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Percy's regretting his camping trip. Well not the actual trip just his timing. Unfortunately the heatwave hit on day 3 of 7 and Percy's bathroom is being renovated whilst he's away so "just going home" isn't an option.
Instead Percy strips to as little clothing as possible, douses himself in suncream - he hasn't gotten a sun burn since Apollo reascended but he isn't chancing it - and day dreams of a crappy AC, a tray of ice and a working shower.
He quietly pats himself on the back for packing light - no way would he be able to break camp and carry everything in this heat - and turns further into the forest he's on the edge of.
The trees seems to welcome him ever since Pan. The animals seem just as sluggish as him as he picks his way through the underbush.
The shade offers some relief but it still feels like he's carrying Juno again, but this time through an oven.
When he spots a particularly out of it mountain lion, he makes sure to leave the one of his mess tins filled with water and surrounded by moss and branches to hide the metal nearby before he continues on. He makes sure to give the poor animal a wide birth.
Eventually he stumbles as he senses a pool nearby. Sweat drips down his brow and he's sure he's starting to radiate heat even in the shade.
He barely registers the thunk! as his backpack hits the forest floor behind him. His stuff will be safe, years of quests means he knows how to pack to not break everything from dropping it.
He doesn't look back when he hears a twig crunch to his left. If it's a monster he'll be stronger in the stream and actually capable of stringing two coherent thoughts together.
He does check that the water isn't poisonous. Briefly. Quickly.
And then he's wading in. Laughing with joy when three paces in the pool's floor drops and he goes under.
It feels like a rubber band snapping as the world snaps back into focus, he hadn't noticed he'd been losing on his walk. He felt revitalised, stronger and, most importantly, cool .
He's not sure how long he sits at the bottom of the pool, eyes closed in bliss, hair floating around him as he plays with the tie that had been keeping it off his neck since yesterday evening, but eventually he sighs. He has to at least make sure no little critters are eating his rations.
The moment he breaks the water's surface he wishes he hasn't.
He'd have taken mountain lions, otters, a bear , maybe another round with the minotaur but this? This is worse.
Hermes is leaning against a large rock a few hundred yards away, where the pool gives way to a stream. He looks far too dressed for the weather in his usual mailman outfit. He's typing away on his phone but still looking up at Percy's resurfacing.
Apollo's reclining leisurely on the smooth top of the rock, looking far too undressed for the occasion.
Percy doesn't stare. He doesn't . He's just… keeping an eye on two beings who could kill him with a single thought? Definitely not following the planes of Apollo’s chest, or wondering what Hermes would look like if he took that bloody ridiculous outfit off.
"Enjoying the weather I see!" Apollo declares, en lieu of hello .
And just like that Percy's no longer trying to not follow the dark blonde tuft of hair from a tanned stomach down, down, down . Instead he growls in anger, thinking about all the ways he'd like to murder Apollo.
"Enjoying? Dude, it's disgustingly hot. There's forest fires all over the place! What the fuck?" Percy snaps.
Apollo's casual demeanour shifts and he starts rearranging himself with a sheepish look. Suddenly he's wearing swimshorts, tight enough that Percy can tell his thighs are bulging from several hundred yards away. "There… have you ever heard of Phaethon?" Apollo asks wincing.
"Apollo."
"Er well you see, Phaethon was Helios' son but was raised by his mortal mother. One day Phaethon asked the titan if he was indeed his, and for evidence that -"
"I will pull you into the water and send you as far downstream as this goes if you don't get to the point," Percy hisses, as he slowly marches towards him.
Hermes laughs, elbowing Apollo and murmuring, "He looks too much like Uncle P some times, doesn't he?"
But Apollo doesn't seem to notice his brother, focusing instead on a very angry, dripping wet Percy Jackson. "Long story short, he may have driven the sun chariot too close to the Earth and scorched it in some place and there may have been a small route error with the erm… autopilot imitating that route that I only just noticed?"
"Only. Just. Noticed?" Percy grits out. He's come to a stop just in front of the rock, his stomach could brush against Apollo’s thighs if he leant forward enough.
"Perce, Apollo may have been a little busy daydreaming about his crush to actually notice something like a routing error," Hermes pipes up.
"A crush?" Percy echoes, face twisting.
Apollo's blush would be as irritatingly beautiful as the rest of him if Percy ignores the overwhelming jealousy cooling some of his anger.
"He's wonderful and terrifying," Apollo admits, "I- I do apologise for the weather. Maybe we could take you home so you at least have AC?"
Hermes snorts.
Percy pouts, "I don't have an apartment right now really. It's - well I do but the bathroom is probably gutted."
"I have an idea!" Hermes pipes up, "How about Apollo takes you to one his apartment's. They all have AC and a wonderful entertainment system and the softest beds an-" he's cut off by Apollo wrapping a tanned hand over his mouth. The wince tells Percy everything he needs to know about the temperature of that hand at the moment. Ouch .
"New York!" Percy says, without thinking like it's the solution to the winning question of a quiz, when he starts to hear sizzling. "Do you have an apartment in New York? I don't get much time to see Mom, Dad and Estelle at the moment."
Percy almost sighs in relief when Apollo releases Hermes.
"Yes! I do," Apollo says. "Er… one of my older children, before your time at Camp, has a lecture on that's open to the public about analysing bones to workout causes of death and how to extrapolate. I think she's focusing on some anthrax and plague adled remains. Interested?"
