the light in me//will guide you home

[kelpful]

Characters: Annabeth & Percy, closed
Date: Feb 7
Location: Their suite, the ocean
Situation: A peaceful moment
Warnings/Rating: N/A atm

"Hey." Percy is lying upside down on the couch, his head hanging over the edging, his legs draped over the back of it. Annabeth is...somewhere near enough that he's pretty sure she can hear him, and that's the main thing. The hyper awareness of where she is at all times, its faded a little. He's not sure if he's glad for that, or mourns it. There's definitely still some paranoia there though.

"I think Asti's changing direction." He can feel it, the shifting in the water. Asti's huge, but he still floats. He's not exactly a boat, but Percy's sense of latitude and longitude remains pretty much the same, even here. "We should go up to the head again."

Comments

[kelpful]

He loves her smile, is relieved by it, the fact that they both still can even after Tartarus and everything it entailed. He holds her to him as she presses closer, and some of the softness disappears from the kiss in favour of want. Being underwater like this, it reminds him of that first kiss, back when things were simpler and didn't hurt so much.

"Yeah? What do you have that can beat it?"

[sophos]

Annabeth lets go of his hand in favor of holding both his shoulders, and she leans in even more, till there's not that much space left between them at all. Especially with the shift in the way he's kissing her, because suddenly her own want is there, too, underwater or otherwise. It's not like Tartarus will ever really go away, but all things considered, this moment right now is probably a good sign.

She smirks, kissing him a few more times before speaking up again, one her hands snaking up to thread through his hair. "A couple of ideas. But it's a surprise."

[kelpful]

Seeing as she's pressing in anyway, Percy takes the opportunity to lean back until his back hits the wall of the bubble, taking Annabeth with him. They're not exactly horizontal, but she's definitely more on top of him now than she was earlier.

Something in his gaze darkens when she smirks like that - it's a good look on her, better than that smile in some ways. "I'm pretty sure that's just a way of saying you haven't thought of anything yet," he taunts. Anyone else would probably think he has a death wish, but riling Annabeth up is one of his favourite pastimes.

[sophos]

She probably shouldn't go with it, mostly because they're underwater and sometimes she worries over it, even though she knows without a doubt that Percy would never let anything happen to her here. It's that thought that pretty much has her pushing into him when he tilts backwards, her knees hitting the wall of the bubble on either side of him.

His gaze darkens, but hers gets a little softer - it darkens, too, but she's just... happy, that Tartarus hasn't taken him away and he's still Percy.

She scoffs, though. "I have the basics, don't be stupid." It just has to be more elaborate, clearly, but right now she mostly just wants to keep kissing him, as much as the taunt does manage to prod at her pride.

[kelpful]

"So what are the basics, then?" he counters, except it doesn't seem like he's really paying attention to what he's saying. Not when she's so close, and his lips can paint a trail from the corner of her mouth along her jaw. He reaches her ear. "Because I'm pretty sure you're lying."

He's not. She totally has the basics down, and probably is working on how to bruise his ego (and his body) as they speak. That's just part of the fun.

[sophos]

She can tell his attention is waning from the conversation, and it makes her smirk again. "I'd never lie," she lies, and her head tilts a little on instinct, her lips brushing against his hair as her hand weaves through it more tightly. "I could show you, if you really want to know."

She'll show him anyway, to be honest. But making the offer is amusing.

[kelpful]

There's a pause, before Percy pulls back and blinks at Annabeth.

"Tell me what?"

He knows exactly what she means, but why let that on?

[sophos]

Annabeth rolls her eyes at him. "Tell you that you're an idiot."

And then she pulls him back in close, kissing him hard; she's still acutely aware that they're in the bubble, so it's nothing too pushy, but there's definite intent in it anyway - and in the way she kind of pins him in place. The basics include attempting to distract him to the point where word mess-ups aren't on purpose.

[kelpful]

"That's not a plan, that's stating the--" And then he gets cut off by her mouth. Which, on the list of things he could ever be cut off by, is definitely number one. He kisses her back (obviously), but there's kind of a pause between when her lips move over his and when Percy realises just how much she's putting into it. He inhales sharply, one hand tightening on her hip, the other sliding back through her hair.

Basics achieved.

[sophos]

She starts smiling against his lips with her victory, not quite a smirk but she's still pleased; she's always been able to tell when Percy's focus shifts entirely on her, and that's always a part of her goals when they do this.

It might not be the hardest achievement in the world, but Annabeth still loves it. The fact that she can still do so is reassuring, too, in the face of everything else they've been going through. She keeps kissing him eagerly, holding herself to him tightly as she bites gently on his lip, and for a moment, she wishes they weren't underwater.

