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The warm shower water was a welcomed comfort as it soaked his body. It was a nice temporary relief for his aching muscles, the soreness brought on from previous days on end spent training both himself and a few newcomers who were well...new to camp Half-Blood.
He was alone in the house which meant he could take a long a shower as he wanted without someone knocking on the door asking him if he was alright, heck he could even sing if he wanted too, but he didn't want too….not at the moment at least.
His Mom and Paul had left around 2 hours ago to go on some dinner date, and had asked Percy if he wanted to come too, but he declined. Those two deserved some alone time, and Percy had long since bestowed the trust of protecting his Mom to Paul a long time ago….even though he knew his Mom was very much so capable of taking care of herself. Seeing her take out a few monsters with a shotgun sure as Hades proved that.
After they'd left Percy had eaten a quick snack, some cookies (Blue of course) which his Mom had so kindly left out for him before her and Paul had left. He decided to take a quick nap in hopes of passing the time and the fact he needed all the sleep he could get. The deep black bags under his eyes proved that.
But during his short lived nap he'd had a nightmare, he couldn't remember the exact details of it, just the overwhelming feeling of panic like he was being chased by something. Typical stupid nightmare.
The nightmare had led to him taking a shower as well as contributed to the souring of his current mood. It was frustrating, to say the least. Of having some horrible nightmare or panic attack every time he tried to lay his head down he was assaulted with the same images. Remixes and replays of things he'd been through. Sometimes an almost play by play of the scenario, sometimes his mind twisted things. Made them seem darker and worse then they actually had been….which was saying something considering what he’d been though wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows to start out with.
He cut off the shower, dreading the thought of stepping out of its warmth and into the cold outside. But he relented. Reaching his hand out he snatched up his towel and wrapped it around himself, stepping out of the shower and onto the soft shower carpet. The warm water had made his normally already tanned skin turn an even brighter red, causing the many white scars and other markings to show off more against his usually tanned skin.
He sighed, avoiding looking at himself in the mirror as he finished drying himself off, he shook his head like a dog. Running his fingers through his long and tangled hair, almost as if his body was on pilot mode he pulled on a clean pair of boxers, sweatpants and a baggy shirt that could have belonged to Paul. He hadn't bothered checking when he'd grabbed in out of the laundry basket.
If his body was stuck in pilot mode then his mind was left wandering, each new thought driving him deeper and deeper into some rabbit hole trance. Had he taken his meds? He could have sworn he had. He’d cut off the water right? Of course he did, he would have been able to hear the sound of it running behind him...maybe he should just double check just in cas-
Thunk
The solid sound of forehead meeting a wooden door sounded throughout the bathroom as Percy smacked himself in the head with the bathroom door while he opened it. Cursing he took a step back rubbing his bruising forehead.
He felt the familiar feeling of built up frustration quickly becoming an almost irrational anger star to bubble in his chest, yanking the door open he halfheartedly tossed his clothes into the dirty hamper. Feeling hot and irritable he headed towards his room. Maybe he'd cool off, sit on the fire escape for a little bit.
Still grumbling to himself he stomped into his room, still rubbing his head. He reached his dresser, intending to grab a hoodie or something to wear so he didn't freeze when he felt it. The presence...that presence. Accompanied by the familiar smell of the sea.
“Hello Percy”
He whipped around so fast he just about nearly broke his own neck, and sure enough he was standing right behind him. Near the very edge of his bed.
His Dad wore the same hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts he always wore, his tanned skin, sea green eyes and jet black hair was an almost perfect mirroring of Percy’s own. He almost looked like an older version of Percy from the future coming back to warn him of some life changing event.....Percy was surprised that hadn't happened to him yet to be honest.
“H-Hi Dad!” His voice cracked, he was still coming over the shock of adrenaline that had come from his Dads sudden appearance. He cleared his throat.
“What uh...brings you here?” His father's sudden presence was both a welcome and welcomed feeling. On one hand...it was his Dad! Someone he rarely got to see...on the other...it was his Dad. Who also happened to be a God. So his visits could mean that there was something that the gods needed done….that combined with the fact that Zeus didn't really take too kindly to these kinds of visits.
Poseidon raised a brow “Can a father not just visit his son?” he took a step towards Percy and the teenager took a step back..or at least he tried to. His back was currently pressed against his dresser, leaving him no room to back up any further. Poseidon noticed and stopped, he paused brow furring as he cocked his head to the side.
“Percy?” He tone was questioning “Did I startle you that badly?”
