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There weren’t too many occasions that Percy got to surprise Annabeth with something he knew more about than she did. Most of those occasions did come from Percy being a born and raised New Yorker through and through. (Even if he grew up just outside of the city limits, just barely, he was still a New Yorker no matter what anyone else said.)
One of the things that Percy really had wanted to show off to Annabeth was the annual holiday market that popped up in Union Square.
He’d been to the market nearly every year with his mom when he’d been younger, back before all the half-blood stuff started when he was twelve. So, even if the arrangement changed slightly between each year, Percy still knew his way around fairly well just from going so often. And after what happened last December, even if it wasn’t within his control, Percy wanted to find a way to make up for missing their first Christmas season together as an official couple. Especially before any other Gods could mess with them again.
“Percy,” Annabeth started as soon as the taxi pulled off from the curb, “are you sure you wouldn’t rather just walk there?”
If it hadn’t been nearly freezing, Percy knew that they both would’ve preferred walking the twenty-five minute journey from his place to the market. But, because of it being so cold out, at the prospect of snowfall at any moment from the gray skies above, Percy instead elected to call a taxi, a normal, mortal taxi for them instead. (He never wanted to see the Grey Sisters’ cab ever again. Even if it was just him and Annabeth this time.) Plus, taking the taxi turned the twenty-five minute walk into a five minute drive; which meant that he could spend the extra twenty minutes showing off his favorite stalls instead of walking down New York city blocks.
Before he replied to her, Percy laced his fingers between Annabeth’s easily, brushing his thumb along the back of her hand, “Well, I figured that, with, with the weather and all, that it would be nice to just take a cab there.” Even after all the time that he’d been friends with Annabeth, let alone be her boyfriend, Percy still got a bit tongue-tied from time to time around her, “But, if you want we could just walk back afterward? Instead of taking another cab.”
Percy’s slightly nervousness and tongue-tied feelings were only worsened when Annabeth, instead of immediately saying anything back to him, she instead looked at him with that overly analytical look, which he absolutely adored. After what felt like millennia of Annabeth’s beautiful, calculating gray eyes staring into his very soul, she finally replied, “You put a lot of thought into this, huh?” Her steely eyes softened up in an instant as a soft smile spread across her lips as she spoke. “Well, I think it’s adorable that you’ve put so much thought and some planning into this, Seaweed Brain.” Then she punctuated her remark with a kiss on his cheek.
He hadn’t realized how quickly their drive went by as he’d been talking to Annabeth as, while his cheeks were definitely still flushed some shade of red, their cab driver pulled to a stop at a barricade as close to the market as he could get. Before Percy had even fully processed that they’d gotten to the market, Annabeth handed their driver more than enough cash to pay for the ride and she was tugging him out of the taxi and onto the sidewalk.
“Alright Jackson,” Annabeth started as the taxi pulled off from the curb in a hurry, like a typical New York taxi cab in Percy’s opinion, “where are we going first?”
It took Percy a second to gather his wits, his brain fog clearing up enough for him to remember all the stalls that he wanted to show Annabeth. There were many various stalls that were typically at the market each year, the mini doughnuts from Chi-Chi’s, all kinds of (usually free) candy from Sweets on America, the hot cider and hot chocolate from the Michelson’s, but none of them were where Percy needed to go to first. Without sparing a single thought, as soon as he’d seen just how many people were roaming around the entrance of the market, Percy took a firm, but not too tight, grasp on Annabeth’s hand before heading off into the market.
As soon as Percy, with Annabeth in tow, was making their way through the crowds of people, he felt like he was a little eight or nine year old kid doing the very same thing with his mom. Finding those few and far between moments of peace and fun with his mom and away from Him.
“Percy,” Annabeth started from behind him, laughing as she spoke, her fingers tightening that much more around his own, “where are we going?”
“Well, Wise Girl,” Percy began, half turning back to look at Annabeth as he kept on pushing through the groups of people that otherwise refused to move out of their way, “if I told you it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
Once he had pushed their way through enough people, far enough away from the entrance to the market, that there weren’t masses upon masses of people. While the crowds had definitely dwindled down enough that Percy didn’t need to keep holding onto Annabeth’s hand, that certainly didn't mean that Percy was in any kind of hurry to let go, and she wasn’t letting go of his hand either.
Before Annabeth could, once again, ask where they were going or what he was planning, (and Gods was it fun to be on the other end of it on a rare occasion) that was when Percy spotted the stall he’d been hoping to find at the market.
Golden Creations.
His mother loved looking at all the unique pieces that the jewelers brought to the stall each year. And, if his source was right (and definitely not Grover) then there was a particular piece that Percy was going to be needing to pick up. He’d put way too much planning into this whole thing to go awry now.
And if that meant Percy claiming that the ring was for his mom, then so be it.