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There he was. Luke sat with his back against the wide trunk of a tree. The dappled sunlight filtering through the branches lended a greenish tint to Luke. His eyelids were closed, his head drooping toward his chest. His expression was peaceful, the worry line between his eyebrows smoothed out with sleep. A book rested on his lap, page marked with his thigh as though he only set it down for a moment.
Percy pulled his cell phone from his back pocket and snapped a picture of Luke. He winced when the shutter went off and glanced up at his subject.
Luke stirred and stretched. He blinked his eyes open, yawned, and rubbed them. When his blue gaze finally landed on Percy, he flashed a happy smile. “Hey,” Luke said.
Percy joined Luke beneath the tree, sitting beside him. “Hey,” he said, returning the smile. He couldn’t help it; Luke’s smile was infectious and when Luke fixed it on Percy, well, it did things to the man. Namely eliciting warm, bubbly feelings like Percy drank a few glasses of champagne. “I wondered where you got to.”
Luke dog-eared his page and showed Percy the cover. It was a book of poetry. “I was reading.”
Percy’s smile turned playful. “Oh? It looked like you were napping.”
“No, no. I was definitely reading,” Luke said, tone matching the playfulness of Percy’s.
Percy’s grin widened. “I didn’t know you could read with your eyes closed. Is that a power you got from Hermes?”
Luke rolled his eyes. Twelve years later and he was still salty about his dad abandoning him for the first twenty-two years of his life. Instead of commenting about it, Luke leaned over and touched Percy’s cheek. His fingers came away wet and red. “You do know you’re not supposed to let them cut you?”
Percy’s cut stung a little. He shrugged. “It’s good for morale if they think they can actually land a hit on me.” He drew the water from deep in the ground, calling it up and used it to heal his cheek.
Luke washed his fingers clean in the water. He gave a very put upon sigh. “Imagine if I had let you beat me.”
Percy elbowed Luke playfully. “But you did. And it did wonders for my self esteem.”
Luke elbowed Percy back but his smile was very pleased.
Percy didn’t immediately notice Luke the first time he walked up to the dining pavilion. All the evidence pointed to Luke being at the Hermes table.
Rachel told Percy that she saw Luke heading up to the dining pavilion to spread out his work. That was a couple hours ago but Rachel claimed Luke looked like he was settling in for the long haul.
So Percy hiked along the path up to the marble pavilion. He found Luke’s project, several stacks of paperwork that were held down by heavy gold paperweights that were miniatures of various monsters. Percy didn’t see Luke, so he made a circuit. Then he noticed the body beneath the marble table.
To be fair to himself, Percy was expecting to find Luke sitting at a table, not laying beneath a table. He got down on his hands and knees and peered beneath the table for a better look.
Luke lay curled on his side. His shirt was balled up beneath his head as a pillow. There were dark bags beneath his eyes, indicating that he hadn’t been sleeping enough lately.
Percy got up and looked at the paperwork Luke had left out. It was the Camp’s finances. Luke was in charge of them because he was so good with money and math. It was a lot of responsibility but Luke had been doing it since he was fourteen. Percy knelt down again. He wiggled his front half beneath the table and reflected that he was getting too old for this. He shook Luke awake. “Do you wanna go to bed?”
“No,” Luke mumbled without opening his eyes. “I have to finish this.”
“You can finish it later,” Percy suggested. “You need rest.”
“I was just resting my eyes. I’m fine,” Luke said. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, doubling over so that he didn’t hit his head on the table.
Percy pulled out from beneath the table. He sat cross-legged and watched Luke, concerned. “You should take a break.”
Luke gave Percy a rueful smile. “I was taking a break.”
A flash of guilt went through Percy. Maybe he should have left Luke alone.
Luke crawled out from beneath the table, only pausing when he was nearly nose to nose with Percy. His blue eyes glittered with amusement. “Don’t worry, Percy. I do this every year. Once I’m done with the finances, then I’ll sleep for a week.”
Even though Luke obviously wanted to get out from beneath the table, Percy didn’t move right away. He looked into Luke’s blue eyes, trying to judge if Luke really would be alright. The problem with Luke’s eyes was that they were compelling and whenever Percy gazed into their depths for too long, he found himself leaning forward as though he was going to -
No. That was ridiculous. If he and Luke were going to happen, it would have happened already. Not when Luke was over thirty and Percy was nearly there too. They were too old to suddenly decide that they had feelings for each other.
Percy moved out of Luke’s way and got to his feet with a groan. His body ached constantly from years of hard use. He may have only been twenty-seven but this was ancient for a demigod. Luke was so old that he was practically turning to dust. “We’re old,” Percy said.
Luke got to his feet. “Speak for yourself,” he said with a tired smile. He sat down on the bench and looked at his work. Then he looked to Percy. “Maybe you should stay with me. Make sure I don’t fall asleep and drool on our taxes or something.”