Percy suddenly felt kind of stpid, acting so nervous around his Dad. He straightened, stepping away from the dresser so his back was no longer pressed so firmly against it. He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Ah, no your fine. Sorry, i'm just a little jumpy today” Memories of his previous nightmare briefly flashed in his mind but he pushed them away, taking to leaning against the dresser though this time more casually then before.
His father was silent as he stared at him, Percy resisted the urge to squirm under his gaze. Feeling like a bug under a magnifying glass. It had only been a few seconds of silence but it really felt like hours. He couldn't help but glance over and out the window, expecting there to be a violent streak of lightning followed by booming thunder any minute.
His father followed his gaze and sensed his anxiousness “Do not worry my son, my brother will not be bothering us. He...owes me”
Percy admittedly relaxed a little bit at that, for a moment his mind lingered on the “He owes me” bit, but he soon let it leave. It was nothing that concerned him.
“Oh! Well...then you can like...make yourself at home..”
Make yourself at home, Percy you idiot that's like..the most basic thing to say. He glanced over at his bed.
“Uh..the bed. You can like...sit on it”
This was worse than presenting a project in front of his class oh my gods...
Seemingly not sensing his son's current internal screaming; Poseidon took a few steps and sat on the edge of the bed, the bed creaking slightly with the sudden shift of weight. His father once again stared at him, as if waiting for him to do something. Percy wanted to scream.
“Percy” His father's voice interrupted his internal screaming, his father was still looking at him this time with his brow raised.
“Uh..yeah?”
“Are you going to sit down as well?”
Oh….OH
“Oh yeah of course yeah”
He took the few steps over to his bed in a few long strides and sat down stiffly on the opposite corner of his bed away from his father. Putting a few feet of distance between them.
It wasn't that he didn't want to sit close to his Dad, quite the opposite actually. Years of lack of fatherly love had left him a bit..starved for it. And more often or not he found himself melting into whatever sort of affection he received. Like a hug from Chiron or Paul.
No he just felt...not really awkward around his Dad...okay well maybe a little awkward...but mostly he felt...shy. Maybe it was because deep down, like most of his Demigod brethren, he desperately wanted his godly parents approval. He was scared of disappointing him in some way, and he knew that he was much luckier than most Demigods with his Godly parent being someone who actually seemed to care about him. But he still couldn't help that lingering feeling of doubt that kept creeping its way into his mind.
“Percy” Once again his father's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he turned to look up at him. His father was facing him, brow furrowed once again in concern. Percy wondered if he looked the same way whenever he made a face of concern. Mostly directed at his friends...he'd have to ask them.
“Yeah Dad?”
“Are you alright, Percy?”
The question caught him off guard slightly and he blinked, he cleared his throat. “Oh yeah Im fine”
“Are you sure?” His father pressed “You seem….distracted..”
Percy couldn't help but feel slightly bad, he hadnt meant to act so..distant towards his father. He swallowed.
“No i'm okay really, I just had a nightmare earlier and it put me on edge”
“Nightmare?” His father inquired, and Percy couldn't help but notice he had scooted just a little closer to him.
“Oh yeah, a nightmare. Not like a prophecy type ‘Heed my warning’ nightmare but just a...regular nightmare.” Percy shrugged, his father looked at him. He was silent
“Do you...have nightmares a lot?”
Percy blinked at the question, he once again shrugged. “I don't know? I guess? I-I mean every Demigod has nightmares, comes with the job” He chuckled but his father did not join in with his amusement. He seemed to instead be looking at him in a...different way. Like he was trying to look over every detail of his face.
“You look tired…” He muttered, brow still furrowed in the same concerned look.
“It's fine Dad, I always look tired. And like the nightmares aren't even that bad most of the time, they're usually just like..over exaggerations of what actually happened..I mean...not like what actually happened wasn't extremely traumatizing..I-I mean it wasn't traumatizing..well...it kinda was b-but my nightmares still like aren't that bad they're normal even! Everyone gets them….well...I mean probably not everyone but most people-”
He really needed to shut up; he cut himself off from his ramble and bit his lip, weakly chuckling “S-sorry, I uh...ramble when Im nervous”
Poseidon raised a brow “Nervous?”
“Uh! No! Not like nervous right now, that's not what I meant. I'm not nervous, I'm cool.”
Percy most certainly was nervous, he swore he could feel his face start to heat up. Here he was, Percy Jackson, the hero of Olympus himself. Reduced to a babbling mess just from a surprise visit from his father.
