From Scales and Feathers (A Percabeth AU)

Gumbo and Cuddling

3rd POV

Hazel stirred a little when Frank got up. Seeing this, he froze. Staying in that same position for about five minutes, he left, making sure his girlfriend was still sleeping. Before he left, Frank wrote a quick note in Latin for her.

Frank came back to the apartment to find his girlfriend making lunch. Frank was shaking a little, but not as much as the other angels he was in contact with earlier. Hazel looked up and smiled.

"Frank!" Hazel greeted, her lips growing into a smile. Frank smiled sweetly back at her. Walking up to the Chinese-Canadian(among other bloodlines), Hazel tilted her head a little, "Is something wrong?"

"Not that big, Haze. I'll be okay." Frank smiled, giving her a peck on the cheek. Hazel obviously knew he wasn't telling her the whole truth, but she trusted him.

"Come on, lunch is almost ready!" Hazel grinned, reaching up to give him a kiss on the cheek also. Frank followed her sweet girlfriend into the kitchen where she was making several things.

"What's in the pot?" Frank asked.

"Gumbo," Hazel smiled fondly, her Louisiana 40s accent coming out a little.

"It smells really good." Frank complemented. Hazel thanked him and held out the plate of grilled cheese to him. Frank took one and led her to the run-down table after grabbing a couple paper plates. The table was small, square, and was made of a beautiful light brown wood. On the wood lied a resin square roughly the same size, and in that resin were little feathers, leaves, petals, and flowers stuck in time between swirls of a rainbow of colors. The flower vase sitting on the table was pretty and odd. It was a bronze color and had the traditional vase look, but had many holes in the top. The flowers in that vase were flowers that Hazel had grown herself.

"What happened today? What was so important that you had to go so early?" Hazel asked.

"Annabeth was thrown out. I went with her. Willingly." Frank said, not wanting to dwell on the subject. In fact, he could already feel a few of the effects. It took all of him to not turn into a bird and fly away.

Hazel nodded, and wanted to continue the discussion, but didn't for she knew that Frank wasn't comfortable with the topic. She just ate in silence, but reached for his hand after a little. Frank looked at her and smiled thankfully, gripping her hand gently.

"What did you do so far today?" Frank asked.

"I woke up and started gumbo. I like it when it's been cooking all day. I went out and went looking for some new things, but found nothing." Hazel explained. Frank nodded.

"No one tried to do anything with you?" Frank asked, worry showing in his eyes. Hazel shook her head, smiling at his protectiveness. After they were done, Frank stood up and took his and her plates to the trash. Hazel got up and went to the gumbo.

"Is there any way I could help?" Frank asked, looking over her shoulder. It was easy for him to do so, their height was quite different. Hazel stopped what she was doing and pretended to think.

"Hmm. Maybe hand me the hot sauce?" Hazel asked. Frank nodded and grabbed her the bottle she had requested.

After handing it to her, he made an over-dramatic bow, "Anything else, your majesty?"

Hazel's reaction was a bunch of giggles. She shook her head and went back to work, giggling a little. Frank, happy with what he accomplished, stood behind her, watching her in fascination as she cooked. After a while, Hazel turned to Frank and smiled up at him.

"Now we wait." Hazel stared up at Frank with her golden eyes. Frank smiled back down at her.

"Do you want to watch something?" Frank asked. Hazel nodded and sat on the couch. Eventually, they settled on Princess and the Frog. Irony at its best, because Frank decided to make Hazel giggle by turning into a frog half-way through.

"Aww, you make such a cute little froggie." Hazel gushed, giggling a little. Frank just kept staring up at her, grinning happily in his mind when she gave him a quick little kiss.

Frank, now human, lied his head on Hazel's stomach. Hazel smiled and held her hand on his hair, playing with it absent-mindedly. The two demigod-Astrals smiled in content and peace. They had each other, and that's all they really wanted. They didn't care about the movie, or the gumbo that was slowly cooking on the stove nearby, the only thing that they really cared about was the being in their arms. Frank wouldn't admit it, but he honestly needed Hazel, especially now. He needed his girlfriend to be his anchor in the rushing waters of his emotions and urges. The now Fallen Angel squeezed his eyes shut in hopes that the tears wouldn't fall, but they beat him. The traitorous tears ran down his face and onto Hazel's shirt.

"It's okay." Hazel soothed quietly, trying to comfort her boyfriend. Frank's body shook a little as he cried for the first time in a while. The last time he cried was...before his grandmother died, next to her bed.(I think he did then, but if not, oh well. It's an au anyway)

"I'm sorry." Frank murmured quietly. Hazel frowned slightly.

"For what? You have nothing to be sorry for." Hazel asked gently. Frank didn't respond, he just lied there, calming in her presence. The two lied there for a surprisingly long period of time, hours, until Hazel spoke up, "Frank, are you hungry?"

"Yeah." Frank purred, smiling happily. With that, the two got up and ate the gumbo, drifting to sleep soon after.

I FORGOT LAST NIGHT, SORRY. I blew some stuff up (fireworks lol) so that's why I didn't update on time. Once again, sorry. (I'm kinda getting caught up in fanfics, so this story and others may have slower updates....)