[kelpful]

A low groan escapes Percy when she bites his lip like that and even though everything in him is screaming to keep going, kiss her harder, push her shirt out of the way so they can be even closer--

He breaks off the kiss. Because they're totally underwater, and while he can keep his focus just fine now (on the water, at least. Not much else, other than Annabeth), he doesn't think either one of them want to test that. Percy tucks his face into the crook of her neck, and then kisses the skin there because he can't help himself. Once, twice, a third time, before he pulls away from her completely, laughing.

"You're a serious problem for me, Annabeth Chase."

[sophos]

She doesn't do much when he breaks it off, having been not too long for the same move herself. There's only so far she was willing to push. She smiles warmly, though, when he tucks his face in against her, gently cradling the back of his head; she's still smiling when he pulls back, like she couldn't be happier. Which isn't that far off, really. She moves the hand from his chest, searching to take one of his.

"Should I be insulted or proud of that?"

[kelpful]

"Definitely proud." He says it with certainty, moving his hand so she can find it. He tangles their fingers together and then lifts them, kissing the back of hers because it's there and he can. It's kind of hard not to think about her being pressed up against him, but he does his best.

"I love you."

[sophos]

"I can do proud." Understatement of the century, and she's super aware of how ridiculous it is to say.

Her expression softens even more though with the gesture, doubly so with what follows. "I love you, too." The ever familiar promise of always is more than heavily implied with it. Always and despite everything and anything that has or might happen - especially things Tartarus related. Because she loves this stupid boy more than everything, and that thought is a lot less scary than it used to be.

[kelpful]

"You can do pretty much everything." Something that Percy has firmly believed since he was a kid. Even when they were arguing all the time.

He draws in a breath, the sound shuddering before he lets it out again. He thinks about Annabeth, and the ocean, and the giant turtle floating alongside them and how he's probably screwed up before too. And he thinks about Captain Bobby Tennyson and his three siblings that Percy met in Dreaming. Even having been in Malicant's world, in its presence, it's hard to not have hope. Not after seeing himself and Annabeth make their way out of Tartarus, and not after holding a tiny pink girl in his arms and listening to her chatter at him about moving on.

"I think," he says softly, leaning his forehead against Annabeth's, "we're going to be okay."

[sophos]

She used to believe that of herself in all honesty, but if she really sits down to think about it, believing so is dangerous. It's - it's her fatal flaw, and she's been confronted with that that means in terrible ways lately. But she smiles anyway when he says it.

And then Annabeth waits, because she knows that look on Percy's face, that he's doing the kind of thinking that isn't worth teasing over.

He presses his forehead to hers, and she closes her eyes with the words. But it's out of relief to hear it. Things have gotten better in ways over the last few months, but there'd been an uncertain undercurrent at the same time, and Annabeth knows it was Percy trying to deal with - everything. All she could do was try and keep anchoring him.

That he can say it, we're going to be okay and mean it more than he has in ages - it's more than a good sign, really. It adds weight to the hope. They can and will get through it. She opens her eyes again, slips her hands up to cup his face. "Yeah," she starts, believing it a lot more wholeheartedly herself now, too; Percy's hope has always helped hers, even when she's been the one channeling more optimism lately. "I think so, too."

[kelpful]

He draws in a soft, slow breath when she cups his face like that. It's not exactly a smile, the expression that touches his lips, but it's definitely along the lines of positivity. Relief, maybe. They're in the same place, physically and mentally, and that place isn't even all that bad.

What was commiseration for months (this might be awful, but at least we have each other) has started to morph into something that much more...peaceful. It's not great, but it definitely counts as okay.

His arms wrap around her, roll them (and shifting the bubble a bit) so they're both lying on their sides, tangled up in each other. "Never again," he murmurs, and instead of the desperate, fatalistic promise it's been since Rome, it's just a simple truth. He's not letting go.

[sophos]

Something flutters at that look on his face. She can't really remember the last time she saw anything like it. And she's beyond relieved, too, for him and for herself, to be in a better place than they were a month ago.

Percy rolls them and the bubble both over, and Annabeth doesn't hesitate in tangling them together even more. The never again doesn't make her worry. It's a promise for a future where the worst is behind them, and he's still not letting go. She curls up against him further, breathing out a sigh of contentment as she smiles softly with all the feelings she doesn't have words for. Right now, this is pretty much all she needs, because Percy Jackson is going to be in her life for the rest of her life, and they're going to be okay. Because despite everything, they're still together.

And it's not scary anymore.