Poseidon watched his son, cocking his head to the side. A slight smile tugged at his lips as he chuckled softly.
“Percy” He said, voice teasing. He reached forward and gently prodded his son's side with his pointer and middle finger.
“You're distracted again”
Percy squeaked softly, his elbow going down to shield the area that Posdion had poked while the rest of his body seemed to flop onto his side nearly tumbling off the bed. Poseidon immediately jerked his hand away.
“Percy? Percy are you alright? Did I hurt you?”
“N-No Dad!” Percy's voice came out embarrassingly shrill, he sat up quickly.
“I'm fine!”
“Are you sure?” Poseidon pressed, looking over Percy as if he were searching for any injury of sorts. He looked at the area he had prodded. He saw no blood leak through to stain the shirt. He carefully nudged the shirt upwards, ignoring his son's squeak of protest.
There were no injuries to be seen, just smooth tanned skin covered in a few faint scars. Poseidon frowned “You're not hurt…” He muttered, he ran his finger once again over the smooth skin. Percy again gave the same yelping squeak as before. Trying to grab onto his Dad wrists.
“D-Dad!”
“Is it internal?” Poseidon asked, once again gently prodded his finger into Percy’s side. His son just about tumbled off the side of the bed had it not been for his current iron tight grip on Poseidon's wrists.
“It tickles!” Percy yelped and Poseidon stopped his prodding. Percy breathed a temporary sigh of relief, loosening his grip on his Dads wrists.
“Y-You’re not hurting me, I'm fine, it just...tickles..”
His father remained still, as if gears were turning in his head. He looked up at Percy, the teenager expected his Dad to be satisfied with the answer and to leave him be. Maybe they'd continue their “Conversation” from where they'd left off.
Instead his father cocked his head to the side, he raised a brow.
“Tickling..?”
The gods tone was questioning and Percy wanted to smack his head against the nearby wall, had he really expected his Dad, a literal God to know what something as...insignificant to them as tickling was? Sides, tickling was a mortal thing. It made sense for his Dad not to know what it was, or perhaps he simply did not recognize the english word for it. Maybe he thought it was something bad.
That's fine, he could give a brief explanation of what it was...as strange and slightly embarrassing as that was. Explaining something like tickling to a literal god..not exactly something on his bucket list but he guessed he could cross it off the list either way.
“Oh well...tickling is this...things...a like...mortal thing. That you do…” He cleared his throat, he felt silly.
“You basically like, making people laugh by touching them and stuff I don't know why it makes us laugh, it's like a nerve thing or an old defense instinct..”
Poseidon cocked his head to the opposite side, for a moment Percy saw something like amusement flash in his eyes but it was once again replaced by intrigue.
“Well what's the point of it? Seems rather….silly to me”
Percy shifted slightly “Oh you know…”
“No, i'm afraid I do not know”
Percy huffed “ You like, do it to make people laugh. Or cheer them up or whatever, sometimes friends or siblings will do it to mess with each others or like parents will do it to bond with their kids-”
“Bond?” Poseidon suddenly inquired, ears perking up.
“Y-Yeah, you know. Get closer to someone, emotionally and physically and stuff”
Poseidon hummed “So this thing helps you bond yes?”
Percy couldn't help but feel slightly nervous, a different kind of nervous then from before. But of course he had no reason to be. His Dad was a God, and he'd said it himself he thought stuff like this was silly.
“Sometimes yeah….”
Percy was a trained and experienced fighter with trigger happy reflexes, he should have been able to figure out what was happening in time to move away. But then again his father was a God, and despite him as a Demigod being much stronger than a normal mortal..he was nowhere near as strong as a God was.
His father's other arm, the one Percy had not been holding onto, snaked its way around Percy's waist. With a yelp he was yanked into his father's lap, back pressed against his Dads broad chest. The arm wrapped around his stomach pinned his right arm down against his side. While his Dad gripped his left wrist with his free hand, lifting his arm up.
The whole thing happened so fast that it took Percy's mind a few seconds to figure out what the heck had just happened.
Percy chuckled nervously, he couldn't help but glance over at the window worriedly. Scared to see a strike of lighting.
“H-Hey uh D-Dad? Whats um...What's the deal here?”
His father didn't give him a direct response, he simply hummed
“Bonding you say?” He mused, with his left hand still keeping Percy’s left arm risen he used his right hand that was resting on his son's side. He carefully drummed his fingers in a steady rhythm, as if he were tapping out a tune.
