Work Text:
"You're a misfit and I'm your freak, dance all night till our knees go weak, we could shut this place down, no one else is around"
"Perseus Jackson, you amaze me!"
Uh oh. He was in for it now. Because that was Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus. They sorta have a history of being rivals.
"Every single year, you manage to disobey an order, and make us lose!" She practically screamed at him, her black spiky hair standing up as electricity crackled around her, the smell of ozone reaching his nose.
A chuckle came from behind him, and it was from Beckendorf.
"Sorry Perce," he said. "S'funny is all, she kinda has a point dude."
Percy shook his head at the son of Hephaestus, a small smile playing on his lips despite his best efforts.
Beckendorf was right, it was funny.
"Are you even listening to me, kelp head?"
Not to Thalia though, it seemed.
"Yeah pinecone face, I'm listening. And I'm sorry." Percy said.
Thalia scoffed, "Sorry? You're sorry? Oh well that makes me feel so much better."
Alright, now he was mad too.
"Listen, I don't see the big deal, it's literally just capture the flag." He mocked. "They beat us every year anyway."
Apparently, she wasn't done. "Well maybe they wouldn't win every time if you stopped being a jackass, and listened for once!"
In the background, unbeknownst to the two of them, Charles Beckendorf wisely decided that it was his time to leave, sensing where this was going. What it always lead to, a fight.
"Oh I'm the jackass?" Percy said. "You can't even-"
"Now, now. Let's not do this again." Came a calm voice, a stark contrast to the two half-bloods. "Percy, Thalia, that's quite enough."
"Sorry Chiron." They said simultaneously, like children caught stealing from a cookie jar.
Another voice came in, "Oh do let them finish Chiron, it would have been, interesting to watch."
"Like every other year, Mr. D? I have little doubt the, excitement, wanes for you." Came Chiron's reply.
"Bah, my sister would win anyway." The wine god said, and turned to go back to what was surely a riveting game of pinochle against a slightly fearful looking group of Satyrs.
Thalia for her part, didn't blush under the praise, mainly because she didn't much like Dionysus.
After they were dismissed, she sent a glare Percy's way, those electric blue eyes connecting with his. It didn't really get the desired affect, not that she would know, but for the brief moment, he found himself lost in those eyes.
Dinner was a surprisingly quiet affair. No name calling from the Ares table, and the Hunters apparently didn't feel like boasting too much tonight.
Grover plopped down in the seat next to Percy. "Hey man," he said. "Heard about the argument, tough break."
Percy waved him off, "Yeah well what else is new? Happens every year."
"Because you can't help yourself." The Satyr pointed out.
Percy smiled, "I guess."
"Don't act like you don't find it hilarious, I mean, even I do." Grover said.
"Okay, okay. It's fun to piss her off. So what?" He asked.
"So, when are you going to make your move?" Grover responded.
Percy nearly spit out the blue coke he was drinking, "What?!" He exclaimed. "Are you crazy? Never. She'd either laugh at me or beat me up, not sure which one would be worse."
"Oh she wouldn't do that." Grover tried to assure him, but he didn't look so sure of it himself.
"I knew telling you about it was a mistake." Percy grumbled.
"Hey! I would've found out anyway remember? The whole empathy link thing?"
Percy merely harrumphed at his long time friend. He chanced a glance at the Zeus table, catching Thalia looking at him. Again with those eyes, they were beautiful. She blushed quite prettily if he said so himself. Percy smiled to himself a little, not a shit eating one either, just a goofy smile from a teen in love.
"Stop that," Grover said, ruining the moment. "Your lovey eyes are making me sick. Man I wish Annabeth was here and not at that architecture school, she'd sort you two out."
He laughed at that, "Lovey eyes?" Percy asked.
"You know what I'm talking about." Grover said, grinning.
"Whatever." Came his witty response.
Percy hesitated, his hand about to knock on the door of cabin one.
He sighed, "What am I even doing." The half-blood muttered to himself.
It took a while, but Percy finally mustered up the courage to do it. However, just as he was about to knock, his fist did not meet air, in fact, it felt fleshy. This is when he realized he had just knocked on Thalia's forehead.
Both of them stood there for a while, neither knowing what to do.
Finally, Percy spoke.
"I am so sorry, I didn't expect the door to open." He explained.
"Um, it's fine." She replied dumbly.
"What were you doing?" They both said at the same time, an embarrassed blush on their cheeks.
"You first." Percy said.
"Well, I was going to find you, and apologize for the fight we had."
That was unexpected.
"Oh, that's exactly what I was coming over to do." He said, laughing a little.
Grover's words came back to him.
"You should apologize, get the ball rolling."
Easier said that done.
"I'm sorry." Percy said, biting the metaphorical bullet, and swallowing his pride.
Thalia smiled at him, a truly radiant one, her blue eyes sparkling.
"Me too." She said.
He found himself lost in those eyes, and Percy didn't really mind it at all.
"Uh, kelp head? You're staring." Thalia pointed out, still smiling at him.
"Yep." He confirmed with a nod of his head.
One step closer, two now.
Her breath hitched, "A-any particular reason why?"
"You're beautiful." He said, not quite believing the words coming out of his mouth.
"O-oh. Well I don't really know about all that." She blushed, and tried to wave the compliment off, like it wasn't just about the nicest thing anyone's ever said to her before.
"Thalia?" Percy questioned.
"Y-yes?"
"Can I kiss you?"
Her eyes went wide, "Okay." She said dumbly.
It was a little unfair, with the height difference, but they made it work.
Their lips meshed together, moving in tandem with each other. He could feel all of the hair on his body standing up, probably due to the electricity coming off of Thalia.
Wait, electricity?
Percy moved away, out of breath, but still managed to gasp out, "Thals, you're sparking!"
"Huh?" She mumbled, looking at herself. "Oh!" She screwed her face in concentration and the sparks went away.
"That's never happened to me before." She laughed a little.
"That good, huh?" Percy said, grinning.
"Don't be so full of yourself, you could still use some work."
He barked out a laugh, not even bothering to act offended.
"If you say so, pinecone face." Percy joked, but a frown quickly replaced the smile.
"What's wrong?" Thalia asked, looking a bit nervous.
"Just realized that I can't call you that anymore, considering I just kissed you." He said.
"Awww," she said mockingly. "I'm sure you'll figure something out."
"Careful what you wish for." He warned her.
She laughed, "Goodnight, Percy."
"Goodnight, Thalia."
He could have sworn he floated back to his cabin that night.