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Percy slunk through the undergrowth of Delos. A couple of the leaves floated to the ground around him as birds disturbed the branches overhead. The light filtered through the canopy, illuminating the forest floor in shafts of light here and there.
He padded along one of the many paths carved out from millenia of hunts with Apollo and Artemis’ wolves. Percy froze suddenly, lowering himself to the ground, body locking up instinctively, and waited. His sense of smell was better than ever and Apollo liked to play a game for the last month.
Or maybe he just didn’t want to sneak up on Percy by just appearing.
Percy’s still thankful that he’d retained some of his abilities after The Incident, not as many as he would have liked but some was better than none. The steady flow of ichor running just below the shell Apollo wore had become comforting now. Familiar.
The seconds trickled by and then the sound of a twig snapping! sounded five metres in front of him. Slightly to the left. Percy shifted his weight, remaining low to the ground.
Golden curls, taunt muscles rippling under tanned skin and a short chiton that covered nothing from the angle Percy was looking at him in came into view.
Percy got even lower, before launching himself towards that perfect smile.
“Percy!” Apollo squawked indignantly as he fell backwards, but those long arms still came up to wrap around Percy’s smaller body. As they landed in the dried leaves and patchy untamed grass, Apollo’s laugh washed over Percy relaxing him.
He nuzzled Apollo’s chest in return before laying completely flat on the god.
“Miss me?” Apollo murmured when his laughter subsided.
Yes , Percy thought. But he said nothing. He could say nothing.
Thankfully Apollo had learnt to read Percy’s turbulent eyes well enough to not have to invade his privacy. “I missed you too. I- I - Sorry Percy, there’s no nice way of putting this but you need a bath,” Apollo said, face shifting from almost loving to barely concealed disgust. “What did you fall into ?”
Percy decided he should swim through the muddy part of the river more often: Apollo’s wrinkled nose was too cute.
Apollo was so disgusted by the caked layer of mud, leaves and probably fox shit to walk alongside Percy back to the palace and instead flashed them there. Directly into the palatial bathroom.
Percy wheezed - the closest thing to a laugh he could manage at the moment - as he realised Apollo had flashed in straight into the bath tub itself, not even letting him onto the smooth stone flooring.
“Don’t laugh,” Apollo tutted, sitting on the edge of the tub and reaching for the shampoo.
At the raised eyebrow Percy summoned water at a temperature that made Apollo yelp and pout.
“Perseus Jackson! Pack it in!”
-
Percy decided Apollo was getting his revenge for the water incident when he came at him with a bottle saying, “Dog Cologne” and underneath that, “Bubblicious” with a toothy grin.
“Hold still, you wiggled less when I brushed you,” Apollo’s voice was deceptive, soothing, nonchalant… like he wasn’t trying to make Percy smell like a priced poodle.
Percy growled, baring his teeth. The fact that the sun god had come to his rescue when he’d prayed to him almost a month ago in desperation when he realised he was screwed did not mean he was just going to roll over and let Apollo do whatever he wanted.
What does Bubblicious even mean?
“Okay, okay… how about this one?” Apollo asked, swapping bottles to one that said “Sea Salt and Sandalwood.”
There was a pregnant pause where sea green eyes met blue and gold swirls. Then Percy sat down, abandoning his defensive position, and baring his teeth in what may have been an attempt at a smile although Apollo wasn’t entirely convinced.
“Dinner?” Apollo said, more to fill the air than anything. The god tried to be chipper but Percy could tell something was bothering him. Well bothering him more than Percy currently being his responsibility - as emphasised by a very angry armed Poseidon - and the current state Percy was in.
The walk to the kitchen was slightly awkward as Percy spent it trying to work out how to translate, ‘It’ll be okay,’ which meant he missed a lot of Apollo’s waffle about Hermes' latest prank.
By the time that they came to a halt Percy had come up with a solution to his immediate issue and stepped closer to Apollo. Percy nudged Apollo’s palm and then nuzzled his outer thigh. Apollo’s expression shattered for a moment at the quiet attempt at comfort.
Percy whimpered at the teary look in those eyes.