Percy’s body went tense, something bubbled from his chest and rose up to his throat. He bit his lips and struggled to hold back his giggles. He heard his Dad hum from beside him.
“Hmm, am I not doing it right? You don't appear to be laughing…” He stopped his drumming and switched suddenly to gently squeezing. Moving his hand up and down his son's side and giving quick and gentle squeezes at random.
Percy jerked violently, the damn broke and he burst into childish giggles. Occasionally letting out a small squeak or yelp each time Posesidon squeezed his hand.
Poseidon brightened “Oh! There it is, I was wondering if I was doing something wrong!”
His hand slipped underneath Percy’s shirt, dull nails scribbling all over the boys bare side. Percy just about lurched out of Poseidon's grip, his giggles turned to loud belly laughter that soon turned into cackles. He squirmed but to no avail, he couldn't escape his father's clutches.
“Dad-D-Dahahaha! W-Wait! Wahahahahait!” Percy squealed….yes...he squealed. Poseidon did not yield, he frowned.
“But Percy, am I not doing it right? You're laughing aren't you? Aren't we bonding?”
Percy’s squirming became more frantic and he arched his back against his Dad's chest when his Dad found a sweet spot located just below his ribcage. His laughter became shiller, more fantic, wheezing occasionally.
“I lied! Ilihihihied!”
There was a brief silence and the tickling stopped, Percy wheezed softly as he quickly gasped for air. The sensations left behind still make him giggle. He thought he was in the clear.
He was wrong.
His Dad suddenly released him only to once again wrap both arms around his midsection, this time both hands rested on each of his sides. Poseidon leaned towards Percy's ear, his beard tickled slightly and it made Percy pull away giggling.
“Oh Percy, I'm a billion years old. Did you really think I didn't know what tickling is?”
Percy felt a lot of mixed emotions., nervous giddiness, embarrassment, stupidity, and honest betrayal. But before he could get out a word of protest both of Poseidon's hands started to scribble their way up and down the poor boy's sides.
Percy let out an honest to Gods shriek, and he was thankful that his Mom and Paul were not home yet.
He hunched forward in an attempt to break free from his father's evil clutches but he only succeeded in making the sensations worse. He had the realization that he was not getting out of this so he did the only thing he could think to do, he surrendered. He threw his head back against his Dad's chest and cackled with laughter. Legs kicking against his bed.
Poseidon noted that Percy's laugh didn't really sound anything like Sally’s, Sally’s was lighter, more..modest….no...Percy sounded like him...well a less deeper, more childish version.
He decided that he liked the sound of it.
He’d certainly have to thank his brother for having this idea in the first place.
His hands wandered up further then the boys' sides, taking time to poke and prod each space between his ribcage. Enjoying the little squeaks and squeals he'd receive. The best noise however came when Poseidon slipped both hands under Percy's arms.
Percy snorted, rather loudly.
He was started at first by the loud noise but soon Poseidon found himself laughing as well, though not nearly as hard as he son was.
“Oh Percy, what was that noise?”
He made the same movement as before and once again received the adorable funny sound from his son, he chuckled.
“Oh Percy, that's adorable!” He cooed, grinning when the boy's face went an even darker red. By now his cackles had turned to wheezes and his cheeks had become wet with tears of mirth that squeezed out from his tightly closed eyes.
Poseidon, deciding that he didn't want to kill the child, slowed his fingers to a stop. His son was left in shambles. Hiccuping and giggling and squeaking on occasion.
Though he'd stopped tickling, Poseidon didn't let go of his son. When was the last time he'd actually held his child like this? When was the last time he'd ever held any of his children like this? His brother had been right, they had been horrible…
“W-What..w-was that f-for?” A near breathless voice asked, Poseidon looked down to see Percy starting up at him. He smiled.
“I just wanted to see you happy”
Percy groaned, flopping against his chest “Couldn't you have just told a Dad joke or something?”
Poseidon laughed, he stood up slowly still holding Percy in his arms. “Maybe next time” he chuckled and he carefully placed his tuckered out child into bed. Tucking him in as if he was a small child once more.
Poseidon had not wanted to leave but he figured he should probably scram before Sally or Paul got home, he gently ran his fingers through his son's hair.
“Things are going to change my son, for the better I promise”
With one last glance he took a step back and disappeared in a cloud of vapor, leaving behind only the faint smell of the sea.
It was only a few minutes later when Percy was close to drifting off when he suddenly shot up in bed
What the FUCK had just happened???