Chapter Text
Whenever Percy Jackson grabs a hold of my hand, it usually means we're about to run for our lives, which is why it immediately accelerates my heartbeat.
At least, that's what I used to tell myself, until we were on his bed late at night and he laced our fingers together sweetly, and it garnered nearly the exact same reaction, though somehow ten times stronger.
“Woah- You alright? You just got really pale.” Percy muttered, and I nodded much too quickly. He clicked his tongue and gave my palm a light squeeze. “...I don't think you are, actually. I can hear your heartbeat.”
Just as fast as the color had drained from my cheeks did they suddenly flare up again in red embarrassment. “S-, sorry, I'm really nervous.”
“Me too.”
I blinked, looking over at him right there, right next to me in the dark cabin. “Really? You're nervous?”
He let out a quiet snort and raised an eyebrow at me. “Is that so weird?”
I shrugged. “I mean, I don't know. I guess not. I just- I didn't think hand holding would make someone like you nervous.”
“Someone like me?”
Oh, geez. “Yeah, you know- um. You're, the bravest guy I know. You… You've done a lot of stuff that's more nerve-wracking than hand holding.”
“So have you, dude, don't discredit yourself.”
“Well, yeah, I guess, but- It's not the same! You're, like…” I ran a hand through my hair, leaning my head back before gesturing wildly at the ceiling. “The SON of POSEIDON. Like, royalty.”
Percy broke into laughter, rolling over onto his side so he was practically curled up against me, against our intertwined fingers. “Well- okay, I may be the,” he got an intense look in his eyes and dramatically recreated my fanfare, “SON of POSEIDON, but you're literally the Lord of the Wild . I think I'm, like - if I'm below being a god, and they are the gods, you're the step in-between us.”
I rolled my eyes with a dumb snort, before redirecting them back to his face. Gods, his features were so soft and warm and full of love, it made my chest tight with happiness. “I don't think that's accurate, if I'm being honest.”
“Well it is to me, ” Percy stated, and wrapped his free arm around my waist. He craned his neck forward, pressing a kiss to the tip of my pointy ear, and then one of my temples, and then my cheek. “You're my religion,” he muttered, softly, against my skin. I severely underestimated how much warmer he could make my face, and how fast that warmth could spread to the rest of my body.
“That's,” I choked out, while he kept kissing his way across my face, “that's pretty gay.”
He stilled in the middle of a kiss to my forehead, breaking into laughter. “You know what, Grover?” He said, leaning back again to look at my face. As much as my eyes wanted to avoid his out of fear of dying from love overflow, I met the sea of green peering down at me, threatening to spill over with adoration.
“What?”
“That is pretty fuckin’ gay,” and he leaned down and kissed me.