He hoped he hadn't blown his cool.

There's a moment of hesitance before Percy's answer, "Y-yeah, I guess there's a g-girl or two I'd like to get to know a little better."

Well shit.