Work Text:
Perseus was sitting alone , feet buried under the shoreline sand , when Apollo approached him . By the looks of it the boy was sulking .
Apollo itched to remove that frown off his face and replace it with one of the sea son's stunning smiles.
He gently placed a hand on the boy's shoulder .
"Perseus ?" He called out softly .
He ducked just in time to miss the demigod's punch .
" BY THE GODS WHY WOULD YOU TRY TO PUNCH ME! "
The halfblood looked at him sheepishly grinning ( atleast he did not have that sad look on his face anymore )
"Sorry , Reflexes, you approached quite suddenly "
Oh.
Perseus looked at him curiously and suspiciously " Well Lord Apollo , might I ask why are you here , I dont know if you know but I am not really taking quests right now "
Oh he knew alright , he was after all present when Poseidon boisterously declared ( threatened everyone ) that his mortal son was off limits for any quests.
He smiled on of his signature blinding smiles , smiles that people swooned and fell on their knees after seeing. " Rest easy , Perseus , you shall get no quests for me ...although I might as for a poem or two "
" You wont be getting any poems from me either"
" Truly a tragedy " He sat down on the sand next to the sea prince , their shoulders touching and tried to ignore the giddy feeling rising in him at the mere physical contact between them . No , he would like to vehemently deny , he was not acting like a schoolboy with a crush.
" I'm just here to talk "
" Just here to talk ?" The boy sounded like he could not quite believe it.
"Just to talk " he reaassured " These past few days have been quite a whirl wind for you , have they not ? I just came to see if you are doing well "
Sea green eyes looked at him , brimming with emotions that he could not quite name . " Why ? Why would you care?" He asked , after all gods did not care about mortals and their fleeting lives.
Gold eyes glinting in the sunlight looked at Perseus with an intensity , that the mortal could not decipher.
"Why not ?"
And the conversation ended there , both the immortal and the mortal on the verge of immortality staring at the waves in comfortable silence.
" You know " Apollo began to speak , once again . " You will break yourself if you wallow alone , you need to start going back to camp , back to your family , back to your friends "
Perseus looked at him , voice constricting " I-I cannot , Annabeth sees a monster in me-"
Apollo cut him off immediately , and rather passionately " She is a mortal , a mortal who does not understand the true extent of things , who is she to tell you what is meant to be controlled or not ? Who is she to decide , to restrain or limit your powers? There are many nuances to such things Perseus , many intricacies of fate that she cannot truly even begin to understand . What you did was so incredible and powerful Perseus , I cant even begin to make you understand. It was essential for your survival and not to mention hers. It is because of you , that you both accomplished a feat that one can not even imagine -surviving Tartarus !
Besides she may not accept your powers whole heartedly , but the rest of your friends do right ? The rest of them accept you right? "
The dark haired boy did not answer , he looked down looking like a chatised brat scolded for stealing blue cookies.
No , this would not do .
Apollo grabbed the boy's chin not gently but not unkindly either and made him to look at him .
Golden eyes bore deep as if trying read the other's very soul . " I asked you a question Perseus ..."
"Yes " Percy breathily answered " Yes , they accept me "
" Then pray tell , why on earth would you avoid them ?"
"A-anna beth, she needs time , she does'nt want me to be around " He stuttered.
Apollo's grip tightened , and he began to exude an aura that would have made lesser mortals fall on their knees." They are not just that annie girl's friends , they are yours as well. I get it she needs time to heal , but that does not mean that for her sake you wont let yourself heal . You need them too. You need to take care of yourself as well . You better go find them yourself , or I shall tell Will you are neglecting yourself and he will come find you himself ..."
Perseus simply looked at him with dazed eyes in wonder.
" Am I clear Perseus ?"
" Crystal , my lord " It seems that his sheer power had began to affect the Perseus as well , he ignored the excitement in his veins at being addressed like that . Now was not the time.
"Good boy " my good boy , his mind thought traitorously .
Perhaps it was his imagination but the demigod in his grasp shuddered , Apollo left his hold , and distanced himself once again , he did not realise he had gotten so close to the other .
The atmosphere had shifted to something far more intimate.
Now sure that the boy would take care of himself ( when had his motives changed ? had he not come here to simply flirt? ) he made a move to leave , when a gentle hold on his wrist held him back .
He turned back towards the sea prince , eye brows raised as if demanding an explaination .
The other looked rather nervous as he quickly left his wrist and fidgeted around with his own fingers instead as he spoke . " I know you told me to go to my friends , but can we continue talking for a while ....not about this but just normally "
There was a beat of silence , and the boy must have remembered he was talking to a god .
" I m sorry , I didnt mean to -"
Apollo cut him off once again , flashing him one of his million dollar smiles , mood suddenly changing and the tension from the atmosphere dissipated at once .
" Why I would love to Perseus ...How about you tell me about some of your funny experiences with the sea life ...from what I hear they are quite gossipy and funny "
And thus began Percy Jackson's rant on the shenaningans he had witnessed under the sea .
It was then he began to realise that he was mistaken.
Severely mistaken to think that he could just have a simple one night stand with the sea prince and leave .
Judging by the way his heart beat faster everytime Perseus laughed , he knew disaster had struck. He had caught feelings.
A part of him wanted to run away , his mind reminding him that his luck with love was a disaster, a tragedy , and that something wrong would happen yet again.
It was dangerous to catch feelings , it was dangerous to fall in love.
He ignored it , after all when those sea green eyes looked at him , he could ignore even the world burning or olympus falling.
It seems like Perseus was dangerous even without trying .
Truth be told , Apollo had given up on finding love long ago . He now simply relied on one night stands and scandalous encounters here and there , the amount of kids in his cabin were proof of that . Sure , the partners he had kids with , did infact hold a special place in his heart , a place of love and care . But not the romantic kind .
For the time spent with them were conquests of the body , not conquests of the heart.
He had stopped hoping for love long ago .
Until now.
There was just something special about Perseus. Something magnetic , something dangerous about him , that got Apollo's blood rushing and heart rate spiking .
He could feel it deep in his weary bones , like an ancient prophecy that their golden threads of fate were entwined.
He could feel it in his every breath , that he did not really need because he was a god but took anyway because being around Perseus made him feel a bit breathless.
They were meant to happen .
Perseus Jackson was his .
And he would damn everyone who got in the way .