“Thank you. It’s alright, I’m alright . It’s just… your father and I have managed to convince almost all of the Council that Athena was in the wrong. Even Ares has decided we have a point, something about he can’t ‘beat your arse in a rematch if you can’t hold a sword.’ The only holdouts predictably are Zeus, Hera and Athena,” Apollo explained, sitting next to Percy on the kitchen floor. His hand came up to the scruff of Percy’s neck, sinking into the thick curly fur there before thick things trailed down Percy’s spine. Over and over again. “So we won the vote but Father’s command gives Athena wiggle room.”
Apollo looked exhausted at that moment, “The exact wording was, ‘Fine, turn him back.’”
Percy tilted his head in a silent show of confusion. To him, that seemed pretty clear and loop-hole free.
“He didn’t say when. So she could let you live to be a fifteen year old dog and then turn you into the human equivalent. Or she could wait until you’re dying of kidney and liver failure. Turn you back into a twenty year old you but with organ failure. Or just wait until you’ve died and then turn your body back…” Apollo glared at the counter opposite their little huddle and the wood legs started to smoke by the end of his list.
It wasn’t until Percy whimpered, ear laying back and wet nose bumping into Apollo’s cheek snapped him out of it.
With a tight smile and a final comforting stroke, Apollo stood and reached to get Percy’s chicken breast and a tall chilled glass of nectar for himself.
“It’ll be alright Percy, your father and I are trying to find a way around this,” Apollo reassured as he placed the food onto a plate and then the plate onto the floor. Instead of moving to go and sit at the table, Apollo sat cross-legged next to Percy. The god leant his head back against the cabinet with a gentle smile, “I promise, we’ll work something out.”
Apollo hummed and flicked through his phone whilst he drank. Occasionally the quiet would be broken by Apollo nudging Percy and showing him something he thought would be interesting or fun. Like the photo of Piper and Annabeth skydiving or Leo and Calypso opening up their second auto-repair shop.
After dinner Percy had his head stubbornly lodged in Apollo’s lap as the god doodled in a book. Both were too lazy to really go anywhere. Percy snorted when he realised if anyone had told him a month ago that he’d be lying like this with Apollo and happily falling asleep, he’d have laughed.
Percy almost missed the soft, “I miss you telling me to shut up,” as oblivion took him.
-
As the weeks wore on and it became more and more apparent that Athena was taking as much “wiggle room” as she could get Apollo was becoming… stranger.
Percy wasn’t sure what the problem was. Well, he knew what the problem was but he wasn’t entirely sure why Apollo would jump whenever Percy would surprise him.
Why he stiffened minutely sometimes when Percy would nuzzle him.
Apollo still hummed and combed his fingers through his fur until Percy fell asleep. He still fed him. Bathed him. Comforted him whenever he noticed Percy was unsure or antsy - there were a lot of unexpected shifts in temperament between being human and now. But Apollo seemed to slip away sometimes when he thought he was alone.
Time was a little difficult for Percy to keep track of, partially because he slept a lot more now and partially because he had no schedule past mealtimes. Despite that, Percy thought at least a month had passed since Apollo told him about the vote when he stalked into the living room. He was bored and was pretending there was a rabbit for him to hunt.
“I’m considering Uncle P’s suggestion,” Apollo’s voice made Percy jump, the god was wrapped in a silk robe and staring out the large french windows. Not turning to look at Percy as he spoke, “It would be stepping on her toes and cause more issues for you in the long term if we just turned you back into your old form. But if we turned you into something else, like say a merman it wouldn’t be the same level of faux pas. The only problem is… all the options that keep you safe and away from her grasp have a much longer life expectancy.”
Percy blinked at him. Holding his breath.
Apollo had been Lester not too long ago, none at all by immortal standards, and Percy found himself hoping against hope that that would count for something right now. That Apollo wouldn’t just turn him into a god and have done with it.
His gut said he wouldn’t and it usually wasn’t wrong but it wasn’t a guarantee.
Apollo turned and looked at him, his eyes looked older than Percy’s ever seen them before. Percy's heart still stuttered at the hauntingly perfect face.
Apollo sighed after a moment or two and went over to the couch nearest Percy, patting the seat next to him until Percy jumped up.
