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“Pass me the flour,” Annabeth ordered.
Percy smirked, and dug out a huge armful of flour.
She gasped. “Perseus!”
She grabbed some flour and threw it at him.
He ducked, but it grazed the top of his forehead and his hair was stock white.
She laughed. “You look like an old man.”
They continued with their flour fight for a while until there was no more flour to make anything and they both were covered head to toe.
She stuck out her tongue. “Fine, you know what, I forgive you. I’m going to be the mature one here.”
He gasped. “You forgive me?”
“Yes, I forgive you,” she taunted.
“I never even apologized.”
“Then maybe you should change that.”
He covered his mouth in an exaggerated moment and shook his head.
“I forgive you for starting this fight,” she exclaimed. “I forgive you for throwing flour at me.”
He pressed his hands against his ears. “La la la, I can’t hear you!”
She laughed. “Don’t be a kid.”
He started to sing loudly, still covering his hands.
“You’re so off-key,” she teased, “but I forgive you.”
“No!” he dragged out loudly. “I don’t want your forgiveness. I don’t deserve it because I’m not sorry!”
“You know what,” she told him, “I’m going to get you back for this. I’m going to tickle you.”
He gasped. “No! You would never.” He scooted away to the other side of the table as he spoke.
“Oh yes I would,” she declared, moving around to his side of the table.
He moved as she did, and she feigned the other direction.
“You’re trapped,” she taunted. “The only way out is through tickles.”
“Not if I can get your first,” he said, hurrying to her too fast for her to comprehend what he was doing. He picked her up and placed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
She shrieked as he held her and walked around casually. “Let me down,” she demanded.
“Never,” he declared.
“Oh, you will be letting me down,” she warned him. “You leave me no choice.”
With that being said, she started tickling him. Uncontrollable laughs spilled from him. She could feel the rumbling in his chest as he held her.
“Stop!” he wheezed through laughter.
“Never,” she parroted.
She tickled him, inducing strangle gasps and laughter before finally he relented.
“Okay, okay, I surrender. Fine.”
She grinned victoriously. “Ha! Now you have to let me down.”
He set her upright and broke into a grin of his one. “Redemption for the tickling now.”
She raised her eyebrows and crept away from him slowly. “You mean revenge?”
He moved closer to her and wrapped her in his arms, tickling her and causing her to break out in laughter.
“Percy Jackson, you stop it right now,” she warned.
“Annabeth Chase, I won’t stop it right now or anyhow,” he retaliated.
“Percy Jackson, yes you better stop right now and anyhow.”
“Annabeth Chase, no I better not stop right now, andhow, or for any reason.”
She pulled away from him and stuck out her tongue. “I hate you.”
He laughed genuinely which brought a small smile to her face. “Yeah, sure, I totally believe you.”
“Totally,” she agreed, laughing lightly.
He made a face. “Come on, you couldn’t hate me.”
“I couldn’t,” she agreed. “It’s unfair to hate idiots.”
A second passed before he gasped. “Ouch. Does that mean I shouldn’t hate you?”
A surprised smile appeared on her face and she opened her mouth to say something but he lifted his arms in surrender.
“Okay, okay, you’re not an idiot. And I don’t hate you.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “I suppose you’re not an idiot either. And I don’t hate you.”
He let out a dry chuckle. “I suppose we’re saying lies now?”
Her eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean lie? Wait. Which is the lie? Neither is a lie.”
“I mean, I sure hope you don’t hate me, but I don’t know what’s in your head. That’s not what I was talking about, though.”
She bit her lip. “So you think me saying you’re not an idiot is a lie?”
“I mean, if it’s true it’s true,” he joked awkwardly. “I’m a certified idiot.”
“You are not by any means an idiot. Now, you might not be good at school, but that matters next to nothing. You know, I’m not that great at school either. Don’t forget that I have ADHD and dyslexia too.”
He shrugged. “I mean, yeah, but it’s more than that. Just like in general. But it doesn’t matter so…”
“It does too matter. I refuse to let my boyfriend believe he is an idiot. I’m not going to try to tell you that you’re super smart, but also that depends on where you are coming from. Smart is subjective and can be many things. So you actually good be smart.”
He blew out a breath. “I’m talking about common sense.”
She tilted her head to the side. “I mean… As far as common sense goes, you… I’m kidding. You’re smart in different ways. Don’t try to compare yourself to me or anyone else. Everyone has their own kind of smart, so you’re not an idiot.”
He drew her in for a hug and tightened his arms around her, dropping a kiss to the top of her forehead. “Wow, that was a pretty long speech. But thanks.”
“I mean it,” she insisted.
He rested their foreheads together. “I know.”
A peaceful silence danced between them for several moments, broken by Percy.
“I forgive you for throwing flour at me and tickling me,” Percy declared.
She scoffed. “You did literally the exact same things.”
“Okay, so you should forgive me too. It should be one gooey disgusingness of forgiveness for things that aren’t even worth forgiving.”
She sighed. “It’s a wonder that I talk to you.”
He clicked his tongue. “You love me.”
“I do love you,” she agreed. “And I forgive you.”