“Yeah, okay,” Percy agreed. He sat down beside Luke, close enough that they were touching.
When Percy wanted to get away from the endless, needy kids at Camp, he went into the strawberry fields. The fields were a good hiding place because the kids only worked in them during the morning before it got too hot and weren’t permitted to play among the fields in case they ruined the product that kept Camp Half-Blood running. Evening, just before dinner, was Percy’s favorite time to visit the strawberry fields. He walked barefoot on the sunbaked earth, enjoying the heat in the soil. It made pleasurable goosebumps rise on Percy’s legs. This was also the best time because the strawberries smelled the strongest and overwhelmed the scent of monsters hiding in the forest.
It was quiet in the fields. The plants were bigger than what you would see at any farm, grown to the size of hedges because of Dionysus. Their dark green leaves turned up toward the sun. The berries were huge, each one the size of Percy’s palm, and red as blood. They weren’t like the large strawberries you got at the grocery store where the insides were unripe and they didn’t taste good; these strawberries tasted delicious from top to bottom. Percy paused to pick one and nibbled on it while he walked along the rows of berry bushes.
Juice ran down his fingers, down his wrist. Percy didn’t mind. It reminded him of being a kid again and his first summer at Camp, him and Luke picking strawberries together. Back then, Luke had made it seem like they were sharing a big secret picking and eating strawberries, hidden among the bushes. Percy knew better now. As long as you didn’t eat too many, Dionysus wouldn’t be angry and the Camp wouldn’t suffer.
Suddenly Percy tripped. He caught himself with one hand then rolled onto his ass in the dirt. He turned to see what tripped him and saw a tanned leg. At first Percy didn’t see more than Luke’s leg, but then he realized that Luke was underneath the bushes.
From within the bushes, Luke said, “How is it every time I try to take a nap, you wake me up, Percy?”
Percy rolled his eyes but he smiled. “I’m talented like that,” he said. He took a bite of his strawberry, content to stay sitting on the warm dirt if Luke was going to wake up to talk.
Luke rolled out of the bush and laid on his stomach. Dirt and leaves were on his clothes and in his hair. He propped his chin up on his hands. “I don’t think I would call it a talent.”
“Talent is relative.”
“That is not the correct saying.”
Percy held out his half eaten strawberry as a peace offering.
Luke took it and raised an eyebrow. “This is half eaten,” he pointed out. This did not stop him from eating the other half in a few bites. His lips were very red from the juice of the berry. Luke yawned and laid his head down on his arms. “Did you need anything?”
Percy shook his head. “I just wanted some quiet,” he explained.
Luke hummed. “Well, I’m gonna go back to sleep.” He yawned again and his eyelids slid closed. After a few moments, Luke reached out and pressed his fingertips against Percy’s leg. It was a gentle touch, just barely there. Afterward, Luke sighed.
Percy sat with Luke, watching the plants shifting in the wind. He watched a small frog hop across the ground and disappear into the next row. The sun was warm against his skin, never getting too hot because it was beginning to sink below the horizon. Now that he was away from everyone, hidden among the strawberries with Luke, Percy felt that he could finally relax. Maybe they weren't too old, Percy thought.
Boss, you should come out here, Blackjack’s voice woke Percy from sleep.
“What’s up, Blackjack?” Percy asked, swinging his legs out of bed. He got up and patted his pocket. Riptide was there as usual. He walked out of the Poseidon cabin barefoot. Usually Blackjack wanted him to rescue a sea critter and Percy didn’t need shoes for that.
It was early morning and the sun wasn’t yet up. The hard packed dirt beneath Percy’s feet was cool. Blackjack led Percy to the clearing beside the stables. You see the problem?
“Is that Luke on a pegasus?” Percy asked, squinting.
As soon as she saw them, the pegasus mare began heading over to them. Her wings were fluffed against the chill. She moved slow and steady as though afraid of upsetting her rider. My lord! Thank the gods you’re here. He fell asleep on my back. I was afraid of letting him fall.
Percy cocked his head. It was Luke on the mare’s back and he was asleep, head dipping toward his chest. “But Luke doesn’t ride pegasi.”
He rides every morning before sunrise, boss. Never me, of course, but one of the others, Blackjack explained. He tossed his head and stretched his wings.
“Huh,” Percy said. He’s never seen Luke on a pegasus before. Finding him asleep on one was even more unusual. But they were up late last night on an extended game of capture-the-flag and had been in bed well after moonhigh. “Don’t worry. I’ll get him up.” Percy moved to the mare’s side and put his hand on Luke’s thigh. “Hey, Luke, time to get up. Er, down, actually.”
Luke jerked awake. He almost fell off the mare in his surprise to find himself on a pegasus. “Percy?” He released the mare’s mane and gently patted her. Now that he was awake, a furrow appeared between Luke’s eyebrows, wrinkling his forehead. He slid off the mare’s back and put both hands on Percy’s shoulders to steady himself. “My legs feel like jello.”