"If and only if you fix your fucking satnav, man," Percy blinks back tears. Seriously first he finds out Apollo has a crush on someone and then has to spend time with him rather than licking his wounds before he has to be nice to whoever it is. All compounded by the fact that it's boiling because somehow the horses or the satnav - or however the fuck that's meant to work - fucked up the route across the sky? It's the same one, over and over again. How?
"Heyheyheyheyhey!" Apollo's noticeably cool hands cup his face and cornflower blue eyes swamp Percy's vision. The god's so close that he's more a pretty Cyclops than anything. "You don't have to if you don't want to. We can get you to a nice, cool room and get takeaway and watch stupid movies until midnight if you want. Stargaze outside of the city when the heat dies down and swim in lakes and pools. We can do all of it or none of it, just … we can do whatever you want Percy, just please don't cry," Apollo begs.
"Get him out of here before you start a forest fire," Hermes hisses, stepping backwards.
"Brilliant idea Hermes-" Apollo starts.
"-'s fine, it'll probably be cooler in a-"
"- let's get you somewhere cooler-"
"-forest fire. Not like I'll boil any faster."
"-you'd like that right?"
Both pause and stare at each other when they realise they've both been talking over each other. Then Apollo's eyes flashed and the blush deepened, the Mist had long given up around Percy maybe as a result of his stint in Tartarus, but the deep gold cheeks still look trippy. Like someone went crazy with a makeup highlighter.
"Yeah, I'd like somewhere cooler," Percy smirks, eyes tracing the changing facial expressions. Greedy. He may never get another chance after this mysterious crush becomes an actual relationship.
In one blink he's whisked away. The sounds of the pool and the forest gone, replaced by distant honks from the angry, overheated drivers down below. Apollo's apartment smelt like laurels and cloves thanks to the largest reed diffuser Percy had ever seen on a plinth in a recess of the living room.
But his eyes skip over that, the sound system that's expensive but makes sense for a God of Music and the view from the large glass wall and instead focuses on the fucking hot tub sitting just passed an empty doorway.
" Dude , you have a hot tub," Percy says, moving towards it without realising.
"Yeah, erm, there's also an en suite the far side of the bedroom…" Apollo mumbles, but the words seem to die in his mouth as Percy just toes his shoes off and removes his shorts.
Before Apollo.exe could reboot, Percy's in the tub and eyes closed in bliss.
As the silence stretches Percy peeks an adorable eye open. "Sorry, didn't think you'd appreciate twigs and dirt in your hot tub," Percy mumbles, suddenly looking painfully aware of the fact he's naked in Apollo's hot tub about ten paces away from multiple flat surfaces including a bed, kitchen counter and couch.
"It's fine," Apollo squeaks, "Coffee?"
Percy gives a jerky nod, smiling despite the blush stretching down his neck and chest.
It's nice, Percy decides after a while. Maybe he shouldn't especially as Apollo's going to be off chasing his mystery love soon enough. Maybe he shouldn't because Apollo's a god and he knows how this would go even if by some miracle Apollo looks his way. Maybe he'll blame it on the heat later and push the memories of today into the same abyss as the jealousy and the overwhelming urge to have a warm, sun god entangled with him until they forget the world. But right now Percy just leans against the edge of the tub and watches in delight as Apollo makes coffee in a kitchen probably more expensive than most apartments in New York.
He hums as he works, his long fingers dancing along the marble work surface. A small smile curves his lips as he catches Percy watching.
Now that Percy isn't roasting alive the sight of Apollo doesn't make him want to commit deicide.
As Apollo walks over and sits on the edge of the tub with two mugs in hand, a fond look in his eyes Percy decides he'd much rather stay right where he is.
"Why was Hermes with you?" Percy says, taking the mug with a little seashell on it.
Apollo freezes, looking more like a statue than ever. "Was he?" Apollo says, panic evident in his voice.
"Apollo."
"Well you see he was there for moral … support."
"I didn't think I was that scary," Percy says, eyebrows raised.
Apollo snorts, "Baby, you're terrifying. I think even my father is scared of you."
They both ignore the subsequent thunder outside.
"So you needed moral support for telling me you screwed up your satnav randomly?" Percy says in disbelief.
"Would you believe me if I say yes?"
"Not a chance."
"It may have been more personal than that…"
"Is this about your crush?" Percy tries not to wince, he doesn't want to get involved in setting Apollo up with someone else.
Apollo nods, "He thinks I should go for it and just… tell them."
Percy grunts, hiding behind his mug. He's thankfully that Apollo's not looking at his face.
Percy knew at some point Apollo would see someone that interested him and all those coffee meetups, nights out and time together would evaporate. As if they'd never been. Leaving a nice Apollo shaped hole in his life.
"I- Would you go on a date with me?" Apollo blurts, when the silence gets too oppressive.
Stunned green eyes meets hopeful sky blue.
"What?" Percy squeaks.
Apollo looks nervous and the smile that had started to grow freezes, "You don't have to say yes. I- I am happy to just be friends if you don't- I mean, if you don't want to because of th- the heatwave I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you. Shit I should have asked before you took you clothes off, you're probably uncomfortable. I shouldn't have mentioned it, I-"
Apollo's verbal vomit is cut off by a harsh kiss. Neither seems to mind the coffee mugs tumbling into the water, contents included.
"Didn’t you suggest a movie night and takeaway earlier? Sounds like a comfy first date to me," Percy grins.
"Anything," Apollo murmurs. It sounds like a promise.