Chapter Text
Just a few weeks into spring, Percy was running for his life. Well, not his life exactly, but for his sudden sugar need. He ran past the still gray-brown cherry trees planted outside of the main avenue, past the crocuses running aside the sidewalk outside of the gym building, and almost reached his goal. He just needed to get past one last obstacle. The traffic light that takes longer to load than a snail crossing a thirty feet long highway. Percy stared straight at it, as seconds turned into minutes of waiting beside the totally abandoned road. Finally, he saw the bike light turn yellow, and continued to run.
Two and a half minutes later, the door opened to the crowded coffee shop, and Percy walked into the cafe. He marched up to the counter, eyeing the desserts. Maybe a chocolate chip muffin? He did deserve a treat. In fact, Percy hadn’t bought anything other than food for the last two weeks.
Behind the counter stood a guy, maybe two inches taller than Percy? He had short, brown hair, brown eyes and an athletic build. Maybe he was on a sports team? Percy looked at his name tag. Horace Altman. Horace wore a light blue shirt under his gray barista apron.
Percy told him his order, paid and looked around the coffee shop. It was far more crowded than he thought it would be. Then, he saw an empty seat in a corner, the only problem was that the seat next to it was taken. The person sitting was a boy, about the same age as Percy, maybe a year younger or so. He was shorter than average and had a curly mop of brown hair on top of his head, longer than Percy’s. His face was full of freckles, and you could see dimples on his cheeks. His nose was slightly red, and his warm brown eyes flickered across the screen of his laptop as he was writing really fast. Percy decided to ask the guy if he could have the seat.
“Excuse me, hi, sorry to disturb, but the whole place is full. Could I have the seat next to you?” Percy asked. The guy jumped a bit, startled. He just looked at Percy, confused for about two seconds before replying.
“Yeah, of course! Sorry, I just had an idea and went into superfocus mode” He added with a laugh. “I’m Will, by the way. Will Treaty.”
“I’m Percy. Thanks for letting me sit here.” Percy said. Then, he noticed the barista, Horace, glancing at Will.
“Anyway, my focus disappeared. Since you’re about my age, I guess you’re a college student. What subject are you majoring in?” Will asked after about two minutes of silence, with a smile at the end, no longer interested in the text on his laptop.
“ Marine biology. I’ve always had a thing for fish. What about you?” Percy replied with a matching grin. Then his face broke because of a hair test hanging in front of his right eye, in desperate need of it being blown away.
“That sounds really cool. I major in journalism, I want to travel the world someday, and why not just tell people what is actually happening there in the meantime? And I think it’s important that people know the truth.” Will told him. Then he sneezed. “You gotta love spring, but it’s not as fun if you spend the whole time sneezing like a maniac.” Will said before sneezing again.
Percy looked around the coffee shop again, and saw the barista dreamily staring at Will again, blushing when he realized someone caught him. Percy gave him a small smile. Horace ran a hand through his hair and blinked.
“Just so you know, I think the barista is checking you out, Will.” Will snorted at this.
“As he should be, he is my boyfriend, after all” He managed, before falling into a fit of laughter. Will then turned around, and raised an eyebrow at Horace. Horace returned with a rather interesting face, with both eyebrows raised, one eye closed and his nose scrunched.
Just then, another barista came to the table with Percy’s muffin and coffee. Percy looked up at them, and said a brief “thank you”. Then he returned to Will.
“Ooh. How did you guys meet?”
“Well, we’ve known each other since pre-school, but we started dating in junior year of high school. We share an apartment now” Will told him, blushing slightly. “What about you? Are you dating anyone now?”
“I have a girlfriend, Annabeth, we’ve been together since we were sixteen. She’s super, like, super duper smart, unlike me.” Percy said, adding the last two words with an eye roll. He then looked down at his watch.
“Speaking of Annabeth, I should really go, I’m already five minutes late into my lasagna plan. It was nice to meet you. I hope I’ll see you again though!” Percy said.
“Yeah, nice to meet you too. Good luck with the lasagna, or something!” Will answered. Percy placed his empty muffin plate on the dish tray before walking out the door.