Percy met the mare’s eye and nodded to her. She and Blackjack walked away toward the stables, talking loudly about how strange Luke was. When they were gone, Percy focused his attention on Luke again. “What were you doing? You hate pegasi.”
“I don’t hate them. I’d just rather not ride them,” Luke corrected automatically.
Percy blinked, waiting for an explanation.
Luke looked away but didn’t drop his hands from Percy’s shoulders. He took a deep breath. “I wanted to surprise you by actually taking you up on your offer to go for a flight.” It was still too dark to properly see Luke’s face, but Percy thought that the man was blushing.
“Oh,” Percy said. He was strangely pleased that Luke would acclimate himself to pegasi riding just to make Percy happy. “You don’t have to do that. I know how you feel about them.”
Luke shrugged. He pulled his hands back reluctantly, shuffled in the dirt. “Well. I just…”
Percy slid an arm around Luke’s waist. He smelled like hot candle wax and horse musk. They began the walk back to the cabins. “I appreciate it, Luke. If you want to fly with me, I’d be happy to have you along.” Percy considered for a few moments. “But I also like having someone on the ground to come back to. So if you don’t make it to flying, I’m still happy.”
Luke leaned his cheek against Percy’s head in a quick nuzzle. He didn’t say anything, just sighed in a contented way.
At first Percy thought that there was a big cat stretched out on the wide porch railing of the Big House. Upon reflection, he wasn’t entirely wrong.
Luke lay on his stomach on a railing just wide enough to fit him. One arm was stretched above his head and the other hung off the edge of the railing. His mouth was open.
Percy snapped a picture. Then he looked at Dionysus, playing cards nearby. “How long has he been there?”
“How long has who been where?” Dionysus asked without looking up from his game.
Percy sighed and rolled his eyes, too used to Dionysus to be really annoyed by him. He went up the steps of the big house and over to Luke. For a split second he considered pushing Luke into the flowerbed below. The urge passed quickly enough. An urge that did not pass was the desire to press his lips against the short hairs at the back of Luke’s neck. Almost before he consciously thought of it, Percy was doing it.
Luke sighed in his sleep.
Percy kissed him again, let his lips linger even though sometimes Luke woke up from naps swinging. Only with other people, though. “This is getting ridiculous,” Percy murmured.
“What’s ridiculous is that you’re going to make me fall off this railing,” Luke purred. He sat up, swung his leg over so that he was facing Percy. He took both of Percy’s hands in his.
Percy didn’t pull away. He met Luke’s eyes. “I guess there’s no point in beating around the bush, huh?”
Luke shook his head. The grain of the wood was imprinted on his skin.
“Alright. By formal invitation, Luke Castellan, please come sleep in my bed as my boyfriend. I promise that it’s much more comfortable than everywhere else I’ve found you.” He smiled. “I’ll even let you sleep.” Percy added with a wink.
Pink bloomed on Luke’s cheeks. “I accept your invitation, Percy Jackson.” He leaned forward, pressed his lips against Percy’s lips.
“Alright,” Luke said, hands on his hips as he surveyed the group of teenagers. “Where did Percy go?”
They looked up at him and giggled.
Luke had to resist rolling his eyes. “Come on, tell me where he is.”
“Can’t you smell him?” One of the braver ones asked. He was a pipsqueak son of Iris.
Luke couldn’t, actually, which was why he was asking. But why wouldn’t he be able to pick up Percy’s scent? He considered for a moment, then realized that the answer was obvious. If Percy hadn’t left Camp - and he didn’t say he was going to - then there was only one place he could be. Luke left without saying anything, taking long strides to canoe lake. He walked out onto the dock and looked down into the water.
There, twenty feet below him, was Percy. His boyfriend was curled in a bubble of air - not that he needed it, he had gills - and he was asleep in the shadows of the dock. The naiads swam around him, suggestions of faces in the water, but didn’t disturb the sleeping demigod. Percy rarely took day naps even though Luke has been telling him that they’re an essential part of the day. He worked so hard training demigods and running the camp. It was nice to see him relaxing.
Luke took off his shoes. He pulled his shirt off. Then he dove down, down, cutting through the water. When he reached the bubble, Luke simply phased through it. The air bubble let him through easily and it didn’t break. Once inside, Luke took a deep breath. It was still a little weird being underwater yet able to breathe, but Luke ignored the trickle of unease. He trusted Percy not to let him drown. Instead, he slid down the side of the bubble and scooped Percy into his arms.
Percy’s head lolled back against Luke’s shoulder. His hands came to hold Luke’s hands, resting on his middle. “You finally found me,” Percy muttered.
“I finally found you,” Luke agreed. He kissed the side of Percy’s head. Then he too settled in for a nap.