riptidejackson (riptidejackson) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2017-01-05 10:25:00 |
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Percy woke up realizing it was Christmas and proceeded to let out a long, loud yawn as he stretched his arms and legs feeling that wonderful sensation as he got his body ready for the day. He had gotten a present for Methos and for Duncan, but he was most excited to see Reyna and give her the presents he had picked out for her. And to talk with her and look in her eyes and really just talk with her. He stretched another time before getting up and throwing on his Camp Half-Blood shirt and a pair of sweatpants. He had made the shirt after being here a few months and missing his old one. He didn’t wear it much, but felt this was a prime time opportunity to wear it. After brushing his teeth and making sure his hair looked as it always did, he stepped out of his room and made his way down to the kitchen, presents in hand. The place had been decorated all over and he enjoyed seeing the reds and greens and lights. He wondered if Reyna was awake and figured she had probably been up at least an hour before he had even thought of getting up. He smiled at the thought and remembered their time on the cruise. He could smell some food cooking and he smiled. *** As he'd suspected, Reyna had already been up for several hours - not because she was that excited about presents, but because that was when she usually woke up. Having already done her workout and showered, Reyna went down to help with the cooking before going back into the living room to tidy up. Pine trees smelled wonderful, but they shed a lot. She was on her knees, sweeping up needles, when Percy came down. “Hey,” she greeted when she saw him. “Merry Christmas.” So what if Romans celebrated Saturnalia instead? Christmas was greeting-worthy. *** “Merry Christmas” Percy said, a slow smile spreading across his face. “You know you don’t have to clean up now” he said. “There’s always time later to clean up. Do you want me to put the presents down now or wait for you to make it spotless? And it’s a shame Frank isn’t here. I bet he’d be good at cleaning this, after all the times he had to clean at New Rome” he said with a wink. *** He had a nice smile, Reyna suddenly realized. Maybe she'd always known this, but she hadn't really thought about it until just now, when she saw it form. Usually, by the time she looked at him, it was already there in full trouble-making mode. “He's not going to have to clean up much now that he's Praetor,” Reyna pointed out. “Although knowing him, he'd probably still try.” Frank was sweet and earnest that way. She quickly swept the rest of the needles into the bin, then stood up and got out of his way. “Done. Go ahead. Watch out for the mistletoe. It's drooping.” *** Percy nodded along with what she was saying. “Yeah, he’d probably change into something that ate the pine needles” he said trying to think of what animal that could be. Probably a Roman goat or something. Goats ate everything. He bent over to place the crudely wrapped gifts underneath and tree. One for Methos, another for Duncan and a few presents he had tried his hardest to wrap nicely for Reyna. Tried and failed. He could slay monsters but couldn’t put paper around a box in any way that looked decent. “What mistletoe?” Percy asked as he stood back up. *** “That mistletoe.” She pointed at the little sprig right over his head, which was trying to free itself from the string Duncan had used to put it up. It dangled perilously close to his head, its sharp leaves just hovering over his hair. “I'll get Duncan to fix it.” The Highlander was tall; he could retie the thing so it wasn't a menace. Otherwise, Reyna tended to ignore the little green sprigs she'd helped him tie from the ceiling. It wasn't as if she expected any kissing to be going on here, unless Duncan really did carry a torch for Methos, or vice versa. *** “Doesn’t being under mistletoe mean you have to kiss me?” Percy said with a grin, running his hand through his bed hair. “Or is it the other way around and I kiss you?” he asked, curious. He knew it was one or the other, he just wasn’t sure. Percy had ideas forming in his head of course, but he wanted to wait and see what Reyna would say. *** Reyna gave him an arch look. “There's mistletoe all over the place here. I'm not kissing everyone who steps under one.” As she spoke, the mistletoe dipped a little more, snagging itself in Percy’s hair. He'd probably rip it right off the string and walk around with mistletoe embedded in his hair all day if he moved away now. And while that would be amusing, Reyna didn't want him walking around with mistletoe. “Hold on, it's stuck.” She moved over to stand beside him, close enough to free the sprig. “I'll get it out.” *** Percy was a bit surprised at the look he received, but his gut was telling him something else. At least he hoped his gut was right and not that he was hungry. He was about to move when Reyna told him not to and got beside him to free the piece of mistletoe from his tousled hair. His eyes glanced back and forth from Reyna. If it was going to happen, it was going to happen now and he’d pay for it later if he was wrong. He quickly leaned in and kissed Reyna, hoping that the next feeling he got wasn’t a blow to the head. The only thing in his mind was that she smelled good, like