“I won’t just do it, I… respect you too much for that. I don’t think I could survive you hating me," He started, "Merman live for around 3000 years, nymphs and dryads are basically immortal unless something happens to their tree or water source or someone physically attacks them. Satyrs and centaurs live for longer than mortals but not by too much. And then there’s various species that come under the category of ‘monster,’ so basically immortal but with stints in Tartarus if you’re killed,” Apollo listed, trying not to wince at the whine coming out of Percy. “Or … or you could ascend. If you were a godling you could sort this particular predicament yourself, just decide you want two legs and less hair. Keep your eyes though, they’re pretty.”
Percy growled. If it was anyone but Apollo - or probably Annabeth - he’d have bitten them for even suggesting it.
“I’ll let you think about it,” Apollo said quietly before disappearing, for once he didn’t disappear in a flash of light. He just disappeared leaving behind the smell of cloves, hyacinths and laurels.
-
Apollo had left dinner in its usual spot that night.
Percy went looking for him after demolishing the steak left out. Eventually he had had enough and ended up nudging the door to the master bedroom open. The bed looked undisturbed and as comfortable as always. Percy looked around already missing Apollo, he’d gotten so used to having him around that the palace felt empty and cold and unusually large without him. So without overthinking it, Percy hopped up into the bed that smelt overwhelmingly of Apollo, buried his nose under one of the pillows and let himself drift off to sleep.
Apollo reappeared the following morning. When he did appear he was smiling and happy, talking endlessly about Artemis and Leto. Apparently there was a camping trip planned for a week’s time.
“- and maybe you could come with,” Apollo said before freezing up, “If you want to obviously. I don’t … if you aren’t comfortable with others seeing you like this I won’t… oh er…”
Percy stared at him from the bed, making eye contact for the first time since Apollo appeared.
Apollo seemed at a loss for words having spotted Percy in his bed. Admittedly as a Border Collie with ocean green eyes but still Percy .
“You’re in my bed,” Apollo said.
No shit, Percy really hoped Apollo picked up on his thoughts for once.
“Percy. You are in my bed,” Apollo said again.
Percy blinked.
Apollo fidgeted, a blush appeared across his cheeks.
Percy knew if he were still mortal his eyebrows would be shooting up his forehead at that. He had a reason for developing a crush on Apollo, the god was gorgeous and had looked after him for over a month now. And there’s only so many times he can have Apollo sing him to sleep and talk to him like he wasn’t a Border Collie but actually still Normal Him before some affection had to grow. But why on Earth was Apollo blushing at the sight of him on his bed?
“Can I just-?” Apollo didn’t finish his sentence, instead just climbing onto the bed and lying behind Percy. A warm hand landed on Percy’s back, moving in soothing circles. His other hand was busy keeping his head raised as he looked down at him. “Miss me?” He teased.
Percy probably would have been fire-engine red if he were still human. Instead he nudged Apollo’s chest with his head causing the god to let out a melodic laugh.
“I’m sorry for leaving last night,” Apollo murmured softly, “Have you had a thought about what I said?”
Percy barked.
“Pray to me with your answer. Whenever you decide what you want,” Apollo smiled.
Fuck , Percy felt particularly dense. Possibly because he rarely actually looked to the gods for answers and loathed even praying to his father but he hadn’t actually considered praying to Apollo to communicate. Apollo, you fucking arsehole, why didn’t you mention that earlier?
Percy knew Apollo got that one when he started laughing. “I’m sorry baby, I thought you just didn’t want to talk so I was doing the talking for both of us.”
Percy whined. Embarrassed that his tail wagged when Apollo called him ‘baby.’
“I missed you,” Apollo said when he eventually stopped laughing, “I really did.”
Turn me into any of the previous options so I can hit you , Percy demanded.
“No,” Apollo chuckled.
Yes .
“No.”
Yes .
“No, I don’t want you to regret it just because you want to hit me. Forever's a long time for just giving me a black eye.”
Percy dropped his head, refusing to agree with Apollo.
“How about you come with me to the camping trip like this and then give me your opinion?” Apollo suggested, as he tried not to laugh.
Fine , Percy growled but he burrowed further into Apollo’s chest. If he were honest, he never wanted to leave this bed, this moment. Right now he didn’t care if he stayed as a dog or if he turned into something else. He just wanted to stay lying next to Apollo as he hummed a song so old nobody else would have cared to remember it.
Maybe Apollo wouldn’t mind continuing their cuddle sessions after Percy changes form again? Percy knew it was wishful thinking but the fond sparkle in Apollo’s eyes kept him hopeful.