the tree. *** It happened so fast that it was over by the time Reyna registered what was happening. She could still feel the warmth of his lips on hers, though, and she wondered - just for a second - what it would feel like if he kissed her longer, deeper; if he wrapped his arms around her and - She shook herself out of it. This was Percy. Percy, who’d already rejected her once. Percy, who loved Annabeth so much he'd clung to her memory even when he'd forgotten everything else. Frozen where she stood, fingers still in his hair, she asked,“What was that for?” Her heart was hammering, her voice unsteady. *** “It was for you” Percy said sheepishly. “It was for me. It was for us. I mean” he said haltingly “I’d like there to be an us. Ever since the cruise. Before the cruise even” he said, unsure of where to even go with this. “This is the worst way for me to ask you out, or the best way. I’m not sure. I just know that I listened to my gut. I’m Greek. I act first and think later but I’ve been thinking a lot and my brain and my impulses acted as one” he said, still wondering when Reyna was going to hit him. *** She never did, though. Shocked, she just released him and took a step back to stare at him as if he’d just been possessed. Which, as far as she knew, he had been. “You already have a girlfriend,” she told him, as if she needed to remind him. Maybe later, when she’d gotten over the shock, she might laugh about how absurd this was. Or maybe she wouldn’t. Because with his green eyes so earnest and with his attention fully on her, she could almost believe what he was saying. That he believed what he was saying. *** “No, I don’t” Percy said clearly, looking directly into Reyna’s eyes. He watched her for movements or any hints of what she might be thinking. Not what she was saying - but thinking. Her private thoughts. “This place is different. I’ve come to accept that. For what it is and what it’s going to be. My life is not the life I left behind. It’s what I make of it here and now. And I want that life to include you in it. But more than as a friend. And I think you do too” he said, grasping for straws that might not be there. “Things may be hard. They may be different. But it’s not like we haven’t faced that before. Or face it in the future” he said. *** Used to hiding her private thoughts, Reyna didn’t show much by way of her expression as she gazed back at him. But he was right: she did want to have him in her life as more than a friend. She’d just never thought he’d ever feel the same, so she’d kept those feelings hidden deep inside, so deep even she didn’t really think about them. Now that he was saying otherwise, however, Reyna felt herself going through a gamut of emotions: hope; happiness; worry; uncertainty. “And if Annabeth comes back?” she asked, very quietly. She still remembered the depth of love the two of them had for each other. She didn’t want to always feel like she had to compete with someone who wasn’t there. And if Annabeth did come back, she’d want to be with Percy - for good reason. And Reyna liked Annabeth. She respected the Daughter of Athena. Could she hold onto Percy and let Annabeth hurt? Could she step back and let them be together? It was all very tangled. *** “Annabeth” Percy said. “It’s a big if. And if she did come back, she would understand that a person cannot wait forever to live their life. Waiting on an if” he said plainly. “It happens here all the time. I’ve seen it. And if it happens, then I’ll meet it head on” he said, not sure how to succinctly wrap this portion up. He had thought about it, but he knew it’d be him and him alone having to face it, having made the choice he had made. “I choose you. Even if you don’t” he said, his eyes watching her. *** Reyna still wasn't convinced, though. He seemed sincere enough, and she didn't think he'd lie to her, but… “I don't want to be the one you choose just because she's not here.” If Annabeth had stayed, they probably wouldn't even be having this conversation. And as much as Reyna did like Percy - he wasn't wrong about that - she didn't want to be second choice. *** “When she was here” Percy said “I didn’t feel a connection to her. She wasn’t the Annabeth I knew. And that’s because she was here so long and had moved on. It’s how she was that I knew my life would eventually have to begin here. Not tied to my past, but for my future” Percy said. “And my future is with you. At least I hope it is” he said. *** Reyna was quiet for a moment more - but in that moment, she saw his conviction, the depth of this feelings. She remembered all those walks home from school, him often waiting hours until sports practice was over. She remembered looking up in the bleachers and looking for him during games, and grinning like an idiot when she caught his gaze and he gave her a thumbs up. She remembered him coming out in the middle of the night to comfort her about her father. And she believed him. There was only one thing to do, then. He still had mistletoe in his hair, after all. She stepped forward swiftly and kissed him. *** After the kiss, when Reyna pulled away from him, Percy cocked his head and grinned. “So, does that mean you choose me too? Or was it just the mistletoe?” he said while he grinned, his face flushed red. *** Reyna laughed, a little red herself. “Yes. I choose you too. Gladly. Now...let me finish getting that thing out of your hair.” *** |